Pre Chinese New Year workouts

Took a break off running on Wed and went down Clementi Pool to try my breast stroke timing. The main pool was crowded with swimmers taking lessons. Met Cheow who was there to do his own trial ahead of the NUS Biathlon test he had to take. During my 20lap swim, I had to stop and swim around people quite often....hmm, not really smooth. I clocked 37min for the 20laps breast stroke...improvement of 1min over the last time I swam...hehe. After that, I moved up and went to the shallow training pool. Met Tiwazz, Balasing, Kops, LittleFoot who had already done their laps in there. Cheow joined in as well. I did another 10laps in there recording a much faster 17:30min, averaging 3min20sec per lap. Chatted with the guys on swim techniques and requirements for bi and tri events. We went for dinner and I had the beef noodles...quite nice.

Distance Swam:20laps ___Time:37min____Pace:37min/km
Distance Swam:10laps ___Time:17:15min____Pace::34:30min/km

For my regular Thursday evening run training at MF, we did the twin hills of Labrador Park & Mt. Faber. It was a 14km tempo run, and it was nice steady pace from the word go. There was quite a large turnout of about 20 peeps, all ready to chiong some hills after Tuesday's track intervals. We ran down Depot Road, turning into Alexandra Road, and then entering into serene Labrador Park. Went up the small hill, did a 800m loop along the waterfront, and return back along the reverse side which was steeper and longer. Had a quick toilet break at the top, and away I ran with DO. Met Alan and Wong at the exit, and the four of us ran towards Mt. Faber along Harbourfront. I told Wong and Alan about our upcoming run on Saturday with SgRunners, and both wanted to join in the run with us. Good, since Alan and Wong are very experienced distance runners...hopefully we will be able to cream some lessons from them.

As we hit the upslopes to Mt. Faber from the Kampong Bahru side, I was focused on climbing the steep and long slope. DO was just behind me. I chugged up reducing my stride, but increasing my cadence, with a more forward body lean. Reached the top and had the exhilirating feeling again. I really like climbing slopes once in a while, especially in good weather. From the top of MF, we had a majestic view of the night lights and city...Bumped into Chin at the top and together we ran down the slope out to Morse Road, and then back to ClubHouse along the 2km stretch of rolling Telok Blangah Rd. It was a nice hard run for me...I like the hard workout making me perspire. I felt good as I did warm down stretches, and downed the complimentary can of 100plus. Again went for cheng tng with the gang, and Ong and Jaime may just want to join me for the Saturday run as well. Suddenly everyone needed a pre Chinese New Year run to help expend their glycogen stores ahead of the reunion dinners and Feb4 BBQ...hehe

Heart Rate Chart of the 14km run

Distance Ran:14km ___Time:1hr17min____Pace:5:27min/km
Average HR:140bpm___Max HR:190bpm__KCal:817KCal