Like what I wrote in my last post, I think one of the signs that I have improved as a runner is the fact that I am now running distances in regular training that would only run before in fun runs with all the fun fare. My regular training for the last two weeks was all about that.
Royson, Imye and I resumed our regular twice-a-week maintenance run but this time we added LSD runs during the weekends. This is part of our (more serious) training for the TBR Dream Marathon and for the 7 Eleven run. We also tried a new faster pace. I have been used to running 2:1 slow for so long that I was surprised that I was able to keep up when we decided to run 3:1 moderately fast pace. Wow! With the 3:1 run-walk pace, our average pace ranges from 8:30 to 10:30 per kilometer. Nice! Applying what I've learned from the TBR training, I found it also comfortable to run a faster speed using short strides and an increased cadence.
Last January 10, the group ran 16k around MOA! The last time I ran 16k was during the Bull Session at Nuvali. That was the farthest distance I have ran so far. But wait... there's more... by the following Sunday (Jan 12) at Diliman, we ran 18k using the same 3:1 moderately fast pace. We deserved medals for those two run. Haha. My (R) hamstring, (L) gastrocs and the soles of (B) my feet were the sites of aches and pains but aside from those, I felt fine. We celebrated by eating corn on a cob and having our feet massaged. That was a nice reward.
This week, we ran twice at MOA just for an hour each. We tried a 3:1 fast pace on the first day and a 4:1 moderately fast pace on the second. We finished 6.8 km for 3:1 fast and 6.5 km for 4:1 mod fast. I am more comfortable with the 3:1 pace. That's what we will use for the 7 eleven half marathon tomorrow which we will consider our LSD for the week.
After running my first 21 km, the goal is to run 30 km two weeks before the big marathon day!
I feel I am now transitioning as a runner. I am slowly leaving behind my newbie self.
We no longer need medals or loot bags to encourage us to run. The goals are different now. I am different now.
Showing posts with label marathon training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon training. Show all posts
Saturday, January 18, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
a running start
I really felt guilty for not being able to run on the last week of 2013 because I was on a road trip with my friends. Guilty and envious. Haha. Most of my bull runner batchmates, in our facebook page, are posting about how they are sticking to the program. A lot of them are regularly doing (very) long slow runs with some already reaching the 30k-mark. Wow! I have a lot of catching up to. That is why, last week I ran for four consecutive days. Hehe. Not sure if that's healthy but I had no pains after so I'm still glad I did it. I experimented on different paces to determine the ideal one to use in future long runs.
Day 1
Last Thurs, January 2, I went for a 7km-run from our condo to Luneta park and back. I did several rounds around the Quirino Grandstand using my usual 2:1 slow run-walk pace. I was hoping to finish 10 km but my nose got irritated by the dust from the construction nearby so I left early. It was a really a slow run. My average pace was 12.55 min per km. Boo! The holidays really got to me.
Last Thurs, January 2, I went for a 7km-run from our condo to Luneta park and back. I did several rounds around the Quirino Grandstand using my usual 2:1 slow run-walk pace. I was hoping to finish 10 km but my nose got irritated by the dust from the construction nearby so I left early. It was a really a slow run. My average pace was 12.55 min per km. Boo! The holidays really got to me.
only 7km in 91 mins, oh no!
Day 2
The following day, I ran again, this time, at the Mall of Asia with Royson. Imye was supposed to come along to practice for the 7-eleven half-marathon she also signed up for but she got sick that day. It was Royson's first long run after a long time. Haha. Again, we used the 2:1 slow run-walk pace and finished 10 km in 2 hours and 2 minutes! That's roughly 12 min per km. Hmmm... that is still toooooo sloooooow! With an average pace like that we will not be able to finish 21 km in 4 hours, the cut-off for the 7-eleven run and our target time for the first half of the TBR dream marathon. We need an average pace of 10 min per km to reach our target time so we decided to run again on Sunday and try out a 3:1 slow pace.
