The North Face 100km duo Race Review

Started writing the below on 13th October:

Its been 4 days since I participated (not competed) in the brutal, grueling and difficult North Face 100km duo challenge. My legs are yet to forget that experience. When I did the 50km in HK at the GreenMile race in Feb this year, the weather was awesome while the course was tough. I had trouble during that race when encountering the hills but thankfully, there were long stretches of flats in between hills and that allowed for some recovery. This time, the weather conspired with the route to chew me proper and spit me out mid way into the race. After that, it was sheer desperation to see what the finish line looks like that made me come home in 8:36 approx, with 24 minutes to spare for the 9hr cutoff.

Going into the race, I knew that Chacha, my partner in crime in the previous edition of this race wouldn’t be able to make it due to ITB issues. So I was prepared to do a 50km solo. Mentally. Physically, I was in such a pathetic shape that it’s a laugh looking back now that I even tried to do this race. My longest run in training for this was about 22kms and that too about 8 weeks before the race. After that, I just hadn’t got back to running longer distances and so was setting myself up for a world of trouble. And sure enough, there were no surprises there. I went into the race thinking I would “wing it”, sure enough after 3 hours, any wings I might have had were deafeningly clipped. 

The start line saw several of the SGRunners friends milling around and it was good to see quite a few were running the distance. At 7am sharp, the race kicked off, and we settled into a very relaxed effortless jog knowing well that the later kms would be killers. Throughout the race, I was yoyo-ing with a few other SGRunners (Aplelite, Yankee, Joanna, Tiwazz, Yeehua) and so that kept a lonely journey seem a lot more bearable.

Edit 12th November: I don’t have the enthu to complete the race report I started above so will conserve my writing energy for future races!  To cut a long story short, I am at a point where I am feeling disgusted by merely “completing” races where I am not putting in my best effort at all, or even a self-respecting effort for that matter which needn’t even be a very good one. So my plan for next year is to do fewer races but of higher quality of performance.

Singapore AHM 2010 race review

The day was finally upon me. 1 week after a great 10km race at the YRPR, I was going to test my ability at more than twice that distance. The AHM in 2009 was my first timed run on my Garmin 305 – and I fared miserably under the circumstances back then, fading to a 2:51 finish caused by several reasons, not all of which were related to running! So I was quite eager to set the record straight this time around. Once again, for the impatient, I timed 2:06:16 per my Garmin 305 which is a PB improvement of about 6.5 minutes. For those with time to kill, thanks for stopping by and do read on.

Buoyed by a 49min 10km race at YRPR, and the encouragement of several of my good running buddies, I set a target for 2hrs for myself for the 21.1km. As usual, I could barely sleep the night before and managed I think, just about 3-4 hours of sleep before waking up at 3.15am to get ready and drive over to the venue by around 4am as any later would mean that I would get no parking space whatsoever close to the venue. I downed a banana at home, and then a PowerGel at the carpark at the venue as pre-race nutrition. The pasta I had the day before for some reason was not agreeing with me much and I was hoping that it wouldn’t cause any serious problems during the race.
After wishing Sumedha a good run on her part, at around 5.08am or so I started making my way towards the start line when much to my consternation, the race was counted down and flagged off, well before the scheduled 5.15am start. I knew that if I didn’t take the first couple of kms down quickly, I would be sandwiched amongst runners who would be ambling and thus eat seriously into my time. So the first few kms was spent rapidly weaving in and out trying to find the fastest route out (not necessarily the shortest), and in retrospect, might have cost me in the later stages of the race. My race plan was to hit 10km at 55min, 15km at around 1:22-1:24 and then take it from thereon. For some reason, I just couldn’t shake off the feeling of lethargy I felt in the early kms. It wasn’t encouraging at all running with heavy legs and having to make extra effort in getting a move on. Imagine my plight when at around 4kms, I see a horde of runners casually running in the opposite direction, and I was thinking “I must be really slow, for these guys have already U-turned and going back”!! Then I realized that, actually this (i.e. the opposite side) was the start line and these guys were 15-20 minutes behind me and just started the race!  To make a point here, I did my first km in 6:24 which was ok, but the next km in 4:50 which was quite stupid.

The first 10kms also had 2 long slopes at the MBS Bridge as well as the Sheares bridge, and I used both as a phase to gain some time on the slower runners on the upslopes and make up for the time I lost due to the early dodging. Until then I had not stopped at any aid station as I was running with my 4 bottle fuel belt and I hadn’t drunk any of my own supplies too, so I think the combination of lethargy, tiredness and lack of hydration brought me to a standstill just before the 10km mark at ECP. That was a big blow to my confidence that I would finish sub-2 hrs, even though I did manage to cross 10km in 56 minutes. I walked a bit, stopped to stretch myself and mentally kept a dialogue going on how I would do the remaining distance and still come in under 2 hours. Wisely, I re-hydrated on the walk and began running again, only to come to a stop a km later. I just couldn’t figure out why this was happening and while I debated about it, I chose to not have an energy gel until much later. I would go on to not have any gel at all during the entire race, and that sure is an area of improvement. I started feeling a little bit feverish at this point but just blocked the negative thought out of mind, and sure enough it did go away and I caught my second wind, going through 15kms in 1:27. And sure enough, just when I thought I could hold on a push for my target, I bonked again. And again. And again. All through this, why I didn’t have my energy gels (I was carrying two of them) completely escapes me. My 20th km took me more than 7 minutes to finish!! By the 18th km, I had given up hope of beating 2 hrs and just wanted to make the overrun as low as possible. I can’t believe now that I even walked in the last km of the race, which can only mean I didn’t pace myself properly. In the end, while it was a minor consolation that I have a new PB, it’s a disappointment because 2hrs was eminently possible. I can only make amends by running my next half marathon 1:54 or below (to go below 2hrs by as much as I went over it this time).

Areas of improvement:-
1. Get to the start line earlier (aim for start delay of less than 20 seconds)
2. Hydrate earlier in the race
3. Use the energy gel when I have to
4. Lose the belt, carrying an extra 1kg for the first 10kms isn’t off much help at all
5. Maintain a steadier pace in the 2nd half of the race.
6. Go hell for leather in the last 3kms (this one is easier said than done!).

Have to now shut this out of mind and look towards the 100km duo at the North Face challenge in 4 weeks time.

Yellow Ribbon Prison Run 10km Race Review - Part 1

The gods must be smiling at me. There is absolutely no other rational explanation for my race performance at the YRPR 10km race yesterday. It was belting rain right from the start. I was soaked wet and like almost every one else, could barely do a warm-up because of the weather. To top it off, i was running in my VFF KSOs which were wet as well and i was worried i might not be able to run properly. Fact of the matter is, when i crossed the finish line, the clock read 49:01. Thats 4:53 min/km for 10km flat out. And my new PR by miles. If there was a Cloud 99, i would have been on that yesterday !! :) Today i am just on Cloud 9.

As I never tire of telling this, since I got my Garmin last August, i have clocked 1300 kms. Of these 1300 kms exactly 2 kms have been faster than a 5 min pace. So it was of course an insane pipe dream to think about running a sub-50 min 10km race. In fact, i was a little nervous that i wouldnt be able to beat my 52:42 set at the Republic Run 3 weeks ago as the YRPR course had more slopes. I just dont know how i managed the time i did. Of course, when i was running, i never looked at my Garmin for speed/time etc and just ran in a "comfortably" hard way. I had some signs of mild stitches around the 7 km mark, but figured that i would just push through a little bit. Since i dodged a few runners and had to run criss-cross a few times during the race, my Garmin recorded a distance of 10.11km. As per my 305, i crossed 10kms in 48:38 !!

