Pride comes before a fall - and after it too.

I caught the first bus from our house to MacRitchie. Bus 165 pulled up at exactly 06:11 just like the schedule said it would. It was cold inside the bus especially being in running shorts and a sleeveless shirt. The windows were fogged up from the air condensing on the outside of the frigid windows.

I stepped off of the bus at MacRitchie, topped up my water bottle, hit the play button so I could hear Dave Matthews live playing in my head and hit the start button on my Garmin at 06:33. It is still dark at six-thirty in the morning. As I passed the trailhead the lights from the park at MacRitchie disappeared. I could still make out the trail but there was no definition to it. I had to run by feel being careful not to twist my ankle … again.

I was moving along well and at about a mile and a half in I saw a light ahead. Four locals were walking pretty fast uphill on the trail. I hit pause on the ipod and said “mornin” as Texas as I could make it sound. I got four very Singaporean sounding “morning”s in return. One guy said “well done” as I passed them on the hill. I said “thank you” and to be honest I felt kind of full of myself. “I am running well” I thought.

Then right as I topped the crest of the hill, still in sight of the four walkers, my foot caught a root and I went down hard. My knee and elbow were in pain as I found myself on my back staring at the trees and the stars beyond them. I didn’t give a rip if I was hurt or not. There was no way I was going to accept sympathy from the guy who told me I was running well. So I popped up and continued running as if nothing happened.

I told Andrea this story and she said “Pride comes before a fall huh?” I said “Yeah and apparently after one too.”

As I ran on I could feel more liquid on my elbow than the sweat I was producing and figured it was bleeding. As the sun came up I could see the blood and it was not too bad. When I got to the ranger station I washed the mud off of my hands but left the rest of the mud and blood there because it looked cool.

It started to rain as I continued on towards Rifle Range Road so it mostly washed off anyway. The rest of the run was uneventful as I finished down the Malaysian Railroad. I really like this run as it is mostly on trails.

Sunday morning’s run marked a turning point in my recent running. Running has been good but I have felt the effects of the Texas Marathon in one way or another since New Year’s Day. But on this run I started feeling strong again. Not fast but stronger than I have lately. The feeling of strength has continued into this week. Maybe it was the compliment.

As a side note - Jakeb and I are thinking about running the SBS Marathon in New Zealand again. We will be there for vacation anyway. They might cancel it due to the damage cause by the earthquake. An assessment will be made sometime in the future but knowing what little I know about Kiwis I think they will find a way to run it.

Running the Malaysia railway

Sunday morning I woke up and waited until daylight to get out and run. I did not want to run the same old routes. Jakeb has told me about running along the railroad tracks of the train that goes from Singapore to Malaysia. There is a trail a safe distance from the track that goes from near our house to Bukit Timah Road.

I left the house right as it was getting light outside. I crossed Holland Road and ran towards Holland Link. Off to the left there was a trail that went into the woods and I took it. I was running in my glasses which I do not enjoy. It is much better to run with my contacts in. With the high humidity my glasses were fogging up and the low light made it hard to see the trail. Every stick on the trail looked like a snake to me and the running was slow. After jumping over trees and navigating drainage ditches I made it to the railway. The trail there was much easier to run and with the sun coming up I could see much better.

From what I understand the railway in Singapore is owned and maintained by Malaysia. Running there was like leaving Singapore. I felt like I was miles from town in a rural place. There were railroad ties scattered along the side of the trail. The grass was high in places and everything seemed more raw – something Singapore would never allow.

After about a mile I came to the Bukit Timah Railway Station. It is a small run-down building where people were waiting for the train. Again it was good to see something that had a touch of humanity to it – a building that had worn paint and old wood and character. I ran down a road that ended at Bukit Timah.

Back in Singapore I remembered that Jakeb said that the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve was not too far away and we should run up Bukit Timah Hill someday. I thought “today is that day” even though Jakeb was not with me. I turned on to Upper Bukit Timah and ran another mile to the base of Bukit Timah. The trail is very steep but paved. I ran about a third of the steepest part and had to walk. Someday I will run all the way to the top but my body will have to adapt to it.

