Race review : Compressport Road 12km

I was not keen to join this run at first. Why? Becoz of the very high fees (RM89 for 12km). I know that the high fees comes with a free sock (worth RM89), but then again, I think there should be an option for runners who don't want the free socks. I've got tons of socks & I guess I just don't need another one, no matter what brand. 

But Rudy was selling his bib (again) & I told him I just want the bib & I'll pass the rest of the racekit to him. We agreed on a price, so I guess I'm running this race after all. Compressport is another of those compression wear brands, from Switzerland. Perhaps that was why their products are very, very expensive. They focus on the triathlon market. Their running shirt was often used by Mynic in their runs like Sehati Sejiwa & MyBuddies run. This year Mynic's gonna use Compressport again.

Racepack collection

The racepack collection was at DPulze Cyberjaya. After receiving the confirmation email from Rudy, I went to collect the kit on Friday. 1st of all I was quite surprised to see there was no timing chip on the bib. For a race this expensive, the absence of a timing chip is quite puzzling. If it was just some run by a charity organization then maybe we can accept. But this is a running event organized by runners & sponsored by a running product! I'm quite sure a lot of runners would agree with me.

We were given a Compressport string bag, the running vest & the socks. After seeing the goodies, I've to say that it was quite impressive. & I was already telling Rudy that I wanted to keep the whole kit! It turned out that the vest fits me although it was a size S! Not for running though, maybe for weight training. 

The socks is pretty similar to Nike's run socks, but it was thicker. I tried it on during my tempo run on Friday & I liked it!. It matches my Newton Triracer, the shoes I was gonna use for this race. 

Pre-race

This week I was already starting the heavy phase of my weight training. This phase, while the exercise is the same as my endurance phase, takes more time becoz of the heavy weights used & I don't do it in supersets. Each session takes about 90 mins including warm up. So this week I was pretty tired. & I had to do a session on Saturday, the day before the race. 

I decided to use Newton Triracer for this race, the 1st time I'ma use this shoes for racing. I'd intended to use the shoes as my short distance race shoes (12km or less). I'd wanted to use it during the 100 Plus last week, but I guess 15km is a bit too much for this shoes. & to compliment the color of the shoes, I decided to use my green Mizuno vest. Mean, green machine... 

Start line

The 12km flag off was at 7:10am, quite late. So I went to the start line after Subuh prayers. I got to the start at 6:35 & I did my usual warm-up. I felt pretty heavy during the warm-up, I guess I was still pretty tired from yesterday's weight training. My right leg also was pretty sore. My target for this race was to clock sub-hour. But I guess with the way I felt, matching my PB of 1:05 would be good enough. I've studied the course & there's a long climb just 2km from the finish, right in front of MCMC's office.  

The race

Flag off was right on time. The first 3km was downhill & I settled into a pretty fast tempo of 5:05. The 1st 5K was done in 26 mins, I was quite disappointed. I had targeted 25 mins. That means I had to push it up a bit in the 2nd 5K, if I were to achieve my target. But after the 2nd water station (6K) it was rolling up & down with 1 pretty difficult climb. I did the 2nd 5K in 27 mins. 

By now I knew I can't get a sub-hour finish. So I just pushed as hard as I can, even on the long climb behind Shaftsbury Square. I did the last 2.2km in 5:13 average. Faster than my 1st 5K pace, but it wasn't enuff. I finished in 1:05:33 with an average pace of 5:22. Faster than my Natura Run. But this time I was prepared for a 12km race. I had this thought of not pushing hard enuff during the race. I guess I was just too careful in the 2nd 5km. My tempo was okay, but I was afraid to push. I've got to address this in training. I can't be afraid in racing. Being afraid shows that I didn't know my limits. My the kind of experience I had, this can't be the case. 

I was too occupied in finding a rhythm, forgetting to push harder in later stages of the race. For 3-4 races already, I can't seem to break 25 mins for 5K. I dunno why. Maybe my speedwork needs to be faster. The way I was holding the pace, it was as if I was running 21K, instead of whatever distance I was racing. 10,12 or 15K should be faster than this. Although I was doing PB in those distances, I'm not happy. 

Post race

There was so much goodies handed to runners at the finish line, my hands were full!. We were given a bottle of water, a bottle of Lucozade, coconut water, choice of nasi lemak or bun (I took the nasi lemak) & best of all: ice-cream cones! It was like shopping at a mini market!

I met my friends from RTM, who finished earlier than I did. Then I went to change my clothes & went back to the start & found Cikgu Syed Syco. I sat down & chat with him for quite a while. He was running after a long lay off due to a back injury. 

My next race is gonna be the Larian Bomba. This is a compulsory event for me, annually. & this year I'ma run as veteran. I'ma take it easy next week & hope to be fresh for Larian Bomba. 

