runningcoachsg

Sunday, February 16, 2014

Zoo Run 2014 - 12km in 48min 08sec

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)

About 8,000 runners took part in Safari Zoo Run 2014 today. The race consisted of run through the Singapore Zoo and Night Safari route. One loop was about 6km.

The event was started six years ago in memory of the zoo's orangutan Ah Meng. Ah Meng died of old age in February 2008. Wildlife Reserves Singapore said a portion of the proceeds from this year's race will go towards the care of endangered animals in Night Safari and Singapore Zoo.

For the sake of fundraising and to enjoy the competition of the race, 45 of Flexifitness athletes took part in the race, which has 2.8km for children, 6km competitive run and 12km run for older children and adults.

I was there at the Zoo at 6 45am. It was crowded but it was orderly. Immediately, I was able to get a car park lot.

I was focused on running my race. My target to run today is to do a steady state run and not really bother about time. Between last Wednesday to Saturday, I did not do any form of running training. I was feeling tired throughout the week.

Hence, I decided to do a sub - 50min for the 12km Men Open race. There was no Men Veteran section.

We were allowed to go in at 7 15am to the start line. There was no pushing to go in front of the starting point. At 7 30am, the race started. I realised that the race kicked off with some dashing and speeding up by runners who were in the front during the early portion of the race.

Throughout the run, I was composed not to push too hard and go easier. At 4km mark, I did 15min 10sec. At 5km mark, my time stood at 19min 10sec. My friend Christian Stauffer cheered me on during the race.

I mistook the race for 10km instead of 12km as I was pacing myself during the race. Only when I ran half-way did I know that I have just completed 6km and there was another 6km loop to go. At the 6.5km mark, I was dog tired.

The route was full of gradual upslopes and downslopes. Later on, at most part of the race, I was simply enjoying the route. It was lovely to run and it was nice to see the animals while I was running. At certain parts, I did not have time to see the animals. The animals I saw, if I am not wrong, were hyenas, giraffes and elephants.

As soon as I reached the 8km mark, the time stood at 32min 05sec. I was very happy to see this time.

At 9km mark, I realised that I might do a sub - 48min for the 12km route. Most parts of the route, I had to zig-zag myself throughout the route as the 6km runners were still running along the route.

Towards the last 1km, I sped and did a 48min 08sec for the 12km race. I was happy to see this time. This is an unofficial timing and I am waiting for the official timing which will be out in the net soon.

I was also happy to see that 4 of our athletes did a sub-50min for the 12km race. Two of them did 46min plus while another did 49min plus.

Last year's fastest girl in our group did 1hr 08min for the 12km. This year our fastest girl did 47min plus at the 10km mark and 55min at the 12km mark.

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, February 11, 2014

Long Runs on Sunday (Part 2) - Should be scenic as possible.

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

Long Runs - It is an important part of a runner.

Picture 1 - A scene at Upper Pierce

Sunday runs are important for long-distance runners. It can range from 10km to 20km. For elite runners, it can range between 20 to 35km. Paul Tergat, 5 times World Cross-Country Championships winner did 38km in his prime days for one longest run of the week.

Careful guidance is needed to increase the long run to improve in running. An important thing to do is to use one's common sense to gradually increase the run's distance progressively.

It is stated in the Runners' World that we should do the longest run on a Sunday as a workout itself. It means that it is not a speed workout but a stamina workout, instead. One should, at all cost, avoid all forms of training of other components of fitness, like strength training, agility training etc as it can be very tiring and it can affect one's training in the future.

However, one could do a long bout of stretching after a run, especially after the run to recover fast. One must have the discipline to do this.

During the longest run on the weekend, Saturday or Sunday, it is good to go slower than moderate pace. One should enjoy the run. One way to test that you are enjoying is to check whether you are able to talk to your friend or not.

If you are not able to do that, it is good to slow down a bit. Experience in running showed me that compared to a flat course and hilly course, it is wise to choose a flat course instead.

