Standard Charted KL International Marathon 2009

Yesterday was a big day with all the preparation's put towards this event and happy with results that I obtained which is 02:40:00 for my 21K, yippeee !!! The event itself was quite the experience from the race pack pick up till the begining of the event itself. I got my stuff's on Friday morning as I did not want be crushed in between the 12,500 participants of the event ;)

It was Sunday morning, got up early early 2:30 am and started through my pre-race ritual as always. I really getting good at this ... *Self Pat Pat :)) Had my driver drop (aka my brother) as close as possible to the venue. I was there quite early as I wanted to watch the release of the Full Marathon runners. As the Full Marathon Runners lined up at Starting it started to pour but the runners were ready to go, the gun went off they were off !! Cheered them on !

Soon after I took a walk around to deposit my bag and munched on my Power Bar. It was around 5:30am and started my warmup routine. There was quite a crowd for the Half Marathon, soon it was time and I walked into the starting lane. Had a chat with senior whom was 70 plus and had run many many marathon and he was so excited. Wished him best of luck and soon its was TIME !! 6:15am and the gun went, whooopeeee, we were off !!!!!!!!!

I started steadily following the dense pack as there were so many runners side by side. It was only after the 2nd KM it started to break slowly and continued to pace on steadily. There was a confusion with the distance markers as I felt they were wrong double checking with Nike+, that would have given many runners the wrong impression of the distance left to cover.

Traffic control by the police at certain junction is bad ! Some runners almost got run over, the police at some location were slack causing considerable danger to runners. The so called individual to cheer on the runners were an absolute waste money, they were just standing there expressionless !!! After 02:40:00 I finally reached the finish line in all its glory, just to have to stopped by some with a wand to detect my BID id, almost rammed into the person !

Then I had to stand for another 45minutes to collect my baggage, was lane super long sheeshhh ..... finally got it and got my drink and was sipping away! :)) Was looking at my new shinny shinny > Finishers Medal for SCKLM and met some of the fellow runners for chit chat. Went home tired but accomplished, it was my best time ever for my 21K ! Well it going to get even better that I promise myself !! Next PBIM 2009 ! The adventure continues .....

Updated Stats From SCKLM Website :))

Name:	KUMAR A/L RAMASAMY (MAS)
Net Start:	06:14:17	Category:	Half Marathon 21km
Net Time:	02:42:25	Position:	1231
Finish Timing:	02:43:41.91

Forefoot Running by Newton Running .. Tks to Charles Low (SCKLM Runner)

Dynamic Stretching vs. Static Stretching for Runners

Static Stretching is any stretch pose that you hold for more that 30sec or a long duration. This most commonly what runners end up doing before a run. But the opposite is required which is Dynamic Stretching that engages a few muscle groups at one go. This is ideal the better approach, meaning do dynamic stretches before you run and static stretches after you finish a run. The video bellow outlines some examples of dynamic stretching ... remember always STREEETCCHHHH :)

Insightful Training Videos by Ryan Hill for Full/Half Marathons ;)

An outstanding set of video cataloguing Ryan Hall's training for preparation for Full/Half Marathon. Excellent set of video about training for a full/half marathon (i.e. tempo runs, interval runs, sprints, recovery, etc). Its also includes a pdf of 12 week training plan for those preparing to full/half marathon. Quick move that arrow over here and click !

Miley Cirus - The Climb (Thks To SCKLM Twitter !)

My 2 Cents On Running (Part 1)

After running quite a fair bit of runs this year and injuring myself on countless occasion I think its time to put some of learning's to my running blog.

Some of the myths about running a marathon, this is not a sprint event, this is an endurance event. If you can actually sprint then your in a class of your own ! Training is a progressive effort and too much too such can be seriously detrimental to your progress and may lead injuries.(which I learned the hard way, ouch ouch)

There is a several aspects that you need to be aware of when it comes to running
1) Training Regime
2) Nutrition (Water, Sport Drink, Pre-Run Meal, Post Run Meal)
3) Running Shoes
4) Apparel (Shirt, Pants, Tights, Socks)
5) Injury Prevention (Physiotherapy, Stretching, Vaseline, Antacids)

Training Regime

Training is pivotal to your progress, whether your aim to better your PR(i.e. Personal Record) or compete. As far as training is concern the MOST important thing is to gauge and know where you are in (i.e. state of enery, strength, endurance). Start from this point and build incrementally.

A very important point is to LISTEN to your body, know when you need to REST, REST is a very IMPORTANT element of training regime. You allow your body to REST and RECUPERATE so that you move the next stage of training.

Have a TRAINING plan and prepare towards it, keep to you PLAN, DO NOT GIVE EXCUSES, you must have the DISCPLINE. So when you create the PLAN, create allowances that will work for you.

Your training program must match your ability, you will grow stronger if your train progressively. DO NOT do TO MUCH to SOON ! Make sure that you have variety in your training which is a mix of interval, hill, tempo and endurance. There are a lot of website that could help you with this. (i.e. http://www.runnersworld.com)

It's IMPORTANT that you set a day in the week to do LONG RUNS especially during the weekend. Target running on different surfaces (i.e. treadmills, fields, track, roads). Different surfaces will give you a different feel and also provide a different resistance. It's important that you run on roads at least once a week at the very minimum as its totally different compared to running on treadmills.

Outdoor running is more IMPORTANT than running in the gym as it prepares you for the various scenario's like wind chill, surface variations, heat, etc. It's important also you vary your runs at different time of day (i.e. Early Morning, Afternoon, Evening) to get your used to different temperature fluctuations. I have varied my running times and found indeed the experience is totally different.

Key Takeways on Training
1) Have a PLAN thats works for you
2) Diligently Execute on IT !
3) Monitor and Improve
4) Create a Variation (i.e. tempo, interval, endurance)
5) Training Surface and Time of Day

Well I think this should be enough as serious there is so many dynamics to the topic of training and I've just begun to scratch the surface plus I am still learning ... thus the adventure continues till the next Part ! Till then HAPPY RUNNING !

Malakoff 26K 2009

The Malakoff 26K was a blast ! It was an early morning race starting of at 5:30am, a good timing indeed. Reached there about 4:00 am so that I could get a good parking spot :) It was cool .. was freezing my butt off , did a bit of warm up to get the body powered up. Soon after went over to get the starting at was at the start line.

There was an assortment of runners ranging from old to to young and also visitors from globally. It was nice sight, met a few of my running buddies, so familiar faces :) Sharp 5:30am the gun went off and we were off ! It was a grueling start as it started hilly, man was there a lot of hills and they were steep, thank God for my hill training, phew.

Navigated through the hilly terrain and finally came to flat part of run. My right nipple was hurting and initially brushed it off and pressed on but I later found out that it was actually bleeding and my vest was bloody, damn I need nipple stickers !! I ran out of gas after the 15K mark and my hamstrings were killing.

I pushed on running/walking for the rest of the race till the finish line. I reached the finish line approximately 3:30:00, not bad for a first attempt ! It was a great experience in terms of preparing for the event, lots of learning and things to fine before the next big adventure ... Standard Chartered's KL International ..... and the adventure continues !!!!!! :)

Bukit Jambul Hill Training

21K Run Route (IVORY)

Training Routes : 12K Route from USM