First off, congrats to my fellow bloggers who ran Perth & Gold Coast Marathons this morning !
As for me, nothing really exciting this week. Pretty much all easy running with a couple of 90mins easy runs. I was planning to do more mileage for endurance, but couldn't do so due to other life factors (wife was unwell, busy at work, heat etc).
Hopefully, next week will be a better week !
Mon - 45mins Light
Tue - 90mins Easy
Wed - 41mins Easy
Thu - AM 2 x 1k CV intervals then DNF due to heat, PM 30mins incl 25mins at HM pace
Fri - 35mins Light
Sat - off
Sun - 87mins Easy (HR 154 bpm)
Total 69k for the week, 1756k for the year
06 July 2008
29 June 2008
Pearl Izumi Run Series 1: 12k in Bedok
The plan was to run the 12k race at 4:10 pace, as a race simulation for a HM in 8 weeks time. I felt this is doable given that I did 8k tempo run at 4:09 pace on the track two weeks ago and it wasn't a big struggle.
Didn't taper but had to take Friday off due to work commitments (55k total before the race). Given the consistently poor organizations and inaccurate distances for races in Singapore, I followed Ewen's advice not to taper and forget about peaking. There are probably only 1-2 IAAF certified road races here, so will try to peak for those ones (and track races which are definitely accurate).
The course turned out to be very, very DIFFICULT with more than 30 twists & turns, 4 overhead bridges (stairs) and running through the lobbies of several apartments. I felt that I lost around 2 minutes due to the 'slow' course.
Didn't taper but had to take Friday off due to work commitments (55k total before the race). Given the consistently poor organizations and inaccurate distances for races in Singapore, I followed Ewen's advice not to taper and forget about peaking. There are probably only 1-2 IAAF certified road races here, so will try to peak for those ones (and track races which are definitely accurate).
The course turned out to be very, very DIFFICULT with more than 30 twists & turns, 4 overhead bridges (stairs) and running through the lobbies of several apartments. I felt that I lost around 2 minutes due to the 'slow' course.
For readers outside Singapore, here is an example of public apartment (HDBs) where parts of the race course was ran today. The lobby of these apartment blocks are open space in order for people to meet, chat, and play mahjong..
The splits were very VOLATILE, with some splits varied by more than one minute due to the stairs. I am not good in stairs climbing so I walked on all of them and I had to hold the hand rails whilst going down.
Splits:
3:48/168 (got sucked in with the lead pack)
3:58/174
4:02/176 (pace was okay since we ran on straight paths)
4:12/177
4:13/177
4:20/179 (the course started its twists & turns)
5:16/176 (60 secs lost due to stairs up the overhead bridge & drink stop)
4:28/177 (twists & turns)
4:41/176 (drink stop)
4:18/183 (getting warm as indicated by HR spike)
4:51/183 (30-40 lost due to stairs up the bridge)
1:21/189 (last 400m)
Total distance was 11.4k according to Garmin, but I am not too sure how the GPS measured the stairs climbing up the overhead bridges. Finished in the Top 9 out of 200 runners in 49:35 (av 4:19 pace), which wasn't too bad given I probably gave about 90% effort. With a fast course and slower early pace, most likely I could complete the run about 1.5-2 minutes faster comfortably.
So, what's next? My next two races are a 10k in 4 weeks time (questionable distance, gravel surface) and a HM in 8 weeks time (big race, so distance could be accurate). I plan to increase my mileage over the next few weeks and make myself comfortable to run at HR 170-180 for a longer period of time.
My training this week:
Monday:
AM (track)
10 mins warm up incl strides
5 x 1000m at 8k pace Intervals (av 3:50 min/km) with 2:00 recovery
Splits:
3:47 (av 163 bpm)
3:49 (166)
3:52 (168)
3:51 (172)
3:49 (175)
6 mins cool down
The plan was to do 6-7x1000m at 3:55 min/km to train LT, but went too fast in all of them. Last week mileage was low (fresh legs), so found it tough to control the pace (it was akin more like 8k pace). Recovery was perhaps a bit short and was struggling in the last rep.
PM (treadmill)
26 mins jogging (5:39)
Tuesday (treadmill):
50 mins Recovery Run (5:23)
Wednesday (pavement):
10 mins warm up
7k in 32 mins at around marathon pace (4:32)
3 x 00:30 hill repeats, walk/jog return
6 mins cool down
Felt sluggish due to humidity and stiffness. It seems I was slow to recover from Monday's intervals. Haven't run at 4:30 pace for a long time so probably the body needs to adjust.
Thursday (treadmill):
72 mins Easy Run (av 5:09)
Friday:
Off
No run, team building day with work colleagues
Saturday (pavement):
36 mins Easy (av 5:18) with strides
Garmin had flat battery, so pace was approximated.
Sunday (pavement):
2k warm up with strides
12k Pearl Izumi Run Series 1 in Bedok Town park
3k cool down
Total 71.4km for the week, 1687 km for the year
22 June 2008
No Run
Arrghhhh...
Woke up at 6am this morning and got quickly changed into my running gear that I had prepared the night before. Seconds after I stepped out of the house door, guess what....a torrential rain started coupled with thunders.
Waited at home and continually checked the weather website until 7am (race started at 8). Finally decided not to go.
I am not afraid to run in the rain. The issue was how I would get to the starting point. The race location in Punggol is far (for the local standard) from where I live. I don't have a car so I cannot drive to the race and wait in the car until the race starts. Train station is 15mins walk from my place, but it rained cat and dogs outside. Also, the race dosn't have any bag deposit so I can't bring spare clothing, umbrella/poncho, bags etc.
It is very frustrating given that I've tried to peak for this race. Did a hard race pace workout 10 days ago, a tempo run 7 days ago, a light interval session 5 days ago and the rest of the week were short, easy runs to peak.
This is an evidence that how races can be disruptive to training. If I don't do the race, probably I could do a quality session or a long run on Friday or Saturday. At the end, I ended up with a measly 45k for the week without doing any quality workout at all.
All in all, 2 months of quality training for 5k/10k and there were no results to show. The 10k two weeks ago had the distance wrong and today no 5k due to rain. Bugger.
There is no more 5K for this year. There are a couple of 10ks in the next few months but hopefully the course will be fast and distance will be accurate.
Woke up at 6am this morning and got quickly changed into my running gear that I had prepared the night before. Seconds after I stepped out of the house door, guess what....a torrential rain started coupled with thunders.
Waited at home and continually checked the weather website until 7am (race started at 8). Finally decided not to go.
I am not afraid to run in the rain. The issue was how I would get to the starting point. The race location in Punggol is far (for the local standard) from where I live. I don't have a car so I cannot drive to the race and wait in the car until the race starts. Train station is 15mins walk from my place, but it rained cat and dogs outside. Also, the race dosn't have any bag deposit so I can't bring spare clothing, umbrella/poncho, bags etc.
It is very frustrating given that I've tried to peak for this race. Did a hard race pace workout 10 days ago, a tempo run 7 days ago, a light interval session 5 days ago and the rest of the week were short, easy runs to peak.
This is an evidence that how races can be disruptive to training. If I don't do the race, probably I could do a quality session or a long run on Friday or Saturday. At the end, I ended up with a measly 45k for the week without doing any quality workout at all.
All in all, 2 months of quality training for 5k/10k and there were no results to show. The 10k two weeks ago had the distance wrong and today no 5k due to rain. Bugger.
There is no more 5K for this year. There are a couple of 10ks in the next few months but hopefully the course will be fast and distance will be accurate.
15 June 2008
Business As Usual
Pretty much business as usual. Wanted to run more, but can't do it due to work & home commitments. A 5k race next Sunday then a 12k race the following week. Will run the 5k hard, the 12k race will be treated as a tempo run to prepare for August 24th Half-Marathon.
My training this week:
Monday:
30 mins Easy Run (av 5:26 min/km)
Tired. Last week's long hours at work seemed to drain me physically & mentally.
Tuesday:
Off - no time to run.
Wednesday:
3k warm up to the track (incl 3 strides)
5 x 1000m VO2Max (av 3:41 min/km), high HR 192
Splits (per lap):
86, 88, 43 = 3:37 (av 174 bpm)
89, 89, 44 = 3:42 (178)
90, 89, 43 = 3:42 (180)
89, 90,43 = 3:42 (183)
89, 90, 42 = 3:41 (183)
Recovery were 400m slow jogs and 30secs drink stop for around 3:00 total
2.4k cool down (total workout 12k)
10 mins stretching/core
70 abs crunch + 2 sets weights for torso and hip
Had enforced 3 days off in the last 7 days due to work. For me, this resulted in fresh legs but loss in endurance. Ran the first 1000m too fast due to fresh legs and had to 'fight hard' after that. Wanted to quit ater the 4th interval but after extending the rest to 4mins, managed to complete the last one successfully.
Thursday:
35 mins Recovery Run (av 5:35)
20 mins weights
Friday:
57 mins Easy (av 5:00) with 10 mins @ MP
Hot day, should have stayed indoors. Headache for the whole day.
Saturday:
42 mins Easy (av 5:05) with 6 x 00:10 hills
Sunday:
10mins warm up on the track, incl 3 strides
8k sub-LT Tempo Run in 33:08 (av 4:09 min/km)
Splits (per 1600m):
6:36/165, 6:38/170, 6:42/175, 6:38/180, 6:34/186
Av HR 176 bpm, High HR 191
28 mins cool down incl 3 light strides
Total workout 15.5k in 72 mins (av 4:38)
A good workout but found the last 1600m tough as evidenced by high HR (186 bpm average). Cloudy morning but humid.
Total 59km for the week, 1571 km for the year
My training this week:
Monday:
30 mins Easy Run (av 5:26 min/km)
Tired. Last week's long hours at work seemed to drain me physically & mentally.
Tuesday:
Off - no time to run.
Wednesday:
3k warm up to the track (incl 3 strides)
5 x 1000m VO2Max (av 3:41 min/km), high HR 192
Splits (per lap):
86, 88, 43 = 3:37 (av 174 bpm)
89, 89, 44 = 3:42 (178)
90, 89, 43 = 3:42 (180)
89, 90,43 = 3:42 (183)
89, 90, 42 = 3:41 (183)
Recovery were 400m slow jogs and 30secs drink stop for around 3:00 total
2.4k cool down (total workout 12k)
10 mins stretching/core
70 abs crunch + 2 sets weights for torso and hip
Had enforced 3 days off in the last 7 days due to work. For me, this resulted in fresh legs but loss in endurance. Ran the first 1000m too fast due to fresh legs and had to 'fight hard' after that. Wanted to quit ater the 4th interval but after extending the rest to 4mins, managed to complete the last one successfully.
Thursday:
35 mins Recovery Run (av 5:35)
20 mins weights
Friday:
57 mins Easy (av 5:00) with 10 mins @ MP
Hot day, should have stayed indoors. Headache for the whole day.
Saturday:
42 mins Easy (av 5:05) with 6 x 00:10 hills
Sunday:
10mins warm up on the track, incl 3 strides
8k sub-LT Tempo Run in 33:08 (av 4:09 min/km)
Splits (per 1600m):
6:36/165, 6:38/170, 6:42/175, 6:38/180, 6:34/186
Av HR 176 bpm, High HR 191
28 mins cool down incl 3 light strides
Total workout 15.5k in 72 mins (av 4:38)
A good workout but found the last 1600m tough as evidenced by high HR (186 bpm average). Cloudy morning but humid.
Total 59km for the week, 1571 km for the year
08 June 2008
Gotta try again
A crap week with a crap race.
Was super busy for the whole week as we were preparing to submit a tender by Monday. Was in HK for the weekend and arrived back Sunday midnight. Then travelled to Jakarta for 3 days for work and didn't sleep much. Worked for 15 hours non-stop on both Friday and Saturday and didn't go to the bed until 2am the day of the race. Woke up at 6am and went to the race location. Did 3k warm up. Weather was good for Singapore standard.
My aim was to go through the first 5k in 19:40 in order to have any chance of going under 39:20. After a few ks, the body seemed to be in sleep mode and unwilling to run. Just wasn't feeling it today.
The markers were longer than 1km. When I passed the km 4 marker, my Garmin was already showing 4.4k. Passed the 5k mark according to my Garmin in 19:52 so I was already behind schedule. Then the distance markers get even worse. Passed the km 6 marker, when my Garmin showed km 7. So the course was already off by 1k.
Since the race is definitely longer than 10k and I wasn't really feeling it, I decided to cut my losses after km 7 and jog easily to the finish.
Total distance was 11.5k according to my Garmin. All the runners who used either 405, 305, 205 and Polar reported 11.5k for the route.
Gotta try again…..a 5k in 2 weeks time (hopefully the distance will be accurate)
This week's training:
Mon: 40 mins Fartlek (av pace 4:30 min/km)
Tue: off - travel to Jakarta for work
Wed: 60 mins Easy (av 5:11)
Thu: 33 mins Easy (av 5:08)
Fri: 39 mins Easy (av 4:53)
Sat: off - work all day
Sun: Saucony Passion Run: 3k warm up, 6k in 24mins + 5.5k easy to the finish
Total 50k for the week, 1512k for the year
Was super busy for the whole week as we were preparing to submit a tender by Monday. Was in HK for the weekend and arrived back Sunday midnight. Then travelled to Jakarta for 3 days for work and didn't sleep much. Worked for 15 hours non-stop on both Friday and Saturday and didn't go to the bed until 2am the day of the race. Woke up at 6am and went to the race location. Did 3k warm up. Weather was good for Singapore standard.
My aim was to go through the first 5k in 19:40 in order to have any chance of going under 39:20. After a few ks, the body seemed to be in sleep mode and unwilling to run. Just wasn't feeling it today.
The markers were longer than 1km. When I passed the km 4 marker, my Garmin was already showing 4.4k. Passed the 5k mark according to my Garmin in 19:52 so I was already behind schedule. Then the distance markers get even worse. Passed the km 6 marker, when my Garmin showed km 7. So the course was already off by 1k.
Since the race is definitely longer than 10k and I wasn't really feeling it, I decided to cut my losses after km 7 and jog easily to the finish.
Total distance was 11.5k according to my Garmin. All the runners who used either 405, 305, 205 and Polar reported 11.5k for the route.
Gotta try again…..a 5k in 2 weeks time (hopefully the distance will be accurate)
This week's training:
Mon: 40 mins Fartlek (av pace 4:30 min/km)
Tue: off - travel to Jakarta for work
Wed: 60 mins Easy (av 5:11)
Thu: 33 mins Easy (av 5:08)
Fri: 39 mins Easy (av 4:53)
Sat: off - work all day
Sun: Saucony Passion Run: 3k warm up, 6k in 24mins + 5.5k easy to the finish
Total 50k for the week, 1512k for the year
29 May 2008
Last hitout
A pretty good week. Despite heavy workload at the office, still managed two good quality workouts. There was no soreness from Sunday's 5.5k race - which is good.
On Tuesday, I ran a 30mins moderate pace tempo + hill sprints. On Thursday, I did one last Big Workout before a 10k race next Sunday: 2 x2.4k @ LT, 2 x 1.2k @ 10k, 2 x 0.6k @ 5k on a wet track.
