Pacemakers 5th Anniversary 2.6km Relay 30/8/2009

Did I mention that I didn't know ANYONE in my relay team?

Why did I join this relay....? Frankly, I thought EVERYONE would be running 10km so it was a pretty decent distance to wake up extra early in the morning for.

Then it dawned on me that it was actually 4 people running the total of 10km.

Uh huh.......2.6km to sprint all the way.

And you guys know what a crap sprinter I am and how I almost ALWAYS avoid my speed training right?!

I initially had my reservations regarding this race.

...like up until I parked my car at Lake Gardens to go SEARCH for my team mates.

And how "happy" I was to find out that I was the first person in the relay to run.

What....you're not sensing my overwhelming enthusiasm??

*sigh*

The first part of the 2.6km was a daunting uphill climb and then a freakin drop of a downhill to join the usual loop around Lake Gardens.

The hill literally killed me.

I could not keep up a quick pace AND run uphill.

And the downhill was STEEP!

Luckily the rest of the route was pretty flat all the way until I pass the baton. 

I think I finished it around 15 minutes-ish.

I can't quite remember the exact timing.

I was too worried that my heart will be way too tachycardic until it jumps out of my throat! (although it is anatomically impossible...)

My team finished in 54 minutes...(more or less)

Oh yea....the grand finale of the relay...it started to rain.

No..not rain....it started to POUR!!!!

So while waiting for some of the runners to return, we were all huddled together in a tiny covered rest area.

I don't know....but I ACTUALLY had A LOT of FUN today!!!

* my race T-shirt (getting a lot of these lately), my bib and my medal.

I found out today that a lot of people will be running the Mizuno Wave 10km 25/10/2009 in KL.

I'm still not confirmed regarding the Northface100 (Bernard..quickly check your work schedule!) and now Nike+ Human Race 2009 will be on the same day in Singapore!!!!

I was thinking (do entertain my flow of thoughts....I can be pretty manic at times)......that last year's Nike+ Human Race was in the afternoon....and I'm thinking that it may be in the afternoon this year as well. 

And I really want to do Northface100.....and also the Human Race....

I wonder.....if it would be suicidal to my knees and hips to want to run 25km trail in the morning and then another 10km on the road in the afternoon...

I wonder if Bernard is crazy enough to do this with me.

I wonder if it's doable.....hang on, OF COURSE it's doable....what am I talking about!

It is ABSOLUTELY doable...it depends on how much a nutcase I am to want to do it....

Didn't someone once said that it's 75% MENTAL and 25% PHYSICAL?

I mean....afterall, Mr. Marathon-maniac can do 42km every weekend at different corners of the globe, I'm sure normal mortals such as yours truly can do 25km in the morning followed by 10km in the afternoon.

.....it will just be more difficult to find SOMEONE to run it with me!

Anyway I tried the Nike website for the registration of the Human Race and the Singapore's site ain't up yet. So we'll see how.

By the way.....I'm sorry for the lack of photos.

Later!!!!

"You run...now, you dive?!"

Dad was a little surprised when I told him that I was gonna be going diving.

"...but Dad, I NEED to get my Open Water Diving license...."

I was thinking that perhaps, in his mind, I'm THAT much further off the sanity perimeter....or whatever that he had always considered to be "normal" for someone of my gender, occupation and age group (26-30).

(I figured most parents of their generation have many fixed, false believes regarding these sort of things......)

Knowing me a little better than I've given him credit for, he took on a role of the man with few words and saved his words of caution to be sent via text messaggings.

Anyway I planned the dive trip rather vaguely less than a month before the actual date and honestly, just had the accommodations settled 2 days before actually leaving for Perhentian Islands.

Initial plans were really wishy-washy. But of course with POSITIVE-THINKING (yes....cue your rolling of eyes here), everything fell into place...eventually.

* my dorm at the far end!

I needed this trip to be RIGHT AFTER the half marathon in Singapore.

It is much easier to justify 6 days off work in a stretch to my boss.....also I realized that if things are done in a time-contraint, rushed manner.....it usually gets done!! (Yea....I would also have a rather flourishing career in Emergency Medicine.....don't ask me why I'm in a mental asylum)

So the train ride up to Tanah Merah, Terengganu was at 6.30pm, Sunday.....the SAME Sunday where we ran the Army Half Marathon in the morning.

Lynette and I almost missed the train.....but I would rather NOT dwell on it.

But it was quite an experience to run with your oversized backpack trying to catch a moving train.....one which I'm not extremely keen to repeat.

The train ride up North was......claustrophobic. 

We all (Lynette, Mich and I) bought sleeping berths......on the upper deck.

