(Photos courtesy of Shazly and Tey)
Race organisers in KL are starting to get a little wearing - in more ways than one. After Mizuno 10k was renamed Hillzuno 10k and then the Malakoff 12k course was changed to two loops of only uphill running (or that's how it seemed). Now the Great Eastern 30K, which was hard enough this close to Christmas as it was, has been redesigned to test the mountain goats within us.
The course was all the usual hills, plus hills in KL that I didn't even know existed and to make matters worse the race organisers having obviously run out of hills made us run up the same flippin hills again on the way back.
So to the race, being deep into Ironman training now and last week being the heaviest yet with 26 hours of hard core cardio work, Saturday being a hot 186k ride to PD and back (via Megamall) followed by a 9k hilly interval brick run, I wasn't expecting too much from this race.
I started at the back with the rest of the Team Tri Hard members (except Sam who was reported to be at the front toeing the line with a steely look in his eyes). The gun went and a couple of minutes later we shuffled over the line. You won't be surprised to hear that the first couple of K are straight up - non stop climbing. My plan was to put in the distance and nothing else.
That's when I met one of my usual inner training buddies, Earnest Ego; Neil and Aaron were starting to pull away once the runners thinned out a bit so Mr Ego pushed me on a bit and soon I was in front of them with a spring in my step and a feeling of invincibility.
Oh well I thought, I have nothing to prove today I can give myself permission to back off as soon as I run out of steam. So how long could I keep it up was the question. I didn't push too hard but it was certainly above moderate for such a long hilly run.
Running down Double Hill I passed Kona Carmen who was looking very strong, she informed me that Sam wasn't too far ahead; that may have been the case but it was quite some time before I saw him in the distance and quite a while longer before I pulled up on his shoulder.
He was having a very solid run, and looked in fantastic shape for IM (he should be quietly confident).
A few hundred metres later the first runners were on their way back, a Kenyan in first place, a Moroccan in second. We are so privileged to have these sort of guys running these races, they are awesome. Iwata-san was up there too, looking "as hard a nails" as usual, Don looking good too and he didn't look too worried when I told him I was catching him up.
As I ran up the final hill to Sri Hartamas and the Petronas turnaround I came across Gan from my office, I couldn't believe it, he was just a beginner not so long ago and now he was nailing this run. As I ran past him I asked him if he was trying to make me look bad! He just laughed and 30 seconds later came steaming past me again. It was quite some time before I caught him up again but by then I think the hills were starting to take their toll on him. I doubt that I'll be ahead of him on any run by this time next year though if he carries on like this - keep it up dude.
On a similar note, I met loads of people during the run that I know from the tri circuit and quite a few that said hi that read this blog, which was really nice of them. Today was a real festival, I was totally inspired by the people that were still heading out long after I'd gone round the half way point. Without exception they had smiles on their faces and were doing what the rest of were, just a little slower but with the same commitment, the same job to do and they are no less important, if anything these are the real heroes, the weekend warriors, the grass roots of what we do - there were several thousand people running on Sunday and a story worthy of any Sunday Newspaper Supplement behind each and everyone of them I'd wager - Glorious!
As we headed ever nearer the finish I reminded myself that there is always a sting in the tail of this run, you just start to think that it'll all be over soon and then they send you right instead of left (away from the finish) and over another hill. Thankfully I was prepared and dealt with it as we went up up and up across the second part of Double Hill, past the National Monument and back to Lake Gardens. Just a final 100metres now...HANG ON...what do you mean turn right...we've already had the sting...surely not another one!!!! Fortunately only a little hill, it was just a shock that's all - credit to the organisers, they tricked me again. Down to the finish, 2:25:30 my personal best for this race by over 30 minutes.
I got my medal, said hi to Hayley (she won of course), Julie who is looking fabulous and pregnant - she'll be back next year showing us the way, and then Sam tapped me on the shoulder - blimey just 4 minutes behind - nice job (no need for quiet confidence, you can start shouting I reckon).
I then jumped into the car and speed off to take the boys to a birthday party at the Science Centre - as I pulled out of Lake Gardens I saw Bee streaking for the line, Gan struggling a bit but he was almost there and then KK, Randy and Emma who all unceremoniously threw themselves onto the bonnet of my car - NICE, thanks for that guys. Fortunately there was a policemen right there so making the police report was fairly simple.
On a final note, Shazly was out on his motorbike, camera in hand, he took the attached pictures. Very cool shots I thought, different from the usual sports angles. If anyone is doing the Ironman in Langkawi, Shazly will be there with an assistant taking pictures which he will then edit and build a photo book for anyone that is interested. He will be charging a fee of course but if you want to explore this further he can be contacted on smoothshazly@gmail.com.
