Happy Easter to Everybody!
I hope you enjoyed your trip and vacation. See you at the Mizuno Infinity Run next Sunday!
Month: March 2008
Holy Thursday Run
20 March 2008 (6:48-8:00 AM)
I woke up early in the morning and I started to prepare for my running workout at 6:00 AM. After 20 minutes of stretching and slow jog for about 400 meters to warm-up, I started my run around the camp along the 2-mile route that I have measured. I planned to have a one hour run and just maintained a pace that I felt I was comfortable. I concentrated on my running form along the ascending portions of the route and made some “hill bounding” exercises. I consider this run as one of my endurance/strengthening runs in preparation for my next road race.
There are three ascending portions of the route which cover the first mile and the rest is a flat distance of about 800 meters and the remaining are descending portions. The 2-mile course inside the camp is very challenging, most especially with the 1st mile.
I was able to cover a distance of 12.21 kilometers or 7.63 miles for this morning’s running workout. The following were the data taken from my GF 305:
Distance—12.21 kms Time—1:09:04 hrs
Average Pace—5:39 mins/km Average Speed—10.6 km/hr
Maximum Speed—15.1 kms/hr Total Calories—897 cal
Average HR—157 bpm Maximum HR—168 bpm
Total Ascent—333 meters Total Descent—339 meters
Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120
Music—ABBA (In memory of Ola Brunkert, drummer of the group who died last 16 March 2008 in his home in Arta, Mallorca Island, Spain)
20 March 2008 (5:07-6:35 PM)
In the afternoon, after watching TV and reading the newspapers, I prepared for another running workout with the plan to reach the highest peak within the camp where the rest of the mountail trail/road would lead. It was an easy and slow run with the objective of not stopping along the ascending portions of the route. I did not stop along the route and just kept maintaining my slow pace. I was able to reach the end of the roads inside the camp. I was not able to experience any problems with my breathing and heart rate.
This was a very slow run but I consider this as my strengthening/endurance running workout. The following data were registered in my GF 305:
Distance—10.02 kms Time—1:26:03 hrs
Average Pace—8:35 mins/km Average Speed—7.0 km/hr
Maximum Speed—11.1 km/hr Total Calories—628 cal
Average HR—121 bpm Maximum HR—159 bpm
Total Ascent—402 meters Total Descent—433 meters
Running Shoes—NIKE Training Air Edge
Music—Justin Timberlake/Rod Stewart
Total Distance For The Day—22.23 kms or 13.9 miles
Running Form
Running form refers to the study of the mechanisms of movement of running. Most studies and researches in running proved that there are some runners who run more efficiently than others and improving on one’s running form will definitely improve his or her running results/finish time. There are four things to consider to improve one’s running form—footstrike, forward stride, body angle, and arm movement.
On footstrike, I am basically a flat-footed and ball-heel footstriker and I am comfortable running with it in 10K up to marathon races. My footstrike with the ball-heel method makes the part behind ball of my foot touches the ground first and my knee bends slightly to absord the shock and simultaneously my heel slightly touches the ground so the entire sole of my running shoe makes contact with the ground. Then I roll up to the ball of the foot for a “power” lift off by pushing off the big toe.
On forward stride, I am a “shuffler” who runs very low to the ground with little lift with my knees and no or little exaggerated back kick but sometimes I could increase the length of my stride if I lift my knees a little higher and increase the frequency of my strides. I usually shift to this form when I am running over hills and sprints towards the finish line.
This is my running form as taken from one of my pictures during the 7th DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon last 09 March 2008
On body angle, I usually run relaxed and comfortable with my head and body erect looking about 20 meters infront of me. My pictures show my body as erect and relaxed as possible but sometimes there are times when I lean backwards and exaggerate my “breast out” appearance. I should be running with a slight forward lean as shown in my picture below during my oval track runs.
This is the front view of my running form when I had my oval/track run in Iloilo City Sports Complex.
On the Arms movement, it is the Arm Action that I am practicing in my running workouts for the past days. According to my readings and research, the arms should be driven downwards in a vertical plane from the elbow in short, quick strokes, with the shoulders down and relaxed. It is not recommended to run and swing the arms from the shoulders, locking your arms at the elbow. I am slowly fixing this problem and exaggerate in swinging my arms from my elbow and don’t allow my elbow to move backward during my running workout.
