Another week of holidays but I managed to mix in some good training as well!
Sunday - I stretched out my long run to now include the loop around the Peirce reservoirs which has a few more hills as well. Was happy at my ability to hold the pace as I headed home through Bishan Park where I have faded before and ended up with 25km in 2:30
Monday - Rest :)
Tuesday - My newly annoited Tempo run day with an out an back course through Bishan Park to Thompson Rd at the bottom of Lower Peirce Reservoir. Felt a little lighter in the legs today and the stats show that it was a good effort, just over 13km at an average of 5:05, that is starting to almost look respectable!
Wednesday - Rest!
Thursday - Went long with a my 20km loop around Macritchie, once again the legs felt a little lighter and the end result was that I sliced 6 minutes off the time I did less than 2 weeks ago! Very pleasing to have my longer runs now all sneaking back under the 6 min/km figure.
Friday - No rest but a recovery run and today I had a companion, my eldest daughter got up and rode her new mountain bike next to me. I paid careful attention to the HRM with the goal of staying under 150 bpm. Ended up with just over 9km, average 6:04 pace and average HR of 145bpm.
Saturday - Back on the bike for the Kranji loop revisited. A little drizzle and extra traffic saw the pace a little lighter until about the 20km mark, which has a sprint up a long hill. Last ride I was already pretty shelled but this time I felt better and really hammered up the hill, taking 4th out of a bunch of about 20. We then regrouped and unlike last time where I really faded, this time I somehow kept on getting shuffled to the front, another big effort up Buona Vista Hill before cruising into Orchard Rd for the post ride discussions over a cup of coffee :) (it is handy when you know where the finish is!!) A little longer as a result with 75km at an average of 29.6kph.
That ends a pretty good week with just over 9 hours of exercise time, and I have already shed the Bintan weight gain, now for a few more kg! As Ewen points help weight loss is assisted when you live in a sauna, 2 times this week I have started my run, already sweating.
Back to work on Monday so things will get a little tougher, as there is also some travel looming but hopefully the last 2 weeks will have me enough in the groove.
The rest days will slowly get replaced by either a recovery run, or another cycle or both to end up with a workout each day, but not yet....
Saturday, January 19, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Indo Runner
Thanks for the Striders comparisons folks, at least with Striders you get a map and know where you should finsh and have faster runners comng through to keep the navigation on track :)
So on Sunday I ventured back to Macritchie for a lap, saw the MR25 team out there for their 10km run/race but I am in need of longer stuff at this point...
Then on Sunday afternoon my parents arrived from Sydney and Monday was lost in last minute catching up, tidying up work loose ends and final packing for our short holiday!!!!
Yes Tuesday morning we hopped on the ferry for a short (45 min) ride to Bintan, an Indonesian island not far from Singapore, with a number of resorts, including a Club Med. The island has a number of highly rated golf courses including Ria Bintan, a stones through from Club Med and rated as the best course in Asia (or is that SE Asia?).
Anyway they did have a running map, although it was quite rudimentary and I headed off in the afternoon for a look see. The map included some sections of the golf course and, well, there were a few climbs to mix things up.
So over the 5 days we were there I ran three times, each on a different route, and came back absolutely stuffed. I also swam quite a bit with the kids, played 18 holes (quite pleasing form considering) and sailed a few times on the Hobie catamarans at the resort with a little bit of sea kayaking as well ( a nice pic might end up getting posted....). At the same time I made good advantage of the great buffets and bar services as well, ending up in adding a little extra weight in the short stay :(
Back Saturday afternoon and then out again this morning for an increased Macritchie and Peirce loop which was a little easier due to the cloud cover and starting a little earlier.
Last week saw 46km in total of running which I am sure breaks many 10% rules but that will be the theme of the next few months.
ps The Indo monkeys are certainly not as friendly/tame as the Singaporean versions!
So on Sunday I ventured back to Macritchie for a lap, saw the MR25 team out there for their 10km run/race but I am in need of longer stuff at this point...
Then on Sunday afternoon my parents arrived from Sydney and Monday was lost in last minute catching up, tidying up work loose ends and final packing for our short holiday!!!!
Yes Tuesday morning we hopped on the ferry for a short (45 min) ride to Bintan, an Indonesian island not far from Singapore, with a number of resorts, including a Club Med. The island has a number of highly rated golf courses including Ria Bintan, a stones through from Club Med and rated as the best course in Asia (or is that SE Asia?).
Anyway they did have a running map, although it was quite rudimentary and I headed off in the afternoon for a look see. The map included some sections of the golf course and, well, there were a few climbs to mix things up.
