Bidor Half Marathon - 24th April 2011

My THIRD consecutive Bidor Half Marathon.

I swear...it gets easier every single year.

I remember the first year back in 2009....when I could still count the number of half marathons within 5 fingers, I was struggling and walked most of the course.

Then in 2010.....after having run many more halfies and 2 full marathons under the proverbial belt, I only walked the uphills.

Now in 2011....after countless halfies (I gave up counting when I started not remembering how many fulls I've run), I'm glad to report that I ran the whole entire way this time around.

This year was definitely the most fun!

Got to Bidor after 2 measly hours of post-Easter Vigil sleep....at around 5am.

Met the first group from KL driven by James (of themarathonshop.com.my fame).

Groggy and partially awake....we walked around the still empty town looking for food.

.....and we found our breakfast at the 24-hour convenient store.

I've registered for CS (his 3rd consecutive Bidor as well!) and he managed to roped in (or rather conned) 3 other bandits to make the early morning drive up.

And dude, you still owe me Rm40 bucks!!!!

These people were my first "running gang".....whom I fondly named 'The Subang Lake Runners'.

We've run many of our first halfies and full marathons together.

These days....they've kinda regressed to a full marathon (predictably Singapore Marathon) a year and perhaps several shorter races in between.

Photo-log below:

* Me, Alexis and Elaine

* Carol, Elaine, Wendy, yours truly, Lydia, Alexis, Carrie

* With Winnie Wong

* Uncle Vincent and Bryan

* The Kenyanporean made his exclusive appearance at this race!!!

* Met Dr. Francis again. Seeing him never fails to remind me that I'm old!

* Me and uncle PK......

* The dudes from Subang clowning around.

The race started at 7am...athough initially they wanted to start at 6.45am but in the state of semi-chaos, someone decided to make it 7.

Ran with my camera (obviously, considering how many pictures I've had) and decided that this was gonna be a F.U.N. run.

Since the field for women running the half was like....46?......Alexis decided to try and get herself on the podium for top 10. She zoomed off and we were left choking on her dust.

Ran with Dannie, Carrie, Elaine, Mo-maniac and Winnie....initially.

Then the lovebirds pulled away and I followed their pace.

The route was pretty simple.

The first 11km runs an 'out-and-back' loop, treating runners to a tour of the "countryside" and treating them to the fresh aroma of "nature".

Pretty flat first loop.

Good for picture taking as you get to see people running back (and visually reminding you that you are a slow runner!!!) on the other side of the road.

* Lawrence and Carol

At the turn-around, a hydration station and volunteers passing out ribbons.

Yup....it's that small a race that they still use ribbons!!!!

The second loop of 10km is slightly more undulating.

This was where the 10km race was held simultaneously.

Again....more familiar faces and more photo op!

Before heading onto the 2nd part of the route, I was still clowning around with the lovebirds.

Then some chick with a really toned body ran past us.

I casually mentioned to Dannie that I wanna grow up to look exactly like that!

Dannie said that if I ran as fast as her, preferably overtaking her, then I'd grow up to look like that.

In full support of folie-a-deux (we LOVE shared delusions!!!), I decided to give that girl chase.

Afterall....I so DO wanna grow up looking like that (I'll grow up when I reach 30, in case you're wondering).

By then....she was really far ahead.

So I picked off runners one by one.....until I was right behind her.

Then decided that she was too slow for me....so I over took her.

(it is good to keep aspiring for bigger and better things when you grow up)

Fearing that she will overtake me....I kept on running faster.

The second part of the race goes up a dreaded uphill route.

Psyched myself up to NOT walk.

Amazingly my sleep-deprived brain computed that fact.

At the turn around, another water station.....the ONLY one with Isotonics.

Give me sugar and I'm a happy camper!!!

At the turn around, many people were already walking. I didn't want to be like many people.

That was not what I've imagined myself growing up to be!!!

So I ran.

Camera in one hand....can of drink in another.

I only slowed down to sip water and pass wind.

Again many recognizable faces on the other side.

By this time....the sun was out and someone turned the thermostat up!

It was getting warmer and a tad bit uncomfortable.

