It’s official. I’ve registered for my first 5k - the Baldwin Park Pride of the Valley 5k Run. I was going to wait till I was hitting the 20min mark before entering an actual race, but I needed some motivation in my training.  The race description says it’s a fast flat track and the race is sanctioned and monitored by USAT&F so we’ll see how well I do on my very first officially timed 5k!

Strides: Do a set of strides before and after each run. If possible, do them on dirt or grass. Run for 20 seconds as fast as you can while maintaining smooth form, and then rest 30 seconds. Do a total of four strides.

Skipping: Once a week, find some grass or a dirt trail and start skipping. If it’s been two decades since you last skipped, start with 2 x (3 x 30 seconds) with an easy one-minute jog after each of the three reps and three-minute jog between the two sets. As you progress, work up to two sets of six repetitions and cut the recovery time in half.

Brick: Because of the importance of the neuromuscular transition from the bike to the run, I like to see people do—at a minimum—one brick a week throughout their training for a sprint event. Two bricks a week is even better. Your run shouldn’t last longer than 20 minutes and should follow this format: Take two minutes to find your legs and then do six 30-second fartleks at 5K race pace with one minute of jogging recovery after each. Use the remaining time to run easy and cool down.

Core: Start in a modified push-up position where you’re resting on your forearms. Keeping your legs, torso and head in a straight line, push your body up off the ground and hold the pose for 30 seconds. Repeat four times. Work up to holding the pose for one minute. Do the plank exercise every other day, year round.

I’m definitely going to start doing planks and side-planks every other day - starting tonight.

There are also nutrition/supplement strategies for optimum muscle recovery. I found a pretty thorough article on Washington Running Report that outlines nutrition for optimum muscle recovery. At the end of the article they endorse a product called Endurox R4 which is a combination of electrolytes, protein, glutamine and other vitaimins - nothing too exotic. I might have to check it out.

I just happened to stumble upon the Virgin HealthMiles website which offers a wellness program for employers to encourage employees to stay healthy and help reduce health insurance costs.

HealthMiles – is a first-of-its-kind health rewards program that motivates and incentivizes consumers to engage in the process of getting and staying healthier by being more active. The program is offered by insurers, employers and other network partners, such as health clubs, in an effort to motivate Americans to live more active lives – and ultimately lower health care costs for everyone.

The rewards for staying healthy make the program even more compelling:

By tracking your daily activity, taking your measurements, completing a fitness assessment and more, you’ll earn reward points, or “Miles” as we call them (see all the ways to earn Miles). As your Miles add up, you’ll proceed through a series of Reward Levels, where you’ll receive HealthCash, rebates, and other cool stuff, depending on your particular program. The higher the Level, the more you get when you get there.

I think this program is a brilliant idea! I wish my employer offered it!

This is 29 seconds faster than my run last week. I guess short hair helps you run faster :). Or maybe it’s the new injinji socks I just bought. Ultimately it’s probably my attention to pacing and setting a breathing rhythm.

Today was a strong run and I felt I could’ve even pushed a little faster. It makes me wonder how fast I could run a 5k on a flat track.

Start time: 5.54pm

Temp: 69°

Conditions: slight breeze

Gear used:

I usually try to stay away from boxed prepared foods for lunch, but today while I was at the grocery store picking up some cleaning supplies I noticed the South Beach Living Cranberry Walnut Chicken Salad Kit. I had my doubts on the quality and taste of the ingredients, but it turns out it was pretty good! The kit comes with wheat pita chips, grilled chicken breast cuts, light mayo, dried cranberries, walnuts and sugar free Jello. At 290 calories and 24g of protein it was a decent serving - although for my weight/size and fitness goals I know I should be taking in more like 500cal/meal. At least I know I have decent options at the local grocery store when I don’t bring a lunch.

Ok, so may not swim as fast as a dolphin, but the new Speedo LZR Racer swimsuit is causing a stir and many are claiming that it gives an unfair advantage to the wearer. I wonder how USAT will deal with it and weather we will see people wearing the Speedo LZR Racer at Ironman next year.

This started out as a very strong run with my pace hovering around 6′/km but at 1.71km I started to feel a blister forming on the inside of my arch. I tried to power through it but by 2.30km it hurt so bad I had to stop. I removed my shoe to find a very long blister on the arch of my foot caused by the arch support of my insoles and it didn’t help that I wasn’t wearing any socks. I’ve run in these shoes with these insoles before with no problems but I think I might have tied my shoes a little tighter this time which caused more friction on my arches. So I got sidelined half way through my run.

Start time: 12.39pm

Temp: 98°

Conditions: Sunny, slight breeze

Gear Used:

I pushed myself a little harder today and shaved 20 seconds from my last run. I started off at a faster pace (5′05″/km) than normal, feeling pretty strong but after my second lap around the park I knew I couldn’t sustain the pace so I slowed down to around (6′40″/km). The last .50km was pretty rough since I was starting to get a slight side stitch and I had to really push myself to finish. I still think my form is pretty bad. It’s worse when I start to get tired. I can feel my shoulders hunching forward and I have to force myself to keep my head up and back straight. I’m also running the first 2km entirely on my forefoot trying to adjust to the Pose-style of running but I’m not able to sustain the technique much more than that.

Start time: 12.33pm

Temp: 72°

Conditions: Sunny, light breeze

Gear used:

Heather and I walked from the park to the ocean and back. Even though we didn’t run it was a beautiful walk and change of pace. The hike was moderately challenging with many hills and walking through the sand at the beach - and of course we had to take a moment to just sit and admire the ocean.

Gear Used: