Singapore Marathon 2007 Post Mortem

December 11, 2007 – 3:38 pm

This year, 2007, it will be my second marathon.

With the valuable first marathon experience under my belt, I was not a bit worried about the upcoming challenge. In fact, I felt prepared.

The Preparations

3 days before the event, I started carbo-loading; one SARSI a day.

Friday. 2 days to the marathon. Collected the race pack from the  TeamMonash alumni event. Yes, I have once again signed up with TeamMonash and run under their ‘banner’. This year, TeamMonash has the largest number of participants.

Saturday. Marathon’s eve. Not thinking much and went shopping with family. Quite a fair bit of walking around. At around 9pm, I started my final preparations. This year, I pinned my bib to my singlet instead of the race belt. Championchip was tied to my shoe and Powergels stuffed into my tights. One last round of water before I went off to sleep. I take my a look at the route for the marathon and run it through my mind and went off to sleep.

The Race Day

Sunday, 2am. The alarm went off. Breakfast was a simple combination of bread, banana and milo and egg. A final boost to what I need for the day.

Once again, Daphne ever so supportive, woke up at 3:30am, and dropped me off at Marina Square. It was about 4:00am. She will be back later with the Alexis and MJ for the ‘Kids Dash’.

The Bag Deposit counters are still being setup. A few of us has started queuing up. It took them probably another 20 minutes before they were briefed and ready for action. By then, the queue has started forming.

This year, I decided to skip the visit to TeamMonash tentage and gathering with other fellow runners from SGRunners. Instead, I went onto the road, spent time on my own focusing on the stretching, and the run.

Positioned myself at the ‘Under 5 hours group’. I have stick to my proven strategy of doing a run-walk (4 min run follow by a 1 min walk).

The horn went off. 3km into the run and heading towards Marina South, I felt my shin tightening (some pain). I have felt this before during my LSD. Never expect it to hit me again as my pace is much faster. It wasn’t before long that I have to switch to a 3-2 split (running 3 minutes and walking 2 minutes). A bad start. No longer sure that I can go under 5 hours.

By the time, I reached the 10km point, I am already down to a 1-1 split. I know I will miss my under 5 hours target. I still hope to go under 5hrs 30. Struggling on with the pain.

By the time, I hit Nicoll Highway, the least expected hit me. ITB on my righ leg. I can barely run with this pain. Every step almost bring me to the floor. From a run-walk, it become more like a run-stretch. I was stretching along the way at almost every possible stop. My running stride was shortened and my legs ’shuffling’ close to the floor. All these adjustments to deal with ITB.

This continue all the way into the East Coast Park. I was running less and less. Stretching more and walking even more by the time I hit 20km. I saw the 5:30 pacers catch up with me. I know secondary objective is out. I can barely run any more. I push on still.

By the time, I come out of the ECP stretch, beyond 32km, the sun was glaring down. I have lose a lot of time in the ECP stretch. The returning leg of Fort Road, is the most boring part of the run.

By now, my right leg is experiencing mild cramps; signs that it has tired out supporting my other leg with ITB.

Walking under the hot sun, it seems so easy to give up when the legs are tired, and the sun so hot. I pushed on nonetheless.

By the time I reached National Stadium (about 36km), I know that I will be able to complete the journey. But, I am just not sure how long it takes with all these limping. I gave a call to Daphne and let her know my situation and ask her to bring Alexis and MJ to cooler place and chill first.

Turning into Kallang, I grabbed a banana. I know the journey ahead well. Last year, along Republic area (after the last slope), I ran all the way during the last 3km.

But, this year, I am not going to do it. I glanced at my watch, calculated and figure that I still have a chance to beat my last year timing (even with all this walking). I am going to up my walking pace.

Reaching Esplanade, and knowing that there is less than 1km++ left, I started to jog (shuffling my feet again). Out of the tunnel, along the bend, I picked up my pace, down to the last stretch. I saw the official clock. I knew I have beaten my last year’s timing.

Though, I have missed my primary (under 5hours) and secondary target (under 5hours 30), I have learned a lot more this year.

I have push through the whole marathon. I never expect the journey to be this way. It was definitley not smooth, painful most of the time.

The Lessons

Completing the marathon, I wasn’t really that disappointed. Injuries are always a part of any sport. In fact, I did learned some great lessons. I learn that marathon is a mental thing. Couple of times under the hot sun, I have asked myself, “Why am I going through this?”. And yet, the answer was always clear, “To enjoy the journey. It is a reminder of life.”. To me, running a marathon is like going through life. There are always events that took place that went againt the ideal conditions. I would not have completed if I gave up mentally first. The pain that ITB causes could have ‘crippled’ me. It is my focus on the goal of completion that pulls me through.

