Running Diary 0041: Exploring Twilgiht Ultra 2014 Course

11 Jan 2013, 26C, sunny.

Today's long run is preparing for Twilight Ultra. Distance planned 33km, including 23km out and back to event course via PCN, and 10km event course run. I did not choose the route I used to run (through Changi Coast Road) and took the shorter cut. Later I will slowly increase laps on event course, so no need to waste mileage on commuting. 

I set off at 6am, the PCN Pasir Ris and Tampines part was in good condition and my barefeet felt great. I choose to follow MRT and go overhead bridge crossing PIE to Simei instead of via Bedok Reservoir to save 1~2km. When PCN turn to Bedok Camp after Sunei Bedok, it was rather rough and asphalt almost gone, only left sharp gravel biting my poor feet. It became even worse when I was back because the sun had heated to road for several hours.
I had no problem find the race route and started from the east side (2.5km turn point), then went west and used my GPS to locate the 7.5km mark, turned back and finished 1 round. I was satisfied with the course: not too easy, and a little bit challenging. I was right to jogging at 8min/km pace. It added no stress to my muscles, only tested my feet, my soles. My forefeet ached on the way back an force me jogged even slower. I could not walk because the the feet contact time was longer in walking and ached more. 100km barefoot running is not so easy to me, at least now.
Today's distance: 33.3km, time 4:48. Had a walnut bum and a slice of baguette with one cup of milo. During the run I consumed ~1500ml water. Went to toilet once so no dehydration issue.

Running Diary, day0016: Bridges Over Melaka River

17th Dec 2013, 28C, cloudy.
Today I followed the riverside route reached the turning point of river cruise yestetday. There was very

T few people walking or jogging there. Only met a group of local teenagers jogging and wandering, saying hi to each other. Thought there should be more foreign jogglers than locals. It was quiet and peaceful.
The pathwaw beyond river cruise was under construction. It was rather ulu (rural) in Melaka. Thought a few years later when I visit here again I could run further. Right now it was no more than 10km out and back. Enough for walker and joggler but far below my expectation :P 

There were eight bridges across the river, where I weeved through. They are beautiful, I can wait to see the nineth, tenth bridge...

Today total run 15km, 1:40.

Running Dairy, day0006: Route from Pasir Ris to Lower Peirce and Bishan Park

Dec 6th 2013, 23C, sunny.

Started at 5:47am, from Pasir Ris, through Lorong Halus wetlands (2.5km mark), via Punggol Park (6.5km mark), Punggol -Hougang PCN, Ang Mo kio AVE5 (9.5km mark, instead of Yio Chu Kang Road to avoid hilly terrain), reached Lower Peirce Reservoir (15.5km mark, through the Broad Walk entrance after Casuarina Walk in Old Thomson Road). Then crossed Upper Thomson Road and ran through Bishan Park (18~21km). Finally I jumped to the train in Bishan MRT. Total 22.51km in 3:10:24, AVG pace 7:38/km (excluding stop for traffic), HR 126bpm.

The run was rewarding, not only scenic, but also very light body loading. The post run feeling was amazing, I was refreshing after this 3hrs run, no stress at all! I think that is what the real easy run looks like, and the running philosophy Sekiya Ryoichi advocated: run more with low intensity, leaving less stress to body, so you can run even more. Longer your body indulging into the aerobic exercise, more endurance you gain.
Weather was fine and I only get hydrated in Punggol Park and Bishan Park, Starting with empty stomach as usual, I finally ended up with 1 glass of sugar cane juice and a piece of papaya, nice!

Ps. My barefoot mileage reached over 5000km.

SAFRA Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon 2012

This was my third time participating in SAFRA Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon, and 2nd time ran in barefoot. I have been using this traditional event as my annual 21k time trial because of it's good organization and sanctioned distance (although last year we thought is was over 0.7km shorter). One week before race a strong haze hovered over Singapore's sky, with PSI and PM2.5 both rising over 50. Fortunately a big shower cleared all this away the night before the race, bringing also a cool weather.

