the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. ~ Steve Jobs
My pace over a period of 18 months (March 2007 to August 2008)
Event Name & Course
State
Date
Bib #
Final Time
Distance (Miles)
Pace (Minutes)
Annapolis 10 Mile Run 2008
MD
8/24/2008
3671
1:27:35
10
0:08:45
Riley’s Rumble Half Marathon
MD
7/27/2008
1358
2:09:02
13.1
0:09:51
Lawyers Have Heart 10K
DC
6/14/2008
370
1:01:15
6
0:10:12
DARCARS Pike’s Peak 10K
MD
4/27/2008
2094
0:57:09
6
0:09:31
St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5K
MD
3/11/2007
2396
0:37:17
3.2
0:11:39
1st race: St. Patrick’s Day Shamrock 5k
Didn’t not train for this at all. Started out blazing fast but burned out 5 minutes later. Finish time and pace was terrible.
I also ran another 5k to support cancer, Lance Armstrong was in it the time and pace was terrible, so its not worth mentioning. This race was not officially timed. I believe my time was around 35 minutes.
2nd race: DARCARS Pike’s Peak 10K
I had to race this by myself because noone wanted to do it with me but it was a recommended race to gauge my time for the MCRRC’s marathon training program. Trained a little bit for this race, goal was within 1 hour. I was happy with my finish time of 57:09 and 9:31 pace. This finish time put me in the 11:20 pace group for my marathon training program.
3rd race: Lawyers Have Heart 10K I signed up for this before I found about the DARCARS Pike’s Peak 10k. Didn’t really race this, was pacing a friend to finish her first 10K. We finished strong with a finish time of 1:01 and pace of 10:12
4th race: Riley’s Rumble Half Marathon This is a premier race for my marathon training group, the coaches suggest I run this to gauge my training progress. The course was very hilly. I actually prepared for this. Sufficient sleep paid off. This was a chance to impress myself. Goal was 2 hours but I finish in 2:09 Wasn’t happy with result but a pace of 9:51 was good, a definite improvement.
5th race: Annapolis 10 Mile Run Another race suggested by training coach, not as hilly as Riley’s Rumble but definitely not an easy course. Goal was 1:30:00 Suprised myself with final time of 1:27:35 and 8:45 pace. My BEST race so far. My training and hard work are yielding some dividends.
New training goals: 5 laps around Centennial Park (Columbia, MD)
3 days a week (Tentatively Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday)
each lap is 2.4 miles for a total of 12 miles.
His training methods were wrong
He neither studied or put forth any effort
He didn’t scrutinize the details
His approach was wrong
He was too eager
His pace was too fast
He burned out way before the finish line
He wasn’t ready for it
He need to adjust
He need to get his mind right
He need to train with a purpose
He will come back, and conquer the next race
Update: 8/25/2008
Read the Great press coverage of the race by RunWashington.com
Touted as one of the nation’s premier 10 miler to race, the Annapolis 10 lived up to the hype. The race was extremely well supported by the volunteers, there were supportive spectators at almost every mile. The course was well planned, I really enjoyed the scenery, felt like I got to know Annapolis more intimately as I navigate through its neighborhood. Saved for the 2 unfortunate roadkills (squirrel & a badger ?) the course was fantastic. The finisher’s premium this year was a microfiber running jacket. I should’ve went with a small, medium is too bulky for my fun size body.
I arrived at the Navy Memorial Stadium at 6:00AM and promptly picked up my bib and champion chip. I spent the extra time taking in the sights and immersed myself in the naval traditions and history. I really enjoyed the brief solitude, for the next 30 minutes I had to whole stadium to myself. So what do I do when I am by myself ? I took a power nap.
My goal for this race was to finish within 1 hour and 30 minutes or better. I’ve been putting more mileage into my training schedule to adapt my body to the extra stress so I can push the last few miles. I started out faster than I should have, around the half way mark I was fatigued, I intended to push the pace around mile 8 but realistically I didn’t push until mile 9.5 I sprinted as best I could to the finish line and by the time I stopped my wrist watch I was ecstatic to see that it showed 1:29:13 Even more surprising was the realization that the time showed is my gun time, my net time was a new personal record of 1:27:35
As I sprinted passed the finish line I was greeted by a nice surprise, there were volunteers everywhere passing out cold towels to the onslaught of finishers. Luckily I finished early enough in this race to be able to enjoy the after race food offerings. There were the usual bananas and bagels, not willing to settle for just bananas and bagels I walked around scouting for more free food and was treated to a huge stockpile of precut watermelons. I also found a line for smoothie
Overall I had a great time, I would definitely run it again next year. Perhaps I could finish in the top 100.
