Formosa Monkey - Running The Planet

2011 Mississauga Marathon

2011-05-16T17:02:00.003-04:00

Where do I start with this one? I am still a bit shocked with the result, to make the long story short
- 1:49:09 first half, 1:48:06 second half, 1:03 negative split = 3:37:15 It is a 11:53 PB! and 11:59 from my last full. Training was done without any "long" runs, longest was ATB30k in the end of March and a hilly 25k a week before the Marathon.

Past Success & Failures
2009
GoodLife Toronto Marathon - 3:49:08
This was my 3rd marathon and first time broke 4hrs, a 1:55:25 first half, 1:54:19 second half.

2010
I was aiming for sub 3:40 for 2010 but had 4 failed attempts:
Whitby Marathon - 4:02 - both calves cramp before 30k with a disaster finish
San Francisco Marathon - 3:51 - Garmin went wonky when I went into a public washroom after the Golden Gate bridge, it logged an extra km, I thought I was on pace for a 3:45-56 finish.
Scotia Toronto Waterfront Marathon - 3:51 - I'm cursed with this race or course, legs shutdown with no reason before half way.
Goodlife Toronto Marathon - 3:49:14 - dropped all my nutritions before 9k waterfront station with 1 salt cap left, things went well and I thought I had 3:46 in the bag but calves went cramp again with 3k left.

Training
With a disappointing 2010, I realize I shouldn't be "racing" marathons at all given the amount of time I have for training, I have been logging randomly 20k-50k weekly and attacked Marathons which was very foolish. I wasn't going to run any marathons this year, but I have registered Mississauga full last year for $35 bucks! so I've decided I'll just run it.

January & February - I saw "The Hanson's Less-Is-More Plan", although I still don't get enough time to follow this plan, but I thought I might be able to tweak it and let's experiment what happens. The road conditions around where I live was quite terrible, unable to do any runs on regular pace. Instead, I picked all the hilly routes & trails and run slow on the snow.

March & April - My work office moved to a new location with shower facility, I started to do 8k runs during lunch time, which adds up to my weekly mileage. In these 8k, I would run about 10 seconds faster than marathon pace, and throw in 1 - 3km here and there with 5k pace. As for the long runs, I started to run from work back home once a week, which is about 20k-21k along the reverse of Goodlife Toronto Marathon's route - an uphill long run. Other "long" runs I would do about 16k - 20k during the weekend with my kids on a stroller to hilly routes, sometimes I mix it up with some fast km intervals on the track during the run. In March I logged 200.58km and April I logged 246.09km, it's been a consistent weekly 50km or 60km, way more than I use to.

The more I ran, the better and stronger I felt, I managed to PB in 5k, 10k and ATB30k during these 2 months.

Goal
I would like to break 3:40, this would be my 5th attempt, but having no 30km+ under my belt, I wasn't sure what to expect and I didn't know if the calf cramp issue is going to happen again, but I would give it a shot. If it didn't go well, just another failed sub 3:40 attempt :-)

My Race
I seeded myself a little behind the 3:40 bunny, I wanted to play it safe and run my own pace depending on how I feel. I've ran the Mississauga Corp-Relay before (8k-16k leg) but never did the full. It appears even the first 8k has a lot of downhills, it wasn't before long I caught up the the 3:40 group. By looking at my Garmin, it appears they were going faster than suppose to, it would be about a 3:38 finish.
01k - 5:13
02k - 5:07
03k - 5:03
04k - 5:01
05k - 5:06
06k - 5:13
07k - 5:12
08k - 5:09
As we passed the 8k, I know the course, there's a hill about 10k then after that it's all downhill. Having tested in San Francisco Marathon and other hilly course, I find flying down the hills doesn't damage my quads at all, so I decided to break away from the 3:40 group to take advantage of the downhill and ease on flat and uphill for them to catch up. From 8k all the way 28k I was always a few hundred meters ahead of the 3:40 group, I could hear the bunny telling them to turn left or right, which was great so I don't get lost.
09k - 4:53

10k - 5:04

12k - 5:12

13k - 5:09

14k - 5:08

15k - 5:06

16k - 5:11

17k - 5:20

18k - 5:09

19k - 5:12

20k - 5:10

21k - 5:01

22k - 5:06

23k - 5:04

24k - 5:05

25k - 5:11

26k - 5:12

27k - 5:15
Around 28k -29k I slowed down a bit and finally 3:40 caught up, but within a km or two I felt they were slowing down on the hills (maybe because they banked a 1min on the first half?) since I felt okay, I decided to keep my constant pace and I dropped the 3:40 group again. I also passed 2-3 guys in blue Boston jacket, which made me wonder if I've done a silly move...

28k - 5:23

29k - 5:21
Between 30k - 33k I carefully monitored my legs to make sure no stupid cramps is happening, it appears everything was still functional well and Lakeshore has some downhill and incline, I managed to pick up the pace going downhill and attack the uphills, though I was slowing down on the incline but still reel in runners one by one.
30k - 5:07
31k - 5:18

32k - 5:10

At this point I felt great and seems my legs cannot slow down! the rain and head wind didn't matter to me at all, it actually felt refreshing in many occasions. Around 39k or 40k, 2 or 3 guys passed me, I noticed one of them was from the 3:40 group, but 3:40 group was no where to be seen. I kept with them for a few hundred meters but they were dropping down to around 4:40min/km or so I couldn't keep up, there's goes my clean record of nobody passed me after 30k... with about a km or two to go, a guy in the park's parking lot was cheering for us, seems this guy has completed his race and was changing or something, the guy noticed I was picking up my pace to give everything I had left, he was shouting with lots of words to encourage me, can't say enough thanks to this guy! I kept on passing people along the lake and finally with a little kick to the finish! couldn't believe I was way ahead of 3:40! Somehow Garmin logged 42.14km, but I know with another 55m I would be still 3:37ish so I am okay with that :-)
33k - 4:55
34k - 5:07
35k - 5:24
36k - 5:01
37k - 5:03
38k - 5:17
39k - 5:08
40k - 5:14
41k - 5:01
42k - 4:53
14m? - 3:44

After the Race
The volunteer had troubles to take off the chip of my shoe laces, I didn't want to take the chance that he might cut my shoe laces so I actually bend down to take it off for him but my leg muscles were so seized up and I couldn't tie my shoe laces. As I was hobbling out another volunteer spotted my loose shoe laces and he was nice enough to tie it for me. I took the shuttle bus back to Square One, since I am not familiar with the area, had no clue where my car was.. walked in a singlet & shorts with a foil wrapper in the rain and wind I was about to be frozen... finally took someone's advice get into the mall to find my way to the closest exit to my car, it was a little odd walking around in the mall with everyone starring at me and mall security didn't arrest me.

Special Thanks to my Running Free group, my running buddy Jack who attacked hilly long runs with me and Tony who ran with me around 10k-12k during the race.

2010 Run for Vaughan

2010-05-30T22:33:00.001-04:00

4 days after Whitby Marathon, I felt I have recovered completely! since the past 4 races - 1x8k, 2x10k, 1xmarathon were end up with unsatisfied results, I have an urge doing another race, what do I lose with another disappointing race? I'll just keep on racing till I am happy. :-)

At first I considered doing another marathon, ottawa - sold out, buffalo - proposed to my wife to bring family over to shop, she smelled there must be a marathon so the idea was turned down. I ended up searching for local races and found this RunForVaugh where you get to enter the race for free if you raise 50+ or more! which I managed to do so within 2 days.

I must say this was a very unique race that I have been to. It is organized by a Muslim community and starts from a Mosque! I've never been to a mosque, just by walking in and use their washroom was new to me.

Race started at 8:30am. A lady next to me chatted briefly, oh my! I recognized she was last year's 5peaks AG winner! so I placed myself 2 rows behind her. The sun was out, hot and humid, just reminds me the disaster condition last week in Whitby, hey but this is only a 10k! Just a bit for pain for less than 1/4 of the time in a marathon. Race started and everyone went out with crazy pace! there's a lot of high school kids in this race, most likely don't know how to pace for a distance race. I had to slow down myself not get hyped by the other runners, still 1st km clocked 4:16! and so many people still passed me! as expected, by 800m or so till 3km, some started walking... and I kept on passing people from 2k and on. Not sure if it was me being blind or what, but there was no km markers at all!! thanks to Garmin that this did not paranoid me anymore, but that means those people running without a GPS watch were at a disadvantage that they might not be able to properly pace themselves. Same as CF10k, there's no paper cup water and energy drink, but they do provide bottle water and they were provided at least 4 locations if I recall correctly. Volunteers were nice enough to open up the bottle water for us. At each water station I took a bottle, take a few sip and pour the rest of the water on my head and body, this worked well to cool myself down. I also saw some hot chick did the same, very nice :-) at 5k turnaround there was this highschool guy who was walking, as soon as I passed him I could hear the heavy pounding, the guy passed me again with long stride but running heavy, then a few mins he would be out of gas and I passed him. This scenario repeated till 7-8k then I didn't hear him coming anymore and I passed a few more runners. At 9ish km, we were still quite a distance from the finish line, at this point I knew the course distance was off, It was longer than it should be! one girl and one older guy passed me... oh well, I know this result wasn't going to be pretty cause the course was off so whatever... at 10k I looked at my watch it was around 49:10 so had this been a accurate 10k course I would sprint the last 400m and done it at 48ish, I am okay with this performance a week after the marathon. For the last whatever distance I picked up my pace, good there were still a runner in front of me gave me some motivation for a 200m strong finishing kick to pass him and crossed the finish line at 51:18 - a horrible time for my 10k performance but it was a longer 10k :-)

There were lots fruits provided after the race, while eating the fruits chatted briefly with runners around me. There was this older guy who later introduced himself as Felix! It turns out he's the owner runs "Felix's swimming school"!! cool~ When I was about to leave, race organization had this little Muslim girl sang a song that I didn't understand anything, it was a very interesting race experience. Will I do this race again? most likely, but my goal would be changed to run this "long 10k" course just under 50min.

Overall: 38/235
Category: 12/29
Gender: 31/131
Guntime: 51:19
My Garmin: 51:18

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	00:51:18	10.47	04:54
1	00:04:16	1.00	04:16
2	00:04:48	1.00	04:48
3	00:05:03	1.00	05:03
4	00:05:06	1.00	05:06
5	00:05:08	1.00	05:08
6	00:04:55	1.00	04:55
7	00:05:01	1.00	05:01
8	00:04:56	1.00	04:56
9	00:04:54	1.00	04:54
10	00:05:05	1.00	05:05
11	00:02:01	0.47	04:18

2010 Whitby Marathon

2010-05-21T21:29:00.000-04:00

This was the toughest race I've had so far.

Coming into this race, I know I am faster than last year but I didn't do enough long runs, only two long runs over 30k, one was around the bay 30k and another was a 32k two weeks ago, the rest were a few ones around the half marathon distance. I've been undertrained and entered a marathon in the past so I expected anything could happen after 30k.

