Running – 2 races in 3 weeks

Todays run was nice. The realrun in 2008 was about enduring the heat but today the weather was great with a blob of cloud constantly blocking the sun.

Ladybug and Otterman picked me up at 540 am.. Otterman incidentally enjoyed watching the runners come in and noticed the change in form from the fastest to the slower runners. The backdrop of the beach and Pulau Tekong in the distance was nice for him.

Anyway, I started off the race slowly with Ladybug who was in the zone with music from Queen. The rain in the last few weeks had made the reclaimed land area nice and soft for today so that first few km were easy on the feet. Out of that terrain was the park connector along the changi coastal road. The shade was nice. But the best part of the run was under the canopy of Terminalia catappa which were in their autumnal colours of red and gold. It provided timely distraction from my hunger pangs that were assailing my stomach, I could have stopped for a buffet then… The falling leaves were so mesmerising that I caught a leaf that was falling from the high branches of the trees on either side of the road.

From that stretch we entered into the Changi Beach park which soon made way for the dreaded beach section.. however, I found myself picking up the pace there… must be the waves. I made the most of that upswing and found a good pace and stuck to it. The tarmac section was the hottest but also the part where most people were slowing down so I must have overtaken quite a few of those. I gave the final drinks station a miss and upped the pace to the finish line, mindful of the fact that I was going to be within 1hr 40 mins which would better last year’s race… Otterman was there to provide the finish line support – so he got a t-shirt for that!

Great race and good organisation with the drinks stop at every 2 km.

Newbalance Realrun 2009 – 1hr 39mins
2008 – 1hr 40 mins 36 secs.

Nike Human Race 2009 – 1hr 4 mins (yucks).

Notes:

Good to have Indian Veg meal the day before as it has loads of rice. The gulab jamons provide good source of carbo-loading. Should have more bananas for breakfast.

The raw duathlon

Got my endorphin fix yesterday at the raw duathlon. Did the 5k 40k 5k. I thought since there were no kakis with me, it would definitely be a lonely affair. But highlight number one was a reunion with my BMT buddy Ahmad Hilmy who saw me on FB and told me he was going for this event too. I tried looking out for him at the transition zone but didn’t see him but he found me at the start point so we started the race together, just like SOC in the Army! We chatted like it was 18 yrs ago. I used to beat him at it but now he finished earlier than I did. Well done buddy!

So this was my first duathlon and a highly charged event for me. The adrenaline was there for the 1st 5K so I finished that off in about 25 mins. The weather was getting real hot and I wished the start had been 7am instead of 745am. It was nice to transit to the bike leg and ride under the shade of the rain trees on the changi coastal road with the wind blowing. At about 30km and onto the last loop, I was running out of water even though I had 2 bottles in my bike cages. I had frozen one bottle but that melted way before. Being a zen dog doesn’t help the bike leg competitively as I began to get into a kind of zone with people whizzing past and started to enjoy the cycling, admiring the nice bikes that whizzed past. But I knew the heat would take its toll in next 5k run leg so I took it easy on the bike.

The next transition was really grueling running on the heated tarmac its albedo at around 10am. Not more that 100m into the run, my thighs cramped, luckily those were peddling muscles.. or the lack of. So I ran those cramps away. It was really hot and I took my time at the drinks station… The road was beginning to dot itself with cramping runners.

(this was taken at 630am.. those clouds up and disappeared at about 730am)

At the 2.5k turn, the wind../ zephyrs that had previously blown softly into my face now disappeared and I was now running away from it… Its soft murmurs in my ears now replaced by each of my feet placing itself on the tarmac. I lamented this wind of change../change of wind. Shortly at the 4k mark, a caucasian (attended by vigilant medics) had passed out on the side of the road still clutching on to a plastic cup.. and a guy who I had seen cramping up when I was on the opposite stretch was still negotiating with the medic to continue with the race. I was glad I signed up for the 5km run legs… I haven’t so much to prove anyway.

I pretty much enjoyed the last stretch.. better than the marathon or half army marathon…. at least I still had something left in me. Got a drink from the milo stand and headed for the free cup (decent amount) of beer (ice-cold Brewerkz beer after a duathlon at the Aviation park road on a damn hot day is mind-blowing, someone should do a study on this). I think I finished in about 2hrs 45mins.

