For the love of Running

Training Log

2010-05-31T10:18:00.002+08:00

Today is a good day to start training. I have procrastinated for months and years. Anyway, I have just downloaded an Excel marathon worksheet from runner's world as a starting template to modify. A schedule or a training log is useful for me to help me see the improvement. I think my running has been fun but very haphazard - I just run whatever distances I like. With that mentality, it is a bit difficult to improve. Anyway, I think I got the fun part right. Running for me is enjoyable but a schedule will help in improving my running. I will modify the schedule for 4 times running a week. Downloading the schedule is the easy part. Modifying and keeping to the schedule will be the difficult part. Keep running.

Favourite Runs in Singapore

2010-05-16T22:12:00.002+08:00

As I am starting my running training again, here's a list of favourite running spots in Singapore currently. If there are other good places that you know of, let me know in your comments.

1. Southern Ridges Run
My favourite run in the city currently. It is a scenic run with 2 wooden bridges and a metal bridge. There are also enough slopes and steps to make the run difficult and interesting. The usual route I take is about 10km but can be easily extended to about 20km if you run through a section of the National University (NUS). I rate it high because I have a gym membership at Vivocity, near the start of the trail. If not, then the run will be downgraded because there are no easily accessible lockers and shower areas at the start of the trail.

2. Macritchie - Bukit Timah route
This route is not as convenient as the Southern Ridge but it is more difficult in terms of terrain. The route that I used to take goes through half of the Macritchie loop and detours to Bukit Timah mountain bike trail and the Dairy Farm loop. Then I will continue running via the mountain bike trail back to Macritchie visitor center. The complete loop is around 20km and likely the best training for mountain running around Singapore. It is a challenging run given my current state of conditioning. One problem is that the Bukit Timah area has many trails so it is easy to get lost around that area.

3. East Coast Park
The east coast park route goes along the south eastern coast of Singapore. It is a long route along a beautiful park with easily accessible shower and locker facilities. Good choice for times when I want a long and flat route. The distance can be very long as it extends all the way to Changi Village and beyond. The only downside is that the center of the park is very crowded during the weekends.

Sabah Climbathon 2009 - DNF

2009-11-06T00:39:00.001+08:00

As expected, I did not manage to finish the race. I was slower than last year on the ascent and trained less than last year. Dismal results aside the Sabah Climbathon is still my favourite race as it offers beautiful scenery, mostly serious runners and very demanding route. It is hard from start to finish. Yes I have to do a little of the loser's dance to console myself for not finishing. Yes, the main reason for my dismal performance is not enough training. However after a little thought, I am unsure if I have the genes to finish the race under the men's timing of 4:30. VO2 Max can only be trained to a certain extent and it is not like I am in my 20s anymore. I might just have to face the fact that I will likely only complete the race when I turn veteran. Anyway, it is not like I am not going to try anyway.

I even tabulated my last year's progress versus this year. I am not going to embarrass myself by putting the results out but I was about 12 mins faster to the 6km mark. I did remember last year my legs were already shaking by the time I got to Laban Rata. This year I took it easy and I felt fine at Laban Rata. With my time, there was no way I was going to make the summit by 2:30 hours so I turned back before the cut off time. I crossed the line around 4 hours but I did not take the medal because I did not earn it.

After the race, I did jot down some pointers for myself next year. Within the time span of a year, my mind tends to forget how difficult the race is. So I had to give myself notes on what I need to do to complete this race. For example,
1."Don't race with the person going downhill, go at your own pace."
2."Practice uphill. Go up faster as I am not very good coming down."
3."I need to clock up to 2 hours up on stairs and then go do a fast 10k trail run as part of the training."
4."Go for a recce trip to Mt K at least one month before. Do a one day to Sayap Sayap and another trip to the summit."
etc.
The plan is always easier than the execution.

For this year's race, I am rather disappointed that no Malaysian lady got a podium finish. Our best bet was Danny Kuilin. She's 40+ and still the best Kinabalu women runner Malaysia has to offer. Unfortunately, no one is giving her a run for the money. Where's the young blood?

