Congrats to Clown who graduated with 2:59:05 in Perth Marathon today. Way to go, man!
So out of the three amigos (Clown & Epi), that leaves me alone still learning at school and yet to pass the exam !
Week 2 of 18 to Melbourne
Monday (threshold):
3k warm up
Mottram Tempo
15 mins, 15mins, 10mins at different HR, 2mins jog in between
1st set: 5mins each @ 4:09 - 4:03 - 3:58 min/k = 15mins
2nd set: 5mins each @ 4:10 - 4:03 - 3:57 min/k = 15mins
3rd set: 3mins each @ 4:11(spent 15 secs to tie laces) - 4:03 - 3:55 min/k plus 1min hard = 10mins
40mins of work covering 9.9k (av pace 4:03)
2k cool down
Total session (w/u + c/d) 16k in 71:35 (av 4:29 min/k)
Buster Tempo is 3x15mins with 1min jog in between, where the first 5mins was run at 165 bpm, next one at 170, and the last one at 175. The correct way would be, of course, to do the session at certain % of Max HR since everyone has different threshold HR, but the good thing is that they coincide with my HR for MP (160-165 bpm), HM pace (165-170), and my 15k pace (175). In essence, the varied HRs touch the lactate threshold point and also slightly above and below it. Recovery was lengthened to 2mins in between the 15mins, which is probably more suitable for my level. By the end of 2nd set, I got dehydrated and to play it safe, I shortened the last set to 10mins.
My aggregate 'pace vs HR' was 4:10 min/km @ 165, 4:03 @ 167, and 3:57 @ 173 - all fall between 10k pace and MP. Overall, it was a good 'change of pace' threshold session, with me almost covering 10k in 40mins including the time to tie up shoe laces but excluding recovery jogs.
Tuesday (easy):
47mins easy (av 5:15min/km)
60 v-ups with med ball
Wednesday (interval):
4k warm up, CCAB track
8 x 800m, with 200m recovery
Splits: 2.56.81, 2.59.25, 2.57.33, 2.58.07, 2.57.02, 2.57.89, 2.58.85, 2.55.28 = average 2.57.50
Recovery jogs, averaging in 1.15
6k cool down
Total session (w/u + c/d) 18k in 85:40 (av 4:45 min/km)
Tweaked the Yasso 800 to be a VO2max workout by shortening the recovery to ~40% rest-to-work ratio (versus 100% rest/work ratio in a standard Yasso). The weather was super humid/muggy and legs were a bit heavy during warm up. Felt the burn in last couple reps, and I don't think I could do more unless if I take longer recovery (or maybe I am not fit enough??). Average times for the 800s were 2.57.50 (3:42 min/km pace) for 6400m of 5k-paced work. The results show Yasso's poor predicitive value for the marathon. My longest run so far is 27km and there is no way I could run 2.57.xx marathon right now even if my life depends on it. Anyways, one good thing to know is that if I don't have the speed to run these under 3 minutes, then I can forget about trying for a sub-3 marathon lol
Thursday (easy):
40mins easy treadmill (av 5:35 min/km)
20mins weights (lower & upper body)
Friday (easy):
40mins easy treadmill (av 5:15 min/km)
including 6 strides
60 v-ups with med ball
Saturday (long):
31k long run in 2h:35m (av 5:00 min/km)
The plan was to do 32k, but I was just too knackered. Another super-humid morning, shoes were 'flooded' with sweat (yuk). Time excluded 10mins worth of drink stops
Sunday (off):
Rest, core exercises
Summary:
89k for the week, with two good workouts (Yasso intervals + Buster tempo) and a so-so 2.30 hour+ long run. I found that I made some gains in terms of workouts (both tempos & intervals), but still struggled with my long run pace. Hopefully, the pace will pick-up as weeks and months go by. Another thing that I notice is 80-85% of my mileage is easy-paced running and when I say easy, it is really like 5:00-5:40 min/k !!. The other 15% varies between 3:40-4:00 pace. Hence, there is a huge gap in pace between my hard and easy sessions.
With 80%+ of mileage at super-easy pace, do you think that my training is too lame?
Training to date:
Week 1: 81k total - 6% VO2max, 11% Threshold, 83% Easy
Week 2: 89k total - 7% Vo2max, 11% Threshold, 82% Eas
20 June 2010
13 June 2010
Appetizers in a 4-course Menu
Route 1 of 18 to Melbourne
Monday (threshold):
3k warm up
7 x The Canal loop (approx 1.22k)
Alternating between 10k pace and recovery at 95% MP
Splits per loop: 4:40, 5:24, 4:40, 5:20, 4:43, 5:19, 4:40 with 400+ meters hard in 92secs to round up to 9km
Av fast stuff: 3:49 min/km
Av recovery: 4:22 min/km
2k cool down
Total session (w/u + c/d) 14k in 61:30 (av 4:24 min/km)
This is a mini version of Salazar session where he alternated a fast mile at 4.30 pace and a recovery mile at 5.20 pace for 7 miles (10k pace with recovery at 30secs/km slower). To cater for a slow guy like me, I chopped the distance to ~1.2k which is actually the distance my normal running loop called 'The Canal'. It also fits nicely with my training paces, as my fast splits of 4.40 and slow splits of 5.20 to cover the loop are pretty close to Salazar's splits (4.30 and 5.20). The only difference is that I was doing 1.2k, while he covered 1.6k :p An enjoyable workout with almost 5k worth of 10k paced running and a total of 9k continuous (inlcuding recovery) averaging 4.03 min/km.
Tuesday (easy):
40mins easy treadmill (av 5:22min/km)
15 mins upper body weights
Wednesday (speed):
5k warm up to CCAB track
16 x 300 - with 200 recovery in the same time it took to run the 300s
First set:
ON 300s = 62.3, 62.6, 63.2, 62.0, 64.8, 62.2, 63.6, 62.0, average 62.8
OFF 200s = 59.5, 62.5, 61.9, 60.0, 60.5, 60.9, 63.8, average 61.3
Second set (after 2mins break):
ON 300s = 62.3, 62.5, 64.4, 62.0, 66.0, 63.6, 64.0, 59.3, average 63.2
OFF 200s = 60.9, 61.6, 65.3, 63.1, 62.2, 63.5, 67.3, average 63.4
5k cool down
Total session (w/u + c/d) 18k in 84:40 (av 4:42 min/km)
Ryan Hall occasionally twits his workouts and he did this session a couple of weeks ago (his goal is Chicago Marathon - same date as Melbourne marathon). My aim was to run the 300s at 3k pace (about 3.30 min/km) which is 63secs, meaning the 200s recovery would be run in 63secs as well (5.15 min/km). Doing 300s repeats seemed easy on paper, but it certainly wasn't! As you can see, my splits in the second set were slower than in the first set. The fun thing about this session is that instead of just hitting the splits for the fast segments as per normal intervals, I had to hit the target splits for the recovery as well (same time it took me to run the 300s). It's amazing that my average splits hit a bingo at 63.0 for the 300s and 62.4 for the 200s. In total, I accumulated 4.8k worth of 3k-paced running in 16:48 (3:30 min/km pace) and total track work (including recovery) of 7.6k in 31:21 (av 4:07 min/km)
Thursday (easy):
40mins easy treadmill (av 5:30 min/km)
60 v-ups with med ball
10mins lower body weights
Friday (easy):
36mins easy (av 5:05 min/km)
including 6 x 00:15 hill sprints
80 abs crunches
Saturday (long):
27k long run in 2h:15m (av 5:00 min/km)
As usual, I always found long run to be the most difficult session, especially in the early phase of marathon training. 5:00 is supposedly an easy pace for me but certainly it wasn't! Rested couple of mins every 1/2 hour to rehydrate. Route was home-Nathan-Tanglin-Nassem-Dalvey-Coronation-Sixth-Holland-Dempsey-Chatsworth-home. Some undulations, but nothing major.
Sunday (off):
Rest, core exercises
Summary:
81k for the week, with two good workouts (speed, threshold) and a so-so 2 hour+ long run. All in all, a fairly decent start to my marathon prep. For Melbourne, I am following the Italian marathon periodization where the training phases consists of 4-course menu. It start with 5k/10k training as starters, followed by HM/Threshold training as the salad, then MP training as entrees,and finally taper as the dessert. This is also the periodization plan that Ryan Hall will use to prepare for his American record assault in Chicago. For me, I plan to dedicate 4 weeks (whole of June) to do all these ball-busting workouts, then 6 weeks to do threshold and longer intervals stuffs (until mid Aug), then 6 weeks doing tons of MP stuffs (until end Sep), and finally 2 weeks taper.
To close, below is a good note from Ryan Hall's coach on his periodization plan (unfortunately, the weblink is gone).
Marathoning 101
May 25, 2010
by Terrence Mahon
We have 20 weeks to go to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Time to draw up the blueprints and set the stage for Ryan’s training going forward. We are now switching gears from how he trained for Boston, which consisted of a lot of workouts on undulating terrain, and will now be altered to prepare for a flat, lightning fast course. In order to get Ryan ready to go for his best time we will need to increase his leg turnover and overall speed. The plan is to segment out his training into 3 different phases. Phase 1 will focus on getting him back to his best 5k/10k fitness. This will be a six-week plan that brings in shorter intervals at close to 4:00 mile pace with plenty of rest in between. The volume will be low, but the intensity will be very high. Quality is a must in this phase so we will keep the mileage down from his typical 120-140mile weeks to insure that his legs are fresh and bouncy. Phase 2 will then take that speed and start to add in some longer training. Since this will take place over the summer and the hot weather will not be ideal for a lot of long training we will frame this program out more towards the half marathon distance. The intensity will be a little less than the 5k/10k phase, but will still have plenty of fast intervals. It is just that now they will be a little longer and with a little less rest.
Finally in Phase 3, over the last 8-10 weeks we will get into the specific work necessary to conquer the marathon. The overall goal is to bring the track speed of a 13:00 track runner to the roads of Chicago. Carrying that kind of speed into a great half marathon training block will then allow Ryan to bring in his incredible aerobic fitness to carry him to the final marathon distance. It is now about fine tuning the engine so that we can get in some higher rpm’s and increase his horsepower. Ryan will look to run Chicago at an average speed of 4:44-4:48 per mile. If he can do this then he will be the fastest American to ever run the marathon. This will also set him up to chase down his first World Marathon Majors victory. It starts with a dream, then a belief and finally a plan. Here we go!
Monday (threshold):
3k warm up
7 x The Canal loop (approx 1.22k)
Alternating between 10k pace and recovery at 95% MP
Splits per loop: 4:40, 5:24, 4:40, 5:20, 4:43, 5:19, 4:40 with 400+ meters hard in 92secs to round up to 9km
Av fast stuff: 3:49 min/km
Av recovery: 4:22 min/km
2k cool down
Total session (w/u + c/d) 14k in 61:30 (av 4:24 min/km)
This is a mini version of Salazar session where he alternated a fast mile at 4.30 pace and a recovery mile at 5.20 pace for 7 miles (10k pace with recovery at 30secs/km slower). To cater for a slow guy like me, I chopped the distance to ~1.2k which is actually the distance my normal running loop called 'The Canal'. It also fits nicely with my training paces, as my fast splits of 4.40 and slow splits of 5.20 to cover the loop are pretty close to Salazar's splits (4.30 and 5.20). The only difference is that I was doing 1.2k, while he covered 1.6k :p An enjoyable workout with almost 5k worth of 10k paced running and a total of 9k continuous (inlcuding recovery) averaging 4.03 min/km.
Tuesday (easy):
40mins easy treadmill (av 5:22min/km)
15 mins upper body weights
Wednesday (speed):
5k warm up to CCAB track
16 x 300 - with 200 recovery in the same time it took to run the 300s
First set:
ON 300s = 62.3, 62.6, 63.2, 62.0, 64.8, 62.2, 63.6, 62.0, average 62.8
OFF 200s = 59.5, 62.5, 61.9, 60.0, 60.5, 60.9, 63.8, average 61.3
Second set (after 2mins break):
ON 300s = 62.3, 62.5, 64.4, 62.0, 66.0, 63.6, 64.0, 59.3, average 63.2
OFF 200s = 60.9, 61.6, 65.3, 63.1, 62.2, 63.5, 67.3, average 63.4
5k cool down
Total session (w/u + c/d) 18k in 84:40 (av 4:42 min/km)
Ryan Hall occasionally twits his workouts and he did this session a couple of weeks ago (his goal is Chicago Marathon - same date as Melbourne marathon). My aim was to run the 300s at 3k pace (about 3.30 min/km) which is 63secs, meaning the 200s recovery would be run in 63secs as well (5.15 min/km). Doing 300s repeats seemed easy on paper, but it certainly wasn't! As you can see, my splits in the second set were slower than in the first set. The fun thing about this session is that instead of just hitting the splits for the fast segments as per normal intervals, I had to hit the target splits for the recovery as well (same time it took me to run the 300s). It's amazing that my average splits hit a bingo at 63.0 for the 300s and 62.4 for the 200s. In total, I accumulated 4.8k worth of 3k-paced running in 16:48 (3:30 min/km pace) and total track work (including recovery) of 7.6k in 31:21 (av 4:07 min/km)
Thursday (easy):
40mins easy treadmill (av 5:30 min/km)
60 v-ups with med ball
10mins lower body weights
Friday (easy):
36mins easy (av 5:05 min/km)
including 6 x 00:15 hill sprints
80 abs crunches
Saturday (long):
27k long run in 2h:15m (av 5:00 min/km)
As usual, I always found long run to be the most difficult session, especially in the early phase of marathon training. 5:00 is supposedly an easy pace for me but certainly it wasn't! Rested couple of mins every 1/2 hour to rehydrate. Route was home-Nathan-Tanglin-Nassem-Dalvey-Coronation-Sixth-Holland-Dempsey-Chatsworth-home. Some undulations, but nothing major.
Sunday (off):
Rest, core exercises
Summary:
81k for the week, with two good workouts (speed, threshold) and a so-so 2 hour+ long run. All in all, a fairly decent start to my marathon prep. For Melbourne, I am following the Italian marathon periodization where the training phases consists of 4-course menu. It start with 5k/10k training as starters, followed by HM/Threshold training as the salad, then MP training as entrees,and finally taper as the dessert. This is also the periodization plan that Ryan Hall will use to prepare for his American record assault in Chicago. For me, I plan to dedicate 4 weeks (whole of June) to do all these ball-busting workouts, then 6 weeks to do threshold and longer intervals stuffs (until mid Aug), then 6 weeks doing tons of MP stuffs (until end Sep), and finally 2 weeks taper.
To close, below is a good note from Ryan Hall's coach on his periodization plan (unfortunately, the weblink is gone).
Marathoning 101
May 25, 2010
by Terrence Mahon
We have 20 weeks to go to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon. Time to draw up the blueprints and set the stage for Ryan’s training going forward. We are now switching gears from how he trained for Boston, which consisted of a lot of workouts on undulating terrain, and will now be altered to prepare for a flat, lightning fast course. In order to get Ryan ready to go for his best time we will need to increase his leg turnover and overall speed. The plan is to segment out his training into 3 different phases. Phase 1 will focus on getting him back to his best 5k/10k fitness. This will be a six-week plan that brings in shorter intervals at close to 4:00 mile pace with plenty of rest in between. The volume will be low, but the intensity will be very high. Quality is a must in this phase so we will keep the mileage down from his typical 120-140mile weeks to insure that his legs are fresh and bouncy. Phase 2 will then take that speed and start to add in some longer training. Since this will take place over the summer and the hot weather will not be ideal for a lot of long training we will frame this program out more towards the half marathon distance. The intensity will be a little less than the 5k/10k phase, but will still have plenty of fast intervals. It is just that now they will be a little longer and with a little less rest.
Finally in Phase 3, over the last 8-10 weeks we will get into the specific work necessary to conquer the marathon. The overall goal is to bring the track speed of a 13:00 track runner to the roads of Chicago. Carrying that kind of speed into a great half marathon training block will then allow Ryan to bring in his incredible aerobic fitness to carry him to the final marathon distance. It is now about fine tuning the engine so that we can get in some higher rpm’s and increase his horsepower. Ryan will look to run Chicago at an average speed of 4:44-4:48 per mile. If he can do this then he will be the fastest American to ever run the marathon. This will also set him up to chase down his first World Marathon Majors victory. It starts with a dream, then a belief and finally a plan. Here we go!
05 June 2010
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 !!!
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 !!!
30 May 2010
A Training Sketch
With about 19 weeks to go, I think it's now or never to come up with a sketch of my marathon plan !
When I was training for Seoul earlier this year, my typical week was as follows:
Mon: Intervals
Tue: Easy
Wed: Medium Long Run
Thu: Intervals
Fri: Easy
Sat: Long Run
Sun: off
The structure remains the same throughout the preparation period. The workouts were very interval based, ranging from short fast ones like 30s on/15s off or 60s on/30s off, to long intervals such as 6 x 5mins, and to even longer ones such as 15-10-5 mins done at slightly above tempo-ish pace. Similar to Aussie training which is based on 'repeated cycle', the workouts form month M would be repeated to month M+1, M+2 and so on. The notable difference is perhaps coach had 6-8 different workouts every month, while Deek/Mona were doing the same 2 workouts week in week out. Long runs were all easy aerobic, time on your feet thing.
Frankly, I am a bloke who loves doing tempo runs more than intervals. As mentioned last week, I train on my own and I find it extremely tough 'chasing ghosts' during my intervals. I also think having four key sessions consisting of 2 intervals and 2 long runs every week is a bit too much when my age is nearing 40 and especially, whilst training in the heat and humidity of Singapore. I am also one who likes to sprinkle some bursts of faster running into my long runs as compared to doing a single pace long run.
Increasing mileage and the number of running sessions per week are not an option for me.
Based on the above, I'd like to schedule a plan that suits my strength and at the same time, involves more variety. Since I like to incorporate interval, tempo/threshold running, and long run with MP into my plans, I don't think I can do all of them in one single week on sustainable, long term basis. With this in mind, I am going to give a two-week training cycle a try.
Here is a rough sketch:
Mon: Intervals (800-1600m reps)
Tue: Easy
Wed: Medium Long Run (aerobic)
Thu: Easy
Fri: Easy
Sat: Long Run with MP
Sun: off
Mon: Fartlek or short stuff (200-400s)
Tue: Easy
Wed: Medium Long Runs with Threshold running or progression runs
Thu: Easy
Fri: Easy
Sat: Long Run (aerobic)
Sun: off
I feel that this sketch fits my needs: 2 workouts, one long run plus 3 easy days and one rest day. It's essentially a mixed basket of workouts with one longer interval session to train aerobic capacity/vo2max, one interval session of shorter stuff like 200-400s or fartlek for lactate/neuromuscular training, one threshold session as part of medium long run, one MP session as part of long run, and two aerobic, fat burning long runs. Hence, they pretty much touch all aspects of physiological zones, albeit spread over a 14-day cycle.
