Run Up Genting Highlands

I've been dreaming of running up, and today is the day to do it. I drove from Cheras to Genting Sempah, and parked there. It was a nice chilly morning. I have the foggiest idea how tough it would be, and how far is the distance. The only information I got is the distance from Genting Sempah to Genting Highlands is about 20km. I have only drove up genting once. From Google Earth, Genting Sempah at 561 meters. Genting highlands is at 1700 meters. That means an estimate uphill climb of 1139 meters.


Genting Sempah parking lot...

For breakfast, I had 2 bananas and water. That's it. I brought along a powerbar, just in case.


First police station...

I started running at 7:30am. And already at the start, the path is hilly. After Genting Sempah, there's a police checkout point. I was wondering if they allow runners on the road. But seems like they don't mind. The initial few kms is all hard uphill climb. When I looked back, at the hills below, it's amazing how steep the roads were.

It's all uphill from here...

Direction is easy to spot on...

As I ran up, Genting Highlands appeared over the hills, and it was a breathtaking sight. I have ran lots of hills, but never on a mountain. The view gave me some ideas on how hard the challenge would be.


There's 15km more....

Genting highlands on top...

However, after that, there's some relieve as the road dips downhill. Soon, I reached Hotel Seri Malaysia. I could see lots of buses around here. So, after that, I head for Genting Highlands path. But there's another police checkpoint. Fortunately they don't seem to mind.


Hotel Seri Malaysia....

Second police checkpoint...

After this point, the path started to get steeper. I try to sustain my pace, although slowly, but still running. Suddenly, a bus slows down. A man appeared at the door, asked me if I am going up, and probably wanting to offer a ride. I smiled and just made a refuse gesture. Was too tired to talk.


The hills are like #$&^%#

As cars, vans passed by, some gave a look. A few cheered me on. Maybe if I got cheered all the way...the run would have been faster.


It's all green around here...

There's some part of the road, that's just too steep. Almost 45 degrees. And on average...I am running on 20-30 degrees inclination.


Where are the cabel cars?


Still going up...

Damn steep road...and it's all the way up..

Soon, genting highlands came nearer onto view. I was excited. As I was reaching the top...I had to slow down a bit. Sometimes I had to walked a bit. The nice thing about the path is that, there's distance markers. So you know how far yet to reach the top. For the last 200 meters, I revved up my legs, and made a final run. Funny how you get more energy when approaching the finishing line. My time was 2:43:06. And the distance is estimated at 20k from genting sempah.


Approaching genting highlands...elated for awhile...

Another steep bend...my legs are killing me..

Nearer....

Almost...only 0.7km left...


How they built stuff here?...

It was misty all around. And a bit colder, but not really that cold. I was expecting it to be colder, but was surprised it was not so bad. I had some chicken porridge and iced milo at MacD, for refuelling. Did some walk around genting just for sight seeing.


Genting highlands is not cold...probably global warming..

The clouds and genting are one...

Genting is not genting if not for this picture...

At 12:00, I started to run back genting sempah. It was probably the nicest run, as I did not need to make the effort of going uphill. It's all downhill from here. And the mist surrounding the air made me felt as though I am running in the sky. Sort of..


Got to go back...where's KL?

Running in the mist...notice it's only like 10 meters visibility..

Mist hugging the hills...

Chin Swee temple...looks majestic in this one...A flying dragon would be nice...

Still a long way down..

It's a crazy steep bend....

Soon, I reached Hotel Seri Malaysia...but then needed to run another 10k back to Genting Sempah. There's some uphill here...so I had to walk part of the uphill. It's just too much to go up again after Genting Highlands. As I ran down, I realized, the climb is very steeper than I had thought. You could see the road below, which is like 100 meters down.


Still going down...

I reached Genting Sempah at around 2pm plus. Just glad to reached back safely. Total distance covered is 40km.


Finally back to Genting Sempah...

Record in the making

I did another run this morning at the normal cheras training route. I have been trying to run faster...and finally did a 1:03:40. Was quite happy with the time, as this is the fastest PR.

Since the hills are where I have to slow down, I resorted to faster stride, and higher knee pushup to grab more distance. All the while, sustaining a consistent heart beat rate.

The last 2 km is where I would push harder, since the surface is flat.

My goal would be to run the same distance for 1 hour, or less. That would be very nice pace for a hill workout.

Training Fatigue: Dead Tired

I have ran for the past 4 days, totalling more than 50k . But now I think I am experiencing training fatigue...physically and mentally. It's not so bad, but it does affect mood, work, and concentration. Good thing is, the remedy is just not training.

