Catalina Long Run

So I went to Catalina today with Heather and her friends, and decided it would be fun to do my long run today and rest tomorrow. Ended up doing a grueling 1 hr 40 minutes - 14 miles, going from sea level to 1600 feet and back down. I'm completely spent for the week and taking tomorrow off, but 71 miles for the week ini 6 days isn't too shabby.

Drop the Watch

Every once in a while you need to go on a run and leave the watch at home. One of my biggest running pet peeves is people who look at their Garmin or watch every 10 seconds to check their pace. Most runners have measured or approximated the 1-5 mile distances from their house. Once or twice per week, leave the watch at home at listen to how your body feels. If it's supposed to be an easy day, run at whatever pace feels comfortable. If it's a medium day, consider leaving the watch at home, start off easy and allow yourself to gradually pick up the pace on the way home. It's all about the miles and effort anyways.

Sometimes people get so carried away with hitting a pace that they run faster or slower than what their body is telling them. For instance, running 8 minute miles may be slower than what your natural gate is conditioned for. You stare at your Garmin for 80 minutes trying to maintain 8 minute miles right on the button with hopes of controlling your pace. Instead of an easy run, you are actually putting unnecessary pressure on your knees trying to slow yourself from your natural pace. The same is true of going too fast. If you workout calls for 10 miles at 6 minute pace, and your body isn't up for it, listen, and adjust accordingly, otherwise you will bonk or get injured. It's okay to adjust training plans to accommodate your body. Maybe running 6:15's would be a better call, and if you are feeling good, you can lift at the end down to 6's or below.

I was feeling a little sluggish today and decided to go run with the CdMHS kids. My initial plan was an easy 6-7 miles, because I didn't know how my knees would react (still a little sore from yesterday). We started off at the usual 8 minute mile pace, and about a mile into the run I moved to the front of the pack and started lifting the pace just a little bit, down to about 7:45. A couple of the varsity guys went with me and the rest of the pack started to follow. I started hearing some jeers from guys in the back looking at their Garmins telling us to slow down. Actually, they were telling the two varsity guys to slow down. After this went on for another mile I couldn't contain myself.

"Guys, every once in a while you need to leave your Garmins in the car and just go for a freaking run."

Silence. Then someone responded that Coach said 8 minute pace.

"Of course he did, but who is stopping you from going faster. You guys have the whole weekend off, you shit 8 minute pace. If you want to get faster, sometimes you just have to run faster."

And we're off! Pace dropped to 7:20's up front almost instantaneously, but it was just me and two kids, with the rest of the team about 100 yard back. We grouped up at a stoplight and ran together until the 5 mile turnaround in El Morro. I ended up going out the whole 5 miles because I would have felt bad taking guys out harder on a run, then turning around early. Fortunately, my body held up with no discomfort at all. On the run out of El Morro we pulled the pace back for a bit to make sure the team was grouped up, but one of the faster kids had to use the restroom so I stopped and waited. When he got out, he immediately upped the pace to try and catch the team, now about 3 minutes ahead, and for the last 4 miles, we averaged between 6:00 - 6:15 pace (estimation), and nearly caught the guys. The other guys had picked up their pace as well, good for them. Enjoy two days off guys!

Moral of the story: sometimes is ok to hammer, other times its necessary to rest, but either way, listen to your body, not your Garmin.

Total time for the run was 71 minutes - 10 miles.

8-mile Road Tempo

The mileage build-up continues. I had a tempo run on the docket today or tomorrow and was feeling pretty good this morning so I decided to give it a go. I also laced up the Nike Lunar Glides for their first run (though I have thoroughly broken them in). I ran an easy 10 minute (1.5 mile) warm-up and stretched out a bit before I got going. The goal for the day was to get at least 8 miles at 5:40 pace (2:28 marathon pace), and if I was feeling good, extend it to 10 miles.

The first three miles were really easy, and I was slightly slower than target pace to start, which is fine, because it's better to close faster anyways. The splits were great except for mile 6 which had some uphill and I had some stomach problems. Splits:

5:44, 5:40, 5:44, 5:38, 5:38, 5:50, 5:37, 5:31 - 45:23 for 8 miles.