I arrived the start about 40mins before the race, plenty of time, plenty of parking, no long line-ups for the washroom in the sport complex. Saw Jon and Karen, had a brief chat while we were waiting for start. Not that many people so there were no corrals, knowing jon is shooting for a 1:45 half, I placed myself behind and around karen, but Karen told me that I should place a bit more front so I don't get caught with slow half runners and mess up my pacing. Race started and we headed off on victoria street, we passed by the Lynn Conservation area - a forgotten place that I have been many years ago for hiking, at that time I couldn't even run 3k! the scenic was nice although it is a bit warm and humid but I felt great, I had to slow down every km to hit my target 5:19 pace. Saw Jon coming back on the 8k turnaround, he was looking good. Around 8-9k I passed Karen, not sure what was the problem but she was slowing down. I continued to cruise with my goal pace. At this point, the only problem I had was that I had a natural call, I've decided to take the washroom break before half way, cause I wanted a slower half just like I did in Goodlife Toronto marathon last year. Things were quite uneventful as my plan seem to be executing just fine, around 18k I had my washroom break, what a relief! Before 19k split turnaround saw jon coming back strong, he said he's already got 1:45 in the bag! And I thought it was going to be the same great day for me as well.

As full and half marathon split, things changed dramatically. Only a bit more than 100 runners entered the full, it was a long stretch between most of the runners. I didn't see anyone in front of me, no one behind me either... then there was a section that the trail was under construction, a race marshal directed me "nice and easy on the grass" to run across a grass field, this was the beginning of the "downhill" of my race. My pace slipped on this grass field, that was not easy... the trail continues but there was nobody except the sun was out at full force, absolutely no shades and nowhere to hide. All of a sudden I felt my legs were tired, it seems the cramp might be coming! I couldn't believe it at this early stage this is started to happen. I had e-load at every water station, gel, saltstick caps, and this dorky soccer socks (my cheap version of compression socks to prevent my calves problem. I slowed down my pace but tried to keep them sub 6min/km, hoping legs would get better in later stage. Surprising that while I was off my pacing, I passed several runners and there were couple runners walking back, looks like they were going for DNF and probably suffering more than I was. 26k we turned into the industrial area, these were no man's land out and back inclines, you see long hills over a km ant d came back on the same route. There's no spectators except the volunteers at aid stations and one cop. I saw a few front pack runners turned back already, it seems most of us were exhausted under the heat. It was very tough for me to run these out and back industrial routes, my legs were getting worse and I felt this was like hawaii ironman's energy lab in kona! my body was overheated. There was a red-shirt guy behind me, everytime he saw a runner coming back on the back route he would shout like a military man to encourage other runners, I found it worked as a mental boost to other runners and yourself as well since you see nobody cheering for you. I started to say "good job" and a thumb up to the runners on the other side. The red-shirt guy and another tall young guy passed me. The little cramps in my legs were forcing me getting slower and slower to 6ish pace, the pain in my legs and the heat, DNF came across my mind. When I passed 30k mark, it was 2:43, this is the same split that I had with last year's toronto marathon! I know it's impossible to pull a negative split like last time but perhaps I still have a chance to at least get it under 4hrs! At 30k water station I stopped to dump water or maybe some e-load too on my head and back, another runner passed me while I was at the water station, we were back into the open trail but still no shades and nowhere to hide, I can feel the real cramp is coming. At 32k my left calf completely seized up, I had to stop and stretch, as I strectch my calves my quads started to cramp!! No stretching could help, now every part of my legs were cramping! I gave up, not on finishing this marathon, but I gave up on suffering legs cramp problem and having it to ruin my race! I've decied to suck it up and kept on running. I was cursing all the way in the trail, and wishing for a set of fresh legs! cramping went away for a short moment but came back on different spot, it seems the "red paint dots" weree everywhere on my leg. By keep going I passed the runner that passed me at the water station, she seem to be out of gas and started walking. As the trail ended at the Heydenshore Kiwanis park, instead of heading back, volunteer said "sorry but you'll have to go this way", once again we were running under the sun out and back on two streets and one of them being under construction. Again, we get to see nobody except runners out and back, struggling. Looking at the distance on my Garmin, I know we were almost there, I picked up my pace and ignored all those little cramps everywhere in my legs, I have learned how to do fast hobbling last year in Scotia Waterfront Marathon, my form may look ugly and it helps me to go at 6 or sub 6 pace. Surprisingly several runners that looked strong ahead of me started walking, I also managed to pass the fancy shirt guy and the red-shirt guy. Heading back to the Heydenshore Kiwanis park, I poured 4 cups not sure water or eload on my head, here I come! the finish line!! I can hear some crowds! one old guy looking strong passed me with about 400m to go, I passed another guy that was walking to the finish. Clock didn't wait for me, it went over 4hrs and my garmin was going over 42.2k already I still don't see the finish line! Finally we had to. make a turn and I tired but cramping legs didn't allow me to sprint to the finish. Garmin shows 42.54k! what's up with the extra 345m?? but it didn't matter anymore because at 42.195 on my garmin I was over 4hrs already.

Checking the official result, I was surprised to see someone that I have passed turned out to finish ahead of me. The full marathon was small race, I clearly remember all the runners ahead and behind me, perhaps it's the sun made my brain malfunction. Let's not despite the fact the 2nd half was a lonely course, runners might unintentionally or intentionally missed those out and back routes and continued their way, it wouldn't be too difficult if I wanted to cheat my way to Boston. :-) This turned out to be my 2nd worst marathon record.

There was a finisher tech t-shirt which was a nice touch to the finish of the race, the medal is MADE IN CANADA! cool! Thanks to Jon and his daughter coming out to the finish line, I've made him waited around 20minutes more...

Overall:   49/129

Category:  12/17

Gender:    40/89

Gun Time:  4:02:47

Chip Time: 4:02:37

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	04:02:38	42.54	05:42
1	00:05:15	1.00	05:15
2	00:05:08	1.00	05:08
3	00:05:19	1.00	05:19
4	00:05:16	1.00	05:16
5	00:05:15	1.00	05:15
6	00:05:20	1.00	05:20
7	00:05:17	1.00	05:17
8	00:05:18	1.00	05:18
9	00:05:18	1.00	05:18
10	00:05:20	1.00	05:20
11	00:05:19	1.00	05:19
12	00:05:17	1.00	05:17
13	00:05:12	1.00	05:12
14	00:05:17	1.00	05:17
15	00:05:20	1.00	05:20
16	00:05:15	1.00	05:15
17	00:05:12	1.00	05:12
18	00:05:55	1.00	05:55
19	00:05:09	1.00	05:09
20	00:05:19	1.00	05:19
21	00:05:35	1.00	05:35
22	00:05:34	1.00	05:34
23	00:05:45	1.00	05:45
24	00:05:34	1.00	05:34
25	00:05:38	1.00	05:38
26	00:05:52	1.00	05:52
27	00:05:55	1.00	05:55
28	00:05:53	1.00	05:53
29	00:05:54	1.00	05:54
30	00:05:58	1.00	05:58
31	00:06:14	1.00	06:14
32	00:06:10	1.00	06:10
33	00:07:05	1.00	07:05
34	00:06:26	1.00	06:26
35	00:06:29	1.00	06:29
36	00:06:10	1.00	06:10
37	00:06:34	1.00	06:34
38	00:06:08	1.00	06:08
39	00:06:04	1.00	06:04
40	00:06:07	1.00	06:07
41	00:06:09	1.00	06:09
42	00:06:06	1.00	06:06
43	00:02:54	0.54	05:25

Cadillac Fairview 10k

2010-04-25T21:05:00.003-04:00

This was my 2nd attempt of 10k test. Weather was a bit chilly and windy, cloudy sky seems like a raining day. The race was held at Sunny Brook, which has less rolling hills than Backs-in-Motion 10k, forget about sub 47min, looks like a even sub 48min 10k was still out of reach.

The race seems a little disorganized, I entered a parking lot which was later blocked for the race, that I couldn't leave till everyone finished the race. The bib pick-up and onsite registration was a
chaos, which caused delay for the race start. A mom was there fitting different size of shirt for his son... What's up with that? race start has been delayed already and there was still a long line-up! You get the size you asked for and move on! too bad the volunteer wasn't as mean as I would.

No announcement was made about what time race would start, I just jogged around the area didn't want to go too far and miss the start. All of a sudden runners were gathering on the timing mat, I kept on hearing these beeps and wonder why people would let their chip scanned already before we start the race?? So I placed myself behind the timing mat. I paced myself preciously at 4:42 (sub 48 finish) to start with, it is a small race so only a few people around me soon into the first km, I was passing people then started to follow two young guys in their 20s, not for too long their pace slipped, so I passed them and a few more runners then I started running on my own. Approaching half way turn back point, one girl passed me, I kept her in my sight, out of nowhere another girl passed me, she continued to speed up and passed previous girl, they seem to be getting further and further, getting smaller from my sight and I was running on my own again. My mind seem to be drifted away when running alone, then my pace slipped, until I heard someone approaching running on my heels, then I picked up the pace again. It was about 7k into the race, I had to dodge the walkers. Afte 1k or so I dropped the guy behind me and got to see the first girl that passed me at far, I was trying to catch up but it seems she wasn't slowing down and just too far away. Again I watched her disappeared from my sight with the final k left. Approaching the finish line, I looked at my watch, oh my, if I don't sprint I would have had a worse record than last week in BIM10k. I sprinted to the finish without nobody to beat or drop, feeling just numb and no excitement nor any accomplishment. My watch clocked 49:10, 5 seconds faster than Sunday's race. Gun time was 49:15, later I found out they did not time the chiptime, no wonder bunch of runners stood on the timing mat at the start didn't matter.

As my car was parked in the blocked route, I had to wait till the race officially finish so they re-open the road. I went to see the printed results, it was shocking that the 10k winner was a female who did
around 28 minutes!!! and the male winner was around 33 minutes. I was puzzled as this is an out and back course, I saw the front pack turned back but I certainly didn't see any solo female and male leaders going at that blistering pace. If a female won the race with 28min 10k I am sure she's a world class athlete and probably broke the world female 10k record!!! during the award presentation, the female winner didn't show up. As for the male winner, the guy quickly went up took the prize and left, I didn't remember seeing that guy in the front pack! 2 days later, I checked sportstats again, it turned out those two "winners" were 5k runners, which started 5mins after the 10k. So the
lady ran a 23min 5k and the guy ran a 28min 5k, but he took the 10k winner prize!!! that was cheating!! I hope the organization have corrected this and awarded the real winners.

This is my 2nd disappointing 10k race, my fitness level is just at able to reach my goal time. Sporting life 10k was officially out of my race calendar.

Cons

Start delay
Parking, race kit pick-up was confusing
No water stations! Couple volunteers were handing out bottle water around half way, that doesn't help, I didn't want to stop and open a bottle water during a race.
10k awards were all wrong

Pros

Lots and lots of great food for lunch - chicken, salad, cookies, fruits
Friendly family atmosphere but weather wasn't co-operative
Nice NB tech tshirt for a 30 bucks race

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	00:49:10	10.00	04:55
1	00:04:42	1.00	04:42
2	00:04:50	1.00	04:50
3	00:05:00	1.00	05:00
4	00:05:04	1.00	05:04
5	00:05:05	1.00	05:05
6	00:04:55	1.00	04:55
7	00:04:56	1.00	04:56
8	00:05:01	1.00	05:01
9	00:04:54	1.00	04:54
10	00:04:39	1.00	04:39

Backs in Motion 10k

2010-04-18T15:05:00.083-04:00

I scheduled two small 10k races to help me to decide if I am going to do sporting life 10k. I have a goal in sporting life 10k - if I am going to do it, I have to run a sub 45min, in order to achieve that, I believe I need to run a sub 47min 10k on a flat course.

