Why I have to miss the CNY Run

Greetings,
those of you who know my personal situation will know that I am expecting my third child. Well, the stork decided to call early and I am writing this from the delivery suite :-). Do wish me and the missus luck for the delivery.

Meanwhile, there's no reason why this run should not continue. For the lack of a guide, I suggest a slight alteration the the route; after the KR Park Canopy walk, turn left and run down Pepys Road and give Hort Park a miss. At the bottom of Pepys Road, turn left and you will be heading towards Labrador Park.

Another suggestion for post run makan. The Taiwanese porridge/noodle shop (next to cheese prata) appears to be open during this period. This might be an option.

My sincere apologies and I suppose there are higher priorities. Take care and will join you guys again soon.

=========================================

An Update at 4pm:

All went well, here's a few pics of the culprit;

CNY "4-Hills Run" -- Recce and Route Guidance

The CNY 4-Hills Run will be coming up on Saturday the 9th of Feb. So far, there has been an encouraging response with more than 20 people indicating interest. I'm writing this post as an informational for runners.

Program in brief:

Meet, Warm Up and Store stuff: 6.45am

Run Starts: 7.00am

Distance: 24k to 27k through KR Park, Labrador Nature Reserve, Mt Faber, Telok Blangah Hill and NUS Prince Georges Park (PGP)*, 4-5 Hills, depending on whether you take in the PGP Loop.

Estimated Finishing Time: At 6:30 to 7:00 pace, plus water/toilet breaks, will be between 3-3.5 hours run time, finish @ NUSS between 10-10.30am

Immediate Post-Run: Wine and New Year Goodies at finish line. Shower at NUSS facilities

Post-Race Makan: NUSS makan places open at 12noon, except the Bar which opens 11.30. Depending on when we finish showering: a) Retreat to bar first for coffee/finger foods, then to restaurant, b) Head down to Cheese Prata joint or Taiwanese porridge and makan there, or if finish late, c) Head straight to restaurant, and maybe d) Drive somewhere else.

Main Route Below:




PGP Extension for 3km:

Route in Detail:

1) Start point is NUSS Guild House





Down to Heng Mui Keng Terrace, turn left at Pasir Panjang Road heading towards Haw Par Villa.

2) Keeping on left side of road, run towards Haw Par Villa, pass Science Park 2 on the left (1km), continue along Pasir Panjang Road past HPV. There is a bit of construction here but its only a short distance.



3) Reach PP Road/South Buona Vista Road Junction. West End Restaurant is at this location (2.3km). Turn left into South Buona Vista Road.



Continue running on left side of road. As you reach Zehnder Road vicinity, cross CAREFULLY to the right. Continue to the base of Kent Ridge Park Hill (3km). This is the infamous Vigilante Drive. Its a STEEP gradient and fairly long, so take it easy and walk if you have to.





Top of the climb is Rest and Orientation Stop 01 (3.2km).

4) Continue along Vigilante Drive in an easterly direction until you reach the KR Park canopy walk (4km).


The canopy walk can be treacherous and slippery. Run slowly, or better still, walk!

5) At end of canopy walk, you have reached the Reflections at Bukit Chandu Museum. Turn to your LEFT and run down Pepys Road. It is a winding road and steep. The bottom of Pepys Road connects with Pasir Panjang Road. Turn left at this junction to head towards Labrador Park. Passing the PSA building on the left (6km), you will come to the Alexandra/Telok Blangah Road junction. Wait for the lights and cross.



Look for signage on your right after you have crossed Telok Blangah Road, you will now be entering into Labrador Nature Reserve. At the left side of the entrance of Labrador Villa Park is a small little food centre. You may want to take a Drink Break Here

7) Running into Labrador Nature Reserve, continue along Labrador Villa Road and Port Road first, DO NOT climb the hill yet. You will come to the carpark near the Old Fort entrance(7.2km).



Run to your left towards the Dragon's tooth gate, loop back to the Old Fort entrance and climb the hill to the top near Olive Restaurant (Rest, Drink and Orientation Stop 03) (8km).

Pic

Run down the hill and exit Labrador Park along Labrador Villa Road. You will hit and cross Telok Blangah Road. You will be running to the right towards Morse Road.



