San Diego "Rock&Roll" Marathon Journal

Thats right. Marathon and NOT 1/2.

There is about 5 weeks in between the nashville event and this one. That is scary! No doubt that I am nervous. I did well at the nashville one, but still this full marathon is like a monster. I can't imagine finishing the nashville and then be told "okay. now, turn around and go back to the start line along the same route that brought you here." :D

It has gotten me so psyched that I bought groceries for making lunch and said no to donuts. I've even decide to use gas prices as an excuse to ride my bike to work... 8miles and one giant hill.

Well here is my Diet plan:
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Snack: Yogurt
Lunch: Salad (iceberg, baby romaine, baby spinach, tomatoes, m. cheese, ham and 2 boiled eggs) + 11ounces of 2% Milk
Snack: Cheese stick
Snack: Nutrien shake like Ensure
Dinner: Something vetable w/ protein (~300-400 calories)

If don't make lunch I'll settle for Subway, costco salad, or wendy's 99cents salad(2x) + chilli :P
I'll do this for a week or so and start introducing fruits on my next visit to the grocery store. And then the next week I'll add whole grain bread and cereal. Then the week after that, I'll add specific pastas.

Plus multivitamins, GSM, MSM & ChonDroitin, Triple Oil Omega pills

Workouts:
Morning Situps + Pushups
Ride to work every other day = ~30miles a week
Run 3 x ( short, variable pace 3-4miles) 1x (long run 8-16miles) per week = ~20+miles a week
Basketball once a week (wednesdays)
Night Stretches

Resistence workout for muscle building:
Standard Chest, tricep
Standard Bicep, shoulder

Introducing hamsting and calf
Introducing quad and jump excercises

Possibly introducing some Yoga 10day for $20 is such a good price to pass up

Wish me luck!

Nashville TN Country Music 1/2 Marathon

My last efforts to prepare for a 1/2 marathon resulted in success. In the 2008 Nashville TN Country Music 1/2 Marathon I finished in 2.38.36! Thats about a 12min mile pace. My consistent training while overseas in Taiwan has definitely led to this 22min improvement over the AZ run. Nashiville being a little more "hilly" also implies that that the 22min improvement is more that just a better time. Analyzing my performance, my breathing has definitely improved. Most pains that I suffered from the AZ run was not exsistent. New "fitted shoes, PT strap and shin splint preventative measure also contributed to my recent success. However, there are no more 1/2 runs to better prepare me for the full that is coming up in SD. It looks good however, my recovery from this last 1/2 was a 2 days compared to 1 week for the AZ run.

Although I didn't do an active log for this past nashville run, believe me, i put in good effort in preparing. In taiwan, i ate mainly vegetable and protein. It is amazing how they can make tofu taste like anything. I work out every other morning and ran 30-40 minutes 3 times a week on the treadmill. Sometimes I'll throw in some fast pace 15 min runs. During the work week my coworker and I will walk 30-60 mins around the complex. On weekends, or at least once a week, i'll go for an hour plus run on the treadmill. I did this workout for about 6-8 weeks.

In the end I think it paid off!