No Finish Line...

Oh.... Now I Remember...

2009-12-08T11:43:00.001+08:00

Can't believe my last posting was in July. Did I forget about the existence of this blog? Damn.

Reviewing The Nike Lunarglide+

2009-07-14T21:47:00.003+08:00

2nd July 09 - Out of the box, and never back in again.

5 runs, 4 hours plus and many many kilometers later, I am now ready to give my verdict on the Lunarglide+.

However, before I get to that, just to recap, I received the Nike Lunarglide+ courtesy of Nike Sales M'sia on 2nd July 09 from their office at The Curve. Promised to test out the shoes and give my honest to goodness opinion, and here I am, putting it out on the world wide web.

Since then, I have done 8 runs (training runs, not races mind you) and 5 of them have been with the Lunarglide+. At the moment I have 3 "active" pairs of running shoes, including the Lunarglide+, with the other 2 being a Brooks Adrenaline GTS9 (a stability trainer) and a Newton Stability Trainer (more like a racer to me as it is lightweight enough). If I were to summarize in 1 statement, I'd say the Lunarglide+ falls right smack between my other 2 shoes, with the Brooks as a long distance trainer and the Newtons as a short distance speed racer.

1st impressions of the Lunarglide+ are that its lightweight enough (for a heavy-set runner like me) to do 10k's and up to half-marathons. I'd doubt the durability and comfort if I were to extend the usage to beyond the 21km distance as I would prefer something with more cushioning and stability. Fact is, I'd say the Lunarglide+ is an all-rounder, a jack-of-all-trades, with the right amount of cushioning, comfort and weight for a middle distance run.

Since I took up running seriously in 2007, I had only used 3 different brands of running shoes: Brooks, New Balance and Newton. The Newton is the 1st shoe I bought that didn't come in 2E width and I'd say that comfort and fit wise, it didn't rank as highly as the Brooks and NB that I had (both 2E widths). I have pretty large feet; size US11 and 2E width and I slightly over-pronate as well. Therefore, my feet feel most at home in stability runners.

Coming back to the Lunarglide+.... Its patent-pending "Dynamic Support" midsole architecture is what makes me (a guy needing stability shoes) feel comfortable running in them. According to their Global VP, Leslie Lane (and I quote).. "Runners traditionally had to choose between stability or cushioning shoes based on their foot strike... Now, runners can choose a single shoe that will respond to all of their needs, even adjusting on the fly during a run."

With the technologically advanced Dynamic Support system, the Lunarglide+ actually combines cushioning and stability into a single pair of shoes, practically giving you the all-in-one solution (and blowing the competition out of the water??)

Technicalities and specifications aside (you can get that from Nike's website and the numerous other runners' blogs trialing the Lunarglide+), how does it perform? How does it feel on a real run on tarmac? Don't preach the superlatives if all they can do is ace lab-tests right? The verdict is on:

The Lunarglide+ works great!!

Initially I was quite sceptical. Every run I did, I tried to look for a failure point, some form of discomfort, something to complain about. I have to be honest and admit there are some minor niggles, ie shoe width fit-wise isn't really roomy enough for me and it could probably do with a little more ventilation, but overall the Lunarglide+ is everything it is touted to be. 5 runs down the road, I feel that with every run, the comfort level increases a little bit more; pretty much like breaking in. And most important of all, my feet feel great after each and every run. No pain or aches in my arch, heel or balls of feet. Sore muscles are another issue altogether tho.

There is however a BIG grouse I have, and its pretty personal in nature. I just can't accept the colour! No siree! Black shoes are just not me. The 1st time I ran in them, I felt very self-conscious and kept looking down at them. 2nd and 3rd time... same thing. I thought that the more I ran in them, the more at ease I would become. After 5 runs, still the same... I can't shake off the "people look at me funny" kinda feeling.... If it came designed in any other colour (the women's version is of silver-hue, for what its worth), I'd have no qualms shelving out the RM399 it costs to take them off the shelves. But for now, I need a little bit more time to get accustomed to the "black is cool" style.

In a nutshell:

PROS: Comfortable heel and midsole cushioning with adequate pronation support, simplistic look and design, flywire incorporated design brings the weight factor down, grippy outsoles

CONS: Not roomy enough for 2E feet (adequate tho), slightly lacking in ventilation, BLACK, BLACK, BLACK

Down Memory Lane

2009-07-09T22:11:00.004+08:00

What has it been? Coming to 8 months soon? Whoa... I still remember the night before the very 1st time I laid eyes on her...

It has been a real whirlwind of a ride... From the 1st few days back from the ward, where we were still inexperienced on how to handle her (in fact I was always so fearful that I would hurt her by holding her too tightly)... she seemed so fragile then..

As we went along, we felt much more at ease... learning the ropes and cleaning the poo... (oh hell it was really smelly poo... :)

At a month old, you could see that her features became more refined, she was really pretty in my eyes, even as a crying, screaming little bundle when the nurse brought her out of the OT; but now she was pure beauty.. :) Nothing in the world could come close... The little princess of my heart..

And as the weeks ticked by, my lil Ashley started to have some defining characteristics of her own... She would try to 'tell' us via her own little ways what she wanted, what she was feeling and we would play the guessing game everytime she displayed some form of emotion and action... Sooner rather than later, we got most of her needs right... :)

Life with a baby in the house was never the same ever again... No more time for ourselves, no more time for hobbies or TV watching, and definitely no more time for lazing around... Everything was centered around the lil girl and her schedules... but I never looked back and contemplated what ifs... I mean, look at her.. Her smile melts my heart and I would give up the world just to make her happy..

Months down the road, her progress report card started filling up... turning herself over, exploring the ends of her toes, starting to sit on her own, making herself heard... Oh she practised everything to perfection... even the "Daddy, I want you to carry me now" look... :)

Fast forward to now... Ashley's a real handful these days.... crawling and pulling at everything.. I find her to be a real busybody.. She has this determined look when she has her sights set on a target..

I like to let her 'loose' and let her explore the world around her... Why stifle her creativity? I let her touch, let her feel, let her experience her environment (within safe means of course) and let her learn thru her own senses of what her surroundings are like..

As with most babies, she has her favourite 'companions' when she lies in bed with sleep nodding in the horizon... For her, its her lil bunny and her moo-moo blankie... I just love seeing her with them..

Lately, she has also really displayed the full array of her emotions... she frowns, she frets, she throws her tantrums...

.... and at the other end of the spectrum, she laughs her head off at times... Her laughter is so very infectious that we cannot help but get carried away as well... oh her laughter is music to my ears...

What can I say? I'm in love with her. So too is Jac. Look at her. Wouldn't you be?

Nike Lunarglide+ . . . Our 1st Night..

2009-07-04T00:25:00.003+08:00

10:09pm…. My skin was tingling, anticipating, I paced back and forth, unable to focus my thoughts. I was bursting with energy inside, but I had to hold my emotions in check. It was time. I called out to her. “Betty, I’m ready.”

She stared back at me unwaveringly. Her curvy silhouette in the half-darkness beckoned me over. I relented almost willingly. As I drew closer, I could make out laces hanging delicately off her hips ever so sexily, just waiting for my touch.

I caressed her curves. She lay there motionless. As I stepped back to admire her well sculptured bod, she could hold back no longer, “Take me. Now.” I needed no further prompting. As I pulled at her laces, my heart skipped a beat. It was pure beauty, a work of art moulded by the fingers of the Divine.

Pulling her hips apart slightly, I eased myself inside her, taking care to be gentle. I slipped inside with some resistance though, as I am pretty well-endowed, a size 11 if you want the details. The fit was just right, a little snug, just the way I like it. I positioned myself and whispered to her, “Are you ready?”

From my years of experience with different models, I knew that everyone of them responds differently. However, none have expressed disappointment when I have started off slowly, in a rhythmic mantra, taking my time and warming up the body temperature. I knew then as I started off that at the end of the session, I would be gasping for breath, and that thought alone brought a smile to my face.

I started to push the pace... I pounded her harder and faster and she responded in kind. She could take my full body weight on her and she could still make me comfortable and keep me going. At times, when I slowed the tempo so that I could gather myself and take a breather, she would plead with me to pump her harder, make me work and sweat all over her.

I took her to the ends of the earth and back (OK more like round the housing area). Every time I thought it was going to end, she would make me comfortable and I would continue to hammer her. Her well-endowed and rounded ass was firm and provided me with a sure grip, propelling me forward with every motion. I really believed I could go on forever.

However, all good things must come to an end. 34 minutes after we became one, we reached the climax; a lung-busting finale that lasted nearly a minute! I was totally spent.

Tucking her into a cozy corner, I left her to rest while I proceeded to clean myself up. “Betty, I really think that we are destined for great things together. Tomorrow, we’ll do this again.”

For what its worth.....

The relevant body parts...

*Alright, enough already. I promise to do a proper review in a couple of days OK!!

Nike Lunarglide+ . . . A first cut look.

2009-07-02T22:33:00.004+08:00

Yes, my dear readers, this was what that phone call was all about... :)

Got a call asking me to drop by Nike Sales (M) office at the Curve to pick up Nike's latest running shoe model: Nike Lunarglide+ for review and testing purposes. FOC of course. :)

Seriously speaking, I have never really been a die-hard fan of Nike running shoes. I am of the impression that Nike has only very limited models that cater to serious runners, with more emphasis on the lifestyle market. This comment is probably only valid in Malaysia, as I hear our southern neighbour benefits from excellent Nike Running campaigns. I seriously hope this opportunity to test out the Lunarglide+ changes my perception and makes me a Nike believer once again.

Met up with Andrew from Nike and the collection was a really quick one. Tested it out on the spot to ensure the fit was alright, a quick chat and I was out the door after promising to give an honest review and feedback after I was done trashing the shoe on the streets (aha).

I won't go into the technological details of the shoe. Nope. That you can read from Nike's media release or even get all the nitty-gritty details from Nike's website.

My review will touch more on how the shoe fits, how it feels out on the road, how it holds up on a long run, how it pushes the limits during speedwork, and how is the durability factor. But before all of that, let me review the one thing that makes you walk into the store when you see it on the display window. The Looks.

Black sports shoes just don't cut it for me. Its a matter of personal preference, as I know of many people who think that black is cool and would not buy any footwear in any other hue. Me, I prefer my runners in anything BUT black, and it is irony that this pair comes in Black/Orange with tinges of silver.

Design-wise, I'd say its simple and uncluttered, not really an attention grabber that screams "Look At Me!". However, that orange hue on jet black is bound to get a couple of stares and 2nd looks too. Jac doesn't really agree however, and thinks that the colour and design is just not to her liking.

Cutting to the chase, and to keep this intro short and sweet, let me just say that since the Lunarglide+ and myself are going to be a couple for a while, and we are going to share some sweet and bitter moments together, do some travelling on the road together, spend quality time together; I need to give it a name.

And since Jac calls it UGLY, I guess I'll call it BETTY.

Therefore my Lunarglide+, you are henceforth christened Ms Betty.

Runnerz Circle Store - A Shout Out!!

2009-07-02T16:14:00.002+08:00

A running fren of mine has decided to take the plunge and venture into business... Entrepreneurship calls and he has answered the calling... :)

Its actually good news for runners and athletes alike who are serious about their sport as he now brings into our local shores brands like Asics and Polar, reknowned around the world and worn and trusted by top elites in their respective sports.

Frankly speaking, amongst all the running shoes I have ever worn (and I have run thru quite a few, from Puma to Asics to Brooks to NB to Adidas to Nike and Newtons, and not in that order btw), Asics still rank among my top 2 favourites. Lots of research and technology goes into the shoes, and it shows when you put them on.

His line of products range from Asics, Polar, 2XU, Skins, Injinji and many more to come... Do feel free to drop by his online store at http://store-runnerzcircle.blogspot.com/ and browse around. Give him a call if you are interested in any of the products he carries.

The rest is up to you Frank. :)

Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Runnerz Circle Store, I'm just a running fren who gives his honest opinion on products. :)

Anticipation...

2009-07-01T22:16:00.001+08:00

Got a phone call today that got me a wee bit excited... Not to the extent of pee-ing my pants tho... Wanna know about it? Stay tuned!

Standard Chartered KL International Marathon - Done & Dusted

2009-06-30T22:19:00.003+08:00

Yeehar! Struck it off my life's to do list (check out my sidebar if you don't know what i'm yakking about)... Finally I finished a marathon, can't say I ran a marathon cos technically I walked a big chunk of the distance, but what the heck, i'm certified a marathon finisher!!

Not planning to go into the details of my pre-race preparation, or the fact that I didn't have any significant training for 6 moths prior to last Sunday, nor the fact that carbo-loading wasn't a part of my diet leading to the race. Nope, neither am I going to talk about the tapering part of training (actually you can say that I tapered for the last 6 months... haha). As a matter of fact, my main worry was whether I'd fit into my running shorts the night before the race. Thankfully I still could. :)

Race day morning was pretty much like any other race day that I had been to before... only difference was that I hooked up with the KK Pacers and went together as a big bunch of eager-beaver runners hoping to do well in the race. Btw, thanks guys/gals for waiting for me at the finish line even though it took me forever to get there... :)

I could say it was a pretty muted start to the full marathon. Sure, there were more than 2000 runners waiting in the pen, waiting to be unleashed, waiting to smoke the road with their Asics, or Nikes or Reeboks... but the atmosphere just wasn't carnival enough. Gun start went off and there I went, the first few steps of what was going to be a few (hundred?) thousand steps to come in the next 5 hrs +...

Settled into a slow and easily maintainable pace in the 1st few kms, not wanting to blow myself out early and risk taking the sweeper bus home. Also at the back of my mind, I was pretty worried about how long i'd actually last before cramps / strains / muscle tightness creeps in... Lack of training and preparation really comes back to haunt you on race day. In fact, my main worry was my right hamstring as I had felt tightness throughout the 2 days pre-race and even on race morning... nonetheless, the hamstring was the least of my worries... turned out that tightness (and the impending onslaught of heavy cramping) was targetting every other part of my body...

To cut a long story short (all 5 hrs 47 mins and 37 seconds of it), both my quads tightened up, my left calf knotted itself inside-out, my chest muscles felt twinges of pain and some chafing started on my inner arm. Pain management 101: when you can't run no more, just walk it off till you can run again. And that was the story of my maiden marathon. Run - pain - stretch - walk - run - pain - walk - run - pain - walk - repeat. You get the drift. After 32kms, I was walking 85% of the time.

Its funny how the human body works, or maybe its all in the head. When you see the finish line 300m away, and the crowd starts getting bigger and louder, you seem to forget that you were walking the past 2kms, battling pain and suffering through your teeth... you forget all that and you can actually break into a run and make a dash to the finish line... That's what they call a finishing kick or a finish-line sprint. How the hell do you muster enough energy to do that when you could barely walk just a couple of mins ago?

Thanks to Wenny @ KK Pacers for this pic... Its near the finish line and I look fresh and energetic, like i just started running, when in fact I was suffering for the last 20kms. Proves my point above.

And what do i get out of torturing myself for nearly 6 hours you ask? A crappy cotton t-shirt that says I finished a marathon and a round pewter medal that says the same. Worth it? Guess I can say I didn't run the marathon for the medal nor the t-shirt, but to prove to myself that I can do it. Would I run another marathon again then? Hmmm.... I guess I'd have to say I'd prolly want to run another 41 more... 42 of 42kms in my lifetime... Haha!

Maiden Marathon bounty..

Back on Track...

2009-06-02T12:14:00.003+08:00

Hmmmm... how do we start here? Its been a while since I last updated my blog, citing family commitments, lack of time, blah blah blah... So i suppose its about time to throw all the excuses out the window and pick up from where I left off...

Oh wait... Its actually not me blogging... Ashley is the one who's bored of daddy's lack of updates and decided to take matters into her own hands... Ashley's blogging for daddy!!

Lazy daddy... haizz... lemme do the talkin la..

Last Sunday, daddy decided to do some photo shooting at the Kota Kemuning Shoestring Run organized by Touch n' Grow Community Support (Job well done Ooi Lin!!)... Daddy was actually supposed to sign up for the run together with uncle Alex, but uncle Alex "fly daddy's aeroplane" and since this year's edition of the run was a family affair, daddy couldn't take part... Anyway, this would be daddy's 1st time shooting a running event and he told me he decided to leave his 17-50mm behind and just make do with his 100mm prime lens to get another perspective on the event...blah blah boo boo blah.. (as if I know what the hell he's talking about la)...

The Shoestring Run was a pretty fun affair, judging from the pictures that daddy took... There was some choreographed warm-up routine before the run, the kids and parents looked like they were having fun during the run and the post-run party was like a carnival, with a clown named Mr Baloonie and loads of drinks, ice-cream, refreshments and merriment... I can't wait to be old enough to go!!

So here are some pics to show you what it was all about....

Before the run...

Families having a gala time....

Warming up real good...

Starting em young... future looks bright for running...

Steven and Ray of the KK Pacers going thru the motions..

Cooling down before the race begins??

The speedsters toeing the line... waiting for the gun..

Real enthusiasm shown from the kids...

On the road....

Yes... running is simple. Don't even need shoes. Just need to get out there.

Daddy... where are we going? Look out for the bump!

A motley mix...

Wahlau eh papa... 3km or 300km har??

Still a loooong way to go young boy...

A typical sprint finish....

Its just round the corner.... c'mon!!

Wah.... this is even more tiring than watching football...

Hmmmm.... where did they go?

Post Run Carnival..

Cold water bottle... Ahhhh.... refreshing!

Kids enjoying some well-deserved cookies...

Sharing and caring...

Definitely some fun all around....

And the customary lots and lots of photo shooting...

Oh and btw... daddy started running again already... says he needs to lose some weight and run seriously again... You go daddy!

Pic courtesy of Wenny @ KK Pacers

Suspended!

2009-02-16T16:41:00.001+08:00

This post is to officially inform my readers that this blog has been suspended temporarily until further notice...

1st 20-clicker for 2009: Desa Park City

2009-01-16T15:45:00.003+08:00

Its been a while since I embarked on a long run... long meaning anything more than 15km... That might probably not be long for some, and that might be super unimaginable long for others, but that's my range when it comes to long... for now.

