You know it was a hard run when legs are now jelly-ed and eyes closing...
4km warm-up on my own: 22+min (~5:30+min)
Group warm-up on field: 10min
Slow jog to Bot Gardens
We had a 2-part hill intervals tonight in the hot and humid Botanic Gardens.
1st: Short slope (sprint) then slow recovery jog down in a loop back to starting point. 30min. Did 8 sets. Legs wobbly already. Rest interval was supposedly the time for heart rate to fall back to an ok level such that one was fresh to dash again. Time for the upslope sprint segment (did not record time for the down jog):
1- 29sec (followed Shem)
2- 25 sec
3- 24sec
4- 23sec
5- 23sec
6- 23sec
7- 22sec
8- 21sec
(Each complete loop took abt 2:20-2:40min)
2nd: Long slope (consistent), u-turn and slow jog down the same way. Again, rest interval was for HR to drop, but I was feeling the fatigue after 2 sets. Did 5 sets. Average of 1:30-1:35 for the upslope, and 3:30min for the complete set.
Slow jog back to NIE tracks. Legs did not feel like they belonged to me by then.... Stretch stretch and more stretching.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
MF Loops (New)
On the training menu tonight - MF loops 5 rounds, OTOT.
Relatively easy right? Afterall, we normally do more than that, or with time target. So tonight discounted! Fat chance....
After we ran up Morse Road to the carpark, Jimmy sprang the new route on us - Reverse direction of the usual MF loop, continue down the long road to Pender Rd at the bottom (T-junction), u-turn and come back up. Finish as many sets within an hour. *loud huhs & groans everywhere* I think I should just carry a banner that says "Canterbury"....
We tried the route. I did not really like it. The up was flat and gradual, before getting steeper. Up to the cafe at the top of MF. Then the down was super duper long. I thought it was too long that it was like a full recovery, HR could actually drop to decent levels. The good side was that coming up Morse Rd was a relative breeze after that. First loop 17min.
But I decided to do the usual MF smaller loop instead. I could squeeze in 4 loops within the time, vs another 2 long loops. Which meant that I could do more intensive (albeit shorter) slope intervals.
Aimed for hard upslope and relax downslope.
1st up: 4:18min; Total: 10:09min (wah, really took my time to float down....)
2nd: 4:25min/ 10:17min
3rd: 4:23min/ 9:54min
4th: 4:10min/ 9:40min
Relatively easy right? Afterall, we normally do more than that, or with time target. So tonight discounted! Fat chance....
After we ran up Morse Road to the carpark, Jimmy sprang the new route on us - Reverse direction of the usual MF loop, continue down the long road to Pender Rd at the bottom (T-junction), u-turn and come back up. Finish as many sets within an hour. *loud huhs & groans everywhere* I think I should just carry a banner that says "Canterbury"....
We tried the route. I did not really like it. The up was flat and gradual, before getting steeper. Up to the cafe at the top of MF. Then the down was super duper long. I thought it was too long that it was like a full recovery, HR could actually drop to decent levels. The good side was that coming up Morse Rd was a relative breeze after that. First loop 17min.
But I decided to do the usual MF smaller loop instead. I could squeeze in 4 loops within the time, vs another 2 long loops. Which meant that I could do more intensive (albeit shorter) slope intervals.
Aimed for hard upslope and relax downslope.
1st up: 4:18min; Total: 10:09min (wah, really took my time to float down....)
2nd: 4:25min/ 10:17min
3rd: 4:23min/ 9:54min
4th: 4:10min/ 9:40min
Sunday, June 7, 2009
NTU Odac Adventure Challenge
I teamed up with KC today for the NTU adventure race under the Mixed Open category (there was only that for non-students). We were flagged off from Sengkang Compass Point, 6 teams per 10min, so we had to wait until the 4th wave (40min!).
It was a mostly running race. Getting to checkpoints was all on foot, unlike other races where one might cycle to the next checkpoint. As such, the race route was contained within the Sengkang-Punggol region. First checkpoint was the jetty about 3-4km away. Enroute, there were activities, like getting into mud water and crawling up a muddy slope. Then there was a mud crossing to retrieve a puzzle piece. Only 1 member needed to wade across, KC kindly volunteered.
