Race Report: Shape Run 2009

I apologize for the late race report. I am getting a bit lazy these days. Been too occupied with work, training, laziness, blah.

I signed up for Shape Run awhile back because it coincides with the Putrajaya Half Ironman. I wanted to be at Putrajaya to cheer on my friends since I enjoyed being the support crew so much during this year's Langkawi Ironman. Unfortunately, a week before the run, the organizers decided to cancel the Half Ironman due to the risk of the H1N1 virus. Yeah right...

Nevertheless, since I signed up I'm going to run it. I don't want to miss out on the RM300 goodie bag that was promised. A bunch of us from Penang travelled down to KL for this run. Kenneth and Peck Yee travelled with me. Jensen, Yoony and Chi Yuan took the bus. We all departed Penang on Friday afternoon. I took my new baby with me since I had space in the car. I had hopes of riding it with Ribbit on Sunday morning.

Friday was a LONG day for me. Upon arriving in KL, we headed to Ah Jo's (fellow runner from Penang working in KL) where we would crash. We unloaded and then waited for Lynn to come get us to meet Jensen for supper. We met them at SS2's Wong Kok. I had the "Yin Yong" thinking that I would deal fine with the caffeine. I was to be very wrong and had a very hard time getting to bed. I think I finally fell asleep at 2am. I think that I never really rested my brain at all, although my body was tired. I woke up at about 5.20am and toss and turn until my alarm went off at 6.30am. I woke feeling as if I didn't sleep at all. Terrible...

The day started early with breakfast at this lovely little cafe called Little Collins Bakery. I shared the Big Breakfast with Ribbit and then I share the apple crumble, carrot cake, cheese tart with Ribbit, Kenneth and Peck Yee. The bread I had with the breakfast was oregano and it was nice. I really enjoyed the sauteed mushrooms and the sausage even though it looked it was the kind that came frozen in a pack from the freezer section in the grocery store. The carrot cake was to die for but I didn't really enjoy the apple crumble or cheese tart that much. Ribbit, Kenneth and Peck Yee enjoyed the apple crumble more than me.

After that Ribbit and I parted ways with Kenneth and Peck Yee. Ribbit had a physio session at Physiowerkz (http://www.physiowerkz.com/index.htm) in Merchant Square. She is still recovering from her injuries (BOO!). I must say something about Physiowerkz, they are actually a fabulous physio place as compared to the most horrible Damansara Specialist physio which Ribbit initially saw. This place was recommended by my own physio extraordinaire, Anne Poh of Lam Wah Eee hospital. Since patronizing this place, Ribbit has felt a lot better and it seems that her recovery has been making a lot of progress.

After that we drove back to Ribbit's place to meet up with Kenneth and Peck Yee to carpool to lunch. On the way we passed The Bike Boutique and saw Saya unloading something from Shih Ming's car so we stopped by to say hi. We hung around for a bit while Shih Ming got herself fitted for her bike. Then it was back to Ribbit's place to get our friends. From there we headed to Jaya One to meet Ribbit's cousins for lunch at Hanazen. I had the Unagi Bento which had a super huge piece of Unagi which tasted superb. SUPERB. Ribbit ordered the Salmon with the Japanese Yam. The yam was very starchy and the texture was interesting. It tasted alright but the texture didn't agree with me. I did like the grilled squid she ordered A LOT better. All in all a fantastic Japanese restaurant and a very satisfying lunch.

Then it was back to Ah Jo's place where I took a 15-min nap. My head still felt like I was in a daze due to lack of sleep but still I dragged myself to get ready and we were off to Putrajaya at 5.15pm. Due to the brand new speedy highway we were in Putrajaya by 6.00pm. About 2 hours ahead of the run but it was cool. We went around and hung out checking out the booths around. We met up with most of the Penang group and eventually, we would meet up with Michelle, Siok Bee, Shih Ming, Saya, Frank and the rest of the THG group. It was also good to see co-workers like Sweeney and Chin How there. Lots of picture taking and at about 7.00pm I wanted to make a last minute dash to the toilet but then they started to make a call to the runners' pen. So I decided I didn't want to go that badly and hugged Ribbit for some confidence before entering the runner's pen. I felt totally crappy for this. I felt I hadn't trained enough. I felt nervous because I haven't run a 10k race in so long I didn't know what pace to do or how to start off. I was glad for Ribbit's hug. It made me feel better.

They kept me in the runners' pen for AGES! I was surrounded by sweaty men. It was hard to breathe and it was hot. I was monitoring my heart rate and I did worry I might be in trouble as even standing in the pen it was 100 bpm.

When the gun finally went off at 8pm, I ran ahead planning to find my own pace. I saw Jessica fly by and not long after that I saw Saya came by. I decided to try and follow Saya's pace and I took off after her. I managed to keep pace with her for about 3.5km before I felt I couldn't keep up anymore. I think my heartrate was 175bpm at that time. I slowed down and dropped to a hard pace that I could deal with. However, I think the damage was done. I reach the 6km mark averaging a 5:25min/km pace but after that I caught a very, very bad stitch on both sides of my abdomen.

