Qualified to the Final of World Athletics Cross Country Championships Bathurst 21 Global Challenge (Virtual Run) with a time of 34:57 min (10km) back in 20th March.
The Final have to run another 10km during 18-22nd June 2021.
I was planning to do it on Sunday, but when I realized I started off at a much faster pace, I then decided to push the pace, and did a 5KM Time Trial instead and clocked a 16:23 min (Season Best). A solid session leading up to the 10KM Time Trial two days later. Is like a simulation from last time at the track meets doing both 5000m and 10000m, where the 5000m in Day 1, and 10000m in Day 3.
Then here comes Tuesday morning (Yesterday), and is the final day to do it. I didn't sleep well last night and ended up woke up late at 8am, but I chose to do it anyway. With an average temperature of 31.5°C🌡️ and 79% humidity, it literally burn me out and I stopped at 4km with a time of 14:08 min (3:32 min/km). When Plan A is not working, let's go for the Plan B. Switch my focus on the evening, and let's give it another shot.
Pray for a good cooling weather, told myself that I will be fully recovered from the morning session, prime my mind ready for the time trial again.
It turned out the weather was great, and I took a sachet of Mitoceps (@mitocepsmalaysia ) 90 min prior to the session. Started the run at a pretty late time after unloading some weight and a short quick drills, and calm myself by listening to classic music.
Initially, I was targeting a Sub 34 min but after this morning condition, I decided to aim for a Sub 35 as the minimum goal.
Here is the 5k Splits:
17:10 | 17:55
The first half of the time trial was still pretty solid, but eventually I fall short of it on a later stage. I realized the pace was not getting back to what it was, turnover of the leg was dropping, the struggle was real from that point of time. Heart rate was consistently in between 174-176 bpm, I knew I have to either maintain the pace or slow down as there were still many laps to go.
From 82-84 sec per lap to 84-87 sec per lap for the next half was quite demotivating. And so, I gave my best effort, push the pace towards the end and clocked a 35:05 min.
