Reviewing Moab 2

Transitioning from running shoes to hiking ones, it has been an interesting observation to understand real comfort versus comfort that is compared between just running shoes. Moab 2 has definitey been very comfortable up to the point  you can probably slip on the shoes and transition between shopping and hiking like what I did on my trips to Tanjung Pinang and Taiwan. A mix between urban walking and off road trails did not seem to affect this shoes and me.

In Taiwan the track buckles under the Moab 2

In Indonesia, the sun fizzles

The Goretex material defintiely lived up to its name, providing quick dry if the shoes does get soaked through, but most of the time kept the water out. Interestingly the only time it got soaked through for me was when I brought it out for a hard run on a very humid Taiwan night and got the shoe completely soaked in sweat. Subsequently, that night, it rained throughout and the shoes was 80% dry the next day and after wearing for an hour or so was completely dry.

Unfazed by wet weather in Tanjung Pinang

The calm after the storm in Tj Pinang

Still Tj Pinang - Vihara Ksitigarbha Bodhisatvva

Im probably the few that due to convenience didn't pack a running shoe and had to do my training runs in Taiwan at night with this behemoth for a running shoe. Completely runnable and it didn't restrict my running form at all. Moab 2 felt flexible enough to even run in. 10km runs that is on very warm and humid Taiwan nights.

Da Keng Taichung: Algae and later these log steps
becoming wet, became a nightmare

Da Keng Taichung:
Becoming a Sissy

Da Keng Taichung: Trail

The only bad part was the grip on all smooth terrain when wet is really bad. This boils down to Vibram soles that I believe is really bad even on such aggresive shoe soles like the Moab 2. All my running shoes with Vibram soles have been horrible and it really takes away all confidence once any surface is wet.

Gunung Lambak Johor : Same problem with different shoes using Vibram soles (sliding here and there)

Conclusion: Good shoe construction, flexible, comfortable, light but let down by the one very important safety requirement when you most need it. We need grippy soles especially when wet. 

The shoes are very durable and look hardly worn after 100km of hiking, 30km of running and 100km of cycling in them. More Updates will come when they are brought through mud and more extreme conditions.

The end of the Beginning

With the completion of UTMB, it would have marked the end of the infancy of my Ultra-Running career. I may or may not move on to something like TDG or some multi day desert race which I opine to be another category of Ultra Racing. Also in my bucketlist that I am happy not to fulfill would be to race in the US and at the level of a 30h cutoff for a 100mile race, which I know I've got it in me at the moment if all aspects of an UltraRace fell into place. UTMB is an example of such a situation except for slight rain at the start. The very only reason I did not push to the end was the fear of a DNF and hence the increasing cautiousness the more time to cutoff I accumulated with each checkpoint completed.

I hope that my summary of experiences can help the average runner that runs about 60-70km a week at a 4.5-5min/km on flat terrain transition to complete his first ultra within 4-7weeks prior to race.

In the last 1.6yrs since I started ultra running, I've mastered the art of Unsophisticated Training for an Ultra Trail for completion at the timing based on the following distance at a difficult terrain:

>40h - 100miles up to 12km elevation in Indo's rugged and treacherous terrain, the epitome of super difficult Ultra Racing for me. Please Note that in Indo, alot of downs (probably 60%) are not runnable for average racers like me. By running I mean at least a 6min/km or faster pace on a sustained period of time downslope.

>24h - 100km up to 5.8km elevation with tons of steps and rocks and also very unrunnable for me. 

>18h - 52km up to 5.8km elevation
** Please NOTE that I haven't figured out how to deal with extreme cold which is really the only situation that could possibly force a DNF.

I've ran vibram HK100K, TNFSG100K, BTS100M, 6inch Trail Mara 48K, TransLantau 100K, TNFCityRace45K (fun run), Rinja Ultra 52K and UTMB in the respective order since January 2013. Each prior race is an added experience of the various physical and mental situations beyond a standard road marathon. Do not belittle the road marathons or short Ultras in view of training or maintaining yourself for an UltraMarathon. It's really the 40-50ks distance that teach you how to run fast non-stop and training for it builds the stamina needed to run on flats in each section of the race. If you can do a flattish 40km race in 4-5h or 50km race in 5-6h, couple that with climb training and a slower pace during race, you would probably pass an ultra with flying colours. To be exceptional, confidence must be built to whack the downs both in the day and at night.

