runningcoachsg

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Mr Colin Chua Does 2hr 59min 05sec for Standard Chartered Marathon 2015

Gambling Macau Marathon 2015 for Standard Chartered Marathon 2015

We believe that Mr Colin Chua is a success story for a soul yearning to do a sub-3hours time. He relentlessly went for it and finally got it and he is a happy man now. Now he can be rest assured that he is a sub-3hours runner.

What is more striking is that he is married with 2 kids. It is amazing to see an athlete like Mr Colin Chua in not giving up the dream of sub-3 hours, although he was not able to achieve the sub - 3 hours earlier on.

Also, it is important to share with our readers on another piece of information. Mr Colin was actually selected to represent Singapore to run in Macau International Marathon 2015, which was held on the same day as Standard Chartered Marathon on 06, December. He called up Coach Rameshon to get some advice and the latter had told Mr Colin to focus on Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore, instead. Hence, Mr Colin gambled the opportunity away so that he takes the bigger challenge to do a sub-3hours in Singapore itself. Fellow athletes, Mr Andreas Wenger (2015 Tokyo and Kona Marathon) and Mr Jensen Toh (2015 Berlin International Marathon) achieving of sub-3hours in marathon races have been a motivational force for our Flexifitness athletes.

Also, a point to note is that in our group, the 5 five top runners from Flexifitness who went for sub-3 hours were Mr Andreas Wenger, Mr Evan Chee, Mr Colin Chua, Mr Erich and Dr Ansgar.

First, let me discuss on those who did their best but was not able to get the sub-3hours. Subsequently, I will discuss about Mr Erich and then on Dr Ansgar, and then discuss the rest who did the sub-3 hours athletes, especially Mr Colin, as the topic is on him.

Mr Erich did 1hr 30min with Dr Ansgar at the half-way mark of the marathon and had to finally settle for 3hours 06min, while the latter had to settle for 3hour 35min. Both did not give up in the race, although they were later affected by the heat and the humidity of the race. Both runners did us proud by completing with a reasonable time.

Mr Erich, a systematic athlete by nature, would like to ascertain on what could have gone wrong by doing reflections and meeting Coach Rameshon so that mistakes in future could be avoided. Coach Rameshon shared that by doing reflections one could avoid future mistakes which are controllable. As for Dr Ansgar, Coach Rameshon has told him to just run the Hong Kong Marathon which may enable the former to obtain the sub-3hours.

It was in Hong Kong that Coach Rameshon, in the past, did 2hr 31min, in 1990 Hong Kong Marathon and came in 5th in the International category for men open race. It is a good place to do a good time, although it is a hilly course. Hill workout is a must for this terrain. Coach Rameshon says, "The weather may be enough for Dr Ansgar to do the sub-3hours as it is very difficult to get cramps in a cool climate country, which he got it in the Singapore Marathon. The risk is much higher to get cramps in a hot and humid country as compared to cooler climate countries. Various research studies have shown this."

Mr Andreas and Mr Evan ran together, nearly for the major part of the course and both did sub- 3hours. Mr Colin dons our singlet during important races and is proud of it. We were elated to do well throughout the course. We were tracking all our runners’ 5km splits all the way, till they finish the marathon race.

Despite Mr Colin's very busy schedule, he had maintained contact, through Facebook, with Coach Rameshon and was constantly in communication with us. We would like to congratulate Mr Colin to finally get the sub-3hours and doing us proud. Well done, Mr Colin!

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, December 8, 2015

Sub - 3 hours Marathon - Dream of a Marathon Runner (Part 2)

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 Saranniya

Out of 6 local runners who ran in this year's Standard Chartered Marathon 2015, Flexifitness has three runners who have sub-3 hours time. In total, there are altogether 6 locals who did sub-3 hours for Singaporean runners. Our Flexifitness athletes individual won the second runners up and third runners up for the race. It was fantastic news for us. They are Mr Evan Chee, who came in top 3 with a time of 2hr 56min 51sec and Mr Colin Chua, who came in 4th position for the marathon race, held on last Sunday, 06th December. That means, two of our runners are among the top 4 position winners.

