Easy running + fast finish

Yesterday I took the day off, I think I needed it, because on Tuesday I felt tired and the calves were a bit sore.

Today  I was back at it, and afer work and doing the grocery around 7:15 p.m. I was out to the conservatory, got there in 8:04, then a fellow exerciser/runner named Israel did 2 laps with me, so that helped me mentally, his pace was faster than my normal easy pace, but I felt easy and good nonetheless. After that I was alone running slower and slower because since He stopped I slowed down to my normal pace, that was not on purpose though. But in the last lap I sped up once again, another runner racing me. I did not race at all, I just wanted to finish fast in the last 400s because I felt good and honestly because I wanted to show him a lesson, because He passed me, and I passed him back, then He passed me again, but bad luck for him, as soon as He passed me, I would start my fast finish.

Felt very good in the fast part, but when I finish I felt the breathing labored, but its nice to change the pace even for less than 2 mins, I think that it wont harm my aerobic conditioning and my ability to do a tempo run on Saturday.

Splits per lap were 6:12,5:53,6:09,6:14,6:12,5:30. As you can see a 300-400s rep, can really bring the pace down. Finished the 7.5k in 45:56 or so.

Nothing to recover from so on Saturday I will run a tempo run 3-5 laps by effort. If I do run tomorrow it will be an easy run.

Have a great Thursday!

More easy running

Today after work at 7:00 p.m. I headed out to the conservatory to run easy. Kept the effort easy, but did not feel that good, felt tired for the most part. Got there in 8:00, then did 6 laps in the 6:20s all of them, just could not tunover my legs faster and I did not feel pretty good. Anyway, I felt the effort easy because I want to run somewhat hard tomorrow, We will see what the day brings. Total for today was 7.5k in 48:15.

Jose ran with me for the last 3 laps and He helped me a ton, because by the third lap I was getting very tired, and the heat and humidity was very high, I succeed becuase could finish my run without a lot of trouble.


Have a great Tuesday!

Catching up

Sunday evening I went out to the park and ran easy for 5 laps and back home for a total of 7.5k in 48:15.  Laps were between 6:37 the first one and 6:22 the last one. The effort was easy, and I felt sore from the previous day, so certainly I have lost some fitness. Never looked at the watch during the run.

Today after work, I headed out at 7 p.m. to the conservatory and ran easy once again, but felt better because was less sore, ran easy without looking at the watch during the run. Did 6 laps and 90 secs, incorporated 5 strides in the last lap. Laps were 6:25,6:22,6:13,6:14,6:19,5:30. As you can see I really brought the average down in the last lap, the first and last stride were smooth and I felt the best on them, felt like I was in shape like before, in the middle ones not so much, lol, I think i did not take enough recovery between them, but I ll tell you tomorrow!

7.5k around 46:30, ran some more to complete the 47 something. Felt good overall today and the pace felt pretty easy.

Good start to the week!

Morning mini tempo

Friday I took the day off. I ll have to start running 6 times per week once again.

Today in the morning, I headed out to the conservatory at 7:15 p.m. or so, by myself, my father was running another route, so I just started easy, and had planned since Thursday to do 3k at tempo effort to see where I am at after the race and after the days off after the race. So basically no workouts in close to a month.

I did not look at the watch at all, so I am learning the pacing skills just a bit, I started easy to the conservatory and ran 1 lap easy, then ran 3 laps at tempo effort, the second one did not feel that confortable, but I felt better in the last one and in the first one. 1 more easy lap before leaving the conservatory running home easy for 1.2k more.

So total distance for today was 7.5k in 44:31. After getting home I checked splits and it looked like 7:53 to get to the conservatory, then 6:41 for the 1st lap easy, then 3k (laps) at tempo effort in 5:19,5:21,5:06. and 6:29 for the last lap easy. Of course I could have sped up a lot more in the final stretch of the tempo segment, but that is not the purpose of tempos and I just wanted to see if I had enough strenght to do the usual 5k at the same effort/pace. The answer is yes, but I think I have lost a bit of fitness, I could have completed the 5k, but the last lap would have been a struggle.

I dont know for sure, because I would administrate my energy better. I am happy with this workout and it gives me momentum and energy for the day.

