Mileage Shock

If “trying something new” can be categorized as a hobby, then I can say it is one of my many newly created hobbies.

And by saying “trying something new”, I am talking about doing long runs back-to-back, over a single weekend. I never did this before. And the reason why I did it this time was to give a motivational kick-back booster in my fitness program after a long hiatus from doing anything hardcore. Cewah, hardcore konon.

Don’t you agree?
If you do, then you are a hardcore.

So, after the solo 1.5hrs long run I did last Saturday, I made myself available at Bukit Aman the next morning to join Jaja and her group for another LSD. Combined with another few reason to be at Bukit Aman (i.e. to collect Newton’s race kit, and my CamelBak), I decided to say sorry to the invitation of running at Kinrara for the route test run. Furthermore, doing long run with the Bukit Aman-Hartamas route will only give me 20km max, instead of the 25km torturous hilly route at Kinrara.

There was nothing much worth mentioning during the run from Bukit Aman to Hartamas. I was just running slowly while chatting with the few of them. But, once we arrived at Petronas Hartamas, it was like a running event because there were more than 20 runners at that time taking a breather and refueling. And our break time were slightly extended, everybody was catching up with each others latest update.

Sofian, AJ and his buddy were already making their ways back to Bukit Aman when I approached the Petronas.

Fadil (left): “Eh, siapa pulak minum air Gatorade kuning aku ni? Shuk, kau eh?”
Shuk (middle): “Aku tak. Tengok ni haa, aku ada oren punya. Kau minum air dia eh Hanchik?
Hanchik (right): “Ntahlah. Aku teguk sikit je. Aku tak tau itu Fadil punya. Aku ingatkan harta wakaf”

L-R: CK, Fadil, Hanchik, Ramlan (Ketua Reban CAR), Shuk King Poco, Jaja the Tri-mom vogue, and another buddy which I didn't get his name.

The atmosphere that morning at Petronas Hartamas was just like a small running race event. Amazing.
(‘Someone’ from Andalas would be saying “Cinya amazing” instead.)

Time to start the home run.

When our sweats were almost dried, we continued our journey back to Bukit Aman. I opted to run with Shuk upon understanding that he also lacked the training for Newton run. Our main gossip for the day was about how hardcore one of our running friends is who has been clocking quite a big mileage, even during the fasting month. The thing is, it showed to us all that when you put in some hard work, you earn the benefits later.

CK, Ramlan and Fadil enjoying the downhill.

Shuk and Meor pacing each other, looking strong.

When we ran passing by the Tijani area, my breathing started to increase. If I were running alone, I would have already started walking. Luckily there was Shuk by my side. At least, we secretly felt shy to be the one who started the walking first. So, with the hard breathing and two pairs of tired legs, both Shuk and I managed to get back to Bukit Aman without any walk breaks. I was smiling when Shuk showed me some short cuts. Hehehe.

So, I completed that 19km distance in 2h8min. Ok lah tu for a kick-start, right?. Plus, it was my first back-to-back attempt.

The famous Hartamas undulating running course.

Once back at Bukit Aman, there were lots of other runners who were there to pick up the Newton race kit. It was like a gathering of runners, and especially for many Muslim runners, perhaps it was the best time to catch up with each other after a long silence during the fasting month. It was also the moment for me to do some little hunting (with my camera lah).

“Eh, tadi aku order nasi lemak lapan bungkus. Kenapa mamat ni bungkus karipap pulak ni?”, said the handsome guy in his Raya shirt, with the shades on his forehead.

Fadil: “Weh Hanchik, lu dah dapat no tepon awek baju kuning tu?”
Hanchik: “Ada, ada.. kosong satu empat, tiga empat empat, actually aku pun tak dapat”
Shuk: “Wey, korang tak takut bini ke?

Rais: “Eh sayang, tengok tu diorang dah datang nak serbu kita la tu.”
Kash: “Ha'ah la honey. Sibuk betul la paparazzi ni, takleh tengok orang senang sikit. Ni yang I malas jadi glamour ni.
Rais: “Takdelah, I rasa diorang nak mintak roti you sikit kot.