100 Plus PAssion Run 2011

It was a race running on familiar route, almost like my usual weekend LSD but instead of doing a u-turn at Fort Road I was needed to do a u-turn near ECP MacDonald. For races I would usually look forward to running at new places with new sceneries, although it was boring to run the old same route again but I think it would help me in my race. I still have bad memories of last year’s race that I did badly as I was recovering from Appendicitis, it was a race that ended up as a walk and run session. This year I aim to do better and hopefully I can go below 2hrs.

As I opted for the first wave I was with most of the elite runners, notably top local runners such as Mok Ying Ren, Anne Date and Sumiko Tan were all around me. It was almost 4:30pm before the race started, as I was running I started looking out for some “Pacers” around me the first runner I notice was Chin KK from Jurong Safra, I tried to follow him but soon both of us slowed down as we were running too fast for the first km at about 4:14min/km. As I still felt strong, I decide to move on and overtake him and soon I was surprise to see Sumiko Tan who was just about 10 meters ahead of me. It was then that I decide that she will be my pacer, I thought it would be a challenge if I can keep up with her pace and I was wondering how long can I do so?

Apart from the first km I was running at around 4:35min/km pace and one of the leading front runners and by 5km I only took 22:24min. I myself was surprise as it was too fast and still a long way to go but so far so good as I still want I can keep up with her pace. It was at about 7km before I started to slow down and soon loses sight of her and by then I started to feel tired so I decide to slow down to just below 5min/km pace. I was slowing down from 7km onwards and by 10km my pace was a slow 5:11min/km, but despite of that I was really surprised that it only took me 47mins to complete 10km, obviously why I was getting tired. It was at about the same time that I see Sumiko Tan again as she was walking at water points near NSRCC and I managed to close the gap on her as I followed closely behind, soon at another water point after NSRCC I managed to overtake her when she started walking again to rehydrate herself, guess the hot weather could have taken the toll on her too.

At 12km it was the usual long boring Changi Coastal Road stretch and my pace was getting really slow, not too pleased with my more than 5min/km pace but nothing I could do except only to hope that I can recover fast enough while at the same time not running too slow. It was not surprisingly the split for the third 5k was really slow at 25:50min. It was with 15km behind me that I tried to motivate myself, I was telling myself only 10km left and now u-turning back at Changi Coastal Road towards ECP!!! Along the way back I tried to up my pace to go below 5min/km, didn’t managed to do so only until I was almost reaching NSRCC again but then I my faster pace could not last for more than 2km. By 20km onwards my pace was again slow and erratic and with 5km left I was struggling, so I planned to conserve some energy for the final 3km for the final push, but somehow I just could not recover in time and can just try to run as fast as I could. The final 1km was hell which I finally managed to finish strongly.

It was a race which I did not really set a pace to run at and was pacing myself over my limit in my attempt to follow faster runners ahead. The first half of my race was definitely too fast while the race after 10km was more of a recovery for me. My subsequent effort to step up my pace fails as I was totally drained out. Overall it was poor race strategy which ended with a positive split when I should really try to go for even or negative split. As always I was too ambitious, but glad that I still managed an average pace of 4:56min/km and came in 45th for Men’s Open Category.

Nr	Bib	Name	GunStart	TimeStart	ChipFinish	GunFinish	Remark
45	12451	Goh Hiong Hong	16:28:55.50	16:29:04.50	02:02:32.50	02:02:41.50	Tag 10426

Lap (5km)	Time (min)	Avg Pace (min/km)
0-5	22:24	4:28
6-10	24:25	4:53
11-15	25:50	5:10
16-20	25:24	5:05
21-25	25:21	5:04

Split Time Distance Avg Pace Summary 02:02:34 24.77 04:56 1 00:04:14 1.00 04:14 2 00:04:23 1.00 04:23 3 00:04:34 1.00 04:34 4 00:04:34 1.00 04:34 5 00:04:39 1.00 04:39 6 00:04:39 1.00 04:39 7 00:04:46 1.00 04:46 8 00:04:50 1.00 04:50 9 00:04:59 1.00 04:59 10 00:05:11 1.00 05:11 11 00:05:08 1.00 05:08 12 00:05:03 1.00 05:03 13 00:05:17 1.00 05:17 14 00:05:14 1.00 05:14 15 00:05:08 1.00 05:08 16 00:05:07 1.00 05:07 17 00:05:20 1.00 05:20 18 00:04:50 1.00 04:50 19 00:04:43 1.00 04:43 20 00:05:24 1.00 05:24 21 00:05:13 1.00 05:13 22 00:05:21 1.00 05:21 23 00:05:17 1.00 05:17 24 00:04:56 1.00 04:56 25 00:03:32 0.77 04:34

KL Energizer Night Race 2011

It has been seven weeks since Tokyo Marathon and it will be my first half marathon this year. I do not expect or prepared to do well in this race as after almost a month of tapering plus off season break I was only left with four weeks to train, also it is always tougher to run under humid conditions, sad it is now back to my usual "hot" races.

