What 2 days of inactivity can do to U...
I've been pretty busy for the past 3 days. On Monday I had to prepare for the final MPTP meeting of the year, which was on Tuesday, at 6 pm. I had to wait until 6.30pm (Monday) to finish the details of the talking points for the chairperson. Actually, I wanted to run that day, before I was supposed to go out & meet my friend Najwa at 6pm. But I didn't do anything, becoz of that meeting. So.. ok la.
Then the next day, Tuesday, was the meeting itself, so obviously I couldn't do anything. But I wanted to run during lunch hour, so off I went to the gym, only to find out that there was already somebody inside. Tuesday was supposed to be women's day at the gym, but most of the time they won't let guys in. So I had to cancel my plans, & did nothing that day. After the meeting, I went home & got home about 10pm, weighed myself & found that I've reached the alert level. I was already hitting 85kg. Now, my normal weight is around 82-84, so proly for most ppl, 1kg overweight isn't that big of an issue. But it is to me. These days I can pretty much lose weight at will, but still...
So yesterday (Wednesday) I went to the gym & did circuits again, & my bodyweight is back down to 83.7kg this morning. Phew...
2010 goals for physical activity...
For 2010, my goals will be :
1. Get down to 75kg, less than 15% bodyfat.
2. Get a lean, muscular body, but not bulk up too much.
3. Run 5:30/km pace in 10K, that shud bring me to around low 50 mins in 10K
4. Run a sub-3 hr half marathon. The way I'm running 10K now, I could proly hit 2hrs for half marathon, assuming I can run the half at my current 10K pace.
5. Avoid going above my bodyweight alert level during puasa & Hari Raya.
6. Get my wife involved in my activities, especially running.
7. Run more events than I have in 2009.
8. Join a running club, most proly Cap Ayam Runners or Der Pacemakers.
Livestrong.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
2009, the year in review...
Crash !!!
This is proly the biggest thing that happened to me this year. I mean, it's not like I've never crashed or whatever, I've had some bad ones during my cycling days. In 1995 I crashed head-first during the SportExcel Grand Finals in the final of the 200m match sprint event. It's cost me the 200m sprint title, the closest I've ever been to winning a sprint title, in the last race of my junior year. I lost consciousness for a few minutes, taken to Klang Hospital for x-rays, was released shortly after. I went straight to join the Selangor team in the 1st ever SUKSES (Sukan Selangor), where I rode the 16K scratch race, just 2 days after my crash.
Well, the July 13th crash was entirely different. I experienced proly the most painful moments of my life after my surgery. I spent 10 days in the hospital (I've never been warded before). Spent 2 months at home, the longest ever I've spent doing nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. But the crash has certainly give me another perspective in life. But I wanted to forget the crash as soon as possible, & now that I've got myself a new, bigger, faster bike, I've pretty much overcame that terrible experience of crashing...
I'm just glad to be alive.. Alhamdulillah, segala puji tertentu bagi Allah, yang telah memanjangkan umurku, memberiku peluang untuk terus hidup & memperbaiki kelemahan diriku...
Running...
This year I entered my first race in May, Larian Bomba, a 10K race. Since then I've run in 8 other races, including 2 in my ministry's sports carnival. It would've been 10 races, if not for my crash. My running has been affected somewhat by my crash in July, although I got back to training pretty quickly. If I hadn't lost that 2 months, I'd proly be running a low 50's for 10K by now. But then, that crash has given me the opportunity to restart my training & now I'm running with a better technique & 10K is a normal distance for me nowadays. I can run 10K even after work.
So, next year I will start to run in Half Marathon (21K) events. I've never really tried to run 21K, but rest assured I'll prepare myself to run in my 1st half marathon in February, the Putrajaya Night Marathon. I've got about a little over a month to go. Wonder what it's like to run for 2 hrs straight. Normally in my 10K runs, I'd burn around 1500 calories each run, for the 21K it must be double that amount. I'd reckon I'ma lose around 2-3 kg after the half marathon, mostly water of course.
Some ppl wonder why would I put myself, or any other runners for that matter, through all that pain & agony of running for 1-2 hrs ? What do we get out of it ? Now, to answer that, Ur gonna have to do it Urself. I can't tell U how it feels. Maybe there's a lot of ppl who can complete a 10K run, not that many can do 21K, & even fewer can complete a 42K, full marathon. But once U've done it, U will always remember it as something U've achieved in Ur life. Not everybody can say I've run a marathon. For me it's the sheer joy of having completed an objective. That feeling, I can't get it from anywhere.
I wanna keep running for as long as I can. It's the simplest of activity & is one of the most beneficial to Ur health. Just put on Ur shoes, head out the door (or elevator, or fence, or whatever) & run. Of course, in my case, there's the heart rate monitor, the footpod, the calf guard, the MP3 player, the sunglasses to put on... hahah.. Might be difficult at first, but after a few minutes, U'll see what I mean.
Work..
A lot of ppl asked me why haven't I taken any vacation this time of the year. Maybe they've forgotten that I just came back from a 2-month long vacation. So I dun really see the point of taking a vacation.
Before my crash, there was a couple of PSUs in my unit, myself & Ameerah, a new PSU. I had a KPSU who was itching to get out of my unit after just a couple of weeks. So, I had to do almost everything pretty much by myself, assisted by my long-serving EO, Dea. & for almost everything, I reported straight to my KS. Once I returned to active duty, I found myself with a new KPSU & Ameerah had enuff experience already to cover my duties. So for the 1st month after I came back, I had pretty much nothing to do. But I'm grateful that I finally got a KPSU I can work with.
That's all for now. Livestrong.
This is proly the biggest thing that happened to me this year. I mean, it's not like I've never crashed or whatever, I've had some bad ones during my cycling days. In 1995 I crashed head-first during the SportExcel Grand Finals in the final of the 200m match sprint event. It's cost me the 200m sprint title, the closest I've ever been to winning a sprint title, in the last race of my junior year. I lost consciousness for a few minutes, taken to Klang Hospital for x-rays, was released shortly after. I went straight to join the Selangor team in the 1st ever SUKSES (Sukan Selangor), where I rode the 16K scratch race, just 2 days after my crash.
Well, the July 13th crash was entirely different. I experienced proly the most painful moments of my life after my surgery. I spent 10 days in the hospital (I've never been warded before). Spent 2 months at home, the longest ever I've spent doing nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. But the crash has certainly give me another perspective in life. But I wanted to forget the crash as soon as possible, & now that I've got myself a new, bigger, faster bike, I've pretty much overcame that terrible experience of crashing...
I'm just glad to be alive.. Alhamdulillah, segala puji tertentu bagi Allah, yang telah memanjangkan umurku, memberiku peluang untuk terus hidup & memperbaiki kelemahan diriku...
Running...
This year I entered my first race in May, Larian Bomba, a 10K race. Since then I've run in 8 other races, including 2 in my ministry's sports carnival. It would've been 10 races, if not for my crash. My running has been affected somewhat by my crash in July, although I got back to training pretty quickly. If I hadn't lost that 2 months, I'd proly be running a low 50's for 10K by now. But then, that crash has given me the opportunity to restart my training & now I'm running with a better technique & 10K is a normal distance for me nowadays. I can run 10K even after work.
So, next year I will start to run in Half Marathon (21K) events. I've never really tried to run 21K, but rest assured I'll prepare myself to run in my 1st half marathon in February, the Putrajaya Night Marathon. I've got about a little over a month to go. Wonder what it's like to run for 2 hrs straight. Normally in my 10K runs, I'd burn around 1500 calories each run, for the 21K it must be double that amount. I'd reckon I'ma lose around 2-3 kg after the half marathon, mostly water of course.
Some ppl wonder why would I put myself, or any other runners for that matter, through all that pain & agony of running for 1-2 hrs ? What do we get out of it ? Now, to answer that, Ur gonna have to do it Urself. I can't tell U how it feels. Maybe there's a lot of ppl who can complete a 10K run, not that many can do 21K, & even fewer can complete a 42K, full marathon. But once U've done it, U will always remember it as something U've achieved in Ur life. Not everybody can say I've run a marathon. For me it's the sheer joy of having completed an objective. That feeling, I can't get it from anywhere.
I wanna keep running for as long as I can. It's the simplest of activity & is one of the most beneficial to Ur health. Just put on Ur shoes, head out the door (or elevator, or fence, or whatever) & run. Of course, in my case, there's the heart rate monitor, the footpod, the calf guard, the MP3 player, the sunglasses to put on... hahah.. Might be difficult at first, but after a few minutes, U'll see what I mean.
Work..
A lot of ppl asked me why haven't I taken any vacation this time of the year. Maybe they've forgotten that I just came back from a 2-month long vacation. So I dun really see the point of taking a vacation.
Before my crash, there was a couple of PSUs in my unit, myself & Ameerah, a new PSU. I had a KPSU who was itching to get out of my unit after just a couple of weeks. So, I had to do almost everything pretty much by myself, assisted by my long-serving EO, Dea. & for almost everything, I reported straight to my KS. Once I returned to active duty, I found myself with a new KPSU & Ameerah had enuff experience already to cover my duties. So for the 1st month after I came back, I had pretty much nothing to do. But I'm grateful that I finally got a KPSU I can work with.
That's all for now. Livestrong.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Staying motivated...
This morning I did a pretty lousy run. Yesterday was even worse. I didn't even complete my run yesterday. I was barely a kilo into my run when my stomach started giving me problem. The desperate kind. So I had to turn around, make a 500m dash towards my house & barely made it. Once I was done, the mood to continue was gone. So I did some weights. But I was pretty much puzzled, I didn't ate anything irregular that morning. In fact, I didn't eat anything at all, as usual. I only had my normal, chocolate HL milk, that's all. Hmm...
This morning I got up early, 6.10 am, but went out at 7.00 anyway. I planned to do around 12-15K, but ended up with just 9K. I felt like my fitness, more specifically, endurance, wasn't up to the mark. Well, this morning was actually my 1st run since Malakoff last week. I didn't actually felt tired or anything, my pace was okay, pretty much maintained 6:00/km thruout.
Maybe it was my schedule. U see, ever since I started running again after my crash, I've pretty much followed this pattern :
Monday : Rest
Tuesday : Intervals
Wednesday : Weights
Thursday : Tempo
Friday : Rest/Steady run
Saturday : Weights
Sunday : Race/Long run
But then, about a month ago I changed my protein supplement from ON 100% Whey to Muscletech Nitrotech Hardcore. & the result was awesome. I mean, I took ON for almost half a year, but the result was minimal. This Nitrotech, after a month I can see the result already, my body sculpting like never before. I guess I started taking it at just the right moment, during the overload phase of my weight training. So the result was much faster. & I guess I began to do more weights & less running. Plus, after I learned that I wasn't gonna run Malakoff, I've pretty much scaled down my running. My routine became this :
Monday : Weights
Tuesday : Rest
Wednesday : Weights
Thursday : Rest
Friday : Tempo run
Saturday : Weights
Sunday : Long run
I guess, I've gotta make a choice. It's either running or weights. It can't be both. I mean, by running, I lose more weight than if I just lift weights. I've pretty much stayed at 83-84kg, but with less body fat. & I've put on more lean muscle. That's good. But tht's not gonna help much with my running. I can only lift twice a week. & I can lift on Saturday now, that I've sufficient equipment in my home.
Next year, insya Allah, I'ma start running half marathons. I hope I can do my 1st half mara during the Putrajaya Night Marathon in February. I've got about a month to train. We'll see what happens.
Livestrong.
This morning I got up early, 6.10 am, but went out at 7.00 anyway. I planned to do around 12-15K, but ended up with just 9K. I felt like my fitness, more specifically, endurance, wasn't up to the mark. Well, this morning was actually my 1st run since Malakoff last week. I didn't actually felt tired or anything, my pace was okay, pretty much maintained 6:00/km thruout.
