4 More Days To Berlin Marathon

It's been 1 and a half weeks since arriving in Germany. Andreas was kind enough to show me most parts of North Germany, including the Baltic Sea and North Sea. A friend was here for 3 days and we went out to the beach of North Sea and some smaller towns. Will upload the photos later.

Had a 3 day break from running after our easy long run on Sat. Today did a 1h10m run, with surges of 6 x 1 mins just to get my legs going. Not too sure how I will run the race but just hope I will enjoy it. Most likely leaving for Berlin this Friday morning and will be staying with Andreas's uncle. Me and Andreas will be starting from the same block, 3h 15mins. That will be the 4th block from the elites. Anticipating to take probably a few mins before passing the starting line.

Starting Block

 Some information from Berlin Marathon newsletter:-

Marathon on TV – Live on n-tv and Eurosport

The real,- BERLIN-MARATHON will be presented live on TV once again this year. Both n-tv (8:30 am to noon) and Eurosport (9 am to noon - 3pm Malaysian Time) will be broadcasting the race live on September 26. There will be a new concept for the TV broadcast this year, and we will be presenting the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON from new perspectives to make it more attractive to the general public. A three-hour live broadcast on n-tv and Eurosport will make this possible, for which SCC-RUNNING will be producing the images for the first time.

Marathon live ticker

You will be able to follow the race from the starting shot at 9 a.m. all the way to the finish of the elite women’s runners (approx. 11:20 am) online at www.real-berlin-marathon.com. This is an ideal service for all marathon fans in Germany and around the world who cannot watch it on TV. The live ticker will be updated constantly and is available in English too (on the English part of the marathon website).

Of course there were lots of meat in the menu, but generally, a lot of "makan roti: menu. I miss my rice!  

Currywurst from Kochlöffel



Another of meat spread on toast



Sausage in Hamburg

There's this island we went called Helgoland, is a duty free island. Alcohol are so cheap here that you can become an alcoholic. Imagine a vodka for less than €10 (approx. RM40!!). Bicardi was less than €9.



One of the duty free shop in Helgoland



First Step In Germany

Arrived in Hamburg Airport after slightly more than 13 hours flight plus a 4 hours of waiting time at Dubai International Airport. Andreas was there to pick me up at the airport and he told me that I can expect only wet weather in Hamburg and it's surrounding areas. We left the airport and Andreas's house is about 40mins drive from the airport in Reinbek. It's a very small town. Basically it's all green surrounding the area. We stopped over the bakery to get some cakes for tea before reaching his home. You can't imagine how quiet his home is. All I can hear are neighbours closing their doors or going out to work. Otherwise, it's just plain quiet.

Andreas's home

The next day, we drove to his hometown in Lübeck, one of the World Heritage Sites. The city centre is basically like a small island surrounded by Trave River. Also, once upon a time it can only be entered through one of four gates, with only two remaining now. One of them is Holstentor (pic below)

Holstentor

The world famous Niederegger Cafe

 

  Mazipan in pork knuckle form - don't think of something else!

Image of Lübeck city

Andreas mum's house in Lübeck

Andreas and mum with their plum tree

Did 2 training runs here already with Andreas. The first one was done around his home, both on trails and asphalt.

Andreas showing me the way thru the trails

My first run in Germany

 My second run was with Andreas club, Barsbütteler SV, consisting of mostly senior runners, but most of them has very good track record. Some even ran 2:40s in marathon in their younger days. Andreas himself is a sub-3 hour runner, which he did it in Berlin.

 Barsbütteler SV

So what kind of meals am I having here? In Malaysia, we always say this when we have no money, "Makan roti loh". Well, basically these are daily meals for Germans. in general. They eat so much bread here! Of course, what you put on your bread is a different matter. Salmon, salami, wurst, butter, cheese, etc. Black bread and Brötchen are their normal meals.

Brötchen with a German beer, Wernesgrüner

Fast food (Sausages!!) - Onkle Curry

And of course, what is Germany without going through it's well-known "No Speed Limit" Autobahn. This is the "derestriction" sign...

This is well over 200km/h. But there are certain sections where speed limits are imposed. So, no we didn't go through the whole journey with 200km/h.....

So far I've been to city near Reinbek such as Bergedorf and Lüneburg. The buildings in Lüneburg town is just amazing.

Town Hall, Lüneburg

View from Water Tower Lüneburg...

 

We then proceed to Scharnebeck near to Lüneburg to witness ship lifting. This is a twin ship lift. Boats are basically lift right up from the ground (water) and ship it to the other side of the river. One of the marvels of engineering.

Ships being lifted up

Ships realeased on top

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!

"Skeletal Muscle – The Backbone to Health" by Dr Alan Hayes

Details:

Date  : 24 September 2010 (Friday)

Time : 2.45pm - 4.00pm

Venue: DKA, Sports Centre (New Building), University Malaya

The talk is free and open to all.

Dr. Hayes’ talk is entitled “Skeletal Muscle – The Backbone to Health”. Skeletal muscle is a vital organ for the long term health of an individual. Much more than simply providing the energy and force for movement, skeletal muscle helps maintain a normal body weight, is a source of amino acids to fuel the immune system and is even an endocrine organ.

