Running in Philippines

I have now done 3 races in Philippines on my assignment there.  Who knows, there may be more.  To give the Filipinos (Pinays/Pinoys) a lot of credit for some of the uniqueness I appreciated about the races in philippines - I thought I wanted to drop a short note on some of the most appreciative things I had encountered.

1. Top one - last Thursday, I received a SMS from Vince Mendoza, from www.finishline.ph - they were the organizers of the Greenfield City Run in Laguna (see last blog post).  He SMS blasted to inform that some 21k runners may not have received their medals, and for those who did not to SMS bib number back to him.  This was what I received roughly :

Vince - "Some runners may not have received their medals for 21k Greenfield City Run, if you have not please sms your bib number and we will send it to you"

Myself - "Bib number 7883, thanks, it was a great race"

Vince (less than 5 mins later!) - "Thanks May.  Where should we send it to?"

Myself (very surprised he addressed me by name) - "

... btw where can I see the photos especially those on the route?"

Vince - "Sure, no problem, photos at www.photovendo.ph"

Wow - this is true customer service!  The organizer having a conversation with an individual runner!  Great job, Vince!  I will definitely join more races if I have the opportunity in the future.  I liked the free bus service, by the way.  And if the medal does come in the post a few days later, I would be so impressed!!

Many credits to finishline team, who not only setup a portal for running, organize races, but also personally answers questions and queries on the comments, and personal mobile.  No race organizer has had the patience or courtesy to entertain in such a personal manner.

2. Second one - I love the signup processes allowing bib, and event t-shirt to be collected at Nike stores.  Despite this may not be the most far-reaching approach, I preferred this and online rather than some weird location somewhere, where not many can get to go to signup.

3. Third one - Enthusiasm.  Just like the bloggers community here, the blogging community for running is crazy in philippines.  I have just yet to convert and start pinging all of them, but I am so impressed with these guys.  They are mostly not very old, and just new runners all.  

A few notable ones are :

www.takbo.ph (first forwarded to me by Ellen from SMART, apparently takbo, i guess by now, means run)

www.bullrunner.com

www.finishline.ph

www.runrio.com (one of those young dude coaches around)

4. Fourth one - Race results.  Ok, on the bib there is a slip to tear off the bar code when you finish.  The "tear-er" person slings this on a hook.  But 2 days later, the results are out for the race, where did the automation come from!??  I am so impressed, because it comes out published in an excel, with race finish time, pace, and where did the automation come from?  Why can't the local races in Malaysia do something similar?

5. Fifth one - the race and the runners itself.  Damn hot.  Guys, I respect all you crazy pacers - running in the early morning sun is not easy, I have a lot lot of respect for all you fellow runners, despite coming from a tropical country myself, the philippines summer is not easy for running in exposed barren lands...! 

Greenfields Run, Laguna, Sta Rosa (Philippines) 19 April 2009

All photos as taken from photovendo.ph site - thanks - just posted here for illustration

Photo 1- see we are at a banana plantation :-) (greenfields of lallang and banana- though the plantation portion was actually decent running track as there were no cars!)

Photo 2-the scorching sun @ the barren lands!!!

Photo 3-this was near the starting line - the greenfield city was quite a "designer" city at some areas where nice rich apartments were built.

Photo 4-Greenfield was on the way or near Tagaytay (home of Taal volcano, the first tourist place i visited in philippines... it took us 2.5 hrs to get to tagaytay the last time!)

Photo 5-The start/finish shot

Who would've imagine I would get up at 2:30 am for a 21k run?

This would be the last 21k I would run in philippines, for the time being. We signed up for this a few weeks back, but JS could not make it because she had injured her knee.

The race starts at 5am, and unfortunately after I had signed up and the subsequent weeks after, up to yesterday, I found out the location was very far away, in fact on the way to Tagaytay (the Taal Volcano trip we went on our first weekend in philippines) - that trip took us about 2.5 hrs to reach tagaytay! With a lot of reservation, first I tried car hire, then taxi booking, both were a bit unsuccessful, so finally since I was the only person going I decided to signup for the free shuttle bus service - luckily for me the shuttle bus was still available the day before even though the signup had closed two days ago!

I slept at 1040pm - this is really a trying one for me to getup at 2:30am. The bus schedule was assemble at 3:30am, leave around 4am, and ETA around 440am - I was a bit worried about this, as the various people had said this place was between 1hr to 1.5hr away despite it being wee hours in the morning....

I somehow managed to get to the bus assembly point at 330am, right on time - and found the bus (in the strange darkness) - got on the bus, it was full, and luckily one more spot left. The trip there was in silence with a Singapore Marathoner sitting next to me, and tried to catch some sleep, despite the bus was really cold.

