Weekend Recap

Congratulations to Tammy and Victor for winning the Amazing Race!!!! Impressive performance from them, and clearly dominating since CBS wasn't able to show a close, dramatic finish for the finale like they would have liked to. Sort of fun to watch for me, since Tammy and Victor are pretty close to how my sister and I would be on that show (only I would probably be a lot more impatient and mean!). They give a good name to Asians everywhere :)

This weekend was a busy Mother's Day weekend, but a very productive running weekend as well :) Saturday morning, woke up bright and early and headed out for a long run with Pat, Crystal, and Shane. We picked a 12 mile loop on the trails, pretty much the same as last week's long run but went out a mile further (first 4 downhill, next 3 uphill, 2 flat, last 3 rolling hills). Weather was cool and slightly overcast at the start (got sunnier as the run progressed), pretty much great running conditions. First few miles felt a little groggy, probably from the few adult beverages I had the night before on my day off, and kind of struggled to get out of my funk. Pat was only running 6, so he split off after the third mile and headed back home. We found out later he hit negative splits on his run, very impressive considering the second half is all uphill - way to go, Pat! We picked it up the pace a little, and started to get into a better rhythm as we cruised up the big hill and made the turn around. Legs felt ok, and all of us were definitely starting to push the pace a bit more, so we found ourselves having to slow down several times. At about the 9 mile marker, there is a three way intersection at the trail, and we noticed another runner jump behind us. The pace started to noticably pick up, and when I asked Shane about it his response was priceless: "There's no way we're letting that f***er pass us." All of us being ultra competitive, we all stepped it up another gear as we suddenly found ourselves cruising through the last few miles. Last mile, things started to get out of control, as all of us took turns pushing the pace harder and harder. With half a mile to go, I got a bit carried away and jacked us up to 5:15 pace, so needless to say we finished strong. Shane and Crystal were not too pleased with my Usain Bolt impression at the end, but it was an awesome workout and everyone did a fantastic job! Not counting warmup/cooldown walk, hit 12 miles at 1:37. Splits were: 8:57, 9:02, 8:59, 8:23, 8:06, 8:36, 8:01, 7:55, 7:59, 7:47, 7:29, 6:30.

My beautiful Mother and I :)

Afterwards, headed back to Peoria to see the family. It was a quick one day visit, but pretty busy and great to get back. Played a lot of golf, relaxed, BBQed, and just spent some good old fashioned family time. My mother was very pleased to see my sister and I, and it was all in all a great Mother's Day. Headed back home after a nap and watching Tiger at the Players Championship, and tried to coordinate a group run for the scheduled 6 mile pace run which was supposed to be at 7:15/mile. Shane was hanging out with the family and Crystal had just got her run in but she offered to pace me on her bike for my run. I inquired about her workout and her splits, and found out she hit 6:51 average (even splits) which I was not pleased to hear her hitting ridiculous times (great job Crystal!!!) since that meant I needed to equal the effort, because I am WAY too competitive. Legs were a bit worn out from the long run on Sat. and golf, so was thinking of hitting the more "conservative" 7:15's as scheduled but after some goading from Pat, I quickly changed my mind and was on my way. Route was on the same as Sat's long run - out and back, 3 miles downhill then uphill. Weather was overcast and cool (perfect), and instructed Crystal not to let me get too out of control on pace even though I had low expectations. Since I am a "feel runner" and ideally like how I feel to set my pace rather than try to hit set splits, I decided not to look at my watch the first mile and try to settle in on a good pace instead. Worked out pretty well, and the first three miles felt pretty smooth while running pretty aggressively, albeit downhill. I had doubts of maintaining on the way back since it would be harder going uphill. Turned around, and cruised into the fourth mile and my legs still felt ok. Started to feel it on the fifth mile, and started to struggle as the pace was starting to get pretty difficult. The last mile was getting pretty rough, and definitely was working hard the entire time. We had previously done speedwork on this last mile going uphill (quarter and half mile repeats), so it was a huge advantage to know exactly the landmark splits for the last mile (bridges, funny looking trees, etc.). Kicked hard at the end to finish the workout, and was pretty wiped out. Probably should have slowed it down the last half, but was feeling ok at the time to finish it out. Crystal was awesome pacing me on the bike - kept a very consistent pace for me, and she talked me through the second half of my run when I was struggling so I owe her big time!!! 6 miles at 39:40 - splits were: 6:39, 6:37, 6:41, 6:41, 6:34, 6:21.

