Nike City Run 10k SG

This is a new version of the previous two editions of the Nike Human Race, an event which I took part in its inaugural year of 2008, then I skipped the second year but took part in this year's race again. This should probably be my last 10k race for the year as I starts to gear up for the year end full Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore. Unlike the Nike Human Race 2008 this year's race was well organised with sufficient water points provided along the way and very spacious running route, not too crowded as runners start in three waves. But just a pity that the distance only covered 9.71km. As the weather was great, very cooling, it was great day to run.

I slept very well and I managed to reached early at about 1 hour before the race starts, I still have time for a 2km warm up run before I quickly settled down early in the first few rows near the start line. As there was a delay to start the race, I started to get impatient, somehow just feel the need to toilet again, but I quickly dismissed the idea. Finally after a 15mins delay, the race starts at 7:15am. As adrenalin rush I pick up pace real fast, overtaking a number of slower runners as I keep pace with the women elites and with the elites men not too far ahead. At a moment I was proud of myself or maybe day dreaming :P

I was rather surprised as I only realized that I was too fast after I hit my first k with my Garmin showing 4:08min/km. I screwed up my initiate plan to keep at 4:40 - 4:45 pace. Well I was hoping I can still keep it at 4:40 pace all the way, but only managed to do so from 2- 3km, somehow I was still over-paced by fast runners around me. Soon after 4km I started to feel tired and decide on a change of plan. I will do a 4:50 pace from 4km onwards and all the way near finish before I will up my pace again, I thought since I now had some "allowance", given that I was really fast for my first 2k. :P

Between 5 to 7k my pace started to slow down further, but I was determined not to allow it to slip further to 5:00 pace as I know it will cost me my chance of a PB. I was hoping to hang on to it until the last 2k for my usual strong finish. Soon as I reached 8km I felt really motivated as I knew that it will be a PB so long as I can finish the next 2k within 10mins :) Feeling exhausted, my aim will just be to go below 5min per km. As always, the last k I managed to up my pace to finish strongly but to my surprise my Garmin shows it is only 710m? A final check on my Garmin shows that the total distance measured is only 9.71km!

Finally a long awaited PB for year 2010 but do felt that it would have been better if only the distance is 10km instead. Nevertheless, based on the average pace of 4:42min/km, 8secs faster then my previous PB average pace of 4:50min/km during this years Yellow Ribbon Prison Run. It will most likey be a PB of between 47:00 - 47:06min. Well, a PB is still a PB

Tee No.	Full Name	Category	Gender	Chip Timing
1024	KENNETH GOH	MEN'S OPEN CATEGORY	M	00:45:45

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 00:45:45 9.71 04:42 1 00:04:08 1.00 04:08 2 00:04:32 1.00 04:32 3 00:04:39 1.00 04:39 4 00:04:50 1.00 04:50 5 00:04:50 1.00 04:50 6 00:04:54 1.00 04:54 7 00:04:53 1.00 04:53 8 00:04:51 1.00 04:51 9 00:04:45 1.00 04:45 10 00:03:18 0.71 04:40

Week 6 of 12 to SCMS

Monday (rest)

Off, core exercises

Tuesday (interval)

5k w/u, 2 x 2k @ 4:40 w/4min rest, 2 x 400 @ 4:25 pace w/2min rest, 3k c/d

5k warm-up in 29:28 (avg pace 5:53)

Bidadari Cemetery 2 x 2k @ 4:40 pace

Splits/400m (loop) 4:21(1:44min) 4:28(1:47min) 4:29(1:47min) 4:34(1:49min) 4:21(1:44min)

2k in 8:51 (avg pace 4:25.5)

Splits/400m (loop) 4:19(1:43min) 4:30(1:48min) 4:28(1:47min) 4:53(1:57min) 4:21(1:44min)

2k in 8:59 (avg pace 4:29.5)

2 x 400 @ 4:25 pace

Splits/400 (loop) 3:46(1:30min) 3:39(1:27min)

3.6k cool-down in 22:07 (avg pace 6:08)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 13.4k in 72:31 (av 5:25min/km)

Wednesday (easy)

8k easy w/4 x 20 sec strides

47:43 (avg pace 5:57min/km)

20 sec strides splits(min/km) SR40sec

2:39(130m) 2:38(130m) 2:53(120m) 3:01(110m)

Thursday (steady)

1k easy, 7k steady pace (5:25), 1k easy

Treadmill workout

1k warm-up in 6:00min

7k Tempo pace @ 5:00

in 35mins (avg pace 5:00min/km)

1k cool-down in 6:00min

Due to poor air quality with a psi level of 188, I decide to have my run done on Treadmill instead. Treadmill running was easier, so I decide to go for a Tempo session instead of Steady run.

