20 km of Brussels

I ran another 3 miles today. Everything went fine, allthough I'm happy to have a rest day tomorrow. The park is still muddy, allthough it didn't rain today. I heared from a friend that a full lap in the park is 1070 metres. So, counting that I run from my apartment to the park and back (which is closeby, but with the addition of both, I can probably add another 500m), and that I run 5 laps, this gives me a total of 5,8 km, which is a full km more then the 3 miles (4,8 km) I have to run according to the schedule. I made the trip in exactly 30 minutes, so I'm running at around 12 km/h, which is a nice pace. I don't think it's too bad running a little too much. I'm not running that hard, and the park is pretty flat leveled, probably unlike urban streets that may have more hills, so I can run a little more to compensate. The weather is gonna get better over the weekend, joy joy joy :).

The 29th of may, it's the 20 km of Brussels. That's in around 8 weeks and it actually fits in my schedule. It's a big event with like 20,000 runners, so I'm happy I can participate as well and that the distance actually corresponds to the distance I should be running at that time. The only problem is that your starting position depends on your finishing position last year, so that means I'll have to start all the way in the back, as I never ran it. And with that big of a crowd, that means we'll have to walk in some of the portions in the beginning, since it will be too crowded. Anyway, I don't really have to care, for me it's just another training day for the big marathon :).

I was looking for watches that can show your pace, but the nice ones from polar are like 250$. Keep on searching!

The second run

This time at least, I didn't forget my watch when going jogging :). Not that I can't pace my tempo, I know I run around 12 km/h, and that's the pace I want to run on the marathon, since that will make me finish in around 3:30 hrs. It's just that last time, I couldn't remember if I was running the 3rd or 4th lap, and looking at my watch, I could have figured it out. Running 3 miles isn't very hard for me, but I still have to get used to running everyday. I ran around 4.7 miles on monday, then I found the marathon schedule on Tuesday, that said I had to run 3 miles on tuesday, wednesday and Thursday. So, this is the third day I run in a row, even if it's not too much. I'd like to have a more precise view on how much and at what pace I actually run, I think I may buy one of those fancy speedometer watches that can count your steps and make a speed-distance conversion. I heared they were pretty accurate, but expensive as well. I don't need one with a heart-beat meter, I know when I'm overheating :).

About the run itself. It was pretty muddy in the park. It didn't rain while running, but it has been humid the past couple of days and since the park is some kind of gravel, it turns into brown-red mud when it rains. Gives me a good reason to take a shower, though.
Gonna surf the net for a nice running watch now, cheers.

Marathon Frenzy

Today, I had an epiphany. People reading this blog may or may not know, but I play basketball, and I'm not really good at it. But, the season is almost ending (only 3 more games to go), and I was already busy getting into shape by jogging, which is something I like and probably are better at then basketball. Since running just for the hell of it (or the keep in shape), is kind of boring, I was thinking about setting myself a goal, like a marathon for example. So, I cruised the net for some Marathon training guides, and I actually found quite a few. The thing that was even cooler, is that most of the training guides suppose you already jog, and prepare yourself gradually in about 18-20 weeks (which is 4-5 months) to run the Marathon. I went looking for some marathons in Belgium (knowing that there aren't that many), and guess what, only 3 popped up, all tree in a span of about a month starting from 28th of August 'till 1 October. That's the epiphany right there !!! 4-5 months from now are those cool Marathons, hooray !!!
So the cool (I dare not say ice-cold :) ) thing is that I can blog my progress down, and even if no-one reads it, at least I have an overview of my achievements!
I haven't really decided which marathon to run, but the fact that they are a month apart can give me some span in training as well. If I don't feel prepared for the first one, I'll just run the second or the third one.
My schedule for this week is:
Mon: rest (I actually ran yesterday, but that's ok since it starts out slow)
Tue: 3 miles (Did that today, probably ran 4 miles but those miles/km conversions are hard :))
Wed: 3 miles
Thur: 3 miles
Fri: rest
Sat: 6 miles (weekends are the long runs, allthough this want isn't that long, but it's a start, I'm not gonna complain yet)
Sun: cross (cross means I should do something to loosen my muscles, like going swimming)

Well, I hope I can keep up with the schedule and keep you guys and myself posted!

oh my God, a new Blog no one cares about!

So, a new Blog hey :).
I'll post something later when I actually have something to say or share.