NYCM: Two Weeks Yesterday

With two weeks to go, I am feeling a little nervous, but very excited nonetheless. I know that when you live so far away, you don’t get to see New York that often, never mind run in the marathon there; so my plan is to not over-think any of it, aim to go out there and have fun, see the sights, take some pictures and finish in a healthy time (without worrying about what that time is!).

I ran a couple of times a week since my last post, plus two weekend long runs. Last Saturday it was HOT. Really hot. I set out thinking I would do 32km but the heat go the better of me and I was starting to cramp after 15km. It was  likely 34 degrees the whole way and really humid. I consumed more than 3 and a half liters of fluid which obviously helped with the cramping, but slowed me down no end. My legs felt pretty good afterwards and I was glad I stopped at 26km rather than over do it.

This weekend, I set off on Sunday morning with plenty of fluid and nutrition, knowing that I had to have a good run to give me the psychological boost I needed. I felt great for the first couple of hours until the day started to warm up. The heat has been a big (negative) factor in my training the last couple of months, but as NY is likely to be pretty chilly, I am not that concerned. Irrespective of the weather, all I was really thinking as I was running was “two weeks today!”

I hit 20km in 2:02 and felt like I had a lot left in the tank and (critically) in the legs. I deliberately took a route that gave me a couple of long slow uphills (like NY bridges) and downhills (like NY bridges) and one steep uphill to test my legs.  Around 23km my route took me back to the park near home where I was very pleased (and lucky) to see Lauren out for her morning run. She doesn’t really like to run with me that much but she could see that the heat was starting to take its toll on me and that I was not going that fast. She ran with me for 4km which was a huge mental boost. I left her as she headed for home and I set off for the last 5km with a full water bottle, heavy legs, and a real sense that I was ready enough for the race.

I planned the route pretty well and was 250m from home when I hit 32km. I stopped, stretched a little and walked home assessing my body, the run, the route, the hydration, the nutrition, the shoes, the… until I realized that I was really over-thinking it all again and all that mattered was that I did the distance, the time was ok, I was hurting, but not enough to have to stop and that I was ready for NY!

Wednesday is a public oliday here and I am looking forward to taking my mountain bike out on the trails for the first time in ages. I will run a couple of 10-12km’s this week and then I will be packing for my trip! BOOM.

New York Marathon - 4 weeks to go.

I never realise how grumpy i am when I dont run until I am running again. And boy, did I have a grumpy couple of weeks.

On Friday evening last week, after almost two weeks of not running and two weeks of holding an ice pack on my calf, i set off with butterflies in my stomach to test my calf. I knew within 300 metres that it was OK and that I done enough. I had been so nervous and anxious to know if i would be going to NY that I hadn't really thought about anything else for days. I ran with my friend Will for about 3 miles before calling it a day - knowing i had done enough.

On Saturday I opted to do a long swim and save my legs for a Sunday run.

On Sunday, i knew that i wasn't up for the race I signed up for, so i stayed in bed and rested. When i got up, the sun was up and it was a nice day. I had a big breakfast, lots of hydration and took some time to do a few little chores around the house. Within an hour i was ready to go and i set off to do a medium-long run around the neighbourhoods and (critically) within sight of the local park and water fountain.

I wont pretend that it was easy, but i banged out 20km and my legs felt pretty good. I know i have lost a lot of key training fitness over the last three weeks which will hurt in NY, but at least I am running again, pain free. There were times when it got pretty hot, but i filled up on water and had a packet of GU Chomps as i ran, trying to ensure that i didn't get anymore dehydration cramps.

Today (Tuesday morning) I am a little stiffer than i would normally be after a 20km run, but i put that down to having gone from 0 to 20km in a pretty much straight shot.

I am ready for NY? Absolutely not. Am I going to NY? Definitely yes. Am I going to enjoy it? Without a doubt!

Trail Innuendo

Whilst out on my favourite run last week at FRIM I noticed that they had changed the trail names and put in some new signage. It was the first time I had run with our mate Robin and as we ran along I was telling him that we were about to come to my favourite part of the run.

Known for my odd unintentional quip, we rounded the corner and much to the delight of Will and Dave, Robin said "So let me get this right, Rob's favourite is the Pinus trail?"

Schoolboy humour? Probably. Are the boys still laughing about it? Absolutely. Will anyone elese think it is as funny as we did? Likely not. Will it make us smile every time we go up there? Without a doubt!

Thanks Dave for the photos :-)

New York Training Update - 6 weeks to go

Training has not been going well. It is three weeks since i posted because i have had nothing to post about. The day after the great 5k race i had in the US, I set off and ran a 28K, fairly fast-paced trail run and felt awesome. I had a little jog the day after that and felt great. I then got on a flight and came home. And it all fell apart.

