ouch, the balls!

I went out today for 5 miles. I did 8 laps in the park, so that should be about 9 km counting the way to it and back. I must say it went pretty well, only speaking of the running. I ran easily at a nice pace. The only problem was that around lap 5, my right testicle started to feel a little hot. When I came home after the run, I realized that I had my boxers on inside-out, so that must have caused my discomfort. The result is that I have now an irritated left testicle. I hope it's gonna get better by tommorow, and I'll make sure to wear other boxers, or at least put them on correctly :) Anyway, my finishing time was 46 minutes, so that's ok.

5th week

Still a little sore from the long run on Saturday.
The weeks are somewhat getting tougher. Not only do I have to run a mile more in the weekend, I'll have to run a mile more today as well.
tue: 3 miles
wed: 5 miles
thur: 3 miles
sat: 10 miles

The 3 easy miles yesterday went fine. I still was a little sore from saturday, but it went ok.

Long run

I was kind of afraid of today, since I had to run the 9 miler. Not that I wasn't feeling too confident, but since I ran a little too hard on thuesday and had to drag that along the whole week while running, I didn't really knew if I was fully recovered. With that in mind I just wanted to run the distance, even if it meant running slow. I started pretty slow for the first mile, but then again, it was uphill, so it would be crazy to blow up the engine that fast. I didn't really get into it until around 5 km. I don't know why, but it always takes like 20 minutes for me to fully warm up while running. The stretch between 5-10 km which was uphill and downhill went pretty smooth. I picked my course so that the last 3-4 km would be downhill, that also means that most of the hard work was done in the first 10 km. Even if I was having a hard time, I'd be able to just "roll home". After around 13 km I got kind of close to the appartment, so made a little local loop to arrive at my place after 15.2 km.
Instead of doing 9 miles (14.5 km), I did 15.2 km in 1:18 in a 11,6 km/h average. Did not break any speed records, but all went ok, and I'm gonna stay focused on running easy this week so that I can be fit for the weekend and not vice-verca.

last easy run of the week

Yesterday (Thursday) I had a good reason to run at easy pace: the upcomming 9 miler of saturday. I still feel the lactic acid in my legs, ran way too hard on monday :). So, my five laps in the park yesterday where at ease:
run to park: 1:22
lap 1: 5:34
lap 2: 5:34
lap 3: 5:34
lap 4: 5:33
lap 5: 5:34
run from park: 1:28
total: 30:42
I only noticed it this morning, but I can't believe I ran the 5 laps in exactly the same time :). At least it shows I was running nice and easy. Now I'll have to rest for saturday. Unless I don't feel fit enough and then I'll run on sunday.

no forerunner today!

I didn't use my garmin forerunner to run today. I noticed yesterday that in the park, where there's lots of trees, it's good at keeping distance and lap times, but it definitely isn't too good at keeping pace. I ran way too hard since the forerunner was giving me 6 minute/km times, while I was probably running faster, so it was like switching between 4.15 and 6 minutes/km. I felt it today in my legs that I kind of pushed myself yesterday. Today was the mid-week "long run". 4 miles on the program. I did around 7 km: 6 laps in the park and running to it and back.
Took my lap times on my Timex:
running to park: 1:08
lap 1: 5:44
lap 2: 5:41
lap 3: 5:36
lap 4: 5:40
lap 5: 5:27
lap 6: 5:20
running back: 1:29
total: 36:07
As one can see, the time are almost 45 seconds slower a lap. I just ran a little faster in lap 5 and 6, since it said to do so in the training guide, for the rest is was a nice quiet run. The lesson learned is that I'm only going to use the garmin forerunner when running on the street, and probably not display pace or speed, since it can be inacurate.

week 4

Ok, so here's the planning:
tue: 3 miles
wed: 4 miles
thu: 3 miles
sat: 9 miles

Went running in the park, it was really muddy. pretty strange since it didn't really rain today, but it did all weekend though.
Anyway, today, had to do 3 miles, I did the usual 6 km (tracked it with the forerunner) in 27:34 at an average pace of 13 km/h.
I phoned to my dad today (who is a track&field coach), and he was kind of doubtful about my training guide. He said I should really focus on doing more miles a week. But the athlete he's still coaching runs marathons in 2:25-2:35, way above my pace. So, maybe for that guy the training I'm doing is not enough by far, but for me it could fit. He's coming over for diner in 3 weeks, so I'll be able to discuss it then. In the mean time I'll just focus on running the 20km of Brussels first, so that will be a good test. I feel pretty confident about running it in 1:40 hr, though. We'll see :).

