Sunday, September 14, 2008

Borneo Marathon—Conquering 21Km

Well, folks, a little less than a month to go for the Borneo International Marathon. First thing this morning I finally conquered 21 km for the first time in my life. And let me tell you that it was a struggle! I have no excuse this time—it was just a new benchmark for me. The last few kilometres were particularly exhausting. I just didn't have it in me to keep up the pace for that long.

I am therefore sad to say that I failed to run that 21 km in under 2 hours like I wanted to so very much. Close, but not quite there—2 hrs 8 mins 21 secs. With only about 4 weeks left for the training it seems quite impossible to shave off 8 mins, but I shall try my best to achieve it.

It's time to go back to the treadmill for the speed training again. Beginning from next week I will taper down up to the day of the event. I'll cut down the distance for the long runs by about 20% to 30% per week and probably settle at 12km to 15km. I will still do those runs at the jogging track.

As for the treadmill, I still have a lot of work to do. I'm gradually reducing the distances for those too, and perhaps add back another extra day for workout.

In the meantime, I was told by Shan that things have begun to move very fast on her end. We are Malaysians after all—we like to do things at the very last minute, you see. Hopefully many more runners have suddenly realised that the day of the event is very near now; and they will all come in droves to register for the Borneo International Marathon.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fret not my friend, running 2:08 is a commendable effort for starter. On that day there'll be thousands taking turns to act as your pacer and by speeding up 30secs per km, you'll be there. My money is still on you breaking 2hr barrier and as I have said before, it'll be 1:50 if not better. Keep on running.

Cornelius said...

Your faith in me is really scary, my friend. I hope I won't die trying!... hahaha!

2 hrs still looks impossibly far for me right now, let alone 1:50.

Several people have said to me that annoying line, "It's all in the mind".

Gee, I don't know, somehow as far as I am concerned, it has a lot to do with the weak legs!