I will write the next part of the Race Review which gives a more detailed account of how it all came down .. :)

Bringing my Garmin back to life ...

First up, you need to appreciate the gravity of the situation here ... of late my Garmin 305, had been sputtering in the middle of a run every once in a while and it was causing me headache enough to warrant hunting for a solution. I kinda figured that since this was happening intermittently, it had to be a loose contact. Contacting Garmin lead me to believe that the 112 USD that it would cost me to fix it would be better worth spending by topping up and getting a new one. Instead i chanced upon this and being totally inspired, succeeded in ripping my Garmin into 2 parts and then while attempting to fix the bent battery contact, broke it off completely.

As things stand now, for just 4 SGD, my Garmin is up and running and working better than ever before. How in the world did i do that, you ask??

Some other time ....

Republic Run 10 km Race Review

Last evening was spent in a very enjoyable race at the Republic Run 10km, in Woodlands, Singapore. It was the first time I was going to race in my VFF KSOs and i was quite eagerly waiting for a chance to try them out. For those who want to cut the chase, well, I ran 52:42 (5:11 pace) and bettered my previous PB by 2.5 minutes or thereabouts. The longer version continues below ..... :)

After my 21km trail run on Saturday, i hadnt run for 4 days due to a strange mix of work-related and shopping-related circumstances! :) I was eager to clock some mileage up in the week and so although, i knew i had a race on Saturday evening, i thought i would venture out for a 12km run on Friday evening. And boy, was that a mistake !! I have never run in more humid weather and was already sweating buckets by the time i had run my usual 1.25km to the AMK Ave 1 - CTE Signal where i usually do some stretching before continuing on the rest of the run. I had planned to run at a 6:15 pace or so, but ended up going at 5:40-5:50 pace and at the 6km mark, had no choice but to sit and take a break on Upp Thomson Road as I had been steadily losing water but had nothing to supplement this loss. Of late, i have stopped carrying water for 12km runs and below, as what i have just before i leave my house sustains me for the running duration. I resumed my run, only to stop another couple of kms ahead to take an extended traffic signal break. This dismal sequence would continue once more and by the time i ran 11km, i decided i was just gonna walk back. That made for a very forgettable day.

And so, when Saturday came along, i wanted to atleast partially, redeem myself for the poor show on Friday. I met with Eugene at the Woodlands MRT and we made our way to the start line together. (Also saw Mok, Vivian Tang at the start line). As it turned out, i was probably the only runner in the entire race running in Vibrams, which made it slightly special! ). I have PowerBar Gel boxes at home which are expiring in October this year so I use every chance i can get to finish them before they expire, so at the start of the race, i popped a Gel, downed it with water and figured i wouldnt have to drink water during the race. The race started and i found myself running at a planned 9.5km pace or so i thought. My breathing was very stable and i am very conscious of not running the first few kms of a race very fast and instead use it as part of the warm up. Except that when i looked at my watch somewhere around the 1km mark (to check the calibration of watch vs. distance marker), i saw that i was going at a 11kph + pace. I thought i was asking for trouble and slowed down. Except that i ended up somehow running the 2nd km at practically the same speed as the 1st km. As i do these days, i barely looked at my Garmin after that until the finish line and mostly run by how i feel. After the first kms, the field strung out quite a bit and i began steadily picking my way up through the running field. The route was mostly flat with a couple of gentle slopes, like Sling had mentioned on FB and except for the time of the day, which made it humid, the tree foliage along the route and the reservoir at a section of the race all made for very peaceful surroundings to run in.

At around the 7.5 km mark, i saw a couple of other SG Runner friends who had started with me and i slowly eased ahead of them running a very steady race. This run was a dramatic change from my first couple of runs in my VFFs when my Calves turned into stone towards the end of the run and for a few days after that. 90kms later, with another 60 kms in my midfoot strike shoes, i found myself a lot more comfortable running with a midfoot strike and also learning to relax as i ran faster. Coming out of the reservoir road at 8km, i ran into a sea of school kids who were doing the 5km fun run and although i had to spend extra effort to weave in and out without losing pace, it is always fun to see young kids out in the open having fun. :) I came up to the 9km mark and saw that i had 47 minutes and change, down already and knew that if i just kept my current pace, i was going to beat my previous PB of 55:20. Since there was some gas still left in the tank, i picked my speed in the last 500kms, and finished with a sprint 100mtrs. My garmin recorded a distance of 10.17 and time of 52:42 as i came past the finish line.

After a very tasty and cold herbal tea drink and a bit of water, i had cooled down enough to reflect that one of the advantages of improving your running speed, is that you stay out of downpours that hit the 70min+ runners for the race! :) It was great weather nevertheless and i am sure i would have run in the rain if it had come down while i was still in the hunt. From my 1st race in Dec 2008 where i ran a 67:33 for the 10km to this, its been a fantastic journey. I definitely want to see a sub-50 10km run this year now ! :)

Finding my running legs...

About 2 weeks ago, i ran at McRitchie on Sunday after playing a couple of hours of badminton the previous day and although i tried denying it for as long as possible, i couldnt help notice that i simply am not good enough in recovering from 2 hours of badminton singles within a day to run 20+ kms the next day. Therefore i decided that for the sake of my running life, my badminton life needs to tone down a bit and i will play not more than 1 hour of singles if i am running in the next couple of days. Around precisely the same time is when i started experiencing a palpable pain in my right shin and i was hoping against hope, that this wasnt shin splints. I decided to play it safe and took a break from running for 3 days with only swimming and home workouts saving me from the definition of a total couch potato. That turned out to be a smart thing as i found that at the end of those 3 days, my shin pain had practically disappered and i was raring to hit the roads again.

So Sunday morning brought me to MR again and since the better half decided to start a few minutes behind me, i started out on my own picking my way gently through the trail. I knew that the earlier time i was there, i tried forcing the pace early on and paid heavily for it in the second half of the run. After switching my 305 on, i decided i wasnt going to look at it until i finished the run and somehow i did manage to do that. I steadily increased my pace for the first 5 kms of the run finishing my 5th km in 5:50 and then pretty much held that pace for the remainder of the run.. with a 5:27 pace at the 10th km. End result: 10kms in 61 minutes, which if not the best, is easily one of my best times in MR.

I also think that a few pictures would add a bit of life to my blog so from my next run on, i think i will carry my pocket cam along !! :)

Cranking it up at Fort Canning

A couple of days ago, i had what in my books was an excellent hard run with the CBD folks doing the Fort Canning route. I cant quite remember whether I have ever managed to run 5 loops on top of Fort Canning so may be this time around counted as a first. I clocked a total of 13.78 kms in a total running time of 1:20 and ran the bulk of the distance well under a 6min/km pace.

One of the reasons i felt good about this run was that I had had good nutritious food the entire day, was well hydrated and hadnt run the previous day so was in a good mood to start with. :) The weather was not bad either although a lil less humidity here in Singapore is always welcome.

