This morning i wasnt sure i wanted to get up and go run. After i brushed my teeth, i thought may be i should just climb back into bed and do this LSD on Sunday evening like the way i had done last week. Thank god i didnt. Today, was easily one of my best days at running, be it training or racing. I ran 24kms at an average 5:52 pace which by itself is not very special but for a couple of things unique to this run.
As usual, my running friends and i started together but within 2-3 kms i couldnt see any of them nearby, as they are all very fast compared to my speed. And to boot, I hadnt particularly got a good nutrition fix yesterday so the first 3-4kms were so laboured that i wanted to turn back after running only 4.5kms. But i decided to push it just a little more until it became uncomfortable enough for me to stop running and turn back.
Around the 6-7km mark, i suddenly found a rhythm that made it very easy to maintain a 5:45ish pace. It just happened, i didnt consciously do something to feel that way. So i kept the run up and thought i would go it until i reach the toilets at upper seletar reservoir which is where everyone stops for a water break. Once i reached the toilet, i figured since the gate (the u-turn point) is only 1.2 kms away, i would run till there, come back and then take a water break. And then it suddenly occurred to me that since i was running a good rhythm, i should try to keep it up and see just how long i can go without stopping. So on my way back from the gate, i skipped the toilet and just tried to keep a steady pace going.
And as it so happened, i ran the first 21.1 kms of my run today non-stop - no water break, no walking. And i ran it in 2:01.xx which is my new PR for a road HM. Learning to drink on the run is a good benefit in having done that. So this was my longest run ever to have been done non-stop. I took a couple of minutes off at this point to catch my breath and then restarted the run, reaching MR in about 2:23ish for the 24.2km distance.
From how the run shaped up, to how it finally played out, i am really pleased with this. 2011 has been off to a better start than 2010 and i only hope that this continues for the rest of the year. I think i have a legitimate hope now for running a 4:40-4:45ish at Tokyo - whether or not that happens is a different proposition altogether.
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
LSD Nightmare
I was originally planning to run with my MR friends on 29th Jan, Sat morning for my longest LSD of 32km before tapering down to Tokyo. As it so happened, i just couldn't wake up and get myself to go - felt strangely tired from the tempo effort on Thursday evening. I therefore resolved that i would run my LSD the next day evening (couldn't do Sunday morning either due to a late night movie on Sat) and what better place to run it than at ECP .. plan was to hammer a 32km run...
Drove over to ECP, and parked at B2, and started my run at around 5:45pm. From B2 to Changi Ferry Terminal (CFT) washrooms is about 16.7kms. I was feeling quite ok and thought it would be an interesting few hours - i had never run this long in training before and the one time i did run 27km, it was with friends whereas this was going to be a solo effort.
The first few kms passed a little too quickly as i was averaging mid 5:50's for the first 5-6kms and i knew that this wasnt a pace i could hold. Mcmillan suggests a LSD pace 60-90 seconds slower than your marathon pace (in miles) so i should have ideally been running at a 6:45 /km pace. For some reason, my form suffers if i slow down too much or may be its the other way around - but whatever it was, i was knocking off the kms after that at a steady 6 to 6:15 pace. I also wanted to train drinking on the run so ran nonstop from the B2 carpark all the way to CFT in 1:41 which was a pace of 6:07 min/km. Took a break (later i found out that it was a 10 min break - much longer than i originally intended), had a powerbar gel and then started my way back remembering to slow down and maintain a 6:30 pace. My next mental goal was to reach the water fountain (at around the 25km mark) non-stop and then take a gel-break there. Managed to get there in about 2:35 and had my second power gel. For some reason that didnt go down too well with me and soon after, the wheels came off in no time whatsoever. I dont know what hit me but from there till 30km was the longest 5km stretch i have done in my life - having to sit down twice or thrice in that stretch and hobbling around for my left ankle was in pain, possibly due to a near-fall stumble on the bridge after kicking a lose tile.
At 30km i decided that to pursue 32km would be madness as i had been reduced to a walk-run strategy and was in enough pain to keep any thoughts about running at bay. To boot, from where i stopped running was another 3kms to my car which took me 40 mins almost to cover....
