Since August 17...

Andy was right.  I haven’t post anything for very-very-long time.  I had some new personal issues and put my mind off, but running helped.  Running help me get over of things I want to block out, things that I want to forget, and move on to a new path.  Anyway, let me tell you what I been doing for the last several month.

On Friday of August 17, I ran 32 minutes easy as my pre-race jog and volunteer in the Comus XC 5K in the evening.  I usually don’t eat ice cream and have beer at the same time; but I do that once a year in Comus 5K.  I think I might actually broke my own record that night by consumed five ice cream sandwiches and four beers in matter of 2 hours.  That was a whole lot of empty calories. 

My plan for Leesburg 20K was running easy for the first few miles around 6:20 ~ 6:30 pace, then trust my fitness to press hard, and should finished under 1h’20m’. 

On Sunday, I up early in my friend’s house just few minutes from the starting line in Leesburg.  I grabbed a few bites of something and few cups of coffee before I head down the stair.  I got my package and did my warm up.  Just before I toed the line, I met Dickson (former GRC teammate), Taylor (MCRRC teammate), and Robert (former GRC teammate and PR teammate).  GO was call and everyone strolling forward.  I felt pretty good as I run along-side with my former and current teammates in the first mile or so.  The course took us into W&OD and climbing up. 

Start of 2013 Leesburg 20K

After a few, I noticed my pace was not getting better and actually dropping.  The course was steadily climbing and just before the turn around, Mellisa Rittenhouse, whom was running with me from start, suggested we take it till the end together at 6m’20 pace.  I agreed and charge forward with her.  We work together most of the way, just by the time we get to mile 11.5 or so, my legs were beat and not much in the tank.  She continued push hard and I tried my best to keep up.  At the end, I crossed the line 21-second behind her.  Here are my splits for 2013 Leesburg 20K:

Mile 01 - 6m'33.95s'
Mile 02 - 6m'27.82s'
Mile 03 - 6m'42.15s'
Mile 04 - 6m'58.94s'
Mile 05 - 7m'03.78s'
Mile 06 - 6m'40.38s'
Mile 07 - 6m'29.14s'
Mile 08 - 6m'44.17s'
Mile 09 - 6m'29.67s'
Mile 10 - 6m'12.77s'
Mile 11 - 6m'16.68s'
Mile 12.48 - 8m'44.86s'

I missed my goal and didn’t broke 1m’20s’, but I know I ran pretty hard on this course.  It wasn’t exactly the same course I ran it back in 2010 and I race plan was mess up from the beginning.

As for the Week August 19^th, Monday was good day to be off since my legs were sore as hell.  Tuesday, I was still bit sore to run a workout with Dojos, so I skipped that and I ran solo during lunch for an hour instead.  During that run, I did 3x 6m’ pick up intervals with 3m’ recover jog, then toward the end, I did additional 3x1m’ surge with 1m’ jog.  I logged about 8.5 for the day.

I wasn’t as sore as I expected on Wednesday morning.  I got myself on Richard Montgomery Track that evening for a 4x1600m repeat and I planned to run around my 10K pace – 6m’02s’ per mile.  I warm up and changed shoes, then I was off to go.  I ran 6m'06.62s', 6m'04.97s', 6m'03.63s', and 5m'58.70s’, averaged 6m’03.48s’ per mile.  It was one the best workout this season so far.  I got in about 9.5 miles for the day.

I decided to recover some on Thursday, since I planned to run hard in East County 8K on Saturday.  So I went out to run an hour easy, but I still logged in 7.9 miles.  Friday was the traditional-prescribed off day.

Saturday morning, I got myself out to MLK Park for East County 8K.  I can’t remember much about that race, but I do remember that I was part of the special smart jerseys project conduct by University of Maryland Computer Science Department.  Which was nothing too special, other than I ran 31m’12s’ for the race and made 20 bucks for doing that.  The very next day, I went out with Alan and his friends for 21 miles on this loop.  I finished the week with 54 miles.

For week of August 26^th, I logged 49 miles.  Monday was off.  Tuesday was 6x1 mile at 6m’20s’ pace repeat with Dojo on Hains Point and I ran 6m'16.58s', 6m'03.24s', 6m'07.07s', 6m'14.03s', 6m'12.91s', & 6m'13.60s' – a little too fast.  Wednesday was easy 6.5 miles. 

Thursday was the second workout on Hains Point with Dojo for 8 miles tempo at 6m’40s’ (plan marathon pace subtract 5s’) pace.  I ran 6m'34.08s', 6m'40.52s', 6m'39.68s', 6m'41.53s', 6m'42.14s', 6m'50.42s', 6m'52.08s', & 6m'49.7s' – averaged around 6m’43.77s’ pace and logged approx. 11 miles for that day.  I took Friday and Saturday very easy.  I finished with 213 miles for the month of August.

On Sunday evening, I drove out to Greenbelt Maryland and raced in the Larry Noel 15K.  