Kept on running.

Runners were more sparsely spaced.

Kept running until I picked another runner off.

When I overtake one....I said my hellos and probably babbled off like a mad woman.

Babbling kept me from getting bored....not getting bored keeps me running. Therefore babbling keeps me running!

I finally see James running about 500m in front.

Tried to pick up pace to surprise him from behind.

The dude was walking....(his first race in quite a while....poor dude)

Decided to drag him with me.

After all....someone needs to hear me talk.

It would be very weird to others if I started talking to myself, wouldn't it.

* Picture courtesy of Chee Hon...thanks!!! (James in VFF....me in shoes)

By that time.....my camera had died on me.

No more photos for the next 4km.....so depressing.

We crossed the finish line in 2:20!

Not too bad.

I was even placed 15th overall women. Of course you only get to go on stage and get your photo taken by someone with a very huge camera if you're top 10......

* So Ron.....ever considered sponsoring yours truly with more Punk Rock T-shirts?! *sweetest smile I could ever conjure*

I enjoyed the race....I've always enjoyed Bidor anyway.

And with me leaving the state of Perak at the end of next month....this race was a little bitter sweet.

(I only signed up for this race back in 2009 because it was near Ipoh.....then again in 2010 because I fell in love with it)

Unfortunately this week was kinda low in mileage.

In my delusional mindset...it's called 'tapering' for next week's marathon in Kota Kinabalu.

*glee*

I can't wait for next week to roll around!!!!

See you all at Borneo International Marathon.

Don't forget your sunscreen.

Later!!!!

Happy Easter!!!!

Just a quick one before a ultra long afternoon nap in preparation for tonight's mass (which in its own accord is also gonna be predictably ultra long!).....just came back from Bidor after race bib(s) collection.

It was surprisingly empty at the collection hall and I was done pretty quickly despite collecting for a total of 8 people.

Efficiencies of small towns!!!!

Love it.

I'm super excited about Easter.

Mostly because it marks the end of Lent and thus the end of my prohibitory abstinence from junk food....

Despite the "fast" being over, Michelle did remind me during our morning hike up Kledang Hill this morning that the state of my "not-the-usual-plump-self" was most likely due to the self-refrain from my weekly Happy Meals (I'm loving it!), regular dessert binge and the likes.....and that I should keep up the current state of self.

Sigh...what a depressing thought.

Anyway....looking forward to the half marathon tomorrow.

And in the mean time....nap awaits!!!!

Later!!!!

TGIT!!!!!!

Post-call and very sleepy.

[Please note that while reading this blog post, you are NOT allowed to roll your eyes.....not too much anyway. Do try your darnest not to]

Oh yea....Happy Holy Thursday!!!!

Finally approaching Easter weekend.....which means finally completing the season of Lent....which means FINALLY going to be able to feast on junk food again!!!

Junk food....oh how I miss thee......

Anyway......I have finally acquired the Vibram Komodosport!!!!

*happy happy glee glee*

Let's not dwell on how I came to be in ownership of it.......and rest assured it's authentic!

(yea yea yea....I know.....and my fake Sprint VFF are currently falling apart)

Did I mention that I LOVE it?!

It fits as good as the KSO does.......

And it's sole is as thick as the Bikila.....(essential when road conditions in this country is at its current state)

An absolute heaven of a combination for a pair of VFF!!!!

I took it out for an inaugural 7km run on Tuesday after resting in on Monday post Energizer fiasco.

And that run was perfect.

Absolutely perfect.

So perfect that when I reflect upon it, my eyes start welling up.

*sniff*

Beautiful....perfect.....exhilarating.

Exactly what a run should be every single time.

(of course the gloomy weather helped......)

Took it out for another 7km run today.

Still beautiful. Still perfect. Even despite my sleep deprivation state....

*sniff*

I'm plotting an absurd idea of donning the Komodosport (which I've endearingly nicknamed, The Lizards......what?! Lizards CAN be endearing!!!!), for the Bidor Half Marathon this coming Sunday.

Absurd because I've not done distance in VFF in quite a while....like say, 2 weeks before Hong Kong Marathon back in February!

