Miami Runner

Seven Mile Bridge Run - April 25 2009 - 39:13

2009-04-28T07:00:00.000-07:00

This past weekend my favorite race took place. I have had a nagging Achilles pain that has not let me train and has been very frustrating so I took two weeks off to try to be healthy for this race. However, it appears that two weeks wasn't enough.

The race, as always, was beautiful...running that bridge feeling like you own it and seeing the spectacular view on both sides is very inspiring. I took off very relaxed not wanting to kill myself. But, I found out that I had taken off a bit quickly after passing the first mile. "5:20" shouted the lady standing on Mile marker one, I slowed down a bit after hearing that because I new I would later pay for it if I continued at that pace.

And so I kept pushing and felt my Achilles was not healed and was bugging me as I ran. Either way, I just kept going - I know, bad idea.

I passed the 10k mark at 35:30 which I again was surprised by because I was definitely not expecting to run this fast considering the lack of training. I must say though that we had a tail wind on our backs which I think explains the fast time. I finished in 39:13, I could have pushed a bit more and broken the 39 mark but I could feel my achilles was hurting so I decided to tone it down a bit at the end.

I was happy to have won my age since I got the special 7 onyx figure which I have won the past 3 years. My splits were as follows:

Mile 1 -> 5:20
Mile 2 -> 5:36
Mile 3 -> 5:57
Mile 4 -> 5:49
Mile 5 -> 5:47
Mile 6 -> 6:06
Mile 7 (.8) -> 4:40

Now, I will take time off until I completely heal, so it might be a while before I write again...

Catching up...

2009-04-24T11:22:00.000-07:00

I was looking at other friend's blog's and noticed it had been a while since mine had been updated. I have ran some races since my last report but the last few weeks have been somewhat disappointing. I have developed a pain in my left Achilles tendon which has forced me to stop running for about two weeks!

However, I will head to Marathon, Fl later today to run the 7 Mile Bridge run on Saturday. I have absolutely no expectation whatsoever, just hoping to be able to finish and leave it all out at that bridge.

Some recent results:

ING Georgia half-marathon: 1:20:20
Cooper River Bridge Run: 36:40

A1A Fort Lauderdale Marathon - February 22 2009 - 2:52:48

2009-02-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

So after running a decent 5k at Tropical - 17:10 -, running the ING Marathon and running another 5k at Nova, it was time to run a marathon. I had decided to run the A1A after pulling that muscle back in January and feeling that I wouldn't be well prepared for ING Miami.

My training for this race was pretty solid even though I still felt that I could have done a better job by doing more speed work and training more with Jonathan. Either way I felt that I was in much better shape than in November when I ran NYC Marathon.

The night prior to the marathon was a bit of a fiasco due to a lack of planning on my side. I did not sleep as well as I would have wanted but waking up the morning of the race was not hard and I didn't feel any lack of sleep - I slept about 3 hours. Anyways, race morning came and I was feeling great, I had everything organized had eaten breakfast, gone to the bathroom, drank plenty of liquids.

Headed to the start and saw plenty of friends who were running the Half. Jeffrey was running the half and shooting to run a 1:25 which was right around what I wanted to pass the half point. Therefore, he wanted to pace with me so we both started the run together. We started running the first miles averaging 6:30 pace which felt fairly comfortable. The only thing was that my legs did not feel fresh, they felt tired and somewhat sluggish. At about mile 8, the half and the full split off and I was running alone with only two runners in sight by about a minute or so. My stomach had not been feeling great since the first mile and I was feeling the need to go to the bathroom....I could not take it any longer so at mile 10 I had to make the stop and go to the porta-potties. It was a quick stop. I felt better after going to the bathroom but still did not feel great.

I crossed the half point at 1:25:54 and was already feeling tight and was starting to get worried since this wasn't a good sign. I knew I had to be mentally strong and keep pushing miles 15 and 16 didn't feel great either. However, after mile 16 I got got some sort of energy boost and began feeling better and running smoother. This lasted until about mile 20 were my legs began to tighten once again. However I was able to remain close to the pace until about mile 24 were I was breaking up. The last two miles were tough and painful, I ran them in 7:04 and 7:16 and finished 7th overall in a time of 2h 52m and 48 s for a personal best.

Marathon Splits:
First Half: 1:25:54
Second Half: 1:26:54

I was satisfied with my performance even though it didn't feel like I ran a great race.

Hellians at Sallarulo's 5k

Martin Luther Kin Jr. 5k - January 19 2009 - 17:17

2009-01-19T09:10:00.000-08:00

This is one of my favorite 5k's out there. It's not because it's a fast course, or because it's in a nice area, but mainly because of the atmosphere and humbleness this race has - in all aspects. From watching Ronnie run a 14:58 to watching people setup their barbecues to celebrate a great day.