(We were being CHEAP...and it was CHEAPER to buy upper decks.....we now KNOW why)

* Me and my unhappy-cramped-up upper deck sleeping berth on the train up North!

Arrived at Tanah Merah feeling like we hardly slept a wink.....(reminiscence of post-call feeling minus the euphoria)

Then a 45 minutes car ride to Kuala Besut Jetty....followed by a 20 minute speed-boat ride to the island.

When we finally arrived, I was ready to go back to sleep!

We got to our accommodations (bunking dorm style)......sorta checked in with the dive center (filled in as many forms as when we first started work with the Ministry of Health)....and then went on to perpetuate the beach-bumming life style like it was going extinct with the next rolling of waves.

So we spent Monday and Tuesday watching the compulsory (I think...) videos on diving, eating every few hours, snorkeling and doing absolutely NOTHING.

Trust me.....the doing absolutely-nothing part was initially VERY difficult for me.

* Bumming on the beach......

Only got to suit up with the freakin heavy oxygen tank and head out to sea (to accidentally gulp a few mouthfuls of salt water....) on Wednesday. Our instructor, Paul (British dude) was amused to find out that Mich and I were from a mental institution. I don't think he looked at us the same way after the "enlightenment". 

* At the dive center....

Ok...so this is what I've learnt (not totally about diving...) during this trip:

1. I don't float very well. In fact I sink a whole lot better. You'd think with the "extra" adipose tissue (my stupid BMI says that I should be in the "overweight" category....shiteous man-made self-calculated scale!) ...I should be floating like a Mardi Gras procession. Instead I sink despite my weight belts went from 5 to 3kg, and in the process of SINKING, I'm sure I've damaged a coral or two.....I'm so SO sorry!!! Anyway I'd like to think that the reason behind the "sinking phenomenon" is that I have lots of heavy muscles!!!! (I'm trying to look at things POSITIVELY)

* me and My MUSCULAR-sinking-in-sea self.

2. I'm extremely calm about being underwater and breathing out of a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus. I'd like to thank all my previous yoga instructors (so what if I no longer quite practice yoga?! I have running now!) for all those meditative techniques.....I'd like to attribute my zen-ness underwater to that. Honestly, the sound of myself inhaling and exhaling underwater is really REALLY calming. 

3. I'm actually cool with NOT running for a week. Yup....that was how long my feet did not meet my smelly running shoes. I thought I'd go bonkers without running for a whole week and doing absolutely nothing....but in retrospect, it was EXACTLY what I needed to revive my love and infatuation in the repetitive running motion of the legs. I felt more ready to begin training for the marathon upon returning to Ipoh. 

4. I can actually happily purchase a bathing suit without having to try it on. I didn't have time prior to the trip to get new bathers.....just happened to stumble upon one of the many tiny shops on the island selling swim suits and just bought it in good faith that it will fit. It does FIT!

5. I like kayaking and I don't mind kayaking alone. Did I mention that I've NEVER kayaked before in my whole entire life? I dragged Mich into it......I think she thought I knew how to before....(I apparently "looked" the part...whatever that is supposed to mean). I figured how hard can kayaking be?! I mean.....you watch enough episodes of Survivors....one way or another, you'll get the basic idea of how to....and then just translate it into action. Who says you can't learn ANYTHING from reality tv?!

* my instructor, Paul and dive center manager, Charlotte. BTW....we dived at Universal Divers!

6. I like talking to random people and being in a mental institution is such a conversational piece. For some reason or another....EVERYONE else (outside the "institutional" life) is absolutely fascinated/alarmed/bewildered/intrigued by the fact that we work in a freakin institution. And of course we get tons of questions which honestly, we don't have the answer to. So I just made up most of the answers.....oops. Also staying in a dorm helped in more talking to more random people. Our roomies keep changing every other day. More "friends" on Facebook.

7. It is very difficult to want to pee in a wetsuit. I learnt that my urinary bladder has QUITE a bit of capacity.

8. I'm not as afraid of fish than I thought I was. I wasn't as overwhelmed like I thought I would be. Look....don't ask. Phobias are just that.....unexplainable fear. If you could explain my fear regarding butterflies, please....PLEASE email me about it!!!

9. On Perhentian Islands....it is EASY to feel like a foreigner in your own country. I swear.....most of the time we were the only Malaysians there!!!! 

* at the airport waiting to fly home......

10. ..... I don't really know what else I should have been learning during my week out there on the beach. I'm posting this up because I'm feeling kinda obligated to write about my diving....sorta like a way to explain my absence in the blogging world.

* my "finals" to pass......

But.....I do like diving enough to want to go back for seconds....thirds......many many more times!

The week has piqued my interest in something OTHER than running and eating.

SO NOW......besides planning my next holidays around running and racing, I'd also plan it around beaches and diving.

