Tomorrow I'ma race in the Setia Alam Half Marathon, on a Saturday, & it's gonna be my first daytime half marathon this year, after Putrajaya Nite Marathon & Energizer Nite Run. Having a race on a Saturday will also give time for me to recover on Monday, which is good actually. Had the race been held on a Sunday, I would only have the rest of Sunday to recover.. but I guess, after having run in 3 half marathons this year, things would improve for me, in terms of my recovery.
I ran in Setia Alam last year, in the 11K category, where I finished in the top 100. The course was generally flat, except for some overhead bridges that we have to go through to cross the road. & we'll have to do around 3 laps I think, judging from last year.
A flat course & a target time of 2:10, 15 mins off my previous best. That means I'ma have to run 6:10 average for 21km... doable ? I dunno la. With the amount of training I've been doing, I hope I can beat my PR. Before Putrajaya Nite Mara, I've never ever ran more than 13K. Before the Energizer Nite Run, my farthest training run was 16K. Now I've done at least 3 long runs during the past 3 weekends, each run was at least 18K. So I guess I'm better prepared for this race. My runningmates, Azam & Shahwan was targeting sub-2hr times, I dunno if I can do that.. heck.. before Putrajaya I didn't know I can run 21K either.. so I'll take this challenge head on.
I'ma try & go to bed early tonite, I've to leave home before 6 am tomorrow, to avoid getting stuck in traffic. I reckon since I'ma ride my bike to the start, I shud be able to park pretty close to the start & not having to take the shuttle bus. My wife won't be coming along as well, so I better have enuff strength to ride back home after I finished.
Looks like I'ma use my new Newtons for this race. I dun have any problems with my Adizero, I tested it on Wednesday & didn't have any problems with it. Maybe it's easier to switch from Newtons to normal shoes than having to do vice versa. I reckon the Newtons are light enuff for tomorrow. Cushioning won't be an issue, Newtons are well-cushioned enuff. I've just bought a new Nike racing tops last week, bright fire engine red color. But most likely I'll be using my other Nike tops, the blue-green/yellow ones, becoz it goes well with the shoes. I'll keep the red ones for Pesta Sukan Perbendaharaan (PSP).
I thought Setia Alam were to be my last half marathon before puasa month, but last nite I came across an ad for the Seremban Half Marathon. I might be doing that one, on July 11th, a week before Pesta Sukan MOF (PSKK). I'ma miss the KL Marathon becoz of my participation in PSP. & I'ma miss the Siemens Run as well becoz of PSKK. So I guess I'ma do the Seremban Half & Men's Health Shape run on 31/7, my last race before puasa.
After Setia Alam, I'ma focus on my 10,000m in PSP & PSKK. I wanna go below 57 mins. So I'ma focus on building up speed for the event. I dun think endurance is gonna be a problem. The problem now is I'm lacking speed. I'ma spend more time at the gym, perhaps going back to twice a week. Of course do a lot more speedwork & intervals. It's just for 3 weeks.
Goodluck. Livestrong.
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Let's eat...
I try to eat healthily all the time. But of course, from time to time I'd give myself a time out to pig out or indulge in anything. & of course, like most ppl, even health-conscious ppl, I have a vice.
My biggest vice to date is Vanilla Coke. How can a drink be harmful ? Well, considering the amount of calorie contained in a 500ml bottle of Vanilla Coke.. it can be harmful in the long run. But I just can't stay away from it. I'll make sure there's at least a 1.5L bottle in my fridge at all times. & usually it'll take 3-5 days for me & my wife to finish it.
A typical day of eating for me will start with a breakfast. As the saying goes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Usually I'll have some fried rice, or meehon or noodles, with my current favorite quail eggs.. if I had rice for breakfast, usually it'll be the only time I'ma eat rice the whole day. Then for lunch normally I'll have a can of corn, either a big one or a small one. Sometimes if I go out then I'll have something else, heavier. It also depends on my training program for the afternoon. & sometimes if I have things to do in the afternoon, then I'll be at the gym during lunch time.
Dinner time. This would be my lightest meal of the day. Usually I'll have some roti pratha with sardines, or maybe chapati, or again some fried meehon or noodles. The key here is to have dinner as early as possible.
Friday lunchtime is normally my pig out time... Normally I'll have a hearty meal of rice & chicken curry, some veges.. not too much actually. Considering that normally I'll do my long runs on Saturday, I consider this as my fueling up moment..
Whatever it is, too much of even the healthiest food is normally not good at all. So eat in moderation, watch what U eat & U shud be okay...
Livestrong.
My biggest vice to date is Vanilla Coke. How can a drink be harmful ? Well, considering the amount of calorie contained in a 500ml bottle of Vanilla Coke.. it can be harmful in the long run. But I just can't stay away from it. I'll make sure there's at least a 1.5L bottle in my fridge at all times. & usually it'll take 3-5 days for me & my wife to finish it.
