Polar Bear on the run

Had a shopping spree mid-week last week. Not really a spree, just wished it was. Actually went to Mantat's sports shop in Bandar Tasik Permaisuri. Mantat co-owned this outfit. They are, if I'm not mistaken, sole distributor of Powerbar in Malaysia. You'd never missed them in any of the endurance events. They'd normally set up booth to sell their product, which BTW not limited to Powerbar only. And sometimes, co-sponsored those events.

If you want to buy cheap high quality sporting goods, u guys can go to his shop, sorry la lupa nama kedai dia, but u wont miss it if u go to Bandar Tasik Permaisuri as his shop is the only sport shop there. It might not carry the major brands, but I can tell u, the stuffs that he is selling is the same quality if not better than what u can find in the mainstream market. I bought an un-orthodox designed cycling jersey for RM75 and Polar(HRM+FootPod) for a much lesser price. Cant disclose, but definitely much cheaper. So guys, pergilah beramai-ramai ke kedai Mantat. And Mantat, aku dah buat promo ni bagi la diskaun lagi.

Bila dah dpt jam baru, apalagi, Batak la nak try. Petang tu jugak sudah layan Taman TAR dgn Tesa. Yes, my wife has picked up again her love for running. So she was using the nike+ while I used Polar. She did 1 round but I continued another round to test out more features on the watch. Verdict - Very satisfied, couldnt say much actually as I have only compared it with nike+, I know, its not apple to apple comparison.

On the other note, Ezan, Mantat's wife is also addicted to running now. And I felt good cos she said I'm one of the reason she wanted to run again, well, actually the main reason bcos her hubby gave her a Polar watch too. I was happy that I could give some tips for her to get started, not to say that I have enough experience, just trying to help anybody starting out. In Ezan's case, starting out again.

Slowed down my run routines for last week as the big race was on Sunday. Did freakish carbo loading on Fri and Sat. Tibai nasi 2 pinggan pkl 5 on Friday and malam boleh tibai pizza and pasta lagi. Saturday was no different, had 3 pinggan nasi and lauk sikit during my batch 20 yrs friendship re-union dinner. But had to passed the Kambing golek.

The dinner was great as this time we did something more meaningful. Did the Maghrib, Yassin, Isya' and sembahyang Hajat. After dinner we viewed a slide show on old photos. As you could imagine, suasana gamat ya'amat. Kudos to Ikang and other committee.

Well, at last, Sunday is here. Woke up at 4.30. Had 2 slices of bread and a cup of coffee. Azmil and Faisal came to my house and we went off together at 5:15. Arrived arnd 5:40 had difficulty finding parking space. Walked down for about 1.5 K, which is good, sort of to warm up. Lepak kat tent Powerbar Mantat. Met Kam. Terkucil 2 kali behind the bushes.

The run started excatly at 6:17am. Cant do much on the 1st K as the run started up a hill, so it was quite slow and very crowded. Took this oppotunity to jump into the bushes and terkucil for the 3rd time, well, at least tak terasa nak ter'kubab' tu dah kira cukup bagus la. Maintained arnd 5:30/k pace for a good 10K. Clocked 56 min/10K. Was dong quite fine and was enjoying the climbs more than the decsends (note: need to work on downhill run). Reached 15K on 1:26. Walked for few hundred meters to eat the carbo gel and replenish my fluid.

As I started running back, felt some pain on the outer part of my left foot. Kept on running but couldnt shake off the pain. Stopped and re-strapped my shoe. Pain still there. I think Adizero LT is good only for short distance 20K or less, coz the impact of the run started affecting me arnd that distance. The cushion is quite minimal, more for speed I guess (Shd have listened to Stupe to get a more cushioned shoes). Just buat bodoh and kept on running. Met up with Stupe(he was pirating) arnd Plaza Damas. He ran with me for few hundred mtrs and he left off to seek for OP Chief Kutu. Tabik la kat Stupe. He was supporting few other runners as well by giving encouraging words, even after he had ran more than 20K.

The real pain started at 18K mark. It was unbareable, the pain in my foot. But had to maintained as I know Shazly is waiting somewhere there taking photos, tak nak la dia snap photo muka aku kesakitan. When I reached 20K. The pain was too much. Walked for about 500m. And started running very slowly for abt 1-2K. Was doing as slow as 7min/K.

But some how, got back my spirit. Was telling my self don be such a sissy. So pushed myself not to exceed 6min/K if I were to complete it sub 3 hrs. Almost wanted to stop again at KM 26/27. But Shazly came a long and told me 'jgn nak mengada2 berhenti skrg, 3K je lagi'. Well, just pinned back my ear and pushed whatever left in my tank. Finished GE30K in 2hrs 57min. Puas hati...memang puas hati. Next stop, Kenyir triathlon.