Long Time No Updates!

It's been a while since I last updated this blog. I am just feeling excited about tomorrow, cos I have not been to a big race event since Energizer (which is pretty F$%& up! by the organisers). My foot injury has not heal so am going to take it easy tomorrow and probably walk if I must. I am more excited about a few friends of mine who are doing their first.....Azam, Kenny, Lynn and Melvin - doing their first full marathon & Geoff who will be doing his first running race. Hope he comes back with a medal in his hands. At least can give him a little boost in running morale. 

Some of the runners taking part tomorrow......

Chae Yin, Seng Chor, Yin, Melvin, Yvonne, Lynn & Bin

Kenny

Geoff

As for me....I wasn't supposed to run tomorrow, but Geoff managed to get me a free entry into the 10km run, courtesy of MSIG insurance. Got to wear their shirt though, which looks like DiGi colours! 

Good luck to everyone tomorrow!

Li Na Wins 2011 French Open

Li Na who came close of becoming the first Asian to win a grand slam early in the year at the Australian Open, finally came true at the French Open final last night. She has had an amazing 2 weeks and winning the French Open title really made us Asians feel proud especially the Chinese. Of course, we can always remember Michael Chang winning the title back in 1989 as a 17-year old. However, he is an American Chinese so the impact was not as great as what Li Na did last night.

What is so amazing is that she has lost in a lot of first round match after the dream final in Australia. She had four successive first round defeats that prompted her to bring in Thomas Hogstedt and Michael Mortensen as coaches to replace her husband who became the hitting partner instead. 

Last night's final also saw one of the oldest cumulative age in a grand slam final. Li Na is 29 and Schiavone is 30. These shows older players are not to be written off in tennis seemingly dominated by the young players.

So well done Li Na!

Li Na of China after winning the French Open final against 

Francesca Schiavone of Italy. Photograph: Benoit Tessier/Reuters

 Li Na raises the French Open trophy after winning the French Open title

Corinne Dubreuil/MCT

Shocking News.......Samuel Wanjiru is DEAD!

I can't believe that Samuel Wanjiru is dead. Wanjiru who won the Beijing Olympic Gold, becoming the first Kenyan runner to ever win an Olympic Gold medal. Surprisingly, Kenya boast the best distance runners in the world but has never won the full marathon gold up until Beijing. Wanjiru did it in style by smashing the Olympic record in 2:06:32.

He went on to win the London and Chicago marathon in 2009 and defended his Chicago title again in 2010. You will usually see runners progress to marathon later in their career such as Haile Gebreselassie and Paul Tergat but Wanjiru broke the senior ranks in marathon at a young age. He won the Beijing gold at the age of 21.

It's a mystery how he died, rumoured to have jumped to his death. He was a man without controversy.

More links on Samuel Wanjiru's death:

1. London 2012 Olympics: could athletics have done more for troubled Kenyan Sammy Wanjiru? - Telegraph UK

2. Kenya marathon star Wanjiru dies - The Independent

3. Wanjiru was also mine, woman claims - Capital FM Kenya

4. Olympic champion killed in fall - The Sun UK

5. Samuel Wanjiru: How did we miss the danger signs? - Daily Nation, Kenya

Samuel Wanjiru's training:

1. Samuel Wanjiru Shares the Secret of Training to Win - Japan Running News

2. Samuel Wanjiru : How He Won Beijing Olympic Marathon Gold - Daily Running Tips

A biography on Samuel Wanjiru:

1. Samuel Wanjiru - Wikipedia

Now I feel my medal from Berlin Marathon is really worth something though I've always asked why his face appears on the medal when he has never competed in the Berlin Marathon before.

real Berlin Marathon 2010 Finisher's Medal

Still Recovering..

Been a while since I updated this blog...I know this posting is a little late since it was about my run in Energizer.

After weeks and weeks of rest due to injury on my foot, I thought I should give the Energizer Night Run since I've already paid so much for it. Besides, it's held on Sepang F1 track.it's not everyday you get a chance in running on a F1 track. I've already been there for F1, rode on the track on a two-wheeler, without the engine. So running on it will be something new to me. I drove to Ray's house and car pooled with him, Michelle and also Bobby. All of us running the half marathon except for Michelle who is doing the 11km. 

