Newton Challenge 25km 2012

So, here comes the first race report for the year 2012. No drum roll is required. Al-maklumlah, cerita dah basi lama dah baru aku terhegeh-hegeh nak post. This race was held on 1st January 2012, which I'm sure some of you might have forgotten it.

First of all, I didn’t pirate this race. Which is a good start in conjunction with one of my new year resolutions. Ngeh ngeh ngeh. Barang yang lepas (pirating races) usah dikenang…

Secondly, and more importantly is the upfront preparation for the race. In the previous edition of this similar race, which was held back in September 2010 (wow, how time flies, kan?), it was held right after the fasting month, where I normally bring down my level of training to the minimum possible, i.e. zero. So, I didn’t fare the race as much as I wanted to do. Obtaining the medal with a time clocked at 3h18m during that race was good enough for me. Totally unsatisfied, but I can live with it.

So, for this time around, I came back with a mission – to beat my own timing. And fortunately, I’ve been training quite sufficiently and structurally (I think) a few months ago and I entered this race with a better confidence as compared to the previous edition.

Once arrived at the race venue, I began with a simple 5 mins warm-up to make sure my sweat factory is up and running. With a gulp of a powergel just a few minutes before the gun-off while chit chatting with some running buddies, I finally made up my mind to attack this race (read: try my best laa, bukan attack main perang-perang tuu).

Shakhir: “Korang nak ambik biskut PowerBar free tu ambiklah. Tapi jangan kacau meja PowerBar ni ok, yang ni aku dah booking sejak semalam. Aku nak convert meja ni jadi podium.”

A strategy I’m planning to follow from this year onwards is to run with my CamelBak. At least I don’t have to worry if the organizer screws up with the water stations (which sometimes happen).

Dari Kapas ke Pantai Kelulut,
Acara swimathon mencabar minda,
Punyalah panjang aku melalut,
Cerita sebenar baru nak mula…

Ok, ok. So, this is how the race went.

Right at 0530hrs, I started at the most back. Then immediately shifted into my comfortable race pace of a mid-range mileage (i.e. 20km distance race, hence 6min/km pace), and cruised my way through the crowd. Syah, Diket, Dett and myself diverted into a flat area at KM4 (or something like that lah) for Subuh. I spent 7mins there. There was a hilarious story at the surau but I missed the picture snapping opportunity to serve as a proof. But I surely will remember the joke forever. A keyword to remember is ‘terong’.

Time ni pernafasan masih tip top. Belum lagi bertukar ke mode nafas kuda.

When I rejoined the race, I was already way back behind. Only one or two other runners scattered around. Maintaining my pace, I slowly overtook one by one. Yes, this race route is famous for their ups and downs. So did my pace. I reduced my speed whenever going uphills while maintaining my breathing pattern, and I took revenge each time we went downhills. I was being extra cautious and careful not to over exert on my heart rate.

The fun part for me is always to see other runners on the other side of the road, upon nearing the u-turn points. Those were the times where you can see your friends, at the same time set a ‘target’ to chase upon, i.e. faster runners. At least, if your body ‘behaves’ well, that ‘targets’ could be used as a motivation to pursue the race strongly. No one can deny that it feels good to be able to overtake another runner, no matter how slow or fast you run.

Trying to remain focused with my ‘race pace’ – a not-so-easy thing to do actually.

If I’m not mistaken, there were two (or maybe three) turnaround points. At each points I tried to scan for possible targets to overtake. Not that I am that “competitive”, but it was more like a mental game to make sure my strides remain on the steady pace, rather than slowing down unintentionally. Not having any distance marker throughout the race route made it much tougher to gauge how far or how much longer should I keep the pace.

I may not remember loads of details anymore about the race (it has been more than 20 days!), but I do remember pushing myself pretty hard with a mission to finish this race as strong (not necessarily fast though) as I could. Getting towards the 20-th kilometer, I started to feel fatigue in my legs. I could also sense that my pace has reduced a little bit. Such a demotivation, to be honest with you.

Wajah struggle sebab tak cukup oksigen dalam maskels kaki yang baru diserang cramp.

I finally had to start pouring cold water onto my legs at the next water stations when my calves started to show signs of cramping. I also did some quick stops for stretching, which worked to prevent immediate recurrence of cramps. With a new ‘target’ locked a few hundreds meter ahead, I tried to remain focused and planted the idea of overtaking him before we get to the finish line.

