8 miles - Lake Merced

“Long Run” Sunday

8 miles - Lake Merced

8 miles – Lake Merced

This was by far the best Lake Merced Run that I’ve ever had. I’ve run 10 miles around Lake Merced before, but this 8-mile run was fast (to my standards) and I felt so damn good after; I wasn’t too tired, I wasn’t breathing hard, nothing was aching, and I just felt gooooood.

And this is the first time that I used the my Garmin to challenge myself. And what I mean by that is, I set my Garmin to a 8:00 minute pace, whereas in the past I wouldn’t set a desired pace and just used the watch to track my current pace, overall distance and overall time. And to be honest, at the start of my run, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to keep up with that pace, but as I mile 2 came along I was feeling good. And after mile 3, I felt the same. By mile 4 I was in the zone! My strides felt good, my breathing felt good and I just felt goooooood. I’m glad that I used that desired pace function because I think it pushed me and challenged me and it showed me that I can absolutely run an 8:00 minute mile (over 8 miles at least). And to be honest, I think I could have gone another mile or 2 at that 8:00-minute (or faster) pace.

This watch is definitely one of the best Christmas gifts I’ve ever received and I’ve thanked my girlfriend every day since I received it.

Well, that was my “Long Run” Sunday. I’m not gonna lie, I don’t think I’ll post my whole week recap anymore. I’ll keep my running updates short and simple like this post. I hope you all have a great week! Cheers!

7 Mile - Lap Times

H.M.T. III – Week 7 Recap

HMT III: Week 7

HMT III: Week 7

Monday 12/31/12

New Year’s Eve!! I spent New Year’s Eve at my Sister’s place and kept it pretty low key because I had a New Year’s Day 10K the following morning. I did take 3 shots of Henny, but my brother-in-law was kind enough to make them half shots because he knew what I had planned that next morning. I didn’t strengthen this day because I wanted to rest my body for the 10K, BUT I did stretch (somewhat). On my way to my sister’s place, I stopped by a running store and bought this bad boy:

The Stick

The Stick

So I was rolling out my quads, calves and IT Band the whole day. After eating and playing with my nieces, I went to sleep around 9pm and asked my sister to wake me up for the countdown…. she forgot! But she did wake me up right after the countdown and I was able to wish all my family Happy New Year.

Tuesday 01/01/13

Check out my New Year’s Day 10K! post.

Wednesday 01/02/13

I was supposed to run, BUT I was still recovering from my 10K, so I just relaxed this day.

Thursday 01/03/13

I did strengthen my back, shoulder and triceps this day. After resistance training, I hopped on the treadmill for my 4.5-mile run and ended up only running half a mile; my legs still weren’t ready after that 10K (that hill was nuts, for me anyways).

10K Elevation Chart

10K Elevation Chart

Friday 01/04/13

Rest Day!!!! Yes please!!!!

Saturday 01/05/13

My lady and I started off this Saturday by volunteering a food bank with a few of my staff from the Y. It was a great experience and we had a lot of fun doing what we were doing. After the food bank we had lunch and after lunch I KTFO!! My body, my legs still needed some good rest.

Sunday 01/06/13

Today was my 7-miler. I wasn’t too sure how this run would go because I haven’t really ran since my 10K and my legs still felt a little tired. Here’s my run:

Lake Merced

Lake Merced

7 Mile - Lap Times

7 Mile – Lap Times

My legs felt really heavy today and I think its because I have been eating way too much Quinoa! I just started eating that shtuff and I have fallen in love with it. I spoke to my buddy about my run today and he told me that Quinoa definitely makes you feel a little heavier. So after I spoke with him, I went to Chipotle and got me a Chicken Fajita Bowl with EXTRA RICE! I think I haven’t been consuming too much carbs this past week (because of Quinoa) and that’s why this 7-miler was a little tougher than usual.

I you haven’t noticed yet, I have posted something every day this year! This is one of my goals for 2013: to post something on my blog everyday! I hope all of your running is going well! Cheers to 2013!!

