Demoralizing Route Revisited

It was some time since we did the demoralizing Changi Coastal Road stretch...last could be in November last year in preparation for SCSM06. DO, Cokiee, doraemon and I reached F2 carpark at 7.05am. Shutehelup, SassyRunner, teelee, Alvo, Meteor and Shut's friend also just arrived. tktan, sealboon, Ultraman were already waiting. RealRunner had set off to run at 6am. While waiting for Brokie and tooty, the few of us did a to/fro from F2 to Lagoon and back for a 20min warm-up run, covered about 3.5km.

When we reached back to F2 carpark, Brokie and tooty had arrived. The whole group started off for our 'actual' run towards the demoralizing route. The morning promised to be a hot and sunny one. xdd and tktan were leading the way, whilst the rest of us followed closely from behind. Some discussion broke out about the ergonomics of running, and Ultraman and Cokiee offered some good advise. Once out along NSRCC and onto Coastal Road, we were pretty much running in a straight line. I moved up at about a 5:20min/km pace and maintained that mostly for the 8km stretch of the demoralizing road, about 200m from teelee.

It was still cool with the shade offered by the large trees along the roadside. There were lots of cyclists and trucks moving against our direction. This stretch of the coastal road is really 'mental' and 'demoralizing' because it seemed so long and never-ending. As I was not carrying any water, what kept me going was the toilet/water point ahead at the Changi Beach Ferry Terminal. I finally completed the first stretch in 1hr3min. The few of us estimated that distance to be 12-12.5km. Teelee went further up for extra distance, while I took a nice water break and soon the rest came in, all very glad to see this first pit-stop :).

After the quick break, we ran back with the sun beating on our backs. I was pacing Brokie for a good 25min, and having a good chat about many things...that was really helpful to distract me from the monotonous demoralizing road. Large trucks breezed by us a number of times, and they seemed to be getting quite close to us....hmm, we must run on the other side of the road the next time. With about 3km to the turn off back to NSRCC, I ran slightly ahead and broke off from brokie. I could see teelee and tktan in front, and I just followed on. I was still feeling good, albeit a little disturbed by the heat. tktan signalled me to go ahead, and into NSRCC, I paced with teelee for a good 2km or so.

It was so HOT at that stretch....I just couldn't wait to finish it and get some water on my parched, salty lips. Soon I was running alone as teelee had decided to cool off his engine. Since it was just 2km more to the finish, I maintained pace and finished the run, taking about 1hr for this return stretch. Meteor and tooty had already finished their shorter run, and was cheering us as we ran back. There was a nice drinks van selling iced-cold isotonic drinks for $1 a pop...a godsend for a steamy hot day. Soon everyone came back, all yelling out that it was a 'tough run'...yes, for sure it was hot and really mental running this route...so sealboon finally understood why its termed The Demoralizing Run...hehe. We had a good washup before proceeding to Changi Village Food centre for the highly-recommended beef noodles...hmm, yummy...a well deserved reward for a hard run.

Distance: 28km__Time: 2hr36min__Pace: 5:34min/km