Thursday, December 31, 2009

The last day of 2009...

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.