Both Plum and I decided to do a night long run sometime this week, and we were thinking about where to go... Places like Putrajaya, Kota Kemuning, Ara Damansara, TTDI were bandied about... and we wanted a place where there was relatively low vehicular movement as well as wide roads and brightly lit. Haha, right, not exactly many places in KL like that...

Last minute we decided on Desa Park City (DPC), Kepong... and we were not disappointed. Place had ample car park, around the Waterfront Mall, they had a 7-11 for refueling if needed, the park around the lake was brightly lit and there were quite a few people lingering around even till 11pm. The roads snaking around DPC had 2-3 meter wide pavements, not many vehicles and pretty good lighting all over.

Although looping around DPC wasn't really long interms of distance; a loop around the lake is approx 2km, detouring to the hill and back will take you about 6-7km. You can pretty much do 3 looping rounds of that and start to hit 18 - 20km mileage. There's also a 600m long climb, gradual at first and increasingly steep to the summit that helps work the quads and mix up the flattish route a little.

We actually went at a pedestrian pace last night... keeping it at conversational pace and actually talking about lotsa BS along the way... So much so that at times, we were practically going like what the signboard below says:

The pace we were going up the hill climb... :)

Would I recommend this place for a run? Yes I would, if only to mix it up a little so that you get a different view. Not many places to run after the sun has set, and this is definitely a pretty good place to head to if you're looking for a workout after dark.

NOT a GOOD start

2009-01-12T10:27:00.002+08:00

Seriously. Not a good start to 2009 in terms of achieving my goals. Been really tied up with personal life and family commitments that I just haven't been putting the mileage. Its about 2 weeks into the new year and all I have to show on my training chart are 32 measly kilometers. I have to buck up. But I also have to prioritize. Headache headache...

Travelling every weekend home to see my 2 girls are not gonna be easy, what with races and events being conducted only on weekends. How will I juggle?

I might even be forced to miss the GE30k run this Sunday, the 1st event on my calendar for 2009. To race this event or to spend time with my lil girl? I think its a no-brainer decision. Unless I can work around a plan to go home and spend enuff time with my lil darling and still make it back in time for the 6am gun start on Sunday morning, it sure looks like i'm missing the GE30k for the 2nd consecutive year.

Its really not easy juggling a full time job, being a new father, spending time with the family, working on the sides and trying to achieve a 4000km mileage target for the year....

Please, please. Give me the strength to pull this thru....

Goal Setting

2009-01-08T08:50:00.003+08:00

I used to write myself a list of things I should accomplish, things I should achieve, targets I should meet, at the beginning of every new year, each and every year.

I used to write down stuff like "I aim to be a better person / friend this year".... "I aim to spend more time with my wife / family this year".... "I will laugh more and lose my temper less"...

I used to write them down and then never meet them... I mean, how do you measure spending more time with your wife? Put a punch card next to her? Track down on your excel spreadsheet every minute you are next to her? How do you determine you laughed more and lost your temper less? Subjective is the keyword here.

This year, I resolve not to set non-measurable goals for 2009. I will not set any personal life goals; when it comes to my family, I will tell myself that the bottomline is: They can count on me to be there anytime they need me, and that exceeds all goals / expectations set.

For my friends, I will be there for you whenever I can, with my utmost capacity; but bear in mind, I will not be there for you at 3am and you can't sleep and want a teh tarik. Go get a copy of MAXIM or whatever it is that you fancy and keep yourself entertained.

The only measurable goals I will set for myself for 2009 are my training / workout goals. I know what I want to achieve, I know what I want to do and I tailored my goals to keep me on track to meet the targets I have set for myself:

Number 1: Overall Goal: I will accomplish / cover (a minimum) 4000km this year in total in running / biking / swimming.

Number 2: Endurance Goal: I will finish a full marathon (42.195km). This is a target I have set for the 1st half of 2009, with sights set on the KLIM09 in June.

Number 3: Speed Goal: I will achieve sub-4-hours timing in POWERMAN Malaysia 2009. This is a target I have set for the 2nd half of 2009, with sights set on the POWERMAN event in November.

And there you have it. 3 goals, 1 year to achieve them. I will not post a monthly review similar to what I have done for 2008, rather I will just update off and on for Goal #1 and where I stand. Goals #2 and #3 will be reviewed as and when the events I target for are completed.

Wish me luck!

2008 Goals Review

2009-01-01T21:46:00.002+08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2009 People!!!!

A quick review of my 2008 goals shows that I didn't fare too badly in what I set out to do...

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 1426km
Races Done: 15
- KL Int Towerthon
- KLIM Half Marathon
- BHP Orange Run
- Shoe String Run
- NB Klang Pacers Half Marathon
- NB Pacesetters 15km Run
- Port Dickson Internation Half Marathon
- Adidas King Of The Road
- Merdeka Unity Run
- Seremban Half Marathon
- Pheddipidations World Wide Half Marathon Challenge
- NB Klang Pacers 12km Run
- Mizuno Wave Run
- Putrajaya International 12 Hour Walk
- Malakoff TTDI 12km Run
Weight Lost: 5 kg

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: Done - Exceeded by 258km
What's Left To Race: Done
What's Left To Lose: 1 kg (Failed to achieve, but satisfied anyway - there's always 2009!)

Did I do it?
Except for the weight loss failure, everything was achieved.... 2009 will push new goals and new targets my way and I will strive to achieve or surpass them as I roll thru the new year....

Finishing 2008 - Malakoff TTDI 12km Run

2008-12-22T11:31:00.004+08:00

Fact is, I came into the last race for 2008 with barely 20km of running within the last 4 weeks... (Walking for 12 hours in the Putrajaya Walk doesn't count by the way...)

And that odd 20km or so was done at a snail's pace, more like just getting my ass out the door than serious training... Anyway, I thought to myself... "Last race already, might as well give it all i've got..."

I picked Jon and Lea Kin up from BU at about 6:15am and we proceeded to get to TTDI. Arrived in about 10 mins and was milling around the area when I lost Jon in the crowd as he went to relieve himself... While doin some warmin'-up, saw Bernard and we chatted for a while before lining up at the Start line waiting for the gun. Start was about 10 mins delayed and as we flagged off, the narrow path made running practically impossible with the sea of runners until there was a turn-off and the road became wider.... And that's where the "fun" started...

I had not run this route before, and I was pretty much "surprised" by the roller-coaster route,... loads of ups and downs and I don't actually recall any flats, save at the start/finish line... climbs were long and ardous and descents took a toll on my knees...

The route was a 12km run, essentially 2 x 6km loops and it was run in such a way that you could see the returning fast/elite runners as they returned along the same route... When the leading pack of African runners ran by, I could've sworn I head a "swoooosh"...

With the climbs and descents, I was holding a sub 5:30/km average pace for the 1st 5km and a sub 5:45/km pace for the 2nd 5km... Last part of the race was run in a slightly faster pace as the finish line was near... Total time taken to complete: 1:00:39 for an under-distance race.. (Garmin405 recorded 11.16km).

I guessed I should have pushed myself a lil harder to do sub 1 hr, but as it is, I was kinda satisfied with my efforts, seeing that I had not run much for the past few weeks...

Jon did pretty well too and Lea Kin covered her 6km run strongly. We adjourned for breakfast after the race and all in had a pretty good time.

With Jonny boy..

It was a fit closing to 2008, and my running mileage for 2008 would have exceeded 1400km by the last day of December.... 2009 beckons with new goals and new races... see you then!

2008 Goals Update (November)

2008-12-10T13:15:00.002+08:00

Haven't been blogging lately due to changes in lifestyle (read: fatherhood =) )... Bear with me... I'm still coping with the lack of sleep, the lack of time, the lack of everything, except JOY!!

OK, here's my update for November... didn't do much, but everything's on track..

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 1323km
Races Done: 13
- KL Int Towerthon
- KLIM Half Marathon
- BHP Orange Run
- Shoe String Run
- NB Klang Pacers Half Marathon
- NB Pacesetters 15km Run
- Port Dickson Internation Half Marathon
- Adidas King Of The Road
- Merdeka Unity Run
- Seremban Half Marathon
- Pheddipidations World Wide Half Marathon Challenge
- NB Klang Pacers 12km Run
- Mizuno Wave Run
Weight Lost: 5 kg

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: Done - Exceeded by 155km
What's Left To Race: Done
What's Left To Lose: 1 kg (Taking care of a baby really is a weight-loss programme by itself!!)

Am I On Track?
1 month to go, 1 kg to go... Way to go!!!

Deutsches Gasthaus - A Walloping Good Time

2008-11-17T11:12:00.003+08:00

[Firstly, forgive the resolution and pathetic attempt at snapping food pics with a camera phone]

[Secondly, this is a non-halal post, so please be prepared]

Fren of mine recommended this joint to get real good porky food, great for some protein loading and satisfy your craving if you're in the mood for some meaty dishes and beer... note that we did not order any beer cos we both don't drink.. However, they do have an extensive array of imported beer for those who are into an alcohol-inducing session with buddies...

Deutsches Gasthaus in Damansara Perdana, few lots away from The Bike Boutique and Citibank

Bar counter with extensive choices of beer and liquor

Minimalist decor... but ambience is pretty cool..

J waiting for her food....

Yours truly trying to get my mind off of the hunger....

Their specialty - Pork knuckle with potatoes, sauerkraut, salad greens, pork sauce and mustard

We also had a Bavarian Meat Loaf with sunny side-up egg, salad and mustard sauce

What's left after 20 mins of non-stop ravenous walloping.... =D

SBR

2008-11-07T16:51:00.007+08:00

I did a triathlon-training yesterday...

Swam in the pool for 30 mins, then mounted my bike on the trainer and churned out 45 mins, then laced up my shoes and ran 60 mins...

I guess from the above workout, you can see which type of 'event' I like best... I guess I enjoy running the most; if I only had time to either swim, bike or run, i'd be lacing up my running shoes everytime.

I'm not much of a swimmer... never have been... prolly never would be. Water isn't my greatest ally, and I actually dreaded washing my hair when I was small, always fearing that water would get into my eyes and ears and nose... guess fears when you're a lil boy always come back to haunt you...

Biking too isn't my forte... true, the scenery does go by faster compared to running; true, you get the wind in your face and freedom kinda feeling when you're rolling at 40km/h; true, you cover more ground and you explore more places when you bike.... but still, it doesn't really appeal to me much the same way running does...

Hitting the trainer takes a lot of mental effort...

Running... I can't really tell you what running does for me.. or why I like it or prefer it over swimming and biking... just that, I enjoy it.

Neways, prolly if I spend more time biking or swimming, I might learn to like it more, but as it is, with a full time job, a part time job, a baby on the way, how much more time would I have to split between these 3 'events'??

Looks like that pair of goggles and that bike helmet will be sitting on that shelf just a little longer.

2008 Goals Update (October)

2008-11-02T18:35:00.002+08:00

Completed my last races for 2008...

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 1214km
Races Done: 13
- KL Int Towerthon
- KLIM Half Marathon
- BHP Orange Run
- Shoe String Run
- NB Klang Pacers Half Marathon
- NB Pacesetters 15km Run
- Port Dickson Internation Half Marathon
- Adidas King Of The Road
- Merdeka Unity Run
- Seremban Half Marathon
- Pheddipidations World Wide Half Marathon Challenge
- NB Klang Pacers 12km Run
- Mizuno Wave Run
Weight Lost: 4 kg

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: Done - Exceeded by 46km
What's Left To Race: Done
What's Left To Lose: 2 kgs (How to lose la!!!)

Am I On Track?
2 out of 3 completed by October ain't that bad....

Faces & Places...

2008-10-28T17:08:00.003+08:00

Billboards... covers... adverts... familiar faces in foreign places...

Madonna's Confessions Tour in Rome...

Bridal shoot in Vogue...

Beckham - Armani in UK...

Tiffany's ad in New York...

Raoul Shirts in Johannesburg...

Hairspray Movie in Ottawa...

Black Label in Tokyo...

Haute Couture in Philippines....

Ok... ok... I'm kidding. :)

Last 3 Races of 2008...

2008-10-20T11:19:00.002+08:00

Running races I mean... after all, I did sign up for the Putrajaya International 12-Hour Walk in mid December... But that's not to say that I won't be running anymore this year, just not taking part in events.

I probably should have updated on the Pheddipidations Challenge and the NB Klang Pacers 12km run last week but I was just plain lazy.... The pain in my hamstrings prolly got to my head as well...

Well, there's actually nothing much to write about the runs that I take part in, so here's a brief summary of what happened over the 2 weekends..

Saturday before last, I did a personal solo run for the Pheddipidations World Wide Challenge (as you would probably have read in my earlier post) and I started my run at 6:00am. It was a long slow distance run and I finished the 21.1km in 2hrs 15 mins. Definitely not my best time ever but I had to save my legs for the following day when I'm due to run the NB Klang Pacers 12km. I actually took this opportunity to 'train' my body to burn fat as fuel instead of relying solely on glycogen (running and nutrition jargon that is another subject altogether).. So i'm proud to say this... "I ran 21.1km without any refuel" :)

Sunday morning, I ran the New Balance Klang Pacers 12km with my younger bro... My plan was to go slow as my hamstring was still feeling strained and I decided to pace my bro for the 1st half of the race, and to push myself a bit harder if my legs feel up to it... And so it was that... 1st half of the run, I was averaging 6+ mins/km and 2nd half of the race I was averaging 5+ mins/km... Total time taken to kau-tim the race: 1:14... No pics tho from the race...

Yesterday, was the Mizuno Wave Run. A 10km event that had really wide coverage, as lots and lots of people signed up for the event... Many casual runners and beginners and 1st timers took part and it was really good to see running as a sport picking up in terms of popularity... An estimated 3100 runners took part and as every category was flagged off at the same time (due to the usage of timing chips, I presume), the start line was like "the great wall of runners".... If you started at the back, you would probably be shuffling or walking along for the 1st 2km before the runners start dispersing with the pace.... Talk about hitting the wall in the 1st 500m!!!

The timing chip... different from 'normal' chips

My #... means more than 1200 runners in the Men's Open Cat

The run started at 7:30am... and I think the organizers should have started at 7:00am... It started to get pretty warm and hot early on in the race... and by mid-race, I was sweating buckets.... Another grouse was the miniscule paper cups they used to hand out water at the drinking station and at the finish... It was so small, I think each cup prolly held like 30ml of water...

Neways, the overall organization was spot on and I would say it was an excellent experience for the newbie runners... I finished the 10.2km distance in 0:55:35, also not exactly my best 10km time, but quite happy with it as I achieved negative splits (2nd half of run faster than 1st half) and I haven't been running tempo runs lately...

Bro, Plum and Me at the end...

Next up, Powerman simulation next weekend.... 11km run - 64km bike - 10km run... another solo effort worth about 5 hours... It is going to be mental, it is going to be physical, it is going to be hard. Updates again then.... over n out.

2008 Kona Ironman Champions!!!

2008-10-17T10:23:00.002+08:00

A big salute to Aussie Craig Alexander and Britain's Chrissie Wellington!!!

Runner-up in Kona in his maiden attempt last year, Craig wins the biggie this year, blitzing an elite field comprising defending champion Chris McCormack, former world champions Normann Stadler and Faris-Al Sultan, and a host of other strong contenders for the throne... Craig's winning time of 8:17:45 was achieved by running a 2:45 marathon off the 180km bike ride...

Chrissie Wellington defended her world championship title with a hard-earned 9:06:23, also with a blistering marathon time of 2:57:44, shattering the course record. This came after a 10 minute delay on the bike leg with a flat tire... and she still came in ahead of the runner-up with >10 mins to spare...

#Photos courtesy of Chris Stewart/AP Photos

Home Cookin'

2008-10-10T09:04:00.002+08:00

I'll let the pictures do the ~~drooling~~... i mean ~~cooking~~... i mean talking..

Quesadillas, lettuce, stir-fried honey chicken, tomatoes, onions, hard-boiled eggs and cheese

Topped with home-made salsa sauce / dip

Keeping the quesadillas in place

Oven baked to crispy perfection

Enticing...

Chicken quesadillas.... el mexicano!!

Side dish: Chaco chips and home-made salsa dip

Phedippidations Worldwide Half Marathon

2008-10-07T13:10:00.004+08:00

You can hit this link to find out more.

I will be doing a solo half marathon of 21.1km on Saturday, 11/10/2008 in Kota Kemuning in conjunction with this Phedippidations Worldwide Half Marathon challenge.

Runners from all over the world will be running collectively on this weekend and you can do the same by just registering yourself on the link above.

Since there will not be anymore half-marathon events for me to take part in this year (none that I can participate in anyway, considering my situation), I will take this as my 6th and final 21km 'race' to finish my target of 6 half marathon races for 2008.

My 'Official' Race Bib Number

More than 1000 runners signed up worldwide

I'm the #0125 person on earth to sign up for this run

On top of that, I need to run this 21.1km on Saturday morning, cos I have another event, The New Balance Klang Pacers 12km Run on Sunday, 12/10/2008. So it is going to be a back-to-back running weekend with 21km on Saturday and 12km on Sunday.

Will be updating my report and result at the end of the week.... Till then, keep running, keep living healthy and get off that couch!!!

2008 Goals Update (September)

2008-10-03T13:05:00.002+08:00

Increased running mileage month...

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 1089km
Races Done: 10
- KL Int Towerthon
- KLIM Half Marathon
- BHP Orange Run
- Shoe String Run
- NB Klang Pacers Half Marathon
- NB Pacesetters 15km Run
- Port Dickson Internation Half Marathon
- Adidas King Of The Road
- Merdeka Unity Run
- Seremban Half Marathon
Weight Lost: 4 kg

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: 79km
What's Left To Race: 1 Half Marathon
What's Left To Lose: 2 kgs (Increased mileage has helped drop another kg!!!)

Am I On Track?
Looks like I'll be surpassing the 1168km mark this month, and hopefully to drop another kg...

Its The Final Countdown!!!

2008-09-29T13:12:00.003+08:00

Its gettin nearer!! Less than 2 months to go...!!! From the day we saw 2 obvious pinkish lines on the preggie test kit, till this morning when she moved so vigorously that J's tummy just shuddered, it has been a roller-coaster ride of emotions... What about when I finally see her? ....I can't wait!!

