Army Half Marathon

event: singapore bay run (ahm)
distance: 21 km
time: 1 hr 47 min

route: esplanade bridge - cross street - south bridge road - maxwell road - east coast parkway -fort road - east coast park (u-turn) - fort road - mountbatten road - nicoll highway - republic avenue - ndp floating platform


first times...

i clocked my personal best timing for half marathon in this run. adding to the sweetness of the achievement, i came in 10th position in the women's open category! now that was a total surprise... my first time ever, to get a prize for big runs like this. the last time i won any placing in a run was during my secondary school time! haha..

i achieved another "personal best" earlier in the morning - 15mins from out of bed to out of house! supposed to meet IN and HS at 4.15am and i even reminded HS not to be late. had alarms set at 3.15am, 3.30am, 3.45am and a snooze alarm at 3.30am. i slept through all of them!!! it's 4am when i jumped out of bed. my race had already started.. :P


feedback...

the route this year is much well planned than last year. we cleared the city areas early in the run, avoiding interruptions like last year where runners had to be held at traffic junctions. the organizers learnt their lesson. runners don't like to be stopped!


focus...

the u-turn point is at east coast park again. but this time, it is much further into the park than previously and it seems like we were never gonna reach the u-turn point. even after running 2 km along the park, the elite runners has not turned back...

it is also along this stretch that fatigue set in. the mind gets tired, the strides get smaller, the breathing gets faster and heavier... i pop a gel at 9km and it took another km to kick in. i looked ahead at the road and concentrated on regulating my breathing and my strides. 2/4 rhythm, low cadence, long strides, breathe...

IN once said that my pace is hard to follow. unlike HH's small and fast step or SL's normal steps, mine appeared as though i'm running slowly but my steps are big. steadily, i overtook many others along the way. focusing on my running, not the race, i conquered the stretch of east coast park and the rest of the route.


finish lines...

250 m and the finish line is in sight. i get ready for the final burst. opened up my strides, increased my cadence, and started to sprint towards the finish line... suddenly there were barriers ahead and marshalls waved us on to turn left... there's another finish line?!?! we followed the left turn and made another right turn, now there is our finish line 50 m ahead.

this is it... :)

Bike to Work

i biked to work for the 3rd time.

i'm on my own today. JL is down... think our last ride to work wore him out.

a very light drizzle at dawn sent me on my way. under the warm glow of the street lights, the morning air bursts into a misty sight. as tiny droplets of water fell on my face, in my heart i said a little prayer. i looked up into the sky. please hold up...

it seems a good day for biking to work. buses waved me on, the air along exxonmobile didn't smell as polluted and even the traffic heavy pioneer road was flowing light. one can feel the peace of the morning in the busy of the rush hour...

start / end:blk 53 lengkok bahru / 31 tuas south ave 6
distance clocked: 29.23 km
time taken:1:04:47
average speed: 27.1 km/h
max speed: 41.7 km/h

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

8.30pm. i sent out the last email and finally packed up. what a long day...

the moment i turned out of pfizer, the night sky momentarily showed up bright orange behind the thick linings of dark clouds. i couldn't see the road ahead clearly. from afar, i hear a familiar pattering sound. i realized i'm going to ride into the rain...

a foriegn worker pulled up behind me at a junction along pioneer road. on his 1-speed bike, he pedals effortlessly and overtook me, as i cruise along at 24km/h. approaching the next junction, a big container truck screams loudly at us from behind. it cuts two lanes fiercely into our lane and came so close that our friend had to stop by the kerb to prevent being squashed by the truck. i was lucky to have a little more space and managed to balance myself between the kerb and the container. to our disbelief, the truck, after brushing by us, cuts back immediately to the second lane.

trucks, cars, scooters... they seemed to be in some kind of rush tonight. were they late for an appointment? or was it that they can't wait to get home? or simply because they like to drive fast?

i decided that i shall give way and keep my distance from the trucks for tonight. :)

start / end: 31 tuas south ave 6 / blk 53 lengkok bahru
distance clocked: 29.22 km
time taken:1:15:32
average speed: 23.2 km/h
max speed: 32.9 km/h

Thinking of You...

Wishing you an exciting and beautiful day,
with blue skies, interesting finds and everything nice.
When you get to see this little message,
know that someone's thinking of you,
from an isle not so far away...