Kicking off the new year with a friendly race was great! Although I missed out on a 7th place trophy by only 23 seconds, it was a huge improvement compared to my standing a year ago.
Looking at 2009, I think I did pretty okay in sticking with it, with 2 marathons and a few halfs thrown in. My stats based on my GPS for 2009 looks like this;
Running mileage : 2,060km
Total time : 199.50 hours
No. of times : 186
Races : 20
Average distance/run : 11.1km
Average pace : 10.3kph
List of injuries : 1. Achilles bursitis in right heel (still there)
2. Shin Splints (April, December)
3. Hip Adductor/hamstring pull (October - November)
4. Cramps - only in both marathons and LSDs above 30km.
My PRs for 2009;
Marathon : 4 hr 22 min 22 sec
30k : 2 hr 48 min
Half marathon : 1 hr 49 min
10k : 48 min
5k : 24 min 3 sec
With all the mileage, racing experiences and injuries, I'm quite sure that I will be much stronger going into 2010 and look forward to setting new PRs. Based on the "experts", runners tend to improve from year to year, as long as they mix speed and distance as well as staying relatively injury free.
My goals for 2010 include;
Running mileage : 2,400km, including 500km of cycling
Total time : 230 hours
No. of times : 180
Races : 18
Average pace : 10.5kph
List of injuries : Hopefully none
Marathon : Sub 4 hours
30k : 2 hour 45 minutes
Half marathon : 1 hour 45 minutes
10k : 46 minutes
5k : 23 minutes
Hopefully, when I look back at this at the end of 2010, most of these goals will be achieved.
Showing posts with label Running. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Running. Show all posts
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Mizuno 10k 2009
Date : 25 Oct 2009
Time : 0730 am
Place : Stadium UPM, Serdang, Lebuh Silikon
Weather : Wonderful!
Slope : Challenging!
Course : Scenic and almost no traffic.
Memorable points : Killer Hill before you can reach the stadium...Made walkers out of runners!
Pros : 1 water stop at mid way point
Good starting point.
Good crowd!
Cons : Narrow route, especially at the starting point
Parking arrangements quite haphazard
For those who depend on public transport, this location is not very accessible.
The day started early at 5am as we were planning to meet the KK pacers at McD. Hung around McDonalds and left 6am, with a big group of cars in tow.
Hooked up with another friend in Shell near the Serdang toll. However, I proceeded first as another fellow runner was there to guide the rest to the stadium.
We arrived there at about 6.30am and the parking area was filling up quickly.
With ample time to do the warm up and and stretching, we could see the masses of people starting to arrive.
By 7.30am, as the horn went off, there were still quite a lot of people making their way to the starting point. I started off about 20 meters from the front row, but it took a good 400meters before the road was clear to actually move into the pace that I wanted to run at.
With a 5 min/km pace in mind and to see whether the 'chi running' approach, the 1st km was understandably slower at 5:12. As we reached the golf course, the crowd began to thin enough to run at my pace.
After running through the undulating terrain, I was still on mark at 7km. At that point, I knew I just needed to focus and push through the last 4k or so. Things was made much more interesting as the last hill had silently sneaked up on most of the runners as most of us didn't notice the severity of the slope when we headed up....
I managed to maintain a good pace up the hill and was able to pass about 30 others on the hill alone.
After that, it was downhill all the way, literally speaking!
I managed to maintain a pretty good sprint for the last 300m to 400m, even hitting 21kph at 1 point. I finished in 54:13 for the total distance of 10.93km and a pace of 12.1kph, about 12 seconds in the black. It was a vast improvement compared my Mizuno run in 2008 at 11.5kph at the reverse double hills loop.So far, only the Siemen's run was better in terms of run time, but of course, the slope challenge was a different story.
In short, nice run, good organizers, great running course.
Time : 0730 am
Place : Stadium UPM, Serdang, Lebuh Silikon
Weather : Wonderful!
Slope : Challenging!
Course : Scenic and almost no traffic.
Memorable points : Killer Hill before you can reach the stadium...Made walkers out of runners!
Pros : 1 water stop at mid way point
Good starting point.
Good crowd!
Cons : Narrow route, especially at the starting point
Parking arrangements quite haphazard
For those who depend on public transport, this location is not very accessible.
The day started early at 5am as we were planning to meet the KK pacers at McD. Hung around McDonalds and left 6am, with a big group of cars in tow.
Hooked up with another friend in Shell near the Serdang toll. However, I proceeded first as another fellow runner was there to guide the rest to the stadium.
We arrived there at about 6.30am and the parking area was filling up quickly.
With ample time to do the warm up and and stretching, we could see the masses of people starting to arrive.
By 7.30am, as the horn went off, there were still quite a lot of people making their way to the starting point. I started off about 20 meters from the front row, but it took a good 400meters before the road was clear to actually move into the pace that I wanted to run at.
