Venue: Precinct 2, Putrajaya
Time: 7.30am

It was a last minute registration run. A friend of mine invite me to run. Its free, but u have to bring along at least 10 empty plastic water bottles.

Its a fun n enjoyable run. Not so crowded as many regular runners running at the malakoff 12km on the same day.

Clocked 37mins for the 7km run, n got myself the limited finisher’s medal

Where : Queensbay Mall, Penang
When : 20/11/2011, 2am
What : Full Marathon (42.195km)

Race pack collection

Lack of LSD (long slow distance) training, plus just did Powerman 2011 last week, fear of not enuff recovery, so i planned to just run my own pace here, as the cut-off time for full marathon is 7hrs, its doable.

It started at 2am, its like running the Singapore Sundown already. At 3-4am, started to feel sleepy & dizzy. After 4am, the dizziness went away completely.

At the 3rd km, met with Jaja, she told me that she had gastric a day before. I told her to go slow, & listen to the body. Later got to know that she decided to DNF at 4th km. Good for u Jaja to take that step. THere’s always another race. Get well soon.

Met with Aini near 10th km mark. She paced with me till the finishing line. Good run girl! Thanks for pacing with me too, helping me focus more and maintain my run. Congrats to Aini for her PB, she did 5:55 along with me. Improved 37mins! Thats a huge PB for her!!!

What has been the turn down of APBIM was, the failure of the organizer to manage the water station well. There was no water left at at least 2 water stations in a row. That’s running more than 10km without water yawww!!! They repeated their 2008 mistake again where i did my 1st full marathon here.

Desperate for water, i have to search for leftover water inside water bottles thrown beside the road, hoping to collect much water to get a full bottle. Damnnnn.. its like a rubbish collector, but we have to do it or else risking my life or get dehydrated!

The last 3km was a challenging moment for me. I have to weave through thousands of fun runners walking. Feared my calf to get cramp, have to run & weave cautiously, what an experience! Love it when i did it without any single cramp

Official time was 5:55, a PB by 7 mins. Alhamdulillah!

Finished strong this time, no more being carried by medics.. LOL

Went jalan2 at Georgetown after checked out, stumbled upon this ol skool Aliph sign board!

Click for full view

You can check the full result here.

Manjung people said, it was raining season there for the last 2-3 weeks. But it’s turned to be scorching hot on the event day!!! No rain even in the early morning before the event. The heat was as same as 2 years ago where i did my first Powerman.

the usual suspects from Chap Ayam Runners. some are Powerman 1st timers - photo by Abd Azri

With Chap Ayam frens at our homestay, moments before we left for the event - photo by Zila

Before the race, with Hadafi - photo by Zulhassan

With Hanafy & Det after setting up the transition - photo by Zila

Me posing before the starts, showed no sign of nervousness at all - photo by Zila

The race started with an 11km of run - photo by Jason Thai

The 1st loop - photo by Tan Kien Boon

yeayyy!!!! the usual jumping pose - photo by Izuan

After the 2nd lap of 11km - photo by Azri

Bike out - photo by Jason Thai

Speeding on the bike start - photo by Elaine

Approaching 2nd loop - photo by Elaine

My unofficial timing was 4:33… and it’s a PB ALhamdulillah.. that’s a bonus for me.. a big achievement for my hard work. Next year, of course will try a new PB again

The rewards, a nice medal and a Brooks finisher's t-shirt

For me, the medal & finisher’s T is secondary. The most important thing to me is the enjoyment of the gathering with my sports friends & doing what like together.

21km finisher's medal

The nite was hot n humid. Almost no wind at all. But it rained for 1hr on the afternoon before. Otherwise, it will be freakin hot :p

I did ran well n maintain my pace throughout the race. I admit, the hills seemed so easy to me to conquer

But the on last final km, my legs started to get the cramp feeling. So i take it slowly, to avoid it become worst.

Clocked 2:22, unofficial nett time.

Took my bike off my car, n cycled to the full marathon route. Accompanied my friend, cikun doing his 2nd full marathon.

He had a bad cramp on his both legs. Told him to walk n run slowly.

He finished at abt 2.30am, clocking abt 6:30. We waited for the last full marathon runners that arrived half an hour later, that happened to be my chap ayam frens, aini n irina they were escourted by all the rescue team, medic, fire dept, police n race marshals. What a dramatic finish for them!

Bottom line, it was a great, well organized event. Kudos to the organizer!

Tonite (15/10/2011), i will be running half-marathon in Putrajaya Night Marathon, in tribute to a running friend, Allahyarham Kharis Idris a.k.a. Tuan Senang Besar(TSB), who passed away last Thursday 13/10/2011.

Although i dunno much abt him, but i tribute this run for him, as a fellow runner, with same hobby n passion in running. Respect for him.

Al-Fatihah…

This year, it was held at Sunway Pyramid, running on the NPE highway.

Clocked 1:44 unofficial timing, planned for a relaxing recovery run but turned out to be an all out run :p

Running a marathon tests your mental strength as much as it does your physical fitness. Each segment of the marathon has it own mental challenges. Here are some tips on how to win the mental battles throughout the marathon:

First 10 Miles:

Start out slow. When you start your marathon, you’ll feel strong and confident, but you must keep telling yourself to hold back. Running your first half slower than the second half (called a negative split) is the key to running a smart and enjoyable marathon. Take it slow. Your body will thank you during the second half of your marathon.

Run your own marathon. Don’t be worried if you see a lot of people passing you. Remember the tortoise and the hare? They may be starting out way too fast, so you’ll catch them later — at your own pace.

Don’t get too emotional. Try to stay as calm as possible for the first 10 miles. You’ll need to conserve your mental energy for the rest of the marathon.

Miles 11-20:

Break up the marathon. Start breaking up the race into smaller segments. It will make the distance feel more manageable. At mile 17, for example, think, “One six mile race, then it’s just about a 5K to go.”

Stay mentally tough. Your mental toughness will really start to be tested during these miles. Don’t give into periods of self-doubt and discomfort. Remember all the training that you have done and have faith in it. Think about how hard you have worked and how rewarding it will be to complete your marathon.

Beat boredom. Here’s when you really get to use all those boredom-battling tricks you tried out during your long runs. Do whatever it takes to keep your mind occupied: Sing songs, play mental games, count people, talk to other runners.

Miles 21-26.2:

Think outside the body. Chances are you will be feeling a little bit of pain during these miles. You will certainly feel tired. Let your mind take over from your body and try to focus on the outside — the spectators, the signs, the other runners, the scenery.

Set small milestones. Continue to break up the course, mile by mile. Start counting down the miles and the minutes.

Talk to yourself. At this point in the race, you need to dig down deep for extra strength. Use your running mantras. Remind yourself what you’ve sacrificed to get to this point. Remember how you’ve worked through fatigue during your training runs and how you can do it again.

Source: about.com

p/s: thanks Kak June for sharing this tips, in conjunction to the upcoming Stan Chart KL Marathon 2011. Though i’ll not be running marathon, this tips will be useful at all time.

The race certificate downloaded online from the official website

Completed my 2011 Sundown Marathon successfully! Yeah!! Another marathon in hands. That was my 7th marathon. Report will come later.

This time i did a solo trip here, by the ktm senandung malam nite train. Didnt book any accommodation, just gamble it, go backpackers. Did a quick survey on the internet, found a hostel very near to the mrt, that is very convenience for me. The name, Wow Hostel Went there n lucky me to get a bed there for two nite

Woke up early this morning, did a short warm up run n stretching. Gotta get ready physically n mentally for tonite’s run. Wish me luck