Run Smart for SCSM, Says Soh Rui Yong

More than 50,000 runners from all around the world will take to the streets of Singapore this weekend for the 17th edition of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (SCSM).

And one of them will be local marathoner Soh Rui Yong, who will be aiming to defend his title in the Men’s Local category, despite admitting that he is under-prepared for the race.

Soh is no stranger to the Singapore running scene, having won local and regional accolades such as a victory at the 2017 Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (Men’s Local Category) and a Gold Medal at the South East Asia Games Marathon Event in both 2015 and 2017.

Admits he is under-prepared

Said Soh, 27, “Honestly I have been very underprepared for SCSM this year. After the Berlin Marathon in September, I took two weeks off and did not run again till October. Then when I began again in October, I did easy jogging for a few weeks, before adding speed work to my routine.”

He added, “I have not done any marathon specific workouts because my plan was to work on speed from October to December to get the ‘pop’ back into my legs. I was beginning to feel that marathon pace was not easy any more; this meant that I had the endurance but the speed was lacking. So instead of running longer laps of 80s-82s around the track, I did shorter intervals, banging it out in 68s-72s. So I feel a lot younger now, but I am lacking a bit of mileage going into SCSM.”

Juggling training and work

To prepare himself for Sunday’s marathon race, Soh had been juggling his training together with his new job as a Business Development Manager & Sports Ambassador at The Smart Local.

Said Soh, “I have been very happy over the past few weeks with my new job and working with my colleagues, and I have struck a good balance with work and running.”

He added, “My runs have been once a day, but I have been able to build up to 130km with two weeks to go till race day, so I am enjoying the set-up and I hope that my performance on Sunday will back up my training.”

This mileage is lower than his previous training for the Berlin Marathon where Soh was running up to 160km weeks.

Most of his runs have been after work.

Said Soh, “I wake up at about 7.45am and I am at work by 9am. When I knock off at 6pm, I start training and I am in bed by 10.45pm – 11pm. If I am lucky I will get nine hours of sleep, but I make sure that I get no less than seven and a half hours, though.”

Pulling Off The Win

Nonetheless though, Soh feels that if he executes a smart race, he will be able to pull off the win.

Said the runner, “I have to be careful, but I think that I still have what it takes to pull off the win if I race smart.”

He continued, “Going into SCSM, my strategy is to drink at every 5km to replenish the electrolyte and water. This actually applies not only to me, but to everyone doing the Marathon. If you are going to be out there for longer than me, you might really want to focus on the hydration part of things, as it can get quite humid.”

Continued Soh, “And I have to stress to not go out too hard, too. You are better off starting too slow than too fast. I have said this many times before. For myself, I will be starting comfortably with someone I enjoy running with and will jog with him or her for a while, and then I will start to race when I have warmed up. Maybe I will take the last 10km more seriously, but that is the plan, to go out there and enjoy the race as much as I can.”

Eagerly Anticipating The New Route

The runner is also looking forward to racing this year’s new route, which will bring runners from the F1 Pit Building, through West Coast Highway, the Central Business District and Marina Bay, before ending at the iconic Floating Platform.

Said Soh, “I think that the new route is beautiful. I have done a tour of it in a video, and I feel that it really showcases more of Singapore. A lot of races here take place at Marina Bay and feature the East Coast Park and the Gardens, but this time you are going all the way to West Coast Highway and Mount Faber before coming back to the East, so I am really looking forward to doing it.”

However at the same time though, Soh expects the route to have its fair share of challenges. He explained, “West Coast Highway has a few inclines, so that will be an issue.”

He added, “And when you reach 38km, you have to go up Sheares Bridge and come down. Going up is not the hard part. It is the coming down when your legs are already dead and you may cramp if you go down too fast. So be careful around that part.”

Will Race Tokyo in February

And after completing the SCSM, Soh aims to take a short break before embarking on his next marathon training cycle, in time for the Tokyo Marathon in February.

He explained, “I will be taking a break to recover from SCSM and then after about half a week to one week, I will be ready to go again for Tokyo. It won’t be a no-running break but I’ll be doing some easy jogging to get the body ready to go again.”

But Soh stressed though, that SCSM is not intended as a key race for him, therefore the reason for having a shorter rest time before his next marathon training cycle.

Taking Time Off Running

But for those who are targeting a personal best at SCSM, Soh recommends that they take at least two weeks off.

He said, “If you are racing this hard, then take two weeks off running completely and then start again with light running after that. If you run before then, you are putting yourself at risk and delaying the recovery process.”

In fact, Soh pointed out that after September’s Berlin Marathon, which had been a key calendar race for him, he’d taken two weeks off from running completely, himself.

Soh continued, “The cellular damage from running a marathon is not visible to the naked eye, but it is something that runners need to be more careful about. It is dumb to put in so much effort to train for the Marathon and then punish your body by going back into training so soon after that. Just have an ice cream or a beer and chill out before starting training again.”