The race is held in Liberty City which is not one of Miami's prettiest neighborhoods. I was ashamed to hear a runner tell us that someone had advised her not to come to this race. I did not even bother to ask why.

Anyways, after running a great race last weekend I had good expectations coming to this one and great confidence. I was also happy to have my friend Jonathan running as well, we are the Hellians after all!

I had a good warm up and felt OK. The race started and I just went right behind Jonathan.S ince the first mile he built a small gap of about 20 secs, which I held until about Mile 2 when it stretched a bit. For some reason I was feeling confident that I would be able to break the 17 min barrier, but this did not happen. I did a decent time anyways - 17:17 - and was 4th overall.

Now, the weekend comes and I still have to decide what I'm going to do....

Disneyworld Half Marathon - January 10 2009 - 1:17:48

2009-01-13T13:16:00.001-08:00

A great start to running this year! After pulling a muscle in the hamstring I was doubting wether or not running this race. In the last minute I decided to give it a shot and did not know it had been a waste of a day had I not run. The weather was perfect, a cool 45 degree weather greeted us as we got to the Retreat area at around 3:00 a.m. We were one of the first ones to get there thanks to my mom....I had a terrible night of no sleep but was feeling pretty good.

We rested in the retreat area until about 5:00 a.m. when we headed to the start which was a 20 min walk. At the start I saw team Hoyt and that inspired me a bit. I had a good warmup and was ready to go. My race strategy was to run 6:00 min miles as simple as that. The race started and I began comfortably, feeling great.

I felt the 6 min pace could be better so I picked it up and went on cruise control, passed many runners until about mile 5 when I passed a Spira female runner who tucked right behind me. I pulled her for the remainder of the race, she was kind enough in trading pacing duties about 2 to 3 times which gave me the chance to sit back and recover and keep going. At about mile 11 she started surging and I followed, we were running shouulder to shoulder until about mile 12.5 were she built a little bit of a gap. She finished about 30 seconds ahead of me, but I could not have been happier with my time: 1:17:48 PR

My splits:

Mile	Time	Distance
1	0:06:11	1.00 mi
2	0:05:56	1.00 mi
3	0:05:52	1.00 mi
4	0:05:51	1.00 mi
5	0:05:53	1.00 mi
6	0:05:50	1.00 mi
7	0:05:48	1.00 mi
8	0:05:49	1.00 mi
9	0:05:52	1.00 mi
10	0:05:58	1.00 mi
11	0:05:55	1.00 mi
12	0:05:50	1.00 mi
13	0:05:51	1.00 mi
14	0:01:10	0.22 mi

December 27 2008 - A Positive Step 5K - 17:39

2008-12-28T09:10:00.000-08:00

As usual my training plans coming up to this race did not workout as planned due to many factors. My planned 23 mile run ended up being a very shitty 19 mile run which I did unprepared and did no feel good about.

Then pigged out on the 24th and 25th (Ate about half a turkey - no joke) and did not do any runs at all. So I decided to put in a run Friday night before the race. I ran 7 miles at a 7:30 pace to try to get the legs spiced up for the race the next day.

Went to bed early but found myself thinking about a million things so ended up falling asleep very late. But anyways, enough complaining.

We woke up early and drove from Tavernier to Key West - I slept most of the way. Got there with plenty of time to register and had a great warmup. As I got there I saw Jon Williams and Jeffrey already warming up. I knew it was going to be a fun tough race against these two guys. However, I did not know that a UNF college runner and a Californian - who had just ran in the National Cross Country meets - were going to show up.

The race started and the usual highschool kids took of sprinting in the first 100 yards, I let them go and after the dust settled I found myself chasing Martin Sykut and some other guy. I felt the pace was just no there so I began pushing and passed both of them. I was feeling great. About half mile into the first mile, the college kid passed me along with the other guy, I tucked in behind them. We flew by the first mile as the clocked showed a 5:15. Then we hit a part of the course which was extremely windy and tough to battle.

The two guys in front started building a gap and Jon Williams was on my tail. We reached the turnaround point and Jon was already shoulder to shoulder with my. However, when we crossed mile 2 I felt stronger and started to build a small gap. I was able to finish strong and felt great in general terms. My time was 17:39. It wasn't an easy course thanks to the wind so the time could have been better.

My splits according to my watch where:

Mile 1: 5:19
Mile 2: 5:56
Mile 3: 5 :48
Mile .1: 0:38

Holiday Run 10k - Dec 13 2008 - 36:32

2008-12-24T10:16:00.001-08:00

For the last few weeks, training has been going well and not so well, a roler coster could easily depict it. I have been putting in some great workouts with Jonathan which really get me motivated but then other external issues - work, girlfriend, etc - get me off track. However, coming to this race I had a great week. Starting with a 10 mile run with Jonathan on Monday, a 38 minute Nike Tuesday run, great track workout on Wednesday and finally a kickass 5k tempo run - 18:27 - with Jonathan. So it was a great running week and I was ready to put in a good run on Saturday.

