26miler.com

Did I tell you that already? My two boys, Arkensen and Nanzaro, had also signed up for the Vancouver Sun Run. Yup, they are going to do 10K too, like their dad. Frankly, I am not sure if they will have the determination to train for it but time will tell.

I want to encourage them to run too and I think I am getting successful in coming along with me and going for it. I will only ask if they are interested to run with me … if they want to great, if not, I let it go. I think my determination is rubbing on to them.

Today, Arkensen ran with me on a 3 mile course around the neighborhood. Actually, this is the second time that he had ran with me. I remember the first time a month ago, he outran me over 2 miles. But hey, today, he had a hard time keeping up that he had to walk the last 1/4 mile.

Despite having to walk with him the last 1/4 mile, we managed to do it in 42 minutes 45 seconds. That is an improvement for me. I felt really good after the ran and could have gone a bit further. I won’t push it. At this stage I am still ahead of the training program and I still have time.

I enjoyed the run more so because it is a good bonding time with him. On the run, we talked about some stuff … like setting goals and going for it. I told him about my goal next week to go under 40 minutes (preferably 38 minutes) next week … I hope he will be running with me then.

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I was really glad it’s the end of the week. It was a really hectic week with lots of meetings and hardly anytime at all to do real work. Good thing is that I had managed to pared down my unopened email list from 16 pages (pages, not emails!) to 3 pages. That took a while.

It is Friday and was supposed to be the last day of sunshine. Despite the sun the past few days the air had been very chilly with temperature below zero at night. The weather forecast did say that it will snow on the weekends and the sun will go into hiding for at least a week.

So, I got home and feeling weary from the day in the office, had dinner (yummy, rice and pork chop!) and then promptly put on my running shoes for a run around the neighborhood.

I know, I said I will run what the physiotherapist prescribed. But halfway into the run, I felt good and went on a longer route. Man, running is great. In all, I had run 3.06 miles in 45 minutes. OK, I know, the time is lousy and way below my aim to do 10K in 60 minutes. I still have time to catch up … the Sun Run is not until April.

The right knee are still pretty good … not great, but good. I can still feel tension after the run but it’s alright after I rested it.

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It happened so fast. Only days after I had put up this site, I got an email from trainharder.com that they found 26miler.com already through Google. It’s amazing how fast the site got crawled.

TrainHarder.com is a British Columbia based fitness resource site. This is exactly what I wanted … a localized site related to what I am trying to achieve. Frankly, the site somewhat intimated me. Here I am a newbie to running and fitness and the columnists on the site are really seasoned runners.

I compared my stats with some of them. Where I would struggle to do 5km in 44 minutes, there was this guy who did the same distance in 17 minutes. LOL! I sure got a long way to go, I know.

If you are into fitness, check this site out. Being a cyclist, and now a wannabe runner, I find this site very useful.

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I really felt good today. It had been another long day at work but yet when I got home, I got this itch to go out for a run. This is despite that I ran yesterday and it was freezing tonight — 1 Celsius.

The cold had never bothered me when I run because I wear warmly and does heat up quite fast. I used to cycle over 40 km to and from work in winter in colder temperature but it was OK even though the wind could get very cold.

It’s not that I ran very far as far as other runners go, but for me 2.15 miles around the neighborhood was pretty far for me. It took me 30 mins 42 secs which was pretty good. The fastest I had done on this route was 27+ mins. I just need another run or two to get down to that time.

But … my right knee does feel the strain. It was quite OK when I ran but when I stopped, I can feel that wobbliness on the knees. First thing I did when I got home was to quickly apply an ice pack. It felt OK now but I’ll see how it’ll feel tomorrow.

No run tomorrow for me. Suanne and I have a dinner date. We reserved a table on Grouse Mountain’s Observatory.

Maybe I should follow my physiotherapist’s advice … I think I’ll just do what was prescribed on Friday: Run 5 mins, walk 1 min x 30 minutes.

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I actually started taking up running about 2 months ago. Back then, I know very little about running and running injuries. It was just running as long as I felt like and pushing to go the extra kilometer. I ignored the pain, thinking it will go away after a while.

It was 2 weeks after I started running when I felt a growing pain after each time I ran. It did not go away. So, I went to my family doctor who advised me to see a physio therapist. Oh, he also told me to stay off running and he seem very determined that I stop doing what I was doing. After all, he said, I am reaching my mid-40s very soon. He he he … I kept quiet and did not tell him of my desire to do the marathon.

I had never been to a physiotherapist before and was a bit skeptical what they could do. But after 4 weeks of therapies and lots of prescribed exercises at home, amazingly the pain went away. I used to hear cracks and felt a sharp pain on my knee cap each time I straighten my legs from a bent position. I also can feel grind under the knee cap too. That had almost all gone away. My last therapy was Thursday last week where I could do easily a 4 sets 3-min run plus 1-min walk on the treadmill.

The Physiotherapist put me on a 5-week run/walk program which I felt was too easy. She also told me NOT to think about doing something like a marathon and was even saying that the 10K Sun Run is a bit too much for a person like me.

Well, guess what … I am stubborn. I am going to prove my family doctor AND my physiotherapist wrong. I am still going to try to do it but I had learned one very important thing about running … and that is … the most important thing for me is to NOT get myself injured. In other words, it is more important for me to get to the STARTING line first than to think about the FINISHING line.

I felt great. As a matter of fact, today I did 7 sets of slow 3-min run 1-min walk. I felt my fitness level is a lot better these days compared to when I first started.

Tell me … am I foolish to aim for the marathon with a problem knee like that?

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Well, I just signed up for the Vancouver Sun Run today. It is going to be held on Sunday, April 20th and that makes it … hmmm … 93 days from today. A little over 13 weeks to go.

My aim is very simple. I am going to attempt to finish the 10K run in 60 minutes. It would not be easy, especially so for someone who had never ever ran competitively. The great news is that my boys, Arkensen (13) and Nanzaro (12) is going to run too!!

Nanzaro had wanted to complete the 10K run in 1 hr 10 minutes. He does not know why that time. For Arkensen, he is aiming to run in 1 hr. He too does not know why 1 hr but he did say “it seems easy”!

For me, the Sun Run is part of the plan to complete the Marathon. Theorectically speaking, if I can finish 10K in 1 hr, I should be able to aim to complete the Marathon in 5 times the time … 5 hrs. It’s good to know but for now, my aim for the Marathon is to complete it in 6hrs. I try to not set too high a goal, lest I end up not achieving anything at all.

I am going to scour the net and put up a sort of a countdown clock to put on this blog.

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OK …

I am not sure if this is all a mistake or what. This thing had been in my mind since early December last year. For some strange reason, I am so determined to complete the Marathon. I don’t care how I do it but I will make every attempt to complete it … whether I run or walk … or crawl!

This will perhaps be the hardest thing I will ever attempt in my life. Right now, I am not sure if I will make it. I have all the odds stacked against me right now:

• I had never ran competitively before
• I am overweight
• I am in the throes of middle age

For what it is worth, I am going to finish the Marathon in 2008 and will be recording my attempt on this blog. Once I had achieved that, I’ll stop this blog and move on to another challenge in life. But for now, I am bent on completing the Marathon.

Wish me the best! Cheers …

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