2016 was the year where I was slowly recovering from the effects of over-training. It was a long painful process when you felt like you suddenly loses your fitness. It was like travel back in time when I first started to run and a 25 minutes 5k would have been an achievement for me.
Following the training schedule of Coach Cory, I had my first competitive 5k race in April which I clocked a time of 21:38min. It was a sub 22 minutes finish that I was quite happy with since it was close to my PB of 21:23min and it marks my return to previous fitness level.
Next up was ST Run and The Performance Series 10km races in May, followed by 21km Army Half Marathon in August and finally the 32km tune-up race in October's Newton run. The 10km races were poor as I only managed sub 50min while I only managed 1:45hr for the Army Half Marathon as I was hoping for 1:40hr. Lastly for Newton run 32km race I managed to complete in 2:43hr and missed my target of 2:40hr finishing time.
Race Day
On 18 December 2016 Taipei Marathon my legs didn't really feel fresh at the start line, perhaps I was tired and not having enough rest even during the weeks leading to the event, it was due to both work and personal commitments. However I was still hoping for close to 3:30hr finish and with that I opted for 5min/km even pace finish.
I was in the category C starting block where it was crowded for the initial 1km before I managed to settle into my race pace of 5min/km. It was around 14 degree celcius not really cold as it was not windy too. I was doing fine for the next 15km before my pace started to drop, I also felt pain on my left foot, which I really have to slow down and the thought then was just to keep running. It was a struggle from 25km onwards as the strategy then was keep close to 6min/km pace.
Post Mortem
Overall I was glad that I could still run non-stop and I certainly have the endurance to keep running. But during training missing out on 2 of the 35km long runs seems to have affected me as I could not hold out longer at my targeted race pace. Also I notice I was still tired during tapering and even on race day, meaning I had insuffient recovery to get the results after all the hard work.
Garmin Connect Taipei Marathon 2016
| Splits | Time | Cumulative Time | Moving Time | Elev Gain | Elev Loss | Avg Pace | Avg Moving Pace | Best Pace | Avg HR | Max HR | Avg Run Cadence | Max Run Cadence |
| 1 | 05:30.3 | 05:30.3 | 5:23 | 15 | 16 | 5:30 | 5:23 | 4:16 | 138 | 151 | 190 | 198 |
| 2 | 04:38.0 | 10:08 | 4:32 | 6 | 25 | 4:38 | 4:32 | 4:18 | 144 | 150 | 193 | 203 |
| 3 | 04:44.4 | 14:53 | 4:39 | 11 | 6 | 4:44 | 4:39 | 4:16 | 147 | 150 | 191 | 195 |
| 4 | 04:55.7 | 19:48 | 4:54 | -- | 5 | 4:56 | 4:54 | 4:33 | 151 | 165 | 190 | 194 |
| 5 | 04:53.3 | 24:42:00 | 4:53 | 5 | -- | 4:53 | 4:53 | 4:43 | 159 | 168 | 190 | 195 |
| 6 | 04:47.1 | 29:29:00 | 4:46 | 3 | -- | 4:47 | 4:46 | 4:35 | 158 | 165 | 189 | 195 |
| 7 | 04:48.8 | 34:18:00 | 4:45 | 48 | 41 | 4:49 | 4:45 | 4:36 | 161 | 170 | 189 | 194 |
| 8 | 04:55.6 | 39:13:00 | 4:54 | -- | 18 | 4:56 | 4:54 | 4:34 | 161 | 169 | 190 | 197 |