Maybe it was my schedule. U see, ever since I started running again after my crash, I've pretty much followed this pattern :
Monday : Rest
Tuesday : Intervals
Wednesday : Weights
Thursday : Tempo
Friday : Rest/Steady run
Saturday : Weights
Sunday : Race/Long run
But then, about a month ago I changed my protein supplement from ON 100% Whey to Muscletech Nitrotech Hardcore. & the result was awesome. I mean, I took ON for almost half a year, but the result was minimal. This Nitrotech, after a month I can see the result already, my body sculpting like never before. I guess I started taking it at just the right moment, during the overload phase of my weight training. So the result was much faster. & I guess I began to do more weights & less running. Plus, after I learned that I wasn't gonna run Malakoff, I've pretty much scaled down my running. My routine became this :
Monday : Weights
Tuesday : Rest
Wednesday : Weights
Thursday : Rest
Friday : Tempo run
Saturday : Weights
Sunday : Long run
I guess, I've gotta make a choice. It's either running or weights. It can't be both. I mean, by running, I lose more weight than if I just lift weights. I've pretty much stayed at 83-84kg, but with less body fat. & I've put on more lean muscle. That's good. But tht's not gonna help much with my running. I can only lift twice a week. & I can lift on Saturday now, that I've sufficient equipment in my home.
Next year, insya Allah, I'ma start running half marathons. I hope I can do my 1st half mara during the Putrajaya Night Marathon in February. I've got about a month to train. We'll see what happens.
Livestrong.
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
To get in the mood...
Actually, the reason I'm writing is to get into the mood into writing an important meeting's minute... which needs to be out by tomorrow. Cheh... alasan...
My new phone..
I finally kenot tahan edi with my Jet & after careful (yeah, right) consideration of my bank balance, etc, I went to Lowyat again to have it changed with another model, the one I was supposed to get in the 1st place. I knew I had to do it quick so that I won't lose too much in 2nd hand value. & just to justify my purchase, I brought my wifey along to witness the exchange. So, after 3 weeks with Jet, I switched to Omnia II. I had to fork out extra RM900 bucks for it, but I guess it was worth it. I get to do everything with the Omnia now, although I'm still trying to get used to using Windows Mobile 6.1. Wifey was silent throughout the ordeal, I guess she didn't really liked the idea, but ... she knew what would happen if I'd waited longer. I lost RM200 in the trade-in deal.
Cramps..
About 2 weeks ago, I suffered from a pretty severe cramps during my attempt to beat my personal best in my 6K course (well, 5.5 actually). With about a kilometer to go, I began to feel slight pulls in my right calf, but I kept on pressing, becoz I was on course to beating my PB. But then at about 500m, my right calf stopped working & I had to stop running abruptly. & I couldn't run anymore. I even had trouble walking. So, that's cost me a week's training, as I tried to hasten the recovery process by strapping my icepack on it twice daily. After a week's rest, I finally did a 9K tempo run without problem.
But then, during the Malakoff 12K, my last race of the year in Mont Kiara, my left calf acted up on me again. At KM5, just before the 2nd water station, I felt a slight pull in my left calf. I thought that my race was over. The killer climbs (3 of them) throughout the course didn't help much. So I stopped at the water station, drink some water & did some stretching on my left calf. Fortunately I was able to finish the race, but not at the pace I wanted to, as I had to be cautious not to push too hard. Otherwise I would never have finished the race.
I was beginning to think that I'm lacking something, becoz I've never experienced this kinda muscle cramps before. However, I was pretty happy with my run at Malakoff, which was good under that circumstances. That was my last race of the year, for the last 2 weeks of 2009 I'ma do some steady long runs. & hopefully I'll be able to do my 1st half marathon during the Putrajaya Night Marathon in Feb 6th 2010. Also, my 1st race for 2010 will most proly be the Pacesetters 30K, I'ma run the 10K, if I can get myself registered on time.
Livestrong.
My new phone..
I finally kenot tahan edi with my Jet & after careful (yeah, right) consideration of my bank balance, etc, I went to Lowyat again to have it changed with another model, the one I was supposed to get in the 1st place. I knew I had to do it quick so that I won't lose too much in 2nd hand value. & just to justify my purchase, I brought my wifey along to witness the exchange. So, after 3 weeks with Jet, I switched to Omnia II. I had to fork out extra RM900 bucks for it, but I guess it was worth it. I get to do everything with the Omnia now, although I'm still trying to get used to using Windows Mobile 6.1. Wifey was silent throughout the ordeal, I guess she didn't really liked the idea, but ... she knew what would happen if I'd waited longer. I lost RM200 in the trade-in deal.
Cramps..
About 2 weeks ago, I suffered from a pretty severe cramps during my attempt to beat my personal best in my 6K course (well, 5.5 actually). With about a kilometer to go, I began to feel slight pulls in my right calf, but I kept on pressing, becoz I was on course to beating my PB. But then at about 500m, my right calf stopped working & I had to stop running abruptly. & I couldn't run anymore. I even had trouble walking. So, that's cost me a week's training, as I tried to hasten the recovery process by strapping my icepack on it twice daily. After a week's rest, I finally did a 9K tempo run without problem.
But then, during the Malakoff 12K, my last race of the year in Mont Kiara, my left calf acted up on me again. At KM5, just before the 2nd water station, I felt a slight pull in my left calf. I thought that my race was over. The killer climbs (3 of them) throughout the course didn't help much. So I stopped at the water station, drink some water & did some stretching on my left calf. Fortunately I was able to finish the race, but not at the pace I wanted to, as I had to be cautious not to push too hard. Otherwise I would never have finished the race.
I was beginning to think that I'm lacking something, becoz I've never experienced this kinda muscle cramps before. However, I was pretty happy with my run at Malakoff, which was good under that circumstances. That was my last race of the year, for the last 2 weeks of 2009 I'ma do some steady long runs. & hopefully I'll be able to do my 1st half marathon during the Putrajaya Night Marathon in Feb 6th 2010. Also, my 1st race for 2010 will most proly be the Pacesetters 30K, I'ma run the 10K, if I can get myself registered on time.
Livestrong.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Turning point in life....
My wifey & I are gonna make some major changes in our life in the next 30 days, changes that can be considered life changing or life altering. We're both very excited & anxious to get on with it, but we're also very cautious with the changes we're gonna make, so that we dun make the wrong decision/choice.
My wife has sent her resignation letter to her current workplace, the place where she's served for almost 5 years. We've decided that as long that she stays there, it's gonna be very difficult to make a move & to look for a new job. & now that I've got some money in reserve, I figured that the time is right. I've also told her that I feel that her current job is turning her self-esteem into an all-time low. That she needs a real job to boost her confidence once again. To do that, we've got to take some risks. & to leave a workplace of 5 years is no easy feat. Especially in this currently very challenging job market.
We've also decided to try the other method of getting a baby of our own. We've been trying the current method for almost 6 months already, well, 4 months if U count out my accident sick leave. So, next week we're gonna get a review by our specialist, & move on to try the other method. Hopefully, this time it'll work.
We're gonna move out of Serendah, finally. We've been staying here since 2003, so this is gonna be a major relocation. It's quite sad, leaving Serendah. But we've gotta move on. & see what's in store for us in the new place. Hopefully with the new environment, new neighbourhood, new surroundings, we'll be able to kickstart a new beginning in our lives.
Good luck.
My wife has sent her resignation letter to her current workplace, the place where she's served for almost 5 years. We've decided that as long that she stays there, it's gonna be very difficult to make a move & to look for a new job. & now that I've got some money in reserve, I figured that the time is right. I've also told her that I feel that her current job is turning her self-esteem into an all-time low. That she needs a real job to boost her confidence once again. To do that, we've got to take some risks. & to leave a workplace of 5 years is no easy feat. Especially in this currently very challenging job market.
We've also decided to try the other method of getting a baby of our own. We've been trying the current method for almost 6 months already, well, 4 months if U count out my accident sick leave. So, next week we're gonna get a review by our specialist, & move on to try the other method. Hopefully, this time it'll work.
We're gonna move out of Serendah, finally. We've been staying here since 2003, so this is gonna be a major relocation. It's quite sad, leaving Serendah. But we've gotta move on. & see what's in store for us in the new place. Hopefully with the new environment, new neighbourhood, new surroundings, we'll be able to kickstart a new beginning in our lives.
Good luck.
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Spending Spree !!!
Over the last month, I've been on a spending spree. After almost 6 months of tight budgets & festive season & what not, the past month I've been buying almost everything on my wish list. Here are some of the best purchases I've made in the past month :
Samsung Jet & Sony Ericsson C901
It's high time for a new handphone for me. & I've been eyeing some of the latest touchscreen phones in the market. My mind was split : A fancy touch phone with the best camera & the best multimedia functionality & the fastest processor in the market; or a mediocre phone with Windows Mobile that has all the organizer function of my current phone (SE P1i) & then some. My choice was the latter, so I purchased the Samsung Jet. I'm still getting used to it, the multimedia & camera functions are among the best in the market today. But sad to say, its organizer capability is less than even my Se P1i. It can only keep 200 appointments & even to set appointments, I'm restricted to 15 characters only. Makes me wonder why it has almost 2GB onboard memory plus 8GB on the memory card I bought.
The SE C901 was for my wifey. She likes to take photos, so I figured a camera phone would be best for her. She's loving it & she's been snapping away ever since she got it. She's happy & I'm happy too.
Casio Edifice EF527BK Pilot's Watch
This was my first ever bracelet watch & the first watch in almost ten years that isn't TIMEX for me. It's black & it's got the Navitimer function like the more fancied Breitling watches. & I got it for RM350 cheaper than retail. The only function it's lacking is the backlight.
SYM VTS200 maxi scooter
I've said to myself that I wouldn't buy another scooter after that bad experience with my Yamaha Ego. But that was before I saw VTS200 (or GTS200) in action. This bike can give U the experience of riding a tourer without actually having to buy a tourer. It can go up to 140km/h standard & with some tuning & performance parts it can get up to 150km/h. With this bike I can go out from my home to work at 7:30 am & still make it on time. After my bike crash less than 6 months ago, ppl think I'm crazy buying this bike. I am.
Oakley Monster Dog Ducati
A biker needs a biker's shades. After learning that I can get it almost RM500 cheaper than retail, I knew I just had to have it.
Adidas Adizero Ace
I've been searching for a new racer for the upcoming season. & ever since the last Mega Sale, I've been eyeing these Adidas shoes. After searching 3 shopping malls, I finally settled for the Adizero Ace, my first non-Mizuno racing shoe in a year & I bought it without any discounts. It felt so fast & light the first time I wore it I was on course to breaking my 5K course record. The Torsion Plate really help & I can really felt it working, like a spring helping me on the toe-off phase. & the worst thing was that I got muscle pulls from going too fast on a new shoes, & that I've to rest for at least a week before I can run in it again.
Samsung Jet & Sony Ericsson C901
It's high time for a new handphone for me. & I've been eyeing some of the latest touchscreen phones in the market. My mind was split : A fancy touch phone with the best camera & the best multimedia functionality & the fastest processor in the market; or a mediocre phone with Windows Mobile that has all the organizer function of my current phone (SE P1i) & then some. My choice was the latter, so I purchased the Samsung Jet. I'm still getting used to it, the multimedia & camera functions are among the best in the market today. But sad to say, its organizer capability is less than even my Se P1i. It can only keep 200 appointments & even to set appointments, I'm restricted to 15 characters only. Makes me wonder why it has almost 2GB onboard memory plus 8GB on the memory card I bought.
The SE C901 was for my wifey. She likes to take photos, so I figured a camera phone would be best for her. She's loving it & she's been snapping away ever since she got it. She's happy & I'm happy too.
