Roadmap

16 just held such better days,  days when I feel so alive, couldn't wait to get outside (Adam's song, Blink 182) Happy 2017! #trailrunning #dirtoverasphalt #chasingvert

A photo posted by Hafdzuan (@hafdzuan) on Dec 31, 2016 at 9:42pm PST

Judging by the Ironman training, I've made an error in judgement by skipping base training. Base is the most difficult and most important phase. During base you have to go slow and its counter intuitive to go slow since naturally you want to go fast. Patience and faith is needed in base training. Most of my reading lead me to believe the base portion is the main phase of a training plan and hopefully I can perform them right. I also think the base phase is the right time to train to gauge speed and effort without garmin. I can also listen to music and explore new routes since I'm not tied up to any specific workout. It's simply just ... run.

Plan is to periodize to peak for SCKLM (planning for a sub 4 or a PB) in May and complete some ultras and one last big race nearing end of 2017. Most ultras especially those sought after races occur after syawal so it's also something I have to look into. Went for a standard 4 week macro cycle. 1 peak, 2 level and a recovery week. Will take it easy in June during Ramadhan and sort of re-start again after.

Decided to focus on a base of maybe around 3 months of easy runs, some elevation and strength training. I try not to be too fancy about it. If I can stay consistent running with an average of +-60km per week with +-1000 m of elevation, I'm set. Increase by 10% per week every 3rd week. Won't care about speed. Also rest/recovery every 4th week and if needed. Try not to push things too much. Also a marker workout to track fitness progress every recovery week.

Basically, at a micro level, a week in base is a combo of long run (trail/road), a medium run and the rest just easy runs. Week starts on Sunday and ends on Saturdays. This is so I can get the long run out of the way early and just fill the rest of the week with a recovery, strength, speed and threshold workout when those phases arrives. I learned that I usually had to skip my long runs due to a missed weekend. This way, I can re arrange my long runs to the next weekend and the mileage will still be considered in the same training week. Have to see how that'll turn out and adjust.

Then of course I have to balance mileage and speed/threshold workouts as SCKLM gets closer. A good taper and finally race.

I came to realize that its not that complicated, but it can be. The ironman training certainly provided some indication of what personally works and doesn't. This time I just want to be a bit flexible but have a plan to guide so that I have something to aim for every week.

Few rules:

1) Staying consistent by excecuting safe run combos. No hard day followed by another hard day. Hard means long or tough sessions.
2) Recovery: 1 day per week (no running/cross training), 1 week per month (go easy and reduce mileage to 70% from previous)
3) Be Specific: Go long, go vert, go on trails, go long on vert trails.
4) Stop/cross train when injured
5) Minimum 1 strength /core session
6) Do drills and strides on easy days
7) Split long days if needed

I'm also not going to update progress every week like I did during Ironman 2016. Maybe a monthly summary would suffice. We'll see.

Here we go.

2017 run

Trail and tarmac (borrow caption from @davidlaney12) #dirtoverasphalt #trailrunning #chasingvert

A photo posted by Hafdzuan (@hafdzuan) on Dec 17, 2016 at 8:37pm PST

This year is gonna be all about running. Few issues I have with running are that, the longer I go, the more it hurts. The faster I go, the more it hurts. Combine the two, running can be quite painful. Since I signed up for a 50k trail run/ultra race, I sort of have to run far and somewhat fast. So, these issues require attention or I'll be in trouble even before the race starts in February. I also signed up for a marathon and executing them well is also one of 2017 goal. So a proper training plan is required.

Since I'll be running trail, I need to run on trail. Finding one is a challenge by itself. There's plenty, but in terms of logistics it's quite inconvenient to get to. I love the fact that I can just go out the door and run straight away. But for trail running, it seems like I have no choice but to drive to get to a trail. Especially trails with a pretty decent elevation. So places/courses to train that don't take much time to get too is required as well.

Trail running usually involves few hikes/walks due to the sheer amount of ascent one have to do. So pace would be significantly slow and more often than not, I'll probably be spending a lot of time on the trail. There are no shops selling 100 plus or snickers bars which means I have to carry my own nutrition and water. The weather could also turn and I might end up running in the rain, muddy with leeches etc. Getting lost/injured is a real possibility too.

So good gears, nutrition and carrying important items are essential.

More on these later.

2017

In 2016 I committed to record and write about stuff especially tracking progress. Its cool to look back at those moments in writing. So I'm gonna continue. If it's important then it's worthwhile to record them.

