Rock n' Roll Half Marathon

This was another benchmark on how my running had progressed thus far, the other being the SF Marathon. I had run this half marathon last year when I still hadn't been focusing too much on running, but rather running haphazardly. So, yet again, as with the SF Marathon, I am able to gauge how well I've come along. Beyond that this race would also be able to tell me how my knees are holding up.

Rock n' Roll Half Marathon - 1:53:39 (8:41 pace; 1,893/8,792) Stats

I had had a rather light dinner the night before at the dinner reception for the tennis tournament I also played this weekend because they served very small portions. This was a bad start, but I didn't want to load myself with too much food that could possibly not sit well the next day. Then, to compound matters, I only had a banana for breakfast.

This was one of the few races that I was able to go to with some friends, which was a treat. So myself, Jill and Carla were driven to the race by Carla's husband, Brian, which was a another treat. There aren't too many races I go to that I don't have to drive and park. So nice start to the day.

After the traditional bathroom break we all went to our corrals shortly before the race, which was another difference from last year, where I was in one of the last corrals and had to battle the masses, which used a lot of energy. This year I ran with runners running the same pace as myself so we were able to pace properly and not battle one another.

Soon enough the race started and I felt great. I was running a nice even pace that actually felt slow, when in fact I was running a 7:50 pace for the first 4 miles. I knew that this was probably faster than I should have been running, but I felt too comfortable running at that pace. It wasn't until shortly after the fourth mile when I stopped for a bathroom break and to get something to drink that it started not feeling so comfortable anymore. That short thirty second break was enough rest to let my lungs catch up to me, as well as doing something every runner knows not to do: try something during a race that you have never tried before.

Yup, I drank Accelerade, which wouldn't necessarily mean anything accept that it is a 4:1 carbohydrate to protein mixture, which means it is different than other sports drink. It is thicker and has a pasty, chalky taste. Flavor is not altogether bad but you can tell it is a much different drink. Anyway, so this was what they served for sports drink. After the bathroom break I drank a glass of it, and knew it wasn't sitting too well. Not enough to make me stop at the next port-o-pottie, mind you, but enough to clench my stomach and wonder when I would have to stop.

I was able to maintain my pace through the 10k checkpoint at 7:58. So all was still going well. I still felt strong but I could tell I couldn't keep up that pace. It wasn't until mile 8 that my hopes were dashed. I had passed up the 1:45 pacer in the first mile and felt that I should be able to keep him either behind me or in my sight, thus pushing me to a sub 1:50 time, which was my ultimate goal. But then I could sense a group of people coming up behind me after the mile 8 marker, and sure enough they were lead by the 1:45 pacer.

Mile 9 came around and I started taking walking breaks. This was when my hopes were dashed again, because I knew my goal time was slowly coming and would probably slip away.

At miles 10 and 11 I knew I couldn't come in when I wanted, so I focused on not blowing my energy for the tennis match that was later in the day. I was failing fast for some reason and I couldn't understand why. At mile 11 the dull ache in my left knee was poking its head out and trying to say hello, but I tried to ignore it.

Finally, the finish line came and I had to run down that last stretch and... I was happy to be done with this race. I couldn't quite figure out why I didn't feel strong at the latter half of this race.

I finish strong, but when I get to the finish line I slow down a ton! I'm walking almost! Look at everyone around me... Their all sprinting!

Several possible answers:

• After playing tennis yesterday I noticed at mile 1 my butt was sore, which I would have never guessed.
• Accelerade upset my stomach
• Too many long races without enough rest
• Too fast of a pace in the beginning
• Not enough dinner the night before
• Not enough breakfast before the race

Whatever it could be it doesn't matter for this race. The result was what it was, but it could be useful in understanding what went wrong in order to prevent it in the future. Don't get me wrong, I am pleased with this result and am happy to have come in and finish another race. I would have liked to have kept up the pace in the first four miles that I had and finished in a sub 1:50 time (my previous last four half marathons have come in at 1:50, so I NEEDED to break this time). Another race down, more lessons learned.

As a postscript I felt fine after the race, almost like I hadn't worked hard enough. After a filling lunch to replenish the calories my sister and I played our next tennis match. I felt great out there. My legs and knees were fine as I sprinted, jumped and ran for the balls without even noticing that I had ran a half marathon. In fact I think it helped my serve as having ran the half marathon helped me keep my legs planted to the ground which helped it go in more.

As a second postscript my knees, which had been tender since the 50k, finally felt back to normal. No dull ache (until about mile 11 when it briefly flared) which gave me the go ahead to run more regularly during the week.

Finding My Tennis Legs

If you build it, they will come.

