Pidiendo Cacao - Asking For Cacao, And Cacao I Got

Marathon Plan - Regressive Countdown - Week Six
10/20/08 - 10/26/08
Week Total: 31

The highlight of the week is another 20-miler in my pocket done 40:51 faster than the first 20-miler one month ago, for a decrease of 2 minutes per mile. I also improved the pace by 22 seconds in relation to the 20-miler ran two weeks ago. I still can't believe it.

20-miler - Sep 20, 2008 - 4:35:37 - Pace 13:47
20-miler - Oct 11, 2008 - 4:02:02 - Pace 12:07
20-miler - Oct 25, 2008 - 3:54:46 - Pace 11:45


This week 20-miler happened in Long Beach, CA, by the beach in a 98% flat course. I started 3o min before sunrise to take advantage of cooler temperatures, 56F/13C. My plan consisted in running with negative splits, have an average of 11:20, and break the 4 hours with a total time of 3:46:40.

The first ten miles were planned at an average of 11:30 and I ran them at 11:39 average. I was happy were I was, and I felt as if I worth a million bucks, I was running strong. But next five miles were another story, planned at 11:15, and done at 11:50.

What happened with my million bucks??? I felt like 10 bucks!!!!!!

I'll blame it on the temperature which started to go up to get to 76F/24C. The sun was at its full splendor and there were no clouds on the sky. Important to note that my hubby joined me at mile 13 with a new used-bike he bought. It was nice to have him by my side for the rest of my run.

When I hit mile 17 I have increased my pace to 12:34... Time to do something. Coincidentally, my iPod played Seventeen, by Tim McGraw, which has a good bpm, and lucky me, I went abstract. I ran from mile 17 to mile 18 at 11:10, great!!! I could make up for lost time... But... couldn't. The pace for the following mile was done at 12:47. I was "Pidiendo Cacao" - Asking For Cacao - When you say you are "pidiendo cacao" (Spanish) is that you are asking for mercy.

And Cacao I Got. I didn't let my last mile to be spoiled. I sprinted for a final mile at 10:31 (nauseas included) . My husband was there waiting for me.

Performance Check:
Negative Splits: Nope!
Pace planned: 11:20 - Pace achieved: 11:44
Time planned: 3:46:40 - Time achieved: 3:54:46

Still I broke the four hours. For the marathon (Nov. 30th) I will pray to go abstract for the next six miles, and I will play Seventeen, Mrs. Robinson, The Boxer and Firecracker, as many times as possible to keep a good pace.

Five more weeks!!!!

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Interval and Tempo work done without issues in Albuquerque, New Mexico where I happened to be during the week. I missed (again) running with Chris who was in SoCal during this week.

Running East

Marathon Plan - Regressive Countdown - Week Seven
10/13/08 - 10/19/08
Week Total: 25.9

Six o'clock in the morning, 59F/15C, twilight, sea smell, running by the beach. Two miles later an amazing orange ball of fire is rising up. I am Running East.

I arrived to Long Beach, CA on Thu morning, and as any Thu, my tempo run is scheduled after my work day. But is Southern Cal, mid-October, and 79F/26C. It is hot. Thought of my blogger friends Petra, Maddy, Melisa and Charlie who just ran Chicago at mid-80s. Thought of my life in the tropics where is humid and the average high temperature of the city I was born and raised (and ran) ranges from 77F/25C to 81F/27C. Thought of how well we adapt to climatic conditions. Thought of how adapted I am to Seattle's weather, and how 65F/18C is just the max high I can stand without feeling uncomfortable.

After all those thoughts, I know I will not run at this temperature, let alone a tempo run. Run is postponed for Friday morning. But on Saturday I have a 15-miler. Back to back tempo - long run just doesn't work for me.

Oh well, I traded my tempo for an easy one on Friday. Four miles. And then the words at the beginning of this blog: Six o'clock in the morning, 59F/15C, twilight, sea smell, running by the beach. Two miles later an amazing orange big ball of fire is rising up. I am Running East. Then I turned back for the rest of the run, two more miles. I am Running West, and there, high in the sky, it was the moon. And I felt blessed.

Next day, Saturday, same time, same temperature, same twilight, same sea smell, same beach, but almost four times further. Fifteen miles and Pestrategie plan. Similar results: 11:37 min/mile. Same blessings.

Being in Ryan's Territory. Run, Ryan, Run

Marathon Plan - Regressive Countdown - Week Fourteen
08/25/08 - 08/31/08
Week Total: 25.6

I started to sweat profusely just after 0.5 miles of the warm up for my weekly interval session. I didn't feel dizzy at all but certainly I felt too hot... My husband recommended me to stop, so I did. I stood for some minutes in front of the fan, and decided to do leg curls, extensions and abduction/adduction workout. No clear explanation for my extreme sweat... unless it was... a hot flash? Oh My, I am old.

