Rest from Running

Really took 2 weeks off from running so that I have enough rest after the APBIM.  So, I started with 5 or 6 km again and slowly build up my mileage!

I guess I was starting too fast and felt quite tired around 4.5 km.  However, I kept continue to meet my 5 or 6 km target for this week.  Finally, I am logging 6 km.  Also, I am still able to keep my running form for the whole run.

To create some excitement for this run, I took the newly build bridge, which is not open yet.  I was stopped by security guard after entering the bridge for awhile.  Not only me trying out the bridge, I saw a group of cyclists trying to cycle on the bridge as well and "negotiating" (I guess) with the guard to be able to go further.

Here is the running route...  running on the sea...

APBIM 2013

This is my 2nd Half Marathon since I started running and joining races around 2 years ago.  As I put a lot more effort in injury prevention, my goal for this half marathon is not to have any kind of pain after the run.

As for my training, I initially wanted to run 21 km during training before the actual race.  However, as always, I had to attend to other priority and not able to meet that goal during training.  I just managed to log 17 km as the longest run before the race.  This 17 km is slightly better than last year, in which my longest run was just around 14.5 km.  However, the 14.5 km route that I was training on was a bit of hilly while this year's 17 km was on flat surface!  Moreover, I didn't had any interval training this round but focus mainly on logging higher mileage.  But, I joined more short distant race throughout the year thou.

Similar to last year, I had been drinking around 1.5 litre to 2 litre of water up to 1 hour before the race.  Since I was kind of hungry before the race last year, I brought myself a piece of bread to be consumed 2 hours before the start.  So, the bread solved my hunger problem this year.  On top of that, I spent time to understand and plan my diet based on the materials (Fuel for Runners) through the medical forum.

Nothing surprising at the beginning of the run.  I was running with the pace that I was planning on.  Although there were more participants this year, I didn't really feel the different during the beginning of the run.  Maybe because I was not that far away from the starting line.

Since women category started the race 1/2 hour before, I started to see lady participants (walking and taking photos) around 7 km.  At around 9 km, I felt that the road was more crowded as compare to last year.  As I only had my drink after 10 km during my training, I did the same and walk for awhile after the drink.  This time, I felt that my timing for 10 km split was a bit slower than last year.  Thus, I kind of cut short my walking and started to run again.  Although my target for this year was not on time, but when your emotion overtake your logic, not much thing you can do about it.

At around 12~13 km, I can really felt the crowd, especially more and more lady participants were walking.  If my memory served me right, the road was quite empty at this distant during my last year run.  But for this year, I had to maneuver around trying to keep to my constant pace.

I still remembered that I started to get tired after 14 km last year.  I wasn't that tired at 14 km for this year but started to feel tired after 17 km.  Now, I really think that long run training really helps.  I was really struggling for the last 4 km for this time.

Finally, I finished the race with the timing of 2:09:23 which is slightly faster than last year, to my surprise.  Well, the slight improvement was helped by cutting down my walking time at 10 km point!

Here's the results for this year.

The real improvement for this year to me is that I wasn't suffering that much after the run.  I had difficulty walking up and down the stairs for 3 days after the run last year.  But for this year, just half a day of difficulty and not as bad as last year.

For next year, I hope to be able to complete the race strong and no suffering at all after the run!  That's the goal.

RHB Centennial Run 2013

I didn't plan to take part in the run initially but after a few urge from my friend, I gave in and joined the run.  After all, this is not a bad run anyway.

As I was kind of tired in previous Tanjung 10km run, I decided to run a bit slow this time.  However, to break away from the crowd, I ended up with a bit faster pace than I wanted.  I kind of felt that I was a bit fast and I confirmed it with my Garmin watch showing 5:xx min/km.

Again, I wanted to slow down but I just felt like going with that pace to see how it turned out at the end of the race.  At 8km, I tried to pick up the pace.  However, not much faster that I could run as I had been running faster than I used to for quite long distant.

I completed the race with 55:49 min, which is my best 10k so far.

Very satisfying run

Just logged another 14km run in the morning.  Although I planned to run 14km today but I wasn't so sure that I could do it due to the fact that I only had 2 hour sleep last might.  Surprisingly, without much problem, I completed the 14km run with my new pair of shoes.

This time, I did have a "better" warm up and warm down.  It could be because of warm up and down session, I didn't feel that bad after the run (especially at my lower back).  Well, this could be due to running shoes change as well.

After all, I am logging faster pace, ie. 6:52 min/km, as compare to earlier 13km run at only 8:13min/km.