Upon reaching Sepang, we saw quite a huge turnout for the event. I think a lot of people are quite excited for the event as it will be a different experience running on a F1 track. As we entered the car park, we were getting ready the money to pay the attendant and we thought RM5 would pretty much cover the parking fees (actually we were free parkings). However, we got a shock of our life when the guy said "Sepuluh Ringgit". What the F$%#??!! We came from so far away to run this event, we not only got charged so much on the registration fee, but getting charged at this exuberant parking fee is just absurd!

Next up, runners had to go through a small tunnel to reach the starting line. Then we weren't sure where to pick up our headlight or leave our bags. Come to think of it, there wasn't sign to tell us where to go.

I had to go back out to leave my bag at the baggage area. Got another shocker looking at the queue. There was no way I would be in time to reach the starting line in time. Then the queue started moving, but that was when I saw some volunteers giving out stickers with numbers. You are supposed to stick your own but everyone was beating queue to get to the baggage area and to my surprise, runners are allowed to go into baggage area. Only a few volunteers and there were no labeled numbering to stack the bags. They will have a tough time finding bags later for sure when everyone comes back to collect it. I tried hard to remember where they left my bag.

Next was the starting line. Nothing different from every other races. Runners gathered in the wide open track waiting for the flag off. What comes as a shock when the race started. The crowd were directed to a smaller lane to allow the runners to go through the running mat to record the timing chips. It causes massive human traffic and everyone had to walk pass the start line out to the open track.

One minute into the run, my foot is in pain. Anyway, I thought it would get better after I'm warmed up. But it wasn't to be. We were led out of the track to the road before coming back to track at around 8km. I dragged on at a slow pace and it got slower when when we came back to the track. Soon from a slow jog, it came to almost a halt. Started walking, grabbed a drink and kept on walking. I saw the finishing line but for half marathoners, there's still another lap to go. I made a decision to stop as I didn't want to risk making my injury worse.

I saw a long wait for the goodie bag and wasn't to keen to queue, then I was told by Houn that was for the 10km runners. The goodie bag collection for half marathoners is beside it.

To my surprise, the goodies weren't in the bag yet. It was only packed when runners asked for it. It didn't take long before the crowds got bigger and rowdier until a point where some impatient people took matters into their own hands and grabbed the bag and threw it out to the crowds.

Soon the police had to be called in to disperse the crowd. Some didn't get their goodie bag nor medal. Many felt disappointed. Anyway, I couldn't care less about it as I was more disappointed that my foot didn't recover well enough and I've probably made it worse running the race. I hurried to get my backpack from the luggage area, luckily there weren't that many people yet. Got my bags and waited for the rest of the guys.

It came as a big news about the poor organising of the race. Organiser was heavily criticized in the facebook page and the papers. What comes as news few days after was that Energizer will be refunding the registration fees. Check out the link. It's a nice gesture from them but the wounds probably to deep to heal.

Haven't run since Energizer Night Race, some improvement on the foot but still feeling discomfort at times. I'll try not to run till I feel I can and I think it's going to take a long time to recover. I'm already forced into wearing a cushion slipper at home to help me recover faster. Hopefully can recover in time for the second half of the year. At least get some training going. Next year would be my aim to race fit again.

Feeling Unfit And Unhealthy

I've been out of the running scene for a long time and only made a few cameo appearances once in a blue moon. Partly, I've just started work, partly I'm lazy and also I'm injured. Never a day that I got out of my bed without feeling a little discomfort in walking on my left foot. Had to stretch a little bit before it felt fine. Maybe I should join a yoga class to help my injury eh?

Made a trip back to Kuching and saw a weighing scale in my home. Haven't weigh myself for a long time. Step onto the scale......Wow! I am 5-6kg heavier now!

It must be the  supper, eating Sarawak kolo mee and laksa, that we found nearby to where I stay. Man, I got a long way to make a comeback in running now! My pants are starting to feel tight now too! Overall body mass seem to be normal except for the belly part I think. That's the worst part to be expanding!

I better start getting back into my fitness routine before I'm one of those with "beer belly".

