Adarq.org

- run 4.62 km in 23.29
legs heavy from yesterday, no surprise. nice and relaxed, just to gejuflo.

- stretch

leaving tonight.

considering buying a training pack from mcmillan running (https://www.mcmillanrunning.com/) to follow when i get back from the trip. been reading a few articles on his site and he seems to have his head screwed on straight, and i've really enjoyed following the program i've been on. it's nice to be unthinking in training, especially when green.

specifically, i'd be looking at some combination of the following:

• base (8 weeks): http://www.finalsurge.com/TrainingPlans/McMillanPlanDetails?product=11339&distance=&timesec=&goaldistance=&goaltimesec=
• hills (6 weeks): http://www.finalsurge.com/TrainingPlans/McMillanPlanDetails?product=14419&distance=&timesec=&goaldistance=&goaltimesec=
• stamina (6 weeks): http://www.finalsurge.com/TrainingPlans/McMillanPlanDetails?product=14425&distance=&timesec=&goaldistance=&goaltimesec=
• 5k race (12 weeks): http://www.finalsurge.com/TrainingPlans/McMillanPlanDetails?product=14539&distance=&timesec=&goaldistance=&goaltimesec=

the whole thing would take me to 22 weeks, and the way he structures the training weeks there is more programmed cross (i.e. strength) training than i've been doing, which would be good. that would take me to november, when i'll head to south africa and namibia for a couple of weeks to meet my gf's mom and sister. there don't seem to be any 5k's in pretoria or windhoek.

an alternate option is finding a 5k closer to home and closer in time. i'd have to build it into a short vacation trip, say to oman or something, but that might be doable. it'd be hot as shit though.

or maybe i'll just step back from running and spend the hot months focusing more on strength and power for a little while.

who knows, right now gotta focus on the trip and the races upcoming.

i dont like the step back from running option! i mean, if you want to shift focus, cool, but keep running! it'll keep slowly preparing you and you'll probably love racing. See how you feel about running after this month with those two races. IMHO, you'll probably be even more excited about improving running after you do those races. Who knows though.. but racing is addicting. Even without a race on the schedule, if you've got racing on your mind, makes training so much easier to adhere to, and gives it more purpose (IMHO).

For each and every run, I'll provide the exact pace range for each run/workout (integrated from the McMillan Running Calculator) and will advance the paces as you progress through the training plan so you are always optimally challenged. I'm also making your plan really flexible so it can flow with your life. You can easily move runs around based on your life schedule.

damn he's actually adjusting all of the paces? didn't realize that. or maybe I misread.

pretty cool though. Always loved the calculators on that site plans look pretty nice.

love his calc, just put in my current numbers (approx 17:30 5k well rested) and goal 16:30 5k:



looks pretty dead on. good stuff hah. the 200/400 goal times show I have to keep hitting my speed harder, nowhere near 27/58 right now. Hit 30.3 after like 1.5 hours the other day, fatigued af, but still nowhere near 27 fresh.

tomorrow it goes down!!

thanks adarq! didn't go quite as well as i'd hoped but i'm so happy right now. just proud of myself for following through under the circumstances.

- warm up slow jog 2.3 km, strides

- race 5k in 20:49 (watch), 20:55 (official)

- cool down slow jog 1 km

- stretch

weather was good: overcast and mid-60s although very humid. it rained all night and stopped just in time for the sign-in period to start. smallish race, i'd guess around 100 or maybe 150 people, and i started right at the front. i went out much too fast, 3:39 for the first kilometer, although the leaders shot out in front and i did not try to keep up. faster race than last year. course was hilly the entire time, very few flat stretches. second km was 4:07, then 4:11, then 4:22 and 4:22. managed a wee little kick for the last 50-75m but i had a headache for the final 1+ km. that was a bit of a drag. the winner finished in 18:24, i think i was fifth or sixth.

disappointed that i didn't go faster but i didn't hold back much. need to figure out what to do to avoid headache because in retrospect my legs had more to give, especially in the last km. what a great learning experience, felt very happy as soon as i'd cooled down and was hurting less.

EDIT: forgot to mention i had diarrhea all day on saturday, and also spent the whole day setting for, being at, and then visiting with people after my brother's memorial service. so that might have been a factor as well.

EDIT 2: added official time. i was sixth of 297 (guess i'm bad at estimating crowd size, lol). also i scrolled right on the split data on garmin connect for the first time. couple points (by km):

• average HR: 156, 171, 171, 180, 184
• average cadence: 176, 175, 176, 175, 174
• average stride length: 1.54, 1.38, 1.35, 1.30, 1.31
• garmin's calorie estimator is inscrutable

rested yesterday.

- run/walk 2.6 km with mom

- run 8.6 km

- stretch

total distance 11.2 km, total time 1:10:06. relaxed, with 104m of pretty steep elevation gain in km 6 and km 10.

- tennis with brother x 40 mins

woke up to a gnarly charley horse in my left calf on friday. made my leg sore all day, decided not to run. then yesterday was the wedding, which i was in, so, full day of groomsman responsibilities. today flying to portugal. no complaints about any of it but i'll be glad to be back in islamabad with a predictable schedule.

london!

yesterday

- run 7.65 km in 40:19
with gf except for about 2.7 km in the middle where she took a break to do some bw strength stuff. pace ~5:30 with her, 4:30 without her.

- stretch