I don't know what to expect for next week's 10k. I feel that I'm pretty fit due to a diet of tempo and CV intervals over the last 6 weeks. On the other hand, things can also go wrong due to:
- Hot weather on race day
- The 10k starts after 3 waves of 15k runners. The race is on bike path, so expect congestion
- Will be working in Jakarta, difficult to find time to run & normally eat too much buffet.
Tuesday:
AM (pavement)
10 mins warm up
30 mins Medium Pace Tempo (av 4:22 min/km), av HR 163 bpm
7 mins jog to the hill
4 x ~75m hill sprints in 00:15 (Wishart Rd)
6 mins cool down
5 mins stretching/core
Total workout 11.8k in 55:15 (av 4:41)
Comment: No soreness from Sunday's race. Av HR was 163 bpm with a high of 171 which is lower than 170 bpm with a high of 183 during a 35 mins tempo run at same pace last month. Albeit a shorter run by 5mins, it looks like my fitness has improved.
PM (treadmill):
27 mins Recovery (av 5:32 min/km)
Comment: Decided to double because I missed Sunday's long run.
Wednesday (treadmill):
35 mins Recovery (av 5:34 min/km)
10 mins weights + 60 abs crunch
Thursday (track):
9 mins warm up incl 2 short strides (in the rain)
2 x 2400m @ LT pace with 400m jog
Splits: 9:46 and 9:38 (av 4:03 min/km)
2 x 1200m @ 10k pace with 400m jog
Splits: 4:38 and 4:40 (av 3:53 min/km)
2 x 600m at 5k pace with 400m jog
Splits: 2:11 and 2:14, av pace 3:41 min/km
8 mins cool down
10 mins stretching/core
Total workout 13.7k in 62 mins (av 4:31)
Good last workout before a 10k next Sunday. It was raining for the first 15 mins but then stopped. Garmin had a flat battery today so wore a Timex watch. Since it only has a stopwatch mode and doesn't have lap times, I had to count the splits manually. Felt pretty good for most intervals, although the 600s were too short to be challenging.
Friday:
Off
80 abs crunch , 20 push-ups, 60 lat pulls
Total 64k for the week, 308k for May, year-to-date 1462k
On Tuesday, I ran a 30mins moderate pace tempo + hill sprints. On Thursday, I did one last Big Workout before a 10k race next Sunday: 2 x2.4k @ LT, 2 x 1.2k @ 10k, 2 x 0.6k @ 5k on a wet track.
I don't know what to expect for next week's 10k. I feel that I'm pretty fit due to a diet of tempo and CV intervals over the last 6 weeks. On the other hand, things can also go wrong due to:
- Hot weather on race day
- The 10k starts after 3 waves of 15k runners. The race is on bike path, so expect congestion
- Will be working in Jakarta, difficult to find time to run & normally eat too much buffet.
Anyway, my training for this week:
Monday (treadmill):
35 mins Recovery (av 5:35 min/km)
Tuesday:
AM (pavement)
10 mins warm up
30 mins Medium Pace Tempo (av 4:22 min/km), av HR 163 bpm
7 mins jog to the hill
4 x ~75m hill sprints in 00:15 (Wishart Rd)
6 mins cool down
5 mins stretching/core
Total workout 11.8k in 55:15 (av 4:41)
Comment: No soreness from Sunday's race. Av HR was 163 bpm with a high of 171 which is lower than 170 bpm with a high of 183 during a 35 mins tempo run at same pace last month. Albeit a shorter run by 5mins, it looks like my fitness has improved.
PM (treadmill):
27 mins Recovery (av 5:32 min/km)
Comment: Decided to double because I missed Sunday's long run.
Wednesday (treadmill):
35 mins Recovery (av 5:34 min/km)
10 mins weights + 60 abs crunch
Thursday (track):
9 mins warm up incl 2 short strides (in the rain)
2 x 2400m @ LT pace with 400m jog
Splits: 9:46 and 9:38 (av 4:03 min/km)
2 x 1200m @ 10k pace with 400m jog
Splits: 4:38 and 4:40 (av 3:53 min/km)
2 x 600m at 5k pace with 400m jog
Splits: 2:11 and 2:14, av pace 3:41 min/km
8 mins cool down
10 mins stretching/core
Total workout 13.7k in 62 mins (av 4:31)
Good last workout before a 10k next Sunday. It was raining for the first 15 mins but then stopped. Garmin had a flat battery today so wore a Timex watch. Since it only has a stopwatch mode and doesn't have lap times, I had to count the splits manually. Felt pretty good for most intervals, although the 600s were too short to be challenging.
Friday:
Off
Saturday (pavement):
70 mins Easy (av 5:12 min/km)Sunday (treadmill):
40 mins Easy (av 5:18 min/km)80 abs crunch , 20 push-ups, 60 lat pulls
Total 64k for the week, 308k for May, year-to-date 1462k
25 May 2008
Clarke Quay 20 Run
Entered a small, low key race this morning, with the start point located about 1.5k from home. The event is called Clarke Quay 20, organized by Singaore Polytechnics School as part of the Singapore River Raft Race held in the weekend.
No taper, ran 62k total between Monday-Saturday and had no off days in the last three weeks. My aim was simply to get a feel of running at around 10k pace for a reasonable distance before a 10k race in 2 weeks time.
The run was supposed to start at 8:15, but was delayed until about 9am due to poor organisation. By that time, the sun was already out in full force. The route started at Clarke Quay MRT towards Fullerton Hotel, cross Coleman Bridge and back to Clarke Quay MRT via Read Bridge which included steep stairs. Two laps plus a final home stretch to UOB Building. There were only 25 runners in the male category, all college students, mostly less than half my age. The top 3 wins cash.
Started with the lead pack and after around 1k, there were only four of us. At the 2k mark, the top 2 broke away and left us about 50m behind. Was running neck by neck with the 3rd runner, and he was a total dickhead. He had no sportmanship and tried to block me all the time. When I ran on the right side and tried to pass him, he moved to the right, when I tried to pass from the left, he moved to the left and blocked me. He was struggling and dying, and I guess the only way he could get 3rd place is simply to stop and block peole from passing.
At km 3, I decided to have enough and bumped him at the shoulder and yelled 'Ran straight!'. He was dying and a minute later decided to walk as he had no hope of finishing 3rd. From then on, I ran alone with the the top 2 around 200-300m in front. My HR went to around 188 bpm at the 4k mark and I then decided to relax the pace a bit since 3rd place was safe.
Finished 3rd place, 1 min after the winner and 3mins before the 4th runner. Won $100 cheque (US$75)
Splits: 3:34/168, 3:49/176, 3:50/182, 3:50/187, 3:58/188 and 1:52 for the last 470m. Total distance was 5.47k including 2 sets of stairs.
Anyway, my training for this week:
Monday (road):
92 mins Long Run (av pace 5:01, av HR 150 bpm)
Didn't enjoy the run. It seems that my recent venture into speed training makes fat buring harder. Also mentally, track running is more motivating due to the need to concentrate to hit certain times. Last 3k at around Marathon Pace
Tuesday (treadmill):
35 mins Easy (av pace 5:19)
40 abs crunch
Wednesday (grass):
13 mins warm up incl 3 strides
2 x 15 mins Tempo (av 4:08) with 4 mins recovery
4 x 150m Repetitions in 00:30
12 mins cool down
Av HR was 162 bpm for the first tempo segment and 171 bpm for the second one. Really happy with the run as HR was relatively stable and didn't go through the roof.
Thursday (treadmill):
40 mins Recovery run (av 5:34)
5 mins stretching/core + 50 abs crunch
Friday (road):
50 mins Easy (av 5:02)
incl. 8 x (100m strides, 100 m jog) + 4 x 00:15 hill sprints
5 mins stretching/core
Saturday (concrete):
33 mins Recovery run (av 5:27)
Sunday (concrete):
3.6k warm up in segments (race kept gettng delayed)
~5.5k race in 20:56 (av 3:50) incl steps
1.2k slow cool down
3rd place overall, av HR 181, high HR 191. Won $100.
Total 72.3k for the week, 1398k for the year
No taper, ran 62k total between Monday-Saturday and had no off days in the last three weeks. My aim was simply to get a feel of running at around 10k pace for a reasonable distance before a 10k race in 2 weeks time.
The run was supposed to start at 8:15, but was delayed until about 9am due to poor organisation. By that time, the sun was already out in full force. The route started at Clarke Quay MRT towards Fullerton Hotel, cross Coleman Bridge and back to Clarke Quay MRT via Read Bridge which included steep stairs. Two laps plus a final home stretch to UOB Building. There were only 25 runners in the male category, all college students, mostly less than half my age. The top 3 wins cash.
Started with the lead pack and after around 1k, there were only four of us. At the 2k mark, the top 2 broke away and left us about 50m behind. Was running neck by neck with the 3rd runner, and he was a total dickhead. He had no sportmanship and tried to block me all the time. When I ran on the right side and tried to pass him, he moved to the right, when I tried to pass from the left, he moved to the left and blocked me. He was struggling and dying, and I guess the only way he could get 3rd place is simply to stop and block peole from passing.
At km 3, I decided to have enough and bumped him at the shoulder and yelled 'Ran straight!'. He was dying and a minute later decided to walk as he had no hope of finishing 3rd. From then on, I ran alone with the the top 2 around 200-300m in front. My HR went to around 188 bpm at the 4k mark and I then decided to relax the pace a bit since 3rd place was safe.
Finished 3rd place, 1 min after the winner and 3mins before the 4th runner. Won $100 cheque (US$75)
Splits: 3:34/168, 3:49/176, 3:50/182, 3:50/187, 3:58/188 and 1:52 for the last 470m. Total distance was 5.47k including 2 sets of stairs.
Anyway, my training for this week:
Monday (road):
92 mins Long Run (av pace 5:01, av HR 150 bpm)
Didn't enjoy the run. It seems that my recent venture into speed training makes fat buring harder. Also mentally, track running is more motivating due to the need to concentrate to hit certain times. Last 3k at around Marathon Pace
Tuesday (treadmill):
35 mins Easy (av pace 5:19)
40 abs crunch
Wednesday (grass):
13 mins warm up incl 3 strides
2 x 15 mins Tempo (av 4:08) with 4 mins recovery
4 x 150m Repetitions in 00:30
12 mins cool down
Av HR was 162 bpm for the first tempo segment and 171 bpm for the second one. Really happy with the run as HR was relatively stable and didn't go through the roof.
Thursday (treadmill):
40 mins Recovery run (av 5:34)
5 mins stretching/core + 50 abs crunch
Friday (road):
50 mins Easy (av 5:02)
incl. 8 x (100m strides, 100 m jog) + 4 x 00:15 hill sprints
5 mins stretching/core
Saturday (concrete):
33 mins Recovery run (av 5:27)
Sunday (concrete):
3.6k warm up in segments (race kept gettng delayed)
~5.5k race in 20:56 (av 3:50) incl steps
1.2k slow cool down
3rd place overall, av HR 181, high HR 191. Won $100.
Total 72.3k for the week, 1398k for the year
17 May 2008
Good but Tiring Week
My preference is to do a very hard day followed by 2 very easy days like last week, but work commitments dictated my training week. Due to a couple of early morning meetings, I had to juggle my running and ended up doing 3 quality sessions in 5 days.
Did a short VO2 Max session on Tuesday, a moderate pace tempo run on Thursday, and then 4 x 1600m at 10k pace on Saturday. The latter session was especially tough (for my standard) and I was relieved to finish it. Unlike previous speed sessions where I could do the intervals progressively with the last ones being the fastest, my last interval on Saturday ended up the slowest and I had to work hard to keep it within the timing range.
Looks like my endurance has suffered a bit from the recent venture into speed training. My last long run (20k) was 2 weeks ago and since then, my easy runs were only around 30-50 mins. This Monday is a public holiday in Singapore so I guess it’s a good time to do a long run.
Next races are a 10k in three weeks time and a 5k a couple of weeks after that.
My training this week:
Monday (treadmill):
32 mins Easy (av pace 5:18)
50 abs crunch
Tuesday (bike path):
AM:
10 mins warm up incl 2 strides
8 x 400m at 3k-5k pace with equal time recovery
Splits: 1:26, 1:25, 1:26, 1:26, 1:21, 1:24, 1:26, 1:15 (av pace 3:30, last one 3:08)
10mins cool down
The plan was to do a VO2Max workout, e.g. 12 x 400m at 5k pace in 88 secs per 400m (or 3:40 min/km). But it turned out that I ran the intervals much faster than I wanted to, especially for the 5th and 6th intervals. Was tired after the 7th, so decided to close shop by running the 8th interval very hard.
PM:
15 mins upper body weights
20 mins easy jogging on treadmill (5:43)
15 mins stretching/core
Wednesday (treadmill):
50 mins Recovery run (5:28)
50 abs crunch
Thursday (track):
10 mins warm up
8k Medium Tempo Run in 34:23 (av pace 4:18)
10 mins cool down
5 mins stretching
Total 12k in 55 mins
Felt too lazy to run on the road due to traffic and heat (5.30 pm), so went to the track instead and ran clockwise. Felt really good. Splits per 1600m: 6:51, 6:56, 6:55, 6:55, 6:46.
Friday (treadmill):
27 mins Recovery run (5:37) - busy day
Saturday (track):
15 mins warm up incl 3 strides
4 x 1600m at 10k pace with 400m jog (av pace 3:55 for intervals)
10min rest (too tired to run or do strides)
30 mins cool down inc drink stop
Total 16k in 77 mins
Splits:
1:33, 1:33, 1:33, 1:35 = 6:14 (av 169 bpm),
1:33. 1:34, 1:36, 1:33 = 6:16 (av 173 bpm),
1:34, 1:35, 1:34, 1:33 = 6:16 (av 179 bpm),
1:34, 1:37, 1:35, 1:33 = 6:19 (av 181 bpm)
Around 5 hours sleep but decided to run anyway since the sky was partly cloudy. Last week, I was churning out 1000m intervals at 3:50 pace comfortably but today I found the session was much tougher. 4 x 1600m at 3:55 pace turned out to be twice as hard and I was relieved to finish the session in one piece. Had to really work hard in the last interval to keep within the target timing. Was totally spent afterwards and even too tired to do any strides.
Sunday (concrete/grass):
40 mins Recovery run (av 5:35, av HR 141 bpm)
Total 67.3k, 1326k for the year
Did a short VO2 Max session on Tuesday, a moderate pace tempo run on Thursday, and then 4 x 1600m at 10k pace on Saturday. The latter session was especially tough (for my standard) and I was relieved to finish it. Unlike previous speed sessions where I could do the intervals progressively with the last ones being the fastest, my last interval on Saturday ended up the slowest and I had to work hard to keep it within the timing range.
Looks like my endurance has suffered a bit from the recent venture into speed training. My last long run (20k) was 2 weeks ago and since then, my easy runs were only around 30-50 mins. This Monday is a public holiday in Singapore so I guess it’s a good time to do a long run.
Next races are a 10k in three weeks time and a 5k a couple of weeks after that.
My training this week:
Monday (treadmill):
32 mins Easy (av pace 5:18)
50 abs crunch
Tuesday (bike path):
AM:
10 mins warm up incl 2 strides
8 x 400m at 3k-5k pace with equal time recovery
Splits: 1:26, 1:25, 1:26, 1:26, 1:21, 1:24, 1:26, 1:15 (av pace 3:30, last one 3:08)
10mins cool down
The plan was to do a VO2Max workout, e.g. 12 x 400m at 5k pace in 88 secs per 400m (or 3:40 min/km). But it turned out that I ran the intervals much faster than I wanted to, especially for the 5th and 6th intervals. Was tired after the 7th, so decided to close shop by running the 8th interval very hard.