So over the 5 days we were there I ran three times, each on a different route, and came back absolutely stuffed. I also swam quite a bit with the kids, played 18 holes (quite pleasing form considering) and sailed a few times on the Hobie catamarans at the resort with a little bit of sea kayaking as well ( a nice pic might end up getting posted....). At the same time I made good advantage of the great buffets and bar services as well, ending up in adding a little extra weight in the short stay :(
Back Saturday afternoon and then out again this morning for an increased Macritchie and Peirce loop which was a little easier due to the cloud cover and starting a little earlier.
Last week saw 46km in total of running which I am sure breaks many 10% rules but that will be the theme of the next few months.
ps The Indo monkeys are certainly not as friendly/tame as the Singaporean versions!
Saturday, January 05, 2008
Tour de Singapore
Today saw the start of the second component of my training regime. Last night I prepped the bike and gear,making sure everything still worked. Up earlyish and over to the group meeting place. Wow, there were bikes and people everywhere, easily over 100 people! The meeting point is at a hawker market where people can also get a last minute coffee fix. A little after seven the convenors announced the various groupings, there was the longer Changi group, the fast long Changi group, the fast Kranji, the tempo Kranji and slower Kranji, I opted for the "tempo Kranji" and slipped into second wheel of a pack of around 30.
Pretty good immediate pace and after 5km the two leaders split off and I and a guy from the US called Tim took our turn. I was pretty happy with the way I was handling the pace at that point. As we wound our way around the north western side of the island we hit some rolling hills, the guys at the front just hammered the big gears over them and here my muscles started to complain about the workload. We turned off on a smaller road and this is obviously a every man for himself section as the pace went white hot, of course along with some more rolling hills.
I was glad as we re-entered suburbia and the pace eased a bit until we got on a major road which had a rise seemingly every km as it rose to a bridge to go over smaller roads. Eventually this was too much and I let them slip away. Keeping the tailenders in sight I was shocked to turn a corner and find a dirty bloody big hill, after all the hammering! Also at this point I was getting low on water. Eventually got over the hill but no-one was in sight, a rider came past me and I followed him hoping he'd lead me to the finish point but after a while I pulled up next to him to check and he was not with the group.
At this point I was pretty sure that I had gone past the finish point so I opted just to keep going home, I stopped at a servo to top up the water and blood sugar and then pushed it home.
All up 70km in distance in 2:20 which is an average of about 30kph! Not bad for the first time on a bike in quite a while!
Earlier in the week on Wednesday I started the running side with a hard tempo style 14km run, followed by a bad case of DOMS, on Friday I shook the starch out of the legs with a 9km recovery style run.
So that is week 1, a little abbreviated but a start has been made!
Here is a SportsTracks image of the route today, which also shows the complete island
Pretty good immediate pace and after 5km the two leaders split off and I and a guy from the US called Tim took our turn. I was pretty happy with the way I was handling the pace at that point. As we wound our way around the north western side of the island we hit some rolling hills, the guys at the front just hammered the big gears over them and here my muscles started to complain about the workload. We turned off on a smaller road and this is obviously a every man for himself section as the pace went white hot, of course along with some more rolling hills.
I was glad as we re-entered suburbia and the pace eased a bit until we got on a major road which had a rise seemingly every km as it rose to a bridge to go over smaller roads. Eventually this was too much and I let them slip away. Keeping the tailenders in sight I was shocked to turn a corner and find a dirty bloody big hill, after all the hammering! Also at this point I was getting low on water. Eventually got over the hill but no-one was in sight, a rider came past me and I followed him hoping he'd lead me to the finish point but after a while I pulled up next to him to check and he was not with the group.
At this point I was pretty sure that I had gone past the finish point so I opted just to keep going home, I stopped at a servo to top up the water and blood sugar and then pushed it home.
All up 70km in distance in 2:20 which is an average of about 30kph! Not bad for the first time on a bike in quite a while!
Earlier in the week on Wednesday I started the running side with a hard tempo style 14km run, followed by a bad case of DOMS, on Friday I shook the starch out of the legs with a 9km recovery style run.
So that is week 1, a little abbreviated but a start has been made!
Here is a SportsTracks image of the route today, which also shows the complete island
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
New Year
Firstly a Happy New Year to any/all readers, I hope 2008 exceeds your expectations!!
OK so now that is out of the road time to review 2007 and preview 2008.
