Happy DeepaRaya

Next week will be a long holiday for us Malaysian, thanks to our Hindu and Muslim friends. In anticipating that most of us will be traveling to our hometowns or some places for holiday starting this weekend, we - the Running Couple, would like to wish you a Happy Deepavali and Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri for those who are celebrating it! To those who are driving, drive carefully and patiently!

This year the Running Couple will be joining another 6 strong runners from Pacesetters to explore and treasure the running atmosphere and experience in Taroko, Taiwan. Our run is scheduled on the 5th Nov.

Stay tuned for our report and photos when we come back.

Meanwhile, happy holiday to all of us!

Speed Workout

Arrived at Kpg Pandan track at 6pm and the weather was pretty hot. Only a handful of runners were training due to the fasting month by our muslim friends.

I jogged around the football field for about 2km followed by a light stretching. I felt good as the pain at my tendon has subsided.

Today we welcomed a new friend from Ghana joining our group. His name is Richard. This young gentleman can really run. His target is to dip below 33 minutes in 10km. I'm sure he will achieve it with ease!

Slowly the group turned bigger and the weather turned out colder as the result of the shading of some dark cloud.

As usual Coach Chan asked us to run one easy round of 400m and another round of 50m slow and 50m fast for warm up.

We were required to run 3km for 2 sets. Coach gave me a target time of 13 minutes. I did 12:42 and 12:44 respectively, well below the target. The second set was tough! Before the start, I thought I wouldn't be able to sustain the time I set in the first set as I was running out of energy. I somehow managed to stay focus and maintain it throughout. What a good mental training!

After a short break, we ran 400m for 4 sets at 2:10 interval. My timing was 1:40, 1:36, 1:33 and 1:20 respectively. I always like to run 400m as I can use and train my muscle strength.

We finished the day with an easy 1,200m warm down.

La Hermandad de los Centuriones

De izquierda a derecha, Annie VanderMeer (British Centurion, Continental Centurion y Malaysian Centurion), Adri Leermakers (BC, CC y MC), Irina Zaigrajskaia (MC), Alex Vandenhoeck (MC), Zdenek Simon (MC) y Bernardo José Mora (CC y MC).

It's a pleasant surprise to know that I have a visitor as far as Spain to my blog recently. The feeling was warm even it was a short and simple "Hello. Best wishes from Spain". It came from our 24-hour Walk 1st Runner-Up, Bernardo Jose Mora.

Bernardo and Alex (the 2nd Runner-Up in Genting) were superb walkers. They extended their stay after the gruelling 24-hour walk and took part in the MMBW a week later. Bernardo and Alex again won some prizes in the 20km and 10km category respectively.

Even though I don't speak a single word of Spanish, I understand Bernardo is a serious and active ultra marathon walkers. You will understand what I mean if you visit his blog.

Selamat datang ke Malaysia and of course my blog!

3rd Malaysia International 24 Hours Walk on NTV7

If you've missed the "live action" of us in the 3rd Malaysia International 24 Hours Walk, miss no more.

Stay tuned in front of your TV set this Saturday, 1 October 2005, at 6.00pm as NTV7 will be viewing how we suffered during the walk. Don't wink your eyes for it's just a short 30 minutes programme.

Happy watching!

MMBW2005

Walking past the pain and agony

Reported by The Star, 26 September 2005
By NG WEI LOON

It was a different roller-coaster ride for 300 walkers, including 60 foreigners from 20 countries, who took part in the Malaysia International 24-Hour Walk at the Genting Highlands Outdoor Theme Park.

Instead of enjoying a short burst of adrenalin rush on a roller-coaster at the theme park, they had to endure the pain and agony of having to walk around the 876m circuit for 24 hours at an altitude of more than 1,800m (6,000 feet).

Several participants were seen staggering during the final stages of the race. After the race, several of them could hardly sit down due to exhaustion and fatigue.

Zagryazhskaya Irina from Russia, who won the women's Open in 2001, set a record winning distance of 176.88km on this occasion.

