let's go in order - part 3 - Dongguan Qx Games

On September 29th, I took part in the distance running race of "2nd Qingxi Games".

This is basically a series of sports events organized by the local  government, opened to people with local resident permit...

After the Beijing Olympics, now every town/city feels the need to host some kind of sports games.... so while Guangzhou is getting ready for the Asian Games in November and Shenzhen for the University Games next year... a small town like Qingxi must make herself happy with "Qingxi Games"...

The so called "around the city" long distance run was actually a 3.2km race around the town center...

being the one and only foreigner and kind of serious runner, I felt a bit of pressure...basically there were 500 people all staring to a gwailo trying to warm-up...losing out would have been a terrible loss of image...

For these kind of events in China, you really do not know what to expect from the other participants: there might be only "once a week" runners, but it might come out some young stud who was in a Sports School until the month before....

....Anyway for sure I knew that the start would have been crazy... crazy fast.. so I wore a Garmin to not let be carried away...

... all things put together, I really thought that an honest effort at 3'30" pace would have been good enough to win the race and avoid "loss of face" for my running reputation...

The start was fast indeed...very fast..it was like hundreds of hungry panthers let free... After 150m I gave a look at the watch and I realized I was running at 2'50"/km (!!!!!) while being overtaken by everybody!

totally insane... without losing my calm I set down to a more "modest" 3'05"-3'10" pace and start to pick-up those who went out too fast...

... the problem arose when after 1k, I got the autosplit at 3'08":  I was running fast like never before in any race and I was still far from the lead !! was going to be a defeat in front of the local TV ??

I reached the leaders around mid way and picked up the pace.... i was running sub 3'/k ! (give a look at the Garmin file if you do not believe it !)

Also the 2nd K passed by with a 3'08" split and I eventually got a margin...

In the last stretch I saw that I had a good margin and started to relax cruising to the finish line without appearing too spent on TV... my passage at 3k in 9'31" is easily a huge PB for me !!

So... all well what ends well, but this was a suffered one...

I spare you from the TV interview in Mandarin and a translation of the newspaper article, but for a bit of fun, give a look at the first minute of the video below (taken from local TV footage)... with the crazy start

Qingxi Games - distance run race

let's go in order (part 2)

I want to briefly comment on a comment left from Rick "you are going well on low mileage - high intensity training"...
in the past 3 months in average I run around 70k/week with very little speedwork/interval . I mainly run a good aerobic pace with some progression run and strides.

Now this raise 2 interesting (in my opinion) topics of discussion for a runner:

1) which are the effects of training in very hot weather.
I never found any serious article on the matter. The only research done indicated that training in hot weather increase the mass of blood because of the additional water needed, therefore it worked like a blood self-transfusion (hehe...without Clenbuterol...).
What I saw in these years is that 70k in tropical conditions could be much more demanding than 100-120k in ideal conditions: the HR during the workouts is always more elevated and therefore the "exertion" calculated with HR x duration reaches much higher values than a comparable workouts in ideal climate.
It is not uncommon to suffer from huge thermal HR drift during the workout, so after 40' the HR might climb to marathon effort even if you are just jogging.
So the issue is if this state of higher HR even at slow pace is really a more demanding workout or just the need of the body to dissipate the heat, without benefits at cellular level (eg: mytocondrial activity, etc).
Obviously I do not have a scientific answer, but from experience I would say that there is a factor of x1.5 o more on the mileage done in tropical weather versus temperate climate...
So even a meager 70k/wk would represent the same training effect of 100k+ in cool weather...

I do not know if any reader from HK or Singapore has view on the subject...
(by the way in the past 2 days in HK the weather was extraordinary cool/dry for the season and I was running 15-20"/k faster at any given HR than usual...)

2) the usual topic of "the best way to train".
I sometimes receive questions from friends on how they should train to improve and if there is any special workout, etc...
Well... also this training cycle of mine convinces me even more in the resolution that a runner can be 90% ready for racing at any given distance with a very basic training:
- consistant runs of 45'-50' every single day of the week
- some strides here and there
- some progression 2-3 times a week

Basically speaking, running 10k/day at aerobic pace for 7 days for 3 months in a row is already good enough to achieve 90% of your potential in any given race distance...the key is consistency and overall volume.
the remaining 10% involves giving a specialized cut to the main workouts to peak for the chosen race and distance...

let's go in order....

the last 7 days have been extraordinary amazing... there would be much to write about...
..... so I can start from the silliest part

In August a friend asked me to take part in a photo-shoot needed for the commercial launch of the Neil Pryde bikes lines.
Not many know that Neil Pryde is actually a HK based company. Recently they added a carbon bikes line to their mainstay surfing/windsurfing stuff (which does not need any presentation).

