First 3 miles since the marathon. Left foot hurts, like hell... just like the day after the marathon. I guess I'm not fully recovered yet. Though I ran an 8:30 pace, and it felt easy. Tomorrow is speedwork. I have decided to run a 5K in Columbia (home town) in February instead of repeating the Folly Beach race. I will also have an extra week to prepare.

Kiawah Island Marathon Race Report

Goal time: sub 4-hour, 9 min/mile.

I got up at 3am in Columbia, because I had a 2 hour 30 minute drive to Kiawah Island on the coast. Staying on the island was way over our budget, and staying in Charleston wouldn't have made a huge difference about when to get up. But this was OK: I had time to have a big breakfast, etc. At 4am, I got into the car, and I drove to Kiawah. I parked the car at around 6:15, dressed up in the car (shorts, T-shirt and my sport sweatshirt with zipper, and a cap), packed my small backpack (some food, Gatorade, etc.), and I got on the shuttle to the island. This was a bit interesting, because there was only one road to the island, which was totally jammed, so it was around 7:00am, when we got off the bus on the island. I'm not sure how everyone made it to the 8:00 start.

I had time to pick up my bib (no line!), bathroom (long line, but nothing compared to the ladies'), and have some sandwich and Gatorade. Then I ventured to the start at 7:45. I linen up at exactly the 9 min/mile board. This turned out to be a bit of an issue later, because incredibly, I passed about 500 people in the first two miles, who apparently had no idea how to line up. This is actually a really bad thing, because it will encourage me to line up ahead of my goal in my following marathons. I had some small talk with some people, but mostly, I just focused.

At exactly 8:00am, the officials started the race. We only started running maybe 30 second later, and it took us almost two minutes to pass the start line. The first two miles were quite crowded, and I just tried to not waste too much energy on winding around people. Still, as I mentioned, I passed *many* people, including some walkers!

Mile 1 - 9:09
Mile 2 - 8:52

It looks like the crowd wasn't that big of a problem after all. If it wasn't for them, I might have gone out too fast!

Mile 3 - 8:50
Mile 4 - 8:48

I didn't stop for Gatorade until mile 4. I found the aid stations way too crowded, besides I didn't want to stop for bathroom break. I didn't realize until mile 4, that I forgot to bring a straw. So I just stopped for 10 seconds to drink.

Mile 5 - 8:42

Before the 6th mile marker, there was another aid station, where I decided to be adventurous, and try to drink while running. I had read all about it. So I tried the technique (squeeze the top of the cup and drink from the side), and it worked! It was so easy, I was wondering why anyone has trouble with it. By this time, the crown thinned out, and I was running comfortably. I took off my cap and unzipped my sweatshirt.

Mile 6 - 8:19

This mile marker was almost surely early on the course. I had to hold myself back, and I freaked out a bit when I saw this split.

Mile 7 - 9:37

As I said, this mile was "long".

Mile 8 - 8:59
Mile 9 - missed the marker
Mile 10 - 17:25
Mile 11 - missed the marker
Mile 12 - missed the marker
Mile 13 - 26:48

I was in a groove. I drank Gatorade at every aid station. The end of the first loop was on a golf cart path, and it was again a bit crowded. I don't understand why they have to start the half and the full marathon at the same time.

Mile 14 - 8:57

Finally we got rid of the half marathon runners. My legs started to hurt a bit. We had to run on the right side of a road, and maybe because I mostly train running on the left side, it didn't feel great.

I picked a woman, who seemed to have run my pace, and she looked like an experienced runner (how do you tell?). I decided to pace off of her.

Mile 15 - 9:09

Shoot, she is too slow! I passed her and went ahead. I started to pass runners.

Mile 16 - 9:01
Mile 17 - 8:49
Mile 18 - 9:17
Mile 19 - 9:03

I didn't feel great here. The effort seemed to be harder than what the splits reflected. I also started to be afraid of the wall. Especially, because the longest I had ever run was 20 miles.

Then I saw here again. The woman I passed at mile 15. How did she pass me? She was like 300 feet ahead of me, but I recognized her by her unusual stride. What should I do? I am almost at mile 20, I feel fine, maybe I can pick up the pace just a little.

Before the next mile marker, I pulled her back - it wasn't her. :)

Mile 20 - 8:36
Mile 21 - 8:31
Mile 22 - 8:38

These miles were magical. I experienced a runner's high that never before. I felt I was flying. It felt like running was no effort. I was smiling to everyone, even laughing out loud at one point. I felt an incredible euphoria, and I I was one with nature.

Mile 23 - 8:40
Mile 24 - 8:37

The high was gone, but I still felt fine. I did perceive the effort though, which got harder and harder. I still passed many people. I felt for the ones, who I saw struggling, or stopping for walking.

Mile 25 - 8:28
Mile 26 - 8:13

I couldn't believe it was only a little more than a mile left. It was a rather long one, but I hadn't crashed, and in fact, I felt almost liberated. After halfway to the next marker a runner, who I passed asked me: "How much longer?" I cheerfully answered: "About a half of a mile." He groaned and stopped running.

We tuned into the finish line. The crowd was amazing. It was an emotional moment for me. I saw the finish clock turning 3:53 - it was great. I passed the line, smiled, got my medal and a plastic warmer sheet. I went to the bathroom and I called my wife.

My chip time is 3:51:24, with 1:57:19 at the half point. I am absolutely satisfied with this especially because I was able to finish strong. I probably could have achieved a better time if I started out faster, but this was my first time ever running more than 20 miles, so I didn't want to risk crashing. But at least I know that I am not nearly close to my potential.

I don't plan to run another marathon for at least a year. I want to concentrate on shorter distances while I'm still relatively young, and I want to run a sub-20 minute 5K in the near future, optimally in 2010. But if I'm still healthy after that, I'll be back to the marathon distance.

My real life is crazy this week, and I'm running a marathon in 3 days. If the weather forecast is right, it will be raining (ugh...). I feel good, but I do have some weird pains here and there. I run 5 miles easy today, 2 miles *very* easy on Friday, and Saturday is the big day!

I did a second 20-mile run a week ago, and it went much better than the last one. I did get tired, but I ran negative splits (my late miles were faster than the early ones), and my last mile was the fastest of all. I needed this run very much to boost my confidence (as well as for physical endurance training).

Last week we took a little 3-day trip to the mountains of South Carolina. I still managed to get almost all my miles in. (Except for the last 2 miles of a 6-miler one night on a treadmill in the hotel - that was Thanksgiving night, and my gastrointestinal tract didn't like running after the feast.) It has still been a hard week with 39 miles total, and up until the long run it was one of the hardest weeks of training. The long run, yesterday, was only 15 miles, and it felt really easy. I had to hold myself back and constantly remind myself that I shouldn't exhaust myself in training. I have to start to save for the marathon, which is in two weeks.

The race reports from Runner's World's Marathon challengers have started to flow in after weekend's Richmond Marathon. [here]
To tell the truth, it is quite a bit scary, that many, if not most of these people, who used the same training program as I, crashed and burned in the marathon, and ran much slower races than they wanted to. OK, the journalists of Runner's World were fine, maybe even great, but I'm talking about the individuals, who bought into the training program (see the "Comments" section). AFAIK they used the same plan that was published in the magazine, and they received all kinds of additional benefits.

Am I going to be OK?...

To add to my fears, my left shin is not perfect. It doesn't hurt as much as it used to, when I skipped those 5 days of training, but it does hurt a bit when I start to run, for the first 6 miles or so. When the run is less then 6 miles (like yesterday, 5 miles), it hurts all way. But I can't afford to skip more training, especially, because it doesn't seem to cure my shin splint. I just suck it up and train on it.

Have I become a maniac? Last night I did my mile repeats at the university track in POURING HEAVY RAIN. The water from above wouldn't affect me that much, but it was less pleasant to run in occasionally ankle deep cold water - and I had to run some relatively fast laps (1:49/400 meters), and a lot of them! (16 fast laps and 20 slower ones - 2:15/400 meters). I was circling the track in the dark, in the rain, for one hour and fourteen minutes.

Fortunately my left shin seems to be holding up. Nevertheless, I won't play with fire and I'll keep myself to the 10% decrease in mileage I decided a few days ago.

I retired my Asics shoes after last night's run. I was a worthy last training for them. It's time to pull out my Adidas pair that I bought months ago in a sale!

The thing that most runners fear the most: injury. I had a sore set of muscles in my left shin, close to my knee, that didn't go away from one run to the other. It usually got better during the run, disappearing at around the third mile, and then later, at around the sixth mile. Then I ran 7 miles last Tuesday, and the pain stayed with me for the whole run, and it got to point that I couldn't maintain correct form at the beginning, because of the severe pain.

I had a rest day on Wednesday, but the pain didn't really seem to get better by Thursday, so I reluctantly admitted that I was injured. I skipped the rest of last week, finishing the week with an appalling 11 miles.

Man, did it feel great to run 6 miles this morning! I got up at 5am, so I could finish my hour long run before my daughter was about to go to school at 7am. I hate to get up early, but now I feel like the drug addict who got his fix.

I decided to make some changes in the training plan. I keep the paces, but I reduced the length of each run by about 10%. This way I will peak at about 45 miles, which is not much more than last healthy week (43 miles). I only have two weeks of hard training left before the taper sets in, and I will do it with virtually no increase in mileage. My longest run will be another 20-miler, instead of 22. I did a 20 mile run last weekend, during which I got dehydrated, and it was *miserable*. (I suffered for the last 5 miles and I had to walk a good portion at the end. It may have contributed to my injury.)

It is clear that I have to forget about any goal less than 4 hours. I'll just shoot for 4 hours. In fact, now I see that I probably started marathon training a little early. I would have largely benefited from building a more solid base in fall, and then prepare for a spring, and even a 2010 fall marathon. But that's too late, I'm running Kiawah in a month, and I'm not backing off now. Most of the training is already in.