Later!!!!

Sort-of Running Problem

You know you have a SORT-OF running problem when:

1. Your work cubicle wall is plastered with race-bibs, the cubicle whiteboard is filled with upcoming races' dates and motivational phrases AND you have pieces of papers printed on them your next race's confirmation or confirmation of your flight/train/bus schedule to next race destination stuck on the whiteboard. Hang on....and your work table has many Runner's World magazines and a Marathon Training book on it. In fact, your boss has given up hope that you'll ever clear your work table for ACTUAL work stuff!

2. Your colleagues always greet you on Monday with, "How was last weekend's race?"

3. Your colleagues are surprise when you tell them that you didn't race last weekend or that you do not have any race this coming weekend.

4. Your colleagues will wish you best of luck EVERY Friday before work ends for the coming weekend's race.....doesn't matter if you're not ACTUALLY racing.

5. Your paramedic staffs start asking you what your position was for your last race.

"Didn't you win ANYTHING?"......no guys, not yet.

6. When you approach your boss for leave approval, she asks, "Running another race somewhere, AGAIN?!"  Then promptly tells you not to run so much because you will never EVER get a boyfriend that way......*shrugs* (What....you don't get such statements from YOUR boss?? SO unfair!)

7. Your parents instinctively knows that when you come HOME....you're most likely racing that weekend. They then start throwing subtle hints that you might be working in an institution a tad too long!

8. Your car smells like a freakin locker room because of your running shoes and socks.....so much so that your dad goes out and get your car one of those odour-neutralizing bamboo car fresheners since you HATE those synthetic-smelling ones.......FOR FREE!!!! (thanks Dad...love ya!)

9. You have more running shoes than you do "normal" ones....in fact, the shoe rack that you "share" with your housemates are filled with your running shoes that your housemates make do with putting THEIR shoes on the floor next to the rack.

10. You enjoy browsing in sport equipment stores and ogling at the latest/extremely overprices running shoes. You somehow can always justify why you NEED another pair of running shoes.

11. The calender on your phone is filled with upcoming race dates......even those races that you aren't registered to run. In fact you remember race dates better than your friends' birthday....you just depend on Facebook for birthday reminders.

12. You talk about your races, long runs and upcoming running events with such gusto and passion, you may even start hyperventilating due to uncontainable excitement.....ok ok, maybe this one is a little far fetched, but I'm sure SOMEONE out there may have a even more serious "running problem" than....someone else, and may actually experience no. 12!!!!

Fine.......I'm done with poking fun at PEOPLE (ahem) with a RUNNING PROBLEM......

Oh yea....I WILL post about my diving trip....erm.....soon!

Happy TGIT (in half hour more!)

I'm a little unenthusiastic about the bleak chances of me NOT achieving a 60km week this week.

I'll just continue to blame the slacking on the post-holiday blues.....

Later!!!!

Army Half Marathon 16th August 2009

Yes this post is  little overdue.....but then again I'm post-sorta-long holiday.

Totally understandable, right?

Anyway was feeling a little overwhelmed today at work (aren't Mondays such pain in the gluteus maximum...)

But am glad it's over and one day closer to my Thursday!!!! (can't wait for TGIT)

Well....the Safra Army Half-marathon was the start of my one week mental health hazard-leave.

You know, sorta like my usual "save-Puisan's-sanity" campaign but stretched out over a week to include a diving trip and to bum around by the beach......

I know....my life can be SO dreadful that I need such a holiday!!! (feel free to retch your stomach's content upon reading this statement)

* Thanks Bernard for picking us up from the airport.....then driving us around town! You are SUCH a Malaysian!!! We love you for it!!!

Anyway.......flew down to Singapore with Emmy on Friday, met up with Bernard and Lynette (yippee on passing the exams...you are THIS close to being a full-blown pain in the operating theater!!!) and also Mohan (Mr. Marathon-maniac), Hazel.....and made many more new friends.

If you find yourself lacking friends (like y'know.....your Facebook friends column has less than double digit number of buddies).....the FASTEST way to make friends is by participating in more running events.....

Seriously.....

Then how'd you think I got to triple digit amount of friends on Facebook?!

* Hazel and Mohan...thanks for collecting my race kit! You guys are SUPERSTARS!!!

* Laichee and Lesley...super-fast runners....I am SO humbled!

* Bernard, Shin Chin and Leon over brunch @ Killiney's

* Post-dinner picture......we like to carbo-load days in advance!

I'd like to thank Mohan for collecting my race kit.

I still don't understand why these Singaporean races arrange for their race kit collection days to be WEEKS before the actual event.

Don't they realize that Malaysians run the bloody event as well?

So......ran the race with Bernard.

