My Race Journey

Transcend yourself, did you? Were you able to achieve the goals you have set for yourself? Were you able to push yourselves beyond the limits of those goals? These are just a few of the questions I have in mind as I reflect on this year’s running journey.

Recently, themed “The Farm” – the concluding race of the 5-part running series took event at the Kranji Countryside. There was so much anticipation with what is in store for me this last round as I committed myself to run all the races of this series. Aside from aiming to complete the 5 cool finisher medals that when pieced altogether becomes our little island home – Singapore, I also aimed to transcend myself in any way as what the whole series is all about.

Two weeks after the SCMS 2016, where I barely missed my goal sub 5 hour finish, the race that was coined to be the final race of the year by most including me started with…a heavy downpour. It was not raining at least when I woke up around 5am on the 18^th of December and I was so shocked when my wife told me and I have to see it for myself outside our room window an almost zero visible open area with the scattered bright light from a familiar lamp post as the only reference point. I convinced myself it was still early though and this unlikely weather will stop just nice before the flag off at 6:30 AM. Similar to SCMS, TPS5 flagged off all distance categories all at the same time. This may seem odd to some as larger crowd could choke a narrow road but when you come to think of it, the earlier you start off, the higher the probability of avoiding the terribly scorching heat of the morning sun. This is to the latter wave’s advantage which is usually the 5KM runners and other categories so for me, flagging off this way is not too bad at all. I cannot clearly remember how the previous TPS races went but I know I always chose to run on the first wave and to confirm (checking on my race bibs while writing this), only TPS5 has no wave specified on the bib.

Like the previous TPS races, there was no shuttle bus pick up at Ang Mo Kio MRT station. I feel AMK is more centrally located to be a pick up point for shuttle bus services rather than at Bishan MRT station. Do you agree? With this, since it is raining and my way to AMK MRT station is unsheltered, I had to book a cab to Bishan MRT station. I feel very positive as I walked out of our HDB block towards the taxi bay: cool wind and heavy rain will yield a perfectly cool race environment. On the contrary, as far as my mind can imagine of a ‘farm’, I honestly expected an extremely difficult muddy trail resulting from an over damped earth. The uncle cab driver, as we passed by Bishan-AMK Park mentioned how intrigued he was with the road closures around Kranji area and is more curious at the same time on how am I going to run in this kind of weather. I just kept silent, instead I crossed my fingers and hoped that he will drive me safely to our destination and that, ultimately, I will not miss the shuttle bus. Previously, I always take a cab to the race area but after this experience, I feel it is a great deal to avail of these shuttle bus services if not driving to a race. Firstly because it is basically way cheaper than getting a cab to the event site and secondly, these shuttle buses are given priority on the road to the location and therefore avoiding traffic jam. This assures you that you will get in to the event area with ample time to do all your pre-race activities if everyone agrees.

It was dark and still slightly drizzling at the shuttle bus drop-off. There was no shelter too! To make things worse the race village is still about 500m away. I don’t usually use umbrellas, in fact, I hate bringing umbrellas. They are heavy and annoying and bulky and also troublesome to keep specially after using it in the rain. The slight drizzle to me is tolerable and I didn’t really bother so much too because I’m going to get soaked in sweat later on anyways, although I saw a few making their way towards Gardenesia on their umbrellas in different sizes and colours. Direction sign boards were placed vividly on the side of the road and can be easily seen as I walked. As I approach the race village, I observed a guy on the green TPS race shirt puffing a cigarette! At the back of my mind I was thinking you run to be fit and then you smoke for what? Moving on, a queue to about 4 to 5 portable toilets slowly built up across the road congesting the area before entering the race village. Although not feeling good with the congestion, I felt the drizzle is gone, I joined the queue and added to the congestion. I thought of queuing now or suffer a longer one that will take forever later. The indoor race village is well lit, dry and cozy. I checked the place a bit and actually found it to be quite nice that runners are seated everywhere comfortably waiting. At this point I didn’t know that the flag-off was already delayed to 6:45AM. Like the other TPS races (and most other races), announcements were only made through Facebook channel which I missed out. A personal SMS I think is still the best and ideal way. I like the sounds played at the village, my kind of playlist (Keane, Coldplay, etc.). It did set the mood. I did not see much of familiar faces this time except for the F1 runners that stood out from the huge neon green crowd in that small race village area. All set, I deposited my bag though it took me awhile to decipher the tags as each queue seemed to be labeled with a range of few digits of number.

Initially I thought the baggage queue is arranged according to your bib number but later on I found out after asking one of the crew that it wasn’t and that I can queue in anywhere.

I forgot to bring my waist pouch for my phone neither my arm band so I decided to deposit it too inside my bag. Not carrying a pouch with a phone on the waist or on the arm is also something for me to always observe during a race. This eliminates the extra weight of the heavy smartphone on the waist as well as the discomfort of having unbalanced arms. With my bag secured, I went for a little warm up at the nearby car park. I have never felt so ready. With all the perfect conditions, I felt like I am going to surprise myself with another personal best, an ideal way to finish the last race of the year.

6:30 AM. I squeezed in to the start pen. Runners accumulating at the start pen fast but it wasn’t moving. No announcements whatsoever. Another 15 minutes went by and the crowd moved to another stop. Patiently waited unaware of the further flag-off delay to 7:00 AM. I managed to exchange well wishes to runners next to me as we waited shoulder to shoulder nearer the start line. A middle-aged man on my immediately left was so busy checking his phone and, being taller than him by a few inches, I glanced at what he was busy looking at (kaypoh me!) and it’s the TPS Facebook page! I asked him immediately for any update and he shared with me disappointingly with the update and that’s the only time I have learned of the delay. A white guy on my right overheard us and he is quite not impressed too with the lack of live announcements from the organizers. Both of them aimed for less than 1 hour and less than 45 minutes respectively. I hoped they had achieved what they aimed for. Like them, I was aiming for a PB of less than 50 minutes which I wasn’t able to share with the two guys as the time went too quickly before we noticed we were finally and officially flagging off!