The following day, I ran again, this time, at the Mall of Asia with Royson. Imye was supposed to come along to practice for the 7-eleven half-marathon she also signed up for but she got sick that day. It was Royson's first long run after a long time. Haha. Again, we used the 2:1 slow run-walk pace and finished 10 km in 2 hours and 2 minutes! That's roughly 12 min per km. Hmmm... that is still toooooo sloooooow! With an average pace like that we will not be able to finish 21 km in 4 hours, the cut-off for the 7-eleven run and our target time for the first half of the TBR dream marathon. We need an average pace of 10 min per km to reach our target time so we decided to run again on Sunday and try out a 3:1 slow pace.
will never reach the cut-off time at this rate
Day 3
I couldn't wait for Sunday to try out the pace. Haha. The following day, I did a maintenance run back at the Quirino Graandstand. Fortunately, it was no longer as dusty as the other day. I ran for 47 minutes and finished 4.21 km using a slow 3:1 pace. My average pace was 11 min per km. Yey! It was still more than 10 minutes but with this average pace, we can already make it to the cut-off time. :)
around the grand stand, faster this time
Day 4
We were thinking of joining of a fun run at Diliman that Sunday but on the last minute, we decided to back out and just run. Dom and I met Royson at Welcome rotonda; and the three of us met up with Imye and her cousin, Herald at Philcoa. We got to Diliman a little past 5 AM. It was good that we decided not to join the fun run. They haven't started the fun run by the time we got there. They moved the gun start to 6AM. By that time, we were already done with at least two rounds around the academic oval.
We used the 3:1 slow pace. After a few minutes, Herald and Dom went ahead of us using a different pace. The plan was to do five rounds around the academic oval and then assess if we can run some more. We were comfortable with the pace and soon we were lost in our merry conversation.
Royson and I were wearing our TBR training shirt. By the end of our first round, we were greeted by a lot of our TBR batchmates who were also there with their own running groups. Hmmm... let's see if I can recall the TBR batchmates that we've met. First, we were greeted by a big group of runners who were on their 2nd day of LSD in Diliman. I'm assuming that was the 4:1 running group of Dexter et al. We met a father with his son who was part of the fun run. He was pacing his son during the race. Alice, one of the people I've met during the bull session in Nuvali, ran with us for a while. She said she was comfortable with our slow pace. We chatted while we ran. She was the one who actually told us about Dexter's group. After one round, we went our separate ways. We met a couple both in TBR uniform; a lady running with two older gentlemen; a serious solo runner; and blogger Jema with the Singapore team. I have to say, the academic oval was full of TBR dreamers. Everyone greeted everyone. It's a very supportive community I'm lucky to be part of. We actually convinced Dom and Imye to join the next TBR. Hehe.
After 5 rounds and a few meters, we decided to stop. We ran 11.5 km in 2 hours and 10 minutes. Our average pace was 11 min and 22 sec per km. Not bad! With that pace we can already cross the 21 km mark in 4 hours. Yey! We just need to maintain the pace.
After eating breakfast at Maginhawa St., we went home happy and satisfied.
We were thinking of joining of a fun run at Diliman that Sunday but on the last minute, we decided to back out and just run. Dom and I met Royson at Welcome rotonda; and the three of us met up with Imye and her cousin, Herald at Philcoa. We got to Diliman a little past 5 AM. It was good that we decided not to join the fun run. They haven't started the fun run by the time we got there. They moved the gun start to 6AM. By that time, we were already done with at least two rounds around the academic oval.
We used the 3:1 slow pace. After a few minutes, Herald and Dom went ahead of us using a different pace. The plan was to do five rounds around the academic oval and then assess if we can run some more. We were comfortable with the pace and soon we were lost in our merry conversation.
Royson and I were wearing our TBR training shirt. By the end of our first round, we were greeted by a lot of our TBR batchmates who were also there with their own running groups. Hmmm... let's see if I can recall the TBR batchmates that we've met. First, we were greeted by a big group of runners who were on their 2nd day of LSD in Diliman. I'm assuming that was the 4:1 running group of Dexter et al. We met a father with his son who was part of the fun run. He was pacing his son during the race. Alice, one of the people I've met during the bull session in Nuvali, ran with us for a while. She said she was comfortable with our slow pace. We chatted while we ran. She was the one who actually told us about Dexter's group. After one round, we went our separate ways. We met a couple both in TBR uniform; a lady running with two older gentlemen; a serious solo runner; and blogger Jema with the Singapore team. I have to say, the academic oval was full of TBR dreamers. Everyone greeted everyone. It's a very supportive community I'm lucky to be part of. We actually convinced Dom and Imye to join the next TBR. Hehe.
After 5 rounds and a few meters, we decided to stop. We ran 11.5 km in 2 hours and 10 minutes. Our average pace was 11 min and 22 sec per km. Not bad! With that pace we can already cross the 21 km mark in 4 hours. Yey! We just need to maintain the pace.
