Costume night run

Remember I said that the PBIM 2015 was my final run for 2015? Well, I lied.

When I learned about a night run taking place on New Year's Eve in my neck of the woods that is Mutiara Damansara, I could not resist signing up for it even if it meant that I would have to hold back having a tipple until after I break a sweat for the run on the last day of the year. I'm one to try different things and I like the idea of celebrating one's efforts..

Themed "A Running Start to 2016",  the MDCC Costume Nite Run is part of a celebration event organised by Boustead Curve (The Curve), Ikano Corporation (IPC) and Damansara Entertainment Sdn Bhd (eCurve). For the record, I have spent my past four NYE's in Mutiara Damansara and I can say that I enjoyed the exciting entertainment events and the spectacular fireworks over the years.

Publicity Poster was seen a month before the race at The Curve

The run is divided into three main categories - Men's and Women's Open (5km) and the costume Fun Run for families (3km). An inaugural event, the MDCC Nite Run is open to runners of all ages and abilities. The top five finishers in the Men's Open and Women's Open, as well as the top five best dressed runners in the Fun Run will each receive a trophy.  However, I found out that the 5km run was not a timed race as there was no timer given to the registered runners. So I didn't actually lie about PBIM being the last run for me in 2015; the MDCC Nite Run in my book is a fun run and definitely and thus, does not count as a race. There was no pressure whatever for this run. The important word to remember is fun! Furthermore, running on the last day of the year just hours before the stroke of midnight is certainly a different and interesting way to ring in the ring in the new year.

Race tee in striking color to match my shoes

 
I collected the race pack last Saturday... liked the color and design of the t-shirt - a perfect match for my unmistakable Brooks Racer X5. Another pleasant surprise, which sets this new running event apart from the other races was the goody bag which was packed with vouchers from various retail shops, services and F&B outlets at the The Curve, eCurve and IPC.It goes without saying, I'd be making use of my 50% discount voucher at O'Brien's.

A short spell of showers in the evening worried me me a little but as luck would have it, the rain subsided by 7:15 p.m making it conducive for night running. I left my bag at the Fitness First at the Curve and went straight to the race corral (The Curve is my preferred lifestyle shopping place). From my observation, the participants gathered there looked more like a crowd you would see on a weekend at the Curve, IPC, eCurve or Ikea - the only difference was they were all dressed in their running gear, with a smile on their face! It warmed my heart to see  there were a handful of couples with young children in attendance. They came from near and far to run on this busy evening because running is a fun way to bond for family members. I also noted there were a few adults in the open category who came dressed up as their superhero. How cool is that!

Posing just before it was dark

Interesting mix of people in the crowd

Flag off with great fanfare

After safety briefing by the chief marshal, the race was flagged off by the Group Managing Director of Boustead Holdings Berhad. I felt a great sense of freedom running on the street outside IPC, Ikea Tesco and Kidzania with little concern about traffic, thanks to the hardworking RELA officials on duty. The main road i.e. PJU 7/2 was closed to traffic because of the the NYE events taking place all evening. Running uphill on PJU 8/8 passing Empire Damansara towards the PJ Trade Centre was not an easy task as it involved a significant elevation gain. The route of this run was testing for most runners. Fortunately, I managed to stay a close distance to the leader of the pack which a great.

After passing Neo Damansara, it was downhill all the way towards the finishing line.  I should also mention that there were two water stations in the 5km course and they were manned by sufficient number of volunteers at both the stations.  At the downhill station, I felt as if the drinking water was a treat as I made sure to thank the girl who handed me the paper cup. After the second water station, I picked up speed and raced to the finish line, clocking 21:22 on my Garmin. However, I also noted that the distance shown was 4:24 km so I would not be able to use the stats from this run for my 5k records.

But that's OK. As I said, it was meant to be a fun run and it certainly was! I enjoyed running in this nite run thoroughly. Would I do it again next year?  Yes, of course!


And so it's a wrap for 2015 and what a year it was!

A summary of my running journey in 2015 in figures:
3      -    number of Half Marathon's, night runs and 10k's completed
2      -    obstacles run survived and international events outside Malaysia (Sundown Marathon 
             Singapore and Athens Marathon, Greece)

6      -   number of participants in the family in PBIM
1      -  average number of races I registered in a month
189  -   position in the PBIM Half Marathon Men's Open 

Run while you still can....

Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) 2015

This post took a little longer than usual as I had to wait until the official results of my run in the 2015 PBIM Half Marathon Men Open category were published. It was a long time coming (believe me, if you were an enthusiastic runner like me, anything more than two days is a long wait for the results) but finally, the results were available on the website http://www.penangmarathon.gov.my/portal/ today. 

The 31st edition of the PBIM was held on 22 Nov 2015

As I waited for the results to come out, it gave me time to think about what to report on this race, which I participated for the first time last year. Since this will be my final race for 2015, I reflected on my running journey for the year. So instead of the usual report, I thought it would be timely to contemplate how wonderful it is that I am able to run in race events. Or just being able to run. It may be a simple activity and most of us take it for granted. Having the ability to run is indeed a blessing and I am humbled when I see people living with disabilities run in races. 

Running has brought immeasurable joy into my life. For some, perhaps running is just running. But I beg to differ. Running is not merely putting one foot in front of the other; it's not just about clocking those miles - it's much more than that. The training, the goals, the commitment involved in achieving those goals, the challenges and rewards from the effort put in, the bond of friendship in the running community, the support of family and friends (both runners and non-runners alike) whether online or offline, and the sense of accomplishment when I achieve new milestones (in life and in running), the strength to not give up when the going gets tough - all of these have made me become a better version of myself since I took up running in past two years or more.

You can imagine my excitement for PBIM this year as I had my family join me in the race. My folks came along too! Although they didn't register to run, they were enthusiastic and happily offered to tag along to enjoy a short holiday in George Town, Penang. There were six of us in our team of runners. For those who have been following my blog, you would already know that my sister and bro-in-law have joined me in past events; this time there were additional three members in the family who joined me for the first time. How incredible is that! I registered for the HM, everyone else in the 10k. We registered back in June to enjoy the early bird rates, set up a group chat to motivate one another and planned our activities for the weekend in Penang in conjunction with the race. Duties were distributed fairly and they included registration of runners, collection of race packs, securing accommodation and coming up with an itinerary in Penang (which basically centered around tasty local food) and printing of the e-certs.

As for the race, the event overall was well organized this year and credit must be given to the organizer. This year the organizer engaged the services of Rapid Penang and it's a wise move on their part (last year the main complaints were on transportation to the starting point). My event was scheduled to start at 3 a.m. I arrived at the Komtar bus terminal just after 2 a.m. only to see the Rapid Penang shuttle bus departing from the station. Fortunately, the next bus arrived shortly after and once filled up, it was ready to go to the race village in the outdoor parking area of Queensbay Mall. I didn't mind paying the RM1 fare for the quality shuttle service. 

Participants in bright pink and green vests gathered at the corral

However, the distance from the drop-off point to the starting line was longer than I expected. I think it easily took a 20-minute walk on average pace - I did hear some runners whinge about the additional distance they were made to cover even before the race started. After bag check-in and a quick stretch, I quickly joined the crowd gathered behind the starting line and before I could drink my Gu, the gun went off sharp at 3 a.m. for the Half Marathon Men's flag-off. And off the strong crowd in excess of 5000 runners went.

I would just give a brief review on the race. This year the race was held on the old bridge, as it has always been since 1985, with the exception of last year when it was held on the newly opened second Penang bridge, namely the Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Bridge. It was my first time running on the old bridge - it needs to be pointed out that I only ran about five kilometers on the bridge as the rest of the course was off the bridge. I can only guess the organizers planned it this way so that the runners of the HM do not run into the other runners in the FM category. The course at times was challenging with slopes, and inclined planes and slanted surfaces. It was definitely different from the second bridge which was flat throughout.

The were a total of six hydration stations which was quite generous of the organizer; however, the first one came only at 6.5 km. I wished there was one earlier, say at 5 km as most people would need a sip of water after that distance. Fortunately, the weather was mostly cloudy in the wee hours of the morning on 22 November, with a temperature of 23.9 degree Celsius so I hadn't felt overly thirsty or experienced any overheating of my body when I stopped at the first water station.

