Thursday, August 31, 2006

The Run-up to Putrajaya Marathon

Countdown to D-Day : 10 days to the Putrajaya Full Marathon!

So far my preparation have been good and almost according to my own 11-week training programme. But there were times whereby the training has been disrupted due to illness, leg injury and the unavoidable heavy rain and thick haze.

My training emphasized on conditioning for the 1st 2 weeks, followed by 3 weeks of strength training, 4 weeks of speed work-out and 2 weeks of tapering off. I hope this plan will enable me to cross the finishing line without much suffering.

As much as I wish to do at least one 70km in weekly mileage, I only managed 63km. The highlight of my training was a 3-loop of Double Hill which is approximately 33km, performed last week!

Right now, I am feeling good and hopefully I can maintain my form until the race day. Wish me luck!

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During this tapering off period, I plan to have a few more sessions on acupuncture and some massages. Need to pamper my tired body!

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My thanks to the valuable advice and input by Dr Jamie and Tey ET, I bought a pair of Mizuno Wave 8 recently. It was indeed a good buy as this "bloody expensive legs" of mine have been responding well to the shoe so far (I suspect my legs always work well with all the branded shoes!).

Come on my Mizuno, much will also depend on you whether I am going to make and break on D-Day. Please don't disappoint me!

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On paper, Putrajaya Full Marathon has been quite promising and professional.

I received a letter from the Organiser explaining why the race will only be flagged off at 6.00am. It is indeed a very late start off time considering of the hot and humid weather here. Nevertheless, the Organiser has proactively initiated to provide some fruits at certain distances, ie. banana at 24km, orange at 28km, watermelon at 32km, banana at 36km and honey juice at 40km! Looks like we will be in for a "fruit-athon" too!! Hopefully I don't get carried away by this fruit party that I forget to focus on my race.

A big thumb up for the Organiser! Hopefully the event will run smoothly and take off well so that more will participate in the Full Marathon next year.

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Recently, I had an encounter with snakes on 2 occasions on my run to Hartamas! One is big and dead (perhaps ran over by a vehicle) and the other still alive and crossed my path! The two of us (the small-sized, black and golden coloured snake and yours truly) had a shock of our life! We jumped simultaneously before we parted away. Thank goodness I don't step on it!

So my advice is always on the look out for little things on the ground while you are running.

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Lastly, I would like to end with a "Happy Independence Day"! I love you, Malaysia!