4:59:30, 30K. Race started according to plan and I hit both target times, 31 at the split and the 1.22 at Tung Chung was 3 minutes better than expected. Reasonably uneventful apart from the descent to Tung Chung, which was a painful experience with bruised ribs. From Tung Chung the race fell apart, I am blaming the gels as I was running ok, but on the second gel began to feel noxious and stomach locked up. The ascent to the Buddha was slow, saw me drop 15 mins off pace, but worse still was that I had very little energy to tackle Lantau Peak. The wheels completely fell off the cart then, but struggled on and although I hope I can discount this race, at least I have the finish if need be. Activity/22052863
Pre Race Sat: Omlette & Toast, Lunch Tomato pasta with ham & onion.
Pre Race Sun: Breakfast – Mcdonald Hotcake
Race fuelling: Water bottle (refilled at all stations station 5) Pocari – station 3 & 4. Salt tablets -8 (approx every 45min), Gels – 2 caused problems this time
4:09:15, 37K. Perfect weather & conditions and at last a good result, 5th place & 2nd M40. Really ran this race with my head, monitoring my pace and religiously kept up my rehydration & salt balance as well as excellent nutrition management. This needs to be the benchmark for future races. The race itself was fairly uneventful pretty much maintained my pace throughout, and the Garmin was so useful for this. Only negative was being overtaken once in the second half by one of the Cosmo boys, but since it was the guy who won the previous year I guess I can live with that. Besides, kept me on my toes for the last 5K although the anticipated onslaught never happenned and I finished a good nine mins ahead of the next competitor Claire Price. Overall a great result and nice to back in the top 10 of a Mountain Marathon, however with the M40 winner beating me by 16 mins, there is a lot of room for improvement – roll on Lantau. HR 148/177. Activity/20773831
Pre Race Sat: Breakfast – porridge/ banana, Lunch Tomato pasta with ham & onion, Dinner Percy’s Chicken harrissa sandwich.
Pre Race Sun: Breakfast – Mcdonald Hotcake, Home-made smoothie.
Race fuelling: Water bottle (refilled at halfway and station 5) Pocari – station 2. Salt tablets -7 (approx every 45min), Gels – 3 approx every hour (Note – Gu Roctain Blueberry & pomegranate kicks – will be the gel of choice from now on), Energy sweets – 2 (ran out of gels & for final kick).
4:59:30, 30K. Race started according to plan and I hit both target times, 31 at the split and the 1.22 at Tung Chung was 3 minutes better than expected. Reasonably uneventful apart from the descent to Tung Chung, which was a painful experience with bruised ribs. From Tung Chung the race fell apart, I am blaming the gels as I was running ok, but on the second gel began to feel noxious and stomach locked up. The ascent to the Buddha was slow, saw me drop 15 mins off pace, but worse still was that I had very little energy to tackle Lantau Peak. The wheels completely fell off the cart then, but struggled on and although I hope I can discount this race, at least I have the finish if need be. Activity/22052863
