I have been to Malaysia several times on business over the years and each time managed to find some magic hills to play on,  cocooned in Malaysian jungle of course. Every time the hills have been brutal, the heat and humidity unbearable but the experience exhilarating. Could I run a marathon in these conditions ? Probably not. There’s a funny story there of course. Earlier this year Jon , fresh from running his first sub3 marathon for many a year, entered the Phuket marathon as it just happened to be on while he was holidaying with his young family. (Nice one Jon!) Anyhow we discussed his time pre-marathon and added 10-15 minutes to account for the conditions. Well how wrong were we.

It all started well enough and Jon made it to halfway in a respectable 95 minutes, give or take, near the pointy end of the field. Unfortunately around this point the wheels well and truly fell off culminating in a ‘nap’ on the course . Yes you read that right, Jon decided to have a little rest by the side of the road and woke up 20 minutes later.!! This is what humidity and heat can do to a good sub3 runner. Of course when Jon discussed this, probably over a bacon and egg sandwich , with no bread ( remember he is the  high fat, low carb (HFLC) pin up boy.) the boys could hardly contain themselves. Jon has been known to walk once in a while, which is always a source of amusement to the rest of us, but a nap while racing a marathon and probably in the top 10%, well he has taken it to a new level.

So back to my latest business trip to KL. I arrived after taking the red-eye ( so named as the flight is either very early or late, either way you arrive with ‘red eye’s due to lack of sleep) I checked in at the hotel and decided I needed to run 10k. After a brief conversation with the hotel porters who looked at me like I had two heads (I’m use to that of course) as I stood there in my running attire preparing to leave the sanctuary of the hotels air condition and venture out into the soaring midday humidity oven. I found a park a block away from the hotel which had a 500m loop around a lake (for lake read large expanse of brown stagnant water) .  I admit it was hot and humid but I always enjoy running in new locations so off I set around the lake for loop number 1 of 20. The run itself turned into a progressive for one reason and one reason only, self preservation. It was the middle of the day at a time when most normal people were hiding from the heat with only one silly Englishman running in circles around a brown lake, getting hotter and hotter with each lap. I did eventually manage the 20 laps but it was more of a lesson in mental toughness rather than enjoyment. I think enjoyment left the party at around lap two to be replaced by ‘what the hell am I doing this for’……

Eventually I finished and even put in a good progressive but looking at my heart rate there was no way I was going to continue. That’s what I like about hot and humid conditions, every run is a long run and leaves you gasping for air. I don’t think the word ‘easy’ and ‘humid’ are bed partners. After the run , on the way back to the hotel, I couldn’t help thinking about Jon and how he had got to half way in a marathon at a reasonable pace before succumbing to the conditions and resting his weary head. Must admit to a chuckle or two as I staggered back to the hotel looking like I had just showered , a lot !

My next run in KL was around a 1.3k loop in central KL close to the PETRONAS twin towers in the evening, This was a lot more pleasant and I cruised the loop for another 10k. All was good of course until I caught the train back to the hotel. In KL the trains are cold, really cold, and I was hot and sweating, really sweating.  Well as you can imagine when I boarded the train it was like Niagara Falls,  mothers grabbed their small children for fear  of losing them in the tsunami of sweat. Not nice for all concerned.

I had to find a run that would let me get to the start without too many MRT stops and speaking to my colleagues at work it seemed that there was a hill close by with good running facilities. They weren’t wrong, it must be a Malaysian thing but the hill was perfect , long, steep gradient and brutal. Add in the heat and humidity and you had a real test. (treat) I set off up said hill with a smile on my face and wasn’t disappointed 12k later when I eventually left the hill to return to the hotel for breakfast and work. It was too good to not go that evening and grab a few Strava CR’s (course records) after the initial visit showed some ‘gettable‘ records. (Remember Strava is life, the rest is details ; feel free to follow me on Strava , search for Big Kev, Perth, WA… All my runs are on Strava and if you can take anything from this information please do. http://www.strava.com )

That evening I went back and on tired legs did grab a few CR’s so I l left my mark in Malaysia. I enjoyed it so much I went back again this morning but the legs were well and truly past their sell by date so it became a recovery run very quickly. I suppose 30k of gut busting hills in two days was a tad too much, but what can you do? The conditions were brutal but the scenery inspiring , typical Malaysian, monkeys, wild pigs and all sort of exotic bird life, how can you not go for a run and be part of that?

So the point of this post is when you do get to experience new surroundings go for a run. We all love out local ‘old faithful’ loops we run continually with our friends but once in a while stepping outside your comfort zone is just so much fun. So find a big hill and go and play with it, variety really is the spice of life; and if it all gets too much for you then just find a kerb and have a nap, worked for Jon. (He did eventually finish the Phuket Marathon when he awoke from his ‘beauty sleep but well over the 10-15 minutes extra time we had given him. Lesson learned.)