Past 2 races

Nike 10K KL City Run

This is the 1st time, if I remember correctly, that a race in Malaysia being sponsored by Nike. Nike, despite it's claims as the #1 running shoe maker in the world, has never been actively involved in any running activities or the running fraternity in Malaysia. Most of the races in the country are being sponsored by New Balance, which is actively involved with Pacesetters Malaysia. Adidas have the King of The Road (recently known as Adination), Mizuno also have sponsored the Mizuno Wave Run for a good few years now, Newton & Brooks have also entered the fray. Why ? I dun really know why. That is why, if U ask any runner, seasoned ones especially, REAL runners dun wear Nike. They wear everything else BUT Nike. Me included.

So when Nike decided to have the KL City Run at 10/10/10 recently, the response was overwhelming. Proly becoz of the t-shirt they're giving away (worth at least RM99.90 retail), or the chance of running in the middle of KL (not a new idea, the SCKLM & Pacesetters have been doing it for years)... but more than 5000 runners signed up. So much so that it made the other running event held on the same day, sponsored by Brooks, looked like a local neighborhood jogathon.

Anyways, I've always liked Nike running apparel, although I dun own any of their running shoes. I've got 3 Nike running tees, a couple of Nike vests, a couple of socks, & 2 running-specific caps. I hv running shirts from other brands as well, Adidas, Brooks, doRunning.. but they dun quite match Nike in terms of comfort & lightness of the fabric. The Nike 10K running shirt is another addition, to pay RM50 & get a shirt of that quality is a good investment I guess. A new concept intro'ed by Nike is to print our race numbers on the t-shirt itself. This is an ingenious concept for 2 things : U MUST use the shirt for the race, which ensures uniformity, & there's no tedious bib to pin to the shirt. Great job !!

Well, I've been targetting to break the hour on the road for this race. It was really boosted by my fine performance during the Newton 12K. So I've set a target of getting 55 mins, which means I've to run below 6:00/km pace. I set my Polar at 5:30 - 6:00. But the build up to the race wasn't anything to shout about. I couldn't do kilo repeats more than twice (I threw up on the 3rd rep) & I felt really, really slow.

The race started late, at 7:15. I've earlier set up a meeting with Low Yat.net runners at 6:45. But I got to the start at 6:55 &I thought I was running late edi. The good thing was that I get to start from the front, but the downside was that I had to warm up right in front of the monstrous speakers they've put up nxt to the start line. I can't hear right from my right ear for days after the race.

I was going comfortably at the 1st half of the race. But I felt slow. Really slow. The route was flat except for the short trip on the AKLEH. But I couldn't pick up pace. My Polar was beeping slowly, a sign that I was below my target pace. My morale was further battered when I reached the halfway point, & my Polar which was set to record auto lap every 5km, showed 31 mins... which was well below my target pace.

But I continued to press on. After AKLEH the route brought us down to the tunnel next to the Tabung Haji building. This is certainly a surprise. While the tunnel is less than 300m long I think, it was made hard by the traffic that got stuck in it. The tunnel was filled with smoke. Maybe if there was no traffic it would've been easier.

When I got out of the tunnel the marker says there's only 500m left in the race.. & my Polar read 52 mins !!! I was really surprised !! But I didn't check the distance on my Polar, I just pressed on. I hit the line at 55 mins !! Mission accomplished !! Or was it ?

My Polar recorded only 8.8km. But most other forumers claimed that their Nike+ GPS device recorded between 9.9 - 10.1km distance. Well, I hate to put an asterisk nxt to my PB, but I guess I've to accept it. I need to train more, no doubt. But come to think of it, it had only been a month after Raya. So I shud be happy with the way I ran & the time I got. I need to build on this...

Livestrong.

(next... Mizuno Wave Run)

The Hyperspeed has landed !!!

After 2 somewhat agonizing weeks has passed, I finally got hold of the latest weapon in my ever-growing arsenal, my race shoes : Asics Gel Hyperspeed 3. This shoes is my first Asics shoes, ordered from Pro Direct Running in the UK, as I've never seen it in any store in Malaysia. Plus, Asics shoes are very expensive in Malaysia, even the simple basic models would cost upwards of RM300. So to get this very light racing shoes, with a free running tee, & a Livestrong gymsack, for less than RM300 (plus shipping) is indeed a bargain.