Cobi was racing as well so I was feeling confident having him around. I really feel comfortable pacing off of him in the first couple of miles. So my splits for the race where as follows:

Mile 1: 5:27
Mile 2: 6:06
Mile 3: 6:06
Mile 4: 6:04
Mile 5: 5:40
Mile 6: 5:30

Now, there are two things to consider; the first mile could not have been well marked, many people were talking about how they also felt that their first mile was fast and didn't feel hard at all. Second, I sped up in the last two miles since Edmundo caught up to him and I fought against him until mile 6.1 were his sprint kicked my ass.

My goal was to run in abotu 35:40. I still have some work to do, need more speed and need to learn how to run alone and keep a good pace.

Saturday, December 27 I will be running in Key West. Although I haven't posted great time over there, I am looking to end the year with a PR.

We shall see.

NYC Marathon Cartoon

2008-12-09T08:50:00.000-08:00

November 2 2008 - NYC Marathon - 2:59:05

2008-12-09T07:33:00.000-08:00

It has been a while since my last posting. I just haven't had the time or much inspiration to write. But now, the time has come to keep writing. The New York City Marathon was a great experience. Coming to the race I was feeling good and very positive, had a good flight to NY and although things did not go as planned the Saturday before the race.

The wait before the start was eternal, about 2 hours feeling like a homeless person freezing. I started in the Orange start with a lot of sub-elite and former Olympians. The gun went off and off I went, strong and calm I started aggressively pounding the pavement.

The atmosphere was tremendous and I just felt great. Cruised through the Half point at 1:23 feeling fresh and strong. However the rough terrain of the marathon - bridges, ups and downs, wind - would later take a toll on me. Things went great until about mile 16 and 17 where I believe I made a big mistake going up a long bridge. I really pushed hard on the way up since it was a steep bridge and on the way down, pushed even harder. I did not feel the effects of this effort until 4 miles after. At about mile 20, my legs began feeling a bit sluggish. I kept pushing and pushing and the legs responded but I could sense the tiredness which I simply ignored.

Then, right before mile 24, I completely hit the wall and I mean completely. People brag about the wall and I thought in my first marathon this had happened to me, but no, this was different, I was done...every step I took hurt every muscle in my legs, I felt as if I was running barefoot on needles.
I pushed as much as I could and went from a potential 2:48-50 marathon to a 2:59:05. Lesson learned and I will now add more mileage and will kick as in Miami Marathon where I will at least run a 2:55:00. Here we go.

Location	Time	Pace/mile
5km	0:19:25	6:14
10km	0:39:19	6:19
15km	0:59:03	6:20
20km	1:18:45	6:20
Half-Marathon	1:23:05	6:20
25km	1:39:06	6:22
30km	1:59:00	6:23
35km	2:21:43	6:30
40km	2:47:21	6:43
Finish	2:59:05	6:49

PAIN IS TEMPORARY, PRIDE IS FOREVER

October 12 2008 - Disney's Race for the Taste 10k - 37:21

2008-10-14T08:13:00.001-07:00

Coming to this race I had many doubts in my mind. I have been putting a lot of miles into my training - focusing on New York marathon - and have done very little speed work. So, I did not feel that my speed element was sharp enough. However, I still felt strong.

It was a relief to know that my friend Cobi was also coming to this race since I always feel very comfortable pacing from him. It's not exactly pacing since he usually finishes 1-2 minutes ahead of me but it still helps me get into rhythm the first couple of miles.

And so the race started at 7 a.m. Cobi took off - on a mission to win the race - and I went right behind him. With Cobi in the lead, I followed behind him leaving some distant but keeping him within sight. I passed the first mile in 5:38 and felt extremely comfortable. Cruised through mile 3 at 17:30 and was still in second place but with two guys right on my tail. I was able to hold them off until mile 5 when on a turn I lost concentration an let them go. So I ended up finishing 4th overall with a time of 37:21.

I was happy with the fact that I know that I pushed hard and my body responded and I did not break down. However, I was still a bit frustrated at my position (4th). I don't know how many times I have ended up 4th on race. So I need to work on some speed and move from those 4th places to 1st!

August 31 2008 - Disneyland Half Marathon - 1:20:45

2008-09-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

My mom signed us up for this race almost six months ago and I did not pay much attention to it. I have been focusing most of my training on the New York marathon, as well as slacking off a bit - due to various reasons - Therefore, did not feel in optimal condition to run this race even though I had been picking it up in the previous two weeks - which gave me comfort.