Very satisfying run.

Ghost 6

Another pair of Brooks that I bought.  The wear and tear of my running shoes is exceptionally fast.  It all occurs at one small corner at the back of the outer side of my heel.  From the day that I recorded my shoes mileage, it appears that I need a new pair of shoes for every ~300km.  While I am having lower back pain after running recently, I started to wonder if that is due to my running shoes again.  So, I bought a new pair of shoes again.

Since there's no different between Asics and Brooks in terms of usage and comfort, I go back to Brooks due to the price and probably a little bit lasting.

This time, I wanted to try out Ghost 6 although I was feeling OK with my Ravenna earlier.

This time, I really wanted to quantify how fast the wear of my shoes.  For the Ghost 6 that I bought, the heel outsole is measuring 5mm.  I will see how long it last against mileage.

Following are the specification on Brooks Ghost 6 from Runner's World:-

Specifications

Weight: 10.4 oz.

Profile (Heel): 34.6 mm

Profile (Forefoot): 24.1 mm

Drop from heel to forefoot: 10.5 mm

At some point, I will try out shoes with a lower drop from heel to forefoot.

Hope this shoes can last longer.

Tanjung 10km Run 2013

It is a bit surprise that I can complete this run with less than 1 hour.  I was targeting to finish the race between 70 to 80 minutes.  This target is based on my recent pace at training.  Thus, I was a bit surprise with the results.

As I have been running for 10km or slightly more these few weeks, I have no doubt that I can complete the race with no trouble.  For this time, I planned my toilet time correctly, ie. to queue up for the toilet about 30 minutes before the start.  So, I was pretty much ready at the starting line 5 minutes before the race.

I was targeting to start with the pace between 7min/km or 8min/km and picked up the pace after 3km or so.  I started off with slightly faster than I wanted to be.  I guess it was due to less participants that I was just following the crowd (I didn't want to be left too much behind).  I wanted slow down after initial run but I didn't eventually.  Since I was still able to keep up with the pace without much problem, I just continued with the pace ~6min/km.  With this slightly faster pace, I was then planned to run faster after 5km.

At around 5km, after the only drink station, I ran slightly faster.  I was tired hard but I keep to my pace as much as I can.  Struggling slightly as I move further.  However, I knew I could finish the run with this pace.  I didn't really able to enjoy the run at this stage but still be able to run at steady pace.

As I still have around 2km to go, I was kind of challenged by a few runners.  I thought I was running at constant pace but these three runners picked up their pace after I passed them.  We by-passing each other several times until the finish line.  This friendly competition forced me to really pick up my pace.  I can feel that my breathing was fast.  I have been able keep 2-3 kind of breathing throughout the run until now.  For this last 2km, I was using 2-2 breathing tempo.

I really feel like racing this time when I crossed the finish line.  For all the previous runs (except the half marathon), I should be able to continue running for 1km with the same pace after crossing the finish line.  But for this, I really felt thankful that the race is over.

That's how I achieved this 10k run with ~57minutes.  A fulfilling but tiring race after all.

A fulfilling month

This is a very fulfilling month for me in terms of running.  My mileage has been increasing steadily and most importantly, without injury (touch wood!).  I managed to log 55km last month although I ran for 89km last year time time.  Hopefully, I can continue to this trend without much issue until end of the year...

Back on Track... well, maybe

After a long long while that I managed to log more than 5km this week, 3km on Saturday and 4km on Sunday.  This 4km is the "longest" run since 2 months ago.  Feeling great for the run but I stopped after 4km to give myself enough time to adopt to the run again.

Hopefully, I can continue with the training routine and increase my mileage steadily as plan.

Anyway, due to my busy workload, I didn't plan for any race soon...

My Life Has Been Unfriendly to Running

That's right, my life has been unfriendly to running lately.  I haven't been serious in training after the Malakoff Run in March as I knew I had to stop running for awhile after my operation on April 18.  I tried to start running again 10 days after the operation but I stopped after a few steps. I felt the pain when running.  So, I had to start to run again at later time.

Two weeks after my operation, I started to run again with just 1km run slowly.  Slowly picking up the mileage to 3km in 10 days time (after 4 run), I was then forced to stop due to heavy workload.  The few 3~4 hours sleep at several nights and followed with no rest day at all for straight 2 weeks with 15~16 hours of working hour per day causing my resting heart beat to be as high as 90 bpm (~25% higher than my regular resting heartbeat).  I was just too tired to anything.