Friday (rest)

Off

Saturday (easy)

5k easy pace w/3 x 20 sec strides

29:07 (avg pace 5:49min/km)

20 sec strides splits(min/km) SR40sec

2:50(120m) 2:59(110m) 3:06(110m)

Sunday (race)

2k warm-up in 12:49 (avg pace 6:23min/km)

Nike City 10k SG chip time 45:45mins (avg pace 4:42min/km)

It was a great run with a PB, however my initiate plan was to run at 4:40-4:45 pace but ended up over-paced my first 2k and could not maintain my intended pace for the rest of the race. But nevertheless I still managed an average pace of 4:42. Finally seeing some results....Yeah :-)

Summary

It was a 48km easy week for me, did well for my Tuesday interval training but fall sick and was down with cold on Thursday. However, due to the poor air quality and despite of been sick I continue to train on Treadmill (Tempo run)instead, . I was so glad that I finally round up the week with my first PB this year.

New Balance Real Run 2010

It is my fourth year in this event and as usual it is held at the same location with the same terrain of 4km Trail + 0.6km Sand + 10.4km Taxiway / Road. But due to the nature of the challenging race, it is not really a race for a 15km PB but one which I definitely hope I can do better as compared to the same race last year. The strategy will be to run at tempo pace of around 5 – 5:05 pace and hopefully I can still keep up with this pace along the sand terrain, and with 3km to go hopefully I can still finish strongly to make up for any time loss.

As I was stuck in the long toilet queue so I ended up almost 10 minutes late at the starting line. Did a quick warm up and off I go to do the “catching up”. As most runners were way ahead, for the first 3km it was nice to have a clear path. However I was cautious not to over pace my first 4k on trail terrain, a mistake I make during the 2008 Real Run. It was only after 3km before I was really needed to wave in and out to overtake slower runners, at 4km due to the crowd I was forced to skip the water point, it was fine with me as I was still feeling fresh while I was more than glad to get over the trail, and finally I can run on the roads instead.

It was tiring to find gaps when over taking other runners but glad that so far I was coping well with it. Soon as I passed 12km, there comes the dreadfully sand terrain which I hated most. As it was a narrow and crowded 0.6km stretch I find it almost impossible to keep up with my intended pace. As expected my heartbeat rises with my pace started to deteriorate to 5:31 and soon it was 5:41. By the time I left the sand terrain it was only the start of my recovery from earlier exertion and side stitch pain, and so it was very tough to make up for earlier time loss. It was only with 1km left before I managed to resume my usual tempo pace to finish strongly.

Although still no PB to date, there are signs of improvement as compared to last year’s Real Run. I felt stronger as I managed an average pace of 5:05, last year I only managed a pace of 5:10 and so based on that I was about 1min 15secs faster. I am also pleased to be able to maintain an average of 5:00 pace up to 12km, probably even up to 15km if not for the sand terrain that took a lot out of me.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	01:17:19	15.19	05:05
1	00:04:53	1.00	04:53
2	00:04:52	1.00	04:52
3	00:04:58	1.00	04:58
4	00:05:03	1.00	05:03
5	00:05:03	1.00	05:03
6	00:04:59	1.00	04:59
7	00:05:04	1.00	05:04
8	00:04:57	1.00	04:57
9	00:05:00	1.00	05:00
10	00:04:56	1.00	04:56
11	00:04:58	1.00	04:58
12	00:05:31	1.00	05:31
13	00:05:41	1.00	05:41
14	00:05:28	1.00	05:28
15	00:05:10	1.00	05:10
16	00:00:38	0.19	03:25

Week 5 of 12 to SCMS

Monday (rest)
Off. Core exercises

Tuesday (interval)
3k w/u, 2k @ 4:45, 3min rest, 8 x 400 @ 4:30 pace w/1min rest, 3min rest, 2k @ 4:45, 2k c/d
3k warm-up in 19:22 (avg pace 6:27min/km)
Bidadari Cemetery 2k @ 4:45 pace
Splits/400m (loop) 4:23(1:45min) 4:36(1:50min) 4:33(1:49min) 4:43(1:53min) 4:23(1:45min)in 9:02 avg pace 4:31
Bidadari Cemetery 8 x 400 @ 4:30 pace
Splits/400m 3:56(1:34min) 4:04(1:37min) 4:10(1:40min) 3:59(1:35min) 4:00(1:36min) 4:06(1:38min) 4:17(1:43min) 4:13(1:41min)in 13:04 avg pace 4:05 (w/o 1:00 SR)
Bidadari Cemetery 2k @ 4:45 pace
Splits/400m (loop) 4:31(1:48min) 4:44(1:53min) 4:37(1:50min) 4:47(1:55min) 4:26(1:46min)
in 9:12 avg pace 4:36
2k cool down in 12:15 (avg pace 6:07min/km)

Total session w/o R (w/u + c/d) 12.2k in 63:05 (av 5:10 min/km)

Feeling strong as I exceeded all minimum requirements set for my intervals. Look forward to 2 more easy runs, 1 long run before my race on Sunday.

