My First Trail Run in Penang

This is a very late posting on my first experience on trail running in Penang.

The map of our trail run.

Elevation chart of the run.

On second day of Chinese New Year 2012, I had an absolutely fabulous first trail run with runner friends from Penang. We ran from Air Hitam Market to Kek Lok Si to 1200 steps Temple to Iron Cross, to Westen Hill then to Penang Hill. Finally we took the vernacular train down from Penang Hill back to Air Hitam.

Group photo before start of run near Air Hitam Asia Cafe. From left: Eric, Eu Jin, Chun How, Shannon, me, Jones Chua, Seow Kong, Andrew, Chee Kong. (Photo credit: Alex)

Running towards Kek Lok Si from Asia Cafe.

Nice shot by Alex.

Pit stop at the 1200 steps Temple. We had to asked nicely to gain access to the temple (before its official opening time of 7:00am) which was the entry to a trail. (photo credit: Andrew)

Alex had to carry his bike on most part of the route, including these steps after the temple (we took turn to help). Notice behind him was Chua who did the run barefooted. (photo credit: Alex)

A photo in the jungle trail. Seow Kong was in his new innov-8 (silicon shoes), while I was in Merrell Sonic Gloves. (photo credit: Andrew)

Everyone was checking for.... (photo credit: Andrew)

...the blood sucker. (photo credit: Andrew)

I think this was taken at Iron Cross. (photo credit: Chee Kong)

About 5km from Penang Hill. (photo credit: Andrew)

A trail passing some farmland. (photo credit: Chee Kong)

Out of the trail and on tar road for the last km running towards the Penang Hill tourist centre. (photo credit: Chee Kong)

View of the top. (photo credit: Chee Kong)

No finisher medal or T-shirt, no ranking or position, but just a good "ais kacang" and "100 Plus"...

... with a cool gang of runners. (photo credit: Chee Kong)

About 21km but almost 2500ft elevation gain! Thanks Andrew (you know for what). Special thanks to Aung Moe (Alex) for the lead/support on mountain bike. I was flying in one of trail section. Absolutely love that feeling.

Thanks also to Chee Kong, Seow Kong, Chun How, Eu Jin, Chua (who did it BF all the way), Shannon & Eric. Superb company, excellent view, most enjoyable run!

Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon 2012 - My race report

SCHKM 2012 Finisher Medal.

I came in this race with a time target in mind. Well, I didn't achieve that. The way I finished the race was not really what I had imagined it to be.

I had been training for this event for some time and I thought I would stand a chance to have a crack at 3:30. I thought of wearing VFF because I thought it would be cold if I go barefoot. After some considerations, I finally decided on going barefoot. Mainly it was due to how I trained for the past few weeks and I had not fully "broken" my new pair of Bikila yet.

Happy that I got my wife accompanied me on this trip. She was running in only her third Half Marathon. Not easy for us to travel, we were missing our children back home.

I met many runner friends on the plane to HK. Surprised to see so many of them. It was always good to see familiar faces, especially in races oversea.

On race day, it rained briefly in the morning. I missed the pre-race Malaysian runners group photo session as I thought it might not happen due to the rain.

I started quite in front of the pack and got off on a good start. The road condition was wet early and I had to be extra careful. The temperature at start was relatively warm I thought at this time of the year, at around 18 degrees Celsius.

First 10km was quite manageable at 49:08. After I came out of the tunnel, when I reached Tsing Ma bridge, the road condition was getting rough. At this stretch, I had to rely on the white line at side of road.

At this stretch I heard a bell-ringing sound approaching. For a moment I thought Santa Claus came early this year. Then a barefoot runner with a vest reading "厦门赤脚 吴善宽“ (Xiamen Barefooter Wu ShanKuan). He was wearing a headgear with a barefoot and a V-sign hand signal. On his ankle was a bell attached to it. When he overtook me, he shouted "赤脚好！“（Barefooted, good!). I replied, "同志！“(Comrade!). Well, what I meant was, we are comrade of barefooters (not in the context of political ideology). He acknowledged me with a thumb-up sign.

Xaimen Barefooter, Wu ShanKuan. Photo by CheungWH.

Then after the first turning point at about 15.3km, there was no white line for me anymore and the wind was blowing strongly from the front, making it quite difficult to pick up speed.

Then I saw Ben Swee, he took a photo of me after my first turn.

On Tsing Ma bridge coming back. Photo by Ben Swee.

You can see that the road condition was not smooth and the safety cone was separating the runners from the white line at the road shoulder. Photo by 高志明.

Then Ben overtook me on the way to Ting Kau bridge. I made it to the half-way check point at 1:43:37.

After the second tunnel, the road condition slowly became worse. It was the one of the worse roads I had even experienced, if not the worst. I was suffering then. I ran this course last year with shoes, and I had no recollection the road was that bad. (When you were in shoes, the road condition wasn't really our concern, right?).