I have been back for a little over 2 weeks. The day after i got back, i decided to go out and stretch my legs. Through a combination of fatigue and dehydration from the flight I got a cramp in my left calf and needed to walk home after about 3km. Feeling the residual effects of the cramp, I decided to stay off it for most of the week, trying a little 4k run in mid-late week. It felt tight and a little sore, but improving.

6 days after getting the cramp, Presuming that it was better, I got up early and joined the boys out in the jungle for a trail run that was supposed to be 34km. I was hydrated, i had lots of fluids and fuel with me and we planned a route that would take us back to the cars around 20km to refill.

2km into the run, i knew it was not right, but i thought i would run it off. 10km into the run, my calf was still niggling at me, but nothing really bad. We got to a big hill and i felt great, i had loads in the tank. My heart rate was steady and I conquered the hill without too much concern although i know it really tested my calf. However, I felt like we had just set off. The first 10km was easy and i mean really easy and the hill was not much of a challenge.

The big hill at FRIM is followed by a 3km section which is basically flat (and is my favourite part of the route). We set off at an easy pace when i felt (over the course of literally 3 steps) my calf suddenly seize. I knew i had done something badly wrong. I immediately stopped, rested and stretched before walking  back to the car. My buddy Will, who was not having a great run, decided to stop and walk with me.  Luckily there was a side path that would take us back in about 3.5k (not having to double back the fill 11km).

That was last Sunday. 8 days ago. And it STILL hurts when i run. I have prescribed myself another full week of complete rest (i am swimming and working in the gym - but no leg work AT ALL). My worry is that this will be the third week in a row without any running and I have 6 weeks to go, at least one of which needs to be a full taper week.

The toughest decision will come next weekend. If i am not able to run at least 10km next Saturday morning (six days from now), i think that my New York adventure will probably be on hold for a year! However, i am using positive energy and am going to do everything right. Lots of protein this week, loads of hydration, lots of rest, no booze, ice it every evening and keep all my fingers and toes crossed. 

My next post will either be very gloomy or very happy. Watch this space!

  

Race Report: Leawood Park Labour Day 5km

The Leawood Park trails sit on the Kansas side of the state line in Kansas City and provide miles of beautiful woodland trails. On a walk there on Sunday afternoon we saw a sign for their annual 5km race and decided that, even though  it was the next morning we would sign up.

My (26 yr old) brother in law Trey and his girlfriend Maggie also agreed to run and we organised to meet there at 6:30am for the 7:30am start. I decided to run the 6km from the house down to the race line to warm up my legs and get a few extra miles in.

After a couple of PBJs and coffee, i set off in the dark (and cold!) morning to meet the others and immediately started to regret it. As soon as i hit the trails, i realised how dark it was and how much i was not able to see. At one point a bare-chested runner came out of the dark and was about three feet in front of me before i saw or heard his approach. My run was supposed to be a warm up, i certainly didn't expect my heart rate to jump to 180 before the race even started. My anxiety slowly reduced as the sun came up and the run felt great.

When i got to the start area, the others were already there and had registered and picked up numbers and timing chips. The sun was up at that point and my legs felt great. I had half a bottle of Nuun in the 30 minutes that we were waiting, and jogged a couple of hundred metres every few minutes to stay warmed up. Trey has been running 5kms for a while now and is pretty good shape. A little banter on the start line about who would "dominate" who served to get us both in the mood for a race.

Just before the start, we patriotically listened to the National Anthem and heard a few instructions about the race. When the gun went off, we were pretty close to the back of the 500 strong crowd. Trey took off and was 50m ahead of me with a couple of minutes. Maggie and Lauren told me they would stay together and that i should go; so i started to up-the-pace and pick of runners in groups. Sometimes, on a narrow course it can be frustrating to start at the back of the pack, but with wide open space and a relatively small crowd, being able to pick off runners so easily was a rush and kept me alert for the first km.

The sun was up by then and the day was starting to warm, but nothing like it ever gets in Malaysia and I felt great. At the 2km mark i felt my watch buzz and i realised i was sub 9 minutes and feeling pretty strong. I had lost sight of Trey until we got to the half-way point and i realised i was starting to close up on him. At the turn around i was less than 5 seconds behind him. I was not sure that he knew i was there until a couple of hundred metres later the girls coming up behind us were shouting their support for him and then me in quick succession.

One of the things that reading blogs has done is to help me understand the difference between running and racing. I was determined not to let my (younger) brother in law beat me and i needed a racing strategy. Instead of bolting out in front of him i paced myself to run hard, but also to conserve the energy i needed to finish strong.

Within another hundred metres, i had caught Trey and sat on his shoulder pacing off him for about a km. I hit the 4km mark in 18:01 and felt like i still had plenty in the tank. Head up, running strong, I was watching Trey hard and with 700 metres to go, I saw his head starting to go down and his arms swinging a little more wildly. I knew he was struggling and took my opportunity on the only (slight) up-hill of the course. I went by him hard and knew from the sound of his footfall that he wasn't with me. I crossed the line in 22:22. 10th in my age group and 102nd overall. A new PB for the distance. Trey came in about 10 seconds behind me and the girls finished strong a couple of minutes behind him.

