Final Pre-HK LSD @ ECP

Since I have a sports massage session on Sunday, I made arrangements to do my final pre-HK LSD at the East Coast Parkway on Saturday morning. It will be a trial of some sort, putting on my long-sleeve, wind-protecting running top, and my adiZero SN runners. Met with Brokie, RealRunner, Cokiee and DO at F2 carpark, and setoff for our run towards Fort Road at 6:10am. Brokie was early this morning, maybe due to my constant, gentle reminders...hehe.

The pace set by Cokiee and DO was fast, as we ran the initial 5km at a 5min/km pace...wah, my long sleeve top was trapping heat, and preventing perspiration from wicking away....I felt warm, and was sweating profusely. The adiZero SN felt less cushiony, compared with the Nike Vomero, and Gel Speedstar....haha, I must have been too pampered with the ample forefoot cushioning provided by those 2 shoes. As we neared Fort Road, DO and I were running ahead, with RR, Brokie and Cokiee just slightly behind. A group shouted at us, and we waved back...it was Sotong, Kops, Hoho and gang who have assembled to do their ninja group run.

Futher up, we bumped into Teck Hian, the Today News photographer who provided coverage for our Climbathon trip last October...he joined us to run towards Fort Road exit. TH mentioned that he had been training hard and we should see him do great....he must have been inspired by some of us during the Climbathon, and decided to do a few good marathons himself...hehehe. We were still running about 5min/km pace as we turned back from Fort Road, and headed to the first toilet. Saw Brokie and Cokiee who had stopped to talk to the Sotong & Bee gang. I took a much needed water break, and chatted with the group for a short while, had a group photo, before proceeding onwards.

Near the Chalet area, I spotted RR and DO running in front, and I moved forward to join them. DO and I went on to complete the run back at F2 carpark, taking about 1hr15min. We must have covered about 16km till then. RR ran past as we came out, and I decided to run for another 20min, covering about 4km. Saw TH again, when I was running back, and met up with the group at F2 carpark for nice refreshing barley (thanks to Brokie), and some nice 'fruit-shaped' cookies (thanks to DO).

Met David Tay from trifam (he was the 4hr pacer at SCSM06) and we chatted a bit about his upcoming Boston Marathon in April, and also our interest to be pacers at SCSM07. Because I was in a hurry, we did a quick wash-up, chatted for a bit, before we split from ECP. RR was still on his way to finish his 30km run when we drove off from F2. The long-sleeve running top was soaking wet, and it was good that I tried it for today's run. I might just use it for warming up before the HK Marathon. I am aslo not too sure if I will put on my adiZero SN for the race....I might just take a risk and leave it out from my arsenal this time. Anyway, it should be more of a fun and enjoyable race in HK...:)

Distance: 20km__Time: 1hr45min__Pace: 5:15min/km

10km Time Trials

With the feasting during this CNY, I am still up by 2kg...hovering around 66-67kg. Wow, and we are already tapering for HK marathon...haha. Well, with the CNY holiday mood still in the air, there weren't many runs for this week...so decided to go do my own 10km time trial in my kampong. The sun was up and it was glaring even at 6.30pm...so I slapped on my sun-block, put on my Gel Speedstar, and off I went. It was 4min+ when I turned into Lorong Ah Soo...still on track, and 11min when I hit the billboard at the end of the road...about 2.4km mark. I hastened my pace to try to push myself further. The shoes were really slight, and provided just about the right cushion feel for such a run.

Reached Kovan MRT area around 20min+...hmm, normal timing. Reached entrance to Braddel Road in 33min+...good, gained some seconds. Increased the speed since I felt quite strong yet, and reached the nursery along Upper Paya Lebar Road in 40min+...wow, PB timing. Wasted about 15 secs crossing the road, then maintained speed for the remaining 1km. Touched the home gate in 45min27sec...gotta be the best timing for this route...yeah, another PB...haha. Could it be the shoes or the increased weight/power? hmm...will investigate into it later. Meanwhile, will do another 10km time trial at SAFRA MF tomorrow...

