Thursday, 8 November 2012

Malakoff Powerman 2012

REPC was on 3 November 2012 at Marriot Hotel, Putrajaya. Met up with Kelvin Wan and Ooi Wei Min. At the same time bumped into Keni Kamaluddin (old school and band mate) whom he confused me with another MTB rider, Ashek and Steve Yap. Attended a short briefing on what are the Do's and Don'ts. Left immediately after the briefing as need to pick up the kids from their usual Saturday activities.

with Kelvin Wan and Ooi Wei Min
Woke up at 5.00am on race day and left home at about 5.35am. Sebastian supposedly to drop by to my house to drive together to Putrajaya but no sight of him at 5.30am. Gave him a ring and he was still sleeping. No choice but got to go without him and to meet him there.

Upon reaching race site, bumped into Jason Thai at the carpark. Got myself changed and went to checked in my bike. Meet Kah Wai and 1st photo was snapped with a funny pose.

Thanks to Kah Wai
Also met up with Jamie Pang, whom I can say its one of my sifu in running. He is doing the running leg in the relay event. As usual, photothon starts while waiting for the even to be flagged off.
with Jamie Pang

while waiting at the flagged off
Event was flagged off at about 7.10am. First leg of 5.7km was smooth, completed in 31:42 with an average pace of 5:43 mins/km, within my expectation of sub 6:00. The 1st transition from running to biking took me 2:54 mins, which overall I think its above the average. Leg was still strong even after about 5.7km of running and bumped into Kah Wai again on the road.



Thanks to Kah Wai

Cycling leg was fun as this is the 1st time I am cycling for the distance of 32km. In this route, it was rather scenic and not that hilly. If I can remember correctly, there were 4-5 incidents of tires punctured noted along the way. 

2nd transition took place after the 32km of cycling. The minute I dismounted from the bike, I was like walking sideways and the quad cramped almost immediately. Spent 3:39 minutes trying to walk off the cramp. The 1km of the 2nd  running leg was ok until when I reached for km 2. Was looking for spray from the medic but none was available. Ended with a bag of ice on hand to overcome the cramp. It was walk and run all the way until km 4. Then bumped into Sebastian and Wayne and as usual, we did the LYNR style by crossing together and holding hands.



Lastly, this is a memorable race and it will be a yearly race event, provided that I still have a bike and its held locally within Klang Valley. Overall, finished 237/411 in the men sprint category.


Wednesday, 3 October 2012

Again no running for the next 2-3 weeks

It has been a while since I last update my blog here. In my last 2 postings, I was bragging about coming back stronger after laying off for 4 weeks. Here I am again, will be laying off at least for the next 2 weeks.

It all started after the River Jungle Marathon on 9 September 2012. ITBFS struck again immediately after finishing RJM.

This is the view in RJM-with Alvin Yap
The following week, managed to only a total of 17km due to the pain struck from km 6 onward. Decided to take a break then. However, during the period, I did a lot of cycling. Between 11 September to 29 September, I did about 180km of riding while recovering from ITBFS.

Back on the road on 28 September 2012, which was 12 days after my last run for a slow 5km. Things felt good. However, on the next day, supposedly to do a Powerman simulation in Putrajaya, while waiting for other cyclist to show up, did a warm up run and the knee pain struck as early as the 3km. Dang! That's it, how am I going to prepare myself for the coming Putrajaya Night Marathon which I am doing 21km?

L-R: Sebastian, Wei Min, Hong Lan, Renee, myself and Noobus

myself, Jason and Wei Min
There was registered run on 30 September 2012, the Salomon X-trail run in UPM. Prior to that, the night before the run, together with Wayne, Alvin and K1, we attended Stanley Tay's wedding dinner at Sam You Restaurant in Sri Kembangan, Serdang.

myself, Alvin, K1 and Wayne
Salomon X-trail run came and gone. Pain struck at km 4 and by km 8, it had numbed my knee. I actually managed to speed up my pace during the last 3km and finished 11.4km (as per my GPS) in 1:15:19, which is deemed to be very good in my given situation. 


Here I am today, decided to rest for the next 2-3 weeks until PNM or at least 3 days prior to the race day. Between now and then, will do lots of ITBS rehabilitation exercises and at the same time lots of lower body strengthening exercises to burn off some fats. 