A typical day of eating for me will start with a breakfast. As the saying goes, breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Usually I'll have some fried rice, or meehon or noodles, with my current favorite quail eggs.. if I had rice for breakfast, usually it'll be the only time I'ma eat rice the whole day. Then for lunch normally I'll have a can of corn, either a big one or a small one. Sometimes if I go out then I'll have something else, heavier. It also depends on my training program for the afternoon. & sometimes if I have things to do in the afternoon, then I'll be at the gym during lunch time.
Dinner time. This would be my lightest meal of the day. Usually I'll have some roti pratha with sardines, or maybe chapati, or again some fried meehon or noodles. The key here is to have dinner as early as possible.
Friday lunchtime is normally my pig out time... Normally I'll have a hearty meal of rice & chicken curry, some veges.. not too much actually. Considering that normally I'll do my long runs on Saturday, I consider this as my fueling up moment..
Whatever it is, too much of even the healthiest food is normally not good at all. So eat in moderation, watch what U eat & U shud be okay...
Livestrong.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Tricky race
It's been more than a couple of months since my last entry. I've been really, really busy.. even with my KPSU around. More ppl means more work can be dumped on us, so that's what happening now.
New Balance Pacesetters 15K
I've just completed the race for the 1st time yesterday. I registered for the race last year, but didn't run becoz I had a fever just after Larian Bomba 2009. So I had no idea what the route was like. & yesterday was a brutal introduction to the route... it was.. a killer. I thought the Jln Beringin lap down in Mont Kiara was tough.. this was even tougher.. doable.. but tough. What makes it so tough ?
It was the climbs. The route wasn't a rolling course like Jln Beringin. This course was like.. uphill for half a mile or so.. slight downhill.. then up again.. man... The toughest climb was at Jln Dato' Onn, I was almost reduced to a walking pace.
I had earlier set a target of 6:00/km or faster pace, becoz I thought the course was somewhat like Larian Bomba, where I was able to maintain a 5:40 pace. So my Polar wouldn't stop beeping was I was only able to do a 6:24 pace. I had set it to beep if I go beyond 5:40.. overestimate.. lucky it wasn't one long tone... beeeeeeeeeeep..
My pre race prep wasn't an ideal one either. I didn't run for 4 straight days before Sunday. & the nite before I couldn't sleep. It wasn't the heat, but proly the fact that I had taken a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.. so at nite I couldn't sleep well. When I woke up at 5:30 I felt tired still. Hmm...
15K distance is indeed a tricky one. U couldn't go as fast U would in a 10K race, that would be too fast. & U couldn't go at half marathon pace either, that would be too slow. I ended up with something in between, at 6:24 pace. That gave me a time of 1:32.49 unofficially, official time would be somewhere around 1:33.. was it bad ? My 10K time was around 1:03. Considering the brutality of the course & my conditions.. I guess that was okay. But the bright side of it was that if I can maintain this pace for my next half marathon in Setia Alam, I can run at slightly faster than 2 hrs, which is good news.
I didn't bring any feeding for the race. It turned out to be that I didn't need any. But what I needed was water. & there wasn't enuff of them. There was 3 water stations. & the last one was just 3K from the end. & that was like 4-5K after we tackled the killer hill. I was really desperate for some water by then. & at the end as well. I was really ill-prepared for this race. I didn't even bring any Gatorade with me to the race. Gatorade was my primary thirst quencher & by not having any meant that I had to settle with plain water given in the goodie bag. I was shaking at the end. I didn't even talk to Azam@Elgato, my running partner. He was getting better. He passed me just before Jln Dato' Onn & I didn't see him after that until I finished the race.
Well, there are lessons to be learned from this race. Learn from our mistakes & we can certainly be a better runner.
Larian Bomba 2010
This race was where I started racing last year & I made a promise to do it every year. & this year I wanted to break my previous time. The race course remains the same every year & Choi told me it's a good way to gauge Ur performance. I couldn't agree more.
It wasn't a bad race, but maybe I've overestimated myself. No.. not really. Actually I wanted to break the hour so bad that when I realized I won't, I got so demoralized I slowed down... not a good sign. I had maintained a constant 5:40 throughout & was happy enuff, but I when my auto lap beep for the 2nd time, signalling 10K completed, I was still a good 1K from the end. I had done the 10K in 57 mins, & I realized I won't break the hour this time. So I just rolled along & finished in 1:03. Even worse than last year. Bummer.
But again, looking at the bright side, my 10K time was 57 mins, 2 mins off my previous best. So I have improved to a certain extent. Phewww..
Livestrong.
