Cyberjaya Twincity Marathon - Deo's race report

With read how Chan did in his half marathon race at the recent Cyberjaya Twincity Marathon. Now, Team 2ndskin athlete Deo unveiled how he got more than what he wanted (or expected) from his full marathon race, where he finished in 10th place in the Men's Open category. It didn't come easy for him but the perseverance and dedication to training has paid off, at least from what we have witnessed. It was his 34th full marathon to date and more to come from him.

Read on how the marathon went for Deo...

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I didn't plan to sign up for this race but somehow trapped into signing for it by my buddy who didn't start the race after all as he was out of town on the race weekend. After a PB effort in Nong Khai Marathon in early December, I didn't plan to run in any marathon until April as I need to build up a good mileage and strengthen my core further. And after the quite disappointing and suffering experience during the first edition of this marathon in December 2014, where the route was trashed with undulating elevation, the boring route around Cyberjaya and Putrajaya with nothing much to see and no one cheering for you, and the high humidity weather; I was just not interested to join the race. But with registration done, and I am chasing to do 7 full marathon races this year in quest to do my 40th full marathon races by my birthday in December (#40on40 #birthdaymarathon), I told myself just go for it, treat it as another long run for the upcoming TransLantau 50km race in March. The one thing that really worries me was the lack of LSD runs after Nong Khai Marathon. I even tried to run a half marathn distance on Friday, a week before the marathon and I suffered, couldn't run all the way and had to stop and walk many times.

I was worried, even on the race day morning itself. Probably the things that could give some relieves were that the Race Director assured me that the marathon will be enough in distance, unlike last year, and up to the race day morning, I noticed that all the comments I blogged about the marathon in 2014 have been addressed. The promotion for this marathon has also been really visible with lots of 'attractions' offered to runners like the teh tarik and roti canai station, which I didn't get to enjoy obviously. And the number of participants have grown by many scales, I don't have the numbers but you can notice it by just looking at the crowd during the start or browsing the race photos. Anyway, for the marathon, I was aiming for a modest target, a sub 3:45 will make me really happy.

I arrived at the race venue quite early, and got a chance to walk around the still quiet start area. Did my 2km warm-up lap around the area. Bumped into my little brother who was fresh from his half marathon PB of 1:42 a week earlier and that was his only second HM. He was a volunteer for this race. After I was done with my warm up lap, I walked near the main stage and there were trophies for top runners and noticed the trophies will be given out to top 10 runners in each category. Deep inside, I harbor a hope of landing myself on one of the trophies. With 3:45 timing, based on 2014's race result, I would have a chance to be inside top 10, I told myself. So, from a modest target of just run a 3:45 marathon, the target has now shifted to getting into top 10. But it was still a tall order. Bumped into many more friends as I waited for the race to start. It was more happening this year. The organizer even had the fried noodle ready that morning should any runner would like to have some foods before the race.

Before the race with some of many friends I saw/met that morning. This one is with Ray, Fazli and Bukhari the RD.
[photo by ActionPix Malaysia]

At 4am, suddenly the horn sounded. But no one started running... until the man behind the horn asked us to run, then only we realized it was the start of the race. No countdown lol! So, the race began. It was humid. The route in the first 10km was the same as of in 2014, if I'm not mistaken. So, I sort of know the sections with uphill elevation, especially along Shaftsbury Square before we entered the motorcycle lane towards Putrajaya. I started quite well, with the strategy to run as fast as I can afford to, in order to have ample buffer for the anticipated slower second half of the race. First 10km completed in 46:30-minute, and that was even faster than my first 10km in Nong Khai Marathon. I was running at 3:30-hour marathon pace and surprisingly, many more runners in front and behind me were running at about the same pace. Some of them, I had never seen before. Along the way, especially in the uphill sections, I was overtaken by several runners while the front bunch of 7 or 8 runners were already out of sight. My hope for a top 10 finish got slimmer and I wasn't hoping for it anymore.

I just continued running, still hoping for a sub 3:45-hour finish. The elevation got worse in Putrajaya and those who know me, know how I really hate running a marathon in Putrajaya. There were slight changes to the route, one that I noticed was the one going into Precinct 20 (the graveyard route) and this year, we didn't run in front of the PICC. My second 10km was done in a slower 50:24-minute and total time was three minutes slower than Nong Khai. So, sub 3:30-hour is no longer in the equation. The full marathon runners have spread out from each other at this point, but I was joined by the half marathoners, overtaken by the leading runners. As we headed back to Cyberjaya, we had to go quite a steep elevated road (before the Fire Station) and as it was almost 30km done, I don't have anymore strength with my legs to run up, and don't want to trash my legs further as there will be another 12km of quite flat section to deal with in Cyberjaya. So, I walked up the elevated road and in the middle of my walk, 2ndskin team mate Chan came from behind and urged me to run with him. He was on pace for a top 10 finish in the half marathon category. I didn't follow, just enjoyed my short 'honeymoon' walk before starting to run again as I entered Cyberjaya. Third 10km was done in a slow 55:20-minute.

Drinking and showering is allowed during a marathon. Keep hydrating while keeping the body temperature low...
[photo by RFF]

The last 12km in Cyberjaya was all familiar route for me, eventhough most part of this section was ran in dark as the street lamps shut off earlier than expected/sunrise. There was even a junction around KM31 where half marathoners turn right while full marathoners go straight, where a lot of people got confused (and most probably were not directed properly). Some full marathoners (including the 4:00 pacers who most probably didn't do enough homework of the route) turned right into the HM route and ended with a shorter 3km marathon distance. And I saw a handful of half marathoners (most probably the front runners) had to backtrack as they missed the right turn and went straight into the FM route. They ended up running 3km longer than the actual HM distance.

My pace became slower, legs were tired, even the Hammer Gel could not do wonder to help me pick up my pace again. At that point, I was just hoping that water stations came as soon as possible so that I could take a short break and have a short walk while having my drinks. There was a moment when I was approaching a water station, feeling relieved that I could walk again and have my drinks. But when I arrived at the water station, when I asked for water, the volunteer there told me that there was no water, only teh tarik is available. He even told me that water is available at the next station, some 500m away. Right away I said, "Shit!" as I had to run for another 500m to the next water station. Then I realized it was the teh tarik and roti canai station but I didn't see that because it was still dark when I arrived at that point.