We are happy that Mr Evan Chee and Mr Colin Chua did their personal best time. For Mr Colin, the sub-3hours have evaded him a number of times and he relentlessly went for it and got the timing this year. For Mr Evan, he got the podium finish, third in the race. He was surprised by this. The only thing we know is that he rose to the occasion.

On top of that, it is also good to feature another of our runner who came to us with a time of 3hr 07min and did 2hr 51min in Tokyo Marathon this year. He became champion in Men's Open category of the Kona Marathon, Hawaii, Marathon 2015 race with a time of 2hr 54min 54sec. His name is Mr Andreas Wenger. Mr Andreas ran with a time of 2hr 54min in Stanchart Marathon about 2mins in front of Mr Evan Chee. Both Mr Evan Chee and Mr Andreas are training partners. Both runners do not have high mileage as their work commitment is also quite heavy, if not very heavy. It was good to see that they finally did the miracle to do sub-3 hours, with fellow runner Colin Chua as well.

We will be featuring on Andreas soon in our blog on his excellent run in this year's hot and humid Singapore Marathon. For this year, 2015, Andreas Wenger, Jensen Toh (Berlin Marathon 2015) and Colin Chua are new entrants to the sub-3 hours time. We would like to congratulate these runners for their fine performance. I believe that Flexifitness will continue in churning sub-3 hour athletes year in year out so long the athlete wants to go for it.

We will soon list out the runners, from past to present, on who have done the sub-3 hours, and post in another blog post soon.

It will be good to go for the sub-3 hour time for those interested as to achieve this. It is not that easy. Coach Rameshon says," There are time, money, effort and even relationship time to be sacrificed in order to achieve this and it is not easy. In this year's race in Singapore, we only have 6 runners doing sub-3 hours in Standard Chartered Marathon race. It is only a handful who can do it - the committed and determined ones.

Friday, December 4, 2015

Sub - 3 hours Marathon - Dream of a Marathon Runner

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

Sub 3 hours - Sacrifice of time, money and effort, and even relationship time needed to achieve.

To do a marathon distance in running, it is a dream for many athletes. I was, at first, a middle distance and long-distance runner, when I started competing, My personal best time for 1500m was 4m 11sec, while my 5000m personal best time was 15m 31sec. The personal best times were achieved over a period of time. I was running distances between 1500m and 5000m in races.

Over time, I met a Mr John Sproule, an inspirational lecturer, in the then College of Physical of Education, where I was a trainee teacher, at that time, in the past. It was after meeting him and another lecturer by the name of Helen Gilbey that I understood the application part of Physiology and running and I got very interested in the subject area. Sometimes Mr John will go in-depth in discussing on running and Physiology. He even encouraged me to go to England and study at Loughborough University of Technology and train under the wings of Sir George Gandy. I am very appreciative to him because of that direction that he gave me, which became my turning point in life.

Mr John Sproule was running at least 5 times per week. He usually ran about 10km. He also had done a sub-3 hours marathon in 2hr 57min for the marathon race, in the past. One day, I joined him for a run at MacRitchie and I found that he was going at a 46min 10km pace. It was not an enjoyable pace which I was able to follow. It was during the run that I learnt a number of things. He told me about hydration, fluid replacement etc. It was my first step to running a marathon. I always admired Mr John Sproule for his personal best time of 2hr 57min.

The desire to do a sub-3hours grew in me and I decided to put in 10km per day every day to train for it. I was training consistently for 6 months.

At that time, I was getting the top 3 positions in 10 km races. Over time, in the 1987 Mobil Marathon, after listening to the lectures given by Helen Gilbey, I decided to drink at every drink station as mentioned by her to me. She has given lectures on drugs in sports and how it can be detrimental to us in the long run. She was a proponent of telling people not to take banned substances to do well in sports. I found her as the best lecturer in The College of Physical Education, then and even now.

