Running UPR and News

8 runners made it to UPR. We welcomed Mark and Dennis who joined the run. It was nice to meet Gan, Bokz, Poh, Francis and Bobby. The weather was beautiful. 6 pm sharp, the group took to the road. Saw a group of skateboarder at the crest of the sloppy road. Soon, Booby, Poh and I were at the gate. (done 1.6km already) . Somehow, after the 21km Sundown, I was able to enjoy my run better again. 4 months ago, I would have been running slower and needed music in my ears to calm myself. Last 2 occasions, the runs seemed faster, manageable and more enjoyable.
I concluded that the long distance event makes the shorter ones a breeze. Participate in a 21km event at least once a year will be my plan to keep enjoying 6.5km runs.

After 40 minutes of running, the group gathered around with ice cold H2O.

News:
1. Bokz is organising 15km and above runs on Saturday at around East Coast MacDonald as start point. The series will have first 2 runs of 15km and ends with last few runs at 30km to prepare for Bay Run and perk for Standard Chartered Marathon. We already have a few keen participants signed up with Bokz.

2. BYO: bring your own water for future runs. Give the coordinators a break.
3. 60,000 places for Standard Chartered run has been fully taken up. Registration is closed. Better luck next time.
4. Anyone wanted info on toe socks.. Poh uses it daily. Anyone wanted info on toe shoes, MJ runs with it (2 pairs already). Heart rate monitor... Gan

To Gan: thanks for the socks from UK. It rocks.

from P Laute

=== A note of encouragement for the SunDown Marathon participants ====

HT,Congratulations on completing another marathon. It's great that you can fit into your busy life the time required for practice runs, still having the energy/drive after a long day with all of life's pressures and demand for your time/energy. I don't think anyone with a full time job, family, and the everyday life comitments can ever find enough time or energy to train enough to reach their full potential. We just have to do our best to balance life and use our running to stay healthy and have a (good) selfish interest to look forward to.Keep up the good work and remember why your run; "Run for Health, Run for Fun, Run for Life" this race has a clock and it is counted by the years you remain happy and healthy - so you (and all the other Hotruners) are a world champion for sure.Pete

Happy in UPR

6 hotrunners braved the drizzle which stopped soon just as the run started. Met another 2 in UPR.

Poh introduced Afredo, a colleague, to the group. We extend a warm welcome to Alfredo and hope he like jogging. Alfredo did 6.5km at about 10km/hr. He was more than ready to run. Alfredo is from the Philippines and have worked in Singapore for 7 years. He is with Motorola for 6 months already.

Bobby has stopped running for a while to attend to his evening courses. He was also looking forward to the run. He is certainly picking up the paces and will run more frequently to enjoy the events which he planned for. He did 6.5km along with all of us. Didn't see any monkeys this time.

Gan, after being back from Lonon not too long ago, was looking forward to the UPR run. In his busy travel schedule, he was just as committed chalking up some kilometres in the gym. Gan came back looking comfortable (not laboured). He is in good form/shape.

Bokz was traveling so I hosted this run. The slopes seems longer than I last visited. Darn, walked twice when nearing the Apex of those formidable slopes on the way back. Those slopes is becoming a love-hate relationship for me. I like it because it is formidable.

Guan Hong was all smiley before, during and after the run. The rest shared his mood and were evident as the group chatted after the race with cups of H2O in our hands. We felt happy and satisfied.

Some of the Tibits worth noting; MJ did 4:30 hours for his inaugural Sundown. Within 4 days, he have committed himself for another full Marathon by signing up the Standchart event on 5 Dec. Wondered if any of his race plans included his newly acquired strange, avant gade toes-shoes.
Talking about that,: Standchart Marathon 42km fulled booked by end of early bird 4 Jun, 21km was full on 7 Jun, take up rate is fast. Sundown, Standchart registration period are pre-maturely terminated due to strong early bookings. If you still want to take part, quickly go for it (10km).

Gan also drop me a note on the North Face 100km run is open for registration. CS Chan has done it twice hence you should ask him on his experience if you are interested. Have to find a buddy to sign up in pairs.

Bokz is coordinating a heart warming activity to help disadvantaged persons under the AWWA welfare organisation. Already 5 lady hotrunners have signed up to host 10 beneficiaries and 2 assistants. 10 more volunteers needed for the preparation training at East Coast leading to the race. 2 of the beneficiaries are on wheel chairs.

