Salming Ambassador Bryant Goh

Bryant has been a Salming ambassador since April 2017 and promotes Salming in Asia with his great running form, excellent photos and a great promotional video for Salming! Runners from Asia has always had a great taste for light racing flats and Salming has a great runner in Bryant who can promote their light #nononsense running shoes in Malaysia!

How     and when did you start running?

I used to play basketball before distance running. Running around the basketball court was the warm-up I did in my previous basketball     training and I think I gained some endurance foundation from that. I ran my full marathon in 2014 after the basketball team disbanded, the process was tough but I discovered interest in distance running as enjoyed the pain and joy after crossed the finish line. After that I start joining more races and training in order to perform better.

    

What's     your favorite distance and race and why?

From 2014 until now I have completed races from 10km to 100km. 10km was my favorite race distance so far because it allows me to build speed     foundation before I proceed to half or full marathon distance. I started my running journey with a full marathon, but I realized without good foundation in speed I really can’t improve much for maintaining speed for long distance.

How     many miles per week do you usually do?

In training preparation for races, weekly mileage is about 50 – 56miles with 2 sessions of running per day. Mileage dropped about 20 – 30 miles during college examination period and busy semester. Besides running, I have also work on strength and conditioning to strengthen my muscles to avoid injury.

Where     do you typically run, track, roads or trail?

I  usually do long run and tempo on road around housing area, interval and speed work session will be on the 400m track. I rarely run on  trail and have zero experience racing on the trail.

What's     your favorite workout?

I don’t really have favorite workout in running, but 20 x 200m track interval I kind of like it as it was short and high intensity. Others workout in my training will be hill repeats, LSD and fartlek.

How     do you plan your running? Coach, book plan or self-coached?

I considered myself under self-coaching, trial and error most of the time with referring training guideline from books and online resources. As a sports and exercise science degree student, I also apply and try to relate what I have learnt in class into my training program.

How     would you describe yourself as an athlete?

I see myself as a student-athlete who tries to achieve success on both fields (academic and sport). The feeling was good when I see myself doing something that able to give the sense of accomplishment.    

Practical session during sports science physiology class.

Goal     race for the fall? And what's your goal for that race?

I  have not sign up any races until next year, but current goal aiming    

 to run a sub 38 for 10km.

What     can you tell us about the running scene in Malaysia?

Running in Malaysia have grown rapidly for the past five years. Various  types of running events from road, trail and ultra-running take place on most of the weekend. Recently, Malaysia has also launched  first Malaysia Ultra League Championship (MUL) which believed can attract more people to take part in distance running.

What     kind of running is most popular and tells us about the terrain you     might explore during a run?

In  Malaysia, road running is much popular compared to trail or  ultra-running. You can expect hilly terrain even in the city center for some area but overall can consider flat.

   

What     is the most popular race in Malaysia?

Standard  Chartered KL Marathon is the popular compared to others running  event in Malaysia. KL Marathon attracted about 36,000 runners locally and around the world. Overall, it was a very well-organized  running event with quality.

You     recently helped out with a Salming Malaysia promotion video, what     can you us about that and who came up with the idea?

have that ideal of making the promotional video for Salming Malaysia  after attended entrepreneurship course in college. I just thinking promotional video might be the good one to reach out more attention for Salming Malaysia. The promotional video was done by 3 sports science students with no filming experience at all, considered as a   learning process.    

When    did you first hear about Salming Running?

I couldn’t remember when but it was on Facebook, coincidentally I saw Salming Malaysia promoting Salming Running products and I started know more by browsing on the Salming website.    

How     long have you been an ambassador?

About 5 months, signed contract with Salming Malaysia on April 2017.

What’s     your favourite Salming shoe and equipment?

Salming Distance A2 was my favorite, it was superb light and responsive. I received the shoe as my first sponsored product by Salming Malaysia.        

What     does #nononsense mean to you?    

