5000m .. done, now a long long rest

Not much posting in the past month, simply because for a running blog, the key ingredient should be running... and I did not have much to say about it.


I did a MRI on the left foot and the diagnosis was that the pain at the ball of the foot was not caused by sesamoiditis or worse a stresss fracture, but by a tendinitis of the "Flexor hallucis longus" . Digging on the web, I found that one of the possible root causes is poor flexibility of the calves, which put therefore more strain on the foot during landing and push-off phase of the gait.
Therapy: RICE, NSAIDS and stretching of the calf.
At the same time, my right back/glute tighness did not go away and I am trying to work on it with the usual array of treatments: deep tissue massage, acupuncture, stretching, etc... (with little success).
So most likely my running season is over before even starting. I must say that the disappointment is big, but I took it with a certain philosophy. Somehow my body is not really well suited to running and I must accept it. I do not feel even the urgency to go back again to training asap because it would be even more disappointing to fall into further injuries.
The satisfaction from running is mainly in the process of reaching the ideal shape through proper training and exert myself to my limits, so scraping through some kind of sub-par training to be able to run later 37 min on 10k is not my idea of running right now.
I might come back in time for a spring marathon or maybe for Berlin in 11 months time... 
So I put my mind into my family, my work and helping our running club.


This said, I ended up anyway running the final of the HK 5000m track championship.
The weather was nice and I brought the kids along to cheer me and also to give them some kind of inspiration to take up some/any kind of athletic/sport (rather than sticking in front of a PC): my daughter loved watching the Pole Vault and it was so enjoyable to make the warm-up with her on the warm-up track, pretending to race each other on imaginary 50m finals. While my elder son got scared by the starting guns !


So I lined up at the start line totally relaxed that I had only to enjoy the day and keep on running for 12.5 laps...
Honestly, I felt much better than expected. I could not really extend the stride, but I was not really breathing hard. I felt like a 3000cc car shuffling at 30kmh because of flat tire...
The 12 laps went away quite quickly and I even found myself fighting at the last lap with another runner for the second-to-last place.. but I could not really run any faster.
At the end, I placed 5th in 17'10" which is somehow pathetic (for being a National Championship) and somehow a positive surprise because I could not believe that I would have run that "fast" after 2 months of no running...
Disclaimer: of the 8th finalists, 2 DNS and 1 DNF... so I arrived 5th 
Full results available HERE (there were good performances by the local sprinters).
But  the man of the day was my teammate Colin, who was able to complete an amazing double feat:

- in the morning, winning the 5000m
- afternoon, double it with also the victory in the 10000m 
Really a big hit which will cost me 3 bottles of wine which I willingly put at stake if he would have been able to achieve the double !! But well deserved !

oppss... am I supposed to race today !?

Friday 27th I got up very early and crawled to the PC to see some news before heading for the usual run...
Some running God made me click on www.hkaaa.com to check if I was successfully enrolled in the track meeting due on June 4-5...
to my sleepy eyes, it took a while to realize that I was not only enrolled, but also scheduled to race on that same day 27th due to a change of calendar...

Being after a couple of hard session, I was not really sharp for a 5000m track race, but nonetheless I had to run in order to mark a presence in the series and eventually be able to race the finals in November...

Fast forward 14 hours later, I am eventually able to leave the office at 19.15 and show up at the Stadium in suit and tie with a sport bag in tow...

Being 26C/80%rh the warm-up did not take long and I find myself on the start line, together with other 30 runner whose average age was half mine... (I do not know why, but these track meeting looks like taboo to over 23...).
Honestly I felt dreadful, and my race plan was to stick to 3'20" pace until I could keep it and maybe increase a bit on the finale...

Until 3k I was more or less there and incredibly I was also near the race leader (yes... this meeting was really low level...). Then I felt my total lack of specific training... I was not really hurting, but simply my pace was slipping from 1'20"/lap to 1'22" or more...
Better said... I was NOT able to hurt...my engine had a kind of rpm limiter...

For the last 3 laps I tagged a boy (whom I know is 15yo...) and then just unleashed a kick to outsprint him for the 4th place overall in 17'00"...

Regardless of the time and placement, I was quite satisfied that I did not have any tightness or soreness in hamstrings, calves, abductors, whatever...
last season usually after every track session I was tight everywhere... so is a sign that all the stretching and ancillary exercises  are working...

MORALE: if you enroll in race, check the calendar

The race venue... appreciate the typical HK-downtown landscape... high-rises

something a bit insane....5000m track race

...errr... I did something a bit insane...
regardless of all what I read about the muscular damages after a marathon, damages which can take up to 3 weeks to repair...

it did go this way:
Monday and Tuesday I felt my legs really sore. I could go up and down the stairs, etc.. but not really in any idea of running (not even a light jog...).
I do not know what happened, but Wednesday morning I got up from bed and my legs were 90% ok, just a bit sore in some spot, etc...
Then I started to consider that I was already entered into the track meeting long ago, and it would have been a pity to lose it because the weather is still good (cool), while all the other meeting will be in much warmer weather...
it did also help that I have some business appointments in the late afternoon near the track meeting venue, so it was really "on the way home"...
So.. call it insanity, but I packed some running stuff in a bag and went to work...
By late afternoon, I felt very motivated to run and after work I headed to the Stadium...

I can not deny that some other runners did really big eyes when they saw me warming-up...
my legs were  a bit sore and I had not idea if I would have been able to really push hard...

This said, I lined up with the other 20 starters and could not avoid to notice that I was MUCH older than anybody else, maybe double than the average age of the other runners...
the gun goes and I try to run around 3'15" for the first k...
The eventual winner and my teanmate Colin took off at higher speed, but I was in a small pack of 5 runners and we basically went along at 3'15" pace for the next 4k...