I was set to do a 5 minute pace or faster all the way to the finish. Focusing on this, it was a surprise having ran less than 2km is already an uphill slope! And then more uphill slopes that eventually went down too, thankfully! Few hydration stops were evenly distributed enough for the entire 10km route. A strong odour from an unknown source started to smell at some areas. I didn’t quite like it but it did make me continue running at constant pace and did not slow down. Volunteers were absolutely awesome cheering runners after runners as they actively give directions as to where to turn. A volunteer at one of the hydration points did extra by getting nearer to the runners and offering drinks. Big thanks to the lady, though I didn’t stop nor get the drink she was offering. Coming back from the sharp curve I saw elites in the likes of Ashly Liew, the Chee siblings, Jasmine Goh, F1’s, Shufflers, etc. I always look up to these runners. Dedicated. Disciplined. Determined. I wish I could be like them in the future but then no, we cannot be somebody else. We can only try to be the best of what we can be. Running is a matter of improving one’s self and the only opponent is no one else but you yesterday. The undulating up and downhill slopes went on. The imagination of a muddy trail never came to existence. I quietly passed every hydration. I was counting down to every kilometer and constantly checking my pace. Am I going to make it to a sub 50? Being able to squeeze in through the head of the crowd has given me the advantage of not getting caught on bottlenecks. I noticed not only once of the merging and narrowing of the lanes especially at the latter half. At the same time, being in front too gives you an excellent base pace and a motivation to run faster, if not as fast as the elites leading the pack if that makes sense to you. The last 2 kilometers was quite tough as there were a couple of sharp left turns and an uphill slope. The final kilometer was rather flat if not downhill. The weather allowed me to sprint the last 400-500 meters and I was so proud of my finish that I felt like I won a major prize at the grandest lucky draw!

Overly conscious on my “consciousness”, I took a little break at the side fence right after the finish as I am too scared of fainting. After confirming that I am still doing perfectly fine, I walked towards the race village and collected my medal and my finisher shirt smoothly. Retrieving my bag was rather quick too! Took it to avoid the queue. I sent the good news to my wife, hydrated and rested a bit at the congregating stage area.

The baggage claim, the stage, the recovery area, the finisher collection and porta-loos are all closely adjacent to each other making the entire place seriously congested with queues and runners resting all over the place that from a bird’s eye view, it seemed like a celebration of everyone’s personal achievement for the year that is nearly coming to its close.

It was a memorable conclusion of the performance series for me. I couldn’t ask for more neither complain for anything less. From race 1 to race 5, I am completely satisfied. It was well organized, safety was always the priority and the welfare of runners is always taken into consideration.

Did I transcend myself? Yes. We are limitless. As a runner, there is no endpoint to improvement. I transcended I believe and even started writing trying to record my running journey in words. Thanks JustRunLah! for giving us this opportunity and space to share our thoughts with regards to the love of this sport.

Was I able to achieve the goals I have set for myself? Yes. Earlier this year, I set out my goals for every distance. From 5kilometers to a full 42 kilometers. Looking back, I am very much satisfied with my year-end report.

Was I able to push myself beyond the limits of those goals? Yes. Surpassed and exceeded my goals.

The Performance Series enabled me to continuously challenge myself and motivated me to train persistently harder and to beat the former me. The race results showed how much I have improved over the past races. Thank you JustRunLah! Thank you The Performance Series! Thank you coaches and friends. 2017 is a promising year. See you there!

Meanwhile, enjoy the festive season. Merry Christmas everyone!

When the last is not the last, you get the encore.

This race was not supposed to happen.  YOLO run was supposed to be the last race together with my sons; but as it turns out, JustRunLah offered me a free slot (thank you) for the finale run for the Performance Series (TPS) at Kranji.  I took the opportunity to also dragged my sons along for the 2017 encore run.

The Performance Series has a total of 5 runs; Island, Lake, City, Reservoir and the final one was Farm.  The last race takes runners to the countryside of Kranji – a place I would not normally go visit; either recreationally or socially, let alone run there.  TPS provided me this opportunity to experience running at a place like this.  Heard it has undulating terrain but with good countryside feel.  So when the offer came, it made perfect sense for me to go since it did not interfere with my family holiday plans.

RACE PACK COLLECTION

Just looking at the photos, you can tell that race pack collection was a breeze for most of us.  I was in and out in less than 3mins flat.  Took a quick look around at the vendors selling their stuff.  There were not much to see though.  Even the iconic JustRunLah backdrop was missing.  I guess they must have hauled it to the SCMS REPC at EXPO which was happening on the same day.  It was a no-frills REPC for this final TPS instalment.

RACE DAY

December is not particularly a good month to take on a race because of the holidays and festivities, not forgetting rainy season.  I just got back from a 4-day Penang family holidays and had been feasting on good street food.  My mind was not quite ready for the race on 18 Dec.  I tried to do some short runs prior to race day just to ensure that my body was conditioned after all the holiday indulgence.

The day of the race, my boys and I got up very early around 5am and found ourselves in the middle of an impending storm.  A quick check on my mobile app showed thundering showers covering the whole of Singapore.  We debated if we should even go for the race given the weather conditions.  I looked up their TPS facebook page and tried to find some updates.  Despite being blasted with comments from fellow runners, the organisers kept their cool and just communicated the relevant information.

