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.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Monday, September 6, 2010
Yellow Ribbon Prison Run 10km Race Review - Part 1
The gods must be smiling at me. There is absolutely no other rational explanation for my race performance at the YRPR 10km race yesterday. It was belting rain right from the start. I was soaked wet and like almost every one else, could barely do a warm-up because of the weather. To top it off, i was running in my VFF KSOs which were wet as well and i was worried i might not be able to run properly. Fact of the matter is, when i crossed the finish line, the clock read 49:01. Thats 4:53 min/km for 10km flat out. And my new PR by miles. If there was a Cloud 99, i would have been on that yesterday !! :) Today i am just on Cloud 9.
As I never tire of telling this, since I got my Garmin last August, i have clocked 1300 kms. Of these 1300 kms exactly 2 kms have been faster than a 5 min pace. So it was of course an insane pipe dream to think about running a sub-50 min 10km race. In fact, i was a little nervous that i wouldnt be able to beat my 52:42 set at the Republic Run 3 weeks ago as the YRPR course had more slopes. I just dont know how i managed the time i did. Of course, when i was running, i never looked at my Garmin for speed/time etc and just ran in a "comfortably" hard way. I had some signs of mild stitches around the 7 km mark, but figured that i would just push through a little bit. Since i dodged a few runners and had to run criss-cross a few times during the race, my Garmin recorded a distance of 10.11km. As per my 305, i crossed 10kms in 48:38 !!
I will write the next part of the Race Review which gives a more detailed account of how it all came down .. :)
As I never tire of telling this, since I got my Garmin last August, i have clocked 1300 kms. Of these 1300 kms exactly 2 kms have been faster than a 5 min pace. So it was of course an insane pipe dream to think about running a sub-50 min 10km race. In fact, i was a little nervous that i wouldnt be able to beat my 52:42 set at the Republic Run 3 weeks ago as the YRPR course had more slopes. I just dont know how i managed the time i did. Of course, when i was running, i never looked at my Garmin for speed/time etc and just ran in a "comfortably" hard way. I had some signs of mild stitches around the 7 km mark, but figured that i would just push through a little bit. Since i dodged a few runners and had to run criss-cross a few times during the race, my Garmin recorded a distance of 10.11km. As per my 305, i crossed 10kms in 48:38 !!
I will write the next part of the Race Review which gives a more detailed account of how it all came down .. :)
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Bringing my Garmin back to life ...
First up, you need to appreciate the gravity of the situation here ... of late my Garmin 305, had been sputtering in the middle of a run every once in a while and it was causing me headache enough to warrant hunting for a solution. I kinda figured that since this was happening intermittently, it had to be a loose contact. Contacting Garmin lead me to believe that the 112 USD that it would cost me to fix it would be better worth spending by topping up and getting a new one. Instead i chanced upon this and being totally inspired, succeeded in ripping my Garmin into 2 parts and then while attempting to fix the bent battery contact, broke it off completely.
As things stand now, for just 4 SGD, my Garmin is up and running and working better than ever before. How in the world did i do that, you ask??
Some other time ....
Saturday, August 14, 2010
Republic Run 10 km Race Review
Last evening was spent in a very enjoyable race at the Republic Run 10km, in Woodlands, Singapore. It was the first time I was going to race in my VFF KSOs and i was quite eagerly waiting for a chance to try them out. For those who want to cut the chase, well, I ran 52:42 (5:11 pace) and bettered my previous PB by 2.5 minutes or thereabouts. The longer version continues below ..... :)
After my 21km trail run on Saturday, i hadnt run for 4 days due to a strange mix of work-related and shopping-related circumstances! :) I was eager to clock some mileage up in the week and so although, i knew i had a race on Saturday evening, i thought i would venture out for a 12km run on Friday evening. And boy, was that a mistake !! I have never run in more humid weather and was already sweating buckets by the time i had run my usual 1.25km to the AMK Ave 1 - CTE Signal where i usually do some stretching before continuing on the rest of the run. I had planned to run at a 6:15 pace or so, but ended up going at 5:40-5:50 pace and at the 6km mark, had no choice but to sit and take a break on Upp Thomson Road as I had been steadily losing water but had nothing to supplement this loss. Of late, i have stopped carrying water for 12km runs and below, as what i have just before i leave my house sustains me for the running duration. I resumed my run, only to stop another couple of kms ahead to take an extended traffic signal break. This dismal sequence would continue once more and by the time i ran 11km, i decided i was just gonna walk back. That made for a very forgettable day.
