Singapore Sundown 2012

Singapore "Sun-downpour" thanks Chun How Lee for that!

OK, so there have been quite a few races in my running history, and out of all of them this is the race that scared me to death...I was truly concerned that I would DNF, as it was I was satisfied with a time far below my normal timing. So here goes. Arrived in Singapore on Saturday, mid morning for a midnight race, it was actually 12:30 but who's counting. I Love Singapore, I really do. its modern and clean, and everything you need is easy to find. I needed to pick up some hammer nutrition stuff and I wanted to see the "lay of the land for Brooks shoes." I also had to pick up my race kit, so i grabbed the MRT to the location given for the race kit pickup, only to find that it had been moved. Ok, that's the other thing, the MRT is on par with NY, Boston and Philly for convenience and route prevalence, its just 1 million times cleaner and safer. Anyway, so I went back to the hotel and walked down to the race venue, picked up my kit, extremely nice folks working the tent, helpful and friendly. Then I decided to head back to the hotel which was literally a stones throw from the race site. I had heard about a mall called velocity, that was supposed to be all sports stores and may have carried Brooks shoes...they did, but not in prevalence. It was a good distraction before a good meal and a good nap. My good friend Thuan, who has become a regular weekend training partner; along with the I-run folks, had sms'd me that we would meet at the site around 8:45, and we picked a spot...stupid me though I chose to leave my phone in the hotel room, and we could not connect until around 10:00, when the 10k was going off...I got to connect with him for a bit, before i lost him and his friends again. It was almost time for our race to begin so I decided to walk over to the meeting area for the 2:30 finish time...yes that's right folks 2:30...I was not going to push it and race time temps were already in the high 80's with 80% humidity...I found the people waiting, to be very friendly, and dressed in my Brooks ID gear (figured it was a night race and neon yellow was a good choice) I think they thought me out of place in their corral...I had to explain my predicament, which i am tired of doing to be honest. We headed for the start line and off we went...with the mob of people it took almost 10 min to reach the actual start line. I had the pleasure of running with a few of the folks I had met before the start, which was nice, as the group dwindled though it was just myself and another person. We stuck it out for most of the race until my hip really started to cramp, around mile 10.5...So i waved her on as we were making sub 2:30 time. I had to walk quite a bit of that last 3 miles or so, until the skies literally opened up, and with the pouring rain and thunder and lightning i decided to run out the last 3/4 mile, pain or no pain...ended up finishing in 2:36 by the race clock and 2:28, by my garmin...so either way I was well within the time I wanted to stick with...and it would have been better if not for the huge amount of walking i had to do in the last 3 miles. So I finished, i met some fantastic people who are now part of not only this blog but a big piece of my return to running. i was sorry not to have at least started the race with my friend Thuan, but was happy to know that he did well. This was a great event and I hope to return to Singapore, hungry and in better shape, when the "North Face 100k" cranks up in October. Thank you Singapore...I Ran Happy!

Weekly summary...bit late

So I will talk about the two weeks since my last post...May 7, Monday...an easy 5 miles, done at an 8 min per mile pace...I want to say that it was cool and a really nice day to run, hence the better than normal time...now I have to say that this run gave me a huge jolt of energy. Tuesday, it rained almost the whole day, so I used it as a day off and to do some core work. moved the speed work to Wednesday and that is where things got bad, it was supposed to be another 10 mile total, with the fist and last 2 miles being cool down and warm up, and the middle 6 consisting of 5x 1000 meters, with a 400 meter cool down in between each....well i made it through the first set, and started to cramp halfway through the second...the skies began to threaten so i called it a day...now the disappointment and second guessing starts...should I have stopped or just sucked it up, challenged the pain and finished it...can i really do this and is a 1/2 marathon in 3 weeks just asking for trouble? So I took Thursday which should have been a tempo day, off. Ran 5 miles Friday, 6 miles Saturday with my good friend Thuan there to push me (it helped). Both days that was the required distance, when it came time for the long 10 miles on Sunday, I was burnt and made a slow 6 miles. So my pace is not getting better it is getting worse, I am more tired on the runs i am doing and stopping to walk more than ever. So I shot off a quick email to my coach Luke Humphries and to some other experts i know of. I went back to it on Monday 14/05...with what was supposed to be an easy 7 miles shortened to an easy 5. I was again finding myself needing the ice packs and compression, so i bagged the speed work all together on Tuesday and took my usual day off on Wednesday and then back to it yesterday (Thursday) with what should have been an easy 6...I broke it into two parts though, getting a top up on water before finishing the last 1.5 miles. Adding to my frustration, I forgot to turn back on my watch during a traffic stop and ran a mile or so with no data to show for it...I am beginning to lose my motivation. Got an Answer from Luke who offered some good suggestions, slowing down the easy runs, using the speed work as a regular run day to build volume and strength and look to the race in Australia in July as a fun race more than a PR opportunity. As for the Sundown race in Singapore next weekend and SCKL in June, he suggested using both as training runs and not look to kill time on either...so It looks like any shot i have to be the runner I once was here in Penang and actually run a race like I am capable of, or rather, was capable of will have to wait until November and Penang Bridge. So No PR or PB in site only HTF's (happy to finish) which is going to be a character building experience for me. I will now begin my taper before next weeks Singapore race and pray that I can finish it, and at least maintain some level of respect and dignity. Loyal reader RuN HaPpY!!!   