TRAINING
After signing up for an ultra, try to get a marathon race into the picture about 5 weeks before the ultra and train for the marathon. The week after the marathon, run maybe 40-50km spread out over the week with 1 session of stairs training 8-10 sets of 10-14 floors of running fast up, 2 steps a time. Try to do a 8-10km recovery run the next day after the marathon and best is to keep running easy for the whole week. The day you may want to rest could be a 3km run. Fast is better, but slow is alright. 

After this week, the ultra training begins. 20km/day for 5 days. Rest 2 days. 25km/day for 4 days, rest 2 days. 33km, then next day 350 floors of stairs climb (or the equivalent of >1000m of elevation of similar steepness within 1h45 and climbed up and down non stop at a sustainable non-stop pace), then 33km the next day.

At the end of this 18day period, you should feel like you'd rather start the race than to drag on any longer in this crap training.

Taper for the next 10 days with tempo runs, circuit training and 10 sets of 10-14 storey fast runs to bring back speed into the legs. Distance may be 3-10km per day, until the last 4-5 days, where you can do nothing at all

*for the back to back runs, its up to you divide it into 2-3 sessions per day as long as you clock the mileage. Best is 1-2 sessions per day.

Also, based on the elevation of the race, if you feel that you would need more climbs, exchange some of the 20/25km back to back runs with the 350 storey climbs. Doing 40-60% of the elevation in the 18 days sounds good.

However the most important thing during the Ultra Race itself would probably be nutrition and to ensure you've got the calories necessary to get you to the next refuelling point. I've got no standard race nutrition plan, but to eat as broadly as is available and as much as possible to feel satisfied but not full from aid stations and to refill my bottles with isotonic provided. I mean water is good because the food provided at ultras are usually too salty or sweet, but isotonic is to ensure you have some calories replenished on the go so that there is no chance to forget to refuel. Its easy for the body to absorb and it's fuss-free. 4-6 packs of energy gel will be with me for the entire ultra which I rarely even use, but are important in the event you get lost/weak/sick. The sudden boost of energy could give you that power to last to the next aid station. I would also grab some food to eat on the go if the next section is especially long or if I've been especially hungry at the previous section.

Equipment wise, I think the cost of many equipment is very expensive and rarely used. So, be dilligent with your hard earned money and if possible, borrow equipment from friends and likewise, share equipment with them. I mean, to me, having a spare headlamp is important but owning 2 is ridiculous for the number of times you use it for most runners. Also, unless you are going for a podium finish, it really makes no sense to pay 90% more for 10% reduction in weight of a jacket.. Duh?! $100 more for 10g lighter?! Learn how to identify a need and a want. (I mean if money is no issue, buy the equipment for me, enrol me into the race and I'll be a porter for you for the entire race =P)

LEARN
Learn how to drink on the go, which for me is usually while climbing. Learn how to remove or use jacket or other equipment on the move without stopping and most importanly without impeding other runners. Learn how to use poles properly if you are a pole user, without endangering others. I am no pole user and really feel that poles should be banned for races because I've got runners stabbing me, slowing down when adjusting their poles for keeping/carrying on 1 hand, flicking the sharp end of the poles to vital body parts and even as high as eye level. Ultimately it's ultra running, not skiing. 

FOOTWEAR
Try out different shoes and not just the hype of the season. For me thus far, a discounted Bajada at SGD49 gave the best experience - Amazing traction, good feel and allowed me to whack rocks. (Did the entire UTMB in it and the first 24hrs, my feet were wet from rain. No blisters, no nerve compression, no black toenails. The no blisters part could be due to the RM1 socks From Giant Malaysia as I've always used them for my races.)

The drawback is the skin or upper mesh that is easily torned by rocks.

TIPS
I would wear my hydration bag the reverse way with my hands (palms and fingers) in between the bag and chest to warm my hands up when I'm cold. Which is especially so after coming out from the aid station after a long rest. The heat from your chest and hands would accumulate faster and the wind or just the cold draft from moving forward would be blocked by the race bag.

Ultimately, it's gonna hurt. How bad? It depends on your training, race experience and terrain. Running fast or slow, it's gonna hurt the same, probably at a different part of your leg that's all. At BTS, while running the rugged terrain, braking was aplenty and I was slow, resulting it jamming the feet forward to the tip of the shoe. This caused pain to the feet and upper part of the calf muscle. It was worrying then to be running under pain, but after completion, realised that it was ok to continue pushing under muscle pain. At UTMB, I pushed the pace especially on the downs with minimal braking and it resulted in the thrashing of the quads. I trusted the quads as it were the most frequently trained muscle group especially from the many stair climbs and it held up. Again, pain, but this time, I expected it and embraced it. Running usually takes away the pain and it stiffens and comes back at aid stations. Walking followed by running asap after the aid station helps warm up the muscle and pain will go in no time. I like to eat full and will walk for 5-10mins after aid stations to let the food settle which would help against stitches I guess.

