(27/2/05)-F1 Race report : Shoe lace untied...

6:30 am : Raining heavily , very cold , one of the first to arrive to submit my name . couldn't find Howard anywhere ( later found out he wasn't feeling well due to the haze)


7:30 am :Still raining and looks like race won't start yet .

8:15 am : Speeches began , rain began to stop , different categories starts racing .

FROM 3 LAP RUN BECAME 2 LAP.

8 : 45 am : Our category with ladies open begans.The official says just run 2 laps instead of 3 . I suppose coz we started late too

Note ; 1 lap = 5.543 km
2 lap = 11.086 km


Great feeling to run the track and saw that there were actually some hills too .

SHOE LACE UNTIED... !!

At the 1st quarter of the race , i noticed my RIGHT shoe laced was untied and stopped to tie it , by that time the leading pack which i was near with went further and further away .

CROSS-COUNTRY :


Was horrified that everyone took short cuts to cut across the field thus shortening the distance , we (including myself ran across the field and it felt like a cross country run.

Only at the second round did the officials situated marshalls so that nobody took the short cuts .

DETOUR .....

In fact i was among the unfortunate one who couldn't take the short cut whereas the leading pack took it . As I was heading towards the end of a short cut , an official suddenly came and stopped me .I had to take a DETOUR and that also took up some time .


FAST 2ND ROUND , TURBO ...

At the 2nd round , the leading pack was too far away for me to catch up but I almost wanted to stop but ran on at an even faster speed (TURBO) as I could sort of time myself .

Ended the race after OVERTAKING a number of people but still not good enough for a position

I don't really know whats my position , i guess somewhere in the 1st quarter out of 170+ people .


Notes :i) A number of school kids took opportunity to sit on the track .

ii)I should have followed closer to the leading group but my lack of speed in the 1st round) prevented me from doing so .

iii) Beside the lack of speed , the stoppage to tie my shoe lace resulted in many seconds wasted too .

iv) Only slept 4 hours the day before as electricy power failure at my area at night .


Beside the excuses above : I see some benefits from this race:
i) Helped me to gauge my current stamina .
II) Found that I have not done enough speedwork to sustain my effort .

CONCLUSION :

NO MEDAL , ONLY GIVEN TO TOP 10 PLACING



Duration of workout : 49 min 37 sec

Location : Sepang International Circuit

Mileage : 11.08 km

(26/2/05)-Easy 13.5 km run before tmw's F1 15 km RACE !!

Decided to do an easy run today where the first 10.8 km is at 6 min 15 sec per km pace and the last 2.7km was at 5 min 30 sec per km pace . Didn't want to push too hard to rest leg for tmw's race . Legs feeling great but was a bit slow on the uphills .



Duration of workout : 1 1/2 hour

Location : Taman Bukit Jalil

Mileage : 13.5 km

(24/2/05)-Late for track training

6 pm : Just only coming out from Subang ( Track starts at 6 pm)

6.30 pm : Still on the road at Kesas ( Track starts at 6 pm)


6.45 pm : Forgot shoes are at home , detour to home to collect shoes at Old Klang Road ( Track starts at 6 pm)

7 pm: Arrive at track , saw Toh running and asked him if track started , surprisingly he said its just warm up and i saw coach still talking .

Coach said : KLIM coming and don't be dissapointed if don't do well , find out and learn from mistake , its not the end of the world , we will not win gold or a million dollars .

Good advise . I wonder why we train so hard sometimes ??

After a quick warm up and stretching in between :

Menu starts .

400 m (3/4 speed x 2)

400 m ( 3/4 speed and alternate to slow jog x 5 = 2km)

3km time trial: Total time 12'30".
I feel i'm not fast enough yet , like the speed is gone kind of thing today , or may be my friends including Azwar too fast already ?