Another week of training in the books.

OK, so I have to say that in the last two weeks i have done more weekly miles than i have ever done as a runner, even before my accident, This past week it was 29 miles total for the week and the week before that it was 30. In summary my week began with an easy 4 miles. Tuesday, speed work that should have covered 10 miles, but the monsoon chased me inside at 5 miles, Wednesday off, Thursday Tempo run covering 7 miles, which I could not get in, mostly due to being way too sore, but the weather did not help either, 4 miles Friday, 6 miles Saturday and 10 miles Sunday, which was more like 9.5, as I was again trapped by mother nature. I mean it rains nasty in Florida, but Penang rain storms are different somehow, there is almost no warning. Anyway so there you have it. This week has begun with a bang, a 5 miler to begin the week and let me tell you today was beautiful, it was actually cool (I mean temperature wise) and because of the temp, I was actually a bit quicker than normal. Tomorrow is the big test though, another speed day and now my speed work covers a 1 mile distance...not looking forward to it! I will talk more about this weeks training next week, i also have a new bitch and moan, drivers who have zero respect for anyone but themselves, my current count for "almost being a hood ornament for a proton" is now at 5, with today's close call the closest yet, which brought me to confront said young and stupid drivers with a hearty "Thanks for almost hitting me, Motherfucker!" not that it made any difference at all, but it made me feel good! Well loyal reader, till next time, Run Happy (unless you are almost hit and killed by a proton, then scream at the driver, who could care less and then Run Happy)

Larian Perpaduan 29/04/2012

That is one damn GOOD LOOKIN' group!!

Another Sunday and another race...there is no better way to spend a Sunday morning in my opinion. This was a tough week as this was the first week in my Hansons training that included both speed work and a tempo run, as well as a significant mileage increase. The week ends with 30 miles in the books...I did short some of the training runs, mostly due to soreness in my hip flexors, but still a decent amount of mileage. Anyway, back to the race, This was another smaller race held at one of the local schools, Westlands. nice venue, good race course, well run event. the only problem, if you can even call it that, is that the race was sold as a 6.5KM race, I had it clocked at 7.1KM. .6KM is not a big deal....My intention was to try and stay at around 8.00/mile and I timed out at 8:04...the heat was a problem today as the race did not go off till almost 8:00am and that is not good...it had also rained overnight so it was a bit steamy. I always have to remember that my pace will suffer due to the heat index here, the local runners are more used to it than i am, but it effects everyone the same. The I-run folks again figured into the top runner spots, with quite a few of the men and women ending up in the top 30, including Choo Gim Chuan,

L-R: Me, Mei Ling (warrior pose)Choo Gim Chuan, Jerry Koo?,??

