Date: Sunday
17 Sep 2006 –Mizuno
Wave Run. Bib no A120
Target: 10
km race @ “Double Hills”
Race strategy: Believe it or not, no strategy for this race. Just want to see how I run a hilly 10k
Actual: Run
like mad, attack all hills, nonstop until 5k for rewater. Then ran
until panchited (& need at least 2 walk breaks),
last 2km nonstop pia to finish line.
Timings: 1:06:03 finish
*** 10k PR! Position no
641. Double Hills
sommore! Muahahaha! (maniacal laughter)
Official
results: Time: 106:41
Position 713
out of 1339 runners (53.2 percentile)
Position 624 out of 1032 men runners (60.5 percentile). Better position perhaps after weeding out the
illegal racers.
Position 354
out of 581
Category A runners (60.9 percentile)
Pace: 6:36 /km
Time
of run: 7:30 am
Route: Complicated. See here.
Weather: Cloudy. Quite high RH (relative
humidity). No winds.
Calburn: 692
Postrun
Wt: Dunno
Shoes: Brooks
Vantage 2. Total shoe mileage 360 km.
Mindtune: Shakira. Hmm… this mindtune
is getting lame, need to find another…
General expectations: No
expectations! Haha! I joined this race as an afterthought, so no
goals for it. The only expectation was I
expected to finish at best 1:10 because that was my 10k PR at the Udini route and because it’s the “awe-inspiring” Double
Hills, where legendary athletes trained, and I ain’t no athlete.
T minus 1 day: Pickup up mein
race no & T-shirt. Mmm nice
T-shirt. BTW this is my first
truly “athletic” T-shirt. Nice, light,
orange kara, but should have
selected M instead of L. Yeah, I still
think I have a big body. Costs at least 30 bucks (ie the race
entry fees).
Race Day: Startup 5:15 am. Unloaded as usual. Race prep as usual: masking tape, Vaseline,
etc. Wore mein
new orange T-shirt. Waa… if I wear this in
other runs then will people still think I’m just an ordinary runner? Yeah right.
6:15 am outta the
house, alone again. No carload of
supporters. Arrived at Padang Merbok around 6:30am, parked on roadside bcos Padang Merbok parking used
for finish line. No big deal. Ate mein
powerbar, oatmeal something flavor. Went to the race venue. Happening!
Must say that more electric than PJ Half. Mizuno store was there. Then a big inflated shoe. The nasi lemak stall (breakfast giveaway). Pacesetters membership
counter. What else I forgot.
There I saw the Janggutman of Pipot, Mary of Princessren
& Faie of Battlegrounds,
but of course I was too humble to intro myself to the celebs. Thought I
saw Tulangman of Der Pacemaker too, but couldn’t be sure.
By 7am, announcement made to
runners to proceed to the big shoe. The
only big shoe I saw was at the car park, so I stayed there. It took me 15 more minutes (duuuh!) to realize there’s another big shoe at Jalan Parlimen where the starting
line was. So went there, gave my
reporting card, got a blue wrist band. My, my, the turnout was quite amazing for a
10k event. Obviously there were many
recreational runners, so I made the wise decision not to start at the back
of the pack. So, I lingered in the
middle of the pack.
Then there was the sound of
an airhorn.
Oh, started oredy ar? Ok, walk, walk to starting line (too many people),
then approaching it started to jog, and crossing it, started the chrono. It was slow
at first, and going from flat to slight downhill. Then left at Bank Negara, still ok. Then right after bank Negara, and already
start to go uphill. At this point, there
were a couple of schoolgirls running together.
“Huyo!” said one (probably at the sight of the
uphill). “Huyo!”
said another. “Huyo!”
said another. I just couldn’t resist it,
honest, so I continued with my own “Huyo!” Muahaha!
