GREAT EASTERN 30KM RUN ON 22 JANUARY 2006

Location: Lake Garden Boat House
Timing: 3 hr 13 min 52 sec
Distance: 30.1 km

Average pace per km: 6 min 26.45 sec

Attire: Running shorts and vest
Other equipment: New Balance pouch, Nike arm wallet, MP3 player and plum powder drink

I nearly missed the race. Woke up at 3.45 a.m. but continued sleeping until 5.10 a.m. as I as too tired after watching the All England Badminton until 1.30 a.m. I knew that I was too late and immediately I rushed to my car. I had no time for banana breakfast. I had to rush to Sim’s house to fetch him. At approximately 5.15 a.m., I arrived at Sim’s (http://petalingrunner.blogspot.com/) house. From there we departed to the Lake Garden. I had no choice but to drive exceeding the speed limit on the Federal Highway at more than 100 km/h. Arrived at Bukit Aman car park at approximately 5.30 a.m. and had to immediately run to the starting point. I consumed my Powergel while running towards the starting point.

The race started at 6.00 a.m. I ran at a relaxed and consistent pace at the beginning. The first Double Hill was fine at I took approximately 1 hr 15 min + to complete the first Double Hill. Next, the route is to run towards Petronas station in Sri Hartamas. My pacing was quite relax and consistent. On the way to Petronas station, I met some of the fast runners running back on the opposite direction, i.e. Azwar, Tey (http://pmtey.blogspot.com/), Chong Wah, Tan Khee Meng (Penguin 2), Tan Chee Wee (Penguin 11) and Ronnie See (PM1). I completed the Petronas route when my timing indicated approximately 2 hr 10 min +.

The final stretch was to run back towards the finishing line. On the way back, I met Boon Keat and Chui Miew (pacing together) and Rho Wen. I still manage to maintain my consistent pace. The run was so relaxed and I was motivated to run due to the music from the MP3 player. With less than a kilometre to go, I decided to increase my pace. Towards the finishing with approximately 100 metres going, I decided to sprint towards the finishing line. I finished the race in 3 hr 13 min 52 sec. After finishing the race, I was surprised at my self as I could maintain the same pacing throughout the entire distance without much problem as I did not have proper breakfast like banana and Powerbar. I only had Powergel 20 minutes before the race. I forgot to consume my second Powergel at the Petronas station as I thought I left it in my car. I only realised that after the race when I was chit-chatting with Chui Miew.

Overall, the run was quite enjoyable and relaxing. The only thing I had myself to blame was that I really had to rush to the starting point as I left my house in a rush and missed my proper breakfast. Besides that, I had also misplaced my MP3 player and my Nike arm wallet after the run. If anyone found these two items, do drop me an email (jasonlfh@gmail.com) or call me at 012-2478525.

Run For Terence (RFT)

As you're all aware our running kaki, triathlete, duathlete, commando ultrarunner, Terence (Penguin-6) has been diagnosed with brain tumour. With his wife not working and his own job is at stake, whatever assistance and support we extend him will be useful.

Runners are known as a supportive and positive bunch. It's time to come forward to help a fellow sportsman in need. Treatment for tumours are often expensive and debilitating. The patient will also be weakened substantially by all the drugs. Besides resting and taking proper food, it's also beneficial to take food supplements such as antioxidants. All these require money.

To show our support for him, Der_Pacemakers and friends are organizing a run in his honour, after which we'll be passing the hat around to collect some contribution for him. You can also pen down messages for him in a book. As this is a non-competitive run, please bring your own refreshments. Typical of Terence's care-free attitude, you can run any number of laps you want.

Date: Saturday Feb 4th
Time: 8am
Venue: KLCC Park, the large space between the carpark and the mosque
Distance: Any number of laps

Please turn up to support him and spread the word around. Thank you.

GREAT EASTERN 30KM RUN PHOTOS

Photos courtesy of ET Tey. Thanks.

From top to bottom.

