BROKEN DOWN

Saturday, 20 January 2007.

Long Run 40km : 2 X (Bdr Bkt Puchong 2 ("BBP2") - Meranti - LimKokWing Cyberjaya - Meranti - BBP2)

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How did I come to this ??? I was close to tears as I gulped down my cold Endurox Recovery Drink shortly after the run. I was in so much pain, both physically and emotionally. My body was aching all over and my heart sank to a new low by the thot of how a 40km run has broken me down so miserably. It was indeed a very long run for me but to suffer so much at this stage (with race day only a few weeks away) was unexpected and BITTER.

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KM	Split	Cum	Nutrition
5.0	0:32:13	0:32:13	-
10.0	0:31:02	1:03:15	1 bite PBar
15.0	0:32:58	1:36:13	1 pack PGel
20.0	0:32:53	2:09:06	1 bite PBar
Refill	0:02:26	2:11:32
25.0	0:32:46	2:44:18	1 pack PGel
30.0	0:34:26	3:18:44	1 bite PBar
35.0	0:37:13	3:55:57	1 pack PGel
40.0	0:51:53	4:47:50	-

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Started the day at around 7.15 a.m. The course was quite hilly & would get very hot in the late morning. But I have ran here many times over (up to 30km) and was looking forward to see if I could raise the bar to 40km. The 8km stretch along Meranti is a dual carriageway. It is the toll free alternative for the LDP (between BBP to Cyberjaya/ Putrajaya). Not many road users know about this route yet (opened early last year) and hence was pretty quiet most of the time. But its really hot by late morning and is void of shades and I had to run it 4 times that morning.

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A check with my training log showed that I ran BBP2 - LimKokWing Cyberjaya - BBP2 in 2:08:07 comfortably just 2 weeks ago. Hence, I set out today to run at similar pace. A quick mental calculation on the run told me that I need to log around 32 minutes for each 5km to return a 2:08:00 (there abouts) per 20km lap.

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Felt fresh and confident in the 1st 20km. My pace was comfortable and was on target in each 5km segment in the 1st lap. Felt strong when I got back home for the 1st time to replenish my bottle. Managed to hold my target pace for another 5km (i.e. up to 25km).

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Then, my left calf started to twitch between 25km - 30km. Made a conscious effort to relax myself and as a result, logged a slower split of 34:26 compared to 31:02 much earlier in the 1st lap. Was still quite happy with my pacing up to this point. Then, thing started to fall apart in the last 10km. It was already about 10.40 a.m by then. Altho it was partly cloudy but it was quite hot by then, especially along the Meranti 8km stretch. Now both calves felt like they would cramp any time. My 5km split between 30km - 35km slowed down further to 37:13, compared to 32:58 in the 1st lap.

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Then, I broke down completely in the last 5km. I was reduced to a very slow jog and found myself started walking at times. So it was jog-walk-jog-jog and then, CRAMP (finally) when I got to the last hill some 1.5km from home. My water bottle dried up and I must admit that I was an arrogant fool to run without any money that morning. At the bottom of the last hill, I saw a water tap outside a small shop on the opposite side of the road. I decided to cross the road and begged for tap water. As I stepped onto the divider in the middle of the road, my left calf cramped. There I was, frozen in pain in the middle of the road under the scorching hot sun. Luckily, there was a lamp post for me to lean on and I waited for almost a full minute for the cramp to subside. By then, the shopkeeper was staring at me with a cheeky smile and I could imagined him saying "Ironman-kah ini?" (was in my orange IM tri top).

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Anyway, I was grateful to him for the tap water. Took a quick "shower", filled up my bottle, thanked the shopkeeper and ran off. Struggled up the last hill at snail pace and walked the last 200m.

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By the time I got home, my body and heart were completely shattered. Skipped training the next day and limped for a few more days thereafter.