Tuesday, November 30, 2010

The Coming Lion City Run II

God willing, this coming Sunday I am going to experience my second race at the Lion City this year, the first being the Adidas Sundown back in May. There is nothing much to do from now till the race day other than doing the anchoring. Whether you are satisfied with your training or otherwise, that is now a secondary matter for you to worry about.

I had attempted my final LSD prior to SCSM last Friday (taking the day off since I had planned to travel to JB after solat Jumaat with my family). Later drove south to and spent a night in JB with the itinerary of visiting an old friend of my wife on Saturday and attended a kenduri of my wife’s course mate in Muar. We then spent a night in Melaka on the way back to Shah Alam and found out that I love “nyonya cuisine” after having a sumptuos dinner at a Nyonya Retaurant in Taman Melaka Raya (note-my office mate told me that there is a nice Nyonya Restaurant in SS2 PJ, will check it out). Sunday was full attending the kids’ fooling around in the pool plus the sight-seeing at Bandar Hilir after checking out from the hotel. The partly cloudy weather made it easier for the kids to walk around and enjoying themselves in Melaka.

I did my easy run of 5.5km this morning and I am going to rest my legs till the race day in the hope that there will be no niggling issue related to the PF and knee in my second attempt to slay the 42.2km dragon, God willing. Of, of course I am not going to skip the best part of preparing for a full marathon run, the carbo-loading!

Good luck for those running in Singapore and wish you peeps all the best!

Monday, November 29, 2010

Transisi

Baru check official timing Powerman sprint. Seperti yang dijangka, tempoh di transisi sampai 6 minit, boleh lepak borak2 camtu hehehe.
T 1 - 3min 20 sec

T2 - 2min 51 sec

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

My First DU Race - Sprint Category Powerman 2010

Intro

I’d never intended to register for the Powerman in the first place. My running ability was still at an elementary level and I was in no hurry to enter into the multi-sport horizon or to be more specific, join a multi-sport race. It was after I bought my road bike during my “running sabbatical” due to my shin splints and knee injury that I was being lambong-ed by who else, if not the King Lambong himself, to consider registering for the Sprint category of the Powerman 2010 (note – “Sprint” is a “fun run” equivalent in a Powerman event).

I officially did the clicking just a few days before the closing registration date of 30 September 2010. The decision to register was made easier with the comfort that few RBUs will be there, i.e. Diket, Shuk, Yim and Det, as well as few other friends from the Putrajaya Ramadhan Night Riding sessions.

Target

Nope, I didn’t have any target in terms of timing. With no qualifying time for the Sprint’s category my personal target is to finish the race based on my ability at that time. The principal objective of the Seri Manjung’s mission is to experience my first DU race.

The Trip

On this, I need to extend my thanks to Diket for being the lead arranger for the group’s trip and accommodation. My appreciation to CK and Jaja for a nice accommodation (coupled with interesting experience) offered to us at OBS.

My travelling preparation was done last minute. I went off from office a bit early on Friday evening as I need to prepare my MPV to be the main carrier of 3 bikes, mine, shuk’s and Nik’s. I had never carried more than a single bike in my MPV and due to that I have to make sure that all spaces in my MPV would be optimized. Nik reached my home from JB around 9 pm and later around 10 pm shuk came sending his Italian babe to spend the night with my Merrie and Nik’s Trackie in my MPV. I drove to Seri Manjung with Shuk’s company and met with the others at Sg Buluh R&R before the Group de-toured to Kuala Selangor, opting for a coastal route.

For the trip, lodging and jalan-jalan cari makan, Diket has perfectly captured those moments in his blog (not forgetting the Twilight Zone mini-series as well). One thing I could say here is that I love every seconds of my time with the peeps. Felt almost like my college days’ road trip.

The Race

“Apa barang buat Sprint category Powerman!”

I just could not help from telling myself that because the full category of Powerman is darn tough, the Sprint seems more “like a walk in the park category”. The Powerman race is not just about finishing but to complete the course within 5 hours and that is a huge challenge. Please read Yim’s blog on his debut and fantastic achievement in the Powerman 2010.

Hence if you are a newbie in DU and not a strong runner and/or cyclist and could not or not willing to commit to put in enough or decent time for training to compensate your weakness in either discipline, in my humble view you better opt for the Sprint category. Would you just be content without a finisher’s T and certificate by finishing beyond 5 hours? My personal answer to that is NO because after a grueling and difficult challenge, you could not claim the title of a “Powerman” by being a mere finisher. It is harsh but that’s the rule of the game and everybody has to live with it.

