A Journey to My First Marathon Part 11

I have been using Runmeter as my apps on my IPhone 4S to track my distance, time and pace. But carrying an IPhone around is really not a convenient thing to do. You have to either wear it on a armband or you have to put in a pocket. Both ways are not convenient to keep looking at it. However, I was using the Runmeter for a couple of months and have been looking at the Garmin Forerunner 610, the touch screen GPS watch.

So I look it up from the internet but it cost more than RM1,200 which I am not willing to fork out at this time. Just too big an investment. Until one day, I received the Rewards Catalogue from Citibank for 2012 and I saw that one of the item is the Garmin Forerunner 610. I have to fastrack and pay about RM500 to redeem it as I do not have enough points. The watch came a few days later together with a heart rate monitor and it was a right decision to purchase the GPS watch. It is much convenient to track your pace and distance as compared to the IPhone apps. And when it rains carrying an IPhone can be pretty inconvenient.

The other main convenience of the Garmin GPS watch is that you can easily start and stop the watch which is an important feature. There are a lot of features for this watch which I have not fully explore like virtual partner, interval training..and many more. It is great watch for running. And it has Garmin Connect which will store your run data on the internet.

Screen capture of the Garmin Connect on my run

I have once done a comparison of the reading of my Garmin watch and the Runmeter to see the discrepancies.  There is a slight discrepancies between the distance and the the pace. 

Currently, I uses both the Garmin watch for the running and the Runmeter to keep my running log. The running log is useful for me to review my runs over a period of time. My personal opinion is that the GPS watch is really a useful piece of equipment if you are doing long distance running.

My next discovery...the new earbuds for running...To be continued.....

Your Running Fears - A Summary from Runner's World Magazine Dec 2011

The Fears and The Fix

David Goggins, an ultramarathoner at the Badwater 135 miles Ultramarathon 

Hitting the Wall - Go Round It. 

Energy gels every 40 minutes or you are running at a pace your body wasn't prepared to handle.

"If you run into a wall, climb it, go through it or work around it." ~ Michael Jordan.

Falling Behind - Close the Gap Quickly.

Stiffness or fatigue is a reason for not keeping up or running with a group that's too fast. More recovery time in future and find a slower group.

"Second place is not a defeat. It is a stimulation to get better". ~ Carlos Lopes, Olympic marathon gold medallist.

Not Hitting Time Goals - Tweak your Targets.

Could be a result of a bad day or overly ambitious targets. Adjust your targets so not to be overly ambitious.

"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm".  ~ Winston Churchill.

Tacking Hard Hills - Put in Perspective

To conquer your dread of hill repeats in training, Boston Marathoner winner Lisa Rainberger suggests running hills by time, not distance. "Knowing when you'll get to stop takes the fear away."

"Hills are speed work in disguise" ~ Frank Shorter

Getting Injured - Train Smarter

Start winning your battle with the injury demons by increasing weekly mileage by no more than 10 per cent, separating long runs, tempo runs and speed workouts by at least 48 hours, and understanding that more isn't always more. 

"Good things come slow - especially in distance running" ~ Bill Dellinger, running coach and triple Olympian.

Not Losing Weight  - Check your Diet Diary

Despite evidence of carb intake boosting performance before, during and after running, you'll add pounds if you overeat. You don't need extra carbs for runs of an hour or less.

"Without ice cream, there would be darkness and chaos" ~ Don Kardong, Olympic marathoner and running author.

Race Day Anxiety - Channel the Fear

Visualising positive race scenarios during warm-up, such as tiring but coming back strong with a second wind. Remind yourself of the solid training you have done and tell yourself "I'm ready to do my best."

"The greatest stimulator of my running was fear" ~ Herb Elliot, triple Olympic champion.

Needing a "Pitstop" - Follow a Fuel Plan

Try any new food or drink before an everyday run, not a long run or  a race, when a pitstop would be difficult and embarrassing. Also, don't eat too much the night before, and avoid new, spicy, dairy, high-fibre foods and alcohol.