This race was so close to home, weather was nice. Everything was a nice start, except I set the wrong goal for the wrong course. The timechip of this race wasn't common, actually I have never seen it before, there's wires in a square shape attached to the back of my bib. I met up with J.L. and placed ourselves at the front of the midpack. Quite a surprise, the midpack was running very fast, lots people passed me including JL as the race started. It started with an uphill, I was already running at 4:36 but everyone just passed me, I had to be discipline to slow down myself or else I know I will struggle on the 2nd half.

I was expecting a lot of people didn't pace themselves properly and I would catch up a lot of them within 3k, but it appears they were really faster than me. I caught nobody, until around 3-4k I finally saw JL, this is a sub 24min 5k pace and last year he ran a 27min 5k! (JL ran weekly back to back 10k races with a superb 46:55 finish in sporting life 3 weeks later!)

I started to pass a few runners, but one young guy and one old guy passed me as well. Approaching the half way, first I didn't see the 4k marker then I saw a 5k marker, but Garmin is just at 4ish, then I already saw packs and packs runners coming back, I look at my time, I couldn't believe all these runners ran a sub 20min 5k split!! It really discouraged me how terrible I was doing and sub 47 is just a
long shot for me. Finally I reached the turn-back point, volunteer said half way! I looked at Garmin, that's not right, that was only 4.6k! I told the runner next to me that was not a 5k, he said he wish it was longer instead :-) It turns out the 5k marker I saw earlier was right on spot but it was facing the right direction!

In hoping to run a faster 2nd half (which didn't really happen), at 7k I passed the old guy that passed me earlier. However, at 8k I couldn't hold the sub 5min/k pace anymore. The last 2k I started to pick up my pace and started to see the people that started too fast in the beginning and pick them one by one, last k left I saw the young guy that passed me earlier and passed him. Out of the trail turning back to Leslie, I started my kick passing all the people in the last 400m stretch, but I started my kick too late, still one more guy that was wearing this year's ATB shirt ahead of me, where I finished just 1s behind him when I crossed the finish line. 49:15, not happy but I figure the course was my excuse compare to a flat 10k. :-)

This was probably the worst category placing I've ever had in a race.

Overall: 52/113
Category: 16/20
Gender: 48/76
Chiptime: 49:15
Pace: 4:56
http://www.rrresults.com/results.php?race=85

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	00:49:10	10.00	04:55
1	00:04:42	1.00	04:42
2	00:04:50	1.00	04:50
3	00:05:00	1.00	05:00
4	00:05:04	1.00	05:04
5	00:05:05	1.00	05:05
6	00:04:55	1.00	04:55
7	00:04:56	1.00	04:56
8	00:05:01	1.00	05:01
9	00:04:54	1.00	04:54
10	00:04:39	1.00	04:39

me and JL at the finish line

2010 Harry's Spring Run-Off 8k

2010-04-12T20:41:00.004-04:00

I did this race last year, without knowing enough about the course, I was aiming to PB my 8k time (38:57), which end up with a disappointment 39:30. This year suppose to be a redemption. I felt I got faster in the recent two month, I was aiming for a sub 37-38 finish.

At the start corral I met Boris again! similar to last year, he was standing just a few people next to me. The weather is quite opposite to last year, I remember I was shivering last year at the start line and it was so windy, this year I am with sleeveless shirts, it was a really nice day.

The gun goes off and we ran, this race has - a lot of runners that don't seem to know how to place and pace themselves, probably a lot of new runners. I had to let a lot of people pass me, which I was going at 4:40 and 4:29 for the first two km, already, these people were running like 4:00 or sub 4:00 pace, I am not sure why they thought they could maintain that pace for 8k. Then I started to pass those people after the 1 or 2k mark. All I wanted to do is to maintain a 4:45 pace and see what happens for the last 4k. From 3-4k is the worst part of this race to me, my pace was slipped to 5:18 and it drained all my energy just like last year, I had to keep slow the next k to recover, thanks to the downhill, I started to pick up my pace with 4:55 and 4:46 after. Still unable to get back to the 4:45 pace, there comes another small hill around 7k, my pace got stuck at 4:59. Half way into 7k, now the last hill comes in sight, I can hear the beep on top of the hill as runners finished the race, I started my kick. I am an everyday average runner started from the backpack, finishing kick is my only speciality, usually on a flat course, I could get under 3:00 or 2:30 pace for the last 400m-200m, but this was a crazy energy draining uphill. My sprint was down to 3:26 pace, the hill is longer than I remembered, I started fading, I tried to kick-in again, was only able to get to 4:08. Finally I got up to the hill and heard the beep of the chip scanner, I thought I finished the race, I stopped running and stopped the watch. I was such an idiot, then I saw people kept on going, there was a turn and the finish banner is around 80m-100m ahead! I've done this race before but why didn't I remember any of these? probably because my brain was in serious oxygen debt. Why is there another chip scanner about 100m before the real finish line? this has confused me in Toronto Marathon as well, I am not sure what's the purpose of it... I started my watch again, squeeze out the last bit of me to sprint - 3:46min/k then everything seem to go into slow motion. I faded to the finish line, I thought I was going to black out. Gun time - 39:18

After the race, met up with many familiar faces - my blazing fast colleague J.B. age category #3, H. from runningfree marathon clinic, J.L. who trained with me in dark cold winter mornings, K.W. who also had a PB that day, Boris told me about this washroom breaks PB 8k :-)

km splits:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	00:39:09	8.11	04:49
1	00:04:40	1.00	04:40
2	00:04:29	1.00	04:29
3	00:04:46	1.00	04:46
4	00:05:18	1.00	05:18
5	00:04:55	1.00	04:55
6	00:04:46	1.00	04:46
7	00:04:59	1.00	04:59
8	00:04:41	1.00	04:41
9	00:00:33	0.11	05:06

Chip time - 39:07, a 23 sec PB of this course from last year... still couldn't beat my Alfie 8k PB in 2008, I hate this course!

Thanks to dad for the nice pix.

sprinting uphill

stopping my watch, I thought I finished the race! %$#@!@

J.L. the only guy who is willing to run with me at 5:30AM under zero during winter! Congrats to his first chip timed race.

2010 Around The Bay 30k

2010-04-11T20:29:00.002-04:00

Older Than Boston
Back in 2008, after 5 months of running regularly, I didn't even know what gel was. Standing at the start line of Toronto Ultra Race, it was my first attempt of a 30k race while others were doing 50k and 100k, I saw someone with "Older Than Boston" on the back of his shirt, I didn't even know what Boston was all about... I kept on seeing this shirt in different colours over and over in different races, finally I read what was about Boston Marathon, the qualification seems impossible for me, so I got to have this shirt. 2009, I missed the early bird registration of Around the Bay, it was probably a good thing since the weather on that day was miserable. Late 2009, I remembered to register for the 2010 race, only $60 for early bird and you get a $10 off coupon from running room! :-)

Training
Last year after recovered from Toronto Marathon, my running has been the same , which is a typical random 20k - 40k per week depending on my schedule... until this February, I met D.S. - a running buddy of Kelvin Lin from Running The Sahara. D.S. mentioned he once started as slow as me, but with consistent interval speedwork, he is the success example of how you can turn yourself into a speed demon. He also told me the importance and how to warm-up and cool-down properly, which I never did in the past, because I am always running short of time. Also in February, I joined a free marathon clinic offered by runningfree, I am really lucky that having this amazing coach A.H. who is almost 60 years old and runs many sub 3hr marathon every year, unbelievable! since then I've been doing intevals and hill repeats weekly, going out for a run at 5:30am trying to maintain my weekly mileage around 50k, the only problem I had was that I did not have time for long runs, the longest run I could squeeze in for the past month was no more than 15k.

Curse of the Race Day
My dad happened to be visiting the country at the moment, funny that he didn't trust that I would have the energy to drive back home after running 30k, so he wanted to tag along to the race to give me some "support" :-) After we arrived Hamilton and parked our car, I couldn't turn on my Garmin 305!! I thought I would have to put my goals aside to run the race, but dad took the watch to try out his self-claimed "magic electronic finger", for some reason it worked, he managed to turn on the watch! Unfortunately the curse of watch didn't end here, around 23km my Garmin ran out of battery...

My Race
I had a flexible simple goal, anywhere between 2:29:59 (unrealistic goal) to 2:39:59 I would be happy. My previous 30k race was 2:59 but it was an epic disaster with cramping calf for the last 10k, last year in 2 marathons, my splits at 30k were 2:42 and 2:43, I thought a sub 2:40 was a reasonable goal.

There were a lot of people in this race, I saw 2:45 and 2:15 bunnies, but how come there was no 2:30 bunny? that's fine, my garmin started working, so I will follow my own pace. I wanted to keep a 5:05km/min pace and see where it takes me to. Before the 2k mark I saw Chris passed me, this is the first time I saw him in person but you can't miss his hair :-) I told Chris to go ahead as I am slower and I didn't want to mess up his pacing. I passed 10k split a little faster than I expected, my heart rate was also a little higher than I planned, I saw it go over 180 several times, I am not sure if I could sustain at that rate for 30k.

I decided to slow down a bit for the next 10k and pick up the pace for the last 10k, knowing there are rolling hills and a big killer hill at the end, it would be a challenge to do a negative split, but I would like to maintain the same pace if possible. I cruised the next 10k as planned, less than 2 mins slower than the 1st 10k, before we even reached 20k, the rolling hills started. I trained on rolling hills, there's no flat route up to a 5k distance around my area, but at this point any incline my legs can feel it, I guess this is the price to pay for not training enough for the distance you are racing for.

My Garmin started to complain low battery, I kept on having to press enter, I can't pace myself well without a watch, this was stressing me out... finally, my watch went off after 23k. Last year in Chilly Half, my watch went off at 8k, seems like a curse of my first race of every year. I told myself at least this year it happened after 23k nor earlier! running on tired legs without a watch things seem to go downhill whole the route is going uphill... I decided to take it easy as I felt I banked enough time and sub 2:40 should be in the bag. The big ass hill after 26k seem to triggered the little cramps in my legs, I didn't want to walk, I signed up for 30k run not walk! I cursed every step as I ran up that hill. The last 3k was a nice downhill, approaching the last 2k I saw the famous dread reaper! I rarely high five people in a race but I high fived dread reapers! not sure why there were two of them and I missed the midgget that I've read about in ATB. I wanted to go for sub 5min/k pace but as I go faster, my stupid left calf started cramping again! it was not a high humidity day, I did took enough sodium and electrolytes, I think the mystery of my weak calves problem was solved - it is simply not enough training for the distance! I gave it up on the thought for a fast finish, just waved to people and high-fived with kids. When we finally going to enter the copps collisum, I switched to my backup tank for the usual mad finish, as I started sprinting, my left calf was cramping and screaming to me! I ignored it kept on sprinting to the finish trying to maintain my balance, but couldn't do an all-out finish kick - 2:38:23 for the gun time, not bad, I think my chip time should be 2:37ish.

After the Race
As I walked out, taking the escalator to upstairs, my left calf was really cramping this time, I nearly fell off the escalator... lol, I felt like an idiot. I spent the next 15 minutes looking for my dad in the sea of people, finally I found him still standing at the finish waiting to take a picture of me, obviously he missed me as usual, same thing happened in 2009 Chilly half as well. :-) After we left Copps Coliseum, we spent almost an hour to look for our car and drivng back to Toronto was not fun in the weekend afternoon, that was more challenging than the race itself.

1st 10k - 51:13
2nd 10k - 52:08
3rd 10k - 54:21
chip time - 2:37:42.6

Lessons Learned
1. double check my watch before the race, make sure it is fully recharged.
2. train for the distance I am racing for.

