Arnet 21K Buenos Aires Race Report

Introduction

My preparation for this race was nowhere close to what I had initially planned. You can read the full story from my previous blog entry: My Route to Arnet 21k Buenos Aires. But at the moment I could be doing some important discovery about how to train myself. I am very interested to see where my current training will take me and if there are things to learn about it to make better plans and decisions in my future training. I entered this event with just 6 weeks of running after being bother by a thigh injury for the previous 7 weeks. In my key-workouts I could feel that I was stronger every time than the last time. My specific-endurance, the event specific ability to run a certain distance at certain pace, was getting better rapidly. I don't think I have peaked yet, but this kind of shorter Fundamental period of training might suit me better than longer training plans. At least running feels good and strong now, but if you'd ask me 5 weeks ago, I would've told you it feels like shit.

Figure 1: The Course tracked by my Polar GPS.

The Course

This was the second time I ran this race. Last year this race was my best race of the year. My time then was 1:23:17 and my position 197th. This year the Route was close to the same with just a couple of minor changes. There are only three uphills on the course, which are not steep at all. It is a very good course to run a fast time. 

There was a major problem in the organizing the runners in the start area. I tried to enter the start area 10 minutes before the race starts and there was no way of getting in close to the front of the pack. The runners had been asked their goal times and been given a wristband accordingly. But when you arrived at the start area, there were no entrances at your time groups and if you arrived "late" you should basically go all the way to the back of the 20,000 runner bunch. Well, we all started climbing over the fences even though the organizers were trying to prevent it. I got over the fence about 3 minutes before the race start. Not in the front but maybe 20 seconds back in the bunch. After all this episode didn't ruin my race before it even started, but I'm not so sure that every one agrees on that. This has happened pretty often in the races over here. You have to be elite or get there in the start area 30 minutes before the bang to get a good spot at the start. The rest of the course and organization was great and the weather could not been any better. We enjoyed the rising morning sun, the temperature at about 16 C at the start, and only a slight wind during the race.

Plan and Execution

My plan was to start running at a controlled 3:45 min/km (1:19:xx result) pace for the first 10 km. Once I'd get to 10 km I would start running by feel. Go slightly faster if I felt so, or just maintain the current pace. The last 5 km I would have a green light to go as hard as I still could and hopefully end the race running strong. I planned to take just small sips of water and Gatorade at the early aid stations and later just fly by them.

Table 1: My Split Times and
average Heart Rates.

I got trapped somewhat in the bunch at the start and had to pass a lot of runners in the first kilometers in the heavy traffic. But I kept calm and managed not to ruin my race in the first kilometer. My first kilometer split was 3:54, and that was the slowest kilometer of the whole race. I lost some energy there running like I was in an action movie. After that I was passing runners at a constant flow but I could already dial my own pace and didn't have to make those insane moves and tricks anymore. I found my rhythm and ran the second kilometer 3:37. Faster than what I had planned. The running felt good, my legs were light and the 3:45 pace felt something I could do for a long time. At about kilometer 5 we were running as a big continuous bunch but now everyone around me was running pretty much the same pace. I could start drafting behind their backs and slowly but surely picked up positions. Up to 10 km I was running easy and felt strong. I was working with couple of runners together and seems we got excited as there was crowd cheering as we arrived in the center of Buenos Aires (Obelisco and Casa Rosada). My fastest kilometer of the race was the 10th kilometer, 3:26. I got some personal cheers at 10 km from my old workmate, Vero. I felt like I was flying. 

Figure 2: Running at the 18,5 km.

The important psychological turn point was just before 11 km. That's where the course physically turns to go back. At about 12,5 km I started to feel some aches in my stomach and I didn't drink anything after that. My legs were also starting to pay the price of running past the halfway. I eased up just a little bit and tried to draft as much as possible, still clocking constant 3:43 kilometers. At 16,5 km I started my attack for the finish leaving behind the runners that I've been running with. I ran couple of strong kilometers at 3:40 pace and found myself alone for the remaining 3 kilometers. My wife was cheering for me right there where I started to feel the pain and the strong running turned into survival to the finish line. I picked up a couple of exhausted runners and got passed by one runner in the last 2 kilometers. The last 500 meters were great. The crowd was very close on the street and cheered as I tried to put my final sprint. It was like in the Tour de France mountain stages. I wanted to give them their "money's worth" and pushed myself to a long sprint. Lots of pain, but still it feels so great. I finished the race pumping my fist to celebrate my new PR and the great execution of the race. My chip time was 1:19:01 (3:44 min/km) and the official time 1:19:21. My position was 75th. A total of 15354 runners finished the race. After the race I enjoyed some complementary massage to initiate the recovery.

Figure 3: After the massage. Trying not to step on any living things.

Summary

My average Heart Rate during the race was 162 (88%). That was pretty good intensity for me for 21K. I think I ran close to optimum. I made my new PR: 1:19:01. That's over 4 minutes faster than last year! I think I have found my style of running the 21K: to avoid the pain until 16 km and then embrace the pain for the last 5 km. This time I will give my legs more time to recover from the race to avoid getting injured again. I take couple of easy days and then rock on again. I have 5 weeks time to get ready to run the 42K of Buenos Aires.