Malakoff 12km run: Not So Killer Hills

I don't recall where was this...


I've heard this run was hilly. But after KRI 12km run in Bkt Kinding, it was pretty tame by comparison.

Before the race, was glad to meet Kevin Siah and his family. He had just finish Ironman Busselton (IMWA) and was there to support.

Now the odd thing is they let the women go first, and men 10min later. I stood just behind a few guys before the starting line. When the horn went, it was a mad dash off. I noticed one guy in white went very quickly up, and it took awhile to realize it was Shahrom.

Somehow, I manged to bumped into 2nd. As the uphills came, Casey went pass. Soon, I find Don Khor and I believe Kevin, came pass.

I was already going almost maximum intensity, so I just hope I could trail these guys. I passed Don at one point, but I think a few KM afterwards, he passed me. This old man is not to be reckoned with.

Now, the one thing I realized running at high speed is the relative speed between yours and others. We were passing the women's runners and catching from behind. They seemed so stationary.

But then, an african runner came blasting from behind. And that makes me look comparatively stationary. I soon found out that he started 3 minutes late.

As the 2nd loop ends on the uphill, I was beginning to sense cramps coming in. Blasted all the way down hill to the end, and I was just happy to make it below 48 min (47min 42).

Also found myself in 5th in my category as well, which was a pleasant surprise.

KRI 12km Run: Killer Hills

Home run...

The next day after the Cameron's bike leg, was the KRI run which I had signed up. Starting course is exactly same as the KRI's century's ride, that I've participated last year.

Thanks to Lydia Yeow who had helped took my bib, albeit they put me in the wrong category. So a new one has to be written.

Ray Ng & Michelle where there too, which was a surprise cause I think they would lay off after Angkor Wat run.

Before the start, I didn't expect much. Just see if I could run as possibly fast as I could. I did hope that the previous cycling adventure haven't left me debilitated.

After the horn blew, and 2km into the run, it became apparent that hills will be a major hurdle. Now we are talking about elevation say 30-40% at certain stretch. All I could do is making sure running cadence goes up on uphills, then sprint like mad on the downhill.

In this manner I was able to hold 3 and 4th position throughout the race. But as always, I don't want to press the accelerator to the max, cause I don't know the route. I don't know if one downhill will lead to another uphill, so I had to stay safe.

But there's one guy behind whom I tried to keep a safe distance. I didn't knew that he (Wong Lip Soon) was in a different category.

Finished the race in 52 min on the dot, position 4th, much to the surprise of my younger brother.

Michelle managed to win the women's and she was even lucky to won the first lucky draw.

Ride: Tapah - Brinchang

Weird name, considering this is in Perak state..

Lata Iskandar I think, water was crystal clear..

Ringlet...

There's lots of FWD like these still ploughing the roads...

Ah...flats..

Tanah Rata...I do hope it has 'rata' terrain. Rata means flat...

Brinchang is terribly unscenic. I prefer the road up Tanah Rata from Ringlet.

This is where your tea comes from.

Alan Tan (2nd from right)

I've never done Cameron Highlands before. So, as part of the familiarization course, I decided to drive up to Tapah, to climb up to Brinchang.

The drive from KL took almost 2.5 hours. When I exited towards Tapah from the highway, it was drizzling lightly. I was thinking of actually not doing it. After some thoughts, I thought as long as it's not pouring cats & dogs, it's doable.

Parked at Kg Pahang, and started the long climb at 9:41am. At first it's a bit of flats. Then it gradually build up into an ever winding, twisty turning road, with an elevation steepness that doesn't wary much. Except for the few last km to Ringlet.

Now, I've brought a powerbar for this excursion. But when I stopped to consume it, it was actually already very old, apparently from the broken plastic cover. But being so famished from all the climbs, I took 2 bites. Then decided it's too unpalatable and threw it away.

Luckily Ringlet wasn't far. So I stopped for a hearty lunch and some drinks.

It was a bit cold as well. And I didn't actually know what the elevation was at this point.