Got to the starting line with 20 mins to go, the bus left at around 345am, and had time for a toilet stop, which was a must because the bus was SO COLD!!!

Greenfield City, Laguna was indeed another attempt of the local government to create a "holiday" looking vacation city close to Tagaytay on the outskirts of the Makati city center. The race starts at Paseo Greenfield, which was a outlet mall, so already it had a very american feel even as we assembled in the starting area.

The race started promptly at around 5am. This was when it got interesting. Suffice to say that this race, I really really regret not training for it, I only did one 20km @ bukit aman, and 2 6km spans one each week. Regret also because I am terrible at waking up early, and for such a small race, the lack of pacers really bogged me down.

At about 10km onwards, at 630 am, the sun was scorching hot. This is so different from Malaysia runs. The other problem I had was the route was barren - we were running next to literally "green fields" - they were fields of green "lallang"... and no cover for sun. Stretches of long barren land in the blazing sun was not easy without a pacer. I took off my shades on the return route from 14km onwards. The shades made me feel shorter due to the optical effect, and my stride felt heavier. I guess when I reached around 17 km, I was almost done and started to walk. All in a very very bad time, not my worst but still not good. But good training under the blazing sun...

Some observations :

1. Everyone started rather casually on the starting line - no one pushed forward. I guess because it was 21km, nobody was really rushing. Moreover, there was perhaps around less than 150+ people for 21km. Again, I got a bit worried...

2. Unique for the event was the route, before dawn (dawn was around 515?), the route on the first 5 kms was lit with torches (interesting huh... like a tribal function...)

3. Another unique for the event was the eagerness of the organisers to be a running event for runners - music pipping from loud speakers in non-residential and stretches of the road for the first 10 kms, some even with a bit of zen like music!!!

4. The provision of rush (electrolyte water like 100plus uncarbonated) was a good call, I survived on rush. Water stations aplenty.

5. They ran out of medals - I was not happy, but too heat treated at the end of the race to even bother too much.

6. The photovendo guys who offered free photos at end of race, and a long line to do so - that was not smart, and not cool.

7. Between starting so early and having such a closely starting time for the race meant some people sat around and waited for the 21km runners. I guess it is just difficult to cater for everyone (2k, 5k, 10k, 21k - what a range!)

8. The route - flat, nice countryside running - but VERY VERY hot... sigh....

9. Providing ransport is good, but they could've got the bus to run on the return trip earlier. Everyone was really tired when the bus left... (3 hrs after i finished 21km!!) - and the shops were not open!!

10. I did love the scenes of families bringing their kids for the 2k run, and getting up early for a family day. This is one great thing about running in philippines - its good family affair - and not just for avid runners but social runners as well

Lepak @ Orange Run 2009

I have been having a fascination with Nikon D700 recently.  Trying to figure out the power of full frame photos vs investment...

Anyway, this morning, I decided to spend the time doing the 

photographer's act at Orange Run at the Curve.  The funny thing is that I have NEVER run the orange run, despite it is so close to my house, and I've always wanted to run the BU neighbourhood... well this time it was because when I got back from Philippines on 3rd Apr, that weekend itself they had already announced all numbers were already given out!  Imagine 3000 bibs, gone one weekend before.  

Either the neighbourhood has a lot of health enthusiasts or people just love free stuff... well I think it is a more of the first, but the second also just upset me that people took the numbers and did not bother to run, just come to collect the goodies... and those like me have to consider to run illegally :-)

In any case, I got to do another 21km race next weekend, so I better train....

I just loaded a few photos here, it was difficult as I did not have the long lens - my biggest lens was the kit 18-70mm... so shy no big guns, so played with Tey's old camera D40 with a 55-200mm lens for a while, still good and better than my D70s... I am indeed the most underinvested "interested in photography" person around... heheh.  Anyway, I will try to load the stuff to picasa album, meanwhile a few shots from this morning.

10km Men's Health Run 29 Mar 2009 (Philippines)

Men Health Run late run report...

Credits of photos goes to NY, one of our colleagues.

 

This was my second run in Philippines - it was at the university of philippines.  For more pictures, please see my facebook photos. 

Firstly big big thanks to paparazzi NY who joined myself and one other colleague JS in the run.  This was really the first run where I was pampered with someone dedicated to take photos!  (Although our photographer was distracted along the way by the sponsors and organisers.. more later)...

 The run was held in the University of Philippines, Diliman campus.  Though I've been away from studies for a long long time, it was good to see other countries university campus - and what more better way than to run on the campus!

