Dutamas Runners 2nd Handicap Race (13 Nov 2012)

It's been a while since I last updated this blog, but since Dutamas Runners had their long-awaited Handicap Race for only the 2nd time, I thought it will be a good time to get things started again.

There were numerous request to organise this handicap race again, but since the last time we had this was a long long time ago, that the time taken from that race is irrelevant now. So I had to get everyone to provide me their best timing for their recent races and I will work out their timing for the selected course.

This time around, we did it at Dutamas area itself, where we started the race right in front of Publika. Friends of Dutamas Runners also turned up this time around. Although the number of participants are low, but since this is no-frills race, having it in small number is good. 

Azri was kind enough to sponsor 2 cartons of 100-plus for our run. Thanks Azri!

Not forgetting, Kenny and Raymond who provided some goodies for the participants and winners. Kenny with his Nivea products while Raymond provided SD Card holders. Many thanks guys!

For the noob, handicap race is not about racing a with a crutch, or you being a handicap but it's about giving everyone an equal chances of winning with the slowest runners to start first, while the "elites" will give a handicap timing or you could say a headstart.With that, everyone should be able to compete competitively on level ground.

We had about 31 runners in the start list but only 19 completed the race. Many, including myself either DNF or DNS.

Race started at 6.30am with Kenny, Wilson, Geoff and David on the starting line. While the last runners took off half an hour later with Raymond, Dave, Ronnie and myself. 

In the end, David came back in first place, while Raymond and Ronnie took 2nd and 3rd respectively. Well done to all runners, while those who DNF, keep on training!

Please take note that the timings are a little inaccurate as being a no-frills race, no one was there to take down the timings of every runners. 

Position by handicap timings

Position by Actual Timing

Photos from DR 2nd Handicap Race

Race Reports

I got a backlog of race reports to write. I probably summarized the whole thing......

1. Race 1 - Standard Chartered KL Half Marathon (24 June 2012)

This is one race I shouldn't have done. Not so much for the race itself but for me particularly. I haven't been training much (as usual) and doing a distance longer than 10km will be a different league. I could finish the race comfortably if I don't push hard. However, I ended up with an injured left foot yet again after the race. Couldn't walk properly for the next 3 days after the race. Till today I can still feel the pain, although lesser now. I didn't do much running after that. It wasn't the same plantar faciistis injury I had on my same left foot but more of the outer left side of the foot. Getting old I guess....injury here and there. 

I took the race easily. Car pooled with Mr & Mrs Wong, then parked my car near Padang Merbok. It seems like I'm getting used to starting from the back of the field. Gone were the days where I try to squeeze myself to the front of the pack to get better placing and a good start.

As the gun went off, it took me more than 2 minutes before I reached the starting line. I went really really slow at the start. I caught up with Raymond Tan (my neighbour) and also fellow Dutamas Runners, Seng Chor and Chae Yin. We chatted a little, took some photos but as the sky was still dark, the photos came out blur.

Along the way, met many friends, chatted a bit before I up my tempo little by little. Well, my foot started to hurt a bit after couple of miles. After spme 11-12km I decided to go faster as I wanted to finish faster to rest my foot. I had to stop when I reached Kpg Pandan roundabout to stretch. Pain was bearable then, so I went ahead.

I followed one of the ekiden relay runner, who was running a 5km leg, as pacer. It felt nice to run side by side with another runner at a faster pace. Haven't done it for a while. Well my pace didn't last very long though.

As I approached the finish line, I met Azri who was carrying the 2:00 half marathon pace balloons. I crossed the line slight above 2:00, but minus the delayed start, I probably finished under 2:00. I felt okay at that time.

But the pain got worse by the day and the next morning, I found myself limping as I walked. Till today, I still feel it. 

Race 2 - The Intermark Charity Tower Run (7 July 2012) 

Going to cut this one short. I am happy that I took part in this event. Partly because the building is actually where I work and it is always nice to try out some new events. I started ok till I reached about 13-15 floors where I started feeling breathless. I started walking up the stairs and it just went round and round like no ending. Luckily I didn't pass out. Reached the finishing line at 59 floor and the officials took us up to 62 floor where the helipad is and took photos for finishers for their certificate.

Standing with the fast runners (from left): Raymond, Casey, Cecil and Don

Race 3 - BHP Orange Run (15 July 2012)
This was just a fun run so I started from the back and basically took photos along the way. It was good to take things easy and just run. Not being competitive once in a while is actually good to keep you motivated in running. Sometimes runners trained so hard they get burned out. Anyway the event was to unveil our new Dutamas Runners official Ts.

