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winter weather = good run

Well, I think I've found the perfect running weather. I looked through my spreadsheet/training log and found the best runs were at 73Fish and 77% humidity (or thereabouts). Had a GREAT run today - 5.25 miles and I left the gadgets at home. Course, for me, that means watch and HR monitor. No Garmin here. :) I brought the pace down a couple times, just based on how good I was feeling and the "need" to push the pace, and ended the run ready for more. If the 10K this Sunday is in similar weather (I doubt it - this weather is solely due to a norte blowing through) I think I have a great run. Either way, I'll be happy to run in Merida again.

I'm looking at shoes again. The Nikes I picked up in the US to replace my Asics are just not working out and Dr. Google has diagnosed me with metatarsalgia. It really only rears its head after 4 miles or so, and I'm not sure what to do to "cure" it. The only real problem is the real possibility of stress fracture and I really don't want that - I've read enough running blogs to know how to avoid those with the 10% rule - but I am NOT going to stop running. So hmmm... At this point, I'm not sure a marathon is in the cards anymore, but I'm going to try either a Brooks or New Balance shoe and see what happens.

I hit 73.5 kilos this week but after eating 1/2 my weight in brownies (I baked them for the palaperos) I have a feeling that I'll be ballooning up overnight. I'm really happy with the weightloss so far - I took 15 kilos off the last 1/2 of 2007, kept it off last year (well, I ping-ponged with 5 kilos for a while) and am finally continuing to decrease.

I have 4 miles on Friday and the 10K on Sunday and then next week is supposed to be a "rest" week with 3 mile runs and a "long run" of (I think) 5 miles or something.

In homeschooling news, Jesse has jumped into a schedule and I'm really proud of him. He has quite a bit of catching up to do with his younger brother, but man, he is QUICK when he wants to be.

ugh. I'm such a wimp

Dayum. I headed to town today to meet up with some local runners who didn't show up. The loop I had planned to do is all concrete although I occassionally ran on pavers and some grass. The first loop (3.6m) wasn't bad - 42 minutes - I was trying to keep my HR under 150 and succeeded. It felt like a Really Long Loop though, but it could be I'm just used to having a turnaround every 1.25 miles.

I headed out for the 2nd loop and really only made it another 20 minutes before I had serious thoughts of stopping. I tried a Galloway and mentally chastised myself but only made it 8 min before wanting to stop for a walk break. My stomach was not good, but I did eat a banana and had 1/2 scoop cytomax before I left, so I'm not really sure what the problem is. I think next time I'm going to try Cytomax DuRING the run and see if that makes a difference. I just couldn't convince myself to power through and then got sick to my stomach. I KNOW I could have just sucked it up and worked through it but I'm just a wimp. Ugh. I'm so disappointed in myself.

first tempo except not

So, yesterday I attempted a tempo run. Unfortunately, I didn't check to see what exactly a tempo run was BEFORE I ran. After I got back I researched and found I did it all wrong. But anyway, I decided to go out hard and hold on. My HR was over 160 the last 2 miles and I was hurting pretty badly from mile 2.75 on and the entire 4th mile I was running from landmark to landmark. "Ok, just to the palm tree. Ok, now to the turnout. Ok, now just to the log..."

I made it home and had my highest average pace AND my fastest mile (9:30) but I was D.E.A.D. Strangely, about 15-30 minutes later I was feeling absolutely GREAT and looking forward to the next one. This was the first time I've pushed myself this hard in running and now the mental block is over. It was weird how good I felt the rest of the day - even my knees stopped aching!

Tomorrow I have a 7 mile run planned. I'm kind of nervous about it. I'm planning on running in town with a group and maybe that will make the miles go faster. If nothing else, I might find I need to get an MP3 player for the longer runs. It will be really nice not having to do umpteen (seriously, about 6 loops of the same old same old).

I've also revamped my training schedule and picked NONE. :) I meshed together a few programs and this is the week to come:

Monday (I'm going to make my back-to-back days a long run and recovery run) 2 miles recovery

Tuesday: 1/2 primary Ashtanga (eventually I'm going to xtrain with swimming)

Wednesday: 5 miles tempo - 5x3 min tempo pace with 60s jog between

Thursday: 1/2 primary Ashtanga

Friday: 4.5 with 11 min/mile pace (10:45-11:15)

Saturday: 1/2 primary Ashtanga (this might be my first swim day)

Sunday: 10K in Merida. This time I'm going to time myself. :)

training program, CHECK

I think I've finally made a decision. I'm not going to try to do the Ironman cozumel even though it really intrigues me because I'm just not sure my body can do a marathon. The entry fee is GIGANTIC, at $525USD so it isn't anything you can do on a whim. I will DEFINITELY volunteer though and maybe, in 2011...