It was dark throughout the race and there were stretches where it was pitch dark. I nearly ran into people in some stretches. I regretted not bringing along my headlamp (perhaps this item should be listed as an essential in the race guide). It's handy to have a torch/headlamp when you're running as early as 1 a.m. (full marathon) and 3 a.m. (half-marathon). 

Kelvin and I posing for the camera 

At kilometer 16, my primary school friend Kelvin crossed path with me. He recognised me from behind which was indeed remarkable and shouted my name. What a pleasant surprise it was when I turned around to see Kelvin my friend whom I have to seen in ages! After a quick exchange of greetings, we ran side by side for the next few kilometers. I lost time at one of the hydration stations, but we got back together before the finish line and crossed the finish line in near synchronicity. It was an extraordinary experience! On reflection -  I have not seen Kelvin for over 20 years - we have recently been communicating on Facebook talking about race events and the like but never got the chance to meet until this day. I may never have met Kelvin if it wasn't for running. And more remarkable was the fact that we both traveled to Penang to run in this race but did not make concrete plans to meet..  But here we were in Penang on an early Sunday morning, after crossing the finish line together, catching up with each other.

More reflection:

Thanks to running and racing, I have been on an amazing journey that took me on wonderful trips in Malaysia and overseas. I have met people, every day runners who have done extraordinary things in their running journey and become friends with people who inspire be to continue running. Personally, 2015 turned out to be a fantastic year in my running, with new memories, moments and experiences to cherish. Along the way, I achieved new PR's which is deeply satisfying.

As for the results, I couldn't be happier with my performance this year in the PBIM.

My 2nd appearance in the PBIM half marathon Men Open

My sister and her hubby getting better and stronger in the 10k

My brother with his wife and father-in-law finished the race happy

Strength and beauty in number

PBIM 2014 first HM and PBIM 2015 HM

Official Result for PBIM 2015:                                 Official results PBIM 2014:
Gun time: 2:06:40                                                      Gun time: 2:08:42
Nett time: 2:05:11                                                      Nett time: 2:05:59
Rank: 189/5289                                                          Rank: 613/10654

2XU Compression Run Putrajaya

So I took the bull by the horns last Sunday and went ahead with running 21.1km despite the fact that my training hadn't added up in the weeks leading to the 2XU Compression Run Malaysia on 1 November. The 2XU Compression Run Malaysia would be the second half-marathon in 2015 for me after Nike We Run KL (Read report here) back in February.

The prolonged and dreadful haze had severely impacted the training schedule of most runners living in the Klang Valley. As the air quality improved in the week leading up to the race, I wanted more than ever to go for an event that didn't end up getting cancelled because of the haze. The thought of being out there for a run with other runners and enjoying the camaraderie of the running community were an impetus to get down to business and train for the race. Time was of the essence so I tried to cram in the miles every day of the week beginning 26 October. Unfortunately, Mother Nature was not on my side on Monday - heavy rain in the evening forced me to make alternative plans so I hit the gym and went for Body Combat Class. Determined to put in training on Tuesday,  I went on a long run but that session was curtailed due to heavy showers in Lembah Kiara in Taman Tun Dr. Ismail.

On Wednesday, I joined the Puma Night Running Club in Desa Park City for their weekly training. It was great to see a big turnout of runners on that day, many of whom were training for the Puma Night Run on 31 October. The program for that evening was negative split training and I had a rewarding session on my speed/tempo work (incidentally, I achieved a new record for the fastest 5km time at 25:52). A big thank you goes out to the fun and energetic pacers of the group!

On to the review of the 2XU Compression Run on 1 November.

Around 3700 runners congregated in Precinct 6 of Putrajaya at 6:30 a.m. for the flag off. I could feel it in the air the excitement of the runners in anticipation of a race on this fine day which was about to get underway. I started with a pace of 5:53 min/km and gradually picked up speed to 5:23 min/km and 5:10 min/km. I settled into a decent tempo and felt good for about 10km. At kilometer 11, I was surprised to see that the marker showed 10km. It appeared that there was a discrepancy in the distance showed on my Garmin and the distance marker placed by the organizer. The realisation that I was not at halfway point rattled me slightly. I reached into my pouch and tore open a pack of gel to power up.

