2015 Year of Blessings

2015 was a year of challenging myself in so many dimensions – physical, mental, emotional, romance, work, and personal. Coming out of the valleys of 2014, it was a year of discovery and reflections, pushing boundaries and taking on new wild adventures. I simply threw myself out there and soaked up what worked and what did not. Several assumptions that I held dearly were randomly tested. These ranged from self-limiting beliefs, eg. I am not as good, or I cannot do this, to attitudes around being independent, being in a relationship, being alone, and the roller-coaster suite of emotions that accompanied living by myself an ocean away from home.

2015 was also the year I crossed the Big-4. My birthday present to self was to sign up for an expedition in 2016, so daunting that it took me several weeks of hesitation before taking the plunge. Every major journey taken alone starts with a heady mix of over-confidence-dare-devil-yeah, and apprehension-fear-self-doubts-what-ifs. The constant flip-flopping between the two ends of the emotional spectrum could be very tiring and vexing. Over time, I learnt to take a logical approach to separate the baseless emotional anxieties spun out of over-imaginative minds, from the real obstacles and potential trip-ups, and then analysing whether they could be mitigated or are too out-of-reach.

Running-wise, it was an unbelievable year of experiences and new boundaries. Averaging a race each month, I learnt so much more about myself, my limits and my running.

Work-wise, I was extremely fortunate to have very supportive employers and colleagues; to have the range of professional experiences and friendships that were extended to me. The icing on the cake was my studies in NYC, which opened up a new frontier of learning opportunities, both on the work and personal fronts.

Relationship-wise, everyday presented a chance to learn and make choices; decisions that impacted my emotional state and well-being. I was discovering new facets, new ways of behaving and communicating, having deliberate reflections, and gaining deeper insights into myself.

All these experiences would not have been possible without the kindness and generosity of family and friends around me. I am cognisant of and grateful for all the love, support and belief that has been showered on me. May 2016 bring on meaningful encounters, new discoveries, and richer relationships for everyone. Happy New Year!

A Year of Races & Climbs (Part II)

I was not expecting to continue my ritual of a race each month after I got to the USA, but opportunities presented themselves and I did. So here’s a quick recap of the races I had in the last quarter of 2015.

TNF Endurance Challenge Utah 50k (25 – 27 Sep 2015)

This was on a spur of the moment and I signed up for the race on the Tuesday leading up to the race weekend. After some frantic attempts to sort out my flights and travel logistics, I was headed to Utah. Not knowing what the terrain was like, I conservatively registered for the 50k instead of 50mi (80km). The 50k had a time cutoff of 10h and the 50mi 14h, and I was not sure if I could make the 50mi. Runners in the USA seem pretty fast to me and the races here often had a much faster cutoff limit than what I was used to in Asian races. The race took place in the very scenic ski mountain of Park City. Race day was a lovely sunny morning and my fears of cold weather were unfounded. As it turned out, Park City was somewhat high altitude, which made the first half of the ascents tougher than the absolute elevation gain. Surprisingly, I was the only one using poles for the climbs. I guess many of the trails in the USA are runnable and not as technical as the ones that I had experienced in Asia, where poles were definitely a much needed boost. The route brought us winding up hills and down valleys, and I was loving that I could actually run on this trail. I was soaking in the picturesque views, the photos seemed to be straight out of trail running magazines! Awww…. As it turned out, I managed to complete the 50k in 7:55h. However, many of the runners had already returned, so that placed me at 98/158 overall, 34/57 females, and 3/9 of my age group.

 

Chicago Marathon (9 – 11 Oct 2015)

Chicago Marathon features up there in my 2015 list of memorable running achievements – a totally unexpected Boston Qualifying (BQ) race time and a Personal Best! Melvin and I had gotten ballots for the Chicago Marathon. It was my first time at a Marathon Majors (the six are Berlin, Tokyo, Chicago, New York, London and Boston). The atmosphere at the race expo and race day crowds were significantly different from all other races that I had been to. Again, we were blessed with fantastic weather, given that it was windy Chicago. Starting out at 16C, the morning warmed up to a high 21C. I was in a running tee and short tights, and enjoying the optimal temperatures. I had my swanky new Garmin as an early birthday present and gamely tracked the whole race. That would turn out to be a life saviour subsequently. Chicago Marathon was known to be a flat and fast course, and many runners used it for a BQ. I certainly had no such grand plans, knowing that the BQ time for my age group was 3:45h, which meant a time target of 3:40h or faster to be guaranteed a Boston entry. My official PB was a distant 4:03h, and at best, I could manage a sub-4h. A BQ time meant averaging a 5:10 – 5:15min pace. However, I was making good cadence and progress, and my Garmin was showing a range of 4:50 – 5:10min pace. I thought if I kept at it, I might just be able to hit a good timing. So I chugged along, caught up and overtook the sub-4h pacers. I was so worried that I might cramp being not used to that pace, I simply told myself to hold it steady. The crowds and music certainly helped to boost my running spirits. And finally I crossed the finishing line at 3:31h. OMG!! I was quite about to burst into tears, unbelievable!