"Courage is fear holding on a minute longer" ~ George Patton World War II General

Resistance from Family - Comprise

Take time to explain why running is important to you. And try to find ways to run without taking time away from them. 

"Every human benefit and enjoyment, every virtue and every prudent act is founded on compromise and barter" ~ Edmund Burke, Irish statesman and author

Fading with Age - Set Different Goals

Everyone slows down eventually because aerobic capacity drops off as we age. So if you choose to stay in the running game, you need to renew and review your goals.

"Time is the one immaterial object we cannot influence - neither speed up nor slow down" ~ Maya Angelou, author

A Journey to My First Marathon Part 10

Training for a first marathon is hard....The long runs..The hill runs...the interval runs...the tempo runs. Especially when the long runs going above 3 hours. But you need to long runs for endurance. If not you will never have the confidence and physical capability to complete the race.

Most of the training programs will also include cross training days. I have two cross training days in my weekly schedule. I used to be doing weight training for 4 days before I get back into running. And I have been doing weight training for a long time. Currently, I break up my two cross training days into chest, shoulders and abs. The other day being back, legs and abs. I throw in biceps and triceps whenever I have time available. I do not like to have complete lean upper body with no muscles. But keeping some of the muscles makes my body heavier and it slows down my running speed. It is a compromise I have to choose. I have still lost a bit of muscles when I start reducing my weight training. I actually get more athletic looking body than a more bulky type.

I sometimes squeeze a bit of swimming mostly on Saturday. It helps to elevate some body injuries and   to avoid boredom and I really like the sun and the swim. It is a terrific combination!  Honestly, I don't really like swimming without the sun. Possibly some of parts of my body run on solar energy. Makes me think of Ultraman...

These are the two pictures of sunset I took when I was at St Kilda in Melbourne facing the Antartica. The sunset is just magnificent !

The cross training helps to build the core strength and avoid injuries. The hill runs, tempo runs and interval runs are those that help to improve your speed.

The next thing...to improve the long runs ....and outdoor runs...To be continued...

Addicted to running?

Spend a couple of days in Singapore recently. And of course, visited the Universal Studio and casinos. The casinos are really not my cup of tea. The Universal Studio carrys a bit more excitement especially "Transformer The Ride" but find the roller-coaster not that exciting.

But the number of runners at the Marina Bay Sands was quite a surprise to me. Marina Bay Sands is an integrated resorts fronting Marina Bay which is a really nice place to run. Initially, I was standing in front of the ArtScience Museum just appreciating the architecture in the evening. The ArtScience Museum has an interesting architecture which looks like a lotus flower with lotus pond beneath it.

The ArtScience Museum at Marina Bay Sands

Then, I started to notice a few runners and it gets more and more later in the evening. Not only male runners but a lot of female runners also. Obviously, at places like this, the runners are very nicely dressed even for running. I saw only two guys running in Vibrams. By the way, Vibrams cost more in Singapore than Malaysia. At this point of time, I am just itching to run. Signs of an addiction to running? I would like to join them and sweat it out in long jeans. But sweatiness is just not appropriate as I have to travel back on MRT later. Would not want to stinks after that. A real urge to run. And Singaporeans are really a health conscious lot and it is a Thursday and not on a weekend yet seeing the huge number of runners.

Singaporeans like to run with an IPhone on the armband. All the runners are fashionably dressed.

Transformers The Ride at Universal Studios. A great ride.

Marina Bay Sands at night

Night View of Singapore City from Skybar

Maybe another time....running the Singapore Marathon with 60,000 runners (gosh...such a huge crowd...

Heavy promotion of Georgetown Festival 2012 in Singapore

Boston Legal or Boston Marathon?

Before I started on my marathon journey, the only thing I heard of Boston is Boston Consulting and of course Boston Legal. Never knew there is such a famous marathon called Boston Marathon who goes into the History of Marathon.

Let me start with Boston Legal first on the lighter side. Boston Legal is a 5 seasons comedy/drama about a legal firm, Crane, Poole & Schmidt. I watch almost all the 5 seasons all at once which I am not sure whether it was ever shown on Malaysian television. The famous characters are Alan Shore (James Spader) and Denny Crane (William Shatner) which they end up getting married at the end of Season 5. (spoiler !) This TV series is full of funny scenes and Alan Shore's closing arguments are soooo looonngggg at times, you can finish running a marathon and he will still be talking. I wonder how he breathe when he makes a closing argument. And William Shatner we know him as Captain Kirk from Star Trek. I would love to watch all the 5 seasons again when I have more time on my hand.

And now about the Boston Marathon. After I have been listening and researching about marathons then I come across the famous Boston Marathon which begin in 1897. The oldest annual marathon inspired by the first modern-day marathon in 1896 Summer Olympics. The Boston Marathon comes with qualifying times. So it is pretty tough to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

Qualifying times for 2013 Boston Marathon

However, qualifying for Boston is on many marathon maniacs wish list.  As Boston being the oldest annual marathon on earth. Women are also not officially allowed in the Boston Marathon until 1972. And in 1967, the famous incident where Katherine Switzer registered as "K.V. Switzer" was the first woman who run the race with a race number. She finished the race but the race director was trying to ripped off her the race number and eject her from the race.

Another famous incident at the Boston Marathon is in 1982, "Duel in the Sun" where Dick Beardsley and Alberto Salazar race neck to neck to the finish.  This is believe to be the most thrilling Boston Marathon ever run. There is a book with the same title about the race.

I have finished watching Boston Legal, how about the Boston Marathon? For time being, it is not on my bucket list when the qualifying time seems to be a bridge too far.

A Journey to My First Marathon Part 9

What is the most difficult part of the training for a marathon? The long runs? To me, are the hill runs. This is really the toughest part. I usually do my hill runs on a treadmill. Even on a treadmill it is still tough. Tempo runs can be tough as well. The long runs are tough for me when it goes above 18km when I have to run more than 2 and half hours. My first mental block is when I have to train more than 21km that is the half marathon distance. Running up to 3 hours. Eventually I have to train up to 33km according to the training program. However, it is not necessary to train the full distance of 42km.

Looking for a nice and long running route is one of the challenges in the training. Especially when I am training solo. You would not want to be silly hitting the road at 6am or earlier all by yourself. But at last, we still have to be crazy enough to do that. I remember carrying a bottle of Gatorade on the right and a bottle of water on the left running at 6am on the road. That's where the marathon trains you to be determined. The burning desire to complete the marathon. 

Obviously, one of the methods of looking for running route is using Google Earth and calculating roughly the distance which you can run.

This is how it will look like which you map and calculate your distance

You can also drive around your neighborhood to find suitable running routes. One of the better running routes on the mainland of Penang will be the one next to Safira Club near to the Penang Bird Park. It is in between two rivers. But from end to end it is more than 2km one way. You can choose to run the flat course which is about 1km. The real plus point of this route is the sounds of nature. You can hear birds chirping away and insects sound. It can be pretty relaxing and the route very "kampung" feel. You can also run to Sunway Carnival Mall closing to the end of your run because they are plenty of convenient stores around the area. This helps if you wish to look for a cold electrolyte drinks after a long run.

View of the running route near Penang Bird Park and Safira Club

A really good place to run is Mengkuang Dam. People go to run at Mengkuang Dam as early as 5am with a torchlight or headlamp. Mengkuang has some hilly courses so it can be tough. Hills are good for marathon training as not all courses are flat during marathon. End to end it is more than 5km. Nice scenery especially when the sky just brighten up. Gives you an absolute serene feeling. Plenty of runners on Sunday. You can also run outside on the roads which is also pretty hilly. However, this route is very hot after 8.30am to 9am. Another strong point of the Mengkuang Dam is that you can easily leave your water bottles on top of the main gate since it is a usual practice for all runners there.

Scenic view of Mengkuang Dam

The other flat long course is at the Batu Kawan Stadium. This is course is not encourage if you run alone because the roads are pretty deserted. You can have a choice of running a hilly course to the Pulau Aman jetty or a route to the second link of Penang Bridge but this link road is not fully completed at this point. 

But I am going to improve my speed while building my endurance even if it is my First Marathon.........

To be continued..................