Analysing U Run All Access 2016 Package

Source : http://www.usports.com.sg/events/u-run-all-access-2016/

We did a personal review for the popular U-Run All Access in 2014 and hope that it helped fellow runners in weighing the pros and cons of the offer. We understand that NTUC has re-launched a new U-Run All Access (URAA) in the recent Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore Expo. With new inputs from NTUC U-Sports, here we are giving our personal analysis on the "U Run All Access 2016" :

Assumptions :

To start off, we are making the following assumptions and comparisons :

• Registration fees mentioned in this post are similar to past years' published fees for respective races. We am assuming that there is no increase in registration fees.

• We are assuming that we are a NTUC/nEbO member or member-to-be in order to enjoy the maximum benefits and privileges. Allow us to remind once again that not everyone can sign up as NTUC (National Trade Union Congress) member (e.g. civil servants are not eligible). Check your eligibility first.

U Run All Access (URAA) 2016 Sign Up Fees

According to U Sports :

• The running package is exclusive for NTUC / nEbO members only.

• Non-members can sign up for a 1-year NTUC membership and U Run All Access 2016 bundle package at a special rate of $245 (U.P. $275).  

• The 3-run package is priced at $158 and allows package holders to enjoy guaranteed slots to 3 of their favourite races available under the their List of Runs in 2016.

• For package holders who wish to run more races, they have the option to purchase additional runs at $50 each.

The table summarises signup fees for both members and non-members. 

(Reminder : Standard package refers to 3 Runs deal. You may sign up for more runs at $50 per run).

Note : Sign-up fees for "Non-Members" category include one year NTUC membership. 

Expected Sign Up Fees for Running Events in 2016

Verdict

Herewith our personal comments after comparing the sign up fees for URAA 2016 package and the respective events sign up fees :

• If you are a NTUC member, there is a definite edge in signing up for URAA 2016. It relates to substantial cost-savings if you choose running events that are more than $53. (See below running events that entails more than $53 registration fees).

• Runner Convention (5 or 32km)
• Marina Run (21km)
• 2XU Compression Run (21km)
• Sundown Marathon (10, 21 or 42km)
• DC Justice League
• Newton Run (18 or 32km)
• Standard Chartered Marathon (10, 21 or 42km)
• Brooks Run Happy (21km) - If compared to Normal Registration
• Marina Run (10km) - If compared to Normal Registration
• 2XU Compress (10km) - If compared to Normal Registration
• NTUC Run (10 or 21km) - If compared to Normal Registration
• Garfield Run - If compared to Normal Registration

• For non-members, the package is only worthwhile ONLY IF you participate in 3 long distance events (i.e. Runners Convention, Sundown Marathon and Standard Chartered Marathon). Even so, the savings are rather insignificant.

• Kudos to NTUC for listening to the general public. It is a pleasant surprise to see them including unconventional races in this year's package. The inclusion of more family oriented runs (e.g. Garfield Run) not only provide flexibility, but allow other friends and family members to run. It definitely encourage participation from not so hardcore runners. 

My First Did Not Finish (DNF) - Craze Ultra 2015 (101km)

In my wildest imagination, I had dreamt that I would become an unconscious potato...or incapacitated to the point of no movement in order to arrive at my first DNF. 

Never had I expected that I would quit a race because my body being in pain, the mind giving up and the heart losing its desire to continue.

Craze Ultra Marathon (101km) was a tough race. This year, 43 out of 152 participants did not complete the race either due to DNF or DNS. 

Statistics of 2015 Craze Ultra 101km Participation

Flag Off at MacRitchie Start Point

It was regrettable that my race was not going as planned since the beginning. I started to develop a small blister on my left foot at the earliest stage of the race. I managed to puncture the blister at CP3 after my wife dispatched me with a nail clipper. However, I could still feel sand particles in my running shoes even though I had frequently removed my shoes and socks to check. It was the beginning of my self-denial stage. I actually thought that it was my mind playing tricks on me, instigating me to quit the race.  In a stubborn mindset, I decided to push on with the race.

