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The journey to my debut marathon started Friday morning with a crappy bus trip from Batu Pahat. The bus was supposed to send us to Lavender Street, but all four of us got dumped at the Singapore check-point coz the immigration clearance was too long. Mark that bus company, it's called Hasry! Blardy idiot.
We booked a room for 2 night's stay for four at this marvelous B&B called Summer Tavern at Clarke Quay. The room is air-conditioned, and the owner Mr. Khalil charged us S$120.00 per night. Very affordable, considering it's location which is right next to Boat Quay and Clarke Quay. And most importantly it's just a 10minute's walk to the marathon starting point. The night life... oooh ma ma! Should Dr. Ray had contacted me earlier, he wouldn't have to be all alone bunking in a cheap motel at Chinatown on a Friday night. LOL!
The guys went jalan-jalan around Marina Bay while I met up with my uncle in Bedok, who was kind enough to collect our running packs. I was treated to dinner at Coffee Club at Siglap Road. Great food but no pictures, heheh! After dinner, met up with the guys and we went Clinic!
Located at Clarke Quay, Clinic has wheelchairs, IV drips, IM injections, ward blinds, operating tables, operating lights, morque chiller, sexy nurses etc. etc. A bunch of innocent med students are sure to inherently attracted to this kind of set-up. Haha! We ordered a jug of beer sans the IV drips, for slow-release action via oral route.
Clarke Quay was quite happening that night. Right in front of Clinic, we witnessed an ang moh collapse and banged his head on the pavement, rendering him unconscious. Instantaneously, we heard a number of apparently educated Singaporean shouting, "he's got epilepsy", and turned him to a right-lateral position. Another came and said, "he's got head injury", and turned the patient back supine and wrapped a piece of cloth to the ang moh's bleeding bald head. Another tried to wake him up by slapping on his cheek. Some security personnel tried to beam intense white LED torch into his pupil from 1 metre away, I suppose he's looking for unequal pupil size. While all that was happening, the four medically-trained youngsters, yours truly included, were sipping beer on wheelchairs. Go on, scrutinize us on medical ethics! Oh ya, then some security fellas were heard shouting "FCUK YIU" to another ang moh, apparently the victims's friend. Then the police came. We then adjourned to the central stage nearby and listened to some energetic Irish performance by Touch of Tartan. What a night! I love Singapore already!
We woke up pretty late the next day, and I met up with my relatives at Paramount Hotel (opp. Parkway Parade) for lunch. The Chinese restaurant has dim sum and Japanese food, what a combo! We had loads of dim sum, and some sushi and fresh raw salmon! Burpps! Met up with the guys after that at Harbourfront for a trip to Sentosa.
Besides the Luge ride, I think the trip to Sentosa is crappy, time- and cash-wasting. What are four grown-up mahlat-lou's doing watching dolphin show? Suffice to say, we spent the rest of our day (and cash) there and returned to Vivo City for dinner at this Greenhouse Cafe. Nothing marvelous. Let's go on to the marathon!
First and foremost, thanks to LM who provided me a two-stage turbo boost by means of 2 packets of GU gels. I topped up another 2 GU gels, 2 packets of GU2O sports drink, and 2 PowerBars. The running pack comes with a blue gym bag, a blue sling bag, an Adidas singlet, and some Berocca tablets and Deep Heating Rub sachets. And a packet of pasta too, wtf?! LOL!
The provided Adidas running singlet could easily cost RM40-60 over here in Malaysia. I was wearing a similar singlet, only white in colour sans the Standard Chartered logo.
L-R: KK, Zhang Duan, Siu Min
I woke up at 3am sharp, and immediately chewed on the awful tasting PowerBar complemented with the GU2O drink. I then prep my bowel by straining in the toilet. From then on it was stretching all the way till starting time.
L-R: Daniel, KK, Siu Min, Zhang Duan
L-R: Kok Fang, KK, Siu Min, Daniel, Zhang Duan
All five of us started from Pen 3, designated for those aiming for sub-5hr timing. I picked Zhang Duan and Daniel as my pacers as they have trained at least a little compared to the other two fellas. But Daniel scrammed off the first few metres looking for a loo. That left me and Zhang Duan pacing each other at a very much steady, constant and "slowish" pace for the first 10km. I stopped for a 2-min pee at Raffles Ave before catching up with him further down the road. That's pretty much it really, we chatted a little, ran a little, and zig-zagged a little to pass the slower runners. Our aim was to finish our first marathon, and not develop nasty leg cramps.
