PJ Half Marathon 30km 2019

I had not join PJ events for a while, but this year, I had 2. Gosh, it stayed true to its reputation. Hilly course, and one would always forget how tough it could get.

I registered this quite early on earlier this year. Especially after knowing that it would be about 1 month from SCKLM. It was a very timely golden training opportunity. 30km good enough timing, decent course to replicate SCKLM. So I registered it in a heartbeat. 

PJ half always have a soft spot in my heart. Registered it first in 2014. Was in a very early pregnancy that time.  the route was not tough then. In 2016, joined again, skipped 2015 since I just had Naela. 2016 route was similar to the current one. I remember it was hilly and tough. But there were only 2 or 3 major hilly section, and I remember those section very vividly. So for this one, I mapped the route as usual on garmin, to get some ideas on where the uphills are and what nots. So the uphill placement were kind of planted on my head. It helped a lot since this has helped me to control my pace enough in order to make up for the uphills later. 

I had a general idea of finishing in 2:50. With that in mind I had these few options strategised.

Option 1 - Most Desirable Outcome (MDO)

5:40 overall average pace in 2 hours 50 mins

5km splits of: 5:52-5:49-5:46-5:44-5:42-5:41

Option 2 - Backup Plan (Best Alternative)

5:46 overall average pace, in 2hours 53 mins

We left home at 345. That was supposed to be enough, had the traffic was smooth nearby the starting venue. It was raining as well, so there was a concern whether the run would go on as planned. We couldn't get to park where we intended. And the change in parking venue had costed us some time as well. With less than 10 mins to starting line, we had to jog quite a distance to the starting line. That was not a problem for me, at least I got to warmup a bit. Once reached, they put a very long barrier towards far back and we had to make our way all the way to the back. And dear hubs didn't get to do his prerace stretch before that, so I waited for him for a bit. When the race did start, it took a while for us to pass the starting arch, about 2 mins to be specific. That's how crowded and how many people had joined yesterday's run. 

I still had my wudhu with me, and I decided to try to contain it as long as I could. I tried to stay together with hubs for a while, but got to do it for only about 1 km. I decided to weave my way through the crowd after that. It was drizzling from the start, non stop. Water puddles were all over. You could try to avoid them, but your shoes will still gonna be soaked anyway. The first noticeable uphill was right after PJ Hilton towards PJ 14, just within 2 km after the start. Then the next uphill of course, after we made the big round as we passed by the starting line. Then only the climbing stabilised a bit, as we passed by Assunta school on towards Jalan Gasing. Crowd had dispersed a bit so that was a bit of a breather. As we were heading towards PJ Oldtown between km6-7 around the Assunta Hospital roundabout, I bumped into Faherina. My cue at that time was, ok, I must never overtake her. She's a living legend. That should at least be my indicator to slow down. So I managed to tag slightly behind her for quite a while. Would try to keep up with her both when she got faster and when she got slower. There were some uphill near the oldtown, but it wasn't too bad. She liked to charge through the hill climb. Was worried that if I continuously followed her that way, it would drained me unnecessarily. So it crossed my mind that I had to clear her off . But she slowed down at the water station and never seemed to get up to speed again. Parted ways with her at the roundabout near my old office and had to pace myself on my own after. 

I was catching up my pace almost up to how I had strategised my race pace. I had parted with her about 10km, and my watched showed average pace was 5:42. That was way faster than my target, considering my plan was to have an average pace of about 5:49 by km10. I was so worried of whether I was able to charge up that fast too early on and still have the energy at the end. And apparently I could. 5:55 at the start is really nothing Ina. What I should have worried more was again, how to contain your pace and not charge up too much. So I took the opportunity to try to contain that average pace as long as I could, and not focus on pace too much but to focus more on sustainable effort. 

