Lots and lots of it today, so I jogged to the gym pretty fast actually because it was pouring. Same thing on the way back. I took it fairly easy on the treadmill, except for about a mile at 8.5mph.

Total: 6.0mi Run (5.0 treadmill + 1.0 outside); ~650 cal.; 142 lb.

I skipped a workout yesterday because my knee was feeling off a bit. I took an Advil last night and along with the rest, it helped. I was going to do an easy 4-5 mile run today, but again, I felt pretty good so I pushed myself to a 6 minute pace for about 3 miles, and ended up going over 10k. I think this might have been the last really hard run before the marathon. There's an 8-miler on Sunday and a 4-mile tempo run on Wednesday. That's about it...

Total: 6.51mi Run

It was going to be an easy 4-mile run, but I felt very good and picked up the pace to about 5:30 to 6:00 min./mi.. I might take it easy tomorrow; on the other hand, next week is going to be very easy so if I feel good I'll run hard again. Elliot Bay run...

Total: 4.55mi Run

For my cross-training day, I went kayaking on Lake Union, thanks to a suggestion by my friend. We went to Agua Verde where we got a kayak with two seats for $30 for 3 hours. Not cheap, but it was a nice day and it was well worth, as we found out very soon. Before we went, we went to the restaurant upstairs and had some very good Mexican food. My friend had a margarita and I had a Pacifico to ease digestion.

Out on the water, because it was Monday, there weren't many boats out at all--only a few motorboats, rowing crews, and sailboats passed us by. We went pretty slowly just enjoying the view and looking at boats moored on the sides of the lake. In addition to boats, there are also many houseboats on Lake Union. I'd try living in one, but might find it boring after a couple of months.


On the way back, we stopped at a boat gas station and made a pit-stop and also picked up a couple of cold ones :-). They tasted really good out on the water. Heading back, we heard a really loud horn, and found a barge full of dirt heading towards us. My initial worry of it hitting us was misplaced because we quickly crossed the side of the lake. Summary: an awesome day!

Total: Kayaking!

[Backdated on 04/25/2006]

It was an OK run. I was both disappointed and satisfied. It's important to eat correctly and sleep well before a race. No excuses, but those factors had an effect on me today. I think I didn't wait long enough after breakfast before running. I'm usually in best for about 2 hours after eating but today I felt heavy.

I am satisfied because I tried my hardest and finished with a 6:33 min./mi. pace. I was hoping to go under 40 minutes but clocked in at 40:37. This is a case of how much you can hurt your body running alone versus racing against others in a group. It's sort of like Lance Armstrong versus Ivan Basso in the 2004 Tour de France. Basso could hang with Armstrong in the mountains but he was crushed in the individual time trials. In my case, I'd guess I'm probably somewhere in between in terms of being able to perform just by the clock.

After finishing the race I realized two more things: I could have used a virtual partner on my Forerunner that will actually tell you how far in front or behind you are of a prespecified pace. Also, there is an auto-record lap feature that would have been helpful in reviewing exactly how fast I ran each mile. I'll try one or both features next time I do fast runs, but won't do it in the marathon because it'll be distracting and it's also important I think to start out a little slower.

Total: 10k Race (6.2mi) (self-administered); 40:37 (6:33 min./mi. pace); 714 cal.; 145 lb.

Edwards Park/Elliot Bay... It's sunny out but it was actually difficult at times running north against the cool Canadian wind.

If I had stuck to the schedule I would run a 10k race tomorrow. However, the only race I could find is in Wenatchee which is about 3 hours east of Seattle over the Cascade mountains. The race starts at 8am and since I can't leave tonight, I'd have to drive there and race immediately afterwards. Not gonna do it... So, right now the plan for tomorrow is just to run as fast as I can around Green Lake or Elliot Bay.

Total: 5.16mi Run

Ran on the treadmill today at the gym. My mileage breakdown was:

Mile 0-.5: 6.0mph (10:00 minutes/mile)
Mile .5-1.0: 7.0mph (9:13)
Mile 1.0-4.0: 8.0mph (7:30)
Mile 4.0-5.0: 8.5mph (7:04)
Mile 5.0-5.7: 8.0mph
Mile 5.7-5.95: 7.0mph
Mile 5.95-6.2: 6.0mph

Total: 10k (6.2mi) Run (48:44; 7:51 min./mi. pace); 700 cal.

I skipped the 5-mile easy run and did the 8-mle tempo one instead, so now I'm back on schedule. I ran along Elliot Bay again. Not much else to say today...