I felt ok afterwards and had enough energy for a 1.5 mile easy jog back to the house. I think my biggest problem during the run was getting sunblock in my eyes about half way through, but fortunately it wasn't too bothersome. I didn't notice my knee at all during the tempo, but it bothered me a little bit during the cool-down. Tomorrow will be an easy day, and Saturday will be off.

Easy 10

Ran with the high school kids again today. Was quite sore from yesterday, naturally and noticed some residual knee problems, but was able to run through it. I went out the first 5 miles at roughly 7:50 pace with the kids, then turned around and brought it down to 6:40s for the last five miles, good for 10 in 75 min. Took extra time to stretch and ice down afterwards and with 12 hours rest I'm feeling pretty good. Also, the stomach is recovered from yesterday, which is nice.

Tomorrow is either a tempo or easy run depending on how my knee feels.

Double Day

A rare double entry from me today. After 8 miles this morning, I headed to the Cal Coast workout at 6 pm. Today's workout was an 18 minute road/hill tempo. I was having some stomach problems earlier from lunch at Islands (won't be doing that again anytime soon) but I managed to work it out before the tempo.

I was feeling very springy when we started, and took out the first downhill mile at a respectable 4:51 (in trainers). Then the path turns uphill for the next two miles. I hit the 2 mile marker in 10:13, then the 3 mile in 16:00. Obviously the pace slowed tremendously, but this workout is really about the effort, as miles 2-3 are both uphill and draining. I kept it at about 80% effort and was pleased I could run that fast off a double day and not feel any lingering injuries. We will see if that keeps up tomorrow. Side note - my stomach is still acting up hours after this workout, not sure why, but maybe my body is just not used to the stress. Total mileage for last week: 26 miles. Total mileage for this week after two days: 26 miles.

Recovery week into Marathon Training

After the Allianz Games, my body finally told me enough is enough. I ran an easy six miles last Monday, then took a 36 hour break before a Cal Coast tempo on Tuesday. I ran 17 hard minutes and hobbled home with stomach problems. On Wednesday I took an easy 60 minutes with the high school kids and by mile 6, my knee was really acting up so I ended up having to walk/jog home. This wasn't the same IT band pain I had months ago. This was a stress reaction in some bone in my knee, so the only cure was rest. I took Thursday-Saturday completely off, except for Saturday where I hiked Half Dome with Heather and five other friends. Sunday, I ran an easy 45 minute shake-out run around Yosemite Valley with Julie. Total mileage for the week: 26 miles, 4 days of running, one tired Josh.

Moving forward to this week, my body is feeling slightly better. I ran 78 minutes easy with the high schoolers yesterday, which was sadly only 10 miles, but right now it is more about time on feet and less about pace. I'm also planning two serious tempo runs this week and upping my long run to 15-16 miles. Today, I ran another easy 61 minutes-8 miles with the high school kids--again time on feet. Hopefully the body parts hold up during recovery week two, but things are looking good so far.

Last Thursday was also my last day of work so for the time being the "corporate" road warrior is not applicable. Moving to Chicago next week for my full-time MBA program.

Last Day of the Games and Budapest

Short blog to be updated later. I ran the 5000 meters at 1145 this morning just as the sun was at its high point. The track was an oven and they even had water stations at the 200. I took the opening lap out in 85, then decided this was too slow and I was at least going to make guys chase me. So I dropped the next three laps down to 74 seconds, hit 506 for the first mile, then dropped to 77s the rest of the way and ended up running 1603 for the win by about 15 seconds. Still only 80 pct effort but it was so freaking hot and humid I lost too much water. I cooled down for 10 minutes and took in more water. I hopped on the bus after another festive medal ceremony and headed back to the pool, jumped in the ice bath, which was great, then took a 15 minute nap and headed back to the track for the Swedish Relay.

I jogged about 10 minutes before the relay and was feeling super dead legged but our crowd picked me up. When the gun went off, I took off a little too fast and rolled through the first 200 in 29, then 60 at the quarter, then it got a little rough. I hit 131 at 600, 204, then 237. It was once again deathly hot on the track, but somehow got through the last lap. On my cool down, which was only 10 minutes and very slow, I finally felt my body starting to break down so I am definitely taking a day or two off this week.