Or in this case hope, desire, wish or whatever else you want to call it. We won our first match. The first set was strange. We were up 3-0 and knew we were better than the other team. Then the typical jitters kicked in that my sister and myself have come to recognize as normal, or the usual. We ended up losing the first set 6-4 and couldn't believe what was happening. But, as I said, this was the usual. In virtually every match we played this year we ended up either losing the first set or starting really slow before finding our tennis legs.

And find our tennis legs we did. We took the second set at 6-1 and the third set at 6-1.

Which brings me to getting my heart's desire. I now get to run the half marathon tomorrow and then rest for a few hours before returning to the tennis courts to resume our quest to win the grand prix finale, which means finding my tennis legs after two hours of running.

Now this will be fun.

The Stars They Are Aligned

There are some weekends where the stars align and everything you want to do falls on that weekend. It doesn't always turn out for the best. It did this time.

My sister and I have been playing tennis this year in the Northern California USTA league for mixed doubles and have earned enough points to play in the year end Grand Prix tournament. The top eight teams gain an entry into this tournament (this year only 7 teams applied, but we were still 5th in No. Cal. so we would have been able to go anyway). But the problem was that I hadn't been playing tennis all year and had already made plans for this weekend.

The Rock n' Roll Half Marathon in downtown San Jose is on Sunday, a race I signed up for last year and have been planning for this one for a while. So what to do? USTA Grand Prix with my sister or half marathon I've planned to run months before we started playing tennis?

The stars aligned. I lucked out. Our first tennis match is today, and if we win our second match is at 2 tomorrow. The half marathon is at 8 tomorrow. Luckily I won't have to make that difficult decision and can take part in both. It will be interesting to see how my legs hold up if I win the first match and have to play the second match after running for 2 hours, but I think I will hold up.

There are only a few times that conflicting events work out in our favor. This was my time. The stars they are aligned.

A Week of Cross Training

This past week was perhaps one of my most non-running weeks in terms of days ran. 4 out of 7 days I did not run at all, although I did do some other exercising.

Sunday - Rest Day
Monday - 3.05 (Treadmill)
Tuesday - 7.02 (Paved Path; 1hr Timed Run)
Wednesday - 5k Race, .55 Mile Cool Down (Paved Road)
Thursday - Rest Day
Friday - Rest Day
Saturday - Rest Day

Despite the 4 non-running days I was still able to log in 13.72 miles for the week, above my previous training goal of 13.1 a week. Monday I ran some on the treadmill as a warm up for some weight training, which I try to do at least 2-3 days a week. Tuesday I decided to do an hour long run at a decent, but slower than usual pace. This is something that I have neglected to do in the past because I always focused on the miles ran rather than the time spent running. And finally I ran the 5k on the 4th.

Where running stopped I added in a few other activities: Softball and Tennis. I think it is a must, not only for running, but for all around health to cross train, to do more than one or two activities. Softball is a sport I love to play with the friends but don't to do it too often. On the 4th, after the 5k, we were able to get a game scheduled. It was a 100 degrees I might add, so that was tough. Using my Garmin Forerunner 205 I found out that I had run about 2.8 miles in the almost 3 hours of actual play time. Not a bad workout, one that works the upper and lower body muscles. And finally I went to Yuba City to play in a tennis tournament with the family. I was in mixed doubles with my sister Rochelle and my parents were in a different draw playing mixed doubles together. Again, the weather was 100 on Saturday and mid to high 90s on Sunday, so we had our work cut out for us. My sister and myself were in a round robin draw since there weren't quite enough teams registered. Only three total. Kind of a bummer, but then you look at the bright side and realize that you are guaranteed 2 matches. So pluses and minuses, but a huge plus is that we won both matches and thus won our draw, adding another 1,000 points towards entrance to the Grand Prix Tournament at the end of the year. So after 4 hours of tennis in a 100 degrees I feel I had adequate exercise for the running I missed.

Now on to the Los Gatos Jungle Run Half Marathon at the end of the week, one I've been looking forward to for a while now. I think it'll be the best showcase of how my training has come along, more so than the Santa Cruz Half Marathon I ran earlier in the year, and it will be good preparation for the San Francisco Marathon at the end of the month.

Decathlon Club and Run For The Future 10k

I have had yet again another eventful weekend, one that has left me drained a little more than normal. It all started with a tennis tournament in Santa Clara at the Decathlon Club. I played singles and doubles. My singles match was played on Saturday at 10 and lasted for about an hour and a half. I lost, which isn't anything new. Not sure why I keep playing singles. My serve, when it goes in, is almost too hard for most people in my division to return. That is the problem, it doesn't go in. In the first set I double faulted all four of my opponents points in one game (the two times I got my serve in that game I won the points), and another where I double faulted three times. Ridiculous and very frustrating. I've had problems with my serve since High School. Final score ended up being 6-1 7-6 (5).

