At about 4.00pm yesterday, hundreds of runners congregated at the Angsana Green at East Coast Park. Participants ran either in the 25km, 50km Duo, 10km or 5km categories. The Elite, Women and Men's 25km/50km Duo race flagged off first into the obvious heat and humidity of a consistently tropical Singapore climate.
I paced myself with one of the best runners in my age group, a remarkable athlete and life-coach David Tay. I tracked him donwn and shadowed him for most of the 10km before I decided to hold back, or risk erasing my resources. For me, it was an object lesson in pacing, feeding and hydrating. I was preparing for the adidas Sundown Marathon a week later, and wanted to do some final checks with my running gear.
I was playing mind games at some points of the run, especially when I was either overtaking or being overtaken. I experienced second wind twice, and I did seek nature's call once, knowing well it would eat into my time and allow those behind me to catch up. I'd rather be fit than be a lame duck after thrashing my legs prematurely. I held a 5 minute per kilometre for most of the way: 4:50 for about 11km before I dropped the pace, intentionally as it was very hot. I crossed the line, under 2 hours 10 minutes. I met my friends from SGRunners and Mount Faber Runners and we chatted about next week's run, and what to look out for. I learn much from seasoned runners, many of whom have done multiple ultra-marathons.
Next Saturday's 84km - my inaugural double-marathon - should be an experience unto itself.
Photo credits: Lau Soh Wai
No comments:
Post a Comment