LIVING MY DREAMS

Nicholas First Bowling Session

2010-05-23T10:50:00.000+08:00

Nicholas exams ended on Friday and we promised to take him for some bowling over the weekend. He was quite excited after having learnt the game playing Wii. First destination was Sunway Pyramid but as it turned out the whole bowling centre was booked for some tournament or by some company so we detoured to Summit USJ.

We were pleasantly surprised to find that they had his shoe size. The smallest bowling ball was number 7 which is specially reserved for kids and kept at the counter, however it was still a tad bit too heavy for Nick. He did have some fun but got tired pretty fast. Perhaps we'll be back again once he's a little bigger. Next stop on the list... ice skating! Get ready for some really wet and cold bums!

Family Time

Planning His Strategy!

Star Wars Style! Following master Yoda's instructions to use the Force!

Nick's Biggest Fan!

Coach Mummy giving some pointers.

What was that? Another gutter ball!

Let's do it with some style!

Rocker or bowler?

Learning to use a Speedlite Flash

2010-05-21T20:47:00.001+08:00

I picked up the Nissin Di866 Speedlite Flash a few days ago. I really enjoy playing with it especially taking pictures of my kids. The light does seem a little harsh at times so perhaps the diffuser I ordered will help once it arrives. Here are a couple of shots taken today of Isabelle.

Little girl lost in thought

Little girl busy on the phone

Thomas Cup 2010 Finals

2010-05-17T01:48:00.001+08:00

I was looking forward to watching some live badminton at the stadium after 10 years. So happened I just picked up the Nikon D90 and wanted to put it to the test with my Sigma 18-200mm lens. It was my first time shooting a sporting event. The complete album can be viewed here.

I had some initial trouble taking shots of the players in action as the shutter speed was too slow at ISO 1600, especially at the distance we were sitting I was forced to use the max focal length of 200mm. After ramping up the ISO to 3200 and increasing the shutter speed to 300, I was quite surprised with the results. The pictures were still reasonably clear and usable at ISO 3200.

Unfortunately I couldn't capture any good shots of the award presentation ceremony as the stage was on the other end of the hall and out of reach for the 200mm lens. My hats off to China for once again winning the cup. My only disappointment is how novice like the other teams in the tournament look in comparison. Betulkah Malaysia BOLEH? If yes then lets do something to get ourselves out of this rut! My support is with you guys!

Some Pool Fun

2010-05-09T22:55:00.000+08:00

Kids just love playing with water and make great subjects for photographing in the pool. Here are some shots taken yesterday evening. It was a tough time getting any photos taken while trying to referee the water wars going on in the pool... but that's all part of the fun!

An incident for thanksgiving!

2010-04-28T10:48:00.002+08:00

April 17th at about 1pm... there I was in my son's bathroom replacing the shower hose which was leaking when I noticed that the shower head's jet dial was stuck. I was really not in the best of moods that day and was quite flustered and getting impatient trying to get it to turn. As the seconds passed, I was using more and more force when suddenly... SNAP!

I don't remember feeling any immense pain, but just knew that something felt not quite right with my right thumb. When I looked at it, I was shocked! There in front of me was a huge long deep gaping cut right from the base of my thumb to the top. It looked over 2 inches long and blood was gushing out. This is when I started panicking, held my thumb with blood pouring out everywhere and rushed downstairs calling for my wife.

We wrapped the thumb with a baby's napkin and I kept the pressure on rushing to the hospital's emergency ward. The hospital staff were quite quick in attending to it and controlled the bleeding until the doctor arrived very shortly. Here I was told that the injury was bad and that it looked like a tendon injury as well. I opted for surgery in the OT instead of outpatient treatment.

The 3.5 hours I waited for the insurance procedure to clear and to be admitted before finally being taken to the OT was one of the longest in my life. All kinds of thoughts kept rushing through my head... "what if the thumb never fully recovered?"... "how is this going to affect my day to day life?". The procedure in the OT used local anesthesia. I was prepared for the worst and the doctor confirmed that not only had the tendon being cut but a nerve had been severed. Both were sewn back before the wound closed with 16 stitches.

I stayed in the hospital for one night before being discharged the following day. It was such a restless night for me. Too much going through my mind. I was reminded of how uncertain life is and how we so often take things for granted. While the doctor said I should recover fully in 2 to 3 months, he did say that there was a possibility that the feeling and sensation to the thumb might not be restored fully due to the severity of the nerve injury.

I recalled how the bible reminds us of the uncertainties of life. In James 4:14 we are told... "Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes". I was humbled and reminded that just as much as God has blessed and given us, He who has given can take it all away in a moment. Everything we have and everything we are comes from the Lord. We ought to then not boast in ourselves but rather submit everything to God with thanksgiving, being reminded of His love for us, seeking to do His will in our lives.

It's been over 10 days now since the surgery and the thumb is recovering well. I am able to use it for most things now without too much trouble, and the pain is tolerable. The numbness is still there and will take another couple of months for the nerve to fully regenerate and recover. I thank God for what has happened and for his grace and goodness in helping me recover and still have use of the thumb. The few days that I could not use the thumb was when I realised how important this small part of the body was and how I had taken it for granted. The large scar that will remain long after I'm fully recovered will serve to remind me of what faithful and loving God I have. Praise be to God forevermore for He is faithful and His love is everlasting!

Psalm 100

A psalm. For giving thanks.

¹ Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

² Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.

³ Know that the LORD is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his ;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.

⁴ Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.

⁵ For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.

Trying out low light zoom portraits

2010-04-27T21:42:00.000+08:00

Tried out some low light zoom portrait shots with the S2500HD. Mainly to practice varying compositions. Here are some shots of Isabelle mostly taken without a flash using ISO800.

Bidor Half Marathon 2010 - Race Report

2010-04-26T23:46:00.000+08:00

Wow finally another race report after a long time! I'm not even sure how or where to begin?? Let's see... well this race was definitely not a race I had planned or trained specifically for. A month before the race I started contemplating on the possibility of signing up but wanted to wait until I came back from my Mt. Kinabalu trip in one piece. As it turned out, my concerns were misplaced so I signed up a couple of days before early bird registration closed the first week of April.

Now what about training you might ask? What training I ask back...haha. My longest run in over 8 months was probably an occasional 8km on Wednesdays and my average weekly mileage over that period ranged between 5 to 15 kilometers... and I'm not kidding, there were consecutive weeks where I might not run at all. One thing I had going for me was that I racked up the mileage a little with some hill workouts a month before my KK climb so that must have helped.

With 3 weeks to go I knew that I must try to run at least 2 medium long runs. The first run I managed was a 15km morning run which I found myself almost staggering towards the last 2 kilometers. The last run was 12 days before the race at the KLCC park. I planned it in advanced and geared myself to complete 19km within 2 hours using the Garmin as my pacer. I was thrilled to find myself completing the 19km without much trouble inside 1h58m, this gave me the confidence I needed going into the actual race. Mentally I set a goal of completing the race inside 2h15m.

The day before the race was spent with Boon up in Cameron Highlands just chilling and taking pictures. Boon happens to be an avid photographer and having an interest myself, I wanted to learn a few things. We had a great time up there and made our way down to Kampar where we would stay the night at the Regal Hotel. I didn't realise what a bustling and big town Kampar was. The hotel was quite nice too and decently priced at RM80 per night.

The next morning, we were up by 5am as Kampar is 30km away from Bidor. Once we arrived at Bidor, we waited for Peter at the starting point to collect our numbers. Nervousness started to set in as it had been sometime since I had run a race! Didn't take too long to get the number pinned on. Soon after some light conversation with some runners and a quick briefing by the race officials, we were allowed to start the race.

The first 2km my muscles felt cold but I soon warmed up. Bumped into Cheang who mentioned he was going for the Sundown Ultra in May... go Cheang! By the 3rd kilometer I was sufficiently warmed up. The 405 indicated that I was slightly behind my target pace, so I picked up the pace for the next few kilometers till I was back on track. By the 8th kilometer I was cruising along at a steady pace knowing that the tougher segment of the race had yet to be reached... the hills!

I kept looking for some strong pacers to follow throughout while concentrating on my breathing and running form. One thing that hit me was the fact that my long rest over the last 2 years seemed to have helped me recover from some nagging problems like my neck and back aches which I carried for a few years. I still felt strong over the next 5 kilometers, and despite the hills maintained a steady pace. I started tiring a little at kilometer 16 and was wondering why there were no isotonic drinks being offered to runners. Little did I realise I had just missed the only isotonic drinks that were available at the 15km water station next to the waterfall!

By the 17th kilometer there was a dreaded twitch on my lower right calf. I knew that I had better slow down or risk throwing the whole race. The strategy helped for the next 2km but mild cramps hit soon after. I kept telling myself just 2k to go! Just keep going! When the cramps got worse I took short 20s walk breaks but kept going. Over the last 1km, anyone seeing me would have been wondering what a crippled man was doing running a half marathon! I was doing whatever I could managed to do to keep running, and at that point hobbling was my best bet! Knowing the finish line was just round the corner I picked up the pace a little and crossed clocking a finish time of 2h15m20s. The 405 indicated a total distance of 21.4km.

Once again my gratitude and congratulations to the organisers for an excellent event! This was the second time I ran the Bidor half and enjoyed myself immensely! I'll be back again for Bidor! Oh yes and the medal definitely met and exceeded my expectations... it's a beautiful piece of art and of superior quality! Other organisers there is much to be learnt from this event. So what's next on the running plate for me?? I'll be participating in the Setia Alam Half Marathon on Saturday, June 5th and the KL International Marathon, also the 21km category on Sunday, June 27th. See you there!

Flower Photography @ CH Rose Garden

2010-04-26T21:27:00.001+08:00

Boon and I decided to leave early on Saturday morning and head up to Cameron Highlands for the day before camping at Kampar that night. We were both participating in the Bidor Half Marathon on Sunday morning. I was really looking forward to this trip especially for the opportunity to put my non-existant photography skills and instincts to the test with my new camera the Fujifilm Finepix S2500HD.

I am quite aware that a basic prosumer camera like mine will never produce the kind of shots that an SLR can, nonetheless to me at this point in time it's more about learning to compose nice pictures and learning to be a little creative, something which I'm usually not. Here are some shots taken up at CH. More photos can be viewed by clicking here.

Mealtime expressions

2010-04-18T23:13:00.000+08:00

Young TV Addict

2010-04-15T20:03:00.001+08:00

A new chapter in life

2010-04-15T15:44:00.000+08:00

I was reflecting today over the things I've accomplished in the last few years and the thought came to me that life is an ever changing scene. There is nothing constant in this equation of life, and as much as we may like it to be predictable, it isn't!

Now with my MBA behind me, I would have thought there would be more time to get into new (or old) things that I've always been keen on, for instance learning to play the guitar, getting back into running and even badminton, putting to use my 'expensive' bicycle which has been gathering dust, taking up photography, learning Mandarin, oh and most importantly spending more time with the kids.

But the problem with me is that I've always wanted to do too many things and never seemed to just focus on one thing at a time and do it really well. I must however give myself a pat on the back for seeing through the MBA without distractions though, which goes to show that I'm definitely capable of doing so should I choose to do so.

Now with my bosses expectations at work increasing... and rightfully so since they did give me some flexibility over the last couple of years; and with our third kid coming along, I simply cannot jump into new adventures and quests without thought. Yes running will still be in the picture, and yes there will be time for some occasional adventures and new experiences, but given the circumstances, I need to put in the extra hours at work and at home. But hey its something I look forward to especially spending time with my family as there is no feeling in the world that can compare to coming home to them after a long day.

Siemens 10k 2009

2009-07-23T23:44:00.002+08:00

I didn't plan on running this race, it so happened that the gang was heading to Gunung Nuang on Sunday and I didn't have anyone to run with... then on Friday, while on the PM's chatbox, Jue was giving away one bib so I decided to go for it.

It's been more than one year since I took part in any running event besides the Pacemakers event. This was going to be my comeback race, in preparation for my Penang Bridge marathon... yes...yes... I've signed up for the 42km! Well I did not anticipate any good time for this race, plus with some hills involved, I was geared up for a slow 65min run.

Reached there by 7am, but found it really hard to get a car park. After taking one big loop behind the courthouse and back in front of the padang, I found one spot just next to the mainroad and quickly grabbed it. Took me awhile to figure out where this church was that they were waiting at but I eventually met up with Jue and the rest and got my bib.

As I was out to enjoy the race, I started right at the back of the pack which was a mistake because it took almost 2km before I could weave my way out of the crowded pack. I was just running an easy pace at first and only picked up the pace at the second water station. The organiser did a great job with providing plenty of water throughout the course.

Overall I maintained a steady pace until reaching the turnoff to the Parliment where I started to pick up the pace a little all and maintained it all the way to the finish to complete in 57:24 which I was pleasantly surprised with. This is an indication of my current fitness level and will help me tailor my training for the PB marathon accordingly. I must say the organiser did a great job especially with the cheerleader and music at the last 1km giving us a really cheery and inspiring atmosphere. Traffic control was also great!

PD Tri 2009 Pictures

2009-07-23T11:35:00.005+08:00

For the full album, click here

PD Tri 2009 Results

2009-07-15T11:34:00.002+08:00

It was a great event with plenty of fun. Click on the image below to see the complete official results for the men's relay event. We were placed in position 13 out of 27 teams which is not bad for our first time. Well done team! I'll post some pictures of the event next once I get them from Peter tonight.

PD triathlon prep

2009-07-05T23:34:00.002+08:00

I wish I could say I've prepared well for this event, but I've hardly been riding my bike since getting it apart from a few short rides. Today's training ride with Khoo and Boon in Putrajaya was a relief as it gave me one final chance to gain some confidence. I completed 42km in 91mins without too much of a problem giving me a little confidence of completing next Sunday's 40km inside 90mins. To my teamates Lee (swimming) and Peter (running)... lets have some fun!

See you next year perhaps?

2009-06-15T10:46:00.002+08:00

I won't be running the SC KL Marathon in two weeks. My lecturer stressed on the importance of our attendance for the last class that Sunday morning so I can't be skipping it. At the same time I've not been putting in my hours on the road so its probably not advisable. Perhaps next year I will have more time to train and be prepared.

Now the next race will then be the PD triathlon. Peter came to my place to pass me the Adidas KOTR registrations yesterday and he asked me to take the bike leg instead of the running as he has not been cycling. Wow that's a daunting 40km and I've not been putting much time on the bike either. With just less than 4 weeks to the PD tri, it's gonna be challenging. I need to now find a runner for Boon's team.

Crazy 2 weeks

2009-05-25T11:37:00.002+08:00

The last 2 weeks has been crazy. I've been spending most of my time helping my mum shift her things to the new place, installing the water heater, home alarm system, curtains, painting, some plumbing works etc. The only thing I didn't DIY was the air conditioning.

I managed to squeeze in a couple of hard rides, one a week. The first was a 30km ride around Botanic gardens with Peter which was completed in about 1 hour. Yesterday was an even harder ride at Genting Sempah with Boon. It was a killer 16km ride uphill with some really serious elevation all the way! Now thats what I call a real good workout.

