Midnight Barefoot 25 K Run

June 28, 2020

25.1 K: 2:17:35

Listened to late Korean actress Lee Eun Joo singing "Only When I Sleep" while running. Reflected on some of my favorite scenes from my favorite movie of hers, "Bungee Jump Suru?" as I listened. Music does help to get your mind off the pain resulting from the tumultuous exhaustion of a long run.

Midnight Interval Training: 7 Sets by 1 K @ 4:10

June 26, 2020

Warm Up 600 M Walk: 7:12.20

<Intervals: 7 Sets by 1 K @ 4:10>

1st: 3:54.57

Active rest: 1:00.20 

2nd: 4:03.61

Active rest: 1:00.19

3rd: 4:09.45

Active rest: 1:00.25

4th: 4:06.23

Active rest: 1:00.41

5th: 4:06.66

Active rest: 1:00.36

6th: 4:03.21

Active rest: 1:00.25

7th: 4:00.69

***********

Warm Down: 6.13 K: 42:06.39

Total 13.61 K: 1:23:44

I finished under the target in all 7 sets. I feel good about the result. I feel I'm getting more endurable and stronger. 

 

Midnight Barefoot Jog

June 25, 2020

3.5 K:  22:31.06

At 1 a.m. the park was deserted. The grass felt cool on the sole in the mist. I never ran on grass at night in bare feet, but the moment I started running, I wondered why I hadn't done it sooner. It felt that good. 

It was too late to run longer than twenty minutes. Tomorrow is a big day. I do intervals. Last time I did seven sets by 1 K @ 4:10. I want to do seven sets again. Once I become comfortable with seven sets, then I will try to get out of the comfort zone to aim for 8, and keep on making it progressively challenging. 

Recent Training: High Intensity Cardio, Tempo Run, & Barefoot Jog

June 17, 2020

High Intensity Cardio

3.5 K jog

June 18, 2020

June 21, 2020

Warm Up 770 M: 5:08.01

<5 K tempo run>

2.5 K: 11:51.82

2.5 K: 11:57.31

Warm Down 770 M: 5:49.50

June 23, 2020

High Intensity Cardio

<10 K barefoot jog>

9.6 K: 51:57.35

1 K: 3:55.17

Total 10.6 K: 55:52.52

Interval Training: 7 Sets by 1 K @ 4:10

June 15, 2020

Years of hard work, bitter experiences, reading & learning have taught me, at least the following four elements are key to improving your overall performance in long-distance running:

1) LSD

2) Jogging

3) Tempo Run

4) Interval Training

The training tonight is 4): interval training. 

The target pace for each 1 K run is the same as before: 4:10. But tonight one thing is different: I aim for 7 sets, instead of 6.

The result? I finished under the target in 6 out of 7 sets. Though in the 4th set, I was 2 seconds out of the target, the margin seems negligible. Plus, I finished under 4 minutes in the first 2 sets, and I wasn't even trying to. In my mind I was running at 4:10 pace. It means thanks to a cyclical practice of tempo run and intervals, it's becoming gradually easier for me to run at a pace faster than the target race pace. 

My short-term goal is to increase distance of tempo run, as well as the number of sets in intervals. I'm going to take baby steps. 

Warm Up 770 M:3:09.80

<Intervals: 7 Sets by 1 K @ 4:10>

1st: 3:57.29

Active Rest: 1:00.09

2nd: 3:59.45

Active Rest: 1:00.12

3rd: 4:08.33

Active Rest: 1:00.14

4th: 4:12.71

Active Rest: 1:00.15

5th: 4:04.11

Active Rest: 1:00.30

6th: 4:09.65

Active Rest: 1:00.16

7th: 4:01.20

***********************

Rest: 1:30.23

Warm Down: 9.47 K: 1:01:21

Total 16.47 K: 1:40:35

Midnight 10 K Tempo Run in Aqua Shoes

June 11, 2020

Warm Up: Walk 770 M

<10 K Tempo Run (4 Laps by 2.5 K @ 11:22)>

2.5 K: 11:23.17 

2.5 K: 11:21.59

2.5 K: 11:22.82

2.5 K: 11:01.53

Sub-Total 10 K: 45:09.11

Warm Down: Jog 770 M

Total 11.54 K 

After doing intervals last Friday I gave myself two days of full rest before I finally felt recovered enough to go for a slow jog. But then after jogging two nights, I still didn't feel ready for another kind of speed training: tempo run. 