The race was great. Beautiful course, well organised and perfect for a PB. Water bottles, fresh from the freezer were available at the end and were a great way to cool down.

My new trainers served me well, my time was a really good confidence boost that my training is not that bad, and my PB was an awesome bonus. I am super impressed that in a field of 500, almost 100 people broke 22 minutes. Impressive stuff. Hats off  to the race organisers on a job well done. Great job too to Trey and the girls for their strong races. Trey will probably say he let me win, but that 10 or 12 seconds put a grin on my face that lasted days...

New York Training Update - 9 weeks to go

It is Sunday night and another week has gone by. I know i have not uploaded my last post yet, but i thought i would write another post anyway. We are in Kansas City Missouri, Lauren's home town and I have had another disappointing week (of running). I have had a great week of vacation, but 5 short runs, totalling 30km is not doing my NYCM training much good.

Yesterday, we attended the wedding of our good friends Andrew and Meghan and the 'partying' meant that i was not in a good state to do a long run today. Whilst out walking, we did see a sign for a 5km race tomorrow that allows walk-in registration so that will be fun and has eased my guilt about a poor running week, just a little.

The new shoes are proving to be really really great. I feel like my posture is improved, by shins and calves feel strong and overall, they were a good purchase. I had a sneakey look on amazon a couple of minutes ago and they are on sale.. I might just buy myself another pair for when these run out..

Lauren and I ran four times together this week all on the "trolley trail" in KC. The route of the former state line trolley is gradually graded which leads to a nice 4km flat to downhill run out and a surprisingly tough slow up-hill back.




KC Trolley Trail in the fall.


The route is great because of where it is located and because it has a GREAT coffee place to sit and chill out at when we were done.


Despite being very relaxed on vacation i am starting to stress out about my training. I have just had two weeks without a decent long run and next week is likely to be slow and short because of the two days travel it will take us to get back! I am determined to make up for it, without injury when i am back home next week!

New York Training Update - 10 weeks to go

I am writing this from 30,000 ft in the air, somewhere between LA and Kansas City. We have just spent an awesome weekend with our friends Mark and Angie; that included some great restaurants, new shoes and a great run down the famous California boulevard.

I left home last week without trainers. I have been putting off buying new shoes for a while because i knew i was coming to the US and I wanted some advice on what to buy. Running shops here have all the brands but very little real understanding of what to offer.

The morning after we arrived, we found ourselves in a great running store in Santa Monica called Top to Top. A cool, laid back, runner-dude who looked a little like shaggy from Scooby Doo helped me out and with some good old fashioned discussion, a quick glance at my gait and my feet he brought me some recommendations. Running up and down the street outside, I knew immediately that the guy knew his stuff and choosing between two options was pretty tough.

I have very narrow feet and a fairly even, mid foot strike, so i needed a (relatively) light weight, neutral shoe. The result... The new Asics Gel DS Sky Speeds; in bright Orange. As I explained to the guy, i am not planning on attending a fashion parade, so the color is not important;- but i kinda like them...

With the travel and the jet lag, i only managed 30km this week in three runs, which is not great for my NY training, but there was one run that made it worthwhile. Taking advantage of the fact that we were staying in Marina del Rey, (right next to Venice Beach) Lauren, Mark and I (in new shoes) set off for a pier to pier run on Sunday morning. We didn't go too early, so it was starting to get warm, but the route from Venice Beach pier to Santa Monica pier and back was awesome. The people-watching made the 9.5km round trip go by super-fast (although we were not running that fast). the weather was fantastic and the beaches are like something out of Baywatch! Meeting a very-pregnant Angie for coffee in a oh-so-cool Cali coffee shop at the end made me truly realise why so many people move to the coolest city in the world.

All in all, a great week for life,  not a great week for NYCM training. New shoes are great. 10 weeks to go. When I get off this plane, i am not sure when i will get a chance to upload this post, but hopefully i will have run a bit further by then.

NY Marathon: Training Update; 11 weeks to go...