Preparations.. preparations... will I be ready? Will we be ready? How will I react when I see her for the 1st time? Will I know how to hold her? Will I know how to provide for her? Will I know what her cry means? Will I know when she wants to be cuddled? Will I know when she just wants to be left alone? Will she recognise my voice? Will she feel safe in my arms? Will she grasp my little finger in her hand and don't let go? How does it feel to touch her little wiggly toes? How does it feel to put my nose on her soft cheeks? How will I feel when she looks me in the eye and holds that gaze? Will I see myself in her face?

Sigh... I don't think I can focus on my work for the rest of today...

To my Muslim friends, Selamat Hari Raya and have a safe drive balik kampung!!! To the rest, happy holidays!!

Let Me Tell You A Story...

2008-09-22T13:28:00.004+08:00

Once upon a time, in a far away land, not very long ago (yesterday), 3 lil stooges decided to go up a hill. They thought it would be nice to climb up the hill via bicycles... so they made an appointment to meet at the foot of the hill at 7:30am.

At 7am, stooge number 1 (let's call him Eugene) receives a text message from Stooge number 2 (let's call him Eric).
Eric: I might be late. Stuck in toilet.
Eugene: In toilet also can sms? Sure meh?
Eric: Can.. sit down only mah. Not like you so geng, cycle also can sms.. Hehe.
Eugene: #$%^&#@$&#$@

At 7.15am, Eugene texts stooge number 3 (Let's call him Jason)
Eugene: Is it raining there?
Jason: Federal here raining
Eugene: Heavy ah?
Jason: My urine more power la
Eugene: #$%&@#$%&*#@$

(Told ya they were 3 stooges)

So by the time Eric picked up Eugene and reached the foot of the hill, Jason was already fuming there for 45 mins. To cut a short story even shorter, they proceeded to cycle to the hill. This particular hill is called Peres. Some say that its a killer climb, some say its okay, while others think its a speed bump. Eric and Jason have climbed it before, but it was Eugene's first time.

For Eugene, it was like losing his virginity. All the anticipation, the building up of emotions, getting a hard on (in his legs), thrusting and working up a sweat and climaxing, but not really enjoying the full experience. Before he knew it, it was over. Done. And he couldn't recall what actually happened.

But he was addicted. Sucked into the enthralling experience of losing his virginity. He wanted more. So the other 2 stooges decided to 'entertain' Eugene's new found addiction of climbing up large ~~boobs~~ hills.

Off they went towards Tekala... going downhill from the top of Peres was smooth, with barely any effort required... Going up Tekala and towards the waterfall was pretty much smooth going too.. with loads of stops for photo-taking, cam-whoring and lepaking...

Nice view.... excellent ride

Stooge 3, Stooge 2, Stooge 1

Trying to look cool... keyword is trying

Pro rider and virginity-loser

After what seemed like eternity, and every one of them stooges decided that they had enuff photos to fill their Facebook account, they continued with their journey to Tekala waterfall.

Stopping at Tekala waterfall, the 3 tiring but cheerful stooges decided to refill their hungry tummies. Luckily there was a makcik with a drinks cum mee goreng stall who was ready to wield the big gigantic parang on the necks of the hungry and thirsty stooges.

Makcik (thinking inside): Muahahahaha... ni tempat tarak lagi 100 plus... ni mesti kena beli ngan i... boleh tutup kedai la lepas 'tiok' 3 budak ni.. (loosely translated as "Muahahahaha... this place no more 100 plus.. they have to buy from me... i can close stall and go home after i whack them kau-kau..)

What to do? 3 hungry and thirsty stooges under the 12pm sun. Eat grass meh? Ma buy 100 plus and mee goreng lor....

Chit-chatting a little and discussing where else to ride... they proceeded to ride towards a some more far away place called Kajang... probably they thought there was Kajang Satay being sold there at 1pm in the afternoon (stooges ma... dead tired alredi cannot think straight... luckily still can cycle straight)...

When it hit them that it was Ramadhan month and there would be no satay to be sold at 1pm, they were already at the junction to Kajang town... wat to do? Bloody hell U-turn back lor...

So they thought... no satay nevermind la... we go bathe at waterfall la.. By the time they reached the waterfall area again... they were thirsty again... Makcik still hadn't packed up yet and left for home (she's the smart one.. knowing full well that the 3 stooges would be back and asking for more 'tiok'ness)...

It looked like the 3 cyclists never learned their lesson. Piang!!! Kena big-ass parang one more time. Tired and lighter, both in body and wallet, the 3 stooges carried on to their next destination: Waterfall bath.

Syiokness ultimateness

Wait.. wait.. not yet refill bottle.. you wait your turn...

No... I don't wanna look.. no, don't take my photo.. I said NO!!

It was the BEST feeling ever!!! The cold heavy gush of water on a hot steamy day was heaven on earth!! It really made us wanna tackle Peres again... But luckily the 3 stooges were not that stupid. After the rejuvenating water session, the ride back to the foothill was slow and leisurely. Another bout of photo-taking took place at the Tekala dam.

Know why we didn't show our legs? Cos they're shaking, and we want the photo to be sharp.

Where the hell are the other 2??? Downhill also so slow..

OBVIOUSLY taking photos more important than riding

This one no better... rather snap than cycle

Panting like a dog on a sunny day

It looked like it was going to rain as the 3 exhausted cyclists reached the end of their ride... However the cyclo-meter only showed 95km and stooge number 1 had not done 100kms before! He was in agony! Only 5kms and he missed out on the 100km mark??? The other 2 stooges egged him on... asking him to put his big-ass back onto the bike and ride another 5km to round it up...

And so he did... 3kms to go, Father Rain peed on Eugene. Not a trickle mind you... Father Rain drank 50 liters of 100 plus and let it all go. Eugene was soaked to the skin in the last 3kms before reaching back to meeting point and ending up at 100.37km distance done.

All in all, the 3 stooges had a great time.

Ride specifics:

Actual Distance: 100.37km
Actual Ride Time: 4:20:13
Ave Speed: 23.1km/h
Max Speed: 68.4km/h
Calories burned: 3731 Cal

Do I Still Love Myself?

2008-09-14T10:07:00.004+08:00

Careless. Careless. Careless. Dunno what I was thinking. Dunno what went thru my head. Dunno why I was distracted. All I knew was I felt myself kicking the pavement, cushioning my fall with my hands, doing a 3/4 flip-turn ala olympic-bronze-medal winning effort and landed flat on my ass.

First thing I saw was the half-dead tree staring back at me.

First thing that went thru my head was not "Shik*, how are my injuries / bleeding / abrasions / lacerations?"

No, that was not the first thing. That wasn't even the 2nd thing.

First thing that went thru my head was "Shik, did I scratch my Garmin?"
And I belek-belek my watch and heaved a huge sigh of relief when it all looked spiffy and OK. You see, injuries can heal, bleeding can be stopped. But a scratch on the watch is forever.

Immediately after that, I thought "Shik, did I tear my shoes?"

Looked down at my shoes and aside from some dirt and mud, they looked pretty fine too. That's when I saw my bleeding knee and some lacerations on my calf. OK la, sap sap sui... small stuff.

Dropped some red ink on the chicken legs

Brushed off some sand and dirt and continued home. Thank god home was 300m away. At the end of a 14km run. If it had been the start of the run, it would have been a real waste of a morning.

It didn't occur to me then, but as I showered, the thought hit me. I have read in frens' blogs about them crashing on their bikes and then the first thing that they think about after sitting up on the tarmac is "is my bike ok? is my bike ok?" Their own safety is put aside and its like they care more about their bike than themselves. At the time of reading, I thought to myself "That's crazy, how can anything material be more important than your own well-being?.... If it were me, I'd be looking at my injuries, and not my stuff.."

...And yesterday morning at about 8:25am, I joined the club. I just can't believe it.

Thoughts.

2008-09-09T13:10:00.005+08:00

Woke up early today at about 0530 cos I have been real smacking lazy lately. Felt that it was time to go for another run; weather had been playing havoc with my running schedule of late... When I wanna run, it rains. When I dun wanna run, it rains. When I think I might wanna run, it rains. When I think I might wanna bathe, it rains. When I think I wanna eat, it rains... you get the drift.

Was out the door at 0610. Roads were empty. Air was still. The noisiest thing around me was my breathing and my foot falls.. Its times like this that's best for contemplating and thinking about worldly stuff and thats exactly what I did...

"I have been kinda lazy lately... blaming my 'laziness' for lethargy and tiredness... lotsa shifting stuff around the house, getting things ready for the baby, some hard workouts and races in the past month... laziness that has made waking up early for morning runs difficult.. Prolly I'm not getting enuff sleep..."

And suddenly my train of thought shifted...

"With the impending arrival of our lil girl, I'd prolly be getting inadequate sleep every other night (or EVERY night!!)... and I'd still need to workout and run lots, cos I'm training for a full marathon thats due in Feb/March; and of course I don't wanna sport a tummy after becoming a father.. On top of that, I'd have to juggle work and other commitments, and at the same time not fall sick, cos then I can't help around the house or worse.. spread the virus to wifey and girl-girl...
With lack of sleep, I'd also probably be yawning in office ... or worse.. in meetings! (Not that I don't do that now but the yawns would prolly increase by ten-fold..)...And then I'd start to look like a panda, then my wife and lil girl wouldn't be able to recognise me anymore, and my lil girl would cry everytime she sees me and my wife would think I'm ugly and unattractive anymore and...."

And I nearly stopped in my tracks. In the middle of the road.

"Holey Shik!! How am I gonna manage?? Gotta help take care of our lil darlin', not enough sleep, not enough rest, crazy random meal-times, do housework, go to work, business commitments, run like a dog, bike on the trainer (unlikely to get much biking time on the road), swim like a hippo, take care of wifey's needs, family and at the same time stay healthy and sane...."

This is crazee. With a capital C. But I think.... this is what being a daddy means. Its probably difficult. But nothing in life is simple.

And with that thought in place, and a smile on my face, and the long quiet road ahead of me.... the morning run turned out to be a breeze.

Ooops... I Did It Again...

2008-09-07T20:12:00.002+08:00

Do you know what this means??
Mx = Max Speed

Location: Kesas Highway
Date: 7th September 2008
Time: Approx 10:53am
Offence: Speeding above highway limit 90km/h

.....

..........

...

Result: Unconsciousness

2008 Goals Update (August)

2008-09-02T10:06:00.001+08:00

Rocketing Sprocketing Wocketing month...

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 943km
Races Done: 10
- KL Int Towerthon
- KLIM Half Marathon
- BHP Orange Run
- Shoe String Run
- NB Klang Pacers Half Marathon
- NB Pacesetters 15km Run
- Port Dickson Internation Half Marathon
- Adidas King Of The Road
- Merdeka Unity Run
- Seremban Half Marathon
Weight Lost: 3 kg

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: 225km
What's Left To Race: 1 Half Marathon
What's Left To Lose: 3 kgs (Macam damn hard to lose the last 3 kgs!!!)

Am I On Track?
Unless there's another half-marathon race in the Klang Valley, I doubt I'll be able to do total of 6 x 21km races this year...

Seremban Half Marathon

2008-08-25T08:35:00.002+08:00

I didn't get the finisher's medal. I didn't win the prizes at stake. I didn't even finish within the cut-off time. But the trip down to Seremban wasn't a waste. In fact, it was one of the most fulfilling runs I had ever done.

I helped my buddy Plum finish his 1st half marathon and stayed with him thruout (ok, 90% of the time) the race. I know what its like to the mentally and physically hurting when you run long distance for the 1st time and contempleting thoughts of giving up. I hurt badly in my Pg Bridge run last year and it wasn't something I would like my frens to go thru alone.... So this run was meant to be run together... And finishing the race side-by-side as we ran across the finish line together was the biggest prize for me so far. You did it dude!! And to top it all off, he won a mystery prize in the form of a 6-pack of 100+. You go rehydrate yourself kau-kau man..

The race started off at 6:45am and in a 21km run of about 300 odd runners, we soon found ourselves at the back of the pack with barely 1km gone.... No worries, most important thing for the day was to finish, the timing wan't important.

1st half of the route was scenic, taking us thru a new development called Forest Heights and it felt like running up Camerons, albeit with wider roads... The air was fresh and cooling and it was a bit of an uphill, but as it was early in the race, Plum was going strong. And so was myself.

We had agreed that whenever the pace slowed to a walk, or if there were any detours, I would run off, get some extra mileage in and catch up with him a lil later... Since I was running at a pace which I was comfortable in, the race was a training session for me to get in additional mileage as the base for my marathon training. I would eventually end up running 25.3kms instead of the designated 21km.

The 2nd half of the race was where the tiredness start to set in for Plum. Although he didn't admit it to me then (I know you were hurting, dude) and he kept on going (kudos to you!!).. the pace slowed... but the traffic didn't. It was getting later and traffic had started to build up and we were getting onto main roads now and going pass intersections and some of them were not even manned.

Traffic control was kinda poor, and there were no traffic cones for us to run within a designated path for safety and for a lot of stretches, we were running on the white lines on the road; 3 inches to the left - grass and gravel and stones, and 3 inches to the right - whizzing traffic. Stressful.

Plum did well for his 1st half marathon, and although we walked thru the water stations, and refilled our bottles, he only dropped to a walk just before we hit the last water station at 16km... That's practically a full 16kms of running for you before walking man! After that however, the road started to go uphill, but Plum's day went downhill...

Cramps started to set in on both legs, and it was stretch, walk, stop, stretch, walk, stop, stretch, walk all the way until the finish line where he summoned enough strength to run the last 100m across the finish chute. I'm pretty sure that was a huge sense of achievement.

Dude, I'm proud of you. Lets do the full next.

42.195km / 26 miles 385 yards

2008-08-23T21:25:00.002+08:00

My marathon training officially starts tomorrow. At the Seremban Half Marathon (SHM). In Seremban obviously. And what am I aiming for?? The KL International Marathon (KLIM) 2009, expected in February or March 2009. That will be my 1st marathon and will allow me to strike it off my life's to do list (on my sidebar)...

.... Its a great deal of sacrifice and also effort put in to train to run 42kms non-stop... Imagine running from Klang to KL city centre.... or Teluk Intan towards Bidor and going on straight some more.. Seriously its no joke...

And to keep this training a secret and not to divulge too much of tactics and strategies... I'll just say that my initial phase training shall consist of building mileage, burning fat, increasing endurance and cross-training.

And for tomorrow's SHM, I shall not be running it as a race. The certificate is not my priority. The medal is not my priority. The cut-off time is not my priority. My priority is to finish the run together with my buddy Plum. Its gonna be his 1st half-marathon and I will be with him the whole way. We'll cross the finish line together, buddy. Thanks for coming along. I really appreciate it.

And my priority after tomorrow's SHM?

42.195kms.

I Just Don't Get It

2008-08-21T13:14:00.002+08:00

..... ....

Datukship for Lee Chong Wei from Penang Government...

Holy shit! I'm going to be a Datuk??

What's the value of a "datukship" these days?

GOD! Why wasn't I born in Malaysia??

So what does this guy deserve then? United States Presidency?

Ranting and Running

2008-08-18T14:00:00.004+08:00

I'm disappointed.

Adidas - King of the Road; Photo by Jason Lee.

What do I have to do to get some definition on my legs? Sheeesh.
Bugger legs look like tree trunks. Short banana tree trunks.

................................

Neways, update of last run yesterday at Dataran Merdeka, Larian Perpaduan Merdeka:

Actual distance: 10.7km
Total Time: 0:55:50
Ave Pace: 5:13km
Ave HR: 169bpm
Calories burned: 791 Calories

Split 10km Time: 0:52:35 (This is my personal best so far)
Next target, sub-50mins 10km.

PMS

2008-08-15T11:00:00.003+08:00

What drives us to do the things that we do? What makes us motivated to go out and pursue what we hope to achieve? What makes us push ourselves beyond what others would?

I don't have the answer. But I keep doing it.

2 and 1/2 hours out in the sun this morning, and I was cursing myself the whole way. I felt lethargic and tired when I walked out the door, but still i laced my shoes and started slow. Halfway thru, I felt like giving up and going home, knowing that nobody would know but myself. That thought of a steaming cup of coffee and morning papers felt like a slice of heaven, but I kept going. My legs felt like iron bars and every step was labourous but I persevered. Why? I seriously don't know. Why do I do this?

Pain.

An hour or so later, I came in my door. I could have just took off my shoes and clothes and hit the shower, but no. I was tired, but I told myself its just mental. Strapping on my cycling shoes, I pushed my bike out the door. Hit the road and manouvered thru morning traffic till I dove into Kesas bike lane. Motored down the highway averaging 33km/h and feeling the morning sun burning my skin. Why torture myself thru the dust and smoke and heat? Even a stretch along Kesas near Bandar Puteri had open burning and the stench of smoke stuck to me like a leech. Still I had to keep on going. My mind was nowhere. Fleeting thoughts of Cancellara powering the Great Wall of China enroute to his Gold medal winning efforts made me pick the speed up a notch. The stinging pain in my quads and my labouring breaths slowed me down on the return.

Solitude. Suffering.

Close to an hour after I pushed my bike out the door, I was pushing my bike back in. I should have parked my bike, lie on the floor and catch my breath. But all I did was grab my goggles, my towel and head out the door again. Jumping into the pool, I was already famished. I pretty much estimated I had burned close to 1500 calories by now, and all the nutrition I had was a gel at km9.5 on the run. Hunger does funny things to your mind. It tells you that your legs are made of lead and your arms are heavy good-for-nothing rusty rods. 20 laps in the pool and I had nothing left. Climbing out of the pool, I was spent.

Torture.

And I still do not know why I do this. Why I bring suffering and pain to my body and my mind. Why I brave the heat and the humidity and the screwed up environment to go out there and torture myself.

Comfort.

I believe its an addiction. Pretty much like cocaine, nicotine, alcohol and booze. My addiction is called PMS. Its short for Physical-Muscular-Suffering.
Yes, I am a wannabe athlete.

Adidas - King of the Road

2008-08-10T16:35:00.003+08:00

... but luckily I didn't 'Kong' on the road...

I had been nursing this nagging hamstring strain for about a week and every single day that the King Of The Road (KOTR) event drew closer, I got even more worried about whether I could last the full distance without injury or cramping.. Well, looks like I turned out OK!!

