Week 3: Portland Half – Learning my limit

Plan this week:

Mon: Run 3.5 miles

Tue: Strength Training

Wed: Interval Tempo Run 3.75 miles

Thu: Run3.5 miles

Fri: Rest

Sat: Run 8 miles (gasp!)

Sun: Rest

What a week.   I started this week feeling pretty strong and even with an all day training, I still able to sneak in the run in the evening.   However, mid this week, I was not feeling all to well.

Monday:

I was in all day training and felt so tired when I was done.   I had so many excuses in my head but I can’t justify any of them, so when I got home, I put my running shoes on and head out.   I had a great run and ended up run for 4 miles.   It was cool out and I absolutely love the trail.

Tuesday:

The plan was to go to the gym early in the morning before my class start.  My alarm went off at 5am and I could not move my body.  I was so tired!  I felt back to sleep and woke up at 7am which was a bit too late for me to go to the gym and be on time for my class, so I skipped the strength training.   After class – I had dinner plan with a few friends and didn’t get home until 10pm, which was unrealistic for me to even do anything.   No gym for today.

Wednesday:

I went to the same trail with my husband and my two daughters.   The plan was for me to run, and for the girls to ride their bike with my husband around the trails.   I was supposed to run normally for a mile, then run really hard for 5 minutes, slow for 1 minute and repeat it three times, and run the last mile normally (total 3.5 miles).   I started with my normal run and went okay but then those gallon of water that I drank prior run just didn’t want to stay in, so I had to run back to the beginning of the trail for a bathroom break.  That kinda ruined my style a bit (lesson learn – always go before you start!).   I start all over and run another mile and start my tempo run, which about kill me the second rep.   So I ended up only did 2 reps of 5 minutes of fast run, and 1 minute of walk and run normally the rest of the way.   Total run:  5.01 miles

Thursday:

I went back to the same trail after my class.  It was absolutely gorgeous evening.  The sun was set on the other side of the lake and full moon on the opposite side.   My husband dropped me at the 4 mile marker and I ran back with my brother to the beginning of the trail since we didn’t have his bike with us.   My knee felt a bit tight and it usually took 5-10 minutes of run to loosen up, but it was tight the entire time.   It didn’t bother me all that much during the run though.   I did total 4 miles with 12:20 average pace.

Friday:

Rest.  Love it.

Saturday:

Long run day.  My girlfriend, Marisa, decided to run with me.  I was excited to have someone to run with, even though I am not really a chatter when I run.  I like to put my headset and just be.  No chit-chatting or try to be in the same pace but still enjoy the fact that I have someone to run with.   We had a bit of late start and didn’t get out to the trail until 10:30am.   It was a bit cool but the sun was out and absolutely fabulous day.   I wasn’t feeling all that hot and had experience some discomfort unrelated to the run as a side effect for my current medicine that its dosage currently increased but I decided to go out and run anyway.

I started strong, and run in my normal pace until about 2 miles and the pain and discomfort that I had hit me harder.  I could barely move and had to stop and walk for a bit.   I walked for a bit and try to focus on something else and hoping that the pain would go away or lessen up a bit but it wasn’t happening.   I was mad.  I was frustrated and my stubbornness took over.   I started to run again and went for another mile until I felt dizzy from the pain and had to walk again.   I walked for another 5 minutes and started to run again for another mile until I felt like I was about to faint and had to walk again.   I was getting madder and frustrated, but I knew that my body has been trying to tell me to stop and I refused to listen.   I had a conversation about my stubborn-self and had this debate in my head about should I stop or go on and finally decided to call it a day.   My husband, who rode his bike alongside of me, went back to the car and came back to pick me up so i didn’t have to walk all the way to the beginning of the trail.   I gave it my best, and my body was not cooperating.  Again.  This is going to be an interesting couple months ahead.    I ended up run/walk for total 4.8 miles.