This was a week of two halves. I was travelling again early in the week and was, simply put, exhausted. The long trail run last week, combined with the travel and the meetings I was there for meant that I had no energy and heavy legs for much of the week. I ran twice, once on the hotel treadmill (11km) and once around the park at home (6k) before I decided that the best thing I could do would be to take a couple of days off, let my hair down on Friday and rest my legs for a long run on Sunday.
My plan paid off. I set out on Sunday morning with a full fuel belt, plenty of drinks and a pair of legs that felt light and agile. Knowing I needed to 'up my miles' I decided on a route that would mainly be quiet streets, some good but not too tough hills and some shaded flat trails to try to avoid the heat that I knew was coming.
This week, due to some diary issues, Will and I couldn’t get it to work out to run together so I knew my challenge was going to be to keep a pace I could maintain. I was aiming for 27km and I knew it would be a hot one within about three miles.
Shortly after I got away from the main roads and into a quiet neighborhood that takes me to the trails, the sun was coming up and there was not a cloud on the sky. By the time I go to a loop up around a golf club (around the 9k mark) it was warming up and had hit 30 degrees (C). I had plenty to drink with me and a couple of granola bars so I just kept my pace, kept my head down and had hit 18k before I knew it. My favourite loop, a flat trail around the Ampang reservoir, just outside KL made it go so quickly and get me to those miles.
Stopping briefly at the 20k mark to fill my bottles with 100 Plus (a genius carbonated energy drink you can by in Asia) and water and I was off on my route home. By that point it was likely 35C and there was very little shade and no wind. However, I had about 2 liters of cold liquid over the last 8k and I got home feeling pretty good. A total of 28.5km, a touch over 3 hours (which given the heat and the terrain) was pretty good. It was definitely the boost of confidence I needed at this point and whilst I have a lot of work to do before NY, I feel like I am on track.
No long run this week as I am off to LA on Friday, but will try and do three of four 8-10kms a little faster as I really need to do more speed work from here on in!

only 45.5km for the week, but a solid long run that I am happy with. BOOM> Got 'er dun!

New York Marathon - 12 weeks to go.

I ran just over 55km this week. It was another week of travel and two evening flights meant that I had to miss a couple of outdoor runs, but I did get on the treadmill in the gym a couple of times, had a fast 8.5km in the park at home and did a mammoth run in the mountains on Sunday morning which left me feeling exhilarated and motivated and absolutely spent.

Will and I went up to FRIM where we kicked out a strong 21km. On the way up one of the trails we passed a runner coming the opposite way in her Vibrams, looking strong and fit. She greeted us and asked if we were "going up Steroid Hill today?". "Sure are" we replied with big grins. Steroid hill is about 850m and it is STEEP. You hit it around the 10km mark and how you tackle is very much depends on how that 10km has gone. I have never managed to run all the way from rest stop at the bottom to the top without needing to slow to a walk to get over the toughest part, but the conditions  yesterday were perfect and I knew that it was my day.


Leaving will to tackle it as his pace, I took off. I immediatley spotted a couple of mountain bikers a couple of hundred metres in front of me, moving at a slow pace. I have just read an awesome book called Born to Run (a whole other blog!) and to take a line from the book, I mentally made them my deer and put my head down determined to catch them. Within 200 metres I passed them at a steady pace. Instinctively as they were on bikes they obviously decided the hunter was to become the hunted and they were determined to track me to the top. It served as just the motivation I needed to hammer on and make it to the top well in front of them, feeling great. My heart was accelerating, but I punched the air in triumph and realized that my training really is going well. Will arrived shortly after me and (I am pleased to note) before the mountain bikers who had stopped to rest just after I had left them behind. I munched my way through my new favourite running snack - a Carmen's muesli bar and we set off again feeling great. Even though it was shorter distance, it was a tough trail and I think counts as a longer road distance on my training plan.


12 weeks to go and I still have a lot work to do but am feeling great and really really looking forward to NY.



Clearly not the hill at FRIM, but the best picture of a steep hill that google had to offer!



BEER!

Last Sunday, some friends and I were talking about how much booze we drink and what impact, if any, it might have on our training. It was a Sunday afternoon and we were in the pub. As I sipped my cold beer, I tried to count how many beers I had in that past 7 days. It had been an unusual week and there had been more than usual, but how many is too many?

I was a sociable person when I was at University and the years that immediately followed. On occasions, I was known to drink to excess and as I was in the UK at the time, I was self-classified against a matrix published in a large National Newspaper as a 'binge drinker' and 'bordering on alcoholism'. If my friends and co-workers were any kind of yard-stick, I don’t think I was anything more than a moderate drinker and I certainly was not bordering on anything other than chubby!

For two to three years, particularly when I started running a little more seriously, I cut my alcohol intake down to no more than special occasions. It was driven a little by budget and lot by fitness/weight-loss. Over time, particularly as I was running more and more and could afford the empty calories, I started to have a few more beers here and there and realized that i enjoyed a few guilt-free drinks. Today, living where I live, working with the people I work with, socialsing with our friends here, all typically leads to a Margarita or two when you least expect it. A quick beer after work leads to three and a post-run lunch on a Sunday often leads to a sleepy afternoon.

So,last Sunday, as I sat in the bar drinking my 19th alcoholic drink of the week, I was shocked. I had one night when I had no alcohol, but social events, dinners with families and my wife being away meant I had a couple of beers on five other evenings that week. On no occasion did I end up with a hangover. On no occasion was I 'wasted'. On no occasion was I stuck with the car not being able to get home. Just some good old socially drinking. Our conversation that Sunday therefore centered around, whether that many drinks was ok, whether it was a lot (compared to the others - it was) and critically (for this Blog) whether it has an impact on my running.

