BFG Rave Runs: Phuket

Dec 1, 2008

It was somewhat of a relief after two long days of riding in a van for 7 hours each day. We took it slow and allowed for breaks for lunch and coffee on the long trek from BKK to Phuket. It was also a relief to be able to don my trusty pair of PGT5 and took a slow MP run along a familiar route. This was the start of the Phuket marathon route. Just managed 5 km to the village before turning back.

It was comforting to inhale familiar smells along the village streets - from vendors selling breakfast to the arid urine dog urine! Also familiar was a spot where a number of urgent runners took to, about 4 km into the race.

Managed about 6:30 to 7:15 pace. System checked out fine, except a little tightness in the right leg. The inner right knee felt a little sore, a carryover from the tempo run 2.5 weeks ago. It was a good thing this problem didn't act up during the SCBM.

This is the week leading up to the Phuket Triathlon, scheduled for Dec 7. Interesting distances. 1.8k swim, 55k bike and 12k run. The swim leg is out into the sea and back, before continuing across the lagoon. The bike route appear to overlap substantially with the marathon route. The run leg is over two laps in the Laguna grounds. Last year's event saw many winners from Australia and Europe. During this morning's run, I saw a few triathletes on their bikes. Coming a good six days before the race just to familiarize!



Rounded off by going down Canal Village into the wedding chapel. This is the night view:


Along the route, I noticed a new kindergarten, set back from the road for parking and children playground. Really nice. Testament to the claim that Phuket has good international schools. Also many signboards advertising villas and land for sale. Bet it would be harder to attract buyers for the next few months given the problems with BKK. But then again, someone at the Bahrain conference two weeks earlier claimed that prices in Phuket do not come down.


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Dec 2, 2008
Second morning in Phuket saw MBH and I out for a short jog/walk. It turned out to be longer than we'd planned - about 5 km - due to my curiosity to explore. Ouch!

Easy pace to Canal Village, Wedding Chapel and then to Laguna Residences and Homes, where luxury villas await occupants. Most have been sold, but we didn't see many people. Maintenance is immaculate, though.

Nice views of the Phuket Laguna gold course.

TLog: SCBM post marathon recovery

While I still make "novice" mistakes in the 42 km event, I think I am getting the hang of the art of recovery (since this is the enjoyable part).

Recovery starts immediately after crossing the finishing line. I walked around to the drink stations to rehydrate before doing a good stretch. Then a long walk (1 km) to catch a cab back to the hotel. After breakfast (carbo reload?) we went out for a walk with the kids (instead of dropping to sleep). Only in the afternoon did I caught up on sleep (after all, this was a night run).

Next day, went for a massage - 90 minutes deep tissue sports massage. Calves were tighter than I'd imagine, but the thighs were surprisingly ok. Took a dip in the pool, easy swimming. Legs felt 80% normal.

Went for yet another massage the following day (this is Thailand!). Legs felt 90% or better. Did more swimming.

Did not run for seven days (in both Hua Hin and Bangkok) and also due to the closure of the BKK airports. We had to book another flight out of Phuket on Dec 3. Took a van from BKK to Phuket, stopping over at Chumphon (a nice Novotel resort!). Looking forward to a run or two in Phuket.

PS: The closure of the international Suvarnabhumi airport on Tuesday and domestic Don Mueang airport a few day later left more than 100,000 stranded. Initially, we were under the impression that the closure was for only a day, which prompted us to go back to BKK to wait. But when the situation did not appear to improve, we went against our friend's advice and made booked the next available flight out of Phuket. With more explosions and higher tension in BKK, we only hope that the family get out of Thailand safely.

Largest SCSM todate

This year's installment of SCSM will see 15,000 participants for the full marathon, compared to 12,000 last year. These are the figures:

Number of runners by category:

42km: 15,251
21km: 11,806
10km: 20,084
Wheelchair: 9
Kids Dash: 2,044
Total: 49,194

Some international marathons see larger crowd:

Boston: 25,000
Tokyo: 30,000
London: 35,000
New York: 39,000
Chicago: 45,000

Standard Chartered Bangkok Marathon: new respect for the distance

Nov 23, 2008; 0200 hours

The idea of participating in the Bangkok marathon was planted by my friend at the Sundown marathon expo in May. As the family has not been to Bangkok, I thought it a good idea to combine a family vacation with a marathon. Needless to say, the political situation leading up to this weekend was trying, and as things turned out, we were left stranded in BKK until now. (Another story for another time.)

I was in two minds about this race. On the one hand, as it was a night run, starting at 2 am, I thought it was a good idea to put in a good show. On the other hand, there is the Singapore marathon lined up two weeks later that I wanted to participate. However, the cool night air (22.5 deg C) prompted me to give it a go for a sub-5.


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My plan was to make 7:30 pace for the first 5 km and then 7:00 pace up till 32 km. The run went according to plan. Reached the 15 km checkpoint at 1:47 and 34 km mark at 4:07. HR was wonderfully cooperative - within 145 to 155 for the first 15 km.

The problem was that I felt deflated during the 33rd and 34th km - pace slowed to 8:10 and 8:30 respectively. HR had gone up to 150 - 162 from 21 km onwards, and I started to feel that I was going out too hard. Left thigh started cramping towards the 30th km mark. Deja vu. It was like SCSM Dec 2007 all over again.

By the 35th km, I knew I was not able to make sub-5 and what was utmost in my mind was to avoid injury. Hence the disappointing time of 5:33.

What went wrong this time? Two immediate suspects. First, I was over-ambitious, going out too fast. A report I read some time ago mentioned that a mere difference of 15 sec in pace could spell trouble toward the end. I found this out only too well (and too often!). Second, I was unable to find the restrooms that were supposed to be stationed along the route until 32 km. The section from 2km to 32km was along a highway. So obviously no bushes to go behind (some runners went behind cars, but I couldn't bring myself to do that!). And I was looking out for porta toilets. However, trailer toilets were used instead. The urgency could have affected my pace and tempo.

