A Long Summary on Running for the Past Few Months
A lot has happened since my last race entry.
I've been running, apart from a month of a complete hiatus during Ramadhan. After the half marathon in Cyberjaya, I did the SCORE Run at Padang Merbok (15 km). I had a bad bout of exhaustion just before the fasting month, which saw me sidelining running in the couple of weeks before my planned rest. Thus on the Saturday, the eve of Ramadhan, I couldn't contain myself anymore. I went for an 8km run in the morning. Intentionally did a relatively faster one (for moi, that was) so I could satiate myself for the next month.
I thought running would be difficult after such a long break. I heard that muscles memory only lasted for 2 weeks. After that working out will be akin to starting over. My whole body will hurt. But surprisingly, when I laced up on the 6th day of Syawal, I felt none of the above. My steps felt light, the wind rushed and it was as if the pavement just opened up specially for me. Later I stepped onto the dreaded scale. I lost 4 kg's - from prudent portion controlled over the fasting month, and I believed that contributed to the springy "gazelle-like" run :P
I only raced towards the end of the month - my first run in Putrajaya this year - in the Mizuno Wave Run. Since my parents were not around, I had to figure out my own means to the starting line before flag-off at 6.45. I had no choice, but to run from home. Google Maps estimated the distance to be 4.8 km. Doable, I thought. But not being familiar with warming up by running before the real race, I had my preservation. Thus I decided to restraint the pace. My calculation turned out to be just nice, as it took me ~40 minutes for the 5.12 km distance (on Garmin, and I took the long way from the bridge to MOF). Arrived in front of Palace of Justice at 6.30 am so had time to calm the heart rate down.
The race (16 km) went well. I had come to accept toilet pit stop was absolutely non-detrimental. After all, I don't really care about the official timing, just whatever on my Garmin. I didn't like portable loos at the starting area, thus when chance meeting with pump station presented itself, I just had to stop. Running water, anyone? ;)
I believe the route that day covered the 10 km route that I did during the Putrajaya Night Marathon last year. There were, erm, familiar terrains that I could vaguely recall. I ran my own pace, especially when we had been forewarned that the hills around PICC, which were in the later part of the route, would challenge us. I would like to preserve energy for those dudes. I absolutely didn't want to walk them, no matter how slow, I would run them. And I did.
Overall, I managed to meet my target of two hours (I ran sub-2). Not to mention cumulatively I ran a half marathon that day. Thus, I was quite spent - energy-wise. Usually I didn't re-fuel at the crime scene but that time around, I gave in. It was a bowl of piping hot tau fu fa that did it! :)
I noticed that my pace started to drop after Ramadhan. From 7:30 plus, I started to consistently run sub 7:30. There was one time I decided to just push myself at a faster pace and managed to clock (on average) a sub-7:00 (well, 6:59 to be exact) for an 8 km run.
Ya, ya, ya.
I knew I should started doing tempo runs and stuffs but I am a distance person. I care about the calories burned from the distance. Speed will tire me out quicker, and I will lose out on the calories. It robs me from the sense of achievement.
Oh well.
Did another run after the Mizuno Wave race, which was the Team Malaysia Fan Run starting/ending at Dataran Merdeka. This time, I met my target of sub 2 hours again. Pace was similar with the previous one.
And somehow, I started to get itchy. Achievements are not achievements when they are static, no?
I've been running, apart from a month of a complete hiatus during Ramadhan. After the half marathon in Cyberjaya, I did the SCORE Run at Padang Merbok (15 km). I had a bad bout of exhaustion just before the fasting month, which saw me sidelining running in the couple of weeks before my planned rest. Thus on the Saturday, the eve of Ramadhan, I couldn't contain myself anymore. I went for an 8km run in the morning. Intentionally did a relatively faster one (for moi, that was) so I could satiate myself for the next month.
I thought running would be difficult after such a long break. I heard that muscles memory only lasted for 2 weeks. After that working out will be akin to starting over. My whole body will hurt. But surprisingly, when I laced up on the 6th day of Syawal, I felt none of the above. My steps felt light, the wind rushed and it was as if the pavement just opened up specially for me. Later I stepped onto the dreaded scale. I lost 4 kg's - from prudent portion controlled over the fasting month, and I believed that contributed to the springy "gazelle-like" run :P
I only raced towards the end of the month - my first run in Putrajaya this year - in the Mizuno Wave Run. Since my parents were not around, I had to figure out my own means to the starting line before flag-off at 6.45. I had no choice, but to run from home. Google Maps estimated the distance to be 4.8 km. Doable, I thought. But not being familiar with warming up by running before the real race, I had my preservation. Thus I decided to restraint the pace. My calculation turned out to be just nice, as it took me ~40 minutes for the 5.12 km distance (on Garmin, and I took the long way from the bridge to MOF). Arrived in front of Palace of Justice at 6.30 am so had time to calm the heart rate down.
The race (16 km) went well. I had come to accept toilet pit stop was absolutely non-detrimental. After all, I don't really care about the official timing, just whatever on my Garmin. I didn't like portable loos at the starting area, thus when chance meeting with pump station presented itself, I just had to stop. Running water, anyone? ;)
I believe the route that day covered the 10 km route that I did during the Putrajaya Night Marathon last year. There were, erm, familiar terrains that I could vaguely recall. I ran my own pace, especially when we had been forewarned that the hills around PICC, which were in the later part of the route, would challenge us. I would like to preserve energy for those dudes. I absolutely didn't want to walk them, no matter how slow, I would run them. And I did.
Overall, I managed to meet my target of two hours (I ran sub-2). Not to mention cumulatively I ran a half marathon that day. Thus, I was quite spent - energy-wise. Usually I didn't re-fuel at the crime scene but that time around, I gave in. It was a bowl of piping hot tau fu fa that did it! :)
I noticed that my pace started to drop after Ramadhan. From 7:30 plus, I started to consistently run sub 7:30. There was one time I decided to just push myself at a faster pace and managed to clock (on average) a sub-7:00 (well, 6:59 to be exact) for an 8 km run.
Ya, ya, ya.
I knew I should started doing tempo runs and stuffs but I am a distance person. I care about the calories burned from the distance. Speed will tire me out quicker, and I will lose out on the calories. It robs me from the sense of achievement.
Oh well.
Did another run after the Mizuno Wave race, which was the Team Malaysia Fan Run starting/ending at Dataran Merdeka. This time, I met my target of sub 2 hours again. Pace was similar with the previous one.
And somehow, I started to get itchy. Achievements are not achievements when they are static, no?
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