At CP3. foot starting to develop blisters

Matters got worse after CP4.  It was then that I felt those really big blisters on the balls of my feet.  Yes. Both sides. It felt like I was floating on 2 pieces of liquid gels in between my feet and soles. This hurt a fair bit. The stubbornness in me made me thought that I could do something about them at the next checkpoint (CP5).

I travelled another 12km along the evil stretch of Timor-Barat highway and Punngol Park connector. To my horror, I suddenly realised that my water bag was empty! To complicate matters, the pain developed from blisters became unbearable. By then, the next checkpoint was 1km away. That time, I knew I had to stop and do something about the blisters. I punctured the blisters and allowed the bloody liquid to ooze out. Ouch!! 

I rested for a while and decided to continue. However, I was suddenly hit by a dizzy spell. I felt breathless and lost all my energy. I knew I was seriously dehydrated. Since there was no water top-up point, I had to rest even longer and hoping profusely that I could gain back some energy before crawling my way to CP5. 

Both feet were oozing with liquid after puncturing

Lo and behold, I met my saviours! 2 ultra-runners (Henry Yang and Pris Chew) saw me and  gave me some ice water and coconut water. I drank and was rather revived to continue with the race. At the back of my mind, I started contemplating to quit as I knew that I had reached my physical limits.

Checkpoint 5 (51km mark)

Reaching CP 5 was a wonderful thing. My friends - Raymond Chew and Jackson Chia were waiting to cheer me on. Raymond even bought me beancurd and apples as supplements. I had a good rest there and was telling them about my discomfort. They encouraged me to continue and offered me a ride home should I decide to quit. At that point, any encouragement was a booster. I felt motivated. I thanked them for their support and told them that I would like to proceed with race.

CP5, Enjoying my Beancurd and Massage :)

Continuing was, however, painful. In order to minimise the excruciating pain from the bloody blisters, I was literally limping all my way. Also, the earlier dizzy spell had nonchalantly  drained my energy to the max. 

Never in my life had I to crawl at such a slow speed. In the end,  I accepted the fate to be a quitter and halted the torture at the 65km mark.

2 Big and Painful Blisters at Both Feet

I think I made the right decision to DNF as there would still be other opportunities to redeem myself. I reflected and attributed my failures to the followings : 

(1) over-mileage shoes; 
(2) lack of conditioning training; 
(3) poor discipline of food/water intakes

This DNF, by far, is my greatest defeat in my years of running. I hope this will make me a stronger runner. I swear I will train harder and conquer Craze Ultra (101km) in the subsequent years!!!

DNF at Darul Makmur Mosque (between CP4 and CP3 - about 65km mark)

Acknowledgement

• Thanks to my wife Rachel (aka Mrs Run The Town) for supporting me the entire time. The home cooked lunch was delicious and awesome!!! :)

• Thanks to Raymond Chew and Jackson Chia for cheering me at the 51km checkpoint. Without your moral booster, I would not be able to walk another 15 km. 

• Thanks Henry and Pris Chew for the ice cold water and coconut water. I might have collapsed without your support.

• Thanks to Joel for volunteering to be my pacer at CP3. although he ended up driving me home instead of pacing me. 

• Thanks to the fellow ultra runners who offered me with bandages or encouraging me whenever I was limping (too many to name, so I decide not to name any).

• Last but not least, thanks to the Running Guild and volunteers for organising the run. I will be back!!!

Strategies to Complete My Craze Ultra 101km (2015)

“It’s psychologically comforting to know that you haven’t skimped on your preparation. Anything less than total commitment won’t cut it.”

Karnazes, Dean

"Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner.” 

INTRODUCTION

My Craze Ultra (101km) 2015's strategies are very much derived from my past participating experience in the Craze Ultra (78km) 2014 and Gold Coast Marathon 2014. 

My  edge, I must admit, would be my familiarity with the running route and I should theoratically waste lesser time in navigating myself through the journey. Hence, I shall focus on pacing, refuelling and logistics support planning for this event. 

Penning down my strategies is also a form of mental preparation for myself in this event.

PACING STRATEGY

142 runners signed up for last year's 101km category and only 108 participants completed the race. 

11 participants did not start (DNS). 21 participants did not finish (DNF). 2 participants were disqualified (DQ). 