I ll go to work today to make up for some things, I hope it does not take a lot of time. That is not an order, but for the sake of me, I have to get ahead with that so that next week I dont have problems and the accumulation of work does not hit.

I am very happy to have run once again, and I feel fantastic right now, maybe I ll have to try this morning thing before work more often, since I started working on January, I have not run before work even once, becuase I fear that I ll get a headache because the lack of food( I dont eat breakfast and after running I get very hungry), may the solution to that is actually eating breakfast, but I have done that before and no results. Having said that, its not always that I get headaches after running, in fact, is not that often, but it would be very bad to have a headache with 8+ hours of work ahead.

However, I ll have to start to incorporate those, because lately I am getting a lot of responsabilities and sometimes I feel pressured because I want to leave early to run, but some work need to get done. If I run in the morning, that worryness would dissapear and I would focus solely on my work for the rest of the day.

Enough rambling talk!

Have a great Saturday!

Catching up

Wednesday- My brother, a friend and I went out running to the UASD university, because it was pouring hard when We went out and neither of us wanted to miss the run. That 300m loop is under cover so the rain did not hit us, but running so many laps in that gets boring, you get used after the first 15 though. Its a mental game and is not that bad if you run in places like that once in a while, but if you had to train in places like that on a regular basis, I understand why one would lose motivation. I ran without a watch and my brother took the time, I just ran and finished my run at 40:39, dont know the exactly distance, but I would guess it was just under 7k.

Today I left work at 6:40 p.m. and got home at 7:20 p.m. or so, had to buy bread before getting home, so I got dressed rapidly and went out running at 7:35 p.m. just ran easy to the conservatory and ran 6 laps there, took the splits but never looked at it during the run. Splits were: 8:04 to get there, then 6 laps in 6:19,6:19,6:17,6:10,6:11,6:10, then ran 90 more secs to finish in 47:20, what I guess is just above 7.5k.

Felt good, but tired from the work day! Happy to have run once again!!

Have a great Thursday!

Zapping the zero

On Sunday I was going to run in the evening, but a friend of mine invited me  to the beach to go to a birthday of another friend. So no run on Sunday.

On Monday could not run, because I had a guest so another DNR.

Today I ran at 7:30 p.m. with my coachee, went out to the conservatory and ran easy for 5 laps and I did 200-300s more meters to complete 6.5k.

Got there in 8:42, then 5 laps in 7:02,6:38,6:37,6:41,6:42. Never looked at the watch, felt easy and good, but the stomach was a bit upset. No wonder, after 2 combo whoppers at 1:30 p.m.

Weather was good and the run was good!

Have a great week!

Catching up

Thursday- After work I did a watchless run of 6.5k easy, felt good. The route was a novely, 4 laps in the conservatory and  back. Yea! that was a joke!No route change!

Friday was off!

Today I woke up early and was out with my father to the conservatory at 7:10 a.m., I ran very easy and felt pretty good on this one, although the heat was rising and rising. My father beated me on this one, He ran 40:23 for 6.5k , and I ran 40:54.

I wore my watch, but never looked at it, I just ran very easy and felt good. Splits were: 7:53 to get to the conservatory, then 4 laps 6:29,6:20,6:17,6:15 and back home. 6.5k total.

As I have said previously, I ll be more disciplined on my easy runs and stop competing and race my easy runs, not that I do that often, but I do it enough to hamper improvement.

Have a great Saturday!

Watchless run

Yesterday I could not run because one of my coachee was graduating of college! and I was there giving support. No excuses I could have run in the morning, but I did not.

Today at 7:30 p.m. I went out to run to the consevatory without a watch. Did 4 laps there and stopped to talk with Jose a bit, then ran from the conservatory to home the shorter way, so 800m more meters, did 6.2-6.3k. The pace started easy, but then I felt good and good and started speeding up, always in control of course, felt really good and fresh. That is of course, because the load has been low in the last couple of weeks!

Have a great night!

Runner at heart!

Finally I am back to running, I had not run for the last 8 days, so yeah, after the race, work got in the way, and on past Wednesday I got the flu and I have learned that its not a good idea when you have the flu, its better that your body recovery from the illness and then you get back to running. Of course if its only congestion and you are fine in your body you could give it a try, but in my case almost always I get the flu with fevers, so I think I made the right decision!

