Finally I get to run in my first race of 2011. It's been quite slow ths year, well, I would've ran in my first race early ths month @ Bareno, but I had to skip that one becoz I had to go kayaking in Langkawi. I've never run more than a half marathon, so 26km, although just 5 km longer than a standard half marathon distance, is gonna be challenging. After I came back from Langkawi I did a 23km LSD just to prepare myself for the distance. I did that in a little under 3 hrs, averaging around 7:38. My race plan was to go easy (somewhat) in the 1st half, then push up to my half marathon goal pace in the 2nd half. Good enuff I guess.
Trip to Penang
I went to Penang with Azam, we've been running pretty much together in races since early 2010. We've agreed to share the hotel room, along with Chin Leong, another runner from the LY Net forum. Chin Leong would meet up with us @ Penang while I drove from KL with Azam.
It was raining pretty much all the way from Ipoh I think.. & the rain didn't stop in Penang. It was raining when we collected the racekit, & it didn't stop until we went out for dinner at about 8pm. As soon as we checked into the room, we went out for lunch, I was starving, Azam as well & we went to town. After that I was just trying to get as much rest as I can, but it was difficult coz my stomach was so full. Nevertheless, I did manage an hour's powernap.
For dinner we went to Padang Kota. Penang is known for it's very winding & confusing roads, so I was lucky Azam was there as my navigator, we found most places in a matter of mins. It started raining again while we were having dinner... I had RM8 worth of pasembur, one of Penang's signature food. On the way back we stopped at a petrol station to buy some food for breakfast.
The Race
It was still raining when I went to bed, but luckily it stopped when we got up. The starting point was just a walking distance from our hotel. But I guess we were among the last runners to leave the hotel..
My race plan was simple. As I wanted to treat this race as a race-sim, I'd spend the 1st half in a comfortable pace, then push to race pace after the halfway mark. In total there was less than a thousand runners, so the crowd seemed so small. When we went out for dinner, we saw the course markings & thought the course would be flat. We were dead wrong. About 3km into the race, we hit the biggest, longest climb I've ever ran in a race. It was about a kilometer & half long... It reminded me of my days racing in Penang. Penang race was my favorite race becos of the climbs. I didn't have much problem tackling the climbs, I didn't push that hard.
The halfway point was at the Esplanade. The sky was just about to open up when we got there. But it did for just a moment so all was well. & I really opened up to my half marathon goal pace once past the halfway point. But the bad thing was that I was only able to maintain that pace for maybe 6K, then I slowed a bit & when I hit the 21K mark I was virtually slamming on the brakes. Not a strange thing but, my limit seemed to be 21K... after that I realized that I had another 5K to go & I was starting to wobble badly... so bad that I had to walk for maybe 2-3K...something I've never done in a race.
It was a lesson learned with great pain. But after the race I guess it was okay. I got to the finish line alone... & the announcer said,"Here comes a runner, on green shoes with matching green tops !" Hahah... it was really funny. The skies really did open up as soon as I finished my post race meal, so we had to stay there until the rain stopped. Azam had finished about 5 mins earlier & Chin Leong got to the finish in 3hrs plus...
All in all it was a good trip to Penang & although I really suffered in the last 5K, I think I'ma come back nxt year.
Livestrong.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
The urge to venture into multievent sport..
Ever since I can remember being in a competitive sport, I've always been involved in several sports at the same time. But currently of course I've been focusing on running as my main sport, but at the same time I do play badminton, I still can hold my own in basketball & of course swimming & weightlifting have been part of my routine.
I'm pretty big & well-built for a runner. In fact, most ppl dun really believe that I run in half marathons. & since I am a pretty good swimmer, ppl thought that I was a triathlete. My previous involvement in cycling made that possibility even stronger. Some of my friends, especially those who knew me as a cyclist before, encouraged me to venture into triathlon. I would've.. & I think that if I hadn't sold my bike back in 2001, I would've been involved in triathlon.
Triathlon is a combo of 3 very challenging events : swim, bike & run. There are several distances for a triathlon event: the sprint, olympic & ironman. The sprint is the shortest distance, 750m swim, 40K bike & 10K run. The Olympic is as the name suggested, is the distance competed during the Olympics : 1.5K swim, 80K bike & 21K run. The Ironman is the most challenging of all, especially since the world championships has always been held in Kona, Hawaii : 3K swim, 180K bike & a full marathon. Just to run a full marathon is an achievement in itself, imagine the what a challenge it would be to run a full marathon after swimming for 3K & being on the bike for 6 hrs... extraordinary.