Somewhere during my marathon, I also thought of my late father. The little strength that I have left and the pain the injury is causing me, gave me a better understanding of how my late father must have felt walking down the stairs (no strength and unable to control).

As the year ends, I can’t help but wonder what does it take to run an injury free marathon. What does it take for me to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

By yeksoon | Posted in Running, marathon | Comments (0)

Singapore Bay Run (aka AHM) Post Mortem

August 27, 2007 – 4:22 pm

Yesterday’s Singapore Bay Run (aka Army Half-Marathon or AHM) started off early.

I did not really have a good rest, having spent most part of Saturday’s playing Mahjong and not really getting the right food.

When the game ends towards 11pm, I managed to down some brownie and hope that it will serves as fuel for my run couple of hours later.

I had a quick nap around midnight and woke up at 3am. Early enough to see that the NSF are preparing the roads along ECP for the run. The first thing I noticed is that 4 lanes are reserved for the runners! “A good sign”, I tell myself. “Gonna be a good race”.

Breakfast

Breakfast was simple. ‘Extra Strong Tea’ from Marks and Spencer, 3 slices of plain bread and 2 bananas. I downed another 500ml of Gatorade, as a last minute hydrating exercise as the run is still about 1.5 hours away from start.

Trip to Start Point

Daphne drove and dropped me off at Marina Square. At around 4am, already a short queue was formed getting into Marina Square. (I was told after the race, that she had to make detours just to get home.)

As I walked towards the Start Point, I met an old man (with a fuelbelt with him). We chatted a bit and I was really flattered as he thought I am still serving my National Service (must be the lack of lighting). We parted ways as I show him the Start Point. I headed down below the bridge. Making visit to the toilet before the crowd came in and doing my warm ups.

5am. I made my way to the Start Point, lining up nearer to the front than last year. Unlike the SCSM, AHM was more quiet, no DJs blasting music away to get you all psyched up. Till 5:30am, it is pretty much a waiting game (waiting for VIPs to arrive, for the elite to go up front etc). I also sighted the guys from the Indian army doing their warm up run.

Off we go
The ‘gun’ went off. Crossing the Start Point, I reminded myself the target of 2hr 10mins. I settled fast into my pace. I was hoping to stop only 4 times at the water points. Unfortunately, before I hit the 2km point, my left shin starts to feel strained. ‘Is that signs of cramps coming?’, I asked myself. It was apparently to me that I would not be able to last with the strain hitting me so early in the run. I decided to adopt run-walk strategy. Every kilometer, I will break for a walk. I told myself, “It is still possible to make it under 2hr 10min with this strategy. 6min per km for the first half of the race.”

And with this slight change, the strained on my shin went away as the run progressed. One important walk break is at the 4km mark, before Sheares Bridge. The bridge is about 1km long with a fairly steep incline. The walk break helps and I made my way up the bridge without losing a lot of time. Coming down the bridge is a breeze, with most runners accepting the pull from gravity.

I checked my time, and was only 3 minutes behind schedule (6min/km pace) after the bridge. Still good for a 2hr 10min. Heading into East Coast Park, I actually felt some sea breeze blowing in, something that I have not been enjoying for sometime.

At the U-turn point (12km mark), I did a split time and noticed that timing was around 1hr 16 min. I think I am still good for my target. Downed my gel and flush it down with water. Off I go again.

Coming out of the East Coast Park, back onto Fort Road. This got to be the most boring stretch of the whole run. I wished they had deploy more bands (maybe just vans with zhnng hi-fis) to blast their music here. I am still feeling good. The shin felt good. And I had less than 5km to go.

If there is one part of the run that I enjoy truly, it is at the junction of MacDonald’s. There is a band there playing. Music! I actually ran to the beat of their music. Many thanks.

Turning onto Nicoll Highway and at the 18k mark, was a turning point. I was hit by stitches. Every attempt to run, resulted in pain. I took deep breaths as I walk and the walk breaks was prolonged. I knew at that moment, my goal of 2hr 10mins was lost. I still have a secondary target of 2hr 14 min.

I run-walk towards the 19km mark. Support station is good. The folks there are cheering us on. Running into Republic Blvd, I knew the Finish Point is near. I held my pace, until the ‘first flyover’. Speeding up, but still not sprinting, till the Singapore Flyer,…. the run become a sprint. I can see the Finished banner. I made a sprint for it. A hunch tells me that the organisers might want us to finish at the platform; which means it is a fake Finished point.

