Running Devices

New Garmin Forerunner 405 Coming This Year

2008-01-03T17:47:00.000-08:00

I posted this on my regular blog, but it looks like I need to start saving up my money for Garmin’s new Forerunner 405 GPS running watch when it comes out later this year.

I can't wait to get my hands on this sleek device and do a comparison review versus my current Forerunner 305, which seems gigantic in comparison.

It was a whole lot of fun doing a similar review of the just released Forerunner 205 versus the even clunkier Forerunner 201 way back in February/March of 2006.

In the meantime, check out this video of the upcoming 405 from the Garmin blog:

Tired Legs and Last Week's Training

2006-10-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

Last week was disappointing. My legs are still tired from the half marathon a couple of weeks ago and I came down with some kind of bug that has left me feeling rundown. Ran a total of 56 miles but bailed on a couple of workouts and took my first day off in almost 2 months on Saturday. I then struggled thorugh a MP run on Sunday and called it quits after 10 miles.

I'm taking it easier this week (didn't run yesterday) and felt re-charged this morning when I ran 14.2 miles with 4.6 @ around 6:41 pace. I plan to run the local Lafayette Reservoir 5K on Sunday and will probably get in a longish warmup (4-5 miles) before starting the race.

CIM is closing in fast in less than 6 weeks and so I'm hoping I can get my legs back soon.

It must be the shoes...

2006-10-16T19:47:00.000-07:00

Check out my bright red shoes from last week's half marathon. Anyway, I had to deal with tired legs last week as I'm still feeling the race and all the training. Here's how last week shaped up:

M: 6.4m easy
T: 9.75m
W: 12.65m
T: 9.25m w/6x600m @ 5k pace at the track with 200m jog in between. Averaged 2:01.7 for the 6 or around 81 per 400m.
F: 8.25m
S: 7.2m easy, but it didn't feel that way
S: 22.1m - Felt tired the whole run and near the end wondered why I was training for a marathon. At least I finished although I still can't see how I'll be able to go another 4 miles at a faster clip.

Total: 75.6m

I think I'll take this week easier and just run a 14 miles at MP next Sunday. My last race before CIM on December 3 is the Lafayette Reservoir 5K in two Sundays time. Racing a 5K really won't help the marathon training, but who cares....

Half Marathon and Weekly Roundup

2006-10-09T13:19:00.000-07:00

I ran 69 miles last week, but all the training seems to be catching up with me. Feeling sluggish and having a harder time running at pace. I've been training through my recent races and following a modified Pfitz 18/70 plan so that probably has something to do with it.

Last Sunday, I ran my first long MP effort (12miles) so most of the week was spent running easier and getting in the miles. I did a 5K pace track workout on Thursday and ran easier on Friday and Saturday as my sort of mini-taper for my 2nd ever half marathon yesterday. Here's how the week went:

M: 7.15m recovery run
T: 9.7m
W: 12.05m w/2.4 @ 6:50 pace
T: 9.8m w/6x600m at the track with 200 jog. Averaged 2:02 (around 81 for 400m)
F: 7.95m easy
S: 6.55m easy
S: 15.8m w/Primo's Run for Education Half Marathon in 1:24:00. Over 400 people ran but the field upfront was sparse due to the inaugural running of the Rock N Roll Half in San Jose at the same time and next week's Humboldt Half Marathon (part of the Pacific Association USATF Road Cirucit). I took 5th overall and was 2nd masters (A member of my club ran in San Jose and was 3rd masters in 1:16+!). The weather was cool and dry but the course was slower than I expected. Lots of turns in residential neighborhoods and a number of hills in the early miles. I think there was a modest net elevation increase for the course and it defintely felt that way on the long straight sections on the second half of the course. I had a hard time getting into any rhythm and generally felt so-so throughout the race. At least I didn't fall apart at the end of the race. Even though I thought I could run faster, I'll take the PB. Splits were 6:10, 6:18, 6:29, 6:13, 6:20, 6:26, 6:25, 6:35, 6:33, 6:35, 6:32, 6:24, 7:00 (1.1m)

I knew coming into the race that my recent 5K/10K times were not indicative of how I would fare over longer distances as I'm more of a speed runner than endurance one. All the marathon training has definitely helped build my strength, and this race helped me decide to aim for 6:45 pace at CIM in December and tweak it as the date gets closer.

September and Weekly Roundup

2006-10-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

September was a pretty solid month as I ran my most mileage for the year with 303.6 miles. I ran every day and my current consecutive streak is now up to 45 days in a row. In September, I ran two 20+ milers, an 18 miler and a 5K race in 17:29.

October is shaping up to be a big month as well as the modified Pfitz 18/70 plan transitions from LT runs to 5K pace track stuff and long MP runs. The trackwork doesn't faze me but the long MP runs have me a bit apprehensive. That's uncharted territory in my book and so I'm not looking forward to it.

This past week I ran 71.3 miles altogether with a good amount at MP. All the recent mileage has kept me tired and so this upcoming week is a little lighter with a 5K pace workout and the Primo's Run for Education Half Marathon next Sunday. I'm still trying to figure out what pace to attempt for this race.

