Reality Check

I was just reading my older posts.... looks like i really have to step it up a bit these days. I was running so much faster earlier this year.... what is wrong with me? Sheesh! Ok, tomorrow I will work hard.

19km, 8km, 1000s, 13km

Sunday's long run felt great until the verrrrrry last mile. I was runnning at a nice 9:30 pace or so (one mile i was joined by a morning guy and he pushed the pace to 8:45), but I was very fatigued for the last 800m. No worries, though... i slept well and monday felt fine.

8km : easy, around a 9:30 pace or so again, with the last mile at 8:10. i was flying and it felt great! i think it was also a psychological thing... tiba gave us the program at the beginning of the run, which gave us new confidence. Tiba plans on my mazatlan time being about 1:45, although i was hoping for 1:40. we shall see...

5x1000: tiba ordered them at 5:00, but i couldn't contain myslelf. 4:53, 4:43, 4:37, 4:33, 4:36. it was amazing.

13km: today felt fine. i was neither tired nor fresh. we started at a 10min pace, and got to around 9:20 by the 5 mile or so, although that felt a bit too fast. We slowed back down to 10min, and finished the last mile in 9:40. Nothing else to report...

week in review

Monday: 5k easy recovery. I felt good, surprisingly, and not sore. I did find out, however, that sunday's race was in fact just 21 k, meaning i did run much slower than last year. Oh well! I felt good.

Tuesday: 6x800. 3:40, 3:50, 3:46, 3:53, etc etc. tiba originally told me to keep them at 3:45, but changed his mind to closer to 4min. I avereaged between those two goals.

Wednesday: 12k. By the end, i was feeling really quite tired. went from about 10:30 to about 9:15 per mile as they went along.

Thursday, i woke up early and did 12x400 within only about 12 hours of wednesday's workout. I had no choice because of our travel and concert schedule. Obviously, i felt really really tired and there was no way to stick to 1:40 for all of them. They were all very different (1:33 to 1:54). Tiba wasn't concerned, though, and told me that it was ok to feel tired and just to let them salgan como salgan. It was fine.

Friday: because i was so tired on thursday, tiba let me rest

Sat: 1 mile warm up and then 2 laps of 200x100 fartlek. easy, nice, no problem. i feel rested and back in the game.

tomorrow will be 12 miles/18-19km. yay!

Rce Report: El Debate Medio Maraton

Whew! What a race!

I was a bit nervous going into this one because i am behind on my training compared to last year. Adrenaline and slava's gatorade along the way helped out a lot, though, and I managed a good time: 1:51 for about 22km. (last year was 1:50).

I felt good for the first 12 km, with some slowing from about 13km to 16km. A few guys passed me and I wasn't able to keep up. Too bad! Up to 12km, though, i was in a groove and nothing could stop me! At about 16km I ate my honey, which was something new. I didn't feel a burst of energy for about 2 km, but from about 17 or 18km on, I felt great again! I finally passed one guy who had been in my view for a while.

Sadly, someone new in my category came to the racethis year year, and she beat me, which bumped me to 3rd (last year i got 2nd). Shame! Oh well, I know that my performance was basically the same and I feel good. I got some money and a nice medal with the race and "3rd place" written on it (almost a trphy)...

Yesterday I ate an egg and cheese sandwich for breakfast, rice with lentils, olive oil and a slice of cheese for lunch, and some plain rice as a nighttime snack. I drank "honey water" 2 times and a liter of gatorade in the evening. This morning I ate pita bread with honey and a glass of honey water. During the race I consumed about 700ml of gatorade and about 2 tablespoons of honey, plus some water.

I know, i know. That's a lot of honey! Well, what can I say. I love it, it works, it's cheaper than gels, and i don't feel a crash after eating it. Plus it's got lots of nutrients!!

And now, on to el Medio Maraton Pacifico in december. I'm looking for a 1:40!!! Eeeee!

1200s, 8k, fartlek

My Tuesday 1200s were fun. 5:27 (too fast), and then 5:47, 5:46, 5:43. I am nostalgic for the times of 5:00 1200s.... someday i will be as fast.

Wednesday and today's runs (8k and 10x1x1) were slow and easy. nothing to report. The guys at the track are planning to pitch in for a birthday cake for me on tuesday. how nice!

12k, 8k

On sunday I did my 12 km, which mayb ehave been more like 13 km. I ran 5 times around the outside of the garden, with splits of 17:20, 15:45, 14:21, 14:15, and 14:01. I felt strong and good, but didn't tru to push too hard. Still, it was a little too fast and i was feeling tired yesterday.

For my monday distance, i did my 8 km VERY slowly. each mile was about 10 min, and although my legs were tired from the night before, it felt really good. I am recovered!

8km

After an emotional day of oboe-ing, I gethered my strength to run my 8 km around the garden last night at about 10pm. The first 2 laps were ridiculously slow, 19min or so, but i got so bored "feeling sorry for myself" that I picked up the pace after about 3 min of the 3rd lap. Although i was already almost 2 min "behind" on that lap, I finished it in 13:36. yow! what a sprint! I did the last 10 minutes using my toes, my abs, my arms, and, most importnatly, my new breathing technique. what a day.

i woke up today feeling great. now, if only i can do something like that on oboe today.

running (again)

I was sick, and then i started to run again, but I was still sick. But i live again!

I ran 17km last sunday and felt AMZING despite my half-assed previous 10 days. Tiba gave me a plan for the next couple of weeks leading up to the El Debate 1/2 marathon. it goes l ike this:

lunes: 8k
felt good, a little slow but that's fine.
martes: 5x800x200 c/200 Recup.
averaged about 3:45 per 800.
miercoles: 10km
felt tired. Averaged around 9:30 mile i guess (i was running around the outside.)
Jueves:
15x200x200 a 50" c/200 recup
felt great, averaged about 48-50" per 200, a few faster. The workout seemed long, though.
Viernes: 8k
Sabado:descanso
Domingo:12km

lunes: 8km
Martes: 4x1200 a 5:50
Mier.:8km
Jueves:Fartlek 10x1x1
Viernes:45"suave
Sabado:descanso
Domingo medio maraton "el debate"

I'm sure everything will feel fine. My knee has been tender, but not painful. Next week should be inetersting. I remember training 1200s at about 5:05 last year, and it's a bit sobering to see how much I have to go by december. (seeing next weeks' 1200s at 5:50... yow!) But Tiba is a genius and he really knows what he's doing. What a wonderful opportunity it has been to train with him!!!

sick, 17km

i was sick and took a while to recover. so there.

in the last 10 days or so, i ran some short-ish distances a few times, and that's it. but i'm feeling better now, and so i finally did a real distance. 6 times around the garden=17km or so... the laps were like this:

15-15-14:15-14:15-14:42-13:42.

I finished hard and i felt great the whole way. I guess the break was needed and it was my body's way of telling so! I don't have to go to work for 2 weeks now, so I have plenty of time to practice oboe and run and practice spanish and just generally be productive. What a life!!!