One of the advices I’ve received from him is to run 60miles per week for marathon preparation, but his includes speedwork. Meanwhile, since my next marathon project target is months away, I’ve decided to do some experiments on myself and see how my body reacts to it. One of the things I plan is to run high mileage as high as possibly as my time could allow, and the other one is to regularly do long runs of 26.2miles.

I somewhat dream of running 100miles per week someday. That’s what I hear from fast marathoners like Coach Salazar and Coach Rio when I got to chat with them once. However, that would mean running more than 7times a week, which I cannot afford with a full time work as an Engineer in a Production Line. I initially estimated my maximum time I could devote to running to be only 70MPW. However this week I was able to surpass that with 81miles! So maybe 100MPW isn’t so far in the future…

As for running 26.2miles every Sunday, I initially had some doubts. Even Wayne was doubtful, but he said I should try. I couldn’t see any training programs that includes 26.2mile long run, even for the advanced programs. Normally they would say it is too much for the human body for the training. But what the heck, I see ultramarathoners training more than 26.2miles although a lot slower. So maybe if I could run 26.2miles every Sunday at a much slower pace, I would be fine. Maybe a 4:30 marathon is perfect, and I should be able to run the next day. Even Patrick Concepcion ran a marathon in training.

So this morning I started to run the planned marathon a little doubtful due to some pains in my right calf. I tried to run 9:30miles, but my running gait at that pace seems to be inefficient, and tiring. For the past few weeks, I’ve been running with a worn-out Lunar Racer2 with a total mileage of 700+miles already. So its cushioning is almost gone, and somehow I subconsciously changed my stride to forefoot striking as its wearing shows, and my calves have taken the punishment of absorbing the shocks. If I try to go back to heel-striking or even midfoot, the shock is noticeably uncomfortable. Going to forefoot does hurt for the first 2miles but eventually becomes comfortable for the rest of the run.

I no longer carry a hydration belt with me, and decided to stop at 7-eleven for every 5kms run, and drink a 500mL gatorade. Then at 12miles, when I reached MOA (Mall Of Asia), I ate a chocolate bar. Then I continued running and I was surprised to be running 8minute miles comfortably, for about 3miles. Then I stopped and ate another

It’s probably the boost in blood sugar from the chocolate that gave me the temporary boost in speed. When I stopped eating them, I returned to 9minute mile pace. I ate a total of 3 chocolate bars, and with 4miles to go (22miles already), I decided to eat a banana. It didn’t give me the speed boost like the chocolate bars. So maybe in my next marathon race, I should bring chocolate bars with me. Maybe M&M’s – Melts in your Mouth, not in your hands?

For the last 3miles I was expecting the wall to hit me again. But it never happened. Somehow, the combination of relatively relaxed pace, and eating a lot, ensured I have glycogens left for the whole 26.2miles. Then when I stopped my garmin at 26.22miles, my time was 3:56:46.

This is faster than my last year’s Marathon Debut of 3:57, which I was hit terribly by the wall, had to wait for 4weeks to recover, but later found out a hidden ITBS injury that kept me from running seriously for the next 6mmonths.

Running a marathon in a relaxed pace actually feels better than running 20miles at Marathon Race pace. However, I’m still not sure about what I’m going to feel tomorrow and for the rest of next week. Also, I have to admit 81miles in 1week is really tough. But that’s what I also said about the 69miles two weeks ago. I’m just really glad I am still young enough to survive these high mileage training, hoping if I could survive running them consistently, I’ll be a stronger runner. Then I’ll add speedwork, intervals, hills, and tempo runs.

In my previous post, which I now realize is over a month old, I hit the marathon wall again, and when I did, I panicked and didn’t deal with it well as I could actually have.

You see, I hate that marathon wall, so as early as now, I am training my body to prepare and hopefully avoid it in my next marathon race.

Last year, I read BaldRunner’s blog on the Collapse Point or popularly known as the Marathon Wall. He mentioned that the average weekly mileage to avoid the marathon wall would have to be 105Kms (65miles) for 2months (this would have to include tapering). I cannot help but agree with him.

So for the past 4weeks, I’ve been gradually increasing my weekly mileage to try to pass that 65MPW, increasing at approx 10% per week. In my earlier runs, when I increase by 20%, I then feel quite exhausted that week. Fortunately, my still young body seems to absorb this quickly and then adapt to the next challenge. It seems to handle 10% increases better.