So then came the dramatic twist. I checked my race results two days later, and it showed up as “DSQ” (ie. disqualified). In that instant, I was devastated. Dropped from a high and smashed. Apparently, any runners with two missed timing records were automatically disqualified by the computer system. Chicago recorded on a 5k basis, and also had a couple of hidden timing mats to catch would-be cheaters (yes, cheating is a big deal at marathon majors, especially because runners use the results to qualify for other races). Thank goodness I had my Garmin records, which mapped the exact race route and matched the official timing records almost to the minute. After three agonising wait for the race review, I was delirious that my race timing was reinstated. Which meant, Boston 2017!

Philadelphia Marathon (20 – 22 Nov 205)

On a high-then-low from Chicago, I signed up for Philly marathon as a ‘back-up’ to a BQ, lest the Chicago race director rejected my timing. It was a good thing that I did not have to do that, because it was a chilly-hilly-Philly race. The race weather stayed at 5 – 6C throughout, with winds and minimal sunshine. Some of the local runners were still in shorts, while I was all decked out in fleece long tights, a mid-weight top, and my trusted Marmot running jacket. At some points, I was heating up, but then the winds would come and I would feel the chills. Then there were the rolling slopes. I guess I would have run more efficiently if I was not wearing so much; I felt comfortable but not very agile. I only managed to pick up a good pace in the second half of the race, eventually getting a negative split timing. Race time was 3:47h; 2min off my BQ time, but it was my best effort so no complaints.

King of the Mountain – Staten Island Greenbelt 50k (5 Dec 2015)

Again, a last minute sign-up. I was getting extremely sick of running loops in Central Park and on tarmac, and I needed some trail therapy. This was a race held on Staten Island along its Greenbelt (sort of like a natural park connector), which meant some travelling to the race venue. I was in two minds about showing up for the race, but decided to kick my butt out of bed early in the morning – one never regrets going for a run. I met up with some runners in Brooklyn and we shared Uber cars to the start point. It was a chilly 6C, but the forecast was for sunshine, which meant the weather would warm up nicely. Learning from my recent Philly experience, I was mindful not to over-dress and weigh myself down. There some rolling climbs, but nothing technical. In fact, it was a rather flat course, except for all the autumn leaves that had fallen over the trail. That meant that one could not really tell what one was stepping into and what laid beneath those crunchy leaves. The 50k comprised one big loop and a smaller second loop. One of the girls that I shared a ride with in the morning came in 1^st female overall, and it was her very first 50k! Impressive. Me, I finished the distance in 5:55h, which earned me a 2^nd place for age-grouper. Nice surprise.

Running Race Stats

I decided to count and take stock of all my races since I started running somewhat more 'seriously' in 2003. This list covers only completed running events over a range of distances, both local and overseas. Good to note that total #marathons < #ultras. :)

A Year of Races and Climbs

The past twelve months had been a whirlwind of races and climbs around the world, not by deliberate design, but certainly an experience that I would look back with fondness. Many of these races were new to me, and each a cherished opportunity. I had a pseudo-masochistic target of having a monthly race, travel or adventure. With my previous work, I often woke up in a different country each month. That changed when I switched job in Sep/ Oct 2014, and thought that it would be auspicious to symbolise a new chapter with a race. So I gamely signed up for the Vietnam Mountain Marathon, and the rest fell in place. The majority of these races took place over a weekend (eg. Fri – Sun) or a public holiday long weekend. Race travel was often a creative challenge of finding the right flights and logistics.

There were so many races, PBs, awards, newfound self-awareness and growth, that I could not blog timely about all of them. So here is a chronology of events since May 2014 (yes I know, that is more than 12 months back), and some top-line recollections about each of them.

·        Mt Rinjani climb (1 – 5 May 2014) - A corporate expedition with bosses and colleagues. Half the members had taken part in the Mt KK Challenge in 2013, and we had a good rapport going. It was my second visit to Mt Rinjani and around the crater lake. On hindsight, the experience definitely came in very handy at my subsequent Rinjani Ultra race in Aug 2015. 

