Training plans should be short and sweet

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Training is one of those things that you hear people talk about when they’re preparing to hit a “serious” milestone. And, usually, it takes a long time. There’s a base period where you become acquainted with a routine. Then it’s followed by lots of practice to increase proficiency and, eventually, if you did everything right, you reach your goal.

Of course, it doesn’t always work that way because our schedules change, people get injured, the routine gets boring, we lose interest, and the list goes on. I like structure, but I don’t always follow my own advice, so I’m really really good at falling off of training plans. My main problem is that it always feels unreachable because the time period between point A to point B is just too long.

So here’s my take on it. You know that whole theory on how small achievements make people really happy? Or just the theory that if something doesn’t take as long to complete, you’re more likely to do it? I’m a big fan of that too.

Say hello to my color-coded month of April. I gotta run everyday, anyway – keep the streak alive!

Pink is easy, orange is speedwork (includes tempos), green is recovery, and yellow-ish are long runs. So 30% of my runs this month will be hard, almost 60% are easy, and the rest are my long runs. Two things I quickly discovered: I underestimated my pacing for tempos and recovery runs (ran both too slow). Just goes to show you, I tend to err on the side of not running too hard.

On top of everything, I’m documenting the parameters for detecting pauses in Garmin’s GPX and TCX files, plus 10 or so other mobile apps with GPX/TCX exports – all of which can soon be imported into Smashrun. Joy!

March 2013: end of month running report

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March was such a relief after the short month of February. I did more cross-training last month, but I also had fewer run days so I was tired almost all the time.

This month started out with very little structure, but I eventually got around to picking up my pace. It’s still kind of free form, although I’m aiming for more runs that build stamina in April. My March runs included some steady state runs to get used to my pacing, one run around the track to get reacquainted with sprints, and had my first speed workout towards the end of the month.

I’m trying to move away from the generic ‘maintenance’ runs, but my knees aren’t too happy yet with picking up speed. I might have to get creative with my recovery runs so I can keep up the mileage.

Next month, I’ll write a more detailed account of my running. Seeing as that I’m 458 days into my streak, I should probably start paying close attention to the minute details and make sure I can keep this up.

Revisiting speedwork

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For someone who runs a lot, I very rarely do speedwork. I haven’t had very good luck with my last few attempts and I usually end up with back pain the next day. I kind of figured it was due to overstriding or some other thing associated with bad form.

I’m trying to average about 100 miles (~161 kilometers) per month – a decision I made at the beginning of the year. My legs generally prefer longer distances anyway and I’m definitely much happier with long runs so I figured, why not? And, while balancing speedwork with high mileage isn’t exactly the best idea, it will probably help me better plan out my running schedule. It might even keep things more interesting.

This afternoon’s run: short intervals. 15 second “sprints” x 10. Map says it all. The 10 different points where the colors gradually change from orange to green/blue shows the parts where I picked up my pace. Not bad eh?

Cadence could have been much better. I barely went over 100spm. Easy run day tomorrow.

Before the cul-de-sac, the downing of the trees

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Drove down our street today to find an old plot of trees taken down to make way for a cul-de-sac. Somehow, they’re planning to put up five houses in this piece of property. Egrets, ducks, geese, foxes, and squirrels will probably be spotted around the neighbordhood over the next few days… this will make for a crappy view during my daily runs.

 

452 days of running and Smashrun’s 3rd birthday

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I run because it makes me happy. Everyday, without hesitation.

It’s not easy because you’re always at the mercy of what the weather brings. It rains, I run. Snow? Still a run day. Below freezing? Ninja-style running! Fully wrapped up. I’m not sure how long I’ll keep going, but I don’t see it stopping anytime soon so I’m making the most of it.

Badass runner’s legs: check. Eat what I want out of the fridge: double-check. Hot dog snackings: approved.

I’m lucky that I’m working full-time, and like a maniac on Smashrun – a startup I co-founded about a year ago. She turned 3 years old on March 23rd and changing very rapidly. I handle her creative side and try to keep her UI under control.

It’s been a real challenge… but truly rewarding. I’ve learned so much that it’s been real difficult trying to keep track of valuable resources, much less, trying to remember what I just discovered a month ago about sprite sheet animations.

Here goes attempt #3 at keeping up with the blogging. I’m banking on third time’s the charm.

In Virginia Beach: big fish, not-your-average drinks, and history 101

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Chris has a theory. The reason we only go to Asian restaurants in Virginia Beach is because the best food in Virginia Beach are probably made by people, not from Virginia Beach.

