Run for Life 2.0 Night Edition 2013 – 5.5km

Date: 18 May 2013

Venue: Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Distance: 5.5km (Garmin: 5.77km)

Timing: 29:53 (Garmin)

Pace: 5:10 min/km (Garmin)

Result: 2nd (WO)

Website: www.k2upmrunforlife.blogspot.com; Facebook page here

Previous year’s recap here.

The second installment of the event but with a twist – night run! It was a looped course around the campus with the guys doing the 6.7km and the ladies, 5.5km. The route is also a change from last year’s though you probably won’t see much given that this is a night event and the “superb” lighting we have (this is a general statement!).

The run was organized by Kolej Kedua in aid of the Diabetic association. Flag off was scheduled at 8:30 pm but not without preceding with the “opening ceremony”. “short” speech, briefing and warm up session. The organizing team exceeded their KPI – we were off at 8:15 or 8:20 pm!

Route map from their FB page

Km1-2.5

It was a small race with about 280 runners of each category registered (spotted the name list at the bib collection counter) with an attrition of maybe 5-10% (?). The ladies were to head off followed by the guys about 3-5 minutes later. I was trying to put myself towards the back since I had done 14.3km in the morning and the top of my foot was sore and swollen (strapped too tightly I think). First km was crowded and I tried to run at the edge of the road but it seems the slower ladies were at the right hand side! Some weaving until we passed the Astaka. Naturally with a short gap with the flagoffs, the guys were upon us even before we got to the junction: “Open Men – turn left” and “Open Women – turn right”. The sign was small and there were no marshals giving out instructions; most of the guys naturally assumed it was the same route and followed the ladies. To their folly. And to their loss. Could have been the lead marshal’s fault too since after about 1.5km, they led the guys back to the other end of the road and started hollering to those on this side to follow suit. Don’t think the few running with me heard or care.

Straight out to and pass the main gate (without going out), along the roundabout and we were at another gate. Much better after the gate because the previous stretch/section was vehicle heavy and even with the street lights, it was suspect if motorists could see us. Know why? It was a “rule” that we don the event tee. Which. Was. In. Black. They might just have asked me to lay in the middle of the road.

Km3-4

This was part of the stretch I ran in the HOPE event last week – straight out in a fairly closed road. First checkpoint where they handed out the first rubber band. Overtook Amelia here. Also lots of pics from the event photographer who was on a bike and had the company of a lead marshal (on a bike) for a bit. Beats me why there were none in front of Amelia coz usually there should be at least one for the lead runner; some events even have one each for the first few runners.

Km5 - Finish

Second checkpoint just after km4 I think.

Trouble started when the lead marshal spoke into his walkie talkie about turning around and getting the next runner (I assumed it was Amelia). So there I was told to run, keep left and follow the cones. Naturally the cones drop off half way but I saw a group of marshals at the turnoff close to the canteen of some sort and they waved me along. I thought I saw the lights of a motorcycle ahead and followed those lights – BIGGEST. MISTAKE. OF. MY. LIFE. I made a left turn (ie followed the road, right?) and sort of went about the canteen and came back down (it was a sloped round) to see the same marshals who had earlier directed me into the road. My heart fell to the road and I knew then whatever lead I had was gone forever. A bit of consulting with the group and finally one of the guys on the motorcycle told me to tag along with him (this was after he consulted the group on the route! FTW!!!!). Horror of all horror and while I could a gal-whom-i-assumed-was-Amelia upfront, there was no way I could have closed the gap.

Ended up as second woman…and a RM2,000 loss. Do I cry or laugh about this? Hey, it wasn’t all too bad since I did this on fatigued legs after the morning’s semi-longish run. Can’t say the same about the hips and quads the following morning though.

Pros:

a) Well put up event vis-à-vis HOPE; I’m drawing comparison between the two since both are events organized by UPM student bodies. What they did better:

• It wasn’t draggy! Despite 4 speeches (which were thank goodness short or relatively). All in, the run finished roundabouts 9:30pm (last runner) and with the prize presentation (even with 30 podium finishers/medals up for grabs for each category) and handing out of souvenirs to the sponsors and support crew, we were done by 10:30pm.

