Running Sick

I should know better than to brag. The day I posted my “Great Running Week” entry, I came down with a cold and a sore throat. Normally I would run even with a cold but nightly Christmas get-togethers with family and friends prevented me from running again the next 3 days.

Finally, I dragged myself to the local park oval on a Christmas day afternoon. Despite my cold, I managed to beat “Jason Bourne” by a few seconds in my good friend Workaholic Runner’s Beat Jason Bourne Challenge.

I followed that up with an easy 10k at the track oval in San Fernando the following morning.

That was just a warm-up for my running highlight of the week: I had the privilege of running in a resort in Bataan, just outside Subic. The terrain was quite mountainous and I had to walk a good part on several steep uphills.

All the climbs were worth it though, as the killer hills were rewarded with killer views:

I completed a bit over 11k in one of my slowest runs ever.

For the week, I completed just a bit over 40km, a far cry from my mileage the previous week.

Great Running Week!

The past week was one of the best and most enjoyable ever for my running.

No, I didn’t join any race and set any PR’s but for starters, I was able to complete 29K the other Sunday. I’m becoming confident that I’ll be able to train enough for the upcoming Pasig marathon on March 8.

On Monday, runners got together at Italianni’s and as already reported in many blogs, it was a blast meeting up with a lot of the runners whom we get to chat only too briefly with during the races.

Class Picture grabbed from TBR's blog

By Friday, I had to do another “long” run since I wouldn’t have time on my usual Sunday schedule. I dreaded running around our village since it is mind-numbing boring and mentally, I find it quite difficult to run anything more than 10k. I decided to run through the neighboring subdivisions instead and out to the main road, where even though traffic was relatively light, I still inhaled a significant amount of fumes – carbon loading in Lonerunner’s terms. I did manage to complete 16k though without having to do endless loops around our neighborhood. I ran a total of 55km this week, my most ever!

I also found out this day that the Clark Marathon was rescheduled to December. I actually welcomed this news since the marathons will be spaced out enough and I wouldn’t have to choose one over another. The weather should also be perfect by then. I could actually consider joining 2 marathons this year!

And yesterday, I ran for the first time ever on a track at the Bren Guiao Sports Complex in Pampanga. My schedule doesn’t allow me to attend track training at ULTRA and I’ve stayed away from speed sessions since I always felt that I’d end up with injuries every time I attempted them. I tried out the interval workout on my Runner’s World training program and I even ran faster than the suggested pace. I ended with my legs feeling ok and not too sore.

Bren Z. Guiao Sports Complex in San Fernando, Pampanga

All in all, a pretty good week for me. Now, I just need to figure out how to squeeze in my runs during the coming holidays.

Oops I Did It Again!

When is a 30km run not a 30km run? When it’s measured by Nike+, of course!

I just had to revisit my long run route 2 weeks ago to check if my Nike+ 30.6km distance at that time was accurate. I ran the exact same route (except for a very short portion 2 weeks ago where I made a wrong turn – about a 300m deviation) and yesterday, my Garmin measured 29km. Nike+ displayed 29.62km, exactly 1km shorter than 2 weeks ago. By the time I got back to the parade ground, I was so dog tired that I didn’t bother to run the extra 1km. The only difference I could think of was that I walked more last time, causing some overestimation of the distance on the Nike+.

My only saving grace was that I finished the course roughly 5 minutes faster than last time. Oh well, it’s roughly 12 weeks to go before Pasig, lots of time to train.

Cancer Warriors Foundation: Rotary Club of QC Circle Fun Run

Those of you who haven’t signed up for a race yet this Sunday may want to check this out, it’s for a good cause:

- Cancer Warriors Foundation Fun Run, to be held on Sunday, December 14, 6AM
- Race starts at SM Fairview and goes to San Jose, Bulacan
- Race distances are 15km and 7km

15km Prizes:
First Prize: 10 thousand pesos and an all-expense paid trip to the Taiwan full marathon
Second Prize: 7 thousand pesos
Thirsd Prize: 5 thousand pesos

7km Prizes:
First Prize: 7 thousand pesos
Second Prize: 5 thousand pesos
Third Prize: 3 thousand pesos

On site registration by 5AM, race starts at 6AM

For additional details, contact Bing Quite at 0928 969 8028 or 0916 512 2208

Daily Mile

What do you get when you combine your blog, Facebook and training log all together?

The answer: http://www.dailymile.com

It’s a social networking site + a training diary + blog all in one. I just signed up last week, and I’m still getting the hang of it. Check it out and add me up as a friend.

Running by the Seat of My Pants: Hitting the Big 3-0

As you may have guessed about me from some of my previous posts, I like my running gadgets and the data they generate.  I meticulously record how far and how fast I ran, the time and temperature during the run, how hard my heart was pumping and for how long, and how fast or slow I ran every lap.  For every run, I record 3 measures of distance: the Garmin reading as uploaded to the Training Center, the Garmin reading as translated by Motion Based, and the Nike+ measurement.

However, as I turned on my Garmin yesterday for my long run, I was aghast to see a “Low Battery” warning.  I had forgotten to charge my unit after 3 runs and approximately  3 1/2 hours of use the past week.  Two minutes into my run, the Garmin was completely dead.  Good thing I had my Nike+ Ipod kit as back-up though I don’t really use it to listen to music- I just kept this in the pouch at my back, where access is pretty difficult. 

For the first time, I had to run “blind”.  I didn’t know how far or how long I’d run, much less what pace I was doing.  I’m not like those elite runners that know exactly what pace they’re running though they’d wear only a basic stopwatch.  Some would call this a liberating experience but not for a data junkie like me.  It’s a good thing I planned my route beforehand and I knew the distance of the 2 loops I’d do around Clark.

The first loop was 17+ km that involved running from Clark Expo to the ruins from kilometers 9 to 13.  This was my 3rd attempt at running this section and I finally succeeded in running the whole stretch without walking!  At km.17, I paused at the car to refill my water bottles and eat 2 fig newtons.  Loop 2 was the opposite direction of loop 1, except that I didn’t go up and down the Clearwater resort road this time.  My legs were pretty sore towards the end and I ran-walked a good part.  The total distance of loop 2 is 12+ km. I was back at the parade ground when I finally stopped the Ipod and ended my run.  The Ipod reading showed a total distance of 30.6km, my first 30km run ever!