2011 Running Calendar

Hmm....how to begin this....I noticed the registration fee for running events in M'sia is getting more expensive over the years. As a comparison - I registered for one in year 2008, it only cost RM30 (the most), and today one annual race will cost easily RM 50 & above.

Well, I can't complaint much. These figures are not simply added up for the sake of "following the trend, ppl increase...v do the same".

Organising a run is not as simple as ABC, which I personally got involved in some of the small scale race organised by our own running group. It requires alot of coordination & logistic planning. I know some ppl might think "what's gonna do with the RM50 we have paid??? Dont they already have sponsors for drinks, running vest & goodies???"

The truth is, a part from all these freebies they get....somehow fund is needed to cover things such as meals for volunteers, medals, prizes, rental for event venue, advertisement, local authorities fees charges for road closure & safety....and the list goes on.

So, what's my proactive action then??? I'm keen to run....yet the fee is eating up what's in my pocket. I took a step back to look at the running calendar again for this year and concluded these few run in my list. (perhaps if i've a little extra, i might consider a bit more later on.)

1. Energizer Night Run (ENR)

2. Borneo Run

3. Standard Chartered KL Marathon (SCKLM)

4. Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM)

(further wish list i plan to achieve)

1. Gold Coast Marathon

2. Bangkok Marathon

Happy Running!! ^_^

2nd Attempt in SCKLM (2010)

In March, i decided to sign up for 21km again in SCKLM. It was an impromptu decision, in mind was telling myself : "well, i did last year...why not doing it again!" That was it...didnt think much after registration and started training only around mid May. (haha..that's also I didnt manage to hit the millage during training)..But thanks to a group of friends pulling me week after week to train with them at Desa Park City.

Race day..with a lazy body & sleepy head..i dragged myself up for the run. It was raining heavily a long the way to the city. Darn! i was saying to myself : "running in the rain?" Haha...i guess God probably heard what i've said. The rain stopped just at the time i reached Dataran Merdeka.

6:00am - Getting ready, saw Little Khoo, Pat, Dr Siew & few others at the starting line.

6:15am - Flag Off...After saying good luck to Lea, Steven & Mark...we went off with our own speed. First 5km, weather was cooling...kinda easy to keep my pace even though have to keep an eye on potholes as we have to run through some road construction near KL Sentral.

7:13am - Somewhere in between 6km - 7km marker. Traffic control in Loke Yew a bit disappointed. At one occasion, cars were behind & next to me while i was running. (So dangerous!) Anyway, both knees started to pain. Thank God, i applied deep heat before the run..i didnt feel that much pain as expected. Sufficient water to keep me from dehydration.

8:10am : KM11.5....i told myself : "halfway done! yes!"....wondering if some of my friends already reached the finishing line. Dont care...continue running. Had a banana from the water station & some water..continue running. Saw a veteran guy at the edge of the road semi-conscious while the st. johns busy attending to him.

8:50am : KM15...I was tired, thought of continue walking instead of run but my legs wobbled the minute i started walking....no choice, forced myself to continue running to keep the body balance...haha! This time round, i mumbled to myself : " i did 34km by walking, i can do 21km of running too...dont stop!"

9:30am : Final 1km...i can see more crowd infront of me now as approaching to Sogo area. I caught up with Jennifer & Kei Meng (both did their full marathon)....Tried my best to pace with them before they speed off towards the last 100m. It was fun! Saw frens like Keat Seong, Houn, Gary, gym frens & the regulars already done with their run. Praise God that i was back in one piece...really feels good.

Best of all...No power gel, just purely water, 100plus & one banana,i did few minutes better than last year. Though exceeded 3hrs, I dont mind coz i've completed my run. ^_^

3:38:47

I'm relieved that my 1st half marathon has over. Despite with pain all over my body especially both knees, I feel good completing it.

Before the race, I was praying hard that I'll have a nice weather with a bit of drizzling to run. Amazingly, God Answered my prayer...Thank You GOD!!

The first 10km was great, steady breathing, no cramp & I did it in an hour..I continued my slow & steady pace till 15km, there's when my nightmare started. The injury from last year haunt my knees again & has caused so much pain till I've to walked, limped & forced run till finishing line. All the time I made up earlier when down the drain...sigh! I'm disappointed that I didn't achieve my goal of doing sub-3, could have done better...but I've completed it, that's the least consolation for me.

There were too many complaints about the race not properly organised..but I'm not going to elaborate much here, seeing too many of my friends has already posted their complaints in their respective blogs...hahaha.

