Last Group Run For Dutamas Runner Before The Chinese New Year Break

We had the last group run for Dutamas Runners (DR) last Saturday. Quite a few turned up for the run. Yvonne and Bin are the usual ones. YLoon, making a slow progress back into running again, so too is Melvin. Then, new friend I met through Yin, Seng Chor who brought his friend, Chae Yin. Both of them works at Bursa KL.

We planned for a 14.3km run from LFKL towards LHDN and Petronas in Desa Sri Hartamas. I had a nice slow run which I quite enjoy as I am still tuning myself back into training again. Just signed up for Bareno Half Marathon and also Energizer Night Race in the half marathon distance as well. For more information on the events, please click on the links below:

1. Energizer Night Race (17 April)

2. Bareno Run 2011 (13 March)

From left: Bin, YLoon, Melvin, Me, Chae Yin, Seng Chor and Yvonne

Took me about 1:40 to finish a 15km but it was better than not running at all. Now am back in Kuching and I haven't even put on my running shoes yet. Got to get ready for Bareno Run soon......

A Day Out At Desa Park City For Dutamas Runners

A little delay in posting this. The DR group had a run out at Desa Park City for the first time on 20 Nov. What's more interesting about this is that we had the chance to run with Jean Pierre aka Peter! (Peter was once a national runner for France). Do you know how much he needs to slow down to run with us?!

We ran for about 40mins around Desa Park City with Peter guiding us through the route. Melvin, Bin and Yvonne came along for this run. Yin, opted not to run but joined us in Desa Park City. After the run, Peter shared some of his experiences with us and taught us a few things or two on training. I'm sure those who turn out for this training benefited from this session with Peter.

Reporter Yin Boey interviewing Peter. Hehe!

Hoping to organise more training session with Peter soon, if he has the time. He was kind enough to spend some time with us and advising us. Thanks Peter for great day in Desa Park City!

Note: Peter went off another session by himself after we left. Probably we went to slow for him.

2 Great Workouts For Dutamas Runners!

Some complaint that they had blurred vision, some ran with slight injury and most of them complaint that I've tricked them! Well that was the response from the hill repeats that we did on Wed evening. To most, this is their first time experiencing what hill repeats are all about. Of course I feel bad about under declaring the distance and the responses I got were, "You sure this is 250m?" "Where got 250m?! I used my car meter and that was about 400m!" Haha! Well, in the end, all did well to endure the training and hopefully most of them will find the good out of the training. 

I added the last 150m part as it has some flat part and a little hill in the end which is good to train your mental of breaking the wall  in a race at times. Of course, it's tough for first timer to do a 400m hill repeats as usually a 100-150m is sufficient. Will choose a shorter one next time! (I hope they won't avoid me the next time!).  

Unfortunately, these are some of the trainings runners have to go through to gain some edge from the rest of the fields and that is just the tip of an iceberg in training. Even for a social runner, doing hill repeats will make runs on flat route seems a little easier next time.

Photo below of course is before the run...... : ))

Wei Li, Chin Ann and me (Aiya..didn't take camerawoman's photo..Thanks Yvonne)

On a Deepavali Day morning, 10 of us turned up for the Malakoff 12km trial run. Thanks to Yvonne for the "recruitment" she did. Instead of starting at Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club, we started at Plaza Damansara in front of 7-11 car park. Took them for a brief warm-up, stretching and a few short stride-outs. Told them it was important for them to warm up properly beforehand, especially the distance of 15km and below races. We then proceed to do 2 loops of the Jalan Beringin course and added the downhill/uphill part towards Securities Commission (SC) - which is the starting and the ending part of the race. Found out most runners had a tough time tackling the hills at Jalan Beringin loop and they avoided the hill section towards the SC. Anyway, it was a tough course and that was my first time running it too. Took it easy for the first 10 mins of the run before taking off to see if I can maintain a fast pace for the 2 loops. It wasn't easy as I needed to adjust my pace quite often due to the rolling hills. I ran the SC hill as my final part of the run but can't imagine doing it at the start of the race!

