I'm Back!

It's been a month since THE unforgettable race and all the travel and stuff I gathered for the trip is still scattered about the house. If you want to read the race report and my NYC experience, you can go here or click on this image.

Before the wife comment on the mess, I should really tidy up. I've done very little running since then - only some "maintenance miles" just so that I don't lose too much fitness. I still have a "race" before the year is out and that's coming up on the 13th 8pm. That will be the Putrajaya 12-Hour Walk, my 3rd outing in that series where I'll be trying for a 60K total having progressed through 40 plus and 50K the last 2 years. It didn't cross my mind to skip this year's edition since it's happening near where I live.

I've been carrying an irritating dorsal (top) foot pain since last Saturday. The discomfort is actually a dull pain and it strikes when I flex my foot in any direction. The pain is at the centre of the foot and between the big and the second toes. It's not so bad that I can't run though. The doctor said that it's tendonitis and not a stress fracture, which was a relieve. I checked around that I think my condition is called extensor tendinitis. The doc prescribed diclofenac (a form of NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatories) but since I'm not in a marathon training, there’s no logging of crazy mileage, I think I can still continue to run. The next race after the 12-Hour Walk, is still more than 1.5 months away, so if I can keep up with these maintenance runs, I should be OK.

The Toenail

I've just removed my problematic toenail! The toe which had darn blister under it popped is still in pain. So in living up to my nickname, I borrowed a nail clipper from a colleague, grabbed the toe and trimmed away. The nail was soft enough to cut thru easily. I'm getting quite good at it - this being my 3rd procedure.

Here's how it looked like after the initial 2 cuts

Here's how a toe looks like minus a nail. Now you know why they're called "little pinky".

Feels Like Monday Today aka My Leg Is Itching

Take a day's leave from work yesterday and this is what you get. Spent the day at the car service centre and plonked in front of the TV watching back-to-back the Season 6 of 24. When I opened my emailbox, a deluge of production issues, boss's request for a presentation to the team, project follow-ups and last-minute calls for meetings. I only managed to make myself a mug of coffee at 10:30am which I had with a limp croissant. Needless to say, my stress level is way high now.

On a separate note, my leg is feeling the itch. Firstly, I've not run (because of the enforced rest by the doctors) since the Mizuno race and I'm feeling very restless. One of the first questions I posed to the doc was whether I can run to which he replied incredulously and emphatically "No!". He justified his response by telling me that I may slow down the healing of the infected wound by exposing it to sweat and dirt. So there I was fully fit, wound aside, yet not able to even go for a leisurely run when the weather the last week were fabulous. You can imagine how much I'm itching for a run right now.

Secondly I've begun to experience itching around the wound. Which can only mean that it's nearly healed! After a week and a half of visiting the clinic for cleaning and bandage re-dressing I've begun to do it on my own. The wound is very much cleaner now and with the new antibiotics, the swelling has gradually reduced. There's also no pain when I tried running on the spot (in my workclothes just to test the leg out) this morning. The antibiotics course has a few more days to run (pun intended), so I think I should be able to at last run again this Thursday. Even so, I've opted out of this Sunday's PAR Relay as I won't be able to contribute much to my team.

Bumper Year For Distance Racing

With the racing season coming to a close, things are starting to wind down. My Buckeyeoutdoors training log hasn't been seeing plenty of activities. What's left to do but to peek into next year's marathon calendar to sieve out some juicy races to run. The challenge is working all these into a cohesive racing year with some of these races as tuneup or training runs around a couple of key events. I didn't include 10Ks into the mix as they're short enough to be run as speedwork, and thus require lesser planning.


Here are a few of those that I'm casting my bloodshot eyes at.



March - KL International Marathon

http://www.klmarathon.gov.my/index.php



June 29th - Lion City Marathon

http://www.lioncitymarathon.com/

Distances on offer: 50K and the Marathon



September - Alor Setar 50km Ultra Marathon



November 2nd - ING New York City Marathon

http://www.ingnycmarathon.org/



How about you?



Note: I'm on an imposed week-long layoff due to the leg injury (read the Mizuno report). A section of the wound has healed quickly while the more severe parts are still hurting, even when I put pressure on the leg. With the pounding effect of running, it'll be sure to hurt even more. Luckily the Pacemaker Anniversary Run is only happening on the 23rd. That will give me a week and a half to recover.

Mizuno Wave Run 10K 2007

My role for Sunday morning was to turn up early at the car park to snap a shot of the RunnersMalaysia runners participating in the 10K, before proceeding to the event area to market the Brooks Fun Run. The plan is pretty simple - park my car at the Bukit Aman car park, take the group photo and make my way to Padang Merbok laden with the Fun Run forms and bibs. The lull during the race will allow me to "play around" with my camera as well. Sounds like a good plan. Except that I didn't count on a phone call from Tey at 8pm on Saturday night on an available bib.

