Catching up

 I have been running 3 times per week for 5.5-5.6k each time. In the last couple of runs I have done from 4 to 5k at 05:01 and in the last run (today)  at 5:05 feeling much better than the 5:01, but the legs much more sore. That leg training leave my legs very very sore. I am going to the gym at 06 a.m. wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays so 3 times per week, and run 3 times per week, so a good combination of exercise. Very happy with the weight lifting so far, improving my strength each week and feeling much more confortable. I am really liking it. That balanced with the running is good, since I can keep the running addiction going , but without killing nor obsessing like before. 

I think following this routine, will keep me in pretty good shape. Later when I feel better with the weights I will add a 4th day of lifting. I am very weak so I want to become very strong. 

Hope your running is going well!

Hybrid Athlete

 I have decided to retire from competitions for a while and just run for the joy of it. I also signed up in a GYM where I plan to go 3-4 times per week, also running 3 to 4 times but just 5k just for the love of running. I realized that I was training hard in running with no progress at all, and that was getting frustrated, especially after you have been running for 19.5 years and you are competing with slow people. So what you put in, is not necessarily what you get out, especially in running that talent is the most important thing in significant improvement.  I love running, but every time I raced I left the race dissapointed. At this point, its better to try something new, Weight lifting is something that I always wanted to try and in fact I have tried before but always end up giving it up, just to get back to running. This time I will do both, but giving the strength training priority. Maybe I can jump a 5k race off just strength training and easy running, maybe I could surprise myself. 

This week I ran yesterday, and today I lifted  at 08 a.m. and when I finished, I got home , changed sneakers and headed for a 5k run in 30:55 , ran 20 mins of those with my brother. I was really tired from the leg workouts and shoulder workouts that I did this morning. 

I felt great after both workout though. Running is just great, when you are not obsessing about performance and about race times. 

I hope that your running is going well!

Easy run at mid day

Headed out at 12:20 p.m. to run. Did the same route as yesterday, 3 laps in the long blasco park and headed home. Felt very tired today, luckily it was a watchless run. Maybe the push ups that I did yesterday got the best of me. My heart was in my mouth, but I got it done. Kept the effort as easy as I could. Enjoyed the run. Have been thinking its time to hit the gym and start building some muscle, we will see. Around 45 mins of running today, no idea exactly. 

Getting back to the blog

 On Sunday I ran a 10k race that I have been training hard for, I did a disaster. Ran 53:09 watchless, felt pretty good, but timewise it was a disaster. My brother did 53:06. In October I did 50:45, and my training did not change that much except with the little time off due to injury, but for the last 8 weeks I have been training very well, but the times are not there. Intervals and tempos have not gone well. 5k tempos have been alright in 25:08 and 25:16, then a 6k tempo in 31:23 feeling very tired. A 10k race in 52:48, 3 weeks prior to this one. I thought that int his one I would run sub 52 mins, or at least run sub 52:48. I feel very frustrated and its time to take time off from the watch and performance. Just run and enjoy running for what it is. I will never be elite, so no need to obsess with this without the least talent. I will take time off from strava as well. The comparation trap get the best of me and my paces are very slow to post it there. Its hard to see a person that trains way less than you running on their regular runs 2 mins per km faster. That its not fun. I think that do the hard work and you can do anything does not apply to this sport. You can be better than previous self, but talent always is going to defeat hard work in this sport. 

I have decided to get back to this blog and avoid all that social media, strava is a social media after all, and I dont have any other social media, I ditched it years ago, and I feel great because of it. Its time to do the same with Strava.

I will post my training here and I will run watchless for a while, just enjoying running for what it is and enjoying being out there without obsessing about times. My GPS will have to remain in the shelf for a while.

Monday and Tuesday were days off.

On Wednesday after work, did 52:13 in the blasco park at a very slow pace with my normal watch ( no GPS), that heart rate feature of the gps was driving me crazy when my heart rate surpassed the 160 beats at a pathetic pace. 

Rested Thursday and Friday, simply was not motivated to run, my moral was destroyed. What a pussy you would say?, but we have trained hard for years and it seems that we are getting worse instead of getting better, even when our times are pretty doable and slow. Anyway, no more complaints. 

Today I went out watchless and ran to the blasco park, but extended my lap, instead of 900m laps, did around 2-2.2k laps, dunno exactly the distance and I did not care, did 3 laps of those. I just felt free out there running watchless. In the last 15 mins I threw 5 strides, which felt better and better. My right calf wanted to cramp like 2 weeks ago, but in the strides did not bother me at all. I just was running like a kid enjoying every step of it. Did around 40-45 mins dont know exactly.  Why obsess about tine? when we are going to get slower anyway. I really enjoyed the race on Sunday and felt strong out there, but as soon as my brother told me the final time, my positive attitude and happiness melt away and started to feel angry and dissapointed. The point of all of this is to enjoy our hobby, after all, this is just a hobby. Its time to change the approach and start running for fun. I will keep doing workout, but they will be without a watch.

Hope that your running is going well!

Catching up

 I got  Polar GPS and raced a 5k race on Sunday (yesterday). It did not go as planned. Not because of the watch, I think the watch helped because it let me know when each km was as the course was not marked. I am posting my workouts on strava as its easier now that I  only have to upload the activity. Basically I got out well for the first 2-3k and then bonk in the last 2kms. I did just under 25 mins I think. Splits as per the watch are: 4:43, 4:44, 4:55, 5:17, 5:07. The first 2 kms were downhill, last 2 were uphill. Anyway, I dont know whats happening, on May and June I ran 5 races and all were in the range of 22:42 and 23:05 because there were different courses. Almost 2 mins faster than now and training one day less per week.