It is difficult to describe my feeling: in a sense, I felt like I was not suffering enough, especially compared with a monster effort of a marathon. The breath was quite comfortable, but I did not have the stride to go faster.
At 4000m I started to suffer, but it was a kind of subdued suffering....
At the last lap, we started to sprint and obviously I did not have huge legs...
I closed in 6th place, beating at the sprint a 17yo runner (!!) with a 16'23" clock which is anyway incredible considering the marathon.
(it is also a kind of PB for me.. because I never did a 5000m track race before... my 5K PB of 15'51" was on road)
It was quite funny that after the race, the most depressed was a guy who beat me at the spring by couple yards... he told me how he did prepare for 2 months specifically for this track meeting, doing intervals and intervals. And now he felt very depressed to just beat me by a little knowing that I did a marathon 3 days ago......

Well... now I will really take it easy for some time... but anyway it was great fun on the track !

Busselton Half Marathon report...

Where is Busselton ??? a lovely seaside town in West Australia. The town is famous in the Triathlon world for being the location of the West Australia IronMan...so almost everybody in town goes around with some kind of Ironman memorabilia....
It also boast the longest wooden jetty of the southern hemisphere (1.9km...)

What the heck was I doing there ?? Well, during the CNY holidays, we went there for a family beach vacation and the usual round of country parks, etc.... (at least my kids would understand what a cow looks like...).

Basically it was totally unplanned and one day going around town we noticed a banner advertising a half marathon for the saturday.... so, why not ??

This said, I was a bit hesitant to make a Half only 2 weeks away from the Hong Kong Marathon... but I resolved to take the race at reasonable effort and do not leave everything ...also having only a pair of Asics Kayanos was a good mental brake to avoid going "too fast"...

Reaching the beautiful seafront starting point I was deeply impressed by how much the "Ironman" culture was pervasive in that region... it seemed that 2 out of 3 were multiple Ironman veterans, sporting souvenir shirts from any kind of Ironman race around the globe...
So... I was only a modest road runner who can barely swim...

The course is a 2 loops back and forth on the seashore, so it is basically 4 times of the same 5km stretch...
it was really windy, with serious headwind on half of the course (heheh... tailwind on the other half...).
To get good data for my assault to the marathon, I run in full "data crazy" asset: Garmin, HR strap and foot pod.
The target was to run around 3'40" which seemed a reasonable pace for such a windy day. Also I wanted to keep the HR as close as possible to 170bpm in first half race, to leave space for climbing up to 177-180 only on a later stage. In this way, it was a fairly reasonable effort, but not a real "half marathon" full out (where I should start at 175bpm and later see the HR drift to 180-180bpm or even more...).
5bpm can make a huge difference in terms of effort and I am surprised by how many people wear a HR monitor without really taking profit of the information...

Anyway, right after the start, it was quick to realize that there were 2 runners much faster than the others and they soon disappeared on the horizon. I was quite comfortable in the 2nd pack and it was good to see that my HR was just around 170bpm as I wished (85% of my max).

As you can see, I kept a very steady effort (and 3'40" pace) until 16km, where the last headwind section required me to work harder to keep the pace.
Progressively our pack was losing pieces and we were left in 2 with 5km to go to dispute the 3rd place.
I was a bit hesitant to push too early, so I really put down the hammer only at the 20km mark with a 3'20" Km split and dropped the other guy....

So, final result: 3rd overall, 1st Master in a 1h17'46" which was right on spot of my targeted pace.
Results are HERE

If you do not have it yet, it is a real must to install the "weather plugin" on SportTrack 3....
You can get an exact picture of the weather conditions during the workout... for example during the race:

The temperature was not bad, but a constant wind at 26kmh made for a tougher than expected race....

So, if you happen to be in West Australia the first week-end of february (next edition is scheduled for 4th february 2012), do not miss this nice race www.busseltonhalf.com.au

Half Marathon Championship - report

The start...

After the injury of 1.1.11 I did not feel too confident about doing well at the HK Half Marathon Champs, but it ended up in a decent and satisfactory race for me.

For once, it was a perfect chilly morning in TaiMeiTuk, with temperature around 12-14C, dry and just a moderate wind from the North. I do not think it can be much better than that for running...
With 2400 runners at the start, the race is one of the highlights of the local calendar and it is also one of the very few which is run on closed roads.
I did a couple of jog on friday and saturday and the leg was now working OK, but my HR was totally out of control for such speed... even at slow jog I was over 150bpm... for sure 5 days of inactivity were not helpful.
Also the night-time feeds on weekend are really tiring... I really envy those who fall asleep in few minutes.
For me, after the usual 2-3am night feed of our baby, I can not fall asleep anymore until maybe 5-6am.. and right after that is time to get up for work or else...
So it is really a hard moment for me to train harder or more... but let's go on and see what I can improve (if any).

The course is basically the same as the HK Cycling Championship which I did in June (well, basically it is the only section of road in HK which can be closed to cars for few hours without affecting 3 Mln residents...).
If hills make a nice cycling race, they also mean a HARD running race, so I was planning to start easy for the first half of the race and keep energies for the flat section at the end...

I am #5543...

More or less, it did all went to plan: I really controlled my effort in the uphill section and I was 22nd OE and 2nd Master at half way, than I started to make up grounds and pick up those too daring.

After 14k we eventually come back to the flat and I was really tired, but it was evident that also everybody else was tired... (see exhibit below).

The good point was that I was now around 14-15th place and digging deeper I also caught the 1st Master with 4k to go.

The last 2k were on the famed dam, with strong wind from the side and everybody really hurting badly.

I had to push hard to the end because the 2nd Master was only few seconds behind and I was also taking advantage of being in a small pack of 4, so we were pushing each other hard.