Coming back to the story, in the Mobil Marathon, during the race, I told myself to follow Tan Choon Ghee all the way and then do what I can to win the race, if there was a possibility. At the last 5km, I decided to go one notch up in my gear to run faster and overtake Tan Choon Ghee. After that, I overtook Ricky Khoo, at the final 1km stretch.

As soon as I entered the Stadium, I realised that I did 2hr 40min, a new personal best time. I told myself that it was a massive personal best time. I felt very strong from the start until the end of the race. Ricky Khoo told me that I was the champion in the race. I was more interested in doing sub-3 hours and that was all. At that time, the national record was 2hr 34min and it was held by Goh Gam Seng.

I have my own reflections of the race. To complete the marathon is something great, irrespective of time, and to do a sub-3 hours time is a big reward as only a handful few can achieve this in nearly every Stanchart Marathon race held in Singapore. It is many people's dream. To do this, one has to sacrifice a lot of time, money and effort, and relationship time, and it is not easy. My best wishes to these sincere runners who want to achieve this. Feel the thrill when you achieve this. I hope that many can achieve this. It is a marathon runner's dream.

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Carboloading

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

Carboloading - Secret lies in storing more glycogen, fast energy, in the body.

Today, one of our athletes rang me at late night, 11pm, and told me that he wants to eat roti prata and I had to tell him that the days to take these kinds of food are all over.

Various research recommends that on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, before a race, if the race is on a Sunday, it was advisable to consume one's usual food, but with more fats and proteins included in it. This is to deprive glycogen in the body to a certain level such that the next three days, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, one's body will be hungry for glycogen to be immediately stored in the muscular level of the body, and in the liver, as liver glycogen. One can store one's storage by 200 to 300 percent. Experience is important in doing this experiment. This is a technology and any marathon runner, especially a top athlete must be aware if he wants to keep progressing in marathon racing. One could start experiencing this from now onwards.

The other way to increase the storage the capacity of glycogen is to reduce training. Those who have been running 100km and above per week should reduce the mileage to 50 to 70km, for the last week before the race. There are athletes who have been doing 30 to 50km per week and they usually ask me on how to do tapering towards the last week. To these people, I say that there is nothing to taper. In fact, it is good that they maintain the mileage or go 10 -20km up on the last week of the mileage. However, it is advisable to rest on Friday and Saturday just before the race.

One should know the reason for doing carboloading. The reason for doing carboloading is to increase manifold the storage of glycogen, fast energy which comes from carbohydrates which has a low glycemic index, in the body, by depriving the body of glycogen for the first three days and to increase predominantly carbo food that has glycogen on the last three days, just before the marathon race.

If one consumes just carbos for the 6 days, just before the marathon race, the glycogen which is stored in the liver as liver glycogen and muscles as muscle glycogen will enable one to do well for the first 1 hour of the race or between 10 to 16km. We can see this empirical evidence in research papers.

With the carboloading technique, one can last running fast for several kilometres for nearly 30km. Many of the sub-3hour runners have asked me on this technology and they have greatly benefitted by overcoming the sub-3hours barrier. A number of athletes in our running group have asked me this and they should not take this lightly. Over time, experience in this is of paramount importance as over time one will learn to run faster with this technology.

As we are into the fourth day of carboloading, it is important to consume carbo, instead, from now, and it is vital to consume food that has glycogen and not much of fats and proteins. Ir is important not to omit fats and protein totally from food, as one may not be used to it.

It is important not to keep eating a lot of food that contain glycogen as one may put on weight and thereby this action of one can be detrimental to one's performance. The key is to consume one's daily caloric needs, that is all.

All the best!

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, December 2, 2015

Does acclimatisation help athletes in 2015 Standard Chartered Marathon Race?

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

Sure it does! Scientific journals and research papers have endorsed that two weeks before the marathon race, in a hot or cold climate, one should learn to acclimatise to the local country's weather where the race is being organised.