At this point, I see tons of people I know pass me which was frustrating for me, Yee Hua, Wai Mun and Mich Looi. As Mich Looi passed I told her I was suffering. I told her I felt like passing out. She motioned for me to follow her and despite my increasing stitch, I pushed on. However, at one point it got so bad that at one point in the run I had to stop to walk up a slope. The last 3km, Chi Yuan caught up with me and thanks to the walk break, I was able to keep up with him. I managed to hang on and charged to the finish line with a pathetic 1:06:20. As I can in I swam the girl in front of me throw up. It was that bad a run. I felt her pain.

The post-run activities was a lot more enjoyable. Mamak at Putrajaya with the Penang gang and the THG. It bring back memories from my MMU hangout days here.

Things I like about Shape Run:
1. Nice, scenic route. It was really nice to run over all those bridges!
2. Well organized and good enough Goodie Bag (even though I don't think it is worth RM300).

Things I didn't like about Shape Run:
1. People who cut corners in the route. Cutting across instead of going around. You can read Shih Ming's note in Facebook to understand that this is just simply lying to yourself.
2. Night runs are just so hot and unpleasant. It was terrible!

Lesson learnt:
Never try to chase after people, it could be a disaster. Run your own race.

LOTS of pics from the lovely Ribbit. Thanks so much for coming out to take pics of us!

-tweet-

Endurance Weekend - 12-hour paddle + Century Ride

Tweet and Ribbit turned 2 years old on July 14th. We celebrated it by embarking on an endurance weekend. The first was the Penang Forward attempt to enter into the Malaysian Book of Records by paddling a dragonboat continuously for 12 hours and raising RM100k for charity. The second was to attempt our first ever 3-digit cycling event, the KRI Century Ride in Ipoh. You will need to ride a 160km in 8hours.

Ribbit came back the night before on the 8pm bus. She tried to sleep as much as possible on the bus as she only arrived at 1am and we had to get up by 4am to be on-site to start paddling at 5am. I tried to grab as much sleep as possible myself knowing this was going to be a gruelling weekend. I didn't sleep much and when I awoke at 4am, I felt as if I hadn't slept at all.

When we arrived in front of Queensbay, it was still pitch dark. We unloaded, got the car nicely parked and waited for instructions from our teammates. Some history before I get into the event. Ribbit and I used to be part of this dragonboat team in Penang, called Penang Forward. We quit the team about 2 years ago because they didn't have enough women and the training schedule just got a bit too intensive for me. I no longer had that much time to spare.

Donation boxes for Paddle For Hope

However, we decide to volunteer our paddling services for the sake of charity. There were three other teams volunteering; Chung Ling High School, Anak Malaysia and Penang Island Paddler's Club. The idea here was to have each team paddle a 11km course and then switch up. The whole thing can be tricky as we had to switch up in 5minutes in order to qualify for "continuous paddling". Our team was the first team up so, we rushed to get things in order for the 6am paddle off. We managed to get everyone into the boat and we were off at 5.59am. The first part of the course was to paddle from Queensbay towards the Penang Bridge, to go under the bridge and continue on to the island on the other side. Upon hitting the island we were to turn back and head down until Agilent and then turn back towards Queensbay. There was a competition for the first round, where best time will win a special trophy.

The 11km course mapped out on Google Map

The first round actually went by easy enough but a bit challenging for me as I had to paddle on my left. My left side is not my strongest side but in order to balance up the boat, I had to do so. It was nice and dark and it was over in 1hour 6minutes. A lot faster than the initial prediction of 1hour 30minutes. We switched up and it was a 3-hour break before our next session. I anticipated the next session to be very challenging as it is going to take place at high noon. We just bummed around and take lots of pictures and chatted with friends. The next session came soon enough. As I lined up with Ribbit, our captain counted too many right hand paddlers this time and ask either Ribbit and me to sit out one session. I wanted to paddle so Ribbit could rest but Ribbit said she would rather get it over and done with so she can rest more later. I was fine with that as I most definitely, wanted her to rest more.

Ribbit the champion superwoman who paddle 3 sessions!

Ribbit came up from her second session with a time of 1hour 7minutes. VERY good time considering the unforgiving heat! Kudos to you Superwoman! We celebrated with a nice lunch at Dome inside Queensbay. Next up was my session at around 4pm. As I lined up for my turn, my captain counted not enough paddlers for the right hand side. He said he had to field Ribbit again. Oh no! I didn't want Ribbit to paddle again. She was tired! Her back was sore but we had no choice. In order to paddle to hit the goal, we needed her in the boat. I reluctantly had no choice but to see her back in the boat. By this time, everyone was very very tired already. I can feel the drag of the boat with each stroke. My paddle was starting to splash water, a sign that my arms was tired. We took almost 1hour 30minutes for this round but I was glad as we got out of the boat as I knew it was already our last session.

