Chasing a faster me

Saturday 29 December 2012

2012 - The Power of Dream

I wouldn't have believed that until this day, I've completed 4 race events (with variety in distances) within 4 months of my very young and 'tender' running life. Thanks to that first '10k run on a treadmill in a hotel gym' 6 months ago, my life is now totally changed and I can proudly say to myself, 'Nothing is now impossible as long as you dream big and put one hell of an effort to achieve it'.

Just like the Honda tagline - The Power of Dreams..but with a big 'E' (effort) word to tag along it.

In honesty, masa dulu2..ana just berlari2 untuk menguruskan badan and also untuk meng'fit'kan diri yang sememangnya sejak kecik dah berada dalam bodyframe yang besar dan selalu semput2 ala2 enjin dah lama tak overhaul. In previous years, my ultimate max mileage would only be 8k of slow jog and itupun dah terasa sengsara nak habiskan. Sekarang ni, alhamdulillah..the mind and physical barrier of 21k or dalam bahasa canggih dier - Half Marathon, sudah ana pecahkan dalam last PNM2012 (Putrajaya Night Marathon) in Oct 2012. Bukan nak cakap sekarang ni that 8k distance is easy because you must always respect the distance even if it's only one short loop of 400m on a running track! Cuma sekarang ni, the mind and body can adapt easily if you train them properly and accordingly. One seasoned runner even told me, if you train hard, only the sky is your limit.
"Out on the roads there is fitness and self-discovery and the persons we were destined to be" - Dr. George Sheehan -
2012 bibs
So, untuk mereka2 yang dah lama berlari secara kasual tapi jauh di lubuk hati ada sekelumit niat nak meng'upgrade'kan the effort tu,my first suggestion yang tak berapa expert nih adalah untuk choose one race and register jer. By doing that, nak taknak kenalah training sebab dah bayar mahal untuk registration fee. And after that, along the way (i mean the training), you'll soon find that slowly and gradually, you'll awaken 'the runner' inside you. Same goes to the others. Be it yang kurus, gemuk dan berat, tinggi, rendah dan lebar, lelaki mahupun perempuan. Percayalah..deep inside each and everyone of us, there's always a 'runner' inside us and you just have to wake him up and see him go. Just like what happen to my younger bro. After ana cucuk2 dier join ana in one of the races (in the end he joined the 5k race in his maiden Royal Klang Run 2012), he completed the race in one piece, feeling satisfied and hungry for more. And now, after 3 months since that 'magical run', he is now training for a 10k run, comfortably and confidently. I won't even be surprised if he's now ready to run his first half marathon distance.

As for me, before I continue my running adventure in 2013, I couldn't just forget how much I've gone thru to be in this position and in the end, feeling awesome, healthier and met so many new acquaintances. I am really grateful that my family especially my wife supported me all the way in whatever that I do to achieve my goal whilst not forgetting my role as – a son, a husband and most importantly, as a father to a very beautiful baby daughter who were born last Nov 2012

She'll definitely be one of my inspiration and motivation to achieve my running goals..
My biggest adventure for year 2013 would be for me to get my first Full Marathon distance (42.195km) and its finishing tee. Bak kata mereka2 yang genius - nak memecahkan that 'Full Marathon Virgin' (FMV) title. So, setelah menelaah previous events in 2012, this target harap2lah dapat dicapai in May 2013 di Kota Kinabalu, Sabah dalam Borneo International Marathon 2013 sambil2 menghabiskan 2 HM before that. Hehe..In terms of preparation, I'm already at the early stage of it, adopting the Liz Yelling regime that I got from the 'The Ultimate Guide to Marathon Running - Third Edition'.

Of courselah bukan yang 3hrs 30mins or sub 2hrs 55mins tuh!!..hehe

Other major races that I plan to include in my 2013 would be:
  • Multi-Purpose Insurans (MPIB) Run 2013 - The first event of the year (6 Jan 2013)
  • Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2013
  • Putrajaya Night Marathon 2013
  • Penang Bridge International Marathon 2013 (I believe this would be on the new bridge)
  • Standard Chartered Half Marathon Brunei (April 2013)
  • Malakoff Run KL - (Nak conquer balik the 'hills have eyes' nih, InsyaAllah)
  • Newton Challenge 2013 (this year punya tak sempat sebab on duty)
  • and other races yang sememangnya banyak throughout the year. Tinggal sempat tak sempat jer nak join..