Distance: 10km__Time: 45min27sec__Pace: 4:33min/km


Turned up early for the SAFRA MF 10km Time Trials on Thursday, as I was still on CNY vacation :). As I was early, did a short warm-up was spotted a few runners coming in for the run. Quite a smallish turnout...the runners could still be in holiday mood...haha. A brief of the 10km route (Clubhouse -> Henderson -> Harbourfront -> Kampung Bahru -> MF hill -> MF loop -> Morse Rd -> Harbourfront -> Telok Blangah Rise) was conducted by Trainer Ong, with chairman taking timings. This was to be a test for all to prepare for the 10km MF Hill race sometime in June.

I started off a little too fast, drafted by the many enthusiastic runners 'chionging' to the front. I decided to slowdown once I turned towards Harbourfront to maintain a constant, steady pace...I had to be careful not to exert myself ahead of the HK Marathon next week. My breathing was steady throughout, and the legs were ok, despite the previous evening's personal time trial. Maybe I wasn't pushing it, as Bug mentioned when he passed me near to Kampong Bahru (he was doing his 5km recovery run). I climbed the slope to MF from Kampong Bahru with caution, but still felt very 'chuan' when I reached the top. From there, it was downslope and I took care not to be too 'loose' else I would lose control and have my legs take the beating.

I was a little surprised to see Kumaran when I exited out from Morse Road. I found out later he had slight leg pains and was taking it real easy. I too decided to tag from behind Kumaran for a while, before overtaking him at Telok Blangah Rise. I opened up my stride to do a relatively strong finish in 47min According to trainer Ong and chairman, not a bad effort by me. The rest of the runners did even better, with Teck Hou breaking the course record in 40min, Ong doing 42min, Melvin 43min, Jimmy 44min, Derrick 45min, just to mention a few of the front-runners. The final person came in 1hr4min, which was respectable for this quite hilly course. After a good stretch-out conducted by our in-house 'stretch therapist', I had my favourite Red Rice Wine Chicken for dinner....yummy!

Distance: 10km__Time: 47min43sec__Pace: 4:46min/km

CNY Heng Heng Run

Dragon's Teeth @ Labrador Park

A small group of us got together at SAFRA MF ClubHouse for a 'Heng Heng' Run to usher in the CNY, as well as to burn up the excesses we have had over the past few days of feasting (I have put on 2kg so far *gulp*...and DO mentioned he put on 5kg...wah, really need to run for the next few days man...haha). Doraemon, tktan, Cokiee, DO, Fennel, SealBoon, kayano, SportsVenturer, HKflyer (all the way from HK, joining us for the first time, a 36min PB for 10km, extremely fast runner...*bow*) and Dream started off at 7.30am, just after Ong and the SAFRA MF group went for their 3 MF laps of 25km.

Since the whole group could follow, we picked up the pace along Depot Road, heading towards Jalan Hang Jebat. As we crossed the railway track, all were pretty excited by the new way to Kent Ridge Park...even doraemon and tktan, who knew much about the Kent Ridge/NUS area, have not gone past that area. Hkflyer was getting warmed up by then, and he was impressed with the amount of greenery and cool, clear air...a vast difference from what he is used to in HK.

Tank on top of Kent Ridge Park

We proceeded past the Highway, and onto Kent Ridge Park. I brought HKFlyer to do 1.5 loops of the slopes at KRP, along with SealBoon and DO. The rest went ahead and waited for us at the tank. HKFler 'flew' up the slopes effortlessly, and waited for me to drag myself up to join the rest. We had a nice break, before proceeding along Canopy Walk. xdd and tk were so impressed with the 'flowers' at the top, they took a stroll around on their own before meeting us up at the next happening place, Labrador Park. We had run about 55min and 10km before entering Labrador Park. Went up the small slope to Olive Restaurant, down the 'tunnels', all the way to the 'Dragon's Teeth' of the Park. Played tourist to HKFlyer and explained some of the more interesting sights to him.