SunDown

29 May 2010,
Many hotrunners took part in the Sundown Marathon. Bokz, MJ, Poh, ZiQing, Edwin, New, Newton M, Randy, Eric, Betty, Francis, KH, Janto and a few more.
All in, we had a wonderful night race with our personal stories of the challenges and the lessons learned in spite of the accomplishment.
The organizer were trying their best to host the 19 thousands runners (was 11 thousand last year). There has been a surge in interest in Sundown marathon. There were runners from other countries who toiled through the humidity like the locals. Water points were available every 2 kilometers or so to keep us hydrated.
It had been an enjoyable 21km race for me. However, the new start point brought transportation difficulty to many. Although the race route is on a long easy stretch of flat road fringing the airport runway, I did miss certain elements of the inaugural race which required the participants to run alongside the seafront and threaded through the heartlands of the East coast communities.
Earlier, the practice run at night with some of the runners have been beneficial to prepare me for this race. I would encourage group practice to build up towards an event as it would be enjoyable and motivating. Although the Tuesday regulars have dwindled a bit, the running spirit is still abound as can be seen by the Sundown turnout for hotrunners. Betty and Francis in particular were inspiring, having committed themselves to run their first marathon by the end of this year. Cheers to the runners....

Run for Health, Run for Fun, Run for Life

Marathon Singapore Registration Opens

Singapore Marathon is no more....
not sure if there will be one eventually but Marathon Singapore has been launched...
and registration starts today...
was at the the launch at Raffles place and seems like people has been there since the night before...
the attraction???? a citizen eco-drive watch for the 1st 80 registrants and a goody bag got next 800...dunno whats inside but as long as there is a goody bag...singaporeans will throng for it...


no i was not part of the queue...

Registration Prices
Duration	20 May - 04 Jun	05 Jun - 02 Jul	03 Jul - 30 Sep
Categories	Inaugural Period	Early Bird Period	Normal Period
Full Marathon - 42.195km	$45.00	$75.00	$85.00
Half Marathon - 21.1km	$36.00	$58.00	$65.00
10km - Men / Women / Wheelchair	$31.00	$50.00	$55.00
Kids Dash- 750m	$10.00	$18.00	$20.00
Ekiden - 42.195km (6 participants per team)	$300.00

sign-up now for the so-call inaugural period price...very attractive
and judging by the inflation of registration fees these days, its substantial savings...
so if you are want to be part of the marathon singapore, do sign up now..

Preparations and updates

This evening (18 May), the sky over Upper Pierce reserviour looks threatening with thick dark clouds looming. The weekly scheduled run was called off. Having not ran for 2 weeks, decided to slowly jog, solo 7.5km towards my wife's office in Yishun. Put emphasis to practice the left hamstring pull. Time really flew fast when you are trying to put some practice runs to prepare for a major long distance run event. To fill you on some activities,...

3 special long runs were organized for Sundown Marathon participants. A midnight 16km which I was part of, a 20km morning run and a 20km midnight run (just 5 days ago). The group will be tapering down with just 2 weeks remaining before the Sundown.

This weekend, Edmund will be in the Passion Run.

20 May registration will start for Standchart Marathon. Already, Bokz has been working behind the scene to tie up with AWWA for volunteer help for disadvantaged children. You will hear more from him soon.

Gan, William has signed up for Bay Run in September. I am sure other hotrunners have signed up too.

MJ, thanks for the tip on Key Power International sales. I bought a high flow bicycle bottle and a Pearl Izumi Tri-top.

JP Morgan 5.6km Corporate Challenge

VFI-Runners fielded a team of 4 to this JP Morgan 5.6km Corporate Challenge event. A total of 11,753 participants from 369 companies participated.

Total male runners = 5,713

VIF-RUNNERS RESULT

NAME TIME POSITION

KwongYeong 27:40 0352 (wow !!!) Team captain

Joe Tan 31:45 1046

HC Gan 32:13 1156

EngJoo 32:52 1307

As the distance is only 5.6km, the runners tend to ran fast and wanting to complete in shortest time possible. So this is quite a different kind of run as compare to half or full marathon which focuses more on endurance. This 5.6km event is focus on speed and some degree of endurance as well.

HC commented that he was close to breathless after crossing the finishing line. His pace/speed was 5:45min/km or 10.43km/hr.

EJ & Joe

HC & KY

Overall, the team was quite happy with their results. Looking forward to send more teams next year from VFI-Runners and hopefully from Hot-Runners group as well.

http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/events.php?city_id=2&page=events050610

http://www.jpmorganchasecc.com/results.php?city_id=2&type=topmale&year=2010

http://register.jpmorganchasecc.com/chasecc/results/quickfind.tcl?sub_event_id=96935&series_year=2010&tname=verifone&fname=&lname=

How to Avoid Hitting the Wall in a Marathon

How to Avoid Hitting the Wall in a Marathon

Tips to Prevent Bonking During a Marathon

By Christine Luff, About.com Guide

Updated January 18, 2010

If you're training for a marathon, you've probably heard about the dreaded "wall" that some marathoners hit sometime after the 20-mile mark in a marathon. The wall is the point in the marathon when a runner's glycogen (stored energy) within the muscles is depleted, forcing him to slow down his pace considerably, sometimes to a walk. Contrary to popular belief, it is possible to avoid hitting the wall. Here are some tips for beating the wall in a marathon:

Do your weekly long runs.