Go for a very tough 1st race, overtrain for it till you wish the race were here rather than to continue training, nail it, and you are set for life. It sets the mental expectations and everything becomes a benchmark against this first race. Mentally, that means that everything is completable, since it isn't as tough as your first race.

Do not complain about having too many or too little equipment with you as it was your choice, moreover, people have completed with a heavier or lighter load than you. You are not a poor climber, or a poor runner or anything you claim to be. You are what you are because of your training. Train hard and race easy.

The North Face® Ultra-Trail du Mont-Blanc® (UTMB) 2014

The reason you don't DNF this race is the cost and the long flight-time. It's at least SGD2,000 for a budget trip of 5days to Chamonix and back and many hours of flying, not counting the time and money spent to clock qualifying points. If money is no problem, then just ballot yearly and enjoy the lucky draw =)

2014 - Rain at the start made sure that it was not the simplest of UTMB races, which was a good experience worth collecting and at the same time it was not one worth forgetting via DNF , cancellation or shortening of race course.

The most runnable high elevation course that I have done thus far, the down slopes were safe to run for most part of the 168km route until maybe the last 20km. I mean even on a gravel track, there was a pathway that had almost no gravel on it throughout the race course. Call it a track within a track. The grassy or soft mud downslopes were even highly comfortable to run on, making such sections 'posh' (thick-carpet experience).

The only trouble that I really faced was when my headlamp started to act as if the battery power, including those provided by the race organisers and helpful runners, was diminishing too fast because of the cold. I mean new to no lights in 5 minutes. I was even left in complete darkness beside a cliff for 'forever' (I meant 30 seconds). I daren't even move an inch until the next runner (Tom) came and I asked for a spare light which wasn't bright enough too. I thus had to run with Tom step for step until the next checkpoint which he had generously offered and kindly led. A didn't have much problems with this as I have always practiced using minimal light and regularly not using my light, but leeching off the light of runners in front or behind me, to save battery. Thank God for 'Kiasuism'.

Reaching the safety of the checkpoint, I had either to find a good headlamp or restart when the sun is out. Good thing for me Rick, Tom's friend allowed me to decide on the first option and I was able to finish the race in 35h+.



Without wanting to give too much away and spoiling the fun for you guys, I would just say the first quarter of the race is relatively simple and the next 3/4 is generally up and down with the rest of the elevation well spread out with each climb up about 800m.

The crowd support is tremendous which I consider the highlight of the race and of course the snow capped mountains. Overall scenery enjoyment cannot beat Indo's which is more dynamic due to the varying landscape.

Probably with all the hype and buzz heightening expectations as well as already experiencing a Liverpool Match and La Tomatina for t his month long Europe trip catered around UTMB, I reached Chamonix a little deflated emotionally. It was kinda weird that I was unable to really feel excited, nervous or anything other than it's something that I just had to go through. The only fun I had from the whole Chamonix portion of my Europe trip was the fuzzy feel when meeting fellow Singaporean friends.

Mount Rinjani Ultra (MRU) 2014

I guess, with the increasing number of ultras 'runned' into my system, I would like to think that it's a collection of mental training. Experiences that I can playback and remember the previous success to inspire the current victory. BTS in its entirety has 'stretched' me beyond comprehension. Thus far, every race I ran would be checklisted against BTS in terms of overall difficulty, ease of navigation and craziness of elevation and Mount Rinjani Ultra (MRU) was no different. 

The highlight of this 52km race would definitely be summiting the peak of the 3726m high mountain.  

First Time on a Firefly Fokker Plane

Having been informed about the amount of elevation compacted into this 52km race and its highest altitude, I decided not to rush this race to prevent altitude related issues. Having some HDB blocks & Bukit Timah as my highest altitude training and discomfort going from 1600m to 2600m quickly at BTS, I decided to use the full 18h which I initially thought was the time limit given for the 2013 MRU.

Bestest Ayam Bakar Taliwang

Cutsy Snacks

Reached Lombok on Thursday 7pm after a 1 day stopover in KL and joined some new friends at Kuta Lombok for the night. Had a hard floor sleep at Kuta as we squeezed 3 man in a room, but sleep was unnecessary when I had Ayam Bakar Taliwang. No questions, just EAT. 