On Wednesday I needed to do some short run to replace my failed interval mileage. I ran 4 miles at the beach and they were particularly slow, way slow, 13:45. This was slower than my marathon pace of 13:35... WHAT'S GOING ON? After some thought I remembered the phrase "if you always run slow you will be an expert running slow". I've learned to keep the pace in the treadmill as I became its slave (Seattle's weather.... hot weather in the back east...) , but keeping the pace on the road has become a challenge , especially, having lost all my running gadgets. TIME TO STOP. Needed to do a further evaluation of my paces and determined them again.

Following McMillan calculator, which is a "method that estimates your equivalent race performances using a current race time at any distance" I should be running the Marathon in 4:42:53 at a pace of 10:48, given my 9:21 for my best 5K of the year. No way... There is NO WAY I can do that. McMillan mentions that although these are estimates they are accurate. Could they be accurate for me? I only wish. But in my wishes, I decided to get more serious. My plan continues to be Furman's Marathon plan with the optimal training paces proposed by McMillan.

Friday was my trial. My plan indicated a warm up of one mile, a tempo of 5 miles, and a cool down of another mile, for a total of 7 miles. Paces? My warm up/cool down around 12 min/mile, and my long tempo at 10:15. With a "no feet dragging" as a mandate I finished the tempo at 11:24 average. I'll try to nail next tempo at 10:15, but at least this was much better than a 4-miler at 13:45.

My long run should be at 12:18. I ran a 14.6 miler at 12:28.... NOT BAD AT ALL....

For the long holiday weekend my hubby and I went to the mountains to Big Bear Lake, Ryan Hall's city of birth. Even though the Olympics ended one week ago and Ryan finished 10th, the marathon still was on the air. It was cool to be there and see the support his community gave him. Seeing banners all over town, I felt pretty happy being in Ryan's Territory. Run, Ryan, Run.

Marathon Plan - Regressive Countdown - Week Fifteen
08/18/08 - 08/24/08
Week Total: 15.7

Short mileage week... Traveling to SoCal... Not much to say, only that I felt heavy legs in my long run (11.5 miles), and a very slow pace... Hoping for improvement...

America The Beautiful

I have been working since March on a half-marathon plan for the Seattle SeaFair (June 26th). I was ready with what I believe was the same pace that I had in my Seattle Marathon of November last year, however, a possibility of going to California to be with my husband arose during the week. Priorities are priorities, and preferring being with my husband in SoCal I flew there and didn't race SeaFair. Not a bit of remorse. As I start my Seattle Marathon plan at the end of July I hope to find a Half Marathon race on the week I have to run the half distance.

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California was hot, however its mornings were nice for running. With the exception of Independence Day which was really hot, 85F, every morning I ran was in the mid 60's, which I consider the perfect temperature for running.

My favorite run of the week was certainly the 4th of July. It was a gorgeous sunny day (and hot) with a nice breeze. The beach was packed with families celebrating this great day. A cute kids parade showed hundreds of kids' bikes beautifully decorated on red, white and blue. In Bay Shore Ave, a street that shores with the Naples canals, a family was painting a huge American Flag on the asphalt. But what brought tears to my eyes was a lonely man standing on the sand facing the ocean with a trumpet. He was playing "America the Beautiful". I stop, heard the song with respect, and when he finished I ran toward him, shook his hand and told him: Thank you Sir, you gave me a beautiful gift. Happy Independence Day and God Bless America.

That night my husband and I went to the beach with our "beach bums chairs" and enjoyed the fireworks launched from the "Oil Islands" of Long Beach.

America! America!
God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea!



I am blessed that I can run and race in
America The Beautiful
from sea to shining sea!



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Even though I had a good 17-mile week, I feel as if I did not run at all. The reason? I have not raced since June 21st . Weird how we are. To replace tempos, which I dislike, I have been running weekly 5K races to replace them. These races became a weekly goal...but I have missed a couple of weekends, and it seems I will miss another two as tomorrow, I am off to Huntsville, Alabama for two weeks, and there are no races in the vicinity. I'd have to wait until I go back to Seattle and see what is available in two weeks.
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The pictures below are of a race I participated with a co-worker in Washington DC on June 18th at noon: Tidal Basin, 3K, which is scheduled every third Wednesday of every month. Although it is an informal race the organizers "DC Runners" register the results. It was a nice and fun race around the Tidal Basin/Jefferson Memorial with a big turn out with serious runners in the 5min/mile pace. My goal for this 3K was to get it under 18 min. I achieved it: 17:28 for a 9:23 min/mile. Chris did it in 11:41 for a pace of 6:17.