Still standing after the event

Ribbit and I showered and waited for the closing ceremony where we received our medals. The we waited for Ribbit's mum to come pick us up. It was then a quick dinner and then we were off to Ipoh at around 8pm. I was sharing the back seat of her mum's Vios with my bike. Ribbit's bike had gotten a lift from Shih Ming and San who drove in from KL.

The drive to Ipoh wasn't long but I just could wait to get there as I was really really tired. Ipoh just couldn't arrive soon enough but finally we arrived at the hotel around 10pm. Thanks to Shih Ming and San for checking in on our behalf and for staying up to wait for us to pass us the keys. We finally moved all our stuff from the car into the room and it was time to crash at almost 11pm.

I didn't sleep very well at all and both Shih Ming and San made a comment about me looking really tired the next day. Now, note that my new baby is less than a month old and I had only rode only one 50km ride on it. Ribbit's new baby is also about two months old and I'm pretty sure even she has ridden it more than me, it was probably not by very much. So here we are two crazy people about to bike a 160km.

We had some hiccups in the journey to Bukit Kinding Resort, the start of the Century Ride thus we arrived quite late and by the time we setup all our bikes it was almost time to start as I started to bike into the resort to the starting line I can see a mass sea of bikers headed toward me. It was a total moment of panic for me seeing that I wasn't very steady on the bike yet. I wobbled quite a bit as I tried to avoid them. A few of them yelled at me to just turn around and started pedaling but I needed to use the loo!!! I disembark from the bike and started running with it only to trip and crash with the bike. I got my first knee bruise/cut here but it wasn't a bit deal.

Some really nice and empty road to bike on

(Pic courtesy of Frank)

By the time we were done with the loo break, everyone had gone off and as we exited the resort we were greeted by a mass of support cars. I had to bike really carefully to avoid them. Shih Ming sped off ahead leaving San, Ribbit and me to pedal together. Not too long after that we were to make our first wrong turn thanks to really lousy signage. Thankfully a marshall chased after us and got us to turn back.

After biking for maybe about 20km, San decided to take off to chase after Shih Ming as seeing that we were both okay. She sped off. I don't remember much of the route since I was very focus on the road because I fear I would fall off my bike or picked up a flat. All I remembered that the first stage we hit Kuala Kangsar and the route was either flat or downhill. It was pretty nice and I was keeping at 23km/hr which would be on target to hit a 7-hour finish. The first 50km arrived pretty quick enough and it was somewhere after that in which we met up with Frank. It wasn't too bad when we hit 80km. Ribbit was obviously the stronger biker of us two as she normally biked ahead and stop to wait for this slow poke. I guess if it hadn't been for me she may have taken off much faster.

After the second water station at 77km, the route started to rise uphill gradually. The rolling hill terrain would continue until pretty much the end. I felt myself slowing down after 80km to about 20km/hr. I started to get very frustrated as I couldn't figured out what was going on. It wasn't the terrain that was getting to me but I just couldn't get my cadence up and no matter how hard I stepped down on the pedals, my bike wasn't covering enough distance. I was getting grumpy and I complained to Ribbit about the challenge. I was suffering due to the lack of speed despite a lot of effort to pedal hard.

The 100km mark came very painfully. After that I really bonked pretty badly for awhile having not eaten anything for the past 5hours. My speed was dying after 100km, I told Ribbit I wanted to quit very badly but she kept urging me on. I struggled on simply due to her urging and finally 120km came. Together with that came the final water station where I refueled and tried my best to carry on. I overheard that this year the cutoff time was 8hours 30minutes. So Ribbit told me that we now need to beat the clock and with that in mind I did start to pick up my speed more. I must say I pedal very very hard the last 40km. As usual, Ribbit was at my side urging me on as the kms drop. With about 20km more to go my Garmin died. So I relied completely on Ribbit for speed and time.

Finally I had just 10km to go. I see Lynn and Frank start to speed up. I cranked up my own speed and prayed that the ride ended fast enough. As I near what I hope was the road back to the resort, a marshall on a motorcycle rode by me saying that there was 10minutes left. I started to pedal like crazy and hope that there wasn't too much left to cover. Finally I saw the signboard that pointed to Bukit Kinding Resort. Thanks again to poor signage, I almost missed the turn into the resort but a couple of nice bikers yelled for me to turn and I did. I arrived at the finish line in 7hours 59mins 33secs. Only 27 secs shy of the cutoff time.

Still standing after the rides with our new babies

(Pic courtesy of Frank)

When we arrived Shih Ming, San and Lynn's mum had gone back to the hotel to check out for us. We would have to wait around the finish area for another 2 hours before they came with items for us to shower. And finally at around 6pm, we had dinner at the food court near Wolley's.