We’ve got a new ritual. When we want spicy food, we go to “the Thai place.” When we want sushi, it’s “Volcano.” Friday night Chinese? “Forbidden City.” We’re not creatures of habit when it comes to eating out, so you can imagine how confusing this is to me. But there’s something to be said about consistency: it doesn’t disappoint.

There’s also something to be said about laying low. When you’re bootstrapping, going out can take on a different meaning for your savings… err.. budget. So you buckle down and find other ways to unwind. You know… like cooking your own classy meals.

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And making your own killer cocktails.

Alabama Slammer & Lynchburg Lemonade

Below: a gimlet with a twist.

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Oh.. and we brewed beer. A lot of it. Besides, it’s not like you can just walk into any bar and find a pumpkin ale that had real pumpkin boiled with the wort and had a cup of pumpkin spice and vanilla infused vodka thrown in before bottling. That’s a strictly Chris and Jacklyn craziness that only happens after 6 long work days, lots of bugs, and several hard runs later.

Switchblade Jack Pumpkin Ale

We’re also lucky that Virginia is steeped in history. And most places of interest are within a short drive. The oldest stone fort in the United States – Fort Monroe – is less than an hour away from us.

Fort Monroe Artillery

Remember the Battle of the Ironclads? The three-hour long standoff between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia took place just across Fort Monroe. And, of course, there’s Colonial Williamsburg and Jamestown.

Sadly, we didn’t really get much of a chance to explore Williamsburg… our gps navigator told us to turn right somewhere we shouldn’t have and ended up at Waller Mill Park. There’s a trail that takes you around the reservoir at just under 2-miles (3.2km) return. It winds around with a few steep ascents, some renegade tree roots and aggressive rose bushes here and there, and what you might call a dense carpet of acorns in every direction. We even found ourselves on a “drive-through” history lesson on Jamestown Island and and saw the fall colors emerging by Sandy Bay.

Sandy Bay

And somewhere in between all that beauty of nature and Jamestown’s history, is where Pocahontas grew up!

La Serena and Valle de Elqui: not quite serene, not quite the birthplace of pisco

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There’s a lot of Catholics in South America. The 29 churches alone in the city of La Serena is somewhat of a testament to that fact.

I imagined La Serena would look, feel, and smell like a seaside town. It didn’t. I did actually think it would be pretty serene and, it wasn’t. But it had churches. Lots of them.

La Serena

There was a beach and, I imagine, it’s a really nice beach to visit in the summer. It went on for miles but, having spent almost 2 years in Oz and seen the empty beaches of Thailand, I’m pretty spoiled when it comes to beaches.

La Serena

We didn’t stay in La Serena. The main attraction seemed to be elsewhere, anyway. So we headed for Valle de Elqui, also known as “Pisco Elqui.” A pair of 2-hour bus rides later, we found ourselves in a small town situated in a valley between the Andes, surrounded by pisco vines and mountains of quartz in every direction.

The farmers here are also very tactical in how they’ve set up the vineyards. The largest reservoir in the region, embalse puclaro – an artificial lake where windsurfing and kitesurfing is very common – can bring damaging winds to the nearby valley. Trees are lined up as hedges, along with protective nets that break strong gusts of wind.

Pisco Elqui is also known for having “the clearest skies in the world.” South America’s biggest space observatories are within relatively short driving distance from the valley and it’s worthwhile to visit one like Mamalluca Observatory to check it out.

Cerro Mayu in Moonlight

Just remember that it’s a sleepy town. So don’t be surprised if you find yourself spending an afternoon eating Argentinian asado and drinking cheap beer in a homey secluded little place like Sabor a Color.

a year about drinking, running, travel, and startup culture

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When I turned 21, I celebrated with my friend, Guy, in a French-Japanese restaurant in the East Village of Manhattan. There was a blizzard that night, so no one wanted to go out and everyone else that normally wouldn’t care about crap weather were out of town. It’s probably worth a mention that I was oddly sincere about my decision to not drink before my 21st birthday. I travelled to two of the best countries for beer – Belgium and England – and didn’t bother trying them even though I was of legal age when I was there. So when I turned 21, I was pretty excited about the whole thing!

Honestly, I can’t even remember what that first drink was. I’ll tell you though.. it wasn’t beer. Guy eventually took me to a proper bar where I did have my first beer, which ended up being Delirium Tremens. To date, it still holds a very special place in my heart. Not to mention, it has a cute pink elephant as a logo. And over the years, I’ve discovered hundreds upon hundreds of other ones… you can start with this list of 99 beers from Grub Street.

