endurance running

Run for Food: Worst and Best Run … all in Week 15

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Have my worst and best run all within week 15.

I would have thought my first run in December last year must be the worst run of the decade. After all, I can only run 500m before dropping to a walk to catch my breathe. But no, after the run on 19th March, I have to say that has to be the worst run. Granted, I ran slightly earlier than usual, at 4pm. It would be hotter than usual, and indeed the heat was a killer. I also felt a strain on both my feet. But it was my mental condition that failed me miserably in that run. 3km into the run, my mind started psycho’ing me that the weather is too hot, my feet are breaking, etc. I gave in eventually, disrupted the run and walked for almost 3km. I picked up my pace again in the last 1km, covering a total distance of 7.41km,  but the fact I surrendered myself totally during the run, was unforgiving.

In the same week later, I stretched myself further to complete a 9km run, the furthest distance I have covered to-date. The run was not entirely easy, although the first 6km was quite comfortable, but perhaps I had over estimated myself and did not pace myself well enough. On the 7th km, I was struggling with my pace that any slower I would be just doing a brisk walking. Fortunately, I regrouped myself again in the last 2km, and managed to finish the run as planned.

a 9km running log

By now, I’ve completed 58 activities, 280.73km and I am just few kilometres away from hitting my month’s 100km mark 🙂

Run for Food: Magic 8

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I have not been blogging for a while. Surprisingly, in my third month of running, I am still keeping to the “run on alternate day” regime. There were a couple of instances where I only run after 2 days of rest, either to give my body a well deserved rest, or my body decided to protest (with a flue or something). And since I’m beginning to run longer distance (i.e. more than 6km), I have started alternating my running between 45-50 minutes endurance run versus 30 mins of interval training.

Since my last blog post, there were a couple of magic “8” moments.

On 18th Feb, for the first time, my weight went below 90, and is 80-something now.

Eighty-Something for the first time!

Then on 5th march, for the first time again, I have completed more than 8km of running route.

First 8km attempt

At this time, I have completed 55 running activities, completed 245.33km. Notably, in February, I have covered 92.6km, despite having 5 fewer runs than in month of January. The motivation “Run for Food” continues.

Run for Food: 5KM milestone

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As it turns out, I am continuing my running regiment after my “touch down run” on Sunday, while I am still at Cupertino for my 4.5 days of meeting. Given that the dawn breaks around 7am and I need to leave for office by 8am, I decide to go for indoor treadmill running instead. The 5-6 degrees Celsius weather will be too chilly for me at 6am too, at least not with the kind of running gear I have.

Treadmill could detect my Polar Heartbeat monitoring device

My biological clock wakes me up at 4.30am on Tuesday (7th Feb), after a good 6 hours of sleep.  Yes, I seem to relish the opportunity of being able to sleep and wake up early whenever I am in US. After a quick wash up, I head over to the hotel’s gym. My first treadmill run ends with just a struggling 4.02km as I have a hard time trying to adjust the treadmill’s speed, since I am too used to tracking my pace (rather than speed) and in km  (rather than miles). Struggling as it was, however, I manage to keep my heart rate level below 150 for the first time, averaging at 140.

And it is as though I have addicted to running,  I continue to run daily for the remaining week. By now I am familiar with my pace and speed in imperial units, I carry out my interval training with some deliberate control over my pace. The good thing about treadmill running is that you consciously know and keep to the desire pace. So you cannot afford to slack unless you cheat. On the third treadmill running, I follow a gradual but aggressive pace over the 3 legs  interval training (8 minutes of run with 2 mins of walk or slow jog).  The run ends with the longest distance covered at the fastest pace I have ever achieved — 4.64km at 6.28 min/km.

For my fifth (and last) running supposedly on Friday while in Cupertino, I feel I may not have enough time since I will have to pack my luggage in the morning for the hotel check-out. So following my run on the Thursday morning (8th Feb), I decide to complete the fifth run on the same day evening. At 11pm, I am back in the gym again. Thinking of doing something different instead of the usual 30 minute interval training, I proceed with a 40 minutes long endurance run. Since it is not an interval training, I have to find a pace that I am comfortable to last the entire 40 minutes. So I start with a slow pace at around 7.5 min/km. By the halfway mark, I increase the pace to 7 min/km since I think I still have more than half the energy to continue for another 20 minutes. Eventually, I manage to complete the 40 minutes run, finishing a distance of 5.36km. It is not a pace that I can brag about (average of 7.27 min/km), but certainly to complete a 5.36km run, at a decent heartbeat rate of 145, is something I have never imagined 2 months ago.

So another milestone — the 5km milestone, completed. In total, 39 running activities completed, 145.03km covered.