A little internet research has told me that the jury is still out. In the US, 19 drinks in a week is high-moderate. In the UK, it is average (for my age group).

For a middle-of-the-pack social-runner however it seems by all consensus that it is "high". As I sat there, I thought to myself that it wasn’t really having an impact on my training. I had been out that morning and run 22km and i still felt pretty good.

However, 8 days and just 5 drinks later I have come to realize otherwise. I am still tired, but I sleep better. I am still dehydrated when I run longer than an hour in the equatorial heat, but I am able to rehydrated on the go, quicker. I don’t feel as sluggish in the morning, and seem to 'revive' quicker. So I guess beer does have an impact in a way that popular media has been telling me for years and I willfully (or naively) ignored. The lesson? Well, I am still going to enjoy a cold beer every now and then, but until after the marathon, there wont be any more margaritas and I will be trying to avoid the keg stands.

New York Training Update - 13 weeks to go

This weekend saw me complete a 23km run in fairly hot conditions, but with a steady strong pace, lots of water and energy in the tank at the finish. Thanks in part goes to my now 'official' training partner Will as he accompanied me for about 17km in the middle of the run and kept my pace steady and saved me from the pack of wild monkeys we passed at about the 10km mark.

We took a different route this time and climbed a very steep jungle stairs to get to a reservoir in Ampang, just outside of KL. When you get up there is a really great 1.2km trail in the jungle around (as the name suggests) a reservoir. The track is mostly shaded and very flat and really provides a nice contrast to the roads. We did four laps, which might seem a little repetitive, but there are so many shadows and roots to look out for that it could be a straight 6km path.

Unlike my last LSD with Will, i really made sure i took in enough fluids and drank about 3 liters in total. This made me feel strong and meant that by the end my legs were tired but not sore. The last couple of km got tough, particularly as the sun came out, but i was thinking about the fact that NY is only 13 weeks to go and my weekly totals is only up to around 45km and i need to do a LSD every week for the next 7 or 8.

All in all the run filled me with some confidence. It wasn't fast, but that was never the intention. I got through it, felt good and rewarded my self with a bagel, cheddar and sunny side eggs when I got home. Just the treat! 

Race Report: Shape Putrajay night race

On Saturday evening I joined five thousand other runners for the Men's Health Putrajaya Night Race which kicked off at 8:30pm in the new city of Putrajaya. Almost 3000 were in the 12.35km race with me and it was one i was looking forward to as nothing more than a good training run and a bit of fun.



I had a very relaxing day, snacked pretty well through out the day and drank loads of water and Gatorade. Getting out to the race site was easy, the traffic was perfect and parking was easy. I left the car and jogged a long way around to the start warming up and feeling good about my calf which had been tight and uncomfortable for a couple of weeks (since getting a bad dehydration cramp on a Saturday morning LSD). Funnily enough, none of my running friends had signed up for this, so i didnt see anyone i knew, but i wasnt going to let that spoil the day.



The atmosphere at the start line was cool, and the race seemed well organized and set up. I immediately moved into the race corral and waited patiently for the start. Unfortunately I was a little eager to get to the front and ended up packed in without a lot of room to keep moving or stretching for about 25 minutes, but it was a warm night and the music was pumping so it was ok. A nice little old lady kept interrupting the music to give instructions to no one in particular, which dampened the mood of some people around me, but then we were off.



When the gun went, I was very close to the front and had plenty of room. I set off at a about a 5:30 minute km knowing that I have gone off way too fast in the last couple of races I have done. Dozens and dozens of people were sprinting past me in the first km, which didn’t surprise me. By the end of the second km I had settled into a routine and felt pretty good. I was running on the shoulder of an older guy who was maintaining a pretty steady 5:25 minute per km pace and a couple of other guys jumped on my shoulder.



The bridge and convention centre both offered a bit of a hill that challenged the older guy so I left him and pumped my arms a bit to get to the top and realized I had left the whole group and was sitting comfortably in a very thin line of fairly spread out runners.



For the next 5-6km I kept a steady pace around 5:25, drank lots of plain water at both water stops and consistently picked off runners one by one. I think two people passed me in that section and I must have passed at least 100 people, most of whom I recognized as having sprinted past me at the start and had burned themselves out.

courtesy of blogger, Me, The Contradiction

At the 8km mark, with only 4.5 to go, I was feeling good but my heart rate was rising and I knew that I was just not fit enough to maintain the pace for the distance. I slowed down to about 5:50 mins per km for a couple of km until the 10km mark at which point the race flattened out. Feeling better and with my heart rate under control, I thought about the Chi running book I have been reading and straightened up my hips, leaned forward a couple of degrees and upped the pace to 5:29 for the next km and then 5:16 for the last. I crossed the line feeling great with some (but not heaps) of energy in the tank, but not feeling sore in anyway. I came in in just a smidge over 1:06 which was enough to place me in the top 150 in my age group (top 8%) and to get a medal to add to my collection.