Now that's a long time!!!!

I've mainly saved running "barefoot" for shorter distance runs.....coz y'know, I had issues with a possible plantar fasciitis which I refused to admit to having, back when I was piling on the mileage with my KSOs.

And then it was back to being shoe shod every single long run.

Anyway.....will leave decision to the last minute. Brilliant ideas usually evolve from procrastination.

Oh....see y'all at Bidor this Sunday.

Later!!!!!

Energizer Night Marathon - 16th April 2011

This turned out to be one hell of an event....that the aftermath of it still rippling through the world wide web, stirring angry comments (even to the extend of being hateful) from all those who participated in the run.

But let us stay out of "politics" and more on my personal experience with the race instead. I mean, after all.....that is the whole point of this blog!

This race was meant to be another training ground for the upcoming 100km.

So that Saturday morning, a bunch of us mileage-masochists logged 15km pre-pre-race run at 6.30am.

That same group of us arrived 2 and a half hours before the official race start time to log another 11km (and if you include the walking to and fro the carpark, it would give us a nice 13km)!

To get to the start, which is actually on the F1 race track, we have to trek down a bunch of stairs, walk through a narrow passageway.....climb back up another bunch of stairs...and right in front of you, the start site.

Now problem with this was......the stairway and passageway were narrow.

Imagine fitting in hundreds of runners (most likely thousand) through that sort of bottle neck, minus proper ventilation.....you'd get impending disaster.

Throw in another bottle neck of a distribution table of freebies at the very end of the stairway exit.....you get the packed-like-sardine picture pretty clearly.

(you just need one person fainting in the midst of that crowd!!!)

Anyway.....the start went off pretty uneventfully.

The race route takes us 5 loops around the outside of Sepang F1 area......running through palm oil plantations without street lights (the government needed some ways to cut budget) and adjacent highways (filled with traffic, emitting pneumocyte-killing fumes....exactly what the doctor ordered when he/she told you that you need more EXERCISE!!!!).

One loop....is about 7-ish kilometers.

I think.

I'm not too sure but a lot of people reckon the 5 loops of 7-ish clicks plus the 5.5km of the actual racing circuit on the inside did not equate to 42km.

(not totaling 42km turned out to be exactly just that. Not a real marathon. Click HERE to read all about it)

The first loop was easy.

Well....technically still high on adrenaline, loads of people around, mood was jolly good all around.

There were 3 hydration/Gatorade stations situated at different parts of the loop.

1/3 of the loop was next to angry motorist having been forced to share their roads with runners.

The other 2/3 were in the dark, next to palm estates, and reeks of the smells of "nature"...whatever "nature" was suppose to smell like.

Second loop......I needed to go pee.

Desperately.

There were only three porta-potties along the entire outer loop....one per hydration station.

If you had a willy and you weren't wearing compression tights, then the entire outer loop was your toilet.

Unfortunately the last I looked down, I still had what I was born with.....and I needed a porta-potty.

Thankfully, Alexis went ahead and cleared that particular stall as "hygienic".

Well...it was well lit and it was early enough in the race for it to not stink of bad personal hygiene yet.

However upon exiting the porta-potties....discovered that Mo-maniac and Winnie had ran off and thankfully Alexis was still downing fluids, waiting for me.

Completed second and third loop with her.

Alexis was starting to get eerily quiet during the third loop.

She was also getting eerily further away.

It was unsettling to realized that I was actually talking to myself at some point in the race.

At the start of the fourth loop.....Yimmy ran right past me. I looked back.....she said go ahead.....I caught up to Yimmy....told him I needed to chase someone....he didn't mind the company for his fifth (and FINAL!) loop....and off we went.

I told him I needed to find Mo-maniac.

I wanted a shot of NaughtyG. My shot was with Mo-maniac.

(Alexis reckons it was formulated with "extracurricular" activities in mind, running not one of them)

Tagged along with Yimmy (and somewhere along the loop, with Frank as well) until I heard the whistle blower himself.

Thanked Frank and Yimmy. They zoomed off....I downed my shot.

Somehow finished 4th loop and on to the fifth.

