Friday, July 31, 2009

Progressive Run 8.82 Total

  1. 6:57
  2. 6:39
  3. 6:28
  4. 6:09
  5. 6:02
  6. 5:50
  7. 5:27
  8. 5:30 for .5 mile (supposed to run 5:15 pace)

Last 1.32 @ 8:57 Pace (Cool down)

Sean, Ray Martinez, Geoff, and Mike showed up for this workout. The heat and humidity were oppressive but we went ahead did the workout anyway. I was good right up until the 7.25 mark. After that I hung on the pace till 7.4 and then fell apart and quit at the 7.5 mile mark. This was probably the toughest conditions that we have run the progressive run under and the results indicate that. Even though this workout is pretty uncomfortable for me I always seem to want more the following week. I'm probably a glutton for punishment. Or maybe it's because of the workout's effectiveness. This workout has been one of the keys to me racing well.

Thursday, July 30, 2009

8.87 Miles Easy + Strides

8.87 Miles @ 7:43 Pace

12 Second Strides w/ 30 secs recovery

  1. 5:57
  2. 5:32
  3. 4:58
  4. 5:18
  5. 5:11
  6. 5:16
  7. Total Average Pace 5:21

Nothing terribly impressive today. My legs didn't have the snap in them as evidenced by the run and stride times. Hopefully I'll feel a bit better for the progressive run tomorrow.

Wednesday, July 29, 2009

6 Miles Recovery + Cross Training

I've already stated how serious I was about my strides. I've gotten serious enough about them that I added some structure and I'm taking metrics on the pace. This is what I have to do in order to be fully committed to doing these regularly. After speaking with Sean I decided to cut the distance down from 100m to just 12 seconds, just to keep the effort level down. I'm pretty sure after doing these regularly and keeping track of the results that my body will start correcting itself and making itself more efficient at running fast. I've also decided to add jump roping back to the mix. I started these a while back but stopped due to some calf issues. I've gotten this far on just my natural speed but it's time to stop messing around and actually become efficient at using it. Working out with Sean will naturally improve my endurance(which still needs a lot of work by the way) so I've got that base covered. Well anyway I ran slower today and did some cross training. My overall pace for 6 miles was 7:42. Not terribly impressive but I accomplished my objective. Here are my stride metrics:

6 Miles 7:42 Pace

12 Second Strides (Pace) (30 secs recovery)

  1. 5:22
  2. 5:13
  3. 5:03
  4. 5:05
  5. 4:59
  6. 4:46
  7. Total Average Pace 5:04

100 reps jump ropes

Cross Training

  • Squats
  • Toe Raises
  • Leg Curls
  • Arm Curls

Tuesday, July 28, 2009

Speedwork - 13x200m Hill Repeats ~10 miles total

I don't have the exact measurements because my Garmin 405 started flaking out when I began sweating profusely because of the humidity. By the way if you are on the fence about buying this watch...don't buy it. I've had enough time to test it out and you could probably do better with a 305 or some other model. Quite a few guys showed up for this workout: Sean, Luis Armenteros, Dan Kahn, Geoff Streit, Sam Rodriguez, Mike ?. My personal goal was to try to keep up with Sean on this workout since speed is my strong suit, but endurance played a role and I bonked after the 8th rep, so did my watch so I'm missing some data. It probably wouldn't mean much if it actually did work on the remaining reps anyway as I was just going through the motions. Sean was consistent throughout the workout and even started cutting out some of the recovery time which caught up with me. I still did better than last week but I have a lot of work to do. I have no idea what my current fitness level is but I will get a gauge this Friday when we do our first progressive run in a while. I can't wait to tackle this workout next week but I may approach it differently and use myself to gauge how much recovery I need. Here are the stats that I could measure:

13x200m Hill Repeats

TimePace
354:31
36.814:47
36.244:47
35.904:34
35.794:35
35.444:33
37.204:39
37.58not sure, watch flaked

Monday, July 27, 2009

6 Miles Easy

I was in a rush so I just had time to do 6 miles + some strides. Did 6 @ 7:37 pace.

