A Rainy Sunday Morning

I was prepared for my Sunday morning long 35km run to Track15, from MacRitchie, along with Goola and a few others from MF Runners. When I awoke at 5.45am, it was raining heavily. I thought, 'Shit..., probably the trails will be muddy, and it won't be fun to get all dirty...and the rest may not even turn up considering the heavy downpour'. I later found out that all did turn up, and I felt lousy haing missed my Sunday long run.

After reading the morning papers, i decided to go for a short run around my neighbourhood. The sun was not so strong, despite it being almost noon. I put on my HRM, wore my DS Trainers, and off I went. I ran into Lorong Ah Soo, and the timing was quite good for the first 3km. I decided to run to the end of Tampines Road, and back, since this is the route for the upcoming Mizuno Wave Run in October. Mistake...very hot, and not much shade. When I reached the end at Old Tampines Road, I was quite drained. I had already ran 40min, and my heart rate was high, considering the slower pace. It meant I was working a lot harder.

On the return leg, I was very thirsty, and I did not bring water for this run, thinking it was going to be short. Mistake no. 2. I was drained, and my pace got even slower. However, I did not walk, but continued to chug along. As I ran, I was thinking if the StanChart Marathon was this hot, it will be very draining, making it difficult for the last 15km in the sun. I thought I needed much more conditioning in the sun, and this type of run I did today is actually good for testing out such hot conditions. When I reached back to Lorong Ah Soo, I had to go into the coffee shop toilet for a good drink of water. I then continued to run the final 2.5km back home rather slowly. It was one of those tough runs for me, as I usually ran in the evenings or early mornings. This might be the kind of condition that Goola talked about in her desert route, which we will try one of these days.

Distance Ran:13km___Time:1hr17min___Pace:5:52min/km
Average HR:162bpm____Max HR:172bpm____KCal:1090