Putrajaya Night Marathon (PNM) marked my 3rd full marathon, the first 2 being PBIM 2011 and SCKLM 2012. This was a last minute inclusion since I am supposed to do my PBIM in a month’s time. Nonetheless, the lure of a night run, a run at Putrajaya and another marathon were too tempting to miss ! Signed up, and booked a hotel @ PJ (Shah’s Village) after paying the price of 2 nights for a night’s stay (blame it on London Olympics and agoda.com !! That is another story). I took the morning Firefly flight down on Saturday (Oct 20), picked up by Chun Ying, a FB fren and fellow runner. What followed were real non-stop eating.. First, breakfast @ Taipan (lor mee, followed by wantan mee, then Starbucks).. An hr + later, 兰姐非洲鱼 @Subang with choo char before Chun Ying dropped me at the hotel. Took a couple of hour’s nap (which was like an hr in actual), I went food hunting for final carbo loading. Not much choices at Amcorp Mall, so I ended with a Secret Recipe Aglio Olio (big serving) and tapau a Subway Tuna sandwich for the real final carbo load.. So I guess I hv perfected my carbo load this time (the Sundown 21km hungry horror still haunts me).
Before the race -4hrs (a 6” Subway), -6hrs (Pasta), -8hrs (normal rice and choo char).
I got another ride to Putrajaya via Chun Ying’s friends. This is the first time I get to run at a race with free rides all the way.. Thank you Chun Ying & co. Met new friends Jimmy The and Kok Ming. Fellow avid runners too.. The weather forecast for Putrajaya was heavy rain throughout the night. I was all prepared to get wet, partly I was informed Putrajaya is hot and dry. So some rain will be a welcome respite, also can prevent cramps.. So I WISHED !! On the way to Putrajaya, it was raining heavily with bolts of lightning. Took us just 40mins or so to reach the venue. Soon, dark clouds gathered threateningly. After snapping a couple of photos, I quickly kept my bag at the luggage deposit area. The race was supposed to start at 8pm, so we had an hr+ of lepaking around. Managed to meet some fellow runners, FB frens and some Penang kakis. The Penang runners came down in the same bus. Maybe I shud tag along with them, cheaper and hv company too. Not many i-Runners though. I bumped into SL Chen (of all places, she is from Penang and we have to meet at Putrajaya !!!), Sin Tuck, Sean Wong the photographer (who warned me about the route which turned out to be 100% true – he did that last year and suffered, so changed to HM this year), Alwin Tan, the affable Uncle Alex, Cikgu Syeco, Gus Ghani who accompanied the girlfriend for her HM, Qamarrul @ starting lineup, Yimster the ultraman.. and many familiar faces.. It was a nice gesture for the emcee to mention and paid tribute to Cheah Meei Meei who passed away a day earlier due to blood infection. Meei Meei, for the record, is an accomplished and elite runner who has won many events she has taken part and also Malaysia’s first ever jockey !
Closer to 8pm, we went into the kandang. There was supposed to be 800 FM runners but I guess there was around 600 who turned up. The weather was hot and dry, no rain !! What a bummer. Without any warning, the gun went off (at least lah give some excitement by counting down…).. The route was ok for the first 10km through some winding roads with nice building to enjoy, the best being running thru the bridge (dunno what’s the name) at the 40th minute. I was quietly hoping to do a 4:15-4:30 since I do not know the elevation of the route. A sub-4, leave it to flat route like SCKLM or maybe PBIM later.
First 10km – I realized I was running too fast, @5:30 pace. So I tried to slow down and tried to keep to the 5:40 range. There were some winding slopes, but not too bad.. I was trying to control my pacing and keep a close watch on my heartbeat (avoid heart-burn !) I completed my first 10km in 57:40 @ 5:46 pace. On track, I told myself – and so I thought !
2nd 10km – We started to run towards the main highways and they get more elevations – long and straight ones, my Achilles heel. I started to struggle. I still tried to keep to the tried-and-tested pit stops of run, then 30steps brisk walk before running again. I saw Karen Loh passed me, tried to use her as pacer, I dropped off after a couple hundred meters. She was just too fast ! I was doing fine until 16th km… The dreaded twitching at both my calves indicated an impending cramp ! At only 16th km !!! I was so mad at myself… If it had happened at 30th km, I can understand but 16th km ?!! Looks like the past BKMs of ORS did not help at all. I started to realize that the lack of training must have an impact on this. At the same time, the route are more hilly, hence more impact to the muscles. I tried to slow down and do some stretching at roadside. Others started to pass me, including Alwin who ran beside me and gave me tips about the route in front and what pace to follow. I was so grateful he told me that so that mentally, I was prepared. At 18th km, the cramp hit me, both calves.. More stops, more brisk walks. The route has also become significantly unpredictable. Even with downhill run, I calves hurt as much, so I can’t really run at faster pace than a 6:30 ! It was past 2 hr mark when I reached 20km. Dang. My 4:15 is at risk. Lap 2 – 68mins, 6:48 pace. You can see the 1min per km drop in pacing.
