Self Imposed Suffering - 42km Solo Marathon
I just had to know. How does 42km feel like?
So I set out at 5am, on my "Marathon Feeler Route" (I have 3, by the way), with the intention of finishing at 10am, with a pace of 7:00min/km. 'Modest' I thought. Oh how wrong I was! The route basically covers the Park Connectors. It was pretty interesting on paper but in reality, one can get confused, like I did as at times the PC do not really 'connect' that well.
I entered the Siglap PC near my place. This brought me through Teluk Kurau, Kembangan over the PIE and into Bedok North. Made a wrong turn over here but luckily I stopped to check my GPS and u-turned back towards the correct route. At Bedok Reservoir......the usual dump-attack came....so had to stop at a coffee shop to do my business. I was running on the pathway here until Tampines ave 1 junction where I connected in the Tampines PC. This brought me towards Tampines Mall, Sun Plaza park etc and finally into Pasir Ris PC at Downtown East. At this point was doing slow pace (7:00+). My body, knowing that this was going to be loooong, just automatically crawled. HR was about 130bpm - 135bpm range.
Pasir Ris was not even half way yet! I went along the PC towards Loyang and to Changi Village via Nerathavanon Road (nice area in the morning btw). Took a stop at Cheers to top up on isotonics. 22km reached.....slightly over half the distance covered. Continued on slowly to Changi beach park....was getting tired and drinking much more. Stopped at Changi beach park for a quick pee and water top up. 8km to go before reaching ECP and had to cover the dreaded Coastal stretch on foot! At Coastal, I just diverted my attention to the road bikes on the road just so I don't think too much of the tiredness that was by now, slowing me down considerably. Cardio is still ok. Saw Stefan doing his Coastal loops.
Reaching ECP, I joined the race. Haha.....Singapore Biathlon was on and I think the guys were running the final 10km leg after their swim. At 33km+ mileage on my legs, EVERYONE was passing me and they were not going that fast! I keep thinking to myself.....if only my legs were still around, I could catch up and over take a lot of these guys! OK, so I can't swim well. I reached the park toilet area right after the sailing club. Topped up water with electrolyte tablets. 7km more to go from this point. An eternity on these legs!
Strange this was I was with these guys racing.....I took a drink at their stations haha and you know, the volunteers cheering these guys on and clapping their hands.....as they saw me pass and obviously not a participant, they stopped clapping an cheering. I just smiled, just feels amused. There was even some nicely short-skirt toting girls offering 'deep heat sprays'.....'any pain sir?' they ask. I did not dare to oblige, I just move on but my brain went 'yes, EVERYWHERE.....also save some for my shattered EGO'.
By this time I was doing 8:00 min/km. I was downing water a lot more (the sun was up!), cardio was a abotu 140-150bpm now and my legs are deader than before and still progressively dying. Running on the Pumas on such a long distance hurt my soles. By the 30+km mark, I could feel every pound on the soles...I ran for most part on the grass beside the path at ECP and I run faster than on pavement.
I made it! 42.5km covered. Elapsed time - 2hrs 29mins. Moving time - 2hrs 15mins. Pace 7:24min/km....far from target. Honestly, screw the pace....finishing this was already very tough! All in all, I took in 4 GU gels and 2 sweets. I had electrolytes and isotonics all the way. I expected to feel worst but it wasn't so. After the run, I rushed to go out with the family. The legs were gone, the body was battered but the mind was just....in bliss on the achievement for the day!
I wore my Zoot shorts for recovery and I think it works....soreness not that bad on the legs even now. I should get another pair and wear them for the long runs. The FBT shorts chafe my inner thighs quite badly after 30km or so....it was quite disrupting during the final part of the run. Now, should I get yet another pair of shoe? something with more padding for the forefoot? After this bout, I think I should!!!
5.5 hrs on the road with no music, on minimalist shoes, skimpy shorts and singlet.
So how does 42km feel like?
Like taking a holiday to HELL and BACK. Highly recommended.
