IOI Community Run 2006

Distance: 7.6km
Timing: 36min 32sec

Race morning

In a way I was glad that I had not run my LSD yesterday since it would allow me to run all out this morning. I woke up at 5.45am and Lee picked me up by 6.15am. We had reached the starting point before 7am and parked nearby. Others running from our gang today were Albert, Peter, Chong, Ms. Chee, Ms. Leong and Naidu.

Later I met the PMs and Rachel (not running today) took some photos for us. After some chit chatting, the categories A and B (running 7.6km) were allowed to start first while the others running the 5.5km had to wait. Lee who was actually registered under veteran (category C) decided to run the 7.6km with me.

The race

The moment we started I just turboed all the way overtaking as many runners as possible so I would not be caught in the crowd later. The first 3.5mins was flat and then we turned left and started climbing a long uphill. I just maintained my pace as much as possible on this stretch and overtook those runners who started 'too fast' and were now slowing down.

I just made sure I kept Lee in sight. After a few kilometers I realised that I seemed to be running at almost the same pace as a girl who was wearing orange. I decided to use her as my pacer as she seemed to be a strong runner. Not long after that we reached a junction where we had to turn right for another long uphill climb. This is where the route seperated the 7.6k and 5.5k runners.

With all the uphill terrain I was starting to feel fatigued but just continued to hang on to my pacer. By then I had even caught up a little with Lee. As I approached the u-turn I saw SJ (pm11) on the opposite side not far off. This inspired me even more, knowing that I was running a really good pace. By then despite slight fatigue I knew that I was still strong and could finish the race well.

After the u-turn, I realised as I ran downhill now that I still had a lot of improvement to make for my downhill running. Most runners seemed to be able to use it to make up for time. Lee had definitely done that and was a good 100m ahead by now. I just can't pick up some good momentum when running downhill. Even my pacer had broken away at that stretch.

Once we had merged with the 5.5km runners at the same junction we had earlier turned right, I suddenly felt stronger and picked up the pace and started closing the gap on both my pacer and Lee. I held this strong pace all the way back to the traffic light at Giant and turned on my finishing kick for the last 500m.

As I crossed the balloon arch I was really suffering and my stomach felt very tight. I eventually overtook the lady in orange and finished just 30meters behind Lee. Overall timing was 36min 32sec. I was upset that the officials did not want to reveal my position as they said they only informed the positon for the top 25 runners.

Post race

From Ronnie's posting I see that I am 1min 40secs slower than Tan Ay Peng who came in position 25. Perhaps I came in top 35??? Well that's not for me to find out this time! Later I found out that the lady in orange whom I had finished ahead of had was the second runner up in the Womens open category.

I am very happy with my performance today. My average pace for the 7.6km was 4m48s per kilometer. I am really surprised that I was able to hold such a pace especially since it was really a very hilly route. Today's performance has inspired me to train further and improve on my speed. I'm confident that my weekly sessions with Ronnie and Lai will help me and show results in a couple of months.

Marathon talk

Last night the haze was still around but it wasn't as bad as it had been a few weeks back. The weather was exceptionally cooling with very low humidity. This allowed me to run comfortably at our usual Wednesday spot. Others who came were Peter, Albert, Lim, Lee, Ajeep and Leow. Have not seen Ajeep for sometime now, was good to catch up with him.

Since Peter and Lim are going for the Singapore marathon, a lot of the discussion was centered around marathons. Albert hasn't run one in years and Ajeep has yet to try one so there was a lot of challenging going on at the makan table. As for me I don't know when I will run my next marathon. I shall focus more on half marathons for now but if timing permits I might try the KL full next year.

Bidor Half Marathon 2006

Event: Anak Malaysia Bidor Half Marathon
Distance: 22km
Timing: 2h03m20s (Personal Best)

This was the event I had spent the last 2 months preparing for. My ultimate target was to run a sub 2 hour race but at the very least I had to improve my personal best timing by a fair bit. This time round we had Lim, Lee, Peter and myself running the half marathon, while Lim's nephew was running the 10k.

Peter couldn't make it with us the day before so the house we rented was to be shared by six of us including Eugene and his son Yi Xi. On Saturday I had picked up both Lim and Lee by 1.45pm. The journey to Bidor was smooth but it was raining sporadically on the highway. We were debating whether the fog in the jungle and mountains was just mist or haze but I still maintain that it was haze!!