And so, when Saturday came along, i wanted to atleast partially, redeem myself for the poor show on Friday. I met with Eugene at the Woodlands MRT and we made our way to the start line together. (Also saw Mok, Vivian Tang at the start line). As it turned out, i was probably the only runner in the entire race running in Vibrams, which made it slightly special! ). I have PowerBar Gel boxes at home which are expiring in October this year so I use every chance i can get to finish them before they expire, so at the start of the race, i popped a Gel, downed it with water and figured i wouldnt have to drink water during the race. The race started and i found myself running at a planned 9.5km pace or so i thought. My breathing was very stable and i am very conscious of not running the first few kms of a race very fast and instead use it as part of the warm up. Except that when i looked at my watch somewhere around the 1km mark (to check the calibration of watch vs. distance marker), i saw that i was going at a 11kph + pace. I thought i was asking for trouble and slowed down. Except that i ended up somehow running the 2nd km at practically the same speed as the 1st km. As i do these days, i barely looked at my Garmin after that until the finish line and mostly run by how i feel. After the first kms, the field strung out quite a bit and i began steadily picking my way up through the running field. The route was mostly flat with a couple of gentle slopes, like Sling had mentioned on FB and except for the time of the day, which made it humid, the tree foliage along the route and the reservoir at a section of the race all made for very peaceful surroundings to run in.
At around the 7.5 km mark, i saw a couple of other SG Runner friends who had started with me and i slowly eased ahead of them running a very steady race. This run was a dramatic change from my first couple of runs in my VFFs when my Calves turned into stone towards the end of the run and for a few days after that. 90kms later, with another 60 kms in my midfoot strike shoes, i found myself a lot more comfortable running with a midfoot strike and also learning to relax as i ran faster. Coming out of the reservoir road at 8km, i ran into a sea of school kids who were doing the 5km fun run and although i had to spend extra effort to weave in and out without losing pace, it is always fun to see young kids out in the open having fun. :) I came up to the 9km mark and saw that i had 47 minutes and change, down already and knew that if i just kept my current pace, i was going to beat my previous PB of 55:20. Since there was some gas still left in the tank, i picked my speed in the last 500kms, and finished with a sprint 100mtrs. My garmin recorded a distance of 10.17 and time of 52:42 as i came past the finish line.
After a very tasty and cold herbal tea drink and a bit of water, i had cooled down enough to reflect that one of the advantages of improving your running speed, is that you stay out of downpours that hit the 70min+ runners for the race! :) It was great weather nevertheless and i am sure i would have run in the rain if it had come down while i was still in the hunt. From my 1st race in Dec 2008 where i ran a 67:33 for the 10km to this, its been a fantastic journey. I definitely want to see a sub-50 10km run this year now ! :)
After my 21km trail run on Saturday, i hadnt run for 4 days due to a strange mix of work-related and shopping-related circumstances! :) I was eager to clock some mileage up in the week and so although, i knew i had a race on Saturday evening, i thought i would venture out for a 12km run on Friday evening. And boy, was that a mistake !! I have never run in more humid weather and was already sweating buckets by the time i had run my usual 1.25km to the AMK Ave 1 - CTE Signal where i usually do some stretching before continuing on the rest of the run. I had planned to run at a 6:15 pace or so, but ended up going at 5:40-5:50 pace and at the 6km mark, had no choice but to sit and take a break on Upp Thomson Road as I had been steadily losing water but had nothing to supplement this loss. Of late, i have stopped carrying water for 12km runs and below, as what i have just before i leave my house sustains me for the running duration. I resumed my run, only to stop another couple of kms ahead to take an extended traffic signal break. This dismal sequence would continue once more and by the time i ran 11km, i decided i was just gonna walk back. That made for a very forgettable day.