I signed up for the race together with JS (her first run in philippines).  The interesting thing about this race was... it was sponsored by a condom manufacturer - Frenzy (a local brand).  On close inspection of the event vest, the big condom logo is on the back!  So just in excitement, we thought, well, this run will be filled with big macho looking guys... (hahah).  As it turns out as well, on the same day, there was another event which was a women's only run.  Oh well...

The race was supposed to start at 6am.  When we were checking how long it would take to get to the campus, the apartment supervisor where we stayed told us, around 1 hr!!!  And one other local runner told us 45 mins!!!  So, we thought, well, lets play it safe, go at around 445 am?  Guess what... we reached in 15 mins... so we were staring in the dark at 5am +, they were still hanging the starting line stuff, and my paparazzi had time to learn how to take photos on a DSLR!!!!

The race started finally at 620am.  It was two 5km loops around the campus main grounds - the campus was actually a very nicely shaded area, where later I found out many came to run on weekends as well.  The course was pretty decent. the water station a bit poor in manning.  

I had a new pair of shades (my first!!) because of the prior week's condura run, I realised running in the sun was really too glaring for the eyes.  The shades were Rudy Project (sound cool already?) and meant more for cyclists.  After procuring the shades on the day before, when I arrived at the starting line of this race, I realised a lot of people loved to show off shades on their head... haha.  Actually, I was a bit uncomfortable with the shades during the race, there was a distance differential - I felt shorter when I put it on.  So I alternated on and off...

Finally, the story of our paparazzi - during the first loop he disappeared and was busy taking pictures with the girls (the ones selling condoms)...!!!  Its funny, they were selling photos and giving away condom tattoos... etc.

All in, a pretty good race.  Did not train much, and after condura, I learnt to enjoy the new "discover philippines" whilst running... I did 1:07, decent time for a very relaxed race... 

As you would see - not many people in the race... and mostly men!!!

Condura Race Report 21km @ my first race in philippines

All pictures taken from Canon EOS club site member's postings (thanks, I did not copy all the names, but these are among the best photos)

Condura Run was my first run in Philippines.  I have been there for almost 6 weeks on a work assignment, and on the 4th week, I was itching to run in Philippines.

Condura Run was the first 21km event on the Skyway.  Along the way, I found out that the Skyway was actually a big highway... leading somewhere... I never found out where.  But the photos will show it is a big highway.  Apparently the locals were all very excited to be running on the skyway... well I guess I was fortunate to be the "first" to run on the skyway, but seriously, it is like Adidad king of the road running on NPE... 

It was a very hot morning.  The race started at around 6am (but seriously, 6am = 7am in malaysia, as the sun is up earlier in philippines).  Thus, daylight was peeking out when we started off.  We started off at the fort (Fort Bonifacio), this was the place where I found is a runner's haven for training.  Apparently they run there every night.  I broke my own routine by running there on the friday night before the race!   

I had very little training for Condura, and as such I was a bit anxious before the race.  I only ran a couple of times on a gym, and twice at the Fort, all in maybe less than 20kms within the few weeks leading to the race.  As it is, I was a non-starter in the GE 20km I signed up due to work.  It would seem, I was committing runner's suicide... 

The day before the race, I hydrated myself and got plenty of rest.  On race day, I got there on taxi on when it was still night (the apartment security guy gave me a stare...).  When I got there, I saw there were a lot of people, but 5 mins before the starting, I started to realise how little people were running the 21k,.... wait a minute, there is something not right here... and there were only hardly a handful of ladies....

One of the realisation that had dawned on me way before the race (it happened during our first leisure run at Fort) was that the running community here is smaller, but growing fast, and the cater for many different people factor is serving the masses - ie. the races were 2k, 5k, 10k, and only a handful 21k, and maybe a handful, marathon.  But they called all the races marathons... and seems to have a more family environment, and the middle tier people were more keen on competing and those who competed, some had not run 21k even.  This was a big surprise, though no different from Malaysia, the runners in Malaysia were quite competitive and the turnout to races were quite high, for 21k races, you would find most of them were seasoned veterans and newbies had the guts to take on 21k after one or two races... 

The race ran one loop around the fort and then onto Kalayaan flyover and to Buendia avenue, all the way past my apartment area (Makati Avenue), and cutting through Ayala Avenue and finally to the skyway.  The skyway was around 7 km off the start.  The route was very friendly - very flat, the only steep part it seems was the Kalayaan flyover coming back, probably because everyone was tired.

