Long rest

Quote of the day:
The time has come to set aside childish things.
President Obama, January 20 2009


I went to Washington last Sunday and stayed there till Wednesday. I was with a group of colleagues and participated in the inauguration ceremony of the new president, Barach Hussein Obama. This caused a long break in my running schedule. I only ran on Sunday. This was in Bethesda and my course took me to NIH campus, the National Library of Medicine (NLM), and the Navy Medical Center. I also ran on Old Georgetown Road.

After coming back, I was so tired that I didn't run on Wednesday. Then having to work night shifts compounded the exhaustion and I took another day off on Thursday. Today was the first day I got back to running again.

I went for one loop and did a tempo run with a pace of 6' 34" over one loop of Central Park. It is good to be back to running.

Week 15 recap, second week of training

Quote of the day: 

Most people run a race to see who is fastest.  I run a race to see who has the most guts.  

Steve Prefontaine, Date unknown.

Last week I ran 50 miles. The recommended range for week was 45-65 so I don't think I am under- or over-training at this point. My average pace was 7'34"/mile. 

This week we started with the hardest speed workout, the gruelling 4+4 workout. As in the past, Bruno and Mike pushed ahead and I had to struggle to keep up with them. This Monday was one of those few days that I didn't fall behind too much. 

Resolutions 2009

Quote of the day: 

"It is the effort that matters, not the distance"

Bruno Garcia, January 7, 2009

After we realized our 800m interval is about 1000m long on a speed ladder workout

Stacy started a 2009 New Year Resolutions thread on our group's Facebook page. So far, 7 people have posted their resolutions. The recurring theme, of course, is running faster, but what surprised me was the desire to drink more water and to go to bed early, themes that were repeated on many lists. 

And I guess we should all keep Mike's first resolution in mind:

- Make resolutions that are at least in the realm of possibility.

Beginning the second week

Monday was the first day of the second week of training. Since I didn't do any long run last week, I decided to go for a six-mile run before the group run. So I ended up running two loops. I tried to run the first one as a tempo run with a pace close to the marathon pace. The picture above is from the Nike+ Sportsband. The drop in the middle is probably from when I stopped and restarted at a slower pace. 

The group run was also a fast one. We ran as a group with Bruno, Mike, Denie, and Miles, and as before trying to keep up with fast runners helps me a lot. The average pace over the 12 miles is faster than 7 min/mile. 

First week of training

On Dec 31st, I went for a 4.5 mile run along the west-side highway in cold weather at around 7 PM. Then came the New Year's Eve parties, the trip to Buffalo, the sledding and snowboarding, and the only run I did was a 5.7 mile in Buffalo on icy roads. 

Today, our running group will go for the first run of 2009. Mike is back from California, and Denie promised he will be there! Rob has his first marathon this weekend (The Disney World Marathon). Good luck Rob!