• The Cheery Runner

    Sunday, October 30, 2005

    Yishun Stadium- Buangkok

    We met up the rest of the members @ Yishun Stadium.. Goola and Enghwa were here today.. We started at 7.15am.. i wore my newly bought Knee Guard.. hoping it will helps to ease the pain... it was rather painful when I started the 1st few steps.. and I could feel the back of my knee hurting as the knee guard was rather stiff... i was doing a very slow pace.. abt 7min/km.... by the time i reached the reservior bridge, the rest were already far ahead of me and the sun was glaring brightly... lucky i got my cap with me... but i could still feel the strong heat..

    i saw Cm at the entrance of seletar base camp.. and asked him to go ahead... cos i am really slow and the heat was killing me... i had a sip of water and ran on towards fernvale... wah sey.. this portion has no SHADE!!! the oni way is to run faster to the LRT to get a little shade from the lrt tracks... I saw the rest of the group having their water breaks at the coffeeshop at sengkang.. and cm asked them to go ahead while he will run with me... i grub down a can of 100 plus and then removed my knee guard.. as i felt it very hot and tight ard my knee... but tt was a terrible mistake.. my pain came back after 400m... and i have to stop... i took bus back to Yishum Stadium and Cm ran back alone...

    The weather was the main killer for today's run .. alot was very affected by it.. hope the weather during marathon will be nice and cloudy.. :)

    Distance covered: 13km __ Timing: 1:34:21

    Thursday, October 27, 2005

    Visit to Ma Kuang

    I skipped my training today... been to Ma Kuang for some treatment on my Runners Knee... the shifu "tui1 na2" for me for both of my legs for more an an hour.. longest tui na tt i ever experience.. haha.. the applied some medi on my left knee with a bandage... he said my leg abit slanted as human body will adjust and adapt to pain.. so when i felt pain at certain part, my body will readjust to another position so i will not feel so much pain.. hope i can recover in time for the marathon..

    Tuesday, October 25, 2005

    Depot Rd-Harbourfront

    After Sunday run, I still felt a sharp pain at the inner part of my knee... I decided to do a shorter route.. running round the big loop from Depot Road-Alexandra road- Telow Blangah Road- Harbourfront-Kampong Bahru- Safra.. while the rest went for their 18km long run... Ulu Pandan Canal... Yean joined me as she just recovered from her flu.. I start with a slow warm up.. and after abt 4km, the pain eased abit and I felt I abit better... after i reached the club, i went to the gym and ran another 3km more on the threadmill :)

    Distance Covered:8.5km __ Timing: 51:09:26

    Sunday, October 23, 2005

    East Coast- Mt Faber

    Today is the location run of 3 Safra runnings clubs....TP, MF and newly formed Tampines.... there was a big group... and we start from East Coast Park Carpark C4 at ard 7am...

    Hit the wall at the Marina Promenade.. could feel the pain at the side of my knee and told Ong i felt like stopping already.... i told another quarter of the power gel and continued towards Marina Bay... at the junction to turn in Marina, i told Ong.. maybe we shld head str to MF instead.. think my legs can't last any much longer... we stop for a drink at the coffee shops of Keppel Rd and slow jog to MF.. I walked up the steep slope and Ong waited for me at the peak.. he did 2 loops ard MF before we stop for the day...

    After the run, we checked out the symptoms.... Pain at the side and back of knee.. and did a simple test.. confirmed it is runner's knee problem.. maybe due to the increase workout at Mt Faber throughout the wk... :(

    Distance covered: 19km __ Timing 1:53:44

    Thursday, October 20, 2005

    Labrador- Mt Faber

    This wk is hill training... I skipped tuesday training as I was not feeling well.. Today we are suppose to do Labrador (hill) then Mt Faber.. I could feel that I was abit slower when I ran up the slope of Labrador.. after the 800m loop, I found it easier and manage to caught up with Andre, Small Chua... next is up MF.. haha 2 hills at one time.. nv try b4.. but it was a great feeling to be able to go up there... and really felt it made me stronger to endure endure.. :)

    Distance covered: 14km __ Timing: 1:25:53

    Sunday, October 16, 2005

    Sentosa- Mt Faber

    Today is our long run to prepare for the coming marathon.. We ran along Henderson Rd towards Sentosa.. once inside we ran all the way into Satellite loop-Sentosa cove-Tanjong Beach-Palawan Beach and had our 1st water stop at Palawan Beach toilet.. and headed towards Siloso Beach where we met up with Cm, Adam, Rita, Andy and Andre... we stop for another short water break and i tried out my power gel which i gotten @ the Runner's Day.. strawberry and Banana flavour.. yummy :) We ran on another loop ard Sentosa.. back to Palawan beach and I took another small portion of the power gel and so far so good... i still dun feel tired.. I ran with Ong and his toe started to ache badly and he decided to stop for the day and took a bus back.. we saw cm at 7'elevens and he treated us a big bottle of 100plus and went ahead to catch up the rest of the group... I ran alone and managed to catch sight of Ong on the bus thrice at Underwater world, the Fountain and finally at the foot of Mt faber... the weather was cloudy and I had my fuel belt to keep me hydrated... On my way up, i saw Derrick, Anthony and teck hou finishing their loop at MF.. and they cheered me on :) I ran up the peak and met up with Cm, Rita and Andy... they encouraged me to run back from henderson road.. but i decided to give tt a miss and went down by the stairs linked next to the club.. cos i could feel the pull at the back of my thigh.... Overall, it was a good run for me as i haven tried to run this long :D

    Distance covered: 26km __ Timing: 2:34:18

    Thursday, October 13, 2005

    Botanic Garden - Farrer Rd

    Had been so busy lately tt i have no time to update my blog until now :( We started from the usual route.. Henderson- TIng Bahru park- ridley Park all the way into Botanic garden - out to Farrer road then Maraget drive, Canal and Henderson road.. .. from wat i can recall.. it was a nice good run for me with a water pt at Botanic garden toilet...... and i manage to complete the whole route without much difficulties.. just tt I finished abit later than usual...