Now Ringlet is a nice small town, and the roads aren't that steep either. I enjoyed the flats for a few km, before another long winding uphill road towards Tanah Rata. After that it's another few km to Brinchang and it's all done.

Total time up is 3:55 plus rest. Distance is 61km. So if you start from Tapah, it would be around 65km.

Then I proceeded the long trip downhill. I thought things would be great as it's mainly a downhill course. How wrong it was, when I was stuck to a fast-slow traffic headed by a bus which had to slow down to a halt while negotiating sharp turns. I couldn't find the room for overtaking as well, cause the road is terribly small without any extra emergency lane at the side.

On the way back, I met with Alan Tan, who had an unfortunate car broke down in their treasure hunt event.

After around 7 hours, I managed to reach back safely.

Carl Lewis The Legend

Through an invite from Jamie, Nike held a close up with the legendary Carl Lewis. He has 10 olympic gold medal to his record, with 9 of it gold.

Frankly, I've only heard about this guy. So I googled up, and was really surprised that he's in the ranks of the greats in track & field.

When he finally turned up, the audience was kind of awestruck by this big man.

There were some key important points in his talk.

1. Analyze your competition. He treats his races as a job, does alot of strategy, and analyzes his competitors strengths & weaknesses.

2 . He hardly goes to the gym to do strength training. Most of this is achieved through other methods on the field. He laments that younger sprinters are bulking up, which does not necessarily makes you faster cause you need to carry lots of bulk.

3. Before race, he trains his mind by getting in focus. This means no treating pre-race as a party.

4. You can only run your max speed for 10m. So in order to run a 100m, once you reach maximum velocity at 60m mark, the rest is maintaining posture while remaining calm. He noticed that most runners slows down considerably at the end of the 100m, so if he can maintain the speed plateau, he can pass them at the end.

*This is another aspect of sprinters which is revealing. You do push your body, but your mind has to be calm & relax to do it. Alexander Popov (olympic swimmer) does this as well. Maintaining speed efficiently is of paramount importance.

5. Get a good coach. He attributed his early success to his coaches who improved his time.

Well, he's still looking good. Although a little tummy is obvious. Finally all of us took turns to get a picture.

Long Ride: Elusive Genting

Descending to Batang Kali from Gohtong Jaya...

Fraser was hot!

Eating nasi lemak while my ride rests..

The peak finally...

It'll be another 90km over back to Gombak.

This ride is to see how long it would take to ride from Gombak, to Genting Peak and Fraser peak.

Started from Gombak (near some food stalls car park), at 8:09am. Met Vong who was waiting for a friend at the traffics, as I head up Sempah. As I passed a group of cyclist, one of them hook up behind me.

Now I tried to shake him off a few times. Well after a few KMs, managed to get him off. It's all for fun. Then it's up to Gohtong.

I was riding my roadie, and best thing is, it's compact crank. So going uphill is more pleasing. Reached Gohtong for some food.

Tried to go up the last 9km but the police won't allow. "Majikan punya arahan" according to person manning the station. Oh well, felt dejected, and headed down towards batang kali.

Now if there's cycling nirvana, this is it. I could easily go above 50kmh without doing a thing. Roads here are so steep you just zoom pass on furious speed. Some caution on the brakes will do.

Reaching the intersection to the main road is around 50km of distance. Now it's the long grinding up KKB, and Fraser peak. Nothing much to say, but the journey is exactly 96km up to gap.

Another 8km and it was 104km at the peak. I ascended using the 1pm slot. Actually reaching Gap around 12:45pm, and having nasi lemak beforehand.

2pm, and it was all the way back to KKB, Ulu yam and batu caves. I was abit cautious at the dam area. Previous mugging here made me paranoid at any motorcycle sound from behind. I had to hide my pouch bag under the shirt so as to be not that obvious.

After 9.5 hours and 197.5km, I was safely back.

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Here's some interesting data:

To reach fraser gap from Genting peak, you'll need approx 3 hours. I think it was a blessing I wasn't let up, because if I did, I would have reach Gap around 1:45pm, given it'll add another hour just to ascend Genting Peak from Gohtong and coming down. By then, I'll have to wait for 3pm slot to go up.

