(24/5/05)-I'm off to Acheh !!

Dear Friends and Readers ,

Thank you for visiting my blog , however , from 25/4/05 to 2/5/05 , I won't be writing anything coz I'm in Acheh for Tsunami Relief Humanitarian Work there . I don't have access to the computer and even if I do , there is nothing to write about my training coz its too dangerous to run there . I'll probably be skipping and I have packed my skipping rope .

I hope the skipping will keep me fit as I hope I won't loose any of my speed or stamina at all when I get back .

Do remember me in your prayers and God Bless you !!

Kenny Tan

(23/4/05)-Late for track , P R 3 km

My alarm was set for 6 am , 2 alarms in fact to be on time for time trial at 7 am. It rang but i didn't hear it , i woke up only at 7 am !! Mad rush to track and reached by 7 . 20 am . Good thing they were still warming up . I didn't have time to stretch sufficiently and warm up and work out a sweat . Nevertheless , I did a bit and then to the starting line .

Finished in a time of 12 min 42 sec and an official P.R . Could have been faster if Ronnie paced me but he was there to pace Tey who also had his own P.R .

Then ran 1500 m with my house mate Michael .

400 m with Ronnie.

And 800 m warm down with Michael .

End of track and no run on Sunday , suppose to run on Sunday but overslept due to no electric at night and couldn't sleep well at first .

Total mileage for this week only : 41.4 km


Distance : 5.7 km
Duration of work out :Approx 45 min
Location : Kg Pandan Sports Complex


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 time used inhaler ,Felt just a bit asthmatic , but because of the rush and excitement , forgot to use inhaler but anyway didn't encounter breathing problems .

(21/4/05)-Breakfast run

Tried out a new route . Jason who is used to this route took me , Azwar (www.pipot.com) and Ronnie (http://pm1.blogspot.com) alng this route near the hockey stadium at Jln Duta . It's a very hilly and zig zag route and very good for hill training . Ronnie , being in the mood for taking photos , stopped Azwar and I a few times to snap our photos .

Jason just ran on .After we snapped our photos , we had to run very fast to catch up with Jason . It was a kind of fartleg training for us wehen we went fast and slow . Later we found out that Jason didn't stop so much for photos coz he was aiming for a P R on this route . In fact , he just stopped once to take some photos with us and he he was insipred to go fast throughhout this route and so broke his record by 4 MINUTES !! Congrats to Jason .

After the run , we had breakfast together with the rest of the gang and as usual the conversation around the table was about running and racing .

It was a great relaxing run to try out this new route , will go again but I don't think i can remember the directions . Need perhaps Jason's help again .





Distance : 13 km
Duration of work out :Approx . 1 hour 19 min
Location : Bkt Aman to Jln Duta Hockey Stadium area and back


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 1 time used inhaler ,1 hour before run , felt asthmatic and couldn't sleep so I used the inhaler 15 mins before run and then breathing back to normal .

(19/4/05)-Super tiring track work.

Jamie (http://carboman.blogspot.com) was right . Its true that its very easy to lose speed . The last time I did speed work was last Tuesday , after that injured and no speed work until today .

Now that my hamstring completely healed , I went to track confident that I could do the speedwork painlessly . It was true , it was painless , but it was slow .

Check out the times :

Warm up : 800 m
3 /4 speed :400 m
50m slow 50m fast : 400 m
3/4 speed : 400m ( 1 min 50 sec )
90% speed : 400 m ( 1 min 45 sec)
90 % speed : 800 m ( 3 min 18 sec )
: 2 km (8 min 40 sec)
: 1 km ( 3 min 49 sec)

5 x 400 m = (2 km) : Lap 1 ( 1 min 40 sec )
: Lap 2 ( 1 min 37 sec)
: Lap 3 ( 1 min 45 sec , so slow!!)
: Lap 4 (1 min 47 sec , even slower !!)
: Lap 5 ( 1 min 40 sec )

Warm down : 800 m

Legs were really slow , couldn't go any faster anymore . I'm sure the speed will return soon if I consistently do my speedwork .




Distance : 9 km
Duration of work out :Approx . 1 hour
Location : kampung Pandan Sports Complex


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 time used inhaler , breathing clear and normal, altough had some mucus .

(18/4/05)-Missed 2 opportunities to run

I was suppose to wake up at 6 .10 am in the morning to run today ( Monday ) . In the end was too tired , and the alram kept ringing and I kept shutting it .