People of Food and Run

We awoke at 5am and the 7 of us in 2 cars headed for the 3h drive to Senaru. Upon arrival, we realised that lots of runners who booked their accommodation way in advance had their confirmation resold probably to higher payers closer to race day. This was real stressful for many who wanted to catch a wink or two before the Friday midnight race. 

Only problem was that the lodging hasn't been completed

Lucky for me, FT and YM had booked a room a month in advance and they were already there the previous night to secure the stay. A point to note for this race is to make sure you call in closer to race date probably 4 weeks before and even a week before to multi-confirm your accommodation. Maybe book at 2 different lodges as you can easily sell off the extra one to desperate runners as there is a major shortage of accommodation. 

Egg Plant?!

Anyway, the more ultras one ran, the more you will be prepared for any kind of contingencies during the race and usually the more stressful parts are before the race when you can't get enough sleep due to a variety of reasons such as the following: Noisy animals - chicken, dogs, crickets, etc 
Noisy bunkmates - handphone, snoring, fidgetty and restless due to anxiety 
No accomodation 
Trying to force sleep.

Leeching power off
a restaurant next door

Regardless of the pre-race situation, just get to the race point positive and excited. You can always find time for sleep during an ultra. 1-2h should not be a prob if completion withing the cut-off time is the main goal. With that kind of sleep halfway through a race, its always like racing fresh again the next awakening. 

Back to MRU, FT, Me and YM in descending order of age respectively, made our way to the start point casually and in so doing, reached just 10mins before flagoff, which felt good compared to the 1h wait at the race-pan in Singapore. 

Upon flagoff, I was still excited as we had just arrived and it felt good. 12mn flagoff was good for me as I would usually start to think about the drag of the race 5h into it and for this race, it was about sunrise in 5h time and I would be refreshed. Also, it was planned that most runners would be between Plawangan Sembalun W4 and Rinjani during sunrise. 

Spent lotsa time steadying my hands for the best dawn shot on a cameraphone

Yet another shot otw up

Sunrise came and I took time enjoying it and slowly climbed up Rinjani. I was prepared for the infamous slidding pebbles of the volcano where almost every step forward was met by the step sliding back almost to the previous point. I just took time to appreciate this difficulty. Another experience I had was when I held my breath each time it got dusty and after the dust passed, I would be out of breath and gasping due to the high altitude. This was really funny for me and I enjoyed the 6-10 pants after every hold of breath. 

I reached the summit, thankful that I didn't have any altitude allergy except for a lingering headache for the whole of the race, which I was told could be mild altitude sickness. 

With Puzi

Puzi and Singaporean friend

Once again flying the Singapore flag high on my beloved Indo Mountains

Anyway I tried to spend more time at the peak, but after about 10-15mins, I had to take-off dashing down the slope again due to frozen mouth and hands and also when informed by a volunteer that I was 10h plus into the race. I was shocked to learn that I took so much time up and just wanted to complete this race instead of doing it with a specific goal. The freeze also gave me problem talking when I met FT and YM on the way down. Almost 75% down, I cleared my shoes and saw a lady hiker that I recognised from the same flight and she told me that the time was 9.15am and not the 10plus that I was wrongly informed of. Anyway it was good to know I was on track and this gave me renewed vigor. 

Sole split and stained feet for 3-4days

My second time at W4 and I realised that my Salamon Crossfell was falling apart and wanted to change shoes at W4, but was told by voluteer the dropbag was at W6. The moment I heard this, I thought regardless of the dropbag's location, as long as the sole was dangling, I would complete the race. True enough at W6, I was told that W4 was actually the dropbag location. 

Focused on the end goal and expecting all kinds of nonsense, I quickly got climbing back to W4 for the 3rd time. Somehow the 1000m was tougher than expected. My legs are well tuned to do about 1000m of straight elevation as long as the average step wasn't more than 90degrees for the section. Somehow this section of climb really kept me desperately looking out for the top and this was the second time in the race I had to readjust my goals - Just Finish. 

Reaching W4 the 3rd time, I was met by the typical 'no more water' news that I had come to expect of my Indo races. Also inspired by a HK lady who mentioned the next checkpoint was generally downhill and happy that I finally got the shoe changed, I left immediately as soon as I saw her leave. 

