Sunday, January 18, 2009
Saturday, January 17, 2009
2009 Race Schedule
Not sure if I am being too ambitious. Not because of the number of marathons and 50ks I want to aim for, around 7. After all, I ran 9 marathons and 50ks last year. No, I might be a bit too ambitious because my training is essentially starting pretty much fresh. I ran 6 miles last Wednesday much faster than I thought I could after not running for 3 months, and then again 4 miles on Thursday. So I have some base and foundation still there, but I have certainly lost some of the training. I started by wanting to run a race on my birthday weekend. Last year I ran the Napa Marathon. This year the Sequoia 50k the day before my b-day is the winner. That being said, that is in a little less than a month in a half, so a training I will have to do. That being said, if I am successful than I will have my base and foundation back and thus be able to finish out the year. So it all hinges on Feb. 28th in Oakland. Here's to ambitious schedules:
2/14 Valentine Fun Run 10k
2/29 Sequoia Trail Run 50k
4/18 Ruth Anderson 50k
5/9 Quicksilver 50k
6/6 Forest of Nisene Marks Marathon
7/26 The San Francisco Marathon
8/22 iWalk Half Marathon
9/13 Stevens Creek 50k
9/27 Almaden Times Classic 10k
10/4 Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon
10/17 Oktoberfest 5k
10/25 Silicon Valley Marathon
11/26 Silicon Valley Turkey Trot
2/14 Valentine Fun Run 10k
2/29 Sequoia Trail Run 50k
4/18 Ruth Anderson 50k
5/9 Quicksilver 50k
6/6 Forest of Nisene Marks Marathon
7/26 The San Francisco Marathon
8/22 iWalk Half Marathon
9/13 Stevens Creek 50k
9/27 Almaden Times Classic 10k
10/4 Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon
10/17 Oktoberfest 5k
10/25 Silicon Valley Marathon
11/26 Silicon Valley Turkey Trot
Sunday, January 11, 2009
A Banner Year in 2008
The year was a good one, and then it ended not so good. Strange to have such a range of performance. At the end of June I pulled a muscle, then there were wild fires throughout California that prevented running, then I was sick, then more smoke and heat... Suffice it to say I ended up taking a forced break to heal the pulled muscle, which seemed to be extended for the rest of the year. The last half of the year the bulk of all my running was done at races, with next to zero training. I finished 2 more marathons and a 50k, and the results showed the lack of training, although I still had enough of a base to perform decently, with my third fastest marathon being my second to last marathon of the year in Sacramento at the Cowtown Marathon.
Some quick facts:
Marathon - I ran 6 marathons (both trail and road) in 2008. Of those 6 I had my 3 fastests marathons ever out of 9, with my fastest in Napa with a 3:53, my second fastest at the Forest of Nisene Marks with a 4:07 and my third fastest at the Cowtown with a 4:34.
50k - Of the 6 career 50ks I've ran, I ran 3 of them in 2008. My fastest ever 50k was ran in 2008 at the Ruth Anderson 50k in San Francisco with a 5:47, and my third fastest at Quicksilver with a 6:16.
Half Marathon - I certainly didn't run that many stand alone half marathons this year, only 1, but my half marathon performance in the marathons I ran were pretty good. I ran a 1:47 first half at Napa in March, which was the fastest I've ever ran that distance. The only stand alone halfer I did was the iWalk and that too was my third fastest ever (out of 7).
10k - Likewise I only ran 2 10ks in 2008. These couldn't have been on further sides of the performance scale. The first I ran in February was my fastest ever at 46:30, but then the 10k I ran in September, a week after I ran a 50k, was the slowest I have ever ran that distance out of 8 total. Strange.
Suffice it to say, I definitely paid more attention to the longer runs in 2008, which showed as I sacrificed speed for endurance, but that didn't prevent from setting PRs in all but 1 of the distances this year.