This race was the 413th monthly Tidal Basin 3K, the day before Juneteenth, which celebrates the freeing of America's last slaves on June 19, 1865.

This photo belongs to: www.visitingdc.com/memorial/tidal-basin.htm

Seabiscuit and Me

An easy 3 miles on Tue, 1.2 miles on Wed, and a long run (*) of 9.6 miles on Thu that felt like a breeze completed my week of training before a Saturday race: the Low Tide Run, a 4-mile run in Long Beach. The course? “A beautiful beach Low Tide out and back run on hard packed sand near the water”.

The day started with pouring rain and in the low 50's. My hubby asked me if I really wanted to do that... I told him: "well, the only problem is that with the rain the sand is now going to be wet…" He didn't think my joke was funny. For a Seattleite that is used to run in the rain, who cares...?

The rain stopped @ 7:45. The race, scheduled at 8 am, was delayed by 15 min because the logistics giving the numbers was a mess due to the rain. The sun showed up and the temperature stayed in mid 50's so IT WAS A PERFECT DAY...

My bib? 128. Guess what? It's my daughter's B-day 12/8, but it was not mere coincidence. They were going to give me 127, and I asked "can I have next?"

The course was not bad at all. The sand was really hard packed and it was easy to avoid the water, however there were a couple of spots where the inevitable happened, and my shoes got soaked.

About mile 2.5, two ladies (mom and daughter, I believed) passed me, and then they started to distance from me… One mile before the finish line they were really far. Competing against myself, I decided to play a race game, “I’ll catch up with them”. So, all the silly thoughts that you can imagine went through me…

• “They are in my age bracket and are in 1^st and 2^nd place…If I pass them, I win”

• “I am Seabiscuit, I just need to get a little bit closer to beat them…”

I sped up and started to shorten the distance, they seem far though. I kept speeding up, and got closer and closer… one tenth of a mile before the finish line I passed them. I felt like Seabiscuit running his last Santa Anita Handicap…

My official time was 40:48 for a 10:12 pace, and third in my category.

Placement: Division: 3/10 - Overall Female: 50/131 - Overall: 114/221

Not bad at all…It's the first time a run a 4-mile race, so a new PR in my pocket.

Like the race was 2 miles from our home, I ran an easy 2-miler going back for a total week of 19.7 miles.

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(*) I started to slack with the long runs as the longest run this year before this week’s was 8.3 miles and five weeks ago…

In addition, in two of the last three weeks I did only one run a week of 5 miles, so I thought there was no chance on doing the SeaFair Half. I changed my mind after this Thursday 9.6 miles where I felt so "fresh" when finished. Actually I could’ve kept going but I needed to get back home... I remember last year feeling destroyed after long runs. This week it was a breeze...So, I'll definitely do the half on June 28th.

Alejandra, You Are My Inspiration

How to spread the news?

My daughter got motivated again and started running daily at about 5:30 am to beat Thailand's heat. Guess what. Since I got to California on the 8th I have been running every day at about 3:30 pm. Do you know what that means, right? That our feet are pounding the ground at the same exact time 7,440 miles apart. Our plan never got so in sync.

Then she mentioned she was training for a 5K, but like there was no race around her town, she was planning on running one day as if she was in a race. The day she picked for her race was June 21st. I got speechless. I happened to register in the Komen race for the cure which will be in Seattle on the same day. What were the odds?

I remember all of you, blogger friends that participated in the virtual triathlon, and that you got your bibs and ran from different places on this planet. As I would love she has a bib, I suggested her to prepare her own bib and use the same number I get for my Komen race. It was a deal!!!

She gave me so much inspiration that I wanted to race right away. I searched yesterday on Internet for 5K in SoCal, and lucky me, the Palos Verdes Marathon, 1/2 and 5K in San Pedro was going to be held today. Just 10 miles from our home in Long Beach.

So, without mental preparation, I got up at 6:15 am had my daily yogurt and cereal and went with my hubby to San Pedro. I had my late registration and got my 7008 bib. I was ready, with no watch, no ipod, and no butterflies. It was nice to feel so calm.

