I was thinking what I should recount on the past events that happened this year. While checking my inbox, I received an email from Pink Apple about the races they will be organising next year. So then I thought, "I haven't blogged about my runs this year yet!"

So here's my post for today to recount the amazing races that I took part in 2013!

2012 was the very first year I signed up for an official race (by official I meant paying to run at an organised event). First was 10km 2XU Compression Run, followed by 21km New Balance REAL Run, then 30km Newton Run and to end off the year was 42km Standard Chartered Marathon. I know it was a pretty big jump to run from 0km in 2010 to running 2.4km consistently in 2011 (due to NS) then to 10km in April 2012, then 42km in December 2012. Training for the long distance was pure effort and hard work. These races I took part in 2012 were mainly pure distance run.

Runs in 2013 this year were mainly more interesting type of runs. Allow me to elaborate what I mean in the former sentence. I took a break from running for 1 month, so I officially continued running again since January this year. My first race of the year was U Run 2013 in Feburary, which involved running 15km followed by climbing 30 storeys of the NTUC Building in Marina Boulevard. Pretty challenging as you need to be ensure you have enough gas to climb the last 30 storeys after completing the 15km run. It definitely feels good to have completed that run!

My next race in 2013 was the Energiser Night Trail 2013 in May. It was one significant race for me so far since I participated in 2 races in 1 day together with See Ting. The location was all the more attractive as it was held at Lorong Asrama. To most servicemen, Lorong Asrama is definitely a memorable place for its use as a training ground gazetted for military use. The grass-mud terrain of the area boasts as a trail run and the undulating steep slopes in the area is unforgiving for any runner. The first event involved a 3km obstacle race which was rigourous given that the route involved upslopes and downsloopes inclusive of obstacles which definitely takes a toll on your energy level. My second event at night was an 18km trail run. 18km is considerably sufficiently long and the difficulty is raised when this 18km is held at the terrain of Lorong Asrama. I would say the challenge posed in this race is as tough as a 21km run. I definitely felt great about this achievement when both See Ting and I didn't train for the race at all and we managed to complete it eventually!

My 3rd race was the Pocari Sweat Run 2013 which I ran with Joshua in June. I decided to take a little break from running longer distances and decided to focus on shorter ones instead. So it was a good 10km run in this Pocari Sweat Run. What was memorable in this race was that it involved running up and down the steep grass patch of Marina Barrage.I have never taken part in any race which has something like that and I enjoyed it. I kept assuring myself that I could continuously run up the steep grass patch of Marina Barrage and not to stop throughout the race given it's 10km. Plus, I wanted to break my own timing for 10km which I ran back in 2XU Run 2012. Not easy for me since I haven't consistently train during this period.

My final race this year was during the first few weeks of university education. RunNUS 2013 was also a 10km race around the university's campus. It's definitely not easy since the Kent Ridge campus is full of upslopes and downslopes. So as expected, the route really composed of the steepest slope you can imagine. Once again, to maintain or outbeat my previous 10km timing was another important goal in mind as I raced through the university campus.

Despite my mileage in 2013 to be about half that of 2012, I am definitely feel happy to have participated in these races these year, in partcular the running experiences and emotions I had as I ran step-by-step across every race route and crossing the finishing line. With school as an important component in my life, I definitely have to manage my time between the various commitments. Runninng is definitely an interest and I will coninue to train in the upcoming years. Maybe one day, I will be able to participate in races overseas and experience the various cultures and running events in different countries.

21km 2XU Compression Run 2014 shall be my next race! 

Last of all, Merry Christmas to everyone!