Training post

Yesterday, I ran 20 miles in 3 hours. I was happy that I stuck with my marathon pace, which was my goal for the run. I plan on running the marathon in 4 hours, so I need to run a 9 minute mile. 

Training Post

I ran 17 miles today. My run was from Vacaville to Fairfield and back. It was a good route that had some nice hills to prepare me for the race. I'm working up my miles to prepare for a marathon later this year. 

Training Post

Last Sunday I ran 6 miles around the neighborhood. On Monday, I did 30 minutes on the elliptical machine. I was looking for a low impact workout that would work up a sweat, so I chose the elliptical and followed with 3 sets of planks. Today, I did 3 sets on the total body workout. My body isn't used to that 3rd set yet, so I'm a little tired and sore. Which is a good thing. It's good to mix up the workout every once and awhile. For my cardio, I did 30 minutes of rowing.

Long Beach Half Marathon

I completed the Long Beach Half Marathon yesterday. The race course was nice and scenic. It started and ended at the Long Beach Convention Center with a portion of the course going along the beach. You could hear the waves crashing during portions of the run. The beginning of the course was a multi-lane road, so there wasn't the bunching of runners at the start of the race that normally occurs. Which is nice because you don't have to deal with looking for ways to pass the slower runners in front of you or catching elbows.

I had a goal of finishing the course in 1' 40", but my eyes were bigger than my stomach on this one. My finish time was a resectable 1"45", but I'm still disappointed that I didn't meet my goal. I ran w/ the 1' 40" pace group for 8 miles, but then I started to fizzle out. This was around the point that the course was on the beach path and in direct sunlight. At this point I should mention the temperature at the start of the race was 77 degrees and the high was in the 90s. I thought to myself as they were pulling away, "okay, just as long as you can see them and I'll be able to at least beat my PR of 1'43". However, I began to slow down more and eventually I couldn't see them anymore. Then I used "just don't let the 1'45" pace group beat you" mantra to keep myself motivated to finish the race. For the record, I did beat that pace group. Barely, but I still beat them none the less.

They did have a nice finishers medal and this was my final race of the Beach Cities Challenge, so I received a special medal for that accomplishment.

Long Beach Half Marathon finishers medal

Beach Cities Challenge medal. The clam shell open and closes.

Training Post

I have been real busy and haven't been able to keep up with my blog. Last Sunday, I ran 6 miles around town at a pretty good clip. I did a light cardio workout on Monday and then my normal routine of weights & cardio on Tuesday. Today, I ran on the treadmill for 30 mins @ 7 mph. I was able to run 3.5 miles at that pace while watching Jeopardy!. I didn't too well with playing along with Jeopardy!  and I didn't have time to do my core workout today. I'll try to do my core workout tomorrow and hopefully I'll do better with Jeopardy!.

Training Post

I have been real busy lately. I have had a lot things going on, so I haven't been keeping up with the blog. I have been working out though. Even if I'm really busy, I try to do some sort of workout. Those are the times that you really benefit from the workouts. They help me to relax and buffer the stress from all the demands being placed on me. But enough of that. I had a nice run this morning. I ran 13 miles this morning on a route that I haven't ran in a while. As the say, it was revisiting that old friend. The weather was nice and there wasn't very much traffic, so I was able to enjoy my run. Now it is time to get back to all those things I didn't finish yesterday.

Training Post

I ran 6 miles today. My route was around the neighborhood, so it was nice and flat. I was happy because I finished the run in 46 minutes. I have another race coming up, so I'm tapering the distance. I also wanted to attend the Jazz mass at church today, so the short distance made that possible. I still had to wake up early for the run though. They do this mass every year and it is a fun experience. They have musicians come in and play some great music that liven ups the service. It's a nice change of pace that I look forward to every year.