Hero Inc.

Here’s the post run report.

Official Time: 2:07:19
Official Pace: 9:44
Official Place in Ages 25-29: 83/123
Official Overall Place: 900/1800

Now that the official numbers are out of the way, let’s look at my “real” numbers based on the RunKeeper app I used during the race. I consider these as real since I did have a GPS and timer attached to me throughout the race.

Based on either set of numbers, I’m proud of my final time and pace. My ultimate goal was to have a pace of under 10 minutes a mile so mission accomplished. Of course if it wasn’t for the instigator himself, Will, then I would not have posted such a great pace of 9:26. You see, I used him as a motivator by keeping him in my sights for the first 2.5 miles and keeping a consistent pace. Prior to the run, I was barely able to run consistently for anything over 2 miles. Day of the race, I was able to run for close to 4.5 miles without needing a small break to walk. Its possible I could have continued with my best pace ever if I had chosen to stay with Will but I was arrogant and passed him which in turn gave him full capability to pass me around the 6-7 mile makers and never look back.

The course itself was brilliantly designed, except for one minor flaw. The minor flaw were the final 3 hills that made one hate life and want to punch out the run supporters that were stationed at the hills. Granted, now that I look back on the course, there probably was not much they could do to avoid these hills. The rest of the course “began in the heart of downtown, snaked through campus, navigated Five Points by way of Milledge Avenue, hit Cobbham Historic District, down Prince into Normaltown, ran north and then swung around back to downtown with a finish line in front of the fabulous 40 Watt Club.” My favorite part of the course was probably the final .10 mile stretch as it was on a downgrade and really pushed you to finish strong.

Figure 1: Map of Half Marathon Course (Click for better map)

As this was my first half marathon or even actual race, I have to say that I really enjoyed it. People were spread throughout the course to cheer on people they knew and of course people they didn’t as well. I had my music to motivate me and push me but those random people did so much to make me continue on as well. I’d even fine myself running to them if only to take a small break after passing them. The signs along the course also helped in the motivational department with my favorite sign easily being “Run like you stole something.”

Overall, I’m proud of myself for running and completing the race and I actually look forward to possibly making this an annual event in the coming years. Next event for me is up in the air. I enjoyed this one enough to actually look to find another race that I can attempt. There is a San Francisco Half Marathon on November 7th but I’ll probably hold off on any race in the bay area prior to Thanksgiving. Maybe I’ll just shoot for a 10K next. We shall see.

Here are a few final charts that cover my times and distances during the Half Marathon. I’m also throwing in a group photo of our running crew.

Figure 2: Pace vs. Elevation vs. Speed

Figure 3: Pace Breakdown

Photo 1: (Left to Right) Cory, Ginny, Will, Me.

The half marathon is on Sunday and I wanted one final post before the “big event”.  For the event, I’ll be filling my mp3 player with the following Workout playlist to drive me towards the finish line:

