Race Review: Shape Run 2015 (26th July 2015) 15km

This is my third consecutive Shape Run done, and I must say the organisation of the whole event improved after a very bad experience last year. Route and run experience wise, I always enjoy Shape Run as I somehow perform well in Shape Run for the past two years as well as this year.

The race pack

The race pack collection was done 3 weeks prior to the race and the contents of the race pack was pretty good compared to the one from Pocari Sweat Run collected on the same day. I've got to say that I didnt like the colour of the race singlet initially but the material was good and the cutting turned out flattering.

Both Shape Run and Pocari Sweat Run started from Kallang Practice Track, I took a shuttle bus from Sembawang for Pocari Sweat Run two weeks ago, it only cost $6 to get a ticket but we spent 45min on the road. For Shape Run, there was shuttle bus provided but they do not pick up from Sembawang, so I decided to take a cab there. Eventually, I arrived quite early, I was surprised to be at the race site by 5.10am even though I only got on a cab at 4.50am. The cab ride cost me $25, so its $$ vs time.

The water station with nice volunteers who were so polite

When I reached the race site, the whole Kallang Practice Track was dotted by the race tentages and there were some runners milling around. It was really early so I was not rushing to get to anywhere and I even had time to take some pictures. The lighting was not too good so I decided to get some water from the water station to take my gel, deposit my bag and head to the portable toilets.

Runners sitting around waiting to move to Start Point

At least we know which direction to head to

5.30am but the gate still didnt open

Baggage deposit was fast and there was no queue, the usage of toilet was also smooth as there were more toilets than people waiting to use, I counted that there 25 toilets and I'm really glad where there's races like this when there no long queues in front of the toilets.

Ample toilets, good good thing

After I'm done, I just stood at the area where many runners were gathering to walk to the Start Line, actually it was stated that it will open at 5.30am but we eventually only moved at 5.35am-5.40am. It was still very early though, and I managed to get right to the front of the Start Line (somehow, I always managed to get right to the front for ladies' runs only). I was snapping a picture of the Start Line and this leading cyclist saw me and offered to take a picture for me. I was surprised as I always go for races alone and I dont usually take pictures of myself, the lady standing next to me was nice enough to pose with me, I took a good look at her but I didnt recognise her. Eventually, I realised that she must be a well known runner here as Neo Jieshi (one of the top female local runners) was talking to her and they stood together to wait for the run to start. I supposed I was standing among potential podium finishers, they really zoomed off at top speed when it started and I could only eat their dust while moving to the left. I only spotted them again on the opposite lane after they became the first few to do a U-turn at 1km+, the nice lady in white eventually came in 4th and Neo was 1st.

First few at the Start Line

Took a pic with one of the podium finisher (later found out that she's Ezann Eng)

The stage just next to us

Prior to the race, my plan was to follow Ting as she was one of the pacers for the event, and her group was doing a 7.30min pace. A good thing about the pacers for this race was that they started among the runners instead of starting right from the Start Line all at once. I decided to start off first as I always get left behind by pacers when I tried to follow them during my previous races. Eventually, the group of pacers before them caught up with me and they were running at 6+min pace. I was telling myself not to push too hard at the beginning of the race but I decided to try my best to follow them, I only managed to do so for about 3km before it got too tiring to keep up with the 6.30min pacing.

If there's a wall for every race, mine came right after that as I felt kind of demoralised when I couldnt catch up with the group, I started my first walk break (other than the water breaks) at about 8km and it was only halfway through the race. The end point seemed so far for me then and I felt like it was going to be another race with bad timing. Suddenly, I remember the walk run strategy I had adopted for Sundown and decided to give myself short walking breaks of 100m for every 400m of run. It helped a lot as it keep me going when I knew I can take a break after a shorter stretch, with that target in mind I could even go faster when its time to run.