I've hardly been running.. just down to one or two short runs a week. This is not good as the SCKL marathon is just round the corner. Thankfully I will only be running the 21k. Even that is going to be a struggle this time round.

On a seperate note, I've been looking at opportunities to setup my own business. I've registered the company and now working on selecting the best supplier network by speaking to both companies locally as well as in China. It's just going to be a small scale business to begin with focusing on home and office security systems. Let's see where this takes me.

First Putrajaya Ride

2009-05-10T10:20:00.003+08:00

My cycling buddy Kien Boon has been quite an encouragement in helping me get started. Though he's been cycling for a couple of years now, its been on a MTB, and yesterday was his first proper test ride on his newly purchase road bike... just like myself. Another two of Boon's friends joined us... Khoo and another guy (can't remember his name now... hehe).

Khoo showed us a route that he uses, the distance for one loop is 17.8km. Khoo and his friend had to leave after one loop but Boon and me continued with a second. My first loop was covered at a slow average pace of 22kmh just to get used to the bike and route. I rode the second loop at a slightly faster average pace of 26kmh.

I think I'm getting the hang of shifting gears etc. The Merida clip shoes also helped me ride more efficiently. The cycling shorts made a huge difference.. no more major aches in that region. I'm now more confident that the Powerman is achievable.

Family Trip Langkawi 2009

2009-05-09T19:15:00.014+08:00

Back swimming

2009-04-29T15:01:00.002+08:00

With the temperature hitting 36 degrees yesterday, there was only one thing I could think of to cool off... jump into a pool. The closest to home happens to be the Pandamaran pool which does not have the best reputation for being the cleanest, however I was pleasantly surprised as the water was absolutely clean and the pool floors were also clean with no slime that you normally find.

I managed 30 continuous laps (1.5k) indicating that my general fitness is still ok. After speaking to one of my friends who is training for the PD Triathlon, he encouraged me to learn and master the freestyle stroke. I just have never been able to get it right. Well its definitely something to consider, but at the moment let that thought linger for a bit.

Breaking in the bike

2009-04-28T09:23:00.002+08:00

After a couple of short test rides, yesterday was my first real training ride. One loop around my housing area is about 1.55km. I rode for 36mins and covered 10 loops (15.5km) at an average pace of 26km/h. Really need to get some cycling shorts with padding!

After the bike ride I continued with a 5k run. Overall I can feel that my fitness level is really low at the moment, but I think its a matter of time with some consistent training I will be back in decent shape. Thinking of getting a good cycling guide book, just like the handbook I have on running by Bob Glover.

Merida 903-18

2009-04-23T09:23:00.003+08:00

I decided to purchase the Merida 903-18 which happens to be an entry level fully aluminum frame bike with a light carbon fork and Shimano Tiagra components. The bike is a size L and comes with Shimano R500 set of wheels. With the L sized frame, pedals, bottles etc it weighs approximately 9.5kg.

With two events in mind this year... the PD triathlon relay in July which I plan to take part in with Peter and Lee... and the Powerman long distance Individual in November, I shall need to fit in some time for training in between my busy schedule.

SCKLM - 21km for me

2009-04-20T18:18:00.004+08:00

I've signed up for the half marathon. Two more months to get into shape. It's been awhile since I've put in any consistent mileage, so it will take some discipline to fall into routine again. My pants are starting to feel tight already... haha so its probably about time. On a separate note, I'm considering getting a road bike and picking up cycling. Maybe even give the Powerman a shot in November.

Back in training

2009-02-12T14:55:00.002+08:00

After an 8 month lapse in training due to an ITB injury I'm glad to get back into some light training. It was also good to meet up with my running buddies Peter, Albert, Lim and Lee after such a long lapse from running with them.

I may not be taking part in that many events this year. Next run will be the Pacemaker's Wild Wild Run in March, and then perhaps followed by the Bidor half and then the Standard Chartered KL Marathon if time permits.

Work and my studies are keeping me busy. I've learnt to enjoy as much time with the family as I can while putting aside all other things, this is what has kept me going. Kids are really growing fast and its amazing the things they can get up too.

Kids are growing up fast

2008-10-03T12:29:00.002+08:00

Phuket 2008

2008-10-03T12:27:00.002+08:00

My 3rd marathon

2008-03-31T12:51:00.009+08:00

KLIM 2006 - 5h24m19s
KLIM 2007 - 5h58m24s
KLIM 2008 - 5h24m13s

I had my heart and determination set for a good finish time from Dec '07 and put that into a structured training program. But as any training program, a lot still depends on other unavoidable circumstances which might put a dent in our efforts.

The last four weeks leading up to the race seemed to be a systematic de-training or de-conditioning for me after seeing myself through a solid 3 month training that saw a tremendous improvement in my form and fitness. 18 consecutive days of completely no running or cross training followed by some last minute desperate short runs to warm up the muscles again was what I was left with to face the gruelling 42km that lay ahead of me.

In any case I'm glad for friends like Tey, Jamie and Choi who gave me the encouragement to still lace up and arrive at the starting line yesterday. I was feeling quite relaxed and ran at a constant comfortable pace for the first 21k (2h21m).

Everything was still feeling pretty good but that soon changed when my right quad started to pull just before reaching the 25k mark. I'm glad that it was just that one muscle that gave me problems this time (unlike last year) which allowed me to continue to adopt a run-walk approach for the rest of the race. Crossed the finish line with a chip time of 5h24m13s.

Sundown marathon (Singapore, 01-06-08) - Sub 5???

Photo courtesy of Tey at 37km:-

Our precious gems

2008-03-28T15:11:00.006+08:00

Picture taken 22-03-08

Road to KLIM08

2008-03-24T11:00:00.000+08:00

Updated - 24th Mar '08

Week 1 3-Dec: Gym + 4.5k 4-Dec: Rest 5-Dec: Gym + 5k 6-Dec: Rest 7-Dec: 4.5K @ home 8-Dec: Gym + 4k 9-Dec: 14.5k LSD Week's Mileage: 32.5k	Week 2 10-Dec: Gym + 4.5k 11-Dec: 7k @ home 12-Dec: 8k @ home 13-Dec: Gym + 5k 14-Dec: Rest 15-Dec: Rest 16-Dec: 18k LSD Week's Mileage: 42.5k	Week 3 17-Dec: Rest 18-Dec: 8k + Gym 19-Dec: Rest 20-Dec: 11k in Klang 21-Dec: 5k + Gym 22-Dec: Rest 23-Dec: 21k LSD Week's Mileage: 45.0k
Week 4 24-Dec: 5k + Gym 25-Dec: Rest 26-Dec: Rest 27-Dec: 8k + Gym 28-Dec: 10k @Botanic 29-Dec: Rest 30-Dec: 21k LSD Week's Mileage: 44.0k	Week 5 31-Dec: Rest 1-Jan: 13.8k PM Run 2-Jan: Rest 3-Jan: 4k+Gym+Bike 4-Jan: Rest 5-Jan: 20k 6-Jan: 10k Week's Mileage: 47.8k	Week 6 7-Jan: Row,Bike,Gym 8-Jan: Rest 9-Jan: 16k @ home 10-Jan: 8k + Gym 11-Jan: 8k @ home 12-Jan: Rest 13-Jan: 14k Week's Mileage: 46.0k
Week 7 14-Jan: 10k @ home 15-Jan: 5k + Gym 16-Jan: 10k @Botanic 17-Jan: 6k + Gym 18-Jan: Rest 19-Jan: Rest 20-Jan: GE 20k Race Week's Mileage: 51.0k	Week 8 21-Jan: 10k @ home 22-Jan: 8k + Gym 23-Jan: Rest 24-Jan: 13k @ home 25-Jan: 5k + Gym 26-Jan: Rest 27-Jan: 30k Week's Mileage: 66.0k	Week 9 28-Jan: 11k @ home 29-Jan: 9k + Gym 30-Jan: 10k 31-Jan: Rest 1-Feb: Rest 2-Feb: 5k + Gym 3-Feb: 21.5k Week's Mileage: 56.5k
Week 10 4-Feb: 10k @ home 5-Feb: 10k @ home 6-Feb: 5k + Gym 7-Feb: Rest 8-Feb: 8k @ home 9-Feb: Rest 10-Feb: 32k Week's Mileage: 65.0k	Week 11 11-Feb: 10k @ home 12-Feb: 8k + Gym 13-Feb: 10k @ home 14-Feb: Rest 15-Feb: 8k + Gym 16-Feb: Rest 17-Feb: 20k Week's Mileage: 56.0k	Week 12 18-Feb: High fever 19-Feb: High fever 20-Feb: Still down 21-Feb: Still down 22-Feb: 6k 23-Feb:16k 24-Feb: Singapore Week's Mileage: 22.0k
Week 13 25-Feb: Singapore 26-Feb: 10k 27-Feb: Rest 28-Feb: 10k 29-Feb: Rest 1-Mar: 31k 2-Mar: Rest Week's Mileage: 51.0k	Week 14 3-Mar: Muscle ache 4-Mar: Muscle ache 5-Mar: Muscle ache 6-Mar: Muscle ache 7-Mar: 3k ache 8-Mar: Overseas 9-Mar: Overseas Week's Mileage: 3.0k	Week 15 10-Mar: Overseas 11-Mar: Overseas 12-Mar: Overseas 13-Mar: Overseas 14-Mar: Shifting 15-Mar: Shifting 16-Mar: Shifting Week's Mileage: 00.0k
Week 16 17-Mar: Shifting 18-Mar: Shifting 19-Mar: Rain - Busy 20-Mar: Rain - Busy 21-Mar: 8k 22-Mar: Rest 23-Mar: 10k Week's Mileage: 18.0k	Week 17 24-Mar: Rest 25-Mar: 26-Mar: 27-Mar: 28-Mar: 29-Mar: 30-Mar: KLIM 2008 Week's Mileage: 00.0k	ALL IT TAKES IS ALL YOU GOT!

A perfect long run

2008-01-27T12:53:00.000+08:00

This week has been rather hectic for me at work and at home, especially since our new house renovation is almost completed now and there are just so many things to look into. It didn't help knowing that I needed to increase the training mileage and complete a 30k long run.

Surprisingly enough though I managed to get through the weekdays covering a total of 36km in four runs of 10k, 8k, 13k and 5k. I didn't really give much thought to the 30k run that was awaiting me on Sunday and was just hoping that I would be able to cover the distance without too much trouble at a comfortable and easy pace.

Peter didn't make it this morning, so I was running with Lee and Mani. We started at 5.05am and I was carrying my half full 600ml water bottle. At almost the 10k mark, Martin was waiting for us at the UITM hostel as planned. I proceeded to refill my bottle from the water pipe there and we continued.

The conversation with the guys and the easy pace we were running at made the run very enjoyable. The weather was excellent and cooling as well since it had rained the previous night. Our split time at the 10k mark was about 67mins and my body was feeling very relaxed.

The next 10k passing the Istana, Bukit Cahaya turnoff, Concorde hotel, PKNS and finally back to the UITM roundabout was again covered very comfortably with lots of conversation. Our split time at the 20k mark was 2h15m. Once again I proceeded to refill my bottle at the UITM tap and consumed the powergel that I had brought along. We waited there for a few minutes for Lee to catch up, said goodbye to Martin and continued on.

My legs and form were still feeling great and I kept thinking how long it would last. I hadn't run anything more than 21k since last year's KLIM and it has just been 8 weeks since I resumed training after a 5 month lapse which saw a drastic form drop and increase in weight. I concentrated on my running form as much as possible and kept my posture upright as recommended in order to increase running efficiency.

Just 5k more to go! Form still looking good, the powergel had kicked in and there was no sign of any muscle or mental fatigue. Watch showed a split of 2h50m. I continued to pace with Mani as Lee had slowed down and was left behind. It must be his post GE30k fatigue. Salute to him for running another 30k back to back!

The sun was up by now and I was enjoying the warmth it was giving. Simply maintained my pace and concentrated on my running form. With just one more kilometer to go and with no signs of fatigue or muscle tightness, we finally arrived back at the stadium with a total running time of 3h23m including the few minutes of pit stops we had made along the way.

At that point, I felt that there was still plenty of zip left in my legs. Overall condition was still very relaxed with absoultely no signs of muscle tightness. I could have continued running for another few kilometers but that's best left for the next long run. I estimate an average pace of about 6m40s per kilometer, and I'm certain the even pacing played a big part in helping me maintain my form througout the run.

Things that worked for me over the last 8 weeks:-

1. My 2 gym workouts a week have helped increase my LT levels tremendously and overall conditioned my body, helping prevent injury as I increase the mileage and training intensity.

2. Having one medium distance run mid week

3. Keeping most runs at base pace i.e. 6m18s per km with one tempo or speed workout a week

4. Endurox R4 is simply an amazing sports recovery drink that I couldn't do without

5. Discipline, discipline, discipline!

Things that worked in today's long run:-

1. Having a simple breakfast of two sliced of Gardenia toast em with one slice of cheese and one can of Ali Cafe! (Hehe)

2. Cool weather as it rained the night before

3. Great pacers and good conversation

4. Even pacing, simply one of the most important things for me. Helps preserve glycogen stores!

5. NB 1061 even at the end of its lifespan was simply great! Immaculate cushioning. Too bad I could not get another pair at Albert's shop as they are out of size and waiting for the 1062 to hit stores in March. Perhaps I must try other NB outlets. The 756 I picked up is not as smooth and is a little rigid. I hope it gets better as I break it in.

6. New NB coolmax imported socks, comes with special left and right sock. Simply cannot feel the sweat while running, but after the run if you squeeze the socks it will result in a pool of water at your feet! Cinya unbelievable! Simply must try, only RM20 per pair at NB outlet.

7. Carrying my own water bottle (half full) and being able to sip whenever I wanted. The UITM tap is at a very convenient location (9km, 21km)

8. Pinning the power gel to my shorts. Yes I succeeded and it was unbelievably comfortable. Did not feel its presence at all throughout the run.

So now, with all this you might be asking what my target is for KLIM? Well to be honest I don't have a target apart from wanting to RUN the full distance without walking! Can I do it?? I don't know! Now with 8 more weeks to go, I just hope that injury stays away and I keep up my good form and be able to peak just as the event draws near. One thing I have learnt is that pacing and patience is key to running a good race! So guys and gals out there, know your pace and your form on race day and stick to it and you will be surprised at what you can achieve.

Happy Running!

Chiew Chin's visit to Korea

2008-01-13T22:24:00.001+08:00

Isabelle turns 2 months

2008-01-13T22:00:00.000+08:00

Nicholas goes to school

2008-01-13T21:44:00.000+08:00

It seems like just yesterday that we were playing with a little bouncy baby boy, and last week we had to see him off to school. Nick has started going to kindergarten and we hope he settles in fast and enjoys his time there.

What lies ahead?

2008-01-06T23:09:00.000+08:00

2008 was ushered in without any resolutions being made as I intent to take everything as it comes while fulfilling my commitments and responsibilities.