Turn up left into Morse Road up the beautiful and scenic Mt Faber. You will be running up Morse Road --> Pender Road --> Mt Faber Loop. Its a tough hill so if you aren't very used to hills, don't feel embarrassed to slow down or even walk. The will be a fork in the road where Mt Faber Loop meets Mt Faber Rd. The Hill Bistro is here with a toilet and water. This is (Rest, Drink and Orientation Stop 04) (11.8km). Ok we're HALFWAY!

Pic (Hill Bistro)

Continue along Mt Faber Road and descend the hill. Going down hill can be treacherous on the knees, so don't do it too fast. Also, the sun will be coming up and perhaps traffic will be getting busier. Do keep aware of your surroundings and run safe. We will exit Mt Faber at Telok Blangah Rise (13km) , taking a short staircase down. At this point, there is an opportunity to bail out by hailing a cab. If you have hurt yourself or are not very well by this point, do consider it, no shame.

8) Continue along Telok Blangah Rise --> Telok Blangah Way, passing SAFRA MF on your left. Cross Henderson Road and then turn left, and quickly right up Telok Blangah Hill. Near where Telok Blangah Green forks into 2, could be Rest, Drink and Orientation Stop 04 (15km)

9) Take a staircase down the right side of Telok Blangah Hill (as you are facing to the peak), this will bring you to a carpark structure alongside Depot Road. Turn left at Depot Road, which will bring you back to Alexandra Road (16.6km).



Turn left at the Depot Road/Alexandra junction, and head towards AH.

This is where the detailed guide ends. The rest of the route goes like this;

Alexandra Road --> Left into Queensway at Queensway shopping centre --> Climb short flight of stairs up Portsdown flyover --> Turn left and cross Portsdown flyover --> Enter Science Park 1 via Technology Crescent (Drink Stop) (19.6km). Head up Science Park Drive --> South Buona Vista Road (Divergence point for a) main NUS route, b) extra 3km PGP Loop, and c) Shortcut back to NUSS) -->

a) Turn right South BV Road --> left into lower Kent Ridge Drive --> right into Kent Ridge Crescent --> left into Clementi Road after UCC --> left into Kent Ridge Crescent --> right into KR Drive --> Finish NUSS (approx 24km).

b) Turn left South BV Road --> Continue South BV about 1/3rd way down, cross and descend into Science Park 2 via staircase --> SP2 -- Science Park Road --> Heng Mui Keng Terrace --> Prince Georges Park (PGP) --> Join back South BV and continue as a) (approx 27km).

c) Turn left South BV and quickly right into Kent Ridge Road and then left down PGP to finish at NUSS (approx 22km).

Run Participants so far (06 Feb 2008):

1. dkw 2. Brokenrunner 3. shortlegs 4. DO 5. Jasonlow? 6. hophlng 7. DeepCruiser 8. ultraman 9. prata 10. Dreamrunner 11. JiaJie 12. Richy 13. Roadrunner3 14. sportventurer 15. stardust 16. Freddy 17. Sling Runner (tentative) 18. lohyks 19. Bug 20. tarepanda 21. runfree 22. Rory 23. Sarah (atomic's wifey) 24. MF Runner 1 25. MF Runner 2 26. MF Runner 3 27. MF Runner 4 28. MF Runner 5 29. xdd 30. tktan

Good Luck all! Enjoy the run.

Update on Runs

Have not posted for a while, since after the SCSM. Since then have had a Christmas Day Hills Run (including Mt Faber, a first for me), New Year's Day Town run, BG Run for Jan 08 and a few more NUS Hill Runs. Has been a great running period for me, lots of mileage, plenty of hills and have met a lot of new runners from the forum. Meanwhile, have gotten myself saddled with organising a "4-Hills Run" for Chinese New Year. Lotsa speedsters turning up, really hope it goes well.