Last week was a great running week, possibly one of my best ever. Hit close to 40 miles, the majority of the runs were strong, and I hit great splits which leads me to think I am fully recovered and in better shape that I thought. Tonight, EASY group run with Pat, Crystal, and Shane.

Turning Point?

More Kara :) Great interview with Universal Sports talking about her upcoming World Championship prospects.

As detailed through previous entries, it's been no secret that this training cycle has been a rough experience thus far, and I have started to seriously question my motivation to run and why I was struggling so much through the early weeks of a new cycle. This week has been overall a battle, with small glimpses of success in some of my more recent runs. I ended up having a talk with my running mentor and coach Ken, and felt better after our discussion - I need to quit worrying so much about performance during workouts, and just run. If I was feeling it that day, then go for it but not put too much pressure on myself to kill workouts when I'm not feeling 100%. He was telling me about his recent training and how he too, was recently having bad weeks but then it suddenly clicked - he felt like he was 18 again, just mowing through the workouts. I hope that I am close to that point too...


Yesterday, I was scheduled for a 45 minute fartlek run, and ended up putting it off later and later because of various excuses. I was staying close to work because of picking up Shane and his brother at the airport (10 minutes away), and ended up going over to my friend Jim's apartment to hang out for the evening. The weather was pretty muggy and starting to get humid, so I decided to postpone my run until later and play some tennis. Two hours later of chasing balls around on the court, I was pretty wiped out - it is amazing how tiring tennis can be! Contemplated running after dinner and a small break, but the rain/hail started to hit so changed my mind of running an outdoor fartlek and relegated myself to treadmill running. As silly as this sounds, I changed my workout to running a tempo because I was too lazy to keep pushing buttons to change pace, so set a challenging goal of hitting 4 miles at sub 7 minute pace with a long warmup/cooldown. Started warmup at 7:30 pace, but amazingly felt great and just kept upping the pace until settling at 6:46 and beginning the actual tempo. I had the Cavs playoff game on the tv, and kept myself pretty distracted and just ran without much thought. Looked down at the screen to what I thought was maybe a couple miles into the workout, and was already 4.5 miles into my tempo so readjusted my workout and finished out. Hit about 7 miles total with warmup/cooldown, splits were: 6:46, 6:35, 6:35, 6:35, 6:35, 6:24. Legs felt unbelievable - I felt like I was putting in about 75% effort, and easily could have kept going for a few more miles. It was an amazing turnaround, and I am absolutely thrilled that I dominated this workout :)

This weekend, long run on Saturday, headed back to Peoria to see my family for Mother's Day, then pace run on Sunday. To all mothers out there, Happy Mother's Day!!!

The Future "Mrs. Peter Kim"

Exciting news for American long distance running that Kara Goucher has decided to run the World Marathon Championships in Berlin on August 23rd. This could set up a potential duel with Paula Radcliffe, assuming her recovery from foot surgery goes well. Berlin's World Championship course is apparently going to be close to its current marathon setup for the Berlin Marathon, which means it will be flat and fast. I am curious to see how Kara measures up on that type of course, as her only marathons have been on hilly venues (NYC and Boston). She will undoubtedly run faster, but race tactics are so much different on a flatter course. It should be noted that she is passing up on big money appearance fees on a fall marathon to run the World Championships, which will probably encourage some of the other top U.S. runners to follow suit. She will be one of the heavy favorites come August. Good luck, Kara!!!

Last night, headed over to Pat and Crystal's for another wonderful dinner (Turkey Meatloaf and Homemade Macaroni and Cheese), and got to experience some of the most ridiculous stomach fullness after eating two large platefoods of food. After an hour recovery, stumbled home and got ready for a quick run. The night was absolutely perfect - cool, light breeze, around 60 degrees, and I couldn't ask for anything more. Decided to do a different loop (relatively flat, small elevations) to enjoy the conditions, and found myself pretty much on cruise control the entire way. About 3 miles into it, made a quick pit stop to my friend Jared's house to say hi to him and his beautiful family, then headed home. Got a little carried away on distance and pace, but legs felt great and had to really keep myself from just busting out something ridiculous. Ended up with ~6.5 miles with warmup/cooldown: splits were 7:28, 7:09 (oops!), 7:25, 7:26, 7:17, 7:18. First run this training cycle that truly felt easy, and I am feeling that good progress is being made.

Tonight, 45 minute fartlek, might try to catch a few extra miles if I still have legs later since I skimped out Tuesday's run. Picking up Shane at the airport, looking forward to getting in some runs with him this weekend!