I was struggling to keep to 5:15-minute pace in the final 5km of the race...
[photo by Amin Jaafar]

So, it was run with occasional walks in between, up to KM37. As I realized I could do very well below 3:40-hour timing, I decided to run all the way in the last 5km, albeit at a slower pace. And in the last 3km, I think I overtook two or three FM runners but I wasn't sure which category they were in. Still, the hope for top ten finish had gone long ago as there were too many runners in front of me, from my count at one of the u-turn sections earlier. My fourth 10km was done in a slightly better time of 53:47-minute. I just continued to run and finish strong, with the slightest hope to better my Kuching Marathon timing as the fastest local marathon race for me. But it was not meant to be. I arrived at the finish line with a nett time of 3:36:21, about 40 seconds slower than Kuching Marathon, but well ahead of my initial target of 3:45:00. And to my surprise, I was handed a position card for 10th place in Men's Open! It made my day, definitely! and it was a pleasure to wear it around my neck while friends came to me congratulating me for the effort. Great day, it was for me to finish in top 10, given the strong field of runners.

Icing on the cake! 10th place in the Men's Open category.

Overall, I was satisfied with the run, not expecting to run a sub 3:40-hour race. And that was achieved with lots of walking *sigh* which I know I could save about 5 minutes had I not walked. In terms of the organization of the race, I can say it was really well-organized with all concerns for the runners were taken care of, with nice finisher t-shirt, finisher medal, proper set-up of finishing area, the foods, the RPC venue, plenty of water stations with cold water and icy-cold sponges at certain section. All I can say is that, keep up the good work. The only comments I could give are on the 'missed turns' of the route, which definitely the race organizer needs to look at and the main stage that was located quite far away from the finish area where only podium finishers care to be around the stage after the race.

And that wrapped my 34th full marathon, six marathons away from my #40on40 #birthdaymarathon quest.



For the results of Men's Open full marathon category, click here.
For my race details on Garmin Connect, click here.

1st Nongkhai Marathon - Deo's Race Report

Team 2ndskin athlete Deo was not sure if he could run another sub 3:30-hour marathon, after breaking the 3:30-hour barrier in Tokyo Marathon earlier this year. So, he had carefully chosen his next marathon to have another attempt at it and to close the 2015 season with a peace of mind knowing that the Tokyo Marathon feat was not a fluke but it was just the beginning of many, many more fast marathon timing for him. He went to the inaugural Nongkhai Marathon, at the north of Thailand, where the temperature and humidity level on the race day as well as the fast course gave the perfect ingredients for a near-perfect marathon condition, and came back not just with another sub 3:30-hour marathon, but also a personal best timing, bettering his previous mark by 14 seconds. And to make it sweeter, it was a priceless birthday gift for him which fell on Friday before the race.

Read on how the marathon went for Deo...

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Mission accomplished!
Although barely... and I was about to miss it by a whisker but escaped by fate and a little bit of luck.

From the very first time I heard about this marathon, I had put a very serious consideration to run the marathon for few reasons. One, it is held on my birthday weekend and apart from the boring and crowded Singapore Marathon, there were only a few other marathons held during the weekend, one of it is Macao. So, with little options, maybe I should give this inaugural marathon a try. Then, after google-ing the location, it reminded me of Vientiane, Laos. It is the home of the 1st (and the last, so far) AEC Vientiane Marathon, which I ran in 2013 (you can read it here). It was a good race for me, where I clocked my first 3:4x-hour and had a PB, helped by flat route and the cold weather.

Nong Khai is a city in northeast Thailand, lies on the Mekong River, where the city is about 4km from the Thai-Laos Friendship Bridge. Just on the opposite of the Mekong River (although not directly opposite) is Vientiane, the capital of Laos. The city is is 626km north of Bangkok and 60km north of Udon Thani. So, from Kuala Lumpur, you may fly direct to Udon Thani (with a transfer in Bangkok) by AirAsia. From Udon Thani, you may take a public van outside the airport at THB200 per person. The journey to Nong Khai takes less than an hour and the van can send you direct to your hotel. In my case, as I wanted to arrive in Udon Thani via the first flight in, I flew out from Kuala Lumpur on AirAsia's last flight to Bangkok, arriving in Don Mueng Airport around midnight and spent overnight at the departure hall before taking the first Thai Lion Air flight out from Bangkok to Udon Thani. For accommodation in Nong Khai, I stayed in Asawann Hotel, just about 1.3km from the race venue. And for Muslim folks, there is one Muslim (Halal) restaurant located along the shop houses a few blocks away from VViang Lifestyle Mall (the race venue). It is owned by a Paskitani (if I'm not mistaken) guy whose wife is a Thai. They can cook any Thai food and for breakfast, you can have roti naan or whatever you want to have (just like how he answered us when we asked what he can cook for us).

In front of the Thasadet Market - one of the main attractions of Nongkhai. The marathon route also passed this place on its way back to the finish line.

At the Wat Mi Chai Thing, one of the many temples in Nongkhai, during my Saturday morning run. The temple is also located along the marathon route.

With the registration done and logistic arrangement made, the challenge for me back then was to look for a traveling buddy. Convincing friends to go to a race at this remote place and non-popular race like this was quite challenging but I knew one friend who would buy into this idea. And true enough, I had Shahidan with me in Nong Khai just like how it was in Vientiane, although I wasn't sure if he would make this trip only until a few days before the trip started. Then, it was to train for the marathon. Post BUTM100, my training went down south and I gained weight. Deep inside, I was quite relieved with the cancellation of SCKLM because I wasn't sure if I could run a good race with my condition that time.

But for Nong Khai Marathon, I had planned it to be a special marathon, probably as a gift for my birthday and was eyeing quite a high target from it. Based from my experience in Vientiane Marathon - the flat routem the high altitude, and the cold weather, I had specifically picked Nong Khai Marathon to try to go for no less than a 3:39:59 marathon, if not a PB (better than 3:29:15, Tokyo 2015). I was in dire need to try to run a sub 3:30-hour marathon again, to see if I'm worthy to be in the league and that the one in Tokyo was not a fluke. In between the cancelled SCKLM and Nong Khai, I focused my training on mid-distance speed (those of 20-25kms) by trying to hold to sub 5:00-minute pace as long as I could, and on the hillworks for cross-training. On weekends, hillworks were done in Gunung Broga and Tokwan but when back then when it was hazy, treadmill was my best friend, set it up with 15-degree elevation and tried to run it. For LSD, I only had one run of more than 25km which was during the Ricky Lightfoot Borneo Challenge where it was a very slow race with combination or lots of hills. I had two other races in between to test out my speed - the 22km 2XU Compression Run and the 15km LHKSNS.