(after the race… check out the cloudless sky)

Overall, an enjoyable race. $55 a bit expensive but the medics were on their toes and the beer was a nice touch. The volunteers were the best I have met in races, smiley and ready with the drinks. No finishers medal (which I don’t care much for) but something to take back would have been good.

(the relaxing ride back to the car after the race)

When you know the bad times, the good times get even better*.

16 years ago, I came down with Nephrotic Syndrome. Its a disease of the kidney which causes you to leach out proteins. The symptoms include tiredness, edema (swelling of tissues due to water retention). The only treatment was steroids (prednisolone) and I was on that for a good 2 years – there are several side effects. Anyway my kidneys were in danger. And I was sick for about 3 years, had to regulate my water in-take and visit the doc every 2 weeks. I was in and out of the hospital the first few months. By then I could forget about running and playing soccer competitively. But miraculously, after going to church, praying fervently with especially my mother’s and family’s support, fasting, going to the Novena, having the love of true friends and being healed by Jesus, I was medically discharged and weaned off medication, saving me from being put on stronger medicine and the $150 price tag every fortnight.

Those were the bad times for me. I can’t imagine how much more terrible it is for people who suffer with long term illnesses.

My running partner, Darryl, who suffered with me yesterday and was really a great crutch at the 38K mark, asked me why were were doing this at the 40K mark. And I said “because lah”. But I think it was more than that. I was celebrating the good times I am having right now; and with all these runs, I find myself thanking God as I run, as I am able to run in such races, and as I reach that finish line each time.

6hrs 55mins 14 secs. Really long.

Hat-tips:

To my brother-in-law Darryl. Thanks for waiting for me at the 38K mark when I felt like I was going to pass out. I don’t think I would have made it if you weren’t beside me. The next 2 km were the longest I have had to walk. (We stopped running at the 36K mark and walked the rest until the final stretch.). To other runners who might want to run the marathon – the Wall exists, we really hit it hard. I was lying down on my back at the bus stop with my legs propped on the bench. A timely 10 min break. It wasn’t a pretty sight.

Jen’s sms. It reads “Hang in there! M so proud of you! Love you.” That gave me a boost at the 39K mark.

Patt-strap. This is a strap for the Iliotibial Band injury on my right knee that I have to deal with. My knees wouldn’t have made past even the 20K mark without it.

Deep-heat – thanks to all those deep-heat angels along the route. I slathered my knees with it. Really took the pain off. But I think I shouldn’t have overdone the deep-heat though.

*This morning as I watched Anthony Bourdain with a bunch of Colombian street rappers enjoying a more pacific Colombian neighbourhood sans street warfare due to more development at the neighbourhood. He made this comment as he dug into some street food with them; and I found the slant for this post.

Marathon

We completed it…

Night run and 15 more days to race day

This was a training run 2 days ago from 11 to 1240. Covered 13.2k quite comfortably but was feeling a bit sleepy at midnight.

Its strange how as I was running I began to think about how all this started from the Sundown 10K in end May of this year. After that run, I was running extensively in June and started to get more serious about taking part in the Marathon. So I signed up. Its 15 days away and I have had more or less trained for 6 months. In between I signed up with my running buddy, Darryl, for the half marathon (21K) and recently the 15K realrun.

I have learnt a lot as an amateur runner and the learning curve has been steep. I used to run the 400m and 1500m but this is the most serious I have been since a mega illness about 15 years or so ago during national service which saw me in and out of hospital and on medication for 3 years. I got discharged and cured miraculously though. Maybe I will write about that some day.

