Plan the Run, Run the Plan! 2006

I'm so excited, I just can't hide it I'm about to lose control and I think I like it – The Pointer Sisters. FTAAA has release its running calendar for 2006. My calendar is already marked for these events for the first quarter. (Insert excited squeal here) 15 Jan - Siemen Run. A short distance run to kick start the year. It’s gonna be a different experience. Watch this space. 22 Jan – Great Eastern Pacesetters 30km. Signed up for 20km only. 19 Feb – KL Towerthon. Glad to see Towerthon is back. I did it once back in 2000. Hit me baby one more time! Yes. It’s time to hit those steppers. 5 March – AMBank KL International Marathon. My third KL Marathon. Best way to see KL on foot. Going a bit patriotic here. If we Malaysians not going to run it, who else? 19 March – ING Marathon, Bangkok, Thailand. Thank you Air Asia for sponsoring my flight tickets hehehe. Will be doing ½ Marathon event only. Looking forward for the hot and spicy tom yam goong, post-run Thai massages and shopping! 26 March – Saberkas International Marathon, Sarawak, East Malaysia. My first run in Sarawak, Land of the Hornbills and Headhunters. Again, will be doing ½ marathon only. Can’t imagine myself doing 3 marathons in a month. I'm so excited, I just can't hide it. I'm about to lose control and I think I like it!

2005 - The Year That Was

Started the year with the Penang 12-hour walk. Then KL International Marathon 2005. Followed by an insect infested Nilai 3 Half Marathon. Really enjoyed the Kuantan Beach Run, near my hometown. Supported Charity Wheel Chair Push To The Peak, Genting Highlands by Dr. William Tan, a wheel chair ultra marathoner. Ran many 10km and fun events – Asthma Jogathon, Guardian – NASAM Charity Walkathon, Firefighter Run. Klang run and Power Run among them. Went to Singapore to join the World Harmony Run. My first run in the famous MacRitchie Reservoir. Did Ipoh ½ Marathon & Seremban ½. Conquered Putra Jaya ½ Marathon despite a freak fall at the first kilometer. Silly me continued to finish the race but was out of action for about two months due to the badly sprained ankle. The fall in Putrajaya ½ Marathon almost robbed me a medal from the Genting Highland 24 Hours Walk which was held a week after Putrajaya ½. Went ahead for the 24-hour walk with some help from some painkiller. I managed to complete over 50km to entitle for a medal. Earlier, my colleagues and I was featured in a local daily in an article highlighting the 24 hours walk. I was misquoted but the picture spread was awesome. Got my one-day fame. My insurance agent even tried to fix me up with eligible women by circulating the article. (Blush!) I won my first lucky draw in Malay Mail Big Walk – a digital camera. (Hurray!) Bounced back from my ankle injury by doing not one but two runs in Bangkok, Thailand - the Standard Chartered 11km and Terry Fox Run. Then, went down South for Swissotel Singapore (tallest hotel in SEA) Vertical Marathon, followed by Singapore Marathon ( ½ Marathon event). Met Olympic gold medallist Henry Wanyoike in Singapore. Capped the year with a mad mad dash in Mizuno Wave Run. Phew! What a year! 2005 is no doubt the most memorable year in my running life.

"Back" By Popular Demand

Ass-tounding? The Mariah Carey photo I posted in my season's greeting had generated so much attention that I gotta post this one up too. Seen here is Mariah doing some cooking (??) in her gold ball gown. (why Mariah, why?). Apparently, she is not that careful while handling her eggs. Apart from breaking eggs, this diva is very good at breaking the charts. Congrats to Mariah - her song "We Belong Together" is the #1 for year 2005 and "Don't Forget about Us" is her 17th #1 hit song. It ain't over till the phat lady sing! She's da best!

Logging With Passion

My Very First Runner's Log I have officially ditched my feng shui almanac and 7 Habits diary for this logbook. Bought it for RM29.95 yesterday after work (Original price RM59.90). Borders is giving away 50% discounts on all calendars and diary. (Bless those generous souls in Borders). It supposed to be the twenty-seventh edition of the classic log and calendar, the only one tailored specifically to runners, both competitive and noncompetitive. It includes: 1) Space for tracking daily and weekly mileage, as well as time, body weight, route, temperature, and improvements. (Spiffy, isn’t it?) 2) A race record, with room to write dates, places, distances, times, your pace, and “comments and excuses” (Hmmmm….good for planning my races). 3) A quick reference chart for split times, from one mile to the marathon (Pretty useless as I don’t “think” in mile. If only the have it in Metric! Insert grumble here) 4) Training tips and monthly essays by Marty Jerome on such topics as speed training, trail running, interval workouts, and injury prevention (Each week is sprinkled with quotable quotes from famous runners). 5) Photographs of runners from all around the world. (Black and white. Pretty uninspiring shots actually) Great buy. Looking forward to filling it with my passion – running in 2006.

