Sundown Marathon 2015

 Started training for this about 2 months prior to the actual event itself, progressively increasing the duration and mileage of my runs.

Stopped lifting entirely during this period as well as it would be counterproductive, trying to build mass and yet go through so much endurance training at the same time was simply a 1 way ticket to achieving results nowhere.

Did lose some size and muscle as a result, but no matter as such is the process of marathon training.

Not really gonna race anyone or rush for some kind of 'timing', my only aim is to complete it without getting DQ-ed (<8hours I believe). It's more for personal satisfaction. Experience at the previous SCM was pretty painful, hopefully this time I will fare a lot better as I've been training substantially more for this run.

There was also an element of 'unfinished business' as I did not run the full marathon back during the SCMS 2014. Hence, completing this marathon would prove to be a significant milestone for me.

Race Pack Collection (26/6/15)

Entrance

The collection was done at Suntec Convention Hall, it was the usual walk-in, register, collect race-tag and running singlet with bag + miscellaneous.

 Registration & Race Pack Collection Area

Surprisingly, there wasn't really a crowd when I was there, good for me I guess. 

You had to do a mandatory walk through a whole bunch of mobile shops/booths after. They were selling all kinds of stuff such as compression tights, shoes, socks, gels, energy bars etc. 

The prices for some of the stuff kinda felt like a rip-off. Regardless, I went ahead to buy 2 gels ($2.50 each) and 2 packets of jelly blocks ($5/pack) and a new running belt ($28) as the previous one that I was using didn't seem big enough to accommodate all the stuff that I was gonna bring.

Loot

Above are the main things that I got for the day. I'd probably bring along the stuff that I've displayed above to the actual run itself (minus the bag of course). Hopefully I did not under-stock on the 'carbs'.

Only thing to do now is to get into the mood for the actual day itself and make sure to get the right amount of rest, diet and sleep the few days before the big day.

Full Marathon Day (4/7/15)

Pre-run:

Arrived at the race site an hour earlier, this was about 12am (Actual flag off was around 1am)

Scouted the area a little before heading to the cluster-fucked start line to get my things ready and warmup. During the huge gathering, I somehow ended up in front and around the 5:30 pacers. I didn't think too much of it then as I simply wanted to be closer to the front.

After the flag off, people were apparently all chionging at the start (not surprised). Not sure if they're really fit, but I'd think that they are just over-hyped and are forgetting that it's a 42+km run. Those 'action' ones die off at ~5km lol.

0-15km: 

Didn't think that it'd affect me, but I was really pulled along by the 5:30 pack around the pacers, making me speed up my frequency a little, which kinda worried me but I simply did not want to slow-down too much that early as I did not want to be swallowed up by the pack behind.

Respect to those that can keep up with these people all the way though, I fell off from them at around the 15km mark.

15-21km:

The reason I dropped off at the 15km mark from the 5:30 pack was cause my calf was tightening. I could keep pushing, but from experience it is not a road that I'd like to go down as if I did so, I would not even be able to walk for the remaining parts of the run, which is still quite a distance.

No choice, had to start walking. I was walking fast though, deliberately making sure that I kept my strides wide and the frequency of my steps high as well. This eased up the tension on my calves by a lot.

I'd also like to add that this 'fast walking' was a really good thing that I've discovered. I was able to keep up with those people who are jogging at tortoise pace and overtook a lot of the people who have already started walking during this segment.

21-30km:

At 21km, I remember that my timing was exactly 3hours. I was still doing my 'fast walk' for this leg of the race.

I tell you, the long stretches of roads at east coast park where you can't see the end is really mind-fuckingly sian (You even do a U-turn and walk the same way back on these roads/paths).

I was pretty happy with my speed for this section as everything seemed to be going as planned. The timings for my intervals per km here was really on track at 10min/km. This really set me up for a 6hour+ timing finish which I could definitely live with, if I kept this pace up. Not to mention, I was walking still and I had the potential to be quicker if I ran after.

I also started to ration my 2 Gels and 8 Jelly blocks after around the 1:30 point, consuming 1 every 45 minutes till the end of the race to keep the carbs in my body up so that I don't actually 'hit the wall'. The amount I had was just nice for my whole run.

 30-38km:

This is really where you've got to start digging deep.

Luckily my calves were rested enough and I could start running again.

30km onwards, it's really a zombie march. 80% of the people around me were quietly walking. To be honest, I don't really have too much recollection of this interval as I tried to block out the pain by just keeping my mind blank and going full zombie mode lol.

38-42.195km:

This is the supreme hell hole for most of the runners. Your close to the finish line, but you'd most likely be out of gas at this point. Any attempts people made to run only lasted for a couple of minutes, before they started to walk again.

For some reason though, I was able to run this part and the pain wasn't so bad here. Maybe this is what they call 'second wind'? Idk. It was still taking a lot of effort to take mini running steps though and I looked rather retarded doing it but at this point, you really wouldn't care.

When the finish line was in sight, I was so happy I remembered smiling to myself. :) Crossing it felt very good, gave a 'nice' victory cheer too lol!

 Dat constipated face

Post Run:

After crossing the finish line, I collected my medal, finisher tee, some food and drinks.

 Finisher-Tee

Did a couple of warm-down stretches afterwards, but not like it was really going to be of much help anyway as my whole body was already so heavy and hurting.

Here's some of the damage done to me:

• Blisters under both of my feet
• Abrasions on my butt & armpit area
• Very sore calves
• Heavy thighs

Still proud of myself that I did not stop at all for the whole race, as I had this feeling that if I did, I would not be able to move at all already.

Clocked a timing of 6:33 according to my watch. This was a timing that I could definitely accept.