Then in the evening , was suppose to run at Bukit Jalil , I was a bit late , wanted to start at 6.30 pm but in the end could only reach there at about 8 pm coz of work . There was a big jam coz of a terrible accident . By the time I arrived there , the guards said its too late already as there is no lights and they didn't allow me to run .

Then I had to run from 11pm to 12.20 am at my housing area . It was a nice cooling run . I felt strong at first and wanted to go 3 rounds (equivalent to approx 18 km) but in the end just sticked to 12.7 km as legs were a bit tired already and i didn't want to strain myself as tmw will be back to track again .


Distance : 12.7km
Duration of work out :1 hour 20 mins
Location : Taman Desa


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 time used inhaler , breathing clear and normal, altough mucus kept coming out .

(18/4/05

(16/4/05)-"Jesus healed my hamstring ! "

Serious . After 2 days rest and praying to Jesus , there is absolutely no more pain at the hamstring . I ran with Howard and I could run as normal again . Didn't go below 5 min pace but we ran between 5 min to 5 min 30 sec per km pace . The aim of this run was just to load on the mileage . I feel stronger , no pain at thighs and I believe the weekly long runs has strenghtened the thighs .

In fact before the run , I told Howard i won't be going fast today , he legs were psychologically affected or tricked( if there is such a thing) and he managed 19.8 km whereas i managed 23.1 km .

I feel glad that i'm healed , Haleluya !



Distance : 23.1km
Duration of work out :2 hour
Location : Taman Bukit Jalil


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 time used inhaler , breathing clear and normal.

(13/4/05)-"Sejuk , Bagus !!"

This was my reply when there were 2 people ( 1stly a taxi driver , 1km later some security guards ) , commented to me : " Wah , rajin lari malam ini ah , " .

and I replied : " Sejuk , bagus"

I had to run at night coz. of the busy schedule I had today .Only started running at 10. 30 pm and ending at 12 midnight .


But I was just running , at approx . 6 min 30 sec per km pace , my hamstrings were still tight and I was running in a peculiar way without using much of my right hamstring . By running that peculiar way , I do not feel any pain at all , only if I ran the normal way will there be pain at the hamstring .

It was a solid long run and my legs were very tired after the run , I think due to the abnormal way I was running to avoid using the right hamstring .




Distance : Approx 14km
Duration of work out :1 hour 30 mins
Location : Taman Desa


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 time used inhaler , breathing stuggling for the 1st 5 km , chest unfomfortable , after a while of breathing deep , back to normal .

(12/4/05)-Evening-2 event not happy

There are two events I was not happy about today :

1. I can't find my Timex since last Saturday , still looking for it .
2. My hamstring still hurts and I had to abandon the track program .

In fact , the whole day , this thought was lingering in my mind as I wasn't sure whether my hamstring was ok or my mind was playing tricks on me . At times I felt a bit of pain , at times no pain at all . Anyway , I then decided to go for track , and i arrived late and didn't start to together with the rest on the 1st lap .

Coach was late but Steph was there to say that coach said that 1st group to do 12 laps=4.8 km .

I ran 4 laps until there was some slight pain at the hamstring , then I knew I should had listen to my body and just do easy run at KLCC .

So my menu went like this :

Arrived late , a quick fast warm up and some quick stretching : 400 m

Ran until hamstring slight pain : 1.6 km

Linger around then ran slowly with Nelson and Wendy : 1.6 km

After every one finished , warm down with Kenneth ( also ran slowly) : 800 m

Ran with Justin ( also ran slowly) another 3 laps : 1.6 km ( I was not satisfied and wanted to go 10 laps at my slow pace but the guard was there)

END , Will run tommorow but slow ,without puttng much pressure on the hamstrings.



Distance : 6 km ( total mileage for today = 11 km)
Duration of work out :Approx 1 hour
Location : Kg . Pandan Sports Complex


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 time used inhaler , breathing no problem .

(12/4/05)-Morning-Run in new place-Taman Bukit Commonwealth

Today decided to explore the new place to run with my house mate , Michael . Taman Bukit Commonwealth recently had this outdoor gym and I saw a lot of people were using it . I see that this is an ideal place if you want to run and do some gym work at the same time .

We just ran 10 laps around the small lake (1 lap about 500 m) at 5 min 36 sec per km pace and then ajourned to the top of the hill to check out the route . Saw that this is good for short speed work and hill work especially up the zig zag hill .

Tried out the outdoor gym after the run , just did a few of the exercises which I feel is essential enough for a runner .

