Preparation for AHM

After signing up for AHM (with Kev), have about 5 weeks to prepare for the 26 Aug run. Target to complete the run within 3hrs, hoping to go under 2h:45mins. With the last week used for tapering, that means have to put in some hard work the next 4 weeks. Not planning to kill myself (excuses :-)), will target 2 runs a week, one a 5km run and the other, 10km or slightly more.

First week - so far so good. Did a 5km run on Wednesday and followed up with a 11km run on Saturday night. Just completed the run, unable to sleep hence updating the blog. Hope to keep this up.

Mizuno Wave 10K Run

As expected, it was crowded and there were bottlenecks, particularly along the initial 100-200 hundred metres from Temasek Poly to Bedok Reservoir Park.

Weather was cool and great after the early morning showers.

Felt great around the 5k mark (great surprise) and along the last 5 k, only stopped twice in order to consume some water. Personally, a great run although the 1hr + timing is slow by others' standard.

Felt movitated enough to decide to sign up for the AHM and managed to convince Kev to come along too :-)

So far, has done the Saucony Passion Run (5K Fun Run) & Mizuno Wave Run (10K). Targetting to complete the following :

The Singapore Bay Run (Half Marathon) 26 Aug 07

NB Real Run (Road 12km - Sand 1km - Trail 1km - Runway 1km Total 15km) 28 Oct 07

SCSM 2 Dec 07

Feeling Better

The Saucony Passion Run was quite siong as I was obviously not prepared even if it was just 5k. The last 2km was especially bad with the sun shining straight at you. Must thank Kev & YY for their company for the last 1km :-). It was good preparation though for the Mizuno Wave Run 2 weeks later.

Went for the 5km loop from home to Khatib Camp-Sembawang Airbase-Khatib MRT-Home. The initial 1km was a bit siong but felt relaxed after that and it was a enjoyable run. Glad that I went for the run instead of staying home to catch CSI-Maimi on AXN.

Mileage for Jul 07

3 Jul - 3km on Treadmill @ Office
8 Jul - 5km @ Saucony Passion Run
11 Jul - 5km (Home-Khatib Camp-Sembawang Airbase-Khatib MRT-Home)
15 Jul - 4.6km (MacRitchie Reservoir)
18 Jul - 4 km (Home-Yishun Sec Sch - Chong Pang CC - Yishun MRT - Swimming Pool - Home)
22 Jul - 10km (Bedok Reservoir Mizuno Wave Run)
25 Jul - 5km (Home-Khatib Camp-Sembawang Airbase-Khatib MRT-Home)
28 Jul - 11km (Home-Khatib Camp-Nee Soon Camp-Pierce Reservoir- U-turn-Nee Soon Camp-Khatib Camp-Home)

Total - 47.6km

Photos taken at Singapore U-23 v Australia

Singapore U23 v Australia

Went for the match with my wife & the 2 kids. Match ended 0-0 and was a evenly contested one with Singapore missing 2 one-on-one opportunities and Australia having one goal disallowed for offside.

The highlights for me was after the match when first Harry Kewell then Tim Cahill made their way from the VIP room down towards the tracks, walking just beside me. Out came the camera and the best was to follow. Mark Schwarzer, took the wrong flight of stairs and had to squeeze between us to make his way down. He was very friendly and duly obliged with the request for a photograph to be taken with him.

Goodbye to the Old Lady

Went to the National Stadium last night for the Singapore vs Australia match. The Lions played well and took the game to the Socceroos but the difference in class told as Mark Viduka & Harry Kewell took their chances while we hit the woodwork twice through Indra Shahdan & Khairul Amri.

Personally, the National Stadium hold many memories for me. Attended numerous Malaysia Cup matches when the NS was packed and it is a pity that many of the younger ones was not able to experience that except during the ASEAN Fotball Championship (formerly TIGER Cup) matches against Indonesia in 2005 & against Thailand this year. Who would forgot the overhead kick goal by Sundram in the game against Brunei !

It was great to see tribute being paid to other sport personalities who had done Singapore proud - C.Kunalan, Ang Peng Siong, Jun Jinhong etc.

Goodbye National Stadium and hope that the planned new stadium would be even better !

Back running again and trying to stick to it !

Did not run for about more than 2 months. A combination of a new job posting and lack of discipline meant that I was not able to keep even remotely close to my new year resolutions which include running every third day.

Started running again about 2 weeks ago :

First run 11 Jun 07 - Run-walk 3km (Home-Yishun MRT-Chong Pang CC-Home). Injuries to right ankle appeared to have caught up with me, resulting in first a numb pain around ankle before cramps start to set in around the right shin.

2nd run 15 Jun 07 - Same as above.

3rd run 19 Jun 07 - Run-Walk 5km (Home-Khatib Camp-Sembawang Airbase-Yishun Stadium-Khatib MRT-Home). Still having same problem but felt slight improvement as the cramps set in later than previous runs.

4th run 22 Jun 07 - 30 mins treadmill @ Pan Pacific. Felt good although felt numbling pain in right ankle at end of run.

5th run 26 Jun 07 - 20 mins treadmill @ Office before rushing home. Felt ok but cramps set in when driving home and it was quite an uncomfortable for about 5 minutes.

Total - about 18km

Signed up for the 100 Plus Saucony Passion Run on 8 Jul 07. Registration was closed for the 10km and only managed to sign up for the 5km. On hindsight, 5km was probably the better choice. Also signed up for the Mizuno Wave 10 km run on 22 Jul with Kev & Pat. Need to train for the next 3 weeks to be ready for the run.

Still targetting for the Singapore Bay AHM & the big one personally - the Standard Chartered Marathon. Would need a lot of self discipline :-)