3rd Try

Just registered the annual Dec Singapore Marathon. My 3rd Attempt for victory.
Wish me luck as Mr China embarks on another amazing journey.

Current conditions

73kg
Just recovered from my knee injury since Feb HK marathon
doing 50-70km weeks for 2-3 weeks

Just some initial targets and analysis.
I do not have speed, my fastest gulat-est 400m is probably about 60s
But I can run at 80s pace for 5k. That should put me in the top range of endurance.

In layman terms, I can power at sub-maximial power for long periods....
Therefore, if i can improve my base speed or power, would i enjoy immediately percentages of improvements?

Key for these 2 months:
1. Steep Slopes
2. Plyo
3. Wts/ rapid reps

Will do some tempos here and there, but the emphasis should be the above.
However, power has weight at its denomination, so..... no more food... arrrgghh...

the last waltz

its been a long time coming, but a good time.
looking back , it had been enjoyable.
but with this sudden work appt, i may be relocated, first with a 3wk travel.
It would be impossible to train. this trans alantic travel....

today might hav been one of the last few races after such a gd build up.
had 1-2 yrs of gd training pieced together.
had intended to hang up long ago after SC, but you came along.

I dug out my red racers, dump them away after the mara
for 1 last dance....

1st ACM 3k

1st time attempting this distance.

Would prefer the 5k, cause of my "life long" dream to run under 17min.

Been coming to a gd 8 yrs?

Shld have been in shape if the race is a mth away.

Decided to settle for the 3k in view of prep for the 5k.

Not ready i told myself.

Took a long bus ride. Had a late night. Slpt at 2-3am and awoke by 730am.

Sneak in some nap before e trip.

Thought i can hav some emo self reflections along the way.

Was packed and sat infront of ahpeks cursing the gahmen.

Soon, some baby came onboard and cried.

The curse of the crying babes followed me fr SIA to SBS.

Changed to 100 and end up where i was last night.

And finally to MRT, took near to a gd 2hrs to run 10mins at a race. Not so smart.

Rained slightly before the race before the temperature heated up real badly.

Quite warm before the race started. Didnt really do enough warm ups.

Because of some stupid officials that insist i do this n that.

Didnt do as much strides as I wanted to.

Knew someone in the race that I hav to beat. ahead of me at the marathon. damn it.

It was "blood lust" in my mind. I must WIN.

Focused. But had my mind somewhere else....

bang! the race went off.

Settle into a gd position. Sprinted off.

Strategy was to start fast and see if anyone dare to keep my pace.

Simple: Start fast, suicide pace and HANG in there.

Watch the big clock, thats the best thing that SAA did compared to the past.

Will be abt 32s at 200m, eased off to cross it at 36s, quite in the range i wanted to.

Leading the pack but by the 2lap, someone overtook me.

Was something against my strategy. mistook some backgrd cheerin for his identity.

SHIT..... i told myself.

1st km in 3:10++

still in 2nd place.

Pain......

hyper-ventilation as i grasp for whatever air i could.

The savious moment came when i saw: 4laps left... hmm... not too bad.

with 3laps left. I close up the gap and over took him.

The plan work as I rounded up my "final kick".

Lack of speed forced me to adopt this long 800m kick fr home.

Very pain drive.

"GU LAT" - i term it.

By the time i picked up, it should not be an issue for victory if i am still in the lead.

I was still in the lead and drove on at the 800m mark.

Anyone following me would be a battle of who can take the pain better.

Collapsed at the end with timing of 9:46min for 3k in 1st place.

Was in so much pain tt i pull out some blades of grass at the field. haha

U would have been proud of me.

40mins easy recovery jog was painful as i throd on.

It was a gd run. felt great, but my form is still all over the place.

Need to work on it. But i tired. However tis maybe the last connection left.

Training Concepts

From the aftermath of SCM, there had been plenty of questions going ard on "how to train".
There seemed a need to enage a coach (though not a bad idea), try some sophistical , complicated training manual fr some where or try someone's 10wk prog, etc....

In all, i believe each individual is different and thats when art enters science's realms.

One key that I believe in, is to provide a general structure with sound concepts for the athlete to work on.

on general structure, we can simply follow this:

Hard - Recovery - Easy - Rest

This would be a cycle anyone can follow no matter what.
Flexibility would be combination of the recovery and rest to 1 session instead.
Depending on ur wk's schedule, etc.

