Singapore Marathon 2012 – Sub 4:30 also CAN!

I think I’ve finally matured as a runner and learnt the biggest, most obvious and yet hard to accept secrets of long distance running – consistency. Team Fatbird’s Operation Sunbird weekend long runs training ensured I was consistent and was a really enjoyable way of getting the long runs done with like minded runners. It's also helped me in looking lesser and lesser like a 'fat' bird and more and more like a runner :)
Thanks to this consistent trianing and some weight loss, my goal at the time of signing up for the marathon of 4:45 was now going to be my worst case scenario. Sub 4:30 looked comfortable and I could even visualize chasing down the sub 4:15 pacers towards the end of the marathon if the weather was pleasant. Considering my finish time at the Singapore marathon last year was 5:54 and Sydney marathon PB was 4:34, it felt awesome to even think such finish times might be achievable in a city with an average temperature of about 28-30 degrees throughout the year (race day was going to be no exception!)
Race Day
Unlike last year, I caught one of the first trains to orchard, got to the start line and placed myself about 200 meters away from the start chute. I’ve never really been concerned about the ‘gun time’ and figured the pacers will spread themselves out based on their estimated finish times and I should be close to the 4:15-4:30 if I’m about 200 meters from the start line and will be able to start together with them.
I then saw all the pacers right under the start chute lining up with the Kenyans and other elite athletes!! WHAT?!?!?! I’m not sure why any pacers (let alone the sub 5 / 5hr30) pacers will line up with the elite runners. It was clear that they were planning to run based on the gun time but it really doesn’t serve the purpose as most people hoping to achieve a sub 4:30 (or 5/5:30) do it for their own achievement and don’t really care about what the gun time might be! Most other big cities marathon (and the sundown marathon) get their pacers to start at various intervals after the race start and that works really well but that wasn’t the case for SCMS 2012. That was Singapore Marathon fail #1 (of just 2) for me. I only crossed the start line about 2 minutes after the gun went off and pacers started. That meant I had about 2 minutes to get to the finish line after the 4:30 pacing group if I was to achieve a personal/net time of sub 4:30.
Unlike most of my races where I deliberately slow down and step back in the initial stages, I decided to go with the flow and keep up with the people around me. As we passed the first couple of KM’s I began to slowly pass each of the pacing groups. I saw the 4:30 group and passed them and placed myself between 4:15 and 4:30 group. At the half way turnaround at East Coast Park, you could see the runners ahead of you and once you turn around, the runners behind you. I was happy to be exactly where I wanted to be – about 5 minutes behind the 4:15 group and about 10-12 minutes ahead of the 4:30 group. That meant I was on track for about 4:20 finish if I could maintain the same pace. I knew maintaining that pace was going to be next to impossible and was really hoping for that second wind AND a flatter second half course AND slightly cooler temperature as I completed the return trip on ECP and headed towards the 30KM point at Gardens by the Bay. I tried to step up the pace after 29KM but a 4:20 finish became even harder when I ran past the 32Kms point in 3:20mins.
I had 60 minutes to complete 10 KMs. That is tempo run pace for me in Singapore weather and on top of that I had that extra agonizing .195kms at the end to run too (Marathon is 42.195kms – not 42km! - easy to forget it when calculating your pace but you feel every step of it at the end). I was slowing down but I didn’t want to give in. The water stops were longer and I could feel the temperature had risen by a few degrees in the last hour.
My next checkpoint was at 37kms. Despite having nothing left in my tank, I managed to pass it in just under 3hr50mins. Another 5Kms to go in 30mins to get there in 4:20 – that’s still tempo pace but strangely, it looked I might just do that?

Then came the exit from gardens by the bay, the gravel road, the heat and a bridge that felt like I was climbing forever!! With all that came the reality of a marathon and the feeling of hitting the wall. Within few 100 meters, I was struggling to run and felt like my calves and thighs were locking. Each step was hurting and I truly felt like I could fall over at any point. I was sucking down any water and drink I had left and was trying to survive the last few Ks. If I had any doubt that 4:20/4:25 was not achievable, it was made clear as I came off the bridge and the marathon runners merged with the wall of 10K runners and had to make our way through kids and families in the back of the pack in the 10K run. That was the last thing you want after about 39Kms of running. That was Singapore Marathon fail #2 (of 2) for me.