Upon entering the ECP stretch from Mountbatten Road, Zhang Duan started to increase his pace. He might be frustrated with my slowish pace, but I needed to conserve energy for the last 10km. I found him running further and further away from me and the need to catch up with him. I could run ahead of him but I didn't, I tailed him from a slight distance, my speed constant. I let him set the pace. Until the 33km mark, Zhang Duan signalled me the sign of death - he asked me to run on, his cramps debilitating. I gave him a thumbs-up (as encouragement) and sped on. Gulped my 5th GU gel at 36km, and discovered I could possibly gun it for a sub-5hr timing. Due to the GU gel's turbo lag, I found myself walking a few metres every km thereafter, until the 39km mark. Cheered by Eric Clapton's "RUN" emanating from my MP3 player's earpiece, and the late onset turbo boost from the GU gel consumed earlier, I ran the final 2km non-stop. Not even for water or deep heating rubs. I needed the sub-5! Wishful, wishful thinking! Hahaha...
My champion chip clocked:
5h:04m:35s
We had to wait for our friend Mr. Kok Fang, who jovially finished his marathon in 8h:14m:5s. He vowed not to run another marathon ever again. Understandable, with his lack of training and improper shoewear, and a post-marathon Singapore trishaw ride back to Summer Tavern that cost him S$30.00, we felt his pain too!
We travelled back to Batu Pahat via Larkin bus terminal in JB, how tiring! Luckily the sumptuous dinner made up for the energy-sapping travelling.
I have only praises for Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, and would definitely join next year's event and thrash Uncle Ray's time. Hahaha. Oh yea guys, I might be joining OSIM Triathlon relay next year too! Hiak hiak hiak...
Sunday, December 02, 2007
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Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2007 |
Friday, November 23, 2007
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GU vs. PowerGel |
Read on for the comparison between GU gel and PowerGel! Sourced from BeginnerTriathlete.com.GU (www.gusports.com) Flavors Available: Banana Blitz, Chocolate, Espresso Love (w\double-caffeine), Just Plain, Orange Burst, Tri Berry, and Vanilla Bean. Cosmo Factor: A nicely unassuming mix of homespun and hi-tech. These are my favorite gels because they do everything well and most of the flavors are quite good. All versions have some caffeine and they now offer Espresso Love, which has twice the caffeine. GU is not available in every sporting goods store, but can be easily found (especially at bike shops). If you return five empty packets, they will send you a free one. GU is sold in single serving packets and five serving Flask Filler packets. Category Score Notes Taste 
Natural, not overly sweet. Chocolate flavor could use some help. Favorite flavor: Vanilla Bean – just like pudding (did not taste Espresso Love). Consistency Thick, but not heavy Initial Boost Takes a moment to get there, but it’s like a shot of adrenaline when it arrives. Sustained Boost 
Long lasting with no hard crash. Overall 
Good results and a variety of tasty flavors. PowerGel (www.powerbar.com ) Flavors Available: Chocolate (w\caffeine), Green Apple (w\caffeine), Lemon Lime, Raspberry Cream, Strawberry Banana (w\caffeine), Tangerine (w\double-caffeine), and Tropical Fruit. Cosmo Factor: Attempts to be flashy and modern, but ends up being, well, kind of ugly (on the bright side, they’re really easy to spot from a long distance). PowerGel is the easiest product to find of the bunch. In fact, many races I’ve been to offer them at aid stations. Anyone who’s tasted a PowerBar knows that the company puts more emphasis on performance than flavor and PowerGel is no exception. The packets were the biggest of those tested, which could make it hard to take quickly. They also offer the most calories per serving, which aids the overall boost. PowerGel is sold only in individual packets. For some reason, the packets occasionally can be hard to tear open. Category Score Notes Taste 
Light, slightly metallic, and generally not great. Favorite flavor: Tropical Fruit – think pineapple on a sunny beach (did not taste Strawberry Kiwi). Consistency Thick, but easily swallowed. Initial Boost Understated, no big spike. Sustained Boost Kept feeling strong. Overall 
A solid all around performer but taste should be better.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
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Marathon Preparation |
"W ith about a month to go until marathon day, it's time for one last long run and some well earned rest and don't be tempted to do anything that might undo all your good work..."Beg your pardon?! What good work? What well earned rest? I haven't been training since my final exam in August! When I do run, they are only casual jogs around the hell hole called Batu Pahat. I can't find a route long enough for training, and the lake garden where Batu Pahat people jog tires the brain before the legs feel anything! A lap of running around the lake is only a few hundred metres, by the time I reach 10 laps, I was dizzified. And don't get me started on the traffic condition here.
