AM: Easy 30 min on the TM, then stretching (3.85 miles) PM: HKAAA 10,000m at 27F and 85% humidity, the name of this race should be Death March, or Battle of Mediocrity. My January time was 37:36, which was my first track 10k in 14 years, so I was hopeful I could best that, but this heat and humidity just zaps me so quickly, and has been zapping me for a month which is not good for my fitness either. Anyway, I hoped to go out at 89 and stay there. Alison Chow, HK's top marathoner (just did a 2:48) was here so I hoped she'd give me some pressure. I did 89 for the first lap, then sat at 90 for the next few, then it went south from there. I tracked my 2k splits: 2k: 7:32 Around the backside they were setting out a water station in lane 8 and they were not going to hand out the water, so I called to them to move it closer. I didn't know if they would understand english, but they moved it to lane 4 after about 10 laps. I would have died without the water. 4k: 7:41 6k: 7:52, got my first water in the 11th lap I think, and the water went straight up my nose which gave me the feeling of swimming at a public pool, which was not far off, at 85% humidity 8k: 7:58, with about 11 laps to go I see a girl ahead of me in red, and it was Alison, I was in position to lap her, though she was still half a lap away. This motivated me, though you wouldn't know it from the splits 10k: 7:43 with 3.8 laps to go, I pass Ali, and thus have LAPPED HK's top marathoner. So though my time was attrocious, I won the battle of mediocrity. And at about 38:49, this is better than my Hung Ching 10k I did in late August when I first moved here. I need to learn how to run better in the humidity. I guess getting out there is a big key to improving.
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