PM:
15 mins upper body weights
20 mins easy jogging on treadmill (5:43)
15 mins stretching/core
Wednesday (treadmill):
50 mins Recovery run (5:28)
50 abs crunch
Thursday (track):
10 mins warm up
8k Medium Tempo Run in 34:23 (av pace 4:18)
10 mins cool down
5 mins stretching
Total 12k in 55 mins
Felt too lazy to run on the road due to traffic and heat (5.30 pm), so went to the track instead and ran clockwise. Felt really good. Splits per 1600m: 6:51, 6:56, 6:55, 6:55, 6:46.
Friday (treadmill):
27 mins Recovery run (5:37) - busy day
Saturday (track):
15 mins warm up incl 3 strides
4 x 1600m at 10k pace with 400m jog (av pace 3:55 for intervals)
10min rest (too tired to run or do strides)
30 mins cool down inc drink stop
Total 16k in 77 mins
Splits:
1:33, 1:33, 1:33, 1:35 = 6:14 (av 169 bpm),
1:33. 1:34, 1:36, 1:33 = 6:16 (av 173 bpm),
1:34, 1:35, 1:34, 1:33 = 6:16 (av 179 bpm),
1:34, 1:37, 1:35, 1:33 = 6:19 (av 181 bpm)
Around 5 hours sleep but decided to run anyway since the sky was partly cloudy. Last week, I was churning out 1000m intervals at 3:50 pace comfortably but today I found the session was much tougher. 4 x 1600m at 3:55 pace turned out to be twice as hard and I was relieved to finish the session in one piece. Had to really work hard in the last interval to keep within the target timing. Was totally spent afterwards and even too tired to do any strides.
Sunday (concrete/grass):
40 mins Recovery run (av 5:35, av HR 141 bpm)
Total 67.3k, 1326k for the year
10 May 2008
Lovin' it
I think I am responding well to the switch to 5k-10k training, judging from a couple of track sessions this week.
The intervals are getting easier to do and I fell that I am getting stronger.
I also made a little tweak to my training after looking at Sean Wade’s training log (top US masters runner). Basically, after a hard day, I’ll take two easy days before I tackle another hard day. It seems to make a big difference as I now feel fresher on my hard days.
Did two quality workouts this week, 5 x 1000m at 10k pace mid-week and a 10k race simulation (6k tempo + 4 x 1k at 10k pace) in the weekend.
I begin to wonder whether all the crap running between January to March was attributed to the marathon training. Too much emphasis on long run and mileage done in an unconducive running environment like Singapore seem to break my body down as well as drain my physical and mental reserves. I always struggled running longer than 1 hour in Singapore as the combination of heat, humidity, and loss of fluid took a lot out of me.
Monday:
44 mins Easy (av pace 5:14)
Course: treadmill, random with various inclines ranging between 0-4%
Tuesday:
40 mins Easy (av 5:03)
Course: road incl 2 Mt Fabre climbs (between 1500-1600m each, raising 70-80m)
50 abs crunch + core
Ran during lunch time and it was blazing hot.
Wednesday (track):
10 mins warm up incl 2 strides
5 x 1000m CV intervals (av 3:52) with 200m jog
3:52 (93, 94, 45)
3:53 (94, 93, 46)
3:52 (93, 93, 46)
3:52 (93, 93, 46)
3:49 (93, 93, 43)
4 x 00:15 strides on rough grass
10 mins cool down
5 mins stretching
A good session, happy with the effort and strength despite quite minimal recovery period relative to my previous speed workouts in Singapore.
Thursday:
36 mins recovery (av 5:33)
Course: treadmill, random with inclines 0-2%
80 abs crunch + core
Friday:
40 mins Easy (av 5:15), incl 5 x 60-70m hill sprints (~15 secs)
Course: Concrete, undulanting
Felt sluggish, with sore throat from the traffic pollution
Saturday (track):
10 mins warm up
6k sub-LT Tempo Run in 24:32 (av 4:05)
Splits: 96, 97, 98, 99, 99, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 96
Av HR 169, with a high 177 bpm
800m jog + rest (gel, drink)
4 x 1000m CV intervals (av 3:51, av HR 171)
3:50 (90, 94, 46), av HR 167
3:53 (94, 94, 45), av HR 171
3:53 (93, 95, 45), av HR 170
3:47 (92, 94, 41), av HR 172
All with 100m walk, 100m jog for recovery
3 laps of sprint the straights (100m), jog the curves (100m)
5.7k cool down incl 5 x 00:10 hill sprints
Total 20k in 1:31:50 (av 3:36)
Beautiful weather, 26c cloudy and windy (like Perth in spring). A great race simulation ! The av HR during the 6k tempo was 169 bpm with a high of 177 compared to a 5k tempo at the same pace in April with av 176 and a high 189 bpm. So a 10bpm improvement at the same pace, although the weather condition is much cooler today. The great thing is that it didn’t go above 180 bpm as I probably ran it below threshold. CV workouts after the tempo were tough but the pace was comparable to the Wednesday straight intervals session.
Sunday:
37 mins Recovery (av 5:33)
Course: concrete with some on grass.
Total 68 km before tomorrow’s run, year-to-date 1258 km
The intervals are getting easier to do and I fell that I am getting stronger.
I also made a little tweak to my training after looking at Sean Wade’s training log (top US masters runner). Basically, after a hard day, I’ll take two easy days before I tackle another hard day. It seems to make a big difference as I now feel fresher on my hard days.
Did two quality workouts this week, 5 x 1000m at 10k pace mid-week and a 10k race simulation (6k tempo + 4 x 1k at 10k pace) in the weekend.
I begin to wonder whether all the crap running between January to March was attributed to the marathon training. Too much emphasis on long run and mileage done in an unconducive running environment like Singapore seem to break my body down as well as drain my physical and mental reserves. I always struggled running longer than 1 hour in Singapore as the combination of heat, humidity, and loss of fluid took a lot out of me.
Monday:
44 mins Easy (av pace 5:14)
Course: treadmill, random with various inclines ranging between 0-4%
Tuesday:
40 mins Easy (av 5:03)
Course: road incl 2 Mt Fabre climbs (between 1500-1600m each, raising 70-80m)
50 abs crunch + core
Ran during lunch time and it was blazing hot.
Wednesday (track):
10 mins warm up incl 2 strides
5 x 1000m CV intervals (av 3:52) with 200m jog
3:52 (93, 94, 45)
3:53 (94, 93, 46)
3:52 (93, 93, 46)
3:52 (93, 93, 46)
3:49 (93, 93, 43)
4 x 00:15 strides on rough grass
10 mins cool down
5 mins stretching
A good session, happy with the effort and strength despite quite minimal recovery period relative to my previous speed workouts in Singapore.
Thursday:
36 mins recovery (av 5:33)
Course: treadmill, random with inclines 0-2%
80 abs crunch + core
Friday:
40 mins Easy (av 5:15), incl 5 x 60-70m hill sprints (~15 secs)
Course: Concrete, undulanting
Felt sluggish, with sore throat from the traffic pollution
Saturday (track):
10 mins warm up
6k sub-LT Tempo Run in 24:32 (av 4:05)
Splits: 96, 97, 98, 99, 99, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 98, 96
Av HR 169, with a high 177 bpm
800m jog + rest (gel, drink)
4 x 1000m CV intervals (av 3:51, av HR 171)
3:50 (90, 94, 46), av HR 167
3:53 (94, 94, 45), av HR 171
3:53 (93, 95, 45), av HR 170
3:47 (92, 94, 41), av HR 172
All with 100m walk, 100m jog for recovery
3 laps of sprint the straights (100m), jog the curves (100m)
5.7k cool down incl 5 x 00:10 hill sprints
Total 20k in 1:31:50 (av 3:36)
Beautiful weather, 26c cloudy and windy (like Perth in spring). A great race simulation ! The av HR during the 6k tempo was 169 bpm with a high of 177 compared to a 5k tempo at the same pace in April with av 176 and a high 189 bpm. So a 10bpm improvement at the same pace, although the weather condition is much cooler today. The great thing is that it didn’t go above 180 bpm as I probably ran it below threshold. CV workouts after the tempo were tough but the pace was comparable to the Wednesday straight intervals session.
Sunday:
37 mins Recovery (av 5:33)
Course: concrete with some on grass.
Total 68 km before tomorrow’s run, year-to-date 1258 km
03 May 2008
Good signs
A good week with two speed workouts and a medium long run.
The highlight of the week was Thursday workout on a very cool, low humidity day for Singapore standard. Did a 5k LT tempo run on the track in 19:46 at av HR of 174 bpm and high HR of 187. This is much better than my last tempo run in 20:20 three weeks ago with av HR 176 and high HR 189 bpm. So about 2bpm lower but at faster pace (~34 secs faster), underpinned by cool weather and perhaps some fitness gain. In fact, the av HR from Thursday was almost comparable to the HR data from my tempo runs in Perth.
After the tempo run, I did 4 x 200m and for the first time did a couple in 36 secs (i.e. 3:00 min/km). Seems that my recent diet of hill reps and 200m reps which I did at the end of tempo/interval sessions have improved my basic speed. Now if I can only continue running at that pace for another 42k !! lol
Anyway, this week training is as follows:
Monday:
AM: 20 mins jogging on grass (av pace 5:57)
PM: 30 mins recovery on treadmill (av 5:30)
Tuesday:
AM: Hill Workout
15 mins warm up
3 x ~840m at Fort Canning Hill . Splits: 3:19, 3:22, 3:21, jog return in 5:00
5 x 170m hill (00:38, 38, 39, 38, 38), walk/jog rcovery
10 mins cool down
Tried something different as an alternative to track running. Ran from the bottom to the Fort gate - which is around 840m. The first 100m is flat, next 100m uphill (3-4% grade), next 200m flat/downhill, next 200m steep uphill (5-6% grade), last 200m gentle uphill (1-2%). Not sure whether the physiological stimulus is enough since only 10 mins of hard running were accumulated during the 3x800 but hopefully there is some neuro-muscular strength to gain. A good cardio/strength workout, will try to do 4 intervals next time.
PM: ~40 mins jogging with work colleagues to Labrador Park (av pace 5:49)
Wednesday:
AM: 10 mins shakeout on grass - too hot
PM: 38 mins recovery on treadmill (av 5:26) + stretching
Thursday:
AM: LT/Speed Workout (track)
2k warm up incl strides
5k LT Tempo Run in 19:46 (av pace 3:57), av HR 174, highest 187 bpm
800m jog + rest
4 x 200m reps with 200m jog. Splits: 00:38, 36, 39, 36
800m jog + rest
800m fast in 2:56
4k cool down, total 15k in 70 mins
Very nice weather for running, cool and surprsingly low humidity. Splits for the tempo run (per 400m): 1:34/145, 1:37/166, 1:36/168, 1:36/170, 1:36/172, 1:35/174, 1:36/176, 1:36/178, 1:35/180, 1:36/181, 1:35/183, 1:35/183, 00:39/186. The tempo pace was actually steady at 4:00 min/km, but a strong final kick in last 200m (savings 10 secs) skewed the total time a bit. First time doing 200s in 36 secs.
PM: Pilates class + weights
Friday:
35 mins recovery on treadmill (av 5:40) + stretching
Saturday:
AM: 80 mins easy on bike path (av pace 4:56) - sluggish
PM: 30mins easy on pavement (av pace 5:03) - humid
Total 78k for the week, 1190k for the year
The highlight of the week was Thursday workout on a very cool, low humidity day for Singapore standard. Did a 5k LT tempo run on the track in 19:46 at av HR of 174 bpm and high HR of 187. This is much better than my last tempo run in 20:20 three weeks ago with av HR 176 and high HR 189 bpm. So about 2bpm lower but at faster pace (~34 secs faster), underpinned by cool weather and perhaps some fitness gain. In fact, the av HR from Thursday was almost comparable to the HR data from my tempo runs in Perth.
After the tempo run, I did 4 x 200m and for the first time did a couple in 36 secs (i.e. 3:00 min/km). Seems that my recent diet of hill reps and 200m reps which I did at the end of tempo/interval sessions have improved my basic speed. Now if I can only continue running at that pace for another 42k !! lol
Anyway, this week training is as follows:
Monday:
AM: 20 mins jogging on grass (av pace 5:57)
PM: 30 mins recovery on treadmill (av 5:30)
Tuesday:
AM: Hill Workout
15 mins warm up
3 x ~840m at Fort Canning Hill . Splits: 3:19, 3:22, 3:21, jog return in 5:00
5 x 170m hill (00:38, 38, 39, 38, 38), walk/jog rcovery
10 mins cool down
Tried something different as an alternative to track running. Ran from the bottom to the Fort gate - which is around 840m. The first 100m is flat, next 100m uphill (3-4% grade), next 200m flat/downhill, next 200m steep uphill (5-6% grade), last 200m gentle uphill (1-2%). Not sure whether the physiological stimulus is enough since only 10 mins of hard running were accumulated during the 3x800 but hopefully there is some neuro-muscular strength to gain. A good cardio/strength workout, will try to do 4 intervals next time.
PM: ~40 mins jogging with work colleagues to Labrador Park (av pace 5:49)
Wednesday:
AM: 10 mins shakeout on grass - too hot
PM: 38 mins recovery on treadmill (av 5:26) + stretching
Thursday:
AM: LT/Speed Workout (track)
2k warm up incl strides
5k LT Tempo Run in 19:46 (av pace 3:57), av HR 174, highest 187 bpm
800m jog + rest
4 x 200m reps with 200m jog. Splits: 00:38, 36, 39, 36
800m jog + rest
800m fast in 2:56
4k cool down, total 15k in 70 mins
Very nice weather for running, cool and surprsingly low humidity. Splits for the tempo run (per 400m): 1:34/145, 1:37/166, 1:36/168, 1:36/170, 1:36/172, 1:35/174, 1:36/176, 1:36/178, 1:35/180, 1:36/181, 1:35/183, 1:35/183, 00:39/186. The tempo pace was actually steady at 4:00 min/km, but a strong final kick in last 200m (savings 10 secs) skewed the total time a bit. First time doing 200s in 36 secs.
PM: Pilates class + weights
Friday:
35 mins recovery on treadmill (av 5:40) + stretching
Saturday:
AM: 80 mins easy on bike path (av pace 4:56) - sluggish
PM: 30mins easy on pavement (av pace 5:03) - humid
Total 78k for the week, 1190k for the year
27 April 2008
JP Morgan Corporate Challenge 2008
An okay for week with two quality sessions: a 5.4k road race (JP Morgan Corp Challenge) and a long run in the weekend.
The JP Morgan Corporate Challenge was advertised as 5.6k but the distance turned out to be a bit short according to my Garmin and other runners who wore Polar footpod. The race was a charity event and attracted around 12,000 office people who ran, jogged, and walked the course in the CBD.
