Missing runs this December

Happy December!

Yes, its the Christmas season once again, as always, being in retail industry does not merit me the full-happiness of the season.  December, while all my programs are already rolled-out, is crucial for planning for next year's program.  While planning is one of my best skill, getting it tuned along with other groups is what keeps me on my toes.  Also, business reviews a-plenty for the month.

As for my running, yes, I haven’t ran for the whole week!  While I planned to do it in Palawan, the hefty meals and beer that I had during my stay there made me lazy to wake up in the morning to do my run.  I really was in my worst eating condition there - and I can't blame myself, suppliers kept on feeding us!

I got home Saturday evening, which left me tired enough not to be able to run Sunday morning.  A little trip to the mall and a bit long sleep in the afternoon.  Came Monday morning, I was awake but decided to snooze.  I woke up 6am with no more time to run.  

So it is today, Tuesday that I managed to run.  Now I have come to use my Polar F6.  I set it under moderate 70%-80% exercise for a start.  While it was good for the first 500 meters or so, it was really a slow jog.  I increased speed a bit uphill and it jumped to 90%.  I relaxed down-hill and settled at 87%.  From there I maintained the pace until I get to km 3.

Seeing that I'm at a 6:30 pace, I increased speed.  HRM showed around 91% - I believe this is my 6:00 pace or faster.  I could maintain it at that level.

So it is there that I was able to finish 5km under 33 minutes.  I planned to use my Soleus together with the Polar to co-relate my pace and HR.  But I couldn't get my Soleus in the room anymore as Charlie was about to wake up.  For a more accurate reading, i'll use them both next run.

As for a race this month, negative.  There aren't that much running event available, and with my current condition, I don't think I can do a new PR - and that would devastate me. So for now, no more beer and controlled eating habits; those plus cold mornings will equate to extended sleeping hours and missed runs this December.  Lesson learned.

Down with the colds -- again!

Work's about to end today, but this time I'm not excited to wake up in the morning - I have the colds, add it up with sore-throat, equals a non-running week!  yeah, no treat this weekend as I'll be in Palawan for our store opening.  Talk about wasting a very nice long weekend to run! :(

I already have my "sort of" new Polar F6 HRM, it arrived yesterday.  "sort of" as when I receive the package, it looks old and used!  Talk about being cheap, I get what I pay for, hehe!  But the good thing is that its working.  I got to test it while having dinner last night.

Looks like it will have to wait until Sunday.  Hopefully my water therapy day today, plus tomorrow will make me recover fast, oh and yes, i'll be having some diphenhydramine and paracetamol, just to be sure.

I may have to blame my "over-excited" weekend run, I did a long run and added speed training on consecutive days.  I really should not be doing that.  Lesson learned again. :(

Although this allowed me to read about running (same with what I did when I had the flu when I read Born to Run book in 2 or 3 days, hehe!).  I had the opportunity to read through most pages of the ebook "The Ultimate Marathon Ebook" and found some interesting read:

Stretching is not really required prior to training
This is crucial as I am a morning runner.  I allot 10-15 minutes to crap do minor stretching before heading out the door to run.  Must do - go out and do slow jogs and small bursts to wake up the muscles and let the blood circulate.

Its not necessary to always aim for time in training
In most morning runs, I try to beat 6 minutes for every kilometer I run (1st kilometer is easy run, and I make up for it on the next kilometers).  This limits my run to 30 minutes each morning to 5k.  Sometimes I go 8k and not worry about the time.  Must do - Do the warm up (slow jogs + small bursts) on the first .5k or 5 minutes then do the sessions accordingly.  This would give me a higher gain from the session.

Eating prior to running
As a morning runner, I don't usually eat before I run.  I am doing it now - being able to run in morning without eating something as our body has enough stores to give us around 2 hours of running activity (depending on the intensity and how fit you are)  I would like to  think that I am in the 45 minutes-store person?  Anyway, my morning session is around 45 to 60 minutes (including warm up and cool down), so I guess I'm doing ok.  Not eating before running is also helpful as it trains my body to burn fats better.  

Gel training
Since our body can only store around 2 hours (in my case 45 minutes) of stores, Energy gels come into play.  I already have my GU gel with me, although I am saving it for a race.  Must do - try it out during my practice run and see how my body react to it.  Our digestive system acts differently when we're running, so its a must to train it to digest gels properly for it to be used efficiently.  And yes, don't drink Gatorade/Powerade together with energy gels - that will give you side stitch as occured.

There are quite a few reads from the book, but I think I want to focus it here for now.  I knew it that there's always a silver lining, you just have to learn to look for it.

Running the 5k:30mins mark with the Minimus

I've ran three 5k runs with my Minimus now, my times as follows:

• Nov 16 - 30'26
• Nov 18 - 30'19
• Nov 20 - 30'02

While I have been improving in my finish times, its getting harder each time I do it.  I don't know if its the shoes, that I'm adjusting to running in the correct way now, or if its the stress in the office that's eating me up.

