Just finished one of the best runs I have had in a few months. I wanted to do a 10 Mile Long run with a fast finish, but I started the fast portion of it about 3 miles in and just continued with the pace. I was a little frustrated with my Nike + device. It was giving me pace times that I thought were off quite a bit. When I finished the distance it gave was only 9.68 miles, so I mapped it using gmaps and that told me the run was 10.6 miles...a huge difference. I don't really think that either are precise, but that is a large difference. Not only that but with my Nike + the pace works out to about 7:47, and with gmaps the pace is closer to 7:10. I felt great the whole run so I think I was at least around 7:20 per mile. Oh well.

Let's see why I had such a good run. To tell the truth I don't really know why. I flew home for my pop's birthday party yesterday and ate like garbage, had a few drinks, and 3 pieces of cake!! Then I flew back Sunday morning and didn't really follow my eating plan very closely all day, and didn't max my glycogen stores. I guess the reason is that I have taken the two previous days off and I just felt fresh. That and I think my tempo work is really starting to pay large dividends.

Speaking of tempo work I had a very good, but tough one this week. I did 4.5 miles at a quick pace, well below what I am scheduled to do. I paid for it Thursday, but like I said with a little extra rest it help with my long run.

My eating plan seems to be working. I have had some extra snacks later at night. Mostly to correct my blood sugar, but some just cause I am hungry. I think I will have to add some calories when we really get to training, but I will adjust then. Also, I was looking a little soft around the waist earlier this week. Could just be recovering from working out, but I will keep an eye on it.

So the LA marathon has officially changed to President's day, Feb. 16th 2009. I really hope this doesn't cause a ton of problems with the marathon team. With Winter break many of the beginning runners probably won't train properly and then the race is so soon after Spring semester starts that I am afraid many first timers might get injured or have difficulties. If there are too many problems it could be detrimental to the USC marathon team in the future.

Last weeks training:

• Tuesday - 5.01 Mile Easy Run - 37:06 min, 7:24 pace

• Wednesday - 7.04 Mile Tempo Run - 49:05 min, 6:58 pace - 1.5 mile warm up, 4.5 mile tempo run at 6:50 pace (approx.), 1 mile cool down

• Thursday - 4.94 Mile Easy Run - 39:50 min, 8:04 pace

• Sunday - 9.68 (10.59) Mile Long Run - 1:15:26 min, 7:47 pace (7:09 pace)

For a while I have tried to maintain a reasonably balanced food regimen, but have some difficulty following guidelines layed out in various fitness articles I have read. This week my roommate and I were discussing nutrition (she just went to a nutritionist) and it inspired me to really get my diet in line.

My biggest problems have always been with too many grams protein and carbs and not enough fat (healthy fat that is). I have always been under the impression that to get your body fat percentage down you need to eat less fat, seems simple right?!? I realize now that the body uses a good deal of fat for energy, and likely if you aren't eating enough fat then the body will actually burn less of it to protect and store what you do have (i.e. a starvation effect).

Another problem is that my daily caloric intake has always been a little biased towards eating later in the day. So my new and improved program looks like this:

• 2100 Total Daily Caloric Intake

• 3 Meals - (500 kCal Breakfast, 500 kCal Lunch, 600 kCal Dinner)

• 2 Snacks - 250 kCal each

A typical daily meal plan will look something like this

• Breakfast - 1.5 Cups Kashi Go Lean Cereal, 1 Cup Soy Milk, .25 Cup Raisins, .5 Oz Almonds

• Calories: 479 - 13 g Fat (24%), 80 g Carbs (51%), 30 g Protein (25%)

• Snack - Trio Bar

• Calories: 230 - 16 g Fat (56%), 20 g Carbs (31%), 6 g Protein (12%)

• Lunch - 2 Slices Milton Wheat Bread, 5 oz Carrots, 1 Large Apple, 1 Serving Lunch Meat, .75 Tablespoon Peanut Butter, Spinach

• Calories: 488 - 9 g Fat (20%), 80 g Carbs (58%), 23 g Protein (22%)

• Snack - Clif Bar

• Calories: 260, 6 g Fat (20%), 42 g Carbs (63%), 11 g Protein (17%)

• Dinner - 4 oz Chicken Breast, 2 oz Brown Rice, 2 Cup Broccoli, 1 serving Fruit

• Calories: 597 - 12 g Fat (19%), 80 g Carbs (47%), 47 g Protein (34%)

Surprisingly enough that all adds up to right around 2100 calories, and 25% Fat and Protein with 50% Carbohydrate!! I am going to continue to work with the numbers and see if I can get each meal a little more balanced, but for now I like it.