It was a positive split race, the course and watch were my excuses :-)
Still happy with this race. Running over the open bridge was really cool. The spectators in Hamilton were amazing, people setup aid stations providing water and fruit in their front yard! I never seen anyting like that in Toronto. I also remember a guy on his oxygen mask was cheering for us on a wheel chair, that really motitvated me - thank you!

some people sleep walking, I sleep running! :-)

probably close to the copps coliseum

finish kick with calf screaming!

yes! a sub 2:40 with my horrible sense of pacing. sorry, I think I blocked the finish shot of the runner behind me.

finally a good shot by dad

McMillan Running Calculator vs. 2009 PBs

2009-12-31T22:07:00.004-05:00

Looking back at my race results of 2009, the McMillan Running Calculator matched all my PBs down to the minute base on my marathon time.

5k PB - 23:26 in August 2009
McMillan says: 23:30
Goal: sub 23 - didn't happen...

10k PB - 48:39 in April 2009
McMillan says: 48:50
Goal: sub 50 - very satisfied result!

Half Marathon PB - 1:48:02 in September 2009
McMillan says: 1:48:39
Goal: sub 1:50 - another happy ending, I was very pleased.

All the predicted results base on my marathon PB 3:49.08 are a few seconds more than my actual PB, it seems I should have performed better in my marathon.

If I put my half marathon PB 1:48:02 then McMillan says I should run 3:47:51 for my marathon!

Look out, 2010! I am going to run faster! :-D

eDISCS?

2009-11-04T17:29:00.006-05:00

Sep. 27, 2009 - 4:00:29.3

. . . 3 WEEKS AFTER . . .

Oct. 18, 2009 - 3:49.08.0

11 minutes difference in 3 weeks, what different that I have done?

This is the secret! eDISCS available under 6 bucks from RunningRoom

Initially I was looking for some salt tablets to prevent the calf cramp issue I had in Scotia Marathon, then I found these eDISCS. Not sure how much I should take them, I've decided to take 1 disc after each hour and I carried 5 in total, but at last 6k or so to go in the race I took the remaining 2 discs. After finishing the marathon, my legs already had little cramps here and there, but still plenty of energy left, not sure if it was overdose of gel and eDISCS.

Did I get paid to say this? hahaha, no and of course this was not the only factor, I think the weather played the biggest role in this:

	09/27/09	10/28/09
Mean Temperature	18 °C	5 °C
Max Temperature	20 °C	9 °C
Min Temperature	15 °C	1 °C
Dew Point	16 °C	-2 °C
Average Humidity	91	56
Maximum Humidity	100	70
Minimum Humidity	65	35
Average HR	173	167
Maximum HR	205	182

Humidity was the killer!

2009 Toronto Marathon - Photos

2009-10-31T09:38:00.005-04:00

I was expecting my wife to record my finish at the Toronto Marathon. As I was approaching the finish line, I didn't see her and my daughter, only my sister was there to test out her new camera... I wondered around the Queen's park for a good 20 - 30 minutes, I couldn't find them. Finally I went to the finish line again, there was my wife holding the camcorder shooting at the finish line! It turns out when she got to downtown and parked the car, my daughter wanted to go to pee, so while I was running my perfect finish of the race, they were busy looking for a public washroom - perfect timing :-)
That evening my daughter complained that I didn't wait for her to finish the race... and she wants me to run another marathon next day and wait for her this time! :-)

fueling up with gel

Jose and the 3:50 group doing 10:1 catching up before half way

finishing kick with little cramps everywhere

2008 - crossing the finish line

2009 - crossing the finish line

couldn't find my wife & daughter...

I like the taste of this big medal!

2009 Toronto Marathon

2009-10-26T17:50:00.007-04:00

2 Marathons in 3 weeks?
My initial goal was to collect all the Marathon medals around Ontario, without a hesitation I registered the Scotia Waterfront Marathon in the beginning of the year. So what about Toronto Marathon? I already did it last year, why again this year? At first I was planning do the Niagara Falls Marathon, but the price was the same and their medal isn't as nice as the Toronto Marathon medal. I also received an email from Toronto Marathon that this year will be a 4-inch huge medal and early bird registration gets this book - 26.2: Marathon Stories. Regardless Toronto Marathon is only 3 weeks after Scotia Marathon, I couldn't resist the temptation of earning that medal and the free book so I registered it.

Pre-race
The forecast has shown it was going to be chilly on Sunday morning, even more cold than last year. Last year I wore a tech fabric long sleeves jacket and a tech t-shirt underneath, it turned out that after 1k I didn't need the jacket at all, I had it tied on my waist for the rest of the race. To avoid that happening this year, I was planning to do what jonovision_man did last year - tshirt + cycling arm warmer. Due to insufficient time to get a arm warmer that I wanted, finally I've deiced I would rather dress not enough than too much, so if I am really cold I would just need to run faster! :-) I wore a singlet + the Toronto Marathon 2009 shirt this year + wrapped myself with a garbage bag. At first I felt the small shirt is kind of small this year, during the race when I saw other people's shirt, it seems they gave me the women's version of small tshirt...

2 nights before Marathon - I was on a train with my daughter. We saw another train next to ours passing by, I can see clearly inside of the other train from our window. There were dead bodies everywhere in the other train, chopped body parts and blood all over the place. I had to cover my daughter's eyes so she wouldn't see such a disturbing scene. It turns out this massacre were committed by a psycho couple, then they killed themselves after killing everybody on that train, the name of the train wasn't TTC or TGV, it was KISS... that was one of the most crazy disturbing nightmare I have ever had.

1 night before Marathon - My son seems having slight fever and teething, he had a bad night... so did we... waking up every 15 - 20 minutes, seriously he probably got up 20 times that night! Out of all the days, he had to pick this night before my Marathon, I am not sure what to say, just suck it up and beat the Marathon!

Starting line
Wife dropped me off at North York around 8:30am, I jogged to the start line with a garbage bag, feels a little weird but I wasn't the only one with garbage bag. I placed myself right next to the "sub 4:00" sign. As more people came and I also saw the pace bunnies came in on the left side, I tried to move back a little aligning myself with the 3:50 and further away from the 3:45 bunny. As the race started, I threw off the garbage bag, and didn't feel cold at all. I was glad that I have picked a short sleeves shirt than a long sleeves. The start was fast, this year I have a Garmin 305, I could control my pace much better. Seeing lots and lots people flew by me in the first 2 kilometers, I am sure a lot of them cannot keep that pace for the entire 42.2, probably not even the first half, I just had to monitor my Garmin and stop the temptation to go out fast with them, which I was disciplined enough this time compare to the mistake in Scotia.

1st incident: damn shoe laces
The first couple kilometers didn't feel that great, I didn't double check the shoe laces before the race started. The shoe laces on my right shoe seems too loose and it was bothering me, I felt I was spending extra energy as it felt a bit loose and my shines felt tired. I started to debate with myself whether I should stop and re-tie my shoe laces after passing 401. Finally after finished the downhill of the ramp to Yorkmills, I told myself do not panic, just take my time to stop on the sidewalk and tie that shoes before attacking Hoggs Hollow. That was the right decision. As my shoes felt right, and people started to slow down on the hill, I was building up confidence and running better. Rather than keeping the same pace every kilometer, I kept the same heart rate that that seems worked well with the up and down hills (although mostly down) on the first half.

The familiar bunny
Somewhere between 15k - 18k, I was running next to the 3:50 group. It appears this 3:50 pace group is doing 10:1. I look at the pacer, wow! he was Jose from Scotia Marathon, the pacer I chased (due got into bad starting corral myself) and followed till close to 30k when my legs cramped. I went up and greeted Jose, he remembered me. I told him my disaster in Scotia, he asked how I felt today. I felt just fine at that point, but I said you never know what's going to happen after 30k... Since I wasn't going to do 10:1, we split after a short chat, he said good luck to me and we going to each other from time to time, which I would hope so. So Jose was pacing 2 marathons in 3 weeks! but I guess this pace is an easy run for him. From that point I would get ahead then the 3:50 group would get close to me and then started walking, that has indicated my pace was on target for 3:50 and very consistent. This continues until I had to go to the washroom...

2nd incident: washroom break
Staring from 10k or so, I kind of wanted to go to washroom... not sure if I hydrated too much or what. However, silly me doesn't want to lose any precious seconds, I kept on holding it but it looks like it would be uncomfortable to run like this for the 2nd half. Finally I've decided to look for a portapodi that doesn't need to line-up before the half way point, it's less stressful to have a slower first half and pick up the pace later. So I took a washroom break at the last aid station before the 21.1k point. After that, I never saw the 3:50 group again, I know they must be ahead of me. But after the washroom break, it felt much better than carry extra liquid on me :-)

After half way on Lakeshore
First half clocked 1:55:25 - 5:28m/k pace. I was feeling great, when we get into the Martin Goodman trail, the weather was just great. Unlike in Scotia Marathon running on Lakeshore, we get to run right next to the lake. I was enjoying the nice view between 21k- 30k. I didn't want to get aggressive before 30k, I just wanted to avoid that stupid calves cramping problem as much as possible. At 27k, 28k, 29k, no sharp pain in my legs, I told myself it's a good sign, now wait till 30k and see what happens. Close to Lakeshore turnaround point, I saw Jose and the 3:50 on the other side, seems they were quite ahead of me... maybe 1k? but I felt my pace shouldn't be too far off. 30k clocked 2:43:45 - still a consistent pace perhaps a little faster than the 1st half, but still some distance behind the 3:50 group.

The fake wall
Shortly after 30k, was it after 30k? I cannot exactly remember, there is this inflatable balloon gate that we had to run through. This is the 2nd year I passed this thing and had no idea what is it for... we just passed the 30k mark so this couldn't be a split point. It was until I read yumke's race report then I realized that was the "wall" - a fake one. Out of 3 marathons, I've yet encounter to hit the wall, it hasn't clicked with my mind that this is the point where the wall begins. At this point I still felt fresh, no signs up cramping - good! now it's time to pick up the pace a little. I started to pick people one by one and passed them.

3rd incident - dropped e-disc:
After 30k one of my goal was to pass others, and avoid people passing me as much as possible. Every time I heard foot steps getting close I would pick up my pace till I drop them within slight range increase of my heart rate, with exception of some really fast ones and I made sure they were relay runners. In this race I was trying something new besides the gel, something called e-disc. The reason was to keep enough sodium and electrolytes in my body to avoid the mysterious cramping issue. e-disc are dissolve-able tablets, I wasn't sure how I was going carry them so I put them in a small plastic zipbag and have them in my fitness belt with my gels. At 30ish km, as I was taking out the zip bag from my belt while running, the entire thing dropped! Lucky the runners behind me didn't step on it, I had to run back and pick it up... and a few runners passed me! that caused a little panic until I passed them.

Heading back
The feeling of passing people, actually packs and packer of runners felt really great. As we headed back to Queen's Quay. This place reminded me running with my ex-colleague R.P. back in 2007 summer, when I was introduced to running and wasn't running regularly. He took me out for a 8k run. Not only that I couldn't keep up but I made him to take so many walk breaks with me. R.P. was the guy who introduced gel to me and brought me into our corp relay team in Mississauga, someone I always appreciated that introduced me into this amazing sport of running. There was a lady running in pink shirt who passed me around 35k, she seems to be running in some insane negative split and not stopping at water stations, I wasn't sure if she was carrying her own drinks or she simply didn't need to be hydrated as she was getting further away from my sight.

