PENANG BRIDGE MARATHON 2010 - BREAKING THE 'MAGICIAN'S CODE'

IT'S EASY....WHEN YOU KNOW THE SECRET.....

I've posted in my recent blog entry that i'm gonna nail this Penang Bridge Marathon for a Sub 5 mission. And I'm proud to announce that 'I DID IT!'

Yes!! in 4 HR : 44 Min : 04 Sec to be exact!! (time for 'berlagak').

The Training

I just can't imagine the training. It was like total torture!! The speed work, long distance, the 'anjing', 'werewolf' and even a pondan tried to distract disturb me during the runs. In addition, the time I had wasted just for training instead being there for my family....(ala...sedih la pulak).

The Travelling to Penang

The journey took us about 5 hours. Normally 4 hours but stuck at lembah beringin searching for Petrol Station, and detour to Tanjung Malim for a nice Yik Mun Pau...but sadly, the premis opens at 10am. The Pau replaced by Tosei instead.

Yik Mun Pau -  Di sinilah kejadian tu berlaku

Baggage deposit aka Bib Number Collection

'Ni macam mana boleh terkelepet ni?'

Kami di taja oleh kasut Newton dan Filem Superman

Carbo Load gila-gila - Kak June's friend (orange tshirt), azza, kak june, karen, yim and Zaki

Ray pegi toilet, Deo datang lambat

The Race Day

Put my 'rock tape' on hamstrings area, a very weird looking stripe i say. I have my 2 litres hydration pack with 3 tablets of camelbak salt (melegakan dengan 3 tablets sahaja). Have a 'Teh Tarik' session with Zaki, Rayzeef and Deo before the start.

4 blur - Ijam, Zaki, Rayzeef & Deo

'Attempting 42km in 4 hr : 59 min : 42 sec' - tshirt

Rock Tape - dapat free pakai je, itupun tak cukup

At 1.20am, stretching and gentle jog. 1.40am : enter the race arena and met with couple of friends, doc Julin, her husband (power!), pui san, mohan, zulhassan, irwan, shanaz (mmmm..), mohan maniac, bdr permaisuri gang, khairul cap ayam...and lim guan eng - he's not running.

It's Racing Time!!

Initially, I suppose to take it easy, but i changed my mind by following a 4.30 hour pacer. At 6.00 to 6.15 minutes per KM was a super torture. I dont train for this, but I tried to maintain. For a while the 4.30 pacer seem too slow (ah..slow la korang..!!), I ran faster a little bit, then i met Yim 'the misai powerman'. He's aiming for 5.30 minutes per KM....(lagi gila!). But somehow i knew he managed to do it...

Kak June's Kedai Runcit before the Rain complete with signboard untuk melariskan jualan

During Rain - Kak June Signboard dah takde. Me from afar making my way to Kak June's

I reached 10km at 1 hr : 04 min (target time : 1 hr : 10 min). It will give me enough time for a longer break at water station.

To Pace or Not to Pace

My 4.30 hour pacer ditched me when i stopped for a refill at the toll plaza i.e 16km-ish (is it?). No more yellow ballon, no more nice looking hot mama super fast amoi at my side. From there, it's just me running alone with my own pace.

It's Hujan Time!!

Reached the 20th km mark at 2 hr : 14 min, I still have 6 minutes in advance for sub 5..he, he...

At 25th-ish KM (is it?) the monsoon rain started pouring down. Yahoo!!!...just like Nik the Ultra said, taking a bath during race is recommended, to me the rain was a blessing. But my leg felt too heavy due to the wet shoes.  All i can say that i'm running in the rain almost the entire marathon.

More photos on Kak June's pit stop

Then, there was Julie, the 4.50 pacer. Followed her till 32th KM. Stopped at kedai Runcit Kak June for a nice refill. No time to loose, dumped my hydration pack, continued to pace Julie, will take the hydration pack later. Thanks Kak June, I owe you one.

The 'Pisang' U-Turn

I've managed to break away from Julie quite a distance (kind of), just i was about to u-turn, i saw Yim at the opposite site looking strong. At the U-turn, grab a power gel, a pisang, just about a munch half of that pisang, then Julie the pacer came....alamak...Pisang belum habis...macam mana ni?...Then I decided to let go,  I had to abandoned being Julie's pacer.

Punyalah cantik

7km to go!!

With Kak June...(Thanks KAk June)

The climbing was so hard even for a 3km back and forth from Kedai Runcit Kak June seems forever. At this juncture, I saw Shanaz from the opposite side, she's smiling at me!! ececeh...I saw Zaki making his relaxing ultra pace from the opposite side. Then, I met with Ah Hoi, Bdr Sri Permaisuri gang. I followed him. He was suffering from calf cramp. I grab my hydration pack from Kak June, having some 'salonpas' spraying moment together with Ah Hoi, then off we go. Mr Ah Hoi was my new pacer now. Running at 5.45 to 6.00 minutes per KM sounds crazy, but we managed from 35th KM to 39th KM, then Mr Ah Hoi just can't continue. Back to running alone again, push it!!

The Final Countdown

At 39th KM (kot?) met with Yim (sini baru jumpa aaa...?)...He's damn fast!!...later found out that he had a toilet break moment before. If not, he should be finished by now. The road seems endless with only a few marathoners left. I had to keep on pushing myself, then, there was a huge some sort of 'great migration of National Geographic' by the 10km runners. These 'apa barang 10km' runners had cross the line by entering the marathoner's sacred lane. As a result, we had to slow down and ran to extreme right, if it's more extreme, we have to run in the 'longkang'.

Where's the 'God Damn' Distance Marker la wei!!

The final kilometre was the hardest part because I'm not sure weather my garmin watch was indicating the correct distance, I would love to have a manual piece of cardboard showing that 'you're nearer, about to finish' kind of thing. Just where I'm about to give up, I saw the finishing arch....yes...finally..

Grab my medal, finisher tshirt and find a suitable place to lie down.

There was a bit of confusion regarding the distance marker especially at the end of the bridge. Maybe Zaki will explain it further.

We also don't know how many KM we have ran, I just rely on my garmin watch. So, I totally forget my split time at 30th KM...boring-boring...

All the trainings paid off as I broke the Sub 5 record! Yeah...

42km is not an easy distance, my advice, train hard!!

My timing - yes, i deserve it.

Official Result

At Restoran Nasi Kandar Kapitan - Can you spot the Full Marathon and 'Non-Marathon'

'Here we are'...buat dono je...(Rayzeef attempting his first marathon in Sundown 2011...good luck!)

Ni le restorannya...

Ni pun restorannya jugak...

Thank You Note

This is a token of appreciation to all friends whom I had experienced with, throughout the entire journey :

Zaki the Ultramaniac - for accompanying me to the Penang Land

Ray 'Marathon to be' and Deo 'apa barang 21km'- for Motivational support

Kak June kedai Runcit- for nice chilly drinks at her Kedai Runcit not for me but for other runners

Yim misai powerman - for being my motivator, pacer and competitor

Julie the ironman- for being my pacer, yes, were're running in the rain! - nice leg

Amoi 4.30 pacer - thank you!

To all friends i know, zahrin manggis (tak jumpa la), karen, pui san, KD, khairul cap ayam, fariz elias, ruby (wohoo...), ida izumi, sharafi, azza (half marathon), Shanaz, Deo, irwan, doc julin and husband, zulhassan, bdr permaisuri gang, and those who I forgot to mentioned here - thank you for being there!! You guys rock!!

Next Stop : Singapore Marathon - nice and easy