400m x 4 @ 80% pace - Average 1 min 25 sec per lap and last lap 1 min 17 sec


Warm down : 400 m

Hmmm , need to work on speed but thank God , my muscles no problem :)

P.S :When I arrived at Track , was looking for my friend Ronnie (http://pm1.blogspot.com) but not sure where he was , found out today from his website that he is not feeling well and ankle pain and leg pain , pray that he gets well soon . Well wishes to him yah :)

Location : Kg. Pandan Sports Complex

Mileage : 7.8 km

(23/2/05)-Back to Tmn Tun steep hill again

After a month not going to the Tmn Tun Steep hill , found some time today to run that steep hill again which I reckon is 1500 m .

Surprisingly , the timing is still as good .

Warm up: 2.1 km

1st lap 8 min 46 sec
2nd lap 8 min 45 sec

Warm down : 1 km

Looking forward to 3 laps next time , which until now still haven't done it .


Duration of workout : 1 hour

Location : Tmn Tun

Mileage : 9 km

(22/3/05)-(Evening)-Boring run on threadmill

Hit the threadmill again and watched AMERICA'S TOP MODEL on TV . Felt very bored with the run , I targetted a 30 min run and couldn't wait for the 30 min to come up .Not sure why . The show on TV must have been boring too .

Ran at a slower pace this time compared to the other night probably coz I felt my ankles were not functioning well and there was a bit of pain on the ankle.


Duration of workout : Only 30 min

Location : Home

Mileage : Not sure ,"but a lot of sweat came out"

(22/2/05)-(Morning)-Overslept

I was supposed to wake up 6 : 15 am to run with my housemate at Bukit Jalil but I overslept . By the time I woked up , was already 7:20 am .

So , just ran at my housing area . Could smell polution at certain area , this was very different from the night run at the same route where the air was very much fresher .

Average speed : 5 min 22 sec per km pace

No pain in legs at all . Haleluya !!



Duration of workout : 43 min

Location : Taman Desa

Mileage : 8 km

(21/2/05)-Running on threadmill and watching TV

After a long day at work , had no choice but to hit the threadmill at 10 :45 pm . AMERICA'S TOP MODEL was on TV , and I ran , I could watch TV and girls .

Threadmill running was very easy on breathing , but it was almost full speed and leg movement was fast and I had to make sure i was going at a constant speed , not too fast or to slow or else , CRASH , BANG , Accident !! .

Duration of workout : 45 min

Location : Home

Mileage : Not sure ,"but a lot of sweat came out"

I was going at 4 min 45 sec pace for first few laps . Could have gone faster , but the only motivation was a barefoot runner ( he was doing the marathon) in front of me , no one else . Overtooked him at the 8th lap . 

Saying "Hello" to photographer , Tey .I think if its a real race , I wouldn't have time to say hello ! 

My friends at recent circuit run , from left to right : Kenneth, Me , Sim and Jason  

(19/2/05)-Happy painless run at FTAAA circuit run

After 2 days of resting from my injury on 17/2 and 18/2 , I commenced my run . The 2 days rest did a lot of good , there was no pain at the hamstrings nor the thighs .

At times , the run was done at 4 min 45 sec per km pace for a 11 min 2.3 km lap , at times at 5 min 15 sec per km lap for a 12 min lap .

There is an improvement , as 2 days ago I was going at 6 min per km lap in order not to aggravate the injury . I could have pushed myself to 4 min 30 sec per km lap but didn't coz I was just recovering .

There was abundance of 100 + Power and water at the run and all in all I was very satisfied with my performance and enjoyed the run .

Overall for the Half Marathon category , I came out in 4th placing .


Duration of workout : 1 hour 55 min

Location : Lake Gardens

Mileage : 23 km

(16/2/05)-Night run from 11 pm for an hour ( with a bit of pain)

I did my night run again . Due to my injury on hamstring , I didn't really push , just went at 6 min per km pace . Surprisingly didn't feel any pain on hamstring while running but there was some pain on thighs .

If not for the pain , I would have gone for 20 km .

The night run i feel is good training for me for the Kedah 12 hour run coming soon which is from 7 pm to 7 am .

Anyway , no choice but have to do night run due to busy hectic life during the day .


Was entertained to a lot of fireworks in the night sky as the Chinese were celebrating CNY with fireworks , beautiful sight indeed , helped me to forget the pain a bit .

