Singapore Marathon Taper

Peak training for the Singapore Marathon is done. I ran my final 20 miler of this training cycle on Saturday. It was a slow run but I covered the miles. Now it is time to taper.

I like tapering for the marathon because it means I get to reduce the mileage some. It means that my chances of making it to the starting line of the Singapore Marathon are pretty high.

I hate tapering. One of the hard things about the taper is that it is hard to keep up the intensity. Even though the mileage drops I still need to run at a solid pace. At the end of the taper and nearer the marathon I start to feel edgy. I am ready to get the show on the road. I feel like I am eating too much and not running enough.

So welcome to the taper. I hope it is over soon.

I switched to Switch

I bought a new pair of running shoes last Sunday. I was scared I would have a hard time finding running shoes here in Singapore but the selection and availability is better than in the US. I went to Queensway mall and had to look for a while but I found a pair of Brooks Switch for 59.90 Singapore dollars. That is about $45.00 US. I know that these shoes are inexpensive even in the US but I thought I got a pretty good deal and so far I like running in them. I switched (pun intended)to a pair of motion control shoes because I thought I could benefit from the extra support. And the Switch is not supposed to be the most rigid of motion control shoes anyway.

On another subject Andrea went to Indonesia on Tuesday for the day with her mom and sister. They left yesterday for Thailand and will be back on Sunday. Jakeb is in Cambodia on a bike trip with the school seeing the Cambodian countryside up close. Tori is in Denton at college. Anna and I are having fun hanging out together here in Singapore. We are eating the food we both like the best. I could have never imagined even a few years ago that this is the life I would be living …

"Every new beginning is some other beginning's end"
Closing Time - Semisonic

Driven by the music

I ran hard this morning … until my iPod died. Then my pace on Bukit Timah slowed. The hills on Clementi were a drag.

I thought about it and Saturday was the same thing. I ran a 20 mile long run. I ran from the house to MacRitchie reservoir where Jakeb was supposed to meet me so we could finish off the last twelve together. About a mile from MacRitchie he stepped off of a bus in front of me to run the last thirteen instead of twelve. When I saw him ahead I took off my headphones and my pace slowed.

My running and my pace have been driven by the music lately. That is not necessarily so bad but I don’t want to rely solely on music.

Friday morning Jakeb and I ran together beside a drainage canal near the house and up a street called Ghin Moh. Our pace was pretty fast not because there was music pushing us but because that is the pace that felt right.

My plan is to run the marathon without headphones. I should start running without them now and hopefully it will go well then.

I think my iPod shuffle is about to bite the dust. That may not be such a bad thing.