New Balance Pacesetters 15K
I've just completed the race for the 1st time yesterday. I registered for the race last year, but didn't run becoz I had a fever just after Larian Bomba 2009. So I had no idea what the route was like. & yesterday was a brutal introduction to the route... it was.. a killer. I thought the Jln Beringin lap down in Mont Kiara was tough.. this was even tougher.. doable.. but tough. What makes it so tough ?
It was the climbs. The route wasn't a rolling course like Jln Beringin. This course was like.. uphill for half a mile or so.. slight downhill.. then up again.. man... The toughest climb was at Jln Dato' Onn, I was almost reduced to a walking pace.
I had earlier set a target of 6:00/km or faster pace, becoz I thought the course was somewhat like Larian Bomba, where I was able to maintain a 5:40 pace. So my Polar wouldn't stop beeping was I was only able to do a 6:24 pace. I had set it to beep if I go beyond 5:40.. overestimate.. lucky it wasn't one long tone... beeeeeeeeeeep..
My pre race prep wasn't an ideal one either. I didn't run for 4 straight days before Sunday. & the nite before I couldn't sleep. It wasn't the heat, but proly the fact that I had taken a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.. so at nite I couldn't sleep well. When I woke up at 5:30 I felt tired still. Hmm...
15K distance is indeed a tricky one. U couldn't go as fast U would in a 10K race, that would be too fast. & U couldn't go at half marathon pace either, that would be too slow. I ended up with something in between, at 6:24 pace. That gave me a time of 1:32.49 unofficially, official time would be somewhere around 1:33.. was it bad ? My 10K time was around 1:03. Considering the brutality of the course & my conditions.. I guess that was okay. But the bright side of it was that if I can maintain this pace for my next half marathon in Setia Alam, I can run at slightly faster than 2 hrs, which is good news.
I didn't bring any feeding for the race. It turned out to be that I didn't need any. But what I needed was water. & there wasn't enuff of them. There was 3 water stations. & the last one was just 3K from the end. & that was like 4-5K after we tackled the killer hill. I was really desperate for some water by then. & at the end as well. I was really ill-prepared for this race. I didn't even bring any Gatorade with me to the race. Gatorade was my primary thirst quencher & by not having any meant that I had to settle with plain water given in the goodie bag. I was shaking at the end. I didn't even talk to Azam@Elgato, my running partner. He was getting better. He passed me just before Jln Dato' Onn & I didn't see him after that until I finished the race.
Well, there are lessons to be learned from this race. Learn from our mistakes & we can certainly be a better runner.
Larian Bomba 2010
This race was where I started racing last year & I made a promise to do it every year. & this year I wanted to break my previous time. The race course remains the same every year & Choi told me it's a good way to gauge Ur performance. I couldn't agree more.
It wasn't a bad race, but maybe I've overestimated myself. No.. not really. Actually I wanted to break the hour so bad that when I realized I won't, I got so demoralized I slowed down... not a good sign. I had maintained a constant 5:40 throughout & was happy enuff, but I when my auto lap beep for the 2nd time, signalling 10K completed, I was still a good 1K from the end. I had done the 10K in 57 mins, & I realized I won't break the hour this time. So I just rolled along & finished in 1:03. Even worse than last year. Bummer.
But again, looking at the bright side, my 10K time was 57 mins, 2 mins off my previous best. So I have improved to a certain extent. Phewww..
Livestrong.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Too much weight is bad...
I've been preparing for my next half marathon, the Energizer Nite Run, for the past 3-4 weeks or so. I wanted to do more running before the event, my target is to have at least 150km in my legs before the actual race. While I've significantly improved on this compared to my preparations for Putrajaya, I might have made some mistakes in other aspects of my training. Last week, about 3 weeks before Energizer, I realized that I've done too much weight training. Or maybe the routine I've used for the past month have caused me too bulk up too much.
I now weigh between 84-86kg. Not that I've become fat or anything, but I've bulked up. & that has caused me to slow a little bit in training. & that's not what I want, at least not yet. I know it's almost impossible to lift weights & not bulking up, I'm still not THAT big. I've to change my routine. Instead of lifting heavy weights with less rep & having protein shakes before & after my weight workouts, I'll shift to lifting light weights with lotsa reps & having the protein shake post-workout only. I'll do this until I get back to around 82kg, hopefully before the 27th. & I'll go to the gym only once a week, even then it's for total-body workouts, like the Spartan.
Over the weekend I also thought about my upcoming races after the Energizer. Word has it that the Sukan Treasury will be in March. But with Dato' Bob gone for a month & it's already 8th, I highly doubt that. Nevertheless, I think my next 2 half marathons will be the Setia Alam & Standard Chartered. Last year the Setia Alam was in June. I like it a lot becoz of the virtually flat course. I did the 11K last year. & naturally I'd want to do the biggest half marathon in the country, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon. In between there's the Pacesetters 15K & also the race that started it all for me, the Larian Bomba. & for the Sukan Treasury this year, I'd like to try the mile (1,500m). I'd reckon I can have that as my warm-up for the 10,000m.
