D-52 Day: 2008 Pasig River Heritage Marathon

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

02 January 2008 (AM Run)

I had an early morning run with my son, John Paul, in Laoag City. We covered a distance of 12.5 miles or 20.16 kilometers.

From Barangay Dibua South, we went to Laoag City/Padsan Bridge and was able to reach the crossing going to the Gabu/Laoag Airport and Suba Road, infront of the Northwestern College. From there, which was our turn-around point, we went back to Laoag City Poblacion and ran along Bacarra Road. And before reaching Divine Word College, we turned left towards the MMSU and ultimately reached the Laoag City Sports Complex where we had “speed runs” along the oval track. We completed at least eight rounds around the oval and additional two rounds for our  cool-down run.

We had an elapsed running time of  1:48:15 hours (excluding the cool-down run). We ran at an average pace of 8:39.6 minutes per mile or 5:22 minutes per kilometer.

We were met by my driver and security detail at the Oval Track where we had our “Gatorade” break after running almost one hour and thirty minutes. It was my longest run where I was able to deprive my body from water/fluid intake.

On our way to the Gabu Road, we were running at an average pace of 9:00-9:15 minutes per mile. But from the turn-around point on our way back to the Poblacion and to the Oval Track, my son and I were already racing with one another where he dropped me by almost fifty meters. I was running at an average pace of 8:20-8:30 mins per mile while my son was running at an average pace of 7:45-8:15 mins per mile.

At one time at the Oval Track, we tried to do a Yasso 800 once. My son was timed at 3:45 minutes while I did a poor 4:20 minutes! Well, that was after we were both ran on the road for about 10 miles already.

After the run, we had stretching for 15 minutes and drank Gatorade and lots of water. From the Oval Track, we boarded our car on our way back to our house at Barangay Dibua.

The following data were taken from my Zone Trainer Digital Heart Monitor:

Time “In Zone” (135-165HR)—1:24:24 hours

Maximum HR—167 

Average HR—144

Minimum HR—88

Total Calories—1,294

It was a nice run with my son and I am really impressed on his endurance and speed. He told me that he had already started preparing for the next Los Angeles Marathon which will be held on the first Sunday of March 2008.

D-12 Day: 2008 Clark Freeport 10K

On By kingofpotsIn RunningLeave a comment

01 January 2007

I left Manila for Laoag City to visit my parents and to fetch my son and bring him to Manila. I got the morning PAL flight to Laoag City and was busy reading the latest issue of Newsbreak Magazine while in flight.

I was planning to run in the afternoon but visitors and relatives from other provinces came to the house and entertaining these people had ruined my plan.

But before these visitors came to the house, I was able to have at least two hours of sleep and I was able to recover the tired feeling brought by yesterday’s run at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. It was a blessing in disguise that I was not able to run today as the rest/sleep I had this afternoon would provide me more strength to run a farther distance tomorrow morning. I need to sleep early tonight.

My son will be running with me tomorrow morning.

New Year’s Eve Run

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

31 December 2007 (PM Run) 

I had my New Year’s Eve Run at the Libingan ng mga Bayani along the 2-mile route that I’ve measured. I was able to finish 5 rounds from 4:30 PM-6:10 PM. It was an easy run to end the year 2007.

I was able to run 10 miles or 16 kilometers at 1:33:24 hours. I was running at an average pace of 9:20 minutes per mile or 5:50 mins per kilometer.

The following data were taken from my Zone Trainer Digital Heart Monitor:

Maximum HR—158

Minimum HR—96

Average HR—145 

Time “In Zone” (135-165)—1:29:36 hours

Recovery Time—20 minutes

Total Calories—1,171

I was able to sleep after dinner and woke up at 11:00 PM just in time to watch the fireworks from the horizons surrounding Fort Bonifacio. I ate a lot of pasta/”pansit” during the midnight feast to welcome the year 2008.   

I am looking forward for more running workouts for the year 2008.

Happy New Year!