Totally powered by concentrated caffeine...however effect kinda worn off as I finish off my final loop and head into the 5.5km circuit.

As I ran into the circuit.....volunteers were handing out mineral water bottles.

Reason being....they ran out of water past that point.

There will be no water at the next water station.......AND at the finish line.

(and that was the reason why I hung on to that bottle of water for dear life despite wanting to chuck it at every opportunity!)

The 5.5km loop was terrible.

Longest 5.5km loop ever!!!!! It felt like eternity.

I felt more nauseated with each step I took.

My soles hurt....my feet hurts.....I wanted to throw up but nothing is coming out.....I just wanted this race to be over and done with.

KA ran with me for a bit.

But I told him I just wanted to walk.

Then Winnie caught up.

Kept telling me to run.

Past Andrew who was in pain and limping due to spraining his ankle while at the super-crowded underpass earlier.

I wanted to run.

I also wanted to throw up.

The end was near......and yet so freakin far.

I looked up and noticed there were distance markers for the F1 racing.

200m...150m......50m.......

So I ran. I was gonna run 50m straight without stopping.

Once I got there......another 50m without stopping. And then another......and then another......

And in front of me...I could see the finish line!!!!

Finally.....a freakin light at the end of the horrid proverbial tunnel!!!!

I crossed the line 5:23-something something......

I was actually quite amazed that I finish sub-5:30 despite extra mileage pre-race!!!

Woohoo for me!!!!

But once I crossed the finish....there were no official/volunteers there.

Just other runners cheering other runners on.

No medal.....

No finisher's T.....

No water......

No nothing.......

Thankfully, I was still clutching onto my water bottle.

I found out later that they ran out of EVERYTHING and people started a riot of sort that involved the police to dispersed the runner-turned-rowdy-crowd. HUGE DRAMA!!!!

In fact.....the whole thing turned out pretty embarrassing for both the organizers and also for the runners. I rather not talk about it...(besides..it's all over Facebook!!!!)

Anyway.....we clocked in 68km that day (70km if you count all that walking to and fro the carpark) and inching a little bit closer to being absolutely prepared for the 100km race.

Photo-log:

* Alexis and I post 11km pre-race run with Uncle Gary on his comeback marathon!!!!

(it also might turned out to be his last and he had resigned himself from full marathons and heading back to halfies only)

* Part of the Malaysian group of the Marathon Maniacs.....oh and a Singaporean strayed into it!

* KK all dressed up for his BIRTHDAY halfie. Happy birthday dude!!!!

* Rushing to the starting line.....

* Ooh....I found the KRI Ipoh Uncles....most of them doing the half.

* With Uncle Oliver and Winnie......

* David telling me that we have extra Gatorade waiting for me!! Me still hanging on for dear life onto that water bottle!!!

* We've finally finished that horrid race!!

* Managed to get a finisher's medal just before we left. Loads of other runners went home without anything except being very pissed off. I count myself lucky. Thank you Ronnie Goh for waiting in line to get this for us!!!

Thank you Mo-maniac, DOdo, Kim Lai and Weng for the pictures.

This coming weekend.....Bidor Half Marathon!!!!!

Later!!!!

TGIT!!!!!!

A lovely Thursday spent moping around hospital grounds.

But I shall remind myself that I'd miss these sorta shit when I'm no longer working here.

(coz YES....I'm in for Sports Med masters program.....and honestly, am not too sure if that is entirely a fantastic thing or not. Only time will tell the extend of regret I shall be experiencing later!)

Anyway after last weekend's tri at Kenyir, I'm back running on Monday.

The weather was lovely and I was itching to know if my legs could handle a run the very next day.

On the good side, I'm glad to announce that my legs are up for running 7km the next day.

On the crap side, my legs felt like jell-o the entire 7km and I could only muster a mere shuffle.

I decided to consider that Monday run as "recovery" run....although honestly, the only recovery I think was appropriate was lounging on the couch watching The Biggest Loser.

Enthusiastically, decided that I'd run again on Tuesday....just to see how much the legs have recovered.

Still very much figuratively resembling jell-o, but at a much faster pace....(still a lot slower than usual)

Wednesday.....to hell with running.