To have completed this race, there are some friends that I really appreciate for their support & encouragement along the way. Especially Lena, not only she make the effort to do weekly training with me, she did her very best to be my pacer during the race.

(Team Hyper Gila)

(The Pacemaker Gang)

(me running like a crab towards the finishing...arrghh! Finally, I'm done!)

(Tey caught me half way & took this photo...look at my bib! LOL..what a jinx number for chinese)

D-day - 96hrs left

This is it...i cant hide but to run...doing my checklist on things...

1) power gel - checked
2) vest & tights - checked
3) shoe & socks - checked
4) time watch - checked

now the remaining is to collect the bib this saturday, have enough rest & best part carbo loading without guilt...hahaha. (sigh! inside extremely nervous...like ronnie said :"kan cheong liao"..hahaha)

To my running frens...all the best this sunday,k. ;p

Counting down....SCKLM

IS JUST 10 DAYS AWAY!!!!! I'm getting more & more nervous by day...I can feel the pressure in me that I might fail to complete the race...haha. Even though I've got myself physically ready for it but mentally....AAARRRRHHH!! NOTHING NEAR TO READY!! If there's a scale of 1 - 10, I think right now I'm at 1.

How??? Die-die also have to do it. With bet to complete within the time frame, wearing the same vest with a group of running frens & 1st time doing 21km...hahahaha, like my dear fren Lena said : " Die die also have to step at the finishing line.." Great advice huh? ;p Thank God, she's gonna be my pacer & will make sure i dont chicken out...hahaha..so wish me luck.

Training

Many of us have started serious training for upcoming Standard Chartered KL Marathon, that's includes me. This is my attempt in 21km category, kind of nervous whenever I think of it. I had bets with two friends on completing the race within the time given, this motivates even more to train harder.

I've been training since early April in gym & at the park. From running only during the weekends to 4-5times a week..I feel good though with my stamina building up gradually & gotten quality sleep after the exercise. (haha...technically fell asleep before i finish checking emails every nights). Another extra credit i gotten is that i've lost several Kgs! yoohoo!!

Apart from these +ve side i gain, i worry bout me over doing it too. Coz i felt exhausted sometimes during the day. haha...it may be those lazy bugs in me that start complaining now. ;p I'm doing my best not to think about it & have my balance in food intake to continue exercise.

Well, hopefully few weeks from now i'll manage to do my personal best & win the bets. Best of all to see the physical change in me. Stay tune! ;p

Adidas Running Shoes Seeding Program Q1 2009

Hello Guys,

Good news for runners who blog or having their own webpage.

Adidas had once again brought in more highly innovative running shoes to be given away FREE to runners to wear-test them & to post in their blog a very frank & unprejudiced opinion about the shoes after 30 days ofusage.One of the shoe that is included in this program is adiZero Adois that Haile Gebrselassie used at the 2008 Berlin Marathon setting a world record in the Marathon at 2hr 03 mins 58 sec.

The sizes are limited and I have them in size UK 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5 & 10.5. Those wishing to possess these shoes will have to comply with the following terms & condition :

1 ) Come to the adidas office to fit the shoes.

2 ) Undertake to post a comment in their bloga ) about the Technical features of the Shoes upon receiving themb ) about the performance of the shoes after 30 days of usage.

3 ) Must be a blogger or has his/her own website.This offer expires on 15th January 2009 & the shoes will be given out on a first-come-first-serve basis.

The program this year is only open to those who had NOT participated or missed out in this program previously.If you are interested pls call to make an appointment as appended belowOffice address:

adidas Malaysia Sdn Bhd

Block B , Level 4, Plaza Damansara

45 Media Setia 1

Bukit Damanasara

Kuala Lumpur

Tel Office : 03 - 20804843

Mobile No : 012 - 3503668

E-Mail : krishnan.karuppan @adidas.com

Best Regards

Krishnan Karuppan

Head of Running

adidas Malaysia

Adidas Run 2008 - Shah Alam

These are some "ada gaya" photos taken while i was busy body at Adidas Run this morning...the weather was superb & the crowd was huge too despite Ekiden run which held in Putrajaya fall on the same day.

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2008

I was reading the e-news from Singapore Marathon, surprise to see David's photo is in this year web page again. Cool!

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Unrelated story from above : I had a bad fall during heavy rain two weeks ago, causing my knees still in pain & walking clumsily sometimes when climbing steps. The massage master told me to rest for atleast a month before i can start running again...sigh! I've not done any running since i came back from holiday..My ichy legs missed doing PAR4 & weekends run....hopefully recover before the McDonalds Olympic run which fall on end June.

