Eco X Series 2010

For those who are interested in eco-challenge races. Please visit their website for more details: www.nomadadventure.com

Taman Bukit Jalil & A Few Good News

I had my first run in Taman Bukit Jalil on Tuesday. I was supposed to meet up Keat Seong for run in Puchong. Also invited the great French runner, Peter out for a run (too bad he wasn't free). Anyway, KS had to work late that night and couldn't make it to the run. I wasn't too sure where to run in Puchong, so decided to head over to Tmn Bukit Jalil. When I reached the place, it started drizzling, so I stayed in the car and waited. Thankfully, it stopped. Since it was my first time running there, I didn't know which route to take. Ended up doing small laps around it, couldn't take it in the last lap, so I turned off to another junction to make it a longer run. Ran for about 40 mins and went to look for a slight slope to do my hill repeats. Fortunately, short hills are pretty easy to find it there. So I did about 10 reptitions, but I wish it was a straight line and I didn't have to run in a curve.

The place was pretty dark at night, so I went to check on my car after the hill repeats and I only saw one or two cars there. Scary! I knew there were still a lot of runners running around, so they must be parking somewhere else. I decided to move my car nearer to another entrance to the park.There, I saw a whole group of Tmn Bukit Jalil runners (with chairs somemore), probably gossiping about coming by-elections? Haha. It was nice to see some familiar faces such as Sally, Tan and Farid. Also, some are familiar faces in the road running scene but I didn't know their names. I got bitten by some insects on my arms and neck during the run, and it swelled the next day. Must put on insect repellent next time!

Anyway, the park is actually a nice area to run in but wish I had taken a longer route, so that I won't be running so many small loops. I heard from Sally that even one of the Bukit Jalil runners commented, "Why you never show your friend to a longer route?" She told me there's another route which is about 4km in distance. Next time lah.

One fine day, Kelvin brought me to try out  the spa and jacuzzi in Mines Resort. I can't believe the water in the jacuzzi is so so hot. Took me a while before I was able to dip myself in the pool. Then I tried to cold water pool and that is icy cold. You put your legs in, won't last 5 mins! Anyway, now I know where to go after a hard run next time. Anyway, ice is always used to reduce your inflammation to your injuries.

Quote of the day:-

"I tell you ah, you know how they make chicken rice or not? First they dip the chicken in hot water, then they dip it in cold water. That's how you get the chicken skin so smooth when they serve you. So, you must dip yourself in hot pool, then the cold pool to make your skin smooth smooth!" - The wiseman, Ng Ching Her.

So ladies, you can throw away your beauty products and listen to this guy!

I learnt from Moey on Wed that Energizer (after our appeal) have decided to give us an exclusive adidas cash voucher. What a great news!

"This cash voucher is different from the discount voucher you received in the goodies bag during the race. For one, there’s no minimum purchase required and the validity is up to 6 months. In addition they are also valid for a wider range of adidas merchandise. The cash vouchers will be in RM50 denomination and the amount for each winner is listed in the table below."

Marathon winners will get RM700, RM600, RM450, RM300 and RM150 respectively

Relay and 21km winners will get RM600, RM450, RM300, RM250 and RM150 respectively

10km winners will get RMRM450, RM300 and RM150 respectively

Glad that Energizer took our feedbacks seriously and we are grateful to that. Hoping that organisers of other runs will do the same, accepting feedbacks from runners, act on it and improve themselves.

Eventhough I was the one sending out the appeal letter, I didn't get the news in email. The rest of the winners did. Haha. I think for relays, they sent out the emails to the respective team captains regarding the matter. Our team will be getting a RM450 cash voucher. Man....RM450 divided by 4 person, I'll be getting only RM112.50?? Aiyo, how to divide leh. I hope each will get RM450! Anyway, this will be confirmed once Ronnie receives the cash voucher! Good timing for a new running shoe. Hopefully, that will help in my left foot arch problem.

I went to register for Bomba Run 10km run today and you are given a choice to choose the colour of your T-shirt. At least still got a lot of sizes to choose from. Bomba Run is on May 2. Clcik here to download the entry form. Since Subang 10km has been postponed, I thought it will be a good tune up race.

Today I received yet another great news from Nuffnang, saying that the cheque I've been waiting for so long for my Tiger Run win is finally ready to be collected. I didn't know they were going to issue the cheque under individual's name as I thought they will reimburse whatever we have spent. Anyway, thanks to Nuffnang an Tiger Beer for this! Thanks to June Yew too for his effort in following up with the status of the cheque payment. He is the grand prize winner for the Tiger Run.

I went straight to the office to collectthe cheque once I've found out it's ready. Upon reaching the office, I registered myself at the security counter. Then the security guard asked me, "Itu Nuffnang buat apa punya? Semalam, fuyoh, ramai ah moi macam model datang office. Dari China ada, macam-macam lah." Haha. I told him I go check it out. Their office is pretty cool, no partition kind of office, kind of like Digi's office. Everyone seems to be on their computers (some I saw facebooking)! I met up with one of the staff there to get my cheque. When I got back down, the guard asked me again, "Adakah?" I said, "Tak ada lah boss." "Aiyah, sayang you tak datang semalam."

My biggest winner's cheque ever!!!