The weather was super hot in the morning, and our running pace was quite on-the-ball. ie. KC easy run while I chased.... The main checkpoint was kayaking. The kayaking route was near the shoreline, hence very susceptible to waves and currents that kept sweeping us off. We were not very coordinated, I kept hitting KC's paddle. Oops, my fault.
The next major checkpoint was the cycling segment. To get there, we had to run along the coastal line, again with random activities thrown in. Had to wade across a 'river' that was about waist deep. Then more running. Trail cycling was more sand cycling. The route was all sand and I was really tensed on the ride. Every time the wheels hit a deeper patch of sand and skidded a little, I was reminded of my Desaru fall. At certain sections, it was faster for me to run and push the bike, than to peddle! We had to look for a picture along the route - I was totally focused on riding and missed it. Luckily KC spotted it. Whew....
Hot hot hot, the ice cold water at the various checkpoints was a welcome relief. Next up was rock climbing. This was one race where participants were not allowed to bring our own gear - harnesses, crabs etc. Everything was provided for, and I must say, the equipment was quite brand new. The rock wall was in Edgefields Primary School. Only 1 member had to scale the wall, so I offered. I underestimated the wall, thinking that it was 'primary school'. It was tougher than I thought. There was a small concave section and a slight overhang. It was easy in that the wall was 'real rock' that one could smear or pinch. Yet it was challenging because the handholds were small, not like the giant jugs at Yishun Safra. Maybe that was why it was a primary school wall - for tiny hands! Haha. The climb was tricky, because if you 'fell', you would have to restart from the bottom. Two tries and the team would suffer a time penalty for incompletion. I hung on to the wall for dear life! Whew, made it to the top. Retrieved another part of the puzzle.
More running... along the way we overtook many teams that were walking or slowing down. But KC did not look like he was ever going to need a break! Continued chasing lor... The next checkpoint was piecing together the puzzle using the pieces we collected along the way. It was like those childhood game where we had to form a square with the pieces. Took a bit of brain work, and it was done.
Last checkpoint was abseiling from a multi-storeyed car park about 4 storeys high. The sky was darkening and a light drizzle began. Again, we grabbed the equipment, geared ourselves and ran up to the abseiling deck. Because we were going down storeys, there was a tendency for the participant to swing in in-between the floors. Some hit their legs on the ledges during the swing. Ouch... That was it, the end of the checkpoints and the last stretch was returning to the start/end point to report. By then, the rain had gotten heavier and we were totally drenched when we returned.
We went to a friend's house nearby to shower and have lunch, before returning to the race site to collect our bikes. Just in time to hear the results being announced. We came in 1st! :)) Totally unexpected but what a pleasant surprise!
It was a mostly running race. Getting to checkpoints was all on foot, unlike other races where one might cycle to the next checkpoint. As such, the race route was contained within the Sengkang-Punggol region. First checkpoint was the jetty about 3-4km away. Enroute, there were activities, like getting into mud water and crawling up a muddy slope. Then there was a mud crossing to retrieve a puzzle piece. Only 1 member needed to wade across, KC kindly volunteered.
The weather was super hot in the morning, and our running pace was quite on-the-ball. ie. KC easy run while I chased.... The main checkpoint was kayaking. The kayaking route was near the shoreline, hence very susceptible to waves and currents that kept sweeping us off. We were not very coordinated, I kept hitting KC's paddle. Oops, my fault.
The next major checkpoint was the cycling segment. To get there, we had to run along the coastal line, again with random activities thrown in. Had to wade across a 'river' that was about waist deep. Then more running. Trail cycling was more sand cycling. The route was all sand and I was really tensed on the ride. Every time the wheels hit a deeper patch of sand and skidded a little, I was reminded of my Desaru fall. At certain sections, it was faster for me to run and push the bike, than to peddle! We had to look for a picture along the route - I was totally focused on riding and missed it. Luckily KC spotted it. Whew....