Merry Christmas & Happy 2006

Deck The Hall with Mariah Carey. Fralalalalalalalalalah!!! Wishing everyone, friends, bloggers and runners a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. May your joy be long and your hangover be short! Hehehe!

All I Want for Xmas All I Want for Christmas are….. 1) Madonna – Confessions on the Dance Floor (Limited Edition). It has “Fighting Spirit" a bonus track, a 40 page picture book from the Steven Klein photo session; an 80 page, blank, journal book, which will also include some journal entries from Madonna; a one month free ICON Fanclub membership and a unique slipcover housing. The CD's tracks will also be a continuous mix, much like a DJ set list. Each track will also be selectable. (Oh Madonna...Every little things that you say or do, I'm Hung Up! I'm Hung up on you!) 2) Sony Ericssons W900i. Upgraded cousin on W800i. 3G Cameras. MP3 Players. Radio tuner. Better looking in sleek black with the trademark Walkman orange logo. Can put Mariah’s 5-octave wail as my ring tones and can listen to her wherever I go. Sweet..Sweet Fantasy baby…. 3) The Complete Calvin & Hobbes Collection – One of my favourite cartoon strips complete. This will look awesome on my bookshelf. 4) World Peace. (Insert unlimited supply of toothy smiles and hand-waving here hehehehe!)

Soar Like An Eagle

Terbang Helang I'm like a bird, I'll only fly away I don't know where my soul is, I don't know where my home is (and baby all I need for you to know is) - Nelly Furtado

Running with Colleagues After being hardworking slaves for the whole year, we, the employees of (insert a prominent healthcare multinational company name here) get flown to the legendary Langkawi as part of the rewards and recognitions process. There, we were couped up in the training room for two days to get rewarded with a new higher an bigger target after achieving the strecth target we managed to hit this year. More! More! More! Work! Work! Work! We were given t-shirt to wear so that we can look the same, think the same - make more money for the company. (Insert "Poon Gan Pat Leong" - Sam Hui as theme song here). We stayed at Sheraton Perdana, Kuah. The beach is icky - muddy and smelly. However, the hotel has beautiful surroundings. Love the wooden jetty. Good object for my photography. Sturdy enough to run on it. Ran around the hotel compound. Despite the hectic shcedule, managed to squeeze in some run, early in the morning and evening to keep my sanity. On Tuesday morning, I did a 5km ran from Sheraton Perdana to Kuah town and back, passing Dataran Lang or eagle Square where you can find huge eagle perched at the waterfront, a famous landmark. Was wondering if the eagle is a male or a female one. Looked underneath the eagle. No balls. Must a female eagle! Hehehe! What happened to Langkawi Marathon which was postponed a couple of times? If it materialises, it should be a nice place to run. Hilly but scenic. Duty free booze (a can of beer is RM1.50, cost for can of Coke). Imagine carbo-loading with duty free Swiss or Belgian chocolates. Heaven! Heheh!

