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.

Road To Berlin Marathon 2010

Looks like my trip to Berlin is confirmed! I've got the registration done and air ticket booked. Race day will be on 26 September 2010.

I've always complained about how expensive the registration fees are in locally organised race. But for my last marathon and also Berlin, it doesn't come cheap! Melbourne Marathon costs me AUD135. This is without any event's Shirt nor Finisher's Shirt. Same goes with Berlin Marathon, no shirts at all. If you want it, you will need to purchase it yourself during registration. Since I'm heading so far away, I thought it would be nice to have one. So how much did it burn my pocket?

Breakdown:

1. Registration - 80 euro
(this is already after early bird; 60 euro before Feb 1)

2. adidas Event-shirt (Climacool)- 30 euro

3. adidas Finisher T-shirt (100% cotton) - 20 euro
(I wonder, what if I can't finish?)

4. Medal engraving - 8 euro

5. Chip rental - 6 euro

Total cost : 144 EURO!! (And my credit card company charged me the rate of 4.745!!)

That equals to RM683.28. Blame the low value of the Ringgit Malaysia!

Berlin Marathon is considered one of the Marathon Majors, after London, Chicago, New York and of course Boston. If I'm not mistaken, both London and New York are two marathon majors which need ballots. I think Chicago is a direct entry, whilst Boston (the ultimate marathon race for all), different qualifying times are in place for different categories. My time is nowhere near qualifying for Boston just yet.

A background on Berlin Marathon from Adventures Marathons website:

The real,- Berlin Marathon started in 1974, and has appeared annually ever since. The very first person to win the Berlin Marathon, Günter Hallas, still runs the marathon today and was also there when the 2008 and 2009 versions of the race took place. And our guess is that there is a good chance og seeing him running the streets of Berlin on September 26, 2010, too.

The Berlin Marathon is part of the marathon series, World Marathon Majors, together with four other large and tradition bound races: Boston, Chicago, London and New York marathons. In the 2008 version of the real,- Berlin Marathon, 35,000 runners was cheered on by more than 1 million spectators.

In the early years of the Berlin Marathon it was set in Grunewald – a large forest in West Berlin. Seven years later, the race was moved to the city centre of West Berlin, and finally in 1990 – almost one year after the Berlin Wall collapsed – the course was led through both parts of the German capital. Running through the famous Berlin icon, Brandenburg Gate, was a symbolic action that brought out tears in the eyes of many participants in 1990. The course of the real,- Berlin Marathon is well-known for its flatness, which makes the race great for first-timers and for experienced marathoners looking to beat their personal best, as well as for its sightseeing potential. The course takes runners past several of Berlin’s historic landmarks, such as the Reichstag, Potsdamer Platz, Berliner Dom, and of course the Brandenburg Gate just before the finish line. Running the real,- Berlin Marathon can feel like taking part in a modern history lesson, only with a million exhilarated fans in stead of text books, and ancient buildings mixed between modern hi-tech shops in stead of a teacher.

More than one world record has been set on the flat, low-altitude course of the real,- Berlin Marathon. The 2007 and 2008 versions of the Berlin Marathon both featured new world records - even by the same man. In 2007 Ethiopian Haile Gebrselassie took 29 seconds off the former record and finished by 2:04:26. And then in 2008 he improved his own breathtaking accomplishment by another 27 seconds and finished by 2:03:59. In 2009, he won yet again in impressive fashion (for the fourth year in a row), although not in record time. However, he did pass the 30K point in 1:27:49 which is a world record on road.

Registration procedures and various information regarding the full and 1/2 (half) marathon in Berlin, Germany, can be found at the official Berlin Marathon website here.

And this is from the official website:

40.000 runners and around 8.000 inline skaters will fill the streets of the German capital on the last weekend in September. The course is known as the fastest in the world, the crowds are legendary, the atmosphere is hard to top at this most international marathon in Europe. The course of the marathon is one big sightseeing loop through one of the most exciting cities in the world. Unforgettable moments will forever be remembered, especially when running over the final part of the course on the Avenue Unter den Linden through the Brandenburg Gate and past the grandstands on the last 400 meters to the finish line. We are looking forward to having you join us for the 37th real,- BERLIN-MARATHON, and we would like to wish you lots of success and fun in doing so.

Haile Gebrselassie should be heading there this year in his attempt to break his own world record yet again. Hope I can meet him and get his autograph!

Of course, I would like to finish with a smiling face like him but for now, the hard part....TRAINING!!