Sunday Long Run

I had to make good my self promise to do 2 runs this weekend. There were many runners this morning, mostly preparing for Sundown, and a few on recovery runs - Ricci, Jaime, Ong, Trevor, Jimmy, Peter, KK, Yong, Anthony, DO, Colleen, William, Jason, Alber, Heng, Derek, Lai Chee, Angela, Melvin (young) and a new guy. The heat was sweltering. Shortly into the run and I had to put on my shades in the glaring sun. On previous Sundays, I could have waited until 9am to don the shades. Our skins baked under the relentless rays and we took frequent water breaks.

The route to NUS was relatively straightforward via Dover & Clementi Rd. I ran with Angela at a nice steady comfortable pace. She had improved so much from when she joined the club. Her strides were consistent and her endurance had strengthened a lot. The group stopped at the Guild House for a toilet break before confronting the long upslope at PGP. This part of the route was new to some runners and the slope looked intimidating under the melting sun. We turned into the rolling slopes of Kent Ridge Rd to the back of Central Library. Had not run here since my SWET training days. I guess it becomes less mental when one knows the route well. Some runners took another toilet break, but KK, Alber and I u-turned and continued. We headed down the South Buona Vista 99-winding road to Pasir Panjang. The faster runners who took a break caught up very quickly. I was dying for a cold drink. Stopped at the petrol kiosk for a Pocari Sweat. Split off with Alber after the drink. His legs were stoned from yesterday's MTB. I felt ok enough to finish the targeted training today, although I was really really slow. How come I never seem able to up my pace? :(

I met Heng at a couple of petrol kiosks later, but he overtook me and was ahead all the way back. I turned up at Kg Bahru up MF slope. By that point, it was a jog and walk up the slope. Quite painful really with the heat. I finished my Pocari Sweat, and wanted more. Did 2 MF loops and asked the nice lady at the cafe to fill up chilled water for me. Ooooh. Nice and cold. Headed back from Kg Bahru instead of Morse Rd. It was enough distance & time for the day. Perhaps the distance was slightly less than 30km, which took about 3:20h run time, probably a 7min pace. But I was the last one back, and the total elapsed time was close to 4h. Dammn. It was insane.