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.