With a 5 min/km pace in mind and to see whether the 'chi running' approach, the 1st km was understandably slower at 5:12. As we reached the golf course, the crowd began to thin enough to run at my pace.
After running through the undulating terrain, I was still on mark at 7km. At that point, I knew I just needed to focus and push through the last 4k or so. Things was made much more interesting as the last hill had silently sneaked up on most of the runners as most of us didn't notice the severity of the slope when we headed up....
I managed to maintain a good pace up the hill and was able to pass about 30 others on the hill alone.
After that, it was downhill all the way, literally speaking!
I managed to maintain a pretty good sprint for the last 300m to 400m, even hitting 21kph at 1 point. I finished in 54:13 for the total distance of 10.93km and a pace of 12.1kph, about 12 seconds in the black. It was a vast improvement compared my Mizuno run in 2008 at 11.5kph at the reverse double hills loop.So far, only the Siemen's run was better in terms of run time, but of course, the slope challenge was a different story.
In short, nice run, good organizers, great running course.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
"Chi"cken Running
My old friend borrowed me this book on Chi Running by Danny Dreyer. It's a book on a running technique which borrows principle from 'Chi Kung' and learnt it from a practitioner called George Xu.
My fundamental understanding from this is that the core should drive the motion and the rest of the body is along for the ride.
I started the first steps in establishing the column and increasing my cadence. The first time was a bit tougher on the calves and the abdomen, but all in all, pretty good especially towards the end.
Looking forward to putting in more 'chi' runs as I go along and hopefully, it will turn out well. Better posture (no more hunchback from Notre Dame), better speed and injury free.....keeping my fingers crossed.
It has some teachings for both newbies and old hands at running, and there may be some benefits for those who have recurring injuries due to running.
Strictly recommended for those who love running.
My fundamental understanding from this is that the core should drive the motion and the rest of the body is along for the ride.
I started the first steps in establishing the column and increasing my cadence. The first time was a bit tougher on the calves and the abdomen, but all in all, pretty good especially towards the end.
Looking forward to putting in more 'chi' runs as I go along and hopefully, it will turn out well. Better posture (no more hunchback from Notre Dame), better speed and injury free.....keeping my fingers crossed.
It has some teachings for both newbies and old hands at running, and there may be some benefits for those who have recurring injuries due to running.
Strictly recommended for those who love running.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
LS(S)D Run (Long Slow (Short?) Distance Run)
Event : Long Slow Distance Run
Place : Around Bukit Rimau and KK
Distance : 16km
Time : 7:00 to 8:30am, there abouts.
Weather : Good
Had a wonderful Saturday, with weather pretty mild, with scattered showers in the evening.
The family did have a good time at the KK pacers potluck bash near KK Lake, with good food, good company and something for the kids to do. The weather was holding up, although there were intermittent drizzle.
Tried to come up with a good number for this morning's run, and more or less settled on 20 km, depending how I felt. No particular pace in mind. I was more concerned on both my achilles heels and left hamstring.
The last thing I needed was starting off my marathon training for SG with injuries...
As usual, I took some time before I could get out the front door. With a cup of coffee down the chute and some Red Bull diluted with water 1:3, I was off for my run at exactly 7:01am.
The first 5km went smooth, and at a fairly easy pace. The joints were doing ok. After completing the 1st round at KK Lake, the hamstring and knees acted up a bit.
With the sun coming up and temperatures rising, I decided there and then to cut it short to 15k.
Heading towards the 2nd roundabout, I almost got run over by a lady driver, who seemed to either have dysfunctional right signal indicator, or have adopted the high driving standards of Malaysia :-
"RUNNERS BEWARE! MOTORISED VEHICLES HAVE ULTIMATE RIGHT OF WAY, ESPECIALLY MINE!"
What can you do? Anyway, I deftly swerved to dodge the 4 wheel drive and continued on my merry way, and none the worse for the experience. Little does one know what was going through my mind...
Getting back to the neighbourhood, I decided to do a mini loop before finishing at a round 10 miler, good to be considered an LSD but not really long by most standards. Bumped into 1 of our KK pacers. Didn't know she was staying there and vice versa. Strange, huh... Maybe timing issue lah.
Wrapped up the run in good running form and feeling good. No major aches and pains, and at this time of writing, 7 hours after the run, I'm only having some tightness in my right achilles tendon and a wee bit tired. Great, compared to the condition I was in after the Adidas KOTR.
The next race is at end of this month, and a short one at that; the PAR relay event with the KK Pacers sending 5 teams.
I'm thinking about my training program for the SG marathon, hoping to kick it off latest 1 September.
For the KL marathon, I did 900km in 16 weeks, with 700km in the last 12 weeks for a 4:29 finish, and the wall hitting at 35km.
I hope to log at least a total of 1000km within the 16 weeks, with 850km in the last 12 weeks. My target for this round - 4:15 and push out the wall a few more km. However, breaking a leg to go sub 4:00 is something I will have on my mind.