Sunday:

My stubborn head want to do another long run to make up for yesterday but I decided to give myself a break and rest today as scheduled

Fundraising:

I’m still not doing anything yet for fundraising since this week is a crazy busy week.  However, I plan to send out my first email for my fundraising next week.   If you happen to read this post, let me just start with you.   I’m training for Portland Half-Marathon with Team in Training to raise money for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Week 2: Portland Half – I Can Do This

Plan this week:

Mon: Strength Training (back, core, lower body, hips)

Tues: Run 3.5 miles

Wed: Cross Training – Cycling

Thu: Tempo/Internal 3 miles

Fri: Rest

Sat: Run 7 Miles

Sun: Rest

This week, I learned more and more about this ‘running’ thing.   I learned about proper hydration, stretching technique and even how mentally handle myself during the long run.   Again, it’s not the same with hiking at all.   The concept is the same, but there’s major different on the detail.    I love the fact that when I look back to last week, I know that I am better this week.    Yes, I know – it’s only week two, and I might hate this by the end of week 6, we shall see.   For now, I’m really starting to believe that I can actually do this running thing.   I don’t hate it.   I actually start to enjoy it.   In some way, it just like hiking to me.   I’m alone with my thought and there’s tremendous peace during it.   The sound of my shoes, my breathing and my heart beat become a perfect harmony that strangely enough, sounds pretty soothing in my ear.   Yes, I know.  I’m wierd.    In a good way, I hope.

How it went down:

Monday:

It took a lot of will-power on my part to get me moving to the gym.   I was tired and all I want to do just sit on the couch and do absolutely nothing.   My girls went to their dad, and it was so tempted to just veg out, but I mosey myself out of the house and went to the gym.   I did 10 mins warm up on the bicycle and start by doing 3 back routines, follow 2 leg routines, 2 hip routines and 2 core routines.  I did 15 reps, 2 set on each.   It seems fairly easy work out to me which made me wonder if I should do more or put more weight or do more reps, but I decided to be okay with it and went home.

Tuesday:

I was so tired and really didn’t feel like running.   I came home from work and sat on the couch and started to create excuse and justifications on why I should not go out and run but thanks to my mean awesome friends, Karen Lopez and Rob Drysdale that bullied encouraged me to just drag my behind off the couch and just do it (just like Nike), I managed to complete my run today.    John and I went to Snoqualmie Valley Trail and did our run/bike there.   He rode the bike alongside of me, while I ran.   I like that trail run a lot!   It’s pretty flat and wide and there’s interesting bridge that give us pretty awesome view.  I struggled a bit on the first half miles, but then I found my rhythm and finished strong.  I ran total 4.03 miles with about 12:30 pace and felt great afterwards.

Wednesday:

Today’s menu is cross-training, or any other cardio work out that is NOT running.   The suggestions are cycling, spinning, swimming or any aerobic class for 30 minutes.   I choose to do some cycling instead.   I set my machine to do a hill program, with level 10 (highest level is 20) and start pedaling.   It was fairly easy, even on the hard hill part and almost made me wonder if I actually need to bump it up a notch or not.  I sweat pretty good too.   I did 30 minutes on it and decided to call it a day.

Thursday:

Interval training – Tempo Run.   I need to run for 3 miles total.   The first miles is run for 12 minutes (5.0 speed) and I did just fine, and bump the speed up to 7.0 and ran really fast for 4 minutes, lower the speed down to 3.0 and jog for 2 minutes.   Repeat that twice with total a mile, and run for 12 minutes in the last miles.   On the second rep of the tempo run, and I actually had to reduce the speed a bit to get my breathing under control but in overall – I think I did okay.  I finished the whole routines withing 37.39.

Friday:

Rest. Day.  Yay.