With 6 marathons and 3 50ks, I definitely ran my fair share of the longer distances, with 9 of the 15 marathon or longer distances in 2008. But I attempted other races, which also gave me a couple of other firsts. My first unofficial DNF came at the Pacifica 50k in January, which I ended up stopping at the 30k finish. Luckily for me they allow your time to count for that distance, and thus the unofficial disclaimer. Not enough calorie intake was the cause of that one. I also was going to attempt 50 miles at Ruth Anderson, but the way that one is set up is that you choose the distance you want to run as you are running, between 50k, 50m and 100k. Wind gusts of 50 mph were enough to stop me at the 50k distance. And finally, my first DNF at Quicksilver. I signed up for the 50m distance, and pulled out at the 50k finish. Quad busting hills from 29-31 were enough to convince me to pull out, although hindsight showed me that if I pushed on I would have easily finished. Oh well.
All in all, a banner year that was clouded at the end. To make matters worse, I have only ran a little over 2 miles in over 2 1/2 months and have slowly fallen out of shape. New job, earlier hours, heat and cold helped my lazy side win out. But not for long. I certainly don't plan to run as many marathons and 50ks in 2009, but I am hoping (so far) to train and be ready for at least 3 marathons (San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Nisene Marks) and 3 50ks (Ruth Anderson, Quicksilver and Stevens Creek) with possibly some others thrown in, depending how my training and conditioning progresses. It will be tough, but I can't wait to get back in to the swing of things, as an 18.5 mile bike ride today showed me what I have been missing.
To all I hope 2009 will be a productive and fruitful year for you.
Some quick facts:
Marathon - I ran 6 marathons (both trail and road) in 2008. Of those 6 I had my 3 fastests marathons ever out of 9, with my fastest in Napa with a 3:53, my second fastest at the Forest of Nisene Marks with a 4:07 and my third fastest at the Cowtown with a 4:34.
50k - Of the 6 career 50ks I've ran, I ran 3 of them in 2008. My fastest ever 50k was ran in 2008 at the Ruth Anderson 50k in San Francisco with a 5:47, and my third fastest at Quicksilver with a 6:16.
Half Marathon - I certainly didn't run that many stand alone half marathons this year, only 1, but my half marathon performance in the marathons I ran were pretty good. I ran a 1:47 first half at Napa in March, which was the fastest I've ever ran that distance. The only stand alone halfer I did was the iWalk and that too was my third fastest ever (out of 7).
10k - Likewise I only ran 2 10ks in 2008. These couldn't have been on further sides of the performance scale. The first I ran in February was my fastest ever at 46:30, but then the 10k I ran in September, a week after I ran a 50k, was the slowest I have ever ran that distance out of 8 total. Strange.
Suffice it to say, I definitely paid more attention to the longer runs in 2008, which showed as I sacrificed speed for endurance, but that didn't prevent from setting PRs in all but 1 of the distances this year.
With 6 marathons and 3 50ks, I definitely ran my fair share of the longer distances, with 9 of the 15 marathon or longer distances in 2008. But I attempted other races, which also gave me a couple of other firsts. My first unofficial DNF came at the Pacifica 50k in January, which I ended up stopping at the 30k finish. Luckily for me they allow your time to count for that distance, and thus the unofficial disclaimer. Not enough calorie intake was the cause of that one. I also was going to attempt 50 miles at Ruth Anderson, but the way that one is set up is that you choose the distance you want to run as you are running, between 50k, 50m and 100k. Wind gusts of 50 mph were enough to stop me at the 50k distance. And finally, my first DNF at Quicksilver. I signed up for the 50m distance, and pulled out at the 50k finish. Quad busting hills from 29-31 were enough to convince me to pull out, although hindsight showed me that if I pushed on I would have easily finished. Oh well.
All in all, a banner year that was clouded at the end. To make matters worse, I have only ran a little over 2 miles in over 2 1/2 months and have slowly fallen out of shape. New job, earlier hours, heat and cold helped my lazy side win out. But not for long. I certainly don't plan to run as many marathons and 50ks in 2009, but I am hoping (so far) to train and be ready for at least 3 marathons (San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Nisene Marks) and 3 50ks (Ruth Anderson, Quicksilver and Stevens Creek) with possibly some others thrown in, depending how my training and conditioning progresses. It will be tough, but I can't wait to get back in to the swing of things, as an 18.5 mile bike ride today showed me what I have been missing.
To all I hope 2009 will be a productive and fruitful year for you.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Runnin' Loops at the Napa Wine Country Marathon
Having ran an Enviro Sports marathon before, I knew that this run might not live up to what I thought it would be. In some ways this was true, but in others it was better.
