Port Dickson International Half Marathon

Date: Sunday, 25 May 2008, 07.15am
Venue: Admiral Marina & Leisure Club, Port Dickson, N9
Certificates and medals will be awarded to runners who complete their race within stipulated times.

Categories:
Half marathon
A - Men's Open (18 years & above)
B - Women's Open (18 years & above)
11km Run
C - Men's Open (18 years & above)
D - Women's Open (18 years & above)
E - Men's Veteran (40 - 55 years old)
F - Men's Senior Veteran (55 years old & above)
G - Women's Veteran (35 years old & above)
School Children
H - Boys (13 - 17 years old)
I - Girls (13 - 17 years old)
Entry fee:
Half Marathon (RM20)
11KM Run (RM15)
School Children (RM5)

Contact
Admiral Marina & Leisure Club
Batu 5 1/2, Jalan Pantai
71050 Port Dickson
Negeri Sembilan Darul Khusus

Tel: 6-06-647-0888
Fax: 6-06-647-0880/9
eMail: guest.relation@rpb.com.my

I have been this event last year,and i managed to get 8th placing in men open which is very tough,as you know the Negri Indian guy there are so fast!Their junior even superb,if i not mistaken i have lost to their juniors about 10 to 15 of them,which considered a lot!Anyway i also recomend you guys to go and have look at this race,now there is quite a lot of Kenyan,so for me to get inisde top 10 is so tough!But never try you will never know the results!Negri's Seremban there is a small town,so you will have kind of nature view when running over it.1 thing i still remembered is the the finishing inside the big football field where i have to run over the mud there!So dirty!ha!but you have no choice!If you stop down,then you will lose to the back  guy that chasing after you.So you can imagine that my whole body and shoes was stained with those dirty mud.Yuck.....

Wilderness Langkawi Challenge 2008

Offer 2 categories. Slow & Steady (for beginners) and Fast & Furious (for professionals). Both categories will comprise of a two member team consisting of either men, women or mixed teams. Participants must be aged 18 years and above. This one day multi-discipline endurance race will include activities such as

a. Kayaking
b. Trail Running
c. Mountain Biking - Fast & Furious category only
d. Possible Caving - Fast & Furious category only
e. Surprise Elements to test the wits of the participants

Total distance
a. Slow & Steady: 10km - 15km
b. Fast and Furious: 40km - 45km

Time: 3rd May 2008
Where? Tuba Island.
How much?RM 150/team for slow&steady while RM300 for Fast & furious
Extra informations:The Wilderness Langkawi Challenge is all about having a great time and pushing yourselves to the limit! There will be a skills test
session on 2nd May 2008 for all participants. Details will be provided later. For more information, please call + 603 2730 5000 - Adilah (+6012 302 9666) / Jasmin (+6012 302 3600)

Also another eco-challenge,and i may consider to join also,but may look at the budget which is quite heavy for us,i may ask Ady to join,if Unit sukan really going to sponsor us,then i will reallly have to make up our mind as to compete to the best.Anyway what i fear the most is kind of mapping reading which is very tricky in this kind of race.Until now i didnt get the website of its full detail,i hope to get it soon,who knows we may form 2 teams comprise of our "veteran members".ha!
Attention!!! anyone interest in the event can download the form Here.More informations about the race can be downloaded Here also.Thanks

Announcement

To all our member,i have set to the saturday morning as one of our training day.At 7.30pm same place near tasik.And it seem that these few days is raining so,if the condition is not so bad,not heavy rain,then can have a try,but if u guys cant really sustain it,then dont go for it,coz some of you may get sick easily.Today i have trained for the Linkaran Ilmu,and its rain a little bit,for 2 laps with 2 mins rest.I managed to run 8.24secs first lap and 8.46secs at 2nd lap.So i dont think its good enough for me,but to all our member which will go to KL Marathon(6members)i hope you guys/gals can try to achieve a target at the Lingkaran Ilmu,which i will set for 10KM and half-marathon group.
For 10KM: try to achieve below 10mins for man and below 11.30secs for woman,go for 2 laps will be ok.
For half-marathon:try to achieve below 12 mins for man for at least 3-4 laps,and woman below 13mins also 3-4laps,without stopping.
This is just my estimation,and i hope you all will try your best.

Vary your training schedule

Here is a small advice to all our friends,vary our training workout is very important
it may helps us to achieve better performance,while we wont feel boring about it.so
If you want to gain fitness, your training must be consistent day after day,
week after week. While you must train consistently, breaking up similar routines
and introducing diversity and change into your workouts will propel you forward
to creating the most optimal "training effect"
(that is, the most noticeable improvement in your fitness/performance).
This includes doing your training easy on easy days, more intensely on
high intensity, interval, or hilly days, and mixing up intensities within
certain workouts as specified.Running can be a lot of fun if we enjoy about it during
our workout,especially running in a group of members.