Running up a slope at the last km

With the End Point in sight, shades on for the photo moment ;)

Flashing a smile at the final 10m, this is my favourite pic for the race

Weather remained good this morning as I conquered the remaining distance, the sun did not appear at all. Soon from 5km left to go, it became 4...3...2..and I found myself heading to the End Point. I was really satisfied as I did not get that far from the pacers that left me behind, and the second group (which was my intended pace) did not catch up with me as well. A look at my Garmin told me that my pace was quite good for a run of that distance, and a pb for HM seems possible if I can adopt this strategy for the 2XU run next week.

Still early when I was back, not many runners yet

Efficient baggage deposit

Quite satisfied that I'm achieved the 25th percentile

Unlike last year, medal collection and finisher tee collection was smooth this year, no queue at all. They only gave out a cup of isotonic drink with a energy bar at the end, so I went to the water station to get a bottle of water. The 15km runners were the earliest to be back at the race site so the queues at the various sponsored tent was short. Ironically, I chose to join the longest queue at Orbis as I thought the freebies must be the best there. There were less than 10 people in line and I remember the Orbis tent was the only one I went to last year, and I liked the products. With good fortune, I did a lucky spin and got $80+ worth of freebies from Orbis. Yeah! I went to the Brands tent next but only got myself a small tube of collagen. I was not too keen to join the other queues so I found a small shady area to sit down and wait for W and XT who took part in other categories.

Very good freebies from collagen 

Another Shape Run done :D

Race Review: Sundown Marathon (Half Marathon 4th July 2015)

This is my fifth half marathon attempt and my second Sundown half marathon experience. The first time I took part in a half marathon and Sundown was years ago (cant remember the exact year was 2008 or 2009), I wasnt really into running then and I remember walking most of the distance with San just to check off the achievement from my bucket list.

Sundown is a major event here in SG and I had signed up several times but missed all my past attempts to do the Sundown FM after signing up due to school trips (and laziness to start training). I'm glad this year it was postponed to July instead of having it the last weekend of May when we tend to have school TIE trips. I had the intention of training and signing up for this event but somehow I got lazy with running from March onwards (especially after postponement of 2XU and missing NE Compressport run) and I even missed the registration date. I went into Carousell to look for a bib end of May and found several people selling off their slots, I quickly secure one for $60 and it was cheaper than the amount I would have paid just before registration closed.

However, I was slacking and away for holidays most of June and by the end of the month I was doubtful I can complete a full marathon with totally no training. Actually, I know I can grit my teeth and force my way to the finishing line, but that will be a total torture. When I saw a friend posted in a forum trading a half marathon bib for a full marathon bib, I quickly contacted him.

I went to the race expo at Suntec to collect my bib from the seller, I'm glad the REPC is held at Suntec instead of Expo like previous years, the whole layout is very similar to SCMS and there was no queue when I went. In fact, it was real splurging as I bought many things I didnt plan to buy. The real steal was Injinji socks (3 for $30), a packet of Tackonz after the bad experience with Bibfix, I also bought a new XL spi belt that can hold my iPhone 6, some GU gels and some GU energy chews. I also wanted to get a hydration belt to try out trail running, but decide against it as it will be a costly buy since I dont utilise it much.

The reporting time for this year's Sundown HM was at midnight, unlike many years ago when we started at 9pm. I went out to collect racepack for two other races, came back and managed to nap for 5 hours. As the race is starting so late, I had

the feeling that there's lots of time to prepare. But I really regretted it as I woke up at 8+, have dinner with P at 9+, and was rushing to pack after that. I did not even have time to put the Tackonz on my bib as it was taking up too much time. I had to really rush out of the house, I intended to leave my place by 10.30pm but ended up I was only at the MRT station at 11pm.