Someone once told me the 42-odd km distance of the marathon must be respected and deserves adequate preparation in order to successfully finish. Seasoned runners often plan one year ahead before the big event! I think I might just survive through my debut marathon. My goal is to finish. It's a marathon and not a race afterall...
Friday, September 14, 2007
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Running Apparels |
Got these running apparels as birthday gifts (which was 2 months ago). Didn't blog about it then coz were having exams. So before the "someone" who bought me these presents gets frustrated at me for not wearing them, I shall display it on my blog. Heheh!
adiStar running vest - RM125.91
Adidas RSP running singlet (RM44.01) and shorts (RM62.91)
They are bought from the Adidas Factory Outlet in Jaya Shopping Centre, Section 14, P.J. Everything here are priced 40% lower from other Adidas outlets. I've seen the same adiStar vest selling for Rm199.90 in Mid Valley! With these running apparels, I can easily add 1km/h to my top running speed! Wind tunnel proven! 
Thursday, August 02, 2007
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SCSM 2007 - I'm In! |
Payments made, I'm in! Will be running in the full marathon (42.195km) category! So see you guys there!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
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Seremban Half Marathon 2007 |
Overall, Seremban Half is an enjoyable run. For starters, it's very near our rented house and secondly, there are six of us running! Not to mention a certain blogger personality who peer-pressured me into this race in the first place, the epitome of fitness in the medical fraternity - Dr Ray!
The organiser is competent too; we started on time and there were water stations every 5km. Adequate I think. And loads of free thirst-quenching refreshments at the finishing line.
The second quarter of the route, as Dr Ray puts it, was scenic. Saw him somewhere in the third quarter of the race. We ran together for a while, chatting. He kept commending on my pace, said I was fast and he can't even catch up - which I knew wasn't true! Was surprised with his "slowish" pace initially - after all he's a seasoned runner and a triathlete. I on the other hand, gave it an all-out sprint right from the starting line. And then it striked me in the face - most of the killer steepy terrains are in the last quarter of the race - he was conserving his energy! True enough, he smoked my arse after the last water station, while yours truly was limping due to calf spasms and tears welling in my eyes seeing Dr Ray's turbo-boost (muahahaha!). Now you know who was the one who couldn't catch up!
Post race, left to right: Felix, Quek, Siu Min (looking away due to severe leg pain), yours truly, Daniel.Warning: I DID NOT PEE IN MY PANTS, in case you're wondering what the wet patch on my crotch was!
Having said that, I clocked the best timing for half-marathon this time round. (Not that I did many half-marathons anyway, this is just my third!)
02:10:52
Place:
91st
Clowning around.Kok Fang mysteriously disappeared, so he wasn't in any of the post race photos. We suspect he went to nurse his severely chaffed nipples in the gents.
Here are the rewards of the race - the running certificate and the pewter "medal" (which looked more like a huge coin to me, but nevertheless nice!). In case you're wondering why would I wake up so early in the morning screwing my knee joints for premature osteoarthritis, here's the reason why!
Certificate and medal
The medal - Front
The medal - BackThe guys did pretty well. Daniel and Kok Fang, who were in the Penang Bridge Half Marathon last month, improved significantly in terms of timing. Daniel was about 10 minutes faster this time round, and placed 100th! Kok Fang on the other hand, did 30 minutes less compared to his debut in Penang! Awesome.
Here's the list of everyone's finishing time:
● KK - 02:10:52 (placed 91st)
● Daniel - 02:22:00 (placed 100th)
● Siu Min - 02:42:00 [debut]
● Kok Fang - 03:02:00
● Quek - 03:12:00 [debut]
● Felix - 03:22:00 [debut]
If you guys follow my marathon timings, you'd notice that I clock 5 minutes less in Penang Bridge, and 5 minutes less here in Seremban Half. Means I'd need to clock 02:05 for the next run, and 02:00 for the next, and come my sixth half-marathon, I should be able to clock sub-2hrs? Tough act!
Seremban Half Marathon Training Log:
05.07.07 ► 7.0km @ 00:42:35
08.07.07 ► 14.0km @ 01:18:40
Race day ► 21.1km @ 02:10:52
(Didn't really train that much for this run!)
Saturday, July 14, 2007
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My Third Run |
What I'm gonna wear for the run, and some freebies from the marathonSeremban Half Marathon is a few hours away, and I'm excited. Mainly because I have five mates running together with me (one chickened out last minute)! And fellow blogger and triathlete and hospital slave, tridoc, will be there too!
