Category: Practice Runs

Read This!

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Marathon Race, Practice Runs, Runners' Training, Running5 Comments

For the past days after reading Dean Karnasez’ book, “Ultramarathon Man: Confessions Of An All-Night Runner”, I’ve been browsing on the Internet on websites that offer information on ultramarathon, ultrarunning, and ultratrail running.

In the course of reading these websites and blogs of accomplished “ultrarunners” and websites of ultrarunning & ultratrail magazines online, I discovered this article which was written in the UltraTrail Magazine in November 2006.

This is another approach of training for the marathon and I hope you enjoy reading this one. Continue reading “Read This!” →

My Running Workout For This Week

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, Runners' Training, Running5 Comments

I am officially starting my Marathon Training for the San Francisco Marathon this week.

1)  6:02 AM 15 April 2008 (Long Slow Distance with “Fartlek”)

Distance—12 kms       Time—1:08:48 hrs

Average Pace—5:38 mins/km        Average Speed—10.6 kms/hr

Maximum Speed—14.4 kms/hr     Total Calories—712 cal

Average HR—151 bpm                   Maximum HR—164

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120   Music—Bob Marley

 2)  6:08 PM 15 April 2008 (Speed Play-Yasso 800s)

a) 890 meters—4:51 mins      Ave Pace—5:27 mins/km

b) 841 meters—3:52 mins      Ave Pace—4:37 mins/km

c) 852 meters—4:09 mins      Ave Pace—4:52 mins/km

d) 863 meters—4:01 mins      Ave Pace—4:39 mins/km

e) 857 meters—4:35 mins      Ave Pace—5:20 mins/km

f) 860 meters—3:58 mins      Ave Pace—4:37 mins/km

***10 seconds slow jog in-between runs

Cool Down Run—2.12 kms @ 13:28 mins (Ave Pace of 6:21 mins/km)

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120     Music—Bon Jovi

3)  6:16 PM 16 April 2008 (Tempo Run)

a) 3.20 kms—16:45 mins    Ave Pace—5:20 mins/km

Ave HR—151 bpm          Max HR—162 bpm

b) 3.20 kms—16:30 mins    Ave Pace—5:18 mins/km

Ave HR—159 bpm         Max HR—164

c) 3.20 kms—16:42 mins    Ave Pace—5:23 mins/km

Ave HR—158 bpm        Max HR—164 bpm

d) 3.20 kms—16:32 mins    Ave Pace—5:18 mins/km

Ave HR—159 bpm       Max HR—164 bpm

***10 seconds slow jog to drink water in between runs

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120       Music—Bon Jovi & Dave Matthews Band

4)  6:11 PM 17 April 2008 ( Slow Run)

Distance—10.52 kms        Time—1:03:16 hrs

Ave Pace—6:00 mins/km   Ave Speed—10 kms/hr

Ave HR—146 bpm              Max HR—157 bpm

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120      Music—Earth, Wind & Fire

5)  7:10 AM 18 April 2008 (Race Pace)

Distance—8 kms                Time—41:55 mins

Ave Pace—5:13 mins/km   Ave Speed—11.5 kms/hr

Max Speed—14.8 kms/hr   Total Calories—588 cal

Ave HR—157 bpm               Max HR—162 bpm

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120      Music—Flyleaf & Foo Foo Fighters  

My running workouts for this week were done along the 2-mile route inside the camp in Jamindan and along the new 581-meter jogging lane in our parade ground.   

 

 

 

Running With Style

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Practice Runs, Running3 Comments

Running In Style (the way you look with your running outfit & gadgets) is different from Running With Style.

Every runner has its own individual style or his/her “running signature”. Some would sway their shoulders while running, some would be always looking downward while running, some would be erect, some would be leaning forward and some would flap their palms from their wrists. Running does not have to look right but it should feel right on the individual runner.

In order to minimize these unnecessary bad habits in running, one should have a coach or an advance runner who would observe and give critiques while he/she is running, or get a video or camera to record your movements while running. The following are the four points to consider in improving one’s running style.