So, up until June, there are 2 half marathons & at least 3 other middle distance race for me. I'd like to do between 10-15 races this year, maybe half of those are half marathons. Also, I'd like to run in Singapore, maybe Sundown Marathon. I dun think I'm prepared to do full marathon yet, not in another 2 years maybe. Once I feel that half marathon is easy (somewhat), I'll move up to the full marathon.
Until then, Livestrong.
I now weigh between 84-86kg. Not that I've become fat or anything, but I've bulked up. & that has caused me to slow a little bit in training. & that's not what I want, at least not yet. I know it's almost impossible to lift weights & not bulking up, I'm still not THAT big. I've to change my routine. Instead of lifting heavy weights with less rep & having protein shakes before & after my weight workouts, I'll shift to lifting light weights with lotsa reps & having the protein shake post-workout only. I'll do this until I get back to around 82kg, hopefully before the 27th. & I'll go to the gym only once a week, even then it's for total-body workouts, like the Spartan.
Over the weekend I also thought about my upcoming races after the Energizer. Word has it that the Sukan Treasury will be in March. But with Dato' Bob gone for a month & it's already 8th, I highly doubt that. Nevertheless, I think my next 2 half marathons will be the Setia Alam & Standard Chartered. Last year the Setia Alam was in June. I like it a lot becoz of the virtually flat course. I did the 11K last year. & naturally I'd want to do the biggest half marathon in the country, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon. In between there's the Pacesetters 15K & also the race that started it all for me, the Larian Bomba. & for the Sukan Treasury this year, I'd like to try the mile (1,500m). I'd reckon I can have that as my warm-up for the 10,000m.
So, up until June, there are 2 half marathons & at least 3 other middle distance race for me. I'd like to do between 10-15 races this year, maybe half of those are half marathons. Also, I'd like to run in Singapore, maybe Sundown Marathon. I dun think I'm prepared to do full marathon yet, not in another 2 years maybe. Once I feel that half marathon is easy (somewhat), I'll move up to the full marathon.
Until then, Livestrong.
Monday, February 8, 2010
Success !!!
I've successfully completed my 1st ever half marathon during the Putrajaya Nite Marathon on Saturday. Here is the story....
Pre-race...
Despite my injuries early on, I decided to just give it a try & run the half. I woke up early on Saturday, put on my running shoes & ran for 15 mins around my housing area & I felt okay. The pain on my calf has gone, but now there's some new problems. But then, I thought those were my normal problems.. so I told my wife, I'ma run tonite.
Just as a precaution, I kept on putting ice pack on both my legs, just to make sure. I took a nap just after lunch. I'd also agreed to run together with one of my LYNet pals, Elgato. He's also running his 1st half.
Then off to the start. The half marathon started at 8.30pm. The marathoners started 1/2 hour earlier than us. We planned to run easy for the 1st 10K, then see if we could up the pace a bit after that. Easier said than done.
The course...
The course was generally soft rolling. The hardest climb was proly at the PICC (very early on, around KM3), & just as we were about to re-enter Presint 1, near the traffic light at KM15. I was able to maintain a comfortable pace of around 6:50-7:10. My target pace was 6:40. At that pace I thought, we could hit the finish line in less than 2:30.
Feeding...
I brought my own water, using my Ultimate Directions Blaze pack. I also had with me 2 packs of PowerGel, chocolate flavor of course, the ones I've been using for training. so I could afford to pass on the 1st 2 water stations. I'd planned to take my feeding every hour. So that was exactly what I did. & it turned out to be okay, when I finish I didn't really feel that drained. I took some 100Plus at every water station after the 10K mark, plus a couple of stops at 2 sponging stations. Those gels really was helpful.
Gear...
My last 3 races last year I ran with tights, short tights. But for this half marathon, I decided to go with my normal training outfit, a Nike running tee with normal shorts. My underpants was great, it didn't give me any problems whatsoever, so I was grateful for that. I've heard stories about runners getting blisters "down there", which certainly can't be good. But I was okay throughout. Maybe for morning events, I'd use vests instead of tshirts.
My Adizero Ace was just superb. Pretty much thruout the run, I was just cruising & my shoes really helped a lot.
Injuries...
I was really grateful that I was able to run virtually pain-free. But I was really careful with my stride, tried not to open up too big a stride. After KM10, I felt like I was just hanging by a thread, just a slight overstriding would cause my calf to tighten up & I certainly dun wan that. That was why I took some 100Plus from the water station, to prevent cramps.