On a lighter note, in recognition of my two gold medals (half the USA total), Swedish relay performance and strong running style, I have been given the following knicknames by respective nations: France-The Robot, Portugal-The Machine, Italy-The American, the stupid annoying announcer-The American Boy. They just cannot figure out how someone so big can run so fast. Personally, I will take Portugal and go with the Machine, aka Sasha Vujacic, aka, two-time NBA champion. It is the closest I will ever get to a ring.

Great trip, just had a great closing ceremony and party. They announced that the games will be held in Zurich in 2014, so there is some motivation to be back at PIMCO in four years. The party after the ceremony was also wonderful. 3 a.m., just got back to the hotel, will be home in less than 24 hours. Goodnight and farewell Budapest.

Easy run in the sun

So last night turned into a nightmare. The opening ceremony was cute. They shoved us all into an ampitheater a couple hundred hards from our hotel. There were probably 45 countries and over 1000 flag waving people there. The problem, it was miserably humid, and whoever decided it would be a good idea for the U.S.A. delegation to wear heavy blue polo shirts should remain anonymous from me. We were all sweating through our shirts within 10 minutes of arriving. The ceremony ran through the entire half marathon, but some of us wanted to cheer the half marathoners on, so we left the sweat box and went outside the stadium, were the mosquitos were running rampant. I dont think I was bitten, but it was fairly annoying.

There were 110 half marathoners and it was so hot and humid, that 6 ended up in the hospital with IV drips. Hey, its only 5.5%. The race organizers screwed up by not having enough water stations, and the conditions made everyone 5 to 20 minutes slower than their qualifying times. Felt bad for them and glad I chose not to enter that race. I headed back in the ampitheater after I stopped sweating and immediately started sweating again. At least the stank was with everyone. A German guy won in 1:16, and they brought him out on stage after so we could congratulate him and then it was dinner time. Some of us headed back outside first to watch the half marathoners finish, then grabbed some traditional hungarian grub, and went back to the hotel to chill for a bit.

This morning I awoke at 6 am and did a quick shakout run in the rain. There were massive thunderstorms here last night and somehow I slept through it because it was the talk of breakfast. I needed the shakeout because my knee was sore from sleeping in a weird position. I headed down to the track around 8:30 am and chilled until it was time to warm up. I did an easy 2.5 mile warm up and was naturally soaked aftewards. The over 30 group raced before me, which was a bummer because there were a few faster guys in that one. The winner ran 4:25.

My race went off at 10:15 with only five people. I did not come here to run slow, so I decided to just take it from the gun, but was a little more cautious than usual since it was now deathly hot. I also wore spikes since half the track was still wet. I hit the first lap in 66.5, which felt easy, and had a 20 meter lead. I maintained pace perfectly and came through 800 in 2:12.8, by then the lead had opened up to over 100 meters. I rolled through 1200 in 3:19.4, another 66 and still felt easy. Given that it was hot and I did not want to kill myself, I cruised home in 51 for a 4:10.54. I ended up winning by nearly half a lap. Very pleased with the time given the conditions and I think I could run at least 10 seconds faster right now with competition and better conditions.

There was another Italian lady who won her race by about the same margin who probably runs competitively back home. She said her PR is 4:17, very good. I shuttled home to jump in the pool and change, then headed back for the awards ceremony and took the bus into Pest. Last thing: the announcer during the race is a hoot. He is doing live play by play during the races, but doesnt know much about track, so hes getting so confused. I also just had my first food mix up. I ordered a fruit soup, and asked what it was first. The waiter said it was a bunch of fruit in a bowl. Sounds like a fruit bowl I think. He brought out what can only be described as fruit poop n a bowl, so gross. Sent it back, finished my beer and left. STUPID AMERICAN!!! Good times, looking forward to tomorrow.

Opening Day

Opening day is not actually until tonight, but I moved into the new hotel last night, which is much nicer than my old one, free, and has better AC. I met the North America group there last night with 10 minutes to spare before the busses left for dinner. We went to Spoons on a boat on the Danú, which was delicios, except we were on the top deck so the sun baked us wet. Dinner and drinks were on the company, which was nice. Nothing too eventful last night for me, but some people were out until 4 am. There are also a ton of Allianz Life and Firemans Fund people here, maybe a monopoly on the selection process (hint hint), because I am the only PIMCO U.S. person here.

