Warming Up in Ipoh

Ipoh Mali Ipoh International Run was organized by the Ipoh City Council with co-operation of Perak State Government and Perak Amateur Athlete Association (POAP). The run started and ended at Dataran Ipoh, Greentown, Ipoh. There was no Marathon category this year. There was no marathon category this year. The medal amount was reduced from 300 to 200 this year and the ½ marathon event was more competitive as there was no full event. So, I didn’t have high hope for a medal and divert my concentration on having fun running in Ipoh while enjoying the pre-race and post-race gastronomical delights. I boarded the Transnasional bus at Puduraya on Saturday morning. Bought a “Smily Joe” and an apom cake from Petaling Street for breakfast in the bus. The ride was smooth. Fell sleep as soon as the bus hit the highway at Rawang. Reached Medan Gopeng bus terminal at about 11:30am. Boarded a taxi after waiting for about ½ hour for the town bus that never arrived. Initially, I was told to wait for the town bus at Platform 1 by the info counter girl. Later after asking around, I was informed by a bus driver that there was no direct bus from Medan Gopeng to the Ipoh Parade area. The Ipoh town public transport system really sucks. The taxi ride took about 6 minutes and cost RM10 from Medan Gopeng to Excelsior Hotel. A bit pricey, considering the journey is about 4km only. Bumped into the Adidas guy on my way to Ipoh Parade after checking into the hotel. He offered RM40 to help him tend the Adidas booth on the race day. What? No run? No way. I didn’t come to Ipoh to tend a phunking booth. Went to Ipoh Parade for lunch. Parkson was under renovation. Settled for Claypot Chicken Rice at the food court. Not bad. Chicken was tender. However, the rice was not “burned” enough to leave a fragrant crust. Decided to watch War of The World at 2:45pm. Had enough time to go to the MPI building to collect the race pack before the movie. There were tents set up besides the building. Had to go to the payment kiosk to settle the Rm15 payment before collecting the bib. What were in the goodies bag? One small packet of Menglembu groundnut (Ipoh famous), a 25% discount voucher for Lost World of Tambun Theme Park, a 30% Adidas voucher and a horrid looking T-shirt (one sleeve red, and the other one sleeve blue…the designer ought to be shot!). How was War of the World? Slick special effects. Great acting. Effective Drama. Spoilt by inconsiderate parents who brought their tiny bratty kids into the cinema…Bunch of pesky annoying little monsters who can’t shut their little monster mouth during the movie. Just wanna smack their little bottoms out of this planet! Would like to do the same with their parents’ bottoms too. It rained heavily when I came out of the cinema. Combed the mall to pass time, looking for interesting shops but found none. Nothing that we cannot get in KL. Bought a Men’s Fitness Ultimate Abs for RM8 magazine from an old magazine store. Need all the help can get to reduce the steadily growing blubber around my waist. It also looks good on my magazine shelf hehehe. Had an early dinner at Ipoh Parade. Had herb butter chicken from one of the bistro there. Too lazy to go anywhere else. Before going back to the hotel, stopped by Secret Recipe Café to buy a slice of my favourite, simply irresistible Chocolate Banana Cake for breakfast on the next day. Hmmmm…no wonder waistline is still growing despite many runs I do. Shocked to hear the passing of Luther Vandross on 8TV news. He was one of my favourite R&B singers – smooth sexy velvety voice. Deeply saddened by the news. Woke up about 6:00 am. Had my Chocolate Banana cake and a cup of Ovaltine for breakfast. Did the morning rubbing ritual before a run. Applied various creams to various part of the body – Vaseline for the nipples, inner thighs and toes, sunscreen for face, arms and legs and analgesic rub for calves and legs, in that order. If I start with analgesic rub first, I might end up with nipples on fire! Heheh! We were tortured with two uninspiring cheerleading performances before the start of the race. They were supposed to be the champions of some soft from the North. No back flips. No pyramid. No short skirts. No pom poms. Overall, No GOOD! I hope they don’t attempt this again next year. Such a waste of time. At 7:00am sharp, we were set off by the Perak Chief Minister whose daughter was in the cheerleading show earlier. Off I went slowly and steadily hitting the Ipoh route. The route was exactly the same as last year’s. Nothing had changed much. Signage, distance markers, water stations and sponging stations were adequate and well organized. At km 3, my jaw dropped when I saw a kid, barely 3 feet tall turbo charged overtaking me. He could be the same kid that I saw last year at the finished line. He was accompanied with a bearded chaperone. Me? Eating the kid’s dust? My ego was shattered like Tripod-zapped human beings in the War of the Worlds movie. Anyway, I decided to let my ego go. My old bones cannot take it hehehe! So, I ran at my own pace and let the kid zoomed out of my sight. Surprise, surprise! I saw the kid again at km 10. He had slowed down tremendously. I was still at my pace. Slowly yet surely, I quickened my pace and overtook the boy. Somehow, I didn’t feel good doing it. Kesian pulak. Heheh! I never see him again after that. Eat my dust, boy. I arrived at the finished line and was given a certificate. After shower, I went to Foh San for Dim Sum. Bought some lou por piaeng (wife biscuit), lou kong piaeng (husband) and “sat ker mah” from one of the shop nearby. Rested my bones at the hotel until 2:00pm. Left Ipoh at 3:00pm from Medan Gopeng. Ipoh Run was a good warm up to a series of back-to-back runs in July and August. Hope my muscles have awakened after a deep hibernation. I haven’t run such a long distance since last March (during training for KLIM). My calves are all sore, even now as I type. I hope I can do better in Seremban, Melaka, Power, Klang, MPAJ, Larian Gemilang etc. (I think I need to insert lots of Norgesic, muscle relaxant pills here).