Date: Su
30 July 2006 –
Target: 22.3
km race to complete within 2:45 to beat PBR2002 PR. Pessimistic forecast 2:45 to 2:55 (scared of
two uphill central span). Optimistic
forecast 2:35 to 2:45. At 2:45, pace is
7:24/km or 1 min/km faster than PJ Half 2006 PR. So if I’m going to beat PBR2002 record, looks
like I need the Spirit of Pia on this one!
Race strategy: 5:1
Actual: 5:1 Galloway 1st
half, Powergel at Uturn, 6:1
Timings: Segment lap km split km lap time split time
lap pace
Start to
upramp 2.3 2.3 15:05.5 15:06 6:33.7
8.5 to 7.5
marker 1 3.3 6:22.7 21:28 6:22.7
7.5 to 6.5
marker 1 4.3 6:47.6 28:16 6:47.6
6.5 to 5.5
marker uphill 1 5.3 7:31.7 35:47 7:31.7
5.5 to 4.5
marker dnhill 1 6.3 8:27.8 44:15 8:27.8
4.5 to 3.5
marker 1 7.3 6:41.3 50:57 6:41.3
3.5 to 2.5
marker 1 8.3 6:48.2 57:45 6:48.2
2.5 to 1.5
marker 1 9.3 6:55.1 1:04:40 6:55.1
1.5 to 0.5
marker 1 10.3 6:58.7 1:11:39 6:58.7 ** PR 10k
U-turn
segment 1.7 12 11:10.4 1:22:49 6:34.3
0.5 to 1.5
marker 1 13 7:13.9 1:30:03 7:13.9
1.5 to 2.5
marker 1 14 7:02.5 1:37:05 7:02.5
2.5 to 3.5
marker 1 15 6:59.1 1:44:04 6:59.1
3.5 to 4.5
marker 1 16 7:08.3 1:51:13 7:08.3
4.5 to 5.5
marker uphill 1 17 8:48.6 2:00:01 8:48.6
5.5 to 6.5
marker dnhill 1 18 6:09.5 2:06:11 6:09.5
6.5 to 7.5
marker 1 19 6:52.5 2:13:03 6:52.5
7.5 to 8.5
marker 1 20 6:29.2 2:19:32 6:29.2
downramp to
usm gate 1.7 21.7 10:49.3 2:30:21 6:22.0
Usm
gate to finish 0.17 21.87 1:04.2 2:31:25 6:17.4 *** PR
Note,
couldn’t tally up to 22.3 km. All
non-marker distances are estimates only based on reasonable pace.
Pace: 6:47 km/min based on 22.3km (***PR), 6:55 km/min based on 21.87km.
Time
of run: 5:30 am
Route:
Weather: Excellent for run. Cool, low RH, windy.
Calburn:
1575 approx
Postrun
Wt: 150
Shoes: Brooks
Vantage 2. Total shoe mileage 157km.
Mindtune: Shakira!
Major Bummer: While doing
this writeup, forgot to create a new copy and overwrote the Seremban Half
report. So that will have to come from
memory now. Ach!!!
General expectations: This is THE one I’ve been preparing for, mainly because
I had run the bridge 3 times before and know what to expect. I expect to equal or beat PBR2002 time of
about 2:45 as per the above predictions.
However, dunno for sure because PBR2002 was run at full steam to 14 or
15k, then only walk-run the rest.
PBIM2006 gonna change to
A complication is early start
before subuh. Subuh is at 5:53, which is
23 mins after the start. Probably will
solat on the bridge. The first layby is
slightly less than 3km which should be just right at 23++ minutes with walk
breaks. Timing will exclude subuh stop,
as always.
T minus 3 days: Resting heart rate 63 bpm
(good!). After yesterday’s
blazing run, rest for 3 days. Today
start carboload. Also, need to stock up
on powerbar & powergel. Motorunr
list came out yesterday. 98 MotoRunrs in Men’s Open (Cat D). 43 MotoRunrs in Women’s open (Cat E).
T-minus 2 days: Resting heart rate 65 bpm
(huh?) Gegel feeling is up. Tonite will survey the bridge for distance
markers. Weather forecast says fair
weather all of Sunday. Hopefully no
haze. Hours later… Weather forecast
changed – now says Sunday morning rain.
Haha! If raining then subuh
problemo, no? At night measured the
route. From upramp, counter starts at
8.4. Ascent starts at 6.6, then flattens
out at 5.4. Descent starts 200m later at
5.6. Flatland again at 4.1. Thusly,
T minus 1 day: Collected the T-shirt &
stuff at the Belia Complex. Kinda havoc
if u ask me. I had the blue receipt
& had to be issued the yellow receipt, race number & t-shirt on the
spot at the “Problem Counter”. Ach… Anyway, weather today was super for a
run. Hopefully tomorrow is even superer (is
there such a word?). Breakfast carbo = 2
nasi lemaks + 1 mee goreng. Lunch carbo
= nasi goreng ayam. Dinner cutback =
maggi.
Race Day: Startup 3:30am. Out of house 4 am. Park at housing estate some guy wants RM3,
didn’t give. What ho, it’s a public
road. Walked to USM main road. Watched the marathoners run for a while. Saw Ronnie & the elites cheering their
Misai buddy who’s running the full. Then
reported in, received yellow wristband.
5am oredi in the USM field. Ate
mein powerbar, banana flavor again.
Drink a little, then start to warm up.
Jog up and down the field a few times, with walk breaks, also did
accelerations. 5:20am the side gates
opened, but there were so many people.