The official race timing put me at 6:32 anyway

Really though, whoever who runs marathons for 'fun' must be some kind of masochist imo. Especially those clocking <5 or <6 hour times. (Jk)

This run was organised a lot better than the 2014 Stan Chart one (which provided no food at all). They had hydration points with water, 100plus, bananas and some of them even gave out Gels & Coke!

Also, I'd really want to give a huge shout-out to all the volunteers. You guys are simply amazing, in terms of giving the runners encouragement and nourishment. Lots of appreciation goes out to all of you.

Despite the pain, it was a good personal experience and achievement. Definitely an event that would mark itself as one of the mile-stones in my life. :)

Making my very first Bespoke Suit

It has always been on my mind to get myself a suit. I've contemplated getting those from G2k or anywhere off the rack from shopping center shops as it'd be a lot cheaper and a lot more convenient. In the end, I thought that if your gonna be spending the money anyway, you might as well get it tailored.

I've asked and looked around and there were many different types of tailoring places offering bespoke suit services across a wide range of prices. In the end, I came across this shop that people were highly recommending online.

Dickson's Menswear

The whole tailoring process would involve a few meetings. The first getting the material, style, type of suit and general measurements down before making any necessary alterations in the subsequent meetings when your suit is made.

The First Meet (20/5/15)

This was actually a very humble shop located on the first floor in Bras Basah complex. 

First impressions were that making suits in this area could never compare to those fancy swanky shops in down town areas with those bald semi-gay acting pinoy 'designers' measuring you up.

However, this was really untrue after getting to meet the owner, Mr Wong who was the only person manning the small shop.

Mr Wong in his humble shop

This shop works by an appointment only basis. Meaning you have to make an appointment with him before he will attend to you as the business here is apparently quite good.

When I arrived, Mr Wong, whom I felt was a really friendly old uncle greeted me kindly and talked to me about my expectations in the suit I wanted.

You could tell that this uncle was really experienced and very educational as well. We chatted up and he actually introduced me into the history of his time making suits for people and how the trends have changed from the past till now. He even had some kind of old tradition looking 'association of master tailors' certificate in a old frame he chucked on top of a pile of suits lol.

He showed me the many different kinds of materials available and their respective prices. He also made certain recommendations for me based on how often I would be wearing it, where I would be wearing it, the color's versatility and it's general lifespan.

He then took my measurements. He actually complemented that my body structure was pretty solid LOL. THIS MADE ME SO DAMN HAPPY YOU HAVE NO IDEA HAHAHAHA. 

Then I asked him how much curvature and shape can I squeeze out of the suit so that it looks nicer and his response was quite funny lol. He says 'a lot of young one like you ah, like everything tight tight, but when you do this, you ruin the integrity of the suit and it looks damn punkish. When you wear a suit, you have to look professional'

He also explained to me the aspects of a suit from the pockets, the right lengths, to the back tails and how you should wear them on different occasions. Apparently, in a super formal occation, you have to pull your suit pockets out instead of tucking them in; a mistake a lot of Singaporeans make he says who just simply follow trends.

The whole process of  the introduction was really good. No wonder he got so many good review from loads of satisfied customers online.

Price wise, I feel that it is reasonable. I got a package deal from him which was a total of $550 for the following:

(All Tailored)

1x Suit Jacket

1x Pants

1x White Shirt

1x Vest

For the suit jacket, vest and pants, I opted for the wool cashmere blend material which costs $450. His package allowed me to include a Vest (u.p. $150 for the material I chose) and a shirt for just an extra $100. Reason I chose to opt for the exra vest and tailored shirt was so that the whole set would become a lot more versatile and I can wear loads of different combinations. (No suit + vest + shirt, no vest + suit + shirt, suit + vest + shirt, etc)

Yeah yeah, I know you can get them for cheaper at some other place, but it's the whole experience and service that sold it for me.

2nd Meet - Fitting (4/6/15)

Met Mr Wong again to try on my readied suit, shirt and pants. There were still a couple of minor adjustments needed to be made regarding the length of my pants & the allowance on my left wrist area as my watch was pretty bulky.

Took measurements for my vest today from some prototypes. The actual one + all the minor adjustment to the other pieces should be ready for me next week.

Still, the experience after changing into my pants and shirt was simply shiok as hell. I looked really good imo. On top of that, when he told me to relax my arms out backwards and placed the suit on me, I felt so boss-like.

After, he explained to me that every time when one puts on a suit, you need to tug the lapels before you button the 1st button. When I was doing this motion, I felt so fuckin' alpha, I couldn't help it but chuckled a little to myself and he did too. :P

He also mentioned to me that if you want to unbutton your suit button, don't throw the suit flaps out after, which is what I did initially (and apparently a lot of people are guilty of as well); just leave it as it is after unbuttoning and continue doing whatever you were. Interesting that there are actually so many small things to note about donning a suit.

He then continued to enlighten me on how I should never take my suit out and hang them on chairs at formal events, never knew that tbh and it's something that I'd totally see myself doing actually. =/

Thus far, I am really quite satisfied. I felt that my requests were all addressed, be it in explanations on why some things cannot be done without spoiling the image, or to make minor adjustments to areas based on his recommendations and my liking. More importantly, I learned so much about how to behave in a a suit from this guy.


3rd Meet - Final Fitting (17/6/15)

The final fitting was pretty quick. When I arrived, there were a couple of people there and I simply waited for my turn.

After trying on everything, it all seemed ok. Settled the payment promptly with him and we both wished each other well before I left.

The final pieces felt really high quality despite my initial impressions of the humble looking shop and I am overall very satisfied with the service he provided and the products that I've gotten!


For those who are interested, here is his name card:

I'm finally an owner of my very own bespoke suit. Feels great!