I woke up at the usual time this morning and went for a 5 mile run, pre race day and all. Then cooled off and went down for another free breakfast (ate about 5 mini chocolate crossiants), and took the buses and trains back into Pest. I then spent about two hours taking buses and public trains around town just for fun and because they are free with my Allianz badge. It is actually a great way to see the city. Had another margherita pizza in the plaza this afternoon, and now am heading back to the hotel to clean up for opening ceremonies at 530, and then watch the half marathoners suffer through 13 miles at 6pm (85 degrees, 90 pct humidity). Next blog will be post 1500 meters tomorrow.

Scenic Views, Buda Castle, Moving Day

Yesterday around sunset I crossed the Danú (Danube) over to Buda and took the tram up to Buda Castle. I have clearly been spending too much time on the Pest side because I was amazed by the spectacular views (photos coming next week). Unfortunately, most of the shops were closed because it was so late, but I decided to devote my morning and lunch to exploring further.

I had dinner at the Italian Trattoria outside my hotel. The food continues to impress. Afterwards, I got another double flavor gelato shaped like a rose. It another long day so I headed up to the room around 11, and tried to read myself to sleep. What I didnt realize at the time, was that the AC was busted in my hotel, and I woke up around 2 am in a deep sweat. I killed time by BBMing with the fam in Hawaii and finishing my book (around 4:30) and finally passed out from exhaustion.

I woke up two hours later and left a little earlier than usual for an easy 7 mile run. I headed up to Gellért park/monument, probably about 300 feet above the Danú, enjoyed the view for a minute, then continued on up and down the river. The drivers here are quite nice though I did almost get hit by a car. Almost. It also relieving to have my first run without stomach issues, which means I am finally adjusted to Hungarian/Italian cooking.

After the run I packed up my stuff, showered, ate, stopped in the Basílika for the first time (it is 100 yards from my hotel), and headed back across the bridge and up to the Buda Castle. It is quite a scene up there, and there are numerous photo ops. I paid entrance to the art exhibit-museum which was a decent value for 1900 forints. There was a special exhibit by Kovásnai, who made experimental animation films from his paintings, usually pertaining to culture and society. No photogrophy allowed but I managed to sneak a few anyway. American stereotypes: I propogate them.

I wandered around the bluff for a bit and stopped into a local sandwhich shop I noticed last night. I had a light lunch so I ordered the caprese salad, a burger (Hungarian beef is quite good, but the fixings are weak), and an ice cream sundae. They seem to love ice cream sundaes here. Every place I go they have specialty sundaes on the menu. This particular sundae was delicous, and was photographed so it will be up later. Now I am headed back to the Central Basílika near my hotel to get my stuff and move into the nicer Danubius on the Island.

Museum Day

After 9 hours of sleep last night (first time that has happened in months), I awoke to BBMs from my family at 7 am. I headed out the door by 8 a.m, track spikes in hand, 1000 forints (entry fee) buried in my shoe, and ran to Margitsziget Island for a light track workout. After a 3 mile warm up, I went straight into 4 x 400 meter repeats in my training shoes, and clocked off 67, 65, 63, 61, with 1 lap jog in between each. Then, I laced up the track spikes for 4 x 200 meters, hoping the spikes wouldnt rip my calves apart. I clicked off 31, 29, 28, 28, and never felt like I really over reached, and my calves are happy to be in one piece. I jogged two miles home, good for 8 total today.

I took my sweet time cooling off and eating breakfast, then relaxed for a bit and headed out for a Museum day on the Pest side of town. I took the yellow line uptown to the Müscarnok, which had a modern art exhibit on the artistic representation of the post-Soviet economic development. It was an interesting exhibit, but I am not a huge modern art person so I wasnt blow away. Probably stayed for about an hour, then headed across the square to the Szépmüvésti Múseum (Fine Arts Museum) which is actually quite spectacular. The building is constantly under repair because it was shelled during WWII, and they left a skylight where the hole was. The museum also boasts a big time list of Renaisance and Impressionist artists, including Raphael, Goya, Monet, Renoire to name a few. There was also a B version of the Last Supper (LDV wasnt the only person to paint one). I was pleased to follow along with a Dutch tour guide who led an English tour for two hours. However, I would only rate her art history knowledge at a B-.

