Half Marathon Training: Go!

Forgive the nerdy runner in me but I thought I should post how my training is going. Not only will it serve as a monitoring tool for my progress (regress?) but hopefully will also make me accountable to you all. :P Plus, some tips and comments are most welcome.

Here's how Week01 went:

{HMT Week01}

Along with that spreadsheet, I also posted my weekly run calendar in my wall. Crossing each day's workout with my pink highlighter gives me much satisfaction, yeah! I may be guilty of over-analyzing but I write more details there such as: running shoes used, with or w/o music, suspected cause of tummy trouble, etc. Last week's runs were all sans music while this week I'll be strapping the shuffle. Do you run faster with or without music?

Another thing that I observed was that my legs hurt more when I'm walking or standing. During the two non-running days, I felt tightness on my legs when we went walking and shopping. These two days were after four running days so maybe that's the reason. My weekly run plan is supposed to follow a 3(day)run-1rest-2run-1nonrun pattern but I had to adjust. Another possible culprit is that I haven't iced my knees/shins after any of the runs last week. Hopefully, Week02 won't be as busy so I can stick with the 3-1-2-1 pattern. Also, I shall make it a point to ice after every run this week.

The past week was abnormally hectic and I had to say no to half of the social activities. I feel a bit guilty not hanging out with friends more and choosing to run. But it would be worse if I went but my mind was lost in thoughts such as: "By this time, I would have been at mile02/at the last mile/stretching/etc." Yeah, I love running. :D I'd say this week was balanced - went on staycation, had great times with friends, and still managed to cross HMTraining Week01 with a big pink DONE! Happy running!

Update: Karena has a giveaway to celebrate her 100th blog post! She's giving away items every runner would want - socks, gels, Luna Moons, headphones, and Nuun. Go!

Back To School Staycation

Before starting work at a Japanese company, I took Nihongo and Japanese culture classes at an international school for 3 months. Living at the dorm, I had to comply with strict rules and schedules. We woke up before 6am, cleaned, exercised, then had breakfast at 7. We had classes the entire day with an hour break for lunch. Dinner was served at granny o'clock (6pm), bath at 7, and lights out by 10. Another rule that I found shocking there was that students weren't aloud to eat while walking in campus!

Being invited to stay at the school for four days at Week01 of my HMTraining, I immediately made adjustments with my run sked. I can still fit in runs for Days 1 (before I leave) and 4 (when I get back). For the two full days that I'm at the school, adjustments are necessary. I'm not sure about the activities planned for this staycation. I don't have as much freedom with time though, that's for sure. I'm looking forward to homecooked Japanese meals, though! :D A fun thing about the school is that we get to help with the food preparation, table setting, and cleaning.

I have already found a route for a short 3 miler. The problem would be if I can find the time to sneak in even a short run. If this was a regular vacation, that wouldn't be a problem at all. Like I said earlier, the school HAS RULES and I just have to find a way to bend them. :P

{Lake Run (I hope!)}

If I can't squeeze a run in those two days, I still have my Rest Day card for the week and power yoga instead. The TV room was always empty when I was there so hopefully I'll be able to use that as my personal yoga room. :)

What would you do if you had a couple extra hours added to your day? I'd choose to sleep or to run. Dear runners, how do you keep with your training schedule while on vacation? Happy Hump Day y'all! :D

Lake Night Rest and Early Morning Run

My official training has started today and I'm glad to report that my 3 mile easy run for the day is DONE. Yey! Some of you suggested for me to get more mileage on the next four weeks but I decided to start with the training plan instead. It's my first time using a program and I was worried with how I would respond to following scheduled runs as compared to running whenever I felt like it. I figured I should start now and see how it goes so that I could have more time to make adjustments if needed. Obviously, it's still too early to tell if I like sticking with a plan. Waking up today knowing that I had a 3 mile run per schedule was enough motivation for me to lace up and hit the road though. I wore the Mizunos for their second run and I'm loving them. They now have 8 miles shaved off their running life. :P The Asics have yet to be tested sometime this week. Now, I'm including shoe details on my training log to also keep track of each pair's mileage.

Backing up to the weekend that was, Saturday was spent by the lake with friends and their kids. Naomi was so full of energy the entire day. She tried to learn how to use her mom's camera but gave up after 2 seconds.

{Never too young (or old) to learn something new!}

She also played by the lakeside under the watchful eye of K, entertained us with her funny dancing, and ran around while waiting for the sun go down.

{Oh to be a kid again!}

We got to the lake a couple hours before the fireworks so we had plenty of time to kill. Onigiri (rice balls), cold tea, and chips were passed around along with fun conversation. When I asked Jacob (whose 6th birthday it was that day!) what he misses most about the US, I got an honest and funny answer: STUFFED CRUST PIZZAS! He asked why in the world don't Japan and Canada have them?! Don't they really have those in Canada? We have those back in the Philippines so I thought it was available everywhere. Then it was time for fireworks.

{Lake Pic Before Battery Fail}

My battery died on me so that's all I got to show for you. :D The show was better than I expected. It went on for an hour and there were a lot of oohs and aahs from the crowd. Whenever everybody thought it was the finale, we would clap in appreciation but the show went on with more surprises. It was a great night.