Casio Edifice EF527BK Pilot's Watch
This was my first ever bracelet watch & the first watch in almost ten years that isn't TIMEX for me. It's black & it's got the Navitimer function like the more fancied Breitling watches. & I got it for RM350 cheaper than retail. The only function it's lacking is the backlight.
SYM VTS200 maxi scooter
I've said to myself that I wouldn't buy another scooter after that bad experience with my Yamaha Ego. But that was before I saw VTS200 (or GTS200) in action. This bike can give U the experience of riding a tourer without actually having to buy a tourer. It can go up to 140km/h standard & with some tuning & performance parts it can get up to 150km/h. With this bike I can go out from my home to work at 7:30 am & still make it on time. After my bike crash less than 6 months ago, ppl think I'm crazy buying this bike. I am.
Oakley Monster Dog Ducati
A biker needs a biker's shades. After learning that I can get it almost RM500 cheaper than retail, I knew I just had to have it.
Adidas Adizero Ace
I've been searching for a new racer for the upcoming season. & ever since the last Mega Sale, I've been eyeing these Adidas shoes. After searching 3 shopping malls, I finally settled for the Adizero Ace, my first non-Mizuno racing shoe in a year & I bought it without any discounts. It felt so fast & light the first time I wore it I was on course to breaking my 5K course record. The Torsion Plate really help & I can really felt it working, like a spring helping me on the toe-off phase. & the worst thing was that I got muscle pulls from going too fast on a new shoes, & that I've to rest for at least a week before I can run in it again.
Monday, November 16, 2009
A trip down memory lane
On Sunday I did the Klang Pacers NB 12K race, my second race in Klang this year, my 3rd race in 4 weeks as I gradually run into form. Why was the race a trip down memory lane ? See, I grew up in Klang, I spent 17 years growing up in Klang, my childhood & teenage years were spent in the royal town. Upon seeing the race route, I knew this race would be special. My wife & I left home earlier than usual, we had to travel almost 50km before getting to the starting point, Padang Sultan Sulaiman, formerly known as Stadium Kota Raja.
So much have changed in Klang, the roads have changed, the town has become more crowded than it was when I left it 15 years ago. But once I entered Jalan Tengku Kelana, or better known as Little India, the town became familiar again. Perhaps this is the part of Klang that changed very little. The stadium itself was very much similar to the place I once roamed with my bicycle. With a few improvements of course, but the basic structure is very much the same.
Once the gun went off, we went through Jalan Istana, then straight into Persiaran Tengku Ampuan Rahimah. Back in those days, I cycled to school, SM Methodist ACS, using that very road. Then we went into Taman Sri Andalas, where I once lived. My family still own the house there, where I spent 6 years of my childhood. In fact, I spent more time trying to reminisce those good old days, more so than focusing on the run itself. Maybe that was why I didn't really feel tired, although 12K is actually my farthest race distance for this year.
Back to the race, my pace was just slightly faster than Mizuno Wave Run, where I ran 1:08 for 11K. I was toying around, tried some accelerations, trying to put my interval training into practice. It worked, I must say.
Once I get back to the stadium 1 hr & 14 minutes later, my legs felt like I can still go on for another 5K. I guess I'll be able to run all day long, as long as it's in Klang.
So much have changed in Klang, the roads have changed, the town has become more crowded than it was when I left it 15 years ago. But once I entered Jalan Tengku Kelana, or better known as Little India, the town became familiar again. Perhaps this is the part of Klang that changed very little. The stadium itself was very much similar to the place I once roamed with my bicycle. With a few improvements of course, but the basic structure is very much the same.
Once the gun went off, we went through Jalan Istana, then straight into Persiaran Tengku Ampuan Rahimah. Back in those days, I cycled to school, SM Methodist ACS, using that very road. Then we went into Taman Sri Andalas, where I once lived. My family still own the house there, where I spent 6 years of my childhood. In fact, I spent more time trying to reminisce those good old days, more so than focusing on the run itself. Maybe that was why I didn't really feel tired, although 12K is actually my farthest race distance for this year.
Back to the race, my pace was just slightly faster than Mizuno Wave Run, where I ran 1:08 for 11K. I was toying around, tried some accelerations, trying to put my interval training into practice. It worked, I must say.
Once I get back to the stadium 1 hr & 14 minutes later, my legs felt like I can still go on for another 5K. I guess I'll be able to run all day long, as long as it's in Klang.
Monday, October 26, 2009
The comeback !!!
The day before
On Saturday I did my pre-race tune-up by going for an easy run in the morning. But I was quite disturbed by the fact that my Polar OwnZone was very low, at 97-127 bpm. On my normal training days this would be between 110-140 bpm. Polar OwnZone is a unique feature of the Polar HRMs, Ur HRM will help U determine Ur optimal training zone in the 1st 3-5 mins of Ur training. I think this is a very good feature. Ppl usually train in a designated & widely accepted training zones, ranging from 50-60% of Ur max, to 100% effort. But these numbers will be fixed, based on Ur max heart rate, unless U have the time to do the max heart rate test every month. OwnZone will be based on how Ur conditions on that particular session. So if U're tired or fatigued, U will have a lower training zone.
So off I went for a 4 km easy run that took me about 30 mins. I just wanna see if any of my injuries are still there, & I did some accelerations, controlled ones. I was satisfied that I managed to run pain-free again.
After the run, I went to UPM to collect my race pack. I had to accept an L-sized vest, although I'd put XL as my vest size when submitting the entrance form. Then I bought some PowerGels, I want to start training for half marathon early December, so that means I need some feeding while running. I've never taken (or needed) these before, so it'd be interesting to see the effect.
Once I'm done at UPM, I went to The Gardens, to the Mizuno store. I've decided to buy a track spike. I'ma run in the 10,000m event in the Pesta Sukan Kementerian Kewangan next week. In July I ran the 10,000 without spikes. But now that I guess I'ma take my running up a notch, I guess having a track spike won't hurt. I can use it for my intervals & speedwork. Meaning I will spend at least a day every week on the track.
I've had my eyes on Mizuno Tempo LD spikes for quite sometime now. It's designed for long distance track events up to 10,000m, which is the longest track event anyway. I had to take the biggest size that was available at the store, US11. It was really comfy, fits snugly, & has a very low profile. I can't wait to test the spikes on Tuesday.
Mizuno Wave Run 2009
On Sunday I went for my first race in 3 months. I dun have high hopes for this race, just want to finish it & if possible finish within the medals, which is for the top 500 runners. There were 4200 runners in this year's race, the biggest ever according to the organizer.
I'd prepare for this race the best way I can. I had some problems with my tibialis posterior for a couple of weeks before the race, fortunately it was gone. All in all, I had less than a month of solid prep for this race, I had less than 100km in my legs, so I was preparing for the worse. I met a couple of my batchmates, so that was good.
I knew the course would be hilly, rolling hills. & to make it back to the stadium U have to climb a long, steep hill. I was okay in the 1st 10-15 mins, I had some prob with my Polar, it gave me inconsistent pace readings. But after awhile it was okay. I couldn't really push, I didn't have the speed. So I tried to maintain a pace below 6min/km. When I got to the finish my time was 1:08, my worst time this year. & I was given a beige card, to collect the goodie bag. I knew I'd finished out of the medals, again my first this year. My average pace for the entire 11K was 6:10.
But I tried to take things positively. When I had trouble cresting the 1st two climbs, I knew I had to take the race just as a prep for my track racing in the coming week. I knew that if I pushed myself too hard, I would take a longer time to recover & I'd have probs in the track next week. I hope I won't have too much prob in the track. & I can't wait to try my new Mizuno Tempo LD tomorrow. I'll have my review on the spikes by Wednesday, insya Allah.
Good luck, Livestrong.
On Saturday I did my pre-race tune-up by going for an easy run in the morning. But I was quite disturbed by the fact that my Polar OwnZone was very low, at 97-127 bpm. On my normal training days this would be between 110-140 bpm. Polar OwnZone is a unique feature of the Polar HRMs, Ur HRM will help U determine Ur optimal training zone in the 1st 3-5 mins of Ur training. I think this is a very good feature. Ppl usually train in a designated & widely accepted training zones, ranging from 50-60% of Ur max, to 100% effort. But these numbers will be fixed, based on Ur max heart rate, unless U have the time to do the max heart rate test every month. OwnZone will be based on how Ur conditions on that particular session. So if U're tired or fatigued, U will have a lower training zone.
So off I went for a 4 km easy run that took me about 30 mins. I just wanna see if any of my injuries are still there, & I did some accelerations, controlled ones. I was satisfied that I managed to run pain-free again.
After the run, I went to UPM to collect my race pack. I had to accept an L-sized vest, although I'd put XL as my vest size when submitting the entrance form. Then I bought some PowerGels, I want to start training for half marathon early December, so that means I need some feeding while running. I've never taken (or needed) these before, so it'd be interesting to see the effect.
Once I'm done at UPM, I went to The Gardens, to the Mizuno store. I've decided to buy a track spike. I'ma run in the 10,000m event in the Pesta Sukan Kementerian Kewangan next week. In July I ran the 10,000 without spikes. But now that I guess I'ma take my running up a notch, I guess having a track spike won't hurt. I can use it for my intervals & speedwork. Meaning I will spend at least a day every week on the track.
I've had my eyes on Mizuno Tempo LD spikes for quite sometime now. It's designed for long distance track events up to 10,000m, which is the longest track event anyway. I had to take the biggest size that was available at the store, US11. It was really comfy, fits snugly, & has a very low profile. I can't wait to test the spikes on Tuesday.
Mizuno Wave Run 2009
On Sunday I went for my first race in 3 months. I dun have high hopes for this race, just want to finish it & if possible finish within the medals, which is for the top 500 runners. There were 4200 runners in this year's race, the biggest ever according to the organizer.
I'd prepare for this race the best way I can. I had some problems with my tibialis posterior for a couple of weeks before the race, fortunately it was gone. All in all, I had less than a month of solid prep for this race, I had less than 100km in my legs, so I was preparing for the worse. I met a couple of my batchmates, so that was good.
I knew the course would be hilly, rolling hills. & to make it back to the stadium U have to climb a long, steep hill. I was okay in the 1st 10-15 mins, I had some prob with my Polar, it gave me inconsistent pace readings. But after awhile it was okay. I couldn't really push, I didn't have the speed. So I tried to maintain a pace below 6min/km. When I got to the finish my time was 1:08, my worst time this year. & I was given a beige card, to collect the goodie bag. I knew I'd finished out of the medals, again my first this year. My average pace for the entire 11K was 6:10.
But I tried to take things positively. When I had trouble cresting the 1st two climbs, I knew I had to take the race just as a prep for my track racing in the coming week. I knew that if I pushed myself too hard, I would take a longer time to recover & I'd have probs in the track next week. I hope I won't have too much prob in the track. & I can't wait to try my new Mizuno Tempo LD tomorrow. I'll have my review on the spikes by Wednesday, insya Allah.
Good luck, Livestrong.
Monday, October 19, 2009
The end of Syawal
Today actually is the last day of Syawal, or bulan raya in the Islamic calendar. & last weekend was the final weekend for anybody, including us, to have their raya open house. Well, U can actually have Ur open house any day, but then it won't be called raya open house la.
Raya Open House
This year we could only invite our closest family to our house for makan-makan. Nevertheless, once everything's been prepared, the food I mean, we realized that we had more than enuff food for at least 4-5 more families. But then, rice have become porridge, so my wife's siblings had a lot to take home. We had simple, East Coast dishes like nasi dagang & kuzi as our main dish, then we had nasi himpit, kuah kacang & rendang. My wife also baked something she's getting really good at, the chocolate moist cake. It's so good ppl dun believe we didn't get it from some bakery. I'm really proud of that.
By 4 pm all my in-laws (that lives in KL) is in our house already, except for my brother-in-law. By 9.30 everybody went home & we did the cleaning up. My wife was so tired, pity her & I did everything I could to help of course.