Saturday:

Long run day.  I was a bit overwhelm with the task in hand.  Seriously, 7 miles is a LOT of miles and I never run that far without stopping.   The original plan is to go to Green Lake Trail and run a loop there while John ride his bike with my girls.  The girls would love it, and there’s playground and beach around to keep them occupied, but my youngest girl woke up feeling pretty crummy and even had a puke-fest in the morning so that plan is out.   I almost ditch the whole thing out and kept telling myself that my daughter needs me and I can run some other day.   Around 2pm, after almost 5 hours nap, she woke up with a huge grin on her face and back to her old-self.   So we packed the girls and dropped them at Grandma (thank God for Grandma!) and went to Lake Sammamish trail instead.     I put on my audiobook on (thank you Karen Lopez for this tips!) and start my run while John rode his bike alongside me.  To combat the overwhelm feeling I had, I broke the total miles into smaller chunks and focus on that.   I know I can run 3 miles just fine so I focus on that.   Before long, my iPhone told me that I reach 3 miles and I was feeling strong, so I kept on going another half-mile and turn around.   I kept running, and running and again, before long, my iPhone told me that I ran for 6 Miles!   Then it dawn on me that I only have a mile to go!   I finished the whole 7 miles withing 1:29 minutes with cheek-to-cheek grin to John.   My average pace is 12:29.   Not bad for the first timer!!   I felt great afterwards, nothing really hurt or sore.

Sunday:

Rest day.  Love it.

Fundraising:

I haven’t done any fundraising effort at all, other than mouth-to-mouth so there’s not much movement.   I plan to send my first email out this coming week, so we’ll see how it goes.   For all of you that happen to read this blog, maybe I’ll start with you.   Please help me fund my future medicine.   Yes, you read right.   The funds I raise will be used for research and development for future medicine, as well as patient support program by Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.   MY medicine.   Please visit my fundraising page here.

Week 1: Portland Half – Baseline

Plan this week:

Mon: Run 3 Miles

Tues: Run 4 Miles

Wed: Cross/Strength Training

Thu: Run 3 Miles

Fri: Rest

Sat: Run 5 Miles

Sun: Rest

This week is all about baseline.  See, I’m a mountaineer, a hiker.  I can have 40lbs pack in my bag and walk 10 hours straight on some steep hill during 30mph winds, but I never run.  Sure, I ran on treadmill as part of my cardio training before or interval training, but I never done any long distance run, or consistent running within a week.   So this whole thing is new to me.    There’s a whole new thing I need to learn, different stretching technique, hydration (this one is similar, but have slight difference), even psychological aspect of the running.   After a couple runs, I found myself enjoy that more and more.     During the run, my mind is clear and it just me and my thought.   Sure, i know my surrounding but mostly they are just background image for me.   This is no different when I hike.   Some people like to have a conversation during the hike, and I am a completely opposite.   I don’t like to chit-chat at all.   I like to be alone with my thought (or my music) during hike, and I found that running give me the same peace.    I have a busy 10 weeks ahead of me, and hopefully I can improve my strength to do a long distance run (and survived this training!).

How it went down:

Monday:

It was raining and I was still exhausted from my climb.   The lack of sleep during the climb started to creep in.  I took today off from work so I can recover and I literally was in bed all morning.   Around two o’clock, I started to contemplate the idea to go out and run.  There’s this back and forth conversation in my head about ‘you should go out and run‘ and ‘but I just had my big climb and I’m so tired, and this bed is so comfy‘.    Two hours later, I finally managed to put my running shoes on and walk outside.   I put my hard shell on since it was raining and start running.  I was greeted by the hill immediately and I never hate my neighborhood hills so much until I had to run on it!  It was pretty brutal for the first 10 minutes and I did walked for a little bit to warm up.   Then I set my pace and started to run.   It wasn’t as bad as I thought.  I wasn’t struggling at all to do 3 miles (other than on those darn hill).   I remembered watching my foot moving and it was somewhat help me focus.   I did the whole 3 miles on 44 minutes.   Not bad for a first day.

Tuesday:

It was raining again and I was tired.  I didn’t feel like running on my neighborhood cause I was still traumatize by those hills, so I decided to go to the gym.   I hop on the treadmill and started to run.   The first 2 miles went by so quick that I barely noticed, but the third miles – I was starting to get bored.   I didnt’ feel a lot of struggles other than my mind kept wondering when I’m going to be done.   By the time I ran the fourth miles, I managed to distract myself by reading – which help a lot.   I finished 4 miles within 49 mins and felt pretty good afterwards.

