2nd Series Trial Run with Durians and Laksa

Durian "Che Pui"(Green Skin) at Balik Pulau.

Andrew has invited me to try to do a final trial run for the Penang Run 2nd series on last Saturday 22 June 2013. Since I will be doing a long run of 20 km this week, so it may be better to try out the trial run. After my previous experience with the trial run of MPSP Larian Hijau last year, I know I will be the last running. Since I am such a slow runner and most of the runners that come for a trial run will be experienced runners. There are more than 10 of us for the trial run where many of us are not familiar with the route and thankfully we have Ms Gan that have waited for me at every junction when there is a turn. If not, I will have been lost a few times.

The run up Bukit Genting picks up after about 2km and you have to run another 2 - 2.5km to reach the top. And then it is downhill all the way. The problem is it is dark when you are running up the new highway and when you are running down. Thankfully, I brought my new headlamp which I was holding it in my hand. But running up this section alone needs a lot of mental strength. But the toughest route is Jalan Bahru after reaching the mosque. It is a straight and flat kampung route of almost 6 - 7km and a real mental test. My brain almost check out at the end of the road. This 2nd series the final distance is 21.8km or could be longer since you have to run into the school. And it is definitely tougher than the 1st series. Will have to see if I could perform better at the actual race day on 7 July 2013.

Penang Run 2nd Series Trial Run

Since it is a trial run, it will just be a slightly faster LSD. And I have arranged for my family to me pick up at the finishing point of the 2nd series, i.e. SK Sungai Pinang. Our plan for that day is going for durian feast and laksa at Balik Pulau. It is durian season and Balik Pulau is famous for durians ! When we arrived at  Balik Pulau, it is too early for laksa as the stalls are not open and we could not find any durian stalls around. So end up eating chicken rice and hokkien mee (prawn mee) for breakfast. Then we realised that the old market is already closed and there is a new market after asking the locals. The elderly auntie told us that there is a new market and the Durian Festival is just opposite the new market. But we wanted to try the Peng Siew Durian Farm which Andrew has recommended.

Fruit Stall opposite the new market for the Durian Festival

He has given me some road instructions on whatsapp and we just could not find the place although we almost drive up a hill. But he told us that it will be near Sacred Heart High School. We give up looking after driving up and down and unable to locate the farm. Then we decided to go to the new market and we found the row of stalls mainly selling durians which is for the Durian Festival. We just simply choose a stall and pick two durians, which is "hor lo" and "che pui". Two durians costing RM76 and the "che pui" which has only two pieces of durian fruit inside costing RM20 is really pricey. Which we Chinese say "Eat Gold".

Durian at the Fruit stall opposite the new market

As we have plenty of time on our hand, we decided to give the Peng Siew Durian Farm a try again. We  drove along the road based on the instructions Andrew has given. We reach a row of new shophouses on the left-hand side of the road. And we decided to ask for more directions. Fortunately, we ask the right person this time and he gave us a precise location which is only slightly further up. There is no signboard on the outside. Just an iron gate and a durian tree. When we drove in, the place is full of cars. Yup, we found it !

Peng Siew Durian Farm

Durians at Peng Siew During Farm

Nice Peacock at the farm

Haven't taken durians at a durian farm all my life. Nice environment and it will be ideal to bring young children as there are some animals on the farm. The biggest attraction is the peacocks. You can probably see some snakes hanging from trees. And I actually saw a monitor lizard walking around the farm leisurely like his own house. The durian farm also sell other fruits like rambutans. But the durians are much cheaper than the stalls we have at the Durian Festival. And they sell fresh eggs just collected from the farm. This durian farm is definitely worth a visit ! Will be back the next time.

Fresh eggs for sale

After the 2 rounds of durian feasting, we are definitely full and have to buy a few packets of Balik Pulau's laksa for supper. It is always great to weave in some sight seeing and "makan-ing"(feasting) with a run after you have burned so much calories.