| 9 | 04:53.4 | 44:07:00 | 4:49 | 7 | -- | 4:53 | 4:49 | 4:47 | 158 | 165 | 189 | 194 |
| 10 | 04:55.7 | 49:02:00 | 4:52 | -- | 3 | 4:56 | 4:52 | 4:41 | 158 | 163 | 188 | 194 |
| 11 | 04:58.3 | 54:01:00 | 4:54 | 27 | 12 | 4:58 | 4:54 | 3:53 | 159 | 163 | 187 | 195 |
| 12 | 04:49.8 | 58:50:00 | 4:42 | 5 | 18 | 4:50 | 4:42 | 4:44 | 158 | 164 | 189 | 192 |
| 13 | 05:01.1 | 1:03:51 | 4:59 | 9 | 11 | 5:01 | 4:59 | 4:52 | 157 | 162 | 188 | 190 |
| 14 | 04:52.3 | 1:08:44 | 4:51 | 10 | 6 | 4:52 | 4:51 | 4:40 | 161 | 187 | 189 | 194 |
| 15 | 04:58.0 | 1:13:42 | 4:57 | 4 | 10 | 4:58 | 4:57 | 4:47 | 159 | 178 | 187 | 188 |
| 16 | 05:05.8 | 1:18:48 | 05:05.8 | 4 | 5 | 5:06 | 5:06 | 4:25 | 161 | 182 | 181 | 192 |
| 17 | 05:01.3 | 1:23:49 | 4:59 | 2 | -- | 5:01 | 4:59 | 4:54 | 145 | 154 | 181 | 184 |
| 18 | 05:09.2 | 1:28:58 | 5:06 | -- | 4 | 5:09 | 5:06 | 5:00 | 146 | 151 | 183 | 190 |
| 19 | 05:05.4 | 1:34:03 | 5:04 | 12 | 12 | 5:05 | 5:04 | 4:57 | 142 | 147 | 182 | 186 |
| 20 | 04:57.6 | 1:39:01 | 4:55 | -- | -- | 4:58 | 4:55 | 4:46 | 142 | 146 | 182 | 186 |
| 21 | 05:06.7 | 1:44:08 | 5:06 | 6 | 2 | 5:07 | 5:06 | 4:41 | 142 | 151 | 181 | 186 |
| 22 | 05:05.4 | 1:49:13 | 5:04 | -- | 4 | 5:05 | 5:04 | 4:58 | 140 | 146 | 182 | 184 |
| 23 | 05:07.4 | 1:54:21 | 5:06 | -- | -- | 5:07 | 5:06 | 4:56 | 138 | 149 | 181 | 184 |
| 24 | 05:10.7 | 1:59:31 | 5:03 | 3 | -- | 5:11 | 5:03 | 5:04 | 144 | 151 | 180 | 186 |
| 25 | 05:14.6 | 2:04:46 | 5:08 | 5 | -- | 5:15 | 5:08 | 5:06 | 151 | 178 | 180 | 183 |
| 26 | 05:30.8 | 2:10:17 | 5:24 | 1 | 7 | 5:31 | 5:24 | 5:16 | 152 | 167 | 178 | 182 |
| 27 | 05:38.8 | 2:15:56 | 5:32 | 3 | -- | 5:39 | 5:32 | 5:29 | 153 | 167 | 177 | 180 |
| 28 | 05:45.3 | 2:21:41 | 5:38 | 4 | 9 | 5:45 | 5:38 | 5:39 | 152 | 158 | 175 | 180 |
| 29 | 05:52.6 | 2:27:33 | 5:46 | 6 | 5 | 5:53 | 5:46 | 5:34 | 151 | 156 | 175 | 181 |
| 30 | 06:07.2 | 2:33:41 | 6:04 | 3 | -- | 6:07 | 6:04 | 5:46 | 152 | 160 | 176 | 180 |
| 31 | 06:08.1 | 2:39:49 | 6:02 | 10 | 26 | 6:08 | 6:02 | 5:46 | 148 | 162 | 177 | 181 |
| 32 | 06:17.5 | 2:46:06 | 6:13 | 10 | -- | 6:18 | 6:13 | 6:02 | 145 | 150 | 176 | 180 |
| 33 | 06:24.7 | 2:52:31 | 06:24.7 | 11 | 7 | 6:25 | 6:25 | 5:57 | 144 | 149 | 176 | 178 |
| 34 | 06:18.8 | 2:58:50 | 6:14 | -- | -- | 6:19 | 6:14 | 5:57 | 141 | 149 | 176 | 180 |
| 35 | 06:10.5 | 3:05:00 | 6:04 | -- | -- | 6:11 | 6:04 | 5:51 | 143 | 149 | 176 | 178 |
| 36 | 06:12.5 | 3:11:13 | 6:11 | 5 | 14 | 6:12 | 6:11 | 6:00 | 145 | 149 | 177 | 180 |
| 37 | 06:09.6 | 3:17:22 | 6:03 | 8 | -- | 6:10 | 6:03 | 5:57 | 146 | 150 | 177 | 180 |
| 38 | 06:27.1 | 3:23:50 | 6:25 | 4 | -- | 6:27 | 6:25 | 5:56 | 150 | 158 | 177 | 180 |
| 39 | 06:09.2 | 3:29:59 | 6:06 | 5 | -- | 6:09 | 6:06 | 5:45 | 156 | 182 | 178 | 182 |
| 40 | 06:11.5 | 3:36:10 | 6:09 | 9 | 8 | 6:11 | 6:09 | 5:16 | 157 | 177 | 177 | 181 |
| 41 | 05:21.3 | 3:41:31 | 5:20 | 14 | -- | 5:21 | 5:20 | 5:06 | 161 | 183 | 178 | 182 |
| 42 | 05:30.6 | 3:47:02 | 5:28 | 7 | -- | 5:31 | 5:28 | 4:44 | 168 | 185 | 179 | 184 |
| 43 | 02:25.5 | 3:49:28 | 2:23 | 3 | 11 | 4:04 | 4:00 | 3:17 | 173 | 184 | 179 | 184 |
| Summary | 3:49:28 | 3:49:28 | 3:49:28 | 303 | 304 | 5:23 | 5:23 | 3:17 | 151 | 187 | 182 | 203 |
