The Art of Animaling: March 2010

Monday, March 29, 2010

running

Woohoo! Finished our first night marathon last Saturday night; Energizer Night Marathon 21km @ Cyberjaya.

Things I liked about it:

1. Running beside the lake.

2. Pretty good terrain.

3. Good quality vest from Adidas.

4. Pretty good goodie bag.

5. BOMBA spraying water at the runners damn cool my favourite part!

Things I hated about it:

1. Some stations ran out of water.

2. Traffic jam.

3. Carpark too far from flag off area.

4. Baggage station 1km away from starting point wtf damn stupid.

5. Some parts of the run were pretty dark and creepy, some got construction workers staring at you.

6. Finishing line was horrible, they didn't re-direct traffic; we were running against a sea of people who had finished the race and were walking out of the start/finish area.

7. Only had Gatorade. Nothing beats 100PLUS and Revive.

Overall a pretty good experience running at night, except the starting part which was quite stressful. We were late, the guys had to carry the bags while running (cuz couldn't afford to waste time walking 2km to deposit bags) and no time to stretch properly. It's good that we had timing chips, to keep track of our real running time as opposed to gun time.

Keeping track of my running times:

Mizuno 11km: 1hr 35min

Malakoff 12km: 1hr xxmin (shit, forgot liao)

NB Pacesetters 20km: 3hr 30min

Bareno 15km: 2hr 5min

Energizer 21km (+1km scam): 3hr 9min

I figure, I'm pretty comfy now with anything 15km and below. 15km itself quite pain also, depending on the terrain, and was starting to cramp up during the end of Bareno run. Too many hills around Bukit Jalil! Anything more than 15km I'll have to bring Counterpain and Powergel. I'm so amazed at Powergel's power of preventing stitches (jakun first time eat Powergel). It helped me last till the end of ENR!

Things to note for next run:

- must not be late

- must stretch properly

- must rest enough

- must eat proper meal on the day before and the day itself

So far, the most enjoyable run was Malakoff, although it had some of the steepest hills. The location really does make a huge difference; running around Bukit Damansara, my mind was really distracted by all the beautiful, posh homes rather than the pain in the legs! Most of the route was shaded by trees, so it wasn't hot and sunny, nice and cooling even when the sun came up.

To date, the best running vest is from Mizuno. Damn comfy and the size is just right. Suckiest shirt is Bareno; armpit hole too big. NB Pacesetters was the worst run for me, because I was not strong enough to push till the end. The first 10km was good but the next 10km really killed me. By the last few kms, I was cramping, pale, nauseous and ANGRY. Angry because my body and mind were not tired, but the legs were just about to give up. Now that I've discovered the amazing secret powers of Powergel (still jakun) I shall not phear. Woot.

Total km conquered to date: 79km (+1km scam @ ENR)

I'm happy with the latest race so far, because I improved a lot compared to previous runs. I ran most of the km and brisk walked for the rest, didn't stop at all (I don't stop at water stations, I grab the drink and sip while brisk walking) and didn't walk slowly like during NB Pacesetters. I was 9min short of the qualifying time, but am still very satisfied :]

Here's a pic :D