The structure is also designed in such a way to lessen the risk of injury and over training:. For instance in Week 1, the (hard) interval session will be followed by an easy mid-week long run, to allow sufficient recovery in an endeavour to put in a faster, MP-esque long run in the weekend. In Week 2, the short reps/fartleks is placed early in the week (after hard long run) since they are not overly too taxing. This will be followed a threshold session mid-week and after two fast sessions, I will end the week with an easy long run.
I am also hoping the 'big workouts' such as MP long run and mid-week medium long run with threshold running embedded will better prepare me to meet the demands of marathon, since they are virtually race-pace simulation in disguise
However, there is a big difference between a training plan that I like and a training plan that works ! And I am pretty sure there will be choppy waters and slipperly slope along the way.
Any views/opinions guys?
When I was training for Seoul earlier this year, my typical week was as follows:
Mon: Intervals
Tue: Easy
Wed: Medium Long Run
Thu: Intervals
Fri: Easy
Sat: Long Run
Sun: off
The structure remains the same throughout the preparation period. The workouts were very interval based, ranging from short fast ones like 30s on/15s off or 60s on/30s off, to long intervals such as 6 x 5mins, and to even longer ones such as 15-10-5 mins done at slightly above tempo-ish pace. Similar to Aussie training which is based on 'repeated cycle', the workouts form month M would be repeated to month M+1, M+2 and so on. The notable difference is perhaps coach had 6-8 different workouts every month, while Deek/Mona were doing the same 2 workouts week in week out. Long runs were all easy aerobic, time on your feet thing.
Frankly, I am a bloke who loves doing tempo runs more than intervals. As mentioned last week, I train on my own and I find it extremely tough 'chasing ghosts' during my intervals. I also think having four key sessions consisting of 2 intervals and 2 long runs every week is a bit too much when my age is nearing 40 and especially, whilst training in the heat and humidity of Singapore. I am also one who likes to sprinkle some bursts of faster running into my long runs as compared to doing a single pace long run.
Increasing mileage and the number of running sessions per week are not an option for me.
Based on the above, I'd like to schedule a plan that suits my strength and at the same time, involves more variety. Since I like to incorporate interval, tempo/threshold running, and long run with MP into my plans, I don't think I can do all of them in one single week on sustainable, long term basis. With this in mind, I am going to give a two-week training cycle a try.
Here is a rough sketch:
Mon: Intervals (800-1600m reps)
Tue: Easy
Wed: Medium Long Run (aerobic)
Thu: Easy
Fri: Easy
Sat: Long Run with MP
Sun: off
Mon: Fartlek or short stuff (200-400s)
Tue: Easy
Wed: Medium Long Runs with Threshold running or progression runs
Thu: Easy
Fri: Easy
Sat: Long Run (aerobic)
Sun: off
I feel that this sketch fits my needs: 2 workouts, one long run plus 3 easy days and one rest day. It's essentially a mixed basket of workouts with one longer interval session to train aerobic capacity/vo2max, one interval session of shorter stuff like 200-400s or fartlek for lactate/neuromuscular training, one threshold session as part of medium long run, one MP session as part of long run, and two aerobic, fat burning long runs. Hence, they pretty much touch all aspects of physiological zones, albeit spread over a 14-day cycle.
The structure is also designed in such a way to lessen the risk of injury and over training:. For instance in Week 1, the (hard) interval session will be followed by an easy mid-week long run, to allow sufficient recovery in an endeavour to put in a faster, MP-esque long run in the weekend. In Week 2, the short reps/fartleks is placed early in the week (after hard long run) since they are not overly too taxing. This will be followed a threshold session mid-week and after two fast sessions, I will end the week with an easy long run.
I am also hoping the 'big workouts' such as MP long run and mid-week medium long run with threshold running embedded will better prepare me to meet the demands of marathon, since they are virtually race-pace simulation in disguise
However, there is a big difference between a training plan that I like and a training plan that works ! And I am pretty sure there will be choppy waters and slipperly slope along the way.
Any views/opinions guys?
23 May 2010
Goin' Solo Redux
Thanks guys for your comments last week - I am sold..
Rob - yes, I forgot that I might have a guaranteed pacer in you (assuming you don't break 3 before M)
TB & Ewen - thanks for the tips re: course description
Speedygeoff - you hit the nail on the head. I am an excessive sweater and never run well in the heat, so my performance is probably 'amplified' (if I can use that word) with the much colder weather - which in this case, is in favour of M.
Glad that one issue is now sorted.
I have decided to suspend coaching for now - at least for this cycle, but I might resume again if things do not work. I have certainly improved under the coach's guidance. Althouth, my marathon PB only came down by 1 minute, but 89/94 marathon split is definitely an improvement from GCM's 92/93.
As I have mentioned previously, the training system is based on an old-skool Aussie system with 2 intervals a week (I checked with somebody who trains under Pat Carrol and the structure is exactly similar, so presumably that's the Aussie way). However, I found it really difficult to do fast intervals since I am training on my own. It is so tough to push myself in order to run fast without any pulling forces. Coach has a squad (of all levels) training together a couple of times a week and all of his runners certainly thrive under this environment on the back of the group camaraderie. I've been struggling in 'upgrading' my interval paces required for the sub-3 without the help of any 'rabbits'.
I also feel that 2 intervals a week shred my legs as evidenced by the long recovery from marathon. Furthermore, since I have gone through one marathon training cycle under Coach, probably I can repeat the program again if I want to go back to the old program. I wish all the best to Coach and congratulate him on his achievement especially with this guy.
So, what is the game plan now? I am thinking to combine bits and pieces from various sources - maybe a few workouts from Coach, a few sessions from running books or internet (Pfitz, Daniels, Bakken, Mcmillan etc), and some which will be self-invented. I really love tempo runs and fartlek, hence I will surely include these babies! lI think it's gonna be fun to write your own training plan and hopefully I can come up with something half-decent!!
Finally, in case you guys wondering about my training journals. I've been doing okay lately but not great. Lots of therapeutic easy runs and with only 1 speed session a week. Did Passion Run 25k race in 1:49 - an average of 4:23 pace which included walking breaks at 8 drink stations in order to hydrate proper. The pace is slower than my current MP (4:20min/km) but not too shabby given I don't particularly race well in the heat. I also managed to sneak into 10th and got $75 shoe voucher.
I plan to start posting about training in a couple of weeks time, which is 18 weeks out from Melbourne and that's when my training starts proper.
The goal is now to finish running before the clock turning 10 on 10/10/10. Hahaha...interesting lottery numbers :p
Rob - yes, I forgot that I might have a guaranteed pacer in you (assuming you don't break 3 before M)
TB & Ewen - thanks for the tips re: course description
Speedygeoff - you hit the nail on the head. I am an excessive sweater and never run well in the heat, so my performance is probably 'amplified' (if I can use that word) with the much colder weather - which in this case, is in favour of M.
Glad that one issue is now sorted.
I have decided to suspend coaching for now - at least for this cycle, but I might resume again if things do not work. I have certainly improved under the coach's guidance. Althouth, my marathon PB only came down by 1 minute, but 89/94 marathon split is definitely an improvement from GCM's 92/93.
As I have mentioned previously, the training system is based on an old-skool Aussie system with 2 intervals a week (I checked with somebody who trains under Pat Carrol and the structure is exactly similar, so presumably that's the Aussie way). However, I found it really difficult to do fast intervals since I am training on my own. It is so tough to push myself in order to run fast without any pulling forces. Coach has a squad (of all levels) training together a couple of times a week and all of his runners certainly thrive under this environment on the back of the group camaraderie. I've been struggling in 'upgrading' my interval paces required for the sub-3 without the help of any 'rabbits'.
I also feel that 2 intervals a week shred my legs as evidenced by the long recovery from marathon. Furthermore, since I have gone through one marathon training cycle under Coach, probably I can repeat the program again if I want to go back to the old program. I wish all the best to Coach and congratulate him on his achievement especially with this guy.
So, what is the game plan now? I am thinking to combine bits and pieces from various sources - maybe a few workouts from Coach, a few sessions from running books or internet (Pfitz, Daniels, Bakken, Mcmillan etc), and some which will be self-invented. I really love tempo runs and fartlek, hence I will surely include these babies! lI think it's gonna be fun to write your own training plan and hopefully I can come up with something half-decent!!
Finally, in case you guys wondering about my training journals. I've been doing okay lately but not great. Lots of therapeutic easy runs and with only 1 speed session a week. Did Passion Run 25k race in 1:49 - an average of 4:23 pace which included walking breaks at 8 drink stations in order to hydrate proper. The pace is slower than my current MP (4:20min/km) but not too shabby given I don't particularly race well in the heat. I also managed to sneak into 10th and got $75 shoe voucher.
I plan to start posting about training in a couple of weeks time, which is 18 weeks out from Melbourne and that's when my training starts proper.
The goal is now to finish running before the clock turning 10 on 10/10/10. Hahaha...interesting lottery numbers :p
16 May 2010
S or M ?
I am not talking about t-shirt size here ;-)
Lately I've been following the cool running thread on Sydney Marathon with great interest, in particular with respect to the new course.
Somebody posted a map-my-run on the new course and if you click the elevation profile, it doesn't look that hilly anymore. As a matter of fact, after km 30 where people normally tend to slow down, the course goes downhill.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/australia/sydney/277127295354266055
Therefore, it seems that if a runner can navigate the first 30k and still have some in the tank, then sustaining goal pace in the last 10-12k is a real strong possibility due to the net descend.
Pros and Cons for Melbourne:
+ Three weeks later than Sydney equates to longer prep time
+ My in-laws has a house there = easier on the budget
+ HM race four weeks out; a useful test to predict marathon fitness and goal time
- Weather too unpredictable (although last year was great)
It seems the Melbourne course is flat with some rises at the end, but I haven't seen the course profile personally. Maybe TB who has done it in the last couple of years can chip in?
But if the weather sucks on the day, there is a risk that 4 months of good training will become a waste...
Pros and Cons for Sydney:
+ More reliable and pleasant weather conditions
+ Haven't done Sydney before and running the Harbour Bridge and finishing at Opera House will be special
- No tune-up races before the marathon
- I am not that great in hills (I always aim for flat marathons, hence past training always on the flat)
Currently still leaning towards Melbourne, but the new Sydney course is definitely very tempting.
Will not make decision until July/Aug, but any inputs will be appreciated. Thanks!
Lately I've been following the cool running thread on Sydney Marathon with great interest, in particular with respect to the new course.
Somebody posted a map-my-run on the new course and if you click the elevation profile, it doesn't look that hilly anymore. As a matter of fact, after km 30 where people normally tend to slow down, the course goes downhill.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/run/australia/sydney/277127295354266055
Therefore, it seems that if a runner can navigate the first 30k and still have some in the tank, then sustaining goal pace in the last 10-12k is a real strong possibility due to the net descend.
Pros and Cons for Melbourne:
+ Three weeks later than Sydney equates to longer prep time
+ My in-laws has a house there = easier on the budget
+ HM race four weeks out; a useful test to predict marathon fitness and goal time
- Weather too unpredictable (although last year was great)
It seems the Melbourne course is flat with some rises at the end, but I haven't seen the course profile personally. Maybe TB who has done it in the last couple of years can chip in?
But if the weather sucks on the day, there is a risk that 4 months of good training will become a waste...
Pros and Cons for Sydney:
+ More reliable and pleasant weather conditions
+ Haven't done Sydney before and running the Harbour Bridge and finishing at Opera House will be special
- No tune-up races before the marathon
- I am not that great in hills (I always aim for flat marathons, hence past training always on the flat)
Currently still leaning towards Melbourne, but the new Sydney course is definitely very tempting.
Will not make decision until July/Aug, but any inputs will be appreciated. Thanks!
10 May 2010
Another blow
So after navigating a lengthy bouts of poor training, flu virus and sluggishness, I was hoping that things would be on the improve this week. Unfortunately, I was hit by another one...
The week started with a medicore interval session. Did a few 800s and only managed to do them in 3:05-3:10. Considering that during marathon training, I did 8x800m in 3:00 average with 60sec recovery, I should find the 800s in 3:05-3:10 to be easy but they were not. My 200s were also slow at around 44secs (3:40 pace), compared to my usual 40-42secs. I am not a speedster type but these are disappointing even according to my standards. I had a 5.6k race planned on Thursday so things were not looking good!
On Thursday, I participated in the 5.6k JP Morgan Challenge together with my work colleagues and 11,000 other runners from Singapore corporate world. Completed the race in 21:20 or about 19:00 5k pace. Considering my 5k PB was 18:45 and the fact that I am not training well at the moment, the results were not too shabby on the surface. However, after some reflections, I think I should have blasted my 5k PB easily considering that it was done 4 years ago and all my training paces are much faster now than back then. During this 4 year window, I have also slashed my marathon PB by 15 minutes but my 5k times remained the same even after doing a lot of interval training under SW. Hmm, even when my training sucks at the moment, I know that I should have been capable of better timing.
And now, the blow....On Friday, I was watching telly and was munching on this Asian snack (cuttlefish jerky) and sipped a glass of wine. As the jerky was probably processed using a lot of acidic stuff/chemicals and combined with the sourness of merlot, I had this acid flux in my body. For the whole weekend, I was suffering from frequent severe heartburn. Had difficulty in sleeping as lying down made it worse. Took me the whole 2 days to shake out the damn thing and even now, I still had the burnt here and there albeit at low levels.
I think I need to see a witch to remove me from the bad jinx and to un-needle the voodoo doll !!!
The week started with a medicore interval session. Did a few 800s and only managed to do them in 3:05-3:10. Considering that during marathon training, I did 8x800m in 3:00 average with 60sec recovery, I should find the 800s in 3:05-3:10 to be easy but they were not. My 200s were also slow at around 44secs (3:40 pace), compared to my usual 40-42secs. I am not a speedster type but these are disappointing even according to my standards. I had a 5.6k race planned on Thursday so things were not looking good!
On Thursday, I participated in the 5.6k JP Morgan Challenge together with my work colleagues and 11,000 other runners from Singapore corporate world. Completed the race in 21:20 or about 19:00 5k pace. Considering my 5k PB was 18:45 and the fact that I am not training well at the moment, the results were not too shabby on the surface. However, after some reflections, I think I should have blasted my 5k PB easily considering that it was done 4 years ago and all my training paces are much faster now than back then. During this 4 year window, I have also slashed my marathon PB by 15 minutes but my 5k times remained the same even after doing a lot of interval training under SW. Hmm, even when my training sucks at the moment, I know that I should have been capable of better timing.
And now, the blow....On Friday, I was watching telly and was munching on this Asian snack (cuttlefish jerky) and sipped a glass of wine. As the jerky was probably processed using a lot of acidic stuff/chemicals and combined with the sourness of merlot, I had this acid flux in my body. For the whole weekend, I was suffering from frequent severe heartburn. Had difficulty in sleeping as lying down made it worse. Took me the whole 2 days to shake out the damn thing and even now, I still had the burnt here and there albeit at low levels.
I think I need to see a witch to remove me from the bad jinx and to un-needle the voodoo doll !!!
Above: Start area of JP Morgan Race in Singapore CBD
Below: That's me at the start, a guy in BP green tee & pink racer :)
01 May 2010
The Lost Mojo
I think I am officially having a depression...
It has been six weeks after the marathon, but I still can't shake out the tiredness and mental fatique. I am sure that everyone dips after a marathon race, but I've dipped to an extremely low level and wondered if I can be the same runner I was.
The common rule of thumb for recovery is 1 rest day for every mile raced. It has been 40 days and I am still not running well. Nowadays I found it 'hard' to run longer than 1 hour. I got tired easily and my legs felt dead and burning. Psychologically, I also seem to lose a lot of competitive juice or the 'mojo' to train.
In the last few weeks, I probably had about 3-4 long runs that ended-up as walk-run sessions. Speed workouts also turned into disasters. On Friday, I planned to run my favourite workout of 5x5mins session but I only could finish 1 rep. SW has designed an easy program post marathon, however for some reasons I am just not the same runner I was.
Some possible reasons:
- I ran my heart out in Seoul and probably I was pressing my upper stress limit (e.g a 87min HM runner running 89/94 marathon splits). The effort predisposed me to recovery problems, both mentally and physically
- fatiqued musculosketal system, leading to heavy legs syndrome
- post-marathon depression and mood swings. It has been documented that choline, a neurotransmitter precursor, is depleted with marathon-like efforts.
- low iron levels
- hormonal imbalance
Wondering what should I do to get out of this pariah situation? People said 1-2 months after a marathon can lead to the best shape of your lives on the back of marathon fitness (e.g Ritz which broke 5k AR, 60min HM after London). Unfortunately, it didn't happen to me and wondered whether it will. The worst thing is that the recent slew of failed/aborted workouts lead to more and more heightened frustrations.
I am depressed, frustrated and slow :(
It has been six weeks after the marathon, but I still can't shake out the tiredness and mental fatique. I am sure that everyone dips after a marathon race, but I've dipped to an extremely low level and wondered if I can be the same runner I was.
The common rule of thumb for recovery is 1 rest day for every mile raced. It has been 40 days and I am still not running well. Nowadays I found it 'hard' to run longer than 1 hour. I got tired easily and my legs felt dead and burning. Psychologically, I also seem to lose a lot of competitive juice or the 'mojo' to train.
In the last few weeks, I probably had about 3-4 long runs that ended-up as walk-run sessions. Speed workouts also turned into disasters. On Friday, I planned to run my favourite workout of 5x5mins session but I only could finish 1 rep. SW has designed an easy program post marathon, however for some reasons I am just not the same runner I was.
Some possible reasons:
- I ran my heart out in Seoul and probably I was pressing my upper stress limit (e.g a 87min HM runner running 89/94 marathon splits). The effort predisposed me to recovery problems, both mentally and physically
- fatiqued musculosketal system, leading to heavy legs syndrome
- post-marathon depression and mood swings. It has been documented that choline, a neurotransmitter precursor, is depleted with marathon-like efforts.