After that I already have a plan of running the "Save the Light 5K" in February, and I will try to win my age group with a time less than 21 minutes. After that I'll spend some more time on 5K races, trying to get under 20 minutes eventually, and then, I will get back to longer distances.

Here is my usual weekly report. I'm up to 41 miles per week, with my long run being 18 miles (29 km). I got a little tired at the end, but it went fine. My pace fell to 9:30 min/mile, but I should be OK as long as it is at most 10:00 min/mile. 20 miles coming this weekend.

Speed workouts are great, though I really hate the many mandatory warmup/cooldown laps, because it is really boring (it's why I hate swimming in swimming pools). I ran 10 laps for warmup and 9 laps for cooldown yesterday. In between I ran 6x800 meters with 400 m recovery in between: my 800s were all below 3:30, which is promising, as I still kept myself to the required pace for a 3:30 marathon. Nevertheless, I don't think I'm capable of running 3:30, but at least I'm more and more confident that I can run 4 hours.

Training is fine. I'm in week 9 out of 16 now. I've just started speed training today: 12800 meters on the track, out of which 3x1600 meters is fast (7:16 goal time for 1600 meters) and 400 meters recoveries in between. The rest is warmup and cooldown. Altogether that is 32 laps. It was quite boring: I was running around for more than an hour. But I did hit my goal pace every time, so things are good.

So many people run so much better, hobby runners doing marathons in under 3 hours, it seems like a sub-4 hour goal is lame... Anyway, I'm on track. Achilles is still acting up, but my cold is gone, and I did a nice hill workout yesterday. This week will be step back in mileage from 37 last week. Easy workouts are only 4 milers and the long run is mere 14 miles.

It is raining every day here, but I still managed to catch a rain free window every day. No treadmill running yet, fortunately. If it is not too cold outside, I would rather run in the rain. But if its cold and rainy, that's a bad combination.

Week 6 of the training is done, the marathon is in 10 weeks.

I had this dilemma about the my goal pace, and the last decision was to settle for sub-4:00, but I still trained like I would prepare for 3:30. I was sort of expecting to blow out, because if I'm only capable of a 4-hour marathon at this time, I thought that a 3:30-goal-pace training would result in overtraining and fatigue. I was ready to feel the effects by week 3-4 and then I thought I would switch back to a 4:00-pace training.

Instead, training went quite well. I was tired occasionally, but it is natural. In fact, I decided to shift all my training one day ahead (that would be much better for schedule) by skipping a rest day. I did that, but then I got sick (basically the same day I ran on my rest day - so it didn't have anything to do with training), and I had to skip the following day. After all, I stayed on schedule. (I intend to skip my rest day today.)

Yesterday I had my "predictor" 5K on the university track. Still having some chest congestion, and after a 30-mile week, I headed to the track. I ran 3200 meters before the actual test. So keep in mind: this was no regular 5K. If was after a long and hard week, I was still a bit sick, and I ran 3200 meters just before the actual test. Then I set off for 5000 meters, and I clocked 21:44. I am more than satisfied with this. This proves that I don't overtrain, and in fact predicts a sub-3:30 marathon.

No, I still don't think I can do that. But I think I can keep training for it. We'll see what's happening on marathon day. There are too many variables.

It is pouring rain today, and I still have a lingering cough, but I'm skipping my rest day today to get an easy 4 miles in.

Fourth week of marathon training is finished. No injuries. (Phew!) Long runs on the weekends were 6, 9, 12 and 10 miles, respectively. The 6 was easy (of course), the 9 was OK, the 12 was hard-ish, the 10 (yesterday) was easy. I was a little sore this morning, but I could run today with no problems (I won't - I have a rest day).

26.2 miles *still* sounds intimidating. Still, my longest run ever was the 13.5 miles on June 20. I have 12 weeks and I have to build enough fitness to even finish a marathon without walking! For me the definition of walking is taking more than 10 minutes to complete a mile. So I think for my first marathon, I will not aim for 3:30. It is too risky. I think I will go out running 9 minute miles (4:00 pace), and if I feel awesome at mile 20, I will speed up.

I have this schizophrenic feeling that I run at speeds that are suitable for a 3:30 marathon goal, yet, I don't believe at all that I can run a mile in 8 minutes - and repeat it 26 times! It is too intimidating to even think about it. 9 minutes/mile - therefore a 4 hour marathon - that seems somewhat reasonable - but then I would need to train at speeds that are uncomfortably slow for me. Maybe once I get to the 20-mile long runs, I can slow down...

I am close to the end of the second week of training and everything is fine. My left foot is acting up again - this time it is more like a plantar fasciitis - but it is isn't too bad, so I won't take a break. I bought a really cool pair of Adidas shoes on Amazon for $40!

It's probably less than ideal that most of my training is on very hilly course, and my marathon will be completely flat. But what can I do? Now that we moved we have hills everywhere around us.

This week I will achieve the ~28 mile week, which was my most miles in a week previously in the beginning of June, close to the end of my half marathon training. Next week I will be at or above 30. Cool!

I haven't run for more than a week now, deliberately. I wanted to give my body a break before I start to train for the marathon. Training starts today with easy 4 miles: without the speed work and somewhat slower paces, this week (and the first few) look definitely easier than the rigorous 5K training I did for my last race. I have a few easy 4 milers, a hilly 6-miler (I think) and a 7-mile long run in the weekend.

My Achilles problems are pretty much gone, thank god! Though I haven't run, I rode my bike at least an hour every day, sometimes over hard, hilly course. It is easy for me, because I again commute by bike and now we live more than 6 miles from campus.

This week was the longest break (by far) I took from running since last December. It was hard for the first few days, but I got used to it. Maybe I *could* quit running! :) For now I'm very excited that I am turning into the finish line for my marathon goal.

There was a question at sign-up about my goal time. I gave 3:30. According to most running calculators, I should be able to achieve that time, but it's not that clear that I can do it on first attempt. I will start training with that goal pace in mind, and I may modify it later if it feels too hard.

Prosperity's Hoppin' 5K Race Report

This was a morning race out of town, and since we didn't travel, it meant getting up at 5:30 this morning. My training didn't go too well in the last two weeks: busy schedule, and we MOVED two weeks ago (how did I not think of that when I signed up for this race?). I skipped some important training runs, I had low weekly mileage, and I didn't get nearly enough sleep and nutrition. I didn't feel in great form, so I didn't have high hopes for the race, still, I just *had to* aim for 21 minutes.

I got to Prosperity (SC) a bit late: it was 7:40 when I parked my car, and the 5K was supposed to start at 8:00. By the time I picked up my packet and pinned on my bib, it was almost too late to start to warm up. I had a nervous warm up with a bathroom break and I found myself mentally unprepared at the start line. This was a small local race and I knew many of the runners, so I knew how to line up.

Before I knew we were running. Except for a few local young kinds, who went out way too fast, the field got arranged into a stable configuration. I picked a small group for pacing myself of them. Soon they slimmed to two people: a young kid, and a woman about my age (33). I was OK for the first mile, but my legs were just not perfect. I passed a guy who slowed down, and maybe another few runners, still following my "pacing group" at a distance of five to ten meters. It was a challenge to keep up with them, but it was doable: this suggested that their pace was perfect.

Prosperity is lovely little town, and it is little all right: we had to run back and forth to do 5 kilometers within the town. At one point, we ran a stretch backwards, where some folks were still coming in the opposite direction. We passed the 2.5 kilometers sign (apart from this one, there were signs for 4 km, and 4.5 km only), my time was exactly 10:30, which was giving me some hope.

My pacing group of two broke up, but they were still very close to each other, so I didn't have to
chose which one of them to follow until the 4 km mark, when I passed the kid and followed the woman. Unfortunately the kilometer markers were not very useful to me in terms of pacing.

We turned to the finish hill. Indeed, the finish line was on the top of the hill, the same hill that had the start line at its bottom! It wasn't a very long hill, though. A kid passed me up the hill, but then he slowed down (quite annoying), so I almost passed him back, but then he went elbow to elbow with me at the very narrow finish line. I let him go first: I didn't care too much about position, and he was clearly not in my age group. I also saw on the finish clock that I won't even PR here. My time was 21:28, 11 seconds off my PR and a disappointing 28 seconds off my goal.

I'm not sure what went wrong in the second half of the race. I didn't feel I was slowing down; or if I did, so did the other runners. I actually passed people. The hilltop finish certainly accounts for a few seconds, but it shouldn't be 28! Maybe the course was long, but it was USATF certified (a runner with Garmin said it was about 3.2 miles). Anyway, with the expectations I had, it still isn't too bad.

Especially because the field was small (86 runners), so I had a nice surprise: I won my age group. I received a nice medal. I wish I really deserved it with a sub-21 time, but I'll try to make good on it next year.

We moved to a new place and I still haven't quite figured out the best places to run around this neighborhood. Today I'll do some cross training on the bike, and meanwhile I'll try to find good running routes.

I should be thinking about my 5K, which is less than a week from now, but I'm too excited (and too scared) about the marathon in December. I spent a non-refundable $91 on the registration, so it is too late to back off now.

It's a done deal now: I've signed up for the Kiahaw Island Marathon on December 12th. It will be held on the exclusive golf resort on the South Carolina coast. It's flat like a pancake, but it's long like a marathon. :)

I ran 7 miles today (just came back), and it was quite hard. Maybe because it was ninety-some degrees, and the path I ran on is sunny - with the heat index it was easily 100 F.

I run my long runs at goal pace of 9 min/mile. I start out at a slow, comfortable effort, and I don't change my pace and effort unless one of the following is satisfied:

1. My most recent mile split of my average is faster than 8:45. Then I slow down.
2. My most recent mile split is slower than 9:45 or the average is slower than 9:15 m/m. Then I speed up.

I allow myself to stop briefly if needed for bathroom, eating, drinking, people, traffic or extreme tiredness, as long as my average pace doesn't fall below 9:53.