The only mouth of water I had left was divided into 2, where I drank half when I was very thirsty and kept the other half till I saw WP3 for the second time. Drank up 2 bottles of Pocari, loaded both my 600ml bottles and took an extra bottle of Pocari when told there may not be water at the next cp. 

I made sure that I had enough fluid for the whole way back, regardless of the situation of the cps coming up. Nothing was stopping me now. The last 600m climb up to Plawangan Senaru (W2) was reached at comfortable pace with an Ang Moh who did just 65-85k of weekly training for MRU! However his knee had some recurrent problem and slowed. 

Upon reaching W2, I just wanted to hit back before sunset, guessing it must be 5.30pm by now - probably 1.5h to sunset. Sounds reasonable since it was all downhill. I got off to another slippery start as I am inexperienced on dusty slopes, but as the slope down finally gave way to mud and roots of what I am accustomed to in Singapore, I was firing on all cylinders. The sprint down was enjoyable as this seemed really like the only truly runnable section. This last down slope I am sure was done in 48-50 mins.

Reached back in 17h30min or so. Yumz!

Notes

Keep going as this is a short race. Lots of time to rest (walk slowly) on the slopes of Rinjani.
Another reason why you should do the climb up Rinjani slower is that the next climb
Don't forget to plan 2 nights at Gili Islands after the race.

Shoe
Salomon Speedcross (shoe dnfed at about 30k)
AdiZero Trail (brought me to finish then home)

The end of the race is really just the end of the race.. The important part is the big BUT.

BUT it is the start of party and celebration which I found on Gili Trawangan.

Departing to Gili Trawangan

My Chariots on Standby

The importance of a deep harbour =)

Loving all this kind of local boats

The Island

The Big Feast

Aussie friends

Japanese, Indo and Singaporean friends

No Happy Hours, Only Happy Ending

Playing with fire

My bartender performer

This is the night sky, without flash.

Strange things happen at night

Pasar Malam

Glorious Seafood

Flame Grilled - stayed to perfection!

Loving the atmosphere

SuperMoon - You know it's super when my cameraphone can take this!

Taliwang at Mataram

What a Spread

Finger Licking - Spicy

The famed AirAsia Nasi Lemak.. Really good!

Cooling off

What you see is What I got for the Meal back home.

Goodbye Gili and Lombok, till we meet again!

TransLantau100 2014

Other than BTS100 which I really tried to understand the elevation and the difficulty of the terrain that I was doing, I did not study the rest of my ultra-races. Doing as such meant a shocker for me for the first 22km up till CP2 of TransLantau 100 (LT100). In fact the difficulty started before the race.

To begin, let’s start on Thursday 13 March 2014. The work day started just like any other, but with the motivating knowledge of a trip to HK for the weekend. Quickly got back after work to pack my stuff for the trip and race, before meeting YMT at the airport. Did not even manage to get HKD which YMT confirmed that he should have spare.

Carbo-loading

Carbo-loaded at the airport lounge before boarding one of the oldest planes from CX. Poor food onboard, hot & stuffy and pretty noisy. Got maybe an hour of interrupted sleep after the inflight meal and finally reached CLK.

Roaming the streets and eating 'Lap Sap"

We cleared customs about 6am and joined Fia and Perry roaming and eating about HK streets before heading to Lantau at 1-2pm to check-in. We reached Silverview Resort to find out that we had no room as there was a mistake by the person who replied my email few days before that my room was confirmed. YMT was irritated already, so was I, but the hotel offered an apartment that was 10min cycle from the start point. We had no choice but to accept the apartment and when we finally settled down to rest, it was about 4pm and in less than an hour, Bain and Sam joined us and with noisy neighbours and dogs barking, we got little rest and subsequently headed out for makan with Fred, Terence and Patrick. 

Makan before race - Crazy good honey chicken wings

After dinner and back for 1 more hour of rest, we headed to the start!

We got ourselves checked-in and with some lion dance performance, the race started.

It was the beginning of the first ‘2 checkpoints’ and it was here that I realized that elevation was not the only thing to look out for, but the amount of continuous up/down between each CP that really mattered. The 750m up Sunset peak and the immediate decline thereafter really sapped me (like as if there was anything left of me after not sleeping for the 2^nd night at this point). I was really sleepy, exhausted and doing Zombie-walking already. After CP2, I knew that this will be the CP where most runner will DNF other than the mid-point which was more convenient for transport and also at least to ‘complete’ half. 

Taking a photo from the rock I slept on

500m from CP3, I decided to lie on a huge rock and took a 30min nap. 

