F1 was happening at Marina area, running there was not an option. This week, the long run was switched to the west area. The route started at clubhouse to Queensway, Portsdown Rd, Dover Rd, Clementi Rd, Ulu Pandan canal, Queentown, Alexandra Rd, and then do the 10 km MF hill. This distance should be around 28 km with the major testing point at MF. The numbers grew which i believed some of them came for my birthday lunch. I appreciate their intention as they need to sacfrice their precious sleep.

 

We set off at 7.15 am, Ricci, myself and Derrick led in front. I considered myself running relatively slow as i intended to do extra 5 km. The NF runners were doing their recovery run after running 30 km yesterday. So most of them sit behind the front pack. 3 of us (Ricci, myself & Derrick) broke away from the front pack, running at a pace of 4.30 min/km. The street was quiet and not much traffic which made running easier. Ricci was not feeling good after the canal, he stopped and walked a few times. Probably too much running for him after the Saturday run. I was all alone after the canal, stopped at the Queensway Shell to replenish myself. My pace was dropping after the water break. The sun was starting to shine by then, making the run more difficult to control. I attempted the MF hill slowly, just wanted to get over the hill. My watch was showing 1 hr 59 min after Morse Rd. I purposely stopped at Telok Blangah Rise shop to replenish again as i wanted to run another 5 km. As I ran past the clubhouse, my mindset was blocked. Not wanting to run further, i u-turned from Henderson Rd and got back to the clubhouse.

 

My time at 28 km ending stood at 2 hr 20 min. I was a bit disappointed, not having to run the extra 5 km. It was difficult to loop around the finishing point after the 28 km torture.

 

27th Sept 2009. Distance: 28 km. Time: 2 hr 20 min.

 

 

Planned the MF hill 6 loops (1.6 km per loop). Not many runners turned up for the training, probably the planned 27 km long run on last Sunday had scared them off. Nevertheless, it still fretched around 16 runners for the training. The elite runners never missed the training. Wen Long was fantastic recently, on super form. Led all the sets in front with an average pace of 7 min.

 

Below were my training time:

 

1st loop: 7:20

2nd loop: 7:08

3rd loop: 7:11

4th loop: 7:12

5th loop: 7:32

6th loop: DNF

 

I maintained my pace as 7:15 per loop. Did not want to push much after the hectic 32 km run on last Sunday.

 

22nd Sept 2009.

 

 

Initially i planned for a 30 km run, U-turn at B2 toilet. Derrick challenged me to run up to MacDonald on Thursday, i was willing to do so. This provide me an extra reason to do up to that distance. At Punggol, i had done several 32 km with all the lonely running and harsh water point conditions. I knew even running up to MacDonald would not have any problem.

 

Derrick and myself led the big group. The plan was to start at 7 am but some of them were late. So we got off running at 7.15 am. It was cooling after yesterday rain and with additional incentive that tomorrow was a holiday. We could run without any worries. My pace was around 4 min 50 sec per km. Easy and smooth, adopting the Newton running style. Derrick managed to pace me up to Harbourfront, and from there i ran in front to take the pace lead. The familiar sight of Keppel Rd, Anson Rd, Shenton Way, with quiet traffic, it made running more enjoyable. The F1 is around the corner and road works around Suntec area was heavy. Blockages, Fencing everywhere, we would have to run on the road from Esplanade to Nicol Highway. By then, Derrick was about 200m apart. I was still yet to engage serious focusing, still enjoying the morning breeze. Remained with constant pace all the way to B2 toilet and bought a Gatorade at 7-11 store. Then i saw Derrick came by, with slower pace now. I joined him all the way up to MacDonald, i could sense he was in trouble. So I would go ahead with my own pace.

 

From MacDonald, I u-turned back without waiting for Derrick. I could still feel my body full of energy, waiting to burst out. At B1, I saw Freddy, Lawrence, Michael, Shun Yao starting to make their u-turns. Then came the Fort Rd, Henry's group - Wong, Shirley, Siew Lee were on the opposite direction. It's great to see them doing the distance. After the Mountbatten Rd, i could see Lai Chee in front doing her recovery run. I overtook her after the National Stadium, saw Junior Melvin preparing his NF 100 at Esplanade. After the DBS building, i started to feel stress. The feeling was like the one i faced in Phuket at 35 km. I stopped at 7-11 store near M Hotel to replenish myself for another 5 km. This time i dropped my pace in order to finish the run. Struggle on the Henderson slope, still manage to push all the way to the end.

 

Feeling like the distance was about the same as the one i done in Punggol - 32 km. I finished with a time of 2 hr 51 min 48 sec. I would not say it's a hard effort but definitely a test on my endurance especially the last 3 km under the hot sun. Most of the runners managed to finish the planned distance. I think they are very hungry for distance after a month's break from long distance training.

 

20th Sept 2009. Distance: 32 km. Time: 2 hr 51 min 48 sec

 

 

The haze was back but training was on. Time to train for SCSM09, about 12 weeks left. Initially, the turnout was not that big but soon more runners turned up. We did a slow run up to Telok Blangah Hill. The menu was 1 km around the hill top to the usual carpark - 5 sets.

 

1st: 3 min 35 sec

2nd: 3 min 40 sec

3rd: 3 min 36 sec

4th: 3 min 30 sec

5th: 3 min 26 sec

 

I just concentrate on finishing the sets. Wen Long ran with on 1st, 4th, 5th set and that explained the quick time from the above performance. I would not say these sets were the fastest set i ever done but the last set worth to talk about it. It was about more than 1 year since i clocked under 3 min 30 sec.

 

15th Sept 2009.

  

 

It was raining heavily for the whole day but stopped just nice for the MF training. I was the trainer for this session, initially planned 5 x 1.6 loop MF upslope with 2 x MF staircase. I changed the program due to the rain and slippery condition on the stairs. I asked the runners to do 6 x 1.6 km loop.

 

The weather was fantastic after the afternoon rain, cool all the way. We did a slow warm-up to the MF carpark where i gave a short briefing on the training and the safety precautions. At 7.10 pm, we started off. Ricci led in front, myself and Wen Long followed behind. We were followed closely by Small Chua. Due to my recent sickness, my fitness seemed to drop a bit. Below were results for the training:

 

1st: 7 min 2 sec

2nd: 6 min 55 sec

3rd: 7 min 15 sec

4th: 7 min 34 sec

 

I finished 4 loops and stopped, just to condition myself for the hard training ahead. It was a good workout.

 

1st Sept 2009.