We arrived at Bidor around 3.15pm and went to collect our Bibs before going for lunch at the famous Wan Tan noodles shop. We then went to survey the starting point. The following pictures show the volunteers preparing the starting point. About 90% of the volunteers are senior citizens from the town itself. Even the owner of the house we rented was seen later in one corner patching the a road which was uneven. Other race organisers should learn from their example.







Next we proceeded to survey the half marathon route.



The first 9.5k was generally flat, but once we had reached the border of the town again, we had to turn right up a steep hill and it was mostly undulating terrain from there. The u-turn at the waterfall was approximately 15.6k. We only saw kilometer markers for the last 4k and my heart sank when my cars mileage showed 21k at the "1 km to go" marker. There goes my sub 2!! This was going to be an overdistance race. Total distance displayed when we reached the finish was 22k.





It had been raining since late morning and was still raining at 6pm. We waited for Eugene and Yi Xi to arrive and just lazed in the house for a bit before heading out for dinner at close to 8pm. After a good meal we returned to the house and struggled to finish a large tub of ice cream with bars of chocolate we had bought earlier. Talk about some serious carbo loading!! I felt too stuffed to sleep after that but managed to knock off around 10.45pm after a refreshing shower.




Next morning my alarm rang at 5.35am. I was surprisingly fresh when I woke up, even though some neighbourhood dogs had woken me up twice during the night. After a shower and lubing the body I went downstairs and had my Ali Cafe and Powerbar while waiting for the others. Last night we had decided to drive to the starting point but this morning everyone agreed to warm up by doing a slow jog. The house is located at just the '1km to go' mark.

I reached the starting point with Lee just before 6:45am. That's when it hit me!! I had forgotten to bring Peter and Wong's bibs!! We had left them in the car last night thinking we were going to drive to the starting point. Frantically I had to run back to the house, met Lim halfway and he followed me back. Wong had called him by then asking for the bibs!

By the time I had reached the starting point again I was sweating profusely and was already panting. I've never done anything more than a few hundred meters of slow jogging before any race and here I had just run 3km!! After apologising to both Peter and Wong, I managed to jump into one photo take with the PMs before the countdown began and the race was started.

First 9.5k

The first 9.5k was quite uneventful. I only managed to set into a proper pace after almost 2km since I was still recovering from the panic state of forgetting the bibs. I was running with Fook for the first 3k but he started to pick up the pace after that and I didn't want to follow as I knew that I would suffer in the second half of the race. He would later run a great race and finish below 2 hours for the 22k!

After the u-turn at the Indian temple, I just maintained my pace and was starting to feel quite comfortable. I was using markers I had made during the previous days route survey to check my target pace. At 7km my split time was appx 37m30s and at 9.5km 50m15s. With this I presume my 10k split time should be somewhere around 53min which was my target pace for the first 10k.

9.5k to 15.6k

What I wasn't prepared for was that the weather would take such a drastic turn. From the extremely cool morning, the sun was suddenly blazing by the time I had reached the 10k mark. Since I generally don't train under the sun, I perform badly under it. This time was no exception. The hills and the sun put together was slowly draining my energy levels.

Peter and Wong overtook me somewhere around the 12k mark. I was surprised to see Peter coming from behind, later he told me he had to stop for over 5 minutes to do his business... poor guy. For the next few kilometers I was pacing with Quek Ai Ling from Singapore. I used her strong pace to push myself a little each time I felt I was slowing down.

I was glad when we finally reached the u-turn at the roundabout. This meant there was just about another 6km more to go. The water station there was the only one where isotonic drinks were provided. All there previous water stations only had water. I suppose this is fine as water is sufficient for distances up to 10 to 15k.

Final 6.4k

The 100 plus seemed to perk me up a little bit, plus the fact that there would be a lot of downhill stretches from here onwards. I was especially looking forward to a long winding stretch of over 1km which we had covered on the way to the waterfall. I think I might have given myself too long a break at this stop. By the time I had started running, Ai Ling was quite some distance away. There goes my pacer!

I found myself still running at an even pace without slowing down much in the final few kilometers. There was only one stretch where me and many other runners stopped to walk. This was an uphill stretch crossing a flyover built over the PLUS highway, but this was for no more than 30 meters. As I approached the final 1km mark I saw a familiar face standing at the corner with the officials... it was none other than our captain Ronnie himself!

