The weekend was not great training-wise. I hadn't ran since Tuesday in Hawaii, and I wanted to get out there. However, Friday I ended up going out and seeing a movie and with karate in the morning and working the rest of the day, I ran out of time. Saturday I felt lousy — I was supposed to be at karate at around 7am to practice and then do class 9-10am, but I didn't make it til 8:30. I was up in time, but my stomach/side were so angry at me that I just didn't want to move. After class I was still feeling pretty bad, so I figured I'd rest — read a bit and hopefully a nap — and then go for a run. When I finally woke up at 9:20pm (the phone rang) and I was still not feeling that well, I accepted that there would be no run.

Sunday I ended up making it out. My stomach still wasn't happy, but 2 buddies were going running and so I just went. Track running (since one of them has a bit of a back injury right now) which isn't my favorite when we are doing a bit over 6 miles, but they are faster than I am and so I pushed my pace and managed to stay with them til the last 800m. Mile splits: 10:02, 9:02, 8:52, 8:46, 8:20, 8:16. Total of 6.5 miles in 56:21. Average pace was 8:39, which is much faster than my usual. And I was definitely pleased with the negative splits. I'm annoyed with my stomach though — it was the "I might get to near puking" kind of feeling for most of the run. It's getting to just be that way lately, which is odd since I've always had a stomach of steel.

Monday I worked (after Hawaii I needed to make up some hours) and spent most of the day on the couch (telecommuting but also still feeling gross). I'm really waiting for my side/stomach to feel better. It's not a hernia (the CT scan was clean) and now I'm waiting for ultrasound results. I just want to know what it is and what I can do to get it to go away. It's been about 3 months of on and off now, and seems to be getting somewhat worse. *sigh* I also need another race to train for… when it was IM training, I just ignored my stomach. Lately though I just don't want to deal with it and so haven't been working out as much. At least I got to the office early today so I can leave early and I want to get in a long run — and my roommate will be getting home so that will be good as well 🙂

I'm back… it was an awesome weekend break from every day life. 5
days of running, reading, playing in the water (no real swimming),
sleeping, and just doing whatever we wanted.

Friday started
off great — I love 4am Runs with Bums(TM). Down Venice
beach and part of the Marina Del Rey bike path with some friendly
support from local bench residents and police. It was a bit dark, but
Mike walked while I ran so that I wasn't out there all
alone. And I had a great energizing run. Perfect start to a vacation.
Then I met Jeff at the airport and we flew off to Hawaii…

One of the first things we did Friday once checked into the hotel was to climb into the water. It was clear and a gorgeous turquoises and teals and blues and greens. A bit rocky though, as it turned out most of the shoreline by Waikiki was.

Saturday morning I ran… a nice 11 miles around a crater and down some
areas near the beach. I was amazed at the number of people out running,
walking, and just enjoying the outdoors at 6:30 in the morning. Irvine
has fewer people out then by far, and since most people are there on
vacation it sorta surprised me. I guess you have to run then because it
gets so warm/humid. There was also a charity walk going on, but they were really only obstacles for one part of the run.

That afternoon Jeff and I drove around the island — well, part of it.
We sorta ran out of time for going much farther since the wedding was
that night. Which was ok with me. I liked seeing the other parts of the
island, but touring by car has never been my favorite thing. Car rides
just tend to make me sleepy, and with only a few days in a place I'd
really rather stay more in one area and do more.

Sunday morning's run felt pretty good… lots of running on sand, and then on the bike path along the beach for about 5 miles.

Monday was beautiful and spent at Hanuma Bay — a wonderful snorkeling
spot. Tod and Lindsey (Jeff's roommates, also there for the wedding) saw sea turtles, but Jeff and I saw huge fish
(like a few feet in length) that just swam right by us. And then we
relaxed on that beach most of the day. I think that might have been my
favorite outing of the trip.

Tuesday morning I ran again around the crater I had gone around on
Saturday, but this time I went inside and climbed to the top. Made it
into a bit of a hike and run combo as parts of the trail were steep and
there were a number of flights of stairs for getting to the very top.
But the view was worth it! I could see forever — in the crater, over
the ocean and beaches… it was breathtaking (or maybe it was the
running that did that… hmmm).

But my visit was over, so I
had to run down and back to the hotel and then after one last walk
along the beach with Jeff it was time to go to the airport and come
home.

Overall, a fun, relaxing trip. Learned a number of things about me, and
about Jeff, and just about life. I should travel with people who like running/biking type stuff, as the runs were some of my favorite bits and it would have been nice to have someone to share them with. It was a nice break from work and day
to day life. I enjoyed the trip, and I'm definitely glad I went.

Oh, and a cute comic for today… dinosaurs and swimming naked

I really want to get faster on the bike… and more comfortable. So I need to put the miles in, and do some speed work. I'm always so tempted to run instead… but I like the brick feeling so I rode yesterday knowing I was going to run after. I only put in about 10 miles on the bike, but the whole thing was with concious "pedal fast" effort. I think I'd like to get a cadence sensor as it seems to be a good tool. Only a mile run after that (I was out of time — karate class was starting in 15-20 minutes) but I did the mile in 7:51, which is flying for me.

It was definitely a high heartrate, feel the burn and increase it kind of workout. And it felt good. Last bike ride 'til I get back from Hawaii on Tuesday, but the running shoes and (of course) swim stuff are packed and ready to go! I fly out Friday morning… wheee!

It was an awesome weekend, and great things lie ahead!