Photo 1: Sitting from left to right: Chong Wah, Rho Wen and Chui-Miew
Standing from left to right: Miow Chin, Boon Keat, Fang Hau & Wan Lin
Photo 2: My usual finishing style, timing: 3 hr 13 min 54.99 sec
Photo 3: From left to right: CM, ?, Tey, Sim, Ronnie, Richard, Ping Loong, Fang Hau & Azwar
Photo 4: From left to right: Chui-Miew, Phyllis, Tey, Chong Wah and Rho Wen
Squatting from left to right: Boon Keat & Fang Hau
Photo 5: From left to right: Chong Wah, Boon Keat, Wan Lin & Fang Hau

My 30km run report will be out soon.

SURPRISE AND SHOCKING NEWS

I would like to say announce that Terence Leong a.k.a. Penguin 6 has been diagnosed with brain tumour recently. He has been hospitalised recently and now allowed to go home to celebrate Chinese New Year. Also known as the PowerBar Penguin, Terence has been an inspiration to many runners with race reports and running tips from his blog http://www.jroller.com/page/penguin

Terence has participated in races such as running a marathon, ultra marathon, duathlon, triathlon and biathlon. He has a desire to participate in more races. Unfortunately he has been diagnosed with brain tumour recently. It is quite a shocking and sad news to those who know who Terence Leong is. Terence needs our support. Do cheer him up.

For your information, the person wearing PowerBar t-shirt in the photo is Terence Leong. This photo was taken after the Fire Fighter run 2005 where I experienced muscle cramp and it was painful when walking back after the race from Dataran Merdeka to the car park at Bukit Aman.

I am planning to visit Terence Leong with friends on 4 February 2006 For those who are interested, do drop me an email at jasonlfh@gmail.com or contact my mobile at 012-247 8525 in order to be updated on the plan on 4 February 2006

Regards,
LIM FANG HAU

MT. NUANG TRIP ON 10 JANUARY 2006

Shoe: Hiking shoe (Hi-Tec)
Equipment: New Balance pouch, one (1) 1.5 litres water bottle and two (2) 0.5 litre water bottle, walkie-talkie (loan from Kam Meng) and walking stick*
Food: Burger and chocolates
Attire: Long sleeves t-shirt and long pants

* This walking stick was given to me by one of the Malay lady climber on 23 July 2005 when she noticed me having difficulties in descending Nuang. This walking stick has been accompanying me for the rest of my mountain climbing trip to Mt. Bunga Buah, Mt. Angsi and Mt. Datuk.

Information on Mt. Nuang

Height: 1,498 metres, highest mountain in Selangor

This was my second attempt on Mt. Nuang since my first solo attempt on 23 July 2005. Departed from Kelana Jaya LRT station after picking up Soon Loong and Chui-Miew (Blueamaba) somewhere near Kelana Jaya LRT station. We arrived at the Petronas station after the 2nd Cheras toll at 7.30 a.m. Waited for Boon Keat and Kam Meng for a few minutes to arrive. We had our breakfast near Hulu Langat town. At approximately 8 a.m., we departed to Nuang.

The journey to the summit started at approximately 9 a.m. There were not much people hiking since it was a public holiday (Muslim festival). The journey to the summit reminded me of my first solo attempt. The weather was fine and windy in the morning. The uphill trail to the summit was fine. We reached the first water dam after one hour of trekking. From the water dam, we proceeded to the first campsite within half an hour.

We reached the Lolo campsite (after crossing the river) at approximately 10.30 a.m. At Lolo campsite, we rested for a few minutes before continuing our journey to Pacat campsite. The journey to Pacat campsite took us approximately 1.5 hours. We arrived at Pacat campsite at approximately 12 noon. Pacat campsite is almost like an empty playground as many trees had been cleared. This is not good for the environment as it exposes the land to further soil erosion and other related side effects. At Pacat campsite, we stopped for a short break before continuing our journey to the summit.

The journey to the summit took us approximately 1.5 hours. From Pacat campsite the trail to the summit became steeper and muddy. I found myself having difficulty to move fast in the muddy trail. We arrived at the summit at approximately 1.30 p.m. We had our lunch on the summit and took some photos before descending from the summit. The weather on the summit was quite cold and I shivered while having my lunch. The view from the summit was not that beautiful as it was covered by trees.