My pilot friend mentioned that he has not been running regularly since KOTR which was about 2 weeks ago.....

Apparently not many people were as obsessive as I am about the whole running thing....(don't comment about my obsessiveness!! It's  freakin personality trait!!!)

I know I did mention post-KOTR that I wanted to PB this race.

But I was already on HOLIDAY-MODE......and I really wanted to enjoy this race, I decided to run this race slow......(yes, that dreaded word again!)

Bernard and I agreed on 2:20.

Decent timing.......not extremely labour-intensive, neither is it ego-bashing.

* Perky, cheery MORNING people!

* 2:20 y'all!!!

Race was scheduled at 5.30am.

Emmy and Shin Chin (gosh I hope I got the spelling for the name right.....I kinda just met this dude but he's pretty cool) were running the 10km that was suppose to start at 7am.

* well done guys!!!! 

By the way....I paid SGD$40 for this race...

Pricey, yes....but it was WORTH IT!

I enjoyed this race SO much........

Every 2km was a water station.

I swear.....we almost drowned ourselves with isotonic drinks and Bernard had his pre-breakfast meal of bananas (I've lost count how many he downed while running)!!

And the army boys were so entertaining.......I wished I brought my camera with me during the race!!!

Running past the East-Coast park stretch was so fun.....and the sea breeze was refreshing!

We ran past Roman Gladiators....giant furry rabbits....Optimus Prime....(the army boys were certainly very creative)

I didn't really need the 2 packets of GU that I bought from GNC on Friday.

I was already on a sugar-high from all the isotonic drinks I was gulping down....(we thought, since we're running slow....we should stop at EVERY drink station.....we did all but 2 drink stations.....and I really needed to pee by the time I cross the finish line)

Bernard mentioned at the beginning of the race that there were a lot more female runners than male runners....

Halfway through the race I finally realized why.

HOT RUNNING ARMY DUDES!!!!

Y'see.....the army dudes start their race about half hour after the "civilians" started their run.....and by the time we reach the 13km mark, the faster army dudes caught up.

Yes they were HOT........(no wonder they provided so many drink stations!!!! Ironically, I think my iPod shuffle started playing Sean Kingston's 'Fire Burning' when I started noticing......yea yea, its corny....go on and roll your eyes!)

I mean, it was such "motivation" to keep running.....Army dudes have great physiques....especially the 'Navy Divers'......keeping my eyes on their perky...erm....sorry. Going off tangent.

You have to excuse me.....I was already on HOLIDAY-MODE, y'see.

* where are those HAWT army dudes?

Anyway, the final 5km was a little difficult and Bernard kept saying that we'll finish the race together....(I feel bad coz I know this guy can easily do a sub-2 half marathon anytime!)

I only manage to speed up a little during the last stretch to the finishing line.

And amazingly, we came in 2:20....both of us...on the dot!!! (self-timed)

Well....not too shabby a start to a holiday, don't you think so?

* this medal reminded me of the Sundown race medal....and the Standard Chartered Singapore race medal.......I'm starting to think it's all the same sort!

While in Singapore, I found out about the Northface 1o0 trail race on 24th October 2009.

Very very tempting.

I'm waiting for my "Singaporean" running counterpart to agree on this race and then it's GO Northface 100!! (2 weeks after my Borneo International Marathon.....)

No...it's not crazy to want to run 25km trail a fortnight after a 42km road race.

I really believe that if you don't test your limits, you'll NEVER know what you're physically and mentally capable of!!!

Did I mention that the Northface 100 is also one week BEFORE Genting Trailblazer?

No....it's not crazy to want to run 14km trail ONE week AFTER 25km trail race.

Again....I want to know what I'm capable of.

And to attempt it is the only way to find out!

I don't want any lectures about overtraining and injuries......(I promise to run slow and run minimally between races.....well, sorta...alright, I will try!)

Alrighty......will do my write up on my diving trip next.

Later!!!!

I'm back online!!

Gosh I missed being on holiday....

Yes guys, I'm back.

I had a really good week off from work.

Ran a half marathon in Singapore.....(and ogling at all those hot army boys....)

Got seriously sun-smooched in Perhentian Island.....(and a whole week OFF running)

.....AND

Finally got my open water diving license!

Yup.....I can now put the term "diver" next to "crazed-runner" on my extracurricular CV!

(...and next to "avid-new-age-self-help-book-reader", "triathlete-wannabe" and "sugar-high-foodie")

Anyway.....just to let you guys know I'm still alive and kicking.

Will do the write up for the Safra Army Half Marathon and my diving trip.....LATER!!!!

Now, if you'll excuse me....I need to unpack and psych myself up (this is where those new-age self help books come in handy!) for the first Monday of work after being a lazy beach bum!

Later!!!!

