Power Run 2006

Almost skip this run as 2 days earlier I had a suspicious mild sore throat infection. Ganesh my colleague was already on MC with the same ailment. Drank heaps of water and a whole pot of barley. On Sat I stayed indoors and try to keep my body cool and hydrated. Times like this the choice of food is important because it can trigger the virus to overrun the immune system.

Sunday morning

I woke up at 6am and the throat felt much better. The night before I told myself if the throat deteriorates in the morning I will just continue with my sleep. Took a leisurely drive to Dataran. Downed a packet of PowerGel.

While entering the barricade I wished Penguin Meng good morning. He looks much slimmer than the time I last saw him. Tey who is now becoming a fulltime cameraman shook my hand to wish me luck. Looked around for Ben and CS but couldn’t find them. I spent the next few minutes stretching my legs. Couldn’t see any familiar faces in the pen, probably they were early and have moved to the front line.

Start off

Not many runners. The weather was good. I ran the first km in 5.5 mins. I made a mental note to reach the National Monument bus stop within 60mins. Stomach cramps in 10km races are expected so I remind myself. All the pacers that I tried to follow eventually fade away. I didn’t have the sub 6min/km pace.

Arrived Jln Duta junction in 26:17. “Is the time ok?” I asked myself. I don’t know. I didn’t check my previous race timing on this checkpoint. After the Orange Run last Sunday, the Duta Hill seems easier! Coming downhill my strides were not in full extension unlike last year, I remember.

Tugu Peringatan

At the Jln Parlimen flyover I kept looking at my stopwatch, can I reach the bus stop in time? 59.17 that was my time, 40 seconds slower than last year. Ok, now it is the last stretch, I’ve ran this stretch many times already but wait my right tight seems to be cramping. No speed training surfacing? I ignored the pain.
Penguin KC who is now probably well known for his interesting photos taken with the Nikon D50 DSLR was standing in front of the Clock Tower snapping the finishers.

Finishing line

I am lucky to finish in 67:31. While walking towards the drinks tent, Choi (ccube) called me and we both joked Machine Man’s no show was probably because he had a late alcoholic night (which proved to be true!).

Overall, it was a good hard run. It would be interesting to see if the sub 70 time could be maintained or improved for the years to come, something which I thought was not possible 2 years ago.

Orange Run 2006

It is rare to get free runs in Malaysia. The Orange Run was held at The Curve just a mere 8 mins drive from my home. Left home at 7a.m to pick up my brother, Kenny who was staying 4kms away. When we reached his house to our horror Kenny who is usually very punctual was still taking his shower! He overslept.

7:20 a.m

Drove the Wira like a Subaru Impreza WRX racing past traffic lights. 7:26 we were inside The Curve but could not find a way out of the building since all the exits were locked. We started jogging towards the Centre Court area and luckily that was the open food outlets walkway that leads to the starting point.

Lax

Within a minute, the FTAAA guy signaled the start. I ran off rather quickly. After Tesco, it was a left turn to Mutiara Damansara. Traffic control was very minimal, too minimal for comfort, which got me running cautiously. It is now becoming habitual whenever I cross a road I would raise my arm to warn and thank the drivers.

Alamak! HILLS!!!

I did not foresee so many hills from Kota Damansara to the new housing area Sunway Damansara. Beautiful houses. This is almost like the double hill maybe worse triple hill. Hill specialists will excel in this route. The morning sun was up. I was worried, not for myself but for Mee Peng who is doing her first 10km run.

Finished the run in 1:05:03. The official announced the finisher’s bib number through the loudspeakers as they come along. Amusingly, only ORANGE 100 Plus drinks were served. My whole head was drenched with sweat. Captain Ronnie came over to ask for my timing.

I took a bottle of water and walked back the opposite race direction to look for Mee Peng. A few runners smiled and complimented “Wah Boss! Cepat habis ah! “. “Bang, Jauh lagi kah?”. I said “Tada lah. Cari isteri“. Runners are such friendly people. I avoided walking on their path as it may disrupt their concentration to finish.

Hit by a Car

One of them relayed to me he saw a “budak” was HIT on the elbow by a car! He also reported the incident to a nearby policeman. This goes to show we cannot take for granted road racing is safe. I hope the runner was not seriously injured.

Finally met up with Mee Peng at the 1-Utama junction where we took a slow walk back. Kenny was having a feast with the unlimited free food: instant noodles with canned curry chicken, Cadbury chocolate biscuits, mee hoon and nasi lemak.

So much free food and they even gave a RM3 BHP petrol voucher. Generous organizers.

KLIM 2006

I must confess I enjoyed running last year’s KLIM. It is not overly hilly, city sights and in a company of good friends. 2 weeks before the race, I did a 12 lapper at KLCC and ran-climb FRIM. Based on my running log, my last 12-lapper was Feb 24, 2005. It’s been a year since I trained a “long run” that exceeds 15kms.

