It's PB time!

Yes, it's PB time!

No I'm not talking about Peanut Butter Jelly time, this PB here refers to Personal Best.
Last afternoon, at about 3.15pm, Lenney Fuad, My Dad and I set off to do one clockwise loop around MacRitchie. As it has been some time since I last did the clockwise route, I kinda forgot about some uphills, espcially the one after the Ranger Station. I was running at a very easy fat burning pace of about 7 to 8 minutes/km, I was also trying out my new hydration bag that Abang Sam bought for me. It is pretty good and snug fitting, it does make a little noise when running, but that is perfectly fine with me. I ran bare-bodied as I wanted to try how it would feel like with a hydration bag on too, it was fine and I didn't get any abrasions. The run was very enjoyable as Fuad shared many interesting stories with me. Fuad used to weigh 140kg, and he has lost almost 70 kg through regular exercise and monitoring of his diet.  I will be running alongside Fuad for the TNF 25km run.

As he likes to put it, ''It is as tough some one stepped out of me!'"
Well that sure is true. He lives to his motto of enjoying what you do. He didn't take any pills or supplements during his weight loss period, he preferred the natural way. Well, although it did take about 2-3 years for him to shed off the 70kg, it was a fun journey that he enjoyed. He is a person who mantains a very low-key, but he is very knowledgeable, friendly and wise. It was a great pleasure to have join us again after almost 3 months, we last ran with him in the 2XU Compression Run. Fuad was contstantly monitoring Lenney's Pace and at the 9km mark, Fuad asked Lenney to push for his PB.

"Think of something that makes you angry, GO FOR IT LENNEY!"

That's a great way to fire yourself up for the final stretch of runs, and yes, Lenney did achieve his 10km PB with 1:10, a great achievement for him. And I'm sure he will achieve an even better timing at flat road races. It is an added bonus in addition to the 13kg he has lost since he has started running last year. It is really inspiring to see people around me defying the odds, and making jaws drop to the floor.

After the run..

I'm proud to call these brothers my fellow Maverickz. Maverickz is a new community that Lenney, Fuad and I are honored to be part of. We'll fill you guys in about Maverickz in the posts to come, in the meantime, like their Facebook Page to keep updated.

Well, it's Monday again, hang in there till you can say TGIF.

Cheers,
Ariffin Sha

Belly of the Beast

My 3 days stay at KL, was a short but memorable one. A good race, with great company! :-)
Many who went there achieved their PBs, despite the many steep climbs in the race.

"Don't try anything new on race day that you haven't tried in training before." I defied that saying on race day.  As I had just lost by Bikilas the week before, Ezan lent me his Nike Air Shoes before the race. It was quite flexible too, I just feared that I will not experience cramping again, like what happened when I wore my Asics during the 15km Progressive Series Run. His shoe was quite flexible and had minimal cushioning too.
The full marathon was flagged off at 4.30am, my 21km started at 6.00am sharp. I figured that if I stuck to a 5.30 pace, I will be able to get a timing of 1:50 or lower.

At the start line, I met a couple of familiar faces like Qi Hui and Ivan, along with many other F1 Runners. Even at the start line, my tummy was already making lots of noise which only I could here despite the loud head-banging dub-step music being played. The stomach pains, was most probably due to the 100PLUS I drank earlier, they both don't exactly get along well.

At the start line in Dataran Merdeka

I ran the first 5km of the race in about 23:40, way too fast, guess the pre-race excitement got the better of me once again, I slowed down to avoid a poor finish, and to go back on pace. Reached the 10k mark at about 51 minutes. The pace seemed relatively comfortable, and a sub 1:50 finish looked achievable. That was when the belly of the beast awakened.

For the next 10km, I slowed down my pace a lot, but I did not stop. I didn't consume any gels or bananas as I was afraid it will worsen my stomachache. I even thought of sitting on the portable thrones, but I told myself that I could hold it off till the end.I didn't drink any isotonic drinks along the route either. Where are non-carbonated drinks when you needed them? It was a truly tough mental battle, but nothing was going to stop me. 


Arafat was tracking me using a mobile app, and according to the app, I passed the 15.5km mark at 1:20:18 with a pace of 05:11min/km. 


I did experience some signs of cramping, so at around the 16km, I alllowed the volunteers to spray some Salonpas at my legs. I didn't experience any cramps for the run, and my post-race recovery was much quicker compared to the Sundown Marathon. 




So, after a hard fought battle with the belly of the beast, I manage to cross the finishing line with a PB of 01:52:25, knowing that my next target would be a sub 1:50. Despite the hills and the boring views, it was a good run and a great learning experience for me. Many fellow Singaporeans were present at the race too, most of them nailing their PBs due to the good weather conditions.There were many familiar faces from IMD and of course the Freaks too. 

My Dad ran the 10.6km run in 01:14, despite a injury. 