Split time at 30km mark was 2:30:17. Pace starting to drop by that time. I couldn't really maintain that pace with that kind of road condition.

I think this was taken near where I got my injury. You can see the road condition and this was not the worst condition. Worst was before this. Photo by Danny Lun.

I had to slow down at the rough stretches (estimated to be around 6km of it). Near 32km mark, I lost my focus for a split second and didn't lift my left foot high enough on the rough patches. The result, I brushed my left big toe on the rough surface, half of the skin on the toe torn open and I bled.

I stopped for a brief moment, and I thought my race was over, needless to say my target. Then I started to run again. I didn't want my race to end that way. I was just hoping the injury would not be serious and I could still finish the race on my own terms (and not on an ambulance). Of course, if the injury would became worse, I would stop. However, as it turned out, the pain was bearable, and the bleeding was not getting worse.

At the last few kms after the Western Harbour tunnel, the road condition was not smooth all the way. There were still some bad stretches that I had to run with my bleeding toe.

When I reached Causeway Bay, I just enjoyed myself and pumped up the cheering crowd.

Pumping up the crowd. Photo by Nelson Li.

Also "pia" a bit "lah". Photo by Tey Eng Tiong (Special thanks for the support!)

Near finishing at Causeway Bay (still "pia"-ing). Photo by Cheung WH.

Finally I completed the race with the time of 3:39:44. I didn't meet my target of sub-3:30 and I didn't improve on my time from last year. I was a bit disappointed, but at the same time I was glad I finished it despite of the bleeding toe.

At finishing straight. Photo by Andrew Ang.

I asked for medical treatment right after the finish line. The medical staff treated my wound well and I was able to walk slowly to the baggage collection area to get my bag.

I waited for my wife, and she finished her HM in 2:25:30 (net time) for her PB. I was very happy for her.

With my wife at the finishing area.

Although I didn't meet my target, I still find a lot of positives from this race and trip. I can always try again in future events. One important thing was I got to spend some good quality time with my wife.

Until the next race, I just need to focus on recovery and get healthy first. The train hard part, later.

Mizuno Wave Run 2012

Photo by Lim Soon Chung.

Date: 15 Jan 2012
Venue: Stadium UPM
Time: 7:10am
Shoes: You mean I really have to wear something?
Distance: 9.97km
Finish time: 49:27

Did a 39km LSD the day before. So really not in the condition to race. Ended up going slowly first half of the race, then started to pick up the pace a bit toward the end of the race. Ended the race strongly but timing wise not so great. Supposed to run slower as recovery run after LSD.

New Year Newton Challenge 12km/25km

Photo credit to Tan Wah Sing.

Date: 1 Jan 2012
Start Time: 6:30am
Venue: Bandar Kinrara
Distance: 11.5km
Shoes: Shoes? What shoes?
Gun time: 1:18:xx

Running along side with wife. Just enjoying the run by starting and finishing together with her. Recovery run for me as well.

Christmas Round the Penang Island Run

Route from my Endomondo application on my iPhone. Complete distance 73.05km.

I thought about it some time, and eventually here I am writing about the Christmas Round the Penang Island run. Not to brag about it, but just to share experience and some learnings. I am sure someone will attempt this some point in time and it would be good to know a few pointers to make a successful run.

I had this wild idea of running around Penang Island in end of 2010. My motivation then, I thought it would make a good route for my attempt to go past 42km for my first try at ultra running. You see, I don't think running 200 laps on the track or 8 laps of Gurney Drive-Esplanade or even 4 rounds of Bukit Aman - Hartamas would motivate me to do that. The route I was thinking was the same as the route in the Round the Penang Island Relay event.

Fast forward all that, I finally got my runner friend, Andrew Loh to join me on this adventure on Christmas Day of 2011. Andrew got 2 of his friends, Chun How and Steve Baron to complete the crazy gang.

Crazy Gang. Photo by Steve.

Great support from Steve on his ride. Photo by Andrew.

Some more details from Endomondo:

Date: 25 Dec 2011
Start time: 5:30am
Start/Finish venue: (in front of) Marina Bay Condominium (near Gurney Drive)
Distance: 73.05km
Elevation Gained: 464m
Elevation Lost: 452m
Calories:4471 kcal
Time taken: 10 hours 31 minutes
Participants: Andrew Loh, Lee Chun How, CP Tan
Support/Marshal: Steve Baron

Elevation chart (from my Garmin log) showing 2 hard climbs. One climb to Genting Restaurant (before Balik Pulau). One higher climb to reach Teluk Bahang. My Garmin 405CX only logged up to 60.8km before battery used up.