Later in the day I played mixed doubles with my sister. We are a comical team because we play absolutely horrible for most of the first set before we find our tennis feet and decide that we would actually like to win. We've done this enough to know this is the norm, not the exception. Anyway, we came back from being down 5-1 to take the set at 7-5. But stupid mistakes abounded in the second set and we handed our opponents the set on a silver platter. The third was a little scare but we took it anyway. Final score 7-5 3-6 6-3 in 2 hours and 15 minutes. Finally, we played yet another match on Saturday at 5:30, with one of the players being the player that beat me in singles. I so wanted revenge, but it wasn't ours to take. But, yet again, we handed them the third set with errors galore from simple volleys and ground strokes. Final score 6-4 3-6 6-4 in 2 hours and 45 minutes. A busy, tired weekend. And I mention this because this all happened on Saturday. The next day, in less than 12 hours, I was to run a 10k.

Run For The Future 10k - 0:46:54 (7:33 pace; 44/181)

At the last minute earlier in the week I decided to sign up for this 10k. I knew I had the tennis tournament and I had two thoughts going into it. One, if I happened to make it to the finals of either/both draws I would have plenty of time after the run to get to the tournament for my match (I was a little unsure about my level of energy though, but thought two won over). My final thought was that it was very unlikely that I would make it to the finals. Pessimistic thoughts, but I have played in enough tournaments to know how far I can go and the semifinals is usually as far as I can make it. What I didn't count on was that I would be playing 6.5 hours of tennis in 90 degree weather with less than half a day to recover and for a chance at setting a new PR.

Anyway, I woke up and felt strong. A little groggy since I was working on five hours sleep, but at the time nothing too noticeable. The race took place in Palo Alto at the Baylands, a marsh area just off the bay. At 8:30 the race began and I started with a bang. I think it was being around all the other runners and the anticipation of running in another race that triggered my legs to want to run faster than I felt I should. The first mile clocked in at 6:52 and I was shocked. In every event I had ever been in I had always been mid to high 7 minute miles to start, whether from not having the speed or forcing myself to pace slower. Either way, I was starting much faster than I should have. I noticed right away that my legs were very tender and tired, with my heels and toes still sore from playing tennis the day before. Couple that with my fast start and I didn't think things were looking too good. So I soldier on and mile two comes by and it is a 7:12, not too far off mile one. I was in disbelief. At this point, though, fatigue from the day before started setting in and all my miles, except mile 6, progressively got slower. The course helped some as it was a loop that followed HWY 101 before turning towards the Baylands and follow along the mud flats. A very flat and fast course.

At 5.5 miles in I decided to make a run for it. There was a man in a yellow shirt that had passed me at about mile 2 and I had him in my sight, from a distance, for the whole race. I had to make my move, so I sped up. This was perhaps lesson one, that when you feel tired you really can press on and make yourself run faster. The strength is there, you just need to apply it. It seems rhetorical, but it really isn't. After you have raced x amount of miles your body begins to deceive itself and your mind wants to listen to it. So I overrode the pending system failure and took control. It felt great. My energy picked up and I caught the man with about .3 miles left and beat him to the finish line. By the end of the day, despite the fatigue from tennis, I was able to post a PR of two and a half minutes at 46:52. I can only imagine how I could have done if I had come in to the race with fresh legs. I also learned one final lesson. I should begin focusing on starting slower and gradually getting faster, hopefully posting negative splits. With this conservation of energy on cold muscles I will allow my legs after a mile or so to warm up and perform their best towards the latter end of the race when you need it the most.

All in all, a great event. Well organized with plenty of food and beverages at the finish line with friendly volunteers. I think I will definitely plan on doing this one again next year.

The Nitty Gritty of Training

Now down to the nitty gritty: training. After all, this is my journey to endurance, and how could it be a journey without showing how I am preparing myself to accomplish my goals? I started the year out with one basic tenement to my training: to run an average of 13.1 miles every single week. Granted this may not seem much in order to get myself ready for a Marathon or 50k, but it will at least get my endurance up enough to where I can pace myself at a decent pace and not blow all my energy when I need it most. I see some people running 13 miles a day, or doing two hour runs. Eventually I will get there, and eventually is some time in the coming months because I know that it is these longer runs that are going to help my body sustain itself over the long haul. That being said, the foundation to my training is 13.1 miles a week. Recently I have added to my training a few extra activities. One is I started doing trail running. This can do some amazing things to your legs and lungs, both of which make your endurance running much easier. Second is to cross train more in all sports. Currently I cross train in tennis, swimming, biking, weightlifting and occasionally rock climbing, basketball and softball. Running is so focused that a lot of times the muscles you could use or strain in longer distances can be buoyed by the stamina and strength of muscles used by cross training. Finally, I've started trying to increase my speed, most notably my mile pace. When I run a fast mile I notice considerable difference with my lungs and know that I am training my lungs for the pressure and tension that would come with endurance runs.

