Tag Archives: sahara

Spirit of the Race

This 1992 Olympics moment gets to me every time. Derek Redmond was favoured to win the 400m when, at the 150m mark, he pulled a hamstring and collapsed in a heap of pain. The dream and years of hard work denied in a split second, he looked for a moment as if he had given up. But when the medics rushed onto the track, the man amazingly pulled himself up ... Read More »

Into the Mountain Hole of Serious Preparation I go

If you don’t hear from me for the next 2 weeks, it can only be a good thing — it means I’m dedicating myself to training for the half marathon taking place this weekend and the 84km ultramarathon the following weekend. Have dropped by my favourite running store to stock up on a few essentials, including Nathan electrolytes, Clif Bars, GU gels, shotz gels, and PowerBar gels. Hope to post ... Read More »

A Day with Never Ending Surprises

There are times when you start a day with high expectations and end up disappointed with how the day actually turned out. Then, there are days like this one which start out miserably but then flourish with each passing hour until you look back at day’s end and can’t quite believe the dream of a day you just had. Here’s how the story goes. I woke up with a rather ... Read More »

Heroes aren’t born, but built

“Do not go gentle into that good night” -Dylan Thomas Met up with Thaddeus for dinner last night. Thaddeus is Singapore’s own superman who had completed the 250 km Sahara Race last year (and has clearly lived to tell the tale!) A fascinating story transpired from the dinner conversation: Baoren Gong is a swimmer from China who had competed in the Sydney 2000 Paralympics. The one thing that distinguished him ... Read More »

Training kicks up a notch

When I first started training for the Sahara back in February, it had been inconceivable to train 3-4 times a week. How on earth was I going to fit it all in, what with work and all? Three months on, I’m rising at 5 plus in the morning for tempo training, going for a 15km runs after work the next day, rolling out of bed at 6 plus on Saturdays for ... Read More »

It is never as hard as it seems

Today, ladies and gentlemen, is a record-breaking day! Yours truly just ran the furthest she has ever run (in one go) in her entire life: 20km. That’s a milestone not only because I did it without any real break from start to finish but because I was struggling so much in the beginning I had contemplated pulling out of the training. A week earlier, I caught the flu and was ... Read More »

Injinji socks to the rescue

As I ramp up the weekly mileage during training over the last few weeks, blisters have fast become a nagging issue. I’m thinking, “if this is what I get for a few hours’ training a week, what shape would I be in during the actual race, where I’ll be running a few hours a DAY for 7 days straight? Injinji socks to the rescue! I’ve heard about these special toe ... Read More »

Blisters are just the appetiser…

One of the things that has always daunted me about the race was my being flat footed because that often results in weaker knees. Endurance races are, supposedly, a no-no for people like me. So the question is, will my knees be able to take 7 days of intensive runs up sand dunes and across squishy soft sand? The mind is strong but will the body be willing? So I ... Read More »

It begins, as most things do, with an idea and a plan

Alright, folks, here’s the plan: long training sessions on weekends for endurance and karate for power; shorter runs (about 8 km per session) and cross training on weekdays. Long weekend sessions will mostly involve running up and down the trails (and the hills! Oh, the hills!!) of MacRitchie. I started with a running buddy and fellow karate-ka, Mark, about 2 months ago and we’ve made some great progress since. The ... Read More »

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