The 6.30am flag-off time was postponed to 6.45 and eventually to 7.00am when the rain near Kranji began to subside. Unfortunately, runners were still trapped by rain in other parts of Singapore.  The bus queues (based on FB feeds) continued to frustrate the runners as they tried to get to the start point before 7am.  Kudos to the organisers for their calm response and the right decision moving the flag off time later so that we can all have a good run.

Ubering our way to the race village at Gardenasia, my boys and I found the place packed with a sea of luminous green; a fitting colour for a farm run. By the time we were flagged off, the rain was gone and the sky had a nice morning hue which was a welcome sight.  The pre-dawn rain had cooled the air somewhat for most runners to attempt a PB despite knowing that there will be slopes along the course.

As the runners snaked through the route, many started out fast and furious. Much to our dismay, at around the 1km mark, we were literally reduced to either a slow jog and even a walk as the open road narrowed to a single lane.  It lasted about 500-600m and we were back to two full lanes and many picked up speed again.  There was only one U turn at the 3.5km mark and two other choke points along the entire route.  Just near the 6km mark, we were channeled to Lim Chu Kang Road for a short distance before returning to the smaller roads; and of course when we returned at the 8.5km mark, it was one lane again. By then, runners have spaced out so it wasn’t much a problem for all of us.  Despite this, I am inclined to believe that the organisers took great pains to minimise the choke points and sharp turns to give runners a good running experience.  Well done!

Despite the slowdowns and initial human traffic jams (unless you are at the starting line-up), I really enjoyed the countryside scenery.  Because I did not rely on earphones to entertain me while I run, I had the pleasure of taking in the sights and occasionally the smells of the farms and vegetation.  Living in a congested, concrete jungle most of our days, it was a welcome departure.  Just beholding the vast green space and unblocked skyline was alone a pleasure.

Water points were sufficiently distributed throughout the race route, at 2.5km intervals to ensure that runners were properly hydrated.  Initially I wanted to stop at the 5km to hydrate but ended up skipping all the water points because I was afraid of losing my momentum. Surprising enough, I was doing about 6min pace despite the slopes and turns and bottlenecks.  This was my first race running without any tapes and braces around my knees.  I have finally recovered from my knee injury.

The slopes which I thought might ‘own’ me was inconsequential.  I didn’t slow down for the up slopes, even the last portion when the incline was steeper.  Pushing past the 8km mark, I started to increase my pace.  My initial plan was to do 60-65mins, factoring the undulating terrain and not being at the starting line-up.  But as it turns out, my official time was just 60:25 which could have gone under one hour if not for the bottlenecks.

Unlike the YOLO Run when my boys and I were pushing at the same pace.  This time, I broke away from them at the 1km mark; and they eventually finished about 3mins behind me (according to the official timing.)  I must say that my consistent training helped in beating my sons to the finish line.  Nevertheless, they still looked fresh when I saw them at the medal collection point.

The medal collection points were not too crowded but the other stalls hawking their wares and the rest area were overcrowded with people.  You could literally smelled and touched each other’s perspiration!  It seemed like the holding area wasn’t meant to take so many runners.  Many just collected their medals and finisher tees and left; maybe they were mindful that the shuttle bus queue would be very long.  True enough, when we made our way out of the race village, the bus queue was insanely long.  One of my fellow blogger-runner told me she waited for 50mins to board the bus.  As for us, we decided to walk out to a less crowded area to Uber our way home.  We walked more than 2-3km, over the Kranji Dam before we managed to reduce our Uber ride charge by 50%! – that extra 3km of walking paid off.

Before I share my own thoughts on the race, I thought it would be interesting to include reflections from my sons to add colour to this review.

JUSTIN’s REFLECTIONS

Initially I was hesitant to participate in this run, but with the encouragement of my dad and my twin brother, I decided to sign up for it. On race day, we woke up to a really cold, rainy weather in the east side of Singapore which kind of worried us.  Eventually the rain had stopped and run timings was pushed back. Arriving at the venue, the weather was cool; a fresh light breeze was blowing. I instantly felt recharged and ready for the run. Not far after flag-off, I was trapped behind many slower joggers/walkers who amassed at a certain point where the route got narrower. After beating the human traffic, my brother and I got into the momentum of running at the 5km mark. However, just as I was getting into it, I felt aches on my back and stitches in my sides, hindering my focus and will to run. I decided to slow down.  I struggled for another 2km before the next hydration point where I took many gulps of isotonic water. This extra boost in energy gave me the motivation to complete the run. The pains in my back and stitches left me. From then onwards, I finished the rest of the 3km with relative ease.  

I felt relatively accomplished with myself as I persevered through the pain and finished the run. Right after, my dad, my brother and I changed out into our finisher t-shirts. Holding out our medals in pride, we posed for selfies with accomplished wide grins.

AUSTIN’s REFLECTIONS

This race was my second ever timed 10km run – The Performance Series Race #5 Farm. My initial thoughts on signing up were hesitant, due to the venue being rather isolated and relatively hard to get to. After some thought, I figured that it would be a good chance to have a run further from civilisation – something different from the usual Marina Bay area. With both my brother and avid runner Dad SY, backing my decision, we signed up for the TPS Race #5 together. Being held next to nature tucked away in the Kranji countryside, the air was much fresher and great for a morning run. 

To my surprise, many others were there on a Sunday morning despite the early showers, all geared up for the race. Thankfully, the rain stopped on time and the race could be started on time with only half an hour of delay. The route felt great, with many countryside views of farms and forgiving slopes, ending with a downward slope leading to the finishing line. Post-race was really smooth and the handing out of finisher medals and tees was seamless. In overall, I felt that the race was executed well despite the delays due to the rain.

POST RACE THOUGHTS

I capped this running calendar year off with 11 races, one more than last year.  In just two years of distance running, I amassed 21 medals; two of which are in the HM category and the rest are equally split between 5k and 10k.  I even had the beginner’s luck to podium once in a small race organised by the company.  Oh yes, I also had the pleasure of catching up with a fellow blogger-runner Rebekah Ong.  Congrats in achieving your PB!