At the race pack collection with the traveling buddy, Shahidan

Done with the bib collection. Hopefully 31 will be the lucky number for my 33rd full marathon.

As expected, it was a chill morning with temperature around 18-degree Celcius (slightly higher than in Berlin 2012) and remained cold and cloudy until race ended (even until noon). Nong Khai, just like Vientiane, is located some 150m asl, and that explains the cold weather, I think. As our hotel is just some 1.3km away, we decided to walk/run to the race site, instead of taking a tuk-tuk ride. We arrived at the race site with some 20 minutes before the flag off at 3am and the place was not crowded at all. Even there was no queue for the drop bag, and even the public restroom inside VViang Lifestyle Mall. After we're done with all that (bag drop and toilet break), we headed to the start line just outside the mall and on the main street. The set-up reminds me of Hatyai Marathon. Again, it was not crowded at all at the start line. From my judgement, I think there were less than 200 runners at the start line (from the race results, there were 125 total full marathon finishers). From there, I knew it would be a lonely run where runners will be spread apart from each other, especially when you're doing sub 3:30- or 4:00-hour pace.

At the start line with few minutes before flag off. Not pack at all! You can walk to the most back of the pack and still walk to the front again to start your marathon :p

The race was flagged off at 3am Thailand time. It was just a short run in the city as we headed out from the city towards Tha Bo, a neighboring town. At about KM3.5, we were on a 2-lane, intercity road that connects Nong Khai and Tha Bo. I've studied the route map and I knew it was a long straight route up to KM18 before you make a u-turn for another long stretch before entering the town with some 8km before the finish line. The long stretch reminded me again about Hatyai Marathon where a major part of the route was ran on a long highway. But for Nong Khai, it was not a highway but a rural intercity road, just like the old road from Tanjong Malim to Bidor, for example, where you can find houses, villages and shops on both sides of the road. The only thing is that, you could barely see much because it was still dark. On map, you could see yourself running along Mekong River but the truth fact is that the the river is behind those houses and villages and you can't see it from the road until you get back into Nong Khai city.

And I decided to start from the front...
[photo by Amazing Field]

As expected, the route was pancake flat and you wouldn't feel the slightest incline. True enough, upon checking my race details in Garmin Connect, total elevation gain was just 29m while elevation loss was 28m. A great recipe for a PB run! But eventhough it was pancake flat, one has to be mentally prepared for the long 30km out-and-back route as I mentioned earlier, and you have to constantly put all your efforts to move your foot in front of another, and repeat throughout, as there was no downhill to give you momentum, and in most time you'll be running alone along the whole course. I entertained myself by calculating my pace with several target finish time, expected finishing time, how much time I have to rest or allowed to have walk breaks, all those things. There was nothing interesting to tell in the first half of the race except that I noticed that water stations were placed every 2km with the local energy drinks served every 6km, if I'm not mistaken. Some stations served fruits but I didn't bother. I was good with Hammer gel which I consumed a pack for every 45 minutes.

My run was great at the beginning. My first 10km was done in 46:35-minutes and the second 10km was done in 46:37-minutes. At that moment, I thought of achieving a lot better than my PB in Tokyo, only if I could maintain the same pace. I even achieved PB for my half marathon, 1:38:38-hour, four minutes better than my HM PB in Sundown JB 2015. The goal at that time was to maintain sub 5:00-minute pace for as long as I could. I was still doing great up to the u-turn at KM18. Approaching the u-turn, I could already saw the front runners making their ways on opposite direction towards the finish line. There were not that many though and I was in 13th position at the u-turn which is not bad, I told myself. Not long after the u-turn, I saw Shahidan on the other side and I reckoned that he was doing a 5:30-minute pace at least, not bad either. But it was not so surprising as he has been training on the high altitude environment in Africa.

I continued running towards the city, still trying hard to maintain the 5:00-minute pace. It was same story about the route and the water stations. At one point, the HM and FM runners merged but it didn't give much problems as the number of participants were small. Only problem was that, I lost count on my position as some runners overtook me whilst I overtook some but I couldn't distinguish which categories they were running in. As much as I wanted to smash my PB by few minutes, my legs wasn't thinking the same. By KM28, my pace started to drop to more than 5:00-minute. Next goal kicked in - which was to maintain my average pace to sub 5:00-minute for as long as I could. I think the legs started to tire early due to the lack of 30km+ LSD training. I slowed down, but I tried as much to minimize the manage by keeping the pace to under 5:10-minute now and it worked. It kept my average pace to be under 4:50-minute all the way up to KM36. My third 10km was done in a slow 49:40-minute, that gave me 2:23-hour for 30km. That means, I have about 1:07-hour for the next 12km+ to finish under 3:30-hour. On paper, it sounds so doable but with the weary legs, I wasn't sure.

Just passed one of the water stations on my way back to the city. At this point, the FM runners were already merged with the HM runners.
[photo by Amazing Field]

We got back into the city with 8km to go. It was a 4km run by the river to the end of the city, make a u-turn and another 4km along the main road and shop houses on left and right to the finish line. My legs got really tired by KM36 and it got worse after the u-turn. The last 4km was like forever and it was so dreadful. I was moving like my legs were strapped with heavy chain that they could barely move. My thighs were tight, my glutes were sore. Thankfully cramps stayed at bay throughout the race. I regretted for missing my LSD runs. It was a mentally long stretch, like never ending. Just like in Hatyai. There were a few times that I stopped to walk for some 15-30 second before picking up my run again. My mind was calculating the pace required in the last two to three kilometers and sending the message to the legs but the legs just couldn't process it and make it happen. The mind got frustrated a bit and just let the body goes with the flow. During those walk breaks, I was even content to finish outside 3:30-hour as it was still a good effort, I think, to finish with the timing. I was ready to accept the defeat, to accept the fact that I was still not a sub 3:30-hour marathon material, that I'm still not ready for this.

It was a very slow 53:11-minute for my fourth 10km split. Something that I need to work on.