The onset of training fatigue is a feeling of weakness all over the body. And you can feel that your muscles is tired.

I have been trying to change my pace of running from long stride to faster stride speed. My goal is to run faster. If you see the kenyans run, you can see that their stride speed is very fast.

The training route in cheras is indeed very hilly. Total elevation I am climbing up is 815 meters. So I am not only going through 11.71km distance, but going up as well. KLCC height is 452 meters. But that's the point. Running on hills will definitely benefit in the long run.

So, today..gonna take a break. I need one...

Kenyan Runners: Chasing KIMbia

ChasingKimbia is about kenyan runners. You can check out their site at www.chasingkimbia.com . In Malaysia, their sight can truly scare out any local runners. With their fast stride speed and length, they could easily outrun the fastest runners in Malaysia. 9 out of 10 winners in KLIM 2007 were kenyans.

However, the notion that they are unbeatable is false. Marilson Gomes dos Santos became the winner for New York ING 2006 marathon with a time of 2:09:58. He's a brazillian, and nobody guessed that he could have won.


Marilson Gomes dos Santos crossing the finishing line...



Defending champion Paul Tergat, center, of Kenya crossed the finish line third in the men's division. He finished behind Gomes dos Santos and another Kenyan, Stephen Kiogora.


For those who have normal physique who seldom runs...take a look at this guy. Run guys...run....


Kurt Fearnley of Australia crossed the finish line to win the Men's Wheelchair division of the 2006 New York City Marathon.

Pacesetters New Balance 15km 2007

15km is medium distance, but the NB 15km would pose lots of hills challenges. I didn't register because they had closed the registration. Yep...i was late in registering...so I'll be running just to see what's my timing for this course.

Reached there at around 6:45am, and there were already lots of people. Contacted Raymond,...but didn't see him at the start....


At the starting line..

So, by the blow of the horn, we all ran. Some dashed for the front line...I just want to maintain my heart rate constantly. I don't plan to push too hard on a route I am not familliar with. Soon, we hit the hills, and yes...it's not easy, since you have to go twice...

At the end of the 2km, the end was near. So I quicken my pace a bit...and did a 1:19.


Managed to snap a finishing line photo....

Was pretty happy with the time, although did try to aim for 1:10, maybe next time...

After the race, found raymond, alden yap, gary, ronnie...chatted for awhile...the food was aplenty. Eat all you want, even cendol is being served..cendol??

Eat KFC, Swim Faster

Yea....rite....but sometimes I do it because of hungry...and nearby permaisuri pool, there's a nice KFC tuck just around the Stadium Bolasepak KL. Now, I really wonder, why on earth would they put a KFC there? Next to sports center..and even HUKM. Fast food is bad, bad for health...
I was queing behind a fellow...far too obese for his size...and this guy was packing KFC, maybe for dinner. You can just think of all the obese related disease that comes with that. High blood pressure, diabetes, stroke...

But of course they made it so tasty and juicy...our logical senses will go haywire once you entrapped by the smell...kudos to our health minister who tried to ban them from advertising.

Personally, I do eat some fast food from time to time...but I sweat and workout a lot...so it kinda balance it off...but if your life is sedentary, and not much action, I wouldn't suggest even eating it. You really have to sweat buckets to burn all those calories.

So, I usually had a zinger burger only, before swim. I don't take coke or pepsi...it's just too much sugar...

Swimming these days have been better and faster since the last year I started serious swimming. I used to oggle at other faster swimmers, who would put lap after lap...heck, I can barely finish a 50m lap...then rest, not to mention 20 or 40 laps.

Gradually, I put on more training...and soon, I could finish 1km, then 2km...and 3km just to see how tiring it was. 3km is really dead tired...

And results have paid off,....now I could just whack the water hard...lap after lap...and not even feeling tired. My technique is still far from good...so more training ahead.

Feeling Great but Sore

I have been trying to beat my records for the past few days in running.
It's a bit different than normal running pace,
where you don't really mind the time.
But when time is taken into consideration seriously, you are basically running faster...and harder. I am currently keeping a training log, so I could keep track of distance and time using Google Spreadsheet.

There's a certain sense of achievement on beating your own time day after day.
And with a certain goal on what time you have on mind.
But running faster needs a higher heartbeat rate,
which you got to sustain for a duration of time. Maintaining this heartbeat rate is where endurance is needed.

For longer runs, I won't be pushing so hard.

I'll be putting off Genting for now, going to join Raymond as "phantom" runners in Pacesetters New Balance 15km this sunday. That is because we failed to register as they have closed due to insufficient medals.