Ratings

Route (Challenging, unique) : 5/5

Organizer (Overall organization of race) : 4/5

Runners welfare (Water station, pre & post race facilities) : 4/5

Goodie bag (Content) : 5/5

Race tee (Quality, aesthetics) : 4.5/5

Medal (Quality, aesthetics) : 4/5

My performance (execution of race plan, finishing time) : 3.5/5 (new 12K PB)

Livestrong, run stronger.

Race review : 100 Plus Outrunner 15km

It's been 2 weeks since my last race, the RCBB 15K. I've recovered fully from my calf injury, but in the 2-week void in between races I discovered that since I was doing a lot of short speedwork & tempo training, I was lacking the endurance needed for races longer than 12 km. Why? Becoz I wasn't doing any LSD. So I tried to fix it by doing a couple of long runs. I got it fixed somehow. 100Plus was going to be the longest race for me before fasting month & there ain't gonna be any HMs for me before that. 

Racepack collection

Racepack collection was at the location I hate most : OCM building. I really think organizers should move away from this location & always have racepack collection at the race venue itself. We were given a can of 100 Plus with the racepack & it was there that I found out that the start has been moved again. Originally it was at the Palace of Justice. Then they moved it to the Presint 5 airfield. & now it was at the Monumen Alaf Baru. This has become quite a ...let's say habit, of the organizers to keep relocating the race start area. This shouldn't happen, especially for a race that has been announced months ahead. One of the races that suffered from the same fate was the Superheroes Run. The event was supposed to be in the Sunday morning after the 100 Plus, but the organizers kept changing the start until at the very last moment, it was postponed. There was an uproar of course. Organizers should be more accountable. Thousands of people have planned their run with friends, arranged for accomodations & to simply postpone an event like this, totally unacceptable. 

Pre-race

Becoz this race was on a Saturday night (16/4), I couldn't do a pre-race run in the morning. I did weight training on Friday, so I decided to just take a rest on Saturday morning. A night race presents it own challenges, the most important thing is timing your meals. This is my 1st night race after quite sometime..I can't remember when was the last time I even train at night! It was that long ago. I delayed my lunch quite a bit & about 3 hours before that start I took a nap. I decided not to take my fuel belt, so I stuffed my gel into a very small Adidas arm wallet I got a long while ago, along with my car keys. 

Start line

I decided to go to the start a bit early, since I had to drive becoz my bike had some problems. I parked about 700-800m from the start village, in front of the old pasar tani location. There was some concern of rain, but my friend told me that the rain had stopped. Once I park my car I went searching for a place to take my wudhu'. In doing this, I realized that there was no public toilet along the Persiaran Perdana, apart from the one right in front of Palace of Justice. & to make things worse, none of the government offices along that stretch allow public to use their facilities. This is something that Perbadanan Putrajaya need to look at. No point complaining now. After I performed my Maghrib prayers, I did my warm up & off to the start. I got to the start soaking wet.. 

The race

The 15km flag off was at 8pm. The flag off was accompanied by a fireworks show, which was something new. Of course, races in Putrajaya almost always uses the same course. Although I've studies the course map quite a number of times, I still got some locations wrong. This is something I need to work on. 

I did the 1st 5K in 26 mins, not the fastest but a solid base. I skipped the 1st water station as usual, as I didn't wanna disrupt my rhythm. I settled into a comfortable tempo & pushed myself so that I can keep up with the main group. Oh, this is my 1st race in the veterans category, so I hoped to achieve something, at least a PB. 

The 2nd 5K was mostly downhill. As usual when I got so focused on the run, I felt like was running in a tunnel. I maintained my tempo & tried to avoid the 10K runners when our route merged somewhere after PICC. The 3rd 5K was the hardest as there was a few uphills & a gradual uphill about 3 km before the finish. I knew this & I also knew the last kilometer was downhill & I did the last kilo in 4:30 pace. I hit the line in a new PB of 1:25. 

Post race

The race was over-distanced by 400m, not something I wanna complain about. Right at the finish the volunteers handed out water & then there was quite a long walk to the food pack, where they gave us fried meehoon & banana. I was actually looking for a toilet!. I went back straight to my car to change, then I headed back to the start village bcoz I wanted to buy the Brooks long tights which was going at 50% off. After I made the purchase I went around looking for a toilet again, but couldn't find any, so I went back to my car. I heard the announcer calling out the winners & the winner for the veterans category actually ran faster than the open category! I realized that I have a long way to go. But I'm getting there, slowly but surely. I finished in 58th in my category.

Ratings

Route (Challenging, unique) : 5/5

Organizer (Overall organization of race) : 4/5

Runners welfare (Water station, pre & post race facilities) : 4/5

Goodie bag (Content) : 4/5

Race tee (Quality, aesthetics) : 4.5/5

Medal (Quality, aesthetics) : 4.5/5

My performance (execution of race plan, finishing time) : 4.5/5 (new 15K PB)

Livestrong, run stronger.