Monday, July 30, 2012

Paula Radcliffe - Finally drops out but as a winner

Note:

If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)

By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)

Paula Radcliffe – The world is compassionate with you Paula


A degenerative foot joint problem had Paula to withdraw from the Olympics after a fitness test was conducted and it was realized that it is not a good thing to compete eventually.  For this action of hers, some critics, especially the press, may be condemning her that she has not won any Olympic medal in the end. However, if you ask me, I feel that running a marathon is not predictable. In 2008, I won the men local Standard Chartered Marathon Race 2008. In 2009, after doing a 15km run in 52min 30sec, I got myself injured. I was in top form at that time. 

I saw Dr Benedict Tan about this. He did his level best to see me immediately to do something. However, it was found to be too late. I found out that I had a degenerative knee problem which is common to anyone reaching between the age of 40 and 45. That told me that it was lucky of me to sacrifice my time, money and effort in marathons when I was young and get the 2hr 24min 22sec in SEA Games, while Yvonne Danson got her Singapore record at the same time in Thailand. I somehow knew that the best time to improve my time was when I was young and not when I am old. When injury comes, it is not easy to cure it when the injury is going to take months.

As a fresh undergraduate of the Loughborough University of Technology of the past, I remember Paula as a focused person in athletics. I saw her in the Loughborough Athletics Clubroom, once in a while. She usually follows her coach’s programme. Some of my friend like Tim Dickenson, a 2hr 23min marathon runner, who did this credible time over a period of time, used to eulogise about Paula’s mental strength and speed, when he did a hill repeats with her on Saturdays. 

During my Tuesday and Thursday night training with Loughborough Athletics Club members, while running a hard tempo run, I had once seen Paula Radcliffe running with phenomenal speed doing her own tempo runs, but of course, it was not with us but a solo run on the opposite direction on the road. I was very impressed with her physical prowess then.

As a runner, I have seen even Ashley Liew reading her book several times on our journey to Gold Coast marathons and he did draw some inspiration from this avid long-distance runner from England. For me, it is sad that she is injured and not able to run. I hope that people are compassionate of this unpredictable thing called injury in runner’s journey of running and be cautious not to rub salt on her wounds, and make things worse and cause more depression to her mood. 

There is one thing that cannot be taken from her in life is that she is one of the great Britons and her marathon world record of 2hr 15min 25sec is up there for England’s athletic achievement, for now.

In 2004 Radcliffe was injured and over time, four years later, for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, she had fractured her femur. Instead of not running the marathon then she ran in Beijing, and went through great pain, and not give up the run for fear of what Britain and the unforgivable press would say.

We all should have the knowledge that Paula qualified for London Olympics nearly four minutes faster than anyone else in Britain. If the Olympics was 6 to 8 weeks back it was by guessed by experts that she could have competed in this year's Olympics. This reminds me of my 2009 Singapore Standard Chartered Marathon race that if the race was a month before the race itself, I would have done a sub-2hr 49min for sure, as at I can remember that I was getting much faster over time until the injury came.

Hence, coming back to the story on Paula, I feel that true courage was shown by her when she told reporters, “ I would rather someone else, who can do that, is able to be there“. I think that this is important. When a person finds himself or herself not ready to run an International Game, he or she should first, own up and give up the position to the next person behind rather than blocking and spoiling their chance as well. One must be selfless to do this. To block and run with injury and cite later that the cause for failure is an injury just shows that one is selfish rather than showing selflessness. It is not a good thing to spoil other athlete's chance of their running an International competition, as at least the second-best or third-best could run to represent the country, as they have sacrificed their time, money and effort as well. That is the Olympics spirit and sportsmanship spirit that Paula has shown. 

As for me, my compassion is always with her, as I feel that she is still the heroine of world women’s marathon race, as she is still the prevailing world record holder.  
 
www.runningcoachsg.com


Note:

By Narayanan
Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’  by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).

He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Olympics Middle and Long Distance Running Events

Note:

If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)

By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)

On 3rd August - Start of Long Distance Events

3rd August
1. 3000m Men Steeplechase (Heats)
2 1500m Men Heats
3 10000m  Women Finals.

4th  Aug
3000m Steeplechase (Heats)
Men's 10km Finals

5th Aug
Women's Marathon
Men's 1500m (Semi-finals)
Men's 3000m Finals

6th Aug
Men's 800m Heats
Women's 1500m Heats
Women's 3000m Steeplechase Finals

7th Aug
Women's 5000m Heats
Men's 800m Semi-Finals
Mens 1500m Finals

8th Aug
Mens' 5000m Heats
Women's 800m Heats
Women's 1500m Semi-finals

9th Aug
Women's 800m Semi-Finals
Men's 800m Finals

10th Aug
Women's 5000m Finals
Women's 1500m Finals

11th August
Men's 5000m Finals
Women's 800m Finals

12 August
Men's Marathon




Note:

By Narayanan

Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’  by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).

He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.

Friday, July 27, 2012

Beijing 2008 Medal Count

Note:

If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)

By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)

Most Gold Medal Haul - Interesting to find out who will be getting the most.

