18th SCSM Race Report

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

Jellyfish nightmare

It has been 3 years since my last Jellyfish sting in PD, and boy it did have a lasting impact on me.
Apart from the scars on my arms, it left another lingering scar in my mind.
I was scared of getting into the Open Water for a good part of the year, especially in murky waters where visibility is limited and I can't see any further than 3m ahead.
Nonetheless, subsequent races in open waters went pretty safely so I gradually managed to get over the fear.

That was until the recent Open Water race in Hainan, China, where my relay team had to swim across the Qiongzhou Straits from Hainan Island to China mainland.

To be honest, the swim wasn't too difficult, since each of us only had to swim for 1 hour for each leg, and we get to rest for 3 hours in between.

However, my worst fears were confirmed when our 1st swimmer got stung by jellyfish just as he was completing his first leg. We ran into a sea of jelly fish...

The 2nd swimmer then jumped into the water, teeming with jellyfish all over the place. Soon he racked up lots of jellyfish stings, and our guide instructed for all swimmers to swim as close to the boat as possible, while he started to scoop jellyfish out of the way of the swimmer from the bow of the boat. Despite best efforts, we still ran into more jellyfish as there were too many to clear.

I was worried for my team member as he was much younger and inexperienced, and probably a much lower pain threshold than me. By the time for me to take over, I jumped immediately into the sea of jellyfish and took over the mantle from him. It was my turn to suffer.

True enough, I started to get stung almost immediately when I started to swim. Can't remember how many times I got stung. On both arms, chest, legs, basically all over the body. It hurt, but I was mentally prepared so it wasn't as scary as the time I got stung in PD. That was, until I was finishing up my leg, and I got a direct hit in the left goggle and all over my face. It was way worse than getting it on the limbs.

Soon after I finished off my leg, got onto the boat and had my team mate to apply vinegar on my face. It was hurting so much that I couldn't open my eye for quite some time. Was really worried that it may affect my vision or leave a huge scar like the previous one.

Nonetheless, everyone in the team persevered, and we managed to complete the swim over around 9 hours.Of course I had to swim another 2 times.

Went straight to the hospital after I got back to mainland, not even bothering to wash up first, as I didn't want to repeat the same mistake of waiting too long before seeking medical assistance. Did and cleared my blood test, was put on drip with medication. Pain was mostly limited to the stings on my face.

Went to the doctor again after returning to Singapore, but was only given antibiotics and anti-histamines as jellyfish stings are uncommon in Singapore, and the doctor wasn't sure on the specific treatment, except to treat it as a normal animal bite. Subsequently stayed away from seafood for 2 weeks on my own accord.

Some scars still remains visible on my face today, just hope that it will gradually fade away on its own.

My heart was not scarred this time. Saw the 70.3 Desaru race open, and Dear gave the green light, so I signed up without hesitation this time.

However, if I'm so unlucky to hit another jellyfish in the upcoming Perhentian race, then it probably means that I'm not fated to do any more racing in Open waters and I'll just give it up.

Just pray hard for a safe race...

Longer business trips

Seems that this is the year of longer business trips spanning over 2 weeks
First was in April, where I had to visit Japan on one week followed by another week in USA.
Early July was in Kathmandu for 1 week, before going to Cambodia for 2 weeks.
This week in Korea, Japan, Korea and Japan again before coming home. Again, over 2 weeks
Coming in October, half week in Malaysia for my race, before another full week in East Malaysia for work.

Whenever I travel on business trips, I'd always play Ghibli or Disney lullaby music at night, to remind myself of my 2 precious kids back at home, possibly sleeping soundly to the lullaby that I'm listening to.

It's usually the series of Ghibli lullaby that gets me, since I had kept playing back that soundtrack during the 2 hokkaido holidays that I had with the kids.

思念...
How I wish to bring the family on a nice holiday again ...