After 2.7k warm up, I went to the start line at 5:30 and it was packed already. Managed to bump some people and stood about 5 meters away from the start. Was squeezed in the waiting pack for a long 30mins. Weather was overcast and good. At 6:00 pm the race started. Km 1 was very crowded with runners, both fast and slow zoomed like there was no tomorrow. I had to zig zag left and right to pass people (split 3:51). Km 2 was still crowded and I wasn't feeling that comfortable at this point, perhaps the body was still adjusting to the pace (split 3:52). The turnaround was at 2.4k, the lane now became clear. Felt much better encouraged by office colleagues who saw me running as we ran past Singapore Flyer (split 3:51). Km 4 was uneventful as we ran back towards Padang (split 3:52). I had a side stitch in the next km and had to slow down a bit to get the breathing right in order to get rid of the stitch. Also lost a couple of seconds as I overan the Espalanade turn (split 3:56). Passed the 5k mark in 19:24 and I tried to save my energy in order to kick in the last 200m. But after a couple hundred meters I alrady saw the finish banner, so the course was slower than I thought. Saw the clock 20:4xx and sprinted to finish in 20:54.
In general, I was reasonably happy with the run given the fitness shape that I am in. I think I could have run it a bit faster.
The rest of the week were all easy, short runs except a 20k long run with a 8k tempo in the middle on Sunday.
Monday (concrete) :
35 mins Easy (av 5:24) incl 6 x 00:25 strides on grass
Tuesday (treadmill) :
40 mins Easy (av 5:19)
Wednesday (road race):
2.7k warm up
5.4k race in 20:54
4.0k cool down
Thursday:
AM: 20 mins Recovery (av 6:13) on grass
PM: 30 mins Elliptical
Friday (concrete/treadmill):
AM: 40 mins Easy (av 5:20, av HR 143 bpm)
PM: 20 mins Easy of hills on treadmill, 1.5-7.0% grade (av 5:18)
Saturday (concrete):
45 mins Easy (av 5:10, av HR 145)
Sunday (bike path):
20k Long Run in ~1h:38m (av 4:56) incl 8k tempo @ 4:22 min/km (av HR 170)
Total 70k for the week, 245k for the month, 1113k for the year
The JP Morgan Corporate Challenge was advertised as 5.6k but the distance turned out to be a bit short according to my Garmin and other runners who wore Polar footpod. The race was a charity event and attracted around 12,000 office people who ran, jogged, and walked the course in the CBD.
After 2.7k warm up, I went to the start line at 5:30 and it was packed already. Managed to bump some people and stood about 5 meters away from the start. Was squeezed in the waiting pack for a long 30mins. Weather was overcast and good. At 6:00 pm the race started. Km 1 was very crowded with runners, both fast and slow zoomed like there was no tomorrow. I had to zig zag left and right to pass people (split 3:51). Km 2 was still crowded and I wasn't feeling that comfortable at this point, perhaps the body was still adjusting to the pace (split 3:52). The turnaround was at 2.4k, the lane now became clear. Felt much better encouraged by office colleagues who saw me running as we ran past Singapore Flyer (split 3:51). Km 4 was uneventful as we ran back towards Padang (split 3:52). I had a side stitch in the next km and had to slow down a bit to get the breathing right in order to get rid of the stitch. Also lost a couple of seconds as I overan the Espalanade turn (split 3:56). Passed the 5k mark in 19:24 and I tried to save my energy in order to kick in the last 200m. But after a couple hundred meters I alrady saw the finish banner, so the course was slower than I thought. Saw the clock 20:4xx and sprinted to finish in 20:54.
In general, I was reasonably happy with the run given the fitness shape that I am in. I think I could have run it a bit faster.
The rest of the week were all easy, short runs except a 20k long run with a 8k tempo in the middle on Sunday.
Monday (concrete) :
35 mins Easy (av 5:24) incl 6 x 00:25 strides on grass
Tuesday (treadmill) :
40 mins Easy (av 5:19)
Wednesday (road race):
2.7k warm up
5.4k race in 20:54
4.0k cool down
Thursday:
AM: 20 mins Recovery (av 6:13) on grass
PM: 30 mins Elliptical
Friday (concrete/treadmill):
AM: 40 mins Easy (av 5:20, av HR 143 bpm)
PM: 20 mins Easy of hills on treadmill, 1.5-7.0% grade (av 5:18)
Saturday (concrete):
45 mins Easy (av 5:10, av HR 145)
Sunday (bike path):
20k Long Run in ~1h:38m (av 4:56) incl 8k tempo @ 4:22 min/km (av HR 170)
Total 70k for the week, 245k for the month, 1113k for the year
20 April 2008
Chickened out of the marathon
First off, congrats to my running buddies in Perth, Rob & Craig who both went sub 3:15 in Canberra marathon.
Since I decided to ‘kill’ my marathon dream (Gold Coast in early July) and to focus on short distance (5k-10k), things have got a bit easier - at least in mental sense. There is no more pressure to do 2-3 hours long run in the weekend, no more pressure to do a 90 minute run in mid-week etc. When I am tired and or in no mood for running, I could just do a 30 minute run without feeling guilty. My mind feels more refreshed and relaxed, knowing that I am free from the burden associated with high-mileage, marathon training.
Yes, you can call me a chicken…
But I am really struggling to train for marathon in Singapore despte having been here for 6 months...at least, at this point in time. However, I wouldn’t discount the possibility of training for one in the second half of the year.
Due to the shift in focus, my racing plans for the next few months are:
23 Apr: JP Morgan Corporate Challenge 5.6k (confirmed)
18 May: SAA All Newcomers Meet 5000m track (considering)
8 Jun: Saucony Passion Run 10k (registered)
15 Jun: Mt Faber Run – uphill (considering)
22 Jun: Punggol Central 5k (registered)
6 Jul: Milk Run 8.4k (considering)
Below is my training for the week:
Monday (concrete):
35mins recovery (av pace 5:31, av HR 145) - humid
Tuesday (track):
15mins warm up incl 2 strides
3 x 1000m at 10k pace with 200m jog + drink stop (av pace 3:53, av HR 172, Max 182)
Splits per 400m: 1:33, 1:34, 0:46 = 3:53, 1:33, 1:34, 00:46 = 3:53, 1:32, 1:34, 00:47 = 3:53
8 x 200m with 200m walk/jog recovery. Splits: 41, 42, 41, 42, 41, 41, 41, 39 secs
6mins cool down
The plan was to do 4-5 x 1k but felt stuffed after the 3rd interval. Decided to do 200s in order to salvage something from the session.
Wednesday (treadmill):
25mins recovery (av 5:38) in Mulia Hotel, Jakarta
Thursday (treadmill/road):
AM: 30mins easy (av 5:15) in Jakarta
PM: 20mins easy (av 5:11) in Singapore
Friday (track/hills):
10mins warm up
2.4k tempo in 9:49 (av 4:05, HR 171) – aborted due to heat/humidity
4 x 13om hills in 27, 25, 26, 26 secs
The plan was to do 5-6k at Stamina Pace (~4:10 pace) but the heat/humidity (9:30am) took a lot out of me and I decided to quit the tempo. Was too wasted even to do cool down.
Saturday (road):
26k Long Run in 2:10 (av 5:00) incl. 8k tempo @ 4:23 pace (av HR 171, Max 185)
Sunday (concrete):
AM: 30mins easy (av 5:23, av HR 138)
PM: 42mins easy (av 5:25, av HR 150) - humid
Total 75.1 k for the week, Year to date mileage 1042.6k (av 65k per week)
Since I decided to ‘kill’ my marathon dream (Gold Coast in early July) and to focus on short distance (5k-10k), things have got a bit easier - at least in mental sense. There is no more pressure to do 2-3 hours long run in the weekend, no more pressure to do a 90 minute run in mid-week etc. When I am tired and or in no mood for running, I could just do a 30 minute run without feeling guilty. My mind feels more refreshed and relaxed, knowing that I am free from the burden associated with high-mileage, marathon training.
Yes, you can call me a chicken…
But I am really struggling to train for marathon in Singapore despte having been here for 6 months...at least, at this point in time. However, I wouldn’t discount the possibility of training for one in the second half of the year.
Due to the shift in focus, my racing plans for the next few months are:
23 Apr: JP Morgan Corporate Challenge 5.6k (confirmed)
18 May: SAA All Newcomers Meet 5000m track (considering)
8 Jun: Saucony Passion Run 10k (registered)
15 Jun: Mt Faber Run – uphill (considering)
22 Jun: Punggol Central 5k (registered)
6 Jul: Milk Run 8.4k (considering)
Below is my training for the week:
Monday (concrete):
35mins recovery (av pace 5:31, av HR 145) - humid
Tuesday (track):
15mins warm up incl 2 strides
3 x 1000m at 10k pace with 200m jog + drink stop (av pace 3:53, av HR 172, Max 182)
Splits per 400m: 1:33, 1:34, 0:46 = 3:53, 1:33, 1:34, 00:46 = 3:53, 1:32, 1:34, 00:47 = 3:53
8 x 200m with 200m walk/jog recovery. Splits: 41, 42, 41, 42, 41, 41, 41, 39 secs
6mins cool down
The plan was to do 4-5 x 1k but felt stuffed after the 3rd interval. Decided to do 200s in order to salvage something from the session.
Wednesday (treadmill):
25mins recovery (av 5:38) in Mulia Hotel, Jakarta
Thursday (treadmill/road):
AM: 30mins easy (av 5:15) in Jakarta
PM: 20mins easy (av 5:11) in Singapore
Friday (track/hills):
10mins warm up
2.4k tempo in 9:49 (av 4:05, HR 171) – aborted due to heat/humidity
4 x 13om hills in 27, 25, 26, 26 secs
The plan was to do 5-6k at Stamina Pace (~4:10 pace) but the heat/humidity (9:30am) took a lot out of me and I decided to quit the tempo. Was too wasted even to do cool down.
Saturday (road):
26k Long Run in 2:10 (av 5:00) incl. 8k tempo @ 4:23 pace (av HR 171, Max 185)
Sunday (concrete):
AM: 30mins easy (av 5:23, av HR 138)
PM: 42mins easy (av 5:25, av HR 150) - humid
Total 75.1 k for the week, Year to date mileage 1042.6k (av 65k per week)
13 April 2008
The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
Three signals emerging from my training this week:
1) The Good
Despite my continuing difficulties to adapt to Singapore running conditions, it was a nice surprise to see my tempo effort on Friday. I ran during lunch time, but it was overcast and humidity was low which bode well. Ran the 5k tempo on the track in 20:20 (4:08). The effort was fairly comfortable and I only began to fight after 10 laps. Whilst the pace was much slower than my old tempos in Australia, but it showed that I still have a good muscle memory. Comparison as follows:
11 Apr: 20:20 (4:04), av HR 176, Max HR 189 (Sing 27c)
13 Oct: 20:04 (4:01) , av HR 174, Max HR 186 (Perth 22c)
5 Sep: 19:56 (3:59), av HR 177, Max HR 184 (Perth 15c)
2) The Bad
The long run on Sunday was bad. Had difficulties sleeping on Friday and Saturday, but I don't think they are the only problems. My endurance is my archiles heel right now. Planned to do 26k but felt tired already after 12k. The humidity and tight glutes didn't help either, so I decided to cut the long run short at 17k.
3) The Ugly
After three physio visits, my shin splint has improved a lot. However, my glutes are still hurting and they don't seem to go away. The left glute is especially bothering, probably worsen by running on the track (anti clock wise). Most likely I have to accept that the glute problems will be around for the foreseeable future.
All of the above things seem to suggetst that probably I should focus on 5k-10k distances for now. How I can I do marathons and do those long training runs if the Bad (low endurance) and the Ugly (persistent glute pain) won't go away?
Monday (treadmill):
AM:
10 mins warm up
20 mins of 30 secs on, 30 secs off (on @ 16 km/h, off @ 10 km/h)
5 mins cool down
PM: Physio treatment
Tuesday (treadmill):
8k easy in 40:50 (av 5:07) with last 10mins at moderate pace
Wednesday (track):
10 mins warm up incl 2 strides
2000m at 10k pace in 7:41 (1:31, 1:32, 1:32, 1:33, 1:33 per 400m)
3 x 800m at 5k pace in 3:00 (1:29, 1:31), 3:04 (1:32, 1:32), 3:00 (1:31, 1:29)
2 x 400m at 5k pace in 1:29 and 1:24
All intervals were sandwiched with 1mins standing rest + 400m jog
7 mins cool down
I actually planned to do 5 x 1000m or 6 x 800m but the first interval was comfortable so I ended up running 2000m. In retrospective, this was too long and the rest period was too short, which made me struggle in the subsequent intervals. After three 800s, I was drained and decided to stop at 400m. Had a short rest and did the last 400m faster to close.
Thursday:
OFF - busy at work
Friday (track):
AM:
10 mins warm up incl 2 strides
5k Tempo in 20:20 (av 4:04, av HR 176, Max 189)
Lap splits: 1:37, 1:38, 1:39, 1:39, 1:39, 1:39, 1:38, 1:39, 1:38, 1:38, 1:39, 1:38, 00:40
Jog to the bottom of Mt Fabre
1.5km run up Mt Fabre in 7:37 (av 5:04, av HR 171, Max 189)
2.4k cool down
PM: Physio treatment
Saturday (concrete):
AM: 30 mins recovery (av 5:45, av HR 147, Max 160) - a crap run
PM: 18 mins recovery (av 5:58) - can't believe I ran this slow
Sunday (gravel):
17.2k easy in 1:29 (av 5:12, av HR 151, Max 177) - aborted long run
Total 62.2km for the week
Year-to-date mileage 967.5 km
1) The Good
Despite my continuing difficulties to adapt to Singapore running conditions, it was a nice surprise to see my tempo effort on Friday. I ran during lunch time, but it was overcast and humidity was low which bode well. Ran the 5k tempo on the track in 20:20 (4:08). The effort was fairly comfortable and I only began to fight after 10 laps. Whilst the pace was much slower than my old tempos in Australia, but it showed that I still have a good muscle memory. Comparison as follows:
11 Apr: 20:20 (4:04), av HR 176, Max HR 189 (Sing 27c)
13 Oct: 20:04 (4:01) , av HR 174, Max HR 186 (Perth 22c)
5 Sep: 19:56 (3:59), av HR 177, Max HR 184 (Perth 15c)
2) The Bad
The long run on Sunday was bad. Had difficulties sleeping on Friday and Saturday, but I don't think they are the only problems. My endurance is my archiles heel right now. Planned to do 26k but felt tired already after 12k. The humidity and tight glutes didn't help either, so I decided to cut the long run short at 17k.
3) The Ugly
After three physio visits, my shin splint has improved a lot. However, my glutes are still hurting and they don't seem to go away. The left glute is especially bothering, probably worsen by running on the track (anti clock wise). Most likely I have to accept that the glute problems will be around for the foreseeable future.
All of the above things seem to suggetst that probably I should focus on 5k-10k distances for now. How I can I do marathons and do those long training runs if the Bad (low endurance) and the Ugly (persistent glute pain) won't go away?
Monday (treadmill):
AM:
10 mins warm up
20 mins of 30 secs on, 30 secs off (on @ 16 km/h, off @ 10 km/h)
5 mins cool down
PM: Physio treatment
Tuesday (treadmill):
8k easy in 40:50 (av 5:07) with last 10mins at moderate pace
Wednesday (track):
10 mins warm up incl 2 strides
2000m at 10k pace in 7:41 (1:31, 1:32, 1:32, 1:33, 1:33 per 400m)
3 x 800m at 5k pace in 3:00 (1:29, 1:31), 3:04 (1:32, 1:32), 3:00 (1:31, 1:29)
2 x 400m at 5k pace in 1:29 and 1:24
All intervals were sandwiched with 1mins standing rest + 400m jog
7 mins cool down
I actually planned to do 5 x 1000m or 6 x 800m but the first interval was comfortable so I ended up running 2000m. In retrospective, this was too long and the rest period was too short, which made me struggle in the subsequent intervals. After three 800s, I was drained and decided to stop at 400m. Had a short rest and did the last 400m faster to close.