• Emcees were pretty good – spoke in Malay and English and the instructions eg places for prayers etc were loud and clear.

b) Late registrations (on the spot on event day) were accepted and race day bib collection – this is very much appreciated since the university is pretty far for most KL or PJ-based runners.

c) Post race traffic flow went well – swag and water were handed out after the run and the large compound area allowed everyone to mingle or head to any of the sponsors’ booths/van.

d) There was one hydration station along the route and you get another bottle of water after the run. Post run grub included a bun.

Cons:

a) The noticeably lack of marshals at key checkpoints and signages (and those available were too small). No lead marshals for the front runners.

b) The first stretch of the run was along the major road of the campus and the roads weren’t closed to traffic (not even partial). Coupled with the black event tee and sparse street lighting, it was just too dangerous.

c) Event tee could have been in a brighter colour and sweat wicking (dri-fit). They ran out of smaller sizes when I picked up my bib and I was swimming in the size “M”. This was at 6:45pm. Anyway, I knotted it upfront.

d) No distance markers – not much a problem for me since I had the Garmin.

Photo log:

Sponsors

Some of the winners

Swag

Finisher's medal

Prizes

Taman Desa Seputeh Hill Training – 21 May 2013

Route: Le Chateau - Taman Desa Seputeh

Distance: 7.39km (Garmin)

Timing: 41:02 for 5:33 min/km pace

Solo run and I surprised myself by heading to Seputeh and I further surprised the crap of myself by tacking on the hill climb to Kuen Cheng. Jess is probably shaking her head, rolling her eyes and wondering what drug I ingested!

Home to train station (4.780km; 26:40)

Figured I should put all the hill climbs in the first half and what better way <insert sarcasm> to do it than running up to Kuen Cheng. This will never happen if we “plan” it for the last section of a run. I can never ever run past the house and not stop! Plus it made sense since there were fewer cars at that hour. Then it was onto Seputeh Heights – like I said, I may have consumed something – what is wrong with me?!?!?!

Train station to home (2.608km; 14:19)

My favourite stretch aka net downhill. Did have to dodge more than a handful of cars at the intersection/turnoff to the Federal Highway. Thean Hou did look beckoning – perhaps with Kenny the next time since I’m apt to get lost in new territory. Wait, I get lost all the time.

Anyone else ran this morning?

Short Workweek

The only thing going for me is looking forward to this Friday’s bank holiday. Well, just a tad minutiae motivation to get out of bed this morning and complete a cycle of Sun Salutation before a short Back & Lats workout.

This is Part 1. Part 2 to follow tomorrow. Apart from double workout days (if I ever get to doing it more than a handful…in a year), Michael is putting me through consecutive strength trainings. Guess this is what they call “cumulative fatigue”. If I don’t kaput beforehand.

Supersets of:

a) Technogym pulldown

b) Nautilus low row

c) Cybex upper back row

Supersets of:

d) Technogym cable criss cross rear delt row

e) KB bendover row (32kg…died-ed)

This was from Saturday’s run. Looks like we don’t need to head to Tesco or Cold Storage for grocery shopping this week. Perhaps also time to look into getting a treadmill for the house. Can someone recommend a RM3,000 durable, solid treadmill…if such an equipment exists…for such a price.

Five Things Friday

With a side of Thursday since I missed a post yesterday. Hey, blogging everyday or at least every other day is a huge task! Ok, maybe blogging inconsequential, mind boggling and plainly harebrained stuff like what you read here is not a colossal task. Right, you win. 1-0.

1. Walking is underrated. Really. It was a tad humid when I stepped out this morning and the 1.5 miles did me good – gave me plenty of time to think about this morning’s proposed plan of action aka drafting a sarky email. Ok, I’m being mean.

2. Hanging out in these because the Birkies gave up on me. Warning…scroll down if you wanna skip world’s ugliest feet.

3. Pouring outside. Thank goodness! We need some respite from the 35-37 C that’s been plaguing us for the past few weeks.