And to keep a long run story short, I'll just provide the gist of the event:

6:00am - arrived at Dataran Shah Alam with Andrew
6:30am - warmed up with some light running and stretches
6:48am - gun went off to mark the flag-off for half-marathon categories

2 hours 8 mins and 39 seconds later, I crossed the finish line to receive a finisher's medal and certificate.

Medal and cert...

Nice parts of the race:
- Can't remember any

Ugly parts of the race:
- Distance markers way out
- refreshments stations not evenly spread out and no water (all 100+)
- not very good traffic management

Race specifics:
Actual distance: 22.17km (My 405)
Total timing: 2:08:39
Average pace: 5:48/km
Calories burned: 1632 Cal
10km split time: 0:57:50
21km split time: 2:02:11

Another Note...

2008-08-07T10:47:00.003+08:00

Her Sanctuary,
PO Box 221108,
Mummy Tummy.

7th August 2008

Dear Mummy & Daddy's Lil' Girl,

Looks like its been 2 months since daddy wrote a letter to you. I guess this note is way overdue. But not to worry, mummy and daddy talk to you every night don't we? You hear our voices and mummy's singing (maybe a wee bit off-key sometimes) before you go to sleep ya...

Mummy and daddy knew you were to be our lil girl last month, and immediately we went out and bought some lovely dresses for you... even though it'd be a few more months before we see you, and another few more months after that before you'd fit into them... Haha... mummy and daddy just couldn't control ourselves... They just look so cute, and you would be such a doll wearing them... Muaks.

A fashion collection...

Now, mummy has to set aside some space in her closet to share with you. In no time, you will have as many dresses as mummy... boy, daddy's gonna need to go out and buy another closet.

You have grown so much since the day we first saw you at the doctor's. And you have grown a lot heavier too... Mummy says she looks like a beach ball now... Hehe.. daddy thinks she looks like a watermelon... haha.. but that's our lil secret ok? Don't let mummy know...

Mummy says she feels you kicking and punching her harder now, its like you're telling her you're there..." Don't forget to feed me, mummy!!... Don't do your work until you forget about me!!... I'm here! I'm here!... " ... Well, daddy says... give mummy all the kicking you can... she loves it!! She loves to know you're there... and daddy absolutely adores it when daddy puts his face on mummy's tum-tum and gets a kick or punch on the nose...

Dear, you concentrate on growing up strong and healthy ya... Mummy and daddy are now busy buying stuff and getting all things ready for you. Until daddy writes another letter again, know that deep in mummy and daddy's heart, you're the best thing that's ever happened to both of us.

Lotsa love and kisses,
Mummy and daddy.

Another One??

2008-08-05T13:22:00.003+08:00

You know the good thing about working in the telco industry? You get (practically) free phones for your usage!!

In >6 yrs of working, I have gone thru like 8 phones (if I remember correctly) and I actually only bought 2 of them...

Behold, the latest...

Nokia 5320 XpressMusic...

Red and black... I like!!

And lets not even get to the free calls part... Ahem.

2008 Goals Update (July)

2008-07-31T14:18:00.002+08:00

Kinda a really slow month for me...

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 806km
Races Done: 7
- KL Int Towerthon
- KLIM Half Marathon
- BHP Orange Run
- Shoe String Run
- NB Klang Pacers Half Marathon
- NB Pacesetters 15km Run
- Port Dickson Internation Half Marathon
Weight Lost: 3 kg

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: 362km
What's Left To Race: 3 Half Marathons
What's Left To Lose: 3 kgs

Am I On Track?
Expecting to run 2 half marathons in August (Adidas - King of the Road and Seremban Half Marathon) so I should be on track for 6 halfs this year...

Babymoon...

2008-07-24T20:42:00.003+08:00

A planned getaway last weekend.... A kinda 'babymoon' before the arrival of Bob... A lil holiday away from the hustle and bustle of city life, to the cool crisp air of the highlands....

A holiday summarized in a loooooooong sentence.....

"....Pretty relaxing weekend in Camerons where we stayed in Century Pines Resort in Tanah Rata and spent most of the weekend walking around sampling food, browsing pasar malams, pasar tanis and pasar whatevers, and having a good time sipping hot chocolate after traipsing around in the cool surroundings and stuffing ourselves silly with makan after makan after makan and probably gaining a couple of extra pounds while the only workout I got was running up to Brinchang from Tanah Rata in the freezing cold of the morning and then finding solace in the hot shower whilst J giggled at my silliness, which was then followed by some fruits and vege shopping at Kea Farm and having lunch in Bidor while on the way back to KL from Camerons....."

Where we stayed....

The hotel room....

One big happy family....

Posey posey in the park....

Wah.... not easy picking strawberries leh...

A hot drink a treasure pot after a looong walk...

J the property agent? Macam not right....

Skip... Check... Check... Skip.. Skip..

2008-07-18T10:37:00.003+08:00

Woke up today feeling all lethargic and tired... Yesterday was no better.... I felt like just sleeping in, instead of having to get out of bed to work.. I feel listless even as I'm typing this... Multivites don't seem to do the job... Neither does chocolates..

Yesterday, during lunch hour, I was busy working on my lappie when suddenly the room started spinning.. I thought for a moment there was some distant earthquake with reverberations felt here... But i looked around and nobody seemed perturbed... was it only me?? I had to sit back and close my eyes for a moment while the vertigo session passed... Dizziness... something I haven't felt in a long time..

For the past 2 to 3 days... I've also been having this cramping and knotted feeling in my hamstring and calf... and this has been hampering my running and cycling workouts... All week long I've only done 6km of running. And thats an all time low for me since I started working out.. I stretch and stretch my tight legs, but the crampy feeling is still there...

And to top it all off... my lower back pain seems to be visiting me again after a long absence. This is one 'friend' I'd rather not see or meet again... but we go a long way back... We have a long and painful history, me and my back...

Haizz.... with so much problems... I'm just craving for some good ol wantan mee to satisfy meself....

Wait a minute....

....... OMG! This cannot be happening!!!

....... [typing furiously on google.....]

..............

WTF!!!!

1. Larger breasts: They don't look any larger to me... but I could be wrong.. skip.
2. Growing belly: I'm hoping its shrinking, but I can't be sure... skip.
3. Braxton Hicks contractions: I had some problems poo-pooing this morning.. wonder if that counts... skip.
4. Dizziness: Check
5. Lower back pain: Check
6. Shortness of breath: Hmmm... associated with my lethargy? Check.
7. Leg cramps: Check
8. Skin changes: I'm getting a tan... wonder if its natural or environmentally caused... Skip.
9. Food cravings: Good ol wantan mee? Check.
10. Vaginal discharge: Errr..... skip.

5 out of 10 symptoms MATCH! Is it possible???

COULD I BE 5 MONTHS PREGNANT?!?!?!?!?!?!!?

69.04km

2008-07-13T21:01:00.002+08:00

.... that's according to my cyclo-computer for my ride this morning...

Met up with Kevin, Arif, Maysenn and Patrick for an 'easy' ride, rolling out of Centrepoint, Bandar Utama at 7:30am... The route was to take us thru Kota Damansara - Sg Buloh - Guthrie Highway - Kg Melayu Subang - Puncak Alam - Sg Buloh - Kota Damansara - Centrepoint.. According to Arif, its a good mix of flats and some little hills. And I got conned! Little hills? Maybe for them hardcore riders yes!... But for me.. I was huffing and puffing all the way up... especially the last 2 of the 5 consecutive climbs...

Overall ride was fun, and it was the first time I have done this distance, normally averaging only about 40-50km on weekends around Kota Kemuning and Kesas... Upping the mileage has to be gradual tho... or I'd be having sore calfs and quads for the next few days...

It was pretty hot as we finished around 11:30am, with a pit stop at a mamak stall halfway thru the ride for some much needed 100 plus... Even with 2 bottles of refuel, a can of 100 plus and a glass of water, i felt so dehydrated after the ride... The whole afternoon I had this throbbing headache at the back of my head that I always associated with dehydration... Thank god I'm feeling all better now...

Ride statistics:
Total mileage: 69.04km
Total ride time: 2:44:14
Average speed: 25.2km/h
Max speed: 59.4km/h

Bob's Gonna Be An....

2008-07-08T16:54:00.001+08:00

.....IRONMAN???

I don't believe this.... http://thegearjunkie.com/bob-ironman-sport-utility-stroller-review

I gotta get meself one of these... Haha.

The Unveiling

2008-07-08T14:06:00.003+08:00

After months of searching for the right parts (read: favourite parts within my limited budget).... sourcing for the best deals online and in retail shops... months of heartache, headache and stress, which included a damaged frame, delayed shipment and goodness knows how much hell loads of googling for parts reviews.... finally... I give you...

.... ................

"The Phenomenon"

Now ... to train my heart, lungs and legs out to live up to the name...

3-Day Weekend

2008-07-06T20:33:00.003+08:00

It was a pretty event filled weekend.
Weekend started early on a Friday as I took the day off to take J for her monthly check-up. It was THE check-up session, you know... the one where we got to know whether it was going to be Bob or Bobetta... hehe... anyway, to keep the readers of this blog (however few you may be) guessing, I'm not revealing whether J and I will be having a son or a daughter (yet)... haha... keep guessing..

And no. Its definitely not twins OK!

After the check-up session, we immediately dropped by the Curve for a spot of baby clothes shopping (now know already ma, buy blue or pink) and lunch.

..........

I did an easy run on Saturday morning, still feeling the after-effects of cramping and a knotted calf muscle from two days before... felt comfotable after the run and decided to run the Siemens Run on Sunday. Contacted Syd to make arrangements to collect my bib and vest...

J went out with our neighbour SL on a kinda girls-only outing so I took the time to take my new bike parts (read: latest secret mission) to the bike shop for the final installation. Will unveil the bike in another post... hehe.. suffice to say, it looks 'ganas'...=D

Practically spent the whole day at the bike shop, and had to go out to source for some parts and accesories as my regular bike shop didn't have the necessary components... Cancelled the appointment to collect the vest/bib from Syd and only managed to finish and get home at close to 7pm.

Sneak preview.... It cost me an arm and a leg and a little bit more...

...............

Due to unforeseen circumstances, (which I will not divulge here) I had to skip the Siemens Run... That however did not deter me from waking up early to get in my weekend workout. To compensate for missing the run (which btw saw 4200 participants), I ran 17kms around Kota Kemuning in 1:42:41, which saw me putting my new NB MR903LW on a middle-long distance run... I'm pretty glad the lightweight cushioning could take the pounding and I didn't feel any soreness or pain after the run... King of the Road, here I come!

During J's girl's-only outing with SL, she recommended a restaurant in 1-U serving Japanese fusion food called Pasta Zanmai located next to Yishion and Carl's Jr...
We decided to try it out and boy we're we sold! The decor was minimalist and simple... (Don't harp on the pics, lighting wasn't optimal and camera was actually a phone)

The food was great and seriously delicious!! We had Soft shell crab no gomadare shitate (Soft shell crab with pasta in sesame cream sauce) and Unagi kabayaki to onsen tamago (Grilled eel in barbeque sauce pasta with hot spring egg) and the soft shell crab pasta comes highly recommended...

I'm skipping the close up pics of the food as all you can see are blurry noodle-like pasta and shiny condiments.. Meal for 2 came to close to 60 bucks, and its not exactly economical in times like these, but once in a while, if you wanna enjoy a good meal, I'd recommend this place..

Spent the rest of the afternoon walking around 1-U, but did more of browsing rather than any actual shopping...

A 3-day weekends draws to a close as I write this... Tomorrow, its back to the daily grind of deadlines and inconclusive meetings...

2008 Goals Update (June)

2008-07-02T21:09:00.003+08:00

Forgot to update for May, so here goes for 2 months (May and June)....

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 707km
Races Done: 7
- KL Int Towerthon
- KLIM Half Marathon
- BHP Orange Run
- Shoe String Run
- NB Klang Pacers Half Marathon
- NB Pacesetters 15km Run
- Port Dickson Internation Half Marathon
Weight Lost: 3 kg

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: 461km
What's Left To Race: 3 Half Marathons
What's Left To Lose: 3 kgs

Am I On Track?
Running mileage dropped, but made up for it in terms of fitness by doing more brick sessions (Bike-Run-Swim)... 6 months gone and on track to meet / surpass my goals in terms of mileage, races and fat loss...

Moonlighting

2008-06-26T21:41:00.002+08:00

With the increase in petrol prices, the hike in food costs and everything else under the sun... I had to find a way to make a little more side income to supplement J and Bob...

So nowadays, after office hours.. you can find me in KL area late at night... around Lorong Haji Taib, Chow Kit and Jalan Alor..... making my rounds... looking for customers... moonlighting as...

......................

......

By the way... I tak jalan meter ya...

Of Fish Balls and ......

2008-06-24T22:58:00.002+08:00

Deep in the night.... and all thru the house... not a creature was stirring... not even a... wait.

3:44am...
J: [Poking me in the ribs] Mmmm... craving for yue tan (fish balls) la..

Me: [OMG... Tell me this isn't happening..] Mmmmm... Ok ok... morning I go buy ha...

J: [Poking me in the ribs again...] Sure ah... sure ah... Bob wants to eat ah.. not me...

Me: [Snore snore...] Ya ya... breakfast I buy... now sleep first la ha...

6:31am...
Woke up, washed up and went straight out the door to look for fish balls... Drove from one coffeeshop to another... and I finally found one that had dim sum ready...

Bought some fish balls and some dim sum and went straight back home...

7:17am...
J: [Sniffing the air] Mmmmm... smells so good..!!!

Me: [It better be!!] Ya... I think quite nice...

J: [Slurp...slurp... lick lips in glee..] Yum.. yum.. Muaks daddy... Bob loves it!!

....... Preggie women have odd cravings at odd times... Preggie husbands have odd headaches at odd times.... The above explains it all.

I found...

2008-06-20T13:49:00.003+08:00

....... another way to office today.

Its shorter in distance,
Its toll-free,
and
It takes the same amount of time.

Its turning out to be a pretty good Friday after all...

Dear Bob...

2008-06-16T13:15:00.003+08:00

Bob's Sanctuary,
PO Box 221108,
Mummy Tummy.

16th June 2008

Dear Bob,

How are you getting on? This is the first letter from mummy and daddy to you. We have so many things to tell you, other than the small talk we make before mummy goes to sleep at night. Do you feel daddy's love when daddy rubs mummy's tummy? Daddy sometimes feels you squirming around... Is that your way of telling daddy you know daddy is there?

Mummy and daddy did a lot of things over the weekend you know... The main highlight was going shopping for your stuff.. Altho we do not know whether you'd be studying in Convent or Saint Anthony yet, we thought it would be a good idea to get some neutral colour clothing for you first... That, and the insatiable need for mummy and daddy to go buy baby stuff... hehe.. So guess wat, you have your very first set of tops and bottoms.. and a host of other stuff like nappies to cover your naughty bits, bibs for when you drool all over daddy and baby wipes when you poo-poo all over mummy..

Bob's stuff...

Daddy knows that you must also be getting a lot of nutrients from mummy, as well as a lot of junk food... haha.. Yea, mummy is a bit of a diverse eater isn't she? Did you enjoy the durian? How about the vietnamese noodles that mum had last week? Was it a tad too sour for you? Mummy says you like spicy stuff, that's why she's been downing curry and curry and curry the past few months...

Next time daddy rubs mummy's tum-tum, make sure you give daddy a solid kick like you're gonna score the winning goal in EURO 2008 ok? Daddy looks forward to feeling you everyday...

Till next time, happy growing and remember that mummy and daddy can't wait to hold you.

Lotsa love.

Muaks and kisses,
Mummy and Daddy.

p/s: Mummy and daddy are nick-naming you Bob first, before we find out whether you're having a wee-wee stick or a wee-wee well. By early next month after we find out, we'll look for a nice name for you, ok? Until then, you can be Bob or Bobetta. =)

If I Played For Brazil...

2008-06-10T03:57:00.002+08:00

Guess what I found browsing the net during half-time of the Holland vs Italy Euro 2008 game (at an ungodly 3:30am)....

http://www.minimalsworld.net/BrazilName/brazilian.shtml

"If you played for Brazil, what would your name be?"

Muahahahaha.... guess what, I'd be 'Eugenildo' and J would be 'Tito'...

And if I were to put both our Brazilian names together, our kid playing for Brazil would be....

Samba Baby banging in the goals....

15 Weeks

2008-06-01T19:55:00.001+08:00

I'm wondering.....

Will you look like mummy... or daddy?? =D

Port Dickson Half Marathon Holiday

2008-05-27T14:19:00.004+08:00

J and I were in PD over the last weekend for a holiday getaway cum (me)running the PD International Half Marathon. We booked into the Avillion Admiral Cove, which is situated near the 6th Mile along PD main road, next to the Admiral Marina Leisure Club.

We stayed at the Avillion Admiral Cove...

Fact is, I had never been to PD my entire 29 years of existence and I was pretty excited to go there and also have a run (which I hoped to be a scenic route)... We arrived there in PD after a slight crawl along the highway at about 2:30pm on Saturday and proceeded to the hotel lobby to check in. First impressions of the place were quite disappointing, with the lobby having a natural cooling mechanism (read: windows and fan, no air-cond) and it was pretty sweltering then... The initial disappointment was compounded when they did not have any more double beds, and we were given a room with a twin bed... whereby I had to do some 'renovation' by myself..

Room no 1314...

With that behind us, we settled into the room (with no view) and had a nap... It was supposed to be a laze-around-and-do-nothing holiday, and not the make-full-use-of-time-quickly-get-ready-and-go-out-sightseeing-trip we were so used to...

Collection of race t-shirt and bibs and goodie bags was at the open area next to the hotel. The t-shirt was the typical crappy cotton stuff, and the goodie bag was also laden with stuff that I do not use...

My race number and selected running vest..

Stuff from goodie bag... nothing much of use..

Evening came and we took a drive towards PD town and stopped by at the pasar malam (night market) and had a stroll around..

Hustle and bustle...

Ayam percik o'er the fire...

The sights and sounds reminded me of Pasar Ramadans that I used to frequent during the Puasa months. We had decided to go for seafood dinner, so we weren't looking to buy dinner at the pasar malam... however, the otak-otak and roti jala looked too tempting to resist and we finally caved in and bought some... And I tell you, it was yummy!!