the forerunner 201 has arrived

On Friday, the garmin forerunner 201 arrived. I really wanted to take it out for a test on saturday, but since that was my b-day, there was too much planned to be able to run. So, this weekend I ran on sunday. I put the forerunner on auto-lap of 1 km, which means that every km, it gives back the time run for that lap. The total run should only be like 5 miles, but I ran 6.5 miles (10.5 km). Since I could keep track of my pace with the forerunner, I ran a pretty steady pace. So, here are the lap times:
1 km: 4:50
2 km: 4:39
3 km: 5:08
4 km: 4:52
5 km: 4:47
6 km: 4:53
7 km: 4:55
8 km: 5:01
9 km: 4:57
10 km: 4:51
total: 51:30 -> avg: 12.3 km/h

The good part is that I did not have too much trouble keeping my pace (12 km/h), and I wasn't too exhausted when finishing. That garmin forerunner is really neat! Now I'll be able to run wherever I want and not have to worry about what distance I'm running.

Le Nouveau Timex est arrivé

Finally I picked up my watch. Everything in fine condition and all working great. Today, a simple 3 miles run again. So, I've hit the 5-lapper in the park again. As I was running towards the park, I see two guys I know from way back at the entrance. I only ran like 1 minute so I stopped to catch up with them. There's one of friend I didn't see for like 3 years. The funny thing is that he actually lives like 200 metres from my house, he lives in the same street! We talked for 10 minutes and I gave him my address, so he's gonna drop by sometime.
After they leave, I reset my new Timex, and plan on taking lap-times. When jogging at easy pace, a lap in the park takes about 6 minutes (1070 metres for a lap). Since I only had to run 5, I said I was gonna go a little faster.
lap 1: 5.24 -> I ran more then a lap since I still had to run towards the path around the park (maybe 150 m extra).
lap 2: 5:03 -> wow, that's way faster then 6 minutes, maybe I should go a little slower!
lap 3: 4.53 -> ahum, well, that's not slower!
lap 4: 5:02 -> only 1 lap left, may as well keep up the pace.
lap 5: 5:00 -> still looking sharp, but breathing a little harder though :)
way home: 1:21 -> 300 metres should be a pretty good estimate of the distance to the park then.

total: 26:45 -> I'm happy with that time, I don't know if I could keep up that pace for like 20 km yet, though. I'll have to work on that :). Saturday I have to run 8 laps. I'm still gonna stay in the park, unless I receive my Garmin GPS tomorrow, but I doubt it. I'm probably gonna run a little slower then, those 5 minutes splits are way too fast. I could probably keep it up for like 8 laps, but that's not the point, I just have to run at a comfortable pace.

my first rainy run

First of all, I still don't have my Timex watch, didn't have the courage to pick it up this morning at 8 am and staid in bed some more. Tomorrow I really have to go! Todays run was a 4 miler, so that's one lap more in the park. I ran at ease, but then in the 4th lap suddenly all hell broke loose and it was raining heavily! I could have ran directly home, but I said to myself that I had to learn to run in the rain, since I don't know if it's gonna rain or not on race day, so better be prepared. I came home totally drenched but with a good feeling. Something I notice about running, is that I don't come home exhausted. I actually don't feel tired or out of breath at all. My legs feel like they've been running, but for the rest it's like I didn't run at all 2 minutes after running.

3rd week start

Third week is kind of laid back:
tue: 3 miles
wed: 4 miles
thur: 3 miles
sat: 5 miles
I did the easy pace 3 miles today, no problems at all. The small pains I had last week are over (still feel them slightly but it's not noticeable).
So, I've got some good news. The Timex watch arrived yesterday! The only problem is that I don't have it yet since the courier showed up during daytime when I was at work, of course. I phoned them this morning to say that I was going to pick it up at their storage location, since I was never home when they would pass, but the courier was already on the road, again! Tomorrow morning, that's the first thing I'm gonna do, wake up early and get that freaking watch! I also ordered the garmin forerunner 201 online through my work. So at least they'll deliver that one to my work address! I still have 100 euro bonus left, so I only have to supplement like 50 euro to buy it, and I want it so bad after all the good things I've heared about it!

long beach run

Yesterday I did my long run sea-side, in "de Haan". I had 7 miles on the program. I didn't want to run on the beach, since then I'd have to walk back to the place we were staying, so I did choose for a run in the dunes and pine-forest. It had been storming the day before and saturday morning was pretty bad as well, but when I was running around 11 am the weather was dry. Still a little wind, but that's normal near the sea, and in the forests I didn't feel it that much. I took a small asphalted walking path in the forest towards the nearest village, and it went up and down a lot. After 15-20 minutes of running I hit a main road going to the nearest village and ran there for some time went back into the woods. Then I took another road back. At first I was a little scared that I would get way out of track since that road seemed to turn away from my destination, but after 50 minutes of running I was back were I started. I had no real idea about the distance I was running, but I figured I had to run at least 1 hour to be sure, since I was running a steady pace. So I ran a little more around "De Haan" and then went back. It was a really nice run, and I didn't feel too tired. I'm gonna enjoy the 2 days of rest though, I need them :). Anyway, my groin isn't hurting anymore so I think everything is ok for now. Next week is gonna be a smooth one since I can take a step back on the long distance, only a 5 miler next saturday.