Hot hot hot, the ice cold water at the various checkpoints was a welcome relief. Next up was rock climbing. This was one race where participants were not allowed to bring our own gear - harnesses, crabs etc. Everything was provided for, and I must say, the equipment was quite brand new. The rock wall was in Edgefields Primary School. Only 1 member had to scale the wall, so I offered. I underestimated the wall, thinking that it was 'primary school'. It was tougher than I thought. There was a small concave section and a slight overhang. It was easy in that the wall was 'real rock' that one could smear or pinch. Yet it was challenging because the handholds were small, not like the giant jugs at Yishun Safra. Maybe that was why it was a primary school wall - for tiny hands! Haha. The climb was tricky, because if you 'fell', you would have to restart from the bottom. Two tries and the team would suffer a time penalty for incompletion. I hung on to the wall for dear life! Whew, made it to the top. Retrieved another part of the puzzle.
More running... along the way we overtook many teams that were walking or slowing down. But KC did not look like he was ever going to need a break! Continued chasing lor... The next checkpoint was piecing together the puzzle using the pieces we collected along the way. It was like those childhood game where we had to form a square with the pieces. Took a bit of brain work, and it was done.
Last checkpoint was abseiling from a multi-storeyed car park about 4 storeys high. The sky was darkening and a light drizzle began. Again, we grabbed the equipment, geared ourselves and ran up to the abseiling deck. Because we were going down storeys, there was a tendency for the participant to swing in in-between the floors. Some hit their legs on the ledges during the swing. Ouch... That was it, the end of the checkpoints and the last stretch was returning to the start/end point to report. By then, the rain had gotten heavier and we were totally drenched when we returned.
We went to a friend's house nearby to shower and have lunch, before returning to the race site to collect our bikes. Just in time to hear the results being announced. We came in 1st! :)) Totally unexpected but what a pleasant surprise!
Friday, June 5, 2009
Pancake and a Stranger on 21km
Had a great evening run at ECP. 21km from Fort Rd - Safra NSRCC.
Do not eat pancake before a run - kept burping for a good 15min! Barely 10min into my run, some random topless guy ran alongside and asked if he could run together. Uh, sure.... Then he became talkative, tried to impress and chit chat. I must have looked like a recreational leisure runner?!? There I was, trying to warm up into a good rhythm and pace, and he was robbing me of precious oxygen! Tried giving mono-syllabic answers as politely as possible. Graciousness was a virtue to be practised....
Man: "So where are you running to?"
PS: Safra
M: Where is that? (obviously don't know ECP well....)
PS: Country club
M: Oh,... how far is that? (still clueless)
PS: 21km (of course must return to start point right?)
M: Wow, so far! So you must be very fit, run marathons type?
PS: polite smile (no need to explain the concepts of 21km and 42km...)
PS: You can go ahead if you want, I'm keeping this pace.
M: This pace is fine.... (M drops a bit behind, breathing hard.)
800m from his end-point, M speeds and catches up alongside.
M: I'm finishing soon at BK.
PS: uh-huh
M: You run very often?
PS: ok (cannot sense I don't want to talk meh?)... Sorry I can't talk when I'm running. (pant a bit to exaggerate, luckily he didn't say 'no worries then I talk'!).
(BK in sight!)
M: I'm done, see you around.
PS: Bye, enjoy yourself! (Must always remain gracious.)
Happy to run off! Haha.... I tried to keep a sub-6min pace throughout. Some 5:40, some more/ less. Ran a little extra at NSRCC. On the way back, bumped into Anthony and DO near Mac. We ran together. Happy to have them around to pace me. We did abt 5:30ish pace for 2km. Experienced pacers that they were, great job! Can consider hiring them as personal pacers during races! Haha... (sure very expensive).
Ran more than 21km. But timing for 21km was about 2:00 or 2:01min. Good, got potential for sub-2h (I hope).
Do not eat pancake before a run - kept burping for a good 15min! Barely 10min into my run, some random topless guy ran alongside and asked if he could run together. Uh, sure.... Then he became talkative, tried to impress and chit chat. I must have looked like a recreational leisure runner?!? There I was, trying to warm up into a good rhythm and pace, and he was robbing me of precious oxygen! Tried giving mono-syllabic answers as politely as possible. Graciousness was a virtue to be practised....
Man: "So where are you running to?"
PS: Safra
M: Where is that? (obviously don't know ECP well....)