My weakest leg would be the swimming. While I'm a pretty good swimmer, a strong one I am not. I couldn't last 200m continuously. Maybe with training I can. I dun think the bike leg would give me any problems, but still, I need to train.
Perhaps the biggest problem is I dun have a bike. Bikes nowadays costs an arm & a leg. RM4000 would proly get U a mediocre steel/aluminium frame with entry level Shimano Sora/Tiagra components. If I'm lucky maybe I can find some bikes with SRAM Red parts. I dunno how good the bikes can be & to invest that much on a bike.. well, I need to do some CAF.
Recently though, I've been reading articles about duathlon. This is for me a much more doable sport as it consists of run, bike, run. I was researching about its popularity in the country. The event has the support of a pretty big corporation : Malakoff. Malakoff has been organizing events in th country & the biggest event is the Malakoff duathlon in Lumut. It also organizes the Duathlon University championships, consisting 3 or more events throughout the year. If I wanna invest in a RM4000 bike, I wanna make sure there's enuff events for me. & 4-5 events a year sounds just fine.
What fascinates me about this multievent sports is the ages of the participants. In the recently concluded Ironman World Championships, the winner was 38 years old & more than 60% of the participants are 35 or older. I'm gonna be 35 this year. Of course my target have always been to run in a full marathon by next year, which is a definite possibility, insya Allah. So the question now remains : shud I buy a bike ?
When & if that happens, competing in duathlons are a very interesting & definite prospect.
Livestrong.
I'm pretty big & well-built for a runner. In fact, most ppl dun really believe that I run in half marathons. & since I am a pretty good swimmer, ppl thought that I was a triathlete. My previous involvement in cycling made that possibility even stronger. Some of my friends, especially those who knew me as a cyclist before, encouraged me to venture into triathlon. I would've.. & I think that if I hadn't sold my bike back in 2001, I would've been involved in triathlon.
Triathlon is a combo of 3 very challenging events : swim, bike & run. There are several distances for a triathlon event: the sprint, olympic & ironman. The sprint is the shortest distance, 750m swim, 40K bike & 10K run. The Olympic is as the name suggested, is the distance competed during the Olympics : 1.5K swim, 80K bike & 21K run. The Ironman is the most challenging of all, especially since the world championships has always been held in Kona, Hawaii : 3K swim, 180K bike & a full marathon. Just to run a full marathon is an achievement in itself, imagine the what a challenge it would be to run a full marathon after swimming for 3K & being on the bike for 6 hrs... extraordinary.
My weakest leg would be the swimming. While I'm a pretty good swimmer, a strong one I am not. I couldn't last 200m continuously. Maybe with training I can. I dun think the bike leg would give me any problems, but still, I need to train.
Perhaps the biggest problem is I dun have a bike. Bikes nowadays costs an arm & a leg. RM4000 would proly get U a mediocre steel/aluminium frame with entry level Shimano Sora/Tiagra components. If I'm lucky maybe I can find some bikes with SRAM Red parts. I dunno how good the bikes can be & to invest that much on a bike.. well, I need to do some CAF.
Recently though, I've been reading articles about duathlon. This is for me a much more doable sport as it consists of run, bike, run. I was researching about its popularity in the country. The event has the support of a pretty big corporation : Malakoff. Malakoff has been organizing events in th country & the biggest event is the Malakoff duathlon in Lumut. It also organizes the Duathlon University championships, consisting 3 or more events throughout the year. If I wanna invest in a RM4000 bike, I wanna make sure there's enuff events for me. & 4-5 events a year sounds just fine.
What fascinates me about this multievent sports is the ages of the participants. In the recently concluded Ironman World Championships, the winner was 38 years old & more than 60% of the participants are 35 or older. I'm gonna be 35 this year. Of course my target have always been to run in a full marathon by next year, which is a definite possibility, insya Allah. So the question now remains : shud I buy a bike ?
When & if that happens, competing in duathlons are a very interesting & definite prospect.
Livestrong.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Training revisited
Beginning February I've started my half marathon training, with the target being going below 2hrs & the targetted race is 2011 Energizer Nite Race which will be held in .. or shud I say, around the Sepang F1 circuit. Although after a couple of years racing, the ideal course to target a personal best is Setia Alam, I was cautious about having that as a target event. Why ? Becoz as of today, no date has been set for that race. Although traditionally, it's always been around April or May. But then again, once I reached the peak of my training, which shud be around mid April, I'd reckon that I can hold that form for about 2 months. Hopefully I can do exactly that. If that happens, then I can still target Setia Alam, which has grown to become my favorite hunting ground so far.