Nicholas, while just having turned 4 in December, has started going to kindergarten. He seems to have adjusted quite quickly but it will take some time before he starts mixing with the other children and making friends. Perhaps we should have sent him a year ago, but we felt it might be too soon and didn't want to pressure him as some parents do with their toddlers these days.

Isabelle who just turned 7 weeks old seems to be growing well, drinking well and sleeping well. Besides the occasional restless night, she only wakes up once in the night for her feed. Having a big baby does make parents life much easier most of the time, especially when they tend to drink more during each feed thus being able to sleep longer.

Chiew Chin is still on maternity leave and goes back to work officially on 14 Jan. However she leaves for South Korea on a company incentive holiday for 5 days on the 8th. It will be a well deserved break for her before having to get back to a rigid and monotonous routine. I shall be filling in as home dad for 5 days while she is away. We are in the process of getting a maid but there are some unexpected delays so we have to manage for now.

As for my running, my updated training log in my 'Road to KLIM' post gives all the details of how that has been going. My gym workouts have definitely been helping me build some well needed muscular strength that enhances my endurance which running alone would never be able to do.

Will the KL Marathon materialise this year? Announcements have just been made for the impending general elections and that might be a sign that we might possibly have to forgo running in this annual event this year. Anyway lets hope for some good news and even if KLIM isn't on there will be other events to look forward to. For me the next definite marathon shall be the Sundown Marathon in Singapore which I've signed up for.

I would like to wish all my friends and fellow runners a very blessed and happy new year. God willing I hope to see you guys and gals and some of the races this year. As time permits I shall choose the events that I hope to participate in this year carefully. Take care and God bless!

New bundle of joy

2007-12-05T14:14:00.000+08:00

Isabelle Ann, born at 1.08pm 14th November 2007. Weight 4.11kg through natural birth. Here are some pictures of her at 20 days.

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50th Merdeka Celebrations

2007-08-31T10:11:00.000+08:00

Happy Birthday Grandma

2007-08-31T09:43:00.000+08:00

Soul searching and priorities

2007-06-26T15:00:00.000+08:00

The most important thing to happen this June was my rediscovering of God's grace, love and patience towards me. In this past 5 years I seemed to have wandered far away from Him and yet in His unfailing love and grace He has not given up on me. Praise be to God forevermore!

Work has taken a slight setback after our company lost two major accounts. Things are still uncertain at this stage but there are a few decent sized projects which are looking quite positive. We shall know for certain how things are going to turn out only in a few months time. Worst case scenario - have to gulung tikar, but we are quite positive it wont amount to that, God willing.

While work in the office is slow, this means I have more time in my hands which is good. I've just started my dissertation research module which happens to be the last stage of my Masters. From what I can see so far, it's going to be tough as expected and will require some serious discipline on my end. My boss is supportive and allows me time to work on this since we don't have much to do anyhow.

Running?? Yes I've been doing a little running here and there. Average mileage for the past month maybe about 20k per week. Weight training sessions are still continuing with 2 to 3 sessions a week. Oh yes and my recent blood test results show me to be in tip top condition! Praise God for that too!

Now, the reduced running mileage and moderate exercise while keeping me fit has also surprisingly left me feeling so much less tired both mentally and physically. I just realise that constant training to be in race form with high mileage has been a real drain on me. This also resulted in me very often neglecting quality time with the family due to fatigue.

I think that I've found the right balance for me now and shall stick to it with priorities being put in my relationship with God and also my family. Next would be to give my best towards completing my studies. Running will always be my passion and there will be many more road races to look forward to including full marathons, but just not now.

Time to slow it down!

2007-06-05T11:40:00.000+08:00

We were in Lumut over the weekend for a short retreat with our church home fellowship. Stayed at the Marina Cove Resort which was very well kept and quite nice. Here I was reminded that I need to slow down the pace in my life and take time to just reflect on God's goodness and faithfullness. Psalm 46:10 "Be still and know that I am God"

Nicholas enjoying the beach in his Hawaian suit.

The beautiful view from our balcony and my beautiful wife.

The resort even has a water theme park as you can see in the background.

I didnt even know my camera had a professional mode. A brother taught me how to change the settings to get this remarkable colour in the picture.

Pooltime!

New Balance 15k '07

2007-05-22T16:20:00.000+08:00

This time drove to race site alone instead of car pooling with other Klang kaki. Might just do that for other races as it makes it convenient to go back early and attend bible study in church. Wow the number of participants seemed like it had doubled since last year. Sure enough I found out later that 1500 runners had turned up!

As planned I started really slow and only slightly picked up the pace after 5k. I had a few fast workouts during the week and just wanted to complete the distance considering the terrain was already hilly. Even took some extended walking breathers at the water stations and one final one at tani hill before turning onto the palace road.

Overall it was an enjoyable run. Completed the race in 1h 34m, quite a few minutes slower than last year's 1h 28m. As suspected my leg muscles felt mildly sore on Monday as my longest run for the last 5 weeks was just 8k. On a positive note, there is no sign of the tendonitis returning!

Postponed marathon

2007-05-10T16:52:00.000+08:00

In view of my injury with took 3 weeks to fully recover, I am not going to Penang this year. I will choose another marathon to participate in when I have the time to train again. I've kept fit these few week's by some shorter runs, weight training and swimming.

I will be running the New Balance 15k on May 20th but will take part to just have some fun. My next serious race will be the Subang Jaya 10k on July 1st, followed by the PJ Half marathon on August 12th. No targets set for either race for now.

Worse than expected

2007-04-21T09:36:00.000+08:00

The injury is worse than expected. The anti inflammatories get the swelling down and pain subsides by morning but after walking around the whole day its back by night. This is going to take longer than expected to cure.

Meanwhile I shall not be running. Tomorrow's Power Run is off for me then. No point risking long term injury. I shall be taking Nick to the swimming complex today and hope to get a workout there myself.

Extensor Tendinitis

2007-04-19T10:39:00.000+08:00

I am down with an injury called extensor tendinitis. I believe it occured during last Saturday's long run. There was a dull pain after Sat's run at the top of my left foot but it went away quickly. I did not feel any pain while running my tempo on Monday but as soon as I finished running I felt it.

Icing the foot and oral anti inflamatories helped and I did not feel any pain yesterday before my evening run. After 1k I started feeling a slight pain but by km 3 it was gone. The pain returned after my run. Once again icing the foot and the oral anti inflamatories with rest has helped and the pain is gone today. I need to rest completely for a few days and continue treatment.

I shall leave my Penang bridge marathon registration to the very last minute. There is a possibility of switching to the half marathon if I can't get in sufficient training or if ANY injury occurs or persists.

Description

The extensor tendons to the foot come from the relatively small muscles in the front of the leg. The two main extensor muscles are the Extensor Hallucis Longus muscle (EHL) and the Extensor Digitrorum Longus muscle (EDL).

The tendons from these muscles cross the front of the ankle, pass across the top of the foot and attach into the big toe (EHL) and lesser toes (EDL). These tendons function to pull the foot upward and work with resistance from the Achilles tendon and the calf muscles (flexor muscle group) that pulls the foot downward.

Cause of Extensor Tendonitis:

When these tendons become over stressed they become inflamed and painful. Swelling may accompany the inflammation. Most commonly it is the extensor tendon to the big toe (EHL) that is affected. In other instances the extensor tendons to the lesser toes (EDL) is affected. The most common factors that cause extensor tendonitis are excessive tightness of the calf muscles, over exertion during exercise and falling of the foot arch.

A simple test to determine if the pain on the top of the foot is due to extensor tendonitis is to flex the foot downward and have a friend provide resistance to the top of the toes. Try to pull the toes upward against resistance. If you experience pain across the top of the foot or along the course of a tendon on the top of the foot then the diagnosis is likely extensor tendonitis.

Treatment:

In mild cases of extensor tendonitis treatment consists of calf muscle stretching and oral anti-inflammatory medications. In more sever cases treatment may include a removable below the knee cast, calf muscle stretching and oral anti-inflammatory medications. Many podiatrists may also recommend long term treatment with inserts for the shoes called orthotics

10 weeks countdown

2007-04-15T21:51:00.000+08:00

These last three weeks I have to keep reminding myself... Accept and appreciate the fact that not every single run can be a good one... Don’t think too much about it or you won’t do it... Even a bad run is better then no run at all. It has been a struggle so far but I'm positive it can only get better!

I'm not overly happy with my mileage logged so far but I have decided to listen to the body and adjust accordingly. I shall also adjust my race goals appropriately as race day gets nearer and I'm able to judge my level of fitness. In the next 10 weeks the key is to 'somehow' enjoy the experience of training hard in the midst of pain (if this is possible).

Yesterday's failure to complete the planned 25k means I will be skipping the Power Run next week to re-attempt the 25k. Instead of taking part in the New Balance 15k, I've decided to take part in the Centennial Half Marathon in Ipoh on May 6th as the distance would be more appropriate to fit into my training program.

Diverting away from the topic of running now, my wife is suffering from some bad pregnancy sickness again. With Nicholas, it lasted till the fifth month so we are hoping it does not last nearly as long this time. This time it gets worse at night. Do any of you mothers or ladies out there or even guys have any tips on how to ease this feeling of nausea?

This month is a stressful month at the office. The next few weeks could be crucial in indicating what direction the company's business will take in the next two years. There is one major contract renewal pending and a few more crucial pilot projects we hope to get a long term contract for. I have a positive feeling that we are going to have a good year.

Well it's time to get Nicholas ready for bed now. Here come's the little guy calling me now. Sometimes it's quite fun just to sit and watch him play by himself. He's growing up so fast that it amazes us. It won't be long before he's all grown up and will not be calling me saying 'Papa can you play with me or not?'.

A gift from above

2007-04-09T17:19:00.000+08:00

Psalm 127:3 - Behold, children are a gift of the LORD, The fruit of the womb is a reward.

Having Nicholas has been one of the biggest blessing both my wife and I have had. He brings such colour and joy into our lifes and we can't imagine what it would be without him. The bible says that children are a gift from God and that we are supposed to bring them up in His likeness.

Being a parent can have its share of difficulty and frustrations, but beyond that the satisfaction and joy of the daily antics that we go through with the child is something not to be missed by married couples who can have children.

Yes you might find that you have less time for yourself, and sometimes even each other, but we have never once regretted and I'm sure you will find the same joy and satisfaction once you have children of your own. So to my friends who are still waiting for the 'right' time, now is that time!

I'm getting quite excited at the thought of our second little one arriving in November and Nick has already planned by himself which of his Toys he would share with his new sister or brother. Making him feel important and part of the pregnancy has made him quite excited about the new baby as well.

Do your duty

2007-04-02T20:30:00.000+08:00

During the last elections, I was almost certain I had registered successfully as a voter, but when the time came it turned out I was on an overseas assignment and could not do my duty as a responsible citizen.

I was quite surprised when I met some election counsel staff in Tesco sometime last year and through their online system found out that I was actually not successfully registered as a voter. So once again I filled in all the required forms and got them submitted.

I'm glad to see that this time I'm on the list. Browse to http://daftarj.spr.gov.my/daftarbi.asp and check your status if you have not already done so. Are you one of the 4.9 million eligible voters that have yet to register?

Relevant running tips and advice

2007-03-28T14:23:00.000+08:00

I was browsing Complete Running Network and came across some useful tips and advice which are relevant to me now...

1. Always try to balance running with the people you love by making a schedule that involves and is considerate of everyone.

2. Don’t neglect and irritate your family and friends by spending all your time running and talking about running.

3. Remember that you will have plateaus in your progress and tough days along the way.

4. Accept and appreciate the fact that not every single run can be a good one.

5. Be prepared to remove the words “can’t” and “never” from your vocabulary.

6. Do not compare yourself to others. Run within yourself and for yourself first.

7. Don’t expect every run to be better than the last one; some of them will hurt.

8. Don’t think too much about it or you won’t do it.

9. Even a bad run is better then no run at all.

10. Each pound you lose makes running a little easier.

11. On long runs eat something every hour—whether you feel like it or not (should I practice this? maybe give it a try).

12. To aid recovery the most crucial time to eat and drink is in the hour immediately after you run.

13. Hydrate. Make it a habit to drink water throughout the day (very often forgotten).

14. Do not increase your mileage more than 10 percent per week.

15. Log your mileage for your legs and your Shoes. Too much on either will cause you injury.

16. Do not run two hard days back-to-back.

17. Ice aches and pains immediately.

18. Pay attention to your form. Try to run lightly to minimize impact that could lead to injury.

19. Don’t stretch before a run. Warm up by walking briskly or jogging slowly for several minutes (this works for me, stretching before a run has resulted in muscle pulls during the run).

20. Do not use the hot tub after a race. It will increase inflammation and hinder healing (this I presume includes hot showers).

21. Race day is not the day to try new shoes, eat new foods, or wear brand new clothing (learnt the hard way!).

22. If you conserve your energy during the first half of a race, you can finish strong.

23. Try shoes on in the afternoon when your feet are bigger (will do this when buying my new pair).

24. No amount of money spent on gadget training programs or funny food can substitute for minutes, hours, days and weeks on the road.

25. Do speedwork after you develop an endurance base.

26. Practice running harder in the last half of your runs.

27. Do abdominal breathing to get rid of side cramps or “stitches.”

28. If you can’t find the time to run, take your running gear to work (must start this practice again since I have a shower in the office)

29. Forgive yourself. Over-ambitious goals usually lead to frustration and giving up on your fitness plan. If you miss a goal or milestone let it go and focus on the next opportunity to get it.

30. Mix-up your training plan. Make sure your training plan is not too heavily focused on one thing. No matter what level of runner you are your training plan should include four essential elements: endurance speed rest cross-training.

So now let see how I can use these tips to work towards a good race in Penang!

Special day

2007-03-26T14:21:00.000+08:00

A short holiday to Genting to celebrate mummy's birthday was planned some time back. Nick has been looking forward to this trip for a long time as we had printed pictures of all the rides and attractions he could go on and he had already planned everything he was going to do there.

It turned out he really did enjoy himself there, but it was even more special to mummy and papa as we had just found out a day earlier that we are to be mummy and papa a second time round. Baby is due sometime in November, we shall be confirming the estimated due date with the doctor today.

Tired...tired...tired

2007-03-26T13:57:00.000+08:00

Trying to whip myself back into shape is going to take a lot of discipline. Getting back the kind of determination and discipline I had almost 2 years ago when I started the journey and shed 15kg before attempting my first marathon is going to be tough. I'm up 5kg since last year's KLIM.

I've just been feeling so tired recently with work really taking a lot out of me, and the rest of my time I try to spend with the family. Having signed up for the PBIM which will happen on June 24th, I must really get my act together and start a regular training program with decent mileage. I need to also get a new pair of running shoes.

AmBank KL International Marathon 2007

2007-03-18T20:49:00.000+08:00

Three months ago when Lim asked me whether he should register me for the full marathon, I opted to run the half instead. I was on a roll at that time, consistently improving my times in training and was comfortably able to run 20k in 1h50m and wanted to clock a good time for the 21k.

