PR Weekend

OK, setting personal records wasn't something I had in mind when I started this running thing. It was done as part of trying to get healthier, to work with what I had achieved losing weight with WeightWatchers. Yet I find myself enjoying the sport and participating in several races now. This past weekend I signed up to do something different from the other races. I signed up for two races, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. The Saturday race was the Old Agoura 10K, and regardless of what my time was it was going to be a personal record as it was my first 10K race. The one on Sunday was the Coaster 5K down by Knott's Berry Park. This race was on a flat course so I had a chance to see whether all of the track workouts and LSD will help me get my fastest time to date.

The Old Agoura 10K was part of the Great Race of Agoura, which includes two half marathons, the 10K, a 5K and two other races intended to involve younger children. My friend Becky ran this race as well, and I was glad to see her before the start and hung out with her until we had to go running. The 10K ran through some neighborhood streets at first before turning in to a hilly neighborhood. Then about 2 1/2 mile in the route goes over a mile total on Chesebro, a nice gradual uphill which to my surprise I was able to complete without stopping. Between miles 4 and 5 were some pretty nasty hills, in my opinion. Very scenic neighborhood but those hills were a challenge. I was able to run on some of them while there were some I had to walk up portions, if not the entire hill. At mile 5 the people at the water station were telling us that there were no more hills, only one more mile to go. What a bunch of liars. There were a couple of hills left. Not too steep but one was pretty long. And then we had to go on a muddy section thanks to the recent rains. I emerged through it relatively unscathed and the last third of a mile was back on pavement, partly downhill before ending with a dash on the grass of Chumash Park. The official clock had me at 1:00:43. I didn't think I could complete the course in under an hour, not with all of the hills, and was thinking of a window of 62 to 72 minutes. But thanks to all of the recent workouts and LSD I was able to manage my race and not go out too fast in the beginning, saving enough for the hills.

Today's race was down in Orange County, right at Knott's Berry Farm. I specifically signed up to do this race with my friend Ron. It was very cloudy and rain was threatening to come down, but the temps were in the upper 50s lower 60s so it was quite comfortable. The Old Agoura 10K was ran in overcast skies and was a bit colder but rain stayed away. Right before the start of the 5K it actually started to sprinkle and it continued until about 5 minutes after the starting gun. There was some character from Knott's who shot off a rifle to signify the race start. Speaking of characters I was able to snag Snoopy for a pre-race picture. The Coaster Run consisted of a 5K and a 10K and they started at the same location and at the same time. This created for a very busy start, mostly because the race coordinator didn't request that walkers start at the back. I went to the middle of the starting area as usual, and this meant that I had to wade through a whole lot of people who were walking. I don't mind walkers in races as I walked my very first 5K, but it does create a traffic jam. With 2500 people registered for the two races it was quite a traffic jam. The one positive thing it did was it help me start off slowly and reminded me to keep an even pace. The course was fairly flat except for the portion where we went in a tunnel that went underneath a street. With the recent rains there were some puddles, some which I was unable to avoid but such is life. I crossed the 1 mile marker at 9:48, a lot slower than I wanted but I knew I had some reserved for the end. The crowd thinned out slowly and I tried to maintain a good pace. At what I thought was around the 2 mile mark I was able to see more daylight between people and I picked it up a little. Kept reminding myself to not go too fast until we were in sight of the finish line, about a half mile to go. With it in sight I kicked it up a notch and slowly picked off some people. At the last turn I saw a boy about ten years old who had stopped and was slowly running again. I tried to motivate him, telling him to kick it in gear. I heard someone from the crowd yell out, "Don't let that old man beat you!!". Had to laugh at that one and I kept telling the boy to pick it up, and he did, and I did and we were in kinda full sprint mode when we finished. He may have nipped me at the end but seeing the big smile on his face as he finished was worth it. That and high five exchanged is what it's all about. My time was officailly 27:19, which shatters my previous best of 28:09 but that was before I joined the running club and getting more miles and experience in this body of mine. Not sure how much faster I can do the races as all that really matters is that I am enjoying it. Yeah, that's the ticket ;)

New shoes

Late last week I noticed that the shoes with which I have been running, a pair of Nike Lunarglide+2, were worn out quite unevenly. The heel on the left shoe was worn a little more on the inside than the outside, and the front was worn out somewhat evenly. The right shoe however had a lot of wear on the outside heel. It was so worn out it was white, the black bottom was gone. I was hoping to keep this pair until after the Old Agoura 10K but since I already had bought a replacement of the same kind of shoe, I decided to start running with the new Nikes. I also decided to go to Inside Track and ask questions about the uneven wear on the shoes.