100m Strides

Time Pace
17 4:26
17.58 4:29
17.34 4:29
17.81 4:48
16.65 4:42
16.31 4:36
Total Average Pace 4:35

Tomorrow speed work.

Sunday, July 26, 2009

8.91 Miles Easy

7:15 pace. Going to work on my speed so I will be adding strides on the end of my runs.

100m Strides

Time Pace
19.37 5:36
21 5:12
18.19 5:11
17.62 5:04
17.20 4:48
16:61 4:37
Total Average Pace 5:05

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Long Run 90 Minutes

12.32 Miles 7:18 Pace. I ran 3 miles with the Kenyan Way Crew.

Friday, July 24, 2009

6 Miles Easy

Mile 1 7:51
Mile 2 7:20
Mile 3 7:18
Mile 4 7:11
Mile 5 7:09
Mile 6 6:58
Total Average Pace: 7:18

Thursday, July 23, 2009

Day Off

Due to yesterday's massage.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

5.85 Miles Easy + Cross Training + Massage

  • Woke up and did my daily calisthenics
  • Ran 5.85 with Paul at 7:20 pace
  • Did some weight training
  • Got on the massage table and let the "Connie" do her thing

I didn't realize how much I was going to do today until I relayed what I was going to do to my wife. She then asked me "What the heck am I doing, getting all of that done before work?". I then told her my son wears me out more than the list of things above. The one thing of note today was my first session Connie. I've never been more happy to feel so much pain in my life. She could tell me exactly what was going on underneath my skin and she plucked at my tendons and muscles like she was strumming a guitar. Very painful no doubt, but very constructive. She had some good feedback for me on my running and the way it affects my muscles, tendons, etc. So now I'm going to have to go back and process it all.

image

Tuesday, July 21, 2009

12x200m hills - 8.5 Miles Total

Time Pace
34 4:12
36 4:31
32 4:26
35 4:18
36 4:27
35 4:29
34 4:14
34 4:21
34 4:02
38 4:59
38 4:59
34 4:17

* The distances had some slight variances so same times may not mean same pace.

Ran these with Sean and Dan Kahn (2008 Olympic Marathon Trials qualifier). Did a littler under a 5 mile warm up. It was during the 3rd repetition that I could tell that I was anaerobically out of shape. I got the feeling you get in your chest and your breathing when you are doing something hard and strenuous, or when you get when you are completely out of shape. That's kind of like good news to me because it means that I'm not peaked out and I have more room to develop. It means that I really can develop my speed a whole lot more. I'm looking forward to more of the same and mastering this workout (I totally gassed on reps 10 & 11).

On the racing front I glanced at the racing results of the Honeywell Lunar Rendezvous 5k. What struck me was the number of sub 16 minute runners at the race, 6.

Sesar Figueroa 15:01
John Hedengren 15:37
Gabriel Rodriguez 15:45
Junior Mitchell 15:50
Dean King 15:53
Maximo Mendoza 15:56

Pretty good times for a Houston Summer race. I would have loved to raced that race.

Monday, July 20, 2009

How embarrasing...

Today at lunch I was at the salad bar and spilled vinegar on my pants (on the crotch area). I thought to myself "Oh brother". I saw a couple of ladies who worked there smile. As I hurriedly rushed toward the bathroom I could see everyone looking at my crotch. At first I'm thinking in my head "It's not what your thinking". After a while I'm thinking "Ya, I just wet myself! What!?" It's even more awesome when you go to the bathroom and have to wet the area even more to make sure it doesn't stain. So I'm walking out of the bathroom with a soggy crotch area on my pants. I'm thinking, am I in a movie that I'm not aware of here?!!!! So I try to block it out, but then the putrid smell of vinegar hangs with me all day. Not only that...I have brown vinegar stains on my crotch area. And I used to pride myself on being a good dresser.

3 Miles

Took a few steps and knew immediately I was only doing 1 loop around the park. No regrets. I'm doing hills tomorrow and my legs can't be feeling like this tomorrow. In other news I'm finally going to get a massage by Connie! It's been long overdue. Hopefully I don't jinx this. Oh yeah I ran 7:30 pace today.

