9.0km - 1h 10min

I've been taking things a little easier and not pushing myself too hard when it comes to speed.

Seems to work out in that my knees don't seem to hurt much and I'm able to last longer.

I just decided to try a longer route last night and managed to complete 9km in about 1h 10min. That's about 0.128km per min. My last 10km attempt was 10km in 1h 15min which is about 0.133km per min. So last night was nowhere near my personal best. But what surprised me was that I was able to complete it fairly comfortably.

I've signed up for the New Balance Real Run. My first run which includes trail + sand. And the whole route is about 15km. That should be an interesting challenge.

Passion Run 2010 (10km) - 1h 15min

Passion Run was quite a challenge. To be honest, I had not really trained well for it. Leading up to it, I've only done a couple of 5km and 6km runs and my last 8km run was really quite a while ago. So I was really apprehensive at going for the 10km run yesterday.

As it turns out, the timing's pretty sucky... slower than my Standard Chartered 10km run last year but I'm quite pleased that I was able to run all the way and complete the whole route, given my lack of preparedness! I really hope to better my timing at my next run. I was thinking about the Mizuno Mt Faber run but might just wait till the Yellow Ribbon Run in September.

The run itself was quite pleasant. Being at the beach, the scenery and atmosphere was really nice. Weather was also very good. I'd been worried that it would be too blazing hot but it was windy and the sun was pretty gentle. A small complain would be the non-runners like roller-bladers and cyclists who were also on some parts of the running route as east coast was a public park so it wasn't closed to the public. But they weren't a huge bother.

The bigger issues with the run probably involved the organization. Transport was terrible. Heard from my friend who took the shuttle service from the National Stadium that it was a nightmare. Too infrequent and the shuttles had too small a capacity to handle the crowds. Ended up with many people getting flustered and late. Going back was just as bad. Leaving East Coast at night with thousands of people is just not very pleasant. I managed to catch a cab but it was stuck in traffic and before even the cab left the east coast area, the meter was already recording about 12 bucks! My last complain was the super slow baggage collection. Having been to the Stanchart Marathon and the Live Earth run, I thought the baggage collection was quite poorly organized. Don't think they really had any system other than placing a couple of hundred of bags in one area. The queues were really long and moved really slowly. Thought it was a dampener to the end of a nice run.

I'm definitely gonna aim to better my timing of my 10km runs. Still considering if I should do the Mt Faber run (but the registration might already be closed). Looks like for now, I'm kinda hooked on taking part in these runs.

Really like the dry bag which they gave out to finishers. Have been thinking of getting one and now I don't need to buy one! Best finisher gift so far!

Jogging Route - 5.4km

17 May 2010 - 38min 58sec

This is bad... it's been a while since I took almost 39min to complete a simple 5.4km route. Main reason is that I've been having some problems with my RIGHT knee. All along, I've had to wear a knee support for my left knee and things were ok. But about a week ago, my right knee started hurting when I ran so for the last week, I took a break, hoping that my right knee would heal up. So today, after almost a week of rest, I decided to take it slow coz I didn't want to aggravate any injury I might have. Well, I'm glad to say my right knee didn't really have any problems, but then again, I really did take it slow, as can be seen at my super slow timing. The big question is whether I'll be able to complete my 10km run this weekend at the PassionRun.

8 April 2010 - 36min 00sec

Haha.. highly unlikely, but I managed the same time as my last 5.4km run. I think what I'm doing is more like intervals so I shall happily call it that for now. So, I've done another interval run and well, don't think it was much easier but maybe I got a little more used to doing it. Will try doing this once a week for now.

3 April 2010 - 36min 00sec

Tried to do a tempo/interval run today. Thing is, I'm not too sure what's the difference between a tempo run and an interval run. Will do some research on that later. Anyway, I thought it wasn't too bad considering I tried speeding up about 4 times within each lap, followed by slower jogs in between. I think such runs are supposed to be good for developing speed. Hopefully I can keep this up at least once a week in between my longer runs.

25 March 2010 - 35min 35sec

Kinda surprised that I've shaved off almost 3mins off my last recorded timing. :) Guess with a 3 month gaps between recording and somewhat regular running, I'd better have improved my timing!

14 Dec 2009 - 38min 18sec

Just back from Bali after a one week post-marathon celebration and I kinda pushed myself to go on a 5.4km run. Actually, I was kinda hoping to be able to complete a 2.4km distance in under 14min30sec but still missed the target by 30sec. :(

25 Nov 2009 - 39min 0sec

A little demoralizing.

