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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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...