Official race time 5:30am, start with a bang, but I was still at the back of the pack.
Finally the crowd started to thin out.
This time I was not the last 20 because so many runners. Just before reaching start line, met
Munirah’s hubby, he thought still had not started. Close to the start, I started jogging and
passing it I started the chronograph.
Upramp was no problem. Reaching the bridge proper, the marker showed
8.4, but decided to time laps at 8.5. I
felt like I was not going very fast, but the time showed sub-7mins? Huh?
Sure ar? I can run that fast one
ar? Anyway, reaching the layby, stopped
the chrono & performed subuh prayers.
Then restart chrono, and continued on.
Came to the uphill segment at
the central span. By this time, the
women’s top runner overtook me, wow so fast lar. There were no problems with the uphill
segment, as compared to previous years.
The uphill is just slightly steeper than the Damai incline. Muahaha, the LSDs on the Damai incline has
paid off handsomely here. Still manage
to do good pace here. On the downhill,
came to the first water stop, took two cups, so naturally slowed down
here. Took advantage of the downhill to
really speed up to make for lost time.
Surprisingly the timings all
the way to the 0.5 marker are all sub 7-mins.
Amazing. Everything seems a blur,
didn’t look around to see who I knew or what, just ran on. The fear is that later in second half if I
panchited, then there goes the attempt to beat PBR2002 2:45 PR. So I ran with the Spirit of Pia (kind of)
muahaha… U turn segment, reached the
second water stop, this one no cups, got a bottle of mineral water. Didn’t drink straight-away, held on until
timer beeped for the walk break, then only drank. Somewhere near the toll buildings, I took
mein Chocolate Powerbar… Yummy. Walk
break over, continued on with still some water left over. Reached the checkpoint, got my second
wristband, red kara, and started the upramp.
Coming to the 0.5 marker, set the timer for 6:1
For the first 2km on the
return trip, the pace inexplicable dropped despite the powergel.. gaa! I was concerned that was getting panchited,
so try to increase the pace somewhat. But still struggled to break sub-7 min
pace. Uphill get slower, and came to
last water stop. Just took 1 cup here
because want to Pia on the downhill.
Luckily, the downhill helped to improve the pace, and kept with it. All the time, just Pia and didn’t even try to
look at my pace chart to see where I was, I knew I was making good time because
I knew the pace for 2:45 finish was 7:24, so just want to push, and push. The last stretch I was distracting my mind by
trying to catch up to women runners in front.
Reaching the downramp off the bridge, I was almost panchited, so didn’t
decide to go nonstop at that point, wait for last walk break. After that, all the way to USM gate, and to
the finish line, kind of sprinted with whatever energy I had left, and crossing
the finish stopped the timer.
What?!
What?! Unbelievable time, better than PJHalf! OMG! Sooo happy.
Walked down the chute, saw my colleague with camera, take picture, take
picture. Gave my wristband, claimed my
cert & medal, saw another colleague who finished earlier (ach! I’m not the fastest in Moto lor. Maybe too old oredi). Anyway, was on cloud nine because of the superbo
timing!
The rest was the usual,
claimed the goodie bag, lined up for drinks, took some race forms, etc, then
went back to the finish line to cheer on the finishers. At one point went to the main road in front
of USM to cheer on the finishers also.
Then went back in, ding-dong, etc.
I will skip this part. Stayed for
the prize giving. Then went back thru
USM, climbed hills and so on. Hey, ma
legs still functional. Muahaha!
The good: PR! Medal.
No traffic. Adequate water
stations.
The bad: Too many
runners. Many walked in the middle,
blocking the way of faster runners.
Aiya, if you want to walk, go to the side lah. This time the postrun drinks are not all free
flowing. Need to show coupons etc.
Lessons learned: again,
incline training really helped. Regular
& accurate distance markers really-really helped.
In Summary: Muahahaha! (maniacal laughter) Blew all expectations. Beyond my wildest dreams! Exceeded most optimistic expectation of 2:35. Blew away PBR2002 PR by almost 15 mins. More amazingly, also blew PJHalf2006 PR even
though distance is supposed to be 1.3km longer.
Based on this, should be able to run 21k below 2:30. Yes, Putrajaya here I come! (with championchip timing & personalized
cert sommore!) All this tells me that
I’m probably at the fittest point in my life, fitter than during PBR2002, and
sommore without injuries, tq to Jeff Galloway’s method. However, mein weight loss seem to be
stalling, stuck at 150 and not going down anymore, so have to continue
training, maybe increase one of the weekday runs to 10k, so possibly after
Putrajaya Half will see some result.
Goal wise, I will be happy if I can break 2:30 half marathon this year,
then next year’s goal will be 2:15 so that will qualify for PJ-Half and all
others. Until I can clear 2:15
regularly, I will possibly still stay at the Back
of the Pack.. Muahahaha..
Characters: Too blur to remember. Anyway, thanks to the two women runners who
helped me keep on pushing in the last few kms.
Postrun: High.
On cloud nine. Lotsa rewater
& rest.
Postrun + 1 day: Resting heart rate 60 bpm
(good!). Seem to recover quite
fast. Legs felt fine too, but then
usually the fatigue is felt after 2 days, so wait till tomorrow. Today is rest day, no running. Anyway, rethink about the run yesterday, why
sudden drop of pace after powergel intake on the return trip? Then it hit on me: I was carrying the bottle of water all the
way to the 15km water stop. Could it
have affected mein running form enough to slow me down by a few seconds? Hmm something to think about & experiment
with during the upcoming LSDs.