I would have to say that 2007 was a very big and busy year, but alas not so on the running front. With a family holiday to the US in January followed by new work responsibilities which culminated in my family relocating to Singapore. Thankfully I did get some running in but a pretty poor total year, just over 1000km but way below the last couple of years. Probably the highlight of the year was doing the 24 hour Rogaine with Mr G in early May. I did actually get started on some running in October/November but then lost motivation. (again)
Anyway on to 2008....
Time to set some goals and work towards them, so first up what more to get some focus than a 10 week campaign to get me to the start of Six Foot in some sort of shape? It is feasible but will be tough, just the sort of challenge needed to ensure focus.
So some other events/goals on the radar and some notes....
- March Six Foot (quite likely, there is another Aussie expat also interested)
- May - there is a chance I will need to go to the US in May for work and so I have identified a couple of ultras that I might try my hand at if things firm up
- May Sundown Night Marathon (a new marathon in Singapore held at night, the ultra is already full!)
- July Gold Coast (will need to check the DTI on that one)
- July Osim Tri (shock horror!)
- August Australian Rogaine Championships (handy to a mates place, just need a partner/s)
- September Singapore Half Ironman or Glasshouse (choices, choices...)
- November GNW (unfinished business)
So you will see some sort of theme, it is official I am also planning on getting back on the bike. This is a "kill 2 birds with one stone approach", some good non impact aerobic cross training which will also help for 6ft (quads) but also to deal with building endurance in the tropical climate, the way I sweat cycling will certainly keep me cooler. There are some good packs it seems up here so I am dusting off the knicks in preparation.
So I have also (sadly) updated my tables over there ------------->
The goal of sub 40 at 40 is now off the radar, not enough shorter races up here and so I am heading towards longer endurance approach for a while, which should also help with the couple of extra kg's I have put on (currently 82.1kg). The hope/plan is that if I can build endurance up here then longer runs in cooler climes will seem a walk in the park!
So buckle the setbelts as I careen off on a "new plan" and lets see what happens. For interest sake I have also added a picture of Macritchie Reservoir, which I will see a lot of over the next few months :)
Good running (and now riding!) to all fellow bloggers and readers for 2008, hope to see you during one of my visits back to Oz, of course always timed to coincide with a race of some sort.
OK so now that is out of the road time to review 2007 and preview 2008.
I would have to say that 2007 was a very big and busy year, but alas not so on the running front. With a family holiday to the US in January followed by new work responsibilities which culminated in my family relocating to Singapore. Thankfully I did get some running in but a pretty poor total year, just over 1000km but way below the last couple of years. Probably the highlight of the year was doing the 24 hour Rogaine with Mr G in early May. I did actually get started on some running in October/November but then lost motivation. (again)
Anyway on to 2008....
Time to set some goals and work towards them, so first up what more to get some focus than a 10 week campaign to get me to the start of Six Foot in some sort of shape? It is feasible but will be tough, just the sort of challenge needed to ensure focus.
So some other events/goals on the radar and some notes....
- March Six Foot (quite likely, there is another Aussie expat also interested)
- May - there is a chance I will need to go to the US in May for work and so I have identified a couple of ultras that I might try my hand at if things firm up
- May Sundown Night Marathon (a new marathon in Singapore held at night, the ultra is already full!)
- July Gold Coast (will need to check the DTI on that one)
- July Osim Tri (shock horror!)
- August Australian Rogaine Championships (handy to a mates place, just need a partner/s)
- September Singapore Half Ironman or Glasshouse (choices, choices...)
- November GNW (unfinished business)
So you will see some sort of theme, it is official I am also planning on getting back on the bike. This is a "kill 2 birds with one stone approach", some good non impact aerobic cross training which will also help for 6ft (quads) but also to deal with building endurance in the tropical climate, the way I sweat cycling will certainly keep me cooler. There are some good packs it seems up here so I am dusting off the knicks in preparation.
So I have also (sadly) updated my tables over there ------------->
The goal of sub 40 at 40 is now off the radar, not enough shorter races up here and so I am heading towards longer endurance approach for a while, which should also help with the couple of extra kg's I have put on (currently 82.1kg). The hope/plan is that if I can build endurance up here then longer runs in cooler climes will seem a walk in the park!
So buckle the setbelts as I careen off on a "new plan" and lets see what happens. For interest sake I have also added a picture of Macritchie Reservoir, which I will see a lot of over the next few months :)
Good running (and now riding!) to all fellow bloggers and readers for 2008, hope to see you during one of my visits back to Oz, of course always timed to coincide with a race of some sort.
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