Irina finished four laps ahead of runner-up M.S. Vander Meer from Holland who did 173.38km. Tarasevich Marina from Belarus was third (163.74km).

“I like walking in Genting as it has a scenic landscape,” said the 33-year-old Russian, who competes in three to four 24-hour walks a year.

The foreign walkers who turned up came from as far as Mauritius, Germany, Denmark, Czechoslovakia, Spain, Belarus, Riussia, Belgium, Ghana, Oman, Singapore, France, Hong Kong, Australia, Holland, Denmark, Sri Lanka, Japan, United States, United Kingdom and Nigeria.

In the men's Open, Czechoslovakian Simon Zdenek emerged champion when he walked 218 laps, two laps ahead of defending champion Jose Mora Bernardo from Spain.

Zdenek covered a distance of 190.9km to improve on his third place finish in 2001. Runner-up Bernando did 189.15km. Belgium's Alexander Vandenhoeck (185.64km) was third.

“My strategy was to stay with the leading pack. After I was penalised, I stepped up the pace as I had to work harder to compensate for the penalty. It was a pleasant experience racing on a flat course here,” said Zdenek.

The event offered RM45,000 in prize money to the top 20 winners in the individual categories and the top three teams.

In the individual categories, the champions walked away with RM6,000 while the runner-up and third placed winners received RM4,000 and RM2,500 respectively.

Armed Forces' Mohd Hanizam Harun and Yap Wai Mun were Malaysia's best performers in the men's and women's sections respectively. Hanizam finished in eighth place (167.25km) while Yap finished sixth (133.96km).

“I took part in a 12-hour walk in Penang earlier this year. I wanted to break into the top 10. I am glad that I managed to achieve my target in Genting,” said Hanizam, 28.

A total of 11 teams took part in the team event. Debutants Singapore Amateur Athletic Association (SAAA), comprising S. Thiagaraja, R. Subramaniam, Chong Fui Fong and Low May Ling, led from start to finish in their 204.92km effort.

Race Walkers Association of Malaysia (RWAM) completed 198.78km and finished second. Sahn Hahng Tai Bo A from Hong Kong were third (189.15km).

The event was organised by the RWAM and supported by the Youth and Sports Ministry and the Federal Territory Amateur Athletic Association.

Youth and Sports Minister Datuk Azalina Othman, who gave away the prizes to the winners, praised the participants for their months of dedicated preparation for this gruelling race.

Olympic Council of Malaysia secretary- general Datuk Sieh Kok Chi and organising chairman Datuk Peter Chin were also present at the prize presentation ceremony.



RESULTS
Men's Open: 1. Simon Zdenek (Cze) 218 laps (190.9km), 2. Jose Mora Bernardo (Esp) 216 laps (189.15km), 3. Alexander Vandenhoeck (Bel) 212 laps (185.64km)

Women's Open: 1. Zagryazhskaya Irina (Rus) 202 laps (176.88km), 2. M.S. Vander Meer (Ned) 198 laps (173.38km), 3. Tarasevich Marina (Blr) 187 laps (163.74km)

Team: 1. Singapore Amateur Athletic Association (Spore) 234 laps (204.92km), 2. Race Walkers Association of Malaysia (Mas) 227 laps (198.78km), 3. Sahn Hahng Tai Bo A (HK) 216 laps (189.15km)

My 3rd Experience in the Genting 24-Hour Walk

What a relief! The Walk has finally over and we are back to our normal life. Some were happy and some were disappointed with their results. To me, the fact that we were at the starting line of the 24-hour walk was indeed commendable! We are brave to do what normal people think is impossible. At this point, we are already the WINNERS!

Let me share with you, participants and non-participants, my experience during the race.

Preparation
Having participated twice before, I knew it would be tough and needed a lot of preparation. I managed to clock a total of 700 minutes (11H 40M) of walking since I started in 13th July. Low mileage but better than nothing!

Arrival

Upon arrival, we were welcome by the thick mist, strong wind and a light drizzle at the peak of Genting Highland. Not a very good sign!