By the time we parted ways it was 7pm and I dropped exhaustedly into the car for the drive back to Penang with Lynn's mum.

Things I like about the Century Ride:
1. Ribbit and I had our own team manager in the form of Lynn's mum! Thanks so much for driving us all around.
2. Waterstation people, marshalls and organizers were super nice.

Things that could be better:
1. That they didn't run out of bananas for the slower people.
2. BETTER signage for all those tricky turning points.

-Tweet-

Nike LunarGlide+ Shoe Trial @ Nike Office, The Curve

Haven't blog in ages. Thanks to Tweet(Chin) to keep the blog alive! Checking back my entries, the last I posted was on 18th January! Wopppss! Guilty charged! Seemed like I might FAIL again to meet my yearly resolution - NOT TO PROCRASINATE AND BEING LAZY. Hmmphh. Half the year has gone yet I'm still not even 1% kicking off my bad habit. (Lynn's Devil: Oh well...still have 5 more months right??! )Anyway, as usual I decided to update the blog immediately today or god knows when I will blog my entry. ( Tweet's eyes wide open ! )

Women LunarGlide+

Presentation by Li-Zren

San and SM

Loke & Frank

I was lucky to be invited by Li Zren from Nike Malaysia to attend the Nike LunarGlide+ Shoe Trial today at Nike office @ The Curve. Co-incidently a week ago I was thinking to give Nike running shoes another try since my last pair of running shoes back in 2007. Bingo here was my chance to give it a test run! Actually Tweet was invited as well, but due to being its a Thursday and she is in Penang, she couldn't make it..*sniff*. Since Li Zren told me the event will starts at 4pm to 7pm, I requested to my team lead on Monday that I will be heading back early today, thus I decided to be in office at 7am today.

Left work at 3.50pm from Bukit Jalil and headed over to The Curve. Luckily the traffic wasn't too bad. Took me about 30 mins to arrive there. Parked my car and took the lift up to the office. Called Frank to check where was the exact place to register and meet ( as usual me being me, never fully take note of the place to meet..bah!). As I entered the conference room (which they named it Bowerman- after the name of Bill Bowerman, the co founder of Nike. Inc) , nearly 90% of the attendees were already in the room. The attendees comprised of bloggers/runners(familiar running friends like San, Shih Ming, Jamie Pang, Pueh Tian, Frank, Loke), national athletes (Yu Fang & Kimberly Yap) and medias (Niki Cheong @ Bangsar Boy). After registration at getting tagged on the wrist with a small wrist band, proceed to the back of the room to collect the LunarGlide+ and other goodies ( Thanks Nike!). Honestly I didn't know they were giving out the shoes plus including a pair of socks, shorts, sports bra ( kid you not! ) and running vest. I thought it was just a launching ceremony or shoe trial event and giving the attendees oppurtunity to try out their new running shoes- LunarGlide+.

After changing into our running attire and put on the shoes, there were a short presentation on the technology of the new designed shoes by Li Zren followed by Yin, Niki and a blogger ( I didn't catch his name..sowreee dude.. ) .

At about 5 plus we were suppose to go out to have a short run around Damansara Perdana in the LunarGlide+ shoes, but it got delayed due to the little shower of rain. We proceeded down to ground floor , assembling in front of Fitness First for a quick warm up session by Jamie. The little rain shower finally subsided when we started running ( or perhaps the rain shower were gone when we started) . There were 2 running groups - 1 doing the shorter distance ( intended to be 2k ) while another group to do the longer distance ( intended to be 5k ) . San, Ming, Loke and Frank decided to join the longer distance group. Since I'm still recovering from injury, I decided to go real slow and stop if required. I haven't been running since SCKLM 2 weeks ago. Trying to refrain myself from running till my ankle and knee injury fully heal.

After running about 20 mins or so we were back to the front of Fitness First before going back to the conference room in Nike Sales Malaysia. Had some slight discomfort on my ankle ( not because of the shoes but from my injury ) . I can bet you the route is only around 2.5k ( thank god :p) .

San, SM and myself after the run...

O'Brien sandwhiches served... yum!

Pueh Tian and Jamie (Carboman)

My point of view on the shoes after gliding them through the wet road with its RocketScience technologies... :)

Men's LunarGlide+

Women's LunarGlide+ ( see the color difference !)
The sole

• 
  
  Pro:
  Upon slipping my foot into the shoes, I do feel comfortable. Compared to LunarTrainer+ and Nike Zoom ( which I owned as my casual wear shoes) LunarGlide+ does give a well cushioning area around the foot and much more support on the arch. With the cushioning, the shoes still feel light.
  Taking it out running on the running path at the nearby housing estate, the shoes proved to provide more grip and non slippery sole.
  For the 2.5km of run, the shoes did so far impress me. No complains! I might be using this shoes for the Shape Run 2009 on 24th July ( fingers cross that my injuries will heal by then or given a green light to run ) . Until I used the shoes for longer run, this shoes at the moment seems to be an awesome shoes.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Con:
  I prefer the men's LunarGlide+ black/orange over the white/orange colored shoes for women:(
  
  
  

Technical fact of the LunarGlide+ Women.
*extracted from Nike Review source

WOMEN’S NIKE LUNARGLIDE+
The women’s Nike LunarGlide+ features a number of key design differences from the men’s shoe that address the specific needs of a female runner.