1)  Rhythmic Flow—Developing a rhythmic flow to your running style means you have to learn to run with a certain “beat” or cadence. If you can silently chant, following a rhythm, that would greatly improve your running style. Soldiers running in a group would always chant to encourage everybody to follow a certain “beat” or rhythm and this will encourage them to run farther distance without much effort. Most often, runners would resort to music and they carry with them MP3 & Ipods during runs. The beat of the music would go with the cadence or “beat” of the feet while pounding on the ground or on the breathing of the runner.

2)  Light Feet—It is encouraged to run “lightly” with your running shoes, hearing no sound at all while your running shoes hit the ground. You have the feeling that you are “floating” in the air while running if you don’t hear any sounds from your running shoes. You can practice for a 3-5 minutes jumping rope everyday or try jumping without the rope just to emphasize “tip-toe” landing with your feet. To improve on this, you can have your running workouts without any noise made by your running shoes.

3)  Relaxation—Relaxation means that your chin should be loosely hanging, mouth slightly open with the jaws loose. The shoulders should be down and relaxed. The hands & fingers are not held tighly together to form a fist but the fingers should loosely cupped. The wrists should be loose and not tense.

4)  Breathing—Develop a cadence in breathing. Breathing should be relaxed. Runners should develop “belly breathing”, expanding the stomach when you breath in and flattening your stomach when you breath out.

As most of the famous coaches in running and elite runners would say, runners should follow strictly the tested 3 Rs in running—Run tall; Run relaxed; and Run naturally.

Good luck. It needs so much practice and awareness to be able to develop your distinct “running style”.

Training Journal (17-23 March 2008)

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, RunningLeave a comment

17 March 2008—Hill Workout & “Fartlek” Run/15.3 kilometers or 9.56 miles in Jamindan

19 March 2008—Mile “Tempo” Run/7.5 kilometers or 4.68 miles in Jamindan

20 March 2008—AM Run–Long Run/12.21 kilometers or 7.63 miles in Jamindan

20 March 2008—PM Run–Long Run/10.02 kilometers or 6.26 miles in Jamindan

22 March 2008—Long Slow Distance Run/21.07 kilometers or 13.17 miles in Jamindan

23 March 2008—Speed Run (5 X 400 meter) 6.8 kilometers or 4.25 miles in Jamindan

Total Distance Covered—72.9 kilometers or 45.56 miles

Last Two Bibs; Route & Last Run

On By kingofpotsIn Insights, Jogging, Practice Runs, Races, RunningLeave a comment

27 March 2008

I registered personally at the Mizuno Store at Bonifacio High Street Mall after lunch today. The staff at the store told me that I am getting the second to the last bib for the 15K run. In one minute, I got out of the store and I am officially registered to run the 15K. While I was filling up my registration form, another guy entered the room and he got the last bib.

While looking at the zeroxed copy of the route, it confirmed the information I got from my officer yesterday. While I was going back to attend the closing ceremony of the seminar which I attended, I planned already to have my last practice run for the week before the race day on some portions of the route after the seminar.

Glancing at the course, the 15K route will be a hard one with so many hills along the way. My target of finishing the race in 1:15:00 hours would be a hard task and I could force my body to its limits. Well, mentally, that is still the target/objective but in reality, a 1:17:00 to 1:18:00 hours would be a decent time to finish the 15K run.

The strategy is to divide the course in three 5K runs. First 5K will be with a comfortable pace; the second 5K will be a faster one and the last 5K will be covered at a 2-mile run pace. The hilly portions will be at Bayani Road after the PA Golf Course; from the Heritage Park to Bayani Road; from the Golf Course along the Bayani Road up to the back of the Philippine Army Grandstand; McKinley Hills area; and the Essensa road. The difficulty on these hilly portions should be countered while running along the downhill portions of the route, which means that I have to increase my pace on the descending portions. The McKinley Hill part in going back to Lawton Avenue towards the finish line will be the “Killer Hill” in this race!

At 6:00 PM, I was already having my stretching exercises. I started from running workout from my quarters towards the Libingan ng mga Bayani, running along the outermost roads inside the park; went out and ran towards Heritage Park and C-5 Highway and back to Bayani Road; ran along Lawton Avenue towards McKinley Hill and was able to reach C-5 exit; and made a fast run in going up the last hill towards Lawton. From Gate 1 of Fort Bonifacio, I had my cool-down run towards my quarters.

