Sunday, October 05, 2008

Hell Week Training 2008, Session 3...

Event: Hell Week Training 2008, Session 3
Venue: Bukit Aman carpark, Kuala Lumpur
Date: 4 & 5 October 2008
Time: 5.00am
Distance: 30KM on 5 October 2008 (31.51KM by Jamie's Garmin Forerunner 205)
Shoe: Nike Air Zoom Vomero+ 3
By Frank

LSD 5, 4 October 2008...
My right shin is much better due to my ginger diet and extra dosage of multi-oil formula. The swelling is now gone and one can hardly believe that I actually had a knock on it as there's no bruising. So, a run is a must as I woke up on a rather chilly morning.

I got ready and was ready to leave home for a 15KM run, only to be greeted by rain. And a very heavy one too! Waited for a while but it's not showing signs of stopping and had not choice to cancel my run. Maybe it's a sign that someone is telling me to rest my just recovered shin. Hmm... SMSed Jamie, Lionel and Ronnie about it and they agreed. What a disappointment!

LSD 6, 5 October 2008...
What was suppose to be a 25KM run was upgraded to a 30KM instead due to the cancellation yesterday. Though it can't be regarded as one of my Hell Week Training runs (my weekly mileage ends on Saturday), I guess I will just blog about it here since it is the last run for this event. Besides, it's part of my training too for my upcoming marathons.

The weather was excellent. Not warm and not too chilly too. I started slow with Choi, Jamie and Loke. Geraldine and Luc was slowly disappearing and soon after 3KM or so, was no where to be seen. For the first 5KM, I was testing my right shin hoping there won't be any further damage which is not seen. Though I can feel a slight pain, it was nothing much (I hope) and soon it was forgotten. After crossing the Duta Highway, I up my pace a little attacking the hills at Mont Kiara, and soon enough arrived at Desa Sri Hartamas. Choi and Jamie stopped by at 7-11 to refuel themselves but I didn't as I had my trusty water bottle with me filled with dilluted isotonic drink. I carried on, on my own and arrived at the Petronas Station where I did 2 loops around it and continued on. While doing it, I bumped into Anil and Kit, both doing 30KM too! Anyway, I didn't stop as I was feeling good. Don't want to break the momentum.

I'm now running alone. It was certainy pretty boring but I know I have to go on. Arriving back at the income tax building, I bumped Jamie which really suprised me. He was with Geraldine and Luc and I wonder how did he got in front? My guess is that he did only 1 loop at the Petronas Station earlier on and while I was doing my second, he was already on his way. Later, I bumped into Lionel who was leading the pack of runners behind him which include Ronnie, Stanley and others. They are running 21KM. With them running off, I was left alone to run a loop around the income tax building before making my way back to the Petronas Station again. I went at a faster pace this time hoping to catch up with the rest but they were too fast and far ahead of me.

Upon arriving back at the Petronas Station, I told Jamie that I won't be stopping and went straight off. I took the Mont Kiara way back. It's my second time experiencing the way back and although my legs were pretty sore at this point, the climbs weren't as tough compared to my first. I guess this is where experience counts! Still running alone at this point, I was hoping that I could meet up with the rest as I hit the income tax building. Sadly, none I knew came.

As I crossed the Duta Highway, my legs were already giving way. However, I was lucky that many runners were present and I used them to help me as I struggled. As I arrived at Kenny Hills, I was just glad the route ahead is much easier except for one last climb heading towards the Tunku Abdul Rahman Memorial.

Arriving at Jalan Parlimen and knowing it's the last stretch to go, I went for it and soon arrived back at Bukit Aman carpark completing 31.51KM in 03:11:51. Though my legs was sore, I was itching to run the Carcosa route to top up my mileage to 35KM. But I guess my right shin deserves a break after just recovering.

With that, I made my way back to my car and to my suprise, the rest was already back! And all the while I was thinking that they all were behind me due to their stops. Soon, I learned that they did not use the Mont Kiara route back, hence it's shorter. That explains the reason. Nevertheless, although I ran the extra distance and the last 20KM or so alone, I was really satisfied. Not only I was training physically, I was training mentally too. Running alone is not easy, especially at this type of distance. .

The Sunday runners...

I felt good at the end of my run. Caught up with the rest like Lionel and Ronnie. And thanks to Kei Ming who brought along his camera, we took a group photo of all the runners present before leaving for home for a much needed rest. With it, comes a close to the Hell Week Training, although I failed to meet my 100KM targeted weekly mileage due to my freak accident. Sad, true but that's the way life is.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Frank, great to hear you've recover from your injury so quickly. I was stepping out of my house to leave on sat to BA and it rainned.

It rain most of the day but I manage to do my LSD at my residence area in the evening after the rain. I normally rest on sun after a sat LSD and spent time with the family unless there is a race.

Will make an attempt to check back with you again for other LSDs after 19 Oct. Will be joining the Klang pacer 12K run on 12 Oct and Mizuno 10K on 19 Oct.