The journey to be a triathlete.
The results are in! I ran a 26:06 race - almost 2min faster than my previous 5k. I placed 4th place in my age division and 44th place overall. The winner clocked a 16:47 time and was in my age division - two years older than me. That’s inspiration for me. Maybe I’ll be able to run a 16min 5k in two years :). My next goal is to run a sub-20min 5k and not get beat by someone pushing a baby stroller.
Gear used:
I’ve signed up for my second 5k - the PlayadelRun Malibu 5k. The event is actually an aquathon with a 1000m ocean swim and 5k run, but I’ve opted for the 5k run only. The event is on Sept 21st so I have over a month to train. My goal for this race is sub-20min which is 8min faster than my fastest time.
I’ve been kinda against the big-name running shoe companies after reading about the supposed shoe conspiracy of shoe companies who over-engineer their shoes and actually weaken our foot muscles with too much stability control and cushioning. But regardless, it looks like all the shoe companies are creating shoes with a more minimalistic approach such as these new Nike Lunar Racers. The marketing copy says they are ultra light and low profile and employ “flywire” technology to reinforce the shape of the shoe. I’m definitely curious and would definitely try these on.
Found this recipe in Runners World. What would make this salad even better is if you get all the ingredients from your local Farmers Market!
Salad
½ cup canned tuna in water (my personal fave is Genova tuna in olive oil)
1 head Bibb or romaine lettuce
4 hard-boiled eggs
4 cooked red bliss potatoes (cut into quarters)
½ cup blanched green beans
4 tsps cured black olives (I love kalamata olives)
2 ripe heirloom tomatoes cut into six wedges
8 anchovy fillets
Dressing
2 tsps Dijon mustard
3 tss red-wine vinegar
1 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Serves 4.
330 calories, 23g fat, 13g carbs, 18g protein.
Source:
Official results reported by RunnersImage:
| Place | Division Place | Name | Sex | Age | Location | Time | Pace | Bib # |
| 407 | 11 | DAVID CHIU | M | 35 | Unattached | 00:27:43 | 8:55 | 3224 |
Today I turned out my fastest time ever in a 5k - 27.43min. I should feel good about this but I don’t because all I can think about is the lady with the baby stroller, the 81 year old man and the high-school girls who all finished way ahead of me.
I knew I had started off too fast, around a 5.33/km pace but I was caught up in the crowd and that pace felt comfortable. I was fine until the 3.50km mark. Then I felt like I had to walk. Some high school boys yelled “KEEP GOING” as they passed me from behind so I started running to pass them but a half minute after I passed them I couldn’t sustain that pace so I had to stop and walk again. Two policemen on bikes slowly rode past us stragglers yelling words of encouragement around the 4km mark “DON’T GIVE UP - YOU’RE ALMOST THERE” so I picked up the pace once more trying to catch up to the 81 year old ahead of me. My lungs felt like they were going to explode as I crossed the finish line a few moments after the sprightly old man. I looked down at my iPod to see how close it matched the race timer. This is results it displayed:
Results from Nike+ iPod:
So it appears my Nike+ iPod is off by .6km. That’s fine though because now I know if I can record a 20min 5k on my Nike+ iPod I should be able to run a 17min 5k in a race.
Gear used:
Tomorrow is the big day. My first official 5k race. For the past two days I’ve taken a break from training and instead have done some light stretching. My goal for tomorrow is to just complete the race without having to walk - to make sure I pace myself. My brother actually said that I should be able to shave 5min off my time in the actual race because of adrenaline (that would be awesome, but I doubt it - and he’s not speaking from experience).
Tonight I had a big salad with dandelions, spinach, red onions, avocados, black olives, butter lettuce, arrugula and champagne pear vinegarette dressing. I also had oven baked breadded chiecken tenders which I tried to resist but couldn’t. Tomorrow morning I’m planning on some eggs with greek yogurt and honey on the side - along with plenty of water.
After the race we’re celebrating with Dim Sum!
4 Days till race day.
Today I ran a 5k at my favorite park - but this time I ran the course the opposite direction I usually run. I think there are more up-hill sections going in this direction - at least that’s the excuse I’m using for my 31.53min time. I actually had to stop and walk about .01 or .02 km but I was able to push myself to “sprint” the last .10km. I don’t think I’m going to be winning any awards on Sat - not even for my age category - but whatever. It’s all about showing up and giving it all you got.
7 Days till race day.
Today was our typical Sunday - sleep in late, get-up and go to XFlowsion, eat at M Cafe for lunch then go home and take a bath with 20lbs of ice. Ok, that last part isn’t typical, it’s a new thing I’ve started to try in order to prevent soreness in my legs the next day. Today was the second time I’ve bathed with ice. You can’t help to let out a scream, yelp, shout, whatever when you lower yourself into the ice water. I sat there with the melting ice for about 20min. I actually don’t think it was cold enough and what I should’ve done was fill the tub with cold water, then dump the ice in. By keeping the water running with the ice already in the tub I think I lost some of the freeziness of the ice. (yeah I know that’s not a real word but whatever.)
Today I took a day off from training and Heather and I started the day off with a French crepe with bananas, honey and sliced almonds. Afterwards we strolled through the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market and bought fresh vegetables and produce. For lunch we had turkey sandwiches with heirloom tomatoes, mozzarella and basil on sourdough bread - all from the Farmer’s Market. As a snack we had greek yogurt with wild honey then went for a 5k walk around the park. For dinner we had wheat pasta with shitake mushrooms, onions, garlic, basil, mozzarella and olive oil.
A delicious day of recovery. Tomorrow… XFlowsion.
Today my office had a half-day with a BBQ down on the beach. Afterwards I thought it would be good training to run from the beach back to the office. I had already calculated the distance using google maps - 3.6 miles. I knew it would be a challenge since I would be running up hill from the ocean.
For the 1st mile I kept a pretty good pace and was able to pass the 1 mile mark within 7min even though this part of the run was completely up hill. But I was out of breath so I walked for a block then sprinted a block then walked again and continued this cycle until I reached my office. My Nike+ iPod reported the exact results
1km - 6.08min avg pace.
2km - 6.22min avg pace
3km - 10.52min avg pace.
4km - 4.49min avg pace
5km - 5.15min avg pace.
At this point I am absolutely exhausted and I’m having problems keeping my eyes open long enough to write this blog post. - so goodnight.