Kinabalu: Surrender

2009-10-17T23:32:00.002+08:00

I know it is pathetic of me to say this but I have already mentally surrendered to not qualifying for the Kinabalu run coming up next week. The reason is because my training the last couple of months have been rather miserable. A 10km here, 25 minutes run on the treadmill or a lunch time run, hardly constitute as methodical training to knock off this race. I trained for the race harder last year and did not meet the timing. This year I tried to train but mainly skipped most of the training due to work, a lack of planning, laziness or some other valid excuses that came up when I had to run. So short of exposing myself to gamma-rays, I think it is quite reasonble for me to think that my results will be similar to last year.

I will treat it as a good holiday as I will be going with couple of friends that I enjoy spending time with. I went alone last year and enjoyed it even though I could not convinced anyone to join me. However, having some good company will be a pleasant change.

The good thing about having a more difficult running goal is that I do not have to think much about what to train for next year. There is always Kinabalu. I believe the allure of the race will be there even if I manage to meet the qualifying time. It is such a beautiful run and the people who show up are usually good runners. Good company plus good run.

P.S. Another benefit of training for this race is that even in my 'cannot make it' state, I am fitter (cardiovascular wise) than most of my friends.

Injured - knee

2009-08-24T23:56:00.002+08:00

Being injured is no fun. I did not follow my own motto - "It's not worth getting injured in a training run." Fortunately, my knee is a lot better. Time to pick up slowly but I think Kinabalu will not be realistically attainable. But there's still 2 months...I will try to build up as best as I can.

Why I run?

2009-08-06T22:46:00.003+08:00

Although I have been finding it hard to get into the groove of running, I still think that I will be running for as long as I physically can. There might be other short term sports that interest me but running will still be a constant. That's my hope. I have been thinking about why I run. Or why I want to run. Here are some reasons I came up with on one of the bus trips.

----

Whenever some friends who seldom exercises, read an article about how a young and seemingly healthy individual dies at a sporting event like a marathon or something similar, they might point it out to me as an excuse for why they don't exercise. Whenever they do that, I feel obligated to tell them I don't run so that I can live longer. That has never been the primary reason why I run. So what is the primary reason for my running? I find that a little difficult to answer because the answer is a composite of many reasons.

I run because I like running. I run because it enables me to go to last minute hiking trips whenever an opportunity arises. I run because I like traveling and remaining mobile even when I retire. I run because I enjoy the company of other runners. I run because it makes me feel fitter. I run because I like the idea of going different places to participate in a race.

Having said that, I think marathon distance races and longer will only be for the next few years. Optimally, I would like to keep to the fitness level of being able to do a 21km run with little or no notice. Kinabalu (my favourite race around this region) fortunately still fits into that category.

Running Motivation

2009-07-06T23:27:00.003+08:00

Getting back to the groove of running is harder than I thought. I have been trying to build my running base for the past 2 months and the result has been pretty miserable. I think I am still the type that needs quite a lot of motivation to run even though I like running. I am getting maybe around 25 km a week but I should be getting about 50km. Too many distractions - weight training a little, skating a little, hiking a little...it all adds up to quite a lot.

Anyway, I bought myself some running equipment - a new pair of running shoes (3 weeks back) and a small backpack. The idea is to run to work twice or three times a week. That would add about 14km to the usual 25km run. If possible, push it up a little gradually. But given my motivation lately, it might not happen until KK dawns on me. Fortunately, there are some short races coming up to keep me on track.

Running Base - hurt

2009-05-01T01:31:00.003+08:00

Run Ning has once again been rough with me. After a short break from long distance running, I have been trying to build a running base again. This week was not a very good week. My initial goal was for the next 2 months for me to build a running base of about 40-50km per week. Get the legs conditioned once again to the pounding of the pavement. However, I did a 10km run last evening and now my right calve muscle is slightly pulled. I am walking with a limp now. This is not a good start. Fortunately, I think this limp will go away in a few days. Just in time to put in some mileage next week.