Race 4 - KPAC Trail Relays (21 July 2012)
I just thought of setting up a team for fun as we haven't had one for a long time. Team line-up was supposed to be me, Seng Chor, Paul and Wei Li. However, Paul was not able to make it to the event, so we had to SOS David and luckily he was available. Nevertheless, we did quite ok though not in the Top 10. It was certainly a challenging event with so many stairs/hill climbs! We finished in 1h26m21s.

Seng Chor, David, Wei Li and me

Displaying proudly our medals

Trail Run @ FRIM with KC Leong's group

Had a great run today with KC's group and and also those training for TMBT '12. I think those doing it are kind of crazy....50km-100km in trails. Anything more than 42.195km for me is already far enough.

Yin, Yvonne & Me

The Trail Running group today - KC Leong on the far left (blue vest)

Foot is still giving me problems at times but I still can run through. Hopefully I am not damaging it further. Hoping to make my training runs more consistent. Coming home late sometimes makes me lazy to change and head out for a run. I rather sit down on my sofa and switch on the TV and chill out.

Most of the runners are at PAR 8 Relay Run happening just a few kms away at Kepong Metropolitan Park. Nowadays, I am just so slow I don't feel like competing. 

I just finished watching the Olympics Mens Marathon and the race was won by Stephen Kiprotich of Uganda. A surprise winner, beating two fast Kenyans in the field. What a win!

Kiprotich crossing the finishing line

Track & Field events attracts me more than any other events, except maybe tennis but disappointed that Federer lost. But at least he won his first medal in singles.

David Rudisha certainly gets my vote for the most outstanding performance. Instead of the usual Olympics wait-and-see tactic, he just tore the field apart right from the gun and broke the World Record time of 1m40.91sec. Here are some recent articles about him:

1. David Rudisha: Irish missionary best coach I ever had

2. Usain Bolt v David Rudisha over 400m is not impossible, and would be a lot of fun

Rudisha with his WR time

Of course, Usain Bolt again proves that he is the best sprinted in the world when everyone doubted him after finishing second in both 100m & 200m Jamaican trails behind Yohan Blake. He was just a class of his own when he won both the sprint events plus finishing with a world record time in the 4 x 100m relay. I mean why wouldn't it be a world record with so much sprint talents.

Usain Bolt after winning the 200m

The Intermark Charity Tower Run

I don't have the time to write out my report for the SCKL Half Marathon. I finished in about 2 hours, as I expected. I enjoyed the run except for the post run where I could not walk properly for 2-3 days. I am still feeling the pain on my left foot except this time it's not on the heel. This time it's at the outer left side of the foot.

Not too sure why it happened, maybe due to my shoe, lack of training or me carrying a heavier body now. Been resting with no run since SCKLM. I wanted to train for the Charity  Tower Run but it's on tomorrow and I don't think I can run all the way to the top but will try. Again, I will bring my camera along since I'll be stepping on The Intermark building helipad. That would be an experience.

Before I forget, The Intermark is actually the building where I am based at work. Homeground advantage? Haha....


I will write out both reports next..stay tuned..

SCKLM 2012

Looks like I will be running tomorrow. Ah Houn is pulling out from the race to enter the FOOL distance...hehe. So I'll be taking his bib to run the 21km. I don't even know what time it'll start or where is the route (speaking of which I think I better go google on the information). Going to use this as my LSD to add on my mileage. Hopefully legs can last that far.....should I bring some power gel just in case? Brought some back from Boston, don't want to watse it. Ya, maybe I should just bring one....

So to those running tomorrow, BEST OF LUCK. See you on the road if I see you! I will bring my camera so if you see me, just shout out my name, will snap a pic of you!

Treadmill Running

What can I say about treadmill running? I really hate it! You just find yourself going nowhere and normally I can't last anything longer than 30mins. Well, even reaching 20mins, I will feel uncomfortable. But treadmill can sometime be beneficial too, especially with the hazy weather these days. Rainy days, lazy days, etc.

I did 6.2km in 30 mins today, not fast but my aim was just finishing a 30mins run. It does the job. I don't want to get suffocated running outside on the road.

So what can you do with treadmill running?

I guess pretty much eveything you can set on the treadmill depending on its technology. I guess the most common ones would be speed, incline, timing. You can do your hills, your intervals, your long run (well Im not a big fan here!) and so on. I normally use it when Im just plain lazy and just want to get some mileage, most times, nothing more than 30mins.

What do you do before you do your workouts on treadmill?

