Week 8 Day 5

Rest as schedule.

Week 8 Day 4

It is relatively long run today. The sunset is much early now. So I had to get up early to cover today's 9 miles run. I ran 9.2 miles on Allen heights with 7:41/mile pace. The first 3 miles are always harder than the rest even much slower. I guess my body hasn't warmed up fully.

I didn't feel tired when I came back from work. So I did 8 min abs on level 2 which is 40 x 2 x 3 (upper, middle and lower abs) = 240 sit-up and 8 min chest on level 1 which is 12 x 3 sets x 3 (upper, lower and inner chest) = 108 push-up.

Week 8 Day 3

Treadmill incline 2, easy run for 5 miles, pace at 7:57/mile

Week 8 Day 2

Today I ran on Treadmill for 8 miles including 10 x 100m intervals.

Week 8 Day 1

Rest as schedule.

Week 7 Day 7

Today I broke my own running distance record. I ran 13.23 miles in total in 1:42:00.

It was an early morning 8:30am. I just got up and had a banana and a couple mouth of water. The sun was out but there was light fluffy snow. The temperature was 2C. After learning the lesson from my frozen dick last time, I put a comfort underwear to avoid my dick frozen again.

I put on my Samsung Android phone with Runkeeper on. The Runkeeper reported my pace was 7:20 on the first half mile. Wow, that was too fast for the first ever half marathon run. So I slowed down a bit. After the first mile, it was 7:30. I was still too fast although I was comfortable enough. So I slowed down again. The second mile was 8.09/mi. My plan was to run the whole distance with an average 8:00/mi pace, as I had never run such a distance and I didn't know if I was capable to run with my normal pace 7 minutes and something.

Due to the inaccurate Runkeeper mapping last time, I measured my distance on Google Map before the run, so I knew where I should return. Surprisingly this time Runkeeper was very accurate as there was no u-turn bend on the route.

After the half way, I felt good and comfortable but I could felt my legs a bit tight. The half way average pace was 7:48/mi. I think I read Pfitz book discussing about the marathon pace in the second half of a long run, but I couldn't remember if it was in my today's plan. Anyhow, I felt good enough, so I increased my pace but keep comfortable enough to finish the rest. Mile 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12, the pace was about 7:16-7:23.

After mile 12, I still felt good but I planned to use the rest to cool down, so I slowed down the pace and did some short sprint drill to stretch my legs. Mile 13's pace was 8:18.

It was a great run. I never feel so good after a Sunday run, although I could definitely feel my quads sore.

One more note is that for the first time I took a drink with me. I made my own energy drink. Reading some articles, I know through sweat a runner loses Sodium and Potassium which are the main ingredients of a sport drink. Potassium can come from lemon juice. So I added little sugar, salt and lemon juice into water and mix. That was my energy drink. Every 3 miles, I took a mouth of the drink since through the night I was probably a bit dehydrated and I couldn't drink too much before the run.

Week 7 Day 6

Easy run on the treadmill for 4 miles in 31:45. I set incline to 2 and 3 from time to time.

Week 7 Day 5

Rest as schedule.

Week 7 Day 4

I am happy with the run. I haven't run in the morning for a while. It was 2C, nice sun rise. I ran on the road with some hills. The total was 8.63 miles in 1:03:19.

Lesson learned: I only wore a pair of running tights and it wasn't enough to keep my dick warm. After the run, my legs were ok, but my dick hurt a lot. It was as cold as ice. Now I understand why runners wear tights and also a short on top.

Week 7 Day 3

I ran on the treadmill with incline 2. Started with 9:13/mi for half mile, then 8:34/mi for another half mile, then 8:00/mi for the next 3 miles. cool down for a few minutes. In total 4.2 miles in 35 minutes.

Week 7 Day 2

Today's plan is 8 miles with 4 miles Lactate Threshold (LT) run. However, I couldn't finish the plan. I still haven't recovered from the Sunday's race.

I was planning to do 3 mile easy run, then 7 minute pace for my LT run, but after 3 mile easy run, I could only do the LT for one mile at 7:00, then drop to 7:30, then 8:00. At mile 6, I felt my right back a little hurt, my calves were tired and couldn't absorb the pounding well, my left knee was a little hurting as well, so I reduced speed again and carried on for a mile. Finally I gave up the last mile to save myself to get injured.

