Singapore Zoo Run 2011 (Feb)

After last Dec marathon, just went for 2 runs a 5km+ last year and a 3km this year. Kind of lazy to run now, i will start training today.

Today signed up for the Singapore Zoo Run 2011, Run for Ah Meng after I received an email usually received lots of email on all kinds of runs in Singapore. Ah Meng (the late orangutan) is the zoo icon . Not cheap for a 8km, early bird at S$48 (for passion card member), price exclude GST (tax).

Anyway, I like the towel (top picture) and the medal (looks nice), with a 2XU black T-shirt and an adult zoo ticket which will be given after the race, on top of that there was a unknown event gift from the zoo too. Nowadays, organizers need to show runners the medal and free gifts before we can decide whether to join.


Shall see if I will bring along my digital camera on that day for some photo taking. The race will be held on 12 Feb at 3:30pm.

* pictures taken from Singapore Zoo Run 2011 Facebook page.

Borneo International Marathon 2011

The Borneo International Marathon 2011 is now open for registration. A week ago, I came to know about this race from my running mates and they were talking about sigining up. Currently was deciding if I will go for the 1st international race in May next year.

It will be exactly 4 weeks before the full marathon, will see how it goes with training now at the final stage.

Marathon Training

The Runner's Rule Book by Mark Remy
& the editors of Runner's World

After the 30km run, I have reduced my training, just did 1 run on Monday this week. With the Indonesia jungle burning season here again (Enraged), we had PSI of more than 100 (unhealthy Level) on Thursday and Friday, I'm just finding excuses not to go out for a workout, even our professional soccer match was cancelled to protect the players' health. At the moment, I was reading the above book borrowed from library, the author Mark has run 5 Bostons, an interesting book poking at runners and at the same time with lots of insights.

At 6:20am this morning (Saturday) my running mates & I went for a 20km run, from our area to Mandai Zoo. Along the route, came across a squirrel, a large adult wild boar dashing across the road and a family of monkeys. Due to my long rest days, I was feeling strain on my right knee in the last 4-5km. It was a tough workout, and my knee pain is back again, will see how it goes, with 1 month more to the full marathon in December.

New Asics 1150 Gel purchased on Friday

On Friday, I purchase a new pair of running shoes and switched to Asics. My existing New Balance has covered more than 550km almost 600km it is time to replace it with another pair. For the first time I will be using asics, started off with New Balance and later Mizuno. Well I am sure this is a good shoe, good review, within budget and recommeded by my training mate.

Till the next post, hope my knee will be alright after resting for a few days.

Newton Run 2010 Race Review

The finisher medal, both 18km and 30km runners received the same medal (similiar design as Malaysia Newton Run on 26 Sept 12km/25km), I thought they should at least differentiate the 2 race distance. Well the ribbon colour remains me of the flag of Thailand.

Running 3 rounds of 10km each, along the beach there was strong headwind in the early morning and it made us push harder, that was tough.

On Sunday morning, together with 5 of my running friends we completed the 30km run at East Coast Park. The cut off time for the race initially was 3:30 hrs for 30km, however the organizer decided to change it to 5:30 hrs just in Sept. The emcee announced that there were 3,500 runners for both race distance, however it looked less than that. Before the start of the race, my friend gave me a packet of power gel, which I intended to take at around 13-14km.

The race starts at 7am, it was drizzling (cool perfect weather) and I reminded myself to be careful of the wet ground. The participants in this race are mostly seasoned runners(signed up to meet the cut off time), once flag off, all these runners just push forward.

Started the race at a comfortable pace, slightly faster than what I did in training. At the 2nd water point around at around 4-5km (at the lagoon) I picked up 2 packets of gel at the water station. Finished the first 10km (round 1), I checked my time it was slightly more than 1hr, was running at a good pace. In the second round, I met up with my running mate Roland, and we ran together for most of the 2nd round, at 20km mark upon crossing the line at the check point, I checked my time it was 2 hrs 1 min, I told my friend Roland we are going out a bit fast, but he just maintained his pace while I started to slow down, pretty soon I lost sight of him.

The final round of 10km (after running 20km) was the most challenging, my longest training run had been around 19km. At around 23km, was starting to feel the strain, my legs are alright (just a bit tired by now), no problem with my knees, so I looked at my watch again and knew that I can probably finish the race within 3hrs or so.. to get another PB. Popped the 3rd packet of gel before the lagoon, guess it was more of a psychological effect, thinking you are energised by the gel...I kind of slow down more in the final round, trying to maintain the pace I wanted.