Thursday:
OFF - busy at work
Friday (track):
AM:
10 mins warm up incl 2 strides
5k Tempo in 20:20 (av 4:04, av HR 176, Max 189)
Lap splits: 1:37, 1:38, 1:39, 1:39, 1:39, 1:39, 1:38, 1:39, 1:38, 1:38, 1:39, 1:38, 00:40
Jog to the bottom of Mt Fabre
1.5km run up Mt Fabre in 7:37 (av 5:04, av HR 171, Max 189)
2.4k cool down
PM: Physio treatment
Saturday (concrete):
AM: 30 mins recovery (av 5:45, av HR 147, Max 160) - a crap run
PM: 18 mins recovery (av 5:58) - can't believe I ran this slow
Sunday (gravel):
17.2k easy in 1:29 (av 5:12, av HR 151, Max 177) - aborted long run
Total 62.2km for the week
Year-to-date mileage 967.5 km
06 April 2008
Cripple
Not a good week. I've been struggling with glutes discomfort and shin splint in recent weeks so I decided to rest a bit and have physio treatment. In addtion, I've lost some running motivation since the KL fiasco. Running in Singapore is so hard, my running performances went backwards. Just felt like I am losing the plot.
My 'training' for this week:
Mon 31/03: Deep Tissue Massage
Tue 1/04: 50mins easy (av pace 5:28) with work colleagues (incl Mt Faber climb)
Wed 2/04: 30mins easy (av 5:20) on treadmill
Thu 3/04: Aborted track session, could only do 4 laps tempo @ 4:02 pace before retiring due to shin discomfort and heat/humidity
Fri 4/04: Physio
Sat 5/04: rest
Sun 6/04: AM 50mins easy (av 5:28) on concrete, PM 40mins easy (av 5:08) + gym work
Total 38k for the week, Year-to-date mileage 905k (av 65k per week)
Have scheduled a couple more physio sessions next week. Will try to do at least one quality workout since I have a 5.6k race in 2 weeks time (JP Morgan Corporate Challenge).
My 'training' for this week:
Mon 31/03: Deep Tissue Massage
Tue 1/04: 50mins easy (av pace 5:28) with work colleagues (incl Mt Faber climb)
Wed 2/04: 30mins easy (av 5:20) on treadmill
Thu 3/04: Aborted track session, could only do 4 laps tempo @ 4:02 pace before retiring due to shin discomfort and heat/humidity
Fri 4/04: Physio
Sat 5/04: rest
Sun 6/04: AM 50mins easy (av 5:28) on concrete, PM 40mins easy (av 5:08) + gym work
Total 38k for the week, Year-to-date mileage 905k (av 65k per week)
Have scheduled a couple more physio sessions next week. Will try to do at least one quality workout since I have a 5.6k race in 2 weeks time (JP Morgan Corporate Challenge).
31 March 2008
Kuala Lumpur Half -
In short, my Personal Worst time for HM distance since 2004 (the first year I took up running).
I've been struggling with sore hips for the last couple of weeks. While I could do easy run with no problem, but running long at a solid pace puts a lot of strain on the hip. I arranged for a deep tissue massage on Wednesday, but the guy was sick at the last minute and he could only do Friday which was too late since I flew to KL that day. That sort of put an end to my hope of getting a last resort.
Struggled big time even after only the first couple of ks and it spiralled downwards from there. The route itself wasn’t nice as we ran mostly on the shoulder of highways – which was heavily cambered/tilted. After running up and down the highway ramps, I passed the 10k in 44 minutes. While this is still ok for a 1:32-1:35 finishing time but my sore hips restricted me to sustain the pace for the rest of the race. From then on, it was an uphill struggle as my pace slowed down due to the tightness in the hip. I made decision to run easily and took walk breaks for the next 12k (total distance was 22k + by my Garmin) to finish in 1:44.
Couldn't sit comfortably for the whole day due to the sore hips, but luckily we took the plane home.
Just came back from a one-hour massage session. And boy, it was excruciating!
This fiasco has put a serious dent in my hopes to do a marathon this year. Inability to do long runs due to persistent hip problems and heat/humidity has pushed my running times backwards by a couple of years. Perhaps I should have a re-think and just focus on short-term distances for a while.
I've been struggling with sore hips for the last couple of weeks. While I could do easy run with no problem, but running long at a solid pace puts a lot of strain on the hip. I arranged for a deep tissue massage on Wednesday, but the guy was sick at the last minute and he could only do Friday which was too late since I flew to KL that day. That sort of put an end to my hope of getting a last resort.
Struggled big time even after only the first couple of ks and it spiralled downwards from there. The route itself wasn’t nice as we ran mostly on the shoulder of highways – which was heavily cambered/tilted. After running up and down the highway ramps, I passed the 10k in 44 minutes. While this is still ok for a 1:32-1:35 finishing time but my sore hips restricted me to sustain the pace for the rest of the race. From then on, it was an uphill struggle as my pace slowed down due to the tightness in the hip. I made decision to run easily and took walk breaks for the next 12k (total distance was 22k + by my Garmin) to finish in 1:44.
Couldn't sit comfortably for the whole day due to the sore hips, but luckily we took the plane home.
Just came back from a one-hour massage session. And boy, it was excruciating!
This fiasco has put a serious dent in my hopes to do a marathon this year. Inability to do long runs due to persistent hip problems and heat/humidity has pushed my running times backwards by a couple of years. Perhaps I should have a re-think and just focus on short-term distances for a while.
27 March 2008
Week 13 General Training: Half-cooked
After two full days to recuperate, I finally was able to get rid of the flu bug and the sluggishness. Due to two weeks of 'lost training', my strategy was simply to get back in shape ASAP. While I understand this week's training sessions probably will only have minimal impact for this Sunday's race, but I just wanna make sure that my body will be familiar with the demands of running a Half Marathon (e.g. running ~90 mins in duration at a good pace).
On Monday I did a 19k run including a few ks of race pace on the treadmill - which was not a biggie despite using a 1% grade. On Tuesday I ran a threshold type work on a short 400m marked bike path. I am hoping that the training balance will be okay, not too little to have negligible effect, and not too much to cause any negative effect for Sunday's race in KL.
In essence, I felt that my endurance sucks big time due to lack of long runs. I will still keep a sub-90 goal in sight, but realistically I will be happy with anything under 1:35 given my poor fitness level. Also, I've been hearing information that the KL Half Marathon route was not a traditional 21.1k but closer to 22k. Hence, the above timing goal might be out of whack.
On a good note, despite a couple of low weeks due to flu & tiredness, my March mileage will likely to reach around 300k - the most since August 2007 when I did 350k that month.
Sunday 23/03 (treadmill):
8k easy in 42 mins (av pace 5:21)
Monday 24/03 (treadmill):
6.5k warm up in 34 mins (av 5:15, 148 bpm)
3 x 2000m @ 4:17 (170-173 bpm) with 500m recovery
4 x 2 mins @ 4:00 with equal time recovery
1.5k cool down
Total workout: 19k in 91 mins (av pace 4:50)
Tuesday 25/03 (treadmill):
AM: 2k jog + 20:00 weight training (upper & lower body)
PM: 6k easy in 31 mins (av pace 5:15)
Wednesday 26/03 (road):
2k warm up incl. 2 short strides
10 x 400m @ 10k-16k pace on 400m marked path, ~30secs recovery to turn around
Splits: 1:33, 1:36, 1:35, 1:36, 1:34, 1:34, 1:35, 1:34, 1:33, 1:35 (av apce 3:57, HR 173, high HR 183 bpm)
4 x 200m in 00:41, 43, 42, 42 with 1 min rest
1k cool down
Total workout: 9.4k in 44 mins (av pace 4:42)
Thursday 27/03 (treadmill)
10 mins weight training (upper body)
6.6k easy in 35 mins (av pace 5:21)
Friday 28/03 (road)
9k easy in 45 mins incl 5 x 8 secs hill sprints (av pace 5:04, 153 bpm)
Travel to KL
Saturday 29/03:
Probably 3-4k jog in the hotel's treadmill
On Monday I did a 19k run including a few ks of race pace on the treadmill - which was not a biggie despite using a 1% grade. On Tuesday I ran a threshold type work on a short 400m marked bike path. I am hoping that the training balance will be okay, not too little to have negligible effect, and not too much to cause any negative effect for Sunday's race in KL.
In essence, I felt that my endurance sucks big time due to lack of long runs. I will still keep a sub-90 goal in sight, but realistically I will be happy with anything under 1:35 given my poor fitness level. Also, I've been hearing information that the KL Half Marathon route was not a traditional 21.1k but closer to 22k. Hence, the above timing goal might be out of whack.
On a good note, despite a couple of low weeks due to flu & tiredness, my March mileage will likely to reach around 300k - the most since August 2007 when I did 350k that month.
Sunday 23/03 (treadmill):
8k easy in 42 mins (av pace 5:21)
Monday 24/03 (treadmill):
6.5k warm up in 34 mins (av 5:15, 148 bpm)
3 x 2000m @ 4:17 (170-173 bpm) with 500m recovery
4 x 2 mins @ 4:00 with equal time recovery
1.5k cool down
Total workout: 19k in 91 mins (av pace 4:50)
Tuesday 25/03 (treadmill):
AM: 2k jog + 20:00 weight training (upper & lower body)
PM: 6k easy in 31 mins (av pace 5:15)
Wednesday 26/03 (road):
2k warm up incl. 2 short strides
10 x 400m @ 10k-16k pace on 400m marked path, ~30secs recovery to turn around
Splits: 1:33, 1:36, 1:35, 1:36, 1:34, 1:34, 1:35, 1:34, 1:33, 1:35 (av apce 3:57, HR 173, high HR 183 bpm)
4 x 200m in 00:41, 43, 42, 42 with 1 min rest
1k cool down
Total workout: 9.4k in 44 mins (av pace 4:42)
Thursday 27/03 (treadmill)
10 mins weight training (upper body)
6.6k easy in 35 mins (av pace 5:21)
Friday 28/03 (road)
9k easy in 45 mins incl 5 x 8 secs hill sprints (av pace 5:04, 153 bpm)
Travel to KL
Saturday 29/03:
Probably 3-4k jog in the hotel's treadmill
Total for the week 64k, month-to-date 275k, Year-to-date 838k
20 March 2008
Week 11-12 General Training: Miserable
Sore hips + flu bug = Double trouble !!
These two weeks have been a bitch for me. Caught flu and it still didn’t want to go away even after a week. Also, my old nemesis: sore hips have been bugging me lately, resulting in missed long runs and speed/tempo sessions.
My original target for next week KL Half was sub-90 (vs. my current ‘tropics’ PB of 1:32). With only 2-3 runs above 20k in the last 8 weeks, essentially I am well short in endurance.
The deadly twin pairing of the flu and tight muscles also made me un-energized and led me to tire easily. I found in the last few runs that I don’t have any strength to climb hills or run at a solid pace. In fact, the last few runs have been terrible and I could only last for 30 minutes or so. I plan to have a complete rest for the next 2-3 days and hopefully the flu will disappear and the energy levels will return.
In light of the above, I will be happy if I can run the HM under 1:35 – a time which I easily got three years ago. This is what you call a backward progress!!
My training in the last couple of weeks:
Mon, 10/03: Felt tired from yesterday’s long run. Did a 30 minutes turtle slow run from apartment to Esplanade in the morning. Av pace was 5:54 and HR was around 140. In the evening, did a recovery run for 40 minutes along Alexanda Park Connector. Av pace 5:34 and HR 141 bpm.
Tues, 11/03: Getting ready for tomorrow’s Wings 4.3k Cross Country Race. Did a 40+ minutes easy run on a 1-km loop with 2 small hills in the middle, including 4 x 125m uphill and 4 x 70m downhill strides. Av pace was 5:09 for the run. Felt strong and if it wasn’t for the race tomorrow, I would have done a long run today !
Wed, 12/03: Was roaring to race today, but it virtually rained non-stop since the morning. Was undecided whether to go to the race or not for the whole day. At the end, I decided not to go since it wasn’t fun to run a XC race in a wet weather. Went to the gym instead, and did an easy 65minutes run at 5:10 pace.
Thu, 13/03: In order to make up for the disappointment of not racing yesterday, did a speed session on Alexandra Park Connector whether there is a marked 400m path. The plan was to do 8 -10 x 400m at 5k pace, but only did 7 total. Recovery between intervals was around 1:00 which was probably too short for me. Split was 1:32/157, 1:28/164, 1:30/166, 1:29/167, 1:28/168, 1:29/170, 1:28/170. In the evening, did a 20:00 light jog on the treadmill.
Fri, 14/03: I found out that the XC race was actually postponed to today due to wet weather on Wednesday. Bummer! How could I race today after the interval session yesterday. Ended up doing an easy run on treadmill for 50 minutes at 5:10 pace/147 bpm. Later that night, I found that the times were quite slow and I actually had a chance to finish in the top 10. Bummer !
Sat, 15/03: Woke up with a minor flu symptom. The plan was to do a long run of around 24-27k with 4-5 x 1600m intervals at HM pace (4:15). Wasn't feeling good with legs and hips being stiff. After doing 45 minutes easy, I started running the 1600m and found the effort harder that it should be. About 400m into the second interval, I decided to quit and then run home. Perhaps it’s better to close shop and do the real long run tomorrow. Ended up doing 16k in 82 minutes or 5:10 pace.
Sun, 16/03: Take two, Planned to make up for yesterday’s failed long run, however I failed again ! Only lasted for a mere 1k. The whole body was weak and my legs had no strength. Try again tomorrow.
Mon, 17/03: Take 3. Felt okay for the first half an hour so due to the rest day. The plan was to do 6-8k tempo run at HM pace (4:15) but I couldn’t handle the pace after 3k. I did a couple of sub-90 HM back in 2006, but I am struggling to run at that pace now. Damn ! Another failed long run and ended up running 75 minutes.
Tue, 18/03: No run. Busy at work and no motivation to run after three crap days in a row.
Wed, 19/03: Went to the gym and did a 50 minutes easy run on the treadmill at 5:20 pace. Felt better.
Thu, 20/03: With 10 dys to go to the KL half, woke up early and planned to do a 90 minute run. But it rained heavily and had to resort to treadmill running. Was sweating a lot more than usual even after 5 minutes of running and the body generally felt weak. After 35 minutes, I decided to end the misery. Enough is enough.
Total mileage for the month: 215k
Total mileage for the year: 778k
These two weeks have been a bitch for me. Caught flu and it still didn’t want to go away even after a week. Also, my old nemesis: sore hips have been bugging me lately, resulting in missed long runs and speed/tempo sessions.
My original target for next week KL Half was sub-90 (vs. my current ‘tropics’ PB of 1:32). With only 2-3 runs above 20k in the last 8 weeks, essentially I am well short in endurance.