It's been two weeks since I last did a road run coz I was in Surabaya. During that two weeks, I managed some gym time but only did about 30min of interval training on the elliptical for about 4 times. On top of that, I didn't want to push myself too hard coz of my sprained toe. Well, all that has added to a demoralizing increase in timing for my 5.4km route. I was toying with doing about 8km but decided to take it one step at a time, since it had been 2 weeks since my last long run. I've definitely gotta get back to some momentum especially since my 10km StanChart Marathon is barely 11 days away. I think I should be able to work in at least 2 or 3 more runs leading up to the 10km next Sunday. I guess in some ways, I am also a little disappointed in myself for being pretty ill-disciplined with my food the last few days. I've really been indulging in all sorts of nonsense since my second last day in Surabaya till now. While a small part of it is due to the fact that I didn't want to offend my host, I think a large part of it is my own ill-discipline. When I weighed myself the morning after I returned from Surabaya, I was about 86kg. That's almost 2kg more then my last weigh-in. Sigh. How am I going to achieve my target BMI at this rate? Gotta pull my act together over the next few days. Sigh.

I decided to add another route because I usually do it on my 'relax' days after doing longer runs like the 8km one two days ago. One round of the route above is about 2.7km. I usually do two rounds so it's about 5.4km.

11 October 2009 - 38m 01sec

I was a little apprehensive with running tonight coz my knee was hurting a bit after my 8km run two nights ago. But since there wasn't any pain today, I decided to give it a try and make an effort not to strike too hard or push myself too hard. Wanted to see if my knees were ok. I'm glad to say that while there was slight discomfort during the run, my left knee isn't hurting and maybe the 8km run was a one-off strain. Hopefully my knee will adapt as I attempt the longer runs. I usually try to use the first 2.4km of the route to measure my own 2.4km pace. When I started doing proper 2.4km runs about 4 to 5 months ago, I was doing around 22mins. That timing has been improving slowly and tonight, I managed to do it in about 15mins. That's probably my fastest time so far! If I'm not wrong, for my age bracket, I am supposed to complete the 2.4km run in around 14mins... just 1 more minute to cut down! Wow.. can't imagine passing my 2.4km run... if you take army as the last time i passed, it's been about 16 years since I passed my 2.4km! The goal is close....

Jogging Route - 6.3km

5 May 10 - 43min 35sec

Did another afternoon run today because my evenings have been taken up with conducting some remedial lessons. Thought it would also help to prepare me for the Passion Run cause it's also going to be held in the late afternoon. I'm kinda glad that I was able to complete the 6.3km route in around the same time I usually do. It's definitely an encouragement after the disappointing attempt at the 8km route two days ago. However, it was quite a struggle. I'm wondering if it's because I was running in the late afternoon instead of the usual late evening. Maybe running in the sun, at around 5pm is not really the best time of the day. Anyway, I think I might try to put in more afternoon runs so that I can get ready for the Passion Run. Hope to be able to complete at least a 10km run before the actual day.

24 Apr 10 - 44min 16sec

Getting a little concerned these last few runs coz my left knee seems to be acting up during the runs. Today, I thought I was keeping pretty good time but somewhere near the last km, my left knee suddenly started hurting again and I had to slow down the pace a little. If this goes on, might have to drop by the Sports Medicine Centre and let the doc take a look at it. I'm working back up to 10km runs since I've signed up for the Passion Run on 22 May.

12 Apr 10 - 48min 53sec

Sigh. Tonight was quite a struggle. For starters, my discussion groups ended at about 11.30pm and by the time I stretched and started running, it was already just past 12midnight. Then, within the first 5mins, I could feel myself just plodding on without real heart or commitment. Then after another few minutes, my left knee started to hurt a little. I was real tempted to stop, thinking I might have strained my knee but I decided instead to just slow down a little and keep pushing on. Thankfully, the pain went off after a while, so maybe it was just due to insufficient stretching or just mental blocks... heh... Anyway, maybe I really should have just taken an additional day of rest this time round. Anyway, I've signed up for this Sunday's Live Earth Run for Water. It's only a 6km run so I don't think it should be any problem. Maybe try to go for a little more speed. Let see if I can get over tonight's lack of drive.

