Another long weekend ahead to celebrate Vesak Day, and my running plans this week look set to be disrupted with me looking likely to miss training runs on Tuesday and Thursday. It looked like my main running will be done on Sunday with the MF Runners for a 32km LSD in preparation for Phuket Marathon.

Monday 02/05: Climbathon training this week is back to the Bishan/MacRitchie area. Did a short run to the nearby Bishan HDB blocks, and started off with 3 sets of 20 floors at one one the blocks. I climbed 2 steps at a time, giving my quads some good exercise. Thereafter, we did a short run to another block, and I did 3 sets of 25 floors before calling it a night. An easy training session of 130 floors with about 3km of running.

Tuesday 09/05: It rained heavily in the evening, and the SAFRA Hills intervals were almost cancelled. Later it was changed to a 10km loop run. I was stuck in meetings and traffic, and by the time I got to SAFA MF, it was almost 8pm. Wee San and Eileen were kind enough to wait for me, and we took a leisure run around the Canterbury Estates and then returning via Henderson Road. The night was cool, and we had a nice time running and chatting while exploring Canterbury along dimly lit roads. We finished our run in 1hr5min, covering approximately 10km. As we approached the ClubHouse, we saw jaime and the earlier group of SAFRA Runners on their way to the food centre. We had a quick cool down, and joined the rest of the group for some cool, refreshing Cheng Tng.

Wednesday 10/05: Joined the MK Team for a run from Bishan Stadium, through the winding paths of Bishan Park, to Lower Pierce Reservoir (LPR) and then along Old Upper Thomson Road (OUTR), turning back along the Main Gates leading to Upper Pierce Reservoir (UPR). Hamidah and Carmen was at Bishan to flag as off, and we were supposed to run on our own as timing will be recorded. We started at about 7.10pm, and soon I was running along with Yulan. Sim and Tim were right ahead, while Kops, Yi Sheng were just behind. Roland and Ronnie were also running along. I roughly knew the route as I ran once with Sim, DO and Tim. Yulan was running alongside most of the way, and she was maintaining a good pace...at times moving ahead of me. I enjoyed the hard pace, and after about 5km, we had Hamidah at the junction of Casuarina Road shouting out the time..27min as we passed. I signalled Yulan to continue running as we turned into OUTR. It was real quiet, and I kept an eye on Yulan who was running about 100m behind. Soon I saw Sim returning, followed by Tim. Gave them a high-5 as we ran past. Soon I reached the UPR Main Gate, turned back, and signalled Yulan to do the same. I increased pace on the return, and Yulan kept up with me throught....hmm, she is quite a strong runner. Once into Bishan Park, I was quite lost as I could hardly make out the paths in the dark. Yulan mentioned she could see me snaking about in the front...haha... no pun intended, cos she really spotted a snake along the way....Yikes! Anyway, I made my way back to the Stadium feeling quite good. Found that Hamidah had left, and Sim and Tim were the only ones waiting. I took about 1hr6min, whilst Sim took 1hr1min. Sim mentioned my return leg was much faster, which is usual for me...I tend to start much slower to get warmed up. I enjoyed the workout and the individual hard run. Good to just run all the way without stopping and water for about 12-15km, as part of a running program.

Friday 12/05: Because of work commitments, and receiving some guests in Malaysia, I had to miss Thurday's 16km run at MF :(. Nevertheless, did a nice cool 10km on Vesak Day with Beverly, running after a heavy downpour around my our neighbourhood 10km route. I was running a easy pace to warm my engines ahead of Sunday's 32km LSD @ MF. I had not run with Beverly for 2 weeks, and it was a good time for her to get a hard run in. She did well to finish the run in 1hr1min, her fastest recorded time in this route, and to think I did not even stop the watch at the various traffic junctions. The pace must have been quite fast for her...mightjust as well, since she has to prepare for the SHAPE Run...:)