Jason's Training Blog/Log

Wow I need to catch up with LJ and all my LJ friends! Will do soon :) and a Boston 2007 race report is soon to come :) YAY!

I love Sesame Street

A lot of interesting things happened today:
- I lost my cell phone
- Adam and I got lost on the second half of the At&t marathon course and ended up doing ~15 miles instead of 13 miles.
- I bought some new Asics trainers but I think they are too small (so I need to go exchange them tom)
- I took another 30 min ice bath *brrr*
- I ate a whole bag of cacawatas (damn it!)
- I watched King Kong on hbo :)

Since I'm on the topic of king kong, there is a part in the movie where king kong and the women are sitting watching the sunset. I thought it was beautiful on tv but it would have even been better to see it live! But I also found some meaning in it (kinda corny though). It showed the beauty of creation and the beauty of our existence. Its kinda hard to express what I felt but I thought it was nice :) So I decided to create this poll:

Poll #920317 Sunsets
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 3

Do you enjoy sunsets?

If so, why do you go watch sunsets?

What types of things do you think of during sunsets?

Do questions of existence cross your mind while watching sunsets?

Where is your favorite spot to view a sunset?

Yesterdays run was fun fun fun! :) Mac had us do 4*(1000*1000): 1000m at 10k pace then followed up with 1000m at mgp (with no break in between the repeats). We ran over to the School for the deaf track and did our workout there. I had never been to that track before and was surprised by the beautiful view of the Austin skyline ... it was nice. Myself, Adam and Kent all paced together. Before the workout I was a little hesitant about going hard because of 3M. But, I listened to my Austin Mom traininglog and took an ice bath Monday night. The 30 minutes of pain and numbness definitely made my legs feel better. Mac still had us do the workout at the speed he wants us to run at ... and it felt good.
Total: 8 miles

Oh, also I am looking into getting some new zapatos. Right now I am wearing Asics racers for my quality workouts and longer runs (which I probably shouldnt do). I probably need to get shoes with more cushion for the longer runs (but I dont like the ones that look and feel bulky). Maybe like a combo of light weight, narrow and cushion. Any suggestions?

Mac's special of the day consisted of a 7-mile run on the town lake trail, 1 easy-4 at marathon goal pace-2 easy. One problem, I don't know what my marathon goal pace is, so I was curious what pace Mac was going to make me run. Last Thursday when I first joined he told me I would be running in the 2:45 group with Adam and Kent. So today Mac told us that he wanted us to run a 6:15 pace. A little faster than I was expecting but very doable. We started off at the one mile marker on the trail and ended at I-35. Adam and I started out kinda fast (definitely faster than 6:15) and I was surprised when we got close to the Mopac Bridge because Mac was already there giving us our mile split. During the whole run I kept thinking to myself: How in the hell did Mac make it to the bridge that fast? Anyway, after the run I felt my hamstring hurting a little bit and when we started jogging back it really started hurting bad. Part of the way back I was kinda limping while running :( I hope its nothing serious. Also, I still dont know if I should run 3M this Sunday. Tomorrow is the last day to sign up and I am still undecided. Mac said I could run it but not race it ... and by run it he meant a 6:15 pace ... I would consider that pace racing it.
(1) 5:45
(2) 11:48
(3) 18:03
(4) 24:04
Pace: 6:01

Also here is something kool:
Anyone notice something kool in this?

January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December

On the menu this mornin' was a 6 mile kinda easy run ... was a little chilly but okay. Interesting thing I saw on my run: a small puddle of water on the sidewalk shaped like a heart <3.
6 miles - 39:17

Also, I have a little update I need to make to this entry First Entry, Yay! Regarding the quote: "I truly look up to her and want to be just like her when I grow up :)" should now pertain to the picture below :)



I dont mean to brag, but I have the best Austin Mom in the world :-)
~Nite~

I can't believe it, I just found a theater that is playing The Fountain in round rock ... only 27 minute drive and tickets are only 2 bucks !!! Yay!
I've already seen it 4 times ... if you havent seen it then go see it.
By far, the most intelligent, beautiful (visually, thematically, emotionally, etc.), lovely movie I have ever seen!
It also makes you think while watching!
Reviews