Kinabalu Climbathon Round 2 - Preparation

2009-04-21T23:23:00.004+08:00

Okay, I signed up for the Kinabalu Climbathon again this year. As with last year, the goal is to finish within the stipulated time of 4 hours 30 minutes. Last year, before the race I was in the fittest state that I have ever been but still did not manage to complete the run in time. This year I should be wiser from the failure however I have brought back some fear for the toughness of the race. I tried looking for mountain running plan for Kinabalu but it is dificult to find specific information for a Kinabalu run as the race is not that popular. Anyway, let me give a short review of what I have learned and see if this year I can train better.

1. The steps on Kinabalu are high and steep. Training on a threadmill is good but the feel is rather different. I remember my quads starting to cramp before the 6km mark (the race is 21km). My training should have a lot of double steps to simulate the larger steps on the mountain. The best training will still be actual steep trails but steps will have to do for convenience sake in Singapore.

2. Last year, the furthest I went was 21km for training. This was not enough for Kinabalu. I think I should be training to run 30km comfortably as an equivalent flat distance training.

3. If I am doing threadmill, I should set it at 15 degrees incline from the start. 15 degrees is the maximum incline on the running machine in my gym.The last two months long run should be mainly on hilly terrain or on this treadmill setting.

4. Intervals and tempo runs are a necessity. I will aim to push myself hard during the intervals. For the tempo runs, I should time myself and push myself to improve the timing.

5. One good way to track my progress might be to count my vertical meters per month. I overheard good mountain runners were doing nearly 30000 meters per month. I should look at my runs from that perspective as well.

With those few points in mind, I should start writing out my training plan for myself soon. Without a proper plan, I know I'll just wait around till race time and realize that I am not prepared for the race.

Groin pull

2009-02-26T23:10:00.003+08:00

Argh, trying to gain weight and running is like trying to go in two different directions at once. I have been trying to eat more and still I am at the same weight as when I started the weight training program.

Moreover, tonight I ran a 7km tempo run (80% exertion) and then went to the gym to do some weights. And...I think I pulled my groin muscle. I hope it heals in a few days as it is only a minor pull. I was lazy to take the big weights off the bar as I was alternating with a huge guy that was doing about 100+ kg squats and umpteen sets. So I left the two 20kg weights on the bar and it was a 5kg jump from my previous workout. Probably too heavy, too soon. Yeah, pride was involved. But I didn't want to be carrying little 1.25kg increments on the squat bar when the guy behind me was adding 20kgs like they were weightless.

Anyway with running, I am doing 20 minutes - 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy on Tuesdays and on Thursday will be a hard 7km tempo run - consistent 70-80% exertion. No long runs on the weekends for this weekend. Even if someone wants to run with me, I will likely only run about 10k. Unless there is a free meal involve. But then with the groin pull, I might not do it even with a free meal.

Speed Training

2009-02-14T00:34:00.002+08:00

Initially I wanted to start my training only in March but it has been brought forward a couple weeks. My boss just asked a few of us to participate in a company organised 7km run. It seems like he wants to try to win the team event of the fastest 6 finishers. I guess I need to start training for some speed as the race is end March. The chosen runners have decided that all we need to do is to beat the boss in the race so that we wouldn't be blamed for losing the race. I guess it is down to doing intervals for the next few weeks.

A Little Break for Strength

2009-01-23T23:38:00.006+08:00

I am having a break from any serious training after my last marathon. Not that I am giving up running but I felt like after all the running, my legs have become muscular but my upper body has shrunk. So for the next 2-3 months, I will do some beginner's strength training program to build up a little upper body. Also, the strength training is a little for vanity's sake. I think I will look better if I had nicer pecs and better defined abs. So I trawled the web for a beginner's program and I downloaded the plan from http://www.stronglifts.com/.

I just started 2 weeks ago and will take a break next week for Chinese New Year, so I cannot let you know the effectiveness of the program for me. What I did find out is that I have very weak shoulders and upper back muscles. Currently, I can only do 3 pull ups but hopefully in a few months time I can do a decent set of pull ups. Prince of Persia and Kratos (from the God of War) has always been an inspiration. They can do pull ups forever but they are only computer game characters. Fortunately, there are still enough running friends around to keep me running the occasional 10km.

