Woot!!! I just broke 2k miles since I started running back in September of 2007. 2k miles in 15 or so months...not bad, but I hope to clock nearly 2k miles in 2009 alone!!! 

Just one week until the Surf City half marathon, and although I have not be training for it specifically I think with the training I have done since the City of Angels half I am in a much better position to break 1:30. The one disadvantage that I have for Surf City versus CoA is that I have not and will not taper for Surf City. I plan to take this week easy, but I will still do the mileage required by my training plan for Pasadena. Not to mention the fact that I ran my second 20 mile long run this weekend. So I might not be well rested for next weekend, but I think 1:30 is achievable. That would be one goal down for the year, and would leave me 11 months to focus on, train, and qualify for Boston!!

After a few weeks of unseasonable warmth (as if LA had seasons) this past week decided to cool down and we even had some rain. We were lucky to that the rain didn't interfere with our training schedule, and the break in the heat was nice. The only close call I had was on Friday when it rained most of the day, yet cleared up just in time for my tempo session. The ground was still a little bit wet and I being a huge wimp declined to use my racing flats for my tempo run. Instead I used my trainers and they worked out nicely enough, but my pace was a bit off compared to the previous week. Whether or not the shoes or my legs were responsible I do not care to worry myself over.

This Sunday might have been the most perfect weather we have had all year for a run. I was partly cloudy and the temperature ranged from mid-50's to about a high of 60. The team run started in Santa Monica at the pier and ran up San Vicente then near UCLA where we turned around and headed back. I think this is a very nice route. The incline up San Vicente and Veteran (near UCLA) are just difficult enough and are a good preview of what the Pasadena course is like. The best part about the run however, is that most of the second half is downhill. After I finished the team route, which was 15.5 miles, I ran a few more along the beach in the perfect weather to complete my 20 miles (or 19.73...whatever). I felt really strong during this run, even the last 5 miles. Also, my pace was a bit quicker than I intended. This is likely due to the downhill section. I am glad that I could maintain an increased pace without pushing my heart rate to high.

Last Monday I drove around the Pasadena marathon course, and to me it looks quite challenging. There are multiple sections with rather long, gradual inclines which are killers during a race. I am glad I got to see the course before the race because I think I would have been surprised a little come race morning. I think a BQ is a long shot at Pasadena, but it will be nice to see where I am at and see how much more work I need the rest of the year to meet my goal. My best shot is likely to be the California International Marathon, which is December. So the timing is pretty good for Boston in 2010, and I read that something like 26% of men BQ at the CIM, so nice!!

Last weeks training:

• Tuesday - 9.00 Mile Run w/ Fartlek -  1:11:27 min, 7:56 pace

• Wednesday - 5.10 Mile Easy Run - 41:50 min, 8:12 pace

• Thursday - 4.05 Mile Easy Run - 34:25 min, 8:29 pace

• Friday - 10.11 Mile Run w/ Tempo - 1:12:22 min, 7:09 pace, 1 Mile warmup and cool down, 8 Miles @ 6:55 pace

• Sunday- 19.73 Mile Long Run - 2:38:15 min, 8:01 pace

Shoe Mileage

• Asics DS Trainer 13.1 - 332.1

• Asics DS Trainer 13.2 - 94.79

• Asics DS Trainer 13.3 - 0.0 (yeah I got another pair!!)

• Asics Gel Bandito - 25.18

• Asics DS Trainer 14.1 - 35.42

Weight - 132.2 w/ 8.7% Body Fat

I was trying to come up with one of those corny 'you might be a runner' jokes, something like you know you are a runner when on Sundays you eat breakfast at 1p and it is your third meal of the day already, but yeah that isn't remotely funny. So instead we will skip to the writing. You might ask why am I eating breakfast at 1p? Well today was my first 20 miler in preparation for Pasadena. It certainly wasn't the best run but it wasn't bad either. It turned out to be very warm today, and I have become conditioned into automatically wearing long sleeves on Sundays so I was...well uncomfortable today. I started to get a little dehydrated near the end of the run, and I consumed a ton of gel today so I will keep an eye on the weather in the future.