It turned out 2007 was to be a really busy year in the office and also in other commitments. My weekly mileage slowly dwindled and there were weeks I could not run at all. It's just amazing how long it taked to build up fitness but how easy it is to lose it. Just two weeks of no running could result in almost total loss for me, perhaps not for some seasoned runners.

Two days before the KLIM I suddenly felt the urge to run the 42k in KLIM. Knowing well I would probably run my worst 21k, I decided I might as well attempt to complete the 42k instead, and try to do it inside the qualifying time of 6 hours.

I knew that plenty of suffering would probably come with this but wanted to know what it would be like to run the marathon completely untrained and unprepared. Facing my worst fears might be the best way to become a better marathon runner. So anyhow it turned out I managed to get a bib to run the 42k from Ronnie and Justin readily took over my 21k bib.

At the starting point with Lim, Lee, Peter, Albert, SJ and others

The only thing that I felt good about was that I had enough sleep on Saturday. Everything else I was going to take it as it comes. Tey asked me to pace with him till 20k and then take it from there. We started slow at almost a 7 min pace. The 10k mat was shifted further down this year. We crossed it in about 1h12m.

I was still feeling ok at that point, considering my longest run was about 8 to 9k in the past 2 months. I could sense we were slowing down once we turned right at Dewan Bahasa heading towards Loke Yew. Tey snapped a couple of my pics before we reached the 15k mark, thanks bro!

I started to lose Tey when we were closing in the 15k water station. I thought he must be busy taking some photos but it turned out later that he started to get cramps. I passed Abu later who was walking and had a fever and cheered him on. I ran the next couple of kilometers with Yong from KLCC before he picked up the pace.

I was still feeling strong at my easy pace as I closed in the 18k mark but that's when the dreaded cramps started to hit. What turned out to be slight muscle pulls became bad cramps after I passed the 20k mark. I passed Lim at that point as well doing some stretching. Crossed the 21k at exactly 2h31m compared to last years timing of 2h25m.

When I reached somewhere around the 23k mark somewhere on Bukit Bintang road, both my hamstrings were hit with such severe cramps that I almost fell to the ground. Stretching did not help much so I moved to the side and just didnt know what to do. It was almost 5 minutes before I was able to start walking.

At this point I didn't know if I should try running or not, never experiencing this kind of muscle cramps before. I just tried running a few steps and brisk walking back to Dataran, thinking whether I should continue or give up at this point. The 21k runners were completing their run around that time and many of the guys cheered me on as they passed me.

I reached Dataran in about 3h20m and decided to continue. I've never DNF any race and didn't want to start. Lim caught up with me by then and was an encouragement, thanks captain! The rest of the race was pure suffering. Cramps would hit if I tried runing more than 20 seconds. I was forced to change my strategy to time myself in walking.

Lim helped me a lot along the way, even getting me to sit down and help me stretch. I knew that I had to walk no slower than 10 minutes per km in order to finish inside 6 hours. I passed the 30k mark in exactly 4 hours. At 32k I had to sit down and get help to stretch again. Cheong passed me at that point, well done to him for his maiden marathon!

At 38k, I saw Tey on the opposite side of the road just about 500m behind me. I was looking out for him to catch up but he never did. His cramps were much worse than expected. As I approached Dataran, I was glad it was over but never once regretted the decision to take part.

Thanks to all the Pacemakers and friends who were there to cheer me to the finish line. Thanks to Lee who welcomed me at the finish line. Even in the last 100m the cramps just wouldn't let go as I tried to run across the finish line clocking 5h59m with just 1 minute to spare! This is one experience that I'm sure will help me quite a bit in my future marathons.

Well done to all my Klang running buddies who did well today. Especially Albert who clocked 4h32m, you are one strong and determined dude! Well done to all runners who had the determination to complete the race today, whether in the 21k or 42k. Keep on running and see you at other races!

Long & hard route back

2007-03-12T16:33:00.000+08:00

Work hard, relax and enjoy... that's what I've been doing in the past month. But the 'work hard' part of it was not in my running which has taken a backseat. My waistline can prove it or maybe even the weighing machine! Up 4kg from the last 2 months!!

I think I have run enough to keep my aerobic fitness at a basic level where I would not suffer too much in making a comeback, but it's the shedding of the extra pounds that's going to take a lot of effort now.

Initially I was contemplating on not turning up at the starting line of this Sunday's KL marathon. But after Peter called me and convinced me to sign up for the full marathon in Penang (all for the sake of an extra t-shirt and a touch-n-go card with RM10 credit), I decided it's time to get back into gear and see what's left in me.

There is this nagging doubt that I will have the committment and will power to see through the next 3 months of training for my second 42k feat, but we shall see soon enough. Anyway this Sunday will give me a true picture of where I am in my fitness level.

Oh yes... about my enjoying life, I've been in Johannesburg for the last 2 weeks and it was a blast. My company covered all expenses with no limits so it was a blast of a time! But of course I got a lot of work done there and it was a productive session.

That one golf session I had didn't do me any good as it's left me with a badly injured back with the pain shooting all the way to my ribcage. It just does not want to go away as I thought it would after awhile, which means I'll be running on painkillers this Sunday!

Dull holiday season

2007-02-23T12:32:00.000+08:00

Hey people, what have you all been up to during CNY? I was off only till Tuesday and back to work on Wednesday. Visited family and friends as usual on the first two days and just relaxed on Tuesday. Don't know why but I've been feeling really really exhausted recently and mentally drained.

I've run a little last Thursday, Saturday, Monday, Tuesday and yesterday. Most runs were short 6k runs, but when I stepped on the weighing machine last night and it showed I had put on over 2kg in one month, I put on my shoes at 11.30pm and ran 10k. Purposely stashed my watch in the drawer because if I had monitored my speed, I would have given up before completing.

I am contemplating runing/jogging 20k tomorrow morning, but my wife's family are coming over tonight and it could be a late night. But if I don't do it, there might not be more chances for long runs before KLIM as I leave for JoBurg tomorrow night for a 10 day conference. So I might just drag myself out of bed (Ya right DK!).

I'm back!

2007-02-15T13:54:00.000+08:00

Hey everyone! It's been awhile since I've even come to my blog let alone update it. Finally after 8 weeks of working daily till midnight or 1am I can sit back and relax! I just submitted my final paper for what is considered one of the hardest module in my masters programme, and I'm pretty happy with it.

Now it's time for CNY celebrations, yes!! But I must not forget to get back into my running shoes since I've not run at all for the past two weeks. Speaking about running, my beloved Nikes have to be retired, I just realised that one part of the sole has actually torn off, it must have happenned during the GE30k.

So looks like I need to use my NB until I find the time to get another pair. I will not rush into it this time, must be sure that it will be a pair that works for me. Top of the list is the Saucony Trigon 4 which I need to try. So anyway, here's wishing all of you a very happy CNY, Xin Nien Kwai Ler!

True friends!

2007-01-24T12:20:00.000+08:00

I've really not had the time to update my blog or even visit the Pacemaker's shoutbox anymore. Actually I've been still faithfully training as usual, leading up to GE30k last Sunday, and had some really high hopes in doing well in that race.

But due to my kiasuness and over confidence, it ended up a disaster with me completing in a much worse time than even last year when I had just started running. Anyway to cut the story short, the main cause was an overdose of Powerbar which caused me severe indigestion and stomach cramps from the 2km mark right up to the finish.

To make matters worse, my well rested legs were also not performing and for the first time in my running history I suffered from some bad cramps on both legs right from the 15km mark. Even in KLIM last year I only felt some slight muscle pulls. Anyway this is a good lesson learnt that I need to both respect the distance and stick to what is familiar during a race and not try something new!

The funny and touching thing is that my dear buddies the Pacemakers thought that I was wallowing and in sorrow over this bad performance and today I received a series of emails from them encouraging me. This really helped me remember a posting I wrote last year where I said to me running is actually more of the friendship I foster with my running buddies rather than race day performances.

Anyway guys, just so you know I am fine and totally cool about my disappointing performance. It's just work that has been keeping me busy and will continue to keep me busy, thus reducing the time I spend in the CBOX. A big thank you to all of you for your encouragement and kind words! Btw, I'm not done with der marathon yet lah! Still plenty waiting for me, just that I need to make sure I respect the distance as some of you put it, and participate only when I really can afford the time to train for it.

Yours in running forever!

DK

Jamie wrote...

DK

I admit that I was in 2 minds to email you but after thinking for 2 days (see I really think about you!) I thought that I can't be considered a friend if I don't do it. Also I'd have failed to live up to the adage of runners helping runners if I don't write you. Therefore here's this mail written in all frankness and I think I speak the same as your other running kakis. So please don't be upset and if I somehow come across as harsh, please pardon my writing.

I have to admit that you're not the only one disappointed with your results. I was curious as to the reason why you took 2 bars which I think led to the start of the problems. In any case what's done is done. Recognize the mistake but never dwell on it. Move on.

As corny it may sound, what didn't kill us will make us stronger and I think it's generally true. It's often how one reacts to setbacks that one becomes the wiser for it. I don't doubt that you can bounce back or run much faster and I'm sure you know that fact too. Your improvements over the Hartamas route is proof that you're already a better runner. Once you've built up the experience and patience, results will just improve (not everytime but definitely on the upward trend).

Old fashion wisdom always hold true for us (gifted ones like CB Leow and Chen don't count).

1. Never try new food/techniques/shoes in a race.
2. Respect and train the distance. Anything over 20K can do lots to the underprepared and performances under 20K can't be used to gauge the performances over 20K.
3. Patience. In terms of training and strategies.
4. Confidence. This quality is gained after ingesting the above 3 points,

Your decision to stay away from 30K and the marathon is not the answer. I'm one who believes that the more I fail at a distance, the more I want to succeed in it. Neither should you withdraw into a shell. You have friends who are very supportive of you and that's your source of inspiration to bouncing back. So come back running and of course to the Shoutbox when you can. Paula Radcliffe failed big time through a combination of sickness and the weight of expectations in Athens. But she bounced back in style by winning New York just 3 months after that. You can do that too.

What's New?

2007-01-08T11:34:00.000+08:00

I've not had much time for blogging recently and at the same time no mood lah. The long holiday seemed to have turned my clock upside down as I slept late and woke up late almost everyday. Getting back into the normal routine has been tough. So what's new??

This is what's new!

With GE30k just round the corner, I know that I've not been putting in enough mileage to be able to complete the distance comfortably. I've struggled to maintain my weekly mileage of 40k for the past few weeks. I guess it could partly be due to fatigue as I improve the quality of my workouts.

This method of low mileage (recommended by Chen) seems to work for me. With one hard speedwork session, one hard LSD and a couple of tempo runs per week I seem to be improving much faster compared to my high mileage training days. But I have yet to prove this to be effective for any distance beyond 21k.

An example of my fitness improvement...

Route: Klang Stadium > Shah Alam UITM > Klang Stadium
Measured Distance: 20.1k

Timing - 6 Aug 2006: 2hrs 4min 37secs (Still remember I pushed all out and almost want to collapse)
Timing - 31 Dec 2006: 1hr 54min 54sec (Felt like quite an easy effort)
Timing - 7 Jan 2007: 1hr 50min 12sec (Still felt like I had some gas left)

Blessed 2007!

2007-01-02T12:32:00.000+08:00

I've been on leave since Dec 22nd. The holidays and long break shall come to an end after today. It's been a good break away from the daily routines with plenty of late nights and sleeping in. I had a little Christmas do on the 24th night at my place and some of the Pacemakers and Pacesetters turned up. Thanks guys for coming and also for the gifts.

What I've enjoyed the most in this past two weeks is spending more time with Nick as I don't normally get to do that. It also gave me a little time for reflecting on the year 2006, and this got me realising that I need to have more of a balance with my family, church and running... in that exact order. I don't list work here, because work will always be there from 9 to 6, Mondays to Fridays.

I don't have any big resolutions for the year 2007 as most lofty resolutions are never seen through. A quote from today's Daily Bread Devotional "Many of our New Year’s resolutions may actually accelerate our pace of life instead of helping us to slow down. In a quest for greater productivity and efficiency, we overschedule our days, then rush through meals, drive impatiently, and wonder why the joy of living eludes us." My only two goals for the year are to refresh myself with God and spend more time with my family.

Work is definitely not going to be as free as it was in 2006. We just secured a few more projects locally and overseas... for instance OCBC bank, UOB bank and Malaysian Airlines. This is a good sign that things will start picking up after some sluggish growth in the past year. This will mean less time spent at the CBOX so you guys shall be free of my empty chatter haha!

Now let's talk about running... hmmmm. I've just browsed through the 2007 running calendar and have identified the key races I shall take part in. These may have to change as the year's committments change, my overall target is to get 10 medals for the year.

Possible 2007 Races

1. GE 30k - 21st Jan 2007
2. KLIM 42k - 18 March 2007
3. Power Run 10k - 22 April 2007
4. NB PACM 15k - 20 May 2007
5. Pg Bridge Marathon 22k - 24 June 2007
6. Ipoh Half - Date TBC
7. PJ Half - Date TBC
8. Subang Jaya 10k - Date TBC
9. Klang 10k - Date TBC
10. Putrajaya Marathon 21k - Date TBC
11. Singapore Marathon 21k - 2 Dec 2007

2007 Race time targets

10k - 47 mins
21k - 1h 55mins
42k - 4h 45mins

Here's wishing all of the PM's and my running buddies and blog readers a very blessed and successful 2007. May you strive for more excellence in everything you do while remembering and spending more time on the more important things in life like your family! God bless all of you!

Kilometer challenge

2006-12-18T17:11:00.000+08:00

I have a friendly challenge to those of you who drive either a Waja, any 1600cc car or any vehicle with a 60 litre fuel tank. Try to beat my record of 900kms on one tank of petrol.

Penang Island Relay 2006

2006-12-18T12:51:00.000+08:00

I must begin by saying this was absolutely the most enjoyable event I've taken part in since starting to run. A big thanks to the entire team of runners and supporters! We might not have won but we did our best and had fun so that really is whats important.

This was a relay around Penang island covering a total distance of 72.6km. Each runner had to run different legs covering various distances. There were a total of 12 runners in the team and I was running the 5th leg, covering a distance of 5km.

The Adidas Pacemakers team!

We had chartered a bus that would take us to the starting point, and also to be uses for transporting our supporters from point to point where we can cheer our runners. The bus would also then pick up the runners who had completed their legs. Other teams used vans or cars and some waited for the organiser bus to pick them up.

Arriving at the starting point before 6am, the site was still quite empty. We got our bibs and started pinning them on. After some briefing from the PAAA officials, we were soon put on different buses to be transported to our various stations.

Our first and last two runners

Richard in the starting lineup, ready to pia!

I was able to see some action from the first runners while being transported to my station. My bus had runners from the 5th, 6th and 7th legs. Exchanged the usual 'Pia kau kau' with Ronnie and Khoo before getting off the bus at the station. I didn't know any of the other runners there except for Naidu.

I was feeling nervous when I saw that the hill that I would start on was quite steep. I just tried to calm myself and relax as much as possible. The first runner to arrive was from Ah Choon club (Team A), followed by Brooks running club (Team C).