    Distance covered: 16km __ Timing: 1:35:24

    Tuesday, October 11, 2005

    7 x 800m @ Queenstown

    Ong's gout relapse again... so he will not be running.. will be conducting the speedwork at the stadium.... I drove down to Queenstown with Ong while the rest did their warm up run to the stadium....

    I did 3 rounds as warm up before the rest reached the tracks.. I wore my new Ascis GT2100 today... trying to season it asap.... hope to be able to wear it for my marathon....

    The 1st few sets were quite ok.. tho i do feel abit hard in my breathing... after the 4th set, i start to feel quite tired.. and my legs and breathing got more heavy... had the thought of giving up.. but told myself i must maintain on.... Ong told us to keep our pace.. dun treat it as a speedwork.. think of it as stamina training.... endure endure endure.... finally the last set.. and i am very glad to complete it..

    1st set -- 3:53:02
    Lap 1 -- 1:53:65
    Lap 2 -- 1:59:02

    2nd set -- 4:00:74
    Lap 1 -- 2:00:82
    Lap 2 -- 1:59:92

    3rd set -- 3:57:77
    Lap 1 -- 1:56:92
    Lap 2 -- 2:00:85

    4th set -- 4:01:98
    Lap 1 -- 2:00:25
    Lap 2 -- 2:01:73

    5th set -- 4:13:02
    Lap 1 -- 2:05:56
    Lap 2 -- 2:07:46

    6th set -- 4:12:85
    Lap 1 -- 2:04:10
    Lap 2 -- 2:08:75

    7th set -- 4:13:73
    Lap 1 -- 2:04:69
    Lap 2 -- 2:09:04

    Thursday, October 06, 2005

    7 sets of Hill Repetitions @ TB Hill

    We gathered @ the usual place... quite a no. of regulars were not here today.. some outstation.. some busy with work... I slow jogged with our new member, Christine to TB Hill.. She joined us once a few mths back in our Sunday location run... once we reached the peak, without much delay, we started off today's speedwork session... Tho i felt abit tired today... it was more of an endurance cum speedrun for me... each time up the slope, i counted down in my heart how many more to go... just run and try.. i can do it! by the time i reached the 5th lap.. I was quite used to the slope... recovers as i ran down... when i reached the flat ground.... keep my posture str and opens up my stride... and i managed to complete all the 7 sets.. each 1km... :D Good Run today =)

    1st Set : 5:09:18

    2nd Set : 5:01:26

    3rd Set : 5:03:41

    4th Set : 5:04:67

    5th Set : 5:10:17

    6th Set : 5:10:71

    7th Set : 5:13:03

    Tuesday, October 04, 2005

    Kent Ridge

    I got my Sgrunners Tee and Badge from Anton :D Swee swee... hehe gg to wear it tml... Today's route will be to Kent Ridge Park.. will be doing 2.5 loops there and then back to the club... Yean recovered from her stomach flu and is back with us... We also got 2 new members joining us, Seet and Patric =)

    We started at around 6.50pm... Just 100m from the start, i could feel the stitch... maybe due to the banana I ate at 5plus... was busy with work in the afternoon and almost forgot to finish my banana I bought during lunch.... I ran at an easy pace and after a short warmup, the stitch gone by itself... I reached Alexandra road in about 11 mins plus.. abt 6min/km pace.... I had a nice chat with Anton along the way to Portsdown... Once into Kent Ridge park, Ong guided us to run up from the gradual slope side.. this slope is gradual and longer as compared with the other steeper and shorter side which we will be running down... just on the way up, we saw Alan and Derrick running down... Anthony paced me throughout the 2.5 loops and advised me how I should run at different parts of the slope... go easy, smaller strides, bend slightly forward, recovery... all these helps to keep my pace good and steady... by the 2nd round, i could feel abit tiredness in my legs.. but manage to 'tong' the way up... and built on my endurance.. could still recall the last run at Kent Ridge.. i was almost walking up at the 2nd round..

    We saw Wong at the end of the slope and informed him that we are heading to the peak... on the way, we saw Alan and Derrick ... they looked abit lost and the 1st thing Derrick said upon seeing me was "slow down, slow down.. she is very chuan"... I was recovering my heavy breathing from the earlier slope.. Anthony and Alan told him I was ok.. better stop talking to me.. hahaha.. i had no more breathe to reply him... and ran to the toilet for my water break... when I was done, I joined Anthony, Alan and Bernard.. Alan commented on my running posture and estimated that I could be able to do a sub 5 for my marathon... hahaha hope I could do that... provided no leg cramps nor any walking... hehehe :D soon Ong called out for us to gather.. and derrick was already at the Cannon waiting for us... the rest had already headed back to club....

    I was quite surprise to see a big group gathering and heard that they travelled around running and drinking.. they cheered for us.. as we ran past them to the wooden bridge and all the way back to the club along Pasir Panjiang Rd-Telok Blangah Rd-Henderson Rd...

    Distance covered: 13km __ Timing: 1:18:28