I have taken 2 weeks off after the 2nd link run due to Shin Splint on my right leg (doctor advised me to stop running for 2 weeks). At first, I am a bit worry about the body condition after 2 weeks off. And during the 17/18-Nov weekend, I was in Hong Kong and have gained 2 kg due to the great food in Hong Kong and likely also due to lack of running.
I started some simple warm up on 26-Nov for a slow and easy 3.5km brisk walk/run. Good news is that I didn't have pain on my right leg, but still feel a little bit odd in the run. It was only a 8:55/km pace. I don't want to risk another injury and just keep it simple.
I was also able to take off my extra 2kg that I gained in Hong Kong. Now, I am at 69kg. When I registered for the full marathon, I was 75kg and aimed to cut my weight down to 68kg for the full marathon. I am only 1 kg away from my original target.
I did another warm up on 28-Nov for another 3.5km brisk walk/run. I pushed harder on my brisk walk, just slightly short of my regular pace at 7:41/km. My right leg held up fine. Meaning that I am likely to be able to go for a normal pace on Sunday, perhaps keep it slightly slower in the first 5 km. I am adjusting my target time to 5 hr 45 minutes. Since this is my first full marathon, I am happy that I can finish it. When I registered a few month back, my target time was 6 hours.
Today, it is the start of the carbo loading!!
Friday, November 30, 2007
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Collection of Stanchart Singapore Marathon Racing Pack
Today, I went to the Suntec City to collect the Singapore Marathon Race Pack. From the web, I was told that yesterday has long queue to collect, therefore, I am expecting to see a long queue as well. I arrived Suntec City at around 4pm. At the 6/F, there is a reminder to have your confirmation slip & photo ID.
Then, there are usher to guide people to the correct entry. Hmmm, no queue outside, good sign!
At the entry, there is another reminder for confirmation slip & photo ID. Still no queue!
Inside the hall, it is pretty EMPTY!!!
For the full marathon, there is less than 10 people in the queue and only took one minute to be my turn! The whole process is only two minutes! Its the right decision to avoid the first day crowd and the first day computer glitch.
Content of the rack pack - A bag which has much better quality than last year. The singlet, the L size has the right size and fit, much better than last year. Bib and the champion chip. A pack of Filiz pasta, a sample of Berocca, discount coupon for deep heat rub, brochure of the SCSM 2007, a Adidas tag for you to write "My reason to run", another bag for the baggage storage, a powerbar brochure.
Then, there are usher to guide people to the correct entry. Hmmm, no queue outside, good sign!
At the entry, there is another reminder for confirmation slip & photo ID. Still no queue!
Inside the hall, it is pretty EMPTY!!!
For the full marathon, there is less than 10 people in the queue and only took one minute to be my turn! The whole process is only two minutes! Its the right decision to avoid the first day crowd and the first day computer glitch.
Content of the rack pack - A bag which has much better quality than last year. The singlet, the L size has the right size and fit, much better than last year. Bib and the champion chip. A pack of Filiz pasta, a sample of Berocca, discount coupon for deep heat rub, brochure of the SCSM 2007, a Adidas tag for you to write "My reason to run", another bag for the baggage storage, a powerbar brochure.
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Second Link Half Marathon
This morning, I woke up at 3am and start to prepare myself for the Second Link Marathon. This is my first time joining the Second Link Marathon and I have signed up for a Half Marathon. I started driving at 3:45am, picked up three runners from Singapore on the way. After filling up the tank and through the Singapore and Malaysia immigration, I arrive at the Gelang Patah R&R at 4:45am. I have no problem in finding a parking space at one of the petrol station. Seems that most of the Malaysian runner comes by bus.
First, I need to register the attendance at the counter for Category C (Men's Open Half Marathon). There are about 100+ runners with a few from Africa. Most runners are local Malaysian with up to 16 Singapore runners joining the Half Marathon. Interesting is that because there are too few women signing up the half marathon, they cancelled the Women's Open. Two women actually come and join the Men's Open and run together with the men. The run did not use Champion chip. Instead, runners collects a black bracelet at the start and a pink ribbon at U-turn point to prove that they finish the race. Time is also manually clocked as well.
The start is at the Tanjung Kupang Toll plaza and first goes towards Singapore, then U-turn and head towards Malaysia. At the 8.5km mark, there is another U-turn and finally finish just after the Toll plaza.
View Larger Map
The route has alternating uphill and downhill with no shade at all. Luckily, it starts at 6:15am and the sun was very mild after sunrise, only getting strong at starting at 8am+. The authority hold off traffic for us to cross to the inner lane and we mostly run on the inner lane of the road except when we are cross the immigration complex. The authority did a good job in temporarily blocking the traffic and allow us to get into the inner lane.
