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 !