Mondays are.....

I survived my on-call on Saturday (thank you, POSITIVE THINKING)...and then further perpetuated the miracle by surviving the casualty locum at the main hospital (shiteous H1N1 scare.....I was giving out MCs like they were candies!!!) and I've survived the ECT done under anaesthesiology at Ipoh Hospital today...(really, don't ask why my case ain't done in my hospital...it's all bloody politics and hand washing!!!!)

Yup....my weekend, which ironically extended to my MONDAY has been....alright.

Saying it was GREAT would really be pushing the envelop....

But I live with an alright.

Anyway couldn't drag my sorry arse out of bed this morning for a run.

Was just too darn tired.

I guess I have yet to finish compensating my sleep.

And the idea of not running for 2 days in a row scare the living daylights out of me.

The idea of not achieving the minimum of 40km per week (my personal minimum, by the way) scares me more than waking up at in 2010 and realize that I have NEVER done a full marathon yet! (different people have different priorities, y'see)

So I made some frantic text messages early in the morning to the usual running people (aka Keon....Wendy) to at least get a 7km run in the evening.

Whatever I can salvage of the day!

Unfortunately, Keon is doing the swimming thing today (in preparation for this FULL Ironman.....you go babe!!!!) and Wendy is taking it easy after her long ride yesterday.

And then......I've the option of running with "grandpa".

Well....it's a figure of speech, more or less....he's not that old, just OLDER than me!

He's also the one that diagnosed me with Histrionic Personality Disorder.....and now he reckons I may have Narcissistic traits.......whatever.

Both my grandpas have long since met the Maker.

And technically, IF (big IF here) HE really were my grandpa, I reckon he had found the elixir of youth.....and somewhere up the ancestry line, SOMEONE was adopted coz there's no way in hell I should look this Chinese if that someone wasn't!!! Of course, this is IF he was my grandpa.....I'm sorry, I went off tangent again!

* Gramps running/shuffling/jogging the last stretch back!

Anyway "grandpa" is actually my colleague from work and has resorted to jogging (try not to shrink at that word) to lose his "beer belly" (resulted from, what else....drinking way too much alcohol).

And since he seemed slightly enthusiastic about the jogging thing....I figured why not try to get this dude hooked on running......

I mean, I already got gramps to buy Brooks running shoes (BTW....they are the BEST running shoes EVER......I don't care what you unbelievers have to say!)

So the next step would be to get him to ACTUALLY utilize those shoes!!!

* To be fair, gramps got these Brooks Axiom on sale....I have those babies in PURPLE!!!

I had grand plans of getting gramps to run a half marathon before he de-institutionalized (depending on how good his persuasion skills are with the Red Turban).....but since settling from my post-prandial high, I've settled for a more "realistic" aim of getting gramps to do a 10km race before next year rolls around.

What?!

(stop reading the above statement with an accusatory mindset!)

Everyone has to get hooked on running at some point or another....he just needs a boost!

And I'm pretty persuasive (or freakin annoying until that person does it)......

I AM NOT PUSHY....ok.....

Anyway gramps and I did the 7km at shuffling pace....which is fine by me since I plan to run 10km tomorrow morning.

And a great finish to a tolerable Monday......great dinner with friends!

Would love to have taken a picture of my delicious vegetarian burger from Dave's Diner.....

Except for the fact that I was so starved for food that......I was halfway through dinner before remembering that I initially planned to snap a pic of it!

* Jason and Michelle......Jase, quit the "I have authority" look...never worked with us!!!

Anyway.....took Friday off this week (YES....another 4-day working week.....EXCUSE ME, but I DO work....at times) and will be flying down to Singapore with Emmy for the Safra Army Half Marathon, to which I found out that my friend Bernard, plans to bandit....

I swear....this whole race banditing business.....I blame Deon for it!

And I'm so looking forward to the following week, of being a lazy beach bum in Perhentian Island!!!

Gosh....I realized that my blog sorta portrays me being not much of working and more of HOLIDAYS!!!

But it's really no fun blogging about work.....I DO have a life, y'know!!!!

Later!!!!

The Optimist Creed

Happy Saturday everyone!!!

While most of my friends are still snugly under the blankets in bed, I'm at work trying to THINK POSITIVE...and to get some sleep later..(hopefully)

Still rather sleep deprived after the power outage that robbed me of precious sleep Thursday night and resulting in me being a walking zombie on Friday.

Then manage to drag myself out of bed at 6am for a 5km run.....(and as expected, didn't make the timing of 30 minutes..sigh)

And now I'm at work.....and will be working until 1pm tomorrow....(casualty locum 9am-1pm...hoping to catch some H1N1!!)

So there is no better time for a little shot of Optimism....and I happen to find THIS!