I continued running when the trail grade was more runnable. Before I knew it I was standing on the highest point in Singapore (163 meters). Not nearly as dramatic as it sounds but fun to run no less.

I turned around and went back the way I came. The railroad trail was as enjoyable on the way back as it was on the run out. I found a way to get back to the road without running through the woods that was much less “snakey”.

It was good to leave Singapore for a couple of minutes. I will have to go back to Malaysia often.

Garmin Forerunner 110

I am not a gadget guy. I didn’t get a cell phone until I had to. I do not have surround sound. My laptop is a practical notebook computer I mostly use to read my email and the internet and Skype with Andrea when she was in Texas without me.

This Christmas I got a Gamin Forerunner 110. I have thought about getting a Garmin for a while. I like the idea of putting on a watch and just running without having to stick to a prescribed route. But on the flip side of that I like the simplicity of running and I was always concerned that a GPS watch would just complicate things.

I am pretty regimented when it comes to running the miles that are in my training program. If I am supposed to run 5 miles today then I run 5. But I mainly try to just put in the miles and not worry much about pace. If my body feels like pushing it then I do but if I am not feeling all that great then I just cover the miles. I wear a standard sports watch but very rarely pay attention to it.

I was scared that owning a Garmin would ruin my running. And if I am not careful it will. The 110 is the most simple Forerunner but there is still a ton of data collected with every run – including how fast or slow I happen to be. If I stop to get a drink in the Botanic Gardens then my overall pace will be slower and my Garmin knows it.

So far I have been able to manage it. It will be good to just get out and run. I like seeing the elevation charts. I just have to be okay with being slow on some days and have my watch tell me so.

Texas Marathon 2011 Race Report

Andrea and I have a tradition of sleeping in the New Year. We have made a couple of exceptions but not many. This year was no different except for the reason we decided to sleep instead of watch the ball drop. Jakeb and I were running the Texas Marathon New Year's Day.

Jakeb and I woke up around 4:30am, got ready and took off from League City to Kingwood at 5:30. It was chilly outside but the temperature was good for running a marathon. We got to the park around 6:30 and picked up our race packets and chips. Jon Walk was there to act as race announcer and we talked to him a little while. He gave me a shirt I had left behind a couple of years ago when we ran the Texas Independence Relay with him. I was amazed he had it and had forgot I even had that shirt.

We sat in the car to stay warm until exactly 7:11 – that is when Jakeb said we should get out and stretch. After stretching well we made our way to the starting line and listened to the race instructions. Waverly Walk sang the national anthem and then we were off.

Jakeb and I ran a little more than a mile together. I knew I could not maintain the pace we were running. Jakeb was feeling good so I dropped back a little as he took off. He was in sight for a couple of miles more and then I lost him.

The race is four loops. I thought I would hate running four circles but it was really not too bad. I got a Garmin Forerunner 110 for Christmas and I used it to watch my mile splits and try not to get too crazy with the pace. I felt really good all day.

Near the end of the third lap I passed Jakeb as he was heading back out for his last lap. He had started to cramp and was slowing down. I took some S-caps at the turn, smiled at Andrea taking video of me (walking) and headed back out. I caught Jakeb about a mile out and gave him some ibuprofen I was carrying.

The last lap was easier than what I have experienced at the end of other marathons. I was tired but I was not struggling with pain. I still tried to run sensible but knew I was close to a marathon PR so I pushed as much as I dared. At what I thought was about a mile left I ran a little harder. I heard Jon Walk’s voice and cow bells in the distance and knew the finish was near. Anna was standing next to the trail and ran ahead of me to tell Andrea to get the camera ready. I crossed the line in a chip time of 3:52:16 (my marathon PR).

Jakeb finished a little later in 3:59:00. He had made a good recovery on the back side of the last lap.

I was given a huge marathon medal because this is Texas you know and some pizza. It was definitely a good way to start the New Year. Hello 2011!