I was pretty much cruising thruout. Now I know what they meant by cruising along. After KM10 onwards, I pretty much just let my legs carry me thru. My stride didn't really have any knee lift at all. Mostly becoz I wanted to avoid getting cramps. It was especially true during the uphills.
The ending..
I was pretty confident that I managed to up the pace in the last 6K. I didn't really push that hard, but it was enuff. With the ending in sight, I was smiling. But then, it was pretty demoralizing to discover that we had to make a big circle around KPDNKK & POJ. Coming from MOF, I thought it was straight on to the finish in front of POJ. But we had to make a left turn at the traffic light at KPDNKK, before emerging on the other side to approach the end from KBS side. I was really in pain by then, mentally. I crossed the finish line at 3:01, minus 30 mins.
The way the organizers arranged the endzone was commendable, it made it less painful for us. Immediately after the finish was somebody handing over mineral water bottles, then the medals, then the snackpack, then the Milo tent. I took 2 cups, then somebody bumped into me & I was drenched in Milo. I took another 2, then only I realized there was 100Plus available. I walked in my Milo-soaked shoes & found my wife waving to me at the MeCD junction. Then she told me the good news, we had to walk another km becoz she couldn't park the car close enuff... grrr...
Overall I was really satisfied that I was able to compete the run with just 12 mins off my target time. To be honest my preparation wasn't the best, so I that makes it more worthwhile. I'll try to run a better race in the Energizer Nite run, I have approx. 6 weeks to prepare.
Livestrong.
Pre-race...
Despite my injuries early on, I decided to just give it a try & run the half. I woke up early on Saturday, put on my running shoes & ran for 15 mins around my housing area & I felt okay. The pain on my calf has gone, but now there's some new problems. But then, I thought those were my normal problems.. so I told my wife, I'ma run tonite.
Just as a precaution, I kept on putting ice pack on both my legs, just to make sure. I took a nap just after lunch. I'd also agreed to run together with one of my LYNet pals, Elgato. He's also running his 1st half.
Then off to the start. The half marathon started at 8.30pm. The marathoners started 1/2 hour earlier than us. We planned to run easy for the 1st 10K, then see if we could up the pace a bit after that. Easier said than done.
The course...
The course was generally soft rolling. The hardest climb was proly at the PICC (very early on, around KM3), & just as we were about to re-enter Presint 1, near the traffic light at KM15. I was able to maintain a comfortable pace of around 6:50-7:10. My target pace was 6:40. At that pace I thought, we could hit the finish line in less than 2:30.
Feeding...
I brought my own water, using my Ultimate Directions Blaze pack. I also had with me 2 packs of PowerGel, chocolate flavor of course, the ones I've been using for training. so I could afford to pass on the 1st 2 water stations. I'd planned to take my feeding every hour. So that was exactly what I did. & it turned out to be okay, when I finish I didn't really feel that drained. I took some 100Plus at every water station after the 10K mark, plus a couple of stops at 2 sponging stations. Those gels really was helpful.
Gear...
My last 3 races last year I ran with tights, short tights. But for this half marathon, I decided to go with my normal training outfit, a Nike running tee with normal shorts. My underpants was great, it didn't give me any problems whatsoever, so I was grateful for that. I've heard stories about runners getting blisters "down there", which certainly can't be good. But I was okay throughout. Maybe for morning events, I'd use vests instead of tshirts.
My Adizero Ace was just superb. Pretty much thruout the run, I was just cruising & my shoes really helped a lot.
Injuries...
I was really grateful that I was able to run virtually pain-free. But I was really careful with my stride, tried not to open up too big a stride. After KM10, I felt like I was just hanging by a thread, just a slight overstriding would cause my calf to tighten up & I certainly dun wan that. That was why I took some 100Plus from the water station, to prevent cramps.
I was pretty much cruising thruout. Now I know what they meant by cruising along. After KM10 onwards, I pretty much just let my legs carry me thru. My stride didn't really have any knee lift at all. Mostly becoz I wanted to avoid getting cramps. It was especially true during the uphills.
The ending..
I was pretty confident that I managed to up the pace in the last 6K. I didn't really push that hard, but it was enuff. With the ending in sight, I was smiling. But then, it was pretty demoralizing to discover that we had to make a big circle around KPDNKK & POJ. Coming from MOF, I thought it was straight on to the finish in front of POJ. But we had to make a left turn at the traffic light at KPDNKK, before emerging on the other side to approach the end from KBS side. I was really in pain by then, mentally. I crossed the finish line at 3:01, minus 30 mins.
