No Pain No Gain!!!
This time hor, i am write my race report in der Pacemakers way.
For me, der nite before the race, i cinya cannot sleep or dont know whether i sleep. After dont know how long hor, my handphone alarm rang and i wakeup. It was only 1am and there is 2 hours more to the race. I am not kan cheong but dont why I wake up so early. Then sleep back again when Dr alarm rang. That time is 1.30am. I sit down for a while and go to toilet and try to pangsai. Nothing come out. Si liao, after when race start want to pangsai how? Now start to kan cheong abit.
For this race hor, i have no pressure for myself. My motto hor, "No time pressure, and run to my fullest capabilities" I couldn't ask for more and cinya happy to finish der run in 4hrs29mins03sec, 30mins faster than last year. i think i am cinya happy liao. Some more 2 weeks before race my stomach got so much gas like balloon. Taking medicine until race day, and also suffer from sore throat and cough. I keep praying my ang kong (God) that my stomach dont suffer any gas and my sore throat and cough is less.
I was out of my room early to get some hot water to make my oats/soymilk breakfast. At the reception, I meet Tay Poh Chye. I say HELLO to him but he shy shy shake my hands. I think he cinya scare looking at me one kind.
Der morning is cinya hot and humid, no rain for the nite. 30 mintues to 2.45am, Dr, geraldine, wong sifu and myself walk to der start point. Ah Beng followed later. Registered at der entrance of der school and get a wristband. Meet all the running friends inside der school. Cinya happy see so many friend and chit-chat.
Der race started at 3am sharp and I paced with Dr. Geraldine already pecut and cant see her liao. Ah Beng also followed her to run fast at the starting. We paced for der 1st loop of 6k before running onto the bridge. At that time, I oredi feeling throat cinya dry liao. Need water and drink at the 1st water station.
Onto der bridge together with Dr and we continued to run together until we reached der toll at Prai side. At that point i slow down a bit because I want to reserve energy for der remainder of the race. Dr ran ahead and after a while I cannot see him anymore.
As I come out of the toll, der place there is cinya smelly like kok!!!. What is this man, TNS!!!! Der nearby factory must be pouring out some unwanted water. I speed up a bit here to avoid the smell and then back to my normal pace. Continue to run and then reached der mid span of der bridge. Then i heard machine noise coming out from der bridge and it was der piling machine which is for der bridge extension work. TNS again because i breath in so much smoke from the machine. Der smoke is call carbon diaoxide.
When i come out from der bridge, it was close to about 26k liao. I know from here onwards hor it will be a long stretch all der way to der end and U turn near the Seagate junction. Knowing der route from last year experience, I continue to run at a normal pace which I am comfortable. After another 2k suddenly I saw Penguin 2 (Khee Meng) in front of me, then Bong and followed by Jamie. Greeted and went past them and continue running.
After this stretch, I am running into a very dark stretch of road with no lights. It was very dark and this is TNS number 3. How can der organiser let runners running in der dark with very little race officer around. Run and run and run, finally reached der Seagate U turn. Saw Tay Poh Chye again and greeted him. Again he looks shy shy and quickily run away from me. Then I dont see him anymore after that.
After this point which is around 32k, thats where der battle of der race starts. My legs and body start to be weaker, and muscle feel tighter liao. Cinya amkan. I pray to my ang kong (God) again and say popee popee, pls dont let me suffer cramp. As i run on der opposite side of the road, I saw Gege Tey, Pelle (my swedish friend) and a few others. This will be another long stretch back to where we enter and will take me to the 35k mark and then to the final stretch before making another U turn.
Continue to run but at a slower pace and keep on praying to my ang kong (god). I fear cramp will come and running slower is the best way to prevent it. Soon I am out of der stretch and onto the final phase of 37k, 38k, 39k and U turn, then hitting der 40k mark. My pace is getting slower and slower liao. Got potong sayur some even slower runs and those suffering from pain and cramps. Also kena potong sayur by some faster runners too.
As I passed der 40k mark, there is a slight uphill over an exit that join the road to USM finsihing point. TNS number 4!!!, so many students blocking my way, and i just shouted "GIVE WAY" and bang onto anyone that dont give me way. I ran zig-zag to avoid all these students and suddenly i felt cramp on my upper body. Must be due to der way I am running.
