Finally, a Long(er) Run

The past weekend was fairly productive in terms of running. Managed to clock a 30km on Saturday and another 12ish km on Sunday. It was getting harder and harder to make time for long long runs.

Saturday - ran to MR. That fallen tree was still in the middle of the Kampong Trail path and I had to scramble and jump over it. I met up with Winnie and we ran 10km together. After which I headed home, and was caught in a sudden downpour. Ahh the 'perils' of running through a natural catchment area. Literally from bright and scorching sunshine to rainfall. Happy for the distance. :)

Sunday - went for a leisurely run into the MTB. Loved the peaceful co-existence between runners and mountain bikers in the trail. The fallen tree on the route had been sawed and cleared. Again, I remained in awe of their upslope pedalling prowess - especially on slopes that sometimes I had to walk up when tired. Conscientious acts of giving/ making way, saying sorrys and thank-yous go so far to benefit all the trail users. Now, how come we don't have that graciousness on the roads between drivers and road cyclists?

The upcoming week looks set to be a no-life, stressful one. Two major assignments coming up, one of which I would need a major surgical overhaul. Grrrr..... why can't things be as simple as lacing up my shoes and hitting the trail, one foot in front of another....??

Blue Malayan Coral Snake

Haven't seen a snake for a while in the trails, and was surprised to spot one this morning. Luckily my reflexes were quick and I jumped over it, rather than onto it. Later, I found out that it was the Blue Malayaon Coral snake, eeeeeui!!

"... highly venomous..."

"Nocturnal in habits, it may sometimes be encountered stretched across forest trails in the early morning."



http://www.ecologyasia.com/verts/snakes/blue_malayan_coral_snake.htm

Sunday - no run. :(
Monday - no run. :((

Tuesday - Made it a special point to go down to MF Safra on Tuesday evening for a much needed run. I facilitated a corporate townhall session in the morning, and was all hyped and wired up to go. Needed a run to unwind, and especially so after two run-less days. I ran the 10km MF loop, it was months since I last went up the MF slope. Surprisingly it was not a pain and I was actually 5min faster than my usual MF loops. It was a while since I last ran on tarmac, and the pounding made itself known. It was certainly a lot stiffer and harder on the legs and knees!

Wednesday - Woke up early for a longer run this morning. The mere thought of hitting the trail sent a warm fuzzy feeling to me. :) Oh! For the freshness of air, the quietness of path, and the soft trodden mud. Somehwere in the midst of Durian Loop, there was a fallen tree trunk with branches everywhere. It took me a couple of minutes to stare and figure out how to climb-jump over it without falling into the ants trail that was on it. Then I ran to the ranger station toilet at MR, went out slightly to the barricaded part of the trail 'entrance' and u-turned. Would have happily (and automatically) gone on further if not for work. But all in, a nice sweat-drenched morning run. Mind all cleared up to face the day!

This Week's Run

Let's see, not much accomplished this week.

Ran twice in the mornings, both short distances just over an hour. It had been a crazy week of deadlines, assignments and the works. Sorely lacking sleep.... And it is not about to end any time soon.

But I managed to slot in a LSD this morning. 3:21h. 25-26km? Extremely tired now.

Low, Flat & Out of Sugar

Had a very good Javanese massage last night, which knocked me out totally until 10am this morning. Had almost 12h of blissful sleep. Must be the accumulated sleep deficit over the past weeks!

But anyhow, woke up somewhat panicky because I had tonnes of things to do today and still had to squeeze in a run. Fine. Got organised, drank some yoghurt and chomped a mini-Snickers, and headed out. It was hot this morning, the sun was blazing. It got cooler into the trail though. I ran my usual weekend long run route to MR and looped once. I contemplated running a second loop, but was starting to feel flat.

Ok, ridiculous me. For all my running experience and endurance sports and yada-yada, how could I screw up a run because of lack of food?! I normally only carried water and could go about 4h without feeling hungry or low sugar. But (and a huge qualifying 'but') I also normally would (a) have some breakfast before run, or (b) start early so that the body was not overly-deprived. Flouted both rules today. (a) no breakfast, and (b) started too late, plus had dinner too early last night, resulting in more than 12h of no food in the system. Brilliant recipe for failure.

Continuing on my flat plodding... I walked a couple of upslopes, ran the downslopes, strolled a little on Rifle Range Road, and admonishing myself along the way. Finally, finally got through all the obstacles without collapsing or anything dramatic. Took 20min longer than usual. Bumped into friends near home and must have looked like a disaster - totally drenched from sweat and dehydrated-looking from the sun, and just shuffling my feet along. Reached home and immediately downed some yoghurt drink, an apple and a piece of choc. Ahhh sugar replenished. Silly me...

Brilliant Trail Weather

Headed out close to 10am for a nice dose of slow trail run. The weather was perfect, cool after an early morning rain. The trails were damp but not soaking wet. The sun was hidden by the clouds and there was a nice calm to everything. :)

I had not run this route for a couple of weeks, but it still looked the same. Ran to MR, looped once, and back. The weather actually beckoned me to run more, but I guess 2:50h (approx 23km?) made a nice duration. I was a little lazy and in a chillax mode. Did not see the need to cover a longer distance, better to gently ease my legs back into the rut of long runs. Did not have breakfast and it was close to lunch time. I could feel the sugar draining away soon.

Cooled down with some lunges, push-ups and tricep dips.

The perfect weather continues..... :)

The Old TNF Shoes

I did manage to try my old TNF shoes this morning. Ran the exact same route as yesterday. The shoes were kinda narrow in the front (yes, remind me why I had blisters in the past) and snagged at my big toes. They were also very heavy (more so than my Salomons and Asics), though rugged. You probably would not mind kicking a couple of rocks along the way.

Verdict - I guess I could use them in the mornings for short runs in the trail. They would be too heavy on the tarmac.