Today pacing was quite good. I only had to modify my pace once: I ran mile 6 in 8:38, so I had to slow down.

Today (well, technically yesterday), I ran a 3000 race on the track for fun. It was steaming hot and humid today, but it went just fine. Especially, because I didn't train for this race at all. Just last Wednesday, a running partner of mine from the Wednesday running group talked me into participating - and I thought, what the heck, I swap my Thursday tempo run into Tuesday, I'll warm up, run the race, some more fast running, a cool down, and let's call it a tempo.

2009 Summer Track Series

Presented by Strictly Running & The Columbia Running Club

3000 meters Race Report

I arrived to the track well in time. That point, there was only another girl, who was about to run, so I sort of worried it would be a VERY small race. Later some more people decided to join in, so there were enough runners to occupy the waterfall line across the track - that is like 6 or 7.

I did four laps for warm up, which was a little excessive in the hot weather, but I didn't want to compromise my 5K training. I still considered this to be just a regular tempo run - spiced with a little racing. I felt a bit of stiffness and muscle pain from last weeks high mileage, but it went away with the warm up. I was still sweating from my warm up when we lined up - then off we went.

The 3000 meters starts at the half of the track, because you run seven and a half laps. It immediately goes into a turn. I lined up politely around the middle of the track, but I soon had to realize that I started quite fast compared to the other runners. For the first half of the turn I tried to gauge who runs faster then I, so that I can settle behind the person. All this complication was, because (naturally) I wanted to go to lane 1, the shortest lane - at the moment, after half turn, I still ran in lane 2. Also, I was tied with the leading guy in lane 1, which actually means I was faster than him, because I ran the longer arc. That was when I decided to sprint ahead and occupy the first position.

My time goal was 12:12. McMillan running calculator gave this projected time using my best 5K. I knew it wasn't realistic to beat this time with the preparation, heat, etc. This meant 1:37-1:38 laps.

My half lap time was right on spot. I continued pacing myself carefully. It worked very well, I ran the first few laps at around 1:35-1:38/lap.

There was a serious runner in the field - a high school track runner - but today, he also just raced for fun. He was breathing on my neck for the first few laps. It was a little annoying for one, and I also though how great it would be if he was in front of me, and I could pace myself of him. So at the end of lap 3, I slowed a bit, and let him go. At the exact same moment, he accelerated, and I couldn't follow him. Great. Pain and tiredness started to kick in. It was OK, as long as I didn't remind myself how many laps are left. (We were only halfway!)

I tried to keep our distance limited - not that I had any hope of beating him, but I thought I could run a great time, if I kept close to him. He pulled away for about one lap, but not too far. Our distance grew until about lap 6 to maybe 30 meters. Meanwhile, I slowed down a bit clocking 1:38-1:40/lap. The pain started to become unbearable. However, I was still breathing on pattern.

In lap 6 I tried to accelerate, or at least not to slow down any more. That time I also discovered, that the high school runner didn't increase his lead any more. In fact he seemed to slow down a bit. Before we passed the line that marked the starting of the last lap, I was no more than 20 meters behind him. That was about that same time when my rhythmic breathing fell apart. Torturous pain wandered in every piece of my body, but I had my reward: now I was breathing on the guys neck. At about 200 meters to go he pulled to lane 2 (very polite!) and I passed him. I kept accelerating. I lapped a slow girl the second time. (She didn't pull to lane 2, so I had run around her, which ISN'T nice, considering she was lapped!) I turned to the final straight, I kicked, I sprinted, and I won the race.

I though I would die afterwards, but I didn't even throw up! :) My time was 12:09, which shows that my pacing was quite good! I was completely satisfied. Even though this is not a spectacular time, this was probably the best I could run today. The organizers told me how much they enjoyed watching the race - with a last lap overtaking for the first place. Pretty cool!

I actually ran the other two races (600 meters and 1600 meters), but not nearly as hard. Then I ran a little cool down to finish a total 8000 meters for my workout. It was a good day!

6 x 400 meters yesterday afternoon on the track, plus 1600 meters warm-up, 1600 cool-down and of course the usual 400 meters of recovery between two 400 sprints. I did most sprints in about 1:30. In fact my times were very consistent: 1:33, 1:33, 1:28, 1:32, 1:33, 1:30. I felt great, young, and I wasn't too tired at the end. Today, I feel rested, recovered. I think I'm getting really good (compared to my old self). Unless something unexpected will happen, I bet I will knock down a sub-20-minute 5 kilometers before the end of next year.

If only I could lose that stupid belly fat! I now weigh 163 lbs (74 kg), which - on one hand - sounds really good, because I weighed the same in 2000. (And at one point about 2 years ago I was 85 kg.) I used to climb the peaks of the mountain Bakony in Hungary on my mountain bike weighing 75 kg. But I am more competitive now. I wish I had zero extra fat to carry. I think my ideal weight would be around 70 kg.

What a weird tempo run yesterday! I'm back to running my tempos in the Christine Luff way. That is (for yesterday), 1 mile at 8:45 min/mile, 2.5 at 7:16, 1 mile at 8:45. The first mile was perfect, though I felt slightly sluggish. The second mile was 7:13: close to perfect, just 3 seconds faster than required, but a difference that small doesn't warrant any change in pace. When I went on, I was very surprised to see that my second fast mile was quite a bit faster than I thought. I slowed down a bit, but I still did that mile in 7:07. That is way too fast! I was a bit tired by then, but still perfectly OK, I was still breathing at my usual 2 steps in, 2 steps out. I thought I was slowing down a bit, especially, because it felt I didn't work too hard. I tried to keep my pace, and it was OK until the last 200 meters, when suddenly I had a bad side stitch, my breathing collapsed, and I had hard time keeping my pace on that 200 meters. Then I pushed the "split" button on my watch, and I was utterly surprised to see that I did that last half mile in 3:25! I was the fastest on that stretch!

The sudden tiredness took effect on the last slow mile, and I only got home in 8:57. It is still fine for an uphill mile.

It is amazing that I did the middle fast stretch in 17:45, which is a pace of 7:06 min/mile. That used to be my PR pace on 5K! It felt almost comfortable until the last 200 meters. All this on a Thursday night, after a long, hard workday, with two days of hard and relatively hard running previously.

I think I'm getting into terrific shape. I might have a shot to run close to 20 minutes on August 15 (that would be a dream). If only I could shed that extra 5-10 pounds of fat that I have on me.

Also, I've become to to believe that one day, I will be able to BQ (that is, qualify for the Boston Marathon). When I started to run, I just wanted to finish a marathon. Of course, I needed a specific time goal, because just walking much of the course, or being extremely slow is not hard at all, so it is not a challenge. That was when I decided on 4 hours. BQ for me would be 3:10 for next April, which is still hopeless; after that a time of 3:15 would qualify me for April 2011 (because I'll be 35 in April 2011). That may not be impossible next fall or later.

Nowadays every wuss runs a marathon. They crawl through it in 6 hours and they call themselves marathon runners! This is very annoying and it takes away from the weight of these words : "I ran a marathon". But to qualify for Boston? That still means to be part of a VERY select group.

Too funny. It turned out that I know the guy who ran on lane 4 yesterday. Well at least in the virtual world. He posts on Runner's World forum; we frequently post in the same topic: the sub-22 5K topic.

So I went to the track this afternoon, and found a few people from the local running community over there: they held a (very) small track race series for fun. This was a little bothersome, because they occupied the inner four lanes of the track. They had the 400 meters dash in like 10 minutes when I arrived, and they convinced me to participate - they let me in for free, because there were only 3 men in the race at that point. I thought maybe I could just use the opportunity to measure my 400 meters time. So without any preparation, at the end of a long workday, I ran a 400 meters race today. I guess I should go an and say...

2009 Summer Track Series

Presented by Strictly Running & The Columbia Running Club

400 meters Race Report

I was informed that the race starts in 7-8 minutes, so I had some time to warm up: I did 3 laps around the tracks (roughly 1270 meters, because I had to do 2 laps on the fifth lane, which is thirty-some meters longer). Then, after just a few minutes of delay, we lined up (all 4 of us). I was put on lane 3. I guess the organizer wanted to guess the levels of the runners and order us accordingly: the guy was on lane 1, was quite fast, and I knew the guy on lane 2, who - I know - is pretty good at long distance. He would beat me on any distance over 5 miles. I got lane 3, and a rather slow guy got lane 4. Of course I knew none of these men except for the one who ran on lane 2.

For those, who never saw track running on TV: lane 1 starts behind the other lanes, and then each lane is little further ahead to balance out the different lengths of the lanes. So the guy on lane 1 has the best position, because he can see everyone else. Also, if he passed another runner, he is definitely ahead of him.

We started the race. There is not much tactics on 400 meters. You just run like crazy. After 100 meters, your oxygen starts to run out, after 200 meters you start to hurt, after 300 meters, you want to stop more than anything, you gasp for air, and you think you will die, and then you have to sprint 100 more meters hard.

After 100 meters, I saw I was approaching the guy in lane 4, and I passed him at 150. Which was a really bad sign for him - we only did one turn at that point. At 200 meters, the guy from lane 1 passed me. I tried to hang on, but he was much faster than I. So I just ran the third 100 fairly fast, but not in suicidal pace. I was able to accelerate for the forth 100, and I actually got a little closer to lane 1 guy. He won the race with 1:06, I got second with 1:08. The other two guys were far behind us. Lane 2 guy (I'm supposed to know his name, but I'm quite bad with names) seemed to take it quite easy, and run like in a long distance event. Lane 4 guy was just probably slow.

My time is quite pathetic compared to competitive 400 meters runners, but according to Runners World's VO2 Max calculator, it shows 59.2 ml/kg/min, which is pretty good. That would make me capable to run a Boston Marathon Qualifier, if there were no other bottlenecks. :)

End of race report

Well, my interval training was a bit gruelling after this race, and I didn't quite hit my times on the subsequent 431 meter sprints (in lane 5), but I wasn't very far off. Anyway, I have to make a note to myself to change the interval training for Thursday, because the track series will take place on the university track every Tuesday for some time now. And I like to run in lane 1, 400 meters.