Also, I broke a cardinal rule of running today and wore my new Asics DS Trainer 14's today without having worn them except for around the apartment. They really felt comfortable around the apt, so I said why not. Well I almost ran back to my car after warmup today and switched them out. Why? One word: HEAVY. So what that they only weigh like 1 oz more than the 13's, that 1 oz is on your feet which you have to propel for 20 miles. In fact I think the extra oz is probably why my heart rate was about 5 bpm higher than last week...crazy but true, I think. Aside from the weight however, the 14's are very, very nice shoes. They have much more support than the 13's, the lacing is more comfortable, and so is the new last (and subsequently the toebox). So I think I will use the 14's mostly for midweek medium distance runs, and go back to using the 13's for long runs.

School is starting back up tomorrow, which I actually don't mind. I think it is a little easier for me to schedule my time when I am running with the team later in the day. Over break I have been running near my apt. and the streets are not lit very well. Because of this I have been running early in the day, around 3:30, which doesn't leave much time before to get a lot of work done. So now back to school and running at 5p, which allows me to get a full work day in before. I will have to see how this schedule works with the 11 and 12 mile mid week runs.

Training this week went pretty well. Nothing too exciting. Speed work this week was mile intervals, which I was supposed to do at 6:15, but you know I can't follow instructions. So I ended up running the first two at around 6:05 and the last one I just squeaked under 6min at 5:59. I think that might be the first time I have ever ran a sub 6min mile.

Last weeks training:

• Tuesday - 5.02 Mile Run w/ Fartlek -  37:48 min, 7:48 pace

• Wednesday - 9.02 Mile Easy Run - 1:14:01 min, 8:12 pace

• Thursday - 3.04 Mile Recovery Run - 27:03 min, 8:53 pace

• Friday - 7.91 Mile Run w/ Intervals - 58:25 min, 7:24 pace - Warm up, 3 - 1 Mile Intervals w/.75 Mile jogs - Cool down

• Sunday - 19.83 Mile Long Run - 2:41:51 min, 8:09 pace

Shoe Mileage:

• Asics DS Trainer 13.1  - 324.01

• Asics DS Trainer 13.2 - 34.83

• Asics Gel Bandito - 16.14

• Asics DS Trainer 14.1 - 19.83

I guess this is the first week of my actual training for the Pasadena marathon (90 days away) and I might have pushed it a little in terms of mileage. Ended up running about 5 miles more than I should have if I was following the proper 10% increase formula. But I was excited to start marathon training and next week is Christmas, which means lots of good food and a rest week as well (again...already...oh well).

This week I was working from home (kinda working) and because it has been pretty cold I decided to run late morning early afternoon. Seemed like a good idea, but it kind of caused some havoc with my eating schedule. Especially on Friday when I was doing a tempo run. Anyways without all the details I felt both breakfast (the coffee) and my snack in my stomach while I was running. Just another example of how in running it is best to stick to your patterns. Sure I can my schedule easily to accomadate early runs, but all changes take some time getting used to. I think that is one of the things I like about running, from a diabetic standpoint boring is good and running gives me an excuse to be boring.

Not much to say this week. My new (old) eating plan is working well. I think I am maintaining muscle mass a little better without gaining weight. Like I said last week I took Ted's advice and I am varying my daily distances and I like it so far. My speedwork this week went alright. Besides the horrible feeling in my stomach that is. I ran for the second time on the river bike path and it is very nice for tempo runs (flat and straight). I did an 18 mile long run (instead of the 16 I should have) and it felt pretty good. I am still having issues with the cold weather and I never really loosened up. But I felt pretty strong...probably could have made it to 20 at the pace I was going. Next week in Sacramento I will be bringing out all the stops (headband, long sleeves, gloves and dare I say tights) because it is going to be **** cold, and hopefully it will stop raining for like 10 minutes so I can squeeze some miles in.

Happy holidays!

