Blink Blink Run

Friday night. SGRunners Blink Blink Run. A night long run that started at 930pm, F2, ECP. Route: 30km to Esplanade and back. Aim: Slow run to condition for Sundown Ultra.

I arrived at F2 carpark at 9pm. A handful of runners were already there. I knew a few of them - Jancy, Anthony, DO, Ronnie, and Benny. The rest went by their SGRz nicks which I could not recall. Everyone switched on their blinking lights for safety, hence the name of the run tonight - Blink Blink. We started off trying to keep to a 6.0 - 6.5min/km pace. The guys deliberately slow jogged behind me for the entire stretch of ECP. It was stressful having such fast runners slowing down and right on my heels. That was my usual easy pace, but for them, it was more like a braking pace. To compensate, they kept up a contiuous chatter behind me. We continued that way to B1, Fort Road, and Mountbatten.

It was a cool night for a run. Not humid, quiet and fresher air. But I was sleepy. I suppressed a few yawns throughout the run. Maybe then the conditioning was not so much the mileage, but getting accustomed to running after bedtime, to overcome that 'sleeping wall' when the body just wanted to shut down and lie down.

There was only so much "braking" and holding back the guys could do. After we turned into Stadium Walk at the McDonalds, we broke into a few groups of runners. I maintained my very-metronome pace throughout. We reached Esplanade in about 1:30-40h, approximately 15km? There was a live band performing at a makeshift outdoor stage. I think it was some Nokia promotion. There was loud music and many people around the area. We stood out in the crowd in our running gear amidst the Friday night party goers. Short toilet break at Esplanade. We wanted to find the ice-cream man, the uncle who sold the $1 ice-cream cones and bread. But Uncle was nowhere to be seen, so we headed back to the next alternative - Kallang Mac.

By then I could feel my hip joint flaring up. Was that the infamous ITB joint? I tried to stretch the band, and continued the run back. It was a good comfortable pace to Mac. The runners bought ice-cream cones and ate as we walked out. However, once I stopped running, the pain returned. Panic! It was a new sensation to me. I could feel the tightness pulling all the way down to the base of the leg. It felt painful just walking. Ok big-time panic. Injury-free was my motto. I strolled out a short distance to Mountbatten and decided to bail-out. That was not the time to be hero and finish another 10km. Mileage was not a problem now. I flagged down a cab and returned to my car at F2. Massage therapy awaited.