Singapore Half Graphic

In America ... no way! I would be much further back in the field. (Click to view larger)

Singapore Half Marathon 2010

I finished the Singapore Half Marathon this weekend in 1:51:16. It was 9 seconds off of my half marathon PR. The race was fine. It was typical of Singapore - hot humid, crowded and with a few hills. I am glad I ran it. Now I am ready to move on to the Texas Marathon on January 1st.

Can't have it all

This weekend is the Singapore Marathon and Half Marathon. I am running the half. I am also training for a full marathon on January 1 so this race comes at a strange time. I am supposed to be running long this weekend – like 21 miles or so – but I will only run 13.1. I am not going to taper too much for the half because I need to keep the miles up for the marathon. My quandary is that I want to run this race well. The balance is hard to achieve. One will suffer for the other and for me the marathon is more important than this weekend’s half. I will let you know how it goes …

Chase Instinct

Dogs have the inherent desire to chase something that is running (or moving fast) away. Run away from a dog or ride a bike past it and it is likely to chase after you either based on its instinct to catch prey or its instinct to play.

Yesterday morning Jakeb and I ran around MacRitchie. Our plan was to take it easy around the lake since we had run an 11 mile long run the day before and should have had tired legs.

On the way out we came up behind three guys running with backpacks on. Neither one of us picked up the pace but we caught them easily. When we did they started running a bit faster and finally on an uphill we had to kick it into gear and pass them.

We made it to the ranger station at about the 4 kilometer mark and we stopped like we always do and got a drink of water. While we were there a guy and girl ran past. We got back on the trail and I could tell by how we were running that the chase instinct had kicked in. Our prey was ahead. By the time we got to the foot bridge behind the golf course we had caught the couple and passed them by. I felt like we were pushing it a little but I am addicted to competition. “Hi my name is Tommy and I am a competeaholic.”

Once we passed the couple we kept on pushing and ran up the technical stuff after the golf course. It is probably the only real technical running on the MacRitchie trails. I told Jakeb “We are like a couple of dogs. We have a chase instinct. When we see someone in front of us we have to pass them. The problem with that is once I pass them I feel like I have to stay in front of them.”

We ran hard most of the rest of the way back to the park. I am getting to old for this.

Christchurch New Zealand Earthquake

I had to come in to work on Saturday morning. When I got here I had an email from a friend and when I responded I told him how much fun Jakeb and I had running the marathon in Christchurch New Zealand. Not only running the marathon but we had fun driving through the mountains and seeing such an incredible place. The food was good, and they had good beer to enjoy with it (Speights). We had such a good time in New Zealand that we wanted to go back and bring Andrea and Anna (and Tori even though she is in college and can’t come) and have more time to explore.

Just after I hit the “send” button on the email to my friend I opened Google News and the headline at the top of the “Top Stories” was about a 7.1 magnitude earthquake in Christchurch. The pictures that were posted in the next couple of days were amazing to me mostly because they showed the devastation of a place where I just been. I had walked those streets and passed some of those buildings. There was a picture of a girl staring into a hole on Avonside Street where Jakeb and I had run our marathon.

I have never felt even the slightest tremor of an earthquake so I cannot relate. But I have experienced the aftermaths of more than one hurricane and I have to assume it is a bit the same - to have a natural disaster disrupt life and cause one to live in a completely different way than they are accustom.

I feel for the people there and hope their life goes back to normal as soon as possible. I check the news everyday and it seems like they are making progress towards rebuilding.

We will be in Christchurch next month. Our plan has always been to land there, rent a car and leave towards the mountains. I am still excited about going back.

I like messing with people sometimes

This morning I ran 6th Avenue / Clementi five mile loop. I left the ipod at home and planned on taking it easy. This run has five hills. One is early on 6th Ave and the last four consecutive are at the end of the run on Clementi and Ulu Pandan.

I ran at an easy pace and well within myself. On Bukit Timah about a quarter of a mile before Clementi I saw a runner ahead of me. He was running slow enough that I knew I would catch him. He was in yellow short shorts, a yellow singlet and a white headband. He pranced when he ran and held his forearms vertical while swinging his hands in a circle.