Today I could escape early from work, not that early, but at 6:30 p.m. and I was out running at 7:30 p.m. , I went out to the conservatory and did 4 laps there and 90 secs to do what I think was 5.5k to get back to it. I felt somewhat tired but fresh in the legs, if you know what I mean.

Did not look at the watch during the run, but splits were 7:45 to get there, I got surprised when I saw it post run, then 4 laps in 6:25,6:22,6:21,6:15, then 90 secs to finish 5.5k in just under 35 mins. In fact I ran for 30 secs more, I was feeling good, but called it a day.

5.5k total to open a new week! I dont remember the last time I took 9 days of rest, but this time was necessary, I ll try to organize my runs and my week better since I dont want to lose much fitness, but the 5k race on July 2 is ruled out, I dont feel prepared for that because right after the last week`s race I wanted to start right away with workouts, but I lost 1.5 weeks and I ll have to spend the same amount to recover fitness, so I have decided to run another one, when I am really ready.

Happy to be back to the running scene, running feels great!! I suspect that I ll have to become a morning runner once again, because those marathon hours at home has not finished! if I do the run first thing in the morning, I really dont care if I go out late or not from work, but I d rather to go off early!


On another note, this is a photo of my father and I running the 5k race last Sunday, it was maybe with 2k to go, I felt good there as oppossed to my father who was looking for air, anyway, I am proud of him because at that age, He can run and and is healthy!! Salut!

Have a great start to the week!

5k del medio ambiente (5k for the enviroment)

Yesterday at 8: a.m. I ran a 5k race. The plan was to run the race with my father as I told in my previous posts, and We certainly ran part of the race together, but not as I would have planned it.

To make the story short, my father went out like a bat with the elites, I yelled him that He was going tooo fast, but He did not obey, He payed the price later on, I raced without a watch, never convince myself to wear one during racing and I am glad I did.

A lot of people  were calling out splits or asking times not even at the 1k mark, I said to myself wtf, these guys are obsessed with times, I think the first km for me was sub 4:50. We need to lear to run by effort and not rely so much on that noisy garmin.

I caight my father after the 2k, ran with him for a while and an old guy that beated in his previous race was ahead of us, and I sped up to motivate him so that We could both pass him, but He did not respond, I started to pull away little by little with 1.5k to go or so, with around 500s to go I started to speed up and passed the old guy and a woman that wanted to outkick me in the last quarter, I finished in sprint with a guy, and I defeated him by the way.

When I was a approaching the line I saw the finishing clock ticking the 25:50s once again, but this time I felt much better than in December, and I am sure that with the right mindset and attacking much harder in the middle of the race, heck I even could talk confortably, of course I was not running easy by any means.

Offical time was 25:50 and I think I can run sub 24:50 all out, which is a shame because in the back of my mind I thought that I was in sub 24 mins shape, but I need to do a couple of more workouts for that. On July 2nd I plan to run all out and be better prepared, because this time my strategy was to run with my father, but things did not go exactly to plan.

Another thing that I wanted to mention is that  felt much better in the second half of the race than in the first one, I dont know if the reason for that is that the second half was much slower than the first, I think the first half of the race was at sub 5 mins/per km pace, but I dont know.

Felt good generally, my father finished in 26:35, He basically jogged the last km. He payed the price for the very fast start.

Today I wanted to run easy, but I got off from work at 8:20 p.m. so I took the day off. I hope that tomorrow I can run, becasue I really want to run sub 25 mins On July 2nd, those 25 mins are getting old, I have run it 4 times in a row and I am getting sick of it.

Given yesterday`s effort I think sub 25 mins in my next race is very doable.

I ll uploads the photos when they are up, I was running side by side with my father when a photo was shooted!!

Have a great Monday!

Saturday night shake out

I did not run this morning as planned and I would skip the run altogether, since I am racing tomorrow morning and doing a run in the evening today would mean to race in less than 12 hours of my last run. But at 7:30 p.m. the running bug caught me and I did not stand the idea of just running 4 times this week.