Your weekly long run is the best training to avoid hitting the wall. By doing progressively longer runs each week, your body's capacity to store more glycogen within the muscles increases. By increasing your glycogen stores, you'll be able to maintain your pace and hopefully push off the onset of fatigue. In addition, the long runs teach the body to tap into and utilize energy reserves from fat storage sites after the glycogen stores have been depleted.

Run at least one 20-miler.

To make sure you're really getting the long run benefits described above, try to complete 20 miles as your longest training run. It's not necessary to run more than 20 miles because the potential negative effects of running longer than that in training really out-weigh any possible benefits. Follow your marathon training schedule and make sure you're not undertrained for the marathon.

Train at marathon goal pace.

If you're shooting for a specific marathon time, you should focus on your goal race pace during training. You definitely don't want to run your entire long runs at marathon pace (MP), but it helps to run the last 1/3 to 1/2 of your long run at your anticipated marathon pace. Running at MP towards the end of your run is good training because you'll be picking up the pace when your legs are already fatigued. Your body will become more familiar with and more efficient at running at your goal marathon pace.

More: How to Run a Faster Marathon

Don't go out too fast.

One of the biggest rookie mistakes in racing is going out too fast in the beginning of the race. Most runners have at least one story about a race when they felt so great during the first few miles that they ran ahead of pace, only to crash and burn (hit the "wall") during the final miles. The problem is that if you go out too fast, you'll burn through your stored energy too quickly and your muscles will fatigue faster, leaving you feeling tired and depleted toward the end of your race. Follow these tips to avoid going out too fast.

Consume calories during your marathon.

When you run for under 90 minutes, most of your energy comes from stored muscle glycogen. But if you're running for longer than 90 minutes, the sugar in your blood and liver glycogen become more important because your stored muscle glycogen gets depleted. Fueling with carbs during your marathon will prevent you from running out of energy and hitting the wall, while also boosting your performance. Get tips on what and when to eat during your marathon.

*1mile = 1.6km

Sundown prep run

It was close to midnight, 6 hotrunners arrived at Changi Point Carpark. The goal: long night run to prepare for the Sundown Marathon. I have not run more than 7km since 10 months ago so was happy to have some company to help me push the distance a bit. After an hour of running, the humidity got to the better of me. I felt tired and drop to a walk-jog routine. I remembered reading the newspaper that 1 am is the most humid time of the day in Singapore. Poh, Marge, Bokz, Tay held steady paces and moving along as if not affected by the humidity. Under such tiring condition, I did a U-turn after 7.7km reported by my Garmin watch. Soon after, Randy who was providing water and safety support on his bicycle came up to me and offered “100 plus”. Randy really makes a difference. The hydration and care really perked me up. I ran back most of the way feeling motivated and completing in 2hours over 15.5km. The rest did 16km.
After a light makan in Changi Village food centre, we headed home having enjoyed a unique Sundown preparation night run.
Bokz is preparing another long run this Saturday 6:30am. Meeting point is Fort road ECP car park (I think). His target is 24km. If you are interested, please let him know. Some have already signed up despite the short notice.

P.S.: Wish Gan and his VFI runners good speed for the team event in the JP Morgan corporate challenge… have fun.

105th cool UPR run

After 2 weeks of evening rain disrupted run plans, the weather on 27 Apr evening was simply cool and alluring. Bokz, Poh and I set off to UPR and along the way met Edmund Low. Without much delay, Poh and I set off for the 6.4km route. I was in my tri pants. I need to get use to the pants for next year's Triathlon event.
With Poh around, my plan was to do a the 6.4km in good time by starting steady and comfortably. Poh was in her usual calm pace... no rush. I was comfortable with the pace, just nice. In my last 2 runs in UPR, I yielded to the inclines and walk a quite a bit. Running with Poh helped, I did not yield to the inclines on the way back into the carpark. Overall 9.3km/hr... good speed for me.
Also, we enjoyed talking after the run while we cool down. Bokz also showed us his compression recovery socks which he is wearing to help recovery from his recent 15km weekend race.
Poh, Bokz and I agree to set a date to run at night along the Sundown route. A proposal for 30 Apr, Friday 11 pm was set. 15km to 30km range. Changi park. All are welcomed to join.