I’ve calculated my theoretical maximum mileage, based on the maximum time I could spend for running, considering I work 10hours/day with 2hours commute time, to be 70miles per week. That would mean sacrificing other hobbies or cross training with other sports, that consume a lot of time, like table tennis, or even blogging, which explains why I blog even less the more I run

This week I was able to finally run 69miles, quite close to that 70MPW theoretical limit. My long run has been increased to 24miles. Another disadvantage I see with higher mileage training is the need to sleep more, and rest frequently. I try to take a 30minute nap at work, and at the bus during commute times. Also, in order for my body to absorb all these running, I try to eat more, and I seem to be successful in avoiding overtraining syndrome symptoms like low energy at work like I’ve did before.

Weekly Mileage

The current ramp-up of my mileage felt the same as when i first started ramping-up my mileage early 2008, and even on 2009. The limiting factor on running higer mileage seems to be the strength of the connective tissues of the running muscles, not necessarily VO2max or speed. This may explain why it will take years for runners to really run long, or 65MPW for this matter, no matter how talented they may be.

Pace

From the articles I’ve read, running more have diminishing returns of performance as one increases beyond 40MPW. However, this will vary greatly from runner to runner. I doubt that this high mileage training would see impressive improvements for 5K and 10K races, but I’m hoping to do well in my next 21K and Marathon races. If I were to successfully totally avoid the wall, I’m expecting 5 to 10minute improvement in my marathon times.

Right now, I have to admit 69miles in a week is exhausting. I will probably do a setback week next week, cutting my long run back to 20miles. After 6weeks, when my body has finally settled into this higher mileage level, then I will start to add hill training and speedwork. Hopefully, I could avoid injuries, and release new higher levels of running in me.

How am I going to do this? Global warming seems to be the real world problem for Marathon Runners. Then there was this one time in facebook or daily mile, there was this girl runner (from takbo.ph) who goes to the gym regularly, and then complained that it was too hot to for her to complete her 5K outside. I kid her and told her she should run on the treadmill in her gym. She never replied and probably ignored me, since she kept on complaining of the extreme heat and humidity for weeks to come. I on the other hand, saw the beauty of running on the treadmill.

In the June 2010 issue of Runnersworld Philippines, they had a nice article there about treadmill running. However, the article seems to have been copy-pasted from the US edition that I also read (forgot the month). The article recommends treadmill running as a substitute to running outside on unfriendly weathers like extreme snow or rain. However, the article (both editions) failed to recommend its most practical real-world application in Metro Manila’s extremely hot weather during summer especially in the midst of Global Warming. Our summers will just get hotter and hotter. The edition was June, but as of this writing June is almost over and it still feels like summer. Strange, but the Philippine edition also doesn’t seem to realize that most Filipino runners welcome the coolness of the rain (Just not too much rain that it floods the roads and we could no longer run).

Most Filipino Hardcore runners would probably look at treadmill running as taboo, since it doesn’t entirely simulate the hot weather running conditions in the air-conditioned gym, but I find that cooler air temparature enables me to complete really good quality 20mi (32K) long runs at 8mins/mile pace (5mins/km) and at times even faster! So rather than running very slow 10min/mi (6:15/km) at uncomfortably hot conditions, I chose the comfort of the air-conditioned gym and hammered already five (5) twenty milers over the past 2 or 3months in quality paces. However, I suspect I could be cheating myself and not be actually running at those speeds displayed on the treadmill, so I hammered those long runs the best as I could. Later I realized the treadmill must have been right all along since I would be in DOMS agony for 2 to 3days to come.

The real downside to treadmill running is extreme boredom. I can use ipod, watch TV, have a running partner, but it’s still really boring compared with road running. The first 10Kms is extremely boring. Then I get a runner’s high up to 20Kms. Then I try to hold on until 30Kms. Then I try to run as fast as I could for the last 2Kms. For this reason, I find it really hard to run beyond 32Kms or 20miles on the treadmill.

I still have some some insecurities with treadmill running, although my good friend Raffy Castaneda aka “Alaska Runner” (3:30 Boston marathoner) assures me treadmill running is effective, the only way for me to prove its effectiveness is to qualify in the Milo 3:45 marathon. If I qualify, I will believe in treadmill running…

An then, maybe take the treadmill outside for a run:

From the graphs above, the temperatures are at their highest in the months of April and May. The good news is that next month, the temperature should be cooler and should enable us to run more consistent long runs and marathon trainings.