There are two kinds of sweat glands in the body, and they are known as the apocrine and eccrine. The eccrine is known to cool down the core temperature when one runs in the hot weather, thus enhancing performance.

As Singapore Stanchart Marathon is approaching, one should avoid going to cold or cooler countries to live or train or have a holiday if they are about to run in the hot weather soon, which is about to take place in few days time. It takes time for the sweat glands to get used to the weather that they are not used to. If there is a drastic change to the weather, that one is racing, one will experience sweat fatigue and the individual will not be able to allow cooling down of the body, by the body secreting sweat. One will get dehydrated if sweat does not come out of the body efficiently and effectively.

Yes, perspiration actually cools down the body to bring the core temperature of one's body down, and this, in fact, enhances one's performance. One's race, from half-way to the finish will be better with acclimatisation. It takes time for the sweat gland to get used to it, to produce a sufficient amount of sweat to cool down the body when one needs to bring the core temperature down. Hence, one has to train the sweat glands.

How many days should we take to acclimatise to the race's weather? Scientific journals on acclimatisation to weather says that 2 weeks should be enough. However, I feel that a month is best for me. Some cold countries' runners and sportsmen do take about a month of acclimatisation in order to take part in the host country, that the race is being organised.

In Singapore, the weather is hot and humid and getting used to weather is of utmost importance. It is advisable to run in a weather which is between 9am and 10 30am, and if possible go into the pool and be in it for at least 30min to an hour. This can be done twice per week or on alternative days, towards the last few weeks of the race date.

Even now, it is not too late to do, as something is always better than not doing. It is better late than never. Even if it is slightly cooler in Singapore during the Singapore Marathon race on 6th December, for the most part of the race, it is still advisable to train the sweat glands to work effectively, especially during the race itself. By not doing this, the skin receptors will not be able to secrete enough sweat. A much fitter athlete will be able to secrete sweat faster than an unfit person.

My take is that do from this Thursday, Friday and Saturday if one has not done this homework. Just learn to relax in the pool for 30min to an hour between 9 and 10 30am. The pool is also an effective way to relax the muscles.

If you have done all these, still it is not too late. It is advisable to drink throughout the race and this, in a way, helps in the cooling down of the body, thereby enhancing one's performance in a race.

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Running Coach SG is ranked One of The Most Interesting Running Blog

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 Saranniya

I was looking around for running blogs to read and find out more about running. To my amazement, I realised that I found a website that stated that our blog is ranked as one of the 100 Top Most Interesting Blog Spot. This is another milestone set by Flexifitness. It is good to hear that many people out there are reading our articles written. Flexifitness athletes will be happy to hear about this.

I will put the link for all to read.

http://www.marathontrainingschedule.com/blog/awesome-list-top-100-best-running-blogs-2014/

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, November 6, 2015

Get Sporty this November/December with Flexifitness School Holiday Programmes

Singapore Sports Guide

This blog post is written for those who are in need of a sports programme to catch up on skills that students have missed as they had to do their studies and they have missed out on sports and games that will improve their coordination skills and other skills of a game.

Now that most of us have finished our exams, we can now join programmes that will improve fitness and skills. We can find this in Flexifitness.

In order to improve speed, spatial awareness, coordination, running drills and running technique, it is a good idea to join us. Running technique like the hand technique is rarely shown in You-tube are corrected in our programme. There are games that will help one in socialising with one another.

I have found out that some of the students have finished GCE 'N' and GCE 'O' Levels. Nearly all primary schools have finished their exams. Hence, it is a great time that some of the students who do not have any physical activity during the holiday to join us for the programme.

Flexifitness Programmes are in The Singapore Sports Guide

Our programme is in the Singapore Sports Guide. Please refer to this domain for reference and one could go to Flexifitness website to access information on the programmes offered to excel in sports. http://www.sportsguide.sg/IndexSSD.aspx.

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, December 9, 2015

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

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)

Friday, December 4, 2015

Thursday, December 3, 2015

Wednesday, December 2, 2015

Sunday, November 22, 2015

Friday, November 6, 2015

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)