Singapore Marathon - completed

2008-12-17T00:39:00.003+08:00

Yipee, completed my first marathon ever on the 7th December. I was targeting a sub-four hour marathon and almost pulled it off with my minimum training plan. Almost. I guess not enough mileage. So for me, the bare minimum training is not good enough for the sub 4 marathon. I guess it needs refinement and maybe add in a bit more mileage earlier on for my next plan. Probably, need two 32 k for distance run.

Anyway, JT (my friend) came over the night before the marathon to stay because it was easier to go together. I know it was a rather sleepless night for me because I was nervous about the marathon and couldn't really sleep. Anyway, I managed about 2-3 hours of actual sleep although I went to bed at 10pm and set the alarm for 3am. JT came at around 11pm and I was still turning around on my bed.

I woke up at 3am to have a few pieces of bread with peanut butter because I knew it would be a while before I get to eat. I put on my gear that I prepared the night before. I brought 3 packs of energy gel with me and a pack of candies so I would not run out of energy during the run.

My friends and I arrived at the starting place around 4:45 am. Some of those in my church decided to gather for a short prayer and communion before the run because we were likely to miss church with our expected timing. But with the huge crowd and some miscommunication we only started communion at 5:10 am. We finished 15 minutes before the flag off time. After that, a bunch of us quickly went into our respective pens. There were the sub 4, sub 5, sub 6 pens and we went to our respective target groups. I inched my way up to the back of the sub 4 group because my aim was to finish just below 4, if possible.

The run was very nice and the weather superb. The organisation was good. There was some major congestion from 38km to 42km but I was already walking by then so it did not bother me that much. For those whose legs were still fresh, the crowd (mainly consisting of slower 21 k runners) would probably have irritated them a lot more. The cheering crowd on the side was excellent considering Singaporeans are generally not very expressive. There were those that went out of their way to cheer the runners and this encouraged me. Even up to the last few km, I still had enough energy to acknowledge a smile towards the cheering crowd.

My strategy was to run an even pace throughout, assuming that my legs though untested should be able to pull through. However, that was not the case and slowed down drastically at the last 10k. I got some problems with my shoe rubbing agaisnt my ankle around 8k and had to stop to paste some plaster on my right ankle. Fortunately, I brought some. The stop cost me about a minute from my pace time earlier and I had to make up for it the next 4-5 kms. However, by 28k I felt my both my quads cramping up and had to walk for a while. Whenever I could after that, I ran when I felt like I could and walked when I could not. Finished the marathon in 4:11 minutes. I am quite happy with finishing the race and thought the time was not a bad start for a first. It was definitely a great experience and might even try another one next year.

The Singapore Marathon - 3 days

2008-12-04T00:14:00.002+08:00

I am getting the jitters just thinking about the upcoming Singapore Marathon. The distance will be far... farther than I have ever ran before. However, there is little I can do about it except to calm my nerves. When it comes to this stage, no amount of last minute training will help. That much I know. Training the body follows the laws of nature - the body needs time to strengthen. Although I am an addict to urgency and last minute errands, I know that is no way I can apply the same technique when it comes to my body. I have learnt it the hard way on my first half marathon...ten over years ago. Then, I was not prepared for the half but forced myself to run and was limping from the 18k point onwards. It was memorable because it was painful. And the fear also put me off running till a couple years ago.

Anyway, fast forward to today. I was talking to a few people from church who were running the marathon and am simply appalled by some of their lack of preparation. In fact, one person I talked to had the furthest run of 8km according to his wife. A whooping 8km and he is running the marathon. Man, I feel for him. I hope he walks the entire journey because if he even runs 8km during the race and walk the rest of the 36km, he would not be walking for a week after that. On top of that, he is 2 years older than me, which means he is an old uncle by Singapore's standard. Another person I know, has done about 10km about 2 weeks ago. We are not talking about 10km 5 times a week. 10km every 2 weeks. Even with a walk, run strategy, 10km is really underestimating the distance. Maybe youthfulness is their only redeeming factor, that or pure talent. Maybe these people want to create a ground where they will see the need for God. Even then, God created the laws of nature and if we break them, we pay a price. Regardless, I will pray that God be with all of us to keep us from harm. When compared to them, my preparation is so adequate - I should feel good about it....some people just have to learn things the hard way.