Finally at the start line

I felt weird taking the crowded MRT in my running gear, there were several other people in the Sundown vest as well as I kept looking around to see if any of them were going for HM like me, as I was quite sure I was going to be late. The start point is at the F1 pit for Sundown, and I usually take a cab or shuttle bus to the start point for morning races, so it did not occur to me that I should plan my route before I started on my journey. This was the second mistake I made pre-race as I got so lost that I almost DNS for the race. At the back of my mind, I was thinking I could just follow those people on the train, and I roughly know that I usually alight at City Hall and walk to Esplanade if I want to get to the F1 pit. One female runner on the train alighted at Bishan (guess she was transferring to Circle Line), I felt confused for a moment as the guy sitting opposite me remained on the train. I thought he was going to alight at City Hall but he didnt, I forgot that he probably going to Marina Bay to transfer to Bayfront and I actually panicked and alighted at the next stop which was Raffles Place. Raffles Place was the worst place to alight from the train as I could not transfer to any other trains or walk to the race site, so I boarded the next train and made my way to Marina Bay again. I seriously do not know why I made such a big boo boo and got myself lost on such familiar grounds, anyone observing me would be wondering what I was doing. I was glad to see a few other runners at Bayfront MRT and I made the same mistake of just following two girls who were walking to the F1 pit from MBS. I followed them for awhile and there were others following us too, and I looked at Google map on my phone and realised we were walking further away. I turned back and walked into MBS to look for the bridge we always cross to get to MBS and I finally found it, I was the only one in my running gear at MBS and I felt so awkward. It was almost midnight by then and I reckoned the race must be starting at that moment, I finally saw other runners on the bridge leading to the pit but most of them were FM runners. I walked across the bridge and actually saw crowds of runners coming down from the bridge so I followed them for awhile, but I soon realised most of them were without their bags and they looked quite tired, I was actually in the running path of the 10km runners heading to the finishing line! At least I was finally getting near to the race site!

I was shocked with the human jam at the race site. The 10km just finished the run and the FM runners were already at the race site, it was not easy to navigate around even with sufficient lighting around the place. I quickly deposited my bag at the shortest queue and squeezed through the crowd, it was really crowded at the entrance to the race pen as all the FM congested up the whole place even though the HM were still flagging off. Some FM runners even sneaked into the race pen and were escorted out by the organisers.

I was glad that I managed to get into the last wave, we waited quite long for flag off and only took off at 12.40am. By that time, the previous waves of runners were nowhere in sight. I kept reminding myself not to go too first at the start, so I kept my pace really slow during the race. We encountered the very steep slope up Sheares bridge right after the first km and I started walking with many of the other runners to keep my legs fresh.

Finally flagging off

According to feedback from other runners, the previous few Sundown races were very humid, but the weather that night was good and quite cooling. I keep the momentum going until we reached ECP. After we came to the first public toilet, I felt like making a stop there since I didnt have a chance to go to the washroom amidst all the rush before the race. It took me quite a while as the queue was long, I heard whistles blowing while queueing and guessed that the faster FM runners had caught up with us. I picked up momentum again after the toilet break, all was good till we made a U-turn and head back towards fort road.

I remembered the part after ECP was always my worst nightmare during the SCMS FM the past two years. However, it felt very different running that stretch at night. I stopped and walk quite a few times after that and was walking for longer and longer stretches. Fortunately, there were still bananas for us before we reached Tanjong Rhu already, there were no gels in sight even though I spotted the box on the table. It was not an issue as I had my own gels and energy chews from the race expo.

Since I was just walking, just stopped to snap this

After walking for quite awhile, I decided to motivate myself to run, and I started running for 100m after every 100m of walking. I realised that I could still run even right till the end but I was just not motivated to move my legs without using this strategy. I kept going on and on until I reached the finishing point.

As I approached the finishing line, the emcee was calling out for us to keep to one side as the first FM runner was arriving. He came in within 10 seconds after me and I was lucky to get a good look and good shot of him since I was just standing a short distance away.

First FM finisher right behind me

Finally, my first HM of the year done! I took 3 hours to complete the race, its not my best timing but I take it as a good warm up run to start off a series of other races later this month and the next few months. I was glad that I did not book the 3am shuttle bus as it was already 4am after I picked up my stuff and changed into my slippers to leave the place. There were many other runners just lying down and resting around, maybe waiting for the next shuttle bus or the first public transport in the morning. There were many cabs waiting outside, but they were all booked by others so I also booked a cab to get home in the end.

Not my best results but I was real glad I completed the race

On overall, I felt that the race was well organised, and I'm motivated to make it for the FM next year. 