Yes, had to mention the office - so far this is the worst season for me (this was as of yesterday, got a change of mood today)

I have this pumped-up feeling in my calves after each run with this shoes.  I don't think I had this when i was using the old Adidas shoe.  But I do notice my calves bulging now.  I wonder how many more running days for me to adjust so I can increase mileage?

Its good though that I'm improving my time during practice runs.  It has been true for me that my usual per km practice runs of 6'20 - 6'30 yields me 5'50 - 6'00 on actual race runs.  For the next practice runs, i'll increase mileage while maintaining the same pace - hopefully if I get the 8km distance at the same 6'00 pace, I can be able to finish a 10k race with 58 mins.

To translate this with my "supposed" 21k training plan:

Clearly not as I hoped it would be. :)

My debut 21k might have to be moved next year.  I may have to focus on finishing 10k faster for the remaining months this 2012.  Plus, my face is getting too thin perhaps from trying too hard.  Although my weight now is 128 lbs, higher by 3 lbs from my usual 125 lbs.   Its weird, right?  Then again, I prefer to be healthy inside, rather than to look good outside.

First run with the Minimus Road Zero

My morning run was supposed to be just to break-in my new Minimus Road Zero shoes, as well as to recover from my weekend 10k race.  As it turned out, I was running with an added thought that is so far away from running.  It just feels good that I have a clear mind to think about important issues.

Anyway, just to document the new shoes performance -

• Running feels awkward as my heels now touch the road differently
• Feeling that my arch was being torn up
• My calves feel pumped
• I feel rocks and bumps more now

Its true that wearing minimalist shoe will change the way you run.  I found out that I supinate while running, so I got to adjust to land in the ball of the foot.

It was a good, relaxed run.  Only went 4km though, as it says to take it easy on the first few tries to avoid injury.  Hopefully after this weekend run I can have a better feel of the new New Balance Minimus Road Zero.

New Balance Powerrun 2012 - perfect!

11/11 - all these ones will have to be added another 1 - one hour that is for my 10k run!  Yes! my Soleus GPS finally gave me 60 minutes for 10k distance (or 59:58 to be more accurate, haha!)  I was looking at my watch as it was reaching 10k, and for that I did not focus on the finish line ahead (total distance that appeared was 10.43k)

Here's a breakdown of the per km pace with a short description of what I was thinking about per km (good thing I didn't fiddle with the watch now):

1km - 5'48 - was almost in the front of the pack, smooth start
2km - 5'31
3km - 5'57 - 1st 3k k I was running with Solenn, she's fast
4km - 6'08 - she slowed down, I slowed down but still went ahead of her
5km - 6'00 - ate a little Honeystinger gel
6km - 6'19
7km - 5'53 - had to increase pace to compensate previous 3k
8km - 5'55
9km - 5'54 - ate a little Honeystinger gel w/ powerade (is this the culprit?)
10km - 6'36 - had the side-stitch in the middle of 9k, but still went for it
.43km - 2'44

It was amazing how I can manage to run like that for the duration, pre-race preps as follows:

1. 1 bowl monggo porridge
2. 2 breads with Cheese
3. 1/4 Honeystinger gel with a sip of Gatorade

I also had enough time to do my pre-race rituals this time.  Its a good thing Roxas Boulevard was not closed that morning.

It was hard to believe that I managed to run within 60 minutes for 10k!  As the usual pace i have during practice runs is above 6 mins per km.  I guess my speed training did bear its fruit.  Also the hydration and fuel I had before and during my run probably helped a bit.

Running at the pace I feel my feet was in the process of getting blisters; and I feel its because of the pace, I was wearing the thin Nike socks with my usual Adidas running shoes.  Everything was constant except for the pace.

Strides were managed when I notice it and when I'm feeling tired, and it was evident that I run better on correct strides (1-3km; 7-8km).

It was meant for me - XS! :)

Secondly, I won the raffle!  Yes, hard to believe as I'm not lucky on this area, but my bib number was called.  Its a New Balance shirt worth P2,195 - not bad at all.  Although my prizes was called in between a Timex watch and a Devant LCD TV.  A little more luck and I could've won one of those, haha!  But I'm still thankful.

Immediately after the run, i felt blisters in my feet.  Actually during the run itself, its imminent, but I still went for it.  Today, I feel it more in my leather office shoes.  Anyway, yesterday we went out, and my wife bought me a set of new New Balance Minimus Road Zero.  At last, I got them.  It indeed was a long time to get them, but its good as I get to buy them at a discount (There are a few new Minimus designs coming out now.  I found the blue/silver ones is now out, but with a P500 price difference, I just went with the red.  Awesome fit, its the same size as I buy my regular shoes, and looks like it really could be worn without socks.  But since I'm feeling blisters right now, I might still wear socks - just have to buy the right one.

Knowing that I won a good shirt, deciding to buy was easier.

Didn't arrive late for the race, getting a new personal best, winning the raffle, getting a dedicated running shoe, I would say that the New Balance Powerrun 2012 was a perfect run for me.  This just makes me want to go out and train again for the next run. :)