Then there was a small gap before the next runner from 02 Hiking (Team F) arrived with the runner from BM Leopard (Team E) just few hundred metres behind. Wow.. where was Sim??? That's when all of a sudden from nowhere a busload of PMs arrived. 'Sim is coming... Sim is coming!!' they said. Yayyyy it's time for some action... but my heart was going DUGUP DUGUP DUGUP by then haha!

Sim passing me the baton

Once Sim arrived and had passed me the baton, I shot of as fast as I could up the hill. Only 500m I told myself... only 500m uphill then all the way down.. come on Dinesh you can do this! In just a few minutes you could hear me breathing 'HOO HAA HOO HAA'... looked at the watch.. 2m30s, can't be long now DK!

A minute later... ok anytime now... its gonna be a breeze, looking at the watch awhile later 4min and still no sign of the hill ending. What the heck is happening?? Thinking to myself by now "I am going to kill the person who game me the wrong info!" Thats when a bunch of rowdy PMs passed by in the bus and started screaming GO DK!!

Grrrrr! Still 'HOO HAA HOO HAA' up and up and up.. watch shows 5mins... watch shows 6mins... 'HOO HAA HOO HAA' ... almost 7min... ahhhh finally YES!! YES!! I see the light! By then I was almost wrecked for pushing my limit on the hill, that I just could not get back my breath soon enough on the downhill to take advantage of it.

A couple of kilometers down, I saw my loyal fans once again.. oh yes it's finally going to be over I thought!! They had disembarked from the bus and were waving at me from a distance. As I got closer... something was amiss... no sign of any other teams. "Where is the finishing?" I asked. "Not far DK... go DK".

By then I had gotten back my breath and was able to push the pace again. The team passed me on the bus cheering me again and this gave me some strength to push harder. About 5 minutes later when I turned a corner I was able to see the runners and supporters at station 6. Khoo was already ready in position to take the baton from me. With just over hundred meters to go I dug deep into my reserve tank and made a mad dash to the finish before handing Khoo the baton.

Passing the baton to Khoo. My overall timing for 5k was 22m25s.

I was feeling very happy and excited by then and had forgotten my intentions to kill the person who had given me the wrong info about the route. Later I found out from one of the veteran team runners who had run leg 5 for the past few years that the distance uphill was actually 1.6km before the downhill stretch starts. I'll be better prepared next year!

After warming down a little we had to quickly get on the bus and follow Khoo to give him our support. The rest of the event was filled with fun for me. Following the runners from point to point and cheering them and taking pictures while waiting for batons to be passed on. It was an amazing experience and I hope to take part in this relay again next year.

Adam, our video camera man and reserve runner waiting for more action to capture

Group picture with Abu (pm44) while he waits for the baton

Lai passing the baton to Abu

CM (in blue), our timekeeper and reserve runner

Mr. Pia catching his breath before getting on the bus

Fun on the bus

More fun on the bus

The noisiest bunch in the bus

Captain carrying out his duties as a waterboy

Discussing strategy

Our biggest supporter

Powerman Eric trying his level best to make up for the lost time

Our superstar Kelvin finally gets his chance to pia after waiting for 5 hours

Yes!! Yes!! We made it!

Kelvin's coach having a personal word with him... "Why so slow ah?"

Our latest Pacemaker members.. Abu(elder brother) and Saiful(younger brother)

Chilling out in the shade while waiting for the last few teams to finish

Every team gets a finisher medal. The top 3 teams get position medals

A thing of the past

2006-12-10T19:59:00.000+08:00

How many of you have realised by now that the parking charges at the car park next to the KLCC mosque has been increased from the RM1 per entry (after 6pm) to a tier system where we now pay RM2 for the first one hour and followed by RM1 per subsequent hour?

The moment they increased these charges, the car park was more than half empty and some desperate people started parking at the road shoulders. There was one day when I was paying the new parking charges and I was laughing when I heard the car park booth attendant speaking to the management office and was being instructed to call the authorities to fine the cars parked at the roadside.

I was not at all surprised when this happenned, since the price or cost of almost everything is just going up every other day. However it made my decision of not running at KLCC regularly anymore much easier. Another reason why I was already contemplating this move was because of the terrible traffic congestion from Jln Tun Razak all the way to the turn off onto Kesas no matter what time I left. I can leave at 3pm...4pm...5pm...6pm...7pm...8pm...9pm...and sometimes even 10pm and it would make no difference.

Traffic jam on the KL-Seremban road at 9.30pm on Friday

The traffic on Friday night was the last straw for me. I shall be going back home as soon as I finish my work each day regardless of the time. It will be much easier to just put on my shoes when I get home, do a little running and then spend more time with the family. I shall miss my runs with some of you guys but thats the way it has to be for now.

Nick turns 3

2006-12-04T15:02:00.000+08:00

Eagarly opening the biggest parcel

A full set of his favourite toys "Bob The Builder" including Muck, Scoop, Dizzy, Lofty & Roley

Exercising his vocal chords

Thank you... thank you!

Hey papa, I have great big lungs like you too!

Mummy, should I really cut this pretty cake?

Well, what the heck... here goes nothing!

Oh yummmmmyyy!!

My runs in Australia

2006-12-01T19:34:00.000+08:00

I shall be getting on the plane back to Malaysia tomorrow night. It's been a good holiday and some good running. My mileage logged over the past one week here...

Sat, Nov 25 - 10km (Riverstone, Sydney)
Sun, Nov 26 - 10km (Riverstone, Sydney)
Tue, Nov 28 - 6km (Clayton, Melbourne)
Wed, Nov 29 - 15km (Clayton, Melbourne)
Friday, Dec 1 - 18km (Clayton, Melbourne)

I planned a 21k today and was all for it, but tripped and fell right after the 18k mark and cut myself in a few places. Nothing too serious but I decided to call it a day. I'm generally happy with my last two runs. Clocked 15km on Wed in 1h 20mins, and 18km today in 1h 40mins. There was hardly any fatigue and I'm as fresh as before I started running as I type this. How I wish we had such weather in Malaysia!

Should be fine in a couple of days

Sister's graduation

2006-11-30T21:32:00.000+08:00

Introducing Dr. Shalini Kumaran

Picture of the graduation hall

Waiting anxiously for the big moment

Sha with her best friends of five years

Sha and her Ozy mates

The paper they all worked so hard for the last seven years! I'm sure there is more to it than that paper right gals?

Could be the last family shot in a long time. Too bad dad could not make it.

The cameraman of the day. Had to attend to both the video camera and digital still camera.

Update from the land down under

2006-11-29T21:12:00.000+08:00

It's been a good 5 days with lots of time spent with my sisters and mum. I was in Sydney from Saturday till Tuesday visiting my elder sister, and just flew in to Melbourne yesterday. The last 5 days was spent mainly sight seeing and relaxing. Tomorrow shall be the main event on my calendar... my younger sister's graduation at Monash. After 5 years of hard work she is finally graduating as a medical doctor. I am very proud of her! Congrats sis!!

Dr. Shalini enjoying her food at Sydney's famous Fish Market

Mum and younger sis at the harbour bridge

Me and sis at the Opera House

Mum and me at Bondi Beach

Hey aren't we going in the water today?

Elder sister Kalpana with my mum at the Blue Mountains

Family picture at the Blue Mountains

Three siblings finally together again!

Breathtaking view at Great Ocean Road in Melbourne

This has to be one of the wonders of the world.

And of course I have not been enjoying myself until I've forgotten to run. In the last 5 days, I've only rested on Monday. The weather here is just great for running. No soaked socks and shorts and you can just keep running without feeling tired. This evening I just ran another 15k and still felt like I could keep going. More photos coming soon of the graduation!

Lari-Lari Cari Makan Run

2006-11-20T16:37:00.000+08:00

Event: ING KRI Cross Country Run 2006
Venue: Sunway City, Ipoh
Date: 19 November 2006
Distance: 12.1km
Timing: 1hour 13min 15sec
Category position: 23 / 72

Saturday

I had decided to take is easy and enjoy this run after having run at Wangsa Maju the day before. We drove down the day before in Lee's car and were staying in his Niece's house in Ipoh Garden. When we arrived we had to collect the numbers and goodie bags for 15 people!! Thank goodness it didn't take us that long to get this done before going to the place we were to stay in.

I managed to get a one hour nap before we went out for dinner. Drove to Merloon hotel to meet Chong there. He and many other Klava runners were staying there and we needed to pass their bibs to them. They joined us for dinner at the famous Taugeh Chicken shop. We managed to meet Ronnie, Jack, Lai, Rachel, Sim and Ryan there as well.

That night I really ate and ate. I had one bowl of kuey teow, meatballs, chicken and taugeh the first round. The next round we went and had some tau fu fah. It was really amazing how delicious it was considering I am not a fan of this dish. From there we went to another restaurant since Peter had not eaten and arrived late. Here I had another bowl of noodles and a few sticks of the best chinese satay I have ever eaten.. yuuummmyy!!

Next morning

I slept like a baby that night. The bed was exceptionally comfortable and I was really tired having woken up at 4.30am that morning. We woke up at 6am and were out of the house by 6.45. There was plenty of parking by the roadside. Met Choi who was walking by and passed him the sample Saucony jerseys.

The race site was really happening. There were so many different sponsors setting up their booths there. The weather was excellent, very cooling and the sky was beautiful and clear. Most runners were already there and everyone looked very excited. I did some warmups and chit chatted with as many runners as possible. I don't remember if the PMs took a group photo before we started.. hmmmm. But I took a photo with CM, Wendy and Rachel.

CM, DK, Wendy and Rachel

The race

I started somewhere in the middle of the pack. I was initially running with Albert and Choi until we reached the foothill. As we approached the foothill of the 'mountain' we were going to climb everyone was waaahhhiing away! Haha! I was also quite taken aback when I saw how steep it was. Almost everyone was walking up so I just followed suit and enjoyed it quite a bit. You can see the picture below which shows how much fun I had in that climb!

Photo taken by Tey who had gone ahead and waited at the hillside. Picture shows me enjoying myself. Albert is just in front of me also seen smiling. Tey was chiding us for walking!

I think it must have taken me at least 15 minutes to clear the long uphill climb. Just as we thought it was finishing, there lay another long stretch in front of us. Albert was soon left behind and as soon as we cleared the climb I started running and overtaking as many as I could. I could see that most runners were being cautious especially on the downhill stretches, but with my recent trip to Nuang I knew that I would not slip on this terrain so I ran my normal pace.

After clearing the downhill stretch, the final part of the trail was quite flat. This lasted for at least a few kilometers before we exited the trail back onto the road. In a way I was glad to get back onto the road, my legs felt a bit sore actually despite running slow. Must have been that sharp climb earlier and also my race the day before.

Once back on the raod, I was back to my own self running at quite a decent but still considerably easy pace. I even chatted with a few runners and managed to encourge some who were walking to run with me. In the last 2km I must have passed at least 30 runners who were either slowing down or walking. The body was feeling good so I pushed my pace just a little at the final stretch. Tey was there to take my finishing photo! Total time was 1hour 13min 15sec.

You can see how comfortable the race was for me.. hehe! Later I was scolded by Chen for not pushing all out. But I want to enjoy at least some of my runs by just experiencing the event and the people in it. There will always be a time to pia and a time to take it easy!

As you can see in the picture above. Two thumbs up for this event. KRI has said that this will be an annual event and they are moving away from the previous road race they have always organised. I say Yay!! to that! I will be back again next year! Later of course before going back to Klang there was more makan.. makan and makan!

Wangsa Maju Run 2006

2006-11-20T16:10:00.000+08:00

Event: Wangsa Maju - Setiawangsa Run
Date: 18 November 2006
Distance: 8.7km
Timing: 42min 54sec
Position: 56

This was the first run where I registered just 2 days before the event. PM1 asked me to try it and gain experience and perhaps even get one of the 50 medals being offered for my category. On race day I picked up Peter from his home, Ms. Leong from Subang toll gate and Tey from Asiajaya bus stop. Tey was not running but came to take some photos and enjoy the event.

My stomach was not feeling good that morning but since there was only one toilet and it was really crowded I didn't wait. I had driven the route a few times the day before and I knew that it was a very tough route. Much tougher than the IOI run I had taken part in last weekend. All the elite runners were also there since the price money being offered was very good.

We were allowed to start just after 7am. Peter and Ms Leong started later since they were in the veteran category and were running a shorter distance. I looked on with disbelieve when I saw that more than half the runners were pushing the pace right at the start. I tried to keep up for fear of being left behind. Zulazlan was also pushing a hard pace and we ran together for the first few kilometers.

Before the race, both Zul and me had planned to pace with each other for as long as possible in order to run a good race. Zul had a mission which was to get one of the 50 medals. After missing the medal at Subang by just 2 positions he was determined to make amends this time! The picture below shows the two of us at the start of the race.

Zul and DK pia kau kau at the beginning

The first 700m was an uphill climb. Once we reached the traffic light and crossed onto Jalan Jelatek I felt that I was running much faster than my normal pace but it seemed like I was not getting any closer to the runners in front. By the time we had made the turn at the padang and reached the traffic light at Jelatek I saw that I was almost 2minutes faster than my planned pace. A quick calculation told me I was running at almost a 4min flat pace.

Whoooahhh!! Thats way to fast, and just in front was one of the toughest part of the route a long 1km uphill climb. Anyway it was too late to adjust the pace, I found myself running out of steam on this stretch. At the water station I stopped briefly before continuing, soon after that I met Ronnie at the top of the hill and was informed I was in position 62. What?? Running that fast and still in positon 62.. sigh. I lost my motivation from there feeling that I would not be able to potong sayur 12 people for the medal.

I started slowing down from there as fatigue was starting to build up. My stomach was still feeling queesy and my right hamstring was showing signs of pulling from last Tuesdays 1 lapper at KLCC. I still managed to overtake another 6 runners before reaching the last stretch which was a 800m sharp climb to the finish line. I had to practically drag myself up this stretch all the way to the finish line. Total time was 42min 54sec.

I'm glad I took part in this race. The experience I gained in terms of knowing where I stand and my mistakes in pacing will be something to use in future events. Peter came in position 29 in his category and Ms. Leong finished in positon 11. Well done to both of them! Oh yes and Zul finished in postion 50 with a timing of 41min 15sec to get the last medal!! Congrats to him, he really deserves it!

Feeling safe?

2006-11-16T16:11:00.000+08:00

I read with horror the news about armed robbers bravely walking into Tesco in Bukit Tinggi Klang and shooting dead two security guards and injuring one worker and one customer at the Poh Kong store, before making off with over 1mil ringgit worth of jewels. They did not even bother wearing masks. In total 19 shots were fired by them.

This is the very place my family loves to hang out in, whether it's for our monthly grocery shopping or for picking up something small or even to have an occasional meal at the restaurants there. When I read about this, it felt as if something important had been taken away from us just like that. We will not feel safe going there anymore.

Today I read about a bomb exploding in a food court in a shopping mall in Ipoh. Despite it being a small home made bomb, it could very well have been a larger explosive which could have taken many more lives or caused more injuries. In this case a cleaning lady was the only victim when she was injured in her leg.