The route was also pretty simple, 10km to some midpoint on the skyway, then 10km back, the same route.  By the time we were coming back, it was really really hot.  I reckon it was almost equivalent to running at 9am on a highway, when I got to 3km left on the Kalayaan flyover coming back.  The rest of the route was pretty ok, and I surprised myself, I think I ran almost the entire distance, except for 4 drink stops and probably a short 50m walk on the Kalayaan flyover.  I felt uncomfortable when I stopped - this was indeed a new feeling.  

The other thing which helped I believed was the friendly manner with runners - I was at ease to chat up other runners, though I only chatted up 2 persons along the way seriously.  One guy I paced with for almost 30 minutes, and I was pretty proud that he gave up at around 13km, and said he had to walk!!!  Wow, I've never paced faster than a guy before... but then, this fella, and I think probably a handful of people I said hi to have never run a 21km race before (what to do, my pace is so slow, I get all the newbies...).

All in, a great simple race.  The surprise was the results were on the website a few days after the race.  The race signup in philippines is pretty cool, most of the time, you can do it and collect the number on the spot at nike shops.  I liked that as you do not have to go back on the day before to collect the bibs.  The race timing was done via scanning of a barcode torn from the bib (no shoe tag).  Condura was one of the best races of the year, apparently, and true to form, the results as well as the publicity was in one of the newspapers a week after that (shock! - my name was in the newspapers!!!).

One interesting thing when I was surfing for photos - there was not many photographers.  The photos taken by the Canon Eos club members (stolen and pasted here some of them), were the only ones which was interesting, but even that, there was a pattern of cutting off the head of the runners.. and also a habit of taking only photos of the celebrities... what's up philippines photogs?  What happened to your Tey equivalent? Well, I did see a big fella with a big lens all along the way, but I don't know the website.  Oh well...

KLIM 2009

i've signed up!  running my first full in malaysia @ klim 2009.  what a feeling!  now if only i can stop working so hard and start training .... 

Jaguh overseas ... PB in Condura Run 2009

I'm pretty good at this by now... I actually run better and faster overseas!

Condura Run 2009 - Philippines ... was my first run this year, I am serious! Well, it must be good to trigger a bit more blogging back from me?

2.41 for 21km - I am pretty happy - this is one of my better times - this is better than all my KLIM attempts. I think the first attempt I did in 2006 21km I was around that time? I am not sure, but for the moment, I will claim this to be my 21km personal best.

This run was really fun... Personally I found nothing so fantastic about running on the famous "Skyway" which is like a huge NPE. The only difference for the locals was probably that they never get a chance to run on the highway. The other pretty cool thing was that it was good race with the route pretty flat, and despite the sun here rises ahead 1 hr than Malaysia = baked by 7am (1.5 hours), the usual race euphoria is just such a great feeling!

The fun thing about running overseas - especially in Philippines is that I almost felt the urge to race up to most people who looked like they could chat, and said "this is my first race in philippines".

Next week 10km - men's health run.

Oh year, I love the sign up process. Bibs on the spot. Results out within 2 days!!! Check out www.condura.com

21km Condura Run (Philippines) - the skyway or my way....?

Yup, I confirm the fire is still in me to run.  I am currently on work assignment in Philippines, and just did my first run in the philippines - the Condura 21km race.  I have just joined the running scene !!!

Let me just go through some thoughts I had pre-run and later I will write about the run itself.

1. Sports gel - Power Bar, you guys must do a better job at getting your gels into the Philippines.  Last week, I went looking for gels and they stared at me like I was speaking some foreign tongue - the locals and pharmacies have hardly heard of gels!  Then I surfed and found out the gels were in Fitness First, and I ran to Fitness First to look for them, but they were out for the month!!!  That is so shocking.... I am sure there must be a better supply chain for gels.  I am wondering how runners here survive without gels... 

2. The Fort - this has got to be the coolest running practice zone - can you imagine running 1km+ round and round this huge shopping mall - apparently this is such a good running zone that the locals train here every night.  We took the opportunity to try this out last Sunday and boy, was it hip - it felt like a people watching scene.  One mistake was to start too late to train - because the sun here is almost 1hr ahead, as such starting at 745am meant almost 845am equivalent = very hot.  But two 6km sessions here was all I had for training for my 21km...

3. Running distances and speed - My other runner colleague and I realised that runners here are pretty casual, the distances on races are mostly 3km, 5km, 10km at most.  In fact 21km races are rare, and marathons even more rare.  I suppose this is the same as in KL, but in KL, most of the starting distances are 10km or single distances - so it can be pretty unforgiving.  Generally I also found most people ran slower here - part of the reason could also be that there are not that many places to run or train.

