Hadn't been keeping up with writing Race Reports nowadays.
Missed doing the race report on Perhentian OWS which was done in Oct.
This is my 18th installation of participating in the SCSM race, consecutively.
Started running the FM back in 2002 and never looked back since then.
And over the years, the SCSM has taken a backseat on my race priority list, and I see this mostly as a fun run and a benchmark check on my physical fitness level.
There were a number of occasions when my ICT IPPT fell uncomfortably close to the Marathon.
And this year was the closest as it can get.
IPPT on Wednesday, Marathon on Saturday
Back during my active days, doing 10 min flat for 2.4km run was a breeze and I could do it everyday.
After leaving the service, I could still clock sub-11 min runs, but with increasing effort levels as I aged.
Again with the IPPT and Marathon so close to each other, I had to prioritize scoring well for the IPPT for the monetary incentive.
In the last 1.5 months leading up to the IPPT, I had been building up the habit of hitting the gym treadmill at least once every 2 to 3 days to clock a tempo run, and gradually increasing the pace.
This worked well and I managed to clock 10:17 for my IPPT this year, a good 20+ sec improvement from last year, and with lower level of exertion and post-run recovery was much shorter as well.
For my Marathon prep, the longest run that I had clocked was only around 15km, thus I was expecting to probably hit around 5:30 for the race. The focus on IPPT training meant that I could run faster short bursts but unable to maintain my slow long run pace.
The past 17 editions of the SCSM were flagged off early in the morning, usually around 5am
The flag off was changed to 6pm for an evening race this year
Was this a Good change? I'm not too sure about that. At least it's not a ridiculous flag off at the midnight like Sundown
The flag off for my Pen was at around 6.40pm and I was targeting to maintain at around 9km/h speed for the first 3 hours, and to walk for the rest of the race.
Was pretty consistent and felt pretty strong in the first 2 hours and accurately clocked 18km.
However, I started to feel some weakness in the right hamstring and calf and eventually chose to walk at around 25km.
It was a conscious decision to walk a lot more than I really needed.
A good change of strategy from what I used to do in the past. Instead of slowing my pace to delay cramps and then walk when cramps set in, I chose to walk way much ahead of any cramps setting in, and throw in some sporadic short runs to bump up the pace a little.
I was mentally tired in the later part of the run. Not sure if this was due to lack of physical conditioning, or if I was just sleepy. The day before the race was spent at the wedding lunch and a little bit of shopping, so I definitely felt a lot sleepier as it inched towards midnight.
Issues on the race kit - good choice of top and vaseline at the arms as usual.
Incorrect choice of tights as it caused abrasion on my bum for the final 8km
Somehow I felt a lot more thirsty in this race, and drank a lot more compared to the past, but I didn't had any side effects though. Probably due to the increased walk mileage compared to running with a struggle.
Took no toilet breaks this time as I managed to clear my bowels twice at the hotel before going to the starting point.
Joining the wedding lunch meant that I got to park my car at Marina Sq before the roads were closed, so I didn't get into any carpark or traffic jams issues for this year. A huge departure from the last 4 to 5 years where I started extremely late every time.
And the Finishing was extremely strong this year, as I was still able to sprint to the finishing line and yet not get any cramps - conserved way too much energy, but not a problem since I'm not going for any PBs anyway
POST RACE RECOVERY
Did active massage and stretching after the race before I went back to sleep.
Clocked 6 laps of swim in the following day.
There were some pain in my knees, but I knew that I had corrected my running gait and had good alignment, so I wasn't worried about the pain
Did a 3.4km run on the treadmill 2 days after the race to flush out the lactic acid, and felt sore immediately after the run, though the acid cleared up fairly quickly after that.
This is probably the shortest recovery period that I ever had for SCSM -- max of 2.5 days and back to normal.
Next Up: Desaru 70.3 - I have 20 weeks to start building up my cycling base again
Missed doing the race report on Perhentian OWS which was done in Oct.
This is my 18th installation of participating in the SCSM race, consecutively.
Started running the FM back in 2002 and never looked back since then.
And over the years, the SCSM has taken a backseat on my race priority list, and I see this mostly as a fun run and a benchmark check on my physical fitness level.
There were a number of occasions when my ICT IPPT fell uncomfortably close to the Marathon.
And this year was the closest as it can get.
IPPT on Wednesday, Marathon on Saturday
Back during my active days, doing 10 min flat for 2.4km run was a breeze and I could do it everyday.
After leaving the service, I could still clock sub-11 min runs, but with increasing effort levels as I aged.
Again with the IPPT and Marathon so close to each other, I had to prioritize scoring well for the IPPT for the monetary incentive.
In the last 1.5 months leading up to the IPPT, I had been building up the habit of hitting the gym treadmill at least once every 2 to 3 days to clock a tempo run, and gradually increasing the pace.
This worked well and I managed to clock 10:17 for my IPPT this year, a good 20+ sec improvement from last year, and with lower level of exertion and post-run recovery was much shorter as well.
For my Marathon prep, the longest run that I had clocked was only around 15km, thus I was expecting to probably hit around 5:30 for the race. The focus on IPPT training meant that I could run faster short bursts but unable to maintain my slow long run pace.
The past 17 editions of the SCSM were flagged off early in the morning, usually around 5am
The flag off was changed to 6pm for an evening race this year
Was this a Good change? I'm not too sure about that. At least it's not a ridiculous flag off at the midnight like Sundown
The flag off for my Pen was at around 6.40pm and I was targeting to maintain at around 9km/h speed for the first 3 hours, and to walk for the rest of the race.
Was pretty consistent and felt pretty strong in the first 2 hours and accurately clocked 18km.
However, I started to feel some weakness in the right hamstring and calf and eventually chose to walk at around 25km.
It was a conscious decision to walk a lot more than I really needed.
A good change of strategy from what I used to do in the past. Instead of slowing my pace to delay cramps and then walk when cramps set in, I chose to walk way much ahead of any cramps setting in, and throw in some sporadic short runs to bump up the pace a little.
I was mentally tired in the later part of the run. Not sure if this was due to lack of physical conditioning, or if I was just sleepy. The day before the race was spent at the wedding lunch and a little bit of shopping, so I definitely felt a lot sleepier as it inched towards midnight.
Issues on the race kit - good choice of top and vaseline at the arms as usual.
Incorrect choice of tights as it caused abrasion on my bum for the final 8km
Somehow I felt a lot more thirsty in this race, and drank a lot more compared to the past, but I didn't had any side effects though. Probably due to the increased walk mileage compared to running with a struggle.
Took no toilet breaks this time as I managed to clear my bowels twice at the hotel before going to the starting point.
Joining the wedding lunch meant that I got to park my car at Marina Sq before the roads were closed, so I didn't get into any carpark or traffic jams issues for this year. A huge departure from the last 4 to 5 years where I started extremely late every time.
And the Finishing was extremely strong this year, as I was still able to sprint to the finishing line and yet not get any cramps - conserved way too much energy, but not a problem since I'm not going for any PBs anyway
POST RACE RECOVERY
Did active massage and stretching after the race before I went back to sleep.
Clocked 6 laps of swim in the following day.
There were some pain in my knees, but I knew that I had corrected my running gait and had good alignment, so I wasn't worried about the pain
Did a 3.4km run on the treadmill 2 days after the race to flush out the lactic acid, and felt sore immediately after the run, though the acid cleared up fairly quickly after that.
This is probably the shortest recovery period that I ever had for SCSM -- max of 2.5 days and back to normal.
Next Up: Desaru 70.3 - I have 20 weeks to start building up my cycling base again