My pace has steadily slowed as temperature rises.

For the past few days, I really have no good solution other than multiple hydration pit stops and pouring ice-cold water all over my body. My dad, on the other hand, was able to run 20miles last Sunday despite of the incredible heat and only drinking water every 9Kms. He finished his 20miler at 11AM when the sun is almost all the way up. My dad’s a real geek because he checks his body temperature with a thermometer at every water stops. He said his temperature remained at a fairly cool 37′C. Heatstrokes are at 40′C to 42′C.

At the time, I couldn’t really understand how he maintained low body temperature while I suffered and DNF’ed my long runs. Then he showed me an article in the book, “Lore of Running”, about heatstrokes, it says that runners in shorter distances like 5K and 10K are actually more vulnerable to heatstrokes due to higher intensities than marathoners. In comparison, my dad’s long run was indeed slower than mine, so he was able to survive longer.

What happens during running in a hot summer weather?
It looks like the higher the intensity, the higher the rate of heat generation. Therefore heat dissipation need to be accelerated. The skin will try to compensate by generating more sweat, anticipating rapid evaporation to cool the surface area. Unfortunately in humid Metro Manila, evaporation rate of sweat is a lot slower. I notice that during my runs these hotter days, my sweat no longer evaporate, they just drip to the ground. Skin not being cooled enough will mean more sweat being produced, so an open-loop system could occur, maximum sweat rate will happen. This means more water or sports drinks need to be consumed as fast as possible.

Another problem I see is that because air naturally expands when it’s warm, therefore it is naturally thinner and runners will find it harder to breathe (though they may not notice it due to uncomfortable warm temperature already) in the heat. It will be like running in a higher altitude course.

So how do we deal with this hellish climate?
1)Take it easy/slow down – the thinner air should mean your are already running at a higher intensity than you think.
2)Take lots of fluids especially during speedwork, intervals, hills, tempo runs, Long Runs, Easy runs, and recovery runs.
3)Wear the least clothing you could possibly wear – this morning I took my singlet off during my medium 11mile run, and I was able to accelerate the pace way easier. More surface area of the skin exposed to the wind mean easier dissipation of heat, enabling higher intensity of running. No passive singlet could duplicate the cooling effect of exposed bare skin.

Just ask BR how cool it is to run half-naked.

4)Lose weight – Least amount of body weight per skin surface area means less heat retention. Skinniest people have large skin surface area that they could dissipate heat more efficiently.

Highlight the race/workout desired, then click:
File–>Export–>Export “ ”

Then save the file as *.tcx.

This *.tcx file could then be opened by Microsoft Excel. It was so simple, why didn’t I try that before? Now our race or training data could be better manipulated, analyzed and graphed with excel. The tables need a little getting used to. One of the columns have data for distance traveled in meters, and there’s another column for the time (with date). Other columns have additional data for Heart Rate, Longitude, Lattitude & Altitude, while the rest I still don’t know what they’re for. You will need a little crunching to get the time interval between difference in intervals to get the speed, and you’ll just need to convert it to pace/mi or pace/km with some common sense formulas.

What I didn’t like in Garmin’s software was its inability to zoom into the paces or limit the graph’s Y-axis pace. For instance, my marathon pace was around 9minutes/mile, but due to the noises and spikes of garmin, I had some readings at 17minute/mile pace so the Y-axis of the graph would reach that point. Therefore, I couldn’t zoom or look closer to 9min/mile of the graph. This is the reason why I didn’t post this graph on my Milo Marathon blog. I will use this technique next time.

Now compare the two graphs below from the same race. The first one is the raw graph from garmin connect, where it shows the slowest pace I had was 17min/mile.

connect.garmin.com

Now I don’t care about that, I would rather zoom to the relevant pace by limiting the maximum of Y-axis of the graph to 11min/mile, and the minimum to 4min/mile. Then I only took the kilometer splits to get a cleaner data. Now the difference is shown below. Doesn’t it look cleaner and more understandable?

EXCELLent!!!

Thanks to takbo.ph’s shoutbox chatroom and to Neil and Patrick, I am now able to better understand my workout to the smallest resolution of Garmin Forerunner 405, which I think is approximately 5-second interval data-points.