Judging from the various calculators out there I have a number of paces to choose. For example, here are equivalents from recent races as determined by the McMillan Calculator and the Merv's Running Calculator:

Race
8/6 - 10K in 36:59
McMillian 1/2 marathon/marathon = 1:22:18 (6:17 pace) / 2:53:34 (6:38)
Merv 1/2 marathon/marathon = 1:22:13 (6:16.3 pace) / 2:52:36 (6:35)

9/17 - 5K in 17:29
McMillian 1/2 marathon/marathon = 1:20:49 (6:10 pace) / 2:50:26 (6:31)
Merv 1/2 marathon/marathon = 1:21:35 (6:13 pace) / 2:51:18 (6:32)

The 5K performance was better but the Merv calculator gives it less weight than the McMillan calculator. In my case I think I'll aim for the 6:15-6:20 range in the early miles and see what happens since I'm more of a speed runner.

Anyway, here is how last week went:

M: 6.5m recovery run
T: 9.7m
W: 14.25m with 4.65 miles towards the end at 6:45 pace. Didn't feel that bad on the MP section but I just couldn't go any faster.
T: 7.7m recovery run with 6 x strides at track
F: 10.25m
S: 7.8m on firetrail
S: 15.4m with 12.25m @ 6:40 pace. Pacing was all over the map and I had a hard time getting into a steady rhythm. The route I ran was up and down as well with long gradual inclines and some shorter downhill sections. It wasn't hilly but was far from flat so I guess it's a good test for CIM which has a negative drop and not much in the way of inclines.

There are 9 weeks to go to CIM in Sacramento on December 3. I have until October 30 to sign up online and not have to pay extra. Before I sign up I should book a hotel room soon as good ones in downtown Sacramento near the finish line (and buses to the start) will be harder to come by....

Tough Week

2006-09-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

This past week was a tough one. I was pretty pleased with my 5K last Sunday because I was able to run 32 seconds faster than I did in May even though the course was slower this time around. I was feeling the effects of the effort this week and that combined with catching some kind of bug either from work or from my kids made the week tough going from Wednesday onward.

Overall, I ran 75.9 miles for the week with a mid-week long run with some miles at MP, a HM pace session on Friday and 20 miles today. My body is definitely feeling it, but luckily this week shouldn't be so bad with mostly distance and 12 miles at MP next Sunday. In two weeks time I'm signed up for a half marathon and I hoping to run sub 6:20 pace for that one. We'll see. Here a summary of the week:

M: 6.05m easy
T: 9.7m
W: 13.6m with 4.2m towards the end at 6:39 pace
T: 7.7m with 8 x strides at the track
F: 11m w/6.2m @ 6:18 pace. I wasn't sure if I was going to do this session since I wasn't feeling well the day before. Decided to give it a try and stop if things got too rough. First 4.2m were on the roads and trying to maintain pace around 6:20 was a struggle. Finished with 2 miles on the track and although there seemed to be no extra gear, I was able to stay on pace with final miles of 6:20 and 6:12.
S: 7.4m on trail
S: 20.45m - The last 4-5 miles on this run were a struggle. Legs were heavy and I really wasn't enjoying things. First half of the run averaged 7:45 pace while the last half was around 7:13 pace.

Although the legs are heavy and I'm feeling tired most of the time, the marathon training is definitely helping me build strength and endurance, which has been sorely needed. I hope this carries over to next year when I focus on the shorter stuff.

Banana Chase 5k and last week's training

2006-09-18T19:32:00.000-07:00

After 3 straight weeks in the 70s, I cut mileage down to 60 last week. Most of the reduction came yesterday since instead of a lon run, I ran a 5K instead. The week was still hard as I came off a 21 miler last Sunday and the legs were still feeling it throughout the week with a Tuesday run at half marathon pace and a mid-week medium long run. Here how the week of September 11-17 went:

M: 6.5m recovery run
T: 10.25m with 5.1m @ 6:20 pace. First 2.85m were on the roads at around 6:23 pace and then finished the last 2.25 on the track with miles of 6:16, 6:12 and the last 400 in 91. A fair amount of the road portion gradually inclined and I had a hard time settling into pace when I hit the track.
W: 12.7m
T: 7.7m with 8 strides at the track
F: 9.7m
S: 6.7m recovery run
S: 6.6m - ran the Banana Chase 5k in San Francisco. This race is part of the Pacific Association USATF road racing circuit. I came in 76th in the time of 17:29. I was the 25nd master, and 6 fast women beat me including the women's winner, Magda Lewy-Boulet who place 5th at the U.S. Women's Olympic marathon trials. The course is slow so I was happy with the overall result. First mile goes downhill out of Golden Gate Park along the south side of the panhandle and is fast. Tried to hold back and hit 5:26. Second mile heads back to Golden Gate Park on the other side of the panhandle and goes uphill. I pushed this section and hit 5:41 for mile 2. The last 1.1 miles I ran in 6:22. It goes into the park does a 180 degree turn and then has some turns and more inclines before going into Kezar stadium for a short steep downhill before finishing up on the track. I had nothing left at the end and was just holding on. Still it's a 32 second improvement from the 5K I ran at the beginning of May on a much flatter and faster course.

My calves really tightened up after the race from the downhill pounding and my right piriformis is acting up as well. It sucks getting old :-)

Last Week's Training

2006-09-14T07:41:00.000-07:00

Finally getting around to posting last week's training for the week of September 4-10. It was the third week in a row over 70 miles, and I got in 75.25 miles last week. I've been trying to throw in some MP miles towards the end of the longer runs whenever I can so I can get use to the pace while tired and I hope it helps.