I got within a couple of paces of him at the bottom of the second hill of my run and he sped up. This hill is long. It is slow at ending with the incline stretching out at the top. I felt like I had enough in me to pass him but I didn’t want to be pushed from behind so I just hung out behind his left shoulder. As he sped up I sped up and when he slowed down I slowed down.

Then on the downhill I passed him and just ran easy. He stayed about 5 paces behind me. The third hill is short and not too bad so when we hit the base I hammered it to the top. When I crested I slowed down and could hear him behind me breathing hard. I laughed inside.

I ran the downhill side of this hill easy and when I approached the fourth hill I ran hard again. This hill is not as long as the second but there are some steep sections. I felt good. I pushed hard and my prancing runner friend dropped way behind. At the top I slowed. As I did he started catching back up. On the downhill side there is a bus stop and I zig-zagged through the bus stop barricades just because I wanted to mess around. He caught me on the base of the downhill.

We ran the flat on Ulu Pandan until the base of the fifth and last hill. When we first moved to Singapore I hated this hill. It is long and hurts by the time I get to the top. I pushed as soon as I felt the road rise under my feet. My runner friend pushed with me. I could hear his steps behind me and then as the hill steepens I looked back and he was walking.

Maybe I am too competitive but it feels good to be in good enough shape to run like this. I know there are plenty of people who can leave me in their dust and I am okay with that.

Over My Head

I slept horrible last night. Andrea has been in Texas since July 15th and it is not easy to sleep when she is not here. I think it is about time for her to come back. She will be home Wednesday night. Since I slept bad I figured this morning’s run would not be so good. I thought I would be tired. Boy was I wrong.

Last night I downloaded an all King’s X mix onto my shuffle and took off across the street to Vegetable. My legs felt light and strong and I ran fast. I am sure I probably set a 6th Avenue / Clementi 5 mile loop PR. But I wouldn’t know because I have never kept my time on that run – or many others for that matter. It was good to feel like I was flying.

Music, music, I hear music
Music over my head
King’s X – Over My Head

1000 miles

This morning I passed one thousand miles of running for 2010. It is just a number really starting on an arbitrary day that happens to be the first of the year and culminating on August 20th. There are people who have run many more miles than that since January 1 and there are even more who have not run a step. Even though it is just a number I have to admit I bragged about it to Jakeb and Andrea … twice.

A lot has happened over the last thousand miles. I had a foot injury around the February/ March time frame that I thought at the time would be with me forever. Today the injury is gone and I had forgotten about it until I looked back at my run log.

I have run parts of the thousand miles in Singapore, America, New Zealand and China.

I have listened to a lot of good new-found music and I have listened to some music that has been my favorite since I started running over seventeen years ago. I’ve ran without music lost in my own thoughts.

I’ve run some of the thousand miles with Jakeb and some alone and I have enjoyed both.

If I am able to run all of the miles planned in my Texas Marathon training schedule I will run a little less than seven hundred more before the end of the year.

I want the passage of miles to be a routine part of my life. Not something extraordinary but something that is part of who I am - a basic part of my humanity – to put on a pair of running shoes and just run.

The 1000th mile I ran this morning was nothing more than a spot in the road that I didn’t take notice of as I approached it and ran on without thought of it, just like the rest of the other 999 and hopefully like the thousands more to come.

Broken Social Scene

Last night I went to see the band Broken Social Scene. I hadn’t heard any of their music before I saw the advertisement that they were coming to town. I listened to their music online and generally liked what I heard. Since Andrea is not in town and since I haven’t been to many concerts here in Singapore I decided to buy a ticket. I downloaded and listened to Forced to Love and Meet Me in the Basement just so I would at least be familiar with two of their sings when I went to the concert.

Broken Social Scene is a talented group of musicians who are all part of other bands or they do their own solo thing. They are referred to as a musical collective. During the concert of the eight members of the band the only person onstage who played only one instrument was the drummer. Their live sound is really good. Being as big a band as they are you would think the music would get a little muddy but the sound was tight and clear. Since there are so many instruments the music is layered really deep and there is much to listen to. I liked it a lot but I will probably not listen to much of the studio stuff because it is just not the same.

