Two Loops, Four Shoes

There were very few runners for this morning's Safra run. The usual hardcore regulars were there and we started off on our planned 15km route (1.5x MF 10km loop). Linda dear girl managed to wake herself up at 530am and dragged her sleepy feet to the clubhouse in time! Impressive feat, given that our shared concept of time is like blu-tack -- elastic. It is a waste of her talents that she does not like running. She is fast. 55min for MF loop, in heavy trail shoes, untrained. I do think she is capable of a 4h +/- marathon timing if she chooses to do one. Sub-4h even, if she trains for it.

I went out fast initially, above my normal pace for a 20km attempt. I cut 3min off my normal timing on the first 5km, which should have triggered alarm bells that I was going too fast. I ran with Jason for that 1st loop, with me panting and him coughing along the way. Unfortunately, it was too late by the time I decided to slow down my pace and the 10km loop felt extremely tiring. Even as I tried to stroll a little to regain my breath, my rhythm was totally lost. When we reached clubhouse after the 1st loop, Jimmy, Wong, and Julie were having a break at the entrance. Jason was not feeling well and decided to stop. I continued on the 2nd loop alone. I was glad Jason did not come along, he would have been utterly irritated. That loop was a lost cause from the word go. It was a great struggle, with multiple stop-strolls in between jogs. I lost count of how many times I did that, and how many runners bypassed me. Why was it mentally so hard to continue running and not stop? It was only 20km. :( The total time for run was way longer than my usual, nevermind that the 1st lap was faster.

I still need lots of practice and training to find a new balance between power (which I'm trying to build) and sustainable pace (which I had but slow) so as to create a more effective rhythm. Retail therapy beckoned during sulky moments like this. I indulged and bought 4 pretty pairs of shoes for my 1 not-so-pretty pair of feet. :)

Discovering Power

I ran hard today. Telok Blangah hills x 6 loops. I cannot recall the last time I breathed so hard and heavily during a run. Alber paced me for the 6 loops, and kept telling me to close the gap. I tried. I really did. On the 6th and last round, I felt a shift in my power source and could sense energy being tapped from my quad muscles rather than calves. Hmmm..... perhaps I'd been running 'wrongly' and using the wrong muscle groups all this time.

Sleepy Track 8

Andrew took the RPM Challenge class tonight instead of Kee Leong, who had MIA-ed. He mixed some new tracks from the latest RPM release, but they did not feel oomph enough for a good workout. The pace track (#8) was so monotonous, it totally killed the energy high from the earlier tracks. The legs were so sleepy after that, they could not be awakened again for the last hillclimb track #9.

Expectations or Runner

So there I was, all fresh after 4 days of doing nothing and mentally psyched to have a good run. The 'put in effort' type of run. The endeavor and images were prettily rehearsed in my little mind. They remained there.

I started off strong, but only because everyone was still chatting and taking it easy. After 15min, the runners began to get serious and picked up pace. I lost a group at the road leading to Labrador Park. I was already panting on the way up the Labrador Hill, but I persisted in keeping a close distance with my target pacer for the day. The 2 loops within the Park were quite a killer, I had to distract myself from the huffing and puffing by totally focusing on the pacer ahead of me. Then I was dropped, or rather I could not keep up. I continued alone back to Safra, desperately trying to test out the speed I was using. Speed is relative. What is fast and heart-thumping for me is often a relaxed pace for the better runners. I tried tagging on a front group as we waited together at a traffic junction. Of course I could not, and I lagged further and further until I could not see them anymore. Then I tried sprinting on the finishing slope up Henderson Road and nearly died 3 times (metaphorically).

The bitter pill was knowing that I was pushing the pace and strides, yet not being able to close or maintain the gap. It is very demoralizing to go for a run feeling totally refreshed and recharged, only to be reminded once again that one cannot perform up to expectations. Or perhaps the problem lies with the said expectations, and not the runner. And yet perhaps, redemption might come from the expectations, and not the runner, to spur us to better ourselves. I would just have to train so much harder and push so much more. That, plus I need to drop 2kg to go faster.