I was awaken by a concerned runner and I was freezing. I started off shivering until I reached CP3 to grab some hot noodles to warm up and rested just abit more before feeling refreshed. 

CP3

Trust me, from CP2 to 3, the struggle to keep awake and not DNF to just go back hotel to sleep was so strong. I knew I could complete this race, but I didn’t want to fight sleeping. It was tough, but I have been to such a situation – tougher and colder before. It was good weather to do this race for someone that can’t take cold. I just wanted to be back, well-rested and be with my girlfriend for breakfast/lunch since she was the Sat morning, 6am. It was my first ultra-race that she accompanied and I was willing to DNF to accompany her since her birthday few days before fell on the day she left for Thailand and returned on the day I left for HK. In fact I drove to Changi Airport to coincide her arrival from ChiangMai so that she could drive home while I awaited my flight. 

To keep things short, refer to the below PrintScreen to the main reason I completed, coupled with the Whatsapp support from SG friends that I didn’t want to disappoint. 

Respect nature/the terrain by being prepared and well-equipped for the race, but even more so, respect yourself by training hard and racing easy. Know that you can never be fully prepare for every situation, but in spite of (injury, weather, …) many have overcame and triumphed. The race is tough only after you have trained hard and gone through it, not when it has yet to begin!

Below are some pics between CP3 and 5 to have a feel of the view and the terrain. 

I concluded that this race like Vibram HK100 should be divided into 2 parts, one being difficult and the other easier. For VibramHK100, it was easier on the first half and LT100 should be easier on the 2^nd half just because my mind wouldn't comprehend a more difficult part 2. With that, I decided I was going to find out what laid ahead and I wouldn’t want a DNF knowing that I was right and missed that chance of cruising through part 2.

Me, before reaching Tai O CP (I think)

Somewhere before CP5

I Reached Tai O at 57km, caught another 30mins of eat and sleep and I was back on a relaxed pace until before the climb up Ngong Ping where I met fellow Singaporean Runner Calvin Kuan. 

Calvin Kuan at the Cable Car Station

It was an enjoyable and chatty climb up followed by a deceivingly long 5km before I bode him farewell after CP7 to try to finish before the end of Saturday and not to let the girlfriend wait too long. 

Wisdom Path

Gate to no turning back!

Lantau Peak

Misty Mountain

From CP7 – 8, which was relatively downhill, it was pretty quick.

CP8 – 9 was relatively flat but somehow felt longer than expected. In fact I was getting concerned almost finishing all my water and meeting runners along the way who were clueless about how far more the next CP was.

Upon reaching CP9, I thought of just running past after refilling water, but decided to eat a little, just in case there was no food at the end or stalls were already closed at this late hour.

I checked that the last 5km was flat all the way to the end, but ultimately realized that there were quite a bit of rolling hills. I decided to do this 5km stretch at tempo pace, held back from going all out just in case I somehow have to walk the last part of it. It went according to plan and I overtook all that I could see along the way back. 1 km from the end, suddenly a slightly more senior HK runner ran past me. Hmmm, a quick finish was  going to become a sprint finish I guessed. I followed his pace, he opened his stride, I opened, keeping the 1m distance. Every about 150m, I felt that he tried to pull away, but I was going to keep this exciting for both of us by completing the race together at such a pace. It was fun, but I wasn’t sure where the end was, although everything was familiar now. I just followed until about 300-400m from the end, when my feisty competitor checked back on me twice and tried to break away. Then I knew game on, it was going to be either me or him in this race. I checked my breathing just in case and knew that I got spare. When he finally slowed, I sprinted to finish!

                                                                                                    

My friendly competitor, whoever you are! Kudos to you for making me go all out at the end of a 100km. To me you are the winner, because me being a junior came back just seconds ahead of you =) Respect!

TransLantau 100 2014 Results

Notes

Train lotsa steps, climb 2-3 steps up as well as down.

Vibram HK100 1h30m – 1h40m between CPs  with 300 – 500ml of water

LT100 2h-2h30m between CPs with 500ml – 900ml of water
Rumour has it that race director intends to increase the difficulty of this race each year.
Race is mostly up or down and seemed to have only 20% flats.

Shoe
Salomon Speedcross - first 60k toe rub against front of shoe that went away after I started getting pacy. Running slow may have affect run gait, since I did not face this problem during training. This shoes since day 1 haven't been stable for me, causing sprains, but I wore em for Lantau just to finish 'using' them.