Bracing for the 21.097494 kilometers

This Saturday will be another milestone for me. It'll be my first half marathon event. The BSN Putrajaya Night Marathon.

One of the fundamental reason why I kept joining these runs is that it'll force me to keep running. The mundane everyday job wear me off. Without the external pressure, most probably I'll just quit on running.

Interestingly, my preparation for this run is going great for the past three weeks. I've been able to run consistently and racked up up to 40km along the way.

I also have been going through some dieting. My current weight at 68kg is dragging me down during the runs. I'm eating only half portion during my lunch and dinner. I'm not sure that I have reduce any weight but my energy level seems to be higher with the new diet.

Eat healthily

Not that I expect that it'll keep me from suffering during the half marathon event, but it is good to know that I'm going to the run fully prepared.

I also have come up with another angle for my preparation during this phase. Instead of focusing on only one way to run, I try to diversify it.

I got two types of run that I'm doing right now. For my weekdays morning 3km run, I tried to run as fast as I possible can. I also wearing my old Brooks shoes for the morning run. The intention is to test how fast I could actually run. Since the distance is not too long, I could still maintain the pace.

The second one is my weekend evening 5km and 7km run at the Padang Merdeka. For this run, instead of focusing on speed, I test my endurance. The shoes that I'm wearing for this route is my new Reebok shoes. This is the exact opposite from the Brooks, since this shoe is a maximalist. With the hot and dry weather in the evening, this run at the undulating route at Padang Merdeka is the perfect choice to test my endurance.

The challenging Padang Merdeka route.

I also changed my view on testing my speed and endurance. I measure my pace in min/km instead of km/hr previously. This will able to tell me how much I fared compared to other runners.

A season marathoner will be able to pace about 4 to 5min/km. During my runs, I only able to pace 7min/km. That is still a long way to go but at least I know where I'm at.

My pace dropped significantly when I run at Padang Merdeka to 8:30min/km. That will put me at approximately 7km/hr. But now I know my slowest pace to determine the limit for me to complete the half marathon event. 3 hours is the limit. If I'm able to complete to run in that time frame, I already achieve my target.

I also being able to determine the distance of rest take that my body able to take without compromising the pace. Right now I'm settling at 3.5km. That is important for my next strategy in the run - my drink stops.

In the BSN Night Run, there will be 4 drink stops. It'll be at 3km, 7km, 12km and lastly at 17km. All drink stops have 100 Plus.

4 drink stops + 100 Plus = Heaven.

I'll take the opportunity to stop and rest at all of the drink stops. But between stop #2 and #3, and also from #3 and #4, I'll rest halfway between them - about 2.5km each. That way, I'll not exhaust myself and can still running to the finish line.

So there is my two strategies in the BSN Night Run. To finish it in 3 hours and also to take a rest every 2.5km to 4km during the rest. I'm not targeting any personal best time. I'm just want to survive this run.

And when I do,it is when I will feel that I'm entering an elite club and be able to say proudly, "Yes, I'm a runner."

Yer kew hang runner?