1k to go, 500m to go, 300m to go and everybody start to sprint like rabbits and I am left behind from their younger legs (seriously, I lost 9 seconds from the 12th place in 300m !!! how could they sprint so fast)

The time: 1h16'45" valid for 16th OE and 1st Master (full results HERE)

in 2008 I run 1h15'20" on the same race, so I still margin of improvement versus my previous self (2 kids, many sleepless nights and several injuries before....).

Great race also for Stefano (3rd overall) and Colin (5th overall) to round up another good showing of our newly formed team

Stefano P. in good company

General consideration is that the competitive level in HK has risen dramatically since my stop in 2008...

in 3 years, there are many new young and fast runners and is not a granted to place even in the top 20...

In this race, the winning time has always been in the around of 1h12'-1h13'... this year 1h10'05" with a sprint finish... while 1h13' was only good for 6th place....

I close with a tribute to Thomas and KaHo who did put up a great duel up to the finish line

No need to explain who is Thomas the kenyan and who is KaHo the local. 

Wk 44 - running asleep @ 15Km race

I am really struggling... the sleep deprivation and all the additional workload of the newborn is really taking a toll... but let's go in order

Monday: I reached the track at 21.40 (!)... after all the kids were in bed (I have 2 night owls).
a 2000m in 7'30" as "warm-up", then I did 5x1000m in 3'20" with 200m in 2' as recovery. The right leg was a total mess... It was always getting tight after 800m...even if I was really paying attention to avoid overstride, etc
I stopped at 5 basically because the track was closing at 22.30 and they kicked me out...

Tuesday: 8k recovery
Wednesday:15k off-road
Thursday: (night): 14k easy (after dinner I felt really heavy...)
Friday (night): 8k easy
Saturday: 10k easy
Sunday: 15k race + w/u - c/d
TOTAL: 87km

Now let's go with the race report...

Since it was my first ever 15k... it was a sure PB but I was targeting to do a decent race...
In reality, after a week of poor sleep I was totally sleepy and numb at the start line.
I felt completely devoid of energies during the warm-up and not even a good dose of caffeine did anything... basically I was ready for a nap even when we were counting down to the start...

Nice pic of the start line.... the sea at the back... the mountain in front!

The race has a crazy uphill start and I took it easy staying glued to the people who know are at my level. We hit the 1st Km in 4'55"... and then eventually hit the flat section.
I was trying to keep a 3'40" pace but I felt totally non reactive. So slowly but constantly I got dropped and run all by myself.
I could say that I was not even pushing hard, but simply I did not have it... I wanted to quit, but then I thought to our team classification, so just hang up there...
Luckily, albeit slow, nobody caught me and I basically kept my position from 5k to the finish.
At the end, a modest 12th place overall and 2nd Master...

Team classification award ceremony

There will come better days...

the positive note is that our team "Team Italia" (2 italians + an american) destroyed the competition in the team classification...

NOTE: I have a big surprise ready on this matter... once finalized, I will write everything...

Wk 36 - another good race and a tight sprint

I am start to feel more and more "stronger" by the day. Maybe is because the combo temperature+humidity is getting slightly better or maybe because of the cumulated training until now...

MON: usual "MaOnShan" loop.. it is becoming my monday's habit. It is a good 16km loop and there is a gorgeous chilled water fountain at mid-way... the last 7km are also well marked every 500m, so it makes the perfect setting for running easy for the first 8k, take a good drink and then crank up the speed in the way back...
around 4'20" for the first half, then I upped the pace to 4'00" flat for a good medium effort...
hamstring still slightly tight, so I started a combo of pills (mio-relaxant + ibuprufen)

TUE: felt well recovered from yesterday, so I went for a interval training session.
I left orthotics+trainers at home to give a try on what would have happened in racing flats ....
so 5x1000m with 1'30" standing recovery, along the river in Shatin
I felt much easier than expected and after setting a 3'25" for the 1st, I run by sensation without checking the splits...
3'25"
3'17"
3'17"
3'16"
3'20"
the recovery was very good with HR dropping back to "rest" state...
Excellent workout. Very likely I can target a 16'40" at Saturday's 5K race

WED: insanely hot and humid... I crawled around the streets of Dongguan. for 13k...
THU: weather much better after a thunderstorm. I got up late so I just went around the block in Dongguan for  another 13k.
some 6-7strides at the end... my personal observation is that my strides are around 2'45" pace and I almost feel like the legs are out of control... while a top runner can do 10k at that pace.....

FRI: tought night with the kids... got up late so I clocked only 7k easy

SAT: RACE DAY
2nd leg of the Avohk 5k series... I felt very motivated because this course has always been very "friendly"
2006: 5th place, but I was not yet the same runner I am now...
2007: 1st place... I will never forget the kick I did in the last 400m and the awkward sensation of winning a race for the 1st time...
2008: 2nd place... run a fantastic race with a monster 5k PB of 15'51". I was really at my peak back then...
2009: not run :-((

for this time, I did not have any winning ambitions, but I really wanted to run well and see if my progression is going on....

luckily, it was still drizzling after a major thunderstorm so the temperature was more reasonable (27C...99%Rh), but that made the course quite slippery.

We started fast and a new face (for me) disappeared immediately from sight at an astonishing speed. The guy went on to win in 14'22" which is an amazing time for that course....
I come to know later that he is  former Australian national with PB of 3'45" on 1500m....
Anyway I touched first hand what a real runner is...

back to us (normal humans...) ... we run in a pack of 4. The road was quite slippery and on a couple of case I felt my feet was ready to slip away....
running that fast on that slippery and twisting road, avoiding at the very last moment a collision with the occasional dog-walkers, joggers and so on I felt like I was trying to ride a bike at full speed into a Mongkok street on Sunday afternoon......

The first 2k were blazing fast, then we settled into a more "comfortable" pace until the last km where one of us  did charge away with a good progression while we were left in 3 fighting for a sprint finish...