I passed 40Kms in about 4:15. A 4:20 finish or anything close to it was nowhere possible and in the state I was in, sub 4:30 finish was proving to be almost impossible too.. this was confirmed when the 4:30 pacing group passed me at the 40kms point and I couldn’t keep up with them at all and felt like I was going to fall over at any time. Only thing that kept me going was the fact that I had 2 minutes from the time they cross the finish line to get there so I finish under 4:30 too. The most sensible thing to do at that point would’ve been to give up on my sub 4:30 dream and aim to finish under 4:34. I would've enjoyed the last KM, Hi-5'd few spectators and still would’ve beaten my Sydney PB be happy with that. I know that is what I would’ve definitely done in the past. But this time was different - This race had already challenged me to the core and I had absolutely nothing left, but I decided that I had it in me to not up give in and I was determined to get to that finish in under 4hr30mins. I've had enough of dreaming and talking about finishing a marathon in under 4hr30mins. Shyamala has had enough of listeining to my constant blabbering on how I could achieve that (and has put up with all of that for too long!) - This was my opportunity to not give up and achieve that goal..It truly felt like a defining moment in becoming a new ‘me’!

The willingness to push that extra bit and not give up at the end paid off as I crossed the finish line in 4:28:58! :) That was a new PB for me. I had beaten my Sydney PB by about 6 minutes in a much tough course and climate!! My ranking has never looked this good! - For the first time EVER I've made it to the first 10%!!!

I’ve now earned the right to dream a sub 4:15 marathon one day hopefully soon and I think I now know what it will take to achieve my goal of a sub 4hr marathon one day. It's going to take a lot more than just luck to achive that. It'll need a lot more consistency, harder workouts and a more optimum race weight. A race in cooler climate will make it definitely easier but I'm not going let the Singapore heat get in the way of my goal..
Onwards and upwards! :)





My race data - http://bit.ly/TUcDaY
Team Fatbird - Operation Sunbird (SCMS2012 training) summary blog - http://www.teamfatbird.com/2012/12/standard-chartered-marathon-singapore.html

Sundown Marathon 2012 Race Report - It's a 32KM warmup run for a 10KM race

I had no specific plan of attack for the build-up at the time of signing up. All signs pointed to my regular DIY training program which includes few good weeks of running, few bad weeks (to undo all the hard work from the good weeks), a couple of unjustifiable purchases of running gear (to make me go faster! – ofcourse), a ridiculously long or short taper. All in all, it was leading towards a race day plan to run 28-32km and switch the survival mode for the last 10KMs. I didn’t know what I could do differently..

ENTER “Operation Nighthawk” by Team FatBird. Some googling had got me to the Team FatBird and their link to the Sundown marathon training program – “Operation Nighthawk”. I registered and joined their weekend long runs. The group 3 (the 5hr marathon group) had runners of similar ability and fitness level ,which certainly made the Friday night and Sunday morning 30+km long runs much more enjoyable and bearable.

Race Day

After what seemed like a long wait, the gun finally went off at 12.30AM. I was with the sub 5hr pacers and we started in the second wave. I’ve never really cared about gun time and was going to base my race on my net/bib time. I was happy to avoid the initial rush and let all the sprinters go past in the first few KMs. I had the pacers in sight about 200-300 meters ahead of me and made the decision to not catch up with them yet.  After keeping them in sight for about 8KMs they continued to increase their lead on me and I eventually lost them. I thought I was running a steady sub 5hr equivalent pace. So I was surprised and saddened to see my sub-5hr dream vanish away so quickly... By then I knew how this story was going to unfold – A continuous battle to run upto about 32-35kms followed by long walks, hating yourself for repeatedly registering for marathons, promising yourself to train harder before you sign up for the next one, thinking of alternate passions and hobbies and then to forget it all for a few minutes and sprint to the finish line holding the world’s best running posture and enjoy another marathon finish despite the slow time. I’ve mastered this in the Singapore marathon 2011 and was already thinking of my list of excuses by the 12^th KM.. The sundown race organizers had done a tremendous job with the logistics, water stations, KM markers and the very enjoyable route for us to light up the city of Singapore at night – So all of that was ruled out from the usual excuse list! However, Singapore weather didn’t let me down.. a balmy 28 degree with 85% humidity at that time of the night seemed like a valid excuse for another slow race.

