My Noob-pace Half Marathon @ Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2012

Muahahaha!
I've regressed into a total noob.
My weight is up in the sky.
My running is down in the drains.
I completed this half-marathon maybe undertrained.
But... completed it, nevertheless!  Muahahaha!

OK, ok.  Here are the details.
The week prior to the event, I did a 1.5 hour LSD on Sunday, and a 6km on Tuesday.
Then rested.
Saturday, traveled to KL with family.
Stopped by Dataran Merdeka to pick up my race pack, and get myself rm30's worth of Power Bars & Gels.
Then, checked in at Lotus Hotel, very conveniently located near Dataran Merdeka.
Vegetated, had lite dinner, and went to bed at about 12am.
I had NO EXPECTATIONS, thus, I slept soundly.
Alarm blared at 5 am, woke up, prepared.
5:45am did the fajr prayers.
5:50am rushed out of the hotel and jogged to the starting line
6:00am starting gun sounded, crowd slowly made it's way to the starting line.
6:06am I crossed the starting line.  WooHoo!

Strategy: 6:1 run:walk all the way.
Felt comfortable, not pushing it at all.
Mind-tune was Fun's "We are Young"
Plenty of water stops.
I did not know where I was heading, just ran with the herd.

At 19km my legs started to feel like wood.  LOL
WALKED...
500m to the finish, ran again, crossed the line as photogenically as I could.  LOL

Time: over 3 hours!
LOL!
NOOB ALERT!

OK, OK, here's the official time, from the website
Official finish: 3:10:17
10k split : 1:28:26
Ranking: 594 out of? 595? LOL

Training Run: SSD 4 Loops RSB

SSD = short slow distance, the lesser cousin of LSD.  Yeah, I made that one up.
Due to an all-niter, there's no chance of an early morning wakey-wakey, so an evening run it was.
Even then, starting at 6:40pm there's not much time to do it.
So, SSD it was.
Set the timer on my Timex to 7 mins, for a  Galloway 6:1 ratio, i.e. 6 mins run/jog with 1 min walk and repeat.

Weather: sunny
Shoes: Still not broken in  Asics Foundation 10
Route: RSB Loop
Weight:  80 kilos
Fitness level: 1/5

Lap 1 ---- 11:08 ----- 11:08  1.2km slow
Lap 2 ---- 11:17 ----- 22:25  2.4km slower
Lap 3 ---- 10:38 ----- 33:03  3.6km blister (ouch)
Lap 4 ---- 10:59 ----- 44:02  4.8km weak finish

Lesson learned:  don't tie the shoes too tight
And that's it for today.  Tada!

Faster training run: 3 loops RSB

After the last run, didn't feel so well.
Sniffles.  Then fever. Then sore throat, followed by coughs.  Today, everything seemed better.  And I had a need.  A need for speed.  So....  packed with the extra lbs around my midsection, how faster can I go?  LOL

Lap 1 ----- 9:47 ------ 9:47  1.2km fast
Lap 2 ----- 8:51 ----- 18:38  2.4km faster! OMG
Lap 3 ---- 11:16 ----- 29:54  3.6km final panchited lap

Not bad.  Surprised even me.. Muahaha!!!
But more importantly, I'm long overdue for an LSD.  Dare I try an LSD run tomorrow morning?  Hmmm....

Training Run: 5 loops RSB

Self-explanatory.  Five loops with 1~1.5 minutes walk break per loop.

Weather: cloudy 
Shoes: NEW!  Asics Foundation 10
Route: RSB Loop
Weight:  Over
Fitness level: uhm...

Lap 1 ---- 11:25 ----- 11:25  1.2km slow
Lap 2 ---- 10:21 ----- 21:46  2.4km faster
Lap 3 ---- 10:34 ----- 32:20  3.6km maintain
Lap 4 ---- 10:27 ----- 42:47  4.8km still maintain!
Lap 5 ---- 10:19 ----- 53:06  6.0km dash to the finish :D



Fun, fun, fun!  5 laps now feel like... not enough!
Time to crank up the mileage!  Or... go non-stop...

Race Report: Merentas Desa Pulau Pinang

What:  Merentas Desa Pulau Pinang
Where:  Teluk Kumbar, Pulau Pinang
Category: B Junior Veteran 6km
Bib Number: 3158
Route:  Convoluted! kampung roads, sandy beach, vegetable farm.  Not so hilly
Fun factor:  4/5
Finish time: 58:43

Jolted awake at 6am. Rushed to prepare, and by 6:20am was outta the house.  Sorta got lost en-route in the dark streets, arrived at venue about 6:40am.  Assembled at the Dewan Perda Teluk Kumbar, warmed up, etc until flag off at 7:30 pm.  Since I'm in no shape to "race", I started from the back.  Main road, kampung road, slight hill, then downhill, still kampung road, then sandy beach, where I just walked about 1km, then kampung road sommore, vegetable farm, kampung road and back to the Dewan Perda.  Dashed to the finish, but no more medals.  Received my cert, then the usual hunting for post-run refreshments.

Overall, I ran just as I saw fit, speeding on the downhills, walking when too kaputed.  Finish time is BAD for 6km, lol.  My fitter friend from the office, same category, finished in 51 mins.  Ach!

OK that's it.

Four laps RSb

Weather: nice
Shoes: worn out
Route: RSB Loop
Weight:  Over
Fitness level: bleah

Lap 1 ---- 10:13 ----- 10:13  1.2km slow
Lap 2 ---- 10:10 ----- 20:23  2.4km slower
Lap 3 ---- 11:07 ----- 31:30  3.6km slowest!
Lap 4 ---- 10:16 ----- 41:46  4.8km dash to the finish :(

Definitely out of shape.  Har! Har!

BTW, I got an invitation from some office mates to join "Merentas Desa Pulau Pinang 2012" @ Teluk Kumbar.

And I said yes!  LOL

Actually it's three days past the closing date, but somebody called the organizers, who then replied that they can still accept late registrations.  Tomorrow I should know if the registration got through.

Getting there...

Fast update.
I have registered for a Half-Marathon in June!
Training has started, albeit with my worn out shoes.  I need new shoes!!
First session - 2 laps (2.4k) around my taman perumahan RSB
Second session - 3 laps (3.6k) RSB
Third session - 4 laps Bukit Dumbar
Feels good to be hitting the road again.  And nothing beats having them endorphins in the bloodstream after the runs.