I ran in my NB RT801 midfoot strike shoes, and i am increasingly convinced that it has been money very well spent. Its light, helps me maintain my strike and is slowly but surely strengthening my calves as midfoot running would tend to do. Towards the end of the run, my calves were starting to feel really tired as these are still early days for me changing from heel strike to midfoot strike. I had originally planned to run my first 10km race in VFF KSOs at the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run on Sep 5th but now will attempt to do so on Aug 14th at the Republic Run, so i need to invest as much time as i can in ensuring my legs are strong enough to endure a race paced midstrike run.

Some more of burning rubber ...

I went for a short and easy 5km run in my VFF KSOs after a home workout around 7.30pm as I was still feeling restless and thought that a 30 min run would lift my mood quite a bit. This was my home loop run which is Lorong Chuan - Bradell - Upper Serangoon Rd - Serangoon Ave 2 - Boundary Road - Lorong Chuan.

When I ran in my KSOs last, i had worn NB toe socks as the previous few times had left me with blisters (and interestingly enough, only on my right foot). So yesterday I thought that i would run with just the VFFs on and see if the blistering situation has magically improved somehow. And ... they hadnt !! I got the blister on the exact same spot as before .. so i guess i will need to continue running in toesocks when in VFFs which is perfectly fine with me as it doesnt take away anything from the experience of running without any cushioning whatsoever.

The one thing i have trouble doing in VFFs is maintaining my speed .. even if i want to run a steady pace, i invariably end up going faster towards the latter half of my run. Need to bring my sensibilities into view ....

KL Marathon 2010 race review

I ran the half marathon at the KL StanChart Marathon on 27th June. Bested my previous PB by a significant 25 minutes by coming home in 2:12:45 which was more than what i could have hoped for, initially just praying to break 2:20.

I traveled to KL the previous day, with a big and awesome gang from SGRunners (organized by JJ and Kayano) and reached around 2.30pm or thereabouts. Rest of the day was spent going to the race expo, chitchatting with a kenyan elite runner and going out in the evening for makaan.

Race day: I got up around 4.30am, took care of pre-race prep and was at the start line at around 6am where a thin drizzle made the weather quite cool. It was a very pleasant atmosphere and i was looking forward to a good race. The race flagged off and I was running by myself hoping to run the first couple of kms at a 9kph pace as warm up and then increase it to around the 9.8 to 10kph pace and hold that for about as long as I could. Early into the race, i was beset by a feeling of tiredness and lethargy which was inexplicable and i had some doubts about to whether I would even break 2:30. My cough which had subsided but hadnt gone away completely, reared its head every once in a while during the run, as did my cold.

The route had several uphill and downhill segments, and to my credit, i ran all of them without stopping on a single patch. At about the 8km mark or so, i broke on to a flat road and thats when something clicked inside me and i started to run better, in a more fluent stride and kept the pace up. Interestingly enough, while my first 10kms took me 64 mins, i ran the next 10 kms in 61 mins which was definitely not what i had planned for (i thought that i would be slowing down after the 15k mark but actually picked up speed in that part of the race). And although i was carrying 2 powergels with me for use during the run, i found that just drinking gatorade i was carrying in my fuel belt was serving me fine and throughout the race i didnt have to touch the powergel at all.

Throughout the run, i tried to consciously not think about what speed i was doing or what time i was on, and just wanted to make sure that my body did what it felt best doing .. so along the race, i was doing plenty of sightseeing while making sure i missed the puddles on the road that had formed due to the rain (it had stopped drizzling about a few minutes into the race).

My splits were 0:32 at 5km, 1:04 at 10km, 1:35 at 15km and 2:05 at 20km. In retrospect the slow start helped to set up a speedy finish, with the 21st km being run in 5:47. As i crossed the finish line, i was filled with a sense of relief (for managing a sub 2:20) as well as a sense of immense satisfaction for having done what i consider to be a good time. Its a confidence-boosting experience when you have races like this that help you go farther than what you trusted yourself to go to. I am gonna soak in this post-race euphoria for sometime before i start training again, and this time i going to slowly work in some speedwork into my training. I definitely want to try and break 2:10 at the Army half marathon on 12th September and with a extremely gigantic slice of luck and good fortune, break 2:00 hours.

Mizuno Mount Faber 10km Race Review

I ran my 2nd Mizuno Mt.Faber run (a 10km race) on the 13th of June (yesterday! :). When I ran the first time last year, not only was it my first race of the year then, but it also felt one of the toughest runs I had done for I had trained very little on uphill running (practically zilch!). A year later, I have had more than 1000kms of running under my belt and therefore should show a satisfactory improvement in performance. While I ran a 1:10 last year, this year's edition proved to be a very delightful outing as I managed to go sub 1-hour and come in at 59:57. I hadnt planned on running a sub-1 at the start of the race and in-fact for much of it; i basically had no time target.

I was in the first 30 rows of runners or so and therefore had only a 15 second differential to the gun time. Usually i run my first couple of kms as warm up i.e. at a slower pace than the remainder of the race, but on this occasion I started at 5:52 pace (10.2kph). The weather was holding up rather nicely and I had the good fortune of not having to stop at any of the traffic lights along the route. At around the 4km mark, came the uphill climb of Mt.Faber and it was a familiar sight to see lot of runners walking up. I thought i would try and push on for as long as i could and kept nudging a patient pace, weaving in and out to dodge walkers and faster runners alike. Somehow I managed to run all the way to the top, and somewhere around there saw the 5km board (I had clocked 29:41 until then). I have now been running long enough to know that the downhill is actually the part where i need to be extra careful and so while people around me were whizzing past, i kept a steady 6min pace all the way, and sure enough my quads didnt feel like they had committed suicide (but they were beginning to get there). At the 7.5km mark, i saw that I would have to run the next 2.5kms at a 10.6kph pace or better if i could give myself a shot of coming under 1 hour .. something that i never thought would be possible for me on a Mt.Faber run (atleast not this year). So i picked up my speed and finished my 9km at 54:40 .. which meant i had to run my last km as the fastest km of the entire run. Looking back i cant think how exactly this played out, but i do remember that for the last minute or so, i was sprinting headlong and hoping that i get a relatively clear path until the finish line. Making the final turn into the runner's area, i saw that i had just about (and just about it was), broken the 1 hour mark for the run.

I placed 421st out of 1517 runners in the Men's open. It was a fun outing and I am hoping that I can carry this good run (metaphorically) into my KL half marathon on the 27th of this month.

Sundown Marathon: Race Review

On 29th May 2010, at 11:59pm I embarked on what would be my first road marathon should i last the distance. On 30th May 2010, I earned my Marathon stripes, by crossing the finishing line before the sun came up (which is why the tagline for the Sundown Marathon is "Beat The Sunrise"). While the journey over the past 3 months should have put me in good shape to be at the starting line, the journey itself over the next several hours from thereon was tragically anything but smooth. Without further preamble, the race review follows after the detour below.

I had made a customized 3 month plan that had me running 445kms before the actual 42km - my achievement against that plan was 427km, i was about 15k off which could be overlooked. My long run before the race was 28km where for most of the time, i was running at a 9+ kph. At the Passion Run 1 week before the day of the Marathon, I ran 10km in 55m, which was my fastest 10km ever. In the last week before the marathon, i also had 2 full body massages to ensure that i was completely relaxed and ready to take on the 42k challenge. So what went wrong?