Missing training...
I've been having trouble with my legs for the the past couple of weeks already. Last week I had 3 straight training sessions, the final one was the hill workout on the treadmill (coz I'd forgot to bring my contact lenses). Even when running on the treadmill's suspended platform, I was feeling a bit of pain in my legs. This makes me feel really worried & uneasy. I have my comeback race this weekend & the Pesta Sukan MOF the week after that. I've been treating it with ice, like twice a day. I dunno if I could've done anything more. Maybe take a rest. I'd plan to take Saturday off, & do a long run on Sunday morning.
But the heavens opened up early on Sunday, around 4.30 am & it didn't go away. So I took another day off. Now I've to change my whole schedule for this week. I'ma run every other day, to prepare for Sunday, & then I'ma see how I feel.
Even with all the food & no training in the weekend, I'm quite pleased that I managed to bring down my weight to low 83s.
Pesta Sukan MOF
I found out from Hisham (the manager for athletics) that last year's winner for 10K ran a 37 min race. The 3rd place was running 45 min. With my best time is barely breaking the hour, I'm in for a tough time next week. Nevertheless, it's more to how my legs would feel, coz if I'm injured, then all the chances of running faster, regardless of my fitness condition currently is gone. But then again, I'm up for the challenge. Maybe I can better my time from last July's 59 mins.
Raya Open House
This year we could only invite our closest family to our house for makan-makan. Nevertheless, once everything's been prepared, the food I mean, we realized that we had more than enuff food for at least 4-5 more families. But then, rice have become porridge, so my wife's siblings had a lot to take home. We had simple, East Coast dishes like nasi dagang & kuzi as our main dish, then we had nasi himpit, kuah kacang & rendang. My wife also baked something she's getting really good at, the chocolate moist cake. It's so good ppl dun believe we didn't get it from some bakery. I'm really proud of that.
By 4 pm all my in-laws (that lives in KL) is in our house already, except for my brother-in-law. By 9.30 everybody went home & we did the cleaning up. My wife was so tired, pity her & I did everything I could to help of course.
Missing training...
I've been having trouble with my legs for the the past couple of weeks already. Last week I had 3 straight training sessions, the final one was the hill workout on the treadmill (coz I'd forgot to bring my contact lenses). Even when running on the treadmill's suspended platform, I was feeling a bit of pain in my legs. This makes me feel really worried & uneasy. I have my comeback race this weekend & the Pesta Sukan MOF the week after that. I've been treating it with ice, like twice a day. I dunno if I could've done anything more. Maybe take a rest. I'd plan to take Saturday off, & do a long run on Sunday morning.
But the heavens opened up early on Sunday, around 4.30 am & it didn't go away. So I took another day off. Now I've to change my whole schedule for this week. I'ma run every other day, to prepare for Sunday, & then I'ma see how I feel.
Even with all the food & no training in the weekend, I'm quite pleased that I managed to bring down my weight to low 83s.
Pesta Sukan MOF
I found out from Hisham (the manager for athletics) that last year's winner for 10K ran a 37 min race. The 3rd place was running 45 min. With my best time is barely breaking the hour, I'm in for a tough time next week. Nevertheless, it's more to how my legs would feel, coz if I'm injured, then all the chances of running faster, regardless of my fitness condition currently is gone. But then again, I'm up for the challenge. Maybe I can better my time from last July's 59 mins.
Monday, October 12, 2009
My new toy !!!
Last Friday, I've acquired a new toy to replace my old one. The fact that I went through very heavy rain on my bike just to meet the seller speaks volume about my enthusiasm.
Problem with my old toy
What did I get myself ? It was a new heart rate monitor, or running computer. Actually, I've been using Timex's Fitness HRM since January, & at that time, I felt like all the information I get from the device was adequate to what I wanted to do. But as I did more & more races & I got more serious in my training, I found myself wanting for more. It was made worse when I replaced the battery on the Timex transmitter (the device U strap on Ur chest to get heart rate reading) it started to give erratic readings. It was fine at first, but after 2-3 weeks it started malfunctioning. Heart rate readings takes a good 10 mins to appear on the wrist unit, heart rate readings jump from 70+ to 100+ in one go. The problem was that, if the heart rate readings is not accurate, the calorie consumption reading will also become inaccurate. So, after a while, I got fed up & decided to purchase the Polar RS300x SD.
Polar RS300x SD
I'm no stranger to Polar products, having used the Polar Edge in 1994 for my cycling training rides. Polar Edge was a very basic HRM (Heart rate monitor), it can give U heart rate reading, U can set upper & lower limits, it can give U visual & audible alarms if U exceed Ur limits, time spent within the specified limits & that's all. In 1994 it cost me RM450. Back then, the more advanced model was Polar Accurex II, & Vantage XL. The thing was that, back then, sports science in Malaysia was still in its infancy. Members of the Commonwealth Games 1998 squad were each supplied with Polar Accurex II, but none of them used the HRM for more than displaying current heart rate.
My Polar RS300x SD can do much more than that. With the supplied S1 Footpod, it can give U distance readings, plus speed & pace. The wrist unit itself is much more streamlined than my Timex. & the amount of data I can collect from a single training is just overwhelming. With my Timex U can set all 5 training zones by entering Ur max heart rate & it can calculate time spent in the particular training zone U've set for Ur workout. With the RS300x, it has this feature called Polar's OwnZone, which calculates Ur aerobic training zone, within the 1st 3 mins of Ur workout. It makes sense actually, becoz on that particular day, U might be feeling a bit tired & unable to train in Ur normal aerobic zone. & it can still set Ur 5 training zones, called Polar's Sports Zone. & it can calculate time spent below, within & above Ur OwnZone and each of Ur SportsZone. U can get calorie consumption reading, distance, speed, pace, U can set the device to capture auto split time based on distance or time. Man, I can go on & on all day.
There's not much to dislike with this device. One of them is the stopwatch is only up to 1/10th of a second, which is quite amusing considering most sportswatch nowadays can read up to 1/100th of a second. & some of the features I missed from my Timex is the countdown timer & recovery timer.
Hmm... I gotta go. Will continue later.
Problem with my old toy
What did I get myself ? It was a new heart rate monitor, or running computer. Actually, I've been using Timex's Fitness HRM since January, & at that time, I felt like all the information I get from the device was adequate to what I wanted to do. But as I did more & more races & I got more serious in my training, I found myself wanting for more. It was made worse when I replaced the battery on the Timex transmitter (the device U strap on Ur chest to get heart rate reading) it started to give erratic readings. It was fine at first, but after 2-3 weeks it started malfunctioning. Heart rate readings takes a good 10 mins to appear on the wrist unit, heart rate readings jump from 70+ to 100+ in one go. The problem was that, if the heart rate readings is not accurate, the calorie consumption reading will also become inaccurate. So, after a while, I got fed up & decided to purchase the Polar RS300x SD.
Polar RS300x SD
I'm no stranger to Polar products, having used the Polar Edge in 1994 for my cycling training rides. Polar Edge was a very basic HRM (Heart rate monitor), it can give U heart rate reading, U can set upper & lower limits, it can give U visual & audible alarms if U exceed Ur limits, time spent within the specified limits & that's all. In 1994 it cost me RM450. Back then, the more advanced model was Polar Accurex II, & Vantage XL. The thing was that, back then, sports science in Malaysia was still in its infancy. Members of the Commonwealth Games 1998 squad were each supplied with Polar Accurex II, but none of them used the HRM for more than displaying current heart rate.
My Polar RS300x SD can do much more than that. With the supplied S1 Footpod, it can give U distance readings, plus speed & pace. The wrist unit itself is much more streamlined than my Timex. & the amount of data I can collect from a single training is just overwhelming. With my Timex U can set all 5 training zones by entering Ur max heart rate & it can calculate time spent in the particular training zone U've set for Ur workout. With the RS300x, it has this feature called Polar's OwnZone, which calculates Ur aerobic training zone, within the 1st 3 mins of Ur workout. It makes sense actually, becoz on that particular day, U might be feeling a bit tired & unable to train in Ur normal aerobic zone. & it can still set Ur 5 training zones, called Polar's Sports Zone. & it can calculate time spent below, within & above Ur OwnZone and each of Ur SportsZone. U can get calorie consumption reading, distance, speed, pace, U can set the device to capture auto split time based on distance or time. Man, I can go on & on all day.
There's not much to dislike with this device. One of them is the stopwatch is only up to 1/10th of a second, which is quite amusing considering most sportswatch nowadays can read up to 1/100th of a second. & some of the features I missed from my Timex is the countdown timer & recovery timer.
Hmm... I gotta go. Will continue later.
Sunday, October 4, 2009
Eventful weekend...
1st week at work
My first week at work was pretty much uneventful. There was nothing much to do, & I'm trying to get back to my working mode. With my usual MPTP still more than a month away, I won't have anything to rush for this month. Well, there's the Mesyuarat Penyelarasan Sabah & Sarawak that's gonna be on the 15th. But we're going on the 13th & will come back via Labuan on the 16th, becoz we had to go with our Seksyen Kewangan colleagues for some site visits. I've never been to Labuan, so this shud be interesting. Plus, this is gonna be my first outstation meeting without Dea around, so I've to do most things that she's been doing all this while. Maybe becoz now that I've got a boss, so my big boss decided that she dun have to come along for this one.
I've said to myself all along that this is gonna be my final year in PSM. I've been here for a little over 3 years & I felt like I've overstayed my welcome. I've done pretty much everything I could at my very best & I felt like I've dedicated this whole 3 years to my work in PSM. Of course some things happened, I've had my ups & downs, my moments of weakness. & I really think it's time to move on. But I'd like to stay in MOF, at least for another couple of years. so the only available option is to move to other departments. I've had this one dept in my radar for quite sometime now, & I believe I can ask to be transferred there as early as mid next year. I've made a deal with one of my batch mates, so I hope the deal's still on. It's a big risk, but I need to move on next year. I need to move outta PSM before 2011.
Saturday's training run
I've decided to do my long training run on Saturday, becoz on Sunday we're gonna go to Melaka with my family. I've done a pretty good 5K run on Friday, good in the sense of how I felt, my leg was very cooperative, so I felt good.
But the run on Saturday morning was disastrous. I decided to do the short 4K flat section 1st & on my way back, my tibialis posterior was hurting so much I had to walk home. I had to cut my run short & I was really in pain in both legs. I wondered if I haven't really recovered from Friday's run. But maybe it was the shoes. I had a different shoe for my runs in the office, at home I'll use my race shoe. But I reckon that my race shoe (Mizuno Wave Aero) had better cushioning than my other shoe (Mizuno Crusader 2). I dunno. I iced my legs immediately & continued with some weight training. I hope it won't take too long to heal. I'd reckon that I'm a little heavier now, at 85-86 kg, so that will contribute some to my injury.
Open house
I went to a couple of open house with my wife on Saturday. Apparently, so did a couple of million other ppl, as there were traffic jam everywhere we went. One of the open house, our last stop in fact, was at my old friend/neighbor's house, Along. We haven't met for quite sometime, despite the fact that we used to be neighbors for 6 years & we used to be a material during our schooldays. It was my first time to his house, & his parents was also there. It was great. We talked about old times, & Along's dad, I call him Pak Haji, told everybody at the house that he's always saw me as one of his own. Well, he used to send me to school, & of course I'm good friends with all his 3 sons. Along is pretty successful nowadays, living in the posh USJ20 neighborhood. We used to go to tuition for SRP together back in 1991. & one day, both of our bike, locked together, was stolen. We used to ride together to school, to tuition... & finally I went serious in the sport of cycling, while Along wasn't interested.
We went a long way.. One of the reasons I got distanced from him was when he broke his engagement with his long time girlfriend, Mas, my best friend. Along went for another girl, currently his wife. Well, that's pretty much water under the bridge. I dunno if Along & Mas is still in contact, but I've stayed in contact with both of them, although I haven't seen Mas in a looooong time, ever since she got married.