Map of the farm taken from the back of the name card

Xtreme Marathon

Xtreme Marathon by TVB Hong Kong.

A documentary made by TVB Hong Kong on two extreme marathons. One in North Pole (North Pole Marathon) and the other in Sahara desert (Marathon des Sables). Extreme coldness and extreme heat.  It is a joy that at last the Hong Kong Television is getting interested to do documentaries on marathons. In the documentary, two Hong Kong actor, Kenny Wong and Oscar Leung are selected to participate in the event. I wonder if the actor knows how tough and dangerous this assignment is. But I understand the TV station bought a hefty sum of insurance for this documentary.

Kenny Wong and Oscar Leung

It is a 5 episodes (30 mins) documentary which also emphasized on global warming and wasting of earth resources. Oscar Leung was selected to participate in the North Pole Marathon which he has to run 9 laps on the floating ice for 42km at the North Pole. They were allowed to go into the resting tent after every completed lap. They are six men and one woman from Hong Kong which accompanied him on this adventure. The six men are all experienced marathoners but not Oscar Leung. He has not ran even a half marathon before. He says he has only completed two training runs of 10K. You can see how torturing he felt after the 3rd lap. And after the 4th lap, he just couldn't run anymore. He just decided to walk the rest of the marathon. He almost give up after the 8 lap not even wanting to complete the last lap. He is afraid that he may die if he did last lap. Eventually, the photographers actually accompany him to complete the last lap. He finally completed the race in 11 hours and 10 mins.

This is what Oscar Leung commented after the race which I have tried my best to translate it to English.  "In beginning, my initial intention of running this race is wrong. I wanted to compete with other participants and win the others. Running a marathon is just like life. You are not competing with others but with yourself. There is no winning or losing. Only whether you can do it or not. If you can't do it, it does not mean that you can't do it forever and you have failed. The next time you can do better. The most important thing to remember is to persevere and not be influenced my things and people around you. Because as long as you don't admit that you lose, you will never lose. This is my greatest inspiration from the race".

North Pole Marathon

Kenny Wong participated in Marathon des Sables at the Sahara Desert. It is a 240km race for 7 days across the Sahara Desert. From the documentary, I think he did not run the full race due to the difficulty and dangers of the race. But he did fully complete the last day of the race which is a marathon distance. One of the interesting thing that I remembered about the documentary is he has to bring a small syringe that is required by the race organiser. The purpose of the syringe is that in the event of a snake bite, you are supposed to use the syringe to draw out as much venom as possible from the bite to prevent it from circulating to other parts of the body. One of the memorable part of the race is running in the night underneath the stars of the Sahara Desert. This remind me of a similar incident at the marathon in Langkawi where we were running underneath the stars near the Langkawi airport.

The 28th Marathon des Sables

If you are interested in understanding the two marathons and the dangers of global warming, give this documentary a watch.

Brooks Pure Drift

Brooks Pure Drift.

Currently, this is my favorite shoe for racing and long runs. It has a huge toe-box which is great for my wider feet. In addition, it is extremely light and you can actually take off the insole if you want to have a barefoot feel. I prefer leaving the insole inside which only has a 4 mm drop. This is one of the minimalist shoe by Brooks. I used to run in a pair Brooks Pure Connect but I got injured when I go on my long runs. I have ran a full and a half marathon in this pair of shoes. I anticipate I will run another half and full marathon in this pair of shoes in the coming months.

View of the shoes from different angle

It has also a soft landing due to the materials of the sole. I would stick to this pair of shoes for quite a while. We will be buying a similar pair when this pair wear off and hopefully I can get a different colour from the one that I am wearing. A friend suggested that I buy two pairs of different colours so that I can wear a different colour for each feet. A suggesting worth considering. The main disadvantage of this shoes is that the life span of the shoes will be shorter due to the materials used. In addition, the traction of the shoes is not that good if you intend to use it for trail. It is basically a pair of shoes that is suited for road running.