This week so far has been tiring but I will drop down in miles as I plan to run a 5K on Sunday as part of the Pacific Association USATF road racing series. Here's how the week of September 4-10 went:

M: 7.15m recovery run on fire trail
T: 9.35m
W: 13.55m w/4.2m near the end at 6:36 pace
T: 7.35m recovery run w/10 strides at the track
F: 10.15m
S: 6.7m recovery run on fire trail
S: 21m @ 7:34 min/mile pace - first 10.15m averaged 8:00 pace and the return 10.85m, which more than half of climbed gently 400+ ft, averaged 7:10 pace. Miles 15.7 - 19.2 (3.5m) @ 6:40 pace.

With 11 and 1/2 weeks to go to the California International Marathon on December 3 in Sacramento, CA, my training using a modified Pfitzinger 18 week/up to 70 miles plan has been going well. All the distance and strength work seems to be making a difference and I've already run 2 x 18+ miles and 2 x 20+ mile runs.

My current goal for CIM is to run sub 3 hours in my first completed marathon, but I think my optimal goal would be closer to the 2:55 range, which is around 6:41 mile pace. We'll see how it goes once the Pfitz program calls for the longer MP runs. Plus I plan to run a half marathon in early October which will help gauge my fitness level.

It's been a long time...

2006-09-09T10:28:00.000-07:00

More than 2 months since my last posting during the dog days of summer. At first I stopped blogging due to a lack of motivation. I kept on running but just didn't feel like posting about it. Then life got in the way and time for blogging went with it.

I started a new job in August and my kids went back to school at the end of last month. In order to get in the running and be back in time to get the kids ready for school (my son started middle school and has to leave for the bus at 7:15am), I'm now up even earlier in the morning. I usually wake up around 4:50am and get out the door before 5:30. The days I run longer, I wake up even earlier.

The whole family is trying to adjust to our new schedules as it's the first time we've had both parents working. Just what the world needs is more latch-key kids :-)

Anyway on the running front, training has been going well. In July, I missed 3 days due to travel and sickness and ran 283 miles. In August, I missed 1 day due to a achilles flare up and managed to run 297 miles. I ran a 10K race in 36:59 at the beginning of August, which was a nice sign that my training was getting better.

In August, I also started using a modified Pfitzinger 18/70 plan to train for a possible marathon attempt at the California International Marathon in Sacramento on December 3. For the most part following the plan (and adding some extra mileage) hasn't been too hard. The only difficulty I've run into is the mid-week medium long run that eventually goes up to 15 miles. The distance itself is not a problem, but the logistics of getting the run in is.

A 95-100+ minute run during the week means I need to get out the door even earlier than usual. For example, I ran 13.5 miles this past Wednesday and started around 5:05 am. Even then I got back in time for only a few minutes with my son before he had to jam to the school bus stop.

Once the marathon training is done, I'll have to reassess how much mileage I want to run and how early I need to get up because this current schedule is getting old fast.

I hope I'll be able to update this blog on a regular basis moving forward. Keep up the good running....

Aimless Trackwork?

2006-07-06T20:19:00.000-07:00

It always seems to happen. In my desire to get track fit, I tend to over do it, when a more convervative approach would be the safer course. Take this morning for example. It was another cool, windy and overcast morning with temps in the mid 50s and I headed to the track for a speedwork session.

I planned to do some 300s, aiming for 51-54 (68-72 400 pace) with the hope of dropping it down to the 48 region at the end. Of course, I haven't run anything close to this pace recently, but that didn't stop me from trying.

After a 2+ mile warmup to the track and some drills, I jumped into the workout. The plan was 2 sets of 3 x 300 with a 100 jog and a 400 jog between sets. The first set averaged 52.2 with the last one at 50.7. However, it was a little too fast with not enough rest for me, and I lacked any kind of zip during the second set and only averaged 53.6.

After 4 laps of easy running, I ran 4 x 150 strides to try and keep the legs turning over and then ran home for my cooldown. I felt a little twinge in my upper right hamstring/piriformis during the workout and so I'll have to watch it carefully over the next couple of days.

In hindsight, it's clear to see that I tried to do too much with the workout and it served very little purpose. If I wanted to focus on speed such as 800 pace then I should have lengthened the rest interval between repeats. A 100 jog was definitely not enough. And if I wanted it to be more of a strength workout then I should have slowed down the repeats to the 54-57 range (72-76 400 pace) and kept the rest interval.

Unfortunately I tried to have both and failed. I hope the hamstring problem is minor. In the meantime, I learned of an all-comers meet in my area on July 20 so I'll see if I can get in one 800 race this summer before shutting down the trackwork and starting on a marathon buildup....

Two on the Fourth

2006-07-05T21:17:00.000-07:00

I've been waiting for the results to be posted for the small 2 mile road race I ran in my town the morning of July 4th. The race together with a 5 miler were to raise funds for the local high school track team.

The morning was overcast in the mid-50s and there was a decent breeze blowing from the west. I warmed up by running about 2 miles to the starting area and paying my race fees. I really didn't follow my usual pre-race routine, and just did some easy jogging and strides while awaiting the start of the race, which went off 10 minutes after the 5 miler.