To the finish
Soon we started turning north on York Street heading to Queen's Park. My legs were tired since 38k mark, but heart was still pumping comfortable. I decided to motor up for the last 3k. At this point, I started to see the pink lady getting closer and some other familiar faces passed me earlier in the 1st half, I was all pumped up. Although it was gentle uphill incline, I started to get faster and faster, passing more people included that pink lady!

When I passed the 40k mark I realized I had sub-4 in my bag, even if I power walk I could have had a sub-4 finish, I got little emotional... My eyes got a little watery but I realized my contact lenses might slipped off so I didn't let the tears out :-) It sounds a little silly, my time was far off from Boston Qualifying time and my sub-4 is qualifying for nothing, only for myself I guess. Myself as an naive runner who didn't know what running shoes were, who has issues managing his time being a good farther with two little kids, from not training and entering races, from not following training plans and "run when I have time" approach to enter marathons, training by running up north along Yonge street with a backpack weekly and running for 3:30 hours during a snow storm night... this is where I am, I was really proud of myself!

As we enter University Ave. going around the circle on Queen's Park, Jose with his 3:50 bunny ears were in my sight! One guy I passed said to me "go buddy! the 3:50 bunny is right there, go get him!", whoever you were, thank you for your encouragement, I did what you told me to. I couldn't believe I caught up to Jose a few hundred meters before the finish line, I waved to Jose and shout out "Thank you Jose!", Jose responded back "go for it! enjoy your medal!". I tried to sprint but the last 800m or so my legs muscle were stiff and I started to have little cramps, I couldn't do a all-out sprint. My faces were all in agony and this was when I saw my sister taking photos of me, I had mixed of emotions, I waved to her but couldn't have a better facial expression for the shots. After I crossed the finish line, I waited a few seconds for Jose and thanked him again. 3:49:08 - what a finish, average 5:26 m/k pace, I had a blast.
Last 2.5k splits on my Garmin were: 5:01, 5:08, 4:49.

3 weeks, 2 marathons, 10 minutes improvement, negative split finish on a harder 2nd half course, what better can I ask for?

I was living in my dream that nobody passed me until a week later I saw the stats provided by runpix.com
No idea who were the 3 runners passed me... but I really liked these interesting stats provided by the Toronto Marathon, which we don't get in any other races:

Runaway Coupons

2009-10-14T17:21:00.012-04:00

Yesterday was another day that I didn't have enough time to run, end up with a short 4k run on the way back home after work. I suppose to be tapering for the Marathon upcoming on Sunday, not sure running an intensive short run is okay or not... anyhow, the splits and HR were:

1k - 4:43 - 153bpm
2k - 4:33 - 167bpm
3k - 4:33 - 176bpm
4k - 4:23 - 181bpm

The good news was that it was another PR on this 4K route, it seems running at 4:3x - 4:4x isn't that uncomfortable anymore, my heart rate is lower than before! this started to happen after the STWM Marathon on Sept. 27th... The only two reasons I could think of:
1. somehow my fitness level is better after the Marathon?
2. the temperature is much colder these days.
I don't really know what happened but I am just happy as long as I can run faster :-)

The bad news was I forgot to zip a layer on my backpack before the run, I had quite a few coupons in there, they were all gone after the run... Including a 10 dollars off coupon from RunningRoom when I registered for ATB30k next year, good thing was it's a PDF file, I'll print it again.

I'll probably run again today and tomorrow, then take Friday and Saturday off to be ready for the Toronto Marathon.

2009 Scotia Toronto Waterfront Marathon Aftermath

2009-10-07T15:22:00.002-04:00

I've learned quite a few things in this race, the following are the big mistakes:

1. chasing the bunny early in the race - I need a plan B when I couldn't find the bunny and being stuck with huge crowd. I should have ran my own race, pace myself rather than wasting energy and started out too fast to chase the 3:50 bunny. I recall while I was full of frustration during the first 2km, I thought I saw my heart rate around 200... just a few days ago I checked my Garmin history, I did had sky rocked my new maximum heart rate to 205 - result of panic + running between 3ish-4ish min/k!

2. running in a pack - since I have been a lone runner from the beginning, trainning, running by myself almost all the time, my experience of running in a pack was very limited. I was constantly changing my pace during the first 5-10k due to the people that were between me and the bunny. I didn't want to be too far behind the bunny but it frustrated me that there were half marathon runners got in the way and couldn't keep up the same pace. I am not sure how to avoid this in the future with lots of runners... Again, I should stop fighting for a spot and just run my own race.

3. hydration - It appears on humid day I probably lose too much salt or something, my calves started to cramp. This is the 3rd time this happened in a humid day with distance beyond 21k. I probably just need to take more Gatorade at water station or a veteran runner told me that I can try salt tablets.

A quick rundown of my running after the Marathon:

Monday - wanted to rest but it was raining in the morning so I didn't bike to the bus stop, ended up I had to run 2.33km back home. Every part of my legs still hurts especially my calves and quads, average at 6:22m/k with 141bpm.
Tuesday - rest, cavles, knees, quads were all still aching.
Wednesday - I felt about 85% recovered, at the end of the day it was the right calf still aches.
Thursday - Took 2 days off to take my kids to Niagara Falls, I ran around the falls for 4k at night with breaks of taking photos of the falls (really enjoyed the night view of the fall and the solitude). Average at 5:28m/k with 139bpm.
Friday - Headed off to Marine land and drove back home after. It was a raining day and the traffic was just horrible, took me almost 4 hours from St. Catheriine back to Thornhill! that made me much more exhausted than running a Marathon... I hate driving around GTA!
Saturday - rest day, recovering from traffic jam :-)
Sunday - Went out for a 33k run, average at 5:52m/k with 156bpm, felt great although legs were a bit tired after 29k.
Monday - rest, legs were tired from the 33k run.
Tuesday - Legs felt 100% fresh, ran the first fast short run after the marathon. 4k average 4:42m/k with 166bpm. Splits: 4:54, 4:47, 4:40, 4:30. My fastest time on this 4k route ever with a backpack after work! It was a hard run but I didn't feel that exhausted! this is totally weird I don't know what happened.

I know I am probably doing a lot of silly things not following the books, I am just learning more and testing out my body. Let's see what happens on Oct. 18th at Toronto Full. :-)

2009 Scotia Toronto Waterfront Marathon - Photos

2009-10-06T21:30:00.002-04:00

my calves seized up around 27k-28k, then both legs started cramping at 30k

I wasn't going to give up, just ignore the calves pain, but slowing down dramatically.

last stretch to the finish, still cramping but I wasn't going to stop!

somehow this picture looks fine but I was really hobbling to the finish line.

these two pictures shows my terrible "running" form.

trying to look good for the final shot! :-)

2009 Scotia Toronto Waterfront Marathon

2009-09-27T15:23:00.015-04:00

What a disaster! from the beginning to the end of this race, a race full of frustration.

I arrived there around 30 or 35 minutes before the start of the race. Huge amount of clueless crowd, or maybe I was the only clueless one? I don't know. I couldn't see the start line at all, following the crowd trying to get to the start with the correct corral, there was no sign nor support crew to clarify where to line-up. Finally another runner told me to look at the colour of balloons. But there were two colours of balloons in one section, why do they group up red & yellow, blue & green??
This is what they advertised:
„X Red: 2:30 to 3:10 marathoners, 1:15 to 1:35 half marathoners, 0:20 to 0:29 for 5kers
„X Yellow: 3:11 to 3:35 marathoners, 1:36 to 1:47 half marathoners, 0:30 to 0:44 for 5kers
„X Blue: 3:36 to 3:59 marathoners, 1:48 to 1:59 half marathoners, 0:45 + for 5kers
„X Green: 4:00 to 4:45 marathoners and 2:00 to 2:15 half marathoners
„X Purple: 4:46+ marathoners and 2:16+ half marathoners

There were purple people thought they were blue! and there were a few of us blue full marathon runners got stuck with bunch of green half marathon runners! this is a huge race, why did they make full marathon and half marathon starting at the same time? Toronto Marathon was a much smaller race, half and full were started at different time. I had to jog, sprint, dodge tons of people trying to find the 3:50 bunny, but I still stuck with bunch of green corral people! Finally I saw the 3:50 continuous bunny, he was 600m-800m ahead of me, I was in panic mode as I couldn't get to him and the race already started, my first km was basically chasing after him, I was running at 3:59 - 4:49min/km just to catch him up! started out too fast but I had no choice, a start of the disaster race.

The first 5 kilometers were very frustrating, basically I was constantly trying to fight a spot to stay not too far behind the bunny pacer. Why was there so many half marathoners following a 3:50 marathon bunny? this makes me think why would I ever want to go to another marathon with huge amount of runners, such as NYC or Chicago, perhaps it is better organized over there I hope. As we get into 10k, things were more settled, runners speard out more and I was able to get closer to the bunny pacer. My heart rate were steady around 175, legs were crusing the course just fine. The pacer told us we were on pace for a 3:48 finish, I felt fine so I kept my pace with them. Things were uneventful except we started to see a few runners with us dropped behind, at half way it shows the we clocked about a 1:53 half marathon, I thought it maybe a bit faster but everything was under control and comfortable except the air was a bit humid.

At around 25k, there were only 3 of us from the original group following the pacer. 27k, still going great but all of a sudden I felt a sharp pain in my right calf, I knew this may not be a good sign, soon at 28k, same deal goes on my left calf... 30k we clocked 2:42, but both of my calves seized up... I knew this is the same thing happened last year with midsummer night 30k, seems my calves just gave up on longer distance when humidity is high. I had to pull aside and start stretching, from this point I never get to see the bunny pacer again. The frustrating experience began again, every couple hundred meters I had to stop, stretch and run a bit. My heart rate was dropping to 160ish, it really frustrate me that my engine is fully functional and going easy, but my wheels just doesn't go. My legs kept on crampping, I had to stop and stretch, this continues all the way to 40k. At around 40-41k, I saw the 4:00 bunny pacer passed me, I knew my goals were toasted. Not only I cannot make 3:50 but I might not even make it under 4hours.

Last 2.195k I gave up on stretching, both of my legs were screaming but I kept on going. My hobbling pace is barely around 6:00min/k, when I saw there was 500m left, I bite my teeth hard, going with my "fast hobbling" technique, I was only able to make to 5:22min/k pace... I saw 3:59 on my watch, but still 200m to go and I couldn't sprint at all, really crushed my heart. At the end - it was 4:00:29.3 chip time.

After the race, I was not tired but my legs were trashed, I almost fell while walking out. The volunteer had trouble to take off the chip off my shoe laces, and she was going to untie my shoe laces! *&^%@! I had to bend my cramping legs to sit on the ground and pull off the chip for her, I swear it wasn't that complicated! as I was hobbling to exit the city hall, someone behind me pushed a wheel chair and ran into my achilles! what else is there to add to my horrible experience today!

The only two accomplishments were:
- I passed David Miller at around 5k, he was doing a half marathon.
- If I am a woman 45-49 I am qualified for Boston! lol

What I was disappointed about this race:
- Confusing start line
- Bad corral arrangement
- Full/Half started at the same time
- Humid day (but I heard it was already much better than last year)

Will I do it again? maybe only to get it under 4 hours, but I really need to think about it if they don't seperate the start time of full and half. Although it was still a PB to last year's Toronto Marathon - 4:05:10.2 but I enjoyed the experience with Toronto Marathon much more.
End of my complaints and excuses.