I have come to the conclusion that I run well off 5 days per week of running, instead of 6 runs. It seems that with 6 runs, i dont asimilate the training well, whereas with 5 days of running per week I trained hard but at the same time was fresh and looking forward to my workouts. 

I have decided that for a while I will get back to 5 runs per week and see if that makes a different, as 25:00 for 5k is just too slow (in my case) given that I did 22 a few months ago and my training has not changed much, nor I took months off running, just a couple of weeks due to sickness/ injury. I dont understand.

Today I did 10.56 kms and worked my pace down to 5:55 pretty easy, and in the race I reached 5:17 huffing and puffing, i dont know the reason. Ok, no more complains, back to 5 runs per week and see what happends, the structure will be the same, 2 workouts per week, 1 long run and 2 easy runs. From time to time, will push the long run a little and want to run more than 2 hours. Taking advantage of the cold weather to run long. 

Evening easy recovery run

 Today I ran at 6:30 p.m. in the blasco park very easy to recovery. Felt pretty good today despite the right leg bothered me for the first 200m or so, then it went pretty well. Decided no to look at the watch and just ran easy. Finished the 7.5k total in 47:25. I wore my windbreaker today and I felt pretty good, not cold, not hot. 

Today I finally after a lot of time my brother suggesting me, I ordered a GPS watch for the first time. In my 19 years of running, I have never worn a GPS watch, and on Saturday I will wear one for the first time. I love the simplicity of running and even race my races watchless. However, in the past year I have not improved the way I wanted despite training hard and only resting when I had COVID 19. A watch wont make me run faster, but maybe will allow to analize my training ( DATA)  better, we will see. Maybe I will get tired of it pretty quicky and go back to my 10 EUR basic watch. 

I am even considering racing with the GPS on Sunday 5k race. I wont look at it though, so its the same as running without, but I will be able to see my splits post race and not eating my head wondering is the distance is accurate or not. 

When you are not running in a certified course, it can get really frustrating, you dont know if you ran 4.9k, or 5.1k, or 5.04k or whatever. The GPS is not 100% accurate, but gives a pretty good idea. Also it gets frustrating when you are racing watchless and there are no km markers on the course, you pretty much are running blind, or sometimes there are markers, but you are running with so many people that you miss them.

And last, but no least, here in Valencia you pretty much run in mass races, where you are not really racing, you have so many people next to you, that you cannot focus on one person, or another, its difficult to explain. But head to head competition here is very difficult, unless  its a little race like the run for the oceans that I was battling head to head with a guy in the last km. But other than that, you pretty much are in a parade, and you have to run your own race, because if you compete with other, you dont know if that person went out 30 seconds behind you, or 20 seconds ahead. 

The idea is not to look at the watch, but if for whatever reason I want to look at it, at least I have the option. 

Also with a GPS watch it will be much easier to upload the data on strava. 

Decent evening interval workout: 5 x 1000m

 Today I went to the Turia park at 06:40 p.m. already dark with my brother. We were doing completely different workouts though, but did the warm up together and the cool down. The plan for me was to do 5 x 1000m with 400m jog rest. I had more than a year that I did not do 5  x 1000m as we always do 4 x 1k, but if we want to move the needle we have to push ourselves and its time to to increase to 5 x 1000m. To be honest this workout went much better than expected. I thought that with the disaster that I did on Sunday, 4:45-4:50 would be a real struggle today, but I did much better than expected. Not my usual splits, but not too far either, and I did 1 repeat more than usual, which hurts a lot more. 

I warmed up 16 mins easy and then did some leg swings, and then did 4 x 100m strides at the pace that I wanted to run the workout, splits were 27, 26, 27, 27 and felt easy and controlled. 

Then started the workout. Splits were: 4:36, 4:38, 4:28, 4:31, 4:24. First 2.5 repeats were with  a head wing. 3rd repeat was out and back. Very happy and satisfied with the workout, these splits dont reflect at all my performance on Sunday. I signed up for a 5k on Sunday in a county, I should run better than on Sunday, but given that is not a certified course, I cannot trust the distance, but all in all this workout tells me that I am in much better shape than I showed on Sunday.

Today I wore my windbreaker for the first time. The weather was in 14 degrees, but it was at night with a bit of wind. If I had worn short sleeves, I would not warmed up at all. I think that affected me in the race. After our warm up, we lasted in the starting area for 30 mins and we lose our heat in that waiting. when the gun goes off, you basically are huffing and puffing cold. Another thing, is that I did not do strides and I think that affected me as well. 

From now on, I will incorporate strides at the pace I want to run the race/ workout. That worked pretty well today. 

My brother did pretty well in his 4 x 1 mile with 1 min rest at 10k race pace. He did better than race pace and felt pretty good. 

He is training for a marathon in February and I am his coach. Lets see if I can make him run sub 4 hours. 

16:22 easy cool down to home. Around  10k for the day. I was afraid to wear my wind breaker at the beginning, because I thought that I would fry myself once I warmed up, but that was not the case, I did just fine with the windbreaker and never felt hot, quiet the opposite, I thik that I still ran cold.