Please feel free to comment if you need clarifications or some techniques in manipulating your graph data. You can also email me at zixednatz@gmail.com, I’m just glad to be of any help

adidas offers free running clinics, conducted by Ani de Leon

Renowned tri athlete and coach Ani De Leon will offer free running clinics in preparation for the 2009 adidas King of the Road on October 25 at the Fort Bonifacio Global City. Registration for the King of the Road is ongoing in 14 venues in Metro Manila. The event covers three running distances, 5k, 10k and 21k and the fee is P500 which includes adidas running singlets and race bibs to be distributed during the running expo on October 17-18 at the SM Megatrade Hall of the SM Megamall.

There is a need for training before any race

Ani De Leon believes that running, like any other sports, requires training and preparation to avoid any unnecessary injuries or health risks especially if you are a first-time runner or someone who has health-related risks maybe due to age.

Free running clinics are scheduled every Tuesday and Thursday, 6:00 P.M. – 8:00 P.M. from October 6 – 22 at the ULTRA Running Oval. Registration is simple, just send an e-mail expressing your interest to avail of the free running clinics to adidas_kingoftheroad_2k9@yahoo.com also include your contact details so we can coordinate with you.

Your preferred distance may require certain conditionings and preparations. The longer the distance you would run would mean harder and extensive training programs. You can enjoy running at its fullest if you train and prepare for it and through adidas, Ms. Ani De Leon will train you for free!

Get the latest on King of the Road from Facebook and E-group

Get the latest from adidas about the King of the Road. Add us up in your Facebook accounts! Just search for adidas Running Philippines. Exciting prizes await you loyal King of the Road Runners! Just add our e-group at http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/adidas_kingoftheroad_2k9/

King of the Road for a good cause

The King of the Road is for a good cause as this year, the HOPE worldwide Philippines, Inc., an organization which upholds children protection and welfare will be its beneficiary.

Register now and experience the joys of running only with adidas.

Because every runner is different.

Road races are mostly long distance events ranging from the 5Kms up to 42Kms, and sometimes even 100Kms (Ultra-Marathons). Newbie road-runners need to condition their bodies to run the distance. They’re encouraged to run slowly at “conversational pace”, where it should be easy to talk with someone. Slow running recruits slow-twitch muscles that have more endurance and more efficient in utilizing oxygen – breathing is easier because oxygen molecules are efficiently absorbed by the running muscles. When exercised regularly and workload volume is gradually increased, slow-twitch muscles become more efficient and stronger, enabling longer and faster running.

Most beginner running programs recommend slow-running at least 3 times a week for at least 20minute per session. Walk-breaks are also encouraged. Intermediate programs would have gradual increase in distances to increase endurance, usually for a specific race distance. Finally, advanced programs would also include “speed-work” to recruit additional “fast-twitch” muscles, and to train the body to adapt to more intense workload.

Because of this “training effect”, Running and Racing, can be very rewarding. Like the best things in life – the more you give, the more you get.

Here are the two greatest runners of all time for both ends of the spectrum:

Related article:
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=510581&publicationSubCategoryId=69

Running a sub-4 hour marathon is a nice goal for the beginner-amateur marathon runners who are already quite fit, have decent race times in 5K’s to 21K’s (or even a 42K) and would like to challenge themselves further. It’s a difficult and relatively fast running pace for the distance, but not an impossible time to achieve – that is if you train well. It’s the qualifying time for the Milo Marathon in the Philippines, so you’ll get a lot of respect from the Philippine running community once you achieve this. Also, the sub-4hour was the first qualifying time for the Boston Marathon when the organizers wanted the people know that it wasn’t a “Jogging” race.

Minimum Fitness Requirements
A word of caution though, unless you’re a gifted runner, you should have done a lot of years running and racing 5K’s up to 21K’s, or may even already ran a 42.195K. Also, to give you an idea of my fitness prior to the marathon, you should try to be able to run close to these race times or better(is better):
5K – 23minutes
10K – 47minutes
21K – 1:52minutes

In the Philippine online running community of takbo.ph, I see a lot of good fast runner candidates like Dermot, vVinceth, dhenz, gingerbread, pojie, Ronald, and Erick(shocks) . I wish them well, and hope they train well for the marathons this coming October (and/or for next year’s Milo). Please support them by visiting their blogs to get updates on their progress

Technology
I would highly recommend taking advantage of the latest in technology by purchasing speed and distance monitors like foot-pod accelerometers or GPS-enabled wrist-watches or cellphones. Like Garmin Forerunner or Polar, or even Nokia GPS-enabled cellphones. These products would really aid you in pacing yourself in training and in racing. These would also ensure that you run the recommended distances during training.

