Jeffrey Ng - 1hr 17min 29sec In Reading 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)

Next Issue - Will there be a record time set for the National Schools' Cross-Country Race 2011 tomorrow?

Reading Half-Marathon 20/03/2011

At secondary one, Jeffrey Ng came in 3rd in National Schools' Cross -Country Championships, in the past. Of the 3 years of the six-year education, from high school and college, Jeffrey came in as champion thrice. He was studying in The Chinese High School and Hwa Chong Institution (college). After a personal best time of 1hr 20min in Army half-marathon a few years back, Jeffrey did the Reading Half-Marathon in 1hr 19min 37sec in the year 2010. Right now, he has finally done a personal best time of 1hr 17min 29sec for this year's Half-marathon 2011. Let us hear from him on his running as a passion story.

An Interview on Jeffrey Ng

When did this race take place and what was the race called?
On 20th March 2011, I participated in the Reading Half-Marathon at Reading, Berkshire. It was the second time at this half-marathon. Last year I did it in 79 min 37s. This year I was aiming for around 78 minutes. The time I did was 1hr 17min 29sec.

How do you balance studies with training?

I am now in my third and final year of BSc. Psychology at University College London. My studies are going well I guess. I can't really tell for sure because my course only has examinations once a year and they are all in May. But judging from my past two years of academic performance, I should be on track for a good degree with honours. My aim is to graduate with First Class honours so I will have to keep putting in consistent work.

How did the training go for the recent Reading Half-Marathon 2011?

This is perhaps the same with training. This year I took part in very few races before the Reading Half-Marathon. Partly, because I felt that I needed the time to put in the miles and partly because I did not want to stress my legs too much by going hard on too many road races. I did participate in a few cross country races earlier on in the winter months but those were more for the fun of going out there to battle the elements. So with few races in hand, I just had to keep my faith in my own training programme and consistently work at keeping myself injury-free. In fact, I had to run around a dirt track (approximately 387m a lap) in Regent's Park most of the time because I realised that running there and back involved least stretches of hard ground. And so I did all easy runs, tempo runs, intervals, and even long runs there. Because of that, I did not do any hill workouts but that did not bother me too much because I knew Reading Half is rather flat. Despite these careful measures, I still suffered from injuries along the way when I tried to push myself too hard by doing workouts back to back. It takes the joy out of running when I cannot run smoothly due to injuries and on some days, I really feel like not running anymore. And on days like that, I would just rest and concentrate on my studies instead. I learnt to listen to my body because resting is part of the training. And I realised that resting when your body tells you to but when your programme tells you not to is a real test of discipline. It's actually easier to go out there and just do a run and risk aggravating the injury than it is to stay at home and rest and recover.

So that's my training for the half-marathon. The programme was built on past experience thanks to your coaching and also partly from what I learnt from reading Runner's World. 99% of the time I had to train alone and that has its ups and downs. Its only advantage is that I have a lot of flexibility. I could choose to run at any time of the day. Another advantage is probably that I developed a stronger mind. But I really would have loved to have a training partner who could run with me and push me along on workouts.

Tell us how you balance studies and running? What is your secret?

The flexibility in my training programme makes it easy for me to balance my academic commitments and my running because I could work my training days around my studies requirements. But the most important factor for such balance is still consistent work. I have to anticipate deadlines so that I clear my work way in advance and not leave them to the eleventh hour. I also try to clear my readings as soon as I can. But I do not compromise on quality rest. I tried my best to sleep before 12 each night and wake up by 8am. And when I am very tired after a workout or a long run, I will definitely take a nap (instead of pushing myself to study) because I want to give my body the chance to rest and recuperate. Besides, after a short nap of around 30minutes, I usually can study more efficiently.

In the week leading up to the half marathon, I was not feeling very well physically and was also bombarded with quite a lot of readings as school is coming to a close. So I decided not to give myself an additional psychological burden by taking on the interview before my race. I wanted to go to the starting line feeling relaxed and to run the race enjoying the feeling of working hard and putting in the effort without feeling any stress or expectations. I was wary that being interviewed before the race would put more pressure on myself.

What is your next target?

The next major race that I have signed up for is Berlin Marathon 2011 in September. I actually would love to go under 3 hour. But like all races now, I would just like to enjoy the race and the effort during the race. I have signed up for that with Yi Peng, my cross country team-mate back in my high school days. And I hope that we can support each other through the 26 miles. He is very fit now as he has been training hard with his university's cycling team. What's more important is he loves challenges so when I said "Let's go to Berlin Marathon" he almost immediately said "Yes". I am hopeful that it will be a memorable race in Berlin later this year.

I am not very sure about running competitively after Berlin Marathon although I am very sure that I will continue to keep my fitness level high so that I can always run a decent 10km or 10-mile race. My hesitation is due to two main reasons. The first is the injuries. Nowadays whenever I try to train hard, a huge variety of injuries will beset me. I have become quite frustrated at how many different kinds of injuries can follow one after another even though I have been doing my best to keep away from them. And I really hate running races which I am ill-prepared for. Even this Reading Half, I am sure I did not train to my fullest potential partly because of the many injuries. While I still love running hard and fast, I wouldn't want to lose the ability to just run. If I were to choose between racing for a few years and running for a lifetime but not racing hard, I rather be able to run for a lifetime.

Any plans of running Standard Chartered Marathon 2012?
I would love to run the Standard Chartered Marathon but perhaps not in 2012 because I would be returning to work in 2012 and I am expecting the adjustment back into work to be rather demanding and busy. Besides, I am not a professional athlete so I have to put my priorities right. When things are more settled down, I would love to do the Standard Chartered Marathon with some of my peers like Ee Ghim.

What do you think is important such that the Singapore standard improves compared to the world standard?

I think what is most important for Singapore to move up in the running culture is exposure and passion. National organisations must take the effort to send our youngsters to overseas competitions so that they know they still have a lot of room for improvement. We used to be content with times like 78 minutes to 80 minutes for half marathons in Singapore because no one broke the glass ceiling. When Ying Ren ran much quicker than that, suddenly many people were doing sub 78 minutes. Why? Because he up-ed the standard for all of us. And as a result, the standard has now improved. And I think he saw through the glass ceiling because he was not just looking at local scenes. He was looking beyond Singapore. And now he is competing with Kenyans already. We need an organised effort to tell our sporting youth that "Look! you may be a national champion here. But you are nobody when you run with your regional neighbours and even more so when you are in the international scene". Whenever I run a race in the UK, I am humbled by the people who overtake me. Because they can come in all ages. I have a British friend who is a busy man (he's a CEO of a London-based firm) and he recently did a 40min 10km race at the age of 50. I doubt there are many Singaporeans who can do that time at the age of 50 and be the CEO of a firm at the same time.

How serious are you in running?

Running for me has become a way of life so I guess if I take my life seriously, I take running seriously. But if you ask me if I am going to be a professional athlete, I would say Singapore does not have adequate support for turning professional yet. And besides, I believe that running should be intrinsically motivated. When I have to race to earn a living, I guess I will not be able to enjoy running as much as I do now. That said, I am still very happy to share what I know and learn from running because I feel that I have benefited a lot from this sport. Without turning pro, I would still do my best to continue training hard and racing hard as long as my body allows me to because I like to live a life with challenges.

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.