Running Sucks

The haze took a breather this week and so I managed to do a full week of training.  Started the training on Monday with an easy 8 km run round the Pasir Ris Park. No haze and the runners were out in full force. Air was pretty fresh next to the sea. On Tuesday, as planned, we went to Safra Mt Faber. Singapore got no mountain but still got to try doing hills. Started from Safra and ran via Henderson Road to Morse Road and made our way up to the summit and then down to Kampong Bahru side. Along the way saw many speedy runners from Safra. Think they were on the way back. How in the world do they manage to start so early? We made a u-turn and ran back up to the top before going back down to Morse Rd and back to Safra. Total distance was slightly over 8 km. Not as tough as I had thought but then again its only about 100 metres high. The up part was about 1.1 km with a gradual rise of probably 30 degrees. Think probably good for another loop but its okay,  start slow and pro...

K. So I am a wee bit kancheong now. It is just slightly under 3 months to the longest race I going to do so far. And I have barely  started training for it. The haze  of course didn't help.  It all started last year when I decided to run a 50km race to celebrate my 50th birthday. But I left things a bit late and somehow the year slipped by and I didn't sign up for anything. So I did the next best thing. Sign up for one this year. Nevermind that I have not run a full marathon for the longest time. To make it worse,  this is a trail race not merely a road run and the cut off time for it is a whooping 15 hours which means it is probably going to be tough as hell. To kick off the training, I went and did a 25km trail race in Thailand in January. That turns out to be relatively easy but after that, the momentum was not maintained and the weekly mileage continued to stay at 30 km, definitely not something that is adequate for the purpose. But last week decided to ...

Past week with the PSI shooting way past the safety limit,  runners in Singapore and some part of Malaysia have been left without their weekly fix.  Of course a little bit of haze couldn't put off people like me though. Me and the sidekick, we did a run on Tuesday evening when the PSI was about 130 in the unhealthy zone. How does it feel like running in the haze? We started from our usual place at the foot of the block next to the park connector. We then ran the usual route to Pasir Ris Beach Park. By  the time I hit 3km, my throat felt so dry and irritated. So this was how it feel like to run in the haze. I had to stop  for a drink at the toilet something that I don't usually do for such short distance. By then the eyes was also watering and the air smell bad.  On Thursday, the PSI crossed the 200 mark.Still we decided to go out for a run but at the gym. But to get to the gym, we have to walk 900 metres from our place. This time the air was really bad ...

Have heard a fair bit about  the famed food of Muar so when we had the chance, we decided to go up there. The fact that there was a trail race was a bonus. So a group of us led by the Incredibly Macho Dude and his petite little wife hopped onto the coach and off we went for a weekend of makathon! Sadly, the famed food turned out to be a big disappointment. Hopefully the race will make up for it.  We were staying in Muar town, I think and to get to the race site where the race pack collection was held, we had to walk there. We took directions from the locals and I think, down there nobody walk or cycle and we were directed all over the places and ended up walking 2.5km in hazy and hot weather before we reached the Chung Hwa High School. There were only a few people there. The race pack collection was short and sharp. Unfortunately, the sidekick discovered that she had been wrongly placed under the Men’s category even though from whatever angle I see her, she still looks l...

Finally after several runs over various distances, the sidekick is ready to give her opinion of the Erke Women Running Shoes. But the problem is - M doesn't want to write so I am gonna try paraphrasing her here. Look:   She likes the colour and design. Generally I do agree it looks fairly nice. In fact, some of the ladies who have seen it also like the color scheme.  Weight: The shoe weighs 215g. Fairly light weight unlike the traditional running shoes. M said it was light and comfortable to wear. Feel: The sole is made of rubber and initially she was not used to the rather bouncy feel of the shoe. Running beside her, I can hear the loud sound of the shoe as it hit the floor with every movement. She didn't like the bounce. Too much she said. Cushioning: According to M, there is sufficient cushioning despite the low heel to toe drop.  Flexibility: The shoe is soft and flexible enough for her to run the usual mid foot Water resistance: M do...

After a few sleepless nights and days of torture , the day or rather the night dawn? The day of the Sundown Marathon. Heck, I wasn’t even signed up for this shit and I as kancheong as the sidekick. She complains of upset tummy which I think is more like butterflies than real pain. Funny, considering that this is not her first marathon. Maybe it finally sink in that I not gonna be running side by side with her? Anyway, the kancheong part – just to show how kancheong I was. We drove down to the race site at about 10.40 pm. I got out my camera, my media pass and walked with her to the race site. The plan was while she goes to the race pen, I will go to the front, flash my media pass and take pictures of her (errr - of everybody) at the starting line. We reached the race village and I started fiddling with the settings. Hmmm something wrong. The camera is not working. Open up the battery compartment and shit… where is the battery? Then I remember – it still in the charger……. at home....