We descended from the summit at approximately 2 p.m. We took 4.25 hours from the summit to reach the base. I slipped down for a few times on the way descending the summit due to muddy and slippery surface. We arrived at the car park at 6.15 p.m. After cleaning ourselves, we departed from Nuang back to Petaling Jaya.

Overall, the day trip to Nuang as quite an enjoyable one. I found myself much fitter in terms of physical fitness and leg muscle endurance as compared with my first solo attempt on 23 July 2005. Finally, I would like to thank Wan Lin for the information on Nuang trip and Kam Meng (team captain) for organising this trip. Do let me know if you have any plan to go to Nuang again as I love to go to this mountain. I am looking forward to conquer some mountains which are tougher than Mt. Nuang.

KLIM CIRCUIT RUN – PART 2 (7 JANUARY 2006)

Location: Lake Garden
Distance: 20.7 km (2.3 km per lap)
Timing: 1 hr 56 min 12 sec (New year run timing on 1/1/2006, 2 hr 3 min 49 sec, running at a very relaxed pace)
Timing split: 1st lap = 11 min 48 sec +
2nd lap = 24 min + (time taken for lap 2 = 13 min +)
3rd lap = 36 min + (time taken for lap 3 = 12 min +)
4th lap = 49 min + (time taken for lap 4 = 13 min +)
5th lap = 1 hr 2 min + (time taken for lap 5 = 13 min +)
6th lap = 1 hr 16 min + (time taken for lap 6 = 14 min +)
7th lap = 1 hr 28 min + (time taken for lap 7 = 12 min +)
8th lap = 1 hr 42 min + (time taken for lap 8 = 14 min +)
9th lap = 1 hr 56 min 12 sec (time taken for lap 9 = 14 min +)
Attire: Running shorts and dry fit t-shirt
Other equipment: New Balance Pouch, MP3 Player & Casio Timing Watch (No plum powder drink at all)
Weather condition: Raining

I was not surprised by my timing. From my performance in the ultra marathon in Singapore, I had expected that I could clock below 2 hours for the run involving a distance of more than 20 km. I did not have any proper breakfast and I just ate PowerBar before the run.

I just ran at my own pace with some music from the MP3 player. Lap 1 was fine for me. For lap 2 I decided to reduce my pace. Lap 3, I decided to increase my pace again and reduce it at lap 4. For lap 5, I managed to increase maintain my pace. At lap 6, I decided to reduce my pace and ran at a relaxed pace.

At lap 7, I was motivated to run at a fast pace due to the music from the MP3 player. After running for 7 laps, I knew that I could achieve my target of running 9 laps, I decided to reduce my pace and ran at a relaxed pace for lap 8 and 9. With approximately 100 metres left, I decided to sprint to the finishing line.

Finally, I managed to finish the distance below 2 hours for the first time since running in June 2004 and I managed to achieve my target of running 9 laps. After the run I did some warm down exercise for around 3 minutes. After 5 minutes of hanging around, my right calf muscle was cramped. I was screaming due to the pain. The main reason for the cramp was due to insufficient warming down exercise. This was the second time I experience it since the Seremban Half Marathon 2005.

Lesson learned: Must do a proper warm down exercise after a run (preferably a longer period)

ULTRA MARATHON (25 DECEMBER 2005) PHOTO 9 & 10

Photo 9: Time constraint. Rushing to finish lap 6 (63 km in total)

Photo 10: Everything was fine. Managed to make the cut-off time barely 10 minutes before 12 hours. After finishing lap 7 (73.5 km in total) in 11 hr 50 min 30 sec

My greatest, longest and most enjoyable run in 2005 since running my first full marathon this year (KLIM 2005).

Hopefully, I can run this ultra marathon in 2006. Thanks to MR 25 running club of Singapore for organising such a good ultra marathon.