In fact, I needed to rest a whole day on Wednesday before I finally felt like it, feeling as if all the clouds were gone from the sky. It's funny, because it didn't come gradually. It came in a flash when I finished writing a syllabus for a new educational event. So I guess our body and mind are inseparably connected. Hence, caveman's mindbody quest!

I hit the road in my thinnest adidas singlet, and shortest adidas running shorts, 'cause I knew it's going to be a tremendously sweaty session.

I tried to go easy in the first set as I knew that as I went along, it would be inevitably harder with each lap. The goal tonight is running 10 K at sub-3.15 marathon pace, which is running 1 K in 4:33. Tonight's loop is 2.5 K, so the target for each lap is 11:22. The first lap was 11:23. Not bad. Only one second behind. 

In the second lap, I didn't increase the pace right away. I knew my pacing was right. I focused on my running economy and saved energy for the latter half. I paid particular attention to not being too bouncy. It takes a toll on your legs. The second lap was 11:21. Bang on time! So far so good.

As I was running the third lap, I was beginning to be surprised at how even each pace was. I wasn't trying to be. I hardly ever look at my watch. I only see it once after each lap. And that's it. And yet my body keeps hammering out the almost exact same time each time round. I figured my pace setting in interval training proves optimal. The third lap was yet again bang on time. I set off for the last lap.

In the last 1 K of the last lap I wanted to surge, so in the first half I ran economically by taking shorter strides, but slightly increased cadence. Running in wider strides allows you to gain speed, but exhausts a lot of energy, and you can end up running out of gas when you need it most. I mentally tricked myself by saying there is 1.5 K more to go when there is actually just 1 K left so that when the finish line is in sight, it looks a lot closer that you thought it would be. With 100 M to go, for the first time in the training tonight I widened my strides and rolled on to the finish! The watch says 11:01! The best lap for the night, and well under the target.

I slowly jogged back home, satisfied with the achievement. Interval training is paying off. I want to increase the number of sets from 6 to 7 next time. Hopefully this will enable me to complete a tempo run for a longer distance such as 12.5 or 15 K in the near future. 

I will continue to believe what Eliud Kipchoge's mantra: "No human is limited," which in my case may be more accurately put, "No old man is limited."  

Movie Review: "The Lincoln Lawyer" (2011)

"The Lincoln Lawyer" is a 2011 crime thriller, starring Mathew McConaughey. 

Without giving too much away, the story is about criminal lawyer Mick Haller who most of the time defends garden-variety criminals. But one day he is asked to defend wealthy playboy Louis Roulet who is accused of brutally beating a prostitute.  His parents are real-estate magnates. Roulet insists on his innocence though circumstantial evidence is against it. If he wins the case, a big pay is guaranteed considering how wealthy his parents are. 

As he investigates the case, though, he is led to a remote murder case in which he defended a client called Martinez. All circumstantial evidence was against Martinez, so Haller talked Martinez into pleading guilty, because otherwise the case was nine out of ten going to lead to death penalty. Martinez goes to jail, getting life in prison. However,  Haller is disturbed when he finds out striking similarities between this case and the case he's handling right now. When Haller shows Martinez a picture of Roulet, he gets agitated. Seeing this, Haller deepens his suspect that Roulet in fact murder the victim in the old closed case, not his former client, Martinez. But bound by client-lawyer confidentiality rules, he cannot tell the police when he learned.