And so, when Saturday came along, i wanted to atleast partially, redeem myself for the poor show on Friday. I met with Eugene at the Woodlands MRT and we made our way to the start line together. (Also saw Mok, Vivian Tang at the start line). As it turned out, i was probably the only runner in the entire race running in Vibrams, which made it slightly special! ). I have PowerBar Gel boxes at home which are expiring in October this year so I use every chance i can get to finish them before they expire, so at the start of the race, i popped a Gel, downed it with water and figured i wouldnt have to drink water during the race. The race started and i found myself running at a planned 9.5km pace or so i thought. My breathing was very stable and i am very conscious of not running the first few kms of a race very fast and instead use it as part of the warm up. Except that when i looked at my watch somewhere around the 1km mark (to check the calibration of watch vs. distance marker), i saw that i was going at a 11kph + pace. I thought i was asking for trouble and slowed down. Except that i ended up somehow running the 2nd km at practically the same speed as the 1st km. As i do these days, i barely looked at my Garmin after that until the finish line and mostly run by how i feel. After the first kms, the field strung out quite a bit and i began steadily picking my way up through the running field. The route was mostly flat with a couple of gentle slopes, like Sling had mentioned on FB and except for the time of the day, which made it humid, the tree foliage along the route and the reservoir at a section of the race all made for very peaceful surroundings to run in.
At around the 7.5 km mark, i saw a couple of other SG Runner friends who had started with me and i slowly eased ahead of them running a very steady race. This run was a dramatic change from my first couple of runs in my VFFs when my Calves turned into stone towards the end of the run and for a few days after that. 90kms later, with another 60 kms in my midfoot strike shoes, i found myself a lot more comfortable running with a midfoot strike and also learning to relax as i ran faster. Coming out of the reservoir road at 8km, i ran into a sea of school kids who were doing the 5km fun run and although i had to spend extra effort to weave in and out without losing pace, it is always fun to see young kids out in the open having fun. :) I came up to the 9km mark and saw that i had 47 minutes and change, down already and knew that if i just kept my current pace, i was going to beat my previous PB of 55:20. Since there was some gas still left in the tank, i picked my speed in the last 500kms, and finished with a sprint 100mtrs. My garmin recorded a distance of 10.17 and time of 52:42 as i came past the finish line.
After a very tasty and cold herbal tea drink and a bit of water, i had cooled down enough to reflect that one of the advantages of improving your running speed, is that you stay out of downpours that hit the 70min+ runners for the race! :) It was great weather nevertheless and i am sure i would have run in the rain if it had come down while i was still in the hunt. From my 1st race in Dec 2008 where i ran a 67:33 for the 10km to this, its been a fantastic journey. I definitely want to see a sub-50 10km run this year now ! :)
Monday, July 26, 2010
Finding my running legs...
About 2 weeks ago, i ran at McRitchie on Sunday after playing a couple of hours of badminton the previous day and although i tried denying it for as long as possible, i couldnt help notice that i simply am not good enough in recovering from 2 hours of badminton singles within a day to run 20+ kms the next day. Therefore i decided that for the sake of my running life, my badminton life needs to tone down a bit and i will play not more than 1 hour of singles if i am running in the next couple of days. Around precisely the same time is when i started experiencing a palpable pain in my right shin and i was hoping against hope, that this wasnt shin splints. I decided to play it safe and took a break from running for 3 days with only swimming and home workouts saving me from the definition of a total couch potato. That turned out to be a smart thing as i found that at the end of those 3 days, my shin pain had practically disappered and i was raring to hit the roads again.
So Sunday morning brought me to MR again and since the better half decided to start a few minutes behind me, i started out on my own picking my way gently through the trail. I knew that the earlier time i was there, i tried forcing the pace early on and paid heavily for it in the second half of the run. After switching my 305 on, i decided i wasnt going to look at it until i finished the run and somehow i did manage to do that. I steadily increased my pace for the first 5 kms of the run finishing my 5th km in 5:50 and then pretty much held that pace for the remainder of the run.. with a 5:27 pace at the 10th km. End result: 10kms in 61 minutes, which if not the best, is easily one of my best times in MR.
I also think that a few pictures would add a bit of life to my blog so from my next run on, i think i will carry my pocket cam along !! :)
So Sunday morning brought me to MR again and since the better half decided to start a few minutes behind me, i started out on my own picking my way gently through the trail. I knew that the earlier time i was there, i tried forcing the pace early on and paid heavily for it in the second half of the run. After switching my 305 on, i decided i wasnt going to look at it until i finished the run and somehow i did manage to do that. I steadily increased my pace for the first 5 kms of the run finishing my 5th km in 5:50 and then pretty much held that pace for the remainder of the run.. with a 5:27 pace at the 10th km. End result: 10kms in 61 minutes, which if not the best, is easily one of my best times in MR.
I also think that a few pictures would add a bit of life to my blog so from my next run on, i think i will carry my pocket cam along !! :)
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