For lunch, I just ate another Margherita Pizza and beer in Vosmarty Square, and will probably venture over to Buda tonight or take a boat up river. Tomorrow Im meeting up with the Allianz sports group.

The Danube is Beautiful but not Blue/Dudes in Speedos

I went to an outdoor restuarant bar last night to watch the world cup and though I nearly fell face first in my food at dinner, I managed to stay awake through the game and was up til 11. It was a suana in my room because I couldnt figure out the AC, but was tired enough for that not to matter. Also, for this and future entries, the z and y are switched on Hungarian keyboards, so may be a few typos.

This morning I woke up at 5 am to answer some BBMs from Anne and Rachel, then went back to sleep for two more hours. I headed out for a run up the Danube which is more of a shade of brown than Blue (Johanne Strauss was full of it, or it probably was blue in the 19th century). Then I ran over to the Margitziget Island where the Allianz games are, and ran a loop around the island. amazingly, there is a 5000 meter single lane mondo track that runs around the entire island. I ended up going about 8 miles (thanks Garmin) and then had a nice breakfast which is included in my hotel.

This morning I headed to the Szécheny Gíógyfürdő pool/spa. I have never seen more old fat guys in speedos in my life. Literally 95% of people were grossly out of shape. I read by the pool, enjoyed the indoor pools, and got a 30 minute massage (when in Rome) which was easily one of the worst three massages of my life. I hopped the train back to central basilika around 3 and stopped in the café for lunch. Until tomorrow...

Live from Budapest

I finally made it to Budapest and while its been a long day, this internet café keyboard is a nightmare so i will keep this short and sweet.

I ran 8 and 7 miles easy the past two days and took Sunday off, although this day never really happened since I boarded my plane at 230 in LA on saturday and landed in Budapest at the same time on Sunday.

More to come tomorrow once I figure out what is going on here.

Turn him loose

You can scroll down two blog entries to read the exact details of today's 2 x 2 mile tempo run along Back Bay Road. Today we had a five person crew rolling strong in the morning fog. I left the house around 6:10 and managed to get about a 2.5 mile warm-up in before we rolled into the first rep. Definitely need the extra warm-up time to deal with my Rubios burrito from last night, but such is life, and no real issues arose during the workout. Kaz was a little tired so we didn't take it out as hard, but I led us through in 5:42/5:35, good for an 11:17 first 2 miles. I was feeling very springy on the first rep, and it looked like the crew was going to struggle to keep pace on the second rep, so I decided to have a little fun with it.

During our 5 minute recovery between the reps, I told the group I was planning on taking them through the first mile on pace, the winding it up a bit for a controlled second mile. I led us through mile 1 in a perfectly paced 5:40, then immediately upped my turnover into the last mile. Once I hit a comfortable pace just below threshold, I locked in and tried to relax my body as much as possible. I ended up dropping the last mile down to a steady 5:05, good for 10:45 for my second rep, quite an encouraging workout ahead of the Allianz Games next week. I took an easy 2 mile jog back to my house, good for about 9 miles on the day, and headed off to a nice day at work.

Week in Review

No blogging for a week! Have no fear my dozens of readers, the dream is still alive. Time for a relatively quick week in review:

Friday morning, I woke up super early and ran an easy 90 minutes up and back along Back Bay Road (par for the course lately) and ended up meeting Kaz about 40 minutes in, so slowed down to 7:30 miles for most of the run. Despite my humungous Mastro's Dinner the night before, no stomach problems, maybe I should eat there more often. Book it as 12 miles for the day and 52 for the week (in 5 days of running), my highest weekly mileage yet. Later that day a sore Josh and fam piled in the car and drove to Yosemite for a quick family vacation.

This is primarily a training blog, but I would consider our Half Dome hike somewhat of a workout. I led the fam up the hill in just under four hours, probably record time for us, and nearly broke my parents in the process (sorry!). Half Dome was very slippery near the cables sections and the final ascent was about 90% arms, 10% legs. My shoulders are still sore from the effort. Mom and I posed for a picture on near the edge, then we headed down. We took our sweet time getting down the moutain, stopping at waterfalls, etc, but when we got back the buses were no running for some reason so we decided to walk back to the hotel. I ended up leading my family an extra 3-4 miles (20 miles total) before we finally caught a bus. Sorry family.