Heading up to this race, I did not know what my performance would be. I was thinking, either I would bomb completely or have a decent performance. At least I wanted that, something close to PR. I did not want any mediocre or regular result. Aditionally, I have had many things going on right now and did not feel mentally motivated as I have been for other races. The only thing I was sure of ; was that I was going to begin at a comfortable pace and build up from there - lesson learned in last half marathon.

So race day came and thanks to the difference in time - from Eastern to Pacific time - waking up for this race was not hard at all. However, due to some problems; my carboloading on the previous day was Mexican food -I should not call it carboloading- so this posted a minor problem in the morning since I had no desire to go to the bathroom...

Anyways, we took the last bus to the start and I went to the first corral with my dad. I met with Jasper and Gene briefly before the race. We did not have to wait too long in the start line; we waited about 40 minutes. And so the gun - I should say fire - went off. I began at a very comfortable pace and cruised through the first mile at 6:01 - felt good. The next two miles felt weird. I think my body was warming up in the first three miiles, as I felt agitated and thought to myself - holly shit, if this continues, it's gonna be a long race. I passed the 5k point at 19:22 which was slower than what I had wanted, I began forcing a faster pace which began feeling less and less comfortable.

Reached the 10k in 38:15 and a guy in blue (see pic) tried passing me so I just tucked in behind him. He was going at a very constant pace which I was finding comfortable to pace with. We reached the 15k in 57:20 and passed plenty of people.

Finally, reaching the 13th mile my legs were tired but I kept pushing and pushing. A guy from my age group beat me in the last 100 yards - by 1 second - which I feel ashamed of since I usually have a strong explosive kick but I could not find it.

So I finished with a 1:20:45. Satisifed with the time.

July 27 2008 - Media Maraton de Bogota - 1:29:53

2008-07-28T10:32:00.000-07:00

So it was time for my yearly humbling experience. The Bogota Half-Marathon at 2,650 Meters above sea level. I had been training relatively well for this race and according to my times, IF I were to run a half-marathon (certainly not Bogota) I could be looking at a time between 1:18 and 1:19. However, I was still hoping on running something close to this time in Bogota. I had set a personal goal of 1:23, however this was not to be my day.

Everything started of pretty well, I was feeling good and positive for this race. Last year I had not been able to find any sort of pace and was struck badly by the altitude and finished in a time of 1:44, so this year I was ready for revenge.

The race started and immediately at the second kilometer I knew I was in for a long race. I was having trouble breathing already but I was somehow going at my pace. I passed the 5k mark on target at 18:30 and the 10 at 38:50. Pretty much where I wanted to be. However, I did not know what was ahead of me. After passing kilometer 15 in a time of 58 min and change, my whole race crumbled before my eyes.
Although I had been having trouble breathing most of the race, at kilometer 16 was when it really hit me. I could not feel my legs and I felt like crap. I saw how people passed me easily and finished my last 5k in about 26 minutes!! My finishing time 1:29:53!!

So, I will be back to this race someday to kick its freaking ass.

I like the fact that the moto of this Half Marathon was "ROMPE TUS LIMITES", yeah right "BREAK YOUR LIMITS".

July 4th 2008 - Crimestoppers 5k, Key West - 18:08

2008-07-07T07:25:00.000-07:00

After some time off from heavy training, we decided to head over to Key West to run this race. We ran it last year and enjoyed it, so we decided to return.

I wasn't feeling in great shape and was a bit doubtful in running this race but was easily convinced by the folks.

Coming to the race I had done some track during the week to see at what point I was going to be. According to the time I posted during the week I would realistically would be around the mid to high 18's. This is not only because I haven't been working on speed but also because the summer is extremely hard to run well in.

So we headed to the Keys Thursday and stayed at the Sheraton which was the starting point of the race.

We woke up, got ready and went out to warm up. I have always dreaded warming up even though I think it does help me before a race. So obviously I did my usual mediocre warmup.

I saw Sharkey warming up and knew the race would be his, however, I did not think that the competition would be that good.

The race started and Jason started of pretty fast with Sharkey and some other kid patiently tracking him. I stayed in a couple of meters behind (see photo). I cruised through the first mile at 5:14 and as I saw the clock I said to myself, HOLY SHIT! It's gonna be a long race.

And, indeed it was, I began fading away very quickly and got passed by three other runners. I tried breaking 18 but saw the clock ticking away as I kicked to a finishing time of 18:08.

In general terms, the time wasn't too bad. But it was a good race to get back into things. Now, the trianing begins and I will decrease this time by two full minutes by the end of the year. Bring it on!

RACE MAP:

07/03/2008 Route
Find more Runs in Key West, Florida

MAY 18 2008 - Karstadt Half Marathon - 1:20:35

2008-05-27T09:51:00.000-07:00

The Above pic was taken while I was running. I took a disposable camera with me.
I ended up 5th overall and PR'ed.