I press my turbo and pia like kok to try and do a sub4:30, I so kan cheong now with so many students blocking my way into der padang. Finally I make my way into der USM padang and crossed der line in a sub4:30 finishing. Der timing ngam ngam ho liao.....4:29.03 After that i am cinya happy liao. Happy of running der race without any suffer and also 30mins improvement from last year.
After this PBM, it will not be until next year that I will run a marathon again. Will run shorter distance races and let my body rest well. So pray to my ang kong (God) again for letting me run PBM with no suffer and see you next year in KLIM08 42k race.
This morning was the day thousands of runners all over the country and some from neighbouring countries ran the Penang Bridge Marathon 2007.
I set out my own mission to take on the bridge trying to improve last year timing of 4h57mins. But thats not my key goal. My key goal was to go out there to enjoy my last marathon race for the year and my usual motto "No timing pressure and run to my fullest capability". And everytime I condition my mind to think that way, my performance gets better race after race. The day was stale and humid, we are expecting some shower or light drizzle to cool down the running condition but it did not happened.
As I did an analysis with some of my buddy runners like Jamie and Lifemou, the incline of the bridge on both ends can take the toll of runners without they themselves realising it. The inlince is so gradual and long, it just saps out one energy and put extra pressure on our leg muscle to carry us through.
Anyway to cut the story short, I ended out happy with my performance for the day by crossing the finishing line in 4h29mins03secs. Almost a 30mins improvement from last year on the same route. So no complain for me and my training and execution plan works out for me in today's race.
Full report will be out in one to two days time.
Bridge Footage capture on surveillance TV
Come this Sunday, 24 June 2007 the running communities will be lining up to start off the Penang Bridge Marathon 2007. Whether you are running the full or half marathon, you would have probably prepared yourself to take on this challenge ~ mentally and physically.
Rain or shine, fit or unfit, sick or healthy.....we have to overcome it as the race get closer. For newbies there will definitely be race jitters and butterfly in the stomach!!! Dont worry too much of whats gonna happen, and its too late now to worry about it anyway. You have trained for months and now is the time to go out and have fun. Put no pressure on yourself.....things will come along. Run at your own pace and dont get intimitated by faster runners that get past you. Motivate yourself by saying "Dont you stop, else I will come after your butt at the 40th kilometre and if not I will see you at the finishing line"
For some, carbo loading is a must just before the race. Big caution, DO NOT try unfamiliar food that you have never eaten during your carbo loading session if you are doing one. Try not to be too adventurous especially when you are in Penang!!!. The delicious food are all over the place yet can be a suicide consuming them ie nasi kandar, char kuey teow, lobak, laksa and so many more. If you really need to satisfy your taste bud, have moderate portion of it. I hope that wont hurt.
Good luck to everyone and have a save journey into the Pearl of The Orient aka Pulau Pinang.
Three days to the race day in Penang, and I am hit with a bloated stomach feeling very gassy and also a throat infection plus mild cough. The medication I am on is making me a bit weak and running the marathon will be a struggle for me if I dont recover in time. I pray and hope for the best, and timing is so bad. It had to happen at this time of the week. Have not been running for the past 3 days and I am not sure if I will be running for the rest of the week till race day.
Did my final LSD this morning before getting into the tapering period for the next two weeks till race day on June 24, 2007. This morning run was with Wong sifu since Geraldine and Jamie started earlier at 5.15am.
We ran the normal LG-Hartamas route of 20k and back to the Bukit Aman carpark for waterstop. Wong sifu called it a day, while I continue to do another 6 laps around the lake. Stay on the road I did for 3.5hr covering approximately 32.3k for my final LSD. It was a good run and my ultimate goal is to stay on as long as I can.
After the run, my body condition and stamina are still good except that the legs are feeling a bit tired and some muscle tension on my right foot. The shoe that will be with me on race day SAUCONY RIUMPH 4 is also responding well and doing its job.
So its tapering period for the next two weeks and I just cant wait for the race to start. Bring on the bridge, brother!!!. I hope I will feel good on race day.
This is the route all PBM07 runners will need to tackle on the morning of 24 June 2007. Be prepared mentally and physically on the terrain that you will be running on. Make sure you have a strategy on how you wanna tackle the BRIDGE.
Sun Tzu said "Know yourself, Know your enemy and in a hundred battles you will come out a WINNER".
So in this race, the bridge is your enemy. Therefore make sure you know how to tackle it and you will come out a stronger runner after the race. Good Luck.
