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)
Strategies - Important to do well in races, it is good to race with a game plan.
A game plan is vital for doing well in running. In the year 2007, I coached Daniel to win in the Stanchart Marathon race. He was the champion. Our strategy was to run together and hope that one of us win. However, if we are being challenged by any, both of us were willing to be pushed by our opponent to the end. We knew from our workout times that we stand a very high chance of winning that year.
Daniel Ling did 2hr 46min for the race and came in as the local men champion. In 2008, I won the Stanchart Marathon 2008 race. In the year 2009 till the year 2012, I did not run in the Stanchart Marathon race.
In this year's Gold Coast Marathon 2013, I did a 5min pace all the way till the 32km mark and hit the wall' at that point due to the fact that I had to consume predominantly a complex carbohydrate diet a week before the race. The reason for me to consume the carbo diet all the way was because of the need to make my weight to go down more so that I am confident to finish the marathon. It was found to be difficult to go down in weight.
Anyway, from the past, it is my usual practice to consume 3 days of a diet which is predominantly made up of fats and protein with limited carbohydrates, from Monday to Wednesday. From Thursday to Saturday, I will consume a diet which is made up of low glycemic index food. I do take some fats and protein but it is at a very limited level.
The knowledge of this is very important and an athlete's knowledge of food is vital for doing well in running a marathon.
With this knowledge, one can succeed in getting beyond 'hitting the wall' of a marathon.
In the second part of my running strategy, I have planned to go to a 4min per kilometres for the first 10km. After that, I am thinking of doing 4min 10sec all the way and wait for the 32km mark. If all goes well, I will do the same pace all the way till the end. If things go wrong, I will go at 4min 30sec to 5min pace so that at least I can do a 3hr 20min to 3hr 32min for the entire marathon. This I believe, is the worst scenario that I can picture for myself.
Only if I feel fantastic, after 10km, I am going to go all the way with 3min 50sec to 4min pace till the end. In a marathon, anything can happen. The feeling during the run after 10km is very important and we should act accordingly.
Since I have done sub-2hr 30min 5 times already I think that there is nothing to prove. My actual reason for running is to motivate those at the age of 40 and above. Hence, it is a 'nothing to lose' concept that I am going to take to run in the marathon.
Overall, I am ok with any form of results. I just would like to wish the runners running in the race to not put on weight by eating a lot of carbo in the last 3 days. My advice is to eat appropriately and not overdo it and gain 1 to 2kg of weight. All your efforts will go to waste in the end. I hope to see many do well in the race by manipulating the diet in the last few days in order not to go into glycogen depletion during the last 10 to 12km, where all the glycogen is no more in the muscle and liver.
By being careful in the last few days prior to the marathon, one can increase one's glycogen to 200 to 300 %, in the muscle and liver combined, so that one can run fast all the way in the coming marathon. I have not mentioned this in the past blog post. I believe that this knowledge may help one to succeed in the upcoming Stanchart 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.