Akhir kata untuk tahun 2012 nih, if you strive for the best, you'll get the best. And jangan lupa untuk bertawakal bila kita dah berusaha sehabis baik untuk mencapai sesuatu sebab hanya Dia yang tahu apa yang terbaik untuk setiap daripada kita semua ini. :-)

My precious 2012 medals
May all of our dreams and wish come true. Like me, other than to complete my first full marathon, my other target is to improve my pace until I can run consistently and comfortably under 5:30min/km. If other people can do it, I can do it as well..or do it even better!!

Selamat Tahun Baru 2013 semua and see you all soon!!
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Saturday 22 December 2012

Malakoff Run 2012 - KL 16.12.2012

Hoho..at last, my last race event for the year 2012 - the Malakoff Run.

Was it the best ever run for me? Not really..Did I ended the year with a bang thru this 'M' run? Again..not really..the reason being, entahlah. My feeling was not quite right by the time I stepped on that finishing line. Nak kata tak best, tak jugak sebab dah dapat that finishing medal (berat gila plak tuh!) Nak kata best, tak jugak sebab my overall expectation was far below from the actual happening.

The sight at the starting point. It's still dark!
To be honest, when I was at the starting point that 16/12 morning, there was really nothing in my mind. Fighting spirit pun macam kureng jer the whole morning. Nak kata dah ready physical dan mental, rasa2nya seminggu sebelum the actual event, dah abih dah duk men'derem' mental and prepare the physical-me to face the very demanding rolling terrains of Bukit Damansara. The key phrase in my mind were always - 'You'll survive the hills punya..'.'if others can do, why not me?'..' ala, biler dah naik bukit, mestilah lepas tuh turun bukit'..'just treat the run like your hill work-out'..

until I met the actual nemesis...

http://www.malakoffrun.com.my/v10/images/maps/Malakoff_KL_7km_12km.jpg
The 'sperm-head' route. Ran the same route, twice!
The terrains via my Nike+ GPS. Berbonjol2 gitu~~
If you guys look at the pic above, all the 12k runners had to go thru those 3 hills (elevation at almost 358ft) in the middle, twice!. So, the first loop I managed to 'complete it 'almost' non-stop until I saw the sight of that first hill and the first sign-board of Jalan Beringin, again. This time, my mind already went somewhere else and the one and only objective in my mind (at that time) was to finish the race, with honor and also, in one-piece.

And so I did, with the run towards the finishing, I was being overtaken by bro 'Eezad_Vazz' when I suddenly recognized the pink colored cap and his ever 'classic' stubble. Baru jer nak tegur, kaki dia terus berdesup..haha..jangan mare..

Anyway, there were many people that I met in this event..my seniors, juniors, fellow bloggers and sememangnya tidak dilupakan, bro Najmi yang setakat nih dah kira jadi buddy official untuk semua race event. Congrats bro on the timing!

Me and Najmi
The senior yang sememangnya super-pantas. Penipu sungguh bila declare this Bukit Damansara punya hills susah giler. His timing was 1:08 kot!..haha..Dang!!

Akhirnya bertemu jua, Helmi Osman @Helos
And of course, last but not the least, the hero himself, selepas bergelumang dengan larian ala2 'kukus, grill, panggang..kukus, grill, panggang..kukus'..and terus hangus.

Me with the medal
The bib plus the finisher medal..

Race Lesson Learnt

  1. Perhaps my body was still 'tired' and worn-out (but didn't realized!) after few weeks of traveling here and there plus working the night-shifts non-stop. The body's endurance has taken its toll.
  2. Running up and down the hill is an art. You have to learn and practice to master it.
  3. Need to do more tempo run to improve stamina and endurance. 
  4. Always and always respect the distance and any elevation, even if it's only just a few hundred meters or 5 to 10ft high.
  5. Do not skip your sleep because that few hours of having it will really help your body to recuperate and re-energize, before and after any intensive work-out.
  6. Always listen and trust your body especially when you feel something is not right.
  7. Eat and hydrate your body well.
Last but not the least, my race result summary..ta daa!!.