As per my original plan, I was supposed to have rested all of Thu, Fri and Sat in preparation for the race. Since Fri was a holiday, I figured I could play an hour of badminton in the morning and still recover in time for the midnight marathon the next day. So i went ahead and played a good hour and a quarter of badminton singles. And then for some unfathomable reason, i thought it would be a great idea to play badminton the next day too. Unaware of my folly, i woke up early on Sat morning and went ahead to play another hour and a quarter of Singles, which included the longest and toughest match i had played for as long as i can remember (26-24 scoreline). Still i thought, "..i can get over the effort on the court, i have more than 10 hours to do so". It takes all kinds i guess....

Rest of the day, i still did not sleep despite having got up relatively early on Saturday morning. I was feeling a little slow but i thought it was just a passing feeling and didnt regard it much. Called a cab and went to the race site via Loyang avenue and found that the road had been closed at a point midway. So i paid the cab off and started walking in the general direction where other runners were walking and ended up doing that for the next 1 hour!! I actually walked 5+ kms to the start line of a 42km run. This was only the beginning of my miseries that night.

The horn went off and the race started. I thought i would run an easy 8.5kph for the first couple of kms and then hold a 9km pace for as long as possible. As long as possible turned out to be 40 minutes. By the end of the 8km, my head was swimming in a sea of mild dizziness, nausea and to boot, tired legs werent helping much. So i walked the next several minutes and then broke into a run again after gathering my wits.... passing the 10km mark in 70 minutes. But soon after that, my body went into rapid shutdown ... breathing became labored, legs started to think for themselves and began to ignore orders from upstairs and I had a strong urge to just call it quits and come back to do this another day. I walked a km and then ran a km .. and kept this up until i crossed the 20km mark in 2:40 hours. But even getting there would not have been possible if Tiwazz from SG Runners and other such helpful folks had not met me at the 14km mark and plied me with ice cold ribena slushies and a H20 can. His calm words of encouragement banished any DNF thought I might have had, and I figured that even if I had to walk, i would, the entire way.

So anyway, there I am trying to do my own version of speed-walking at the 22-23 kms mark, when suddenly i felt a shooting pain on the top of my right ankle, along the leg, in the direction of the veins that go to the big toe. I thought it was a problem with my shoe and that i had tied the laces too tight, so i sat down at one of the several roadside benches to painstakingly undo the laces, remove my shoe, give my feet a bit of a massage and then kept moving again. I would do this another couple of times over the course of the night, but the pain didnt go away and I just ignored it after a point in time because i was getting irritated with it.

I trudged on and hit the 30km mark in about 4 hours. By this time, i was getting really sleepy and was demonstrating signs of disorientation by not necessarily walking / running in a straight line all the time. On Changi coast road, I in fact put my foot down wrongly on the edge of the road and stumbled and that woke me up. For another minute only that is. At each shelter along the road, i stopped to sit down and close my eyes because it was 4past in the morning, and the only thing that i could think of was being at home on my bed and sleeping a sound sleep. I wasnt really sure why i was on the road in the middle of nowhere trying to traverse 42kms on foot. I was glad i didnt stop to think that one out! :)

I had wanted to finish the race in under 5:18 .. and would have been ok if i had finished under 5:30. I knew at the end of the 20km that neither of the two was gonna happen. Heck, i didnt even know how i was gonna last the distance. I would later find out that the last 18km of the race took me close to 3 hours to complete. At the 40km mark, i looked at my Garmin 305 and saw that it was 5:45am and i still had another 2.2kms to go. It seems like a very long time now, but i think it was only a second back then , that i thought "..man, i have had such a poor show until then, let me atleast give it a shot at the end and see how it goes. May be i can still salvage some part of the race..". WIth that thought in mind i broke into a run ... and it proved to be difficult cos i was trying to run after having already covered 40km on foot. Somehow, i managed to run the 41st km in 6:27, the 42nd in 6:20 and put in an extra burst the last 200kms to come in at 5:59:16. So I did a sub 6 marathon which is good,cos i completed the race but is bad because i still dont know how well i trained.

At the finish line, the sweetest thing possibly that could have happened that night for me did. Sumedha (my best half) was at the finish line holding up hand-written posters saying "Well done" and "Married to a Marathoner" ... Even now, i am completely stunned how she managed to run a half marathon, wait for 2 hours for a cab, go back home at 2.45am, try printing posters and face printer paper jams, make handmade posters, and get back to the finish line at 5am!!! I will do you proud in the next race i run - no playing badminton last week before the marathon for sure!!

So how did i do? I placed 1639th out of 3857 finishers. And 1427th out of 3209 male runners. To give you an idea of how I would have done if i had managed to go under 5:18, i would have placed around 770 in the overall field.

The Sundown experience humbled me in more ways than i choose to remember, but it also did reignite the flame for doing better at long distance running!! So onwards I go, to do the Mt Faber 10km run on June 13th followed by the StanChart KL half marathon on June 27th.

Till then adios, and happy running !!!

"Blistering" speed ??

Havent blogged in a while on my running so thought I need to break the monotony today.

Tuesday, ran with the CBD folks and was my first run after having slacked for 4 days on a trip to Chennai. I ran all the way upto the top of Mt.Faber and by far, has been my best run there till date. Usually i need to stop twice but didnt feel tired this time around.

Swam yesterday in my condo - except for a gentleman who for some reason was swimming the width, my swim was uneventful, relaxed and enjoyable.

Today was a run in my VFFs and for some reason while i started out to have a very nice easy paced run, i went nuts from the 2nd km onwards or so. Averaged 10kph for the 8.4kms which didnt include a couple of breaks i took to stretch my legs. Feet got really hot inside the VFFs today as I was pounding concrete and the weather sucked big time to boot. Now feeling very tender on the base of both my feet. Hoping it gets a lot better ahead of my 30kms run tomorrow at ECP with a local running group.

F1 Nature Run Race

Today, as it so happened was my 2nd wedding anniversary which i chose to mark by running the 15km Nature Run race through McRitchie Trails. So before the race review, a super humongous "Thanks for Everything" to my dearest Chups for a fantastic 2 years in marriage. You are my bestest friend ever! :)

Coming back to the race, which for some unexplicable reason started at 8am, meaning that i would be running in quite a bit of hot sun as would other runners. And humid Singapore makes this all so much more fun! Due to a strange quirk of circumstances, i left my Garmin305 in the car, and with no distance markers or timing device, i had no ability to gauge how fast i was doing and how much more i had to go during the race. Saturday's rain had also made the trails quite slippery at a few places and there were several passages where I had to slow down to a walk to avoid slipping.

The first km of the race was brutally slow as there were too many runners and too little trail. After i think about 1.5kms or so, the few uphill climbs by then had strung out the group to a small extent and it became easier to find running real estate. These uphill climbs were gentle to be generous in complimenting - for the uphills that were to come near the 7km mark were proper dont-try-running-me kinda slopes. I had played almost 2 hours of badminton singles on saturday evening without a break and the effect of that began to show very early into the race. My legs were hurting from fatigue and the first few kms which i usually run with a spring in my step were proving to be like the last miles of a half marathon. As it turned out, this was just starting inertia and soon enough after about 4kms in to the run, my legs got their act together and i was running along smoothly. Until I hit the slopes that is. Truth be told, for 80% to 90% of the uphills, i actually did run than walk but at some points, I felt so battered that I couldnt help walking. Coming down from the half way mark, i picked up what felt like a minor side stitch that gave me unwanted company for 20 minutes or so and then disappeared without notice.

