Foolamak!
There's life in them old legs! The plan was to have an easy run around the park but after some egging from PM1, I decided, rather apprehensively, to tag along DK for his quest for a 1-lap PR. Going into yesterday's run, DK has already clocked an impressive 5:40 something (compared to my 5:51) last week, so for me to go below 5:30 is definitely tough. My stomach containing the lunch pasta, 2 cream puffs and some nuts did nothing to increase my confidence. I nevertheless was game enough to see how long I can last the pace.
After completing my warm up lap, I waited for the rest to finish theirs. The staggered start made sure the run would be interesting. DK and I would go first followed by Yong and Draco and finally PM1 and Aeow. The gap between each group was 20 seconds.
DK started off very fast, so fast that I immediately asked him if we were going too fast, to which he shrugged a reply "Are we? I don't know lah!". So I thought to myself to just keep up. Except for the bridge portion, I hung a step behind DK. Some parts I even drafted behind him. DK was running fast and looked good to maintain the pace for the lap. At the bridge, I clapped loudly to clear some holidaying crowd off our path and DK veered off pace slightly. He caught up and took back the small lead at the Convention Center stretch and held it going up the uphill hook. I thought I could pick it up at the top of the climb and hit the downhill fast but DK didn't drop pace at all. At that point I was contented just to hang on for a good finishing time behind him. The only sound that I hear was my heavy puffing and the wind noise and we cut through the air. I don't remember the crowd
Rather suprisingly, DK slowed down a tad towards the foot of the downhill and my momentum took me past him and I kept up the pace, increasing slightly. I've always finished strongly in races and time trials, so I kicked clear of him. I saw Rohaizad and Newton waiting at the finish line and thought I'd wrapped up the lap. Coasting towards the finish, the 2 shouted to pick up the pace and I heard someone coming from behind - could only meant either DK or PM1. As if jolted from my stupor, I kicked like mad and crossed the line in a photo finish with DK. A tenth of a second separated us - 5:11.83 and 5:11.84. What a rush! Though I don't consider the run as a race or a direct competition with DK, it reminds me of the epic battles of Gebreselassie-Tergat (photos below) and Tergat-Ramaala (see photo below). The rest too ran the lap of their lives. I'm looking forward to this Saturday!
After completing my warm up lap, I waited for the rest to finish theirs. The staggered start made sure the run would be interesting. DK and I would go first followed by Yong and Draco and finally PM1 and Aeow. The gap between each group was 20 seconds.
DK started off very fast, so fast that I immediately asked him if we were going too fast, to which he shrugged a reply "Are we? I don't know lah!". So I thought to myself to just keep up. Except for the bridge portion, I hung a step behind DK. Some parts I even drafted behind him. DK was running fast and looked good to maintain the pace for the lap. At the bridge, I clapped loudly to clear some holidaying crowd off our path and DK veered off pace slightly. He caught up and took back the small lead at the Convention Center stretch and held it going up the uphill hook. I thought I could pick it up at the top of the climb and hit the downhill fast but DK didn't drop pace at all. At that point I was contented just to hang on for a good finishing time behind him. The only sound that I hear was my heavy puffing and the wind noise and we cut through the air. I don't remember the crowd
Rather suprisingly, DK slowed down a tad towards the foot of the downhill and my momentum took me past him and I kept up the pace, increasing slightly. I've always finished strongly in races and time trials, so I kicked clear of him. I saw Rohaizad and Newton waiting at the finish line and thought I'd wrapped up the lap. Coasting towards the finish, the 2 shouted to pick up the pace and I heard someone coming from behind - could only meant either DK or PM1. As if jolted from my stupor, I kicked like mad and crossed the line in a photo finish with DK. A tenth of a second separated us - 5:11.83 and 5:11.84. What a rush! Though I don't consider the run as a race or a direct competition with DK, it reminds me of the epic battles of Gebreselassie-Tergat (photos below) and Tergat-Ramaala (see photo below). The rest too ran the lap of their lives. I'm looking forward to this Saturday!
posted by Jamie Pang at
1:10 PM
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