Update on the Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon II

The race started at 7:00am Sunday. I woke up early at around 4:15am to get changed and to eat some breakfast as I was expecting the pickup van to come at about 5am. Fortunately, I got ready early because a car came at 4:40am to pick us up. Morning at around the base is chilly especially since I was only wearing a t-shirt and shorts. There were about 6 runners from the lodge that I was staying but the car could only pick 4. Actually the 2 that took the second round would have been more fortunate because we ended up having to wait at the starting line from 5:15 till the time that the race starts. For those that were inexperienced, we only had our racing gear. The smart ones had thermal wear and they were comfortably warming up till the start time. There was a baggage drop off counter at the start so they would transport your jackets back down to the finishing point.

The race started promptly at 7am after the roll call and was more a walk than a run for me. Even before the 1km mark, I couldn't keep running and had to revert to brisk walking. Simply too steep for my heart to take it if I was running. The route was uneven steps almost all the way until around 6.5 km I think. Then it turns to a steep rock face for the rest of the journey. By the time it turn to the rocky section, my quads were already getting cramps and my thighs were like jelly. I was just literally pushing myself up although I knew judging from the timing that I could not make the summit in time. Just did not train enough on steps.

Therefore on my certificate it wrote DNF (did not finish). I did not finish the race. I was a little too slow going up. At the cut off time at 2hrs 30 I was probably at 7.5km. The summit is 8.75km. The run marshals let me continue till about 8km then turn me back.

I decided to run down as much as the legs could take. However, the uphill part already took most of my strength so I wasn't fast coming down. I tried to go as fast as I could till I took a tumble. I tripped on a rock and fell. I scraped my knees and elbows. After the fall, I just took my time coming down as my left knee was a little swollen. Moreover, I knew that I would have a DNF anyway even if I sprinted down in the allotted time. Fortunately with all the skating falls, I had good experience with treating road rash.

Great experience, I guess (though still a little traumatised. Ask me a few more weeks and I would tell you what a wonderful time I had). My consolation is that many share the same DNF with me. Out of around 170 men runners, only 40+ qualified. So there were around 130 of us, who just went for the experience. It seems from the race director usually only about 30% from the men's open category qualifies. With this DNF race, guess I'll have my next year's fitness goal fixed as well - need to finish some unfinished business.

Kinabalu run update

Still in Kota Kinabalu but don't feel like talking too much about the run. Too traumatized to talk about it now. When I find a computer with a proper keyboard I will let you know how it went. So this message is to say I am still alive but slightly scarred.

Too much time?

Arrived in KK this morning and realised that I may have alloted too much time to just sitting around and doing nothing. Quite likely I'll be around the Mt Kinabalu base camp for a few days. Maybe it would be good to roam around the area a little. I remember from the map I saw earlier this year, there were a few trails around the base. Maybe take a few hours tomorrow to hike a little or go to the tree top walk and hot springs. But for now, I am stuck with my big bag and no itinerary except the run on Sunday. I'll probably take a bus to the base camp very soon. Maybe get a good bite and move on. As have been my experience, time usually flies once I start moving around.

Running late

Yes lately I have been in the best cardio shape than I have ever been. That is for as long as I can remember. Well since I am going to run the Kinabalu run in about 2 weeks, I ought to be but sadly I have to admit I am a little lacking. Tried to run a small hill in Ipoh and found it to be torturous - my calves were burning and I had to walk for the majority of the way uphill. That hill was about 800m...Kinabalu is 4000+m. Given that the tickets have already been paid for and the time off work has been scheduled, all I can say is that I will give it my best shot. I will likely try to squeeze in a last longer run by Tuesday if possible. Then it will be just maintenance till the race. Thinking about the race at least gives me something to look forward to rather than the monotony of working in corporate Singapore day in, day out. Yes for me in a fitness sense, this is shooting for the moon.