As I passed him I looked at my watch and saw my 21k split time was about 1h57m40s. Yes I had managed to meet my target of running 21k under 2 hours, but it is unfortunate that it wouldn't be recorded as a sub 2 half marathon. The last 1km was a downhill stretch so I just let myself run relaxed all the way to the finish line. Fook, Rachel, Sim and others were waiting there and cheered for me. Total time taken for 22k was 2h03m20s. My position for the Mens Open category is number 42.

Overall I am very happy with my performance. There is still a nagging feeling that I could have pushed a little harder. For now I will have to be satisfied that my half marathon official race record will have to remain over 2 hours but this will give me something to train harder for in future races. I enjoyed this race very much and will definitely be back next year if they decide to organise it again. The finishers medal is really a beautiful medal as can be seen.

Sri Hartamas 20k - Personal Best

Before I ran this morning I was in doubt whether I should run hard or easy today. I didn't want to strain myself and risk being not so fresh in Bidor. However since Lee was running with me today and he would be a good pacer, I just decided to run a fast first half and then try to maintain a good pace in the return leg.

As soon as we started I knew I was running quite fast... perhaps too fast but I just continued. Even Lee commented that this was really a fast pace. I slowed down a little after Jalan Duta and picked up the pace again in the last stretch after Plaza Damas. Overall time from Bukit Aman to Petronas was 52m55s.

We just quickly drank some water from the pipe there and started the return journey to Bukit Aman. Here I slowed down quite a bit initially and even Geraldine overtook me after Jalan Duta and said that I was too slow. Lee was running ahead and then making loops back towards me from time to time.

I just decided to keep Geraldine in site and picked up the pace a little towards the end. When I reached Jalan Parlimen I could still see her in front. I knew that my body was much stronger as I could still push up this stretch without much of a struggle. Split time from Petronas to Bukit Aman was 59m52s. Overall timing 1h52m47s.

I had stopped my watch at Petronas so I don't know how long we stopped there but it was a very brief stop since we just grabbed water from the pipe. If I take that into account and add perhaps another 6 minutes for another 1k, a sub 2 timing for a 21k would still be rather borderline. So Jamie is right, running a sub 2 half marathon is really not easy.

On a positive note, I can feel my body getting stronger. I need to just strengthen my mental state so that I can maintain a faster pace in the second half of the race. My pace today for the second half was too slow. Things that worked today were...

1. 6 hours of sleep
2. Powerbar and Ali Cafe
3. Nike Pegasus (I am really loving this pair of shoes more and more!)
4. Thorlos Level 3 (Socks were soaked after 10k but it absolutely prevents any painful blistering)

Well there is no point in trying anything else now as the race is just a week away. The best I can do now is to make sure I keep the body warm and fit with some short quick runs over the next 5 days while getting as much sleep and proper nutrition. A fully rested body is the best weapon on race day after a hard couple of months in preparation!

Clear blue skies!

Clear blue skies are back but may not last long. If there is one thing the haze has taught me is to just run regardless of the weather. The last three days saw me just putting on my shoes and running in the rain just to ensure I get my required mileage.

Tomorrow shall be my last LSD before my half marathon race in Bidor next Sunday. Lee and hopefully some others from Klang shall be joining me this time. I've decided to shelf my plan to 'race' my last LSD training, instead I will keep a steady pace for the first half and try to pick up the pace in the last 7k, this should train me to finish stronger in races.

Recovery Run 24-10-2006

It was raining heavily when I was typing my Nuang post but it slowed to a drizzle a little later. I just couldn't resist the urge to put on my shoes and go for a slow recovery run. The plan to wait till tomorrow to allow the knee some breathing space was thrown out the door. Running in the rain felt really good.

Distance: 7km
Duration: 42min
Time: 10.15pm

The knees are both fine. Slight pain detected in the right knee on my first lap but it disappeared very quickly. The muscles are really sore though, especially my quads. My run was followed by a light weight training session. I'm feeling really good now. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow night as we have our weekly fellowship run and I'm looking forward to that.

Gunung Nuang 23-10-2006

I recently visited the World Of Sports clearance sale and picked up a pair of Columbia hiking boots. I wanted the pair I bought to be waterproof and a high cut version which would protect my ankles in the event I did fall or slip.