The group!

w/ Ding Ding Heng

w/ Mei Ling

Ding Ding Heng, Jorene Lim, and Hoay Jen...
if there are others, I am sorry I missed you. As for the trophy and medal winners in their respective divisions. Woman Open 6th Place: Lay Hooi Ch'ng, 2nd place:Lay Khim Ch'ng. Men Open 6th Place:Wong Jin Ji. Men Veteran Champion: Goo Neoh and Woman Veteran 3rd Place: Chung Mei Ling. Oh the other thing about this race, that was somewhat problematic...I hate to complain but there was no JR veteran division...not that I would have placed any higher if there was...I did not run for placing, more to achieve a time goal...its just nice to see how you do against your peers. for me its a push to get better and train smarter. This race was a good measurement for my progress as it was the same distance as the Malakoff run on March 25th...so figure in a months time I was able to cut 30 seconds off my overall time and move an 8:17 pace down to an 8:04 pace...and the Malakoff run was a bit shorter...only 1/10th of a mile. I also has some pretty fast pacers for Malakoff. All things considered its an improvement...I cant wait to run a race at a significant distance at my old 7:20/mile pace...and the way things are progressing now, that should be around the time of the 1/2 marathon in Australia (July 2012). Another great thing about these Sunday races, is the food afterwards...As I accompany the group, its always something local, usually a place I have never been, and the food and company is always outstanding. today was no different as I had the pleasure of going to one of the best Char Koay places in Penang!

Great food, great company!

Another well spent Sunday, what more could an old guy ask for! Loyal reader, RuN HaPpY!!!

Energizer Night Race 2012 15K

I jumped on an Air Asia flight from Penang to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday morning, took a Taxi to Rumah Putih B&B, about 20  min from the LCCT terminal of the KL airport, Nice place, perfect for an overnight, run by two really nice folks, James and Jo Needham. Got myself settled, got some lunch and took a siesta. Caught a Taxi to the Sepang F1 track for the race and had the opportunity to see friends Bee Hong and her husband. Got to see my friends from Brooks Malaysia also and then found Andrew Loh, Chun How Lee, and later found Lim Guan Choon and Khoo Siew Swan, Most of them did the full marathon, except for Khoo Siew Swan, who i think placed well in the women's division of the 15K. This race made me nervous from the start...usually races don't make me nervous...for years I let people shoot small frozen pieces of galvanized rubber at me at well over 75 miles an hour, and liked it...so running has never made me nervous. I always knew that if I prepared and trained I would be fine...for this...I had not trained properly. Now a bit of back story on this race...last year this race was a disaster, i heard from people who ran it and read on line that there were near riots by competitors who were cheated out of medals, not enough water, staff who seemed to care less for runners...it was just a poorly run affair. With the energizer name in front of it though, the people were heard, changes were made and i have to say with everything i read and heard about last years affair, This one was over the top good!!  Excellent staff presence, good crowd control, each race went off on time, numerous watter and cooling stations around the course and lots of people to cheer on the runners.

L-R Andrew Loh, Chun How Lee, Aung Moe, Me

Lim Guan Choon and Me.

                                                                                                    

from R-L Alex Ong, Aung Moe (3rd placing), Chun How Lee, Bee Hong Ewe,
Debbie Chinn (1st placing), Andrew Loh, Me.

My concern was if my leg would hold up over a 9+ mile distance...i had not done a training run of that distance, I have made it through a 6 without a struggle, and an 8 that was a struggle...so this was a concern. I started well and my pace around the F1 track itself was really good. I wanted to hit 4 miles in about 35:00. I was able to do that with my 4 mile at 34:38...then, the hills started, and after that they did not stop, and my leg was screaming. I hate to admit it...I had to walk a few times...I am embarrassed to say that, especially when this was only a 15K. It does give me an idea as to where I am in my recovery though...no where near being prepared for a race of 9+ miles. I was able to make it across the finish line and did cramp badly at the end. I took advantage of some ice at the medical tent. the final mileage was about 9.6 miles and my final time...i hate putting this in print 1:32...I have not run a race that slowly since I started running in 2008...I was not ready and it showed. I finished though and for now, where I am in my recovery, its good enough. I really need to find some pictures of the actual race as i have been looking at my stride on the pictures i have, and its bad...not enough leg swing...I'm shuffling more than running and I wanted to see if the same was true in this race. The Taxi was supposed to pick me up at 11:30pm following the race, but the security was not letting anyone into the venue, only out. So i walked down to the main road at the entrance, hoping that the driver would be waiting there...no such luck, so then phone tag with James from the B&B and the driver started. so there I am standing in the medium of the road waiting for a driver that I don't know will come, wondering what i will do if they don't show up...eventually it got worked out, but 11:30 turned in to almost 1am...that was really the only snafu in what was otherwise an awesome experience. I will run this race again, and hopefully next time I will run it better. Loyal reader, Run Happy!!

