Oz trip + 10k PB

Firstly, congrats to Rob who smoked his PB from 39:00 to 36:45 within 2 years !!!
What a breakthrough, mate! To think I used to race/compete with you in Perth was a humbling experience

Went to Melbourne for a short family visit this week. Really enjoyed the cool, crisp, non-polluted air of wintery Melbourne. What a nice change from the wok-on-fire heat of Singapore !!

Only did 3 runs (but were all studs) :

Friday 28/05 (12c): 17k in 80mins (av 4:27min/km) including 4k in 15:25 (av 3:51), 5mins rest, then 3k in 11:15 (av 3:45)

Felt great. Did 7k worth of work at 3:45-3:51 min/km. Considering my 4-year 10k PB pace is only 3:56 pace, surely it's there for the taking !!

Sunday 30/05 (15c, windy): 30k in 2h:14m (av 4:27 min/km) including 25k non-stop tempo in 1h:48m (4:19 pace)

Purposely ran at the same pace as last week's Passion Run 25k in order to compare HR at different temperatures. I found that my heart needs to beat 737 times to cover each k at 4:20 pace in Singapore, while in Melbourne, the number is only 704 per km/. This means my heart need to work 5% harder when running for 2 hours in Singapore at approx MP.

Monday 01/06 (10c): 10k Time Trial in 38:20 (a PB by 1 minute)

Inspired by Rob's breakthrough race, I simply couldn't resist to do a TT on a cool, calm conditions.
First 5k: 3:39, 3:49, 3:45, 3:48, 3:48 = 18:49
Second 5k: 3:49, 3:50, 3:57, 3:57, 3:53 = 19:26
Total = 38:15

I added 5 secs extra since race distance is normally a hair longer than what GPS measured in order to round up to 38:20 (a flat 3.50 is also easier for setting interval paces)

Course was on bike path, mostly flat with some mild undulations. First 2k was a net rise of 20m, next 5k was a net decline of 40m, last 3k was a net rise of 20m. Hence, the reason for a big positive split (+27 secs) in the 2nd half, especially in the last 3k. Total net elevation gain/loss = approx 0.

Because I did a 30k long run (25k of which just above MP) two days before the TT, I think I have the right to claim that the 10k timing is probably legitimate and a good indicator of my true shape :)


All in all, there are a couple of positives:

1) The 10k timing is now equivalent on 2.59.54 marathon (barely !!!) according to McMillan. First time ever that I run a timing that calculators would indicate to correlate with sub-3

2) The popular Pfitzinger marathon plan schedules a 23k MP run about 6 weeks out before marathon. While last Sunday's 25k run at 4:19 pace is 5secs slower than my goal MP (4:14), but being able to do it without much difficulty and the fact that I still haven't' started my 18-week training seems to be an encouraging sign.

I also discover a couple of interesting things:

1) My recovery profile is much faster in Oz. It's amazing that I could do a 30km long run (averaging ~10 secs/k slower than MP), and 48 hours later, ran a 10k PB. If I do this in Singapore, I would be useless for days. My guess is that my muscles and heart have to work a lot harder in Singapore and there are lots of minerals disappeared with the sweat loss, which resulted in slower recovery.

2) My training paces are faster in Oz. The above 3 runs done in Melbourne within a span of 5 days have an average pace of 4.24 pace (coincidentally, this is what speedsters like Clown and Epi are averaging for their training). While heat training is often perceived as a poor mans' altitude training, I still think training in cool, dry places still yields a better training results. In my opinion, doing consistent/regular long runs at 4:30-4.40 pace in cool weather is way much better than doing long runs at 5:00 pace in the heat.

Wondering what kind of times I would be seeing if I live/train in Oz? hahaha.

Alrighty, no time for daydreaming. Gotta suck it up! Marathon training starts next week !!!