My Race Routine

I am documenting this now, for friend's references and my own future reference how much I would change from this routine once I'm more experienced in Full Marathons. For now, this is my race routine since I started my half marathon until my 5th marathon which didn't change. Those that change I will note in the blog.


One Week Prior to Run
If I am running a 10km race, I will go on my usual weekly routine, which is to run on a Tuesday, optional Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. If I am running a 21km race, it is still the same except that my Saturday run will just be a 3km to get my engines moving.

Hydration will be important, to keep hydrated throughout the week and on Saturday is heavier hydration especially for 21km.


A Day Prior to Run
Early in the morning, will do a treadmill of 3km at a pace I would want to use in the 21km. For a 10km race, I will still do my usual Saturday run of between 6km-8km.

Zero changes to diet, except for 21km I'd go on a pasta lunch and down a bottle of 100 Plus.

At night, the following routine: -

1. Pin my bib on my race attire, place the timing chip on my shoes (if needed)
2. Place my running clothes, shorts on a hanger outside my cupboard
3. Place my heart-rate monitor and SPI Belt containing one Energy Gel (for 10km) or three Energy Gels (for 21km)
   
   SPI Belt
   
   
   
   Polar Heart-Rate Monitor
   
   
4. Sleep as early as I can

Morning of Run
For both 10km and 21km, my morning routine is same. I will wake up and have myself breakfast shake of a meal replacement (for me is Nutrilite Positrim) and two scoops of protein (Nutrilite All Plant protein powder).

First meal of the day

Then will make my Milo 3-in-1 in the same shaker bottle and have a bath.

My energy for the first few km

I will wear ALL my runnings clothes except for running shoes and head out the door. My target will always to reach the starting line half hour or more from race time. Will take my ablution if the race starts prior to Subuh.

Arrival at the parking, I will down my Milo. Change to my running shoes. Head to the starting line and start warm-ups and stretching. Since I'm not heading for top ten position, I will be one of the last in the crowd during start off. Once I am crossing the start line, my endomondo (gps tracking of my run) gets switched on and my heart-rate switched on.


First 2km of Run
I go into "pilot in a mech" mode. I will do a slow jog until my heart rate reaches 120bpm and then will push to my usual pace. I will check on the following in these exact order: -

1. Running Form Check - Landing on mid-foot, proper lean and posture, bent knees.
2. Cadence Check - Count every right-foot steps for a minute and double it. Should be between 170-190 steps per minute.
3. Tension Check - Shoulders relaxed, fist not clenching too hard (I recheck after every water stop)
4. Breathing Check - For now it's three steps of breath-in and two steps of breath-out (I re-check after every water stop)
5. Heart Rate Check - I try to maintain a heart-rate of 162-168bpm throughout my run, which is 85% to 90% of my maximum heart rate.

Throughout the Run

My first energy gel is usually consumed at the second water station (6th km) whereby the energy should kick in by the 8th km onwards.

The earlier km energies are all supplied from the Milo I drank earlier. If I'm running a 10km, I would decide whether I really need the energy or not. Usually I don't take any energy gel for a 10km nowadays. My second energy gel is consumed at the fifth water station for 21km, which is usually on the 15th km.

For 10km, I double check on my time every 5th km to decide if I should increase my pace or not. For 21km, I will double check on my time every 7th km to ensure that I'm still on a correct pace. So there are 3 sets of 7km to finish a 21km. For now the 3rd set of a 21km is always a lot slower than the first two sets.

I will usually pick a pacer early in the run. If a pacer is too fast that makes me want to go for a walk break, I will slow down and find another pacer. If a pacer is too slow, I will know it myself because I will actually have to slow down my pace and my heart-rate goes below 162bpm. I will sometimes walk at the water station and wait for the pacer to start running again before following him/her again.

If I'm on a run-walk strategy, then I will not pick a pacer and instead run according to heart-rate.

For now, I stop at every water station.


Ending the Run
I will always try to finish the race strong, that is, on a sprint with head held high. Once I cross the finish line, I will switch off my endomondo and heart-rate monitor, then proceed to get my drink and breakfast and head to some location where I will place all my items on the ground/seat and do my stretching.

I don't end my runs with hands up since I won't hit a ribbon. :D

After the stretching, I will sit down and have my breakfast. Within half an hour, if I'm not waiting for runner friends, I will drive off to go home.

New Balance HM - My Race Report

 

Back when I registered for this race, it was just another 'feather in the cap' for a 21km race for 2013. However, as the time nears, I was certain that I was under-prepared. This is because my last "above 10km" run was the Penang Series #2 on 7th July, and only have had one 10km run and four 5km runs since then.

Therefore, I gave myself a modest target of 2hrs 45mins to complete the race, but what turned out was a great run. The only sad thing is that it's short of the complete HM distance by 500metres, therefore I cannot claim a new PB.

In short, I completed 20.62km in 2hrs 27mins 13 secs. Which in terms of pace, it's a 7.08min/km compared to my 7.30min/km and above pace for my other four HMs. Nevertheless, I will still maintain my old PB for now.

The Start

I arrived Setia Alam Convention Centre at 5:45am to have the race commence at 6:15am. First place to head to is the surau for Subuh prayers. Had to wait for the first batch to complete their prayers as the surau was full. Made it to the starting line at 6:10am.

There were about 1,700 runners for the HM. As usual, I decided to start somewhere at the back of the pack. I was so sure that my body is not ready for the HM that I walked, skipped (if I had a basket of flower petals, I'd be tossing them to my sides) and jogged as if I was trying to keep my feet dry from a wet floor.