I tried to run conservative at the start since the first two-thirds of a mile is a gentle downhil that drops about 40-50 feet in elevation. There was a small group of young guys and one other old dude in the front pack once the sprinting kids were dropped.

The course was mostly straight except for a hard right turn from the street to a path at .75 miles, and then a 180 degree turnaround on a cul de sac a little after the 1 mile mark. It was at this point that I passed the other old guy and moved into third behind two younger fellows.

The last part of the course climbs a bit. Not a huge amount, but very noticeable when your lungs are screaming for air and your legs feel like lead. I was gaining a little on the guy in 2nd on this section, but had no more gears left when the course turned for home with a quarter to go.

So I ended up 3rd overall, and first master in a field of probably less than 100. My time for the course was 11:17, which the Garmin 305 measured at 2.05 miles. Although I didn't catch the splits on the course, SportsTracks and MotionBased had me at 5:28, 5:32 + 17 seconds for the .05 miles at the end.

It wasn't the finest effort, but I was able to run steady for the most part and I didn't fall apart too much at the end. It actually felt more like a very hard workout than a race so I guess i can't complain...

Over Caffeinated

2006-07-03T18:08:00.000-07:00

My former boss was a professor from Italy, who started up a software company during the boom years. The man use to mainline espresso like it was going out of style. He must have averaged at least 6 or 7 doubles a day, and that might be a conservative estimate.

While the company ended up going under, I developed a taste for espresso drinks during my time there. So when I started consulting and working out of my house, I use to hit Starbucks on a daily basis to get my Java fix.

After a while I realized it made more economical sense to purchase my own espresso machine and make my own drinks at home. I figured I would end up saving a nice chunk of change by not handing over $3+ a pop everyday.

It was a smart move as I would go to the local coffee shop weekly to get some beans ground. This worked out for a while, but I wasn't entirely satisfied with the espresso I was producing. Then I started reading some of the coffee forums, and realized I needed a grinder as well. And not just an ordinary grinder, but a quality burr grinder.

After months of going back and forth on which grinder to get and trying to justify the hefty price, I finally gave in and puchased one last week. It arrived today and thanks to the Internet I picked up a bunch of tips on how to use it.

This afternoon was spent trying to find the right grind settings with some fresh roasted beans and sampling the output from the espresso machine. I must have gone through almost a half of pound of beans, but it was worth the effort. The grinder with fresh beans has made a world of difference and the result is a much better end product so I am very pleased with my new gadget and also over caffeinated at this point.

I hope it doesn't affect my sleep tonight as I plan to run a 2 mile road race in town tomorrow morning.

Training wise, I put in a steady 9.55 miles this morning. I planned to run the local golf course and made it down one of the holes before realizing it was open. Not wanting to get hit by a stray golf ball and get in trouble with the country club, I cut out and made up my route as I went along. This is one of the benefits of having a Garmin Forerunner.

Hope everyone has a great fouth of July holiday.....

Numbers Game

2006-07-02T16:34:00.000-07:00

Since I plan to run a 2 mile road race on July 4, I decided to move my long run to Saturday so I wouldn't be too tired for the race. I ran 14.5 at a steady clip and followed it up with much neglected yard work and weeding to make me good and tired. I then stayed up past my usual bedtime to watch the movie "High Fidelity" with my wife only to realize that our DVD was scratched and unwatchable with only 5 minutes left in the movie. Arghhh.

Today, was an easy 8 mile recovery run with 8 strides at the track. The heart rate stayed nice and low, but I was feeling tired throughout.

With half of 2006 in the books, I decided to take a look at how my training has been going from strictly a numbers standpoint. Here are the stats for the period from January 1 to June 30:

Total miles: 1584.5
Missed days of training: 10 days
Most consecutive days of running: 71 days
Average miles per run: 9.25 miles
Average miles per week: 61.7 miles
Average miles per month: 263.6

It's really just a bunch of numbers signifying nothing. It's also the longest stretch of I've been able to stay healthy so that's always a good sign. I'm hoping I can build on this solid base in the second half of the year and post some decent road race times and survive a marathon in December. All I need to do is use common sense and not do anything stupid. It might be hard because us males aren't known for that.....

Speeding Up

2006-06-29T17:47:00.000-07:00

After a recovery run yesterday where the heart rate was a little higher than usual but still within range the 70% range, I went into this morning's workout with a bit of trepidation. I wanted to get in some speedwork at the track because I plan to run a 2 mile road race on July 4 in support of the local high school's track team. I could run the 5 mile race instead, which would probably be more beneficial in the long run, but I just don't feel like putting in the extra effort when the temps will most likely be hot. I'm a wimp.

I was kind of waffling over what workout I should do during my 2+ mile warmup to the high school. I couldn't decide between 400s, 600s or even on and off 400s. The track was the most crowded I've seen at 6:30 am with a few walkers, individual joggers, some unleashed dogs plus a group of 5 women doing laps and straightaways. I guess with school out, early sunrises and pleasant weather that happens.

Usually I have the track all to myself at this time so I was hoping I wouldn't have to do a lot of weaving in and out of human traffic, other than moving out to lane 3 at the 200m mark for 20-30 meters due to work being done on the infield that was fenced off and jutting out into lane 2.

After some abbreviated drills and strides, I settled on 6x600m with a 200 jog as the workout and I wanted to run around 80 second 400 pace for the repeats.