One should be able to draft out a plan so that there is not much of repetition in running the same place unless you have to do the repeated terrain with no choice. The terrain should be easy to run on.

One such route that I used to take is to run from the zig-zag bridge to the northern route. From there, we go to the upper pierce, Gate 1 and Gate 2, routes made of gradual rolling hills, with the scenic course and we run back to the northern route and return to the zig-zag bridge. There was water point along the route, as there is a toilet at Upper Pierce.

It takes about an hour and a half to two hours to run this route. I usually find myself running a bit faster as I could go into a zone of focus as the route is very scenic.

Nowadays, this area is out of bounds for the runners at MacRitchie Reservoir. However, we are allowed to run around the 10.55km run around the reservoir.

Some routes are made of Broadwalk, made of wood, and it is flat, usually. The route can cover about 5.6km at the Northern Route side and 2km at the Boys Route area.

One could run to Kheam Hock Road from MacRitchie, and it is linked to CCAB MOE Evans Road. From there we could run to Nasim Road, as an extension, to increase mileage.

My only suggestion to runners is to avoid running too much on the terrain that links one from MacRitchie to Rifle Range road. My experience shows that one should limit their runs if one wants to run long term. In running here too much, one could get knee pain and, in the long run, knee injury.

It is important to run you long runs less hilly as possible. This is my advice for runners to enjoy running. Happy running!

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.

Sunday, February 9, 2014

Long Runs on Sunday - A reason for former local marathoners to do well

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

Past and present timing - In the past, the timings were faster.

1994 Singapore International Marathon - An example of timings of the past.

Men's Local Open Position
1. 2hr 34min 02sec Murugiah Rameshon
(PB is 2hr 24min 22sec, 1995), SEA Games)
2. 2hr 44min 46sec Khoo Chin Poo
3. 2hr 46min 10sec Tan Choon Ghee

In the past, the timings of the marathon were much faster. Usually, in the Singapore Marathon races, at least 6 of them will do a sub- 2hr 45min. I remember N. Ganesan, 5000m former National Record holder, doing 2hr 46min, coming in 6th in the marathon, in the year 1992. He wrote a letter to me on his race and it was his first marathon race.

Nowadays, I see that the marathon times, especially the overall average timings, for locals to be much slower. Recently, my friend, Tulsidas from Red Hawk Athletics Club, a former competitor to me, met me at a temple. He told me that we used to run much faster a few years back.

I also agreed with him. The only thing we were not able to understand is that why are the times slower.

We know that the first two runner’s times, especially Mok Ying Ren's and Ashley Liew's times, are comparable to the past. However, from 3rd position to 10th position for local men runners, the timings should be much faster now.

The reason for the current runners to obtain a much faster time stems from the fact that in the present world can see that the technology nowadays is more advanced than the past such that we can expedite our performance in running and other sports as well.

In the past, we did not have tights which allows improvement in performance and recovery from a workout and long run bouts. We did not have altometer. We did not have proper running shoes as what we have now.

There are gait analysis and correction in gait to run faster and so on currently. There is GPS watch as well to measure the accuracy of the distance so that one can calculate their mileage and pace oneself well too.

However, somehow, I feel that a reason for us to do well in the past comes from running our very long runs. I believe we were able to achieve this at Macritchie Reservoir in the past.

We used to do a very long run, about 20km every week, running from the northern route to upper Pierce to Gate 1 and Gate 2 and back to MacRitchie.

Right now, this Gate 1 and Gate 2 is now closed to the public. We do not have access to run as there is a fence to ward off runners running there.

I see runners running about 10 to 15km at MacRitchie Reservoir nowadays.

Now, it is difficult to run at MacRitchie as we have to run repeatedly the same route. This makes us run shorter for our long runs.