Warning!!! Do not try this at home!!!

This is an email received yesterday afternoon from a "loyal reader":

-----Original Message-----
From: Harriss, Crystal L
Sent: Tuesday, May 05, 2009 12:29 PM
To: Kim, Peter
Subject: RE: Hi

Dear Coach Peter,
I am writing you this note to let you know how brutally punishing your
reverse ladder workout is. My legs are jello and I look as if I've been
swimming in my running clothes. Said workout is also not adviseable on
a treadmill because 10.1 is seriously hauling some buttay and I d*mn
near fell off the back!!! Picked up the last 400 and ran it at a 5:52
pace (10.2) which is still way slower than you had recommended (see
below). This is only further proof that you are a Nazi Coach and may
succeed in making me vomit from running. The only good that has come
from above workout is that I just ran my fastest mile E-V-E-R. Who
knew, I can run a sub six mile?!?!

Sincerely,
Paula wannabe

I was pretty much in hysterics after reading this, but very proud that Crystal hit all the splits I had prescribed for myself. Even more impressive, it was done on a treadmill which I feel is absolutely INSANE and a million times tougher. Very impressive work! After reading this "motivating" email, I pretty much decided to get this workout over with. An added motivation was punishing myself for my little drinkfest Monday night at the concert, as well as enjoying an evening with my workout done early (not to mention a little break from work). To make the workout even more challenging, I did it on the road - I find doing track work on the road more difficult: one, the terrain is usually not even, so have to deal with uphills and downhills which can make keeping consistent times tough; two, even though I have my Garmin to track distance, there is no substitute for running on a track, knowing exactly where your end points are at (this is more a mental barrier, if anything). So in summary, I was running a reverse ladder workout a day after a tough run on minimal sleep, a massive hangover and slight dehydration. Am I a glutton for punishment? Absolutely!

So I found a somewhat flat area around my building, and set forth on my workout. First set was the mile - went out pretty hard, kept a good pace going. While I felt like I was definitely working, legs felt pretty comfortable, and I was pleased to see 5:43 as my split. Next set was the 1200 - went out hard, definitely was struggling after the first quarter mile. Had to dig deep and kick hard to hit 4:22. Was struggling to keep good form, and felt every drink from last night with every step. 800 was pretty much the same - first quarter was ok, but grinded out the last half. Kicked hard to hit 2:47, and officially felt like complete crap. Final set was the 400 - legs were pretty shot at this point, and had taken a lot longer between sets at this point. I gave myself a good pep talk, and worked on my focus for this final set. Coasted through most of the run, and kicked hard at the finish to hit 1:15. Definitely would have shaved 3-5 seconds easy on a track, and was pleased to end the workout on a good note while hitting all my splits. Did a short cooldown to end the day.

After work, went over to Pat and Crystal's afterwards for a Cinco de Mayo celebration dinner. To celebrate the wonderful weather, we played some yard games and drank a few Dos Equis (oops!). Crystal made homemade guacamole (yummy!), cheesy chicken enchiladas which were amazing, and a raspberry layered chocolate cake for dessert. One note about Crystal's cooking - not only is her food absolutely fabulous and amazingly tasty, but it is all HEALTHY!!! I used to think all healthy food at best was mediocre in taste (mostly bland), but with her extensive research of healthy food magazine/cookbooks, experience and hard work, she has perfected her craft as an amazing cook whose food I thoroughly enjoy, not to mention is also good for me! Thank you so much for feeding your Kenyan-wannabe running buddy, Crystal!!!

Afterwards, we literally waddled over to a friend's house to say hi (they just moved in), then came back to watch the Biggest Loser. The challenge for this episode was for each of the final four contestants to run a marathon. Yes, you read that correctly - four obese people were instructed to run a marathon, and did I mention they had a whopping 26 days to train for it? I'm sorry, but I have a huge problem with the producers of this show coming up with this ludicrous challenge. First, while these contestants of the show have been exercising religiously over the last few months, the bottom line is you don't give anyone just 26 days to properly train for a race that most experts recommend intermediate to advanced runners a minimum 4 months to prepare for! That is just plain stupid and asking for too much from anybody. Second, the course that the runners were given was, in my opinion, was a lot more challenging than it could have been. Come on,running through mountains, fields, and sand?! A little overly dramatic, don't you think? Basically, outside of some family/friends and the previous Biggest Loser winners at a later mile marker, no one was on the course to cheer and encourage the contestants. I'm not sure how fair that was - spectators play a large part of a marathon in motivation. I don't know how many times I have been mentally defeated on a course, only to have a few cheering fans pick me up and get me going again. As far as I'm concerned, the producers should have just thrown the contestants 26.2 miles away in the middle of a desert and tell them to get back somehow. While I am ecstatic that the Biggest Loser is giving great exposure to the wonderful sport of long distance running, showing that truly anyone can do it, I feel they are giving false hope that one can minimally train for a marathon in less than a month and succeed. In my experiences of marathon running, it takes a good four months of dedicated running to properly prepare for the physical and mental rigors of the race, and giving yourself the best chance for injury prevention. I just think it is a very unsafe and unreasonable challenge, and hopefully we don't see a mass influx of running injuries from hopeful beginner marathoners over the next year.