4. Signing up for a race - this is pretty cool - the bib is given on the spot on payment, and there is typically distribution via Nike outlets or alternatives.  In general, this is better than taking a trip to collect the bib a day before the race.  The bib is also given in an envelope, and has a barcode for recording when you finish the race.  Cost of signing up for the race is slightly more expensive than KL - it cost approx RM 40 equivalent for the 21km Condura Race, for a t-shirt and the race itself.

5. Running portals - this is also pretty cool - most of the running portals are quite established, and teams prefer to run in their own group.  Some of the portals includes : 

www.takbo.ph

www.bullrunner.com

and a few more....

Well, I survived condura.... dare I to submit the registration form for KL Marathon now?  More on the race details in next blog... have been too busy to blog even... 

Return of the prodigal daughter

My hands are sweating as I am typing this.  Not because I am nervous or anxious but because I am typing this on my new macbook.  Never a fan of notebooks as a gadget - despite my craze towards gadgets, this has to be an exception.

There is a legion of devoted fans to the mac out there, and these guys worship the mac truly.  As for me, it is the return of the prodigal daughter, as my first PC (or rather the one I used - dad's purchase) was an Apple.  During those days it was Apple IIe - I might still have the shell somewhere in the house.  It was some really tight basic programming, and the green screen games.

Today, the Mac is a sexy piece of a gem, and just watching the demo of OS is enough to convince me this is definitely a phenomenon in human computer interaction.  

Steve Jobs, you are definitely one crazy and talented guy.

Nadal

Rafael Nadal, Australian Open 2009 Champion.

Nadal has never been my hero, but he inspired me for the last few days of the Australian Open tennis series.

He beat the guy who tried harder than him - Fernando Verdasco in a 5hr 14min semi-final. The Nadal Verdasco match was so tiring to watch because it reminded me of running a marathon - if I were to be able to do it in 5hr 14 mins, it would have been a great achievement - and these guys were slugging balls for 5hrs + !!! Ferdasco tried harder than Nadal - the match statistics showed he had twice the winners 90+ winners but also twice the unforced error of Nadal. What does that tell you? Trying harder once is never good enough, talent is never good enough. Perseverence, and above all being stronger and being never to lose mentally is the key...

He brought Federer to tears. When you have tried so hard, and the opponent such as Nadal refuses to die -- what more can you do? When your opponent gives you a hug and says you are a great champion but I am sorry.... I would have given way to tears just like Federer would.

If you were a non tennis fan, I hope you saw the match and was converted.

But most of all, I was inspired by his "never say die" and "chase every ball" working attitude... (it reminds me of someone... - me - except I have not reach number one!!!)

Belated Goodbye to 2008, and Lets upgrade ... for 2009

For my first facebook status for 2009, I said - "lets upgrade".

Lets upgrade for 2009. There are many reasons why, but I will start with my one of my favorite blog topics for the year - running - this passion which has held steadfast for the year.

Leaving 2008 - with two marathons in the belt ...
2008 was a really eventful year of trying with less effort, and enjoying a "stretched" target. As those in sales knows, there is always the target and the stretched target. I did not have a real target for the year for 2008, but I had wanted to do my first marathon. Sometime in Feb or something, I signed up for Sundown. My rationale was so "logical" and so me - that to conquer the 42.195 km, my only option was to run at night, as I had been burned and dehydrated before in even half marathons, and moreover, I am really a night person.

And so the KLIM whizzed past, I remember doing it with the remaining of a flu, could not breathe through the nose, and rushed to Sydney in a plane a couple of hours after that. The overseas travel usually knocks off momentum, and after that I was sick, and before I knew it, Sundown Marathon 31st May approached and I was not entirely ready. With a few usual goading from some friends and fellow bloggers, I decided to "go for it" - moreover a few of my colleagues were going for it, with a couple of us in our maiden marathon. The strategy I had was correct - I did what I could to compensate for my lack of practice, but made the race, terrible time.... and that got me hooked!!! After all, I had joined the marathon's club!

I am not a born runner. Nor a fast runner. Or had I ever raced for many years.

2008 was year two of the running club I formed with some colleagues in the company. I am so proud of the group - this is purely passion fueled, and to do KLIM with about 50 people - wow... and to see so many who started (you guys know who you are), and raised their level, this is amazing to me.

After a few more races, I got the itch again, and went for Singapore Marathon in December. What a close of the year for me, where again I travelled to Singapore with trepidation, regretted to not train enough for it, and finished the race, in the sun - another first for me!