Annual Round the Houses Relay

Another Sunday and another race! So this was a fun concept and something i have never done before. A relay. It consisted of a team of 8 runners, each running 1.5 miles along a simple loop, beginning at the Penang polo club. According to one of my friends in I-run  Mrs.Ding Ding Heng, this is a race that has been going on since she was young, so there is some deep tradition with this particular event. I was placed on a team and although I did not know any of my teammates, except for Mr. Steve Baron, it was a good chance to meet some of the I-run people that I had not met. I figured that even though my Hansons training had me doing a five mile easy run today, this event was too much fun to pass up, and i really wanted to see if i could do a sub 6:00 mile, especially with only 2 real months of running since being cleared by the doctor. Well to be honest i pulled it off with a 10:57 finish time for 1.57 miles, it was close but i did it, (6:58 pace) and it feels good.

I always want to do better but sometimes its the little victories that give you motivation to continue. today i felt like I won one, even though the team came in 5th out of five, it was a great effort by everyone, and I-run as a whole had another great showing, especially the I-run ladies! I-run took 8th and 12th out of 19 in the Men's open category, a highly competitive grouping.  1st and 3rd in the women's open category, some great runners in both of those groups, congrats ladies! 3rd and 5th in the Junior Veteran category, again some great runners in both groups, if i do say so myself and 1st and 5th in the Senior Veteran group, congrats gentlemen, Well done all I-run runners, no matter where you placed! The event was well run, especially attempting to run a relay on the road and not a track. This group of organizers seems to be in charge of quite a few races and they always do very well. So to sum it up this was a fun run, challenge completed, and good friends and good times is a great way to spend a day.

Team Blue

Next week its onto KL and the Energizer night run...15k of pure brutality...I only hope i dont DNF...not sure if i am ready for the distance....wish me luck loyal reader, and most of all RUN HAPPY!!

Botanical garden training.

So its a Thursday evening in penang. I have not been able to do morning training all week, as Brenna is on school holiday, so I have had to wait for Roxanne to get home in the evening and then go. Its so much hotter and the breeze that makes the morning run so nice is gone. When I saw that the running group was doing a training at the botanical garden in the evening I figured I would join in. From home to the gardens is about 2 miles and since my required run was only 3 miles I figured that would be good, get in a bit of extra mileage and have a good training....you know one of these times I am going to be right, this time I was wrong, again. The training was TOUGH, as the gardens are hilly and the group ran a good majority of the run in the grassy areas. I am not quite ready for hills and the uneven surface of a grass track was not going well with hip felexors that are still in recovery/strengthening mode. the two mile run to get there was not helping either. I was good for maybe the first mile, mile and a half and then the cramping started. I was able to stretch it out a few times, but by the time the group finished what was probably 4 miles...I was done. My 3 mile requirement turned into 6 miles of very difficult and challenging work. The group was very supportive, which is appreciated and I would have liked to have had a better showing, but recovery is recovery and sometime I have to accept what my body is willing to give me. I have determined that I need to static stretch more than I am. I need to begin to lengthen some of these muscles that knot up when overly worked. Penang has its share of great runners, hopefully before I leave I can be included in that description. For now though I am happy to be running in Penang, great, good, bad, it does not matter...Thanks to Mei See Chin for the push to keep going, Ah Seng (I think) for pushing me at the end, Tan Cheng Jin for the pacing at the start, and of course Mei ling for the photos. Everyone else was great also, and a special thanks to Phua Chin Eng for the ride home. there was no way I was going to be able to do another 2 miles home, just sayin! So on the running scale of places to go the botanical gardens gets a 9, its beautiful, I saw parts of it this time out that I had not seen before, its challenging, lots of inclines.I would give it a 10 if not for the monkeys...finding yourself in the center of a macaque turf war is no fun. Run Happy!