It's more fun in the Philippines Part 5 (Palawan Trip Day 4)

Swiftlets Breakfast

We woke up from our deep slumber and jumped out of bed immediately, it was already 9am when we woke and it is also time for us to get picked up for our second day of island hopping tour. I guess we were quite tired from the previous day's activities so we did not get up with the alarm went off. The Swiftlets breakfast looked quite good and it was already on the breakfast table just outside our room. However, the same guy from Faith Agape was already there to pick us up in the tricycle, so we put the bread, egg and ham together into sandwiches and placed them into some plastic bags to takeaway.

Tall limestone rocks

At the Big Lagoon

Things went pretty much the same, except that we were doing Tour A on the second day, we were happy that the same guides and boatmen from the previous day were there. The boat was more crowded on the second day with 14 guest, and the rest were all filipinos except for me. Honestly, I enjoyed our company on the first day more, as the other 12 guys with us on the second day were all from the same group, they seemed more interested in taking pictures than enjoying the scenery around us. The guides were also exceptionally kind to us as they already knew us, felt like VIP! :)

The guide offered to take pic for us at Big Lagoon

Big Lagoon reminded me of Halong Bay with the many towering limestones. The boat stopped just outside the entrance and we jumped into the sea to snorkel around. As this is the second day of our island hopping tour, we already know the drills quite well and felt comfortable exploring the sea. 

Another bungka nearby waiting to get into Secret Lagoon

The second stop, the Secret Lagoon, is somewhat like the Secret Beach on the previous day. As we had to wade through shallow corals again, the guide put our phone into his dry bag and brought it into the lagoon so that we can take some pictures. It was still a pity as the view at the Secret Beach was nicer compared to the lagoon. 

The secret pathway to the lagoon

Just like the Secret Beach, there was a small cave that we could get through to gain access into the lagoon. Unlike the previous day when the depth of water was really deep, there were shelves of stone right at the entrance of the cave so we had to sit on it and get ourselves across. 

Selfie we took in the lagoon

Might as well take more since we brought the selfie stick

The very nice guide climbed up some rocks to help us take this 

After the very good lunch the previous day, I'm really looking forward to the fresh seafood again. This time, the spread was even bigger and better as there were more people on board. Just like the first day, we stopped at a really cool snorkeling area so that we can do more snorkeling while the guys get the lunch ready. It was nice looking out at sea while we enjoy such a good meal, I was savouring every minute of it as I reminded myself this is the final day of island hopping tour on El Nido for us, till we are back the next time, if ever.

Big spread of fruits and seafood

Very clear water at the lunch area

Weather had been really good today, as the sky was threatening to rain but it did not happen and the hot sun was hiding behind the dark clouds. When we left the lunch area to proceed to the next destination, we could see that it was pouring in the distance but the bad weather did not get to our area and we only had some light drizzle. The next area is Small Lagoon and it is the highlight of the day for us. 

Boats taking turns to rent the kayak

Dark clouds at the small lagoon but it did not really rain

Even though it is named Small Lagoon, the area we could explore was the biggest and I could see many people kayaking  or swimming around the area. When our guide gave us a choice between kayaking and snorkeling, we chose kayaking immediately as we had quite enough of snorkeling over the two days.

People swimming around the Small Lagoon

Selfie while kayaking

I was quite happy and excited for the change of activity after we embark on the kayaking exploration. It cost us 300php to rent the kayak but its quite worthwhile. After some calculation, we reckoned the kayak rental guy here must be earning big bucks from the tours as many people chose to do the kayak rental here and it is a trade monopoly.

Happy feet 

The area around the Small Lagoon reminded me of Kampong Mamam in P.Ubin as it had some meandering parts which led us into some exploration. I was glad we were on kayak as it will be tiring if we want to swim and explore the whole area.

We had enough of kayaking, went to the beach at the side and took a bit of rest and selfies (again). But we quickly left as we realised there were mozzies around the area.

Selfie time again

I was surprised to see a ice cream vendor on his boat (look at the clear water)

Went back paddling and the really nice guide helped us took some pictures

Bravo! Clear blue/green water underneath us!