It is just that we cannot do anything about this position. Some runners are running at East Coast. This is flat and long route but the whole route is made of tarmac and pavement and it may not be good to do long runs there as some of the runners and I had plantar fasciitis injury there.

I believe that a runner should do something about this to expedite performance improvement, especially the Sunday runs.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

My memories of doing 2hr 34min 02sec for the Singapore International Marathon 1994

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)

Singapore International Marathon - 1994

Men's Local Open Position
1. 2hr 34min 02sec Murugiah Rameshon
(PB is 2hr 24min 22sec, 1995), SEA Games)
2. 2hr 44min 46sec Khoo Chin Poo
3. 2hr 46min 10sec Tan Choon Ghee

Appreciation and Gratitude

This post is dedicated to my supervisor Dave Williams, a dedicated triathlete himself, who has, a few years back, had his passing. It is also dedicated to Sir George Gandy, my Athletics Lecturer and Loughborough Athletics Club (University) coach, the maestro of coaching, and to Alan Guilder who coached me during my days in England. This post is dedicated to my two great friends, Tim Dickinson, who introduced me to Alan Guilder and to Tony Bignell, who helped me attain 2hr 29min for London Marathon by bringing me to the start line, the former Vice-captain of Loughborough Athletics Club (LAC). Not to forget, Len Almond, Lecturer of PE in Contemporary Education and the charismatic Professor Clyde Williams, whose books on Biochemistry and Sports Science research, I became fascinated with.

Picture 1 - This photo is memorable because I won the 1994 Singapore International Marathon (local) with a time of 2hr 34min 02sec.

A report by a reporter
http://rameshon-m.blogspot.com/2010/05/singapore-international-marathon1994.html

Developing My Passion In Running Further In Loughborough, England

When I was there as a second-year student in Loughborough, the Mecca of running, I saw Paula Radcliffe, the current world record holder of the marathon, as a year 1 student there. I used to see her in the Loughborough Athletics Club, most of the times training, using her coach program. My friend Tim Dickinson told me that he used to do some workout sessions with Paula along and used to tell our group admirable things about her - namely; her mental strength and dedication.

Picture 2 - Paula Radcliffe is not only the pride of England but also Loughborough University as well.

I myself saw her running super fast in one of the steady, where I was going in the opposite direction. In fact, I felt honoured when I was featured by the British Council Singapore, in a newsletter. Yuki Chow, the interviewer from British Council Singapore found that Paula was already featured in it.

Coming back to the Loughborough Athletics Club (LAC), we were coached by Sir George Gandy, who is one of the world best coach I have ever come across. He has coached runners like Jack Buckner 13min 10sec for the World Cup around that time. Sir George has trained many as well like Chris McGeorge (3m 36sec) etc. It was from the LAC that I picked up on training well. Furthermore, I was doing Physical Education and Sports Science.

I felt honoured when in the last run of the league, when I got disqualified, for wearing a non-university singlet, my team-mates especially the captain of LAC, Gordon Reid from Scotland, kept arguing for me, where it went to the point of near shouting. After a while, I told Gordon that it is ok to be disqualified since I was the one in the wrong. To this, he told that my points are important for them to secure the league group competition so that they don't fall to league 2. I really did not know about the singlet rule and I find this stringent. Any way, I was disqualified finally but LAC was still in the first league. Thank God for this, else blame will come to me.

George Gandy told me how to train using the 5 pace theory. Alan Guilder, at that time 30 years of age, a former runner of LAC trained by George Gandy, was always there not only as a coach but also as a training partner to me as well. Alan, an upright and a happily married with 2 children, has a personal best time of 2hr 21min done in the Robin Hood Marathon 1993. Finally, it was Dave Williams who imparted to me, outside curriculum time on thermoregulation and aerobic power (VO2 max) and aerobic capacity and made an informed person.