Honestly speaking I did feel still something left in the tank, but simply my legs could not go faster than that... obviously I am not used to faster paces and I was simply hanging there already in my 5th gear...

We were really fighting stride for stride and with 200m to go I did kick, but then I got overtook again at 100m to go and I was done...
5th Overall, 1st Master ... great fight until the last meter with my neighbour and sometimes-running partner E.
time: 16'35"... which is satisfactory and in line with my expectations...
(OMG... how could I have run 15'51" here in 2008... that is a 10"/k faster)

Nice pic of the final sprint...

SUN: after a hard night with the kids waking up one after another, I simply slept...

TOTAL: 70k in 6 workouts..(a bit on the low side but the quality was good)

Chung Hing Cup Race Report

Yesterday I had the pleasure to be back to real racing in occasion of the 10th Chung Hing Cup Race.

A mid-August race in HK means only a sure thing: extremely hot and humid.... yesterday was no exception with a light rain before the start which stops right in time for a strong sum to create a "steamer" effect on the ground....

in 2008 I had a strong showing in this race finishing 4th overall in a very good 34'57"... but that was 2 years, 2 kids, a tendinitis and many miles ago...

For this time, I was already happy to be at the start and to use the race as gauge of my training progress.

For the occasion, I wore the uniform of a Charity club based in Italy "Andrea e i Corsari della Maratona" from Piacenza: it was set-up in memory of Andrea, a young child dead of the age of 15 for a rare disease. They collect funds for the cure of tumors in children and youth, so it was really a good cause and they deserve all the support.

The race was perfectly organized as usual by Mr Li of HKMP and 1100 brave souls took the start line.

In absence of our own local Kenyan, a sudanese-canadian in visit ripped us (local runners) and won the race in a modest 35'04" (well... it was like running in a steam cooker...).

my race.... well... I was more or less aware that my training has just started and I could not expect to be nowhere near the level of 2 years ago.

I would have been already happy to score something like 36'xx" and have a decent placement in the Master cat.

Since running is a very predictable equation between training, talent and final result... I ended up in 36'50", 3rd Master and 10th Overall.

So no particular regrets and no particular over-achievement....

Full results are HERE

A photo of the start

I had to shove to find my pace because I did not start with the elite runners but quite soon I found the right position and got into the right gear.

The first 5K were a decent 18', but the way back to the finish line was long... very long and not only for me....

I can not avoid noticing that my legs are quite bulky, probably still the effect of the cycling training.

For the Master category, we end up very close for 2nd and 3rd place but I was really out of ammunition for the long sprint...

The price presentation was "lavish" with hundreds of prizes offered by the title sponsor (which is a sport goods shop which is almost impossible to find...but a real hard core runners place...)

Lastly... we (with my neighbour E. and another runner) won the team race which was for a 150USD voucher...

M.P. Memorial Race report

If you have only 1 minute to read, you shall know that I arrived 1st at the finish line, kicking hard with 1km to go.

It felt extremely hard, but probably others were suffering more...

Once the results were graded using the WADA tables, I was given the 3rd "compensated" time (well... I am still too young...).

NOW THE LONG VERSION

Felt a bit odd to wait for the afternoon race, but the morning went by quickly with some D-I-Y duty.

Since the weather was really dull in our area, once I told my wife that on HK Island there have been no rain, she expressed her interest in coming at least to take some air outside (otherwise she is totally against any physical activity and sport in general...).

So we embarked the full team on the car, included my daughter's bike, stroller for the boy, etc...

It was actually true that on HK Island side the weather was actually better, not raining, but simply awfully hot: 29C with 85%Rh... the air was so thick that I could barely breath while running the warm-up...

Most of all, I felt super good to see again after such a long time most of my "running friends" and get back into the spirit of competition. Many asked me about my tendons and wished me all the best for the race... the runners are always so supportive among each others.

I noticed that the field did not really have any "tier 1" runner, but many solid runners who recently completed marathons in the 2h40' area. So it was a solid field to test my level.

Once the gun went off, I found myself in the leading group and breathing quite hard, but the pace was still "confortably" hard.

After a while, I was left only with C.B. who last month completed a marathon in 2h41' and a former varsity runner with 1500m PB of 3'45".... So I just tailed him and I hoped to hang on as long as possible.

Honestly I did not give myself a change and I was feeling more and more miserable; I was already cooked up at the turn-around point at 2.5k

The course is an out and back in a small pedestrian road, which is not actually closed to the traffic for the race, so you must take into account the need to go around dog-walkers, joggers, whatever.... also this time I felt lucky to have avoided a collision but I got very very near to a crash with another runner coming in the opposite direction...

Then... all of a sudden I realized that we were actually slowing down (well, better, he was slowing down and I was following...), so I tought it was maybe the moment to try a kick and see if he could respond.

With 1200m to go, I increased the pace (and my suffering). I realized that he was not reacting so I kept on going harder.

I felt awful and in total pain, the legs were heavy and for the last 400m I really had to focus on keeping the pace because I just wanted to stop.

Somehow I managed to reach the line first even if I was totally blank...

It is an understatement to say that I am very pleased with my race...

Once the final results were out, I was awarded the 3rd prize because this race is a bit special, using the WADA conversion tables to recalculate the finishing time based on the age.

All together, a really good feeling to "cut the ribbon" and being able to hang out there very hard with runners coming out from a full season of races/training.

Lastly, usual praise for the organization from AVOHK. Not because it is my club, but they are really good in setting up races: everything simple and smooth and very runner friendly.

Photos to follow once I find something

TTT Report... good, but really bad too

Yesterday I closed my cycling season with a Team Time Trial Race...
The race was a gruelling 60km TT with 4 loops of a very hilly course.

I still wonder the logic for HKCA of holding the TT on a 60km hilly course, while all the local races are maybe 20-40km on flat circuits... they also allowed junior and youth to compete in which would be a huge effort for a 14 years old..

