For the course I chose today, please click the link below.
https://goo.gl/g3AjMV
It makes you sick to the stomach just to think about it.
And when you actually do it, it makes you feel like throwing up.
But then when you accomplish it, you feel like you are in seventh heaven.
And that's exactly how I am feeling now after accomplishing it,
taking a shower, and relaxing in the living room with a can of beer in my hand.
The result of tonight's training is as follows:
1st K: 4:01.18
Rest: 2:00.13
2nd K: 4:13.64
Rest: 2:00.13
3rd K: 4:15.73
Rest: 2:00.43
4th K: 4:29.59
Rest: 2:00.54
Rest: 2:00.54
5th K: 4:26.94
Rest: 2:00.24
Rest: 2:00.24
6th K: 4:32.19
Rest: 2:00.09
Rest: 2:00.09
7th K: 4:25.40
Rest: 2:00.55
Rest: 2:00.55
8th K: 4:40.45
Rest: 2:00.32
Rest: 2:00.32
9th K: 4:23.40
Rest: 2:00.29
Rest: 2:00.29
10th K: 4:32.89
Rest: 2:00.90
Rest: 2:00.90
11th K: 4:31.22
Rest: 2:00.42
12th K: 4:39.56
Rest: 2:00.20
13th K: 4:25.02
Total 13 K :1:21:41
Though I did 1K by 13 sets interval training twice before last November,
they were both on a flat course.
Tonight the course had one 180 M steep hill and one 250 M less steep hill.
Finishing under 4 minutes was hard right from the start.
And my time kept on deteriorating as I went through the sets.
I finished close to 4 minutes, but in the next set my time got worse suddenly.
A number of factors can be attributed to this sudden worsening of time.
One, I hadn't completely recovered from the cold.
Two, I had heavy jogging shoes on with cushioning
because I had had my right ankle injured from my previous 30 K run,
and I didn't want to make it worse a week before a big race.
Three, I took cough medicine half an hour before the run.
Anyhow, I had a stomachache during my fourth set,
and that continued during the next few sets.
I was talking to myself while running: "Should I call it a day after doing 7 sets,
and do the rest tomorrow? What's the point of continuing when you time is so bad.
You can't even call it interval training if your time is this bad."
But another side of me said another thing: "Well, Gak, you are not running for time.
You are running for discipline, both physical and mental.
By not quitting, you'll be keeping the promise you have made yourself.
Also, if you complete the entire 13 sets, you'll definitely develop an enormous amount of endurance. Go for it, no matter how slow you may be."
I really didn't know which choice to make until I finally finished the 7th set.
A good thing about the 7th set is that it finishes at an end that's away from home.
It means you have to come back anyway.
I thought: "You might as well do another set as just cruise back home."
So I decided to do at least another three sets to make it total 10 sets.
I also decided to forget about time and do the best I could.
Once I accepted my inability to improve on time, I suddenly felt less stressed.
But that didn't make the training physically less challenging.
It still continued to present an excruciatingly painful challenge
since when you ran back to where you started off the first set,
you needed to climb the 180 M steep hill.
It makes your thigh sore just to walk up.
When it comes to running up it, the challenge increases insanely.
You curse your body weight when you run up a hill.
The best thing you can do, though, is to run in short and quick stride.
That I did. But the fatigue level had reached the where even making that much effort
was painful.
I felt miserable to see my Ironman watch that said: 4:40.45--the worst time out of all eight sets.
I took a sip from my bottle that I had kept in the bush by the road.
Breathing was difficult, and my heart rates didn't come down easily.
I gazed up at the moon, and took a deep breath. The icy air filled my lungs,
and after a few more attempts to get the freshest air made me ready for another set.
When I started off for the 9th set, I said to myself, "OK, let's just do two more sets.
If I feel tired then, I'll call it a day. Ten sets is awesome for a man who's still trying to shake off nasty cough."
Once I said to myself, the next two sets were over fairly quick.
At least that's how I felt.
I was back to the start line once again, with ten sets already accomplished.