Sunday, July 19, 2009

9 Miles

7:04 pace. I ran this midday in all of the heat and misery. I'm insane in the membrane. In other news the half and full marathons sold out in 2 days. I guess more and more people are learning about the physical and mental benefits of running.

I saw this quote on my cousin's Facebook page which is pretty clever:

Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That is why they call it the present.

Eleanor Roosevelt?

Saturday, July 18, 2009

90 Minutes - 12.54 Miles

Rough, I tell ya. Didn't feel like running for 90 minutes. I ran at 7:11 pace.

Friday, July 17, 2009

I'm not a gay guy or anything but dang...

this guy is shredded...

image

Signed up for Houston Marathon

As of this post the Marathon is 70% full, so if you are wanting to sign up then do it quickly. I signed up to have an insurance policy, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to run it.

6 Miles Easy

Mile 1 7:15
Mile 2 6:50
Mile 3 6:51
Mile 4 6:37
Mile 5 6:47
Mile 6 6:45
Total Average Pace: 6:51

I started out prepared to do 9 but then I thought about next week and the ramp up in training so I decided to take it easy today and for the remainder of the week. That means going slower if I have to or doing a little less miles. I really shouldn't be feeling strained at all this week. Next week I should be fresh and ready to go once Sean returns back to regular training.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

9 Miles Easy

I ran it at 7:19 pace. I was tempted not to run at all and tempted to quit at 6. But I did ok and completed the 9 miles.

Reminder: Tomorrow registration for the Houston Marathon opens up.

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

6 Easy + Cross Train

Mile 1

7:33

Mile 2

6:48

Mile 3

6:34

Mile 4

6:27

Mile 5

6:29

Mile 6

6:26

Total Average Pace

6:43

I felt strong this morning and went with the flow. The flow ended up being unusually fast. Then I checked my email and Sean came to the conclusion that both of our legs are still trashed from Peachtree and that I should not run faster than 7 minute miles for the rest of the week. Oops! Oh well there's always tomorrow :P. I did the usual cross training:

  • Arm curls
  • Squats
  • Leg Curls
  • Toe raises

On a lighter side Sean sent a classic post about swearing and training. 

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

2x3 Mile Tempo Run - 10~ miles total

Attempted to do 2 x 3 mile tempo @ 5:40 pace with 5 minutes rest. After about a 3 mile warm up here's what happened:

3 Miles 5:41
3 Miles 6:07

As you can see on the 2nd set I had a complete and utter melt down. During my 5 minute rest I was pretty sure I wouldn't be able to hit the target on the second set, so I just went by effort and completed the 3 miles. Going in to the work out I felt this would have been a relatively easy workout but I guess I underestimated the difficulty or overestimated my condition. Or maybe I'm not totally recovered from Peachtree. Either way I just I have go back to the grind and get more training in.

On a human note I met a lovely blind lady yesterday, Elizabeth, at Whole Foods. I thought I was helping her by directing her to her destination but she was able to leave me feeling pretty good and brightened my day by her sunny disposition. She also left me with a little nugget of truth:

"Our inner child comes out when we are doing what we love"

- Elizabeth - blind customer, Whole Foods

Think about that for second. Are you serious all the time? Well maybe you are not spending enough time doing what you love.

Monday, July 13, 2009

6 Miles Easy

I went out this morning intending to do 9 but ended up doing 6 @ 7:26 pace. Apparently my legs are probably still recovering from the 15 miles I did Saturday. No use pounding the dirt for another 3 miles on weakened legs.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

9 Miles Easy

I ran 9 miles today @ 7:32 pace. Three by myself and then my friend Josue tagged along for the last 6. The pace slowed but the enjoyment went up when he jumped in.

At the end of my run I ran into Shalom, an older Columbian gentleman, who left me with this pearl of wisdom:

"Brilliant people talk about ideas, the media talks about events, little people talk about other people."

- Shalom - random sage, Memorial Park runner

Saturday, July 11, 2009

Long Run 15 Miles

I ran 15 miles today, not very fast, but it also didn't feel uncomfortable either. I'll take that these days. A few days ago I had problems putting in 9 miles and today 15 wasn't too bad. To be honest it's been a while since I've done 15 or more miles. I ran 7:15 pace today. I had the options of putting anywhere between 90 minutes to 120 minutes and I ended up making it to 109 minutes. Not too bad in this heat.

Friday, July 10, 2009

9 Miles

Mile 1 7:25
Mile 2 7:04
Mile 3 7:08
Mile 4 6:56
Mile 5 6:56
Mile 6 6:47
Mile 7 6:56
Mile 8 6:52
Mile 9 7:06
Total Average Pace: 7:01

Nice run. The heat and humidity's effects started to get to me on the last mile.

Thursday, July 9, 2009

9 Miles

Mile 1

7:50

Mile 2

7:22

Mile 3

7:19

Mile 4

7:22

Mile 5

7:00

Mile 6

6:52

Mile 7

6:49

Mile 8

6:41

Last .68

6:35

Total Average Pace:

7:07

The only reason my pace dropped significantly is because Sean hopped in during the 4th mile.

Wednesday, July 8, 2009

6 Miles + Cross Training

Mile 1 7:28
Mile 2 7:07
Mile 3 7:06
Mile 4 6:56
Mile 5 6:54
Mile 6 6:56
Total Average Pace 7:05

I forgot to mention how hot it was yesterday. Well it was hot and humid again today. It was hot in Atlanta but the difference was the humidity was nothing therefore it didn't seem so bad. I was glad I didn't have to put in 9 miles today. We'll see how difficult 9 is when I try and do it tomorrow.

Did the usual cross training:

  1. Squats
  2. Leg curls
  3. Toe raises
  4. Bicep curls

Tuesday, July 7, 2009

6 Miles

Mile 1 6:43
Mile 2 6:25
Mile 3 6:37
Mile 4 6:50
Mile 5 6:50
Mile 6 7:07
Total Average Pace 6:47

I had just gotten off of the plane from Atlanta and was determined to get a run in for the day. I hadn't run the previous 2 days due to soreness and lack of access to any soft surfaces in Atlanta. I had felt some slight guilt so I set out to do 9 miles only to settle for 6. I started to get some soreness in both Achilles and decided to call it a day at 6. Besides...I will be running in the morning tomorrow.

Oh yeah, I felt extremely strong, but eventually the speed gave way to soreness at the end.

Saturday, July 4, 2009

"THE" Peachtree Road Race

I'd like to preface this post by saying I had more fun at this race than any other race that I have been a part of.

  • 3:30 a.m. I woke up to eat my morning banana. I usually eat a banana at this time so I can make sure I can have at least one bowel movement before the race. No need for my stomach to be a factor in the race. I got myself ready and then I got my poor son ready who was sleeping deep in a slumber. My sister Lyn woke up at 4:30 and was ready in 30 minutes.
  • 5:00 a.m. We left the house to pick up my sister, Janel.
  • 5:30 a.m. Picked up Janel and headed to the train station.
  • 5:45 a.m. Arrived at the MARTA train station and left for the Lenox Mall stop
  • 6:00 a.m. Arrived at the Lenox Mall stop and headed toward the start line. Eventually we find the starting line and we hang around here. I call Sean and he tells me he'll be down and warming up by 6:40. So Janel and I hang around the starting line soaking it all up. Eventually a FOX 5 Atlanta news correspondent flags us down and asks us if we'd like to do a live demonstration on TV on how to use the D Tags. I almost decline because in my head I'm thinking this will probably interfere with our warm up time and throw us off, but I look at my sister and I can tell she wants to be on TV so I agree.
  • 6:30 Janel and I are on TV on FOX 5 giving a demonstration on how to put the D Tag on our shoes. Nice... Too bad we couldn't record it :(. I'll have to see if I can get a copy of this, but most likely it is gone forever since it was live.
  • 6:50 I call Sean and he tells us where he is at but I'm having problems finding him. He tells me where the elite area is at but I don't see anything. Eventually it is after 7:00 and my sister and I are a bit anxious. I ask a volunteer where the elite area is and luckily she opens a partition and whalla, there it is and there is Sean. We rush and put our things in the elite van and go warm up for the remaining time we have left. I introduce my sister to Sean.
  • 7:25 My sister and I are all lined up. I wish Sean good luck (He has a nice spot at the front of the pack). The elite women are lined on one side and the elite men on the other side. I soak it all up. I'm lined up within ear shot of Brian Sell, Abdi Abdirahman, James Carney, and Anthony Famiglietti amongst other world class runners I don't recognize. The countdown begins...
  • 7:30 The gun goes off!

