Wow...super improvement

Today was great! I ran 10km in 53 mins 50 seconds. With is more than 1 min off my previous best. Anyone who runs long distances will tell you that shaving off even 30 seconds from your previous best when running long distances is a HUGE thing. My previous best was 55mins 12 seconds and I managed to beat that by 1 min 22 seconds. It seems that my training is truly paying off and I think I'm now ready for a half marathon. I'll probably try to run it within the next few months. I hope that I can maintain this stamina and speed until then. Anyway today was good. Here's hoping for more good runs in the future.

10km in 55mins 17sec

Wow...I didn't think I would run another 10k so soon. This time I ran it in 55mins 17 seconds. Which is 5 seconds more than my last 10k one week ago. I'm glad I ran 10km again. This means that I've got a good chance to run the 21km half marathon this year. The 10km is getting easier and I think the half marathon should be within my endurance capability.

In the meantime, I found this great article about how to overcome the excuses to skip running. The article by www.besthealthmag.ca is very good for people who are constantly battling excuses to run. Everyone falls into this category, including myself. I am constantly battling my excuses and this article helps overcome some of them.

40 mins run + 15 mins workout

Today I ran for 40 mins cos I hadn't run for a while and needed a cardio workout. I didn't really calculate the distance that I ran because I wanted to run for a long time. So I'm guessing the distance is around 6.5km based on my average speed. I also managed to do a 15 min workout with pushups, supermans and crunches. It wasn't a long workout, but I was feeling a little tired so I decided to stop while I was ahead. I also found this website about increasing flexibility and it does seem worth a try.

6.8km in 40 mins + 20 mins workout

Today I decided to do cardio + a workout. The run was much faster than my previous one and I managed to do 6.8km in 40 mins which make my rate 5.88mins/km. I'm sure that I can reduce that to 5.55 for my 10km run in 1 month's time. I also did a 20 min workout with pushups, crunches, leg-lifts, lunges and stretches. I'm not doing enough cardio for my own good. I suppose its because I need to get new shoes. I have been using New Balance so far and am very happy with it. I wonder if I should stick to it or buy a new brand. I heard that mizuno and asics are the best for running. But I've not tried them and I'm not sure if I should go for a new brand.

5.13km in 32 mins + Workout

Today I tried a new route which was 5.13km which I managed to do in 32 mins. It was a little slow. But that was because I slowed down at different junctions to get my bearings. Anyway, I still came back and did 15 mins of pushups, crunches, leg-lifts supermans and plank. It was a good combination of running and workouts. I think I will make this combination every time I run. It felt good.

One way I measure how far I have run is by using the distance measurement tool in google maps. This should be enabled in the labs settings of the maps and allows distances to be measured very accurately. This is a great tool for calculating distances that you have run.

6.6km in 38mins 41sec

Yesterday I ran 6.6km in 38mins 41sec. This equates to about 5.87 mins/km which is ok. However, I believe that if I run a full 10km, that time will drop to around 5.5 mins/km. I will sign up for a proper 10km race soon. It's been a while since I've done a 10k and I think it's time that I find a race to try it again. On the whole I ran more than expected today and I think I will increase the distance for the next run as well. I also may need to get new running shoes as the mileage on my current shoes seem to have run out. In the meantime, please read this article by scooby on why cardio is important.

30 min run after a long time

So I apologise for not posting recently due to a lot of traveling. This has also interrupted my routine with me being able to work out only sporadically. I did try to follow Scooby's tips on how to work out during travel, but it's not easy when you've got friends accompanying you during your travel. The difficulty in organising your schedule around their requirements is a bit of a problem with the workout thing.

Anyway I am back in the saddle and managed to do a 30 min run today to restart my exercise challenges. It took me 33 mins 30s to run 5.4km. I didn't do any other workout today as I didn't want to exert my body after a break. I'll work out tomorrow and post the results of that.