With the sun beating down with a vengeance, and my breathing beginning to become labored, i struck out the last 5 kms or so at a healthy 9.2-9.4 kph (it felt like that, i couldnt tell cos i didnt have my Garmin305) and finished the run in a time of 1:32 (using the race clock time). Later i asked around and found out that the route was actually 13kms long and not 15 as was advertised. Nevertheless, it was a good energetic end to a race that had lost some of its sheen due to the misrepresentation of the distance. Mok, the local trackstar as usual won the event beating 2nd place by close to 2 minutes.

Yesterday and Today ...

Yesterday, i ran a 10km loop at McRitchie. The effort can be accurately described as that of an elephant going into labor. I cant think of how else to describe this forgettable outing although time-wise, i was probably 4-5 minutes off my usual pace for the distance, completing in 1:09. The reason could be attributed to either (a) the effect of a nice traditional javanese massage on the previous day or (b) the continuous running for the last 4 days on the trot. Only silver lining was that I went through kms 5 and 6 at a healthy pace (close to 10kph) which could have also been my undoing. :) Nevertheless, it was good to be back on the trails after a 3 week hiatus.

Today, as per my training plan i was to go for a 30lap swim. Since the Rain God had other plans and caused a traffic jam that made my drive back home a 75 minute ordeal, i decided that I would rather go for a run after getting home than swim (i swam 32 laps on Saturday). And given my petrified calves after my first VFF run, i figured that they were in good enough shape for their second outing which would also give enough recovery time before the Nature Run 15km race on Sunday. With a thin drizzle for company, i chose to run to the Bishan PCN than do a home loop as it would afford more mileage on asphalt than the latter which would have been mostly concrete pavements all the way. While i started off really slow (cos my objective of the running in VFFs was more of an orientation program rather than a full-on training program), i hit a neat rhythm in kms 5 and 6, with the 6th km being run at a pace close to 10kph and strangely enough felt like a lot of fun. Since i had taped the exact spot where i blistered last time on the right foot, the run today was relatively trouble free. The FFs got soaked in water midway through the run but they are meant to handle that and should do just fine.

Definitely running in VFFs has been a great source of fun-running for me. And signs that it will ring in very positive effects on the legs are all there. Look forward to more runs in them ... !!!

Baptism by Vibram

Yesterday evening, i swam 32 laps and thought that would be it for the day, in terms of physical activity. But when my wife decided that she would go running at 10pm, I thought it would be a good idea to give her company and so we ran 6kms to Bishan PCN and back. To make the run interesting, I ran the entire 6kms using a midfoot strike which really did seem to take lesser effort. This morning today, my legs felt just a wee bit sore.

The evening today played host to another great Singapore evening weather - thats 3 days on the trot that the weather gods have smiled. So I decided its time for my first ever run in my Vibram FF KSO. Since it was my first time, I was unsure about what distance and what speed I should try going for so I just decided to wing it. As it so happened I ran a 5km loop around my house in 35 minutes including traffic stoppages but more importantly 2 key things happened - (1) my breathing hardly changed during the course of the run, i have never felt so comfortable during a run. (2) After 3kms, my calves came undone and begin to get 'tight' due to inexperience of the muscle in this type of running (all midfoot striking). So right now, as I sit and compose this blog, my calves have been replaced by 2 globoids of lead. As I was expecting this to happen (based on my research on what first time runners encounter in their VFFs), I am not too worried about the current feeling of immobility. :) More importantly for me, i need to take this slow and steady and not try to rush things and hence my plan is to run once a week in VFFs until after Sundown when I shall become more regular.

The run itself was pretty good as my leg turnover was higher than usual (or so it felt) and there was a certain feeling of 'lightness' i felt as I gingerly ran over the pavement. (That was the only letdown of today's run, 90% of it was on concrete which is not a fun thing at all). When I came home and took the VFFs off, i did notice that a small blister had appeared on the left edge of the arch of my right foot so i need to check the VFFs tomorrow to see what caused it and whether i need to tape myself before I run. The left leg did just fine and is raring to go for the next run! :).

So what do i feel about running in VFFs? I think its an interesting experience for sure, definitely worth a try but only more time and more Kliks in them will tell me exactly how they will redefine my running.

Dancing in the rain ...

Actually it was more like running but yesterday evening's run was bliss! It had been pouring all day yesterday and my plans of running with the SGRrunners' CBD group got canned. Just about the time I reached home, there was a break in the rainfall and i thought, the weather now would be really cool to go out for a run.

I planned on running 16km by running the 2.4km to Bishan PCN, running 6 laps of the 1.8km stretch between Bishan Road and Bradell Road and then run back beyond my house until I hit the 16km mark. The PCN was practically deserted and it was awesome to just be by myself in the run. (Later, a few others also ventured out to take a breath of fresh air!). Lined by trees on one side, and a stream (actually a gushing sewer!) on the other, and with the smell of rain-kissed mud in the air, I knew as i ran that it was a glorious day to be out. And around the 9km mark, the rain started again and I ran through the rain - with the cool raindrops giving me much appreciated company, i steadily kept bringing the pace/km down. I am extremely happy with the run because i have never run at a more steady pace before and that too with practically no breaks (i drank water on the run yesterday).

End result ... a much satisfying 16km in 1:41.

The last 7 days ...

... have been the worst week for my marathon training. I was abroad for 3.5 of the 7 days when I totally sacked out and didnt do so much as lift a finger towards a fitter me. I came back on Thursday evening and made partial amends by doing a 15km run in 1:40. The next day, Friday (which is always usually a happy day of the week) saw a lil more running with a gentle 8.4 km in the evening in 0:53. Both these runs were totally unenjoyable from a weather standpoint - i cant remember the last time when it was this humid and i was dripping from the end of the first km onwards.

The reason I am unhappy is also due to the fact that my training plan for the entire week has gone off the rails. Although on a total mileage basis I am still on target, it still is irritating to know that I slipped up. Hopefully the next couple of weeks will give me the chance to get back on track.

Till then, happy running.

A funny day

I didnt feel like running on Sunday morning, possibly due to the fatigue from more-than-usual discipline in the running from the weeks before. I had been wishing for it to rain and it did come down in buckets and so Sunday morning, i was tucked in with the happy knowledge that I was not running because it was raining, not because I was lazy.

Nevertheless, in the evening, i couldnt stay at home anymore and so Sumedha and I set out for an evening run in reasonably good weather out to Bishan PCN. As usual, I ran a slow pace as a warm-up and then went at an ~10kph speed on the Bishan PCN 1.8km stretch which as it panned out, I did 6 repeats of. On my way there, I ensured that whenever I could avoid running on the pavement and run on the grass on the side, I did so for I had read earlier in the day that Concrete is 10 times more hard than Asphalt when it comes to impact on the leg when running. I want to keep the miles clocked on the pavement low and the grass high with the asphalt coming in somewhere in between.

I ran a steady pace for around ~10 - 11kms in between my trip and up and down, and in total clocked the 15.32kms in 1:39 which is fairly representative of my usual race pace for that distance.