1. “Let Go” by Frou Frou
2. “We Made It” by Linkin Park featuring Busta Rhymes
3. “My Hero” by Foo Fighters
4. “Ladies and Gentlemen” by Saliva
5. “Pioneers” by Bloc Party
6. “I’m Shipping Up To Boston” by Dropkick Murphy’s
7. “Around the World / Bigger Stronger Faster” by Daft Punk
8. “Welcome to the Black Parade” by My Chemical Romance
9. “Party Hard” by Andrew W. K.
10. “One Step Closer” by Linkin Park
11. “Starseed” by Our Lady Peace
12. “Memphis & 53rd” by Minus The Bear
13. “It’s Tricky” by Run D.M.C.
14. “Amazing” by Kanye West
15. “This is War” by 30 Seconds To Mars
16. “Okay I believe you but my Tommy Gun Don’t” by Brand New
17. “Invitation to Understanding” by MxPx
18. “Make You Smile” by +44
19. “Power” by Kanye West
20. “Ring Capacity” by Kirby Krackle
21. “Guerrilla Radio” by Rage Against The Machine
22. “Crush” by Jimmy Eat World
23. “Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen
24. “Light & Day” by The Polyphonic Spree
25. “Everlong” by Foo Fighters
26. “Magic” by B.O.B.
27. “Running On Empty” by Jackson Browne
28. “Hallelujah” by Paramore
29. “Angles of the Silences” by Stretch Arm Strong
30. “In Your Honor” by Foo Fighters
31. “Somewhere I Belong” by Linkin Park
32. “Handlebars” by Flobots
33. “Runaway” by Cartel
34. “You’re Gonna Go Far Kid” by The Offspring
35. “Paper Planes” by M.I.A.
36. “Family System” by Chevelle
37. “Airplanes, Part II” by B.O.B.
38. “In the Air Tonight” by Nonpoint
39. “Cello Suite No. 1 in G Major” by Yo-Yo Ma ***
40. “My Hero” by Paramore ***
41. “Ohio Is For Lovers” by Vitamin String Quartet ***
42. “Cute Without The E – Cut From The Team” by Vitamin String Quartet ***
43. “Welcome to the Black Parade” by Vitamin String Quartet ***

*** Denotes song used for warm-up and stretching

Wow, now that I’ve typed out that list I really realize how all over the place it really is.  Here’s hoping I can run faster (maybe correct term is finish faster) so that I won’t need to use all of these songs or even replay a few of them.

And in an effort to really state how far a Half Marathon is here are a few numbers for your brain to crunch on that are less than a half marathon

• Round trip from my youthful home to my high school
• Round trip from my current SF home to the Golden Gate Bridge
• Distance across the city of San Francisco (approx 7 miles)
• Distance from my old Sandy Springs Apartment to the Midtown MARTA station (9.6 miles)

With the approaching Athens Half Marathon that my “good friend” Will talked me into doing with some other friends I thought this would make for a perfect post. Maybe not truly perfect but the pictures of me during the event clutching onto my last breadth and life should be entertaining enough. But before we get there you have to know the prequel or you won’t care about the characters….if you even will after.

So the story is…well Will thought old roommates should run the half marathon at the end of October and…well that’s it. I’m not sure why I agreed or even how I ever did but I’m in it and in it to win finish it. With two months before the big event, I knew I had to start training immediately. I’ve run maybe 3.11 miles (5k) previously in high school when I was on the cross country team (soccer purposes only) but that’s the furthest distance I’ve ever completed without walking it all and I’m not in high school any more.

I began running around where I worked at the end of the day in order to get into shape and kill time for traffic to die down. Well after only a few days into training, I knew something was up. My legs were in some much pain that there wasn’t a day where I wasn’t sitting at home with ice packs on my knees. Didn’t take me long to realize it was an issue in my shoes. What can I say? I’m cheap and I just thought I could get through this with the crappy shoes that I had. I was, of course, wrong and broke down buying some legitimate shoes thanks to a running store in San Francisco. With reasonable prices and a great staff to help me pick the perfect shoe for my style of running, I settled on the Brooks Adrenaline GTS 10. Talk about running on air, these shoes made me pull a 180 on running. Instead of a chore, it became something I looked forward to at the end of the day.

I had the shoes, the drive, and being a geek, I now needed the data. That’s right. I love all things tech and with my Android smartphone (HTC Eris) I had apps that could help me track my performance and training. I settled on RunKeeper only because of other friends using it as well and helping to cheer me along in the process. It tracks my time, distance, pace, elevation, and pretty much any other statistic I would want. I’m debating paying for the pro capabilities only to gain more data. We shall see.
Anyway, here’s the data from my latest run of 10 miles. I’m two weeks away and I had two primary goals: Complete 10 mile run prior to the Half Marathon and run under 10 minutes a mile. I’ve completed one of the two but I’m dangerously close to that second.