Run on …

MacRitchie in the rain

Yesterday morning it rained - like crazy. My plan was to run the 11 kilometer trail around Lake MacRitchie. Jakeb and I have run there a couple of times in the rain and frankly it is fun. So I was not going to let a little rain (or a lot as the case was) stop me from running one of mine and Jakeb's favorite places in Singapore.

I should have known it was not going to be a typical run when the traffic was stopped on Farrer because the cars could not get off on the flooded Bukit Timah exit. It was still dark outside when I got to the park and people were standing under the cover of car park waiting for the rain to stop so they could run the trail. I got out of my car and put my key in my shorts and started running immediately, excited to get to run in the rain. I got a couple of strange looks.

As I ran past the pavilion where the food and bathroom are there were more people standing under cover watching it rain. I ran by - more strange looks.

As I entered the trailhead and started the first short climb I was running in a river of water that was looking for the lake. It was ankle deep and there was nowhere to run where water was not.

The trail continued this way - river for a while then sloshy mud for a while. I felt like a little kid and I had the trail completely to myself. A refreshing change since MacRitche is normally crowded on a Saturday morning.

On the backside of the lake the water got kind of deep. It is the lowest part of the trail and there is a 2' high wooden bridge without handrails built over the swampy jungle. Water was running over the bridge. The walkway to the bridge was mid-calf deep and when I took the steps up onto the bridge it was over my ankles. The problem was that it was muddy water and since there are no handrails I could not tell were the sides were. Not wanting to fall off of the edge, when I got the chance I bailed off onto a nearby golf course (there were no golfers either).

I finished out the run with more of the same - rivers of runoff and mud while the rain came down. I was soaked, my shoes were soaked and full of mud and sand. It was awesome.

This morning I ran MacRitchie again. It was not raining and the trails were as crowded as I have ever seen them.

Running in Beijing

Andrea, Anna and I went to Bejing, China for vacation and to meet our daughter Tori there. Tori has been studying Mandarin in a study abroad program with her professor and other students from University of North Texas.

We did all the touristy things you are supposed to do in China like see The Great Wall and The Forbidden City, but I also got to run.

The first morning we were there I did not run. But the second morning we were there I ran from the Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel, located in a Hutong, to Tiananmen Square.

Beijing is a polluted place. When I ran I tasted my sweat and it tasted to me like pollution. Maybe it was in my mind but I felt especially dirty there.

My first glimpse of Tiananmen Square was at the halfway point of my run on the second day in Beijing. It is a huge square that thousands of people visit every day. Even at 6 am in the morning the sidewalk in front of the Forbidden City where Chairman Mao's portriat hangs there is a crowd of people taking pictures and waiting for their chance to go in.

As I approached the square the first time I was struck that it looked exactly as I expected. I was also struck by how a leader could be so full of himself to hang such a huge a self-portrait on the Forbidden City. Maybe he didn't have it hung it there but it still seems like a show of a leader's self-indulgence.

I ran to Tiananmen Square at the entrance of the Forbidden City three times and I always made sure I told Mao what a jerk I thought he was. I think he probably knows now. It is amazing to me that a man who did the things he did to kill so many and destroy such cultural heritage could be so loved by the people of China even today. This is confirmed by the fact that so many would stand in line to see his body lying in state thirty years after his death. I stood in line too with thousands of my Chinese friends - more out of morbid fascination as anything else- to see Mao's glowing face.

On two other mornings I ran to the Jingshan Hill Park north of The Forbidden City. There is a hill there built from the dirt removed from the ground to built the 30 meter deep moat around the Forbidden City. From there you can look over the plot of ground where Emperors walked hundreds of years ago. What was impressive to me was how many, mostly old, Chinese people were exercising in the morning in the park. It was a definite cultural experience.

This morning back in Singapore I ran a seven miler through the Botanic Gardens and there were as many, mostly old, people exercising there. It was just easier to breath the air and my sweat tasted normal again.