That puts me to this week, which has definitely been a full week of training. Perhaps not in the amount of running, although I did do a decent amount (26.41 miles), but I was able to get some good cross training in that really completed my workout. First off I started the week with Muddy Muddy, which is a combination of biking and running. I coupled this by going swimming later in the day to try and simulate the tension that I would feel in the triathlons I am racing. As I have said in the past, I am a horrible long distance swimmer. No training + Not swimming for a long time = The slowest swimmer in the world. But I think I finally figured out a stroke, the breast stroke, that will drastically increase the 53 minutes per mile pace I did during the swim portion of the Uvas Triathlon. Anything to not feel like such a fool as wave after wave passes me up. This is decidedly my worst leg of the triathlon and where I lose most of my time. Anyway, the breast stroke helps my breathing, my speed, my stamina... everything. And with the Mountain Bike Triathlon coming up I am on even ground with everyone else on the bike leg (those damn 10-speeds just kept blowing past me at Uvas). That leaves the swim.

Monday I tried to run a fast mile but it was too soon after the 10k and Muddy Buddy of the weekend to feel up to speed. A half mile in at 3:02 I stopped as my legs were too tired to continue. Seeing my time I wish I hadn't of stopped, would have been a PR! Oh well, my legs were thanking me for it. The next day I went trail running with my brother for 3 miles in South San Jose and was blown away. Didn't even know those trails existed. We were overlooking all of San Jose. We got back to his house and he surprised the hell out of me. He wanted to keep running!

I say surprised because before Muddy Buddy he hadn't done much running at all, now he wants to run more. I am glad he did though 'cause I had some of my best running that night. I had never done night running and I am amazed at the difference that it makes. I was doing 7:15 miles after running 3 in the hills! In fact the sixth and last mile I ran in 7 minutes. I have got to do more night running. The next day I took it easy on the legs and played some mixed doubles with the family. Although easier than running, tennis is still great for the legs and lungs, especially when there is a lot of pivoting and quick sprints.

My biggest day, though, was Thursday. I really am a glutton for punishment. We were sitting on low to mid 90s at about 5 PM. I wanted to get a run in and didn't think anything of it. I mean, most of the trail I was going to run is in the shade, how bad can it be? Anyway, I got a call from my friends and they wanted to go bike riding. So we set a time for later in the evening. I head out and do my run. Strong first two miles, then I melted on the last two, turning in 7:41, 7:39, 8:20 and 9:10 splits. The heat was too much without bringing water. So that was a 33 minute 4 mile run. A half hour drive later I met my friends for a nice afternoon bike ride. Sure, like I would let myself have a nice ride. The scenery is great, it is the elevation climb that isn't nice.


About 9 miles to the summit above Lexington Reservoir. The last 2 miles or so is an 850 foot ascent to the summit that overlooks all of the Bay Area. Amazing view, overall fun ride, a bitch of a climb. I've done this before when I hadn't run and it was tough, but doing the run first exhausted me. 2 hours and 12 minutes and 18 miles later and we are back to our cars. I hadn't eaten since 12:30 so we run over and get a quick bite to eat. I was supposed to go to the gym with my brother but it was too late now at 9:45 so he wanted to run and, you guessed it, this glutton jumped at the opportunity to log in more running. So a quick 20 minute drive later (leaving me a total of 50 minute rest since bike and 1hr20 minute rest since 5) I get to his house. We are off and running after a quick visit with mom, niece, nephew and sister-in-law. He originally told me he wanted to do about a 3 mile run, but it ended up being a 6.14 mile loop around his neighborhood. I got back to the house at 11:47 and I was exhausted. My brother went for another mile, and I was tempted to join him but listened to my body instead. A day of running, biking and then running again resulted in 10.15 miles ran and an 18 mile bike ride over a 7 hour time period. I burned 2,300 calories.

That leaves today, Friday, for the week. A day of rest for my legs to be ready for tomorrow when I play in a doubles and singles tennis tournament in Santa Clara. Then another 10k event in Palo Alto Sunday morning.

Here's to a week of cross training from one glutton to another.