Duration of workout : 1 hour

Location : Tmn Desa

Mileage : 10 km

(15/2/05)-Track training couldn't go all out

No more THIGH pain but my hamstring injury almost act up again.

We did the following today :

Warm up : 1.2 km

50 % speed :400 m

Fast and slow : 400m

80 % : 2 km

80% : 1 km

80 % : 800 m x 2

and then the hamstring injury act up . I felt a bit of pain and did a small jog and didn't join the rest for the 1st round . And then decided to join the rest but can only be in last group .


400 m x 4 ( for me , others x 5)


I think its not so serious and I will be able to do 6 min per km pace tmw.


Duration of workout : 1 hour

Location : kampung Pandan Sports Complex

Mileage : 8.6 km

(13/2/05)-Pacesetter 30km practise run :I had to shorten my run to 20 km

My hamstring is healed but my thigh wasn't healed yet . There was pain after running for 8 km + . In fact I was running with Bee Hoon as I wanted her to pace me as i know she had run 30 km before whereas this distance was my 1st time .

We therefore started at a slow 6 min per km pace . After running past the 1st half at the Petronas stn at Hartamas , i stretched my thigh but the pain persisted . I told myself i will have to run only 20 km for today and not aggravate the injury/ache .

So , looks like have to try again next time for the 30 km long run .

Leg stretching , urinating twice and taking my time brought my pace to only a 6 min per km pace .(although towards the end I was going fast )

Saw Mr. Sim (Petaling Runner) at last 1 km walking back and i just joined him in his walk . ( He had blisters from the new shoe)


Duration of workout : 2 hour

Location : Pacesetter route to and fro Bukit Aman to Hartamas

Mileage : 20 km

(11/2/05)-Long Run , no hamstring pain but thigh pain and I know why ......

I just realised the loop at the Polo ground is actually 1360 m and not 1300 m , therefore I have readjusted all my blogs from 7/2/05 onwards . Now I know why I 'm getting hamstring pain and this time thigh pain . I have been going a bit faster in my training run , instead of the average 5 min 25 sec per km pace , its approx. 5 min 10 sec per km pace , 15 sec faster .

May be that 's why or i'm just not strong enough and need to build up my muscles . Anyway ,I'm still glad i went at that pace and hope to go below 5 min per km pace when I do my training run and hope it will be easy .

NO ASTHMATIC FEELING THIS TIME :) BREATHING EASY :)

Just as mentioned , leg pain .

SATURDAY REST DAY FOR PACESETTER PRACTISE RUN ON SUNDAY ......






Duration of workout :

Location : Ipoh , Polo Ground

Mileage : 12.24 km

(10/2/05)-No more asthmatic run but run with a bit of hamstring pain

As I had to run 8 rounds , I used 2 pacers . For the first run , I was running with a stranger until my 4th round when he said he has finished and the same with the next 4 rounds .

IT SEEMS I EASILY GET BORED RUNNING ROUND AND ROUND ON SMALL LOOPS OF 1.36 KM S !!


Felt a bit of a pull in hamstring , I think its not completely recovered yet even thought I didn't have any pain yesterday and the pace was the same as yesterday .



QUESTION :

Will I be able to join Pacesetters practise run this Sunday ?
That will all depend on the condition of my leg tmw .





Duration of workout : 55 min

Location : Ipoh , Polo Ground

Mileage : 10.8 km

(9/2/05)-Still a bit asthmatic run at Polo Ground

Things are improving . I still felt asthmatic but didn't use inhaler . BREATHING IS LIKE TRAINING IN HIGH ATTITUDE LOCATION LIKE CAMERONS .

The smoky smell near one part of the route didn't help .

This time I just tried to keep my runs below 7 min per lap for an average of 5 min 10 sec per km pace .

I managed 4 min 37 sec per km pace for the last lap .

STILL , I feel I can go faster but it looks like there isn't enough training .



Duration of workout : 55 min

Location : Ipoh , Polo Ground

Mileage : 10.8 km

GONG XI FA CAI EVERYBODY !!

HPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR !!

Enjoy yourselves and remember to keep fit .