I always say that this weatther only helps on long runs and race over 10k. For races under 5k and under , cold can be an hindrance especially for us slow runners that cannot enter the corral within 5 mins before starting the race.

No more complaining, in my book I ran a good workout. 

Evening easy run with 6 strides

Today I headed out at 06:45 p.m. to run to the blasco park. I waited so long, because I was still full from my lunch, which was delicious. Chinese food. Felt pretty good today on my run. The weather was cold, so I felt the cold in the first 5-10 mins, but then felt just fine. Everyone was covered head to toe, but there I was in shorts and short sleeve t shirt. I did 8 laps easy and in the laps 6 to 8 I incorporated 6 strides at a controlled pace. Testing the leg more than anything. Did not look at the watch today and kept the effort easy. The leg did not bother except in the first stride. After the first one, it kind of loosen up and I felt pretty good. 

45:09 total for the 8 laps including 6 strides. Felt fine.

Tomorrow interval work. 

Afternoon run

 As I said yesterday, I am off from work until December, so at  4 p.m. very cloudy, windy, almost raining, the forecast showed 80+ % of rain, I did not want the rain affected the run, luckily it did not rain. Today I just ran easy to recover. Felt better than expected. Thought that I would struggle, but I felt pretty good and although sore, felt somewhat fresh. Kept the effort easy. Went to the blasco park from my home and did 8 laps in 46:33, very confortable. Last couple of laps were in 5:30 per lap. It only shows that easy runs does not have to do at all with your real fitness. I am feeling pretty good in easy runs and the pace is the same (or faster) as when I am in good shape, but in workouts and races I am light years back. Its time to get consistent again, the leg did not bother at the beginning given the cold, which was good, but it bothered me at times in the middle of the run. I could run through it.

7.5k total. Tomorrow I will get in a few strides. 

Awful race but sometimes you win and sometimes you lose

 I could not run Friday and Saturday, because on Friday when it was time to run, it started raining pretty hard so I could not run. Yesterday the whole day raining.

Today was race day, it was a "5.55k race" called volta a peu de les falles which is held in the centro of the city and I had not done that race before and I wanted to do it for fun. My last 5 weeks of training has been very poor with my right leg problem and the inconsistency of the last 3 weeks showed up today. I thought that the Thursdy fartlek was an indication that I did not lose all that fitness, but today´s race suggest quiet the opposite. Did not have it today. The good news is that my brother did decent and that gives him confidence in his training for the marathon which he will run on February.

I warmed up 1k walking to my brother´s house then he gave me my bib which was 666 btw.Then we warmed up to the race. I warmed up 18 mins something and he completed the 20 mins. I did not do strides, just some legs lifts in the starting area. We waited around 20-25 mns in the starting area, which seemed like forever and with the temps in the 12 celsius or so, you get cold pretty quickly, but if you dont get on time on the corrals you are far behind and then its impossible to run your pace, thats one of the cons of being slow, you cannot warm up closer to the starting time. 

The gun went off and I went out what seemed confortable, but then realized it was too fast and after the 800m or so people were passing me left and right, and in the 2.5k mark I was out of the race mentally, I just was in survive mode and wanted it to get done, my brother passed me just before the 3k mark, he passed me at a speed that it seemed that I was walking and he was running, I knew right there that he would defeat me today. First time in 7 years. After that dozens and dozens  of people passed me and I could do nothing about it, after the 4k mark I ran easy for around 100m just to finish easy, but then decided that I would push some more and increased effort again. That did not avoid that people passed me.

The best part of my race was when a kid flew by me in the final 800m and then suddenly he stops around 10-20m ahead, as I was passing him I gave him a pat in the back and told him to come on, only 800m to go, then another man encouraged him as well and he said thanks to us and started like a bat again and dissapeared again ahead. I feel good because we encouraged him to keep going and not surrender to the pain, it worked. When I saw the finish line video he built a gap of almost 30 seconds in around 600-700m. In the final stretch, I move the legs as fast as I can and then turn right to the last 100m and pushed hard to finish fast, but did not have the sprint that I usually have. Finished in 28:02. My brother´s GPS read 5.66k, so I think I did it in 4:58 per km or something like that. I felt awful and I think this is my worst race in around 4 years, but it is what it is, I started out too fast given my current fitness level and I payed the price. I think that I will get back to normal once my training starts being consistent again. I basically ran the same pace for 3.4k more and feeling much better 6 weeks ago. Also I dont like the cold weather in short distance, you never seem to warm up and when you warm up, given that you have to enter the starting are early, you kind of get cold again. Well, no excuses, but it was terrible. I am trying to find true reasons for the bad performance, but I cannot find a strong reason. My brother finished in 27:12, 4.49 per km. When he passed me he was doing that km in 4:35, I probably did it in 5:10, his speed was very superior in that very moment, 

After the race, we talked for about 10-15 mins and then started our cool down to home. I did 17 mins easy running and 1k walking and called it a day. Around 10 k for the day. 

3 runs for the week. 

I have been with a strong headache the whole day, my worst post race headache as well with my worst race in a while. At least this day is finishing and from tomorrow on and until December 7th I am free from work, yea on vacations so I could dedicate my mind and body to train a bit, or should I hang them up for good and let talented people run?

Have a great Sunday everyone!

Farlek night workout

 Yesterday was a day off. I said that I was going to run in the morning, but I did not. In the morning my leg bothers me a little and an extra day wont certainly hurt the leg. In the evening I was in the movies and I could not run. I must admit that I have been pretty lazy to run in the morning given that its the coldest of the day at tht time.