Base Mileage
I would recommend gradually increasing of weekly mileage to around 40 to 50Miles/week or 64 to 80Kms/week (actually the higher the mileage, the better. If you could do it without injuring yourself) By gradual, I would only recommend 7% increase per week. This is safer than the 10% rule which I think is difficult for me. This needs to be done consistently, so that slowly but surely, you are forcing your body to adapt to longer and tougher distances. If high mileage was done consistently and for several months, changes would occur like increase of concentration/number of mitochondria (power house) in your muscle cells, decrease in resting heart-rate due to larger heart, weight loss, and stronger bones and connective tissues. There’s no secret nor shortcut to this #1 law of distance running. The longer the races, the higher the weekly mileage training requirements, so to perform well, volume is needed. There is a theory that high average weekly mileage, no matter how slow they were run, would determine your running potential later on when speedwork were applied in your training regimen.

For me, the first 3 months of this year was dedicated to this increase in mileage, without any initial speedwork training. Majority of these runs are at easy pace or LSD (Long Slow Distance). After this, I ran the Condura Half-Marathon in 1:52. To be honest, I believed this was not fast enough to run the full 42K in less than 4hours. I thought a 1:45 21K is a better guarantee to run the 42K in less than 4hours. Because of this, I began to do speedwork in the next 3months.

Speedwork
To run a sub-4 hour marathon, you would need to maintain a pace of 5′41″/km (9′09″/mile) or better for the distance of 42.195Kms. To increase your natural speed, you need to run faster and perform regular speedwork(repeats) at a pace faster than marathon race pace. The program I followed in the 16 weeks before the marathon was from Runnersworld-UK for the Garmin Forerunner. I figured that the Milo Marathon Elimination course was going to be Hot, Humid, and Hilly, so I’ve downloaded the sub-3:45 plan to force myself to train harder. Well the 3:45 plan was created in UK so it probably assumes you would run the course in a flat and cooler climate so this I think was better than the sub-4:00 which I think have paces that were too easy to begin with.

The program had a lot of combination of weekly speedwork that changes every week from 200-meter to 1-mile(1.6Km) repeats. The coaches in the RW-UK probably believes in a well-balanced overall runner that could run fast on various distances. However personally, I believe the best workout that helped me for the marathon was the 1-mile repeats. It was long and hard, and prepared my legs for a pace slightly faster than the 4hour marathon. In the beginning it was tough, but weeks later I found my body adapting to the pace till the feeling becomes easier even though the number of repeats were actually increasing.

The 1mile (1.6km) repeats only have 200meter recoveries between them. Below is the graph of my heart-rate during the course of the workout. It would increase every time I speed-up and then fall down during my 200-meter jog (Runners also Jog). My Heart Rate would stay elevated at greater than 80% of my Maximum Heart Rate for more than 5minutes. This is a great workout for boosting one’s VO2Max.

I find these workouts to be very tough. It was the phase of “no pain, no gain”. One of the techniques I find useful in surviving these long mile repeats is treating it like smaller races. I had to pace myself in the first half, and go near all-out in the latter half. On the fifth repeat, I would often get exhausted and feel a little out of breath even 6hours later. I figured I wasn’t only working-out my leg muscles, but my Lung Capacity as well or VO2max.

In just a little over a month of consistently following the program’s speedwork, I found myself running faster easily during all of my easy runs at the same effort. Even my long runs were getting faster as well.

Shorter Tune-up Races
The program also encourages regular racing (but not too much!) as a way to boost VO2max and mental preparedness. One of the races I’ve picked was a 10K race in Ayala Alabang. It was a hilly race, and I had to stop for a minute to relieve myself during the race. Well, I still equaled my college PR of around 47minutes. If I hadn’t stop to pee, I could have broken it

Long Runs
My word of advice to runners who would like to run a faster marathon: Forget “Long Slow Distance” and just call it “Long Run”. Otherwise you could be stuck telling yourself to run slow all your life. Of course if you tell your body to run slow, it would run slow.