Last weeks training:

• Tuesday - 10.05 Mile Easy Run - 1:25:08 min, 8:28 pace

• Wednesday - 3.09 Mile Easy Run - 25:56 min, 8:23 pace

• Thursday - 5.02 Mile Easy Run - 41:39 min, 8:17 pace

• Friday - 9.03 Mile Run w/ Tempo - 1:07:36 min, 7:29 pace

• Sunday - 18.26 Mile Long Run - 2:29:57 min, 8:12 pace

Shoe Mileage - Asics DS Trainer 13 - 279.01

Weight - forgot to check ={ 

RACE WEEK WOOT!!! So yeah it was finally race week, and I would say all in all it went very well. My training for the week was pretty easy. Two easy runs and a short, semi-fast tempo run. First time I tried a two day carbo-load, and it seemed to work pretty well. Pre-race meal didn't cause any problems. I actually tried something new for a pre-race/run meal(I know, I know that is the worst thing to do). I ate some whole wheat pitas from TJ's and a banana. The pitas are low fat and lower in fiber than most everything else I have tried. Another thing I tried for the first time today was 50mg Caffeinated Shot Bloks. I had 4 of them about 45 min before the start and I could definately feel the caffeine. I actually think the heavy dose all at once wasn't too bad (really got me going for the first 4 miles), but I would prefer to take them at intervals like I usually do. So that was everything leading up to the race, and I think my preparation went very well.

Now to the actually race. The race went very well, not quite as well as I wanted it to but for the training I did it was a great result. Looking at the data it seems like I ran a very stupid race. I had a severe positive split (around 45 min first half and close to 47 min second), but I don't look at it that way at all. My goal this year is to finish a half marathon in under 1:30, and I started the first two miles of this race right at 6:52 pace (which is right at 1:30 pace) and felt great. At about mile 2 I was trying to decide if I wanted to slow my pace to 7:05 or to just go all in. Well I chose the second and I don't regret it at all.

I maintained 6:52 pace until just shy of mile 7, or as the runners might remember the monster hill on Hyperion Bridge. That hill and the one going up Rowena slowed my overall pace to about 6:58. I brought the pace back down a little running past the reservoir and on Silver Lake Blvd, and felt very good. Then the hill going up Sunset killed any chance I had of breaking 1:30. By the time I made it to Echo Park I was at around 7:00 overall pace, and there wasn't time (or energy) to make up the seconds. Not only that but the final hill going up Bellevue really took a toll. I managed 6:50 pace on the last 1.5 miles, but I will say I was spent and running on adrenaline.

So a few lessons I learned. First is to train harder. My training program was designed for a 7:05 pace, so the program worked but not for breaking 1:30. Second is get proper gear. I have been having a little problem with my shoes where the toes on my left for have been bumping the end, so I think I need to step up a half size. Also, and this would have ****** me off if I was closer to 1:30, my left sock slipped a little bit down into my shoe and the exposed part of my heel was rubbing pretty bad. I actually stopped not once but twice to adjust my sock and it never really got better. So that cost me...maybe 20-30 seconds, but didn't cost me my goal so no harm, no foul. Last lesson is to train for the course. The last few months I have been strictly running near USC (and weekend long runs), which is very flat. The last two weeks I have ran elsewhere a few times (my parents home, and in Los Feliz) and I noticed that my strength for hills has dropped off quite a bit. Over the summer I was running hills a lot more and the ones in the race probably wouldn't have affected me so much, but I really wasn't ready for them.

Few other things. My blood sugar after the race was pretty normal. I felt a little weak at times during the race and I feel like I consumed a ton of Clif Shots. I have been using a fixed basal rate during morning runs and it has been working pretty good. I just need to bring it down a bit more for races. 

Race Result:

• Time - 1:31:45 (new PR thank you very much), 7:00 pace

• Place - Overall: 117 - Division: 15 - and only 4 Women beat me!!! (one of them was our own Shea, awesome job Shea!!!!)

Last Weeks Training:

• Tuesday - 3.68 Mile Easy Run - 30:35 min, 8:18 pace

• Wednesday - 4.86 Mile Tempo Run - 36:25 min, 7:29 pace - 1 mile warm up, 3 miles at 7:17, 1 mile cool down

• Thursday - 3.75 Mile Easy Run - 29:50 min, 7:57 pace

• Sunday - 13.1 Mile Race - 1:31:45 min, 7:00 pace

Shoe Mileage - Asics DS Trainer 13 - 196.84

Just two weeks until the City of Angels half marathon, and my training is going very well. I completed my last 'hard' long run today and despite being a cold coming on I managed to complete 4 miles at race pace to close out the run. Next week I have a 13 miler at an easy pace followed by a few days of taper. Hopefully I won't stuff my self too much at Thanksgiving and screw up my training. In fact I plan on doing a tempo run Thanksgiving morning because I won't do it the day after and this way I can feel guilt free eating all I want

Some good news for the marathon team this week. It seems that the Pasadena organizers are planning on rescheduling for March which would fit our schedule perfectly. If that doesn't work out I think our team might break into smaller groups and train for a few different events. My plan after the half marathon is to build up my weekly mileage to around 45-50 miles and either start a maintainence program or start a program for Pasadena.