Today I ran after work at 7:15 p.m. but already dark. Today I had planned a fartlek workout, but not too hard, just 6-8 x 1 mins repeats with 1 mins easy running in between. I want to play it safe because of the race that I have on Sunday and because of the right leg. 

I warmed up 15 mins easy ( did not do strides) ad move my legs back and forth to loosen up and waited around 2 mins before starting the fartlek. I did 8 x 1 mins fast and 1 mins easy in between. I stopped the watch at 15 mins and was huffing and puffing, but felt really strong and good. The leg behave, but it was bothering me a bit. I did a bit more than 3 laps and averaged sub 5 mins per km including the recovery, so better than expected really. Stayed hungry for more, but given that the race is close and have to take care of the leg I called it a day at 8 repeats. Then did 3 laps cool down in 16:56 ( 5:50,5:37,5:29). Felt pretty good and strong. I hope to feel like that on Sunday, but I have to admit that I am a bit overweight and not sharp enough to run sub or close to 23 mins in the 5k like in May / June. 

Good workout and good evening for running. Shorts and short sleeve. By now dont need to wear more than that, but on Sunday as the race is early in the morning, I probably will wear a long sleeve shirt, although not sure. 

Have a great Thursday!

Easy night run

 Yesterday was a day off. I ate fried chicken instead.

Today I ran with my homemate. We went to the blasco park at 7:20 p.m. but at that time is already pretty dark at this time of year. We did 8 laps in the blasco park at a good clip. I ran watchless today as I wanted to keep the effort easy. I wore short sleeves, but it was cold. No wind though, so I was fine. 7.5k total feeling pretty good. The leg bothered me as usual in the beginning, then I can run just fine, but I feel it bothers me though. In the last 1.5 lap Miguel built a 100m gap until the end. I just decided that I would not try to match his move. Around 45-46 mins according to Miguel´s watch.

Tomorrow morning I will do a fartlek workout as I am going to the movies at night. 

Afternoon steady state run

 Today at 5:10 p.m. I headed out to the Blasco park to do my old 8 laps, starting from home of course. This was supposed to be an easy run, but I felt good after 10 mins so decided to make it a progressive run. I felt good and controlled, but in the last lap I was hufing and puffing and felt like I never warmed up, in fact at the end my ears were bothering me a bit, because of the cold wind. I ran in short sleeves, because for 16 celisus, you dont even need wind breaker. Splits per lap were: 5:33, 5:13, 5:00, 4:56 4:51,4:51, 4:25. Felt controlled until the last lap, then the effort was big. Finished in 42:11, so 4+ mins faster than yesterday. This was not an easy run, but it was not a hard run either, something in between. Thats why I titled this entry " steady state". I must admit that that slow pace of 5:20 per km neuromusculary feels fast, I am getting old quickly. 

The right leg was bothering me in the first lap, but then felt ok, did not bother me much durin the faster part, so that its good news. 

3 runs for the week. The last 3 days of the week, but this is the beginning of a hard training cycle. Back to 6 runs per week. 

Nice weather today, but on weekends its much better to run in the morning, when you run in the evening, you pretty much have that pending the whole day. Time to switch back to weekend morning runs, next week. 

Afternoon easy run

 Today the right leg was bothering a bit in the morning. I did not have plans in the evening so I ran in the afternoon. I ran at 5:30 p.m. in the blasco park. The goal today was to run my normal run which is 45+ mins and not stuck in the 32-35 mins for 1-2 weeks, thats what I did after I was recovering from COVID on August, but now I feel pretty good, so its best to get back to my normal runs right away. I will have to be careful on workouts. Did 46:16 for 8 laps in the blasco park, my 7.5k route. Mentally it was long, but I felt pretty good on the body. The weather helped a ton, I barely broke a sweat. The last 2-3 laps were already dark and basically I was alone in the park exercising. Again wore shorts and short sleeve. I dont know how exercisers can wear long sleeves on 17-18 celsius.  The righ let bothering me at the beginning, but then it felt pretty good, I barely felt it after the half. A good sign. 

Felt good. I hope to get back into the swing of swings quickly.

Back to training after 9 days off

 Today I finally was back to training after 9 days off. It was a mix of lazyness and wanting to heal from the ciatica pain. Today enough was enough and after work at 07:15 a.m. already dark, I headed out to the blasco park and did 35:25 total time. The pace was the same as always and I felt pretty good, the lost in fitness did not show. However, its on workouts that you realize how much fitness you have lost. The pain in my hamstring went away, but my pain in the ciatica has not. Its clear that rest its not the answer. I could run through it, but it was there. I will keep running through it though. Besides that issue, I felt great and weather helped a ton. Running in short sleeves, it would be too hot to run with a windbreaker. All in all a good run and if the injury behaves, I will probably do a race next Sunday of 6+k. Its a race within the circuit of Valencia that I have not run and its in the center of Valencia, in the metropolitan area. I ran a portion of it in the 15k night race, but in the next race, I would run during the day.

I have been eating like a pig so I have put on weight. Its nice to get back to running, because I was moving towards the dark path, I would be lost without running. I would be obese. I eat too much.

 I got to get back to 73 mins in 15k race like in 2019. I will try to run sub 1:15 on February 15k Abierta al mar. This year its in 2 days, but given the circunstances I wont do it this year, I hope that next year they follow their normal schedule and is held in February hopefully. Lets see how it goes, but I wont let that all my fitness gained this year go to waste.

