Weekend Running Activities

Saturday
On Saturday, I was wondering what do to on Sunday morning when Yong SMSed me at 5.30 pm. The SMS solved the problem - I will be running 20 km Sunday morning.

Saturday was a rest day but as usual in the evening, I was going for a brisk walk but then Kenneth showed up. This guy was not going to walk so I ran 7 (?)x 400 m with him. Total = 5 x 400 m (2.0 km) and 5 x 400 m walking (2.0 km). Later Kenneth handed over Body Glide to me.

Sunday
I was at Bukit Aman at 5.45 am after little sleep. It had been a warm night and I found it hard to get to sleep. Must have got only 4 hrs sleep. I was a bit sleepy as I sat in the car waiting for Yong. Outside the car, it was a hive of activity as there was a least 20 runners. I guess everyone must be anxious about the 15 km race on 22 May.

Soon Yong showed up and we were off at 6.00 am. We were not planning to run fast but somehow we did. I noticed we were running a lot faster than usual pace of 6 min 45 sec. per km. I think it must be the 15 km race that led us to run faster than usual. Unconciously, we wanted to test our speed/stamina.

All the way to to Sri Hartamas, there was not single runner in sight. I think the others must be running the 15 km race route. I had forgotten to start my stopwatch function, so I had not idea how fast we were running. We did not merely jogged up the many hills but attacked them hard.

When we reached the petrol station at Sri Hartamas, I asked Yong the time we took. " 58 minutes". Wow ! I was suprised, normally it was 65-66 minutes. We bought a can of Gatorade here and for me a bag of ground nuts. We finished the Gatorade and in less than 2 minutes we were off again.

Our pace did not slacked off on the return route. We ran up the hills like possessed runner wee were that morning. Near "Monkey" hills, there were no monkeys around and I scattered the peanuts near some trees.

We eventually stopped near the traffic lights at Jln Parlimen near the junction to Lake Gardens. Our time? 1 hr 52 minutes for 20 km. 20 minutes faster than our normal time of 2 hrs 15- 20 minutes.

As we walked back to the car park, the runners in the World Asthma Run ran by us. Saw Ronnie running in the top 20 position.

Although we had not planned to run fast but I was glad that we did. The run gave an indication of my current state of fitness. The verdict ? It was not too bad considering the lack of speed training. I could probably run the 15 km race in slightly less than 1 hrs 30 min.

P.S. That evening I was at the stadium again. I should have rested but ended up running 6 km.

Total mileage this week = 58. 4 km