OK, I admit it, I have a running problem. Remember last week, that I decided I would skip a week of running after my race? I didn't run on Sunday and Monday, and I rode my bicycle both days. It was fun, and I though I would do that the whole week. But then I thought about the upcoming training for my marathon, then the time before I would start it, then I thought it would be so cool to have a sub-21 minute 5K time, and that I might be able to do it with some specific training before my marathon training starts - one thing led to another, and this morning, when I left home, I threw my running outfit into my backpack that I bring to work, and now I know that at 5:30, instead of going home, I will head to the university track to get in some speed training. I will probably race again another 5K on August 15 in Prosperity, SC.

I will do two fast workouts a week following Christine Luff's advanced 5K training schedule from running.about.com. I start it at week 4, because I only have 5 weeks until the race. She makes you run a track interval training AND a tempo run every week. Hal Higdon's plan, which I followed previously, will make you run intervals one week and tempo the next. Though Higdon makes you run fast on Saturday every other week, I still think that his plan is not challenging enough, and contains too many "junk miles". Also, I like that Luff's plan has a 5-mile run on Wednesdays, which will coincide the 5-mile group run, and he doesn't make you "test run" a 5K - I don't need that, I just did it on Saturday.

I've just seen my official time posted: 21:17. It appears that now they included the guy who ran 18:02, so everyone was shifted down by one position. I still have my doubts, I'm rather sure I ran into the chute at 21:10, and I don't think I can be 7 seconds wrong. Also, I can't believe I ran the last, downhill mile MUCH slower than mile 2 (assuming that the mile 2 marker was correct). I'll use 21:17 as my PR for now, but I'm eager to break it, so I can forget about this race.

(Maybe it would be better to prepare a little more seriously instead of praying before the race.)

South Carolina Peach Festival 5K Race Report
(Goal: 21:00, 6:45 min/mile. Worst case goal: 22:00, 7:04 min/mile.)

I had to get up at 4 AM and leave home at 5 AM in the morning, because the race was about two hours drive from Columbia in Gaffney, SC. I wanted to be there at 7 AM, because the 5K was scheduled to start at 7:30. I was leaving the apartment complex at 5:10, ten minutes late, so I drove a little faster than I should have - but it was quite OK, as nobody was on the road on Saturday morning at 5 o'clock.

I arrived to the place a few minutes before 7. The temperature was perfect: high 60s. There were already quite a few people around. I found a parking place, then the usual rounds: line in the bathroom, Powerbar, water, warmup. This time I ran a few 100 meter (or so) sprints aftre my usual warmup to get my body to speed.

At 7:30 sharp, we lined-up at the start line. I positioned myself close to the line; tried to use my experience to guess my expected overall position and I let so many runners ahead of me (I was quite on spot). The race director told a short prayer (not the unusual in the Deep South). I do prefer keeping sports events secular, but she kept is short and simple, so it was fine.

The first mile was mostly uphill with some steep parts (which I knew), and I tried to pace myself close to my VO2 max by feeling. Everything was fine: I did work hard, but I didn't kill myself, and on the top of the hill, at the 1-mile marker, my time was 6:55. I was happy with that, 10 seconds off my pace, but on the top of the hill. My body had been working at ninety-some percent capacity, but I knew that a flat part followed.

The second mile was a bit of struggling. A few people passed me, which is never a great feeling. I tried to keep up with some of them, but I realized, it was wiser not to try too hard. I think my pace was fine: these people, who passed me, were running negative splits (which is fine, too). An old woman passed me by cutting two corners a few meters on the sidewalk. She ended up winning her age group. Probably the few meters didn't matter, but I was still pissed. I hate cheaters. It was obvious that the race course was measured on the road. The marking was on the road. So she was either really stupid or a cheater.

I have reasons to believe that the second mile marker was incorrectly placed. According to my stopwatch, I ran the second mile in 6:23 (seems too fast) and the third mile at a pace 7:01 (seems too slow). Yeah, I did fade a little bit by the end, but it was all downhill, so if nothing else, I certainly wasn't slower on that part. I think my second mile must have been 6:4x, as well as my third, mostly downhill mile.

The downhill was nice, but I was tired, and I wished I didn't go out that fast (again, grrr...). I changed to a faster breathing pattern. I did a have power for a weak kick. I didn't see the finish clock until I was very close, because there were a lot of trees around a finish line, and when I first caught sight of it, it just turned disappointingly to 21 minutes. I was in within seconds of that, and my official time is 21:04. (I actually think it was more like 21:10, when I ran under the finish clock, but maybe the finish line was bit sooner than I thought. It wasn't too clearly marked, there was no gate, just a couple of traffic cones and some plastic tape marking the chute.)

I basically ran my goal pace, which is nice, except the lingering suspicion, that my official time or the official distance is a bit off. The reason I think that is that the organization was a bit chaotic in some respect. At least one guy said, he ran 18:02, but he wasn't on the finisher's list. A middle aged woman accidentally ran 5K instead of 10. OK, that may very well be her fault. At least when I passed the branching point of the 5K and the 10K route, the volunteers pointed out the directions very clearly. Also, there were markings on the pavement. Besides, the woman behaved like an ass, cursing at the organizers. Come on, she finished the 5K with some 30 minutes, so it's not like her world record attempt went wrong! Her behaviour was definitely not justified.

In any case, I definitely PR'd, and at this point I probably can't run much faster than this. Maybe on flat course, at 55 degrees, sea level, more sleep, less driving, I could run somewhat better, but I think I still couldn't break 20 minutes.

I waited a looong time for the award ceremony. I sat down by a ditch to cheer the slower 5K runners and the really fast 10K runners. I talked with a guy who ran his first race after an Achilles tendon rupture. He told me about the story of his injury. Scary. I will always have to remember, that it is better to run slowly that risking injury.

A suspected that I was relatively high in my age group, and indeed: another 3rd place in the 30-34 year old male group! In reality, I was only 5th, but the first two in my age group were among the first three finishers overall, so they are ineligible for age group awards. I collected my ribbon and left for home.

Last hard workout today: 4-mile tempo run. I felt pretty good, even though it is still damn hot (80 F = 27 C) at 10 o'clock in the evening. Tomorrow is an easy 2 miles with the group (in 90 degrees probably), then 2 days of rest. Saturday, before the crack of the dawn, I am heading out to Gaffney, SC to be at the start line of the 5K by 7 in the morning.

Since the strap of my wristwatch has been broken, I struggled with it carrying it in various ways. When I just went to my everyday business, I didn't even carry a watch: my cell phone shows the time anyway. But I don't carry a cell phone on my runs, besides, it doesn't have a chronometer, so on my runs, I tried to carry my watch in my pocket, or tied to the cord of my shorts. My best running shorts don't have a pocket, and the cord solution is quite inconvenient.

I have had this watch for about a year, and I absolutely loved it. It was a very cheap one I bought in Target, maybe for like $12. It was a basic, no-name sports watch, and when I bought it, I didn't even think about using it for sports. I just liked to be able to measure time exactly, to the second. Then, about two months ago, the strap caught the side of the canoe during an (otherwise great) canoe trip, which broke the clasp, some parts of which immediately fell into the murky water. It was of course unrepairable, or at least not under $12. But I hate to throw away an otherwise perfectly good watch, so I tried to get by with it.

The last straw that broke the camel's back was that on my long run on Sunday, as I carried my watch in my Fuel Belt, a button got pressed accidentally, and for a while I thought I lost the time measurement for the run. Then I figured out, that the button was the "time split" button, so it was all well, but it is clearly just a matter of time until some data loss occurs. So I did my research in the weekend, and I bought this watch. It has everything I can think of I would need, and I actually only paid $35 for it in Wal-mart. It is a great watch, and most excitingly, it has a memory for 30 splits! So when I run intervals, I won't have to stop after every lap to record my time with paper and pencil. I also think it extremely cool-looking. Very light, comfortable, and hopefully it will last: after all it is a Timex.

After my race on Saturday, I'll take a week off. I'll do some cycling, and maybe swimming (though quite unlikely - I don't like to swim), but no running for a week. It will be an experiment. I have nagging pains at many places in my body, and I want to give them some time to heal. I have had calf tightness/Achilles tendon sensitivity/Plantar Fasciitis issues with my left leg/foot since March. That is the most bothersome. It usually goes away after I warm up, but sometimes, especially when I get up in the morning, I'm limping at home from one room to another.

Maybe I should skip more than a week... I don't have to start training for my marathon until August. I certainly shouldn't stop running before the actual marathon training, but a little break won't hurt.

Yesterday I looked back in my training log about my progress since I started last December. I wasn't enormously satisfied with the progress in any areas, but one thing sort of stood out that I'm quite proud of. Even since I started running, I never skipped more than 2 days in a row. In other words, on any consecutive 3 days, I ran at least once. This includes Christmas, New Year, vacation during winter break, and two multiple day travels, one to Colorado and one to Kentucky! I always had my running gear with me when I left the city for a longer period of time.

OK, I did it. I learned a thing or two. First of all, I should always double check my computations! A few miles into the run I realized that the route I decided to run is actually a mile longer! Also, I didn't realize that I could cut a mile easily, but maybe because I was distracted by the fact, that all the landmarks that I wrote to me wristband are wrong. So I ended up running 13.5 miles and then walked home (1/2 mile).

Speaking of wristbands. Mine was on a printed piece of paper. It doesn't matter that I put a Scotch tape to the outside of it, once it got soaked with sweat, the tape came of, like it had no sticky material on it. After about the 6 mile mark, I ran with the dissolving wristband in my left hand (and not on my left wrist).