The race organizers deserve credit for a well planned and fabulously executed event. The marshalling was good, the water stops (always my big concern) were properly spaced, manned and accessible and the after race service, goodies, water etc were all superb. It is by far the best stocked goodie bag I have ever gotten in any race in any country ever. Well done them!!



All in all, a fun race, a time I am happy with and a few lessons learned for my NY training plan.

NY Marathon: Training Update

A good friend of mine who is relatively new to running and has just finished his first half marathon is determined to do an endurance race at the end of the year. He is a big guy and was (six months ago) carrying a little bit of extra weight. It has been amazing to watch his progress since the start of the year. He could just about manage about 800m before running out of puff and now he has completed a half and is training diligently for bigger and longer. We have started to train together because we both kind of need each other. I need him to set a pace that is steadier and more consistent than I normally run (and a little slower) so that I safely build my miles and properly complete my LSD runs. He needs me to keep him going and ensure he doesn’t quit at 10k on a Saturday morning when his head is not in the game. We are a perfect match.




Last weekend we set off for an 20km run that allowed us (on a hot day) to pass by his house in the middle and refill our water bottles. Stupidly, I had a bad week in terms of diet and hydration and I got a nasty cramp in my right calf after about 6km and thought about packing it in. Having Will there was great because I stretched it out, drank about a liter of fluid, (mostly Nuun) and when it started to relieve, we set off again and ran a nice steady 20 km’s. My calf started to niggle at the end, but it was a really nice morning, we chatted a lot and we both felt awesome afterwards.



The longer slower distances are really important for me and my prep for NY. The half a few weeks ago showed me that I am in good shape but I am just not fit enough yet to finish a full in a reasonable time. Will and I are going to run lots together over the next of months and I am really excited to have a training partner who is as keen as I am !!

Now, a few days later, my calf is tight from the after-effects of the cramp and i trying to rest it, but it is nothing serious or long term so i am not too concerned!

Will and I both have wives and busy jobs and other commitments but we are determined to get ready for other respective races and i am feeling pumped for the next few months. What a great feeling.

KL (half) Marathon

Last Sunday was the KL marathon (full and half distances). It has been an important milestone fixture on my calendar events for the year and one in which I was hoping to notch up a PB.


Leading up to the race, preparation was going ok. I am definitely starting to get back to my fitness levels of 2009, but I have not yet started my speed training and have not yet notched up my weekly miles to where they need to be for a strong half or full marathon.

I spent a few days in Perth in Australia earlier that week and did some core strength training, but no running. I simply didn’t have the time. I know that tapering means slowing down, but I don’t think that means stopping altogether. The trip, whilst not that far, does involve a five and a half hour flight each way and resulted in me being pretty tired by the end of the week.

The night before the race, a group of friends got together for a pasta party and I drank lots of water and ate lots of carbs and went to bed feeling pretty good. Waking up on race day though, I felt sluggish. It is hard to put your finger on what that feels like or looks like, but I knew that I was not on my A Game.

Going through my normal early morning routine, I ate, showered, made it to the start area, warmed up and started to feel a little better.

The first 5km of the race was tough. I was running strong, but the heat, humidity and traffic fumes on a busy road meant that I hadn’t settled even at that point. I looked at my watch and I had been doing 5:10 minute km’s; so I decided to slow down and see if that helped.

I passed the 10km mark in just over 53 minutes which means I had slowed down my second 5km to 5:30minute km’s. But I still wasn’t settled. I was still feeling sluggish. I had taken a gel at about 40 minutes and that helped a little, but not enough.

Things started to go wrong from there. The next couple of km’s slowly started to take 5 to 10 seconds longer each km. I took lots of water, I had another gel, but by the 15km mark, I was hovering around the 6 minute per km mark and slowing. I felt so out of rhythym that I even stopped and sat on a curb for about 90 seconds to “have a word with myself”

I crossed the finish line in 2 hours and 30-odd seconds. Not a PB. A real disappointment. With retrospect, I put it down to three things:

· Fitness – I started too fast for my level of fitness and simply ran out of juice

· Over-thinking, over-preparing and not having the right mental game for the day. All of my PB’s over the last couple of years have come on the days that I least expect them. I must remember to go out to enjoy myself, and celebrate a PB if it comes. Not the other way round!

· Just a bad day. I didn’t sleep great, I was tired from the travel in the week. Of all of the reasons that I didn’t do well, this is probably the smallest contributing factor.

Next race is in a couple of weeks and I will put all of this behind me and simply go out and run. Looking forward to it!

The race itself was a credit to the organizers and to Standard Chartered Bank. It was very well run, loads of well-manned water stops. Lots of good signage and marshalling. Plenty of clean-ish port-a-potties. Perfectly organized water, fruit, refreshments and medal-station at the end. All round great demonstration of how a race should be organized!