I took up the lazy offer to lounge around and watch Top Chef....and then The Biggest Loser.

(of course I did feel a little guilty being a total couch potato while the contestants on the reality show were busting their arses on the freakin treadmill)

Since I'm on-call today....that means I'm "tapering" for the next two days for my Energizer Night Marathon this Saturday night.

The plan by Terence goes something a bit loony like this....

A 15km Saturday morning run at sloth pace.

And an early arrival at race site for a little run before the start of the race to ramp up mileage in preparation for ultra.

These days it is very easy to blame all symptoms of mental instability on ultramarathon preparation.

I've worked in the nuthouse long enough to know that it is best to just agree with one's poor insight into one's mind's inner malfunctions.

.....and the thing that scares me the most is that I am actually REALLY looking forward to the regime!!!!

(I know...it IS about time to say adios to working at this facility)

The connection sucks at the moment since this hospital is situated in the freakin middle of no where. Therefore, no photo-log!!!!!

Later!!!!

Kenyir Tri - 10th April 2011

Hailed as the toughest tri race in Malaysia.

No....I didn't make it up to make myself feel superbly brilliant an athlete.

It was apparently a fact well known to the seasoned triathletes.

I travelled up to Kenyir alone, taking the road a tad bit less travelled and despite being rewarded with awesome view, my car tires cursed the very road it trodden.

* Arrived just slightly after the KL convoy. I was tired and extremely hungry.

* My bib number. The Terence's swim cap for photo op. Me and Winnie got stuck with the plain, no pattern orange cap. Well....at least they can spot you from afar when you start sinking.....

* Tobias appearing so overly eager to race.....

Met up with Terence, Winnie, Bryan and Andrew (the bunch who travelled from KL and conveniently did not save a seat for me and Tobias) at the race kit collection site and subsequently checked into our room at the Kenyir Resort and Spa.

* With the pros.....Sofian and Richard! Oh..and then there's us.

Race was scheduled to start at 8am.

Body markings....6.30am up till 7.30am.

Was awaken in the middle of the night by thunder sounds looming in the distance.

Subsequently, pitter patter of rain drops were heard.

Gradually progressed into quite a raining session the entire night.

When we woke up that morning (according to our allotted lavatory time slot), it was still raining lightly outside.

By the time we were heading down to the race site, the rain had picked up intensity.

* Wet wet morning.....

Totally drenched by the time we reached.

But on the good side (there always is!), Tobias got a real bath in goodness knows how long!!!!

Parked Tobias and arranged all what-nots at the transition area and trying to stuff them into plastic bags in hopes of them not being drenched in rain water by the time I head to it!

The rain didn't seem like it was ever gonna end.....(it didn't!)

* Waiting in line for body marking!

More heavy looking grey clouds over the horizon, as far as the eye can see.

Initially, we heard news that the roads were flooded and thus making cycling dangerous. Possibly canceling the cycling bit.

Race time therefore postponed for another half hour.....to see if conditions improved.

Personally...I was kinda hoping that I didn't need to hop on Tobias.

He wasn't ready. Neither was I. No point pursuing our near-doomed relationship just because we're at the start of a tri race.

Turned out I was the only one who was secretly joyous about such predicament.

Everyone else seemed genuinely disappointed.

(Oh c'mon....I didn't make it rain. Don't read this blog post with such accusing point of view!)

Anyway....the rain didn't stop.

It wavered between 'good-to-sleep-in' sort of moderately heavy......and 'let's get on with race' sort of drizzle.

At 8.20am......it was final.

The race was gonna go on.

Yea yea...my heart kinda sank when I found out that Tobias' fate and mine were gonna be intertwined despite personal protest.

But oh well.......come to think of it, I didn't drive across Cameron Highlands and risk the pothole-filled-with-impending-landslide sorta journey ALONE with Tobias sulking the whole entire way, to NOT race.

So at 8.30am......we were let loose.

The swimming leg of 1.5km.....went on without a hitch.

Not bad for someone who last hit the pool just before Desaru Sprint Tri last year!