Otherwise things were OK. It was brutally hot this weekend. I ran from 5 AM to 7 AM, and it was 80 F. That was lowest temperature I could find. I felt fine until mile 12, then the last 1.5 miles was hard, but even that wasn't extremely bad. And my time was fine (1:56:13). The projected half marathon time is 1:52:34.

I still don't know how it is possible to run double of this distance...

I've just arrived from my pre-run bike ride. I rode the long route I plan to ride tomorrow morning. It is going to be 21.1 kilometers, which is exactly half of a marathon distance. This is going to be a big jump for me, as my longest run so far was only 16.5 kilometers, it it should be OK: I haven't run this week that much (sort of like a taper), and I haven't run in the last two days. I will try to run it relatively fast, so that I would do it in 1 hour and 55 minutes. The idea is that this should be the next stepping stone to the 4 hour marathon.

Why the change of plans? I want to race, that's why. So instead of spending two more weeks training for a half marathon time trial (that is, I run as fast as I can, but it is not an official race), I will just run my minimum goal on the half marathon distance tomorrow. I won't try to run faster than that, and after I'll have done it, I will spend three weeks to prepare for a 5K where I will try to break 21 minutes.

My goal for tomorrow is 1:55, but I will tolerate time up to 2 hours. If I can't do the run in two hours, then I'll cancel the 5K plans, and go back to work on my endurance.

BTW, I met a nice guy on the road today. He stopped to check on me when I was collecting tree branches to mark a spot by the road (the spot that is 6.5 miles from my home), asking me if I was OK. Then we rode back to the city together, talking. He is a mechanic and works in one of the bicycle shops in town, which I visited many times. After he told me who he was, I realized that I even talked to him, when I shopped for my bicycle. We stopped by his house in town, and he invited me to taste his home made beer. So talked like a half an hour in his house, sipping his beer. His house was a dump (I almost felt uncomfortable), but his beer was very delicious. He is a very nice guy.

I'll write tomorrow about how my run went. If I won't post, I may have died. :)

My training wasn't exactly going as planned. Hectic schedule made me postpone (alright: skip) some of my runs, so I decided to go slowly and repeat some of my training weeks. Therefore I'm two weeks behind now. I repeated the feast of running 10 miles on Sunday. I was easier than last time, even considering the terrible diarrhea that caught me after 5 miles (lucky that Riverfront Park has nice restrooms). I was somewhat slower than last time, even if I subtract the 4 minutes spent on the toilet, but that's fine. I was still well above the minimum pace.

I'm up to some crazy (to me at least) weekly mileage. Last week I ran 28.2 miles (45.4 km). Considering that I ran 5 times, this means an average of about 9 kilometers per day!

I went to group run last week, and it was a lot of fun! I'll go again today.

Also, I bought a new pair of running shoes on-line, it arrives today. It was very cheap, so they might be crappy, but I decided to risk it.

New distance PR on Sunday: 10 miles. It is not getting any easier. I have had aches in body, especially my left calf, which almost made me stop. It got a little better (paradoxically) by the end of the run.

To top the pleasure, there was a thunderstorm and pouring rain from mile 6 to mile 8, and light rain to mile 9. It didn't matter too much. My only worry was the lightning, because I ran along trees by the river, but the thunderstorm actually wasn't that close, only the rain.

I spent yesterday recovering, and today a 5 miler "easy" run is waiting for me. Some speed training on Wednesday on the high school track, another short maintenance run, and then a replay of this brutal weekend (5 miles fast on Saturday, 10 miles slowly on Sunday).

An alligator in Columbia!

Seriously: last Sunday, on my long run, I saw a gator swimming in the Columbia Canal. It wasn't huge, but it wasn't tiny either. And no, I wasn't hallucinating. I've been only 1/2 mile into the run, and other people saw it, too. It was absolutely definitely an alligator! Wow!

Get in the Pink 10K Race Report

I got up early in the morning, so that body would have enough time to completely wake up by the start of the race. I'm not a morning person, and I have to be especially careful with morning races (and most are morning races indeed).

We arrived a few minutes before 8am. The race was scheduled to start at 8:30. I warmed up nicely, and I even found a port-a-potty at a construction site nearby, so I didn't have to wait in line at the race. I met a colleague, Mark, and his fiance before the race. They were planning to run at her pace together, so we agreed that I would move up closer to the start line. I wanted to run the race in 45 minutes.

The elevation profile was not favorable to me. We started with a 3 mile descent and then we had to climb back up. Knowing this, I tried to start strong, and I almost kept up with the leaders for the first half mile or so. By that time, I found my own pace and the leaders started to pull away. I was pushing the pace, fully understanding that I had to do well on the first half to perform well overall.

Very soon, I was completely alone. Most of the 230 participant were behind me, some ahead of me, and I was running my own race. To my disappointment, there were no mile markers, so I could only guess how fast I was. Then finally at mile 3, they put out one mile marker (that was all for the whole course). I was below 20 minutes there and I was quite happy with my time. More exactly I was slightly worried that I was too fast, but I felt fine, and I just had passed a big guy in a "US Army" T-shirt, which gave me some confidence.

Then the uphill section started, and I tried to run by effort level, sometimes slowing down significantly. I think I slowed down too much here, I over worried my pace/endurance. I wanted to ride the course on the previous day on my bicycle, but I sort of ran out of time, and I also didn't want to ride too much on the day before the race (the distance of the course from my place is at least 10-15 miles). So I didn't really know how much was left.

The finish line was long straight street, and the finish was at least 1/2 mile ahead. I was still completely alone, in fact before tuning into the long finish line, I had lost sight of every other runner. Then, when I knew how far I was, I started to push, but it was too late: my stopwatch turned 44 minutes and I had no hope of getting in within 45 minutes, or even any close to that. I pushed very hard at the end. Seeing my time and feeling the pains in my body, I almost stopped 200 yards before the finish line, and I had to remind myself that quote by Lance Armstrong: "Pain is temporary, quitting lasts forever."

My family was cheering for me at the finish line! They were very nice, and my kids were very touching as they yelled: "Go Daddy!" This was the first race of mine that they visited. (Well technically the second, but they missed my finish on the first one.) Unfortunately I got in with a disappointing 46:40, way behind my original time goal. This was 14th place overall and 4th in my age group (30-39). Only age group winners and overall winners received awards, so there was nothing for me on Saturday.

Even though the placements don't seem to be too bad, the time speaks for itself. The only reason the placements are OK is that this was a small race, at least not too many serious runners came. I have to figure out the reasons. I really think I didn't leave everything on the course, I should have run up those hills faster. A guy passed me at around mile 4 (already at the uphill section). I talked to him at the finish line, and he had a time 44: something. He wasn't running that fast, I could have easily followed him, but I was afraid I would blew out before the finish line. The fact that I was able to push that hard just before the finish probably shows that I didn't push hard enough before that.

It was also the heat. I am still not acclimatized to the newly arrived summer. It was only maybe 75 degrees, an even in the sun on the pavement, it couldn't have been more than 80. I endured much hotter temperatures in my cycling days. Maybe running is different, more intensive, and there is less air cooling effect.

I've been bugged with Achilles tendon sensitivity, too little sleep (finals' week at work), and hectic schedule recently, and I had to skip some of my training runs, and I had to move other around the day.

Or maybe I should just stop whining and accept that you can't run perfectly every time. So just shut up and go back to train.

Tomorrow is my 10K. I'm quite excited, almost unexpectedly excited. This race is only part of a half marathon training program, but it is in Columbia, so for the first time, my family is going to cheer for me!

An unfortunately timed Achilles tendon sensitivity early this week made me train much less since Monday, which is probably not good for performance, but we will see tomorrow. Also, I had to grade a ton of final exams, so I haven't had enough sleep. But I think I should in good form tomorrow. I feel strong and healthy!

Computational skills come handy when you train. Last week I had a run that I was supposed to run at my half marathon pace at 7:35 minutes/mile. When I reached the 1/2 mile mark, I though I was pretty fast, especially because the first half mile of this course is downhill. I saw my stopwatch showing 3:18, and I got terrified: 3:18 times 2 is 7:36, so I'm already slower than I should be, and this was only the downhill part! I better run fast!

I didn't realize my computational error until I reached the 1 mile mark, and I saw I did the first mile in 6:35. Meanwhile, I kept asking myself "Why is it so hard to run at this pace?". Needless to say, I couldn't keep this pace for 13.1 miles! But it did give me some confidence, that 7:35 could be feasible 6 weeks from now.

I paid the price on the following day: my longest run up till now with 8 miles. I ran early afternoon, the hottest part of the day, and it just got really hot here in Columbia. Temperatures in the high 80s, and I there was no shadow. I was really suffering, and I was badly dehydrated when I got home. I know this because I lost 6 pounds during that run. This is dangerous, I should be more careful. From now on, I'll do my long runs with a fuel belt (which I just ordered).

I'll start a mini-taper, because I run a 10K race on Saturday. I will try to run 45 minutes. At 7:14 per mile, it will be a challenge, but according to coach-math-magic, it is about the best time I should be capable of.

I ran 7 miles early in the morning on Sunday. Then, in the afternoon, we went to see real alligators in the wild in Santee National Wildlife Refuge (an we did!). We hiked a 2 mile loop trail in the swamp. There was barely any shadow, mostly in the sun, with the temperature is in the 80s, and I carried Flora (my 2 year old daughter) in the backpack style child carrier for most of the hike. I was OK. My legs are still a bit heavy today, but I don't mind it.

I started to run to cross the marathon off my bucket list, but I'm glad I did, because running keeps me sane in my very stressful everyday life.

Speaking about having easy runs... I guess I'm back to the good old "increase of mileage" days. I'd been looking forward my rest day yesterday. I'm better today, but I'm supposed to run a 5K race test (not an actual race, but I'll run it like I would race). It won't be easy.

BTW it tuns out that the friend's son will run that charity 5K I had considered - because his other program fell through, and he though I would run it (he didn't know I changed my schedule). What a mess. I feel sort of bad, but now I have registered for my 10K and it would be just too much racing to do both. Unless I run it as training. But paying $20 for a training doesn't seem like a good deal. However it's a charity run. Still, I'm not made of money... We'll see.

