Thursday, June 30, 2011

More Recovery Runs

Tues - 1x MF 5km loop + 1x 9km Canal-Ridley-Tanglin route
Total 14km. Legs were still heavy.

Thurs - Late and only had time for 1x Henderson 5.3km loop. :(
Legs were fresh but alas! shoes heavy. Ran with a pair of Kayanos and boy, were they heavy!

Monday, June 27, 2011

Recovery Trot

Managed a short recovery run 5.3km. Legs were surprisingly ok, not dying or injured. Still slightly peeved that I didn't finish the 100km yesterday, but oh well. Focus on the next race.

Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sundown Ultra-marathon 2011. My First DNF. OMG!

There's a first to everything. Including DNFs in a race. And it had to happen during a running event. Ok I'm losing it.

I was taking part in the SD100km over the weekend. It was no form right from the start. We used a 30min-3min strategy (run-walk) that helped preserve my legs. I was also using the Compressport calf compression which were very good! But I am not a night runner, never was able to overcome the sleep monster. Punctuated with multiple toilet stops, it was very slow going.

As the aid stations were 10km apart, I ran with my hydration pack with about 1.5L water. Probably overkill since I don't drink that much anyway. But the food at the aid stations was very well-stocked. I must say that this is one of my best race experiences in Singapore. The stations reminded me of Ironman quality. And the volunteers were excellent. Well-done to the organisers!

I completed the first 50km in 7:30h. Legs were still ok, nothing dying. I took my time, drank soup, ate a hotdog (not the cheap chicken frank types, but a nice fat sausage!), refilled my pack and so forth. Spent about 20min chilling out. Re-started my run at 8h. That left me 10h to complete the other 50km, ample time. Or so I thought.

50 - 60km, still ok. Kept to the average 90min/10km pace.

Then trouble. Body started shutting down after the 60km pit-stop. Like really dozing off. I walked. Zig-zag. No fun to be running alone. :( Could not even walk in a straight line. I sat at a bus-stop for a while and was very tempted to lie on the bench. Then I thought maybe I should stop after I crossed the timing line at 70km. So I plodded and got to the next pit-stop. Took me 2:30h to walk that last 10km.

And made the decision to take the shuttle bus back to the start point.

And therein, my very first DNF.

Oh bummer.

Tuesday, June 21, 2011

Last 10km

This could be my last 10km before the Sundown Ultra. I can't believe it's happening in 4 days' time. 100km. Road, tarmac. Eeeeks. I must have been unconscious or deluded when I signed up last year.

I was late tonight, as usual. Ran by myself around the 10km MF loop. Managed to catch the guys in time for dinner.

Tired.

Backlog of Runs

Oh my! It has been more than a week since my last blog posts. The schedule has been crazy, I barely had time to run and certainly no bandwidth to blog about them either. :(

I think I ran pretty much the same route each time.

Last Tues - Labrador Park loops x 7, each about 9min
Wed and Thurs - Telok Blangah - Henderson 5.3km loop x 2

Sat - 1h loop around estate
Sun - 1:18h loop around estate

Shudders at the thought of looming 100km when 10km was a struggle. :(

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Canterbury Loops

Didn't join the Safra route today as I was late. Ran with Alber into Canterbury and we did 3 loops at conversational pace. Average 20min per loop of 3ish-km each. Total run time: 1:35h. Enough to earn my dinner.

Looking forward to the weekend trip with my IM kakis. Finally, an endurance trip of a different sort. No power gels, no bikes, no runners. Just pure city decadence!

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

Telok Blangah Loop

Legs felt like lead today. Attempted a 10km route - two loops around T.Blangah Heights. Plodded along, about 33min per loop. 10km felt like 50km. Groan.

Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Running round the MF 山

Loop and loop, revisited MF again.

6x MF loops. On average 10:++ min per loop.

Nice & chill. :)

Monday, June 6, 2011

Back to Swim

Back to swim class. Every time I resume swim after a short break, I get giddy from the head turning and laps. Tonight was no different. After a couple of sets, I was 'floaty'.

8x 200m
break
10 x 100m

Done.

Sunday, June 5, 2011

What I Did Last Week

Post-Sundown marathon, my legs were still so jellied, I trotted a few times.

Mon - too dead to run
Tues - late meeting, no run
Wed - 2x Telok Blangah Hts 5km loop 1-ish hour
Thurs - spent 2.5h on the bus trying to get home, missed swim & did a 1:20h run around the estate
Fri - more furniture shopping
Sat - food marathon
Sun - it rained so heavily that many parts of Singapore were flooded. Managed to squeeze in an 1h run