This run was 3 days ago and since then I have been slacking big time, doing absolutely nothing and trying hard to put on unforgiving weight by hogging on gnocchis and milkshakes. When I get back to Singapore tomorrow, I need to rewind the clock and start over to make up for lost time.

In gear news, I bought the Vibram FiveFingers KSO last week and intend taking it out for small runs in the week, with the intent of switching over to midfoot striking completely after my sundown marathon.

Sweating it out ...

My wife and I had decided we would wake up early this morning and run 8km. As usual, I was the only one who woke up at a decent time (still 30mins behind the 6.15AM plan) and started out at 7.10am on what I thought would be a good time to run a hearty 10km run to the Bishan PCN. I have somehow grown to like this route for on the PCN, you are secluded, away from mainstream traffic and the only people you see are mostly fellow runners or bikers.

I thought i started out faster than usual and wanted to try something different in terms of pacing to enable my body to adapt to varying training regimes. And I knew things were not really turning out well for I was beginning to experience some labored breathing. Coming up on the PCN, i hit a 10k+ pace for the next couple of kilometres y which time the sun was beating me down and i was sweating like there was a fountain inside of me trying to get out! :) At the 5km mark, i took a short break to drink some water, stretch out and ran the second leg back again keeping 10k+ for the first couple of kms on the return and then petering out cos I was up at the CTE red light on AMK ave 1. Tried running the last km quick to keep my timing respectable - finished the 10k in 62 minutes which is ok but i didnt feel happy about the run. Need to make amends on Sunday when I will try to run a 21k at MR.

Change of plans

As per my training plan, i was to do intervals at the NJC track next door but I figured that since I had run hard on Monday at the Westin, I would instead do a longer but slower run this evening. Took my water bottle in hand and headed out to Bishan PCN. The plan was to run at around 9kph or a tad slower for the entire run to give my legs a much needed rest.

As it so happened, i maintained a faster pace than I should have going at about 9.3kph for the first 3-4 kms, and funnily enough, the effort really felt like i was running slower than that. I ran 6kms out, stretched my legs a bit and then came back although towards the last 3-4 kms of the run, the muscles around my shin were feeling a little tired. The 12kms was done in 1:18 which is ok considering the fact that this was meant to be a restful run - need to get the discipline to maintain slower speeds even if I could go faster.

So thats the end of March - 157kms on the road and off it as well. Things have gone according to plan better than i could have ever dreamt of, hope April plays along! :) Happy running !!

Treadmill-ing @ Sydney

I had to make a quick fire trip down to Sydney for a couple of days on work and had to settle for running indoors (on the treadmill in the gym) as I had gone to work straight from the airport and by the time I got back in the evening, it was already around 7.30pm or so.

As per my training plan for Monday, i was to run an easy 5k but when i was in the gym, i felt that running 5km (at the easy running pace) would amount to slacking off and so set up to run a fast 7km (i started running at 8.20pm and the gym was going to close at 9pm). After a warm-up inclined walk for about 5 minutes, i started my run. The speed progression over the 7kms was in kph (10,10.5,11,11.5,12,12,10.5), working out to a pace of just over 11kph, and a total running time of 38minutes. Pretty decent run. The next day evening (Tuesday), i was in flight on my way back to Singapore and thankfully i had planned for it to be a rest day which it ended up being! :)

Spirits of the Woods - McRitchie trail run

The morning got off to a slightly late start than usual - i was up at 5.50am as opposed to the usual 5.30am and so by the time Sumedha and I reached MR, it was already just past 7am. We had bought 2 hand-held bottles from New Balance yesterday and were keen to use them today as both a hydration pack as well as a fuel belt prove to be an overkill for a distance of 10.5kms.

We got off to a pretty slow start as part of the warm-up, going at about 8 - 8.5kmph for the first couple of kms. I ran ahead and at the 3.5km mark circled back to join Sumedha who was about 3 minutes behind me. As we went through the next 1km or so, we kept the pace steady and at a fork in the path, she told me to run at my own pace and she would follow at her comfortable pace (this was around the 4.4 km mark). From there on, I sped up to 10+kph to see how long i could sustain it given the undulating nature of the terrain. Unbelievably, i maintained a strong run (by my standards) through out the remainder of the run and in fact finished the last 600m of the run at a 11.2kph speed. I ran the first 5kms in about 36.5mins (8.2kph average), and the next 5.6kms in 33.5 mins (10kph average). Total run was 10.6kms in 70mins.

It was a fantastic run for 2 reasons - The latter part of the run was a clear indication of my improvement from 2 months before. And the second reason was after the run, I felt a little sore in my shins for about 20 mins or so and then felt completely fine after that. The first 4 weeks of training has gone as per plan. 9 more to go !! :)

Another satisfying 10k at Bishan PCN

Today was one of those days where I felt like I was in the mood to push myself! Feeling good and for some reason, happy about getting to run today. Legs were cooperating and so my 10km run started, with a prayer on the lips that it does'nt rain for the next 1 hour or so as I had taken my iphone along with me for a change to listen to some music.

The first couple of kilometres to the start of the Bishan PCN as usual served as warm-up although I did this at a slightly faster pace than usual (9.3kph). Once I got into the PCN, it was like getting a chance to release some pent-up energy. Although there was the ever so little threat of the niggle becoming nagging, i was having a fortuitous run and decided to push my luck as far as it would go. Down the 1.8km stretch before the 1st overhead bridge over braddell road, i was oscillating between 10.5kph up to 12kph. The overhead bridge is a walk-over literally and then I resumed running until crossing under the CTE and a few hundred metres ahead which marked the 5k turn. Quite a few folks out to run today, and i was overtaken by 2 guys around the 3km mark who were literally floating on the road at 13kph+. Absolutely no sign of any effort whatsoever! Several old uncles were out today too - its inspiring to see some of these guys proving that age is just a number!

I turned back and ran an equally fast return half, and in fact down the 1.8km stretch, held a 11kph+ speed for a respectable while. When i finished my run, I had clocked 61 minutes which was bearable. And more importantly, although my time hasnt improved vastly over the past couple of months, there has been a significant difference in the effort i feel i have to put in. At the end, i wasnt breathless or even fatigued, just breathing a bit heavy and feeling the worked out muscles in the leg. In fact, heart rate dropped to below 120 within 2-3 minutes of finishing the run which is a good sign.

Next up, after badminton tomorrow, is a morning 10.5km run at McRitchie, which I may decide to skip to give my knees some much (k)needed rest! Sundown training plan - So far so good !! :)

Signs of trouble??

I have been having a very weird niggle on my right knee, to the left side of the kneecap, accurately described as a dull pain that does not really prevent me from doing anything. I do know that if I ignored it, I am asking for trouble. Runner's knee is the last thing I want to deal with it and so if i need to back off my mileage, I should and would. I have increased my mileage quite significantly in the past several weeks and therefore need to be extra cautious.

As per my plan today, I had to do an easy paced 10k in 64 mins. I started out about 6:45pm when the evening was bright and fresh after a brief spell of rain. I didnt want to try going out at my normal speed, so ran the first few kms to the Bishan PCN in a steady gentle pace. The niggle remained but I did feel like it was easing up a bit and so picked my pace just a wee bit in the second half of the run. When I did come back home, I saw that I had run the 10k in 67 minutes which was 3 minutes outside my target but I was quite happy with that, as I didnt force myself at all and moreover, was feeling good with the effort.

