More Climbathon training

Monday 24/04: The rains were heavy and furious as I made my way to Bishan Stadium for the Climbathon training. It was still raining as I got changed, and we met up with Hamidah who brought some good news to the 7 of us there: David, Henry, Timothy, Sim, Yulan, Yi Sheng and myself. Yes, we will be having a full set of Mizuno running gear and shoes sponsored...hmm, I look forward to trying out Mizuno, since it is a brand I have not tried yet. As it was still raining, we decided to do stairs climb training instead, swapping with Wed evening's run program. I did 5 sets of 30floors at Roland's block in Bishan. I took the opportunity again to strengthen my quads, climbing 2 steps at a time. I did not really pause in between sets, and completed the 5 sets in a slow and steady build up. It was a good workout, and my calves were still a tad achy from last week's stairs Time Trial. Sim told us to be wary of climbing down stairs, as all the impact on landing can cause the calves to go bonkers.....scarryyyy... After the climb, we had a brief discussion on how we should tackle the downslopes of the actual Mt. Kinabalu Climb.

Tuesday 25/04: Actually found some time to sneak in a 10km MR Northern Route run, before rushing home for another appointment. The skies were dark and rainy, and the grounds at MR were still muddy. I did a quick change into my DS Trainer (trying this for the first time in that terrain), and started running off at the zig zag bridge. The DS didn't offer much support, and was a tad slippery, as I manouvre the rocky and sandy paths of Lornie Trail. Reached the exercise area in 12min...hmm, quite slow if this was a 5Km TT. Navigated carefully through the roots area...I have this portion most as its slippery and filled with lots of tree roots. Soon got onto the golf course area, headed to Jelutong Tower along the wooden bridge. Caught up with lost time, and hit the halfway mark in about 25min. Lots of time wasted in the front portion. Then along Sime Trail before hitting the landslide area. Noticed a group of army boys doing topo training, and they even tried to follow me to navigate around the tricky barriers...haha. The final portion into the reverse of the Northern Route was quite good. I normally feel tired at this final 4km stretch because of the numerous slopes. Because of the cool weather, and also 2 stops because of barriers, I ran this final stretch fast and smooth. Finally reached back to the carpark in 53min flat (accounting for stoppages at barriers). Its quite a good time considering I usually do 54min for this course. Maybe the lighter shoes do help.

Wednesday 26/04: Another rainy afternoon today. Finally got the room and transport for Pacesetters 15km Run in KL sorted out, thanks to DO, Divey and Freddy. This evening was also the annual JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge (JPMCC) where many of my running friends were participating. From the windows of NTUC Centre overlooking Shenton Way, I could see it was raining cats and dogs. I went for my Climbathon training run at Bishan Stadium. The usual few of us were there, and this evening we had Carmen come to take attendance. The rains finally stopped at 7.15pm, and we started out training run to Bishan Park, then to LPR, OUTR before reaching the gates to UPR. Running with Sim, Tim and DO, the pace started off from 5:30, to 5:00 and finally to 4:30min/km along the OUTR stretch. It was a hard workout in the cool night, and I perspired profusely. Took a short breather, before running back at about 4:45min pace. On the way back, we saw YS and Roland approaching. We took a quick water break at LPR toilet, before running back to Bishan Stadium at about 5min pace. When we reached back, we saw Kops also have finished his own training run following his JPMCC run. We did an overall 13km approximately taking 1hr06min, averaging slightly over 5min/km pace.

Thursday 27/04: I did a short 10km run at MF, as we wanted to end early to celebrate cm's birthday. I went down earlier today, and discussed a bit about this weekend's potluck party at SAFRA TP. We started off along Henderson Road, and after slow jogging to warm up for aboout 500m, DO and I picked up pace and ran to join with the rest along Harbourfront and then make a climb from the Kampong Bahru side. As usual, this steep climb is always touch for all of us, with many runners stopping to walk for the initial few times. I felt a bit of tightness in my left upper calf (area just behind the knee) and it was causing a bit of strain to me. Finally completed the hard climb, and followed DO down along the side of Mt. Faber Loop, leading down to Morse Road. Jimmy Chow over took me once we ran to Harbourfront, and from there, I ran a constant, slower pace to reach the clubhouse in 49min+. Do was happy his ironman socks gave him no heat as all, and Do was really strong this evening. We went for a sumptious 7-course dinner to celebrate Chairman's birthday,,, Slurp!

Friday 28/04: Joined my colleagues for a 2.8km run in celebration of the National Health & Safety Act organized by MOM. Went down to the startpoint at Riverside Point area at around 3.30pm. Waited a bit for the minister Dr. ng Eng Hen to give an opening speech, before starting to do some warm up aerobics, led by 3 very fit Amore gals. Many groups were there including people from SNEF, Insititute of Engineers, Semcorp Industries, the various health agencies and engineering companies. By the time the aerobics ended, the rain had stopped, and we were ready to run. I was with the front group from the start, led mainly by 2 runners from Sembcorp Engineers. There were some water points along the way as we ran towards Kim Seng Bridge, and by the turn, I was 6min+ into the run. Most of the people were enjoying their jog around the scenic Riverside. With 1km to go, I overtook the frontrunners and led all the way to the finish, clocking 11min30sec for the 2.8km distance. The announcer said there were no prizes for finishing, just a warm round of applause...hehe. It felt good to finish first. After that, joined my colleages and friends for some light makan and drinks, and also took photos with the minister....hmmm, will put it up in the boardroom and annual report? hehe