Anyway, it was a great turnout for today...YLoon, Melvin, Wei Li, Zul, Wong, Yvonne, Stephanie, Tee Yau and Amy. Great to see some new faces too. Hope I didnt scare them too much with all the hill routes! No choice mah....hard to find flat route to run. Speaking of which, might find a day for us to run in Desa Park City, that should be nice & flat! Then we can get a special invited guest runner, Mr. Jean Pierre (Peter), to give us some useful tips. How about that guys/gals? But I got to check with him first if he is available!

You can see 5 of them wearing Standard Chartered Marathon vest! What a coincidence! Friday today....no 4D draw today! Maybe buy tomorrow.

These are the "Before" photos....

Wong, Zul, Me, YLoon, Melvin, Wei Li, Tee Yau, Stephanie & Amy

Must include our Chief Recruiter Officer, Yvonne (2nd from right)

The "After" photo.....oklah, most of them still smiling! That shows how easy it was to run the Malakoff 12km loop course! : ))

Amy, Yvonne, Me, Wong, Zul, Wei Li, Melvin & YLoon

I think everyone just couldn't wait to get to the next session of the day....BREAKFAST! And our in-house doctor, Mr. OKT, joined us for our breakfast skipping the run in the morning! Only Zul, a professional Muay Thai exponent, maintained a healthy diet here. He didnt order any food. During breakfast, he shared some of the diet that he goes through before fights. Must get him to become out Chief Nutritionist Officer!

Habis lah ini macam, "Lari 11km, mau makan 21km!"

Photos courtesy of Yvonne. Thanks! For more updates on Dutamas Runners, please add us in Facebook.

Good Turnout For Dutamas Runners Group Run

In the effort of trying to gather some of the runners to run in a group within the vicinity of Dutamas Raya area and also helping them to improve their running, saw the largest number of turnouts last Sat. 10 runners came for the 6.30am start. 

Wei Li and David have both ran with me on Saturdays for couple of weeks already. Both of them will be doing the Newton 25km end of this month. The also brought their friend along for the run, Shaun.

Yin Yin, is staying at a condo just down the road from mine. She has been running for quite a while now and has competed in a few half marathon races. She's the only  one running "close" to barefoot on the day, using the Vibram Five Fingers. Ooi Keat of course is staying at the same condo as me and has completed a few full marathon under his belt.

Yi Bin, whom I just got to know on the day, but obviously we have came across each other's path in a number of occassions, but never knew each other before. He is also staying at the same condo as me! It was Yvonne, whom I just got to know during this year's Rat Race as she was running for my ex-bank, CIMB Bank. Both are aiming to compete in a marathon next year.

Zukhairi, a professional Muay Thai exponent, who also runs to keep himself fit for his matches. He has completed a marathon this year. He too has followed me in some of my runs in the evenings on weekdays.

Wong, second from right (standing) has been running for quite a while now and has 3 marathons races under his belt. He is also training for the coming Newton 25km run in Puchong.

Photo: (Standing) : Zukhairi, Wong, Wei Li, Shaun, Yvonne, Yin Yin, Yi Bin

                                      (Squatting): David, Ooi Keat and me

Not too sure when will be the next run as I will be leaving for Germany tonight, but Ooi Keat is keen to get into shape again and was thinking of doing some runs on weekdays in the evening. I think some of the runners in here are also keen to do evening runs. Hopefully, all of them will continue to be around for this group runs as I am more than happy to help any runners who are keen to improve on their running. If you know anyone living nearby, e.g. Segambut, Kepong, Month Kiara, Sri Hartamas, Bandar Menjalara, Desa Park City, please ask them to add us in Facebook or email me at khooyk@yahoo.com for more info. 

And thanks to boys and girls who turned up for the run last Saturday!