Larian semput..haha..credit to ET Tey and Syafiq Chapx
Now, move on to our next journey!

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Tuesday 11 December 2012

Towards The 'M' Run..

Alrite peeps, i'm now in the taper week before the Malakoff run (kononnya lah..hehe). Body and mind pun dah start terasa 'letih' after these 2 weeks of fitness catching-up. Kepala dah ada macam mamai2 sikit (ni sebab x cukup tido) and the legs pun ada rasa mcm stiff sikit2 tapi not that muchlah.

So, what's next?

After today's 7k morning run, my plan is to have a total 2 days rest though I doubt that I could rest properly since my incoming working shifts are all NIGHT!..so, there goes my night sleeps for the next 4 days until 15th Dec. Terpaksalah mencari time untuk tido di kesiangan hari walaupun tak lama (maybe 2 - 3hours) to allow the body/mind to recuperate properly. After these rest days, I might go for a quick run, perhaps one 5k run and followed by a cross-training the day after. If not, I'll just lepak2 jer at home until the race day sambil fueling my mind and soul. Kui3..

Anyway, a pat to me-self since to-date, I have accumulated a stunning total mileage (for me at the least..) of 87km with 5 resting days. Ish3..terasa banyakla pulak distance tuh..haha..Itupun nasib ada nak meng'force'kan diri untuk rest. Kalau tak, dah memang buat kerja gila every day berlari2 sampai kaki lembik macam brokoli lama sangat kena celur..:P




Lastly, harap2 lah time Malakoff run this coming 16/12 ana dapat jumpa fellow runners (the old and the new one) untuk menambahkan lagi kenalan..like they say, the more the merrier, and the more crowded the road..hehe..

See ya..
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Wednesday 5 December 2012

Re-conditioning Weeks

Yeay! By the time I'm writing this, I've managed to complete a couple of runs without feeling anymore niggles on my left foot except for of course, it still feel like I need oxygen supports whenever I push the pace a little bit during mid-run. But syukur Alhamdulillah, up till yesterday's evening, I'm now quite comfortably back working within the 5:40 to 5:50 pace though I do need a few more tempo runs before I could run consistently and 'easily' in these pace especially for 5k to 10k runs. But all in all, I'm quite happy to be back on the road and pushing myself again with all of that hard-work and efforts.

To be in this week means that I only got 2 weeks left before the Malakoff run (12k). So, the plan is to continue with the running plans within these last 2 weeks before flying back to KL for the run and most importantly, to meet my two 'girlfriends' in Besut, Terengganu (Lambatnya lagii!!..haih!)..Really can't wait especially after my lil girl did this:

Aisyah, Aisyah..boleh pulak tersengih dalam tido..haha..so comel!
So, before I sambung my shift for the night (oopss..kantoi updating the blog during working hours..hehe), as usual, the summary of my work-out for the previous weeks:

Previous weeks (27/11 - 3/12) Summary

27/11 - Larian kembali ke jalanan di Bintulu..completed the run with 3.71k of running, 10mins walk and ended with a slow jog for about 10min or so
28/11 - Larian kedua within 13hours after the first run on the 27/11 to assess the fitness. Hit the wall at around 40mins or so..continued walking for 4mins and then continue pushing for another 8mins. Completed 7.9km
30/11 - A short run before off to work. Completed 4.63km
1/12 -  The furthest after 1 week of running (post injury). Slowly getting back the fitness. Completed 10km
3/12 - It was a 'kukus, grill, panggang and kukus terus' kinda run...stopped twice at 7k and 10k for hydration..then couldn't muster anymore energy at 11k split..from there on, I walked all the way to home - jalan2 makan angin. Total mileage done - 14.58km
4/12 - Tristupe tempo run.7min w/up (~6:30), 10mins (~6:00), 10mins (~5.40), 7mins cooling down (~7ish). Total mileage done - 5.24km. The best work-out so far.

More to come in these coming weeks..

Alrite, now back to work peeps..hehe
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