I finally managed to squeeze 1 hour out for running.  After 2km of run, I felt so tired.  However, I eventually forced myself to complete the 3km run that I intended to.  But this was a very tiring 3km run after all.

Malakoff Penang Run 2013

Malakoff Penang Run 2012 was the first ever race that I joined around one year ago since I picked up running.  I joined 7km fun run  last year.  I trained hard for that and I was almost out of breath to complete the run.

Time changes.  I participated in 17 km run this time with high confident that I can complete the run.  The only worry I had before the run was my knee.  I haven't had running this distance since Penang Run at the end of January.  During that run, I was forced to walk for a few minutes.

Lucky this time.  I didn't experienced any pain throughout the whole run.  My pace of 6:12/km is about the same pace as I did during Penang Bridge Half Marathon 2012 (6:11/km).  After this run, I am able to walk up and down stairs as normal.  Not like Penang Bridge Half Marathon, I was suffering to go up or down the stairs for a few days.  I think I did pretty good this time.

As for my training pace last week, ie. 6:26/km, this was the pace that I ran around Oct 2012.  I guess this is where I am now.

After all, this is the long run that I had after injury  AND most importantly, I didn't experience pain during throughout the run!

I run again

I run again... as normal as I can... without knee guard... for 5k... and no knee discomfort!

After reading a few blogs on injury these are what I picked up:-

1.  If you experience pain, stop for 3 days.  Then, run half of the distance.  If no pain, stop for another day and run with slightly increase (10% I guess) the distance.  If you experience pain, stop for another 3 days.  Try again.  If pain remains, see doctor.

2.  If the pain is better against time, it should be ok.

3.  Also, the most importantly is the post from Running Injury Free called The Basics of Jogging.  The main and most important idea I captured from this post is "Listen to Your Body".

4.  From another post in Running Injury Free, I came to know that you could get injured weeks or months before you feel it.

When I think back, I am actually following The Basics of Jogging when I started to run.  It is after I wanted to push to time, distance, that I eventually ended up have to stop running for awhile, which I cannot enjoy the feel of running for awhile.

Probably from other posts in Old Man Running, or some other links from the web-site, I was encouraged by the author's experience that he started to run at the age of 38 and hit his personal best (less than 4 hours for Marathon) in his late 40's.  That's my goal now!

I guess I have to spend more time in the above web-site.

My 5k run

This is my 1st 5k after the Penang Run 2013 two weeks ago.  I tried to run last week but I was force to stop, again, due to my knee problem.  During that try run, I just managed to run continuously for close to 2km without knee problem.  I decided to give myself more rest.  I was kind of worry about my knee but I read it somewhere (on running material) that as long as the pain goes away as time passes, it should be ok.  That is the case for me.

So, finally, I managed to run 5k this time.  Around 2km after I started, I felt a bit of knee discomfort again.  It was very mild and I just continued to run.  Luckily, the discomfort didn't get worse.  However, I was running with a very slow pace, ie 7min/km.  This is the pace that I run about 8 months ago.  I will start up slow again.

Hope everything is getting better moving forward.

Penang Run 2013

Due to my knee injury, I wasn't sure that I would go for the run until the evening before the race.  Eventually, due to the urge to run, I had decided to go.

During the warm up run, my left knee wasn't as normal as before.  Anyway, my target was just to finish the run within the qualifying time of 2.5 hours.

I was at the very last of the queue at the starting point.  I started up the run very very slowly and carefully.  At the 1st uphill, I was feeling okay and started to pass other runners very comfortably.  I was very careful during the downhill.  I was almost "limping" during downhill as I know I still have a long way to go.  Unfortunately, the pain started again right after the downhill.  It was ~ 4km.  It was the distant that I ran before I experienced the severe pain.

I then decided to walk.  During that time, I noticed a lot of runners that I overtook earlier passed me by.  I was a bit upset and almost wanted to quit.  I told myself that I would try until the very last minute.  So, I continued walking for 1~2 minutes before I decided to run slowly and softly again.

When I started to run again, hey, I didn't feel any discomfort this time.  That's good.  I continued with a very slow pace for awhile.  Unconsciously, my pace became faster and faster.  I only noticed that I was running at normal pace at around 8km.  I was very surprise.  So, I continued with the same pace until I reached another uphill.

I decided to slow down although I didn't feel any discomfort of my knee.  I was running at that slow pace again until the next and final uphill.  When almost reaching the peak of the final uphill, I started to walk again so that I will not hurt my knee.

At that time, I knew that I would finished my race before the qualifying time and thus I did quite a lot of walking especially during the downhill.