I was cursing the never ending stretch, when all shops on left and right looks exactly the same to me, and with my body started to feel cold (which I never felt that way before) like I want to faint, I saw the finishing arch from afar. But I just couldn't gauge how far it was but I was sure that the race will not be over distance or over distance by much (like in Tokyo). Looking at my Garmin FR920XT watch, I thought there could be a possibility for me to PB by the slightest margin. All I had to do was just run until the finish line. In the end, the earlier pace I had made up for the slow final 4km of the race. I was also thankful that the race didn't go to over distance, just ngam ngam 42.22km, again similar to Vientiane, as I didn't have enough buffer time for sub 3:30-hour if it does. I was glad that it was a PB! although by just 23 seconds from Tokyo. 3 hours, 28 minutes and 15 seconds - this is a new time to beat for me. Pace wise, I actually did better in Tokyo as it went 1km longer.

That PB moment! Crossing the finish line feeling all satisfied. But still there is a slight painful expression on my face...
[photo by Amazing Field]

It was all jolly after the race. I could not hide my satisfaction and my happiness that I messaged my team breaking the news to them first. I was grinning from ear to ear although the legs were quite in pain. The results came out not long after that, I finished in 13th position overall and 5th in Men's 30-39 age category. No trophy or prize for me as it was just for top three runners in each category but I was more than happy to bring back this PB with me. If in Tokyo, I wasn't sure when I could do sub 3:30-hour marathon again or even coming close to the mark, but after Nong Khai Marathon (and Kuching Marathon), I was sure that it will come more often from now.

Until the next race!



For overall results of 1st Nongkhai Marathon, click here.
For my race details on Garmin Connect, click here.

Kuching Marathon - Deo's Experience

The registration for Kuching Marathon 2016 has just opened on Sunday. The 3rd edition will be held on 14th August 2016 and based on the reviews from its first two editions, we are sure that all the slots will be taken up in no time. It is one of the youngest marathon in the country but has proven to be well-managed, and it is not surprising that Kuching Marathon has came to par (or maybe even better) with the 'big brothers' of local marathons. And the host city, Kuching, is also a lovely city to visit with various interesting activities for either a short weekend, marathon trip or an extended stay.

Our team athlete, Deo, was lucky to be able to experience Kuching Marathon this year and the way he put it, we are sure that he will make a return next year (and come back with a big box of ikan terubuk masin and kek lapis for us, too!). Read Deo's experience below and hopefully it will help you to decide to sign up for the marathon.

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Kuching Marathon, or the one I dubbed as KUMAR (for its shortform), has never been in my planned marathons for this year. In fact, I don't have much marathons outlined for this year. So far, I've only done two full marathons, Tokyo and 3R Putrajaya, this year and only one more to go, which is the SCKLM. However, it changed when a friend invited me to have a short trip to Kuching to run KUMAR. After reading good reviews from last year's inaugural KUMAR, I thought it would be great to give it a shot and KUMAR should be a good LSD training as preparation for the TMBT100, two weekends after that. All arrangements done sometimes in June and it was just waiting game for the KUMAR weekend to arrive.

Thursday and Friday approaching KUMAR, my facebook timeline was filled with updates by running friends who were already flying off to Kuching. It was quite a shock to me as if all familiar runners in peninsular flocked Kuching during the weekend. And it was not surprising when it was easy to spot running faces at every corner of the area surrounding the Padang Merdeka, Kuching after I arrived in the city. So, Saturday morning was my turn to be at the airport en route to Kuching for the marathon. ManBaik was my travel buddy this time around so both of us like cats whose whiskers have been cut, making our ways around the City like lost cats. Actually I had been in Kuching some ten years ago accompanying PROTON FC team playing Sarawak FA in the FA Cup football match but none seems familiar to me except for the waterfront walkpath and the Padang Merdeka. Luckily we were accompanied by Marlin, who ran KUMAR last year, who turned out to be our guide even for a while.

First stop after we arrived at the airport was Plaza Merdeka, that is located next to Padang Merdeka where the race venue is, for the race pack collection. Eventhough I saw some complaining about the long queues at the RPC earlier, it was all smooth by the time I picked up mine and it was all done in a jiffy. But I have to agree that the venue is rather small for a big marathon like KUMAR. RPC done, followed by late lunch at the nearby Brooke's Bistro at the waterfront for the sumptuous laksa sarawak. Then, we walkde to the nearby Borneo Hotel, our home for the night, for a short rest before making our ways for a seafood dinner at the famous Topspot Food Court, which is also within walking distance from where we were staying.

At the race pack collection venue in Plaza Merdeka.


It was early lights off for both of us as we had to wake up around 1.30am to get ready for the 3am flagoff. I have mixed feeling about this odd hours flagoff time as on one hand, you want to finish off your race before the sun comes off and saves you from being roasted but on the other hand, it is quite hard to go to bed really early, around 9pm and normally I would wake up still feeling sleepy. In the end, I only managed to get some 3 hours of sleep that night but luckily I didn't feel too sleepy (just a little groggy) that morning. But having a room mate to talk to in that wee hours before the race helped a bit.

We walked to the start line like many others did. With just 30 minutes to go before the flagoff, I quickly dumped my luggage at the dropbag center with a fee of RM5. I trust with the fee, my belongings will be in safe hands. More familiar faces spotted so, it was all pre-marathon routines with exchange of well wishes, photo takings, not much stretching and the countdown to the flagoff. I had not put any expectation for this marathon especially realizing that the last time I ran a marathon was in April and I had a tough time finishing it (and with a mediocre timing, too!). And I am in the middle of an ultramarathon training so I wasn't sure if I still have the marathon speed. So, not putting too much of hope, the plan was just about finishing it under 4 hours and injury-free.

Since this is an international marathon and the prize money was quite lucrative, it wasn't surprising to see host of African runners toeing the front of the start line. It was quite cold that morning as it rained on the night before. I stayed within maybe some 30 meters from the front line and as the race was flagged off at 3am, it was a walking start to cross the start line. Once start line was crossed, I have to zigzag around those runners who started at the front and not long after that, I found my comfortable pace. But a glance at my watch after the KM1 showed that my pace was 4:39-minute which wasn't as what I expected. It was too fast than the 5:00-minute pace I had in mind, to sail me though this marathon safely under four hours.

