This is my longest road race yet. Having ran in Mizuno 10km last year, now it is time for me to challenge for 20km.
The first 20km training I did with my running buddies, Lam, BP, Andre and Jon was on 3 Jan. The route was the Mizuno route, and we did 2 laps of that hilly route. That morning was a wet morning. We practically ran in drizzle and moderate rain. It was really satisfying after I have completed my first full 20km. But I suffered a lot after that. The strain on my leg muscles and tendon near my knees was unbearable. For those who are not familiar with the route, it is a double-hill course.
Last Saturday was our second 20km training. Without the experienced Jon as our pacer this time, we tried to run the actual route. The whole 20km route consists of 6 climbs of up to 4% gradient as shown here.
It is actually an extension of the double-hill course, taking extra hills and it is quite punishing.
We missed a turn last Saturday and ended up running in wrong section of the real route. But anyway, Andre's GPS phone showed in the end we did manage 19.95km. So another 20km done, with muscle aches in the end, at least for me.
So just another week to go, I am hoping to complete the course under 2 hours 15 minutes. The qualifying time for medal is 2 hours 45 minutes. So my target is a modest one, and I hope I can achieve it.
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