3rd 10km – I frantically look for the muscle spray since my long compression pants will not allow any cream to be applied effectively (the first aider actually asked me to roll up my compression pants for them to apply the cream.. Sigh..). I stopped at all stations and the last around 18th km, Alas, they only have ice packs and at one station before 20th km, I declined the cream, thinking that I could get a spray at later station – I was so dead wrong.. and paid the price ultimately.. I was really suffering between 21-30th km. No matter how much I thought I “ran”, I was at jogging pace ! The total average pace just stayed at 8:00-8:05’/km range. I felt the stiffness on my 2 calves, especially the left ones. If there’s one who keep stopping at the roadside and stretch the 2 feet, that could very well be me ! 26th km – I was so happy to see watermelon being served ! Watermelon never tasted so wonderful.. I took my time to sit at the side railing and enjoyed the watermelon. Took some rest and chit0chat with a fellow lady runner, who also complained she cannot run anymore. After spending 3mins there, I continue my run. At 27th km, I could see runners already making a loop back. A guy was giving away power gel at 33rd km. My quick calculation tells me I need to run until 30th km to make a U-turn ! One by one, I saw the runners easily 30+mins ahead of me – Yim, Cikgu, Jeff Ooi, Karen Loh and many more seasoned runners.. Time taken : 100mins, 8:01 pace.
4th 10km – At the turn, surprisingly, I saw Alwin just 100m in front of me. He later complained of fast heartbeat, thus the slowing down. I continue to plod on. I was running more but could not sustain it. So I decided to do brisk walking @ 8:-8:30 pace. Pretty amazing that I found myself doing that fast pace despite the cramps. By then, I know 4:30 is no longer attainable and even a sub-5 is at risk. Hitting the 32km, I still have 1:20 to go. Cool. If I keep to 7:00 pace, I can still make it a sub-5.. But to my dismay, 35th km onwards, it became apparent that the next 5km is a long hilly route, much like the earlier ones, except you are running pretty lonely along the long, dark road ! No wonder Alwin reminded me not to fall back too far behind.. But I must salute the volunteers. They were still there cheering us on, giving us water and even have 4 on-stilt artists entertaining us. Time taken : 101mins, 8:09pace
Towards the last 2km, the route was a flat one. Both my calves hurt so bad that they have become so stiff every step became very uncomfortable. I lost the urge to do my customary dash in the last 2km. Looking at the clock, it’s close to 5:00.. So I reckon I will end up with a 5:10 or so.. I just do little jog, then walk, and then jog again.. The last 1km was a long stretch towards the finishing point. Loud music awaiting the finishers. Last 100m, managed to snap a pic by Victor then I did the very slow jog towards the finishing line. Glad that the race is over but worried how bad my calves will hold up in the next few weeks with PBIM coming up in <1 months time. Received my medals and goodie bags from 2 ladies. Felt great, well treated J And then the grand finale ! 3 photograpers – Sean, a lady and Ramlan snapping away the finisher pose. I was tired and too ‘defeated’ to pose anything.. LOL !
My + and -:
+ Very well organized race. Many volunteers, spacious with wide roads @ Putrajaya. Strategically positioned cheering teams right at the top of a hilly run to encourage runners to run to the top.
+ Challenge route. A real good test for a runner
+ Sufficient water stations, love the watermelon !!
+ Car parks were not a rpblem
+ Portable loo aplenty, no need to wait for long queue
+ Easy & convenient luggage check-in
- As expected, no spray for the full marathoners. Surprisingly, sprays were seen for half marathoners.. Sigh.. Key learning : Never leave home without my trusted Yoko Yoko next time !! Reminder for PBIM !
- Add more cheering teams for the full marathon especially towards the 30km and above. When the runners hit the wall, cheering team’s presence will provide extra boost
- Mist / shower station ?
Summary:
Overall distance : 42.70km
Time taken : 5:11
Overall pace : 7:17 pace
Calories burned : 2963 cal burned
Breakdown:
Lap 1 (10km) – 57:40mins, 5:46 pace
Lap 2 (20km) – 1:08 6:48
21st km @ 2:14
Lap 3 (30km) – 1:20, 8:01
Lap 4 (40km) – 1:21, 8:09
Lap 5 (last 2 km) – 23:41, 8:46
Will I be back for another shot to redeem myself next year ? YES ! I will be back as and when my schedule permits ! This time, I will be more prepared – physically and mentally !
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| The fish shop. 兰姐非洲鱼 |
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| 1 person 1 fish.. So full.. |
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| The threatening skies, only to end with a whimper - no rain ! |
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| Starting point @ Palace of Justice |
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| Jimmy, Kok Meng, one of the frens, Sean Wong |
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| with Chun Ying |
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| with Alwin Tan, photo courtesy of Sean Wong |
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| with Uncle Alex and SL Chen - the Penang team :) |
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| me after finisng line.. all drained.. |
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| But still managed to smile for the final pose, photo courtesy of Sean Wong and Ramlan Rasdi |
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| Photo courtesy of Victor |
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| A hard-earned medal !! |
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| Nice Finisher tee |
