Tokyo Marathon 2013: Race Review

Cut to the chase: 4:13:01

If you have the time ... read below ..

I dont think i have ever started any of the 7 marathons i have run with even the slightest clue as to how the race would progress for me. Doubts about my readiness, about my training or lack  thereof, about the ability to cross the next 42kms on foot are always my irrepressible friends, but each of these friends, come with their own allies, namely excitement and anticipation ... and this dichotomy of thoughts and feelings is precisely why i line up with thousands others every once in a while to experience some human propulsion (and no, farting isnt a sport ... yet). This feeling is just impossible to reproduce except for those few hours when you are actually in a "Race".

My ideal time target would have been something like 3:50, if only to show an improvement from last year. However, i have learnt now, that to go for a goal time is approaching the race from the wrong end first (atleast a goal time without any basis, but if you are a seasoned runner and know your own capabilities well, then a goal time is a good way to base your training on).

As much as January was a great month in training , February was quite the opposite and the fact that i had run only 80kms in Feb until race day, coupled with the incessant travel since the first week of Feb meant that on race day, i was left questioning myself as to how best run the race and what should i adopt as a pacing strategy.

Come race-day and i arrived at the start area about 80 minutes from the start time. It was brutally cold unsurprisingly, with weather forecast at 2deg and windy so the wind chill dropped the temps even further. I was adequately dressed in the sense that i was not shivering like a tuning fork but even then, it was difficult to maintain any warm-up effects so i decided to just use the first few kms as warm-up before settling down.

The race got underway, and i started out to find the answer to the question "How would i fare today?". The first few kms are with a very gentle net declination so i started out cautiously but given that it was colder than last year, it took longer to get into a rhythm .. the first 5 kms whizzed by and i was enjoying myself enough to just take in the surroundings, not switching on the mp3 player and also trying to spot all the cosplay runners. Around the 6th km or so, i found myself moving quite smoothly and looked down at my Garmin to see i was running a tad faster than i should be. Willfully slowing down was obviously out of the question as it would have been a sensible thing to do and i am not known for my sensibilities in running. So since i felt good, i just held the pace and kept it steady. At around the 10km turn, i saw the elites go through in the opposite direction but didnt manage to spot any of the wild animals that must have been chasing them, for how anybody could run that fast unless their lives were at stake is beyond me. Gel strategy was different from last time - so first one was at 15, 2nd one at 23, 3rd one at 30, 4th one - i am not sure when. I went through half in 1:57ish or so and held sub-4 pace until 36kms. After that, one quad started protesting a bit. The other quad decided to join in on the fun. Seeing the obvious din that was going on, one antisocial hamstring decided to become extra uptight and just shut shop. This posed a peculiar problem. One of speed. Of Hobbling. I was going to become a Hobblit from the Shire. So there I was ... dragging one feet behind the other .. looking for some external source of inspiration that was trying to avoid me as best as it could. So with sub-4 out of the window, and with sub-5 comfortably in the bag (qualifying time for Comrades), i considered doing the Zombie walk for fun, aimlessly moving forward with glazed eyes, and raised arms, staggering sideways and all that but since i wanted to return to Tokyo again some other time in the future, abstained from doing so. Crossed the finish line finally in 4:13 and then stretched a bit before doing all the usual stuff, collect medal, water, isotonic, towel etc etc ..
One good thing about my stay this time was that i was only 2 minutes walk from the finish point and that was a huge advantage for someone who has just finished a marathon. I went over, had a quick shower, and then went to an italian restaurant nearby where i waited for another 30 minutes before getting a table and gorging on some creamy food.

So now, i have to set my sights on doing a decent job of training for Comrades.

Edited to add: I started to write this race review with the intent to add a lot more specifics on how each stage of the race progressed but as always, i got bored midway and just ended the piece quickly enough. If i get the urge,  I will try and add some more spice later ... 

2013 unwinds ...

Well .. Yesterday was New Year and today, January is nearly gone. Atleast thats what it feels like to me - this month has just gone whizzing by. And I sure do hope that the start i have had for 2013 is a sign of things to come for the rest of the year.

January has gone largely according to my training plan and i am quite happy to have found the wherewithal to follow through with it. I slowly ramped up mileage from my Dec resurrection for 3 weeks, followed by 1 cutback week before ramping it up again for 2 more weeks prior to my taper down over the next 3 weeks until race day. I have been running consistently, have been running different routes (although the Bishan PCN is like a default option), had fun running, experienced some very low lows and many enjoyable highs. With 2 days to go in the month, i have already covered 245kms and remained injury-free in doing so, thanks to my largely easy pace running. Speed is something that i have just not been able to train for much but once Tokyo is done, i will start to incorporate more speed workouts during the week as i train for Comrades on June 2nd.

