Start Slow Finish Strong

Hmmm .... that was the plan for my Brooks Half Marathon .... Nope, never happen. Hampeh my time was 3:21. Terrible

On race day, Tina and I woke-up at 4am got ready and left the house around 5am. We were a bit late because there was a huge jam entering Bukit Jalil Stadium. Found out later that it was cause by the Parking Attendants collecting the parking fees. Parking space was abundance. Hopefully next time they will think to collect the fees when we are leaving the place, as we will have more time to spare.

Anyway, lucky for us they delay the starting time so we manage to be at the starting line just in time.

The race course was murderous! Hills on every corner huhuhuhu ... The person in charge mapping the course is one crazy bugger.

Conclusion after the race:

1. I need to start using the incline button on the treadmill
2. No panic training; hahahaha on Friday evening I decided on do a 3hrs training; 2hr rpm 1hr run. Slept like a baby that night. Then on Saturday, my leg hurts but it was Saturday so I went out with Tina doing errands and a little bit of window shopping; not resting as I should have.... sigh...
3. If the race venue name starts with Bukit (which means Hill) you should be prepared to encounter some hills in your race course ... hmmmmmmm

Oh well, I did finish the course even though my hopes of getting a better time then 3:05 so obviously did not happened. I should be happy completing my second half is still something  J

Running Error - Kidney World Day Run & Brooks Half Marathon

Everything went wrong in my running world this month !

First, I left my bib for the Kidney World Run last Sunday. The race Marshall was kind enought to let me participate in the race but they say I can't claim the goody bag, certificate or the medal. I was ok with not being able to claim the goody bag but really wanted the medal ... it has a nice design .... sigh ..  What to do atleast they let me run the race.

Second, sadly I will not be able the participate for the Brooks Half Marathon which I am really looking forward too. I wanted to print out the race slip today to collect the race kit and SURPRISE !!! The only email I have concerning the race  said 'Error in Payment'... I was so shock! I never really check the status notification email they send me because it usually says the same thing, 'congratulation your registration is complete yada ... yada ... yada ... please bring along this notification sheet . yada ... yada and yawn'.... but not this time huhuhuhu this time there was an error in my registration process ... the payment did not went through ..

So I call them today just to reconfirm and hope that they are wrong but sadly NO ... My name is not registered for the run....... arghhhhhhh.......

Hopefully this unluckyness in my running world will end soon .....

U RUN + Vertical Climb

This is my first race in Singapore and NO I did not do the vertical climb. 

The race details:

Date:25 February 2012

Time: 8am

Location: Marina @ The Float Singapore

The race was not a fun one. I don't know why but it left me with a taste of disappointment at the end of the day.

The vertical climb category starts in waves, 10 minute apart I think. Starting in waves is so not right to me and in the middle of it they told us that further delay is required as there is a bicycle race going on near our place and is starting so we were ask to wait and let them go first. As a result my category that should have started at 8am end up starting later as well. 

Me and Nurman. Thanks dear

I also have issue starting at 8am. HOT!!! Singapore is hot and it is not helping when you start at 8, maybe next time they should start the race at 7am. 

There is 1 good thing about the race, every 2km there is a water station with no water shortage which sometimes happens in KL... water station with no water duhhh .....

Everything about the race is sooooo structure like there is no spontaneity so somehow the fun is like limited. I can't explain it there is no relax-ness in the race. I feel like a cattle in a cattle ranch being guided by fence and people. 

Oh well maybe the bigger races are better ..... 

 

Running Buddies - 2012 Race Schedule

Today I have decided to publish mine as well as my running buddies race schedules. As you can see the current total is 9 but it will surely grow as we are waiting for a few annual runs such as the Penang Bridge International Marathon, Siemens Run and the Malakoff KL Run ...... well at least I am ......

I will also be adding another 1 or 2 more runs that will be held in Singapore later on in the year.  Actually, I am quite looking forward to run with Angah again this July as Mak, Angah and her family have plan to visit us in Singapore.

This year I will be missing the Borneo International Marathon and Energizer Night Race in Sepang, just can't make the schedule work for me to include these 2 races. Oh well... maybe next year.

