Monday, November 22, 2010

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

30 comments:

  1. Congratulations! Well done bro. You did more than you hoped for. Ijam Menchanak!

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  2. Zaki : terima kasih daun keladi. Nanti boleh pegi lagi. Congratulations kerana telah berjaya meregisterkan diri Sundown 100km...gilo!!

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  3. Tahniah Ijam!. You did well and proud of you not giving up. Next sub 4.30 ok!

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  4. Yim : eh..jangan lah macam tu yim, sub 4.30 tu you boleh le...kalau i, i will try, but need lot of hours practice, something that i dont have...huhu..
    Congratulations to you too...Yim power!!

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  5. Congrats Ijam! Perghhh berbaloi-baloi sub-5. Yupp, next is sub-4.30 kat SCMS ok. Apa barang HM pun, kalau lari dalam Universal Studio, boleh jadi ada barang jugak kan? Hehehehe...

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  6. Deo : alamak, part universal studio tu kau memang menang. Aku ingat nak tukar route la, selamba je masuk kat dlm tu...yahoo...!!! tak boleh la sub 4.30...he, he..

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  7. Cayalah bro...nombor pon cantekkk..lepas nih aim 3:33:03 pulakkkk

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  8. Cayok Cayok! Congrats bro! tersangat mantop, segala secret training kau telah membuah kan kejayaan. Mmg giler tgk pace korang....menakut kan. nanti Singapore lari santai2 pace kan aku sub 6 ok? :D

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  9. Man! U smashed your goal by 15 mins! Clown mmg bukan sebrg clown. Super-respek & super-tahniah bro.
    Oo rupa2nya korg ada mkn2 sblum session k June kat kfc. Aku sempat le jumpa deo & zaki kejap. Lps habis aku ilang Ray sbb aku tak bwk hp.

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  10. huhuh... aku tumpang bangga sebab aku sendiri tak pernah lari bawah 5 jam. Tahniah bro...bagilah tips sikit macam maner nak lari laju ni.

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  11. congrats bro... AWESOME feat!! You are a very consistent and serious runner ... you deserved it bro. darn proud!

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  12. laju...laju...laju...tahniah beb...jom 3 alam..

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  13. Tahniah! Anda memang pelari yang bagus. Berbaloi ek, all the training?

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  14. congrats ijam .. too bad kita tak dpt hang out betul2 except for that brief time saturday lunch tuu .. my heartfelt thanks to .... for helping me at the kedai runcit .. we had fun :)

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  15. congrats Ijam..ciss buat secret training 4 round tak ajak ye..

    rock tape memang power! ijam memang power!

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  16. Ijam, ko punya super selotape works la. Lepas ni, kami pun nak pakai selotape kotak yang warna coklat tu..lagi power dari ko punya..kuikui.
    Congrats apa pun - Ijam mmg power.

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  17. KD : thanks. Lepas ni u pulak kat singapore, lagi 2 minggu je...he, he...3:33 tu mcm impossible je...

    Ziff : Dah treneng kena lari laju sampai takat mampu je, kalau dah tak mampu, lari slow, lps tu jalan, merangkak, menjalar...
    pace 6 hours? tu pace ultra tu...takut oooo...

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  18. Tsar : tu la dia tu, tak sempat nak jumpa. Penat pun ye jugak. Rehat lagi, nak makan lagi. Walau mcm mana pun tahniah buat kau jugak krn berjaya melengkapkan marathhon...time tak penting..janji abis..Lain kali HP ikat kat leher...huhu

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  19. Zul : mcm nik cakap, aku lagi jeles ngan kau sbb dah buat ultra man ngan iron man. Trick nak lari laju kena lari laju2 la sampai muntah...berenti..esok treneng benda yg sama tp jauh sikit...baru best..

    Ian : he, he...its all about training, healthy food, amoi motivation...thanks man...

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  20. Rusrarizal : thanks bro. 3 alam belum lagi. 2 alam mungkin. kau kena ajar aku berenang laju lak lps ni..

    Syuk : thanks man. berbaloi2 dari celcom lah...

    Kak June : he, he...no sweat kak june. I lagi kena ucapkan banyak2 terima kasih kat u...

    Ray : rock tape dah abis, kena tampal koyok pulak. orait, nanti kita training gila2 lepas ni

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  21. Julin : selaput tape tu ok la kot. kalau nak pakai selaput tape coklat kena cukur bulu dulu, kalau tak pedih masa bukak..aduh...
    congratulation to you too...sub 5 tuh!!

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  22. congrats iajm, you gave a very honest full marathon report in terms of training. and as always enjoyed the pictures.

    i ate at the same restaurant too! tapi kener try nasi kandar beratur... bukak kul 10malam sampai 6 pagi aje.

    for good pau, gi singgah kuala kangsar... best pau in town, i think nama dier yat lui? can't remember.

    congrats!

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  23. nadia : lama betul tak jumpa. See you in Std chartered Singapore?
    Nasi kandar berature kena beratur la, bukak malam pulak tu...
    Orait, nanti boleh singgah kuala kangsar, nak borong pau banyak2...
    congratulations to you too nadia...wohoo...!!

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  24. Nik : thanks nik ultra powerman. Mana report?

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  25. mantap lah ijam.. nanti nak pace kau lah in next FM! congrats!

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  26. Deo : yut loy? kau tau je pasal pau-pau ni...

    Syed : jangan begitu..tu kira nasib je tu...aku dah maleh dah...nak enjoy je masa kat singapore std chartered nanti...

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  27. Tahniah bro! Great performance. Berbaloi-baloi usaha tangga kejayaan. Bukan senang nak senang. Respek!

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  28. Diket : ya betul!! lepas ni kita kasi gegar pulak Singapore marathon. Nak makan murtabak Restoran Zam-Zam woi...baeeekkk..punya...!!

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