There is no distance mark until the last 5km. But since it is on a highway, there are highway distance mark every 100m to keep runner informed. The biggest complaint of the run is the water stations. Throughout the half marathon, there are basically only 3 water points (actually 2, but one of it you can get the water before and after the U-turn) and 2 wet sponge points. The water point only provide plain water and the bottle size is only 300ml. The first 3 water points are at 6km, 13km, and 17km marks. I almost run into dehydration since my fluid lost rate is 1 liter per hour. I lost about 2% body weight of fluid by the end of the race.
Having a women runner also make it interesting. It just happened that one of the women runner runs at about my pace. She has kept a very constant pace throughout the 21km while I adopt a run-and-walk strategy (running in downhill/flat, walking in uphill/flat). Whenever, I am in running phase, I open up a gap. Then, when I switch to walking phase, she slowly closed the gap and passed me. At the end, after 2 hr 27 mins, our finishing time is less than 30 second difference.
The end result is 2:27:08, a personal best for me though the distance is only 20.88km as recording on my forerunner. This is significantly faster than my AHM time of 2:44:00. I finished at position 56 among the Men's Half Marathon. I am happy with the result. And I have a much higher run-to-walk ratio (I think about 40:60 ratio) than my AHM (roughly 10:90 ratio).
The Goodie Bag for it also not very good. The event t-shirt is a simple t-shirt.
Only the top 130 finisher in each category can get the finisher medal. The Quality also not good. I have stain on the medal when I got it. I have to clean it up with alcohol before taking the picture.
First, I need to register the attendance at the counter for Category C (Men's Open Half Marathon). There are about 100+ runners with a few from Africa. Most runners are local Malaysian with up to 16 Singapore runners joining the Half Marathon. Interesting is that because there are too few women signing up the half marathon, they cancelled the Women's Open. Two women actually come and join the Men's Open and run together with the men. The run did not use Champion chip. Instead, runners collects a black bracelet at the start and a pink ribbon at U-turn point to prove that they finish the race. Time is also manually clocked as well.
The start is at the Tanjung Kupang Toll plaza and first goes towards Singapore, then U-turn and head towards Malaysia. At the 8.5km mark, there is another U-turn and finally finish just after the Toll plaza.
View Larger Map
The route has alternating uphill and downhill with no shade at all. Luckily, it starts at 6:15am and the sun was very mild after sunrise, only getting strong at starting at 8am+. The authority hold off traffic for us to cross to the inner lane and we mostly run on the inner lane of the road except when we are cross the immigration complex. The authority did a good job in temporarily blocking the traffic and allow us to get into the inner lane.
There is no distance mark until the last 5km. But since it is on a highway, there are highway distance mark every 100m to keep runner informed. The biggest complaint of the run is the water stations. Throughout the half marathon, there are basically only 3 water points (actually 2, but one of it you can get the water before and after the U-turn) and 2 wet sponge points. The water point only provide plain water and the bottle size is only 300ml. The first 3 water points are at 6km, 13km, and 17km marks. I almost run into dehydration since my fluid lost rate is 1 liter per hour. I lost about 2% body weight of fluid by the end of the race.
Having a women runner also make it interesting. It just happened that one of the women runner runs at about my pace. She has kept a very constant pace throughout the 21km while I adopt a run-and-walk strategy (running in downhill/flat, walking in uphill/flat). Whenever, I am in running phase, I open up a gap. Then, when I switch to walking phase, she slowly closed the gap and passed me. At the end, after 2 hr 27 mins, our finishing time is less than 30 second difference.
The end result is 2:27:08, a personal best for me though the distance is only 20.88km as recording on my forerunner. This is significantly faster than my AHM time of 2:44:00. I finished at position 56 among the Men's Half Marathon. I am happy with the result. And I have a much higher run-to-walk ratio (I think about 40:60 ratio) than my AHM (roughly 10:90 ratio).
The Goodie Bag for it also not very good. The event t-shirt is a simple t-shirt.
Only the top 130 finisher in each category can get the finisher medal. The Quality also not good. I have stain on the medal when I got it. I have to clean it up with alcohol before taking the picture.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Frost & Sullivan Corporate Challenge 07
This morning, I have a run with my colleagues in Frost & Sullivan Corporate Challenge 07. This is a charity event with $500 sign up fee per team donating to the Peace-Connect Neighbourhood Link.
The run is from SICC to MacRitche trail towards the rifle range and U-turn back to SICC. Total distance is about 4.33km. Each team has 4 runners starting together representating a company. Our team is from Agilent Technologoies with Rob Young, Naveen Bhat, Mike Kawasaki and myself. The time of the team member added up together to form the team result. I think there are about 30 teams participated.
There was rain in the morning and the trail is wet and slippery. Especially the mud at the middle of road and very difficult to avoid hitting the mud. The overall running experience is good though there is two long uphill climb after the U-turn that is a bit tough. My heart rate pumps up to 175 and have to slow down a little bit. My timing is about 27 mins. Overall our team has a total of 100 minutes and got the 5th place!!