Group pic @ Dragon's Teeth for good luck - Heng Heng

Kayano, xdd and tktan arrived just in time for a group picture at the 'Dragon's Teeth' for good luck, before proceeding on to our final slope up Mt. Faber. The sun was beating down on us mercilessly, but all were busy enjoying ourselves to notice the heat. We took the flat road out from Labrador Park, and towards Morse Road. Had a isotonic break at the Shell Station before proceeding up MF along Morse Road. The whole group were having a good workout, and we banded together quite close...not much waiting time incurred...wow, SV and Kayano were running strong...Cokiee was leading the run with HKFlyer quite often...good..we needed to take turns to keep HKFlyer's interest high...hehehe....no lah, he is really a very 'accomodating' runner, a pleasure to run with :)

HKFlyer was contemplating 'emigrating' to Singapore, now that he has found some good hills and running routes to satisfy his running activities. He likes the greenery and the clear air in Singapore. We continued on for the remaining 3km to the ClubHouse at a steady pace...averaging 5min/km, interspersed with just a few stops for us to show the folks the entrance to Sentosa and other ascending routes up MF. We finished at the ClubHouse strong. We estimated we did 23km, and had a good 'food-burning' run. Celebrated CNY with a 'Yum Seng' toast of red wine brought by DO. It was a 'shiok' CNY 'Heng Heng' run, and I hope it will set the tone for the rest of the runs for me in the Piggy Year :).

Distance: 23km__Time: 2hr__Pace: 5:13min/km

Chinese New Year Eve Run

It was a small but comfy gathering at the Chinese New Year Eve Run (Animiles Route) this morning from the Lower Pierce Reservoir. The actual Animiles group had earlier changed their run to 8km at ECP. Richy, DO, Cokiee, Cheow, Bug, Brokie, SealBoon, RealRunner, Sportsventurer and Dream gathered at about 6am. While waiting to start, Teo Ser Luck was seen running by doing his ninja training run...wow, he really starts early.

We started off along OUTR, chatting merrily about some of the recent races we did, as well as preparations for the upcoming HK, KL, Gold Coast Marathons. Midway along OUTR, I ran alongside Richy to lead him to the first water stop at Seletar Reservoir. Richy was enjoying the clean and green atmosphere in what would be one of the green lungs of Singapore. Though the humidity was on the high side, we ran at a steady pace of about 4:50min/km pace. From Seletar Reservoir, we ran out towards Mandai Crematorium, and turned back when we reached the first water body....Cokiee estimated we had done about 10km+ by then, since we had ran for about 50min+.

On the way back, we broke off from Cheow and Cokiee, who had wanted to run the 18km distance. Brokie had turned back slightly earlier and we pre-arranged to meet at the gates of Upper Pierce Reservoir. The remaining 5 of us ran out to Upper Thomson Road, then OUTR, and reached UPR in about 1hr50min of running time. We waited for a bit, before deciding to push ahead towards air-cond road. Along UPR we met Bee, Ronnie, Kops, Hee Shen and gang doing their 'ninja run'...hehe...and further down, met another pair of 'couple run' from SAFRA MF....wow, seems like this is a conducive place for such ninja couple runs....haha. Jokes aside, we were enjoying our run along UPR with the rolling slopes and air-cond road. We met up with Bee and Ronnie at the toilet area, to introduce them to Richy and SealBoon.

RR established that we had covered about 19.5km up to that point, and with an estimated 4km to the end point, we maintained a steady pace all the way back up the 2 slopes and OUTR, to reach LPR toilet area in 2hr9min. It was a good run for us, and I think all enjoyed the nice company and conversations. Lots of isotonic drinks from DO & Cheow, with RR providing yummilicious carbo-recovery choco milk...hmm, my fave. We had a good wash up, before proceeding to the usual food centre....the queue was long because of CNY eve....we had lots more nice conversations before breaking off....not before many of us agreed to show up at SAFRA MF on the 3rd day of CNY to do yet another run, only this time, it will be the CNY Heng Heng Run, to burn off all the goodies and glorious food we would have consumed over the next few days...so till then!

