ENR2011 was my first half marathon for 2011. I've been preparing for the race for a good 10 weeks, following the same plan I followed last year, which was Ryan Hall's training plan. But I guess this year I was able to follow maybe 80% of the plan, compared to just maybe 60-70% last year. & for that I'd expected to be in a better shape this year. The race turned out to be an event to remember, partly becoz of my running but mostly due to the very unorganized nature of the race, with a lot of firsts for me.
Race Build-up
Although I tried to stick to my training plan as much as I can, there was some things that we can't really control. After I came back from Penang for Malakoff, I got sick & never really recovered until last 3-4 days before ENR. & I really dunno the exact reason. I had sore throat that seemed to go on forever. I took maybe 3 days break after Malakoff, but the thing was that I was never able to train at the level that I was supposed to even after that break. I even had to cut short my final long distance the week before ENR becoz I was so tired. I had trouble keeping to my target pace & a host of other problems. So my race build up was far from ideal.
New equipment
I've been considering a new training watch for quite sometime. I've been using my Polar RS300sd for more than a year (since Oct. 9th, 2009). Of course I had experience with Polar before during my cycling days so it was fine. But the more complicated my training becomes, the more I feel the shortcomings of the Polar unit. Especially during intervals.
So I began to study Garmin products. Particularly the Forerunner 210. It was one of a newer model from Garmin targetted at intermediate runners. It was on sale for RM945 during last month's PC Expo but at that time I didn't think much of it. But after much studying, I decided to go for it thru one of the resellers. Unfortunately the deal was called off even after I'd placed a deposit for the product as it didn't include the footpod. Of course the 210 is a GPS device, but I also do intervals indoors on treadmills, so a footpod is necessary. I decided to wait for the PC Fair.
Unfortunately the distributor didn't have any stock ready during the PC Fair. I'd taken a day's off just so that I can go to the PC Fair (something I've not done for quite sometime, I used to be a loyal visitor to PC Fairs) to get it at RM899. After much consideration, I decided to go for the current top-of-the-line Forerunner, the 410. It costs only RM200 more with more features, but still without the footpod. But I guess that'll have to do for the moment. & guess what ? I bought the 410 just 4 hours before I was supposed to start the ENR.
Equipment choice.
Shoes. I've been training with my new Asics Gel Speedstar 5 for about 120km, including the Malakoff. But something was just not right. I'd even replaced the laces with Lock Laces. It was light alright, but I guess I need more time with it. So I decided to go with my tried & tested Newton Neutral Racer. I used it for my final hillsprints on Thursday.
Tights/shorts. This was an easy choice. I bought CW-X compression tights just 2 weeks before the race & although I only had less than 10km with it, it was so comfy that I decided to use it for the race instead of my usual Nike running tights. Good choice.
Vest. I had two choices for tops. Usually I'd use my fire engine red Nike vest, which was really, really light. But after I bought the green-colored Speedstar 5 I bought another similar Nike vest in green as well. I thought it was the same as the red one, but it was different. & although it was the same size, the green one felt roomier. So I went with the green one.
Tackonz. After Malakoff I bought one of those Tackonz from Azam. With Tackonz I dun need to use pins to stick the racebib to my vest. & tht'll put my bib belt out of action as well. But it turned out that sticking the bib with the Tackonz was not as easy as I'd thought.
Ultimate Directions fuel belt. I went with it as usual & this time I really needed it coz the water stations was just disastrous. I also brought 3 GU gels with me, the 1st time I'm using Gu for races, usually it was Powergel.
Headgear. I decided not to wear any caps, instead I went with just my Oakleys.
The Race.
I got to the circuit pretty early, at about 6:45. So I waited to perform my maghrib prayers before proceeding to the start line. The start line was pretty far from the entrance where the surau is, so I did my warm up on the way there. I didn't see any counter or signages that points to the headlights collection, & when I got to where it was supposed to be, all that was left was just empty boxes. No matter, I thought, one less thing to carry.
Once I got to the track, I made my way to the start & I saw one group of runners was flagged off. It was the marathon runners. I'd earlier thought they were flagged off much earlier, at 6pm or something. With a 7:45 start time, it's gonna be way too late for even the average runner to finish the marathon. It'll take at least 4 hrs I'd reckon. So a 7:45pm start is very, very late.
I dun even know those in the starting area was the half marathon runners. I knew the start time was 8pm, but there was no announcement or reminders. Even as the so-called race director brief there was no mention of the category. He was busy reminding everybody where the water stations are & for everyone to step onto the timing mat. It was really bizarre to have just one small timing mat, which was no bigger than a lane on normal road, for 5000 runners to step onto. That will comeback to haunt us later in the evening.
