Almost halfway there!

Well, with the Big Sur Int'l Marathon (http://www.bsim.org/site3.aspx) a little over 9 weeks away, I am almost halfway through my training plan. To spice up my training, I was able to run in two local races which also subbed for a couple of my training runs.

I ran the Brazen Bay Breeze Half Marathon (http://www.brazenracing.com/baybreeze.html) a couple of weeks back and went into the race curious at how I would do. I wanted to use this race as a test to see if I could sustain my goal marathon pace and see if my training was paying off. It was held at Quarry Lakes Regional Recreation Area in Fremont, CA and it was a beautiful course! It was a sunny day, but a little nippy temperature-wise (high 40's F) at the start of the race, but it eventually warmed up and was a nice race experience!

One of my goals for this race was to not repeat the same mistakes I had made in my first half marathon last fall. I had gone out too fast at the beginning of that race and paid for it dearly at the end of the race when I nearly bonked. I also believe that I didn't take in enough hydration/nutrition along the way either. It didn't help that the hydration stations weren't where they had announced they would be which kind of messed up my plan a bit. I was determined to make some changes so these things wouldn't happen again.

So, at the start of the race, I went out fast for a short period just to navigate around some of the crowds and then I quickly settled into my goal pace of 7:30 min/mile. Nutrition-wise, I carried 3 GU gels with me along with an emergency 10 oz flask of coconut water. I lost one of my GUs along the way, but that was fine since I was planning to use only 2 of them anyway. Being this was a Brazen race, there were plenty of hydration stations set up throughout the course, so I didn't need my emergency hydration.

The course was relatively flat and was on a mix of paved and gravel trails. I felt relatively comfortable throughout my run and surprisingly ran my goal pace mile after mile. While I didn't run a negative split, I did have enough energy to maintain my goal pace and was able to push it a little bit in the final mile. I finished the race significantly stronger than my first half marathon and was really happy with my results. I finished in 1:38:10 and met my goal by running a pace of 7:27 min/mile. I was tired, but there wasn't any puking or bonking at the end which was a positive :)

Another bright spot was two of my friends ran this race (with ease if I may add) and thus completed their very first half marathons! A family member ran what I believe was her first 10k race here as well! The running bug is definitely spreading!

Last Sunday, as a part of a huge contingent from the Mountain House Running Club (mhrunners.com), I teamed up with my wife and ran in the Lake Merritt Joggers and Striders (LMJS) Couples Relay (http://www.lmjs.org/Couples_Relay) in Oakland! It was another beautiful day for a race and our first time at the Lake Merritt. Since this was a relay, each one of us took turns in running a 5k leg around the lake. My wife started out by running the first leg. She was dealing with some plantar fasciitis issues and hadn't run much in the week leading up to this, so I wasn't quite sure when she would arrive. After seeing some of the women in our running club arrive, I saw my wife surprisingly come into the picture and ran over to the transition area where she met me, tagged me, and off I went!

The race course was nice and flat and mostly on paved trails/roads. There were a lot of people at the lake that morning, so we had to be careful when weaving in and around foot traffic. One minor annoyance that I dealt with for the first mile was with my heart rate monitor not staying put on my chest. It must of gotten too loose during the past week so I had to place it around my abdomen. Because of this, my HR was registering in the 220-240s! I was able to place it back properly later on when I had enough moisture (i.e. sweat lol) on my chest to keep the monitor secure. I tried pushing my pace throughout the run with the goal of beating my previous personal record (PR), but I could tell I was losing some gas towards the end.

Despite that, I ended up running a PR of 20:38.7 with a pace of 6:39/mile. My wife, despite her injury, finished 1 second short of tying her PR! As a team, we finished 3rd amongst our running group friends, and in the middle of the pack overall. It was a lot of fun, especially with such a big group from the running club cheering everyone else on. This was by far the most enjoyable speed work training session I've had thus far!

Just as a reminder, I'm not only running the Big Sur Int'l Marathon, but I'm also raising money for the Lazarex Cancer Foundation (http://www.lazarex.org/) by running with Team For Life (http://www.teamforlifelcf.org/). A big thanks to everyone who's supported me thus far! If you are interested in finding out more or would like to sponsor me, please check out my fundraising page at: http://lazarex.kintera.org/faf/donorReg/donorPledge.asp?ievent=1033261&lis=1&kntae1033261=3B6A1A5783174206942079B423323763&supId=366230312

Thanks and happy running!!

What kind of training plan am I following?

At the time of this post, I'm a little over a quarter of the way through my training for the Big Sur International Marathon. Some people have asked what kind of training plan I'm following. Ok, so maybe 2 people have asked, but nonetheless, I thought I'd post some info on it.

I'm trying my best to follow the plan outlined in the book "Run Less, Run Faster" written by the folks at the Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training (FIRST). It basically boils down to doing 3 runs and 2 cross-training workouts during the week.

Why did I go with this training plan? Mainly because of the actual testing they performed with runners and the overall positive results that came from their plan. I also thought 3 runs a week was more realistic than some of the other plans I've come across. The lower number of miles also seemed to help stave off injury as well.

Because the majority of marathon training plans involve logging high mileage, the FIRST plan has been a hard sell to some. Since this is my first marathon that I'm prepping for and because I don't know any better, I decided to give the FIRST plan a shot.

The problem is, this is by no means an easy training plan. The 3 runs are pretty intense and seemingly at a faster pace than some of the other plans.

The 3 runs involve speed work/intervals, a tempo run, and a long run. Cross-training include activities like swimming, cycling, or any other activity that has relatively low impact on your legs.

What do I think of the plan so far? Well, I hate the speed work! I mean, I REALLY hate the speed work. Maybe it's because I didn't really do speed work before, but I absolutely loathe it.

The tempo runs are no cake walk either. They also seem to be getting more challenging each week and I'm beginning to not hit some of my target paces.

The funny thing is, my long run is the least difficult workout of my week, or at least it is so far.

Getting in my cross-training has been challenging as well because of the busyness of life and because I make it a priority to get all of my runs in during the week. I've done a couple of swim workouts, but I mainly cycle.

Oh, here's a quick tidbit: It doesn't seem to be a good idea to run back to back days. I'm finding if you want to try to hit the specific goals/pace they lay out for you in your training runs, running 2 days in a row makes it extremely difficult and is exhausting.

All in all, I think the FIRST plan is helping me with my stamina and pace week by week. As a bonus, I haven't had any injuries so far (knock on wood). Hopefully, following this plan prepares me enough for Big Sur, but only time will tell.