Power Run 2007

Near finishing line

Ditto

Group photo

Signing up for Penang Bridge 2007. Thankfully they had a tent set up after the race.

I had certainly approached the Power Run casually- no tapering (although I'm not exactly hitting high mileage either), no particular attention to diet- i.e. carbo loading, no speed work. In fact on Saturday afternoon, I was at the gym doing some weights, followed by a session of tennis at Jalan Duta. I haven't played in a while and it was nice to get back into it again. But, your body conditions itself for the sport you train for, so while I had no problems with my stamina (obviously), after the game and into the evening, both my legs (in their entirety) became progressively sore. From the top of my hip bones, to my upper thigh muscles, all the way down to my achilles. Sore sore sore. Must be the other leg muscles that I've neglected using in the last year and a half since I last played. I woke up in the morning of the race feeling no different (by the way, its just as well that I didn't stay up to watch Man U draw with Boro). As I walked to the "kandang" at Dataran Merdeka on Sunday morning, 715am, I was still extremely sore. I did some stretches in an attempt to loosen the muscles, which helped a little.

The race started at 730am sharp and I settled into a comfortably hard pace, my half marathon pace. I resisted the temptation to bolt from the start (like many other excitable runners, experienced and less experienced alike) and let many runners passed me. I knew that I would overtake them come the Jalan Duta incline. The first few kilometres were rather uneventful. Things got a tad more interesting when I encountered the bane of a few runners- this tiny fella (who wasn't even running in my category), who ran with a very pronounced, loud foot-strike, as if he's slapping the roads with his feet, creating a "PAP PAP PAP PAP" sound effect. Every time I get near him, he would increase his pace for 100 metres or so, then slow down. This happened at least 4 times before the Duta roundabout, prompting another Malay dude (in my category) to remark "apa la dia ni?". I chuckled.

He didn't pose any further threat when I decisively overtook him before the Duta roundabout, simply because, he didn't have enough stamina to continue doing his fartlek-like running. At the Duta incline, I overtook a few runners, and it was at this point that I was tiring. Up to that point, I was running comfortably, well within my limits. I was glad to see the end of the incline and was greeted by a long , beautiful decline. I leaned forward and let my momentum push me to run faster and my breath was back again.

Past the Indian Embassy and beyond, I overtook 3 runners and I was feeling good. Up slight incline and the flyover to the Lake Gardens/Parliament, we merged with the runners in other categories. Past the traffic lights leading into Bukit Aman and the Lake Gardens, I upped my pace a little and managed to overtake another 5 runners from my category.

I crossed the finish line in 49:16. Got some drinks, took some photos and chatted with the gang.

Overall I'm satisfied with my performance. As I mentioned before, my plan is just to run through the 1st half of the year without any pressure. If all goes well, then the 2nd half of the year is what I will focus on. For now, I'm just gonna have some fun.