So how long should your long run be? Most marathon training programs for beginners up to the advanced would only recommend 20 to 22miles (32 to 35Kms). Jeff Galloway’s program would recommend actually running the full marathon distance, although slower than race pace. I would recommend doing either or even both of them if one has enough time for it. What I did during my training was run the shorter distance of 22miles(35Kms) at race pace. It was really tough but it prepared, and increase my confidence in running the pace. However during the race I did hit the wall, so I should have probably also included a slower but longer 42K during my training. Well that’s what I’m planning to do next time. Meanwhile, some elite athletes actually run 50kms before the marathon.

Diet and weight
Although you could be burning a lot of calories during training, you could also be increasing your appetite like a whale. Try monitoring your weight during training. Eat healthier high-carb runner friendly foods like pasta, rice, and whole wheat bread and you’ll find it easier to go inside your healthy weight range. Hopefully you’ll lose 5 to 10pounds during marathon training, mostly fat loss. Anyway all the runners I saw finish within 4hours have lean and fit bodies. You may run fast 5K’s or 10K’s but you could suffer during hot climate marathon races. Lighter runners have more advantage running in hotter and humid marathons.

Tapering
The 3 weeks before the marathon is actually more important than one may think. However if you have already done the peak 20+milers, these last 3weeks should be relatively easy. The body needs rest to recover from the 13weeks (or more) of hard training, so lowering your mileage by 20% per week should be done at this phase. Caution must be observed to prevent oneself from over-eating or else unwanted weight gain could occur. A week before the marathon, you should run the week at only 50% of your peak weekly mileage. This is the final week where you should carbo-load especially during the last 3days; weight gain of 1 to 3pounds at this time is acceptable. This is the time for a good massage to loosen up the muscles before the race. However if you haven’t been receiving regular massages lately, you may need to skip this one before the race or else your muscles could get surprisingly sore. Staying at home for the last 3days is a good idea, to keep yourself from any unwanted flu and viruses that could probably make you stay in bed for several days.

The Marathon Race
My final advice is to respect the distance. The Marathon has a great deal of history and legend behind it that running it as best and as hard as you can is the way to honor it. As much as possible run at the recommended pace of a little faster than 5′41″/km (9′09″/mile). It’s going to be tough for the last 10Kms. Hydrate well on each station especially if the race is hot and humid.

To keep your effort even, use a heart rate monitor and try to keep your heart rate even during flats, uphills, and downhills. This means running faster downhill but running slower uphill. It’s dumb to sprint uphill and end up walking downhill.

What about “The Wall” and nutrition? An average marathon runner only has 32kms worth of carbohydrates stored inside the liver and muscles. After this the fat burning mode switches over, which is really inefficient. You’ll run a lot slower because at this stage your lactate threshold drops. Your breathing gets a little heavier. Then your blood sugar level drops, which means you could get depressed which adds more mental challenge in the latter miles. It is therefore recommended to take in at least 10Km’s worth of carbohydrates (600 calories) in form of gels or sports drinks equally distributed along the course of the race. Meanwhile, the faster and more efficient runner you are, the less calories you actually burned per distance. So theoretically, you could actually extend the distance at which the wall could hit you, even beyond the marathon distance.

Prepare for the wall since most amateur marathoners do experience this. I propose training harder to race faster so that when the wall does hit you with 10Kms to go, you would still have enough time to spare and could still run fast enough for a sub-4 hour marathon. Good luck and may the spirit of Pheidippides be with you.

It talks about the “Conventional Thinking” versus “Uncommon Wisdom” by top runners and coaches. Some of it I agree and have experienced myself, while some are among my plans and now unsure if I should continue. It’s like realizing old Filipino medical misconceptions like “do not run in the rain”, “don’t let the wind dry up your sweat at your back”, or “don’t take a shower after running or you’ll get ‘pasma’”.

If you are reading this, buy that September 2009 RW issue. I tried searching runnersworld.com and it doesn’t have the article yet. I think the topic is important and could save a lot of your valuable running time and money. Samples are the following:

On Building those Muscles
Conventional Thinking – Strength Training will make you a better runner.
Uncommon Wisdom – Skip the gym; you don’t run on your arms.
i2runner’s experience – I agree with the Uncommon Wisdom. I used to lift weights to look muscular but when I started to train for the Marathon, the number of hours of training prevented me from going to the gym. But then I had no problem on my upper body running form, I had no neck or shoulder injury or fatigue during the training and running the marathon. I think weight lifting has little or no effect in running. I’d rather use my time on speedwork instead.

