Weekend Aug 20-21 : Running Activities

This weekend was a busy one for me mainly doing stuff related to running.

Saturday

In the afternoon, I went to Putrajaya to survey the half marathon route. This run will is first and I really hope the organisers don't screw it up. FYI, the race starts at 7.oo am there will be 3 water stations at 4. 8 and 12 km. After surveying the route, I think there should be another water station at 16 km. Next about the survey results.

The first 10 km is really intimidating and tough, the route has several steep and long uphill sections. The steepest is a 500 m run up the Putrajaya International Convention Centre (PICC) at 4.5 km. From 8.5 to 10.7 km, there are two uphill sections; the first is 400 m long and the second is 1.0 km long. This section is similar to run along jalan Duta road for the 10 km race from Meredeka Square.

I actually lost the route after 10.7 km and found the next stretch leading to the Perdana bridge. The 2nd half is not easier than the first 10 km. There are many uphill sections and most run over roads which have no tree cover. The runners will be completely exposed to the sun. My advice is to drink a lot of water at the 12 km distance (last water station).

Since I missed the the route after 10.7 km, I am planning to survey the route again next Saturday afternoon.

Sunday

Finaly I am able to do a long run. I have been looking forward to this day for the past 3 months. Ever since my right knee injury in late May, I have not done any long runs. This morning the Bukit Aman to Sri Hartamas (20 km).

There was a huge number of runners at Bukit Aman today. The first group of about ten , with P-2 among them left at 6.00 am. Another group was stretching as Yong and myself started running at 6.15 am. We ran steadily at a slow pace. On the way to Sri Hartamas, half a dozen runners had already completed their first 10 or 20 km. We reached the Petronas petrol station in hr 01 min.

While I was standing outside the station drinking an isotonic drink, I met Kenny. Another group consisting of John, Adam, Li Sar came in as well. We had a quick chat before Yong and myself started our ru back to Bukit Aman. We ran harder this time. I became tired at 15 km, knee was slightly sore but was determined to keep going. Finaly after 1 hr 1 min, we reached Bukit Aman.

It had been a good traning run for my preparation for the Putrajaya half marathon. I plan to do at least one more training runs over the next two weekends.

After the run, we went to a famous nasi lemak stall, Tanglin Nasi Lemak near the Lake Gardens. I had ice lemon tea and ice water as Yong queued up to get take away nasi lemak.
A few minutes later, Ronnie, Rachel, CM and Adam turned up as well.