adidas adizero FEATHER

My Christmas gift from lovely Michelle  : )

adidas mean it when they call it FEATHER. 190g!! It is that light! Yes, very light compared to all the other running shoes I had.

Tried it in malakoff 12km run last December, although I was not in the race. Being brand new, I broke into it first time. Light...very light.
However, it felt kinda hard upon landing. Must be the hard plastic sprint frame, designed for foot lift off.

This writeup pretty much sums it all...
http://www.runningtechniquetips.com/2011/10/adidas-adizero-feather-review/

Did 17km with it. Started my run 15min before the runners. Up down the Damansara hills, only kept up a short distance along Amelia and Sheela, super fast women open champion and 2nd position. Could only followed their pace for 2-3km. When they hit the hills, I got smoked. As for the Kenyan men open champion, his pace was incredible. I followed 100m and that was it. His pace is my 400m track record!

With my feet sweating like nobody's business all the time, I got blisters on both feet after this maiden FEATHER run. Right foot got it worse. Could feel blister forming only 30min into the run. Maybe the thick socks were not too foot friendly. And my blister pro feet!

On Christmas eve, a hill run organised by the youth and sports ministry took place in Jelebu, about 1hr drive from KL.
Used my FEATHER. Up hill, anything light is welcomed. hahaha!
The race was 12km with half of it going uphill. Those under 18years will be on a 6km route from a different start location.

Open category was dominated by the army boys. Once flagged off, a big bunch of them conquered the road. Kenyans were there and they were under International category. Phew! Otherwise, locals will be eating dust.
Participants were flagged off in waves of 5min gaps. Veteran, women, men, international.

The Kenyans were flagged off last. They caught up and overtook me around km6, just before the hills.

My km split timing. No consistency in pace, only consistency in slowing down. Hahahahaha!
km1 3:51
km2 4:02
km3 4:13
km4 4:34
km5 4:31
km6 4:42
km7 4:46
km8 5:44
km9 5:59
km10 6:06
km11 6:26
km12 5:30

I caught up with Michelle & Jesicca around km10. Both were steadily pacing each other. Real race at the final km for them.

My last km, though lungs busted and legs loaded with lactate, I increased pace to keep my time under 1hr. Reached finsh line truly out of breath. Saw my watch 1:00:29.....ggggrrrr!!  29seconds too slow!

Average pace 5:02min per km on the 12km route with 6km hill climb.

Surprise for me was prizes for top20 and I finished 18th! Yipee!!

A Christmas gift! Praise the Lord!

Michelle finished 3rd. Wow!!!!!!

A wonderful Christmas gift for us. : )

From 2011 to 2012

Went back to hometown on the night of 28th December and stayed till the new year, 2nd Jan.
The 5 days were by far, the most relaxing holiday, as I was home... home sweet home.
Arrived at night and the moment my bro drove out of Kuching airport, the first question asked was "what do you feel like eating?"
I ended having Kuching beef noodle, which is still not available in Klang valley. Satisfied!

Michelle arrived the next morning. Same thing happened, we got out of the airport and had lunch with mom & dad. Had laksa & kolo mee!

As usual, rain everyday so what else can we do? Eat la...hahaha!

Afternoon came, skies still pouring, so food time again...
This time, Kuching cendol.

It was more of a eating vacation for us in Kuching.
Met uncle Tat Leong, our mountain bike uncle and he took us to have the famous 10th mile kolo mee.

Ok, enough with makan-makan...

We were really lucky the rain stopped after our kolo mee and took the chance to go climb Santubong mountain, with the peak at about 800m.
Used the same way in a couple of years ago but this time, the entry fees have ballooned from RM1 to RM3 and this time, parking is charged RM5. Ridiculous! I drove down to Santubong Sentral for free parking. It's only about 1km away. There's no way I'm paying RM5 for a parking spot! And in Kuching?!? They can dream on!

We started our climb around 1130am. Reached the peak 2hr++ later. Thank God for blue sky above!

In the last two photos, you can see how steep this climb is. Vertical climb using hanging ladders in the final 100m near the peak. Certainly not for those who are afraid of heights. We met a group from Singapore and they were struggling using these ladders. Luckily they managed to pull through right to the peak but one asked if there's another way to go down. Sorry, you need to go down the say way you came up.

At the peak, we could see Bako, Kuching city, Pasir Pendek and Pasir Panjang beaches, Santubong golf course and Damai beach.

 Shelter on the peak. Group from Singapore taking a break enjoying the view.

 That's Bako in the background.

 Not too clear but it's Kuching city in the background.

Coming down was just as tough as going up. Had to gingerly climb down the ladders with full concentration. You just can't afford a afford a simple mistake now.

We reached the entry point around 430pm. Had a quick shower at Santubong Sentral and headed home. Mission accomplished for Michelle as in our previous trip back, we climbed Serapi in Matang.

Next day, the sky was kind again. Lucky us! Did a slow jog from home to reservoir park. Along the way, stopped by our alma mater, Green Road school and St Joseph school.

Michelle lived 2-3years in Kuching when her dad was posted here about 25years ago. So a bit of her is from cat city! Hahaha!

The next couple of days, rain returned on and off. New year's eve was simple. No disco or pub crawling. Had a walk along the waterfront and had hot Milo to usher in 2012. Boring some would say...hahaha!

Oh well, it's just another day with a different number, that's all.