I signed up for a 10K charity race on May 9. I will skip the 5K. The 5K was originally suggested by friend, and I thought he would run it, too, so I thought it would be fun. It turns out he didn't even consider running it - it is beyond my understand why he asked me "Will you come to that race?"

As you know, I never raced on 10K before, and it sounds a little intimidating. You can't run a 10K with power, like a 5K. I have a feeling that it is a completely different kind of a race. We will see. Nice thing, that it is in Columbia (our fair city).

I do see some improvement in my running. 3 miles is truly easy for me now and even the 6 miles on Sunday was fairly easy to run. I never really have soreness any more, either. The day after the long run felt like any regular day.

In the weekend we attended an Easter party, and we started to talk about running. It turned out, that the host and her family have been devoted runners for some 30 years.

"So how long are your long runs?" she asked.
"I'll run 6 miles today" I replied.
"What is your pace?"
"I do my long runs at 9 minutes per mile."
After a short pause she said: "Come on, you can run faster, can't you?"

Well, I certainly can, but this is supposed to be my long run pace, and I can't really run too much faster if I need to complete 6 miles.

I guess it is good to be reminded occasionally that I'm not a great runner, before my ego grows too large.

I've silently started training for a half marathon, and things are going OK. I changed the way I run tempo according to Hal Higdon's advice. I start at 8:55 min/mile for a mile, then start to accelerate for 1.5 miles, so that the last half mile of that portion is covered in 3:42 or so. Then I decelerate for 1 mile, and at the end of that I am supposed to slow down to my comfy 8:55 m/m speed. Then I coast home (half mile). This is 4 miles and I cover it in 32-34 minutes.

One thing that is still weird for me that I find it quite hard to run the fastest part. Even though I should only maintain the 7:25 m/m speed for 1/2 mile, which should be easy, as I ran significantly faster my whole 5 miler race less then 2 weeks ago. But somehow there is a big difference between training and race. I am a little worried about my half marathon in June: it won't be a race: I will run it alone, against the clock. Will it feel like a race, or training?

My time goal for the HM should be around 1:40, according to the scientific training time projections, but those are based on my race times, not on my training times. So if it will be like training, I will be probably closer to 1:50. So my goal is now just set loosely to 1:40-1:50. Even 1:50 should be generously sufficient partial result for a 4-hour marathon goal.

I must have screwed up something badly yesterday. My first post race run was an "easy" 3-miler, and boy, it did *not* feel easy. These are the potentially bad things I did:

- I ate too much for dinner. (I went to run at around 10pm.)
- I had a coffee just before my run. (BTW, I hate coffee with sugar, but since I've taken up running I got into the habit of eating two teaspoons of brown sugar before drinking my afternoon/evening coffee.)
- I skipped too much training because of the race. I didn't run the two days before the race and I skipped two days after that for recovery.
- I skipped too little training before I got back to it.
- I rode my bicycle too hard on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, I rode hard, because I thought I would use my commute as cross training. After all I didn't do any physical activity on Sunday, except for some easy hiking with my family. On Tuesday, I was sort of late from work in the morning, and I felt like pushing a little bit in the afternoon.
- I ran too fast. I covered the 3 miles in 26:07. I was supposed to do in 27 minutes.

I also used my new Asics shoes but that is very unlikely to have caused any problem. This is not my first run in these: I run 5 miles before yesterday in these shoes and that went absolutely fine. I really do like these shoes except for two minor things. The first is that it has a little arch support, even though it is advertised as a neutral shoe. This wouldn't be a problem by itself, but I'm not used to supporting shoes, and so running in one makes me feel like I overpronate. I know I don't, and I have to consciously watch myself so that don't try to compensate it. The second problem is the sizing: number 8 is too small, 8.5 is slightly too large for me. I settled with the 8.5, but it is not a perfect fit. But otherwise, these are good shoes.

Let me tell the story of the race on Saturday.

I left home early in the afternoon; we had to juggle a little bit with our schedules with my wife, and at the end we asked a friend to watch the kids for a few hours while we were both gone, but it was OK.

The rain was pouring all the way to Laurens. It is about a 75-minute drive. It was raining so hard that I had to slow down on the interstate to about 60 mph. I was a bit worried that the race would be canceled, but the organizer said they would only cancel in case of thunderstorms.

I got to the park at 3:45. The start was supposed to be from that park at 5:00 pm. So I picked up my package (still raining hard), and I got back to my car to dress up for the race, to pin on my bib number and to attach the electronic timing strip to my shoe. Then I was just sitting there, listening to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos on the car stereo until 4:35. I ate my carb snack, drank some water, then I got out of the car. After going to the bathroom, I started to warm-up at 4:45, and I was at the start line at 4:55. It was still raining quite hard, so by this time, I was almost soaked.

The organizers had some technical issues with the timing equipment in the rain, so they had to delay the start. First they said they would start at 5:10. I tried to keep myself warmed-up, but it is sort of hard to do that without getting tired. I felt I was still ready at 5:10, but then it turned out that we wouldn't start until 5:20. I started to get upset, and I basically let myself cool down. So this part wasn't quite great.

They did start the race at 5:20. It started on an uphill, and many people just shot out from the start line. I took it somewhat easier, running more conservatively. After the top of the hill, I passed a few (obviously unexperienced) runners, and I arrived to the the first mile at 7:12. By this time it was hardly raining any more, but the pavement was full of puddles. I did the second mile at about the same pace, passing quite a few people. I felt good, and it wasn't raining any more. Still, I knew I had to be careful, so I tried not to push too hard.

The next mile was mostly uphill, and I got to the 3 mile point at 22:02. I didn't quite realized how much we had climbed, and I was disappointed with that time. I knew I needed about 7:15 min/mile to get my goal time. In fact, during the whole time, there was just one thing in my head: 36 minutes. So it looked like I had lost 17 seconds (and all of that in the 3rd mile), and that I had to get the last two miles is less than 7 min/mile pace. At that point, feeling a bit tired already, and knowing my current pace, it didn't seem feasible.

One positive sign was the slight downhill that started almost immediately at the 3rd mile marker. I also started to push, a bit carefully, but soon, I stopped doing my rhythmic 2-2 breathing pattern. (That means I breath in for two steps and breath out for two steps.) I needed more oxygen. At 3.5 mile, I started to push quite hard. I wanted to arrive to the finish line with zero energy left. I passed another few people. I got to mile 4 at 28:55 or so.

Soon after the mile marker I started to worry a bit. I felt like I started my final push ("the kick") to soon, and I was running out of energy. Especially, because another longish climb followed. I tried not to slow down, but when I got to the top, I was hurting at so many body parts, I couldn't even enumerate them. Hurting badly, I tuned to the finish straight. Just like in Folly Beach, the magical powers of the finish kicked in, and my pains disappeared, leaving just the pleasure of seeing the finish clock showing 35:30 or something like that. I crossed the line at 35:48.

The organizers cut my magnetic strip from the shoe. I wanted to tell them that I was so happy to beat my best expectation on a hilly course in rainy weather and delayed start, but only babble came out of my mouth, so I gave up. I grabbed a banana and a drink, and in 5 minutes I looked like a human once again.

I grabbed dry clothes from my car and changed into them. I walked back to the finish line. The end of the pack was still arriving. After 65 minutes race time they swept the course, closed the timing, and soon they printed out and hung out the results. I got 3rd in my age group! I got a nice pencil holder and a patch. Another pleasant surprise was that it turned out that the organizers actually measured out 5 miles instead of 8 kilometers. The difference is only 47 meters, but it means another 10 seconds or so.

My next step was not that clear after the race, but by now, I more or less decided what to do. I will probably run a charity 5K in a month, but I should train for longer distances. I must remember that the final goal is a marathon. So I'm going to follow a half marathon training for 12 weeks. There won't be any half-marathons in 12 weeks around here, so unless I win the lottery (without buying a lottery ticket), I won't actually run a half-marathon race, I will just run the distance myself in race pace to see where I'll have gotten.

I can't say how much I enjoy the tapering period before my 8K on Saturday. It's great to have energy before my runs, it's great to feel that doing my 5 mile tempo run is no problem. Training did work after all. I think I'm in a pretty good shape. I'm going to rip the pavement on Saturday.

Too bad, it will almost surely rain. My age group is 30-39, so I don't think I have a chance to win anything. 36 minutes would be terrific time - I'm not sure I'm able to do it. 40 minutes is my minimum requirement.

This blog must really boring. You can read about how much I ran, how tires I am and that's it. I can't imagine why anyone would read it! Training IS boring after all, except maybe for the person who trains. Maybe that's why they only show the sports event on TV.

Saturday I ran a PR distance again: 7 miles. I'm not saying it was easy, but it wasn't too hard at all. It is still a mystery to me how it is possible to run almost four times this much. Also, on Sunday, my 4-miler felt quite easy. I have a rest day today, but I feel like I don't need it. I feel fresh, my legs feel great, no soreness, no sluggishness. Maybe training does work after all.

Last night I couldn't run the last mile of my tempo run in my time goal. I was almost OK until the last (slow) mile, but I worked so hard before that, that I couldn't do the last mile in 9 minutes. Not a tragedy. I just don't understand how could I run almost 7 minute miles on my 5K, when I am barely able to do 7:30 on my training.

Yesterday I did my longest interval training to date. 8 x 400 meters + jogging in between + warmup and cooldown: 7600 meters = 4.72 miles. Of course it's not the mileage that makes it difficult, but the 8 times 400 meters of sprints. This is my week of peak mileage. Today I'll run 4.5 miles, and this shouldn't be considered long, as on Saturday a 7-miler is on the plate. That's going to be another record breaker in distance.

