i2runner

Tapering and Race Strategies for The Condura Half-Marathon

Right after our 21Km LSD with the takbo.ph runners, Doc Lyndon “malmonmd” raised a question, how do you taper 2 weeks before the 21K? Nobody gave a clear answer, and even I was silent. I always thought I was ready, and I already did an unofficial 1:57 during my long runs. How do I taper? To be honest, I’m not really sure I am tapering correctly. Well 2 weeks before the event I lowered my weekly mileage from 47.7miles (76kms) to 33.1miles (52.96kms). It was a 35% decrease in mileage, but I increased the intensity a bit by adding long tempo runs in between. It was more exhausting to the lungs but were gentle to my knees. My last long run this Saturday was another 21Kms at 1:57 (another sub 2hours), and it no longer felt hard as my first 1:57. In fact, in the evening we went for a night swimming in Pansol where I did some laps and I felt tireless. I need to confess though, I drank 5 shots of Generoso Brandy. It’s been more than a year since I really drank alcohol. I missed the happy drunk effect, but I hated the next day hangover. So I took 2 days off from running for my brain to recover from alcohol. Drinking and running are just like oil and water – they don’t go well together, especially if you’re tapering for a half-marathon.

For the last week before the event (this week), I plan to run 2 x 10miles (16kms) Tomorrow and on Wednesday, very easy pace. On Thursday, I’m not sure if I’m still going to run – maybe just a gentle loving 10K. This way I could prepare my body and mind for the long distance, but not so intense that I would tire my legs that deserve a good rest. On Friday there’s this Carboloading party by the takbo.ph inviting everyone to register and pay a small fee for the special singlet, and a healthy Kenny Roger’s meal. Actually, I’ve tried this Kenny Roger’s Healthy meal, it’s quite expensive but is very delicious for a healthy food. I like the low calorie meal and the high fiber meal during the day when I’m on diet, but for this activity, I’m guessing takbo.ph is ordering the “high energy” meal that is composed of spaghetti and whole wheat toast bread (just typing these words make my stomach growl). Then on Saturday, I’ll probably get a massage.

But now I realize I really have no clear time goal. I would like to run at or faster than 1:54, and equivalent to 4hour marathon according to Jack Daniel’s Formula/table. However a 1:50 time looks better. But then again, Jack Daniel is saying I can do a 1:48 based on my 5K time. But that 5K was a flat course, Condura is going to be tough. All these numbers are confusing me and are just making me more nervous before the event.

Most world records are broken using even-paced running. In a hilly course like Skyway, this isn’t applicable. An even-effort throughout the race is a better idea. Perhaps I’ll just use the Heart Rate Monitor to set my first official 21K PR. According to runnersworld.com, a half-marathon should be run at 85-88% of your Maximum Heart Rate. That’s 152 to 157bpm for me. I’m thinking of limiting my Kalayaan and Skyway uphill climb to only 160bpm in order to reserve my energies for the return back to Bonifacio High Street. Skyway’s going to suck my energy out of me. But then again, the northbound of Skyway have a nice skyline of Makati that should be pleasant to us runners and hopefully could lower our heart rate a bit, and then a fast downhill to Osmena Highway should compensate for the loss in pace during the early uphill climb. The same goes for the Kalayaan overpass.

I’m very excited to run this race, knowing I’m going to punish myself especially at the latter half of the race. Good thing I’ve heard takbo.ph is going to place a support group for takbo.ph members, right after exiting skyway, when most runners are really exhausted. I’m glad to be a member of that forum.