Napa Wine Country Marathon - 4:54:11 (11:19 pace; 14/24)
I signed up for this one because all my friends wanted to do a run in Napa. Originally it was the half marathon, so I signed up for the marathon. I mean, why not sign up for the longer event if I was going to be there anyway? So the marathon I did, but all my friends ended up signing up for the 10k. So now I had to work out how to meet up with them since I was the numb nuts who signed up for something that would take a lot longer than everyone else.
Backtrack: I arrived the night before and checked in to my hotel room. All my other friends would arrive at different times. Kind of strange. We all live close together and yet we all drove separately! Anyway, after seeing my friends Sagar, Anjai and their baby Simran, I wound down and went to bed.
To be woken up by my other friends Steve and Lily, who showed up at 1 after a Halloween party in San Francisco. Not too fun being woken up from a sound sleep by a drunk friend. Wide awake, I got to hear him say how wide awake he was. Five minutes later he was snoring and I couldn't fall asleep.
Eventually I got to the park in Calistoga and met two more friends, Carla and Brian. This was fun! Having all my friends together doing something I love, sharing something that I know they would love as well. The marathoners were first to take off. It was a small crowd as we all began the climb. Yup, the first 2 to 2.5 miles were steep. Did I say the hill was steep? Oh yeah, steep it was as we trudged on up. We were on a fire road for about a mile before turning on to beautiful single track trails. As we rose ever higher the temp rose, until we got to the top and crossed a rocky ridge that had heat waves coming off of it. (The temp would eventually reach the low 90s.)
Eventually we turned back down to have some extremely steep descents. Some so steep you had to walk, and that even was enough to make me almost fall. Anyway, a babbling creek was a nice surprise as we crossed over it and by it several times. Amazing how the temp would drop when you neared the running water.
Did I mention this was a five loop course? Anyway, I came in from the first 6 mile loop, refilled my gatorade, and went the opposite direction for a different 4 mile loop. This one was nowhere near as dramatic, being an out and back: uphill halfway to the out, then turn around and run back to the end of the loop. As lush and cool as the first loop was, this one was the complete opposite, being dry and brown, and nowhere near as steep. I finished this loop twice before returning to the 6 mile loop for another two times.
This was where it got difficult as I started walking a ton more. The steeps were really steep when tired. And I wasn't eating as much as I should have. I did have a good moment that made me smile. I came upon a woman who was dragging her feet and walking slowly. Whenever I come across someone like this I always offer some electrolytes and shot bloks, but runner's pride always makes them say thanks, but no thanks. Anyway, she accepted. We went our separate ways and I figured I would see her at the finish line. With a half a mile to go I hear some feet pounding behind me. I turned and there she was, running just fine. I asked her how her energy was and she loved the shot bloks, giving her running a new life at the end of the race. As much as I didn't like a runner passing me during the last half mile, I loved that I was able to help someone who was crashing...
Anyway, overall the race was a good one. Great location, great weather until the end when the heat filtered in, and about what I expected for time and effort. But what I expected to find at an Enviro Sports run I was a bit confused by. The race, logically, didn't seem like it was 26 miles. In fact it seemed off. For example, the 4 mile loop seemed short as I ran it a lot faster than I thought I would have, especially for miles 7-14. Than my body screams at me as my legs, hips and calves feel as though they ran a marathon, not too mention a 4:54 time was about what I expected to run for a trail marathon with little training. So it was a wash, a feeling I don't know what to feel. I approached the race director after the 3rd loop to ask him about this "feeling", and before I could get two words out he cut me off with his loud and billowing voice as he cut me off. He seemed put out and angry that I would ask him such a simple question that I didn't even get to say! Mayhap other runners had questioned him before me? Who knows, either way I would recommend caution with their runs. If you want a fun run that doesn't seem too accurate, or makes you wonder at how far you were really running than stay away. They do put on a good fun run in great locations. I know I won't be running anymore Enviro Sports runs. I don't like the wondering doubt.
Over all I like the trails we ran on. In fact I loved the location. Decent results for the amount of training I have done recently. Not too mention that it is also my 3rd marathon or longer in 5 weeks. Time to rest and recover.