2 hours of sleep, 20 miles, 4 hours and 20 minutes later I still had energy for more. Its GREAT to be young and be able to pull off such reckless outings. The plan was to attend a friend’s housewarming party and leave by 11pm, I’d get home by 12AM and sleep for 5.5 hours then get up at 5:30AM to go run my scheduled 20 milers. Well things didn’t go quite as planned, instead of complaining I made adjustments and enjoy my time with the company I was around. The poker game lasted until 2AM and afterward we went out to a 24 hour Korean BBQ restaurant. The food was great, I devoured every bit of it. I made it home by 3:50AM and finally crashed on my bed at 4AM, the alarm rang at 5:30AM I kept hitting snooze and finally got up at 5:45AM, I rushed out the house at 6AM and made it to the capital crescent trail at 6:30AM for the schedule run with my training group.
We started at the capital crescent trail in Bethesda, ran through the national zoo and circle back on Rock Creek parkway to beach drive and finally back to the developing capital crescent trail. All in all, with about 6 water breaks we finished in 4 hours and 20 minutes. This was my first 20 miler and surprising I did quite well, the pain was there but its nothing more than minor aches. I finished strong and felt like I had enough fuel to go the extra 6.2 miles. We’re a little over 3 months into the training program and I am confident that I can make it through the training, we have a little under 3 months to go and only 2 more 20 milers in our schedule. To achieve my personal goal of finishing within 4 hours I am running 4 times a week, putting in at least 30 miles by myself and whatever we’re schedule to run on Sunday.
My new ambition is to complete a full on ironman triathlon, all 2.6 miles of swimming, 112 miles of biking and 26.2 miles of running. Even if I don’t make it, at least I aimed for the moon.
The Doers: the ones that set goals and will stop at nothing to achieve it, the ones that stay up until 2am to study so they can move on to a better career and hence a better life, the ones that get up at 5am in the morning to hit the pavement so they can qualify for the Boston marathon, the ones with quiet ambitions and silently work to better themselves each day. The ones who were born without innate genetic talents and yet instead of complaining they try their hardest with what they were given. These are the people that truly inspire me, their sheer determination and audacity give me hope. Perhaps one day I too will follow in their foot steps. There have been one question that have been looming in my mind, at the core of it all, what am I really made of ? the loser who were too afraid to try or the man that see each day as a chance to better himself.
In no particular, these are the kind of people that irks me most…
Flaky – make up your mind, don’t be a victim of variety, pick an option and stick to it, nothing is as you expected, most things require some work on your part to shape it to your liking.
Condescending – what give you the right to look down on someone ? unless you’re 7 feet tall and make a 7 figure salary, you have no business talking down to anyone.
Braggarts – no matter how good you are at what you do, trust me, there’s someone out there who can do it better. Its better for someone to recognize your good qualities without your help. There’s something to be said about humble modesty.
Knowing the type of people I hate perhaps I should share something about myself. I can’t seem to make up my mind whether I am better than this guy because I just am or because of the car I drive
From now until the end of October the only thing that I’ll be concern with is the Marines’ Corp marathon and my goal of finishing within 4 hours. NOTHING will take precedence over this, I will give it my all to achieve this personal goal. Once this is completed, I will focus on my academic career. Ultimately I will get a B.S in Computer Science and an MBA soon after. As soon as I finish with school, I will move to New York and start the life I’ve always wanted, free from my past, not living in anyone’s shadow. I’ve learned that when it really matter, the only person you can rely on is yourself.
the time and pace was terrible, so its not worth mentioning. This race was not officially timed. I believe my time was around 35 minutes.
but it was a recommended race to gauge my time for the MCRRC’s marathon training program. Trained a little bit for this race, goal was within 1 hour. I was happy with my finish time of 57:09 and 9:31 pace. This finish time put me in the 11:20 pace group for my marathon training program.
They like me, they really like me