22 Jan. 2005 : Great Eastern-Pacesetters 20 & 30 km Run report

I have to say that I looked towards this 30 run km with a certain amount of fear. I travel 30 km a day to get to work but that is sitting in a bus. Running the same distance relying on my own power and body was something else. My 2 previous attempts at 30 km were not successful. I only managed to run 23 km on both ocassions.

The 30 km route was run over what is probably the toughest route one could run in Kuala Lumpur. The 30 km route starts from the infamous "Double Hill" for the first 10 km and then to Bukit to Stri Hartamas and back to Taman Tasik Perdana. I planned to count the number of hills but gave up; there were too many to keep track.

At the starting line, it seems every runner I know has shown up for this run either to run 20km or 30km. The majority was running 30 km. I even meet Mr Yee? who I was running with during last August's Putrajaya half marathon.

The race started at 6.00 am near the Boat house, I think. The initial part was an uphill towards the main road. Nothing too strenous as it was too crowded to run fast here. Everyone seemed to be in good spirit. My plan was to run slower than normal for the first 10 km to conserve energy for the next 20 km.

After about 20 minutes runnning along Bukit Tunku, in no time I reached the start of the dreaded double hill route (about 5 km long). I had lots of company while running along this route. DK was running ahead of me at this point and for short distances, I was running with Kong and Yong. Jamie had altogether dissapeared from view running strongly further ahead.

After having passed the dreaded double hills in 1 hr 15 minutes, I gingerly coasted downhill towards Parliment road. I had decided early on to run slowly while going downhills to minimise the chance of further injury to my right knee.

The next route is to make a loop around the goverment departments and back to Jalan Parlimen. This section has a few hills but they did not trouble me much. Up to this point, my left hip and right knee have not been painful.

When I reached Jln Parlimen, I checked my time and estimated I would probably finish close to 3 hrs 30 minutes. Not a problem for my category which has a 3 hrs 45 minutes qualifying time. However it could be a problem for Yong who was running in the Men's Open category with a qualifying time of 3 hrs 30 minutes. It seemed as if a Panic fuel was injected into him and soon he was running ahead of me. I was content to run at comfortable pace as at this point I had only run 15 km a mere half way distance. 30 km is an unknown territory for me

The next section passed through Bukit Tunku, across Jalan Duta and then to Sri Hartamas. Again there was no shortage of hilly sections to run up. The runners would pass by each other on the Sri Hartamas road. I saw many of my runner friends had made the U turn behind the PETRONAS petrol station and are now running on the opposite side of the road. We greeted each other and shouted encouragements. Thanks to Jamie, Tey and CW and Bacin for shouting encouragements. I think there might be a photo of me taken by Runwithme too.

At this point (20 km), my left hip was starting to ache and I had to walk for about 400 m. I was rather surprised to see Sim at the water station and asked him if his leg was OK.

I resumed running when I reached the main road. Things were getting a bit tougher for me with general tiredness and an aching left hip. It was tough for Lim (Klang Pacer) too as I saw him waking in front. We ran together alternating with walking for a while until his cramped legs became worse and he had to stop. My legs too were quite stiff but I was confident I could finish in less than 3 hrs 30 minutes. On the oppposite road, I saw DK and Mr Yee, both seemed to be struggling up the hill.

When I crossed Jalan Duta, a volunteered said I had only 5 km to do. What sweet words for a tired runner!. Along Bukit Tungku, I ran with Choo and His friends. We alternated between running and walking while going uphill. The best part was the the long downhill section down Bukit Tunku. My legs were tight but I was desperate to finish in less than 3 hrs 30 minutes and so upped my speed down the slope. Overtook many runners along the way.

I gave a final sprint about 500 m away from the finishing line to finish in 3 hrs 24 minutes 53 seconds.

The 30 km has been a wonderful experience. I found what my worked, what didn't and my limits.

What worked:-

• Firstly I didn't hit the "Wall" during the 30 km run which means it may lie somewhere beyond 30 km. It is comforting to know I will be able can at least run 30 km during a marathon event.
  
  
• I was not afflicted with any kind of blisters on my feet. I wore ASICS GT-2100 shoe and a thin Adidas Climacool socks. They really worked to reduce dampness on my feet and I will wear them for the marathon.
  
• My right knee held up during the 30 km run.
  
• A very important point is pace: Running 1 hr 8 min per 10 km seems to be a comfortable and suitable pace for me to run to achive a 4hrs 45 min marathon. I want to try a faster pace, say 1 hr 05 minutes (4 hrs 35 minutes) but will have to wait for my next 30 km run (5 March 2005) to see if this is feasible.

What didnt work (problems):

• I am still having problems with my left hip. Nothing much I can do about it without resting for at least 2 weeks, something I cannot do now. Will just have to bear with the pain during the marathon.

Lastly, I would like to thank the volunteers who supported the GE-PC 30 km run.