Seremban Half's official T-shirtFor RM10 participating fees, Seremban Half is sure worth the run! The official T-shirt is nice, at least better than the PD Half's (which is too plain and made from overly translucent cheap material) and Penang Bridge's (which is littered with too many adverts, thus cheap too!). Let's see how it goes tomorrow. No high hopes, as second half of the route is fairly steepy, and if it's a valid excuse, my right toe is still bruised!
p/s: Dr. Ray, what's your running number? Gonna target you as my pacesetter - that is if I can catch up lah... LOL!
Monday, July 02, 2007
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Up Next: Seremban Half |
Due to the unrelenting peer pressure from tridoc, I headed to Seremban town during lunch break to submit my participation in Seremban Half Marathon scheduled for July 15, 2007. Which is two weeks away!
Right toe - 1wk post Penang Bridge Marathon
Seremban Half Route Map
Monday, June 25, 2007
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Penang Bridge Half Marathon |
I've conquered the Penang Bridge (Half) Marathon along with Foo, Daniel, Kok Fang, and Tham (the last three are first-timers)! Do not get excited over the word "conquered". Although "finished" would be more appropriate, I couldn't have cared less! Haha! This being only my second half-marathon, I set a realistic goal of finishing in less than 2.5hrs. Well, I finished not only below that, but also timed better than my half-marathon debut at PDIHM which had a shorter distance!
I definitely prepared myself better than my half-marathon debut in Port Dickson last April. So much so that my travel luggage is so much more massive compared to the two other half-marathon newbies!
Posing as if I'm studying hard for exam!
Having have to sit for our end-of-posting exams this week, all of us had our study materials on board of the lousy and bumpy bus that took us from Seremban to Puduraya to Penang in a fatiguing EIGHT hours ride (there were plenty of stops in between to load/unload passengers)!
The bus was so bumpy we were rocked to sleep in no time. The sleep-wake-read-sleep cycle continued till we reached the Penang Bridge, our marathon venue!
The bridge felt undoubtedly long, even when we're travelling on a bus! It's a 13.4 km of architectural wonder (we later found out it's actually a 13.4 km stretch of garbage/faeces stench)! We had to run the length of this bridge twice!
Queensbay Mall - huge resemblance to 1Utama!
We headed straight to Queensbay Mall after collecting our return bus ticket in the bus terminal. The taxi charged us RM12.00 for a distance less than 2km! Bloody cut-throat! Like any other part of the country, the cabbies don't use meters!
After paying the registration fees and collecting our running numbers at the booths outside Queensbay Mall, we proceeded to collect our T-shirts but were told they had run out of stock!
The five of us - from left: Foo, Daniel, Tham, Kok Fang, KK.
We decided to use the KFC coupons for dinner while waiting for their T-shirts. The coupon is good for a set meal of 2-piece chicken, potato wedges, a bun, and carbonated soft drink for RM8.00. I went a step further by ordering another set of fish & chips for RM5.00. Was pissed bloated!
Foo, yours truly, Daniel
We stayed at The Northam All Suite Hotel near Gurney Drive. It's bloody far from our running venue, but Foo insisted we stay there as he could get us corporate rate for the junior suite, and the possibility of free upgrade to deluxe suite free of charge (which never happened). Protest as we might (heheh, kiddin ya Foo), but he had already charged his credit card for reservation! Alrightey then...
You know Northam is a stylo-mylo, mumbo-jumbo kinda hotel when you see the supercars parked at the entrance. Foo kept arguing with me that this car here resembled his, while I retorted that my car had the exact plate number. Haha...
And here are some clowning photos inside our hotel suite. Very nicely decorated and spacious. Comes with a huge "open-concept" bathroom with jacuzzi tub and a smaller "poo-ing room", a business table, sofa set, and all the standard stuffs.
Foo getting ready to dip into the jacuzzi tub.
Daniel getting aroused seeing a partially-naked man.
I was a bit uneasy when Foo told me that he'd arranged the hotel transport to send us to the running venue at 0400hrs, when our reporting deadline is at 0415hrs and starting time at 0430hrs! Brushing it off and hoping that all would go well, we ventured out for some mineral water and isotonic drinks for the big day.
A trip to Penang is not a trip to Penang till you have some of the local food. We simply walked into one of the restaurants near our hotel, I had the Hokkien noodles and some fried omelette with oyster. Verdict: Tak Boleh Jadik / Can Not Make It One!
Penang Hokkien-style noodle. Laden with 99% MSG!