Larian Obor

Before the run starts

Front of T-shirt & Certificate

Back of the T-shirt..not bad ya?!

I just completed 5km Larian Obor this morning...the feeling is like i've run more than my usual distance....why? haha...probably i'm lack of training or perhaps i'm too stressed over my work lately. I wonder my target of running my first 21km end of this year will fulfill.

But the run was fun though...met alot of familiar faces & had a decent breakfast before i head home to start my unfinished ISO manual & procedure writing...(a big SIGH! deadline given till tomorrow noon).

Back to the run, wasnt crowded like any other run...partly because there are few runs going simultaneously all over klang valley today..but surprisingly managed to attract some good runners....maybe is the "Olympic" spirit that has caught their attention. The T-shirt is nice (far far better than KLIM T-shirt). There are two minor things that i find it weird is that they serve Coca-cola instead of isotonic drink & water to the runners...next is that they only have 2 categories & 40 medals up for grab. precious medal huh? hehe...i've not seen one but heard it was quite a nice medal...Oh ya! i saw the Olympics torch in close distant for the 1st time!!

Anyway, there's one more run to go before my long awaiting holiday....hopefully will do better next week. ;p Oya, thanks Kelvin for constantly reminding me the time & pushing me to run faster throughout the run.

Orange Run !! or ....errmm....roll????!!

Tomorrow is time for the annual Orange Run again (organised by BHP)...as usual we will starts and ends infront of "The Curve" shopping mall. What i like about this run other than one can get nice goodies after completing the race, the downhill route makes me less tired...hahaha..lazy runner.

What makes this year run special is that a bunch of us going to celebrate Little khoo's birthday which falls on tomorrow. I guess glasses of liquor, cake & a decent lunch will be perfect for the celebration after a long run. ;p

Yoohoo! cant wait...gona be a nice weekend ahead...to Little Khoo! Happy Birthday!

Mizuno Run 2007

(As Kelvin described...Happy Family)

Yesterday run was a tiring one among those i've tried this year, i came back 5 minutes later than my slowest timing... the Bukit Aman Hill really killing me....till now i'm feeling the tiredness in my body thou the pain did not take into place.

Dont get it wrong though...no doubt the hilly course was tough, it helped me to push my limit further in strength, stamina & determination to finish the race..Glad i did it..it feels good achieving something, regardless what's the award waiting infront...the fun part is the process of doing it. ^_^

Hmm...next race??? probably after Puasa month & Raya i guess...Festive Season coming, Raya & Puasa mood has already started to fill the air by those Malay frens & colleagues preparing themselves for Raya. As for myself? hehe...cant wait to taste my favourite Raya delicacy - Lemang with Rendang.

PJ Half Marathon 2007

(At the finishing line, photo complimentary from Raymond...hehe..thanks!)

I did another run last weekend...there are good & bad thing to talk about...

The Good :

1) I break my personal best record by 10mins.

2) It was a great day for running, cloudy & cooling weather helped.

The Bad :

1) NO WATER STATION for 10km runners....thank God that i never trusted any organisers ever since the Smart Tunnel Run, i've my own water supply till the end of the race. I can see people started looking for water after 5km mark.

2) Running along Federal Highway & LDP are both very dangerous.

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Something apart from running.... this is what i'm looking forward to next weekend... ;p

http://www.skytrex-adventure.com/content.html

Adidas run - NPE

Sigh! i ran too slow even though i improved 2mins from my previous best time..i didnt entitle a medal!! I'll try harder this weekend!

Good run,but started a bit late...the sun rised high before i make u turn back at 5km mark...i got a bit dizzy at the final 1000m due to the heat. Water station enough...but where's the ambulance & St.john medical team along the way ah?? MIA liao.

Was fun running with friends & colleagues...The run was organised together with IJM, so get to see many of my colleagues from HQ clad with IJM Planet T-shirt running together. Even Dato Krisnan Tan & some of the managers were there to support.


PS : will upload some photos later.

Seremban Half Marathon

Me....featured in The Star paper on Tuesday Edition for Seremban Half Marathon...a coincidence...wasn't aware about the camera man as i was too nervous about completing the run.


Photo taken by Tey, the carton of isotonic drink is a result of my lucky draw...hehe...kinda lucky that day...happy.

Overall, i enjoyed the run...personal timing improved & unexpected ranking in my category...even though there were still illegal selling RM 1 drinking water along the running route which pissed many many runners.