After eating breakfast at Maginhawa St., we went home happy and satisfied.
with Royson, Dom, Imye and Herald at UP Diliman
I am proud of myself for starting the year right. It's funny to think that before, for us to run 10 km, it has to be in a fun run with all it's trappings (medal, finisher's cert, loot bag, singlet, etc). But now, 10 km is just part of our regular training. Haha. I love thinking about these little signs of improvement. Definitely, after almost a year of running, we have gone a long way. Pun intended. :)
Saturday, January 4, 2014
spirit of the marathon [documentary]
One of the good things of being part of the Bull Runner community is the sharing of information. The following youtube link was shared over our TBR batch facebook group.
It is a documentary by Jon Dunham in 2007 entitled "Spirit of the Marathon". It follows the lives of six people as they train for the Chicago Marathon.
Preparing for a marathon myself, I could not help but be emotional as I watched the film. By the end, I was already crying and laughing at the same time. Yes, I am crazy. Haha.
It is a documentary by Jon Dunham in 2007 entitled "Spirit of the Marathon". It follows the lives of six people as they train for the Chicago Marathon.
Preparing for a marathon myself, I could not help but be emotional as I watched the film. By the end, I was already crying and laughing at the same time. Yes, I am crazy. Haha.
If you are an aspiring marathoner, watch this film and see how it will affect you.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
1st back-to-back [run] part 1: bull session at nuvali
As part of the bull university training for the TBR Dream Marathon on February, the TBR team organized several long slow runs for the TBR dreamers called Bull Sessions. The runs were progressive in nature in terms of time and distance, and well-spaced in between the start of the training and marathon itself. I have missed the first two bull sessions but I was able to join the third one in BGC. Running with the TBR community is a wonderful experience. I got to talk to the other dreamers and got inspired by their stories. I also learned a lot for the pacers and the coaches. That particular bull session was also special because it was converted to One Run: walk/run for the victims of typhoon yolanda (Teachincally, my 7th fun run!). Donations in cash and kind were collected during the event. We got to train and help people at the same time. That is why I promised myself that I would not miss the December bull session set in Nuvali, the actual course of the marathon.
Early this year, Royson, Edward and I were invited by Honorable Lyle to participate in a 42k relay in Tarlac he was organizing. Hon. Lyle is a friend from college and a veteran runner. He was actually one of the people who encouraged us to join TBR and run our first marathon. We said yes to Hon. Lyle to join the 42k relay without consulting our schedule. It turns out, the 42k relay in Tarlac was the day after the Bull Session in Nuvali. Yikes! We couldn't choose which run to prioritize so we decided to run both. Crazy idea! Later on I read in a running blog that running on tired leg is part of a marathoner's training. Running two days back-to-back was not a crazy idea after all. We realized that this would give us the opportunity to feel what it's like running the latter part of the marathon when all your muscles are already tires and aching.
Near the race day, Royson begged off because he had to fly to Bacolod for a speaking engagement. He was replaced by Chris, a fellow TBR dreamer, for the 42k relay. Chris lives in Dasmarinas, Cavite. Since we would be using their van to transport us to Nuvali and later on to Tarlac, we decided to stay over their house in Cavite the night before the Nuvali run. We left their house at 3AM and arrived at Nuvali a little after 4AM.
By 4:30 Coach Lit assembled the group for briefing and then we were off. During the last bull session I was part of the 1:1 run-walk group. This time I joined the big 2:1 group. Quickly, I found myself at the trail end of the group. I couldn't keep up with the rest. No matter, it was still an improvement and by the first hour I got into my groove.
Nuvali is such a challenging route. I had difficulty with the all the uphill runs and uphill/downhill turns. But the place was so peaceful and quiet. It was also well lit. I had no use for the hand-held flashlight that I bought. It's good that I go to experience Nuvali now. I know what to expect come race day.
By the second hour, I was completely separated from the 2:1 pack. All I can see were the other 2:1 runners that, like me, were part of the group's trail end. I also lost all sense of direction. I was confident that by after 120 minutes we were running towards the starting area. Only when I got to the uphill loop at the end of the route did I realize that I we were running away from the starting area and still had to run back. Haha. Twice, I had to stop to stretch my left gastrocs. It was threatening to cramp on me. Fortunately, I got back to assembly area without incident after 3 hours. The group were already doing cool-down stretches. Edward and Chris were already there waiting for me.
According to the other dreamers we talked to, we ran a total of 16 km. Frankly, I thought we already hit the 20 km mark. All those uphill runs must have messed my judgement. Haha. We went back to Chris' house to rest for a while before traveling to Tarlac for the other run. Not-so-crazy idea. Haha.
