This year the race started earlier at 5:30am on a cooling morning, and as usual I will set a target finishing time. For this race I hope to complete it in 1:45hr and to maintain a pace of 4:55min/km where mathematically I will finish in 1:43:56hr.
It was about 5.20am I tried to inch closer towards the start as I was quite far away, to my surprise the MC suddenly announced that the race had started, it was then about 5.25am. I still don't quite believe it and thought it was a joke as I did not hear any horn or bang sound. But when I get closer to the start point I soon realised the truth, I quickily started my Garmin 405 just before I step onto the ChampionChip mat.
The initial 3km was tough as I weave in and out overtaking slower runners, determined to keep up with the pace I set, and so far so good as I hit 5km in 25mins. Along the way I overtake a number of Safra runners and met Daryl from Safra who is also my coming TNF100 partner. Soon I reached the 10km mark, feeling tired as I struggled to maintain my 4:55min/km pace, a glanced at my watch shows 51mins, hmm.... slightly off but will keep trying hard. Then at 15km Solomon (Safra runner) caught up with me, had a chat with him as he asked if I am aiming for any timing? I tell him 1:45 and currently slightly off target, he then ask me if his current pace okay with me? I replied okay and he soon replied me that after 18km we will go all the way. Feeling grateful with him as my pacer I tried really hard to keep pace with him up till 16km before I started to drift apart from him. It is only after 17km before I totally lost sight of him. Hmm... sigh... it was nice of him but too bad I could not keep up with him. At that moment I too sighted Choon Teck (Safra runner) way ahead of me at the last U-turn point, surprise that he is even ahead of Solomon.
As I was approaching 18km I decide to conserve some energy for the final push. At this point I gauge that the 1:45hr target seems beyond me, will just have to run as fast as I can. The final 2km is really tiring as I was not able to make the final push unitl I saw the placard displayed by the NS guys : Pain is temporary. Pride is forever. Wow... that right, and at that moment I thought it is now or never. It really motivates me as I push myself harder to run faster, determine not to go beyord 1:50hr. From a distance when I see the finishing point I summon all remaining reserve I have overtaking a number of runners ahead before finishing strongly. Upon crossing the finishing line, feels glad to be greeted with applauds from our ex-safra trainer Andy. :)
Overall this is still an encouraging result, another PB for me but still feel disappointed as I somehow could not maintain the consistant pace needed to achieve my aim of 1:45hr, it is bad as I am not really close to the target and with a terrible a split of 5mins from my target finishing time.
Garmin watch distance: 21.28 km__Time: 01:50:25hr__Pace: 05:11 min/km
Start - 9km > time 47min 35sec. This is 5min 10sec per km for 9.2km
9km - 17km > time 40min 6sec. This is 5min 8sec per km for 7.8km
17km - Finish > time 22min 32sec. This is 5min 30sec per km for 4.1km
The last 4km shows a terrible big positive splits. It shows I am still not fit enough towards the end of the race.
The splits below based on Garmin watch distance tracking
| Split | Time | Distance | Avg Pace | Best Pace |
| 1 | 0:05:00 | 1 | 5:00 | 2:53 |
| 2 | 0:04:58 | 1 | 4:58 | 4:27 |
| 3 | 0:05:17 | 1 | 5:17 | 4:48 |
| 4 | 0:05:08 | 1 | 5:08 | 4:25 |
| 5 | 0:04:47 | 1 | 4:47 | 4:03 |
| 6 | 0:05:12 | 1 | 5:12 | 3:05 |
| 7 | 0:05:19 | 1 | 5:19 | 4:43 |
| 8 | 0:05:15 | 1 | 5:15 | 4:34 |
| 9 | 0:05:15 | 1 | 5:15 | 4:23 |
| 10 | 0:05:12 | 1 | 5:12 | 4:22 |
| 11 | 0:05:05 | 1 | 5:05 | 4:20 |
| 12 | 0:05:11 | 1 | 5:11 | 4:24 |
| 13 | 0:05:12 | 1 | 5:12 | 4:24 |
| 14 | 0:05:21 | 1 | 5:21 | 4:29 |
| 15 | 0:05:14 | 1 | 5:14 | 4:26 |
| 16 | 0:04:50 | 1 | 4:50 | 4:31 |
| 17 | 0:05:21 | 1 | 5:21 | 4:44 |
| 18 | 0:05:29 | 1 | 5:29 | 4:20 |
| 19 | 0:05:12 | 1 | 5:12 | 4:18 |
| 20 | 0:05:24 | 1 | 5:24 | 4:23 |
| 21 | 0:05:17 | 1 | 5:17 | 4:25 |
| 22 | 0:01:15 | 0.28 | 4:31 | 2:46 |
| Summary | 1:50:25 | 21.28 | 5:11 | 2:46 |
No comments:
Post a Comment