Tag: marathon

13.8 KM

I had only slept a few hours when it was time for our Running Room meetup and long run for the week. I got up at around 7:15AM on a cold Sunday morning. It was cloudy and the temperature outside was about 3C. It was frigging cold. I ate some breakfast (yogurt, granola, grapes, strong tea), talked with my wife (in Taiwan), and left at about 8:20AM with my roommate for the 8:30AM meetup. We had a choice between 11.8 km or 16.3 km. We chose the 11.8, since we had ran to the store and would be running back. Initially, the run felt so good that I almost went for the 16.3. In the end, I’m glad I didn’t. Then again, maybe I should have. I know I’d be capable. In total, that would have been 18.3 km, close to 20 km.

In total, it took us about 1:09:49 to complete this run. That’s pretty cool, because this summer, it took me over 2:15 to complete 15 km. I was also running with about 15 other people. It was an interesting experience. I was slow compared to last week since I hadn’t run that much because of my cold. But it felt good and I met some interesting people.

The air was frigid in my lungs and I needed to use my inhaler twice. I also had some cramps, but nothing that didn’t dissipate quickly. During the first half, I was in the leader’s pack. During the last part, I was bringing up the rear. A hill midway totally killed my momentum. I wasn’t too far back though, only about 30 seconds. Still it showed me that taking almost a week off training had had an impact.

The runners were mostly male of all ages. A few women were there. Half of the people assembled did the 16.3 km. Honestly, I didn’t like the terrain. We were running on sidewalks, always going up and down, and streets. I prefer running on the Plaines D’Abraham, where you don’t have to worry about cars, intersections and other distractions.

The pace we maintained was 5 min to each km, which is good. Speed was about 12kph, which is faster than my other runs. No wonder I felt it! Still, I’m pretty happy with my time, even if I brought up the rear during part of the run. It’s still challenging to keep up with the leaders, which is what I plan on doing next time.

We also ran the last km back home. We went really slow, so it was relaxing. I had some Gatorade, ate a banana, and took a shower. After that, I contrast showered my legs and bandaged them up nice and tight. I’ll probably take a nap. Still, it’s a good way to begin the day.

I’ve come to realize that I need to start piling up the miles, everyday, even if it’s only 5 km. I need to get used to the constant effort that it necessitates. 5 km is a lot shorter than 9.2 km and it would take me less than a half an hour to complete.

5.4 KM

I was late for a meet, but ran back from school since I was already in my running gear. I ran 5.4 km in 27:27. It felt quite slow. I think that I could have done at least 3-5 minutes quicker if I would have ran at a faster pace. The run wasn’t that fun since I was running on a sidewalk. It keeps going up and down. Also, you have to look out for cars and I waited at two intersections.

That’s 5:05 per kilometer. That’s 11.8 kph. A little faster than my pace from my earlier run. Still, it felt slow, which is kind of fun. It’s the first run that I took after being sick. I had to take a few days off training because of a cold. I had a bit of a fever and headaches, but it all cleared up yesterday. I have another triathlon meet tomorrow morning and I’ll arrive at least 15 minutes early so that I don’t miss it.

If I’m able to sustain that pace for 10km

Here is my latest route.

9.2 KM

Last night, my running partner was nowhere to be found. I should have followed my original plan and gone running solo. By the time I left the house, the temperature had dropped significantly and it was raining. I decided not to run that night.

I did go running today though, and I ran faster than previously. I ran 9.2 km in 47:44. I was pretty impressed with this time. Before heading out, I did some research on marathon training. I’m loosely following one now. I made an .xls file and copied in the marathon training charts and distances. Then, I added in my own training regimen right next to it to compare.

Starting next week, on rest days, I might hit the gym. It really sucks that the gym membership is no longer free for full time students. At least it’s only $70 to use the training rooms. That’s for two semester. For one semester, it’s about $40. Being around people who train is extremely motivating. We also eat extremely healthy. We are all amateur athletes.

Basically, that’s what’s left for me. To cross train. I need something physical to do on my off days, when I don’t run. Once I get a Garmin Forerunner, I’ll be able to gage how much I walk per week as well. I tend to fast walk everywhere since I’m always on a tight schedule.

The run was good. I was heading out to do 7.8 km when I decided to loop around twice the oval at the Plaines D’Abraham. Here is my usual route. That added another 1.4 km on top of my usual run time. I focused a lot on my running gait. I’ve noticed a significant increase in my speed since I’ve done this. I no longer hop around, I just push forward. The last kilometer was done pretty fast. As long as I ran less that 48 minutes, I’d be happy. I was running 5:10 minutes per kilometer. That’s an average speed of 11.5 kph. That’s 7.15 mph. Now all that’s left is to maintain this pace for over 3 hours! Just kidding, but it seems daunting at times.

Anyway, the run was good. I didn’t feel slow. I slowed down after I left the oval. I tend to run the fastest around the oval. It’s sort of a mini-interval training at the same time. I don’t even feel winded right now. It’s been a while since I’ve felt winded.

Yesterday, I did practice my sprinting. It was lots of fun and it was over very short distances, like 2x50m. Doing some serious interval training could be fun as well. I could come up with something like running to the oval and back, which would be about 2.2-2.4 km. At the oval, doing 4x800m with rest periods in between. Sounds fun. However, interval training is exhausting.