The journey

I'd been calling Poslaju for the past few days to check on the shoes. It was delivered on 17/9 using Royal Mail. The system is such that, once it gets to Malaysia, it'll be passed to the local courier service, in this case the Poslaju, to be delivered to its final destination. I was really worried as the PDR had omitted "Bandar Saujana Putra" from my address. But PDR told me to check with the local courier service once it gets to Malaysia. I was told my Poslaju that the package will take 10 working days to get to Malaysia, & a further 3-4 days to get to me.

But when I called Poslaju again this morning, they told me to call Pos KLIA. So I did & they told me that the package has arrived at Pos KLIA on the 23/9 !! What the ... ? & it had been given a new, local tracking number, which explained why the system couldn't track that my package has arrived. So with that local tracking number I was able to track it down to Poslaju Puchong. I took off on my bike to collect it as soon as I was released by my boss. & there it was, sitting on the office counter since Monday.

This would never have happened if I placed an order in the US. The Running Warehouse insisted that all overseas package be sent using courier service like DHL or FedEx. My javelin spikes was shipped to me in 5 working days, using FedEx, right to my doorstep. Expensive, much more expensive than RoyalMail, but at least U won't be given the runaround & U dun risk losing a precious cargo.

Asics Gel Hyperspeed 3

I've been looking for a replacement for my Adizero Ace, after it was pretty clear that the shoe won't last another half marathon. It just got worn out so quickly, less than 250km. In fact, I had just about 207km with that shoe. I used it for my 1st two half marathons this year, & all the other short distance races less than 15km. But after Energizer Half it was already showing very visible signs of wear. I dun even use it for training.

So after browsing around, I decided to try Asics. It was reasonably priced, light enuff, has good support system and although it was last year's model, it was only recently replaced by Hyperspeed 4. & I've decided to try purchasing from PDR, since the shipping was much, much more cheaper than US, plus I dun really need it urgently.
The shoes are really low profile, lower than Adizero, with only 10mm forefoot thickness. The Adizero was 12mm I think. The Hyperspeed is 10mm/17mm.

The cushioning system is Asics' trademark Gel Cushioning. The Discovery channel recently had a feature on Asics Gel system in its "How Do They Do It" program. In that program, Asics demonstrated how advanced & hi-tech the Gel cushioning was. They dropped an egg, from a height of 6 meters, right onto the Gel which was placed on the floor. & the egg didn't break. Amazing. I hope it can protect my feet as effective as it had protected the egg.

Even with Asics reputation of being a running shoe with the best cushioning shoes, only a few well-known marathon runner uses Asics. Maybe the most famous one would be Ryan Hall, the American who got 4th in the Beijing Olympics & 5th at 2009 London Marathon (won by Sammy Wanjiru). Asics also have a few world-leading athletes under their sponsorship, like Lolo Jones (100m hurdle) & of course Andreas Thorkhildsen, the world javelin champion. Maybe Asics is still working on the commercial side of their products. Japanese companies tend to let their products do the talking, like Asics & Mizuno. If only they have the marketing prowess of Nike, they'd be one of the giants by now.


The sole pattern is also pretty interesting. Looks like it's gonna last longer than the Adizeros. Hopefully, as I've no intention to buy new racing shoes once every six months. This shoe is marketed as racing shoes for distances up to 10K, or even half marathon for lighter & efficient runner. Well, I'm no lightweight, but I can work on being an efficient runner. I'ma use this in my sub-hour attempt at the Nike 10K on the 10/10. If everything is okay, then I might also use it for Penang Bridge.

I really look forward to trying this shoes, possibly in my planned 10K training this afternoon. But it's raining outside, & I've no intention of giving this shoes its first wet test. Maybe it's gonna have to wait until Sunday, or maybe tomorrow morning.

Here are the other things that I received in the package today:




doRunning is PDR's house brand. But their running tee is pretty thick although light. Not as light as the Nikes or Adidas. & of course I have got to get them Livestrong gymsack, a very, very rare item that U can never, ever get in Malaysia.

Can't wait to see what the Hyperspeed can do..!!!

Livestrong.