On a different note, I give major props to all four contestants as they all completed the marathon against the odds. Running a marathon is one of the hardest things anyone will ever physically perform in their lifetime, and running with very little training, minimal crowd support, and what appeared to be a difficult course is a completely AMAZING feat. I am in complete awe of Tara, Helen, Mike, and Ron for joining a very exclusive club and earning the very prestigious title of "Marathoner". Bravo!!!

Tomorrow, easy run, lots of stretching and corework. Shane is coming back into town on Thursday night for the weekend, and looking forward to a group long run this weekend! As promised, here are a few pictures from Monday night's concert...

Happy Cinco de Mayo!/Monday EASY Run

Yeah right, once again I failed in my endeavor to keep an "easy" pace. Because of the concert in the evening, I decided to get in my run during work. Scheduled for easy 4 and after a motivational speech from Coach Crystal, I was on my way. I work in Westport Plaza, and the roads in this area are pretty hilly, so runs are never typically easy. Unfortunately, the hills are about as bad as you can get - long, and steep. First mile, kept up what I thought was a leisurely pace on a somewhat flat road - last quarter, hit a nasty upslope so worked into that, heard my Garmin beep, and was surprised to see 6:46 for the first mile. Oops! 2nd mile, rolling hills, was trying to keep up the effort, but my legs are not in great hill shape - struggled to a 6:55 finishing on a pretty steep half mile incline. At this point, my legs were pretty toast, so pulled in the reigns and hit 7:15 and 7:17 coming home. This looks deceptively fast, as I was coming back through the rolling hills but basically on a massive decline. Cooled down with a mile jog, legs were pretty beat. Shouldn't be this tired after 4 miles, but it was a rough route so I guess I'll give myself a free pass. Here are some pics of some of the lovely hills on my run:

I love Google Satellite Maps

Last night, Trisha and I and my coworker Scott and Brian headed over to the Fabulous Fox Theater to go see the Killers! Awesome show from what I remember, had a few too many adult beverages and am feeling pretty rough today. Will post some pics from my camera when I upload to my laptop. Tonight, speedwork - reverse ladder (1600, 1200, 800, 400), hoping to hit 5:55, 4:25, 2:50, 1:20. That might be wishful thinking in my current state. Afterwards, Cinco de Mayo dinner with Pat and Crystal!!! Siiiiiiii!!!

Breaking News!!!

From a press conference held last week in St. Louis:

"Okay boys and girls the peer pressure was too much so I signed up for Chicago." - Pat Harriss


Ok, so it wasn't exactly a press conference (an email), but we received confirmation from Pat stating he was registered for Chicago!!! This is exciting times for me, as my entire race travel crew will be rolling in full force for Chitown this fall! Look out, Chicago!


Pat is running for the Diabetes Action Team, which is a nonprofit organization committed to the prevention and treatment of diabetes and to the funding of innovative, promising research aimed at finding a cure for diabetes and diabetes related complications. For added support, Crystal, Shane, Tim, and I also signed up for the team. I have never run for charity before, but obviously it is for a great cause and even more poignant since I will actually be running in honor of my buddy Pat who actually has diabetes. Please visit Pat's page and make a donation!


On a much more lighter note, this sets the stage for some interesting side plots within our group. Pat, Crystal, and I come full circle in our running careers as we revisit the settings of our marathon debuts. And on that tangent, comes the opportunity for myself to settle the score between Pat and I - he has not hesitated for one second over the last 4 years to let me know he defeated me in the 2005 Chicago Marathon. Believe me, I am relishing the opportunity to even the score :)

Also, the fierce rivalry between Tim and Pat will come head to head, as they battle it out for the ultimate bragging rights. Tim is currently 1-0 lifetime against Pat (2007 Nashville 1/2 Marathon), but Pat has the better PR's in the 1/2 and full marathon distances. Will this war of words ever end as this bitter feud spills over into the Windy City? Stay tuned....