Damaging effects on skeletal muscle can lead to some of the most destructive human diseases, such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and has been shown to be a key contributor to the morbidity and mortality associated with a number of diseases, such as heart failure, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), cancer, and now obesity and diabetes.

Fortunately, skeletal muscle displays an incredible plasticity and ability to adapt to changes in use. The damaging effects observed through injury and aging can be delayed and reversed. The use of exercise and naturally occurring compounds as potential therapeutic options are preferable to pharmacologic agents.

Dr Alan Hayes

Dr Hayes is a muscle and exercise physiologist with over 15 years of research experience. The current Head of the Exercise Metabolism Unit, he is an active member of Victoria University’s new Institute of Sport, Exercise and Active Living (ISEAL). With a particular interest in skeletal muscle function, his current focus is on the maintenance of skeletal muscle mass and/or improved function in muscular dystrophy, recovery from muscle injury, and the debilitating effects of obesity and aging.

Please e-mail thataini@um.edu.my if you're interested to attend.

Saucony Grid Fastwitch 4

Just got my Saucony Grid Fastwitch (FT) 4 shoe from CCube. The shoe is bright yellow colour, it's going to match my adidas adizero vest which I'll be using for my Berlin Marathon. This is my 2nd FT shoe. I have used the Saucony Grid FT 2 before, served me well.

Ran my warm up of 7.2km with Zul, my neighbour. He has ran with me a few times before. He told me is trying to lose weight for his Muay Thai fights in coming months and have to  lose probably another 4kg for his weight category. However, he told me it's tough during puasa months as it's hard to control food intake. Since he is fasting, he didn't want to join me for my 4 x 2km intervals, so I had to do it on my own. It's always tough doing intervals on your own and with no one to pace. 1st set was ok, but tire myself out in the 2nd set. I wanted to give up after the 3rd set, but told myself to finish it eventhough my time will be slow. Glad I did. There's always this little demon that tells you too give up inside when you are tired.

Anyway, back to the shoe. It was great and felt running in it was a breeze. The shoe is light enough and really responsive. I'd always like shoe which is really flexible in the midsole when you bend it and usually racers or lightweight trainers will give you that. So much difference between this and the Adidas Supernova Sequence I got a few months back. I've used it for some of my longer runs but since it was a stability shoe, the shoe was solid hard. Can't really bend your foot when you try to push off, but then again it was not a racing shoe anyway.

Only thing I don't like about the Saucony Grid FT4 is the sole will probably run out pretty fast. I guess I going to have to use it only for races. Running on rough tarmac doing speed workout is never a good idea. Hope it holds fine for my marathon pursuit end of this month.

Woo Chan Yew Finishes 8th In Montreal Marathon

Woo Chan Yew the country proud being the only non-African finishing in the Top 10, in the just concluded Montreal Marathon.

He finishes in a time of 2:28:36, missing out on his own national record of  2:26:28. Well done Chan Yew!

NEWS - 03.09.2010

World Class Men´s Field at real,- BERLIN-MARATHON September 26th

Patrick Makau
© PHOTORUN

After a streak of four wins including two world records by Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) this year´s real,- BERLIN MARATHON on September 26th is going to be the platform for several young and ambitious world class runners to better their personal records. Seven runners in the field have personal records faster than 2:07 hrs, three of them have yet run under 2:06hrs lead by Patrick Makau and Geoffrey Mutai (both Kenya) who have clocked the two fastest times this year by winning the Rotterdam Marathon (resp. placing 2nd): 2:04:48 (Makau) and 2:04:55 hrs (Mutai). Both runners know about the flat and fast course in the German capital and hope for favourable weather conditions.

Patrick Makau knows the Berlin streets very well after having won the Vattenfall BERLIN HALF MARATHON in 2007 and 2008 clocking a course and personal record of 58:56 min (2007). Meanwhile he has bettered his PB to 58:52 min by winning the RAK half marathon in 2009 making him the 3rd fastest half marathon runner of all time.

Another contender for winning this prestigious marathon is Eliud Kiptanui. The runner from Kenya recently won the Prague Marathon in a time of 2:05:39 hrs. This effort is especially remarkable considering his age (21) and the fact that this was only his 2nd marathon (and the first one outside of Kenya). Bazu Worku (20 years old from Ethiopia) was 2nd at the Paris Marathon in 2009 (2:06:15) and Gilbert Yegon (22, Kenya) won the Amsterdam Marathon 2009 (2:06:18). Yemane Tsege Adhane (25, Ethiopia) was 4th at the Paris Marathon 2009 (2:06:30).

With expected one million spectators along the scenic loop course the race is covered live by n-tv (nationally), Eurosport (Germany and Europe resp. Asia) and Fuji TV (Japan). Starting time in September 26th is 9 a.m.

Source: Official Berlin Marathon Website

Deja Vu: Federer Amazing Between The Legs Shot

Last year he did it to Serbia's Noval Djokovic in the semi-final of the US Open.

This year he did it again. This time he did it in the first round of the US Open against Brian Dabul of Argentina.

Don't we all love watching this over and over again?