Post Race Review

1) Official Race Results


NAME:
Dxxxx Sxxx
EVENT:
Full Marathon
DATE:
Sunday, December 2nd, 2007
BIB/DIV:
6xx / M3539
TIME:
4h:22m:51s (gun) / 4h:21m:57s (net)

Splits (acc to timing chip)

Time Start: 5:31:06
7k700m: 12:46:35
21k: 2:01:08
26k750m: 2:29:46
Gun time: 4:22:51
Chip Finish: 4:21:57
Average Splits: 6m12s/km

Rank: 1002 (FM-Males), 1127 Overall

Link here --> http://www.runpix.biz/sin07/42/finord.php?LastName=632&lan=&aset=0

Splits (acc to Polar)

10k: 00:57:22
21.1k: 2:00:23
28k: 2:40:26
42.2k: 4:21:59

2) Visit to Atlas Chiropractic

I went to see my chiro on Tuesday evening after the race. By then still had soreness mainly over the quads, and a little tightness of the hams. Left knee pain had almost totally gone, phew! Didn't want a repeat of the ITB problem I had last time out.

Had me up on the table and gave me the once over. Hip was out of alignment he said, contributing to a limb length discrepancy (L>R). Did the usual side-pulling with all the crackling coming from the nether regions of the back and hips. Don't ask me how it works, but it works! The hip and quad pain significantly reduced with a 5-minute procedure. Next, worked on my ankles, again the twisting and crackling. Last, worked his way up to my shoulders. Now, I hadn't mentioned my shoulder and upper back cramps during the race, but Terence picked up on it straight away. More pulling and crackling.

All in all, felt looser and less achy after the session. Terence asks for some advice on training, wants to do the full next Dec! Gotta to remember to send him some stuff.

SCSM 2007

Race Report

My Race:

Felt quite undertrained for this event. Compared to previous 2, total mileage is probably down by about 20%, longest LSD short by 3k. Only saving grace is some speed work done. Also, tried a late taper as suggested by RW. My thoughts on this are a little mixed. I think my last LSD, a week later than I would usually run it, was probably about 3-4 days too close to the event. On the other hand, I think it did provide me with a much needed training boost. It may mean I will need to split the difference and run it mid-week in future.On the morning itself, still feeling a little leg heavy from fairly hard training 2 weeks prior, plus chasing the kids whole of Sat.

Got on the bus, and was at the esplanade shortly thereafter. True to my usual routine, queued for the esplanade toilets, thankfully still empty at around 4.50am. Nothing to pass out though, despite sitting on the bowl for a good 10 minutes.Had my last drink of 100plus, took half a banana and went to pee one more time at a porta-loo. Time was 5.15 and I made may way to the start line. Saw Sealboon on the side of the sub-4 pen, seemed very focussed so I did not trouble him. Didn't recognise anybody else.

Horn blows, away we go. First couple of clicks going as it typically does, some speedsters streaking away, some slowbies who have decided that they need to start in front, but the wide open avenue makes it less painful for everone. Stop at the telok ayer market toilet for a pee, good to get this out of the way early! Once the adrenaline kicks in, urine output will be minimal and I don't expect to need to use the loo anymore for the rest of the race. For the first 10k, fairly uneventful, was walk-breaking more frequently than expected as I couldn't properly identify stations with isotonic, so pretty much every water point I slowed downed to take a swig. Unfortunately, that meant each walk break was shorter than usual. Did this contribute to the crash? Maybe. Out of marina south and past the esplanade again. Huge crowds, which was nice and a good boost at this part of the race. Going better than expected at this point, clocking 5:30-5:40 pace and at the halfway point time was 2:01, just a little off my AHM 2007 timing. HR still under 162 average.

Now fully into the East Coast Park. Support was tremendous! Thank you volunteers. Was tracking an older gentleman who was running bow-legged. He was fast enough but I wonder what sort of impact this type of running biomechanic would hold for his knees in the future. At the 23km point, I see Freddy coming back own the other direction. Holy cow! What a smoking quick run he was doing! I am beginning to feel it. Pace average dropping off, now around 5:40-5:50 per km. Made the u-turn, back towards the city. The sun is now high enough to make a difference. I stretch my arms a little, and BANG, my whole upper back and shoulders cramp up. It was excruciating in the extreme and I almost stop running. I hang my arms down and push on. Pace is now 6+min/km. Legs are getting noticeably heavier, at 28km, its 2:41, still on target for a sub-4. A short while later, twing, and my left calf seizes momentarily. Oh no, the dreaded cramps. I've blown it, it was going to be a real struggle from here. And indeed, when I hit this wall, the fall was precipitous. In a matter of 1km, left calf, left thigh, right thigh, left hamstring, all started to threaten to cramp. I slow to a walk-run. For the first time, I gratefully accept deep heat, I have never ever used that stuff before. It seemed to work and the worst of the cramps were staved off. I mentally prepare myself to struggle for another 12km.

