1st Tempo walk after injury

My right ankle is getting better. I felt that it is loose enough that I should do some higher energy exercise. I took the normal 3.3km route. I felt good in the first 500m, then I accelerate and have an average pace of 7:52. In some section, I reach sub-7 min pace. Overall, it is only about 1.5 min slower than my "really" fast walking.

I also try out brisking walking using Diadora Fantasy. It feels GOOD.

1st long walk after the injury

Due to the sprain ankle, I have been out of run/walk for 2 weeks. Today, I joined the team fatbird Kingfisher run along East Coast Park. Instead of running, I was walking slowly at 10mins/km pace for about 6.7km. This is better than what I have planned. The right leg did get some pain in between but it is manageable. The three small muscles on the right side of the calf get some serious work out and have signs of cramping up during the walk. Though I was at slow pace, I did try to speed up and able to have a stretch of 200m at 7mins pace.

Seems that the mobility of the ankle joint has improved after the walk. I am almost walking normally. Though at a certain angle, the ankle joint still have pain. And it is slightly swelling. I will need to continue the rehab exercise to try to get it back in shape.

Sprain ankle at MacRitchie

Last Saturday, I prepared to have a longer run at MacRitchie to train up for North Face 100 duo. My previous two training both encountered problem of blister. This round, I had my "blister kit" with me to ensure that I can continue.

However, 3.3km into the run, my right foot landed on an un-even surface. A twist and a "click" sound. I took a slow walk to see if it gets better. Unfortunately, it started to swell which is not a good sign. I walked back to the main road, took the bus back to the carpark and drove home. After some icing, I decided to visit doctor. Dr. Loh runs marathon as well. As soon as I show him the swollen ankle, he spray something on it, put a large plaster named "Ketotop" on it. Told me to RICE it. I read from the website, it is possible grade I (can walk without assistant, some pain). After resting and taking anti-inflammatory pills for a few days, it is getting better. But I still walk in a limp. I will start using "Chinese" way of rubbing some ointment on it. See if it will speed up the recovery. I need time to train. Just look at the long list of events that I have signed up on the side bar!!

iWalk 2010

I took part in the iWalk 2010 this morning. It is a charity event with Racewalking. There are judge along the course having the "creeping" and "lifting" sign at their hand. So, it is a strictly racewalking rule. There are about 50+ Veteran plus another 70+ for the open category. The veteran starts first at 8:05am.

The course is just along the East Coast Park. Starting from the Angsana Green towards the east direction and U-turn back to Angsana Green.

At the start, I was going way too fast at around 6:00 pace for the first 200m. I then slow down back to the 7 mins pace. However, I already burn my shin during the first rush. The final timing is 35 mins 59s. Ranked 7 within the Men's Veteran.


The timing is actually slower than my practice which has some up slope. I possibly can do 30s to 1 mins faster if I did it proper and have enough rest and warmup. But it is still good fun. I did not get any prize since they only have prize up to 5th place. However, I won the lucky draw and got one of the top prize containing a Mizuno backpack, a Tefal frying pan and a $50 Mizuno voucher!

Race Walking practice

From the sgrunners website, I notice that there is an event call iwalk

The iwalk has a competitive race walking for 5km. Singapore seldom has competitive race walking, therefore, I sign up immediately. The event is on 15-May. Well, since I have signed up, better started my training. Therefore, I pickup the weekday training again (have stopped for almost 2 months!!).

First with a 3km loop, target at 7 mins pace using Asics Kanji (racing flat).


I am right on 7 mins pace on the first 2km but cannot sustain in the 3rd km. I did a very sprint (on race walking) at the end. You may notice that my heart rate is a bit strange. Yes, it is VERY strange. I think my heart rate monitor is running out of battery. I am possibly at 170 average heart rate towards the end. Overall average pace is 7:02, not bad considering I was "inactive" for 2 months.

NightHawk #5

A 25km brisk walk/run on Saturday morning. The route is the usual ECP. Starting from Splash towards Fort Road, then U-turn to go to Changi Coastal Road. I set a timelimit for U-turn as 2 hours.


The weather is HOT! I prepared 3 liter of isotonic drink mixed with ice. And I used up all of it.


During my return leg, some of the runners are going very slow. I went with SC and Rose and encourage them to go faster. Due to the hot weather, my heart rate is a bit on the high side.

HK Marathon

Realized that I did not update my blog for over a month. Here is the Hong Kong Marathon.

It is a tough and difficult race, possibly the most difficult marathon that I have taken. The weather feels almost Singapore like - hot and humid. The terrain is tough, especially the initial long climb at the stonecutter's bridge.


I completed 5:32:xx gun time, roughly 5:30:00 chip time. I just managed to squeeze through the last check point (basically, I was about 10s late at the checkpoint and they are in the process of pull the net across the road). I have to push it all the way in order to meet the cutoff time. Last year, I was only less than a minute from the cutoff time which is 15 degree C and no stonecutter's bridge. But this time, even with a lot of push, I still just missed the cutoff time. For a long stretch, my heart rate is between 165 to 175 (which is my max age-calculated heartrate). I am happy that I did not need to take the bus. I have issues with my both legs. At the last 100m, I can neither walk properly nor run properly but I managed to sprint the last 50m. Hope some photographer took my picture.


According to the news, 31 participant hospitalized (15 dismissed today). I saw a folk in really terrible shapes, like lying on the road side motionless while attended by the medic.

The organiser did not do a good job in water. At two stations, there is no cup, they ask people to just scoop water from the plastic container and drink. Think about many people put their hands into the container... They also run out of banana and chocolate (only managed to get one chocolate). But the resource at the finish point is good, plenty of water, pears, banana. Goodie bag is distributed with isotonic drink, banana, pear, energy bar, coupons.

But at the end, there is a surprise - a finisher's medal!!! They don't have it in the last two year. This is gonna to be one of the treasured medal.