Statistics of 2014 Craze Ultra 101km Participation

The performance of participants who completed the 101km race (in 2014) can be summarised in few 25% blocks :

• Top 25% - completed in less than 18 hours 59 mins
• 25 -  50% -  completed in less than 21 hours 41 mins
• 50 -  75% -  completed in less than 23 hours 37 mins
• 75% onwards - completed in less than 31 hour 56 mins

I am working out the strategies for my 101 challenge by assuming the 50th percentile as my 'ideal' finishing time.

In short, I am targeting a 10min/km pace for the first 50km and 11 min/km pace for the return leg. To regulate my endurance for the whole run, I need to exercise discipline to control the pace set for the upper and lower limits. 

REST MANAGEMENT

As for rest management, I am planning to take a 20 minutes break at CP 1, 2 and 4 respectively. I also intend for a 30 minutes lunch break at CP 3. I am hoping that I can take some bites to sustain my energy there (I ate very little last year due to the extreme heat).

For the return leg, I plan to take a 30 minutes rest at all CPs. By taking such measures, I hope I can complete the event despite my lack of training/conditioning.

My 101km Pacing Strategy for Craze Ultra 2015

REFUELLING STRATEGY

Besides carrying natural fuels (prunes, chia seeds and water) on my backpack, I will rely heavily on the food aids at all checkpoints for my refuelling (all checkpoints should be supplying fruits/sandwiches except for CP 5, which will supply instant noodles for runners). I will also count on the numerous coffee shops/petrol kiosks along the route for 'contingency' refuelling.

For moral boosting, my wife (Mrs Run the Town) will meet me at CP3 (Sembawang) to feed me a yummy lunch prepared by her.

LOGISTICS SUPPORT

I am still in the midst of planning my logistics support. At this moment, I would most likely need the following items:

• Hydration backpack (to carry my water bag and stuff).
• Blinker lights and torchlights (for running in the dark).
• Camera handphone (for communications and photo taking).
• Additional of 1 shirt, 1 pair of socks and 1 pair of shoes (for change over to prevent blisters).
• GPS Watch.
• External Battery Pack (for charging at every checkpoint).
• Running Map (just in case I get lost).
• Running Hat and Sunglasses (protection against sunny weather).
• Road ID (for easy identification in the event of accident).
• Toilet Papers (for you-know-why).
• Adhesive Bandage (lest tripping, falling and cutting myself).
• Cash (just in case I need to buy food stuffs, or to take a taxi if I DNF).

My triumph card will still be my wife (Mrs Run the Town). She will be driving me to and fro (start/finishing points).  She will also standby at home to deliver me any sudden logistics requirements that I may call for under unforeseen circumstances. This is essential as I am reluctant to carry additional loads on my back during the long run. It also help that our home is strategically located in the middle of a few check points.

CONCLUSION

I seriously feel that it is important to be mentally and physically prepared for this event. I am lacking in physical training this time due to my injury. Hence, adequate mental preparation becomes vital. I hope that my self-derived strategies, coupled with my limited walk-jog trainings would allow me to complete my first 101km run on 5 September. 

To the seasoned and experienced ultra-runners, your pointers and advices are important to help me refine my running plan. Please share if you can. Allow me to thank you in advance!

Simon Prepares for His Maiden 101km Run!

Swollen left ankle just after the basketball session.

Sidetrack....

I have been missing my running sidekick since November 2014. Rachel (aka Mrs. RunTheTown) was going through a long and worrisome period - being closely monitored for suspected metastasis of cancer to her bones. We were lucky. Her cancer did not spread as suspected. My dear wife fought it through once more. She, however, has been ordered for complete halt on running due to a fractured knee (bad enough to look like cancer and failing her bone scans and blood tests every month). She was feeling the pain in sleep and walk. It left me with lesser time and motivation to do my own running for a while.

Back to my own running....

On the last day of 2014, I injured myself by severely spraining my left ankle during a casual basketball game. The injury forced me to take a long term break from all load bearing exercises. In fact, the pain disallowed me to participate in any form of exercises. It was disheartening as my stamina was badly compromised. Even though time is said to be a vital factor for healing, this totally uncalled for injury has been taking me more than half a year to recover...and sadly slowly....

