More than 41,000 runners congregated at the Padang yesterday morning, for the 26th edition of the Safra Singapore Bay Run & Army Half Marathon, an annual event that is jointly organised by Safra and the Singapore Army.
Click here to view the Army Half Marathon 2018 photos.
Soh Rui Yong Wins the 21KM Army Half Marathon Men’s
And the winner of the 21KM Army Half Marathon Men’s category this year had been 2018 South East Asian Games Marathon Gold Medallist, Soh Rui Yong who finished his 21.1KM race in a time of 1 hour 11 minutes and 59 seconds.
He had been two minutes ahead of second-placed Jeevaneesh, who had clocked a time of 1 hour 13 minutes and 44 seconds.
Said Soh, 27, an executive at Sport Singapore, “I was happy to come back to this race for the first time in six years. This race is quite special for all Singaporean males because we go through the Army and we have our own units and even after we ORD (Operationally Ready Date – when a National Serviceman completes his 2-year term of service), we still have that sense of team competition where we come back once a year, at this race, to compete for our unit.”
Also helps his unit Armour to win the team title
He added, “My unit, Armour, has never won the Army Half Marathon team title before, so I came back to help them win it. We won it by two minutes this year, so I was very happy to contribute to the team. This is something that we will remember for a long time.”
Each team consists of six National Servicemen, six full-time national servicemen and six regulars, and the team time is the cumulative times of all of the 18 runners.
Armour’s timing had been 20 hours 54 minutes 18 seconds.
Army Half Marathon was part of his Berlin Marathon training
But Soh however, had admitted that despite winning, his training for the Army Half Marathon had not been ideal. This is because he will be running the Berlin Marathon in three weeks time and so he is currently in the thick of preparations for that.
Said the runner, “I am still deep in my marathon training, with the Berlin Marathon coming up, so as much as I wanted to help my team, I could not cut back on training to taper for this race. I had to train through and run this as part of my preparations. Last week, I was at East Coast Park doing a 42km long run. Running a Full Marathon the week before a half, is not the best way to train for a half, but I had to come here and do my best.”
He continued, “So I tried to run this as a marathon tempo run, at the same pace that I would be happy running Berlin in. I was happy to get through it. My legs felt a bit flat because all of the mileage was adding up. I was also balancing nine hours of work per day with training before and after work. So my recovery was not great. But I am on the right track and I hope that I can do what I did today, twice in Berlin.”
Confident of breaking the national marathon record in Berlin
Despite juggling work and other personal commitments with training for the Berlin Marathon though, Soh is confident in not only running a qualifying time for the upcoming South East Asian Games, but also in breaking the national record.
He said, “While I always feel that things can be done a bit better, this marathon cycle has been challenging to figure out with the work and training balance. So there are some days where I wish I had more sleep and other days when I wish I could do two runs instead of one. But I have done my best to get ready for Berlin and it will be interesting to see what I can do.”
Soh added, “This is my first time to prepare for a major marathon by jugging work and training. Berlin is important to me because it is the chance to run against some of the best athletes in the world and to score a very fast time to make it to the South East Asian Games. I am also hoping to break the national record in Berlin, so that is why it is such an important race. At this point, I feel good about my chances to get both, but you never know till you get to the 32KM point in a marathon though. But as far as things are going, I have a legitimate chance to get things done, though.”
Soh’s Training
To train for Berlin, Soh’s training cycle has consisted of a minimum of two hard training days a week, with one being a workout day and the other being a long run day.
He said, “Sometimes it can be up to three hard days a week though – such as workout on Monday, workout on Thursday and Long Run on Saturday. Everything else in between is easy. For example, on a heavier day, in the morning I will run 16KM and after work I will run another 30-40 minutes. For a lighter day, I will just run once, at lunch time, covering about 16KM-18KM.”
Continued Soh, “I actually like running in the hot sun sometimes. It means I get to sleep in a bit more, and I find that the heat also provides a good training stimulus. I will spread it out and mix up my training. But the important sessions will be for example, like today, where I ran 21KM at marathon pace. That will really tell you if you are good to go, and today went reasonably well, and I felt good after the race. I did not feel beat-up, so once I taper and go to Berlin, where there are better weather conditions, it will translate into a good performance.”
Soh also does not believe in taking weekly rest days; his training is for seven days a week. He said, “Maybe I will take one rest day every two to three weeks. I also try and do a bit of strength training though. I used to do more of that when I was training in FlagStaff, Arizona, taking a bit of time off to train, but with work, I have nine hours less in a day, so some of these secondary stuff takes a backseat to work and running balance. But I am slowly getting better at it, and I hope to get on a regular strength programme every week for about an hour.”
Discipline is important in juggling work and training
To juggle work and training, Soh stressed that being disciplined is the most important thing.
He said, “I know it sounds cliched, but work is demanding simply because of the hours spent at it. Distance running in our heat and humidity is also demanding. So the body needs time to rest and recover. That means you have to be disciplined in getting the appropriate hours of sleep per night. Having eight to nine hours fo rest can be challenging for those with kids, but that is my recommendation because once you are getting the rest in, then half the battle is won. If you struggle to get the sleep, injuries and illness will pop up.”
He continued, “Also, try and fit running into your day so that you will enjoy it. If you like running first thing in the morning, then wake up and go for a run. But if you like to do it after work, that works too. For those who like training in a group, find a group to run with. Try and build running into your day somehow, and formulate a programme that you enjoy. There are some runners whom I coach and advise and I tell them the same thing – that you’ve got to make running something that you look forward to. If you are going to dread work and dread running too, your life is going to be miserable.”
Tapering for Berlin to begin soon
And with just three weeks left to go till Berlin, Soh urges runners who are taking part in the race, to begin to tone down their training soon.
He said, “There are three weeks left, so I would recommend one more week of hard training, and then taper it down, to get the body rested, and free of injuries and pain, then you will be ready and good to go in Berlin.”
Leave a Comment