Friday morning was swimming and karate, and in the afternoon roller blading and swimming/hot tubbing with my roommate and 2 other friends. I felt like a little kid again, and just played in the water 🙂

Saturday I did karate and went for a long hard run. A bit over 16
miles. But what was hard was the heat and hills. I found some good
hills and dirt trails for part of it, and my quads can still feel their
joy! But the heat was the mental toughness aspect. I carried a water
bottle, cause I knew it was warm. But I was definitely surprised by how
warm and how hard the heat was on me. In fact, I was a bit scarily
surprised… it's really not good when you stop sweating around mile 12
(and stop for a few miles) and get some cold chills and have goosebumps
and start getting disoriented. It was one of the first runs I seriously
thought about calling someone to come get me. Instead I made my way off
the trails and onto roads, slowed down. Got the heart rate to get a bit
more under control, and just took it easy. I don't think I've ever like
the burning sweat in eyes feeling as much as I did around mile 14. So
it was a very slow run, but lots of mental toughness and being careful
stopped things from going very badly.

Needless to say, I was
dead when I got home. Slept some, then got ready to go out with some other friends. However, before I made it up there, I ended up talking to Jeff (a friend I met through my best friend)
and now I'm going to Hawaii Friday – Tuesday. I'm really really
excited… snorkeling, surfing, swimming, sand, running, a wedding, and a person
I really like talking to. It might be the coolest first date ever 😉

Sunday I drove up to LA where I got to see a prerelease of Star Wars Episode III with a runner friend
(he's a director and went to USC and they were holding the screening)..
I won't give anything about the movie away, don't worry. It was cool
though — Ben Burtt was there and talked some before it. Learned an interesting fact: the voice of General Grievous was done by Matthew Wood,
one of the people who worked on the sound for the movie. And how did he
get the role? He made a demo tape, stuck a fake name on it, sent it in,
and got picked. So to sum up the movie: I really enjoyed it. More than
I expected to.

I also got to see the 7 minute preview
of the movie my friend is working on right now — a documentary on the marathon!! I'm going to have to see it
when it is out; it looks really good. I got home from all that fairly late, so I'm a bit
sleepy after this morning's early swim, but I'm in a great mood and
excited!

I'm GOING TO HAWAII!!!!

Just went for a quick run as it's been a busy week. Got in 30 min and about 3.3 miles. Felt good to get out there, and happily the knee that I feel on felt just fine. So the tendons are probably all good 🙂 I went easy the first mile, 5-10k race pace the middle mile, and chilled the last part. The 2nd mile actually didn't feel that hard, and was an 8:06. It even included a hill! For me that is good, so I am happy. I have the endurance part built up now, so right now that is in maintenance mode and I'd like to increase the speed part. Another sign it was a good run? On part of a busier street there were a bunch of cars wizzing by, and I was thinking how it was neat to be out there with them. Haha… I usually like quiet streets, but I think today I was just glad to be moving.

Today I loved the shower part… new yummy smelling shampoo that is for after workouts only. Every little motivation helps some mornings.

Oh, and a good quote from a runner forum:

"Running is a road to self-awareness and reliance. You can push yourself to extremes and learn the harsh reality of your physical and mental limitations or coast quietly down a solitary path watching the earth spin beneath your feet. But when you are through, exhilarated and exhausted, at least for a moment everything seems right with the world"

And right now, even with people waiting at my office door and bugs in software and the computer not letting me log in all the places I need to, all seems right with the world.

Nothing too exciting — ran Tuesday (yesterday) morning. As posted on the forum:

speed work on a track — a little over a mile run there to warm up, then did what I call a pyramid:
100m run (then 100m jog for active recovery)
200m run (200 jog)
300m run (300 jog)
400m run (400 jog)
500m run (500 jog)
400m run (400 jog)
300m run (300 jog)
200m run (200 jog)
100m run (100 jog)
easy .75 mile jog home
total: 51 min, 5.12 miles

I think that it scares me that the highest speed I hit was a 4:28 mile
and that there are people who can hold that kind of pace for a marathon
🙂
It feels "good" to get the legs used to higher turnover.

It was an evening of karate and relaxing to feel your opponent's energy, and balance drills. My legs need more stretching… or yoga… or pilates… or something!

This morning was a swim morning. 100yd warmup, then 6×100. Odd 100s were drill (25 kick, 25 swim left arm only, 25 swim right arm only, 25 fist swim) and even were just swim. I was feeling pretty comfy in the water. Then 6×100, 3×200, and 2×300 (the 300s pull). These were done with the same pace throughout — our goal ended up being about a 1:40 100 pace. It felt good to use paddles again, reminded myself the details of the stroke. Focused more on arm placement for the 100 cooldown. 2600 yd total.

It was a good weekend — Friday had it's normal karate and swimming, adn some much needed social time.

Saturday had it's normal karate, and then I did my long run for the week. Just over 12.5 miles and about 2:10. I was happy with it as it has been a while since I did hills, and that run had a fairly large elevation change (I will have an exact number on that later and will update with it here if I remember).

The plan for Sunday was a 2-3 hour bike and an hour swim practice. I was exhausted, so sleep took some of those bike hours, and instead it ended up being a bit over an hour bike followed by a 10 minute run (yay for impromtu bricks!). Some wonderful stretching — felt sooo good. And then the swim practice.

The swim practice was great — it was a technique day, and using buoy and paddles. I'd never used paddles before, but they really helped me feel how my arms should be tracking through the water. I was then able to apply some of that in today's practice, and it felt really good! I felt more relaxed and comfortable in the water. Good times.