Meanwhile, his investigator Levin, who is a former cop, gets mysteriously killed after leaving Haller a voice message saying he found Martinez' ticket out of jail. The only person who'd be in trouble is Roulet, who doesn't want the old case to be dug up again. 

But when the police discovers that Levin was shot with a gun that belongs to Haller, he suddenly becomes a suspect of murdering his own right-hand man. Knowing it was stolen by Roulet when he sneaked into his house using a spare key, which is easily available because of the nature of his parents' business. He is between two horns of dilemma. Professionally Haller is obliged to defend this rascal boy in front of him. But he is also set up by the young boy for a murder case. How is he going to resolve the situation? Will he be able to do it? That you must find out by watching the film. You can watch it with no extra charge if you have Amazon Prime membership. 

I was never a big fan of Mathew McConaughey. My only vague memory of him is from The Wolf of Wall Street, in which he plays the role of a little exccentric stock-dealer. But this film really knocked me dead. Now I really want to watch more of his films. I appreciate if you can let me know some real good ones that have him in them. 

Midnight Jog in MUTEKI

June 10, 2020

12.7 K: 1:15:59

I was originally planning to do a tempo run. But I didn't feel motivated to do it. It's mainly because the pace of in the training on the previous night was a little too fast. My legs were heavy. They didn't seem ready for a fast-paced session. So I must cruised along for a little longer than an hour. 

I ran with a full stomach. I'd had a bowl of ramen an hour before the run. It took me a while for the food to settle in. After running about 9 K I finally started feeling light and athletic. 

There is slight tension in the back of my right knee. It may be a tendon. Tomorrow I should either rest and do some stretching, or go for a slow jog at best. 

Midnight Barefoot One-Hour Jog

June 8, 2020

I was a bit tired from a long overnight motorcycle ride, and felt a bit heavy from eating too much carbohydrate, but thanks to a full two-day rest, my legs were strong, and I was able to run for a little longer than an hour at a pace that's a little too brisk to call a job.

10.5 K: 53:15.08

2.5 K: 13:44.02

Total 13 K: 1:06:59 (5:09/K)

Midnight Interval Training: 6 Sets by 1 K @ 4:10

June 5, 2020

I feel I have become a stronger version of myself, because I accomplished something that I would never have dreamed of achieving--running 6 sets of 1 K all under 4:10. It feels great. But it was never easy. My mind was heavy just at the prospect of tremendous discomfort that was inevitable once the training started.

The pressure kept building up while warming up, and as the start area came nearer and nearer, my mind grew heavier and heavier. But all hard training must come to a start. After resting for a minute and a half after warming up, I left for the first set!

Warm Up 3.2 K: 20:00.45

Rest: 1:30.27

As soon as I started off, I regretted starting the whole thing. Why am I doing this? I have an early start tomorrow. I have three 90-minute seminars back to back. I need tons of energy for them. Why should I be burning so many calories that have nothing to do with my immediate work-related priority? All this inner talk, of course, is because of the discomfort resulting from running at the pace far faster than the race pace that I'm used to. My weak side says, "OK. It's just not a good day today. I'll call it a day after this one set."

When I finish it, though, I realized the cause of all this inner negative campaign. I was a lot after that the target pace. While my target was 4:10, my actual lap was 3:55. No wonder it was tough. 

Now that I knew I could ease the pace by almost  15 seconds, I felt like I could go on. 

The second set, though, wasn't as easy as I though it would be, mainly because I was still under the influence of the ridiculously high pace of the first set. But I finished under the target anyway. And this motivated me to go for another. 

Though all of the following sets remained tough, a brief rest after each fast run give me the time to recharge my willpower batteries. About half an hour after I started it, I completed all six sets without giving it up, and to my pleasant surprise all under the target. 