Bareno Half Marathon Results 2011

Here are some official results from the Bareno Half Marathon 2011 (time taken is official time and not net time):

 

Men Open (18 Years & Above) – 815 finishers

01:06:50 MOSES KIPKORIR KIPTOO (1st)

01:08:18 MOK YING REN (2nd)

01:09:26 KIPCHUMBA KIPROP (3rd)

01:13:56 JOHNSON KIPKOSSGEI TARUS (4th)

01:14:51 MOHD HANAFY BIN ANAS (5th)

01:38:29 A0307 RAYMOND NG CHOW KIONG (21st)

01:58:57 LIM HONG YEOW (162nd)

02:05:38 WONG YI BIN (241st)

02:08:38 TEOH SENG CHOR (275th)

02:50:53 KENNY GOH WEI KIAT  (697st)

DNS Khoo Yit Kiat (Really KNS!)

Women Open (18 Years & Above) – 200 finishers

01:29:18 NOOR AMELIA MUSA (1st)

01:49:37 SONOKO FUKUMOTO (2nd)

01:49:47 BRITTANY LIM HUEY TING (3rd) 

01:50:38 CYNTHIA CHILDRESS (4th)

01:52:25 YEE PEI NI (5th)

02:08:33 MICHELLE LOOI MEI YAN (21st)

B2223 YVONNE TEO 05:30:35 05:32:47 07:21:14???? - What the #$%? Disqualified? Apa ini?

Women Veteran (35 Years & Above) – 94 finishers

01:35:55 KOH LENG LENG (1st)

01:36:16 SUSAN KHOO (2nd)

01:40:12 NG SUN NEE (3rd)

01:45:41 YONG LAI CHEE (4th)

01:46:59 LIAN BEE HOON (5th)

02:28:59 YEOW CHAE YIN  (50th)

Mens (10km)

47:43:00 Abdul Azri (29th)

00:00:00 Azizul Rahman (xx)

Womens (10km)

00:00:00 Yin Yin Boey (xx)

Here are the happy faces of some of the Dutamas Runners. Well done guys!


For more results, please click on this link.

Yvonne (B2223) found.....

First Run Since Donkey Weeks....

Had my first run this evening of about 7km. Just testing out my foot and see whether I can start training or not. Seems fine throughout the run although I do feel sore sometimes during the run. But it's usually worse when you wake up in the morning. Nowadays, I need to do a little bit of stretching on my calf before I get out of bed.

Anyways, it's been 3 weeks since my last runs with Kenny and also a 10km run on 25-26 Feb weekends. I was supposed to run the Bareno Half Marathon but due to a "technical" problem, I missed the event....

Couldn't go any faster even though I wanted to, but it was ok for a first run after a long break. I will still continue to monitor and access my foot injury and not put in too much mileage. I'll just try to keep myself in a little bit of shape so I can get back into full training when the foot is healed.

Reds Revival!

Can't be any happier to see Reds beat Man United at Anfield. After giving Chelsea the blues, they gave Man United the red tonight. 3-1!! 2 big wins for Reds since Kenny Dalglish took over. Wish he was appointed earlier....but better late than never. Few months back, the impossible seems possible, Liverpool looking likely to be relegated! Tonight, they have clawed their way back to sixth! Well done Liverpool and King Kenny!

And thank you Kuyt! Talk about Gerrard-Fowler, Gerrard-Owen, Gerrard-Torres combination, now we have a new combo, Suárez-Kuyt! Lethal....

Liverpool's Dirk Kuyt celebrates with Luis Suárez after scoring 

against Manchester United at Anfield. Photograph: Tim Hales/AP

And who could forget Nani's "performance". He took a hard knock from Carragher, and fell on the ground. But the funny 'soap opera' came after that incident. He got up ran over (I meant sprint over!) to the referee to complain, then fell over a "push" by Stevie G. And he started CRYING! To cap it all off, lashed out at one of the guys carrying the stretcher! What a performance, he deserves an Oscar for this! Ferguson was smart not to let him on again, maybe he really is having an injury, but I think this gives chance to Ferguson to rant at the referee at the press conference yet again!