Singpore Marathon 2006 race expo

i was down with stomach problem ever since tues....stepping into the expo today was a ??...can i still run next week? This yr expo is much bigger than last year...with the increased participants, the organizer has done a great job by allocating one whole hall 404 for the collection and the other 2 for sports and fitness expo..... Due to my work...i came down a bit late...reached at abt 7pm which is the peak hour....got to queue for abt 10-15min before i got my pack..... 1) SCM 2006 bag - Finally is not a shoes bag....last yr got so many shoes bags from event even for SCM...at least this year is something bigger and more useful, with a small pocket inside for small stuff and a shoes compartment....impressive!!! 2)White sling bag - I called this a laundry bag....is just a big laundry bag to keep your dirty clothings....i guess this is for participant to put their stuff for bag deposit on race day 3) Event Tee - This is the tee everyone take notice off....this year tee is OFF SIZE again!! The sizing is one size bigger than last year which left most participants headache....but the material is different from last year...i was surprised that it is the same material as the red adidas running top i had (which i wore size S)...this material is much lighter and more comfy than last yr 4) a bag of pasta - this year pack is small than last yr 5) event booklet - as usual, the informative event booklet which participant must read thru 6) Runspiration information - same as previous yr 7) Deep heating rub sample pack - enough for one rub on the bum 8) Berroca samples - a awful tasting vitamins pills which will be in my fridge for another yr 9) Polar and athletes' circle flyers - a new concept by hivelocity for the sportsmen Not a fantastic race pack...definitely we expecting more than this...i think last yr one is better ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ After collecting the stuff, i went over to yhe Sports and Fitness Expo for a walk....this year expo is bigger and more interesting than last year...more games and challenges for visitor to play and a few new products coming in to the market....like Pearl Izumi running shoes and products.....not so much offer for the exhibitors....maybe just to create awareness for the comsumers......din buy anything today...maybe come back again to grab some 15% off vitamins from VRP

DOWN!!!!!

YES....I AM DOWN latest pre-marathon jinx victim...... just my luck....... suspect due to food poisoning as my other frens who had supper with me are all down the day before me..... high fever on tues and MC on wed.... should take one more day MC... no appetite for 3 days liao......... heavy anti-biotic till this sat....... body weak and useless....but still need to struggle thru the heavy workload in office..... hopefully can do a little running on monday onwards.....

Vertical Marathon 2006

Yes....i reached the top of Swissotel The Stamford again for the second year and I took the above photo with my HP camera.... Only have 4 hrs of sleep due to late supper till 2am the nite before....i amanged to erached in time for the registration at 8.15am and met a few others like ripley, alvo, meteor, kops, jennifery, mythos, sv, commando....... got my number tag and hooked up my championship chip....put my barang at alvo's car before we went for a light breakfast at subway...i took a ham and egg sandwich with a small cup of coke.... waited till 10.15am before is my turn to go up....my was the last 2nd category so everyone was up before me.... it was a tough climb for me as i just did 3rds of MR the day before....my legs are heavy like cement...did a small sprint to the stairs before i climb slowly using 2 steps....after abt 15 floors....i have to change to single steps and alternate with double as i go up....the other guys from my wave overtook me from the start and after 30 floors....i overtook them back except for an ang mo which i never see him again.... i burst out of the stairs and cross the finishing line...stopped my watch and it indicated 12:35min..walaus....so close to my last yr timing saw andy at the roof and the other guys just proceed back down....waited and hanged around for quite a while....took a video of the heli-pad came back down to the ground floor...the cert are not ready...so we decided to walked around...i went to change to a dry top....collected the cert and i was surprised to see my timing: ISN'T THIS THE SAME AS LAST YEAR!!!!! What a nice 4D number to buy!!! After that, i followed alov's car to marina square to meet up with DR< DO, Stazla, superboy and cokiee for lunch before we went home to rest......