The deadly twin pairing of the flu and tight muscles also made me un-energized and led me to tire easily. I found in the last few runs that I don’t have any strength to climb hills or run at a solid pace. In fact, the last few runs have been terrible and I could only last for 30 minutes or so. I plan to have a complete rest for the next 2-3 days and hopefully the flu will disappear and the energy levels will return.
In light of the above, I will be happy if I can run the HM under 1:35 – a time which I easily got three years ago. This is what you call a backward progress!!
My training in the last couple of weeks:
Mon, 10/03: Felt tired from yesterday’s long run. Did a 30 minutes turtle slow run from apartment to Esplanade in the morning. Av pace was 5:54 and HR was around 140. In the evening, did a recovery run for 40 minutes along Alexanda Park Connector. Av pace 5:34 and HR 141 bpm.
Tues, 11/03: Getting ready for tomorrow’s Wings 4.3k Cross Country Race. Did a 40+ minutes easy run on a 1-km loop with 2 small hills in the middle, including 4 x 125m uphill and 4 x 70m downhill strides. Av pace was 5:09 for the run. Felt strong and if it wasn’t for the race tomorrow, I would have done a long run today !
Wed, 12/03: Was roaring to race today, but it virtually rained non-stop since the morning. Was undecided whether to go to the race or not for the whole day. At the end, I decided not to go since it wasn’t fun to run a XC race in a wet weather. Went to the gym instead, and did an easy 65minutes run at 5:10 pace.
Thu, 13/03: In order to make up for the disappointment of not racing yesterday, did a speed session on Alexandra Park Connector whether there is a marked 400m path. The plan was to do 8 -10 x 400m at 5k pace, but only did 7 total. Recovery between intervals was around 1:00 which was probably too short for me. Split was 1:32/157, 1:28/164, 1:30/166, 1:29/167, 1:28/168, 1:29/170, 1:28/170. In the evening, did a 20:00 light jog on the treadmill.
Fri, 14/03: I found out that the XC race was actually postponed to today due to wet weather on Wednesday. Bummer! How could I race today after the interval session yesterday. Ended up doing an easy run on treadmill for 50 minutes at 5:10 pace/147 bpm. Later that night, I found that the times were quite slow and I actually had a chance to finish in the top 10. Bummer !
Sat, 15/03: Woke up with a minor flu symptom. The plan was to do a long run of around 24-27k with 4-5 x 1600m intervals at HM pace (4:15). Wasn't feeling good with legs and hips being stiff. After doing 45 minutes easy, I started running the 1600m and found the effort harder that it should be. About 400m into the second interval, I decided to quit and then run home. Perhaps it’s better to close shop and do the real long run tomorrow. Ended up doing 16k in 82 minutes or 5:10 pace.
Sun, 16/03: Take two, Planned to make up for yesterday’s failed long run, however I failed again ! Only lasted for a mere 1k. The whole body was weak and my legs had no strength. Try again tomorrow.
Mon, 17/03: Take 3. Felt okay for the first half an hour so due to the rest day. The plan was to do 6-8k tempo run at HM pace (4:15) but I couldn’t handle the pace after 3k. I did a couple of sub-90 HM back in 2006, but I am struggling to run at that pace now. Damn ! Another failed long run and ended up running 75 minutes.
Tue, 18/03: No run. Busy at work and no motivation to run after three crap days in a row.
Wed, 19/03: Went to the gym and did a 50 minutes easy run on the treadmill at 5:20 pace. Felt better.
Thu, 20/03: With 10 dys to go to the KL half, woke up early and planned to do a 90 minute run. But it rained heavily and had to resort to treadmill running. Was sweating a lot more than usual even after 5 minutes of running and the body generally felt weak. After 35 minutes, I decided to end the misery. Enough is enough.
Total mileage for the month: 215k
Total mileage for the year: 778k
09 March 2008
Week 10 General Training - Finally, some quality
A quality week for my (usually low !!) standard. Given Kuala Lumpur Half Marathon is less than 4 weeks away, I decided to up the ante. Basically, these coupe of weeks are make or break time for me.
Managed to do 3 quality workouts for the week. A short tempo run on the treadmill on Tuesday – which I found to be wasn’t ‘that hard’. This is probably due to either incorrect calibration or just because of ‘conveyor belt-assisted’. Nevertheless, my HR was in the 170s during the tempo, hence I still worked fairly hard. On Thursday, I did 5 x 1000m CV intervals on grass with lengthy recovery, and finished the session with a few fast 150m. This is the most number of intervals that I ever done in Singapore since normally I was already stuffed after 3 x 1k or 4 x 1k. Pretty damn pathetic, isn’t it?
On Sunday, I went to the East Coast Park, the mecca for outdoor activities (running, roller blading, cycling) in Singapore. Did a 28k long run in 2:16 with around 15k of marathon-pace segments (8k, 5k, 2k) included. Was ‘fried’ at the end as I’ve never run this long for over 4 months !! Total mileage for the week was 84k.
Below is this week training. Oh ya, I’ve changed the name of the training cycle from Base Training to General Training since it is probably more appropriate.
Monday:
35:00 recovery run @ 5:42, av HR 140bpm (treadmill)
Tuesday:
Tempo: 6k in 25:00 @ 4:10, av HR 169 bpm
Intervals: 2 x 1k @ 4:00 with 2:00 jog, av HR 172bpm
Strides: 4 x 00:30 with 1:30 jog
Total Workout: 13k in 60:00 @ av pace 4:33 (1.5% treadmill)
Wednesday:
AM Yoga
PM 25:00 jogging @ 5:46 (treadmill)
Thursday:
Intervals: 5 x 1000m 'cut down' @ ~10k pace with 2:00 rest/jogs. Splits: 3:58, 3:57, 3:55, 3:53, 3:50. Av pace 3:55, av HR 171bpm
Reps: 4 x 150m in ~00:30 with 1:00 standing recovery
Total Workout: 11.6k in 55:00 @ av pace 4:45 (grass)
Friday:
40:00 recovery run @ 5:43, av HR 149 bpm (road)
Saturday:
~60:00 easy run @ 5:03 (gravel)
Sunday:
20:00 easy, 8k @ 4:30, 20:00 easy, 5k @ 4:30, 20:00 easy, 2k @ 4:30, 15:00 easy
Av HR for the faster segments were 170 bpm
Total Workout: 28k in 2:16 @ av pace 4:53
Total mileage 84 km for the week @ av pace 5:01 min/km
Year-to-date mileage 676 km @ av pace 5:08 (av 67.6 km per week)
Managed to do 3 quality workouts for the week. A short tempo run on the treadmill on Tuesday – which I found to be wasn’t ‘that hard’. This is probably due to either incorrect calibration or just because of ‘conveyor belt-assisted’. Nevertheless, my HR was in the 170s during the tempo, hence I still worked fairly hard. On Thursday, I did 5 x 1000m CV intervals on grass with lengthy recovery, and finished the session with a few fast 150m. This is the most number of intervals that I ever done in Singapore since normally I was already stuffed after 3 x 1k or 4 x 1k. Pretty damn pathetic, isn’t it?
On Sunday, I went to the East Coast Park, the mecca for outdoor activities (running, roller blading, cycling) in Singapore. Did a 28k long run in 2:16 with around 15k of marathon-pace segments (8k, 5k, 2k) included. Was ‘fried’ at the end as I’ve never run this long for over 4 months !! Total mileage for the week was 84k.
Below is this week training. Oh ya, I’ve changed the name of the training cycle from Base Training to General Training since it is probably more appropriate.
Monday:
35:00 recovery run @ 5:42, av HR 140bpm (treadmill)
Tuesday:
Tempo: 6k in 25:00 @ 4:10, av HR 169 bpm
Intervals: 2 x 1k @ 4:00 with 2:00 jog, av HR 172bpm
Strides: 4 x 00:30 with 1:30 jog
Total Workout: 13k in 60:00 @ av pace 4:33 (1.5% treadmill)
Wednesday:
AM Yoga
PM 25:00 jogging @ 5:46 (treadmill)
Thursday:
Intervals: 5 x 1000m 'cut down' @ ~10k pace with 2:00 rest/jogs. Splits: 3:58, 3:57, 3:55, 3:53, 3:50. Av pace 3:55, av HR 171bpm
Reps: 4 x 150m in ~00:30 with 1:00 standing recovery
Total Workout: 11.6k in 55:00 @ av pace 4:45 (grass)
Friday:
40:00 recovery run @ 5:43, av HR 149 bpm (road)
Saturday:
~60:00 easy run @ 5:03 (gravel)
Sunday:
20:00 easy, 8k @ 4:30, 20:00 easy, 5k @ 4:30, 20:00 easy, 2k @ 4:30, 15:00 easy
Av HR for the faster segments were 170 bpm
Total Workout: 28k in 2:16 @ av pace 4:53
Total mileage 84 km for the week @ av pace 5:01 min/km
Year-to-date mileage 676 km @ av pace 5:08 (av 67.6 km per week)
02 March 2008
Week 9 Base Training - February in Review
I had a business trip to Jakarta early in the week which limited my running. Also, I've been feeling a bit unenergized lately, hence a mini-break was probably appropriate. Since this week mileage was low, I squeezed in a short VO2 Max session on Saturday of 3 x 1000m. Probably could do 1-2 more intervals but was short on time as we had an appointment. Sunday long run was good with the help of an overcast weather.
For the month of February, I ran a total of 275km vs 288k in January. Year to date, my mileage was distributed as follows: 73% of slow-to-easy effort running, 12% long run (anything longer than 90minutes), 5% at steady-to-marathon pace, 6% at Half Marathon-to-LT effort, and 4% at CV-to-VO2 Max pace. The primary concern is still the lack of long runs. In Febraury, I only managed to do 2 x 21k continuous runs and one 26k run but with lots of stoppages. I MUST do better next month!
My training this week was as follows:
Mon: off (work in Jakarta)
Tue: 35:00 easy @ 5:24
Wed: 35:00 easy @ 5:30/146 bpm
Thu: 40:00 easy/moderate @ 4:52/156 bpm
Fri: am 25:00 easy @ 5:28/133 bpm, pm 25:00 easy @ 5:08
Sat: 3 x 1000m VO2Max intervals @ 3:42-3:45, av 176 bpm (on grass)
Sun: 21k easy @ 5:00/155 bpm
Total 60.0k for the week @ av 5:05 min/km
Year to date 592.0km @ av 5:09 min/km (av 65.8k per week)
For the month of February, I ran a total of 275km vs 288k in January. Year to date, my mileage was distributed as follows: 73% of slow-to-easy effort running, 12% long run (anything longer than 90minutes), 5% at steady-to-marathon pace, 6% at Half Marathon-to-LT effort, and 4% at CV-to-VO2 Max pace. The primary concern is still the lack of long runs. In Febraury, I only managed to do 2 x 21k continuous runs and one 26k run but with lots of stoppages. I MUST do better next month!
My training this week was as follows:
Mon: off (work in Jakarta)
Tue: 35:00 easy @ 5:24
Wed: 35:00 easy @ 5:30/146 bpm
Thu: 40:00 easy/moderate @ 4:52/156 bpm
Fri: am 25:00 easy @ 5:28/133 bpm, pm 25:00 easy @ 5:08
Sat: 3 x 1000m VO2Max intervals @ 3:42-3:45, av 176 bpm (on grass)
Sun: 21k easy @ 5:00/155 bpm
Total 60.0k for the week @ av 5:05 min/km
Year to date 592.0km @ av 5:09 min/km (av 65.8k per week)
23 February 2008
Week 8 Base Training - Feeling Lousy
Felt really lousy for the whole week, both physically and mentally. Began to feel the effect of cumulative fatique from the recent increase in training. Also, work has been very busy and stressful.
It seems that I've paid the price for the lack of 'training specificity'. I've been running too much on the treadmill lately (including Monday to Friday this week) and this morning I planned to do a much needed long run (2 hours +) in the Botanic Gardens. And I really learned something valuable today. Since running on the treadmill uses slightly different muscles than running on the road, my hips muscles and joints got very sore when I ran on bitumen/concrete pavement. In addition, the humidity impact from running in an air-conditioned gym is very different to the real world and I was already soaked in sweat not long after I started . After around 40 minutes of running, I began to feel very unmotivated and stopped for 10 minutes to rest. Was seriously considering to walk or catch a bus home. However, the humidity improved to a more tolerable level, I managed to run back home.
The lack of long run puts a serious dent into my preparation for the KL Half Marathon on 30 March. In January, I only managed to do a single 24k run and this month, I was only able to do a single 26k sightseeing run with friends (lots of rest stops). Although, the HM is still a good 5 weeks away, but I really need to up the ante in the next three weeks. My aim is to do sub 90 (I've done it twice in Australia but never in Asia) but given my lack on long run, this goal looks a bit of a stretch.
Anyway, here is my daily training from last week. Lousy, right?
Monday:
40:00 jogging @ 5:42 (grade 2%)
Tuesday:
AM: 30:00 easy @ 5:22 (grade 3%)
PM: 30:00 easy @ 5:07)(grade 2%)
Wednesday:
60:00 easy @ 5:06 (grade 1.5%)
Thursday:
Stamina Intervals: 4 x 1600m @ 4:10 min/km, 400m recovery
Total workout: 55:00 @ av 4:40 (grade 1.5%)
Friday:
AM: 30:00 jogging @ 5:47
PM: 20:00 jogging @ 5:36
Saturday:
Off
Sunday:
82:00 easy @ 5:08 (long run cut short)
Total: 68.0 km for the week @ av pace 5:12 min/km
Year to date mileage 532.0 km @ av pace 5:10 (av 66.5 km per week)
17 February 2008
Week 7 Base Training - Mixed Week
A week with mixed results. Felt great early in the week despite doing 92k last week (highest week Since Sep 07). The CV intervals on grass were smooth and easy runs were really easy. However, fatique began to set in later in the week and things went downhill from there. Felt sluggish on Thursday and Friday and easy runs suddenly didn't feel too easy.
Went to KL for the weekend and there was a cross country race so I decided to jump in. This was one of the lead-up races for next month's KL Marathon hence lots of local fast runners turned up including a couple of Kenyans who are based in Malaysia. I was in the Junior Veteran Category (35-45) and according to the advertisement, the route was supposed to be 6.2k.
It turned out to be one of the least enjoyable race that I've ever done because it wasn't well organized. Firstly the distance was much longer than 6.2k and being a first timer without any clue about the route & obstacles, I thought that I took the wrong route. I didn't see anyone with the same colour bib (same age group category) until the last 500m. All the guys that I passed and ran with were the Open Category runners who ran 8.2k. At the end, the distance turned out to be 7.54k by Garmin and according to the locally-based runners who have run the same race last year. A second issue were narrow paths (fit one person only) hence it was difficult to pass people. Since we started at the same time with the kids, lots of them started walking not long after the gun which led to congestion. Thirdy, a couple of the grass hills were like walls and people had to crawl/climb and there were lots of steps as well. Finished the run in 34:33 in the 12th place for the Junior Veteran category. Slightly disappointed because I just missed out on the top 10 and the prizes.
