.... the jackal rides and run....

Just one day of rest (Monday) and I'm out again. I've not recovered (not even now!) but am itching to just get out there.... Tuesday : Ultra slow 30km ride, with HR average of 115bpm and speed of about 25+km/h. Pleasant ride at the usual 30km route. An accident that killed a cyclist just occurred over the weekend on this stretch. My thoughts were with him and his close family as I passed the area slowly. Saw quite a few groups already up and riding at the time but I had no interest to chase (nor the ability at this point in time). Good to give my legs some stretching over the pedals. Thursday : Actually felt good the previous day but found difficulty in waking up. I did anyway and ran 11+ km. Slow at first but eventually, pushed a bit towards the last 3-4km. It was tough and the legs were heavy. HR was also getting high faster. I still need to recover properly with rest and proper food. Collected my medical report on Monday. Basically a company sponsored Biennial Health S...

I started training for the Marathon using the above 12-week plan in March, right after doing a 42km Feeler Run (which took me a good 5hrs 30mins to complete, including stops). The initial goals were pretty high. Marathon pace was set at 6:00min/km, probably a bit too high as a first Marathon goal. I followed through until week 5 were the training took its toll on the knees (probably coupled with the fact that I was concurrently preparing myself for the Kuantan Century ride as well...) and at least 1+ week of slow running down time. After that I concluded that I should shoot for Marathon pace of 6:15min/km. Things started to look ok but still deep within I was a bit skeptical if that could even be achieved over such a long distance. A good thing that came out from the training was that I was able to hit consistently below 6:00min/km pace for 21km towards the 2nd half of the training plan. A realistic target for me in the end was to try to hit 6:30min/km. The reality : 6:44min/km ...

Pretty neat presentation of the results! I am actually pleasantly surprised with my placement, not that it matters much. And some pics....I don't look that tired huh. Should have pushed harder....

After 3 months of preparation, starting from that 42km feeler run back in March, the moment came ..... and went. The week leading to this has been a little bit repressive. I had to restrained myself both mentally and physically in order not to do too much activity and this was rather unpleasant. Very weird. It was in the end, more of a good thing than bad as I entered race day with the least pain and aches I've ever had going into any activity for the past 3 months. That was not to say that I was going to do extremely well but its at least a bit more comforting to know that I will probably endure much less over the mammoth distance. So I had my stuff all packed prior. I had a lot of time thinking about what to wear for the event and settled on the provided singlet, my sexy FBT plenty short shorts and Puma H-Streets. Strange to think that after spending quite a fair bit on shorts, I settled with the first few shorts which I bought for 10SGD. Same goes for the shoes! I spent on Me...

My wife got this for me! SGD25 shipped. Supposedly made in Korea, it has a lycra-like upper sewn to a rubber (feels like latex) sole. Its very light and fits exactly like a short profile sock.....with a sole. I've not gotten around to try it out yet, except for running about by micro abode but it does feel good; very comfortable, extremely flexible (more so than even VFFs or my Puma's!). I would be a bit concerned about the durability though...especially on sewn area of the lycra-like material. Okay, they did not have the colour I wanted for the size I needed so I opted for the very loud looking one......

Tapering down at the moment and eating well (too well at times, I fear!). Only did a 10km on Saturday morning which was strangely a very lethargic run for some reason unknown. Legs felt lazy and heavy. Nothing noteworthy from this run. Managed a 12km barefoot run with good speed (a 10km barefoot PB of 57:22). Legs always feel more alive without shoes and in general, always happier after a barefoot bout. Could be also due to the excellent foot massage I had yesterday (and dinner buffet). I was doing sub 6 until the 9km point where I turned it up. I was running on the road park road centre-line which is 'smoother' to relieve the tender soles at this point. A guy in huaraches-like shoes passed me a quite a fast pace and he led a good 80m or so before I decided to turn it up and made him a target pacer from afar. Managed to catch up and eventually passed him right after the old Macs and of course, my end-run point as well. No blisters thankfully but soles felt tender....only afte...

I'm changing my runs to the evenings at the moment, in preparation for the Sundown Marathon in slightly more than a weeks time. The Marathon event starts at an ungodly 12.30am so I better get used to some late runs prior. Started out at about 7:15pm and did the ECP loop. I wanted to try to break 2hrs in this run but failed! I started out with a fast pace and was actually softly challenging a lady who was running quite fast! I passed her at lagoon area but she came back sprinting ala interval style after Bedok Jetty. Passed her again soon after as I help my pace but then again at the 6km point, my pace dropped and she beat me straight up. Respect! From there on no way of catching her.....Did a decent 10km (56mins) so I was on track but I was wrong. Although its still a PB at 15km (1hr 26mins), I was fast faltering in speed and could not even do 6min/km after that point. The last 6km was just pure torture and defeat. HR refused to get up at all (and it was pretty high during this ...