The rest of the way was pure agony, basically completely played by ear, shuffled when I could, walked when my legs refused to respond, stopped at almost every drink station. My lack of training and over-ambitious start had caught up with me. No chance of my heart giving out, now ticking along at 145/min, not even 85% max! Definitely the legs are rate limiting. Amazingly, still averaging around 7:30/km. I was going to come in PB! The last 500m, picked up to a decent trot so that I don't look too bad in the pictures :p.

Completed in 4:22.A PB by 6 minutes, despite being undertrained, hotter weather, less rest and being 3kg heavier. I think with a more discliplined and smarter program, better taper and race strategy, a sub-4 will be achievable by next year end. 2008 will be the year to try. Perversely, I felt as good about myself for having struggled through the last 12km and having run a good pace for the first 30!


Organisation:

Overall, a 9/10 for the organisers. Bag check was smooth and painless. Porta-loos seemed a plenty. Start point management was also pretty smooth with a nice clear avenue for folk to get to their starting pens. A 5.30 start is good, gives us a chance to get the miles in before the full brunt of the morning heat. Have not actually run the full in SG before, but apart from the first 10k in the quiet of Marina South, the rest of the way was quite well supported. Drink stations were plentiful, although it wasn't clear which had isotonic and which did not. Made my drink stop strategy a little messy. At the end, bag collection was a cinch. Well done organisers! Some feedback for improvement below.

Feedback to organisers
a. Get pacers positioning right
b. Get isotonic on all stations, or at least post in advance which stations will have them

Personal Journal (SCSM2007)

This will be a long entry to reflect the prep I had for this race and also my observations of race-day events and my own performance.

1) Prep

I hadn't expected to do the SCSM this early in my running 'career'. Both of my marathons to date had been in the US in freezing temperatures. I had wanted to 'save' the SCSM to a later time I had started to run out of events to take part in. Ah well, events conspired to render my participation in US races difficult. Hadn't been travelling as much and had lingering ITB problems from the previous event in Chicago from Oct 2006, and therefore had pathetic mileage in training. So in July of this year, signed up for the local marathon. About this time, was when I became more active in SGRunners forum. So set up a 5 month programme, entered the AHM and NB realrun for prep, and determined to do a good one. No preset idea of what time to complete in, just needed to make sure I give a good account of myself.

2) Training

What would I do different this time? I thought speed work was the key. Previously, being a marathon newbie, was pretty nervous about completing the event even, without looking like a complete idiot. Naturally the focus was on getting in those long miles to build up an aerobic and endurance base. The consensus from many different books and websites was that in order to run fast, you really had to train fast. How fast? I thought a 4:00-4:10 finish was a reasonable target, given my previous PB of 4:28. This time round, made sure I had at least 1 speed session per week, which usually ended up being hill repeats. Also, wanted to continue to build up an even better aerobic base. Alas, reality collides with theory, at the end of the day, only managed one LSD > 30km and 2 runs > 25km. All in all, would have considered myself significantly undertrained for the event.

Also, tried a shorter taper with my last LSD coming only 2 weekends before the event. It was probably a little too close for me.

Also, for the first time, used a camelbak for a few of my runs. I must say, it is a nifty invention. Will definitely make more use in the future. Mine is a small 1.5L version, but in truth could probably take 1.2L at most if it was to be used comfortably. When filled fully was pressing into my spine and felt better only after I swigged a few mouthfuls.

How did I set my target? I used the MacMillan race predictor which gives a comprehensive race time prediction based on real previous performances. With that, I had a target and training pace to use.