Anyway, enought bitching! Here's my training for this week:
Monday:
70:00 Easy @ 5:12 (treadmill 2%)
Tuesday:
CV Intervals: 4 x 1k @ 10k pace, avg. 3:56 (grass)
Reps: 5 x 150m avg 30-31 secs
Wednesday:
AM: Yoga
PM: 45:00 recovery @ 5:31 (treadmill 2%)
Thursday:
AM: Gym work
PM: 60:00 Easy/Moderate @ 4:53 (treadmill 1.5%)
Friday:
49:00 recovery @ 5:27 (road)
Saturday:
Off
Sunday:
FTAAA Cross Country Race, 7.5k in 34:33, 12th in 35-45 age group
Total 72.0k for the week @ av pace 5:08 min/km
Year-to-date mileage 464km @ av pace 5:10 (av 66.3km per week)
Went to KL for the weekend and there was a cross country race so I decided to jump in. This was one of the lead-up races for next month's KL Marathon hence lots of local fast runners turned up including a couple of Kenyans who are based in Malaysia. I was in the Junior Veteran Category (35-45) and according to the advertisement, the route was supposed to be 6.2k.
It turned out to be one of the least enjoyable race that I've ever done because it wasn't well organized. Firstly the distance was much longer than 6.2k and being a first timer without any clue about the route & obstacles, I thought that I took the wrong route. I didn't see anyone with the same colour bib (same age group category) until the last 500m. All the guys that I passed and ran with were the Open Category runners who ran 8.2k. At the end, the distance turned out to be 7.54k by Garmin and according to the locally-based runners who have run the same race last year. A second issue were narrow paths (fit one person only) hence it was difficult to pass people. Since we started at the same time with the kids, lots of them started walking not long after the gun which led to congestion. Thirdy, a couple of the grass hills were like walls and people had to crawl/climb and there were lots of steps as well. Finished the run in 34:33 in the 12th place for the Junior Veteran category. Slightly disappointed because I just missed out on the top 10 and the prizes.
Anyway, enought bitching! Here's my training for this week:
Monday:
70:00 Easy @ 5:12 (treadmill 2%)
Tuesday:
CV Intervals: 4 x 1k @ 10k pace, avg. 3:56 (grass)
Reps: 5 x 150m avg 30-31 secs
Wednesday:
AM: Yoga
PM: 45:00 recovery @ 5:31 (treadmill 2%)
Thursday:
AM: Gym work
PM: 60:00 Easy/Moderate @ 4:53 (treadmill 1.5%)
Friday:
49:00 recovery @ 5:27 (road)
Saturday:
Off
Sunday:
FTAAA Cross Country Race, 7.5k in 34:33, 12th in 35-45 age group
Total 72.0k for the week @ av pace 5:08 min/km
Year-to-date mileage 464km @ av pace 5:10 (av 66.3km per week)
08 February 2008
Week 6 Base Training - Rat and Fat
This week is the Chinese Lunar New Year week: Thursday and Friday are public holidays in Singapore and combined with the weekend, we had a nice little break. Welcome to the Year of the Rat !! Took advantage of the situations by running more mileage than usual, including 21k on Thursday and 26k on Saturday. Also, (for a change) managed to do four consecutive days of outdoor running.
Had a couple of Stamina workouts, 5x1200m @ LT on treadmill on Tuesday and 3x3000 @ ~HM pace outdoor on Thursday. On Saturday, I joined about 30 other runners from the local running messageboard to do an undulanting, 'sightseeing' 26k run to celebrate the Year of the Rat in the western part of the island. Total time was 3h:30m but the total run portion was only about 2h:20m and the remaining 1-hour plus included drink stops, stairs walking, and waiting for the slow runners to re-group. Nevertheless, it was a good run as we tackled some really decent hills including the steep Vigilante Rd (80m elevation gain) and ~2k long Mt. Faber (100m elevation gain).
LT Intervals: 5 x 1200m @ 4:03 pace with 300m jog (1.0% incline)
Total Workout: 46:00 (av 4:36 pace)
Wednesday
AM: Yoga
PM: 40:00 jogging @ 5:39 pace (2.0% incline)
Thursday
Stamina Intervals: 3 x 3k @ 4:15 pace/approx. HM pace (road)
Total Workout: 21k in 1:39 (av 4:44 pace)
Friday
40:00 jogging @ 5:47, 73% MaxHR (grass)
Had a couple of Stamina workouts, 5x1200m @ LT on treadmill on Tuesday and 3x3000 @ ~HM pace outdoor on Thursday. On Saturday, I joined about 30 other runners from the local running messageboard to do an undulanting, 'sightseeing' 26k run to celebrate the Year of the Rat in the western part of the island. Total time was 3h:30m but the total run portion was only about 2h:20m and the remaining 1-hour plus included drink stops, stairs walking, and waiting for the slow runners to re-group. Nevertheless, it was a good run as we tackled some really decent hills including the steep Vigilante Rd (80m elevation gain) and ~2k long Mt. Faber (100m elevation gain).
During the run, I also realized that my weight was on the 'fat' side when compared to the local Asian runners. At 70kg (of 'wagyu grade 1 quality') I was about 7-10kg heavier than others with the same height. My BMI is 24.5 which placed me at the edge of the overweight category. A 5k reduction to 65kg will put me in the healthy range, but I don't really know whether I can do this. Even when I was doing more mileage in Australia, my lightest weight was 66-67kg and that was usually after a long run when dehydration took place. I think I really need to do something about my weight ASAP. Weight loss leads to reduced oxygen cost of running and in turn, leads to faster and more sustained running. To kick start the process, I have decided to go alcohol-free from today.
My training for this week as follows:
Monday
AM: 40:00 easy @ 4:53 pace (1.5% incline)
PM: 27:00 easy @ 5:27 pace (3.0% incline)
LT Intervals: 5 x 1200m @ 4:03 pace with 300m jog (1.0% incline)
Total Workout: 46:00 (av 4:36 pace)
Wednesday
AM: Yoga
PM: 40:00 jogging @ 5:39 pace (2.0% incline)
Thursday
Stamina Intervals: 3 x 3k @ 4:15 pace/approx. HM pace (road)
Total Workout: 21k in 1:39 (av 4:44 pace)
Friday
40:00 jogging @ 5:47, 73% MaxHR (grass)
Saturday
'Sightseeing Run' with SGRunners (undulanting route)
Total Run portion: 26k in 2:20 excluding ~1 hour stops (rest, waiting for slower runners etc)
Sunday
43:00 jogging @ 5:45, 71% MaxHR (pavement) + stretching/pushups/situps
Total 92k for the week @ av 5:11 min/km
Year to date 392k @ av 5:10 min/km (av 65.3k per week)
01 February 2008
Week 5 of Base Training: January Review
A fair start to the year.... 288k total for the month. Training composition includes 82% of slow-to-easy pace running, 11% at moderate-to-marathon pace, 2% at HM effort to LT pace, and 5% at 5k-10k paces.
My goal for January was to get fit after 3 months of slacking off during the transition period to Singapore and to be familiar with 5-6 running days per week. I think I've achieved these two goals, however I am still behind in terms of long runs. I only did two runs longer than 18k for the whole month !!! Long run is a bitch, still finding it tough to wake up early during weekends and when I start around 8am, the temperature is already in 30s (plus the humidity)
Will continue Base Training for the next 1-2 months before moving onto Marathon Training phase (3 months). My aim for February is simple: 1) Do a bit more running at HM/LT effort and most importantly 2) Long Runs or Die !
My training this week was as follows:
Mon: AM 35:00 recovery; PM 32:00 Easy/Hills
Tue: 65:00 incl. 10k steady @ 4:40 pace
Wed: AM 30:00 jogging,; PM 25:00 jogging
Thu: OFF (busy at work)
Fri: 60:00 easy incl. strides
Sat: OFF (holiday in Bangkok)
Sun: OFF (holiday in Bangkok)
Total 48.0 km for the week (av pace 5:12 min/km)
Year-to-date mileage 300 km (av 60.0 kmpw, av pace 5:10 min/km)
My goal for January was to get fit after 3 months of slacking off during the transition period to Singapore and to be familiar with 5-6 running days per week. I think I've achieved these two goals, however I am still behind in terms of long runs. I only did two runs longer than 18k for the whole month !!! Long run is a bitch, still finding it tough to wake up early during weekends and when I start around 8am, the temperature is already in 30s (plus the humidity)
Will continue Base Training for the next 1-2 months before moving onto Marathon Training phase (3 months). My aim for February is simple: 1) Do a bit more running at HM/LT effort and most importantly 2) Long Runs or Die !
My training this week was as follows:
Mon: AM 35:00 recovery; PM 32:00 Easy/Hills
Tue: 65:00 incl. 10k steady @ 4:40 pace
Wed: AM 30:00 jogging,; PM 25:00 jogging
Thu: OFF (busy at work)
Fri: 60:00 easy incl. strides
Sat: OFF (holiday in Bangkok)
Sun: OFF (holiday in Bangkok)
Total 48.0 km for the week (av pace 5:12 min/km)
Year-to-date mileage 300 km (av 60.0 kmpw, av pace 5:10 min/km)
24 January 2008
Week 4 Base Training - Treadmill Affair
This week I ran less than I wanted to and also failed to do a long run.
Had five sessions on the treadmill and two sessions on the road. Surprisingly, I have developed fondness to 'dreadmill' running (ouchh...). It is much cooler running indoors (vs. running outside) and the gym has a nice view overlooking Sentosa Island. I love to play around with the speed, for instance starting the run at a tortoise pace and then gradually increasing the speed by 0.1 km/h every 1-5 minutes (depending on that particular session's purpose). I also found that my leg turnover is faster on the treadmill. Even at an easy pace of 5:00, I already ran around 170 strides per minute, so at a faster pace - my stride rate should be in the 180s.
On Saturday, I participated in the social/fun run relay event organized by SG Runners (running messageboard). The team had 3 runners and each runner did 2 x 3k laps. I did both legs in 11:21 and 11:42 . I planned to run them at CV or 10k effort, but was sucked into chasing people in the first leg so I ran faster than I wanted to. After around 30 minutes of rest waiting for the 2nd and 3rd runner, I ran the second leg at a controlled effort and on-pace. Overall it was a good test for the legs, although I am not really sure whether it generated a significant physiology stimulus given there was a LONG rest period in between.
Next weekend will be a wash since we'll be in Bangkok to meet the in-laws. In light of this, I plan to squeeze in as many miles as I can on weekdays. Hopefully, I can reach 300km in January - frankly not a lot of mileage but since I haven't done more than 300kper month since last August - I guess I'll take it.
Monday
53:00 Easy (av 5:18 - treadmill)
Tuesday
2 x 4000m @ Steady (4:48, 4:37, 4:26, 4:17) + 1000m @ LT (4:00)
Total workout: 13k in 62:00 (av 4:47 - treadmill)
Wednesday
Off (business in Jakarta)
Thursday
Morning - 35:00 Slow (av 5:31 - treadmill)
Evening - 20:00 Easy + 20:00 Moderate + 4 strides (av 4:58 - treadmill)
Friday
30:00 gym work + 30:00 jogging (av 5:40 - treadmill)
Saturday
VO2Max: 2 x 3000m in 11:21/11:42 (av 3:50 min/km) as part of SGRunners Relay
Total workout: 12k (lots ot waiting time)
Sunday
48:oo easy recovery (5:21)
Total 66.0 km for the week
Total time 5:34:30
Av pace 5:04 min/km
Year-to-date mileage 252.0 km (av 63.0 km per week)
Year-to-date av pace 5:09 min/km
Had five sessions on the treadmill and two sessions on the road. Surprisingly, I have developed fondness to 'dreadmill' running (ouchh...). It is much cooler running indoors (vs. running outside) and the gym has a nice view overlooking Sentosa Island. I love to play around with the speed, for instance starting the run at a tortoise pace and then gradually increasing the speed by 0.1 km/h every 1-5 minutes (depending on that particular session's purpose). I also found that my leg turnover is faster on the treadmill. Even at an easy pace of 5:00, I already ran around 170 strides per minute, so at a faster pace - my stride rate should be in the 180s.
On Saturday, I participated in the social/fun run relay event organized by SG Runners (running messageboard). The team had 3 runners and each runner did 2 x 3k laps. I did both legs in 11:21 and 11:42 . I planned to run them at CV or 10k effort, but was sucked into chasing people in the first leg so I ran faster than I wanted to. After around 30 minutes of rest waiting for the 2nd and 3rd runner, I ran the second leg at a controlled effort and on-pace. Overall it was a good test for the legs, although I am not really sure whether it generated a significant physiology stimulus given there was a LONG rest period in between.
Next weekend will be a wash since we'll be in Bangkok to meet the in-laws. In light of this, I plan to squeeze in as many miles as I can on weekdays. Hopefully, I can reach 300km in January - frankly not a lot of mileage but since I haven't done more than 300kper month since last August - I guess I'll take it.
Monday
53:00 Easy (av 5:18 - treadmill)
Tuesday
2 x 4000m @ Steady (4:48, 4:37, 4:26, 4:17) + 1000m @ LT (4:00)
Total workout: 13k in 62:00 (av 4:47 - treadmill)
Wednesday
Off (business in Jakarta)
Thursday
Morning - 35:00 Slow (av 5:31 - treadmill)
Evening - 20:00 Easy + 20:00 Moderate + 4 strides (av 4:58 - treadmill)
Friday
30:00 gym work + 30:00 jogging (av 5:40 - treadmill)
Saturday
VO2Max: 2 x 3000m in 11:21/11:42 (av 3:50 min/km) as part of SGRunners Relay
Total workout: 12k (lots ot waiting time)
Sunday
48:oo easy recovery (5:21)
Total 66.0 km for the week
Total time 5:34:30
Av pace 5:04 min/km
Year-to-date mileage 252.0 km (av 63.0 km per week)
Year-to-date av pace 5:09 min/km
16 January 2008
Week 3 Base Training - Reality Check
Felt much better this week - the calf strain has virtually gone away enabling me to run pain-free. Did two quality sessions, CV intervals on Tuesday and Tinman Tempo run on Thursday, followed by my longest run in the last three months at (please guess)......a mere 24 km !! Yes, the stats pretty much showed my endurance shape which has spiralled into pariah status. A 2-2.5 hours long runs were my weekly diet back in Oz. But since I am here, long runs always proved to be the most difficult session, underpinned by the harsh weather and lack of motivation.
I began to use HRM in some of the key workouts this week. Basically I need to accept that my running pace in Singapore has slowed by 10-20 secs/km compared to Oz. Back then, I considered 5:20 min/km plus as a jogging pace, but now 5:30 is definitely not a recovery pace and is actually more like an easy pace. My long run pace has also slowed down from about 5:00 to 5:15-5:20 min/km. Another example was Thursday's Tinman tempo run - 6k @ 4:15 pace at av HR of 177 bpm or 90% Max HR. In early 2007, I had a LT test in the lab and my pace at 90% MaxHR corresponded to my LT and this was at 4:00 min/km. Hence, this is another example of 15 secs/km slow down.
Next week will be a busy week in terms of work so I don't know how much I can afford to run. Next Saturday, I will be doing a relay run (three man) organized by the local running messageboard. This is a social event, so I plan to run the relay leg at tempo training effort.