Should I call it a day? Or should I go for another three sets to keep the promise
I made myself?
I chose the latter, saying to myself, "OK, Gak. Think of the next three K as the last three K of a full marathon you are just about to complete. Would you quit after having already run 39 K?"
My answer was obvious. "Hell no!"
So I hit the road again for yet another set.
Once I was done, I said the same thing to myself: "Think of the next two K as the last two K of a full marathon. No one will quit here."
It certainly did lifted my spirit, but my body wouldn't responded so conveniently as I wanted it to.
As I mentioned once, the return set is more challenging than the going set because of the steep hill. I felt pressured at the prospect of the approaching formidable penance. But in no time I was right in the middle of it. My stride got shorter and quicker, but the resistance to the thighs never seemed to be smaller. There was a lamppost to make the end of the hill, but it looked so far away, and never seemed to come closer no matter how hard I turned over my legs.
I pretended as if there were a much longer distance to the top than there actually was.
And I counted down by saying, "180 M. 170 M. 160 M" so that I would feel happy
to reach the top when I thought there was more to climb to reach the top.
The 11th set was over in no time.
And there was only one more to go. Everything seemed so much easily now.
The going set was less challenging. I mustered up all the energy that was left in me,
and embarked on the final lap. The initial 100 M is flat, which suddenly switches to a steep down hill. I shift my upper body only slightly backward to control the speed and minimize the shock of landing. Once you read the bottom, it goes up slightly for another 100 M and goes down again for 150 M. Then comes the 250 M uphill, not as steep as the other one, but much longer. I count my steps as I go up to keep a steady rhythm. Running fast isn't required when you go up. Rhythm is more important. That's a lesson I learned from a pacemaker who helped me finish a full marathon under 4 hours. I grit my teeth and bear the discomfort of oxygen debt resulting from pushing beyond your aerobic capacity. Soon the hill was over. What remained was a 220 M straight. I shook my head right and left to sprint to the finish, pretending to be my hero and 1970 Mexico City Olympics Men's Marathon Silver Medalist Mr. Kenji Kimihara who was well known for the same mannerism. The finish line was in sight. It's a large intersection on Route 16. Three cars were waiting for the traffic light to turn green. I ran past them, and finally completed all of the entire 13 sets of hill interval training!
Suddenly my body felt light though everything had felt heavy only a second before.
And breathing was suddenly easier when only a minute before I had felt like my lungs were filled with sand. Oh, what a tremendously exhilarating sensation! One K by 13 sets hill interval training. Mission accomplished!
My next training is this coming Thursday. I'm doing 3 K build-up training just to activate my cardio-vascular system.
.
Rest: 2:00.42
12th K: 4:39.56
Rest: 2:00.20
13th K: 4:25.02
Total 13 K :1:21:41
Though I did 1K by 13 sets interval training twice before last November,
they were both on a flat course.
Tonight the course had one 180 M steep hill and one 250 M less steep hill.
Finishing under 4 minutes was hard right from the start.
And my time kept on deteriorating as I went through the sets.
I finished close to 4 minutes, but in the next set my time got worse suddenly.
A number of factors can be attributed to this sudden worsening of time.
One, I hadn't completely recovered from the cold.
Two, I had heavy jogging shoes on with cushioning
because I had had my right ankle injured from my previous 30 K run,
and I didn't want to make it worse a week before a big race.
Three, I took cough medicine half an hour before the run.
Anyhow, I had a stomachache during my fourth set,
and that continued during the next few sets.
I was talking to myself while running: "Should I call it a day after doing 7 sets,
and do the rest tomorrow? What's the point of continuing when you time is so bad.
You can't even call it interval training if your time is this bad."
But another side of me said another thing: "Well, Gak, you are not running for time.
You are running for discipline, both physical and mental.
By not quitting, you'll be keeping the promise you have made yourself.
Also, if you complete the entire 13 sets, you'll definitely develop an enormous amount of endurance. Go for it, no matter how slow you may be."
I really didn't know which choice to make until I finally finished the 7th set.