Today I did my long run with Mac's boston group. It felt good waking up @ 4:30 this morning ... havent done that since my last training. Are run was scheduled @ 6:00 and on the menu was a 10 mile recovery run (I guess recovery from the mile repeats on Thursday). There were a lot of runners this morning; a lot of them doing a 20-24 mile long run. Ruth was explaining the route to a lot of the runners and then I saw Mac show up. I talked with him a little and he told me to do my workout at a conversational speed. Mac then went in search for Adam (who he wants me to pace with) but he couldnt find him. I was a little hesitant because I really didnt know the route all that well + I am not that familiar with that part of town. But it went okay. I couldnt differentiate who was in Mac's group so most of the time I was running by myself. But im sure I will be able to run/pace with Adam the next time he shows up. When I finished the run I waited for about 20 minutes outside of Runtex, waiting on some of Mac's group (I didnt know if I was supposed to wait). But it was getting cold and I didnt see anyone coming in the distance, so I got in my car and headed home. I hope that was okay.
10 miles - 1:12

I just drank 2 month old water ... I hope I dont get food poisoning like I had two weeks ago...

Ok, I cant sleep ... because for the past 3-4 nights one of my roommates has decided that midnight is a great time to do laundry. I wouldnt mind but the laundry machine is located so close to my room + its very loud. Arent there any other times of the day that laundry can be done? And I am wondering if he is just not remembering that he did laundry the night before and doing the same batch over and over again ... now that would be funny ... also my other roommate has also been talking insanely loud on his phone every night right after the laundry machine stops, just my luck. *Note to self: No more roommates after this semester.

First day out with Mac's Boston training group. It was totally awesome! Met a lot of really kool people, all of them very nice and supportive. Then we went and did 4*Zilker miles. Splits:

(1) 5:23
(2) 5:42
(3) 5:52 :(
(4) 6:03 :( NO!!!!

My times werent that good. I think it was because of the short rest between repeats, I usually rest longer. But Mac assured me that I did good :) Mac is awesome! Overall I like the group very much :) Thanks traininglog :)
Ohh and something funny happened while I was doing one of my repeats. I passed a little girl walking with her parents around Zilker. Just when I was approaching them I heard her say "Runners and insanely crazy people" ... and I thought to myself while I was breathing hard gasping for air ... maybe we are, but in an insanely crazy good way :)

Yay! Email I received today:

Due to inclement weather conditions, The University of Texas at Austin
will be closed all day Tuesday, Jan. 16. All events and activities are
canceled.

800 splits on Thursday:
(1) 2:33
(2) 2:38
(3) 2:36
(4) 2:36
(5) 2:36
(6) 2:36
Felt kinda guilty though, because I walked about 200m between each repeat :( weekend runs should be fun :)

Well, another year has come and gone. But I have to admit that 2006 was a fun-filled year :) Here are just a few highlights of my year:

1) After being a noble and loyal apprentice for the time span of a year, I was given the opporuntity to lead the Texas Marathon team :)


2) I completed my first two marathons :) The first in Austin and the second in Albany...and I almost beat Lance's time...wouldn't that have been cool!?

(Me and a guy named Rik that ran together from mile 1. Is it true that only real super heroes wear shiny silver capes?)


(Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon. Thanks goes out to everyone that helped me, gave me advice, and believed in me (esp. traininglog))

3) I came one step closer to accomplishing my ultimate goal in life; meeting Miss Natalie Portman ;)


But, as you can tell from the picture, there was some guy from star wars, that tall chewy guy from star wars and (at first) what I thought might be Natalie...but turned out not to be :( Oh well...

Anyway, those are just a few of many of my 2006 highlights :)
Happy New Year! Happy Running! And Best Wishes in 2007!

Training has been going fairly well while I have been in Austin, but now I'm in el paso for about 3 weeks. I am kinda afraid that being away from Austin is going to hurt my training because of many reasons:
1) There are no good hills to do my repeats on out here
2) There is no place like town lake town here
3) I will mainly be running on road which I hope wont mess up my knees or shins
4) There are not many runners here

So, I am in a dilema. I can either try to really push myself down here to keep fit and improve (but I'm afraid if i do this then I will be at more risk for injury) or I can take it lightly down here with less of a risk of injury (but I'm afraid that if i take it lightly then when I head back up to Austin I wont be in good enough shape). What really makes the second option hard is that when I go back to Austin, I will be joining a training group (of some fast guys), and from what I've heard the workouts are going to be really rough, so I will need to be in good enough shape to hang. Also, did I mention there are no good hills here :) Anyway, last Wed I did a 6 mile run and on Thurs I did 6*800's. Splits:
(1) 2:33
(2) 2:38
(3) 2:39
(4) 2:43
(5) 2:46
(6) 2:35

