Welcome September! Welcome new running goals!

Its been a very toxic August for me, and now that its over, time to organize my thoughts to prepare for better months ahead!

Gotta love family time!

Back to running

It feels good to be sore!  Yeah, sounds weird, but I'm enjoying the feeling of soreness in my calves today.  This after a come-back 10-miler I did yesterday after 8 days off.  After the weekend getaway with the family I had the head cold and my body just feels beaten up.  The toxic week of our company sports-fest preparation didn’t help either.  It was just a week of stress and fatigue.

New shoes

Yes, the week of preparation and stressful schedule translated to my shoes catching a hole.  I wished it would be my running shoes, as it already passed the 500-mileage, but it was my office shoes that got replaced.  I’ve only been in this company for 2 years and I already changed my work shoes 3 times now.  Well, I get what I pay for, so this time I got hold of a sturdier (and more expensive) shoes – yes, I’m too cheap to pay for better shoes now compared to when I was a lot younger.  I guess its part of “senior moments” now.

What about the new running shoes?

Well, I seem to be fixated on the Saucony Virrata now.  I tried searching for that brand yesterday after I bought my office shoes, just to see if I can secretly buy it, but it was not just present in Robinsons Galleria! L  It would have to wait for a while until I can get to better running stores, or when the New Balance Run registration will be up (Free registration when you buy NB shoes!)  I’m looking at the new Minimus 10v2, this new version seems to be a lot better than the first version I have now.  Yesterday’s run I could felt hot spots again, and if I went up a few kilometers more, I know blisters will come in next.

The plan

Now that its back to usual work load, its gonna be a come-back to running.  Yesterday’s 16k run, I was exhausted in the last 2km.  I’m guessing it’s the dehydration from the week plus the head cold that I was slightly in to that day.  My usual training plan resumes two days from now.

This year will not have special cut-off time prizes

Next race would be the Rexona Run 2013 on October 20.  Basically its still 1.5 months training for this, so I’m going for it.  Next would be the 25k New Balance Run as my birthday race on November 10.  Both runs I’ve ran the previous years, but at a lower distance.

The goal

For a time my goal for my next HM would be to gun it at sub-2.  But it seems I’d rather get a goal of finishing it with EASE.  First HM I was able to meet my 6min/km pace, but the last 2 km was a disaster, and I didn’t enjoy it at the time, and for me its more important to ENJOY.  It will also somehow eliminate the “burden” of the requirement to run a specific time, or a specific distance on trainings.  Not that I’ll slack on trainings, but at least I’ll be able to do those timed and measured runs as the body sees fit at the time.

Overall it feels great to be able to plan all this.  I’m excited again for the weekends to come, and looking forward to my morning runs.  Its September – the “ber” months is a time to be excited for my birthday and Christmas, its good to have another passion worth waiting for in running.

Beat myself up just to get the cut-off

Got this keychain from beating 30-minute cut-off for 5k

Out of time? Make time!

Time constraints - I haven’t been able to blog that often lately with marketing works overflowing in prep for the season (only thing I hate the BER months).  Good thing that I am still able to run adequately.  Adequately – because I do reach the 20k+ weekly kilometers to sustain my level, but is not done intelligently.  I do that in two runs – intervals and long runs.  However, even with that meager training plan, I still managed to meet my target time for my first HM.

Yes, I reached it, but I was really beat up, wasted on the last 2 kilometers of the race.  That shouldn’t have happened if I trained accordingly.  That’s the kind of output that I always avoided, remember the free race entry I got for the Skyway run?  I knew that I was not ready for it, so I did not push it.

There is a boom in the running community.  In the recent Milo Marathon, there was a strong 4,000+ registrants for the 21k category, this, considering that there is a cut-off time of 2.5 hours.  Gun time, there was 1,600 who made it to cut-off, the rest of the 2,400+ runners?  I don’t want to drill down on statistics as its past the cut-off, so it doesn’t matter anymore.  My point, it is amazing how everyone just signs up for a half-marathon with a strict cut-off time set in a whim.

I’m don’t have anything against those 2,400+ runners who didn’t make it, I believe that some of them really exerted effort to train for it, but there is close to 50% of the total runners who timed at 2 hours and 40 minutes up to even 4 hours to finish.  I think 10 minutes over the cut-off is a little too far to “see” if you can make it.

Again, I think running for a half-marathon is still way better, than not running at all.  I believe that running is a social thing for some as well; and the notion applies – it is not the destination, but the journey.