So i think any thoughts of a 4:40 finish at Tokyo is at best, a pipe dream. I think if i manage sub-5, that in itself would be a significant achievement.
Drove over to ECP, and parked at B2, and started my run at around 5:45pm. From B2 to Changi Ferry Terminal (CFT) washrooms is about 16.7kms. I was feeling quite ok and thought it would be an interesting few hours - i had never run this long in training before and the one time i did run 27km, it was with friends whereas this was going to be a solo effort.
The first few kms passed a little too quickly as i was averaging mid 5:50's for the first 5-6kms and i knew that this wasnt a pace i could hold. Mcmillan suggests a LSD pace 60-90 seconds slower than your marathon pace (in miles) so i should have ideally been running at a 6:45 /km pace. For some reason, my form suffers if i slow down too much or may be its the other way around - but whatever it was, i was knocking off the kms after that at a steady 6 to 6:15 pace. I also wanted to train drinking on the run so ran nonstop from the B2 carpark all the way to CFT in 1:41 which was a pace of 6:07 min/km. Took a break (later i found out that it was a 10 min break - much longer than i originally intended), had a powerbar gel and then started my way back remembering to slow down and maintain a 6:30 pace. My next mental goal was to reach the water fountain (at around the 25km mark) non-stop and then take a gel-break there. Managed to get there in about 2:35 and had my second power gel. For some reason that didnt go down too well with me and soon after, the wheels came off in no time whatsoever. I dont know what hit me but from there till 30km was the longest 5km stretch i have done in my life - having to sit down twice or thrice in that stretch and hobbling around for my left ankle was in pain, possibly due to a near-fall stumble on the bridge after kicking a lose tile.
At 30km i decided that to pursue 32km would be madness as i had been reduced to a walk-run strategy and was in enough pain to keep any thoughts about running at bay. To boot, from where i stopped running was another 3kms to my car which took me 40 mins almost to cover....
So i think any thoughts of a 4:40 finish at Tokyo is at best, a pipe dream. I think if i manage sub-5, that in itself would be a significant achievement.
Thursday, February 3, 2011
Satisfying ....
I have surprised myself with an unbelievable / unexpected January 2011. As I had mentioned in my previous post, I was expecting to labor through January just trying to get a whiff of my earlier days of running when i was decidedly more fit than i was at the start of Jan this year, what with 3 weeks of vacationing and binge eating behind me. :)
So 155kms in Jan wasnt bad at all, especially considering the fact that about 105kms of that came in just 2 weeks alone. The month could have ended better though - i was in Jakarta on work, staying at the Shangri-La and i decided to run a quick 8-10km on the hotel treadmill before leaving for dinner. When i had come back to my room earlier, my lunch had sat terribly with me and so i knew i was taking a risk trying to run in that condition. So after 1 km at 6:00 pace, i was feeling far too much discomfort that could take it no more and had to get off the TM. But then again, with an average of only 40kms the previous 3 months, i will take Jan 2011 anytime! :)
I ran a 10km today in a shade over 53 minutes - gives me confidence that disciplined training can do a world of wonder to a talent-less wannabe-athlete like me. I hope to get faster this year, a whole lot faster. 3 more weekends to Tokyo !!
So 155kms in Jan wasnt bad at all, especially considering the fact that about 105kms of that came in just 2 weeks alone. The month could have ended better though - i was in Jakarta on work, staying at the Shangri-La and i decided to run a quick 8-10km on the hotel treadmill before leaving for dinner. When i had come back to my room earlier, my lunch had sat terribly with me and so i knew i was taking a risk trying to run in that condition. So after 1 km at 6:00 pace, i was feeling far too much discomfort that could take it no more and had to get off the TM. But then again, with an average of only 40kms the previous 3 months, i will take Jan 2011 anytime! :)
I ran a 10km today in a shade over 53 minutes - gives me confidence that disciplined training can do a world of wonder to a talent-less wannabe-athlete like me. I hope to get faster this year, a whole lot faster. 3 more weekends to Tokyo !!
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