My next planned run is for Friday, a repeat of the 10km I did today. I am considering changing that to a 30 lap swim rather than a run, to give my weary knees a well deserved break! And as an aside, the Bishan PCN is a great place to run for those who want pleasant, flat terrain which is not too crowded.

Training plan status: 24 days completed in the 90 day plan. And so far, so good !! :)

In the mind ...

I ran a very slow 7km recovery run to accelerate the recovery from yesterday's HM at MR. Ran comfortably and later found that I never went beyond Heart Zone 3 which was great. Averaged 8.4kmph for the entire run (1st 3 km splits were within a second of each other :) ). This run was the usual home loop.

Received this month's edition of Men's Health Magazine (perks of the Urbanathlon $128 registration fees!!) and they have an entire section devoted to running. However, while the questions are tolerable or good, the answers are painfully short of being anything meaningful (several of them anyway).

I have been scouring the internet reading about ultra-marathoners and their exploits. Its just mind boggling to know what some of these guys are capable of. Having read the awe-inspiring book "Born to Run" by Christopher McDougall 2 weeks ago, i was even more amazed to come across the profiles of a few runners who embody the spirit of running like no other.

Two people come to mind. Jenn Shelton and Tony Krupicka. There is more than enough of their lore on the internet so I am not going to add anything here. These two are truly in a league (and dare i say world) of their own. I count these two as the upstarts. In the pathbreakers group, I put together Scott Jurek, Matt Carpenter and Ann Trason. I hope to get to read more about them in the next few days to come.

Another delightful outing at McRitchie (MR)

Its amazing how my weekends always end up with me getting less sleep than on weekdays! :) But its all for a good cause and I love the feeling of getting up at 5.30am on Sundays to run at MR. I was feeling just a touch tired from yesterday's badminton session but was not unduly worried about it for the start of the run always seems more "tiresome" (not tiring) that it actually is.

I started my run at around 6.45am with the intention of running 2 loops of the 10.5km trail, armed with my 2L Camelbak, 4 packets of PowerGel and a good range of hiphop songs to listen to while running. I figured I was feeling good in the "hunger" department, and so didnt have anything to eat before the run. At 6.45, the MR trails are quite dimly lit as daybreak is still a good 15-20 minutes away and so one needs to be a little more aware of the trail run than usual. One of the best things about running in the trail early morning is that you see very few people, and for most of the time, its just you and the trail, the trees and the ambient buzz, the stones adorning the path ahead and the kingfisher searching for breakfast. I ran a gentle 8kph in the first 2-3 kms to warm up and then increased my pace.

The one thing that I did today was not look at my watch at all during the entire run to know what speed I was doing. The couple of times I looked at it was to just check the time I had been running. As I labored through until the 5km mark, I was beginning to wonder if I was up for doing another 16kms, and just like that my legs seemed to get into their groove and I began to run at a very enjoyable pace (i later found out this was around 9.3-9.5kph). Interestingly, until the 10km mark, I didnt feel the need to have even a sip of water or open a powergel packet. I completed the first loop in about 68 minutes and then took a planned walk break, where I satiated my thirsty throat and also had a power gel packet. After walking for about 3-4 minutes, I came back up on the start of the trail and by this time, the sun was cheerfully bright and the number of runners on the trail seemed to have quadrupled. I thought my legs were feeling heavy but as I started on the 2nd loop, i once again got into my comfort zone quickly and ran at a steady pace for longer than I have before.

When I completed the 2nd loop, and had crossed the 21.1km mark, I saw on my Garmin that I had timed 2:27 for the run. Safe to say, I was more than kicked with this for this had been my fastest half marathon distance yet, and I know that my HM speed on the road can only get better (the MR trail is fairly undulating and keeps your heart nervously anticipating the next uphill run). Its amazing how if you dont arbitrarily decide some pace to run at, and just let your body do its own thing, you usually end up with better results than you planned.

A great run today

When I drove back this evening from work, it was pouring cats, dogs and other assorted members of the fauna. I figured that my plan of running a 10km run had gone kaput and so asked my domestic help to make a cup of tea and a hot steaming plate of noodles. Sure enough, after i had my last mouthful of really yummy noodles, the rain stopped !! I figured that I would give myself about 20-30 mins of waiting time before deciding on whether to run or not.

At about 6.45pm, I decided that I would go for a run and if I didnt feel good, i wont push myself. As i stepped out, there was a still a thin sheet of drizzle that made me feel damp but not wet. I started and within 45 seconds, my Garmin went haywire (rain clouds?)! I reset and continued on my run hoping that it wont act quirky after that. After a decent warm-up pace of around 9kph, I felt really good for the rain had really bathed all the trees and the grass and given a fresh look to everything around me. I increased my pace to 10.5kph and ran the 2.5kms till the start of the Bishan PCN. And was I glad to have run today! The PCN strip was sublime, with the road completely deserted, water gushing in the canal next to the road, and all the trees along the strip had shed their flowers in the rain to form carpet patches on the black ribbon. It was a fantastic feeling to run and I was holding a 11+ kph pace for a considerable while. I crossed the overbridge at Braddell road, and checked my Garmin to confirm that it was overshooting by 500m. So I had to run an extra km just to ensure that I would actually be running 10kms. I turned back and was able to continue maintaining a healthy pace although after the 7km, a faint side stitch made a cameo appearance but other than that, it was truly a great day to have been out running.

Next up is a planned 21km run in McRitchie on Sunday morning (not counting badminton in 8 hours time). Just hope the rain gods are merciful !

My training plan : Status update

I am on Week 3 of my 13 week training plan towards the Sundown Marathon on May 29th. So far, I have managed to largely stick to the plan which is a very good thing to have happened. Atleast it gives me the confidence that my plan is not overambitious. Not yet anyway. Of course, on a daily basis I have had variances but in a week, I usually cover the differences.

Up next is a 10km run this evening after I am back from work, play badminton tomorrow morning and then run 21km in MR on Sunday morning (2 loops). Running in McRitchie reservoir (the aforementioned MR) on a early Sunday morning is cathartic to say the least. I still have not done justice to all the running trails there but will soon explore a lil bit when i get the chance.

Sometime over the weekend, I am going to go and get a new pair of road running shoes. More on my gear some other time.

Race Reviews: Feb 6th - Green Power 50km hike @ Hong Kong).

Writing a blog review for a 50km race is tough. I have only put down the small nuggets that I remember here.

The Green Power 50km hike was something that I signed up on a whim after hearing about it from my friend in HK. While he was running in the teams category, i decided to go it alone as I couldnt have managed getting a team from Singapore to HK.

The prospect was as exciting as it was daunting. I had never covered more than 25kms on foot before and several times before the race, i was occupied by thoughts of having bitten off more than I can chew. And to boot, the course is reasonably hilly with climbs and descents of several hundred steps on more than one occasion. However as a compensation, the weather in Feb (in HK) is chilly and therefore makes things a wee bit easier than if the race had to be run in blazing sun. Based on past information, i thought it would be good to target a time of 9:00 to 9:30 hours because of the both the distance and the terrain.

