This is certainly not my first race, instead, this is my first race for others. A friend of mine was not able to participate in this Rock to Rock Run that he signed up awhile ago. However, he really likes the finishing medal. Thus, I was asked to run for the medal for him!
After reviewing my training plan, I changed my weekend long run of 18km to one easy run on Saturday and then the 10km race on Sunday. This could make up to the total weekly mileage that I planned for. So, I agreed to do that for him.
The arrangement was to have another friend to pass me the BIB on the race day. As usual, I reached the race venue around 1 hour before the race started. After warm up and a few rounds of slow run, the friend had not shown up.
It was 6:52am (race start at 7am) and I still didn't had my BIB yet. I was struggling to myself if I should run without BIB or go home. I was biased towards the 2nd options. After walking the last round at hotel lobby (where I planned to meet up with my friend for the BIB), I decided to go home. As I walked outside the lobby, I met a few other friends. So, we just talked had a quick talk. Just after a few sentences, the friend just brought the BIB in.
We quickly registered ourselves (to get the coloured rubber band) and went to the starting line. I stopped beside the road to pin my BIB on. Since the race had not started and I didn't want to run with my handphone on my hand, I decided to jog to my car around 500m away to put my handphone in my car.
While half way jogging back to the starting line, I heard the starting whistle. Trying to control my pace, I just kept to jog at slower pace until I reach the starting line. Before reaching the starting line, I had to make my way through the fun run crowd in which their run was to start at 7:15am.
Finally, I reached the starting line and started my Garmin watch for the run. I could be the last runner to cross the starting line. It took me some efforts to run pass slower runner at the start. This disturb my tempo and breathing a bit. However, I managed to keep my breathing back in a short while.
For last year, I participated in this run a few days after I recovered from my back pain. So, I was running very slow and careful last year. This time though, I was able to run at my regular pace on this route.
As what I intended before the run, I finished the race with slightly less than 1 hour time. I was then waited for the friend to pass the medal and just leave for subsequent event.
This is my first time running for others. With this experience, I will not allow myself to collect my race BIB on the race day!
Monday, October 27, 2014
Sunday, September 14, 2014
My Running Cadence
I just bought myself a Garmin Foot Pod a few days ago. Today is the first time I used it for my run. I used it in my weekly long run (last ~2hours or 18km) with phone's metronome on, and set at 180 beats per minute.
After the run, I looked at the run cadence data and found several interesting findings:-
1. For the first 20 mins, I was running at 182 spm.
2. Eventually, my run cadence dropped to 180 spm.
3. When I tried to speed up for 2 mins right after 1 hour of running, my run cadence further dropped to 176 spm.
4. When I ran back at my original targeted speed of ~6:45 min/km, my run cadence increased back to 178 spm.
5. The run cadence of 178 spm only last for another 20 mins before it dropped back to 176 spm.
6. At close to 2 hour of run, I again increased my speed. This time, my run cadence increased back to 178 spm for only around 5 mins before it dropped back to 176 spm.
7. At the end my long run, where I was getting real tired, my run cadence varied from 176 spm to even 172 spm.
From the data, two areas that I need to focus on in order to maintain my run cadence of 180 spm, ie. when I increases my speed and when I get tired. Apparently, I didn't respond well with my phone's metronome. Or, I could be even worse without the metronome on. I will try out one day to find out.
After the run, I looked at the run cadence data and found several interesting findings:-
1. For the first 20 mins, I was running at 182 spm.
2. Eventually, my run cadence dropped to 180 spm.
3. When I tried to speed up for 2 mins right after 1 hour of running, my run cadence further dropped to 176 spm.
4. When I ran back at my original targeted speed of ~6:45 min/km, my run cadence increased back to 178 spm.
5. The run cadence of 178 spm only last for another 20 mins before it dropped back to 176 spm.
6. At close to 2 hour of run, I again increased my speed. This time, my run cadence increased back to 178 spm for only around 5 mins before it dropped back to 176 spm.
7. At the end my long run, where I was getting real tired, my run cadence varied from 176 spm to even 172 spm.
From the data, two areas that I need to focus on in order to maintain my run cadence of 180 spm, ie. when I increases my speed and when I get tired. Apparently, I didn't respond well with my phone's metronome. Or, I could be even worse without the metronome on. I will try out one day to find out.
Tuesday, August 5, 2014
New Chaprter
After started running consistently for probably 3.5 years, I finally managed to log > 80km/month, ie. more than 20km/week, continuously for the last 5 months. While I have to stop or slow down my progress due to injury (and surgery) last year, this kind of mileage is considered a big achievement. The drawback is, my training pace is a lot slower (10%) than when I initially started. This is mainly due to the fact that I am more careful after the 1st injury that I have back in 2012. Since then, I have been paying attention to my running form, stay slow, and carefully increasing my mileage.
I kind of decided that this is my target for now while I will be working to improve my speed slowly from now onwards. From what I read so far, tempo run and interval run are what I need to include in my training routine. I just need to figure out how to put in.
Inspired by these 2 videos regarding marathon training (Part 1, Part 2), as a new chapter in my running life, I have decided to try out barefoot running. As mentioned in the videos, I will only do that for my training on the familiar route, ie. running track. I just started with 400m last weekend and the feel is totally different. I can really feel the hardness of the track on every step of my run. I plan to keep to that distance until I am very comfortable with the distance and pace, before I add in a little bit more. No timeline, no target for this barefoot training and I just hope to have a stronger feet as time goes by.
I kind of decided that this is my target for now while I will be working to improve my speed slowly from now onwards. From what I read so far, tempo run and interval run are what I need to include in my training routine. I just need to figure out how to put in.
Inspired by these 2 videos regarding marathon training (Part 1, Part 2), as a new chapter in my running life, I have decided to try out barefoot running. As mentioned in the videos, I will only do that for my training on the familiar route, ie. running track. I just started with 400m last weekend and the feel is totally different. I can really feel the hardness of the track on every step of my run. I plan to keep to that distance until I am very comfortable with the distance and pace, before I add in a little bit more. No timeline, no target for this barefoot training and I just hope to have a stronger feet as time goes by.
Sunday, April 27, 2014
Brooks Pureflow 2
The Brooks Ghost 6 doesn't really give me good mileage. I finally switched to forefoot landing with the hope of no injury from running and my running shoes can last longer.
This time, I decided to try out minimalist shoes, Brooks Pureflow 2. Due to the old model, I got the shoes for RM170, which is quite a discount from what I normally pay for new a pair of shoes. However, since the outsole is thinner, I don't expect it to last longer than my previous shoes. But, my target is to get it works for 170km, which will be similar to or better than what I am paying for previously. I'll see.
These are the specification of the shoes:-
This time, I decided to try out minimalist shoes, Brooks Pureflow 2. Due to the old model, I got the shoes for RM170, which is quite a discount from what I normally pay for new a pair of shoes. However, since the outsole is thinner, I don't expect it to last longer than my previous shoes. But, my target is to get it works for 170km, which will be similar to or better than what I am paying for previously. I'll see.
These are the specification of the shoes:-
Specifications
Weight: 8.8 oz.
Profile (Heel): 28 mm
Profile (Forefoot): 24.5 mm
Drop from heel to forefoot: 3.5 mm
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