Looking back, i was once telling others it will be crazy if i can ever do a 10km run...hehe...& now...i did it..& more to come. I'm quite happy actually...pushing my limit everytime i run, regardless the timing or distance. I hope i can complete a 21km in future to come..

http://thestar.com.my/metro/story.asp?file=/2007/7/17/central/18315040&sec=central

Penang Bridge Run & makan trip...

I had a great trip & run up north (Penang) over the weekend. The run was great & the food was fantatic..hehe...the effort of loosing some fats via the race went down into the drain after all the makan session from Penang all the way down to KL.

(Happy Family??? haha...took this pic when we were in Ghee Him)

The Run

Yen, Gary, Houn, Jih Yeh & I got up as early as 1am to catch the pacesetter's shutter bus to USM (starting point). For Gary & Houn, they started running at 3am, Jih Yeh started 5am, Yen & I were 530am. The reason why we went early was due to the road closure for the race. (a bit crazy...coz the time when we left the hotel, the disco on hotel's ground floor still not close for the day...haha)

At the starting point, we went separate way to our own check point for reporting. Myself & Yen had to walk extra 2km in order to reach ours. The weather was warm & stuffy, i was cursing myself of why joining the race then. (haha..lack of sleep, temper was totally uncontrollably bad)

An hour passed, it was 3am..my eyes were watery & tired..i took a piece of free newspaper copy & placed in on the tar road & slept for 40mins. (well, i was not the only one...so many others are doing the same while waiting for our turn to run)...It was refreshing when i woke up. ;p

530am sharp, My catogory started running....it was difficult at first to run through the sea of people (13,000 pax in 10km started together)...mainly school boys & girls...about 3km later the road was getting more spacious, it was much easier to maintain the running speed. Yen was infront of me as usual, but i just having fun & ran on my own pace.

Half way of my run, i met a group of veteran runners (they atleast 55-65)..they called themselves "Uncle Roti"..very cute bunch of uncles..They were holding an air horn & "honk honk" along the way to keep up everyone's spirit to continue running...indeed they did a great job, many of us ran together with them & shouted "uncle roti, uncle roti"...haha..funny.

Nway, i finished my run in 1hr 33mins, few minutes behind Yen...it maybe not be a good timing, but it was my personal best so far. ^_^ Other than my both 2nd toes turned dark, i wasnt feeling much tired after that.

Makaning Session

Day 1 (Saturday) - We (in two cars - Gary, Pooi Fern, Yen, Houn, Jih Yeh & i) met up with Kelvin, Lena, Pat & Wai Leng for Seafood dinner at Teluk Kumbar. The food was fantastic. We bumped into Han & his friends too.

Day 2 (Sunday) - After the run, we headed for Penang famous fried Koey Tiaw, Cendol, Prawn Mee & Laksa. At night, Mr Pak, Mr "Chin Yan" & another fella (sorry, dont know the name) joined the group for Famous Hainan Western food at Mt Eskerin Road & Gurney drive. I highly recommended Hainan Western Food to everyone, the food was really good & the price was very resonable..(ranging as low as RM 6 - Max of RM 14).

(one of the famous fried kuey teow stall - "Sisters Fried kuey Teow" crazily waited for the long Q yet nice cha kuey teow)

(Houn enjoying himself with latest Penang delicacy near Kek Lok Si Temple...hahahaha)

(Latest highlight in Kek Lok Si Temple - incline lift leading to the big Kuan Yin figure ontop of hill)

(Hainan Westernfood @ Mt Eskerin Road - I got to know this plc via a TV program Named "Ah Xian - Jason" the way the cook are special & reasonably cheap. Oneself can choose the best suitable sauce from one the 7 types of sauces)

Day 3 (Monday) - The craziest day...we ate until Mr "Chin Yan" & Mr Pak surrendered! From Penang Famous Teow Chew Cendol to Taiping Ice blended red bean & Kuih , then Ipoh "Yong tau fu" to Gopeng Durian & Bidor famous "duck noodle".

(chit chatting while waiting for more cendol to come)

(Ipoh "under the big tree" Yong Tau Fu - Best in Ipoh)

(Mr. "Chin Yan" bargaining on behalf us with the pakcik Durian...haha...funny, he went to an extent of playing "one, two, som" in order to get cheaper price)

Special thanks to the group of people that went together...Esp Gary & Jih Yeh who droved all the time, Wai Leng took us for Seafood dinner, Yen, Pooi Fern, Han, Lena, Pat & Houn for good accompany...Mr Pak & Mr "Chin Yan" for cracking so many jokes that made us laugh till stomach turn up side down..last but not least, thanks to Kelvin for helping us to collect our bib.