We saw some participants setting up their camping tents near their cars. What a brilliant idea! However, later at night, I noticed that nobody actually slept in it. Who would sleep anyway in the cold and wet outdoor?

We quickly reported ourselves, prepared the BIB and tied the timing chip to our shoes.

The Start
While waiting for the start, as usual, we chit-chatted and took photos with fellow friends, competitors and the mascots. Everyone seemed to be very relaxed. After a short technical briefing, we were gunned off at 12.00noon on the 18th Sep. Unlike the running events, we were in no hurry to push ourselves to our limits. Slow and steady is the key!

The Journey
Needless to say, I was overtaken by the international-standard walkers and the relay teams. So envy and wonder if they were made of steel? Are they Ultraman, Superman or robots?


As time went by, everything seemed to become our challenges. First was the boredom. There were some walkers who sang along with their walkman or MP3. Suddenly, you could find “Anita Mui” or “Sammy Cheng” taking part in the Walk. There was one lady who has probably “lost” her way to her church. She sang hymns from the Bible. As for me, I would accompany my wife whenever I could to chat, sing and even dance with her! Ha! Ha! Ha!

We had plenty of food and drink to replenish ourselves. Kudos to the organizer! No wonder I didn’t lose any weight even after so many hours of walking.

Official results were efficiently announced and displayed every 3 hours except the last 3 hours where it became every hourly. What a major improvement from the previous years! So every 3 hours, we participants would be excitedly gathering at the big white board to see the latest update of our ranking and the number of laps we had covered. It reminded me to those people who looking up at the numbers in a 1+3D outlet!

After some time, the chilly weather and the strong wind made me felt like crying. Oh dear! I missed the hot temperature in Kuala Lumpur already!

To make the matter worse, the terrain was undulating and uneven. There was one steep down slope which I think had “killed” many walkers.



Gradually, I felt my left shoulder and both legs were not co-operative anymore. My inner thighs, heels, toes, knees and the back of the knees one-by-one failed me. Pain! Pain! Pain! To add to my misery, I had a big blister on my left heel.

Thanks but no thanks to our St John Ambulance. When I pleaded for a massage and a pin to poke the water out of the blister, what they could offer was only a bag of ice cube and some plasters. And I had to DIY myself!

At 4.21am, the mist was so heavy that I bumped into a rubbish bin which I think was intentionally put in the middle of our path so that we stayed awake all the time! The wake-up call obviously told me that I was too tired and painful to continue my journey. I sadly called for a long break and ended prematurely.

The Finishing
I woke up at 5.30am inside my car. I realized then the rain became heavier. My heartfelt salute those who were still walking under such challenging condition. And, I thought I had made a wise decision to stop early.

After freshening up, I stayed on to cheer the walkers. At 12.00noon, 19th Sep, the gun went off again signaling the end of the 3rd edition of the 24-hour Walk.

I was glad that I managed to cover 89 laps or 77.9km in position 52 and my wife 153 laps or 133.96km in 6th position.

We would like to congratulate the following persons for their outstanding result and good spirit:
Men:- Keshab – 144 laps/ Alan Tiang – 133/ PK Chan – 130/ Tey Eng Tiong – 127/ Law Lai Huat – 120/ Tan Khee Meng – 94/ Siah Leong Hooi – 79/ Bruce Wun – 64

Women:- Wong Ha Mooi – 127 laps/ Lim Peck Yah – 123

Team:- Pace Walker (Francis, Melvin, Sook Ying, Huat’s sister) – 4th placing
Pace Setter Gasing (SK Goh, Ken Kan, Teresa & Carol) – 7th placing

and all the other walkers and friends.

Sayonara! See you in 2007.

Click here for Tey's report on the event.

3rd Malaysia International 24 Hour Walk - Photos & Results

1) Photos courtesy of Tey. Click here.

2) Photos from us. Click here.

3) Full Results
- Men Open
- Women Open
- Overall (Men & Women)
- Team Relay

More write-up coming soon! Stay tuned.

