Super HOT Saturday

It was to be a 36km Pacers training run this Saturday, one of the longest yet, before tapering down for SCSM07. Quite a good turnout at ECP, and many familiar faces joined us for the training too...xdd, tktan, Lai Chee, Brokie, RealRunner & wife, Raven, Kok Sin, YangLin, Desmond, Marcus, as well as some new faces whom I have not met before. Introduced a few of them to David Tay, and away we went towards Fort Road for the first lap.

By the time we reached the end of Fort Road, the rest have left Brokie and myself in the dust. We decided not to 'chiong' too fast, and was taking our time to warm up, though I felt we were still running at quite a fast 5:45min/km pace...fast that is, for 36km. However, some of the runners were doing shorter, so they could go fast.

As we coasted along the Cable Ski area, we caught up with DO and ran together for a bit. I moved up slightly and used xdd as target to keep me moving along this 'mental' route. By the time I hit NSRCC, the sun was out in its full glory, and David Tay and many frontrunners, including RR were on their way back for the first lap of 21km...xdd and tktan proceeded on to Coastal Road, while we took a U-turn from NSRCC back to MacD. The heat of the sun was really getting to me, and my body was threatening to heat up. My pace slowed and my legs were starting to feel heavy.

I was glad to reach back to MacD, and it felt more like 23km instead of 21km. I grabbed a can of ice-cold 100plus, and proceeded to walk and drink for 5min....heavenly taste. Saw Brokie, RR and a few others coming back...all drenched and sapped by the sun. Meteor ran past and signalled that Alvo was with her too. As usual, I met many familiar faces, including Highbury, doing their own ninja runs. It was real hot facin the direction of the sun, and when I saw some pacers turn back earlier, I decided to cut short my run too. The heat was just unbearable, and I was drinking like a camel....but my tummy was so full of water, it made running even more uncomfortable.

I could see many runners, including ironman hunks, all being drained by the heat, and slowing down. I made my way slowly to F2, drank lots again, did sone stretches, and walked back for 3min again....hmm, never felt so good to walk...haha. I flagged to Desmond and Marcus that I was turning back, and gave them a thumbs up to move on. Knowing that I have only about 3km to go, I picked up my by-then heavy legs and chigged all the way back to MacD. I was so glad to see DO, Brokie and the rest with 100plus and choco milk....took a can of 100plus and proceeded to the gents to cool off....really hot just to be around in the open.

I drank and drank while chatting with the rest....everyone mentioned that it was really hot, and all were affected. When we saw David Tay walk back with his tongue hanging out, we knew instantly that this got to be one of the hardest runs many of us have experienced....we should be prepared for the worst on race day....hehe. Ronnie and Lai Chee came back real strong, having gone all the way to NSRCC and back for a second time...*respect*. As we were about to go for a quick wash-up, the skies grew dark, and we decided to go home to bathe. On the way back, it poured....we were glad to have completed the run before the rains came. I felt so hungry when I got back, and right after I have had something to eat, the sun came back on in its full glory again.....wow, a really super HOT Saturday!

Distance: 30km__Time: 2hr50min__Pace: 5:40min/km