Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2011 (26.06.2011)

Completed my 12th full marathon last weekend and completed it in 4:38. Not my best timing, but still very happy. Considering that I have not really been running since Sundown Marathon and was on holiday right up to the week before this marathon. I was also nursing an ulcer in my throat from all the heaty food consumed during my holiday in Vietnam and Phuket... (yup, excuses, excuses). I was ranked 266 out of 1256 Full Marathon runners in the Men's Open Category. Incidently, next year I will be competing in the Veteren Category :-(

This marathon is special because of several firsts that were achieved.

The first first was that my friend and I decided to drive to KL from Singapore rather than catching a flight. The drive up proved to be a very pleasant experience as it allowed us to "stretch the legs" of my car... loved the feel of the car on the NS Highway. We also managed to reach our destination in very good time ;-) With the help of modern technology in the form of GPS (loaned from my wife), we were able to navigate to the race pack collection venue as well as our hotel without any problems.

The second first was that this time round we decided to stay in a hotel near Chinatown that was within walking distance to the start and end point rather than our usual hotel. This was indeed a good idea. We even had time to leisurely walk back to our hotel for breakfast after completing our race.

The third first was that my good friend managed to achieve his PB and a sub-5 timing. Truly happy for my friend!

The fourth first was that this was actually the first marathon that I used a Heart Rate Monitor to monitor my exertion throughout the race. This was despite the fact that I have owned a HRM ever since I started running. I guess it was a wise move as in my eagerness to run a good race, I did not want to over exert myself. Throughout the race, I kept my HR to below 151 pulse. This would be around 70% to 80% of my maximum heart rate. However, I could hardly push my heart rate above 141 beyond the 25km mark. I figure if I really want to push for a PB, I should be pushing towards a HR of 158. Lets see if this will work at the year end SCMS.

I am starting to enjoy overseas marathon races more than local races. This is because I am starting to find local races being too crowded and the route boring. From the statistics given by the organisers, there were less than 1400 runners in the Full Marathon Category. Compare this with our local year-end marathon which has about 15,000 full marathon runners, not including runners from all other categories merging at the end point. This year, organisers for the local marathon are aiming for 70,000 runners...

Anyway, I really had a good time and am looking forward to the next race overseas.



Next Race: Tri Factor Run

Passion Run 2011 and Sundown Marathon 2011

 

Sundown Marathon (28 May 2011)

Completed the two races in two consecutive weekends. As usual, Passion Run was seen as the final Long Slow Distance (LSD) before Sundown (my 11th Full Marathon, completed it in 5:15). Both races were done and completed with great friends and at an relaxing pace. Both races had similar race format/route as last year, so there is really nothing much to talk about... haha. Honestly, I pity race organisers nowadays as it is really getting harder to come out with fresh ideas and new race locations on our tiny island. Particpants are also getting more and more demanding concerning race entitlements and experiences. At the same time. I am pleasantly surprised that there are more long distances races organised this year. According to my personal race calendar, I have one or two long distance races (15km and above) every month from now till the end of the year... I really wonder how race organisers are going to keep interest among the running community alive as I suspect the participants for all these races will be the same group of people.

Next Race: KL Marathon