Knowing that the finish line will be in sight after another hundred meters or so, I gave it all my will to chase my target. I finally managed to cross the finish line ahead of him, and to my surprise I clocked 2hr32mins, averaging the pace at 6:11mins/km.

Overtaking my final ‘target’ just a few meters before the finish line.

I was satisfied with the race indeed. Nevermind that there was no distance markers or the fact that it was one challenging hilly route. I’m restraining myself from complaining about races. On another note, I have always had nasty calf cramps during races whenever I push hard, but not this time fortunately. And it felt good to be able to finish the race strong. I would say it was a good opening race of the year (to be frank, I’m not so sure if I will be racing much this year either… hehe).
We’ll see how it goes.

When I grow taller I want to become a fast and strong runner like this guy.
Maskels betis dia berketul-ketul wa cakap luu…

The J pose!

In previous edition of this race, Ijam pengsan-ed as he crossed the finish line.
This year, he was lucky he survived (most probably sebab dia tak nampak ramai amoi this year maka dia takde tendency untuk pengsan)

Syah tak sempat cover line cara dia menyedut perut sebelum bergambar.

Gaya-gaya pelari lapar tak cukup breakfast..

Masing-masing dengan gaya menyedut perut dan menahan nafas di depan cameraman.

Astalavista 2011

We just had our annual performance review for 2011 yesterday, portraying to everybody in the company what have I achieved (read: contributed) for the past twelve months in terms of profit margins.

Continuing the same spirit, but diverting the attention to my current passion which is endurance sports, allow me to present you my glorious track record for 2011.

I gloriously spent EIGHT freaking months resting. Hahaha..
Satu contoh teladan yang tak wajar diikuti sama sekali.

To put things in bullet points...

1) I only ran in four events this year. Yes, FOUR only. And they were all short distance runs. Pirated two of them (Men’s Health & KOTR). The final two events were Nike KL 10k Run and Malakoff 12km.

2) My only medal of the year is the one that I get during Malakoff 12km run. Seketul aje dong!

3) No multi-sport events at all. No duathlon, no triathlon. I only participated in the jealous-thlon events when I saw my friends updated their stories on FB.

4) No marathon event at all. Makanthon event je yang selalu buat, almost every month.

5) Eventhough it has given me some degree of sun tan, I never consider golf as an endurance sport. It was purely for work/business, although it feels good when I started to see some improvement in my consistency of hitting those tiny little white balls.

6) Gosh, I miss my tangan-dan-kaki-belang-belang-hitam-putih due to sun tan caused by running or cycling.

7) For some reason, I’m quite surprised that this blog still exists until today.

To be honest, I do wish to make a come back in 2012. How, or what, or in what magnitude it will be is still in the planning process. Whether the plans will really come true, is nothing that I can promise either.

One thing I find out though, is that, indulging in your passion (like sports or anything else) is a good way to balance up your life, even though it is often not easy to find the right balance to do it. Just saying…

Astalavista 2011!!!

Pantun Penutup Tahun

Ucapan salam pembuka kata,
Pemanis mulut senyuman diserta,
Blog sendiri dah lama tak buka,
Asyik ber-FB dan Dailymile saja.

Ikan siakap ikan kerapu,
Dimasak sweet sour enak juga,
Sekian lama aku tak merapu,
Rasa dah macam tak pandai pula.

Blog tak update sekian lama,
Rasa rindu terkadang menerpa,
Mood dah hilang entah ke mana,
Idea dan ilham tak kunjung tiba.

Sepanjang 2011 banyak berehat,
Event dan races semua tak hirau,
Seluar dah rasa semakin ketat,
Perut dah buncit jiwa dah kacau.

Bila dah makan terlebih kenyang,
Butang seluar hampir tertanggal,
Nak lari semula bukannya senang,
Penyakit malas sangatlah tebal.

Perlahan-lahan mengorak langkah,
Berlari anak terkinja-kinja,
Baru nak lari memanglah mengah,
Kalau nak terer sangatlah seksa.

Berminggu-minggu berbulan-bulan,
Mileage ditambah hari ke hari,
Letih dan penat tetap ku tahan,
Asal terasa puas di hati.