Some things I have learnt:
1. Good shoes that suit your running style are important. I learnt this the hard way. I think my Iliotibial Band Syndrome developed because of over-pronation from wearing the wrong shoes and running long distances. I think. I realised that the small detrimental movements can be amplified over long distances.
2. Don’t overtrain – there were days when I ran 20K or more and then tried to run the next day… that is just a non-starter.
3. Its important to have a running buddy or buddies.
4. Tights are nice – no abrasion and no sweat flowing down to the socks. Also the wickering off of the sweat keeps one cool. A cap is essential as it keeps out the sweat from rolling in your eyes and also keeps you cool (the Realrun this year was hot!). Sunglasses (polarised please) are nice to wear in the run. There’s this cosy feeling when you are behind shades.. It also makes you less tired from squinting.
5. Cross-train. I picked up swimming lately because I wanted to give my knees and ITB a rest. I couldn’t swim a lap previously but now I can do many with stops of course. But swimming is a really good workout minus stress on the knees.
6. During-run nutrition is important to keep going. Drinking during the run is important for me cos I sweat alot. I once read that the reason why we sweat excessively (more than is needed to cool off) is because we need to get rid of the salt from our skin or else the water won’t evaporate so efficiently.
7. Music sets the mood. Okay, this is for clearly running on pavement but one must be careful of the surrounding and crossing roads.

Well, 15 days more to go. Of course I hope I can complete the 42K. Thinking about it gives me the jitters but hey, at least I know I have trained for it (wow for 6 months). My IT Band might act up (its painful)… that’s my worst fear.

Josh will be running the kids dash (800m) on that day as well. (Matt’s too young to register). Well hopefully one day he and Matt can do the 42K and I hope I will be running alongside. Gee…I must be about 50 plus by then.

Wish me luck!

Realrun – 15k at Changi

This morning was the 2008 New Balance Realrun. Went with my running kaki, Darryl. If I can remember correctly, the run started off into reclaimed land, onto tarmac, along Changi coastal road, along the beach and then back to the tarmac to the finish line, 15 km in total. It was a really hot day so the shades and the cap helped tremendously. But the run was more about beating the heat.

A well organised event with enough drink stops. One gripe was then fact that along the Changi coastal road, they allowed cyclists (who didn’t pay to enter the competition) onto the road who happily did their relays at break neck speed almost colliding with runners at some point. Not that I have anything against them but they should have kept them out.

A happy thing for me was the fact that the new stability shoe (NB 786) helped my overpronation and relieved the problems i had with the Iliotibial Band. So even after 15k my knees were feeling a okay. The shoe was bought with a 30% discount from the event. Woots.

Time 1hr 40 mins 36 secs.

Today’s long run

Distance: 20.9 km
Time: 3hrs (with a 10min stop)
In zone 4: 2hrs
Average heart rate: 145
Peak heart rate: 165
Total calories burnt: 2771
Recovery: 17 heartbeats per min in 2 mins

The running loop isn’t complete cos by the 18 km mark my right knee hurt again so by 20 k, I decided to stop. I got a feeling some thigh muscle or tendon is pulling on some part of the knee and causing the pain. At least it takes a longer distance before the pain comes. I am really hoping to see if I can go 30k at least.

This week I have been cycling everyday (except Fri) for about 25 km per day to ease the pressure on the knee.

Next week will have to do some weight training to build those thigh muscles to support the knee.

A pleasant run, listened to Ivan’s revision of the song Genetic (re)Mix. It was nice music to run to.

Had two Gu gels, 3 sports isotonic, 1 red bull and 1 dolphin drink.

Did some internet search and I got a good feeling that I have iliotibial band syndrome…. well not a nice thing to have for a runner but at least I know what I am up against. Just did a few stretches aimed at relaxing the tendon and the pain in the knee eased up… I think its genetics… my dad last week was telling me how his knee problems had more to do with his butt and side of his thigh which he said he treated by massaging his thigh instead of his knee… my goodness, he was spot-on. And we were just laughing at him when he said that.

Check this link out with nice illustrations. Iliotibial Band Syndrome: A Common Source of Knee Pain

Tuesday’s run

Week 5 Training log

Today’s run and review of the week’s training.. can I keep this up?

Distance: 12.92 km
Time: 1hr 20mins
Ave heart rate: 142
Time in Heart rate Zone 4: 1hr 5 mins
Total calories: 1558
Recovery in 2 mins: Down by 14 bpm

Training – 5th week

Mon – Short 3.5k run (recovery run from last weeks 21k)
Tues – Cycle 21k
Wed – Rest
Thurs – 10k run at MacR

its been a long time since I ran the Macritchie route but I realised after having trained on the road for such a long time, the slopes make for a good cardio. The air was super fresh and it was good to be in the forest.

I got this training schedule and adapted it a bit from Runner’s World – from “The Rookie Plan” for marathon training.