ULTRA MARATHON (25 DECEMBER 2005) PHOTO 7 & 8

Photo 7: Sitll running at a very relaxed pace on the rubberised track
Photo 8: So far, so good. No cramp at all on my legs muscles. Notice the drink I was carrying ? Guess what ? Refer to Part 2 of the report.

ULTRA MARATHON (25 DECEMBER 2005) PHOTO 5 & 6

Photo 5: Running in the jungle of MacRitchie Reservoir
Photo 6: Running on rubberised track

ULTRA MARATHON (25 DECEMBER 2005) PHOTO 3 & 4

Photo 3: Me on the way to finish a lap (10.5 km)
Photo 4: Eating banana to prevent cramp

ULTRA MARATHON (25 DECEMBER 2005) PHOTO 1 & 2

Photo 1: Me running at a very relaxed pace

Photo 2: Me running on the wooden bridge

ULTRA MARATHON ON 25 DECEMBER 2005 – PART 2

Fourteen interesting points to share on the ultra marathon on 25 December 2005:

1. I covered the entire 73.5 km with my MP3 player on for almost twelve hours. The battery inside the MP3 player was Energizer. I discovered that after the 12th hour the battery level remained at 50% level. It is therefore recommended to use Energizer battery as it can last longer.

2. I consumed plum powder drink in a very concentrated form. Initially, before the race day, I used a big spoon to scoop the plum powder into two water bottles (500 ml) and mix it water. The effect of the plum powder was really great. At the end of the 73.5 km, my calf muscles and legs still had not cramped at all. The only pain I encounter was on my knees and ankles due to running on uneven trail route with rocks. Plum powder can only be effective under cooling weather condition.

3. The cooling weather condition caused by the rain on the race day really helped me as I did not feel much effect of dehydration.

4. The MP3 player really motivated me to run as it prevented me from getting bored as a result of running 73.5 km.

5. This was the first time I ran more than the distance of 42.195 km. Before that, I had walked for 12 hours covering 56 k +.

6. Running in MacRitchie Reservoir can be considered quite challenging to those who used to run on tar roads. More than 90% of the route comprises jungle trail with uneven surface. The uneven surface covered with rocks can increase the chances of injuring the knees and ankles if you are not used to running under such condition. Approximately less than 10% of the route comprises tar road, pavement and rubberised track. There are more than 14 undulating hills along the route. The longest hill stretch is the first 3 km of the route with the 20 to 30 degrees of steepness.

7. The ultra marathon runners were required to run in anti-clockwise direction along the reservoir. The winner of the ultra-marathon completed 9 laps (equivalent to 94.5 km). Most of the runners completed 7 laps (equivalent to 73.5 km) and 8 laps (equivalent to 84 km).

8. No medals were provided for the run. Only the certificate of participation and t-shirt were given after the run. The entry fee was S$5 for non-members and free for members of the MR 25 running club. Although no medals were provided, the joy of running this ultra marathon is the finisher certificate of participation. Runners were required to complete a minimum of 5 laps (52.5 km) to qualify for the certificate of participation.

9. Ultra marathon is not about speed. It is about endurance running. If you are running ultra marathon with the way you used to run a full marathon, you will not be able to run a far distance. You need to hydrate your self to replace the energy lost and to prevent dehydration.

10. Refreshment stations were provided after the 3 km mark and at the finishing of the lap.

11. For those runners who like to attempt to run an ultra marathon, it is advisable that you gain sufficient experience in the full marathon before running an ultra marathon.

12. There were no paramedics along the route for the ultra marathon. According to the organiser, the hospital is located nearby the MacRitchie Reservoir. If you are running the ultra marathon, you are expected to know how to take care of yourself i.e. you must have your own deep heat rub or counter pain medicine.

13. The day after running the ultra marathon, I felt pain on my knees and ankles. My leg muscles were very sore. I felt the pain especially when walking up or down from the staircase.

14. At the point of writing I am still recovering from my left ankle pain. I can run short distance without experiencing pain on my ankles. I only encounter pain on my left ankle when doing stretching.

2 January 2006