Getting out there

I'm been stuck running on treadmills for the last couple of weeks but fortunately, I was able to get out there and do a lap around Miramar Lake. I donned my SunRype running shorts for the first time and they felt awesome! I should have taken a picture. After recording an 8" mile for the first one of five, my neck cramped up??? Yah, it's a first and I still feel a slight strain on it. Hopefully it gets better but it must be associated with all the time commuting and / or flying back and forth huh? I'll admit my posture isn't the best when stuck in a middle seat of a Delta 757 or the jumpseat with your legs dangling.

It was a hot day to run being that I chose to start at noon but it was good times being out in the sun. It's less than a month till the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon so it's time to up my game! Excluding all the flying I'll be doing the next few weeks, hopefully I'll have the energy to squeeze in some long treadmills sessions. Oh the glamorous life of a pilot. :/

A 10K before a 10K

Waking up albeit late in the morning, I thought to myself, "Why not go running outside on a nice San Diego Winter's Day?"  Of course, after eating a great breakfast of pancakes, eggs & rice + fruit, and an hour of digesting, we went out around noon for the usual Miramar Lake Loop.  I wanted to make it an easy 10K so I did an out and back here and there rounding it off to 6.5 miles.

It's always a pleasure to have my wife Adelle run with me and truthfully, I was only expecting her to run 1-3 miles but after jogging two solid 11 min/ mile, she decided to keep on trucking. I ran ahead of her and then turned back in order to catch up with her then went ahead again. This was my way of reaching my 10K goal prior to this Sunday's Cardiff Kook 10K and I did it. It was hot, I felt okay, but for the first time in a long time, my ankles were feeling loose. I'm taking a breather today, mostly stretching but I'm excited and can't wait for this season's first 10K. As always, I'm going for under 60 minutes. If I get near 55, I'll be in heaven!

Three times in a week: Miramar Lake

I've upped my "training" a notch and have actually been putting on some miles on my Newtons! In preparation for the Miami Beach Rock 'n' Roll Half Marathon in December, I've been waking up early and running around the local lake. I'm definitely a sore and probably should be stretching out more. Here's my latest run where I've actually achieved two miles pacing ~9 mins each! That's fast for me. Of course I tapered out but still came in at under 50 minutes for 5 miles! Today is going to be a 10-miler! I'm just not sure if I want to run around the lake twice or come up with a random run around the neighborhood.

Great Run at Miramar Lake

Waking up sore as heck from the 12 minutes of CrossFit last Saturday with Ryan Espiritu, I couldn't walk in any good posture as my abs weren't fully stretching and my shoulders / arms were in a constant ache. Yes, I know that it means I'm beyond "out of shape", but today was Monday so that meant that running was in the cards. I also wanted to continue the break in period of my Newton Running Shoes that I bought at the San Diego Rock 'n' Roll Marathon Expo. I didn't run yesterday but had a great time "hiking" up Black Mountain with my mom. It was a way to get my mom walking around again and out of the house and I surely enjoyed the good chats. I didn't know that from my house in PQ to the top was approximately 2.2-3 miles.  To add to the unknown, walking in some 9 year old New Balance Walking shoes wasn't the best idea.   As I walked uphill, it was fine but then downhill was painful. I ended up walking barefoot from the top of Laurentian all the way home.

Back to today, my wife and I woke up in the latter part of the morning, had a good breakfast and lounged around until Jojo came over and hung out for a bit. We decided that we should walk around a bit and made our way to the local Albertson's where we bought Tuesday $3 San Diego County Fair tickets. We stuck to our plans and drove up to Miramar Lake for the 5 mile loop w/ Mary P. I wasn't feeling too well as my soreness was getting the best of me, at the same time, I was just in a so-so mood but I knew that deep down, I needed to run. I need to make it a habit if I really want to start getting serious about some of these races!

Mary brought her friend Rachelle who mentioned that she's more of a boxer and that she doesn't run that often. I said it's awesome and then convinced Mary to start using RunKeeper Pro as its a good way of keeping records. Mary also was running in her KSO Trek Vibrams which are pretty cool.