How I wished I could return to those days...
Melaka trip
We went to Melaka on Sunday, to visit one of my aunt, Cik Ana. She was the one who took care of me when I was very little. But then she got married against the wishes of my Embah & so she was pretty much isolated in Melaka. But that was then. I've always visited her & now that she's become very sick with Parkinson's, I've visited her more often. Her conditions are very bad & she was very happy that we came. My mom couldn't stop crying. Her conditions are so bad that the chair she was sitting down on, shook along with her. I just dunno what to do other than offer words of comfort & encouragement. Of course, I helped her in whatever ways I can. & I'd go visit her whenever I'm in the vicinity.
My first week at work was pretty much uneventful. There was nothing much to do, & I'm trying to get back to my working mode. With my usual MPTP still more than a month away, I won't have anything to rush for this month. Well, there's the Mesyuarat Penyelarasan Sabah & Sarawak that's gonna be on the 15th. But we're going on the 13th & will come back via Labuan on the 16th, becoz we had to go with our Seksyen Kewangan colleagues for some site visits. I've never been to Labuan, so this shud be interesting. Plus, this is gonna be my first outstation meeting without Dea around, so I've to do most things that she's been doing all this while. Maybe becoz now that I've got a boss, so my big boss decided that she dun have to come along for this one.
I've said to myself all along that this is gonna be my final year in PSM. I've been here for a little over 3 years & I felt like I've overstayed my welcome. I've done pretty much everything I could at my very best & I felt like I've dedicated this whole 3 years to my work in PSM. Of course some things happened, I've had my ups & downs, my moments of weakness. & I really think it's time to move on. But I'd like to stay in MOF, at least for another couple of years. so the only available option is to move to other departments. I've had this one dept in my radar for quite sometime now, & I believe I can ask to be transferred there as early as mid next year. I've made a deal with one of my batch mates, so I hope the deal's still on. It's a big risk, but I need to move on next year. I need to move outta PSM before 2011.
Saturday's training run
I've decided to do my long training run on Saturday, becoz on Sunday we're gonna go to Melaka with my family. I've done a pretty good 5K run on Friday, good in the sense of how I felt, my leg was very cooperative, so I felt good.
But the run on Saturday morning was disastrous. I decided to do the short 4K flat section 1st & on my way back, my tibialis posterior was hurting so much I had to walk home. I had to cut my run short & I was really in pain in both legs. I wondered if I haven't really recovered from Friday's run. But maybe it was the shoes. I had a different shoe for my runs in the office, at home I'll use my race shoe. But I reckon that my race shoe (Mizuno Wave Aero) had better cushioning than my other shoe (Mizuno Crusader 2). I dunno. I iced my legs immediately & continued with some weight training. I hope it won't take too long to heal. I'd reckon that I'm a little heavier now, at 85-86 kg, so that will contribute some to my injury.
Open house
I went to a couple of open house with my wife on Saturday. Apparently, so did a couple of million other ppl, as there were traffic jam everywhere we went. One of the open house, our last stop in fact, was at my old friend/neighbor's house, Along. We haven't met for quite sometime, despite the fact that we used to be neighbors for 6 years & we used to be a material during our schooldays. It was my first time to his house, & his parents was also there. It was great. We talked about old times, & Along's dad, I call him Pak Haji, told everybody at the house that he's always saw me as one of his own. Well, he used to send me to school, & of course I'm good friends with all his 3 sons. Along is pretty successful nowadays, living in the posh USJ20 neighborhood. We used to go to tuition for SRP together back in 1991. & one day, both of our bike, locked together, was stolen. We used to ride together to school, to tuition... & finally I went serious in the sport of cycling, while Along wasn't interested.
We went a long way.. One of the reasons I got distanced from him was when he broke his engagement with his long time girlfriend, Mas, my best friend. Along went for another girl, currently his wife. Well, that's pretty much water under the bridge. I dunno if Along & Mas is still in contact, but I've stayed in contact with both of them, although I haven't seen Mas in a looooong time, ever since she got married.
How I wished I could return to those days...
Melaka trip
We went to Melaka on Sunday, to visit one of my aunt, Cik Ana. She was the one who took care of me when I was very little. But then she got married against the wishes of my Embah & so she was pretty much isolated in Melaka. But that was then. I've always visited her & now that she's become very sick with Parkinson's, I've visited her more often. Her conditions are very bad & she was very happy that we came. My mom couldn't stop crying. Her conditions are so bad that the chair she was sitting down on, shook along with her. I just dunno what to do other than offer words of comfort & encouragement. Of course, I helped her in whatever ways I can. & I'd go visit her whenever I'm in the vicinity.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Back To Work !!!
The ride
Today's my first day riding to work after more than 2 months. I was quite nervous, but then again, I've been thru this situation before, but this one was more serious. I've already decided to take the motorbike lane becoz riding in the lane is the perfect way to regain my riding skills & confidence. The long, sweeping, fast corners are the perfect setup for my.. err.. training ride.
It all went well, but just before I reached my crash site, just before the toll plaza, a dog suddenly jumped into the bike lane. I was going at proly 100 km/h & of course I was surprised to see a dog in my way. The dog itself looked confused & looked like it didn't want to move over. But then, I kept on going, honked a bit & the dog jumped outta the way. To get into that kinda situation, just a couple hundred meters from the site of my worse crash to date, on my 1st day back to work.... hahah... Of course, I dun believe in those kinda things.
I reached the USJ bridge at 7:30, pretty early. So I decided to just cruise in at about 100 km/h & I got to the office at about 7:50 am. Syukur alhamdulillah.
1st day at work
When I first got into my room, I didn't know what to do. I mean, I had my routine, of course, but it's been 2 months & everybody was pretty much still in Raya mood. So I had to take some time to quietly settle back into my routine. After that I went around the office, just to meet everybody. & I also went to meet Pn Hazanah of course. It's like my 1st day reporting in.
Resuming training
I'd started running about 3 weeks ago, during the fasting month. I didn't have much problem. But when I ran the 1st time after puasa, in Kampung Amir (wifey's hometown), my old injury return, the pain in the area just above the ankle. I had this injury wayyyy back when I 1st started running. But then it disappeared. It was not that painful, but it did affect my running. So much that I had to cut short my long training run yesterday. I practically had to tip-toe pretty much the whole 6 km. I wanted to run again in the afternoon, to make up for the short run in the morning, but then I thought rest would be a better choice. Nevertheless, I'ma go back to the gym today, to do whatever I can to fix that leg. My next race will be on the 25/10, Mizuno Wave Run.
Today's my first day riding to work after more than 2 months. I was quite nervous, but then again, I've been thru this situation before, but this one was more serious. I've already decided to take the motorbike lane becoz riding in the lane is the perfect way to regain my riding skills & confidence. The long, sweeping, fast corners are the perfect setup for my.. err.. training ride.
It all went well, but just before I reached my crash site, just before the toll plaza, a dog suddenly jumped into the bike lane. I was going at proly 100 km/h & of course I was surprised to see a dog in my way. The dog itself looked confused & looked like it didn't want to move over. But then, I kept on going, honked a bit & the dog jumped outta the way. To get into that kinda situation, just a couple hundred meters from the site of my worse crash to date, on my 1st day back to work.... hahah... Of course, I dun believe in those kinda things.
I reached the USJ bridge at 7:30, pretty early. So I decided to just cruise in at about 100 km/h & I got to the office at about 7:50 am. Syukur alhamdulillah.
1st day at work
When I first got into my room, I didn't know what to do. I mean, I had my routine, of course, but it's been 2 months & everybody was pretty much still in Raya mood. So I had to take some time to quietly settle back into my routine. After that I went around the office, just to meet everybody. & I also went to meet Pn Hazanah of course. It's like my 1st day reporting in.
Resuming training
I'd started running about 3 weeks ago, during the fasting month. I didn't have much problem. But when I ran the 1st time after puasa, in Kampung Amir (wifey's hometown), my old injury return, the pain in the area just above the ankle. I had this injury wayyyy back when I 1st started running. But then it disappeared. It was not that painful, but it did affect my running. So much that I had to cut short my long training run yesterday. I practically had to tip-toe pretty much the whole 6 km. I wanted to run again in the afternoon, to make up for the short run in the morning, but then I thought rest would be a better choice. Nevertheless, I'ma go back to the gym today, to do whatever I can to fix that leg. My next race will be on the 25/10, Mizuno Wave Run.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Why I run...
This morning...
This morning I went for a light jog. I'd planned to do 6-8 laps, but ended up going home after 4 laps. Why ? I had to chase the garbage truck. I'd missed the truck on Saturday, & yesterday my in-laws came over for buka puasa, so we had a whole bunch of trash. The garbage truck will only come again on Thursday. So I had to go home & take out the trash.
Why I run ?
I watched my first Olympics in 1984. I was in Standard 2 tht year & it was Los Angeles' turn to host the Olympics. Can U imagine that ? I was eight years old & I watched the Olympics. I wonder how many kids that age nowadays who would stay up to watch the Olympics. It was the year Carl Lewis attempted to win 4 gold medals in athletics, to honor the great Jesse Owens. He succeeded & won gold in the 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m & long jump. I became his biggest fan instantly.
In 1986 I took part in my first ever Pesta Sukan Sekolah. I was in Standard 4, & I was in a new school, Sekolah Rendah Methodist ACS Klang. Even after 2 years, the memories of the 1984 Olympics was still fresh in my mind. So I was out to mimic my idol's performance. But tht was easier said than done of course. I made it to the 100m finals, where I finished last, didn't make the 200m finals, finished out of the medals in long jump. My only consolation was in the 4 x 100m, I was the 1st runner & we won the bronze.
Come to think of it, despite all my involvement in other sports, football, cycling, basketball, etc.. athletics is the one tht really challenges me, physically. U see, I dun have any real talent in athletics, so I really had to fight for it. But I've never failed to land at least a consolation prize in any long distance event (jogathon, etc) at school.
I guess it's just tht. The drive is there, but the talent, the physique, ain't. Running has been the fastest way for me to get rid those extra bulk. After going to 4 races this year, I'm hooked. There's no other sport that can attract thousands of ppl, young & old, to slug it out in a 10km run. When I was in Standard Chartered KL Marathon this year, 5100 ppl ran in the 10K category, the biggest in any event. The atmosphere was just superb. & U can see all this veterans, 40-50 year-olds, still going strong, even beating us the younger ones. During the Setia Alam half marathon, the winner was a 42 year-old, & his time was faster that the open category (below 35) winner by a couple of minutes. I dun think U can get that in any other endurance sport. It's a real eye-opener & the ultimate motivator.
I wanna run the half-marathon next year, & at least once in my lifetime, I wanna do the marathon. My wife asked me the other day, if we had a child, what sport do I want our child to take up ? I said, easy: running. Relatively easy, cheap sport, & if U can do really well, there's money in it too. I guess I'm here to stay. This is the sport I'ma get involved the longest.
This morning I went for a light jog. I'd planned to do 6-8 laps, but ended up going home after 4 laps. Why ? I had to chase the garbage truck. I'd missed the truck on Saturday, & yesterday my in-laws came over for buka puasa, so we had a whole bunch of trash. The garbage truck will only come again on Thursday. So I had to go home & take out the trash.
Why I run ?
I watched my first Olympics in 1984. I was in Standard 2 tht year & it was Los Angeles' turn to host the Olympics. Can U imagine that ? I was eight years old & I watched the Olympics. I wonder how many kids that age nowadays who would stay up to watch the Olympics. It was the year Carl Lewis attempted to win 4 gold medals in athletics, to honor the great Jesse Owens. He succeeded & won gold in the 100m, 200m, 4 x 100m & long jump. I became his biggest fan instantly.
