A struggling 30k

My plan for this morning workout was to hit my first 30k after the GE30k race in January. Coincidentally this will also be my first LSD after the CNY break. My week mileage is low but my body/legs feels good for the run.

Reaches the Bukit Aman carpark and saw Frank completing his run. Spoke to him and found out that he started at 5am together with Carboman, GL and Loke. Gotta turn back and wait for his frenz for another round of 10k, so nice of him. As I waited for my running buddy, my watch shows 6.10am. Looks like he had again FFK this morning and so I set off solo for my 30k LSD.

I felt that my pace was a tad faster than the usual run after about 3k of running but everything seems OK and therefore I continue to maintain the pace. As I reaches the Duta junction my watch showed 31mins (normal run is around 34mins to 35mins) and this confirmed that I am running faster than usual.

Crossed the flyover and there I met Carboman, GL and Loke on their way back. I continued to maintain the same pace tempo until I reached Petronas in 56mins. Four minutes faster than normal run. Did the Petronas loops, refueled and continue with the return leg of 10k back to Bukit Aman carpark. I maintained the same pace as the first leg as I am still feeling OK. As I reached the Bank Rakyat junction, saw lots of police manning the junction and bumped into large group of the Indian community wearing the HINDRAF orange color tees. Oopps, another HINDRAF demostration. Reaches carpark in 1h56mins (normal run is around 2hrs), faster by 4mins.

After draining down a bottle of pink lady drink aka Endurox, I started to go for the last 10k. This will be the toughest part of today's run as I am starting to feel a bit tired now because of the intensity of the first 20k. I decided to run at a slower pace to conserve my stamina and energy. The first 5k took me thru the hills of Carcosa and the deer park and hit 25k in 2h32mins. Am still running at a good pace considering my last two 25k runs are around 2h35mins and 2h38mins. Still a tad faster.

As I started the last 5k, my legs and body had started to feel the strain and by now I was almost dragging myself to run. The pace now drop down to almost 7min/k and I am really struggling. The heat is starting to take the toll on me as well and saps up more energy. I pushes on and slowly along the Carcosa hills. After rejoining at the lake area, I decided not to run the deer park route else I will be slaughter by those hills. Decided to hit the loop around the lake and finally stops at the 30k mark (measured by Garmin 205). I cant even complete the entire loop as my legs are feeling heavy and experienced slight muscle pull, and upper body muscle is aching. Finished the run in 3h05mins.

The route that I uses today for the 30k LSD is a good course except that its a tad too hilly (especially in the last 10k) and can take the toll on those wanting to run faster. Maybe my mileage is not up to mark yet and thats why I am struggling or maybe I was pushing myself too hard in the early stage of the run. Well something for me to learn and keep in mind in the next LSD.