PS: Country club
M: Oh,... how far is that? (still clueless)
PS: 21km (of course must return to start point right?)
M: Wow, so far! So you must be very fit, run marathons type?
PS: polite smile (no need to explain the concepts of 21km and 42km...)
PS: You can go ahead if you want, I'm keeping this pace.
M: This pace is fine.... (M drops a bit behind, breathing hard.)
800m from his end-point, M speeds and catches up alongside.
M: I'm finishing soon at BK.
PS: uh-huh
M: You run very often?
PS: ok (cannot sense I don't want to talk meh?)... Sorry I can't talk when I'm running. (pant a bit to exaggerate, luckily he didn't say 'no worries then I talk'!).
(BK in sight!)
M: I'm done, see you around.
PS: Bye, enjoy yourself! (Must always remain gracious.)
Happy to run off! Haha.... I tried to keep a sub-6min pace throughout. Some 5:40, some more/ less. Ran a little extra at NSRCC. On the way back, bumped into Anthony and DO near Mac. We ran together. Happy to have them around to pace me. We did abt 5:30ish pace for 2km. Experienced pacers that they were, great job! Can consider hiring them as personal pacers during races! Haha... (sure very expensive).
Ran more than 21km. But timing for 21km was about 2:00 or 2:01min. Good, got potential for sub-2h (I hope).
Thursday, June 4, 2009
RPM (no) Kick
Went for RPM Challenge. Alas, it was changed to RPM only. Andrew's rationale was that smashing a good 50min was better than cruising through 1hr. Oh well, what could I say to that?
Had suspended my gym for 2 months when I was away. So tonight was my first RPM. But 40-50min really no kick leh. Over so quickly! Did not help that my newly rebonded hair was swinging in my face and flying into my mouth with every breath. O2 in, hair in. CO2 out, hair out. Brilliant.... Distracting.
Andrew said the classes might be permanently 'downgraded' to RPM, because some members had complained that Challenge was too tough!?%#$ Duh! Else called Challenge?? If that was the case, then I would have to rethink about my membership....
Had suspended my gym for 2 months when I was away. So tonight was my first RPM. But 40-50min really no kick leh. Over so quickly! Did not help that my newly rebonded hair was swinging in my face and flying into my mouth with every breath. O2 in, hair in. CO2 out, hair out. Brilliant.... Distracting.
Andrew said the classes might be permanently 'downgraded' to RPM, because some members had complained that Challenge was too tough!?%#$ Duh! Else called Challenge?? If that was the case, then I would have to rethink about my membership....
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
YF Speedwork
Tonight short distance speedwork. Shem had a long menu lined up. I went early and did a warmup using KM's 4k route. Legs still heavy so I wanted to loosen up some lactic before the track workout.
Assembled at the field. We did some drills - different from the conditioning drills that KM made us do in the past. So I learnt something new again. Then 7 sets of stridings.
Combination 400m - ie. hard on the straights, easy on the bends. 6 sets. Kept an average of 2 - 2:04min.
Followed by 400m intervals - hard all the way. 6 sets with rest 1:30min (ok, I exceeded the rest intervals slightly).
1- 1:34min
2- 1:35min
3- 1:36min
4- 1:42min
5- 1:45min
6- 1:36min
Ended off with 10min easy jog on the field.
Assembled at the field. We did some drills - different from the conditioning drills that KM made us do in the past. So I learnt something new again. Then 7 sets of stridings.
Combination 400m - ie. hard on the straights, easy on the bends. 6 sets. Kept an average of 2 - 2:04min.
Followed by 400m intervals - hard all the way. 6 sets with rest 1:30min (ok, I exceeded the rest intervals slightly).
1- 1:34min
2- 1:35min
3- 1:36min
4- 1:42min
5- 1:45min
6- 1:36min
Ended off with 10min easy jog on the field.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Heavy Run
It was a recovery run, but as with all runs in MF Safra, nothing was ever a recovery pace. I ran like I had an extra 50kg on my shoulders, so heavy. Legs heavy, body heavy, everything felt heavy. It was only about 10km (or less), but I went so slowly. At one point in Labrador Park, the sea breeze and waves felt so luring, I stopped to stare and stretch.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)