At the end of the race, while we were waiting for Shariff to finish, one of the runners slipped near the finish line and suffered a injury above his right eye, it swelled up immediately and most of us runners rushed to his aid. He was an elderly Japanese Man, thankfully there was a lady who could speak Japanese nearby. We elevated his legs, and formed a human wall to shade him. Once again, we see the unity that sports brings about. Although there was an ambulance nearby, it took more than 10 minutes for it to arrive. The Policeman there was very unprofessional and asked runners to carry the man to the side of the road, when clearly the man was shaking violently, carrying him would only further aggravate his possible injuries. We took instructions from a lady who had some medical knowledge. She advised us to elevate his legs and another man was constantly keeping track of his pulse. While the Japanese Lady constantly encouraged him and was speaking to him. A couple of runners started to fan him too. The ambulance arrived soon after, I hope he had a speedy recovery. 

Shariff arrived at about 06:08, his fastest in 2012 thus far. We all finished together.

















Well, my next overseas run will be the PBIM in November where I will be running the 10km Junior Category. This time, all of Team Maverickz will be participating, so we will surely have great fun. 

Punggol Active Passion Run

The Punggol Active Passion Run, or Punggol Waterway as it is more commonly known, was held successfully this morning. With a affordable registration fee of $25 for the 10km competitive run and $20 for the 5km run, runners turned up in big numbers to pound the pavement while enjoying the breeze of Punggol Waterway.

There was a late change to the route for the 10km run, with the organizers heeding advice from the Land Transport Authority and Traffic Police. Some members of the forum on sgrunners.com welcomed this new change as they found the new map easier to understand in comparison to the older one.

Personally it didn't matter much to me as I have not ran at punggol before, so I was looking forward to running in a new location.













For this run, there were about 8 freaks attending it, a small but strong force of demons!

The early birds

The run flagged off at 7.30am sharp, near the start line, I saw many familiar faces like Ganesh from Sundown and Vasant from IMD, just to name a few. Halim advised me to start off slightly faster than targeted pace as the running route would get quite narrow after the first 1km or so. And so we both started off at a fast pace, then once we were in Punggol Waterway, we settled in at our target pace. My goal was to get a Sub 50, my first Sub 50, and I wanted to do this run for Nur. 

Halim and Me at the start of the race

The first 3km or so, I was maintaining a steady 5.00 pace, only off by a few seconds. Around the 3km mark, I got a shock. They were giving out bottled unchilled NeWater at the Hydration Points. I didn't take it as I knew it would be time consuming to actually open up the bottles and stop running to drink from it. Halim running fast and soon he was out of my sight, I was sure he could get a Sub 50 if he maintained that pace. 

At the U Turn Point, Hamrit overtook me. Although he was still nursing his injuries, he was flying. He picked up his pace at about the 4.8km mark for a strong finish. He even overtook Halim with 2km to go! Way to go bro Hamrit! 

As for myself it was a mental struggle, as each distance marker passed by, my pace was decreasing. I didn't stop running for the first 8km, but I could feel some muscle fatigue in my legs, I didn't bring my legs up towards my butt to get a proper stride, was landing heavily too. Have to work on that, it always happens when I feel tired. But of course, all I needed was a look at my right wrist.. seeing the three letter word there kept me going.

The last hydration served HTWO. HTWO in bottles which were not chilled. What was the point of serving HTWO at almost the end of the race? You won't be able to replenish the sodium and carbohydrates in time, at there was less than 2km to go. I ended up only drinking 1/3 of the bottle. I remember I threw away the bottle just in time when I saw the lens of this photographer, Mr. Low Khia Khing. 

The familiar expression

At the 8km mark, checking against my watch, I lost hopes of doing a Sub 50. I passed the 8km marker at around 42 minutes, I just picked up the pace for a strong finish. When we exited from Punggol Waterway, a short but winding uphill stretch awaited us. After emerging, I saw the finish line up ahead. It seemed too near. I checked against my watch and it showed 49 minutes, I thought to myself that there was still a chance, so I sprinted towards the end, clocking an unofficial time of about 49:46. I looked up to the sky and smiled.

Halim's Garmin showed that the distance was about 9.8km, not a full 10km, didn't exactly feel like one either but it's alright. I know where I must work on to improve for the next run! Hamrit and Halim both got Sub 50 timings. All the freaks who attended the event broke their Personal Best timings. My Dad also got a personal best of 1:09:36! Kudos to all!

We just PB-ed!

The event in general was decent, they handled the narrow running route and late change of route well. They could have improved on the hydration points, which I hope they will change next year. Well done Punggol Runners for organizing the first ever Punggol Waterway Run! 

Tomorrow, I will be leaving to Kuala Lumpur for a retreat with my mates, will try to hit the gym and at least go for a short run when I'm there. 

My next run will be the Half Marathon at Standard Chartered KL Marathon on 24th June. 

Kick ASSphalt!