Scrumptious roti jala...

Yummy otak-otak..

We souted around for a seafood restaurant (there were plenty lining the main road) and settled for one which J had read of on teh internet... Since there were only 2 of us, we couldn't order much and I wasn't too keen to try anything to 'fancy' for fear of stomach repercussions the next morning during the run..

Sunday Morning:
My initial race plan was to run the race at an easy pace, and finishing just within the 2:30 set to qualify for the certificate. The finishers medal was only to be given to the 1st 100 finishers, so I wasn't really with high hopes for that...

I went down to the race area at about 6:45am after downing a half glass of milk, a twiggies bun and a box of raisins. Had my cytomax drink with me and I promptly did some warm-ups... at approx 7:20am, the organizer announced for the 21km runners to convene at the start line and to my astonishment, there were probably only about 200 odd runners (including both mens and womens category) for the half marathon. The majority of runners were taking part in the 11km run... This was where the organization started to suck pretty badly...

The handing out of race ribbons was done in a disorganized manner and the start gun went off pretty abruptly as well... And it didn't help that the race started at 7:30am... Most 21km runs start at 6am to protect runners from the heat... So I was ready to be barbequed in this race...

My initial race strategy went out the window wen I saw the number of runners... I mean, if I were to run at an easy pace, I'd probably be propping up everybody else by running in last place! Looking around, everybody seemed like 'pro experienced runners' who could easily manage a quick pace... And I seriously didn't wanna be last..

My pace started off at sub 6mins/km and I was already hovering around the bottom half... I thought to myself... crap.. this was gonna be a looooong torturous race... with the expected heat and the initial blistering pace... I was opening myself to a blow-out...

At about the 3km mark, I was joined by Jon, an expat who works in a similar line with myself... We were to pace together all the way till the end (or near the end).. It was good to have company for a little chit-chat as with the limited number of runners, we were all very spaced out and was practically running on our own the whole race...

We hit the 5km mark water station at 0:26:40 and that was where I was a bit worried with the pace... I normally never run sub 6mins/km pace in the 1st 5k, as I always like to reserve energy for the 2nd half of the race...

The 1st 5km was scenic as the route took us along the main road fronting the beachline... the whole 21km route was rolling terrain, not as hilly as the NB15km, and not particularly flat as a pancake as well... No serious climbs..

At the 10km water station, my timing read 0:55:06, and this was even faster than my 10km best so far!! I was elated, but also a bit worried at the same time. Here, I downed my 1st gel... At around the 13km mark, I told Jon that I was probably going to blow-out in the last 2-3km if we kept going at this pace and we promptly slowed down a little... I think it was an understatement as the pace didn't really seemed any slower... Haha..

At the 15km mark, I hit my lap button to read 1:24:33 and that timing was quicker than my NB15km run... I was on sub 2 hour pace if I could keep this up!! However, the last 7 - 8km of the race was run on open ground, meaning there was practically no shade, no trees, and the sun was bearing down on us... Both Jon and myself could feel the heat and we were lucky to have our own hydration bottles to constantly sip from...

The organizers should have provided 100 plus or other forms of isotonic drinks at the water stations, instead of just plain H20 as runners would lose a lot of electrolytes running in the heat... I was pretty sure more than a couple of runners would have cramped up...

Near the end of the race, with about 1km + to go, I suddenly felt the onset of cramp on my left hamstring, feaing the worst and not wanting to hobble to the finish line, I decided to slow my pace to a jog (I was on 1:50:xx timing then) and asked Jon to go ahead and not wait for me... He was real sporting and wanted to continue running with me, but I insisted as I didn't want to slow him down and make him lose out on a sub 2 hr timing... After much insistence, he finally went off and I 'jogged' the last 1km to the finish line to complete my run in 1:57:11... A personal best!!! And I also finished in 32nd position...

I was however a bit sceptical of the actual distance of the race, as I was sure that my effort vs my timing after 15km did not warrant this timing if it had been a full 21km... I suspect the actual distance is closer to 20.0 - 20.5km... However, timing is not everything, and I did as best as I could in adverse (read: hot) conditions and I must thank Jon for pacing with me all the way and ensuring I maxed out fully... I know that if I had run this race alone, I would have wilted in the heat and probably did something closer to 2:30...

Finisher's medal..

I never get my photos taken, so I had to cam-whore..

Had breakfast at the hotel and checked out after 12:30pm... On the way home, we stopped by Lukut to sample the famous king buns...

The signage says it all...

You have to try this...

It was actually curry chicken baked inside of a huge gigantic bun... It was pretty good and both of us couldn't finish the whole portion and had to ta pau back...

All in all, an enjoyable trip for the weekend...

Champions League Final - Over

2008-05-22T18:53:00.002+08:00

I'm not going to blog about how Man Utd won the Champions League Final against Chelsea in Roman's backyard in a thrilling final, with everything you could ask for in a match, with a technical goal, a scrappy goal, shots against the woodwork, a red card, bloody faces, a round of slapping, theatrical fouls, extra time, penalty shoot-out, penalty shoot-out misses and a whole lot of crying and celebrating.

I'm not going to blog about how I'm a lifelong fan, since the age of 10, back in the days of Mark Hughes, and Brian McCair, Paul Ince the Guv'nor, Lee Sharpe, Denis Irwin, Paul Parker, Peter Schmeichel the Great Dane, Steve Bruce and Pallister and Andrei Kanchelskis to the current holy trinity setup of Ronaldo, Rooney and Tevez.

I'm not going to blog about how I held my head in my hands when Tevez missed 2 golden opportunities to finish the game, Giggs blew his chance at eternal fame with a Terry goal line clearance, and Ronaldo changing his mind midway thru his spotkick and subsequently missing.

I'm not going to blog about how I heaved a huge sigh of relief when first Didier (the dumbo) Drogba hit the post, and then Lampard just had to follow suit and then the ultimate Dumbo himself swinging his palm into Vidic's face over some irrelevant throw-in fiasco, thereby missing the shoot-out and the medal collection.

I'm not going to blog about all that. No, I will just leave it for another time. For now, the CUP is in Manchester. And that's all that matters.

Why Oh Why?

2008-05-22T18:40:00.004+08:00

Haiya... damn sien la always check out the photos taken during runs and always see the same ol thing....

BHP Orange Run at the Curve...

In the background... AGAIN!

And..... AGAIN!!

Why won't they take my pic??? Am I so fugly-wugly meh?? C'mon guys... gimme a snapshot ma... Then at least I can show to my kids next time and say.... "See, daddy likes to take part in races and runs..."

And not... ...

..."Daddy.. daddy... why you got no face one?"

..."Daddy.. daddy.. cannot see your hand one?"..

Above 2 photos from NB15km courtesy of Jason Lee...

Anyway, to all the runners pictured here, sorry I didn't get your permission to post your pic up, and no offence at all.... I just wanna say, You all rock!! ...Just because you're out there keepin yourself fit...

Keep running people!!

A Loooong Weekend...

2008-05-20T12:56:00.002+08:00

Much happened over the 3 day weekend... I had a race (the New Balance Pacesetters 15km run), I had a puncture, my parents came down to visit, I received a 'ham choi' package (in my previous post) and I got meself a pair of shades to go with my MET helmet... in a summary...

For the lengthy version.. read on... but maybe not in chronological order..

Saturday morning I received my Dolce Vita Phantom shades from Procyon. Bought them to pair up with my white/blue MET helmet... matching kan? hehe... If you're lookin for a pair of shades, check out Procyon's page... (Dude.. free advertising, please send over a complimentary pair of shades... haha)

MET and PHANTOM... What a perfect couple..

Went out in the afternoon for a spot of shopping with J and went to collect my number/vest for the NB 15km run the following morning at Pdg Merbok.. Mum and Dad stayed home as mum wasn't feelin too well..

Woke up Sunday morning at about 4:30am to get ready for the run... decided to wear my running tights instead of running shorts to avoid chafing and to test it out for next weekend's Port Dickson International Half Marathon...

Arrived at Padang Merbok at about 6:30am and downed a small pack of raisins for instant energy... The 7am start was pretty abrupt, with runners mingling at the start line and the horn blared out of nowhere...

First 2-3km was a jam-packed affair with the narrow roads and sea of runners... I wasn't able to get into a running rhythm and constantly had to dodge slower runners and walkers... the slight uphill at the start didn't really help too...

After that it was smooth flowing all the way and when I hit the 1st water station (I assumed it to be at 5km), my watch read 0:34:40... And I knew that the initial slow pace was a factor in my timing and I had to pick up the pace... I scouted for a person to pace with and saw Arif whom I recognised from his blog that I read... Said hi to him and paced him for a while... after that I found another girl in halter straps doin a solid pace consistently (which I gathered to be about 6mins/km)... followed her tight all the way till the 2nd water station (presumably 10km) where my time was 1:01:21...

There were some hills along the way, and I had never run this route before so I didn't know where to expect the hills and where to expect the flats... At my 10km timing, I was still feeling strong and felt that I could do a sub 1:30 for this 15km run...

Kept the tempo going and went past the girl... Met up with Steven from Kota Kemuning and had a chat with him before we each went on our own pace... Finished my run in 1:28:45 and saw Frank and Jamie at the finishing line waiting for runners to come in... First time meeting both of them and some other runners as well... (My pleasure guys..)

For my efforts... I got a finisher's medal shaped like a New Balance shoe... wonder which model this is???

Great design medal... Something different..

Yesterday, I did a solo recovery bike ride.. Wanted to do something like 30km just to get the tiredness and muscle soreness out of the system... Went riding around Bukit Rimau, Kg Jawa, Kesas Highway and had done about 29km (slightly over an hour) when my rear wheel went bob bob bob bob... Looked down and saw a flat... Haizzz... Luckily I was about 2km from home then... POndering whether to change the tube there and then or walk the bike home and change it later... With the heat and sun bearing on me, I decided that the 10 mins it takes for me to change the tube had better be spent walking home with the bike and changing in the comfort of my home...

So, a 15 min walk ensued... And I haven't changed my tube yet as of now... Yes, I am a procrastinator.

I'm Speechless...

2008-05-18T19:59:00.003+08:00

Look at what fell on my doorstep yesterday...

No wonder it got detained and I got taxed by Kastems.. What the hell did the guy think when he packaged it like that? In fact the fella from Poslaju asked me... "Apa ni, bom ka?"...

Personally, it looks like a huge gigantic packet of 'ham choi' (salty vegetable) that you get from the wet markets... Crazy stuff this.. Its pretty heavy, and its not professionally packed... I tell you, even the sleepiest, sleep-deprived, watched footbal all night long and had no coffee for breakfast Kastems officer would spring up and take note if something like this passed thru the conveyor belt....

I'm gonna give the sender a piece of my mind.... making me waste money paying taxes. Crap.

David C or David A?

2008-05-15T22:12:00.003+08:00

I guess the question on all Idol fans lips is... "Is it goin to be David C or David A??"... Actually I had pretty much guessed that these 2 would make it all the way to the finals.. And I got my money on David Cook to be the next American Idol..

Archuleta... puppy eyes..

Cook... modern rocker dude..

Now, I'm not saying lil Archuleta is not as good as big bro Cook, but I'd say that Archuleta is a little one-dimensional, while Cook cuts it better with a wider diversity of tunes. Me? I don't have a musical ear (so to speak), but both Davids are pleasing on me ears... and I seriously don't know if any of them finalists ever go out of tune, or hit the wrong pitch, cos everytime they get on stage, I feel they do no wrong.

Probably the majority may vote for lil teenager Archuleta, given that he's got that boyish charm, puppy eyes and forever feeling giddy and 'surprised' that he survived to the next round (dun act astonished boy!!) again and again and again... but he does sing a mean ballad... and make Lennon sound pretty normal..

Cook on the other hand, wasn't even trying to be an Idol in the initial stages.. accompanying his younger bro to the auditions and finally gettin in at the expense of lil bro... (wonder if there's any resentment in the Cook family). David Cook looks and exudes the aura of a modern rocker... along the lines of Doug Robb (Hoobastank) and ex-Idol finalist Daughtry.. His tunes are more diversified, his style more appealing and he'd probably swoon more than a couple of female fans with his unkempt look and devil-may-care appearance..

So here's lookin forward to next week with bated breath. Like I said, I'm on Cook's bandwagon all the way. What about you?

I Have Not Been....

2008-05-12T13:34:00.002+08:00

updating my blog lately...

I have been lazy. I have been busy. I have been tied up with personal stuff. I have been bogged down with work stuff. I have been going thru the motions. I have been living in a daze. I have been flitting in and out of reality.

And therefore, I have not been updating my blog lately.

And I will, ..... in due time.

2008 Goals Update (April)

2008-05-05T22:52:00.002+08:00

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 515km
Races Done: 5
- KL Int Towerthon
- KLIM Half Marathon
- BHP Orange Run
- Shoe String Run
- NB Klang Pacers Half Marathon
Weight Lost: 2 kg

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: 653km
What's Left To Race: 4 Half Marathons
What's Left To Lose: 4 kgs

Am I On Track?
Tired, and losing focus, but still gonna do it...

The Real Deal?

2008-04-30T10:28:00.002+08:00

"Cytomax® Performance Drink: The Original

The Sports Drink the Pro’s Really Use™.

Studies show that after three hours of intense exercise, athletes drinking Cytomax® perform better; lactic acid levels are lower, reducing cramping and post-workout soreness, while promoting re-hydration, strength and improved endurance.

Cytomax® Performance Drink is made with a unique blend of Alpha-L-PolyLactate™, complex carbohydrates, and electrolytes for an optimal energy supply. Compared to any other nutrient supplement available, Alpha-L-PolyLactate™ delivers energy faster, fuels the body more optimally, and better protects it from acid build up.

Benefits of using Cytomax® Performance Drink

Beats the Burn: Patented Alpha-L-PolyLactate™ buffers lactic acid production in your muscles, reducing the “burn” during intense training and minimizing post-exercise muscle soreness.

Steady Energy: Complex carbs stabilize blood sugar during exercise with no sugar "crash".

Cell Protection: Antioxidants prevent exercise-induced free radical damage to muscle cells.

Oxygen Delivery: Succinates enhance oxygen delivery by up to 11% during exercise, reducing perceived exertion and minimizing muscle damage.

Cellular Balance: Electrolytes ensure cellular nutrient balance is restored quickly after exercise.

Optimal Osmoality: rapid gastric emptying

Natural Herbal “Lift”: (in Tangy Orange, Go Grape and Peachy Keen flavors only) reduces your perceived effort so you can push harder.

Best ways to use Cytomax® Performance Drink

Before: Begin using Cytomax® Performance Drink 15-30 minutes before training for quick, effective hydration, lactic acid buffering and optimum levels of performance.

During: Use Cytomax® Performance Drink continually during exercise (32 fl-oz./hour) to ensure proper hydration/electrolyte replenishment and optimum levels of performance.

After: Continue using Cytomax® Performance Drink immediately post training to ensure glycogen restoration, electrolyte balance and to reduce post exercise cramping."

This is what I'm using now... is it the real deal that helped me shave off minutes off my running time? Or is it just a psychological boost?

NB Klang Pacers 1/2 Marathon

2008-04-27T20:46:00.004+08:00

This is it, my last race for April, and my third consecutive weekend of racing. Last week was a pretty good race in the Shoe String Run, with my fastest timing over 10km ever... How would I do this time around with double the distance?

I collected my running vest and number on Friday during lunch hour.. and it was a pretty good quality vest by New Balance, real technical wear, and not the cotton crap most races dish out...

Something to wear during my training runs...

As usual, my number was not really desirable with the 'sei sei die die' intonations... sheesh..

Discount voucher... I know what I'm gonna get..

They also gave us a 30% discount coupon for New Balance apparel / shoes and it couldn't come at a better time... Check out my wishlist on my side bar... The NB902LW is going to be my next pair of runners... after I've done 700km on my current Brooks..

Fast fwd to this morning... skipping the normal routine pre-race storyline, I got to the starting point with about 30 mins to spare. Did my warm-up around the running track and proceeded to the starting line up... Gun went off at 6:15am and I started my stopwatch... It was still dark and some portions of the road were not lit... Nothing spectacular, except for the fact that I nearly stepped on a dead cat with innards spilled all over the road.... yuckies..

At about the 1km mark, I noticed a familiar face amongst running circles and I ran up to say hi to Haza... exchange pleasantries and I was off on my way... At the 5km mark and 1st water station, I looked at my watch and it read 0:37:02. Crap, way off my target time.. I was going too slow...

Decided to work it up a notch and looked in the distance for a target to reel in... Picked a shapely girl (he he) about a few hundred meters away and set off at a pace a little higher than normal... After a while I passed her and as I caught sight of the 10km marker and 2nd water station, my watch read 1:08:00.. Cool! I'm way back in the game now!! Going below my KLIM timing of 2:24:xx is a very real possibility now...

I fueled myself with a packet of raisins (read somewhere that they work just as well as energy gels) and they actually do! Felt more energetic and with my bottle of cytomax in hand, I actually was able to pick up the pace even more...Raisins actually digest fast and 1 box of Ligo's actually give you 33g of carbs, more than a pack of gels.. Those runners who were running way in front of me at the start.. started to look tired and slow as I picked them off one-by-one...

The sun was beginning to shine bright by now and the weather had started to become slightly hotter... I was glad I had my sunglasses with me as there was a pretty long stretch that we were running into the sun...

15km point and 3rd water station, I clicked the lap button on my watch and looked at it in disbelief at the timing of 1:30:14... I just blitzed my last 5km in 22 mins!! Did I go too fast? Would I burn out before the finish line? Questions kept popping into my head...

4th water station was at probably the 17.5km (no marker as far as I remember) and I kept going... with 2 kms to go, my watch showed 1:54:xx and I knew that I had shaven off a big chunk of timing from my KLIM run... It was then that I started to feel my left shin and both calves in the initial stages of cramping... not wanting to cramp before the finish line (and after), I decided to slow my pace a little to not accelerate the lactic-acid build up in my muscles... The last km seemed like forever as my tired legs trudged on...