Have a great Friday!

Catching up

 A lot of time without posting. I was in my country from October 16 until November 2nd and I did train there. I have to say that the heat there is nothing compared with the temperature here in Spain. However, once you get used to the heat, you run pretty good and feel good. When I came back here in Spain the weather was below 15 degrees and it was somewhat unconfortable, once you get used to the caribbean. Of course you run better in cold weather than in hot weather. I wanted to do a tempo run there or an interval workout at the same times that I do here in spain, but its a pending homework. 

I ran 6 times on the first week, it was an adaptation week,but by the end of the week I was already used to the heat, but the first few days I was dead and on easy runs and was huffing and puffing.

All my easy runs were 60 mins in duration and the last kms were sub 6 mins per km. I did 2 workouts in the first week: 1 day I did 3k warm up easy in 19:58 ( no strides) to the mirador then did 1x 1600 and then 5 x 400m, 7:17, 1:35, 1:49, 1:47,1:44, 1:41 and 3k warm down in 20:15. I was dead and soaked wet after this workout, as you can see the 400s were way slower than I am used to in Valencia. However, that day was only our 3rd day there and I was not adapted. I ran 20 seconds faster than my brother in the mile, but he defeated in the 400s.

The second workout was on Friday in the mirador as well, did 3k warm up in 19:58 again (no strides), then did 5k tempo run in 25:21, 4:53 first km , half in 12:29,but ran a positive split. I felt good, but did not have another gear, and i was still adapting to the heat. My brother did 25:49, but after the 500m I was alone.

On Saturday, I did 1 hour easy in the conservatory incorporating 6 strides in the last lap, but in the afternoon I was sit and when I woke up I started to limp because of a Ciatica problem in my right leg, that was the reason that I could not do any sustancial workout after that. All my runs after that were limping in the first 5 mins.

On Sunday did 60 mins again, 6 runs for that week and 2 workouts.

Next week did 5 runs, 3 runs of 60 mins in the conservatory ,one run of 40mins ( this was the last run in the Dominican Republic and cut the run short because my ciatica was bothering me a lot) and did a marathon pace run on Friday also in the conservatory, did 15 mins easy to warm up (  no strides), then did 6 laps at marathon pace, goal was 33:00,but did 31:38 with splits of 5:20,5:27, 5:16, 5:16,5:14,  5:05. I am in good shape and this did not take out a lot from me specially in the heat, did 15 mins to cool down. Did around 11k for the day. 

After that last run of 40 mins I did not run until Wednesday to give my leg a break, next run was last Wednesday 3/11 and was the same day I arrive Valencia.  In the evening at 5:45 a.m. , Did 44:44 for my usual route in the Blasco park, Started full because I ate lunch late, but in the last 2 laps did 5:00 and  4:53, so finished feeling good. The leg behave well, but the next day was bothering me and I have not run since then. Its getting dark at 5:50 p.m. so all runs will be run in the dark ( except on weekends).

Today I will get back to it, walking, the leg is not bothering me much although I feel something, lets see how it behave during my run this evening

It was good to see my father and my family again, nothing like home. Both Synday´s run my father ran with us.He still can keep a 6 min pace per km, but he is out of shape, because he is not training often. 

Looking to get back to my home next year again and not injure myself. Glad that I could run consistently and the injury came at the end. 

Catching up

 Wednesday 06/10 - After work I went to the turia park and was feeling very good from the race, the soreness has almost gone. The plan for that day was a 5k fartlek, so 5k with 1 min fast and 1 min slow. I warmed up 15 mins easy ( no strides) and then after a couple of mins I started the fartlek, fist km in 4:53, halfway in 12.34, then negative split to finish the 5k fartlek in 24:51 feeling pretty good. Then 15 mins cool down to home. Weather is improving nicely in fact the last time that was hot was on race day.

Thursday - After work ran easy in the blasco park and did 8 laps in 45:53 incorporating 6 strides to loosen up from Wednesday´s workout. Felt good.

Friday - I ran in the morning at 6 a.m. and I ran alone, lately I am running alone. Did the maximo gomez route feeling pretty good. Finished the 8.3k in 52:12.

Saturday - That morning at 7:30 a.m. I did a 6k tempo run in the harbor, I was supposed to do it with my brother, but He bailed so I had to do it alone again. I warmed up easy 17:16 to the harbor , again no strides. I just started my workout after a couple of mins walking. I only checked the first km in 4:50, huffing and puffing a bit, but I felt that I could sustain the pace, as opposed as my last tempo on the Turia park. Then did not look at the watch again, but pressed the split button in the halfway. Turned around feeling good but breathing hard, but did not felt like dying. Hang in there and finished the 6k in 29:36 with the half in 14:39. So 18 seconds positive split, but finally I could break 30 mins with a lot of margin. Next step is sub 29 mins though. 16:57 cool down to home.

Sunday - At 7:30 a.m. very dark, I went out to do my long run alone again at the port. Felt pretty good and the sun never hit hard. The weather was pretty good. I think that I averaged sub 6 mins per km, Did 2 mins negative split. 90 mins total feeling strong.

6 runs for the week and 2 workouts, though that I was going to be tired from the race, but felt pretty good.