- low iron levels
- hormonal imbalance
Wondering what should I do to get out of this pariah situation? People said 1-2 months after a marathon can lead to the best shape of your lives on the back of marathon fitness (e.g Ritz which broke 5k AR, 60min HM after London). Unfortunately, it didn't happen to me and wondered whether it will. The worst thing is that the recent slew of failed/aborted workouts lead to more and more heightened frustrations.
I am depressed, frustrated and slow :(
25 April 2010
Not a good week
Not a good week.
Caught a flu virus mid-week and felt unwell. Was knackered on Friday, took 1/2 day MC and anti-biotic. Felt better by Saturday arvo.
Unfortunately the week didn't end there as I had a race to do on Sunday. I registered for this 13k trail race long time ago because I thought this would be a good workout for Gold Coast Marathon in July. As you all know, Gold Coast is off from my calendar this year and instead I did Seoul Marathon a month ago. Hence I was left with a race that I didn't really need to do. I tried to sell my slot in the local running forum at a steeply discounted price but nobody wanted it.
So, after two days of bed rests, I decided to do the race as a training run. Just took it easy all the way, walked the hill, chatted with a friend and finished in 67mins (av 5:10) pace. A pretty expensive outing for a training run !
Next week looks like a busy one at work with a possible business trip. Looking back, I reckoned that I was extremely lucky that I had about 2 months of uninterrupted training for Seoul. No sickness, no business trips, and work load was very light following the festive seasons (both year-end and Chinese new year in Feb) - all of which enabled me to train consistently. At my current shape, I think I would count myself lucky to run a 4:00 marathon !
If you guys follow this blog for the purpose to see me training, please look away now and check back 3 months before marathon date :p
Training this week:
Mon: 16k including 45mins @ 4:10
Tues: 40mins easy (av pace 5:26)
Wed: 40mins including 4x1min hills, 6x20sec hills (av 5:00)
Thu: 18k easy (av 4:57)
Fri: sick :(
Sat: sick :(
Sun: 16k incl F1 Nature Run 13k trail race in 1h07m (av 5:10 pace)
Total 66k for the week
Caught a flu virus mid-week and felt unwell. Was knackered on Friday, took 1/2 day MC and anti-biotic. Felt better by Saturday arvo.
Unfortunately the week didn't end there as I had a race to do on Sunday. I registered for this 13k trail race long time ago because I thought this would be a good workout for Gold Coast Marathon in July. As you all know, Gold Coast is off from my calendar this year and instead I did Seoul Marathon a month ago. Hence I was left with a race that I didn't really need to do. I tried to sell my slot in the local running forum at a steeply discounted price but nobody wanted it.
So, after two days of bed rests, I decided to do the race as a training run. Just took it easy all the way, walked the hill, chatted with a friend and finished in 67mins (av 5:10) pace. A pretty expensive outing for a training run !
Next week looks like a busy one at work with a possible business trip. Looking back, I reckoned that I was extremely lucky that I had about 2 months of uninterrupted training for Seoul. No sickness, no business trips, and work load was very light following the festive seasons (both year-end and Chinese new year in Feb) - all of which enabled me to train consistently. At my current shape, I think I would count myself lucky to run a 4:00 marathon !
If you guys follow this blog for the purpose to see me training, please look away now and check back 3 months before marathon date :p
Training this week:
Mon: 16k including 45mins @ 4:10
Tues: 40mins easy (av pace 5:26)
Wed: 40mins including 4x1min hills, 6x20sec hills (av 5:00)
Thu: 18k easy (av 4:57)
Fri: sick :(
Sat: sick :(
Sun: 16k incl F1 Nature Run 13k trail race in 1h07m (av 5:10 pace)
Total 66k for the week
20 April 2010
Shout outs
A couple of quick shout-outs:
Congrats to Rob for the 3h.02m in Boston. What a great place to break your PB. Let's rock the 3-hour barrier together in Melbourne !!
And to Epi who finished in 3h01 coming out of knee surgey barely couple of months ago !
To SW - whose stable won the Australian national title for 5000m Men, as well as silver in 5000m Women
Also to Ronnie who got a big PB and BQ'ed in Nagano Marathon, Japan.
As for me, nothing much to shout about. Had a mediocre training week: 6 x 1k at 3:50 and 6k tempo on undulanting road at 4:10 - which were decent, but had a miserable long run. The muscles seem to lose their elasticity and stiffened a lot during long runs.
One month gone since Seoul and I think I am about 70-75% back. Hopefully things will pick up a notch this week.
Congrats to Rob for the 3h.02m in Boston. What a great place to break your PB. Let's rock the 3-hour barrier together in Melbourne !!
And to Epi who finished in 3h01 coming out of knee surgey barely couple of months ago !
To SW - whose stable won the Australian national title for 5000m Men, as well as silver in 5000m Women
Also to Ronnie who got a big PB and BQ'ed in Nagano Marathon, Japan.
As for me, nothing much to shout about. Had a mediocre training week: 6 x 1k at 3:50 and 6k tempo on undulanting road at 4:10 - which were decent, but had a miserable long run. The muscles seem to lose their elasticity and stiffened a lot during long runs.
One month gone since Seoul and I think I am about 70-75% back. Hopefully things will pick up a notch this week.
10 April 2010
Still toast
All the best to Craig and Rob who will be running Boston Marathon next week !
Rob - I think you have an excellent shot at sub-3 in Boston given how well you have trained over the last couple of months. Craig - hopefully your injury will come good by race day.
Here is a Ryan Hall video on the Boston course for some motivation :)
see here
The Seoul result means that I have qualified for Boston 2011, however I don't think we'll go there in the next few years. Not sure Sling Jr will enjoy the 20 hr flight! Furthermore, sub-3 is much higher on my scale of fixation a the moment. I think it's more fun to run Boston as a holiday marathon, enjoying the course and atmosphere.
On the training front, I seem to lose some juice this week. My legs feel dead and burning although I've ran quite little since the marathon 3 weeks ago.
Tuesday run turned out to be walk-run affair since it was a hot & stuffy day. Just had no desire to run. On Thursday I did 4 x 5mins at threshold pace and it was bloody hard. My av pace was 4:00-4:03 min/km, with 2min rec in between and HR in 170-183 range. In contrast, during the marathon prep, I did 6 x 5mins averaging 3:50s with only 1min jog, and HR was only around 170 and didn't climb above 180 at all. Thus, my threshold session this week was 10secs per km slower, with twice the length of rest time, but HR was 10 bpm higher!
Maybe this is a sign that I am still not 100% recovered from the marathon effort. To make things worse, I had an uncomfortable niggle in the ankle too. Possibly due to the jarring effect from wearing racing flats during the marathon.
Interestingly. I always have bad jinx after marathons. After running Joong-an Marathon in 2008, I jumped straight into training with a view of running a fast 10k the following month, but a week before the race I damaged my ankle ligament and was then out out action for 2 months. In 2009 after running Gold Coast, I jumped straight into hard training with a view to run a HM 1.5 months later. At the end, I completed the Army HM but only averaged at my marathon pace due to tired legs.
Let's hope the post-marathon curse will go away !
S: 40 mins (av 4:45) including 15 x 30secs on/off
M: 30 mins easy (av 5:30)
T: 60 mins run/walk (av pace 6:00+)
W: 35 mins easy (av 5:12)
T: 50 mins including 4 x 5mins @ 4:00, 2mins rec
F: off
S: 98 mins easy (av 4:55)
Rob - I think you have an excellent shot at sub-3 in Boston given how well you have trained over the last couple of months. Craig - hopefully your injury will come good by race day.
Here is a Ryan Hall video on the Boston course for some motivation :)
see here
The Seoul result means that I have qualified for Boston 2011, however I don't think we'll go there in the next few years. Not sure Sling Jr will enjoy the 20 hr flight! Furthermore, sub-3 is much higher on my scale of fixation a the moment. I think it's more fun to run Boston as a holiday marathon, enjoying the course and atmosphere.
On the training front, I seem to lose some juice this week. My legs feel dead and burning although I've ran quite little since the marathon 3 weeks ago.
Tuesday run turned out to be walk-run affair since it was a hot & stuffy day. Just had no desire to run. On Thursday I did 4 x 5mins at threshold pace and it was bloody hard. My av pace was 4:00-4:03 min/km, with 2min rec in between and HR in 170-183 range. In contrast, during the marathon prep, I did 6 x 5mins averaging 3:50s with only 1min jog, and HR was only around 170 and didn't climb above 180 at all. Thus, my threshold session this week was 10secs per km slower, with twice the length of rest time, but HR was 10 bpm higher!
Maybe this is a sign that I am still not 100% recovered from the marathon effort. To make things worse, I had an uncomfortable niggle in the ankle too. Possibly due to the jarring effect from wearing racing flats during the marathon.
Interestingly. I always have bad jinx after marathons. After running Joong-an Marathon in 2008, I jumped straight into training with a view of running a fast 10k the following month, but a week before the race I damaged my ankle ligament and was then out out action for 2 months. In 2009 after running Gold Coast, I jumped straight into hard training with a view to run a HM 1.5 months later. At the end, I completed the Army HM but only averaged at my marathon pace due to tired legs.
Let's hope the post-marathon curse will go away !
S: 40 mins (av 4:45) including 15 x 30secs on/off
M: 30 mins easy (av 5:30)
T: 60 mins run/walk (av pace 6:00+)
W: 35 mins easy (av 5:12)
T: 50 mins including 4 x 5mins @ 4:00, 2mins rec
F: off
S: 98 mins easy (av 4:55)
03 April 2010
Slackin'
Initially was keeping one eye on Perth Marathon on 20/06. But after doing some maths: 4 weeks to recover/re-build from Seoul, then another 6-7 weeks of training, I think the improvement from training is likely to be minimal due to the short, half-baked marathon prep again. Anyway, I've done too many 8 weeks marathon preps in my life!
Gold Coast in July is not an option due to my bro's wedding. So, that leaves Melbourne on 10/10/10 as the most viable option, six months way from now. Review from last year wasn't that great though, with lots of sub-3 and low 3 marathoners bumping in a great wall of HM/10k runners, so let's hope the organizer can fix that.
Plan to do some short races in the next 1-2 months. Hopefully, the racing and training will keep me to stay motivated. An October marathon is such a long way to go.
Anyway, running has been really minimal since the marathon. Took one week off after the race and started doing 30-40mins runs during the second week. SW seems to take marathon recovery seriously and honestly, I was a tad worried that I won't be able to leverage on the marathon fitness due to the lengthy period of inactivity.
It is surprising that although, I didn't feel wasted after the marathon, I found it hard to get going running in Singapore again. Legs were stiff and it was simply not fun to be drenched in sweat again. On Good Friday, I did 1hr+ run and it felt like I was doing a marathon.
Probably it's wise to take a longer post-race recovery this time since the marathon is still gonna be 6 months away. Past experience seemed to agree with this. Following last year's Gold Coast marathon, I did a 8k race just a few days later then jumped straight into 5 weeks of hard training to get ready for the Army HM. At the race, I could only run the HM at my GC's marathon pace !!
That's all folks - really nothing much to blog about this week. To close, here are a couple of photos from Seoul marathon:
This looks like a scene taken from 3000m race. But it's actually the last 300m of the marathon inside 1988 Olympic Stadium.
Starting marathon temperature was 0c. I hardly sweat at all - the wet marks on the front of the shirt was due to drinking water spill.
Gold Coast in July is not an option due to my bro's wedding. So, that leaves Melbourne on 10/10/10 as the most viable option, six months way from now. Review from last year wasn't that great though, with lots of sub-3 and low 3 marathoners bumping in a great wall of HM/10k runners, so let's hope the organizer can fix that.
Plan to do some short races in the next 1-2 months. Hopefully, the racing and training will keep me to stay motivated. An October marathon is such a long way to go.
Anyway, running has been really minimal since the marathon. Took one week off after the race and started doing 30-40mins runs during the second week. SW seems to take marathon recovery seriously and honestly, I was a tad worried that I won't be able to leverage on the marathon fitness due to the lengthy period of inactivity.
It is surprising that although, I didn't feel wasted after the marathon, I found it hard to get going running in Singapore again. Legs were stiff and it was simply not fun to be drenched in sweat again. On Good Friday, I did 1hr+ run and it felt like I was doing a marathon.
Probably it's wise to take a longer post-race recovery this time since the marathon is still gonna be 6 months away. Past experience seemed to agree with this. Following last year's Gold Coast marathon, I did a 8k race just a few days later then jumped straight into 5 weeks of hard training to get ready for the Army HM. At the race, I could only run the HM at my GC's marathon pace !!
That's all folks - really nothing much to blog about this week. To close, here are a couple of photos from Seoul marathon:
This looks like a scene taken from 3000m race. But it's actually the last 300m of the marathon inside 1988 Olympic Stadium.
Starting marathon temperature was 0c. I hardly sweat at all - the wet marks on the front of the shirt was due to drinking water spill.
26 March 2010
2010 Seoul International Marathon
A belated race report. Just came back from a week long holiday in Seoul and the picturesque Jeju Island celebrating Sling Jr's 1st birthday.
3:03:49…..
My first attempt at sub-3 and honestly I wasn't good enough on the day. Started a tad too fast and got punctured after km 30.
My reaction is mixed…a little bit disappointed, but at the same time felt reasonably pleased too (if you know what I mean). I'd say in the scale of happiness, I would rate it a 7.
Here we go:
We landed in Seoul on Wednesday and it was snowing !!! It was freezing and wet coupled with blustery wind. What a welcome! On the next day, I went out for a 40min run and it was still freezing even with gloves and beanie. My body was shaking and I could hardly get the words out of my mouth when I ordered a coffee after the run. During the run, I also bumped into 3 Kenyan runners as our hotel (Westin) was just across the road from the elite athletes' hotel (Seoul Plaza). I ran behind them and was surprised to see that their 'shake out' run was very, very slow. I was jogging at 5:00 pace and had to intentionally slow down in order not to pass them. It is just too rude to pass runners who can run marathons 1 hour faster than you !!!
I then started my carbo load. Didn't run on Friday as we went for sightseeing to the snow capped Mt Seorak. Had 7k run on Saturday morning and slept early.
Come Sunday, it was around 0c at the start. I was grouped in the 'A' corral for runners with faster timing than 3h:20m. We started about 5 minutes behind the elites. As Seoul is an IAAF Gold Label race (same level as Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, NY etc), the race attracted a deep elite field. In the Mens, it included a 2:05 runner and about 10 sub-2:10 athletes. In the Womens, it included a Chinese lady who got 3rd placed in the Olympics and a few African and European runners. The conditions were a tad too cold to my liking and my body was shaking.
I started with the sub-3 pacemakers and the pace was fast from the start. Despite the fast start, I found the effort to be very easy due to the temperature differential between Seoul and Singapore. We passed the 10k mark in 41:47 (about 4:10-11 pace) and the pacemakers continued running at 4:10 pace. I decided to let them go and ran on my own. I carried four gels but dropped one packet at km15 (not sure whether it made a difference to the end result given I ran out of steam then). I passed the HM mark in 89:07 with the pace group was nowhere to be seen (probably they passed halfway in 87-88 minutes). I was still feeling good at this point and continue to chug along.
Due to the large crowd (23,000 runners), I missed the initial km markers and decided to split every 5km where they have the official markers (chip recording)
5k - 20:56
10k - 20:51 (41:47)
15k - 21:29
20k - 21:14 (42:43)
Halfway: 89:07
In the second half, we went towards the south east and encountered pretty strong headwind. As runners began to thin out, I couldn't get sufficient shielding from the elements as we ran on very open, wide roads. My pace slowed slightly but I was still on sub-3 pace at km 30 (2h:07m).
25k - 21:29
30k - 21:38 (43:07)
Afterwards, the wheels began to come off. My legs seemed to run out of gas and the windy conditions made it even tougher. I just couldn't move my legs fast and my strides got shorter and shorter. My pace slowed to 4:30 pace between km 30-35 and passed km 35 in 2h:30m. At this point, I was about 1m:40s behind the sub-3 pace and realized that it wasn't gonna happen today. It now become a test of perseverance. I was tired, low on fuel, 1m:40s behind my goal pace and it was still over 7k to go.
We climbed a bridge over the wide Han River towards the Jamsil area and my pace continued to deteriorate to around 4:40. I passed km 40 in 2:53:40, about 3mins + behind the 2h:50m required for sub 3. I picked up the pace slightly as we went into the 1992 Olympics Stadium and finished in 3:03:49 - a 1 minute PB from last year's GCM.
35k - 22:45
40k - 23:18 (46:03)
2.2k - 10:09
Second half: 94:42
Surprisingly, the first thing that crossed my mind when I passed the finishing mat is when will be my next marathon? I just can't hardly wait...
Anyway, there were negatives and positives from the race and both serve as valuable lessons for my next marathon, such as
- I started too fast (especially the first 10k). Perhaps holding back a bit would give me a better results.
- Maybe I am still 'too marginal' to attempt a sub-3. My coach suggested me to run at 3:01 pace and picked it up in the 2nd half if I had the chance to go for gold. Perhaps if I follow the coach's order, I can finish in 3:01 or 3:02. But I don't know whether that's what I really want
- I think I need to lower my HM time to around 85 (from 87 currently), otherwise there is not much room for error (must rely on perfect pacing, calm conditions etc)
- I feel that I need to consider doing more marathon than 1 per year as it is currently (2006 DNF, 2007 DNF, one marathon each in 2008, 2009, and 2010). I reckon I can better navigate the situation after km 30 if I have more marathoning experience.
+ Happy with the PB considering that this race was unplanned and I only decided to run 8 weeks ago after taking almost the whole of December off. Not a bad return for such as short prep.
+ Despite still stuck with the same 10k and 21k PBs (39 & 87) in the last 3 years, I managed to lower my marathon time by 15mins from 3.18 to 3.11 to 3:05 and now to 3.03
+ Hitting the wall at km 30 officially makes me a classic sub-3 wannabe. However, I have seen some people crashed and burned and ran 10-15 minutes slower in the second half. Because I was able to keep the damage to about 5mins positive split (despite the fast start and windy conditions), I think I am not too far away from sub-3.
+ Another good sign is that I didn't feel wasted at all after the run. In previous years, I could hardly walk for days after the marathon, but this time I felt good even right after finishing the run.
After the race, I managed to get my shirt signed by Lee Bong Ju, the 2001 Boston marathon champ and 1996 Olympic silver medalist. Hopefully, the autograph wouldn't wear away after the wash!
Now, the dilemma is whether I should do another marathon in 2-3 months time or should I just train for 4-6 months to prepare for Melbourne in October. Once you flirt, you just don't wanna stop!!!
