Village Roadshow Theme Parks Gold Coast Half Marathon VR 2021 Race Recap

I was really hoping things would have improved by this year and we'd get to run the Village Roadshow Theme Parks Gold Coast Marathon 2021 but knew in my heart of hearts that it wouldn't be possible. And true to my expectations, the race was restricted to locals only but this time there was an official VR race for the rest of the world. Unlike the previous year, it wasn't a free event but I wasn't going to miss out on the fun. It took me a while to sign up cos I was contemplating on which event to sign up for, the marathon or the half. Sanity prevailed eventually and I chose the half marathon as I wasn't up to training and running a marathon over here. Granted, I ran all four categories (5.7km, 10km. 21km and 42km) last year but that was generally for fun since the actual event was a no go. 

And so, I signed up for the half marathon which was somewhat doable for me. Then it came to whether I just wanted to wing it or go with a plan, which would require some commitment. Seeing as how I had some demons to pry off my back, I chose to go with a plan, at least there was some focus and goal to work towards. Besides, since I paid for it, I was going to treat it like any race I normally would and earn the finisher shirt and medal. Naturally (and obviously) my choice of plan was the Luke Humphrey Running plan. I chose a 12 week plan based on my current fitness level. A nice mix of a plan that looked very doable to me but LHR plans always looks easier than they actually are.

Armed with a plan, a goal and a prayer, I dived right into it. 12 weeks to get in some semblance of race shape. Health and fitness wise, I was feeling pretty good. My only worry was injuries, something I'm pretty well known for, especially towards the second half of training when things get tougher. I just had to be more aware of my situation this time round to avoid such a fate.

The first week of training was pretty straight forward and easy though it did kick into second gear with fartleks sessions as early as the third day but totally understandable seeing as how it was a short 12 week plan. I tackled every session it threw at me with gusto and generally aced all the harder sessions. The easier sessions were kept real easy and the long runs were moderately paced. The only drawback was I had to keep the sessions around home cos were in an MCO phase and no travelling outside a radius of 10km.

The training was good overall even with the disappointment of not being able to run my weekend long runs with the crew cos of the MCO, it didn't derail my enthusiasm much. After all my longest run was only 16km and plotting a route here was not too difficult albeit a little tough cos of the rolling inclines here but still doable. As the training progressed, my fitness improved, my pace got more consistent and I was able to hold certain paces for longer stretches. Things were moving along exactly as the plan dictated. After all the backbone of the LHR plan is consistency and some patience was needed to achieve that.

But the training didn't come without a few scares. Heading into the last 2 weeks or so of the plan, I picked up a buggy knee issue. Damn, I thought, not this again. Late training injury was something I knew all too well. But good thing I was at the last 2 weeks which was heading into taper and the sessions were mostly easy ones. Upon the advice of my wife and a few inspirational friends, I eased off a little and even took 2 days off. One particular advice that resonated through me was from Francis who said "it's better to be under-trained than injured", and I've already done the hard part at this stage so I wouldn't lose too much taking some off days. Thank God, the buggy knee subsided and no further issues with the knee.

Then came my vaccination appointment, 3 days prior to my race day which I planned to run the same day and time as the actual race start in the Gold Coast. Most of the stories I heard about the vaccination was that you'd get some heavy duty side effects, the likes of fever, headaches, body aches, etc and that didn't bode well for my race in 3 days time. But my ex-water boy and supposed pacer, Choon Yuen gave me some tips on how to avoid or at least diminish any side effects and I followed it. Fortunately I didn't encounter any side effects whatsoever and I still had a day of rest before race day. My route was all plotted out, and I was ready to run the race solo since we still couldn't run with anyone, especially in groups. I was feeling confident.

 Then came scare number three. The government decided to fully lockdown the states of Selangor and some parts of Kuala Lumpur beginning July 3rd, my planned race day. Being a resident in Selangor that spelt doom for my race. At this same time the news that the actual physical race was cancelled cos of the pandemic resurgence in Australia was also a bummer. I was gutted for them but more so gutted for myself. True, there was a month's grace to run the VR edition but this two week lockdown which I'm sure will be extended is bound to ruin whatever benefits and fitness I derived from my training.

While I always moaned and claimed I didn't have a goal and was just wanting to finish the race, something most in the crew didn't believe, I did have a personal goal to attain. This lockdown would definitely derail that, that is if the lockdown was even lifted without any extensions. All this was going through my mind while at the vaccine centre and I finally decided, to heck with it. If I was feeling good the next day, I'll try to attempt the half marathon a few hours before the actual race start time, while I'm still in the legal limit of outdoor running here. 

So, 12 hours after my vaccination and bright and early Friday morning, I woke up with no side effects, and feeling very good and decided I'd give the race a go. Wifey was all supportive and gave me heaps of good luck as I headed out the door. I dropped off two bottles of hydration at the guard house along my planned two and half loop route during my warm up and got down to some serious racing. Running a half marathon at race pace with no support was going to be really tough in my neighbourhood, I had to negotiate 2 long inclines at least twice, I couldn't replicate a flat race route like the Gold Coast unfortunately.

I got into pace immediately but was worried if I could actually hold it throughout. I had some things on my side, like a very early start was an advantage cos there were practically no cars on the roads. The place was still dark and the strong winds with threat of rain were pretty cooling, nothing like the Gold Coast but I just pretended it was. I felt strong throughout, something I haven't felt in a long time. By the time I reached 16km or so, I knew that if I could keep my cool and concentration, I could pull off a decent time. I kept my composure and while the last 3km was uphill, I kept the pace going. I'll suffer later, for now, that PR was within sight.

And true enough, I did pull off a PR but it was something I wasn't expecting. I aimed to just break my current half marathon PR but shaving off 4.5 minutes and coming in at 1:46:40 was really not expected but I was ecstatic nonetheless. I sat down by the side of the road catching my breath and basking in the moment all by myself. I missed the fanfare of crossing the finish gantry in the Gold Coast hearing my name called out by the announcer. That will have to wait till next year.

And with that, my race was done, whether my results submitted would be accepted or not and risk not getting my finisher tee and medal since I ran a few hours earlier didn't matter. I had my demons exorcised and I was elated for that. But I'm happy to say my results were accepted and for that I'm thankful. This is also the first time in a long time that I've avoided an injury leading up to a race. Better understanding, more knowledge and smarter training paid dividends for sure.

Credit and thanks also goes out to my wife for having to put up with another round of my training and for being so supportive throughout. My entire diet and nutrition this time was handled by her and I stuck to it like glue, just the way I stuck to the Luke Humphrey Running plan. And to the crew, thanks for the support though you all knew I was going to drama the crap out of this training and race ... hahaha!