Since I mentioned my intent to get a few people to climb Nuang sometime soon, Tey volunteered to be my guide. Peter decided to join us as well. I was told by Tey that it would be easier to climb with just a few people than with a big group. So as early as 5am I picked up first Peter then Tey before proceeding to the foothill at Ulu Langat.


The three of us at the foothill just before commencing our climb. You can easily see who the rookie is.

The first part of the journey, we had to trek across what used to be a tar road but now is a very badly eroded muddy trail. Many years ago when the tar road was still there, people used to be able to drive up to where the waterfall was. I thought this trail was steep but didn't realise we hadn't really started the climb yet. We took about 75 minutes to get to the beginning of the actual trail up to the summit.


Our leader having his breakfast at the rest area near the waterfall and stream.


If you look closely I am already drenched with sweat after the initial 75min walk.


The waterfall and stream which we have to cross before proceeding to the first campsite.


From the point we crossed the waterfall to the summit, things just got tougher and tougher. Just for the record, I've never gone jungle trekking or done any kind of mountain climbing before... not even camping, so I really didn't know what to expect. The next stage was to get to camp Lolo and this took us about another 60mins.

Once reaching Lolo we just stopped for a few pictures and continued on for another 20mins crossing another 2 streams and passing a few more campsites. While crossing the last stream, I actually fell and hit my right kneebone on a big rock. The pain was quite bad I thought that it must be injured badly. After resting awhile the pain subsided so we decided to continue. I hoped that this would not be a mistake that I would regret later.

We finally reached Kem Pacat at 10am and rested again. There was a couple sleeping in a tent there. They must have been there overnight. One problem I seemed to be having was my specs were fogging up quite a bit and impairing my vision. On my next trip I shall remember to spray some anti fog on them.


Photo taken at Kem Pacat


A lot of the track is made up of red clay and it can be quite slippery when its wet. I really respect both Tey and Peter as they were wearing normal running shoes and seemed to be very quick and stable on their feet. Despite my boots which should have gripped better I was finding it difficult. I guess being heavier and taller my balancing is quite bad.

The last two stages of the climb are from Kem Pacat to Bukit Pengasih (the first peak) and from Bukit Pengasih to the summit. This part of the journey was the toughest as it was very steep and I had to really crack my head at times to figure out how to get just 10 metres up. My knee was still paining which added to my mental stress.

We managed to reach the summit at 12pm which was appx 5hrs from the time we started at the car park. Peter mentioned that this was the fastest ascent he had made here after climbing over 5 times so this did please me. By this time I was already exhausted and when Tey mentioned we should be able to descend faster than we climbed up, I told him I thought otherwise.

After having lunch, we started the climb down at 12.30pm. It started raining later which made the ground very slippery. Less than an hour later, I was starting to have severe pain in one of the bones next to my left knee. I could feel a sharp pain with each step I took. I had this pain before when I initially started swimming and feel that it was due to the angle in which I kicked when swimming, so perhaps while descending I was twisting my leg in all funny angles and thus causing this.

Anyway it just got worse from there, coupled with pains on both legs and increasing fatigue, I forced both my members to slow down drastically as well. The mental and physical anguish that one goes through in this kind of situation is much worse than when I had run my first 42k race. By the last couple of hours I was really swearing and cursing. I had to just switch off my mind an keep going at it, this was the only way I would make it back.

We finally made it back to the car park at 6.30pm. It was getting really dark by then. I was glad to have a really refreshing bath before driving back. Despite the pain and suffering both physically and mentally, I am glad that I attempted this climb. I don't know how soon, but I will definitely climb Nuang again not for a better timing but to strengthen my mind and overcome my fears.

The bone pain I suffered is much better now and should almost be non existant by tomorrow. My right kneebone injury is also better and can hardly be felt unless I press down on it by kneeling. My high cut boots did prevent me from having and serious joint injuries, especially at the ankles as I did trip and twist at the ankles many times. So besides really sore muscles, I am fine and should be back on the road tomorrow for an easy run.

Very long day

4.45am

Woke up before the alarm rang. Quickly had a shower and lubed all the normal areas. Grabbed a banana and one can of Ali Cafe. As soon as I started driving I immediately saw that the haze had cleared quite a bit... wooohooo!