The Optimist Creed (plagiarized from 'The Key' by Joe Vitale)

Promise yourself:

To be strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind.

To talk health, happiness and prosperity to every person you meet.

To make all your friends feel that there is something in them.

To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true.

To think only of the best, to work only for the best, and to expect only the best.

To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own.

To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future.

To wear a cheerful countenance at all times and give every living creature you meet a smile.

To give so much time to the improvement of yourself that you have no time to criticize others.

To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble.

To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud words but in great deeds.

To live in the faith that the whole world is on our side so long as you are true to the best that is in you.

I know.....enlightening!!!

Considering I've encountered many, MANY negative people in life (at work...at play....MY FRIENDS...you guys know WHO you are!!!), I figured this would be an appropriate creed to live by!

Later!!!!

It's TGIT.....again!!!

*alarm goes off at 5am*

Brain: alrighty.....wake up guys!

Legs: NOOooo......

Puisan: Hang on....let me snooze...

Brain: What the....

*alarm goes off at 5.10am*

Brain: Ok.....just get up!!!

Legs: NOOooooo......

Puisan: I think today we're scheduled for a 13km run.......and I think we're gonna be late.

Legs: NOOooooo......

Puisan: Fine....I'll snooze ONE more time.

*alarm goes off at 5.20am*

Brain: Seriously.....do you guys wanna run or not!?

Legs: NOOooooo......

Puisan: But schedule says...

Legs: NOOooooo......

Puisan: ....but we won't get our 60km week if we don't....

Legs: NOOooooo......

Brain: .....so are we RUNNING or NOT?!

Legs: NOOooooo......

Brain: Puisan, you do realize that we CANNOT run without the legs.....?

Puisan: .......

Brain: And the verdict would be....?

Puisan: I'll set the alarm for 6.45am and head back to sleep. We will skip the morning run today.

Legs: YESSSsssss......!!!!!

Puisan: But we're running in the evening....

Legs: ......

Happy TGIT guys!

p/s: I've now unofficially declare Thursdays as 'Dress-Casual-To-Work-Day'........(frankly no one will really realize since I wear the labcoat most of the time....). But no one tell my boss!!!

I Like My Nap Time....

By the way....I managed to achieve my 60km last week...(62km to be exact)

I know.....FINALLY!!!! After SO long!!!!

So happy.....

I've been aiming for this "elusive" number since.....erm...(ok if it takes this long to recall, it must have been quite a while back!)

I need to check Dailymile to see when the last 60km week was!

(So thankful had a half marathon race last Sunday to amp up the numbers!!!)

Also having 2 runs per day 1 to 2 days per week really help in adding the mileage.

(No....not doing twice daily thing that regularly.....I'm not uncle Frank, yet!)

But I realized one thing......when I reach near the 60km per week target, I get SO tired.

Feel sleepy all the time.

All I want to do at 10am/1pm/3pm everyday is crawl back onto my bed and SLEEP!!!!

Yeah.....all I want to do is SLEEP the whole freakin day.

So.....I've resorted to taking naps during lunch time.

I swear...that must be one of those exclusive benefits of working in a mental institution!!!

How about the actual lunch, you ask?

Luckily for me, my breakfast taken at 7am doesn't last me until after 11am, so lunch is usually around that time....(shhh.....don't tell my boss!!)

Just have to make sure work gets settled quick so I can refuel and then work some more before my OFFICIAL nap time at 1pm!!!

No one bug me for the whole hour!

I'm literally out cold!

I'm SO thankful I can sleep sitting up......can't imagine those who can ONLY sleep horizontally in their own beds...(those poor unfortunate souls!)

Anyway yesterday did a 2 runs per day thing as well.

Had to nap for half hour before the run at 6.30pm as I was already prepared to call it a day and sleep at 5pm!!!!

Maybe I've not finished sleeping after my half marathon on Sunday!

But seriously, running after a nap feels SO great!!! Literally feeling energized and can run on and on and on and.....oh, you get the picture!

I'm not too optimistic about reaching 60km week again this week......coz I'm working on Saturday (I do not want the phone to ring the whole of Saturday from 8am until Sunday 8am!!) and I'll be missing the Sunday long run with the running uncles.

There goes a good 10-miler!!!

Really looking forward to next weekend though!

Will be heading down to Singapore for the Safra Army Half Marathon and then off to Perhentian Island for diving (actually, to LEARN how to dive...must always learn and experience something new!!!)....

I reckon HOLIDAYS are fantastic for my mental health!!!

Honestly, I should really live my life before I get de-institutionalized....whenever that will be!

*yawn*

Alrighty guys.....turning in NOW!!

(so what if it's only 8.30pm??)

Later!!!!