Nostalgia

Set my alarm to go off at 4:15 a.m. but was pleasantly awaken by Jamie’s good luck sms. Reached Dataran at 6 a.m. Met CS, Newton, Kenneth and Ronnie who were all doing the half-marathon. 2 years ago I ran my first race here in the 10km event. It’s my 2nd Anniversary run.

The strong reverberations of the gendangs (drums) accompanied the start of the race– true Malaysian ambience!

For the first 2kms, Newton, CS and I were pacing together. CS has improved so much that he is now able to keep us company. Just before the left turn to Jalan Mahameru, CS excused himself to run at his pace. The 270- degree turn took us to the Federal Highway. An old Malay man, smiling, hooted his car from the opposite direction to give us his support. Perhaps, he was a runner himself during his heydays. Thanks Pakcik!

Eastern Runners

After Kuen Cheng School we could hear behind us 2 female runners, chatting in an Eastern language probably Russian. I almost rubbed shoulders with the Blonde when she and her partner appeared on my right to overtake us. Somebody exclaimed “SOLID!!!” The Blonde’s short (or was it a bikini?) was so short, we could see her bottoms – the type worn in beach volleyball. Blondie sniggered and knew all the male runners were drooling at her. Incidentally, a group of “over zealous” runners were seen to be in hot pursuit of these fabulous ladies.

9 km

After the second water station, my right thigh was beginning to play truant again. I can feel it tightening. Told Newton who has been so kind to keep me company this far, to go ahead as I fallback. Reached the 10km sensor mat in 64.5 mins (benchmark KLIM ’05 I was 2 mins slower).

PowerGel

The opened PowerGel was distributed but the water station ran out of water! I have already downed my gel. Penguins and a few of the veteran runners were seen salvaging discarded unfinished bottled water that was strewed on the road. One of them quipped “ Survivor! Survivor!”. Newton found a bottle too and I caught up with him to take his offer for a gulp. Hopefully, the previous drinker isn’t H5N1 positive.

Stress Mode

Unlike other races, I did not look for a pacer but concentrated on my leg condition and breathing. At Dewan Pustaka, I grit my teeth to run as close as possible to the runners in front of me to narrow the gap as I was afraid the police might release traffic at key crossroads. I managed to evade all of them until I came to the Jln Ampang – Jln Sultan Ismail intersection. The MIB suddenly allowed the vehicles to move along even when there was no break in the trailing runners! About 6 runners came to a complete stop!

But I didn’t stop. I was mad. With brain cells depleted of oxygen, I slurred 2 words “OOOOIIIII! FxxK!!!”. Raised my right arm to get the drivers attention, ignored the MIBs and cautiously crossed the road. Thankfully, all the vehicles without hooting stopped upon seeing my signal to let this desperate runner go.

It was risky, I know, but please MIB, there are many foreign runners in this major event. Please don’t embarrass our country.

Sogo

I reached Sogo in 2:06:11. At the back of my mind, I knew it would now be difficult to match or better last year’s time. Would this be another 2:29:xx finish for the 3rd consecutive time? This time round the organizers have improved by placing 2 water stations in the last 2kms. Good work! However, it also meant I had an excuse to walk twice to re-hydrate.

Finishing

200 meters from the finishing line I heard somebody called my name, I think it was Newton and Kenneth. There was no overtaking. I wanted to surge but the leg couldn’t. All of us ran in a single flank to the finish. My stopwatch clocked 2:26:32. I was puzzled why I was not in total exhaustion (?) unlike last year. Perhaps it was the heavy drinking?

Post Mortem

I was well hydrated through out the race and this is a sign the organizers of KLIM have improved. The Standard First Aid station first followed by the water station and occasional ice-cold sponge station is a brilliant idea, which in my opinion is better than the Singapore Marathon!

For the first time, there was a massage tent and ice pools for the swelling feet.

KLIM can improve further by reviewing the quality, clarity and promotion of its brochures. The T-shirt was one of the ugliest I have gotten in a race, looks like a piece of discoloured car wash rag. Sometimes simple could be best.

CS ran an amazing race, shaving off 30 mins from last year’s run. Newton exonerated the “cramp” factor by finishing the run without any problems. Jamie and Ben ran the much-anticipated friendly Marathon duel with both PR. Well done my friends!

Half-way driving home, my wife suddenly popped a question “How come your running time seems to have stagnant despite so many races?”. I answered what most runners would answer, “Low mileage”. I never formulate a training regime and almost zero race plan. I read in an article that they are 30% of the people whose fitness level would not improved despite exercising.

The constant zest to run the next race better and further is what makes a runner tick. I must keep the clock ticking!