20 km of Brussels, here I come!

Hooray! I received my starting number for the 20 km of Brussels today, and my number is 3825. That means that I'm in "box 2" at the starting line, so I won't have to overtake those 20 000 ppl that should be slower then me. box 2 is from nr 1200-6000, so I'm with the 6000 first starters, and if I'm there early, that's with the 2000 first starters :). I should thus be able to run a sub 1:50 time (aiming for 1:40 but we'll see about that later in my training).

For todays run (a 3 miler again) I choose to run on the streets instead of in the park. Both the marathon and the 20km will be run on the streets, so I better get used to it. I took a hilly course, first mile went straight up, then other miles went down again with some variation afterwards. I probably did more then 3 miles, I ran around 30 minutes. Since I don't really know the distance I assume I ran between 5-6 km again. So, my groin still hurts a litte, but less then yesterday. However, I have the impression that now my right hip is starting to hurt a little. The weird thing is that it doesn't bother me while running, it only does when I sit. Maybe there is something wrong with my sitting position at work. I sit all day and sometimes I do get a little cramp here and there from just sitting there. Tomorrow is a rest day so I'll try not to put too much weight or pressure on those parts of my body.

Friday I'm gonna visit my mom who is at the seaside for vacation. I'll run my long distance there on saturday morning (7 miles). They have some nice walks there, or otherwise I can just run on the beach for one hour.

Timex IronMan 50 laps

This morning my groin still felt a little sore (I said in my previous post that it was my Hamstring, but it's in the front, so it's the groin). When running my 3 miles (actually more like 6 km -> 5x1070m + 2x300m, all in one stretch of course) today it didn't really bother me. Today was a "tempo" run. I emmediatly started pushing a little while running. Didn't really have a difficult time. When I was starting getting out of breath, I ran a little slower for 200m and I caught my second breath. I came home not tired, in a time of 28:30. Stretched my groin and all other muscles.

I won an ebay auction for a Timex IronMan 50 lap watch. Way cool! I can't wait to have it in my mailbox and start training with a little more precision :). I bought it from one of those "ebay companies" that sell stocks of new stuff, so the watch is brand new.
Hopefully my groin isn't gonna give me a hard time tomorrow.

second week

The second week looks like this:
mo: rest (check :))
tue: 3 miles (easy)
wed: 3 miles (tempo)
thue: 3 miles (easy)
fri:rest
sat: 7 miles

So, did the 3 first easy miles. And it was easy indeed :). Tomorrow is the same distance but I can run somewhat faster, that's gonna be a first little test to see how fast I can go.
My Hammstring is somewhat sore after the run though (didn't feel it while running). I think it's still from that basketball game, since I pulled it a little there. I will not play basketball anymore until I ran that marathon !!!

I'm checking out some watches that I can use for my workout. Right now the Garmin ForeRunner 201 seems to be the best buy (GPS based system). I've heared a lot of great things about it, but it's like 150 euro around here. Then there's the Timex IronMan 200 laps; it's cheap in the US (29$), but I can't seem to find it here for an affordable price. If I have to pay 100 euro for the Timex, might as well get the Garmin!

First Big Run

The first big run wasn't really that big, but it's a start: 6 miles (9.656 km). I ran in the park again, and the soil was dry this time. It was a very sunny day (around 18 degrees Celcius), and there was a nice fresh breeze in the park. I had the feeling I wasn't running very fast, but my time was alright, 51 minutes. That's a good time for me, considering I wasn't really pushing, so I was really runnning at ease.
Something I should not have done, was play basketball afterwards. Especially since I wasn't too happy about the game, I did not receive a lot of passes, so I was really just running from one side to the other. Considering that I've been running 2hrs prior to the game, I didn't need the extra work out. We still have two more games to play (so that's two more weeks of basketball), but I'm gonna take today as a lesson and not play those games. I didn't get injured, but I was feeling really well after my run, my legs weren't feeling sore at all, and by playing I may have added some unecessary extra stress on it. So, now I'm feeling a little extra sore, and it's probably because of the basketball game. Luckily, I have two resting days tomorrow and monday, so I'll be able to start a fresh 3 miler on Tuesday.