The Historic Filipinotown is just a five-minute drive to Downtown Los Angeles and very accessible to distinct and “must-see” places in the city. The streets that surround and intersect the place has lots of low hills/ascending & descending portion where I could do my easy and moderate hill workouts.

I had my 10-km run on these hilly streets, increasing my pace on the uphill and easily jog on the plain area for at least 3-minute recovery run. I made eight (8) repetitions of these uphill runs in the different parts of the district and I miss my running days in the hills of Jamindan.

Distance—10.01 kms  Time—1:05:12 hrs   Ave. Pace—6:30 mins/km

With this run, I was able to finish and reach completion of my “1,000K Club” which I started last 01 March 2008. It took me 4 months and 3 weeks to run such distance with an average run of 52.63 kilometers per week or 32.9 miles per week. It is a very low mileage and below the average mileage for a basic or intermediate competitor but I am glad to have reached this accomplishment. My problem with my “gout/arthritis” had diminished my goal to increase my mileage after my retirement. However, it was a blessing in disguise not for me to abruptly increase my mileage as I could had incurred much damaging injuries to my knees, leg muscles and achilles tendons.

I had officially started my training for my first ultra trail marathon this week and slowly increasing my mileage and making my long steady runs at a slower pace. I had also brought back hill training to my workouts and maintain a regular hydration during runs, taking a sip of water every kilometer that I ran. I hope I will be well-prepared for the challenge in my first ultra run in 4-week preparation.

Going back to my “1,000K Club”, as a reward, I treated myself with a shopping spree at The North Face Store in Beverly Hills (the only TNF store in Los Angeles!) and later at the Patagonia Store in Pasadena, California. I got “Sale” prices for the Summer Clothing apparel (about to be removed from the displayed items) and got new items for the Fall Clothing line which were newly displayed for the week. I guess, I was able to save at least 40% of the price if I buy the goods in the Philippines and of course, have to wait a few months before such items will be available in Manila. I am not sure if I can buy Patagonia, REI, Columbia Sportswear, ASICS apparel, Salomon, Pearl Izumi, or Under Armour in Manila in the near future. 

And now the best part, my wife ordered me a special gift, a complete P90X program, which I will try for my strength and endurance training program. I expect the order to arrive this week or early next week.

I am continuing my “1,000K Club” and aiming for another “1,000K” and we’ll see where my training/running will bring me. Remember, running is about patience, persistence, consistency and “positive” thinking. And always reward yourself for any accomplishment you have done.

“The warrior runner understands that racing is a roller coaster and learns patience to ride the ups and downs; and enjoys running for the pleasure it gives”—From the book “Running Within” by Jerry Lynch & Warren Scott.

6:42 PM 22 July 2008

Before going to Echo Park, I did a run around an area covering two blocks within and near the house. One round has a distance of 850 meters and I did two rounds before finally going to Echo Park.

My plan for this workout was to run a conservative pace of 6:00-6:15 minutes per kilometer throughout my run with a goal of running 16 kilometers or 10 miles. I wanted to have a long and steady run to simulate my pace for the San Francisco Marathon and my incoming first ultra trail run next month. I want to control my pace and run consistently for the pace I set forth for this run. I could still accept 6:30 mins/km pace as my slowest pace for the run.

I brought my The North Face Hand-Strapped Water Jug which I carried using my right hand for my hydration.

I decided to run along the sidewalk of the streets that surround Echo Park as the road along the lake was jampacked with lots of joggers, brisk walkers, and recreational bikers. There were few runners using the said sidewalk and the distance of one loop was 1.6 kilometers or 1 mile. Ten rounds along the loop is equivalent to 16 kilometers or 10 miles. After running for 10 kilometers, my GH 305 registered a time of 1:01:20 hours which was within the pace I set for the said run.

I was surprised to see that my son eventually joined me at the park after coming from his office. We ran together for about 400 meters but I told him to leave me and maintain his speed for his own workout. He went ahead and did his run. I did another 8K and my son joined me back to the house.

Distance—18.01 kms     Time—1:55:05         Pace—6:24 mins/km

Before this run, I had my last run last Wednesday, 09 July (“Singing In The Rain”) at The Fort and BHS loop. The reason why I did not run after this was the big rash I had with my left inner thigh. This experience gave me a lesson to always apply petroleum jelly on my groin and upper thigh areas where I expect the lower edge of my running shorts would rub with my legs. The rash was big and deep which gave me pain when I wear my pants. Anyway, I decided not to run until my rashes would show some signs of being cured. For the past days, I’ve veen Neosporin Ointment and it is getting healed. I think I need to try using Body Glide.

Watching the elite ultramarathoners during the Badwater Ultramarathon inspired me to run some more and later try going to ultramarathon. The urge to run immediately after the Badwater experience was so intense but I was still in pain with my rashes. I need more time to rest to let my rashes heal before going back to running. So, yesterday afternoon, I decided to run even if my rashes were not yet fully healed.

It took me some time to prepare myself. I had stretching inside the house and later put a lot of petroleum jelly on my thighs most especially on top of the rashes I had. I started to run at 6:34 PM and the sun was still high above the western horizon and it was still hot. The temperature was 72-75 degrees Fahrenheit and it is really summer in LA. The sun sets at 8:30 PM and I thought that the late afternoon sun’s heat will just be perfect for my running.

From the house, I proceeded to Echo Park where a yearly Lotus Festival (even if there are no longer lotus plants in the lake for the past two years) had been held last weekend. One loop of the inner part of the park has a distance of 1.5 kilometers and I had two loops around the Echo Park Lake. From there, I ran along Glendale Boulevard going north towards the Silverlake Water Reservoir.

One loop around the Silverlake Water Reservoir is 3.7 kilometers and most of its running path is a dirt road which is about 3-5 meters in width. I did a counterclockwise direction and the path has two ascending portions which are abrupt in nature. I did three and half rounds along this loop until it was nighttime. I could estimate that there were 50-60 runners in the said area and most of them had their dogs running with them!

From the Water Reservoir, I went back to the house following the route I’ve taken along Glendale Boulevard. I did not notice that it was already 9:36 PM when I arrived at the house. After my post stretching routine, I had my shower and later dinner.

It was a nice run, my first again in LA after almost 1 1/2 years of absence. My rashes were not affected due to the thick petroleum jelly that I applied on my thighs before the run. The following were the readings from my GF 305:

Distance—26.02 kilometers         Time—3:02:49 hours

Average Pace—7:01 mins/km               Average Speed—8.5 kms/hr

Maximum Speed—15.6 kms/hr            Total Calories—1,839 cal

Average HR—148 bpm                          Maximum HR—167 bpm

Total Ascent—898 meters                    Total Descent—884 meters