The good: our team (colossi.cc) got a 2nd place which is extraordinary result for a team just set-up few months ago. We are also missing our best TT rider, so we come up with someone from the benches (me....).

The bad: I totally underperformed and my contribution to the team results was very minimal.

I did not felt too well in the past few days for a strange twinge in the left leg, so that I had the feeling of pedalling only with the right leg. I totally lacked strength on the left side.

I must probably see if the pelvis got out of alignment or some of the usual problems with my ill-fated lower legs.

Anyway, no point to find excuses because I got dropped simply because my team members were too fast.. their pace (below 24'/loop) was too hot for me.

Once I got dropped by our "train" I finished the race beside/beyond the team SCAA2 (which started 2 minutes behind us) and I felt their pace very "comfortable" for my level: their pace on the climbs was easy for my level and I did get well along also on the flat...

Since their final result was 3' behind "us", I would say that my level was ok for 25'/lap but totally not up to the 23'-24'/loop game...

Official Result:
1./ Champion Systems 1.32.57
2./ Colossi 1.35.26
3./ Racing Force 1.37.09
4./ SCAA 1.38.44
5./ Vigor 1.39.10

My congratulations to our team members.

I hope to find some pics in action.. for the time being, above a pic of the start (note to myself and to the club committee: we need some aero gear... the winning team was supercool in skinsuits, aerohelmets and TT bike...)

Criterium Race Report

Race #5 of the Road Calendar, at the usual loop in Science Park.

It was pouring rain all the early morning and I got a good dose when I rode from home to the start point... (luckily only 15min...).

Basically I would have been more then happy to just survive the race without crashes, but it come out a very nice day for our team and also for myself...

We (team Colossi.cc) set up a strong pace right from the start and our rider "Laz" was very daring to go for a solo attack with 4 laps to go.

It was a great effort and he went straight to the finish line to claim a well deserved overall victory. Well done, man !!

So we were back in what was left of the group to stop all the attacks

and it was very quickly time for a sprint...

I am not that good as a sprinter, but I managed a 2nd place of the bunch and also 2nd of the M40 category... (It should not be difficult to recognize that I am the one on the left end, with blue helmet). Pic was taken right after the finish line...

All pics are taken from a great photo album from Stanley Luk which covers also the other races of the day (youth, junior, woman, MTB, Point race, etc, etc, etc, etc...).

So overall I felt very good, I "did the race" and just a bit disappointment for the sprint lost...

The small local races are real fun because they do not require a huge effort and long training, but is a pity that there are only 5-6 races in a whole year...

Lastly a well deserved tribute to the man of the day, in full effort for his solo win

home run

Half Marathon, 2nd place Overall, 1st master, new PB in 1h14'27"

these are yesterday's data...

- for a crazy dispute between organizers, 2 major races (this half-marathon and the extremely popular "big swoosh sponsored" 10k championship) were colliding on the same date. Really too bad. It was a pity that our Half Marathon was with a very thin field of good runners.

- Why did I choose to run the HM? the course is my usual training ground, so I was on my home field, but most of all I wanted to go back to the same race where 2 years ago I understood that my running needed to changed direction. I finished with a very poor 1h23' and I was crawling in the lasts miles.
After that race, I did a deep search on wherever possible (books, Internet) on what could have been a better way to train and how is really the right formula to achieve results from your running.
After 2/3 weeks of little running and many searches and readings, I come up with the move to a more endurance based training and leaving aside the too frequent sessions of interval training.
At the time, I decided that running the Boston Marathon using the new approach would have been a good way to motivate myself. So I started the journey that brings me here today, same race, same course, but 9 minutes faster...

- The Kenyan runner (Thomas) did show up (he is also a very nice person, very friendly), so the race was for the 2nd place... He was so kind to offer us to go along with him, so that he could pace us at 3'15"/km pace and reach sub-70 minutes.... I had to pass the offer...

A quick race report:
* Pre-race conditions: barely acceptable. I was rested, but the achilles were painful all week and only a good dose of Voltaren did bring some benefit. I was also pretty sure that my stride is not yet 100% because of the tightness on the right tight
The physiotherapist did made some manipulation on Friday to release the tensions, but the muscles were so tight that his massage left me with bruises !! (it was incredibly painful, I was screaming and asking myself why to pay that deal of money to be beaten so hard...)

* Temperature suddenly rose after few chilly days, so it was already a good 20C at the start and quickly rose to 23C (the last 5k were really under a hot baking sun...)

* Starting field of around 500 runners, but the race for the 2nd place was basically to be settled between myself and my team mate G. (a very valid runner, 3 times winner of CC Marathon)

* I did not wear any HR Monitor for the first time in my life for a Half Marathon. I just wanted to run on the feeling and go head to head with G. Honestly sometimes it is distracting to watch your HR close to "heart stroke" level and you still have 5k to go...

* After the start, we followed Thomas (the Kenyan) and I was amazed from his effortless stride. We were running fast, but he looked like jogging. The 1k went in 3'15" (!!!!), so I decided that it was crazy to keep that pace and settled on my own pace. G. was more brave and kept going for another km, so he opened a decent gap.

I kept going at my pace, chipping aways seconds to G, until I got him at K9. He must have been struggling, because at the turn-around point I simply kept the pace, but I felt he was slipping behind. We passed the 10k still together in 34'59".

I felt relieved to be already on the way back home (and to the finish line) and clocked several Kms in around 3'30".
With 5km to go I did the silly mistake to start turning my head to see my advantage... the result was a clear evidence of the power of mind and the theory of central governor (see the Noake's book "lore or running" for details).
Being ahead with a sizable margin, with no reason to push hard, simply sent my brain in cut off and I started to feel tired all of a sudden. I was self-dooming myself to slow down to conserve energies.
My stride was pretty awkward. I felt the tension on the right muscles and I had several times to correct the gait and turn to a very strange shuffling stride. I did not feel capable to open the stride and really push at full throttle even if I had been fresh.

