Sabah Climbathon 2009 - DNF

As expected, I did not manage to finish the race. I was slower than last year on the ascent and trained less than last year. Dismal results aside the Sabah Climbathon is still my favourite race as it offers beautiful scenery, mostly serious runners and very demanding route. It is hard from start to finish. Yes I have to do a little of the loser's dance to console myself for not finishing. Yes, the main reason for my dismal performance is not enough training. However after a little thought, I am unsure if I have the genes to finish the race under the men's timing of 4:30. VO2 Max can only be trained to a certain extent and it is not like I am in my 20s anymore. I might just have to face the fact that I will likely only complete the race when I turn veteran. Anyway, it is not like I am not going to try anyway.

I even tabulated my last year's progress versus this year. I am not going to embarrass myself by putting the results out but I was about 12 mins faster to the 6km mark. I did remember last year my legs were already shaking by the time I got to Laban Rata. This year I took it easy and I felt fine at Laban Rata. With my time, there was no way I was going to make the summit by 2:30 hours so I turned back before the cut off time. I crossed the line around 4 hours but I did not take the medal because I did not earn it.

After the race, I did jot down some pointers for myself next year. Within the time span of a year, my mind tends to forget how difficult the race is. So I had to give myself notes on what I need to do to complete this race. For example,
1."Don't race with the person going downhill, go at your own pace."
2."Practice uphill. Go up faster as I am not very good coming down."
3."I need to clock up to 2 hours up on stairs and then go do a fast 10k trail run as part of the training."
4."Go for a recce trip to Mt K at least one month before. Do a one day to Sayap Sayap and another trip to the summit."
etc.
The plan is always easier than the execution.

For this year's race, I am rather disappointed that no Malaysian lady got a podium finish. Our best bet was Danny Kuilin. She's 40+ and still the best Kinabalu women runner Malaysia has to offer. Unfortunately, no one is giving her a run for the money. Where's the young blood?

Kinabalu: Surrender

I know it is pathetic of me to say this but I have already mentally surrendered to not qualifying for the Kinabalu run coming up next week. The reason is because my training the last couple of months have been rather miserable. A 10km here, 25 minutes run on the treadmill or a lunch time run, hardly constitute as methodical training to knock off this race. I trained for the race harder last year and did not meet the timing. This year I tried to train but mainly skipped most of the training due to work, a lack of planning, laziness or some other valid excuses that came up when I had to run. So short of exposing myself to gamma-rays, I think it is quite reasonble for me to think that my results will be similar to last year.

I will treat it as a good holiday as I will be going with couple of friends that I enjoy spending time with. I went alone last year and enjoyed it even though I could not convinced anyone to join me. However, having some good company will be a pleasant change.

The good thing about having a more difficult running goal is that I do not have to think much about what to train for next year. There is always Kinabalu. I believe the allure of the race will be there even if I manage to meet the qualifying time. It is such a beautiful run and the people who show up are usually good runners. Good company plus good run.

P.S. Another benefit of training for this race is that even in my 'cannot make it' state, I am fitter (cardiovascular wise) than most of my friends.

Injured - knee

Being injured is no fun. I did not follow my own motto - "It's not worth getting injured in a training run." Fortunately, my knee is a lot better. Time to pick up slowly but I think Kinabalu will not be realistically attainable. But there's still 2 months...I will try to build up as best as I can.

Why I run?

Although I have been finding it hard to get into the groove of running, I still think that I will be running for as long as I physically can. There might be other short term sports that interest me but running will still be a constant. That's my hope. I have been thinking about why I run. Or why I want to run. Here are some reasons I came up with on one of the bus trips.

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Whenever some friends who seldom exercises, read an article about how a young and seemingly healthy individual dies at a sporting event like a marathon or something similar, they might point it out to me as an excuse for why they don't exercise. Whenever they do that, I feel obligated to tell them I don't run so that I can live longer. That has never been the primary reason why I run. So what is the primary reason for my running? I find that a little difficult to answer because the answer is a composite of many reasons.

I run because I like running. I run because it enables me to go to last minute hiking trips whenever an opportunity arises. I run because I like traveling and remaining mobile even when I retire. I run because I enjoy the company of other runners. I run because it makes me feel fitter. I run because I like the idea of going different places to participate in a race.

Having said that, I think marathon distance races and longer will only be for the next few years. Optimally, I would like to keep to the fitness level of being able to do a 21km run with little or no notice. Kinabalu (my favourite race around this region) fortunately still fits into that category.

Running Motivation

Getting back to the groove of running is harder than I thought. I have been trying to build my running base for the past 2 months and the result has been pretty miserable. I think I am still the type that needs quite a lot of motivation to run even though I like running. I am getting maybe around 25 km a week but I should be getting about 50km. Too many distractions - weight training a little, skating a little, hiking a little...it all adds up to quite a lot.

