Personal Record!

Did my tempo run today and hit my new PR! It's only a matter of time before I break the 8:00 pace mark.

24 Hour Fitness - Treadmill
4.00 miles - 0:33:36 - 8:24 pace

Turn my workout into an RPG? I'm listening

http://www.fitocracy.com/home/
This website serves like any other online workout journal. What makes it special is that it gives "points" for working out that can be used to "level up" and show off prestige. It even has an achievement system and quest line so you always have something to accomplish besides the daily grind.

In my opinion, this seems like a good way to keep my runs and lifts interesting. For people who like video games and can sit down for hours doing repetitive tasks just to beat the next boss, this seems like a good way to shift that unhealthy lifestyle towards something more productive.

24 Hour Fitness
4.00 miles - 0:34:46 - 08:41 pace

Just got back from Berkeley...

and the first thing I did was go to the gym! I was hoping to get home earlier so I can run outside at the park but that didn't happen so I did a treadmill run instead. Oh, well.

24 Hour Fitness - Treadmill
8.00 miles - 1:11:06 - 08:53 pace

PS. I'm re-evaluating my training routine. I figured running 12 miles EVERY Sunday would be too much (it like running a half-marathon every weekend). Instead, I'll dial it down a little and make up for the lack of distance with a lot more speed-work.

I spoke too soon about that sports band

Apparently, the website that handles info for the Nike sports band is fraught with problems. The reason why I bought the Lunar shoes was to use the band. Today, I returned those shoes and picked up another pair of Asics Cumulus 12. Gonna run in then tonight and try to break them in.

Update:
First run with these babies and they felt great!

24 Hour Fitness - Treadmill
3.47 miles - 0:30:00 - 08:39 pace

About time

Just got home from work and saw these at the door steps. Can't wait until I run in them tomorrow!

First run all week

I went hiking to the Holy Jim waterfall in my Asics running shoes. I figured, "with almost 450 miles on these things, I think I can spare a hike with them and then run the next few days until I receive my new shoes." Turns out, I was dead wrong considering that I ended up stepping into one stream after another, essentially compromising the cushioning provided by the insoles. Anyways, I decided to take a couple rest days on Monday and Tuesday before I got guilty enough to run this morning. Today will be the official day where I will retire my Asics Cumulus-12 running shoes. I will reserve those for hiking and off-road stuff and do my future runs in Nike LunarFly+ 2 running shoes.

24 Hour Fitness - Treadmill
4.00 miles - 0:34:36 - 08:39 pace

My little brother is back for the week

He just finished his semester at UC Berkeley so now hes back for the week to kick back. He used to be a cross country runner in High School so I always egg him for tips and tricks when running long distance. When I told him I ran a marathon, he was impressed because he has never done a marathon (let alone the training distances) himself.

Anyways, I went hiking last Sunday up a really beautiful creek towards a small waterfall. My soon-to-be-retired running shoes got wet and some sand got stuck underneath the in-soles. In effect the shoes are now "officially" retired and I will never run long distances in them again. I'll probably keep them as shoes that I can abuse. Anyways, my new shoes arrive on Wednesday so I won't be running until I get them. Until then, and for the foreseeable future, I am starting a strength training routine in addition to my generic runs. For now, here's my planned workout schedule.

Sunday- 12 miles
Monday- 4 miles and weights
Tuesday- 4 miles tempo
Wednesday- 4 miles and weights
Thursday- 4 miles repeats
Friday- weights
Saturday- 8 miles

-This equates to 36 miles a week with room for speed work, strength building, and endurance stacking.
-Tempo is where I start easy for a while, then gradually speed up to a fast pace, then slow to a cool down.
-Repeats are where I run a mile at a pace below race pace, then rest, then do repeat for a total of 4 separate but fast miles.

Something is wrong with me

I tried doing my mid-distance run today and failed after 4 miles. Normally, I would be able to do 5 miles easy but this is ridiculous. I've recently read that it takes about 2 weeks for an ELITE athlete to fully recover from a marathon. Obviously, I might be rushing things a little bit, considering that my "easy" runs aren't so easy anymore (which is a sign of over-training by the way). I think I'm just going to dial it back a little and take the marathon recovery training before beginning my next training schedule. If I do the full four weeks of the program, I will have to start the marathon training at week 11 to make sure I finish the program by race day on July 31st.

24 Hour Fitness - Treadmill
4.10 miles - 36:53 - 9:00 pace

My thoughts on barefoot running

Yesterday, as I was doing a short 3 mile run, I saw another athlete running barefoot. I've heard of the theories and alleged advantages to barefoot running but I figured that it would only take a small nail or sharp rock to injure the sole of his feet for weeks (regardless of how tough his callouses have developed).

Anyways, the most commonly alleged advantage to barefoot running is that it strengthens the ankles of the runner because it forces the athlete to change his landing patterns. For those who are not aware, endurance runners tend to land on either the heel or the mid-foot between steps. From what I've noticed, barefoot running forces the runner to land on his mid-foot and have the ankle absorb the impact because landing on the heel without some form of cushioning will send the shock straight up his shins (potentially causing shin splints). By utilizing the ankle for this purpose, the ankle gets stronger over time.