At my age, I may not be able to attain the “perfect” running form as I recall how I saw Waldemar Cierpinski in person or the fluid motion of Frank Shorter and seeing the way elite runners are seen in the Runners World Magazine but I am sure these information would greatly improve one’s ability to run faster and more efficient.
Two-Mile Tempo Run
19 March 2008 (10:26-11:15 AM)
It’s Holy Week and I decided to stay inside the camp and be at peace with the clean air and silent environment in the mountains of Jamindan. This is the time to do more endurance runs, hill workouts, “fartleks” and tempo runs, even during noon time.
Without any much to do after reading and acting on some administrative papers and matters in the morning, I decided to change to my running attire and planned to test how I fare in my 2-mile run along the hills of Jamindan. After stretching and warm-up jogging for about 500-600 meters, I started my first two-mile tempo run along the the 2-mile route inside the camp.
The following data were registered in my GF 305 for my first 2-mile run:
Distance—3.20 kms Time—16:20 mins (8:10 mins/mile)
Average Pace—5:06 mins/km Average Speed—11.7 kms/hr
Maximum Speed—15.1 kms/hr Total Calories—235 cal
Average HR—159 bpm Maximum HR—169 bpm
Total Ascent—247 meters Total Descent—238 meters
After drinking water and slowly jogging for about 3 minutes, I started my second 2-mile run where the sun’s heat was almost on top of my head. The following data were taken from my GF 305 for my second 2-mile run:
Distance—3.20 kms Time—16:40 mins (8:20 mins/mile)
Average Pace—5:12 mins/km Average Speed—11.5 kms/hr
Maximum Speed—14.1 kms/hr Total Calories—236 cal
Average HR—168 bpm Maximum HR—172 bpm
Total Ascent—172 meters Total Descent—168 meters
After completing the second set of my 2-mile run, I made a slow jog for about 500 meters cool-down. I had my post stretching for 20 minutes and walked briskly. It was too hot and I had to drink a lot of water.
My second round was slower because of the heat of the sun and the heat coming from the cement/road. However, it was a nice run.
Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120
Music—Bee Gees: “Live–One Night Only”
Total Distance Covered—7.50 kms or 4.68 miles.
Fresh Oyster Feast
18 March 2008
I rewarded myself with a “fresh oyster” feast/lunch for running my first 100 kilometers on my “1,000 Km” Club in one of the seafood restaurants along the beach of Barangay Baybay, Roxas City, near the ancestral house of Senator Mar Roxas.
At 10:00 AM, I inspected the road project my men are contructing/cementing which connects our road to the camp with the national road of Jamindan, Capiz. A distance of almost two and half kilometers is not yet cemented and my “boys” are trying to pave this portion which was left unattended for the past 20 years. So far, we have cemented almost one kilometer but the weather in Jamindan is delaying the near completion of our road project.
From the site of the road project, I brought my “security detail” to Roxas City and treated them and myself for a lunch full of the famous oyster from Roxas City. They did not expect that we were going to the seafood restaurant and they thought we were going to Mang Inasal for our lunch. By the way, the oysters that are being served in the hotels and famous restaurants in Metro Manila are harvested in Roxas City.
We ordered fresh oysters, kilawen na tangigue (fresh/raw fish soaked in vinegar), inasal na manok (chicken barbecue/broiled), sinigang na blue marlin (blue marlin sour stew), and soda drinks. We enjoyed our lunch with the strong breeze coming from the sea, the sight of a group of fishermen casting their big net far away from the beach and later seeing them pulling their net towards the seashore, and the music of the 80’s of Duran Duran and Boy George in the background. We were six in the table and we paid only One Thousand Two Hundred Pesos for our lunch with our “Fresh Oyster Feast”. A plate of fresh oysters (12-15 pieces) costs Forty Pesos Only! I finished almost two plates of fresh oysters.
On our way back to the camp, we have to stop along the way to supervise the “fixing” and filling of boulders and gravel to the muddy portions of the road that connects to the camp. The road had been muddy and soft due to the continuous rains. Our “boys” had been called to repair the road to make it passable from all types of vehicle.
This is an ascending portion of the road where an old Ford Fiera was stucked on the road due to loose soil & muddy road.
