Week 11 of 12 to SCMS

Monday (rest)

Off

Tuesday (tempo)

3k w/u, 2 x 4k @ 5:10 pace w/3min rest, 2k cd

3k warm-up in 18:11 (avg pace 6:03min/km)

2 x 4k w/3min rest in 39:33 (excl rest) av pace 4:56min/km

splits/k 5:03 5:05 5:02 5:02 4:59 5:00 4:45 4:30

2k cool-down in 11:12 (avg pace 5:34min/km)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 13k in 68:56mins (av pace 5:18min/km)

Wednesday (easy)

8k easy

49:24mins (avg pace 6:10min/km)

Thursday (easy)

8k easy w/3 x 20 sec strides

48:03mins (avg pace 6:00min/km)

3 x 20 sec strides Splits/k 2:42(120m) 2:40(120m) 2:33(130m)

Friday (easy+pilates)

10k "long" run - all easy pace

59:03mins (avg pace 5:54min/km)

I waited until I saw sunlight before I started my run at 9am, doing well and overall no problem with the heat. Since no yoga today so I opted for the opportunity to try a free 1hour 1-to-1 trial pilates session at 11am. The session focuses more on strength training whereas my usual yoga session places more emphasis on stretching.

Saturday (rest)

Off, work commitments

Sunday (easy)

8k easy

47:38mins (avg pace 5:57min/km)

Again started my run late to feel the morning heat, feeling great and no problem with the heat only need to constantly remind myself to run slower.

Summary

It is an easy week of 47km, so far no problem with my running and into the second week of tapering with only 6 days to marathon I am now feeling fresh and raring to go. Counting down....

Week 10 of 12 to SCMS

Monday (steady)

Toa Payoh Stadium 1k easy, 8k steady pace (5:25), 1k easy w/4 x 15 sec explosive hill sprints

2k warm-up in 14:45 (avg pace 7:17min/km)

8k in 43:00mins (avg pace 5:22min/km)

splits/k 5:26 5:28 5:21 5:25 5:24 5:19 5:19 5:11

5 x 15 sec hill sprints

splits/k 3:13(80m) 3:45(70m) 3:56(60m) 3:54(60m) 3:48(70m)

3k cool-down in 18:16 (avg pace 6:04min/km)

Total session (w/p + c/d) 13k in 76:01min (av pace 5:50min/km)

Felt easier to run on running tracks as compared to the slopes at Bidadari Cemetery.

Tuesday (easy)

5k easy

31:14mins (avg pace 6:14min/km)

Legs still feel sore after yesterday's massage, decide to go for 5k instead of 8k and hope I will be ready for tomorrow's run.

Wednesday (tempo)

Toa Payoh Stadium 2k w/u, 2 x 8k @ 5:05 w/4min rest, 2k c/d

2k warm-up in 14:06 (avg pace 7:02min/km)

2 x 8k w/4min rest in 1hr 20mins 12 secs av pace 5:00min/km

splits/k 4:54 5:08 5:10 5:00 5:01 5:05 5:04 5:01 4:55 5:00 4:57 5:01 5:01 5:01 4:54 4:51

2k cool-down in 11:46 (avg pace 5:51min/km)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 20k in 1hr 46mins 4secs (av pace 5:18min/km)

Felt good and happy with today's session, my legs no longer feel sore and I was finding it easier to run with less effort for the second half of the 8k run.

Thursday (easy)

8k easy w/4 x 20 sec strides

47:54mins (avg pace 5:59min/km)

4 x 20 sec strides Splits/k 3:17(100m) 3:14(100m) 3:11(100m) 2:50(120m)

Friday (rest)

Yoga

Saturday (easy)

10k easy w/4 x 20 sec strides

56:41mins (avg pace 5:40min/km)

Started to run at 8:40am to have a feel of the morning heat, didn't actually paid much attention on my pace, I just run and try to "feel" my easy pace. Think I overpaced myself but overall still feel okay.

Sunday (easy)

Bidadari Cemetery 12k "long" run w/5 x 60 sec surges @ 4:35 pace w/5min easy pace btwn starting at 5k

2k warm-up in 11:44 (avg pace 5:51min/km)

12k in 66:03mins av pace 5:30min/km

6 x 60sec surges (min/km) 4:17(240m) 4:23(220m) 4:05(240m) 4:09(240m) 4:08(240m) 4:05(250m)

2k cool-down in 12:15 (avg pace 6:06min/km)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 16k in 90:02mins (av pace 5:37min/km)

Again I started my run late to feel the morning heat, tried running slower but somehow I was feeling strong and finished my first 5k in 28:45min with an avg pace of 5:45min/km. It was only after the last surge run before I started to feel tired, think I surged too fast and also it was getting hotter.