Race organisers in KL are starting to get a little wearing - in more ways than one. After Mizuno 10k was renamed Hillzuno 10k and then the Malakoff 12k course was changed to two loops of only uphill running (or that's how it seemed). Now the Great Eastern 30K, which was hard enough this close to Christmas as it was, has been redesigned to test the mountain goats within us.The course was all the usual hills, plus hills in KL that I didn't even know existed and to make matters worse the race organisers having obviously run out of hills made us run up the same flippin hills again on the way back.
So to the race, being deep into Ironman training now and last week being the heaviest yet with 26 hours of hard core cardio work, Saturday being a hot 186k ride to PD and back (via Megamall) followed by a 9k hilly interval brick run, I wasn't expecting too much from this race.
I started at the back with the rest of the Team Tri Hard members (except Sam who was reported to be at the front toeing the line with a steely look in his eyes). The gun went and a couple of minutes later we shuffled over the line. You won't be surprised to hear that the first couple of K are straight up - non stop climbing. My plan was to put in the distance and nothing else.
That's when I met one of my usual inner training buddies, Earnest Ego; Neil and Aaron were starting to pull away once the runners thinned out a bit so Mr Ego pushed me on a bit and soon I was in front of them with a spring in my step and a feeling of invincibility.
Oh well I thought, I have nothing to prove today I can give myself permission to back off as soon as I run out of steam. So how long could I keep it up was the question. I didn't push too hard but it was certainly above moderate for such a long hilly run.
Running down Double Hill I passed Kona Carmen who was looking very strong, she informed me that Sam wasn't too far ahead; that may have been the case but it was quite some time before I saw him in the distance and quite a while longer before I pulled up on his shoulder. 
He was having a very solid run, and looked in fantastic shape for IM (he should be quietly confident).
A few hundred metres later the first runners were on their way back, a Kenyan in first place, a Moroccan in second. We are so privileged to have these sort of guys running these races, they are awesome. Iwata-san was up there too, looking "as hard a nails" as usual, Don looking good too and he didn't look too worried when I told him I was catching him up.
As I ran up the final hill to Sri Hartamas and the Petronas turnaround I came across Gan from my office, I couldn't believe it, he was just a beginner not so long ago and now he was nailing this run. As I ran past him I asked him if he was trying to make me look bad! He just laughed and 30 seconds later came steaming past me again. It was quite some time before I caught him up again but by then I think the hills were starting to take their toll on him. I doubt that I'll be ahead of him on any run by this time next year though if he carries on like this - keep it up dude.On a similar note, I met loads of people during the run that I know from the tri circuit and quite a few that said hi that read this blog, which was really nice of them. Today was a real festival, I was totally inspired by the people that were still heading out long after I'd gone round the half way point. Without exception they had smiles on their faces and were doing what the rest of were, just a little slower but with the same commitment, the same job to do and they are no less important, if anything these are the real heroes, the weekend warriors, the grass roots of what we do - there were several thousand people running on Sunday and a story worthy of any Sunday Newspaper Supplement behind each and everyone of them I'd wager - Glorious!
As we headed ever nearer the finish I reminded myself that there is always a sting in the tail of this run, you just start to think that it'll all be over soon and then they send you right instead of left (away from the finish) and over another hill. Thankfully I was prepared and dealt with it as we went up up and up across the second part of Double Hill, past the National Monument and back to Lake Gardens. Just a final 100metres now...HANG ON...what do you mean turn right...we've already had the sting...surely not another one!!!! Fortunately only a little hill, it was just a shock that's all - credit to the organisers, they tricked me again. Down to the finish, 2:25:30 my personal best for this race by over 30 minutes. 
I got my medal, said hi to Hayley (she won of course), Julie who is looking fabulous and pregnant - she'll be back next year showing us the way, and then Sam tapped me on the shoulder - blimey just 4 minutes behind - nice job (no need for quiet confidence, you can start shouting I reckon).I then jumped into the car and speed off to take the boys to a birthday party at the Science Centre - as I pulled out of Lake Gardens I saw Bee streaking for the line, Gan struggling a bit but he was almost there and then KK, Randy and Emma who all unceremoniously threw themselves onto the bonnet of my car - NICE, thanks for that guys. Fortunately there was a policemen right there so making the police report was fairly simple.
On a final note, Shazly was out on his motorbike, camera in hand, he took the attached pictures. Very cool shots I thought, different from the usual sports angles. If anyone is doing the Ironman in Langkawi, Shazly will be there with an assistant taking pictures which he will then edit and build a photo book for anyone that is interested. He will be charging a fee of course but if you want to explore this further he can be contacted on smoothshazly@gmail.com.
2 comments:
"No such thing as hills" Simon Cross - Somewhere between Bentong and Genting . . . .
thx for the heads up Simon.. appreciated!
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