runningcoachsg

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Amman upsets Rudisha

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)

Aman, 17 years old wins Rudisha in Milan

Picture 1 - It is not easy winning the race for most top runners.

Milan, Italy

Summary

Teenage sensation Mohamed Aman of Ethiopia upset World champion and World record holder David Rudisha in the 800m Milano International Meeting.

Last weekend Rudisha again won his second consecutive Samsung Diamond Trophy in the event in Brussels. However, it was not Rudisha’s day as the 17-year-old Ethiopian sensation Aman produced a major upset by beating Rudisha in 1:43.50 to the Kenyan’s 1:43.57.

Poland’s Marcin Lewandowski was third in 1:45.05 ahead of Morocco’s Mohamed El Manaoui (1:45.46) and Kenyan Nicholas Kipkoech (1:45.47). Twenty-two-year-old Italian champion Giordano Benedetti set his lifetime best with 1:46.32.

“It was a hard race. I am very surprised”, said the shy Aman to reporters, who was the World Youth silver medallist in Lille last July in 1:44.68.

“It was very hard to warm up,” Rudisha told reporters. “The same happened two years ago in Berlin. I felt very tired but I am happy with the season which was highlighted by the world title in Daegu and the Diamond League win.”

My opinion
I believe that Rudisha had one of his bad days. Every day cannot be ideal. As for Aman, he has a lot of potential in him to go far as he is young.

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, September 17, 2011

POSB 10km Race and Yellow Ribbon 10km Race 2011

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)

Tomorrow is POSB race

The unique thing about this race is that kids as young as 5-year-old will be running 800m and kids as old as 12 years old will be running the 1200m. The race I find is appropriate for their age.

The adult race has men open and women open and the prize for first is $400. Ashley Liew will be running in the race.

The race will be held near Big Splash.

My suggestion is to go for the race early. Parents should be extra alert on the child finishing so that no child gets lost there.

I will be seeing the POSB race and writing a report on this. I just hope that the race distance is correct.

http://flexifitness.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.

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Suggestions for Improvement - Army Half-Marathon 2011

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)

Army Half - Marathon 2011- Give runners their voice

As predicted the races in Singapore are run such that some mistakes are done. The good thing that we should do, whether we are high up or low down is to change things for the good. Some race organisers are so arrogant to the point that they tell runners that the runners got the choice of running or not running their races if the latter are not happy. They say it indirectly that it is the committee's decision and not theirs etc. What an easy way to escape!

In the half -marathon race in 2008, The Army Half-marathon, at the age of 43, I came in first in the veteran section. My team manager told me that they have registered such that I will be getting $1000 if I came in first for the veteran. This was not so. I was placed under Men Open instead, where most winners were foreigners. 2 PDF came in first in the team, which was my team at that time, and they rewarded me with some cash incentive. However, a huge part of it was lost just because I ran under the army unit. The army should learn to reward more if a person has done well and not give less. It is time to learn about Skinner's Conditioning from Psychology.

In the past, during my peak years in running, I avoided running Army organised races as they tend not to take the distance markers seriously. The distance instead of 21.1 ends up 19plus km etc. At that time, I used to go for accurate and valid races. In order not to waste my effort, I used to go to AIMS certified races in Malaysia. Else, I would still prefer going overseas for races.

In Singapore, the only race that has a good name so far is the Nike Real Run race. There has been no complaint. The Mizuno Wave run that I ran a few years back was the worst. There was practically no finish point. Everything was chaos. Races organisers were not interested in our comments. It was like, even if you complained, next year we will have a lot of runners coming down. Recently, some have complained on Tri-Factor races. So, my suggestions to all these organisers is to look and understudy successful races that are done properly before they organise a race. I hope that races are run by passionate runners and not someone who does not have running background.

I can remember running a 10km race at Loughborough University, which was organised by a former top runner. It was the best race organised ever in my life and it has already left a great impression in me, even now.

I myself have organised the Swift Northern Route Challenge around the early 2000s and found that not one complaint came from runners of the race. They were praising me for doing well. Runners told me to organise the race once in two months. One of them who told me this is Mr Patrick Zendher, former Coach of the Year winner.

My advice to runners is to use common sense and avoid races that has poor distance markers and are wrongly done. Nowadays races are far too expensive also. Runners are not getting the money's worth. Why is it not advisable to run a poorly organised race? It is because one will not improve if this goes on. You cannot realise your potential in running. You may be bragging around that your time is now 5min faster but what had happened was that the distance was short. I have a personal best of 1hr 07min done in Johor Half - Marathon which I find it short.