But, I told myself that since it was a comfortable pace, I would continue with the pace as long as I could in order to have ample time buffer for a much slower pace later. So, I continued with sub 5:00-minute pace until at KM10.5 when I had an urge to pee. Normally I would just pee by the roadside but this time around, I detoured to a petrol station and did what I had to do there. It was a quick stop though but I felt lighter after that. I ran my first 5km in 24:05-minute and the first 10km in 48:46-minute. The generally flat route and generally cold weather were actually helping me with the run and maintaining the pace I was doing for quite a long time. Actually to be frank, the route wasn't all flat, like many runners told me earlier. There were some climbing for elevated roads or bridges (crossing those rivers) and the nastiest one was in the city with 5km to go but those four or five climbing were not too bad to run up.

After 10km, I still feel like I could maintain the sub 5:00-minute pace forever and there were no signs of cramps coming or any muscles tightness. At times, I feel like I would be able to run a sub 3:30-hour marathon, or even bettering my PB of 3:29:15 done in Tokyo this year. That thought was playing in my mind and although I wasn't pressured to do such timing, it still motivated me to continue running at that pace. The pace was good, my body condition was good, I didn't stop to walk except for brisk stops at each water station (they were abundance of water stations, maybe some 15 altogether along the full marathon route). And eventhough I was running at quite a fast pace to the local average standard, I could still see runners in front of me and those behind me trying to catch up with me and that had kept me 'alive' during the run.

Soon enough and it was still dark, KM15 arrived in 1:13-hour and KM20 covered in 1:39-hour. By that time, I knew that another sub 4:00-hour marathon is well within reach. Only that PB is slightly hard to achieve. So, I was left with the battle to run a sub 3:40-hour to mark a new best timing for a local marathon (marathons done in Malaysia). I started to feel a little tired after KM25, not sure if I hit the wall or what? The body legs were just refusing to run swiftly like before but there were no cramping signs and muscles tightness, which I thought was great. 25km was completed in 2:05-hour which was ok but earlier on I had hoped that I could cover the distance under 2:00-hour. So, it was all mind over body from there onwards.

My mind was talking about under 3:40-hour finish but the body told the mind that I can walk for a long time and still finish off the race under 4:00-hour. So, it was a tussle between the mind and the body which they had to come to a compromised position where I would take longer walk breaks at water stations and halfway up any elevated road or bridge and when it was time to run, I need to run at least at 5:15-minute pace. And it worked for me although at times, from my mental calculations, I could miss the 3:40-hour mark by a whisker using that strategy. 30km was completed in 2:31-hours and I had to run the last 13km (in my calculation, I would always anticipate the route would go up to 43km in distance) under 68 minutes, which means that I would miss my target even if I run at an average pace of 5:30-minute from KM30 onwards. Even to be able to run the last 13km at 5:30-minute pace was not guaranteed (that I would be able to do it) as my muscles have started to feel some soreness. It was quite frustrated thinking about it.

But I trudged on. The only hope I had was for the route to be accurately measured to 42.195km in distance (I got 42.28km on my Garmin) and I would still be able to finish under 3:40-hour. This motivated me a bit and I didn't drop my pace much, still able to run between 5:15- to 5:25-minute pace except for one stretch when I walked for quite some time. 35km was done in 2:58-hour and I was glad to finally get back to the city, knowing the finish line was getting nearer. The distance marker along the roadside showed that the race will not be overdistance but I still had doubt in me so, I continued to run. And with some four kilometers from the finish line, a marshal on a bicycle cycled alongside me. I thought it was going to be for a short while but he cycled alongside me until the finish line.

At the last water station. On my left is the marshal on the bicycle who paced me in the last four kilometers of the race.


It was hard to keep up with the marshal. I was in my last 3km and I had to run at 5:00-minute pace. I thought it was good to have a pacer and it was just few more kilometers to go to give everything that I still had left in me but at the same time, my heart was screaming! I slowed down for a while thinking that he might speed off and leave me behind but he didn't. When I slowed down, he slowed down too while encouraging me to keep up with only few kilometers to go. I obliged, and pacing with the marshal on the bicycle, I did the fastest pace in the entire race during my last 1km, how is that?! So, I crossed the finish line in 3:35:44, making it a personal best timing of all 20 marathons I've done locally. Previous best was 3:49:16. It was also my 32nd full marathon race and continuing a streak of 14 sub 4-00-hour marathon finish dating back to August 2013. The timing got me in the 26th position in the Men's Open category and 40th overall which entitled me for the 'Top 200 finishers' special edition finisher t-shirt.

With some familiar faces after the marathon.

Personally, everything was great with KUMAR, my race was less-problematic and I didn't suffer from DOMS for too long post-marathon. I only had a few hours of sweating, dizzyness and feeling like throwing up after the race but recovered well after an hour of sleep. On the organisation of the marathon, I think the reviews I read from last year spoke the truth and the organizer had maintained (or maybe improved) the standard of the marathon. Water stations were abundance and some were accompanied with medic stations, route was super nice especially for a first timer like me, weather was awesome and I will not be surprised if KUMAR would now become a favorite local marathon, overtaking the disastrous and never-improved Penang Bridge Marathon as well as the boring and overhyped KL Marathon.

Skechers GoRun Bolt FitKnit Review : TriStupe

A bit delayed with today's post as the team has been busy lately with a few things. We are back again this week and most of you has already read the unboxing of the new GoRun Bolt FitKnit that was shared by Tristupe. Today, we bring you the part 1 of the review. If you have not read it yet, this is a good opportunity to catch up on the latest offering.
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Skechers GoRun Bolt FitKnit Review

In the midst of testing the GRB FitKnit after the unboxing and it has been good so far. The GoRunRide3 (GRR3) ride is predictable and did not differ much. The cushioning and road feel were the same for me at least. OK, maybe it is a bit better perhaps because it is new (and hence the bounciness).

Fitting
My usual size for Skechers is US10 or US11, depending on the cutting as some like GoMeb or Speed is known to have narrow toe box (and for that I went US11). My feet may had grown slightly over the past year and I requested for US11 from Skechers HQ. 10 is ok, but 11 would allow me to test the shoes out with the insole, and perhaps socks. 

This shoe was fitted with socks in the morning and that was a good choice going with the US11. Again, as general rule of thumb, always ensure 1-finger spacing at the back of the shoe between your Achilles and the shoe collar. Bear in mind that when you run downhill, your feet will slide in front and you need those space else you may end up with painful toes, or toe nails that may fall off after a long race. 