My hunch was correct. We were forced to make 2-90 degrees turn to the platform for finishing. I still managed to summon enough energy to spring to the Finished Point. My unofficial timing says 2hr 14min.

A disappointing Finished Point, in my opinion. Have anyone see a Finished Point with 2-90 degrees turn in an Olympic event, or for that matter, a world class running event? Unlikely.

After some stretching and warm down, I headed over towards the Start Point to meet up with fellow SGRunners. Quick chat with Tiwazz, photo shoot and off I went, walking back home. With the various road blocks, it was just easier to walk. Along the way home, I met another runner. Raymond is his name. He shared with me his experience of his run at ChiangMai as we walk towards Nicoll Highway.

Many Thanks and Condolences

I would like to thank all the personnel who have helped make the run a success. The route is fantastic with no traffic stop. Road lanes were wide. Sufficient (or should I say, free flow ) water. Many thanks to the NSFs who have stayed up to help setup the various logistic from road blocks, to water points. Without you, we would not have done it.

Despite, the great success here. There was, unfortunately, cases of mishaps. Capt. Ho, a regular and officer with the SAF had passed away after his run. To his family, I extend my condolences.

To fellow runners, listen to our bodies. Live another day to tell your story.

By yeksoon | Posted in Running, marathon | Comments (4)

Sortable DataTable: Yahoo UI, Rico and SortTable

August 13, 2007 – 2:07 am

I was working on an enhancment on the UI for a web application.

Among the to-do that I have in mind is to make the data tables more useful.

Data tables are really one of the key views that a user will see. They search for something, and the results is returned in a table format with relevant items listed.

However, for web applications, if you do not resort to Javascript to manipulate the DOM, plugins, it is unlikely that you can manipulate your data table.

I decide to spend some time looking through what the current AJAX (Web 2.0) implementations offers.

My to-do is simple: Allow sorting and filtering of data table without making calls back to the server.

My candidates for evaluation includes:

  1. Yahoo UI
  2. Open Rico
  3. SortTable

Each attract different amount of community support, ease of use and dependencies.

For me, Yahoo UI offers the best documentation and community support. However, its ‘DataTable’ control is still in beta. This means that its API is still subjected to change and is not final.

Yahoo UI rely a lot on Javascript (naturally for AJAX stuffs). To implement a sortable table, my database results needs to be serialize for Javascript use; adding yet another layer to browser based developments.

OpenRico, gain my attention couple of years back, as its early released was backed by Sabre Airline Solutions. I am really using the ‘if Sabre uses it, do take a look’ mindset in approaching this.

OpenRico looks promising, but I feel that its documentation pales in comparison with what Yahoo offers. Though, its 2.0 release candidates looks pretty promising. OpenRico, also has an interesting planned feature in the latest release. The LiveGrid. Further digging throws out an article from Bill Scott, who was involved with both the OpenRico and Yahoo UI project.

In his article, Death to Paging - Rico LiveGrid released , Bill has challenged the need for ‘Paging’ for large datasets. Instead, he proposed that LiveGrid can easily allows you to scroll through large datasets instead of dividing it into pages. As you scroll, data can be updated into the table view. Definitely a pretty good suggestion… and if you can add Filter and Sorting in it, much better UI can definitely be achieved than Paging.

OpenRico LiveGrid

By now, having gone through 2 AJAX framework to do table sorting, I am feeling that this is too much work. I was hoping to look for something that requires 2 lines change at most. 1 to include the library and another line to include in the ‘table’.

That is when I come across ‘SortTable‘. SortTable is a clever Javascript implementation. It fulfills my requirements of 2 lines of change. And it does the sorting that I am looking for.

See screenshot below to see before and after sort of SortTable

Before SortTable

After SortTable

I ended up using SortTable for this little enhancement that I am working on. Not because Yahoo UI or OpenRico is not good. In fact, they are fantastic and gives development team a good entry point to standardize on some great UI framework. Rather, with Yahoo UI and OpenRico still in beta for some of my needs, I would rather stick to minimal change to attain this enhancement.

Add to that, Yahoo UI and OpenRico requires that I add another layer of code to convert database results set into Javascript arrays for manipulation. To me, going down this route requires significant changes. And in going towards Rich Internet Applications, I know that there are others like REBOL and not just AJAX.

By yeksoon | Posted in OpenRico, PHP, Programming, Yahoo+UI, javascript | Comments (0)

Mizuno Wave Run 2007 Post Mortem

July 23, 2007 – 12:10 pm

I decided to write the field report or a post mortem of the Mizuno Wave Run 2007 @ Bedok Reservoir only today; more than 24 hours after the run.

For once, I feel a need to ‘cool down’ from completing a 10k run.