6.00am

Reached Bkt Aman car park and everyone was already there. Today's participants were Choi, Geraldine, Eugene, Tey, Phyllis, Grace, Fook and Jason. Once I had slipped on my shoes, we started moving out of the car park.

The plan today was to try to run a hard run and see how long I could keep it up. I wanted to see if my form had dropped due to the recent lack of training caused by the haze. I led the pack all the way up to Kenny Hills with Tey and Geraldine just behind.

As I approached Jln Duta, I was now running on my own. Split time as I crossed under the flyover was 31m18s. I ran on my own for the next 3km and started slowing down a little as we reached Plaza Damas. Tey and Geraldine caught up here and Geraldine pulled away to the Petronas. Time when I reached Petronas was 57m21s.

Tey was kind enough to get me some Gatorade while I continued with the loop above the Petronas without stopping. He passed me the can when I had completed the loop. Thank you Tey! Here I walked a bit while drinking. I didn't want to stop because when I do, my socks tend to get soaked immediately, but if I keep going its not so bad.

From here on I was running on my own because the others were still taking the loop at Petronas and then had stopped briefly at the station. I was still feeling strong and was going at a steady pace until I reached the slope up the mosque. Here my right calf started pulling a little so I slowed the pace. Time when I crossed Jln Duta again was 1h32m23s.

My breathing was still steady all this while which shows improved fitness from speedwork and cross training, however the right calf continued showing slight signs of cramping which points to lack of mileage! I just continued at an easy pace all the way back to the car park. Total time taken was 2h7m6s.

To me this run was a victory because this is the first time I have run the Hartamas route finishing alone without walking. All previous times I was being paced by someone. My timing was also a personal best as I had taken both the loop at the Petronas and the left turning at the traffic light instead of the shortcut taken at times. This comes close to the actual 21k distance.

10.00am

Reached home after having a refreshing shower at Bkt Aman. Enjoyed a half hour massage on my Ogawa chair and confirmed my Deepavali lunch appointments. I was starving by then as the body had probably burnt 1500 calories in the morning run. Met Peter, Albert, Diana and Lee at Gopu's house and later went to my in laws neighbours house for lunch.

2.30pm

Sent my son to my mum's place as my house needed some serious cleaning for a church home meeting we were hosting that night. Spent 3.5 hours cleaning the house... I had to cut the grass, wash the car porch, clean the fans, vacuum the house, mop the house and was the bathroom upstairs while wife tidied up and dusted everything. Beside Jamie, I really don't know of runners who actually do housework after a hard morning run???

7.30pm

Mum sent Nick back and church members started arriving at 8pm. I chaired the meeting and we later watched a testimony of Gurmeet Singh (The famous PCK). It was quite touching actually. He had recently come to KL for one of the Christian evangelical meetings organised at the Eastin hotel.

10.15pm

Once everyone left I made a dash to another close friends house for Deepavali. I've known this guy since Kindergarten and we were schoolmates and classmates up till form 5. Met some old schoolmates here and had a good time catching up.

12.30am

Reached home, took out the garbage, vacuumed the hall again. Had a shower and now typing this posting. I've now been awake for 21hours, I'm going to bed now... good night and happy holidays to everyone! Drive safely if you are going outstation!

Desperados

The question we ask now is not "Is there haze?" but rather "It doesn't look too bad right?? Can run lah... what do you think ah??" We have been degraded to that level where we no longer have a choice. Yesterday evening I was so surprised that even Captain Lim who would usually not run in the haze turned up. Only Albert came after we had finished running.


Peter Goh aka Desperado 1 - 9 laps (10.4k)


CB Leow aka Desperado 2 - 12 laps (14k)


Yours truly aka Desperado 3 - 8 laps (9.3k)


Scorcorn Lee aka Desperado 4 - 11 laps (12.8k)


Captain Lim aka Desperado 5 - 7 laps (8.1k)


Albert (with his son), the only sane person who joined us only for makan!

New look

In conjunction with my blogs first year anniversary, I decided to change the layout and the general look of the site. Not having much creative skills, I decided to go with a simple standard template. It did take some time to convert all the archived postings into the existing format.

The banner was something that I really had to crack my head about. But surprisingly it turned out better than expected. The blog is now officially renamed to 'Klang Roadrunner' from 'Klang Runner's Blog'. It has been inspiring looking through my postings over the last one year as I converted the format. I hope there will be many more years of good postings to come!