Texas Marathon

The Christchurch Marathon is behind me and I wanted a new goal. I can run just to run. I like running enough to keep at it even when I am not training for something. But training for something makes me push myself to run when waking up and going out the door at 4:40am does not sound fun. Call me weird but yes most mornings it does sound like fun.

We are going to Texas around Christmas. I was hoping to find a trail race to sign up for where I could run in the dirt. The holidays are not a great time to find any race at all much less a trail race. I assumed if I found a race to run I would probably have to drive some distance to get to it.

After digging around I found the Texas Marathon. I have heard about this race but had forgotten about it. It is a small race run in Kingwood Texas (not too far from home) on New Year’s Day. It is a four loop course on greenbelt and I have read that it is very well organized.

So I signed up for the Texas Marathon and assured myself that I will (as normal) sleep the New Year in.

SBS Marathon Photos

It looks cold huh?

SBS Christchurch Marathon

I woke up this morning and took a quick shower to wake up and put on my running clothes - a short sleeve tech shirt and a pair of shorts and went down stairs in the hotel to find some coffee. After drinking two cups I stepped outside where there were drops of rain falling from the sky and it was chilly. It was too wet and cold for my current dress.

So I went back upstairs and pulled out the two long sleeved tech shirts I brought and gave one to Jakeb.

We got dressed and walked the couple of blocks to the marathon start. We hung out inside of the "town hall"and waited until closer to the start to line up.

At exactly 09:00 New Zealand time we took off. I have to say here that New Zealanders are a friendly talkative bunch of people and we had a great time listening to the conversations and participating in some.

We ran next to a guy from Singapore who is a stock broker. Last week he ran the Sundowner double marathon and now he was here to run Christchurch. He said he ran 23 marathons last year alone. He was wearing a Marathon Maniacs shirt. Go figure.

Jakeb wanted to finish faster than four hours so we looked up the pace per kilometer for a four hour marathon and tried to keep our lap time below that pace. I punched my watch at every kilometer that I saw. I missed some. During the first half our fastest kilometer was 5:12. A four hour marathon is 5:41 pace. We hit the half in approximately 1:55. I knew I was running faster than I should and would have to tell Jakeb to take off soon.

At the 28k mark my legs had had enough. I asked Jakeb how many more gels he needed to finish. He said "one". I asked if he had it and he said "yes". So I told him "you are going to have to take off if you want to get a less than four hour marathon". He said "You sure you don't mind"? I told him "no go for it." And he took off.

It was actually good for me to be able to slow down and work on getting the best time I could. It helped that it was raining and my shorts were wet and they were keeping my legs cool. I slowed down and even though the effort was not easy I felt much better. Toward the end I had to walk some and when I walked I tried to walk at a brisk pace.

I finished by my watch at 4:04:59.

Jakeb finished in about the 3:49 to 3:50 range. He smoked it. His first marathon was faster than my marathon PR. Youth is a great thing - and Jakeb is a really good runner. He has the mentality for it. He can go into himself and push when it is necessary. When he stepped on the finish line he said his calf cramped up. He tried to sit in a chair and take off his chip but as soon as he sat down he had to stand right back up. If you have run a marathon you know the feeling.

The SBS Marathon is one of my favorite so far. No fuss. Just a well run (pun intended) marathon in an amazing place where the people are laid back to begin with.

Update: According to the SBS Christchurch Marathon web sight Jakeb finished 3:50:18 chip time and I finished 4:04:57 chip time.

Race Morning

8am cold and rainy. One hour to race time. This should be a fun wet cold run. Details to follow.

New Zealand Marathon in the morning

So Jakeb and I will wake up and run the Christchurch Marathon at 0900 New Zealand time. You figure what tme wherever you are.

If it is carbs you need before a marathon it is carbs I have. Pancakes for breakfast, banana snack in the morning, vegetable soup and bread for lunch, baked potato in the afternoon and pasta for dinner. Hopefully I am as ready otherwise.

Here are some pictures of what we have seen here so far.