Zapping the zero

Yesterday I took the day off basically to give my right ankle some rest. It has been bothering me in the previous days. I can run no problem but it hurts a bit like its a but swollen or something.

Today I went to the park at 6:10 p,m. it will be hard to become a predawn runner again, but as long as I have time in the evening I ll run whenever I can, anyway the most important thing is to get the run in no matter at what time of day. I put the watch on time of day and was feeling fresh and good, so the pace was quicker than usual. Did 6 laps in the conservatory and back home( did not finish there as in the last 2-3 months, I waste a lot of time doing that, its better to run and get back to business) I finish the 8.5k in 49:28, so the pace was good. That really erase the slow run on Sunday, none of it matter anyway! but you know, ego vs time= racing the watch. Thats why I set the watch on time of dya sometimes and just run what feels easy.

Today I received the Hillrunner Singlet and water bottle that I earned in the Boston marathon contest, I have been following that website and Ryan Hill( the owner) for almost a decade now and I really want to thank him for all that He has taught me and for the leader He is. I really encourage runners to visit his website. He is a cool guy and He will be happy to help. Thanks Ryan Hill!

I am racing on Saturday and I ll wear with pride Hillrunner Singlet!

Have a great Tuesday everyone!

Catching up

I rested again on Friday but completed my 5 runs on Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday evening at 5:35 p.m. I headed out to the conservatory and I did 6 laps there and tracked every 2k, so 12:34,12:05,11:41, then accelerated even more from the conservatory to home and really hammered the last 400s to finish in 50:45 for 8.5k. Felt really good and fresh.

This morning I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and headed out at 7:00 a.m. with my father to the conservatory an did the same route as yesterday( its rare to do the same route everyday for me -_-)Ha! I started the run almost crawling and was tired from yesterday, as I have said, I dont tolerate to run only 12 hours apart, especially in the afternoon and in the next morning, its easier for me to run early in the morning and run in the afternoon on the same day, that way I feel fresh in the afternoon run, but when I run like I did yesterday , I dont know if its the sleep, but I start too tired, luckily after 2 painful first laps, I loosened it up and felt better and sped up a bit, was not sufficient to not run that slow. I did 53:44 for today´s 8.5k. 3 mins slower than yesterday afternoon (13 hours ago). I knew what was coming and I decided to run with the watch on time of day, it would have been very hard to look at that slow pace during the run. It was good to look at it at the end, and get mad in my house when run was over!! Easy pace dont matter much, but its a matter of ego I think!!

5 runs this week, it seems that I have a lot of weeks running minimum 5 times per week, the volume is not very high, but I am getting better at it, I ll incorporate longer runs and faster runs, but my right ankle is giving my problem so I am looking carefully at it.

Have a great Sunday!! This afternoon I ll espectate Gatorade 10k where my brother is running it. I am not in 10k shape now, but I ll race a 5k next weekend. Dont expect much as all my runs have been easy runs basically, but I ll test the legs a bit and see what happens!

Back to predawn running

Yesterday did not run. I thought yesterday about moving to predawn runs so that I can be productive in the evenings. Thats what I did today when I headed out later than planned today, I went out at 6:45 a.m. and was going to do whatever I felt like there in the park, I did 6 laps there and then headed back home. In the first 2 laps felt like s#%t due to stomach problems and even thought cutting the run short. Lucily, I felt better and better. Felt good at the end, but did not manage to run sub 6 mins in any lap. Splits for 6 laps were 6:21,6:21,6:07,6:08,6:03,6:04. Then headed back home to run 8.5k in 52:27. The pace was very slow, but I am happy that I got my run in early.

I want to become a predawn runner once again, and do all my runs on an empty stomach, full stomach has been one of my problems with running in the evening, in the morning legs are fresher and I felt very good when I am not having stomach problems( I do have problems sometimes in the morning due to heavy dinner).

8.5k@52:27.

See you in the predawn!

Overcoming demotivation

Today I did not feel like running, dont know the exact reason, but I am sure it was not related to running, I did not have motivation, but I forced myself to do it and I felt pretty good during the run. I just went out to do something and ended up doing my normal run.

Got to the conservatory in 7:43, then did 7 laps and did the same as yesterday, took splits every 2 laps so that I dont obsess about that too much. splits were much better than yesterday: 12:24,11:54,11:42, last lap was in 5:29, I pushed in the first half of this lap because a fast runner passed me , He looks in shape and has passed me several times in the past, as it was my last lap, I decided to push it , but only for the first half, because if I continued at that pace, I would have kept with him, but the effort would have been high. Anyway, completed the 50:40 for I think was 8.5k. I am getting used to that distance, I ll have to add a longer run on the weekend.

Have a great Tuesday!

Zapping the zero

I had to rest yesterday because on Saturday for lunch I ate street food as We would call it here, That did not set me pretty well, and I had to even cancel  going to the movies with frieds to watch " The avengers". I got a strong Diarreha , but luckily that did not last too much as at night I was feeling better and I could be the boxing fight( Packiao vs Maywether), I did not like though but I am not going into details here. I rested out of prevention on Sunday.

Today afternoon I zapped the zero with a 8.5k run in the conservatory, 7 laps there and I took splits every 2 laps to not obsess every lap about it. I started the run very slow, but warmed up nicely then as the splits suggest, splits were: 12:47,12:08,11:45 and in the last lap incorporated 5 x  20 seconds strides and the last lap was in 5:50 including the strides. Completed 51:50 total time. I felt much better during the strides than in the past days, felt stronger and smoother, it seems that I am improving my form and speed, just need several more of these workouts and my form and top speed will improve.

Weather was pretty torelable today compared to Saturday morning.

Have a great Monday!!

Dawn sauna run

Here I am 13 hours after my last run, running again, there must be something wrong with us runners. Anyway, I headed out to the conservatory at 7:05 a.m., dont remember the last time that I ran in the morning, I felt very rested and good till the half way point, after that it was just survival mode till the end. I did 6 laps to the conservatory and back home for a total of 8.5k in 51:41. Splits were 6:13 the slowest and 6:03 the fastest. It was too hot!! I was sweating all over and when I got home it seemed that I just jumped in a pool, it was nasty out there today, but I am happy that I could get my run in.

A lot of people in the park exercising in one point( Zumba point), but not so much people throughout the path(lap) that I run. No biggies I am used to running alone and it can actually be a good thing during racing (training alone).

I think that also the reason that I felt so tired in the second half was because I am not used to run that frecuently( just 13 hours apart), but the bigges obstacle to beat today was the heat. I dont want to race in that conditions indeed.

I am happy with my consistency and the training that I putting in, not great, but not so bad either.

Have a great Saturday everyone!!

Watchless recovery run

I said on Wednesday that Thursday I was going to take the day off and I did, also said that I was going to do something fast today, but as I mentioned I have been experiencing an ankle/shin pain in the right leg that is bothering me and I dont want to sabotage my consistency. Dan, my twin brother borrowed me my watch so He could do a workout and I gave it to him. I went out to the conservatory at 6:20 p.m. and did 7 laps at an easy recovery pace, the leg did not bother much but I could feel both shins giving me signs. I did around 8.5k feeling pretty good and rested. But as soon as I finish I felt a lot of pain in the right shin/ankle and stretched it for a bit, it improved, but then hurted again. Its crazy, but after taking a shower and walking to buy my dinner did not bother me a lot but I was feeling it. I ll keep and eye on that but I ll try to keep running, Hope that this is not serious.

8.5k untimed,

Have a great Friday!!