The colour code system for this race schedule is simple, just like the traffic light with the additional blue

• No Color = Register to run
• Red = Not Running
• Yellow = Decided to run but have not register
• Green = Completed the run
• Blue = Have not decided to run

Multi Purpose Insurance Run 2012

Yeay I have completed my first run of the year. The races details are as follow:
1. Date : January 8, 2012
2. Location : Padang Merbuk
3. Distance : 12km
4. Running Buddy : I was all by myself (sob .... Sob... Tina had o sit for a test that day and Yana did not manage to register)

Anyway the race started at 7am and my dearest Along drop me at the location around 6.15am. The crowd was not that big. The course was a bit more hilly then expected but it was well planned. 

The runners had little contact with the traffic which was wonderful. I always hate the look drivers in the cars gave when they are stop by Race Marshall to let us pass first. You can just feel them "evil eyeing" you. 

However, there was a bit confusion at the starting line, people line-up at the wrong location, not sure if the women category start first or we are to start together, then all of the sudden Bang!!! and we are off. Yups was a bit weird at the start of the race. 

This was not one of my best run I clock in 1hr 45 min mostly due to me not running regularly for almost 2 months. I was lazy after Penang Bridge Marathon and seem satisfied to end my race year with that event hehehehehe. So it was not because me being busy with Nurman moving to Singapore or ensuring Angah had a good time when she was visiting. It was all about me being lazy.

But I am back! Full marathon here I come :-) 

PS: Did not manage to take any pictures no fun cam-whoring alone ...sob .... sob ...

Running Schedule

So far I have registered for the following races:

• Multi Purpose Insurance Run, 12k - January  8
• URun, 10k -  February 26
• Brooks Half Marathon, 21k - March 11
• Run350, 21k - April 22

Seriously don't know how many races I will participate this year hopefully I run in all the races I have register for. A plus this year, since Nurman moved to Singapore my race venue has extended to that country.

So far I have 1 race per month. I am very excited to collect my race kit tommorrow, feel like ages since my last race.

Wrapping up December 2011

December 2011, how do I wrap-up the last month of the year. The PLAN was to run the Malakoff Run like last year, it was suppose to be my last run for the year and wanted it to be my yearly running closure (or something like that). Alas the plan did not workout, the event clashes with Nurman's family event. Which we had to attend and had to spend the night there (only today I found out in details why we had to be there ... still a sore point)

In a way December was still a lot of fun because:

1) Angah came back for a visit ... have to teman her and ate a lot of things which will make my trainer work harder for her money next year.

2) Accompany Angah to Shang Hai which to my  surprise was a very clean and beatiful city. I would recommend everyone to visit the place and would love to go back and finish my site seeing. The only thing that could be a little difficult is (A) the language unless you speak mandarin communicating is going to be really hard. Be prepare to use lots of sign language, sound effect and some visual aid (B) If you are a muslim the food. This is due to the language barrier because on our last day we did manage to find a Halal restaurant.

3) Visit Singapore twice, on the first visit we finalise a lease on an apartment in Pasir Ris. It is about 45min away from the town but I guess, is not a big deal. On the second visit we went shopping to furnish the house. My Along is coming over this weekend to help me put on the finishing touches, I need a miracle. The house is a rainbow this is all I am going to say.

4) In between visit to Singapore I went to Medan with extended family member had my fill of Nasi Padang over there. I am pretty sure the workers at Ruman Makan Famili can pick us out in a line-up LOL. Shop in Pajak Ikan Lama bought lace and telekung. Since it is my second time there I don't think I will be visiting the place again anytime soon.

5) This is one I what I didn't do. I did not exercise, the last time I ran was for 1hr in Shang Hai and that was it. Since I have a 12k run on Jan 8, 2012 this is not a good thing. Oh well I can always crawl to the finish line.

6) As for my running goal 2011, I manage to run 14 races this year exceeded my 12 races per year resolution and finish my first half marathon within 3:06.

So that is my December 2011. I am currently find tuning my next year running resolution. Not so sure on how to go about it. Should I go for distance or should I go to improve my timing ....