Johor Bahru 10K Run: Preparing for a Perfect Run

The Johor Bahru 10K Run this weekend 10th November 2013 is an unique one. Seldom a run organized in the southern part of Malaysia, since most of the runs are in KL. Last year was the 1st time this run had being held & I had participated the run together with two of my office mates. For this year since Rosman already working in Johor, I already persuade him to join in.

After running for about 2 years, I had observed some patterns to my own running results. For me to achieve a good timing, there are two prerequisite.

One-the route for the run need to be mostly flat condition with less gradient. For this year, the runs that involved some hilly slopes that I had joined were the Melawati 10K Run in February, KL 10K Road Race in April, & recently the Standard Chartered KL Run in June. The worst hilly slope? The Pekeliling Tunku Abdul Rahman. I suffered some serious pain at my left leg after running through the roads in the KL 10K Road Race & that pain had some knocking to my confidence for several months after that. (Amazingly, there are some serious runners that made the roads as their jogging area during the weekend).

Two-the running event that I participate need to have few runners, preferably fewer than 1500 runners. While in the 1st reason I could have a hand in choosing the right run that is right for me, I don't have any control for the 2nd prerequisite. On one hand a great run will have a lot of runners participating. On the other hand the runners will actually block you from running at your normal speed. For example, the Standard Chartered KL Marathon this year, I had a delayed a full 3 minutes before I could actually run. And for the most of the runs, I need to zig-zagged my way - which interrupted my own normal pacing for the run.

Which makes this JB 10K run a perfect event for me to do my won personal record (PR). The route for this run is quite flat - goes through the Jalan Skudai in front of Hospital Sultanah Aminah until the Danga Bay. This translate into less risk to leg  injury & less time to climb the slopes.

Running beside the sea.

This run also benefited with the low number of runners. Last year when I joined the run with Khairul & Saufi from the office, I expected that the number of runners will be just like what I always encountered in KL. We even drove early to the place. When we arrived, I quite perplexed to find that the runners that turned out was quite few.

2012-the year the workload still low. Everyone can still smile.

But it all turned into a blessing in disguise in the end because I had recorded my fastest time of 1:09 for the whole 10km of the run. I'm even caught by surprise by the result. Since then, I always hoped this event will be continue to be organized yearly. This year, it seems I have got another chance to improve my PR.

Just another problem though - my knee.

When I'm running at the Standard Chartered Run, I already felt uncomfortable with my left knee. But in that run, I still managed to complete 10km without stopping. For the next run after that, the BSN Night Run my left knee's pain was more pronounced. I was running through a mild pain until I couldn't stand it after 9km.

That is why I'm coming back to term to wearing back an knee guard for running.

Previously I actually wearing a knee guard at my left knee during running after having a fall incident. For most of the part it was OK but I found out later on that having a knee guard during running is quite restrictive. After finishing running some 10ks, I felt the muscle at my tight was quite stiff. That was why I tried to discard it after buying a new pair of Brooks running shoes.

Alas, it seems that I need to go back wearing a knee guard if that helps. But this time instead of the conventional knee guard, I opted for the Ebene Bio Ray knee guard for something special.

I think I'm a sucker for ads. In its ads, the spoke person for the product was Jalaludin Hassan, the actor. It showed several elderly man & women that wear its product can improve their mobility after a while. They claim that their product will promote better blood regulation to the body part.

After wearing the knee guard for a while, I do feel a different during running. I can feel some heat at my left knee when I'm wearing the knee guard. Even though I could still felt the pain the earlier runs, after some 3 runs there was noticeable no pain at all & I could run comfortably to my normal pace.

Another plus point is that the product that I had bought was the sport type of knee guard. The material is not sweat absorbent & can be dried quickly after use. So no more smell. Even the design is great. Now I can slip in the knee guard easier compared to the conventional knee guard.

And then the last puzzle to prepare for a perfect run - training. I have to admit that this year I'm really lacking in training. In most of the runs that I had this year, I'm struggled with my stamina. After the BSN Night Run recently, I had the opportunity to meet with Iqbal's colleague that participated in the half marathon. According to him, his timing for the run was really off. Much of the reason because he didn't training consistently enough.

That pulls me back to reality to my naive expectation that my body could run 10km without proper training. Even though I had conditioned my legs to 10km run, but to run effectively I still need to train consistently. And that brings me to realign my priorities for this run.

For the last 3 weeks, I had run 3 times consistently ranging from 3km to 5km. In the 1st week, I started with 3km before extending the range to 5km. I even ran 5km in the weekdays - early morning before coming to work, something I didn't dare to try before. (Another reason why I late coming to work. Ha ha).

The good thing is I have a new confident, comfortable with my leg & my stamina is in good level.

I hope the preparation is enough - for me to get a perfect run this weekend.