I’m just pointing out, that my experience with the Milo Marathon is a very humbling one, and it is there that I saw that many fast runners, doing their best to qualify for the finals.  I believe that the Milo event should be run by runners who invested and sacrificed time better than others.  Of course there’s also the issue of running safe and avoiding injuries.

There are quite some deliberations about wearing finisher’s shirts during trainings, races or even casually.  Others find it as yabang (show-off) and others say that it’s only right to be proud of being a finisher.  My take – whatever rocks your boat, baby!  But if I’ll wear one, I’ll make sure to write my time in it, even invest in a printing service to make it more presentable.  That way, whoever sees it, will have to be faster than that before saying something.  I'm only joking, of course.

My time in the Milo HM is 2:10, doesn’t matter if there’s an extra 500 meters into it, but my place is at 564^th place over 3,448 listed in the result.  And I’m proud of my accomplished time, and while I will not brag about it to just about anyone, I will be proud to talk about my 21k race and my journey towards it – all the invested time and sacrifices (and pain) that it took me to have the guts to be there on actual race day.

So if anyone asks me, yes, invest time in training, before signing up whatever distance.  You’re having time constraints?  Then adjust, there will always be a race next time.  And if you can, try to be at par.  It’s a lot more meaningful if you finish in that fashion.

Hitting the mark! First HM at 37th Milo Marathon

July 28, 2013, Sunday, MOA grounds, 4,000-21k runners, 2.5 hours cut-off time / 2:10 target time - that’s what it was all about.  At the starting line, thinking about if all the trainings I’ve made was enough to make it to my desired pace, and if my performance would be a bit better than the crowd (it’s still a race, anyway).

I made it to the staging area 30-minutes ahead of gun start, I wanted to start right and do my pre-race warm up this time, unlike my previous, shorter races.  I applied the techniques I learned from our first running clinic, so I guess I’m better warmed up than I usually am this time.

Gun start exactly at 4:30 a.m., I seem to pass by the starting line 30-seconds behind it.  Still with a flock of runners, I dodged some of them, but there were also a lot that passed me.

MILO Marathon runners are very much competitive than most races I ran

First few kilometers felt heavy.  I had to take a pit stop by km 4 for a bladder break - I felt the need to go.  After that, it felt better.

Km 6 to 18 went fine and well-paced under the 6-minute/km mark.  Time was well managed to accommodate some water stops.  At my previous races, by mid-part, I pass by runners already.  But for this run, it was very rare that I pass on runners, they’re pretty much consistent.

MILO Marathon runners are consistent and fast.

It was after the last water break on km 19, starting from the last flyover where I felt tired.  And the pain from the blisters under the balls of my feet was biting me.  I was heel-striking at one time just to make time.  That and I just felt tired.

There was a fire-truck there that sprayed on water on us.  The splash felt good!  And I had that 2^nd burst.  But running got heavy as my shoes got heavy.  But blisters felt good.

At the exact 21km mark in my Soleus, I was at the 2:06 pace that I was aiming for.  Unfortunately, as with all the races, the finish line was a bit farther.  Distance was 21.6km, and I finished at 2:09:xx (chip and Soleus time) – still got to maintain the 6-min/km pace.

The race, despite the 13,000-5k runners, was well-organized.  I couldn’t imagine the same finish line for that number.  Good thing that they’re route and finish lines were different from other distances.  Hydration stations were plenty - you have a choice of Gatorade or water.  Bananas were also on route, as with sponges.

Upon finishing, loot bag, banana, medal and certificate of completion were given outright.  I only had to fall in line for a short while for the water and Gatorade bottles.  There were lots of comments in the post-race discussion that they were not given medals, even if they were only a few minutes off the cut-off time.  Good job, Milo!

Considering the very competitive entry-fee, there was nothing much after the race.  There was a program for a school cheer-leading competition, and some raffles, but I didn’t stay for it.

Future plans

Now that I finished my first HM, I’m now in the rest and recovery period.  Good thing the running clinic offers different contents.  Just this Monday, we got to do some cross-fit training.  My core muscles are sore now, and it’s the same with my legs.  I might do a short easy run tomorrow, and a little long on the weekend, just to keep it going, but no hard work-outs.

September’s the RUPM, and December’s the final leg of the Milo Marathon.  I’ll find it in my heart to train again, possibly by next week.  Between the two, I find the Milo Marathon to be a better race to participate – both in costs and quality.