3:03:49…..
My first attempt at sub-3 and honestly I wasn't good enough on the day. Started a tad too fast and got punctured after km 30.
My reaction is mixed…a little bit disappointed, but at the same time felt reasonably pleased too (if you know what I mean). I'd say in the scale of happiness, I would rate it a 7.
Here we go:
We landed in Seoul on Wednesday and it was snowing !!! It was freezing and wet coupled with blustery wind. What a welcome! On the next day, I went out for a 40min run and it was still freezing even with gloves and beanie. My body was shaking and I could hardly get the words out of my mouth when I ordered a coffee after the run. During the run, I also bumped into 3 Kenyan runners as our hotel (Westin) was just across the road from the elite athletes' hotel (Seoul Plaza). I ran behind them and was surprised to see that their 'shake out' run was very, very slow. I was jogging at 5:00 pace and had to intentionally slow down in order not to pass them. It is just too rude to pass runners who can run marathons 1 hour faster than you !!!
I then started my carbo load. Didn't run on Friday as we went for sightseeing to the snow capped Mt Seorak. Had 7k run on Saturday morning and slept early.
Come Sunday, it was around 0c at the start. I was grouped in the 'A' corral for runners with faster timing than 3h:20m. We started about 5 minutes behind the elites. As Seoul is an IAAF Gold Label race (same level as Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago, NY etc), the race attracted a deep elite field. In the Mens, it included a 2:05 runner and about 10 sub-2:10 athletes. In the Womens, it included a Chinese lady who got 3rd placed in the Olympics and a few African and European runners. The conditions were a tad too cold to my liking and my body was shaking.
I started with the sub-3 pacemakers and the pace was fast from the start. Despite the fast start, I found the effort to be very easy due to the temperature differential between Seoul and Singapore. We passed the 10k mark in 41:47 (about 4:10-11 pace) and the pacemakers continued running at 4:10 pace. I decided to let them go and ran on my own. I carried four gels but dropped one packet at km15 (not sure whether it made a difference to the end result given I ran out of steam then). I passed the HM mark in 89:07 with the pace group was nowhere to be seen (probably they passed halfway in 87-88 minutes). I was still feeling good at this point and continue to chug along.
Due to the large crowd (23,000 runners), I missed the initial km markers and decided to split every 5km where they have the official markers (chip recording)
5k - 20:56
10k - 20:51 (41:47)
15k - 21:29
20k - 21:14 (42:43)
Halfway: 89:07
In the second half, we went towards the south east and encountered pretty strong headwind. As runners began to thin out, I couldn't get sufficient shielding from the elements as we ran on very open, wide roads. My pace slowed slightly but I was still on sub-3 pace at km 30 (2h:07m).
25k - 21:29
30k - 21:38 (43:07)
Afterwards, the wheels began to come off. My legs seemed to run out of gas and the windy conditions made it even tougher. I just couldn't move my legs fast and my strides got shorter and shorter. My pace slowed to 4:30 pace between km 30-35 and passed km 35 in 2h:30m. At this point, I was about 1m:40s behind the sub-3 pace and realized that it wasn't gonna happen today. It now become a test of perseverance. I was tired, low on fuel, 1m:40s behind my goal pace and it was still over 7k to go.
We climbed a bridge over the wide Han River towards the Jamsil area and my pace continued to deteriorate to around 4:40. I passed km 40 in 2:53:40, about 3mins + behind the 2h:50m required for sub 3. I picked up the pace slightly as we went into the 1992 Olympics Stadium and finished in 3:03:49 - a 1 minute PB from last year's GCM.
35k - 22:45
40k - 23:18 (46:03)
2.2k - 10:09
Second half: 94:42
Surprisingly, the first thing that crossed my mind when I passed the finishing mat is when will be my next marathon? I just can't hardly wait...
Anyway, there were negatives and positives from the race and both serve as valuable lessons for my next marathon, such as
- I started too fast (especially the first 10k). Perhaps holding back a bit would give me a better results.
- Maybe I am still 'too marginal' to attempt a sub-3. My coach suggested me to run at 3:01 pace and picked it up in the 2nd half if I had the chance to go for gold. Perhaps if I follow the coach's order, I can finish in 3:01 or 3:02. But I don't know whether that's what I really want
- I think I need to lower my HM time to around 85 (from 87 currently), otherwise there is not much room for error (must rely on perfect pacing, calm conditions etc)
- I feel that I need to consider doing more marathon than 1 per year as it is currently (2006 DNF, 2007 DNF, one marathon each in 2008, 2009, and 2010). I reckon I can better navigate the situation after km 30 if I have more marathoning experience.
+ Happy with the PB considering that this race was unplanned and I only decided to run 8 weeks ago after taking almost the whole of December off. Not a bad return for such as short prep.
+ Despite still stuck with the same 10k and 21k PBs (39 & 87) in the last 3 years, I managed to lower my marathon time by 15mins from 3.18 to 3.11 to 3:05 and now to 3.03
+ Hitting the wall at km 30 officially makes me a classic sub-3 wannabe. However, I have seen some people crashed and burned and ran 10-15 minutes slower in the second half. Because I was able to keep the damage to about 5mins positive split (despite the fast start and windy conditions), I think I am not too far away from sub-3.
+ Another good sign is that I didn't feel wasted at all after the run. In previous years, I could hardly walk for days after the marathon, but this time I felt good even right after finishing the run.
After the race, I managed to get my shirt signed by Lee Bong Ju, the 2001 Boston marathon champ and 1996 Olympic silver medalist. Hopefully, the autograph wouldn't wear away after the wash!
Now, the dilemma is whether I should do another marathon in 2-3 months time or should I just train for 4-6 months to prepare for Melbourne in October. Once you flirt, you just don't wanna stop!!!
14 March 2010
The Flirt
Six days to go to Seoul…
Okie, last week was supposed to be a taper week. But due to the postponed long run from the previous weekend, I did a cumulative 88k+ over the last seven days. This is the first time I ever go to marathon race week with that kind of mileage. The planned time trial turned out to be a dud but it doesn't matter anymore now. The hard work was already done over the last couple of months and I have to trust my training.
Have been looking at my logs for Seoul and last year's prep for Gold Coast. Some stats below:
Mileage (excluding race week):
GC: 1060 in 11 weeks of prep, average 96
Seoul: 867 in 10 weeks, average 86
** GC prep had 200 more kms in the legs. Last year ran 7 days a week, this year only 6 days.
** Average training pace (all runs) about 5:00 during GC prep, this year average is 4:50-4:55
Long Runs:
GC: 9, average 30k
Seoul: 9, average 31k
** One different thing this year is less stoppages during my long runs. For example, carrying fuel belt resulting in 5mins stop during a 3-hour LSD. Last year took 2mins break every half an hour to drink.
** LSD paces are now about 5secs/km faster, but GC prep had more quality long runs at MP.
Medium Long Runs:
GC: 7, average 21k
Seoul: 9, average 20k
** This year more medium long runs, done on undulanting terrain. Also often ran last part of the long run at moderate pace (halfway between MP and easy, say around 4:45 for me)
MP long runs (part of long runs above):
GC: 3 times, between 15-26k, done in intervals form e.g. 6-5-4-3-2-1k or 30-25-20-15-10-5 mins @ MP
Seoul: 2 times, more continuous and in fast finish format e.g. 10k ez + 2x10k MP or 16k ez + 10k MP
** Less total MP work time but longer per session (10k per interval), the sessions are also done at the end of long runs (vs fresh legs)
** This year I ran the two MP sessions at 4:16-17 (hypothetical goal) versus 4:20s for GC
Intervals:
Both GC & Seoul prep had 7 interval sessions, covering 7k of fast work each session
** For GC, I used 1k or 1600 reps due to the mentality that longer intervals are better for marathon. Did them at 3:50s (around 10k pace), recovery 200-400m or standing rests
** Under SW, intervals vary between 5mins to as short as 30 secs. For 5mins stuff, I ran them at 3:50s, for 30-60secs at 3:30-40 pace
** Recovery is a short 1 minute for 3-5mins intervals, e.g. I ran a Yasso workout 8 x 800m in 3:00 each (3:45 pace) with 1min jog, or 5x5mins @ 3:50s pace, 1min jog
Tempos (both LT and MP):
GC: 8 sessions, average 36 mins of work each (included a couple of 40-60 mins tempo at MP)
Seoul: 8 sessions, average 32mins of work each (no MP tempo, all threshold stuff)
** Almost same format for LT sessions, either 3 x 10mins or continuous 20-25mins. But this year's pace is a few secs per km faster
** Longest continous tempo for GC 14k @ 4:24 (161 bpm HR), while for Seoul 15k @ 4:08 (169 bpm HR)
Race temperature and Results:
GC: 3:04:50, around 10c, calm, sunny
Seoul: ????, forecast 0c to 7c
** Temperature will be a challenge. Haven't raced in sub-0 or low 0 temperature since living in Perth. But anything is still better than running in Singapore (28c, 90% humidity)
Overall, I feel that I am in a better shape than last year's prep for Gold Coast, but is it enough for sub-3?. My best HM time is 87, doing 89 HM back to back sounds like a high risk proposition
But should I take the risk and test the water a bit? Should I flirt?
Anyway, training ths week
Mon (long):
28.6k long run in 135mins (av pace 4:46)
First 16k easy, then 10k @ 4:16 pace, 2k easy
Postponed run from the weekend
Tue (easy):
23mins on treadmill (av pace 5:45) + core
Wed (easy):
16k easy with strides in 80mins (av pace 5:03)
Thu (time trial):
6k in 23:18 (av 3:53)
Splits: 3:50, 3:50, 3;50, 3:52, 3:57, 4:00
3.5k wu, 3.5k cd
Total 13k
The plan was 8k TT, but legs were like lead. Felt sluggish, haven't recovered from 28k three days ago and 16k run 18 hours earlier
Decided to pull the plug after 6k, didn't want to go to the bottom of the well
Fri (rest):
Off.
Sat (threshold):
15mins @ 4:02, 4mins rec, 10mins @ 3:57, 3mins rec, 5mins @3:49
Total fast stuff 7.56k in 30:00 (av pace 3:58), including rec jogs 8.9k in 37:00 (av pace 4:10)
3k wu, 3k cd
Total 15k
Sun (easy):
12k easy in 60mins (av pace 5:02)
Total 88.6k for the week (second last week before the race)
Okie, last week was supposed to be a taper week. But due to the postponed long run from the previous weekend, I did a cumulative 88k+ over the last seven days. This is the first time I ever go to marathon race week with that kind of mileage. The planned time trial turned out to be a dud but it doesn't matter anymore now. The hard work was already done over the last couple of months and I have to trust my training.
Have been looking at my logs for Seoul and last year's prep for Gold Coast. Some stats below:
Mileage (excluding race week):
GC: 1060 in 11 weeks of prep, average 96
Seoul: 867 in 10 weeks, average 86
** GC prep had 200 more kms in the legs. Last year ran 7 days a week, this year only 6 days.
** Average training pace (all runs) about 5:00 during GC prep, this year average is 4:50-4:55
Long Runs:
GC: 9, average 30k
Seoul: 9, average 31k
** One different thing this year is less stoppages during my long runs. For example, carrying fuel belt resulting in 5mins stop during a 3-hour LSD. Last year took 2mins break every half an hour to drink.
** LSD paces are now about 5secs/km faster, but GC prep had more quality long runs at MP.
Medium Long Runs:
GC: 7, average 21k
Seoul: 9, average 20k
** This year more medium long runs, done on undulanting terrain. Also often ran last part of the long run at moderate pace (halfway between MP and easy, say around 4:45 for me)
MP long runs (part of long runs above):
GC: 3 times, between 15-26k, done in intervals form e.g. 6-5-4-3-2-1k or 30-25-20-15-10-5 mins @ MP
Seoul: 2 times, more continuous and in fast finish format e.g. 10k ez + 2x10k MP or 16k ez + 10k MP
** Less total MP work time but longer per session (10k per interval), the sessions are also done at the end of long runs (vs fresh legs)
** This year I ran the two MP sessions at 4:16-17 (hypothetical goal) versus 4:20s for GC
Intervals:
Both GC & Seoul prep had 7 interval sessions, covering 7k of fast work each session
** For GC, I used 1k or 1600 reps due to the mentality that longer intervals are better for marathon. Did them at 3:50s (around 10k pace), recovery 200-400m or standing rests
** Under SW, intervals vary between 5mins to as short as 30 secs. For 5mins stuff, I ran them at 3:50s, for 30-60secs at 3:30-40 pace
** Recovery is a short 1 minute for 3-5mins intervals, e.g. I ran a Yasso workout 8 x 800m in 3:00 each (3:45 pace) with 1min jog, or 5x5mins @ 3:50s pace, 1min jog
Tempos (both LT and MP):
GC: 8 sessions, average 36 mins of work each (included a couple of 40-60 mins tempo at MP)
Seoul: 8 sessions, average 32mins of work each (no MP tempo, all threshold stuff)
** Almost same format for LT sessions, either 3 x 10mins or continuous 20-25mins. But this year's pace is a few secs per km faster
** Longest continous tempo for GC 14k @ 4:24 (161 bpm HR), while for Seoul 15k @ 4:08 (169 bpm HR)
Race temperature and Results:
GC: 3:04:50, around 10c, calm, sunny
Seoul: ????, forecast 0c to 7c
** Temperature will be a challenge. Haven't raced in sub-0 or low 0 temperature since living in Perth. But anything is still better than running in Singapore (28c, 90% humidity)
Overall, I feel that I am in a better shape than last year's prep for Gold Coast, but is it enough for sub-3?. My best HM time is 87, doing 89 HM back to back sounds like a high risk proposition
But should I take the risk and test the water a bit? Should I flirt?
Anyway, training ths week
Mon (long):
28.6k long run in 135mins (av pace 4:46)
First 16k easy, then 10k @ 4:16 pace, 2k easy
Postponed run from the weekend
Tue (easy):
23mins on treadmill (av pace 5:45) + core
Wed (easy):
16k easy with strides in 80mins (av pace 5:03)
Thu (time trial):
6k in 23:18 (av 3:53)
Splits: 3:50, 3:50, 3;50, 3:52, 3:57, 4:00
3.5k wu, 3.5k cd
Total 13k
The plan was 8k TT, but legs were like lead. Felt sluggish, haven't recovered from 28k three days ago and 16k run 18 hours earlier
Decided to pull the plug after 6k, didn't want to go to the bottom of the well
Fri (rest):
Off.
Sat (threshold):
15mins @ 4:02, 4mins rec, 10mins @ 3:57, 3mins rec, 5mins @3:49
Total fast stuff 7.56k in 30:00 (av pace 3:58), including rec jogs 8.9k in 37:00 (av pace 4:10)
3k wu, 3k cd
Total 15k
Sun (easy):
12k easy in 60mins (av pace 5:02)
Total 88.6k for the week (second last week before the race)
08 March 2010
Ta-ta-taper
A slightly belated post since I didn't run over the weekend. Did a final long run this morning (Monday).
Just couldn't believe it's ONLY 13 days to go. I felt that I just started my marathon training a couple of weeks ago !
The strange thing is that I don't feel like racing, but I want to keep on training forever because the training is much more enjoyable than what I ever had in previous years. I think I only missed 2-3 runs over the last couple of months.
Also, I am more consistent with mileage ranging from 84-100k, while in the past my mileage tended to swing wildly from one week to another due to tiredness/overtraining. Actually, if that 84k week (due to overseas trip) is taken out, my mileage has an even narrower range at 94-100k. It is believed that Deek & Mona did almost the same training/mileage week in and week out during their careers, so I guess consistency is what Aussie training system is all about.
Whilst on the topic of Aussie system, the taper is again different to what I have done in the past. Previously, I followed the modern taper where no fast work (intervals, races) is done during taper. The belief is that you will be teaching your body to burn carbs faster when doing fast stuff. But if you do marathon-paced work close to the race, your body will be more familiar with the marathon fuel metabolism and you will never touch 5k-10 pace during the race itself anyway.
My taper this week will include 3 x 10-15 minutes intervals and another 8k time trial. The belief behind the Aussie system is to prepare the body/mind for race-like situations and to make the marathon pace feel easy.
Anyway, training ths week
Mon (easy):
7k easy (av pace 5:16)
Tue (time trial):
4k warm up to F1 track
8k solo time trial in 30:50
Splits: 3:47, 3:49, 3;49, 3:49, 3:51, 3:55, 3:54, 3:56 (last k into headwind)
4k cool down
Total 16k
Not happy with last 3k (lost 15secs), legs seemed to run out of steam (32k long run 3 days before)
McMillan calculator equates this effort to 38:50 10k and 3h:02m marathon.
Wed (long):
20k in 100mins (av pace 5:00).
Legs like lead, took it easy as I probably need some fat-burning fix anyway.
XT: planks, bridges, abs crunches
Thu (easy):
34mins recovery on treadmill (av pace 5:43)
XT: light weights, squats, lunges
Fri (fartlek):
75mins aerobic fartlek (av pace 4:35)
Total 16k
Too hot & hazy outside, so ran indoors. SW plan is short fartlek @ 5k pace, but difficult to do on treadmill. Decided to do more longish fartlek between 4:40-4:00 pace.
Sat (off):
No run
Sun (off):
No run
Mon (long):
28.6k long run in 135mins (av pace 4:45)
10k @ 5:00, 6k @ 4:45, 10k @ 4:16, 2k+ cool down
Running at sub-3 pace even for only 10k was damn hard, even after 2 days off
Don't think it is a sustainable pace for me
Total 94k for the week (6 running days + 2 off days). Last 7 weeks average 95k
Just couldn't believe it's ONLY 13 days to go. I felt that I just started my marathon training a couple of weeks ago !
The strange thing is that I don't feel like racing, but I want to keep on training forever because the training is much more enjoyable than what I ever had in previous years. I think I only missed 2-3 runs over the last couple of months.
Also, I am more consistent with mileage ranging from 84-100k, while in the past my mileage tended to swing wildly from one week to another due to tiredness/overtraining. Actually, if that 84k week (due to overseas trip) is taken out, my mileage has an even narrower range at 94-100k. It is believed that Deek & Mona did almost the same training/mileage week in and week out during their careers, so I guess consistency is what Aussie training system is all about.