My last practice run was a slow one but I was able to run in 1:29:03 hours with an estimated distance covered of 15 kilometers. I used my Timex Watch w/ HR Monitor with a 150-160 bpm and 1,060 total calories burned.

D-4 Day: Mizuno Infinity 15K Run

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, Races, RunningLeave a comment

26 March 2008 (8:32 PM-9:25PM)

I’ve been in Manila for the 6th Philippine Army Physical Fitness Test Challenge yesterday and for today and tomorrow, I am attending a seminar/meeting among the Commanders of the Philippine Army. On Friday, I will also attend the 111th Founding Anniversary of the Philippine Army in a Military Parade and Awarding Ceremonies.

While attending a dinner with the Commanders, one of the officers from the Headquarters Philippine Army who is also a weekend runner told me that he had registered already for the Mizuno Infinity 15K Run. Well, I told him that I have yet to register in one of the Mizuno Stores in Makati with the thought that I’ll be registering at the Boifacio High Street Mall. I asked the officer about the route and he told me the general route of the 15K Run. He told me that route covers Lawton Avenue, Bayani Road, Heritage Park, Mckinley Hill Area and The Fort area.

After dinner, I immediately changed to my running attire and had a “run through” or course familiarization on the hilly portions of the course. Actually, it was not a course familiarization but a review on the route as I am familiar on most of the portions of the route. I did “fartlek” runs on the flat/plain portions and hill “bounding” exercises on the ascending portions of the route. I also practiced “belly breathing” on the hilly portions. 

The following data were registered in my GF 305:

Distance—8.63 kms                 Time—48:39 mins

Average Pace—5:38 mins/km    Average Speed—10.6 km/hr

Maximum Speed—13.6 km/hr   Total Calories—634 cal

Average HR—160 bpm                Maximum HR—170 bpm

Total Ascent—324 meters          Total Descent—357 meters

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-Kinsei 2

D-7 Day: Mizuno Infinity 15K Run

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, Races, Runners' Training, Running3 Comments

23 March 2008

Happy Easter to Everybody!

I was supposed to spend my Holy Week in Boracay and stay in our Cottage which is located in Station 0 ( I coined the name because our place is way up north of Station 1) together with my “security detail” bringing with me my books, RW Magazines, and my laptop. However, I changed my mind with the thought of preparing for the next road race which is the Mizuno Infinity 15K Run next Sunday within the hills & mountains of Jamindan. I thought that running along the beachfront of Boracay is not productive as my preparation even if I decided to run along the fairways of Fairways & Bluewater Golf Course or even run the hills of Boracay Island. The 2-mile route inside my camp was a better option plus the fact that I could be easily identified in Boracay as one of the tourists there. I am more rested here in the camp than travelling for almost 3 1/2 hours to Boracay by land and my soldiers in Boracay might be concentrating on my security rather than protecting and securing the tourists visiting in the island. And I don’t want this thing to happen.

Building-up my strength and endurance in the hills/mountains of Jamindan was part of my preparation for the Mizuno Run. I want to improve my time in the 15K with the plan to run at an average pace of 4:50-4:58 minutes per kilometer in order to finish the 15K run in 1:15:00 hours or below. Not knowing on the details of the route, I concentrated my training on my hill workouts in order to prepare for the “worst”. If the route of the race will be at The Fort Area, I am confident that I can maintain my pace with those gradual ascending portions in the area.