The race is on. The first thing I try to do is just relax. A lot of people run out ahead of me but I just try to stick to my plan of coming out of the first mile in 5:15. I'm not really racing anyone in particular in this race, just my expectations. The weather is nice and cool and I'm feeling pretty good. I get through the first mile in 5:14.

During mile 2 everything is starting to solidify. The pretenders are starting to drop back and I start to key on several elite women around me. I can also see that they are keying off of me as well. Every move I make, they also make. One of these women was an Ethiopian and the other was a shorter tiny lady from New York. For most of mile 2 I'm running behind both of them. The course begins its first drop in elevation and I hammer it. I start passing people left and right and the 2 women tuck in behind me. I complete mile 2 in 5:03.

Mile 3 is more of the same...downhill. I speed up slightly and continue to pass people left and right. I'm feeling great right now because I'm not having the slightest of issues and my breathing is as smooth as if I was standing still. Everyone else is breathing heavy and fast around me. In my head I'm thinking I'll have a lot left in the tank at the end of the race. I finish mile 3 in 5:01.

At the end of mile 3 and the start of mile 4 is where the uphill battle starts. At first I just try to fight through it and keep a decent pace. Not long after this I look at my Garmin and notice I'm running 5:47 pace, AHHHHH! Nope, I can't afford 5:4x anything at any point in this race so I just try to push through harder. At this point I notice the 2 elite women start to pull away from me, including an elite masters gentleman, Tracy Lokken. I realize that this was the determining point of the race where it would be either a good race or a bad race. So I blocked the pain and difficulty out and just started pumping. Forget the watch just pump up the effort. If I wore myself out, then whatever happens...happens. At this point my easy breathing became very deep and eventually turned to grunting as I tried to will myself uphill. Eventually I came to a downhill at the halfway point of mile 4. This provided me some relief but I wasn't fully taking advantage of the downhill because I was so tired. I realized this and forced myself to go faster downhill. I had to make up the time I lost on the uphill. I was still breathing deep and grunting but I was gaining ground on the 2 elite women. I finished mile 4 at 5:34 pace.

During the start of mile 5 another uphill climb starts but this one is not as steep, but it is longer. It lasts a whole mile. But by this time I was able to gather myself and start to feel better about myself. I was still breathing loudly so the other runners around me probably figured I was going to be done soon. It was at this time a strange occurrence happened. I had passed the two female runners but only the Ethiopian runner was with me. She motioned for me to get in front. Being inexperienced, I wasn't really sure what to do. So I just got directly in front of her and let her draft off of me. She said thank you. That was nice. But then I heard something behind me, was it go faster? I wasn't really sure, so I just said forget this. She can run behind me if she wants but I'm just going to run this race and just worry about myself. So I just took off. During the run I thought I heard my sister Janine say "Hey Bill" from afar. I knew she could be along the route since Janel's apartment is on the route. So I spent the remainder of mile 5 debating with myself whether it was Janine or not. Mile 5, 5:28 pace.

During mile 6 I was in a "net" downhill area so I knew I had to pick up speed. So that's what I did. I started passing more runners and eventually I came upon another elite female who was being escorted by local runners. I had to run around her and the escorts but then I positioned myself directly in front of them. It might have annoyed them a bit, but I didn't care, every man and woman for themselves. I finished mile 6 at 5:16 pace.