I'll still be running during CNY and blog will be updated .

(8/2/05)-Asthmatic run at Polo Ground

Actually before running , slept at 3 pm and felt cramp , probably duue to sweating while sleeping in hot room .But had some 100 + before the run and no more pain in calves .



Felt asthmatc but ran on , I wasn't intending to go very fast , I calculated it was
5 min 08 sec per km pace as I was going at 7 min per lap of 1.36 km . I wanted to put in more mileage today but also couldn't due to have to rush home to inlaw on time for reunion dinner .



Duration of workout : 35 min

Location : Ipoh , Polo Ground

Mileage : 6.8 km , including warm up

(7/2/05)-Balik Kampung , run at Ipoh

Went back wife hometown , reached about 4 pm , no jam . After that went for the first time to Polo ground . Saw many many people , saw a KL friend who trains at Kg Pandan track ( Ah Soon ).

Found out from him 1 big round is 1.36 km . As it was late already and have to be back at in law's soon , quickly did a fast 4.08km run at 4 min 28 sec per km pace ( Felt asthmatic and took inhaler before that fast run ) for a time of approx 18 min 15 sec .


Very glad there is a place for me to run in Ipoh !!


Duration of workout : Approx. 25 min

Location : Ipoh , Polo Ground

Mileage : Approx. 5 km including warm up

(5/2/05)-(Evening)-Report on Kolej Poly-Tech Mara Tsunami Charity Run 2005

ONE OF THE FIRST TO ARRIVE FOR REGISTRATION

3.20 PM : Arrived at the Kolej , registered and paid my fee , 3 other Indians were there but in the end they didn't take part coz no medal offered .

4 PM : According to schedule suppose to start , but found out will start only at 5 PM . Senam robik for almost 20 mins in the hot sun .


ODD ONE OUT :

4.30 PM : Found out I'm :

1)The only outsider enrolled for this run , the rest are from Mara colleges .
2) The only one wearing shorts , the rest wearing track suit .In fact people were looking at me annd 1 guy asked how come i'm special , I replied i didn't know can't wear short , I said i knew about this run from friends (PM1 website) , he said no problem actually .
3)I'm the only yellow skin .


RUN MECHANICS

4.50 pm Found out there are 8 check points ( 1 km each) and every group will be based in a check point and run 1 to 2 km to another check point and the next group will take over . A lot of flags to be carried . Very few will run the whole 8 km

STARTING LINE : COLLEGE HEAD SAYS DON'T RUN SO FAST !!

5 PM At the starting line , a number of big Malaysian flags were being passed for whoever to carry , I didn't have to carry any flag . The head also says don't run so fast , I thought oh no !!

As we ran , I just followed the slow speed for 500 m until out of the college , some students with flag started going fast , some of their friends shouted at them not to go fast . I followed the fast pack , they began to slow down and waited for the rest .

LONELY RUN

At first i was shy to go front and run fast , but as they slowed down , i told myself , JUST DO IT ! GO ONLY LAH !!

So , I ran by myself alone , following the signboard's directions .


RUNNER'S HIGH

Literally , as I'm running alone and left the whole group behind , and as I reached the checkpoints , the people who were waiting for their turn to run were actually cheering and clapping for me as I passed them . It was very encouraging . I smiled and waved at them . It felt like a real race where you are leading and people are clapping and cheering for you . Its really a RUNNER'S HIGH !! .

WRONG TURN

After running for about 6 km , suddenly I came to a section where there was no sign board at all , so i kept on running on my intuition . After running for about 1 km , I felt something was wrong , I turned back and stoppped to asked somebody the direction to the Kolej Poly-tech Mara and he told me its actually the other side . I ran the other side and suddenly saw a group of people waiting at the last checkpoint . One of them came over to show me the direction .


END

As I ran towards the correct direction , I still kept at a constant speed until the empty finish line .All in all , it was quite an adventurous run and one that gave me an emotional high , but mainly its more of a workout for me . Wanted to time myself for 8 km distance but in the end couldn't coz of the wrong turn .