6 Apr 10 - 43min 15sec

Tonight is the first time I went running with a full weekly schedule. Given the change in my schedule this term, I will finish with work at about 11.20pm most weeknights. This means that if I want to keep up my running, I have to do it between 11.30pm all the way to 12.30pm! Not much choice really. I'm toying with running in the late afternoon but I'm a little afraid that I will tire myself out before I have to conduct the workshops in the evenings! Anyway, let's see how it goes.. whether I can keep up running at such a late hour. Gonna try to do different kinds of run and see if I can work on improving my timings a little. Hoping to work back up to doing some 10km runs. Will keep to 8.1km for another week or two before attempting to increase it.

28 Mar 10 - 44min 07sec

Hmm... I have not compared my 6.3km timing for quite a while but I thought I was doing quite ok. Now that I've started recording my timings again, it's kinda surprising that my time is actually 5mins slower than best timing last year. Wonder how come.... I actually feel that I am keeping quite a decent pace. As far as I can estimate, I have been doing about 45mins the last couple of weeks. So I thought pushing myself to complete it in about 44min was already not bad. So I'm a little disappointed that my best time last year was 39min 35sec. Talk about not moving forward. :S I know I'm not really focussing on speed, but then again, I shouldn't be getting so much slower leh... :(

21 Oct 09 - 39min 35sec

I was kinda motivated after the improved timing for my 6.3km run two days ago. So although I was originally thinking of doing a 5km run, I decided to try the 6.3km run again but in the opposite direction. Although I know it's not strictly a time thing when it comes to running longer distances, I'm still quite pleased that today, I managed to just shorten the time a little more. The run was quite ok. Think I've more or less adapted to 6.3km runs. Now I'm thinking of taking 2 days break from running before attempting the 8km run again over the weekend.

19 Oct 09 - 40min 10sec

Hmm... This is kinda surprising. I actually shaved off 11mins from my previous timing for the 6.3km route. :) I was consciously trying to push myself to keep to a faster pace but I really didn't expect to improve the timing by that much. :)

20 Sep 09 - 52min 30sec

My second attempt at 6.3km. This time was a little easier and I managed to maintain a higher speed (though I know speed is not the key thing in running longer distances). I've been running between 4 to 5+ km every other day, resting at least a day in between. It's great to be able to complete this 6.3km route reasonably comfortably though I did have to push myself a little at the last kilometre. Gonna take it a little easier this coming week and I'm gonna try doing the 7km route at the end of the month.

9 Sep 09 - 55min 2secs

Completed my first try of a 6.3km route. I think this is really the first time in my life I have ever run 6.3km! The last 2km took a little more determination. Was very tempted to just start walking. MAanaged to complete the whole run under an hour. I guess that must be really slow but I believe the important thing is not the speed, but completing the run. It's going to be a mental (and physical) challenge to complete the 10km in 80 days time. Find it almost impossible to imagine people who run the full 42km.

Jogging Route - 8.1km

8 May 2010 - 59min 35sec

Looks like it really might have a difference whether I run at night or in the day. I went on an easy pace tonight and managed to complete the 8.1km route. It wasn't a walk in the park, but it certainly wasn't a struggle like my last attempt about a week ago. This is kinda worrying since the Passion Run is held at 4pm in the afternoon. How am I going to cover 10km comfortably in the afternoon when I'm having trouble doing 8km? hmmmm.....

3 May 2010 - 1h 7min 59sec

Today was a big disappointment. It's been about a week since I last ran because I decided to give my knee a break. It's been acting up and I thought it might be good to just take some time off and let it heal. The good news is that there was only a little pain during today's run. So I guess the time off was good. The bad news is that I couldn't complete the 8.1km run. I think it was a combination of a few factors... (1) it's been a week since I last ran, (2) It might not have been the best decision to try 8.1km after the break and (3) I was trying to run in the afternoon, at about 5pm - I think I had not hydrated myself properly today and by the 5km mark, I was feeling kinda off and decided it was best to call it quits and walk the rest of the way. I covered about 5.2km in about 37min 34sec before deciding to walk the rest of the way. It's kinda discouraging coz I think it's the first time I'd ever given up halfway in a run. So that accounts for my ultra-pathetic time of more than an hour for my 8km run/walk. Like that how to do the 10km Passion run on 22 May? Sigh...

10 April 2010 - 57min 45sec

Just a slight improvement over the last run though I don't think it's a significant one. Probably just the result of a few less traffic light stops. I'm thinking seriously about taking part in my next 10km run, maybe the 100 Plus Passion Run in end May. Haven't signed up yet... let's see if I can decide soon.