Half Marathon #2: US Half Marathon

The US Half Marathon on November 4th, 2012 was my 2nd half marathon and boy was it a tough one. The course had a few hills, but that wasn’t why this was a tough race for me. My training for this half marathon wasn’t as good as I had hoped it would be. I had a Vegas trip that made me miss a week of running and I also bought some new basketball shoes that literally tore up my feet, so that took me out for another 2 weeks. I also think that the running program that I was on was a little too aggressive for me. It had a “pace run” once a week and I think that I may have set too ambitious of a goal for only my 2nd half marathon. My goal for this race was 1:45, which is an 8:00 minute mile pace and about 10 minutes quicker than my first half. The reason why I didn’t like this program and the pace runs was because it took out the fun and the freedom from my running. I started thinking about my finish time a little too much and stopped focusing on my love for running. There were a few times during the training that I knew I was over-training, but I decided to push through it thinking that that was the only way that I was going to improve. Over-training: the one thing I caution my own clients about every week, yet it was something I was doing during this training. The good thing is that I learned from this experience. Not that I have strayed too far away from it, but I want to get back to the point I was at when I first read “Born to Run.” I want to love running like I did when I first started running.

 

As for the race, I finished at 2:14:52. There were a couple of times I walked, I tied my shoes a few times, and use the potty once. It wasn’t my cleanest race and I blame it on my lack of proper training leading up to it. But like I said, I learned from this experience and I’m excited to run my next half.

 

I just started training for my 3rd Half Marathon and this time my only goal is to run. Cheers!

 

Mile 10

Mile 10

Training for my 2nd Half Marathon!

So after the Western Pacific Half Marathon, I took a few weeks off from running to rest my feet and legs from all the miles it had covered during training. And then I decided to plan for my 2nd Half Marathon. This time around I decided to follow Hal Higdon’s

Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Novice 2 Program

Hal Higdon’s Half Marathon Novice 2 Program

 

This training program had me set a goal for my 2nd Half Marathon, something that the Novice 1 Program didn’t have me do. I decided to set a goal of 01:45:00, which works out to be an 8-minute pace throughout the course of a Half Marathon. I figured it was a little ambitious, but I went with it.

 

Here are my Instagram posts from my 5K and 10K experiences:

 

Bear Creek Trail 5K

My first race in my Vibrams

My first race in my Vibrams

“Another 5K under our belts. It was my first official race wearing my Vibram KSOs and it sucked!!! Well, not that bad, but it did slow me down a little bit and I got a bruise on the side of my right foot. The “swag” we got at this race was by far the best of all the races we’ve done: 2 shirts, a really nice medal, 2 cans of coke for our gfs (btw, thanks for the support ladies), good post-race food, a purple bag of goodies, etc. And the race cost only $29 to register!! One thing I learned: don’t wear my Vibram KSOs on future trail races. Happy Saturday everyone!!”

Drag-N-Fly Trail 10K

10K #2

10K #2

 

“Drag-N-Fly 10K…. Charlie 2nd overall, 1st in age group = 48:26 (7:19 pace). Me 23rd overall, 4th in age group = 1:02:44 (9:29 pace). This 10K was no joke! I never knew Antioch had hills like the ones we ran up. Definitely one of the tougher races I’ve participated in. S/o to my brother Charlie for running his first official race since his Cross Country days in high school; my homie killlled it. #brazen #brazenracing #dragnfly #10K #run #running”

So those were my most recent races. I was supposed to run the San Jose Rock ‘n Roll Half, but registration was way too expensive. So my next race will be the US Half in San Francisco on November 4th! I haven’t been able to run or work out these past few weeks because I bought of pair of Kobe’s to hoop in and they realllllly messed up my feet. They’re healed now, so I’ll be training hard these next 2 weeks. I hope everyone is running well! Cheers!

HMT: Days 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 & 36 “Just Around the Corner”

HMT: Days 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 & 36

HMT: Days 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35 & 36

Day 30: 5 mile run

5 miles in 39 minutes; one of my best treadmill runs

5 miles in 39 minutes; one of my best treadmill runs

This 5 mile run felt really good. I started with an easy pace and gradually increased the speed throughout the run. This was def. one of the best runs I’ve ever had on a treadmill. I have to thank my brothers Ant and Gordon for pushing me through this workout. For the past week or so, we’ve been texting each other each others runs, and these texts have served as motivation to keep pushing.

Day 31: 3 mile run or cross

Today was a very light day. I chose to do some cross training so that I could conserve my legs for the 10 mile run that I had scheduled for the Sunday upcoming. I chose to do 30 minutes of boxing drills with my brother Jeff. We did a few rounds with the mitts followed by a few rounds of light contact drills. Jeff has been training Muay Thai for close to 3 years now and has always been the go-to-guy for everything boxing. He’s really helped sharpen my boxing skills and has always given me a great workout with the mitts.