Nearing the finish line, as I ran towards the arch, the announcer called out... "Number A0004... Blah... Blah Blah.." It was indeed a refreshing change and a nice touch to the finish for them to call out your name as you cross the finish line.. As the photographer snapped my pic as I crossed the line, I clicked my watch to end the run at 2:10:49... my fastest half marathon timing in more than 10 years!!

The 1/2 marathon finisher's medal

The finisher's medal was also pretty nice... shaped like Superman's crest, it actually did make me feel like a Superman!!

Tha Goes My Haemoglobyn...

2008-04-24T16:52:00.005+08:00

Just donated blood this afternoon... Blood donation drive going on in our office... Now I'm wondering... will it affect my run this Sunday? After all, I'm going to be exerting myself over 21km... over 2 hours..

I'll probably be running at only 80% capacity.... Probably do a run-walk-run-walk strategy. Don't want a DNF (did not finish) on my record...

Will I have enough red blood cells to carry oxygen to my depleted muscles? Will I faint? Will I need to ride in the ambulance?

I will tell you come Sunday.

Shoe String Run 08 - Update

2008-04-20T16:13:00.004+08:00

The morning started off like any typical race day morning... Woke up, washed up, some milk and a bun before going to the loo for some necessary discharge. Whoa! Diarrhoea leh!! (That 'witch doctor' was right after all!!!) Some more stomach bloated and distended (banyak angin). Worried that it would affect me later, I downed 2 lomotils and 2 actals to counter the problems...

Plum picked me and my bro up at about 6.20am and we proceeded to the primary school where the race was to start... Saw a motley bunch of runners there... no Kenyans tho.. haha. There were your typical local 'kenyans' looking to sweep the top places, the weekend runners with a bit of quivering belly, the family of 3 little kids (this is after all a community / charity run) and my ol pal Plum who never seems to be able to get out of bed on a weekend.

Plum doin his warmup BEFORE the run...

It was a pretty straightforward thingy... register at the counter, lounge around and wait for the run to start... Fitness First, as one of the sponsors was there to guide the runners (who were interested) thru a 10 minute warm-up routine, which involved a lot of bounding up and down and touching toes.

Warmup session with music by Fitness First

The run started a wee bit late, should have flagged off at 7am, but I guess the organizers delayed it a little as some runners were seen coming in late to register. Didn't really check the flag-off time, but presumed it to be about 7.15am.

Saw Felix (another runner from Kota Kemuning) at the warm-up area and had a bit of a chat with him...

At the start line, I met up with the running uncle (the one who had the Ironman chat with me in a previous post) and he asked me to join the Pacesetters. They were lookin to form a mini-group for Kota Kemuning... As we were chatting, they flagged us off and we continued talking for a short while on the way out of the school.

Started at the back... but didn't finish at the back... =P

I totally forgot about my plans to treat this like my easy weekend run, and the pace kept going up as I found myself chasing the leading batch. The route was pretty flat about 80% of the way, with long straight stretches that pick you out mentally and some sloping gradients that give you a kick up your arse if you've been lazy with your hill runs.

At the 5km mark, I checked my time and was surprised to see 26:45. Man, I've been running sub-6mins pace! I can actually do this under an hour! Not wanting to let the pace slip, and totally throwing the idea of an easy run into the drain, I locked on to a runner doin a similar pace in front and made sure I didn't let him get away...

At around the 7.5km mark, the runner (another guy) in front of me was like 300m away, and the runner behind me was also some distance away... (the guy above with the similar pace faded off earlier).. Running alone with nobody next to me was tiring mentally as there was just nobody to pace with.... I think this is where I let my pace drop unconsciously... With about 500m to go, I picked up my pace again and finished the 10km run in 57:50. A sub-60 mins effort, with actually some capacity left in my tank...

Strong lookin finish..

Felix came in some time later, my bro a while after that and Plum came in with a doggie running next to him. Trust him to flirt around with a bitch while running...

We collected our certificate of participation, a goodie bag, had some drinks and off we went for breakfast. While walking off, we managed to get an obliging fella to help us take a group shot...

Best foot forward... (l-r) Felix, Plum, Bunny and Bro..

The goodie bag and certificate were ho-hum... but we were not into this for the stuff, we run because its for charity and because we love to...

Contents of goodie bag...

Certificate of participation..

Shoe String Run 08 - Kota Kemuning

2008-04-19T12:26:00.002+08:00

My first run at home!! Or close to home... A run that I can actually get to the starting line without needing to start up my car... A run in Kota Kemuning...

Tomorrow morning is the Shoe String Run, a 10km charity run for the children of Touch n' Grow...

Collected the t-shirt (not sub-standard t-shirt and design albeit it being a charity event..) and running bib for myself, bro and a few other frens who will be running together in the name of charity...

5 of us doin' 10km..

The t-shirt looks pretty good... not the standard white colour with multi-rainbow coloured sponsor logos...

I'm fitting into an M these days... hehe..

There's also a 3km family fun run attached to this event and seeing that Kota Kemuning has many families who always do walks around the lake, I'm sure the turnout will be pretty good.

Guess I will take this like my weekend easy run... part of the route goes thru my normal running route.. Reserving my energy for next weekend's Klang Pacers Half Marathon where I'll probably try out using energy gels during the run for the very first time...

Here's hoping it doesn't rain tomorrow morning like it did today...

Its 6:02am...

2008-04-19T06:05:00.003+08:00

... and its #$%^&#!??*&% raining! I know most people would be salivating at enjoying sleeping in cool rainy weather on a Saturday morning, but me? I'm seething inside. Real bad.

Woke up 45 mins ago, washed up, had a glass of milk and a biscuit, did my hard bits business, pumped my bike tires, prepared my energy drink and pretty much laced up my shoe..... when it #$%^&!!??#$!?&%$ started to rain.

Mother Nature sure has a sense of humour.

Edit: Managed to do a 20km bike - 6km run - 500m swim after the rain stopped... At least waking up early wasn't in vain..

Unscrupulous Maximus Gargantus

2008-04-17T09:54:00.002+08:00

I'm sitting at home, feling sorry for myself. I'm in pain. I've got gastritis, I'm having chilly episodes and I'm feeling sore and achy all over. And for that, I am sitting at home, blogging about nothing.

Woke up this morning after a lengthy night of sleeplessness due to pain emanating all over my upper body from the gastritis. Achy joints and rising temp didn't help much...

The doctor opens at 0830, so exactly on the dot, I was there, 2nd in line and waiting for my turn. Its a polyclinic btw, so there are multiple docs. Only one of them is good, the rest, pretty crappy if I may say so..

As the nurse called my name, and I entered the ~~consulate~~ consultation room, ... haiya... its the crappy doc... This was gonna be a loooong day..

Me: Gud mornin' doc
Doc: Mmm... without lookin up
[Then... he looked up at me quizically but kept quiet... 0 points for your PR macha..]
Me: I have gastric pain... real bad. radiating all the way up to my back
[He whipped out a stethoscope]
Doc: Take up your shirt..
[And he proceeded to use his stethoscope BELOW my belly button..]
Doc: Where's the pain?
[I pointed to just below my ribcage (where my stomach is) and not BELOW my belly button where he was still fiddling about...]
Doc: Hmmm... you will have diarrhoea..
Me: [I misheard him... and said] No... I don't have diarrhoea...
Doc: With your gastric and viral infection, you WILL have diarrhoea...
[WTF!?!? Is he cursing me?]
Me: Uh-huh.
Doc: OK, I will give you med for your gastric, your fever and diarrhoea...
Me: Can I get an MC too?
Doc: Where do you work?
Me: DG
Doc: Coverage very bad la...
Me: Oh ya ka.

And I left the con room. Wahliu eh... just because my company is paying for the meds means he push whatever he can and charge ka?!?!? This guy really beh tahan man...

Also there was a little primary school girl who went in before me... I saw the nurse dispensing STRONG and EXPENSIVE anitibiotics (presumably under the doc's orders) for her.. Wah... lil girl la.. overdose baru tahu...

What is this world becoming nowadays?

BHP Orange Run

2008-04-13T20:57:00.003+08:00

Dreeet.... dreeet.... My alarm rang at 5.20am and I sat up groggily before looking out the window in horror at the rain... Lightning and heavy raindrops pelted the night sky as I contemplated whether to go ahead for the run or not...

Lazing around in bed for an additional 10 mins didn't help as sleeping in seemed like the better option... But... I finally got out of bed and washed up and had breakfast.. Sms-ed Plum to ask him whether it was raining at his end of town, and he replied.. "Yeah, not heavy. Cancel?" That's positivity for you mate. After a phone call, we decided to go ahead and I picked him up on the way to the Curve.

It had stopped raining when we arrived, and approx 10 mins after we got there, the race started.

Runners at the start of the race waiting for the gun..

I decided to pace Plum for the whole 9km as he was 'kind' enough to get out of bed with 3 hours sleep to do this run. I'm kinda trying to get him into running and to leave him to sleepwalk his way thru this would be unfair... So we went off nice and slow (real slow) and chatted the whole way (OK, more like me talking and Plum asking me to shut up)..

One of the uphill stretches along the route..

I'd say that overall, the traffic management was pretty poor, with no safety cones along the route and the authorities allowing cars and bikes to zoom by an arm's length away from the runners... I saw a couple of school kids running in and out of the crowd of runners with cars speeding by alongside... seriously not safe.

Plum doin his thing... and calling himself a lactic-acid warehouse..

I kept talking and talking and making sure that Plum didn't fall asleep halfway thru the run (or curi ayam) and 1hr 20mins later, we hit the finishing tape... ok more like running past the finish line...

The whole finish area was awashed with sweaty wet runners and we were supposed to line up to collect our goodie bag after the run. This was where lack of organization crept in again... hordes of runners cramping around with no particular visible queue to get their goodie bags... They should have just passed them out as the runners came in at the finish line, or at least made the goodie bag (of a cert and a bottle of water) area bigger instead of just 2 tables for a couple of thousand runners..

Like a pack of sardines waiting to collect the goodie bag..

The finisher's cert...

Grabbed some drinks after the run and went off with Plum for some mamak breakfast for refuelling...

Feeling syiok after the BHP Orange Run at the Curve..

Twas The Night Before The Orange Run...

2008-04-12T22:05:00.002+08:00

and all thru the house... not a creature was stirring... only my .... tummy..

Ok.. so it doesn't rhyme... big deal, sue me. I've got other things on my mind.. like my rumbling tummy.. Stomach feels bloated, distended and full of gas. Been farting like nobody's business too... Whoever's running behind me tomorro better have a serious case of sinusitis.. or the very least a high tolerance to stinking gas every other step.

My race number doesn't even bear good omens... C164??? For crying out loud!?!?! "Shit, all the way die??"... wah literal translation in canto-language really beh tahan man!

How to be run la like that?

How Many Percent Ha?

2008-04-10T14:10:00.004+08:00

Look what I got for my birthday!!!

Its a digital scale complete with body fat monitor...

Either J wants to motivate me, or she's sublimely telling me I need to lose weight and monitor the body fat!!!
And I'm not telling you what my body fat percentage is... not until I get it down to an un-embarassing level, that is..

Another Day, Another Year...

2008-04-06T10:34:00.001+08:00

Happy Birthday To Me,
Happy Birthday To Me,
Happy Birthday To Bunny,
Happy Birthday To Me!!!

2008 Goals Update (March)

2008-04-03T10:05:00.002+08:00

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 406km
Races Done: 2
- KL Int Towerthon
- KLIM Half Marathon
Weight Lost: 2 kg

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: 762km
What's Left To Race: 5 Half Marathons
What's Left To Lose: 4 kgs

Am I On Track?
Spot on, baby...

All's Well Ends Well....

2008-03-30T18:51:00.003+08:00

KLIM 2008 Report.

Pre-Race:
Sat nite...
9:40pm - Left calf still sore from the week before. Put some medicated plaster and hoped it would go away.
10:10pm - Tried to get some sleep. Set alarm to wake up at 3:00am.
10:59pm - Still tossing and turning.
11:47pm - Still couldn't get any shut eye... Nerves? Or just adrenaline?
Sun morn...
3:00am - Woke up as the alarm went off.. Bro already up and watching the MU game..
3:20am - Had a bun and some choc milk.. Took a quick warm shower to relax the muscles..
3:40am - Tried to do my 'business' but failed miserably.
3:52am - Came out of toilet with no achievement. Gettin worried about a possible stomach discomfort in front of Mid Valley later.
4:05am - Called Plum. Woke up already.
4:15am - Left home to pick up Plum and off to KLIM. Bro and Plum taking part in the 10km.
5:02am - Arrived and parked near Pasar Seni. Walked over to Dataran Merdeka.
5:30am - Reported for the 21.1km start and walked into the fenced area behind the starting line. Did some last minute stretches for my calf and hoped for the best.
6:00am - BANG! There goes the gun...

21.1km Race:
Started off slow and steady, reminding myself not to follow other runners' pace and just to follow my own rhythm. It was difficult seeing runner after runner passing me by, but I told myself that I'll just reel them in one-by-one later when they pancit... Haha.. yea rite..
Throughout the race I was breathing comfortably, my calf didn't give me much problem after I got into my stride after 3km or so... I was pretty much enjoying myself and watching other runners go about the race... some shuffling along, some bouncing up and down more than forward, and others just plain walking...
Along the way, there were certain stretches that were really mental... along the Sg Besi highway at the airport strip.... The Adidas shower near the end.. (mental because it looked so inviting, but I didn't wanna get my shoes wet..)
Some things of note... running a 21km race is totally different from running a 21km training run. Why? Well, for starters, in a race, you start sweating buckets even from waiting in the crowd for the start of the race... there goes your hydration plans. Lucky me, I had a bottle of water with me the whole way...
Another thing is dodging runners who abruptly stop running and start walking, or those that walk in a group and effectively making you run an extra few metres round them... Prolly in training, the only dodging you need to do is evading bird poo...
The 1 thing that the organizers could improve on was to put distance markers along the route for all marathon, half-marathon and 10km categories. Without the distance markers, we were practically left to guess how far we had run so far, and how far left we had to go...
Running the last 2 minutes upon seeing the finish line was the most comforting feeling in the world... 2hrs 24 mins and 29 secs of pounding tarmac come to an end. And what do we get from putting our bodies on the line?

Front of the finisher's medal

Back of the finisher's medal

Some goodies...

For the full marathon and half marathon categories, the certificates complete with timing and position will be posted to the runners within 3 weeks. Or so the organizers say.

Post Race:
Joined up with my bro and Plum at the finish / refreshments area... Both of them did their first 10km official race and both did extremely well... Bro finished in 1:06 while Plum did 1:15, both qualifying for the certificate of completion.
After returning my chip, grabbing a couple of cups of 100 plus, we went off back to get the car and headed for some well-deserved breakfast...

Highlights of the race?
1. I managed to overtake 2 Kenyans/Africans. 1 was a guy running the 21km, but he was probably treating it as a morning walk... 2nd was a lady running the 21km... However, in my delirious state near the end when my focus was only on my burning muscles, I didn't know whether they blitzed me back!!
2. No urge to do any 'business' that I worried about earlier... woopee!!
3. The opportunity to run on Federal Highway. I think this is the only time we are ever allowed to do so.

Countdown to KLIM

2008-03-23T15:29:00.002+08:00

1 week to go...

Did my last long run last weekend (17km), a couple of easy runs this week, a mini triathlon on Thursday and a 12km run + 1000m swim this morning. Feelin good except for a sore left calf that refuses to leave me alone.... Guess I'll just rest my legs more this week...

Schedule for the week: Likely to be another swim tomorrow night, a short 20 - 25km bike ride on Tuesday morning, and faster paced 7km run on Wed morning and a last 5 - 7km easy paced run on Friday morning before the KLIM half marathon on Sunday. Will probably treat that like a training run since I've done some 20km runs in training recently. No time expectations for this... Anything within qualifying time will do... To me, its gonna be a fun race..

Got my races lined up for the 1st half of 2008... after this weekend's KLIM, I'm due to take part in the BHP orange run and Klang Half Marathon in April, the Pacesetters 15km and Port Dickson 1/2 Marathon in May, and probably one of Pg Bridge run or Lion City Marathon in June.

And when November comes along, its Powerman 2008!!

I'm gonna be so tired at the end of the year....

Overdose....

2008-03-21T22:15:00.004+08:00

My daily dose

I'm a pill-popping person. Fish oil, Calcium, Ginkgo Biloba, Glucosaminesulphate, Multivites.... Whoa.. Every morning with my mug of coffee. Am supposed to be taking Chondroitin as well... but haven't gotten around to buying it yet...

2hrs 55mins 16secs

2008-03-20T11:08:00.002+08:00

.... Thats the amout of time it took me to cycle 30km, run 10km and swim 875m this morning.

On a slow, cool slightly dark morning when most people would be sleeping in, I woke just before the alarm clock went off at 5:35am. By 6:15am I was out the door into the early dawn, with streetlights and the occasional motorist for companionship.

Biking in the half-darkness calls for acute senses and a lot of anticipation. Potholes, puddles, errant motorists, bumps, stray dogs... the hazards are endless... Well, to cut the ride short, it was pretty eventless, save for getting lost in some deserted industrial area that I stumbled on and losing about 4 mins looking for my rear light after it popped out when I hit a pothole... Time taken to kau tim the 30km on wheels: 1:06:49, with an average speed of 26.9km/h and max speed of 45.6km/h.

Transition 1: 0:05:27 was spent taking my bike up to my condo unit, parking it, changing into my running shorts, lubbing my inner thigh, grabbing a cereal bar, water bottle and running shoes and going back down.

The first 3km of my run was hard until I managed to get into my stride and rhythm... after that it was all mental and some slight discomfort in my left calf. Engaged an elderly man (who is an avid runner) in some light conversation...

Elderly man (EM): Hi.. training for the KLIM? What are you running?
ME: Sort off.. I'm doing the half. What about you? You running full?
EM: Supposed to do 10km, but cheng meng la..
ME: Oh yea hor..
EM: So how much you running today?
ME: Just finished cycling, so gona just do 10km today, then later go for swim.
EM: Oh... joining the Ironman huh?
ME: Haha... 3 years later maybe la.. haha..
EM: Yea... that's a tough one huh...
ME: No kidding..
EM: OK... catch up some other time...