Awakening before Waterfront Marathon

2009-09-25T11:55:00.006-04:00

What a dead blog I got... I haven't been able to catch up on updating my recent races.

a quick flashback for the past 2 months:

AUG 08 - Albion Hills Enduro - 1:11:40.6 overall: 112/263 category: 38/59
I felt I gave it all, but result is nothing to be excited about.

AUG 23 - Bill Harper 5k - 23:26
cursed by the course and time, exactly the same time down to seconds as last year, quite disappointed.

SEP 07 - Labour Day Oakville Half Marathon - 1:48.02
a perfect race with negative split, reached my sub 1:50 goal with fuel left in me!

SEP 12 - Horseshoe Resort Enduro - 1:33.12.6 overall: 54/164 category: 15/31
took easy on this last race of 5peaks series, surprised to came out above average in category placing!

The Scotia Waterfront Marathon is in 2 days, it will be my 2nd marathon, first Marathon of this year. This is a redemption for the sub 4 hours goal I failed last year. I am going to follow the 3:50 pace bunny and see how I feel, I am going to treat this as a training run as it turns out I always do better when I don't take it as a "race".

Garmin Forerunner 305

2009-08-11T20:24:00.003-04:00

Aug, 2009

Finally I bought a garmin forerunner 305 It is on sale in costco for 179 in store and 184 online. I wanted this toy since about. a year ago after I broke the crappy nike sportband+ within 3 months! this cool gadget is around 160 on amazon.com unfortunately I am not going to USA this year and amazon.com doesn't ship this to canada... K.W. told me about this amazing deal. Two of my friends also bought it after I told them about this.

This little thing doesn't just track your pace/distance accurately but it has so many features and training programs built-in. So far my two complaints are that the software doesn't support linux and the buttons on the side needs to press a bit harder than I expected.

March, 2010

After using this watch for 7 months, I don't have much complaints beside the side rubber buttons are wearing out, I had to put some transparent adhesive on top of the buttons to protect it. The garmin connect website they provide is an excellent tool that I am able to analysis my progress of training and also greatly helped during races.

5 Peaks 2009 - RattleSnake Point Enduro

2009-07-18T08:48:00.008-04:00

Bang! the right side of my face, shoulder and knee landed on the wet board... I stood up, it's dark in the woods, the board walk was wet and slippery after the thunder storm. I managed to keep up with all the muddy trail and jumped over countless slippery rocks, but the boardwalk took me down, this is rattlesnake enduro.

Weather forecast said it is going to rain, it wasn't until I got to Milton then it started to rain and lightening as well. We stood in the rain waiting to check-in and pick up the race kit. They have annouced due to lighenting the race is delayed for 30mins and if the lightening kept on going till certain time, then the race would be cancelled. It didn't look good at all as it was pouring, but it didn't last long and lightening stopped, just before the race started the sky was clear.

So I've heard rattlesnake is the most difficult out of 5peaks in southern Ontario region, it is a rocky trail. It wasn't exactly as I expected, or I would say I have under estimated how a rocky trail would be like. The thunder shower made the terrain even more challenging, where the rocky parts were slippery and the rest were no better as it was muddy. It was difficult to run on rocks, you need to determine the nexy steatdy rock with the right size for your foot to land on, so from time to time I would have to jump instead of run. In trail run it makes more sense to change your pace according to the terrain rather than keeping a consistent pace, which makes a bit difficult to keep track how well you are doing in a race, but I believe I was keeping up with a reasonable pace as I have been passing people with exception of a few sport course racers that passed me. Approaching 6k mark, there were a few enduro runner turning back, not sure if they were injuried or changed their mind decided to finish the sport course instead, not surprised due to the condition... Things were going well other than my legs seem to be a bit sore since the beginning of the race, probably the after effect of running faster than my normal pace in indy 2.8k two days ago. For a while the runners in front of me were pulling away and the ones behind me were drifting away, I was running by myself and entered the board walk area. I totally didn't pay attention how slippery the board can be, I've avoided falling on the mud and rocks, but the next thing I know I fell on the board walk, and landed on my face too! I stood up and wiped my face, no blood that was a good thing. The runners behind me were approching into my sight, I guess they didn't see my embrarrassing moment. I started running again, I was fine util a little later I felt the sharp pain in my calves... I knew what was going on from the midsummer night 30k experience last year, if I kept on going at the same or faster pace, my calves would be screaming and cramping all the way. From that point, I took a little easy, I ran a bit slower and walk some of the hills... I stay on the right side when it's a double track and let some runners to pass me... I've decided to go easy until the 12k mark, the give it all on the last 700-800m. I wasn't sure if I missed read the 12k mark or the 12k marker was misplaced... It didn't feel like a 700m as my split was only 1:07 min!!! There was no way I would be able to run 700m in that time, that's some world record... I sprint to the finish and passed the only guy in front of me around 200m before the finish, sorry I didn't mean to pretend to go slow and then out kick someone like that but it was to prevent my calves from cramping and also to give it all with a safer distance remaining in the race. However, just as I was bursting into all out speed, my calves started to seized up, I had to slow down to the finish line.

This time I stayed till the end of the event, just hoping to win a lucky draw. The post race events were fun, they were giving out those cool Salomon trail running shoes, there were push-up and orange eating contests. Lots prizes for the draw, then the lucky ones get to pick stuff off the prizes table. Finally, my number was called! I picked a nice Salmon cap, forget about the race result, I was a happy guy.

Race result wasn't that bad, still somehow able to pull an above average overall ranking. Can't wait for the next 5peak race - next prize draw!!! :-)

Something weird about the race result, on the race day it was:

142/298 1:16:20.6

a week later...

141/301 1:17:295

KM	SPLIT	SPLIT PACE	AVG PACE	HR	TOTAL
1.0	05:47.83	05:47.83	05:47.83	178	05:47.83
2.0	04:48.08	04:48.08	05:17.96	179	10:35.91
3.0	05:40.87	05:40.87	05:25.59	181	16:16.78
4.0	05:13.35	05:13.35	05:22.53	182	21:30.13
5.0	07:09.70	07:09.70	05:43.97	183	28:39.83
6.0	07:13.12	07:13.12	05:58.83	182	35:52.95
7.0	05:44.70	05:44.70	05:56.81	172	41:37.65
8.0	05:57.03	05:57.03	05:56.84	179	47:34.68
9.0	08:05.90	08:05.90	06:11.18	182	55:40.58
10.0	05:29.05	05:29.05	06:06.96	179	01:09.63
11.0	06:55.83	06:55.83	06:11.41	178	01:08:05
12.0	07:07.74	07:07.74	06:16.10	179	01:15:13
12.7	01:07.20	01:41.82	06:01.80	185	01:16:20

141/301 FELIX WU THORNHILL 9577 1:17:29.5 6:07 M30-39 42/64

2009 - Honda Indy 2.8k

2009-07-11T19:54:00.010-04:00

Just found out about this race in less than a week before the race. Its a short distance run and walk, I've asked a few friends and colleagues to see if anyone wants to run on indy track, unique distance and cool course! but no takers, not surprised since my sales skill is horrible. My 5peak Rattle Snake Point enduro is coming up this Sat, but a short 2.8 is not taxing at all, as long as I don't go too intensive and kill myself.

Race starts at 6pm, I had to take off early from work as online registration already closed, I had to register in person. Base on my recent race time, my predicted time was 13:xx. But on the back of my mind I want a 12min finish with this pacing strategy:
1k - 4:20
2k - 4:20
Last 800m - 3:20
or even try a sub 4min pace if miracle happens, just the usual unrealistic goal :-)

The place I work to Exhibition Place is less than 4k - a good distance for warm-up. For some reason I missed the entrance and ended up in Ontario Place, I had to run around the Exhibition Place and going back to find the registration hall, took me all together 30 mins finally get to the regstration place, the good thing about not register online is that I didn't have to pay the extra processing fee! There weren't many people for the race and there was a live band, not bad for a small race. Out of nowhere there were bunch of hooters girls showed up!? then lots cameras were pointing at them and taking shots. Not sure what these hooters girls will be doing here, water stations and cheering for us? That would be nice. There were a few minutes delay of the race, finally everyone were asked to go outside get to the start line. I was surprised that the hooters girls came with us to the start line as well, is this some sort of hooters team challenge? They going to run with us?? I'm afraid I would be faster than them, that would be too bad that I couldn't running behind these nice bodies :-( Soon we were asked to do a "fake start" run through start/finish, more pictures and videos were taken, now that explains why those girls were with us at the start...

I looked around at the runners, already figure out the possible placing, the winner of many races - Praderag Mladenovic was there, and there were 6-7 seem to be elite runners. Then there were possibly around 5 veteran runners that would be faster than me for sure. So I placed myself after these guys. There were a few guys placed themselves with the elites, I don't know what were they thinking... Some of them I can tell they are experienced runners but for sure not at elite level. The real start caught me in surprise a little, it was too soon after the fake start. Pacing was quite difficult at start, cause its such a small race, we were just a few steps behind the elites, you really had to discipline yourself not following the elites and a few other fast ones... But how far to keep away from them? It's hard to tell as I don't have a GPS watch to check my pace, I looked at my watch I already rocked my heart rate to 195!!! Definitely way too fast for the first 800m. One funny thing was within 400m one guy in board shorts that ran with the elites already started walking :-) I also passed all those ones that placed themselves up front but started to fade already. Soon after 800m or so I was running behind this kid, probably around 10-12, I tried to keep up with him, there's no reason to kill myself with a young talented kid. I tried to look for km makers but I didn't see any?! I really couldn't follow my initial pacing strategy... all I was doing was to keep up with this kid since there were nobody else around us. It should be around half way, this lady passed me and the kid as well, I couldn't resist then I picked up my pace, I passed the kid, then the side stitch started as well! It wasn't long that the kid passed me again, then another guy passed us... I was actually a bit surprised that this guy was behind us, I saw him at the start line and I knew this is someone I would have a had time to keep up, I guess this shows that he was disciplined to run his own pace without being affected by the elites. As I was hurting, the kid pulled away. I saw some makers indicated 2, but soon I saw 1?! Defintely a mess up or they are the marker for the Indy car race. Anyhow I totally couldn't pace myself right from the beginning and through out the race. Anther guy passed me, I kept myself within 100m behind him. Wanted to give him some competition at the last 200m if possible. That was a silly thought, when we were around 200m before the finish line, he started giving his last kick although there weren't any runners in front of him... I was 100m behind, way too far and too late to start sprinting... I gave up, the only thing I had to beat was the clock! It was over 12min already, let's make a sub 12:30 at least. I gave my last kick, there weren't anybody in front of me anymore and nobody in sight behind me, a bit boring finish. Much of surprise at the finish line, now I know why hooters girls are here for! They gave me the finisher medal ( didn't even expect a medal for this race ), gave me a water bottle and removed my time chip! What better can you ask for? I'll do this race again just for that! :-) I am surprised they didn't advertised this at all! From now on I'll keep my eyes open for race sponsors - beer sponsors, maxim, hooters and etc will be under my radar :-D

They provided post-race food - sandwiches and chicken wings! never seen any race like this, a bit weird but I finished my supper there :-)

Highlights about this race:
- weird distance
- weird running so close after elites
- cool course but no km markers :-(
- runners or non-runners don't know their corral
- hottest supporting crew! :-)
- chicken wings and sandwiches after the race

Overall: 16/80
Category: 12/32
Gun time: 12:28
Chip time: 12:25

5 Peaks 2009 - Durham Forest Enduro

2009-06-24T12:17:00.013-04:00

After winning the Mississauga Marathon Corp Relay, I had the taste of going at 4:01m/k. It definitely boosted up my confidence going at faster pace. I have adjusted my "unplanned training" out of my busy schedule. Unfortunately, both work and family got in the way as usual, I am really terrible in balancing work and life with 2 kids... I have great respect to those parents with more kids. So my planned 8-12k runs were mostly cut down to 3-5k. In mid May I thought about doing the bread and honey 15k but with this progress I didn't want to bother just doing another race targeting a 4:5x pace. Couple other races were also in consideration:
Mud run - fun but poorly organized event, already done it twice... forget it.
Airport 5k - a medal worth to collect and running on the airway would be cool! but it is on the same day as Durham forest. :-(
So there was nothing interesting left but waiting for my heart to jump out on the hills of Durham forest.