Generally, i alternate my recovery runs with every other type of run i do - so that i dont continuously build stress in the body which may cause injuries later. Also, for my longer runs, i have diligently had either a whey protein drink or a recovery drink, both of which help get back to normal faster after a hard effort and which makes preparation for the next run that much easier. The only thing about whey protein is that it is keeping me away from my weight loss goals i had set for myself before the start of the new year (that is to be at a racing weight of 71kgs).

4 weekends from now, i will put my training to the test. The hope is that even if i have a bad day at the race, i can come under 4:15 and if i have a good day, come close to 4. We shall see what the future has in store ......

Just remembered ... on one of those rare occasions that i was running on a treadmill, last Monday, in a hotel in Osaka, i crossed 5000 kms in career mileage .. yippeee !!!!!!

2012 is now a thing of the past .. and with it, my running during those 365 days. Its been such a mixed bag for me that i am wary of describing the entire year with just a single adjective ... i came off a slump in end 2011 with no running and 4kgs overweight in Nov 2011 after Deepavali. I started a 3 month training plan in Dec 2011 to run the Tokyo Marathon in Feb 2012 and miraculously ran a sub-4 on just those 3 months of training. With the beggar hitting the lottery jackpot, the fall from grace was swift with the next 4-5 months of complete slacking and doing very little running before finding the groove again in August where i clocked 230+kms and probably that was too much too soon and again the familiar pattern of a drop in mileage happened to no running in Sept-Oct-Nov whence i lined up for the Osaka marathon and crawled to a 5:52 finish. I decided to change this totally erratic running behavior starting Dec where i found myself in the same place as i had been in 2011 - no running and 4 kgs overweight.

 So my plan for Dec 2012 was to just run consistently and easy and get out of the door often enough. That has happened and i have run 175kms in Dec mostly very easy (my slowest monthly pace for the entire year i think).

The New Year is now upon us and i have tried to keep my running objectives very simple:-

1. Run consistently (week after week, month after month): This has been the biggest bane of my life and where i have maximum room for improvement. No matter what, i should be running a minimum of 45 kms every week.

2. Run variety: I need to add some mix to both terrain and workout type to what i am doing currently. My current routes are restricted to Bishan PCN, McRitchie and Home Slopes (some slopes near my place). I want to actively add Mount Faber, Bukit Timah Hill, Old Upper Thomson Road and ECP (for LSDs) to the mix.

3. Lose weight and never binge: My weight has largely been in line with my erratic running. I run, i lose weight.  I slack, i gain it back. I want to as a first goal, get down to 71kgs and stay there for a while before trying to go down to 68kgs.

4. Have fun running: A constant in all my years of running (i will be entering my 4th year of reasonably regular running).

5. Travel to Run: This is more of a wish than an objective. First up i hope to line up again at Tokyo end Feb.

I hope this blog helps to crystallize my objectives in mind as well - to an extent, that it becomes second nature for me to execute the training plan i have put together for each of the upcoming races. I will write-in again at the end of this month to see how the first month has been.

Army Half Marathon 2012: Race Review

I ran the AHM in 1:57:12. Its definitely not the time i was shooting for (which was 1:50-1:52) and i am actually ruing the lost opportunity because the weather was really outstanding. Yet, i dont feel too bad about the outcome for a few reasons and am motivated to improve upon this significantly in the days to come.

After 3 months of aboslute slacking, August was a good month in overall mileage terms as i hit 230+kms. It was a sudden pick up in running volume (as shown in the graph below, courtesy of runningahead.com where i log my runs) but i managed to navigate this without any injury and hoping that my body would remember how it used to run back when i was training for the Tokyo Marathon.

I was quite eager to actually "race" this and managed to even keep my running ongoing while i was traveling on work. Piled on a whole lot of random carbs on Saturday and then it was race day before i knew it. I woke up at 3.30am, finished with the morning ablutions, made myself a small cup of coffee and got donned in my pre-race wear. I am obsessive enough to lay out everything i need for a race the previous night and this time was no different either. Got out of the house at 4am and parked at Raffles city by 4:20am and then made my way to the baggage area and did my pretense of a warm-up. 25mins before the race was to start, i downed a gel and that was to be my only pre-race nutrition, not counting a small handful of nuts i had gobbled before i left my house in the morning.