I also plan to get a new pair of cushioned running shoes as my NB Zero is on its way to its 400-mile usage now.  I will try to find a low heel-to-toe ratio that goes with the cushion.  This was what our coach shared with us that flats are good for racing and speed as its light, but for long distance, we may need the cushion and support.  I will not rush into this, might do a little more research.

Overall, I’m all in to race 21k again.  Will also train for endurance, the wall that almost hit me on the final kilometers of the race eaten up the allowance I made.  I won’t improve PR if it happens again.  

Official result below

There were a small number of photogs during the event, glad that I have seen pretty much all posts where I was caught.

Updated my run collage as well (getting longer as long as I get caught in camera)

Quality over quantity – prepping for the Milo HM

There is a notion that more isn’t necessarily better, quality counts too.  This applies differently on different aspects, although I don’t know if this counts to running, as I have heard and read some discussions taking on each side.

On the left, we have building the base – run as more miles as you can (responsibly, of course) to build running base and cardio.  I won’t mention the “base” distance as it differs from source to source, and have considerations as to the target race distance is.  I agree to this as in any distance to run, there is a need to prepare the body, but the cons of this is time (at least for me where I’m juggling family and work)

On the right, we have the quality of the runs – intervals, hills, recovery and long runs to improve running efficiency.  Again this differs as to the capability of each runner.  This is more applicable for me where I can maximize the time I have for running by targeting specific goals in each runs.

My training route is and will always be the same – asphalt road, two bridges, one slightly upwards climb and down again, sun shine hits directly 50% of the route, the half is under shades of houses, humidity and temperature varies (very much over a week).  For the past year-and-a-half, this is where I juggle my long runs and weekday morning runs.

I still run the route, although not as much as I previously do – 3 weekday morning 5ks and a long 10k run on weekends.  On the previous weeks I just run 1 weekday morning 5k and a long 15k run on weekends.  But the difference is that I do the weekday morning 5k on either speed runs, intervals or hills.  And the weekend long run on a relatively faster pace and with some insertions on hill sprints and intervals.  It’s the recovery weekday runs that I don’t get to do.

With work and number coding getting in the way, it seems that I will continue to go on this training path, most especially since I feel an improvement in my runs.  Although I do get these pains in the Achilles and arch sometimes but its part of improving, I guess.

There’s still a couple of “possible” weekday runs and one weekend long run before the Milo HM.  And I’m gonna ease up in running those remaining days.  I’m planning to hit a conservative 2:10, a debatable 2:08 or an impossible 2:06 for my first HM.  I’m really stoked on this.  Hopefully I won’t get that early adrenaline drop.  But I’m pretty sure with the way I’m doing now, whatever time I get, I’ll be more than ever be hooked in running.

My first (paid) HM – going for 21k in the Milo marathon

This morning I didn’t think, I just clicked – registered for the HM for the Milo Marathon this July 28 at the MOA.

Why am I stressing this?  For every planning I make on doing the 21k, I keep on having these considerations such as “I have a store opening on this province” or “I will be attending an event on this weekend” or “I wouldn’t have time to do a series of runs due to rainy season” and on and on.  While July 28 is the birthday of my sister – I’ll just attend to both no matter what happens.  And that’s a period.

Also, I have been seeing a lot of 21k and 32k runners that aren’t really that prepared for it.  I’m not against them nor do I condemn those finishers who walked it just to get a medal (‘nuff said, I talk too much).  But I’m sure that I already done enough that I can run a 21k at my planned pace.

Also, the race fee is very much attractive, compared to most 21k runs.

If all scheduled runs will fall as planned, I have the following at hand:

June 9 – RUPM2 – 10k (sponsored, done)

June 16 – Petron Safety Run – 10k (sponsored, but do not have the kit yet)

June 30 – RSC Fit and Fun Buddy Run – 10k (waiting for the lottery result)

July 7 – Adidas KOTR – 16.8k (waiting for sponsorship or if I can manage to pay 1,300)

July 28 – MILO – 21k (paid)

It is a busy running season this mid-year.  The RUPM2 10k run awaken my running passion, thanks to the errors I made in it.  Yesterday’s Independence Day training run I managed to run 10k:1hour.  And I felt really good in that run, even without using a gel.  (I just ate Nutella as to fill up my tank that morning).

I’m now focused on my running again – would be hydrating and training to run faster and longer.  The 10k races would be my pre-race gauge to check how I’m doing.  Hopefully I can be able to sustain this focus – go for the 2:03 21k!