The way the organizers arranged the endzone was commendable, it made it less painful for us. Immediately after the finish was somebody handing over mineral water bottles, then the medals, then the snackpack, then the Milo tent. I took 2 cups, then somebody bumped into me & I was drenched in Milo. I took another 2, then only I realized there was 100Plus available. I walked in my Milo-soaked shoes & found my wife waving to me at the MeCD junction. Then she told me the good news, we had to walk another km becoz she couldn't park the car close enuff... grrr...
Overall I was really satisfied that I was able to compete the run with just 12 mins off my target time. To be honest my preparation wasn't the best, so I that makes it more worthwhile. I'll try to run a better race in the Energizer Nite run, I have approx. 6 weeks to prepare.
Livestrong.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Big trouble in little Putrajaya...
It was 6.40 am.. my new Philips MP3 player haven't even finished playing the 2nd song in my playlist.. I haven't even get into my first kilometer.. just before Masjid Putra... disaster struck... the thing all athletes preparing for something fear most... injury with less than a week to the big day.. arrghhhhh !!!!
The problem started on Tuesday.. I was doing my intervals, 5 x 800m .. I decided to do it without my 2XU calf compression sleeve.. just as I was finishing my last rep.. I felt a slight pull in my left calf, just a very slight one. I wasn't going really fast, about 5:00-5:25 pace.. & the slight pull stayed there throughout my warmdown run. When I was doing my stretching it was gone.. so I thought.. okay..
Maybe the biggest mistake happened on Wednesday. I went to the gym. I haven't lifted weights for about 3 weeks, & I decided to do the full body Spartacus workout, currently my favorite full body routine. I only managed to do 2 sets instead of the usual 3. The next day my body was sore all over. It was my rest day anyway, so I thought.. okay...
Then on Friday I was supposed to do about 8km tempo run. There was where I felt all the problems.. the slight pull on my left calf didn't go away.. the injury on my shin bone made a rerun, & I had a back pain. A back pain !!! I've never had those.. never, ever. I mean, during my runs la... So I cut short my program to just 4K of tempo. Then I went to play badminton.
& now. Sunday. Today I was supposed to do my long run, at least 16K. It was to be my last long run before the Putrajaya Nite Marathon. All the injury, sans the back injury, came back to haunt me. I couldn't even walk right. The walk back to the office from Masjid Putra took me half an hour. Slow by any standards.
Injury is not new to me. I've got injured before. I've had worse than this. But not with less than a week to my first half marathon, ever. Injury frustrates me. Even worse when U dunno what caused it. Was it the gym ? Was it becoz I decided not to wear my calf sleeves ? I tried not to rely too much on the sleeves. But it seemed now that I couldn't run without it. The last time I got injured bad.. was when I tried to break my 5K PR with my new Adizeros, without the calf sleeves. How's that ?
How do I fix this ? RICE ? With 6 days to go ? I wish I could just go to the hardware store, buy a new pair of legs, take this one off & bolt on the new one. I wish it was that easy. What I'm worried about is not getting enuff mileage before I do the race of my life. I mean, it's gonna be my 1st ever half marathon, of course it's a big thing to me. I know I can complete the run, but I dun wanna just complete it. I've got goals to achieve, targets to meet. & how would I know that this injury won't return during the race. It would've been worse.
All I want is to run pain-free. & I've been able to do just that for the past month or so. Why this injury choose this very moment to come back is really beyond my understanding.
Haih.... as strong as I am, there's only so much I can do. Right now even walking is painful, let alone running.
I hope I can fix this ASAP. Steroids anybody ?
Livestrong.
The problem started on Tuesday.. I was doing my intervals, 5 x 800m .. I decided to do it without my 2XU calf compression sleeve.. just as I was finishing my last rep.. I felt a slight pull in my left calf, just a very slight one. I wasn't going really fast, about 5:00-5:25 pace.. & the slight pull stayed there throughout my warmdown run. When I was doing my stretching it was gone.. so I thought.. okay..
Maybe the biggest mistake happened on Wednesday. I went to the gym. I haven't lifted weights for about 3 weeks, & I decided to do the full body Spartacus workout, currently my favorite full body routine. I only managed to do 2 sets instead of the usual 3. The next day my body was sore all over. It was my rest day anyway, so I thought.. okay...
Then on Friday I was supposed to do about 8km tempo run. There was where I felt all the problems.. the slight pull on my left calf didn't go away.. the injury on my shin bone made a rerun, & I had a back pain. A back pain !!! I've never had those.. never, ever. I mean, during my runs la... So I cut short my program to just 4K of tempo. Then I went to play badminton.
& now. Sunday. Today I was supposed to do my long run, at least 16K. It was to be my last long run before the Putrajaya Nite Marathon. All the injury, sans the back injury, came back to haunt me. I couldn't even walk right. The walk back to the office from Masjid Putra took me half an hour. Slow by any standards.