Napa Wine Country Marathon - 4:54:11 (11:19 pace; 14/24)
I signed up for this one because all my friends wanted to do a run in Napa. Originally it was the half marathon, so I signed up for the marathon. I mean, why not sign up for the longer event if I was going to be there anyway? So the marathon I did, but all my friends ended up signing up for the 10k. So now I had to work out how to meet up with them since I was the numb nuts who signed up for something that would take a lot longer than everyone else.
Backtrack: I arrived the night before and checked in to my hotel room. All my other friends would arrive at different times. Kind of strange. We all live close together and yet we all drove separately! Anyway, after seeing my friends Sagar, Anjai and their baby Simran, I wound down and went to bed.
To be woken up by my other friends Steve and Lily, who showed up at 1 after a Halloween party in San Francisco. Not too fun being woken up from a sound sleep by a drunk friend. Wide awake, I got to hear him say how wide awake he was. Five minutes later he was snoring and I couldn't fall asleep.
Eventually I got to the park in Calistoga and met two more friends, Carla and Brian. This was fun! Having all my friends together doing something I love, sharing something that I know they would love as well. The marathoners were first to take off. It was a small crowd as we all began the climb. Yup, the first 2 to 2.5 miles were steep. Did I say the hill was steep? Oh yeah, steep it was as we trudged on up. We were on a fire road for about a mile before turning on to beautiful single track trails. As we rose ever higher the temp rose, until we got to the top and crossed a rocky ridge that had heat waves coming off of it. (The temp would eventually reach the low 90s.)
Eventually we turned back down to have some extremely steep descents. Some so steep you had to walk, and that even was enough to make me almost fall. Anyway, a babbling creek was a nice surprise as we crossed over it and by it several times. Amazing how the temp would drop when you neared the running water.
Did I mention this was a five loop course? Anyway, I came in from the first 6 mile loop, refilled my gatorade, and went the opposite direction for a different 4 mile loop. This one was nowhere near as dramatic, being an out and back: uphill halfway to the out, then turn around and run back to the end of the loop. As lush and cool as the first loop was, this one was the complete opposite, being dry and brown, and nowhere near as steep. I finished this loop twice before returning to the 6 mile loop for another two times.
This was where it got difficult as I started walking a ton more. The steeps were really steep when tired. And I wasn't eating as much as I should have. I did have a good moment that made me smile. I came upon a woman who was dragging her feet and walking slowly. Whenever I come across someone like this I always offer some electrolytes and shot bloks, but runner's pride always makes them say thanks, but no thanks. Anyway, she accepted. We went our separate ways and I figured I would see her at the finish line. With a half a mile to go I hear some feet pounding behind me. I turned and there she was, running just fine. I asked her how her energy was and she loved the shot bloks, giving her running a new life at the end of the race. As much as I didn't like a runner passing me during the last half mile, I loved that I was able to help someone who was crashing...
Anyway, overall the race was a good one. Great location, great weather until the end when the heat filtered in, and about what I expected for time and effort. But what I expected to find at an Enviro Sports run I was a bit confused by. The race, logically, didn't seem like it was 26 miles. In fact it seemed off. For example, the 4 mile loop seemed short as I ran it a lot faster than I thought I would have, especially for miles 7-14. Than my body screams at me as my legs, hips and calves feel as though they ran a marathon, not too mention a 4:54 time was about what I expected to run for a trail marathon with little training. So it was a wash, a feeling I don't know what to feel. I approached the race director after the 3rd loop to ask him about this "feeling", and before I could get two words out he cut me off with his loud and billowing voice as he cut me off. He seemed put out and angry that I would ask him such a simple question that I didn't even get to say! Mayhap other runners had questioned him before me? Who knows, either way I would recommend caution with their runs. If you want a fun run that doesn't seem too accurate, or makes you wonder at how far you were really running than stay away. They do put on a good fun run in great locations. I know I won't be running anymore Enviro Sports runs. I don't like the wondering doubt.
Over all I like the trails we ran on. In fact I loved the location. Decent results for the amount of training I have done recently. Not too mention that it is also my 3rd marathon or longer in 5 weeks. Time to rest and recover.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Huffin and Puffin at the Oktoberfest 5k
I certainly didn't set my hopes high for this one. There would not be a PR today. I've only ran 2 other 5ks. My first was around 22 minutes and was the run leg of a triathlon. My PR was a 20:53 over a year ago. With the little bit of running I've done this year, I would be happy with anything less than 24 minutes.