In the last 3-4km towards the end, started to pick up some speed, I knew I was the last to finished in our group, at the last 2km, I maintained a good pace. Finally crossed the line in relief, finished the 30km run ... a true test of strength, stamina, endurance and speed. Crossed the line in 3 hrs 7 mins. Was happy with my time, gave my best, at least I didn't walk apart from drinking at the water stations.

Well, at the finish I took 2 cans of 100-plus, given an ice-cream and a wet towel (kind of refreshing).. with some ice, I used the towel to cool down..

The fastest time acheived by my friend was 2 hrs 25 mins, followed by 2hrs 45 mins, 2hrs 47 mins and Roland was 3 hrs 6 mins (he was 58 years old). Another friend finished in 3 hrs 20 mins. A good race with everyone getting a Personal Best.

This is a small scale race, the participants are manageable, however I can tell that there are a shortage of volunteers at the water stations. There wasn't any cheering group along the route, apart from the 30-40 people cheering at the finish line. Anyway a good race.

Till the next race. The next largest event will be the full marathon in December, and it was less than 2 months away.

Events for this Sunday

October is a hectic month for fitness fanatics in Singapore, with 10 events crammed into five weekends. A friend had signed up for 3 races this month, Newton 30km, followed by New Balance 16km in the coming week and the Nike Human Race 10km.

With the Newton 30km coming up, for the last few days was eating more frequent, drinking enough water and getting more rest.

There will be 4 events this weekend, the North Face 100 (100km/50km), Mizuno Wave Run (10Km), Newton 30km Challenge, and Safra Quadthlon. Both Newton and the Safra race will be at East Coast Park, guess it will be quite pack, and I will be running with them on the same route.

What will you be doing on 10 Oct 10. At 10:10 am?

Running

copyright by dictybloke

At the midpoint of my marathon training program, 2 weeks ago I read a book by Amby Burfoot, The Runner's Guide to the meaning of Life. Winner of 1968 Boston Marathon. This book is supposed to be one of the five best books on running.

A passage from the book, I would like to share with everyone...

We are meant to run, and we do so naturally when left to our own devices. Watch a group of children on the playground, in your backyard, or wherever they come together. When they play games like tag, they run for a while, with squeals of obvious delight, and then rest until they are recovered again. Run and rest, run and rest. It is the perfect exercise program because it is coded in our genes. It is what our forefathers did millions of years ago.


First we try to run faster. Then we try to run harder. Then we learn to accept ourselves and our limitations, and at last, we can appreciate the time joy and meaning of running.
- From the Runner's Guide to the meaning of life.

关于跑步 - About Running

Recently, finished reading a book in Chinese, 关于跑步, a runner friend lend me this book. In English translation - What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. The author wrote this book between summer 2005 to autumn 2006.

The book was written by an award winning Japanese author by the name 村上春树. Haruki Murakami, winner of the Yomiuri Prize for Literature. The original book was published in Japan by Bungei Shunju Ltd, Japan. The Chinese translation is in complex/traditional character only. No problem with that, although we are using simplified character in Singapore.

In the book, the author talks about running his first marathon in Athens following the route of Phidippides, qualifiying for the prestigious Boston Marathon, ran in the Japan ultramarathon of 100 km without walking within a cutoff time of 11 hrs plus, and marathons both in US & Japan. After a long running career, he took part in the Ironman. He mentioned about his training program, from running 6 days a week (1o km per session) to running 7 days a week. Progressive monthly increament, covering a total distance of 260 km, 310 km, 350 km per month. Also thoughts on distance running and the mental & phyiscal aspects of running long distances.

In the last sentence, the author talked about the pride of running a marathon without walking a single step, he achieved that in all the marathons he finished, not walking a single step no matter how painful it was, even in the 100 km race.

This is what he wish to have on his tombstone.

至少到最後都沒有用走的

At least, till the end I didn't walk.

For experienced runners, this can be a goal to achieve in the 26.2 miles race. No walking (maybe just during drinking) and running the full distance. I'm certain to use this as a motivation in the coming race in a few months time.

the book has this quote (not from the author):
Pain is inevitable; suffering is optional.


Earlier post:
Marathon Medals

Running 84Km? How do you train yourself?

On Sunday night, a friend called and told me he had an announcement to make. Announcement? He had set the goal of running the Sundown 84km Ultramarathon next year, end May. He had completed 2 Sundown full marathon over 3 years, a 3 times marathon finisher.

Looking at this year stats - There are 592 registered for the Sundown ultramarathon. 61 were non-starters, 381 finishers and 150 DNFs. So 64% will get to cross the finish line, as compared to the usual marathon between 70-80% finisher.

How do you carry on running/walking when you had just completed a full marathon?