The 1st dreaded uphill came not too long after KM 11. It was a double hill. I don't remember it being that way before. So it was long climb up. When it was over, there was no real downhill after. It was sort of flat. Not long after, we entered Subuh. I anxiously waited for the prayer area. Then only a downhill present itself, and I managed to bring up my pace in reaching towards the Surau. The surau area was perfectly positioned at KM15, just about a minute or 2 after Subuh, and it was perfect. I had happily made my way there, settled it once and for all and was totally glad that it was settled smoothly. Alhamdulillah. I brought my telekung along and managed to squeeze it into my skort. It was for nothing, since  I had a perfectly dry, fresh telekung to use at the surau. I must be the first to use it. There was another surau about 8km. Probably prepared for the HM runners. Nonetheless, really appreciate the thoughtful effort from the organiser for us Muslim runners.

So SS2 challenge was done, on towards the uphill challenge after Bulatan Rothmans, which I am not familiar of at all. And what I had seen in the garmin connect elevation profile was true to its word. It was as high up as the first dreaded hill, but a bit more gradual. So 2nd uphill was done, only left with the SS17 uphill. Or so I thought. 

After the 2nd uphill, it went downward, into jalan 223 and it was about km20. I had 10km to go and I knew, that was where the real challenge lies. final 3rd of the race with few hilly section still in spare. The pace was still about 5:42 average. I remember consciously telling myself to stop focusing on others and focus on my own effort, not even pace. Do anything that felt like comfortable cruising for me. It helped a lot. But I failed to notice additional hilly section from 223 towards Jaya One PJ14. I didn't know it was that steep. Based on elevation here, it was steep as hell. Was happy with how I charged up those section and a downhill was greeting us after, so that was a relief. But it took a toll on me still. I had to give in to some walk after the roundabout towards SS17. It was not climbing much, but I didn't recover enough from the previous climb. Lucky I managed to pull myself up soon after and had a cruising way up towards the highest point of the course; the dreaded SS17 section. And I thought that was the last of it. The average pace had dropped to 5:46. Thinking that the past is over, I was quite confident of shaving 1 or 2 secs off from that. 

So I cruised on again. The SS16 flyover was nothing new, but that was not too dreadful. We passed by UH and knew that we had to pass some unfamiliar section, but I didn't know that there would be a big surprise in store for us. I caught up with Hisham right in front of UH and the 3 hour pacer right after. I overtook them after KM 12 and they left me behind for a good 14 km, just because I stopped for Subuh? Damn. So I tagged along the 3 hour pacer and it was the best decision in the race ever. My toughest moment was when I faced that most dreaded km27-28 uphill. It was steep, it was long, and I had nothing much in me to spare. But his guidance had really helped. I cannot remember his exact word but he had asked to cruise steadily. And I didn't stop at all, during and after. He had asked me to keep maintaining the pace on the flats after as well. So that's what it feels like having a good pacer to help you out, while not pushing you to the brink of exhaustion. And when that was done, I knew the road ahead should just be me and the finishing route ahead of me.  Too bad that I couldn't stayed on with him as he had his 3 hour pacing work to do, and I need to use whatever available left in me to charge ahead.

It was only 2km left after that, but boy it felt forever. To make matter worse, When I thought the finishing line would be similar to MWM, we had to make a U turn in front of A&W area. But knowing that it would make the distance to be exactly 30km, it was a good decision from the organiser. 

I finished in 2:51:55 according to my watch at 5:44. It was slightly slower than my ideal but it was way better than my backup which is just as good. No way I could beat those hills easily. Looking back, That was the best I could and big thanks to Allah. As I read on other champ's remarks, boy I should be more than delighted with my outcome. Had I not had to break for prayer, I might have been able to secure a 9th place. A top 10 and that was more than enough. I am more than happy to get to broadcast my compliance to my faith and put aside this worldly outcome of securing that top 10 spot.

It was raining throughout the race and even after. In all my running years, that was the first time that it rained throughout the running duration. But I seriously believe that it helped a lot. A lot of my good runs were when it was raining. My heart rate would always get so high and rain would help reduce the heat a bit. I had to rush off to send the kids to football, since they were so insistent. Dragged my stiff legs from the race venue, braved myself all the way to the parking lot, waited for the police to let me pass through, drove all the way home, picked them up and headed back to the venue. Productive day and morning indeed. 

PJHM 30km 2019

Date: 25 August 2019
Venue: Padang Timur Petaling Jaya
Distance: 30 km
Position: 16
Official Time: 2:57:01
Personal Time: 2:51:55
Pace: 5:44