2007-07-30

my first hill and probably my first official 10K distance.

Last Saturday, I decided to run along the river valley trail again. Overall, it was an awesome run, save the last mile where I took the beating of one nasty hill. Now I know why people prefer the hill in the early part of a race., hehe! I don't know what to expect from the trail, and five minutes into my run and I encountered steep turns combined with short but challenging inclines and declines. The first eight kms are packed dirt, so though I'm not used to running trails it was a little easy on my feet. Most of the time I am traversing the side of the river, which gave me awesome and relaxing view. Not much traffic in the trail, and there is enough shade to protect me from the sun. Going back after looping around Hawrelak park, and after crossing the Groat Road bridge, the usual route is the other side of the river along River Valley road, but for some reason I was magnetized by the beautiful long hill of Victoria Trail which I know promises a great view of the golf course and the river valley itself. I don't exactly know how long the hill is, but for me it seems like a kilometer! I am certain it is less, but that's how I felt when I gave up and walk the remaining third. (edit: I just measured it thru run.com, and it's 900 meters!) It was a crazy idea to do my longest run yet, and cap it with a hill, but it was definitely a fulfilling run! I'll conquer that hill next time =) The way back to my car requires descending a long stair, and while some people are using it as part of their training running up and down, I was holding on to the rail most of the time for fear of my legs giving up and myself falling down the steps, haha!

The Nike+ registered the distance as 12.95K, while the Garmin measured it as 10.9K. My longest distance, and my official first 10K+ run (*fireworks*)

2007-07-27

who's telling the truth??

I did my midweek run yesterday, and was excited because I would get to test my new toy -- an HRM. Now this HRM happens to have a pedometer capability as well, so I thought maybe I'll set it on, too, just to see how accurate the Nike+iPod thingy is. Actually, it's got more capability so I think of using it instead of having to inconveniently press my Nano's middle button to know my time, distance, and pace . I have my Nano in my armband so it's always difficult to press the middle button. If I'm not looking, I would sometimes hit the pause/play button which causes the workout monitoring to pause (grrr!). On my last few runs, I had to place the Nano to my wrist just to avoid the above scenario. Good thing the band is convertible =)

But wait, what is my post about again? Oh yeah, "who's telling the truth". Kinda drifted there for a sec, hehe! So i started my work out and started them both HRM and Nano. After a km, I looked at the nano (on my right wrist), and it's saying I'm running at around 6:30 pace, then I looked on my left wrist and it's 8 something. What the heck? And so I continued thinking well maybe the HRM is showing my average pace, and Nano as we know shows whatever is the current. I checked a couple of time during my run and it's still the same. The pace difference is more than a minute! I ended my slow run after 50 min, and both of them registered the time accurately as expected (otherwise, one of them is in danger of getting trampled upon, hehe! the nike+ only of course, not the nano. I ain't crazy and/or rich!). So time is ok, but what about the distance. The Nano says 7.2km, the other gizmo.... 6.08 km!!! Man, that's a difference of more than 1.1KM! 15% inaccuracy for the Nike+ or 18% if it's the new gadget that is inaccurate. So I googled, and really found no complaints about my new G. Some users even commented it's accurate outdoors because it uses GPS. So right now, I'm really thinking it's the cheaper gadget, Nike+iPod, that is inaccurate.

But what does this whole inaccuracy thingy brings to the table? First, I probably have not completed my first 10K (waah!) Second, I'm probably not even close to running 5K in less than 30 (waah ulit!). And of course, I realized that my average pace is lamer than I thought! =(

I probably have to reposition the sensor, and make sure it's fitted snugly and not bouncing around. Yup, I ain't using Nike+ shoes, so my sensor is on the lace. While typing, I thought of googling which shoe the sensor goes on a Nike+, and it's on the left. I think I have mine on the right. Dunno if that makes a difference, but I will switch mine too and see if accuracy will improve.

Sorry, but I'm too shy to mention the name of my new doodad. Till next!