The run started off at the Peak where I found out that until the buzzer goes off, I am going to be freezing in the wind. In hindsight, being dressed in a singlet was the best thing that could have happened as after the first few kms, i had warmed up enough to start running at a even pace and be breathing comfortably. Even before I got to the venue though, i had a very challenging time getting ready cos i couldnt figure out where the switches to the lights in the living room were and got ready in extremely dim light! (It was 5.30am or so when I left Amberish's house and I didnt want to wake others up in trying to get ready so was pretty much tip-toeing all the time!).

Having reached the Peak and with about 15 minutes left for the race to start (6.45am), I took my Garmin 305 out of my bag, downed a powergel, took my 2xu running cap and gave my bag in for deposit. After my bag had been securely sealed in the luggage cage (which wouldnt be opened until the end of the race), i realized that i had forgotten to take my iphone out!! That was supposed to have been my companion for the next 9 off hours in the outdoors but brilliant me just forgot all about it. Dreading the hours of monotony ahead, i crossed the start line in windy, cold but otherwise 'excitable' conditions.

In the first 500 metres, my laces came undone and this can be totally frustrating, especially when you are running down a narrow path which is jammed with people as it is. I stopped to do them tightly, let several people through and then continued on my run. The first 10km were wonderful, with great views along the run including several panaromas of the HK bay area. I was chugging along at a 8.5k pace, running slightly faster on the flats and slowing down on the climbs and descents. The first water point was at 10km (1:20) but I decided to not stop as I had my hydration bag with me and was feeling good about the run. The next 9 kms ran through trees and over small rivulets which made for equally great trail runs, the end of which was the 2nd water point. I had originally planned to take my powergel packet here but was feeling strong and decided to plod on. I reached the 25km point in 3:20 which was surprising considering the fact that i hadnt really tried going fast or anything. Twice enroute, i had to stop at public loos and took my own time in waiting in the queue, using the facility and then getting back on the road. I had even stopped on the run to give some heat balm to another runner who was cramping severely. So despite all these delays, i still had managed good time.

At the 30km, I had to stop as my laces had come undone again and some small stones were troubling me inside the shoe. When i stopped here, it was the first signs of cramps coming on. I gingerly tried trotting but my legs wouldnt let up so had to walk until the cramps subsided and i could start a gentle run again. The 2nd half of the race was significantly more difficult than the 1st half with several long and steep climbs which made me stop and catch my breath on atleast 5 or 6 occasions. And to make things more painful, i realized that my Garmin 305 had lost satellite signal and i had not idea of how much more i had to go. As i kept up with a run/walk strategy, i saw the Garmin come back to life and showed i had another 14kms left which was in my mind doable. Trudging along until I reached the next checkpoint (which was 2 kms down), i found that the water stations had run out of cups and had to drink electrolytes straight out of a 2L bottle! At this point, i thought it would be good to check the remaining distance and was stunned to find out i had only 6kms left. This completely deflated me cos I thought that when I cross the 42.2km mark, i would remember the place for the rest of my life (my first marathon distance on foot) but i had already crossed it and was at the 44km mark! Continuing my way over the Dragon's back, and with a little less than a couple of kms to go, I figured that if I ran really fast, i could make the 50km mark in under 8 hours!! Miraculously my cramps disappeared, and i hit a 10kph speed from 48.5 until 50km which i crossed in a time of 8:02, much faster than what i had originally targetted!

In all, the race was fantastic because the terrain was lovely, the views awesome and other runners seemed to be enjoying the run as much as i did. If i come back to do the run again next year, i will be more ambitious and try running the race in 7:30 !! :)

North East Run 16km Results

I have tried to create a basic excel sheet from the PDF. Ranks are in the 1st column (and might be approximate). I have had to truncate long names and hence its better to search using Bib number rather than by name. Last column gives the chip time.

You can download the file here.

Race reviews: March 14th - NorthEast Run 16km @ Pasir Ris

Wifey and I had signed up for the NorthEast Run 16km on a Sunday, the evening before which Singapore had witnessed pretty heavy rains. We were both hoping that Sunday morning would be kinder to us.

The race was to start at 6.45am and we drove down to reach at about 6:20am or so and thats when the saga of finding an available car park spot started. For 20-25 minutes, we were driving in and out of HDB car parks, going through seemingly never-ending spirals of 5-7 storeys before realizing that the entire car park was full. We finally managed to find one which required super tight maneuvering to park and by the time we walked to the start line, it was 7.05am.

As we started the race late, the crowd had already thinned down and we settled into a nice 8.7 kph pace as warm-up for the first couple of kms. Within about 600m of the start line, there was a traffic signal manned by an auxiliary officer and several people had to wait before being allowed through. This was a real pain so early into the race but luckily when we reached the signal, we just ran straight as the roads were empty. After about 2km, I told my wife I was gonna go for my pace (9.5kph for the reminder of the run) and broke away. It was a great day to be out and I struck a nice rhythm after about 4kms. The 16km route has several overhead bridges that needed to be combated and in a strange way, that made the run a touch more challenging.

About the 8km mark, i was on 0:52 which was in the time range i was looking to be at. One great advantage of starting right at the back of the pack is that you get to overtake a lot of people and that is morale-booster even though i was just looking to enjoy myself. The route went into Temasek polytechnic and came back out, and there were frequent patches of the route that were bathed in sunlight and others which were well shaded by the HDB blocks. There were several volunteers all along the course and that was great cos unlike some earlier fiascos in local races, there were no misdirections. And it was great to see young school kids come out on an early Sunday morning and get in on the act.

At about 11km, i was feeling good and started running at a 10kph pace. I was able to hold this pace until the end of the race and finished in 1:35. But the one thing that completely pained me was the fact that while the race was touted as a 16km race, it was only 15kms long. My Garmin 305 tracked 15km and I later found out on SGrunners that several others had experienced the same thing. The route and my splits are here: (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/26913776)

Overall, i thought it was a decent enough race. I had participated in it as part of my training for my first road marathon on May 29th, the Sundown Marathon. And if i can stick to my training schedule, I should be able to go under 5:18 which is my current target.

Some updates on the running front ....

First up, I have made a training plan (or rather its WIP) for my Sundown run on May 29th which will the first time I will attempt the full distance on road i.e. the 42.195km. In 3 month run-up to the same, I will run the NE 16km run on March 14th and the Passion run 10km on May 22nd as part of my taper.

The plan yesterday was to run 2 loops in McRitchie for a total of 21km. It was a disaster. For one, i probably didnt give my legs enough rest from hectic badminton on Sat morning. And to boot, i didnt do justice to my dinner. The effect was obvious - I started running at 6:44am and was feeling fine until about the 5-6km mark after which my body went into rapid shutdown mode. The end result was when I hauled my butt over the 10km mark at 1:11:33, I figured that any more running would only end up in me jumping into the reservoir and so just sat down near the car park waiting for my wife to turn up who i thought would do some 5-6k and come back to read her book. When she came back smiling and red in the face, she told me she did 13k and it felt great!!

I had after much hunting located "Born to Run" by Christopher Mcdougall and borrowed it from the Geylang library. I finished it in less than 2 days and was glad that I had picked it up in the first place. Its an amazing read and is truly inspirational. I can only recommend it to every other runner who loves running for the pure pleasure of doing it ....

I am also toying with the idea of changing my running form to midfoot striking .. from heel striking ... need to figure out how to do that without injuring myself.

Until next time ....

Keep running !