A good thing about the 7th set is that it finishes at an end that's away from home.
It means you have to come back anyway.
I thought: "You might as well do another set as just cruise back home."
So I decided to do at least another three sets to make it total 10 sets.
I also decided to forget about time and do the best I could.
Once I accepted my inability to improve on time, I suddenly felt less stressed.
But that didn't make the training physically less challenging.
It still continued to present an excruciatingly painful challenge
since when you ran back to where you started off the first set,
you needed to climb the 180 M steep hill.
It makes your thigh sore just to walk up.
When it comes to running up it, the challenge increases insanely.
You curse your body weight when you run up a hill.
The best thing you can do, though, is to run in short and quick stride.
That I did. But the fatigue level had reached the where even making that much effort
was painful.
I felt miserable to see my Ironman watch that said: 4:40.45--the worst time out of all eight sets.
I took a sip from my bottle that I had kept in the bush by the road.
Breathing was difficult, and my heart rates didn't come down easily.
I gazed up at the moon, and took a deep breath. The icy air filled my lungs,
and after a few more attempts to get the freshest air made me ready for another set.
When I started off for the 9th set, I said to myself, "OK, let's just do two more sets.
If I feel tired then, I'll call it a day. Ten sets is awesome for a man who's still trying to shake off nasty cough."
Once I said to myself, the next two sets were over fairly quick.
At least that's how I felt.
I was back to the start line once again, with ten sets already accomplished.
Should I call it a day? Or should I go for another three sets to keep the promise
I made myself?
I chose the latter, saying to myself, "OK, Gak. Think of the next three K as the last three K of a full marathon you are just about to complete. Would you quit after having already run 39 K?"
My answer was obvious. "Hell no!"
So I hit the road again for yet another set.
Once I was done, I said the same thing to myself: "Think of the next two K as the last two K of a full marathon. No one will quit here."
It certainly did lifted my spirit, but my body wouldn't responded so conveniently as I wanted it to.
As I mentioned once, the return set is more challenging than the going set because of the steep hill. I felt pressured at the prospect of the approaching formidable penance. But in no time I was right in the middle of it. My stride got shorter and quicker, but the resistance to the thighs never seemed to be smaller. There was a lamppost to make the end of the hill, but it looked so far away, and never seemed to come closer no matter how hard I turned over my legs.
I pretended as if there were a much longer distance to the top than there actually was.
And I counted down by saying, "180 M. 170 M. 160 M" so that I would feel happy
to reach the top when I thought there was more to climb to reach the top.
The 11th set was over in no time.
And there was only one more to go. Everything seemed so much easily now.
The going set was less challenging. I mustered up all the energy that was left in me,
and embarked on the final lap. The initial 100 M is flat, which suddenly switches to a steep down hill. I shift my upper body only slightly backward to control the speed and minimize the shock of landing. Once you read the bottom, it goes up slightly for another 100 M and goes down again for 150 M. Then comes the 250 M uphill, not as steep as the other one, but much longer. I count my steps as I go up to keep a steady rhythm. Running fast isn't required when you go up. Rhythm is more important. That's a lesson I learned from a pacemaker who helped me finish a full marathon under 4 hours. I grit my teeth and bear the discomfort of oxygen debt resulting from pushing beyond your aerobic capacity. Soon the hill was over. What remained was a 220 M straight. I shook my head right and left to sprint to the finish, pretending to be my hero and 1970 Mexico City Olympics Men's Marathon Silver Medalist Mr. Kenji Kimihara who was well known for the same mannerism. The finish line was in sight. It's a large intersection on Route 16. Three cars were waiting for the traffic light to turn green. I ran past them, and finally completed all of the entire 13 sets of hill interval training!
Suddenly my body felt light though everything had felt heavy only a second before.
And breathing was suddenly easier when only a minute before I had felt like my lungs were filled with sand. Oh, what a tremendously exhilarating sensation! One K by 13 sets hill interval training. Mission accomplished!
My next training is this coming Thursday. I'm doing 3 K build-up training just to activate my cardio-vascular system.
.
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