We chatted, stretched very little and then took off as a group. Adelle started flying ahead of us three while I just fell to a good pace. I kept it going great for about 2.5 miles then needed to walk a bit to wipe the sweat off of my sunglasses. The pace was good all the way through and I could feel myself adjusting to the shoes.

Around mile 4, my right ankle started to ache a bit. I know that I pronate and that the break in period is going to prove to be a little difficult as I transition to being a midfoot / front foot runner but I kept on charging. There were instances where I mentally told myself to push harder and so I did. I kept the pace up, even hung around and paced another guy and finished strong. My sunglasses kept on fogging up good, but in the end, I'm loving my shoes.

Yes, I've already put 10 miles on 'em and I probably should start "breaking" in slower but it's just awesome to get out there and get going. Check out the data below! Well, my Garmin Edge 500 data mysteriously disappeared and cannot be recovered (big failure Garmin!), so with that check out the graphic below from my Nike+ Running page.  Good thing I use two different devices to track my run huh?

Miramar Lake #2 + Bay to Breakers!

Another good run at a good pace but I definitely know that I can do better. Maybe I'll do two laps next time at this pace and then see what's up. After today's run, I'm starting to feel confident which is a good thing. So... I said in a previous post that I was considering running Bay to Breakers 100th Anniversary and today, I registered my wife and I. Low and behold, it's selling out as I was only able to register for the "F" Corral; the last group in the race. I'm looking forward to a Saturday night in San Francisco as well as the race on Sunday the 15th of May. Should be fun!

Here's my run data from below using my Garmin Edge 500.

My First Miramar Lake of many

Every since I can remember, the very idea of running around a lake was always daunting. Let alone the veracity of the environment ridden with competitive runners (or maybe just looking like they are and like myself all decked out in Nike gear), the once you go half way or even just around the first bend you cannot turn back and all the little indentations creating the optical illusion like you're almost there...Miramar Lake has been that thorn in my side. Well, I like to come out and say, I DID IT! I ran it with my wife Adelle and actually also started out with her friend Esther Choi. It's always nice to have a running buddy but being the first time, I wanted to take it easy. I guess to be honest, her marathon like pace wasn't something that I could keep up with anyways, so I hung back and ran with the wifey. It was a good feeling as the only way that I have ever circled the lake was in a car and on a bike. I shall conquer it over again and make it my doggy. Yea, that's right...my doggy.

It's March!!!

Feels like March came rather quickly this year and with that, it's always a good excuse to update and tell you what's been going on.  This year, I've been motivated more than ever to to finally get into shape.  It has, maybe a little to do with me turning the big three-oh, but I've noticed the fact that my metabolism, eating habits and general lifestyle is slowing down, getting worse and rapidly evolving when it comes to priorities. I have officially signed up for the San Diego Rock 'n Roll Marathon on June 5th and the Tour de Cure San Diego Century Ride which takes place just one month earlier  on May 7, 2011.  I can't say that I've officially setup my fundraising website for the Tour de Cure but I will have it up and running in the next few days.  I promise.

Competitor San Diego just updated, revised and released the official race route for this year's marathon (PDF) and included an elevation map too!  As you can see, there's a good climb / gradient starting at mile seven which, if you think about it, after you've finished the uphill battle, could reinvigorate you signaling that you're awesome done!  I can assure you that's the way I'll be thinking about it.

Thinking about other races, I'm seriously considering the Carlsbad 5K where I'm aiming for the All Day 25K (Five 5K) Challenge. I'm in it really just for the medal but I guess by Sunday April 3rd, I'll already be within 60 days of the full marathon so running a half should be alright right?  I even get breaks here and there between each 5K!  I'll know how I feel about it after today when I run Miramar Lake for the first time.  If I can do it without bonking out, I should be alright.

I'm also thinking about Bay to Breakers 2011 being the 100th anniversary on May 15th.  It's calmed down considerably with the removal and strict policy of no alcohol, but hey, it's a family deal right?  Should be safer and cleaner and... they also have a medal!  A 12K race isn't that bad right?  Who wants in on this one?!  With that, I better get back to my other job at adellelijah.com.

I still haven't done any official swim lesions so until I feel comfortable swimming 1500 meters, I will be holding off on the decision to race San Diego TriRock Olympic distance.