Income Eco Half Marathon 2019

Race information

• What? Income Eco Run
• When? April 28th, 2019
• How far? 21.1 km / 13.1 miles
• Where? Singapore
• Website: https://incomeecorun.sg/
• Finish time: 01:56:31

Goals

Splits

The km markers were off in a few places, so the splits are a approximate

Training

Overview

This run is part of my preparation for running my second marathon in June (OSIM Sundown Marathon) where I’m aiming for sub 4h. This race was a B race in preparation for that run. I am once again using Coached to train, and the plan looks as follows

• build volume with a marathon plan leading up to a half marathon as a B race
• build speed using a 30k training plan until the real marathon

Originally I had planned to run the 2XU Compression run as my half marathon, but due to travel I ended up pushing it back a few weeks, which has made my training a bit more lopsided than originally planned.

Training Stats

17 weeks training, 4 sessions/week, ~800 km run, ~90 hours of training.

Training details

Training went ok except for the aformentioned three weeks of travel right before race. During these three weeks I only found time for a few runs and also had a week of forced downtime.

Based on my long runs I knew I was on track to hit sub 2 hours for the half. A far cry from my PB of 01:24, but that was set in Europe and the climate in Singapore is unforgiving and my training has been focused on the full marathon.

Pre-race

Just like other run in Singapore, the Income Eco run starts early in the morning to avoid the year-round hot and humid weather. The flag-off for the half was set for 5.00 am, so, having learned from my previous troubles with taxis I decided I would walk the 30m from my house to the F1 pit building that was the start area.

It was a fairly pleasant walk as the humidity had dropped a bit due to a few showers overnight - though it was still hot and humid at ca. 31C / 86F and 60% humidity. Arriving at the F1 pit I collected my race pack (which I hadn’t been able to do before due to my travelling. I attached the bib then dropped off my stuff and answered the call of nature. Then it was just a short walk to the start area, which is the in the actual F1 straightaway.

Since this race does not have starting pens, your starting position is determined by how early you get to the start line and in my case that meant I was quite far back. I anticipated having a very crowded few starting kilometres.

Race

Plan

My plan for this race was to start at 05:30/km pace then accelerate in the second half to practice running negative splits and controlling my pace. The overall goal was sub 2h, and I decided I would walk through all the aid station stations and drink at least one full cup’s worth, as I knew I would have to do that for the full marathon.

Start and early kilometres

Right off the start there was a lot of foot traffic as there were many runners on slower pace in front of me. Luckily the first few kilometres were along fairly broad highways which allowed for overtaking, but it still cost concentration and made it impossible to reach my goal pace of 05:30.

After the highway section the worst of the traffic was clearing up as we headed into the OCBC sports complex. I tried to settle into my 05:30 pace but was not particularly successful and ended up around 05:40 on average. The sports complex has some narrow areas that forced us to slow down. In addition, in my plan I had failed to consider that walking through each aid station would cost around 10-15s to walk through slowly.

The middle portion

I ate my first gel at around kilometre 6 and more or less carried on as above as the race took us out through East Coast Park and back toward the Marina barrage. Upon reaching kilometre 12 I ate my second gel and tried to accelerate my pace, aiming for 05:20. I had mixed success here as I struggled to keep up the increased pace - luckily I found a few other runners to follow for various parts and ended up averaging mostly 05:30ish splits.

16km to end

The final stretch of the race began as we headed over the marina barrage for a nasty surprise - the race course included a very steep circular ramp that is by the barrage.

I dropped my pace considerably for the ramp to avoid expending too much effort and was able to make it up without walking. On the down slope I let my legs run free to make up some of the last time, which worked well though it meant no extra recovery period for me.

The last 5k came and went surprisingly quickly as I focussed on holding my pace. At this point I knew that I could make my sub 2h goal if I just avoided complete collapse, so I decided not to try any crazy sprint stunts and hold my pace, which worked fine. There was a brief moment of doubt around kilometre 18 but otherwise fine.

Post-race

After a brief rest to catch my breath after the finish line I collected my isotonic drink, finisher tee and medal and made my way through to the race village.

This race was an “Eco run” focussed on waste reduction. The race village reflected that, with various stands educating the public about waste minimization and less emphasis on selling swag. Indeed, there was no shop I could find!

After a brief wander I had enough and set off to walk home. I even managed a few small jogs along the way.

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