And huge pat on my own back for consistent breaststroke the entire way.

I was so proud of myself each time I breaststroked past some freestylers!!!

Out of the lake and into transition area.

Despite wrapped in plastic bags, my shoes and socks were soaked wet through the last sweat-wicking fiber.

So was the running cap.....and my towel......and my shirt.....and my bike shorts.

Wet wet wet.

Pulled and tugged and off I went.

Started the bike leg...with pushing Tobias up a hill.

Was not gonna even try to cycle up.

I know my capabilities and cycling uphill at that point in time was not one of mine.

The rest of the bike leg went pretty smoothly.

Yea I did hop off to push bike.....but frankly I was not the only one.

And with the rain splashing against my face and the chilly damp air.......it made the biking rather fun!

In fact....at most parts of the 40km ride, I actually enjoyed it.

I'm sure Tobias enjoyed running over muddy water and stuff.

But still had lower back pain (pushing bike helped) and pain at my lady bits.

Good to know some things don't ever change.

Got back to transition area and got ready to run.

My legs felt wobbly but I just wanted to finish.

Hobbled off to my running route.

After about 500m into the route, we reached a fork in the road where it branches off into two.

One road leads uphill. The other leads down.

There were no marshal in sight.

Then someone from the back shouted "Run UP!"

So a bunch of us ran up.

I decided to walk....which turned out to be a great thing as the fastest person running reached the top first and found out we were running the wrong route.

I was halfway up, quickly turned around and ran down.

I've always liked running downhills.

Saw Terence and Winnie running about 500m in front of me.

My mind told my legs to hurry up and catch up.

But the legs decided to give the mind the one finger salute.

So a shuffle it was behind Terence and Winnie.

The route had us run one loop around the resort and then lead us out into the highway, up to the dam overlooking the beautiful Kenyir Lake.

The view up there was to die for!!!!

* Don't mine the water smudge......this picture does the view no justice!!!!

And right up here I finally caught up with Terence and Winnie.

(so what if they had stopped quite a while to take photos!?)

After the dam and back into the surrounding area of the resort....up another pesky hill....down that hill.....and the finish line was right there in front of me!

I crossed it below 4 hours.

Don't really know exactly timing.

But don't really care.

I really had fun in the rain!!!!!

* Winnie and I after crossing the finishing line!

Photos courtesy of Terence and his waterproof camera.

I'm now ready to give Tobias back his much needed space.....to continue with his favourite hobby....which is collecting dust.

Well....at least until the next time I really need to drag him out again.

Congrats to Winnie and Bryan for completing their first Olympic Distance Tri.

Thank you Andrew for watching Phineas and Ferb with me...and for not laughing when I sang the entire theme song.

Thank you Terence......for being the sifu!

This coming weekend.....Energizer Night Marathon.....*glee*

Later!!!!

Necessary AWOL

I didn't make my Sunday 30km run.

I didn't make it to the 7km Orang Asli Trail Run in the middle of no where either.

However...I did clock up a bit of speed work over the weekend sprinting to the lavatory before the voluntary constriction of my sphincter failed to be voluntary any longer.

Y'see.....I must have eaten something that didn't quite agree with my digestive system on Saturday which lead to a less than ideal situation of Acute Gastroenteritis (just a more fanciful medical term for annoying tummy upset associated with purging....one end or the other, worst being both!).

Spent the entire Saturday night getting intimately acquainted with the toilet bowl.....(not by choice, mind you!)

Decided I was too tired and probably a tad too dehydrated to be up at 4am for a 5am start of a 30km (or more) long run.

Also decided that I needed to be near a decent ladies' room....or at least a taxi for hire, thus canceling out the 7km trail run in the middle of no where as well.

And for the first time in many many moons, I actually slept in on a Sunday morning!

Dealt with crampy abdominal pains the entire Sunday but manage to make an appearance at Bad Ass Coffee with the TUC runners to "celebrate".

I was just happy that I wasn't leaking at the other end.

* Picture stolen off Jamie Pang!

However things started to unravel on Monday.

The cramps became more exaggerated and the diarrhea was just plain shiteously annoying.

