17-23 Oct 05

It has been a good week. Mileage claim:

Mon - Gym(Cycle), Gym(weight), MR(10.5km)
Tue - Gym(Climb/Cross T), Track(7km)
Wed - Gym(Cross T), Gym(Weight)
Thur - Gym(Cycle), Gym(Weight), Ulu Pandan(11km)
Fri - Gym(Cross), Gym(Weight, 1km)
Sat - Kallang/Esplande/Marina South (32km)
Sun- Toa Payoh 40 story HDB (4 sets)

Total Distance: 61.5km

Monday at MR is unexpected, nevertheless the experience is great. Wonderful to see quite a handful of runners in the evening time at the carpark. I put on the knee guard and finished in 1:09hrs. It was a struggle for myself. Right upper calf muscle is feeling the sore about 1km and have to endure all the way. I started the run at 6:02pm and the last stretch is very dark(grey lah). Glad to finish the run. Phew....

Tuesday track work at Clementi was okay. Didnt push the pace, since can feel the leg is heavy after yesterday session at MR. Now i am pretty convinced that MR take alot out of myself physically, even though the pace might not be fast.

Wednesday tried not to run, i need a rest. I am pushing up the mileage and have to monitor and check the progress to make sure i don't over doing it. 2 gym sessions are sufficient for now.

Thursday have to run leow lah...need to maintain and push up the mileage. The pace is okay, and not fast to the fact i gonna collapse on the floor. Telling myself i am upping the mileage and not concentrating on speed works, though it is nice if the pace is good. Anyway just have to run slow to moderate until marathon is finished.

Friday today definitely try not to run. I have a long run tomorrow which is the main event of the week. 2 gym sessions are good. Plus a seafood dinner...haha...

Saturday reach Kallang PA at 5am. Francis is there for the run. Death wasnt mentally prepared for the run and early morning rain put him off. In fact it is a good day for the run. We started off slowly towards Esplande and turn towards shenton way and head to Marina South. Make a loop back to the starting point. Total distance estimated is 20km. We finished in 2:30hrs. Pretty slow i would say, what the heck we are going for super long run today, who care about the time. We took a longer break with banana and h2o back at the car.

We headed off for another 10km Kallang/Esplande loop. We break contact about 2km down the streth. It is also good lah, as the next part is going to be mental and we need to train and run on our own. Slowly i pulled away. I feel good and instead of making a return loop at Padang, i push forward towards Clark Quay and make the loop 2 bridges away and return making it additional 2 more km. On the return leg, took a package of Power Gel(need to get use to it even though i dont think i need it). I finished strong as i give chase to an uncle(i believe from ABC running club). I finished fresh and actually ready to go again. haha...that's a good feeling. Francis finished 30km.

The ready2race shorts caused chaffing again like last week, even though i have put on the NEAT gel to smoother the chaffing. What to do? At 20km point, i put on my swimming trunk inside the shorts and removed this problem. Alas what done cannot be undone, only the bathing time will tell. Sob Sob...

On another note, my right knee is feeling a bit of the strain already when i hit the super long distance. I guess the last marathon training sessions, also same problem. I ignore it and didn't bother much. Except running the full distance that i felt it greatly. Through experience, running with kneecap guard will stress upper calf muscle. 2 things i will do going forward. Train more on the kneecap guard & carry the kneecap guard along for super long run. In actual marathon, have to wear it around 25-30km mark. That giving the case, i should be able to run additional 10-15km without overstressing the upper calf muscle too much.

I believe running a slower pace(with francis), i feel good after 20km, therefore able to push for greater distance without too much overloading. Total distance 32km, finished 3:48hrs

Sunday, another story together.