As I reflected over these two years, there were many lessons learnt from running.  I am still a recreational runner; maybe a more serious runner but certainly not elite category. Where do I go from here?  What should I be doing as far as my running goals are concerned?  A few concerned ones had advised me to slow down, especially after knowing what happened to me when I got injured earlier this year.  Others cheered me on.  There were still a handful challenging me to go the distance – gun for the full marathon.  As far as I am concerned, I started running first for fitness and eventually out of enjoyment.  I am in no hurry to chase after stretch goals or outrun others.  However, I still need to overcome my own shortcomings to be a better runner (not necessarily faster.)

I stumbled upon this quote at the back cover of the book by Richard Askwith – Running Free.

“An escape from the stopwatch tyranny of PBs and split times, this (the book) is a reminder of how to run for sheer joy.” – Runner’s World

I have been reflecting on this quote and how much it means to me.  In this world where everyone is snared by the comparison trap; looking at what others have which I don’t have.  Runners often compare PBs, splits and even the prestigious overseas races.  The list goes on; it is endless.  I certainly do not want to end up ‘chasing the wind’ and losing the pure joy of running.  To put it metaphorically, I don’t want to lose the romance of my first run or race.

Meeting running friends, sharing experiences, getting injured, rehabilitating the injury, queueing for race packs, getting the latest gadgets, filling up your wardrobe with finisher tees…there are many more things to write about and reflect upon.

To know more, read my next blog…

Meanwhile, here’s wishing everyone a Blessed Christmas and a Happy New Year!

N.B. You may also follow on Instagram @twtwriter and Facebook (Chia Sie Yong)

I have been looking forward to the finale race for the year 2016 with the Performance Series Race 5 for various reasons.  One of which is about homecoming.

For this race, it has been a homecoming race in many ways.  It’s held at Kranji Farm, much closer to my home in Choa Chu Kang area so I wouldn’t need to wake up many hours in advance.  It’s a 10 km race which is a distance I’ve grown to love and question a lot – done a dozen of them this year.  (eg Why can’t I ever go faster by just running more 10 km distances ?)

And it is my first race since I broke my back, or to be precise, I fractured two vertebrae (spine, lumbar region L1 and L2 with compression of L1 by 20% in height) just in early November in a bike accident.  I was afraid then I couldn’t even walk properly, not to mention race.  This is also the fifth and finale race for Performance Series and my last race for this year.  And I was hoping to raise some funds for the Singapore Association for Mental Health (SAMH) through this race.

I had participated in all the previous 4 races in the series with fairly different experiences though I enjoyed everyone of them in different ways/degrees.   JustRunLah! has been very kind to offer all 5 slots to me for this series, a big THANK YOU.  But this one was the suiting finale for me.  Transcending Yourself is the theme for this Performance Series.  To me, it has been somewhat a tumultuous year (read previous blogs) due to injuries.

Lots of the folks who participated in the series may have attempted to better their PBs for 10 kms through the 5 races.  For me, it was about becoming a stronger runner for me, both mentally and physically.  The regular 10 km races had meant that I had become much more accustomed to 10 km distances vs last year.  But I had not been able to better my PB for 10 km unfortunately due to injuries.  This last fall from the bike incident had reset my running to almost base zero or so I thought before Sunday.

One week after my fall, I had tried walking despite the tremendous pain I had in my hips, bottom and spine.  I had difficulties putting on my shorts and my socks even.  A cough or sneeze meant very very sharp pain in the whole body, somehow the muscles got pulled very tautly.   In less than a week I lost 2 kg – perhaps it was just water loss, as one friend mentioned.  (I got it back by now.)  I rested and rested, for 19 days – no walking, no running.   For each day of rest that I had during the first week, I could also feel my back stiffening up.

It was only in the last week of November, that I was able to start walking/jogging.  And I learnt like a child again, how running is different from walking.  Running is when you have both feet off the ground for that suspended few sub seconds or so.  And the impact is greater as one foot lands on the ground and the impact travels up the legs to the hip and spine and then you lift off again.  I felt the pain with each step initially, and tenderly adjusted my pace.  I kept having this disconcerted feeling of the disjoint between the spine and lower body.  But I persevered on because I felt I had a mission to accomplish.

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So I progressed from 11 min per km pace, yes, that’s walking for most, to 9 min.  I had to give myself more rest each time though.  But I just told myself to keep moving.   Doctors’ advice was not as helpful or I didn’t take them too well.  Just rest.  Just rest.  Don’t run.  6-8 weeks at least…before physiotherapy is recommended.  Forget about running for SOME time….

When the time came (2 weeks before race), I collected the race pack as usual and there was no long queue.  By then, I had managed to get down to 8 min and 7:40 min pace for my jog/run.  I did a 7 km run at the park connector.  Rested the next two days for the back pain to ease off.   I didn’t post too much about the running preparation this round on Facebook (FB).  Some friends were already advising me to quit running or not doing this coming race out of good intentions.  I knew that I will run still, I have to run.  I needed to start and complete the finale race for many reasons.  I focused and ran 3-4 km at the park as the day drew near, always at pace 7:30-7:40 average.

When Saturday came, I had this strong feeling that it would be raining on Sunday.  I didn’t want to jinx it too by commenting on facebook.  Somehow staying in the area near Kranji, you tend to be able to predict what would come.  Sure enough, at 4.15 am in the morning, I woke up to heavy downpour.  But somehow there was a certain tranquility which I felt.  So I just went about doing my usual preparation before driving down in the rain to Turf Club and joined the queue for the shuttle bus service.  I was also lucky to spot Francis Tan or rather he spotted me when I was making my way to join the long queue behind.  He was my colleague in the past and we kept in touch and both of us began to run more regularly past couple of years or so.

