My January 2011 run wrap-up

Jan 30 - My maiden venture outside Botanical Gardens.. I did the Clock tower loop !

Reached Botanical Gardens @ ~6.30am.. Then, instead of going into Botanical Gardens as usual, I decided to run the Clock Tower loop since the weather was pretty cold and I saw a few runners started running at Youth Park area. Well, at least I will have some company as it'll be eerie to run alone during that time - darkness, dog etc..

The route covers Botanical Garden -> Youth Park -> Gottelieb Road -> Gurney Drive -> Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah -> Bayview Hotel -> Esplanade -> round the Clock Tower and back.

The first 7km was great, all the way until Boon Siew's mansion.. That probably hit my limit of non-stop running. hehe.. Some jogs and then I started running. The groin pain was acting up, so I had to slow down especially during Sultan Ahmad Shah & Gurney on the run back. A quick 100 Plus from the 7-11 shop at least rejuvenated myself and I started running back to Botanical Gardens.

This marks the end of January run..
Clock Tower Run: Distance : 15.8KM (PB) Time taken : 1 hr 46 mins (106 mins) (PB) Speed : 8.94KM.hr Pace : 6.71mins.KM

I managed to snap some photos along the way.. so it was a great run + photography session indeed !

Early morning at Gurney Drive (L) and Esplanade (R)

Clock Tower @ Esplanade

The High Court

Gurney Drive (on the run back) and G Hotel CNY Bunny decoration

Gurney Drive at both ends

Malakoff Penang 26km on Mar 27

LATEST NEWS!

MALAKOFF 26km, Penang on 27 March 2011 will be the perfect destination for those looking to peak at upcoming marathons this 2011. Look out for Online Registration coming soon!

Remember to keep your running diary free for MALAKOFF 12km, Kuala Lumpur on 18 December 2011 to keep running blues at bay before the parties and holidays at the year end.

http://www.malakoffrun.com.my/v10/

Merentas Desa Pulau Pinang 2011 @ Teluk Kumbar @ 6th Mar 2011, 7.30am

I took part in this run last year.. The beach run along Gertak Sanggul was pretty taxing.. some even tripped over the ropes holding the boats.. Need to do some practice.. The toughest part must be the hike up the hill @ Teluk Kumbar.. and remember the smelly vegetable farms. Hope the sun is not too hot, especially approaching the finishing stretch.. It was so scorching last year !

Date : 6th March 2011
Time : 7.30am

But alas ! I am on a business trip and is on the way back home on the day.. Looks like I hv give it a miss this year !!

Jan 25 - Minden Field run

So I am now officially a Men's Veteran category ! Celebrated my 40th birthday on Jan 21st :-)
Have been idling the last few days, and managed to steal some time to run @ USM in the evening..

So I decided to run the big Minden field.. The steep run up to the Cancelor's office was pretty taxing ! Anyway, managed to go a small loop on hockey field, and a big loop round the Minden..

D : 3.25KM; P : T : 21min ; S : 9.3KM/hr ; P : 6:28mins/KM

This is the view from the top, overlooking the Minden Field

This is the viewof the Swimming Pool as I was going downhill to Red House

Jan 20 - Jaden's Birthday & Thaipusam Run

Today is 1-20-2011.. Jaden's 4th birthday and it's a Thaipsam holiday too, hence no Botanical Garden for me, just plain old PISA. Think PISA is really boring lah.. All square and big buildings only vs what Botanical has to offer.. But hey, no complains, better than USM Stadium- even more eerie ! The air us actually quite fresh and cooling - aligned with my cool running theme ! :-P..

Started running at around 6.45am.. Already have people started walking and running..

Today's run : D: 4.02KM ; T: 25:09 mins ; S: 9.6KM/hr ; P: 6:21mins/KM

Can't wait to go back to Botanical Gardens tomorrow morning - that will be my turning-40 birthday run ! :-)

I used both Runkeeper to track my timing.. Just realized that Runkeeper tracks using mins/KM, while Motion GPS tracks KM/hr..

It's finally opened ! Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2011 (SCKLM)

SCKLM 2011 is officially unveiled today on Jan 17th.. It will be held on Jun 26th with early birds registration valid until Feb 28th. Guess I will stretch as long as possible to confirm if I can make this trip. Hope it does not clash with my other assignment so that I can make the trip for my maiden SCKLM run !
Route map is yet to be uploaded but it mentioned the run is around Dataran Merdeka and the surrounding area. Just realized Lake Gardens is just next to Dataran Merdeka.

It will be 42KM for me - my maiden 42KM ?? :-)

The home page

Registration Fees

Full-Marathon Details

Map surrounding Dataran Merdeka

Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2011 (SCKLM)

Jan 16 - My Personal Best Day !!

Got my parents to go along to Botanical Gardens - fresher air for them !

Had my best runs so far.. D 10.1KM ; T 1:04hr ; P 9.4KM/hr @ Botanical. First time broke the 10KM and 1 hr run barrier :-) Forgot how many rounds I went through but 1 loop (the smallest ones) is around 0.9km/loop, so should be 10-11 rounds in that case ! Now, I need to catch some sleep and replenish the body - bananas & water !!