Descending to KKB will bring the total distance to 143km. Now distance to Tapah from here will be 92.4km, and climb up to Brinchang is another 70km.

Therefore to cycle all 3 peaks should be around 320km. The insane part is more than 100km of climbs.

Now, if you could excuse me, let me jump off this building..

Malakoff Powerman 2010

I did this race last year. However, then, it was just to replace Victor Loh, who had an unexpected injury.

So, this year, it was my first time seriously doing it. Therefore, no more cycling to Lumut like last year.

And we're kind of lucky, as it drizzled a bit before the race. Last year, it was terribly hot.

Now, the race format is to run 11km, then cycle 64km, and then run another 10km. Sounds easy compared to half Ironman,

First run. We're let off on the dot. I have no set timing for this. Just run as fast as possible. Surprisingly, I saw Don Khor and thought that I would try to match his pace. But perhaps due to my immaturity in pacing, I passed him early. Of course, he passed me soon at the path coming back for the first loop.

Finished in around 42 minutes.

Then it was bike time. Now, I have yet neglected training seriously for the bike, and it shows. Tried to gun for 40kmh but found 35, 36 to be my pace for the remainder. Now funny thing was, I thought it was only one loop, after finding out that one loop doesn't suffice for 64km. Got the better of it, and did 2 loops.

I had one powergel after the bridge.

Finally it was the last run leg. The first loop was still cool. I saw Shahrom passed me just right in front of the water station, and in his haste grab the whole water bottle as he sprinted beyond. I was beginning to get cramps on both quads. Had to get some spray on, and just hope my legs will bring me through.

2nd loop and I was just wanting to end it all.

Came back in 3:34

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Congras to all who have finished it. Especially to Richard Tang who aced with 6th position in 3:20. Simon Cross would have a good nemesis coming into his age group soon.

Cycling Genting Highlands: Riding the TT bike

Descending...

Finally reaching the top...

Looks fun...don't wear a white shirt. Even the best detergent on earth won't work.

The next day after the 12km run, I was onto something else. Now it's time to see if I could ride a TT bike up there. I've been doing all my genting climb using a roadie, so this kind of intrigues. Another thing is, I've not been riding alot. Fitness was there, but riding on a bike seems so alien after months not being on one.

After parking at HOA, I departed at 8:49am, reached Genting Sempah after 50 mins. The p2k group was there as well, waiting for some other guys before their usual breakie jaunt at bkt tinggi. Then after some rest, I headed solo towards Gohtong.

Easy, it wasn't. Although I could climb, speed was really slow, but I kept at it, and standing up only if the inclination is too much to handle. After the 4km hard climb, it was an easy ride up to Gohtong.

Then comes the hard part. Riding up Genting is like going into a forbidden place. Only the staunch, experienced and hardy cyclist attempts this. And it doesn't matter how strong you are, the mountain mocks you by saying "Oh, so you've climb this far? wait till you go higher..."

Really. The hardest part of the whole route, is the last 4.4km marker. From my memory, nothing is more harder than the last 4.4km up. Cause it really is. Two very steep hairpins, and the final 300m to the arch at the top, is enough of a challenge for anyone dares to go up.

And on a TT bike, it's definitely harder. I find myself climbing in an awkward position. Trying to coax the bike up is like pulling a rock up. It won't respond. You just have to mash the pedals or pull harder to lift it up. At times, I almost cramped at the quads. But I made a promise to my bike and whispered "I'll put you up there, baby"..

The only view I was having is making sure my front tyre moves. And of course the top was enjoyable after 2:40 climbing from HOA. Met with a guy resting at the cafe (rode a superbike), who was impressed with cycling up.

Then, it was going down to Awana to meet some friends doing the fun 14km run. Shih Ming & San did well (got 2nd), and Ray & Mich too (4th).

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Now here's the challenge that is in my mind, with some friends. I consider it the holy grail of cycling climb in Malaysia.

Ride Genting Peak, Fraser Peak, and reaching Cameroon Highlands in one day.

Could that be done? Go figure...