Optimal composition of an Athlete's diet

Below is some of the scientific research on an athlete's diet,we may try to utilise of what they had done by practising on ourself,anyway in my own opinion,we try to do what we feel comfortable the most,hence if you feel anything which is not well especially your body feeling,its better you just follow back what you used to do before.As i said all of these kind of practising is depend on different individual.Enjoy yourself of reading it!

WHAT IS THE OPTIMAL COMPOSITION OF AN ATHLETE’S DIET? GUIDELINES FOR CARBOHYDRATE INTAKE

Strength v’s Endurance
•Resistance exercise reliant on anaerobic energy sources –PCr and Glycogen
•Reduction in muscle glycogen during 30-45min resistance exercise similar to 60 min endurance exercise @ 70% VO2max, or 2-3hr more prolonged, lower intensity exercise.
•Therefore, CHO requirements most likely close to 6-7g/kg BM/day, depending on training load.
•Also use intramuscular triglyceride

Protein
•Most athletes eat adequate protein
•Protein requirements very similar between strength and endurance athletes (1.2-1.8g/kg BM/day)
•More recently, many athletes over-emphasise need for protein, to the detriment of CHO intake.
•More protein isn’t necessarily better –it just gets oxidized

Fat
•Essential to good health
• Important for preventing falls in intramuscular triglyceride levels, an important fuel source during exercise.
•Recommended levels 20-25% dietary intake, however once CHO and protein needs are met, no reason to restrict fat unnecessarily.
•Preference for unsaturated sources, from oily fish, nuts,seeds, avocadoes and olives, olive and canola oil and polyunsaturated oil / margarine.

Males v’s Females
•Evidence that females utilise more fat, and less CHO, at same relative exercise intensity as males.
•No specific guidelines for women –most are set based on research in males.
•Researchers have suggested need slightly higher fat,lower CHO than males, at least for strength training.
•Dietary surveys tend to show that women are more likely to fail to meet CHO requirements due to body weight control concerns / lower total energy intake.

The Rest of the Balance…
•Foods rich in Antioxidants to help prevent effects of oxidative stress .(increased with exercise)
•Calcium for bones and optimal muscle contractile function.
•Iron for oxygen carrying.
•Zinc.
•B-group Vitamins
•Vitamin C (etc etc)

Periodising the Diet in Line with Training
•Adjust energy intake according to phase of training.
•Use pre/during/post training food and fluids to add the additional energy and nutrient needs of training, rather than changing the structure of main meals.

So, what IS the ideal composition of an athlete’s diet?
•Depends on the athlete…..
•Match CHO needs with amount and type of Spread this evenly throughout the day,with a focus on recovery post training.
•Ensure you have a balance of all micronutrients.
•All within energy balance training.
•Achieve adequate protein.

P/S:I hope you all can get what these are mean about,anyway if you still not really know what they mention about,then is never mind,because the most important thing is do what you feel the best/comfortable before this,never too worry about achieving to the top/peak performance in short time.Do have patience in ourselve,only then one day we will know that where we really stand at.

Penang Bridge Marathon 2008

This is an annual event of Penang state Government,and going to be held at 22nd june,sunday.I(ong) joined last year in half-marathon category,its no easy task as i am a 10k runner,so i just managed my best to finish the whole race without stopping.I am still puzzling whether to join this year race or not,because at that time i will be back at Penang,so it will be easy for me to travel to the USM there,our friend,Lim Kar Sing said he is interested in it,so i think i will try my best to provide all the necessary items that he may need when coming to my Penang Town,ha!So you can get more here.(site still under maintainance)

Tioman Island Challenge.