* the last 2k were pretty slower (around 3'38"), but the ankles were now painful and the sun was baking my head, so I cruised to the finish line without any sprinting attempt...

* for the records, the winner jogged to the win in 1h09' (if you have a PB of 64', then 69' must be a easy jog...). That's 5 minutes ahead of myself (2nd...).

If you wonder what to modify in your stride to run like a Kenyan Elite Runner, then give a look at these pictures (the 2 models are Thomas and myself )
Did you notice the extension of the rear leg ??



Here I am more relaxed, cruising in the last km. Good view of Shatin cycle path, Shing Mun river at the right, while the green fence on the left delimits the area used for the Olympic Games

again 1st (incredible)

yes, It did happen... winning a 10000m track event. It would have been an impossible dream only 1 year ago...

going in order...

The race: it was Round #4 or 4 of the HK Track&Field Championship. Unfortunately the local Athletic Association does whatever possible to put off good distance runners from this Championship: to take part in the finals for a given discipline, you must have taken part to at least 3 meetings. The meetings are spread year round also in Summer, so not many are keen to run the 5000/10000m in June or July just to earn the presence.. so many runners take part in 1 or 2 preliminary rounds, but the finals for distance running are disputed mainly by keen track runners who just stick to taking part at every round.

The weather: to avoid getting psyched I did not check the weather before the race, but it was a 27C/80F with 75%Rh. Hot Hot, but it did not felt too bad coming from even worse.

The track: the WanChai stadium is crazily located right in the middle of the business district, with skyscrapers on 3 sides and the sea at the last side. (see the pics above...)

The starting field: decent, a bunch of 2nd tier runners like myself + nontheless than Chan K.O. This guy is, in my opinion, the most talented in Hong Kong. He holds several HK records. Unfortunately he has the disputable policy that training in Summer is not for him, so he trains very lightly for several months. In this part of the year I knew he was beatable even by myself

The shoes: I guess that my fellow pronator runners will feel upset, but I used a pair of ultra-light racing flat like the Mizuno Wave Ekiden.
They are maybe less than 180grams and with really minimum sole. There is anyway a minimal "wave" feature to provide some support...
I use them only for track and 5kroad races ... already a road 10k let me with strained muscles.





The race itself: we started very causiously and 1st Km was only 3'32". I did want to avoid to go slowly and let it become a 3000m sprint, so after 3 laps I took the lead and started to settle into a 1'20" lap pace that was more in line with my potential. Little by little I could not hear anymore the steps of other runners behind me and I also decided to be mentally strong, therefore:
- no more taking split at each lap
- do not turn back to see where they are...
So I started a kind of time trial alone, keeping the breathing at tolerably hard level but without overdoing. It was hot and the track was reflecting the heat even more...
I just checked the 5000m split at 17'06" and than went on at my own pace.
After 6000m it started to be tougher to keep the pace but also the lap counter was coming down to less than 10 to go...
at 8000m I gave a look back and I had at least 200m lead, so I started to believe that I could have won unless a collapse in the pace. I therefore focuesed on just keeping the same pace and keep some reserves for a fast last 800m if needed.
Also at 9000m no apparent opposition, so I cruised for the last 2 laps to close in 33'54"

split (I took them but did not look at them...)
- 1k: 3'32"
- 2k: 2'22"
- 5000m in 17'06"
- 8000m in 27'17"
- last km in 3'15"

Overall:
- Now I felt much more confident for the Marathon pace. Running in 33'54" in that heat means something in the low 33' in ideal conditions.
- Also very pleased about my actual effort: I was not really at 100%, becuase running alone ahead was not in the plans and I was always keeping something in reserve to avoid bonking for the heat
- Lastly, for a mid-age runner who was just running 35'30" 2 years ago, I felt this victory as a great accomplishment, becuase taking part in a Open Elite meeting (also some Olympians were there (in sprints)) and win my race is something unique for my running career. Being very much aware that 33'xx is ridiculous for Elite sport..
- About the heat from the track: I got a big blister under my toes because of the friction between the thin shoe and the boiling surface of the track !!!!

technical report on Saturday's race

because I found that reading blogs is a very good way of exchanging experiences, here some technical information for my readers

- shoes used: New Balance RC750: racing flats suitable for pronators. I would dare to use them for a 15k race and maybe also a HM on the flat.

- HR profile: I wore the HR monitor on purpose to see my maximum HR rate during the race. Knowing that the profile of the course would have forced me to push very hard, it is good occasion to measure the real HRmax to use later to base our own training.
My last indication was 197bpm, and it has been confirmed also this time. So no need to change my training zones !!
The HR profile describes well the development of the action: decent pace until I reached the climb, flat-out for the 5 minutes uphill, take it more relaxed in the downhill return (I was hurting badly anyway) and than push what was left for the final flat stretch. I did not sprint that much, so it was surprising the I reached the max on the finish line


- I was feeling like a dead man during the race, but later I could see the pictures of those behind me and I got relieved ... they were looking not fresh either (from the top, myself, 2nd/3rd and 4th placed)






- the good news is that the runner who felt victim of heatstroke got discharged from hospital on the same day. He is a very valid canadian runner (1h14' HM PB), just arrived in HK, but I guess that in Canada 33C/90%rh is not the standard...

1st

I did it !!! I won ! today eventually it was my day !!

was race #2 of the AVOHK 5k series. Weather was brutal: 32C/65%rh (makes 39C/102F heat index). I felt pretty sluggish before the race, not really in good feeling (I guess it was related to the strange starting time of 4PM).
The course is equally awful: a first Km flat, than a steep 900m hill that usually forces many to walk it, a small up/down loop at the top and return, with the downhill that shatters your legs before the last flat stretch.
Unfortunately the winner of the fist race, Stefano P., was absent due to a small injury, so I was the pre-race favorite, but today also my training partner E. joined the race and he can beat me.