At 8am the race started, I crossed myself, and went up the only hill of the course, maybe 0.2 miles. The view was gorgeous with the ocean below. Before mile one I felt really hot. It was 74F/23C and I am used to Seattle's weather where 60F/15C and sunny is already warm for me. At mile two, volunteers handed me a cup of cold water which I emptied over my head. At mile three we went down the hill, and I had a nice sensation when I saw the clock. I could make a sub-32. I sprinted faster than usual, and I got a 31:54. Five exact minutes below my PR. I was a happy runner. I rephrase it, I am a happy runner!!!!

Thanks to my Alejandra, you are my inspiration.

PS: They clocked randomly. The girl that crossed the finish line seconds behind me received a sticker with her time: 31:57. When I asked about my sticker they said they were doing that to random runners. So I am not sure if they will have the results for everybody. I cared at the moment but got over it.

PS2: I just checked the online results and I show 32:02, and 4 persons behind Michelle Blackmore who I believed finished behind me (the 31:57 girl). I am fine, is not that I am going to get hung up for 8 seconds. I am changing my PR to 32:02 as this is the official time. If that's what they say, that's what I take. Still, I am really happy!!!

Placement
Division 8/36 (ain't bad!!!)
Overall 249/573

245  6/27 2044 MICHELE BLACKMORE 47 F LONG BEACH 31:57 10:19
246 18/44 2146 MONICA GOMEZ      32 F HAWTHORNE  31:58 10:19
247 15/23 2069 DAVID CAVAZOS     43 M CARSON     32:01 10:20
248 11/34 2327 SHAUNA RAUPACH    35 F SAN PEDRO  32:01 10:20
249  8/36 7008 LIZZIE LEE        51 F            32:02 10:20

Below the pix.
The Ocean View pix belong to Palos Verdes Marathon,
Half Marathon and 5K

Running Free

I had my first week of the year in Long Beach, which means my husband is still there. My first 2008 run on the beach was great and took me back to May 2007 when I started in LB my training for my first Marathon.

Thoughts? I internalized I am running with a different attitude.

I am an extreme case of a Type A personality, but I do not want to feel that not following the fine print of my running plan is a failure. Of course, I am more laid back now because I know what I am able to do. I know that I can run long distances and feel great about it. But I needed to "de-stress" myself. Several minor events have helped me to get out of the frantic situation. Those events include:

• My Ipod was left in Thailand, so no music to follow my pacing at the exact bit.
  
• My HR monitor broke, so no controlling my HR every 30 seconds.
• My HR watch also broke, so no controlling how many minutes I have been running, and no calculations on how many minutes per mile I am doing.
  
• This week I didn't have a chance of checking my routes prior to the runs, so when I ran 5.7 miles instead of a planned 6-miler, I didn't get disappointed, and thought it was ok.
• My husband only had 35 min to work in the gym the day I needed to do tempo. I did the tempo run @ the gym, couldn't complete the easy run that comes after, and once at home at 5:45 am, I went to the beach and finished the mileage.
  

I still go and log my runs, and my log calculates my pace, and so on. But I discovered that I am running free. Free of stress.

PS: I ran 2 miles of tempo run at 9.67 and I am setting it as my benchmark for the year. How many miles will I be able to do at that pace? Five? Don't know, but I will look forward a 5K in a couple of months....

Back on Track

The week was incomplete. Intervals on Tuesday left me sore! Thursday flew to Long Beach and didn't do my scheduled tempo. Saturday my 8 miles became only 5 miles. However, I feel success because I finally got out.

Going with Furman plan again, but with more pressure on the pacing. Established an ambitious 10K of 9:42 for intervals of 8:57 and tempo of 9:72. However, very hard to follow for the long runs. That pace will set me for long runs at 10:27. Unachievable for now but focus is on the first two key runs.

I feel I am back on track.

Bye Bye California!!!

Phase II - Regressive Count - Week Three

11/05/07 - 11/12/07

Week Total: 23.8

First than anything, THANKS to all my blogger-friends for the wonderful advices I received last week. You all were right. I completed 15 miles yesterday and it was good. Again, things hurt (e.g.: knees, hips, etc.), but finished well. I started slow and kept that pace for 13 miles which was above 13min/mile, but... I ran the last 2 miles at 11:25 min/mile which means "I did have some juice for the end".

6 hours will be my realistic time and I feel very happy that I am able to do it.

I said goodbye to California for the year and probably forever (well, as a semi-resident). My adorable husband is trying to get transfered to Washington State and we have all our fingers and toes crossed, wishing it happens before the year ends. Living apart and seeing each other once a month, when possible, has been hard for us.

California was fun for running. I got my senses spoiled running by the beach. The sea breeze, the sea-salt smell, the sea mist, the sand, the boats in the marinas, everything was a beautiful picture framing my long distance runs. Bye Bye California.