I'm now into the end of the 4th week of the program, which takes 10 weeks to complete. The issue is dividing between running & weights. I'm also into Week 4 of my weight training program, which is divided into 2 phases of 4 weeks each. After the end of the 4th week, I'll take a week's break from lifting. Currently my program is being laid out like this:
Monday : Intervals
Tuesday : Rest
Wednesday : Weights
Thursday : Tempo run
Friday : weights
Saturday : Long
Sunday : rest
After a month I found that my rest days are too close together & by Friday I've become really tired from all the weights & road pounding. Also, having to run tempo immediately after a very intense weight session is taking it's toll on my body. Yesterday I was supposed to run 25 mins tempo at 10K goal pace. While I was able to complete 25 mins, the pace was nowhere near my 10K goal pace. Why ? Becoz I felt really stiff in my lowerback & legs.. result of almost 200lbs of deadlifts, split squats & also reverse lunges I did the day before. So after the very frustrating run yesterday, I began to rethink my program layout. This is what I've come out with :
Monday : Weights
Tuesday : Intervals
Wednesday : Rest
Thursday : Tempo run
Friday : weights
Saturday : Long
Sunday : rest
So the changes is on Monday & Tuesday. Although I still have to do the intervals after the weights on Monday, I think it's better this way. Becoz now my program is spread out 2-1-3-1, with the rest days more evenly spread out throughout the week. Intervals are mostly short sprints or mile-repeats at most, so stiff muscles shudn't be a problem. But still, I'ma test it out beginning next week & hopefully this will yield a better result.
I did my Polar VO2 max test last week & I'm still in my 58s, which is good. & the weights I'm lifting, is the heaviest I've ever lifted, thanks to a better understanding of breathing technique & a better form. Nevertheless, I'd welcome the week's break from lifting, to give my body time to develop & grow.
Good luck & Livestrong.
I'm now into the end of the 4th week of the program, which takes 10 weeks to complete. The issue is dividing between running & weights. I'm also into Week 4 of my weight training program, which is divided into 2 phases of 4 weeks each. After the end of the 4th week, I'll take a week's break from lifting. Currently my program is being laid out like this:
Monday : Intervals
Tuesday : Rest
Wednesday : Weights
Thursday : Tempo run
Friday : weights
Saturday : Long
Sunday : rest
After a month I found that my rest days are too close together & by Friday I've become really tired from all the weights & road pounding. Also, having to run tempo immediately after a very intense weight session is taking it's toll on my body. Yesterday I was supposed to run 25 mins tempo at 10K goal pace. While I was able to complete 25 mins, the pace was nowhere near my 10K goal pace. Why ? Becoz I felt really stiff in my lowerback & legs.. result of almost 200lbs of deadlifts, split squats & also reverse lunges I did the day before. So after the very frustrating run yesterday, I began to rethink my program layout. This is what I've come out with :
Monday : Weights
Tuesday : Intervals
Wednesday : Rest
Thursday : Tempo run
Friday : weights
Saturday : Long
Sunday : rest
So the changes is on Monday & Tuesday. Although I still have to do the intervals after the weights on Monday, I think it's better this way. Becoz now my program is spread out 2-1-3-1, with the rest days more evenly spread out throughout the week. Intervals are mostly short sprints or mile-repeats at most, so stiff muscles shudn't be a problem. But still, I'ma test it out beginning next week & hopefully this will yield a better result.
I did my Polar VO2 max test last week & I'm still in my 58s, which is good. & the weights I'm lifting, is the heaviest I've ever lifted, thanks to a better understanding of breathing technique & a better form. Nevertheless, I'd welcome the week's break from lifting, to give my body time to develop & grow.
Good luck & Livestrong.
Tuesday, March 1, 2011
Rezeki anak
The past few weeks have been very interesting for me & my wife of course. I've been able to restructure my financial commitments to the point that we have nothing to pay for monthly.. well, at least nothing major.. except for my personal loan & car, the rest are just normal utility bills. This is what ppl call rezeki anak, & I certainly am very thankful to Allah for everything that has happened.
The Batmobile
I still have problems believing that I'm driving a new car, & although that car is not really my dream car, which is Mazda 6, it is still my kinda car, sport-sedan. Of course, for someone who's been driving a beaten-down Iswara before, to drive this car now is like a dream come true. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning & open the front door to see my Batmobile, I still can't believe my eyes that the car is in my front porch.