This is the 2nd race of 5 peaks series., I never done it before, that is a good thing - no pressure, no matter how bad I do it's going to be a PR. Pacing strategy? none - just make sure my heart rate don't go beyond the average of Chicopee, which was around 183.

Durham forest is located at north west of Pickering, I vaguely remember I have done hiking there many years ago. Getting there from Thornhill, I didn't want waste gas going south to 401 and going back north again, being a cheap guy I also don't want to pay for 407, so hwy7 was my obvious choice. I guess I didn't take this race seriously so I forgot to print out the direction. Driving for close to 1hr east, I found myself lost in the unpaved road around the area... I tried my luck go around the area for another 30mins finally found the place at 9:30am, just 30min before the race almost got myself in panic mode.

Start!
I looked around didn't see JB, he's been bailing out from races since the injury in chilly half, although he still clocked our MMC relay 8k under 30mins! Race waves started with elite, faster than normal and the rest of mere mortals. Seeing 5peaks are more serious runners and triathletes, I placed myself in middle of the last wave. 5 peaks is slightly different than your regular road race, there is no gun time, everyone go by your chiptime, so start placing doesn't affect your placing that much unless its a single track trail from the beginning of the race. I guess I have under estimate myself a bit, as the race started I was passing a lot of people within the first k. There was this dad running with two kids probably around age 10 or so, I was pacing myself behind them but after a while I didn't want to hold back on going downhills, shortly around 1k marker I had to pass them. Soon I found myself behind this lady who seem to be experienced and done this race before, she seem to know the route well and going at a very consistent pace, her breathing was very clam regardless going up or downhills. I thought just to keep up with her could be a good plan not killing myself in the early stage of the game. By going at consistent pace with her we actually passed a few runners, there were 2 runners passed us but it turns out they were doing the sport course.

Going uphills
The Durham forest trail is very winding, endless uphills and downhills repeats... At some point I feel if I was lost in the forest going around the same area... My heart was pumping at low 180s but I didn't feel that bad, I started to lose patient following behind this lady, I charged on downhills passed her, then she would pass me again on uphills. It was after a few uphills I found running uphills seem to take more out of me and really weren't that much faster, instead of running or power walk, I decided to try a new technique - a gorilla walk! I lowered my body swinging my arms wide to power up and take large stride, thinking myself as an ape! Not only I was able to keep up the people running in front of me, it seemed cost less energy and soon I passed that lady and following another pack of runners. There were around 3 female runners in front of me, another one or two guys behind me. When we passed the 6k marker, I heard someone said only 4k left at the aid station, I thought the enduro course is 12k??? but at this point after all those hills I wouldn't mind this is only a 10k race. We kept on going, seem to be passing a wild berries area, the guy behind me asked if anyone wanted to stop for berries... but we were just trying to catch up our breath so couldn't really respond, this was a good indication the guy had more left no wonder he passed us later in the race. So we have passed the 10k marker, finish line was nowhere to be seen, the guy at aid station was giving us (well, at least me) false hope... the young guy behind me took off, then soon I also passed a couple runners on another uphill, at this point I was running alone, the ones I passed were about 100-200m behind me.

Sand in the forest?
It was weird that I entered a sand area, sand in middle of the forest? I had no idea why... my tired foot sank into the sand every step... This makes me have a doubt about the planned Sahara race years down the road... How much does it take to run on sand plus the heat for 250k over 5 days? hard to imagine. Can't really remember where it was but probably shortly after 11k there was a big trunk of the tree blocking the trail, we had to go around to pass it... The runners behind me were catching up, and then two of them passed me... I was tired and there wasn't any downhill so I wasn't up to the challenge, I really wasn't sure how much further to go and how much I have left in me..

To the finish line
Looking at the lap time on my watch I know we are approaching 12k, still no sign of the finish line... There's more to go???. One runner charged and passed me another one came up running next to me, I don't feel I can keep up with the one passed me, so I kept running side by side with the one next to me. Then I saw the 12k marker, and the finish line is a few hundred meters away. Its about time I start to sprint, as soon as I changed my stride and speed up, I felt fresh and new again, it seems like I got a backup tank or UPS power supply in my body. I pulled away from the one next to me and The one in front of me was within a hundred meter away, in seconds I passed her, I kept the fast pace till about 50m left then I went all out to cross the finish line and trying to set a break after the finish line not to run into the crowd. The volunteer chased me down to get the time chip off my foot, sorry my brain wasn't really functional after that sprint...

After I saw the official results from sportstats and did some math, turns out it was 300 meters after the 12k mark and I clocked a 3:37 pace for the last 300 meters! I have read somewhere saying do not sprint to the finish in a long distance race, not only it is unwise but it could be dangerous. But I couldn't help it, my strength of the game is only that last 1 minute or less... That is the only time when I can feel I am the fastest :-)

I was pleased with my result, still below average in my age category, but that is something I can work on. My heart rate puzzled me, I have been told that pumping at 180 something seems too high for my age and I probably won't last too long. Last time at Chicopee at average of 183-184 lasted 56 minutes and this time at average of 182 it last 70 minutes! Sure it was tiring but it wasn't painful that I had to stop at any point. Perhaps, my heart rate is just higher than normal, I hope that is the case.

Another thing I realized after the race is that there is a random draw after all 5peaks races for prizes! I've always rushed home every time after the race so that I am not taking away too much family time from kids, but then I just missed the draws for two races... :-(

My colleague suggested that I should stop doing the creepy smile to the photographer, that is probably the reason my picture was the only blurry one out of all...

KM	SPLIT	SPLIT PACE	AVG PACE	HR	TOTAL
1.0	04:55.40	04:55.40	04:55.40	175	04:55.40
2.0	05:56.32	05:56.32	05:25.86	183	10:51.72
3.0	06:27.38	06:27.38	05:46.37	186	17:19.10
4.0	05:02.76	05:02.76	05:35.47	184	22:21.86
5.0	06:17.20	06:17.20	05:43.81	182	28:39.06
6.0	06:39.75	06:39.75	05:53.14	182	35:18.81
7.0	05:28.95	05:28.95	05:49.68	183	40:47.76
8.0	05:24.37	05:24.37	05:46.52	179	46:12.13
9.0	06:00.05	06:00.05	05:48.02	180	52:12.18
10.0	05:28.43	05:28.43	05:46.06	182	57:40.61
11.0	06:14.78	06:14.78	05:48.67	180	01:03:55
12.0	05:43.14	05:43.14	05:48.21	179	01:09:39
12.3	01:00.82	03:37.21	05:45.22	190	01:10:39

86/252 FELIX WU THORNHILL 8674 1:10:39.2 5:45 26/47

Mercedes-Benz 10K 2009

2009-05-16T09:43:00.017-04:00

10K after 5Peaks Enduro - receipt for injury?
This was an unplanned race as I only found out about it around 1 month ago. At the time I had already registered the 5peaks series, I was debating with myself if this was a good idea to do a back-to-back race, both distances were short, not too taxing. Knowing this race might not be an annual event, I couldn't resist the temption of collecting the unique Mercedez medal, I signed up before the early bird deadline. Injury free or medal? I picked medal.

To the start line
Sunday morning started out around 10 degrees, it was nice and cool for a race. I didn't feel the any damage from the Chicopee race while I jogged to the start line. There were a lot of people, the corral divided into 30 - 39 and 40 - 49 sections and a lot of people after. Although I didn't plan to kill myself as I just had a trail race the day before, but on the back of my mind I wanted to register a sub 50min 10k on sportstats.ca if possible. I placed myself on the back of the 40-49 corral. There were a group of teen runners next to me, in most races a lot young runners started out too fast and faded right after 1-2k, I know I had to be discipline not following their pace and only shoot at a 5min/k pace to start with.

1-2k
As I placed myself on the back of 40-49min corral and planned on going out with 5:00min/k pace I didn't expect to pass people on the 1st km. Interesting thing was that the group of teen runners next to me didn't start out fast at all, actually they were going too slow, after about 2min I had to take of and I kept on passing a lot of people, I was sure I wasn't going out too fast at all.. I was just surprised how come these people placed themselves in this corral and went out so slow. When I hit 1k marker it was 4:50, a bit faster than I expected but it was flat and a bit of downhill so I didn't worry too much I just had to slow down a little bit and move on. 2-4k, breathing was totally fine, I was happy that I kept on going at consistent 4:55 pace and for the first time running a sub 5 min pace I don't feel like going into an oxygen debt like I use to, but my legs were sore and heavy, perhaps this was the after effect from 5peaks race the day before, I told myself this just temporary and hoping my legs would get fresh (or numb...) after couple more. Towards to the 5k marker it was a downhill, I took the advantage of gravity, speed up to 4:49. At 5k marker, but there were 2-3 runners passed me.. I was planning on doing a negative split with faster 2nd half, but apparently
they were doing a faster negative split than me.

5k-8k
There were no pack of runners were doing the same pace as me, I find myself running alone most of the time or on occasion running with another runner or two, but they seem to be faded away one by one. I didn't think I was going faster but the soreness of my legs were gone, I felt I was running with moderate effort and I simply enjoy the view of Lakeshore in Oakville, there are lots big trees along the lake in Oakville. I didn't want to try faster as I was afraid this under control feeling is just a temporary illusion.. my legs might get a cramp like the mid summer night 30k in 2008... Lucky none of those disaster happened, although I was unable to catch up those ppl passed me at 5k (I couldn't even see them anymore after 7k) but I was passing other runners one by one with a slightly faster pace than the first half.

9k-finish
In the past I always change my stride too late in the game, after every finishing kick I find myself had more left in me. This was because I alway relying on seeing the finish line before switch my speed. This time I decided I am going to change the pace base by time. So far I have been running at 4:5x pace consistently, after 2min passed 9k, do I have enough left to sprint the rest of around 600m? sure, shouldn't be
a problem. When my watch shows 46:00, I picked up my pace, started to pass more runners. Soon I reached Appleby college, I know it was only around 200m left to the finish line, I started sprinting! passing packs of runners, as I turned into the entrance of the college towards to the finish line I was going all out speed, 3-4 runners saw me passing, looking surprised, I loved their look... I am an average or maybe below average distance runner but the last 200m I would try outrun everyone in front of me :-) Just as I was so happy running to the finish line, there was one runner in front of me... This was the lady who passed me at 5k! Noooo! please don't get into my finish line photo! she finished 1s in front of me looking effortless... obviously I couldn't match her speed between 5k-9.9k :-( I only wish the finish line was 25m further...

