Running Sucks

2010 is almost over. Time to reminiscence about what is over. Bopian. Old man already. Always must talk about the past. 1. Did 10 races. Not bad considering that I did only 6 in 2009. 2. Did 4 half marathon including 2 overseas in KL and Macau compared to zilch in 2009. 3. No full marathon. Don't think I miss doing this though. 4. Volunteered in 4 races. I enjoyed doing this so probably will do more in 2011. 5. Remained injury free the whole year. First time this has happened since 2005. Sure there were some scare but nothing major to take me off running for any extended period. 6. Attributed this to a successful conversion to mid foot running + reduced mileage. 7. Discover the joy and pain of barefoot running but will continue with shoes but maybe switch to minimalist shoes 8. Didn't have good timing for almost all the races. Probably because of the reduced mileage. Hopefully can do better next year especially for TNF. So what's the game plan for 2011? ...

Came home from work and it was raining again. With no more gym to go to, I was like hmmm need to kill time before dinner. Do what? The weights can wait till later so what other option? Then it strike me to do something I have never done in my entire short running life. Go climb stairs.  I did like may be 10 minutes of stairmaster in the gym like 2 3 years ago but have never actually tried running up real stair- case. The most was to walk up the 4 flights to the house. There was always this fear that I may hurt the knee. But boredom is a big motivation. So what the heck. The flat was only 13 stories high. So I ran up 13 floors and took the lift down and repeat. All of 4 times which means I ran a record 52 stories. Total time taken: 9 mins 40 sec. Is that good or bad? No idea but that's a PB. Ha ha. Was it tough. Yeah it was tougher than I expected. I was panting hard after the second set and by the end of the 3rd set, the right hand felt weak and tired - from holding on to the...

Continuing from where I last left of, I was talking about the SBO runners vs the JJ runners. The SBO runners are basically unhappy with the JJ runners who take up to 8 hours to complete the FM. Their main unhappiness I believes, stems from the misconceived thought that the JJ runners ‘block’ their path while they are running thus causing them, the SBO runners to have to expend more energy to weave through them and thus spoiling their race. Apart from this, I do not think there are any other valid reasons for the SBO runners to be unhappy with the JJ runners. However, this thinking of the SBO is not correct. Let me explain. The average SBO runners will take slightly over 4 hours to complete which means they will end around 9 am. The JJ runners take over 7 hours to complete. The route is one big loop and there is no overlap so how can the JJ runners be blocking their way since they are far far behind the SBO runners? But of course we all can see the mountain of walkers every year. Just...

The dust has finally settled. Silence is golden. Every year after the full marathon is over, inevitably there will be a heated debate in cyberspace be it Facebook or the sgrunners forum. The bashing can become so bad that sometime it seems like there is no common ground between the 2 differing views. And this is not the case just here in Singapore but oversea and nothing ignite the debate better than this quirky and yet provocative ad from Pearl Izumi. What am I rambling about? The eternal struggle between the runners and the plodders of course. The runners and here we are not talking about the elites but the (See Bey On) runners who typically complete a marathon in say less than 5 hours and those (Jalan Jalan) runners who complete a marathon in say 7 – 8 hours.

Probably the most fruitful outcome of this trip was that while at Timesquare, Hongkong, what did we spied? The New Balance MT 101! And at HK$500.00 only! Which is like S$100.00 or less since I changed S$1 to HK$5.83. How to resist? And so we bought ourselves one each. Tada! Isn't it beautiful. Nevermind got no orange. Look at the shiny green (men) and purple (women) shoes.This has been on my must buy list since I started trying out minimalist running but Singapore NB has still not brought it in. Last I hear it will only reach Singapore in April or May and certainly I expect it to cost more than $100. So this is indeed a great buy. But how does it ride? Took it for a short spin at MR today. First feel it was damn light and the sole was thin. Will I feel the rocks cutting through the sole? It was raining just before the run and the ground was wet. On hard concrete surface, the shoe could not hold well and it felt slippery. But on the trail, it performed wonderfully. I didn't...

The last race of the year for me. One last chance for me to get the elusive sub 2 which has been eluding me the whole year. Okay I said I wasn't going to be obsessed over it but somehow it is what pushes me to continue to run. Guess without a goal, running will be just be like a headless chicken running round and round in circle. Race Pack Collection at the Olympic Stadium So to make doubly sure that I can get the sub 2, we packed ourselves off to cool Macau while our poor friends endure the heat in hot humid Singapore. Since we were there to holiday as well and in line with our resolve not to run the full marathon, we had signed up only for the comfortable half marathon which means we could spend the days prior and after the race to shop, shop, shop. The weather in Macau was a breezy 17 - 20 degrees with low humidity. It is our first time in Macau and our first time running in temperature that did not exceed 23 degrees. The Grand Lisboa Casino The start ...

For most people, it is just another 3 more days to the biggest race of the year. For most, it will be the last race of the year, the culmination of hours and hours of toiling in the rain and sun just for this one big race. Whatever it is, the excitement is mounting. And that should be the case cos otherwise the whole race will just be another boring old run. I can imagine the butterflies fluttering around in the stomach. There will be a lot of doubt – Can I do it? Can I complete in XXX time. There will be a lot of fear – What if I cannot wake up in time? What if I cannot sleep and therefore cannot run properly? What if I get cramps? Then there are the really important issues – What should I wear? Which pair of shoes? How many packet of gels? I have either been an active participant or a passive participant – I was a supporter in 2006, ran in 2007 & 2008 and took photographs in 2009 but this year I will be giving the SCMS a complete miss. I will be in the sin city of Asia enjoyin...