Hazy days

There have been reports about the haze coming back. There are lots of hot-spots of bush and forest fires started in our neighbouring country. I have been feeling weak during runs these few days, and I think it is due to the poor air quality.

Wednesday 16/08: Had the usual training run with Bev. She wanted to do longer, so I asked her to moderate her pace. But I still felt she assumed the same pace as when she was doing 10km, and might have been even faster. I had to tun quite hard to catch her at the usual Traffic junction. I proceeded on my own after that to allow her to run her steady pace for 12km. I felt pretty tired in my legs, and my hamstrings were still aching....maybe too many consecutive days of exercising. I finished the 10.5km run in 58min....very slow, but yet I could feel the strain of the workout. Pretty happy I got to burn off some calories :).

Thursday 17/08: This evening was supposed to be a asy 14km run at SAFRA MF, as we were preparing for AHM next Sunday. Rosalind joined us this evening....good, I missed her the first time she ran with SAFRA. There was quite a sizeable group this evening, not as many as Tuesday's track intervals, but still there were 2 new members to be introduced. We started off pretty easy, and I chatted with Ros & DO for a bit, before trying to increse pace to run with the front people. Kumaran and Ong were leading the pack... Bug and Derrick were also around. Cfred was also right up front, along with Melvin. These 2 were really fast, and now with their new bodies, they were gliding with ease....really fast :). Ronnie was running very fast in front too, and I was just happy to be following DO and Ronnie. As we passed the Railway track, and then into Portsdown Road, along South Buona Vista Road, it was fast pace all the way.

I was working very hard, and could feel the tiredness in my hamstrings and calves...must have been the lack of rest for them. I was breathing heavy, and I sensed that the air quality was poor... and with the rush hour traffic along those roads, it made the breathing much harder. I also had to weave between the many office workers around the MOE area...really tiring man! As we ran along Commonwealth, Ronnie and Melvin broke away from us...they were speeding away. DO, Cfred and I continued along Alexandra Road, and by the time we reached Depot Road, I was drained....was just contented to follow Cfred and DO from a distance, and as we neared the ClubHouse, Cfred ran slightly ahead...leaving DO and myself to finish the 14km run in about 1hr9min. I was totally drenched, and felt drained at the same time. I felt happy to have completed the tough run, with me pushing on for the last 4-5km.
Distance Ran: 14km__Time Taken: 1hr9min__Pace: 4:55min/km


Saturday 17/08: Will be doing a long 27km Animiles run this Saturday; not for any purpose in particular, just to enjoy the regular weekend long run.