Building the Foundation

Season 2: The Road To Boston
Chapter 1. Building the Foundation

Hello. Thanks once again for visiting my blog page. Let us keep reaching the stars out there. This time, I heard the stars in long distance running can be found in Boston Marathon. That is where we are headed for this running season. Hopefully, we would be there in the Summer of 2011 participating on the prestigious and oldest annual marathon in the planet.

For this time being, let us momentarily forget about how we will be able to fund ourselves for that expensive running journey. As they so often say, we will cross the bridge when we get there. And getting there shall be our utmost concern first. How do we qualify?

LINK: Boston Marathon Qualifying Times

For men ages 18-34, the qualifying marathon finish time is 3:10:59 hours. A difficult feat. From Pandesal Runner Adventures Season 1, we just finished a marathon in 3:55:36 hours. To qualify, we must improve tremendously. So what have we learned? Are we capable? As my Singaporean boss often asks about my submitted weekly tasks schedule, "Is it achievable?"

Frankly, I don't know. And that, my friends, fuels this journey. The unknown. The difficulties. The intangibles and the unpredictability of what lies ahead. Join me this season as we go ahead and shoot for that star in Boston. This is the Pandesal Runner Adventures Season 2: The Road To Boston.

Where do we start?

An injured right knee. A blessing in disguise. From the last marathon that I have run, I learned to take things slowly. To value the rest and recovery period. And though I have gained 10 pounds (yeah, fats are coming back), the rest period forced me to rethink, improve and reinforce my training methods. If not for those moments of inability to run, I would not have had a much stronger conviction to come back stronger.

Marathon training is about a gradual build-up, not one sudden long run a few days before a race!

For the whole of December 2009, I started to build the foundation for a successful and much enjoyable running year of 2010. I had to strengthen my leg muscles to better cope with prolonged hours of running. I figured I had to be stronger to endure the strains and stresses of a marathon run. I started strength training. The calves, hamstrings and quadriceps were the priority. Later on, I added the chest, back, trapezius muscles, arms and shoulders for a complete muscle strength training. Four times a week, I am building the foundation for a strong running body.

Here is my sample strength training week.

Mon	Tues	Wed	Thurs	Fri	Sat	Sun
Legs: o FIT o Calves Raises o Half Squats o Lunges	Legs: o FIT o Calves Raises o Half Squats o Lunges	Rest	Chest And Back: o Bench Press o Chest Flies o Dead Lift o Single-Arm Rows o Upright Rows o Shrugs	Rest	Arms And Shoulders: o Shoulder Press o Standing Bicep Curls o Concentrated Bicep Curls o Hammer Curls o Triceps Extension o Triceps Kickback o French Press o Reverse Flies o Front Raise o Lateral Raise	Rest

Endurance running requires a strong core to hold the body in a proper running form for the entire duration of the marathon run. The turnings and maneuverings against corners and fellow runners also require a strong core. To help the body hold the running form, avoid crouching and prevent pains on our lower back, we needed to strengthen our core muscles. Three to four times a week, I do core drills.

Lastly, so as not to lose our stamina without running on this recovery period. We need to cross train. I do boxing. I started the first week with light shadow boxing. No hand wraps. No gloves. No punching bags. I tried to remember how to throw the hooks, straights, jabs and uppercuts. How I should move my feet to attack, avoid, retreat and regroup. The following week, I started hitting the punching bag moving from 4 rounds to 6, to 7 and now 8 rounds per session. The cardiovascular benefits of the boxing drills are fantastic. Combination punching is mostly anaerobic. Throwing three to four combination requires explosive strength that can easily drain your energy. To be able to last 8 rounds in my third week of this cross training tells a lot about my conditioning.

Boxing really is a good cross training for runners. After heavy runs and tired legs, boxing still trains us for added strength and endurance without much leg movements (speaking of heavy bag hitting. sparring would require you to box and use your legs to avoid getting hit).

Without any running this off running season of December, I should still be able to maintain my running endurance and speed. Strength training, core drills and boxing help me a lot so as not to sacrifice all those running abilities I have gained from Season 1. More importantly, these exercises prepare me for a much tougher running assignment for 2010. After all, a Boston Qualifier (BQ) is never easy. Physically, we have to prepare. Mentally, we have to be tough and believe that it is possible regardless of the difficulty.

Do quality workouts year-round, including during the winter. You're less likely to get injured because you won't hurry the training process, and you'll race better because you build fitness on a solid foundation. - Brad Hudson, elite coach

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Champions aren't made in the gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them: a desire, a dream, a vision. - Muhammad Ali

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When you've trained as best you can and you know your competition has done the same, nothing really matters but your mental strength and your belief. - Florence Griffith Joyner

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Train hard. If you train hard, the fight is easy. - P4P Boxing King Manny Pacquiao

Season's Greetings
 
The Holidays are coming. Something tells me I would still bloat and go way above 150 pounds. Hehehe. Happy Holidays to all. Enjoy, have fun and cherish all the love the season brings. ;)

I have attended our company's Christmas Party and got a hydration belt on the exchange gifts. Yey! On top of that, my Nike Fury Running Watch is due to arrive on January 10, 2010. Lastly, I have also used my credit card's 20% Off holiday promo to buy my new Adidas training shoes to complement my Mizuno racing shoes. I really am getting ready and excited for my second year of running.

 

Me and Pete

My new marathon hydration belt from Felix

 

Felix and Me

  

Men In Stripes

  

Same Same

 

With Yeba, my PIM marathon support

Next up.. Chapter 2. Road Work
We will be running again and building our mileage base this January. I am so excited.. and I just can't hide it. For an inspiring Boston Marathon tale, read THIS.