Distance: 25km__Time: 2hr9min__Pace: 5hr10min

Pre-CNY runs

Had one of the more easy runs at SAFRA MF on Tuesday evening. We did a 12km route from Telok Blangah, along Clarke Quay area to Esplanade Bridge and turned back. The stretch to Kim Seng bridge is always full of traffic stops and not very conducive for continuous running. We ran quite a fast pace to Esplanade. We took a break before running back to the ClubHouse.
Distance: 12km__Time: 1hr5min__Pace: 5:25min/km

Took my new ASICS Speedstar for a maiden spin around the estate's 10km route. The shoes felt light, and the forefoot cushion was ample. Enjoyed the run thoroughly, as I concentrated on keeping my strides wider at a steady pace. Finished the 10.5km run in 53min....not bad. Bev finished her 10km in 59min...wow, getting better :)
Distance: 10.5km__Time: 53min__Pace: 5:03min/km

ASICS Gel Speedstar

Tried the ASICS Speedstar for a second longer run at SAFRA MF on Thursday evening. Instead of joining the main group for Telok Blangah Hill intervals, I turned up to MF via Morse Road. Midway, Bug came up and we ran all the way to the top. I desended along Morse Road and went for the slopes at Labrador Park. It did 3 loops around the Park for good measure, before returning via the Labrador slope. I felt ok throughout, and I maintained a steady stride all the way towards Harbourfront, and then Telok Blangah Rise. Met DO running the other direction near the Morse Road exit. Finished the run in 1.5hr, just in time to meet up with the rest of the MF Runners for a good stretch down, 'brady' fruitcake, and refreshing 100plus.
Distance: 16km__Time: 1hr29minmin__Pace: 5:34min/km

HK Marathon Prep: LSD in HOT weather

It was to be the final long, endurance run in preparation for the HK Marathon in March. The route was to be similar to last week's, just less the Labrador Park portion...which meant that it was going to be a series of rolling hills, climaxing in the run up to Mt. Faber and doing 2 MF loops up there -> (Route: Clubhouse -> Depot Rd -> Pasir Panjang -> South Bouna Vista Rd -> NUH -> Lower Kent Ridge Rd -> Clementi Rd -> Lower Kent Ridge Rd -> NUH -> Kent Ridge Park (2 rds) -> Pasir Panjang -> Telok Blangah Way -> Harbourfront -> Kampung Bahru -> MF hill (2 rds) -> Morse Rd -> Harbourfront -> Telok Blangah Rise -> Clubhouse).

It looked like it was going to be a sunny morning...finally the sunblock would come into effect :). There was quite a good turnout of about 20 runners...not bad for a weekend run. All must be looking forward to burning off excesses in preparation for CNY celebrations...haha. We started off along Depot Road, and I decided to maintain a slightly faster pace to test myself. With the front pack already gone, I moved up to trail behind the mid-pack of TLH, Derrick, DO, Lai Chee, Fennel. We ran as a group along Alexandra Road, Pasir Panjang Rd, 99-winding road, and all the way into NUS.

The sun was starting to rear itself as we manouvred the NUS rolling hills. I could feel a bit of heat in my Nike Vomero runners. The shoes's cushion gave me the confidence to tackle the 2 MF loops at the end, as I could depend on it to absorb the shocks from the downslopes. Wong and Small Chua came up and took the lead, as we ran up the steeper slopes within NUS. As we ran out of NUS, I followed Chua towards Science Park. I took some sports beans to ingest enough power to ascend the upcoming 2.5 loops of Kent Ridge Hill. I felt ready when I ran into Kent Ridge Park...took the first slope conservatively. On the second upslope, spotted Desmond who seemed to be quite tired from his trainings the previous day. Finished the final upslope, still conservatively, and had a water break at the top of the Park.