I couldn't take the day off no matter how tempting that thought was because I had my Monday clinics to attend to.

I was hungry but the sight of food made me nauseated.

I was chugging so much fluid but all it did was expel itself from the other end.

Finally....I was so sick of the 'water-in-water-out' process, that I got myself hooked on intravenous fluid and kept myself nil-by-mouth (albeit allowing the occasional clear fluids only) the entire Monday evening and night.

Also took Tuesday off from work!

(also it was many moons since I slept in on a weekday in Ipoh)

It's been 32 hours since I've had any solid food.....and I'm hoping my first bite of REAL food during lunch today would not exacerbate the current situation.

I really really hope so. Because I really really wanna eat!!!!

Thank you Cheky for the house-call and setting the IV line.

Now I better figure out something to eat before my appetite flees.

Later!!!!

Quick one...

Let's see.....

After last Saturday/Sunday's 60km....I've been nursing a very insidious yet curious illness that involves the mind and the body...(thank goodness it didn't involve the soul. Who wants to be exorcized on a weekday, for crying out loud!?)

I could hardly get out of bed on Monday and Tuesday. Made me feel thankful (or not, depending on how you view things) for thinking ahead and taking 2 days off from work.

Wednesday was back at work. I couldn't get through the day without sneaking in a nap at lunch time.

By the way...this illness is called Laziness.

Anyhoo....I did manage a run on Thursday. A miserable 5km.

But in my defense, after the first kilometer in I started having tummy upset.

Of course this made the remaining 4km rather distressful!

It was very disconcerting that the entire 5km route had no petrol stations, visible available toilets or tall dense bushes.

Friday.......was tiring.

I was hoping to be napping at work during the long lunch break.....but did a detour for some bento-set lunch with the colleagues.

Fought the drowsy feeling all the way back to KL.

Then stared at the ceiling most of the night. Insomnia definitely sucks!

Now.....if you've been following the local race event calenders closely, you'd know that Kenyir Tri is NEXT freakin week.

And if you've been following THIS blog closely enough, you'd also realize that the last time I mounted on an actual bicyle (not the ones at the gym) was probably Powerman 2010....around late October/early November.

This leaves me with a good 4 months of no-cycling.

Also leaves me with visions of falling off the bike at the start of the race next week.

I can already imagine the scraps I'll attained at the knees/hands/arms/whatever.

Not a pretty sight.

So was suppose to do a "last-minute-tune-up" ride with Terence on Saturday morning.

Supposedly that should alleviate my falling-off-the-bike-in-an-extremely-embarrassing-way fears.

But running long on Saturday morning was very VERY tempting.

And like Uncle Vincent says......why bother a tune-up ride if I've already decided to push my bike at the event?!

Good point and point well taken.

So obviously I forgo this morning's ride and went running instead.

We ran for 26km....(ok ok..so it was 25.8km to be exact)

It was....well.....erm.....tiring.

My legs felt tired from the get-go.

Body felt tired. Legs felt tired. Head felt...not quite there.

Thankfully after 8km, things were starting to look up.

However, it lacked that......thing.....that makes me fall in love with running repeatedly.

It lacked....the euphoric moment.

I attributed it to lack of sleep Friday night.....and my recovering state of my illness (ie laziness).

Tomorrow.....I've signed up (earlier on) for The Trail Run with the Orang Asli.....a 7km trail run at some goodness-knows-where sorta place in Gombak (I think...).

It should be fun......

Except I planned to run long again.

But then I found out that I "successfully" got into Masters training for Sports Medicine (you're only officially successful once the letter reached you're table. The government really likes it in print!), which somehow didn't give me the effect of elated delight that I was sorta hoping for.

Instead......all I am feeling is unprecedented doom.

Like I'm signing over my freakin soul to the devil for the next 4 years of my life.

Cue the depress mood coming along.

Perhaps I should after all go for the trail run and meet people who would listen to my whine.

I know...I'm pathetic in that sense.

But this is my blog so stuff it!

Sigh.

I'll let y'all know if I actually ended up running long (fingers crossed for 30km and above!) or ended up at the fun run in goodness knows where!!!!

Later!!!