Monday – I was feeling good so I went for a 4 mile run around Diamond Head. It felt good. My form was a little rusty at first but it smoothed out in less than a mile. I didn't want to push the pace so instead I focused on maintaining a smooth stride but I decided to pick it up the last half mile. My finishing sprint was pretty decent.
Tuesday – A little concerned because my legs are burning more than expected from Monday's run. In fact, they burned a lot and it was tough walking and moving around. I still did a workout though. For the first time in over a month I went to jiu-jitsu. It went pretty well. I did a few drills and then sparred for half an hour. I didn't get tapped out but I was on the defensive for most of the time. Good fun though.
Wednesday – My legs still burn from running but I can almost walk normal again. I did an hour of stretching at home for a workout. Things were going pretty well until today. My sinuses began acting up on Tuesday and it carried over until today. The reason: Valentines Day! My office was full of flowers, I don't do well with flower. Makes my allergies go nuts. Eyes water, nose runs, sneeze like crazy. Combine this with a small vog attack a few days ago and my cough is back again....yay!...Damn.
Thursday – The legs stopped burning, thank god. The recovery took a lot longer than expected which tells me one thing: I'm in for a load of pain after the Aloha Run. Anyway, I did about 30 minutes of stretching for a workout.
Friday – no workout but I began carbo-loading. I've been reading up on different ways to load up on carbs for an event and found a 3 day carbo-load that fits me. I eat the same amount of food as normal but aim to have 70% of my food as carbs. Made some spaghetti, got me some whole grain bagels, broccoli, carrots, grapes, and bananas. Nutrition should be good...now if this cough will go away over the weekend...
Saturday – no workout, resting and carbing up. I went to the Aloha Run Expo to pick up my race number. I talked to a few vendors that tried to sell me stuff. I got the feeling most of them didn't really know what they were selling because they talked as though they were just reciting a script. Only the guy selling the reusable hot/cold packs and my friend Charlene knew a lot about what they were selling that they could actually talk about it, instead of just tell you about it. By the way, that cough hasn't gone away and doesn't feel like it's going anywhere soon.
Sunday – Slept late last night so I woke up at 8:30am to hopefully start feeling tired and get to bed by 9 tonight. No workout today. Continued eating carbs throughout the day and generally relaxed. I'm starting to yawn and feel a bit tired (it's a little after 7:30pm right now) so I should sleep okay tonight. Tomorrow it's on!
I've had about two months to train for the Aloha Run. I made up a training schedule that blended swimming, jiu-jitsu, long-distance runs, and mid-distance runs. Yeah, none of that happened. Injuries, illness, and vog made me abandon my original training plan and improvise a way to maintain my fitness while recovering. Oh yeah, I'm still coughing and expect to run with it tomorrow.
My goal is to finish the Great Aloha Run in under one hour. Even though my training was less than optimal I still believe I'm capable of achieving the goal. I know I can run the distance. I know I can hold a fast pace. I just need those things to come together tomorrow. I expect it to be tough, painful, and I'm going to have to push myself to keep going. But it's going to be fun! I actually am looking forward to runningn next to the military groups and listen to their sound offs. Actually that's part of my strategy.
The plan is to get to Aloha Stadium early, by 4:30am, to catch the bus downtown where the start line is. I want to have plenty of time to warm up, stretch, and make my way towards the front of the crowd (last year I started in the middle and spent the whole race weaving through people, don't want to do that again). The military starts first followed by the general public. Each military team runs as a group in their own designated military lane and each team has their own sound off. I like to listen to them. I match my pace to them, listen to their sound off, then run up to the next team, and repeat over and over. That usually carries me for the first 3 or 4 miles. Only when they're gone do I really feel like I'm running and I'll be halfway through the race.
Most of all though I like to enjoy the buzz of the event. And the sense of accomplishment at the end feels nice too. It's going to be a good run. Best of luck to everybody running and thanks to those who have read my blogs.
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