·        Salomon MR Marathon (22 Jun 2014) – 4^th position; PB 4:41h 

·        Elbrus climb (26 Jul – 7 Aug 2014)

·        Vietnam Mountain Marathon (70km) (18 – 22 Sep2014) – 16:00h

·        SG TNF100 (50km) (11 Oct 2014) – 5^th position; 5:37h

 

·        Salomon LT70 (Lantau 70km) (1 Nov 2014) – 15:45h

·        HK TNF100 (100km) (12 – 14 Dec 2015) – My second time DNF. Ooops. I started too conservatively and only warmed up/ picked up pace much later in the race. I also spent an inordinate amount of time at the checkpoints, stuffing myself silly with sushi-rice dipped in salt. I paid the price subsequently by getting myself cut off at CP8 (about 80km). Haiz. 

·        Vibram HK100 (100km) (16 – 18 Jan 2015) – This was my 4^th edition of the race, and I still loved it. After learning from my un-planning errors from the recent TNF HK, I was determined to keep track of my times, especially how long I spent at each aid station. Happy to finally improve on my race timings and earn the Silver finisher trophy for coming in below 20h; 19:37h.

 

·        BKK TNF100 (50km duo) (3- Jan – 1 Feb 2015) – First time pairing up with Kee Leng, naming ourselves Chilli Padi. It was a relatively easy terrain; apart from a short scrambling early on in the race, the rest of the distance was definitely run-able. The race flag-off was 5am in cool weather. By 9am, the sun was out in full force and I was secretly glad that I was not attempting the 100km (two loops of 50km). Kee Leng was running with another friend, Hwee Hoon, who was training for her upcoming MDS desert race. I went ahead slightly, since the race was a cumulative timing of both runners. Along the way, I passed 1 – 2 other female runners but I had no way of knowing which teams they were in. I could only do mental calculations and hoped that we were not too far off. It was quite a close fight amongst the female teams, and an anxious time at the finishing line waiting for the girls to appear. We came in 2^nd position with a combined timing of 12:40h; personal time 6:00h (1^st for the duo and 4^th compared to solo timings), earning our team S$1,200 worth of BKK TNF vouchers. Woohoo!

 

·        Mt Aconcagua (6,962m) climb (7 Feb – 2 Mar 2015) – Second attempt and a lot more conditioned. Alas, still did not manage to summit this bad-weather-prone peak. We were snowed in before High Camp, and on summit day, the snow was too soft and deep for me to tackle.

 ·        TransLantau 100 (100km) (13 – 15 Mar 2015) – This was a brutal, agonising 100km, the toughest of the HK 100km series; The total elevation was about 5,200m, taking us up the major peaks on Lantau island. I was fresh off Aconcagua and well-acclimatised for climbs. Nonetheless, I was hit by the z-monster and continued my tradition of sleep-walking after 2am. Luckily I had company throughout the race, and we completed it together at 26:50h.

·        Wu-Lai (U-Lay) Marathon (42km) (3 – 5 April 2015) – My first trip to Taiwan, to race in an event organised by a Singaporean (Sam). Finally, a road marathon! It was refreshingly simple in logistics and mental expectations. The route took us through the scenic mountains/ valleys of U-Lay, a popular hot-spring area near Taipei. We followed the vehicular path that wound itself around the valleys like a spring. Got a surprise 4^th position (3:58h) at the race. J After the marathon, there was an optional 7km leisure distance. It was fun trotting alongside people who were walking their dogs and having a nice outing.

·        Gede Pangrango (42km) (1 – 3 May 2015) – This was my first time taking part in a race organised by Hendra Wijaya, one of Indonesia’s top ultra-endurance athlete. His races are nothing short of no-frills-back-to-basic crazy. This was the first race at the Gede mountain, comprising impossible ascents and descents of 1,000m at one go, over insane tree roots and an ultra-technical terrain. I was the second female runner but could not meet the cut-off time of 16h. In the end, there was only one female finisher, who was from Indonesia. And all our Singaporean runners DNF-ed. Good golly, lol. But it was a valuable experience that would serve me well in my future races. 

·        AU TNF100 (100km) (15 – 17 May 2015) – Absolutely enjoyed this race, and clocked a PB (18:50h) for my trail 100km! For that, I got a bronze finisher belt buckle - what I might do with a giant metal buckle is a separate story. The run around the Blue Mountains was incredibly scenic and well-organised, with a perfect weather and runnable terrain to tantalise runners. It was also the farthest trip I managed to accomplish over a Fri – Sun weekend. I would gladly do this again.

