You might have noticed, interspersed among ramblings about cycling and commuting, I do a bit of running too. I am not a fast runner and usually do not feel the effort required to transport myself to and from races is worth it if I un for less than an hr. So I usually sign up for longer runs. That way, I can exert for longer with support (water bananas etc) which is not possible when I run (train) on my own.

Milk Run on the other hand is a short race that I have been involved in for a few years now. Though it is short, I don’t mind as it is for the sake of charity. Beyond is a primary beneficiary and it is nice organization conducting number of programs for children. The organizers have been learning the ropes for conducting a mass event and have improved much over the past few years. They were lucky too as the weather turned out much cooler and breezy this year.

I signed up for a 9.4Km run but was a bit delayed getting to the starting point. So I decided to join the community 6Km Run. While I was pacing around the starting point, the Kids 6Km Dash was starting and I figured I would downgrade myself once again and joined the kids group . As I used to be a volunteer with beyond, I recognized a few kids and some of the staff too. I blended in pretty well and I figured I can take the time to motivate some of the kids. One of the little girls took to me and wanted me to accompany her. I continued my run at the kids walking / jogging pace and motivating her to keep up and making sure she can get to the end point.

Well long story short, It took about an Hour to complete the 6K but I completed with the kid. She felt a sense of accomplishment and I felt good for doing a good deed. Happiness all around and I suppose that was the intention of the event. Great success!

It is a kick start for my training to the half Marathon in 6 weeks time.

I have been asked by numerous people on how my marathon went. Fact be told, it did it pretty badly. I can attribute my poor performance on a lot of things but digging deep down, it boils down to lack of discipline in training. As readers will know that I ride my bike regularly (and some may not know, I lost reasonable body fat). As a consequence, I figured that I can get away with just a few runs to keep the muscles and joints oiled.

Come the day of the run, it dawned that probably keeping the joints oiled is not really sufficient. The day started as had my previous runs with me breathing mu neighbors carbon dioxide and for the first km or so it is pretty tricky to get on to a steady pace. But luckily I managed to get to a part of the road where people were more or less at my pace and no overtaking going on. So I got on to a steady trot of 6:30-6:45 min/km.

After about 10 Km in the run, I was thinking hey this seems not too bad. I am about 25% in the race, am feeling pretty loose and legs are feeling good. May be, just may be, I can try to reach a sub 5Hr run. I figured there is no point in hurrying and kept up with my pace. With water points coming in at regular intervals and me taking a short breather once in a while, my pace went down to about 7 min/Km and when I reached the half way point at East coast park, I clocked in at 2:35. That was about what I did for my 1/2 marathon last year and I was thinking. Hmm this is not bad. May be I can sneak in with a bit of sprinting and fast walking and still finish around 5Hr mark.

Then it hit me like a rock. My feet started to ache (No blisters or cramps). it was simply pain from repeated pounding of my body weight on my feet. I could not really continue running. So I decided I would walk a few Km, then run a few and walk a few and repeat the cycle. But once I started walking, it was downhill all the way. I had to take a few breaks to massage my feet and rub in some of the muscle relaxant. I was tempted to get a massage from one of the cute girls (once a bastard, always a bastard) but decided against it. I tried to keep a brisk walking pace but the feet rubbing stops got the better of my timing and I ended up doing the second half in about 3.5 Hrs.

What makes it worse is that the finishing time was slower than last year’s 5:54 (I did that with a seriously hurt meniscus).

The positive side was that I was never really tired (of course continuous supply of bananas and 100+ helps a lot) and I had enough stamina to last the distance and more. But to take away a lesson, I should make sure I put in more disciplined runs to get the bones and muscles acclimatized to the punishment they take during long distance runs.

Well, some of you would be aware I took part in the half marathon on Sunday and so did some friends. My training this year was intermittent due to various reasons but I kept up the aerobic end of the bargain by doing a lot of cycling. So as I neared the run day, I put in some runs (8-10K) and was happy I was clocking decent timing (6:15 min/Km). However, I know since I have not trained my legs for running, I am going to have modest targets.