I decided to forego my sub 5hr goal and run my own race with the much wishful plan of “catching up with the pacers (and going under 5hrs) in the latter part of the race” – Ahh! This is runners’ answer to the pyramid scheme!! You agree to not see any results in the short term and expect to get all you wanted and more by running faster towards the end of the race! I’ve never even thought that’s possible in a marathon! This is always a trick I usually use to fool myself temporarily so I don’t run too fast too soon and to save enough energy to run as long as possible before the painful home stretch.

Few minutes before entering East Coast park, I saw the 35KM marker on the opposite side of the road for the return trip. I promised myself that I’d run until that before my first stop. That itself was going to be a battle in itself considering I was soaked in sweat already even before the half marathon point. I wasn’t even how that was possible but it certainly got even warmer and more humid! There was no breeze either.. It certainly seemed like it was going to be a very long night and if I ran all the way to the 35KM marker, I was going to be very satisfied and thought the last 7 Kms will be my victory walk/run!

I’ve been in Singapore for a year now.. I’ve had to adapt in many ways to suit the Singaporean lifestyle. Most changes, I love: About 15% max tax-rate (hell yes!)!!  $10 cab ride from town or to work! Quick 1-2 hr flight to some of the many exotic locations in Asia! 1% crime rate! And the list goes on..

Some, you struggle to adapt to - Durian (One day I will try it… no hurry though!)

And then there are others that you were never given an option but to accept – One of them was reclassifying what “perfect running weather” is.

In Sydney, a 18-20 degree sunny day is my perfect running weather – It’s nice, cool and the sun is out to keep you warm. You’ve done about 5 KMs before you break a sweat and you never bother carrying any water when you head out on a 10KM run. Singapore’s “perfect running weather” made an appearance about 2 hours after the marathon started. It was a nice cool breeze with a light drizzle and the temperature dropped a few degrees. That was the best any runner could ask for!

I crossed the half-way point (21.1kms) in 2hr25mins. In the past, I’ve faded quite badly in the second half of the marathon. Even in Sydney Marathon 2010 (My 4:34 PB), I was about 15 minutes slower in the second half. So I decided to be sensible and wanted to get to the finish line in less than 5hr 10mins. The 5 hour pacers were long gone and setting 5:10 as the goal with a 5 minute buffer will get me to the finish by 5:15 – Perfect logic! :)

..and so the return trip began..

About half an hour after “perfect running weather”, in true Singapore fashion, the weather decided to change again! – The cool breezes turned into very strong winds and the light drizzle was now a heavy downpour with thunder and lightning. Few minutes later I was running in water logged shoes and stepping on big puddles of water! I found out later that it was a Category 1 storm.

The quickest way to end all this was to get to the finish line, so I kept plodding along. Strangely, I was feeling very good even after 25Kms of running. About a KM later, I decided I was going to pick up my pace. It was a big gamble but I was ready for my mind to take over proceedings from my body for the rest of the race!

It is always a great feeling to be running strong and feeling good in the second half of the marathon. I was running and passing runners as if it was the first KM of the marathon! I knew this feeling may not last and things could turn ugly within few 100 meters but I was enjoying it too much to stop. The faster I ran, the more runners I was passing. I'd later find out that I passed about 175 runners in the last 10KMs and only 15 passed me. My goal of 35KM was in sight and I was still feeling good.

It was time to distract my body with a new game – chasing moving targets! The rule of the game is simple.. Pick the next street light, next turn, next KM marker, the water station or whatever you can see in the next 500-600meterss and plan to run that far.. When you are almost there, forget about that target and aim for the next one. Point of this game is to ‘eat the elephant, one chunk at a time’ and it worked well with distracting me from the throbbing legs and upper body pains!

