Daily Life: Army Half Marathon 2018

The cheapest half marathon run in town at the moment. that should be the tagline as most runs in Singapore for 21K are around S$50 which is rather ex if you ask me.

Every year this is the one race i will take part as its in the middle of the year n a good gauge for my running for the next half of the year.
This year I took the shuttle bus service which cost me S$6 from aljunied mrt bus stop to the start point at 3am. Its always hard to wake up at 1am...

The baggage deposit is very smooth n there was a little queue as only one baggage deposit counter was open though this was very quickly resolved as all the baggage deposit counters open due to more n more runners coming in.

Reach the start point early n was in front, saw many friends n familiar faces. had a chat while waiting for the flag off at 4.30am. 4.33am we are flagged off n run towards DBS building before making a turn after that towards garden by the bay east. I was running fast & within my limit but my stomach decide to go for shit time. Shit.... I had to cut down the pace as was feeling the stomach grinding n letting off gases... Once reach the canopy at gardens by the bay I straight went to toilet n saw Mark going to the toilet. The 'bombing' took place while i press my lap button to see later how fast i was in the first 5k.

With the shit out, its business as usual though i did not go fast till i have my isotonic drink at the marina barrage water station. Had 2 cups n off i go towards ECP. Engine is doing well so pick up some speed though when i reach ECP i dropped down to walking speed to enjoy my banana. ECP was a rather short distance before we make the u-turn towards fort road. There I saw chern n encourage him while i run off towards stadium. There I took my gel at the 14K mark n towards the finish line. Along the way saw some more friends n also Jai who was with me at the start line. He say he aiming for 2.30 but when i saw my GPS watch, 2.15 is within reach. By the time i finish the run the 10K runners have flagged off for a good 20mins.
Met more friends n took photo before going back home to take breakfast at a nearby hawker centre with owen since we live around the same area.

All in all the race was good n without the extended toilet break, i should be able to break 2hrs. A good run with no issues on my body form n pace. Think the weekly tues runs do very well to me to increase my pace gradually.

Aftermath of AHM 2016

I thought I broke my PB for 21K but looking back, mine best results is in 2014 AHM. Despite that I can see a good improvement throughout the 2016 edition with my pace much faster than previous. That in itself is good enough.

I think I may have got off too fast early in the run so by the time I reach mid point I am out of fuel especially at the tanjong Rhu connector. Thankfully the banana is around so i can grab some sugar for the extra burn. I will have to balance with more bananas for future runs since they are proved to be a good source of carbo for me.

Daily Life: AHM 2014 Results and insights

Army Half marathon is one race I will always take part. Partly is due to the low entry fees. At $12 for 21K, its a steal. I normally use this as a training guide to how have i progress for the year and always come out to be for the better.

This year the route is different. From the start, its going to Marina barrage using the road, bypassing MBS and gardens by the bay. Only the bottleneck at marina barrage bridge towards the park connector is some issue but not major enough. Then its a round about bypassing another bottleneck area at Tanjong Rhru park connector.  Since the sports stadium is ready, the run goes round it before going towards the flyer via the bridge next to the sports stadium. Another turn before reaching suntec city and a final turn at the underground bridge towards kallang before the final 2K towards the padang.

I run fast enough this time to complete 21K before the 10K flag off so was very happy with that. Jonathan, Alex, Benny, Abel and Gilbert were taking part in the 10K so this is the first time got chance to have breakfast with them. Its cool running with friends though they are of a different race category.

The bag deposit area is well lighted and all bags are put in plastic bags and sealed tight with cable tie. The water stations are also well spaced out with plain water at first table, sports drink at second and last table is either banana or muscle rub. I miss the first drink station providing the banana and could have cause me some time as I was already running empty during that time. By the time I took banana, it was another 2K towards the finish line but the banana did push my energy up enough to go fast towards the end.

The weather is also helpful as it is not bright/sunny with shades of grey. All in all a good run for AHM 2014.

Daily Life: Results of SAFRA AHM 2012

I was free only at night to take a look at the results and i was surprised the results are out

I am in the Men's closed due to my status as a active NSmen and out of the 2674 runners in my category, I am 1173 in the listing. Its a good start and i hope to move up the ladder next year round

Daily Life: Safra AHM 2012

This morning I went for the Safra AHM 2012. As my brother is not in, i have to wake up earlier than usual to call a cab to go to city hall. The 21K race starts at 5.15am so no public transport is available.

Today's weather is very good as it rain in the early morning/late last night. The ground is a little wet and can feel some rain drops as i started to warm up. I saw a ex colleague and we share some thoughts today before he moved to the front to start.

There is a a lot of runners and i can see runners from team fatbird and other social runner clubs runners. The race started on time at 5.15am and takes us to the CBD area before turning around the DBS building and move towards Marina bay sands. At the CBD turnaround, the organizer setup the timing mat and cause a holdup as many runners moved past the mat carefully. I nearly knock into the runner in front of me. As i clear the crowd, i have to speed up to make up for lost time and from Marina bay sands we went to Gardens by the bay and to Marina barrage. Its a familiar running route for me so i don't have any issues.

Then come another jam at the entrance from Marina barrage to the Tanjong Rhu estate. Too many runners so walk slowly until clear the entrance before I speed up. From Tanjong Rhu estate its all the way to Katong park connector, another familiar running route, and turn up towards the pumping station nearby before going to the stadium road. Then its all the way to Nicoll highway towards suntec. Luckily the water point at the Nicoll highway provides banana which is good recharging for me as i am out of juice. The cold water is a refreshing wake up n provided me energy to go all the way from Nicoll highway to the underpass towards kallang. By then the 10K run already started and the road is full of 10K & sweating 21K runners struggling to make it back to the finish point. The run turn into Kallang park and its all the way to the F1 racing track before going to the floating platform and all the way to finish point at the Padang.

Except for the kallang park area where i walk a while after visiting the toilet, I was running for the whole race and with my new shoes and chi running. I managed to catch up with my ex-colleague again at the finish point and learn that he will be going for the Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon 2012.

All in all, it took me around 2hours 30mins to finish the full 21K. I activated my sports tracker app but for some reasons it stopped at 18k mark so i have to removed the entry as it does not reflect the full running journey.

Daily Life: 08 Jun 2008

Today was a crazy day. I actually woke up late... Yes. I know it is a sunday But I was supposed to go for my passion run.

Anyway, I managed to leave home @ 7am, managed to get a cab and reach there 2 minutes the start of the men's open 10km wave 1. (the men's open 15km is supposed to start from 6.30 to 7.15). I ran all the way from 7.30, hoping to catch-up and boy was it tiring...

I was sweating all over until no more sweat.... my clothes were all wet plus by the time finish, my legs finally gave way the the end and the paramedic was on hand to give me some heat rub. My leg were clamping up.

It was a good run and having completed 15km without much stopping to walk is a small step for me. I just have to trained harder for my upcoming 24km singapore bay run (also known as Shears Bridge run or Army half marathon (AHM). Once i get my hands on the pictures, will upload