2XU COMPRESSION RUN 2014 - FELT SO GOOD RUNNING WITH MY BUDDY!

Singapore Aku Datang Lagik!

Helo ladies n gentlemen, fellow respected runners... How's your day so far? I would love to reminisce my 10th Full Marathon in glorious Lion City, Singapore. It was also my first FM event of 2014. A painful one definitely.

For the record, it was my 2nd year running for 2XU Compression Run. Last year they only offered a HM distance but this year they've upgraded it to a FM. You can read all about my last year 2XU HM experience  HERE.  Because of the cheaper loyalty price, I immediately registered for it. Didn't hesitate to enroll for this game. Plus, I've never run a FM in Singapore before. That's what made me felt so excited back then. So, basically I lost my Singapore FM Virginity on 2nd March 2014. (No wonder lah it was tres painful one... hahahaa!) =P

This year, I've decided to go there a bit earlier on Friday. Me and my friend along with Faiez took the morning flight and went to check in at Sleepy Kiwi backpacker hostel first before we went to Universal Studio Sentosa (USS) in Sentosa Island. It was my 1st time visiting USS. The weather was awesomely hot and humid as usual. We took lots of pics in USS and went back back to the hostel to rest and had our dinner at the nearby Glam Cafe. Yummeh!

Merenung jauh ke sayup pandang... Far far away...

Feeling2 Warrior The Mummy.... Hohoho!

On Saturday, after the breakfast, all three of us decided to go to collect our racekits at SG Expo. The collection process was so smooth even though the queue was quite long too. Bumped into some Malaysian runners like k.Romz, Shamroslee and Divah Gme there. It was so much fun meeting them and gossiping too... (>_<)

Glad to have my lucky numbers 7 & 3 on my running bib! Fuhhh... 

Briyani Kambing Zamzam Ala Kazam... Terembekkk paduu! 

Once everything is done, we took a MRT and went to Arab Street for a scrumptious lamb briyani rice at Zamzam Resto. After that we went to the iconic Merlion and Marina Bay Sands for a photoshoot session. Penat woo jadi model tak berbayar, jumping around like a kangaroo... hohoho! Yang penting konfiden tuh perlu tinggi... hohoh =P

Faiez & I... Posing sakan hahaaa!

Jumping Jelly Bean!

Dah puas bergambar sakan... Moh kita gi tempat lain lak ehh...

As the day was getting dark, we decided to hangout at the Gardens By The Bay, where there will be a light + music performance at around 7pm. The beautiful colourful show was spectacular!  We stayed for the second repeated show. We were joined by Mr. Azim that had just arrived in the evening. We had our Texas Chicken picnic dinner in the garden too. After the show we went back to our hostel and tried to have an early rest.

During the day time...

As the night falls... Totally blew me away... The musical light show was Incredible!

I woke up around 3.15 am, felt so snoozy and sluggish. Kaki pun lenguh2 lagi rasanya... padan muka kuat sangat jalan lagik... Got up and prepared all my running gear. We started walking towards the starting line at 3.40am, and by the time we arrived, the FM had been flagged off. We were 10 minutes late actually huhu...

Immediately I started running without any warming up or stretchings. It was quite humid morning. I was sweating bucket loads and somehow I could feel my right inner thigh started to chaffe so badly. I could not run properly even it was only at KM5. I tried to contain the pain and move on.

The first 10km looked familiar to me. The same Nicol Highway, Kallang River, running through the covered jogging path. No more running through a dark gloomy park like last year.

We were running towards a golf course circa 15km and entered ECP. It was still dark and the park was properly lit. Water stations were aplenty with lots of drinking water and Pocari Sweat at every 3km.

The 2XU FM Route... Tersangatlah best nyer....

The ECP was known for its dreaded neverending route. As I approached 21km, I saw Faiez just came out from the washroom and he wanted to pace me all the way. It was so kind of him to offer himself. He just woke up from his nap and ready to rumble again. We were gossiping while running this mental stretch. It works just fine to ease the boredom. However it felt like an eternity for us to reach the U-turn. As the day was getting brighter and I could see the wonderful scenery along the coastline. Some people were having BBQs at the seaside while others were seen jogging running and cycling along the ECP.

Once we reached the exit or ECP, it was already 32km. The sun was up high in the sky. It was warm but still manageable. My quads and armstring were already felt tight and could cramp anytime. Luckily we ran past a Tiger Balm tent and I quickly applied some muscle rub. Felt a bit relieved. However my left toe started to blister as well (ouch!). Faiez n I kept a steady pace and running slowly towards the Marina Barrage and we ran passed the dome too. Thank goodness, there was no more mental loop in front of Marina Bay Sands this year for FM (hate that mini loop!). We tried to run a bit faster during the final 3.195 km. It was already past 6 hours time by then and I crossed the Finishing Line at 6:17:39 (pace 8:56). 

Almost there, almost Home!

By the time I reached the FL, the place was deserted with rubbish was everywhere on the field. I took my finisher medal and finisher tee and immediately took pictures with Azim, Faiez and Gme. Gme as usual brought along his Jalur Gemilang whenever he ran outside M'sia.

Team Harimau Malaya Aummmm! Taufik, Gme, Yours Truly, Azim & Faiez

FANTASTIC FOUR TEAM Minus One... Wished Rashid Was Here With Us... =P

After the post marathon photo ops, we went back to our hostel and had our late bfast. I felt so tired and the chafing was very painful. I felt like I wanna scream in agony while taking the tormenting shower. To make it worse, walking with a chaffing thigh was not a walk in the park for me.  After that, we had a lovely lunch at Glam Cafe.

Over all it was a great event. No more bottleneck congestion. The weather was nice. It was a 100% flat route, ideal for a PB, given that you r well prepared and enough training. The volunteers were friendly. There were banana n energy gel station along the way. Nice heavy finisher medal n simple finisher tee design too.

Finisher Medal And T-shirt (Pic courtesy of GME)

Love running in SG. Not because of the flat route, but the makanthon was the most unforgettable. Will be back here for more! I really need to step up a little bit and not get carried away with my so-called Ultra tortoise pace... ;P

Au revoir SG! See ya again soon... =)

My GARMIN data is HERE... Ngeee... =)