First Feel
US11, at first feel, was great. Superb toe room without being overly roomy. Pull up the laces tight and the shoes just wrap up the feet like gloves. And it did felt like "gloves". The claimed seamless construction gave the shoe inner felt like you were wearing a socks (to be describing it correctly as gloves is for hands ;-)). It was tested without the insole placed inside and from experiences with Skechers' shoe, I know I have room to play with the insole. 

The GRB is a 4mm drop shoes, same as the GRR3. For those new to the term, what this really (drop) meant is the differences in height between the front/midsole and the heel height. Traditional running shoes are heavier stacked/height at the back, which lends to the possibility of the heel striking or landing first when you run.

I am running without socks and with the insole as I enjoy the more cushioned feel and to allow for a more accurate representation of how many would use this shoe. 

As the ride, as I mentioned, is same as GRR3, hence this review will try to share as much as I "felt" with the new FitKnit.

Run FitKnit

For this test I looked for the route that has a mix of well paved surface, slippery surface and uneven surface; just to feel if the knitted material effects the lateral movement and support. 

Uneven surface : I started the run on the uneven surface that is the bicycle lanes in Taman Tun. The route has never been re-paved since it was built in the 90's. Roots of trees that lined the main road and non-maintenance created a trip-galore route. Nothing better than this short 500m from the Mosque to the junction of Dato Sulaiman to test quick changes in direction. 

Verdict: Good feel. Minimal lateral movement. Good support on arch. No instances of the shoe sliding under landing. Gets more confident to bounce around after a while. Changes in direction is good with positive grip. Cushioned Resalyte absorb pretty much the loose gravels and root-bumps under the feet upon landing. 

I set my JVC Adixxion XA2 to capture images and video of my run to see what and how the shoe will moves under normal run. Took me a while to capture a good 5 seconds and going through the video yields good images of how the shoe actually moves with my feet as well. The picture on the right shows how the toe area/forefoot were firmly attached to the ground while the metatarsal (top of feet) were free to move without restrictions. What appeared to be the GRB losing shape was actually how the GRB allows the feet to move as naturally as possible.                                                                                                       Paved road: Predictable surface provides an opportunity for speed work. The power transfer were good as I increase the stride.

Verdict: The lateral movement due to the faster stride did not change significantly from the 5:00-5:30 pace I ran earlier. What was evident was the insole sliding a little as I push off more forcefully. This could be because the shoe was still new. 

is that heel striking???

Running In Park

Running in TTDI park provides good mix of elevation. This will allow me to see how the GRB holds up with the uphill push and downhill charge.

Verdict: On the uphill push, the shoe did exhibit slight lateral movement. I must try to tie the laces a bit more snug and verify again. Otherwise, the FitKnit perform as claimed (support and lateral movement).

GoImpulse pods similar to GRR3

Hot upper?
The run were short and did not allow me to check for any potential hotspot (blister forming spot). The fitting and the seamless inner does felt promising for a longer run. The FitKnit did not make the feet felt hotter than the other Skechers that I've worn. 
I've been asked to consider wetting the FitKnit and run with it to test for color run and how well the material expel water. A shoe that is waterlogged is bad and will certainly causes blisters to the feet. I am up for that challenge. 

Hill repeat with GoRun Bolt

From the first two days of using it for an easy review run and the next hill repeat run, the GRB performed as expected. I did hold the feet well, providing support and doesn't lack the lateral support. The shoe is cushy as expected and provide positive traction and feedback. It doesn't sink in as you push off despite the super flexible sole and upper. 

If there is one thing, the color (currently Red/Black or Navy/Grey) may not appeal to those wanting a more colorful pair - but that is not a bad thing either, as there are many out there that love (and long) for a subtle colored pair, that allow them to blend in as a casual wear and takes off the next moment as a performance shoe. 

I will update here again, once I get the chance to wet the shoe, and run in them. Stay tuned!

Note: This pair of Skechers GoRun Bolt FitKnit is sponsored by Skechers Malaysia via collaboration with 2ndSkin Asia Athletes program. Thank you Skechers Malaysia and 2ndSkin! This pair is launched this week (today!). Retailing at RM419 for men and RM399 for women (Semenanjung). RM10-20 more for East Malaysia.

Opinion in this write up is my own and not influenced by Skechers Malaysia or 2ndSkin program.

Wear Pattern of Your Running Shoes : Jun Shen

I used to be a heel striker when I started running at the age of 15, I couldn’t run more than 7km due to my knee pain. I’ve always thought that runners with bigger stride run faster so I overstride without me realizing. My leading foot will be too far in front of my body and foot slightly rotated in the air before landing on my heel to absorb the impact. Because of my overstriding running style, I needed extra cushioning to minimize the impact in my knees. I didn’t know that I ran wrongly. My shoes wore out pretty fast; I just got rid of my old running shoes without even observing the wear pattern.

Taking pictures of the wear pattern of your running shoes provide important clues for runners to assess running gait if you know how to read them. There are a few sections of the sole for us to observe, which are the heel section, sole and the midsole area. For instance, heel strikers will have more significant heel wear, over pronators have excessive wear along the inner side of the sole, and under pronators have excessive wear along the outer side of the sole. By identifying the wear pattern, you can start to figure out drills and gears needed to minimize the risks of getting running-related-injuries. 

Picture of my Skechers GoRunSpeed.

Here is a simple example of my case. I learned to run midfoot after my first Ironman because I knew the importance of correcting my running gait to last longer in competitive racing. If I keep heel striking, my whole body weight will impact my knees every single stride I make, and the shoes sole will be my evidence. Other than having a camera to record my strides, I can observe the wear pattern to be sure that I land midfoot. Different running shoes brand have different level of sole hardness due the material difference. Softer sole tend to wear faster hence you get the result of this “experiment” faster. This important information will be a good guidance for you to pick your next pair of new running shoes

Melaka Marathon 2014 : Annie Yee

The marathon event turned out to leave a bitter taste in my mouth and something which I don’t know where should I start writing from… (Well, let me start from a good and enjoyable writing)

When the day my running mates aka my boyfriend, Jin Kuang persuaded me to sign up for this marathon, I had a bad feeling that something is going to go wrong in this race. At the same time, it coincided with the same day with another tower run which I had registered earlier. Nonetheless, to test my own lost confidence since Penang Bridge International marathon and my episode of falling down from my bike, I guessed this was the right timing for me to test myself. The quote of “DOWN BUT NOT OUT” popped out in my head when I clicked on the Malaysian women open category to register myself. 