The race got underway and i was quite keen on clearing the initial few kms quickly to beat the crowd and in trying to do this, i had to weave in and out a fair bit leading to a more than desirable variation in pace. For instance, the 1st km was covered in 5:11 but the next took 5:41 .. this dance on the road continued for the first 5 kms after which the need to brake decreased rapidly. It was still quite dark and there were parts of the route where people fell down, sprained their ankles and what not but i successfully managed to navigate those parts unscathed. I kept focusing on the distance ahead and as has become my habit now, didnt look at the watch at all but ran by feel. Managed to grab a few sips of water at each water point and kept going without stopping at any of them. At around 12kms, a moderate stitch came on which caused me to slow down; by cutting my pace, i managed to chase it away. In the 13th km, as per my plan i took my gel and continued to keep going eager to finish the reminder of the race on target. I cleared the 15th km in 1:20 which put me exactly on pace for a 1:52 finish. At around 15.6km into the race, there was a small incline which had people breaking into a walk and i charged on, buoyed by my now-unfounded ability to run slopes so i picked up the pace going uphill and overtaking quite a few people. A few seconds later, i paid heavily for my folly when i was hit by the mother of all stitches that had taken lodging beneath my right ribs and had a relentless vice like grip on my breathing and overall muscle movement. I tried slowing down my pace and prayed for it to go away like it had in the 12th km but this time i was dealing with a well-matched foe. Not wanting to risk a total system shutdown, i just swallowed my pride or whatever little there was left of it and started to walk. I nervously kept checking my watch to see how badly this was going to hit me and wondered what i should now be aiming at, given that 1:52 had flown out of the window. I walked for a couple of minutes and then tried to gently jog to see if the stitch would go away - it seemed to just lurk in the background waiting to greet me once more should i speed up. (It was much like the inverse relationship between Dennis Quaid and Sandra Bullock in the movie Speed, except that here it was that i shouldnt exceed a specific target). I tried my luck and felt ok for a few hundred metres before getting a really big urge to just stop. It took a lot of effort to banish that thought from my mind and i slowly kept the feet moving, trying to look every which way and find sources of inspiration to help continue the race. At no point in time was i ever in doubt about finishing the race, it was just a question of what time i would do it in. With 1km to go, i decided to step up the pace and risk the stitch coming on and while it looked like it just might, i ran out of real estate and across the finishing line. Collected my medal, had a 100+, caught up with some of my friends, had a nice decent breakfast and headed home.

The one thing that i didnt want to write at the very beginning is about my travel prior to the race. I was in Vienna and Zurich on work, in the week prior to the race and as per my original travel plan was supposed to come back on Sunday morning. However, i had to run this race and i scheduled my flights so that i reached home on Saturday evening at 5pm. Went to sleep at 11pm and got up at 3.30am and was out of the house by 4am. So within 12 hours of landing in Singapore, i had lined up for an half marathon. I cant say i felt any Jet lag, the flight to Singapore (via Frankfurt) while long at 12 hours, was still comfortable and even the less than 5 hours of sleep the night before didnt have me drowsy in the morning after waking up. Therefore i believe the race performance was a very direct indicator of current state of fitness than of mitigating factors such as the long distance travel so close to the race.

Next up is the Changi Prison Run 10km race next Sunday. Last year was a disaster where i blew up after running sub-5 pace for the first 6kms and ended up finishing in 1:04. This year i will try to be a little wiser ......

Home slopes ... and misc

Ran a hard 12km this evening (without water) on the slopes near my home - was a very good run for different reasons least of which was the fact that i was able to maintain my stride in the second half of the run without killing myself. Also i think the slopes became "easier" (actually it wouldnt have) the 3rd time around or i had become numb to the pain; either ways, managed to get through the workout without too much trouble. Original plan was to run 17-18kms at M&Ms but that got canned due to a combination of reasons (couldnt wake up on time in the morning as i didnt sleep too well the night before etc).

Weighed in after the run at 70.5 which is good and bad and not surprising. Definitely beats being 74.5 from just a few weeks back. I think weight is stabilizing around 72kgs or thereabouts - its from here that the weight loss is going to be an uphill battle. Will i ever see 68 kgs again? :)

Also got my supplies of whey protein and BCAA today so unlike last time where i had to throw 60% of the contents due to expiry, i hope to fully utilize all that i have bought thus far. Also got Endurox R4 yesterday only to come home and see that i already had it from sometime before and had just forgotten about it. Picked up Glutamine as well to experiment with some supplements.

My training plan to Osaka is just a melting pot of whatever i want to throw into it. The only thing i want to do is to keep the broad structure in place and then play around whatever is inside .. maintain good aerobic volume (easy runs, high volume); do a weekend long run, atleast 1 speed workout (usually tempo) during the week and run as many recovery runs as i want to. Hoping to run atleast 25kms every weekend in October but thats a pipe dream at the moment (need to build towards that in September). 

Also, god willing, "Up" should happen next year.

And the road goes on and on ...

I find myself in a familiar place in my running life as i write this piece .. Not knowing what to focus on after prematurely achieving the Sub-4 target for this year resulted in an absolute degradation of running discipline and lacklustre outings on the road the past few months with total mileage across May-July being less than 140kms. Given that Osaka is only a few months away and given the pathetic shape i am in now, i decided to take things up seriously starting August and just start running consistently.

I wanted to do things right from Aug 1st but didnt manage to run the first few days and that wasnt very motivating. The one thing that i started doing after that was to get out of the door everyday .. run slow but run nevertheless. So, having done that consistently for the last 20 days or so, is bringing back the psyche i maintained when i was training similarly in the run up to the Tokyo Marathon.

Still its a long way to go and this is only a small step.