Wednesday:

I woke up with a sore shins and hips.    I vaguely remember this muscle pain (hips) earlier on my training for my climb.   I thought that I did variety of strength training to strengthen my hips, but I guess running move the muscle in a completely different way than hiking.   I iced it and took some advil and decided to take a rest today.

Thursday:

The sun was out and it was a beautiful day!  I was going to just run on the treadmill at this gym by my work, but decided to run outside and enjoy the nice weather.   I mapped out my run, and head out to the waterfront park.   I started with just a walk for about 10 minutes, to get my closer to the park, so I can warm up.   I did 3 miles and I felt great!  I love running there!  The water gave it a nice breeze so it wasn’t too hot and I can see Mt. Rainier as I was running!

Friday:

Rest

Saturday:

It’s a long run day!  My Team In Training Coach, Andy Mount, uploaded my training plan to my Training Peaks calendar and he put me down for 6 Miles today!  That kinda caught me off guard a bit since I never run that long but when I told him that, he told me that 5 Miles is okay for this week, and even suggested me to do run/walk routine.  Run for 6 minutes and walk for 2 minutes.

We headed out around 8:30am to Snoqualmie Valley Trail.  The plan is to have John ride the bike alongside of me (so he can carry my water, heh) and we get to spend some time together and do our work out since he can’t run with his hip right now (he was diagnosed of Avascular Necrosis 6 months ago).    We park the car and head out to the what it looked like a trail and I started to run.   After a mile, I realized that we came back to where we started and a bit confused.   Turn out that the trail that I was on, wasn’t the one that I was supposed to be, but I decided to keep on going.   I did a loop on that dirt road and ended up run for 5.3 miles (well, I walked for 3/4 miles and run the rest).   I felt great during the run and afterwards.   My left hamstring feel a bit tight, but it was better after I stretch them.   I was pretty psyched when my iPhone app told me that I just completed 5 miles!    We drove around for a bit afterwards to look for the right trail and finally found it.    I know where to go for the next run!

Sunday:

Rest

Fundraising:

Yes, I know y’all just donate and support my climb but I also know that you are all very generous people and I hope that you can spare a latte this week and help me fund my future medicine.   Yes, I’m not kidding.   The money that raised from this event will go to research and development as well as patient support program for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.   Those research, hopefully, someday, will find a new cure or new medicine for blood disease.   Or, let me make it simple.   For me, since I’m a survivor with leukemia.    Check out the detail on my fundraising page at http://tinyurl.com/HelpYanni.   I have raised $400 so far, and a huge thank you for those who believe in my cause and supporting me.   You know who you are.    I love you all.

New Goal. New Focus

This is the paragraph from a book called ‘The Non-Runner’s Marathon Trainer‘

Why Marathon?

At some point, everyone who has ever trained for an run a marathon has asked him or herself that very question.  The answers are as individual as the person asking the question.   Each of us has a complete unique set of life experiences, yet as humans we share the desire to test our personal limited in search of how far we can go.   The avenue of testing is limited only by one’s imagination, fear, threshold, and financial resources.  Some people dive out of airplanes, others climb mountains, still others explore the depths of the sea.   But for most of us, the arenas of challenge are less grandiose and a lot closer to home:  how long can I work in the yard before having to go in and rest, or how far can I walk before turning for home, or how much longer can I tolerate this job before it drives me crazy?

Along with the need to grow by testing and expanding our personal limits, we humans desire and value what psychologists call ‘peak experiences‘.   Peak experiences are positive happenings that have a profound and lasting impact.  They are life-changing and in retrospect are often considered the finest moments of our lives.  They are experiences we value and memories we cherish

Why did I quote the paragraph from that book above?   Well, you probably guessed by now that I have a new goal and new focus after my climb next week.

I’m going to run a half-marathon.

Stay tuned for detail and training plan.