To all our friends,This challenge is really nice!I cant believe it!But 1 thing that i quite worry about is that i will have my Masum Meet at that time,i wonder i can make it or not!In fact in my mind,i hope to join Tioman Challenge.Its really exciting looking at what they had published!
This is some info:

When ?	13 – 15 May 2008 (Tuesday to Thursday)
Where ?	Tioman Island, Pahang Darul Makmur
How to get there ?	By road:- Get yourself to Tg. Gemuk jetty, Kuala Rompin, Pahang (about 4½ hours drive from Kuala Lumpur, 3½ hours drive from Singapore. Take the ferry to Kg Salang on Tioman island (Race Start Line). By air:- Fly on Berjaya Air to Tioman Island and make your way to Kg Salang.
Teams	Team of 4 racers including one compulsory female.
Disciplines	• Biking • Running • Canoeing • Surprise tasks along the course • Night stop outdoor camping
Duration	3 day - 2 night
Prizes	Attractive cash prizes: •1st - RM 10,000 •2nd – RM 8,000 •3rd – RM 5,000 •4th – RM 3,000 •5th – RM 2,000 •6th – 10th – RM 1000 •Iron Lady of Tioman – RM 5,000 •Trophies for winning team •Medallion to all racers completing the race •Certificate of participation for all racers completing the race
Food & drinks	Race fee includes: •Dinner, snack lunch and breakfast during race •Drinking water available at water stations along the course •Gala dinner on final night (15th May) •Participants are however advised to start the race with 2 litres of drinking water each.
Accommodation	•Tents are provided for participants at night stops during race •Hotel accommodation before and after the race could be arranged. Prior booking necessary.
Schedule	Monday, 12th May •1400 hrs – 2000 hrs: Registration opens at Kg Salang •2100 hrs : Race briefing Tuesday, 13th May •0730 hrs: Day 1 Briefing •0830 hrs: Race Flag off •1800 hrs: End of Day 1 •2000 hrs: Dinner Tuesday, 14th May •0700 hrs: Breakfast •0800 hrs: Day 2 Race •1800 hrs: End of Day 2 •2000 hrs: Dinner Wednesday, 15th May •0700 hrs: Breakfast •0800 hrs: Day 3 Race •1800 hrs: End of Day 3 •2000 hrs: Gala dinner and prize giving ceremony
Safety and Medical Assistance	This event involves adventure racing. We are very concern of the safety of the participants. Medical assistance will be positioned along the race course to allow immediate attention be provided in case of any emergency. Medical treatment will also be provided at overnight stops if so required. Medical evacuation team will be on stand by at all time. You need to be mentally, physically and logistically prepared for this race. Safety consideration: dehydration/hyponatremia, exposure/hypothermia, insects and dangerous animals (mosquitoes, bees, snakes, caterpillars, scorpions, leeches etc.) rugged, rough terrain and thick jungle. Weather: Tioman is a tropical island with high humidity. Temperature between 25° - 35°C.
Logistics	Tents and basic toilets will be available at overnight stops. Bicycles and safety helmets are available for rent. Canoes, paddles and safety jackets are provided. Participants’ luggage (not required for race) will be transferred from the start line to the finish line. Sufficient clothes and personal items (for race and overnight use) will be individually carried by participants during race.

You all can get more info by click here.

KL Towerthon cert is out

                                                 

Hi,to all our friends,KL Towerthon certs is posted to us already!!!Do check your mail box!I have got it,and this is what you all can see it above,ha!

Running for a Beginner.....

Here are some tips that we can provide to those who just going to start their running especially for long distance events.Make sure you guys/gals take note of these tips.
1)Be patient.It takes time for your body to adapt to a new activity.In beginning,persistence is more important than distance or speed.Get out a few times a week whether you walk,run or alternate between them.

2)Take it easy but keep track of what you do.Over time you will be able to cover more distance and build speed.You won't see the progress if you don't keep the data.

3)Don't skimp on gear,particularly shoes.You'll be able happier over the next few weeks with a hat,gloves and a windproof jacket.Polyester clothes will be nice one,as it can helps to dries fast and won't let you sopping wet and chilled.Running shoes are designed to address different issues with your gait:the specialty stores know those different and can save you a lot of headache.Such as Royal Sporting House,Al Ikhsan,or those shops like Adidas Retail shop,Nike and so more,don't be hesitate to ask the sales person about what kind of shoes suit you feet the most!!!

4)Warm up,cool down.5-10mins walk or slow jog at the start of the run will make the whole process less miserable.A few minutes of stretching at the end will lower the risk of injury and help minimize some of the usual aches and pains.

5)Don't be afraid of food.Many of us are in this to help with the weight control,but starving yourself-or eliminate whole food group-is not the way to do it.You need a balance or carbohydrate,protein,and yes,fats.to stay healthy!!!p/s: As in Malaysia here,those spicy foods can be avoided especially before the race,as it may give effect to our body,like stomach ache.

Speed workout

Here is some topic from cool running,which may help us especially in speed work out.Hope you guys get it.

We demand our muscles to perform at a rate for which they are not conditioned. The truth is, our bodies can't supply the blood and oxygen that our hip flexors require to meet certain demands. Have you neglected working regular hill drills into your routine? Do you do them but don't know why? Do you vary the type of workouts you do? How do you approach the hill?

