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