Anyway, Im glad it came in a good timing as I was stressing myself so much on how to pay the credit card bill. I've already charged my air ticket and registration fee for Berlin Marathon to my credit card! Then Euro and Sterling Pound has dropped so much in the last few weeks, that it's also a good time to buy the currency.

As for my training today, I had to abandon my plan to do a 10 x 400m, and managed only 8 sets. I was getting a little tired and my timing was getting slower and slower. Started off with a good timing of 77secs but end up in 83secs after the 4th set. I wish there was someone pacing me so I don't give up that easily. My average HR was at around 164 bpm. Still not that high as I wasn't doing that long distance. Some of the Uncle Chan's disciples, such as Jack, Phua and Wei Khong. They were there but Uncle Chan didn't come today. In spite of this, they went on with their training of 1km repeats. Pretty good bunch. Too bad they weren't doing the same thing, otherwise I can have pacers.

A Long Run? Maybe Not..

I was awaken around 3am, by the sound of the rain and had to close the window before my curtains get wet. At that moment, I was thinking, "Mmmh, maybe there's a reason for me to sleep in today." I went back to sleep after that, and got waken up by my alarm this time at 5.55am. I thought I could start earlier so I can catch up with Uncle Don and whoever he is running with nearer to their starting line. Well, I went to have a look outside the window, wishing it was raining, but it doesn't seem like it. So I went to do my "usual business", brush my teeth and put on my running gears. I was still hoping for rain but it didnt happen. Got out from the guardhouse (cool morning), then suddenly my stomachache hit me again. I wanted to use the toilet next to the swimming pool but I thought it was just mentally telling me not to run, so I went on with my run. But after 5 mins of run, nature really make a call to me! I had to stop, didnt want to aggrevate it. I walked a little, ran a little, it crossed my mind to go behind the bushes. Instead, I hanged on to it till I reached one of the food court in front of the income tax department, but it was closed! So I had to walk/run till I reached the Duta Tennis Court. What a relief! Next time I better make sure my stomach is "cleaned" before I run!

I went on with my run after that. I've probably missed Don passing by due to the toilet break. It wasn't long till I saw 3 fast runners coming, and Don was in there. I made a U-Turn to follow them (Don, Barry and Cecil). Cecil was leading the pace and they were probably going at around 4:10-4:15/km pace. I tried to hang on, but lost touch a little bit, until the road crossing the overhead highway at Duta. Lucky for that, I managed to catch up with them again. Cecil had to u-turn back, probably has an appointment. Don and Barry continued to set the pace but fortunately for me, it wasn't as fast as Cecil's. Ran around Petronas before stopping for water break. Barry left after a short break as he was going for a 30km run. He said he was going slow till Don catches up later. Me and Don ran together (with a slower pace than the first half) until we caught up with Barry at the Income Tax Office. He told Barry to go ahead as he was too tired to do a 30km. Hasn't recovered to 2 speed sessions he did over the weekday. I bid Don goodbye and turn back to run slowly back to my apartment. My total time was 1h48mins but taking in into consideration of toilet/water breaks and also the amount of time walking, I probably did only about 1h20m of run. Still not too bad for a day's long run. Not too sure how far I've covered today though. Probably estimated distance of 17-18km.

Later, I had Kolo Mee at Alex's (Restoran Good Luck, Tmn Megah) for my recovery!

Feeling Very Unfit At The Moment!

After two days of running in my "once upon a time" training ground, I feel that I have a long way to catch up with my fitness. Being left behind by two veterans and 1 young "super fast" chap wasn't a good feeling, but it was good to access where my fitness stands. On Thursday, they ran for 1 hr 10mins, probably covered about 15-16km in 1:02-1:05. Of course I was nowhere near that as I stopped after 30mins into the run.

We did about 4-mile run (4 laps) today and again I was left behind. After the first lap, the young chap, Alex, asked Kaliani, "Is it 4 laps?". When Kaliani said, "Yes", Alex just took off by himself and left everyone else behind. Soon, I started to lose sight of Kaliani. While I was ahead of Boon, it didnt take long for him to overtake me after 2.5 laps. I couldn't last the pace and had to slow down a lot and just cruise to the finish line.

Timing:-

1. 26:14 - Alexander

2. 26:29 - Kaliani

3. 27:29 - Bee Boon

4. 28:10 - Me (Splits: 6:50, 6:49, 7:21, 7:10) -Last lap is estimation as I didnt stop my watch

5. 30:00 - Wilson

From left: Bee Boon, Alex, Kaliani, Wilson, Me

P/S: Sorry ya Wilson. Didnt catch your name earlier!

Back In Hometown!

I'll only be back for a few days this time around. It's always about the authentic kuching food, even though I'm coming back for some other reason. Well, I've downed kueh chap and kolo kueh tiaw, so that just leave a few more, Gu Bak Mee, Kolo Mee, Tomato Kueh Tiaw, Sarawak Laksa, Belacan Bee Hoon, Tu Kah Pen. Man, did I missed out anything? Speaking of this, I better start my engine!

CNN: Haile Gebrselassie Revealed

PART I




PART II




PART III

For Laughs!

Barefoot Running With Tan Wah Sing

Wow, I didn't know Tan Wah Sing was interviewed for this. Can learn a lot from this guy. Saw this in Ronnie's site.