Denouement

DUDE! Why did my splits and half my race report disappear.  I am reentering. 

This is a race I rocked last year, 37:03 despite it being rather warm still. Warmed up 5.56k then did some strides, and stretched.

I wanted to do each k about 5 seconds slower than last year, which would put me under 38 minutes.  

	This year's split	Last year's split	Note
1	3:42	3:41	I feel good, flat
2	3:52	3:43	Still feeling good, flat then uphill
3	3:45	3:43	Still feeling good, rolling
4	3:57	3:53	uphill, being patient, but still passing people
5	3:55	3:45	feeling good, rolling
6	3:47	3:46	feeling great, thinking I might be able to get down to 37:30 since the course is net downhill from the turnaround, I am still passing people, take a gu toward the end of this k, I am cresting the hill, excited for long downhill in 7th k but get a side cramp as I crest the hill, I start yelling NO to try to get rid of the cramp, doesn't work
7	4:08	3:34	The downhill is wasted, I am in pain from the cramp, almost jogging
8	4:00	3:43	The cramp is still here, getting less severe, but when I try to speed up it feels horrible, but by the end I feel like I can speed up
9	3:42	3:35	I accelerate and find I can handle it, pass a few people who passed me
10	3:31	3:30	I pass one more guy and finish strong

 So the bad news is the 7th and 8th k killed my chance for breaking 38.  The good news is I felt good in the race mentally.  I had the eye of the tiger, never once asked myself why am I racing, or any other such nonsense.  I felt strong and that is a big change from the Coca Cola race two weeks ago.  So though the time was mediocre, I am left excited after this race.  Excited for the next one. BRING IT ON!

I won $4200HKD (just over $500USD) in New Balance gcs plus a huge trophy and a gc for a pair of shoes, so similar to last year, this christmas will be a new balance christmas :D 

Ran 12.4k easy, 4:56 ave pace, core workout in the evening.  Under my rib where my cramp was still sore, could feel it when running

AM: I have no training schedule starting this week (waiting to get results of LT and VO2max testing Thursday and will create training schedule after that), so I chose my own workout.  Since my calf has been niggly since the race, I wanted to do something less risky.  I did a medium long run with a 3k fast finish.  It ended up being a bit of a progression run.  Here are my 5k splits: 24:21, 23:32, 23:38, 23:03, then 11:15 for 3k, 3:45 pace, then .31k jog to get to the mtr.

I think it would be great to do this type of workout every other week and increase the number of k's I do fast, by 1k and try to keep 3:45 pace.  If I could eventually do 8-10k at 3:$5 in a tempo at the end of a long run that would show some serious fitness. 

PM: ran 4 miles in the afternoon, also ran 3k with my kids at night though this is not in my running total 

Ran 11.75k at 4:40/k ave pace, then did 8 x 20 sec strides, 14k total

PM: 40 min elliptical, and half a core workout (keeping it easy after abdominal work done by massage therapist last year, still sore from race cramp then massage). Stretching 

AM: 5 miles on the tm.  So excited!  Tonight I get to do a vo2max test and I think a lactate threshold test, for the first time in my life.  Then my coach says I will get to choose between a "mare" workout and a "nightmare" workout.  Sounds scary.  The tests will build a solid foundation for my marathon training cycle.

PM: vo2max test.  Did a 2 mile warm up, then they did a calibration ramp up without the mask, then I got masked up, way fun, and off we went. 3 min at 7.0mph, 1 min at 7.5, 8.0, 8.5, 9.0 in here I felt like the mask was getting in the way of breathing and coach told me to breathe fully. one min at 9.5, 10.0, 10.5, then added 1% grade a minute and I ended at 14 minutes (10.5 pace at 4% grade).  I let out some cries and moans in the last minute, but I really should have gone another minute, but I was afraid I would get launched off the treadmill in delirium.  Ali did a very similar performance but her heartrate never got as high as mine, so I think she'll have a higher score.  My heartrate got up to the high 170's per the tm.  There was no workout after the vo2max, thankfully.  So I cooled down 2 miles on a tm while Ali warmed up, then I watched her test, then I breathed into a machine, then we went out for 10.2k run at about 4:50/k ave pace.  good times.  I hope to get the results tomorrow. 

Ran 11.43k with Ali in the early am, including 4 strides.  Then core workout in the afternoon

Warmed up 6.2k nice and easy including two strides.

The course looked a bit hilly, and a lady I have talked with a couple of times indicated that in the past they had them run on the beach in the sand.  

The first one k is uphill the first half then downhill the second half.  I wanted to take the uphill a bit aggressively, and did, was 3:46 pace at the top of the hill then slammed down, it was rolly but mostly down for the next k, sub 3:40 pace at this point, then at repulse bay they did have us run on the sand.  Incredible.  I hadn't run in sand since high school and I didn't push too hard, then up some stairs to get to the road and then it was rolling and up for the rest of the course until 500m to go.  I took heart from some cheering and passed two guys on the way back, tried to care all the way back though I was a bit mushy for some short stretches, I generally held it together and finished well.  17:52, but the course was short (4.84k per my watch, or 5:56 pace).  Not bad for a hilly course and about 150-200m of sand.   This was a series and I won each race so thus the series, but only won $800HKD in vouchers, which will buy me one overpriced pair of shoes (7.77 hkd is approx 1USD). 5k cool down.