Anyway, I bought myself some running equipment - a new pair of running shoes (3 weeks back) and a small backpack. The idea is to run to work twice or three times a week. That would add about 14km to the usual 25km run. If possible, push it up a little gradually. But given my motivation lately, it might not happen until KK dawns on me. Fortunately, there are some short races coming up to keep me on track.

Running Base - hurt

Run Ning has once again been rough with me. After a short break from long distance running, I have been trying to build a running base again. This week was not a very good week. My initial goal was for the next 2 months for me to build a running base of about 40-50km per week. Get the legs conditioned once again to the pounding of the pavement. However, I did a 10km run last evening and now my right calve muscle is slightly pulled. I am walking with a limp now. This is not a good start. Fortunately, I think this limp will go away in a few days. Just in time to put in some mileage next week.

Kinabalu Climbathon Round 2 - Preparation

Okay, I signed up for the Kinabalu Climbathon again this year. As with last year, the goal is to finish within the stipulated time of 4 hours 30 minutes. Last year, before the race I was in the fittest state that I have ever been but still did not manage to complete the run in time. This year I should be wiser from the failure however I have brought back some fear for the toughness of the race. I tried looking for mountain running plan for Kinabalu but it is dificult to find specific information for a Kinabalu run as the race is not that popular. Anyway, let me give a short review of what I have learned and see if this year I can train better.

1. The steps on Kinabalu are high and steep. Training on a threadmill is good but the feel is rather different. I remember my quads starting to cramp before the 6km mark (the race is 21km). My training should have a lot of double steps to simulate the larger steps on the mountain. The best training will still be actual steep trails but steps will have to do for convenience sake in Singapore.

2. Last year, the furthest I went was 21km for training. This was not enough for Kinabalu. I think I should be training to run 30km comfortably as an equivalent flat distance training.

3. If I am doing threadmill, I should set it at 15 degrees incline from the start. 15 degrees is the maximum incline on the running machine in my gym.The last two months long run should be mainly on hilly terrain or on this treadmill setting.

4. Intervals and tempo runs are a necessity. I will aim to push myself hard during the intervals. For the tempo runs, I should time myself and push myself to improve the timing.

5. One good way to track my progress might be to count my vertical meters per month. I overheard good mountain runners were doing nearly 30000 meters per month. I should look at my runs from that perspective as well.

With those few points in mind, I should start writing out my training plan for myself soon. Without a proper plan, I know I'll just wait around till race time and realize that I am not prepared for the race.

Groin pull

Argh, trying to gain weight and running is like trying to go in two different directions at once. I have been trying to eat more and still I am at the same weight as when I started the weight training program.

Moreover, tonight I ran a 7km tempo run (80% exertion) and then went to the gym to do some weights. And...I think I pulled my groin muscle. I hope it heals in a few days as it is only a minor pull. I was lazy to take the big weights off the bar as I was alternating with a huge guy that was doing about 100+ kg squats and umpteen sets. So I left the two 20kg weights on the bar and it was a 5kg jump from my previous workout. Probably too heavy, too soon. Yeah, pride was involved. But I didn't want to be carrying little 1.25kg increments on the squat bar when the guy behind me was adding 20kgs like they were weightless.

Anyway with running, I am doing 20 minutes - 1 minute hard, 1 minute easy on Tuesdays and on Thursday will be a hard 7km tempo run - consistent 70-80% exertion. No long runs on the weekends for this weekend. Even if someone wants to run with me, I will likely only run about 10k. Unless there is a free meal involve. But then with the groin pull, I might not do it even with a free meal.

Speed Training

Initially I wanted to start my training only in March but it has been brought forward a couple weeks. My boss just asked a few of us to participate in a company organised 7km run. It seems like he wants to try to win the team event of the fastest 6 finishers. I guess I need to start training for some speed as the race is end March. The chosen runners have decided that all we need to do is to beat the boss in the race so that we wouldn't be blamed for losing the race. I guess it is down to doing intervals for the next few weeks.

A Little Break for Strength

I am having a break from any serious training after my last marathon. Not that I am giving up running but I felt like after all the running, my legs have become muscular but my upper body has shrunk. So for the next 2-3 months, I will do some beginner's strength training program to build up a little upper body. Also, the strength training is a little for vanity's sake. I think I will look better if I had nicer pecs and better defined abs. So I trawled the web for a beginner's program and I downloaded the plan from http://www.stronglifts.com/.

I just started 2 weeks ago and will take a break next week for Chinese New Year, so I cannot let you know the effectiveness of the program for me. What I did find out is that I have very weak shoulders and upper back muscles. Currently, I can only do 3 pull ups but hopefully in a few months time I can do a decent set of pull ups. Prince of Persia and Kratos (from the God of War) has always been an inspiration. They can do pull ups forever but they are only computer game characters. Fortunately, there are still enough running friends around to keep me running the occasional 10km.