It's now 2017 and sporting wise, 2016 was relatively a great year. I won't go into details cause it's something that'll take ages to write about.

The highlights for 1st half of 2016 would be PBing my Half Ironman and Powerman. Started the year by having a strcutured training regiment but didn't strictly follow the program or monitor my progress much. I guess I was on the steep section of the learning curve where significant improvements were gained by not doing a lot. Got 2nd place in a trail run at Kemensah and almost a sub 2 at Nilai Marathon. Ran and enjoyed more trails.

In the 2nd half of 2016, committed to a training plan. Didn't follow 100% but felt the need to objectively assess how much work was done. So I closely track the metrics and developed a simple monitoring system with MS excel. I also felt it was important to log how I feel or feelings I had when training or whatever observation I had at that time. Race wise, learned a lot blowing up in races and a sub 2 half marathon followed by a 7th place finish in the Mantin Hill 2 Hill run capped of a great "racing season" for the 2nd half of 2016.

Then, the big and final race of 2016, Ironman Langkawi. The race that anchors everything. In the space of 2 weeks leading to Ironman Langkawi, my grandfather passed away and my wife gave birth to a baby girl days later. My head wasn't in its right place and training didn't go as planned but I accepted all of these circumstances. I finished the race and I think the effort that was put in matched the result. The race itself wasn't the highlight and I forgotten much about the details of the race. But the training, the preparation for the Ironman was probably the best thing that has ever happened because I learned a lot. Training for Ironman revealed a lot. The main thing I learned was about scheduling and being extra careful with time. With 3 sport to train for, time is of the essence.

There were also highlights personally and professionally, things outside sports such as the trip with buddies/family to Tasik Kenyir, vacations etc that was pretty awesome as well. But those memories are reserved/saved just for me.

Right. Now that 2016 is all done and dusted, it's time to line up a new project for 2017. It has to be epic by my standard. It has to be long, impossible (almost) to do without training and most of all fun. I also have to consider the financial damage it will cost me.

Trail running in the contrasting city of #putrajaya. Amidst all the development lies a nice gravel trail which goes around lakes and beautiful natural landscapes. Music, run and exploring new routes. Good fun.  #dirtoverasphalt #trailrunning

A photo posted by Hafdzuan (@hafdzuan) on Dec 8, 2016 at 6:11pm PST

Looking back at 2016, I was always curious when running on trails especially those really long ones. Trail running was a sort of escapism from the Ironman routine and I always wonder why haven't I done it sooner. It seems that there's a whole segment of endurance junkies who ran more than the typical marathon distance. I thought running 42km was crazy. Try 100 - 200km. That's nuts. But I was curious. There was an element of uncertainty, a challenge to overcome and an epic race to sort of hold everything together in a structured way. Trail running puts two things I love together, being outdoors and running. It was not harder or easier than a road race but it's unique. The longer trail races or ultramarathons demand similar things as any endurance event i.e solid preparation, the right gear, nutrition and race day strategies.

The difference would be that, elevation is something that's factored in trail races or ultramarathon. In an Ironman, a hill is a specific point on a course where participants have to go through at some point in the race. In trail racing or ultras, it is the course. The hill/mountains and the whole natural topography is the race course. Which makes for a far more scenic run. It's quite lonely sometimes too. Quiet, peaceful. You can walk without feeling guilty or wimpy because the terrain won't let you run no matter how strong you are.

The top 10 finish in 2016's trail races also sort of strengthen that feeling of wanting to go out and run/race in the wild and to train to become a better trail runner. So immediately after Ironman I signed up for my first ultra in February 2017. A 50km/ 12 hour run at Gunung Nuang. Its a 5 X 10km loop and is perfect if I ever decided to drop out or anything LOL. Have started pre-training, recon some courses to train at and developed a plan that'll guide me towards that epic ultra race near the end of 2017, whatever race that'll turn out to be. As far as triathlon is concerned, it'll supplement my run training and I'll treat it as cross training. Currently not looking forward/planning to do any tris in 2017. I won't say I'm done with multisport as I started with triathlons and always enjoyed doing them. But, it's financially consuming and takes a lot of time. Those factors had huge bearing on my decision to pause triathlon/multisport.

2017 means challenging not only how far or fast I can go, but also how high (elevation) I can go. I've started obsessing about it and I guess it'll be the theme for 2017. It's not as complicated as the Ironman but the challenge could be similar or even greater.

It looks to be exciting if everything goes to plan. Also have some other non sport personal goal to address but that's another story.