In the year 2008, China got the most gold medal haul, second position and third position went to USA and Russia, respectively. Great Britain was third with Germany and Australia coming in fourth and fifth respectively. It will definitely be very interesting to see who is going to get the most medal haul in the year 2012. If China wins again, it shows that she can go beyond home ground advantage.


Beijing 2008 medal count

Country GoldSilverBronze Total
People's Republic of China (CHN) 512128100
United States of America (USA) 363836110
Russian Federation (RUS) 23212973
Great Britain (GBR) 19131547
Germany (GER) 16101541
Australia (AUS) 14151746
Republic of Korea (KOR) 1310831
Japan (JPN) 961025
Italy (ITA) 891027
France (FRA) 7161841
Ukraine (UKR) 751527
Netherlands (NED) 75416
Kenya (KEN) 64414
Jamaica (JAM) 63211
Spain (ESP) 510318
Belarus (BLR) 451019
Romania (ROU) 4138
Ethiopia (ETH) 4127
Canada (CAN) 39618
Poland (POL) 361
10




Note:

By Narayanan

Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’  by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).

He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Running Quotes From Olympics Great

Note:

If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)

By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)

Running Quotes from Olympic Runners

Get Inspired With These Quotes

I find this meaningful and it was collated by . It will good for everyone, sportsman and sportswomen alike, to read this and be inspired as Olympics is just about to start on 27th July 2012. 

1. "Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best."
-Michael Johnson


2. "We all have dreams. But in order to make dreams come into reality, it takes an awful lot of determination, dedication, self-discipline, and effort."
-Jesse Owens


3. "Racing teaches us to challenge ourselves. It teaches us to push beyond where we thought we could go. It helps us to find out what we are made of. This is what we do. This is what it's all about."
-PattiSue Plumer


4. "Spend at least some of your training time and other parts of your day, concentrating on what you are doing in training and visualizing your success."
-Grete Waitz


5. "I don't rate myself as a fantastic, talented athlete. I just have perseverance. I'm a cart-horse. I work hard."
-Colleen DeReuck


6. "Running gives me confidence."
-Steve Prefontaine


7. "My thoughts before a big race are usually pretty simple. I tell myself: 'Get out of the blocks, run your race, stay relaxed. If you run your race, you'll win... channel your energy. Focus.'"
-Carl Lewis


8. "When anyone tells me I can't do anything, I'm just not listening any more."
-Florence Griffith Joyner


9. "The medals don't mean anything and the glory doesn't last. It's all about your happiness. The rewards are going to come, but my happiness is just loving the sport and having fun performing."
-Jackie Joyner-Kersee


10. "Every time I fail, I assume I will be a stronger person for it. I keep on running figuratively and literally, despite a limp that gets more noticeable with each passing season, because for me there has always been a place to go and a terrible urgency to get there."
- Joan Benoit Samuelson


11. "As badly as I want a medal, I know there is a lot of luck involved in that. I want to put myself in position to be in the top three, give it my all and hope luck comes my way."
-Kara Goucher


12. "The last mile was a cross between savouring the moment and just being really grateful that I was almost done."
-Shalane Flanagan, after winning the 2012 Olympic Women's Marathon Trials 


www.runningcoachsg.com


Note:

By Narayanan
Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’  by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).

He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Cancer Run 2012 - The Flexifitness Athletes Who Ran

Note:

If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)

By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)
Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)

Cancer Run 2012 - The Team Members

Picture 1 - Ashley Liew (2nd position) - Captain of the team, he doesn't like letting the team down.


Ashley Liew had a very successful season this year, after his depressing 7th position for the Standard Chartered Marathon race 2011. He knew that he did 2hr 45 in Hong Kong Marathon in Feb 2011 and 2hr 41min in Gold Coast Marathon July 2011. However, he knew that from the year 2008 to 2009, he ever stagnated in performance. Later on, he started improving in 10km races to the point that he was ranked 1st in 10km track race by the SAA for the year 2011. You ask me, 2011 year was a very successful year except for the SCSM 2011, where he did 3hr 06min. We sat down and chatted over what had happened. Ashley told me that he followed word for word to whatever I had given. After reading his reflection, I found out that the hydration part of our strategy needed some fine-tuning and that led him to become more successful to the point that he did 2hr 35min 40sec in Gold Coast Marathon 2012. We wanted the timing to be even faster but our plan changed when we realised that the weather could become warmer instead of the usual cold. If not for the warm condition, Ashley could have done between 2hr 30min to 2hr 34min. All top runners were off in their timing by 2 to 4min. Top runners from Australia were off by at least 5min plus. 

As the captain of Flexifitness, he has been a very good role model for our youngsters. Ashley needed a two weeks break after the Gold Coast Marathon race 2012. He had only one week to train for this cancer run. Earlier on, it was not in his plan to run this race. However, we had some avid runners like Shui Kun and Darren Toh who represented us as a team of runners from Flexifitness. We asked Ashley to just help sacrifice and run as a team runner. Fortunately, we were given a nod, even though we told him that he may be disadvantaged by his going to Vietnam for a long holiday after Gold Coast Marathon 2012. It was an honour for us to see him finish the race during cancer run.