Only 3 run activities, but heavy distance. 12 + 21 + 42 = 75km within 5 days.
So I set out at 5am, on my "Marathon Feeler Route" (I have 3, by the way), with the intention of finishing at 10am, with a pace of 7:00min/km. 'Modest' I thought. Oh how wrong I was! The route basically covers the Park Connectors. It was pretty interesting on paper but in reality, one can get confused, like I did as at times the PC do not really 'connect' that well.
I entered the Siglap PC near my place. This brought me through Teluk Kurau, Kembangan over the PIE and into Bedok North. Made a wrong turn over here but luckily I stopped to check my GPS and u-turned back towards the correct route. At Bedok Reservoir......the usual dump-attack came....so had to stop at a coffee shop to do my business. I was running on the pathway here until Tampines ave 1 junction where I connected in the Tampines PC. This brought me towards Tampines Mall, Sun Plaza park etc and finally into Pasir Ris PC at Downtown East. At this point was doing slow pace (7:00+). My body, knowing that this was going to be loooong, just automatically crawled. HR was about 130bpm - 135bpm range.
Pasir Ris was not even half way yet! I went along the PC towards Loyang and to Changi Village via Nerathavanon Road (nice area in the morning btw). Took a stop at Cheers to top up on isotonics. 22km reached.....slightly over half the distance covered. Continued on slowly to Changi beach park....was getting tired and drinking much more. Stopped at Changi beach park for a quick pee and water top up. 8km to go before reaching ECP and had to cover the dreaded Coastal stretch on foot! At Coastal, I just diverted my attention to the road bikes on the road just so I don't think too much of the tiredness that was by now, slowing me down considerably. Cardio is still ok. Saw Stefan doing his Coastal loops.
Reaching ECP, I joined the race. Haha.....Singapore Biathlon was on and I think the guys were running the final 10km leg after their swim. At 33km+ mileage on my legs, EVERYONE was passing me and they were not going that fast! I keep thinking to myself.....if only my legs were still around, I could catch up and over take a lot of these guys! OK, so I can't swim well. I reached the park toilet area right after the sailing club. Topped up water with electrolyte tablets. 7km more to go from this point. An eternity on these legs!
Strange this was I was with these guys racing.....I took a drink at their stations haha and you know, the volunteers cheering these guys on and clapping their hands.....as they saw me pass and obviously not a participant, they stopped clapping an cheering. I just smiled, just feels amused. There was even some nicely short-skirt toting girls offering 'deep heat sprays'.....'any pain sir?' they ask. I did not dare to oblige, I just move on but my brain went 'yes, EVERYWHERE.....also save some for my shattered EGO'.
By this time I was doing 8:00 min/km. I was downing water a lot more (the sun was up!), cardio was a abotu 140-150bpm now and my legs are deader than before and still progressively dying. Running on the Pumas on such a long distance hurt my soles. By the 30+km mark, I could feel every pound on the soles...I ran for most part on the grass beside the path at ECP and I run faster than on pavement.
I made it! 42.5km covered. Elapsed time - 2hrs 29mins. Moving time - 2hrs 15mins. Pace 7:24min/km....far from target. Honestly, screw the pace....finishing this was already very tough! All in all, I took in 4 GU gels and 2 sweets. I had electrolytes and isotonics all the way. I expected to feel worst but it wasn't so. After the run, I rushed to go out with the family. The legs were gone, the body was battered but the mind was just....in bliss on the achievement for the day!
I wore my Zoot shorts for recovery and I think it works....soreness not that bad on the legs even now. I should get another pair and wear them for the long runs. The FBT shorts chafe my inner thighs quite badly after 30km or so....it was quite disrupting during the final part of the run. Now, should I get yet another pair of shoe? something with more padding for the forefoot? After this bout, I think I should!!!
5.5 hrs on the road with no music, on minimalist shoes, skimpy shorts and singlet.
So how does 42km feel like?
Like taking a holiday to HELL and BACK. Highly recommended.
Only 3 run activities, but heavy distance. 12 + 21 + 42 = 75km within 5 days.
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