To me, this year, 2009, is all about upgrade - I would encourage all those who are thinking of joining the running community to see what this drug is about, please do not hesitate to join - every year, somehow, I manage to know a few "converts" and when they race past me, I feel that urge to continue to run and run...

Arriving to 2009- and reminder to take care of myself...
I started the year terribly - my first weekend run for the new year last Sunday at double hills track in Bukit Tunku the Pacesetters regular track was really fun. The way my body reacted after the run told me I was in terrible shape, both from lack of sleep of overwork and also from working through the entire longest end of year holidays, uncountable amount of multi-tasking, and much less exercise. Suffice to say that after I got home fine and rested, I developed a "heat wave" - body was heating up from dehydration, and I had headache, vomitting, diaorhea, and was sweating in an air-cond room. And as the week starts for the people returning to work from a long break, my fatigue is really settling in and I still have no time to run, and my sole is aching for no reason. The forces of nature has issued me a reminder, the body is like a machine, it breaks down from over extended use.... press ctrl-alt-delete....

For 2009, my upgrade is not to do an ultramarathon - I have no qualifications for that yet, but a few simple thoughts of what I'd like to upgrade to - to do a few new things, and do better in a few events and not overkill myself physically -
- a 12/24 hr walk - I liked the thought of endurance event at low pace (and its at night heheh)
- two marathons, with target of 6hrs, 5.5hrs - sensible 30 mins increments!
- a dualthon - biking and running
- qualify and run for the rat race for the 4.5km
- do a personal best for the 10km and the 21km
- 10 persons from the company running club for the KLIM, and sponsored shirts from Nike (this one is for my selling skills, not my running skills)

Simple. Lets upgrade....

Malakoff 12km - 21st Dec 2008

This was the closest 10km and above race I have ever been to, and what a better place to do it than Taman Rimba Kiara, greenery and all. The photographers all had a field day, including many photographers you don't see in a run event.

The route was changed last minute, as informed by organisers just days before the event. I was disappointed to not be able to run down the Kiara road and through to the Penchala Link. The last time I did that was the Tunnel Run, and that time we ran from Mont Kiara and I took part in the 5km race only.

Anyway, as it turns out, the organisers chose a safe "internal" route, parallel to KLGCC and the Kiara Hills - and it was so hilly!!! But it was a good race, it helped me to practice the hills and allowed me to practice also sprinting down the hills to fully push the entire body, legs, quads, whatever. As a result, I had a bit of side split at the end of 6km, and had a tougher recovery, quads still a bit sore, because I pushed running downhill (happily!) !!!

I stole a few photos from Tey and Jason Lee (via KC site). I am learning new things everyday despite three years running. My stance is one of a slightly heavy (and lazy) runner. See this shots (even Mr Tey runs with a nice bended leg). So simply said, the good runner has efficient pace and push from toes to run further and more efficiently. As such, the back leg is always bend in motion, not just bend slightly. The front leg is sometimes in almost approaching 90 degrees.

I got to learn to run again !!

Running dry ... on adrenaline ...

My colleague said today, I need to get some juice. I said, well, I need to get some too.

1. He was referring to laptop battery.
2. He thought I was referring to getting a cuppa (I am an acute coffee fan, not addicted, but acute).
3. Actually I was just running low on chi and adrenaline.

2008 is almost done. It is also a period of holidays and leaves, and it is pretty depressing to keep up the high spirits when I'm dipping on reserves.

As I waved goodbye walking away from the last race at Malakoff 12km, I said, this is my last race for 2008!!! I am actually suffering from race fatigue - yes, its actually still fun to run, but just tired, from early mornings, trying to squeeze time on weekend for training or the couple of kms around the house.

So, back to blogging styles of the tired soul - if you could survive on half your salary, and in exchange for a balanced lifestyle, would you trade the job for more time?

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon - 7 Dec 2008

(thanks tey for the 2nd photo)

Run your own race ... I did just that. What a thrilling weekend!

I came to Singapore from a start of the week which was bad at work, and to end the week in a semi-closure. It is difficult to explain to non-runners how much of a marathon requires both mental and also physical training. I have always been stronger mentally (exposed to all sorts of work stress and experiences), but I continue to admire the mental ability of an athlete - the next stage in sporting excellence - one I aspire to be. I would say I use whatever mental strength I have to overcome my lack of training!

It would be funny if I were to mention that I had race jitters a week before the race. It was my 2nd marathon (cannot claim maiden marathon anymore!), and I signed up for this more than 3 months before - and yet I could not have trained more? The funny thing about this was that I actually enjoyed the "anxiety" feelings ..... If one does not have "anxiety" feelings or rather any feelings at all about running a marathon [ie... "excited", "trepidation" (look in dictionary!), "worried", "nervous"]... I think one is not alive!

