All posts by milos

2014 Green Power 50

Races Hong Kong, ,

At the time when I signed up for this event I somehow failed to realize that it is scheduled only a week after HK100. I originally hoped to record a sub-5 hours finish to my name. But knowing I will still be in recovery after 100km race I simply decided to enjoy the day and see how far I would get in this 44.5km long race.

I think this was first time starting a race on The Peak when I did not get swallowed by the crowd. I could run straight away in my own and steady pace without fighting my way through. I felt great by the time I reached the 007 marker and moved from road to trail. Somewhere here I changed my race philosophy for the day. I decided to go quick and see how far will fast pace take me. I was at the 10km checkpoint in less than an hour and I was really surprised how well I felt. I had enough drinks with me so I passed this checkpoint without stopping.

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My First 100km Race – Vibram HK100 2014

Races Hong Kong, ,

The day finally arrived – January 18, 2014. After 7 months and over 2000km of training I hoped I was ready to embark on my first hard core ultra – the HK100 trail race. I had several 40+ km practice runs in my legs and as a part of the preparation for the HK100 I completed 40km, 50km and 70km races but 100km over the the hills of New Territories with accumulated elevation gain around 5500m that would be quite a different beast to conquer.

HK100 Start

HK100 Start

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Christmas Marathon in Žilina – My first full marathon

Races Overseas

I haven’t done proper full marathon race yet. My first one was to be the Standard Chartered Marathon in Hong Kong in February 2014. Then by chance I found out that back in my home town Christmas Run over different distances is organized every year. Knowing I will be there at that time I thought that it would be good training run ahead of HK100 (not for the hills, just for the distance). And I also found it quite cool to run my first marathon in Žilina, back in the place where I grew up. So I signed up.

I got quite used to doing 40km training trail runs but this of course was going to be a bit different. First of all this was a road race on pretty much flat course so the pace would be much faster than on my hilly training runs. The other factor would be the weather – hard to tell how the freezing temperatures would affect me over the course of the race (it was -6C when the race started).

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2013 MSIG Lantau 50 – My first trophy

Races Hong Kong, ,

I originally signed up for the shorter 26km version of this race. But then I realized that due to my planned December travels I would not have that many opportunities for longer training runs before the HK100 race. And so at the last minute I switched my registration to the full 50km distance. This was to be my first 50km race and the second longest distance I ever did (after LT70).

My plan was to take this race as a training run – start easy, maintain comfortable pace, do not care what others around me are doing. I was quite familiar with most of the route. I did the short version a year ago therefore I knew all the major uphills and downhills and most (although not all) of the additional Chi Ma Wan loop I knew from the Moontrekker.

MSIG Lantau - Podium

MSIG Lantau – Podium

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2013 UNICEF Half Marathon – New PB

Races Hong Kong, , , ,

I was not too keen on joining this race this year. I did 4 half marathons last season, 3 of them (UNICEF, Standard Chartered and Sydney) in almost identical 1h38mins time. The 4th one was the heavily jet lagged slightly hilly China Coast half marathon in Sai Kung at 1h45mins. I was so jet lagged that day I have no idea how I finished that one …

Anyway at the end I decided to sign up for this UNICEF Half Marathon again. I like the route and as I am planning to finally do a full marathon this season and a half marathon early on into the season could be a good test.

I haven’t had any special preparation for the road race. All my training is aimed at trail running this season so I simply decided to show up and enjoy the ride, or run.
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Oxfam Trailwalker 2013 – HKTR Bros Support

Races Hong Kong, , ,

I have never done the Oxfam Trailwalker myself. I was contemplating joining this year for about 10 minutes. But then I decided to focus my preparations on HK100 in January and signed up for shorter 70km long LT70 instead.

I still wanted to participate in Trailwalker though and when the HKTR Bros started to build their support team that was to help them to achieve sub 15 hours finish I joined in.

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LT70 2013 – 70km Lantau Race

Races Hong Kong, , ,

My original goals for the 2013-14 racing season was to finally do a full road marathon race and to complete my first 50km+ ultra on trails. But during the summer I signed up for the HK100 – the original solo Hong Kong 100km and when the LT70 race (70km and about 4000m of accumulated elevation gain) was announced it sounded like a good training and endurance test for my main event of the season. After considering all pros and cons I decided to go for it. I signed up. This was to be 30km longer than my previous longest race and about 26km more than the longest trail run I ever did.

LT70 route sketch

LT70 route sketch

I worked on my pace during 40km test runs on Hong Kong Island and being familiar with the first 25km of Lantau Trail I felt pretty confident that I should be OK for at least the first 2 stages. Beyond that I had no prior knowledge of the route and no idea how my body is going to handle the distance.
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MSIG HK 2013 – 24km Race

Races Hong Kong, , ,

The MSIG HK 50 was scheduled for 27 October, 2013 – the Sunday of the Moontrekker weekend. Once I switched my Moontrekker registration from 27km to 40km I knew I would not be ready to follow it up with 50km race only 27 hours or so later, especially being aware of tough nature of the second half of the 50km route. I still decided to sign up for the 24km race though. It followed my regular Sunday morning route (HK Trail stages 1 to 4 from The Peak to Wing Nai Chung Gap) with only difference being the extra 2km long Mt. Bennet loop – so very familiar and not exactly tough route. I though this could be a nice recovery run made easier by lighter backpack thanks to all the checkpoints with water.
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Moontrekker – My trail racing season begins

Races Hong Kong, , , ,

I originally signed up for the shorter 27km version of Moontrekker. Then I joined overnight summer recce run covering the full 40km Sunrise route and really enjoyed the “extra” Chi Ma Wan loop. Then later in the summer I decided to sign up for HK100. Running the full length Moontrekker became part of my training plan for HK100. And so I made the switch.

Before this race I had almost no previous night running experience except that one all night Moontrekker practice during summer. Moreover I never finished a race this long. I had two full HK Trail practice runs from previous winter under my belt (44.5km). However the only 40km+ race that I previously entered (2013 Green Power) I had to abandon after half distance due to foot injury.

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