Whats happening with the anachronistic posts ...

I was going through my blog's settings and saw that i had some very outdated drafts that were meant to be posted after some refinements but i see no point in doing that now so i just posted them anyway just so that the effort of having typed them doesnt get wasted. :)

Thats all ..

In anticipation ....

I was wondering where have i got with my running since i started a year back (regularly, that is). Aug 2009 can count as the starting line for me and it wasn't much, given the fact that i only ran 300kms until Dec 31st 2009. Still it was a beginning, humble as it may have been .. and was but a small step, literally, in the right direction of falling in love with the sport of running.

1030 kms later, 8 months past, i find that long distance running is more than just an experience. Its an education. Its a very delicate tug-of-war between mind and body, sometimes forcing decisions, and at other times pulling in the same direction.

Singapore AHM 2010 race review

The day was finally upon me. 1 week after a great 10km race at the YRPR, I was going to test my ability at more than twice that distance. The AHM in 2009 was my first timed run on my Garmin 305 – and I fared miserably under the circumstances back then, fading to a 2:51 finish caused by several reasons, not all of which were related to running! So I was quite eager to set the record straight this time around. Once again, for the impatient, I timed 2:06:16 per my Garmin 305 which is a PB improvement of about 6.5 minutes. For those with time to kill, thanks for stopping by and do read on.

Buoyed by a 49min 10km race at YRPR, and the encouragement of several of my good running buddies, I set a target for 2hrs for myself for the 21.1km. As usual, I could barely sleep the night before and managed I think, just about 3-4 hours of sleep before waking up at 3.15am to get ready and drive over to the venue by around 4am as any later would mean that I would get no parking space whatsoever close to the venue. I downed a banana at home, and then a PowerGel at the carpark at the venue as pre-race nutrition. The pasta I had the day before for some reason was not agreeing with me much and I was hoping that it wouldn’t cause any serious problems during the race.
After wishing Sumedha a good run on her part, at around 5.08am or so I started making my way towards the start line when much to my consternation, the race was counted down and flagged off, well before the scheduled 5.15am start. I knew that if I didn’t take the first couple of kms down quickly, I would be sandwiched amongst runners who would be ambling and thus eat seriously into my time. So the first few kms was spent rapidly weaving in and out trying to find the fastest route out (not necessarily the shortest), and in retrospect, might have cost me in the later stages of the race. My race plan was to hit 10km at 55min, 15km at around 1:22-1:24 and then take it from thereon. For some reason, I just couldn’t shake off the feeling of lethargy I felt in the early kms. It wasn’t encouraging at all running with heavy legs and having to make extra effort in getting a move on. Imagine my plight when at around 4kms, I see a horde of runners casually running in the opposite direction, and I was thinking “I must be really slow, for these guys have already U-turned and going back”!! Then I realized that, actually this (i.e. the opposite side) was the start line and these guys were 15-20 minutes behind me and just started the race!  To make a point here, I did my first km in 6:24 which was ok, but the next km in 4:50 which was quite stupid.

The first 10kms also had 2 long slopes at the MBS Bridge as well as the Sheares bridge, and I used both as a phase to gain some time on the slower runners on the upslopes and make up for the time I lost due to the early dodging. Until then I had not stopped at any aid station as I was running with my 4 bottle fuel belt and I hadn’t drunk any of my own supplies too, so I think the combination of lethargy, tiredness and lack of hydration brought me to a standstill just before the 10km mark at ECP. That was a big blow to my confidence that I would finish sub-2 hrs, even though I did manage to cross 10km in 56 minutes. I walked a bit, stopped to stretch myself and mentally kept a dialogue going on how I would do the remaining distance and still come in under 2 hours. Wisely, I re-hydrated on the walk and began running again, only to come to a stop a km later. I just couldn’t figure out why this was happening and while I debated about it, I chose to not have an energy gel until much later. I would go on to not have any gel at all during the entire race, and that sure is an area of improvement. I started feeling a little bit feverish at this point but just blocked the negative thought out of mind, and sure enough it did go away and I caught my second wind, going through 15kms in 1:27. And sure enough, just when I thought I could hold on a push for my target, I bonked again. And again. And again. All through this, why I didn’t have my energy gels (I was carrying two of them) completely escapes me. My 20th km took me more than 7 minutes to finish!! By the 18th km, I had given up hope of beating 2 hrs and just wanted to make the overrun as low as possible. I can’t believe now that I even walked in the last km of the race, which can only mean I didn’t pace myself properly. In the end, while it was a minor consolation that I have a new PB, it’s a disappointment because 2hrs was eminently possible. I can only make amends by running my next half marathon 1:54 or below (to go below 2hrs by as much as I went over it this time).

Areas of improvement:-
1. Get to the start line earlier (aim for start delay of less than 20 seconds)
2. Hydrate earlier in the race
3. Use the energy gel when I have to
4. Lose the belt, carrying an extra 1kg for the first 10kms isn’t off much help at all
5. Maintain a steadier pace in the 2nd half of the race.
6. Go hell for leather in the last 3kms (this one is easier said than done!).