Well... so I ended up doing the "model" for them with a bunch of other guys and quite pleasantly they picked up a nice downhill shoot for their website homepage. So click on the LINK and let the flash animation plays... I am the guy in the downhill shot

NOTE: doing the "action model" is incredibly tiring... half a day under the baking sun, doing hundreds of passages in front of the photographer to get eventually a single "perfect shot"

wk 38 - survival week

I do not have much to write...

because of the work/family stuff, I could barely train. I reached 55km for the whole week in 6 sessions.
The hamstring is still tight and the PT told me to avoid any "Fast" workout until gets better.

Obviously I did not follow his recommendation and entered a 5K race with many ups/down...

It was Race #3 of the AVOHK 5K series and the course is really tough... in 5K there are enough climbs, trail sections and downhill that it really feels like a longer race....

Basically I reached the start line almost exhausted from the week and I did not expect anything good. I just wanted to score points in the series and keep the lead in the M40 category.

So it did go maybe even better expected.
I was in the lead duo until we hit the final paved section after the trail but by then I was  done and also I can not really run downhill because the hamstring immediately gave me "warning".
When the eventual winner started pushing the pace, I know I was doomed to lose and let him go without any resistance. From 4k onwards I just cruised down to the finish line avoid too much damage in the downhill section.
So I ended up 2nd Overall (1st Master) in 18'09" (I lost 35" in 1.2k....). Full results HERE
At the end the comparison with previous seasons is not bad:

2007: 18'16" (with was a promising season debut and 3 months later I was going to score my Marathon PB of 2h38')
2008: 17'46" (yes... I was really in good shape..)
2009: no
2010: 18'09"

So the logical inference would be that I am in sub 2h40' marathon shape... but in reality I never run more than 20k.. so it would still need a lot of specific endurance training to reach that level.
Anyway I do not see myself taking the start line of a marathon this year since from next week we will have another member in the family, so for a while I will focus elsewhere from running...
...it will be also a good reason to get rest and nurse my hamstring...

Nice photo album from Ps Brown... the start (in steep uphill_

... here I am cruising to finish line

Thanks to PS Brown for the nice album

Wk 37 - tightness...

Not much to say apart that the tightness in my hamstring is definitely affecting my training... I just go ahead in maintenance mode and it is probably time to take care of this nagging injury in a more serious way...

MON: usually monday MOS loop (16k). I went easy until halfway and then I tried to push a bit more but the hamstring was tight so I went on easy to the end...

TUE: in Dongguan... 10k easy

WED: bloody hot and humid... I run around 14k which felt like 30k...

THU: Dongguan forest... also terribly hot... today all dogs were after me... I got chased several times even in spots where it was "dog less" before... total around 16k ... felt exhausted

FRI: HK very easy recovery run 11k... forced myself to run slowly

I also managed to book a visit with the PT, who confirmed that there is a point of tightness in the hamstring.
After a very painfull deep-tissue massage, it was also time for agopuncture...

NO COMMENT.....


SAT: despite the warning of the PT that I should have taken easy for a couple of days, I went for an already planned hard workout... supposed 5x2000m at HMP...
I hit the target of 7'10"-7'15" for the first 3, then the hamstring tightned up and I bagged the workout...
total 21k

SUN: 12km easy with progression... hamstring felt really better but I did not pushed too much

TOTAL : 83Km

Now i will try to take it easy until the hamstring is healed and hope to make another session of PT if the work schedule allows...
there are a bunch of short races in the next days and so it makes sense to be fresh...but more on that on the next post...

to close, I found a nice album from Peter on the last race.
nice sequence of shots on our sprint for the 3rd to 5th place...

here I am still in 4th with 100m to go...

sprint to death... and got overtook with 30m to go...

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)

Wk 35 Summary - unremarkable

93 Km in 8 workouts. I was able to sneak out for a second evening easy workout on a evening and all added up it come a decent mileage, considering that I am not running any longer than 16-17km at most every time.

Since the hamstring was still tied up, I did not want to risk with any fast workout, so I just run around at easy/moderate pace for the whole week with some progression.

I start to be suspicious of my orthotics... they really affect the stride somehow and especially once they get full of sweat they feel awkard (like stomping in a puddle at every step...).

Next Saturday I have the 2nd leg of the 5K series. I hope to feel decently ok since the race is on my "lucky course" (2 voctories, 1 time 2nd...)

to close... the summer issue of the HK Runner Magazine carried a good race report on the race I did last May and it was pleasant to be portrayed again in action
(Note: I have the leg like those of a Rugby player... I definitely need to thin up... with cycling I added 2kg of muscles in the legs...)