Everyday we hear about more and more murder cases in our country, the latest involving law enforcement officers who are "accused" and currently being charged of using C4 explosives to get rid of evidence after killing their victim by shooting her point blank in the head.

Then of course there is the ever rising number of snatch thefts and home robberies. Our dear PM24 was a recent victim with robbers breaking into his home and not limiting their actions to stealing, they had to inflict injury upon him which I am sure he will remember for many years to come.

One thing for sure is that we can never depend on our law enforcement officers to do much in tackling the rise of crime in this country. All we can do is to be as alert as possible and taking preventive measures to keep our family safe at all times. If encountered with any of these life threatening situation, don't try to be a hero, instead just do as demanded and leave it to God to deal with these menaces in His own time.

Pia Kau Kau Lat!

2006-11-15T10:35:00.000+08:00

Yesterday I finally understood the true meaning of pia kau kau lat! As part of my training with Ronnie and Lai, I was to do a one lap time trial. I had not fully recovered from Sundays all out run yet. Lai sent an SMS saying he couldn't be there so it would just be me and captain.

I arrived before pm1 and started my stretching. We then did a few laps of warm up followed by some strides and more stretching. Ron showed me how to improve my hand movement and even suggested I train using chopsticks to improve on my hand movement.. haha!

We finally started the one lapper after a countdown by Ron. I started very fast and later Ron said he was finding difficulty in keeping up with me for the first few hundred meters... this is just typical of my style.

The park was unusually crowded with tourists and school kids on tour that day. When we reached the top of the hill on the bridge, I almost ran smack into a few ladies. I just managed to avoid them by doing an acrobatic body twist. This slowed me down a little.

Picked up the momentum from there but could already hear myself breathing in such an akward manner. By the time we started climbing the hill near the convention centre I started slowing a little but captain commanded me to push up the hill as strongly as possible. I managed to get some wind back on the downhill stretch.

With just 600m to go, captain said I was doing well and had already PR..ed. Actually by then I was just running like a lost cow and not knowing what pace I was running. Everything was just a total blur. So when I heard this I was inspired to push even harder. I don't know where it came from but I got a sudden surge of energy in the last 200m and just took off to the finish line.

My total time for 1.3k was 4min 57.33sec. This is a 14sec improvement from my previous PR and a pace of 3min 48sec/k. I was totally wasted after that. Could not get my breath back for almost 5 minutes. Finally had to force myself to run another 2 laps to warmdown. I don't think I will try another one lapper in a very long time, however it does feel good to know I can run that fast.

"I feel good!" : Photo taken by pm21

Pics from IOI run

2006-11-13T12:51:00.000+08:00

The PM gang before the race was flagged off

The part where I suffered the most!

IOI Community Run 2006

2006-11-12T14:50:00.000+08:00

Distance: 7.6km
Timing: 36min 32sec

Race morning

In a way I was glad that I had not run my LSD yesterday since it would allow me to run all out this morning. I woke up at 5.45am and Lee picked me up by 6.15am. We had reached the starting point before 7am and parked nearby. Others running from our gang today were Albert, Peter, Chong, Ms. Chee, Ms. Leong and Naidu.

Later I met the PMs and Rachel (not running today) took some photos for us. After some chit chatting, the categories A and B (running 7.6km) were allowed to start first while the others running the 5.5km had to wait. Lee who was actually registered under veteran (category C) decided to run the 7.6km with me.

The race

The moment we started I just turboed all the way overtaking as many runners as possible so I would not be caught in the crowd later. The first 3.5mins was flat and then we turned left and started climbing a long uphill. I just maintained my pace as much as possible on this stretch and overtook those runners who started 'too fast' and were now slowing down.

I just made sure I kept Lee in sight. After a few kilometers I realised that I seemed to be running at almost the same pace as a girl who was wearing orange. I decided to use her as my pacer as she seemed to be a strong runner. Not long after that we reached a junction where we had to turn right for another long uphill climb. This is where the route seperated the 7.6k and 5.5k runners.

With all the uphill terrain I was starting to feel fatigued but just continued to hang on to my pacer. By then I had even caught up a little with Lee. As I approached the u-turn I saw SJ (pm11) on the opposite side not far off. This inspired me even more, knowing that I was running a really good pace. By then despite slight fatigue I knew that I was still strong and could finish the race well.

After the u-turn, I realised as I ran downhill now that I still had a lot of improvement to make for my downhill running. Most runners seemed to be able to use it to make up for time. Lee had definitely done that and was a good 100m ahead by now. I just can't pick up some good momentum when running downhill. Even my pacer had broken away at that stretch.

Once we had merged with the 5.5km runners at the same junction we had earlier turned right, I suddenly felt stronger and picked up the pace and started closing the gap on both my pacer and Lee. I held this strong pace all the way back to the traffic light at Giant and turned on my finishing kick for the last 500m.

As I crossed the balloon arch I was really suffering and my stomach felt very tight. I eventually overtook the lady in orange and finished just 30meters behind Lee. Overall timing was 36min 32sec. I was upset that the officials did not want to reveal my position as they said they only informed the positon for the top 25 runners.

Post race

From Ronnie's posting I see that I am 1min 40secs slower than Tan Ay Peng who came in position 25. Perhaps I came in top 35??? Well that's not for me to find out this time! Later I found out that the lady in orange whom I had finished ahead of had was the second runner up in the Womens open category.

I am very happy with my performance today. My average pace for the 7.6km was 4m48s per kilometer. I am really surprised that I was able to hold such a pace especially since it was really a very hilly route. Today's performance has inspired me to train further and improve on my speed. I'm confident that my weekly sessions with Ronnie and Lai will help me and show results in a couple of months.

Marathon talk

2006-11-09T11:05:00.000+08:00

Last night the haze was still around but it wasn't as bad as it had been a few weeks back. The weather was exceptionally cooling with very low humidity. This allowed me to run comfortably at our usual Wednesday spot. Others who came were Peter, Albert, Lim, Lee, Ajeep and Leow. Have not seen Ajeep for sometime now, was good to catch up with him.

Since Peter and Lim are going for the Singapore marathon, a lot of the discussion was centered around marathons. Albert hasn't run one in years and Ajeep has yet to try one so there was a lot of challenging going on at the makan table. As for me I don't know when I will run my next marathon. I shall focus more on half marathons for now but if timing permits I might try the KL full next year.

Bidor Half Marathon 2006

2006-11-06T15:17:00.000+08:00

Event: Anak Malaysia Bidor Half Marathon
Distance: 22km
Timing: 2h03m20s (Personal Best)

This was the event I had spent the last 2 months preparing for. My ultimate target was to run a sub 2 hour race but at the very least I had to improve my personal best timing by a fair bit. This time round we had Lim, Lee, Peter and myself running the half marathon, while Lim's nephew was running the 10k.

Peter couldn't make it with us the day before so the house we rented was to be shared by six of us including Eugene and his son Yi Xi. On Saturday I had picked up both Lim and Lee by 1.45pm. The journey to Bidor was smooth but it was raining sporadically on the highway. We were debating whether the fog in the jungle and mountains was just mist or haze but I still maintain that it was haze!!

We arrived at Bidor around 3.15pm and went to collect our Bibs before going for lunch at the famous Wan Tan noodles shop. We then went to survey the starting point. The following pictures show the volunteers preparing the starting point. About 90% of the volunteers are senior citizens from the town itself. Even the owner of the house we rented was seen later in one corner patching the a road which was uneven. Other race organisers should learn from their example.

Next we proceeded to survey the half marathon route.

The first 9.5k was generally flat, but once we had reached the border of the town again, we had to turn right up a steep hill and it was mostly undulating terrain from there. The u-turn at the waterfall was approximately 15.6k. We only saw kilometer markers for the last 4k and my heart sank when my cars mileage showed 21k at the "1 km to go" marker. There goes my sub 2!! This was going to be an overdistance race. Total distance displayed when we reached the finish was 22k.

It had been raining since late morning and was still raining at 6pm. We waited for Eugene and Yi Xi to arrive and just lazed in the house for a bit before heading out for dinner at close to 8pm. After a good meal we returned to the house and struggled to finish a large tub of ice cream with bars of chocolate we had bought earlier. Talk about some serious carbo loading!! I felt too stuffed to sleep after that but managed to knock off around 10.45pm after a refreshing shower.

Next morning my alarm rang at 5.35am. I was surprisingly fresh when I woke up, even though some neighbourhood dogs had woken me up twice during the night. After a shower and lubing the body I went downstairs and had my Ali Cafe and Powerbar while waiting for the others. Last night we had decided to drive to the starting point but this morning everyone agreed to warm up by doing a slow jog. The house is located at just the '1km to go' mark.

I reached the starting point with Lee just before 6:45am. That's when it hit me!! I had forgotten to bring Peter and Wong's bibs!! We had left them in the car last night thinking we were going to drive to the starting point. Frantically I had to run back to the house, met Lim halfway and he followed me back. Wong had called him by then asking for the bibs!

By the time I had reached the starting point again I was sweating profusely and was already panting. I've never done anything more than a few hundred meters of slow jogging before any race and here I had just run 3km!! After apologising to both Peter and Wong, I managed to jump into one photo take with the PMs before the countdown began and the race was started.

First 9.5k

The first 9.5k was quite uneventful. I only managed to set into a proper pace after almost 2km since I was still recovering from the panic state of forgetting the bibs. I was running with Fook for the first 3k but he started to pick up the pace after that and I didn't want to follow as I knew that I would suffer in the second half of the race. He would later run a great race and finish below 2 hours for the 22k!

After the u-turn at the Indian temple, I just maintained my pace and was starting to feel quite comfortable. I was using markers I had made during the previous days route survey to check my target pace. At 7km my split time was appx 37m30s and at 9.5km 50m15s. With this I presume my 10k split time should be somewhere around 53min which was my target pace for the first 10k.

9.5k to 15.6k

What I wasn't prepared for was that the weather would take such a drastic turn. From the extremely cool morning, the sun was suddenly blazing by the time I had reached the 10k mark. Since I generally don't train under the sun, I perform badly under it. This time was no exception. The hills and the sun put together was slowly draining my energy levels.

Peter and Wong overtook me somewhere around the 12k mark. I was surprised to see Peter coming from behind, later he told me he had to stop for over 5 minutes to do his business... poor guy. For the next few kilometers I was pacing with Quek Ai Ling from Singapore. I used her strong pace to push myself a little each time I felt I was slowing down.

I was glad when we finally reached the u-turn at the roundabout. This meant there was just about another 6km more to go. The water station there was the only one where isotonic drinks were provided. All there previous water stations only had water. I suppose this is fine as water is sufficient for distances up to 10 to 15k.

Final 6.4k

The 100 plus seemed to perk me up a little bit, plus the fact that there would be a lot of downhill stretches from here onwards. I was especially looking forward to a long winding stretch of over 1km which we had covered on the way to the waterfall. I think I might have given myself too long a break at this stop. By the time I had started running, Ai Ling was quite some distance away. There goes my pacer!

I found myself still running at an even pace without slowing down much in the final few kilometers. There was only one stretch where me and many other runners stopped to walk. This was an uphill stretch crossing a flyover built over the PLUS highway, but this was for no more than 30 meters. As I approached the final 1km mark I saw a familiar face standing at the corner with the officials... it was none other than our captain Ronnie himself!

As I passed him I looked at my watch and saw my 21k split time was about 1h57m40s. Yes I had managed to meet my target of running 21k under 2 hours, but it is unfortunate that it wouldn't be recorded as a sub 2 half marathon. The last 1km was a downhill stretch so I just let myself run relaxed all the way to the finish line. Fook, Rachel, Sim and others were waiting there and cheered for me. Total time taken for 22k was 2h03m20s. My position for the Mens Open category is number 42.

Overall I am very happy with my performance. There is still a nagging feeling that I could have pushed a little harder. For now I will have to be satisfied that my half marathon official race record will have to remain over 2 hours but this will give me something to train harder for in future races. I enjoyed this race very much and will definitely be back next year if they decide to organise it again. The finishers medal is really a beautiful medal as can be seen.

Sri Hartamas 20k - Personal Best

2006-10-28T11:07:00.000+08:00

Before I ran this morning I was in doubt whether I should run hard or easy today. I didn't want to strain myself and risk being not so fresh in Bidor. However since Lee was running with me today and he would be a good pacer, I just decided to run a fast first half and then try to maintain a good pace in the return leg.

As soon as we started I knew I was running quite fast... perhaps too fast but I just continued. Even Lee commented that this was really a fast pace. I slowed down a little after Jalan Duta and picked up the pace again in the last stretch after Plaza Damas. Overall time from Bukit Aman to Petronas was 52m55s.

We just quickly drank some water from the pipe there and started the return journey to Bukit Aman. Here I slowed down quite a bit initially and even Geraldine overtook me after Jalan Duta and said that I was too slow. Lee was running ahead and then making loops back towards me from time to time.

I just decided to keep Geraldine in site and picked up the pace a little towards the end. When I reached Jalan Parlimen I could still see her in front. I knew that my body was much stronger as I could still push up this stretch without much of a struggle. Split time from Petronas to Bukit Aman was 59m52s. Overall timing 1h52m47s.

I had stopped my watch at Petronas so I don't know how long we stopped there but it was a very brief stop since we just grabbed water from the pipe. If I take that into account and add perhaps another 6 minutes for another 1k, a sub 2 timing for a 21k would still be rather borderline. So Jamie is right, running a sub 2 half marathon is really not easy.

On a positive note, I can feel my body getting stronger. I need to just strengthen my mental state so that I can maintain a faster pace in the second half of the race. My pace today for the second half was too slow. Things that worked today were...

1. 6 hours of sleep
2. Powerbar and Ali Cafe
3. Nike Pegasus (I am really loving this pair of shoes more and more!)
4. Thorlos Level 3 (Socks were soaked after 10k but it absolutely prevents any painful blistering)

Well there is no point in trying anything else now as the race is just a week away. The best I can do now is to make sure I keep the body warm and fit with some short quick runs over the next 5 days while getting as much sleep and proper nutrition. A fully rested body is the best weapon on race day after a hard couple of months in preparation!

Clear blue skies!

2006-10-27T16:16:00.000+08:00

Clear blue skies are back but may not last long. If there is one thing the haze has taught me is to just run regardless of the weather. The last three days saw me just putting on my shoes and running in the rain just to ensure I get my required mileage.

Tomorrow shall be my last LSD before my half marathon race in Bidor next Sunday. Lee and hopefully some others from Klang shall be joining me this time. I've decided to shelf my plan to 'race' my last LSD training, instead I will keep a steady pace for the first half and try to pick up the pace in the last 7k, this should train me to finish stronger in races.

Recovery Run 24-10-2006

2006-10-25T00:02:00.000+08:00

It was raining heavily when I was typing my Nuang post but it slowed to a drizzle a little later. I just couldn't resist the urge to put on my shoes and go for a slow recovery run. The plan to wait till tomorrow to allow the knee some breathing space was thrown out the door. Running in the rain felt really good.

