Notes
The plan was to go out at a 5:00-5:30 pace for the first kilometer or two and then shoot to consistently run between 4:40-5:00. The key here was patience. I was not concerned with position, I was only concerned with pace. Trying not to get into race mode was difficult for me, but I knew that I did not want to overexert myself in the first half and then run into problems later on. Following this strategy, I let the lead group go ahead, since I was sure that I would not be able to run with any of them anyway. Keeping the pace consistent, I was able to pass one person at a time, but eventually found myself closing in on the lead group as I could still see the pace car lights off in the distance. Still not trying to race, I caught the group of three runners who were just behind the lone leader at around the 18k mark (note the pace picked up at this point shortly). Afterwards, I was still patiently sticking to my pace, but was slowly gaining on the leader until I caught him at about the 23k mark. I decided to run with him, since I was not trying to win, but when I noticed that the pace had dropped to 5:09, I started to question whether I should just go off on my own and stick to my target pace. After about 6k running together he told me to go on without him, so I did and was able to regain my previous pace and consistently stuck with that all the way to the finish. Legs almost started cramping around the 36k mark, but was able to avoid that. Otherwise, no real problems. Fueling strategy seemed to work very efficiently.
Gels: 10k, 20k, 28k, 36k
Very happy with my patience in this race and the consistent splits. The overall finishing position is just a nice bonus. Great experience gained from this race and added confidence for the target race in Pattaya in three weeks. The training peaks here, so now begins the taper.
Kilometer splits:
5:14 / 4:50 / 4:48 / 4:47 / 4:48 / 4:45 / 4:47 / 4:43 / 4:42 / 4:53
4:47 / 4:53 / 4:42 / 4:45 / 4:46 / 4:53 / 4:48 / 4:39 / 4:36 / 4:40
4:46 / 4:47 / 4:46 / 5:08 / 5:09 / 4:58 / 4:56 / 5:07 / 5:04 / 4:46
4:53 / 4:42 / 4:41 / 4:47 / 4:42 / 4:55 / 4:44 / 4:46 / 4:50 / 4:40
4:50 / 4:42 / 0:59