Larian Hijau - a nice run, boosted by Panadol !

This is my 2^nd 21km this year, the first being the Sundown Singapore (2:04) in May’12. I am into the 8^th week of my marathon training but the last 3 days, I was down with fever. Blame it on the long Raya holidays and the non-stop eating and enjoying ! I Popped in Panadol to keep the fever in check and I was still in 2 minds if I should start the Larian Hijau on Sunday. It is going to be hectic week ahead with the Larian Hijau on 8/26, followed by Eco Night Run 8km @ Botanical Garden on 8/30, then followed on with the SP Half marathon on 9/1. Then in between, there’s 2 days mini-MBA that I am starting off !

Defying my own body’s signal, I decided to run @ Larian Hijau. This is supposed to be the first ever 21km run in Penang in years as most races are shorter ones (8km, 10km) even with the longest being Malakoff 17km. The race started at 5am in Bandar Perda, Bukit Mertajam. Waking up at 3.15am, got myself a light breakfast, I made my way to the destination. Since this is pretty much a local event, I could see many familiar faces. The event was organized by Andrew Loh, Alvin and with many volunteers, aptly themed “Green”.

This is also the first time I run a race without my GPS watch (I lost it, remember !?). I decided to use my watch’s stopwatch and bring along my iPhone to track the mileage. I was soon to find out that running ‘blind’ is actually not a bad thing as I won’t have to be limited by the pacing and keep checking if I am too fast or too slow. I just ran to my body’s capability, listen to the signals and just using the water stations as a measurement for my pace. I started strongly but after 6-7km or so, I started to feel the pressure rising and bodyheat started to rise. Oh No, I was telling myself.. I ain’t going to be hit the wall that early and DNF ! I decided to do the run fast-brisk walk strategy.. Run for 6-7mins, then brisk walk for 30s. I think I did that for 4-5 times, and it was useful for me to recover my strength. When I passed thru the 2^nd water station @ 10km, the clock showed 57:30mins. Not bad ! I was pleasantly surprise as I have no idea at all how was my pacing running in the dark. By then, I think the Panadol started to kick-in and I could feel the 2^nd wind coming. I picked up my pace, though I still deploy the run fast-brisk walk strategy for a few more times. I was running 5:15-5:20 pace in my last 2km and it felt good. Overall, I love the route, flat and a nice long stretch of road, although some stretches were really dark. No stray dogs, thank God !  I am glad I carried along my bike Cateye as a guide for motorists coming from behind, as well as fellow runners.The fact we passed through so many mosques during the run and it co-incide with the Solat Subuh makes it a run with the ‘kampong’ feelings.

Distance : 20.8km

Time : 1:54:31

Pace : 5:29’/km

Not exactly 21km, so not exactly a PB though I am very pleased for a sub-2 (I nearly gave up at mid-point), and a sub-5:30 pacing.

Now, as I write, I am recovering from my sore throat and fever. Had to take sick leave on Monday to recover.. Pay-back time ! :(

Hopefully I will be fit to run on Thursday night and Saturday morning.. The SP HM will start off at 7am, so it’ll be expected to be a hot run, not to my liking though !!



The MPSP Tower - Start and Finishing Point

Photo courtesy of Yu Quan. I think this was at 5-6km

Pic courtesy of Sean Wong - @ 20th km, before the McD

The medal - small but quite creative (can be used as key chain)

flip side of medal