Putrajaya Half Marathon 2005

"Take on the challenge! Capture the splendour!". This is the tagline for the competition and it couldn't be more true having experienced it myself!

The moment my wife and I arrived at the exit to Putrajaya from Seri Kembangan direction, our nightmare started. There were signboards to other Precincts but not one to the Precinct One where the starting point was! Poor my wife for having to listen to my grumbling for a good 20 minutes.




First 5km
It was flat for the first 3km. So it was quite easy for most runners. I felt my pacing was too fast. "Control, control, control", I kept reminding myself. After our first U-turn, I struggled a little. My time was 21:56".

Second 5km
Saw Kenny Tan coming out from his "pit lane" and continued chasing Adam Loh. After conquering the second bridge (hill), I turned on my "auto-cruise". I did 25:22" in this half. My 10km time was 47:18"



Third 5km
So surprised to see power gels being given out to the runners. Good gesture but no thanks, I ain't hungry. My stomach was full of isotonic drink! At this moment, I wished that we had some cheering teams by the roadside cheering us on to beat our boredom and tireness. My time was 24:54".

Last 5km
I will never forget this hilly section of last 4km and last 3km to go. Felt so terrible. It's like "people hit the wall, I hit the hill" kind of feeling! The hot and humid weather added to my agony! I clocked a poor 25:48".

Final 1km
My longest 1km ever in 5:34"! By now I was a total spent force... even a snail will beat me! And the many turnings didn't help at all. With 100 metres to go, I could hear some cheering from Cecil, Richard Ng and some friends. The motivation has certainly helped and I pushed all the way to the finishing line in 1:43:35!

Conclusion
I achieved my target of below 1:45. I will do more hill training to prepare for next year's race. The hill-after-hill course has overwhelmed me even being warned of it earlier.

My rating of the race (of max 6*): ****

P/S Pictures courtesy of Penguin 1

Happy Independence Day!

Wow! My pulse rate was 44 this afternoon. The reading really surprised me as I'm still building up my fitness level. It came much earlier than expected. I think my rate would be around 50+ when I was preparing for the KLIM in Feb. Hope I'm able to maintain it, if not better it, for the two major races in Sep.

Today's track work-out was good. I didn't push too much as I'm still concern with my injury and also I do not want to peak too soon.

We did 7x800m and 4x400m.

My timing was as the following:
800m - 3:38 / 3:33 / 3:31 / 3:28 / 3:31 / 3:27 / 3:27
400m - 1:36 / 1:33 / 1:31 / 1:24

Looking forward to tomorrow's long run.

Positive Gi

Oh, yes! My weekly mileage has increased to 53km last week. It included both the running and walking distance. I could feel my endurance level improving each day. Now, I look forward to the Putrajaya Half Marathon (11 Sep) and Genting 24-hour Walk (18 Sep) with more confident.

Gone were the good August. Welcome a better September. Selamat Hari Merdeka, folk! See you on 31 Aug morning at the Lake Garden.

The World's First Intelligent Shoe!

You are looking at a pair of state of the art running shoes. The first of it's kind! It took 4 years to develop these amazing shoes.

The shoe automatically adjusts to the weight of your body and the type of surface you are on. It adjusts the comfort level 1000 times a second, digitally, according to your personal settings. This is an amazing new revolution in footwear, it has a micro computer in the sole and heel of the shoe that adjusts the support and comfort level to your exact specification. It is the most comfortable shoe, it's like nothing you'll ever find.

It costs USD299.95. Not sure if it is being sold now in Malaysia and how much?

P/S this article is served as an informational purpose only.

Next Race - Putrajaya Half Marathon

I've just signed up for the Putrajaya Half Marathon which will be held on 11 Sep. It's going to be my first competition after the 15k NB/PACM in May due to my injury. My target is to complete the whole race within 2 hours. The race will serve as a warm-up prior to the Genting 24-hour Walk which will be held a week later.