One of the most famous proponents of hill training is Olympic coach Arthur Lydiard. His hill circuit training requires the athlete to bound (focus on horizontal motion) or leap (focus on vertical motion) up the hill. Lydiard concentrated a great deal on hill running form to promote efficiency. Driving the knees, for example, is one aspect on which to focus--as well as toeing-off and slapping the heel to the buttocks.

When done at a slower pace, a runner can focus more on technique and may actually feel more soreness than they expect from drill-like repeats. Consider a weight routine in which you are lifting and lowering the weight more slowly--it hurts more. Gravity is our resistance on the hills.

The first cycle of hill workouts in Lydiard's ideal season is geared towards strength. It consists of 6-8 repeats on a 1,000-meter moderate incline. As the season progresses and the focus changes to explosive speed, the repeats increase to 8-10 and the length of the hill shrinks to 275 meters. The stride down the hill is always fast but in control.

Before the next hill repeat, Lydiard had his runners run about 250 meters at between 800 and 1,600 pace. For Lydiard, who primarily trained track athletes, hill workouts focused on building mileage after the base phase. However, incorporating hills throughout the season proves an effective way to improve efficiency without peaking too early.

Speed Up

According to Stacy Osborne, an avid runner and podiatrist in the Cincinnati area, many of us don't address our biomechanics, one of the most controllable aspects of our training and keys to improvement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not the leg on the ground that's primarily responsible for generating the power for forward velocity.

Rather, it's the non-weight-bearing leg--the leg in the swing phase--that generates momentum by creating a tug on the runner's center of gravity as it swings forward. The foot on the ground acts as a lever, and the runner is thus propelled forward. Those muscles responsible for this power stroke, the key hip flexors, are the illiacus, psoas major and psoas minor. These are also some of the most important muscles for cyclists, recruited during the pulling-up phase.

One of the best ways to strengthen those hip flexors and improve the power of our swing phase is with hill repeats. As we gain strength, our chances of getting injured are diminished, and we gain mental confidence. Once you've done 15 X 2:00 of a steep hill, 1:00 climbing a similar incline in a race will look like a mole hill. This is because running hills improves speed.

Your effort increases as you run up a hill, even if you reduce your pace. So, in a race, the best way to run a hill is to maintain effort and forget about pace while on the hill--even effort is the surest route to a faster time. Trying to maintain pace on the hill is like surging and varying the body's perceived effort, which will only tire you prematurely in the long run.

How else can you build tireless, feisty, power strokes using hill workouts? One way to maintain volume is to do hill fartleks (Swedish for "speed play"). Pick a course with hills and focus on surging up the hills. If you're doing strict hill repeats, try varying the pace. For example, if you are doing four sets of three hills, do the first at 5k pace and the second at 10k pace.

Focus on slow and exaggerated form on the third hill. Instead of varying the pace at which you run, you can vary the hill lengths themselves. If you are working in a group, pair up and run them like a relay such that your rest depends on how long it takes your partner to get up and down the hill.

Should you decide to run hills by time (i.e. 90 seconds on five hills), mark how far you get each time with a rock or little flag. Try to reach or beat that landmark each repeat. It is also good practice to try to surge over and past the crest of the hill.

The mental factor determines how well we run on hills. Many of us see hill repeats as an opportunity to practice conquering or attacking the hill. One tactic is to approach the hill as a friend rather than foe.

Another helpful piece of imagery is to imagine strings attached to your hands--and the string ends tied to a point at the top of the hill. As you pump your arms and thrust your elbows behind you, imagine the strings providing you leverage to pull yourself up more easily. You don't have to turn your mind off to escape negative, self-defeating talk; instead, recruit your mind to help you.

As runners, triathletes need to recognize the importance of strengthening our hip flexor muscles. Strong flexors help us maintain a grueling pace, attack a hill, kick with speed on the flats, and protect our bodies from injury. They are an integral piece of training year-round and, with variation, can make us more efficient runners and cyclists. Go ahead, be king of the hill!

More photoes........of KL Towerthon 2008

Due to the demand of some of our members,so we decide to put on some more photoes,so hope they get it.Team A members:Lee,Ady,Ong,Wong,and Lim.seem so happy!
Some of our womens participants.
Our technical advisor,En.Rohimin,Nadiah,Jiha,Masitah,and Ida.Thet look so cool with the prize money!ha!

Training Places by days

To all our members,we have set the schedule or our training routes as below:
Monday:Up hill beside FKE (there's 2 ways: one is the hill area beside Lingkaran Ilmu
another one is hill area at Logi Air(steeper).