It should be the same with what you do when you run on the road, STRETCH. However, I do see a lot of people do their stretching before their run. I will usually do my stretching about 1km or so into my run, just to let my body warmed up a little before stretch. Some people may have different opinion on this, so there's no right or wrong way here. It's just my routine.

How long an how fast on a treadmill?

Well that is entirely up to individual on what you want to achieve when you run on the treadmill. You may want to do a normal run, intervals or hill repeats. For me if I'm on treadmill, it will be my easy run, or sometimes just increase the speed near the end of the run. That's just about enough workout I need on a treadmill.

Not much changes to my mileage this week. First run after a week. Click link for my training log.

Malaysian Marathon Record Broken!

Chan Yew did it again! He has broken his own national record with a timing of 2:25:07. He was placed 19 overall in Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. The race was won by an Ethiopian, Birhanu Girma. Read more at this link. The old record which stands at 2:28:36 which he did in Montreal Marathon 2010. He did a PB of 2:26:38 but that was considered a downhill course. (Source: Wikipedia). I have a feeling the MAAU has not recognise the feat by Chan Yew as a national record since Shaharudin recently announced he will be gunning for the national record set by K.Baskaran 2:29:27 set in Singapore in 2001. The debate goes on....

Whatever it is, the feat of clocking the timing itself is already an accomplishment itself. He said to me when I met him in US that he is trying to qualify for the Olympics using the B standard qualifying timing of 2:18. Looks like time is running out since the dateline will be July 8. (Link). Not sure if he will be doing another marathon in such a short period but hoping he will qualify for it.



Pic taken with Chan Yew in Boston

Night Run With Mr & Mrs Wong

Had a nice and humid night run with neighbours tonight. We just did a easy run towards LHDN and back to Anggunpuri. I did some extra 70m stride outs just to get my running form back and of course loose that extra fat around my waist.

I decided to publish my running log since March. If you have noticed, I didnt do a lot of runs for the past months. This week run is already a lot more runs than what I did in May! Hope I can continue my comeback to better fitness state. Getting sick quite often these days. As for being competitive, may take a little longer but eventually I should be able to get back into shape.

Please click on the link to follow my training log. Those who always think that they are under-trained, well nothing beats this right?

Running the FRIM Trail

I was looking for buddies to run an easy 10-k on Sun but couldn't find any. Almost end up driving myself to Bukit Aman (which I have not done for a long time) to join the usual group run. But luckily, Ah Houn answered my calling and he was going to FRIM to run the trails there with couple of friends. 

He picked me up in the morning around 5.45am and we were there before 6.30am, which is still too dark to run. There we met up Ah Pak and Connie. Both were training for the 100km TMBT which will be held in Sabah on Sep 15. That morning was a cool morning (it rained the night before) and the air was fresh especially when you are running in FRIM. Ah Pak took us around the trail, going through the normal trail (a long uphill at the start), then we ran towards "Salem High Country" trail. I was told that the Salem advertisment a long time ago was shot there.

Ah Houn wanted to be Salem ambassador

I was looking to do just a short run but ended up doing more than 10km on the day. I was actually suffering that morning run cos I only had about 3 hours sleep that night. We were about to head out before Pak called out to us and asked where we were going. He took us to another route overlooking Sungai Buloh. On the way back out, I ran faster wanting to finish as quick as possible cos I was already half asleep during the run. We saw many trail runners there, also training for TMBT.

I left them behind and ran to our finishing point. I found a place to sit and waited for them. My eyes were struggling to open. Not long, Houn came back. After shower, Houn sent me back and I took a short nap, probably only for an hour which wasn't enough. But I got an appointment that day, so couldn't sleep on.

Connie, Houn & Ah Pak

I suffered in the run but I was glad that I took the step of going out for a run, instead of giving excuses which I normally will end up sleeping more. Mentally, I felt good to sweat out but wish I had more sleep and I would have enjoyed the run more. But I will find more time to do the trails more since I have 2 trail shoes to use.

There are probably 3 races I am planning to run this July but all of it will be for fun. One is the Intermark Charity Tower Run. It will be held at my office building, so at least give it some support. This run supports SOS Children's Village & Shelter Home Malaysia. 

Next up will be BHP Orange Run on July 15. Ran this fun run couple of times already, easy going run and carnival like since it's held at The Curve every year.

Last of it is the KPAC Relay on July 21. Partnering a few of our Dutamas Runners. Paul, Wei Li and Seng Chor. Seng Chor will not be making it so I am looking for replacement now. Anyone keen, let me know. RM30 per person. 

Looking to gain back my fitness and doing a little more trail running to take care of my foot which has been pain-free when I stepped out from the bed in the morning. I will try to be careful with it so it won't disrupt my training.