View Larger Map

I set my targets (optimistic 2:15 hrs, realistic 2:20 Hrs and pessimistic 2:34 Hrs) before the race day. My initial target of doing a 2:06 (21Km at 6:00 pace) seemed too far fetched and 2:34 is what I did last year. The target seemed achievable if my legs did not complain. I started with a nice trot – felt like I could keep going for a long while at the pace (about 6:15 after a few km). since I knew the route sketchily, I set some intermediate targets:

1. Entering ECP
2. Starting Benjamin Shears bridge
3. Fort Road
4. East Coast park (U turn) – my domain
5. Fort Road
6. Start of Nicoll Highway – my domain again
7. End point

As I was reaching the Fort road end, I figures that the route along east coast park was about 8 Km. That was the usual route I used to run and enjoyed the run as the sun came up. The problem however was that east coast park is a narrow road (as compared to the 3+ lanes along ECP / Nicoll highway) and the human traffic was pretty heavy. Motivation was easy to come by – I look for some pretty babe and keep pace with her (yea I sound sexist, so sue me). So I cycled for a while between green top, tight white, short pants, great legs etc… Too may to list down here. Suffice to say, these events are great to bump into very fit girls in tight outfits.

Well I guess I got into a bit of problem around the 17 Km point and had to stretch, apply muscle relaxant and walk for a while. That slowed me down quite a bit. I was almost on target for a 2:18 finish but the walking slowed me down considerably and I finished up at 2:23. Better than last year but I suppose I can improve a lot more. May be a 2:06 or even a sub 2:00 next year is not too far fetched. I suppose a more disciplined training routine would help.

At the end point, the crowd was pretty heavy and I skipped on getting the isotonic (fearing the queue). But as luck would have it, as I was heading out, there was this pretty babe who probably took pity on me and offered a 100Plus that she got after queuing up. Thank goodness, for such nice people still exist

I signed up for the Mizuno Wave run as a warmup for the half marathon next month. The run was scheduled over the past weekend at Bedok Reservoir area. For those who do not know, the area is picturesque as you can see from the Google maps image. The day started with some rain – but I am the kind of person who enjoys rain. Wet socks and clothes do not deter me; instead it brings out the inner child and I start a little hum and a jig. However the rain trickled to a literal drizzle before the run began and the weather was perfect for a early morning workout. I was looking forward to get my legs in shape for the final training push before the Half marathon and had reasonable target of 6 min / Km.

Due to the rain, the uneven gravel and mud tracks had collected enough water to create puddles and within the first Km, there was mud all over the place. It felt more like a run over rough terrain which is something I enjoyed too. But the problem was that till the 2 Km mark, I had hardly run Bummer… The number of runners was way more than what the path could take. I was reminded of the MILK run (a poorly organized charity event) 2005 – where participants literally walked in a slow convoy. On top of walking in a convoy, there were numerous bottle necks (literally) that could accommodate not more than 2 people side by side. These turned out to create a huge pile up of human traffic trying to pass. It is weird why some one would organize and recruit as many participants without understanding the overcrowding issues. I guess there are few reasons:

1. Overzealous organization team who was looking to increase statistical head count.
2. Inexperienced team who themselves are not runners.
3. Greedy company that wants to make as much money as possible in conducting a public event.
4. Stingy group that recruits in unprofessional organizers.
5. Complicated red-tape to obtain permits for more running space.

I tend to think the reasons are a combination of all the above. As a reason, myself included, most participants potentially left with a really bad opinion of the event. From what I saw at the finish line, there are issues that the participants need to settle too.

Time and again, I see that the baggage logistics is extremely below par. If people run in local events regularly, and know that the baggage section is going to be a mess, Common sense should deter people from carrying things to these events. But the sight of hundreds of bags being auctioned by the handlers does not seem to teach anyone a lesson.

The patience people show in queuing up is something I cannot understand. One is willing to stand 3 hours to get the event “Goodie bag”. Mizuno and “World of sport” were idiot enough not to give it away at the point of registration, nor did they have the sense to ask people to collect it at their outlets. They decided to let people queue up (figuring people enjoy it). Weird that an hour long run ender up eating up more than half a day for most people.

Oh well, the issue cuts both ways – For me, it was a 10 Km on the lazy legs and an enjoyable morning run. Maybe I should listen to my brother when he says “Paying $$ for a run that is shorter than a Half marathon is pretty senseless”. I think he has a point.