Whilst on the topic of Aussie system, the taper is again different to what I have done in the past. Previously, I followed the modern taper where no fast work (intervals, races) is done during taper. The belief is that you will be teaching your body to burn carbs faster when doing fast stuff. But if you do marathon-paced work close to the race, your body will be more familiar with the marathon fuel metabolism and you will never touch 5k-10 pace during the race itself anyway.
My taper this week will include 3 x 10-15 minutes intervals and another 8k time trial. The belief behind the Aussie system is to prepare the body/mind for race-like situations and to make the marathon pace feel easy.
Anyway, training ths week
Mon (easy):
7k easy (av pace 5:16)
Tue (time trial):
4k warm up to F1 track
8k solo time trial in 30:50
Splits: 3:47, 3:49, 3;49, 3:49, 3:51, 3:55, 3:54, 3:56 (last k into headwind)
4k cool down
Total 16k
Not happy with last 3k (lost 15secs), legs seemed to run out of steam (32k long run 3 days before)
McMillan calculator equates this effort to 38:50 10k and 3h:02m marathon.
Wed (long):
20k in 100mins (av pace 5:00).
Legs like lead, took it easy as I probably need some fat-burning fix anyway.
XT: planks, bridges, abs crunches
Thu (easy):
34mins recovery on treadmill (av pace 5:43)
XT: light weights, squats, lunges
Fri (fartlek):
75mins aerobic fartlek (av pace 4:35)
Total 16k
Too hot & hazy outside, so ran indoors. SW plan is short fartlek @ 5k pace, but difficult to do on treadmill. Decided to do more longish fartlek between 4:40-4:00 pace.
Sat (off):
No run
Sun (off):
No run
Mon (long):
28.6k long run in 135mins (av pace 4:45)
10k @ 5:00, 6k @ 4:45, 10k @ 4:16, 2k+ cool down
Running at sub-3 pace even for only 10k was damn hard, even after 2 days off
Don't think it is a sustainable pace for me
Total 94k for the week (6 running days + 2 off days). Last 7 weeks average 95k
27 February 2010
Wishin' there are more time
Week 6 of 9 to Seoul…. Only 3 weeks to go :(
Thanks guys for the comments last week re: LSD vs MP run. As you know, my biggest weakness as a runner is the mental factor (lack of self-conviction). Therefore, I just couldn't stand not doing a long MP run before a marathon. At least one training session before a race….
So this morning, I left home at 5am and jogged 10k to East Coast Park where they have a traffic-free flat bikepath. After the 10k warm up, I ran 2x10k (Fort Rd toilet to country club) with 3mins standing rest in between. Did the first one in 42:47 and found it relatively comfortable (av HR 163). The second one was completed 5 secs slower in 42:52, but I had to work a bit harder (av HR 169). Anyway, average pace was 4:17 min/km with a total work time of 85:40 for 20k.
Also took a chance to wear my marathon racing shoes and practice fueling by alternating gels & sports drinks every 5k during the 20k tempo run (Seoul water stations are 5k apart).
Disclaimer: I am not saying I will be aiming to run 4:15 pace for Seoul although I do MP tempo run at around that pace. With only 9 weeks of prep time and a HM time of 87, doing back-to-back 90mins HM is probably still out of reach.
This week was also one of the faster training week. Adding up all the quality miles: 8k of interval work & strides (3:50-ish pace) on Monday, 8k @ 4:24 embedded in mid-week 23k long run, 6k tempo @ 4:00 pace on Thursday, and 20k MP tempo today, I accumulated 42k of 'work miles' in 2h:56m or marathon distance at 4:12 min/km. That's 42% of this week's mileage with the remaining miles at easy paces. Since my easy pace is around 5:00-6:00 min/km, my overall average training pace is still slow.
On the surface, it seems that I have reaped the benefits of the last 5 weeks training. Maybe that's why a 'proper' marathon training is typically 12-20 weeks since it takes sometime for the body to absorb the workouts and harvest the fruits of training (training effect lag). The bad news is that I only have another week for sharpening since my prep is like 5 weeks foundation + 2 weeks sharpening + 2 weeks taper.
If only I can have 12 weeks of prep time, I could do something like 5 weeks foundation + 5 weeks sharpening + 2 weeks taper. I reckon that extra 3 weeks of sharpening/specific work might be worth 1-2 minutes of marathon time (coming from extra 3 long runs, extra 3 midweek long runs, 6 additonal tempo/speed sessions).
If only….
Anyway, what's done is done. Training this week:
Mon (intervals):
20mins warm up
6 x 5mins, 1min jog
Av pace for the 5mins: 3:52, 53, 56, 53, 54, 48
Covered 7.74k during 30 minutes of work (av pace 3:54)
Including recovery jogs, covered 8.6k in 35+mins (av pace 4:05)
30mins cool down with 2x40secs + 4 x 20secs barefoot on grass
Total 18k
Done 48 hours after 36k long run.
Tue (easy)
10k easy (av pace 5:08)
XT 10mins: planks, myrtle hip, squats, lunges
Wed (long):
23k easy-moderate in 1h:51m (av pace 4:50)
Thu (threshold):
15mins warm up
6k in 24:00 (av pace 4:00)
13 mins cool down
Total 11.5k
Fri (easy):
30mins easy treadmill (av pace 5:45)
XT: 10mins upper body weights
Sat (long):
10k warm up (5:20 pace) to ECP
2 x 10k @ 4:17 average, 3mins standing rest
2k cool down
Total 32k in 2h:29m (av pace 4:40)
Including today's run, last 8 days total mileage 136k
Sun (rest):
OFF. Rest day.
Total 100k for the week (last 6 weeks av 96k)
Thanks guys for the comments last week re: LSD vs MP run. As you know, my biggest weakness as a runner is the mental factor (lack of self-conviction). Therefore, I just couldn't stand not doing a long MP run before a marathon. At least one training session before a race….
So this morning, I left home at 5am and jogged 10k to East Coast Park where they have a traffic-free flat bikepath. After the 10k warm up, I ran 2x10k (Fort Rd toilet to country club) with 3mins standing rest in between. Did the first one in 42:47 and found it relatively comfortable (av HR 163). The second one was completed 5 secs slower in 42:52, but I had to work a bit harder (av HR 169). Anyway, average pace was 4:17 min/km with a total work time of 85:40 for 20k.
Also took a chance to wear my marathon racing shoes and practice fueling by alternating gels & sports drinks every 5k during the 20k tempo run (Seoul water stations are 5k apart).
Disclaimer: I am not saying I will be aiming to run 4:15 pace for Seoul although I do MP tempo run at around that pace. With only 9 weeks of prep time and a HM time of 87, doing back-to-back 90mins HM is probably still out of reach.
This week was also one of the faster training week. Adding up all the quality miles: 8k of interval work & strides (3:50-ish pace) on Monday, 8k @ 4:24 embedded in mid-week 23k long run, 6k tempo @ 4:00 pace on Thursday, and 20k MP tempo today, I accumulated 42k of 'work miles' in 2h:56m or marathon distance at 4:12 min/km. That's 42% of this week's mileage with the remaining miles at easy paces. Since my easy pace is around 5:00-6:00 min/km, my overall average training pace is still slow.
On the surface, it seems that I have reaped the benefits of the last 5 weeks training. Maybe that's why a 'proper' marathon training is typically 12-20 weeks since it takes sometime for the body to absorb the workouts and harvest the fruits of training (training effect lag). The bad news is that I only have another week for sharpening since my prep is like 5 weeks foundation + 2 weeks sharpening + 2 weeks taper.
If only I can have 12 weeks of prep time, I could do something like 5 weeks foundation + 5 weeks sharpening + 2 weeks taper. I reckon that extra 3 weeks of sharpening/specific work might be worth 1-2 minutes of marathon time (coming from extra 3 long runs, extra 3 midweek long runs, 6 additonal tempo/speed sessions).
If only….
Anyway, what's done is done. Training this week:
Mon (intervals):
20mins warm up
6 x 5mins, 1min jog
Av pace for the 5mins: 3:52, 53, 56, 53, 54, 48
Covered 7.74k during 30 minutes of work (av pace 3:54)
Including recovery jogs, covered 8.6k in 35+mins (av pace 4:05)
30mins cool down with 2x40secs + 4 x 20secs barefoot on grass
Total 18k
Done 48 hours after 36k long run.
Tue (easy)
10k easy (av pace 5:08)
XT 10mins: planks, myrtle hip, squats, lunges
Wed (long):
23k easy-moderate in 1h:51m (av pace 4:50)
Thu (threshold):
15mins warm up
6k in 24:00 (av pace 4:00)
13 mins cool down
Total 11.5k
Fri (easy):
30mins easy treadmill (av pace 5:45)
XT: 10mins upper body weights
Sat (long):
10k warm up (5:20 pace) to ECP
2 x 10k @ 4:17 average, 3mins standing rest
2k cool down
Total 32k in 2h:29m (av pace 4:40)
Including today's run, last 8 days total mileage 136k
Sun (rest):
OFF. Rest day.
Total 100k for the week (last 6 weeks av 96k)
20 February 2010
Old skool Aussie
Week 5 of 9 (one month to go…gulp!)
Last week, Ewen left an interesting comment on my blog:
"I'd stick to the 2 speed/2 easy long - esp if that's on the SW plan. When the marathon comes around, the speed and endurance meet with a MP race. "
In general, SW plan follows the old school Australian training system along the same line of past Aussie greats such as Deek, Mona, Wardlaw etc. The similarities lie in terms of structure and long run paces.
Typical week under SW for me includes 2 speed sessions on Tues & Thur, a medium long run on Wed (20k+), and long run on Sat (30k+). Other days are easy. I personally request one day off every week which is Sun.
Deek's training, for instance, was as follows
mon: 10km and 16km
tues: 10km and 10km in 38mins followed by 12 laps alternating straights and corners hard easy
wed: 10km and 29km
thurs: 10km and 8 x 400m off 200m floats
fri: 10km and 18kmsat: 19-21 km and 10km
sun: 33-36 kms in 2 hrs 15 to 2 hr 40 and 8km
Hence, Deek's structure included 2 speed days, mid-week medium long run and Sunday long runs.The rest were easy days.
Based on info on public domain, Mona's typical Sunday run was 35k in 150mins. That's 4:20 pace, or 1+ min/km slower than their MP. Deek's typical Sunday run was 33-36k in 135-160mins. This is about 4:10-4:25 pace , hence also about 1min slower than his MP.
The new breed of Aussie marathoners such as Jeff Hunt, wrote in his blog that he does his 38k long run in 150mins or 4:00 pace. This is about 50secs slower than his marathon pace (2:11).
It seems that all of these Aussies do easy-paced long runs at around 50-70 secs slower than MP. There are no so-called 'long runs at race pace (MP).
Maybe some of the Perth-ites could pose this question to Mona during the training camp :)
On the contrary, African and modern US runners incorporate MP running in their regime. Geb & Wanjiru are known to run 30k at competition speed. US marathoners such as Ryan Hall and Brett Gotcher (coached by Mcmillan) run 15 mile tempo runs at MP
For a runner of my (slow) standard, SW schedules long runs at 5:00 pace. I once asked him whether should I do MP long run. His answer was that I could run at MP for the last 30mins but I need to run the early part of the long run slower so that the av pace is still 5:00. For instance, if the schedule calls for 30k in 2h:30m (5:00 pace). I could run the last clip at MP, but have to run the first couple hours slower, so that the total duration is still 2h:30m.
I guess "time on your feet" for raw endurance is an important component of Aussie system.
Up to this point, I haven't done any long MP runs. For past marathons, I usually did a couple of long MP sessions and they worked well for me. Last week I tried to do 20k at 4:20 pace, but found it tough and ended up averaging close to 4:30.
Curious to get your views on:
1) whether MP runs are key to your marathon performance? How many sessions did you do during the marathon prep and how long per session?
2) Next week, I have a 32k schedule and this would be my last chance to do long MP runs (after that, the weekend long runs will taper off). Should I do the MP stuff next week or stick to the suggested pace of 5:00?
Anyway, training this week was affected by the trip to Jakarta and lingering ITB problems. Ran 15% lower mileage to finish at 84km for the week. Only did one session and one long run instead of normal 2 sessions and 2 long runs, so about half the load. The workouts were:
1) 15k continuous tempo in 61:50 (av 4:08 pace). This is supposed to be a TT but due to ITB issue, I decided to run it at current HM pace. I hope this should make running the first 20-25k in cool-weather Seoul to be relatively comfortable.
2) 36k long run in 3hours (5:00 pace) done 2 days after the 15k tempo, hence I had yet to fully recover from that workout. ITB was aching badly, therefore I was glad to complete the run. I also only stopped for 5mins in total (toilet, drinks refill) during the 3 hours, so it was almost continuous.
Last week, Ewen left an interesting comment on my blog:
"I'd stick to the 2 speed/2 easy long - esp if that's on the SW plan. When the marathon comes around, the speed and endurance meet with a MP race. "
In general, SW plan follows the old school Australian training system along the same line of past Aussie greats such as Deek, Mona, Wardlaw etc. The similarities lie in terms of structure and long run paces.
Typical week under SW for me includes 2 speed sessions on Tues & Thur, a medium long run on Wed (20k+), and long run on Sat (30k+). Other days are easy. I personally request one day off every week which is Sun.
Deek's training, for instance, was as follows
mon: 10km and 16km
tues: 10km and 10km in 38mins followed by 12 laps alternating straights and corners hard easy
wed: 10km and 29km
thurs: 10km and 8 x 400m off 200m floats
fri: 10km and 18kmsat: 19-21 km and 10km
sun: 33-36 kms in 2 hrs 15 to 2 hr 40 and 8km
Hence, Deek's structure included 2 speed days, mid-week medium long run and Sunday long runs.The rest were easy days.
Based on info on public domain, Mona's typical Sunday run was 35k in 150mins. That's 4:20 pace, or 1+ min/km slower than their MP. Deek's typical Sunday run was 33-36k in 135-160mins. This is about 4:10-4:25 pace , hence also about 1min slower than his MP.
The new breed of Aussie marathoners such as Jeff Hunt, wrote in his blog that he does his 38k long run in 150mins or 4:00 pace. This is about 50secs slower than his marathon pace (2:11).
It seems that all of these Aussies do easy-paced long runs at around 50-70 secs slower than MP. There are no so-called 'long runs at race pace (MP).
Maybe some of the Perth-ites could pose this question to Mona during the training camp :)
On the contrary, African and modern US runners incorporate MP running in their regime. Geb & Wanjiru are known to run 30k at competition speed. US marathoners such as Ryan Hall and Brett Gotcher (coached by Mcmillan) run 15 mile tempo runs at MP
For a runner of my (slow) standard, SW schedules long runs at 5:00 pace. I once asked him whether should I do MP long run. His answer was that I could run at MP for the last 30mins but I need to run the early part of the long run slower so that the av pace is still 5:00. For instance, if the schedule calls for 30k in 2h:30m (5:00 pace). I could run the last clip at MP, but have to run the first couple hours slower, so that the total duration is still 2h:30m.
I guess "time on your feet" for raw endurance is an important component of Aussie system.
Up to this point, I haven't done any long MP runs. For past marathons, I usually did a couple of long MP sessions and they worked well for me. Last week I tried to do 20k at 4:20 pace, but found it tough and ended up averaging close to 4:30.
Curious to get your views on:
1) whether MP runs are key to your marathon performance? How many sessions did you do during the marathon prep and how long per session?
2) Next week, I have a 32k schedule and this would be my last chance to do long MP runs (after that, the weekend long runs will taper off). Should I do the MP stuff next week or stick to the suggested pace of 5:00?
Anyway, training this week was affected by the trip to Jakarta and lingering ITB problems. Ran 15% lower mileage to finish at 84km for the week. Only did one session and one long run instead of normal 2 sessions and 2 long runs, so about half the load. The workouts were:
1) 15k continuous tempo in 61:50 (av 4:08 pace). This is supposed to be a TT but due to ITB issue, I decided to run it at current HM pace. I hope this should make running the first 20-25k in cool-weather Seoul to be relatively comfortable.
2) 36k long run in 3hours (5:00 pace) done 2 days after the 15k tempo, hence I had yet to fully recover from that workout. ITB was aching badly, therefore I was glad to complete the run. I also only stopped for 5mins in total (toilet, drinks refill) during the 3 hours, so it was almost continuous.
13 February 2010
Tired
Week 4 of 9 to Seoul (halfway there)
Good to hear Clown & TB are thinking to run MM on an auspicious date of 10/10/10 !! Hope to make my 9th marathon start there (maybe I should run another one after Seoul to make MM the 10th) . How cool is that? 10th marathon on 10/10/10. It's also a week before my 39th birthday, a nice present!
But first things first. Managed to 'survive' the first 4 weeks of training. Another 3 weeks of hard training to go before 2 weeks taper.
I think my training has gone pretty well until today. I planned to do 20k non-stop tempo at 4:20 pace during a 30k long run. However, I found the pace to be too hot to handle and I ended up averaging 4:27. I also had to make a couple of lengthy breaks to stretch ITB/glutes and to rest.
It seems four weeks of 90k+ of 'rushed training' from scratch (without sufficient base mileage beforehand) have finally caught up with me. Old niggles around ITB and glutes are coming back, upper body parts such as necks, back are very tight and legs are like jello.
SW doesn't actually schedule any MP runs. Since I thrived on long MP runs in the past, I made the decision to do MP runs today and it backfired. Doing 2 speed session and 2 easy long runs in a week are probably just the right dosage for me. If I want to do MP long runs, perhaps I should to think about dropping one of the speed session to keep the legs fresher.
Will be going to Jakarta to vist family for Lunar New Year. My plan is to do short slow runs until Thursday when I return to Singapore. This means I will miss half a week of training but hopefully I will feel fresher by then.
Anyway, training this week:
Mon (threshold):
3.5k warm up (5:30)
15' fast, 4' jog, 10' fast, 3' jog, 10' fast
Covered 8.9k during fast reps, averaging 3:56min/km
Including recovery jogs, covered 10.2k in 42'00" (av pace 4:08)
2.3k cool down (5:30)
Total session 16k
Challenging workout, done 48 hours after 36k long run.