The Longest Training Run

2008-11-11T21:27:00.004+08:00

I had a 32 km run on Sunday, 11 Nov. According to most of the plans I have downloaded, this seems to be the furthest recommended distance. However as I was finishing this run, I really had second thoughts about whether I can do the full 42 km. This was because I already felt like I could not continue any further. I walked a few times after the 20 something mile, cheated a bit by stopping for a drink and took every chance to stop at traffic lights (secretly hoping that the red man would stay a little longer). To continue for another hour, in my mind, would be really pushing the limit. If I felt this bad at 20 miles, can I continue for another 6 miles to finish the marathon?

According to those veterans in the internet, I should be able to. Yes, I did follow an internet training plan to begin with and the longest run was 20 miles (32 km). I, however, did cut out the 5-6 times per week run and made it 3 times per week. According to some, running any further would increase the risk of injury and might be more detrimental than just running a 32k. I guess it is always a balance between injury and training intensity. A running friend, Ben who has ran a few marathons and has been a pacer at the Singapore marathon said that I should finish 30km feeling like I can still do 12km. If that's the case then I will be in a world of hurt come the marathon because I was taking every chance to stop. I will know when the marathon is over, I guess.

Longer Run

2008-10-31T20:00:00.000+08:00

Lately I have skipped a few runs. Given that I am already at a minimum number of runs per week, skipping one or two of my essential runs will likely hurt my marathon time. I did a my longer run - 29km - with some friends and my legs were very tired after 25km. In fact, I had to walk for quite a while. This is a sign that I might not be training enough to last the distance.
I'll try another 32km two weeks down and that would be the furthest that I will go for this round of training. Given my current condition, my timing will likely be above four hours. Hopefully, the last month of training might make some difference.

Quadthlon - Swim, skate, part one

2008-10-12T23:38:00.003+08:00

I am glad the Quadthlon is finished. It felt like a distraction for me. The main fitness goal now was to train for the marathon coming end of the year but with the Quadthlon I had to dabble in a few things that I was not confident at.

For your information, I did finish the race which was the goal and I did it with only minor injuries. A few scrapes on the knee as I tripped on the swimming carpet. Luckily it was soft so I just picked myself up and continued running to the transition area.

The four disciplines - swimming, skating, biking and running - none of which I am particularly good at but I was at least confident of the run because I had been running quite a bit this year. At least, I figured I should not have much problem finishing the 6km run.

Swimming was very difficult for me. First, I suck at the front crawl. I tried swimming 2 laps in the swimming pool 3 weeks before the event and concluded that there was no way I could have finished the 500 meters with my current front crawl. Therefore, I decided to use breaststroke. I started out at the back of the pack because I didn't want to kick anyone in the face. However, I got the direction of the swim wrong and ended up being in the middle of the pack. Also, I realised that there are many whose front crawl is just slow. In fact, I had to tread water for a while because I was caught in the middle of the swimming pack and could not overtake the few 'front crawlers' in front of me. Well technically I could overtake and kick them but that would not be a nice thing to do. Breaststroke is not a good stroke for these type of mass swimming event because it is slow and requires such a big gap to avoid kicking the other competitors. Unfortunately, it is the only stroke I am competent in. Needless to say I was ultra tired after the short swim and that contributed to me tripping on the carpet.

Skating was much better. I did wear my speed skates even though I did not think I would have save much time given that I still have not gotten used to them and I take forever to put them on. I think a pair of high end recreational skates with 90mm wheels would have been the fastest setup for me at my current skill level. I used the speed skates because it was a better learning experience than skating with recreational skates. As my skill increases, the speed skates will definitely be faster than the recreational skates. My skating instructor said that I will need one year to get used to speed skates but given my frequency of using them quite likely longer. I go for classes around once a month. I did have a small fall because one skater fell right in front of me. I avoided him but still had a controlled fall. Fortunately, I wore gym gloves so my hands did not get any abrasions. I talked to one of the spectators and it seemed like there were a lot of skaters who fell. I think there were only 3 main areas that was a little more challenging - a small step around 3 cm at the beginning, some bumps to slow down bikes and the u-turn. I was going rather slow at these areas to avoid falling but still fell because of the skater who fell.

