mindplunge

W1D3 (rnrsj)

A late post for the ending of my first week… Got caught up with some actual work! The last training in my first week was a 10K distance. I ran on the road again after running the backyard trail for a while. I noticed that when I run trails my pace is much faster (almost a minute per kilometer) then when running on the road. Anyone can explain this to me?I tried to figure it out but there are so many possibilities why this is happening.

Anyways… the run was pretty uneventful. Not too hot, nice breeze coming from the lake, no traffic and a perfect playlist on my iPod.

I’m kinda cheating on my schedule. I ran another 5K tonight so I’m ahead of the program. I still will stick to the running days but I feel I could add more mileage to it. Better than cutting down on the runs!

W1D2 (RNRSJ)

Yesterday was Day 2 of my 12 week program in preparation of the San Jose Half Marathon. Another 6.5K and surprisingly I ran the same time (-4 sec) as I did on Tuesday. I guess it indicates that I can hold my pace. I always wonder during a run if I’m going too fast or too slow. Now I know… I’m on target. Here is my schedule for the next 12 weeks:

As you can see week 7 will be a real test… Stay tuned!

My first 5 miler

I wasn’t kidding when I told you the Nike+ training program was ambitious. Yesterday I had a 5 mile (8.05 Km) run planned and since 3 mile was the furthest distance I ever ran you can imagine I wasn’t looking forward for this. I wasn’t even sure if I was capable of running this distance. On top of it all it was pouring down yesterday morning… great.

But I came prepared. Recently I purchased the New Balance NBx Control Tights, some Nike Dry-Fit long sleeve shirt and of course my new Brooks running shoes. I had Aleisha drop me off 4 miles from home on the other end of the creek. Although the rain was puring down for the first 15 minutes of the run I felt pretty warm. There was hardly any wind and temperature wise it felt like low 60′s.

My run was close to perfect! I was afraid of mile 4 but I had enough energy left to finish the last mile. I felt a blister coming up but it wasn’t significant enough to stop running. Once again I had enough power at the end to perform a little sprint! I’m pretty happy with the result of my first 5 mile!

Some numbers:

Distance: 5.06 mi
Time: 54’05″
Pace: 10’41″/mi

5 Year Anniversary

Today marks my 5 year anniversary in the USA. I moved from the lowlands back in 2003 to the ‘New World’. Not a single regret… yet. I hope the Americans are smart enough coming Tuesday and don’t screw it up like they did the previous elections. We’ll see.

I guess to celebrate my 5th year I’ll be running my first 5 miler tomorrow. Kinda scary since I never ran this far. 3 miles is my current distance so 5 miles (a little over 8 Kilometers) is a hugh leap forward. I’m prepared tho! On top of it all it looks like this is going to be a wet run as well. Rain has been predicted all weekend long…

Working towards a 10K run

Yesterday I started my new running program based on a 10K run from Nike+. It will prepare me for a 10K run within 12 weeks. It’s a pretty ambitious program but I’m pretty confident I can do this. Just as the C25K program I need an extra motivator to keep me running. A program will just do that.

I’m finally injury free and last week felt great to be out running again. It actually was so good I decided to jump to the 10K program. another reason not to give up running now is the drop in weight loss. This morning I was pleased to see that my weight dropped to 193.2 lbs (87.6 Kg). When I started running my weight was 211 lbs (95.7 Kg) so a significant weight loss!

My new running shoes are a bast as well. So much better. It feels like I’m less tired especially the last few miles of a run. We’re pretty fortunate when it comes to the weather here in California but the winter season is coming up and we have some rain predicted for the next few weeks. I’m considering a treadmill for a while now and I might purchase one pretty soon. Not sure if I can handle running in the rain. I guess I’m just like my dog who can’t stand rain!

For those interested in the program: my 10K running program