Tue (easy):
33mins easy treadmill (av pace 5:35)
Tight on time. Busy at work
Wed (long):
22k easy-moderate in 1h48m (av pace 4:56)
First half 5:15 pace (felt crap), second half 4:40s (strangely felt better)
Thu (fartlek):
4k warm up (5:00)
30 x 30secs on, 15secs off
First 15 reps av 3:35, last 15 reps av 3:45 (total 15mins of work at 3:40 av)
HR never got lower than 180 (90-95% max HR) in last 15 reps
Including recovery jogs, the workout covered 5.6k in 22'30" (av pace 4:02)
3k cool down (5:35)
Total session 12k+
Fri (easy):
42mins easy treadmill (av pace 5:35)
Light weights in the gym
Sat (long):
30k long run in 2h:21m (av pace 4:42)
The plan was to run 20k at 4:20 pace, ended up 4:27 pace (had to stop a few times to stretch ITB, glutes)
Tired legs. Including today's run, ran 130k in last 8 days
Sun (off):
Rest day
Total 94k (392k in last 4 weeks from scratch, av 98kpw)
Good to hear Clown & TB are thinking to run MM on an auspicious date of 10/10/10 !! Hope to make my 9th marathon start there (maybe I should run another one after Seoul to make MM the 10th) . How cool is that? 10th marathon on 10/10/10. It's also a week before my 39th birthday, a nice present!
But first things first. Managed to 'survive' the first 4 weeks of training. Another 3 weeks of hard training to go before 2 weeks taper.
I think my training has gone pretty well until today. I planned to do 20k non-stop tempo at 4:20 pace during a 30k long run. However, I found the pace to be too hot to handle and I ended up averaging 4:27. I also had to make a couple of lengthy breaks to stretch ITB/glutes and to rest.
It seems four weeks of 90k+ of 'rushed training' from scratch (without sufficient base mileage beforehand) have finally caught up with me. Old niggles around ITB and glutes are coming back, upper body parts such as necks, back are very tight and legs are like jello.
SW doesn't actually schedule any MP runs. Since I thrived on long MP runs in the past, I made the decision to do MP runs today and it backfired. Doing 2 speed session and 2 easy long runs in a week are probably just the right dosage for me. If I want to do MP long runs, perhaps I should to think about dropping one of the speed session to keep the legs fresher.
Will be going to Jakarta to vist family for Lunar New Year. My plan is to do short slow runs until Thursday when I return to Singapore. This means I will miss half a week of training but hopefully I will feel fresher by then.
Anyway, training this week:
Mon (threshold):
3.5k warm up (5:30)
15' fast, 4' jog, 10' fast, 3' jog, 10' fast
Covered 8.9k during fast reps, averaging 3:56min/km
Including recovery jogs, covered 10.2k in 42'00" (av pace 4:08)
2.3k cool down (5:30)
Total session 16k
Challenging workout, done 48 hours after 36k long run.
Tue (easy):
33mins easy treadmill (av pace 5:35)
Tight on time. Busy at work
Wed (long):
22k easy-moderate in 1h48m (av pace 4:56)
First half 5:15 pace (felt crap), second half 4:40s (strangely felt better)
Thu (fartlek):
4k warm up (5:00)
30 x 30secs on, 15secs off
First 15 reps av 3:35, last 15 reps av 3:45 (total 15mins of work at 3:40 av)
HR never got lower than 180 (90-95% max HR) in last 15 reps
Including recovery jogs, the workout covered 5.6k in 22'30" (av pace 4:02)
3k cool down (5:35)
Total session 12k+
Fri (easy):
42mins easy treadmill (av pace 5:35)
Light weights in the gym
Sat (long):
30k long run in 2h:21m (av pace 4:42)
The plan was to run 20k at 4:20 pace, ended up 4:27 pace (had to stop a few times to stretch ITB, glutes)
Tired legs. Including today's run, ran 130k in last 8 days
Sun (off):
Rest day
Total 94k (392k in last 4 weeks from scratch, av 98kpw)
06 February 2010
No GCM this year
Week 3 of 9 to Seoul (gulp)
Will not be running Gold Coast this year as my brother's wedding is on the same weekend !
Hmm…so what's next then after Seoul? Melbourne in October looks attractive. Mostly flat course with some rises here and there. Good crowd and I am familiar with half of the route. October is also 6 to 7 months after Seoul which gives me ample of time to train for sub-3. However, the downside is the weather unpredictabilty, especially the wind (unlike Gold Coast which virtually guarantees calm, cool conditions almost everytime)
Perth City to Surf in late August provides me with 5 months to train, but sadly I am a dud at hills. Currently not interested in marathons elsewhere in the region.
If I run a decent time in Seoul, say under 3:10, I might be tempted to run WAMC Perth marathon in June. Traning wise, it is exactly 3 months after Seoul, which in theory should give me some post-marathon recovery time and a couple of months to continue building the foundations towards sub-3 goal. However, I hate the wind and pavement running. We shall see.
But of course, if I can miracoulously run a sub-3 in Seoul, I don't need to worry about these things anymore *lol*. It's a mission impossible as I don't have 10k/21k speed for sub-3 marathon. How I wish Captain Kirk can put a human transporter somewhere along the marathon course to timewarp me to the finish line !
Anyway, training this week:
Mon (interval):
4k warm up (5:22)
5 x 5 minutes, 1 minute jog in between
Pace per lap: 3:52, 3:53, 3:54, 3:54, 3:53, 3:45, accumulated 7.7k at average 3:52 min/km (with short breaks)
Including recovery jogs, the workout covered 8.6k in 35mins (av pace 4:03)
3k cool down with 2x200m fast (5:12)
Total session 16k
Tue (easy):
11.5k easy in 60mins, including 6 barefoot strides (av pace 5:15)
XT: lunges, squats, heel raises
Wed (long):
23k easy-moderate in 1h55m (av pace 4:55)
Based on pre/post run weights and drink consumed, my calculated sweat rate is 1.5 litre per hour !!
Thu (fartlek):
4.5k warm up (5:05)
12 x 60secs on, 30secs off
Averaged 3:30-3:40 min/km for the 1-minute ons
Including recovery jogs, the workout covered 4.4k (av pace 4:00)
3k cool down (5:30)
Total session 12k
Fri (off):
Rest day
Sat (long):
36k long run (22k @ 5:00 pace, 14k @ 4:48)
Excluding stops (drink, toilet), total running time 2h:56m (av pace 4:55)
Including stops (8mins total), total running time 3h:05m (av pace 5:08)
Sun (off):
Rest day
Total 99k in 5 runs
Week in summary:
Only ran 5 times this week as my father is in town. Nonetheless, a solid week with 2 workouts and 2 long runs. Monday's workout was great (at least for my standard), with almost 8k at 3:52 pace (translates to sub 31 8k or 38:40 10k pace). When I started with SW, I was whining about the short 1min recovery but now I feel it's not so bad. Did a 36k long run in the weekend, and surprisingly I found little problems in completing the distance. Consumed 1 litre water, 500ml sports drinks, and 1 gel for the whole 3 hours and felt good throughout the run. However, my ITB hurts afterwards, hopefully this goes away soon.
Last 3 weeks mileage have been 100, 99, and 99km. During the old times, I used to do 10-15mins shakeout run as a second run so that the total mileage rounds up to a nice number like 100k. Nowadays, I don't really care, even if I total 99.8k for the week. Makes me wonder if sub-3 marathon might be over-rated because it is just a nice, round number. Is there a difference in ability between runners who finish in 2:59:xx and 3:00:xx? I guess not. Perhaps if I never get sub-3 in my lifetime, then I should be as happy if I finish at 3:01 or 3:02 *lol*
Will not be running Gold Coast this year as my brother's wedding is on the same weekend !
Hmm…so what's next then after Seoul? Melbourne in October looks attractive. Mostly flat course with some rises here and there. Good crowd and I am familiar with half of the route. October is also 6 to 7 months after Seoul which gives me ample of time to train for sub-3. However, the downside is the weather unpredictabilty, especially the wind (unlike Gold Coast which virtually guarantees calm, cool conditions almost everytime)
Perth City to Surf in late August provides me with 5 months to train, but sadly I am a dud at hills. Currently not interested in marathons elsewhere in the region.
If I run a decent time in Seoul, say under 3:10, I might be tempted to run WAMC Perth marathon in June. Traning wise, it is exactly 3 months after Seoul, which in theory should give me some post-marathon recovery time and a couple of months to continue building the foundations towards sub-3 goal. However, I hate the wind and pavement running. We shall see.
But of course, if I can miracoulously run a sub-3 in Seoul, I don't need to worry about these things anymore *lol*. It's a mission impossible as I don't have 10k/21k speed for sub-3 marathon. How I wish Captain Kirk can put a human transporter somewhere along the marathon course to timewarp me to the finish line !
Anyway, training this week:
Mon (interval):
4k warm up (5:22)
5 x 5 minutes, 1 minute jog in between
Pace per lap: 3:52, 3:53, 3:54, 3:54, 3:53, 3:45, accumulated 7.7k at average 3:52 min/km (with short breaks)
Including recovery jogs, the workout covered 8.6k in 35mins (av pace 4:03)
3k cool down with 2x200m fast (5:12)
Total session 16k
Tue (easy):
11.5k easy in 60mins, including 6 barefoot strides (av pace 5:15)
XT: lunges, squats, heel raises
Wed (long):
23k easy-moderate in 1h55m (av pace 4:55)
Based on pre/post run weights and drink consumed, my calculated sweat rate is 1.5 litre per hour !!
Thu (fartlek):
4.5k warm up (5:05)
12 x 60secs on, 30secs off
Averaged 3:30-3:40 min/km for the 1-minute ons
Including recovery jogs, the workout covered 4.4k (av pace 4:00)
3k cool down (5:30)
Total session 12k
Fri (off):
Rest day
Sat (long):
36k long run (22k @ 5:00 pace, 14k @ 4:48)
Excluding stops (drink, toilet), total running time 2h:56m (av pace 4:55)
Including stops (8mins total), total running time 3h:05m (av pace 5:08)
Sun (off):
Rest day
Total 99k in 5 runs
Week in summary:
Only ran 5 times this week as my father is in town. Nonetheless, a solid week with 2 workouts and 2 long runs. Monday's workout was great (at least for my standard), with almost 8k at 3:52 pace (translates to sub 31 8k or 38:40 10k pace). When I started with SW, I was whining about the short 1min recovery but now I feel it's not so bad. Did a 36k long run in the weekend, and surprisingly I found little problems in completing the distance. Consumed 1 litre water, 500ml sports drinks, and 1 gel for the whole 3 hours and felt good throughout the run. However, my ITB hurts afterwards, hopefully this goes away soon.
Last 3 weeks mileage have been 100, 99, and 99km. During the old times, I used to do 10-15mins shakeout run as a second run so that the total mileage rounds up to a nice number like 100k. Nowadays, I don't really care, even if I total 99.8k for the week. Makes me wonder if sub-3 marathon might be over-rated because it is just a nice, round number. Is there a difference in ability between runners who finish in 2:59:xx and 3:00:xx? I guess not. Perhaps if I never get sub-3 in my lifetime, then I should be as happy if I finish at 3:01 or 3:02 *lol*
30 January 2010
Benchmarking
Week 2 of 9 to Seoul (ouch...)
Thanks for everyone's vote of confidence that I could complete an impromptu marathon with just 2 months of training. Sounds like around 3:10 was a popular prediction.
Well. I've been looking it at my past running log and found some interesting stuff (see chart below)
The 1st bar shows my monthly mileage for Joong-an marathon in Nov 08. The prep was quite similar to current situation. We were in Japan for holiday and rarely ran for 2 weeks. Then I embarked on 8 weeks of marathon training. Av mileage for that 8 weeks block was 384k per month. If we include another month before that (including holiday period), the 3 month average was 355k. This yielded 3:11 marathon.
The 2nd bar depicts mileage for Gold Coast in Jul 09. I was in off-season mode for 1 month (baby), then had 12 weeks of marathon training. Av mileage for the last 2 months prior to the race was 415k per month, for 3 months it was 388k. This yielded 3:04
The 3rd and 4th bars show mileage from two popular programs, Hal Higdon and Pfitzinger. Av mileage are 300 and 400ks respectively for 2 & 3 months before race week
The 5th bar shows the projected mileage leading to Seoul 2010 (mid Dec-mid Mar period).This assumes 90k average for Week 3-6 and 70k average for week 7-8. This produces a monthly average of 330 for 3 months and 360 for last 2 months prior to the race.
Thanks for everyone's vote of confidence that I could complete an impromptu marathon with just 2 months of training. Sounds like around 3:10 was a popular prediction.
Well. I've been looking it at my past running log and found some interesting stuff (see chart below)
The 1st bar shows my monthly mileage for Joong-an marathon in Nov 08. The prep was quite similar to current situation. We were in Japan for holiday and rarely ran for 2 weeks. Then I embarked on 8 weeks of marathon training. Av mileage for that 8 weeks block was 384k per month. If we include another month before that (including holiday period), the 3 month average was 355k. This yielded 3:11 marathon.
The 2nd bar depicts mileage for Gold Coast in Jul 09. I was in off-season mode for 1 month (baby), then had 12 weeks of marathon training. Av mileage for the last 2 months prior to the race was 415k per month, for 3 months it was 388k. This yielded 3:04
The 3rd and 4th bars show mileage from two popular programs, Hal Higdon and Pfitzinger. Av mileage are 300 and 400ks respectively for 2 & 3 months before race week
The 5th bar shows the projected mileage leading to Seoul 2010 (mid Dec-mid Mar period).This assumes 90k average for Week 3-6 and 70k average for week 7-8. This produces a monthly average of 330 for 3 months and 360 for last 2 months prior to the race.
My observations:
- Based on Joong-an and GCM data, it seems higher mileage & longer prep correlate positively with marathon times (at least for me). There is pretty strong evidence that 3 months averaging 400k+ helped me to attain faster marathon timing in GC.
- My mileage are concentrated in the last few weeks before the race as depicted by more mileage done in last 2 months versus last 3 months.
- Higdon and Pfitz plan show consistent volumes for last 3 and 2 months. This raises another question whether I work too much in the last few weeks (tried to cram in everything as race day got closer)
- To say that my mileage is higher than Higdon's advance plan is misleading, since Higdon's plan runs for 4 months. My training plan is only 2 months.
- Will run Seoul with lower mileage compared to previous 2 marys & Pfitz plan
- It looks that there is nil chance to get a PB ! lol
So, that's a bit of analysis based on mileage. It's more difficult to compare intensities since all the workouts in each cycle are different. If we use average weekly training pace as a proxy for intensity, presently the data show that I am still averaging a the same training pace. In fact, my average pace still hovers about 5:00 pace and it hasn’t changed in four years!
Anyway, training this week:
Mon (threshold):
4k warm up/strides (av pace 5:25)
10 mins, 4mins jog, 10mins, 3mins jog, 5mins
Ran the fast part at 3:50-3:55 min/km, slow part av 4:45 min/km
Covered 7.9k in 32mins with 4 miles worth of 10k-paced running
3k cool down (av pace 5:30)
Total session 15k in 1h:10m (av pace 4:44)
Tue (easy):
11.7k easy in 60mins, including 5 barefoot strides (av pace 5:10)
XT: lunges, hip exercises
Wed (long):
20k easy-moderate in 100mins (av pace 5:00)
XT: 15mins upper body weights
Thu (hills):
6k worth of hills plus wu + cd
Average only 5:00 pace (up & down), but HR never got below 160 due to quick jog down and then up again
Fri (easy):
40mins easy on treadmill (av pace 5:37)
XT: 80 abs on bench (no weights)
Sat (long):
32.4k long run in 2h:37m (av pace 4:52)
10k easy @ 5:23, 140 bpm, 16k @ 4:30, 160 bpm, 6k easy with pick-ups. Testing the legs since I don't know what my MP is
Sun (off):
Rest day
Total 99k for the week in 8h:14m (av pace 5:00)
Week in summary:
Another 'ramping-up' week, with midweek and weekend long runs being extended to 20k and 32k respectively. Paces for these two runs are still on the slow side as my body is still adjusting to 100k weeks. Had one good threshold workout, but a dud again when doing hills. Next week will be another 'ramping-up' week with long run further stretched to 3 hours.
23 January 2010
Holy Cow...I will be running a marathon in 8 weeks time
Last week, it was:
23 weeks to go to the Marathon..
Now, it BECOMES
8 weeks to go to the Marathon (yup, eight weeks)
There is a suprising, but very exciting development.
For my son's 1st birthday, the family (us, in-laws) decided to celebrate in style by going to South Korea. Coincidentally during that period, there is Seoul International Marathon!
I would have entered 10k/21km, but they don't have one (it's a single event). After some thinking, it will be too rude to pass the opportunity to run one of Asia's biggest marathon (30,000 marathon runners). So why not?
Now, the big question mark is how do I get my self ready to run 42k in 8 WEEKS TIME ???? *gulp*
I have been in off-season mode in last 1.5 months, longest 'long' runs of only 15-20k with a view that I have a full 6 months to do marathon training.
Will I crash and burn? Can I finish the race in one piece? Will I hit the dreaded wall?
Top 4 reasons why I should feel pessimistic:
a. 8 weeks essentially means 6 training weeks (plus 2 weeks taper)
b. Been in off-season mode, only ran 2-3x per week in Dec.
c. Feb-Mar is a busy time at work. Tough to find the time to train
d. As I am essentially doing a 'crash training'. The increase in mileage and intensity over that 6 weeks might yield over-training risk
Top 4 reasons why I should feel more upbeat:
a. I run much better in the cold climate. However, average temp in Seoul in March is between -2 and 8c (max, noon). This is below a perfect running temperature of 10c (such as Gold Coast). An unknown factor.
b. Seoul course is flat-ish, slight downhill in the beginning, but there is 6k of gradual rise (km 30-36) of 15 meters in elevation. Hmm…looks like a miniature version of Boston marathon which has a rise between km 26-36, climbing 51 meters. Overall net elevation loss of Seoul is 12 meters versus Boston's 137 meters.
c. My mid-week and long run have reached 18k and 30k
d. SW actually thinks I won't be doing too badly :)
All things considered, I could think of three scenarios:
1. Most likely scenario: hit the wall or overtraining, finish in 3h:30
2. Less likely scenario: <3h:15m, qualify Boston marathon for three years in a row
3. Most unlikely scenario: running under 3.10
Place your bets please….
Anyway, I always want to run Seoul so might as well enjoy the route for fun (albeit insufficient training).
Importantly, what a great way to celebrate my son's 1st birthday by running a marathon !