Have to now shut this out of mind and look towards the 100km duo at the North Face challenge in 4 weeks time.

Milestone week !!

3 keys things happened this week ..

The missus celebrated her birthday on Monday of this week .. and it was a surprise well orchestrated.

On the same day, I hit the 4000km mark in my cumulative running total.

Two days later, we celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary !! Time does fly !!

Running is getting slowly back on track ...

Tokyo Marathon 2012: Race report (Part 1)

When i took that last step across the finish line, i had stopped the clock at 3:56:50. A PB by 30 minutes. I had never imagined in my wildest dreams that, that would happen. While still in a state of shock, i found myself at around 1:07pm Japan time on Sunday having inadvertently joined the swelling group of marathoners who have broken 4 hours for the distance. What i felt that day, and even what i am feeling now ... is something i can only best describe as falling between euphoric and mild disbelief. :)

The urge to analyze the results is intense .. to know how i got there. Primarily its for 2 reasons - 1) If i could explain how i got there, i feel in control .. that somehow things went exactly the way i planned for them to. And (2) If i could explain how i got there, i could repeat the result in the future by doing exactly the same or try going even one better. Without taking away much of the magical feeling i have right now, and neither wanting to appear too much like a kid with his first icecream, i want to capture how i felt going into the race, and the race itself.

Pre-race:
The run-up to Tokyo 2012 was very similar to Tokyo 2011, as i had observed in an earlier post. Coming out of a lackadaisical few months, trying to salvage what best i could in the few weeks that i had before the marathon (12-13) - i found myself at the end of Dec 2011, having built mileage upto an average of 40kms a week and looking down at 2012 with a completely open mind on how to train for the first couple of months. Given the fact that just 2 months of some consistent training in 2011, had got me to a 4:26 finish at TM 2011, i figured that if i were to apply the same approach, i should be able to atleast match that result if not go better. At no point in time was i thinking i should have a training plan for 4hr in place - and that was because i had already predetermined that my goal race would be the Gold Coast Marathon in July, and that Tokyo would just serve as a benchmark to base my GCM training plan on.

Tokyo 2011 build up:


Tokyo 2012 build up





January was fantastic - 248kms, my highest ever mileage for a month. February started off promising and then 2 things happened that kinda made me feel a bit diffident. One, my long run was not too great and i couldnt keep the pace up through the run. And two, my taper was kinda walking off a cliff. There was no gradual cut back, just a big drop from 60km a week to 25km. In hindsight, that might have been a good thing but definitely it was not doing much to help my mental state of affairs. :)

Tokyo Times

On 25th Feb, the day before the marathon, i ran the 2km friendship run. To cut a long story short, it was a brutal run - the temps was in the low singles and there was heavy rain to boot. I ran with a poncho, frozen hands and a slightly defunct brain which couldn't quite rationalize what the hell i was doing. In fact, a couple of my friends who had come to run the IFR turned back even before it started, not wanting to risk getting sick before the marathon the next day.

Food .. i had been to an Italian place the previous night for dinner and liked it enough to go back and do my carbo loading. Lunch and Dinner were both big plates of spaghetti with mozzarella cheese and for a change my stomach was doing fine with no signs of causing any anxiety for the race. I knew from experience and reading that staying hydrated in a cold climate is very important as the usual indicator of sweating is absent and so i was drinking water frequently in large quantities to make sure that this part of the prep was right on track as well.

Homestretch to the Tokyo Marathon 2012

In exactly 8 days after today, i will be toeing the line at the Tokyo Marathon for the second time in as many years. Its a race in which only half the race experience is through your feet, the other half is through your eyes ...what with such fantastic crowd support, runners of all ages, a general feeling of bonhomie in the air, freshly made piping hot food from complete strangers ... its difficult to ignore all this and stay completely focused on just how you are running.

My training has been kinda here and there and everywhere. I decided that i would try and mimic last year's training block and see where it would get me this year (last year, i had a non-existent Nov-Dec 2010, started training in Jan 2011 and got in about 7 weeks of training before running the race, to a 4:26:57 finish). I found myself in a similar situation at the start of December (with an abysmal three month hiatus just before and having put on 4kgs in the three weeks of leave i had taken to visit India for Diwali). I came back to run my 7km bit at the Ekiden and was hoping to run atleast at a 6 min pace but somehow managed to run 5:04 pace. That kinda ignited the fire and i started training in December to just shed the 4 kgs i put on and then think about giving Tokyo a decent short.

165kms in Dec, 245kms in Jan and possibly 150kms in Feb (before the race) should make this on paper, a better trained race relative to last year's prep but i somehow still dont feel too confident about matching last year. I hope to run this race as strongly as i can to get a good idea of my current fitness level so that i can make an appropriate training plan for a marathon in July/Aug.