The Nike Vomero really made going down the bukit Chandu slopes so much more pleasurable. Out along pasir Panjang Road towards MF, I saw Ong taking a isotonic drink break, and he told me to go ahead. As I was feeling ok, and with the sun peering directly in our running direction, I proceeded head-on hoping to get out of the sun's rays as fast as I could. I ran 'in the zone' for some time, and finally reached kampong Bahru for the 'toughest' ascent of this route. I slowed down to a 'throttle', as I chugged slowly upwards. I was glad when I reached the top, and since I had planned to do the 2 MF loops today, I turned right to tackle the steeper downslope. Teck Hou, who had just finished his 2 loops of MF, ran past and called out as we acknowledged one another's presence.

I finished the first MF loop feeling quite pooped...went to have a good drink in the Restaurant toilet, refilled my bottles. The sun was beating down, and really 'sucked' some energy out of me. It was fortunate that I had another great carbo-loading dinner last evening, and 2 bananas in the morning. I dipped into reserves to complete the second MF loop, and it was a long, easy downslope. Once out of Morse Road, the sun was still beating down. There were however intermittent cool breezes to provide some relief. With just 4km or so to go, I made sure my strides were kept up and not minimized.

At Kampong Bahru, I spotted Small Chua again, and I just tailed him from about 200m all tghe way to ClubHouse. I knew I could do the whole 33km below 3hrs by then. I decided not to push too hard, and just take the final part to cool myself off. Reached ClubHouse in 3hr2min, not too bad, considering a few min taken for breaks in between. My legs felt good all the way, with no threats of cramps nor fatigue. I hope I can maintain this sort of pace in HK, and I should be good enough for a sub-4hr race. With the final LSD done, I now look forward to the tapering phase, although intensity will not be lessened with less distance (in the plan of Trainer Ong)...:)

Distance: 33km__Time: 3hr2min__Pace: 5:30min/km

MF Runners 5km Time Trial

Having done a 3.2km time trial recently as part of SAFRA MF Training Program, we were scheduled to do a 5km time trial at the Queenstown track last evening. Quite a small turnout comparatively...not sure if it is due to the 'hard run' expected...hehe. I downed 2 small bananas before the run to ensure that I have the reserves necessary to complete :)

We did a 4km warm up jog from ClubHouse to Queenstown Stadium, and without much ado, we started off from the other side of the track (for an extra 1/2 round)...ie 12.5 laps for 5km. I took the first few laps easy, and by the 3rd lap, I had already lost count. I was running alongside Wong, TLH, DO most of the initial 6 laps. As we ran by, cm would shout out the time, but not the laps...aiya, without knowing how many laps, I was lost for how to pace myself.

It was a windy night, and I could feel the resistance of the wind as I ran on the straights of the track. My throat was dry as I was opening my mouth to get steady breaths of air. I was lapped by trainer Ong and Teck Hou midway. When Melvin lapped me, he informed I had 4 laps to go, whilst he had 3...waah, I thoight I had 3 more to go only...I pulled back a little to conserve enough for the finish. A few of the runners lost track of the laps, and stopped with less laps when they saw the early birds finish. Ong and Teck Hou lapped me a second time, and I knew that I had 2 laps to go when they finished. The time then was 19min+. I picked up speed to finish off the final 2 laps, completing in 22min44sec. Not fast, but I was happy to have completed in reasonable pace with not too much pain.

cm said that I looked like I ran slow in the first half...haha, yah, I was being conservative...but it works for me. I normally need more time to get warmed up, and as the distance gets shorter, it gets harder for me to have a good average pace. I felt strong during the 4km run back to ClubHouse...hmm, maybe I didn;t really push hard enough on the tracks? It was nevertheless a nice workout for me, and rewarded myself with my favourite Red Rice Wine Chicken. One funny twist to this RRWC...the lady helper who had noticed me and DO taking this RRWC all the time, decided to try it out for herself. In the end, she ended eating it for 4 days in a row....she was HOOKED! hahaha... and she was quite sad when she said we had the last 2 bowls for the night, and she won't have any...I was really concerned if she could sleep last night....HAHAHA!

