My first race in Malaysia after 4 months away from home. I had one expectation, hoping to do better than last year’s time of 56.51 (4.43/km pace). I did not consider the environment to be a hindrance in achieving this pace, given i was born into this weather.
But i did not 😦 Finished 58.38. I think i over-think this race.
2 days prior to race day, i did not run. I bike (lightly) on the trainer instead. I thought i should let the “running” leg rest by not running and since biking engages different muscle group, it is alright. (I have this need to “break sweat” on a daily basis hence why, i find it rather difficult to “do nothing” even for a day.)
I carelessly not have a proper meal the night before the race. I had 4 slices of toast and 2 cups of Milo and went to bed early.
On race morning, i felt alright, apart from the stress of driving to race site encountering two road closures and needing to find alternate routes into town. *unnecessary stress* I only arrived at start line in time for flag off, hence no warm up. But the real issue started when i sprinted at the start as though this was a 400m race event! Yeah. Countless times i was told to stay at a consistent pace of 4.41 – 4.43 but i must have clocked in 4.10 over 2 km. Garmin shows 4.22 @ km 1, and 3.58 @ km 2, but i doubt that was accurate. So, averaging km 1 and km 2, it gives me 4.10 in the first 2km. 😦 *what a noob!* As expected, the fatigue quickly sinked in at km 3 (Maju junction), pace dropped to 4.55 and it was also when Natasha ran pass me, looking like what is a consistent and strong running pace along with her pacer. Looking at her running gait, i knew my chance to defend the title is no longer viable. True enough, she finished with a 4.29 running pace. A totally different league. I was also losing a lot of sweat, and fatigue sinked in further at km7 despite gaining some strength at km5. There were moments when my pace fell to 5.20 and i felt crushed, and close to giving up. I could not understand the reason for this significant drop in pace. It is unusual for a short distance run, even if i sprinted earlier? I then recalled not having proper meal the night before, and perhaps not running for 2 days wasn’t a good idea. Bahh…
After all the noobs drama, I’m glad i was placed #2, as NurFitrah (#3) was only 47 seconds away from me.
I guess, i could rejoice one thing. That was probably my fastest 1500m run of 4.10 😛
Well, it is a new day, and i learn from this experience. I have AXA run this Sunday to put my training to test once again and i look forward to that. Now, chop chop, off for a run!
meysrunningjourney.com 