Self Evaluation
Overall I was happy with my performance, I didn't repeat flaws I have made in the past.
- did not stop at water station, stopping at water station always made me stop and walk, wasting precious 1 minute in every station.
- finally done a race with some sort of negative split!
- started finishing kick in better timing than the past, maybe could even done it 5 or 10s earlier
- It was a such perfect race for myself until the very last 1s, I ran all out right behind someone looking effortless in the finish photos :-)

48:39 - better than the previous unofficial record 49:55
Although this is not a record that I can brag about, but I was proud of myself that this race was done after chcopee enduro, it was done with moderate effort and did not hurt.

KM	SPLIT	SPLIT PACE	AVG PACE	HR	TOTAL
1.0	04:50.86	04:50.86	04:50.86	166	04:50.86
2.0	04:55.22	04:55.22	04:53.04	176	09:46.08
3.0	04:55.10	04:55.10	04:53.73	177	14:41.18
4.0	04:55.23	04:55.23	04:54.10	177	19:36.41
5.0	04:49.90	04:49.90	04:53.26	176	24:26.31
6.0	04:53.00	04:53.00	04:53.22	176	29:19.31
7.0	04:53.39	04:53.39	04:53.24	178	34:12.70
8.0	05:01.22	05:01.22	04:54.24	175	39:13.92
9.0	04:53.56	04:53.56	04:54.16	177	44:07.48
10.0	04:32.22	04:32.22	04:51.97	178	48:39.70

Felix WU Thornhill 935 49:01.9 48:39.7 4:55 Men 30 - 34 13/33 134/363

What did I get in the race kit? lots of good stuff
- a cool new balance black tech shirt
- pair of new balance socks
- box of gum (30x+)
- the 2nd quality finisher medal I got so far next to the Toronto Marathon medal
There were something else I couldn't remember, but it was a super deal for $40 registration fee!

5 Peaks 2009 - Chicopee Enduro

2009-05-02T09:38:00.019-04:00

Why 5 Peaks?
5 Peaks is a trail running series across Canada, I wanted to do this series back in 2007, but the dates of the race usually conflict with many other road races. Trail hiking has plant a seed for me to running, the only trail run I have done so far was mud run, I was excited to try the 5 peaks series!

Problem of running in trails
I really had no idea how to pace in trail run as I rarely run in trails. There are trails around my neighbourhood, although I love trails so much but I do have a fear of running alone in trails... why? because 75% of the time I ran into unleashed dogs in trails, some of them were friendly some were not! most of the time I had to stop and walk, acting friendly (thus break my training/running rhythm) to get by. There was one time in Claireville Conservation area I ran into a school of unleashed agressive dogs! 10-20 of various breeds, the owner (probably a dog walker) was nowhere to be seen!! lucky I spotted the dogs were coming from far, I hide for a while and managed to get away before the dogs teared me apart... Another time I got charged by a doberman! The law is there but it is not enforced and people don't obey the law. So far I have no solution to run safely in trails unless I carry a pepper spray, but I don't really want to harm the dogs, it is really owner's fault! Back to the pacing strategy, I decided to put on the heart rate monitor just to make sure I don't make my heart pumping at max range and kill myself on the trail... There was no goal for this race, since I have never done it before, no matter how bad it is going to be a PB, plus I have a 10k race the next day.

The Race
The course was located in Chicopee - a ski hill in Kitchener. Weather was quite dramatic on that day, when I left home it was around 4 degrees, once I reached Chicopee it was still around 10 I believe. Within 30 minutes just right before the race started, temperature has raised to 20 above! soon it gets hot and humid. On top of the hill there were still snow melting, which made the entire hill nicely muddy, all natural mud... First k was the most difficult terrain, as we had to zig-zag up the slippery muddy hill, definitely not a good place to fall unless you want a muddy facial. Similar to mud run, most trails were single track and you get stuck by slower runners, on the 2nd km I managed to passed some people when the trail turns. Looking at my heart rate it was pumping 180ish, I know if I keep on going at that pace my heart would jump out of my chest and blow up sooner or later, I settled around 6:30min/km pace. Around 4km there was another hill to climb, I had no idea how I was doing in the race with this pace, but I saw this tall fit triathlete who reminds me of Chris Lieto, he was walking! I know either he's having a bad day or I am not doing too bad. At this point I wanted to take a walk as well, but the lady next to me encouraged me to see who makes to the top, whoever you were, thank you! Runners who were doing the sport course was directed to go downhill to the finish line, but for the rest of us.. back to the zig zag muddy hill again... I started walking up the hill, so did all the people around me. I don't think I have walked this much in any of the races, I guess this is lack of training on hills, I started to question myself why did I sign up for Enduro instead of the Sport course! The later half of the course, I managed to keep the same pace and stayed with a pack around my pace. As people were fading I became the front of the pack, but I definitely didn't want to be pressured as the first of the pack. However, it was unavoidable when the lead girl slowed down just before the 8k mark. Lucky the downhill to the finish line soon appeared, I started sprinting downhill, to run down the hill was further than it looked like... I thought I had to slow down to get enough air so I can make to the finish line, but as soon I heard the crowd cheering, I kept on going faster! great finish but too fast for the photographer to get a closer shot. :-)

This race was well organized, route markers and km markers were clearly visible, unlike during mud run 2008 me and another runner got lost on one part of the trail! there seem to be more hard core trail runners in the 5 peak series, many with those fancy trail running shoes such as Salomon XT wings - really cool looking shoes, I want one of those! So the final result, not too bad and I enjoyed the challenging course and running in trail!

KM	SPLIT	SPLIT PACE	AVG PACE	HR	TOTAL
1.0	06:33.84	06:33.84	06:33.84	177	06:33.84
2.0	05:28.09	05:28.09	06:00.97	185	12:01.93
3.0	06:40.61	06:40.61	06:14.18	186	18:42.54
4.0	06:12.53	06:12.53	06:13.77	184	24:55.07
6.0	14:39.70	07:19.85	06:35.80	182	39:34.77
8.0	13:17.93	06:38.97	06:36.59	182	52:52.70
8.6	03:45.32	06:15.53	06:35.12	187	56:38.02

108/259 FELIX WU THORNHILL 8277 56:38.2 6:36 M30-39 36/55

2009 Harry's Spring Run-Off 8k - end of my PB streak

2009-04-05T15:59:00.013-04:00

I am just way too slow in blogging the flashback of past races and my running journeys. I am going to have to blog this first since I really disappointed myself.

The reason I signed up for this 8k is a test run to see how well I can do in a 8k this year, since the corp relay of Mississauga Marathon is coming up in May, each of us will be doing a 8k and the last anchor runner will be doing 10.2k. Last year while I was still new to running, under the pressure of our fastest guy doing the leg before me (he did his 8k around 29 minutes!) I pushed myself to the limit did it in 39ish minutes and kept our lead in corp relay, although we didn't win but that is another story for me to blog later. After that relay it gave me a lot of confidence, I did Alfie Shrubb Classic 8k 2008 in 38:57. The goal of this race was to beat that time.

The weather started cold, I thought it was going to rain but it didn't, it was crazy windy and the temperature was around 2 - 3 degrees in the morning. Probably under dressed, I felt really cold and was shivering at the start line, much worse than the Chilly Half back on March 1st. First 2k went just fine, average a 4:35 pace, which is a little faster than the 4:45 I planned, probably because I charged on the downhill at 2k. On 3kI slowed down to 4:58 on 3k. Around 4k I stopped at water station and took two cups as I thought I could recharge myself after the uphill, but I didn't really feel the need of hydration and nor felt better after, soon I realized I spent 5:27 for that km... I had to catch up for the time I lost, while anxiously catching up the time I missed the 5k marker, so I wasn't sure what my 5k split was. For the last 2k I couldn't hold up the sub 5 min pace anymore, the last steep hill added extra 10 seconds, although I managed to sprint the last few hundred meters to pass some people but my lung was out of air.

For some reason I thought I saw the gun time was 39:1x (probably getting dizzy after the hill...), so I thought my chip time should be similar to last year but I was wrong, it turns out the official chip time was 39:30 until I checked on the website. I was being stupid not setting the watch to the mode showing the total time, I had it set to show only split time per k and my brain couldn't do addition while running out of gas!

The wind and the hilly course beat me, it was a more challenging course than Alfie 8k. Despite all these factors (or my excuses), it still probably means there's no improvement in me since last June! I understand for 2.5 months after my 2nd baby was born I couldn't keep up with running much, but since mid February I have been runing a bit more and I have been going to the track do those killer 800 repeats recently! just last weekend I did a 5k run myself in 24:14 with moderate effort, I thought it was a good sign. All these efforts gone to waste... Now I have a month till the Mississauga Marathon relay, I think I simply have to run more than 3 times a week!

KM	SPLIT	SPLIT PACE	AVG PACE	TOTAL
1.0	04:34.60	04:34.60	04:34.60	00:04:35
2.0	04:36.37	04:36.37	04:35.49	00:09:11
3.0	04:58.44	04:58.44	04:43.14	00:14:09
4.0	05:27.61	05:27.61	04:54.26	00:19:37
6.0	09:43.23	04:51.62	04:53.38	00:29:20
7.0	05:00.26	05:00.26	04:54.36	00:34:21
8.0	05:09.36	05:09.36	04:56.23	00:39:30

339   39:50.8  4:59   39:30.1 2609 WU, FELIX   279/1042  50/186  Men 30 - 34

I actually found myself in this picture :-)

Bill Harper 5k 2007

2009-03-21T14:19:00.011-04:00

13 hours after mid summer nights run 15k, it was the bill harper 5k. It was not the smartest move to schedule a back to back race like this, but I did it for the two irrational reasons:
- it was only $10 bucks!
- At this point I had done a trail 10k, 15k and a 10 mile, no 5k races yet.

My friend back in Taiwan once told me, when he was in the army, the entire group had to run a 5k with full gear loaded for 23:30, if you couldn't keep up with the group then you are screwed and that is the minimum time you must meet to "pass". So the unrealistic goal I set this time is 23:30, although I never tried the goal pace for 5k nor have full gear loaded - probably not allowed during the race here :-)

I have convinced a few other non-runner friends of mine also signed up this race, the only runner I know - Alan didn't want to do any 5k cause he claims he's really slow in short distance and his body takes 5k to get warmed up :-( This race is located on the Toronto centre island. Richard Y. and myself both arrived the dock just when the last ferry left to the island which would make on time for the race... We got there about 5 minutes late, it was obvious that when we got to the start line, nobody was there... since the race was timed by the event organizer manually for each individuals, he was really nice that he would still let us run and take down our time.

Soon I realized my legs weren't fresh, and I can feel my knees. It wasn't hurting but they were definitely tired. It was before the half way, probably around 1 or 2k, we saw the winner of the race already on the way back, this was the first time I saw Danny Kassap but I didn't know much about him at the time. Around half way I know 23:30 wasn't going to happen... Richard Y. was definitely in a better shape, I just had to push myself to keep up with him. I was sure Richard could run faster but he didn't want to leave me there, so he didn't speed up till the last few hundred meters. This was probably the only race up-to-date that I had no fuel left at the end for a sprint finish. Richard's time was 25:14, I was 25:22 but somehow they mixed up us I end up taking Richard's time on the result :-)

For 10 bucks the stuff you get for this race was AMAZING! free subway sub for lunch, lots water and varieties of pops, drinks, free cotton tshirt and LOTS PRIZES!! I would say almost everyone got a prize, I end up got a Adidas tech shirt! I was excited of getting all these freebies.

23:30 the minimum standard that my friend had met in the army burned into my mind, I knew I would come back again next year for redemption.