I ordered a new pair of shoes yesterday. I went to THE local running store first. I'm saying "the", because this *village* I live in (the capitol of South Carolina) only has one running store. They had maybe 20 pairs of shoes altogether, and they had zero pairs of my size (8). At least the clerk in the store told me that I do have neutral feet and that my self-diagnosis about the style of running shoes I supposed to use was correct. So I went on-line and ordered a last year model Asics. I got a deal on it. I hope it will work fine.

I don't know if this is normal, or I'm doing something wrong, but since I've gone over 20 miles a week (I logged 23 miles last week), I've been feeling almost constantly tired. My two rest days per week are only enough to be able to run again, but not to be truly rested.

I have to run even more this week with a 7-mile long run.

Man, this 40 min tempo nearly killed me...

I got really disappointed when I realized that on the day I planned to run my 10K in North Carolina, I will give a talk at a conference in South Carolina. Timing couldn't have been any worse. Of course there is no way I could find another 10K on the following week or even two weeks, and also nothing for the week before. So this is it. No 10K.

The best compromise is to run an 8K on the week before. So now my plan is to run the Little River Bridge race in Laurens, SC on March 28. My set goals are: 36:12 (7:17 mm), and worst case 40:00 (8:03 mm). I had to reorganize my training to taper a little before this race, so my weekly mileage and my long runs will peak a week sooner (and at a lower value, obviously).

Yesterday my 4 mile mid-week run was really hard again. This time, I wasn't too slow, but I WAS hurting. I'm wondering if this is actually the result of my interval training on Tuesdays. Maybe it takes more out of me than I realize.

I'm running a 5-mile tempo today, which means 1 mile - 3 miles - 1 mile for me. With the slow initial and the finishing parts, I still should do no worse than 40:30. I am very tempted to attempt to speed it up a little to do it in 40 minutes - so that my minimum time goal is satisfied weeks before the race on a hard course - but I must be patient, I shouldn't risk injury, so I'll have to stick to my pace as closely as possible.

Maybe it's the 1 percent incline that I set on the treadmill last night, maybe it's the boredom that affects me negatively, or possibly the increased requirement of dull concentration to keep my speed constant, but I do find it harder to run on a treadmill than outside. It is sort of funny: I'm never out of breath, but my legs aren't feeling that strong. Maybe it is just a psychological response to the fact that I don't want to do it, so my body tries to convince me to stop.

My Saturday was great: I ran 6 miles first time in my life, and although I felt tired at the end, I didn't feel fatigued. I was upbeat and happy because of the accomplishment. I felt recovered by Sunday, when the freezing rain forced me to run 3.5 miles on the treadmill. So maybe my legs were tired due to insufficient recovery from Saturday? In any case. I did not enjoy my Sunday run at all.

I have a rest day today, then another hard week ahead, although the increase in difficulty is not as dramatic as it was for last week. I will add an extra 400 meters to the interval training tomorrow (that is 7x400 now), my midweek run goes up by a half mile to 4 miles (man, that used to be the distance of my *long* run), tempo will now be 1 mile @ 9mm, 3 miles @ 7:30, 1 mile at 9mm (5 miles total!), and Sunday will be 4 miles instead of 3.5. My long run will still be 6 miles. Piece of cake.

I survived my 4.5 mile tempo run yesterday without any major mishap. I really didn't feel like running just before the run, so I was still thinking about skipping it, but I went anyway. It wasn't too bad: in fact I felt quite a bit stronger than yesterday, and I did complete my time goals.

I got a ride from my wife today so I didn't have to ride my bike to work. I decided, for a change, that I would rest on rest day.

I had a terrible run yesterday. Wednesday will supposedly be my sort-a-long run, but as of now, it is just 3.5 miles. But yesterday... I was tired by the time I finished warming up. Perhaps I should have just skipped this run, but when the image of my running log appeared to me, showing a decrease in mileage from last week, I just had to go. I had wandering pains here and there, I was sluggish and slow (I couldn't even do 9 minute miles on average), but I decided not to speed up, because the situation resembled too much of a background story of a terrible injury. Besides, the effort level of this run was about the same as my 8:30-or-so long run a few days ago.

Today I'm supposed to do a tempo run with 1 mile at 9:00mm, 2.5 at 7:30 and 1 mile at 9:00. I am terrified in advance, as it seems so much harder than yesterday, and I'm not sure why I should feel better. After all, I only have 24 hours to recover. I am looking forward my rest day tomorrow. (And let me not think about the 6 miles on Saturday.)

I had been very curious to find out what had been the longest run of my life. So I to mapmyrun.com, and put in my longest training routes that I used to do back in Hungary in high school. I had to realize that the longest run, which I used to think was 8 kilometers (5 miles) was actually only about 7.3 kilometers. Therefore now I can officially claim that I broke my record of longest run last Saturday by running 5 miles. It was comfortable pace and it took me 43:52. I also had my most weekly miles last week with 18.1 miles. I feel great, no pains, injury free. I think I'm on the right track.

I missed the early registration deadline for the 5K in Columbia (March for Meals). (Whoever decided that it would be on February 15?) This helped me to decide not to run that race. I also should have mixed up my training schedule quite a bit, because I have long runs on Saturdays. I can't do a race instead of a long run, so probably I should have put my long run to the middle of that week, and do the race in place of my tempo run. Anyway, it's done now, I'm not running the race. However, I will run the Greenway Challenge 10K on April 4, in Black Mountain, North Carolina. I will just have to remember to register by March 18. I haven't run 10 kilometers ever in my life before, so I will wait with the (early) registration until the last moment. Who knows what might happen.

I swear, I ran easily, slowly; I followed a 9-minute-par-mile pace last night, and still, at about 2 miles into the 3.5 mile run, I was attacked by the evil side stitches. I used to make theories about why they appear. I run too fast. My breathing pattern is irregular. I eat/drink too much before I run. Nothing seems to matter. These nasty side stitches come to me completely unpredictably. Then, if they are not too bad, I can run through the pain, and they go away after a half of a mile, or so. Last night I tried to run faster to get rid of them (after all, I had been slow, so I though I would just change something), but it didn't affect the pain at all. It didn't help, but it didn't make it worse either. But sure enough, after another 1/2 mile, I was OK.

The weather has been really nice lately, so now it's more fun to run outside. Especially last night; I ran between two light showers, and I love the smell of the air between periods of rain.

I feel like I'm not improving at all. My VO2 max is like an untrained person's, according to some calculators on the web, and the lower end of the spectrum. I've run for two months now, and this is quite disappointing. Maybe I should be more patient...

Also, I can't wait to break 5 miles. I will just set this record on this weekend, and I have to wait another week to really break it. Then I will have run the longest distance ever in my life.

I'm back to regular training now. Yesterday I ran 4x400 intervals with 1:40-1:45 goal time, because I read that of you want to increase your VO2 max, it is not a good idea to run above your max. In fact Hal Higdon says to run your sprints at your 5K pace when you prepare for a 10K. I decided I won't take it THAT easy. Anyway, it was much less unpleasant this way. I almost sort of enjoyed it.

What I really enjoy are my long runs. I can't wait to run 5 miles (the weekend after the next): that is the longest distance I've ever run in my life, and I did it (somewhat regularly) about 17 years ago. Then, the week after that, I will run 6 miles, which will be a record for me, and hardly shorter than 10K. By the end of March, I'll be running 8 miles. Then a short recovery after my 10K race, and I can start to prepare for the marathon.

BTW, I almost surely will skip the Cooper River Bridge run. I found a race just a bit farther in North Carolina, which supposed to be small and beautiful. And it starts in the afternoon, so I wouldn't have to get up at the crack of the dawn or sleep in hotel.

Let me start with the summary of Saturday: I ran a new personal record: 22:03. It was a very nice, satisfactory race, and if there is one thing that I regret is that I probably could have done better, if I pace myself better. Even though I perfectly understand the theory of negative splits and the dangers of going out too fast, the excitement of the race on Saturday carried me away, and I ran too fast at the beginning.

I felt strong, my warm-up was close to perfect, and I tried to set my effort level to "moderately hard" at the beginning: this is what I had figured would work during my training. Then I looked at my watch at the first mile marker, and I was terrified to realize that I ran the first mile at 6:45. That point I knew I was too fast, but it just didn't feel right to slow down, and I still felt quite great. At around 1.5 mile the all-too-familiar side stitches started to hit me. I'm quite sure they were signaling that my tempo was too fast. Then I did slow down a bit before they would become debilitating, and I tried to run through the pain. I missed the second mile marker, so I'm not sure what my speed was then, but there was a water station supposedly at mile 2, which I passed at about 14 minutes into the race. I saw several people passing me. I was still content, and I knew I couldn't run faster, or otherwise I would burst by the end. I may have been a little too conservative, not quite realizing how close the finish was.

Then I turned onto the final straight, and I looked up to the finish line clock that showed 21:20 or something at that point. It gave me some new energy and I tried to get in before it hit 22 minutes, but it was still quite far. I just saw the clock turning 22:00 before I got in; I thought my time was 22:01 or 22:02, but the official timing returned with 22:03.

If I didn't go out too fast, I could have done less then 22:00. One day, I may be able to run a sub-20 5K. For now, it isn't my goal: I did run the 5K withing 24 minutes, which projects to a sub-4-hour marathon, and this is all I care about. Next goal is 10K in 50 minutes in 8 weeks. My current time projects to about 46 minutes on 10K, so the 50 minutes should definitely be doable.

I'm not sure if I want to do the Cooper River Bridge race in Charleston in 8 weeks. It's a huge race with too many people, and it isn't ideal to travel more than 100 miles (one direction) for a race. I may just opt for measuring the time and distance for myself this time in Columbia.