·        Mt Kota Kinabalu climb (20 – 23 May 2015) – a corporate event that I organised; it is always good to be back in the mountains. Alas, this was also two weeks before the devastating KK earthquake, a shock to many of us.

·        Philippines TNF100 (100km) (11 – 13 Jun 2015) – 7^th position womens in 27h (out of 7 female finishers and an overall race cutoff of 30h); This year’s route was Nuvali – Tagaytay – Batangas, with a total elevation 3,574m. The climbs for this race were all upfront, and there was a major checkpoint cutoff at 54km; alas the organisers had to extend that timing by an hour or many would not have cleared it (myself included). The weather was unrelenting hot, and by night time, it was a real struggle to keep awake after being baked in the sun the entire day. It was my first race where I took a 10min nap, which refreshed me tremendously. I was touched by the Filipino runners’ and local villagers’ hospitality. One guy bought a coke from a street vendor and shared it with me, as we commiserated our misery fast-tracking to clear the mid-point cutoff. This timing of 27h was also my PW. :)

 

 

·        Salomon X-Country MacRitchie Marathon (42km) (28 Jun 2015) – Four loops of MR in the usual counter-clockwise direction (which was tougher than last year). This was my playground and I really wanted to do well at this race. Unfortunately, I went out too fast initially and the hot weather caused some very serious cramps on my last loop, where I had to be supported on the walk out. Lost my lead and dropped from 5^th to 6^th position, finishing in 5h. A hard-earned experience on what major cramping was like.

·        Sundown Marathon (42km) (4 July 2015) – I had challenged myself to attempt a sub-4h when I signed up for the race. However, that bubble burst after the spectacular cramps and tight ankles from the MR marathon in the previous week. Ran an ok pace, completing in 4:08h.

 

·        SG MSIG 50 (50km) (25 July 2015) – This was a new race, organised by our local Queen of Trails, Jeri; After the MR cramping experience, I took it slowly and conservatively, finishing 6^th position with 6:50h. The hot weather and the endless Green Corridor made the race ever so mental, especially the last 10km or so out to the Tg Pagar end and back to the finishing point at Portsdown. It was forever. 

  

·        Mt Rinjani Ultra (52km) (6 – 9 Aug 2015) – In my mind, this was the penultimate race before I left SGP. One must not be tricked by the race distance of 52km over a seemingly generous course cutoff of 22h. The total elevation for this race was about 5,200m (in comparison, that was a similar elevation for TransLantau 100k). This race had a very low finisher rate of less than 20%. It was a similar traverse route to the summit and down that trekkers typically take 3 days to complete. The climbs were brutal, averaging 800m - 1000m in a single ascent from one checkpoint to another. The descents were equally punishing, sometimes 1500m - 2000m straight down. I was extremely apprehensive and anxious, being alone at this race and not sure whether I could finish it. The timing was very tight, it was literally "chiong sua" (dash up mountain). I made a race plan, plotted the checkpoints and assigned tentative time estimates, with about an hour buffer for delays, but as runners would know, races seldom play out as planned.

      It rained fairly heavily just before the race, but stopped once we set off. The good weather held throughout the race, and thankfully it was not rainy or windy on the way up the summit. Although Mt Rinjani was the second highest in SE Asia (after Mt Kinabalu), it was known to be more difficult due to its scree terrain at the summit area; it was very easy to keep sliding backwards and moving forward took double the effort. I loved the climbs, but was typically much slower coming down. The race was so so so very brutal; but for once, I did not experience any stomach upsets (probably thanks to the Tailwind endurance fuel/ drink mix that I was using). The race food was typical Indonesian sweet kuehs; it looked like steamed corn/ tapioca, filled with gula Melaka – it was delicious and energising for me! The trail running scene in Indonesia was in its infancy, largely due to the effort of race director, Hendra, and many local runners still retained that ‘kampung’ spirit on the race. One guy offered to take over my trekking poles as we scrambled down a particular tricky section, and then, as innocuously as he had offered, he returned them to me with a simple “You will need these now”. And at my last 5km, another runner generously paced and encouraged me in the trails, ending his selfless deed with a “Go on, you can run all the way now (knowing that he was not able to catch my pace on the flats).” I was extremely touched. I barely scrapped past the cutoff (22h) with a finishing time of 21:52h, nail-biting to the very end. All in, extremely proud and happy to be the first SGP female finisher at this race. I even brought a little SGP flag for the summit shot, in celebration of SG50.