I did a Body Composition Analysis today. I'm shocked to know that I have excessive fat as my body fat mass reading is 14.2 while the normal range is 6.3 - 12.7! My upper and lower body strength are found to be weak. That can't be right?! Whatever it is, I think it's time to exercise and more exercise again!

A Fruitful Week

This whole week was great - no thick haze with API reading below 50. Thank you, God!

So, what are we waiting for? Make full use of the opportunity to exercise outdoor-lah! As a result, my mileage has increased to around 45km this week. Not too bad considering that I'm still recovering from my injury.

Well, talking about my achilles tendon injury. I think it's not that serious now - it hurts in the first 15 minutes of running and of course the rest of the day after the run until the next morning. Not bad huh? I'm still able to exercise. Again, thank YOU the almighty!

This morning, a group of us - 6 gentlemen ran alongside with our pacesetter - princess Lisa to Hartamas and back. Our princess's pace was consistent and just nice throughout. What a good leader! To beat the boredom, we swapped leaders occasionally. We came back together in 1:42.

Thank you, Wah, Adam, Onn, Onn's friend, Botak Tan and of course princess Lisa!

Feeling Good

My main goal for today's speed work-out is to gradually improve my fitness level as well as my confidence level.

My achilles tendon still hurt after each run/walk. That's why I've been holding back my speed and mileage in all my trainings. I've doubts if I could ever run at a faster pace in a longer run.

As it turned out, I achieved my goal of the day. Very satisfied indeed as I dipped below my target time of 4:30 for 1km and 1:36 for 400m!

1km x 4 -- 4:22/4:19/4:18/4:06
400m x 4 -- 1:25/1:27/1:24/1:15

Look like the haze on top of my head has gone away!

By the way, I think Kenneth is the most-improved runner among the PM gang as today he has been consistently clocking below 4:20. I recalled a month or two ago he was still struggling behind Jessica at 5:00 pace. Good for him!

MM Big Walk?

No MM Big Walk this Sunday. See picture also "syiok"!

Frogman Surfaces

Today, an article in The Sun caught my attention - "Frogman Surfaces".

It was reported that Mr Erik Fearn who was jogging in the haze with a scuba tank strapped to his back, to fulfill his need to exercise daily!

Bravo to this gwailo for coming up with such a brilliant idea! I think I need one tank badly because I have not been exercising for the last one week! No gym, no treadmill, NONE!

The next time you see a living frog on the street, it could be ME!

I will swim in Kpg Pandan track next time.

What A Reward!

I ran at Taman Tasik Permaisuri today for one hour - the longest run in 2 weeks! No wonder after just 15 minutes, my heart beat so hard and I felt like "pancit" already! Luckily, my mental strength is still there to assist me to finish the whole journey. OMG! My fitness level has obviously dropped quite drastically. It's time to catch up with my homework...

My brand new Nike Pegasus was excellent! Despite the second trial, it has passed with flying colour! I felt like we're combining well now.



After the run, I received our long-over-due Certificate of Participation for the NB Pacesetters 15km Run from Phoon. However, the wait was worthwhile because it is VERY nice! So nice that Wai Mun & I kept admiring our certificates and the well-taken photos for the whole night. We planned to frame them up. I'm very sure these are the best certificates we've ever received. Usually, I don't bother to keep the "fill-in-the-blank by yourself" certificates issued by our local races!

Thank you to Pacesetters for making their best efforts to present us such a memorable and high quality token for our participation. Well done, keep it up!

Click here for full result.

New Shoes

Today, I put on my brand new running shoes, a blue Nike Pegasus. It is my second pair of the year. I bought it after recommended by Dr Jamie It has good cushioning and arch support. Its price is also reasonable unlike other models.

My fear on buying a new pair of shoe is the unknown if it is too heavy (over times) for my heel due to my achilles tendon injury. At first, I had this sharp pain at my tendon after just 1-2 minutes into running. However, after half an hour, the pain gradually gone.

Need to assess and get use to it. Hopefully, I need not buy another pair too soon!