Hopefully, this part of the road will be cemented as soon as the weather will cooperate with us. This is part of the road that connects to our camp from the Jamindan National Road which was neglected for the past 20 years.
Hill & “Fartlek” Runs
17 March 2008 (4:54-6:30 PM)
I had my Monday afternon run at the camp, along the 2-mile run course. After my usual 15-minute stretching exercises, I started to warm-up with a slow jog for about a 800 meters. I made my first “surge/fartlek” run which lasted for 1 minute (60 seconds) and slowly jog for 45 seconds in between runs. I made at least 12 “fartlek” runs/repetitions while running along the 2-mile route. I saw to it that my 1-minute speed runs are done on the ascending portions of my route with the rest/slow jog done on the flat and downhill portions. Sometimes, I had at least 2-3 “fartlek” runs on the flat portion of the course.
In order to approximately estimate one minute of my run, I count up 60-70 whenever my left foot strikes the ground or my right foot if ever I start counting with my right foot hitting the ground. I count 45-50 for my slow jog. My average pace in these “surges” or “fartlek” intervals is about 4:30-4:45 mins/km.
After the “fartlek” runs, I continued my run with my usual pace and I was able to cover an overall distance of 15.31 kilometers or 9.57 miles.
It was a nice run as the weather cooperated without any rains today in Jamindan.
The following were the registered data in my GF 305:
Distance—15.31 kilometers Time—1:33:05 Hours
Average Pace—6:04 mins/km Average Speed—9.9 km/hr
Maximum Speed—15.4 kms/hr Total Calories—1,112 cal
Average HR—155 bpm Maximum HR—170 bpm
Total Ascent—533 meters Total Descent—560 meters
Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120
Music—Bon Jovi/U2/Eagles
My Daily Dose of Minerals & Vitamins
In my research and readings, a scientific study indicated that daily doses of important vitamins and minerals taken with a nutritionally balanced and adequate diet, would greatly help physical and mental performance for athletes undergoing strenuous training. Aside from the fact that I am growing older, I need multivitamins and minerals to protect my body from any deficiencies in my diet. Sometimes, this dose of tablets gives me the “psychological” belief that I feel stronger and younger in my physical activities.
I take Centrum Silver tablet everyday which has potassium and magnesium in them needed to minimize muscle cramps. I take 1,000 milligrams of Vitamic C to protect me from colds, from other illness and injury, and for faster recovery from injuries; Calcium tablets for a sturdy bones; Vitamin E for the production of anti-bodies; Vitamin B Complex which aids in the metabolism of fats; Fish Oil tablet for the heart and blood circulation; and Glucousamine tablets to strengthen my bone joints and knees.
I’ve never missed a day with this dose of vitamins and minerals for the passed six years and I am still positive and sure that I am getting stronger with my running, with the combination of healthy and balanced diet, complete rest at night, no vices, and a positive attitude in life.
Training Journal (10-16 March 2008)
10 March 2008—Rest/No runs
11 March 2008—Rest/No runs
12 March 2008—12.5 miles or 20 kilometers/slow run/endurance run
13 March 2008—12.5 miles or 20 kilometers/slow run/endurance run
14 March 2008—Rest/No runs/Body Massage @ Riviera Spa, Iloilo City
15 March 2008—6.4 miles or 10 kilometers/speed run at the Iloilo Oval Track
Total Distance Covered—31.4 miles or 50 kilometers
Running & Body Weight
When I was running marathons in the 80’s, my body weight then was 137-140 pounds. I was “lean and mean” and did not have so much fat in my body then and I was running 3:30:00-3:45:00 hours for the marathon; 1:30:00-1:40:00 hours for the 20K; and 39:00-42:00 minutes for the 10K. At present, my body weight is 155 pounds and I am trying to reduce weight (by running) in order to be competetive and reduce my PR time in future races. Continue reading “Running & Body Weight”
More Pictures @ 7th DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon
09 March 2008 (6:00-8:00 AM)
The following were the other pictures taken during the conduct of the 7th DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon:
Running along the road in between Market! Market! Shopping Mall and Serendra Condominiums at The Fort at vicinity Km # 8 Continue reading “More Pictures @ 7th DND-AFP Gintong Pangarap Half-Marathon”
Bald Runner 
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