Wednesday (easy)
8k easy pace 48:01mins (av pace 5:59min/km)

Thursday (easy)
5k easy w/3 x 20 sec strides
29:53 (avg pace 5:58min/km)
5 x 20 sec strides
20 sec strides splits(min/k) SR40sec
3:10(110m) 3:34(90m) 2:57(110m) 3:16(100m) 3:03(110m)

Friday (easy)
25k long run - all easy pace
2k w/u in 13:22 (avg pace 6:40min/km)
East Coast Park 18k in 108:49min (avg pace 6:02min/km)
2k c/d in 14:50 (avg pace 7:09min/km)

Started my LSD late at 8am and disappointingly I could not complete my 25km run. I just don't seems to have any energy left after 15k, tried pushing myself further but gave up at 18km. Feeling tired and don't seems to be able to recover. Two of the main reasons could be (1) Depleted glycogen store as I recalled that I was still hungry the night before but instead decide to ignore it and just go to bed, and as I woke up late I only had 2 bananas and off I go ECP for my run. (2) It was a hot day and I was losing lots of water.

Saturday
Off

Sunday (Race)
New Balance Real Run 2010 Official net time 1hr 17mins 17secs (avg pace 5:05min/km)

I was doing fine running at an average of 5:00min/km pace for 12km until I was forced to slow down halfway through the 12km mark where here comes the 0.6km stretch of sand. It was no doubt challenging to run on sand terrain but it was also tiring and my pace started to deteriorate.

Summary
It is a week of 63km run with interval + LSD + race, had a poor LSD but a solid interval and a good race. I am now looking forward to the coming easy week and also the Nike City Run 10km. Hopefully I can finally do a sub 47mins 10k.

Week 4 of 12 to SCMS

Monday (rest)

Off. Core exercises

Tuesday (interval)
3k w/u, 6 x 1k @ 4:55 pace w/1min rest, 3min rest, 4 x 400 @ 1:42-1:44 w/2min rest, 2-3k c/d

3k warm-up in 19:00 (avg pace 6:19min/km)

Bidadari Cemetery 6 x 1k @ 4:55 pace

Splits/k (loop) 4:28 4:37 4:37 4:36 4:34 4:39

in 27:34 avg pace 4:35 (w/o 1:00 R)

Bidadari Cemetery 4 x 400 @ 1:42-1:44

Splits/400m 4:09(1:39min) 4:05(1:38min) 3:50(1:32min) 3:51(1:32min)

in 6:24 avg pace 4:00 (w/o 2:00 R)

3k cool down in 18:43 avg pace 6:13min/km)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 13.6k in 71:41 (av 5:16 min/km)

I am very pleased with my intervals today as I recorded great timing for my intervals. Surprisingly I was feeling really strong for most part of the run, the key been able to recover fast during and in between my rest time, and this was done with a shorter rest time of 60secs as compared to previous sessions of 90secs. I am not sure if the improvement had anything to do with the Power Balance band.

Wednesday (easy)
8k easy pace
47:52mins (av pace 5:58min/km)

Thursday (tempo)
3k w/u, 10k tempo run @ 5:00-5:05 pace, 2-3k c/d
3k easy (warm up) in 18:11 (avg pace 6:03min/km)

Bidadari Cemetery 10k tempo run
Splits/k 4:37 4:57 4:58 5:02 5:00 4:56 5:03 4:59 5:01 4:43
in 49:19mins (avg pace 4:55min/km)

3k easy (cool down) in 19:16 (avg pace 6:25min/km)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 16k in 86:46 (av 5:25 min/km)

I had a great run on Tuesday but Thursday run was really a tough one for me to keep up with my intended pace. It was supposed to be a "comfortable hard" pace for me but it was tiring even though I was running at a slower pace as compared to Tuesday. I felt recovery was slow and at times almost breathless. Perhaps it was due to (1) Over-paced my first k (2) had a hard session on Tuesday (3) the lack water before the session and with no rest time in between. Overall really glad to be able to run 10k non-stop at tempo pace. Felt motivated after I happened to see this interesting article Run The Right Tempo Pace With Help From Runner's World.com

Friday
Yoga

Saturday (easy+strength)
8k easy w/5 x 20 sec strides
8k easy run in 47:17mins (av pace 5:54min/km)
20 sec strides splits(min/k) SR40sec

