Light Training & Gels

I'm not really sure it counts as training but to liven things up and relax from running, I elected to do half an hours worth of football juggling & some Nike/Barcelona skills training today - and boy has my juggling gone to pieces after not much practice in recent weeks! :) It took a while to get to a hundred!

Good marathon news - I finally found some running gels last night! They are sold in GNC, Gurney Plaza (basement floor)! A PowerBar Gel costs RM6.50 and GU Energy Gel costs RM8. Berry flavours were the only ones available although the sales woman did say there would be more flavours coming in in the following week. I've yet to try one out but will give a verdict here next week after a run/taste test.

Football Match

Played for KDU College vs Penang Nigeria
Score: Lost 4-2

Played: Right Back!
Warm Up: Dynamic stretches

I was just happy to finish this match relatively uninjured after a bang of the knees halfway through the second half and particularly after a jumping tackle by one of the Nigerians right at the end of the match where all his studs connected with the outside of my left leg! I was not happy with the tackle at all but the referee didn't even blow for it. And the linesman was on my side too. Idiots.

Run + Match

Time: 11am
From: Greenlane to Weld Quay

Length: 7.3km
Time Taken: 41mins

I was desperate to do a run today after a whole weekend of non-running and needed to clock a significant distance. Sadly I couldn't wake up early in the morning to do a 2 hour run in the gym due to the previous night's Bejeweled games... so I took my friend, Kaz's, advice and tried running to work as I needed to do a bit of marking and discuss marks with a fellow teacher. I've measured it previously on Google maps and it's approximately 7km but I decided to run on any side of the road where there was shade as it was 'a bit warm'. All in all an interesting run because there are so many different surfaces, vehicles to avoid and steps, slopes and drains. Not really training for marathon running - it felt more like free running - but something was better than nothing and I helped the environment too.

The worst thing about running to work is that you have to run back! After all you've got no car!

Time: 3.40pm
From: Weld Quay to Greenlane via bank

Length: 7.6km (different route!)
Time Taken: 44mins

Decided to eat chicken rice as a post run meal which was followed by a bowl of Baskin Robbins!



Played for PSC vs team in white
Time: 6pm
Score: Drew 1-1 (match abandoned at half time due to muddy pitch)

Played: Centre defence
Warm Up: See run above!

It's always interesting to see how the game will go after a long run - especially when you are playing with old men but it is a lot easier as my position is mainly defensive. However I did manage to make bursts upfield and thought I should have had a penalty after I pinched the ball from a defender who panicked and tried to clear it but whacked me on my left calf! Ref said I pushed him which was nonsense! Fortunately Hilme had already put us in the lead with a lob to the keeper's top left corner (we all thought he'd missed!) but they equalised when a low shot from the edge of the area went to Suresh's bottom left corner. I was all ready to play the second half too - I went to get longer studded boots - but when I ran back onto the pitch, everyone had walked off! Match Abandoned.

Runs Around Polo

Time: 5.45pm
To: 8 circular laps around Polo Field, flat course

Length: Each lap ?km
Time Taken: over the course of 1 hour

I decided to make the boys join me on my run today as I need to get some leg work in before they rusted up! So a warm up lap alone, followed by a faster lap and another soon became a trail of KDU players before some stretching and then another lap with Muneer and Feri! Seconds later, it was a game of monkey in two separate squares so harassment and first touches were the order of the day before I did another (slow) 4 laps or so with Neoh. Sadly we couldn't persuade Dayana to come with us!

Drinking Whilst Running

Whilst waiting for my wife to finish with her facial and having had my 1hour foot reflexology at the centre in Queensbay (not bad at all for RM38!), I decided to browse through a few marathon books with the big day looming. One of the things I came across in the Penguin Runner's book (John Bingham!) was about eating and drinking. He doesn't recommend just drinking water as he suggests supplementing it with isotonic drinks so the sodium gets replaced.

However he did give one useful tip that I'm glad I read before I did my run:

If you eat something, drink water with it.

If you don't eat something, drink the isotonic drink!

That banana and 100 Plus combination could have been messy!!! ;)

Football Training

Sadly as usual, I didn't get to do too much of C.C.F.C. at Pykett School although I did the technique and sprint work (5 - 30m). I think that's the thing I dislike most about being a coach! I also decided to play a half field game with the focus on defenders playing the ball out to the sides instead of lumping as they currently do in a match & some striker pressure.

Football Match

Played for KDU College vs P.I.S.S.
Score: Won 5-1

Played: Centre Midfield
Warm Up: Minimal

It was already 3-1 when I came on at half time so it was a case of keeping the pressure on and not letting the opponents back in the game. It was fairly simple as I looked for Christopher on the left wing and Feri on the right wing. The fourth goal was very nice as it was a team goal from the left side of the field to the right which resulted in Samson setting up Maksat for the first in the half. The second goal of the second half came when I set Christopher away on the left and he did his usual direct run and put the ball past the keeper on his near post. P.I.S.S. should probably have scored a couple with Norman in particular missing several efforts: a one on one, a shot when Adrian kicked the ball to him from a goal kick and a shot from the edge of the area. All in all it was an easy game to play in after yesterday's long run.