Figure 1: Pace during the 10 Mile Run

Yes, I know the first thing out of most runners mouth when looking at that graph. I am not a consistent pace kind of guy. Its hard for me to slow my pace and keep it across the length of my runs. If I have the power and I want to run it now. Sure this makes me look like an EKG but my overall pace goal is on target. Here’s another breakdown.

Figure 2: Further Breakdown of Pace during the 10 Mile Run

First, don’t let the last number fool you. The 11th mile was only .10 miles in length so I hope it was averaging at 4. On record to date, my best mile run came earlier this week during a 3 mile run where I clocked in at 6:43 on my first mile. Yes that was with a -128 ft elevation but I’d say that is still fast.
Now with the half only two weeks away my training is winding down. I feel well prepared and I’ve even experienced the runner’s high (it’s amazing). The only real variables I’m worried about now are the climate and the course. Training in SF is not the same as Athens but it will be late October so hopefully there will be less humidity. I’ve experienced several days here of running in 100 degree weather but humidity is its own beast. The course only worries me because I’m not as well prepared on hills. Sure, I live in SF and could have found the hills but my training ground is in Pleasanton and I didn’t have any.

Anyway, to conclude, I’ve enjoyed this process more than I ever thought I would. I look forward to running days and feel terrible when I miss out on a chance to run. It is my new stress reliever and it works wonders. For those thinking of preparing for a half marathon after not really running prior, here’s one final chart of a breakdown of how much I was doing on my way to the event.

Figure 3: Weekly Break Down of Distance

I have a laundry list of posts I want to make but I’m being lazy at the moment (shocker there) so something quick and simple of an overall update might just work out better….mainly for me anyway.

New Face
Ok, that header isn’t exactly accurate but it works. After trying to order more contacts, I had to make an appointment in an effort to update a prescription that was well over 2 years old. Well, in the appointment I heard the usual speech about my eyes and the blood vessels within them. For those that don’t know, if you wear your contacts too much, your eye will create more blood vessels in an effort to bring more oxygen to the eye. That’s great unless it keeps getting worse. Long story short, you could end up needing a cornea transplant.

Since I didn’t want to have that, I decided to just update my glasses and stick to just them for a few months in an effort to reduce those pesky blood vessels. And of course in San Francisco, you just can’t buy normal eye glasses. They have to be a fashion statement. Well, here’s my fashion statement of “I’ve got to see.”

Pencak Silat
Thanks to my roommate, I’m trying out a new form of martial arts. New in the sense that I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve only ever worked out via weights, sports, or simply not working out at all. Pencak Silat is an Indonesian form of martial arts that, according to my knowledge thus far, is centered around the use of weapons. Hey, anything sounds awesome if I will be taught how to wield the coolest weapon of them all. I have many years (and years and years) before anything like this.

I’m not into this for the true self defense or fighting aspect. I just wanted to try something new that would also offer me a great way to workout.

MLS
With the World Cup coming to a close (and on such a terrible finale), a friend of mine and I have decided to adopt an MLS team in an effort to follow the American soccer federation. After a brutal decision making process of about 5 minutes (probably much less), we settled on the newly formed Philadelphia Union. I’d love to state that we chose them because of great players or supreme talent, but I can’t. It was more of “Hey, they are a new team” from David and “Those uniforms are awesome” from me.

Besides, who can resist the tagline of JUNGITE aut PERITE or for those non-Latin speaking readers (and myself), JOIN or DIE.

Athens Half Marathon
Speaking of “JOIN or DIE”, I’ve decided to join up with my old roommates in our old town of Athens, GA to run the Half Marathon. I have never ran a full marathon or a half marathon or probably not even a quarter marathon. But you have to start somewhere and I guess this is where I’m starting or at least I’ll be starting here. I only have a few minutes to train so hopefully I train well enough that I don’t embarrass myself too much. At least the workout regime has helped me find a new tool in mapmyrun.com and even comes with a cool Android app.