In contrast to my 200 workout last Friday, where I felt like I pressing too much and overstriding, the 600s this morning felt more under control. I was able to maintain at a steady pace, and while in the beginning I had to hold back a bit from going out too fast, at the end it was definitely getting hard.

Overall I averaged a bit over 2 minutes for the 6 x 600s so I'm pretty please with the overall effort. It's interesting how last week's 200s made today's 600s feel a lot easier.

I know if I hit the track on a regular basis I could quickly regain fitness and speed for the shorter track distances and road races. Of course there would be a greater chance for injury so I think I'll just stick to putting in the miles, building strength and possibly attempting a marathon in December...

In Search of Flatlands...

2006-06-27T21:00:00.000-07:00

I live in a hilly area so I'm usually going either up or down at any point during a run. Most times this doesn't bother me, and although I'm not the biggest fan of running uphill, at least I know the hills are good for my training.

All of this does bother me when I'm running a tempo or marathon pace (MP) effort. It's hard for me to maintain a steady pace/effort when I'm climbing or going downhill.

For example, this morning I wanted to run a MP run and decided to try a new route in hopes of finding as much flat sections as possible. After a 2.5 mile warmup, I slowly ramped up to what I thought was my goal MP effort (sub 3 hours or 6:51 a mile). However, I was still feeling tired from my 17 miler on Sunday, and it was a struggle for the first few miles.

The route I chose started off relatively flat before hitting a 1+ mile straight section that gently inclines. I then turned off into a residential area and ran a section I had never run before so I was counting on the Garmin Forerunner 305 to measure it accurately. What I wasn't counting on were the hills. A couple of parts were rolling and then the road climbed steadily, but not too severely for about a half mile. It was not fun.

When I reached the top I turned around and retraced my route. so that the inclines became downhills and vice versa. I ended up going around 6.1 miles @ 6:48 pace, but due to the ups and downs the pace was up and down as well. Splits were: 6:56, 6:49, 7:10, 6:49, 6:39, 6:38.

Only after I examined the training data in SportTracks and MotionBased, did I realize the elevation change was much more than I thought. The out portion climbed roughly 240 feet, and the return dropped about the same amount. No wonder the first few miles felt slow and tiring.

I'm wondering what type of route is best for future tempo and MP runs. I can use a flatter 1.85 mile loop or opt for more variety and tolerate all the uphills and downhills. Then again there's always the track, but that gets to be quite mind numbing in its own right after more than 12 laps....

Summer Shuttle

2006-06-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

OK, my kids have only been out of school for a little more than 2 weeks and it's already killing me. Since I work at home, I get to play chauffeur and shuttle them around to camps and activities. Last week was OK because my 10 year-old son and 8 year old daughter went to the same camp. Drop them off and pick them up at the same time. 2 car trips altogether.

However, in my own stupidity, I decided be a good dad and sign them up for different camps this week to better reflect their personal interests. Ummm, bad idea, because now I'm driving somewhere almost every other hour. My daughter's soccer camp goes from 9am - 2 pm, while my son's computer (AKA nerd) camp runs from 12 noon to 4 pm. Getting to the soccer camp is 10 minutes there and back while the computer camp is 20 minutes roundtrip.

For the rest of the summer, I'll have to remenber to schedule their camps at the same place and time so I won't go crazy.

On the running front, today's recovery run was uneventful. 8 miles dreadfully slow over the wet golf course grass. I was beat from yesterday's 17 miler so I'll play it by ear tomorrow whether I decide to run a MP effort....

Basket Case

2006-06-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

I'm really starting to remember why I didn't want to train for another marathon after my first attempt in 2002 went up in flames at around mile 18 due to a piriformis injury.

Those were the good old days and I've been trying very hard to forget them, especially the long runs, which almost always left me a mess for the rest of the day. Until today that is.

Although I won't start training for the California International Marathon on December 3 until August with Pfitzinger's 18 week/up to 70 miles a week plan, I do want to get use to running longer and have a solid base in place. Hence longer weekend long runs.

So this morning, after having a small slice of homemade bread with peanut butter and honey, I got out the door a little before 7 am. I ran my usual Sunday route of 2.5 miles to the local park and then out and back on a paved, measured trail.

I ran the 5.5 mostly gentle downhill miles all the way to the end and then turned around for the uphill return portion. Averaged roughly 7:30 miles for the out and back and felt OK for most of it. The final few miles home were a bit of a struggle as I tacked on an extra mile to put me at 17.15 miles for the run and a tenth short of 70 miles for the week. It was my longest run in years.

Once I got home, I drank a slimfast to speed recovery with its 4:1 ratio of carbs to protein, and then tried to re-hydrate as best I could. I was pretty much a basket case the rest of the day just going through the motions. My stomach wasn't feeling great, and this gave me flashbacks of previous long runs that wiped me out. Fun.

At this point, it's hard to fathom running an additional 9 miles at a faster pace and the coming months of training will be even more painful. So why am I even considering running a marathon again? Why not is all I can think of for now?

No Zip

2006-06-23T11:20:00.000-07:00

I use to run the 400 and 800 in college and always focused more on the trackwork and less on the mileage. I think I rarely went above 30 miles a week back in those days. Those were the pre-world wide web days so if I only knew then what I know now. Doh!

One of the results of getting old and putting in more mileage has been a loss of speed, which is a bit disheartening because in my delusional state, I still think I can run fast on the track even with my 41 year old body.