Distance: 7km
Duration: 42min
Time: 10.15pm

The knees are both fine. Slight pain detected in the right knee on my first lap but it disappeared very quickly. The muscles are really sore though, especially my quads. My run was followed by a light weight training session. I'm feeling really good now. I hope it doesn't rain tomorrow night as we have our weekly fellowship run and I'm looking forward to that.

Gunung Nuang 23-10-2006

2006-10-24T20:34:00.000+08:00

I recently visited the World Of Sports clearance sale and picked up a pair of Columbia hiking boots. I wanted the pair I bought to be waterproof and a high cut version which would protect my ankles in the event I did fall or slip.

Since I mentioned my intent to get a few people to climb Nuang sometime soon, Tey volunteered to be my guide. Peter decided to join us as well. I was told by Tey that it would be easier to climb with just a few people than with a big group. So as early as 5am I picked up first Peter then Tey before proceeding to the foothill at Ulu Langat.

The three of us at the foothill just before commencing our climb. You can easily see who the rookie is.

The first part of the journey, we had to trek across what used to be a tar road but now is a very badly eroded muddy trail. Many years ago when the tar road was still there, people used to be able to drive up to where the waterfall was. I thought this trail was steep but didn't realise we hadn't really started the climb yet. We took about 75 minutes to get to the beginning of the actual trail up to the summit.

Our leader having his breakfast at the rest area near the waterfall and stream.

If you look closely I am already drenched with sweat after the initial 75min walk.

The waterfall and stream which we have to cross before proceeding to the first campsite.

From the point we crossed the waterfall to the summit, things just got tougher and tougher. Just for the record, I've never gone jungle trekking or done any kind of mountain climbing before... not even camping, so I really didn't know what to expect. The next stage was to get to camp Lolo and this took us about another 60mins.

Once reaching Lolo we just stopped for a few pictures and continued on for another 20mins crossing another 2 streams and passing a few more campsites. While crossing the last stream, I actually fell and hit my right kneebone on a big rock. The pain was quite bad I thought that it must be injured badly. After resting awhile the pain subsided so we decided to continue. I hoped that this would not be a mistake that I would regret later.

We finally reached Kem Pacat at 10am and rested again. There was a couple sleeping in a tent there. They must have been there overnight. One problem I seemed to be having was my specs were fogging up quite a bit and impairing my vision. On my next trip I shall remember to spray some anti fog on them.

Photo taken at Kem Pacat

A lot of the track is made up of red clay and it can be quite slippery when its wet. I really respect both Tey and Peter as they were wearing normal running shoes and seemed to be very quick and stable on their feet. Despite my boots which should have gripped better I was finding it difficult. I guess being heavier and taller my balancing is quite bad.

The last two stages of the climb are from Kem Pacat to Bukit Pengasih (the first peak) and from Bukit Pengasih to the summit. This part of the journey was the toughest as it was very steep and I had to really crack my head at times to figure out how to get just 10 metres up. My knee was still paining which added to my mental stress.

We managed to reach the summit at 12pm which was appx 5hrs from the time we started at the car park. Peter mentioned that this was the fastest ascent he had made here after climbing over 5 times so this did please me. By this time I was already exhausted and when Tey mentioned we should be able to descend faster than we climbed up, I told him I thought otherwise.

After having lunch, we started the climb down at 12.30pm. It started raining later which made the ground very slippery. Less than an hour later, I was starting to have severe pain in one of the bones next to my left knee. I could feel a sharp pain with each step I took. I had this pain before when I initially started swimming and feel that it was due to the angle in which I kicked when swimming, so perhaps while descending I was twisting my leg in all funny angles and thus causing this.

Anyway it just got worse from there, coupled with pains on both legs and increasing fatigue, I forced both my members to slow down drastically as well. The mental and physical anguish that one goes through in this kind of situation is much worse than when I had run my first 42k race. By the last couple of hours I was really swearing and cursing. I had to just switch off my mind an keep going at it, this was the only way I would make it back.

We finally made it back to the car park at 6.30pm. It was getting really dark by then. I was glad to have a really refreshing bath before driving back. Despite the pain and suffering both physically and mentally, I am glad that I attempted this climb. I don't know how soon, but I will definitely climb Nuang again not for a better timing but to strengthen my mind and overcome my fears.

The bone pain I suffered is much better now and should almost be non existant by tomorrow. My right kneebone injury is also better and can hardly be felt unless I press down on it by kneeling. My high cut boots did prevent me from having and serious joint injuries, especially at the ankles as I did trip and twist at the ankles many times. So besides really sore muscles, I am fine and should be back on the road tomorrow for an easy run.

Very long day

2006-10-22T01:03:00.000+08:00

4.45am

Woke up before the alarm rang. Quickly had a shower and lubed all the normal areas. Grabbed a banana and one can of Ali Cafe. As soon as I started driving I immediately saw that the haze had cleared quite a bit... wooohooo!

6.00am

Reached Bkt Aman car park and everyone was already there. Today's participants were Choi, Geraldine, Eugene, Tey, Phyllis, Grace, Fook and Jason. Once I had slipped on my shoes, we started moving out of the car park.

The plan today was to try to run a hard run and see how long I could keep it up. I wanted to see if my form had dropped due to the recent lack of training caused by the haze. I led the pack all the way up to Kenny Hills with Tey and Geraldine just behind.

As I approached Jln Duta, I was now running on my own. Split time as I crossed under the flyover was 31m18s. I ran on my own for the next 3km and started slowing down a little as we reached Plaza Damas. Tey and Geraldine caught up here and Geraldine pulled away to the Petronas. Time when I reached Petronas was 57m21s.

Tey was kind enough to get me some Gatorade while I continued with the loop above the Petronas without stopping. He passed me the can when I had completed the loop. Thank you Tey! Here I walked a bit while drinking. I didn't want to stop because when I do, my socks tend to get soaked immediately, but if I keep going its not so bad.

From here on I was running on my own because the others were still taking the loop at Petronas and then had stopped briefly at the station. I was still feeling strong and was going at a steady pace until I reached the slope up the mosque. Here my right calf started pulling a little so I slowed the pace. Time when I crossed Jln Duta again was 1h32m23s.

My breathing was still steady all this while which shows improved fitness from speedwork and cross training, however the right calf continued showing slight signs of cramping which points to lack of mileage! I just continued at an easy pace all the way back to the car park. Total time taken was 2h7m6s.

To me this run was a victory because this is the first time I have run the Hartamas route finishing alone without walking. All previous times I was being paced by someone. My timing was also a personal best as I had taken both the loop at the Petronas and the left turning at the traffic light instead of the shortcut taken at times. This comes close to the actual 21k distance.

10.00am

Reached home after having a refreshing shower at Bkt Aman. Enjoyed a half hour massage on my Ogawa chair and confirmed my Deepavali lunch appointments. I was starving by then as the body had probably burnt 1500 calories in the morning run. Met Peter, Albert, Diana and Lee at Gopu's house and later went to my in laws neighbours house for lunch.

2.30pm

Sent my son to my mum's place as my house needed some serious cleaning for a church home meeting we were hosting that night. Spent 3.5 hours cleaning the house... I had to cut the grass, wash the car porch, clean the fans, vacuum the house, mop the house and was the bathroom upstairs while wife tidied up and dusted everything. Beside Jamie, I really don't know of runners who actually do housework after a hard morning run???

7.30pm

Mum sent Nick back and church members started arriving at 8pm. I chaired the meeting and we later watched a testimony of Gurmeet Singh (The famous PCK). It was quite touching actually. He had recently come to KL for one of the Christian evangelical meetings organised at the Eastin hotel.

10.15pm

Once everyone left I made a dash to another close friends house for Deepavali. I've known this guy since Kindergarten and we were schoolmates and classmates up till form 5. Met some old schoolmates here and had a good time catching up.

12.30am

Reached home, took out the garbage, vacuumed the hall again. Had a shower and now typing this posting. I've now been awake for 21hours, I'm going to bed now... good night and happy holidays to everyone! Drive safely if you are going outstation!

Desperados

2006-10-19T10:42:00.000+08:00

The question we ask now is not "Is there haze?" but rather "It doesn't look too bad right?? Can run lah... what do you think ah??" We have been degraded to that level where we no longer have a choice. Yesterday evening I was so surprised that even Captain Lim who would usually not run in the haze turned up. Only Albert came after we had finished running.

Peter Goh aka Desperado 1 - 9 laps (10.4k)

CB Leow aka Desperado 2 - 12 laps (14k)

Yours truly aka Desperado 3 - 8 laps (9.3k)

Scorcorn Lee aka Desperado 4 - 11 laps (12.8k)

Captain Lim aka Desperado 5 - 7 laps (8.1k)

Albert (with his son), the only sane person who joined us only for makan!

New look

2006-10-16T19:55:00.000+08:00

In conjunction with my blogs first year anniversary, I decided to change the layout and the general look of the site. Not having much creative skills, I decided to go with a simple standard template. It did take some time to convert all the archived postings into the existing format.

The banner was something that I really had to crack my head about. But surprisingly it turned out better than expected. The blog is now officially renamed to 'Klang Roadrunner' from 'Klang Runner's Blog'. It has been inspiring looking through my postings over the last one year as I converted the format. I hope there will be many more years of good postings to come!

Tell the truth!

2006-10-16T12:49:00.000+08:00

Why are we being lied to? Does the picture below look like an API reading of just 76? Why make statements that the haze will get better and clear over the coming days when it hasn't? Are the officials at the Metrological department capable of giving us some accurate information?

Picture taken this morning at 10am from my office block on the 7th floor, just before the API reading

Last night the rains seemed to have momentarily cleared the pollution so I put on my shoes at 11pm and ran for 30 minutes, followed by some weight lifting and stomach exercises. I hope I get to run again today!

Pacemakers Network Run 2006

2006-10-15T22:00:00.000+08:00

This morning the Pacemakers once again organised a very fun and successful event. This time round it was the Pacemakers Network Run held at Lake Gardens KL featuring a 6 lap (13.8km) run for the men and 2 lap (4.6km) run for the women.

There were over 40 participants registered. Some volunteers including me had run the route a few days before the race. I had the privelage of flagging of the race since Rohaizad is still not back from Pakistan yet. Once the race was started just after 7.15am it was a mad dash with runners trying to find a comfortable pace so they could last the 6 laps.

I was in charge of the checkpoint for two categories... the mens 29 and below and the mens 35 to 39. The other volunteers working with me were Phyllis, SJ, Rachel and Tey. This was my first time being a volunteer and it was quite fun actually. I shall do it again perhaps in some events organised by Pacesetters in the future.

I had also setup my camera on a tripod and was multitasking by snapping photos while marking the number of laps each runner had finished. Despite the tripod many shots turned out blur since I hadn't really tried my camera in sports events or action shots before. I must learn how to use the sports mode and even try the manual modes since the model I use comes with full manual functions.

After the run, I was also privelaged to be selected to give away the medals and the trophies to the participants. Overall I must say it was a really successful event thanks to all the participants, volunteers and especially our dear captain Ronnie. I'm sure there will be many equally successful or even better events we can look forward to in the future! For more photos and race results visit der pacemakers site!

Group photo of all the runners, volunteers and family members

Group photo of all the volunteers

Wife and son woke up early today to join the action

Birthday celebration for the October pia kakis, from left Peter Goh, Ah Fook, Captain Ronnie and Dr Jamie

14-10-2006 Tempo Run

2006-10-15T19:26:00.000+08:00

After getting my much needed rest yesterday and seeing the haze clear in the evening, I put on my Nikes and headed out for a quick workout. I wanted to do a tempo paced run but didn't plan on any specific distance or pace, I would just run according to how I felt. Surprisingly I felt much stronger than expected... sleep really makes a lot of difference.

Total distance: 1150m x 9 = 10.35km in 51m 17.58s

Split times: 6m 15.18s / 5m 34.40s / 5m 37.81s / 5m 37.44s / 5m 38.51s
5m 44.80s / 5m 45.38s / 5m 48.62s / 5m 15.44s

My training is finally paying off. My 10k split time was below 50min. With this run I've concluded that my New Balance 767 is really an under performing pair of shoe. It does not have much flexibility and almost feels like a piece of wood each time I land. I don't remember it being like that when I first bought it. Yesterday I had a really enjoyable and exhilarating run with my Nikes. For my next pair, I might choose to invest in either a pair of Mizuno or Saucony.

Much needed rest

2006-10-14T15:35:00.000+08:00

I've not been getting enough sleep the past one week, with an average of 6 hours per day. Since the haze hadn't improved as our countries MET services promised, I told Tey that I wouldn't be joining them at Hartamas this morning and asked him to pass the message to the others.

Not having to wake up early I spent the night playing with a new Disney Kid's creative program I had downloaded onto my computer. I also finally took out my DV Video Cam which has been in storage for the past one year since we would be using it this weekend at the Network race.

I noticed there was some footage that was yet to be downloaded, so I copied that onto my pc and converted it into a SVCD which I later watched with Nick. It had some clips of his visits to Genting and also the Zoo last year. Now I remember why I had gotten tired of taking videos, the process of downloading and converting on a Windows based PC takes ages!

This morning, I woke up almost at 11am. Both wife and kid were still asleep... so I am not the biggest slob at home! Ahhh.. finally the body really feels rested. The cough mixture which I took last night must have really given me a good rest. My cough seems to be much better now. I shall continue taking the syrup for the next few days.

I'm looking forward to the PM's event tomorrow. I have a whole bunch of things to pack into my car including the medals, trophies, certificates, Gatorade, bananas, video camera... hmmm what else? Speaking about my car... I just realised today that my rear tyres are due for a change. It's going to cost another $300 at least... sigh! Everything is about $$$$$$ these days!

Pacemaker's Network Volunteer Run

2006-10-12T09:40:00.000+08:00

Ronnie messaged me in the textbox asking me when I was going to do my volunteer run. I was not very keen in doing it actually since I am not well and my body felt tired from the increased mileage. However upon Ronnie's insistence and since he volunteered to pace me for the last few laps I agreed.

I arrived at Lake Gardens early to avoid the traffic jam. The haze seemed to be clearing quite nicely and the weather was cool since it had rained earlier. In fact it was still drizzling slightly. By the time I started at 5:20pm the drizzle had almost stopped.

My first lap was quite difficult as my body felt stiff and my right knee felt slightly painful. By the second lap I was feeling better and had eased into a pace that felt comfortable. At the end of the third however I was starting to feel tired and slowed down.

Upon completing the third lap, Kenny and Ronnie were waiting for me. Captain asked Kenny to pace me into my fourth lap while he went to clear his bowels. It was quite fun running with Kenny since he keeps you entertained with his talking. Ron joined us towards the end of that lap.

In the last three laps, despite having Kenny and Ron with me, I was still running at my own pace with them trailing behind with encouraging words. Fatigue was starting to build up in the final lap and I had to force myself to pick up the pace in staggered parts of the track just to gain back some time.

When we had completed the loop round the lake in the 6th lap, I started to push harder and in the last few hundred metres gave it my all. By the end of it all I was totally busted and out of breath. I didn't feel like warming down but forced myself to walk another lap to relax the sore and tired muscles.

