Marina South-Esplanade-ECP Run on 18 Nov`06 (Sat)
Yeah, this would be the final 30km+ LD before tapering! tktan, fennel and gentle joined me for the heat run -- indeed it was a HOT run! George was unable to join us as he was on duty the night before -- sharks, he was craving for oysters @ SCGH. As this was a OTOT(Own Time Own Target) run, I emailed the route map to fennel and gentle -- hope they dun get lost like George. Arranged to meet gentle @ the last cabin of the first train from Punggol and tktan & fennel @ City Hall MRT. The ground was wet from last night or early morning rain -- oh oh, may feel hotter when the sun came out and the water evaporated. We put our barang @ Suntec Planet Fitness and proceed to Marina Promenade for warm up. tktan applied muscle rub on his shin/calves and me on my right ankle -- hopefully, that would prevent onset of pain during the run. gentle's previous LSD @ Punggol was avg 6min/km pace and he may follow my pace -- asked me to run faster else I would slow him down! fennel would be running at her own comfortable pace. We all agreed to meet at the B1 carpark(near to Fort Rd) after the run. I lead the first part of the run to Marina South via Shenton Way -- tktan & gentle were running close behind. tktan overtook me at the upslope to Sheares Bridge but stopped at Marina MRT station to stretch his calves -- same spot as last Sun heat run. He asked me to go ahead and he would catch up. So I ran ahead to the steamboat loop -- hmm, no runner in sight for me to "target". Saw fennel running in the opposite direction, close to Marina City Park -- gave each other thumb up :) Hmm, no sight of tktan n gentle. Continued on to Shenton Way -- crossed path with Bug at Maxwell Rd and waved to him (he was escorting his MHA). The shade along Shenton Way was a cool welcome from the hot sun. Increased pace across Esplanade Bridge (no shade!!) and took re-fuel break @ 1st toilet at Marina Promenade. Time check was 1h 5min @ 12.4km -- wah, same as last Sat, 5:15min/km pace.
Still no sight of tktan or gentle, I reluctantly continued the run along Marina Promenade -- the heat was getting unbearably hot. Found a target(a cascasian guy) infront and slowly close up the distance -- overtook him and soon couldn't hear his foot steps. Juz before reaching Republic Ave, heard fast foot steps and saw the cascasion guy ran passed me. As I closed up the distance again, he stopped and U-turn back -- aiyah, lost my target! Crossed over Air Arthur Bridge to Kallang Riverside Park, then cross over the bridge @ Geylang Rd to the other bank of the river. Finally spotted tktan on the opposite side -- good, he would catch up soon. Continued to Indoor Stadium and took a quick walk break -- hoping tktan would join me from here. When I reached the suspension bridge, still no sight of tktan -- then the sun was covered by clouds and I started to run to take advantage of the short cool break. The sun came out shortly and I looked for shady area along Tanjong Rhu Rd. Reached Fort Rd in 1 hr 48min @19.8km -- oops, slower 5:28min/km pace. Next milestone was tennis centre -- not much shade along this stretch. I was so happy to finally reach my re-fiuel and re-fill break! My camelbak juz ran out of water! Re-fill with Pocari Sweat -- too bad dun have ice. Continued towards Lagoon FC -- crossed path with TLR near to the ski cable. Exchanged greetings and gave each other thumb up. Still felt good to go on @ Lagoon FC and continued on to F2 Carpark. Felt my body heating up and decided to U-turn @ F2 carpark instead of my plan to U-turn @ PA Adventure Centre. Time check was 2h 32min @ 27km -- 5:43min/km pace. By then, I was MELTING! Saw gentle as I ran passed the ski cable -- he looked tired. Felt like I was running at a snail pace -- took another refuel break @ toilet before tennis centre (30km). Then pushed on to Fort Rd -- stopped to point to fennel the direction to her U-turn point. Poor fennel, got lost and backtracked quite a distance. Yeah, I completed 33.5km @ 3h 12min -- so glad to gulp down cold 100plus.
Was stretching on the bench when I spotted tktan @ a bench across the running path. His hip pain didn't ease during the run and he finally call it a day @ Indoor Stadium -- walked from there to Fort Rd. Wise of him to stop running! Next to come back was gentle -- clap clap for completing 31km + some backtrack @ Indoor Stadium. And fennel walked back with a bottle of 100plus -- oh dear, she had stomach upset twice during the run and didn't re-fuel as she dropped her energy gels along the way! We "stoned" there for a while before moving off to catch a cab back to Suntec. Felt pain @ my right knee and could hardly walk -- I need ICE!! After some stretching, was able to walk with a limp. Going down/up the stairs at the underpass was challenging! Hopped into a cab and reached Suntec in a wink. gentle was too hungry and ate a pizza before we head off for shower. Lunch was sumptuous spread @ SCGH -- baby spinach, cabbage chicken, crispy Soon Hock, shark fin's soup and rice. Had nobemberfest, too -- gentle got to try Erdinger Light, I had Stella Artois and tkan had English tea. gentle's MHA joined us briefly before we parted way -- gentle went shopping, fennel went for foot massage and tktan & me went for pilates class. Boy, the pilates instructor was in the mood for abs work -- thot it was juz a relax stretching session but I was perspiring! Stopped by Running Lab to get a pair of Ironman thick socks -- tktan bought 2 pairs (1 thick and 1 thin triathlon type).
P.S. It was a good run for me -- the heat did get to me but I kept running. Though felt knee and hip pain, I continued to run and the pain disappeared. Not sure whether it was a wise decision -- anyway, it would be tapering from now on with more rest and shorter distance. Hope all the pains and aches would go away before D-day -- especially tktan's hip & knee pain. Oh, many thanks to tktan for getting a pack of ice for my knees!
Distance : 33.5km
Time : 3h 12min
Avg pace :
posted by doraemon_red @ 1:13 PM
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