Injury is not new to me. I've got injured before. I've had worse than this. But not with less than a week to my first half marathon, ever. Injury frustrates me. Even worse when U dunno what caused it. Was it the gym ? Was it becoz I decided not to wear my calf sleeves ? I tried not to rely too much on the sleeves. But it seemed now that I couldn't run without it. The last time I got injured bad.. was when I tried to break my 5K PR with my new Adizeros, without the calf sleeves. How's that ?
How do I fix this ? RICE ? With 6 days to go ? I wish I could just go to the hardware store, buy a new pair of legs, take this one off & bolt on the new one. I wish it was that easy. What I'm worried about is not getting enuff mileage before I do the race of my life. I mean, it's gonna be my 1st ever half marathon, of course it's a big thing to me. I know I can complete the run, but I dun wanna just complete it. I've got goals to achieve, targets to meet. & how would I know that this injury won't return during the race. It would've been worse.
All I want is to run pain-free. & I've been able to do just that for the past month or so. Why this injury choose this very moment to come back is really beyond my understanding.
Haih.... as strong as I am, there's only so much I can do. Right now even walking is painful, let alone running.
I hope I can fix this ASAP. Steroids anybody ?
Livestrong.
Monday, January 11, 2010
6 days to go...
6 days to go to what ? Well, I've finally managed to get a new rented house in Bandar Saujana Putra, about 20km from my office. Now I'm waiting for the agent to prepare the agreement, sign it, pay, & we're ready to move in. I'm gonna be on leave from 14/1 to 20/1, proly the longest I've taken a leave since I started work in 2006. We plan to move in by Sunday, 17/1. That is, completely move in. We're gonna start moving the smaller stuffs by 15/1. I've decided not to run in the Pacesetters NB30K race on the 17th. So, my first race of the year is also gonna be my 1st half marathon ever, the Putrajaya Nite Marathon on 6/2.
I hope the owner will have completed some of the fixes I've asked for before I sign the agreement. There are quite a number of things to be done, as the previous tenant left the house in quite a hurry. Most of the bathroom showerheads were missing, some plug points need fixing & I've requested for a proper door for the kitchen extension.
This week will also be the final week of my daily 160km commute to work. Well, my final trip will be on the 13th (Wednesday). From 21/1 onwards, I'll travel just 20km to work. That means I can get home sooner after my evening workouts, I dun have to do my Maghrib prayers at the office no more & I can eat early dinners. That is especially important. After doing weights, I shud eat within an hour of finishing my workout. Since my trip home alone will take me an hour, normally I'll end up having dinner at 8.30 or 9pm, which is not good. Now I can have dinner before 8pm, provided that my wife can be home by then. Hmm... maybe it won't be possible after all, I doubt that my wife can find jobs within 15 mins travel like before. Well, we'll take care of it later. I'm just glad that I can be home within 20 mins... or less..
I've travelled 160km daily to & from work for the past 3 years.. & this shortened commute will certainly have an impact to my schedule, in a positive way of course. The 75-minute journey (55 mins in recent weeks) have given me some valuable experience. I've only had 2 flat tires in the whole 3 years plus. I've used 3 different bikes. My 1st bike was Yamaha Ego, which was more suitable for short trips to the market than 160km trips on the freeway. I broke the Ego's belt once, forcing me to push the bike for more than 5km, on the 1st day of Ramadhan in 2007. The highlight of it all was of course my crash in 13/7/2008. I've crashed 3 times in that 3 years (including that fateful crash). Rain or shine, I've almost always made it to work on time. I've travelled alone on that spooky Guthrie freeway at 11.30pm countless times. I'me just proud to say that I've never, ever used that as an excuse for coming late to work, or not staying back at the office. So I guess all that is gonna be history from next week onwards. It's been quite an experience.
Sunday's long run
On Sunday I did a long run, almost 1 1/2 hrs. I could've gone further, but I just wanted to see how I feel after running longer than an hour, & also to test my new Ultimate Direction Blaze running waist pack, plus to test my feeding arrangements for the half marathon. I'ma go further this week, I expect to hit 2 hrs, maybe 17-18km. I still have 3 weeks to prepare for the Putrajaya Nite Marathon, but the final week is supposed to be tapering week. I must make sure that I run at least one 18-20km run before the event, proly on the final week before tapering. I've told my wife I'm gonna bring my running shoes to Cameron Highlands, where we're gonna spend 2 nights on holiday next week. I proly couldn't do much there, just wanna keep running to keep the momentum going. Proly do some short tempo runs. Definitely no intervals.
Yesterday I managed to average 6:52/km throughout. Better than my target training pace of 7:10. & I'm pretty sure I can maintain the pace for the next hour. My half marathon goal pace would be 6:40, in order to hit 2:20 in the half. But a more realistic goal would be to finish in less than 2:30, I shud be able to do that. I'd be disappointed not to.