Monday 11/10 - Planned rest

Tuesday - Tuesday was a public holiday so I ran in the morning at 08:30 a.m. when it was clear. i was going to do an interval workout, but my brother was doing a 11k run at marathon pace which on paper is 5:30 per km. I did not feel like running intervals alone, so I decided to do 10k at his pace to work on aerobic threshold. I warmed up for 18:30 to the Turia park, no strides, no nothing, only 18 mins of easy running and the goal was 10k at 54:59. First km was in 5:33 feeling easy, second was 5:35, we were slower than the goal, so I started to speed up a bit to make up the lost time, but my brother did not respond, so from then on, I ran alone until the end. 3rd km came in 5:23 (16:31), 4th km came in 5:27 (21:58), I was feeling pretty good at that point, but did not want to run alone. Halfway came in 27:23, so 5:25 for that km, then I turned around and encouraged my brother, but after the halfway I just started running less than 5:20 per km without even trying, 6th came in 32:40 (5:17), 7th came in 38:01 (5:21), felt pretty good although started to feel thirsthy, but my effort was very controlled like an almost an easy run. 8k  came in 43:18, and that point I knew that I could run sub 54 mins if I just kept that pace. 9th km came in 48:36, then just tried to keep the same effort until the end, but was very thirsty. Finished the 10k in 53:51 feeling very strong and good. The weather was ok. In the second half it heated up some. My brother passed the 10k in 54:58 so he did negative split, then did another km. He is training for the Sevilla marathon, but He confesed that right now he could not sustain that pace for a marathon. 18 mins for cool down to home, I was feeling thirsty, so I wanted to get home asap. Around 15.6-15.7k for the day. Felt solid. And the workouts in the past two weeks show that I did a bad race in the ibercaja 10k, I know I can run sub 50 mins. I already sign up for the 10k Ibercaja 2022 on January, but times cannot be comparable, because you cannot compare the weather on January and on October.

Wednesday - Ran at 06:00 a.m. with my brother, did the maximo gomez route in 54:50. Was just rolling pretty easy to recover from the workout the day before. It was not too taxing, but it was not an easy runs by anymeans. 8.3k.

Thursday - Ran at 06:00 a.m. with my brother, but this time we changed routes, I went to his house and did 4 laps to the 1.6k block that they have. Total time was 51:39, so I guess it was just over 8k. Felt pretty good.

Today ( Friday) - I went out at 5:53 a.m. I did not want to run easy as the last 2 days had been pretty easy, so I went to the turia park and did 4 x 1000m instead. The weather was pretty good. Warmed up easy 15:40 to the Turia, then stopped for about 5 mins and then the 4  x 1000m with 400m jog recovery started. I felt pretty good on those, I am sure the weather helped. On the first 2 I think there was a head wind and in the last 2 a bit of a tailwing, but all in all felt good. Splits were 4:28,4:26,4:16,4:16. I d love that at least some of them would be sub 4 mins, but thats all I can give at the moment. Then did 15:04 to cool down to home. Total was around 6 miles for the day.I  got home even before 7 a.m.. Nice workout and very happy with effort and execution, but not necessarily for the times.

Tomorrow I ll rest, because it will by a travel day. I am vising my father and family to Dominican Republic , I have not been there in 4 years, so its time to get back, We will be there for 2 weeks, so it should be fun, also its going to be nice to run again in the parque iberoamerica and parque mirador, both mentioned a lot of times on this blog. 

We will see how it goes. Also I had been running 6 times per week since I beated Covid and I could run again on August 1, so for the last 10-11 weeks I had been running 6 times without fail. I love being consistent.

Have a great week!

Catching up and Ibercaja 10k 2021

Wednesday 29/09 - After work at 07:00 p.m.  I did an interval workout. The plan was to run controlled and thats what I did. Warmed up 15:30 including 5 x 50m strides and then did 5 x 800s with 400m jog rest in between. 15 mins cool down to home. Splits were 3:40, 3:37, 3:30, 3:24, 3:19. Started controlled and worked in crescendo. Felt pretty good and strong. 

Thursday 30/09 -  After work ran in the blasco park 8 laps, did 48:01. Was tired from intervals the day before so I took it easy. Pace felt faster though.  Got dark very early in the run.

Friday - 01/10 - Up early, went out at 06 a.m. to do a short run. Did a shorter version of the Blasco Maximo Gomez route. Completed 40 mins easy.

Saturday - 02/10 -  This is the run that nobody wants to do, the run before a race. I went out at 8:45 a.m. to the blasco park and did 6 laps in 33:13 and completed 45 mins. In the last 2 laps did 6 strides and the last 2 laps were done in 5:04 and 5:05 ( the lap).

Sunday  - 03/10 -  This was the Ibercaja 10k -  This is the race that I have been training for basically for the last 2 months. I was dissapointed with the result, but its what it is. Did 50:45 and I was shooting for sub 50 mins. I race without a watch, and if I would have worn a watch the result would have been much worse and I would have been frustrated by halfway. After the race I saw that I crossed the halfway in 25:01 and the second half was done in 25:44,but in the 3rd km I knew that I did not have it. My brother ran the race, and he passed me in the first 1.2k, then built a gap of 50m or so for the rest of the race till the 9.1-9.2k, where I finally caught him and gave him encouragment, but I really finished hard, He also finished hard as he finished just only 4 seconds behind. I did not want to sprint with him, thats why I built a gap as soon as I passed him. Overall felt strong and finished feeling pretty good, the thing is that I can talk normally during the race, but the legs wont move any faster, contrary to a lot of people that they are breathing hard like they are dying, but passed me. It was a fun race, the course was ok, although I liked more the 10k sanitas course and the 15k nocturna course. In the first km I had a lot of problems, I had to dodge a lot of people and sometimes had to slow down to a jog, that really affected me, but no excuses. I wanted sub 50 mins and I missed the goal and I really had to finished really hard and that saved me to go over 51 mins. You win or learn. The good news is that I am not so sore and tomorrow ( I write this on Tuesday 05/10) I will do a workout, a bit sore, but feeling ok.