Total: 8.0mi Run (7:18 pace)

The weather was beautiful and fortunately it was a X-training day today, so I took my bike out for a ride. I parked my car about a mile north of Lake Washington (at a higher elevation where I took the above picture with the Cascade Mountains in the background) and then rode on the west side of the lake along Lake Washington Blvd. I was thinking about just riding my bike there but that would have made the total distance about 25 miles and I only wanted to ride for about an hour because of the long run yesterday. I took my Canon camera with me instead of the cell phone to get better quality pictures. It also has a video capture capability so I tried that out, and I think it worked out pretty well. Here is my first try at it:

It wasn't actually that windy but apparently the camera has a very sensitive microphone. I also had a great view of Mt. Rainier along the way:

If any reader of this blog hasn't been to Seattle yet, I can almost guarantee you that once you come here (wait at least one day until the sun comes out :-) you will not want to leave. I think you can see why...

Total: 16.2mi Bike Ride (16.9mph)

I decided to wait an extra day before doing the 20-mile run. It was sunny today with the temperature at about 50 degrees. That's actually an excellent marathon temperature. I ran along Elliot Bay with a repeat of the section from Belltown to near where the Seahawks and Mariners stadiums are located (lower right hand corner of the map). I took two Gel packs with me and wasn't sure what I was going to do about the water but knew there was one at Edwards park (I think in my last post I mistakenly called it Elliot Bay Park) by Elliot Bay, but just wasn't sure if it was working. Fortunately it was and so I stopped for a drink at miles 7 and 12.

I felt good and it would have turned out to be a 3:17 marathon if I continued running at the same pace the rest of the way. I only ran 18 miles, but that was on purpose because I figured if I could do 2/3 of it, I'll finish the rest on marathon day. One gel pack fell out along the way so I know I would have done better on a closed course with water and energy bar stations. I am ready.

Total: 18.0mi Run (7:32 min./mi. pace); 2078 cal.

What a crappy Easter weekend! The rain, wind, and cold continued today and so I went to the gym to run on the treadmill instead of outside. This is the view from one of the treadmills there. A pretty good view of Elliot Bay park and Puget Sound.

Instead of 10 miles I only managed to do 10k. Actually that was the plan, because there was no way I was going to try 10 miles on a treadmill. It'd be torture to run in one place for that long... My mph breakdown was:

Mile 1: 6.0
Mile 2: 7.0
Mile 3-5.6: 8.0
Mile 5.6-5.85: 7.0
Mile 5.85-6.10: 6.0

Total: 10k (6.1mi) Run (treadmill); 690 cal.; 140 lb.

Actually today I'm supposed to do 6 miles, not 5. Not that it really matters--my course today was two loops around Green Lake. Each loop is about 2.75 miles. While summer is starting for most of the rest of the country, here the forecast for the next week is cloudy, rainy and pretty cold (upper 40s and low 50s). That's what it was today, although I just felt a few rain drops; howerver, because it was also quite windy a few people walking around Green Lake were wearing gloves and hats.

Total: 5.54mi Run

Today was pretty tough: the goal was a 10-mile "tempo" run--a slow to regular pace for most of the run with a fast pace in the middle. I started off that way, but by the end of the first mile I was doing about a 6:30 min./mi. pace. I felt good so the thinking was I'll slow down when I get tired, recover for a bit, and then pick up the pace again. I essentially did that throughout the run. It's a bit hard to see from the graph because the difference between say 5 and 7 min./mi. doesn't seem that big on the graph, but it's actually huge when running.

In any case, I averaged in at 6:55 min./mi. which is a good training pace for me. Tomorrow is an easy 5...

Total: 10.5mi Run (6:55 min./mi. pace); 1183 cal.; 140 lb.

It almost felt like summer today. It was sunny but the sky wasn't quite clear--it was full of long, streaky clouds in the upper atmosphere, and it looked it was muggy and hot, but it wasn't. Anyway, it was warm enough to run in shorts and a t-shirt. According to the schedule I posted yesterday, I should be running a 5-mile easy run today. A loop around Seward Park by Lake Washington is almost exactly 2.5 miles. So two loops worked out perfectly. I went with a friend of mine. She ran once around the other way so we passed each other twice. She was almost finished the second time around so she ran very well.


Total: 4.93mi Run

[Backdated on 04/12/2006]

Racking up the miles

At least that will be the goal in the next couple of weeks before the marathon. I'm going to be using this mileage guide from "Runner's World Complete Book of Running", which is a book with a compilation of great articles from the magazine. It includes a marathon training guide with three 16-week charts: one for beginners, another for intermediate runners who normally run 25 miles a weeek, and for advanced runners who do more than that. I'm putting myself in the intermediate category, and the chart you see is from that subsection.