Now consider this: a runner who always lands with his heel (ie. heel runner) decides to train barefoot to strengthen his ankles. By doing so, he will land mid-foot and his ankles will grow ever stronger; however, by running barefoot, he risks injury to the soles of his feet which will send him out of commission for a long period of time. Furthermore, when he shifts back to running with his shoes, the strengthened ankles will never be utilized because his running pattern doesn't require ankles!

Now consider the alternative: a runner who always lands with his mid-foot (ie. mid-foot runner) who considers barefoot running. As a mid-foot runner, he is utilizing both the cushion in his shoes AND the impact absorption of his ankles to reduce injury. As a result his ankles are already developed and running barefoot is an unnecessary risk.

In conclusion: I suggest that those people out there who insist on running barefoot or insist on purchasing "barefoot-inspired" shoes to simply change landing patterns. It may take months of training to shift styles but it beats the alternative of a buying new pair of shoes or missing a race because of injury.

PS. The blog was down so I wasn't able to post yesterday's run so here it is:

Mile Square Regional Park
3.0 miles - 0:25:55 - 8:38 pace

Starting a new regimen

For the last marathon, I jumped into a training program that was already twelve weeks in; I struggled to keep up but I stayed true to the letter. This time, I'm going to jump into the program at week 7 so that I can finish the 18 weeks with the San Francisco Marathon on July 31st; which I will be doing with my youngest brother!

24 Hour Fitness - Treadmill

3.45 miles - 0:29:33 - 8:34 pace

4 mile attempt at a fast pace and failed. I'm going to try again tonight at a much slower pace so that I can. at the very least, finish 4 miles non-stop.

Friday was and will be the last time I donate blood

I tried doing a tempo run for 3 miles but failed (miserably). After about 20 minutes of my routine, I just ran out of gas and stopped. My initial speed wasn't even that high to begin with! Oh well, next time the blood bank calls me in, I would have already qualified for platelet donations which I will be more than happy to give up.

FYI: when donating platelets, the staff takes your blood, extracts the platelets, then puts the blood back into the host so there should be (theoretically) no effect in athletic performance.

24 Hour Fitness - Treadmill
2.24 miles - 0:20:00
Tempo
Start at 6.5 mph for 10:00 minutes, then increase by 0.1 mph for every minute afterwards.

Not quite 100% recovered

I just ran 4 miles today and got winded after 2. My running shoes are running over the mileage so my feet began to hurt as well. I also donated blood last Friday so that didn't help things either. Overall, it was nice to be outside and to enjoy a relaxing stroll through the park.

I just placed an order for new running shoes as well as a running gadget that automatically records my running distances. The shoes are semi-cushioned but are extremely lightweight. The low weight is perfect for racing or doing PR attempts but the lack of cushioning increasing the risk of injury. I might have to buy another pair of shoes depending on how these feel.

The watch is a Nike accelerometer that gauges gait patterns to determine distances over all types of terrain. With  this gadget, I no longer have to critically plan out my routes and can take detours knowing that every step is recorded.

Nike Lunarfly+ 2 Men's Running Shoe

Nike+ SportBand

Mile Square Regional Park
4.0 miles - 0:36:27

First day back!

First run since the marathon. I was supposed to do 2 miles but got caught in the moment and kept going for a little over 4 miles. The run was tough but it was nice to be on my feet after three days of complete rest.

Results

Marathon Runner Details Race Results Bib: 2588 Name: Daniel Tran Gender: M Age: 23 Hometown: Westminster, CA Overall: 1327 out of 1657 Men: 842 out of 982 M 20-24: 59 out of 71 Age/Grade: 37.71% Place: 1515 Finish: 5:31:17 Pace: 12:39 Tag Time: 5:31:17 Gun Time: 5:39:15 Split Times 5 Km: 28:58 Pace: 9:20 10 Mi: 1:36:31 Pace: 9:40 11 mi: 1:47:43 Pace: 9:48 Half: 2:10:21 Pace: 9:57 15.5 mi: 2:36:16 Pace: 10:05 18.6 mi: 3:26:22 Pace: 11:06

The first half of the marathon was beautiful. We ran by the pier, the beaches, the hills, the neighborhoods, the mall and the trails. The crowds were cheering us on with their posters and chants. The 18 mile mark is where things began to go downhill. I started getting leg cramps and hip flexor pains. At the 20 mile mark, I slowed to a crawl. The only thing that kept me going was realizing that I had about 10 km's left in the race, a distance that I run almost every day during training. About 20 meters from the finish line, my left thighs cramped severely, forcing me to stop dead in my tracks. Knowing that I was so close and with the crowd cheering me to finish, I limped past that finish line.

Finished!

I finally finished my first marathon! No words can describe what I felt when I crossed that finish line. Here's me and my completion medal =)

I find out about my results tomorrow. Can't wait!