This morning I did the New Balance Real Run. A lot of the reviews had said that the route would be hot. What makes this run different from the rest is that it covers not only the road, but also trail, sand and runway. Yesterday when we recced the route, we got there at 12.30 p.m. and saw the sun blazing down on the barren, never-ending tarmac. There was even that heatwave mirage thing going on. This year it was held at the Changi Exhibition center area, near Changi beach and Tanah Merah, which is real far and very ulu. I was doing the 15km race, which is a distance I haven’t really been doing this whole year. I treated last week’s GE10k as a training run and did another 14+km run on Tuesday after work. I was apprehensive also because I was recovering from a bad calf cramp from a learn-to-swim session on Friday. Because of the distance and the unforgiving terrain, I decided not to push it. I was careful to carbo-load and hydrate properly the day before. In the morning everyone arrived early because they closed the roads at 7. I was a whole bundle of nerves, and that’s why you see I don’t have many photos. I was more worried about eating, applying sunscreen, sorting out my stuff and taking care of the calf muscles.
This year the let the 10k start off first, which I find quite weird. President Nathan was there to officiate and flag off the runners. I was so nervy I almost forgot to put my reciever into my iPod for my Nike+. Decided to bring it along because it was going to be a long run in unforgiving terrain. I was more worried about this than the half-marathon last year. Bumped into Ray at the start line. Now Weir’s gonna come back to Singapore and beat me to a PULP. The sign at the Start Line read “Get ready for take-off!”. Usually most races are congested just after the start, but this time it wasn’t because it was along a long runway and there was plenty of space to spread out. The bottle neck happened later when we were running along the narrow pavement beside the foresty area, across from Changi Airport. From 3 to 9km we were running along the Changi Airport runway, so we had planes taking off right next to us as we ran and it’s a real rush, goosebumps and all. It’s been a long time since I’ve competed in a mixed event (been taking part in to many ladies events of late), so I was quite pleased to see that most of the time I was surrounded by more men than women. I took it as a good sign. The trail part was more like running through a park, so that was a’ight. The road was even paved and all. I was drinking at every station, save the very first and last.Â
The transition to sand was tough. Spent most of the time trying not to trip. Running along the sand really saps your energy. I was trying to keep to the more solid parts and the heat was oppressive. I felt about as stable and as light as your average newborn baby elephant. This was the part that I expected to slow me down the most. Coming back along the long open runway was quite an experience too. It just felt like running in a barran desert. There was a bit of a slight uphill slope too. Seeing the crowd ahead going strong was encouraging, but it really looked neverending. Even managed to cut Jon Choy in the last 1.5km. Later found out he had a cramp. The road was such that we only got to see the finish line at the last 100m or so. Finished at 1:39:26 or so. Slower than my race pace, but I was being conservative on unfamiliar terrain. There was a lot less sufferage on this run than the GE10k. Finished feeling good and solid!
You’re the reason I’m strong.
posted by azuresque @ 11:36 pm | 3 waitedTue, 23 Oct 07