2013 In Review

The following dailymile charts show my run and bike distances logged per month from December 2012 to December 2013.

Run 2013

Bike 2013

As shown, training mileage for both bike and run was lacking. Work pressures for the past 12 months have contributed much to this, apart from shortened run workouts since I had no real goal run race for this year (I've only one 21k race to show for 2013: The Rexona Run). Thus with no goal, there wasn't the usual 12 or 16 week structured training done which usually contributes to high mileage per week. Nasty injuries due to lack of training also lessened my mileage.

My new role in the Company starting 2014 will (hopefully) be much lighter on load compared to 2013. This'll be a welcome sign in terms of my getting back in race-ready shape. I'm still 5lbs over my 2012 weight, and 13lbs over my target weight so healthy eating habits must be stressed coming into 2014.

Finishing a tempo run this morning (after yesterday's 50min bike and the other day's 7k easy run) was a good sign that I'm getting back to full training mode. I hope to keep the base-training momentum going so that I'll be ready when the 2014 duathlon season begins (which could be in April or May).

K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.5: Stick With What Works

After 488 kms logged, it was time to retire my trusty K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.5 racing flats. It was with me throughout my 2012 breakthrough year with several 10k and 21k races to its credit. This pair was also my weapon of choice for all of my duathlons (except for my last one this year at Subic, wherein I failed miserably on the run).

The replacement pair was a no-brainer. With SecondWind Running Store offering a 40% sale and with its already proven race performance IMHO, I bought the same exact brand and model for next season.

Yes, another pair of K-Swiss K-Ruuz 1.5!

K-Swiss should offer me a sponsor deal after this post, hahaha (wishful thinking).

After 488kms (left) vs the new pair

Old one (down) shows sole-foam slightly compressed. Feet feeling it after runs so it was time to replace.

The new pair sporting the Lock Laces from my old pair. Ready to race!!!

2013 Natl Dua C'Ships: Post-Analysis

Good thing that I recorded the 2012 and 2013 versions of the Duathlon Championships in Subic on my Garmin and towards Garmin Connect. Now, I can exactly see how poorly I performed this year:

Green marks indicate improvement while red, well, show where I exactly sucked.

For a split second, I thought that I improved vastly on the bike (as in my previous post). However, the 5:20 improvement above was only because the bike leg this year shortened by about a km or two (since the turn around point was at PureGold, and not at the middle of Yacht club and Remy Field). If I look at average pace, the 2013 bike pace would've improvement only slightly from last year'ss 26kph version. Even with the better bike setup, nada. I guess the extra 5lb body weight could be the culprit.

Run1 and Run2 obviously contributed a lot to my downfall on this race, especially Run2. Getting off the bike, I was not as fresh as I was in 2012 when I started Run2 this year. I could only imagine how I was able to run 28:14 on that last 5k last year. 

Sigh.

Lack of time to run due to pressing work, sickness, and that groin injury. I guess I have all the excuses to back me up. But I won't hide behind 'em as I know that I lacked the will to press my pace when I should've. This'll only make me train harder for next year. Bring back the structure on my runs (tempo, speed, long, etc.) please!

For the bike, as @paopedal mentioned over BBM, I will need to extend my long rides from the usual 40km to a challenging 70km (my longest is only a 60k which I did only once). Gulp!

"Over reach, but not over train, " he said. Wise words from the TeamFranzia cyclist.

Well I ran a tempo this morning (1k warmup, 4k tempo, 1k cooldown). It's not one of my trademark tempo runs, but it's a good start. It's off season so it's a good time to build myself again in time for next year's duathlons and run races.

Back to training we go...

National Duathlon Championships 2013, Subic

Pace yourself. Pace yourself.

I started the race (Run1 = 10k) trying to zoom like everybody else. My Garmin showed 6:15/km lap-pace so I uttered the words above in order to calm me down from the excitement. I don't have the run training, I said to myself, so keep the pace down. I eventually slowed down to a little above 6:30/km.

As I was coming off a nasty groin injury which caused me little training on runs 2 weeks prior, I planned to take the run legs of this race at easy pace and just try to hammer it on the bike. The race adrenalin showed me another way, as I was able to pace between 6:30-6:40/km throughout the 10k ---even with my Brooks Pureflows on. Yes, I ditched my K-Swiss K-Ruuz2 racing flats as I was afraid that it's contributing to the groin pain that has been bugging me lately. It could be the deteriorating EVA-foam after approximately (just) 300km on that pair. Fortunately, I didn't have any issues during Run1 (including that groin pain) except for the heaviness of the shoe vs my racing flat.

Gel at km9.

I finished Run1 at 1:08 which was 4 minutes slower than last year. I needed to catch up.


Can't Sustain

The Remy Field to Raceway bike course is mostly flat, with long low climbs. This is the 3rd time I'm riding this course (1st was during the Dua C'ships last year, 2nd was when the family had a vacation during Q2 of this year so I practiced it) so I was pretty aware of what it holds for me.

As I passed Puregold on the way to Raceway, I started to feel a familiar cramp on both of my calves. I felt the same in last year's race so I gulped on water and Gatorade to hopefully appease it. After 10 or so minutes, it subsided. Whew!

The aero-wheels and clip-on aerobars did well to compensate for the additional 5lb weight that I now have vs last year. The result: a 7-minute improvement from last year's race. My only concern is that I was at 28kph average on the 1st loop but I got frustrated for not being able to sustain the pace during the 2nd loop. My lack of endurance training on the bike showed (my weekend rides would usually max at 40km only at pasyal pace).

2nd gel at the 2+ hour mark.

Bike leg at 1:21. Better than last year's 1:27. Still, down vs last year on overall time.


A forgettable run

Last year, I was blazing (IMO) in Run2 (5k). I was hoping to chase training buddy @lingerboy so I was running at sub-6:00/km pace on that 5k. I was still fresh at Run2 last year, and when I recall my post on that race I still feel proud that I was able to finish that race (my first duathlon, btw) strong and fast.

This year, I was totally different. This year, Run2 was where I found myself mentally in, but my body was just out of it. My thighs were heavy, like bricks, as I started off Run2. The heavy Pureflows didn't help my cause as it contributed to the heaviness (in hindsight, I should've brought my K-Ruuz to hopefully get me into better pace since I can use that pair for Run2 only). Resulting pace started at 7:15/km. I found myself doing walk breaks during km3-4. My lack of run training and 5lb excess weight really showed in Run2 as I was struggling to run at low HR. Well, I guess those last 2 Maffetone runs that I did during the week before may have saved me in keeping myself in to "just run" at whatever cost.

Run2 at close to 8:00/km average. Worst 5km ever since I started running 2009!

Total race time was 3:14 ---12mins slower than last year.

There'll be a lot of post-analysis after this non-performance. It'll be something that, like Manny Pacquiao's shocking loss to JMM last year, I hope to learn from and try to improve. Here's my tweet an hour after that race:

My preparations for next year's Dua Championships starts now.