Last LSD........counting down

i was deciding between a flat LSD or a mother nature run......Teelee supposed to joined me for the run has to backout last min as he was too shagged out by Mr Bush's visit... In the end..i decided to head back to mother nature for fresher air...thinking there should be no much pple as everyone will keep away from this place till 3 dec... managed to wake up at 5.30am and catch the morning bus to MR....started my run at 7am..the air was cooling but heated up very quickly as the sun came out very strongly today...din bring my shade or my cap...i will have problem at the golf course....keeping to my 8:2 ratio....i tried to keep myself slow...but i failed...planning to do 3 rds for abt 1hr 15min per round especially for the first round...reached the SICC road at 23min and ranger station at 27:30min....did not stop as i push forward towards the barricaded area......I was blinded for a while by the strong glare from the sun when i was out of the boardwalk area...and have to keep my head low to see the route....ran up the rooted upslope and still feeling fine....i knew i went too fast....saw tobias ran by...as i reached the MR25 time trial route...there are 2 deadfall.....one big tree blocked the road completely and another small branch fell across the trail...the one i saw on monday was removed Finished the first round at 1hr 6min....way too fast and same time as monday's run....i did not stop at the toilet as i push on to the second round...trying to slow down my pace....met tobias again in the trail and quite a number of ang mo....the trail started to filled with families and visitors to the treetop walk....hit the SICC road the same time as first round..i slowed down a bit and reached ranger station at about 28min....i decided to take a longer break as i refill my bottle and take my first gel......after that i continue to walk for about 2-3min before i started my run again.....the golf area was very muddy today and my shoes are filled with mud....i struggled and reached the rooted slope and decided to walk over it....This time round....the small branch that blocked the road was removed but the big tree still there...i was feeling the strain as i was running at the same pace as the first round...finished in 1hr 10min....5min slower becos of me purposely walking a bit more last round.....i decided to give it a go although my body was in terrible state....there are more and more pple from school X-country team to visitors and trekkers.....i stopped to refill my bottle before i had off again...i decided to do a "walk-upslope" round so as to survive.....i did not follow my 8:2 ratio like previous lap....i just run to upslope and walk up and run again.....too tired i just take a walk....this time i reached SICC road in 32min and take my 2nd gel and rest a bit more at ranger station.....the golf trail is still as hot and glaring as i struggle thru.....walked over the rooted slopes again and running basically with only my spirit for the alst stretch...saw some indian worker with chainsaw to clear the branches...and this time...the trail was cleared....finished the last lap 9min slower than previous becos of all the upslope walking...... Overall....although is 2min faster than the last time i did 3 rounds with teelee...this time round...the pace control for 1st sucks....i should be doing at least 5min slower.....end of the round was more shag out than the last time....not a good run overall but hopefully is enough for SCM conditioning changed up and had a bowl of mee siam at the cafe....bees started to fill the cafe....luckily..i finsihed my food and get out of the place asap..... shoes: Salomon XA Pro 3D total distance: 31.5km total time: 3hrs 36min 28s average pace: 6:52min/km 10.5km - 66:25min@6:20min/km 10.5km - 70:39min@6:44min/km 10.5km - 79:24min@7:34min/km

OUCH!!!!

KNS....knock my head against a low supporting pole for the shelter at the kopitiam during lunch......heavy headed now....hopefully is due to tiredness...

Don't be a slave of your HRM

I never ran with a heart rate monitor because I don't need it. But even with my good feeling for my body and my long experience as a runner, I cannot say from the way I feel if I covered the kilometer in 2:40 or 2:45. Therefore, I check the speed in the workouts where it matters on a measured route with a stopwatch Even if you don't have this sense for your body, you should never become a slave of your heart rate monitor. If you don't have a problem with your health, meaning you are not allowed to exceed a certain heart rate, leave your heart rate monitor at home more often and try to run by listening inside you. It gives you graeter joy when you run in harmony with nature. - Paul Tergat, from his book " Running to the limit"

Cool morning run...finding back my running form

_____________________________________ Due to some last min schedule changes, i guess i am not able to do any more after work run for the rest of this week.....So i told myself i MUST wake up and do a morning run....and I DID IT!!! Drag my lazy and sleepy body out of the bed before 6am....washup and change to my running gears and dash out of my house...half my run was done!!! managed to start only at 6:10am...i was undecided whether to do a 16km route with siong upslope ending or just a flat 14km....after thinking of this coming hectic weekend workout...i decided to do the flat 14km to let my body recover properly for the next 2 days.... The temperature in the morning is always cooling..especially this period of the year where the monsoon is coming....rain has fell almost everyday except yesterday....i keep reminding my body to slow down and have more patience (something which i really lost a lot this year).....it takes about 4km before my body got warmed up... The sun could not show its power because of the heavy clouds blanketed the sky...so at least i will not get the heat this morning...as i mentioned before...i have became a 8min runner...so this morning, i wanted to try and find back my running....to run non-stop... it was difficult for the first half an hour becos of body adaptation....after that..my body just go numb...hahaa....constantly keep talking to myself like an idiot to make sure i am not going too fast.... reached punggol mrt in 42min..which is 3min faster than last sat long run...just tell myself to move on....the rest of the run was just flat and nothing special.....just a battle between my mind, my spirit and my physical body.. A satisfying run in a cool morning....i guess...i will need to do short runs like this for the rest of the 2 weeks till SCM.... shoes: ASICS Nimbus VII total distance: 14.1km total time: 1hr 18min 09sec average pace: 5:33min/km lap: 5.0km - 29:06min@5:49min/km 2.4km - 13:05min@5:27min/km 4.8km - 25:50min@5:23min/km 1.9km - 10:07min@5:19min/km The haze seems to be back this morning after my run.....8-(

