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.