After this point, I just
concentrated on running and couldn’t care less for the surroundings. So forgive me for not remembering the
route. Shortly after
this, I sayured Mary of Princessren. Eh? I
thought she’s with Janggutman & Faie Battlegrouds. Ran on. Then, sayured
Faie. Janggutman obviously went for the Pia
(haha!). Then
reached the 5k point where there was a rewater
station, but I thought couldn’t be 5k lar,
because my chrono showed around 26 min only. Took one cup, walked about 1 min, then ran
on. The route was up and down, up and
down. I attacked the hill on the way up,
and glided the way down. Surprisingly, sayured a lot of people on the way down, I though everyone
would pia on the way down. Maybe I’ve mastered some downhill running
skills (yea right!) Then there was this
killer hill. Attacked that, ran all the
way up, sayured a lot of people. Then started to get panchited. Aiyo, cannot tahan one. Had to take a walk break. Then ran on. At some point, got another pink kara wristband. I was totally lost, dunno
where I was. Ran sommore,
but fatigue had set in. There was this
Indian lady runner in black & white outfit on a consistent pace, so I
drafted behind her. Then I got panchited again the highway crossing u-turn point. Walked somemore,
but just 1 min. Indian lady
runner left me behind. Walk break over,
ran again. There was also this tudunged schoolgirl running better than I was (haha malunya!) Finally my panchitness
wore off. Saw a signboard saying 2km
left. Huyo,
spirits up! Time to go nonstop
again! Ran past Tugu Negara.
Then back on Jln Parlimen. Full pia
ahead. But Indian lady runner
also full pia ahead, waa so
fast. Just did the best I could. Turn into the road to Pdg
merbok. Last
stretch, went for it. Sayured the Indian
lady runner, and another one on the last 50 m. Cross finish line huffin
& puffin, & stopped the chrono.
Hey!! Not bad!
1:06 lar! Now Double Hills didn’t seem to be so
awe-inspiring anymore (yea right).
Race official handed me card
no 641. Then gave the
card to another official, who wrote mein bib number
on it. Then got
this goodie bag with the medal (hooray) and stuff in it.
After catching my breath,
decide to watch people finish. From all walks of life.
The yuppies with their ipods & branded
sports gear. The geeks
with old tshirts (incl the
ugly KLIM2006 tshirt) & baggy pants. The Singh uncle from Putrajaya. The makciks & pakciks. Aunties & uncles. The schoolkids. The pemudas & pemudis, who probably still couldn’t believe they could be sayured by uncles & aunties in their 40s. Faie Battlegrounds
finished in about 1:16. Didn’t see Mary finish.
Obviously Janggutman & the other elites
finished far earlier than me.
Then got up
to get my breakfast. Passing by the event signboard, saw ZulAzlan Putrajaya of TheRunner
& DK of KlangRunner
together. Then surprise2, Zul asked me to take their photo, so I obliged. Might as well intro myself. So I did.
Aiya, so honored to finally intro myself to
the celebs. I
just said I was a “beginner” haha.. Heard DK mention he
finished in about 1:01.
Then it was the usual hunting
for food & drinks. Breakfast was
good! Nasi Lemak
+ karipap + banana. The best so far of the races I’ve attended
this year.
Finally,
had enough. Time showed 9:30, too late to go to Terry Fox
run, so went back to the car, & back home.
Fully satisfied with today’s race, even though panchited,
walked, et al. Hey, I did 1:06 at Double
Hills, PR sommore.
Which shows that mein training Udini route 10k is probably about 10.5k or 11k.
The good: Medal no 5 (hehe). Nice
T-shirt. Challenging
route. Happening
atmosphere. Good breakfast. Finally intro myself to
somebody, heheh.
The bad: Hmm nothing
bad to say about this run except that the medal design is kinda
lame.
The funny: Girl1:
“Huyo!” Girl2: “Huyo!” Girl3: “Huyo!” Me: “Huyo!”
Lessons learned: Believe in thyself. I didn’t
believe I could run Double Hills (and in good time too, for my standards) until
today. I thought Double Hills could only
be run by elites.
In Summary: Excellent run. Couldn’t ask for anything more.
Characters: Janggutman, Mary, Faie, Zulazlan Putrajaya, DK Klangrunner, Singh Putrajaya (& PJ Half too), et al.
Postrun: Tired but functional. Sore calves & Achilles
(good hill workout). Totally blanked out on the bus trip back to
Postrun + 1 day: Aching
everywhere. Achilles, soles, heels,
quads, calves. But
functional. Too
busy today to gegel about yesterday’s race. Wanted to run, but as usual, someone called a
meeting at 5:30 pm (arrrrgh!!!)