CONCLUSION

What matter most was , I have done my small part for charity as the proceeds will all go to the Tsunami fund .





Duration of workout : 51 min ( Could have been just 40 mins if not for wrong turn)

Location : Bangi

Mileage : 10 km ( Could have been just 8 km if not for wrong turn)

(5/2/05)-(Morning)-Easy run at Bukit Jalil

Had a rest day yesterday ( 4/2/05) , I believe after 1 week MY HAMSTRING IS COMPLETELY HEALED !! HALELUYA !! .

ran with my friend at Bukit Jalil at an easy pace . Didn't want to go to fast to conserve energy for evening KPTM Charity run .




Duration of workout : 1 hour 10 mins

Location : Bukit Jalil

Mileage : 10.8 km

(3/2/04)-15 km , 10:55 pm night run

After coming back late from work and dinner appointment , had to run again . This time surprisingly during the run , I didn't feel anymore pain at the hamstring for the 1st half of run . I suppose my hamstring is stringing together pretty well . Could go faster then two days ago .

For the 2nd half , felt the hamstring getting a bit tight so didn't push so hard . I had to concentrate on my running posture and movement so as to not run wrongly and injure the hamstring . Breathing felt great . I just know that my hamstring is really healing but I must not really push too hard yet lest it get "unstrung" again .

I can foresee its gong back to normal after exactly one week getting this injury ( last Thursday) .

As second half was a bit slower , averaged to be 5 1/2 min per km pace .


P.S : Really miss track speed work and has not gone for 2 sessions already .

Duration of workout : 1 hour 23 mins

Location : Taman Desa

Mileage : 15 km

(2/2/05)-Running with heavy feeling

Was suppose to join Ronnie and gang at KLCC but at 6.15 pm was still at Kesas coming from Subang . Figured if continued to KLCC , by that time it would have been 7 pm already , with the heavy KL traffic and they would have finished and i'll be running alone .

So detoured to Bukit Jalil as Kesas connects to it .

I literally felt heavy when my workout began . Not sure why . Its like wanting to go faster but some weight holding me down kind of feeling . Perhaps coz my hamstring not completely healed yet . Perhaps Bukit Jalil very hilly and I actually couldn't go up so fast the slopes .Perhaps it was feeling very warm .

Anyway , didn't really push too hard as there is still a bit of pain in hamstring . Ran at 5 1/2 min per km constant pace .


Duration of workout : 1 hour

Location : Bukit Jalil

Mileage : 10.8 km

Pictures of Prize Presentation during Sin Chew Charity Run 2005

At last !! Here are the 2 pictures of the event on 16/1/05 in which I got 2nd placing .



Posing with the other winners , I noticed they are all thinner than me , may be that;s why I got 2nd place only :) 

Me , receiving the gift . 

(1/2/05)-Another treadmill run

Did another run on the treadmill coz by the time I came home already very late at night . This time the treadmill run wasn't boring at all coz i watched a show and run (Rose Rose I love you Chinese show on TV) .

I put on the speed a bit faster and felt that there was improvement in the healing of my hamstring .

Looking forward to complete healing ASAP . In fact , I went to Sports Physio in the afternoon and he used the electrical thingy on me and I think that helped .


Duration of workout : 45 mins

Location : Inside my house

Mileage : Not sure

(31/1/05)-11 30 pm night run

After 3 days of inactivity recovering from injury , (Or boring activity where Saturday 15 min treadmill run and Sunday 30 min treadmill run) , I really beh tahan already .

Put on my shoe at 11.30 pm and started running around my neighbourhood . Had some weird stares from some cars passing by but just ran on .

Started very slowly at 7 min per km pace , still felt a bit of pain .

At half way mark , upped the pace to 5 min 30 sec per km pace , the pain at hamstring became less but nevertheless kept a constant pace uphill and very slow pace downhill . Didn't want to injure hamstring further . Felt a bit of knee pain as I ran but I guess this is due to the posture of my run .

Felt great after the run , breathing normal . Could have gone further if not for the knee pain and i think i should only gradually increase mileage

Duration of workout : 50 mins

Location : Taman Desa

Mileage : 8 km