Today is my first time joining SAFRA running club weekday training in Queenstown Stadium. It is an interval training of 800m x 8 sets at 12km/h pace. This is way above my current limit. My previous interval training is 400m x 7 sets at 11km/h or 400m x 5 sets at 12 km/h. These SAFRA runners are good. Anyway, I decided that I will join it for 800m x 4 sets. Joining a group training is really better. With others running as well, I push harder than normal. I managed to keep all my 4 sets above 12km/h!! Though my heart rate did shoot up to 95% in my last set. I think my decision of 4 sets is the right amount of intensity. Well, will see if this will help me to run the 5km faster.
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Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Marathon Route Simulation
Today is my first training run with the SAFRA MF runners group. The route is to follow the Marathon route and get familiar with it.
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We start at ECP B1 (though my GPS did not sync properly until a km down the road). The weather is really hot. At the middle, I develop pain in the ankle where the ankle bone is rubbing against the shoe. I have to get some paper to put under the in-sole to get more clearance. I believe the in-sole of the Mizuno has passed its life and need a new replacement. I get the wrong way in a few points and need to track back and go again. Due to the hot weather, I have to cut short in the Marina South portion by a few km to fit in the 4 hour time target. Well, there is the next weekend to try to push for 30km+. After the run, have lunch with the SAFRA runners in old airport road hawker center.
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We start at ECP B1 (though my GPS did not sync properly until a km down the road). The weather is really hot. At the middle, I develop pain in the ankle where the ankle bone is rubbing against the shoe. I have to get some paper to put under the in-sole to get more clearance. I believe the in-sole of the Mizuno has passed its life and need a new replacement. I get the wrong way in a few points and need to track back and go again. Due to the hot weather, I have to cut short in the Marina South portion by a few km to fit in the 4 hour time target. Well, there is the next weekend to try to push for 30km+. After the run, have lunch with the SAFRA runners in old airport road hawker center.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Another Personal Best on Striling Loop
I have been adding interval training into my training schedule. Started with 400mx4 with 3.5mins break in between and currently at 400mx7 with 2 mins break in between. I try to keep my 400m pace to be 5 mins/km (i.e. 2:00 for the 400m). With the interval training, I am slowly improve my 3.2km time. The latest one is avg 11.2 km/h. It is getting close to my interval training pace of 12 km/h.
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Weekend LSD
Due to the low in mileage, I have to increase my running this week. I ran three times during the weekday clocking in 13 km with two 400mx5 interval training and have a long 30km today.
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In the last couple of weeks, I choose to train on more hilly terrain. This time, I come back to East Coast Park. I finished the 30km at half marathon pace (2:44:54 at the 21 km mark)! And I am able to dash the last 400m at around 13km/h. Total time is 4:01:09 for 30.38km. The feeling after it is better than the 28km that I did two weeks ago. Certainly, this help to increase my confidence in the upcoming Marathon. I am getting the benefit from those hilly training.
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In the last couple of weeks, I choose to train on more hilly terrain. This time, I come back to East Coast Park. I finished the 30km at half marathon pace (2:44:54 at the 21 km mark)! And I am able to dash the last 400m at around 13km/h. Total time is 4:01:09 for 30.38km. The feeling after it is better than the 28km that I did two weeks ago. Certainly, this help to increase my confidence in the upcoming Marathon. I am getting the benefit from those hilly training.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Botanic Garden Run
Yesterday was the monthly BG run. A few sgrunners showed up and have a planned route of 25 km.
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I started running with the team. I got myself going for about 6km, longest run I have in a LSD training. My heartrate jumped to 85~90% maxHR. Therefore, I decided to switch to brisk walking. I moved along pretty ok with a mixed run/walk. But it is much more taxing to the body then my usual brisk walking. I started to feel tired at around 14km. When I was going to buy a drink in a 7-11 across the street, I tripped over a hole. Luckily, I only have a scratch on my right knee. Therefore, I decided not to go for the 25km route and walk my way back from Tanglin Road to Botanic Garden.
I am still nursing my wound and not sure whether I should get back to run tomorrow.
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I started running with the team. I got myself going for about 6km, longest run I have in a LSD training. My heartrate jumped to 85~90% maxHR. Therefore, I decided to switch to brisk walking. I moved along pretty ok with a mixed run/walk. But it is much more taxing to the body then my usual brisk walking. I started to feel tired at around 14km. When I was going to buy a drink in a 7-11 across the street, I tripped over a hole. Luckily, I only have a scratch on my right knee. Therefore, I decided not to go for the 25km route and walk my way back from Tanglin Road to Botanic Garden.
I am still nursing my wound and not sure whether I should get back to run tomorrow.
Running in the Rain
I started my usual LSD on Saturday. After a few km, the sky suddenly opened and rained heavily. I first seeked shelter under a overhead bridge. However, the rain did not stop at all. And I was wondering whether I should run to the bus stop to take a bus home or continue. Then, I was thinking that if on the marathon day it rains, I should still continue. That's why I should have some experience in running in the rain. Therefore, I decided to continue to run.
