Sundown Familiarization Run (25km)

I went to bed early last night, trying to combat a sore throat from becoming full-blown flu. Downed a panadol flu drink, a lemon-lime flavour vaguely tasting like Gatorade, but with a tinge of bitterness. Woke up feeling ok for the Sundown Familiarization run today. I got to Bedok Reservoir at 7am, just in time to catch the group running off. It was quite a big turnout, about 20+ runners, mostly from the SGRunnerz group. Ricci, DO, Anthony, Bev, Lai Chee, Rosemary and her friend were there. Jancy and Vincent came slightly later but caught up by the U-turn point. Suhaimi led the way.

The route was approximately 25km - from Bedok Reservoir Park, via the PCN (park connectors network), to Kembangan MRT, Siglap/ Marine Parade, over to East Coast Park C4, and U-turning at the Sailing Club Carpark G. We had covered part of the route during the last Tampines Safra location run, but this time extending into ECP.

There were 3 bridges to cross - one stairs-bridge (gosh! how to climb stairs without cramping during the actual Ultra?), and two slope-bicyle-bridge. Apart from those, the route was flat all the way. So flat that it became a very mental run from sheer boredom. My legs were still tired from HK. Anthony said they would be going slow, 7min pace. It was anything but that. Haha. I was probably the only one at that pace. Try getting a bunch of very fast runners to slow down. It was a crawl for them. Pretty soon, they were all far ahead. Bev was slightly ahead of me. She had improved so much since she started running with us last year.

I reached ECP in about 50ish min. Not even 10km but it felt like forever. Another 15ish km to go. Oh no. Today's effort felt much harder than HK marathon. I dragged my legs to the u-turn point at the Sailing Club toilet. Most of the runners were there already. Wow, there was even Powerbar-Endurance drink from a dispenser for the group! A welcome relief, I was beginning to feel low on my supplies. It tasted rather diluted though, compared to my normal sachet concentration. I filled my bottle with the Endurance drink. Took a much needed toilet break as well. We waited for a few remaining runners to gather before starting on the return run.

Ricci and DO were chatting about running shoes while I tried to keep my pace constant. Bev caught up shortly at the Marine Parade overhead bridge. I waited for her at a traffic crossing and we ran together for some distance. We were both tired and our shoes were pounding very loudly on the ground. The PCN marking stated about 6.5km to Bedok Park. Soon it was about 5km, then 4ish km. Bev picked up speed after we crossed into Bedok Park. There was still abt 2-3km to go before reaching the Reservoir.

The last stretch back to the Reservoir seemed endless. My cardio was ok, plentiful supply, but my legs were protesting. A slight nagging right ITB and a tingling left knee. Tsk Tsk. I was conservative and careful not to punish my throat and lungs. A cough is the worst thing for a sports person - you aren't sick enough to stop workouts, yet it totally interferes with them.

Finally the run was over. Approx. 2h 50min. A fresh chilled supply of Endurance drink awaited. After some stretching, we took a group photo. Some of us drove to Tampines Safra for a shower, and headed to the Tampines Round Market for the braised bah-kut mee that Adam had earlier introduced to us. We discussed the training plan for Ultra, and Jancy jotted down the dates/ distances. Fortnightly long runs at night, starting with 35km and culminating to 60-70km. The distances sounded daunting. I would have to draw on my experience from the MR Ultra for strength and confidence.

I had a massage appointment in the evening to fix those leggy problems. But first, it was back home for a good sleep and rest.