----------------------------------
Training this week:
Mon:
LT/Vo2 test
Tue (intervals):
5k warm up (av pace 5:20)
8 x 800m, 1min slow jog
Splits: 3:02, 3:01, 3:01, 3:02, 3:01, 2:59, 3:00, 2:55 = average 3:00 (3:45 min/km)
4.6k cool down (av pace 5:27)
Total session 16k in 1h15m (av pace 4:45)
Wed (long):
18k easy (av pace 5:06)
Took it easy, av HR 143
Thu (easy):
35mins treadmill (av pace 5:40)
2 sets of weights, 100 abs
Fri (threshold):
15mins warm up (av pace 5:25)
6k threshold run in 23:41 (av 3:57min/km)
Splits: 4:00, 3:58, 3:59, 3:57, 3:57, 3:48. Av HR 167
Rest, then up and down 100m hills, 10 times
3.6k cool down
Total session 15k in 1h:10m (av pace 4:42)
Sat (long):
30k long run in 2h:33m (av pace 5:05)
Tired legs from yesterday. Ran 10k from home to MR, 1 loop of trail, ran 10k back. Always hard to run 30k again after 2 months hiatus. Had a few stops nead the end.
Sun (rest):
OFF. No run.
Total 100k for the week in 8h:17m (av pace 5:00)
Week in summary: I broke the '10% mileage rule' by jumping from 70k last week to 100k this week (50% increase), hopefully The Runners World magazine gods will not punish me for this. Overall, a good week with 2 solid speed workouts and two longish runs. Paces for the long runs are still slow right now as I have been absent from marathon/mileage training for over 6 months.
18 January 2010
lab rat
Participated in a research.
1) vo2 test
Protocol: speed 8.5 km/h constant, 3mins @ 0% grade, increased by 2.5% every 2mins
Duration: 20mins, ending at 20% grade
Vo2max 59
HR 190
Peak lactate 10.1
Experienced premature fatique as hills are not my strength. I've seen HR of 195 bpm during races & intervals, so could go longer under competitive situation, hence potentially higher Vo2. On the other hand, some say that protocol is not that accurate as in reality, runners don't run at that grade a lot hence Vo2 might be grossly elevated. A better test would be to run on flat grade (or track), with increasing speed and ending at the top speed that corresponds to your highest oxygen uptake.
For what it's worth, this calculator predicts 35mins 10k, 80 HM, and 2h45m marathon potential for me.
Pretty much in-line with what I expected. NOT MUCH GENETIC TALENT, even after logging 20,000km in the last 6 years.
Sub-3 would be the upper limit of running achievement since many runners generally never reach their VO2max potential.
2) LT
Protocol: grade 1%, 4mins run, 2mins rest for reading, speed increased by 0.7 km/h every interval
The protocol was for less fit types, with starting speed of 8.7 km/h. Lactate still hovered above resting levels for 30 minutes into the run. Fortunately, during the last stage, I at least reached 4 mmol which is often referred as LT (although range could be 2.5-6.5).
Paces/HR/lactate profile to come.
3) Vo2max (same day as above)
Done after LT test with 10mins rest
Protocol: 1 minute at 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 km/h at 1% grade (total 6 minutes). Then staying a 15km/h, grade increased to 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%
Achieved the same Vo2max as above, hence consistent results - although, I had some residual fatique from the LT test. HR only reached 190, decided to stop as I just couldn't run at 4:00 min/km with 10% grade.
Interestingly, the test was done at 23 BMI. Dropping a couple of kgs will increase it by 2 points.
1) vo2 test
Protocol: speed 8.5 km/h constant, 3mins @ 0% grade, increased by 2.5% every 2mins
Duration: 20mins, ending at 20% grade
Vo2max 59
HR 190
Peak lactate 10.1
Experienced premature fatique as hills are not my strength. I've seen HR of 195 bpm during races & intervals, so could go longer under competitive situation, hence potentially higher Vo2. On the other hand, some say that protocol is not that accurate as in reality, runners don't run at that grade a lot hence Vo2 might be grossly elevated. A better test would be to run on flat grade (or track), with increasing speed and ending at the top speed that corresponds to your highest oxygen uptake.
For what it's worth, this calculator predicts 35mins 10k, 80 HM, and 2h45m marathon potential for me.
Pretty much in-line with what I expected. NOT MUCH GENETIC TALENT, even after logging 20,000km in the last 6 years.
Sub-3 would be the upper limit of running achievement since many runners generally never reach their VO2max potential.
2) LT
Protocol: grade 1%, 4mins run, 2mins rest for reading, speed increased by 0.7 km/h every interval
The protocol was for less fit types, with starting speed of 8.7 km/h. Lactate still hovered above resting levels for 30 minutes into the run. Fortunately, during the last stage, I at least reached 4 mmol which is often referred as LT (although range could be 2.5-6.5).
Paces/HR/lactate profile to come.
3) Vo2max (same day as above)
Done after LT test with 10mins rest
Protocol: 1 minute at 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15 km/h at 1% grade (total 6 minutes). Then staying a 15km/h, grade increased to 2%, 4%, 6%, 8%, 10%
Achieved the same Vo2max as above, hence consistent results - although, I had some residual fatique from the LT test. HR only reached 190, decided to stop as I just couldn't run at 4:00 min/km with 10% grade.
Interestingly, the test was done at 23 BMI. Dropping a couple of kgs will increase it by 2 points.
10 January 2010
The work begins
Training for the week ending 10/01 (Week 1 of 26 to GCM)
Mon: 6k easy (5:00), 5 strides barefoot on grass, 1.2k cool down. Total 8.2k in 41:05 (5:01), 40 forward lunge walk, 20 backward, 80 abs on bench, glutes exercise
Tue: 3k warm up (5:20), drills + 4 strides, 15 x 00:60 on, 00:30 off - paces according to GPS for the 'ON' were 3mins 30, 29, 32, 40, 31, 38, 32, 35, 38, 46, 39, 33, 42, 49 (small climb), 30 min/km - average @ 3:37 or about 3k pace, recovery were 5:00-6:00 pace - total fartlek 22:00 incl recovery covering 5.43k (av 4:03 min/km), HR av 175 hi 186, 3k cool down (5:32). Total 12.33k in 59:10 (4:48)
Comment: Felt ok. Probably that's my max speed at the moment, nevertheless accumulated about 15mins worth of current 3k PB pace. Just realized the program had 12x 1min…so I over did-it..oops
Wed: 45mins easy progressing from 6:00 to 5:00 min/km, next 30mins at 4:50, 5 strides. Total 16k in 81:00 (5:04), HR av 147
Comment: Legs a bit tired, probably takes time to be familiar with running everyday again.
Thu: 3.5k wu (5:40), 15x100m hill, quick jog back, between 58-62secs per cycle, av pace 5:05, 2.5k cd (5:30). Total 9k in 49:00 (5:27)
Comment: schedule called for 30x100m, but I was spent after 15. Not fit enough yet. Hips and kness sore due to the downhill.
Fri: 5.5k treadmill (5:40), relaxed and easy. 2x12 reps on weight machines (lat, fly, deltoid row, lower back, quads, calf, glutes), 60 abs on bench, 20mins yoga stretch
Sat: Long run progression, 20mins @ 5:00, 4:50, 4:40, 4:25 min/km, 10mins @ 4:18, strides. Total 20k in 93:30 (4:40)
Comment: Tried to make up for Thursday's session, so ran a faster long run today. Did the same distance & route as last week but carried a bottle of water this time. No breaks but drank the water on a run. Av HR was 155 bpm versus last week 157 bpm but av pace is 10secs/km faster today. Hence, hydration (500ml water for a 90min run) will certainly help running performance and mitigate heat build-up in Singapore conditions.
Sun: off
Total 71k in 5:54 (av 5:00)
Mileage breakdown:
Aerobic & Recovery: 90%
Stamina & Strength: 4%
Speed & Races: 6%
Summary:
Overall, not a good start for the new year. Did one workout and failed to complete another. The fartlek was great but the hill was a dud (I think I had half of Singapore finished ahead of me in the hills). Av training pace at 5:00 is also slower than the 4:50s in recent weeks. However, I am not complaning since this is still early in the training cycle and there are still 25 weeks left before GC. Mileage and long runs will get progressively higher and longer from this point.
Had a blood test done before Christmas. Haematology data (wbc 4.0, rbc 4.87, hgb 14.5, plt 215) suggest that I should be ready to tackle training. However, my cholestrol is on the elevated side (238, hdl 77,ldl 147), hence I need to be a bit more selective on what I eat!
Mon: 6k easy (5:00), 5 strides barefoot on grass, 1.2k cool down. Total 8.2k in 41:05 (5:01), 40 forward lunge walk, 20 backward, 80 abs on bench, glutes exercise
Tue: 3k warm up (5:20), drills + 4 strides, 15 x 00:60 on, 00:30 off - paces according to GPS for the 'ON' were 3mins 30, 29, 32, 40, 31, 38, 32, 35, 38, 46, 39, 33, 42, 49 (small climb), 30 min/km - average @ 3:37 or about 3k pace, recovery were 5:00-6:00 pace - total fartlek 22:00 incl recovery covering 5.43k (av 4:03 min/km), HR av 175 hi 186, 3k cool down (5:32). Total 12.33k in 59:10 (4:48)
Comment: Felt ok. Probably that's my max speed at the moment, nevertheless accumulated about 15mins worth of current 3k PB pace. Just realized the program had 12x 1min…so I over did-it..oops
Wed: 45mins easy progressing from 6:00 to 5:00 min/km, next 30mins at 4:50, 5 strides. Total 16k in 81:00 (5:04), HR av 147
Comment: Legs a bit tired, probably takes time to be familiar with running everyday again.
Thu: 3.5k wu (5:40), 15x100m hill, quick jog back, between 58-62secs per cycle, av pace 5:05, 2.5k cd (5:30). Total 9k in 49:00 (5:27)
Comment: schedule called for 30x100m, but I was spent after 15. Not fit enough yet. Hips and kness sore due to the downhill.
Fri: 5.5k treadmill (5:40), relaxed and easy. 2x12 reps on weight machines (lat, fly, deltoid row, lower back, quads, calf, glutes), 60 abs on bench, 20mins yoga stretch
Sat: Long run progression, 20mins @ 5:00, 4:50, 4:40, 4:25 min/km, 10mins @ 4:18, strides. Total 20k in 93:30 (4:40)
Comment: Tried to make up for Thursday's session, so ran a faster long run today. Did the same distance & route as last week but carried a bottle of water this time. No breaks but drank the water on a run. Av HR was 155 bpm versus last week 157 bpm but av pace is 10secs/km faster today. Hence, hydration (500ml water for a 90min run) will certainly help running performance and mitigate heat build-up in Singapore conditions.
Sun: off
Total 71k in 5:54 (av 5:00)
Mileage breakdown:
Aerobic & Recovery: 90%
Stamina & Strength: 4%
Speed & Races: 6%
Summary:
Overall, not a good start for the new year. Did one workout and failed to complete another. The fartlek was great but the hill was a dud (I think I had half of Singapore finished ahead of me in the hills). Av training pace at 5:00 is also slower than the 4:50s in recent weeks. However, I am not complaning since this is still early in the training cycle and there are still 25 weeks left before GC. Mileage and long runs will get progressively higher and longer from this point.
Had a blood test done before Christmas. Haematology data (wbc 4.0, rbc 4.87, hgb 14.5, plt 215) suggest that I should be ready to tackle training. However, my cholestrol is on the elevated side (238, hdl 77,ldl 147), hence I need to be a bit more selective on what I eat!
03 January 2010
Off-season
Some stats to start with:
Ran 3650k total for the year of 2009 (av 10k/d). Also passed 20,000k of lifetime mileage since I started running six years ago at age 33.
The stats above just showed how little natural talent I have :(
This week marks the end of my off-season training. For the whole of December, my training load is only about 60% of normal, with lots of rest days. My body and legs are still not entirely fresh and springy, but my fitness hasn’t eroded much either, so I guess they balanced out.
Training this week:
Mon – 2k ez, 15k Tempo in 60:00 (av 4:00 min/km) in HK under cool conditions (see previous blog post). I reckoned I could carry on at this pace for a half-marathon distance (85 mins pace). But thenI would feel less guilty to claim a PB in a training run for 15k rather than a common distance such as 21k. Anyways, this timing is faster than of all my currents PBs, therefore, I will use to set my training paces. Makes me wonder if I continued to stay in Australia, how much faster I could get since I can run at this pace presumably on regular basis?
Tue – off
Wed – 35mins easy run on treadmill (av 5:20)
Thu – off
Fri – 20k long run in 97:00 (av 4:50), aerobic progression 20mins at 5:10, 5:00, 4:50, 4:40, and last 17mins at 4:32 pace. In line with my earlier blog about ‘secret weapons for 2010’, I did the long run without breaks and at moderate paces (instead of easy) to optimize calorie burning. The continuous nature of the run plausibly resulted in de-hydration, heat buildup, and cardiac drift as evidenced by the jump in HR from 140 bpm to 180 bpm at the end (note that 180 is higher than my tempo HR!). Will run without any breaks/water for runs up to around 90mins.
Sat – off
Sun – 4k ez, 10k at medium effort on a cross country course in 45mins+ (av 170 bpm). Decided to piggyback on MR25 club runs since it was my first time doing the route; even then I had to wait for some runners to ask for direction. Overall, a good outing at pretty solid pace although, I found the trail too rocky for my liking.
Total 59k for the week.
Will resume SW’s on-line coaching next week. Let the hard work begins !!
Ran 3650k total for the year of 2009 (av 10k/d). Also passed 20,000k of lifetime mileage since I started running six years ago at age 33.
The stats above just showed how little natural talent I have :(
This week marks the end of my off-season training. For the whole of December, my training load is only about 60% of normal, with lots of rest days. My body and legs are still not entirely fresh and springy, but my fitness hasn’t eroded much either, so I guess they balanced out.
Training this week:
Mon – 2k ez, 15k Tempo in 60:00 (av 4:00 min/km) in HK under cool conditions (see previous blog post). I reckoned I could carry on at this pace for a half-marathon distance (85 mins pace). But thenI would feel less guilty to claim a PB in a training run for 15k rather than a common distance such as 21k. Anyways, this timing is faster than of all my currents PBs, therefore, I will use to set my training paces. Makes me wonder if I continued to stay in Australia, how much faster I could get since I can run at this pace presumably on regular basis?
Tue – off
Wed – 35mins easy run on treadmill (av 5:20)
Thu – off
Fri – 20k long run in 97:00 (av 4:50), aerobic progression 20mins at 5:10, 5:00, 4:50, 4:40, and last 17mins at 4:32 pace. In line with my earlier blog about ‘secret weapons for 2010’, I did the long run without breaks and at moderate paces (instead of easy) to optimize calorie burning. The continuous nature of the run plausibly resulted in de-hydration, heat buildup, and cardiac drift as evidenced by the jump in HR from 140 bpm to 180 bpm at the end (note that 180 is higher than my tempo HR!). Will run without any breaks/water for runs up to around 90mins.
Sat – off
Sun – 4k ez, 10k at medium effort on a cross country course in 45mins+ (av 170 bpm). Decided to piggyback on MR25 club runs since it was my first time doing the route; even then I had to wait for some runners to ask for direction. Overall, a good outing at pretty solid pace although, I found the trail too rocky for my liking.
Total 59k for the week.
Will resume SW’s on-line coaching next week. Let the hard work begins !!
22 December 2009
15k solo tempo run in HK
In line with the festive holiday season, my running is virtually also on 'holiday' mood.
After averaging 300+ ks for the last 9 months or so, I only managed to do around 200k month-to-date due to a combination of family visits, holiday and work. After the SCSM half, I averaged out running every second day or so.
Week of 7-13 Dec: 5 off days, 2 runs, total 26k
Week of 14-20 Dec: 2 off days, 5 runs, total 65k
Week of 21-27 Dec: 3 off days, 4 short runs, total 35k
Had a good Christmas break in Hong Kong with wife and son: doing lots of shopping, eating good food, and visiting Disneyland. Had a major scare as Sling Jr vomited a few times one night and we had to rush him to the hospital. The doc said it was probably gastritis. Thankfully, he seemed to be recovering quickly and is on the mend.
Had a good run whilst in Disneyland. Weather was cool at sub-10c with some wind chill here and there. Ran along 1.8k stretch of road between Lake Inspiration and Disneyland Hotel for 4 return trips. The cool conditions at about 1/3 of usual Singapore temperature made running so damn easy and effortless. My original intent was to do 10k tempo run at 4:00 pace. I duly passed the 5k in 19:58 and 10k at 40:08 and still felt strong. Consequently, I decided to continue the run, picked up the ante, and passed the 15k mark in 59:50 and covered 15.06k in 1 hour flat.
An unofficial PB since my last 15k race in 2005 was around 61:40s. My 15k splits from Melbourne HM was 61:12 and Singapore HM was 61:16.
The route was flat and in a straight line (no corners, no turns), hence I think the GPS distance should be pretty close to accurate. I also ran another 60 meters extra just to make sure some compensation of the u-turns :p Hmm...can I claim this as a PB?
I felt that I could continue at this pace for another few ks since I still had some gas in the tank. The good thing about running in cool temperature is that I sweated less and do not have to re-hydrate. Even for allowing sole slow down to around 4:10-4:15 for the next 6k, I think I could end up doing a 86 minute half-marathon that day if I continued. Or even could be 85-ish if I didn't run solo (aka race conditions).
Putting the 60-minute 15k in Jack Daniels chart suggests that I am in 54 VDOT shape: 38:40 10k, 1h:25m HM, and 2h:59m marathon. While McMillan predicts 38:40 10k, 1h:26m HM, and 3:01:42 marathon. Whilst the actual results will depend on the training and the runner itself, at least, these prediction calculators will give me some pace guidelines to shoot for.
On the negative side, the tempo run results re-affirm my view that I am a crap hot weather racer. I really admire local runners like Ronnie, Vivian, Tatz, Steven etc who can run 80-85m HMs in hot weather countries like Singapore and Cambodia. Due to my excessive sweating, both my heart and working muscles simply have to work hard to compete with the skin for blood under warm conditions. Also due to my insanely high sweat loss, I can never be able to keep up with the optimal hydration needs without doing a lot of stops at water stations.
After averaging 300+ ks for the last 9 months or so, I only managed to do around 200k month-to-date due to a combination of family visits, holiday and work. After the SCSM half, I averaged out running every second day or so.
Week of 7-13 Dec: 5 off days, 2 runs, total 26k
Week of 14-20 Dec: 2 off days, 5 runs, total 65k
Week of 21-27 Dec: 3 off days, 4 short runs, total 35k
Had a good Christmas break in Hong Kong with wife and son: doing lots of shopping, eating good food, and visiting Disneyland. Had a major scare as Sling Jr vomited a few times one night and we had to rush him to the hospital. The doc said it was probably gastritis. Thankfully, he seemed to be recovering quickly and is on the mend.