Place : Around Bukit Rimau and KK
Distance : 16km
Time : 7:00 to 8:30am, there abouts.
Weather : Good
Had a wonderful Saturday, with weather pretty mild, with scattered showers in the evening.
The family did have a good time at the KK pacers potluck bash near KK Lake, with good food, good company and something for the kids to do. The weather was holding up, although there were intermittent drizzle.
Tried to come up with a good number for this morning's run, and more or less settled on 20 km, depending how I felt. No particular pace in mind. I was more concerned on both my achilles heels and left hamstring.
The last thing I needed was starting off my marathon training for SG with injuries...
As usual, I took some time before I could get out the front door. With a cup of coffee down the chute and some Red Bull diluted with water 1:3, I was off for my run at exactly 7:01am.
The first 5km went smooth, and at a fairly easy pace. The joints were doing ok. After completing the 1st round at KK Lake, the hamstring and knees acted up a bit.
With the sun coming up and temperatures rising, I decided there and then to cut it short to 15k.
Heading towards the 2nd roundabout, I almost got run over by a lady driver, who seemed to either have dysfunctional right signal indicator, or have adopted the high driving standards of Malaysia :-
"RUNNERS BEWARE! MOTORISED VEHICLES HAVE ULTIMATE RIGHT OF WAY, ESPECIALLY MINE!"
What can you do? Anyway, I deftly swerved to dodge the 4 wheel drive and continued on my merry way, and none the worse for the experience. Little does one know what was going through my mind...
Getting back to the neighbourhood, I decided to do a mini loop before finishing at a round 10 miler, good to be considered an LSD but not really long by most standards. Bumped into 1 of our KK pacers. Didn't know she was staying there and vice versa. Strange, huh... Maybe timing issue lah.
Wrapped up the run in good running form and feeling good. No major aches and pains, and at this time of writing, 7 hours after the run, I'm only having some tightness in my right achilles tendon and a wee bit tired. Great, compared to the condition I was in after the Adidas KOTR.
The next race is at end of this month, and a short one at that; the PAR relay event with the KK Pacers sending 5 teams.
I'm thinking about my training program for the SG marathon, hoping to kick it off latest 1 September.
For the KL marathon, I did 900km in 16 weeks, with 700km in the last 12 weeks for a 4:29 finish, and the wall hitting at 35km.
I hope to log at least a total of 1000km within the 16 weeks, with 850km in the last 12 weeks. My target for this round - 4:15 and push out the wall a few more km. However, breaking a leg to go sub 4:00 is something I will have on my mind.
Friday, May 1, 2009
Der Pacemakers SCKLM CR1
Where : Lake Gardens
When : 0720
Weather : 0720-0800 28deg 0800-0900 30deg 0900-10000 - 33deg (by feel, not measured)
Terrain : First time training with staircase included. Definitely challenging!
Elevation : 33m per round, 1 of the toughest so far.
As with most events with Der Pacemakers, the number was kept small, it was quite easy, logistically speaking it was very easy to park close to the starting point.
Not having run this particular course before, I had no idea what I was in for. The incline was pretty sharp in the beginning, with about 25 steps of stairs as part of the course. The course was pretty well shaded and I didn't feel the heat until a bit later.
Started pretty well, despite some lethargy from previous week's race in Bidor. However, when the sun was up and shining by 0900, the going got tough. I took half a gel at 18 km and it seemed to help. By the time I was on 22km, the battery was running dry and polished off the remainder.
I felt worse towards the end and I couldn't running so I took up a walk run strategy to finish off the last few km.
At the end, I was very much spent and it probably was more punishing than the 2 30km training LSDs I did earlier.
I'm planning to finish off the week with a 19km run...hopefully as my body is still aching from the exertion.
When : 0720
Weather : 0720-0800 28deg 0800-0900 30deg 0900-10000 - 33deg (by feel, not measured)
Terrain : First time training with staircase included. Definitely challenging!
Elevation : 33m per round, 1 of the toughest so far.
As with most events with Der Pacemakers, the number was kept small, it was quite easy, logistically speaking it was very easy to park close to the starting point.
Not having run this particular course before, I had no idea what I was in for. The incline was pretty sharp in the beginning, with about 25 steps of stairs as part of the course. The course was pretty well shaded and I didn't feel the heat until a bit later.
Started pretty well, despite some lethargy from previous week's race in Bidor. However, when the sun was up and shining by 0900, the going got tough. I took half a gel at 18 km and it seemed to help. By the time I was on 22km, the battery was running dry and polished off the remainder.
I felt worse towards the end and I couldn't running so I took up a walk run strategy to finish off the last few km.
At the end, I was very much spent and it probably was more punishing than the 2 30km training LSDs I did earlier.
I'm planning to finish off the week with a 19km run...hopefully as my body is still aching from the exertion.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
