mare-athon week 3

25 nov:  happy thanksgiving!  good thing my workout called for drills today in zone 3.  i'm going to need it to burn calories i'll be taking during dinner.  ;)  my nieces wanted to run with me this morning so i just went around their gated neighborhood.... back and forth... up the hill and down...  and repeat.  several times.  the hill is pretty crazy - i was only able to go up the hill 4x during the 20-min drill workout.  zone 1 run for a 5-min warmup and another 10-min cool down at the end for a total of 35 min.  did some stretching and then had spam and eggs for brekkie.  DOH

gobble gobble everyone!  i'm really thankful for my health... and the health of those i love.

23 nov:  i arrived in san diego this morning.  after doing some shopping and getting nails done with the nieces, it was already dark out.  so i ended up on the treadmill.  my worst nightmare.  actually, i thought it wasn't the worst idea because my left leg was still bothering me so the treatmill will be easier on the joints.  about 15 min into my workout, i felt a lot of discomfort on my left leg.  debated stopping the workout many times but i told myself to last at least 30 min of the planned 40 min run.  is it because i didn't stretch after my long run last sunday?  or is it because it's so boring on a treadmill that all i can think about is the throbbing pain on my leg?  i really don't like being hurt...  i think exercise is hard enough and when you put pain into the equation, it just makes it so much worse.  i like the pain of pushing myself, not actual pain pain.  hopefully it gets better by thursday's speed run.  this is not helping improve my speed.  UGH

mare-athon week 2

21 nov:  so i skipped some posts since the day i started.  it's the beginning of training and not much to report.  i've been following the 4-day running program from micoach.com.  tuesdays are usually easy days with 5-min warmup, 30 min run zone 2 run and 5-min cool down.  thursdays are usually speed drills.  saturdays are shorter versions of the tues workout.  sundays are my long runs.  i missed a couple of runs this week.  not proud of it, but i can't beat myself up over it.  i just have to make sure i always do the long runs.  today was my 2nd long run to date.  had to run for 60-min.  i'm in dublin visiting my younger sis and there's this iron horse trail near their house.  it's a really nice paved trail with runners, walkers and bikers.  i ran about 5.5 miles.  yep folks.  still uber slow.  even though i've been reading the book "born to run" and i'm so inspired, i can't seem to pick up any speed.  i totally recommend the book to any runner out there.  i've bought 3 running books and this is the only one i've been able to read.  i only have 1 chapter left so will tell you more when i finish it.

during my long run, my HR was still a little too high.  supposed to be around between zone 4-5 but ended up mostly around 5.2.  i felt like i could have kept going but my left leg was started to bother me.  i am making an effort to land on my forefoot and it was starting to hurt my left shin.  why can't i just run without pain?  should i try barefoot like they mention on my book?

mare-athon week 1

09 nov:  in 151 days, i'll be doing my first marathon.  as of today, there are 32,875 registrants and the limit is 40,000 runners.  

today, i started my marathon training.  the last long run i did was for my 1/2 ironman on 22 aug.  i did a 5-miler after that then quit running cold turkey.  today it felt great to be out there running even though it was less than 40 degrees!  they were taking down the nyc marathon benches and finish line stuff - no better day to start running!  i feel inspired.  i'm following a training program on micoach.com based on heart rate.  i selected a 4-run per week program.  here's today's workout:

5 min zone 1

30 min in zone 2

5 min zone 1

i'm still playing around with my HR zones.  i had to pretty much walk during zone 1 or my garmin was beeping at me (saying my HR is too high).  it also kept beeping during zone 2.  i need to adjust it.  this is just ridiculous.  but all in all, a good start.  i'm excited to begin my journey...

je suis un coureur

2010 has been a great year for me.  i'm very happy in life and healthy.  1/2 ironman - check!  :) started to think about goals for next year.  how should i challenge myself?  so everyone must know by now how much i hate running.  my mantra for the run portion of my 1/2 ironman was "i'm a runner!  i'm a runner!"  it was very mental for me only because i don't enjoy running and it also didn't help that it was the last part of my 7-hour long ironman race.  so i decided that my ultimate challenge would be to run a marathon.  because according to a close friend, when i do something, i go BIG.  i will run the paris marathon to be exact - on april 10, 2011.  why paris?  because when i decide to do something, i go BIG.  ;)  then once i make up my mind, it's pretty much a lost cause.  i told a few friends who agreed to join me.  registration opened on september 15th (the day before my 35th bday) and on that day, i woke up and i registered.  so here it goes...  my first mare-athon...  plus it's an excuse to go to paris

je suis un coureur (aka "i'm a runner").  oui oui.

the route: 42,195 km in the city of paris… from the champs élysées avenue to foch avenue running through bastille, nation, vincennes, les tuileries…     

been to paris a few times before but this trip will be special.  my favorite city besides nyc and sf.  :)  hotel booked.  now i just need to start running...