My goal since turning 40 last year was to race some 800s and see if I could get anywhere close to 2:00. Due to an achilles injury last Spring/Summer, I never got to try. After fully recovering, I decided to take a more patient approach and build a base and my strength throughout the fall, winter and spring, which I was mostly succesful at doing.

However, for the past couple of months I was hampered by a mysterious energy zapping ailment that left me unable to get in the proper speedwork for the short summer track season.

So with the local Pacific Association USA Track & Field masters track championships fast approaching next Saturday, I decided to use this morning's workout to assess whether I should try and compete in a 800m race next weekend.

I warmed up with a couple of miles to the local high school and then did some drills and strides. The plan was to run 2 sets of 4x200m at 800/mile pace with a slow 200 jog between repeats and 400m jog between sets.

I tried to keep the 200s fast and relaxed where I would float the turn and then focus on form down the straight. For the most part they felt forced and I seemed to be overstriding. There was no zip in the legs, which makes perfect sense as I haven't attempted any speedwork in almost a month.

I averaged 33.7 for the first set of 4 and then 32.2 for the second. Although I wasn't going all out, it was a hard effort and I'm just not ready to keep up that pace over two laps. If the temps are not in the high 90s by late afternoon/early evening, I might go out again for a short shakeout run to get the lactic acid out of my legs.

based on the workout, I've decided to bag the meet next Saturday and just continue with my normal training. One thing I need to do is re-introduce strides once a week to keep the legs turning over.

I might try and jump in to a all-comers meet later in the summer if I can find one near by, but it won't be a focus. So it looks like my 800 plans are on hold for another year and I'm obviously not getting any younger (or faster). Oh well, I guess I just have to punish myself and try the marathon....

Mixing it Up

2006-06-22T10:27:00.000-07:00

Since I follow a huge number of blogs and news feeds for work, I've tended to stay away from running related blogs and stuck to some of the running forums out there. However, I'm slowly being sucked into reading other folks' accounts of their running and training, and frankly it's been fascinating.

And through the intial blogs, I've come across more and more runners, both slow and fast, via links and comments, such as Jason and Leah, Chris, Mike and Greg. And I seem to be adding more feeds to Bloglines on a daily basis. Very cool, because you can learn a lot from other people's training and their drive and determination to improve is pretty contagious.

From Mike's blog, I found this Running Times about Brad Hudson, a former prep star and now coach to some of the U.S.'s top distance runners. Hudson makes some interesting points regarding his training philosphy. While the jury is still out on his coaching ability (I hope Dathan Ritzenhein can run some fast 5000s this Summer before making a successful debut at the New York City Marathon), I like his idea about mixing it up. However in my case I need a plan otherwise I'll just do the same thing over and over again.

With that in mind, I going to make sure my recovery days are easier, and try to incorporate a longer mid-week run as I get ready to start formally training in August for a December marathon.

I tried out Leah's pre-run fuelling suggestion and had a slice of homemade wheat bread with peanut butter and honey after waking up this morning. On a side note, I think I go through a jar of peanut butter every week and a half. It's definitely a post-run breakfast staple with bananas on toast.

The pre-run fuelling didn't seem to bother me as I ran about 11.35 miles. It was a pretty relaxed effort and I kept it at around 70% of max HR. Tomorrow I'm thinking of going to the track and trying to run some 200s at 800/1500m pace.

I'm still considering running an 800 metter race at next week's Pacific Association USATF Masters meet. But having done no speedwork in the past couple of months, I want to see where I stand so hence the 200s tomorrow. Common sense would be just to skip the meet, but I've never been known to have much of that....

Summer Slowdown

2006-06-21T11:06:00.000-07:00

Today's the first day of summer and time to slow things down as the temps are picking up in my area, and it is expected to hit close to 100 today. At least it's a dry heat. Yeah, right.

My consulting work has also slowed a bit too, but that has been compensated by doing more family stuff. Both my kids are out of school, which means trying to keep them busy and shuttling them around to camps and activites. Lots O' fun.

Regarding my running, I made sure this morning's run was truly a recovery effort. I used the Mizuno Revolvers without orthotics, and ran about 7.75 miles at a very slow 8:58 minutes per mile pace. I closely monitored my heartrate throughout the run and averaged 126 beats per minute for the hour+ effort.

This was about 59% of my max HR based on the heart rate reserve method. A little less than one third of the run was in the 60-70% zone and the rest was below 60%, which is right where I wanted it. This is the main reason why I upgraded to the Garmin Forerunner 305 to make sure I don't run the easy days too hard.

Although pace and heart rate wise, the run was easy, it really didn't feel like it. I know it sounds funny, but I'm just not use to running at that pace, and consciously had to force myself to slow it down, which is why I never felt really comfortable. I have to get use to this because I plan to run my recovery efforts this way from now on, although I might attach some strides at the end of some of them.

Lastly, I've never been much of a long-term planner when it came to my training. I sort of made things up as I went along on a daily or weekly basis, but basically I just put in the miles. This is why I purchased Pfitzinger's Advanced Marathoning book for its structured schedules in case I attempt a marathon in December.

I aslo decided to print out some blank Outlook calendars for the next few months so I can write down a proper training schedule. We'll see if this structure helps at all....