3) Equipment

My trusty arm pouch is turning out to be much more of a pain than I anticipated. I'd say it was a minor contributor to my near crash of this event. Whilst the previous Nike ones were good by not giving abrasions, this current black kit repeatedly caused armpits abrasions. Need to seriously rethink how to carry gear/food on runs.

Bought a pair of technical running socks for the first time the week before the race. Ran a 6k in it and it felt really really good. Only problem, with it being so thin, there was too much room inside of my shoe. Too risky to do something new at this stage. So reverted to my trusty cotton socks. At about the 35k mark, the socks bunched up and caused a horrid foot pain, to add to everything else going on.

Had an interesting exchange with a fellow forumer on the use of cap/visor in this race. My conclusion? It is invaluable! Just as a comparison, I took off the cap for a short bit on the return leg and I thought the glare and heat was intolerable. Next stop, a proper running visor.

4) Nutrition

So fibre or no fibre the days before a run? I must vote to go with your normal diet, no matter what it is. I switched to low fibre and although there weren't major issues, I just never felt entirely comfortable with it. No bulk for stools on race morning, but had a sense of constipation. Not really troubling but I think I'd stick with usual fruit and veggies.

On race, I knew they had bananas at 35k, so I could afford to eat stuff at 15k and 25k. As it turned out, ended up taking an extra mini-Mars bars with me so downed a Mars bar at 8k as well. A little sticky but as the drink stations are well posted, strategy was to slow down a short distance from station, chomp down the bar and then wash down with fluids. This works for me and somehow seems more pleasurable than gulping gel.

5) Race Report

See above

6) Learning points

a. Get technical running socks
b. Use a cap/visor
c. Start taper 16-19 days before, last LSD no closer than 19 days to event.
d. Arm pouch is a no-go
e. Don't compromise on walk-breaks early on
f. Fibre diet is ok pre-race
g. Does deep heat help?

NUS Hill Run

After a couple of half-starts, finally managed to complete a proper NUS Hill run this week. What a turn out it was, 11 runners in total. Finally go to put some faces to nicks. Was undertaking this with a no small amount of trepidation, as had crashed and burned the first time I took on the hills. Once again started out at a pace somewhat faster than I am comfortable with (thanks to xdd!). 5:20min/km, HR up to 160 already and barely 1km into the run. Chatted with DO at the beginning and soon came up to HPV. Really cool to get into the park, probably not been there in over 25years. No time for sightseeing though, hit the top of the hill and waited for the rest to catch up. Nice to have an early break, and mindful of Vigilante Drive to come. Down the back lane and out to Zehnder Road, everyone still going strong. Soon hit the foot of Vigi Drive, don't care how slow I look, I am JOGGING up this slope. Sure enough, soon left behind as everybody else charged up. Took my time to get to the top, but as I got there, felt relieved as I had got to the top in good shape and now I knew I was going to finish the run at least! Down the slope, into SP1 and water break. All the breaks are making this a very manageable run. Retrospectively this was really good interval training, sweat it up the slopes, then take ample rest, then repeat.



Ok, onwards. Up science park, chatted with Freddy. First time he was doing this route and he was enjoying it tremendously. Gave him some tips on the area and soon we were turning back down South Buona Vista road. Cutting across SBV back down to SP2 is a really hazardous exercise, can't see round the bend and who knows what crazies may be driving.

Cut a long story short, the group hung tight till we hit the base of PGP (near guild house) again. wend88 calls it a day on her first NUS Hill Run. She's done fantastically well keeping up with the pace up till now. I remember my first Hill Run when I walked the last 6km after trying to keep up with Ronnie and tktan inthe first 3. Last 5 km around NUS. Freddy, DR, Ronnie decide to attack the PGP hill with gusto. I am hanging back a little. Finally, into NUS, around UCC and the last 1km. Everybody SPEEDS up! Finally, guild house comes into sight. I've officially COMPLETED a NUS Hill Run. xdd, I want my cert.

Post run refreshments were great. Drinks and fruit, thanks tktan and BR.

As usual, scoot off for my meetings. Heard the guys enjoyed dinner. Hopefully I'll get a chance next time.

Some pics here --> tktan's, BR's

Till next week (or this week, actually)