Padang Merbok - KLIA Mad Mad Dash

King Kong Shoe? I almost did not make it for this Mizuno Wave Run. My heart sank when I was told that our company trip/ conference was on the same date as Mizuno a few weeks back. I have already registered for Mizuno donkey years ago. Heads up. I was not going to let my Mizuno medal slip away, so I called up the organizing committee to put me to a later flight (11:00 am instead of 9:00 am) I was hoping to complete the run and then go for the conference. 11:00am flight. I calculated. Run starts at 7:30am. If I complete in 1 1/2 hour, I should reach Padang Merbok by 9:00am.Give 1 hour travel time from Masjid Jamek LRT to Sentral KL to KLIA via Express Rail Link(ERL), I should reach KLIA by 10:00am, an hour before the flight, provided everything is just in time. Mission Impossible or Mission Plausible? The Mizuno run registration a big boo boo. There was a long queue to the start point to submit the registration card in exchange of a rubber band. By the time I reached the start point, the run already being set off. I started to run with a steady slow pace. I know what was waiting for me -the double hills that go up and down like a dragon's back. Vicious. I must conserve my energy. I collected another rubber band at the start point right after I turned into the Double Hills. I usually walked up the hilly area. But this time, I jogged up it and then "flew" down the hills brakeless. It was my fastest Double Hills Run ever. I got a plane to catch! I reached Padang Merbok, I was ready to give the dash of my life to the finishing line. But, I had to pull all brakes as Padang Merbok had turned to a muddy paddy field due to rain the day before. No choice. The only way was through. I hippity-hopped across the field to the finishing line and redeemed my medal. Took a couple of pictures of me and the big Mizuno wave shoe (it was a inflatable actually) before I made a mad dash from Padang Merbok to the Masjid Jamek LRT Station. I noticed that many other passengers were looking at me. Not often you get to see a man with a travel bag, "skimpily" dressed, dripping with sweat and wearing a pair or mud-soaked shoes in the LRT on a Sunday morning, or even on any other days. Mad dash time again from the LRT station to the ERL counter. I managed to get the ERL ticket 10 minutes before the departure time at 9:20am. Phew!!!! The ERL departed on time. I checked out my goody bag - a Clark Hatch voucher, some drinks, a pack of fried bihun, snack and a sachet of Deep Heating Rub. I gobbled up the fried bihun in the train. I reached KLIA at exactly 10:00am. Went to the toilet to wipe my body with a wet towel and had a change of clothes. A shower at KLIA Transit Hotel cost RM20! No way that I was going to spend that kind of money for a shower. I would shower when I reach my hotel in Langkawi. Sniffed myself. Good. No smelly armpits thanks to 24 hour protection by Rexona. Met my the rest of my colleague at the departure hall, proudly show off my last running medal of 2005. Mission accomplished.

Mizuno Wave Run Medal

Why didn't they hire a designer for the medal? I collected my running kit (a running bib, a Mizuno dri-science T & 30% Mizuno discount voucher) this morning from Bukit Aman. Here’s a peek at the medal all runners will be getting once completing the run. Doesn't it look plain?

ROAD TO KLIM 2006

Here we go 'round the mulberry bush... The first KLIM Circuit Training Run. Venue: Lake Garden 1 lap = 2.3 km Duration: 1 hour Spectators: A bunch of monkeys.

Crow shooting operation at Lake Garden?  

Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Almost attacked by some vicious monkeys at Lake Garden. I guess they didn’t like the way I run – too slow!

Commitment Slip I registered on the spot for 42km event after the Circuit Training. Blame it on the endorphin after the run. Next Circuit Run – 7 Jan 2006 (2 Hours) and 11 Feb 2006 (3 Hours). Heeyah!

I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY

Cuddly, eh? I won two lucky draw prizes from my company annual dinner and dance yesterday night - Two United Colors Of Bennetton Teddy Bears and a Sanyo DVD player. The DVD player couldn’t have come at a more appropriate time, as my current DVD player is going to break down any time soon (been watching to much “action” movies lately hahah!)

The theme of the night was Hats! Hats! Hats!  

Jingle Balls, Jingle Balls, Jingle All The Way We were "entertained" by a bunch of women impersonators. Fake boobs. Vulgar jokes. Lip-syncing galore!

The Pointer Sisters?? It wasn't that bad until the UGLY ones came down stage looking for victims. Victims to lap dance on. Victims to grope provocatively to. Victims to shove their rubber mountains onto. (Insert shudders here!)

When you happy and you know it clap your hand We get the fake Ziana Zain, Sammi Cheng, J.Lo etc etc because our company cannot afford the real ones. Kwang! Kwang! Kwang!

SSSSSIZZLING HOT!