Sunrise in Long Beach














Naples, Rivo Alto Canal














Alamitos Bay Marina

















Shoreline Marina - Queen Mary

La Patella

Phase II - Regressive Count - Week Twelve
09/03/07 - 09/09/07
Week Total: 22.9

No, it is not a veal or chicken scaloppine with mushroom portobello. Nor is a typo on my favorite dish, paella. It is that I hurt my knees. It's "Runner's Knees: Chrondomalacia Patella".

Yesterday I went for my 14 miles run, through a very nice route in Long Beach, California. Along water, and at a nice temperature of 66F. First along the Ocean, then through Naples Rivo Alto Canal, then Alamitos Bay Marina, back to the Ocean, Shoreline Marina and a last mile by the Ocean again.












The plan to ensure "non-depletion" was to walk for a minute every 10 minutes and having my GU's every 45 minutes. By mile 8, my legs were fine, my breathing was steady, so was my heart at an average of 152 bpm. However, I started to feel pain in my knees. I kept going and also felt pain in my insteps, more in the right than in the left, which I assumed was due to tight shoelaces.

Every start after a walk break was harder than the previous, but I kept going. By mile 13 the pain was huge, but I could continue. Stupidly, I sprinted the last 0.2 miles, as fast as I could.

For the rest of the day I could barely walk due to my knees. Meanwhile massaging my right instep I touched something in a way that gave me a terrible pain. So, my two knees and my right foot were out of order, and I was limping for a while. After icing my foot, the pain in the instep was gone. The knees keep hurting.

I am concerned that I am injured now. My calves and hamstrings feel like if I walked in the park, but the pain in my knees is severe.

Would it be any relationship between the instep pain and the knee pain?

Or is the patella (knee cap) imbalanced due to weak quadriceps?

I see myself tomorrow visiting the running store to get a strap for compression and stability to the Patella.

Ah, and no question, legs extensions twice a week.

All Dressed Up and Nowhere To Go

Phase II - Regressive Count - Week Thirteen
08/27/07 - 09/02/07
Week Total: 19.6

The first marathon plan I considered included two races. One 5K on week 5 and a 10K on week 10. The plan that I decided to follow does not have races, but I kept them on my schedule anyway. I registered in Bank to Bay in Tacoma, WA on Sep 9, which benefits the Tacoma Public Schools Help-a-Student fund; and I plan to participate in the UW Dawg Dash, Seattle, on Oct. 14th.

Plans for the 5K changed as I came to work to Long Beach/Seal Beach for the first week of September, not being able to run the Bank to Bay. I checked the races in SoCal and found a 5k/12K, the "ION® Bridge To Breakwater® ", on Sep. 1st, in San Pedro, just only 6 miles from my second home in Long Beach. I registered, happy of running a race on a different state, and by San Pedro's waterfront. On Friday afternoon I finally got the course map of the races and called my attention than they were around several streets and not on the waterfront. Worst than that, the 12K were 5 loops on those streets. That did not sound logic to me, but hey, I just wanted to race.

Saturday morning I woke up really early to have an early breakfast (and to digest it on time) , then got ready, and minutes before leaving, while checking directions, I learned that the races were canceled. Still I went with my hubby to the race place. The place was all set up for the races, but we were told that due to permit issues they had to cancel them. They gave us our goody bags, T-shirt, and let us know they will refund the race fee. Even though I felt sorry for the organizers I cannot understand how registration could even start weeks before, without having all the logistics in place.

So, I was there at the starting line with many other runners "all dressed up and nowhere to go".

Came back home and I traded my race for a 7.5-mile run on nice but smoggy Long Beach. Not bad after all.

The week went well, but keep going slow. My initial goal was to finish, but now I'd like to get a little bit faster, or less slower. More interval training, perhaps?

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Note on the Race:

Through the San Francisco Gate I learned that "Hundreds of runners were left standing at the starting line after a [5K & 12K races were] canceled at the last minute. Organizers of the "San Pedro Bridge to Breakers" race failed to buy insurance and get necessary permits for the competition, which was scheduled to start early Saturday. Runners from across Southern California showed up at the Vincent Thomas Bridge just after dawn, having missed an e-mail sent Friday night that the race was canceled. Last year's race was marred by complaints that its waterfront course prevented businesses and their customers from getting to stores, and Los Angeles city officials said organizer Dave Behar was obligated to solve that problem before getting permits. At the last minute, Behar moved the marathon to five laps around a gritty industrial area near the port, but did not obtain permits for those street closures either. Behar spent Saturday explaining to runners how to get refunds on their $30 entry fee."