Met The Animiles Cheetah In 2:18

Another Animiles run for me this morning. This is the third one for the month of April. I have a fun NTUC Biathlon event on Sunday, and thats why I did my LSD on Saturday again. Divey, DO and myself arrived at LPR around 5:20am, and Brokie, Cokiee, Cosmic were already there. Yuli Piggy aka Babymon came soon after. Met up SC5, notme, Lieu, and the regular Animiles runners. I decided to do a 27km after comtemplating for a while, requiring me to reach the gates of the zoo and back. As I have a event the next day, I just wanted to do a reasonable paced run without taxing too much on my body.

After some chit chat, we started off at about 5:35am. Soon, the rest were in front. Divey and her 6:30min/km pace group of Nelly, Yvonne, and a few other gals were running behind. I started off easy as usual, and soon caught up with Brokie along OUTR. Brokie was also taking it easy this morning. I noticed that Brokie's sway to the sides was quite exaggerated....hmm, gotta to tell her as that will impact her running momentum forward, causing quite a bit of energy loss. We had a brief chat, and I was commenting that Cosmic's running form has improved from the first time I saw him running at ECP at SAFRA's location run. Along UPR, I moved up to join Cosmic, had a brief chat, and started to get into my 5min/km pace. I noticed that when I chat, I tend to run slower and breathe harder...hmm. From then on, I forcused on my form and breathing. Soon I turned into Mandai Rd, and as I moved up, I saw Cokiee and a few other runners. Said hello to them as I moved ahead, and soon saw the first of the 18km runners coming back....notme was running fast...he was rushing off to work, I heard...hehe... Then when I reached the vicinity of LP65, I saw bbmon and a few others turned back, all running very fast. After that point, I vaguely saw DO and a few runners in front. I kept at a distance of about 300m behind.

Ran past 1, 2 and then the third reservoir opening. The morning was quite humid, not as cool as previous mornings I've experienced. Finished almost a fuelbelt flask of water by the time I hit the entrance to the zoo. DO had just turned back for his 24km run. It seemed there were nobody else in front of him...the rest have all turned back earlier at the 18km turn. I checked time and it was 1hr2min. I told DO he was on track for a sub-2hr 24km. I turned into the zoo at 1hr2min...hmm, I turned back at 1hr1min when I did 24km....ok timing for now. The slopes along the road to the zoo seemed challenging as I was into an hour of running by then. Nevertheless I pushed on. I had my Snickers bar along the way in. Made a turn at the zoo entrance and headed out again. It was still very quiet along the road, though visibility was ok with the street lights. By the time I hit the road again, it was 1hr18min....hmm, I took 16min for that 3km in/out... 1 min outside of 5min/km pace. As I turned right back on to Mandai Road, it was a long gentle stretch of slope, nevertheless challenging at that stage. Someone on a bike shouted at me, and I waved back... understood from DO it was Gentle doing his ninja bike training...hello Gentle...hehe.

I tried to pick up pace a bit on the way back. I could feel the wicking effects of my new Ironman socks, and could hear the squishing sounds, but without my feet feeling a bit wet...really good socks. As heat was generated, it cooled off just as fast. The skies were bright by then, and I was continuing still on my 5min pace. I was still feeling strong, though breathing was a little heavy. I checked my time and it was 1:38, and I still have not reached the turn back into UPR. Maindai Road seemed longer today...haha. The weather was getting warm, and I was feeling thirsty. I had half a flask of water left, and was reserving it for the last 5km. I started to feel weak and hungry, a sign of glycogen depletion. I slowed the pace a little, reduce the strides, to get some reprieve. Finally managed to get into UPR, and I had a chance to run on tarmac again. But not for long, and I had to get back to the concrete pavements. My breathing was getting heavier, and my legs were getting weaker. I plodded on and finally reached entrance to OUTR, time 1hr58min. I decided to do a power walk of 2min to regain my strength, and finished the last bit of water. The walk definitely helped recharge my tired and depleted body. With the remaining 4km, I managed to get a second wind and continued on a reasonable pace again.

There were lots of monkeys today on OUTR, and it was good they did not disturb me...hehe. As I ran, I felt stronger. Finally turned into Casuarina Road, and time was 2hr15min. With a good chance to complete the 27km in under 2hr20min, I gave a final push to the finish in 2hr18min. Happy to have completed, and met up with the rest of the SgRunners. Finally did a Cheetah Run (I have been jesting that for the Animiles run, whoever runs to the zoo gates and turns back will be a Cheetah... Those that run to the 24km mark and back will be Panthers, the the 21km mark will be Snakes, the 18km mark will be Squirrels, turning back from OUTR will be Monkeys, etc.....hehe). Divey came back with a packet of Daisy chocolate milk... it must have been one of the best after-run refreshments I have taken in a long time...could really feel my body regenerating...hehe...Divey said I was very exaggerating...haha. After a good wash up (finally used the hose today), and having DO and Babymon find their lost items, we went for makan at our usual hawker centre. Saw the PAP Ang Mo Kio team out there doing their elections walkabout, and shook hands with Lim Boon Heng. Anna came and say hello, and said she did a short 15km run this morning...she is still resting from her Nagano Marathon... good for her. My legs still felt strong after the run, and I hope I will be able to do the Dualthlon swim without much of a hitch on Sunday.

Distance Ran: 27km ____Time:2hr18min_____Pace:5:08min/km
Average HR:N/A____Max HR:N/A____KCal:2,000KCal est.