Key Product Features
The Nike LunarGlide+ is the first running shoe to deliver both top-tier cushioning and as-needed support with the new Dynamic Support system.

• 
  
  The Dynamic Support system in the Nike LunarGlide+ mid-sole is comprised of a lightweight LunarLite foam core that sits within a firmer foam carriage. The LunarLite foam core is cut to fit into the carriage at an angle creating a deeper cushioned lateral side. The medial side of the Nike LunarGlide+ mid-sole features a rear-foot wedge that has been contoured into the firmer foam carriage which provides stability on an as-needed basis.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Women, on average, pronate more than men. The Dynamic Support system delivers great cushioning for neutral runners, as well as the necessary support for runners that overpronate, making the Nike LunarGlide+ appropriate for a remarkably wide range of runners.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Nike designed Flywire technology into the upper to provide the necessary support with a dramatic reduction in weight versus a conventional, overlay-based upper construction.
  The women’s Nike LunarGlide+ provides the cushioning, support and durability necessary for daily distance training in a lightweight, 8.6 oz package.
  
  
  

Upper

• 
  
  The breathable mesh upper provides comfort, protection and durability.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Soft yet strong microfiber synthetic overlays are ultrasonically welded in place for targeted support and luxurious, seam-free comfort.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Women tend to have broader forefeet which can lead to fit issues, abrasions to the skin, even bunions. Nike has applied its Dynamic Fit Technology, a stretchy material on the medial side adjacent to the fifth metatarsal, which expands and telescopes out to accommodate the varying width of the female forefoot.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Women tend to prefer a more supportive fit than men. The women’s Nike LunarGlide+ upper incorporates a medial-sidech Strap teamed with Flywire technology to provide better lock-down in the mid-sole.
  
  
  
• 
  
  A two-part, gender-specific external heel counter is engineered to accommodate the higher variability in heel volume exhibited in women’s feet. By framing the heel instead of fully encompassing it, this unique heel counter balances a woman’s distinct needs for comfort, fit and support.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Molded “high-resilience” foam sockliner features women’s-specific Heel Cradle geometry for enhanced step-in feel, cushioning and support.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Reflective elements add peace of mind in low-light conditions.
  
  
  

Mid-sole

• 
  
  The Dynamic Support system in the Nike LunarGlide+ mid-sole is comprised of a lightweight LunarLite foam core that sits within a firmer foam carriage. The LunarLite foam core is cut to fit into the carriage at an angle creating a deeper cushioned lateral side.
  
  
  
• 
  
  The medial side of the Nike LunarGlide+ mid-sole features a rear-foot wedge that has been contoured into the firmer foam carriage which provides stability on an as-needed basis.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Women, on average, pronate more than men. The Dynamic Support system delivers great cushioning for neutral runners, as well as the necessary support for runners that overpronate, making the Nike LunarGlide+ appropriate for a remarkably wide range of runners.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Women, on average, weigh 10 to 15 percent less than men, and therefore will have less mass compressing a shoe’s midsole. To account for this, the women’s Nike LunarGlide+ includes more soft foam under the heel than the men’s model, providing the softer cushioning women need.
  
  
  
• 
  
  The Nike LunarGlide+ features an Archbridge specially designed for women that cups the midsole along the arch side of the rear-foot for added support without withousacrificing a smooth transition.
  
  
  

Outsole

• 
  
  The rear-foot crash pad is made of BRS 1000 carbon rubber for maximum abrasion resistance.
  
  
  
• 
  
  The entire outsole features next generation Nike Natural Motion engineering– informed by the Nike Free line of shoes – to encourage a smooth, efficient stride.
  
  
  
• 
  
  Deep flex grooves specially designed for a woman’s foot are aligned along the length and width of the outsole mirror the grooves in the midsole to promote a smooth, efficient stride.
  

My gratitude and thanks to Li-Zren and Nike Malaysia Sales team for organizing the session and inviting me over for the trial session ( even know me ain't a good runner, ain't glamarous either ) Perhaps in future such trial sessions would be available up north in Penang as well.

-ribbit-

Race Report: Ipoh International Run 2009

I finally broke the jinx of my half marathon and ran a sub-2 at Ipoh last year. The route was pretty nice (flat and fast, but that's not really my thing) and support on the course was decent. However, MBI could definitely use some improvement in their bib collection and prize money distribution.

