(18/9/05)-PJ HALF 10KM : Race Report

THANKS "

Istly I want to thank Ronnie , coz on Thursday , when I collected the bibs from him and after lunch as we departed , he gave me a TIP telling me that 1st 25 places will get hamper and there won't be many elites coz no cash money . I was motivated and determined to get one of this placing in order to get the "hamper" .

ALMOST RUN 21 KM RACE :

Due to signing slip up . My name was registered for 21 km race which I wasn't prepared to run that race but I wouldn't mind if there was no choice , only thing is that i'll be getting sore muscles the next 3 days and that will distrupot my trainnning . Fortunately , Jamie told me that Kien Mau ( A very fast Malaysian based in S'pore ) could not make it and I could take his place .

THE FIRST 2 KM :

It was a very crowded start and I actually waited at the front so that after the 21 km people flagged off , I could quickly wait at the starting line exactly in front . In fact ,I was literally on the starting line , the exact spot where the front 21 km runners lined up , but a few minutes later some people kept lining up in front of me and eventually those who were at first in front became about 4 rows from the front .So when the gun went off , i had alreaDy lost a few seconds trying to beat the packed "jam" . After that , there was some space after 100m and I shot off . The others have also shot off in front of me and the leading pace was about 150 m away from me .

I saw the only marker throughout the race and that was the 2km marker , my time at the 2 km marker was 6 min 7 sec tanslating to 3 min 3 sec per km pace !? It can't be true !? Have they wrongly marked it ? It did feel like running 2 km though .

AFTER MOTOROLA , JEYAN .

Before Motorola I saw this Indian guy running . He was running at a comfortable pace . I managed to overtake him before the Motorola road but he managed to overtake me again at the U turn which i think is the 5 km mark . He suddenly said to me
" This is tough" as he came by . I suddenly remembered who he was , that was why he spoke to me coz he is Jeyan , one of those who trains with me at Kg Pandan Sports Complex . ( He is a student of HELP Institute ) . I'm was glad to see someone familiar to pace with . We paced together for awhile .Together we managed to overtake a number of people .

LAST APPROX 3 KM :

I was getting out of steam already . We were trying to overtake this Mat Salleh guy who was running with an MP3 player but he didn't want to let go of his position . I then lost my fight as I was very tired already . Jeyan went on . The Mat Salleh went on and 2 more Indian guys ( one of them from different category) which I overtooked earlier started to overtake me at the last 2 km . At this time , the rain , a slight drizzle (equivalent to the 2 man-made sprinkles at Putrajaya by the bomba) also came . It was good to cool down the body but a bit slippery .

FINAL METERS

I just maintained my position and speed . There were no more runners who overtook me . Only thing was that there was a lot of other runners from the other groups along the road . As I finished the race, I was glad that at last the race has ended . The race steward gave me a card and immediately i asked him what was my position , coz there were 2 numbers on the card and I wasn't sure . 1 saw my competition number which was 28 in which i thought was my position and I was dissapointed for awhile . The race steward told me that my position was the one written on the card , 18th !! I'm so glad I achieved my target to get top 25 to get the "hamper" .

"HAMPER"

I collected my letter to get the hamper and the medal on the table . The race stewards quickly told me not to touch the medals coz my medal was already in the envelope which contained the letter for the " Hamper".

I went to the counter to collect my "hamper" , thinking that it will be the same big box just like in the Subang Jaya 10 km run , where to my surprised there were hampers for the top 30 ( I got 28th at that time) The "hamper" tuned out to be something very small which the 18th place person was to get ( Later I found out that different positions will get different sized items) . I got a very very small " hamper " consisting of
i) Hogo brand Intensive treatment and relief for Dry , cracked heels cream
ii) Hogo brand Deep penetrating moisturiser for skin
iii)Hogo brand protective cream for nails and cuticles
iv) 1 Voucher for Genting All day unlimited rides
v) A Nandoes chicken meal .

What a "hamper" . Well , Thanks Ronnie again , but I shouldn't complain . At least get something compared to the over 500 to 700 people in my category who didn't get anything .

Race analysis :

1. Average race pace : 4 min 14 sec per km pace and total time was 42 min 28 sec ( My bib number is also 28!! )

2. Compared to the hilly Subang Jaya run in June : Average race pace was 4 min 07sec per km and timing was 42 min 07 sec

3. Satisfied with position .

4. Not really satisfied with timing but not that dissapointed either.

5. Happy can run in PJ Half 10 km race again after not running in this event since 1998 ( 7 years) . This was the race which I got my 10 Km PR in 1998 in the same category so it brings me good memories .