Hard - for me, there's no need to enage "sexy" intervals or watever there is. Just run a hard 20mins. Let your body tell u how hard to run and not a watch. Each day's condition is diff and just let it come to you.

It can even be drills and strides. Just train hard when it requires to. Or Hills, or whatever.

Recovery - it would be a moderate CONTROLLed effort. Knowing that u can push harder but just control it knowning that u had a tough session the day before.
Normally it can be a 40 to 1hr run/ or strenghtening/drills, etc.
Just keep the effort within

Easy - as it suggest, it would be a enjoyable session, just enjoy the run, etc. 40mins jog, swim, etc

This is a cycle of hard to stimulate adapation and recovery to let ur body recover n improve better than the earlier cycle.

Its been a while coming......

Havent been updating.
Life has been rather filled tt by the time i reach home, its drop dead.
All those conference calls and working in diff timezones is messing me up.
In addition to my insomnia issue, i find it really hard to slp after a long discussion.
Isnt the best thing to hear just before bedtime - long complain fr customers/reps....

tried a hill session on wed?
that went terribly wrong.
there's sharp dull pains to the chest, congestions and difficulty breathing.
Each rep is getting worse. 2nd time that such attacks occured.
Call off the session after the 4th rep. Usually i hit abt 10.
Had to do a slow jog n walk for 20mins before resuming a 40min easy jog.

Took the next 2 days easy. single 40min session and total rest.
Comes with experience..... i am getting old when i seem to know when to rest.
haha...

Sat was AHM team's AGM...
Did 20mins , 10mins , 10mins on the roads.
Started way too fast as some of my mates followed me.
It was really painful.

last 10mins are controlled on grass. took it easy.
Its a great session.
Ate 3 slices of Mi Jiang Kue for lunch to tea break. It was overkill.
haha..

Sun did a great 26km run.
Great morning run that didnt even felt like it.
Had kek for company as we pushed hard.
my favourite 20k route is available again via a special passage.. haha.
the route to pierce is really beautiful. and the cold breeze in "air-con route" is superb.
I can do this forever.
Returning back , we caught a runner that stuck to us.
I went hard to drop him but he gamely stuck real close.
It was a gd run.
Kek, unexpectedly surge ahead at the last km. Wonder where he found the gas to do it?
I had to go into anaerobic sprint to follow.
1:28 for ~20km
Followed by another relaxed 5-6km, total 1hr 55mins.

Bday lunch that lasted too long gave me a v big headache by the time i get back home.
it was cracking.
Slp and Swam latter in the day.

Cynical Running

Duno when I decided to adopt this crazy running method of mine.
But I decide to run myself to the ground as often as possible.
It starts with a slow throd but I would break into "hyper - ventilation" mode by the end of it.
As if it is not enough, I would add in another shorter session to max myself out.

It seems that each lap is challenging me, like what life holds for me.
The pace may not be fast, but effort wise would be 101%.

Life feels lighter after all these when I collapsed on the track, absorbed into loneliness of the night to stare at the stars. Such simple things that i enjoyed now and then.

Pushing myself to the limit, fighting all the pain and sensibility reacting to tell myself to stop, going at that intensity........ tells me that I am still alive. I feel pain, its real.

I run as if the soul hated the body to wan to get out of it.

Hope my insurance agent is not ard, if not, my premium would skyrocket.

3k coming up. I want to win it. against small sch kids. well, i never run nat schs before, 12 years later, reliving it. Nothing wrong rite?

A new Begnning....

been in a confused state of denial for some time.
Tucked my failure some where.
What started as a dream , carried on to be a journey.
One of which i learnt so much to benefit from.
Wouldnt have done it any other way.

thoughts of giving up were everywhere.
my family also asked me to move on, stop tis nonsense.
Well, I could be a jogger and focus on something else, like my career.

However, yesterday, i made a promise.
that i will continue as long as things permit.
maybe it is one of the ways that i will get to see ya.
And when i do, it shall be at my best and nothing else.

today was a 10k time trial. Out of shape n out of training.
I just ran. without fear, without anything.
It was enjoyable as i thought abt it.
targting sub 40mins, but it was close , 40:03. 3 s
Damn.
beat tony for the first time in a distance more than 5k.
it was a sprint finish at the end of a slow race for him.

But i ran my heart out. Like i promised. gd to see ya.

next up.
targets are sub 10 for 3k in mid jan
and breaking 17 for 5k before Q1.

time for some serious running.