Warm Up Run 4km: 27min
5km Time Trial: 22min44sec
Cool Down Run 4km: 25min

CNY engine maintenance

With the Chinese New Year approaching, and the lots of Bak Kua, Pineapple Tarts, cookies that I have been chomping on, I have to throw in a series of workouts just to maintain the engine, and to avoid putting on too much excess....haha. DO and I did a bit of hill running at MF. We joined the first part of the run (about 4km) with the SAFRA MF Runners who were scheduled for 7 laps of MF hills within 1 hour. With HK Marathon looming, I was wary of doing too many hills because of the 'jarring' on the downslopes. Whilst the rest of the MF Runners stopped at the car-park mid of MF, DO and I proceeded to run up to the top via Mt. Faber Loop.

I had on my new Nike Air Zoom Vomero, and this baby really was quite good for slopes, both going up and down. Though slightly heavy, its ample cushion provided a lot of 'shock absorbing' for my legs, and I felt quite good. I tested the heel cushion on the downslopes, and found it to be great. After 1 loop, we bumped into Jaime and informed her that we were going to do our own run to Labrador Park. On the way down to Morse Road, DO suggested we do a 'harder workout' by going up Henderson Road, and then ascending MF from Morse Road for a second hill. So off we went, and up along Henderson Road, I felt quite strong and using the 'bounce' of the Vomero, I proceeded on smoothly all the way to Kampong Bahru.

The ascent was pretty smooth this evening, and by the time I reached the top, I was feeling a tad breathless, but legs were still ok. Someone asked me about the MF Runners, but I couldn't really answer him...just said that I was running a different route. I went down MF via MF Loop, and ran with steady strides (not fast) via Harbourfront way and back to ClubHouse in 1hr18min. I estimated the distance to be 15km. Had my favourite Red Rice Wine Chicken (RRWC) Mee Sua, and Cheng Tng with DO and Fennel. There were more converts to RRWC tonight :).

Distance: 15km__Time: 1hr18min__Pace: 5:12min/km

HK Marathon Prep: The Longest Run

With 4 weeks to the HK Marathon, the SAFRA MF team planned for its longest run on Sunday for an estimated 38km along the route of [MF Clubhouse -> Depot Rd -> Alexandra Rd -> Pasir Panjang -> South Buona Vista -> NUS (Lower Kent Ridge Rd -> Clementi Rd -> Kent Ridge Cres -> Lower Kent Ridge Rd) -> Science Park -> Kent Ridge Park (2 rds) -> Pasir Panjang -> Laborador Hill -> Laborador Park (2 rds) -> Telok Blangah Way -> Harbourfront -> Kampung Bahru -> MF hill -> MF loop (2 rds) -> Morse Rd -> Harbourfront -> Telok Blangah Rise -> MF Clubhouse]. With a sumptious Wedding Dinner on Saturday, to be followed by a Birthday lunch and dinner the following day, I was really looking forward to this long run to help 'burn off' some of the high calories I will be ingesting :).

Quite a turnout for such a long run this morning. The SAFRA TP group had their own training too, and they started off slighly earlier. Trainer Ong gave a brief of the remaining parts of the HK Marathon Training, including the new route for the morning. sci/Desmond who joined us for the first time started off with Trainer Ong and DO showing the way, As usual, I started off slowly since I always needed more time to get my engines suitably warmed up. Cokiee was running with me for a while. As we turned into Alexandra Road, I moved slightly ahead with TLH, and crossing onto Pasir Panjang Road, I was maintaining a reasonably fast, but sustainable pace. I soon drew close enough to Lai Chee, and trailed from about 100m from behind.

Midway along the 99-winding road (Buona Vista Road), Lai Chee looked a little lost. I ran up and told her to run to the end of the road, and she allowed me to take the lead. DO was within sight another 100m in front. When we neared the end of the road, Ronnie came up and showed the way into NUS...good thing he did that, since I was not too sure about the way within NUS. I ran through the NUS slopes with not too much problems, always trailing DO and Ronnie for directions, while ensuring that Lai Chee was following behind. Ronnie and I ran ahead of DO once we got out of NUS, and into Science Park leading on towards Kent Ridge Park. As we ran in, I spotted Ong and sci finishing their 1st loop of the KR Hill. I took a measured pace, and finished the 2.5 loops ahead of Ronnie, who slowed down because of a knee pain.