Two (other) continents

Lauren and I just got back from a great, but short trip to the UK, where we went to attend a wedding. We took the opportunity whilst there to have a run together along the canal near Walton On Thames in Surrey. We ran down the tow path to Hampton Court and back which is little over 15km in total. Three great things about this were
A) Lauren and I never really run together - neither of us really has the patience... But we made it, we didn't want to kill each other and we actually enjoyed it!
B) running in the UK climate is really amazing after the humidity of Asia and it made me feel a little more confident about New York in November. Interestingly enough, it tooK my legs almost 4km to really warm up.
C) the route was amazing and Hampton Court is one of the most spectacular buildings you will ever see. It is great to get out and run new routes, especially on holiday... You get to see so many fabulous things.

This posting is called 2 Continents for a reason. A little while back I was in Australia for a week for work and got a chance to run a couple of times. Once in Perth and a couple of times in Brisbane. Again the climate helped, but I was consistently running sub 50 minute 10km's along some pretty great routes. I guess my job (and all the travel) does have some perks. I am off to Perth again Monday so I shall see what the even cooler weather brings!

My Favourite place to run

I was reading in a running magazine the other day an article that featured a readers' favourite place to run and i thought about it for all of about 2 seconds and knew what my answer would be. Or certainly know what my answer is for Malaysia where i live.

Situated about 15 miles from the centre of KL is the Forestry Research Institute of Malaysia or FRIM. It is awesome. Most of the trails are shared by walkers, the occasional runners and quite a lot of mountain bikers.

courstesy of "my first blog" on blogspot

It is very quiet, has some challenging climbs and descents, has wide, well maintained trails and provides over 40km of decent trails if you really want to stretch yourself. I really discovered all of the trails on my mountain bike with my "crew" but it is running that i love it for now. I am still not really sure how many people read my blog, but if there is anyone who would like to know which trails i reccomend or would even like to meet for a run, i would happy to assist.

FRIM has a soft space in our hearts because it is also where, before officially moving to Malaysia, Lauren and I got engaged. As two people who love the outdoors and hiking over a mountain on a Sunday morning, we drove our hire car up there in our walking boots and day packs and when we found a suitable, secluded spot just off the trails, i pulled a sparkling ring from my bag and asked Lauren to make me the happiest man on the mountain!  At the time we didnt really know where we were in park, and thought it was very secluded. It turns out now that it is quite a busy part and i pass it every time i go up there.

New Balance 15km Race Report

This 15km race was hosted by KL Pacesetters and was held around the town centre of Putrajaya just outside KL. It is a new town, with excellent roads, lots of parking and a nice gentle breeze blowing in from the sea.

It was a really well organised race.

Having had lots of water, and a carb-packed dinner the night before, i got up on Sunday morning feeling pretty good. My legs are a little stiff at the moment, because i am really picking up the miles every week, but all in I felt pretty good. Had a nice hot shower and breakfast and we headed out bright and early. Lauren was running this one too, so it was good to head out together.



thanks to blogger, lifeisxtragreat for the photo



We easily found a space near the start line and i set of for a short warm up jog around a couple of blocks and was surprised to see such few people (these are normally bigger). For some reason I got the time a little wrong and realised i only had a couple of minutes to make it to the start so i jogged down to the line, jumped in the crowd about 10 metres back, checked my trusty Garmin and we were off.

The route was great although climbing a pretty steep hill in the middle was a bit of a surprise as I thought i had read that the race was flat. The roads were really wide and i was sitting relatively close to the front so I had so much space. After about a km, my legs finally started to warm up. It seemed that everyone around me was keeping a 5:15min per km pace so i just sat tight and ran on the shoulders of a small group. I was feeling pretty strong and comfortable and was able to maintain the pace without any real difficulty - something i put down to the cooler temperature that morning.

I hit the 10km mark in 51:30 and was pretty pleased with that as i felt i had quite a lot left in the tank. I struggled a little at the 11-12km mark as we had to cross a long bridge, the ascent of which seem to go on forever. I think i tucked in behind someone who was a strong climber and probably went up a little fast. It kind of knocked the wind out of me, so I didn't descend as quick as I probably could have.

The last 2km was a long open out and back. I was about 500m from the turn when I saw my friend Robin on the other side of me (1km in front) and that gave me a little boost to try to finish strong. As it turns out, Robin is an animal and had a great finish almost 6 minutes ahead of me, but i did the last km in 5:10 which i was happy with. I crossed the line in 1:19.21 which I was really pleased with in the end.

There was plenty of food and other goodies available at the finish line, including a huge supply of Gatorade (which was great!) but sadly, no water. Hopefully this is something that they will think about for next time as there were a lot of people complaining.

All in all a great morning out. My friends Will, Sarah and Robin all had great races and of course my gorgeous wife finished strong in a great time. Will is training for his first half and is relatively new to running and it was awesome to be able to support him for his strong finish.

Just a couple of weeks really until the KL half.