Felt some wobbly knee on my left though.. Will start taking my USANA's Procosa II from now onwards !

Jan 15 - Botanical-Youth Park route again..

Woke up late today (7.10am instead of 6am).. iPhone alarm did not go off, again !!! :( Decided to run anyway, went to Botanical 1 hr later than planned.. Well, I noticed my discipline has improved a lot (in the past, I would hv gotten back to sleep right away !), except for my craving for oily food & fast food - still IR :(

Saw Thaipusam preparation in full swing, with all the tents and attitudes being put in place along the Jalan Utama, just 4 days to go..
Just a so-so run today.. D 5.82km, P 9.7km/hr, 36mins run.. Need to consistently hit 10km run at least once a week. Going there tomorrow and Monday morning again since it's a holiday :). May be I will venture into running towards Gurney Drive and back...

Noticed this rusty main door to Botanical Garden.. Hope the Tourism Ministry can do something about it as it's the main door to a tourist attraction and it's an eye-sore.. Spend money here is better than doing the plain-looking lilly pond !

Jan 10 - USM Hockey Field

Decided to do an evening run at USM Hockey Field.. My RunKeeper having problem since yesterday.. GPS cannot be detected.. Had to revert to X-GPS apps to capture my run.. Pretty similar to RunKeeper except this is a Lite version, so have to pay to keep more records..

Anyway, had 3KM run @ 9.4km/hr speed..

KL Standard Chartered Marathon 2011

Looks like KL Marathon will be held on June 26th.. must plan for it.. My maiden run there :)
The 2011 calendar is now up and at least it is showing more races coming up, though majority still overseas runs..

http://www.runnersmalaysia.com.my/events/index.htm

1st January 2011 weekend - great start !

Had a GREAT weekend !!

Saturday (8 Jan) - Ran 3+ KM at USM Stadium at slightly after 6am but decided to give up after a couple laps.. No one else was running and it has that eerie feeling !! Haa.. So did 2 half-loops at my Halaman and that's it ! Pace @ 9.7pm/hr but that was only a short distance..

Sunday (9 Jan) - since it's a Sunday, I made it to Botanical Garden since I have never been there in the early morning. Took only 15 mins to reach Youth Park car park and started running.. Did a big loop, then lost the GPS connection due to bad signals, subsequently, did the usual smaller loops.. Forgot how many rounds in total, should be 4-5, then ran back to Youth Park. Achieved my personal best ! 8+KM, 9.3km/hr.. Felt good.. A lot of people walking and running there, hence many pacers for me to choose and didn't felt alone..:)

Snapped some pictures at the Lilly pond, the newly built ones right at the new entrance of Botanical Garden - also right at where the 2 controversial leaning arches of Penang used to stand ! But the drainage was bad and pond water overflowed, causing the whole grassland to be soaked in water.. They gotta fix this.. Also, maybe still too early, but there are only a handful of lilies.. Looks very bare..

The lily pond.. water soaked grassland



Entrance to the hike up Penang Hill (pic taken around 7.30am after the run)



Entrance to Botanical Garden

Looks like my Saturday and Sunday morning will be there... Once I get Jadyn's 8am art class sorted out..

The start of Morning Runs aka Cool Running !

I started to run in the morning.. At least I don't have to rush back after work and worry where to keep my laptop and whether it's too late and getting dark.. Will see how it goes..
I wake up around 6.30am and then run for 2-3km either at USM Stadium or Taman Pekaka.. I used to run at USM but since it's illegal (only opened for USM staff and students), I hv to avoid being 'caught'.. Don't like the feelings, as though I do major violations.. So, I opted for Taman Pekaka..
The longest break allowed me to run in the morning the past 1.5 weeks.. Cool running indeed ! Love the cold air, the tranquility and the freedom to run on my own !
I also installed RunKeeper on my iPhone to track my run.. So I hv to run with my iPhone,, Get used to it already by now..

The Stadium in the morning

The Runkeeper apps that keeps track of my runs

My Jan 4th 2011 Run @ Taman Pekaka - 22 mins, 3.49KM, average speed 6:24 mins per KM

My Dec 27th 2010 Run @ USM - ~34 mins, 5.2KM, average speed 6:30 mins per KM

First day of the new year - 1.1.11 !! Hello 2011 !!

One of my year's resolutions is to run a total of 200km this year.. I ran 31km in 2009 (mostly 2H 2009 when I started running), 84km in 2010... To hit 200km, I must run, say almost 10 half-marathons. So obviously, I need to run a couple full-marathons. The plan is run all half-marathons and the big 3 marathons - KL Standard Chartered Marathon (around july), PBIM (Nov) and Singapore Standard Chartered marathon (Dec).

My 2 assignments will be:

1) Mar 13 - Bareno Run. I have registered for 21km (RM50).. Stadium Bukit Jalil is the starting and end point. This one still TBD since it clashes with my cousin's wedding !!

2) April 16 - Energizer Night Race. I have also signed up for 21km (RM55). This is going to be an interesting route as it runs 2 loops inside the Formula 1 circuit at Sepang before going round the Sepang area. I have also managed to bring in a running partner in the form of Dr Ooi and we plan to drive down and come back on the night itself.