Upon reaching Melaka, we went to collect our bibs as well as our friends’ bibs. It was a chaotic situation there. We were informed to wait while the crews went to take M size tees for us. Ultimately, the person in charged told us she has lost our friends’ bib in the recycle bags and probably other crew members have taken the bags away. Without wasting time, we asked for replacement but were told that they did not have extra chip and asked for our permission if they could just give us the bib number without the timing. How could this happen?! We sorted out the solution after that anyway.

There were a lot of familiar faces around the collection. I wouldn’t have known that the starting time of each category differed by 10 mins if Yum Kim Kok didn’t inform me. Great thanks to him! Apart from him, I bumped into Weng Woo from KL, Alvin from Klang and some runners who I haven’t met for some while.

Jin  Kuang and I walked to our place of accommodation which was located just few meters from the starting point, Hotel Sixty Six at Jalan Melaka Raya 3. The hotel is strategically located as surroundings are convenient stores (7-11, 24hours Marts), restaurants (Station One, Hailam Kopitiam, Ah Hui Bak Kut Theh) and banks. My boyfriend suggested the food for best carbo-loading would be as follows and I agreed that because I have been craving for spaghetti since long long time ago!!!

That night we tried to get an early sleep but there was a lot of noise and activity going on outside the hotel as it was a Saturday night.

I woke up right after the alarm rang. We prepared our gears and met our buddies. We met more and more familiar faces at the starting line. Not forget to thank Lee Lee's homemade muffins and her big smile did really soothe my nervous feeling. We wished every runner good luck and waited and waited..............17 mins past 4 in the morning and we were supposedly to start at 4:00 am. Runners started to make a commotion and the emcee just neglected the complains and kept on talking. Each sentence from the speaker sounded like lullaby to me, I wasn't focus on what he was saying. While seeking for the moon and praying hard, I heard was, " 3..2..1...."

REMARKS: As seen in above diagram, the last part of the marathon is so complicated....

I was running with moderate pace, around 4:40-4:50 km/hour. It was very humid and I could feel the heat was burning up my body. We went through some small streets and turned left and turned right which I didn’t know where I was heading to. There was a lady in front of me stopped for several times to ask for the direction while we passed by the seaside (I guess). There were a lot of cyclists dating hanging around and sitting on the bench looking at us passing by. “It is 4am in the morning, what are they doing at this time, aren’t they supposed to sleep at home instead of hanging out here?” Feeling uneasy, I followed the lady, trying to catch up with her. Still, I couldn’t make it. At 3.5km, I reached the first water station. But the board was written 5km. I assumed this marathon was going to be under distance.

I was running with a weak will, my mind kept telling me to stop and walk. Fighting with the devil, I chose to continue but with slow pace and counting each kilometer I passed through. I came to a roundabout at 15km and the lady stopped and doubted. I shouted at her to turn right.  When I ran towards the 20km water station, from far I saw the familiar face, Chooi Hooi standing there, had his hand on his waist. I pushed myself and he told me he had been there for the last 4 minutes waiting for me. Thanks God!

We started to pace each other up to a slightly steep slope and it was pitch dark. There was a tiny rat ran across the road and I was almost walking. I told him to ignore me if he wanted to go faster. Instead, he told me to hold on and there was left 7 water stations to go. I held the water bottle so tightly. I guess he saw it and asked me to throw away in order to run faster. We ran and saw Choy (sub3 runner) ahead of us and we sped off to pass him. Gradually, around 27km, Chooi Hooi slowed down and I ran alone....I ate my first Hammer Gel at 27.5km water station and one tablet of Endurolyte.

Once I ran down the slope, I turned around to see if Chooi Hooi had catched up with me but he did not. Choy’s strides were getting nearer and I thought he wanted to pace me but in fact no. He ran faster and faster...I passed by buildings on my left and right but the area was quiet. Suddenly, I felt my right butt was touched. One motorbike with two riders, in brown complexion flew off.

“Shall I shout?” I couldn’t recall. The immediate action I did was to run on the grassy side away from the road. A bus rumbled past me. I just kept on running with small strides. There was a guy 50 metres ahead of me. I ran besides him and talked to him. He came from Johor and he told me he wanted to speed after we reached a T-Junction. I saw Loh Choi Fern, known as Yuan Yu Fang’s apprentice was walking. She became aware that we were coming and she ran off. I tried to catch up with her but she was fast. Few hundred metres, she walked again.

I encouraged her when I ran besides her and had a chit-chat there. Her pace was slower, so I remained my pace and ran off.

Upon reaching the Melaka Raya street, I walked. It was almost 35 km. I was exhausted mentally. I took out another Hammer Gel and gorged it down. Left two water stations, Annie Go! Annie Go!!!I didn’t know when a motorbike appeared from out of nowhere leading me and I saw the finishing line. I thought I was going to there, instead of that, the motorcyclist brought me left-right-left junction till I stopped. My Garmin have shown 42.2km yet he led me astray and he even asked the police for direction. OMG!!

With 42.6km, finally I ran up the slope and to the finishing line.

Photo from Tey Eng Tiong. Thank you Sir!

A rank 9th tag was given by an Indian lady and I followed her instruction to a booth to claim my finishing tee and medal in a red plastic bag. The standard of the event was nowhere near international standard in my opinion~ I was looking around my boyfriend and asked around but no one saw him. I got nervous and worried that he didn’t not finish his marathon or he ran on the wrong route. At the same time, Chooi Hooi was back and I told him about that. He was really exhausted. We rested for a short while and walked back to the hotel to refresh ourselves. Thank God my boyfriend called just after I reached the hotel and he was in a rage and described how he ended up in police patrol car which was following the last participant of 21km. 

Everything was a mess. Even the prize ceremony happened in a chaotic situation. We were told that there was no Malaysian category anymore and many winners gathered beside the stage to find out the final decision. After all the VIP went off, only they gave the prizes for the Malaysian category

In summary, 8th of June 2014, I had a very bad experience which I don’t wish to mention anymore and lessons learnt. 

