After our success at the 20K in Brussels, Alice and I decided to take it to the next level. This time in Singapore. This time 30K. Not in one go. Split into two parts: 9K at sunset and 21K at sunrise. The 100 Plus Passion Run.
Last weekend I picked up our bib, chip and goodies. It was a nice surprise to find all the goodies we received: an orange singlet, a pair of socks, a towel, a backpack big enough to carry a laptop and plenty of other things, a notebook with our name on it (yep individualized notebook), and a voucher for massage. No comparison vs. what we received usually in Europe. It felt like Christmas.
At sunset on Saturday, we arrived at the East Coast park to find a sea of people dressed in orange. Apparently we were supposed to wear the orange singlet, which we chose not too because orange is simply not our color. While we were warming up - which if you ask me is not really needed given the temperature, no doubt that my muscles were warm - there was the parent-kid race. That was fun to watch. Some parents were pulling the kids. Some kids were pulling the parents. Some were trying to look alike. But all were having fun and that was really nice to watch.
Eventually it was our turn to hit the ground. We took it slowly as it was very hot and the purpose was to have fun and catch up on everything we haven't talked about since I left Belgium. The temperature and the humidity made the exercise harder. What we thought would be a nice little walk at sunset turned out to be a real work-out.
As the sun went down, I realized the advantage of the flashy orange. Runners wearing flashy orange are more visible a night.
That was part one.
Part two started at 5:15am on Sunday morning. If you have to be starting a race at 7am, you have to have breakfast at 5am or so.
By 6:30am we were back at the park. This time I was alone to walk. I had my very own coach helping gear up and my very own photographer documenting the preparation.
At 7am I left for 21K.
I had music, I had water, I had motivation.
What I didn't have was a cooling system. Despite it was 7am it was already super hot. And by the time the sun was up and facing me I could barely see through the sweat running on my face. Luckily they were giving out water every 2 km, which was more than welcome. Even more luckily at half way point there was Alice with a towel which I happily grabbed.
The second half was even harder as I got tired and even hungry as of km18.
Yet I powered through and finished in I believe 2 hours and 55min. I will know the final timing in a couple of days.
While I'm happy I could do it all by myself, I missed Alice. It's such much more fun to have someone to talk while suffering and asking a million times "why are we doing this?"
Maybe because it feels good when it's offer :)
Last weekend I picked up our bib, chip and goodies. It was a nice surprise to find all the goodies we received: an orange singlet, a pair of socks, a towel, a backpack big enough to carry a laptop and plenty of other things, a notebook with our name on it (yep individualized notebook), and a voucher for massage. No comparison vs. what we received usually in Europe. It felt like Christmas.
At sunset on Saturday, we arrived at the East Coast park to find a sea of people dressed in orange. Apparently we were supposed to wear the orange singlet, which we chose not too because orange is simply not our color. While we were warming up - which if you ask me is not really needed given the temperature, no doubt that my muscles were warm - there was the parent-kid race. That was fun to watch. Some parents were pulling the kids. Some kids were pulling the parents. Some were trying to look alike. But all were having fun and that was really nice to watch.
Eventually it was our turn to hit the ground. We took it slowly as it was very hot and the purpose was to have fun and catch up on everything we haven't talked about since I left Belgium. The temperature and the humidity made the exercise harder. What we thought would be a nice little walk at sunset turned out to be a real work-out.
As the sun went down, I realized the advantage of the flashy orange. Runners wearing flashy orange are more visible a night.
That was part one.
Part two started at 5:15am on Sunday morning. If you have to be starting a race at 7am, you have to have breakfast at 5am or so.
By 6:30am we were back at the park. This time I was alone to walk. I had my very own coach helping gear up and my very own photographer documenting the preparation.
At 7am I left for 21K.
I had music, I had water, I had motivation.
What I didn't have was a cooling system. Despite it was 7am it was already super hot. And by the time the sun was up and facing me I could barely see through the sweat running on my face. Luckily they were giving out water every 2 km, which was more than welcome. Even more luckily at half way point there was Alice with a towel which I happily grabbed.
The second half was even harder as I got tired and even hungry as of km18.
Yet I powered through and finished in I believe 2 hours and 55min. I will know the final timing in a couple of days.
While I'm happy I could do it all by myself, I missed Alice. It's such much more fun to have someone to talk while suffering and asking a million times "why are we doing this?"
Maybe because it feels good when it's offer :)
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