My raceplan was run between 6:15-7:00 pace in the 1st 11km & then run at my goal pace, 5:45-6:15 until the end. Half marathoners will have to do one loop round the outside of the circuit, then re-enter the circuit & do another 2 laps. Each lap inside was about 5.5km. I was able to go faster than my planned pace for the 1st 11km, although I did try to stay below 6:15 for fear of blowing off too early. Nevertheless, I felt good & light, which was a good sign. True enuff, the water stations was a chaos, I didn't make a single water stop at the water stations, relying entirely on my bottles. I also didn't see a single sponge on the road, although the race program said that there will be sponging stations at every water station.
I'd programmed my 410 to give audible alert to enable me to stay within the planned pace. But becoz I'd locked the bezel, I couldn't activate the backlight or change the view, so I had to totally rely on the alarms. The reason for this was I read in many reviews of the 410 the bezel could be accidentally activated even by rocking motion.. so in my quest for a personal best I wouldn't want any misreading from the 410. So I locked the bezel. More on this later (in my review of the 410, hopefully). I thought there were 2 water stations on the outside loop, but there was one long stretch of road that was unlit, unsupported & unescorted... if any bad thing were to happen during that stretch, help would be very slow.
Once we reentered the circuit, there was some light & I finally can read the 410's display. We've only covered about 9km, so I guess the overall distance would be short by at least 2km. I decided to wait until 10km for my feeding, I didn't really feel that hungry anyway. But once we hit the starting area, I saw one whole bunch of runners... they've just flagged off the 5.5/11km runners !!! I knew there would be disaster.. that's the risk of running in laps. 10,000 ppl running in a 5.5km lap can't be good, there will be confusions. Before we reentered the circuit we were given a marker band. Then before we start the 2nd inner lap we were given another, but no one seemed to keep track of which category got how many bands. I got 3 I think, I dunno how many we were supposed to get. Then at the start of the 2nd lap everybody had to step onto the timing mat again, that caused a considerable loss of pace on my part..maybe tht was where I lost the 3 mins required to break my 2-hr target. I saw at the line I was at 1:16, so I guess I was really on track to break the 2hrs... too good to be true actually.
In the second lap I really put down the hammer all the way. I was running out of water & I began to feel the need to have another gel. But becoz I didn't have enuff water left, I was worried I won't have enuff to wash the gel down. I was hoping that by the 2nd lap, at least one of the water stations would've been cleared enuff so that I can have at least some water. But it was still the same. So I pressed on. For some reason, my 410 stopped giving the pace alert, so I didn't really know how fast I was. I just ran as fast as I could without risking a bonk. So at the finishing straight I switched on the KERS system (?) & clocked 2:03:50... besting my previous record at Setia Alam by about a minute. That was a high point for a nite of lows..
There was two long lines along the track, almost as long as the pit area, I knew that was the queue for the goodie bags. Nobody greet us at the end, there was no clearly marked finishing gate, nobody handed over water or any sorta drink... I decided to just skip the goodie bags & headed back to the parking area, where I knew 2 bottles of Gatorade would be waiting.. I was close to collapsing in the walk to the parking, the tunnel was still empty at this time, around 10pm.. in the news everybody was complaining about the stuffed tunnel. I could only imagine. I had to take the gels or I would've bonked bad.
Once I got to my bike I straightaway guzzled one bottle of Gatorade right after another. What a relief. I'd forgot to prepare my Endurox.. heck, I didn't even had them when I got home. But at that time, nothing in the world tasted better than the Grapefruit flavor Gatorades... Nicol David never looked more beautiful. After putting on my track bottoms & changing to a long sleeved shirt, I headed home. Once I got to the outside loop, there was still some marathoners just beginning their second lap. & there was still 3 inner laps to do. I can only imagine... with the water stations poorly manned, no medic on sight... haih.
I was happy that I managed to improve on my previous best. But I was less than happy becoz I didn't go below 2 hrs. But considering the less than ideal build up that I had, coupled with a bunch of other external factors that might have slowed me down, I couldn't really ask for more. But ENR2011 left a lot of bad memory to a lot of runners. It was the first race that I didn't get a single thing from the organizer, not even a bottle of mineral water. I heard the situation was so bad police had to be called to control the very angry crowd. What a dark night for Malaysian running scene.
Livestrong.