Had a good run whilst in Disneyland. Weather was cool at sub-10c with some wind chill here and there. Ran along 1.8k stretch of road between Lake Inspiration and Disneyland Hotel for 4 return trips. The cool conditions at about 1/3 of usual Singapore temperature made running so damn easy and effortless. My original intent was to do 10k tempo run at 4:00 pace. I duly passed the 5k in 19:58 and 10k at 40:08 and still felt strong. Consequently, I decided to continue the run, picked up the ante, and passed the 15k mark in 59:50 and covered 15.06k in 1 hour flat.
An unofficial PB since my last 15k race in 2005 was around 61:40s. My 15k splits from Melbourne HM was 61:12 and Singapore HM was 61:16.
The route was flat and in a straight line (no corners, no turns), hence I think the GPS distance should be pretty close to accurate. I also ran another 60 meters extra just to make sure some compensation of the u-turns :p Hmm...can I claim this as a PB?
I felt that I could continue at this pace for another few ks since I still had some gas in the tank. The good thing about running in cool temperature is that I sweated less and do not have to re-hydrate. Even for allowing sole slow down to around 4:10-4:15 for the next 6k, I think I could end up doing a 86 minute half-marathon that day if I continued. Or even could be 85-ish if I didn't run solo (aka race conditions).
Putting the 60-minute 15k in Jack Daniels chart suggests that I am in 54 VDOT shape: 38:40 10k, 1h:25m HM, and 2h:59m marathon. While McMillan predicts 38:40 10k, 1h:26m HM, and 3:01:42 marathon. Whilst the actual results will depend on the training and the runner itself, at least, these prediction calculators will give me some pace guidelines to shoot for.
On the negative side, the tempo run results re-affirm my view that I am a crap hot weather racer. I really admire local runners like Ronnie, Vivian, Tatz, Steven etc who can run 80-85m HMs in hot weather countries like Singapore and Cambodia. Due to my excessive sweating, both my heart and working muscles simply have to work hard to compete with the skin for blood under warm conditions. Also due to my insanely high sweat loss, I can never be able to keep up with the optimal hydration needs without doing a lot of stops at water stations.
20 December 2009
Tune-up races 2010
Doing my own training this month due to a myriad of things such as post 1/2 marathon recovery, family visits, and Christmas holiday. Will resume SW’s coaching in January to prepare for GCM.
Will be off to Hong Kong with wife + son next week yay :)
Below is my indicative race plan for 2010. Have not registered any of these yet, but these are what I have in mind:
14 March: North East Run 16k
A new race, hence I don't know much about the race route and organization qualities. Anyway, it's a good distance to race since it is virtually a lactate threshold test. One bummer is that the race venue is far from my place (1 hour train ride) and I need to go there twice to pick up the race bib and then for the run itself :(
11 April: 2XU Compression Run 12k
Also, a new race and it will be held in Sentosa Island. Most likely 2 loops of the island with some undulations.
22 May: Saucony Passion Run 25k
I've done the 10k for this event in 2008 & 2009 and hated it due 'human wall' formed by slower 15k runners who started earlier and general public who used the running path.
This year, they replaced the 15k with 25k. My initial thought would be to do the 25k at goal marathon pace or slightly faster. One bummer is that the race will start at 4pm which is still a bit warm for my liking.
4 July --- Gold Coast Marathon
Most likely will take a long holiday in the land of Oz late June to early July since I need to extend my permanent residency. Hopefully the family can join me to Gold Coast.
Other races:
I might also do the JP Morgan Corporate 5.6k run around April if my company sponsors its staff this year again. Currently not tempted to run Adidas Sundown 21k since I am now getting slower to recover from races (the 25k race is a week before)
That's basically all. No common race distances such as 5k, 10k, or 21k leading up to the marathon. If my marathon fitness indicates that I have a shot at sub-3 in GC, I could toe the start line with the slowest 10k and 21k PB among all runners in the sub-3 pacing bus. Can a wet dream become a reality? :)
Will be off to Hong Kong with wife + son next week yay :)
Below is my indicative race plan for 2010. Have not registered any of these yet, but these are what I have in mind:
14 March: North East Run 16k
A new race, hence I don't know much about the race route and organization qualities. Anyway, it's a good distance to race since it is virtually a lactate threshold test. One bummer is that the race venue is far from my place (1 hour train ride) and I need to go there twice to pick up the race bib and then for the run itself :(
11 April: 2XU Compression Run 12k
Also, a new race and it will be held in Sentosa Island. Most likely 2 loops of the island with some undulations.
22 May: Saucony Passion Run 25k
I've done the 10k for this event in 2008 & 2009 and hated it due 'human wall' formed by slower 15k runners who started earlier and general public who used the running path.
This year, they replaced the 15k with 25k. My initial thought would be to do the 25k at goal marathon pace or slightly faster. One bummer is that the race will start at 4pm which is still a bit warm for my liking.
4 July --- Gold Coast Marathon
Most likely will take a long holiday in the land of Oz late June to early July since I need to extend my permanent residency. Hopefully the family can join me to Gold Coast.
Other races:
I might also do the JP Morgan Corporate 5.6k run around April if my company sponsors its staff this year again. Currently not tempted to run Adidas Sundown 21k since I am now getting slower to recover from races (the 25k race is a week before)
That's basically all. No common race distances such as 5k, 10k, or 21k leading up to the marathon. If my marathon fitness indicates that I have a shot at sub-3 in GC, I could toe the start line with the slowest 10k and 21k PB among all runners in the sub-3 pacing bus. Can a wet dream become a reality? :)
13 December 2009
Secret Weapons for 2010
A slack week :) only did two runs (10k ez @ 5:10 & 16k ez @ 4:48)
Due to little training, I have some time to think about next year plans. No prize for guessing the goal lol. But I am really excited about next year as it will be my first ever attempting a sub-3 (of course subject to actual fitness level closer to the race day).
Presently, I haven't done anything to deserve a sub 3. My recent half-marathon (87 mins) only indicate around 3:03 marathon potential, so in that sense I haven't really earned the right to try sub-3. While there are still 6+ months plus to train, I doubt that I will be able to run 85 half which is typically used as a benchmark for sub-3 readiness. It took me 3 years to lower my half PB by 1 minute, hence to cut 2-3mins within the next 5-6 months seems to be a stretch target.
My only hope for an upside is that it will come from doing the right workouts during the marathon prep. In general, I am a better trainer than a racer. So doing the right workouts (long runs, long goal MP run etc), hitting targetted paces/effort, and training consistently will be key, and let's just hope everything will come together on race day and who knows I might be lucky :p
Anyway, I've identified 5 areas that can to help me to achieve my goal. They are not genetic-driven, so regardless of my limited talent, achieving these should contribute to running faster:
1) Lower weight
At 168cm and 68kg, my BMI is 24 which is a bit high. Earlier this week, I went to the gym and they measured my body fat percentage at 14% (not sure if accurate). Using an accepted rule of thumb that every extra pound of non-productive body weight (body fat) decreases running performance by around 1%, if I can reduce my (fat) weight by 3kg, in theory it can improve my peformance by around 5%.
This can come from better dietary regime, such as targeting low GI food and less fatty food items.
2) Upping the pace of easy runs and long runs
In the last few weeks, my average training pace (average of all sessions) is 4:50s, mainly due to doing long runs at moderate pace (around 4:40-4:50). If my average weekly training pace was 5:00 during GC prep could get me 3:04+, presumably a slightly faster average pace should get me somewhere close to 3 hour. I don't think this is not that hard to attain.
In addition, running at moderate pace also will lead to more fat burning. I read in a book that at low intensity (walking) of 25% VO2max, you burn 85% fat, 15% carb. At 65% VO2max, you burn 60% fat, 40% carb while at 85% VO2max (tempo pace) the mix is 30% fat, 70% carb. While these are percentages of fuel mix, but the key to reduce body fat is to actually lose the fat itself as TOTAL FAT CALORIES. At 25% VO2max, the fat burnt is only 0.8 kcal/kg/min (you burn 0.8 calories of fat per 1 kg of body weight every minute). But at 65% VO2max, you will actually burn fat at a rate of 1.2 kcal/kg/min. At 85% VO2max, the fat burnt is reduced again to 0.8 since the fat component is lower at 30%. Hence, upping the pace of aerobic runs to moderate level should assist in losing a couple of excess fat kgs.
3) Minimizing stoppages during runs
Last week Epi advised me to run continuously without a break in order to develop mental toughness and improve pace concentration. Some things that I can start to adopt in the next marathon prep include a) bringing fuel belt during long runs (avoid going to 7/11 to get drinks which could take 5 minutes); b) let the watch run while drinking or resting to give me incentive to ensure the break will be a quick one; and c) jogging during intervals breaks (even at 8-9 min/km) rather than standing breaks. I think a jog say at 130-140 bpm before starting the next interval should yield better fitness than starting the next one at HR of 100 bpm with standing break.
Anyway, these are just my random thoughts on a few scopes for upside improvement which are independent of my limited talent. Anyone has other ideas?
Quote of the week:
"you can run a good half marathon off of marathon training, but you can’t run a good marathon off of half marathon training" - Renato Canova
Due to little training, I have some time to think about next year plans. No prize for guessing the goal lol. But I am really excited about next year as it will be my first ever attempting a sub-3 (of course subject to actual fitness level closer to the race day).
Presently, I haven't done anything to deserve a sub 3. My recent half-marathon (87 mins) only indicate around 3:03 marathon potential, so in that sense I haven't really earned the right to try sub-3. While there are still 6+ months plus to train, I doubt that I will be able to run 85 half which is typically used as a benchmark for sub-3 readiness. It took me 3 years to lower my half PB by 1 minute, hence to cut 2-3mins within the next 5-6 months seems to be a stretch target.
My only hope for an upside is that it will come from doing the right workouts during the marathon prep. In general, I am a better trainer than a racer. So doing the right workouts (long runs, long goal MP run etc), hitting targetted paces/effort, and training consistently will be key, and let's just hope everything will come together on race day and who knows I might be lucky :p
Anyway, I've identified 5 areas that can to help me to achieve my goal. They are not genetic-driven, so regardless of my limited talent, achieving these should contribute to running faster:
1) Lower weight
At 168cm and 68kg, my BMI is 24 which is a bit high. Earlier this week, I went to the gym and they measured my body fat percentage at 14% (not sure if accurate). Using an accepted rule of thumb that every extra pound of non-productive body weight (body fat) decreases running performance by around 1%, if I can reduce my (fat) weight by 3kg, in theory it can improve my peformance by around 5%.
This can come from better dietary regime, such as targeting low GI food and less fatty food items.
2) Upping the pace of easy runs and long runs
In the last few weeks, my average training pace (average of all sessions) is 4:50s, mainly due to doing long runs at moderate pace (around 4:40-4:50). If my average weekly training pace was 5:00 during GC prep could get me 3:04+, presumably a slightly faster average pace should get me somewhere close to 3 hour. I don't think this is not that hard to attain.
In addition, running at moderate pace also will lead to more fat burning. I read in a book that at low intensity (walking) of 25% VO2max, you burn 85% fat, 15% carb. At 65% VO2max, you burn 60% fat, 40% carb while at 85% VO2max (tempo pace) the mix is 30% fat, 70% carb. While these are percentages of fuel mix, but the key to reduce body fat is to actually lose the fat itself as TOTAL FAT CALORIES. At 25% VO2max, the fat burnt is only 0.8 kcal/kg/min (you burn 0.8 calories of fat per 1 kg of body weight every minute). But at 65% VO2max, you will actually burn fat at a rate of 1.2 kcal/kg/min. At 85% VO2max, the fat burnt is reduced again to 0.8 since the fat component is lower at 30%. Hence, upping the pace of aerobic runs to moderate level should assist in losing a couple of excess fat kgs.
3) Minimizing stoppages during runs
Last week Epi advised me to run continuously without a break in order to develop mental toughness and improve pace concentration. Some things that I can start to adopt in the next marathon prep include a) bringing fuel belt during long runs (avoid going to 7/11 to get drinks which could take 5 minutes); b) let the watch run while drinking or resting to give me incentive to ensure the break will be a quick one; and c) jogging during intervals breaks (even at 8-9 min/km) rather than standing breaks. I think a jog say at 130-140 bpm before starting the next interval should yield better fitness than starting the next one at HR of 100 bpm with standing break.
Anyway, these are just my random thoughts on a few scopes for upside improvement which are independent of my limited talent. Anyone has other ideas?
Quote of the week:
"you can run a good half marathon off of marathon training, but you can’t run a good marathon off of half marathon training" - Renato Canova
06 December 2009
Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon and 1/2 Marathon 2009
87:34 chip time..
Distance was 21.3k by GPS, passing 21.1k in 86:5x. Quite sure the race distance is close to accurate since normally GPS overstates by 100-200m as runners will not take the shortest pathway as envisaged by the race measurer.
Not sure whether the result is better than my current PB in Melbourne which is 87:05. Today's timing is 30 seconds slower. Temperature was 24c with 95% humidity, while the race in Melbourne was around 10c and relatively dry conditions. Also I did a couple more drink stops to re-hydrate which cost 5-10 seconds each (sadly, I couldn’t drink on the run, hence I walked in order to drink properly). The course was also harder than Melbourne which included 500m-long steep hill (ECP).
But who knows…
But again self-conviction was probably the main culprit. I felt strong but just didn’t have the guts to push. Splits for 5k were: 19:48, 20:36, 20:52, 21:13, and 5:05 for the last 1.3k of whatever. (10k splits were 40:24, 42:05). The first 5k was probably a tad too fast in hindsight but there were 2 pretty long gradual downhill (av 3:58 for the 5k). Next 5k included a 500m hill and it broke me down, but pace wise was still okay averaging 4:07s for this segment. After that I was basically ‘locked’ into a cruising pace for the second half. Although, I wasn’t struggling but I just couldn’t find the guts to shift to a higher gear. Since the 21k was a side-event to the marathon, there were not many runners and I was virtually running alone the whole way. Ran the next 10k at around 4:10+ pace and was simply cruising until I picked it up a bit in the last k. As can be seen in the km splits below, my HR was hovering at 170s between km 3 – 20. I was simply locked into a twilight zone and felt afraid to fail. I felt that I still had a lot left in the tank at the finish, but what the heck, the race is already over.
All in all, I am pretty okay with the result, only 30secs slower than Melbourne (I am only good at cool weather runs) and beat my Singapore best timing for the distance by a full minute. So, I feel that I am on the improve fitness wise. Habing said that, I still need to work hard next year to do sub-3.
My lingering issue is just poor race execution. Probably started too fast (albeit downhill start), but the main problem is simply too much aversion towards pain. Perhaps I should do more races during the build-up to GCM in order to practice pacing, drinking on the run, and more importantly, to increase pain tolerance and the will to push myself.
On the elite level, today’s cool weather for Singapore standard (24c, 90+% humidity, wind) resulted in course record to be broken. Luke Kibet, defending champ and 2007 World Championship gold medalist (2:08 PB) won it in 2:11 and brought home US$35k + appearance fees.
Km splits according to GPS and HR:
3 50 158
4 0 167
3 47 170
4 1 171
4 10 169
4 3 170
4 12 170
4 5 170
4 7 171
4 9 171
4 9 172
4 14 171
4 7 173
4 11 174
4 11 173
4 14 175
4 16 174
4 16 176
4 12 177
4 15 177
4 6 181
59 183
Chip time: 87:34
Position: 19th overall out of 9794, 17th Men out of 6371, 7th AG 35-39 out of 1122
Results link
Distance was 21.3k by GPS, passing 21.1k in 86:5x. Quite sure the race distance is close to accurate since normally GPS overstates by 100-200m as runners will not take the shortest pathway as envisaged by the race measurer.
Not sure whether the result is better than my current PB in Melbourne which is 87:05. Today's timing is 30 seconds slower. Temperature was 24c with 95% humidity, while the race in Melbourne was around 10c and relatively dry conditions. Also I did a couple more drink stops to re-hydrate which cost 5-10 seconds each (sadly, I couldn’t drink on the run, hence I walked in order to drink properly). The course was also harder than Melbourne which included 500m-long steep hill (ECP).
But who knows…
But again self-conviction was probably the main culprit. I felt strong but just didn’t have the guts to push. Splits for 5k were: 19:48, 20:36, 20:52, 21:13, and 5:05 for the last 1.3k of whatever. (10k splits were 40:24, 42:05). The first 5k was probably a tad too fast in hindsight but there were 2 pretty long gradual downhill (av 3:58 for the 5k). Next 5k included a 500m hill and it broke me down, but pace wise was still okay averaging 4:07s for this segment. After that I was basically ‘locked’ into a cruising pace for the second half. Although, I wasn’t struggling but I just couldn’t find the guts to shift to a higher gear. Since the 21k was a side-event to the marathon, there were not many runners and I was virtually running alone the whole way. Ran the next 10k at around 4:10+ pace and was simply cruising until I picked it up a bit in the last k. As can be seen in the km splits below, my HR was hovering at 170s between km 3 – 20. I was simply locked into a twilight zone and felt afraid to fail. I felt that I still had a lot left in the tank at the finish, but what the heck, the race is already over.
All in all, I am pretty okay with the result, only 30secs slower than Melbourne (I am only good at cool weather runs) and beat my Singapore best timing for the distance by a full minute. So, I feel that I am on the improve fitness wise. Habing said that, I still need to work hard next year to do sub-3.
My lingering issue is just poor race execution. Probably started too fast (albeit downhill start), but the main problem is simply too much aversion towards pain. Perhaps I should do more races during the build-up to GCM in order to practice pacing, drinking on the run, and more importantly, to increase pain tolerance and the will to push myself.
On the elite level, today’s cool weather for Singapore standard (24c, 90+% humidity, wind) resulted in course record to be broken. Luke Kibet, defending champ and 2007 World Championship gold medalist (2:08 PB) won it in 2:11 and brought home US$35k + appearance fees.
Km splits according to GPS and HR:
3 50 158
4 0 167
3 47 170
4 1 171
4 10 169
4 3 170
4 12 170
4 5 170
4 7 171
4 9 171
4 9 172
4 14 171
4 7 173
4 11 174
4 11 173
4 14 175
4 16 174
4 16 176
4 12 177
4 15 177
4 6 181
59 183
Chip time: 87:34
Position: 19th overall out of 9794, 17th Men out of 6371, 7th AG 35-39 out of 1122
Results link
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