My training this week was as follows:
Monday
20:00 easy + 7:00 @ 5% grade (av 5:20 min/km - treadmill)
Tuesday
Morning (grass field) -
Intervals @ 10k pace: 4 x 1000m (3:51, 3:59, 3:53, 3:54, av. 3:55), 2:00 jog
Strides: 2 x 00:40, 4 x 00:15
Total Workout: 55:00 incl. warm up & cool down
Afternoon - 20:00 jogging (av 5:47 - treadmill)
Wednesday
Morning - 1 hour Yoga
Afternoon - 40:00 slow (av 5:34 - treadmill)
Thursday
Steady Tempo: 6k in 25:33 (av 4:16/177 bpm)
Hill Reps: 4 x 100m
Total workout: 50:00 (av 4:42)
Friday
20:00 gym work + 45:00 slow (av 5:32 - treadmill)
Saturday
2:05:00 Long Run (av 5:13)
Sunday - 42:00 easy (av 5:14 - treadmill)
Total 78.0 km for the week
Total Time 6h:46m
Av pace 5:12 min/km
Year-to-date mileage 186.0 km (av 62.0 km per week)
Year-to-date av pace 5:11 min/km
11 January 2008
Week 2 Base Training - Rehab
A week of mixed results, I guess. On the positive side, my strained calf got materially better after a couple of visits to the physio. The guy did a combo of torturing deep tissue massage, ultra sound and electric wave for S$70 (45 minutes session). While some areas of the calf are still tender at the moment, but overall, I can pretty much run without any significant pain or soreness.
On the negative side, I wasn't feeling that great over the weekend. Had sleeping problems and just wasn't feeling energized. Although, I could run pain-free but my body just didn't feel like running. Planned to do 105-120 minutes long run today but decided to call it quit after 70 minutes. My running motto for this year is the words of famed-coach, Arthur Lydiard: "Train, Dont' strain!"
I will visit the physio again tomorrow for possibly the final treatment. Since this week is pretty much a washed-out, I plan to to run 70+k next week including a couple of quality sessions.
My training (all at easy effort) last week was:
Mon: Physio treatment (no run)
Tue: 25 minutes elliptical
Wed: 40 minutes jogging + Physio treatment
Thu: 37 minutes easy
Fri: 55 minutes easy - moderate (out in 30:10, back in 25:40)
Sat: 34 minutes jogging incl 4 light strides
Sun: 72 minutes easy
Total 45.0 km for the week
Total time 3h:59m:00s
Av Pace 5:18 min/km
Year-to-date mileage 108.0 km (av. 54.0 per week)
Year-to-date av. pace 5:09/min/km
I also want to say thanks to a HK-based runner/blogger called 'by7' for writing a comprehensive outline of his marathon training. He recently ran Fukuoka marathon in 2:37 and finished 6th in the HK Half Marathon Championship last week with a time of 1:15.
On the negative side, I wasn't feeling that great over the weekend. Had sleeping problems and just wasn't feeling energized. Although, I could run pain-free but my body just didn't feel like running. Planned to do 105-120 minutes long run today but decided to call it quit after 70 minutes. My running motto for this year is the words of famed-coach, Arthur Lydiard: "Train, Dont' strain!"
I will visit the physio again tomorrow for possibly the final treatment. Since this week is pretty much a washed-out, I plan to to run 70+k next week including a couple of quality sessions.
My training (all at easy effort) last week was:
Mon: Physio treatment (no run)
Tue: 25 minutes elliptical
Wed: 40 minutes jogging + Physio treatment
Thu: 37 minutes easy
Fri: 55 minutes easy - moderate (out in 30:10, back in 25:40)
Sat: 34 minutes jogging incl 4 light strides
Sun: 72 minutes easy
Total 45.0 km for the week
Total time 3h:59m:00s
Av Pace 5:18 min/km
Year-to-date mileage 108.0 km (av. 54.0 per week)
Year-to-date av. pace 5:09/min/km
I also want to say thanks to a HK-based runner/blogger called 'by7' for writing a comprehensive outline of his marathon training. He recently ran Fukuoka marathon in 2:37 and finished 6th in the HK Half Marathon Championship last week with a time of 1:15.
05 January 2008
Week 1 Base Training (but dunno 'bout next week)
As mentioned in previous post, I'm targeting to do Gold Coast Marathon in early July which leaves me with about 6 full months to train & peak for the race. My plan is to do base training for about 2 months before moving onto marathon specific training for the next 4 months. Looking at my running log, I've been averaging about 70-80 kmpw between January to September 2007. Since returning back to Singapore, my average mileage has gone down to about 40 kmpw. In light of this, I aim to build my mileage back up again to around 80-90 kmpw by the end of Feb.
Ok....week 1 of the base training phase... We were holidaying in Hong Kong for New Year and the HK winter was really running-conducive. It was cool at around 10c and very dry - perfect! Also, the Disneyland Resort was really quite and there is a scenic man-made lake called Lake Inspiration (1.5k loop) within the resort. To take advantage of the conditions, I did CV intervals, followed by a moderate-progression run the day after. The calf strain still persists but I decided to run through it.
Tue 01/01: 46m:00s Easy Run (av 5:25 min/km)
First run of the year. A nice leisurely run on treadmill at 1.5% incline (The Langham Hotel) to burn the excess calories from fatty Hong Kong cuisine. Found a restaurant near the hotel called Guandong restaurant in Kowloon and gee, the honey glazed BBQ pork is heavenly !!
Wed 02/01: 35m:40s Easy Run (av 5:30 min/km)
Thu 03/01: 1h:01m:00s (av 4:32 min/km) incl. CV Intervals
20:00 warm up (4:55) from Disneyland Hotel to Lake Inspiration, then 3 x 1600m at CV pace around the lake. Splits 6:16, 6:22, 6:15 (av pace 3:57 min/km) with 1:30-2:00 jogs for recovery. Then 4 x 200m Repetitions in 0:41, 42, 42, 42 with 60secs rest, followed by 13:00 cool down (4:50) back to the hotel incl. x 00:15 strides. Haven't ran 1600s at this effort for ages hence was pretty challenging. The weather helped tremendously, unsure whether I could do the same workout in Singapore.
Fri 04/01: 1h:15:00s (av 4:51 min/km) incl one-hour Progression Run
Took advantage of the cool weather in HK by doing another quality workout after yesterday's CV intervals. 10:00 warm up (5:30) from hotel to Lake Inspiration, then 60:00 Progression Run (15:00 @ 5:00, 4:45, 4:40, 4:30 min/km), and ended with 5:00 cool down. Felt really comfortable effort wise, but calves pain re-appeared again. Was limping for the whole day. Flew back to Singapore.
Sat 05/01: Rest
No run to rest the calves, but did some stretching and push-ups.
Sun 06/11: 1h:40m:00s Easy Run (av 5:16 min/km)
Back to the hot and humid Singapore and struggled with the conditions. Ran from home to Botanic Gardens and back. Av HR was 159 bpm with 181 being the highest and for god's sake I didn't run any faster than 5:00 pace at all !! Calf was really sore.
Total 63.0 km for the week
Total time 5h:17m:54s
Av. Pace 5:02 min/km
Sunday weight: 68.8 kg (post run)
Went to see a physio today to check my calf strain and had deep tissue massage plus ultra sound/wave treatment. Looks like Week 2 of Base Training will be at very minimal mileage sinceI need to nurse my sore calf and prevent it from going bust. Probably I'll go against the doctor's order and try to squeeze in 1-2 runs this week (or maybe just cross training) in order to lessen fitness erosion.
Sore Resolution
Happy New Year to everyone!! May all of you have wonderful runs, injury-free year, and running PBs in 2008...In my last post, I mentioned that 2007 was a forgettable year in terms of running. In order to get out of the rut, I plan to make the following changes to my running:
1) Becoming a MINIMALIST (ouuch....see below)
I love running in light-weight shoes like Nike Frees or racing flats (Adizero, Saucony Fastwitch). I wear them for most of my workouts including tempo, intervals, and recovery runs. For long runs, I normally use Asics Kayano for added protection. But frankly, I never enjoy the Kayanos. On the contrary, the minimalist shoes always feel so good and my training paces are typically a tad faster in them.
However, lately I've been experiencing soreness in the right calves. It felt so bad after the run that I had to limp for the rest of the day. After 1-2 days of rest plus Voltaren/Deep Heat gel application, the pain then disappeared. But the problem is that after a few days of running, the pain re-appears out of the blue again. It is really ANNOYING!
My guess is that the sore calves might be attributed to the running terrain in Singapore where it is virtually a concrete jungle (back in Australia, 40% of my mileage was on grass terrain). It seems my muscles are not strong enough to handle the surface. There is a small cricket field (Padang) about 2k away from my apartment. One loop is only 800m, so running around and around will be a bit boring but perhaps better than nothing. Also, since I've been here, my mileage has effectively halved from my old levels in Australia, and this leads to unwanted weight gain and in turn, added stress on the calves.
Ouchh...I'm limping right now, how long before the soreness goes away?
Any thoughts on the calf soreness issue? Is this a typical result from the switch to minimalism? Should I do calf raises?
2) Run more on TREADMILL
I've decided to become a member at Planet Finess, a gym near my office. I need to fork out around $65 pe rmonth but this will allow me to run during lunch time. Since I plan to do a marathon this year, running on daily basis will be a necessity. I also hope that by switching some of my training runs from concrete to treadmill, it will lessen the stress on my muscles and legs. In addtion, the gym has swiss ball/yoga classes and I plan to occasionally do them in order to strengthen my core.
Other 'smaller' changes for 2008 include:
3) Move my daily running log from cool running to runningahead.com
4) Try to join some of the local running group runs to make friends...
Ok..gotta go. Still in Hong Kong right now for holiday, will post more next week. Cheers for now.
23 December 2007
Farewell 2007, Welcome 2008
Honestly, I am glad that 2007 is over. It was a year of big changes in life as well as disappointment in terms of my running. Firstly, I got married hence finding the time to run was a bit difficult (we were in long-distance relationship previously, hence I had freedom to run). Secondly, we've moved back to Singapore which is really not a conducive place for running (humid, crowded, lack of races). Thirdly, after 3 years of consistent training, it seems that my running performance has plateaued. My mileage and PB history so far:
2005: 3575k, 14 real PBs+ 8 first race PBs
2006:, 3700k, 7 PB
2007: 3300-3400k, 1 PB
All in all, I had little to cheer about in terms of running.......
I've been thinking a lot about my running plan for 2008. When I returned to Singapore in October, I thought I would solely focus on 5k/10k/21k since marathon training would be a humungus challenge given the heat/humidity, new job, and lack of running places. However, since then I have had a mood swing.
Firstly, I didn't fare too badly from the weather judging from my last two races (not great time, but okay). With more time, I think I should be able to tolerate the conditions better. Perhaps I should treat this as 'heat training' and hopefully I can perform better when I do 'cool weather' races. Secondly, there are possibly no 5k/10k races in Singapore until April or May next year. How motivating is that?
I've been searching the web for races in the region. Given my measly mileage in the last 3 months, I think a marathon in 1Q is definitely not a viable option. 2Q is more realistic - a couple friends from Perth will be running Canberra Marathon in April, but I am unsure whether I'll be in a racing shape 3.5 months from now. Domestically, there are two new marathons, namely Sundown Marathon (night) in May and Lion City Marathon in June, but I doubt I can race to the best of my ability in humid conditions.
The most viable option looks like Gold Coast Marathon in early July. It seems to have all the tick in the boxes - it is fast and flat, with a decent field size (not small but not gigantic), pacer group availability, good weather, and a nice place to go for a short holiday with my wife. It is also a good 6 months from now. I can simply do base building for a couple of months before jumping into marathon-specific training for the next 3 months and then into taper.
Here are my tentative (but not complete) races for the first half of 2008. Once the local running calendar is out, I might do a couple of track races (3k, 5k) such as Allcomers Meet, SAA road relay etc.
30 Mar: 10k/21k as part of Kuala Lumpur Marathon
The probability of doing this one is probably 80-90% as KL is about 1hr by air from Singapore. Probably will do 10k or 21k to gauge fitness shape (albeit a hilly course)
31 May: 'marathon training run' or relay as part of Sundown Marathon
This is a new marathon/ultra to be held at night time in Singapore. I'd say the probability of doing this one is about 60-70%. If I do it, I might run
the relay (two-person team) or the full 42k as a slow training run - five weeks before Gold Coast.
8 June: Saucony Passionrun 15K
The probability of doing this run is about 50-60%. Basically I will use either this race or Phuket HM in the followng week to gauge my marathon goal shape.
15 June: Laguna Phuket Half-Marathon
If I don't do the above, probably I will run this one because we can combine this with a holiday. Since this is 3 weeks out before Gold Coast, I might either run the HM at all-out to test my marathon shape or simply at marathon-goal pace for pace familiarization.6 July: Gold Coast Marathon
Barring any injuries or physical/mental breakdown, this would be the GOAL race for the first half of 2008.
10 December 2007
Quiet Time
Ain't much goin' on last week….Have done very little running - only 3 x 30-45 minute runs plus a short fartlek session in the last 8 days. There is a new X factor that possibly can hinder training, namely tropical downpour during the monsoon season. The rain could go on and on for more than 24 hours non-stop. We had a couple of those days last week.
My weights has ballooned to 70.6kg due to Singaporean yummy but fatty diet as well as low mileage.
I expect my training to be very minimal this month. Will spend this week in Bangkok, Thailand for a workshop so perhaps I can only afford to have 3 training runs at most. For Christmas, my parents will be coming over hence there will be little running. For New Year, we'll go for a holiday in HK Disneyland.
I look at the local running calendar and there are virtually no races for the next 4-5 months (some charity/fun runs could exist but not in anyone's radar at the moment). This has deflated my running appetite a bit.
Perhaps it is a good time for a break. A full month to rest the body and mind in order to get ready for next year.
Will think about my goals and planned races for 2008 in the next few weeks. Due to busy schedule, please expect delays in posting a blog. Also, need to do a bit of negotiation with my wife, possibly for running 2008 Gold Coast marathon in July.
02 December 2007
Singapore Half Marathon 2007 (too many people !)
Finished the HM in 1:32:xx.... slightly disappointing....My 'cool weather' HM is 1:27 and I was hoping to get 1:29-1:31 in Singapore, taking into account the temperature differential. At the end, it wasn't the temperature that was the main problem, but it was the 'traffic congestion' that slowed me down.
The event was just too big - 40,000 runners participating in the 42k, 21k, and 10k. The marathoners started at 5:30 while the half-marathoners started at 6:15.
Was doing Ok for the first 6k, averaging 4:18 min/km. After that, I started to catch the slow runners and walkers (5-7 hours marathoners) and had to zig-zag my way through for the next 10k. During this segment, my pace slowed down to 4:28 min/km - a lost of almost 2 minutes. I couldn't count how many times I got bumped left and right because I was trying to navigate my way through.
After 16k, we had a turnaround point and it was free traffic from there. My pace improved to 4:16 min/km for the last 5.1k . However, I couldn' run any faster as my hip began to get very tight and the mercury began to heat up.
Garmin GPS measured total distance as 21.74 km (av. 4:16 pace). I think the zig-zaging during km 7-16 led to the extra distance.
I think the organizers should design a different route for HM-ers in order to prevent 'bottlenecking'. Also, slow runners should learn race etiquette by keeping left at all times. Met the 11th place finisher from Australia at the finish. He has a PB of 1:13 and finished the HM in 1:24. He was very disappointed with the organization and lack of discipline/knowledge of slow runners.
Otherwise, a good flat course and nice weather for Singapore standard.Well done to all !
Position: 28 out of 7402 overall, 5 out of 871 in Male 35-39
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