So on Friday I went in and showed off the old shoes. The first comment given to me even before I showed the sole of the shoes were that the pair was too big for me. I always thought that I had wide feet so I needed a wider shoe. Roadrunner Sports also checked things out and this was the pair that best fit me. I liked the wider toe box, as it didn't crush my toes like other shoes did. So I tried on some Brooks Ghost and in a size 8, vice the 8 1/2 of the Nikes. Again I was told that the Nikes were too big for me. I ran with the new shoes and they checked out my form. Was advised to try out a different pair of shoes, one that was neutral instead of a stability shoe. Again Roadrunner suggested a stability shoe for me. So I tried out a pair of Brooks Glycerin and my running form checked out again.

Guess this time around things looked better but still had no reason for the uneven wear on the heel other than a question as to whether I dragged my heel now and then. After thinking about it, I do believe I do drag my heel every few steps. I have seen similar wear on my dress shoes. So now I have a new pair of Brooks, first time I have ever worn the brand. Guess I can start using these shoes in time for the races this weekend. Tuesday is a track workout so that should be okay to break them in then. I will have to warm up before so that should give me enough feedback as to whether I can get used to them in time. I still have the newer Nikes as backup - guess that's what their role will be now. Or maybe I can alternate between the two. Have to ask if that's a good idea or not.

Time trial

The other day members of the running club were timed to see how fast they can run a mile. It was done as part of a Run and Bowl social event. Take the time, in seconds, how fast one runs a mile on the track on Tuesday, and then subtract the highest bowling score of two games on Thursday, and that is a person's score. The lowest score wins some prize, as well as the highest (maybe?). If that is the case then I have a shot of winning the highest score. I was able to complete the mile in 8:14, my fastest mile by almost 30 seconds!

Fortunately I was able to complete the mile. Setting things up, I arrived at VHS and did my warm-up. One lap of walking followed by 5 laps of a jog. Or what I thought was a jog. Halfway thru my jog I was joined by others in the club and they tod me that we were going at a 9 minute pace. That may have been slow to them but not really that slow for me. When the rest of the group showed up, our official warm-ups started. We did 4 sets of 200s, a "fast" 200 followed by a "slow" 200, and then do that for four laps. I pretty much followed behind people and hung out at the back with Brandy. We did our 4 laps at a little over 9 minutes, and that included slow 200s! We weren't looking forward to the mile.

We followed this warm up with some strides, and it actually felt good to just run a little faster than normal. I like being able to take longer strides for the really short distance knowing that I have about 30 seconds in between strides, plenty of time to rest up. After the strides and some time to rest some more, we were given our instructions. Line up along the curved line, start about a step behind actually until told "Runners set", and then take off at "Go". There was a clock about 9 meters past the finish line, since 5280 feet is 1609 meters, so we were told not to stop running until we past the clock and go into the chute set up past the clock.

I made sure to start off at lane 6 - that's me above as the "gun went off", giving the faster runners enough room for the inside. Off we went and I got in a rhythm, which I thought was a bit fast. The runners ahead of me slowly got further ahead but by 200 meters they were only about 20 meters ahead. This s when I knew I was going a little too fast for my own good. I yelled out to Brandy that I think I was going too fast. She quickly said, "Yes, you are". So I slowed down to let her catch up. As we turned the corner for the last 100 of the first lap I could see thclock and it read 1:25! Positive proof that I was going too fast. I was hoping to go for 2:10 first lap but at this pace we were going for to cross at 1:53. Since I was a little ahead I had to set thepace for the two slow runners. We finally crossed at 1:59. We slowed the pace a little more and crossed the line on our second lap at 4:06.

We continued with this pace and finished lap 3 at 6:16. At this point I knew we were both going to get new personal bests for our mile. It didn't matter that most of the others passed us - the first one to pass us was at about the 600m mark, the second one just before we finished the curve into the straightaway to the finish line, and most passed us as we were crossing the line. Then we had the track all to ourselves. Finally able to get to the inside lanes we picked up the pace a little. At 1400m we kicked it up a notch, relatively speaking. Brandy and I were still side by side until the last 30m when I somehow was able to lengthen my strides a little more and finished maybe two seconds ahead. She did give me credit for running on the outside of her for the whole distance, which probably meant an extra 20 meters. Regardless I just finished my fastest mile and I was ecstatic, although too tired to really show it. I know one mile doesn't a runner make, but it lets me know that I have plenty of room to improve and that 2 hour half marathon is ripe for the picking. Ripe especially since I have almost three months to train for it.