Run 1 – 5.5km

At the starting line - Pic taken from the FB of Estim

We were gunned off the last, i.e. about 20 minutes after the full category was released. The advice from the “otais” was to keep an easy or moderate effort in the first run. I sort of expected a lot of people to start with a dash from the word GO. I tried to maintain my pace in a range of 5.30min/km to a shade below 6min/km (agak2 ajer) though it seems that everybody was overtaking me. Run a brief moment with Jaja before she activated her turbo power. Super mom there! I have not done any running for 2 weeks (except the 3-4km easy run in our last brick session held 4 days before the race day) due to my plantar fasciitis and hence I did not dare to increase my pace for the lack of tempo trainings and the potential bonking in the remaining 2 legs. The ‘roti planta” issue in the mean time was kept at bay with the Rocktape’s protection, courtesy of Ray.

T1

I was a bit clumsy here but I think that was expected from a newbie. The funny thing was I took my bike down and out from its place but I was yet to put on my helmet and gloves. Normally I took my bike out from my MPV and leaned it against the side of my car or any nearby “tiang” or “wall” but of course there was no tiang available in the transition area and I was supposed to push my bike out from that area before I can even put my leg over it or be disqualified. So, I had to push back and hang my bike and did the things that I was supposed to do in the first place, i.e. put on my helmet and gloves.

Cycling- 32km

I considered myself as a runner first before a cyclist but I think I did better in the cycling leg compared to my running. The almost flat course enabled me to maintain a decent speed overall and since we would do only a loop of the course, the 2 inclines of Jambatan Raja Perempuan Bainun had extracted a moderate effort compared to the task of conquering the undulating GCE for the same speed. But as many people have said before, cycling would easily invite cramping of muscles and that is the last thing you would wish to happen in a race. With a pre-cramp pain and tightening of the calf muscles about 7km before the cycling end, I decreased my pace to allow me to finish my cycling leg and complete my second leg of running cramp free. I would not dare to take a risk as far as muscles cramp are concerned. It would be nasty for sure if the big one attacked you during a race.

T2

A bit of improvement from T1 since the main task was to put on your running shoes. I need to wait the official timing to know how bad or well I’d done at my transitions. I am inclined to believe that it would be the former.

Second Run – 5 km

“Apa barang lari 5km!”

It was quite a “barang” I guess if you had done a 5.5km run and 32km ride right before you started the run. Felt awkward at first but later managed to steady my pace albeit at a snail equivalent. My target was a non-stop running regardless of how slow it would be. Not a huge issue but the pain of my heel re-appeared after the ride. As told by Diket, cycling could cause plantar fasciitis as well, normally through “pulling” of the crank. I ran at a very much slower pace anyway at that point of time and hence I just need to watch my foot strike to minimize the pain.

Unofficial Result

With a snail pace second leg run, I crossed the finishing line with a hand timed of 2 hour 22 minutes. Officially I had done my first DU race. Can I call myself a duathlete then? I could stand being called a snail pace aka cengkerang duathlete. Hahaha giler POYO! I was just kidding guys as the most important thing is to subscribe to a healthy activities regardless of being a runner or duathlete or triathlete.

Post Race

I was handed over my medal, spent time whalloping the watermelon, had a bowl of cendol, enjoying the views of errrr..observing the brands of the vests and trisuits of others whilst waiting for my fellow respected comrades from the full category coming back to base. After lingering around for sometimes I decided to wait and cheer my friends at the running track just outside the stadium, under the shade of a row of small trees but enough to cover me from the force Seri Manjung’s heat. Made small talks with a lady nearby whilst she was waiting for her hubby to finish the run. It was a perfect spot since I could cheer all peeps that I know passing through for their second loop or final push to the finishing line (see pictures below).

L-R
Pic 1 - Azmar the Ironman with his normal cool and steady pace...
Pic 2 - Yim on his final push to victory singing "kalau anda gembira angkat tangan"
Pic 3 - Diket Menchanak aka Abg Jaws aka King Lambong aka King Mambo smiling to the finishing line though he had less than an hour of sleep the night before due to the...... ("twilight zone theme song in the background")

L-R
Pic 1 - Det steady and strong nak masuk second loop.
Pic 2 - Shuk playing the mental game to nail his debut attempt to become a Powerman...pheewitttt
Pic 3 - I understand that Nik had a monster cramp during the second loop of cycling. Good job bro for never giving up in finishing the race


left pic - Bahri, another comrade who succumbed to injury along the way with never say die attitude marching to the finishing line.
Right pic - me with the Powermen and Powerwoman (frm L-R, Hanchik, Det, me, Diket, Nik Raiha and Azmar) - pic taken from Nik Raiha's FB.

