Race Report: Penang Malakoff 26k

After my DNF at Sundown, I was both nervous and filled with newfound determination not to incur another DNF. It was made a lot easier that Ribbit came back from KL to run this as well. We were both also very happy to have Lesley join us from Singapore as well as Frank and Victor from KL.

Trying on the Newton running shoes

(Pics courtesy of Frank)

We spent most of Saturday with our friends. We brought Frank and Victor around during the morning and afternoon and then joined Lesley and Eunice for dinner. We got to take the Newton running shoes for a test drive. Lots of eating and plenty and plenty of food. You can read more of these details at Frank's blog, http://runnerzcircle.blogspot.com/2009/06/malakoff-26km-penang-2009.html.

I actually didn't sleep very much the night before the race and for the first time in ages, I actually woke up a tad bit too late and thus my departure for the race venue was a bit haphazard. I even forgot to do some pretty important "business" which unfortunately for me, had to be done at the public toilets at Youth Park (the grossness!).

Since my return from Singapore, I have been mentally preparing myself for this upcoming 26km race. This time around I was determined to finish it no matter what. Therefore, I arrived with at the starting line determine to complete the distance and to run my own race.

Ribbit and I gave each other encouraging hugs just before the race horn went off. I decided to run with my gut feeling. That means no worrying about my pace, just to keep running, not to stop and most importantly to finish the race. I was first passed by Oy Leen, Wei Chern, Tuan Tuan and Tsen who all inquired about my knee and asked me to take it easy. I took it really slow the first 2k but when I hit the hills of Vale of Tempe I could feel myself chugging up them. I actually love 'em hills so I found it really nice to keep my legs pumping up the slopes. I sneaked a peak at my watch and saw that it was approximately 6:45min/km. It was much slower than I would ever run but then I held back. It was only 4k into the race and I had A LONG way to go.

As I cruised downhill, letting my legs carry me down I was still doing alright and enjoying the run. The stretch through the Jalan Permai was straight and mostly flat but it would slowly rise until the curve where the route dips slightly downhill. I had hope to see my friend, Pek See who stayed along that road but I didn't see her out. It was alright. I skipped my first water stop because I had decided to hold on to my waterbottle.

After I hit the T-junction that would bring me to the main road, I did hit a bit of a rough spot. I started to feel the ache in my legs. I was actually glad for this guy that started to have a brief conversation with me. I believe he was a member of Team Weeran. Thank you, for lifting my spirits. From that point onwards, I just focused on the landmarks along the way. It made the run a lot easier to focus on short terms goals, like hitting the next landmark. So from then on I counted down landmarks in my head. I managed to hit the 10k waterstop without any big catastrophe. Whew! The whole time, I kept a keen lookout for Ribbit but she was nowhere to be seen.

After the 10k mark at the Tanjung Bungah hotel, started to fall back into the rhythm and it wasn't until the end of Gurney which I took my first gel. However, when I started to head towards the Clock Tower at Esplanade was when I started to feel my pace falter and I could feel myself slowing down. It was quite a pain to get to the Clock Tower roundabout. After the turnaround my pace was just terrible. I sneaked a second glance at my watch and saw that I was running (or walking?) a 7:30 pace? WTF?!?

It was a mental struggle at that point to pick up my feet as I watched helplessly as May from WWW and another "D" category runner passed me someone near St. Xavier's. I generally do not like being passed in my last 5k but I could only watched helpless as they did as I did not have the energy or kick to give them a run for their money. Not this time. Hopefully soon.

You can see I am dying here!

Ribbit the power woman!

(Thanks Yenny for the pics!)

I think at this point I started to see "little green men" and was a tad bit delirious but I stubbornly refused to stop running no matter what. I was happy when I got myself to the turning into Youth Park. As I turned in, I was greeted by hills. Oh, lovely! I did plow my way up them, and with some satisfaction, I passed quite a number of runners. I finally came past the finish line, feeling completely crappy with my time and then headed straight to the first aid tent to get my knee iced. Lesley and Lynn were already there having their respective knee/ankle looked at.

The good thing about this race is that it was a hometown race so I knew what to expect and managed to keep myself motivated to keep moving by anticipating landmarks. The sad thing is finishing with such terrible time of 2:55 with an average pace of about 7min/km (WTF?!?).

From right to left: Victor, Lesley, Ribbit, Tweet, Siew Swan
(Pics courtesy of Frank)

In any case, congrats to Ribbit who did spectacularly in 5th place despite 2 months of injury break. This is a make of a true runner. Congrats to fellow WWW runners, Lyn Holden (2nd place Women's Open), Sun Nee (1st place Women's Junior Veteran) and Oy Leen (4th place Women's Junior Veteram). Not forgetting, Lesley for her 1st place finish. You all did AWESOME!

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