It was really a tough training.

Week 7 Day 1

Rest as schedule

Week 6 Day 7

I finished my 7k relay race in 28:40, the average pace is 6:36/m, which is 8 seconds faster than my 5K pace 6 weeks ago.

I didn't have a fancy watch, so I don't know my split. It was a 4.75 loop route. I think I was a bit too slow on the second loop. Mentally I felt there were another 3 loops to go so I had to leave enough puff for the distance. I was on leg 2. In front of me, there were probably about 10 runners. On loop 2, a lady passed by me and I couldn't catch up all the way. After that, I didn't see anybody pass by me. On loop 4 and loop 5, my legs were tired (my legs were not fully recovered after 9 miles run on Thursday) and I reminded myself to keep my form and keep running as I have trained for so long. I exchanged my frequency to a wider stride for a couple times.

The weather was a bit cold. When we drove to the race venue at 6:30, it was -3C. I wore a running short. I couldn't find the toilet, so I had to put my long tights on top of the short. I wore a hat and gloves when I ran (most people do). When I started run, the sun has already came up. After the first loop, I realized all those protection was a mistake. I was too hot and started sweating. I took off my hat and gloves and threw to the side, but I couldn't stop to take my tights off. We live and we learn!

In the last 200 meters, I sprinted. That was good. I didn't feel awful after the run and recovered to normal quite quickly. Of course, the legs are still a bit sore.

Week 6 Day 6

Today I am supposed to do a 4 miles recovery run, but tomorrow is a 7k race, so I skip this for an extra day recovery.

Week 6 Day 5

Rest as schedule.

Week 6 Day 4

I ran 9 miles on treadmill in 1:07:20.

Week 6 Day 3

Rest as schedule.

Week 6 Day 2

Today I completed 8 miles with 8 x 100 interval on treadmill. I finished in 1:03:45. It is dark when I get home from work at 5:30.

Week 6 Day 1

It is supposed to be a rest day. However, this Sunday I am going to have a 7k relay race, so I go back to the Hal Higdon's plan for a week to prepare for the race. I did 3 miles in 21:45 on the treadmill, then did 8 minutes abs and 8 minutes chest.

Week 5 Day 7

Today I covered 10 miles. I was supposed to run 11, but at the end, I didn't have enough commitment to run another loop. I finished in 1:14:00.

Week 5 Day 6

Today it is a recovery run. It is the first time to run with a group since I started my training plan. It was great and slowed me down. I ran 5 miles in Golden Gate Park with San Francisco Frontrunners group. I forgot to start my watch, but I think it was probably 40 to 45 minutes. It was quite slow for me. After 5 miles, I didn't have a sweat.

Week 5 Day 5

To cover yesterday's mileage, I ran 9 miles, two laps (4.5 mile a lap) around Lake Merced in San Francisco. Yesterday's flight was 14 hours delay. My run routine had to change from yesterday to today.

Week 5 Day 4

Today I was supposed to run 7 miles, but the flight was delayed again. Some flash came out from the left engine, we were forced to land at Indianapolis airport and waited for the next day. So no run for today.

Week 5 Day 3

Rest as schedule.

Week 5 day 2

Interval run today. Ran around the mall and capitol hill in Washington DC with 10x100. Many traffic lights, so many stops. Finished 7.2 miles in 1:03:42.

Week 5 Day 1

From this week, I am going to switch to the Pfitz 55/30 plan. So today it is a rest day.

Week 4 Day 7

It is an early morning, the sun hasn't raised yet. It was a bit chilly. I ran around the capitol hill, the national mall and towards Monument for 4 loops. 10 miles in total in 1:15:00. It was very nice to see so many people running there. It was quite different to my normal solo run.

Week 4 Day 6

Today I was supposed to do a tempo run, but the flight was delayed for 8 hours. When I got to Washington DC, it was evening. So the run was cancelled.

Week 4 Day 5

Rest as schedule.

Week 4 Day 4

Today I ran 3.2 miles with 10 minutes abs workout.