Timed my 10km run at 1:02:37 averaging >6min/km...

Transition 2: 0:05:56 took me back upstairs, changed into my swimming trunks, grabbed a glass of water, my goggles and went back down into the pool...

Swimming was just monotonous.... back and forth.. back and forth in the pool... I could feel my quads and calf tightening up and therefore I wasn't pushing as hard as I think I could... Finished the 875m thrashing about in 0:34:27...

Estimated total calories burned? Close to 2000 calories. This calls for some foodie-down-my-tummy celebration... Hehe..

Went back upstairs and found J reading... took a shower, and out we went for breakfast... Chee cheong fun with rendang chicken, glass of soya bean and a bowl of bubur cha cha... fuiyoh.

And by the way, don't think of it as torturous. I actually find it fun. And thats the way I would ACTUALLY like to spend my holiday.

One-Tenth...

2008-03-18T14:41:00.000+08:00

.... well .. almost.

One-tenth of wat? 1/10th of an Ironman...

A Triathlon Ironman consists of a 3.8km swim - 180km bike - 42km run... back-to-back. Elites can complete it all in close to 8 hours; while mortals like us only dream of doing it... Well, dream no more. I intend to BE an Ironman, and I will work my way towards it, with grit, determination, sacrifice and a whole lot of heart.

With such fire in my belly, I decided to take a 'slightly' longer than usual lunch break today and headed for home to expend some overflowing energy emanating from within.... I only had about 2 hrs to complete my workout, eat, bathe and get back to the office... so I decide to trim it down to 1/10th of an Ironman distance... and that equates to a 380m swim - 18km bike - 4.2km run.

And I did it in reverse order. In the gym. Well, almost. Did my run on the treadmill, my cycling on the stationary bike, and my swim in the pool (under the blistering sun at 1pm)... Note: I have not yet learnt the freestyle stroke in swimming, therefore I could only breaststroke my way thru the water..

4km run: 00:24:12 - treadmill run @ <6:15mins/km
Transition 1: 00:01:36 - stopped treadmill, adjusted bike seat and pedals
18km bike: 00:28:44 - stationary bike @ >36km/h average
Transition 2: 00:05:36 - locked gym, went up 3 flights of stairs to condo unit, changed into trunks, grabbed a swig of water and came back down into pool
300m swim (that's why almost): 00:16:15

Total time taken: 01:16:26

And now, I'm back in office. Blogging.

Note: Pool cleaner came along while I was trashing about and shoo-ed me away. That's why I only managed 300m.

Check That Out!!!

2008-03-12T21:54:00.002+08:00

Wah.... how come I never got that when my daddy taught me to ride a bicycle ha?!?!?!

Next time when I give my kid(s) their first training wheels, this will be top on the list... Hehe.

Post Mortem

2008-03-09T20:28:00.002+08:00

Uh Oh Hmmm... Ho hum. Well... Its official.. No landslide victory for the National Front (Barisan Nasional)... No making up the numbers for the Opposition. Nope. It was a shocker that nobody would have forecasted...

... A 60%-40% win for BN in Parlimentary seats. Nothing like the 2/3 or 75-25% widely expected.
... BN didn't manage to win back Kelantan state. It was more like a whitewash win for PAS.
... BN lost another additional 4 states to Opposition. Kedah, Perak, Selangor and Penang. Major states at that.
... Transport Minister, Information Minister and Deputy Head of Wanita Umno all lost...

My sentiments? It was all about voting against, and not voting for in this year's General Elections. It was not about voting for the party you believe in... but more of voting against the party you just love to hate.. In a decision-making process, it was selecting the lesser evil.

Me? I didn't vote. Didn't even register. Wasn't at all interested. I didn't really care whether BN had an avalanche of votes (phantom or not) or whether a tsunami blew thru the elections like it did. I was resigned to the fact that every country and every political structure in the world was corrupted. It was all a matter of how well they covered it and how well they took care of the welfare of the citizens. I guess Malaysia fared pretty badly, as the consensus of the general masses was "BN sure win, lets just vote for the Opposition, so that they dun win by so much and become egoistical"... Little did they realise, it became the domino effect. One by one, each vote cast had the X mark on the Opposition side of the ballot paper.

Nobody really cared who the actual candidate was representing PAS, or PKR or DAP... As long as it was BN on the blue side of the ring, they were rooting for the red side. Case in point... Defending Heavyweight Champion Lee Hwa Beng vs Rookie Loh Whatz-his-name.... Winner? Not the defending champion, although he had done loads and represented his constitution well..

Another case in point... Back in my hometown of Teluk Intan, running for the parlimentary seat was incumbent Mah Siew Keong (who according to everyone I spoke to has done a good job) vs an Indian dude who doesn't even stay in Teluk Intan. And because Mr Mah has the BN logo on his side, an outsider beat him to the seat. An outsider who may even have to ask directions to get to the post office (I presume), an outsider who calls Ipoh his home.

I dun really support BN, but I wouldn't put my fate in the hands of Opposition rule either. My opinion, if it holds any weight, is that an ideal situation would be:
- exactly a 2/3 majority win for BN in parliment,
- the loss of 2 states (Kelantan and Penang) to the Opposition,
- close fight with simple majority wins for BN in other states

This would give BN something to think about... of how close it could be for them to lose their standing... of how the voice of the people need to be heard. This would also give the people a first hand view of how the Opposition would perform if given the chance (in this case - Pg) without the risk of putting a huge number of eggs in 1 basket.

As it is now, Opposition has power in 5 states... big ones at that like Selangor, Penang and Perak... And if I were to liken Malaysia to a chicken, its as if Opposition are feasting on the breast, thigh and drumstick as we speak (I use chicken as an example, not cows or pigs so as not to be racially-sensitive). Are we confident in giving such a big chunk of the chicken to them? Are they experienced enough to cope? Do we expect miracles in the next 4 years? Do we REALLY expect them to reduce the price of petrol???

However, I guess one good thing has come of this... In the past, it was widely regarded that BN was flaunting their power, and the Opposition was trying their best to be roadblocks. Now, with the split in power more even, both BN and Opposition will be all out to try and prove themselves. BN will want to recover some of the trust they have lost... and Opposition will want to prove that given the chance, they can be the real deal.

Lets hope the winds of change and the so called tsunami sweep thru and uncover some hidden gold that we never knew existed.

2008 Goals Update (Feb)

2008-02-29T16:44:00.001+08:00

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 289km
Races Done: 1 (KL Int Towerthon)
Weight Lost: 1 kg

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: 879km
What's Left To Race: 6 Half Marathons
What's Left To Lose: 5 kgs

Am I On Track?
Still doin' fine...

I had a dream...

2008-02-18T21:14:00.003+08:00

I had the weirdest dream last night.... It was like a scene out of Supernatural.. It was unreal... surreal.. and it felt so real.. And its still giving me the shivers.. [wipes sweat off brow..]

Let me share it with you... every detail... every single detail.. it was as if it just happened yesterday... [umm... which it did.. ahaks..]

.... I was happily munching on pineapple tarts, sitting on my comfy sofa watching reruns of Wong Fei Hung when suddenly the lights dimmed and there was a blinding flash of light... [I'm sure you can imagine it.. its just like what you see in B-grade movies..] And there, in front of me, was Choy San Yeh!! [God of Prosperity... for the uninitiated]..

In his booming voice, he said [in Cantonese]... "My dear boy, you have gone thru hardship and suffering these past few months.. Today, your fortune will change... Your life will not be the same again... and all you need to do, is to... retire your running shoe. Give it the proper send-off it deserves... give it a proper ceremony... give up your shoe and you will gain something better in return..."

And before I could close my gaping mouth and slurp back my dripping saliva... Ah Yeh disappeared as abruptly as he appeared..

Believing that he would bestow upon me riches beyond my wildest dreams... I proceeded to take my smelly old running shoes (Brooks GTS 6 btw) and dumped them into a plastic bag for scrapping... Suddenly I remembered Yeh Yeh's words.. "give it a proper ceremony.."

OK, OK... I took the shoes out of the plastic bag and placed them properly into an old shoe box, with wrapping paper for good measure..

And to do things right, I remembered that Chinese ceremonies always required offerings...

And with the lighting of joss-sticks, offerings of 100 Plus and pineapple tarts complete, I proceeded to nail the box shut. Permanently.

... Phew. Completed. Done. Now... where am I supposed to bury the box? What do I need to do next? When will I see my fortune? The more I thought about it... the more I realized that this was all a load of crap. A bucket-load of shit. No way was Uncle Money gonna give me any of his loot... He was just probably doin a gotcha call on me...

And with my senses straight... I decided to rip open the box and take my shoes back out..

Oh my god!! I mean Ah Yeh!!

Choy San Yeh was the real deal!!! He gave me....

The all new Brooks GTS 8!!!

Introducing..... Plum..

2008-02-17T13:51:00.003+08:00

Bunny and Plum after bouncing around Lembah Kiara..

Plum's a regular reader and long time friend... Did a training session run with him yesterday morning at Lembah Kiara, TTDI (place had fabulous views) to get him ready for his virgin long distance run in March.. He's so psyched up for it... Haha..

Plum, say hi.

Vah-len-tyne Dei

2008-02-15T13:40:00.002+08:00

I was going to write a post slagging off the commercialism of Valentine's Day last night... something along the lines of...

"....Why do flowers cost so much more on 14th Feb? Do they bloom prettier? Smell nicer? Come in funky colours like no other? Why do dinners come in sets and priced like the annual budget of a small African country? Why do little gift boxes and fluffy white teddy bears swap hands at the rate of fungi growth on a moldy piece of bread?.."

But then I thought.... This blog isn't for complaining. This blog isn't for bitter thoughts nor frustrated rantings... nope.. this blog is about all things happy...

So here goes.

I'm HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY is over.

KL Tower International Forest Towerthon Challenge 2008

2008-02-03T17:09:00.000+08:00

Aka The Ultimate Stress Test...

Phew. Double phew.

Woke up this morning at around 6am, and got ready to go out together with J. Needed J to come along cos she's the one who knows KL like the back of her hand... Me? I've never been to Menara KL, and I'd prolly drive round and round and never get there.. haha.

Left KK at 6.45am and it had started to drizzle slightly. Crap. Hope it doesn't get heavy, I kept praying inside. Arrived at Menara KL at about 7.15am and proceeded to get a parking spot and I went inside to the Start area.

Gloomy morning

1st wave of runners was to flag-off at 8am, and my wave was scheduled for 8.15am. Around 15 mins before the start, it started to drizzle, and the drizzle began to get heavier and heavier.

Before we even got to raise a sweat, we were practically drenched.

Runners waiting under the tents from the rain..

When the gun went off, I started to run at my own pace, knowing full well that it was going to be an uphill run, and not wanting to burn myself out before reaching the tower. The +/- 1km route to the tower took me 6:19, and we had to run up a flight of escalators before rounding to the back to enter the stairwell.

Now, this was an emergency exit stairwell, and the width was only the size of 2 guys shoulder to shoulder. There was practically NO ventilation, and the structure was concrete, concrete, cement, concrete, cement, cement and more concrete. The railings are metal tho.

Unless, you're the 1st (or 2nd) person up the stairs, all the view you're gonna have is of someone else's ass. A really sweaty piece of ass. And since we were running in gender based categories, all you're gonna get are male asses. Nothing to look fwd to man...

I managed to skip, hop and jump 2 steps at a time past a couple of runners who were slowing down (presumably for putting their NOS on before the tower) and I was feeling pretty good. Most of the time though, I was down to a walking pace as there was just no room to overtake.

However, faster than you can say tired, ... I got tired. From being in an aerobic state, it was like an immediate jump into an anaerobic state... I started to huff and puff and I was breathing real hard. I could feel my heart beating like there's no tomorrow and I was starting to get out of breath. My heart rate went up exponentially.... and I was practically lugging myself up the stairs. The sight of runners sitting down and doubling over at the side of the staircase didn't help motivate me much either.

Before the race, I seriously thought that my knees and quads would give out way earlier than my heart, but it was actually the other way around. My legs didn't feel tired, my knees were OK, but my panting grew louder and heavier.

At the 16th floor, I had to come to a complete stop to collect my breath and I took about half a minute's rest before I continued the journey up. The next 2 floors were OK, but then the tiredness crept in again. It felt worse than running for 20-30kms, it was the kind of feeling you get after you sprint all out for 100m...

4 floors to go, I had to take another breather. I was starting to feel kinda dizzy and I didn't want to pass out there, so I stepped to the side and took about a minute to get my breathing back in order.

With renewed vigour, I pushed up the remaining floors and finished the 2058 step tower in a total time of 28:35 (taken with my own stopwatch; official timing will be mailed with my certificate).

I was quite pleased with the timing as I didn't set myself any expectations. I guess I will train on stairs more in the future and better my own timing next year.

The view from the top of the tower was nothing short of dismal, mainly because the windows were kinda fogged with all the raining going on. After taking a couple of shots, I went down to collect my finisher's medal and goodie bag.

I think that's the Maybank Tower

Foggy foggy...

My finisher's medal..... nice..

Stuff from the goodie bag... beats me why they gave pantyliners (!!?!?)

As I was walking back out to where J was waiting, another wave of runners (men's/women's senior category I think) just reached the tower area. Clapped and shouted words of encouragement to them and snapped a couple of photos too...

Motivational...

After meeting up with J, I took some customary pics with the event banner and left the place fully satisfied with the event.

I did it!

And NO, for the last time.... I did NOT win RM100,000.00!!!

Breakfast was a sumptuous affair, with the famous pork noodles at Jalan Imbi. A great end to a way cool vertical running event.

It really is good.... Yummy..

Note: Pics taken with camera phone. Forgive the resolution.

Update: Official results from Menara KL website - I finished in 332nd position / 514 participants in the Men's Open Cat with an official timing of 28:34.

Up, Up and Away!

2008-02-02T16:09:00.000+08:00

I'm all set!

Taking part in my first race for 2008, albeit a vertical one...

I'll be running up Menara KL in the "KL Tower International Forest Towerthon Challenge 2008" ... (what a mouthful..) tomorrow morning at 8.15am.

If you see me, say Hi!

Collected my race number and championchip from Wisma OCM this morning, and with my number being A205, I'll be on the 2nd wave of runners in the men's open category to flag off. Reason being the stairwell is kinda narrow and can only accomodate limited runners at any one time; that's why we're being flagged off in batches.

Race times and positions will be determined using the Championchip, similar to the one I used in the 12-Hour Walk previously in Pg.

I've never taken part in a towerthon before, and I'm pretty sure my quads and calves will be burning when I'm done... And since this is my first time, I'm not setting any expectations or targets; just to complete, get a finisher's medal and make sure nobody pushes me down the stairs!

Wait for my updates!

2008 Goals Update (Jan)

2008-02-01T22:24:00.000+08:00

2008 Goals:
Distance To Run: 1168km
Races To Run: 6 Half Marathons
Weight To Lose: 6 kgs

What I've Done:
Distance Run: 147km
Races Done: None
Weight Lost: None

What's Left To Do:
Distance To Go: 1021km
What's Left To Race: 6 Half Marathons
What's Left To Lose: 6 kgs

Am I On Track?
So far so good.

New Year, New Clothes

2008-01-28T19:20:00.000+08:00

Chinese New Year is around the corner... Delicious thoughts of cookies, reunion dinner, handing out angpows by the dozen (uurrgghh), firecrackers and new clothes fill the mind....

Clothes... hai.. I remember the times when we were kids.. I'd look forward to every CNY with hopes of having a new set of clothes, matching tees and pants in reddish hues.. Tradition dictates that we clothe ourselves with new garments to usher in the New Year... Reason? I dunno... probably to signify a new beginning, enough money to buy new clothes, etc, etc...

I guess its ingrained in us... this need for buying new clothes for CNY... Just the other day, my mom was asking us whether we had already bought our clothes, my colleagues were lamenting that they haven't had the time to shop for new wear, and walking around shopping malls you'll see throngs of people surrounding the clothes aisles and waiting with lug-loads at the cashiers...

Yours truly on the other hand did not buy any new t's, nor pants, nor shirts, nor underwear this CNY... Yours truly is going against the norm... Yours truly WANTS to wear worn clothes for CNY... and yours truly can look good doin so..

All it takes is some mix and match, and people won't know (or won't notice) that you've worn that shirt umpteen times, or that pair of jeans has a stain from last year's yee sang sauce...

So, for this CNY, I dug out some of my clothes and laid them out on the sofa to see what I could pair with what... Its simple really, all you need to do is put some thought into it... and the outcome?

Maybe pair my wedding shirt and tie with my micro-mini running shorts?

Very retro and invigorating I say...

Or maybe a polo-T and tie with board shorts?

Goody-goody boy with some freedom surfer attitude? Hmm...

I could run down the stairs on CNY morning, wearing my running singlet and jeans..

A good running start to the year perhaps?

Or if push comes to shove and my mum INSISTS I wear something red... I guess I could..

Be Superman.

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!!!

Shot By A Bird

2008-01-23T20:54:00.000+08:00

Last weekend I was supposed to take part in the Great Eastern Pacesetters 20k run and treat that as a practice run ahead of the KLIM Half in March.... However, it coincided with J's mum's birthday and we went back to TI to celebrate, along with my bro's 21st birthday.. And you know about birthday celebrations, loads of food, loads of food and loads of food... I didn't even want to wake up to run on Sunday morning...

So, today being a holiday, I decide to make it up by doin my own personal 20k this morning and I hit the streets just as it was about to light up at about 7..

Everything was goin well until the 8th km when, while I was running under some trees, I felt something drop on my sideburn next to my right ear.. Thinking it was a leaf and without breaking stride, I nonchalantly brushed it with my palm... and the horror of all mother horrors...

My palms were full of shit!!!! Shitty, yellow brown goo.... Bird poo to be more exact..!!

Luckily, I had a half full bottle of water-isotonic mix with me and I practically spent every remaining drop washing off my hands and face... Face was sticky with sweat and it became worse with 100 Plus as facewash.. Uuurrgghh...

And as if that wasn't bad enough, my right-sided ipod earpiece died on me... most probably becos of the washing of my face, I got water into the earpiece...

But what the heck, whats a little setback right? I proceeded to finish my 20k run in 2:12, and first thing I did when I got back home?....

