MR25 Progressive Run done...30km

The Reward for a 30km hard workout. Laksa Run anyone?

I missed the 25km Progressive Run in July as I was away for the Ipoh Half Marathon. This year's MR25 progressive runs at MacRitchie is made more interesting with a mini competition... each runner has to run at least 4 out of the 5 progressive runs to score points and get a running top. The top few points scorers will receive additional prizes befitting the effort of the winners.

Since I have to go for all the remaining progressive runs, I was at MR this morning to join in the 30km Progressive Run. I was looking to it as my LSD build-up for SCSM07, and also to burn off some fats (if that is at all possible for me...hehe). The usual guys were there...Alvo, Ultraman, DO, Bug, Goola, the 2 Ronnies and many other MR25 runners...Derrick, Jimmy Chow and Eng Hwa joined in the fun too. Noticed that MR25 has got new number tags for this season of races and time trials...cool!

Because of the mini landslide at the Ranger area, the route this year was slightly modified to run from Northern Route and then to UPR, covering air-cond road twice, then going into Rifle Range Road, before going back the same way to Nothern Route. The weather was pretty cool after some light showers, and it was nice that the trails weren't too muddy (despite the few days of heavy rain before). The pace was rather easy, and I was happy to just tag along the bunch of JJ, Lai Chee and DO. Went into the air-cond road, running alongside Ronnie from MF, and reached the OUTR gate in about 54min.

Saw the usual familiar faces, and giving them a thumbs up as we ran past one another. A few notable faces were absent as there was the Aviva 70.3 Half Ironman race today as well. Reached the air-cond road a second time, and was feeling quite good. I was reserving my energy for the many slopes along the Rifle Range stretch. The Rifle Range trails were rather muddy, and I was rather careful, especially on the downslopes. I spotted Lai Chee in front, and told her to be careful as I moved on to the road portion. The slopes there are always a challenge for me, and I resolved to take it easy today. Reached the U-turn point in 1:54...ok, pace about right for a sub 3hr finish.

The way back felt quite ok, especially with the cool weather, and it was only along the Rifle Range trails that I felt the tiredness as I climbed the final slopes. I was glad to take lots of 100plus at the final water point, before heading up the slopes to the Northern Route. I could feel the 'lack of cushion' and 'slapping' from my well-worn Nike Vomero (already 500km+). Since I didn't want to dirty my new cushioned PI shoes, I had to use the Vomero for this trail run. It turned out to be quite alright, not too 'muddy' nor soggy. I went back along Northern Route with caution, and finished the 30km run in 2hr51min. It was a tad slower than last year's 2hr49min....still, I was rather satisfied with the workout.

Bug improved by a lot, so has Alvo. The rest of the runners did well too, considering that they took this run as a warm-up to kickstart training for the year end marathon. I did a very steady pace, and although I could feel a slight 'tightness' in the calves for the last 2km, I attribute that to the lack of conditioning for distances over 28km. With the good workout, we rewarded ourselves with very 'sinful' laksa at Kovan Heartland Mall, thanks to DO for the treat. My bowl was completely cleaned out, while Bug and DO still had some gravy....Bug was still very careful with taking all the gravy....thats why he can eat laksa and still not sin so badly as us...haha.

Distance: 30km XC__Time: 2hr49min__Pace: 5:38min/km