I woke up at 3:30am and reached The Padang around 4:40am and had my bag deposited very quickly because there were plenty of NS men at our service. But I surprised to find long queues in front of mobile toilets, maybe due to insufficient toilets supplies this year. I gave up and made my way to the Esplanade Bridge starting point. This year the organizer reserved a passage for "seeded runners" (elite runner I think) to get to the front of the starting line. I joined the less privileged runner in another long queue to move onto the bridge. In the past I could use the pavement of the bridge short-cut to the front, but this year it was blocked. I had to stay about 200m away from the starting line and later it took me 2min to move past it.

Flag off was punctual as usual at 5:15am sharp. 1st 2km in Robinson Road Shenton Way was same as last year, the parade moved slowly and I took it as warm up at a pace of 6:43/km. There was pauses at each of the turning point, no matter in the road or PCN. After 3km we turned to Marina Bay Boardwalk passing through newly opened Gardens By The Bay. But in the dark we could see nothing. The running experience was much better in the PCN leading to Marina Barrage, compare with previous "Marina ST- Marina- Place- Marina Mall" route which was a part of transportation line for Marina East/ South construction, dirty and rough. After 5km mark we moved to Marina Barrage, it was already 31min and I could move no faster then 5:45/km pace. The following 3km stretch of PCN at Marina East was also narrow. It would took more energy to weaving among the people. I avoided to do so and slowly overtook people, through it was 30s slower than my target pace. I was not the only impacted one, at 6km I overtook 2:00 pacers, they also fell behind their target timing a lot. I kept it to 8km mark, then I start to pump up to 5:15/km pace, on the meadows beside the PCN of Tangjong Rhu.

When I reached 10km turning point it was already 58min. Good news is we were back to the road, and the crowd was smaller after 1hr's overtaking. Very natural. The I decided to push a little bit and geared up to 5min/km pace, even when climbing up Tanjong Rhu Bridge. When we turned from Mountbatten Road to the wide, straight and flatten stretch of Nicoll Highway after 12km mark, very good for overtaking. I sped up to 4:50/km, and decreasing by 10s/km every 2km, while other people were getting slower and slower. The speed fun was interrupted after turning into Kampong Bugis at 16km mark, the road surface was so rough and even though it was down slope I decelerated to 5min/km pace. The 1km stretch tortured my soles but it was alright since I had put 1800km+ barefoot millage on them. The bridge in Kallang Riverside Park at 17km mark was so narrow (a pedestrian crossed bridge in a park, what do you expect? ) later turned out to be the most stringent bottle neck, after the massive 21k and 10km runners merged together. I was lucky to pass without delay because most runner had not been there.

Then we were again away from the main road, ran on Marina Promenade along Kallang river. Through I didn't like the pavement, I kept 4:40/km pace. At 18km mark, we turned into F1 track at which I was astonished to find all asphalt gone, only gravels left! It was quite different to that I ran J.P. Morgan 5.6k in Apr. I wondered if it was next week's GP F1 night race requirement. The 2km track was real challenge to my barefoot. I'v anticipate it to be rough base on previous experience, not expecting it to be so worse. I did not reduce cadence, just change mid-foot landing to "whole-foot" landing to ease the impact, my pace maintained steady without deceleration. The ultimate torture was over in 9min, at 20km we turned into Esplanade Drive. I started to sprint, pace increased from 4:30/km to 4:10/km. I also turned the tempo trainer (YAMAHA ME55BK clip on metronome) which help me to maintain 180/min cadence, striving for a free run. Before entering Pandang, I noticed my average pace reached 5:16/km, I almost hit my target pace, and also meant I would get a PB this time (Last year I ran 1:52 in 5:19/km pace, though it fell 700m short). I finished in 1:51:15, based on my Garmin305.