I am a very poor downhill runner, so I placed all my hopes in charging fast from the start and opening enough gap on the top of the hill to take it easy downhill and have some reserve for the final km.
Well, i make it short saying that it all went to plan, I arrived to the botton of the hill with E. on tow and charged the hill hard, very hard.
It hurt a lot... it was brutally endless and steep and I could barely breath. I never turned my head until the top and just charged, charged, charged.
At the top I was almost dead, but I opened a real huge gap (I turned my head then). So it take the dowhill comfortably (slow) and it hurt anyway. The breath was not in sync with the legs, so I was really in pain.
After this torture, I eventually reached the flat; I thought for a moment that I was hurting so badly that is someone would have caught me, I would not able to react. So I pushed again but mainly in damage control... turning my head time to time to see if someone was getting close.

well, it was really a relief and a joy to see the finish arch and I was closing for the first time this year as a winner !!
Glad to see that, as expected, E. placed 2nd and he told me later that on the hill I did not even try to follow me because I was going up like a madman (actually, it was so steep that I was barely jogging...). I should have taken it easier and have more fuel for the second half of the race..
I am very happy, It is really a good morale booster.


Weather was so brutal that several runner felt sick after the race, I was really concerned for the 4th placed A.H., who collapsed after the finish and had to be taken to hospital
picture from SCMP newspaper about the poor runner.

Italian sweep

Saturday was the first round of the local 5K races series.
Being organized by my club, I could not miss it, even if I hate running in the afternoon:
I always have digestive issues and it is pretty "painful" to wait all day, juggling among family pleasures and the thought of the race...
Anyway, the field was pretty much loaded, with many of the best local runners lining up for suffering on a scenic, hilly, tough course, mixed road and trail (slippery).

Few posts ago (see below) I praised my fellow italian Stefano for having the best potential and attidute among us.
Well, at no surprise, he charged the hill very hard from the start, but with much surprise, I was capable to follow him a few steps back...
After 1km I stopped hearing any breath behind me but we were entering into the single track, so not a moment to lift off the pedal. On the trail, I did not want to force too much because there were more hills waiting, so I lost a good 10" to Stefano, but still no one coming from behind.
By the 3rd km I begun to feel very hard breathing and difficult to push even at "relaxed" pace, the ventilation was stuck becuase of stiches coming from the belly...
I was not really dead becuase of pushing too hard, but I could not breath... And another hill was coming..
Well.... I stopped, then walk for some meters hoping that someone could catch me asap and avoid me to push my body further in such torture...
I guess it was a complete shutdown of the central governor...
I turned back and still nobody in sight!!!
So I forced myself to run somehow up the last hill and cruise down for the last km to the finish line...
Needless to say, I almost collapsed after the line and 5 minutes later I was throwing up lunch, breakfast and maybe also some remaining from friday...

In all that, I still arrived 2nd overall and 1st "senior", improving last year time by 16 seconds ... (AMENDMENT, I CHECKED LAST YEAR RESULT AND I AM DOWN BY 32 SECONDS !!!!! AMAZING!!)

Stefano was far ahead but I am pleasantly surprised for my overall performance despite all...
So it was for sure the first italian one-two in the modest history of road running in Hong Kong...
very singular event being our national community here not very large
P.S.: for the next afternoon race, complete fast for 8 hours before the race....

Mizun.o Hong Kong Half Marathon Championship - more

I feel really beaten up .... knee is obviously painful, calves are very tight ... so bad getting older...

as additional info, here the altimetric profile of the course, so you can make more sense of the development of the race:

for those with plenty of time and passion for photo album, I selected some of the best photo reportage posted on the web, graciously of Thomas, David and Anthony. The running community in Hong Kong is really kind and supportive on each other, you will always find many shared photo albums on the web, rather than being ripped off by marathonphotos.com or similar.

Mizun.o Hong Kong Half Marathon Championship

The race is the real yearly "showdown" for distance running in Hong Kong: period of the year, no conflicts with other races local or overseas, very large local media coverage. So all the competitive runners in Hong Kong show up for the race, and the race entries are full within hours.

I had several doubts if I was fit for racing: the knee was still aching even at slow pace and the calves were still pretty tight and sore. But I really had the desire to make it, since for many years I missed it because of some holiday trip or injury. The fact that I was also entered in the team race with my club and therefore a last minute pull-out would have left the team out, sealed the decision ... and I set my alarm clock for a 5.30am wake-up.

Temperature: 15C/60F, 2000 runners at the start.

The course is a very tough loop with a mainly rolling uphill first section, followed by a return loop to the start point and a final flat 6k on along a dam. The start is right at the feet of a 400m long/15% gradient hill that immediately split the starting group into smaller packs.
I was pretty excited to wear for the first time the new club uniform and make part of our "Team A", with team mates that were close to my level, so the internal competition would have been an added spice to the race against all the other best runners in Hong Kong.