We enjoyed ourselves at the Small Lagoon

After we had enough fun at the place, we ditched our kayak and went swimming around the bungka for awhile. But we got tired of that soon enough and just went up the boat to wait for the rest to come back. We also bought several ice cream from the floating vendor. It is more expensive than the ice-cream sold on mainland but he has the monopoly here so there were lots of tourists buying from him too.

The ice cream vendor stopped at our bungka to sell his stuff

The last stop for our island hopping tour A was the 7 commandos beach, but I have no idea why it was named that way. It was one of my least favourite destination during the two day tour, simply because it felt like a normal beach at Sentosa lagoon to me. It was commercialised as all the tourists stopped there to get their dessert fix, I was keen to get back to land soon but we spent over an hour just lazing on the beach. Perhaps other tourists enjoy taking a break there but it did not appeal to me.

It's more fun in the Philippines Part 5 (Palawan Trip Day 3)

We woke up for Day 3 with the air reeked of fresh rain and we realised there was some rain in the night. It had stopped so we can still go for the island hopping tour. We were still glad to get a good night's rest at Bill's, decided to get breakfast there before going back to Swiftlets to get changed for the tour. The breakfast was buffet style but food didn't look appetizing, there was corned beef and rice so P was mainly having that. I remember the reviews mentioned that we can get the staff to cook eggs for us, so P ordered two sunny-side-ups.

The tricycle that came to pick us up, this belong to the vendor Faith Agape

After breakfast, we were told that we will still stay another night at Bill's, so we left our overnight stuff with them and walked back to Swiftlets. The guy who was supposed to pick us up for the tour arrived promptly in his trike at 9am. He sent us to Marina Garden Resort where groups of people were gathering to set off for the tours. It is the shoulder season so only some of the bunkas were getting ready to leave and the beach was not too crowded. 

Many many bunkas at the seafront

We boarded the boat and realised that we were actually at the seafront just in front of Seaslugs. Now in the daylight, we could see the restaurant and its surroundings much more clearly. Unlike the previous night, not many tourists were up and having breakfast at the restaurants. 

View of Seaslugs and beachfront in the daylight

There were 9 people in total in our boat, all Filipinos except for another lady and me. The boat sped out towards the nearby island and we stopped at helicopter island first, it got its name as the whole island is shaped like a helicopter. We went up to the beach and were given 45min to snorkel around the area. We took some pictures and wade out to try our snorkels. The guides pretty much left us on our own but they took good care of two ladies in our group who were non swimmers. I reckon it's not easy to do island hopping when you don't have the water confidence, there is so much swimming to do. 

Boatmates took this for us

We took many selfies too

More selfies on Helicopter Island (before we went snorkeling)

The second place we stopped at was quite interesting. It was surrounded by tall limestone mountains and the part we disembarked was shallow with coral reefs so we were told to wear our slippers. After we went into the water, we put on our snorkels and swam along the rocks to this beach hidden among the tall mountains. I believe El Nido used to be even more amazing years back when the view under water and above water were both awesome. Now it's mostly left the top part as too many tourists step on these shallow corals daily to get to this Hidden Beach. Other than the first Helicopter Island, I counted no less than 20 boats docked at the remaining sites even at shoulder season. El Nido is still being discovered and developed into a tourist spot, I believe years later things will get worse if nothing is done to protect the environment.

Entrance to the Hidden Beach

BBQ pit set up by the guys on board

I was starting to get hungry and looking forward to lunch. Once we boarded the boat earlier, the boatmen had set up a bbq pit on one end of the boat and they put a big fish and other seafood onto the grille. As they were getting lunch ready, we stopped at this snorkeling area to do more swimming and snorkeling. When lunch was ready, I was amazed to see the spread prepared by the guys on board. The fish and prawns were really fresh and succulent, it was the best seafood we had tasted in Palawan. The fruits like mango and pineapple were sweet and tasty too. Kudos to the guys for the good seafood lunch!