It     meant ‘take it seriously’ to me; it’s not just a slogan but a     message about giving all effort in striving success either in sports     or life.    

How does Salming Running fit in, in today’s running industry? 

Salming as a new brand in running world, with superb lightweight and good support in running shoes. Salming has created great products for runners able to run much naturally and stay injury free, Salming definitely can be competitive to others brands soon. 

How do you promote Salming as an ambassador?

I don’t have much experience on sales either marketing but I try to promote Salming by winning races to make more exposure about Salming to the public.
 
How you see Salming grow in the future?
Sports nowadays just so competitive, athletes not just look for better performance. Salming must have something in term of technology or system that able to keep on improving on the products to allow athletes to dominate or change the game. I really looking forward to see Salming grow in the future and come out something extraordinary.

WaterGap 50K Race recap

Watergap 50

Training heading into my first Ultra marathon, Watergap 50K has been extremely tough. Usually I have a rough time coping with my seasonal allergy and the extreme summer humidity in New Jersey. This year I have been feeling more sluggish and not been able to recover and keep paces that I was looking for. I also doing all my training with Ella in the stroller, which add some extra effort. Two weeks before the race we went on vacation to Cape Cod, I was hoping to recover and to come back to New Jersey well rested but it went the other way around. I felt very tired and I was almost ready give up on the race. Plan for the race was to keep a 7:30 pace but that pace felt almost impossible to keep for me at this time. My long runs has been decent although I did not push any paces during these runs. Team Wicked Bonkproof coach Caleb Masland has been very helpful as usual getting me ready for the task. As the race elevation profile has 2500 ft gain and one big hill at mile 5, we have been training more hills then usual. Hills comes easy to me and I live in a hilly area, so I was as not worried really about the 2500ft of gain, but with that said Boston marathon has about 800 ft gain, I knew I needed to some more inclines under my feet before the race.

The last week I did not do much running, trying to just rest and relax and hopefully get some energy back. Of course keeping an extra eye on the weather. For the most part this week the weather was cooler in the morning, with less humidity but for race day it showed warmer and more humidity again. Not a good situation for me, as I do not preform very well in humid conditions. At the end of the week before the race, I felt OK, but not 100%, maybe it was just the taper nerves.

The course is mostly on crushed limestone, old rail beds along Delaware River. Before the race I've been talking a lot, to my friend Todd in Team Salming world ambassadors about shoes. Salmings shoe trail5 was recently released but it felt to soft and way to much shoe for me, so I narrowed it down to Salming Speed6 and Salming D5. Last day I decided to go with the brand new Salming Speed 6 as I had done all my long runs in that shoe. It has also a wider toe box and a wider last, that I thought I could benefit from.

The race offers Tailwind energy drink at the five aids station. Tailwind works great with my stomach and since I've to carry a bottle anyway I decided to train with it and use it for the race. 

Race and race morning:

Race is Saturday morning, alarm was set to 5:00. We live 10minutes away from the finish line and where the bus takes you to the start goes from, Milford beach PA at 7:00 am. Its always nice to be able to sleep in your own bed before longer races. Around 6:00 I left the house and got to Milford in good time to use rest room and relax. In the bus to start I had my beet juice and a bottle of waxy maze. While at start you have about ten minutes to shake out the stiff legs from sitting cramped in, in a school bus for about 45 minutes. The temperature was about 50 degrees and sunny, you could feel the humidity.