The car's been great. I've yet to fix the spoiler, I hope to be able to do that this weekend. I believe with the spoiler will give the car that rally-car look. I've always liked rally cars, no doubt about that.
Expensive lesson learned.
I bought a New Balance 759 shoes a couple of months ago. At that time I was really optimistic about the shoes & the fit. But even after almost 100km I still couldn't adjust to it & in the end I concluded that the toebox is just too wide. My toes had too much play & that's made me feel very uncomfortable up front, especially on long runs. My toes really hurt after long training runs, something I've never experienced before. So I went back to my Newtons & instantly the problems disappear.
I thought I'd taken everything into consideration before deciding on that shoes. I did, but the mistake was to buy the same size as my other shoes, which had normal width toebox. The 759 had 2E toebox, so I shud've bought a size or half a size smaller. That would've settled it. Now I'm using my RM320 shoes just for easy runs, becoz during easy runs I'll go easy & it's less than an hour, so my toes won't hurt that much.
After that very expensive mistake, I think I'll just stick to what works for me. That is, I'ma buy the same shoes so that I dun have to take time to adjust to the fit of a new shoes. So I'ma buy another Newton, to be used as my race shoes. I know Newton works.
During my 2-mile interval yesterday, I was using my old Adizero Ace. I thought that even after almost 300km the shoe still performs admirably. & I began to compare it to my new Asics Hyperspeed 3. The Asics is lighter of course, but it didn't have that spring in the form of Adidas Torsion plate. I had a very pleasant run with that Torsion plate in place, it helps propel my feet forward. With the Asics there was no such assistance, I had to carry my feet forward.
I think I'ma stop experimenting with shoes & just stick to what is tried & tested. It's kinda expensive for me to try new shoes & the result is uncertain. So, I've decided to stick to Newtons for long distance & Adizero Ace for short ones. Tht shud do it.
Pregnancy
Yesterday I went to HUKM with my wife for her regular check up. The baby is now almost 15 weeks old. & the baby is in perfect health. Scans show that my wife had a lump called fibroid in the womb, but the doc assured that it's normal. Okay. well, 21 weeks to go...
The Batmobile
I still have problems believing that I'm driving a new car, & although that car is not really my dream car, which is Mazda 6, it is still my kinda car, sport-sedan. Of course, for someone who's been driving a beaten-down Iswara before, to drive this car now is like a dream come true. Sometimes when I wake up in the morning & open the front door to see my Batmobile, I still can't believe my eyes that the car is in my front porch.
The car's been great. I've yet to fix the spoiler, I hope to be able to do that this weekend. I believe with the spoiler will give the car that rally-car look. I've always liked rally cars, no doubt about that.
Expensive lesson learned.
I bought a New Balance 759 shoes a couple of months ago. At that time I was really optimistic about the shoes & the fit. But even after almost 100km I still couldn't adjust to it & in the end I concluded that the toebox is just too wide. My toes had too much play & that's made me feel very uncomfortable up front, especially on long runs. My toes really hurt after long training runs, something I've never experienced before. So I went back to my Newtons & instantly the problems disappear.
I thought I'd taken everything into consideration before deciding on that shoes. I did, but the mistake was to buy the same size as my other shoes, which had normal width toebox. The 759 had 2E toebox, so I shud've bought a size or half a size smaller. That would've settled it. Now I'm using my RM320 shoes just for easy runs, becoz during easy runs I'll go easy & it's less than an hour, so my toes won't hurt that much.
After that very expensive mistake, I think I'll just stick to what works for me. That is, I'ma buy the same shoes so that I dun have to take time to adjust to the fit of a new shoes. So I'ma buy another Newton, to be used as my race shoes. I know Newton works.
During my 2-mile interval yesterday, I was using my old Adizero Ace. I thought that even after almost 300km the shoe still performs admirably. & I began to compare it to my new Asics Hyperspeed 3. The Asics is lighter of course, but it didn't have that spring in the form of Adidas Torsion plate. I had a very pleasant run with that Torsion plate in place, it helps propel my feet forward. With the Asics there was no such assistance, I had to carry my feet forward.
I think I'ma stop experimenting with shoes & just stick to what is tried & tested. It's kinda expensive for me to try new shoes & the result is uncertain. So, I've decided to stick to Newtons for long distance & Adizero Ace for short ones. Tht shud do it.
Pregnancy
Yesterday I went to HUKM with my wife for her regular check up. The baby is now almost 15 weeks old. & the baby is in perfect health. Scans show that my wife had a lump called fibroid in the womb, but the doc assured that it's normal. Okay. well, 21 weeks to go...
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