The top honor goes to Singapore Sports Council with a combined timing of 1 hr 17 minutes (these guys are FAST!)
The run is from SICC to MacRitche trail towards the rifle range and U-turn back to SICC. Total distance is about 4.33km. Each team has 4 runners starting together representating a company. Our team is from Agilent Technologoies with Rob Young, Naveen Bhat, Mike Kawasaki and myself. The time of the team member added up together to form the team result. I think there are about 30 teams participated.
There was rain in the morning and the trail is wet and slippery. Especially the mud at the middle of road and very difficult to avoid hitting the mud. The overall running experience is good though there is two long uphill climb after the U-turn that is a bit tough. My heart rate pumps up to 175 and have to slow down a little bit. My timing is about 27 mins. Overall our team has a total of 100 minutes and got the 5th place!!
The top honor goes to Singapore Sports Council with a combined timing of 1 hr 17 minutes (these guys are FAST!)
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Preparation for the Full Marathon : 34 km
I have my longest LSD so far today. Following the full marathon route, I did a total of 34km.
View Larger Map
The good thing is that I am actually slightly faster than my AHM time at half marathon mark. And it still feels good. However, the last two km are really tough. My left side ITB start to tighten up, there is blister on my third toe on the right. But at the end, I still finish my 34km with good timing of 4:22. Now, I may consider to have a shot to finish the full marathon at 5:30.
View Larger Map
The good thing is that I am actually slightly faster than my AHM time at half marathon mark. And it still feels good. However, the last two km are really tough. My left side ITB start to tighten up, there is blister on my third toe on the right. But at the end, I still finish my 34km with good timing of 4:22. Now, I may consider to have a shot to finish the full marathon at 5:30.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Pose Running & Diadora Fantasy
A few months ago, I bumped into some YouTube video from about Pose Running by Dr. Romanov. I am interested in it and have watched a few more YouTube video + video clips from Posetech.com
However, I was not able to get it right. I kind of put in on the sideline. Until two weeks ago, I watched a DVD on ChiRunning organised by MF runners. There are so much similarity between the ChiRunning and Pose Running that I decided to explore it again. However, it is still very difficult to tell whether I land correctly on forefoot. And the Dr. Romanov has recommended a very specific type of shoe.
Selecting Running Shoe Part 1
It mentioned about Puma H-Street but difficult to find. I always wonder whether my current running shoe is suitable or not for training in Pose Running. Recently in a post in sgrunners that one of the runner recommend the Diadora Fantasy. I went and bought a pair two days ago.
One special characteristic of the Diadora Fantasy is that it is very flexible with a thin sole, especially low heel and very lightweight.
It fits the citeria listed by Dr. Romanov. Be warned, the shoe provide basically NO CUSHIONING and very little support. If you are a heel-strike, keep away for it. It is ONLY usable for Pose Running. I have put them on and try running. Wow, it is "sensitive". It gives very sharp feedback on your landing. If you land forefoot correctly, everything is fine. If you land mid-foot or heel, it gives you a very sharp feedback. I gives the feeling of barefoot. I believe it is a good training shoe for Pose Running. I need to start just walking on it and get familiar with it and perform Pose drill with it. I think it will take more time before I can really run with it. I know that it will take 6 months to transform my running technique into Pose. I should start some drill first.
I also borrowed the book on "Pose Method of Running" from the library. This will start a new journey for me to learn running from the beginning.
However, I was not able to get it right. I kind of put in on the sideline. Until two weeks ago, I watched a DVD on ChiRunning organised by MF runners. There are so much similarity between the ChiRunning and Pose Running that I decided to explore it again. However, it is still very difficult to tell whether I land correctly on forefoot. And the Dr. Romanov has recommended a very specific type of shoe.
Selecting Running Shoe Part 1
It mentioned about Puma H-Street but difficult to find. I always wonder whether my current running shoe is suitable or not for training in Pose Running. Recently in a post in sgrunners that one of the runner recommend the Diadora Fantasy. I went and bought a pair two days ago.
One special characteristic of the Diadora Fantasy is that it is very flexible with a thin sole, especially low heel and very lightweight.
It fits the citeria listed by Dr. Romanov. Be warned, the shoe provide basically NO CUSHIONING and very little support. If you are a heel-strike, keep away for it. It is ONLY usable for Pose Running. I have put them on and try running. Wow, it is "sensitive". It gives very sharp feedback on your landing. If you land forefoot correctly, everything is fine. If you land mid-foot or heel, it gives you a very sharp feedback. I gives the feeling of barefoot. I believe it is a good training shoe for Pose Running. I need to start just walking on it and get familiar with it and perform Pose drill with it. I think it will take more time before I can really run with it. I know that it will take 6 months to transform my running technique into Pose. I should start some drill first.
I also borrowed the book on "Pose Method of Running" from the library. This will start a new journey for me to learn running from the beginning.
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