At start 3 runners took off quickly with 3 others in a group to follow in a slower pace. I decided to go out slow in my own pace, first mile was about 8 min pace. After about 4 miles I had caught up with the group ahead of me as they had slowed down, but we had 3 runners ahead of us. At this point I was doing about 7:30 pace and felt comfortable. I had no attention to try to drop the other runners in the group and I was also nervous about the long hill between mile 5-6. The hill showed up fast, this part is single trail. I noticed that the other two runners I ran with was breathing very heavy during the hill and that gave me some confidence for the rest of the race. At this point we had 3 runners ahead of us, out of sight. The long hill was easier then I had expected and I was glad to see the first aid station on top of the hill. I had decided to break the race in to small goals, the aid stations, and refill bottle every aid station with tail wind. Plan was to take fluids every mile and have an empty bottle at each aid station. At first aid station the bottle was not empty and I started to worry that I'm not drinking enough. After the first aid station I had to stop quick for a pit stop but caught up quick with the only female in the group. We were only 2 after the long hill. Miles went fast and this part of the race was pretty flat, some long down hills right after first aid station. The same story  at the second aid station, my bottle was not empty, although I tried to remind myself to take big sips when it was time. After the second aid station I was by myself, at this point of the course you run mostly by  long corn fields, between the fields there are small creeks, with small steep hills. All those many small inclines started to get to me at this point. After the third aid station, my ITB started to be tight and I had to pay attention to the trail and what direction it was tilting, trying to keep it as flat as possible for my ITB. My feet also started to hurt in the mid foot area, as the Speed6 is a racing flat and does not have as much support and structure in the mid foot. It would have been fine if the race had been on pavement, but the crushed lime stone broke down the shoe. The third aid station came quick, here I started to feel that I definitely needed more energy. I had three "emergency rockets" gels in my bottle pocket, but I grabbed a Clif Blok with caffeine at the aid station. My other gels I used later in the race and I think this helped from a total crash.

Before aidstation 4 at mile 21, I had decided to switch shoe as I would have support from family there, but they had left the shoes in the car, thinking I would use them after the race. It was great to see family with Erin and my daughter Ella, a huge booster to keep going even if things started feel rough. After aid station 4 I knew that the single trail was going to start, after a few miles there was a short section, not to bad. I was also crossing the intersection by Dingmans Bridge witch means Im close to home and Milford. Around this time I first saw the runner in third place, he was about a minute ahead of me, right after this the last aidstation showed up at mile 26, this is also the last aidstation. As I ran up to the station I also saw my family again who had decided to see me another time and they had my Salming D5 shoes. I made a quick decision to change shoes as more single trail was coming with inclines and I could use some extra support and grip under my feet. I also took a bottle of Waxy maze. This gave me some extra energy. Again awesome to see my love ones.

I was hoping that the runner ahead of me would be tired, but I never saw him again. The single trail was very technical and a lot of steps/stairs to climb. I could not get into any kind of rhythm as I was very tired at this point, the stairs/steps I just power walked as I wanted to save my last energy for the flat last couple of miles. I was very happy when I saw the end of the single trail but could not pick up any kind of pace and just "jogged" the last 3 miles. The last three miles the sky also opened up and I got soak wet. I finished 4 in the rain and my family was waiting for me right by the finish line. I was tired but very happy. I little bummer I couldn't catch the third guy, no matter if I had just saved a few minute not changing shoes, I don't think I would have caught  him. He third guys also told me that he caught a second wind after he saw me and finished strong.

As this was my Ultra debut, Im happy with my performance but I could have done things a bit differently.

1. Tune in my nutrition intake and make changes after weather. I think I will go with gels in the future. I couldn't adjust the strength fo tailwind as I used the mix at aid station. I think I could have used "three scoops of Tailwind" instead of two.
2. More shoe for sure. I think Salming EnRoute or Salming Trail3 would have given more structure and protection.
3. Definitely more core workouts, I could feel the ITB and that is usually a sign that I have neglect my core workout. Coach Caleb has them scheduled for me, but I have not have had the energy to complete them this summer.
4. Now when I now the course, maybe focus more on speed for the flat parts and focus on those small gnarly hills.

This race definitely gave me more taste more Ultras and I will sign up next year again, for a little rematch. I have also lookoed into Red Newt  Racing who organized this race and their series for more races. Red Newt racing was great and had great people by the aid stations.