I thought for 10 minutes before making up my mind. The rationale was that I couldn't do much marketing with most of the runners flagged off and I might as well get a morning run in. But I slightly overlooked the slight complication of the arrangement.

When I got to the car park at 6:20am, the place was already nearly full. I found a spot just next to the stalls and after hooking up with Tey, proceeded to the event point about 400 metresaway to deposit my heavy backpack. That done, I walked quickly back to the car park for the photo shoot, but not before lacerating my lower left shin on a piece of wood jutting out from a sidewalk worksite. The runners from the Beginners Group looked eager and excited, and for many, the 10K would be their first race. As luck would have it, my camera ran out of juice after 3 shots and my spares were in my backpack at the luggage holding. After the shoot, with 25 minutes left to the flag off, I hurried back to the event site to leave my camera with Phyllis.

In the rushing to and from the 2 locations, I completely forgot to eat my cereal bar and drink the can of Red Bull I brought along. My mind was on getting my warm up done in whatever little time I had left. A little bit of waiting and catching up with Lawrence, Kenneth and Chen (while observing the proliferation of GPS device usage around us), we were let off. Sharp at 7:30am with no speeches - just the way we runners like it! Before we were let off, I looked around and saw that I was standing in the first 1/3 of the starting crowd - in the 45-minute corral. But when the gun went off, I found myself in the second half of the crowd! Somehow, the crowd had flanked out to the other side of the road and were in front of me by some distance! While I didn't set any personal goals for this race - okay maybe just to finish in 58 minutes - I still wanted to do my best. There are no other 10K race strategies except to start fast and furious to clear the crowd, then slow down a tad, hold the pace and if still able, put in a kick to the finish. Depending on the level of fitness a few mid-race surges can be employed to drop some competitors.

The problem was, I was stuck way back in the crowd and was reduced to a walk! The pace became a jog only near the overhead train crossing and by that time I'd wasted close to 2 minutes. Things had to change and I ran on the outer part of the road as I rounded the Central Bank bend. After a few frustrating metres of dodging other runners, and chatted a while with Cheong, I finally managed to pick up my pace after the KTM train station. I further pushed the pace uphill and cleared even more of the crowd up to the base of Kenny Hills. I saw Choi and Kelvin (who said something about running back to the starting line to change) up ahead on the hill and I realized how far back I'd started the race. I steeled myself up to overcome this disadvantage and really put in a sub 4:40 pace to kick past many runners here. Eased the pedal off a while coasting down the hill before pushing again into the double hill stretch. Picked up 2 cups of Endurance drinks and downed them as I ran off. Caught up to Yazizon the first climb up and held the lead over him but he passed me when going downhill and I couldn't get closer to him from then on.

Upon exiting the hills I found myself trading leads with a few runners. The final 2K were tough especially the climb up the Istana. But it got easier as the thought of the finish line. Just before reaching the downhill portion at the National Monument, the bunch of us were annihilated by Simon Cross. With his Ironman strength, he blew past us in his DS Trainers like we weren't there. Rounding the junction of the Lake Gardens, it was time to gut it out until the end. It was nice to run down the chute high-fiving it with familiar faces. There weren't many finishers to cause a congestion but with the new system, we were cleared very quickly by the volunteers as the medals and finisher's packs were bundled together, saving time. My timing of 54:33 could be better but considering my non-training mode I'm presently in, I'm quite happy. I should also be more aware of the starting area to get better starting position in future races.

I still had time to savour finishing another good race with friends before starting my "job" of distributing the Brooks Fun Run forms. Positioning myself at next to the Luggage Booth, all the forms were exhausted within 20 minutes.

It was a satisfactory race for me. I've not run since last Sunday's Shah Alam 10K, and it's been a long time since I raced 2 consecutive weekends.

Considering the tough route, I think I did pretty okay though the timing could've been better had I positioned myself more strategically at the start. I've not got back my endurance legs yet since I've not ran anything more than 15K in training. But that will come, hopefully, as I prepare for my final race in Kuantan in October.

Race Summary

Route elevation

NB. The leg injury turned bad the next day and I had to go to the doctor to have the infected wound cleaned up. 2 types of antibiotics were prescribed on top of a tetanus jab. So besides the usual post-race muscular aches, I also now have a numb left arm and a painful shin!

Distance: 10.69
Average Pace: 5:06
Elevation: Hilly
Timing: 54:33 (Position 192nd)