Conclusion

It was a new and great experience for me. For the runners out there who are water phobia like me, you guys should try a DU race. It will be awesome I tell you. Congratulations to all my friends in Powerman 2010 regardless of their timing. Each one of you guys earned a pat at the back for doing this difficult challenge. Hopefully a bigger contingent from RBUs will join the trip to Sri Manjung for Powerman X Factor 2011.

For those going to Penang this weekend, I wish you guys all the best!

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Of Plantar Fasciitis, Dengue Fever & Some Rides

Plantar Fasciitis

I first had the injury in one of my weekday’s runs in the final week of October. It was not too bad initially but the downhills’ pounding in the Genting Trailblazers 2010 made it worse the next day. I had to force the early retirement of my mizuno entry level’s trail shoes after GTB and if I need to do trail running (I don’t think there will be any in the near future) I would just use my normal running shoes, at least they have better cushioning and stability than the Mizuno.

Because of the injury, I did not do any running for the entire of last week and as of today, I decided to rest for another 2 days to see the progress of the healing before I’ll do short easy runs. Powerman 2010 (Sprint category only) is approaching soon and I pray that the injury would at least 75% healed for me to do the running leg of the race. Ray had kindly donated the “Rocktape” for me to use in my training and Powerman’s race. Thanks bro!

The Dengue Fever

My second kid was diagnosed with a dengue fever after being down with what we first thought as normal fever for almost 3 days. I rushed home from office on Thursday evening after receiving the call from my wife informing me of the news. Considering the logistic and what’s not, I have decided to admit him in a hospital at Shah Alam (which is 5km from home) rather than the usual choice of SJMC at Subang Jaya. Alhamdulillah, he was responding positively to the treatment and his blood platelet count was increasing after the 2nd day of being admitted.

Left - Looked good on the 3rd day

Right - The others fooling around

By the afternoon of the 3rd day (Saturday), he started to feel a bit restless and eager to join his other siblings playing and fooling around in the ward. He was discharged yesterday after recorded a blood platelet count of 189 (150 is categorized as normal). Thank God for the speedy recovery.

Some Rides

Due to the rest from running, I tried to do few rides last week. I therefore accepted the lambong from Diket for night ride at Putrajaya on Wednesday night. Me, Shuk, Diket and Det started our ride from POJ and took the same route as per our ramadhan nite ride for a distance of 49km. I think I had better cadence with the adjustment of the height to my bike's saddle. Thanks to Det for appointing the height issue during the aborted brick session at Putrajaya 3 weeks ago. On Saturday, comforted with the recovery progress of my kid, I managed to slot in a brief ride of 30km solo around Section 13 Shah Alam. I noticed that the wind was much stronger in the evening compared to a morning ride.

Concerns

Not to claim that I don’t have any concern on the coming Powerman, I am actually more worried on the coming full marathon run of SCSM. I have not done many LSDs and the current injury compounded the issue. On the assumption that I would be OK for a long run after Powerman, I will be left with only 2 weeks to clock a decent mileage for SCSM. Seems like there will be no option but to nail a 32k LSD by next week *sigh*

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Of Raining and Blazing the Trails at Genting

Saturday Morning Ride

I knew some people had to abandon their plan on Saturday morning due to the rain. The drizzling sound of the rain outside that morning made my mind ponder whether I would have to ditch my ride. My mind travelled back to the previous weekend where our brick session was called off due to the rain. My only consolation that morning, the rain started early and hopefully it would stop by 7.30 am to 8 am for the planned ride with the Bkt Jelutong Cycling Club (BJCC) to be materialized. By now, I had learnt from the senior riders that riding in a rain, though drizzling, is dangerous. A text from my riding colleague confirmed that, i.e. the team captain of BJCC decided that the ride will proceed if the rain stops by 9 am.

By 7.30 am the drizzling continued with an intermittent heavy downpour. The sky still covered with the grey cloud. Shoved my Merrie into my MPV and off I went to BJ. Along the way I received a text, which essentially conveyed the message, Rain=2, Diket =0. I knew exactly how the Langat Riders felt that morning but I could not help myself from replying back with a “poyo” message to the sender about the BJCC planned ride though at that point of time it was very much contingent upon the weather. In fact the ride was almost called off. The weather, with God’s blessing, stopped a few minutes before 9 am and it stayed that way till about 9.20 am whilst the group waited for another BJCC rider who accepted the lambong to join the ride.