The distance was accurate, my watch shown 21.11km. I believe the course was sanctioned on IAAF criteria, as the organizer claimed. I think my last year timing should be 1:56 had not been the course falling short. So this year I'v improved by 5min. Thanks for the MAF training I dedicated since last December. My boy was comfortable throughout the race, starting in a slow pace with prolonged warming up, speed steadily increase to the end of the race. And my bare soles were also seasoned and could deal with tougher surface, without blisters and worn out. I hope I could ran into 1:45 next year.

Timing chip tight on Nathan ankle band

The medal was nice too, compare with last two years. I notice there was a mark of "ELM" on it, same as Standard Chartered one, very good design and quality.

Official timing was out, 1:51:13. The Runpix analysis shown that I had passed 295 runners during last 5km, second to another runner who passed 303. Both us ran a reverse pyramid scheme. I was forced to because the human wall, what about this guy?

Appendix:
Running statistics: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/220384722
Run pix analysis:

Father's Day Treat: SAFRA National Runway Cycling & Skating 2012

Had I know SAFRA National Runway Cycling & Skating (17 Jun 2012), I should have not joined OCBC Cycle Singapore. It was so cheap, only 1/4 of OCBC price. I registered as a rehearsal of my first triathlon that thought to take place in July (but turned out to be in late Sept.)

The airport looks near my residence but I cycled 10km to get there by rounding it up from northeast to southwest. I reached Paya Lebar Air Base at 8am and took 15min to get through security check.

There was a static display of F15 Eagle fighter before the entrance of runway. Many people took photo with it.

Only when I reached the runway, I knew it not a place for PB making. The runway had been designed to meet aircraft taking off and landing requirement. There was always head wind in one direction. This time it was from southwest. When I reached to start line the race had already flagged off. It was a non-competitive race and no ranking after race, so all you had to do was experiencing it and record your timing at your best.

I need to do 3 loops to complete the 45km endurance cycling, the 30km skaters started on the left most lane but soon merged with cyclists. I though a little bit unsafe for the mixed up. I did not see any crash between cyclists and skaters, but saw quite a few cyclist crashes. There were plenty of medic support along the route.  So all was under control.

Rather different to OCBC one, this race saw a lot of special bikes like fixies, unicycles,

tricycles, even some home made ones.

All were banned from OCBC. It more like a carnival. This year's theme was "Father and Son", the best scene was father taking his son touring.

I missed the sideway to finish gantry after loop 3 and took additional 5km ride. And the system record me as 4 loops. Actually I did 50km. 2hrs for the designed 45km, very slow one, thanks for the head wind. Despite the score, the workout made so easy, I did not felt any muscle soreness, it was the most non-competitive event I took place. Happy Father's Day!

Keeping The Saw Sharpened: Waterway PAssion Active Run 2012

10th Jun 2012, The first running event Waterway PAssion Active Run was held in newly opened Punggol Waterway. I registered it not only because it was near my door step, but also I knew the organizer was the famous grassroots running enthusiast. They didn't fail us, the registration fee was cheep, only S$23 under PAssion card, and goodies were quite good abundant. I have been toured either by running or by cycling around the waterway before. And I also arranged a walk through when the route was  fixed 1 week before race. I was quite satisfied with the 10km course they designed, scenic, no traffic interruptions, and least bridges. It implied I could possibly set a PB here.

Though I just finished a marathon 2 weeks ago, I felt fully recovered already. I did rest very well and carried out just enough cardio workout (jogging with my wife at 8~9min/km pace) during the days. I think my peak performance could maintained till the race day. Good news was the weather of the race day was cool, the sub 45min target became much more achievable.

The race was flagged off at 7:30, I tried to move closed to start line. As usual, all runners were burst out at beginning. When I read my pace to be ~4:00/km on Garmin I slowed down. The 1st km was heading to the Waterway Park from Punggol interchange. After entering the park there was a big down slope, there I just keep my stride but increase cadence according to the declination, no acceleration nor braking. Soon I was in the 2nd peloton after the elite runners. The course was barefoot friendly, mostly asphalt, only few with tiles (the uneven tile surface made my soles uncomfortable). When I began to maintain a steady 4:30/km pace. I runner whistled at me when he roaring by. It was Barefoot Pua, my colleague and veteran elite barefoot runner, who inspired me for barefoot running. He said he was running home and disappeared in the front.