Monday - Planned rest day

Tuesday -  Today I woke up early and was out with my brother to run at 06:00a .m., We did the Maximo Gomez route which I finished the 8.3k in 53:31. I want to get back to my morning runs, it seems that I was running better running in the morning. Also have the evening to do other things. Anyway, the important thing is the end is the consistency. Sooner or later I will be back to sub 50 mins the 10k. I only had 2 months of preparation for this race when I was cured from COVID so I am glad that I can train normally. A lot people could not see the next day.

Have a great night!

So far so good

 Monday 20/09 - Planned day off

Tuesday 21/09 - After work did 8 laps in the blasco park starting from home as usual. From laps 6-8 did 6 strides. Started raining hard at the end so I had to finish the run at home. I usually walk some mins in the park to enjoy the scenery. 8 laps in 45:46, then ran some more to home to finish in 49:22 total time.

Wednesday 22/09- After work went to the Turia park to do my interval workout, my brother did a workout on Tuesday so I had to do this alone. Did 1 x 1600m@7:12, 800m recovery, then did 2 x 1000 @4:15, 4:16 and finish with a 400m in 1:34. Decent workout. Did not like the mile nor the 400s, but the 1000s were good.  A bit tired from the race still. Did 15:20 warm up including 5 x 50m strides and then afterwards did 15 more mins to home to cool down.

Thursday and Friday were runs after work and did the same exact same route at the same exact time. On Thursday did 47:18 and on Friday evening did 47:09. Did not want to run on Friday evening, because I was not going to have much rest for Saturday morning tempo run, but as I did not wake up early enough to run on Friday morning, I had to run in the evening.

Saturday - At 7:20 a.m. still dark went to the turia park to do my 6k tempo run. The goal was simple, to run under 30 mins. Given how I ran in the 15k race in the first, I thought that it would be easy, but it was not. In the warm up, I was tired and sluggish, and even though I felt good in the first km, then I slowed dramatically. The idea was to do it in the harbor, but there was a triathlon, so I did not want to sabotage my workout. I played it safe and went to the turia park, even if that meant to eat all the hills between the 3-4k. Did 15 mins including 5 short strides to warm up, then did the 6k tempo, first km was in 4:50 so I thought that I could run low 29 mins as I felt good, but then started to feel tired and never looked at the watch again, but pressed the split biutton at halfway, which was in 14:55, so did those 2k in 10:05, which did not feel very easy, finished in 29:57. Accomplished my goal, but that was not easy, and I am not sure if I can run sub 50 mins on Sunday 10k race. I will try for sure. I dont wear a watch so I will go by feel and compete hard. 15 mins easy cool down home. I was soaked when I got home, the humidity was crazy and my singlet and pant was like if I was in the pool. Almost 11k for the day. Good training, but I want to get back to sub 29 mins on my 6k tempos. Patience I guess. My brother ran a 10k race and did 50:43 in the evening, so we have the same fitness, it will be a good battle on Sunday.

Sunday - Up early and out at 07:30 a.m. dark to do my long run, went to the harbor with my brother very easy as he was recovering, he insisted to go to the harbor eventhough there was a triathlon. As we expected we had to do a variation of the route that I do for my long runs, the way out was almost equal as we normally do, but in the way back we had to take another route and I finished the run doing around 4 laps in the blasco park with the last lap in 4:50-5:00 feeling pretty good. The weather was much better than the day before. I hope to run on that weather in the 10k next Sunday. Total time was 1:30:46, the pace was very easy as my brother was in recovery mode and I did not want to push too much.

6 runs for the week and a solid week given that I raced a 15k on Saturday night. I am surprised that I could run a workout that solid on Wednesday.

Monday 27-09 -  planned day off

Tuesday 28-09 -  today after work I did 8 laps in the blasco park, which is my bread and butter route in the evening. From laps 6 to 8 did 6 strides. Total time was 45:19. Felt good in the strides and felt good on the run. Tomorrow a workout and then easy until race day.

Catching up and 15k nocturna race

                           Finishing the 15k nocturna

Monday 13/09  - off

Tuesday - 14/09 - After work at 07:00 p.m. I went to the blasco park and did my 8 lap bread and butter route and did 6 strides from laps 6 to 8. Ran some laps with my brother before he left. Did 45:36. Felt good, but a bit tired. Used the new kicks for the first time, older ones were worn down, so I had to buy some cheap ones.

Wednesday -  After work went to the Turia park with my brother to do some intervals, the plan was to do 1600, 2 x 100 and 1 x 400s, but that varied once I suggested that my brother after the first mile to do a second mile to test the body and mind, then did 2 x 400s. That worked turned out well. Splits were 7:04, 7:05, 1:35, 1:32. Finally a decent workout and getting back to my times pre covid. Used the new sneakers and they did help a ton, if a new simple sneakers help and I cannot imagine the nike next percent and all that stuff. Very happy with the workout. 15 mins warm up including 5 x 50m striders and 15 mins cool down home. Around 10k for the day.