Oktoberfest 5k - 23:18 (7:31 pace; 31/258)
Speed is certainly something that I have never focused on, this year or last. So when I originally signed up I for this 5k I had done so to get a little speed, and to work some of the kinks out from the last month of running (a marathon and a 50k) in order to, hopefully, help prepare for the marathon in Napa coming up next weekend. Not to improve speed, or endurance, but to work some of the heaviness out of my legs that have been ever present.
So when I arrived at the start line in 60 degree weather I couldn't have asked for better conditions. As we toed the line the race director casually moved up through the crowd and pushed his way out front. After a little crowd control he turns to us and says "You ready?" and before he finished he blew the horn! What the?!?!? Anyways, everyone frantically started as watches beeped all around.
The first mile was a tough one. I started out fast. I was hoping to run three sub 8 minute miles, and maybe a 7:30 first. As the lead pack pushed more out of sight I began to feel tired as the heavy legs caught up with me. The mile 1 marker finally came and, lo and behold, I ran a 6:53! Whoa, I didn't think I would be able to run the first mile that fast. And just as I smiled to myself, the realization set in that the final 2 would certainly be tougher than I thought because of my erratic first mile.
Mile 2 was tough, as guessed. I took a couple of walk breaks in order to get my breathing under control. My mouth began to become very dry as my spit stuck to my lips as I tried to expel it to the concrete below. 8:01 was about where I thought it would be.
Mile 3 wasn't as tough for some reason. Perhaps I had finally got my breathing under control. Or maybe I realized the end was in sight. Either way, I pushed on. I eventually took one walk break before turning the afterburners on and speeding in to the finish, running the last mile in 8:02.
I certainly accomplished what I had wanted, running a 7:31 pace to come in under 24 minutes. I really couldn't have expected a better result, but it is still amazing to see what not training for a couple of months does. A little over a year ago I ran a 6:53 pace 5k. At the beginning of this year I ran a 7:28 pace hilly 5 miler, and a 7:30 pace 10k.
If that isn't motivation than I don't know what is.
Oktoberfest 5k - 23:18 (7:31 pace; 31/258)
Speed is certainly something that I have never focused on, this year or last. So when I originally signed up I for this 5k I had done so to get a little speed, and to work some of the kinks out from the last month of running (a marathon and a 50k) in order to, hopefully, help prepare for the marathon in Napa coming up next weekend. Not to improve speed, or endurance, but to work some of the heaviness out of my legs that have been ever present.
So when I arrived at the start line in 60 degree weather I couldn't have asked for better conditions. As we toed the line the race director casually moved up through the crowd and pushed his way out front. After a little crowd control he turns to us and says "You ready?" and before he finished he blew the horn! What the?!?!? Anyways, everyone frantically started as watches beeped all around.
The first mile was a tough one. I started out fast. I was hoping to run three sub 8 minute miles, and maybe a 7:30 first. As the lead pack pushed more out of sight I began to feel tired as the heavy legs caught up with me. The mile 1 marker finally came and, lo and behold, I ran a 6:53! Whoa, I didn't think I would be able to run the first mile that fast. And just as I smiled to myself, the realization set in that the final 2 would certainly be tougher than I thought because of my erratic first mile.
Mile 2 was tough, as guessed. I took a couple of walk breaks in order to get my breathing under control. My mouth began to become very dry as my spit stuck to my lips as I tried to expel it to the concrete below. 8:01 was about where I thought it would be.
Mile 3 wasn't as tough for some reason. Perhaps I had finally got my breathing under control. Or maybe I realized the end was in sight. Either way, I pushed on. I eventually took one walk break before turning the afterburners on and speeding in to the finish, running the last mile in 8:02.
I certainly accomplished what I had wanted, running a 7:31 pace to come in under 24 minutes. I really couldn't have expected a better result, but it is still amazing to see what not training for a couple of months does. A little over a year ago I ran a 6:53 pace 5k. At the beginning of this year I ran a 7:28 pace hilly 5 miler, and a 7:30 pace 10k.
If that isn't motivation than I don't know what is.
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