Putrajaya Night Marathon 2010

7.7km in 39mins (approx.)

Uphills and downhills run around the Convention Center and the bridge, otherwise flat road race. Interesting for the fact that it was held at night! Multitudes of contestants.

Ennui

The Putrajaya Night Race is just 2 weeks away. I still can't get my acts together. Motivation hitting the trough. Low in mood and energy.

Discipline

Sometimes, I wonder if I have got what it takes to run 10km every morning.

Sometimes, I wonder if I can do all the crazy runs that I hope to do before it is too late.

Sometimes, I wonder if it is at all possible for me to complete 10km below 40 minutes.

Sometimes, all I need is discipline.

Mental Fatigue

This week has been disastrous for me in terms of performance. I have been unmotivated, sensitive to aches and tiredness.

Mental fatigue sets in.

Apparently, running volume is the key to endurance performance.

Limits of Endurance

I came across some interesting ideas that could aid an amateur marathoner.

Maximal oxygen uptake or VO2max
This value is determined genetically and determines the limit of oxygen burn rate for a person.

Lactate Threshold
The more accurate metric that determines athletic performance. It measures how close a person gets to his VO2max for a particular activity and it can be improved through training.

Lastly, an interesting discussion on how to train for a marathon.

Training as usual

Since the Angkor Wat 10km run, I have been training at the municipal stadium weekly.

I have been thinking of doing one adventure run - perhaps an ultra-marathon - somewhere crazy. Alternatively, I could train to bring my 10km time sub-40 minutes and just concentrate on that for the next year.

My next adventure run would most probably be the Nepal Half Marathon or the Dubai Marathon.

Angkor Wat 10km Run @ 47:53

I couldn't believe my time!

This is the most fascinating run I have had so far!