Penang Malakoff 17KM Run 2013 - PB Toasted To Perfection =D

Oh hello there, fellow readers and followers, my brothers and sisters in runninghood... I would like to apologize for the delay of this Race Report aka Review... 'Basi' already but still very memorable indeed... Kinda lazy-ish, sluggish for the past two weeks lately... Gosh, dunno why... Mostly affected with my old n new injuries, perhaps...

Enlighted historical Penang City Hall building - the night before the run! Jitter much?

Anyhow, the show must go on, nonetheless. If I`m not mistaken, I do still remember every single thing that I`ve experienced throughout the event because I`ve improved my previous year`s timing... Yayyy!!! Hahaa....

It was all started when me and my new sidekick, Zen took on a journey to the Northern Region, the Pearl of the Orient on Saturday. Fyi, it was Zen`s 1st time to Penang. Therefore I must bring him to the must visit tourist spot attractions there. Hahaa... I've took our racekit earlier on to avoid the hassle to collect it on that weekend. Nice yellow mellow floro tee... Much better than the shocking pink KL Malakoff 2012... Hahaa!!

On the majestic Penang Bridge at dusk... Awesome sunset view...

We reached Georgetown around 7pm and were lost for a while when searching for the hotel, Georgetown Sentral. Once we've checked in, we immediately went for our dinner at Restoran Sup Hameed. I had this succulent Mutton Soup with Roti Bengali... Boy how I missed this comfort dish so much... Hahaa... Met up with the rest of the team later on. We've decided to walk towards Kapitan Nasi Kandar Restaurant located not far from Port Weld. They took lots of picture along the way. We had our heavy dinner of Claypot Nasi Briyani Kapitan, mostly with giant prawn and Tandoori chicken. Gosh, I was super full after that. It was like we were carboloading for a FM (padahal nak lari 17k jer.... Mwahahaa!)

The Famous Kapitan Restaurant... Sedap gila nasik briyani sinih baq ang!

Me and Uncle after a filling nasi briyani feast... Too heavy for a late dinner perhaps? Hahaa!

In order to burn off the excess calories intake, we walked towards the Jetty and took more photo there. Later on we head to Padang Kota Lama to take some pictures there. I could see the arch and canopies were already erected and prepared for the event. Sooo can`t wait. After that, we just walk our way home towards Jalan Penang. I think we've walked around 3km on that night alone... Hahaa... Insane!

I went to bed around 12. Woke up early on that morning, surprisingly, around 5am, must be very excited to run in Penang again. Hahaaa... Wore my running compression tight n gadgets and off we go. We arrived near the starting line circa 6.15 am. Did some warm up and stretching beforehand.  Met Azim n Faiez, the dynamic duo at the starting pen and took picture together. Hehee...By 7am, we were flagged off. Yayyy...

All the sudden I felt the urge to do no. 1 business during my 1st kilo. I decided to hang on until I saw the Shell station near Bayview Hotel. A lot of runners were relieving themselves there too. Hahaa... Now my tank is empty, so it`s time to catch up with the others. The route was 100% flat. The weather was nice, slight ly overcast during the 1st 10k. Saw many strong lady runners overtook me. Wow and i was blown away. Tried to increase my pace gradually but somehow my knees injuries restricted me from doing so. Mode pasrah sajala... Luckily the Rock Tape did wonders to my right knee. Then my left knee started to acting up. Sigh.. hehee

Penang Malakoff 17k Route, Same old same old toasted flat route LOL...

After we ran the TESCO Tanjung Pinang, near the 10km mark, I saw this lovely family were handing out slices of juicy watermelon and some chewy fruit candies to all the runners. I didn`t notice the watermelon until it was too late. Hahaa... Bonked perhaps due to the microwave heat from the sun. We were very fortunate because we were running along the shaded beautiful rows of semi-D and bungalows along that stretch. Cooling even for a while. Once we entered the roundabout near Gurney Drive, I was expecting to be roasted by the fearless morning sun light. I tried to stay focused and ran along any shades I could find along the stretch. Still maintaing my pace nonetheless. I don`t wanna be burned too long in the sun as I easily dehydrate and will suffer the tormenting dehydration aftermath later on. T..T

Almost There, Almost Home!!! Fuhhh... Half toasted ok, Should have started at 6.30am!!!!

Along the route towards to finishing line, I saw several tandem cyclists "escorting" us. Later I found out it was a charity cycling event for the visually impared person, Cycling for Sight. How cool is that? I've targetted my finishing time to be Sub 2 hour so that I could improve my last year timing of 2.02. Guess what, I managed to cross the finishing line with the time of 1.55.37 (From my NIKE+ Apps). Shaved 7min from my 2012's record. Yayyy... (Kalaulah HM aku pon bole dapat Sub2 gak... Martylarr vrangan sat hahaa!

Post run finisher medal pose is a must ok... Kena pikir cara lain yang lebih kreatif lepas nih... Hahaaa 

Four of us with ours medals... Cool la gak... It`s their 1st time doing 17k here hehee... ;D 

Me & RatuAlphalipid Taufik.Tahniah berjaya abeskan 17k!

Zen n his jumping pose... Congratz coz wat PR!!!! Bapak kelajuan budak nih.... Respecto!

Well, after the post run photo shooting session, 5 of us went to have chicken rice lunch in Rope Walk (ok lah, so-so only), then off to Kek Lok Si Temple (My 1st time ever, such a stunning view from the top!) and Penang Hill nonetheless... Such a great experience running in Penang again early this year and looking forward to go for better PB n lots of fun too next year, hopefully... =D

Kek Lok Si Temple Penang... It was freaking hot.. I was sweating buckets!!! @..@

Four of us going all the way up to Kek Lok Si Temple... A very good stairs workout... T..T

Going up to Penang Hill... Woot2... 

Temperate flowers up there on Penang Hill... Cantik sangat... So English garden!!! 

Till then, wait for my 2 recent race report aka review (2XU Compression Run SG 2013 and Malaysia Women Marathon 2013). Both HMs were done in a different conditions and totally different timing due to many factors... Suffice to say, I would rather run in my beloved Malaysia than Singapore! (T&C apply) :D

Last but not least, always stay hydrated and do some stretching after every races to prevent cramps... ;D

Tudiah Zen jadi duta minuman air mineral sat... Hehee =D

Chao bella!

XOXO...