Spectator area in the indoor stadium in Precinct 5, Putrajaya

I tried to hold on to my pace after the unpleasant discovery but I could see that the 2:00 hour pacers - who were running just ahead of me up to kilometer 11 - started to move further ahead of me. It was impossible to catch up with them and soon after they disappeared from sight. I could accept that I was not going to achieve a 2 hour half-marathon. Certainly not in this race as there was insufficient training put in to begin with.

Those ramps in Persiaran Timur were all familiar with me. I thought I could conquer them as I did in the past but as the distance progressed and my legs increasingly weighed down on me, I resorted to walk/run method on those inclines/ramps. Later, it became clear I was doing more walking than running on the inclines as more and more runners past me by. Not only did I not conquer the inclines, the inclines got me. Actually, I think the inclines ate me! I had no answer for them and my pace dropped from 6:45 min/km to 7:38 min/km.

After what felt like an eternity, I caught a glimpse of the marker for the final kilometer. It was a perfect time to push myself to pick up the pace again. I managed maintain to a steady jog but not without a struggle. My legs by this time were aching, my feet soaked in sweat. With every step I could feel the balls of my feet pounding the paved surface of the park in Precinct 5. Numb to the pain in my feet, I recited my mantra, "stay strong.. you are stronger than you think".

Forcing a smile to pose with my sister.. bare foot

The usual suspects with podium finishing

A new look with the Buff head wear

At the finish line, I immediately removed my shoes to relieve the pins and needles in my feet. My legs could hardly carry me as I walked to the refreshment station. My calves were tight as wound springs and I allowed myself to take a fall. Sitting on my haunches, I looked at my watch and it showed 2:12:40. With a grimace on my face and excruciating pain in my legs, I was indeed a happy if not tearful survivor of yet another half marathon.

This was a tough one to acquire and it's beautiful

Results:
Clock time: 2:14:15
Net time: 2:12:40
Rank: 148 out of 1202

Post script:The writer has all but recovered from the ache in my calves and I'm ready to take on the next challenge. His Garmin recorded 22.25km on that day, the furthest distance he had ever done.

2XU Runners Clinic

Things have been quiet lately on the running front due to the haze situation affecting Malaysia. Many outdoor events were canceled due to poor air quality. One of the casualties was  the SCKLM 2015 which was to have taken place on 4 October 2015 leaving around 30,000 registrants disappointed and frustrated.  I struggled to write about the events leading to the cancellation and the event after (collection of race entitlements) as it was too painful for me to think about the event which I had looked forward to all year only to have been called off due to the never-ending haze problem.

With the cancellation of SCKLM, I don't have any race to report in October. However, I was lucky to have attended my very first running clinic organised by the 2XU Runners Malaysia, a group that organizes regular running/training sessions in the Klang Valley.

Last Saturday, KL had a reprieve in the weather from weeks of being shrouded in smog so I grabbed the opportunity to drive to Bandar Kinrara Puchong to join the running group. I normally do not fancy getting up early in the morning except for race events, but this opportunity to run outdoors was too great to slip so I woke up at 5:45 am, laced up and set off to Bandar Kinrara.

Karsten and I meeting for the first time

I was greeted warmly by the coach, Karsten Korbel with whom I have been in contact for months. It was he who encouraged me to join running clinics in and around KL if I wanted to get motivation for running. His text message that said I would learn a lot from the clinic rang through my head all day on Friday as I was still undecided if running in a group was for me. But whatever misgivings I had about the running clinic vanished when Karsten took his position as lead coach and got the attendees to get down to business.

Explaining how the pyramid system works in the Fartlek training

We started off with a 5km jog. It was heartening to see about forty runners of various shapes and sizes and fitness level come together early in the morning on a Saturday with the common goal of improving their running technique under the guidance of the dedicated team of coaches from 2XU Runners Malaysia. Karsten ran alongside us, motivating those who were lagging behind to stay in the pack.

Run.... baby run....

After that warm up session, we were served with the "main course" of the day - Fartlek training. I learned that Fartlek which means "speed play" in Swedish, is a training method that blends continuous training with interval training. Karsten whipped up a whiteboard to illustrate the workout that he had planned for us: Alternate between a fast segment (stride hard) for 15 secs and slow jog for one minute for recovery. The stride hard/fast segment goes on an increment of 15 secs each time (15s,30s, 45s, 60s, 75, 90, 105s) before gradually descending to 15s in similar progression.