In theory, you're supposed to start training about 16 weeks prior to the marathon. I'm definitely late in starting the recommended regiment but I think that I'm in good enough shape to finish the marathon. Actually I know I am; it's just a matter of avoiding injuries. If you're interested in buying this book, I'm including a link to Amazon.com (I hope you don't mind that I collect a 10% commission). I should note that the book I bought is now out of print and the new one is called "Runner's World Complete Book of Beginning Running". As far as I can tell it's essentially the same. However, it might not include the advanced marathon training chart. If you're already a very good runner, the "Runner's World Advanced Running Book" is probably a better choice.

I've followed the advice in the book prior to my two previous marathons and I think it's worth getting. So, I plan to stick to the schedule for the most part--I anticipate substituting a few bike rides for some of the runs so as not to aggrevate my left knee.

I ran by Elliot Bay to the marina and then made a 2-mile detour through Magnolia before heading back to Belltown.

Total: 12.0mi Run (7:15 min./mi. pace); 1341 cal.; 139 lb. (gotta start eating more as I increase the mileage)

I ran two loops around Green Lake. That's a very nice run; if you go, as I mentioned in my last blog about this particular run, I'd reccomend taking your portable music player with you because there are areas where the road is close to the walking/biking trail. I started off pretty fast and ran at about a 6:30 mi./min. pace for a while, but then slowed down after I got a cramp in my stomach after trying to adjust my iPod--bad idea when running fast. Ended up with a 6:50 pace. The loop around the lake has a gravel path and I always seem to run faster on it than on asphault, even though it should slow me down because of less traction. The reason is that the sound of running subconciously motivates me and makes me go faster as adrenaline rushes in... It's a smilar effect to seeing race horses or cars passsing by.

Total: 5.63mi Run; 657 cal.; 142 lb.

I will be running more during the next three weeks to prepare for the marathon, but today I went for a bike ride. I chose a similar loop as the last Magnolia Loop, except this time I didn't cross over to Ballard across the Government Locks and ended up going by the Fishermen's Terminal--this is where you can buy fresh fish either from a market or straight off the boats (many Seattlites buy straight off boats because the small-boat fishermen get to keep all the money instead of it being shared with a distributor). The most popular fish is, of course, salmon. I decided to snoop around the area closer to the water and found a memorial to the fishermen (in front of the plaque is a big statue of a fisherman) as well as some interesting boats.

When I got home I looked up "Haida" on Google and found out that they are Indians/Native Americans who live on the Haida Gwaii archipelago off the northern coast of British Columbia.

Total: 16.3mi Bike Ride

I ran with a friend around Discovery Park. As you can see from the Google Earth image, this run has some really nice views (it closely resembles the picture I took when biking through Magnolia, except that in it you can't see the Olympic Mountains because of my puny cell-phone camera). At Magnolia Bluff, there's about a 300-foot almost vertical drop, allowing for a great view of Puget Sound and the Olympic Mountains. Running through the park, the forested areas are lush with vegetation including many ferns. Not as nice as I've seen at Olympic National Park, but it still resemebles the original temperate rain forest that this area once was.

My friend had a problem with her knee today. She's been getting massage and PT-work done on it ever since her accident a couple of years ago. Actually she's not supposed to be running too much, but it was nice of her to come. I hope it gets better (E: swim instead for a while :-).

Total: 3.25mi Run

Today was and still is a beautiful spring day in Seattle. Above is Elliot Bay Marina with the downtown skyscrapers in the background. It's about a 4.5 mile run to get to here from my place in Belltown. This picture came out pretty good on my Samsung PM-8200 cell phone, but some other ones I took didn't. I wanted to take the digital camera with me, but it's too bulky. It might be time to upgrade to a new slicker one; I've had mine for over 2 or 3 years now.

The run was great, I felt good and kept up a decent (~7:30 min./mi.) pace. I ran a little more along the boardwalk again towards the end to make it 10 miles.

Total: 10.2mi Run

Yesterday, the weather forecast for today called for cloudy skies with a 70% of showers, but when I looked outside the window in the morning, it was mostly sunny. So I decided to go for the big enchillada with a friend of mine: Bainbridge Island. Actually, that's not the best representation of the ride because it's only moderately long (33 miles); on the other hand, it's a difficult ride as I've mentioned before. Maybe a more approapriate term would be a medium-rare stake: difficult to chew but very tasty. Of the rides I've done before, I think the big enchillada is the loop around Lake Washington.

We were going fairly slow as my friend is new to long-distance bike riding. The ride was really fun--besides all the great views of Puget Sound and Seattle, we stopped to eat mid-point at a park and to drink tea at the Treehouse Cafe. We skipped Baker Hill so the total distance was about 28 miles with two more miles for the round-trip to the ferry. I'm not sure as to the exact distance because I forgot to take the Forerunner.

Total: ~30mi Bike Ride

[Backdated on 04/03/2006]