Such is the state of a number of runners interviewed who ran in the Army Half-Marathon 2011, around 8 of them from a unit, told me that they improved suddenly by 5min. This was like a miracle for them, where they told that nearly all of them did 5min faster for Army Half-Marathon 2011 race. They also concluded that the distance ran and timing done looks ridiculous.

Recently, a runner showed me a gadget from the handphone which accurately measures the distance of the race. It is out there now. As a researcher myself during my undergrad years, the study shows that Polar is good for timing. For distance marking, using a pedometer etc are not advisable. I used to warn an athlete who ran with a pedometer and later he realised that the pedometer was wrong. GPRS is the answer. One way is to manually measure the distance. I would like to volunteer for this and it can be done within 4-6hrs, that's all.

In the past, I used to take my own time-trial because I find that to be accurate as compared to the race organisers measurement. It is the race distance markers that they always forget and I feel that it is the one that is important if one wants to improve. Money doesn't matter, distance ran accurately matters a lot if one wants to progress in running. It is a waste of time to run races with inaccurate as you will not know the pace that you are running and you will not know the total distance.

Over time, one of the reason, I have stopped running Army Half-marathons nowadays is because of inaccurate distance. Some years ago the distance was measured accurately, now they have reverted.

I hope that in future the organisers of running races are passionate about doing their work. They could bring the race prizes up to $3000 rather than the same old $1000. The race registration fee should be lower. London and Berlin Marathon races are expensive but the way the races are organised for marathoners are beyond comprehension. The distance markers are very clear and you have balloons in several sections. I hope that we can learn something from here.

Note:

By Narayanan

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Breathing Technique and its benefits.

Note:

By Rameshon

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

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

After so long, I have finally conducted my second course on Art of Living, Part 1 course, recently, which had Sudarshan Kriya as the main thing where one is able to be happy and energised over time under all circumstances. This was found in India to those who practise this breathing technique. Sudarshan Kriya is a process to make the mind to come to the present moment, rather than the mind is allowed to dwell in the past and future. In the present moment, one can perform to 100%. Sudarshan, as taught by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar has many health benefits. Most importantly, when many people are getting cancer nowadays, Sudarshan kriya is handy to ensure that one is in the pink of health at all times. Ones vitality and immunity will be very strong and one will be able to laugh one's way throughout life.

" If hostile thoughts do not invade the mind all his other thoughts may swiftly manifest"

Kural 309 Subramaniyaswami, 1999)

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Essence of Breath - Introduction

Introduction to the Study

This work was carried out in the hope that it may in future benefit the pupils in The Chinese High School doing sports and also in academic areas. This may also help Singapore sportspeople in high-level competitions by knowing what stress is and the knowledge to counter this problem through breathing technique.

In 1995, the author learnt about pranayama and Sudarshan kriya breathing techniques from Bangalore, India. Before elaborating further, it would be appropriate to know what these two techniques are.

Pranayama is a deep breathing practice which opens up our lungs to maximize the absorption of prana (in Sanskrit) or qi (in Chinese) means life force. This technique recharges the cells, keeping us young and energetic with resilient clarity of mind )(Narayan, 2000),

Another unique breathing technique known as the Sudarshan kriya was developed by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, who is the founder of the Art of Living Foundation worldwide. This wonderful technique floods every cell with oxygen and a new life. Negative toxins developed in our body, over time, are easily washed away. the effect is immediate and tangible. It is a completely natural process which eliminates anxiety, depression and lethargy and we will feel good about ourselves and our entire life improves.

After learning the two techniques and the benefits, the author decided to apply them for the South East Asian Games. Both techniques took about 30mins to practice per day.

In 1995, the author participated in the 1995 Chiengmei SEA Games. Before the Games, he was practising breathing techniques- pranayama and Sudarshan kriya - daily. He did it either int he morning or at night. By doing the breathing technique, it was found that there was an increase in focus, energy level, discipline and the feeling of fearlessness before and during the competition.

He ran the marathon in 2hr 24min 22sec, a national record time, which enabled him to seek a qualification to run in the Olympics 1996 (B category). Though he was not selected for it, the author felt that he has reached his objective in life - that is, meeting the qualifying mark for the Olympics.