Start of 2013 Larry Noel 15K

That was my second 15K race ever.  The course start with a tiny hill then turned into a big downhill, but eventually into a rolling hilly course in Greenbelt.  The plan was to crack an hour, but it was too warm, too hilly, and too boring to run fast; however, I still finished fourth overall (Claire Hallissey was in the mix), third for males, and first in 30-34 division.  The splits for Larry Noel 15K were 20m’23.78s’ for 1^st 5K, 21m’44.26s’ for 2^nd 10K, and 20m’54.78s’ for 3^rd 5K.

Charging toward the finish line

For week of September 2^nd, I logged 52 miles.  Monday was easy 6 miles on MHT. Tuesday was 4x1.5 mile repeat at 6m’25s’ pace with Dojo; then I ran 9m’31.9s’, 9m’31.7s’, 9m’26.22s’, & 9m’39.84s’ – averaged around 6m’21s’ per mile.  Wednesday and Thursday were back to back easy 8 miles during lunch hour.  Friday was prescribed off day. Saturday morning stroll down MHT for 4.5 miles as pre-Parks-Half-Marathon shake off jog. 

Sunday morning, I toed the line with fellow MCRRC race team teammates.  The race wasn’t much to talk about, since it routes around the training ground that very familiar to majority of us.  However, I didn’t PR this time due to less prefect condition and finished with a time of 1h’26m’14s’ (6m'12.70s', 6m'19.47s', 6m'37.38s', 6m'30.78s', 6m'34.04s', 6m'42.36s', 6m'37.44s', 6m'30.14s', 6m'35.24s', 6m'29.67s', 6m'38.79s', 6m'53.44s', 6m'51.15s', & 0m'41.94s').  I got in total of 16.3 miles for the day with warm up and warm down.

Steve Zuraf captured this picture while I was processing to Connecticut Avenue turn around and eventually went on to runwashington.com as a headline story 

For week of September 9^th, I logged 50 miles.  Monday was off day.  Tuesday was 3x2 miles at half marathon effort with Dojo. The workout was good, I clocked 13m’05.3s’ and 12m’38.9s’ for the first two; then I got very tiring after second rep, instead run a bad third rep, I ran 2x1miler and clocked 6m’18.39s’ and 6m’24.75s’.  It wasn’t too bad.  I took following two days very easy and off my feet on Friday.  Saturday morning, I got myself toe the line of Market Street Miler in Frederick Maryland and I finished with a time of 5m’26s’.  Sunday morning, I planned to run 21 miles easy, but end up with 23 miles about 3h’01m’22s’.

For week of September 16^th, I logged 59 miles.  Monday was off day after a 23 unexpected miles.  Tuesday was schedule for 3x2.5 miles at half marathon pace and I ran 16m’10.38s’, 16m’13.27s’, and 15m’57.27s’.  Wednesday was easy day.  Thursday was schedule to run 12 miles at marathon target pace – 6m’45s’ per mile; then I was too tire after 10 miles and I clocked: 6m'37.01s', 6m'36.99s', 6m'39.02s', 6m'41.71s', 6m'44.54s', 6m'46.13s', 6m'48.05s', 6m'53.06s', 6m'52.31s', 7m'00.93s', and 6m'54.51s'.  That was the hardest workout I ever completed.  Friday definitely was the day to be off, ran Lake Needwood XC 10K for 43m’14s’, and ran 18.42 miles with Dojoers.  Alan prescribed us to run the fiveloops of Lee HWY at marathon pace, but we were done after the third and we added on additional 9.4 miles to Hais Point.  It was a very good long run.

For week of September 23, I logged 52miles.  Monday was an off day.  The repeat on Tuesday was 3x3-mile at half marathon pace, but my legs were very sore and wasn’t fully recovery.  I ran 2x3 miles instead.  I ran 18m’55.44s’ (03m'08.74s', 03m'10.77s', 03m'10.01s', 03m'12.77s', 03m'08.80s', & 03m'04.36s') and 18m’57.22s’ (03m'08.87s', 03m'11.43s', 03m'11.52s', 03m'13.99s', 03m'07.06s', & 03m'02.66s').  Wednesday was an easy day.  Thursday’s workout was changed to few fartlek as I was gearing up for Bachmann Valley Half Marathon on Sunday.  Friday and Saturday were two easy days running.  Sunday morning, I made sure I get to Westminster very early to get ready, unlike the year before. 

At 07:00, the G-O-word was call and everyone charge forward.  I mixed in the group of four with Karsten Brown, Keith Levasseur, and another guy for the first mile.  No one wanted to take the command and test each other out.  After 1.3 mile or so, the other guy picked up the pace and Keith follow, but Karsten start to drop behind me.  I hold on my own pace and tried to chase the Guinness record holder down till the end, but there weren’t enough roads for me to catch him up.  The course was not easy, but I think I ran a very smart race.

