Phuket Marathon Prep: the final LSD

Its 3 weeks to Phuket Marathon. I had marked on my caldendar to do a 39km run to prepare myself. It was great that trainer Ong mapped a 36km route for today to prepare those going for Phuket and Pattaya Marathons in June and July respectively. I began carbo loading for this run 2 days back, and actually gained 1kg in weight...hee. Had my customary sweet potato soup for the whole of yesterday, then a heavy duck rice dinner at 99-winding road area; with this morning being cereal, banana n coffee. Whoa...loads of food...I felt I really needed to get out there to unload...couldn't wait much longer...haha

Reached the SAFRA MF ClubHouse and met RealRunner, who is joining us for this challenging route today. RR is preparing for the Phuket Marathon too. We had Craig, a new Aussie member to SgRunner and IronmanDreamer joined us as well. Bug, Runalone, DO, Jaime, Derrick, Wong, Colleen and a few other SAFRA runners started off together with us at about 7.20am, after a brief of the route by trainer Ong (Pre). We ran along through the initial traffic junctions down Tiong Bahru Park, and into Kim Seng/Zouk area. I was chatting with Craig, RR and IMD for a bit during this stretch. The weather was nice and cool. Once we got into the Esplanade area, I ran mostly with Craig at what seemed like a 5:45min/km pace. Craig is a strong 21km runner who is preparing for his maiden Gold Coast Marathon in July. We exchanged tips along the way as we ran through to Esplanade and then to Marina Promenade. By the time we reached the 2nd toilet, we saw the front group of DO, RR, Freddy, IMD, Wong, TLH, Derrick turning back. The others apparently turned back at the Esplanade area. We had covered about 8km by then.

Craig and I turned back towards Esplanade, and then up onto Shenton Way, and into Marina South. The sky was cloudy, and the sun barely reared its head. I told Craig he had brought nice weather...hehe. I took a mini Snickers bar atthis point. Craig took his special Pro-4 gel from NZ...more ex than Powergel...hmm, gotta be good. As we ran into Marina South, I was sharing with Craig the SCSM marathon route, and where the Kenyans would be running past us like rockets...wow! It was really cool and nice weather this morning as we ran along into Marina South. By the time I see the front group turn back, we had run about 2hours already. Craig joined them while I continued to run the extra 2km which they had covered before us. By the time I got to Victor Bowl for a water break, the rest had gone, with only Bug and DO waiting at the bus-stop...really nice of them to wait for me. I ushered them to go on, but they still waited. Thanks guys! That was approximately the mid-point. I ingested a packet of Powergel (Strawberry-Banana) and popped 2 salt tablets, downed with plain water. We wasted no time in catching up with the front group as we ran out of Marina South. Soon saw Craig and together we ran out into Keppel Road, and was great to see Ong waiting with 100plus for us. Really great to have trainer proving such nice support...only at SAFRA eh... We moved on quickly after the refreshing drink, and I picked up pace as we ran the uninspiring Keppel Road stretch and into Telok Blangah area. At the turn to Kampong Bahru, Bug and me continued on while DO waited for Craig. I felt good up to that point, and with a sip of drink from my fuel-belt, I began the ascent to Mt. Faber by this steep Kampong Bahru side. It took the pace slower, and finished up pretty strong at the top. Took a nice breather as I ran down the slopes, and was great to see Ong again for another 100plus drink. Bug was just behind with Uncle Lim. I continued on for a loop from the Morse Road side, and reached the top again feeling a tad tired, but good. As I ran down the slopes towards Morse Road, the rains came..arhh, just as well. I had already done more than 30km up to that stage. I made a hurried but careful run down the slopes, exited from Morse Road and then onto the final slopes along Henderson Road. The rains really belted down during this stretch. I was totally drenched. Even my Ironman socks could not contain the flood of water in my shoes...whoosh! At one point, I could hardly see clearly the road...haha. I felt strong still, and made a dash to the finish. My watch showed that I took approximately 3hr39min for this 36km (or slightly more)...good enough as a final long run for me. My legs felt like they just went for only a 15km run...wow, the nice weather really made a big difference... 2 weeks ago, I felt drained after only 15km in the heat and slopes at Sentosa.

Back at the ClubHouse, all had gathered. Everyone was happy with their runs today. All felt very good, and their legs were still strong for another 21km or more. Craig, RR, DO, Bug were all comparing notes about the hills of MF, and I agreed with them that this run was very nice and even with climbing the challenging slopes at the end of the run, it was still manageable for all. Wow...they must be experiencing some form of Runners' High..haha. The Adizero which I had on felt good, and I will probably wear it for the Phuket Marathon (I had originaly wanted to run in my Asics DS Trainer, which RR used for the run today). We will all be running next Sat at MacRitchie for 25km, as a tapering LSD. All cannot wait for that scenic trail run to come soon. After a nice wash-up, we went for nice coffee and makan at the nearby food centre, and discussed a lot about Japanese runners and marathons and MacRitchie.

Distance Ran: 36km ____Time:3hr39min_____Pace:6:05min/km