Anyway, the reason I mention the drinking is because I attended a bunch of “going away” parties this past year, which is something I’ve never really had to do before. I guess, moving from country to country necessitates it. My friend, Kateryna, was pretty much my drinking buddy in Australia and when she left, we had some stiff belgian ales before tackling korean bbq. When I decided to leave my job at Capital IQ, it was yet another round of farewell drinks. When I moved back to New York, it was a series of welcome drinks. When we applied to Start-Up Chile (SUP) and realized we were moving to Santiago – yet another going away party. Because SUP is a 6-month program, people come and go. More drinking! Luckily, I can handle my alcohol well. Perhaps, surprisingly so. Although, I attribute that to my running.

In high school, it was my sport of choice. It didn’t require much “gear,” it didn’t require a special place to train, and I didn’t have to deal with being on a team where there’s always inevitably at least one person I could never get along with. I read The Nike Experiment and fell in love with the idea of tracking my running data. But it wasn’t until this past year that I realized I’ve actually become a runner.

I run everyday. No really. Every single day. This past summer, I wanted to run 100 days in a row. I got sick three times during that period and I pushed through it. I ran 64 days in a row before missing one because I was stuck in a consulate all day for a visa and had an early evening flight. This isn’t a big deal to many runners, but it means a lot to me. It’s a different kind of discipline. So I’m doing it again. Today is day 38. I ran 6.31 miles today. I also registered for Maratón de Santiago – and you know what? Day 100 is 7 days after the marathon. How’s that for a challenge?

This makes for a perfect segue into travel… I’ve recently become interested in destination running. I’ve found that there’s no better way to explore a new city or a small town than on foot. I traveled the most when I was 19. Then there was a lull and I stayed in NYC for a while. Until I was transferred to Sydney. Then it was Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Kuala Lumpur, Phuket, Manila, Sabang, and some random small town along the border of Burma (here’s my old travel blog: Brooklyn Abroad). And, recently, I’ve moved to Santiago. It’s not hard to imagine that I’ll eventually be backpacking my way around South America. One day.

In Santiago, I’ve developed a real appreciation for the startup culture. It was different in New York – there was just more of a tech culture. It was crazy competitive. The environment for some of the incubator meetups were almost hostile. And everything was almost always about money. It was rare to find someone talk about something passionately just because they cared about it and not because they could make a ton of money by turning it around on a sale. Here: I’ve met my core group of entrepreneurs who “live and breathe” their startups. The first and last thing I think about each day is related to running. I blog about it, I research it, I geek out over running tech, and then I use all of that to help Smashrun. I fucking love it.

I’m broke, I’m ripping right through my savings, I’ve got no clue where I’ll be after Start-Up Chile, I’m learning 3 different programming languages simultaneously which might not get me anywhere, and I’m happy. Totally happy. 25 was a good year. And now that I’m 26? I’ve got some serious work to do. I’ve set the bar pretty high.

Puerto Varas and the Llanquihue region

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Puerto Varas – “a city of roses and volcanoes”. This town is one of those places you’re just meant to fall in love with. A city bounded by lakes and national parks, near grand canyons and waterfalls. There are signs everywhere hinting that you’re at the gateway to Patagonia, and there’s no shortage of stores for hiking gear. You could pick up everything here given the number of top brand stores for outdoor clothing and equipment: Patagonia, North Face, RKF, Columbia Sportswear – really, they’re just missing a Kathmandu store. Just keep in mind that it’s not cheap.

The town itself is a prototypical lakeside town.  Small, quaint, quiet. You should definitely visit Barista while you’re here. It’s hands down the best coffee, food, and service I’ve had so far in Chile. I’ve gone there three times in the four days I’ve been here. You should also visit Bravo Cabrera. They had a pretty damn good beer menu and it’s cheap. Don’t miss the pizza either – try the pizza carciofi for 4,800CLP. It’ll make you happy.

 

You can probably see most of the town on foot in a day. It’s tiny. Most visitors stop by Museo Fierro where Puerto Varas is thoroughly documented by paintings, newspaper clippings, street artifacts, and an array of odds and ends. You might even luck out and meet Pablo Fierro himself!

You’ll also find tour operators on every street advertising trips out to Saltos del Petrohué or Lagos de Todo Los Santos. Remember: a micro to most locations will cost you between 400-2,000CLP (80 cents-$4) and tour operators will charge you anywhere between 22,000-48,000CLP ($44-$96) to take you to the same places. The national parks are free – you can go to Saltos del Petrohué and Lagos de Todo Los Santos for less than $10. That’s kind of amazing.