For the year 2001, the author coached the Chinese High School cross-country team which emerged champions in the under - 14 category and first runner up in the under-17 category. The success of the Chinese High School cross-country team in performing well in the National Schools' Cross Country Championships 2001 can be attributed to specific training done and deep breathing technique practised.

It is known that in high-level competitions, athletes go through immense stress some days and a day before the race itself. The Chinese High School long-distance athletes were given breathing exercises to counter this problem.

Also, scientific studies done recently show that stress can weaken the immune system, intensifying cold and flu symptoms in an individual(Marsland, 2001). A person also has a tendency to overeat (Wardle, 2000). Dr Vgontzas of Pennsylvania State University found that subjects in this study suffered from a sleep disorder. Another study conducted on women found that there were a reduced fertility rate and early childbirth because of stress (Glynn, 1999).

The University of Zurich and University of California research studies found that during stress cortisol, a hormone is released. In both studies, it was found that stress can diminish a person's memory and learning.

At present, there are studies undertaken on pranayama and Sudarshan ( 3-cycle breathing) kriya in relation to hypertension, obesity, HIV, cancer and mental depression (The Art of Living, 1996).

Note:

By Narayanan

Saturday, September 10, 2011

Sharing Session With Dr Edgar Tham (Flexifitness Consultant)

Note:

By Rameshon

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

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

Dr Edgar Tham - The Art of Achieving Success - The Process Method.

After conducting the Art of Living (Part 1) Breathing Technique course, which was for several days, I invited some parents and athletes to come down for a talk on mental visualisation and mental imagery by Dr Edgar Tham.

While I was finishing my course on Breathing Technique (Sudarshan Kriya) I was preparing the room for him to talk. Dr Tham smsed to me on the people coming down for the talk. I told that 3 parents are coming and the rest of them are basically athletes.

Dr Tham had just joined our company Flexifitness as a Sports Psychologist. I remember that we, as track and field of SEA Games going down for his talk in 1995 Sea Games, were given wonderful sessions on how to achieve. He was one of the reasons for me to break the national record. In that race, I remember the previous SEA Games record holder, Herman Suizo, gold medalist 1993 SEA Games, giving up the race at that point as he was not able to handle the very fast pace that we were doing, somewhere at the halfway mark of the marathon, where we clocked 1hr 10min for that.

After the course, Dr Edgar Tham told us that he is going to tell us something that would help us in sports.

He went on. He discussed with us on process and product (outcome). He gave us a 2hr talk. The parents who came for the talk told that the talk was very good and informational such that they know how to handle issues that the parents face in sports.

Basically, he told us that to perform, sportspeople had to go through high-level stress. If they, instead of focusing on the outcome, focus their energy on the process, they will be able to slowly achieve in the long run. By focusing on the outcome, one may slow down the progress of improvement.

He also told us that when we are performing on a task, we should focus on what we are supposed to do instead of thinking on our opponent etc. I found this point very valuable.

Everyone had to share their opinion, after the talk. I gave mine. I told that in the past I started doing well was by focusing on the process rather than the outcome.

Note:

By Narayanan

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Do Justice to the winners of Army Half-Marathon 2011

Note:

By Rameshon

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

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

Blip over Bay Run Bib?

I remember coming in first in somewhere around 2008 Army marathon in veteran closed race, I was supposed to win $1000. I lost it as I had to run under a different category. People who were slower than me collected the prize. I was already 40plus years old then. I was categorised under men open. A year back before this, nothing did really go wrong. The race organiser kept changing the rules. Now Soh Rui Yong and Ashley Liew, who are aspiring to be top runners in the region, are going unrewarded for their valour and personal best time in their running.

Their hard work and tough training that they have done to achieve to run fast have gone unnoticed and unheeded.

In psychology, if we do a good action we are usually rewarded. Wrong actions, we will be penalised. Here for doing well, we are penalised. I believe that the organisers are rewarding slower runners and not the top runners.

The race clearly shows that the faster runners should be rewarded and the organisers have to do something instantly rather than delaying the verdict. This is a situation where instantly a man can make a decision. In Singapore, my experience is the organisers may want to find a reason on how not to give the prizes to the two gentlemen. I hope that they don't do this.

Organisers should inform courageously that they have done a mistake and also do something on the timings this year and then talk about next year.

Straits Times report on Ashley Liew and Soh Rui Yong. (By Chan U-Gene)

When Soh Rui Yong and Ashley Liew crossed the finish line at Sunday’s SAFRA Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon, they were sure they had secured a place on the podium.

