PBIM - the long journey

Running a full marathon definitely isn't in my new year resolution. I've surprised myself to have done it - twice.

I started going outdoor in late 2006 with a broken bike (it cost me RM149 from Tesco).

A couple of months later I stopped riding after a bad accident with my elder son.

Then I started to walk. I tried to run at the beginning but couldn't last for more than 5 minutes.

I continue this throughout 2007 and the target was to complete a 1000km journey. I did it with a daily routine of 4km a day. The routine started at 6am but sometime it's too late when the kids wake up so I changed it to 530 and at the end 5am.

2008 is the year I started to run more.

After the 1000km, I realised I have a better stamina and can run continuously for 4 to 5km. So I started to look around for a road race to participate. I was searching for something 5 or 6km but the nearest I could find is the Mizuno 10km run.

It's now a history but Mizuno 10k is the starting point of a more serious running engagement, leading to 2 marathon finishes this year.

I trained for the run, but unfortunately injured my big toe a day before the run in a company futsal game.

Despite the injury I still showed up and took that important first step with my buddies - Will, CP, Janice and James and it was hell limping all the way to the finish line.

That was the toughest run for me so far. In my mind it topped the final stretch along Jelutong Expressway last Sunday.

Nothing is ever the same again after that.

I participated in 2 more run - IOI 7km and Malakoff 12km that year.

A big breakthrough happened in Jan this year on a rainy Saturday morning. I did my first 20km run with CP, Ken Wei, Andre and Jon. It was the notorious 2 x reverse double hill route.

The next race I participated in was the Great Eastern 20k. I did my first sub 2 hours finish. I was feeling good even towards the end.

I can't remember how it all started but the thought of running full marathon started around that time. CP used to say - "Marathon is the furthest I would go". I must ask him again after his sub 4 finish last Sunday:)

After that 3 of us (CP, KW) started to train on longer distances. 21km, 25km, 28km and finally a 30km run. That's when I decided to commit myself to a marathon.

I registered online for PBIM on the first day, the 4th person to register for the full marathon and given the bib number of A00004.

Then came the news about SCKLM. At first we were not sure whether there is enough time to train for it. But after a lot of thought, all of us, including a surprised candidate Ravin, signed up for the race.

The rest of the stories on SCKLM can be found in this blog.

I continued to train after SCKLM and participated in a few more races. However my timing seems to have hit the plateau and can't improve further. On top of that I was constantly hit with knee problem and had to take it easy.

Despite all the difficulties, I'm glad to still manage to get in shape for PBIM and set a new PB.

In a positive way, I leave a lot of room for improvement and this will keep me motivated to continue my marathon journey.

Until the next race... PBIM race report coming up next...

PBIM - The result is out

That was fast. The organiser released the official result almost immediately after the race.

Here are some interesting facts:

1.654 participated in full marathon category. Only 66 women.
2. 520 from host country Malaysia. Singapore is the next largest with 46 followed by Kenya (14), Japan (13), Thailand (12) and USA (8).
3. Men Veteran outscored Men Open by 295 to 293.

4. 87 runners managed to get a sub-4 finish. Highest number of runners finished between 5:00 to 5:30.

5. My official result is 5:08:37. Position 157/293 in Men Open. 316/588 in All Men. 358/654 in All categories.
6. In term of Malaysia only. I'm 265/520 overall. 117/239 in Men Open. 246/484 in All Men.

Quick update from Penang Bridge Marathon 2009

Another mission accomplished.

Finished my 2nd marathon this morning with the time of 5 hours 08 minutes. A big improvement from the first one (5 hours 42 minutes).

The only regret is I didn't manage to get below 5 hours. Argh... it was so close.

Anyway it's a good lesson learnt for me. I pushed too hard too early in the run and as the consequence suffered badly from 30km onwards.

Next time I must know my realistic pace and pace it from the beginning. Call this pacing strategy:)

I started with a fast 5.5mins pace in the first 10k and slightly over 6mins until 20k. This sort of pace killed all energy storage in the muscles after 30k because I wasn't trained for it.

Anyway despite my underachievement, I was very happy to find out CP managed to do a sub 4 hours run. His finishing time is 3 hours 57 mins. What a blistering pace. The pace I can only dream of.

A BIG congratulation to him.

This sub-4 finish will make him one of the marathon elite in the running community. He even finished ahead of notable runners like Kenny Tan, Eugene, Frank etc.