Remember to Stretch
Conventional Thinking – Regular stretching is important
Uncommon Wisdom – Stretching is worthless for distance runners
i2runner’s experience – This is where I get confused, and really have no solid opinion. I have been stretching regularly before, during and after my run, but I’m still have stiff inflexible iron legs. Somehow it feels good to stretch tired and sore muscles.

Make Time For Massage
Conventional Thinking – Get regular massages because they increase blood flow to the muscles and remove waste products.
Uncommon Wisdom – Massages may decrease blood flow and waste-product removal.
i2runner’s experience – I love receiving massages because they really feel good. However they’re very expensive and have noticed they don’t really speed up the healing process. Also, the “RICE” (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) doesn’t have an “M” in it.

Miles for Marathon
Conventional Thinking – You have to put in lots of miles to run a good marathon.
Uncommon Wisdom – You can run minimal mileage and still hit a time goal.
i2runner’s experience – I agree with the “Conventional Thinking”. I just can’t accept that if you run less, you’ll run better in the Marathon. I think running performance is the product of both Quality and Quantity.

Actually there are more in the magazine, but I think I’ve made my point. If you miss the September issue, I believe RW’s going to post it soon in their website.

The next day, Sunday, I drank some diatabs medicine to prevent doing #2 in public. Drank coffee too, and then drank 500ml of Gatorade. When I started running at 5AM, it was already raining. I felt great and strong so I started my run in a strong pace already. When I got to Lawton avenue, the rain got stronger but it didn’t have any noticeable effect on my pace. I got annoyed with my Garmin 405’s bezel getting activated all the time, so I activated the “auto-scroll” and locked the keys. My shoes, my socks, and my feet got wet but that’s all natural.

I wonder why some runners make a big deal of running or not in the rain. It’s a part of running life we have to face and learn to deal with. If you could run, good for you. If you couldn’t, try to do it the next day and don’t feel too bad about it.

When I got to the Fort area, it stopped raining. Then there was this race going on and I decided to join their route. Then some race Marshall shouted at me for not following the race route, he thought I was cheating. LOL! I wasn’t offended and I thought the Marshall was funny for not noticing I didn’t have any race bib#.

I had to stop at 7eleven near Shell Gas Station after 6miles to refill my hydration belt with Gatorade, and eat some…. Sugary Junk foods! Since the weather wasn’t hot nor humid, I wasn’t sweating much as I normally would. My body couldn’t absorb all the Gatorade I was drinking and I was missing its carbohydrates that I badly needed. So I thought eating sugary gummy bears was the solution and bought 2 small bags of “Trollii” that had about 200calories in each bag. When I ran at the planned marathon pace, I could eat those small yummy gummy bears slowly, chewing them without restricting my breathing too much. I was OK. So I continued to do this until I ran 12miles and had to repeat the pit-stop at 7eleven.

All the time, my pace was slightly below 9:00/mile until I got to mile 15. My knees started to hurt, quads became sore, that seems to have been caused by the new shoes that had firmer cushioning than the lunar trainers. Then the skies cleared and I could feel the heat of the sun again. I had to struggle from mile 15 to 20, but the presence of takbo.ph runners lifted my spirits. They even took a picture of me running. Thank you argonaut! Some of them have just finished the IE8 run, and some have finished the earth run. Doc Marvs finished both (amazingly crazy).

Getting leaner and stronger…

In the end, my overall pace for the 20miles was 3:00′27″, my overall pace was 9:01/mile or 5:36/km. If I could sustain this pace for another 6.2miles, I’ll have a 3:56 marathon (I wish) assuming I don’t hit the wall. In conclusion, I’ve improved my 20mile run in training without experiencing another “wind” or “runners’ high”. In fact, I should be struggling due to poor diet and nutrition for 2 days. So I haven’t really experienced that mythical “second wind” and now doubt its existence (well I do know a new running store named “second wind” though). What I really have experienced is the effect of my Marathon Training for the past 2.5 months. The training was not easy, and I often had to run near breathlessness during speed work and had to endure the feeling of burning muscles during long tempo runs. But seeing the improvement on my long runs makes these hard workouts even more addicting.

After my run I went straight to McDonald’s at NetOne. I ordered only a large coke, my stomach was so bloated I had no appetite to eat breakfast yet. When I got upstairs, I was shocked to be greeted by the huge crowd of takbo.ph. They were such a fun and crazy young crowd, I forgot how tired I was.

Photographers Doc Marvs and Luis “Gingerbread”

You see how young runners are in takbo.ph? The young Argonaut.