If it was my usual self, I would probably have gotten frustrated with the queue to the car park, the queue to the shuttle bus and then seeing the shuttle bus turned and joined the queue along Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve and finally to the farm (Gardenesia).  But strangely that sense of tranquility continued to envelope me somehow.  In fact, I appreciated the use of the car park free at Turf Club and the provision of shuttle buses.  In fact the schedules were upset by the early downpour and I’m sure a lot of negotiation must have gone on to make it possible to extend the timing beyond what was initially planned both ways for the shuttle services (kudos to the organizers and volunteers).

We were running late but my FB photographer friend (Hock Chuan ANG) messaged me that the starting time was delayed to 6.45 am while we were on the bus.  It was further delayed to 7.10 am and Francis and myself managed to join the long queue again to the starting point.  But by then the heavy rain had already petered out and everything was cool.  At least to me.  I realized for the first time I wasn’t sweating before the start line despite the huge crowd.  Then we heard the announcement that we would start with count down from 5 and the mass started to move forward.

I knew I was going at a slower pace so Francis had already sprinted ahead.  He did his fastest 10 km todate with this race (sub-55).  The route consisted of slopes up and down but strangely, I didn’t feel the slopes at all.  Around 1-2 km mark, there was a narrow stretch and folks slowed down to a walk due to the bottleneck created.  It suited me as I didn’t want to jeopardize my spine’s healing by going ‘too fast’.  The scenery along the route was familiar to me though it was still a refreshing change from the usual running routes.  At one stretch, most might not be very used to the ‘farm smell’ though again, it didn’t bother me.  We passed farmhouses, tall grasses, trees but we were running on normal road surfaces albeit there were puddles in parts.  To me, the weather was just fantastic.  Believed there were 3 hydration stations (nice Lucozade drinks !)  and adequate as I stopped only at one.

Photo Credit : Hock Chuan Ang

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I carried my smartphone in my hand in a race for the first time to monitor my pace.  The idea was not to get too carried away.  For most of the route, my runkeeper apps was telling me 7:07 pace.  This was already much faster than the 7:30 or so pace I targeted.

I was mindful too that I had only done one 7 km distance after the injury and had experienced some after effect pain the day after in the back.  So it was only when I saw that I had passed the 9 km mark, I started to pick up on my pace.  In the end I completed the race at about 7:01 pace finishing in 1:10 plus based on Runkeeper.  The net timing captured by the Performance Series was 1:09:45, pace just under 7 min.

Whichever timing, I was happy.  It isn’t fast by any standard but I felt a sense of accomplishment and pride.  For I was prepared for a one and half hour race because of my condition.  And also, I could now say I have completed the race and hope to get some generous contribution for SAMH. (Here’s the url:  https://simplygiving.com/c5b0ff8b-469f-4928-b9f9-dba8bca2b4c0 )  My modest target of $1000, was to reach out to about 100 folks who could contribute $10 each.  THANK YOU !

Another bonus to this race was that I finally got to meet my FB friends in person.  One was  my photographer friend Hock Chuan.  He is an amazing guy who runs races with a camera and takes beautiful photos.  I bumped into him in the first few km of the race and said hello briefly in person.   After a few words, he saw something interesting and snapped away while I continued with my ‘mission’ to complete this final 10 km.  Our alliance had started with the Performance Series and then concluded with this finale face to face meeting.  How apt !  He is the source for many of the beautiful photos you see in my Performance Series blog shots, including this one.  I’m grateful to him and I’m sure we will meet up again in future running races.

At the finishing line too, I met Chris Shaw, another amazing runner, FB friend I got to know through running/blogging.  He has always been encouraging and positive in his posts.  I just learnt recently, not from himself though, that he had also had some serious injuries in the long past but recovered to run very fast half marathons and 10 km races.   He had commented on one of my earlier running blogs and I had got to know him better through FB.  He was waiting for his ‘favorite manager’ who came in with great timing.  I attempted to take a wefie but it didn’t turn out well due to my inexperience.  He joked we had become certified running kakis now !

I knew another running pal SY Chia and his twins would have completed another of their family bonding races.  Just too bad that we didn’t meet up due to my slower pace.  He had joked that he and Francis would cheer me on as I came running in late in the race !

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I believe that The Performance Series (TPS) had achieved its objective of bringing individuals, families and communities to advance, excel and experience the joy of living better through running.  I certainly still enjoy my running despite my injuries.  The heavy rain earlier had not deterred the ones I saw that finale morning.  Those who had done the whole series would have experienced all the different settings : oasis/island, lake, city, reservoir and farm and enjoyed them in different ways.  I just saw that there will be a 2017 version too and that’s great !

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On a personal note, no PBs for 10 km race this year, but I felt I had transcended myself with this race beating some of life’s odds to some extent, and not forgetting God’s Grace to come this far too.  I still squirmed uneasily when I sit for too long due to the pain that I experienced as a result of that incident.  But I have learnt to embrace pain well, too well perhaps !    At this stage,  I am just happy to know I could still run.  I’ll take a rest for now although I’ve to complete a virtual 100 km challenge with Men’s Health for the injury period till end of December.  It is not an issue to complete as I have about 10 km more to do at point of blogging, with 10 days to go before end of the year.   In running, and in life, I learnt not to take things for granted and value every moment.  So I continue to run life’s journey and strive for improvement through the challenges.

Here’s an early Merry Christmas to all, celebrate the year 2016 well and welcome 2017.   So Run Happy, Run Safe.  Till the next round (…soon as I reflect on 2016’s gains and misses).

