K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.0 After 377km

I'm posting pics of my ever reliable K-Ruuz 1.0. I bought this earlier this year and, after 377 kilometers or roughly 235 miles, it has served (and continous to serve!) me well.



The outsole after 377 km (approx. 235 miles)



This racing flat is very light.  It encourages you for a quick leg turnover, thus I've used it mostly for my speedwork/tempo training days and also for all my 21k and lower distance races this year. It is very responsive especially when you wear it sockless.

The only thing that I don't like about it is that tiny particles can still pass through the water holes from the outsole to the inside of the foot. This is very irritating as that teeny tiny pebble(?) less than a millimeter thick irritates my feet with every step. Thus there's no choice but to slow down, step aside, untie the laces, and remove the shoe so that the particle can be expelled. I saw that the 1.5 version of this shoe still has the same vents so probably there will still be the same irritating experience (especially in races!).

  

Particles smaller than the sock lining's vent holes can pass through, irritating the foot



The upper is starting to deteriorate from all the miles incurred



Overall, the shoe is a great racing flat great for those days when you just have to rub that itch for speed. It's light and the upper is well ventilated. The holes on the outsole and socklining should be addressed to block small particles from reaching the foot.

2012 Olympics Men's Marathon - Congrats Uganda!

Men's Marathon recap on Youtube here.

Women's marathon recap on Youtube here.

Post-Analyzing Marathon #4

As I have not met my main goal of finishing sub-5hours in last month's Milo Marathon, I need to find out where I need to improve. Of course, there is also the need to give credit on where I did well which led me to finish the race with a 12 minute PR (5:11 chip time). Get the good and throw out the bad as they'd say.





WHAT WORKED (FOR A 12min PR)

A STRUCTURED PROGRAM. The 16-week program I used was a mix of the tempo and speedwork of the FIRST Train Less, Run Faster program combined with the Sat/Sun runs from the Brooks-Hanson program. I was able to put in more quality workouts (1 tempo, long run, and speedwork per week) instead of just putting in the miles per week. It's better to have a program to follow instead of having no training plan at all ---especially for a big race such as a 42k.

MORE MILES PER WEEK. Hands-down, personally, having more miles per week will lead to a better performance on race day. I can easily conclude this based on the performance of my last 3 marathons, particularly the average km per week from week 1 to 15:

Condura2011 (5:23) = 39km per week
QCIM2011 (5:35)    = 31km per week
Milo2012 (5:11)       = 41km per week

If I can increase my weekly target to 50km for my next marathon plan, then it could help me get closer to my sub5 goal.

LESS WEIGHT = FASTER. At the start of the year I have been calorie counting in order to lose weight. I was able to shed 10lbs. Obviously, less weight to carry for 42km would mean better performance on race day as I've experienced. As I've gained 5lbs due to the lull of resting for the past 2 weeks, it's high time for me to get back into running mode again to lose the unwanted weight!

CUSHIONING. For Condura2011 and QCIM2011, I used racing flats for my 42km race (Adizero Adios and Brooks Green Silence, respectively). This has not helped in the latter kilometers after 21k since my feet would start to get fatigued and painful beyond that point. My body weight and the impact that it does to my foot is not (yet) ready to just wear racing flats for 5 or so hours. For Milo2012, I still used a low heel-to-toe ratio minimalist shoe but with a little more cushioning (the Brooks Pureflow). This really helped in getting me through (between km21-33 in particular) as I was still running comfortably at this point.


WHAT NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED (FOR A SUB5)

INCREASE WEEKLY MILEAGE. As mentioned above, more miles per week will lead to better race performance as documented in my previous training logs and marathons. Obviously, 41km per week is not enough. I would need to add more miles per week, probably average between 50-60km per week.

INCREASE AEROBIC CAPACITY. The problem with the FIRST training program is that only the key workouts (tempo, speedwork, and long) are in there. I believe there's still a need to pepper each week with easy/relax paced runs between 5-10k per run in order to keep my aerobic fitness in check ---preferably within Maffetone heart rate limits. I read somewhere that the marathon is 99% aerobic. I obviously experienced this during Milo2012, particularly from km33-42 when I probably depleted all my carb/glycogen reserves. With only fat as my energy resource and that I didn't train enough for these types of situations, I ran out of gas and succumbed to run-walking those last 10kms. I need to run more fat-burning paced workouts.

LOSE MORE WEIGHT. I raced Milo at 155lbs ---my lightest weight in years! I would probably need to lose some more, probably 150lbs by the time I race for marathon #5. 150lbs is good not only for my racing goals but for my health goals as well since that weight would put me right smack in the middle of the ideal BMI for my height. Hopefully, my cholesterol levels would follow suit. But first, I'm now at 159lbs so I better start running and calorie-counting again!

FASTER 21k RACES. The 3 half-marathons that I joined this year were all sub-2:20 ---a great personal improvement from past years. Still, that wasn't enough. Since I'm not yet ready for another 16 week training for my next marathon, I will concentrate on short term goals first by hopefully trimming my 21k times to sub-2:15 or hey, a sub-2:00. I can dream, right? :-)


FOR NOW

I signed up for a Gold's gym membership which helps me get in small amounts of mileage whenever I can squeeze a workout during lunch time,whether using the treadmill or the stationary bike. It helps, especially now that it's been raining very often. I hope the weights/strength training that I'm doing will help me too.

My left knee still needs a lot of care so I'm trying to manage my run paces a bit, except for yesterday's 3x1km workout since I itched the NEED for speed. Probably the dumbell squats and patellar tendinitis exercises that I'm doing will help my knee get back on track.