Equipment that changed my life

First it was the new Garmin. Now it is my new water belt.
Let me start by saying i have never liked running with a hydro pack. Particularly in this climate. It really drives up my body temperature and as often as not, i am needing water just a time when i am not want to suck down on a hose coming from over my shoulder.

Then I bought myself a North Face Enduro Belt 2. It is Awesome.

This piece of equipment has really changed my life. I am able to plan longer routes without needing a refill and the belt is comfortable and really easy to slip bottles into on the move. I actually took out the two TNF bottles that it came with as they were a little small and upsized them to two regular bike bottles that it just fine. Really reccomend this!

New York New York.

I got a space in the New York Marathon. Third time lucky.

I came to know about it when i was looking at my credit card statement and saw this USD charge (for quite a lot) and it was to NYCM. What is that i thought. A space in one of the greatest races on Earth! Absolutely.

Cant wait until November. It will be awesome. Better get training!

Garmin has changed my life

For my birthday a few weeks ago, my wife bought me a new running watch. I had a Garmin before, but it got wet (in the rain) and stopped working after a couple of months. Since then i have been using my trusty Polar, which i love, but all i was getting was time and (when i remembered to wear the strap) my heart rate.

As a result of this amazing new toy, my running life has changed. Forever. I am an addict. But now, not only am I addicted to running, I am also addicted to the gadget. I look at the Garmin Connect site when I am home in the evening on my ipad. I look at it when I am at work on my pc. I even looked at it at on an internet hub in an airport lounge the other day.

The garmin connect website is brilliant. Easy to navigate and (one of the best bits) easy to export runs to Google earth. 

For those of you who dont have one; it is GREAT. Seeing the miles clocked up on the calendar every week, comparing runs on regular routes, downloading the data as soon as i walk in the door from a run and looking at my stats as I stretch - it all makes me want to run more. And faster.

Energizer half marthon race Report

I completed my first half marathon of the year at the weekend and it was, well, shocking. It was without a doubt, the worst organised race i have ever been to. The race was held at night on the formula 1 circuit in Malaysia, Sepang. We got there early, parked and made our way towards the start line. There were no direction signs anywhere and we wandered around aimlessly trying to figure out where to go.

When evenutally  i found a single-wide door leading to a tunnel under the track, I realised that this was the only way to the paddock. Terrible! We filtered through slowly, only to find that there was no water or drinks available, no toilet facilities on that side and the headlamps for participants had run out. All i hoped was that the course was not too dark!

For some reason that organisers kept us corralled away from the start line and off the track. I couldnt figure out why, until i realised that they wanted the band to lead the runners on to the start line. Very ceremonial, but a pain in the a**. All we wanted to do was line up and run. It caused a lot of confusion and everytime someone went on the course to line up, the security guards shouted at them to go back.

When the race started, the route wasnt too bad. There was not a lot of water available on the route and i got quite dehydrated on the course. This meant that my quads and calfs were really cramping by the 18k mark and slowing me down. The last ten km were run on the F1 track which was very cool. It is really impressive when you see it up close. It has the huge sweeping bends that stretch out and give you a great sense of the size of the place. I can see why they run races there at night. It has no shade and would be a nighmare in the heat.

I crossed the line in 2:01 which was fine, given that i am still building base and did not expect anything better than that. I have a lot of work to do to improve my times over the next few months; especially if i am hoping to shave 15mins off my marathon time.

The race organisation got even worse when i crossed the line. There was no water. Only some warm gatorade. The line for the race packs was so bad that people started to riot (literally) and the police closed the area. I was beat and just wanted to go home. My gorgeous wife who was not running that day had come to watch and was happy to hot-foot it out of there and drive me home. I had a stretch, thought about my race and was generally happy. As it was an evening race, i got my hydration and nutrition quite badly wrong, so this is something that i will need to think about for the next couple of races. 18k was really my limit, so i have to start to up my miles in the coming weeks.

Energizer (batteries) have issued a very nice, exceedingly embarrassed apology over the last couple of days and a promise to refund us the entry fee and send out our race packs and medals in the mail. well done them for turning this around. Shame on the events company for putting them in the situation in the first place.

2011 Race Schedule

Every man needs a goal. Or several. My race schedule for the rest of the year looks like this...

Energizer half marathon (night) Malaysia 16th April
New Balance Pacesetters 15km Malaysia 5th June
Standard Chartered KL half marathon Malaysia 26th June
Siemens KL 10k Malaysia 10th July
Marina Bay half marathon Singapore 23rd July
Shape Run 12.5km Malaysia 30th July
Nike 10k Malaysia tbd August
Freemantle half marathon Australia 25th September
Addidas King of the Road 16.8km Malasysia 2nd October
North Face 100 25km Singapore 15th October
New York marathon USA 6th November
Singapore marathon Singapore 4th December

as you can see, this year, I am focussed on the running and have not been able to find any triathlons or duathlons that fit with my schedule. Pretty full year though!