Summary

It is a week of 74km, felt stronger this week as compared to the week before as I managed to complete most of the sessions strongly, especially Wednesday 2 x 8k and also an additional session on Monday which I brought forward from last week. Both sessions were done on tracks to lighten the loads on my tiring legs. It is only 2 more weeks to marathon, rest and recovery will now be my priority, got to really take it easy on my easy days.

Week 9 of 12 to SCMS

Monday (easy)

6k easy - no strides

35:23mins (avg pace 5:53min/km)

Tuesday (easy)

8k easy w/5 x 15 sec hill sprints

47:38mins (avg pace 5:57min/km)

5 x 20sec strides splits/k 3:38(90m) 3:18(100m) 3:15(100m) 3:23(100m) 3:15(100m)

As there are no hills/slopes around this part of the Taipei city, I decide to do striding instead of hill sprints.

Wednesday(rest)

Off, flight return to Singapore at midnight

Thursday (interval)

3k w/u, 3 x 5k @ 4:55 - 5:00 w/3min rest, 2k c/d

3k warm-up in 17:33 (avg pace 5:50min/km)

5k + 2k + 1k w/3min rest

Splits(min/km) 4:36 4:48 4:51 4:58 4:58 5:06 5:17 5:14

39:54mins (avg pace 4:59)

2k cool-down in 13:24 (avg pace 6:40min/km)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 13k in 70:51min (av pace 5:27min/km)

Felt really tired and ended up only with only a 8km interval run.I think I am still recovering from last week's race due to insufficient rest.

Friday (easy+yoga)

8k easy

48:19 (avg pace 6:02min/km)

Saturday (easy)

30k long run w/23-28k @ 5:10 pace or faster

2k warm-up in 12:53min (avg pace 6:25)

Bidadari Cemetery 30k in 2hr 34min 49secs (avg pace 5:57min/km)

2k cool-down in 12:38 (avg pace 6:18)

Tota; seesion (w/u + c/d) 30k in 3hr 20sec (av pace 6:00min/km)

Things went well until 23k onwards as I could not keep up with 5:10 pace, felt very tired and had to stop at 26km. I think I struggled for two reasons: (1) 2 slices of bread for breakfast were not enough calories, so I had a minor bonk. The heat didn't help as I burn more calories and fluid the hotter it is; and (2) I was still tired from the rough workout earlier in the week, race and travel make recovery slow especially when without enough rest.

Sunday (rest)

Off

Summary

It is a week with 65.74km mileage but really a bad one as I could not complete both my interval and long run due to poor condition. It seems like I am still recovering after a good race the week before. Think I overlooked the importance of having enough rest for recover, the travelling does make recovery slower especially when I was in holiday mood, sight seeing and having irregular sleeping hours. We got to have the disciple to train and also to rest, anyway no more long run and it is time for tapering for full recovery.

Week 8 of 12 to SCMS

Monday (rest)

Off

Tuesday (interval)

3k w/u, 8 x 3mins @ 4:40 pace w/2mins easy running btwn, 2k c/d

3k warm-up in 17:13 (avg pace 5:43min/km)

Bidadari Cemetery 8 x 3mins @ 4:40 pace w/2mins easy @ av 6:00 pace

5.32k in 24mins (avg pace 4:30min/km)

Estimate 2k in 12mins (avg pace 6:00min/km)

2k cool-down in 11:47 (avg pace 5:53min/km)

Total session (w/u + c/d) 12.32k in 65mins av 5:17min/km

I decide only to time the 8 x 3mins run, anyway forgot to lap my garmin so I only have the overall average pace of splits per k for the 24mins run. Still pleased with the average pace of 4:30 as the initiate aim was to run at an average of 4:40.

Wednesday (easy)

8k easy w/4 x 20 sec strides

48:13 (avg pace 6:01min/km)

4 x 20 sec strides Splits/k 2:36(130m) 3:04(110m) 2:59(110m) 3:09(110m)

Needed more effort today for my easy run, felt legs were heavy and get tired faster then before, the strides seems tougher too as my recovery were slower too. Perhaps these are some signs of fatigue.

Thursday (rest)

Off, flight to Taiwan (Hualien)

Friday (easy)

5k easy w/3 x 20 sec strides

29:57 (avg pace 5:59min/km)

3 x 20 sec strides Splits/k 3:46(90m) 4:10(80m) 3:30(100m)

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	00:03:00	0.44	06:49
1	00:00:20	0.09	03:46
2	00:00:40	0.02	20:00
3	00:00:20	0.08	04:10
4	00:00:40	0.05	12:30
5	00:00:20	0.10	03:30
6	00:00:40	0.10	06:21

It is my first training session on foreign soil on a wet and cold morning, the temperature should be around 16 - 19 Degree Celsius. Looking forward to collect the race pack in the afternoon and to race the following day.