By May 2015, I decided to register myself for the Craze Ultra 101km. It is to be held from Saturday, 5 September till Sunday, 6 September 2015. I did the 78km last year. I would not want to miss this year's event! Despite my injury, I set my mind to complete this awesome distance, hoping for no further aggravations to my ankle. At that juncture, I believed that my ankle could heal by June and I would still have sufficient time to train for the event.

I thought I was feeling good by June. My ankle was healing sufficiently for some sort of trainings. I started running shorter distances to gauge my stamina and strength. Alas! Never in my dreams would I expect myself to be panting profusely and struggling to complete a fairly slow pace 5km run! I even fell sick after every back-to-back training session - a sign of overexertion due to my poor physique. 

I realised that I had to tweak my trainings to accommodate my injury plus deterioration in fitness. I knew I had to strictly adhere to a walk-run approach (from trainings to actual race) so that it would not trigger further injuries to my body. I needed to be disciplined!

The idea was to clock sufficient mileages so that I would have the capacity to complete the event within a gracious cut off timing of 32hr. 2015 is just not my year to talk about performance! To be able to finish the 101km would already be my greatest achievement of the year.

2.5 months on, the longest training distance that I accomplished was on Sunday, 9 August. I did a D.I.Y. SG50 Walk-A-Jog (in the wee hours of our country's 50th birthday) with one short 20-minute break due to heavy downpour. The registered GPS distance was 50km. My gut feel told me that I had probably clocked 45km instead. Perhaps my GARMIN FENIX 2 was not quite accurate (assuming the accuracy to be +/-10%). 

DIY SG50 Walk-A-Jog

Now that I have less than 3 weeks before the actual race, I shall not stretch myself unwittingly. I intend to focus on my core strengthening and maintenance walks/runs. Irregardless, I will not give up! I have every intention to turn up for the event on 5 September. 

Stay tune to my next post....I will share my strategy to finishing the Craze Ultra 101km on actual race day.

My training log for June 2015.

My training log for July 2015.

My training log for August 2015.

The Chinese Forest Gump - Chen Penbin

You have probably read about Dean Karnazes's achievement of 50 Marathon in 50 States in 50 days, but you may not have heard about a Chinese who is attempting to run 100 marathons in 100 consecutive days.

Chen Penbin, 37, started his journey from Guangzhou on 2 Apr 2015. He will also be running through Fujian province, Zhejiang, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Tianjin and he will arrive at his final stop in Beijing on 10 July 2015.

This is an amazing story of a man transformation from a fisherman to an ultra marathoner. See video for more details.

China Ultra Runner Chen Penbin from mdm53 on Vimeo.

Hopes and Dreams Part 1 from Dunlop Goodrich on Vimeo.

The Science of Running (In Mandarin)

Reference : https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfL9JLuOMbd-zdzF0OBpplA

Saw some interesting videos on the Science of Running presented by Taiwanese Coach Hsu Kuo-Feng.

Happy Watching!

VIDEO 1 : ON THE BODY'S ENERGY SYSTEM

This video explains the aim and purposes of the 6 intensity level and 5 heart rates zone.

VIDEO 2 : ON CADENCE & VERTICAL OSCILLATION

This video explains running cadence, vertical oscillation and their relations between cadence, vertical oscillation and efficiency. 

VIDEO 3 : ON GROUND CONTACT TIME

This video explains the impact of heel-strike and forefoot landing on the duration of ground contact time.

p/s - You can read up more at Coach Hsu Kuo-Feng's blog via http://rocky549.blogspot.tw/

Inspirational Running Video : Never Alone - We are BROTHERS!!!!

Photo Credits : Cyber Pioneer 

"I know that this condition will deteriorate eventually and I might need a wheelchair in the future, so I decided might as well do one last race before I couldn't do them anymore "

Source : https://www.facebook.com/cyberpioneer.connect/posts/10152257611481059

This is a true story of Kenneth Tan, a former Navy Diver who was diagnosed with Strumpell Lorrain Disease, and his former batch mates coming together to join him in a 10km walk.

Watch the documentary and tell me your reason(s) for not being able to run.