1. Ain’t going to support local and small marathons anymore. (my opinion)

2. Bring pepper spray along during training, especially for ladies.

3. Study the route in details before the race.

Last but not least, I am really grateful for the sponsorship, and my team members’ support and a lot of friends’ concerns. 2ndskintee has never disappointed me, never experienced chaffing and blisters .Kraftfitcompression pants has protected my recurring knee pain and Skechers Gorun Speed is my first choice for racing. Lastly, the Hammer Nutrition products, Perpetuem before racing, Gels and Endurolytes tablets during racing increased my energy level. This is undeniable. Of course, my advise to all still is train hard for a marathon! 

Skechers GoRun3 Review : Azrul Deo

When I first heard that Skechers got themselves seriously into running and performance sports, I was a little skeptical on how would their shoes get on par against the big names in the likes of Nike, Adidas, Asics, Brooks, etc. They have always been the casual wear shoe maker, to my mind. Not taking too long of time, they got more serious, rolling out new models of running shoes one after another, and they are gaining more attention from running community, even in Malaysia, with the embedded technology and the attractive combination of colors they offer. Backed by USA’s top marathoner, Meb Keflezighi, fourth place in the recent Olympics’ marathon, they got my head turned too but, I am a loyal/’one-brand’ type of person and it takes a very strong reason for me to switch to another brand. Furthermore, the shoes from the brand I had been using did not give me any problem so, what is the need to switch?

Few days after I was confirmed to be part of 2ndSkin team, I was informed by the team Principal to collect two pairs of Skechers shoes - one for road and another one for trail running. So, I made my way to Skechers outlet in Suria KLCC, knowing that I would finally be able to see how good Skechers’ shoes are as claimed. Eugene suggested for me to go for GOrun 3 for road shoes as it provides the most cushioning as compared to other models. As I was accustomed to cushioned shoes before this, I took up the suggestion. I got myself the blue-lime with striking yellow lace GOrun 3 in size 7. The moment I put on the shoes, I could feel how light and comfortable the shoes is and I could feel how cushioned and bouncy the shoes is. I could relate the bouncy feels to adidas Energy Boost I tested for few months ago. But the most notable difference between the shoes is how the shoes snug your foot especially at the front part of your foot. While adidas Energy Boost snug the foot in the shoes, it gives little room for the foot (especially the front part) to move around. Whereas, with Skechers GOrun 3, the foot has the freedom to move around freely inside the shoes. The collar of the shoes also comes in a soft material that it provides a comfort around the ankle. 

Unboxing the shoes seems to be one of the nervous moments :p

Furthermore, the upper part of the shoes and the inside part of the toe box are soft so, you don't feel like your foot is being 'choked'. The softness, especially on the inside part of the toe box, makes running downhill on hard tarmac or cement less hurting for the forefoot and the toes, which I had experimented during my long run in along the hilly route of Kokol Hill in Kota Kinabalu where there is a downhill 15-degree gradient of cement/concrete stretch. The shoes also come with extra pair of detachable in-soles. Without the additional in-soles, you could feel that your foot is very close to the ground. But once you put in the additional in-soles, you could right away feels that the shoes gives you a little height from the ground and you could also feel the extra cushioning feeling that comes with higher foot arch support. 

The softer and roomier forefoot area

I walked out from the store eagerly wanted to hit the road as soon as possible and it did not take long for the shoes to clock 200km at the time of writing this. I have been using the shoes for my short runs, long runs, marathon LSD as well as the recent marathon event in Hong Kong. So far, the shoes has been performing remarkably well over various distance. For short run, GOrun 3 is just perfect as it makes it effortless for the legs to move, due to the lightweight of the shoes (the shoes is said to be 6.9oz or 195grams in weight for men’s size 9, so my shoes should weigh less than that). 

The now most famous S-brand other than Superman ;-)

Running short runs in this shoes on rubber track is more fun as the rubber-ish grip of the outsole coupled with the GoImpulse pods design gives better traction and control. As for long runs, I had ran in this shoes for six and a half hours in one run, the shoes was not drenched in sweat, and my feet were still breathing comfortably and they did not feel hot inside. I guess the shoes somehow has quick-drying technology or material as well as some air circulation technology embedded that makes it comfortable for a long run as well. 

Taking the shoes for a spin around KLCC rubber jogging track

In the recent marathon that I took part in, the shoes was able to run the whole distance and taking the hard pounding against the tarmac without any problem or aches to my feet. Just one problem, although minimal, I noticed from the shoes that it could not handle long runs on trails (which obviously you need to run in trail shoes, but sometimes road runs are mixed with short trail sections).  This was evident during my run around the Kokol Hill where there was a stretch where we had to run on a short gravel trail path and I could feel some pain to my feet from stepping on the gravel and few sharp stones. This must be due to the softness of the sole of the shoes. And after putting 200km to the shoes, the soles looks to be worn out faster than my previous brand of shoes and I reckon the shoes could last for around 600-700km life, which is a recommended life of a running shoes (click here) but shorter than my normal 1000km life with previous brand.

The GoImpulse pods design of the shoes

On any other days than running, the GOrun 3 is also a great walking shoes. I have tried wearing it to office on my ‘casual attire’ day as well as walking around in Hong Kong and Macao prior to my marathon, and it is just perfectly comfortable with the level of cushioning and the lightweight of the shoes. The legs will not feel tired to carry the shoes around. Even the lightweight profile of the shoes at times makes me confuse whether I have them in my gym bag or not. Furthermore, the ability for the shoes to be flexed and twisted in 360-degree makes the shoes easily fitted into the slightest space of your luggage. This works really well for budget traveller like me who try as much not to pay additional fees to check-in luggage by minimizing the weight and size of my carry-on luggage. Another great thing I found about the shoes is that it allows wearing it without socks due to its anti-microbial insoles that prevent odor and that they are somehow placed in tact inside the shoes. As mentioned earlier, the soft material used for the interior of the shoes makes it comfortable wearing it without socks without worrying to get chaffing here and there. Although I had never tried wearing the shoes sockless in any of my runs, I had done that while walking around as well as going to the gym and this saves me from washing more socks which helps the environment!

No doubt, Skechers now stand tall, at par with other established brands

Overall, it has been a great partnership for me and Skechers GOrun 3. It has given me almost zero problem and has well-exceeded my expectations for a new ‘kid on the block’. Next test would be to run this shoes in my ultra marathon.