Rio

It's more than just winning medals.

Rio 2016

Farah's 10,000m

Rudisha's 800m

And now I await the 5,000m. Would it be Farah's?

In addition, some of the best sprints I've seen, when there's immense expectation.

Bolt's

100m

200m

4x100m

What makes Jamaica's men's 4x1 relay team so great? Or perhaps it's their resistance to faltering, unlike so many others. More specifically, USA. It is the ninth time since 1995 that the U.S. men have been disqualified or failed to get the baton around at an Olympics or world championships (Associated Press). You have to feel for them.

- continued on 21 August '16 -

And Farah takes the gold. The double double is complete.

“The critical bit of information that you need to know is that when Mo stands on the start line, he believes he can run faster than anyone else in that race. He believes he can run the last 400m faster than anyone in that race. He believes he could run the last kilometre faster than anyone in that race. He believes he could lift any weight in the gym that anyone wanted to – as a comparison with anyone on the start line – better, faster and heavier. He believes that if he had to fight anyone there he could kick the sh*t out of them. That’s what owning the start line is.”

Neil Black

I cannot however, leave out Centrowitz's 1500. With his humble disposition, he stayed out of trouble and it paid off. Willis, certainly not one of the fastest but undoubtedly wise, deserves credit as well. It's simply unfortunate that Kiprop didn't make the best use of his abilities.

And of course, we conclude with the marathon - Kipchoge's dominance. Yet great performances by the few handfuls that followed. I'd mention Rupp in particularly, considering that this was just his second marathon ever.

MR-25 5km Time Trial (August)

It's 100km and counting for the week. I'm treading carefully in the slightly damp trail amidst the multitude of other runners. 

I'm glad for their company. I know the typical runners too well. They'll start fast and fade. Of course, most are still pretty young. We're talking about secondary school. The leaders, all more experienced runners, are probably way ahead now and I'm willing to bet that most have gauged their efforts well.

The morning's 17km run left me pretty fatigued. Just a conservative effort with a few short pick ups focusing on stride frequency. I hope my legs carry me through. I was feeling really flat earlier as I walked over to Macritchie.

I'm catching up with runners all over. Many females at first, which doesn't surprise me. Then come the guys, little by little. However, I'm feeling a little tired and I'm getting a bit concerned about the sustainability of my pace.

I take the left turn on the trail that leads towards Lornie Road, which is just distal to our U-turn point. I see the leaders returning now. It's a little narrow as I speedily manoeuvre the gentle ascent over the rocky surface.

The U-turn feels draining. It's a jogging pace for a moment but I know I must keep up. At least there's the gentle descent now, though I'm ever cautious about the slightly technical terrain. Thereafter is the right turn and another 2-odd kilometres back to the finish.

I know this territory by heart. It's been a route I've frequented for ages as I take casual runs or perform my workouts in the forest. There are 3 main slopes. The first would be gentle. The second is the longer one and the third is the steeper one. Along with them come descents (thankfully).

I am tired. And I'm breathing rather rapidly and audibly (which hasn't quite featured in the past month).

We runners are all strung out now. I don't have many more within catching distance. Notably I passed a Caucasian. Or was it two. I fear that one will catch up again, as he seemed to be running pretty consistently. I see a Malay runner ahead. Though he seems a little too far to reach. 

Garmin beeps. It's nearing now. I know. It's nearing. Negotiate the joggers. The other couple too. Thankful. For the runner ahead. Him passing them. Serves as a warning. Breathing hard. Can't speed up. Low 18s.

Daylight. Reservoir on left. Trail over. Right turn. Stony path. Tiles. Speed. Up.

Acceptable finish. "What number?" "Don't have."

It's a stacked field. I'm happy to have company, so much so that it swallows me
up in this photo.

The leaders from start to finish.

I begin around the middle of the pack (of 70ish).

a

Returning.

Umm a little nearer.

Nice shoes.

Photo credits: Chan Chai Hui

Strava data available here :)

Look at the loaded field! Google them (correct the typos first)!