The most difficult part for me is going to be dinner. 4 oz of chicken is about half to a third of what I normally eat. I am also combining my late snack with dinner, so hopefully I won't get hungry late in the evening.

I hope this works because I seem to be stuck at my current weight and body fat percentage. I will try to remember to post progress in a few weeks. Cheers!!

Feeling much better this week. My legs don't feel tired and the injuries that my insoles were causing seem to have healed. This was the first week of my 11 week training for the Pasadena Half-Marathon. Mostly easy runs, which I complained about before but I guess the are alright. My tempo run this week was very nice. I actually ran too fast, but it felt pretty good (started to tire the last .25-.5 miles).

Had a good run with the marathon team again. About twice as many people showed up this week compared to last which is awesome.

Also had some pretty good weight sessions this week. My stomach work is getting better every week, and I found a new exercise that targets the obliques very nicely.

I think I am going to cut some more calories from my diet. The only place I can really see this happening is my post-dinner snack. I have been eating dinner pretty late, and I go to sleep so early that it doesn't make sense to have another meal 1-1.5 hrs after dinner. I am a little hesitant though because since I have stopped eating cookies my post-dinner snack is primarly fruit, which I don't really want to cut. Also, I am going to try to add some more healthy fats (almonds, p. butter, omega-3,6's). Probably a post-breakfast snack on running days.

Last weeks training:

• Wednesday - 4.73 Mile Easy Run - 37:50 min, 8:00 pace

• Thursday - 5.16 Mile Tempo Run - 36:04 min, 6:59 pace -Tempo: 3 miles at 7:07 (so I was a little quick)

• Friday - 4:03 Mile Easy Run - 32:26 min, 8:03 pace

• Saturday - 4.19 Mile Easy Run - 32:53 min, 7:51 pace

• Sunday -Split Run - 4.88 Mile Long Run - 37:22 min, 7:39 pace

                                      - 3.97 Mile Long Run - 30:54 min, 7:47 pace (supposed to be 9 mile total)

First I must apologize to my Brooks'...Brookses...my old shoes. Seems they were not the cause of my leg pain last week, and it was some ill fitting insoles that were the culprit. I have been breaking in my new Asics this week and I switched the insoles from the Brooks to the Asics. From the first run something felt odd.

I use heat-moldable insoles (from Sole) and really like them. Well, the last set I purchased has a small plastic 'pocket' that is supposed to be for the Nike+ insert. I guess I have flat feet or something because the insert was causing the insole to fit funny. I actually noticed it originally in my Brooks, and I switched insoles for a while. I don't know why but I went back to the faulty insole and I think that is what has been causing my right leg pain the last few weeks.

So I cut the pocket out and now the Asics feel like magic, and the Brooks feel pretty good too. With my recent purchases last week I now have 4 solid pairs of shoes...5 counting my trail runners. So basically I am equipped for the next 1000 miles or so.

I guess I shouldn't be so quick to judge...I hope my Brooks's will take me back...

Current Shoes:

• Asics GT - 2130 - General

• Asics DS Trainer 13 - Speedwork

• Brooks Adrenaline ASR - Trail

Current Stats:

• Weight - 144 - I think

• Body Fat - 5% - That is too low...cheap calipers. My guess is more like 9%

• Calorie Intake - 2100 - That is what I shoot for anyway

Goal Stats:

• Weight - 140 to 135

• Body Fat - 6-8% - Actual not crappy caliper readings

So it is the beginning of a new school year, and about time to start training for the Winter/Spring running season. I will be a captain/coach of the USC Marathon Team this year, which should be a great deal of fun.

My thought right now is to run the half-marathon in Pasadena in November (Nov. 16th), and then focus on training for the LA marathon in March.

I was on Runner's World yesterday and found a nice tool for helping set training goals. So here is my goal for LA:

• Goal 3:20 Marathon

• Pace 7:38 per Mile

• Easy Run Pace - 8:37 (that seems so slow to me, but I trust the advice of the experts)

• Tempo Training Pace - 7:10 (last weeks tempo run was at about 7:20, so I need to improve this)

• Max. Oxygen Pace - 6:28 (for longer interval runs, don't think I am at this level yet)

• Speed Form Pace - 5:59 (shorter intervals, I don't even know if I can run this fast!?!?)

• Long Run Pace - 8:37 - 9:44 (similar to the easy run pace this seems very slow)

According to calculations running a 3:20 marathon is equivalent to the following shorter distance paces:

• 5k Race Pace: 20:52

• 10k Rack Pace: 43:31

• Half Marathon Pace: 1:35:56 (My PR is 1:42 so I have some work here, and this is my goal for Pasadena)