Let the cards fall as they may ..

A new beginning ...

2012 should hopefully be radically different from 2011 as far as my running is concerned. Sep-Nov 2011 was a complete disaster with combined mileage for the 3 months at 160kms. Thankfully, i have got out of the doldrums, with a 160km+ month in Dec'11.

Tokyo is looming less than 60 days away and i need to make the most of 2 months in order to have a half-decent shot at running the marathon in respectable time. Dejavu! Last year was very similar except that December'2010 was an even bigger washout with only 1 run and then none for 3-4 weeks following that. So as on date, i am in a better position this year, than i was at the same time last year.

Goal race is still likely to be Gold Coast and i will plan my training and goal pace around how i do in Tokyo. Have already signed up for the Sundown Half Marathon so that should be sweet timing as part of the training towards GC.

I think i should have a mileage target for 2012 .. and i think 2500kms sounds like a good round number to aim for.

Happy week this ..

This week has worked out rather well for me .. i was quite eager, at the start of the week, to allay my fears that cutting back on mileage the previous week (as was my plan) would prove to be beneficial and not adversely affect my fitness. I am quite happy with the way things turned out ...

1. On Monday, i started out from my house, feeling a bit lethargic and toying with the idea of just running a slow 5kms. ABout 10 minutes into the run, i changed my mind cos i was feeling alright and decided to run a tempo run. The next 40 minutes of running was one of my better efforts, and also included the fastest km (4:38 pace) i have ever run (race or otherwise).

2. On Wednesday, i ran with Sorepalm to explore a part of the MR trails that i have very rarely run before. It was good to get my bearings right and he showed me several paths that i never knew existed. And it was quite a relaxed run as well. I will be back at these trails as part of my training for my 50km run with Cha Cha for the TNF100 in October.

3. This morning, i managed to wake up at 5.45am as had been my intention (i wanted to start running at 6.30am). This was probably the first time in a few months that i managed to get up early on a Saturday morning. As has become habit over the past few runs of 1.5 hours or longer, i started my run with just water, and did not want any calorie intake over the course of the run. Starting early and running the Old Upper Thomson Road, into the M&Ms and Aircon route was just a fantastic way to get your weekend going. Such lush greenery is hard to come by in Singapore and running through it all makes for a very enjoyable experience. Once again, i ran by feel not pushing the pace at all and cleared the M&M (called so because of the undulating terrain, quite a bit of ups and downs) and Aircon route, after which i took a couple of minutes off to top up my water bottle and then continued on with my run. Ran into the faster group (Sorepalm and co) coming down into the M&Ms and kept going. As i neared MR, i saw that my Garmin was only showing 18.6kms so i ran a further 700m up Lornie road and back to make for a total of 20kms run in 2:00 flat (6 min pace).

Weekly mileage: 66kms. Rounds up a pretty good effort. Next week should be similar and then i will back off, as part of taper to running the AHM on Sep 4th.

The week that was ..

Yesterday's run closed out a very interesting week for me. I was on 33kms for the week pre Friday's run and i thought that if were to run a recovery 5km then, and do the usual OUTR 16km run the next day morning, i would be fine with my general plan of hitting 50kms a week.

Friday night, i had to go to the airport to pick up the missus and after i hit the sack from then, never really managed to threaten the alarm clock and finally woke up at around 9am. So my sat morning plan went down the drain.

After entertaining friends who had come over for lunch, the evening was spent doing random stuff on the comp / ipad and before i knew it was time to hit the sack. And with that, yet another valiant plan was made to get up early on Sunday morning and make amends for the fiasco earlier on Sat. Once again, i woke up when the rooster would have finished crowing and then gone on holiday. :)

So that gave me basically an evening with an opportunity to get my mileage target. And thankfully, midday had witnessed some very strong showers so the early afternoon was pretty cool. Having had a sumptious lunch at Murugan Idly, and having spent time playing with my 1 yr old niece, and having finished my office work, at around 4pm i got the urge to go and run. The plan was to run atleast 12kms, and if i felt alright, do 16km with an outside shot at running 20kms. Since one of my goals to better marathoning is to shed some unwanted weight, i decided to just run on water. So with my 1L handheld bottle, i set off in some sunny but otherwise great conditions for a run.

I managed to run an extremely steady run at Bishan PCN. Since i dont have a pace target anyways, i just ran by feel and the lovely weather made this a lot easier than i would have expected it to be. My inner dialogue during the run was extremely active and i was forever thinking about that particular run, as well as about statistical odds in poker for various pre-flop hands (my newly re-ignited interest). Net-Net, i ran for 2 hours and change, without any stops, and without any external fuel. At the end of the run, i felt fatigued in a nice way, if that was possible. Also, it was a good confidence booster to be able to run the distance, no matter what time it took, in a "strong" way.

The following week shall be my easy week, where i will back off on mileage, to probably around 35kms - 40kms before continuing on for the remainder of the month.