4. #IOMS #DOMS #quads #glutes #Thursday #training #backtobusiness

Supersets of:

a) EPIC hack squat (90lbs was cocktails; 290lbs was appetizer; 400-500lbs was mains)

b) Cybex plate loaded leg squat press (200lbs turned to 400lbs which in turned became…)

Supersets of:

c) Technogym leg extension (beginning with the last heaviest weight, naturally we hit a record high yesterday)

d) DB walking lunges

e) Technogym leg extension (FTW! FML! Again?!?! High reps on jello legs)

Supersets of:

f) Technogym leg press (no, the first superset downstairs is not sufficient; back to double leg presses configurations notwithstanding that it’s only 8 weeks since the stress fracture)

g) Cybex prone leg curl

Single set of:

h) Angled leg raises

5. Which is worse: Back & Lats or Shoulders & Delts? Do I have a fav muscle group like what Adrian asked? Er ere r…no…so why do I subject myself to tortuous sessions? One word: vanity

Supersets of:

a) Standing BB clean and jerk overhead shoulder press (double incremental anyone?)

b) Seated DB Arnold press

Supersets of:

c) DB lateral raise

d) DB frontal raise

Supersets and dropsets of:

e) Technogym cable criss-cross reverse upper delt

f) Technogym cable criss-cross rear delt

Supersets of:

g) Technogym cable upright row

h) Abs crunches on fitball

Have a great weekend folks!

HOPE Awareness Run 2013 – 8km

Date: 12 May 2013

Venue: Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Distance: 8km (Garmin: 7.87km)

Timing: 41:50 (Garmin)

Pace: 5:18 min/km (Garmin)

Result: 1st (WO – public)

Website: http://www.facebook.com/HAR2013

This was an event organized by AIESEC UPM to raise awareness for Aids and HIV causes and the run is a small portion of the overall programme which included exhibitions and talks from organizations such as planned parenthood, Pink Triangle etc.

One distance on offer – 8km loop course starting and finishing at Dewan Besar and within each gender category – open (public) and closed (UPM students). This course is a combination of the Run 4 Life and Mizuno Wave Run.

It was a small event – runners numbering less than 150 perhaps (?) and comprised mostly of students of the university and colleges (eg Taylors). Registered very late (yeah, notice the pattern these days?!?!?!) and was planning on using this as a warm up to my strength training later on in the day.

Route map from their FB page

Km1-2

Positioned myself right on the second last row in a sea of “youngsters” who as usual take off like a rocket on flag off only to peter out before the first km. Flattish out of the start point, looping around the field, past the astaka heading towards Kolej Kedua – a bit of a reverse from Run 4 Life. First hydration station just at the corner before the college.

Km3

The climb at Kolej Kedua. Just after the climb, the distance marker “5km to go”. Yep, still a long way to go.

Km4

Heading into the park, pretty steep downslope at the gate with loose rocks and potholes before flattening out. This section was also the first sign of “trouble”. As the field was small (a nicer way of saying “I’m slow”!), there were no runners within sight. Two of the guys running alongside turned and asked if we were on the right track. I shrugged…I’ve no friggin clue too!!! So the blind leading the blind on the jogging track until we saw the marshal at the end of the path.

Km5 - 6

The tiny path with fields on the sides and the climb up to the Time Live Earth Satellite Station (don’t ask…this is my best guess translation of Malay). Then onto the road parallel to the stadium. This was the same route as the Mizuno Wave.

Km7

The OMFG long steep and never-ending path snaking the park and it was faster to power walk than attempt to run.

Km8

And we’re out! Came through Kolej Kedua and boosted by “Jia You, Jia You, first gal” from the marshal at the junction. Flat to the finish.

Pros:

a) Commendable effort put up by the students? Lots of areas for improvement.

b) The Aids and HIV causes are good enough reason to support this event.

c) Distance markers (on the countdown) from 5 to 3 to 2 etc.

d) Hydration station every 1.5-2km and at the end, you get a bottle of water, energy bar and bun. Also in the swag handed out post run: can of tea, juice.

e) Some of the talks and speakers were good – I found Raymond (PT) and the 2 Chinese speakers were engaging.

