A Journey to My First Marathon Part 9

What is the most difficult part of the training for a marathon? The long runs? To me, are the hill runs. This is really the toughest part. I usually do my hill runs on a treadmill. Even on a treadmill it is still tough. Tempo runs can be tough as well. The long runs are tough for me when it goes above 18km when I have to run more than 2 and half hours. My first mental block is when I have to train more than 21km that is the half marathon distance. Running up to 3 hours. Eventually I have to train up to 33km according to the training program. However, it is not necessary to train the full distance of 42km.

Looking for a nice and long running route is one of the challenges in the training. Especially when I am training solo. You would not want to be silly hitting the road at 6am or earlier all by yourself. But at last, we still have to be crazy enough to do that. I remember carrying a bottle of Gatorade on the right and a bottle of water on the left running at 6am on the road. That's where the marathon trains you to be determined. The burning desire to complete the marathon. 

Obviously, one of the methods of looking for running route is using Google Earth and calculating roughly the distance which you can run.

This is how it will look like which you map and calculate your distance

You can also drive around your neighborhood to find suitable running routes. One of the better running routes on the mainland of Penang will be the one next to Safira Club near to the Penang Bird Park. It is in between two rivers. But from end to end it is more than 2km one way. You can choose to run the flat course which is about 1km. The real plus point of this route is the sounds of nature. You can hear birds chirping away and insects sound. It can be pretty relaxing and the route very "kampung" feel. You can also run to Sunway Carnival Mall closing to the end of your run because they are plenty of convenient stores around the area. This helps if you wish to look for a cold electrolyte drinks after a long run.

View of the running route near Penang Bird Park and Safira Club

A really good place to run is Mengkuang Dam. People go to run at Mengkuang Dam as early as 5am with a torchlight or headlamp. Mengkuang has some hilly courses so it can be tough. Hills are good for marathon training as not all courses are flat during marathon. End to end it is more than 5km. Nice scenery especially when the sky just brighten up. Gives you an absolute serene feeling. Plenty of runners on Sunday. You can also run outside on the roads which is also pretty hilly. However, this route is very hot after 8.30am to 9am. Another strong point of the Mengkuang Dam is that you can easily leave your water bottles on top of the main gate since it is a usual practice for all runners there.

Scenic view of Mengkuang Dam

The other flat long course is at the Batu Kawan Stadium. This is course is not encourage if you run alone because the roads are pretty deserted. You can have a choice of running a hilly course to the Pulau Aman jetty or a route to the second link of Penang Bridge but this link road is not fully completed at this point. 

But I am going to improve my speed while building my endurance even if it is my First Marathon.........

To be continued..................