If you are still interested, check up later on this site and I will write about the cycling and the running part.

Bitter sweet - London

2008-10-09T23:43:00.002+08:00

I got rejected for the Flora London Marathon. It is a bittersweet feeling because I thought it would be a wonderful way to see London and was in a way hoping to qualify for the ballot. However on another note, it would be a rather expensive marathon as I have to travel all the way to London. Now that I have been rejected, I can come up with different plans for the beginning part of next year. Moreover, up till now, I only think that I can finish a marathon but have never ran above 30k before. In a way, the rejection might have save me some pain. Below is the rejection letter...

Dear Runner,

We regret that we have to advise you that your application to run in the 2009 Flora London Marathon has not been successful due to massive over-subscription.

However, if you still wish to run, please see below for a list of tour operators who may be able to help you enter the 2009 FLora London Marathon.

Yours sincerely,

Dave Bedford, Race Director

First Marathon - my training

2008-10-06T00:28:00.003+08:00

December 7, given that I am healthy...I will run my first marathon. It has been 5 weeks since I started the training. Initially I wanted to download some plans off the internet as there should be quite a few. However, it seems that many of them requires you to train more often than I would like to spend on running. Also, I feel that running 3 times should be right for me both for time required and to prevent overusing my legs. As I had trouble finding a plan, I just modified one from an internet plan I found earlier in www.runnersworld.ltd.uk. My plan is to keep the plan's long run goal every week and modify its mid week training program so that it is only twice. One long run and two training runs. I found some article in the web that said it was enough but I cannot remember where the link was. I am a bit unsure whether 3 times is enough as most of the other plans I have seen so far would advise up to 6 times of running per week. I am sticking to my 3 if all goes well. One speed, one hill and a long run at the weekend. The speed and the hill all requires around 30 minutes of running only. I'll let you know if it is enough on December 8. Anyway, I am not planning to win any prizes just plan to challenge myself at something difficult and fun of course.

Beginning to run

2008-09-30T23:41:00.000+08:00

I started running around mid last year and I remembered 10k (6 miles) run was like the pinnacle for me. 10km was the barrier that I thought if I cross my body would be in a world of hurt. I came up with this idea when I was regularly running 3.2km in the morning 6 days out of the week trying to train for a half-marathon. Within a few weeks, I had some heel pain that would not go away and my knee was stiff all the time. Soon, I abandoned my half-marathon goal thinking that my body was not build for running. When friends told me they went for a 10k run, my expression was amazement. My exclamation would be something to the effect of "Wow! You did a 10k for a training run?"

One event helped break my mental barrier towards the 10km distance. Instead of being impossible, 10k became something difficult but doable. My attitude changed when some friends invited me to join them for a run at Macritchie reservoir in Singapore. Now for those who do not know, around Macritchie reservoir is where there are many accessible trails for running and hiking where distances have been marked out by the Singapore's National Parks board. However, it was not near to where I stayed so I had to fork out around $10 to take a cab to the reservoir. When I reached, all the friends there wanted to run just a small part of the reservoir for about 4.8km. The stingy side of me was thinking, I did not wake up early on a Saturday morning and pay for a taxi to run just a small part of reservoir. I wanted to go round the reservoir and that would take around 11km. And so, I did not run with the group and decided to run the 11km route by myself. It was difficult and I had to stop a few times but after a few times running the route it did not seem so difficult anymore. In fact, more and more from the original running group started to run the reservoir loop with me. Nowadays, if we decide to run around the reservoir, hardly anybody from our group does the 4.8km run anymore. Since everybody runs the 11km loop, even the "noobs" try the big loop even if they have to walk a bit of it. And so my 10km mental barrier was broken.

What I learned: For beginner distance runners like me, running one long run per week plus another short run might be better than 6 consistent short runs. For example, I think one 2km run and one 10km run per week works better for me than 6 2km run per week. Unless someone is conditioned or is naturally gifted in running, running daily might not give the body enough time to rest.