On By kingofpotsIn RunningLeave a comment

To All The Runners, Happy & “Injury-Free” New Year!!!

Do I Need To Run Twice A Day?

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

When I prepared for my first marathon in the early ’80s, I’ve been running twice a day, running early in the morning and later in the afternoon. I usually start my run in the morning as early as 5:00 AM and finish before 7:00 AM, running a minimum of 10 kilometers. In the afternoon, I start my run at 5:00 PM and finish before 7:00 PM running almost the same distance as what I had covered in the morning.

I was able to do all these runs because I was still young at that time and could easily recover from muscle pains and aches due to running after few hours of sleep and rest. I was glad I did not have any major injuries except for leg cramps, shin splints, and stomach cramps. These pains and aches became my “body signals” when to stop running or reduce my mileage. While I was building my endurance capability, I did not focus on speed for longer distances or tempo play but more on “fartlek” of lesser distances up to 200 meters.

It appears in my readings that there were elite runners who started to introduce lesser mileage and more speed works/tempo runs in their running workouts plus more days to recover in order to improve one’s time to finish the marathon. But this approach to training is only good to elite runners who had reached their peak or best PR and starting to get older. Lesser mileages and more speed/tempo runs as training workout for new/younger runners  is not advisable. This will lead to injuries, frustrations and inconsistencies.

I am reminded of the comment of our postman in Los Angeles who is also a marathoner/runner. After knowing that I ‘ve stopped running for so many years and trying to return to marathon training, he said, “It will be a hard and painful one for you to go back”. I guess, he is telling the truth!

After browsing some runner’s websites, I came upon this website (www.letsrun.com) and these two articles were able to convince me to go “back to basics” on runner’s training.

Starting on New Year’s Day, I will be running twice-a-day on my easy runs to build-up my endurance and slowly get serious with “tempo” runs/speed plays. This will be a very slow process but I am sure this is the right direction to be back as a competitive runner at my age. I know it will take months and years but this is a commitment I should start doing for the year 2008.

To all the Runners, Happy New Year, More Miles To Run & Injury-Free In 2008!!!

Training Journal (24-30 Dec 2007)

On By kingofpotsIn Runners' Training, RunningLeave a comment

24 Dec 2007—Rest Day

25 Dec 2007—11 miles/17.8 kilometers

26 Dec 2007—Dumbbell Exercises & Strengthening Exercises

27 Dec 2007—12 miles/19.2 kilometers

28 Dec 2007—Rest Day

29 Dec 2007—6.2 miles/10 kilometers

30 Dec 2007—7 miles/11.2 kilometers

Total Mileage: 36.7 miles/57.92 kilometers

Oval Track Run @ Iloilo #2

On By kingofpotsIn Runners' Training, RunningLeave a comment

30 December 2007 (PM Run)

I finished 28 X 400 meters at the Oval Track of the Iloilo Sports Center this afternoon from 5:00-6:10 PM. My time for my running workout was 1:04:10 hours which I consider as an easy run for the day.

I was able to run 10.8 kilometers or 7 miles for the day at a slow pace of  9:09 mins per mile or 5:55 mins per kilometer.

The following were the data taken from my Zone Trainer Digital Heart Rate Monitor:

Maximum Heart Rate—172

Minimum Heart Rate—82

Average Heart Rate—155

Time “In Zone” (135-165 HR)—58:22 minutes

Recovery Time (127-145 HR)—18 minutes

Total Calories—899 

Tempo Run

On By kingofpotsIn Runners' Training, RunningLeave a comment

29 December 2007 (AM Run)

I did a modified speed/”fartlek” run this morning along the 2-mile route inside the camp with the goal of running 6.2 miles or 10 kilometers to find out if I can still improve my time. Using the TIMEX “Zone Trainer Digital Heart Rate Monitor”, I would like also to experience the feeling of reaching my Maximum Heart Rate during my speed run workout.