Happy running folks.

Plan-less and loving it !! :)

The past 2 weeks wasnt really an outcome of a long-drawn intellectualization process. As described in the last couple of posts, i have just taken to running more (in terms of volume), mostly easy, sometimes hard.

While i seem to have violated the 10% increase rule with regards to weekly mileage, i am beginning to gain confidence that i am not headed for any serious trouble as my effort level is usually easy. But more importantly, increasing the frequency of my running to 6 times a week has had a very profound effect on my thinking - i no longer stop to decide whether i am going to run today or not. That decision has already been made and the only remaining thing is what route to run on and for how long. For the psyche of a runner, this subtle distinction is yet a strong motivator with the passage of time - for me, it has made me look forward to getting time on my feet out.

Yesterday evening, was my first run up Mt.Faber in ages, with the CBD group who i was meeting after ages too. It was a good solid run and i was pleased to be able to run all the way up to the top at a 6:15-6:20 pace if i am not mistaken. Looped a couple of times on the top and walked back the hill and resumed running from the Kampong Bahru traffic light. Mostly ran in step with Chacha who i am teaming with for the TNF100km duo in 10 weeks time.

The plan is to run another couple of weeks just focusing on mileage and easy running and then beyond that, start to incorporate 1 or 2 race specific training runs as part of the build-up towards PBIM on Nov 20th.

Clarity of thought ..

I havent had such absolute clarity of thought as i did when i read the runningahead forums on Yuki Kawauchi's once-a-day run type training. The discussion was on whether doubles is better than singles, and if so, is it only under certain conditions.

In any case, Nobby emphatically stated that doubles are better than singles, and that aerobic conditioning (something which i believed to be a necessary foundation) was of utmost importance in becoming a good long distance runner. And with this bent of mind, i have tried to set myself a modest weekly mileage target of 50kms for atleast 8 weeks before i think of tweaking the numbers.

Last week was the first week of half-decent running since GCAM and i managed to hit 57kms. I am hoping that this week is similar too. The one thing that i am not doing is to worry about how fast i run .. am just letting my body dictate the pace and hopefully there is little of slacking and more of actual improvement that the body witnesses. :)

The legs start moving again ..

I headed out under a fair bit of sun to resume running from a 2 week layoff. Managed a very decent 10km run, with speed constantly increasing and finishing with a 5min km. Overall pace was 5:52 for the run.

The bigger "gain" for me is that the momentum has to be built up and i am feeling good about the fact that today was not too hard despite the significant break.

Up and away .. in the days to come. Hopefully. :)

Lay-off and the inevitable return ..

Today, marks 2 weeks since the GCAM. In this period, i have managed one run of 5kms. The past 10 days have been spent battling a throat infection, and when that was on its ebb, a cold and associated chest congestion made sure i didnt tie my shoelaces in a hurry and now, the past couple of days has been a mix of chest pain (i believe its hyperacidity induced heartburn) and headaches.

So its not really going great guns but i seem to be weathering this ok. Can not wait to hit the road again and gain some training momentum.

Speaking of which, having signed up for the FM at the Penang Bridge Internatinal Marathon (PBIM) on the 20th of November, i now have a target race to look forward to.

Gold Coast Airport Marathon Race Review

The short of it: 4:26:45. PB by 12 seconds.

The long of it:

The GC marathon and the weeks that lead up to it has been a learning experience for me, in more ways than one. I screwed up big time even before i got to the start line, and i am hoping that I dont let this repeat ever again. 90% of the result was determined in the preceding 3 months, and 10% in the preceding 24 hours. I can only imagine what i would have run, had i trained well. Yet, all is not lost, there is still a silver lining on the grey cloud.

To avoid turning this educative post (as in future reference for myself) into a rambling rant, let me summarize the major areas where i lost out on putting up a real fight for the sub 4.

1. Utter lack of overall mileage: Only 103 kms in April and 129 kms in June. I upped May to 221kms but that was probably not too smart a thing. I just didnt run enough. In fact, in the 5 weeks preceding the marathon, my mileage was 20km, 25km, 55kms, 10kms and 20kms.

Action for the future: Get into the consistency of 50km weeks because i know my body can take it.

2. Lack of a proper long distance run in the 5-6 weeks preceding the marathon: After the Sundown half which was on 28th May, i didnt do a single run upwards of 24kms. I tried thrice to run a LSD of 30+kms, and i came up short, running only 5km, 2km and 12kms in the 3 attempts. My so-called LSD was only 24kms and that was the only run longer than 13kms since the SD HM.

Action for the future: Run atleast a 32km LSD or a 3 hr run at the bare minimum 3 weeks from the marathon.