I've acquired the Ultimate Direction Blaze running waist pack, a waist pack specifically designed for runners or triathletes or other endurance sports. It comes with 2 10-oz bottles & a small zippered pocket for storing energy gels or MP3 players or ID. How much ? I took my wife along when I went to PJ on Saturday to collect it from Frank. & she saw me paying RM122 for that stuff. As usual, I've got a very good reason to buy it. Once I move to Saujana Putra, I plan to do my long runs in Putrajaya. Once I started running in Putrajaya, I won't have any support for my training runs. So I've gotta have this pack to bring my water & feeding along. Currently I just put my water bottle on my front gate & run past my house each lap. So, I was quite happy with the pack. It bounces around the 1st time I used it, with both bottles full & a couple of PowerGels in the pocket. Then I tighten the strap & it bounced no more.
6 days to go...
Livestrong.
I hope the owner will have completed some of the fixes I've asked for before I sign the agreement. There are quite a number of things to be done, as the previous tenant left the house in quite a hurry. Most of the bathroom showerheads were missing, some plug points need fixing & I've requested for a proper door for the kitchen extension.
This week will also be the final week of my daily 160km commute to work. Well, my final trip will be on the 13th (Wednesday). From 21/1 onwards, I'll travel just 20km to work. That means I can get home sooner after my evening workouts, I dun have to do my Maghrib prayers at the office no more & I can eat early dinners. That is especially important. After doing weights, I shud eat within an hour of finishing my workout. Since my trip home alone will take me an hour, normally I'll end up having dinner at 8.30 or 9pm, which is not good. Now I can have dinner before 8pm, provided that my wife can be home by then. Hmm... maybe it won't be possible after all, I doubt that my wife can find jobs within 15 mins travel like before. Well, we'll take care of it later. I'm just glad that I can be home within 20 mins... or less..
I've travelled 160km daily to & from work for the past 3 years.. & this shortened commute will certainly have an impact to my schedule, in a positive way of course. The 75-minute journey (55 mins in recent weeks) have given me some valuable experience. I've only had 2 flat tires in the whole 3 years plus. I've used 3 different bikes. My 1st bike was Yamaha Ego, which was more suitable for short trips to the market than 160km trips on the freeway. I broke the Ego's belt once, forcing me to push the bike for more than 5km, on the 1st day of Ramadhan in 2007. The highlight of it all was of course my crash in 13/7/2008. I've crashed 3 times in that 3 years (including that fateful crash). Rain or shine, I've almost always made it to work on time. I've travelled alone on that spooky Guthrie freeway at 11.30pm countless times. I'me just proud to say that I've never, ever used that as an excuse for coming late to work, or not staying back at the office. So I guess all that is gonna be history from next week onwards. It's been quite an experience.
Sunday's long run
On Sunday I did a long run, almost 1 1/2 hrs. I could've gone further, but I just wanted to see how I feel after running longer than an hour, & also to test my new Ultimate Direction Blaze running waist pack, plus to test my feeding arrangements for the half marathon. I'ma go further this week, I expect to hit 2 hrs, maybe 17-18km. I still have 3 weeks to prepare for the Putrajaya Nite Marathon, but the final week is supposed to be tapering week. I must make sure that I run at least one 18-20km run before the event, proly on the final week before tapering. I've told my wife I'm gonna bring my running shoes to Cameron Highlands, where we're gonna spend 2 nights on holiday next week. I proly couldn't do much there, just wanna keep running to keep the momentum going. Proly do some short tempo runs. Definitely no intervals.
Yesterday I managed to average 6:52/km throughout. Better than my target training pace of 7:10. & I'm pretty sure I can maintain the pace for the next hour. My half marathon goal pace would be 6:40, in order to hit 2:20 in the half. But a more realistic goal would be to finish in less than 2:30, I shud be able to do that. I'd be disappointed not to.
I've acquired the Ultimate Direction Blaze running waist pack, a waist pack specifically designed for runners or triathletes or other endurance sports. It comes with 2 10-oz bottles & a small zippered pocket for storing energy gels or MP3 players or ID. How much ? I took my wife along when I went to PJ on Saturday to collect it from Frank. & she saw me paying RM122 for that stuff. As usual, I've got a very good reason to buy it. Once I move to Saujana Putra, I plan to do my long runs in Putrajaya. Once I started running in Putrajaya, I won't have any support for my training runs. So I've gotta have this pack to bring my water & feeding along. Currently I just put my water bottle on my front gate & run past my house each lap. So, I was quite happy with the pack. It bounces around the 1st time I used it, with both bottles full & a couple of PowerGels in the pocket. Then I tighten the strap & it bounced no more.
6 days to go...
Livestrong.
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