With the increase in mileage I think it is going to be much more important to maintain a slower pace on easy runs. I had a very good training week this week and I think it is in large part to how slowly I ran on Thursdays run (set up nicely for 'Fast Friday'). Running 50 mpw means running 8-9 mile easy runs, which if done any faster than easy pace actually requires some recovery. However if done properly these runs build endurance without stressing the body at all.

My eating program seems to be working well. I have been focusing on eating more before and after workouts and I think this will work quite nicely. I have been eating a few more calories than what I was before, but now that my mileage is in the upper 30's I think this is expected.

As I said before I had a decent run today. Ran the last 4 miles of a 12 miler at sub 7 pace. I didn't really feel that great during the whole run, but I made it through. A combination of being active yesterday (moving stuff in the apt.), being sick, and a tough workout on Friday. On Friday I did 4 one mile intervals, and they were great. Ran the first two at 6:30, third about 6:25 and the last at 6:14. I don't really like 1 mile intervals but this was a great workout, and next week back to my favorite...tempo run.

Last weeks training:

• Tuesday - 5.99 Mile Easy/Fartlek - 45:47 min, 7:38 pace

• Wednesday - 5.01 Mile Easy Run - 39:19 min, 7:50 pace

• Thursday - 6.03 Mile Easy Run - 49:58 min, 8:17 pace

• Friday - 7.81 Speedwork Mile Intervals - 57:11 min, 7:19 pace

• Sunday - 12 Mile Long Run - 1:33:42 min, 7:48 pace

A very good training week...**** a good week in general (congratulations President Barack Obama). I think my new eating plan is working out the best of everything I have tried so far. To summarize I am doing pretty much what I was doing before except I changed my morning snack to 20g carbs from 15g fat, and I have added a little carb boost on running days before and after the runs when it is most needed. This seems to provide plenty of energy for the runs and I am not gaining any weight which is nice.

One thing I am going to change moving forward is my gait for easy runs. As mentioned previously I have been taking some cues from the Pose method of running. Well, Pose dictates that for easy runs you should maintain the same stride rate, but shorten the length. This method is ok, but now that I am watch my heart rate I noticed that maintaining the same rate keeps my heart rate too high during easy runs. So I think I will work on maintaining my stride length and slow the rate. The only issue I have with this is I am a mid/forefoot runner and by slowing my rate it means I am on the balls of my feet longer. This is very difficult and I usually find myself bouncing up and down too much. I will try to find something in between that works better. 

I felt so good that I pushed a little to hard on my tempo and long run this week. During my tempo run on Friday I ran 4 miles at around 6:45 min/mile pace which is 15 seconds faster than I should be. This pushed my heart rate a little too high, so I need to watch out but I prefer going to fast to not finishing the run like I was doing a few weeks back. My long run this week was pretty good. I wanted to do a fast finish and I did this but perhaps a little too fast. I ran at about 6:57 min/mile pace on the second half of the run, which is below my goal half marathon pace. So again too fast, but the second half was mostly downhill so I think the pace was not too extreme.

Also, with my new schedule of doing speed training on Fridays instead of Thursdays I think I am going to use Tuesdays easy run as a semi-speed workout. Try to do some fartleks/strides/fast finishes while running with the team. Hopefully it won't be overtraining. 

