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
 

     

Standard Chartered KL Marathon

I'm glad to have secured a place in the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2015 on October 4.
This year registration closed only after three days as all 35,000 places were grabbed by enthusiastic runners in categories from 5K to the full marathon.

I'll be running again in the 10K (speed) category.

As the KL Marathon 2015 is all not that far away, I thought I should relive the memories of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2014 to draw inspiration and rediscover my motivation for running in races.

The 2014 KL Marathon, winner of  the coveted KL's Mayor Tourism Award  saw over 30,000 participants and supporters congregate at the historic Dataran Merdeka. Participants from within Malaysia describe this annual running event as "epic", a truly international race and the mother of all running events in Malaysia

The sheer number of participants that turned out for the race was overwhelming. I was still new to running in race events at the time and certainly did not anticipate such a huge crowd on that day. The LRT trains were packed in the wee hours of the morning, with runners of every shape and size, all of whom were proudly wearing their Brooks green race tee. A thought crossed my mind, "While other KL City folks were sleeping in on this Sunday in October, there's a whole community of runners who were up and out as early as 5 in the morning and that's truly remarkable." I am totally not a morning person and yet, I found myself turned into one on this beautiful morning. I think I had already overcome the first obstacle of the day that is getting out of bed at a set time. I felt ever ready to conquer other obstacles that would come my way..

Participants heeding the advice of the organizer to travel by train to the race venue

The new route for 2014 gained positive feedback from seasoned runners of the KL Marathon. For me, it was sheer joy running the new route which traversed KL's iconic buildings such as Dataran Merdeka, DBKL, the National Mosque, the National Monument and the awe-inspiring Petronas Twin Towers in the background. I remember the uphill terrain at the Taman Tasik Perdana/KL Bird Park around kilometer 9, which was a challenge both mentally and physically.Thankfully, my brand new pair of Brooks Glycerin 12 served me well to handle the demands of the terrain.

Tears streamed down my face when I crossed the finish line as I knew that I had given it my all in the race. I was overcome with pride of having finished my very first Standard Chartered KL Marathon 10k race with a noteworthy time.

New cue words: "Finisher of the amazing KL Marathon, 10km"

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Larian Bendang 2015

Larian Bendang is an annual event held in conjunction with Yayasan Sultanah Bahiyah's (YSB) Karnival Amal Hari Penyayang. This year the run was held on May 30 and I was glad to participate in it.

In spite of the problematic left knee with which I have been battling, I decided to run the 11km distance in the Men's Senior Category. 'Bendang' means fields in Malay; strangely, I wasn't familiar with this word until I came to the state of Kedah, arguably the rice bowl of Malaysia. I wanted very much to run through the fields in Alor Setar - a place I now call home - as I have done in the past along with some elite runners of the Alor Setar Jogging Club members. I knew the risks of injuring the knee further but I felt it would be wrong for me to not participate in the perhaps the only major running event in Alor Star..

The event was graced with the presence of the chairperson of YSB, Tunku Puteri Intan Safinaz biti Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu'adzam Shah. Her royal highness was accompied by the Mentri Besar of Kedah, Dato' Sri Mukhriz Mahathir as the guest-of-honor.

The warm-up exercises were the longest I have ever had to do. I couldn't help but feel as if I was in an aerobics class led by a team of four exuberant female instructors. I'm sure all the enthusiastic runners felt the warm-up session was fun if not too lengthy. It went on for 30 minutes

The race was flagged off at 8am, by which time the temperature soared to the early thirties.
I felt the sweltering heat as soon as I broke into a stride. I decided to go slow and steady; after all this race for me is not about time, but participation. By the third km, I was severely thirsty. I kept looking out for a water station along the way but alas, there were none to be found for another 4km. The only water station available was at the 7km check point. I must have suffered the symptoms of dehydration by 5km as my pace went from 5:30 to 6:00, then 7:00 and 11:00 when I started walking for 30 seconds. Sweat was pouring out of me and I could feel a burning sensation in my legs clad in running tights. Walking helped to cool my body down.. I battled with fatigue and increasing weakness. Please give me water was my mantra....

The hydration station finally appeared and it provided water in sealed plastic cups. Somehow sipping water from a straw just didn't quench my thirst enough. I poured the last quarter onto my head to cool down.. and it felt like I just doused a fire..

From the station, I entered the much-awaited-for paddy fields. This was probably the most scenic part of the route but I was too exhausted to savour the beauty that greeted me. The heat was unrelenting so I just pushed myself to concentrate on getting to the next checkpoint by adapting a run walk run (mostly walk at this point). From the front of the pack, I quickly dropped to the middle and I was in fact, relieved to see some of the runners whom I passed by earlier, now passing me by... Good luck to them...hopefully see you at the finish line later, if I can  make it.

I did eventually cross the finish line and helped myself to copious amounts of 100 Plus...


This was one race which required the most effort from me. I was overcome with relief when I crossed the finish line and was glad that the race was over.

Distance: 11.4km
Time: 1 hour 8 mins

Viper Arena 2015

 

I'm looking forward to my first Viper Challenge, the Viper Arena 2015 at Stadium Shah Alam on May 23. From what I gathered so far, the Viper Arena is a lighter version of the original Viper Challenge, which consists of a 21km course and 20 obstacles. The Viper Arena with the hashtag challengethedark is a 7km course with 15 obstacles held in the massive Shah Alam stadium in the darkness of the night. According the the event guide, the Viper Arena features a totally different terrain from the previous iterations of Viper Challenge... As it's my first attempt, I don't know what to expect and I think therein lies my anxiety.

I'm hoping to find other challengers with the same start time of 2:00am...

Not for the faint hearted

Forget fear, worry about mud...

Outside the stadium where participants were seen stretching and warming up

Updated (27.05.15)

I decided not carry anything valuable on me so I left behind the iPhone, which I normally carry in an armband for the road races. As I anticipated the course to involve running, jumping, climbing, crawling, scrambling (and falling) I reasoned I should check my phone at the bag drop counter. Losing or breaking my phone is just unthinkable and the memory of my phone crashing one me is still fresh.  I was well aware that I would not be able to take any shots of the course but better to be safe than sorry, heh..

There were 15 obstacles in total and there was one in particular which I enjoyed very much - the mountaineering challenge. In this challenge, participants had to climb a wooden wall (around 10 ft high) by placing wooden pegs into the holes in the wall to propel themselves all the way to the top. This challenge involved teamwork in which two members let the challenger step on their thighs so that he can reach for the first hole in which to place a peg. Once he reaches the top, the challenger would remove the pegs and roll them down for the next challenger to use.

The challenge which I failed miserably was the one that involved rope climbing. Participants had to climb a hanging rope from the ceiling at a height of around 3m. When you reach the top you ring the bell next to the rope. As it was the third from the last challenge, my endurance was at dangerously low levels.. Try as I might, I kept falling.. .(I later learned from the tutorial video on the Viper website that the trick is with the skilful use of your legs to grip the rope.. If only I had watched the video before the challenge!!) Note to self: get as much training tips from the organizer for future endurance challenges..

I survived Viper Arena 2015

In conclusion, I would say that the Viper Arena was tough and challenging, but wickedly fun.