Having woke up early this morning to attend the Easter Sunday activities at 5:00 AM at the camp & attending the mass after the “Salubong” at the Camp’s Chapel, I opted to have my run late in the afternoon and confident that there will be no rain today. I started my running workout with stretching and later made my warm-up with brisk walking and slow jogging for about 1.6 kilometers along the 2-mile route. I am supposed to have my endurance run which is a regular run with a distance of 10 kilometers but I finally decided to have a “speed play” within the 400-meter distance flat area along the route. I did 5 repetitions of the “400-meter intervals” with 400-meter slow jog in between speed repeats. The following were the data taken from my GF 305 every lap:

#1)  Distance—416.33 meters          Time—1:47 mins

        Average Pace—4:18 mins/km      Average Speed—13.9 kms/hr

        Maximum Speed—16.4 kms/hr   Total Calories—26 cal

        Average HR—134 bpm                  Maximum HR—153 bpm

        Total Ascent—6 meters                 Total Descent—19 meters

#2)  Distance—413.16 meters          Time—1:44 mins

        Average Pace—4:12 mins/km      Average Speed—14.3 kms/hr

        Maximum Speed—15.6 kms/hr   Total Calories—27 cal

        Average HR—151 bpm                  Maximum HR—161 bpm

        Total Ascent—7 meters                 Total Descent—11 meters

#3)  Distance—436.97 meters         Time—1:38 mins

        Average Pace—3:44 mins/km      Average Speed—16 kms/hr

        Maximum Speed—19.2 kms/hr   Total Calories—28 cal

        Average HR—148 bpm                  Maximum HR—163 bpm

        Total Ascent—7 meters                 Total Descent—13 meters

#4)  Distance—438.73 meters         Time—1:41 mins

        Average Pace—3:51 mins/km      Average Speed—15.5 kms/hr

        Maximum Speed—18.8 kms/hr   Total Calories—29 cal

        Average HR—152 bpm                  Maximum HR—164 bpm

        Total Ascent—8 meters                 Total Descent—14 meters

#5)  Distance—432.57 meters         Time—1:56 mins

        Average Pace—4:28 mins/km      Average Speed—13.4 kms/hr

        Maximum Speed—15.8 kms/hr   Total Calories—29 cal

        Average HR—151 bpm                   Maximum HR—159 bpm

        Total Ascent—8 meters                 Total Descent—11 meters

Cool-Down Jogging for 1.2 kilometers (3 X 400 meters) and then had my post-stretching exercises.

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120

Music—Linkin Park/Laura Fygi

Total Distance Covered—6.8 kilometers or 4.25 miles 

Black Saturday Run

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, RunningLeave a comment

22 March 2008 (5:13 PM- 7:15 PM)

There had been no rains in Jamindan for the past 5 days and the weather today is fine and there are no clouds in the sky. I started my run while the sun was about to set and disappear from the ridge of the highest mountain in the camp and stopped my running workout when the moon has risen on the eastern horizon. Checking on my wall calendat, I found out that today/tonight is Full Moon. It was a nice sight seeing the moon beaming its light on some portions of the camp’s streets where the lighted street lights are not yet available. I started to slow down with my pace when the surroundings became dark but I need to finish at least two hours of running for today’s workout.

I am well rested today and I planned to have my running workout this morning but I became lazy to wake up early as planned. I had additional one hour of sleep after I cancelled my morning workout. After breakfast, I acted on administrative papers and read reports coming from my units under me. I also read back issues of RW Magazine and the book written by Alvin & Heidi Toffler, “Revolutionary Wealth”. I also watched some movies from Star Movies-TV Channel and the 2nd Round of the PGA Puerto Rico Golf Tournament at Solar Sports.  After one hour sleep after watching the movie, “The Gods Must Be Crazy”, I started to prepare for my afternoon run.

The following were the data taken from my GF 305:

Distance—20.10 kms              Time—2:01:22 hrs

Average Pace—6:02 mins/km     Average Speed—9.9 km/hr

Maximum Speed—14.8 km/hr    Total Calories—1,483 cal

Average HR—148 bpm                  Maximum HR—161 bpm

Total Ascent—660 meters            Total Descent—668 meters

Warm-Up—410 meters                 Cool-Down—560 meters

Running Shoes—ASICS Gel-1120

Music—Matchbox Twenty & Led Zeppelin’s Mothership. 

It was nice to hear “Stairway to Heaven” while I was having my cool-down jogging & brisk walking!

Total Distance Covered—21.07 kms or 13.17 miles 

Holy Thursday Run

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, Running2 Comments

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

Two-Mile Tempo Run

On By kingofpotsIn Jogging, Practice Runs, Runners' Training, RunningLeave a comment

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.