Carbo loading

Tonight, in preparation for a potential long run of 7 or 8 miles tomorrow morning, I decided to go for pasta dinner. OK, people may not think much of Presto Pasta - it's fast food pasta, not real Italian,etc. Well, it's a whole lot cheaper than other "Italian" places around here and I actually like the place. The food taste very good and the portion size is more than adequate. Tonight, however, I decided to go for the pasta combo. Got the spaghetti with meat sauce and a meatball, with a slice of garlic bread and a cup of minestrone. That thing filled me up and I actually still feel a little stuffed. Maybe next time I will order the pasta with just marinara sauce and the meatball, skip the meat sauce.

Normally I would feel bad after a meal like that. What happened to the weight watchers guy? That meal was probably worth over 30 points alone, if not more. Well, I think I calculated it out to be about 32 points. Any ways, I did some form of exercise today and I have that long run planned for tomorrow. Today was our regular off Friday and I got a little jog in, three mile round trip from San Pedro Street to the turnaround on the promenade, before trying to play some volleyball. Was able to average under ten minute miles, which was faster than what I wanted especially if I was going to play vball afterwards. My training plan calls out for 11 minute miles during my slow runs but my head keeps telling me to go a little faster. Today was also the first time I ran without headphones on, trying to get more in tune with my body during a run. All it did was let me know how much I was breathing during my run. My endurance is still not there, but I have three weeks before the 10K in Agoura. And this past Tuesday I was able to join the running club and we did some more hills, this time 4 reps running up about a 350m incline followed by a jog down.

As for the vball after my run, well, it turned out to be not much. I was able to play in one game of 4 on 4, and it was a good one. Unfortunately my left calf started to act up a little and it seemed that any sudden starts may re-pull the muscle. I couldn't really try going for balls and risk hurting myself and then I wouldn't be able to run the 10K. I am able to run since my running doesn't have any quick starts or sudden change of directions. Lame excuse but I am enjoying being able to run and I don't want to lose that right now. While we were at the beach we were graced with the presence of two Olympic gold medalists. Yep, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhauser, 2008 Olympic gold medalists in beach volleyball, were in the court next to us getting some practice before they head on overseas. It was amazing to see how high they can jump, how fast they can cover that court, just how good they were. People have paid a lot of money to see them play for about 20 minutes, while we got to see them play for about an hour and a half for free. They are in the background of this picture, to the right.

Back to Tuesday night track work

Tonight I was able to go back to running with the club on Tuesday night, doing track workouts. I showed up early so I was able to do a good warm up for myself. Walked the first lap before jogging the next two, walked another then jogged two more. I followed this up with some stretches to loosen up the legs even more before joining in with the club for the workout.

The first thing we did were strides. We ran four 100 meter intervals with about 30 seconds in between. The running was at about 5K pace - I was the slowest in the group as my leg still felt a little tight but it got better the more I ran on it. We followed it up with some more longer interval works. Being in the beginner group we did three 800 meters at approximately 2:05 pace with a slow jog in between. I followed during the first two sets of 800 but in the last one I was told to set the pace. Luckily the only other person in my group, other than Michelle the coach, was Brandy who was also a bit winded so my pace of almost 2:10 was more than fast enough.

By the way I enjoy running with Brandy, who during the three times I have ran with the club on Tuesday nights, has been very consistent with her pace of about 2:05 per lap. So staying with this club and running with her will be great for my building up my endurance. Despite missing out almost two weeks of running I was able to get back into it. After the last 800 we ran a few more laps of cool down, always running the opposite direction around the track as when we do the workouts. The warm up laps are also ran in a clockwise direction, workouts in counter clockwise. This helps balance whatever strain running in a track, since the track slopes from the outside lane to the inside ever so slightly.

Michelle mentioned that the club is doing a running and bowling thing - we get timed on how fast we run a mile and then we'll bowl as a group and whatever score we get, that gets subtracted from our mile time. I better start practicing my bowling. We have two chances to get timed in our mile, once during the regular Tuesday night workout on March 8 and then again during the Compete Green Mile on March 12. This event is part of the St. Patrick's Day festivities in Ventura, and goes along Main Street from Cemetery Park to Mission Park. Overall, I was glad with the workout this evening. I was slowed down a bit with my stupid ski injury but I should be back on course for the Old Agoura 10K on March 26.

Taking it easy

Last weekend I went with some friends to CO for a little skiing vacation. This was my first time skiing in that state and was excited. The first day, Friday, we skied in Keystone and I had a blast. The runs I went on there were much longer than any I had tried in Mammoth. Just as challenging but these were long. And the view was just spectacular. Lots of tall mountains - these were the Rockies after all. On Saturday we went to Vail and that's where I had an adventure I didn't plan on. After a few runs on another challenging and long blue run, I tried a different blue run but unfortunately I ran into some moguls. Took a spill and somehow pulled a calf and hamstring muscle on the left leg. Or was it a muscle tear. Regardless it hurt. Was able to make it down to the bottom of the hill. Spent the rest of my vacation not skiing and just barely getting around.

