Just realized that the Joongang Seoul marathon course is a bit undulating with 5-6 hills over 30-40m in elevation (start is 14m > sea level). My concern is that I’ve been doing all my runs exclusively on pancake flat terrain and track. As a last minute mitigation, I did a couple of runs on undulating route this week to get some familiarity into the legs. However, after my Sunday's hilly long run, my right butt got a bit sore. Hopefully the deep tissue massage on Wednesday will fix the problem.
I just went to check the weather in Seoul. Using today as example, the temperature is around 11-12c with humidity ranging from 60% at 8am to 40% at 11am. The 7-day forecast suggests the temperature to be the same (min 7, max 13c). In Singapore, the lowest temperature is about 24c (or 26c by the time I start my runs) with humidity around 70-90%, which makes the apparent temperature even higher. Tinman heat calculator suggests there is a 3% differential in performance levels between 80F/27c and 53F/12c. This translates to around 8secs/km difference.
Despite this, my plan is not to run MP much faster than what I have done in training due to a couple of reasons. First, I am still inexperienced in terms of marathons (3 marathons + 2 DNFs). Secondly, my preparation is pretty short (8 weeks), although it is a fairly solid block. And lastly, my long runs timing in Singapore hid the fact that I did a lot of stoppages/rest time during the runs. I simply can't run continuously for a long time due to traffic conditions and the need to re-hydrate. All the long run times that you see in my log do not include rest times. I don't really know whether I can run at solid pace for 3 hours plus continuously. I am just simply hoping the cooler weather will help me to delay the 'fading'.
Plan to do 30-40k next week pre-race. We'll fly to Seoul on Wednesday midnight and arriving Thursday morning. This will give me a chance to squeeze in a couple of short runs on Friday & Saturday. After living in the tropics for one year, the temperature in South Korea should feel like Artic-esque to me. Bring it on!
Mon:
OFF.
Tuesday:
52mins Easy (av 5:11) + abs work
Treadmill, 0-2% inclines
Wednesday (11 days left):
4k warm up + strides
3k @ 30k pace effort (undulating route)
3k @ 1-hour pace (track)
3k @ 1-hour pace (track)
Splits: 13:00 (av 4:20), 12:02 (av 4:01), 11:56 (av 3:59)
Heart rates 159, 170, 173 bpm, jog/rest 3mins in between
5k cool down
Total running 18.3k in 1h:24m (av 4:38)
A super-humid morning. Found the effort on the first 3k to be manageable, but legs felt a bit heavy after that. I was rarely in the groove during the LT intervals but finished without a lot of strain. HR reached 186bpm during the last one.
Thursday:
36mins Very Easy (av 5:36) on treadmill + weights
Friday (9 days left):
15mins warm up
30mins @ MP effort, av 4:24 (undulating route)
5mins jog/rest
20mins @ HM pace effort, av 4:12 (flat route)
Total running 15.2k in 1h:09m (av 4:37)
The plan was to do a practice run of 2 x 7k MP. Did the first on rolling terrain, averaging 4:30 on the way out (mainly uphill), but the return leg (downhill) pushed the pace down. Went out a bit fast in the second interval (~HM pace) and decided to just lock-in the pace and ran on a flat terrain.
Saturday:
OFF.
Sunday (7 days left):
23.3k Long Run in 1h:56m (av 5:00)
Ran on undulating terrain around Tanglin area. Consumed just water & salt tablets. Got tired in the second hour. Right hip was a bit sore from the hills.
Total 73.3k for the week, 680k for the last 7 weeks.
5 comments:
Hi Widi, all the very best for Seoul, looking forward to hearing how you go. Rest up well and enjoy your break away.
Cheers
Yes, it'll feel cold - don't forget to pack the gloves, long sleeves and woolen hat for the start ;)
Do you have a goal pace?
Running by feel might work well, with a top-speed limit of course. Any pace in cool conditions after training in Singapore will feel easy.
Good Luck!!!
I hope you just get to do a good solid marathon without mishap - you've deserved one for a while now
You've had a solid and pretty uninterrupted eight weeks, so I don't think you need to fear anything at all.
As to the hills, there is not much you can do now in terms of training. The only suggestion I have is not to attack them and rather easen up and just run them at the same intensity as the flatter parts.
All the best!
Well done! Enjoy the adventure of Seoul!
I was trying to get my brother to enter the 10k in Joongang, but he has since come back to Australia after his sister in-law got married there in S. Korea. haha.
Hope you rest up and get the butt right,settle into much better weather conditiones. My approach to hills is attack em, and "hills are your friend"...I also wouldn't be too concerned about the stoppages in your long runs. Its the time on your feet that counts, so that shouldn't be much of a negative variable if any. Could be the hills slow things a little, but hopefully not too much. Overall sounds like things are looking good for a big one for you. All the best with the adventure of the marathon!
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