Practice for the speed segment of Fartlek training 

The Fartlek training was fun and challenging at the same time. I might have switched gear to high pace too soon in the session, so that by the time I had to maintain the fast pace for 95s, I could feel that my heart-rate climbed to near maximum level - it left me with no choice but to drop my pace.

After the training, we jogged twice around a Futsal court, followed by a stretching session to cool down. And of course, a group photo session to make it a memorable event.

Group photo just before the end of the session

The clinic was fun and refreshing and I certainly gained some pearls...

Hope to see the guys and girls again the future running clinics..

PJ Half Marathon 2015

I ran the PJ Half Marathon last Sunday and finished in 57:38.

I was very much looking forward to this year's PJ Half Marathon in its 27th iteration; I participated in the event last year and achieved a PR in the 10k (51 mins) which stands till today. After the organizers announced a new route for this year, I did not wait any longer than necessary and registered online at www.myraceonline.com.

Unfortunately, I suffered a serious case of food poisoning a day before the race. The diarrhea episodes kept me up the whole night and I felt lethargic even before the race began the next morning. As my sister and bro-in-law had planned to run together with me in this race, I thought I would just run alongside them and not worry about finishing time. This was going to be an easy and comfortable run for me, I told myself..

Laman MBPJ

Race corral at Laman MBPJ

The race was flagged off at 5:30 a.m. (methinks it's too early for a 10k flag off - 6 a.m. is more reasonable) from Laman MBPJ area, opposite the PJ Civic Centre. We stood in the middle of the pack so that when the horn blew and the runners were off, I found myself running in a crowded lane. It was difficult to navigate my way around  the other runners - I was worried about knocking over of being knocked over by passing runners.. It was still pitch dark in some areas of the course (note to self: include headlamp in my checklist of items to carry on race day).

As my pace picked up after the first kilometer, I switched to running on the pavement along Jalan Gasing in an attempt to dodge other runners while passing them. I figured it's safer to run on the pavement than it is to run out of the coned boundaries on the road. Besides, the marshals on duty were quick to direct any overzealous runner that breached this safety rule. The 2nd kilometer was completed in 5:01! I knew that there was a real risk of me crashing if I ran too fast too soon in the race as I had lost lots of fluids due to the diarrhea. And it also dawned on me - I had lost track of my sister and bro-in-law! We did say we would meet at the finish line if we got separated in the race, so it was fine that I was running solo.

Running along the NPE Expressway was unnerving as there were cars zipping by on both sides. I watched as the marshal on duty managed the traffic and I felt an urge to give him a high five for looking after the safety of the runners. Relieved after getting off the expressway (thank goodness it was only a short distance on it), I felt severely thirsty and wondered if I had missed the hydration station.

My legs started to feel weak by the time I found the water station (it was around 4.4km into the course, a little too far I felt). I resorted to walking for a short distance before picking a comfortable pace of 5:30/km.

Running along Jalan Templer transported me back to my childhood days when my family used to live in Jalan 18, off the Old Klang Old. I remember fondly the buildings on this road, namely the Bangunan Peladang and UiTIM as I often had to sit in the family car and wait impatiently at the railroad crossing.

More nostalgia followed as I passed the former primary school of my sister's, SRK Jalan Selangor. Along Jalan Othman, I could hear the beautiful and calming sound of chanting from a nearby Hindu temple, and behold, a profound sense of serenity washed over me.

My legs continued to take a beating and I slowed down at the second and final water station at 8km, by which time my legs were shaky and were not listening to me! I wanted to resume running but they only made tiny steps so I walked for a good 30-second break before I ambled along the tail-end of the course..

Unfortunately, my rubbery legs were not able to keep up upon entering Jalan Selangor after the roundabout where Assunta Hospital is located. The hospital looked magnificent in the early hours of the morning and certainly brought back some fond memories of the birth of some of my younger relatives. Memories of my visits to the emergency room due to asthma in my childhood came back to me with astonishing clarity. I remember how my mom would watch over me by the bedside throughout the night when I stayed in the children's ward several times in my school days due to asthma.

