The news of 'Michael Jackson has died' shocked me. He occupied most part of my childhood - his dance & songs. Life is so fragile, we should always do what we wanted. Sometimes we keep giving ourselves excuses, 'there is always tomorrow'.

 

I conducted the Safra run for Ricci last evening. It was a 14 km to BV MRT and back. I could see some new faces, training with us for Sheares Bridge Run 09. Dora mentioned to me that her cyclist friends had feedback to her that MF Safra running club is one of the fastest running club in town. It seemed that our reputation had reached out to sports group. Dora has run her sub-2 Klang half marathon for the first time in her life.

 

I will face the KL marathon 2009 this weekend and definitely going to try my best in it.

 

26th June 2009.

 

 

 

My first training at Safra after 2 weeks. Ricci was the in-charge trainer for the week. I intended to do an easy workout today prior to the KL marathon on Sunday. But i still find myself running in front with Joshua and Alan, cannot hold my speed. Joshua was the strongest among us, reserving much of his energy to run with us. I told him that i will stop after 4 loops.

 

1st loop: 7 min 13 sec

2nd loop: 7 min 09 sec

3rd loop: 7 min 05 sec

4th loop: 7 min 15 sec

 

23rd June 2009.

 

 

 

 

My dear and i together with Wong arrived in Phuket on Thursday (11th June). It was 3 days before the race day, giving ourselves more time to get used to the environment since it was my first trip to Phuket. I have to recce where is the collection point, where is the marathon start point etc. The weather was extremely hot in Phuket, this was hotter than what we experienced in Singapore. We had to apply sun block whenever we went out, our skin could feel the heat and pain from the sunshine. Ironically, the 'ang mo' like it.

 

It took us 500 balts from airport to Thara Patong Hotel. The Thais were nice and friendly people, even on the street, everyone put on a smile. Wong took us to our first tour to the 'happening', night entertainment street. Our first lunch there was not thai food but KFC. The food was slightly cheaper. In my head, i was thinking how do i get to Laguana Beach for the race collection.

 

At the Juncelyon Shopping centre, there was a tour to Laguana Beach to view the various beach resorts over there. Their main objective was to get clients to sign up for the holiday membership. Dear came up with an idea - we will tag along with the tour so that we can collect the race packs. True enough, the next day we went for the tour and collected the race packs for others as well. But we were given 4 hours of recommendation and site viewing to get us to sign up for the holiday membership. But we rejected the offers, the staff there never pressured us to sign up unlike those in Singapore.

 

Grace and her friends arrived in Phuket one day after us. We collected their race packs as well. On Saturday, Dear and myself followed Henry and wife (together with their friend Siew Lee) to the Phuket town for shopping. I just wondered how the locals live their life away from the city. Most of the big shopping centre like Central was very quiet. The locals never look for branded goods. I bought a new piece of CW-X tight from the SuperSports. Henry suggested Spa and massage on the day program. I agreed but no massage to my legs.

 

  

  

 

 The day ended with a good seafood dinner at the nearby seafood rest. by the seaside.

 

 

Lee, Alex and Henry all took part in the 4.00 am marathon. I prefered to start at 5 am (equiv. to 6 am Singapore time) which have the last year champion in the group. By 6 am, the Sun will be out. I have to conserve as much energy as possible to deal with the heat. The fastest i run, my temp will raise. The start out was fast for me, i was just behind the leader of the run for the first 2 km. It was just too fast, i slowed down to drop my pace. Just below 5 min/km. The route was not totally flat, it was an inverted V route. I think it was to let the rain water flow to the side of the road. But for the runners, it was stressful for our left leg.

 

After 10 km, the undulating slopes came. I still feel quite strong and fresh. 46 min for my first 10 km. Up and down slope streteched about 5 km before we made a loop near a beach. From 15 km to 20 km, it was flat ground. A good time for us to take a break from the torturing slope. The sun was out by then, the heat was strong and there was no shelter or no help from the trees to shelter from the sunshine. I seen Lee at the 21 km mark and contiuned on. The second 10 km took me 49 min, 3 min off from my first 10km. From 21 km to 27 km, it was the same undulating slopes where we came from. Most of the runners were enduring the hot sun (later then i found out it was 36 deg).

 

I clocked 30 km with a time of 2 hr 27 min and still alright without any cramps. I tagged along with the Thai runners, pacing each other. I passed by Henry at 36 km and i stopped running at 37 km. My right leg was experiencing some cramp. And with slope to endure, i decided to fast walk for 2 km before i start running again. I could see many of them walking, enduring the hot sun. At 39 km, i started to run slowly and passed by Alex at 41 km who was running with a Singapore girl.

 

The cramp never appeared and i carried on to finish the marathon with a time of 3 hr 43 min. A tough battle, probably it was the toughest marathon i ever run.

 

  

 

Will i try this marathon again? Oh yes, i will definitely try again. I will come with better preparations. At least now i know what to expect from Phuket weather and the terrain.

 

 

 

Henry, Alex and Lee went back on Sunday (race day). Grace and group went back on Tuesday. Wong stayed with us until Wednesday. After Sunday, it was rainy days until we left. We were left with little choices but to shop and eat. Dear have much more shopping harvest than me.

 

The overall experience on Phuket was good - The locals are friendly and nice, challenging marathon, no crowded shopping mall. Basically it was just like a holiday paradise.

 

14th June 2009. Marathon. Time: 3 hr 43 min 15 sec.

 

 

The last long run before Phuket marathon. The past week was a low mileage week, most of the runs were speedy run. On thursday, i did the MF 10 km as usual before any marathon. Run with Joshua for most of the distance, pacing together but a bit conservative on my part due to the coming marathon. I did 44 min for the 10 km.

 

I supposed to do the long run on Saturday. But the Korean drama kept me apart from training. I couldn't wake on Sunday's morning so i had to do it in the afternoon before the family dinner. The weather was kind to me, windy and grey sky for most of the afternoon. I started off at 3.40 pm, and it was pretty quiet on the Punggol road. It was just like the morning scene.

 

 

I extended my usual Punggol loop to Yio Chu Kang MRT and back by Ang Mo Kio Ave 5, an extension of addition 6 km. I was new to Yio Chu Kang Rd and the sloppy terrain kept me with slower pace.

 

I finished the easy 22 km run with a time of 1 hr 57 min. Not really worried about the timing, i just need to get some mileage and my legs to warm up before the big challenge ahead.

 

7th June 2009 (Sun). Distance: 22 km. Time: 1 hr 57 min.

 

 

 

Everyone was running the Sundown this morning. I catered a 30 km run around Punggol for myself. Later on, i just finished 16 km and stopped. I was feeling quite tired recently, my body just wanted to rest. The time was 1 hr 21 min and it was the best first loop compared to the previous 30 km i had done.

 

2 weeks to go for Phuket marathon.

 

 

 

Ricci was the trainer for this week so i was freed of my duties to enjoy my run. The training plan was to do the MF loop 6 km - up from Morse Rd. Ricci led the way, Wen Long and myself tagged behind to enjoy the pace. Having trained with Wen Long for so many times, we knew each other's style quite well.

 

1st loop: 25 min 33 sec

2nd loop: 25 min 42 sec

 

It was about 4 min 15 sec/km, hard but steady pace throughout.

 

28th May 2009.