(Side note : For those who had followed my ‘adventures’ since one year ago on the blogs, you will know this is a 53 year old rambling on about trying to run his best, while adding some varieties like obstacle courses, aquathlon and biking, starting his active life just over two years ago.  Do not attempt to ignore better professionals’ advice BUT understand your body well and yourself too.)

Sunday, 18 December 2016 was my last run event for the year – The Performance Series (TPS) Race 5 held at Kranji Countryside. Like all other TPS races, Race 5 promised participants a run with a different experience. I was looking forward to running at a place where I have not run before.

Planning a huge run event like TPS takes a lot of time and effort and I got to say that the TPS team did a fantastic job in delivering what was promised to TPS participants. Unlike Race 1 to 4 which were held in open areas such as big fields, outdoor event space etc., Race 5 was held at Gardenasia which is a nature-based venue with little public transport accessibility.

[Gardenasia at pre-dawn]

RACE START 

Entering the START Pen was quite a challenge as there were many participants trying to squeeze through a small entry point. It was then a half an hour wait as the flag-off timing was postponed due to the earlier downpour. While the organisers did post frequent updates on their Facebook page regarding the delayed start time, the Internet reception in that area was bad hence most of us were unaware. Perhaps in future events, the organisers can consider broadcasting an announcement over the PA system or sending text messages to participants.

[Facebook Announcements]

While waiting for flag-off, we watched the skies turned from darkness into morning light. Once we were given the go-ahead, the weather was perfect for a workout. It was cooling with a slight breeze blowing.

[Pre-Race Photos]

RACE ROUTE

[Race Route photo – The Performance Series Website]

This was one of the most challenging race routes among all TPS races. Though there were no steep slopes to scale, there were many small gentle hills throughout the entire route which was enough to make you feel the pull of gravity. Well, I certainly had a good workout!

There was slight congestion in the first kilometre and somewhere around the 8km mark but I could still weave through and carry on with my run. Around the 3km mark, there was a U-turn point and it was a warm feeling to see many familiar faces running past. As for the scenery, this was unfortunately one of the more boring routes. I expected to see beautiful farmlands but it turned out to be more like an industrial park, which was a bit of a disappointment.

Hydration points placed strategically along the route: Organisers did well at this by having long rows of tables with more than sufficient refreshingly cold isotonic drinks and iced water! Volunteers were also pretty efficient in filling up the cups and handing out the drinks – a must in every run event!

Distance markers placed visibly along the whole course: These are important because not everyone has a GPS tracking phone or watch. I loved the designs of these markers as they really highlighted the countryside theme of the run.

[Distance markers pictures from TPS Facebook]

POST RACE

[Finish Line Photo]

I completed Race 5 with a new Personal Best (PB) timing with an official time of 1hr 10mins. I was so happy when I crossed the FINISH line.  Another friend of mine, Terence also managed to get his PB! We took some photos before heading to collect our finishers entitlements.

There were a few firsts in terms of logistics for Race 5:

• Having an indoor race village;
• Participants who drive, have to park at Singapore Turf Club and take shuttle buses to the race village; and
• Shuttle bus drop-off point was some distance (est. 500m) away from the race village.

However, I thought some things could be done better:

1. Very congested race village

[Congested Race Village]

The organisers did not have a staggered flag-off for Race 5 so all 10 KM category participants were to start at the same time. I arrived at the race village around 06:00hrs and it was already crowded! Even on our walk to the race village, we could see long queues outside the portable toilets. It took us a while to find the bag deposit area with this crowd.

After crossing the FINISH line and while heading back to the race village, we encounter a human jam at the drinks station. There were no clear queues and it was quite chaotic. Collection of medals and finisher t-shirt was more organised and smooth flowing.

However at the bag deposit area, there was congestion again as the stage was in the same area, and runners resting at the stage area somewhat hindered the bag deposit queues.

Suggestions to help improve the situations above in future events:

• Have directional signs or a layout of the race village at various points – This would be helpful because unlike a big open field where everything can be spotted easily, an indoor venue may need more navigation to get around.
• Do more crowd control or cordon off the bag deposit area – This would ensure smoother human traffic and speed up the waiting time.

2. Long snaking queues for shuttle services

Friends who drove have given feedback that the queue for the free shuttle service at Singapore Turf Club was slow moving and a bit chaotic. We planned to meet up before the START of the race but they did not arrive till much later.

After the race, the only way to the nearest MRT station was again by shuttle bus. When we left the race village, we were greeted by yet another long queue for the shuttle bus. Though the wait was around 50 minutes, time passed quickly as I was in good company.

To help improve the above situation, it would be ideal to arrange for more shuttle buses. However, this may be hard because of all the road closures. I guess the organisers did the best they could.

CONCLUSION

[My friends]

Overall, I enjoyed TPS Race 5 despite the long queues and human jams. It was the company that made this TPS journey all worthwhile! I was happy that I got to meet-up with my group of friends whom I have attended the previous races with and that I managed to take lots of photos to remember this day! It was also nice to have met a fellow JustRunLah blogger, Chia SY! His blogs are interesting and I certainly enjoy reading them. I also managed to meet an old friend whom I have not met in a long while.

Congrats to all who finished their TPS races! Fantastic job on finishing strong! Big thanks also to the organisers who made this race possible – you guys really kept to your promise of bringing runners through unique iconic landscapes of Singapore and making each race experience a unique and memorable one. A big thank you to Gardenasia for hosting the 5,000+ participants!

Till my next write-up, here’s wishing everyone happy holidays and best wishes for the New Year!

PS: You can read about the previous TPS races here.

And we have reached the end of the Performance Series. One last 10km race to wrap up the year. However, when you live nearly at the furthest point of south-east Singapore and you have to get diagonally to the furthest north-west point of Singapore by 6am it would be natural to feel an element of anxiety. And anxiety is what I suffered. Worrying about not getting up on time, worrying about how to get there, worrying if a taxi driver will want to make such a lengthy drive, worrying that I couldn’t get to sleep.