A Week of Nothing-ness

This was essentially a whole week of doing nothing, taking a break and eating. I did a recovery run of 8km on Tuesday, and 10km and Thursday, both at a very slow pace. My calves were still aching during those runs after the marathon. Jaime and Ong reckoned that I was upset over my marathon results and tried to cheer me up. That was so sweet of them. :) Next year is a new start, and a new training season. In the meanwhile, I am going to take a well-deserved break until the MR ultra run at the end of the year. :)

The Day After

The day after. The day when aches and sores from unsurfaced lactic acid are amplified in the muscles. The day when one's movement takes on an exaggerated crab likeness. Thankfully it just felt like any other day-after a training long run, ie. non-elegant.

I refused to do any recovery run today. Alber, on a high from his good marathon experience, suggested a short run. I am definitely not going anywhere near my runners and gear today. I think I deserve a little break, even though I felt like I had not completely offloaded the carbo I had in the past week. In fact, I had probably gained weight! Anyway, I gathered a few runners and we headed out for a dinner buffet to recharge ourselves. We had an enjoyable time recounting the hits and misses of Sunday's marathon and the people we saw along the way, in between gobbling down plates of oysters, seafood, sashimi and everything else on the buffet spread.

I believe that running is an individual sport. I still do. But teamwork will always make the experience better. One spoke about the "missing link" in a surprise pacing partner he found on Sunday, to motivate and look out for one another. When you have a shoulder-to-shoulder pacing partner, running stride for stride in sync alongside, words are unnecessary. Team support also meant generosity in sharing tips, strategies and resources like gels and salt tablets. Or simply by being there during the monotony of long long runs, or the lung-bursting pain of speed work.

Yet at the end of it, we run our own race. From when the gun goes off to when we see the finishing tape, the show is ours. Make it a good one.

Singapore Stanchart Marathon 2007

Did not train hard. 4:29.13h (chip)/ 4:30:30h (gun). 'nuff said.

The Stanchart run was my 4th marathon this year, in addition to a variety of other races and climbing activities. I could feel the race fatigue setting in at the start of the run, and it was not feeling like a PB day. I did not see any of the marathon pacers at all throughout the race even though I was going at a relatively consistent pace. This was probably the 1st year that I did not manage a negative split timing. :( I struggled through the last 10km, and was overtaken by many runners whom I know.

Many of the Safra runners clocked good timings, especially the first-timers. That proved the effectiveness of the training plan and the results were for all to see. All those who conscientiously did their speed work and interval trainings showed huge progress today. I probably should also rethink my new strategy of re-mixing my Endurance drink on the run, which cost me a couple of minutes. The race today got me to re-evaluate my running strengths - were there any? Given that I am no good in sprints or power bursts, and that I have also lost my endurance edge since many relatively newer runners have caught up, fast. Some natural first-timers were way ahead of me in their debut marathon. So, why am I running? Nonetheless, I was happy that Heng, Alber and Shirley did very well today. At least my sharing of tips and race strategy was not in vain.











On hindsight, some of the things that could have gone better today:
- should have worn my lighter Mizuno race shoes instead of Asics GT
- my Endurance drink was too concentrated, hence perpetual thirst and kept stopping for water
- no more pasta loading for future races - once again proven that I could not digest it efficiently, and ran with a stuffed feeling
- as a result of which, I went to the toilet at 18km (1min!), missed pacing with Alber, ran alone thereafter and basically slacked
- tried new strategy of carrying a small pack of Endurance powder and twice re-mixed my drink while running - I've to think of a better way to refresh my drink

As a self-consolation, perhaps this could be a warm-up to the HK Stanchart Marathon two months later. I wonder how I could maintain next year's excessive running in preparation for the Sundown Ultra. Shudders.