I guess the most important factor will be the mental side, which will help one to pull through this distance. There are runners who gave up at the 70km mark this year, it is just too painful to carry on, and they came to realize that the pride of finishing is no longer important when they put their whole health at risk. A guy who quit at the 55km mark mentioned that he took 5 months to build up to the race, did a multiple runs of 40km and above. However on actual day, he experienced pain and was forced to give up.

To cover 84km is double the commitment of finishing a marathon in my opinion. Careful planning, diet, training and race day conditions are all factors needed to finish this distance.

On the race itself, runners usually has their team of helpers (friends), who will assist them in gels, drinks and snacks. They will usually change into a new pair of running shoes, fresh running attire after finishing the first round, 42km. Something like a refueling station.

This year a 60 years old Taiwanese man (with 20 years running experience) finished the 84km running backwards in less than 13 hrs. The winner was a Korean, Jae Duk Sim, 42 yrs old finishing in a record time of 6 hrs 18 mins. Average runner will probably take 11 hrs or more.

It take years to build up and maintain a certain fitness, as one became more experience in running. A distance runner usually reaches his peak after 30 years old.

Wish my friend the best of luck, may he achieve his dream & accomplish his goal.

DNF- Did not finish.

Post Sundown

Have not jog for the last few days after Saturday half marathon. So far this year, completed 2 races and getting 2 PB, the 16km & the recent half. Total distance covered in races at the moment is 38km. With the confirmed SCMS in Dec, the total confirm distance is 80km on the roads. There are probably 2-3 smaller races which I will register in the coming months, so I will be running/walking for more than 100km in road races this year (excluding training distance).

Today I came across a motivating clip from a Singapore runner, she had this on her blog. I have found my reason to run.

This clip is not clear.

Sundown Marathon 2010 (29 May)

Running tag and D-tag for timing.

The medal is thinner as compared to previous years.
Men's Open 21.1km ranking - 254/3301 (9 Jun 2010)

Last Saturday took part in the half-marathon night race at the adidas Sundown Marathon 2010. Finally, I achieved a personal best timing of 2:06:14, the 5th attempt in 7 years.

Before running this race, my best timing was in Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2004, a time of 2:09:09. In SCSM 2006 half, ran 2:13:44. In 2008 SCSM half, a time of 2:13:14. In 2009 SAFRA Army Half Marathon (a tougher race running up the expressway) finished in 2:18:29. After 4 attempts, I was destined to run 2hrs 14 mins for a half marathon... So I tried to take advantage of this race, with a starting time at 9pm (though the air was hot & humid), but at least there isn't any heat from the sun.

With 3 of my running friends, Martin, 40 yrs old (best time this year in 1 hr 36 mins, was placed 19), Chin, 53 yrs old (finished in 1:58). Roland, 58 yrs old (finished in 2:02), he encouraged me when we met at 16km mark, where I was leading him.. shortly he overtook me, this made me determined to give a final push, maintaining my pace towards the finish (at average 6 mins pace). My inspiration came from my friends, despite being older in age, they are superb runners always running with deep passion.

A great race for everyone, we had our photos taken by an appointed photographer after the race, followed by a deserved night snack of "Indian prata", it was almost 2am. Hopefully in the next half-marathon, I have the chance to improve my timing again, it is not going to be easy but not totally impossible.

Race Review:

This is my 3rd Sundown marathon, in 2008 I ran the full marathon, at that time the total participants was probably less than 5k, a niche race in my opinion, the full marathon sign up was just around 4.5k. From my records, 3,599 men and 861 women completed the full. For 84km race, just a few hundred runners. The race was manageable back then, but recently it seems the organizer are getting their hands tied.

Has making more Money the main factor? More than 19k runners this year, an increase of 8k plus as compared to 2009. How was the logistic, transportation and manpower being planned? In the area of bag deposit, entertainment and wider running route, it was good planning. As usual credits to all the volunteers, they are the biggest plus point in this race. With limited resources and manpower, the volunteers did a wonderful job.

As I travelled to the location by car, it was very smooth along the way. But considering the majority of runners depended on the race day feeder buses (learnt that there was about 10 buses catered for the event), it was a huge disappointment, together with complaints from lack of drinks at each water point. From all the posts on Facebook Sundown Marathon, it sounds like a nightmare for most people.

The organizer will have to look into the complaints and improve... else runners won't bother to sign up next year, the race fees are not cheap (increasing every year) in the first place. I had experienced bad races in Mizuno Wave Runs (first 2 years) and understand the frustration even after the race, hopefully runners can forget about this and look forward to their next race. Good luck & enjoy your runs :)

Earlier post in Feb:
Medal Collections till 2009