RL Run on 23 Nov`06 (Thu)

My left knee didn't feel right when I woke up in the morning. There was this pain behind my left knee -- oh no, not another ligament/tendon strain!!?? It was pouring @ NUS area when I left office for Running Lab @ Funan at 6pm -- hope the weather would be ok @ CBD. Yup, received weather report from tktan that rain had stopped @ CBD. Always nice to see familiar faces @ RL run -- Terence, George, fennel, stalza, Mrs Tekko n VRP gals. Eddie lead us on a quick warm up before starting the run @ 7.20pm. George took the lead and soon lost sight of him. tktan overtook me @ Esplanade and reminded me to stop if my knee pain persist. Terence came up from behind @ Marina Promenade -- he said I was his pacer and then overtook me! fennel was following closely behind me - could hear her breathing and foot steps. Weather was nice and cool after the rain -- didn't feel much of the knee pain and juz contented chasing the runners in front (not pushing hard at the same time). Waved at Terence n tktan near to the U-turn point -- hmm, where was George? Saw him @ the staircase -- he was coughing but asked me to go ahead as he would be fine. Maybe he was not used to the air after juz returning from his trip to UAE. On the return route, saw more runners heading for the U-turn - everyone in good shape for D-day :) I was running alone and kinda enjoy the peace n quiet. Up the pace after Esplanade and completed the run in 51min -- huh, definitely a more relax run and juz 1 min slower than my previous RL dash run!

While waiting for the rest, chatted with Peter, a guy from Sydney who was here on biz trip. He commented on the hot weather but I told him it was actually one of the coolest nite(after the rain)! He asked me how often I run and the distance -- was surprised to hear abt my high mileage. Explained that we were training for SCSM. He said he only take part in half marathons and there are some good races in Sydney n Melbourne. He asked abt my target timing and I said sub4.5 -- he gave me a confidence boost that I can hit sub4 (earlier he asked how long I took to complete the RL run). Haa haa, thanks but I dun wanna have unnecessary pressure -- will be happy with sub4.5 :) Coincidently, he used to have problems with his knees and had the same "stairs phobia". He shared with me some exercises from his physio therapist that helped him to get rid of the pain. Will try that out when I figured out how to do them :) Runners are such nice people -- always willing to share tips!

After the cool down stretch lead by Eddie and quick change of clothes, we head off to the food court @ Funan -- wanna try the beef noodle. Hmm, beef slices were tender but the noodle a tad hard. George n fennel had chicken rice with tomyam soup -- they sure like spicy food! Parted way with tktan as he took the EW train. Had a good chat with George n fennel on the NE train.

P.S. Spoke to Eddie briefly after the run -- he asked me to rest well and dun run too much. Huh, how did he know I have been running alot??!! Ok ok, will do a relax run for Sat's heat run (final one before D-day). Then it will be carbo-loading time!

Route : Start @ Hill Street -> Esplanade -> Marina Promonade -> Kallang Water Sports Club -> Cross Sir Arthur Bridge -> Kallang Riverside Park -> U-turn @ Furniture Warehouse

Distance : 10km
Time : 51min
Avg pace : 5:10min/km