Next race will probably be the annual company sportsfest next month. I signed up for the 10k event which I hope to finish below 60 minutes. It's been a while since I raced a 10k so it'll be interesting how I'll perform by then.

I'll be in Baguio on the last long weekend of August with my family.

I'm already excited to do a long run there ---with the hills, the challenging altitude, and the cold temps.

Yup, it's gonna be another HTFU run!

Humongous

All four of my full marathon medals. Man, that 4.3-inch medal from last Sunday's race is huuuge! It represents all the hard work that I've done for the last 16 weeks prior to the race. This one will definitely have a special place in my planned medal picture frame (probably after a few more marathons, hehe...).

No wonder I heard stories of desperate runners cheating their way throughout the race route (making their own U-turns) or handing their racebibs (since the chip is attached) to a faster runner just to get a hand of one of these (oversized) babies.

Tsk tsk, whoever you guys (or gals) are, I hope you find it in your heart to dig a hole in the ground and bury yourself with that medal that you so shamelessly took by cheating. You have done a grave sacrilege on the Milo Marathon and the sport of running as a whole.

I bet Mang Felix can even overtake you in a 5k race any day.

 

Milo 2012 42km Elims: Into The Right Direction

As I write this post with painful quads (especially when going up and down the stairs) which I've been accustomed to experience after running a full marathon, I feel a mixed sense of relief and half-baked joy. Relief since I've finally finished (another) 16 weeks of training. My body has gone thru a lot of workouts since April and I know that its thankful of the rest and recovery that its receiving now. I'll probably give it a few more days before I start running again. Easy pace, of course.

Now for the half-baked joy part.

It had been raining days before the race and I was glad that the weather was runner-friendly last Sunday. I parked at MOA at about 20mins before gun time, got myself ready, and walked to the starting corral with 3 minutes to spare. I stood near the end as the 2,000-strong marathoners were sent off at 3am.

After days of debate, I decided to stick with a comfortable 6:50-7:00/km pace plan for the entire race. At least get myself within sub-5hr target by km32. If I'm still standing by then, I'll push hard for the last 10k.

Km1-10 = 1:11 (took first gel at 00:50)

Along Roxas Blvd I managed to caught sight of takbo.ph big boss Jinoe Gavan, whom I read in the past that he's looking into a sub5 finish as well. I'm guessing that he was doing the Galloway walk-run method at this time so it was good to see a fellow runner with the same time goal. Thus I decided to work with him silently by trying to keep up with him as long as possible since I know he was gunning for a sub5 finish too.

Km11-20 = 1:10 (second gel at 1:40, third at 2:20)
Halfway mark (km21) = 2:28:42

The halfway mark was along Buendia avenue, just before the Quirino H-way intersection. I was hoping to reach it at around 2:27 but I was still a happy camper since overall pace and effort was still comfortable. Adding to the comfort was that Jinoe was just about 200meters ahead of me.

Km21-30 = 1:12 (fourth gel at 3:00)

I approached the Buendia flyover with caution, alternating 20sec walks with runs as I climbed the leg from Makati to BGC. The hilly Rizal Avenue and 5th avenue climb to Mckinley was a task but I was able to recover the way back, much thanks to the presence of beauty Jennelyn Mercado waiting at the Lawton Avenue turn around point (hehehe).


Km32 = 3:49

I reached the 20mile mark in a disappointing 3:49 (although looking back now it seems that I made a 2min PR on that distance!) since I had hoped to finish 3:40 ---a time that would give me a comfortable 1:19 left so I can relax at a 8:00/km pace and still meet sub5. I had past "pace partner" Jinoe on the way back from 5th avenue so it was all up to me now to keep my pace up.

I was still in the game but I needed to do 7:00/km pace for 10k more. I started out well, logging 6:46 in km33 but things started crumbling pace-wise after that. I'm not sure what this is, but my running succumbed to walks everytime I felt heaviness on my chest. Not sure if it was my heart rate or my lungs working over time, but it definitely caused me to stop running. I can only look at my Garmin in frustration as my average pace dropped out of 7:09/km ---the average pace needed for a sub5.

Km34 to 42 (Buendia, Roxas, then MOA) was a battle of wills. I was out of the sub5 game but beating my 5:23 PR was still possible (as in my last post, beating my PR was more realistic based on the feedback given to me by my training logs versus a sub5). Average pace was still dropping, no thanks to longer walk breaks and probably 1 or 2 aid stations that ran out of water (I even doused myself with 100PLUS instead of water just to cool my core temp! Talk about desperate huh?). Everyone along side me was walking too so I guess they were having a hard time passing thru the wall.

Tired but still a happy camper

Along Sunset road(?) in MOA with about 400meters left, I looked for my support group: my family. My first full marathon, Milo 2010, I finished it with my then 4-year old Lucas running towards the finish line. Milo 2012 had to be finished with the same fashion: this time with 6-year old Lucas and 3-year old Matteo.

I ran towards the finish line with my 2 sons on each hand, with my Garmin clocking at 5:13 and change.

Approaching the finish line with my support crew

A 10 minute PR!!!

There will be a lot of post-race analysis that needs to be done, but I'll leave that for my next post. There was no sub5, but I believe I'm in the right direction towards it. I'll definitely savor this 5:13 (or 5:11 if my estimated chip time is correct).

And yes, despite aching quads, I'm ready to climb the Urban Everest known as the 42km marathon once again.

But not anytime soon. ;-)