Now back in SoCal. Showed up at Inside Track to meet up with people from the club before they headed on out on their runs. I told them I was just gonna walk, and luckily found someone else who was walking too. Went on a four mile walk at a leisure pace. Completed it in under 90 minutes, and actually felt a little winded. Maybe it was the 7 am start, maybe it was the fact I hadn't done any form of exercise in a week. It was good to stretch out the legs before, during and after the walk. Hoping to go for another walk tomorrow and maybe a little jog on Monday. Stay tuned ...

Blogging again, on running?

Yes, I am going to give this blogging thing another shot. This time I have a somewhat real purpose, at least for me. It will be mostly about my running. I actually wish that I started this blog while I was going through my attempt at weight loss, which was partially made possible because I decided on waling as a form of exercise. This walking then turned into jogging, which after a few 5Ks and a half marathon I cannot deny that it is actually now running.

OK, since this the first entry I can put in a little background on my running. On November 2, 2009 I decided to join the online version of Weightwatchers. On that morning I weighed myself at 195 pounds!! Yeah, being 5 foot 5 inches on a good day, I should not weigh that much unless I am just ripped full of muscles. Well, I wasn't that, instead I was just fat. I couldn't hide behind the fact that I was born with a physically large head for my height. So I gave WW a shot. Slowly but surely the pounds went away. My first goal of losing ten pounds came by quickly, within a month, so I set up for 20 pounds. The weight kept coming off but it was getting harder todo it just by not eating as much as I used to - I would tell people I stopped eating thirds initially and then stopped eating seconds, finally figuring out what a proper portion of food should be.

After some time I decided to do some form of exercise to augment my eating less. Walking seemed to be the easiest thing to do. I decided to get ambitious and set a goal for my walking - to walk the Disneyland half marathon in less than 3 and 1/2 hours!! The half was on Labor Day weekend and this was in April when I decided on the goal. 5 months seemed like it was do-able. I had to walk at a 16 minute mile pace to achieve the goal so I went at it. By the end of May I was walking up to 7 miles and at a 15 minute pace so I was stoked. By my birthday I was up to 8 miles but my pace had decreased to about 14:30 so more good news. Then I was told at work that I had a chance to go to France but that the trip would be over the Labor Day weekend. I was disappointed to miss out on the halfmarathon, but we're talking about a free trip to France!

I continued my walking regimen despite the goal of the Disneyland half no longer existed. Guess I wanted to show myself that I could have done it. I participated in the Wounded Warrior 5K on base and I did it in about 41 minutes. Well, walking at a pace faster than 14 minute miles was beginning to hurt so I decided to jog a little and then walk the rest. Other 5Ks came and I signed up for them. There was the Be The One 5K in Long Beach, where I jogged more than half of the distance and I finished in 31 minutes - 10 minutes faster that the Wounded Warrior 5K. The Calabasas Classic was done in 32 minutes but that had some hills so that was okay. The Ventura Turkey Trot 5K was the first one when I completed it in under 30 minutes. I remember turning the final corner and seeing the clock at 29 minutes, so I just grinned and ran as fast as I could, and I did it 29:51.

After this race I got it in my head to try and find a half marathon to participate in and see if I could do it. My walking/running had gone up to about ten miles and at under a 12 minute mile pace. This gave me plenty of wiggle room should I get too tired at the end and walk a bit slower. So I looked for a half and saw that there was one in Venice the middle of January, the LA 13.1. It was a flat course, starting off at the boardwalk in Venice, then about 6 miles each way up and back on Venice before ending up at Venice Beach again. With a goal set I went at it. Thank goodness I had the last two weeks of December to really concentrate and it paid off. To make a log story not as long, not only did I finish the LA 13.1 in under 3 and 1/2 hours - I actually had thought I could do it in 2 and 1/2 hours - I did it in 2:06:51. Yes, I averaged 9:40 miles for 13.1 miles. This blew my mind and totally set me up for disappointment, should I not finish another half in less than two hours. Actually I am okay with it. I will continue to walk/jog/run - whatever it is I will call it. To insure my transition into a runner, I joined the Inside Track running club. I will try to join them on Tuesdays as they work on drills, and on Saturdays for their long runs.

As of today I have signed up to do the Old Agoura 10K and then the Coaster 5K the end of March. I think I will sign up for the Ojai to Ocean half marathon in June, and I have signed up for the Disneyland half marathon in September. So those are my goals for now, to compete in those and do the best I can. Stand by for updates on my training, my actual races, and maybe some random musings I may post about.