Weekend Recap

"Every story needs a hero - for every hero, there is a villain..."


And here are mine - Barrel (real name "Cheryl") and Trisha. They are my two good friends that reside in downtown St. Louis, and hanging out with them typically results in a good story (after half a day of conversations to figure out what exactly happened the night before) and a monstrous hangover. They continually test my drinking tolerance, liver functionality, sleep schedule, and usually afterwards I need a reminder that I'm 29, not 21 as we typically hit up nights like it's our first time out in Vegas. Regardless, they are fun friends who I have AMAZING times with, big supporters of my running career (when it doesn't interfere with their social obligations), and will be mentioned frequently throughout my blog in their many attempts to derail my marathon training. Barrel has even kindly offered her coaching services to me, consisting of driving in a car with a megaphone, rapping Nelly to me, while offering me beer as I run - an amazing offer, one that I may someday take up.

Weekend running was pretty successful. Saturday morning, Crystal and I hit up our long run on the trails of Glen Carbon. We are very fortunate to have some of the nicest running/bike trails in the St. Louis metropolitan area, and the majority of our training runs over 8 miles are usually done on these trails. Another nice perk of these trails is there are several intersection points within a mile of our start, giving us multiple options to consider when planning out a route for the day.


The plan was a 10 mile run: weather was nice - cool and a little sunny, and we laid out a nice, challenging loop where the first 4 miles were downhill, next 3 miles were uphill, then the final 3 miles were rolling hills. Still a little weary from the after-effects of being sick, I was continually monitoring my breathing, leg conditions, and basically how my body felt in general. I had initially thought we would be sustaining a conservative pace (high 7/low 8 minute/mile), but that was quickly washed away as we hit 7:23, 7:07, 7:29 for our first three miles. Fourth mile split was 7:30, as we prepared for the long uphill 3 miles that awaited us. Legs were starting to feel jelloish at this point, and definitely was feeling a little tired, so was focusing on good form and just trying to get myself through any potential mental roadblocks. The uphill splits, we hit in 7:26, 7:27, 7:30, and was extremely pleased with running consistent splits while feeling pretty decent. Crystal started to cramp a bit a little afterwards, so we slowed it down a tad and coasted home in 7:36, 7:47, 7:35. My right hamstring and hip flexor were a little tender afterwards and legs a little sore, but felt great otherwise. So overall, 10 miles in 1:14, a good effort and I was pretty stoked that I am definitely getting closer to full recovery.

Immediately afterwards, traveled to Okawville, IL (roughly one hour east) to participate in a golf tournament with a couple friends/former coworkers. It rained pretty consistently last week, so the golf course was basically a swamp, making it a pretty interesting day to say the least. Play was erratic (and messy!), but was a fun day to spend with friends. My highlights of the day were pitching in from 30 yards away for birdie (ironically, on the "Win the Car with a Hole-In-One" hole), and stuffing a wedge to a foot from 120 yards out for a kick-in birdie. Word of advice - if you ever decide to do a long run, make sure you STRETCH afterwards - the hour long car ride was a nightmare for my legs, and spent the first 15-20 minutes of my Okawville experience hobbling around like a 90 year old man.


Sunday, headed out to the trails with Pat and Crystal for a quick run in the later morning. We did an out and back at a pretty leisurely pace, first half downhill, coming back uphill, and legs felt pretty smooth the entire time. During the last mile, Crystal and I got a little carried away, and hammered out a pretty aggressive pace the last half mile - stride felt good, turnover was decent, and legs overall were fine. Splits were 9:08, 8:56, 8:34, 7:59, 7:30. Corework and stretching tonight, and probably will work 15-20 minutes on the foam roller on my right hamstring and hip flexor which are still a little sore.

So Week 1 of the Maintenance Cycle was overall successful, ~30-31 miles total. Still working out some kinks, and building back conditioning. I can't believe in one week of being sick that you could lose so much, but I guess it is what it is. Runs got progressively easier as the days went on, and the weekend running was just about perfect. Next week, will probably keep the intensity level somewhat honest, concentrating on building back good conditioning, maintaining good mileage, and aggressive corework. Tomorrow, easy 4-5, then going to see the Killers at the Fox Theater with Trisha!