50km

I was planning for a 25k run this morning but somehow the legs don't feel right from the start. Part of the quad and calf muscles is still aching from yesterday's run.

In the end I managed only 16k with half limping pace. It was a good run nevertheless.

Total mileage this week = 50km

Holiday in Penang

Did I say I was born in Penang?

Both my parent were from Penang. My grandmother owned a coffee shop at Magazine road (they call it Tao Tiaw Lo or road number 1).

Since my grandmother and almost all my relatives are in Penang, I was a frequent visitor until age of 7. But since I started primary school, the trip down to Penang has been very few.

We decided to take this long holiday break to bring the kids to Batu Ferringi beach to enjoy the sand and sea. It was a choice between Terengganu or Penang. Penang is the winner after considering the distance and potential traffic during raya. The judgement on traffic however is quite far off. It took us almost 9 hours to get to the destination.

Penang is a food heaven. I wasn't aware of this until I landed in KL. Everywhere you go, you can see hawker stalls for Penang hokkien mee, Penang laksa, Penang curry mee, Penang Kuay Teow T'ng, Penang rojak, Penang this and Penang that. All the foods that you have taken for granted is so famous out there..

I took the opportunity to try out a few famous eating places during this trip.

First up was a restaurant beside New World Park, famous for Choo Cha. The bean sprout with salted fish is the best I've tasted before.

The next morning we went to the famous Lam Heng restaurant to try out the Or Kuih (Yam Cake), famous sisters char kuey teow and lobak.

The dinner is at a hawker center near Batu Ferringi. I had a Oh Chien, chicken wing and Hokkien mee.

The next morning we went to a restaurant near Pulau Tikus market. The place is jam packed with people and we had to wait 15mins for a table. There I tried the Char Kueh kak, Chee Cheong Fan, Muah Chi, Tang Yuen and Ban Chien Kuih. Yummy... Imagine you have to wait 30mins for a Ban Chien Kuih...

In the afternoon we stop by the famous Siin Se Kai restaurant for lunch. I had the famous Majestic rojak.

The trip to Ghee Hiang was a waste because they have ran out of the famous Tambun biscuit.

We head to Alor Star to my hometown.

Road to Penang Bridge Marathon (Week 7)

Another low mileage week due to many other commitments.

Those who train for marathon will soon discover the training itself is not that tough but finding time to train is the toughest part.

The best time to put in the mileages will be early morning before work and during the weekend. However the plan can easily be derailed if one has to work late. Weekend is always a juggle between family and long run.

I spent a lot of time in the weekends doing my long runs during the KL Marathon training. A typical schedule look like this: wake up at 5am, drives to Bukit Aman or Taman Bukit Jalil to meet up with the gang, run for 2.5 hours or more, chit chat and cool down after the run, drives home. It'll be 10.30am by the time I reached home.

Because of that, I actually prefer to run around my neighbourhood. I can start a 20k run at 6.30am and it can be done before 9am. I can then head home immediately and bring the kids out for breakfast after a quick shower.


Total mileage this week = 6km (2km at Batu Ferringi beach)
Also did a 3 x 17 (floors) stairs run with Will on Thursday and a swim.

It's a very relaxed week.

Road to Penang Bridge Marathon (Week 6)

I finally did my 21k run after 6 weeks into the training.

Woke up at 5.30am this morning to do this week's long run. Unfortunately it rained again. Not too heavy but I decided to wait until the rain ease off. Don't want to risk getting sick around this time of the year.

I waited until the rain stopped at 6.30 and started my LSD for this week at 6.45. I brought along a bottle of Accelerade and hide it somewhere along my running route.

The route is 3km per loop

I did 7 loops around this 3km route this morning. The guards and people who saw me running must be wondering what am I doing running round and round for more than 2 hours:)

For the first 6 loops, I was able to run comfortably with the pace of slightly more than 20 minutes per loop on average. It was already close to 9am when I did my last loop, the heat plus lack of water (I only had one 600ml bottle) really make the last 3km a bit difficult. I managed to finish it 2 mins off the pace with the heavy legs. Nevertheless I'm very happy to have put in the required LSD for this week. Still a lot of 20k or more LSD to go before the race day. Must stay healthy and avoid any injury.

Total mileage this week = 46km. LSD = 21km.

Total mileage todate = 205km

Road to Penang Bridge Marathon (Week 5)

I consider this as a fairly good running week except for the LSD that didn't happen yesterday.

I started some interval training this week to improve on my stamina.

In the first interval training, I did a 2 x 200m and 5 x 400m speed intervals. It was such a challenging run and I was completely out of breath after each repetition.

I did another interval on sunday. This time it was 3 x 600m. Very challenging indeed. On top of that my shin is still hurting 2 days after the run.

Total mileage this week = 36km. No LSD.

Total mileage todate = 159km.