In 1986 I took part in my first ever Pesta Sukan Sekolah. I was in Standard 4, & I was in a new school, Sekolah Rendah Methodist ACS Klang. Even after 2 years, the memories of the 1984 Olympics was still fresh in my mind. So I was out to mimic my idol's performance. But tht was easier said than done of course. I made it to the 100m finals, where I finished last, didn't make the 200m finals, finished out of the medals in long jump. My only consolation was in the 4 x 100m, I was the 1st runner & we won the bronze.
Come to think of it, despite all my involvement in other sports, football, cycling, basketball, etc.. athletics is the one tht really challenges me, physically. U see, I dun have any real talent in athletics, so I really had to fight for it. But I've never failed to land at least a consolation prize in any long distance event (jogathon, etc) at school.
I guess it's just tht. The drive is there, but the talent, the physique, ain't. Running has been the fastest way for me to get rid those extra bulk. After going to 4 races this year, I'm hooked. There's no other sport that can attract thousands of ppl, young & old, to slug it out in a 10km run. When I was in Standard Chartered KL Marathon this year, 5100 ppl ran in the 10K category, the biggest in any event. The atmosphere was just superb. & U can see all this veterans, 40-50 year-olds, still going strong, even beating us the younger ones. During the Setia Alam half marathon, the winner was a 42 year-old, & his time was faster that the open category (below 35) winner by a couple of minutes. I dun think U can get that in any other endurance sport. It's a real eye-opener & the ultimate motivator.
I wanna run the half-marathon next year, & at least once in my lifetime, I wanna do the marathon. My wife asked me the other day, if we had a child, what sport do I want our child to take up ? I said, easy: running. Relatively easy, cheap sport, & if U can do really well, there's money in it too. I guess I'm here to stay. This is the sport I'ma get involved the longest.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Back on the road again !!!
Removal of K-wire & SterilStrips
I had my K-wire & Steril Strips removed on the 25th of August. Well, actually my appointment with the hospital was supposed to be on the 10/9. But a few of the doctors who treated me said tht the k-wire will be removed 3 weeks after the surgery, so I was a bit surprised when the set the appointment for 10/9, 6 weeks after the surgery. So I called up the ward & they told me to go to the clinic myself.
So I went on the 25/8 without setting any appointment. The nurses earlier was a bit reluctant to let me see the docs, becoz I didn't have any appointment. "Sapa suruh datang ?" was the response I got from the staff nurse. So, I just politely explained & they let me see the doc. The doc was satisfied with my x-ray, so he asked me to go to see the MA to have the k-wire removed.
I'd searched the web & YouTube for videos on the removal of the k-wire. So I was pretty much relaxed. I wanted to take a video but the MA didn't allow it. He was the same MA who attended to me when I was first brought in after my accident, he was also the one who I yelled at when he tried to put a cast just after my op. So he put this clamping tool U'd normally find at construction site or auto shops. He just yanked & out came the wire, I didn't feel a thing. There was blood coming out & the pain won't start until a couple hours later.
Taking the k-wire off meant tht I no longer have to wear the cast & I can take showers normally now. I was back to normal, well, pretty much. I still can't move my wrist much. So I guess this year's Merdeka Day was a bit special for me.
Back on the road again
Training during fasting month is nothing strange to me. I used to do it during my cycling days. Back then, those who stay in the training camp will have to go training at nite. But for me, I've always treated fasting month as my off-season. I continue to ride of course, so I'd do easy rides of an hour-90 minutes, & I go off right after sahur.
I've done 4 races this year, 3 road races & 1 track. I've missed 2 races becoz of my accident. & I've got another 2 races before the year ends: Mizuno Wave Run (October) & the Malakoff 12K (December). It's been 54 days today since I crashed & a lot of things have happened since then, one of it was pretty much life-altering. I've been thinking, I need to be a little bit more competitive in the races I go, I need to go faster. I wanna be up there with the sub-50 minute runners & finish among the top 50 each time. & next year I'ma do the half-marathon. Tht's gonna be my training goal after raya.
First of all, I need to lose some weight & trim down a bit more. Fasting month is the perfect platform for those goals. My target weight would be 75kg, less than 15% body fat. Right now I'm at 82kg & about 20% body fat. Long way to go.
I've been running 4 days this fasting month, I started on the 29/8, 4 days after I removed the k-wire & the steril strips from my wound. I've lost much of the muscles on my left arm, my shoulder & elbow hurts & I haven't regained full range of movement on my wrist. My 1st physiotherapy session at the hospital is scheduled on 10/9, but I'm not gonna wait tht long. So I searched the web for workouts that can help me fix my left arm. I've been doing it for more than a week now, & it's working great. Now I can lift my dumbbell bar & collar (hahahah, about 1.5 kg), I can do front plank on swiss ball, etc. But there's a lot more to be done.
The 1st 2 runs was easy jogs, I just wanted to see where I was, in terms of fitness. I was careful not to push above 150 bpm. I found out tht in terms of fitness & stamina, I haven't lost tht much. So in the 3rd day, I started to push it a bit, again to see how I felt. I was okay & stayed pretty much fresh thruout the day. I started my runs around 6.30 am, so it'd be 14 hrs before I can have a drink. But I was okay with it, burning around 700-900 calories each session, pretty much what I consumed for sahur.
I also focused on my stride, I want to improve my forefoot stride, so I was focusing on getting it right. Also, during my last race in Pesta Sukan Treasury, my wife said tht my upper body looked very rigid & stiff. So I was working on correct running posture as well, trying to make my upper body more relaxed.
I hope I can hit the ground running after Raya. I'ma bring my running gear back to Besut for Raya as well. I'ma run on the beach there. Until then, livestrong. Selamat berpuasa.
Saturday, August 15, 2009
Op-Day +15, E-Day +33
It's been 15 days since I went under the knife to fix my broken radius. It's been 13 days since I left the hospital. I'm still wearing a cast on that arm, I'ma go to the hospital in a week's time to remove the k-wire from my wrist, & for the doctors to review my radius. I've ye to regain use of the broken arm, although I can hold small things, I can't really grab hold of things, only for a very short period of time before it starts shaking.
I've pretty much been able to do basic things myself. But I've been trying to gradually get into doing small things, like doing the laundry. The thing is tht I dun have anything to do at home, apart from surfing & watching TV. Watching TV has made me itching to go outside. The badminton world championships is currently on in Hyderabad, & today is the start of the world athletics championships in Berlin. Watching those made me feel really impatient to start running again.
I reckon I can remove the cast & replace it with something else, like an arm brace. I've made a few enquiries & there's a company tht sells what look like a suitable brace for me in PJ. I'ma get those once the k-wire is removed. Of course I'd show it to the doctor 1st, it's pretty expensive & I dun wanna buy it before getting the okay frm the docs.
Well. life goes on.
Livestrong.
I've pretty much been able to do basic things myself. But I've been trying to gradually get into doing small things, like doing the laundry. The thing is tht I dun have anything to do at home, apart from surfing & watching TV. Watching TV has made me itching to go outside. The badminton world championships is currently on in Hyderabad, & today is the start of the world athletics championships in Berlin. Watching those made me feel really impatient to start running again.
I reckon I can remove the cast & replace it with something else, like an arm brace. I've made a few enquiries & there's a company tht sells what look like a suitable brace for me in PJ. I'ma get those once the k-wire is removed. Of course I'd show it to the doctor 1st, it's pretty expensive & I dun wanna buy it before getting the okay frm the docs.
Well. life goes on.
Livestrong.
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
Alhamdulillah...
Syukur kpd Allah, aku telah selesai menjalani operation masuk plate besi kt lengan (radius) & pasang wire kt wrist pada Jumaat, 31/7/2009 yg lepas di Hospital Sg Buloh. Aku skang dok umah, doktor bg MC 50 hari, sampai 14/9. Lg 3 minggu insya Allah, aku akan g balik spital untuk cabut wire ni & hopefully by then jugak, luka operation aku ni dh kering. Luka ni dia tak jahit, panjang dlm 4 inci camtu, dia cuma pakai sterile tape. Sama cam yg ibu2 baru pas bersalin skang, org bgtau. So skang aku dok telan pati ikan haruan la, sup haruan, & haruan2 tu skali, so tht luka aku cepat baik.
Wire kt wrist aku ni terkeluar (dr wrist) dlm seinci camtu, so mcm arial la lebih kurang. Cover dgn stopper cannula je, sbb cap yg sebenarnye mahal. Nnt katanya, bila nk cabut, akan ditarik je dari wrist tu, so sakit ke tak aku tak tau lagila. Nurse kata tak sakit (yelah tu).
Aku operation dlm 2 jam camtu, full bius (GA). Aku masuk operation theatre (OT) dlm kol 8 pagi, balik ke wad dlm 12. Tp nk dijadikan cite, aku tersedar just after the op. Byk patient kt situ ckp, biasa kalu org kena GA, akan flat habis, nk bangun pun kena kejut & biasa kalu bgn pun, ptg2. Aku masuk OT kol 8, kol 11.30 aku dh bgn & terus meronta2 sbb sakit masya Allah. Nurse, MA, doktor suma dok pegang aku & wondering camna aku buleh tersedar. Mmg sakit gila & aku jadik panik. Bila aku dh cool skit, diorg tolak aku balik wad, still dlm lalok2. Bila sampai wad aku smbg meracau. Sakitnye, sampai aku nangis la thn sakit. Dh dpt shot painkiller pun aku still sakit. So hr Jumaat tu, sampai ptg kerja aku yelah, tahan sakit.. sampai tertido jap, bila terjaga tahan sakit balik, pastu tido balik... camtula 3-4 kali. Bila mlm dh ok dah.
So.. camtula pengalaman aku operate 1st time. To all well-wishers, thanks a lot. I've been doing most things & tasks single-handedly, now I've got to do most things with a single hand...
Wire kt wrist aku ni terkeluar (dr wrist) dlm seinci camtu, so mcm arial la lebih kurang. Cover dgn stopper cannula je, sbb cap yg sebenarnye mahal. Nnt katanya, bila nk cabut, akan ditarik je dari wrist tu, so sakit ke tak aku tak tau lagila. Nurse kata tak sakit (yelah tu).
Aku operation dlm 2 jam camtu, full bius (GA). Aku masuk operation theatre (OT) dlm kol 8 pagi, balik ke wad dlm 12. Tp nk dijadikan cite, aku tersedar just after the op. Byk patient kt situ ckp, biasa kalu org kena GA, akan flat habis, nk bangun pun kena kejut & biasa kalu bgn pun, ptg2. Aku masuk OT kol 8, kol 11.30 aku dh bgn & terus meronta2 sbb sakit masya Allah. Nurse, MA, doktor suma dok pegang aku & wondering camna aku buleh tersedar. Mmg sakit gila & aku jadik panik. Bila aku dh cool skit, diorg tolak aku balik wad, still dlm lalok2. Bila sampai wad aku smbg meracau. Sakitnye, sampai aku nangis la thn sakit. Dh dpt shot painkiller pun aku still sakit. So hr Jumaat tu, sampai ptg kerja aku yelah, tahan sakit.. sampai tertido jap, bila terjaga tahan sakit balik, pastu tido balik... camtula 3-4 kali. Bila mlm dh ok dah.
So.. camtula pengalaman aku operate 1st time. To all well-wishers, thanks a lot. I've been doing most things & tasks single-handedly, now I've got to do most things with a single hand...
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Standard Chartered KL Marathon
It took me a week to come up with the SCKLM report. Why ? Been so busy with work, down with a cold (not H1N1, at least I think not). So now..
I collected my race pack right before the closing time at 8 pm. I've been getting reports about the chaotic situation earlier in the day. So I was glad that when I was there, there was only like 3 persons in front of me. Even then, the organizers took a good 15 minutes to get my race number & vest. The bad part was that I got the wrong size initially, XXL. I changed it straightaway & got my size, which was XL. The guy in front of me got the ladies' XL. Lucky he checked it there.