KOTR Shah Alam (2nd August 2009)

SOOoooooooo.........

I've got to be honest with you guys...

This race....well....it wasn't as daunting as I thought it would be.

There you go...I've said it and I've made my peace with the race route.

Shah Alam route was not as bad as my mind has made it up to be.

The hills weren't as torturous as I've made myself believe.

And surprising enough, I did not DIE at the uphill running as anticipated.

Yup...huge pat on the back for myself!!!

* This is everyone...except Emmy who was slightly late.

I started the race with very modest and mediocre aims......

For once I'm not gonna beat myself up over the timing before the race even starts!

In the morning itself before getting to the race site, I've told myself that I'd be happy and extremely delighted if I ran the 22.7km in 2:20.

Well, I'm happy and extremely delighted to inform y'all that I came in at 2:18:47 (self-timed).

And to think I walked the last hill before the sprint to the stadium.....

* Me and ChampionBandit......who ran the fastest amongst all of us!

Anyway, let's backtrack slightly.

Today's my turn to be designated driver.....picked up the boys from Subang before heading to Shah Alam Stadium where the flag off was held.

For some reason, I was rather surprised that there were quite a number of participants for this race.......I know.....I'm still doing the "ignorance" thing.

* The guys I picked up from Subang.....

Anyway, before getting ourselves to the starting line, YY said he would pace me......(he sorta paced me for a wee bit at Shape run last week before "falling off")

And I was like....way cool, I'm a freakin pacer!

I told YY that my aim was 2:20.

Pretty decent for a half marathon.....even more so for a 22.7km race!

I even told him my "game-plan" (bear with me....I like having a plan for all my races).....which was to start slow and to take on the hills in stride...nothing aggressive, we'd only attack the downhills and flat-ish stretches along the race course.....save energy for the 2nd half of the race....ultimate plan is to finish strong!

We agreed....I even offered to share my Powergel....ANYTHING to get my pace-ee to the finish line within stipulated time!

(btw, from now onwards....it's GU all the way!! I'm SO over Powergel....)

* Pace-ee and Pacer

So once the gun went off, the boys (besides WaiMing and my pace-ee) sprinted off in the usual manner, paced by ChampionBandit....(whose ultimate principle is to NEVER pay for races)

First stretch of the race was....you've guessed it....HILLS!

Go slow.....conserve energy.

More of these to come.

Everything going alright.

Pace-ee beside or slightly behind me.

After a while, we lost WaiMing and Rachel.

The boys paced by ChampionBandit are no where to be seen within our direct visual field....(in other words, WAY too FAST for us "mediocre paced" runners)

At 2nd water station, shared Powergel with pace-ee. 

Pace-ee had never taken Powergel before.

Shared with pace-ee what I do with Powergel....(don't laugh.....do the Powergel wrong and it's tummy cramps for you!!!)

"Take minimal amount of gel, keep in mouth, let it melt partially, then swallow......since there ain't any water available"

Pace-ee didn't quite follow.....took a gulp of it and almost choked.

Luckily I didn't have to do the Heimlich which I've never quite perfected.

We continued running until after 10km or so....(the route was not marked in distance......I sorta estimated), I turned back and pace-ee went missing.

I figured he slowed down a bit back there and he'd catch up after the next water station.

Following water station came in view.

Walked to drink isotonics.....and continued walking hoping pace-ee would magically show up.

No signs of pace-ee.

A lot of running uncles passing me.

Feel kinda bad for pace-ee for not waiting for him......then feel kinda bad for me and ego that so many running uncles whom I've overtook earlier are overtaking me now!

Decided to make myself and ego feel better and abandoning the Pacing-Program.

(Sorry YY......really wanted to make it to the end with you in 2:20......next half marathon ok?!)

I think I've inhaled abundant lung-destroying automobile fumes within the short period of running this half marathon.

At every roundabout that we ran through (and we ran through A LOT of roundabouts) there were countless vehicles (drivers pretending to be patient) being stopped by traffic police to let runners run through first.

......Yup, for the sake of the race, a tiny bit of my lungs have died.

Anyway, the hills did not stop coming and the last stretch was the shiteous!

I decided to walk-run the last bit...and then I bumped into CS!!

Very surprise to see him coming to a halt....muscle cramps.....bummer!

Feel bad for CS that he has to walk and forego the sub-2 plans and thought of walking with him to the end..

Feel bad for me and ego because there was just a BIT more to run and 2:20 was within grasp!

Would not take a genius to figure out which option I chose!

(sorry CS......but you did great despite the pain in the calves anyway!!!!)

* CS wished Emmy could have picked him up when his cramps started.....

Anyway after the final hill, it was downhill all the way until the finish line in the Shah Alam Stadium.