Day 32: 5 mile run + strength

5 miler

5 miler

Today’s run was just an ok run. I wasn’t really feeling it today, so instead of forcing myself to run a good time, I listened to my body and  took it real easy. I would run a mile, then walk a quarter mile, run a mile and then walk a quarter mile and continued this for the entire run. It’s getting real close to my Half Marathon and I don’t really want to push too hard during my running days if I’m not feeling up to it. It took me 55 minutes to complete these 5 miles and I was absolutely ok with that. After this run, I did some back, shoulder and tricep exercises.

Day 33: Rest

If you ever come to my neck of the woods, you MUST visit Little Lucca . On this rest day, all I did was watch the SF Giants game and consume this bad boy (I did not eat the remote. I just placed it in the photo to show you how ginormous this sandwich is.)

Crab Sandwich from Little Lucca... MmMmMmMmMmmmmmmm

Crab Sandwich from Little Lucca... MmMmMmMmMmmmmmmm

Day 34: 60 min cross

Ok, I approached this cross training day a little differently: I just hit the “Start” button on my iPhone stopwatch and did anything for an hour. I do not remember exactly what I did, but there was jump roping, burpees, lunges, pull-ups, bicep curls and much much more.

Hit start and work for an hour

Hit start and get to work

Day 35: 10 mile run

Oh hell yes, my first 10 mile run! And this wasn’t just any 10 miles, it was 10 miles around Lake Merced. Gordon and I started off with a very easy pace, but then picked it up every mile. At Mile 4, I had some water and walked while I drank instead of running while trying to drink. I tried to run while drinking during my 10K, but that did not turn out well; water in my nose + water in my eyes = not good. At Mile 8, I was about to reach into my pocket and pull out the GU packet that I had but I decided to push through, but I don’t think I’ll do that during the Half. I think I will have water and Mile 4, GU at Mile 8, and water and/or GU at mile 12. Here’s the break down of our run

My first 10 Mile run, I loved it!

My first 10 Mile run, I loved it!

Day 36: Stretch and Strengthen

Today I spent a lot of time with the foam roller. I took the knots out of my IT Band, adductors, quads, and calves. I also did a good amount of static stretching for my hamstrings and hip flexors. For my strength training, I did 2 chest, 2 bicep and 2 leg exercises. I didn’t push too hard today; I really want this week to be an easy week because my FIRST EVER HALF MARATHON is just around the corner! Holler!

I hope all is well with you all! Cheers!

HMT: Day 29 “The Stick”

Stretch & Strengthen

Stretch & Strengthen

 

Day 29: Stretch & Strengthen

 

So this week I am skipping Week 10 and jumping straight to Week 11 because my Half Marathon is on 2 weeks. As I look at Week 10, it doesn’t seem like I’m skipping a lot so I don’t think it should be a huge deal.

 

Today was a light day and that is exactly how I wanted it to be. I went straight to the foam roller when I got to Crunch and spent a good 25 minutes on that bad boy. I worked on my IT Band, my Quads, my Fibularis (Peroneus) Longus and Fibularis (Peroneus) Brevis, and my calves.

 

The Peronei.... well, 2 of them

The Peronei.... well, 2 of them

 

I highlighted both the Peroneus Longus & Peroneus Brevis because these muscles piss me off. My right ankle has been sprained so many times before (inversion ankle sprain) and during my 10K on Saturday I rolled my ankle again. Thankfully there was no swelling and I’m able to walk, but today these two particular muscles were really tight. You see, when you have an Inversion Ankle Sprain (when your foot falls inward, towards mid-line) the outer muscles of your lower leg are overstretched or damaged, and these outer muscles of your lower leg are the Peronei Musculature (Longus, Brevis & Tertius).

 

So majority of my SMR with the foam roller was focused on these 2 Peronei. The massage I had yesterday definitely made it feel better, but it was still tight today. I even used “The Stick” when I was training my client tonight. If you don’t know what the “The Stick” is, you should get one, it works wonders.

 

The Stick..... it works wonders

The Stick..... it works wonders

 

As for the Strengthening portion of my workout, I did 2 back exercises, 2 tricep exercises, 2 shoulder exercises, and my ab routine. Today was a good day at the gym, I’m anxious to see how my 5 mile run goes tomorrow. I hope you all had great Mondays! Cheers!