Saturday (race)

Taroko Gorge Marathon 2010 (21km)

Finish Time 01:43:35 (chip time)

What a surprise result for me with another PB! Before the race I was having some doubts on how should I approach the race, as the first half of the route leads up to a gradual uphill of about 220m (u-turn point). I really doubt I am able to keep up with my usual half-marathon pace of 5:00 - 5:10 pace. However the key will be the second half of the race, to get a negative splits so as to make up for loss time during the uphill run. Glad that I have done it, felt like I was "flying" down hill.

Sunday (rest)

Off

Summary

It is a week of 45km where the focus was on my half-marathon race, but due to the nature of the terrain of increase altitude for first half of the race, I was hoping not to do too badly. The aim will be to get over the uphill (first half route) and aim to finish strong on the second half of the race. Upon crossing the finishing line I was really surprise with the PB, what a race!

Taroko Gorge Marathon (21km)

What a race on the most beautiful and scenic place in Taiwan (Hualien on the east coast). Having did some read up before the race I felt it is not an event for a PB, the reason been an uphill route for the first half of the half marathon (followed by a u-turn to go down hill) which will probably leave me too tired to make up for even for the second half down hill route.

Having reached Taiwan (Taipei) 2 days before the race, settled down and took a train to Hualien the following day for race pack collection. On race day I woke up at 4am, oops... I was late, but managed to meet up with the rest of the Safra guys at about 4:15am to take the shuttle train from Hualien and followed by shuttle bus and finally reaches the race site at about 5am. Having settled down and deposited my belongings I had a 30mins nap before headed off to the starting line.

The race started off at about 7am on a cold windy morning of around 17 Degree Celsius, it was drizzling for days, but somehow it stops just in time just before the race starts. But too bad my garmin watch was not working (could not detect satellite signals), well anyway no time for that and I just have to get on with my run while at the same time try to feel the right pace.

The first 5 - 6 km was great as I was probably running at an average of slightly less then 5:00min/km pace, soon came a couple of short up and down slopes which I felt I coped well with and so far so good, the cold temperature certainly helps as I was able to ran at my intended pace of closed to 5:00min/km. It was until at about 10km, very near the u-turn point before I felt tired running up, the pace was slow perhaps at about 5:30min/km? As I was tired I tried to divert my attention by looking at the scenic environment and I was lucky as I realised I was not too far away for to the u-turn back to the finishing line. I felt great, relieved and happy that I finally got over the toughest part of the race!

The journey down hill was more of a recovery from earlier exertion while I need to make sure that I do not over-paced myself and at the same time to run as fast as I could. I think I ran on average at about 4:30min/km downhill while for the remaining 2 - 4km on flat route it was about 4:45 - 4:50min/km. Hopefully the distance was right as I felt strong even up to the last 2km mark. Very soon with the the finishing line in sight I was surprise that the clock shows 1:46, I make a last attempt to over take the few runners ahead for a 1:46:54hr finish. It is a PB based on gun time, and it was more joy for me as I soon realized that my chip time actually shows 1:43:35 and best of all I achieved it with a negative splits!

It was a great run for me, felt encouraged as I am finally showing some progress after months of trainings 1)I felt that my uphill trainings (also uphill sprints) could be one of the factors that helps me coped well with the race. 2)The cold weather certainly plays a part too, so glad that it is now 2 PBs for year 2010 :) Hopefully I can get a hat trick soon :p

http://www.sportsnet.org.tw/score_101106_21.php

2010 Taroko 峽谷馬拉松 - 半程馬拉松成績

Pos	Regnr	Bibnr	Name	Category	FinishTime	RankAll	RankCat
110	1222	1144	吳向煌 (GOH HIONG HONG)	男30-39歲	01:43:35	110	34

Below are my splits starting from about 3km onwards. The distance and pace tracking might not be accurate due to loss of satellite signals at certain parts of the route, especially when going through tunnels.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
3	00:04:41	1.00	04:41
4	00:04:58	1.00	04:58
5	00:04:55	1.00	04:55
6	00:05:02	1.00	05:02
7	00:04:49	1.00	04:49
8	00:04:17	1.00	04:17
9	00:05:22	1.00	05:22
10	00:05:05	1.00	05:05
11	00:05:09	1.00	05:09
12	00:04:58	1.00	04:58
13	00:05:31	1.00	05:31
14	00:04:15	1.00	04:15
15	00:04:43	1.00	04:43
16	00:04:29	1.00	04:29
17	00:04:31	1.00	04:31
18	00:04:08	1.00	04:08
19	00:03:42	1.00	03:42
20	00:05:23	1.00	05:23
21	00:04:49	1.00	04:49
22	00:00:09	0.06	02:35
Summary	01:31:05	19.06	04:46