Putrajaya Marathon 2010 Feb ... 21 km ...

Credit : Hooha

I would say this is the most well prepared run I had since Singapore Marathon in December 2009.  Eventhough it is quite challenging to prepare for 21 km after only one 10 km run competition ... it is the need inside that wanted to push ownself beyond the limit.  


After reading and getting some feedback from various people, I placed a four steps program that help me to prepare for the 21 km run. 


The goal of this run is to finish the run. Time is not really my concern in this run.


Step 1: 2 x 15 minutes session


In this step, I'd spend 30 minutes in the morning and another 30 minutes in the evening to condition my muscle to run continously for 15 minutes.  The rest 15 minutes in the session is the warm-up and stretching period.  


In that 15 minutes run session I started to jog and increase to speed to the level my leg muscle start to feel some pain then I stop, relax and look at how far the distance i could cover.  Then I continue the same step until the 15 minutes is over.  After that, followed by a breeze walk and warm-up activity.  


I keep doing the same activity for about 2 weeks until i got a distance of 2 km within 15 minutes.  I did that day and night.... of course there's pain here and there but I did not push myself when I encountered the pain ... when the muscle starts feeling tired I stop running for about a minute or two and then continue to run again after that.  So basically, the leg muscle is conditioned slowly for the run and the benefits of it is i didn't injured myself.


Step 2 :  2 x 30 minutes run

My wife starts to jog

After two weeks, my wife starts joining me running... but not for the run but just for herself.  At weekend, the kids starts joining too ... so there's a motivation there ... so instead of running around my neighborhood area, I went to public playground about 3 km from my home.  


I repeated the program, now instead of running for 15 minutes, I ran for 30 minutes with the same method in mind.


Running around the Tasik Cempaka .. that was challenging !!!! I was running uphill and down hill. It really kill my leg, especially the knee... but since I've conditioned myself on the first two week, recovery is fast ... 


Step 3 : Get a Coach

Zairinator Zam

On weekend morning, taa daaa the coach came in .... hmm who am I to have a coach ... its my good friend Zairin, the IronMan ... he is triathlete and still going at the age of late 30s...  

This is what Zairin did to me.

We ran together at Putrajaya jogging track near his house ... first session, he was a bit relax ... but on the second session ... he was killing me with his speed... luckily I survive his session after 2 bottle of 1 litre drinking water, I got my breathe back ... Thanks pal....






Step 4 : Pray


After 6 weeks of training, I'm feeling better now, I can wake up in the morning without feeling tired. I can last longer hours in the office.  It feels fresh .. and I like this feeling ... The night has come and there I am standing among the crowd waiting the horn to blow ... sharp at 8:30 p.m. Putrajaya Night Marathon 10 KM Category runners were released ... so what I did ... pray for the best that I could complete it in one piece ... 

Wee .. at finish line

First 1 km I did it in 6 minutes ... that's impressive ... then at 10 km mark ... 1 Hour 29 minutes and 59 Sec ... well that is much more impressive .. and finally at the end point ... 3 hours and 50 minutes .and i'm not panting...just steady running .. pick-up the medal .. meet some friends, laughing and drive to the closest restaurant and eat like I never ate for 3 days ... 


The next day, there a few muscle pain here and there but I can still go to office and work fresh ... 


At this point ... I said to myself ... a new passion is born .... 

Thanks yalll....for the support.