So I committed to do a very easy run to finish up my Saturday on a good note, the run basically was the same as yesterday, even the pace was almost identical.

However, I felt much better today due to the good nutrition as opposed to yesterday. So did not look at the watch and just ran very easy to shake out the legs for tomorrow.

8:16 to get to the conservatory, then 3 laps in 6:46,6:39,6:37, then back home to finish the 5.5k in 36:34. Felt pretty good and felt even better knowing that I got my run. I had not tried this out ( running the evening before a morning race), but I feel it wont bring ramification due to the easy effort it was.

The plan for tomorrow is to run watchless as I always do during racing and run whatever pace my father is going to run, of course, as long as I can run it.

Have a great Saturday night!

Easy stroll after work

Today after work I got out to my run, it was slightly pouring so the conservatory once again was very empty. Only people that take life and exercise serious go out in that condition, I am not saying this to brag, but to be honest . it was not raining hard and at times there was not raining at all, so really no excuse to avoid exercise.

After eating like a pig for the day, 2 whopper combos at lunch and a bit of cake at 5:00 p.m., I knew that this run eventhough was going to be an easy run, it  could get ugly, and it did.

I got out at 7:25 p.m. virtually the same time as yesterday, and got to the conservatory in 8:01, then did 3 easy laps in 6:40,6:38,6:41, almost identical splits, but way too slow compared to what I thought! from the conservatory to home I really felt bad, the stomach was giving me punches and I felt like 3 sitches, I got it done though, so 5.5k in 36:23. The plan was 5.5k, but even if the plan was to run longer, my stomach and body was not feeling it.

Felt easy and the effort was easy despite I felt like crap. Tomorrow morning another 7.5k easy run, and on Sunday I ll see what shape is my father in! 5k race! but as I said, I ll run it with him.

Have a great Friday!

Running: the best anti stress; light fartlek

Could not run on Tuesday due to heavy rain byt the time I got home, but I really wanted to run, but better to skip an injury. Wednesday I left work at 8:00 p.m. and was very hungry, so DNR.

Today I was going to skip it to due to work commitmments, but I could escape at 6:30 p.m., got home at 7:10 p.m., got dressed and got out running. I was feeling pretty slugish and tired, plus a light headache before running, but I knew that when I came back from running I would feel great.

I headed out to do an easy run, but when I ran one lap easy I decided to do 1 lap at a good effort, 1 lap easy, then 1 lap at a good effort, and 1 lap easy, totalling 5 laps and back home for a total of 7.5k.

I was feeling very rested and fresh during the run, sometimes when you feel tired, when you run you feel great, but you can only experience that if you despite being lazy and tired and everything, you get tough and head out nonetheless.

Never looked at the watch during the run, so all laps, including the faster ones were by effort, splits were 8:07 to get to the conservatory, then 5 laps in 6:35,5:12,6:37,4:51,6:45, then back home in 6:53 speeding up at tempo effort for the last 500s to finish in 45:35.

Honestly I thought that the overall time was much faster, but when I was looking the couple of fast lap that I did in the conservatory I was pleased, because the pace on both was very managable, that 4:51 really surprised me, I could get a couple of more years, but I know the reason for that is that I was recovering for 2 days and my legs were very fresh, I love when my legs are like that, you virtually can run the pace you want and even when tired you feel confortable and undercontrol. As oppossed to other times, when you feel very heavy and generally tired for the whole repeat, even at slower times.

Very happy to have run today, I really needed this run and on runs like that, you realize how important is running for you, running is the best for stress relief.

I could have pushed a bit more during those repeats and/or do the workout longer, but I am racing on Sunday, I wont purely will race, I ll do a race with my father, of course that racing term will depend what pace He runs, my father`s pacing during races is crazy, so I must be prepared for a fast first km. The plan so far is to do the race with him, its a free entry in the mirador del este so why not?, I said that I was not going to race this year, but I ll do it with my father for fun.

Ha you never know what could happe when the adrenaline rush in, but logically thinking now I plan to do the race with the old guy.

The weather was very rainy today, very few people in the park which was a blessing today, I did not need to dodge people the path was all for me!ha!

Have a great Thursday!!