Osorno Volcano

 

And now, for my rant: it might just be a crap idea to plan your hikes around January or early February. The area is notoriously well-known to entertain its fair share of tabanos. And, if you ask locals about them – everyone just sort of shrugs and acknowledges its existence. You ever watch the Survivorman episode when he went to the Australian Outback? Here’s the transcript. Search for the keyword “flies” and you’ll see what I mean. At least, those flies didn’t bite. Tabanos in Petrohué? Oh, they do.

You get so preoccupied about keeping them off you that it’s almost easy to forget the spectacular things that surround you.  They travel in packs and they don’t let off. We dealt with them for at least 12km and, at one point, while walking by the beach where the wind turned stagnant, there must’ve been about 20 of them! And they’re huge! Look!

And so follows a series of photos with me trying to fight them off… haha.. I can’t help but laugh now when I look at these. It really was that bad.

discovered that horseflies are persistent

 

Such an incredible trail, but I hardly had any time to fully appreciate it.

it really is desolate

Maybe it wasn’t so bad. When the flies weren’t making us so miserable, it was a good hike. Not a soul in sight. I’m sure, for a good reason. And if you’re not into beating horseflies with your windbreaker (or spending an afternoon running away from them) – there’s also Frutillar.

A short 30-minute micro ride north of Puerto Varas is an even smaller town. It felt like a New England town. The bus ride is 900CLP one-way, but you can also rent a mountain bike and do the trip along the shoreline from Puerto Varas – I hear it’s awesome. We didn’t take the chance with the bikes because it was on and off hard rain on the day that we went.

chris and his tree climbing shenanigans

 

Tomorrow: we’re thinking a lazy Sunday. Chill out before heading back to Santiago. I kind of miss my apartment. Mostly my terrace. I also have to think about this whole feeling old thing. Turning 26 on Sunday, the 5th. Oy. Life needs to slow down just a little bit more.

Valparaíso and Viña del Mar: lleno de carácter, lleno de vida

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Arriving at the bus terminal on a cloudy day, you wouldn’t guess that Valparaíso is a UNESCO World Heritage site.

one of Valpo's many markets

Once nicknamed the “jewel of the Pacific,” much of the city’s architecture still firmly holds on to the Victorian era and many of its hills boasts of unmatched vistas overlooking an incongruous sea of colorful homes and remnants of its industrialized past. Ship containers line the port of Valpo next to a local train track that was unfortunately developed along its coastline – so much more can be done to this city if they made use of its long shore, but Valparaíso is beautiful.

the port

There’s no comparison to a city like this: narrow winding streets, intricate alleys, walkways, cobbled paths, steep staircases, funiculars, urban murals, and graffiti that would rival Brooklyn’s 5Pointz. It’s poetic, really. Even the produce market is absolutely incredible. Truckloads of vegetables line a small square, 2-3 kilos of fruits for about $2US, the occasional driver passing through yelling out, “¿cuánto para la lechuga?” and one very funny guy who walks back and forth screaming “mi melon, melon, muy rico! rico!”

Visit La Sebastiana (one of Neruda’s many homes) – I’ve always been a fan of Veinte poemas de amor y una canción desesperada…

Neruda's home in Valpo

Then take a local bus to Paseo 21 de Mayo where you can ride the Ascensor Artilleria to the top.

Valpo's famous funiculars

There’s not much up there aside from a fantastic view of Valpo and Viña’s coastline, but it’s still worth a stop especially if you’re keen to visit the naval museum. A short troleybus from there is Cerro Concepción – quite possibly, one of the more beautiful walks in the city. There are several B&B’s, cafes, restaurants, streets performers, and craft stands. Spend an afternoon in one of the restaurant terraces (like the Brighton) and just watch the day go by.

awww.. we must've just had lunch haha

 

And we discovered Reñaca (technically still part of Viña del Mar)… people-watching that would make Bondi jealous. It’s a 40-minute bus ride from Valparaíso and it’ll cost you a mere 450 CLP on a micro – 90 cents! For a beach this nice? I think I’ve found my easy weekend go-to spot. Prep yourself for neon-colored bikinis, string bikinis, and somewhat non-existent bikinis. Think big families, couples, and singles intermingling. Foreigners, backpackers, and locals. Cheap beers and too many helados. It’s pretty awesome.

thanks to Michael for such an epic photo!