And in this shape, i found myself at GC wondering what was to become of the marathon on July 3rd. For the last few weeks, i had tried to think through how best to salvage the race given the status of training and i was none too close to finding an answer after arriving at Surfers Paradise. Should i try running 65min 10k's for the first 30km and then take a call on how to carry on or should i try running at my pipedream 4hr pace of 5.41 and see how long i can hold on ?? And then if that were not enough, the day before the marathon, roughly about 1pm, my tummy threw in the towel and i had an upset stomach. Dont really know whether it was the Chow Mein i had had at the KL airport or the mushrooms i had for breakfast, but in either case my tummy was holding nothing in and the case of the runs really did have me running for medicine in the night before the marathon. I found a probiotic and took it twice the same night, hoping that come next morning, i would have miraculously recovered.

To top it all off, on the morning of the marathon, at about 5am, i had a Vanilla protein bar for the first time in my life and that didnt sit too well either and by the time i reached the venue (i came much earlier than i needed to, as the wife was running the HM which started 1hr before the FM), i was feeling mildly pukish. I dont know how and i dont know why, but as it did turn out, i didnt puke and after the first 7-8kms in the marathon, i ran without any gastric discomfort whatsoever.

After having bade farewell with best wishes to Sumi, i made my way to the race pen and just for kicks lined up with 4hr pace group. The two 4hr pacers, Keith Hong and Megan Inge were awesome and such fantastic runners that surely, they helped several people achieve their marathon dreams that day. I was perturbed when Keith announced that as pacers, they would go for 4hr gun time and not the chip time so actually they would be running at a 3:58 pace !! The weather was just super and that made me forget a bit about my inner turmoil and just look forward to enjoying the race and the scenery. The gun went off and the 4hr bus crossed the start line with a 2 min deficit. And the most demoralizing thing happened to me soon after, when within 300m from the start line, i had already lost the 4hr pace group. So i ditched plans of running to a specific pace and just started to run comfortably without hitting any pace targets. And doing that, i found myself back with the 4hr black ballons at the 3rd km only to lose them from sight at the water station at the 5km mark where i walked through and took my time taking small sips. I would start again and pick up the pace and would reel in the pacers over the next 2-3 kms and this pattern was to repeat itself over the next 20kms. It was just unbelievable but i was holding a 5:35ish pace in what i call a "comfortably hard" run. A few days before i left Singapore, i tried to go on a 16km run with Patrick (Sorepalm) and couldnt even hold a decent 6 min pace.(That day i only ran 12.5kms and that too with about 10 stops and frequent walking in between). So i was quite pleasantly surprised that i was running significantly faster and longer. It was just awesome running through the GC neighborhoods, where the residents came out to cheer us on from their gates, verandahs, porches and what not. Some were late night party-goers trying to fuel us with their beer-induced love for marathoning, and others were in their bathrobes having just got out of bed wondering why would people want to run 42kms on a Sunday morning. It was quite some fun passing these myriad households and i am sure it was as entertaining for them as it was for us.

I stuck with the 4 hr pace group until the 25th km (going through in 2:20) when i suddenly felt acute pain on the front of my right foot, on the arch between the shins and the feet themselves. I dont know if it was the timing chip biting into the skin or if i had tied my shoelaces too tight, but eitherways every step i took would send a stinger. (I would later find out that there would be some swelling and abrasion in that area as well but i still dont know why). Around the 27th km, my right glute started to participate in the misery and the pain then was just making it impossible to try anything that resembled running and i resigned to the fate of having to walk most of the way back and worst case, possibly come in at 5 hours or so. Still, thanks to my fast first 25kms, i hobbled through 30kms in 2:56 and from thereon i really couldnt much. My mental fatigue was catalyzed by my physical discomfort and i was just pushing on, hobbling mostly, and shuffling a bit whenever the pain would subside. At about the 34-35km mark, the 4:15 pacers went by. And about 38-39kms, the 4:30 pacers went by and that was when i felt really annoyed with myself for not having more fight in me. So i picked up the pace, thinking i would catch up with the 4:30 group and try to hang in as much as possible. I managed to just about do it, while frequently breaking into walks. At just over 40, i became greedy and thought may be if i can push myself a bit more, i could perhaps still try and get a PB. That small thought was amplified with the hordes of people cheering in the last 1.5kms and somehow the pain was forgotten, the finish line visualized and the legs churned into action. Its crazy but the last 1km of the marathon, i ran at a 4:45 min/km pace and just managed to dip under my Tokyo timing from earlier this year.

I dont want to take refuge in the fact that I PB'ed (although only by 12 seconds) despite sub standard training. Neither do i want to take comfort from finishing strong, even if only the last 2kms. The fact of the matter is this was a golden opportunity lost, to take advantage of excellent race conditions and post some very serious times that would have no doubt, served as a great motivator for future races. Nevertheless, there were still somethings that i didnt have control over so in the end, a sub 4:30 timing is just about what i can tolerate as a "race performance".

I would strongly recommend GCAM to anyone who wants to have a fun experience, and set a PB in doing so! Hopefully, i will get to write a more positive race report for 2012.