So to mitigate some of those worries, we booked a maxi-cab for the six of us the night before. Now that was a hefty booking price but at 5:15am when it showed up it was worth one less worry. What we didn’t anticipate was the heavy rain pour. Will the rain persist, will the race go ahead, I couldn’t help but think of the organisers who’ve worked tirelessly to bring the series to the racing scene. Certainly not the way they would want to finish their event. Unsure of what’ll happen we figured just get going and hopefully it’ll be your typical Singaporean wet weather; downpour hard for an hour and that’s it, which is precisely what happened. By the time we arrived at the venue it was dry and the taxi fare mind boggling.

Together with John and Remek (my buddies who I’ve completed the entire series with) we made our way into the starting pen. The race was postponed from 6:30 to 7:00am but flag-off took another 10minutes. I was getting a little antsy by this stage but that’s just me suffering from lack of patience.

The first 1500m was quite congested because the road was only half closed. Not that I minded too much. It takes me a couple of kilometers for my legs to warm up sufficiently so I was happy to just shuffle along behind everyone else shuffling along, particularly since it was an uphill effort.

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I often hear that Singapore is a flat country. Well perhaps so when compared to countries like Hong Kong, Australia or Canada but as a runner even a subtle undulation is felt as the muscles contract differently to when running on a flat road. In this race there was more than just subtle undulations. Lengthy sections of road on an uphill that felt like it would never end and the one thing that kept me going was the thought that “what goes up, must go down”. Grateful for those downhills, I let gravity move me as fast as my legs could carry me.

The course itself was uneventful with lots of up and down hills, left and right turns but for fun check out my Strava running route, it looks like a running stick-girl (took some liberty to add an eye and lips for fun).

As I reached the 8th kilometer on another uphill and walking at this point, I checked my watch and realised that at 58min and only two kilometers to go, I could attain a new personal best if I finish in 1hr10mins. The best to that point was my first 10km in 2014 at the Great Eastern Women’s run when I completed it in 1hr12mins. It was just the motivation I needed to get me going again. I picked up the pace and pushed through and grateful with the last kilometer on a downhill I was running it at sub-6 pace that more than made up for the ups and downs during the race, finishing the 10km in 1hr9min.

With the Performance Series complete and Christmas a week away, I’ll take some time to reflect on the last 12 months of racing, be grateful for John and Remek for joining me on this ride, have a bit of rest and indulge in some wine to celebrate.

Cheers

Transcend Yourself. According to Google, it’s to go beyond limits or surpass prior achievements but what does that means to you? To me, it simply means be better than what you used to be. To me it’s more than physically transcending yourself but transcending yourself with your heart and mind too as time goes. Become a better person and also achieving what I wanted in life ? Maybe that’s what life is other than making meaningful memories and to make meaning out of your life, be better and keep on improving yourself ??

(With Peter Tan, the Managing Director of JustRunLah! ?)

This is my last running event in 2016 and it’s also my first race with The Performance Series. It’s concept is interesting, with a series of 5 runs spread out over the year and the medals forms up a map of Singapore and that there is different distance categories to participate in such as the 2.5km/5km/10km, which encourages families of multi-generations families to run together and encourages people who dosen’t run to start running ? The best part is all the 5 runs is not held at the same place! The previous race were held at Coney Island, Jurong lake, Bedok Reservoir and the very familiar place at Gardens by the bay where many runs were held at. This time, the run is at the Kranji farm. Having the runs all over Singapore is like encouraging the runners to explore Singapore. Though Singapore is small or even we’ve live here our entire life, but there were places where we didn’t know of or went before.

I’ve thought of signing up for the package of 5 races to collect the full set of medals but thought of what if it clashes with any other runs that I really love to go and it falls on the same day or what if I have other commitments? Turns out that one of the TPS run clashes with Batman Vs Superman run which is a fun run with a good theme which I definitely want to run and another run I was running the Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon.

So, the runner’s entitlements includes of two T-shirts. One is race tee, the other is finisher tee for the 10km runners. I have never gotten a finisher t-shirt for 10km runs though I did a couple of 10km runs before, for those runs there is no finisher tee and I’m perfectly ok with that. To some, running a 10km is like hitting a milestone or is an achievement, yes running even 100 metres is not easy(some people do even complain of chiong-ing a fee metres to catch the bus will also want their life) it is very memorable for them to keep those shirts with them as it’s their hard earn trophy. But I think would be a good option that if we do not want the race tee, we can opt to donate it away, or even be more environmental friendly, opt out of race tee. Imagine those who ran the whole series have 10 t-shirts! Even though the 10 t-shirts were of different colours, to me its still like wearing the same shirt lah! ?

There is no queue during the race pack collection and I like it, there’s a few booth selling some sports apparels, insect repellent and a booth selling something like a medal and bib album where we can file our medals and bibs inside. I was so tempted to buy it but its too expensive and recently I’m also doing spring cleaning so I find an alternative way to display my bibs at home. I think I need another 10 years to fill up the wall with the race bibs. Still thinking of how should I hang my medals ?

Thank you P_ease for personalising my race tee! ? They always comes up with new designs uniquely for the different races and some of their designs and quotes are so motivating! Of we can just simply don’t use their designs and just customised our own tee by adding the words or numbers we want.

I bought the shuttle bus ticket on the race day to fetch me from Yishun to the race venue and there isn’t pick up from certain areas like Khatib like always, but its just another few hundred metres walk to Yishun but it’s ok for me just that the shuttle bus ticket is selling at $7 where for many other runs, the shuttle bus tickets is selling at about $5. Khatib area is expanding with many new BTOs and Condos ready soon so hopefully next time running events would provide shuttle bus service from Khatib.