The demanding starting section immediately put the things into order in terms of race: a leading pack with the 4 best runners in HK (KO Chan, Gi KM, A. Naylor, Stevenson) took off and set for a race targeting probably the 1h12 mark. Two other packs behind gathered all the 2nd-tier runners.
My plan was to avoid at all cost lactic acid build-up in the tough first section, to avoid losing leg freshness in the faster 2nd part. So I tucked in the 3rd pack, and mantained a effort such to avoid going over 180bpm in the uphill.
We passed the 5k in 19'10", I was probably around the 10/20th place together with other 10 runners.
In the downhill section, TM Choi (who was 3rd last week-end) made an impressive progression and shattered all our pack: at every 100m we were losing pieces, the pace was really crazy, I clocked a sub-3minutes Km and by Km 10 I was left alone to follow him, but I also could not follow for too long and settle in a more confortable pace, trying to still stay under 180bpm, in order to have some margin left for the final flat section.
The positive thing is that I was now 10th alone and the runners ahead of me were appearing closer every mile.
On the dam I was really struggling, my calves were tightening and I did not feel to have the energy to really place a "surge" in the final 5k. Probably others were even worse than myself as 2 good runners dropped out of the race in exhaustion and I caught other 2 with only 5km to go. From that moment on, I administered myself to the finish line, I was really scraping the bottom of the tank and I was damning myself for the silly idea of running back-to-back such demanding races.
The picture is self-explanatory, but luckily I was only 500m from the finish.
At the end, the result was far better than I could ever expect: 6th overall, 1h15'20" (new PB by 3 minutes) and overall I believe It would have been very difficult to make a better placement because all the runners ahead of me (except one) are by far much better level.
It was also great to catch up so many talented runners in the final 5k. The timing is a great time on that course, I made up some calculations, to simulate a "smoothing" of the uphill/downhill effect and it is probably equivalent to 1h14 or 1h30'45" on an ideal situation.
I did not like to be so tired in the final miles, but obviously racing back-to-back 30k+HM DID HAVE some conseguence ...




for the record, the race was won by Chan KaHo for the third time in a row in 1h12', while Wong SiuPing brought his endurance of best local marathon runner to a good victory in the female ranks.
Out team did score an excellent 2nd, with all of us coming to the finish line very close to each other.

The HR profile makes a good summary of the race: controlled effort until 40 minutes with spikes due to uphills, big push in the 2nd half, but the last 10 minutes were really long ...

Close the 2007 in the best possible way: Shek Kong 30k race

the 2007 has been a fabulous year for my running: I started it as "mid-pack runner" and it all went in crescendo up to yesterday morning, with a victory in one of the hardest road races of the Hong Kong calendar, the 30k Shek Kong "Pre Marathon" race (the race is a sort of tune up for the incoming Hong Kong Marathon in February).

The race is held on a out and back course along a catch water road and around a reservoir in the TaiLam Country park. The course is really scenic, with great views of the New Territories, but also extremely tough. There are probably only 4km of flat, and some climbs were so steep that I judged more reasonable to walk for 20/30 meters rather than making a all out effort just to run. I definitely recommend this race if you happen to come to Hong Kong for the end-year holidays.
A rough sketch of the course. The number of twist and turns is uncountable...
The weather was excellent, the best of 2007: 14C/60F, dry, chilly wind from North. 450 Runners at the start.


Graciously of the organizer, I was given the #1 bib due to my new status of "2nd best marathon runner" in Hong Kong (this is outrageous ... there should be something going wrong in Hong Kong if a middle-age grey-haired beginner can claim any similar status").
I settled in the leading pack with other pre-race favourite and let them do the pace. My HR had ups-and-down like a rollercoaster following the ondulations of the course and the splits were ranging wildly into the 3'20"/4'30" range. So I just impose myself to: a) stick with the first pack b) slow down only if the HR would have stayed too long over 170 in the flat sections.
Some climbs were so tough that our speed was probably close to 10 Min/Mile but I enjoyed the scenery and I was very resolute to stay calm until 7/8km to go and later place surges either in the flat on a very steep hill with 6km to go.


It all went to plan: I did manage to keep the effort into a "marathon pace" until the 23km/14Mile and on a flat section, I placed a surge, finding not much resistance from the others. The last 7k were like making a tempo run, even if a long climb at 25k mark really made me struggle (the other behind were probably struggling even more ... I later found out that I had already gained 1 minute at the top of the climb).
that's it ... 1h56' as finishing time, brought home 200USD value of vouchers and this race marks really a personal achievement for myself and my running life.
I can still remember like yesterday when I did my first race in Hong Kong back in 2002, after having quit running for 3 years. It was a miserable 1h35' in a HM, 100th overall....
And another strong memory is dated only 13 months, for another failed HM, where I eventually realized that my training philosophy was completely wrong...



One note: the lady on the right is the female winner, Joe Joe Fan, who was subject of a previous post on her incredible endurance and recovery. I guess that a 30k was for her only a "tune-up for a couple of marathon in the next weeks...

Incredible ... I won a race

this Saturday was the last race of the 5K series in Hong Kong.

I was slightly tired from the long run and little rest, but in 5K it does not make sense to have moments of fear...

Without boring the readers with a detailed report of every meter... I can summarize as follows:

- my original tactique was to stick to the leader of the series for my master category and see at the end of the race if I could outkick him and win the series (I was 2nd...)
- We started like crazy at a 3'10" pace and I felt better after 2k (warm-up)
- With 1 km to go, I was glued to Mr M and we were approaching to the race leader. I was obviously working hard, but the legs were still fresh. We eventually caught him with 500m to go.
- With probably 300m/400m to go, I made a terrific kick and no one was responding. I was not sure of the distance left (the course is very winding and narrow) so I pushed the gas until the final 5meters.

The course was 300/350meter longer than 5k, so the 17'15" time means something in the 16'10"/16'20" range. It will be forever my PB in the 5350 meters...

Since the purpose of the blog is to discuss training philosophy for competitive amateur runners, I think that we can take a good lesson:

- the key to strong performance is always a good aerobic training: aerobic base and aerobic power. This gives you the power to race 5k strong from start to end.
- it is not always necessary to train very fast to make a fast time. I kept a 3'10"/km pace (5'12"/Mile) without having made any single workout of fast intervals. Probably I never went faster than 3'20" in training (unless strides).
- A high LT means that you can keep a high cruising speed without accumulating lactate. The extra-speed needed to race a fast 5k come from anaerobic power, but ON TOP of the aerobic power