The third reason only dawned upon me two days later. That I relied more on the water points rather than my own water supply. IOW, I switched to water rather than electrolyte drinks, and all my long runs have been on electrolytes! Such a simple mistake that I should have spotted. Lesson learnt.

But the main reason is that I was gunning for a sub-5 target. That will have to wait.

Did I enjoy the race? Emphatically yes. In many ways. It was really fascinating to see the elite runners up close and personal in action. They caught up, in spite of a 90 minutes difference in start time, at the 26th km mark. Their time (as displayed by the accompanying truck) was 1:19!

Interesting to witness the wheelchair racers. The top three were tightly grouped. Seemed to me that the second and third wheelchair racers were drafting off the leader.

It was kinda fun running through the elevated highway. The weather was really good, with a nice breeze.

The organization (except for the toilets) was top notch. The crew set up in really quick time as the area near the Grand Palace was overflowing with crowds paying respect to the King's sister. When I arrived at about 1 am, the tower crane was just lifting the clock into place. All the distance markers were accurately marked out (with acceptable error by my Garmin!). The only exception was the erroneous marker at 41.5km, which read 40.5 km instead.

After the finish line, we were given our medals and two burgers, courtesy of MacDonald's (one of the sponsors). And there were plenty of free food and drinks. When I was leaving, the fun 5 km folks were just coming in. The theme was Go Green, and awards were given for the best dressed teams. So the teams came in all manner of colorful outfits. Wonder if they could run well in those outfits.

What I really appreciated was the special massage treatment. SCSM volunteers would squeezed out massage cream for us. Here, the volunteers actually applied the cream for us and gave a quick calf and hamstring massage while they were at it. It was really wonderful! I am truly appreciative.

There were two young Japanese ladies who had an entire film crew running around and ahead of them, with cameras and video cams. One overtook me towards the end, accompanied by a cameraman. Wonder if he ran all the way?

Then there was this elderly man or woman (I couldn't tell). Short in stature, under 5 feet. Wiry guy whom I overtook at about 5 km, but in turn overtook me later on!

Not to forget the two Singaporeans (from a party of 10!) I met at 7th km. The gentleman was wearing a bright red Sundown finisher tee. The lady finished ahead of me, congratulations! Nice to meet you both.

And it was good to meet Ripley and Litch at the start point. Ripley left me far behind once the starting gun went off.

On another note, the field is about 2,000 marathoners (based on the final results), so relatively small compared to SCSM and Sundown. Most started at 2 am. More than 50 runners from SIN.



End point:

PS: Now I need to get back to Singapore in time for SCSM!

Honor Roll: Saucany PGT5

Congratulations to Harn Wei for ranking second in the 2008 Ultra Triathlon World Cup series

Harn Wei did Singapore proud by coming in second overall in the 2008 Ultra Triathlon World Cup series! Congratulations!

A very remarkable accomplishment indeed.

As Harn Wei noted his journal, the DNF in the final deca cost him a shot at world number one ranking. There could be unfinished business to take care of in the next few years. And we continue to cheer him on!

BFG Rave Runs: Bahrain

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Nov 17, 2008
Second time in Bahrain in as many years. The last time I visited, Craig Daniel was the new James Bond in Casino Royale. Earlier this month, the new JB movie Quantum of Solace was also released. What a correlation! Entirely spurious of course. But what is somewhat fascinating is that I have visited the Middle East at least 6 times since 2000, and witnessed the development over time.

Two years ago, there were lots of construction along Al Fatih Highway. Now these buildings are offices and hotels, spanking new. The Bahrain Financial Center is now completed and stands proudly over this island of golden smiles. At 706 sq km, Bahrain is slightly smaller than Singapore.

Today is all about systems check. Started out at 5 pm (equivalent to 7 pm Sin) and managed just a short 5 km at slow pace. HR<135. The cool weather contributed to the good steady pace at 7:30 (would be wonderful HR pace for BKK!). Started at Pars International hotel at Juffair - a commercial area built on reclaimed land. Passed the Al Fateh Grand Mosque (prayers in session) - opposite Gudalbiya Palace, up to Dolphin park and u-turn at Funland Centre.

That was the vicinity where I stayed in 2006. The last time, I ran south, past the Gudalbiya Palace to Mahooz Ave junction, as well as another run up to the Financial Center. Not sure if I have time this trip. But would make for a nice run that way.

All systems checked out. No pain. That's good. :)

TLog: Battle stations

With just 10 days to D-Day, and the uncooperative weather, we had to reschedule the final field exercise a couple of times. It was all systems go on that the evening (to simulate D-Day conditions), after the men had two full days of rest. The exercise comprises three manoeuvres, each with increasing level of difficulty.

The first manoeuvre had seven checkpoints and the men did well, surpassing the anticipated times: 5:45 (6:00), 6:10, 5:57, 5:53, 6:07, 6:07 (6:10). Form appeared very good, probably the two days of rest helped. The second manoeuvre went pretty smoothly as well - 6:01, 5:58, 6:01, 6:11 (6:06) - until the fourth checkpoint. One of the men started experiencing pain in the knee. Started with tightness, but developed into pain by the fourth checkpoint. I decided that it was more prudent to fail the exercise than to lose the battle. So called a change in exercise objective - called off the third manoeuvre and did a slow march instead. At completion (20 k), it was emergency first aid for the knee.

The prognosis wasn't too good, as the knee was stiff and painful for 24 hours. But fortunately, the pain went away by Sunday. So going to put the men through an easy pace this week (in the middle east!) for final systems check.