I took a Powergel and water at the top of KR Park, and continued down Bukit Chandu, and then along Pasir Panjang Road. Soon reached Labrador Park entrance, and I estimated I ran about 20km up to that point. Feeling slightly tired, I slowed my cadence and went into a 'striding' mode. The weather was very cool and nice the whole morning, and I was hoping it would continue for another 2 hours or so. Ran up the Labrador Slope to Olive Restaurant, did 2 loops around the park, and went up the slopes in the reverse direction. On my way out, saw Goola, PS, Wong and Alber coming in. We acknowledged each other, before I pushed on to my final objective, MF Hill.

Near to Henderson Road, spotted Cokiee and Peter, who were doing a shorter 23km distance. I urged them on before trudging along to Kampong Bahru. The run up MF Hill today, after going though so many slopes earlier, made that climb real hard. I took very small steps and chugged up slowly. I finally reached the top of MF Hill, taking a longer time than usual. Saw Ong finishing his 1st loop on the top, and I told him I was going to give the 2 small MF loops a miss. I didn't want to risk running too many downslopes. After the recovery phase down MF from the Morse Rd side, I merged in with PS, Wong and Alber along Harbourfront. They were going for their climb up MF, whilst I was glad I would be finishing in another 3km. I could feel a slight twitch in my calve muscles, and I maintained a steady stride.

Up along the final stretch of Telok Blangah Rise, I maintained a steady pace as though I was running a full marathon. On the home stretch, passed Julie and with 100m to the ClubHouse, I was even thrown a mini challenge by a small kid...haha.,,He must have sensed the tiredness in me, and decided he stood a good chance. He gave up after 50m. Had a good stretch at the ClubHouse, and as I was rushing off for the birthday lunch appointment, I did not join the gang for lunch. Ong said that we ran at quite a fast pace and that I would have covered about 36km. I felt pretty good with the run, and with this longest run out of the way, it will be diminishing distances (but not intensity) for the next 2-3 weeks....hmm, time to slack a bit lah....hehe.

Distance: 36km__Time:3hr9min__Pace: 5:15min/km

A Long Weekday Nite Run

It was supposed to be a 16km recce run along a new route at SAFRA MF. We will be doing part of this new route for this Sunday’s Marathon LSD training of 38km. A large group of us had gathered, and while warming up, there was a gal from NIE asking for male volunteers to do some ‘tests’…I think she got quite a few people to sign up, haha.

The run was supposed to be an easy one, and trainer promised to wait for all at specific points of the new route, so all can follow. The route (MF Clubhouse -> Depot Rd -> Alexandra Rd -> Pasir Panjang -> South Buona Vista -> NUS (Lower Kent Ridge Rd -> Clementi Rd -> Kent Ridge Cres -> Lower Kent Ridge Rd) -> Science Park -> Kent Ridge Park -> Pasir Panjang -> Telok Blangah Way -> Henderson Rd -> MF Clubhouse) was interesting, and I think that’s part of the reason for the good turnout.

We ran along familiar parts of the NUS Hill Run Route, but we managed to skip Vigilante Drive and PGP. However, we had to contend with the series of slopes within NUS itself. I felt good during the run, and because I had so much to eat for lunch, it was a welcomed run for me to let off some excess . I felt pretty strong on the upslopes, and along the way, had good conversations with many of the runners. With the strong winds, the night was chilly at times. We had about 4-5 short stops and water breaks to wait for the whole group to catch up.

By the time I finished up along Henderson Road, it was 9pm. Wow…we ran for more than 2hrs. A few runners came back and confirmed the distance was at least 20km. All felt strong though, and Julie led us through a nice routine of stretches. Because the night was late, I had a quick dinner with the gang at ABC food court, before rushing home. This was surely one of the longest week night runs I’ve had at SAFRA MF, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope I will be well prepared for this Sunday’s 38km long, endurance run.

Distance: 20km__Time: 1hr50min__Pace: 5:30min/km