Technorati Tags: Garmin, GPS, Global Positioning System, Satellite Navigation, Forerunner, HRM, Heart Rate Monitor

Fuelling Up

2006-06-20T08:54:00.000-07:00

No, this isn't about the astronomical cost of gasoline, which in my town costs $3.25 a gallon for regular while a couple of towns away it's only around $3. Since my sleepy little bedroom community is sort of out of the way, there is only one word for the large price differential - gouging.

On to the real topic at hand. I've never really thought of my diet during my 27+ years of running. It wasn't a consideration while running competitively in high school, college and post-college. I wasn't too picky and pretty much ate whatever was available. I guess from a health standpoint, it's a good thing that I didn't frequent fast food places much and was never a big fan of sodas.

Now that I'm older and supposedly wiser too, I'm starting to think more about what I eat. I guess some of this can be attributed to my long-suffering wife finally wearing me down after all these years. However, I think the blame and/or credit lies with my 10 year-old son.

A little over three months ago, he decided to become a vegetarian. We were having a delicious meal at a Chinese restaurant, and while he was gorging himself on the tasty Peking duck, he suddenly came to the realization that killing animals for food was wrong. And that's when he decided to stop eating meat.

It has been a challenge for the entire family (mostly my wife) to cater to his new dietary needs, and it's like we've gone back to the days when the kids were much younger and there was one meal for the grown-ups and one for the kids. I thought those days were long gone. Sigh. I believe we have reached a happy middle ground now, and while we are eating more rabbit food and tofu, the carnivores in the family still get to enjoy some meat at time (we're beef free due to my wife's mad cow paranoia).

On a side note, one thing I have noticed, since I do most of the food shopping, is the plethora of meatless food products out there. It's seems to be a growing cottage industry and the product's ain't cheap.

I have to give the boy credit that he's still sticking to his guns after three months. He came up with the decision on his own, and hasn't been bothered by his friends and classmates kidding him about it. However, I almost wrung his neck when he was wondering out loud if he should become a vegan (we do live 15 minutes away from Berkeley :-)). It was one of those days when my tolerance level for my children was very low, and so I flew off the handle and told him he couldn't become a vegan until he was 18 and preparing his own meals. The thought of trying to feed him without dairy and egg products was just too much.

So when it comes to running, am I eating healthily and fuelling my body properly? I work out of my home as a PR and marketing consultant and I'm an inveterate snacker so I always seem to be eating. Mostly nuts and my new favorite, dried apricots. I also love cakes and cookies so it's gets dangerous when I'm on one of my baking binges. Thankfully I run because otherwise I'd be 20+ pounds heavier.

I run in the early morning, and I don't eat anything before hitting the roads. I only drink a glass of water. For a long time, I use to have a pack of GU too, but stopped that when I realized I didn't need it. So far I've made it upto 16 milers using this approach, and taking some sips of water at water fountains along the way.

However, now that I'm considering training for a December marathon, I need to rethink my fuelling strategy, especially for the long runs, because 20+ milers and 2:30+ hour runs are a totally different ballgame.

Should I resume having a GU before the long runs? I don't want to carry any liquids with me so I'll probably have to leave a bottle somewhere and hydrate on the run. Do I carry GU with me or try something else? Through Jason and Leah I've learned about Jelly Belly Sport Beans. They sound like an easier and less messy solution for energy on the run. Now I just have to find a pack to try them out. The factory and headquarters is less than 40 minutes away so I could always just drive there.

Any other fuelling ideas?

As for today's run, I decided to opt out of a speed workout at the track, and ran fartlek instead. Warmed up for about 1..7 miles and then did my usual 5.1 mile tempo route with 15 x 1:00 on and off. Overall, the time for the loop was the same as last week's MP effort at 33:29, but this morning felt a lot harder.

It was probably a combination of still not being fully recovered from Sunday's long run combined with running the 1:00 off sections a bit too hard. Note to self: run easy the next two days and get a proper recovery.

If all goes well then I might hit the track on Friday to see what kind of speed is left in my old legs....

Auto Pausing?

2006-06-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

Definitely felt the after effects of yesterday's 2 hour run this morning as I puttered around the dew-laden/recently watered local golf course. I felt slow and tired during my recovery run, and I'm questioning whether he golf course is the best place for an easy day since there are some painfully steep uphill sections. I guess I'll stick it out because it's nice to run on the grass and the course is closed on Mondays. Plus the hills should be good for me, right?

I've been noticing some heart rate spikes on my new Garmin Forerunner 305 at the beginning of runs. I'm guessing it's due to the fact I'm not getting good chest contact with the transmitter strap. I currently use water and/or a heart rate monitor electrode cream back from my Polar HRM days. I read somewhere that a light amount of soapy water does the trick so I might try it tomorrow.

Last Friday, I read a post at the Garmin Blog about the virtues of using the Auto Pause feature on the Garmin Forerunner 205/305. I commented on the post that:

I personally don't use the auto-pause function because I'm a data-driven geek too keen on tracking every mile and second. The auto-pause is a great feature, but I find you gain a couple of seconds over the course of a run when you use it. I prefer to use the start/stop button instead, because at my age I can't afford to get any slower :-)

My non-technical guess for these gains in time is due to GPS lag. I don't know how often the Forerunners ping the various satellites , but it is never instantaneous that the device pauses at exactly the same time you stop at a light or something. I know you can set it so that it pauses when you slow down to a certain speed (i.e. 20 minutes per mile), but I wouldn't want the device to stop in the middle of a run because of a weak GPS signal.