As usual I will try to do well but due to the short preparation time it will be more of an event to gauge my current fitness level and unlike Tokyo Marathon it is not really a prestigious running event, guess the only attraction will be it is held in the well known Sepang F1 circuit. I guess a target of 1:45hrs finish will be good although it seems humble as it will be of the same pace for Tokyo Marathon but this time under a totally different climate I expect more effort and with slower finishing time.

It was a crowded queue to the start line and soon after the full-marathoner sets off, the half-marathoners were expected to occupy only one quarter of the F1 track, and at 8pm upon the start of the race there was still a massive jam at walking pace at the start line. I felt this was very bad organizing on the part of the organizer, my only thought then was not to jeopardize my race and I was anxious to run faster to make up time loss while walking. I ended up waving in and out finding space to run and overtake others. Felt so glad as I soon reached the more spacious main road along Jalan Kuarters Klia which was a slight uphill run, doing well and still energetic at least no more cutting left and right.

I was glad as I managed to keep my pace at an average of just below 5:00min pace, with my first 5k below 25mins despite that I finish kilometer 5 at 5:15 pace. At around 8km marked the completion of the first outer loop and soon the start of 2 small inner loops and at 9km I passed the Start line again after doing a little u-turn. This is where I was suppose to pass the Start line again for another two times to complete the race. It was at this point that I started to feel tired and needed more effort to push on but glad that I was still within 25mins from 6k to 10k. At 11km I decide to stop at the water point so that I can hydrate myself properly, very soon within 10 seconds I was off running again. I was tired and running hard, slowed down at about 13km at the water point but was surprised that there were no water left. I had to continue running while needed to lookout for space to do so as there were so many people walking, wonder what was going on, were they 5.5l and 11k runners? Soon I finally crosses the Start line again at about 15km for the final loop. I was not too pleased with my timing as I knew I was too slow from 11k to 15k.

The final loop was a challenge as I tried to concentrate on my running form, avoiding crowds by running on the outer loop of the track, at around 18.4km there were no water left as it was the same one at the 13km mark. Despite of all that, somehow I was doing fine and felt less tired, perhaps it helps running "alone". As I continue to run I finally see the finish line, a check on my Garmin I was surprised that it was not 21km, my thoughts then was am I running on the correct route? At that moment I decide to cross the Finishing line and continue my run and to stop once my Garmin hit 21.2km.

Despite meeting my target of 1:45hrs finish I felt that I could have do better, it seems like this was more of a training run then a race, the over crowded tracks and the need to run two smaller loops (F1 tracks) were misleading, more importantly the distance were inaccurate. Lastly without the missing water stations in the loop it actually mean that for the second half of the race, I only managed to hydrate myself at about 11km and again at around 16.5km. With an average pace of 4:56, it was the same pace that I run for Tokyo Marathon, and it was with comparable hard effort but with only half the distance covered. For 21.2km at Tokyo Marathon, my timing was 1:42hrs while at Taroko half marathon I complete at 1:43:35hrs. The weather certainly plays a big part for running performances.

5k Splits

Lap (5k)	Time (min)	Avg Pace (min/km)
0 - 5	24:19	4:52
6 - 10	24:12	4:50
11 - 15	25:24	5:05
16 - 20	24:46	4:57
21		4:50

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	01:44:36	21.20	04:56
1	00:04:38	1.00	04:38
2	00:04:46	1.00	04:46
3	00:04:51	1.00	04:51
4	00:04:49	1.00	04:49
5	00:05:15	1.00	05:15
6	00:05:01	1.00	05:01
7	00:04:54	1.00	04:54
8	00:04:45	1.00	04:45
9	00:04:44	1.00	04:44
10	00:04:48	1.00	04:48
11	00:05:04	1.00	05:04
12	00:05:00	1.00	05:00
13	00:05:01	1.00	05:01
14	00:05:19	1.00	05:19
15	00:05:00	1.00	05:00
16	00:04:55	1.00	04:55
17	00:05:04	1.00	05:04
18	00:05:00	1.00	05:00
19	00:04:57	1.00	04:57
20	00:04:50	1.00	04:50
21	00:04:50	1.00	04:50
22	00:00:54	0.20	04:34

My Garmin watch shows my actual finishing point (red dot)