Running barefoot on this clockwise route. Pakcik (uncle) at a store in Balik Pulau asked me where I ran from. I said from near Gurney Drive. Then he asked me if I was turning back. I said, "No.". Then he commented, "Tak pakai kasut, nanti kaki boleh pecah!" (Literally translated to: Not wearing shoes, your feet could break!).

Some other photos along the route below:

I was concerned about Chun How's condition as he dropped back. Steve was supporting him then, so I felt he would be ok. After all, he is an ironman.

Well-needed re-hydration.

Pit stop at Titi Kerawang on the 2nd hard climb. Andrew & I were exhausted and confused where to go now... (Photo by Steve)

Continued on the steep and rough climb... (Photos by Steve)

When we were at second climb, the road condition was very rough and I was really suffering. At some stretches I just slowed to a walk.

When we reached Teluk Bahang it was really hot, the road condition also became hot. Andrew & I walked & run a bit until Batu Ferringhi. It was becoming harder to run because of the heavy traffic also. We had under-estimated the traffic volume on that day (it was Christmas holiday). Then we had a short pit stop and I told Andrew to go ahead without me. I was thinking to myself, it would be very tough to complete the run, even with 11km to go. The road was very hot and rough, the road traffic was very heavy and I had hardly any space to run.

Finally, I had to get a pair of slippers and wore it for the rest of the route. I walked most of the remaining distance with a little bit of run until the I reached the finish point. Andrew had completed it earlier than me. We amazed ourselves on this good and crazy run. I thanked Steve for the great support, Chun How to join us in short notice, Andrew for being great running buddy in this Round the Penang Island run. It was an incredible experience on Christmas Day for us.


Epilogue:

Some key learnings (for those who wish to attempt this in the future):

1. Start early. Should have started 4:00am or earlier when the weather was cooler.

2. Start point should consider to be at Teluk Bahang. The narrow road from Teluk Bahang - Batu Ferringhi - Tanjung Bungah is not safe/suitable for running when traffic is heavy and the day is hot. If start early, then can run this part when traffic is less and sun is not up yet.

3. Need to bring hydration pack/bag and money. Some stores available to refill water or isotonic drinks, but not during climb except at Titi Kerawang. So really need to hydrate well.

4. Safety first. Safety was, and still is my top concern on long run like this. Wherever possible, avoid running alone. Some stretches quite dangerous especially at the two climbs. Need to inform your family & friends if you attempt this. Bring lights for safety and a phone for emergency use. Better still, bring a few crazy friends but not too many. It will be safety issue if too big of a crowd running together without traffic control.

5. Need to pace smartly. We were pacing a bit too fast in the beginning. Maybe I was hoping we could finish faster to avoid the sun.

6. In case you wonder, my feet looked like this, one day after the run: (I had worse than this before).

Malakoff 12km KL 2011 - Last race for 2011

Thanks to Jason Thai for this photo.

With a final dash to the finish line, my racing season for 2011 came to a close.

A lot of runners would dread the hilly route of Malakoff 12km. I was one of them back in 2009 when I first ran this race. Since then I had came to the fact that, running hills was unavoidable and I just had to get better at it. I told myself I would come back again to improve on my first outing.

Well, this year was the third time I ran this race. However it was my first time I ran barefoot on this hilly route. The day before, I had done a LSD training. So my expectation was not high for the race, and just hope to finish within an hour mark.

I finished the race in 55:40, slightly better than last year's result. After my race I did a warm down run in reverse direction of the route to look for my wife. It was her third Malakoff 12km as well. I paced her back to the finish line for the last 1.5km. She had done well to improve her time to 1 hour 25 minutes.

Thanks to Lim Soon Chung for this photo.

I saw many runner friends at this event and chatted with them before leaving. Although the racing season was over, but I am still training as hard as I could. New season will start as early as New Year Day and I am setting some high targets for myself for next year. One of them is to do an ultra-marathon, that much I can say for now.

Until the next race, do train hard and stay healthy.

Run for a reason - Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore (SCMS) 2011

Thanks to Tan Chow Seng for this photo near finish line.

My 9th Full Marathon and it was one of the toughest that I had done.

I planned to run Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore last year (2010), but I missed the registration window and ended up disappointed. This year, I made it a point to register on time and was happy to get a slot. My wife also registered for half marathon. It was only her second HM.

I didn't train as much as I would want to, prior to the race due to busy work schedule. I planned to run it barefoot, my first time in a competitive FM race. Back in September, I had completed the River Jungle Marathon 2011 in barefoot. However, it was not a competitive run. No official timing or ranking were recorded and no special prize for being the top finishers in that marathon.

This time round, I didn't really know what to expect. It was a whole new race all together. New location, new route for me. I wasn't sure that I could finish in a 20,000-strong, mass-start field. I heard of the narrow street, cement jogging path in East Coast Park, crowded last few kms and didn't know much how it would affect me.