As for the ride itself, no fancy stuff due to the late start. We completed 46km of GCE and the highlights were 2 punctures (of both the front and rear tyres) suffered by a newbie (what a bad day for him). Unlike my first 2 rides where I had no spare tubes, I donated my spare tube for his second puncture and made full use of my pump, which at the tail end of the ride got crushed by a lorry when it fell from my bike. So, the planned ride done and the best thing for the week had been reserved for Sunday, the next day.

The Genting Trailblazers 2010 - What a Blast!

Without any doubt, this was the much awaited event of the RBUs and many runners. With few earlier lambongs in blogs and FBs not forgetting the Team Clowns declaration of war, plan was laid out for this event starting from the travelling part. The meeting point was Petronas Taman Melati. For the fear of reaching there late, me and Zack made our move from Shah Alam around 4.35am and with a leisure drive reached the meeting point a few minutes after 5 am. Ray arrived shortly after that. Diket and Det were already there waiting for their orders at the counter of McD with a fierce or “mengelamun face” (u can pick and choose either one). One by one the other RBUs arrived, Ijam, Nik, Shuk, Syed and Shanaz, Syah, Jaja and her partner Mas. Done our breakfast and subuh prayers and we convoy up to Awana Genting Highlands like a scene of the “Initial D” touge battle with Shuk aka Takumi Fujiwara leading the pack.



Left - Sahur for puasa sunat or puasa ganti ni? (Pic courtesy of Ijam)

Right - Ready for the Tmn Melati - Awana Touge Battle (Pic courtesy of Diket)

With many RBUs around (Ian and secret tapi dah tak secret partner Yim and Che, who spent the night before at genting), the lambong and cam whoring sessions were continuing almost non-stop and lets just hope that you had not been caught off guard by some of them with camera in the hands.




Teams RBU (pic courtesy of Diket)

The Men Open category was the first to be gun off at 8.30am. My strategy was simple, to pace myself to last the course. Me and my team mate Zack, started with a comfortable pace and tried not to be sucked into the pace of the other runners. By the way, from the word GO, all the other RBU teams disappeared from my radar (sungguh mantop and power dia org semua ni). Not knowing what would be in store for us, I think we just did the correct approach by not trying to outdo our ability in attacking the earlier inclines.

I was not sure whether we were in the back pack or in the middle pack but my main indicator was effort level. Trying to keep pace with the front guys would be futile if it end up you bonk before finishing. When I went through the first HUGE climb, I was somehow relieved with the pace that I had restricted myself into at the earlier stage and managed to tackle it without stopping for long breather. It was a long que anyway and I was never “a podium potential” to ask people to move aside in those tight line of a single track inclining trail unless there was a clear room for overtaking.

It was during the second HUGE climb (after crossing the second stream) that I had drained out almost all of my energy. The slippery and steep track extracted all juice of energy that my body could produce. Along the way I sort of wish that I had brought along my power gel, in the hope of attaining the second wind. Looking from another perspective, I was at least had enough water for rehydration when some people did not even have a proper rehydration opportunity with no water station along the way save at KM11 (which I think was too far and too late). On that score I am not going to whine about not having the luxury of downing a power gel for this race.

After another substantial climb, came the obstacles stage of the race. This was where it tested not only the physical ability of the participants but their guts as well. Hence you could see some people hesitated to jump into and played in the muddy pools. We managed to finish the run at position no 80 of Men Open Category with a hand timed of 2 hr 22 minutes. Not too shabby I guess and most importantly it was fun….as someone has said before “sakit tapi sedappp (bila dah habis lah)” :D

The post race lambongs and cam whoring continued with the additional members of RBU gang specially driven from Klang to Genting, F1 style by our Kak June with Deo, Kak Justiffa and Azza in tow. Zarin @ Tsar was already there with us before the gun off. You guys should be at the startling line for GT 2011 OK :D. We were in full force cheering Jaja and Mas coming back to the base. Well done ladies!


After the Mud Battle (Pic courtesy of Diket)


The grand finale of the action packed day was the Birthday makan-makan party for the October Birthday boys i.e. Diket and Nik and coincidently they were team mates for this GT and finished ranking no.1 among the RBU teams. Congrats! My appreciation as well to those who had contributed the foods and drinks for the party. You guys ROCKS! (macam rambut Ray, rock kapak wa cakap luuuu)

Bagai Pinang dibelah Kapak, tetap manis hehe (pic courtesy of Yim)

It was an awesome race with awesome peeps having simple but awesome party for everybody to end the day with a high note. Now peeps, get back to training with PBIM and Powerman just around the corner ! :D