Running Kit Collection...Where are all the runners? After being fried in the sizzling in hot sun last year's Singapore Full Marathon, I decide I would just do a half this year. It was a wise decision as I am still nursing a sprained ankle from a fall in the Putrajaya Half. On Friday night (2 Dec 2005), I dashed to KL Sentral after my evening class. I just finished my part time course on Copywriting and that night was my final team presentation. My team mates turned up late and we did not have the time to practice. So we fumbled and mumbled our ways throughout the presentation. My doom will be sealed when the result is announced in a month's time. (Insert shivers here). Had a KFC Baritto for dinner while waiting for the train. The train left on time and I had a tough time falling asleep due to two pesky little boys next bunk who like to sing in the middle of the night. Later, I shouted at them and I did not hear a single thing from them again until the next morning; chirpy as mynahs. Bumped into Mr. Khoo Chong Beng, our ex-national walker aka the coordinator for 24 hours walk at the Singapore Immigration. He was in town to do some survey at SCSM for KLIM. Hmmm....SCSM is a tough act to follow. KLIM is just 3 months away and the website is still showing "2005 results" as a "new" item. Not much time. I still remember I received my invitation from SCSM to register 6 months before the event. Good luck Mr. Khoo and committee. The train arrived in Tanjong Pagar about 8:00 am, Saturday morning. Never on time. Never. But I am in no rush as the shopping mall open only around 10-ish. Walked to Tanjong Pagar MRT Station and headed straight to my hotel near City Hall. Dropped my luggage at the concierge and headed straight to Suntec Convention Center. The sun was hot. The running kit collection was supposed to start at 11am but there was already queue at 10am. My my my. I forgot that I was in Kiasu-land. Heheh! So, I joined the queue. Collection of running kit was a breeze. Collected another shoe bag. What am I gonna do with the shoe bag? I have more shoe bags than shoes heheh! What is inside the shoe bag? Adidas shoes? Fat chance! No shoes hehehe....but I found a running chip, a running bib, a very nice Adidas Clima-lite running vest, an event booklet and some samples. I wanted to check out the sport expo but most of the booths were still under setting up as I was kiasu-ly one hour early. I also collected the Sport Expo goodies bag from the organiser (The first 500 to present the newpaper cutting would get one each). Nothing interesting - just a packet of FILIS pasta and a wafer. I went to Joaquim, a congee buffet restaurant at the ground level, Suntec Convention. Pigged out on congee and dishes from 4 different "stations" - Teo Chew, Cantonese, Hokkien and Hainanese. Yummy! Highly recommended. Watched SAW II at Cathay Cineleisure as planned. It was the most violent and bloodiest movie I have ever seen. I was practically squirming in my seat. What do you expect from a movie that start of with a scene where a guy has to dig into his eye to retreive a key which was surgically transplanted in the socket in order to free himself from a death trap? I was lucky that my congee stayed inside my tummy throughout the movie. I gotta get the DVD and watch it in slow mo...(Insert demented laughter here!) Covered all the essential places that I must visit when I am in Singapore - HMV @ Heeren, Sembawang @ Cathay Cineleisure & Borders @ Wheelock Place. Bought Emancipation of Mimi - The Platinum Edition and Anastacia Greatest Hits - Pieces of A Dream (Limited Edition with a remix disc - I finally found "Love Is A Crime - Thunderpuss Club Mix" in this CD...Yippie!!!). On my way back to the hotel, I bought some snacks from Old Chang Kee. The sotong (squid)-on-a-stick was really yummy. I ordered take-away of chicken rice from Funan Mall food court for dinner. The chicken rice was fragrant and nice. Passed by TacoBell and bought a taco. Running half but eating for full marathon. Heheh! I stayed in my room watching Fear Factor - Indonesian Edition after dinner. In the first segment, the five hot indon chicks had to deal with the towering heights of KL Tower to retrieve some flags. In the second segment they had to sleep in a tub of worms and last segment was a stunt involving a yellow Proton Saga and a trailer. So interesting that I fell asleep watching it, Heheh!

TIME GOES BY SO SLOWLY...THOSE WHO RUN SEEM TO HAVE ALL THE FUN.....

3...2...1...Stampede!!! Woke up around 5:00 am. Did the before a run morning ritual. Lubricate where needed to be lubricated. Applied protection....(Sun protection, what are you thinking?). Also "Bombed Hiroshima" Heheh! Breakfast consisted of a cup of Milo and a BreadTalk Onde-Onde bun. The start point was just a 10 minutes walk away. When I reached, the marathon runners had already been set off. I took my place in the waiting pen. The DJ were playing upbeat songs to psych up the runners.At sharp 6:30am, we were released. "Jump" by Van Halen was blaring from the speaker! Wonderful! We had to jostle about 100 meter as it was to crowded to run. After that I put on my Sony Walkman and Ring, Ring, Ring..goes Madonna...Heheh. I simply love the song "Hung Up". It has a very nice beat and extremely catchy. I had several remixes loaded to my Sony Walkman and it was the only song I listen to until I reached 7 km mark. My legs couldn't keep up to Maddie's beat and my left ankle was starting to hurt. Then came Bon Jovi..... It's my life It's now or never I ain't gonna live forever I just want to live while I'm alive (It's my life) My heart is like an open highway Like Frankie said I did it my way I just wanna live while I'm alive It's my life....

Zephyr in the sky at night I wonder.... 

Ray of Light shot? - Actually I was trying to snap picture of the full marathon leading pack on the opposite direction. I guess they were too fast for my camera.

Can you spot Swissotel in the Skyline 

Tunnel Vision...This is my favourite picture!

U-turn