It is because I liked the run enough that I returned to Ipoh again this year together with Peck Yee and Kenneth to run the race. Sadly Ribbit had to opt out as her ankle was giving her trouble. I was fresh of my marathon so prior to the race I only ran on Thursday. A short tempo run. I was a bundle of nerves. Would I be able to do it again? Would I be able to run a sub-2 here? The prize money this year was significantly better than last year and I did see the amazing talent in the field when I registered. A lot of big names in running.

I travelled down with Kenneth and Peck Yee on Saturday morning. Upon reaching we went to "Tin Chun" for Ipoh hor fun, popiah and chee cheong fun. I do love the popiah here. It's very different from Penang. The rolls have some awesome filling of crispy little prawn (har mai or heh bee). It is also not drenched in soup like the Penang version.

Then it was off to Stadium Indera Mulia for bib collection. It is here that I met up with Shih Ming and Saya. MBI (not learning a lesson from past year's mistakes) takes AGES to pull up our information. Shih Ming and Saya left in the midst of this to check-in to their hotel and we made plans to sync-up again for lunch. After a century, we finally pay and headed over to collect our racepacks. It was amusing to see the volunteers pull our T-shirts out from those large MBI trashbins. I hope they washed those bins before putting the T-shirts in!

Lesson #1: Prepay for the race entry fees for Ipoh next time. Stupid me for not learning from last year.

We then went to the Heritage Hotel to meet up with Shih Ming and Saya and head on to lunch at Peck Yee's childhood chicken rice stall in town. I was overtly ambitious and ate way too much at the chicken rice stall. I would soon regret this. The chicken rice shop was packed to the brim but sadly I think the taste was average only. I think most of us enjoyed the Funny Mountain tau foo fah and soya milk we had after lunch more than the chicken rice.

We parted ways (sob, sob...) for rest with plans to meet again for dinner at Woolley, which I kid you not is a name of a food court. Not the wooly mammoth! Went home and felt so stuffed that I was pretty uncomfortable and this stomach discomfort will stay with me until dinner time. It is funny that people from Ipoh often tell you that they are going to Woolley to eat except that they almost always end up at the food court across the road from Woolley's. I guess Woolley's name is easier to remember than the Chinese name on the food court. I had lots of popiah again, which frankly is the best thing I have had there. The "mun ee mien" I ordered was so tasteless I didn't finish it and not finishing something is VERY rare for me. It is at dinner where I was introduced to Lai Chee, another superb superb runner who finishes Sundown 84k in just slightly over and hour.

We left pretty early to go back and get ready for the race. I must say I slept early enough in a room that I shared with Peck Yee in her parents' house. It was pretty stuffy so we set the timer and turned on the aircon. However, after the timer shut off the room became stuffy again. According to Peck Yee, I sleep walked my way into turning on the table fan but the fan was too noisy thus she turned it off and turned on the aircon again. She was to leave the room to sleep oin her parents's room. Thanks Peck Yee for letting me freeze to death with the aircon. At around 3am, I was so cold I scrambled to turn it off and continue sleeping until 4.25am.

Oops! I woke up late. I had wanted to awaken at 4am so there was a mad scramble to get ready.
Thanks to the food stuffing adventure the day before, I had multiple toilet adventures that morning. I choked down two pieces of wholemeal bread with peanut butter. Just as we packed up to get going, the skies open up and sheets of rain started to fall. Oh man... bummer. A wet run. Even with the pouring rain, we decided to drive to the start and well, sit in the car and hope the rain lets up.

When we arrived at the stadium, it was still pouring buckets. So we bummed around in the car debating whether to go down to run or not. My mood was seriously low at this point. We bummed until almost 6.30pm when we decided to make a dash for the start. We got out of the car and made our way as quickly as we could towards the starting area. The roads was a mess of puddles and rain was still coming down pretty hard. The gate to get into the runners' pen was flooded and my shoes and self were soak so much by then I couldn't care less what happened at that point. Let the rain come down.

We got our starting bands and huddled underneath the building for shade. Suddenly, I saw throngs of runners moving towards the gate. I guess it is time to line up... or not. Due to some big shot VIP coming late I stood shivering and freezing at the starting line waiting for the flag off. He got some pretty bad boo-ing when he finally arrived. As the gun went off, I was just happy to start moving. My muscles were so frozen just standing there.

The start felt very sluggish. What to expect when you have stood in freezing rain for a good 15minutes? We very soon branch off and I was glad I caught myself instead of following the hoardes of 10k runners. I noticed quick enough and made a sharp right turn. After the race, I would hear of tons of other more unfortunate runners that were lead astray by bad signage.

Lesson #2: Pay attention to the route beforehand so that you know where to run even if organizers have bad signage.

You can read more about poor signage and being lead astray here:
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Monday/Sport/2600498/Article/index_html

I caught a sight of Saya not too long after and tried to keep her in my view until I realized she was running a tad bit too fast for me at the point. I decided to drop her and focus on my own pace. It was an almost 6min/km pace at that point but I told myself I would need to run faster if I wanted to hit a sub-2. The good thing was that the first 5k passed fast enough and I turned into Jalan Gopeng to begin one of the longest straight and flat stretch of the half. Which was from km5 to km8. At this point, I amusingly ran past a guy running with an umbrella. He tried to keep pace with me for a bit but dropped after a few hundred meters.

