Approach For The GE30K

The coming Jan 20th race is in the minds of many runners out there. Many are ramping up their long runs and I know of a handful who have even hit the actual route in training. Running 30K is no joke and it's a distance that certainly requires some preparation. My 2006 race time of 3:02 [report here] was achieved on the back of training for the 2005 Singapore Marathon and in the course of preparing for the 2006 KL Marathon. Since the GE race was smack in the middle of the 2 marathons, it wasn't surprising that my aerobic fitness level was high. I ran that race without much speed. The first Double Hill loop was done at a very relaxed pace and I only sped up on the return journey after the IRB complex. If I'd picked up pace a wee bit, I'd have dipped below 3 hours but I was very happy (still am!) with my timing. I ran without expectations, really.

When I plotted my training plan for this year's KL Marathon a couple of months back, I penned down the Jan 20th race as a 30K time trial. But my training program have changed since then and with it my race target. I've gone back to basics in my training, striking off the ambitious hill repeats and intervals in favour of base pace (for me that's between 6:20 to 6:35 conversational, fully aerobic pace) runs. I reckon I'll not be hitting the 30K training distance before GE but rather working my long runs up to 30K on race day. You got that right - the GE30K will just be my long training run, and it'll be the longest distance I'll be running since last year's Penang Marathon. I'll also take the opportunity to blood a new pair of marathon race rubbers. Am considering wearing the long tights too but it depends on my race morning juju.

My projection? Between 3:10 and 3:15 and bib A044 will go home a cinya happy fella!