PBIM 2017 (FM) - 26/11/2017

This is my second PBIM. The first one was in 2016, which was great with many of us from Anonymous Runners (AR) joining. This time i was travelling alone, without our AR members (except Razman whom alreaxy in Penang at this point of writing), leaving wifey n kids at home too. That's a bit weird comparing to the eventful PBIM2016, but life goes on...

I have lots of doubt while planning for the trip, once had put the bib for sale. But deep inside i just want to do this, kind of revenge for the poor performance last time round. Preparation for this race? Its still the same lame excuses - lack of long distance run, low milage. Just pray for me - PBIM2017 be kind kind to me please....

Packing was quick and simple - just running gears and couple of shirts the night before. Set alarm at 4:30, but still sleeping at 5:00am before finally lazily get my self up ard 6:15. Had a short quick bath, pray and in minutes already on my way to the lrt!. Inside the lrt i already missed the kids. They kind of knew i will be away. Spend much of the night playing in mom&dad's room, until forced to leave by mommy... They are just so super cute, like forever.

Thanks to mass transit nowadays, so easy, fast and convenient. By 8am i was already at the airport, 2 hours before departure. Good time for carbo load while waiting for boarding. The flight was good, and i was surprised when the pilot announced that we are touching down in Penang 20 minutes earlier than scheduled. Hope AA will not be issued speed ticket. LOL. At the Penang airport, i dont really know where to go. Check in only start after 2pm and FO will be at 1:30am the following day. And i Decided to pay a visit to the event venue and check on their preparation. I am also run out of powel gel. While waiting, had a quick chat with a 62 yrs old marathoner from Thailand, a veteran with 103 marathons under his belt. He even had attended the KL marathon when it was still sponsored by Maybank instead of the current sponsor - StanChart.

We then boarded rapidPng to Queensbay. Funny that the bus insisted for exact fares. Mine was 1.40 and i do not have small change so no change for the 2.00 i put into the box. I wonder if someone put RM10 or RM50!!

It was a bit early and the event site was still not yet 100% ready. Bought supply of High5 power gel, grab quick lunch at Queensbay, then head directly to Magpie Residence Penang. The only reason I chose the place was for the AirAsiaGo package (flight and ccomodation all in), and it seems the place got very good reviews. On second thought, I probably would want to re-consider my options. No offence though, it was a decent place, friendly, clean, quiet and cheap, but ......

After Isya' prayers, again I went to Queensbay to have dinner. I have been a bit choosy on my meals before the race - no curry, no spicy food, so no nasi kandar!. Done with dinner, it was still early and about 3 hours before FO. But you can already seen runners filling up the Mall. Every corner u can see people with different running tees, from fun run to ultras, fom students to veterans, locals and foreigners. Well, that's the kind of environment that raise your motivation as a runner, the sense of you are part of the game. But I dont see much familiar faces, may be it's a bit too early, may be they are still enjoying their sleep, or they could be somewhere else within the event site. I was wondering where is Razman, I have not seen him at all and not much update of his whereabouts except for his short run around penang earlier. I just hope he did not gett too excited hitting milage before the FO.

Later on, went to check on the expo, and still not too many crowd. On the way back to the Mall, I bump with my wife's colleague - Firman. This will be his first FM at PBIM. We decided to take a rest beside the Mall as the shops are already closing, while waiting for the FO. Managed to get a nap before we decided to get ourself ready. I din't see Firman after that. Settling down, left my bag at the lugage area, I decided joined the crowd at one of the tent, where finally I met Razman, Teo from Johor and shared some salt stick with Adzyan. It was a coincidence that I pack 6 pcs of salt stick and 2 pcs Actigin (bought from Soh Wai Ching few months back). Usually for FM, I would consume up to 3 salt sticks. But with lack of training and low milage, I dare not to gamble against cramps. My plan was 1 pc for every 8-10km, 1 packet of power gel every 12 km.

The RACE - well, I must say, I am very happy with the race! Not my personal best, finishing 4:43, a huge 12 minutes faster than PBIM16. At least I am always aware and awake during the race, as compared to absent minded last year. I remembered asking some runner along the route last year, why are we not turning back to the SL thinking that running along the bridge was way too long and never ending one. The fact was, we are already turning back on the other side of the bridge towards the SL, duhhh...

It works for me in PBIM 2017 could be due to these:

Start slow, no rushing, just follow the crowd. Well actually it's a bit difficult to hit your pace with crowded runners in small roads. I was on 7:29 and 7:10 in first 2 km.
My aim was sub5. When I was with pacers for 4:30, I decided to just balancing my pace with the group. That really help me avoiding the methamatics and counting of possibilities doing a PB. This time I am very much aware on my milage progress and pace, I am aware on my surroundings.
Avoiding the outer side of the bridge, thinking what is down there in the sea. Running most of the time closer to the divider nearer to runners from the opposite side, and for me, it helps.
Surprisingly, (caveat) running without listening to music throughout and having the annoying notification sound from garmin clears my thoughts.
Keep myself hydrated at most WS. I was very happy with Wan (Mohd Ridwan Mustafa - one of the three pacers for 4:30), keep reminding us when to take salt stick and power gels, as well as the next target and so on. But in turn, I had to stop for a pee quite frequently too. LOL.
I only stopped once for spray along the route, but instead enjoyed the many supplies of ice cubes. I think it helps to reduce muscle pain while continue running. I had ice cubes inside my short and shirt. The compression nicely hold those ice cubes on my thighs, harmstring and shoulder. I had some on my head too. It cools me down, slowed down the inflammation i guess.
Somehow, both my feet were in great pain along the 34-36km, which slowed me down, forced for a walk-run-walk-run. I was ahead of the 4:30 pacers at that time, and they were still at a steady pace. When they passed by, I was a bit worried that I would end up finishing the same timing as PBIM2016. At 39, suddenly i had Solehuddin (DRC runner) running along side me, and the company helped to push a bit more for pace then followed by a quick walk and run again to recover some of the lost time. We continue such momentum till the FL.

I really enjoyed the PBIM2017, nice medal and fin tee too. At FL, happy to see and selfie with some fellow runners - Azman, Mohamed and Esther. Beautiful moment.

Insyallah I will be back next year for PBIM2018.