Distance : 5 km
Duration of work out :28 mins
Location : Tmn Bukit Commonwealth

# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 time used inhaler , breathing no problem .

(10/4/05)-Lazy slow recovery run .

Today ran very slow with Jamie , Tey , Howard and CM .I think it was about 7 minutes pace . I felt very lazy and hungry towards the 1st quarter of the run coz we were talking about food . I just wished there was food at that time .

Didn't even attack the hills like i usually do . I found out a recovery run is usually less than 10 km and very slowly . Even the Japs do 13 km recovery run after a race whereas after my race yesterday , I'm doing 20 km recovery run .

Nevertheless , on the way back , I ran even slower and was the last to arrive Bukit Aman, I think also my legs were quite tired and couldn't go any faster .

Overall mileage for this week only 63.8 km .



Distance : 20 km
Duration of work out :More than 2 hour
Location : Bkt Aman to Hartamas and back

# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 time used inhaler , breathing no problem .

(9/4/05)-Satisfying Larian Agrobio-UPM-23rd placing

MY AIM IN THIS RACE

I happen to find out about this race from the TV one day , when the TV was on , and I wasn't watching , when I suddenly took a glance and saw the ad on the screen and decided to join this race as a prelude to the Pacesetter 15km race in May . I just wanted to see what would my timing be and not really to get top 20 . Of course , to get top 20 would be a bonus .



FOOD , FOOD

The race started at about 7 . 20 am , only 5 mins late . I thought it was going to start later coz it’s the 1st time they organise the run . Was very well organise with lots of sandwiches and banana for breakfast and fried rice with fried chicken and sandwiches after the race .

TIGHT HAMSTRING AND CROSS COUNTRY

I felt my hamstring a bit tight since Friday and it carried on into the race for the 1st 5km . Thus at the beginning , Ronnie and Chen was way ahead of me already , about some 200m ahead .A lot of people overtook me in the beginning . We ran thru some red earth path the width of a tractor and had to avoid cow dung here and there !! Certain stretches were very very steep and had to walk once up a very steep hill.

KEPT MY PACE

I just kept to my pace and after 5 km , the hamstring wasn't tight anymore . The last 7 km , I on my turbo and manage to overtake those who went too fast in the last 5 km .I also tried to pace with some opponents and I told them come lets run together , they said OK , but after awhile , they asked me to go on first .

OVERTOOK MY OPPONENT

There was this opponent whom i wanted to beat at the Cyberjaya run in January , and I saw him again . ( In the Cyberjaya run he was 1 placing in front of me) . This time I saw him at the last 1 km about 200 m in front of me and I target to beat him . Towards the finishing line , another 200m to go , I overtook him for a sprint finish .

NO PRIZE, NO MEDAL

Didn't win anything and I'm not dissapointed . Its my first time in 15 km run and I achieve personal best of 1 hour 13 min and 47 sec ( Average 4 min 55 per km pace , although at times faster) .

I know where I stand and need to improve on my hill work.

Back to trainning

Distance : 15 km
Duration of work out :1 hour 13 min 47 sec
Location : UPM

# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 1 time used inhaler , just in case .

(7/4/05)-Satisfying track run

Today is the last workout before this Saturday's Race , Larian Agrobio . I joined the 2nd group . A lot of regulars didn't come .Chee was leading most of the time . Coach kept praising him and commented how much he has improved . I'm happy for him

The menu :

Warm up : 800 m
Medium paced : 400m
Fast slow : 400m

5 x 800 m = 4 km:

Lap 1 : 3 min 23 sec ( 4 min 13 sec per km pace)
Lap 2 : 3 min 17 sec ( 4 min 06 sec per km pace)
Lap 3 : 3 min 14 sec ( 4 min 02 sec per km pace)
Lap 4 : 3 min 12 sec ( 4 min per km pace)
Lap 5 : 3 min 11 sec ( 3 min 59 sec per km pace)

5 x 400 m = 2 km :

Lap 1 : 1 min 32 sec ( 3 min 50 sec per km pace)
Lap 2 : 1 min 29 sec ( 3 min 42 sec per km pace)
Lap 3 : 1 min 26 sec ( 3 min 35 sec per km pace)
Lap 4 : 1 min 32 sec ( 3 min 50 sec per km pace)
Lap 2 : 1 min 26 sec ( 3 min 35 sec per km pace)

All out 400 m = 1 min 15 sec ( 3 min 07 sec per km pace)

Warm down :

Ran with Justin 2 km


Distance : 10 km
Duration of work out :Approx. 1 hour
Location : Kp Pandan Sports Complex

# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 times used inhaler , breathing clear .

