Great Eastern 30k -- Hills Hills Hills

Well, today I had the privilege of having my family cheer for me as I completed the Great Eastern 30k here in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. For those of you who may not be so good at converting km to miles in your head, 30km equals about 18.6 miles.

My time? According to my watch, about 2 hrs 52 min 32 sec. Although that might seem like a slow-ish time, let me assure you that it was hard fought: this course was HILLY with a capital H! A few times I rounded corners, saw the upcoming hill and told myself "you can't be serious!"
The cramp factor was only a minor factor today. Yes, I got a few good tinges and "minor league" cramps, but nothing that laid me out like what happened in Sydney. Other than the time I almost got hit by a car (had to just about hurdle the guy's fender!), the race was without incident. For those of you runners out there, you'd find it interesting to note that there were only 7 water stations throughout the course, and within the first 11km (7 miles), we only had one water station! Knowing this ahead of time, I had decided to wear my fuel belt, and carried 4 bottles with me. Good thing -- those bad boys were needed!!

Another interesting note: white caucasian men such as myself were definitely in the minority. I think the racial profile looked something like this: 98% Chinese, 1% Indian, and 1% "other". The Malay race was clearly absent -- I know from general observation that Malays do not enjoy exercise, but given the fact that 60% of the Malaysian population is Malay, it is strange that you see almost none in active sports.

Only four more days until Ash turns 18. We're excited for her. Although I'll be out all this week on business, I AM making sure to get home on Thursday to celebrate this milestone in person. Yahoo!

Move plans are on schedule -- 10 days from now we should be fully relocated into the condo. Funny thing is that I'll be in the US for the first half of February, so I really won't get to experience the new place right away.

Well, that's the update for now. Many more things going on, but I'm about to get on a plane, and boy am I sleepy.....

greg

p.s. The reason my bib number "A401" looks so lame is that I registered late for the event, and they had to create a bib for me by hand. What you see in the photos above is the result of the organizer's best craftsman! ;-)