Fried oyster omelette - makes you feel sad!
Got into bed at 12am. Couldn't sleep that night, couldn't help wondering what'd happen if we missed the reporting time. It's clearly printed in the runner's guide that no participants would be allowed on the bridge if they missed the 0415hrs reporting deadline. We've came so far... what if... *ZzZzZzZzZzZzZZ*
And sure enough, we were LATE! We reached the venue at 0430hrs. By the time we checked-in our bags for safe-keeping and did our last pee-ing, the race started. Foo raced AGAINST the traffic in search for the reporting station, and I was on hot pursuit from behind. I soon missed him, and decided to cross to the other side of the street which was clear of charging human beings, and raced towards the rear entrance of USM, across the wide football field, to reach the front USM entrance to get my arse registered. Now I had to run back to where I came from, across the field, around the housing area, and back to the starting point. I saw Foo halfway through the field. Guessed he had some great struggles with the traffic earlier. All in all, I lost a whopping 25 MINUTES, and ran a good 3-4km extra! What a good way to warm up.
By the time I reach the starting line, the street were already empty. I re-started my stopwatch and off I went. On entering the bridge, I saw Kok Fang, one of the three newbies. I later found out all three of them went straight to the USM front entrance, which was directly across the road from where we kept our bags. They were definitely the smarter ones, they bypassed the detour I and Foo made!
Soon enough, I caught up with the crowds. In fact, my whole run was wading through crowds and crowds of people, zig-zagging, slowing down and picking up speed. 00:50 into the run, I emptied a packet of PowerGel and downed it with water. On doing the second loop of the bridge at 01:10, started to have severe intermittent tummy ache. All I had was a sachet of PowerBar Endurance Sports Drink and two PowerBars back in the hotel and a packet of PowerGel! I thought that would be the end of the run, coz I had to slow down to walking pace whenever the pain came. But everytime when the pain climaxed, it went away with a warm and long flatus (fart). The on and off tummy ache lasted about 10mins. Must be KFC's Hot&Spicy wreaking havoc!
Luckily, the pain was gone for good right after downing half a bottle of mineral water at the water station. And I was picking up speed again. Had minor calf muscle cramp at 01:30, but no time to whine. Continued to run and wade through another throng of youngsters from the "Fun Run" category.
And I crossed the finishing line clocking 02:14:50 for the 22.3km half marathon! The only consolation I had was that I finished ahead of the three first-timers despite our bad start and the extra unnecessary distance me and Foo covered.
Post-run, downing Gatorades.
It feels good to know that I'd improved since the first run; I did a slowish 02:20 for a 21km in PD. Here I'm doing 5 minutes less with an extra 1.3km thrown in, plus an almost 4km pre-race "warming up"!
The five IMU stars. From left: Kok Fang, KK, Foo, Daniel, Tham.
Foo, the most experienced runner among us five, was unlucky to have diarrhoea during the run. He visited the makeshift loos along the bridge twice, and came in at a disappointing 03:00. Again, must be the KFC!!!
The three first-timers completed the run too - with a medal and participating cert each to boast! Tham finished in 02:20+, Daniel in 02:30+, and Kok Fang 03:30+.
On returning to our suite at Northam, we discovered these majestic seafront views! Didn't know there was such a nice seaview the night before!
Some more cam-whoring at Northam while waiting for transport to the bus terminal. Time was a bit tight as we purchased the last few tickets that were still available the day before, scheduled to leave for KL at 11am.
Foo and yours truly.
The four of us.
Kok Fang
Tham
Daniel
Wanna have a peek at the Penang Bridge medals? This is my first proper marathon medal, as the one from Port Dickson Half appeared to be medals recycled from secondary schools (click here for the image). Penang Bridge medals on the other hand is made of pewter - damn solid look!
There would be definitely more medals to come, but for now it's study time for exams! Anything past August, rope me in! Anybody going for Singapore Marathon come this December?! I'm thinking of joining the full marathon!
p/s: Ray, sub 02:00 still cannot make it lah. Give some tips to prevent mesenteric ischaemia during run leh!
My Training Log for Penang Bridge Marathon:
31.05.2007 - 14 km @ 01:19:58
04.06.2007 - 9.8km @ 00:55:41
05.06.2007 - 7.0km @ 00:35:52
09.06.2007 - 8.4km @ 00:44:27
11.06.2007 - 1.4km (post-gym sprint)
13.06.2007 - 5.6km @ 00:29:39
15.06.2007 - 14 km @ 01:20:42
18.06.2007 - 5.0km @ 00:26:24
