A hard AniMILES run

It has been quite a while since I ran at the orginal base of the aniMILES route, starting from Lower Pierce Reservoir to Mandai Road and back. With AHM coming up, the few of us have started to go back to this training ground.

I went to see the doctor to get some medicine for my 'ticklish' throat. I felt much better this morning, but the effects of the medicine could have caused me to be 'extra' thirsty. The weather was humid, after an earlier bout of showers which seemed to have anti-climaxed....the air was heavy and humid, and that made for heavy breathing.

DO, RealRunner, half-timer, SealBoon and myself set off at 6.10am, after waiting for stazla who eventually didn't turn up. We had a nice chat along the OUTR stretch about all things running. Once we hit UTR, DO took over, and we just fell in line and followed. The ground was wet, especially along the pavements....with my DS Trainer, I had to be extra careful not to 'toe-off' too much, and had to land more gingerly to avoid any mishap. Half-timer was pacing along quite strongly with the rest of us. I took 1hr8min to reach the zebra crossing at the road leading to the zoo....normally I would reach that point in 1hr2min, so its a lot slower this morning.

I felt comfortable with the slower pace, although my throat was feeling so 'dry'. I had finished most of my gatorade mix by the time I had U-turned...something which does not happen to me that often. When I saw half-timer coming to the U-Turn, he gestured that he too was feeling thirsty, and looking for water. I had none to spare already, unfortunately. I had informed the runners to come prepared for this route with their own hydration and food, since there were hardly any refuel points along the way.

By the time I reached back to UTR, my breathing was getting heavier. My legs were still ok, as the turnover this morning was not that high. The air really made me breathe hard, or was it because of my irritable throat and slight blocked nose? Nonetheless, i continued to follow DO from about 50-100m, and use him as a pacer. RR and SealBoon was not too far behind me either. My mind was just thinking of reaching the end point and taking ice-cold chocolate milk...I would have stopped at the nearby coffee-shop for roti-prata if I had money with me then...haha. After some struggle, I was glad to complete the run in 2hr13min...way off the usual time of 2hr5min average I normally do for this 24km route. I have done a 2hr for this route if I am not wrong...but nvm, I was just glad to have completed the run.

DO treated us to nice ice-cold HL choco milk...yummy. That was the reward for a hard workout. We all discussed a bit about the reasons why we were that slow today...haha, all looking for excuses..slackers :). Half-timer was the exception. He came back shortly after us, looking very strong...and he even took a detour to get water...wow, he is getting real good. Well done! RealRunner was just doing his recovery run after a PB and BQ at the recent Gold Coast Marathon...congrats! SealBoon who trains mainly on his own, also ran a very steady and good pace...he will do well at AHM this time. We will be back for the aniMILES route in the next few weeks as we ramp up training for the AHM in August.

Distance: 24km__Time: 2hr13min__Pace: 5:33min/km