I got J to kiss me on the cheek..... muahahahahhaa!!!!

So there... another hazard to add to my list of running outdoors... and although the possibility is not high, like running into a monitor lizard with a body as big as my thigh (this happened last month), its another thing to look out for, along with wayward motorists and uneven pavements.

What's next? Being peed on by a cat?

Bweeding Bwunny...

2008-01-22T21:02:00.000+08:00

Remember my sinus problem in my previous post...? Now I'm spewing blood pulak....

Ouch... ouch... ouch..

Its gross.... I know... But this blog speaks the truth...

Somebody save me!!!

Huff n Puff n Blow Your Lungs Out

2008-01-16T21:27:00.000+08:00

Sniffle cough cough... Cough ackk..ackk.. sniffle...

Hai.. still recovering from a bout of the flu and a particularly nasty sinus problem.. Note to self and to readers: Never never get on a plane when you have a sinus problem, during the descent when the air pressure changes abruptly, your sinus cavity (which is blocked) expands and you'll feel like your head is gonna explode.. serious. It is excruciating.... with a capital E.X.C.R.U... I'm just too lazy to spell it. My flight to Miri and back on a business trip yesterday was pure torturous. Urrrggghhhh... Unga unga uuurrggghhhh....

Anyways, with the flu whacking me upside down over the weekend, and the rushed trip to Miri, I was hankering for a run after a 3 day hiatus... tho with a half-recovered nose and throat congestion, I was still feeling pretty under the weather...

I think its becoming some sort of obsession, this running thingy.. I feel funny if I go more than a couple of days without lacing up my runners.. so even with some viral war going on inside of me, I told myself to go out and do an easy 8km (at least) after work today.

...... I now know that a half-functioning set of lungs and crazy amounts of carbon monoxide (that's the cons of running on the road in KL) don't go well together... 3.5km into the run I was already starting to huff and puff. 1 km later, my heart started to 'cramp' up and I could feel my lungs tighten... At 5km I had to stop and walk. There goes the 8km plan... What a letdown.

On a brighter note tho, I received my 12-Hour walk certificate in the mail today...

This is motivation to do more..

I also sent in my registration form for the Menara KL International Towerthon 2008, to be held on 3rd Feb. That will be my first race for 2008... and hoping for the start of numerous more..

Flippin' Em Patties....

2008-01-10T20:39:00.000+08:00

Move Over Carl's Jr!! The new Big-Ass Burger is here!!!

Oh yea.... Due to it being a public holiday today, I had some spare time on my hands.

Woke up early for my customary run (did 9kms saja today cos got breakfast app) then met up with Des and Chris for dim sum breakfast, together with J in Puchong. After a not so sumptuous brekkie, we went off to Giant and Mydin for some grocery shopping. CNY is also around the corner, so we came back with cart-fulls of stuff...

I had decided to make burgers for dinner, so we bought some minced meat, burger buns and greens to make our home-made BK burgers (not burger king, mind you..)...

Meat patties consist of minced meat, garlic, onions, mushrooms, dollop of honey, tablespoon of apple sauce, 2 swigs of brandy, a dash of sesame oil, soy sauce, pepper and marinated with lots of love...

The real naked chef...

Egg omelettes for extra volume..

Honey glazed patties with lettuce.. They look burnt, but they're actually not. Honest.

Sauces and condiments...

And voila! The final result...

I call it The Big Kahuna... ala carte goes for RM5.95

And after a couple of mouthfuls... damn chiak-lat full alredi..
It is THAT filling... no kidding...

I'm not having anymore burgers for a long long time....

Now I gotta go run another 9kms....

The Great Aussie Holiday

2007-12-31T13:23:00.000+08:00

Caution: Lengthy post and huge volumes of photos. Get your J Co Donuts and coffee before you sit down tight....

It was practically a whirlwind holiday!!! 7 days, but due to flight arrangements, we only had 5 full days in Aussie-land and how did we go about filling up those 5 days to the brim? Well, here goes...

Flight to GC was at 9:40pm from LCCT and the 8 hour journey got us to Coolangatta Airport at about 8am local time. Picked up our rental car (a 2-door M Yaris) and proceeded to check out the maps provided. Based on plan, it was Tweed Heads first before heading off to the colder climate of Tambourine Mountains.

The drive to Mt Tambourine was via a scenic drive, taking us thru hills and valleys, lined with giant trees, meadows and rolling plains. Some small villages and lookouts dotted the route and the scenery was refreshing and calming...

Huge life-sized carvings by the side of the trails

Gigantic trees lining the route

A stop at the Springbrook National Park was rewarded with lovely waterfall views and fresh air amongst the foliage...

Peaceful. Serene. Calm.

However, due to the long hours on the plane (I know some flights are way way much longer, but try driving for long stretches right after an overnight flight), we we're pretty much lethargic and in need for a stop and power-nap.

Taking a power nap in the middle of nowhere

Mt Tambourine is a quaint little town, with a slow pace and friendly people. The Gallery Walk is a must visit, but the shops were mainly closed when we got there... Antiques, knick-knacks and what-nots are all to be found...

The fish and chips shop where we ta-pau-ed our dinner

2nd day, destination was Brisbane, it was a pretty much short drive on the highway to Brisbane. The drive out to the highway was littered with excellent lookout points and offered expansive views of the mountainous region.

Rotary lookout... great view... not talking about her..

Before getting onto the highway, we managed to buy some avocados from an un-manned roadside stall. The concept is, you pick your avos and you put the money into a coinbox at the stall. I guess Aussies are way much more trusting than locals here. If this were to be the situation in KL, within 10 mins, ALL the avos AND the coinbox would be missing!!

Yes.. she did put money into the coin box...

Whole day in Brisbane was spent traipsing all over the city on foot (we prolly covered >15kms on our 2 weary pairs of feet)... The Roma Street Parklands in Brisbane CBD is the largest subtropical parkland nested in a City Centre in the world, and boasts of a multitude of flora unsurpassed by any other.

Roma Street Parkland

One thing you notice about Australia is that there are many parks in and around the city centre and these parks are always full of people, playing and enjoying themselves in the sun. Family and camarederie play a pivotal role in these people's lives.

Took a walk across the Brsbane Bridge to the Southbank, an al fresco area with lively activities and pretty much the 'in' place I guess.. Outdoor movies, food kiosks, shopping avenues, it was all there.

Al fresco dining... and people watching..

Brisbane in dusk...

Tired out, we managed to drag ourselves back to the motel at night, and after a spot of cooking by J, it was zzzzzz's all the way...

From the heady lights of Brisbane, the next day's travel took us to the suburbs outskirts of the city. Early morning stop at the Farmer's market in Brisbane Powerhouse was enjoyable, pretty much like our local version of Pasar Tani or Pasar Minggu. Buying some Macadamias and cherries and nectarines made the walk around the market even more fun...

Buying red succulent cherries...

The real deal.. nothing like the chemical induced fakes we have on birthday cakes

On the way, we stopped at Ipswich for lunch. Panini's, cappucino and mocktails taste just much better when you're away from home!!

Before reaching Toowomba (our stop for the night), we also had a pit stop at Gatton, where we did some posing and cam-whoring at Lake Apex. He he..

Toowomba is pretty much larger than Mt Tambourine, but nowhere near Brisbane, size-wise. Its like Sitiawan, compared to Ipoh (Brisbane) and Bota Kanan (Mt Tambourine)... Ehem.. However, I'd say that I enjoyed Toowomba very very much... Lovely place, with a not too fast pace, great architecture, loads of food choices, dotted with parks... just plain lovely.

J promoting the city council

They take their decorations real seriously..

Did a quick round the town centre early the next morning for some photo taking before proceeding with the rest of the journey..

One of the parks in Toowomba...

Lovely architecture...

Warwick and Boonah round up the pit-stops on our way back to GC. Warwick have some stupendous sandstone buildings that stand till today and are a fine reminder of architecture marvels from yesteryears... Boonah was a much shorter stop, but we drove all the way up to Mount French National Park and had a bird's eye view of the surrounding valleys of Cunningham Gap. When you see a view like that, you just forget all your worries and leave the world behind...

One thing I will never forget is the sight of a truly wild kangaroo bounding across my path as I was driving thru the Mt French trail... The roo was barely 6 metres away and I had to jam my brakes to ensure I did not hit him/her... That was one close call...

Froggy froggy...

One of the many sandstone buildings in Warwick..

Walking thru Mt French National Park...

J cooked up a sumptuous meal for 2 in GC... we had wild mushroom soup for starters, and for mains, pork steak with apple sauce and mango chutney, with broccoli and potatoes on the side. She does whip up a mean dish when she wants to...

Lip-smacking the yum yum..

Last full day in GC was pretty much unforgettable. In the morning before checking out, we walked around Harbour Town (GC's duty free shopping arcade) and after checking out of the hotel, we decided to go to Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, just outside of GC city.

The Sanctuary was fabulous. In tune with Mother Nature, we were literally a touch away from kangaroos and other wildlife. The place is huge, and it takes a whole day to explore every nook and corner of the sanctuary. It was a trigger-happy affair, with loads and loads of photos of kangaroos, koalas, birds, reptiles, and all forms of wildlife, mainly those native of Australia of course...

Feedin the roos...

The pretender to the Wombat throne...

Mr Wombat himself makes a guest appearance...

Croc-king being fed by Crocodile Dundee... This macha is 5.1m long!!

Croc-king feedin on yours truly...

One of 'em native lizards that flares its hood when it gets an orgasm..

Can you spot the tree branch?

Traditional dance....

Higlights definitely have to be the bird show and Lorikeet feeding... just look at how happy J is... =D

Hope that one didn't poop on her head..

Spent the last night in GC walking around Surfer's Paradise and taking in the atmosphere of Christmas eve...

Surfer's Paradise at night... one of the quieter parts la that is..

An early morning flight out of GC marked the end of a quick but enjoyable holiday down under. Got home to KL in late afternoon, happy and tired.

The Year That Was....

2007-12-28T11:14:00.000+08:00

Wow. 3 days to the end of 2007.

Another chapter of my book of life is closing. It has been a quite above-average book so far, but chapter 2007 was at best, I believe, mundane. Not really the page-turner or roller-coaster ride I had expected at the beginning of the chapter, but nonetheless sprinkled with some highlights that would deem it mildly spicy and deliciously entertaining and some continuous pages of stuff akin to watching paint dry...

The author would like to take this opportunity however, to thank the contributors to this book, with main main contributor J taking the biggest plaudits for always being there and constantly spicing and peppering up the book.

This book of life is probably 1/3 on the way to closure and epilogue and here's hoping the chapters to come will be filled with excitement and twists and surprises. Good ones that is. This book is rated 'U' remember? Its also suitable for kiddies and beginner readers, with a feel good theme thru-out...

Closing chapter 2007, I would like to recap some of the highlights of the 365 pages that have just been turned, and they are listed in no particular order...

1. Visiting Gold Coast / Brisbane / Suburbs. Lovely. Enlightening.
2. Walking for 12 hours straight. Walking thru the pain.
3. Spending my 1st CNY with in-laws. A home away from home.
4. Running seriously. My own time and space.
5. Stepping into the dark dank bottomless pit that is Facebook.
6. Getting a raise. Twice. And a promotion. Its worth working for good bosses.
7. Stupidly getting cupping therapy. The reminder is still there. Ear candling was way breezier.
8. Catching Transformers and 300. "This IS Sparta!!" Stupendous.
9. Shaved my legs. Both of them. Clean.
10. Survived the 1st year of marriage. Intact. And hoping for endless years to come. Till this book ends.

So readers, come with me into chapter 2008 and enjoy the rest of the book with me!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR 2008!!!!

We're Back!!

2007-12-26T09:43:00.000+08:00

Still really tired... so just a quick update...

A couple of Australian icons for you...

Aiya.... wrong photo pulak... need sleep.... need sleep..

.............

.......

Uhhhh..... ummmm... oh here they are....

The REAL Australian icons...

Sleepy koala and curious roo

More updates and pics later...!!!

Going Down Under....

2007-12-17T21:37:00.000+08:00

Its the final countdown!! Ta da di da... da da di di da..

In 48 hours from now, J and I will be going down under!! (No... not at each other... you perv!) 1 week away from the hustle and bustle of work and stress.... 1 week of total enjoyment and fun... and for the 1st time in my life, I'll be celebrating Christmas away from home... (err... not that it means much to me.. haha)

Getting stuff packed and ready is the hardest part... worries abound that we might miss out necessities. Hafta go thru the to-do-list and packing list again and again and again and again to make sure we got everything covered... I mean, we wouldn't wanna end up in foreign land and forgetting something important like my night face cream now would we?? =P

Pack me up, baby...

1 week worth of clothes, incl beach wear & board shorts... woohoo!

Night face cream and other vanity essentials... ehem.

Huge big-whoop-ass backpack to put it all in....

My means of recording the sights and views and memories, since my brain is only 3% functioning.

Hugely hugely important destination currency to be gladly accepted and welcomed with open-arms by the locals...

and most importantly....

A soft comfortable pair to traipse around Gold Coast in...

Wait for photos and updates when we get back!!! Till then, Merry Christmas and a Wonderful New Year from BunnyLand!!!

Bare

2007-12-17T18:58:00.000+08:00

I feel naked.

The Story of my Holiday

2007-12-11T16:52:00.000+08:00

Thank you Sultan for having your birthday today. I dunno how much you enjoyed your day, but I sure as hell enjoyed mine!! Why dun you decree that you have a birthday every month? Enjoy la sikit, then we dun need to work so much.... ehek.

Woke up to a fabulous morning. Not too sunny, no rain, just the right degree of cloudiness. Breakfast(ed) with J before she left for work (yea, it sucks working in KL) and I spent the rest of the early part of the morning reading papers and browsin the net... ran some errands and ended up in a shopping mall in Subang before lunch.

And since I was hungry, I proceeded to buy meself a pair of Teva's. Errr... that doesn't sound right. But that's what I did anyway... hahaha... My first pair of Teva's and I'm wearing them while blogging now... kakakkaa... feel sooo comfortable, oh sooo comfortable.. eat your heart out crocs.

Teva Hurricane 3 - Manzanita Sage

Pretty solid built with 12 months warranty

They're gonna be adorning my weary feet as I traipse all over Gold Coast and Brisbane next week.... Yeah!

Came home and with the weather lookin real fine, decided to strap on my helmet and tights and ride to Bukit Tinggi (the Klang one la... not the Pahang one siut..) and back. But 'fore that, had to do a pit stop at the bike shop to adjust my derailleur and pump both tires (prolly my heavy ass keeps squeezing the air out of the tires). Bike lane on Kesas Highway is pretty low traffic and I had a moderately tiring (to the quads) ride to Bukit Tinggi interchange and back... Prolly 25kms or so I think...

After putting the bike away, gulped down 2 glasses of watertonic (water + isotonic) and stripped myself naked. In the house of course. I proceeded to put on my swim trunks, and jumped into the pool (not from my balcony la dei..) and did a couple of laps. Couple means quite a few also la... lost count. Saja saja enjoy the pool cos the weather was soooo good.

...... And then as if to spite me.... it started to drizzle... and the drizzle became a DRIZZLE... then it became heavier... had to get out and go back upstairs...

Showered, put on a pair of old-man boxers, slurped down a banana and started switching on me laptop... then I started blogging about my day ... And that is the story of my holiday... up to now la.... THE END.

10 Things To Do B4 You Turn 30

2007-12-06T17:42:00.000+08:00

Got a mail from J this morning that had me thinking... Have I done enough in my past 28 years to warrant having lived a fulfilling life? Are there still things that I have not done that would have me wondering... "Now what if..??"

Go check it out here for Cynthia Brodrick's 10 things to do before you turn 30... I've only got 2 more years before I crash the big 3-0, so here's my take of Cynthia's stuff to do...

1. Drive a wickedly cool car, even if you have to rent it.
*I've already failed "to-do stuff" numero uno... I've never driven anything fancy, and I'm pretty sure those lil cars that you use your feet to paddle when you were 5 doesn't count...

2. Date against type.
*I've ALSO failed item #2. I have never dated anybody gothic, with a face for a pincushion or loaded with tattoos... and on the other hand, I've not actually dated Ms Super Saint Holy Mother of Jesus Goody-2-Shoes either... (J, No no no you're not)

3. See the world.
*Can't say I totally failed this and can't say I aced it either... Been to more than a couple of countries, lapped in the culture and become a better person out of it... But that's not to say that I have seen enough... You never ever see enough...

4. Live in a cool place.
*Gagal jugak. I dun think I've stayed in cool places... Holidays don't count... Never stayed in the jungle, in a longhouse, at the beach, in the mountains... heck I've never even stayed in a caravan. The coolest place I've ever stayed is my room right now. Got air-cond ma.

5. If you're going to drink a lot, do it when young.
*I dun drink (alcohol I mean), so I also kaput in this. Now, if we talk about normal beverages pulak, then different story... I know why Cynthia says if you wanna drink a lot, do it when young.. cos its gonna be a hassle to change your adult diapers when you're old.

6. Take risks with your job.
*I dunno... I think Asians are more conservative when it comes to these kinda stuff... Think the majority of us would not give up a stable good-income job and leave and go do something lesser just because it is fulfilling. I have however left a comfortable job for riskier avenues, so I guess I can say been there, done that.

7. Do something physically adventurous.
*Some stuff I've done... race kapchais without a helmet @ 175km/h, done paragliding, 12-hour walk... guess it might pale in comparison to some who swim with sharks, or hunt lions or run a marathon in the south pole... but I think I'm doin fine in this..

8. Take your parents to dinner.
*Sap sap sui. (Translated to wet wet water... meaning easy job.)

9. Do volunteer work.
*Yeap. Done some volunteer work before. Not as much as I would be proud of, and that makes me ...actually.. sad to say so... sigh.

10. Use this decade to go to extremes.
*I haven't bought life insurance yet. Period.

Guess I haven't lived my 20's to the fullest yet. With only 24 months to go, I guess I'll start with the wickedly cool car... Heheh.
What about you guys? What have you.... not done?

What should I call her?

2007-12-03T22:48:00.000+08:00

Looks like hours n hours of fun...

We're so gonna have fun together.... the thing is, what should I call her?

Suggestions anyone?