2007-07-26

biyahe tayo sa pinas!

pinaiyak ako ng lolo ni karen, eto naman pina-miss sa akin ang pinas =(



if you're eyes have been dry for a while now, let's try this...

2007-07-24

almost! almost!

Since my last post, I have run another 5K(33min) and 10K (69min), and another 5K this morning to which i almost broke thru a below 30 -- I clocked at 30 min 06 sec! I run the last 10min at 5:25 without break just to beat the time, but ended up 6 seconds over, huhu! Again, I know it's really nothing, but for me that's almost another milestone =) Well, I'll try again next time. I'll start slower, maybe pace at 6:00 for the first 2km, and then bump it up to 5:30 in the last 3K. I am not doing the math, but I think that will be enough. This is my once a week speed run, btw, and I only do this on my midweek run. I run long and slow on weekend, then I try to do two shorter runs on weekdays because of time restriction (read:work). I guess that's about it for my progress, if you could call it that, hehe! =)





On a more serious note, Ben finished the Milo Marathon at 4:35:25, while we are still waiting for Anton's next post to see how his run went. But no matter what, these guys run for a cause, and so I salute them! And I think these UP Mountaineers deserve more praise, as they finished a 100KM ultramarathon for a cause! Hats off to you guys!!

2007-07-17

my first 10K

Lance Armstrong congratulated me this morning right after finishing my first 10K run. No kidding! Well, if you are not running with the Nike+ iPod kit, the chance of him congratulating you would be close to nil. I covered 10K with a lousy 1:10, but it still feels awesome! And what's amazing is I'm not even that tired, so I'm thinking if I run at a slow but consistent pace, I shouldn't have a problem running a half soon. Anton over at OAP finished his second 21K at 3:15, so at least the bar is not the high, hehe! I started running at around 6:30, and with warm-up and cool-down, finished the whole workout just before 8am. I had to eat my breakfast, sit on the throne (I stay there long, it's a relaxing thing to do), and take a shower so that's another 30 minutes, and before I knew it, I was way too late for work! I had to drive for 25 minutes, and do my daily scripture reading in the park near where I usually park my car. Then I had to walk for another five minutes, and clocked in at work at 9:45. very late! hehe! But with the 10K accomplishment, I still feel great!

Oh, I almost forgot. I thought I'd share this humiliating run that I did last Sunday. I have this crazy idea (at least for me) of running my first 10K (soon) for under an hour. Mind you, I have only started running last June, and I have never really run before. In fact, it was only last month that I learned what type of feet I have, but that's another story for later time =) Back to that Sunday run. So I thought if I want to run 10K in under an hour, I have to pace at around 5:30 (taking into account the walking breaks). I know it is not really fast as Ben run at this speed on his last 21K. But for me, who runs at 6:30, it is fast! And so I did run at around this pace, and 7 minutes after, I am already catching my breath, and starting to feel the stitch. I decided to walk. One minute after, I still don't think I could run so I walked for another minute! Then I run again for another five, then had to walk another two, then run another four, then had to walk again. And finally decided to head back home, pacing at a slow 7:00 for another ten minutes. And that's it! My shameful attempt to run fast =) I've learned my lesson, I gotta do it slowly. Maybe build a workout plan of slowly improving my speed run.

Here's my lousy run, according to Nike+:

2007-07-16

new found love

Ok, i'm into running now. I only started 6 weeks ago, but i am proud to say that I am already able to run 8K for 50 minutes. I know it is short, and I know the pace is slow, but hey everyone started slow =)

I am planning to run my first 10K before the summer is over, so wish me luck!

Thanks to Ben, I was able to plot the routes i regularly run.Check them out (and switch to satellite view to appreciate):
1. this is the most convenient as it's just in front of our place
2. the view on this one is so nice, you wouldn't mind the hill

And thanks to Anton for his encouraging post about Nike+, I am now able to keep a history of my run without really any effort. I'm running on a non-Nike shoes though, so I had to buy this Marware stuff.

Powersong? I can't decide yet, but I run on a power album, Evanescence's Fallen. Every cut is a powersong!