Merry Christmas everyone :) and Happy Running :)

Today I did 7*hills @ 15th and Lamar and didn't feel that good doing them. My back felt a little sore all day and after my first hill I knew it would be a rough day. I don't know if its my nutrition or if it was my run the previous day. But I'm glad I forced myself to do 7 of them. Tomorrow should be an easy 3-miler.
Hill splits:
(1) :48
(2) :49
(3) :50
(4) :50
(5) :51
(6) :51
(7) :52

First week of training went pretty well, although it didnt feel like I was following the training plan that good. Monday I was supposed to do an easy 3-miler but I did a 6-miler. Tuesday I was supposed to do 3*hills, I did 4. Wed was supposed to be another 3-miler but I didnt get a chance to run due to finals. Thursday I did more than planned by doing 4*1600 intervals. Friday was supposed to be an off day, but I ran a 4-miler. Skipped saturday. And Sunday I did a 10 mile long run. It doesnt really feel like I am training! I guess I need to get my stuff together. Anyway, today I did a 6-miler and I didnt take my watch because I wanted to run a little easy. Did some streching and strength training afterwards. Hill workout or tempo run tomorrow, and I also need to start investing some time in the pool and looking into getting a bike :) We will see how that goes!
And now, Leslie Feist :)

Finals are over and I am so relieved. This semester was probably a little harder than I expected and it caught up with me at the end. But I’m glad its over. I am now relaxing watching the 2005 Hawaii Ironman. It’s a very good source of inspiration and motivation :) One of the best stories that year was about John Blaze (who has ALS) and he gave a pretty good quote/speech :

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living,
I want to know what you ache for .

It doesn’t interest me how old you are,
I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool for love, for you dreams, for the adventure of being alive.
I want to know if you can live with failure, yours and mine, and still shout at the edges of a lake, river or mountain, yes I am a warrior poet.

It doesn’t interest me to know where you live or how much money you have,
I want to know if you can get up after a night of grief and despair, weary and bruised to the bone, and do what needs to be done for someone you love.
I want to know if you can be alone with yourself and truly like the company you keep in the empty moments of your life.

Isn’t that quote/speech awesome!?
The Ironman looks like it would be really cool to do. Watching the end when everyone is finishing gives me chillz. Anyway, yesterday I ran short. I did a 4 mile route around downtown at about 8 pm. I felt pretty good yesterday, especially after the track workout on Thursday. Maybe I should do more mile repeats. Today’s run has yet to come, but it will, eventually.

Today was another fun speed day. I had one person, by the name of Mary, join me in doing the workout. She suggested we do 4*1 mile repeats because she felt it would be more appropriate for her marathon training (we usually do 400's and 800's). So we jogged on over to Mike Myers field and "sneaked" in (shh.. dont tell anyone :o ). The track was all ours. I usually go out kinda fast on my first repeat, so this time I was telling myself to settle down. My splits were:
(1) 5:33 went out a little faster than I wanted
(2) 5:42 can you tell?
(3) 5:47
(4) 5:37 But finished kinda strong

Mary also had a pretty good day. She averaged 6:35's and broke 6:30 on the last one. Now, back to studying :)

Back home from another long day :( but at least today's workout was fun. So every Tuesday and Thursday I do (and hold) speed workouts for me and anyone else interested. I usually get about 5 people to do the workouts with me, but today only one person, by the name of Caroline, showed up. And on today's list were hill repeats on the "hill of death", which is a 300m hill @ Lamar and Enfield. It turned out that Caroline had never done repeats on the "hill of death" before...and if you have never done them and if you haven’t done hills in a while, it can really be a hard but fun (at least for me) workout. The past couple of weeks there have been some newbie’s to the hills...and I just love taking them out there to do the workout because on about the 3rd repeat they begin making painful sounds and faces. And that’s when they realize that they are only half way done. That's what makes it fun for me (yes i am evil). So I was anxious to take Caroline to the hills. Ohh and there is a part on the hill where you totally lose you legs and you feel like you are moving like a slug (probably the hardest part of the hill), but I forgot to mention that to Caroline. She was spent after the 4th hill, but I do have to give her credit because she did put in a lot of effort and gave it her all. Fun workout :)