Finally, I finished the race with 1 h 59 minute (525/973 overall; 141/212 on my category) which is pretty good despite of my knee problem.  More importantly, I just felt normal tiredness of the knees after this run.

I guess I can start running again but at lower millage to start up with.

Knee Injury

I have stopped running for 1 week due to pain at the back of my left knee even when I walked.  I couldn't even walk at my normal pace.  The back of my knee would be more hurting when I walked faster.  I have been searching the internet trying to figure out what the problem was.  From what I read, it could be runner's knee, torn muscle, torn tendor, etc.  In short, there's no solid conclusion.  I visited to general doctor suggested a possible torn muscle or damage nerve.

While talking a normal walk on Saturday morning, I suddenly heard a "click" sound coming from my knee.  After that, I felt that I can walk faster without major discomfort.  After a few more steps a few "clicking" sound came out again and I immediately felt the sense of relief from my knee and no discomfort at all even when I walk faster.  I was then suspected that I had a minor "twist" on my knee that somehow compressing the nerve.  I was very relief and decided to go for a slow run on the next day, Sunday.

I started up with slow walk on Sunday.  After ~15 minutes of walk by slowly increasing the pace, I didn't feel anything.  I started to run slowly.  Unfortunately, the discomfort at the back of my knee started again.  I was very upset.  I really wonder if I can ever run again.  My own analysis suggested that I somehow "compressed" my nerve due to nerve "dislocation".  I think to myself that since my nerve can be "dislocated", it can be "located" back by itself.  I then practicing a few "soft" kick that hopefully can help aligning the nerve back to the location.  Luckily, it doesn't get worse after a few kicks.  But, it doesn't seems to get better as well.  Meaning that after running for ~5 minutes, the pain at the back of the knee started again.

Well, I am now guessing that my nerve get damage and I need to rest for another week or so for recovering.

I don't really know how it happened.  I just remember that I had similar pain in the afternoon after my 1st half marathon race 2 months back.  That pain lasted me for 2~3 days.  Two weeks ago, when I had my normal long run training, I had the similar pain again.  After experience the pain, I continued to run for ~4km before I stopped.

Despite the pain, I had my slow run again the next day.  It was hurting at the beginning of the run but it became better after I ran for 1km.  There's a minor discomfort when walking after that but I didn't pay much attention.  The pain was severe when walking up or down the stairs.  Two days after that, there's not more pain and I even ran one of my best 5k with the average pace of 5:22/km.  Unfortunately, the run 4 days after that can only last for ~4km and that was my last run before I stop.

I am now speculating that either my running posture or sore of muscle (after extensive run) "compress" the nerve.  Thus, I really have to pay attention to how I increase my mileage when training.

My wish now is to be able to take part in running again and hopefully, I can run the Penang Run 2013 in 2 week time...

Concluding 2012... Starting 2013

Looking back at 2012, this is the year that I seriously engage in running.  To keep me going, I started to participate in running events, logging my run online, reading running blog and started my own blog, looking for running friends, etc.  Quite a good year for me.

My first running event was Malakoff 7km fun run in March 2012.  I was struggling to finish the 7km at that point of time with ~40 minutes to complete 7km.  I wasn't that particular about the running time at that event as my main goal was to be able to complete the run.  Looking back now, I was doing quite good (or I haven't been improving that much).  Besides, I joined a hiking competition and ECO night run before my actual target of half marathon in APBIM at the end of the year.  Total of 4 runs including 1 half marathon.

To be able to track my training more systematically, I started to log my running training using runningahead beginning of Jun 2012. The main reason for choosing runningahead is the capability to associate running shoes used during each run.  With this, I hope to be able to choose a longer lasting running shoes to save a few bucks moving forward.  Following is the monthly summary from runningahead.

From the table, a faster pace in Oct was due to shorter distant of each run that I engaged in.  By analyzing the pace on the same course, I can see that my pace has improved from 10% to 25% since early June to end of December.

To track my time more accurately, I bought Garmin Forerunner 210 in November.  So, the time recorded after APBIM 2012 is more accurate and definitely more consistent.

From the running shoes usage tracking, my running shoes can last me around 300km run.  Not a good number due to my "heavy heel strike".  I have bought 3 pairs of running shoes for the whole 2012.  I will work on this more this year.

Starting a new year, I had a short run in the morning.  I recorded a pace of 5'22" for 5km of track run.  This is one of the best record that I have so far.  This is definitely a good start of the year!  Moving on for the year, my target is to participate in 2 half marathon and a few more shorter run (3 or 4) between the half marathon.