6. I'm looking forwar to race the same event again next year and with an even better timing

7. It has been almost 1 year + since my return to running and I know I have improved coz my 1st proper 10 km race at the KLIM in March timing was 44 min 34 sec ( 4 min 27 sec per km pace)

(14/9/05 and 15/9/05)-Consequtive run at Tmn Desa

14/9/05 : I ran around my housing area in the morning . Its been a long time since i ran around my housing area as usually run at Bukit Jalil . I had a full day ahead of me and i didn't want to waste time driving to Bukit Jalil . It was a good run but could smell some polution with the early morning traffic .

Average Pace : 6 min 54 sec per km pace


Distance : 7 km
Duration of work out :Approx 45 min
Location : Taman Desa


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


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15/9/05 :I was suppose to go to KLCC to do some fartleg and collect my PJ half bibs from Ronnie but was vey busy and couldn't make it .So , I ran around my housing area in the night this time immediately after dinner . Had to go slow at first coz there was a lot of food in my stomach initially . Could go a bit faster at the last 3 km .

Average Pace : 6 min 25 sec per km pace but may not be accurate coz i went faster on certain stretches , it was just slow at the beginning coz of the full stomach


This Sunday : PJ half marathon , 10 km !!

Distance : 7 km
Duration of work out :45 min
Location : Taman Desa


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 time used inhaler ,Felt breathing not so smooth initially but after awhile was ok .

(11/9/05)-P for Putrajaya , P for P. R

I'm very happy to have PR at this Putrajaya race . The last Half marathon I ran was the first at Ipoh this year . I'm very happy that this being my 2nd half marathon and managed to PR at this hilly route

There were also some not so ideal situations like feeling like wanting to go pee and poo while waiting for race to start but a bit too late already coz we were already in the "kandang" .

In fact , I did pee at the big TNB box at the halfway mark .

The start of the race was suppose to be me ( #12) pacing with Justin ( #13 ) , Justin was nowhere to be seen , he was behind and taking it easy . Unofficially , Adam was running beside me , at least that was good to have someone experienced running with me . But as i went to pee at half way mark , i had to run without Adam for 5 km until the last approx. 4 km when i caught up with him again and he told me to go ahead if i can . So i went ahead , I was hoping to P R and I looked at my watch a few times and found that I was on target for the P R . Did do some mental calculations on the run to see if can really P R .

Statistics ;

1st 4km , ran at 4 min 35 sec per km pace

Average for whole race :

4 min 42 sec per km pace

Fastest KM : at Km 20 : 4 min 26 sec


Overall , it was a well organised run , and even though the sun came out , I didn't really feel the heat , just some cold air .

Now , my legs are aching all over , time to recuperate and prepare for next race : 19/9/05 , PJ Half , 10 km race !!

Distance : 21 km
Duration of work out :1 hour 39 min 19 sec
Location :Putrajaya


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 1 time used inhaler , breathing ok ,used coz its a race and just in case

(8/9/05)- 1 last medium long run before Putrajaya Half

This Sunday is the Putrajaya Half Marathon . I'm looking forward to it . Not sure if can P R or not coz I read in Rohaizad's blog that its quite hilly (http://krunner.blogspot.com ) .

Anyway , supposed to run at track at Kg Pandan today but due to time ,it was already 6 45 pm near Bukit Jalil thus decided to go there .As I was warming up , mei jyn http://www.jyn.biz/ spotted me and called me , at first I wasn't sure who she was and then she said she is Azwar's friend and she has her own blog She surfs my blog too , so that was how she knew me . I remembered her as the lady who likes to play frisbees . Check out her blog .

I ran 5 rounds on this route and by the 4th round it was already almost 8 pm and very dark at certain areas as the lamps were not lighted up . Only one section of the park was lighted up . I suppose this is their way of telling people that the park will be closed at 8 pm .

It was an easy run and I was averaging 5 min 46 per km pace for the run .




Distance : 13.5km
Duration of work out :Approx 1 hour 18 min 30 sec
Location :Tmn Bukit Jalil


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 0 time used inhaler , breathing ok ,but not normal .

Coach didn't come . A lot of people didn't come . Just a handful of us at track . We decided on 6 x 1 km .

My timing was as follows :

1st set : 4 min 18 sec ( not yet warm up)
2nd set : 4 min 8 sec ( a bit more warm up)
3rd set : 3 min 54 sec ( Suddenly saw Justin turn up , he said he wasn't coming at first)

4th set : 3 min 50 sec ( Ah Wah ran with me the last 200 m , he didn't join us coz he was injured)

5th set : 3 min 46 sec ( Put on more turbo)
6th set : 3 min 49 sec ( Justin's Turbo on already and he was 3 min 39 sec !!)

It wasn't easy doing this work out .

Warmed down 2 km with Justin .

END




Distance : 8 km
Duration of work out :Approx 1 hour and 30 min
Location : Kg Pandan Sports Complex


# of times used
Asthmatic inhaler and remarks : 1 time used inhaler , breathing was a bit uncomfortable before arriving at track