(photo: Mom and me at the top of Half Dome)


I took July 4th off and we headed back to Newport Beach fairly early to watch fireworks.

On Monday, despite having the day off from work, I woke up at 6 a.m. and went for an 8 mile run up and back along Back Bay Road, and had Anne join me on her road bike. She loved it because her bike idles at 10 mph so she barely had to pedal. Call it 8 miles in 6:45 pace, though I picked it up over the last two miles. Afterwards, I went for a 20 mile leisurely bike ride with Anne, Rachel, and my dad. Sad to see Anne fly back to NYC, but nice family weekend.

Tuesday I ran with the high school kids for the first time this summer. We went an easy 5 miles at 8 min pace. I didn't really care about pace since this was just a precursor to my afternoon workout. I met Heather at the track at 5:30 and warmed up for my interval workout. During the last mile of my warm-up I tried to pace her through an 8-minute mile on the track. We were on pace through 1200m but fell off a bit at the end for an 8:24. Baby Steps, but she'll be below 8 by the end of July. Funniest part was watching Coach Sumner's reaction when she told him that time.

Anyways, last week I went for anaerobic and strength. This week I wanted something short and quick, so I decided to run 4 x 600 minutes with 3 minutes recovery. I had planned to trying to negative split the workout (1:39 down to 1:33 by the end), but got a little carried away on the first rep and ran 1:35.4, a little too fast. The second rep was nearly identical in 1:35.6, which left me huffing and puffing with 2 to go. Interval 3 was a little rough, and I tried to even-split it instead of going out in 30-31 like I did on the previous two, so I ended up running consecutive 32's for 1:36.2, but I really had to muscle through this one. Second-to-last interval is always the hardest, because it's really easy to trick my mind into sucking it up for one last rep. My last 600 was back at 1:35 and fairly even split. It took me a few minutes to get my legs back, and I opted out of 4x200's (I even brought my spikes for that part) and cooled down 2 miles (6 miles this evening, 11 for the day).

Back to today. This morning I set for an easy 10 miles in this crap July Newport Beach weather we've been having. Bummer because I was planning on having Rachel join me on the bike but it was too wet. Jammed out 10 averaging 6:40 pace, very easy considering I pushed it last night. On track so far for another solid week of training.

Morning Tempo

So I guess June gloom decided to stay around a while longer. What a downer, except this makes for perfect running weather. I met Kaz, Damien, and John Loftus this morning for a 2 x 2 mile tempo run along Back Bay Road. I met the group around Park Newport on Back Bay Road and we jogged back to the Newport Dunes to finish our 2+ mile warm-up. After a quick bathroom break and a few strides, we started off on interval 1. Target time for the intervals was 11:20 for 2 miles.

I took the first interval a little too fast to start (around 5:30 pace through the 1/2 mile), then backed off to our target pace. I was pleasantly surprised how easy this felt, despite my increased mileage the past few weeks. My breathing was hardly noticable, and my body felt like it was jogging pace. We cruised through the mile in 5:32, then kept the same pace going through mile 2, clocking that one in 5:35, good for 11:07 for two miles. John and I went straight into a 5 minute recovery jog while Kaz came up for air.

After the 5 minute break we flipped around and headed back toward the Newport Dunes. We tried to stay more under control at the start but again went a little faster than Kaz's target pace to start, hitting the 800 at 2:45. Then we slowed down to the exact target pace, clocking of 2:50 for the next three 800's, with me pulling Kaz through the last minute or so with motivational speeches, finishing in 11:15. I was shocked at how easy that felt. It was more like a fast jog than a tempo run. I was barely breathing the entire time and felt like I could have continued for miles at that pace. I'm curious to see how fast I could run that workout if I really pushed myself (my guess is consecutive 10:20's on the roads, 10:00's on the track). This is actually really making me think I can hold 5:40 ish pace for a marathon. It also helps that I've lost about 10 pounds in the last month.

Afterwards, I cooled down with the group for a mile, then turned around and headed toward home for another easy two miles. Total for the day: 9 miles.