Picked up pace......I can do the downhill thing, no problem....like uncle Frank said, just let yourself roll downhill!

Shorten your stride, quicken the turnover, lean forward and let it roll!

I came in 2:18:47......no. 39 in Women's Open Division.

I can live with it.

Until my next half marathon.....

* My placing.....not too sure what I should have done with this piece of paper....

Safra Army Half Marathon on 16th August 2009 in Singapore.

Will aim for 2:10 and below.

Will go figure out a game plan first.

* Inside the stadium.....a sea of orange

Anyway found out pace-ee had muscle cramps and was forced to walk which explained why he went missing abruptly.

* You guys all did GREAT!!!!

And afterall the post-race bumming around and queueing up for water (or lack of it) and food, we went to Klang (for all places) for breakfast no.1 and no.2....(it is SO unfair that boys can eat THIS much and not gain weight.....stupid genetically pre-determined muscle mass!!)

* First breakfast in Klang......same restaurant that dad and I used to frequent when I was less than 4 feet tall!!!

* Fueling up!

* Second breakfast of BKT...also in Klang!

Overall....I actually enjoyed this race (despite the the upward running).

In fact I enjoyed the actual running in this race more than I did in the Shape run last weekend.

On a low note, I learnt of the passing of a fellow runner, Gary Leon Roberts (A793), who collapsed after his half marathon finish.

The guy was only.....what, 22?! Too early to go back to the Maker.....

Cause of death is still a speculation but some say (on Facebook, anyway) that it was cardiac in origin.

My prayers and condolences to the family.

Gosh....that really brought the mood down, huh?

Later!!!!

TGIF!! Pre-pre race day....

I'm home!!!

I'm back in PJ.....

Gosh it's good to take a deep breathe of that good 'ol polluted city air!! *cough cough*

It's KOTR weekend....and....wait for it.....

I TOOK MONDAY OFF!!!!

(don't be jealous.....I NEED time off from work once in a while to retain whatever sanity I have left!)

I just got my KOTR race kit...(thank you Vern for collecting it for me!)

And I have to say....the technical vest is DEFINITELY an upgrade from the previous year.

And oh my...what a colour!!!

BRIGHT ORANGE!

* Not bad....15th number. I swear, I actually took my time to register for this race. And coolness that I actually got a Powerbar (although it would have been even more appreciated if it was a Powergel....)

Bright as in, 'No-worries-about-the-power-outage-coz-I-can-still-see-you-in-your-bright-vest' sorta bright!!

Definitely traffic stopper colour...no doubt about it!

And the fit.....very (more like ALMOST) similar to the Sundown Singapore 2009 vest. Very...erm, form fitting.

Form fitting is fine if you look like you have less than 10% body fat....but I'm a curvy sorta girl.

So yeah.....

(....and although it is similar fit, the M size that I got for KOTR fits the same as the L size I wore at Sundown......)

Well....you know me and my stand on NEVER wearing something that has NEVER been worn before during training runs....

So will not be wearing it for Sunday's race...*phew*

Instead....will be wearing THIS! (unless I change my mind...I'm female afterall!)

* KRI club vest......I think it will blend in pretty well with the crowd of orange. BTW, I still think it's an easy colour to spot, so if YOU spot ME, come say hi......I promise not to throw up on you if approached post-race!!

I figured it'll blend it rather well with the bright orange that is the official race vest!

And......yippee for "club spirit"!! (oh that is NOT sarcasm that you're sensing, okay!!!)

Also.....I just realized that I left my Bodyglide in Ipoh....darn it!!!!!

So will be using THIS as substitute.

It's a little sticky and messy.......but ANYTHING to prevent the chaffings!

I was told that the route will DEFINITELY be hilly.

I don't like hills.

I don't understand why some people like hills.

But then again some people don't understand why other people like to run in races.....

So to each their own!

I didn't get to run my 13km morning slow run today....(remember....schedule!)

No...not lazy....HARDLY!!!

I woke up at 5am and felt my right hip being a little sore.

Decided to lay off the running until Sunday.

I DO want to run well for this race even though I DID say that I am not aiming for some pie in the sky timing.

I still hope to run it less than 2:20...(that's positive thinking for you!)

I'm willing to accept any timing less than 2:40 considering it is 22.7km and it's "not-Puisan-ideal" running route....(aka not flat!)

But having 2 days of no exercise (no running today....definitely no running tomorrow pre-race).....it's a little frustrating.

Tomorrow.....will dust the cobwebs off the bike and take it for a short ride around the neighbourhood.....

Working up a sweat (in non-running related manner) might help put me in a more positive mood for the race on Sunday!

Can't wait to overeat..erm, I mean carbo-load tomorrow!!!!

Later!!!