Tuesday:Lingkaran Ilmu(minimum 2 laps)

Wednesday:Gym or areas arond tepi Tasik for some weight training.

Thursday: Padang besar UTM,just beside tasik,rugby field.(run around the field at least 3 laps)

Friday: Up to Balai cerap or Ibnu Sina(both are hill area),we suggest start early or sharp
at5,30 pm because its will become dark at hill top there if we are late.

Saturday: Free and easy run,either morning or evening ,we will decide it later.

P/S: any changing of the routes may be done on the spot,depend on the condition,weather,members that attending.Thanks

Lighthouse Run 2008

A run which name as Lighthouse Run,will be held at Tanjung Tuan Forest Reserve,Melaka.
Time: 8th March,Saturday
Time of Registration: 2.00 pm
Briefing : 2.30 pm
Start : 2.40 pm

Where : From Ilham Resort to Lighthouse, Tg Tuan Forest Reserve
Distance : About 2 km (includes beach, slopes, stairs!)

Categories:

• Men uder 40
• Women under 40
• Men under 40
• Women under 40

Prizes for each Category:
1st Prize

• 2nd Prize
• 3rd Prize

Registration: RM 5 (Proceeds will go to Raptor Research Fund)
Click here for more detail and entry form.
we may contact the person:Zatalini Zulkiply (017 2003 245) or Jack Teoh at jackteoh99@gmail.com
P/S: From what i have sms the guy above told me that they only offer cash voucer of Timberland for the prizes,no Cert and T-shirt!!!

Nutrition for a Runner

Its been very important that a runner/athlete take care of his/her diet.So inside here,we would like to discuss something about food that suitable for us.We can really divide our food intake to fews groups.1)before the race,2)during the race and 3)after the race.Let us look at it.p/s:some of the topic discuss like the food intake is according to the past experience by kakithon's members,hence it wouldn't be or may be not as accurate as the research from scientific fact.
Before the race : Its been really important for us to make sure what we eat before the race can help us to improve during the event.We should take more resources of carbohydrate,protien,mineral,plenty of water,and some supplements of vitamins may help us too.We need to avoid oily,spicy food,but that doesnt mean we cant consume these kind of food at all,may be just a little bit.Food like fishes,taufu,soy bean are full of protien resources,which may help us to build the muscle and replace the bad cell.I myself also recomended salted egg which just like playing the role of 100Plus!You can consume ice drink but try to avoid especially after your training!This is very important!Mineral water is just nice.

Training Programmes

Our training is 6 times one week,from monday till saturday.The location is near the Bus stop of the tepi Tasik UTM,where u can see some kayaks there.Time is 5.30pm.so for those who want to come late only about 15mins,we will wait u.See u.Thanks

AM Bank KL International Marathon 2008

Its one of the biggest event in this region.But i will mainly focus in 10k event.For those who want to join half and full marathon ,there will be chip system,so ur time will be counted and stated on ur certificate and will be posted to ur address as mentioned.The Kenyan will definately come again and conquer the street....yeah,one more thing!!! register early as u can get the discount rate of the participation fees!
www.klmarathon.gov.my for more imformation

To register by post or walk in,and u may register online too just click here

CDEX Run in UPM

Do check it out...its mainly for IPT Category student to join.it will be held on 24th feb 2008,sunday.
Website:CDEX Run

KL Towerthon 2008

2008 KL TOWERTHON,here we go...This is what it looked like of the starting line.There was raining at that morning.

And this is the second starting group of mens open.We have some of our friends there.Lim Kar Sing,Ong Wei Xiang(me),
Wong Chin Chun,Lee Soon Yong were there,all of us were in Team A,
where we managed to get the second placing in IPT(Higher learning category)and RM2000 also,ha!ha!Another guy,
Ady was in the third group together with Blake(Md Ibrahim).One more thing is the Men open champion also come
from this second group.
Our Team A member,Wong(51)was looking at something else,ha!He is one of the youngest in our team,his performance was encouraging also,but
still need more exposure of more road running races.

The womens open members.Ida was not in.Dont know where she gone.

The medal,quite nice..those who finished top 3 will get another also.

All the members having their final photo here...
Here they were,from left were Lee,Wong,Ady,Lim,Ong(me).UPNM A got the first placing,While UTAR got third.

Have a look at all the member from UTM(Universiti Teknologi Malaysia).I can describe that this outing is quite good for us,its a good exposure for all of us.
See again next year KL Towerthon.


Full results by clicking here