The actual race course with elevation.
The race course announced earlier.
Thanks to Roy's inquisitive mind, I have a better idea of the race course. Although it wouldn't have any effect in my position for the next day, but it definitely helps me navigate better. I trust Roy more than the marshals =p The race site Padang Merbok is just 10 minutes away from my house, this saves a lot of my precious sleep time. Almost every weekend I had to travel from Lumut to KL for races so it's kinda tiring to drive up and down. My mum was the one who settled my race kit collection, she is very familiar with Wisma OCM area as she has been helping me with race kits since my junior years racing. During those days, FTAAA organizes many races at Dataran Merdeka with an affordable price. Nowadays the race quality has improved, we have timing chips and more sponsors coming in, so the race fees has increased. When I was a state runner, Under 18 could kick the Men Open's ass in a 10km race. May be due to the pricey race fees, not many MSSKL runners participate in weekend races.
I arrived at the race site an hour earlier than the reporting time, walked around the tents and didn't see any familiar faces. Not long before the race start, I saw Roy my savior. He brought Hammer Anti Fatigue for me =) He wore the black team2ndskin tee, Skechers GoSpeed2, Garmin 920xt. From head to toe we wore exactly the same gear! =p We have the same hairdo too. I always carry a bottle of plain water for me to sip prior to flag off while talking to friends. Walking towards the starting line, I saw a line up of many familiar fast runners. This course is going to be a hilly one, Roy did his homework.
First kilometer was comparatively slow, I managed to do a 3.35mins/km to pace myself at the front. As the incline gradually increase, the front pack pushes the pace up to stretch the field become a long thin line. This is like a "Only The Strong Survives" kind of situation. I reduced my effort a little, save it for the biggie double hills. I ran at 4.09mins/km for km2 then slowed down to 4.43mins/km as I ascended. There are some overtaking here and there and I put the effort to retain my position, I just hope to score good timing for this race to gauge how fast can I go for a 10km race.
This is how the actual course looks in satellite view.
Kilometer 5 and 6 was the hardest. The slope gets steeper, but the runners in front of me didn't slow down even a tiny bit. Distance marking was alright this time, sufficient water station and better route marking. It's better to do a big loop rather than loops if the marshal don't clearly know the course. Today it's gonna be a big loop because of DBKL's instructions. They served us with plain water along the course, I showered at every water station. Grab two cups from the table, pour it into my mouth, hold it for a few steps before drinking it bit by bit. Many amateur runners literally "drown" when they try to act like pro without mastering this skill. I learned this from triathlete friends =)
Snapped by my father =)
Kilometer 7 to 8 we picked up the pace, not much racing distance left. Two Indian state runners ran next to me with super wide stride, smoked me within minutes. Saw my father at the junctions taking pictures of me, the sun shined right onto my face giving him the perfect angle to take photo. Then come Yuan Yu Fang... I must be too slow that this veteran lady can come near me=p I ran harder and harder to leave her behind, not very gentleman right? I know=p The finishing was a downhill section with super sharp right hand bend.
Average pace 4.16mins/km
Garmin connect shows that my cadence is pretty inconsistent for this race. I have more green dots that blue dots. My average running cadence was 170 strides per minute with average stride length of 1.38m. My highest cadence recorded (190spm) is the average cadence of the Kenyan runners! =p No wonder they're so fast. My aim is to score average cadence of 175spm in all races disregard terrain.
The finishing arch.
Team 2ndskin in action.
Botak brothers with the same race uniform =p
I finished the race in 40 mins 14 seconds. It took me a while to catch my breath. 10km is too fast for me. Roy arrived 6 minutes later, he told me he doesn't know what to do next. He is an ultra runner, 10km is like a warm up for him! Two weeks ago he did an ultra, yesterday ran a 15km LSD, today he is doing a speedy 10km. I will need to incorporate more speedwork and core workouts to gain more speed, obviously 4.00mins/km pace is not enough to sting. Slowly but surely, I believe I can get there =) That's about all for my third race for the year.
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