One of the taboo question you are not allowed to ask a PhD student is "How is your research going?". I guess something similar may be true for runners too. How is my running? Absolutely terrible. I have a 5K race on Saturday and yesterday was my last day of training. Maybe it was the 28 F temperature or the fact that I flew across America twice on Monday and Tuesday, but it was very disappointing. I had to skip some important runs because of travel just before the race, so I decided to do a last race pace on two miles yesterday. In fact, I decided I would run 2 miles as fast as I could. I am ashamed to write it down that my time was 15:36. I probably started out too fast, thinking it was only two miles, and I had the most terrible side stitches after about 3/4 mile, which debilitated my run for about a half of a mile. I just couldn't run through the pain, I did have to slow down. In the last 3/4 mile I felt I was running at my VO2 max, but it just wasn't enough. If I project this time to 5K, I would not make it in 24:00.

I hope this was just a bad day. Rest for today, and tomorrow afternoon we are off to the beautiful Charleston/Folly Beach. Wish me luck!

Most of the day I run at night. That's just how my schedule works. I work all day, I get home at about 6pm or later (yesterday it was 8pm), so we have little time until my kids bedtime. I rather spend that time with them than going to a run. So we have dinner at 7, and I go to run at 9 or 10.

I had a runner friend in college, back in Hungary, who said that running after 8pm is only for fun: your body shuts down, prepares for the night, and won't improve at all if you run after 8. I have tried to google this ever since I started running, but I was unable to find anything about this on the net. I think if this was a real issue, there certainly would be stuff about this on the net. The only issues they ever mention about night running are personal safety and possible disturbance of sleep in the night (I definitely don't have any problem with the latter).

I run on the well lit riverbank between Broad River (which becomes Congaree after Saluda River joins in) and the Columbia Canal. It's a beautiful park, with a paved trail and basically a parallel dirt trail, and mile markers, too. Late in the night, when most runners are already at home, the animals come out. Almost every night I see wild animals: a deer, a fox, a river otter, herons, geese, and in the summer, turtles and snakes (though I could live without these). You can even see warning signs about alligators, but I never saw any.

I'm an absolute fan of nature, and this park is one thing that I will miss a lot when we move from Columbia.

Yesterday, on speed training (intervals), I ran 6x400 meters (with 400 meters jogging in between), and I managed to do every single fast lap within 1:30. In fact, the last two laps were my fastest ones. This may not be a huge deal for someone else, but I was quite satisfied. (I still don't like intervals though.)

Also, I found a nice high school track relatively close to our place, and I think I will do my intervals there from now on. The track surface is better for my legs (shins and knees), and the 400 meter distance is exact. The down side is that I have to drive almost 2 miles to get there.

I only ran 3 miles today. It was sort of fun, although a little tiring. But it took almost 27 minutes. OK, I intentionally took it easy, but it still does seem like the more I train, the slower I get. I don't get it. :(

I ran 4 miles on Saturday, which I enjoyed very much, and 3 miles on Sunday, which I didn't. I'm wondering why. I was already tired when I left home, it was 45 F with an unpleasant wind chill, and I spent most of my afternoon helping a friend to fix his car, which is a relatively demanding work (physically). I just feel sort of worn out today. I wish the winter was over! Still, the weather forecast predicts temperature around freezing every single night for the next 10 days.

I asked coach Jenny on RunnersWorld.com what she thinks about training in the night. I'll write more about this later.

I've just run 5K to test out what I can do. I did 22:52. The course is far from ideal, I have to run up and down on hills and bridges, and I have to cross a busy road once in both directions, which I do by running on the sidewalk, and glancing back over my shoulder if there are no cars and I can cross.

This makes me a bit optimistic. As I wrote before, my minimum goal is 24:00, and now I proved it for myself that I can do it. In fact it is probably going to be fairly easy, unless I seriously screw up something. I will start to pace myself with a 23:00 goal time, and I will try to speed up at 2 miles, if I'll have any reserve left. I might get close to 22 minutes if everything goes perfectly.

If I thought after Tuesday, that nothing is worse than running in the cold, well, I was wrong. There is a thing: interval training in the cold. Yesterday was my first time I tried out intervals. My original plan I started to use doesn't prescribe intervals, but I read about them before, and I'm sooooo slow, I though this would be a perfect day for that. It's between a regular easy run and a race pace run on Thursday - cross training in my original plan, which doesn't seem to make much sense to me anyway, as I ride 10 miles pretty much every day.

I ran 6 times 1/4 mile, and I walked/jogged between them for 1/4 mile every time. I averaged a little below 1:30, but the last two sprints were a little more than 1:30. At the end of the sixth 1/4 mile sprint, I almost spat my lungs out. My average pace would translate to 5:47/mile; world champion runners run marathons faster than that! It's amazing, that means I couldn't follow them for more than 1/4 mile! Sort of discouraging.

I also definitely realized that I do not like interval training. I sort of remembered this from high school PE classes. My teacher was a basketball coach, and he wanted to make a basketball player from each of us. That means quite a lot of interval style training with jogging/sprinting intervals.

I'm just not very strong, not very fast. I think my VO2 max is not very high. I have a pretty good endurance, I've only been good at endurance sports, this is one reason I chose to run a marathon. I do not enjoy running like hell, even for only 400 meters.

I hate cold! I hate riding in the cold, I hate walking in the cold, and yes, I do hate running in the cold. Yesterday it was 30 F. I'm sure some will say: "What is he talking about? 30 degrees is warm.", but to me anything below 50 is cold, and anything below 32 is very cold. It's not that I am physically cold while running, not in the classic sense. I do dress up, and my internal heat production works. But my skin is cold (while I sweat), my nose is dripping, my ears hurt (or just uncomfortable, if I pull my cap on them), and slight changes of wind direction make me warm and cold all the time. I will choose 100 F any time over 32 F.

I have a rest day today, and one of the dilemmas I'm facing is about my normal daily routine. I ride my bicycle to work every day. This is my normal way of transportation, part of my work so to say. Public transportation is almost non-existent in my city, and we chose to own only one car, which my wife uses. I have a nice bicycle (Scott Speedster S60), so I can propel myself quite efficiently, but I still ride two times 5 miles every day.

I imagine. if I had a personal coach, and I asked him: "Is it OK to ride my bike for 10 miles on my rest day?", he would say no. I do feel a little sluggish after my 7 miles of running on the last two days, but what can I do? I have to get to work somehow. (OK, you got me, it is actually a national holiday today - I still go to work, because I have so much to do - but this question comes up on almost every rest day.)

So I just take it as easy as possible and ride as usual.

Today I ran 4 miles, which was supposed to be at easy pace. Since I've started training, this has been the first time I ran 4 miles without any walking in it. My time was 34:21, which doesn't sound that bad for comfortable pace, but I have to admit I was pretty tired at the end. So is it comfortable or not? The first mile sure seemed to be slow, but 4 miles with no walking is still hard for me.

I remember back in high school my longest training runs were about 8 kms (5 miles), and those didn't cause too much trouble. I'm not sure how fast I was, I never timed those runs, but it is still a little disappointing, that I'm not a better runner than I was like 16 years ago. OK, I only started to run about a month ago, what do I expect? But still...

It's always a big question: how fast should I run? Running just a bit faster seems to require a lot more energy. I can run a mile in 8:30 or 8:40 quite comfortably. I can do that at least for 3-4 miles, and I feel I can do it much longer, except I haven't tested it yet. (I don't want to fall into the trap of the terrible too's: too much, too hard, too soon.) If I run 8 min/mile, it seems easy first, but I do get somewhat tired after about 3 miles. 5K is only 3.1 miles, and my absolutely minimal goal is to do it 24 minutes on February 7th. That's only a little faster than 8 min/mile, and since I was able to run 8-minute miles in the middle of December, I thought it would be trivial to run just a little more then 3 miles in 3*8 minutes.

I'm not so sure any more. 0.1 mile is like 0.8 minute, which is 48 seconds. That's a lot! Running faster then 8 min/mile is definitely tiring for me, even if it is just a little faster. Add the fact that I have to travel more than 2 hours for the race, and that I have to be at the start line at around 8am (that is when I normally get up!), and it turns out that 24 minutes may not be that trivial after all! One thing is sure: if I can't do it in 24 minutes, then I will be terribly, TERRIBLY, T E R R I B L Y disappointed.

A few months ago, I had a strange feeling. I am already 33, in the 34th year of my life. What have I accomplished so far? Let's see, when I was 20, what did I want to have accomplished by 35?

- To have a PhD in math and to be a math professor at a university. Check.
- To have a wife and at least two kids. Check.
- To be a rock star. Well, I do learn to play the guitar... and even though sometimes I don't practice for weeks, I can play a few chords, and I did play "Away in a Manger" at Christmas for my kids. I guess I'll be just satisfied with this for now.
- To learn to speak English. You'll be the judge. (BTW, a student told me today that he transferred to my class, because the other professor, who teaches this course has an accent. I guess that's a compliment.)
- To have run a marathon. Oops!

So I realized I had less than two years. I better start training.

And so I did in December. I run about 10 miles a week now, and I'll have a 5K race On Feb. 7. And most importantly, I fell in love with running (again).

I used to run quite a lot when I was younger, mostly before 16. Then I picked it up every now and then, but never seriously, just to run a mile or two for fun. I really liked trail running, but then I got into a mountain biking scene while still in Atlanta, and that can be even more fun, because you have the same aerobic exercise as in running, but you see more. I always said, your true self only comes out when you race uphill after a hundred kilometers on the bike.

Then we moved to the middle South Carolina for a job, and the closest mountain ranges are almost 3 hours of driving from here. Riding on technical trails (roots, rocks by a river and such) is not fun for me. I gave away my (cheap) MTB in Atlanta and I bought a road bike here, but I use it for transportation only. What's the point of riding on pavement?

Running is different than mountain biking, and it is just the thing I need now. Mountain biking is much about the scenery and the adventure of being in the woods and still being able to get around quickly. Running is more about the sport, the suffering and pain, the accomplishment. I run pretty much the same route every day, so there is not much to view (although the riverbank where I run is beautiful). But getting into my shoes and gear on the evenings, tracking my time, increasing my mileage are exactly the things I like to do when I don't do math.