Now here is where the funny part starts. In the distance I see can see an orange mat that looks like a finishing mat. So I kick it in to full gear and start passing people left and right. Maybe 10-15 people. I'm really hammering it. But then I begin to worry as I start to get closer and closer to the mat. Because I see the runners continuing to run. Eventually I come close enough to realize that it is NOT the finishing mat. I'm done. I try to maintain at least a decent pace till I can gather myself again but I can't. So I slow down for a bit and many of the runners re-pass me again. I block it all out because I know the race isn't over yet. Eventually I feel comfortable enough to have a another go at it. So I kick it in again. I pass some of the runners that re-passed me. I continue the kick until the end of the race. Eventually I see the race clock above me and see 32:48..49..50 and I'm done. My official time ended up being 32:48. A PR and also under 33 minutes. I felt a sense of relief and happiness. My last .2 was at 4:39 pace. Looking back I feel I could have chopped at least another 15-20 seconds off of my time if I didn't have the early first kick.

After the race I waited for my sister. She ended up PRing herself by over 2 minutes @ 36:28! After the race we entered the elite area which was a clubhouse where we got some light food and were able to get our bags and change if needed. I met up with Sean for a bit and talked a little about the race and then we did a cool down. Eventually we made our way back to the clubhouse. I met up with my sister again and found out that she won an award. First Georgia female! This was a great experience for her because now she has the experience of being an elite runner, winning an award, and will have a lot of motivation for next year. I spotted a few elite American runners in the clubhouse. John Carney and Abdi Abdirahman. I ended up taking a picture with Abdi and 2 other Kenyan runners. Abdi ended up winning the American Men side of the Peachtree Road Race. Eventually I ended up getting a much needed massage. I asked the lady about how my legs felt and she basically said that my legs felt "horrible" and her eyes widened like I had an emergency on my hands. The massage was utterly painful and only confirmed her observations.

Looking back on the race I really had a blast. The great result was icing on the cake. Running in the middle of all of the world class athletes was an exhilarating experience. This experience will stay with me for a while. Here are the splits:

Mile 1 5:14
Mile 2 5:03
Mile 3 5:01
Mile 4 5:34
Mile 5 5:28
Mile 6 5:16
Last .2 4:39
Total Average Pace 5:15

Here are some pictures that tell tell the story:

I had time to clown around and take pictures with my sister before the race:

image image

All clowning ends as the race starts. I battle through the first uphill. In the second picture I am near the end of the race.

image image

You can tell how disoriented I am after the the race as I have my singlet on backwards.

image 

After the race we had access to food and a clubhouse.

image

We also had access to massage therapists. Here you can see Abdi Abdirahman having a few words with John Carney while Carney gets a massage.

image

I manage to get a picture with some of the top runners including Abdi (Nike), Elkanah Kibet (Auburn Runner, 159), and a runner whose name escapes me.

image

My sister shows off her award, 1st Georgia female.

image

Top American Awards

image

What 50,000 people at a park looks like.

image

The walk home.

image

Friday, July 3, 2009

0 Miles

I decided not to run today since I didn't run in the morning and I really didn't want to run in the evening before the race. Plus the roads around my sister's house are extremely hilly so there is no way I could do a nice 3 mile easy run without taxing myself. I should be ready to go for tomorrow. I only have 1 real goal and that is to break 33 minutes. It will be difficult since there is a point in the middle of the race where there is extreme extended elevation for mile 4. And milder elevation for mile 5. The overall plan is to run a relaxed 5:15 pace the 1st mile. Then hammer miles 2 and 3 at 5:00 minute pace(nice downhill!). Then grind it out around 5:30-5:35 pace for mile 4. Grind it out again at around 5:25-5:30 pace for mile 5 and then 5:15 for mile 6 and hammer home the last .2. image This should be good starting point to work from. As always things could be different on race day. The weather is really a piece of cake compared to Houston weather and should not be a factor on Saturday.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Over 6 miles with my sister

This was my first full day in Atlanta and I managed an evening run with my sister Janel. We ran at 7:50 pace. I was able to run part of the race course. It was the middle section where there was a long steep incline. It was unlike anything I had run in Houston. I was working pretty hard going up this hill and found myself breathing hard. I told my sister and she really didn't notice any difference. She runs and walks the route every day so she was acclimated to it. We ran up a street called Peachtree(the street that the race was on). Then we went down a street called Piedmont. There was a lot going on and I was thinking I could really dig this place. Eventually we turned back around went home. Later on I took Janel, my other sister Janine, and my son out to eat.