Back to running: The incline along Jalan Selangor was the toughest one on the course to tackle. My strategy of lifting my knee high when running on inclines did not work this time so I gave up and walked for the rest of the incline. Many runners passed me by at this point and I was glad for them that they would be reaching the finish line soon. I was beginning to feel the abdominal cramps from the diarrhea and more weakness in my legs. I started to have doubts if I could finish the race as my body was giving me more signals that it was on the verge of a meltdown, but my mind was telling me to climb over the proverbial runners' wall. So I trudged on, gained a little distance and kept my focus for the final kilometer..

After turning into Jalan Sultan and feeling a little better, I resumed running at a conservative pace, my one and only goal: to cross the finish line.

And cross the finish line I did at 57:36.

I felt severely tested in this race but I'm glad that willpower coupled with a clear focus pulled me through..

Standing up once again, after falling on crossing the finish line

One for the album.. PJ Half Marathon is special to the Yeoh's

Love this year's running tee from Ultron

Results:
Official time: 59:02
Net time: 57:26
Rank: 106/759

Asean Unity Run 2015

When I first heard about the ASEAN Unity Run 2015, I did not hesitate to register for it. It's an inaugural event held in Padang Merbok, Kuala Lumpur with the aim of promoting unity and harmony among the participants from Malaysia and the ASEAN region. Organised by Aman Malaysia, a movement which promotes initiatives and campaigns on unity and harmony, the ASEAN Unity Run offered three categories - 21km, 10km and 5km (two subcategories: fun run  and stroller run, which was to set a new record for being the largest stroller run in a single location). This run was indeed timely as Malaysia has just concluded hosting the 26th ASEAN Summit as the Chair of ASEAN 2015.

I ran in the 10k category. 10k is my most comfortable distance by far.

But actually, I was nearly disqualified for this 10k event because I reached the starting line late.  In fact, very late.

The flag off was at 6:15 a.m. I arrived in the city around 5:45 a.m. as planned but I was unable to find any parking near Padang Merbok. Much to my chagrin, I was turned away by a guard at Dayabumi complex as the parking basement was closed at that time. I then decided to park in Central Market and walk to the race venue, but when I turned on the Maps app on my phone, the walking route to Padang Merbok shown was estimated to take one hour. It was impossible for me to get to the starting line on time! I briskly turned back, hopped in my car and drove off to Padang Merbok. I chanced upon DBKL headquarters in Jalan Raja Laut and noticed a few cars coming in and out of the building. Perhaps I could make it after all if I carefully followed the sign to the visitor parking and found myself free parking lot. But alas, the visitor parking was closed too. If that isn't Murphy's Law I don't know what is! When I looked at the clock on the dashboard and it showed 6:10 a.m., I knew in the depths of my heart that there was no way I could make it to the start line by  6:15 a.m. This was beginning to feel like my nightmare for a race. Maybe I would wake from the nightmare and find myself waiting for the gun to go off at 6:15 a.m. Sigh, one can only dream at this juncture. For the record, I've never been late to a race and the ASEAN Unity Run would be my first.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a vacant lot in the staff parking area in the DBKL Complex. As time was of the essence, I had to make a judgement call - do I commit a misdemeanor by parking in a designated lot for staff or risk being disqualified from the race for being severely late? My love of running in races won me over so I parked my car among a fleet of DBKL vans and ran as fast as my legs could carry me to the starting line in Padang Merbok. Forget about static warm up, I was having the most intense dynamic warm up to this race.

Fortunately for me, the friendly marshals did not stop me when I showed up at the gathering point for 10km event; instead, they directed me to the starting line. Interestingly, I noticed that there were other late-comers too and they didn't look flustered like me. Note to self - keep calm and carry on.. 

And then it dawned on me that I did not have any of my accessories with me -  my indispensable iPhone arm band,  wrist band to wipe sweat off my face and my Garmin watch. Thank goodness I wore my bib at home before getting into the car. At a stressful moment like this, it was reassuring to know that my run would be timed with the presence of the timer chip behind the bib. So I'm good to go, yeah baby!!

Without wasting any time, I made a dash to the starting line and was comforted by the sound of my chip registering my run.. That beep from the sensor was the most beautiful sound I heard on the whole morning! A victory in itself for making it to the starting line.. Phew!

