Same Distance but

Revisited 2 old run routes recently. 

Tampines Mountain Bike Park

Last week, ran through the Tampines Eco Green and the Tampines Mountain Bike Park. There was about 1.5km of paved road, 8km of nice flat trail and another 500 metres of winding undulating forested trails. The whole run took me about 1 hour 10 minutes to finish the total 10km.

 A week earlier, ran the Bukit Timah Reserve starting from the side of the carpark to Beluakar Trail then pipeline trail and durian trail before coming back to the Bukit Timah Visitor Centre and up to the Hindhede Quarry. Also 10km but it took me 1 hour 36 minutes. 

Pipeline Link

What a vast difference! Both 10km and yet it might as well been 10km and 15km. I have been pondering over this. 

1. The former is mainly flat and on top of that, there is 1.5km of road

2. The latter is a highly technical trail for the first 3km but thereafter the rest is mainly flat with only about 200 metres of road

3. Elevation for the former is only 22 metres (the overhead bridge don't count) whereas it goes up to 70 metres in the latter.

4. I started the Tampines run at 8.15 am and the Bukit Timah run at 9 am. Both time weather was equally hot but there was more shade at Bukit Timah than Tampines.

Elevation Profile for Bukt Timah Reserve

Elevation Profile for Tampines Eco Green/Mountain Bike Park. The 2 peaks are overhead bridge

So by all account, both should more or less even out yes? Of course, not. I realised that running all the up and down of Bukit Timah is really not that easy. Thee  run/stop actions took a lot out of me. It was akin to doing an interval or a circuit training. I drank almost every drop of my 1.5ltr of water compared to zero for the Tampines Run.

Maybe I should just stick to running on the road?

The Ultimate Race for Cancer 2012

A friend in Malaysia is raising fund for Cancer Research. Frank Chong, a former cancer patient will be taking part in the Comrades Marathon in South Africa. Frank will be only one of 2 Malaysian participating in the 90km gruelling Comrades Marathon. All 100% of the funds raised from donation and sale of t-shirt will be channelled towards the Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation.

If readers are interested in helping a good cause, why not consider putting in a small donation or buying one of the nice t-shirt.

The t-shirt are available from

1) Running Lab Malaysia - G29, Ground Floor, Tropicana City Mall

(contact person: Frank @ +6012 395 9598)

2) CARIF - 2nd Floor, Outpatient Centre, Sime Darby Medical Centre

(contact person: Katrina @ +603 5639 1966)

3) Those in Singapore can get the tee from Kelly Lim.  For more information click here

Donations can be made via cash or cheque payable to Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation) can be deposited at CARIF or Running Lab, Tropicana City Mall. (Too bad there is no option for donation from Singapore - maybe Frank you can work with Running Lab Singapore for this?)

Donations and payments for TURCR is now made available via Maybank2U and PayPal services. For more information click here
More details here:

The Ultimate Race for Cancer 2012
Frank's blog
TURCR Facebook
Cancer Research Initiatives Foundation
Comrades Marathon

Kinvara 2

New gear. Still yet to try out.

Date of Purchase: 26 February 2012

Cost: $117.00

Purchased from: Running Warehouse

Worn in races

1 September 2013 Army Half Marathon
7 October 2012 NE Tampines Run


Retired: 13 December 2013

Total Mileage: 664 km

2.4km Run

Last week a colleague asked me how to train for the 2.4km IPPT run. I nearly choked on the pen I was nibbling at while staring at the pc. Everybody in the office know that I run a lot. But this guy like most of the others all assume that just because I run, I can do the 2.4km. What they don't realise is that while yes, I run, I do mainly long runs, what in runners speak, we called Long Slow Distance run with the emphasis on the word 'Slow'. So I didn't really have a ready reply for him. 

The last time I ran a actual 2.4km in a test or race was years ago. I have totally no recollections of what sort of timing I got though. I only remember that I managed to clear almost all the IPPT during full time NS and during my reservist phase, I usually pass on the 1st attempt with the $200.00 monetary award. But the actual timing? I really don't know. A further quick check on my runningahead log shows my last 2.4km run was in May 2011 when I clocked 11.27mins. My best was in February 2006 when I clocked 10.35.

So now with an injury behind me and much lower mileage, what sort of time will I be able to do? My curiosity piqued, I decided to go to the track to find out for myself. So after a nice 2km warm up run to the Meridien JC, I went for it. 

I started off at what I thought what a reasonably fast pace at perceived effort of 85 - 90%. But that soon fizzled out and I went slower as each round goes by. A quick glance at my watch at the end of the 3rd round shows I was running under 6 mins for the 3 rounds so I reckoned I will probably finished about 12 minutes. By the 5th round, my legs were protesting and I started on my cough and going to puke routine. There I thought of giving up. What the heck, it wasn't worth all that torture just to satisfy my curiosity.  But with barely 700 metres to go, it was kinda waste to give up so I pushed myself on and finally finished the 2.4km.

Okay I made it. A check on Mindef website shows if I am 29 years and younger in Cat X and Y,  I will have got 3 points. If I was between 30 to 34 years old (Cat Y1), I will have got 4 points and if I was Cat Z and above, it will be 5 points or A grade. Hmmm not too bad for someone bordering on the half a century mark.