The Hall Way

“I want you to know…” says Madeline, faltering. “I want you to know that this family prays, and prays for many things. That it will be a good race, that it will be a safe race, but they never…they never…” She stops now, holding her hand to her mouth as her eyes fill with tears. It takes her a moment to gather before she can speak again.

“They never pray to win.”

Read the full article here.

Shake

Now bid me run,

And I will strive with things impossible

Julius Caesar, Shakespeare

Pocari Sweat Run 2016

Why not run 2 races back to back. With minutes in between.

This run offered the perfect opportunity. Run the 5km at 6.00pm, then run the 10km at 6.30pm. Pity I returned a bit late from the 5k (around 6:23 to be exact), this meant I couldn't start in the first wave of the 10k. That was a reminder of some of my earlier races in my running journey - bottlenecks and weaving through crowds.

Thankfully, this race was dedicated as a platform for training (and ideally, a sizeable pack to run with). If it were a race proper, the 2nd wave start that demanded weaving through crowds would have been infuriating. 

I began my first outing with a rejection. I had attempted to get into the 5km flag-off, though was turned down by the marshals. The alternative? I just needed to head over to the course itself (after all, the course is public space) and join the pack after about 50m.

The 5km runners were flagged off just after 6.00pm. I began my journey with the group, though I didn't manage to find anyone whose pace suited mine. I was running just beneath 5min/km (admittedly I did speed up as the race progressed), but as always, even at that pace, I was gradually catching up with people who were gradually fading after typical poorly-paced starts.

Flailing legs it seems. Credit to Running Shots.

The route was rather uneventful. I really don't feel like there's much to write about. I saw Peter along the way. I grabbed a cup of Pocari (gosh plastic cups are unpinchable = splashes all over me). I saw the leaders return. A Kenyan (my guess) first, followed by a couple of Gurkhas (Bijay eventually placed 2nd). I began my turn slightly earlier, just to avoid the timing mat. And then I returned to the race venue, about 23mins after starting my run.

That was a mistake.

I immediately entered the start pen, only to realise a chain had already been laid to separate the first wave from subsequent waves. In the few instances that I've seen myself get stuck in the latter waves, it is often a painful sight as I know that this means weaving through some portions of the race.

The first wave was flagged off at 6.30pm or so, with my wave (the 2nd) flagged off just about 6 mins after the clock started. Within the first 200m, I broke free from the rest of the wave and had some breathing space while running alongside a few other runners. Then terror arrived 500m into the run, where I began seeing remnants of earlier waves (or even the 5k runners?) littered all over the route.

It was a mess of weaving through the mass. Though certainly not the worst I had experienced (the worst was my first ever race I had registered for, Sundown 2012), it was unpleasant now that I was keen on running decently quick (definitely sub-45) to get a workout. I don't have the energy (nor was it particularly memorable, compared to the 5k) to describe the run, but I know that the route started to clear a little after the 5-6km mark. I did however, expand considerable amounts of energy in previous surges to find space, hence had to be conservative to prevent exceeding my desired effort for this run.

Towards the Finish. Credit to Yi Heng.

Looking at the splits from Garmin, I'm glad that I managed a consistent pace of around 4:05-4:15 per km. Certainly some way to improve, though not bad considering about a month since I got back to painless training, most of which had been long-duration easy aerobic running, with minimal focused workouts. The workouts will happen soon as I attempt to qualify and run SUniG.

Strava data available here :)

This race did mark a milestone (literally!) in my running journey. It was during this race that I ran my 62.137 mile of the week (counting from Monday to Sunday). That converts to 100km. Yes indeed my first ever 100km week! I am deeply thankful that God has allowed me to achieve this milestone. That leaves me more satisfied than my race result, though I suppose the race performance wasn't too bad either. Note to self: proper workouts (with a pack) during races need to be done either as a race participant entering the start pen early, or 'crashing' the race en route.

Definitely a pretty strong field, with many runners running at sub-40 pace.
It seems like evenings are preferred by many.

Fleeting

...the sheer perfection of the moment made him feel suddenly sad. 'I was sorry that, already, it belonged to the past - lke when a man is reading a book and turns the last page. It has happened, and now it cannot happen again.'

Today We Die A Little!

In

For the long run.

And may I give You the glory.