I kept my heart rate between 158-162bpm during my first 5km on purpose to save energy. I took my first energy gel, a Chocolate x1 PowerGel after the 2nd water station. I always seem to favor the thickness of this

flavor for my first energy consumption.

The Middle

In my previous HMs, I've came to a conclusion that to do a sub 2:30, all I needed to do was to maintain a 7km every 50mins. As I knew that my km's have been above 7km, I didn't care much for this until my endomondo told me that my time was 49mins at 7th km. Hey, that's not so much of a speed being under prepared. I was on track. So, I decided to find a pacer to follow.

I found an uncle in yellow, he was too fast that I felt I wanted to do a walk break quite early. In short, I settled for a friends couple. They were doing a steady 7min/km and chit-chatting. So, from 7th km till 12thkm, I didn't stop (except for water) and I was quite pleased at that. I would have gone for walk-run tactic after the 6th km if it was any other race (even the 16km Mizuno Wave!). At the 3rd water station, I downed a x2 caffeine PowerGel. That's it. Two gels for 21km. I wonder how many I would need for an FM.

After the 12th km, the guy of the couple went ahead, and the lady of the couple started to slow down. I took a photo of her right before I passed her by. Incidentally, the other lady at the front ended up being another pacer in the near future. We'll call her "pink right-leg girl".

After I passed the lady on the right (in the photo), I followed two dudes in blue but soon enough they slowed down. Then I followed another uncle, and he too started to slow down. I saw a guy ran in the opposite directly to have the pink right-leg girl hold his hands and they sped off. I continued another 2km following a bald older man till the man slowed down and I arrived at the couple of the pink right-leg girl and her bf. 

At 14th km, the time was 1hr 39mins. That's keeping to my 7km/50mins which translate to 21km = 2:30 so I saw that suddenly I was on target to complete a sub 2:30. But easier said than done since I always faced cramps at my 18th km onwards.

The Finishing

At about the 18th km, my pacer broke off, with the guy going in front and the girl got left behind and I ran passed her trying to follow in the steps of the guy. By the 19th km, he turned back, I guess to get back to his girlfriend and lo and behold, in front of me I saw the one-armed guy who I was running alongside throughout most of my Mizuno Wave. While I passed him during the last 200m of the Mizuno Wave, I lost sight of him in the last km when he sped off.

The route turned into the park of Setia Alam mall and the finishing was on the grassy path. The time on the clock stated 1:29:?? when I crossed and I was elated! Except, I knew, it wasn't 21km yet. It's ok.

Every improvement, no matter how slight, is still an improvement.

Summary

I didn't arrive at any cramping symptom until I finished the race. Previous attack and a full cramp hit me at 18th or 19th km. So I guess I did something right. The only NEW THING I introduced to myself in this race is the breathing technique I started to use during Ramadhan. To take three steps to inhale, and two steps to exhale. Previously, it was two steps inhale and a looong continuous exhale in a few steps. I guess the higher intake of oxygen helped the muscles. I don't know. I'm just guessing.

This is the first time that: -

1. I did not fall into a walk-run routine until the 19th km when I really started to tire. It was a nice 3-4km non-stop run before every water stop.
2. None of my pace was above 8min/km. The last time I achieved this was 26th January for 13km.

Complete Runs for 2013

Back in 1992 and in 1994 (Form 2 and Form 4), I ran for Merdeka Run. Then in 2002 I ran for a Subang Jaya 10km which I finished last after I decided just to walk it from 3rd km onwards. I have always been a sprinter 100m and 200m back in school days, but running a mere 400m makes me vomit afterwards.

Fast forward to 2012, as I started losing weight from 93.6kg to 73.6kg from April 2012 to August 2012, I took up a "Couch to 5km" which I completed in September 2012, and started to try registering for a run. My first run ended up being the Desa Parkcity Run 2012. Logically, I should be doing this as an annual run for a "check-up on my performance", but seeing that it's one week AFTER the Penang Bridge Run, I'd decided to skip it. I was too late to register for any other races in 2012 at that time.

Now in 2013, I joined nearly all the races I can. Yeah, a new runner's fallacy. Too caught up in the excitement of running. However, I made sure of the following.... priority is injury-free first and foremost, and proper running form and economics second, personal bests can come later. That's why my target has been a slight improvement every time.

Few more things I need to achieve before I can put all out on improvement. I'm very very scientific in my approach. I'm like those people... heck, it even shows in my cooking. I prefer to prepare ALL the necessary ingredients in respective bowls before I start to light the fire. In running it seems to be the same. Few other areas I need to improve is my breathing (I'm going for 3-steps of breath-in and 2-steps of breath-out) and finding a speed that will enable me to run non-stop 10km on road. I have done it on treadmill, but still can't find the proper pace on road.

Anyway, here are my races for 2013.

I decided to run with someone else's bib for Standard Chartered KL Marathon. I consider it a 42km LSD. I don't consider this my maiden Full Marathon.

Here's to a crazy time after my Hari Raya. 2014 I will try my best to only go for those above 10km only, with maybe one or two 10km just to see if I can go sub-60.


Summary of Things to Improve:
1. Breathing while running (taking a 3-steps breath-in and 2-steps breath-out)
2. Constant forefoot strike or mid-strike even when tired, since I always go heelstrike when tired.
3. Slow-down on pace for a 10km. I will still keep to my run-walk-run for 21km.