It was still dark and eerie as there were no other runners around me for the first 100m or so. Slowly as I picked up my pace, runners started appearing before me: left, right and centre,... and soon I was starting to pass them by steadily - one, two, three, four and more and more until I lost count as I progressed in the race, stronger and faster.

My pace was steady throughout. Without help from my Garmin Forerunner 220 or the Runkeeper app on my phone, I didn't know the pace I was doing. Whereas I normally would heed the external cues from the stopwatch, I decided instead to pay attention to the internal cues - my breathing and how my body was feeling at that time. I felt naked somewhat without the 'wearable technology' i.e. my phone and GPS watch, but I could rest assured that the timer chip would give me a finishing time later. I gradually got into a comfortable pace and breathing rhythm. And I felt good about the run.. The legs were warm and the strides steady.

On the inclines, I noticed that my legs were slightly heavy so I changed my running form to accommodate the terrain. I took smaller strides and kept my feet as low as possible to the ground and body upright. Surprisingly, I didn't slow down to a walk, which I almost always do in other races when encountering inclines.. It was perhaps because I was paying more attention to my body... Life is full of unexpected lessons to be learned and so is running...

Despite the initial setback, I finished the race at 1:07 clock time... and when I received the official results today, I was pleased to learn that my net time was 55:43. It's in fact, my best 10k time for 2015.

Gun time: 1:07:40

Net time: 55:43

Rank: 48 out of 970

Go out and crush it, not matter what!

Asean Village

Minister of Youth and Sports in the 5km Fun Run

Blood Runner in Putrajaya

To those of you who read my teaser posted on July 30, I'm here to tell you that I completed the Blood Runner in Putrajaya on July 31 and survived to tell the tale..

The Blood Runner is a werewolf-themed urban obstacle night race, promoted as Asia's first by the organizer, Switch Strategies. Set in the popular venue for night race events, Putrajaya, the race involved 10km of running on trail, road and pavement. Along the way there were obstacles that required participants to carry, jump, climb, balance and scramble through the streets of Putrajaya. 

I ran in Wave 7 (10:30pm) along with my friend Ainal. We were flagged off around11pm - the delay was due to poor weather conditions earlier. I found out later that there were celebs among the 5000 runners on that night. 

The first obstacle involved carrying water drums for a distance of 200m. The one I carried weighed a tonne; I quickly realised that I finally understood what it means when people say they feel the weight of the world on their shoulders.

Immediately after the first obstacle, the night was more of a personal hell than a fun-filled playground. Exhausted and running on low energy, I wondered how I would be able to pull through and the thought of letting the werewolves bite me seemed exciting to me, until it occurred to me that I had my energy gel with me. I brought two energy gels with me to heed the advice contained in the race guide. I gulped down my first High5 energy gel and almost immediately felt its effects. Recharged with a new lifeline, I was ready to take on the next obstacles..

The other obstacles surprisingly, were less tough for me. They involved crossing a series of tyres, climbing over some truck tyres and jumping over a wall. I conquered those. And I picked up pace in my run...

Next part of the course was a trail run. I never knew there exists a forest in Putrajaya and running in the forest at night was frightening. The Petzl Tikkina was a great help for me to avoid running into other participants, many of whom had slowed down due unfamiliarity with the trail and the fear of running into a werewolf. Their howling of those creatures were enough to send chills down one's spine. But I was focused to pick up my pace and catch up with the runners in the earlier waves. It was a perfect chance for me to run pass the walkers, so I switched to the high intensity mode on my headlamp and shouted, "Excuse me, passing through".. It worked! Fabulous!

The next obstacle was the sideways wall climbing challenge. Judging by long queue and the number of participants instructed to do air squats as penalty for failing the complete the challenge, I knew I needed concentration, endurance and coordination to overcome this obstacle. I quaffed the second energy gel and got myself psyched up for it. And man... I got through it successfully - with a few cuts on my forearms, but it's no biggie.

One part of the course was in the basement of a car park of a complex and it was here that I finally came face to face with two werewolves. These werewolves were in high spirits and excited to see the participants. When I passed them, they gave me a high five! The creatures (or actors) were there to provide a feel-good factor and they certainly delivered. 