Cons:

a) Super duper late start – nearly an hour behind schedule (8:15-8:20 am) when the sun was beating down on us; so I received the cursory sunburn on my face. Why the delay you ask? First there was the race bib pick up and then I-have-absolutely-no-friggin-clue why the organizers were milling about. So eventually we set out in the open space in front of the hall (Dewan Besar) around 8:05 am and started with the usual warm up and stretching. Fine. Let’s get it done. Nope, we weren’t done because this was followed by at least 3 (?) songs and dance moves and more yakking by the emcee. My cut off was 8:30 am (after moving it from 8 am) i.e. head to the gym. Some of the runners were there since 6 am and were getting agitated. From their FB page...the "chicken or square whatever" dance

b) This event’s theme should be “delay, delay, delay” because the prize presentation was moved from 11 am to I-don’t-know-what-time-it-eventually-took-place-coz-I-left-at-noon. The talks and presentations were good and informative but it just got a bit too draggy…so “liven” things up, they had Pink Tan (no clue either but apparently she’s a minor celeb among college students) to sing… Now, this was close to noon and most of us were done with the run by around 10 am (finished earlier around 9am). There you’re sitting in the air-conditioned hall in your wet running tees and shorts etc for close to 2-3 hours. Not sure about you…I was getting cold (despite putting on a tee after the sweat dried). What gives?!?! The hall

c) Draggy, the event was way too long – nearly 3 hours and you know it’s draggy when the audience is reduced to 15-20%. Nope, they didn’t get the cue and the emcee went on and on.

d) Insufficient marshals at checkpoints. 

Photo log:

Swag 

Race cert

Indocafe and Nestle Fitnesse vans

Mini expo

LG Run – 15 May 2013

Route: LG > Planetarium

Distance: 5.80km (Garmin)

Timing: 34:31 for 5:57 min/km pace

Car park to Start / Playground (0.354km; 3:46)

Nothing much on the cards except for a long walk before heading to the gym.

Playground > Planetarium > Playground (5.442km; 30:44)

Hmmm…legs wanted to run but run slow. Oh well, run we did!

Km 1: slow going and said “hi”, “good morning”, “how are you doing” etc to a few groups of uncles and aunties. Eavesdropped on convo – most were about this.

Km 2: go up the second gate or do 2 loops? Gate…I hate loops.

Km 3: regretting decision, eh? Climb climb climb Bird Park

Km 4: climb climb climb Planetarium

Km 5: wee…going downhill

Finish: speed up and stopped Garmin

Will put up the HOPE Awareness Run recap when I get home tonite - Blogger was icky with pics last nite.

Hill Training Run – 14 May 2013

Route: Le Chateau - Taman Seputeh

Distance: 5.57km (Garmin)

Timing: 31:06 for 5:35 min/km pace

#hot #humid #oppressive #35 #degrees #Celsius

That more or less sums up things around here in the past week. I resorted to blasting the AC for most of the day…and night. At least it looks like rain clouds are in the horizon now – thank you TJV! [NB she washed her car yesterday and everything she does, the sky opens up]

1st half (3.013km; 17:07)

Kenny didn’t sleep well last night due to the above and we decided to tackle the shorter route although I covered the distance UPHILL (again!) to Seputeh Heights. I knew he wasn’t in his element (aka 3:30 marathon shape) when he dropped back just 200m into the run. Oddly, it was kinda cooling (cool in relative terms) running by the side of the road next to the minor “jungle”, green spaces that dotted the road leading to/from Le Chateau and along Taman Seputeh.

2nd half (2.551km; 13:57)

Guess I wanted it to be done faster to get out of the heat come what may hills and really the second half is pretty much downhill. Downhills are my fav, just in case you didn’t get the message, and my “reward” for all the huffing and puffing in the first half.

I did have that momentarily idea of doing the Desa Seputeh lap and on hindsight, am glad I didn’t – got all woozy, nauseous and felt like upchucking the contents of my tummy (TMI!) when I finished. It’s a nutrition problem – most likely didn’t get enough nutrients, food into the system yesterday. I blame it entirely on work.

So what have the rest of you been up to?