At the bridge (4km mark) I began to separate with the peloton. My climb was much better than before, made no speed loss. I overtook a VFF runner before 5km turning point. Barefoot Pua was there cheered for me. He had finished his morning run and ready to go home (he lived around but not participated in the race). More runner slowed down after halfway due to stamina loss. I had no difficulty passing several more. And before 8km mark, I overtook another female elite runner, Sumiko Tan, who ranked 4th in Women. Then came the big up slope at the same place we ran in. I still had enough stamina to climb the slope without loss of speed. The cost was I could not sprint in the last km. The young guy I overtook at the slope rushed off and finished before me. I felt my self quite old/ Sigh.

The system clocked me 43:38, it was a new 10km PB. I did it and proved that I was still in the peak even after a marathon. I was ranked 42 among 569 participants in my category. I was surprised by the level of this race, normally I should rank within top 30 in the entire fields for the small running events like this (~2500 participants). But when I looked into the top 10 finisher list I knew why, the top Singapore runners were all coming: men we had Lim Kien Mau and Foo Gen Lin (both ~33min), women we had Qi Hui (aka Ann Date) and Vivian Tan (both ~38min), they all latest local event winners! If Mok came, it would be more like an national championship : )

I took some pictures (album1, album2) when I waiting for my friend ti finish. And the race was supported by a lot of volunteer photographers, everybody got a bunch of pictures to memorized the hilarious moment. I would give two thumbs up for the race, a truly grassroots, runner oriented event, could not be better!

I also found my image in the race report by Run Society: http://www.runsociety.com/2012/06/11/waterway-passion-active-run-2012-sunday-communal-fun/

A New Running Route Links Pasir Ris, YCK with Punggol Promenade

Puggol Waterway (full map in Npark) had just been launched as a icon of NorthEast eco-life style a few months ago. I'v explored Punggol Waterway part it last year end. And this time the seaside part were finally opened.


I started from my flat at Pasir Ris Dr3. Reached Lorong Halus Wetland at 2km mark and passed Serangoon river bridge at 2.4km.

There are two routes after the bridge. The left led to Punggol Promenade Riverside Walk and Serangoon PCN.

I followed right to Punggol Waterway. A few steps later there was another bridge, that led to seaside( my return route) and the other side of the bank. The Waterway runs along the canal that connects Sungei Serangoon and Sungei Punggol, total 4km.

Between 4.5km and 6km there was Punggol Waterway Park and a private resident under built. The geysers and waterfalls made running stereo, a whole new experience.

Before 7km mark there was a bridge right hand side led the seaside(Through Punggol PCN to Punggol Promenade Point Walk and Nature Walk). I turned left and soon reached Sungei Punggol, from where one could see Seleter North Link connecting with Pulau Punggol Timor.

The rest 3.5km PCN run along Sungei Punggol through Seng Kang Riverside Park, Seng Kang Sports and Recreation Center( between 8km and 9km mark), reached the end of the PCN at Yio Chu Kang Road.

Then turned back and crossed the canal, headed for seaside. Reached Seletar North Link at 15km mark, where I visited during last week my round island tour.

Around 300m away (after Punngol Marina Country Club) the PCN deviate from the river join to Punggol Seventeenth Ave, that misled me last week.  This time I turned left and it led me back to the river and 2km later I reached Punggol Point Park (17km mark).

And following 4km was the beautiful sea view with cozy red earth trail, could not be better.

At 21km mark I was back to Serangoon bridge to close the loop. The Punggol promenade loop added up to slightly less than 11km. I just wonder if it could be adopted as the 10km route of incoming Waterway Passion Active Run?

Overall, the route was scenic and full of new experiences. The draw back was very few toilet and refresh along the road. I only saw toilet and vending machine at Seng Kang SRC and Punggol Point Park. Of course, because it was newly build, the trees are not big enough to shade the sun.