Getting There...
This was my first trip to Singapore on Air Asia- thanks to an accidental stumble on cheap tickets, mine came at only RM210 all in - this is just slightly higher than my bus tickets last time! So, indeed "everyone can fly" even to run a race!!! Thanks to Air Asia for making travel affordable, simple and no frills!

The accomodation which I booked with a friend was quite poor - it was at a Robertson Quay hotel, which was recommended by my friend's marathon friend who had run the Singapore Marathon before. Indeed it turned out to be a small room, but to my surprise, I got over that whithin a minute - when it comes to travel on my own, I seldom worried over the little things.

I was on "sponsorship" from my university - Monash University for this race. I was proud to call myself team monash - and getting "sponsored" had a feeling as though I am a pro. But more than ever, it was a good moment to be there in Singapore, running under Monash and together with one of my uni mates, although she ran in the 10km category. My only apologies to Team Monash was that in mind I was with you guys, but with the event vest, sorry I could not wear that, there was no size and the shirt was not exactly breathable...

Race Day...
Queueing for the race with 15000 people on the road in front of Fullerton Hotel - this had to be the most strange feeling - on the same road as the formula 1 cars!!!! Got to say, Standard Chartered and Singapore has great organisation skills - there were ample toilets, the entire camaraderie and race feeling was there, it started on time, and they had great DJs and support.

First 10 km ... frankly I do not know Singapore enough to know where I was running through, but I got to say, this race is pancake flat. The cool morning breeze was there whilst running through the first 10km, despite it was in the city. The amount of people stampeding through Singapore streets for a FULL marathon category, was indeed shocking. So for the first 10km, I was determined to run, without the music of the little ipod shuffle, and just enjoyed the atmosphere, it was a relaxed first 10km, even saw some of the 530 pacers in front somewhere within 50 m at one point...

Second 10km ... we got onto the east coast area, after the half marathon turn off. I liked the East Coast area and route, it was a good running track, not on the busy city, and best of all, peaceful and more shadier with trees.

We saw the first of the race leaders on the opposite side of the road along here - I don't know if it was Luke Kibet (the eventual winner), but there was less of a pack than a few sparsely separated front runners. Whoever it was, I knew that guy had a good chance of winning - it was also quite cool when the people around clapped when they saw him - respect the distance, and respect the best runners!

Somewhere along here, I also saw Dhiren, one of my ex-colleagues, I don't know if he was running or was a spectator, but he was surprised to see me waving at him and onto the platform for a minute. It was a good distraction, suddenly seeing someone whom I did not expect brought a little more adrenaline...

Another somewhere along here, I heard Tey shout my name across the divide where the runners were coming back beyond 20km turn around, and he snapped a pic I think because I just waved instinctively - I am so surprised to even heard and more surprise he could see me, heheh, more adrenaline from quick photo...

Third 10 km... I had a continuous pace of running but on 20-30km, I slowed down a little with some walks in between during drinks - to rehydrate - hydration has always been why I did badly in KL half marathons in the past as the heat was too much and running and slowing down suddenly can drain you. Along here I also started the iPod again, and took lots of liquid, but the sudden desire to not push settled in here (as I felt I had to do the last 10km still) - and this was where I slowed down with a little regret, because it affected momentum-- especially when the sun really started to get onto me within the open spots without trees coverage.

Last 12 km... This was mostly back on the city route, completely exposed to the hot sun and really draining - it was like baking in late morning sun, in humid Singapore. It really does not help when most of the crowd is walking their way to the finishing line - kind of makes me lazy too and I was worried I would actually pass out in the heat if I pushed! So, slow jog and walk with some pauses as well as drinks hydration every station, all the way... and only towards 2km to finishing line, I jogged to the final turn, and wow, finished my 2nd marathon !!!

Post thoughts
1) I would do it again. And again. The best part of it is that I know I can do so much better, and the desire to achieve more and conquer this makes a great feeling. I have run in races proper for only 3 years, next year 2009, it is not about marathons, but variety, and better timing!!

2) Got to change the attire - the chaffing is killing me post race... but the shoes the NB 1224 - indeed the most stable shoes - held me through the race and my soles completely recovered in a few hours.

3) Respect the distance - I got what I put in, ie. not enough. I could only do 10kms 3-4 times a week for a month prior to the race. I did not even attempt 20km due to no time to do it. If I got to do this again, I got to be more committed.