The night before departure, I came down with flu and runny nose and I didn't look good then. After some medication, I felt better to fly in the morning. When we reached Singapore it was already noon on Saturday. We quickly went to collect our race pack in Sands Expo. It was the biggest venue I had ever seen just to give out race packs to runners. Luckily we collected our goods within minutes. No queue at all.

Then we checked in a hotel in Little India. It rained in that afternoon and we didn't really go out far after that. I was also not too well then. Anyway, that night I took some more medication and tried to sleep early as my race would start at 5:00am.

That night I just couldn't really sleep and my lips and throat were dry. In the end, I hauled myself up at 2:15am and ate some breakfast bar & drank lots of water. Then I kissed my wife before I headed to the MRT station and to Orchard starting point for FM. She would only start her HM race at 6:30am from Sentosa Island.

After I dropped off my baggage at the baggage deposit, I walked to the starting point. At that moment I had a funny feeling of being lonely in a big crowd of runners. I was the only barefoot runner and so I thought. I met some runners friends like Zi Shen, Bryan Lee and Daniel Tan. Then I was surprised to see Tan Wah Sing, the experienced and well-known barefooter at the start line. Suddenly I felt a lot more comfortable with Master Tan around. I felt my body condition at start line was ok although I had not slept all night.

When the action was finally on (flagged off), I was trying pace with the 3:45 pacers and Zi Shen. Then Zi Shen broke away after 3km, and I tried to follow him for a few kms. Then I realised he was really going for it and I just had to let him go.

The road condition in Singapore was barefoot-friendly. So I paced at 5:00min/km pace for the first 10km. Then second 10km was mostly in East Coast Park. Some parts were not properly lit up and it was almost running in the dark. Master Tan overtook me at the ECP and asked if I was going to take some energy gel. I replied yes, and he took off. I tried to follow but I found out that he was pacing faster and faster. Within minutes, I lost sight of him.

By 21.1km U-turn point, it was already breaking dawn. My split time at 21.1km was about 1:47:xx. I thought I was doing ok then. But by km 25, I started to feel my stomach was having some gas. I could have taken 2 energy gels and too much water within last 6km. Then I began to struggle. But I saw Alam Shah in front of me and I began to speed up. He was struggling as well. I called him and asked him if he was ok and urged him on. He then picked up the pace and overtook me after a few hundreds metres.

At ECP, I managed to see some other runner friends like Tey, Winnie, Bernard Loke, Ben Lee etc. Really happy to see some familiar faces. After that, the race route took us to narrow road beside a golf course, looked at a construction area. It was at around km 33 that I was being overtaken by the 3:45 pacer group.

My pace has slowed since the 25km mark. By km 33, I was feeling quite terrible. My arms were getting numbed, my leg muscles were "twitching" as if it were going to cramp up and I was tiring fast. I was thinking to give up and just walked back. But then, I just told myself to continue on, no matter how slow I could run. At km 36 or 37, I saw June (from FMV fame) setting up her "kedai runcit" over there. I was in need of a bottle of water then to cool myself and to carry so that my arms would not feel so numbed. Thank you to June and Kash for the bottle of water.

At around here, I was surprised to see Zi Shen in front of me. I had lost sight of him since before 10km mark. Then I passed and called him and urged him on as well. I thought he followed me from behind after that. At around 38km mark, then the FM route merged with the 21km route. It was overly crowded by then. It was really difficult to run trying to zig-zag and passing the walking runners. Mind you that the HM field was also about 20,000-strong.

At about km 40, Zi Shen started to pick up his pace and zoomed past me. I just couldn't follow closely anymore. I was so high in adrenalin that I was burning up and in a "don't-know-myself-anymore" state. I just kept him in sight from then on and the last 2km was really tough. But I knew I was near, I just kept it going until I completed the race.

It was a really tough race and I was glad I overcame the little voice of giving up. At the finish point, I was so tired but I was very satisfied that I just sat on the Padang while waiting for my wife. She finished with a PB 2:46 in her second HM. I was delighted to see her achieved the feat with minimal training. Maybe one day she will train enough to run a FM with me. However, I am giving her time and space to decide on that.

I finished my 9th FM in 3:58:46 (gun time), keeping my streak of finishing last 8 FMs in sub-4 timing. However, I was prepared to finish beyond 4 hours in my last two FM in barefoot. It came as a bonus that I could still keep the streak going. The point is, I had great satisfaction running my last two FMs in barefoot. In this SCMS alone, many runners and supporters gave me thumbs up or greeted me with positive remarks. This was a good encouragement for me. My leg muscles also recovered faster than any FMs I ran before. No Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) syndrome and no serious blisters or injury to my feet.

As for the SCMS 2011 event, there are positive points and areas for improvement. I may write about it later.

Until next race, do train hard and stay healthy.