Very clear water at the lunch area

Very unforgettable seafood lunch

The third destination was also interesting, we stopped at shallow corals once again, but this time we can snorkel and swim through this small hole among the rocks. With our snorkels on, we could see that it was actually hundred feet deep beneath the rocks so it was quite awesome. Beyond the rocks, it was the Secret Beach, I must say this is the most beautiful part of our two days island hopping tours. There were shallow corals all around and also a small beach area surrounded by very tall limestone cliff. Sitting on the beach, the view was magnificent. Unfortunately, we did not have a waterproof camera and did not get to take any photos at all. Nevertheless, we promised ourselves to keep this beautiful view in our memories. 

Boats in front of Matinloc Island

The smaller statue near the beach

Bigger shrine area with seats (some broken)

We had already done a lot of swimming and snorkeling for the day, so I was glad that the final destination was an island we can do some sightseeing. There were two Mother Mary statues on the island and they call this place the Matinloc Shrine. After the previous experience, we made sure we brought our selfie stick and iPhone with us to capture the view. It was not easy as we had to tread on shallow rocks and corals before getting on shore (I was holding my breath and praying hard that P will not lose his balance and drop the iPhone) but it proved to be the best thing to do as there was a spectacular view on Matinloc. Among some huge and steep rocks, some people put in some cemented steps so that we can get on top to a small viewing point. We could see the very clear blue waters surrounding the place from the height, so we took our time to get the selfies done. 

Fabulous view from the top, glad we had our selfie stick!

The shallow corals showing up under clear blue sea

After this island was done, it was time to make our way back home. The boat sped on the sea for quite some time to get us back to where we started as Tour C route went quite far. All of us were quiet, mostly enjoying the moment and a little exhausted from the day's activities. 

Left our footprints here

P reliving his childhood days

We spotted the iconic El Nido words on the beachfront and took some pics there. When we were walking to Swiftlets, we saw children running out of the village school after lessons. We stopped to get ice cream as there were several ice cream and titbits vendors waiting outside the school. We bought some freshly fried turons along the way and it was really delicious too.

Ice cream vendor on the street

Swiftlets in the day

We took our shower in Swiftlets (hot shower run on solar energy thankfully) and packed our things to go over to Bill's. P needed to catch up with his NBA series finals so I took a nap after eating some turons and surfing the Internet. I woke up again to the ringing of the phone and the staff informed me that the electricity supply has resumed at Swiftlets and we can move back if we wish too. After some discussion, we decided to move back for the night even though there was a risk of electric outage again. I felt more comfortable at Swiftlets even though the room was smaller. 

Art cafe spotted but it failed us :(

Looked nice but service was lacking

We walked back to put our stuff at Swiftlets, we were glad to see it in lights again, although we seemed to be the only ones back at the inn. It was almost 9pm, so we walked to the beachfront to look for dinner. P still preferred to have seafood for dinner, so I had been researching hard online. We passed Artcafe and Boutique on our first night and it really have good reviews in Tripadvisor (ranked 9) so we decided to give it a try. Unfortunately, things didn't go well there. There wasn't a dinner crowd by that time but the server seemed a bit nonchalant when we wanted to order. We saw that angus beef steak was the specialty on the menu, P wanted to try it although it was really pricey (900php). He's very particular about steak gravy, so he requested to try the steak gravy before ordering, but we were told there will be a charge. Next, we ordered buko shake and avocado shake and both were not available. P was fuming and looking so angry with the restaurant although we already placed a pizza order with them, I suggested canceling the order and leaving to look for another dinner place. The servers started looking anxious and convinced us to wait for the pizza, we decided to takeout and eat in our hotel room.

Back to Seaslugs again

As the shakes from Seaslugs were pretty good, we decided to get our shakes there again. Fantastic beach time in the summer goes really well with shakes! I lost count of the number of avocado shakes I had during the trip. We also nbought some balots along the way back. The nice thing about our inn was that we could use the microwave and borrow some plates from the 'kitchen area' to have our dinner. We also moved the breakfast table into the room so that we can eat and watch videos on our laptop.

The pizza from Artcafe turned out bad although some reviewers left good comments about its pizzas. The hawaiian pizza had big pieces of tomatoes? and pineapples on it and I could not even taste the ham, luckily we left the place or P would have thrown the pizza on their faces.