Off to the race on Sunday. We left home at about 5 & it was raining. I thought it was only in Serendah, which is usually the case. But when we got to Sg Buloh it was still raining, albeit lightly. I was beginning to think that I shud've brought my running shirt & undershirt instead of the skimpy little vest. I've never run in the cold, so I hope it'll be ok. We parked at the food court near MOH & it was already full. We saw 2 couples performing their Subuh prayers right under the tree, so we joined them. As soon as we left for the start, the half marathoners were flagged off. There must be around 3000 of them.
This was the first time I arrived at the start early, so I had time to even join the aerobic session. However, it was a mistake not to go into the gated area early, as there was 5100 ppl in my category, the biggest number according to the announcer. So, I had to force my way to the front, I dun wanna get caught too far behind. Even then, it took me 58 secs to get past the Start/Finish line. & once the race started, I had to run on the sidewalks to get to the front & I finally got out in the open after 5 minutes.
At KM4 I guess, I met the uncle again, this time I found out that his name is Tan. So we ran together, up until the hill at LHDN where I moved to the front after the water station. I was feeling good, so I pulled away. I managed to maintain that pace up until Jln TAR. The organizers had put in the guide book that the race course is flat & fast. If this is flat & fast then I dunno how a hilly course would be like.
I didn't get to break the hour, I clocked an official time of 1:01.09 & Uncle Tan managed to get past me about 300m from the finish. his time was low 1:00 I guess. I got #248 out of 3300 finishers, top 7%, so I guess that was okay.
My wife didn't realize I had finish. She thought that since I was running with a cold, I'd finish the run a bit later. So I can't find her at the finish. I grabbed some bananas & drinks. I couldn't get in line to get the medals coz the number was with my wife. After almost 1/2 hour I finally found her.
Overall, I guess the race was good & I didn't hurt so much & my time was okay considering my conditions. My next race will be on the track & I hope I can break the hour. Good luck.
Sunday, June 14, 2009
Cramps !!!
I've been running for quite a while now. I've entered 2 races this year, with about 6-7 to go. I've run in cold weather, hot weather, in the morning, in the afternoon. I've never suffered cramps. Not once. Until this morning.
I woke up much earlier than usual. & I started my run earlier than usual as well, at 6.45. My goal for today's run was to reduce the time difference between lap 1 & lap 2. In other words, I wanted to control my efforts, so that I won't slowdown too much in the second lap.
But my run was hampered by muscle cramps on my right calf. Normally that particular muscle would hurt as soon as I finished running. But this morning, while descending the pretty steep hill in my 1st lap, it started to hurt. & by the time I reached my water bottle in the beginning of the 2nd lap, it was hurting so bad I wanted to stop. As usual, during difficult times like that, I would think of some motivation, & Paula Radcliff's run (while suffering from severe cramps) during the Beijing Olympics came to mind. So, after a couple of sip from my bottle, I stopped briefly to stretch that calf & I continued running.
At first it seemed like a mistake. I was reduced to walking-pace & had to literally run with only one good leg. But I kept going & by the time I descend the hill for the 2nd time, I was okay & could even up the pace a little. The result was I was actually faster during the last split of the 2nd lap & I'd actually improved my time by 1/60th of a second (from before Setia Alam). So, I guess it was okay after all.
Livestrong.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
What do we learn in school ?
I was reading a blog post in Che Det, the blog by our former PM & actually, the only blog that I follow & read. It was about his meeting with a parent that has some problems: his kids dunno nuts about history of Malaysia. I feel very sad about this. What has become of our education system ? What do kids learn in schools nowadays ? & then there was this news about ppl calling for the govt to make it easier for students to get certificates in school, PMR, SPM. What is this ?
I left school 16 years ago. I left the education system 7 years ago. My schooldays was one of the sweetest memories of my childhood. I wasn't really that good in school. But I faced my weaknesses, not run away from them. My favorite subject was History. It still is my favorite subject now. Why do I like history ? I believe we shud learn from what happened in the past, & analyze our mistakes & learn from them, so that we won't repeat them. My life has been about mistakes & learning from them. I believe the best quality in a person is to learn from our mistakes & to avoid doing them again. If I dun believe in that then I'd be a Mat Rempit after I failed my first degree course in UTM 14 years ago.
Those who dun believe in History, they will not know why some things are the way they are now. Those who know but choose to forget their history, they tend to repeat the same mistakes again & again. Some things in our country now, the way we live, the way our great society was formed, originated more than 50 years ago, well before our independence. Our great forefathers made deals, took risks, & our society today is the result. It is sad that some of our so-called leaders nowadays question their decisions.
Now, I'm quite puzzled why some ppl want to have the govt make it easier to obtain school exam certs. To me, it is similar to the case of the durians. I remember when I was a little child, every durian season is like a festival in my kampung near Pasir Salak, Perak. My arwah Atuk had many dusun. During the durian season, these dusun owners can live like a king until the next durian season. Why ? Becoz back then, durian season only comes once in a year, & the fruit was so expensive. Then the smart ppl in MARDI decided that becoz it's so good, they did research to enable the durian to bear fruit all year long, instead of having to wait. The result ? Becoz durian is available all year long, nobody appreciates them anymore. It becomes a common fruit. All those dusun owners cannot make a living out of selling durians alone. MARDI: ooops !!
If the UPSR, PMR, SPM & STPM certs are so easy to get, then nobody would appreciate them no more. We can even see the effects now with Degree holders. There are sooo many degree holders seeking for jobs that companies have started to look for Masters holders. A degree alone won't suffice. U must have additional advantage, becoz everybody has a degree. I learned this the hard way after completing my degree. Companies would look if U have this MCSE or CCNA when applying for jobs in the IT industry.
For me, it's okay to make it a little bit harder to get the SPM or PMRs, as long as the quality is there. There's no point in getting 15 As when later U struggle in the varsity. Quit chasing those A's, & start focusing on getting real education in schools.
Livestrong.
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Setia Alam pics from Klang Pacers
I found 2 pics from Klang Pacers website. Ade gak orang nak amik gambar aku.....
My running calendar 2009
- 10 May - Larian Bomba 2009 (1:04.37)
- 17 May - PACM NB 15K (DNS)
- 7 June - Setia Alam Klang Pacers NB 11K (1:05.55, #96)
- 28 June - Standard Chartered KL International Marathon 10K (1:01.09, #248)
- 12 July - Pesta Sukan Treasury 10,000m
- 19 July - Siemens Run 10K
- 2 August - Adidas King Of The Road 10K
- 25 Oct - Mizuno Wave Run
- 20 Dec - Malakoff 12km
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Mari belajar bahasa...
Disebabkan aku nak bercerita pasal Bahasa Melayu, so aku tulis BM la....
AMARAN: Menda ni adalah pendapat peribadi, takde kena-mengena dengan yang hidup atau yg dh mati atau yg dah nak mati sangat...
Skang ni org dok sibuk cakap pasal pembelajaran English kat sekolah. Ade setengah pihak yang mempertahankan polisi yang tak sampai 5-6 tahun kat sekolah ni. Ade plak yang bermati-matian nak hapuskan polisi ni, siap buat persatuan, siap buat tunjuk perasaan kat KL, dan mcm2 lagi la. Sapa yang jadik mangsa agaknya ? Dah tentulah budak2 sekolah yang g sekolah belajar. Yang dok bagi pendapat macam2 ni sama ada dah berpuluh tahun abis sekolah atau yang tak pernah belajar English kat sekolah pun. Takde sapa la pulak nak gi tanya kat budak2 sekolah ni ape pandangan diorg. Kebanyakan polisi kat Malaysia ni, inilah masalahnya. Tak pernah nak tanya kepada orang2 yang akan menggunakan atau menerima kesan daripada polisi tu. Suma pakai buat study lebih kurang, sampel ade la 200-300 orang, present2, lobi2, pastu implemen.
Sudah menjadi lumrah manusia. Kita akan jadik takut kepada menda2 yang kita tak kenal atau tak tahu. Bila disuruh cuba menda2 baru, kita terus akan menjadi defensif, tak mo try, tak mo ubah. Walaupun menda2 tu sebenarnya adalah untuk kebaikan kita.
Bila kita pergi ke kedai buku atau perpustakaan, bila kita pegi carik buku2 rujukan, agak2nya la, majoriti buku2 tu dalam bahasa ape ? Bila kita pegi universiti, kecuali UKM, buku2 kejuruteraan, komputer, dalam bahasa ape agaknya ? Pernah tak sesapa cuba terjemahkan 2-3 ayat je daripada teks buku2 yang bukan dalam bahasa Melayu tu kepada bahasa Melayu ? Susah kan ? Masa kat sekolah & universiti dulu, aku amik upah menterjemahkan menda2 rujukan dalam English kepada bhs Melayu. Bukan senang. Silap translate buleh lari berbatu2 maknanya. Mantan PM kita yang ke 4, seorang yang amat2 berpandangan jauh, nampak masalah ini. So, idea dia yelah, ape kata, kalu kat sekolah, kita terus je ajar subjek2 yang teknikal ni, dalam English ? So nnt, bila masuk universiti ke kolej ke, takde la susah sangat.
Bukan suruh bhs pengantar sekolah ditukar ke English pun. Dua subjek je. Dua subjek daripada tah berapa puluh yg diajar kat sekolah tu.
Byk orang kata, mengajar dua subjek tu dalam English akan memusnahkan masa depan budak2 luar bandar. Ape, budak2 luar bandar ni tak pandai ke ? Takde ke budak2 luar bandar yang berjaya kat universiti ? Yang speaking lebih berabuk dari Mr Bean ? Ade kan ? Boleh pulak ? Masalahnye, belum pun budak2 ni belajar, abg2, kakak2, pakcik makcik dh cakap dah,"Uiih, abisla kamu, kena belajar bahasa omputih. Lepas ni tak reti la kamu ckp Melayu lagi dah. Tah2 esok smayang pun lupa dah." Aku percaya, kalu diberi peluang belajar, ramai budak2 luar bandar yang nak sangat2 belajar English yang lebih advanced daripada yang diajar di sekolah2.
Ade pihak plak cakap, menghancurkan identiti Melayu. Aku ingat sangat2 klip yang kuar dalam Buletin Utama TV3 tu, ade mamat ni, dengan headband siap, ckp depan kamera TV,"Bahasa Melayu hancur !!" Yang bestnya, mamat ni pakai jeans. Dlm beribu orang yang tunjuk perasaan tu, yang pakai baju Melayu sorang je aku rasa. Dia punya chief tu la. Agaknya dia pun termalu sendrik. Yang pakai kot pun ade. Melayu sangatla agaknya.
Adekah dengan pandai cakap English, seseorg Melayu itu kurang Melayu ? Atau dengan belajar bahasa2 lain, kurang Melayukah kita ni ? Agaknya la, Almarhum Tunku Abdul Rahman dulu, masa dia pergi ke London nak berunding utk kita ni merdeka, dia ckp Melayu ke dgn org2 British tu ? Kalu ye agaknya, sampai skang ni kita tak merdeka. Org British tak paham. Ape maknanya tu ? Kita kena pandai menyesuaikan diri dengan keadaan.
Dulu masa penjajah mengamalkan dasar pengasingan kaum, orang India dibiarkan kat estet2, sekolah takde, ape pun takde. Orang Melayu plak, nak dibiarkan kat kampung2, takyah susah2 belajar ckp omputih pun. Orang Cina plak, letak kat pekan2, bandar2. Bersusah payahla orang2 Melayu dulu nak ke sekolah omputih, nak belajar suma subjek dalam English, bukan Maths & Sains je. Dapatla sijil Senior Cambridge. Skang ni, suma menda di sponsor, cikgu ade, kelas aircond ade, laptop ade, suma ade. Taknak pulak belajar. Siap nak tunjuk2 perasaan lagi.