So, that decision made, I figure that with cross training I should be able to do the Cancun 1/2 Ironman pretty easily (though in September it is going to be scorching) so I might do that on a whim but I will definitely just make my main training marathon-related. As such, I settled on a training program. I was really leaning towards Hal Higedon and while I'm doing base miles I just might waffle around, but starting next week, I'm going with Santa Clarita and next week will move from 4 days/week of running to 5, but lower mileage each day. My lower back is starting to complain about back-to-back Tues and Wed, so I'm not sure that is such a good idea, but I do need to figure out if I can do 5 days/week or not. Argh. Maybe once I lose another 5 kilos my body will be able to handle the frequency. If not, I'll go with Hal and do longer days with less frequency.

Week 6 probably

I had a somewhat horrific run on Sunday. Since I had run the 10K in Merida last sunday I figured I was up for another 10K. It was warm (77F with 89% humidity IIRC) and I wore short sleeves for the first time this year. We've been hammered with one norte after another lately and I've been in shorts and long sleeves so it was nice to finally strip down a little. I had a good 5.5 miles and then I just wanted to stop. I was super nauseous and D.O.N.E. so I kept going for another 1/2 mile to get my six in and threw up. Jamie says I need nutrition before I run - I can't run on an empty stomach and 1/2 a scoop of Cytomax. So, I'll try more Cytomax and/or a banana on Tuesday.

I had an awful first 3 miles today - my legs felt like lead and it was 82F/77% humidity but felt cooler for the first 2 miles than Sunday. Somehow I was able to suck it up for the 4th mile and hammered out an average 10:45 pace. That last mile hurt like hell but I was really glad I hammered it out. Got up to 168HR too!

I've been finding some local runs - a 10K on the 31st in Merida and another on Feb 7th. I'm also close to picking my marathon to shoot for and thus, arrange my training. I had some dreams of an Ironman or even 1/2 (I think I could probably phone in the swim and bike but the run would kill me) but I think I'm just going to focus on the marathon this year and maybe do the 1/2 Ironman in Cancun. I'd much rather do Cozumel (prettier and better spectators) but I really don't know if I'd be able to do a full Ironman AND it has a $525USD entry fee!!!!

I also really need to pick a training program - I know what I'm doing this week (same as last week, probably; 4 on Tuesday, 2 on Wed, 4 on Fri and 6 on Sun) but I really need to get that in gear also.

Dusting off the old blogger

I'm starting to wonder why I've separated the blogs (hopalog and this one) and can only figure that I don't want to clutter the blog with running stuff. Because that's pretty much all this will be about is running.

I recently decided to train for a marathon. Well, first I decided a 1/2 marathon would be good. Then I figured, what the hell, why not go for broke? I'm only at 4mile runs anyway, so it's not a big deal yet. No pain yet. We'll see if I can stay injury free and then whether or not I actually go through with it. I once did a 1/2 Ironman length triathlon but that was some 25 years ago. I started running as an exercise I realized I enjoyed, that would help me lose weight. I lost about 15kg by December 2008 and kept it off last year (through running and watching what I eat). I probably have 5-10kg more to take off but now I'm just maintaining. I really thought I could just keep running as exercise, but found I enjoyed the challenge of adding more mileage. I then ran a 10K as a spur of the moment thing (Jan 10th) and had such a fun time that I decided I wanted to do more.

So I'm looking at training programs and trying to pick a marathon that I might like. I'm leaning towards Mazatlan, DF and now see that Acapulco has one (but so far, little info). I'm doing a base buildup (basically training for a 1/2) of 16 weeks or so and am currently on week 5. Well, it is a bastardized training program as I'm jumping in at week 5 or so. I also haven't picked one training program and I know everyone says to just PICK ONE and stick with it, but I haven't yet.

Yesterday was my first foray into running 2 days in a row. Seriously, I've never run consecutive days. I know most runners do 5 days a week but I'm not sure I'd be injury-free if I did that. I'm not really into Galloway either; I don't like the idea of walking while I run but more importantly, I HATE how I feel when I walk/run. I've done it when doing the C25K program and it really messes up my stride, flow and head. Course, if I ever get to mile 20 of a marathon, I might be feeling differently.

I know I should be doing some core today but it was just too cold at 70-75F. Yikes! I also need to figure out WHAT to do for core exercises. :)