Training in Singapore

When I came to Singapore, I trained under Paul Rainer, a former East Germany coach. After coming in 16th in one of the Sheares Bridge race, I thought to myself that this may work for others but not for me. Hence, after 4 months of training with Paul Rainer, the next 2 months I did self-training using Alan Guilder's training method.

In the Singapore International Marathon 1994, I trained hard using my own monitoring. A week before the marathon, I was interviewed on the television by The World of Sports on the upcoming marathon race.

On the day of the race, I was worried whether I have gained back the fitness or not. The race was a testing ground. I was thinking whether the 2 months training using Alan Guilder method will help me or not. I ran the race, In the race, I had two people running also, Tan Choon Ghee and Khoo Chin Poo. To do well in the race, I told myself that I am going to go solo.

From the start I went solo. At that time, I was not used to looking at the watch while I run. I found that wearing a watch has one disadvantage, blood flow restriction. In Yoga, they say that pranic flow should not be restricted. The Chinese say that the Qi (life-force) should flow continuously. It is the same thing. The good news of wearing is that you can monitor whether you are going fast of slow and running steady or not. There are pros and cons. Hence, nobody needs to take my advice on this.

At the half-way mark, I hit around 1hr 17min. At that time, the route had small steep hills, a number of them around. However, I felt the small steep hills should be taken out. In Berlin Marathon 1993 and London Marathon 1993, the route is mostly flat.

However, after the half-way mark, I felt very strong and went for my timing, While giving all I have got at the last 10km, I realised that my calf muscles on one of the leg, I cannot remember which, was getting very tight. I had the stamina and energy to run faster and go for it but the calf tightness was stopping me from running fast. Cramps were coming there as well. However, I endured and kept pushing and kept my focus all the way until I saw the national stadium.

Once inside the stadium, I saw a number of people cheering for me at the finish and I sprinted towards the finish putting my hands up. The above photo is the photo of the 1994 race where I did 2hr 34min 02sec. I was telling myself that in 1987, when Kevin Ryan, a top world-class runner from overseas, came in first with a time of 2hr 32min, I used to admire him. Another 02sec and I could have done 2hr 33min.

Right now, I am still happy now because, over time, I realised that the 2hrs 34min 02sec has stood as the fastest Singaporean running the Singapore route, until now. After the finish of the race, I used to think that the timing was slow.

I am happy now that all the effort of sacrificing time, money and effort has brought me this result. Now, at least I can inspire others to go for it.

Note:

By Narayanan

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Flexifitness Registers 45 athletes for the Zoo Run 2014

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

Flexifitness - Sends 45 athletes for Zoo Run 2014

Picture 1 - Last year's participants for Zoo Run 2013, last year

Last year, Flexifitness had sent about 30 athletes for the Zoo Run 2013. We realised that this is for a charitable cause, even though the price for registration is quite high. These athletes were sent for gaining experience also. We were surprised that many took part in this race.

In this year's race, we told parents of our athletes to support the Zoo Run to support the cause for the animals in the zoo. It would be a good idea to see the animals there as well, as this entry on the day will be free for participants.

Many came to support this idea and we were able to register 45 athletes for the race. There were others who wanted to register for the Zoo Run 2014. They were not able to gain entry as the zoo run registration came to a close. There was an overwhelming response for this race.

In the past, I was helping out, in the run, on the day by not running. This time around, I have thought to run and support the run by running the race as well, in the men open category, even though there is no men veteran category in the race.

Note:

By Narayanan

Saturday, January 18, 2014

My 5km Singapore Cross Country Race - Doing sub-19min after 4 years

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

SAA Cross-Country 2014 - My first race of the year

I was sleeping well until it was 3 30am. After that, it was hard for me to sleep. Actually, I was not nervous about running the SAA Cross-Country race. I was tossing and turning in my bed, deciding whether to run the cross-country race or not as I felt tired.

At 5 10am, I woke up and took my shower. Around 5 30am, I had to drive to Bedok Reservoir and arrived early for the race.