The last bull session will happen in January. That will be the last time we get to practice in Nuvali before the marathon. Next time I'll be more ready. :)
during the 3rd Bull Session at BGC
(photo credit: Photo-Ops)
running with the 1:1 pace group
(photo credit: Photo-Ops)
Early this year, Royson, Edward and I were invited by Honorable Lyle to participate in a 42k relay in Tarlac he was organizing. Hon. Lyle is a friend from college and a veteran runner. He was actually one of the people who encouraged us to join TBR and run our first marathon. We said yes to Hon. Lyle to join the 42k relay without consulting our schedule. It turns out, the 42k relay in Tarlac was the day after the Bull Session in Nuvali. Yikes! We couldn't choose which run to prioritize so we decided to run both. Crazy idea! Later on I read in a running blog that running on tired leg is part of a marathoner's training. Running two days back-to-back was not a crazy idea after all. We realized that this would give us the opportunity to feel what it's like running the latter part of the marathon when all your muscles are already tires and aching.
The Busko Challenge organized by Hon. Lyle and his HS batch
(photo credit: Busko Challenge FB)
4th Bull Session Announcement
(photo credit: The Bull Runner)
By 4:30 Coach Lit assembled the group for briefing and then we were off. During the last bull session I was part of the 1:1 run-walk group. This time I joined the big 2:1 group. Quickly, I found myself at the trail end of the group. I couldn't keep up with the rest. No matter, it was still an improvement and by the first hour I got into my groove.
Nuvali is such a challenging route. I had difficulty with the all the uphill runs and uphill/downhill turns. But the place was so peaceful and quiet. It was also well lit. I had no use for the hand-held flashlight that I bought. It's good that I go to experience Nuvali now. I know what to expect come race day.
By the second hour, I was completely separated from the 2:1 pack. All I can see were the other 2:1 runners that, like me, were part of the group's trail end. I also lost all sense of direction. I was confident that by after 120 minutes we were running towards the starting area. Only when I got to the uphill loop at the end of the route did I realize that I we were running away from the starting area and still had to run back. Haha. Twice, I had to stop to stretch my left gastrocs. It was threatening to cramp on me. Fortunately, I got back to assembly area without incident after 3 hours. The group were already doing cool-down stretches. Edward and Chris were already there waiting for me.
According to the other dreamers we talked to, we ran a total of 16 km. Frankly, I thought we already hit the 20 km mark. All those uphill runs must have messed my judgement. Haha. We went back to Chris' house to rest for a while before traveling to Tarlac for the other run. Not-so-crazy idea. Haha.
The last bull session will happen in January. That will be the last time we get to practice in Nuvali before the marathon. Next time I'll be more ready. :)
pace 2:1 doing a group wave for the camera
(photo credit: Photo-Ops)
gopher near the start of the wave line
(photo credit: Photo-Ops)
Sunday, December 8, 2013
getting back on track
Classic ningas kugon! After two blog entries, there was complete silence.
Due to an extremely busy schedule with work and graduate studies, my weekly jogs and occasional fun run participation, just like my blogging have taken a back seat.
I'm now back to my original weight (booo!) and I have lost some of the cardiovascular endurance I have gain (boooo again!).
But I'm now trying to get back on track. Here are a few things that I have been doing to gain what I have lost:
Expect more run stories soon!
Due to an extremely busy schedule with work and graduate studies, my weekly jogs and occasional fun run participation, just like my blogging have taken a back seat.
I'm now back to my original weight (booo!) and I have lost some of the cardiovascular endurance I have gain (boooo again!).
But I'm now trying to get back on track. Here are a few things that I have been doing to gain what I have lost:
- Two months ago, I've enrolled in a gym. I do the weights and all but my primary reason for joining is to use the cardio equipment. In the gym, I can still run even if the weather is bad.
- I've registered in next year's Bull Runner Dream Marathon. Yup! By February next year I will be running in a marathon! 42 kilometers Whew! So far, I've been (trying to be) faithful with the Bull University's training program and I have joined 1 bull session, that's a long slow run with the other TBR dreamers, and I plan to join the future sessions to get ready for the big day.
- I have a December full of weekend runs! Last week I joined the Nike We Run 10k fun run. Today, I just got home from the St. Luke's Run for Wellness 10k fun run. Next Saturday, I'll be joining another Bull Session. We will be running for 2 and half hours in Nuvali. This will be followed by a 42-k relay in Tarlac for the Busko Challenge. I am to run the first 14 km. I hope my legs don't fail me.
Expect more run stories soon!
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