3:10(100m) 3:08(110m) 3:08(110m) 2:57(110m) 2:50(120m)

Sunday (easy)

20k long run @ easy pace
3k easy (warm up) in 17:43 (avg pace 5:54min/km)
Estimate 1hr 50mins (av pace 5:30min/km)

Estimate 2k easy (cool up) in 14:00 (avg pace 7:00min/km)
Total session (w/u + c/d) 25k in 2h 21mins43sec (av 5:40min/km)

After my 2k warm up, I started my Garmin watch to time my LSD but it fails me and suddenly went dead after only 1k, not sure what happened to the battery? Anyway (without the watch) at around 5:05pm I decide to start all over again and also no choice but to do a 20x1k loop at Bidadari Cemetery to better gauge my distance. Well I almost lost track of my count :p as at the same time I need to "feel" my pace. Think I over paced myself as I finished my LSD at 6:55pm, which is on average 5:30min/km pace, hope I have finally "upgrade" my easy pace :)

Summary

It is a week of 71km with surprisingly good timings for my intervals, although I struggled more with my tempo run but at least I still managed to hit my intended pace. If the article on Runner's World site is true, I look forward to more tempo sessions as it seems to be another important element for distance running. Another race coming up next week, certainly hope I can do well after all these weeks of training.

Week 3 of 12 to SCMS

Monday (rest)

Off. Core exercises

Tuesday (interval)
3k w/u, 2 x 5k @ 5:00 pace w/3min rest, 2-3k c/d

3k warm-up in 18:48 (avg pace 6:15min/km)

Bidadari Cemetery 2 x 5k @ 5:00 pace

Splits/k (loop) 4:40 4:54 4:55 4:56 4:57 4:57 5:03 5:05 5:04 4:44

Splits/5k 24:22 (av 4:52) 24:53 (av 4:58.6)

in 49:21 (w/o 3:00 R)

Avg Pace 4:55min/km

3k cool down in 19:51 avg pace 6:36min/km)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 16k in 88:00 (av 5:30 min/km)

I had a tiring session today as I started to struggle after 6km, but glad I still managed an avg pace of 4:55min/km. Not sure why legs were heavy today, maybe I am still recovering from last Sunday LSD and followed by core exercises on Monday.

Wednesday (easy)
8k easy pace
48:39mins (av pace 6:04min/km)

Thursday (steady)
3k easy pace, 8k steady run w/5 x 15 sec explosive hill sprints after run, 3k c/d
3k easy (warm up) in 18:22 (avg pace 6:06min/km)

Woodleigh Park 8k steady run
Splits/k 5:30 5:20 5:27 5:20 5:29 5:30 5:26 5:32
in 43:39mins (avg pace 5:27min/km)

15 sec up hill sprints splits(min/k) w/40s rest

3:52(60m) 3:17(80m) 342(70m) 3:48(70m) 3:25(70m)
3.3k easy (cool down) in 19:44 (avg pace 5:58min/km)
Total session (w/u + c/d) 14.3k in 81:45 (av 5:43 min/km)

Friday
Off

Saturday (easy+strength)
8k easy w/5 x 20 sec strides
8k easy run in 46:57mins (av pace 5:51min/km)
20 sec up hill strides splits(min/k) JR50sec

3:21(100m) 3:39(90m) 3:23(100m) 3:18(100m) 3:23(100m)

Enjoy my easy run exploring new routes, ended up at Novena and decide to do some uphill strides which ended up more like uphill sprints, anyway both are similar and I find it more challenging to run uphill.

Sunday (easy)
25k long run w/ 18-23k @ 5:20 pace
2k easy (warm up) in 11:53 (avg pace 5:54min/km)
2hr 25mins 40secs (av pace 5:49min/km)

18-23k splits/k 5:21 5:27 5:21 5:25 5:10 (avg pace 5:20.8min/km)
2k easy (cool up) in 13:40 (avg pace 6:49min/km)
Total session (w/u + c/d) 29k in 2h 51mins13sec (av 5:54min/km)

These day I just could not wake up early and again I did my LSD in the evening, at Bidadari Cemetery, to make my run less boring I decide to take a bigger loop of about 1.6k. As usual I aim for even pace of 6min/km but as fatigue kicks in towards the later part from 18k onwards it was tough to maintain my target of 5:20min/km pace, thus my splits from 18k to 23k went hare wire but at least I still push through with an average of 5:20.8min/km.

Summary

It's another week of high mileage of 77km, so glad I can now look forward to next week's shorter 20km LSD. This week is a more tiring week as compared to previous 2 weeks as I felt sore and needed more effort to achieve my goals, especially for the intervals and the LSD from 18 to 23k @5:20. Both sessions were good training as I really felt like I was running low on fuel towards the end of the marathon.