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The experience is very different from running in good weather. The rain water got into the eye and is irritating. The shoe was soaked with water became heavier. I took some short breaks when I hit a bus stop. Finally, I got back home without catching a cold. It is good to have some experience in running in the rain.
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The experience is very different from running in good weather. The rain water got into the eye and is irritating. The shoe was soaked with water became heavier. I took some short breaks when I hit a bus stop. Finally, I got back home without catching a cold. It is good to have some experience in running in the rain.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Best time around Striling
I usually run around the neighborhood during my weekday run. The typical loop is around Striling View & Queenstown stadium with about 3.3km in distance.
I run through it many many times. A year ago, my typical time will be 25 minutes, maybe 23 minutes if I push hard. This year, I have made progress. In Aug, I had the best time of 20 minutes, around 10km/h pace. However, I haven't made any improvement after that even with attempt to make a personal best. Until today, with the increased confidence from the better than expected timing in MacRitchie run, I try harder this time. And I get my personal best of 18:36, averaged 10.9km/h!
Today, I also attended a running clinic session organised by the company. When I chat with the speaker about my training progress, he gave the comment that even I have a LSD, my overall weekly mileage is too low for a full marathon. He suggest that I need to increase it to 5 runnings a week! I know that I am "cutting corner" by only focusing on the weekend LSD and not pushing my weekly mileage. My weekly mileage is only at 35km which is really not sufficient. Well, with two more months to go, I will need to make a final push to 50km weekly.
I run through it many many times. A year ago, my typical time will be 25 minutes, maybe 23 minutes if I push hard. This year, I have made progress. In Aug, I had the best time of 20 minutes, around 10km/h pace. However, I haven't made any improvement after that even with attempt to make a personal best. Until today, with the increased confidence from the better than expected timing in MacRitchie run, I try harder this time. And I get my personal best of 18:36, averaged 10.9km/h!
Today, I also attended a running clinic session organised by the company. When I chat with the speaker about my training progress, he gave the comment that even I have a LSD, my overall weekly mileage is too low for a full marathon. He suggest that I need to increase it to 5 runnings a week! I know that I am "cutting corner" by only focusing on the weekend LSD and not pushing my weekly mileage. My weekly mileage is only at 35km which is really not sufficient. Well, with two more months to go, I will need to make a final push to 50km weekly.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Nike Runaholic at MacRitchie
Participated in a Nike Runaholic at MacRitchie Reservoir today. It is a 5km partly trail and partly road run. Here is the route:
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Before the run, I thought I will take more than 30 minutes to finish as my 3.2km pace is about 10km/h. But during the run, I did better than I thought and finish at 29:45 with trail, uphill and downhill combined. It is a pretty good timing for me as my 10km time 2 years ago is 1 hr 15 mins. Though I have a heart rate running at zone 5 for most of the time averaged at 168bpm which is a bit high. I don't think I want to use that pace to run a 10km.
In the Nike Runaholic event, they also have shoe for trial. I have a pair of Air Pegasus+. It is very cushy, especially a small bump at the middle of the forefoot. Runs well with it. I never had a Nike running shoe before (I had Reebok, New Balance, Mizuno). Next time, if price is right, will give it a try.
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Before the run, I thought I will take more than 30 minutes to finish as my 3.2km pace is about 10km/h. But during the run, I did better than I thought and finish at 29:45 with trail, uphill and downhill combined. It is a pretty good timing for me as my 10km time 2 years ago is 1 hr 15 mins. Though I have a heart rate running at zone 5 for most of the time averaged at 168bpm which is a bit high. I don't think I want to use that pace to run a 10km.
In the Nike Runaholic event, they also have shoe for trial. I have a pair of Air Pegasus+. It is very cushy, especially a small bump at the middle of the forefoot. Runs well with it. I never had a Nike running shoe before (I had Reebok, New Balance, Mizuno). Next time, if price is right, will give it a try.
Saturday, October 6, 2007
My First 4 hours+ practice
Today I did my weekend LSD. I drawn up a 28km route from my home to NUS, Low Delta Road, Holland Road and back. It consists several uphill slopes with total elevation climbed according to Motionbased as 567m. It is tough. And I almost gave up at the 20.5km mark where I could have made a short-cut to shorten the course to 22km. I hold on to it and finish the course at 4 hours+. I cannot get the exact time since I have paused it when going to petrol station to buy drink but forgot to restart it. But I knew that the total time is 4 hours 30 minutes including all the break and buying drink. Therefore, this should be my first 4 hour+ practice. But that is only 2/3 of a full marathon!!
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My small toe on the right foot is still troubling me at about 14 km mark onward. It is really tiring. I took about 2.5 litre of fluid and still feel dehydrated.
Well, I did get some good treat after the practice. It is the hairy crab season and me and my family had our first hairy crab meal yesterday and we had another one today. Both my wife and my kid loves the hairy crab.
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My small toe on the right foot is still troubling me at about 14 km mark onward. It is really tiring. I took about 2.5 litre of fluid and still feel dehydrated.
Well, I did get some good treat after the practice. It is the hairy crab season and me and my family had our first hairy crab meal yesterday and we had another one today. Both my wife and my kid loves the hairy crab.
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