2011 Long Beach Marathon Training Update

Since I started my training last June 13, I have ran a total of  263 miles.  Raced in two 10K events and one Half Marathon.

As suggested by a blogger friend, my training is focused on distance and not on speed,  and to build up my endurance beyond 20 miles.  My progress is slow,  but I am happy as no need of recovery.  I was able to run a day after the long run. So far,  the farthest I ran was 18 miles at 3:11:57.

Last year, I trained at the Long Beach Marathon route (Beach front) but this year, training is mostly on the San Gabriel River Bike Path, home toward the the Ocean  and  home toward the San Gabriel Mountain . The San Gabriel bike path is more challenging than the LBM route because the path goes under bridges and freeways every mile. Also, the path follow the grading of the river bed( gradual decline toward the ocean and incline toward the mountain.. The real challenged, though, come from the peloton of cyclists. Have to watch for them. It's 20 to 30 feet down the river bed.

Goal -- Finish the race without bonking.

San Francisco 2nd Half Marathon
July 31, 2011

San Francisco 2nd Half Marathon
July 31, 2011

San Francisco Marathon Top Finisher Resting Heart Rate

When my son and I got home after running the San Francisco 2nd Half Marathon, I logged in to my computer to check the race results and some news about the event.  I came across an article about the overall winner, Mr Michael Wardian.  That he had severe food poisoning, and spent the rest of the day and night vomiting but early Sunday morning, the 37-year-old elite runner from Arlington, Va., smiled as he crossed the finish line and won the San Francisco Marathon, coming in unofficially at 2 hours, 27 minutes and 6 seconds - more than 7 minutes ahead of the second-place finisher. 

What caught my attention though, is his resting heart rate of 31 bpm. Three years ago, while at the office of a pulmonary specialist for my asthma problem, the nurse monitoring my heart rate stepped out of the room in a hurry. She came back with the Doctor. Upon entering the room he saw me with my Long Beach Marathon shirt and without looking at the monitor or listening to my heat beat, he told the nurse, I was good. Turned out the nurse freaked out because of my heart 44 bpm.

When I got home, I searched  from the computer about low resting heart rate.  I came across an article about athletes having resting heart rate as low as 40 bpm.  Average heart rate is from 60 to 100.  I am no athlete and never played in a team sport before so, I was worried.

When I saw my regular Doctor the following day, I told him about the incident at the Specialist office. Asked
him if my low bpm is normal.  He told me it's not normal but not to worry about it because of my running activities. That he will be worried if I am obese, can't walk a mile and smoker.  He also told me that my blood pressure medicine (beta blocker) might be affecting my bpm. Changed the dosage of my medication and my resting heart rate is now 49 bpm.

Still not clear to me how low resting heart rate affect the performance of an athletes.



Notes:
Mr. Michael Wardian  recently placed third in the 135-mile Badwater Ultramarathon in Death Valley, where temperatures reached 130 degrees. But he had never won the San Francisco Marathon, finishing second twice.


2nd Half Marathon Result:
Time: 2:05:20
AG Place(65-69) - 3rd out of 20