Yesterday’s Mizuno Wave Run could be a very enjoying run for many. The temperature is right. It rained early at 4am and that helps keeps the morning cool.

However, such blessings do not last. The first sign of trouble appeared when the DJ announced that there will be baggage deposit for the runners. Ladies will use one truck while the gentlemen will put their belongings into another. All these were announced only less than half an hour to the start time.

As I start moving down to the track for warm up, I saw the second sign of trouble appeared. Running routes were pasted at the stadium with a new route and the finishing point at Bedok Reservoir, not Temasek Poly! This is the first time that I have ’seen’ organisers changing routes after promotional materials have been printed and especially the ‘Finishing Point’.

The third sign of trouble. VIPs for the flag-off were late! My apologies to the organisers and VIPs. But, comparing the time of runners (in the thousands) compared to the VIPs (at most a handful), more time has been wasted in this run even before it started. And more time is wasted after the run (to be covered further down). Runners joined a running event to run. To us, we want to start on time and take advantage of the wonderful weather. That is why most people do exercises early in the morning.

The fourth sign of trouble. Bottlenecks at start of the running route. Less than 300m into the run, the first bottleneck is the gate of out Temasek Poly. Second bottleneck is the narrow path from Temasek Poly gate to Bedok Reservoir. Easily around 3 minutes was wasted just moving from the start point to the reservoir with hardly any running.

The fifth sign of trouble. No markings. What distance are we at along the route? Sure, there are markings like S38 etc which means nothing to runners. Runners need to know the distance that we are at to pace ourselves well. It act as a reality check for us ; are we hitting the right pace?

The sixth sign of trouble. Finishing line! For a race, the finishing line is always the MOST important. Runners plot their finishing around the finishing point. Do we need to pick up pace…should we start sprinting and more? Without the end in mind, we are running a blind race. Many runners on that day do not know where is the Finishing line. Even as we ran through the ‘Mizuno Arch’, we heard people telling us that the Finishing line is further up….where? Many of us still do not know.

The seventh sign of trouble. Clash with people from ‘the other walk event’. Given that the path along the reservoir is narrow, add to that a walk event, it only spells troubles as runners try to avoid clashing onto the walkers (most of whom are senior citizens). And even running into the ‘Finished line’, I see some people leisurely strolling across the path. A sure way to get someone injured.

The eight sign of trouble. Huge queue for the goodies bag collection. My time for the run is less than my time in the queue.

The ninth sign of trouble. Those who have deposited their bags will find it on the grass patch. People cramped around the trucks, while the lack of manpower and organisation made it difficult to process all the bags in an efficient manner. I am sure there will be items missing (if not bags).

This run has definitely leave a very bad after taste of Mizuno runs on me. Mizuno Wave Run had never been a well organised run. But this year’s run definitely is the worst that one can expect. If there is a role model to learn from, Mizuno or VGO should learn from the Saucony-100 Plus Passion Run.

It’s an inaugural run for the Saucony-100 Plus Passion Run, but the planning involved and experience that runners gets from it is so much better than what we got from the Mizuno Wave Run. And the Mizuno Wave Run is easily into its 3 year or so.

I will be boycotting Mizuno Runs (and its product) for 1 year because of this bad experience. VGO has the duty to ensure better planning and management of events. For me, it’s a total disappointment that the Mizuno brand is associated with such quality runs. I have been using Mizuno since 1991. And it is sad, that I have to take a stand against bad management of a running event.

By yeksoon | Posted in Running, marathon | Comments (1)

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007

July 12, 2007 – 12:48 am

It seems that the registration for Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 (SCSM) is going to start July 23.

http://www.singaporemarathon.com/en/race/?sec=203&ssec=550

Early comments from regular runners and participants is that the registration fees is a bit HIGH. If I recall correctly, that seems like $20 more than last year.

In fact, this year most of the running events (or races) have raised the price. The only exception till now is the Saucony-100Plus Passion Run as this is their first year.

With increased prices, it is natural that runners / participants question about it. Do we get better service out of it? Is there a better goodie bag (though, I doubt that will entice more people to do a marathon)?

If we are not getting better service, what is the justification for the price increase?

And if we are getting better service, e.g. more medical staffs on standby, more PowerGels, more water points, more massages available at End Point, then perhaps that can be communicated through.

If there is anything that we learn about raising price and not getting a backlash….. it will be ‘Communications! Communications! Communications! and more Communications!’

Need a case study? Think of NETS and ask yourself, ‘Did they do a good job communicating the reason for raising price? Can it be improve?’

By yeksoon | Posted in Running, marathon | Comments (0)