After the brush with werewolves, the obstacles that greeted me next were more challenging. There were the balancing beams (I failed this), monkey bars, the climbing over a net mounted on a bus, and more climbing - on inclined planes with holes in them. And then there were the jumps over the M Walls - the joint surfaces were narrow and I heard a few participants fall (big thud.. ouch!) Hope they're were OK to carry on. The M Walls featured again at the end, just before the finish line...

And then I saw the giant werewolf float in the distance and I knew that I have all but completed the run...

I gave a high jumped, reached for the fangs of the werewolf float, feeling fantastic at having completed the inaugural Blood Runner...

Nett time: 1:56:33

Overall ranking: 303/1984

Gender ranking: 277/1319

A video posted by runwitme (@runwitme) on Aug 1, 2015 at 6:02am PDT

A video posted by runwitme (@runwitme) on Jul 31, 2015 at 9:27pm PDT

Sundown Marathon, Singapore

My first international race for 2015 was none other than the Sundown Marathon in neighbouring Singapore. A popular night run (the organizers claim that it is the biggest night race in Asia), the Sundown was held at the popular F1 Pit building. Surrounding the building was a hive of activity - various sponsor tents, F&B stalls, floats,  stage with live gigs, information signage and runners stretching out and warming up before the race generated an electrifying atmosphere.

After the sun set that day, the strong 26,000 participants were raring to go! This year there were four categories offered - 5km, (a new category this year to encourage more people to take up running as a healthy lifestyle) 10km, 21km and 42km. It was going to be an exciting night and the F1 Pit set ablaze by the fervent runners from near and far.

I participated in the 10km Men's Open category, which was flagged off at 10pm. Due to the high number of runners, we were flagged off in waves. I was in the fourth group (or "tribe" as the vivacious announcers referred us) that was flagged off around 10:12 p.m. That 12-minute wait felt like the longest wait in recent memory. Once I crossed the starting line, I quickly picked up pace to make up for lost time. I soon became the leader of the pack. I looked ahead and saw a huge number of runners ahead of me. Great! I love the feeling of passing other runners. Some of the runners in the earlier group I noticed had slowed down, a few even started walking. I checked my Garmin - it's not even 1km yet. Reminder to myself: don't start too fast and risk crashing out.

I weaved my way through the slower runners but there were just too many of them. Without a clear path ahead for me it was difficult to accelerate so I picked up my pace gradually and did what I read in the guide book: "On your right!" - I called out in a shaky, yet audible voice to the runners in front of me just before passing them. Some of them moved to their left as I closed in on them, but mostly they did not know what to do. I lost out of the number of runners I passed by 2km and but noted that there were two runners who passed me. So far so good.

Having participated in the Marina Run 2014, I was familiar with the Marina Bay Loop route. The terrain was mostly made up of pavements, pounding of which didn't give too much problem to my problem knee.  I continued to catch up with the runners ahead of me and there was hardly any pain in my left knee even when I quickened my pace. As there were other runners coming in the opposite direction (those in the second loop), I risked running into them whenever I attempted to pass the runners in front of me. Try as I might, I inadvertently crossed the boundary to the opposite lane. Traffic cones were placed as reminder to runners to stay within the set boundaries. I also noticed there were volunteers who directed those of us who went off-course to get back in the dedicated path. I was forced to slow down because some runners were obstructing me and I had to wait until a space was available to overtake them.  That may have affected my overall time.

Spectacular Singapore Flyer in the background

The race markers were clear despite the fact that we were running in the night. The signage for turns were clearly displayed. As the race wore on, I settled into a comfortable pace of 5:30km/min. There were three hydration stations and all of them were all manned. Perhaps because there were well manned (and I felt I wasn't in the way of the runners behind me) I took longer breaks than I should have. At the third and final hydration station with 100 Plus on offer in addition to water, I was ready to pick up speed again. I quickened my pace from 8km onward. As soon as I crossed the Helix Bridge at 9km,  with the finishing line in view and beckoning, I accelerated to it. Crossing the finish line felt incredibly good as I knew that I have accomplished my goal of the trip and was ready to go back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Finishing time: 1:09:07
Nett time: 56:22

Rank: 590
Participants in Category: 6811