Penang Bridge International Marathon 2009

With Chris Jong and Dillon Sze
















With Frank Chong

Instead of writing a full report on the race, this time I will just try to list out what I like and I dont like about the event and things for improvement (not in any order)


Like
- Online registration and payment made it very easy for runners
- Courier service to send race kit to door step
- Open discussion on Facebook allow interaction with runners and organiser
- Sufficient toilets at race site
- Drummers give motivation at mid-span of the bridge
- Champion Chip made life easy for all
- Goodies bag & medals given away immediately when runners finished the race
- The entire running route was designed to minimise collision with all categories


Dislike
- Running vest is way to small according to size chart provided
- No quality FINISHER T for Full Marathon runners. We dont need al-cheapo cotton ones
- Distance marker not sufficient and one of them were wrong
- More diistance marker towards the last 10k of Full Marathon
- Not sufficient toilets along the route. Hardly see one except at the mid-span of bridge
- No cheerleaders towards the ending part of the race to motivate runners
- The lady MC is so boring....keep on repeating!!!!
- No music to motivate runners at race site


Thats all I can think of. Like I said in Facebook, you dont have to praise your own self for a job well done., the runners will. A big pat to the organiser for a job well done. Will be there again next year.

And this will be the finale of marathon running for year 2009 before it comes to an end. Seeya again in the next race and my next marathon challenge will be the Stanchart Hong Kong Marathon on 28 Feb 2010.

And last but not least, congrats to my running buddy Loke SS for accomplished his target of running a sub5 race in this event. Now you have to shift the target for the next marathon challenge. For me I finished the race in 4hr 40mins (chip time)

Products I used for the race
1) Saucony vest
2) 2XU compression shorts
3) SPIBelt to carry small items like gel, oilment, etc
4) Saucony Fastwitch 3 racer
5) Injinji toe socks
6) NUUN hydration tablet
7) Weider IN Energy Jelly as pre-race food
8) Endurox R4 energy drink

Post race recovery 2

This is into the 2nd week of recovery after TNF 100k Duo event. Although the leg muscles are fully recover and back to normal, I still felt some soreness and tightness while running. Last Sunday I did my FINALE ie the last LSD before tapering off for Penang Bridge International Marathon 2009. It was a 32k run and I felt tightness after hitting 25k. Thats not a good sign in terms of getting ready for the race. I am tempted to do another LSD of 30k this Sat but I guess it probably doesnt help much in the last minute preparation. So I will just do a 15k to ease of the training and just save it for race day.

I guessed one month time for me to recover from a tough race is not sufficient, hence I will take it very easy on race day. Probably just pace with Loke SS and help him to achieve a sub5 finishing. If things do change for a better on race day, then I will attempt to go for a sub 4-1/2hr finishing, else it will just be a slow cruise for me in PBIM09.

A 4 month training, started off with normal base training workout and into some speedwork follow by endurance running to tackle one ultra 50k Trail route and a marathon. Never have I done this before and now I know where my body limits are. Luckily there was no injury during the training. Thanks to the shoes (Saucony, Newton and K-SWISS) I use for this entire 4 months of training.

Till then I will see you all at the starting line of PBIM 09 aka Asam Laksa Marathon.

Saucony Spring 2010 Release

The Spring model for 2010 were released and only be available in USA in the Feb/March timeframe. So it will probably only hit the Malaysia running scene in June/July 2010 timeframe.















Saucony Grid Fastwitch 4















Saucony Grid Tangent 4
















Saucony Grid Getco















Saucony Progrid Triumph 7















Saucony Progrid Guide 3 (Women)


For more details of these models, click here

Post race recovery

It has been a week since I am back from The NorthFace 100K Duo race. Have been wearing the 2XU Elite Compression to sleep for the past 1 week. The compression tights really help to ease muscle soreness and help relax it. The pain and soreness are gone on the third day and I started to do a slow run on Friday itself. Legs felt heavy in the run but I believed that's part of the recovery process.

Ran 10K on Saturday and did another 10k today. The legs still seems to be heavy and stiff, and after running I felt some soreness on the calf itself. The knee is showing some kind of weakness as well. I guessed I had to take it slowly and not rush into it. Seems like the 50k race really take a toll on my legs. I wonder how people can recover after doing the Sundown 84k ultra-marathon.

Will continue to run this coming week and see how it goes. Attempting to do a final LSD of 30k this coming weekend if everything fall into places before PBIM09. Will hope to recover in time. Not putting too much hope in doing a good time for this event. A sub-5hr finisher will be just nice for me.

Till then I will continue to report on my road to recovery. Stay free from injury.