(6/4/05)-Distrupted night run

Decided to go for a night run today . "Intended" to go for 15 km but in the end there were 2 distruptions :

1. 2 Dogs half way during my run in the middle of the road and i had to turn back . Didn't want to end up in the hospital like that young guy .

2. Running a the opposite direction , I was still going at the same speed of about 5 min per km pace But the distruption has made me think twice about going further .

It was a blessing in disguise , or can say excuse in disguise coz with 1 km more to go , I really felt like going to the toilet for big business .

Later , I figured the stomach upset was caused by too much chilli food today namely:

Lunch - Maggi mee goreng
Tea - Mamak Rojak
Dinner - Curry chicken

Never mind , there is still tmw .


Distance : 8 km
Duration of work out :45 min
Location : Taman Desa

# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : ( This is a new feature on the report)

0 times used inhaler , although felt a bit asthmatic when breathing out .

(5/4/05)-Not on time for track , did own speed work

Suppose to go to track today at Kampung Pandan . Had actually loaded myself with soya bean for the extra calories . Kampung Pandan track session was suppose to start at 6 .30 pm but at 6.30 pm I was still stucked at Subang . I decided immediately to go to MPSJ Subang track instead . Yes , its Justin’s homeground
(http://pm19.blogspot.com) The track there was a bit different , even though it rained , it was not as slippery as the one at Kg Pandan I actually liked the feel of this track .

I decided to do my own track workout , its called the 10 k super set :

But before that :

Warm up = 2.4 km
Fast slow 50 m within 400 m x 3 = 1.2 km
70 % speed 400 m x 1 = 400 m ( 1 min 42 sec )

Then the 10 k super set ( As the guide calls it):

200 m (37 sec ) Fast, and immediately next 600 m
just a bit slower (200 m = 39 sec , 400 m = 1 min 41 sec)

and immediately next 1.6 km at 10 k pace
1st 400 m = 1 min 56 sec
2nd 400 m = 1 min 57 sec
3rd 400 m = 1 min 52 sec
4th 400 m = 1 min 50 sec
Total for this 1.6 km = 7 min 35 sec ( 4 min 44 sec per km pace)

Overall timing for 10 k super set work out or 2.4 km =10 min 32 sec
(average 4 min 23 sec per km pace)

Was suppose to do this set 3 times but in the end , had asthma attack and had to take the inhaler Twice !!

In the end , when I was normalised again , just ran some fart leg 400 m x 3 = 1.2 km

Fast : 2 km

Warm down : 1.2 km

Total : 10 . 8 km

END !!

Mileage : 10.8km
Location : MPSJ , Subang

(3/4/05)-Early morning run

Woke up 4 .30 am to run with Jamie, Jessica and Jerry . It was an easy paced run .Felt a bit of pain at ankle at certain times . Went up fast on certain hill stretches .

After the run , it was a good thing that the Larian Agrobio ( next Saturday 9/4/05)
people were there at Bkt Aman to accept forms and give out numbers on the spot . Therefore I don't have to go all the way there (UPM) to submit the forms .

Duration of workout : 2 hour

Location : Bkt Aman to Hartamas to and fro

Mileage : 20 km

(2/4/05)-Speedy run with Howard

Today's workout ( 5 30 am) was speedier than usual for the 1st half :

Check out the lap time : ( 3.3 km per lap)

Lap 1 (18 min 18 sec ) 5 min 32 sec per km pace ( Last time warm up was slower)
Lap 2 (16 min 04 sec) 4 min 52 sec per km pace
Lap 3 (15 min 19 sec ) 4 min 38 sec per km pace
Lap 4 (14 min 31 sec ) 4 min 23 sec per km pace

At times we were attacking the flat stretches and hills and were probably going 4 min 15 sec per km pace . Slow 5 min per km pace at the down hill and certain stretch .

After that , had a drink and then 3 more laps done at slower pace .

Lap 5 (Approx 18 min 40 sec ) 5 min 39 sec per km pace
Lap 6 ( 18 min 21 sec ) 5 min 33 sec per km pace
Lap 7 ( 17 min 15 sec ) 5 min 13 sec pace ( finished fast with the 200 m to go)


Great work out today , went home and replaced the 2 1/2 hour sleep which I forfeited to wake up for this run .



Duration of workout : 2 hour

Location : Taman Bukit Jalil

Mileage : 23.1 km