Flexifitness runners Jensen, Sophia and Lim Thow Wee were there at Bedok by 7 40am.

Sophia got her number tag from me and she ran the Women Youth 5km race which started at 8 05am, along with under 15 women runners.

I realised that she ran upfront and was leading the pack. The first group ran the first 500m at 1min 50sec and they reached the first 1km at 3min 50sec.

The next thing I knew was that she was having a clear lead and she crossed the finish line in 20min 16sec.

As for my race, I started to do some warm-up at 9am and gradually proceeded to the start line with fellow Flexifitness athletes Jensen Toh and Lim Thow Wee.

We ran the race and reached the first 1km at about 3min 45sec. The lead pack were way in front. I told myself that the target for the day is to do a sub-19min.

Jensen was in front of the two of us. I was going at a steady-state and decided to go like that for the rest of the run.

Later on, at the 3km mark, Thow Wee came out to go faster at the last two kilometres.

Thow Wee went in front of Jensen later on and reached the finish line in 18min 38sec. Jensen reached the finish line in 18min 46sec, a new personal best time.

I did 18min 56sec and came in 6th in Men Masters. A season-best time for me indeed.

Overall, the weather was cooling and the day was not hot at all. I enjoyed the run, especially doing a sub-19min, finally, for the 5km race.

Sunday, January 5, 2014

Singapore Running Races 2014

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

Singapore Races - Advice is to choose wisely

Most of the race registration is closing, due to the overwhelming response of runners registering for the race. However, it is a good idea to choose race wisely.

It is paramount to choose races that are organised properly, with proper drink points along the way. There must be proactive marshalls who are quick to inform runners whether to turn right or left or to go straight in a race.

One should recee the route if possible.

The race should be, if possible, AIMS certified so that the distance of the race is accurate.

Run a race that is able to give you a gauge so that you know that you are improving or not. In a race, it is good to run it and then write a reflection, a coach will be of help if needed, and avoid making the same old mistakes from repeating.

If you are not able to get an accurate distance, it is good to run a time trial by oneself with a group to see one's progress.

Wear a GPS, if possible, in order to know your distance of the run. In the past, this technology was not available. Now, it is readily available and it allows one to see the time against one's distance run.

I have chosen some races that one can choose from. It is good to run it once in a while to serve your goal of continued progress in running.

All the best!

2014 Singapore Races

9 Feb 2014, Sunday, 7am, 8km - MediaCorp Hong Bao Run

15 Feb 2014, Saturday, 4.30pm, 5km/10km/21km - Marina Run

16 Feb 2014, Sunday - Safari Zoo Run

2 Mar 2014, Sunday, 4.30am, 10km/21km/42km - 2XU Compression Run

8 Mar 2014, Saturday, 5pm, 5km - X-Bionic Venus Run

16 Mar 2014, Sunday, 7am, 4km/14km - North East PAssion Run

23 Mar 2014, Sunday, 7am - Nathan Singapore City Race

27 Apr 2014, Sunday, 350m/10km/21km, 5.30am - NTUC Income Run 350

10 May 2014, Saturday - Energizer Singapore Night Trail

18 May 2014, Sunday, 9am, 10.5km - Green Corridor Run

18 May 2014, Sunday, 500m/3km/10km - HomeTeamNS Real Run

24/25 May 2014, Sat/Sun, 5km, 9am - The 5K Foam Run

31 May 2014, Saturday, 10km/21km/42km - Sundown Marathon

3 Aug 2014, Sun, 6.30am, 1km/5km/10.5km/21km/31.5km - Tri Factor Run

31 Aug 2014, Sun, 10km/21km - SAFRA Singapore Bay Run

7 Dec 2014, Sunday, 5am, 750m/10km/21km/42km - Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore

28 Dec 2014, Sunday, 7am, minimum 5 laps of 10km within 12hrs - MR25 Ultramarathon

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.