This will be my first race of the year and also the first after SCMS 2011. In fact I am not really looking forward to it as it will be just another race that forms part of my preparation for the coming Gold Coast Airport Marathon (1st July 2012 GCAM). But for all races especially overseas race I will still want to try to do well and with all the mileage clocked from over months of training, it will be a bonus if I can get a PB and hopefully I can do better then what I did in Penang (1/2) Marathon last year where I managed to achieve a nice negative split finish.It was certainly a tough race which I was totally caught unprepared, definitely not those usual 21km races which I was expecting. I was totally unaware that the route can be so hilly with so many long stretches of up and down slopes. I actually lost count and only remember that some were gradual ones while some can go as steep as 30 degrees.
Interestingly the race started in the nice Bukit Jalil Stadium running tracks where it was very crowded at the start point and due to human jam my first 1km was a slow one at 4:52min/km, soon as the race progress I started to pickup pace and despite the gradual uphill route I was coping well while trying hard to keep close to 4:45min/km pace. I did well to complete 5km in 23:22min with an average pace of 4:40min/km, but with alot more effort then usual as I could feel the strain so early into the race and I was struggling to find my running form.
The next 5km was an up and down “affair” where almost 1k goes up and 1k comes down and so it makes it more difficult to find the right running form. My recovery was very slow and it was quite tough even to make up for lost time while running downhill. At that slow pace where I was running downhill I felt a PB was tough, my aim then was just to run as fast as I could and hopefully things will improve.
On borrowed time from the first 5km I completed 10km in 48:25min (average 4:50min/km), disappointingly the second 5km split was a slow 25:03 (average 5:00min/km), it was suppose to be a pace which I have no problem running at. Ironically from 12 to 13km I was able to run faster uphill, probably managed to catch some breath and recovered during some downhill run. But anyway my timing was really bad with 1hr 14:03 for 15km (average 4:56min/km), the third 5km split was a terrible 5:08min/km! At that point my morale was low as with these kind of pace and effort I knew I would most likely end up doing badly, sighs…..
There seems to be never ending hilly route and I was holding back as I was having doubts of going all out for fear that I might hit another uphill route. It was only at around 17 to 18km that I decide I could now run faster, since at that moment I finally felt better and with time running out for even a 105min finish, I will need to try to make a last dashed towards the end. At around the 18km mark I was doing well running at 4:35min/km pace before hitting another uphill that again affects my form badly, I was forced to slow down again and it was now tougher to pick up pace again and there goes even a 105min finish.
At 20km it was 1hr 39:15min (average pace 4:57min/km) with fourth 5km split at 25:12min (average pace 5:02min/km), it was still possible to hit 1hr 45min but strangely I realised that the distance marker was not even showing 20km yet and when my watch shows 21km I was still around 500m away and on my way running towards the stadium.
As I was struggling to run below 5min/km I was so glad that I finally stepped into the stadium although my thoughts then was why the need to run another 300m? Anyway almost there and I finally rounded up everything, finally done!
It was a poor race with a slow 1hr 48min finish! It was in contrast compared to my PB of 1hr 38min, a disappointing 10mins gap. The consolation been the route seems to be longer at 21.8km and the positive thing been I was not running on a flat route and based on my Garmin time and pace it would have been a sub 1hr 45min finish over this hilly terrain.
Race Post-mortem
- I was not having enough hill run during trainings as I had difficulties coping with the long stretches of uphill route. So glad that GCAM will be a 42km flat course marathon.
- I uses the wrong strategy of getting over uphill fast, something which I always did especially when I can see the ending of some uphill stretch was just ahead, my idea then was to have that mental advantage over other runners. It was this early pacing mistake (1st 5k) that cost my race pace to deteriorate as I notice I was overtaken easily by many runners after only 5km. I will need to take note of my running posture at all times especially during uphill & downhill, got to learn how to attack the hill!
Uphill miles will be slower than your goal pace and downhill miles will be faster
- When the going gets tough I felt discouraged, I could have tagged along with some runners closer to my race pace right from the start. For future races I will try to move closer to the starting point.
Mens Open 21km Chip Time 01:47:57