The next stretch was quite easy, I think the pace was something like 5:50min/km. Still too slow but I did try to keep it at 5:40min/km for most part. After the 11km mark, I started to feel a dip, which sometimes happens to me during races. However, I am better at catching myself, giving myself a mental slap and picked it up. This whole I was pacing this guy with the exact same bib number as me 050. I struggled a bit from 11km to 15km but after I hit 15km things felt really good and I started to pick up my pace and at this point I was running about 5:45min/km. I started to drop Mr. 050 and quite a number of other runners. At this point I was running something like a 5:30min/km and I finally managed to catch up to that one woman ahead of me and passed her at km17. However, after passing her, I got so paranoid that she would pass me back that I started to run pretty hard. At the home stretch I picked up the pace again to about 5:15min/km and at the last 500m I passed another woman.

Total time taken 1:55 but damnit the route was severely underdistanced as my GPS only showed 19.91km. So It may not have been a sub-2 finish had I have to run that extra km. Average pace was 5:47min/km which was much much slower than last year.

It is funny to note that last year I also ran Ipoh after another full marathon, Sundown.

We celebrated by having lunch with Shih Ming, Saya, Ben, Yee Hua at the big tree. I had laksa and yong tau foo. I spent the rest of the afternoon nursing a throbbing headache before heading back to Penang in the evening.

Thank you Uncle Kenneth for driving and Aunty Peck Yee for the free lodging. Your parents were very hospitable.

Darn it! I need a new sub-2 half marathon now!

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Race Report: SCKLM 2009

Pre marathon:

Firstly, happy birthday to my Grandpa who celebrated his 86th birthday over the weekend!

My SCKLM weekend was packed with a lot of activities. The week leading up to the race was really busy at work with plenty of meetings/trainings so that left little time in the day for work. I had to spend my nights catching up on work. I had planned to depart on Friday after work at 4pm with Chin Leong, Kenneth and Peck Yee in my car. Unfortunately, I had a team celebration at lunch time which lasted until 2.45pm. By the time I got back to the office, it was just a mad dash to pack up and leave before traffic builts up.

The drive was smooth enough although traffic on the highway was very heavy. We did stop by a pretty good Italian cafe for pasta in Ipoh. It was called Sweet Tea Spaghetti Cafe. We had the Aglio Olio with Turkey Ham and the Tomato with Potato (I'm not kidding you!). The pricey were a bit steep but the food was pretty good! Thanks Chin Leong for treating us!

Reach KL and dropped Chin Leong off at Petaling Street where he was staying. Then on to Lynn's place to rest up for the night. I was tired but stayed up late doing stuff. You know how sometimes it takes forever for you to get to bed even when you are tired? Most of the time it involves doing stupid things like folding clothes? That was me on Friday night. Finally hit the sack at close to midnight.

Saturday was a super packed day. Ribbit and I already have breakfast, lunch and dinner plans. Breakfast was early at 8am with Alan, Bee Wooi, Jocelyn and Pang. We had it in the EXCELLENT bakery called The Bread Shop in Damansara Heights. Ribbit and I went crazy as we both love good bread and had close to everything in the shop. Highlights include the cinnamon buns, the chocolate croissant, tuna mushroom bun and the sausage cheese roll. To die for!

We then decided to leave for Dataran Merdeka so that we can get there early to collect our bibs. Surprise, surprise that upon arrival at around 10am, the bib collection had already started and was a far cry from the disorganized mess that I heard about the day before. We collected our bibs smoothly enough but the heat at that time was unbearable. In my mind, I was thinking how screw I would be if I were still be running in this sort of heat.

For lunch, we met with Shih Ming (42k -denotes SCKLM distance to be run), San (42k) and Sue Anne (10k) at Umai-Ya at Damansara Perdana. The lunch was a tad bit pricey and the food wasn't particularly good. Lots of carbo-loading took place.

For dinner, we met up with THG (Team Hyper Gila) to have dinner at around the Kampung Pandan area at a place called Rendezvous Steakhouse which has very affordable and tasty pasta. Ribbit and I both had the "Spaghetti Napolitana" which was spaghetti with grilled chicken, mushrooms and mixed vege in a tomato sauce with a hint of cream. YUM!

We tried to leave as early as we could to go back and crash but ended up leaving only at 9pm. Upon arriving home, we still had to book our Macau tickets (to run Macau Marathon in December) and I only ended up sleeping only at 11pm.