Back to the question how to train for the IPPT? Other than run more, run faster - I really have no answer but to refer my colleague to these few websites:

http://www.angelfire.com/mac2/hls2004/ippt_preparation.htm
http://www.mindef.gov.sg/life/ippt7.htm

Twilight Ultra Challenge 2012

Last year I enjoyed myself at the Twilight Challenge although I didn't ran in it. This year, again I didn't run. I also did not volunteer. Due to a busy weekend schedule, I had only a window of 2 hours to kapo there. That I did and for about an hour and a half, I parked myself at a part of the East Coast Park and snapped away.

But more than pictures, I went away filled with awe and admiration for these men and ladies who braved the chill of the night and the heat of the day to complete the gruelling ultra. Some people may scoff at our "standard" of ultra but I have no doubt that for each of the participant, it was as tough if not more than those overseas. Singapore may not have the rolling hills but what it does not have, it more than make up for in its humidity and heat. Add rounds and rounds of pounding on the hard concrete surface of East Coast Park and sleep deprivation and the temptation of the barbecue, and I sure the Twilight Ultra is right up there in terms of "shiongness".

Anyway, a picture tells a thousand words. Just look at the shag faces here:

But of course, for everyone that is shag, there is another who looks like he just got out of bed and went for a nice morning stroll, like these few fellas

Another One Bite The Dust

The over-saturated race scene has claimed another victim - this time the Sundown Ultra-Marathon. The organiser decided to cancel this year edition because it suffered a $250,000.00 loss for last year edition. That it suffered a loss, I am not surprise. Splitting up the event over 2 weekends was pure madness. Fact is there simply isn't enough ultra runners and holding an Ultra event of such a magnitude is bound to fail.

In the same newspaper report of the cancellation of the Sundown Ultra, the TNF Singapore was also reported as being in the red for the TNF 100 Solo. So will we also be looking at a cancellation of that event as well?

One thing is certain.With practically a race very other weekend, the race calendar is so crowded that it has forced the 100 Plus Passion Run to postpone its race in May to a later date. The same thing happened to the North East Run last year. Who else will be next?

Word has it that a certain major women race has also been cancelled. But there will be many more new races to replace it - like the Sculpt Run for Women, the Pocari Sweat and maybe a K-Swiss Run and for the Ultra junkie who miss the Sundown Ultra - a brand new "Crazy Ultra"!

With spmany more races to choose from and limited pocket, runners are spoilt for choice. Runners should collectively assert their power and vote with their pocket - take part only in races that are well organised and do not shortchanged the runners. Boycott the badly organised races and hopefully we will not see races such as the Marina 21 or the Tri-Factor Run anymore. Organiser should also refrain from organising the usual 10k race at the East Coast Park or Marina Bay but come out with creative races much like the Energiser Night Trail or the Nike Goddess Run or the Tiong Bahru Trail Run.

Run and Raisin' 2012

Run and Raisin' is back for the 2nd year. Last year a few of us volunteered at the event and we had lots of fun distributing the water and cheering on the participants.

From their website:

Started in 2011, Run & Raisin' is an annual charity event organised by TOUCH Young Arrows (TYA). It includes a charity run, along with a carnival where the net proceeds raised will benefit TYA clients and their families.

In 2011, we managed to raise more than $100,000 successfully due to our sponsors, and all the supporters who came down for the run or carnival.

This time, we aim to raise $225,000 to meet the needs of TYA's 400 children and families, increase public awareness of TYA's work in the community, as well as promote family bonding and a healthy lifestyle.

The funds raised will go a long way in helping us support our weekly programmes and year-round events with the children.

TOUCH Young Arrows (TYA) is a service of TOUCH Community Services, a not-for-profit charitable organization officially registered in 1992, and a member of the National Council of Social Service since 12 December 1994. TOUCH is also the winner of the Outstanding Non-profit Organization Award at the National Volunteerism & Philanthropy Awards 2007.

TYA, previously known as TOUCH Children’s Club, has been running club activities since 1986 for children from the following needy and disadvantaged backgrounds:

low-income families
single-parent families
dysfunctional families
at-risk
referred by schools or other agencies

To be held on the 31 March 2012 at the East Coast Park, there is a 5 km fun run and a 10 km competitive race. Registration has been extended till 18 March 2012. There will also be a carnival during the day. So why not do your part for a good cause by participating in the event or better still, bring your family to the run and carnival.

For more information, please their website at http://www.tyarunandraisin.com/index.php

Project Tummy Month 1

Finally 1 month has  passed since I embarked on Project Tummy.

Unfortunately, despite all the hard work, not much has changed. Sure, the weight has dropped a tad from 80kg when I first start to 77.5. It did dipped to 76.5 once but had generally hovered between 77 - 78. But it's okay there is still about slightly under 2 months to go to lose the balance 2.5kg. Shouldn't be too difficult as long as I remember to cut the calories. General consensus is I need to have a calorie loss of 500 per day to achieve the desired weight loss so it as simple as cutting out the chocolates and dessert. But first of course have to empty the fridge of all the chocolates from Christmas which means it kinda difficult to achieve.

But that is the easy part. The jingly tummy is still jingling away. Absolutely no change at all.

Crunches ain't going to help so the next so some drastic actions might be called for..........like liposuction????
Haha I don't have that type of money to burn so its back to the grinder:( Anybody got any suggestions to burn 2 inches off the waist?