Bila fitness dah makin meningkat,
Terasa diri semakin semangat,
Kekadang enjin ter-over hangat,
Kaki dah lembik jantung dah penat.

Tahun baru bakal menjelma,
Banyak rancangan banyak acara,
Nak masuk yang mana tak tau nak kata,
Poket dan wallet harus ditanya.

Tahun yang baru lagi seminggu,
Terasa nak buat lah azam baru,
Nak update blog lebih selalu,
Berjaya ke tidak belum ku tahu.

Kepada rakan dan juga kawan,
Yang jauh dikenang yang dekat tak lupa,
Happy New Year saya ucapkan,
Semoga terus gembira hendaknya.

Birthday Run Done!

Planned to do a 33km run on my birthday (in conjunction with my age), it ended up being 34km. Terbabas daa...

Tiada kata yang dapat digambarkan.... P.E.N.A.T..G.I.L.E!

Special thanks to Shanaz and Jaja who turned up to accompany me for the run this morning. You both rawks!

Demi Kerja

Demi tugas dan demi kerja,
Panas dan hujan ku harung jua,
Kalau dulu berlari sahaja,
Sekarang terjebak dengan golf pula.

Ku hayun hayun ku pukul pukul,
Si bola kecil berwarna putih,
Bukannya senang nak straight betul,
Banyak melencong itu yang letih.

Kalau 9 holes kena dua jam,
Kalau 18 holes minima empat jam,
Di bawah mentari terasa nak pitam,
Kulit dah makin hitam al-legam.

Makinlah susah nak balance training,
Family, kerja dan juga sukan,
Makin lama hai makin pening,
Silap strategi ada chance pengsan.

Amacam, berapa bintang nak bagi markah untuk gaya ni?
Hehehehee...

Ragu-Ragu Tapi Mahu

I posted up this message below on my Dailymile account about three weeks ago, with a wishful thinking that I would be able to 'up' my fitness from almost zero (ehem ehem, drama sikit), to a level that I can pull off a 33km run without causing any injuries.

Started to have this crazy idea to run 33km on my 33rd birthday.... just for fun.
From Kiara Park, through Matrade/Solaris, up to Bukit Aman for the turnaround, then back to Kiara Park.
It's a public holiday anyway.

I've been clocking some serious mileage in the recent weeks, in the nature of rush to get ready for this self-generated konon-nak-jadi-hero dream.

On the other hand, I'm also starting to have some self doubts about it, reflecting on how bad my body responded to the mileage I've been forcing it to get used to. Aduhai...

So there you have it. A part of me who is wishfully wanting to experience something special on his birthday in his own way. And another part of me who says I won't be able to do it - purely due to lack of preparation other than anything else.

Well, I guess we'll see how it goes...

It's just for fun anyway.

Runners Are Weird

Runners are weird, when they say “Never again!”, or “This is so going to be my last race E-V-E-R!!” after finishing a very challenging run race, they will end up registering for another race almost immediately after they reach home.

Runners are weird, they know all of the running shoe models (including the color variations, model year, price) in the market. Don’t be surprise, they might not know how many model of Proton cars are on the road currently. For them, cars are all same. But not running shoes, each of them are different.

Runners are weird, they can memorize other runners from the type or model of shoes they are wearing. Statements like ”Eh, do you know Mr. X? Alaaa… the guy yang pakai kasut Nike Free kaler merah tuuu…”.

Runners are weird, when other people collect fridge magnets or key chains, they collect running vests and medals (and some of them even collect running bibs!). Running shoes are already a collection item by default laa, no doubt about it.

Runners are weird, they have more running shoes than their work shoes. And they wish their work shirts or uniforms are made out of dri-fit material.

Runners are weird, they don’t mind if they get stuck in a traffic jam for an hour. But it will drive them crazy if there are too many runners starting up in a 10km race as that will slow them 3 to 4 minutes for having to maneuver in between them.

Runners are weird, they have this amazing ability to wake up at 5am (or earlier) on weekend mornings. However, they find it difficult to wake up before 7.30am on any other working days.

Runners are weird, some of them may appear quiet or serious. But once you tell them something like “I’m planning to start running…”, you’ll see how talkative they can be. You’ll fall sick listening to their non-stop dramatic stories.

Some runners are weird, when they feel they are not good at running fast or far anymore.. they switch to playing golf.

Eh wait, that sounds very much like me...