Sunday was more laid back: reading, veggie shopping, dropping by friends' place and later walking in the park. I got home and baked brownies for this week's running fuel. :P They worked on this morning's run. :D Even if its hot hot hot, that didn't stop me from making Thai Green Curry. Yeah, it came from a can but all these fresh veg more than made up for health points, right? Carrots, eggplant, goya, kabocha, and soy beans - it was an explosion of flava! The curry had 4.5 chili points and boy was it HOT! I love the creamy coconut milk and sharp taste of lemon grass .

{Veggie Thai Green Curry on Rice Penne}

To balance the heat, this simple and quick salad was just the right side dish. Mushed tofu mixed with wholegrain mustard made a creamy sauce for some organic cucumbers bought from the road stand. Not too pretty but definitely refreshingly good.

{Cool as Cukes}

I hope you all had a wonderful and relaxing weekend. I hope it wasn't as hot and humid as it was here! Stay cool and happy Monday!

Half-Day Eats and Half Marathon Training Question

Since I am currently living alone, I get to eat whatever I want. It is a double edged sword for sure. Nobody's stopping me when I feel like ice cream and chocolates for breakfast. While I have my moments and make less healthy food decisions at times, I'm thankful that I love fruits and vegetables so that it's easy for me to get my fill of 10 various veggies in a day. Yes, I do make a fruits and veggie count and panic a bit when the number drops to 5 veg/2 fruits. :P Do you live alone? If not, do the people you live with share your healthy eating habits?

{Breakfast: Egg, mizuna, shaved carrots, green pepper in gim/Korean nori}

I loved how the warm egg made the nori melty yummy. Blogging snack was a slice of banana bread, frozen banana slices, and frozen grapes. This time, I added kinako (soy bean flour) to the mix for some protein action and topped with black sesame seeds. Wiki says that: "About one-third of the sesame crop imported by the United States from Mexico is purchased by McDonald's for their sesame seed buns (The Nut Factory 1999)". That's a lotta buns! Protein in a sweet slice of bread, winner methinks.

{Snack: A Slice of Kinako Banana Bread}

Check out my watermelon August calendar at the background, love the color contrast. :D I had plans of trying to make Thai Green Curry but the heat is killing me so that will have to wait another day. :s Instead, I deciced to recycle left over carrots, green pepper, and mizuna to make a salad. With thinly sliced cucumber and gluten free rice penne; it made for a quick cool lunch. Haha, lazy me. There's still a big container of that in the fridge so I can have it whenever the tummy grumbles.

{Lunch: Rice Penne with Veg + Raw Tofu}

That was refreshing. I'm gonna have another serving of that later with some slices of avocado for the healthy fats! Whew! I'm only half-way through my eats for the day. I am truly amazed at bloggers who post all their eats every single day! You guys are awesome.

Running Question: Hal Higdon's Half Marathon Plan is 12 weeks but I have 16 weeks to go (not including this week) before the race, how should I go about that? I plan on repeating 4 weeks (ex: W1, W2, W5, W6) depending on how each training week goes. Any suggestions? Super thanks!

There's an Imelda in Everybody

Imelda is the widow of former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos. She is the best known shoe collector in the world owning over 3,000 pairs! Can you imagine if she was a runner?! Her shoe closet would definitely be the envy of us all, right? I don't have the money to buy even a hundred pairs of shoes but this weekend, I managed to start with a tiny 0.1% start to building my personal Imelda Running Shoe Collection.

{Brand Testing: Asics, Mizuno, Adidas}

Each pair fit me really well. I gave them a test run at the shop and they feel exactly the way my favorite and well worn running shoes do. My plan is to test out these three different brands and then decided which one I feel best with. Then I'll probably stick with that brand after. We'll see. Another shopping score this weekend were these organic goya (bitter gourd) and cucumbers! I was hesitant on picking up the goya since the ones I had before very too bitter for my taste. Thankfully, these ones had just the right bitterness level and added a different flavor to my bento today. :D

{ODed on Veggies and Shoes}

After my first ever 12 miler, I didn't run on the weekend and cross trained with power yoga and biking instead. I did register for the November half marathon and only need to pay by September to make it official. Jo (Aki's husband) wanted to join to but he's expecting family from the States by then so it's a no go for him. Hopefully Rea will want to run at least the 10K. She's vacationing back in the Philippines so I'll ask her when she gets back. :D

After looking over some half marathon training guides, Hal Higdon's seems to be the best fit for me. With just two months' running experience, I think the Novice program's ideal. After all it would be my first race and I wouldn't want to overtrain and get injured. However, having done well with distance and wanting to work on my speed, I'm tempted to follow the Intermediate plan which includes speedwork. What do you think?

I had plans to ride a train to Nagoya to watch the World Cosplay Summit but the rain kept me from going. :S Maybe that explains why I ODed on shoes instead. :P With the rain turning everything gray outside, I had soulful food to warm my tummy.

{Udon}

Also, I had the last slices of the banana bread on a weirdly cool Sunday morning. This loaf lasted a week which was a miracle for me, a banana bread monster. A slice (plus some other food) before or after my runs was my "secret" running fuel the past week. As a matter of fact, I baked another loaf for this week's runs. Hope that one lasts at least until Friday. :D

{BB with Honey Roasted Peanuts and Coconut Flakes}

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. Here's to a fantastic start to a brand new month!