Picture 2- Oon Shui Kun (7th Position)



2nd in National School 5km track race. He has done a sub - 35min before in a 10km time trial and the cancer race was a start for him to come back to form before attempting to run in the Singapore Bay Run 2012. 

Picture 3 - Kashken Ray Hodge, and avid athlete who has a lot of potential

Kashken has done an 8min 35sec for 2.4km after improving his time from 8min 45sec. Kashken did not experience running a 9min plus in the past for a 2.4km run. After a brief training, he did very well for the distance 2.4km. Kashken did 5km in 20min and 10km in 43min plus, setting a new Personal Best time for the race. He expects more to come soon.

Picture 4 Tarandeep Kaur, who is aiming to do a sub - 1hr 50min for half-marathon soon. 
Tarandeep Kaur is training for the Bay Run and she would like to do sub - 3hr 30- to 40min in the near future. She has roped in her sister by the name of Tripta to run in Cancer run. Tripta did a 1hr 03min, improving her time of 1hr 20min in the past. Both sisters like running as a hobby. They also loved supporting charitable runs like Cancer Run 2012. She is always full of smiles when it comes to running. She has a PB of 1hr 51min recently for the half-marathon race. She did 50min 27sec approximately in the Cancer Run















www.runningcoachsg.com


Note:

By Narayanan

Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’  by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).

He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Flexifitness Supports Cancer Run 2012 (22/07/2012)

Note:

If you are keen and have queries, please contact Coach Rameshon at 9100 4369 or you can email him at m.rameshon@gmail.com or swift.rameshon@gmail.com. Please refer to website http://flexifitness.com.sg (for more information on him and his programmes)

By Rameshon
Bsc (Hons) Degree in Physical Education, Loughborough University (1992-1994)

Masters in Education (University of Western Australia, 2005-2008)

Cancer Run 2012 (Part 1)- 3 Flexifitness Athletes, top 7th in Cancer Run


Picture 1 - Many came in the morning to support the 2012 Race Against Cancer Run.



I was driving to car park E2 to meet our Flexifitness athletes by the name of Ashley Liew, Galen Ruben, Oon Shui Kun, Kashken, Tripta and Tarandeep. As soon as I met them, photos were taken by me. In our group, Darren Toh was recently injured when he knocked on to something. Hence, we decided to let him rest and leave him out  and so we were one down. We had to rely on Tarandeep who was on the team of 6. However, we knew that it was important for 5 to count for team event team award.

Early in the morning, I saw the start which was carried on by other different starts. At 7 15am, after a brief warm-up, the Flexifitness runners went along with the runners to the start to run the race. At 7 30am, the race started. I saw a runner who was leading Ashley Liew at the start of the race. Earlier on, before the race, a month back, as we did not have enough runners, Ashley was asked to run for us as we told him to just give his best although the Gold Coast Marathon recovery will take the toll on him. Without any form of hesitation, he decided to run for the sake of the team. 

At the start of the race, we saw a runner running in front. At the finish, another runner was leading towards the last 100 metres. Later Ashley told me that it was Leo Jianyong. The latter was running strongly at the last portion of the race as Ashley looked a little tired towards the end. I found out from Ashley that earlier on Ashley was having a big lead and with Jianyung catching up. I felt that the timing was important and the timing showed 35min 55sec for Ashley's run. This could have improved if there was no crowd, towards the last few kilometres,  who keep blocking the front runners. Hence, Jianyong was first in men open while Ashley was second. I was very glad about Ashley's performance because I felt that he still needs more time to recover from the Gold Coast Marathon. I was also more concerned with the timing rather than the position. 

Later, observing that the slower runners were blocking, the time element had to be eliminated and I had to ask the Flexifitness runners on their positions. I was told that Galen was 6th and Oon Shui Kun was 7th in men open. Hence, we had three coming in the top 7 positions. Kashken did 20min 00sec who later ended the 10km run in 45min plus. Tarandeep did 50min 27sec for the run. Our another female runner by the name of Tripta did a personal best time of 1hr 03min for her 10km and she was very happy about it. 

We took some shots after the race and decided to go home. We, as a group, finally felt that the race could be improved more by us providing the feedback. We also felt that it was good to support cancer run in Singapore and hope that the Cancer Society can help reduce cancer in Singapore.



Note:

By Narayanan

Rameshon has taught in Hwa Chong Institution, plus several schools, and Republic Polytechnic as well. He has won many accolades and he was awarded Merit Award for 1991 marathon performance in breaking the national record of Singapore, at that time. He has made 22 male athletes do a marathon in sub-3hrs. He has made 7 female runners do sub-4 hours for the marathon, as well. He was inducted to the ‘Roll of Honour’  by the then College of Physical Education, organised by Singapore Olympic Academy, in 1998, for breaking the National record repeatedly 4 times, till he did 2hr 24min 22sec).

He also has a Coaching group and he trains them on Tuesdays and Thursdays, 7pm at Botanic Gardens. Those interested can call him at 91004369 for coaching assistance, to improve performance. There is also personal training that he does for many in a week. You can e-mail him at swift.rameshon@gmail.com.