22 April 2008

Sundown Ultra Marathon

Yup, it is confirmed that Team Tri Seekers will be doing Sundown Ultra Marathon as our final countdown. Though it is exactly a week before our Gobi Race, we feel that we will still take on the challenge. Experienced or seasonal ultra runners will tell us that we are nuts to get ourselves injured. Well, we know the possibility of that risk. Therefore, we are going to pace properly and definitely slower. Our aim is to complete before the cut off time (if possible). Secondly, we want to support our kind sponsor, Powerbar (aka Athlete Circle) for meeting our nutrition needs.

See you all at Sundown.

From Team Tri Seekers (Bernard, Lam & Steven)

20 April 2008

More changes

Sad to say, or should i mention Happy to say in another bigger way....

Again, there are going to be quite few changes to my race calendar this year.

I cant comment anything at this moment as things are not finalised yet.

Well, all i can say it is related to my new job scope in which i am still finalizing with my company.

Watch this space, folks!

11 April 2008

Gunung Belumut

I did this Mountain Race one week after the KL marathon. Initially, was skeptical about my recovery although my legs seem fine by Sat ( And i still went to do 10.5km with 5kg load at Mac in the morning).

Met Chin in the morning and shard a cab to Woodlands Chkpoint. 30minutes later, we were on our way, walking across the Causeway to the Malaysia Chkpoint. Boarded our bus in JB and ate the porridge bought by Steven ( i actually asked for teh...). Had a short nap and 1.5hours later, we were almost near our destination.

This was my first visit to Malaysia Nature Reserve Park and it was refreshing, not realising what was expected to come. Kelvin, Camper's Corner gave us a short brief and it was time to go. William, Kim Hong and Alvin set the pace super fast and within few minutes, they were literally out of sight. I stayed at 4th place, not wanting to push too hard and early. The trail was wet, muddy, lots of exposed roots, hanging branches etc. In my opinion, it was rather harsh environment compared to our friendly Macritchie and BT. Caught William halfway point and we were together for the vertical climbs. By then, could feel my legs are telling me that they were tired. Had to slower the pace and by then Danzel had catched up. I tried to pace him behind and used him as my motivating factor to keep going.

Reached the summit in 1:27 hours. Was told after the race that the one way route was only 5km. This is the longest timing i have done for 5km run, or rather uphill run.

I knew my descent are usually better in terms of reading the trails. By then, i could feel my legs are getting tight and i hope that it would not give way during the descend. I maintained my pace and I used that as my advantage to move down the mountain. By midway, i have caught up with Danzel who was having some problems with his quads. I told him to follow closely behind me but he couldn't and asked me to go ahead. I pushed the pace slighter faster since it was downhill. I was surprised that all the while, my legs were still holding in place. After running downhill for almost an hour, i could hear the sound of the waterfall and i knew that the finish line was close.

Was so relieved to see the flight of stairs and concrete pavement. i cruised in and finished 4th with a time of 2:27 hours. Never mind the time or even the placing, i was glad to finish in one piece, although i had few minor cuts on my leg. The cooling water at the waterfall was a good treat to the tired legs.

We waited for the rest of non-competitors and had our dinner at Kluang town. Traffic at both Causeways were ok and we reached Singapore before 11pm. Thank God i had 2 days of rest.





KL Marathon 2008

Boy, i was glad that it was over! This year, the marathon seems slighter tougher than the previous year. It was humid to begin with. I was perspiring badly before the 3km mark. Also, seemed lots more car and had to contend with the fumes from the cars.

Overall, i still did better than last year. Overall pos, Cat pos and the official time had improved. More significantly, i did not stop at all and my legs did not suffered any cramps. Most probably, thanks to the recent trgs i had with the KK team. It has strengthened my lower limbs but i know i still have lots of trg and strength workout to do.

Was again happy to see my wife and son at the finishing line. Learning from last year's race, this year we opted to stay nearer the start line. So both of them could leave the hotel much later and still able to catch me. We stayed in Ancasa Hotel and it turned out our hotel room was a mega suite (two rooms into one). KL shopping was a treat for my wife and as usual, ended our trip with the Bah Kut Teh.

Here are my result

RkCat RkTot Bib EngName Country OfficialTime ChipTime 10Km HalfWay 30Km
41 94 278 LEW BUANG KENG Singapore 3:43:14 3:42:43 0:54:00 1:47:23 2:36:59

KL Marathon 2009? Only time can tell. As of now, i will give it a pass for the third time.