4) Gel up - The gels helped to maintain the hydration and salt for the body, thanks very much to powergel for this. Surprisingly powergel was all SOLD OUT prior to the race... not surprising if I think about the 50,000 people and half of them who will get at least 1-2 gels each.

5) Always enjoy the race - And I did... together with the finishing t-shirt and the medal !!!

Really Funny

The amazing race asia show had one task which had the team record a joke told by the man on the street - this woman was REALLY funny - she was on a motorcycle, and she said this -

"Why did the one handed man cross the street?
To get to the second hand shop!!!"

:-) :-) That really cracked me up - worth this posting!

New shoes, new discovery

I have been sold!

Yesterday, I discovered my old pair of faithful Nike Air Span 4 (which fitted with a large front of the shoe) was almost "koyak" - the heel portion of the shoe had almost degraded at one part to a rubber portion, although the shoe remains largely intact and also still well preserved. I cannot remember when I bought this pair of shoes, it must have been almost more than 1.5 years ago. I can only remember I ran Penang half last year with this, and with all the races since then to now, I think it must've clocked its useful number of miles. That said, I was pretty comfortable with the shoe and how it fitted my large feet (!), and with some right socks, I had not have blisters for a while.

Whilst browsing around yesterday at the New Balance store in 1-Utama had a pair of interesting new release of the New Balance 1224 - I was even more ecstatic to discover that Pacesetters had 30% discount (whoopee - this discount paid more than enough for my whole year of membership!).

I also discovered one thing I suspected a long time before - I am really flat footed! And worse also I tend to lean on the heel balance backwards. This is why when I did the Sundown, my sole was so tingling painful for such a long while I could not even sleep right after the race!

I've never been on a new balance before, so this morning took it out for a run (very excitedly) and made 3km before it started to rain! Now, I can't wait to drive to the gym to continue the run, the sorely missed training because I've been too lazy to get up to do the Bukit Aman trail.

Verdict on the shoes so far : Very stable, and good support for long races, but seems to be a bit heavy for short races. Good space on the front of the shoe, and fits well after 1 km, it was sunk in.

Still thinking of which shoe to wear for the singapore race.

Footnote 1: And... wishing all the rest of the guys, all the best in Penang. It was too rushed for me, as I had something on Saturday and had to go for another trip on Monday, so I decided to chill. I will try the 30km on that day at Bukit Aman (hopefully can wake up) to celebrate all of you guys running the Penang race.

Footnote 2: Pacesetters members, are you aware of NB discount of 30%? Its a good deal!!!

Wait a minute ...

Previous post photo - aren't those guys stepping on the mat? Does that mean it does not work already at the starting line?

Don't make me run faster...

"Don't make me angry, you won't like me when I'm angry" - Bruce Banner - the Incredible Hulk

"Don't make me run faster..." - yours truly - when reminded that I needed to catch a flight at 12 noon - wah, so tight... this is really the 2nd time in a year - the first was KLIM - 21km and then run to car to catch a flight. To be honest, I'm really too old for this run and fly routine, unlike some people who think its really cool...

Anyway, so that was Mizuno Wave Run, ok, not too much faster, but maybe around 4 mins faster than my first Mizuno Wave Run 2006... (err, I was slower in 2007).

So maybe "dont make me run faster" works better... this is after I had a bit of a anxiety looking for SCH who collected my bib and chip (rhymes eh), about 15 mins before the race starts. And the bib ripping off before I even get to 2 km down the road.

Photo credit to Tey again, and to be honest, it is quite difficult to take photos of people running- and more importantly to enjoy taking photos of so many people. It takes interest, dedication and passion - to be honest - of all the photos pros take, I find the most difficult is with people because people change.

RACE ID:13649-MAS-MVW-xxx

Three years ago, I started running, I would never have guessed I would do two marathons in a year three years later. still a bit scared...

The fear is always, what if i pass out in the heat - will anyone know? (my sundown marathon fears were worse - what if i pass out and fall into a drain in the dark - a valid scenario! - what more that the others were faster than me).

Then again, you would never have lived if you dont live to run the next marathon.

RACE ID:13649-MAS-MVW-xxx
RACE:Full Marathon 42.195 km (Race starts 5.30 am)
COMPANY:TeamMONASH
Thank you for registering for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2008!

Rainy days

They say, save it for a rainy day. But no one ever realises that sometimes, the rainy days bring the best of things. This was captured from office window from the Twin Towers today, when a huge cloud blew past, and the bright sun was shielded with a strange yellow apocalyspe type of light. The picture was taken with a mobile phone camera, so it is not so clear, but definitely it was spectacular to the naked eye for those who saw it.