Back to mother nature

It was a hot sunny monday..when most working pple are rushing to work and suffering from their monday blues......i struggled to wake up my lazy body and make my way down to MR for a run.... MR was quiet except for elderly doing tai chi and students doing their caneoing training....dump all my belongings to the locker and i startd my run on the usual northern route side....maintaining the 8min run, 2 min walk pace.....Oh no...seems like i have become a 8min runner(i have to walk after 8min of running continuously) after all this long runs.....actually wanted to run slow and continuous but i decided to run/walk so that i can recover faster for my next run..... The trail was cooling..and so cool that my muscles are having problem warming up...i struggled and dragged my feet to run along......reached the road at SICC at about 23min and hit the ranger station at 27min.....since i din drink much..i decided to continue my run....trying to remind myself to go slow....the trail started to get wet and muddy only i reached jelutong towers..... my body finally got loosen up only after abt 5km......i managed to climb the terrible roots hill...the trail from here on was wet and the upslopes are so slippery..i was basically sliding along....i wonder how normal trainers can grip on as even my salomon trail already has problem with the traction As i was exiting the trail into the fitness station, there was a medium size tree trunk blocking the road..must be a deadfall from past few days of heavy rain....my quads are getting heavy as i struggled and complete the first round in 1hr 5min...wow that was way faster than my last run.....decided to skip the toilet and continue on to the 2nd round...... The northern trail this time became easier after my muscles loosen up but my quads are getting heavier as i climb the slopes.......reached the ranger station at the same time as the 1st round...27min...took a toilet break and refill my water bottle.....this time...i decided to walk up the roots slope.....reached the MR time trial route....i struggled to keep within the 8min run time....endured and push on..managed to finish the 2nd round in 1hr 6min...not bad...well expanded...i doubt i can carry on one more round.... must be havent recovered from sat hot LSD...my legs are heavy for the start and last part of the run...maybe need to trim down some fat from my quads..... a good fast run this morning......as per past few days...hot weather in morning and rain comes in late morning or noon time to ease the heat...... time to nap.....zzzzzzz

Swissotel Vertical Marathon 2006 goodies bag

Went down to Swissotel Stamford to collect the Goodies bag for next week VM after my shag morning run...i did not actually received any email regarding this..only managed to find out from sgrunners when someone put it up..... it was a quick collection but as per previous years, the bib and champion chip will be collected only on the actual day.... Below is the content of the goodies: 1. Quick Dry Event Tee - definitely better than last yr cotton tee...but there is a big advert for Centrum vitamin this year 2. A "FA" cap 3. a bottle of Centrum multivitamins which contain only 7 tablets 4. a spray bottle of antitranspirant 5. one copy of Men's Health magazine 6. a white towel 7. some ricola sweets 8. a subscriptin form for Men's health magazine at a discounted rate 9. some other marketing flyers 10. A shoe bag to put all the goodies

