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.

Getting the jitters ...

GCAM is now 2 weeks away. And i havent managed to get a half decent long run in since running the Sundown Half Marathon more than 2 weeks ago. There have been 2 abortive attempts that lasted 5km and 11.5kms respectively, and to put it rather mildly, they have dented my hopes of running a solid effort at GC. Therefore i have now switched focus from hard training to hard praying. For a miracle. :)

I am wondering whether i should race in my NB RT769s or the Boston Ekiden. Think i will go with the NBs as need more time in Boston to make the shoe expand a bit and fit neatly for my feet.

Salvage operations will get underway this weekend, at OUTR i suspect. Followed by intense dialogues with the almighty.

Progress report will come through later.

Sundown Half Marathon Race Review

On Saturday, the Sundown Half Marathon was to prove to be an experience that i am likely to cherish for quite some time to come. My fundamental objective for the race was to run below 2hrs and my stretch target was to run 1:53 (for 2 reasons - 1:53 converts to a Mcmillan sub 4 marathon, and also i wanted to go below 2hr by as much as my current PR was above it 2:06:xx). As it turned out, i ran a 1:55:59. And i am pleased as punch by it !!

I had carboloaded reasonably well having had pasta for dinner on Friday and again as lunch on Saturday. Knowing the traffic snarl that was likely in getting to the race site, i left home at around 4.30pm and after an inordinate amount of time crawling through the Aviation Park Road, i parked my car at 5.30pm. Saw the 10km kick off and then found some of my HM friends who had also reached the venue by then. (The three friends who i met ran 1:30, 1:33 and 1:45 respectively !!!)

My first lesson of the day came from here - i should remember to carry something to munch if i felt the need just before a race. At the start line i was actually quite hungry as i hadnt had anything to eat for more than 3 hours. Other than that, I was feeling quite positive and was excited at the prospect of actually "racing" i.e. putting a solid effort out on the road. My plan was to run the first 2-3kms at at 5:45 pace (advice from Roonz) and then pick it up to about 5:20 and hold it there for as long as i could. About 20 minutes from the start of the race, there was a call for sub 2 runners to move to the front and i sheepishly made my way up there, not knowing if i was deserving of rubbing shoulders with other runners who could stake a legit claim to be there.

The race started right on time at 8pm, and because of the speedy gonzales' around me, i ran a 5:34 for the 1st km, and in fact managed an average pace of 5:30ish for the next few kms. On one hand i was ruing going out too fast and on the other, since i had already warmed up by then, i figured i would keep the pace there and keep going. The first 11km went relatively smoothly, coming in exactly at 1 hour. My scheduled gel break was for the 13km water point and it was from there on that my walk breaks at the water points became progressively longer. I knew i was slipping off my pace target, yet when i wasnt walking, i was running pretty well. ECP can get pretty desolate and i found myself running alone for most of the race, either being overtaken or passing others by but not many running at the same pace as i was. I was steadily going out of gas, but since it had been my plan to push it all the way, i tried to run as fast as i could despite my side stitch at the 17th and 19th km as well as a bit of abdominal ache. Probably if i had to pick the worst point in the race for me, it had to be the 21st km, where with less than 700m to go i was reduced to a walk for a brief 100 metres or so due to the stitch. Sprinted the remaining distance and was super ecstatic to see the clock read 1:56:02 (later found out that my time was 1:55:59, position 186 overall, 153 amongst men).

It was a splendid race for me - i set a target which i thought was a tough but realistic one, and managed to hit it (for most part atleast). I also know that if i can keep my training consistent and not get injured, i will be able to run faster and longer. Which is the whole point of my running anyway. :)

So thats 4 races this year, 4 different distances and a PR in all of them. Will i ever be able to do this again?

Passion Run 25km Race Review

I am just leaving a placeholder here for the moment - will update this soon enough.

Pondering in perpetuity ..

My April running calendar looked like i had hung up my shoes for good. I ran 55kms in the last week alone compared to the 45kms i had run in the 3 weeks prior to that. Obviously this does not bode well for my sub-4hr marathon ambitions at Gold Coast. Since i am trying to make the best of what remaining training time i have, i have stopped looking at my excel training plan for about a month now and decided to just run a mix of tempos, LSDs and general aerobic runs while maintaining a weekly mileage of 50kms atleast. I am kinda hoping/praying that this will atleast get me to a 4:15 finish if not a sub-4 finish at Gold Coast.

I have absolutely loved the last couple of weeks where i have run with my newly acquired garmin 310xt. Its a fantastic watch to have for geeky runners. :) I also did my first run with Team Fatbird as part of Operation Kookaburra, a training program for the GCM. It was a night run of 25kms. I did ok the first 17 and then stopped short of falling flat on my face several times in the remaining 8 kms.

I am at an interesting stage of training - i am wondering whether i should cut my losses and not aim for a sub-4 and just go there and have an enjoyable race outing or if i should go for broke and just go hell for leather. I dont think i will know the answer until i get to the start line. The other thought thats daunting me is that i need to run a 1:53 HM if i want to do a 4hr full .. and i am running a HM in just about 4 weeks time. Find it hard to believe at this point in time that a 5:21pace for 21kms is going to be realistic .. but then again, i didnt expect to run a 4:26 at Tokyo so i will still play my cards.

Note to self - Update this blog more frequently.