1 April 2010 - 58min 10sec

It's been a while since I've run 8.1km. I decided to push myself as I'd been comfortably doing 5km and 6km runs for a few weeks. I decided to take it easy and not push myself too hard. It wasn't too hard a run and I'm glad I managed to complete it in under an hour. I'm looking forward to the possibility of taking part in a 10km/12km run soon. I think setting that as a target will keep me on track in my training.

25 October 2009 - 1hr 0min 35sec

Woot! After one week, I've managed to actually shave almost 3min off my last timing! I was actually expecting to take longer than the previous attempt because I was trying really hard to work on my running gait tonight. It was really awkward. I had to work on three things - in increasing order of difficulty: (1) avoiding knocking my knees together when I run (2) trying to correct my left leg which tends to swing forward in a curve and (3) landing mid-foot instead of my ankles. The last one is really tough. I'm so used to the usual landing on my ankles so trying to land mid-foot almost feels like I'm running on tip-toes. As my sports trainer said, it's going to take time to adjust my gait coz I'm already so used to running in my usual way. After tonight's experimental run, I am guessing my feet are going to hurt tomorrow coz I was running in such an unusual way. The surprising thing is that I actually completed the run 3min faster! And I frankly thought I was putting in less effort. Hmm... so maybe there is some truth to the advice which Dr Chia was giving me with regards to changing my running gait.. heh.. Gonna be attempting the 9km route in a week or two.... so exciting... the goal is so near...

17 October 2009 - 1hr 3min

After my 3-day break from running, I decided to try the 8.1km route again. I picked up the pace a little, again trying to improve on my running gait. As the timing above shows, I managed to shave off 2mins from the earlier run. The last 2 to 3km were quite challenging. Had to overcome this intense desire to give up and do a shorter 6km run. However, I'm glad I persevered and finished the whole run. I'm also quite happy that my knees aren't hurting like the last time. There was a bit of discomfort during the run but it usually came and went. After the run, I've not experienced any pain. Guess that would be good news rite? As is my personality, I need to control my desire to push for the the 9km and 10km runs immediately. I'm guessing it would do more harm than good. I will probably try to keep to 5 to 8km runs for the rest of the month and attempt the 9km route at the end October.

9 October 2009 - 1hr 5min

I went for my first 8.1km run. Prior to that, I kinda rested from running for about 3 days and did some weight training instead. After some stretching, I started on my run. Keeping in mind that it was my first 8km run, I decided not to push myself too hard. I just had a session with my sports doctor the day before and he had advised me to take slightly smaller steps and try not to exert too much striking force when my heels land. So, I tried to make some adjustments to my running. Surprisingly, the 8.1km run wasn't as hard as I imagined it to be. I did have to push myself a little toward the last 2km but I don't think it was much more than what I felt when I was doing the 7km run. So, it was with a great sense of accomplishment when I reached my end point in about 1h 5min. Only problem this time round was that my left knee actually hurt quite a bit after the run. I put some ice on it and well, after a night's rest, the pain has kinda lessened quite a bit. It's a little worrying cause I wouldn't want to have to stop running because I get a knee injury. Will probably have to talk to the Sports Trainer sometime next week to see if I can do something to strengthen my knee.

For now, I am really quite elated that I am one step closer to completing my 10km run. There is a huge temptation to push for it earlier but I have to tell myself to take it one step at a time or I might risk injuring myself coz my body is not ready for it.

DOW Live Earth Run For Water 2010 - 6km (40min 04sec)

Decided to take part in the Dow Live Earth Run For Water 6km run as I think I really need some short terms goal to keep up my exercising and also as a kind of lead-up to the 10km Passion Run next month.

Although 6km is not too tough since I'm pretty much doing it at least once a week, I thought I'd take the chance for such events to try for some Personal Bests. Based on my last 6.3km run, I took about 6.87min per km. Today, I completed 6km in about 40min 04sec which gives me 6.68min per km. Nice to see a slight improvement. :)

My next big run is the 10km 100 Plus Passion Run 2010 at the end of May. Looking forward seeing some improvement by then!

2.4km - 13min 56sec

As a lead-up to the 6 km Dow Live Earth Run this week, I decided to just do a 2.4km run but to try for a personal best instead. I'm pretty glad to say that this is probably the first time I've done a sub-14min 2.4km run.

I don't think I should push myself too hard when it comes to speed coz I think I'll risj straining my knee but it's nice to be able to go below the 14min mark for my 2.4km.

Now, it's on to the 6km run this Sunday.