Last weeks training:

• Tuesday - 5.92 Mile Easy Run - 46:19 min, 7:49 pace

• Wednesday - 5.86 Mile Easy Run - 47:59 min, 8:11 pace

• Thursday - 4.44 Mile Easy Run - 36:23 min, 8:11 pace

• Friday - 6:32 Mile Tempo Run - 44:04 min, 6:58 pace - 1.5 Mile Warm up, 4.2 miles @ 6:46 pace, cool down

• Sunday -  10.7 Mile Long Run - 1:28:36 min, 8:11 pace

So this is the week that I realize I have a problem. Not to sound over dramatic. In fact it is not really a problem just something that needs to be fixed, and the fix is good...eating more food! That is right I think I need to up my caloric intake a little mostly on running days. I have lost 10 lbs. in the last 3 months. Actually I think it has been in the last month and a half. The good news is that I am now down to my ideal weight, but the bad news is that if I continue to eat like this I think my weight is going to continue to drop. The worst part about it is that my last two weeks of training have been awful. The problem has mostly been with my tempo runs which have been on Thursdays after two other runs. I have just had no energy and I think it is because I haven't been recovering properly from the first two runs. So after my latest Costco trip I have purchased some granola, crackers and cookies to try and up the carb intake a little bit...stay tuned to see if it helps.

My GPS watch is so awesome!! I love how it maps your run and gives nice details like pace and heart rate throughout the run. First time I used it I thought it got the path I ran wrong, but then I thought about it and it was right and I had just forgot what I ran. Today for the long run I mapped out the course beforehand and uploaded it to the watch and then ran the course. The watch lets you define a pace and then race a 'virtual' partner...I kicked his *** by a mile (1.1 to be exact). Also the distance to go alerts are nice and for races the virtual partner will be very helpful.

As for runs this week it started off very well. The two easy runs on Tuesday and Wednesday I maintained a slow pace and good heart rate. But like I said above Thursday I ran out of energy and my tempo run was cut short. That is two weeks in a row and is unacceptable. Because of my energy issues I took Saturday off and killed the run on Sunday.

Sunday was the first mandatory team run and there were a ton of people there which is awesome. I ran 3.5 before the team run at a decent pace, and for the 6.2 mile team run I went all out and ran a 6:46 pace which is well below even my tempo pace. There was a lot of stopping at lights so this was not as difficult as an actual tempo run, but a good one for me anyway's.

Last weeks training:

• Tuesday -  6.03 Mile Easy Run - 48:59 min, 7:51 pace

• Wednesday - 6.19 Mile Easy Run - 53:25 min, 8:14 pace

• Thursday - 6.66 Mile Tempo Run - 54:06 min, 7:36 pace

• Sunday - 9.73 Mile Long Run - 1:14:16 min, 7:37 pace

This was just a bad, bad week. It seems I have let the start of the marathon team training get me a little too excited and I have gotten away from sticking to my training plan. The biggest problem is running the easy runs easy. I have commented before how my easy run pace was too slow, but now when running with the team I am trying to stay near the front of the pack and thus running too fast.

Next week I will be more disciplined and will have a little help from my new tech. That is right I finally broke down and bought a GPS watch, the Garmin Forerunner 305. I bought the 305 over the 205 because I am interested in doing some heart rate training. With the 305 you can set alarms for dropping above or below a given pace or heart rate, so hopefully it will help me stay easy on easy runs.

What really sold me on the watch is the ability to program speed and tempo work. This is a very cool feature that lets you go from warm up to interval to jog to cool down, each with different alarm settings, with the touch of a button. Suffice to say I am very excited.

Like I said above I ran too hard on my easy runs this week. My tempo run on Thursday was awful because I was so worn out from the easy runs earlier in the week. The long run on Sunday was pretty good however. I kept my pace down a little bit and finished with some strides, which reminds me of something I have just started working on...the length of my stride.

Last week Ted mentioned that my stride seemed a little short, and I could increase my pace a bit by lengthening it. So I have started working on getting my knees higher after pushoff. It feels a little strange, and I think it might looking funny as well but I think it is working. I am gonna keep working on it and will update progress next week.

Last weeks training (I have stopped using my Nike+ so my pace and times are generic):

• Tuesday - 5.62 Mile Easy Run - 43:37 min, 7:45 pace

• Wednesday - 6 Mile Easy Run - 48:00 min, 8:00 pace

• Thursday - 7 Mile Tempo Run - 53:30 min, 7:38 pace - 3 mile warm up, 3 mile tempo (6:30 pace), 1 mile cool down

• Saturday - 4 Mile Easy Run - 32:00 min, 8:00 pace

• Sunday - 10 Mile Long Run - 1:20:00 min, 8:00 pace