<Intervals: 6 Sets by 1 K @4:10>

1st: 3:55.30

Rest: 1:00.66

2nd: 4:06.45

Rest: 1:00.01

3rd: 4:06.85

Rest: 1:00.08

4th: 4:06.41

Rest: 1:00.23

5th: 4:02.29

Rest: 1:00.06

6th: 4:00.56

The game was not over, though. To be honest, I wanted to go straight home to hit a shower and crash! But the greatest benefit of interval training does not come directly from the training itself, but rather from the subsequent long slow run. So I dragged my feeble body for another 20 minutes around my neighborhood, feeling tumultuous exhaustion in both of my legs, but at the same time enjoying the breathing that's far easier when running at a pace far more comfortable than during intervals. 

Warm Down 3.2 K: 20:00.90

Total 12.4 K: 1:10:56

Midnight 10 K Barefoot Jog

June 4, 2020

5.1 K: 28:29.57

5.1 K: 26:49.21

2.5 K: 11:47.79

Total 12.7 K: 1:07:06

Two days after a barefoot LSD I felt recovered, so I decided to go for a jog. There was a slight discomfort in the right foot after the previous training session, but it's gone, so I hit the road without shoes. But of course in a more positive sense I wanted that direct contact with the ground.

The streets were deserted. I saw tired office workers coming back from work only a few times, but other than that I kept the midnight streets all to myself. It felt good.

I opted for a 5.1 K round-trip course with a long slope right before and after the turn point. I run the course when I don't feel like to go too far away from home, but want to run at least 10 K. It goes round and round in a relatively small area to cover a long distance. It's also rich in undulation, allowing you to develop various running skills and develop cardio.

After reaching the turn point I picked up the pace a little, hoping to run a negative split, which I think I did successfully. 

When I got home, it was still within one hour, and I was still full of legs, so I went on to run another 2.5 K near my house, surging in the last K as is recommended by late Yoshio Koide, former coach of Naoko Takahashi who is the gold medalist in the women's marathon of the Sydney Olympics.

Overall I felt significantly lighter than before the LSD two days ago. Breathing was much easier. Keeping a brisk pace felt easier also. Tomorrow night I want to do some speed training. It will be either intervals or tempo run. Cannot wait.

Midnight 25.1 K Barefoot LSD in the Rain

June 1, 2020

25.1 K: 2:31:22

The day after doing high intensity cardio I was afraid my legs might be too heavy for a long run, but to my surprise my whole body felt light, and the long cruise was mostly a pleasant experience, except that in the last twenty minutes I was caught in a shower and got drenched, but thanks to a wind-breaker with a hood that I had wrapped around my waist, I stayed warm enough till the training was over. 

After training was over, I looked back on how I would feel a couple of years ago during and after a long run like today's. During the run it was common that I felt slight discomfort in the leg, mostly a pain in the right knee. Today there was no such discomfort whatsoever during the run, except that there was just a slight discomfort in the right knee, but it's the sort of discomfort that I can shrug off, saying it's psychologically-induced. 

After the training I would usually be so sore that I wasn't able to move an inch. Now I feel normal after taking a quick shower, except that there is some soreness in the sole. Today I got a small bloody blister in the right sole. But that's one of those things, and nothing to make a fuss about. The point is my overall endurance has significantly improved over the last couple of years. I owe this to a book by former ultra-marathon world record holder, Takahiro Sunada. I still basically stick to what he preaches in the book. But I also see some danger in doing the same training over and over again, with the only variables being target times and paces. In 2020, I want to enjoy trying new things, without deviating too much from the philosophy of Sunada. My another marathon bible is a book by former coach of Naoko Takahasi, Yoshio Koide. He is the man who ignited my desire to aim at a sub-3 marathon. He says, "It's a joy to aim at a sub-3 marathon," not "It's a joy to run a sub-3 marathon." The joy of aiming at it. I just like the idea of it. I don't know how far up I can get. But I just want to see how far up I can go. If I drop dead while training, that's that.