By 40KMs my mind and body had enough of games and tricks.. Each step hurt much more than the previous one. I could’ve walked for a minute or two and still got to the finish line in well under 5 hours.. but I knew I would regret it forever if I stopped running, that close to the finish line. Couldn’t stop thinking of a quote I saw few days before and that kept me going :

I was determined to keep running despite my body running on an empty tank and every bit of it hurting. Running past 41KM market was a huge relief and excitement. There was no stopping now. I decided to pick up the pace and pass as many runners as possible and finally got to the finish line in 4hr:51mins!!

I had ran all the way in marathon for the first time ever! I’d run an almost even split and the last KM was my fastest KM of the whole race! I wasn't even close to breaking a PB (17 mins off) but this will be one I'll be proud of for a very long time to come...

Singapore Marathon 2011 - CAN!

With the preparation and training I’ve had in the lead up to this marathon, I almost felt like I shouldn’t have been there at the start line on the Singapore Marathon 2011 on 4^th December, but having crossed the marathon finish line thrice, it was going to take a lot for me to turn down the opportunity to miss this wonderful experience.

Timeline of event leading upto this was:

Jan to Jun 11 – I had the best (half) year of running. I was constantly seeing sub 5min pace on my garmin. I was very much on track for a sub 4:15 Sydney Marathon & eventually to run one sub 4hr marathon in my life!

Jun 11 – Was offered a role in Singapore. Decided to accept it and move to Singapore with Shyamala.

First week of work in Jun – Got a corporate ‘invitation’ to run the Singapore marathon 2011. Shift + Deleted it and assumed I would never receive such junk mails anymore.

July-August – Learned some basics of living in Singapore. I now know:

*It is normal to look like you came from the Sauna after a 5 minute walk to the station

*At some point, you need to start pushing into the busy train if you ever wanted to get home on time.

* The STOP sign and pedestrian crossing are more of an optional sign for the drivers - If you request them to stop and if they can be bothered, they’ll stop

* CAN is the national phrase. It indicates “it can be done”

* Pack of tissues on an empty table in a busy food court means that the table is reserved by someone. Substitutes for pack of tissues are – umbrellas, wallets and hand bags!

Late August – Got a ‘reminder’ for the Singapore Marathon registration. Couldn’t resist it this time – I decided to sign up for it and ‘forget about it’.

August – October – Very stringent carb-loading regiment has already commenced thanks to East coast fresh seafood, Lau pa sat satays and little India curries of Singapore. Every now and then, a few runs were also done, along with (a more frequent and structured) muay thai training.

Early November – GAME FACE ON! I have a marathon to run in about 5 weeks. Plan was simple, I continue my muay thai training 2-3 times a week and fit in a long run in the weekends. This worked well for the first two weeks.

Third week, November – This was supposed to be my longest run weekend. Instead I was at Koh Lanta, Thailand with Shyamala. That was the beginning of my tapering. There was no running there at all.. not even to get to the room (we had golf buggies for it) or to walk to the seafood restaurant on the beach (why walk when we have our own scooter!). Only interval training that was done was the naps between the meals, pool, beach, bars and snorkeling :)

4^th Dec - “While Singapore is sleeping…”

The race start was at 5am. I got there around 4.40am hoping to get to the “sub 6 hours” starter group. My goal time was 5:15 with a dream time of 5 hours. A sub 6 hour starter group and/or the pacers were nowhere to be seen. I was confident that as the race progresses I would either catch the pacers and they’d catch me. (Lesson learnt – Plan to get to the start atleast an hour earlier. Singapore marathon has about 10 times more runners than Sydney runners – approx. 20000+ runners)

The start and the first few KMs were fairly uneventful with runners everywhere, very active water stations and active bands. The stand out was the enthusiastic families and supporters at that time of the day and the magnificent sights of Singapore’s China town, the esplanade, marina bay sands and Singapore flyer. We continued our run on the F1 race circuit and headed out towards the East Coast Park.

East Coast park is about 1.5 KMs from our house. It’s my training ground and known territory for me. This “popular beach” is a lot different to what most would expect – it takes a few months to get used to the sights of large containers ships few hundred meters off the beach and the lights from some island in Indonesia. I really surprised myself as I ran to the half-way turnaround point and continued running all the way down east coast.