I made three rounds along the 2-mile route inside the camp and additional 400 meters to complete the distance of 6.2 miles or 10 kilometers. I registered the following split times every round:

1st round—-16:25 mins

2nd round—-31:44 mins

3rd round—-47:49 mins

400 meters—-49:52 mins

From my TIMEX Zone Trainer Heart Monitor, I got the following data:

Peak Heart Rate—-173

Minimum Heart Rate—143

Average Heart Rate—-157

Total Calories—-769

I made a 1-mile cool-down run at 9:00 min pace/mile after the speed run and it was followed by stretching.

It appears that I am slowly improving my time for the 10K distance.

Women’s Marathon Idols in the ’80s

On By kingofpotsIn Pictures, Running, Running Heroes1 Comment

Joan Benoit Samuelson: (USA)

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     1979 & 1983 Boston Women’s Marathon Champion

     1984 Winner in the US Women’s Olympic Marathon Trials     in 2:31:04, 2 1/2 weeks after arthroscopic knee surgery.

      1984 First Olympic Womens Marathon Gold Medal with a time of 2:24:52. The only American woman to win the event up to the present.

      1985 Winner in the Women’s Chicago Marathon in 2:21:21.

      2002 American Women’s Record Holder among 45-49 years old with 2:42:28 in Chicago Marathon

      2006 Running partner of Lance Armstrong in the last 16 miles of the New York Marathon

       2007 Training for the US Women’s Olympic Trials set on April 20, 2008 in Boston ( The day before the Boston Marathon). It will be her fourth Women’s Olympic Trials. Her goal is to break 2:50:00 at 50 years old!

Grete Andersen Waitz: (Norway)

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        1978-1988 Winner of the New York City Marathon for 9 times

        1983 Winner of the World Championship Women’s Marathon in Helsinki, Finland

        1983 & 1986 Winner of the Women’s London Marathon

        1984 Silver Medalist in the 1984 Olympic Games Women’s Marathon

Rosa Mota: (Portugal)

        1984 Bronze Medalist Women’s Marathon Olympic Games

        1983 & 1984 Champion Chicago Women’s Marathon

        1982, 1986, & 1990 European Women’s Marathon Champion

        1988 Gold Medalist Olympic Games Women’s Marathon

        1987 World’s Marathon Champion

        1987, 1988, & 1990 Champion Boston Women’s Marathon

Ingrid Kristiansen: (Norway) 

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        1980, 1981, & 1982 Champion Stockholm Women’s Marathon

        1984, 1985, 1987, & 1989 Champion Women’s Fastest Marathon Race

         1984, 1985, 1987, & 1988 Champion London Women’s Marathon

         1986 Champion Chicago Women’s Marathon

Allison Roe: (New Zealand) 

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         1981 Champion Boston Women’s Marathon

         1981 Champion New York City Women’s Marathon

TIMEX Watch

On By kingofpotsIn Runners Accessories, Running, Running Technology1 Comment

Yesterday, I bought a TIMEX Watch at SM City Iloilo which is called “Zone Trainer Digital Heart Rate Monitor” (Product Code: T5J031) with a Complimentary Free Men’s Watch (Stainless Steel Case & Wristband) which cost me less than Five Thousand Pesos.

I used it during my running workout yesterday afternoon with the Digital Heart Rate Sensor Pads fastened firmly below my sternum using an elastic belt that goes around my body.

Based from my age (Max. HR=220 minus 55), I set my Heart Rate Zone between 135 to 165 (lowest & highest peak Heart Rate). After my running and dumbbell/sit-ups/push-ups workouts, the watch registered the following:

Peak Heart Rate—156

Minimum Heart Rate—114

Average Heart Rate—144

Total Calories—255

Range of Heart Rate During Gym Workout—125-135

Since my running workout was an easy run, I was not able to experience the feeling of reaching the Maximum Heart Rate. I have tried reaching my Max Heart Rate on Cardio machines at Gold’s Gym by grasping on their handle bars but I would like to feel the difference while using this TIMEX Zone Trainer Digital Heart Rate Monitor Watch.