Friday, 7 September 2012

Nike We Run KL 10K 2012

The race registration Nike We Run KL 10K 2012 started at 9.00am and is no officially closed at 3.30pm (that is about 6.5 hrs). This raises a question, is that possible as last year's 10,000 registration was snapped up in about 60 hours.


However, registration actually started in August for some colleges within Klang Valley. Here is a snap shot of  this year's running T. For those who missed the registration, I can only say try again next year.


Monday, 3 September 2012

After 4 weeks of not running

Laying off for full 4 weeks is not that bad after all. As the saying goes, you will come back stronger and it is the case now. Rested immediately after SCKLM on 24 June 2012and resumed with a 2km run on 21 July  2012 and went into full swing effective from 28 July 2012 (week 31). There was no looking back from then on which can be seen on the statistics below.

Running mileage by weeks
Highest mileage ever achieved in my running history was in week 36 with 75km. I was able to achieved such a high mileage was due to the long weekend (Merdeka Day 2012) and continued running over the 3 days break.

31 August 2012 - Bandar Puteri

Putrajaya - 1 September 2012

Puchong Kinrara (Ammah Hill) 2 September 2012
This is the tapering week in preparation for the River Jungle Marathon 2012 on 9 September 2012. Sad to say I am still not well prepared for the run. Will be taking it slowly with a lot of walking to do and this route is real hilly and scenic too.

Tuesday, 17 July 2012

When you are not running in the last 3.5 weeks

Dailymile Statistics
Does the above looks familiar? Yes, its my training statistics extracted from Dailymile. It can be seen that from week 27, which is immediately after Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon (SCKLM), to date, I did not run a single kilometer.

Went for an MRI on the very next day after SCKLM, due to my prolong outer right knee pain. Report from the Radiographer denotes the followings: 

MRI Report
However, in these 3.5 weeks, continuous stretching was done and some physio was carried out on my own based on YouTube's teaching on ITBFS recovery. Overall, in this period of time, the weighing scale shown an increase of about 3 kilogram.

If everything goes well, hope to be back in action by next week. Next registered run would be River Jungle Marathon, which is a 42K fun run to be held in the vicinity of Hulu Langat. Just cannot wait to be back in action. 

Monday, 11 June 2012

TM Fan Run

Got a lady colleague did the REPC on behalf. Very bad of me huh! Well, she benefited as she now knew where is OCM and its located in the same perimeter with Olympic Hotel, of which she never even heard of this hotel before this.


The REPC only contained a Panthera Jersey and a blank bib. Was thinking earlier, why a blank bib? Might as well do away with it for a greener environment. Come to think of it, this will prove that I am a registered and paid runner since I won't be running in that Panthera Jersey. 

Race Entry Pack
So are we suppose to write something on the bib? Got the idea from a running buddy and I wrote in my running group so called allocated number, i.e. Low Yat Net Runners (LYNR) no:5 and also my nick. Lets hope this doesn't confuse anyone during the run. A running buddy also commented that we should write some motivational or congratulatory message for our Olympic Contingent on the bib and pass it back to the organizer and have it pin up on a big board for the public. This is indeed a good idea. 


My LYNR group number


LYNRers are also planning group run together on this event at a very slow and easy pace to promote our group. I managed to coaxed 2 new lady runners (my colleague and her friend) and hopefully they will like running after this. Until then, more photos will be up for this event after this weekend.

Saturday, 9 June 2012

Latest addition to the family


When first got to know about the new zero drop minimalist from New Balance, fell in love with it immediately but not when I felt it physically when it arrived to Malaysia's shore in late April. Initially only 2 colours, i.e. the white and lime green was brought in. Didn't quite like it at all as it looks....just don't know how to describe. When got to know that red colour has landed in Malaysia, went and checked it out at NB Concept store at the Gardens. Fell in love with it immediately. Without hesitation, bought it for RM 279 with a 20% being a PACM member together with the NConcept discount card. 
New Balance MR00 red
As of today, this new addition has clocked 4km on my legs as this whole week was nursing as injury which I had while doing my maiden full marathon (BIM) in Kota Kinabalu weeks ago. The feel was superb it provide a little more cushioning compared to my VFF Treksport. Hope this MR00 will bring me through the next next 42km run.