Aku rasa, kita ni takyahla nak takut belajar English ni. Takkan hilang de budaya kita kalu kita pandai lagi satu bahasa. Kalu rasa2 tak pandai, pandai2 kan la. Kena la usaha lebih skit. Ini tak, suh belajar lebih skit, elegik, sakit perut. Suma nak ade depan mata. Kalu buleh agaknya, English tu pun nak belajar dlm bahasa Melayu. Jangan macam tu. Dengan menguasai English, bermakna akan lebih mudahla kita menguasai ilmu. Suma buku2, teks2 dlm English kit abuleh baca dgn begitu shj, takyah translate2. First hand. Skang ni, kat internet, suma dlm English. Jangan la pegi Murai.com, pegi la baca Wikipedia ke, Dictionary.com ke.
Wallahu'alam.
Livestrong..
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Klang Pacers Setia Alam 11K
My 2nd race of the year. In a place where I grew up. Well, not exactly in Setia Alam, but I grew up in Klang. That time Setia Alam was still a palm plantation.
I was late to the start, this time even later than I was in Larian Bomba. We left home before 6, & when we got to the start, they've just flagged off the half marathoners. & to make it even better, the parking's full & we had to make one big round just to park. So I stopped the car just after the starting point, put on my shoes & ran to the start while my wife park the car. I got to the start just in time. The gun went off just as I was tying my shoelaces. Damn !!
I was looking for one particular person, an uncle I knew from my days of playing basketball in Bkt Jelutong. I met him during Larian Bomba. I never knew his name. He was in his 50's I'd reckoned. & he wasn't that difficult to spot, as he was a very tall person. I spotted him & went alongside him & said hello. He said that I shud've run the half mara. Yeah, right. I decided to use him as my pacer.
The course was flat thruout, except for .. about 3-4 flyovers. I had to go for the 1st water station as I didn't get to drink before the start. I stayed close to the uncle for most of the race, but I finally lost him with about 2km to go. The ultimate motivation for this kinda race is to avoid finishing after those uncles & aunties. At KM8 the half mara leaders went right pass me. It was just an awesome sight. The way these guys are running... was just awesome.
I was targetting for a sub-1 hour time, but as I was cresting the last flyover I knew I couldn't do it. I got to the line & was given #96 & my self-clocked time was 1:05.55. Not that bad actually. I'd improved from Larian Bomba & I was actually running at 5:59 pace, & that means I could run a sub-hour 10K assuming I can maintain the pace. I also got my first finisher's medal. Not bad.
The atmosphere at the Setia Alam Welcome Centre was great. Most of the 11K runners had finished so there was quite a number of ppl there. Once I found my wife, I went for the 100 Plus booth to get some drinks. Then right next to it was this fruit booth & I got myself a couple of bananas. The winner for the 11K was clocked at 38 mins. The half marathon winner arrived earlier than I did, & guess what ? The Senior Open category time (1:12.30) was actually faster than the Men's Open winner (1:12.55).
Overall I think it was worth all the trouble. I look forward for the Standard Chartered KL International Marathon on the 28th.
Livestrong.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Night before the race
Tomorrow's gonna be my first race since Larian Bomba in May. In the morning I went to Setia Alam Welcome Centre to collect my race kit with my wife. I'd earlier done a warm-up run at about 7am, just to make sure I'm free of injuries.
I was quite surprised when I checked my race kit, I got a vest instead of a tshirt. It was a pleasant surprise anyway. & since I won't be able to use this vest other than during a race, I've decided to use it tomorrow. My wife had some issues with the vest, she told me that she's gonna keep it as soon as the race is over. Why ? Only she knows why.
I've stuffed myself with food today. My uncle had a birthday party for his youngest child & only son, so we went over. They had my favorite roti jala on the menu, so I wasted no time in finishing 10 of those in one shot. Then I had some of those chocolate cake, some air tebu & I guess I'm ready for tomorrow, hahah.
I'ma go to bed early. We have to leave before 6 am tomorrow, the half mara runners will be released by 6:15, so we dun wanna get caught in traffic. Good luck.
Livestrong.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
27:55 ???
I went for my usual 5K run today, I kinda missed the road & I need to prepare for Setia Alam Half Marathon on Sunday. So, off I went at about 5:50, my goal today was to run a little bit faster than usual. I started off nicely & settled into a comfy pace, I'd reckon it to be in the region of 5:25 pace. How wrong I was...
Then, there was this incident just after I left the Masjid roundabout. I was starting the short climb into JPM when this car suddenly stopped in the middle of the road. I always run against the traffic. Then this guy came out & started pointing to the car right behind him. I thought that car bumped into him or something. But then I realized, that the car behind him, a Myvi I think, left a water bottle on the car's spoiler. & the Myvi owner didn't seemed to have any idea what was going on, & she started to panic I guess. So I just went over, picked up the water bottle, which was so close to falling over, & handed it over to her. She then realized what that was all about, winded down the window & took the water bottle from me. She just smiled & said sorry & thanks. I went on my way as quickly as possible, but I guess that cost me around 5 secs maybe.
I thought I had maintained a hard enuff pace. & I was really bummed when I got to the end. It was 27:55. Man... that was soooo close to 28. My last run was 27:45 & that day I didn't stop at 5K, I went to Taman Wawasan & continued running. On 8/5 I ran a 27:35. I thought I could've hit 27:10 or maybe 26. Damn !!!
This weekend I'ma run the Setia Alam Half Marathon. The course shud be flat, with occasional sharp incline at the elevated crossings. I'ma run the 11K. Yesterday I went over to Klang just to register. The registration cost me RM30. Getting to Klang to register costs me RM40. I hope it's worth it. I mean, in terms of organization & course la. The Klang Pacers president, SP Wong told me yesterday that since I was late, I'ma get only the t-shirt & not the vest. It was New Balance anyway. So I told him nevermind la, I undertand. I still haven't got the vest owed to me by Pacesetters. I hope they have something for me, I paid RM55 for a race I didn't run. I was sick.
Well, tomorrow I'ma do the run again. This time with my race shoes, gotta get familiar with it, the last time I use it was a month ago at Larian Bomba. Mizuno Wave Aero. Well, hopefully I can run better tomorrow.
Livestrong.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Saturday
What do we do on Saturdays ? What do I do on Saturdays ?
For most working ppl, weekends are sleeping time. Time to catch up on lost sleep due to work commitments & Champions League matches. During the midweek there was the Champions League finals. My wife was asking why would I wanna watch it, becoz Arsenal's not playing. I explained to her that this is the Champions League finals, & as a football fan, I would watch almost all major competitions' finals even if it doesn't involve my team. I was rooting for Barcelona to win, since they have two of Arsenal's ex-players in King Henry & the not-so-royal Silvinho. Of course, the whole world know that Man U didn't turn up in the finals, it was Barca all the way. The next day I wore my Barca jersey to the office. In my wardrobe there are jerseys from 4 teams : Arsenal, Inter Milan, Barcelona & England.
My wife work on Saturdays. So in the morning I'd be alone in the house. I'd use my Saturdays to do house chores, like mowing the lawn. Well, not exactly mowing, I'd use the ghostbusters machine to cut off the knee-high grass in my lawn. I'd come a long way in this grasscutting business. A couple of years ago, my hands would still be shaking half a day after I finish cutting the grass, nowadays I could do 4 sets of pull-ups straightaway.
If I'm not cutting the lawn, then I'd just watch TV. Saturday morning is when my favorite TV programs will be on, How Do They Do It, Everything U Need To Know & How It's Made, on Discovery Channel. These programs are very interesting. It's presented in a very easy to understand format. Our very own Proton City in Tanjung Malim have appeared in one of these programs.
Currently the NBA Conference Finals in underway, so I'm watching it too. My favorite team, LA Lakers is currently leading the Western Conference series 3-2 over Denver. I used to watch Chicago Bulls games a lot when Michael Jordan was playing, but nowadays I like to watch Kobe.
I wanted to run this morning, to make up for the miss yesterday. But then, I went to bed pretty late last nite, & I woke up at only 7.30, so I missed the morning's run as well. I dun usually run on Saturday mornings, becoz I'd usually go for a long run on Sundays. I guess I'ma go for an easy jog this afternoon, maybe with my wife. We're gonna go out tomorrow, to watch Angels & Demons. Maybe in 1 Utama, coz I wanted to go to the New Balance outlet.
C U tomorrow...
Livestrong.
The wait is almost over...
It's been quite a while since my last post. Quite a lot has happened since then. I didn't run in the PACM NB 15K, I was down with a high fever for 3 days. It was a bummer, considering the things I had to do to get myself in that race. I registered after the closing date, with some help from a friend (thanks Choi). I had to pay slightly more than the normal race fees. In the end I couldn't even collect my race pack. Well, I guess I had to look on the bright side.
I was looking for a race to run before June's Standard Chartered KL Marathon. & I found one race: the Klang Pacers Setia Alam Half Marathon. After some checking, I found out that there's an 11K race. But still, I was quite reluctant to go. Why ? I had some emotional attachment to Setia Alam & Klang. But then, after some consideration, I called up the organizers (after the closing date) & was lucku enuff that they still can reserve a place for me. So, finally I'ma have a race to do in a week's time (it's on 7/6). Looking at the route & my current form, I'ma try to go under an hour.
Look at this. I'm behaving like a seasoned runner. 10th May's Larian Bomba was my first race after sooooo many years. I dunno, it seemed natural to me. & after doing all these runs, I found out that I'm losing weight faster than ever. I'm now at 84-85, I was at 90 just before Larian Bomba 20 days ago. I'ma keep on running, besides keeping my current workout regiment of weights & badminton.
I'm looking forward to having a good race on the 7th.
2009 Running Season :
- 10/5 - Larian Bomba (1:04)
- 17/5 - PACM NB 15K (DNS)
- 7/6 - Klang Pacers Setia Alam 10K
- 28/6 - Standard Chartered KLM 10K
- 12/7 - Seremban 10K
- 19/7 - Siemens Run
- 2/8 - Adidas King Of The Road
Livestrong.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
My first 10K
Today, May 10th, 2009, I've completed my first ever 10K race, right in the middle of KL. I've never thought I'd be able to do this just a couple of months ago.. I've completed the Larian Bomba 2009 in 1:04.37. Not a bad time for a first timer, good enuff for a certificate. Good for a start la.
I'm not gonna get competitive in this sport. Not now. I'm just running for fitness, for fun & I enter these races just to measure myself against others. Even if I dun enter the races, I'd still be running on weekends anyway. So why not join the races, get some goodies, get to know new friends, meet some old ones, & have fun along the way ?
First of all, I was late. I got to the start at 7.00 am, the race was to be flagged off at 7:30. Although Dataran Merdeka was just about 40km from my house, I guess my inexperience play a big part. I got to Dataran, was lucky to find a parking space, & I saw there was already a lot of ppl there. This wasn't my first experience in sport, I've been a state & national-level cyclist before. But the atmosphere was different. & there was definitely more ppl than U would see in any cycling event. There was about 4000+ runners registered. In cycling U would be lucky if U could find 100 ppl.
So, I put on my shoes, racing gear & rushed to report in. In my haste, I forgot to bring any water to the start, something I need to address in the next race. My wife acted as my support crew today. But as this was my first event, she didn't know what to do. Well, I'ma have at least another 3 events in the next 2 months. We'll get the experience.
I maintained a steady pace thruout. I've never run the route before, but to my relief it wasn't that hard, or hilly. There was of course steady climbs along the way. But, thinking back, I might have been a little bit conservative in my run. I was scared that I couldn't maintain the pace. But I was glad to finally have made it, & got a certificate to signify that I finished within the time limits.
It has been a great learning experience. Looking forward to my next race on the 17th, the New Balance Pacesetters 15K.
Livestrong.
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