On race day I really dreaded to pull myself out of bed. Smelling the air and seeing the red sky, it’s obviously going to rain and I only slept 3 hours as I reach home late from a x’mas celebration, sounds seriously appealing to stay in bed. But still it’s the last race of the year so I pull myself out bed and walk myself to the shuttle bus pick up point.

But the mood is not dampened by the wet weather at all when I reach the even site and luckily the race is just delayed and not cancelled. Flag off for the 10km category by right should be at 6.30am but it’s about 7.05am then we were flag off. But it’s ok with the delay, maybe the Organisers want to ensure the weather is really ok to run in or the route is safe to run such as whether there’s any fallen branches blocking the way after such a heavy rain?

I enjoyed the entire 10km running with Kelvin. Chit chat walk walk slow slow run. Don’t want to worsen my sprained ankle and my legs is very jelly because of yesterday’s pole class, we were stretching to do splits which I still can’t do ? The stretching always kills my legs like for the rest of the week, then when the legs finally feels ok it’s pole class again ?

It’s a very cooling run as it rained earlier and the Sun didn’t appear at all. I felt cold and I must really say that the air smell very unpleasant at some parts ?The terrain is not easy to run as there’s many slopes. Saw many runners have their race tee customised and got one is really cute and sweet with the words printed: If lost please return to Mrs Smit ?

(With one of the Super cute mascot of Gardenasia ?)

Congratulations to Jasmine, Yvonne and Justina for getting top 10! ?

I must say that I see queue I want to cry ? The queue for toilet before race, the queue for baggage collection and especially the queue for shuttle bus back to Kranji MRT station is at least 1 hour ? But luckily I have good companionship to make the queueing more tahanable. Especially Haohan is so funny he pointed out a signboard: Notice anything funny about the signboard? Because Haohan says 500 metres is still 500 metres right? No matter by foot or by car or any other means ? Though it’s said that the shuttle bus stop its service at 9.30am but it’s still ferrying us though it’s already 10am. Thank you for the extra effort from the organisers ?

Other than the queueing everything else is ok, consoling myself that at least I had an enjoyable run and the medal is pretty and also treat this run as a gathering with friends ?

Will you run for beer? Silly question. Of course I will! ? It was raining heavily and though I was tired from pole class, still I want to go for the beer and see see look look! Not to mention that I fell down from the stairs last week as I missed a step and sprained my ankle ? Recovering but there is still slight pain. Was telling my dad it’s a free run as I won the slot from a contest and my dad response is: Running is free. You can go there and run whenever You want. True because it’s very near home but it’s different, it’s just different just like there is millions of trees but you are willing to give up the entire Earth of trees because you feel that it is one special tree. Got link bo? ? Just trying to say that runners will knows what they are willing to pay for a run ?

The location of the run is just 1.2km from home, best for me! Give the run a like! It’s walking distance from Khatib MRT. Though I went there to run a couple of times before but I went there for a short run to see see look look the day before and its so beautifully decorated for x’mas ? Running events is getting popular, I live in Khatib and Yishun my entire life and I don’t remember there is any run around my neighbourhood but recently there’s the OCC 3 Ten Run and now this Orto Beer Run. Or is it because that I started running only these two years so I didn’t know of any past runs?

So I waited for the rain to stop taking my own sweet time at home then I ran there. I think that the first wave flags of at 5pm but by the time I reached it’s already 6pm and I missed my wave, I didn’t even know that they flag off in waves. So the organisers asked me do I mind to run the next wave with the guys? Of course not, I need to rushed off for family dinner then after dinner I still have to rushed off to attend my pole school x’mas celebration the faster I start running the better ?

My wave of runners got a Super cute T-Rex. The T-Rex of course becomes the center of attention ? Before the flag off I heard one guy commented jokingly to his friends to be careful of those people who are fishing ?, we might get hooked any moment ? Each wave there is only 20 something people and before the run we were briefed that it’s running two loops around Orto. Running around the fishing area and the premises which includes a place where people plays paint ball and trampoline. Interesting activities. After the first loop we will need to finish a pint of beer before we start the second loop running a total of 1.8km. Of course there is prize for the fastest runners but I’m not sure because it definitely have no link with me.

Do I love to drink? Yes! I used to be a scary drinker, not because I’m good at drinking but because I always drinks till I become like the Singapore’s popular Merlion if you know what I mean ? That was me more than 6 years ago so what is 1 pint of beer? Though there’s beer given too after the run at New Balance Run a few months back where after the run you can take your own sweet time to sip the beer but it’s different this time, this is my first time to drink a beer during a run. I was breathless from the run and there’s a super steep slope nearing the end of the loop, chiong the “mountain” then I have to gulp down a beer ?

The draught beer is given to us in a plastic cup, some people “gei gei” spilled their beer by grabbing their cups so tight, half cup gone, or cheers with other runners, another half cup gone ? I thought it’s easy lah, just a pint of beer but it isn’t! Tried not to spill much of my beer but it’s not easy to, being breathless and drinkinf a pint of beer at maximum speed, spilling a little not that bad already. Trained by those days when you went drinking with friends and if you spill any single drop of beer, you’ll need to drink more ? The second loop though just 900metres is very torturous, the stomach is so full and it’s so gassy and I just want to burp ? At the end of the run, there’s another pint of beer but I would be drinking a little too at the pole school Xmas celebration afterwards and tomorrow there’s the Performance Series so better don’t drink it though I wanted to ?

Though I wonder at first should I go since all my running friends didn’t sign up but since it’s a free slot and since it’s so near home so why not? Didn’t regret going as it’s really an experience and very well done! Maybe it will become a yearly event? ?