For week of September 30, I logged 64 miles.  Monday was another day off and ran 225 miles for the month of September.  Tuesday of October 1 was a prescribe 9x1-mile repeat at 10K pace.  For whatever reason, I didn’t record any splits in my book, all I have is I ran 12.7 miles in total for 1h’30m’22s’ that morning before Uncle Sam closed his door in my face.  Wednesday was an easy day.  Thursday was a tempo workout on MHT. Based on Alan’s email, I modified the workout to 6x3m’ at 10K pace, but the trail is no as nice as marked course on Hais point and few short stops at intersections.  I added on some, so that I can maintain same level of workout.  For the day, I ended up running 7x3m’ and 1x4m’.  I cross train on Friday for about 12 miles on bike and ran 24 miles on Saturday morning for 3h’06m’06s’ (1h’32m’12s’ + 1h’33m’54s’).  Sunday was too sore to run any and taper began.

For week of October 7, I logged 57 miles.  8 miles easy jog on Monday.  Tuesday was to run 3x2.5 miles at marathon pace with 3m’30s’ recovery.  I ran 16m'46.53s', 16m'20.46s', & 16m'19.73s'.  Not bad at all!  Wednesday was a raining day and I ran 8.9 miles. Thursday and Friday were two 7 miles easy run in cold rain.  First annual Matthew Henson Trail 5K was on October 11, 2013 and it was my first race to direct.  It had a very good turnout and didn’t rain a drop after the race was finish.  I am looking for more MHT 5K in the coming years.  Sunday, I ran 15 miles in 1h’50m’29s’ with 6-mile at marathon pace.

For week of October 14, I logged 45 miles.  I took it very easy on Monday by spending time with girlfriend and her family.  Alan emailed me to run 2x4-mile at 5-second faster than MP (6m’35s’) or 26m’20s’ for 4-mile; and I ended up running 25m’04.66s’ and 26m’00.51s’ instead.  I felt great!  I ran six laps on Queensguard Park for approx. 4 miles on Wednesday.  Back to work on Thursday morning and ran 4x3m’ pick up on Hais Point. Friday was an off day.  I drove out to Germantown on Saturday morning for Black Hill XC 10K and finished with a time of 45 minutes flat.  I wasn’t planning to run it hard, since was eight days away from the MCM, and finished at exactly how I planned.  Sunday was an easy 10 miles jog out-and-back on MHT as my last “long” run before MCM.

For week of October 21, I logged 55 miles.  It was the final week and one of most important week before the marathon.  Monday was an easy 6-mile jog around Tidal Basin.  Tuesday was the last tempo workout and planned for a downward ladder, 2-mile at planned marathon pace, 1-mile at half marathon pace, 1200m at 10K pace, 800m at 5K pace, and 400m at 3K pace.  Then I ran 13m’24.65 for the 2-miler, 6m’31.13 for miler, 4m’44.21 for 1.2k, 3m’07.88 for half, and 1m’31.28 for the quarter.  Not too terrible and happy with it.  Wednesday, I ran down to the MCM finished line to experiences the feeling for crossing the line few days in advance.  Thursday and Friday were off day, but did walk around the district while I picked up my package.  Saturday, I jogged 4.9 miles in the morning to loosen up. 

Sunday morning, I got up extra early and Amy was joined the fun with me to starting line.  The race was start and finished in Virginia which another state for me to check out.  Due to lack of time and memory fading away from me, I can’t remember a whole lot about the entire race, but I remember that huge downhill near mile 3 that gave me boost too early, I remember Team PR teammate Sloane scream my name near mile 9, I remember the clime on I-395 and downhill spiral near mile 26 drove me into wall.  

At the finish line

However, I remember my training did paid off and ran the second best marathon in my life by finished with a time of 3h’00m’28s’. 

Here were the splits I recorded:
Mile 02 - 13:33.38
Mile 04 - 12:57.54
Mile 06 - 13:00.75
Mile 08 - 14:13.09
Mile 12 - 26:32.36
Mile 14 - 13:48.83
Mile 18 - 27:44.17
Mile 20 - 13:14.21
Mile 22 - 14:17.44
Mile 24 - 14:42.43
Mile 25 - 7:29.67
Mile 26 - 7:19.71
Mile 26.2 - 1:33.87

The following week, I took six days off after marathon, but done tons’ walking and stretching.  I registered Parks 10K way too long ago and ventured out to Potomac Park for the task.  I was clear sore even after several days of rest and I finished the race with a time 39m’18s’ (5m'58.35, 7m'20.61, 5m'39.66, 6m'14.46, 6m'26.96, 6m'41.75, 0m'55.81).

2013 Run in the Parks 10K

The following several weeks was nothing too important to talk about other than celebrate my 35^th birthday with Amy by a wonderful trip on a Bahamas cruise, celebrate Turkey day with Amy’s family, and Black Friday shopping with Amy.  

Time rolled around to end of the year, I went to Southern Cal to see family for two weeks, and ran in upper 50s’ degree every day. For the year of 2013 was wonderful in term of running.  I ran two marathons and both were well under Boston q-time, which I’ll be in Boston marathon with some of you in 2014.  In my personal side was also good, I got myself away from a ridiculous person and met someone new and wonderful.  I was just hoping for the best when the New Year arrived.  Then life is never wonderful as you planned and I will tell you all about it later.