Thursday - After work it was raining hard so I had to wait until 20:10 to head out to running, I headed out to the bread and butter route of my brother near his home. Took me 49:41 if I recall correctly. The weather was pretty good, once it stopped raining I felt really good. The down side is that the road was pretty wet.

Friday -  I ran at 06:00 a.m. and did a short variation with my brother of the maximo gomez route, Did 40:59 total. I cut the run short, because I was racing the 15k nocturna the next day at 10:45 p.m. which was the time of my start. There were 6 starts, mine was the 4th one. I had not told anyone that I was racing, even my brother. I told him that I raced it once I was back home at 1 a.m.

Saturday  - I woke up a bit late than usual, since I wake up early on weekends to do my workouts, it was nice to not have to wake up so early. I was not nevious, but I had respect for the distance, and actually was happy that I could enjoy a "long" race in the city and in the center of Valencia at night that sounded cool but at the same time I only did 3 90 mins runs prior to this and they are at an easy pace, so I knew that it was going to be tough. I ate my normal breakfast, and ate lunch at 14:30, which is a bit late for me, ate a spaguetti plate, cheese , salsa and 2 cans of tuna. So carbed up good there, then started watching a series in Netflix, actually watched all the episodes and finished 1 hour before I had to leave for the race, I left at 21:00, so that helped a lot to not have my mind thinking about the race and to relax a bit. Again, I was calm and I trusted my training, I am in bad shape, but I have been very disciplined the last 6 weeks, so that gave me confidence. I knew that sub 80 mins was possible. I dont race with a watch, so I would not know the time until the end. In fact, I realized about my time, 1 hour after I got home. My time was 1:18:57.

I warmed up around 8-10 mins, dont know exactly as I dont wear a watch at races. It felt nice to run in the harbor at night for the warm up, reminded me of the tempos that I did every Saturday. I included 5 x 50m striders at the pace that I wanted to go out at. That was around 9:30 or so and my start was at 10:45 p.m. so I pretty much was cool again when I went out, but as the race was long for me, I would warm up in the race. Finally we started and I went out at a controlled pace, probably faster than I should, but that felt ok. The weather was hot, nothing compared to Thursday. In the first km, I was already sweating, and I knew that it was going to be a long day. Kms passed very weekly, and in the 5k mark I was already thirsty but felt pretty good I even shout " where is the water" to the people around me jeje, almost in the 6k (not marked) I saw the water station and when you run with key in the hand its difficult to open a water bottle, running. I finally open it and the water is not cold, I poured it on my head, I lose some contact with the people that I was running that I could never recover from, I was running good until the 8-9k mark, then people started passing me, when I crossed the 10k, I knew that it was going to be a long stretchto the finish line and everytime that I drank water I could feel my stomach screaming, but my body needed water as I was thirsty, that is something that I have to work on training. After the 11k I knew that if I pushed the pace more I would feel bad and probably throw up, so final 3-4k were easy just to get it done. A bit frustrated with that, but at the same time happy, because I had the courage to sign in and participate in life instead of watching from the sidelines, myself 10 years ago probably would not have run it due to being in bad shape, etc.  I am much stronger mentally now, although slower. Anyway, I was running pretty relaxed enjoying the crowd and I even high 5 a kid in the last mile of the race, I could not even hear my breathing so I know that I am in good shape. I finished in 1:18:57, which I realized after getting home. Happy with the effort and happy to have completed the run without stopping, again its good to participate in life and not to watch from the sidelines. A lot of people cannot run eventhough they want to. I really enjoyed this race and enviroment. A bit late for my taste, but its call 15k night for a reason. After watching the results, my splits  per 5k were: 25:13,  25:58, 27:46. In the first 5k I was running at my current tempo pace, where I only run 6k very tired and in the race at that pace I felt strong and relaxed, I slowed down after that, but as I said the last 4k were pretty much easy, so I did not slow as much as I thought. 10k were passed at around 51:11, I thought that I could not run that pace in a 10k right now, but given that I did it with 5k to go give me a lot of confidence for the Ibercaja on October 3rd. So maybe I can run sub 50 mins as I had planned after I surpassed the Virus. A lot of people really collapsed and was lied in the middle of the run, so conditions were not that easy, we were running in 27 celsius, which is not cold by any means. 

Satisfied with the time and even more running the 4k easy, but this shows that I am in better shape than I thought, but I need to run faster on tempos. When i ran 1:13, I was doing 6k tempos in 28:35, last saturday I did 30:11 and aimed sub 30 mins. I am sure that other runners, new shoes and the great asphalt all helped. Also when I did 1:13, temps were in 10 celsius, not 27. Anyway, Heat dont affect me much time wise. If I had worn a watch and had seen the first 5k split, I would have panicked because that is my current 6k tempo pace and I had 9k left to run. At the moment it felt pretty relaxed.

A good way to finish a Saturday!

Sunday -  I went out to run  a 8 laps run in the blasco park at 09:00 a.m. I ran as relaxed as I could in order to recover, but after the first lap, the pace was the same as always. Did 48:05 for 8 laps- However today (Monday)  as I type this, I am very sore and tired and fortunately I rest on Mondays, I hope to start my week normally tomorrow and to get in a workout on Wednesday, very sore now though.