Recently in Sports - Running Category
Pre-race. (Standing, back row) William. (Standing, from left) Clarisse, Amelia, Jessie, Clarisse and Jessica. (Squatting, from left) Phonsak and I.
Ran the Nike Human Race with my schoolmates today. Previously, we had spent 5 hours queuing up at the Extended Registration (biggest mistake of my life) so there was no way we were going to miss this run.
The best thing about the run was that we didn't have to queue for anything. Baggage deposit, water points, post-race services were extremely efficient.
The route was very narrow. A lot of inconsiderate people who needed a break did not move to the left and continue walking. Instead they just stopped dead in their tracks, resulting in a huge Nike Human Jam. A huge guy running in front of me with a hairy back stopped dead in his tracks and I slammed into him. My face went into the mini-tundra and got drenched. He turned around and apologized. So I assume he's a hairy friendly giant after all.
The people like us who had started late had to look out for gaps and weave in-between. In the end, we had spent so much energy overtaking (running diagonally, weaving in and out, hopping up and down pavements) that we were exhausted even before the halfway mark.
Post-race. (From left) Jessie, Amelia, Clarisse and Jessica.
Post-race. Jessie and I.
Despite narrow route (causing the Nike Human Jam), I did enjoy myself! Having breakfast, together as a group, after the run was awesome!
Post-race. Jessie and I.
Jessie and I completed our first marathon. Unfortunately the Adidas Sundown Marathon wasn't forgiving to beginners like us. There were a lot of slopes along the way.
Nevertheless, it was a great feeling running through the 42km mark holding Jessie's hand.
We met up with fellow blogger and seasoned marathoner, Timothy, prior to the race. At Bedok Reservoir, I bumped into my ex-army mate, Jia Guang, who was also running. At Tampines, I bumped into another ex-army mate, Yuan Shyuan, who was one of the volunteers for the race.
Shortly before the 30km mark, Jessie told me to look at my fingers. Gosh! Both our fingers were swollen and I don't exactly know why. I still managed to lock (but couldn't close) my fingers around Jessie's and pull her up the overhead bridges. We kept each other awake throughout the night simply by talking and sharing jokes with one another. The best part was running with Jessie through the remaining 1.5km. She gave 101% effort and I'm really proud of her, especially when the longest distance she ran was 10km.
On the recovery side, I didn't clock sufficient mileage prior to the event and ended up aggravating my old injury (bilateral Osgood-Schlatter disease). I only felt the damage after the race.
I guess I'll stick to shorter races and only attempt marathons once a year. Sad to say, I lack the commitment for a marathon. I can only find time for a long distance run once a week, while skate training and gym eats into the remaining 6 days... without even a single day left for recovery.
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Found more photos of us at the finishing line. Courtesy of Snapshots.
Finish line. Jessie and I.
Finish line. Jessie.
Skins compression tights.
Thanks to Gabriel (a national rugby player) who introduced me to Skins compression tights.
They meant to be worn during the workout (for increased muscle power), or post-workout (for improved recovery) for a minimum of 3 hours.
Since I don't have enough moolah to get another pair, I'll be using it just for post-workout recovery.
I caused as much fatigue as I could to my legs yesterday night and wore the compression tights to sleep. I was pleasantly surprised at the results this morning when I took them off. My legs were still aching, but there was a significant decrease in the amount of pain and muscle soreness.
Old Asics GT-2100 and new GT-2140.
If you're a heel-runner and have a low-arch foot problem like me, I would recommend the new Asics GT-2140.
I've always been a fan of the GT series. I've had the GT-2100 for 5 whole years and I had to replace it because the sole was coming off. I've never had any blisters or painful sores on my feet. It was a really good shoe to run in.
Asics GT-2140 is currently retailing for $199 at Running Lab (10% off for SAFRA and Citibank card holders).
Post-race. Jessie and I.
Our race bibs.
Timings
Jessie : 1 h 15 mins (improvement from the 1 h 30 mins she used to run)
Me : 57 mins (improvement from the 1 h 05 mins I used to run)
Our race bibs.
Jessie, Michelle, Robert and I took part in the Standard Chartered Marathon 2008 on Sunday, 07/12/08. Jessie, Michelle and Robert ran the 10k, while I ran the 21k.
Jessie and I.
Michelle and Robert.
I experienced some funny moments during my 2 1/2 hour run...
I watched a guy pour a cup of 100-plus (mistaking it for water) all over his head.
The fat guy I was pacing (in the beginning, because he dared to shove his way through the slower runners and I followed behind) farted like 30 minutes into the race and I had to overtake him because I was holding my breath!
Some guy threw an empty cup up in the air and the cup landed on someone's head!
Ran the 10km non-competitive event with Jessie today.
Elgene was there as well, but he ran with his camp mates.
Our tag numbers won first and second prize in the lucky draw for a Volkswagen Golf GT and Volkswagen Beetle but unfortunately we were both in the toilet at that time. We ended up missing the final call to collect the prizes. Damn!
Took us about an hour come to terms with this unfortunate event. Hopefully we'll have better luck next year.
I reluctantly got up at 6:00am today, only after Jessie's repeated attempts to drag me out of bed. It was raining heavily. Cold. Dark. We drove to McDonalds for breakfast. It's been a while since I had breakfast at this odd hour. It was nostalgic seeing those underaged secondary school kids sleeping at the tables, after a hard night of partying, waiting for the first bus home.
Pang's dad threw away his number tag, but he still came, even though he was uncertain if he could take part in the race. We picked stranded Mr Pang up from the bus stop before going down to Temasek Poly. Every car park there was jammed packed with cars, and I gleefully drove up a grass patch to park. FWAHAHAHA! So many people were doing that, so it was impossible to get clamped!
We bid Pang farewell as he went off to defend his 10km competitive title for Kenya, Jessie and I joined the 5km fun run.
Time passed really fast and we thoroughly enjoyed the early morning Bedok Reservoir scenery around us. Even though our shoes were soaking wet and muddy, both of us were pretty much pleased that we completed our first race together. More of such events to come!
However, there were two things that screwed up during the event:
Running Route
8000 people running through a small Bedok Reservoir path! There were choke points all around where people could only stop and walk because the people in front were all walking. Wet and muddy people were hopping over puddles of water like frogs.
Goodie Bags Tentage
Temasek Poly stadium was already jammed packed with 8000 participants The Goodie Bags tentage was a bit larger than a coffeeshop drink stall. The queue was horrendous. Everybody just shoved their way around. And... the organizers ran out of singlets!
I just hope Wave Run 2008 will turn out to be a better one.
After the run, we took a long soak in the pool (we didn't even shower before entering), and the feeling was simply fantastic. Pang, being a real gentleman, did not masturbate in the jacuzzi this time round Jessie was present.