New Lane

Due to late booking, all the places near Bayan Lepas have been fully booked.

So I end up staying in the Sunway Hotel beside New Lane road.

My friend from Penang told me this street is famous for its pork porridge and port intestine noodle (correct translation for 猪肠粉?).

I will try them tomorrow after my run.

Another thing, I just realised this place is very near to the Magazine road. No wonder the buildings look quite familiar when I was searching for the hotel.

I used to come here very often before schooling and when grandmother is still staying around here.

Final kilometres

After 16 weeks, 577km and various cross training, the hardest part of the journey is finally over:)

The last 42.2km shouldn't be that difficult and it should be over in less than 5 hours (I hope:).

I'll be heading to Penang after lunch today. Still need to settle the kids' kumon class, parent teacher day and the most important part, need to bring them for breakfast.

Hopefully there is time to take some rest before heading to Queenbay Mall tonight.

Wish me luck..

Final Checklist

I will be heading to Penang around noon tomorrow.

Here is the final checklist:

1. Running shoes (including a pair of spare shoes) with shocks

2. Bib and timing chip

3. Water belt and bottle

4. Accelerade powder

5. Power Gel x 2

6. Powerbar

7. Knee guard

8. Head band and a cap

9. Ipod nano

10. Watch

11. Phone charger

12. Spare clothes

13. Small plastic bag to protect the phone if it rains

14. Armband for the phone

Did I miss anything important?

Last push for PBIM

Last week's training went well according to the plan.

I managed to do my last long run (21km) on sunday and followed it up with a few 10k runs.

Total mileage logged is 70km. Highest mileage in a week so far.

I hope that will be enough to last me for the full distance. Let see whether this unconventional training method works or not.

Next week will be tapering and carbo loading week.

My plan is to continue with 5 to 6km easy run everyday until friday. Saturday will be rest day plus travelling to Penang.
I haven't book my accommodation in Penang yet. Anyone with spare room or bed to offer please let me know:)

PBIM race pack has arrived

The PBIM race pack reached me 2 days ago.

Nothing much inside.

1 running vest which look a bit too small and uncomfortable for me.

1 yellow backpack with DiGi's logo on it which I don't think I will carry. It's against my green nature:)

1 race guide with some speeches from Lim Guan Eng, DiGi's CEO etc. The running route in the guide is quite vague to me but perhaps I'm not living in Penang so can't really appreciate all the landmarks.

The rest are bits and pieces of sponsors' samples.

My race bib is A00004. The 4th person to register for the full marathon event at my age group. It would have been nice if I waited for 3 more persons to register ahead of me:)

Peak Mileage

Less than 12 days to Penang Bridge Marathon.. and I've yet to put in that "must do" 30k run to survive the full distance.

In fact my longest distance in a single run todate is 21.3k run which I did on Sunday.

Time to panic? No. I'm actually experimenting (or should I say gamble) with a training program that totalled up to 60k per week but with shorter daily run.

If this work, I will use it again in my future marathon trainings. It allows me to have better consistency in term of commitment. You don't feel like giving up before that 30k run or demoralised due to a bad run.

I started this method after I injured my right knee. Works well so far and my weekly mileage has exceeded 60k last week.

Will do another 60k this week before I taper off next week.

Yasso 800

This technique is discovered by Bart Yasso, the Chief Running Officer of Runner's World magazine.

It will help you to predict your marathon time with some adjustment depending on your running experience, type of course and weather condition.

Here is how it works, if you can run Yasso 800 (10 x 800 meters interval run with equal amount of jog in between) in 4:00 (min:sec) per interval then your marathon time will be 4:00 (hour:min).

So for those who are aiming to go for sub-4, you should test out at 3:50 per 800m with similar amount of jog time in between.

Bart Yasso said you need to make 10 to 15 mins adjustment for newbies. His definition of newbies is those who has run less than 10 marathons:)

One more thing, it is advisable to do this 2 weeks before the actual marathon date.

Not there yet

The knee is getting better after 2 weeks. My guess is it will take another week for it to be fully recovered.

Meantime I'm continuing my daily training with short runs. Slightly longer, upto 12k, during the weekend and keeping the pace slow and easy.

So far I have managed to build up a mileage of 55km last week.

Will continue with the same strategy next week and hopefully will recover in time for a 30km long run on saturday or sunday.