Reza Ali ReActivated: Race Report - Larian Bomba 8 May 2011 10km

RACE REPORT
LARIAN BOMBA 8 MAY 2011 10KM

My fourth race of the 2011 season (I never thought of my years in terms of seasons before)- The Larian Bomba 2011 10km run held in celebration of the World's Firefighter's Day.

This particular race was full of drama for me and I learnt a lot about myself today.

PRE RACE WARM UP

The 7km runners were right behind the 10km runners..

When we arrived at the starting point everyone was already lined up ready to start the race. I hurried in and injected myself at the back in order to let everyone go by so that I can focus on my own running. I had warmed up by walking/jogging for about 1km before that so I was feeling good and ready. The obligatory VIP was introduced to the crowd and we anxiously waited for the gun to fire. The MC was blabbing away and the gun fired mid-sentence. I think the crowd got a bit surprised as nobody started running for a few seconds. Then the whole mass of people started moving.

Waiting for the gun

THE START

As I was tucked in at the back I was safe out of the way of all the champion runners (at least the champion starters anyway). I usually get sucked into the adrenaline of the start and my heart rate would shoot up. I've been mentally rehearsing the start for awhile now, visualising a slow jog followed by a moderate pace.

I was happy to see my heart rate rising to about 75% MHR and no higher. I had wanted to run at a moderate pace for the first 5km before I kicked into high gear for the last 5km.

The start

FIRST 5KM

The first 5km was very odd for me. When I passed the first km mark, my legs felt very heavy and continued to feel heavy for the first 5km I wasn't tired and my heart rate was nicely between 70% and 80%. I find myself running and walking during the first 5km. It was as if my legs will not ignite and the thoughts of just walking the rest of the way came up more than a few times. It was as if I had given up completely and it took a lot of effort to get the legs to run. By this time I was quite distressed. I can understand it if it was the final 5km but this time, I had hardly even run before my negative thoughts came up.

Every time I started running, i felt like quitting. This run and walk routine went on for a good 5km and I knew that if I kept it up I will not be able to beat the cut off time of 90 minutes.

WATER STATION

When I reached the water station which is I think is also the 5km marker I got myself a bottle, took some sips and poured the rest of the water over me. The sun was already up in the sky and it was getting hot. Cooling down is important for me. I carried my own bottles of drink around my fuel belt and drank form that most of the time and I had planned to use the water from the water station to cool myself down.

FINAL 5KM

Walking up the flyover and could't resist taking this picture.

Things started to change for me when I passed the half way mark. When I started to run, any thoughts of stopping disappeared and I was determined to make up for lost time and get that 90 min cut off point. I was taking smaller steps but maintaining a high cadence and I was feeling good along the run. This is the flat part of the course and I had planned to go all out here and I did. My cadence was hovering in the mid to high 80s and my leg pull got higher. My heart rate of course shot up to between 85%-90% MHR.

One great strategy I found which worked for me was to pick runners in front of me and try to get passed them. I saw a runner about 250m in front of me and I said to myself that I will not stop running until I caught up with him. It took me about 10 minutes to do it and my heart rate percentage was now in the 90s. When I ran pass him I continued with another runner and another runner until I got to the flyover which I had planed to be my resting point. I walked up the flyover to get ready for the last 1.5km burst of running.

Finishing Line

FINAL 1.5KM

By this time my energy was spent but I was determined to not walk and I thought 'Im gonna run this What Ever It Takes'. I couldn't run as fast as I ran the previous 3 km (maybe I should have conserved my energy for the final burst)?

I've run this particular final 1.5km 3 times now (in the FT Day 2011 7km run and the World Kidney 5km run) so I was familiar with the route. Even though I was fatigued at this point I did find myself getting faster and faster. A glance at my POLAR RS 800 indicated that I was now at 94% MR.

The sun was at it's best now.

I had run out of water.

My body was heating up.

I just kept running and running until I can see the finishing line.

Then I ran faster.

20 m from the finishing line

FINISHING LINE

I got to the finishing line and discovered I was 3 minutes off the cut off point.

Despite walking/running the first 5km I had run the 10km in 93 minutes which meant that I ran very fast (for me at least) the last 5km in quite a good time. Probably faster than my normal 5km time. I can't tell as I didn't take note of my timing while running but I reckon I must have done the last 5km in about 35 minutes.

PERSONAL BEST

Despite not running with the cut off time, 93 minutes 01 secs is a personal best for me, beating the previous 10km time of 100 mins 41 secs by at least 7 minutes which I am really chuffed with. It really doesn't matter to me that I walked several times during the first 5km. Obviously I have to address that during my training and my mental preparation later but now is the time to celebrate.

My personal medal award were as follows, so I qualify for a bronze. Just a little bit faster I could have gotten a silver.

80 mins and below- Gold
80 mins - 90 mins - Silver
Finishing - Bronze

Baskin Robbins for me please.

My POLAR data for the run as follows:

Time 93 mins 01 sec
Average cadence 74
Average stride length 72 cm
Average Heart Rate 83% MHR
Running distance 10km
Calories burnt 1439 kcal

RACE ORGANISERS

I have to add a note here to thank the Malaysian Firefighters Rescue Services for a well organised race. I really enjoyed the race and will definitely do it again next year.

Now that this race is over I can cool down for the next few days and get myself ready for the next race, The Larian Sultan Azlan Shah 2011 7km in Kuala Kangsar. Cut off time is 60 minutes and I am determined to run under that.

In the meantime, check out the flyover view of my run this morning from iMapMyRun. Cool eh?

About Reza Ali

Reza Ali Reactivated tells of the journey of Reza Ali as he embarks on transforming himself from a 120kg (35kg overweight) 46 inch waist unhealthy and unfit person to someone who can compete in a triathlon. Don't be afraid to dream. Take action. Correct your mistakes. Learn from failures. Bit by bit, you will get closer to your dream.