hot LSD run in HSP...DNF again

Due to tight schedule for today, i planned to do LSD in HSP area...decided to do 2 rounds of the above route....actually want to wake up at 5.30am and start at 6am...however, i ws just damn lazy and only managed to wake up at 6+am and start at 7am...i thought was good..so that i can catch the morning sun....i have changed my insole for my adidas adizero SN and also today i will also try out my new wrightsocks started with rigid muscles..8min run and 2min walk is what i going to do....i tried to control my pace and keep telling myself to run slower..the body was feeling chilled as the morning wind blows....reached punggol and saw gentle who is doing his rounds in punggol for his 30km...it took me quite a while to get loosen up..i was hit by strong headwinds as i run towards punggole mrt by the big field....i reached punggol mrt...hoping to refill my water...but damned!! i cannot find the toilet...i remember it was somewhere...but wasted about 2-3min running in and out looking for it but failed....i decided to carry on and topup at fernvale. the sky has turned bright and the sun started to come out...i reached fernvale and took my first energy gel...topup my waterbottle before i carried on to jalan kayu....my legs started to feel the strain as i struggled up the slopes of YCK road...keep telling myself to go slow...i reached back to the start point drenched...the sun is showing its 100% power.... Kep telling myself to go slow for the start of the 2nd round..i was fellign a bit strain by the heat...took a toilet break and water refill at buangkok MRT before i continue my way... i was lucky that clouds started to hide the sun as i was running along sengkang east way...there will be no shade from the sun for about 80% of this route....the headwind is still there as i reached the edgefield of punggol along the LRT..stopped at a kopitiam to refill my water...i ws drinking more and pouring water over my head to cool my body...reached punggol MRT 2min slower than previous rounds....might be the toilet breaks i took....my legs are feeling hard and tired as i made my way back to sengkang....i turned towards the deserted LRT line and struggled to maintain my 8min run....i shorted one of my run to 7min....my head is burning from the blistering heat and i decided to cut short my run and end at fernvale LRT before dehydration set in.... decided to take a 2km walk back to start line as i took a bottle of cold 100 plus to ease the heat...i did not managed to complete the run again....and did not managed to hit 30km... looking at the history of my run for past 2 months....look like...the 2 weeks of national duty without any runs during weekdays does affect my condition badly...before i went in..i can do a 3rds of MR without major upset and now...i started to struggle at only about 25km....heard that next yr will be worse..it will be 2.5 weeks....might be within 3 weeks from D-day Shoes: Adidas Adizero SN distance: 28.8km total time: 3hrs 06min 35sec average pace: 6:29min/km 7.3km - 45:53min@6:17min/km 9.4km - 62:45min@6:41min/km 7.3km - 47:38min@6:32min/km 4.8km - 30:17min@6:19min/km

A run for Jackson kopitiam Ngo Hiang

last minute arrange with JT to run to jackson kopitiam for the famous yummy ngo hiang... as JT will be back later....i started off 45min earlier and do a small loop round the deserted SK LRT route before heading towards punggol...... we did a 8min run & 2 min walk ratio throughout.....stopped by several traffic stops....we managed to catch more rest than usual.....stopped for a whole 5min at serangoon mrt to refill my water..... i did a good 2hrs 10min run for the nite before we headed for jackson kopitiam for the famous Lao Zhong Zhong Five Spice Stall... still not enough...i ordered a bowl of pig kidney soup before we headed back to potong pasir to take MRT home..... some train fault issue at punggol line that caused the train we took to stopped for 3-5min at every station from potong pasir->serangoon->kovan->hougang->buangkok...before reaching sengkang...can imagine i reached home at abt midnite.... recovering from lazy-to-blog bug

a faster short run......

decided to do a short continuous run to YCK mrt and back....actually intend to do a 2hrs run...in the end....my body has not recovered from the "forget how to run" syndrome.....i was struggling for the whole run and decided to cut short.... lazy-to-blog bug attacked

DNF in LSD

After 1 week doing nothing but eating , waiting and sleeping...i was feeling super lethagic when i am back home on sat evening.....managed to wake up and joined JT, divery and lokun for LSD at ECP...decided to run to esplanade and back and run more on ECP to reached abt 30-32km of running..... I started struggling with my running form...like last week...my body and legs seems to forgot how to run....i was unable to control my pace properly..but try to keep it easy.....i was on my own after ahead of the rest.....i started feeling tired even before 10km...i thought might be like last week and just push on...hoping i can warmed up and run smoother... i hit esplanade which is abt 13km....exhausted....U-turned back...and met the rest along the way...i struggled to move forward and gosh! my sole at my ball of foot started to have blister.....i stopped at nicoll highway to adjust my socks before i push on......my whole body was in lethagic state while i was running with my mind only very soon...reached fort road roundabout and met aichai......struggled a bit more to the first toilet to down my energy gel...i decided to stop before i collapse...took quite a bit of watre and walked all the way back to C4 carpark 3km away....only completed 20km instead of 30km today dozed off until divery came back to wake me up...whole body like jelly....took a quick bath which safra runners came running back.....finally...JT and lokun was back....after washup....we took a ride to fretch KJ (is rare..very rare of her coming out for past 3 weeks)...Oops...forgot to get 4D for lottery.... we went down sunshine plaza at middle road for the famous parklane fried wanton mee....found the yummy victor's dim sum in there also.......after which we proceed to selegie for Rochor beadcurd + you tiao!!!....walaus...ate so much and din run much this morning..... after which we went over to RL to accompany WS and JW to shop for their shoes....the attractive young salesboy managed to tok some senses and got a kayano sold after hours of advising his pretty customer.... i got separate from the group from here and struggled to survive the rest of my days....dazing and dozing off..... hopefully, after my CCP....i will pick up my runs soon as SCM is very close from now....