After all, only their compatriot Mok Ying Ren, who won the Closed category (for Singaporeans and permanent residents) in 1hr 12min 10sec, was ahead of them in the 21km race.

But the duo were “dumbfounded“ when second and third place, along with cash prizes of $1000 and $500 went to Alex Ong (1:18:08)and Girider Swaminathan (1:19:52) respectively.

They had finished more than five minutes behind Soh and Liew, who ran with Open category bibs that put them in the company of international runners.

Soh, who is serving his national service at the Armour Training Institute received his bib only on the morning of the run.

Said the 20-year –old, who has been taking part in road races since 2008: ‘I asked my team manager, and he said that it was an error and we were given the wrong tags. But we would be correctly categorized after the run.”

But after the results were posted up, he “suspected something was wrong”. He added: “We all appealed but we were not even informed of the outcome.“

Singapore Management University runner and triathlete, added, “ Rui Yong and I watched as our prizes were awarded to Alex and Girider. We are not demeaning their efforts in any way, but to be faster locals should get the prizes.

“We assumed we would be correctly categorized when the results came out but it wasn’t the case”.

“The race website clearly stated that the Closed category is for all Singaporeans and PRs.”

The 24-year–old had signed up through the team manager of his former army unit and received his bib just a day before the race.

He also claimed that the manager had submitted the forms correctly but was issued the Open category tag “at the last minute.”

In an e-mail response t The Straits Times, the organizers said they will be considering the pair’s appeals. “We hope to reach a resolution with them within the next week,” the statement added.

In another matter, the two runners also wondered why there was more than a minute’s difference between their gun times and the times they recorded using the race chip. Since they started from the front of the pack, the times should be similar.

The organizers replied: We are still reviewing the matter: we will post all corrected timings on www.safra.sg/sbr once evaluations are completed.

“We apologies for the inconvenience caused. We appreciate the feedback and look forward to ensuring an even better race experience next year.”

www.runningcoachsg.com

Note:

By Narayanan

Sunday, September 4, 2011

Finally Medal Tally in World Champs 2011 in Daegu

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

The USA - Tops the table in World Championships 2011.

With the USA topping the medal table, Russia and Kenya came in second and third, respectively.

Rank	Country	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	UNITED STATES (USA)	12	8	5	25
2	RUSSIA (RUS)	9	4	6	19
3	KENYA (KEN)	7	6	4	17
4	JAMAICA (JAM)	4	4	1	9
5	GERMANY (GER)	3	3	1	7
6	GREAT BRITAIN & N.I. (GBR)	2	4	1	7
7	PR OF CHINA (CHN)	1	2	1	4
8	AUSTRALIA (AUS)	1	1	1	3
9	ETHIOPIA (ETH)	1	0	4	5
10	UKRAINE (UKR)	1	0	1	2
11	BOTSWANA (BOT)	1	0	0	1
11	BRAZIL (BRA)	1	0	0	1
11	GRENADA (GRN)	1	0	0	1
11	JAPAN (JPN)	1	0	0	1
11	NEW ZEALAND (NZL)	1	0	0	1
11	POLAND (POL)	1	0	0	1
17	SOUTH AFRICA (RSA)	0	2	2	4
18	CUBA (CUB)	0	1	3	4
18	FRANCE (FRA)	0	1	3	4
20	BELARUS (BLR)	0	1	1	2
21	CANADA (CAN)	0	1	0	1
21	CROATIA (CRO)	0	1	0	1
21	CZECH REPUBLIC (CZE)	0	1	0	1
21	ESTONIA (EST)	0	1	0	1
21	HUNGARY (HUN)	0	1	0	1
21	KAZAKHSTAN (KAZ)	0	1	0	1
21	NORWAY (NOR)	0	1	0	1
21	PUERTO RICO (PUR)	0	1	0	1
21	SUDAN (SUD)	0	1	0	1
21	TUNISIA (TUN)	0	1	0	1
31	COLOMBIA (COL)	0	0	2	2
31	SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS (SKN)	0	0	2	2
33	BAHAMAS (BAH)	0	0	1	1
33	BELGIUM (BEL)	0	0	1	1
33	ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF IRAN (IRI)	0	0	1	1
33	ITALY (ITA)	0	0	1	1
33	LATVIA (LAT)	0	0	1	1
33	SLOVENIA (SLO)	0	0	1	1
33	SPAIN (ESP)	0	0	1	1
33	TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO (TRI)	0	0	1	1
33	ZIMBABWE (ZIM)	0	0	1	1

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.