Marathon day:

Ribbit woke up first at 2am and allowed me to continue sleeping while she showered. She's such a sweetie. After that I jumped in for a quick shower. A simple breakfast of peanut butter toast for me and egg with peanut butter bread for Ribbit. We packed our stuff and was out of the door by 3.30am. We arrived at Bukit Aman carpark with sufficient carpark space for us still. Whew! I met my co-worker, Sean Chan who will be running his first marathon.

We strapped on our respective knee guard and hydration belts and was off to the starting point. I was quite nervous, as I kept worrying about how I would run a marathon after a long injury break. I tried to curb my nervousness by focusing on my mind in completing the run.

My first screw up was lining up for a porta-pottie which occupant didn't seem to be exiting it soon. It started drizzling while I was in line which never bothered me. In fact, I'm happy it did as it cooled the air down. I finally left the porta-pottie 10minutes later in a huff of frustration to drop off the bag at the baggage area before trying again. I was luckier the second time around. My second boo-boo was failure to find Siew Swan, who had carried my HRM for me from Penang. I am terribly absent minded and forgot it. I didn't find her until 10minutes before the race. Whew! Two scares before I finally lined up at the start with Guan Choon, Siew Swan and Ribbit.

The gun went off and I shuffled to the start. This time around I didn't have a race strategy, race pace or time goal. My goal was to run with Ribbit and to finish, hopefully under 5 hours. As we started running, Ribbit suggested that we try not to lose two women runners from the WWW, namely Siew Swan and Hooi Fang. My legs felt so tight and they appear to be running so fast that I got stressed that I wouldn't have been able to keep up so after about 4k, I told Ribbit and she said to slow down if I felt discomfort. However, I kept at it and soon after awhile I found myself feeling pretty good about the pace and felt I was running comfortably.

I saw Oy Leen then Tuan Tuan and eventually Mich Looi. Oy Leen pulled ahead soon but I would be seeing Tuan Tuan until around 28km. Ribbit and I tried to pace with Mich Looi for most of the way after that and it was a nice pace of 6:15-6:30. We would run with her until around 26k. After that we would lose her. By around 28k, Siew Swan passed Ribbit and me. Not too long after that Guan Choon ran by.

Surprisingly, I would feel pretty good until 35k and this was where I totally tanked and took my first walking break. After that point the race was just a countdown in my head as I countdown the last 7k in my head. I look forward to hitting the 37-38k water station as I had ran out of water in my hydration belt. However, upon arrival, I found out that the water station was closed as they had run out of water. WTF?!? Okay, never mind, I will not let it sway me. I plodded on a tad bit grumpy now. Ribbit was so kind to give me the last sip of her Cytomax. At around 39k, SP and Sunny would pass us. As we came upon the junction I was excited to hear the blarring music coming from Dataran Merdeka although I know from my GPS that we still had a ways to go.

Picture courtesy of Winnie

When I arrived at the junction I was told to turn right. I knew it! Stupid route planning. That has to be by the far the longest 3k that I would run in awhile. It was agonizing especially without water. The organizers saved themselves from my wrath by having water at 40k. At that point, I was running a lot harder as I know the end of the race was coming. Ribbit was right behind me this whole time. As we passed the 500m to go mark, I counted down each 100m as I saw Dataran Merdeka come closer and closer. As we enter into the home stretch, Ribbit and I joined hands to run across the finish line together. Woo-hoo! According to my watch it was 4:53. Yes! A sub 5-hour marathon. Not my fastest but not my slowest either.

(Picture courtesy of Ben Swee)

I must take some time to commend Ribbit who such a trooper! This power woman ran a marathon after 2 months of not training. I was only out for 6 weeks and I was lucky enough to come back from injury in time to do two long runs (26k and 30k) but she just went to the start line and still got herself a sub-5. I am so proud of you Ribbit. You rock!

Team Hyper Gila

(Picture courtesy of Jenn)

Post marathon

Had a less than spectacular buffet at Tenji. After so much hype, I was terribly disappointment. It was exactly how I felt about SCKLM. Wow! Deja vu. The evening was much better as Ribbit and I watched Eve Ensler's "The Good Body" which was being staged at the Sime Darby Convention Center. It was such an awesome, hilarious play about some very serious women's issues. Ribbit and I were laughing a lot and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves.

Problems with SCKLM 2009:

1. NEVER RUN OUT OF WATER IN A MARATHON

I do wonder if organizers here wish to wait until some one dies on the course from dehydration like that time in Chicago before they learn their lesson. I would rather be harsh on them now so that such things do not happen. The ironic thing was, they had so much water at the finish, they were giving away bottles of 1.5litre water.

2. What traffic control?

Either get your traffic control down or choose a less ambitious route. Runs that go through the heart of the city can be asking for trouble. How badly do I want to run past KLCC, really? I practically see some cops just standing there as cars whizz by them.

3. Where is my finisher's medal and T-shirt?

You mean after running 42km, I have to walk another 2km to get my medal and T-shirt? And what am I going to do with a size L finisher's T-shirt? Ribbit and I plan to wear it together as our Halloween costume this year.

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