“Respect the Distance”

The trick to run all 42.2kms in a marathon is simple – You need to do your long runs! There really are no short-cuts. Short runs, cross-training, weights training, muay thai, soccer, reading books, watching marathon videos on youtube, talking about running a marathon on facebook, may help you get to about the 28-33km point if you are reasonably prepared but ‘the wall’ will get to you at some point if you’d skipped the long runs. This time, I was one of many who had not done enough long runs in the lead up. By the 30^th KM, I’d well and truly hit the wall. The sun was out and the heat was unbearable. There were no KM markers, there were no pacers in and my garmin wasn’t getting good satellite signals!! I had no idea where I was on the course.

With some running and a lot of walking and almost feel like passing out, I finally got to Padang to cross the finish line of my 4^th Marathon. As always, Shyamala was there to receive me. Being there for almost an hour longer (thanks to her husband being over-enthusiastic about his goal time) might not have been much fun, but she certainly did not show it as she continued cheering me on as I ran towards the finish line.

I don’t usually don’t bother joining the post-race bandwagon of people complaining about the race. This marathon had a lot of complaints and most of them did not bother me. I wasn’t concerned about not having the right finisher t-shirt size (luckily I had my size this time!) or not getting a printed certificate or the recovery area being muddy! I almost don’t even mind the long gaps between the water stations in the final 10kms or them being really muddy and was a DIY station! But not having KM markers or properly organized pacers on an iconic race like the Singapore marathon is ridiculous. The heat may still have got to me – But I would have definitely tried my best to keep up with a pacer and/or keep a steady pace as I ran past KM markers to achieve a faster time.

It was interesting to note that my PB at Sydney marathon 2010 (4:34) still had me at the back of the pack with only 18% behind me.This marathon had a whopping 59% runners still behind me - despite the slower time of 5:54. I wonder how much of that relates to the sweltering Singapore heat.

That was my 4^th marathon done ! :) I’ve now done at least one marathon a year, since my first marathon in 2009.

A sub 4:15 (and eventually a sub 4hr marathon) is still on my bucket list.. but as my priority have temporarily changed, I don’t planning on waiting for the “perfect buildup” before lining up for the next marathon or half marathon. I hope to continue racing for fun. If work, studies, Singapore and the sights and beaches of Asia don’t get in the way at some point, I hope to train harder to achieve a much faster time :-)

My 2c on race planning

Last year, I refused to do City 2 Surf as it was too close to (one month before) my first marathon and despite being the same discipline (running), it was two completely different distances (42.2 vs 14 KMs) and didn’t think I could focus on two races at a time. This year, I’ve already done a (sprint) triathlon, two Duathlons , two half marathons and a marathon. I’ve still got many more races planned for the year..

This does look like a busy race calendar and (understandably) I’ve been told by many concerned friends that I’m doing too many races and I should just focus on one or two for the year or I’ll lose interest.. I thought I’ll try to explain my logic..

Thanks to tips from many triathletes I’ve met and info from various articles, I’ve used a grading technique to grade my races. The grading scales for my races is A to D (A being top priority).

Grading is my guide for the following:

· Amount of race specific training I’ll be doing in the leadup

· Tapering (Relaxing and cutting down on volume in the lead up to the race)

· Mental race planning in the leadup

· Pre-race diet

· How fast/hard I hope to push myself at the race*

· Recovery time after the race

*I usually try to push myself as hard as possible (within my abilities) on race day.. but the end result would vary depending on the preparation.

As a guide,
Grade D race will be more or less a tough training run with minimal preparation. I did the race 2 of the Duathlon series a week before my Marathon and with no cycling training. I also had a big night before the race but my sole aim was to simply have some fun and get one last tough training session prior to tapering for the marathon. I also wanted to get out early in the morning on a chilly winter day to get myself prepared for similar weather at the marathon..

Grade A race will be the key race for the year. This will be the Sydney marathon for me this year.

Based on the above, my race plan / calendar is as follows :


(may need to click on it to view it more clearly - HTML is not my strength!)

Entering races are usually not too cheap either.. but I still think I 'profit' mainly phyisically and financially by racing and not having a big night (or two) in town :)

I would have to change my plans if I was injured and/or have any other commitments.

This is my 2 cents on Race planning. Hopefully this will assist someone with their race plans! :)

"Luck is where preparation meets opportunity. "
— Randy Pausch (The Last Lecture)