This is why I just use the start/stop button to pause during a run. I'm use to it from my track days. It might make sense for a cyclist to use auto pause, but I'd rather have the seconds back.

Any other runners out there who use/don't use the Auto Pause feature?

Technorati Tags: Garmin, GPS, Global Positioning System, Satellite Navigation, Forerunner, HRM, Heart Rate Monitor

The Long Run

2006-06-18T15:25:00.000-07:00

Now I remember why the long run is such a pain (literally and figuratively). This morning as my Father's Day present to myself, I let the wife and kids sleep in as usual and hit the roads around 7:15 am. My usual Sunday run is 2.5 miles to the local park and then out and back on a paved, measured trail before concluding with 2.5 miles to my home.

The out portion is mostly downhill, which means the return trip is uphill and doubly tiring. I decided to try and run 15 miles and so ran the out portion at a relaxed clip. There's nothing worse then getting carried away on a long run and running too fast on the out/downhill portion only to realize you're out of gas with still too many uphill miles to go.

The return trip was a bit tiring both physically and mentally because I knew I had a ways to go. For some reason I always run the return part faster, even with the hills, which ends up making the run harder.

The less few miles were a struggle, mostly because I wasn't used to being on my feet that long. I ended up running 15.2 miles in 1:56:41, which was my longest run since early January. I guess I'll need to get used to going longer if I want to run a marathon in December. I'm definitlely not looking forward to the this.

At least I got the run out of the way before 9:30. However, there was no time to relax and recover. My kids wanted French Toast for breakfast and my wife wanted no part of it. Happy Father's Day!

Maxing Out?

2006-06-16T08:53:00.001-07:00

Now that I plan to do some heart rate training with my new Garmin Forerunner 305, I tried to determine my maximum heart rate (max HR) this morning. The easiest and least accurate method is just subtracting your age from 220 to come up with the max HR. In my case, this yields 179.

I decided to hit the track and to do 8 laps or 3200 meters in which I progressively increased the pace in hopes of getting a clearer picture of how high my max HR was. I figured that at the end of the run, the highest beats per minute (BPM) reading would be reasonably close to my max HR. I would then unscientifically add about 5 BPM to that number since I probably wouldn't be going flat out at the end.

After a long, slow warmup of about 4 miles, I made my way to the local high school and started the 3200 meter run. As I mentioned, I wanted to gradually increase the pace each lap. I actually felt OK throughout the run, and while the last couple of laps were hard they weren't all out. Here are the 400m splits:

96.4
94.7 (3.11.1)
89.4
87.7 (2:57.1/6:08.2)
86.3
84.2 (2:50.2)
84.2
78.0 (2:42.2/5:32.7/11:40.9)

In itself, this run really doesn't show anything other than I can run close to 5:35 for a mile in a workout. Nothing more, nothing less. At the end of the run, my BPM hit 177 so I'm going to estimate my max HR is 182 for now. Above is a chart of my % of max HR (based on 179 BPM) versus the pace during the run as pulled from SportTracks.

I might try and revisit this test or try Pete Pfitzinger's hill workout method (3 times of 2 to 3 minutes up a moderate hill with the last 2 close to all out) at a later date...

Technorati Tags: Garmin, GPS, Global Positioning System, Satellite Navigation, Forerunner, HRM, Heart Rate Monitor

New York Times and Running Skirts

2006-06-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

I'm not a cross dresser, but I do like to purchase running gear and check out the latest running fashions. And by and large, the running clothes designs for women are much nicer and offer more variety than the ones for men.

In my opinion, today's technical clothing has been one of the great advances in running. I no longer have to be weighed down by a sweat-drenched, heavy cotton t-shirt. This is huge since I usually sweat up a storm, even in colder temps.

Unfortunately, the new technical clothing comes at a cost. It can be expensive, which makes it harder to satisfy my need to acquire more and more running gear. This is why I end up spending more time looking at the RRS catalog than actually purchasing stuff.

Today's The New York Times (click Next in upper right corner to see more skirts) Thursday Styles section has a nice pictorial gear test on the back page of women's running skirts. It features Ceci St. Geme (nee Hopp) and her daughter Annie.

Ceci was a standout high school runner back in the early 80s, an All-American at Stanford, and the U.S. Champ at 5000 meters in 1994. Now the mother of six, she is a one very fast momma and masters runner down in Southern California.

It seems her daughter Annie inherited some of the running talent as well. She was one of the top high school distance runners in the U.S. this year, and will run for the Stanford Cardinal starting in the fall.

On a side note, I actually got Ceci Hopp's autograph when I was in high school. I was running a relay indoors at the New Jersey Meadowlands in '82, and Ceci was competing for Stanford in one of the distance events. Being a dork with a competitor's pass, I went around asking for autographs from as many of the top runners as I could, and she was a big hit, especially with the high school boys.

Back to the NY Times gear test, I'm not sure I get the whole running skirt thing. Are they for fashion and/or to provide more coverage? You see, guys just wear shorts. Some are short, some are long and some are half-tights. Not much thought goes into the process.

Women have more options with the shorts and tights, plus the bunhuggers and now skirts. I'm not complaining, just wondering what's up with the skirts???

Photo via The New York Times