My split times... 12'33" / 12'23" / 12'57" / 12'33" / 12'23" / 11'55"

Total time for 13.8km = 1:14'45"

Training 10-10-2006

2006-10-10T19:05:00.000+08:00

Today I am on Sick Leave (MC). My throat was quite sore yesterday but is better today. However my nose is congested with thick green phlegm. At 4pm, the haze had disappeared in Klang so I decided to run before the winds brought the smog back.

Warm up - 1150m x 2 - 2.3km
6m 15.99s / 6m 16.61s

1150m x 3 at 90% pace = 3450m
4m 43.98s / 4m 49.00s / 4m 53.45s

Warm down - 1150m
6m 55.25s

Total distance - 6.9km

This is my first attempt to try an interval session. With my nose being congested and the 4pm sun blazing, I guess it was as much as I could give. I had initially planned 5 repeats but I felt too tired after 3 repeats.

Perhaps my pace was too fast, my target pace was 5:20 for each 1150m repeat, but as usual I failed to pace myself. Nevertheless I've broken the barrier of getting into speedwork other than tempo runs.

Lantern festival barbecue

2006-10-08T15:31:00.000+08:00

My inlaws decided to have a barbecue in celebration of the lantern festival. It was a nice time of eating and relaxing again. After Saturday morning's LSD, the chicken wings, pork chops and lamb chops alongside the cold beer was really something I enjoyed.

Marathon over one weekend

2006-10-08T14:47:00.000+08:00

I've only heard of runners running LSDs consecutively on Saturdays and Sundays. With the haze covering the country this week, I was desperate to log my planned training mileage one way or the other. By Friday, I had only covered 14k and was cracking my head on how I was going to cover the rest.

Saturday morning came and I was ecstatic when I looked out the window at 5am and saw that the haze had almost completely cleared in Port Klang. I messaged Tey and confirmed that I would be at Bukit Aman by 6am. As I left Klang, I realised that I should have just done my run here, because all the way from Shah Alam to KL visibility was getting worse.

Choi, Eugene, Geraldine, Tey, Chong Wah and Phyllis were all ready when I arrived. Since the air didn't smell too acidic, and the weather was really cooling, I decided to just enjoy the run. Once again I paced with Tey both to and back from Hartamas. The first half was run very briskly and we reached Hartamas in 57 minutes. Total time clocked for 21k was 2hrs 9mins.

Today I decided to join Albert, Lim and Ms Leong for another LSD using the Klang-Shah Alam route. Since my body hadn't fully recovered from yesterday's run, I was running at a very easy pace. The skies were clear when we started but the haze started to show its signs when we had reached Shah Alam. As we were reaching the Klang Stadium, we could see that the winds were slowly bring the smog back.

By the 13th kilometer, my body was really starting to show signs of fatigue. I just continued to push on for the balance 8k. Total time taken to cover 21k was 2hrs 19mins. Total mileage covered for the week is 56k. I might have overdone it a little bit, but hopefully once I'm fully recovered the body will be stronger.

I was speaking to a doctor at church today and when he shared the effects the haze can have to our health, I've decided against running outdoors when the haze is anything more than a mild smog. I'm starting to feel a sore throat coming and my nose is feeling a little runny. I've not had a cold in almost a year, so it could be both the haze and the extreme mileage I put in over this weekend which has reduced my body's resistance.

What future?

2006-10-05T13:23:00.000+08:00

I was just reading the following article in the STAR today and it really sends a chill down my spine. The world's powers and governments of both developed and developing countries are spending billions of dollars yearly on so called improving the lives of their citizens and people of the world. With our focus on technological and infrastructural development which is meant to give us better lifestyles, we don't seem to mind risking some of the more basic but absolutely essential things for the survival of human kind...

Get ready for freak weather, world's polluters told

By Catherine Bremer

MONTERREY, Mexico (Reuters) - The world's top polluting nations were told on Wednesday to prepare for decades of weather turmoil, even if they act now to curb emissions and pursue green energy sources.

Environment and energy ministers meeting in the Mexican city of Monterrey vowed to work faster to control global warming as scientists told them each year wasted in curbing greenhouse gas emissions would cost them dearly.

Yet even if countries froze emission levels tomorrow, the world still faces 30 years of floods, heatwaves, hurricanes and coastal erosion, the British government's chief scientific advisor David King, said.

King - who considers global warming a bigger threat than terrorism - said rich nations must help the developing world prepare for a weather shift that could put millions of lives at risk.

"We've got 30 years of climate change ahead of us even if we stop right now. Were persuading countries they have to adapt to the changes that are ahead of them," King told Reuters at the meeting of top greenhouse gas emitting countries.

"Because we've raised the carbon dioxide level in the atmosphere so quickly, the earth's climate system is falling behind. This is way in excess of anything the planet has known, probably for 45 million years," he said.

Among countries who sent ministers to Monterrey were China and India, whose ballooning demand for energy has made them some of the worst polluters after the United States, which pumps out a quarter of the world's greenhouse gases.

The United States, which could face fiercer hurricanes as sea temperatures rise, sent a senior official, but U.S. officials did not brief the press.

Already, a roughly 1 degree Celsius temperature rise over the past century has allowed icy Greenland to start growing barley, and farmers in Spain are battling arid conditions.

"The people in denial now are the equivalent of the Flat Earth Society," British Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks told Reuters in an interview. "Humankind is in a race for life against global warming."

Delegates discussed energy efficiency, conservation and how to fund initiatives like storing the carbon dioxide from coal-fired power plants deep underground.

But it is likely to be at least the end of the decade before most projects can get off the ground.
"Time is running out, and the size of the challenge is enormous," Mexican Environment Minister Jose Luis Luege said.

Developing countries at the talks - including South Africa, Brazil and Mexico - were told to adapt for possible floods, droughts, storms and a surge in tropical diseases like malaria.

We can see these things happening right here in our country, with rise in the average temperatures and constant flooding. Now the problem with the constant haze has become a very big threat to the health of Malaysians throughout the nation. I once wrote in to the STAR sometime last year and remember mentioning that it's pointless for mega housing developers to focus selling the concept of botanical gardens and beautiful parks when we can't even step out of our homes without risking our health.

I really wonder what the long term effects this haze phenomenon is going to have on our health and children's health. Will there be a rise in cancer cases and heart and respiratory related problems over the next few years. It's been almost 10 years now since this problem was first seen, I wonder if the government has any statistical information about this type of thing. At the back of my mind, I keep wondering if our lives are being shortened not just by years but perhaps even a decade or two?

In the last few days I have been feeling very depressed as I had to stop myself from running outdoors. I felt like a prisoner in this world! I had to instead try to get some exercise indoors using my stepper and some free weights to compensate. This morning when I saw the sky was clear in Klang, I couldn't resist just putting on my shoes and running for 45 minutes before going to work. I was afraid that the dreaded haze will return by evening and sure enough as I type this I can see that the gloom has returned and the smog is everywhere!

Another week gone

2006-10-02T15:07:00.000+08:00

It seems like week after week just seems to pass very quickly these days. Last week I managed to accumulate another 46km into my mileage bank. Almost half the mileage was done at tempo pace which helped wake up my normally lethargic body.

Saturday morning's weather was really cooling with a slight drizzle. Choi, Tey, Jason, Lynn and Ronnie turned up for the morning run to Hartamas. Tey paced with me throughout the run. It was really fun to have someone to talk to in contrast to my mundane daily solo runs.

We covered 21k in about 2h12m. This time I didn't feel tired, it must have either been the cool weather or my endurance is already increasing. I really wish we could get such weather in some of our races, especially if I am going the full distance (42.195k).

Yesterday I went for my swim again at the Matsushita pool. Managed to increase from 30laps to 40laps this time. I feel myself getting more confident and relaxed in the water. My muscles were slightly sore afterwards but it did feel good. Peter and Ms Chee were able to join us this time.

Der DK way

2006-09-27T11:38:00.000+08:00

I've never really been any good at pacing when I run in races or even in my tempo training runs. My first lap or first kilometre or so will see me really pushing the pace before I start to slow down and try to average out my pace. This is what I call der DK way.

Anyway this monday the same thing happenned at the KLCC track. I was planning a 8 lap tempo run in under 58 minutes. This would have required me to average a 7:15 pace per lap. My target was to start at 7:30 and slowly increase the pace by 5 secs per lap.

In the end I started too fast and clocked 6:43 in my first lap and didn't do enough to reduce the pace on the second, clocking 7:07. By then I was already tiring so what to do... but switch the plan to complete a 5 lapper. Just maintained my pace for the 3rd lap and picked up the pace on the last two to clock a personal best time of 34:43.

Yesterday I couldn't make it to KLCC as I got a last minute overseas phone call. By the time I left the office it was 7:30pm. My wife was waiting to go out for dinner when I got home, but I just had to clock some mileage or risk feeling 'empty'... so I decided on a 3 lap tempo run.

I started with a really strong pace and didn't know if I would be able to hold such a pace for the 3.4k. At the end of the first lap, my split time was 5:07. I decided to slow down a little on the second to reserve energy so I could really push on the last lap. Second lap split time was 5:23 and I had recovered a bit of wind by then.

My target was to average a 4.5min pace per kilometer, so I knew that I had to really push in the last lap. Both legs were already starting to feel the lactic build up but I kept on pushing a hard pace. With just 300m to go, I turned on my finishing kick all the way. Total time clocked for 3.4km was 15:30.20. Average pace per kilometer is 4:33, still slightly below my target.

First Saturday LSD

2006-09-23T14:57:00.000+08:00

It's been a very long time since I ran the 20k Hartamas route. It used to be a regular training route for me before the KLIM. Since I would rather be spending my time with my family and attending various church meetings over the weekend, I have decided to run my LSDs on Saturday mornings.

This morning I was glad to have the company of Choi, Eugene, Wong and Geraldine most of whom I'm meeting for the first time. I had met Choi for the first time at the Mizuno run last weekend. After not being able to make it for two runs in the previous months, it was nice to finally be able to join them.

I was really feeling very strong for most parts of the run. At the beginning I was running at an easy pace with Eugene and enjoyed some good conversation with him. Learnt that he only took up running in the last 6 months, but used to keep fit by doing a lot of trekking and mountain climbing.

As we passed the mosque and were reaching the long undulating stretch at Hartamas, I picked up the pace a little. I saw Wong and Geraldine were not that far ahead. My split time when reaching the Petronas was about 63 minutes. We took a long 10 minute break at the Petronas while waiting for the others to reach before starting the run back to Bukit Aman.

This time I paced with Geraldine who could really hold a strong pace. Later on I found out from Choi that she could actually run a 10k below 50 minutes, so perhaps I had choosen a wrong pacer haha! I managed to hang on until we were approaching the traffic lights before the junction to Bank Negara and Choi had caught up by then. At that point I slowed down and was soon left behind.

After passing Bank Negara and turning onto Jalan Parliment, my legs seemed to be giving up. I've always had a problem with this stretch in most of my training runs and even races like the GE30k where I ended up walking. The final uphill stretch heading towards Bukit Aman is really demotivating but can be good to strengthen a runner mentally. Anyhow I couldn't surpass the urge to stop and walk. Overall time taken today was 2h15m32s.

This week I've managed to keep my mileage above the minimum target of 40k. Total mileage clocked for the week was 48k. I shall be doing some cross training in the swimming pool again tomorrow afternoon with Lee. Next week I will be busy at work so I hope to still be able to keep up with the planned training program.

Fallacy or Truth?

2006-09-21T14:19:00.000+08:00

When I first started running, one of the things which attracted me to this sport was that I didn't need to spend tons of money like I had when I had played badminton. No shuttle purchases or court rental costs, no racquet restringing costs.

Of course the other thing was that I could run whenever and almost wherever I wanted to without having to worry about whether others were going to make it in order to be able to play a game of doubles.

Today I would still generally agree that running is a very inexpensive sport, especially when one is using it as a means of getting a good workout for the lungs, heart and some muscle groups. However when one becomes a competitive runner and starts taking part in marathon running then things start to change a little.

In running and training for marathons, there are many different components that we need to look at now. Things that would not really have mattered much if we were running just to keep healthy or to watch our weight.

Our choice of shoes becomes more important now, and a good pair of shoes worthy for a serious marathoner can easily cost in the region of between RM250 to RM300. These shoes which would probably have lasted an everyday runner for over a year, might not last a runner training for a marathon more than 4 or at the most 6 months before a new pair would need to be purchased.

In the beginning, I would never have dreamt of spending more than RM15 for a pair of running socks. Today I have two pairs of running socks which cost me more than RM30 each, and they made a huge difference in my level of comfort in my training runs. They would probably make an even bigger impact in my race performances (this has yet to be tested and proven).

Marathon training can become very strenuous to our body, thus proper nutrients and supplements become essential for us to keep healthy and ensure that we replenish what the body has lost. I used to take only one multi-vitamin capsule a day, in fact I still do, but have now decided to add on Omega-3 fish oil and Cordycep capsules to my daily intake. This will burn a hole in my pocket for sure.

Having said all that, there are still many runners who do without the whims and fancies of expensive shoes, socks and supplements and would still whoop the asses of most of us runners who do spend excessively on these items. However I will use these 'add ons' for now and see if it helps me achieve my targets in my next race. The bottomline is running is still relatively an inexpensive sport!

Proper nutrition

2006-09-19T11:32:00.000+08:00

Very often I forget the importance of getting enough nutrition as part of my training. Then when my body starts to feel tired with the daily strenuous workouts, I suddenly get into an extreme drive to nourish the body again. This time however I've decided to make it a point to get sufficient nutrition and keep the body properly hydrated at all times throughout the eight weeks of planned training. Speaking of hydration... let me grab some water before I continue.

I am generally a meat lover and hardly make it a point to eat much vegetables or fruits. I suppose it's more of a habit so I need to make a conscious effort at each meal to ensure that there is some kind of vegetable or fruit with what I eat. I've now stocked my refrigerator with fruits which has please my wife quite a bit.

Other things I like to eat are pasta, pastries and most of all not leaving out deserts of all sorts. Now come to think about it, my fridge is stocked with more chocolates than fruits... haha! But that does not happen very often though, it's just that my wife's recent trip to Australia and our family trip to Langkawi saw us picking up a whole bunch of those yummie chocs.

I do take one multivitamin tablet a day which has helped quite a bit with my poor eating habits. I don't get much 'affordable' healthy choices where I work and getting a decent lunch can become a problem sometimes. Little do we realise that the plate of fried rice or kuey teow that we normally eat has little or no nutrition in it. To compensate for a poor lunch, I've limited myself to a healthy breakfast of cereal, low fat milk, bread and fruits in spite of my regular cravings for nasi lemak.

I wonder what triathletes actually do to ensure they get enough nutrition? I would suppose their food intake would need to be much more in order to sustain their active lifestyles and it has to be expensive as well. So far I've been able to keep to my training schedule for the first week with 5 days of running, one day of swimming, and 3 days of light weight circuit training. Let's see if the next few weeks are going to take a toll on my body.