My first 42km SCMKL

What can I say.. How can i describe it.. "penangan" marathon.. 42km... wow..

Well, I registered very early for this race in fact 1-2 weeks after it was officially launched. Nowadays its jiffy to just do it online and I've been aiming to complete a marathon this year. I started training hard for Putrajaya night marathon after Penang Bridge run end 2009. NB30K done in January was to my liking and in tandem with my plan to survive the 42k onslaught. However the meniscal injury on my right knee post Korbu descent spoilt everything. Recovery was not easy ; fearing that I may not be able to do what i like to do. Slowly, it healed and completing the 21k during the energizer night run was an indicator that perhaps I can still achieve my 42k this year.

But training was never the same again. I had my finals to pass and most of my time circa March-April-May was geared towards that. Morning or evening run became sporadic and I had doubts whether I should attempt to finish ( not run ahh) the marathon come 27 June. Am I trying to be super crazy without any mileage under my belt?

Honestly I nearly quit. nearly pulled the plug thinking never mind, I can always try next time.Period.. that was the initial decision. Until i read Haza's blog post and wow.. honestly, i got all fired up.. really really determined to finish what i planned. It was now or never.. HANTAM SAJALAH!!! ahahaha Thanx HAZA, the super running mum ( Ultra-marathon dah buat.. tak tera ke??) for the inspiration !!

I woke up early that morning; knowing how my bowel tend to show up during races, I need to spend time to settle it out! hahaha Had my breakfast and nervously I drove off to KL. I was in Tang Ling parking by 0420 and on my way there I could see a lot of 42k runners walking to Dataran, some were warming up by running! It was drizzling by then, I thought "embun" kot..

The only disadvantage of me running the 42K is I am alone. I guess I'm always the one to "lead" the path of "you can do it" to my running buddies.Its definitely a plunge towards torturing yourself as how I tried my first half back in 2008 hahaha Met few familiar faces like TSB but thats all. The crowd was big and not bad eih :) Perhaps after this my friends will join me in this crusade. By 0500 it started to rain , not to heavy but enough to make u wet! Getting your shoes and socks wet before a grueling event is never good; learnt from my climbing experience. But what to do.. it was 5am and pooww... we all went!!

I initially followed the 5h30min pacer which i thought was alright for me.. it was cool to follow the designated runners with balloon tied up to them; three had theirs burst as we ran!! It must have been the static between the tarmac and rain puddles. It felt good, early in the morning with an acceptable rain drops to cool yourself off. I was in fact enjoying myself but at the same time cautious.. should not try to push myself too early; if i end up cramps all over DNF !!!

After the 15K mark i slowed down my pace.. and of course the 6h pacer caught me up. I followed him afterwards and thought "apasal mamat ni cam slow pulak? " hahaha such inexperience shows ah?? the trick to running LONG endurance race is to pace yourself to be CONSTANT all the way !! My limit was definitely post 22K where I began to walk rather than slow jog/run.. haha by now, the 6H pacer who looked slow earlier is relatively too fast for me!!!

The sun showed it's true self soon after as it became scorchingly hot. Luckily i brought my running cap which I never wore ..haha( this was the Larian Perpaduan cap 2008) At least, i wont look too dark when I'm done. Due to the earlier rain, my socks were wet and as time goes by the drying process is not exactly compete without taking your shoes off.I can feel the wrinkling pain which gets worst with every step and I totally ignored the pain. No IPod ah ( no money to buy..) .. i just cannot imagine how i did that! I've felt something like this before during my Tambuyokon trip in 2008.. but this was much longer to bare!!

After the 30K mark ; cramps were coming left right and centre. Wow.. everything was for me to quit the race but hey.. I'm here and I will not stop. I felt good and in fact not too exhausted ( banyak jalan kot..) but my cramps were trying to stop me there and then. One step at a time and I walk and walk with the aim to reach the next water station which was aplenty!

The good thing about being the back marker was I met new backmarker friends! It was nice of everybody trying to encourage each other eventhough we were all in the same boat, suffering in utter agony! Wow.. I now do understand the grit of such battle!

It was after the 35K that we were coming to Bukit Tunku. Thank you Kash for your support and providing us with water & food! I brought it right to the finish line!After that hmmm.. the last 6K THE LONGEST EVER 6K i've ever endured.. hahaha memang hancur as now we had to walk up hill and again! Perrghh.. my legs were like pulling me here and there as I had to stop to sooth it down befoe moving again and repeating the cycle!! hahaha SAPA SURUH TAK TRAINING?? But then.. "KESAKITAN HANYA SEMENTARA.. KEJAYAAN BUAT SELAMA-LAMANYA!!"

Of course as I approached the finishing line there was not many people who waited. I did not expect Azad ( who ran his 21k succesfully again) to wait .. but he did and for that I thank you for being there to share my moment of triumph conquering the marathon! I finished it in 7hr and 12 minutes.. I could not even record it on the picture as the timer was brought down!! A crap time to some but for me.. wow.. grueling 7 hours on the road .. honestly i cannot recall what i was thinking or doing while slowly run/walk/crawl towards the finish line..

but one thing for sure...

SATISFACTION... I DID IT!!! Alhamdulillah...

*and today.. I'm limping all over.. but proud :) haha

p/s Thanx Azad for the pics.. priceless...

Its now or never..

read a blog which pushed me to just have a go.. i almost chickened out.. Hahaha hantam sajala...

SUBANG JAYA 10K

I missed last week's Setia Eco Park race because I woke up late.( despite picking up the number..n very enthusiastic about it!!) This week's Subang Jaya run was something not to be missed; since SCMKL is just around the corner. Honestly my training has been crap.. really really crap! I needed today to refresh back my dampened spirit and remind me of the mammoth task I've chosen to endevour end of this month!

I was off from BJ after Subuh thinking I am early.. but when i arrived at the junction to the MBSJ complex i panicked.. haha called Azad straight away as his tag number was with me.We managed to meet up and parked our cars together. I really thought we were starting at 7am which meant that we had only little time left before the event starts! Lucky Kamal told us that the flag off was at 730am.. and seeing everybody being so casual about it.. must be 730am!!
The run was gunned off by Tan Sri Khalid the MB himself.. wow..impressive! Hannah(MP SJ) and Loh Gow Bern was there too.. There are our young MPs and i reckon they should have been one of us.. if not running the 10K at least the 3K.. That would have made a better impact rather than standing next to the MB during the flag off.. then only the rakyat will be really impressed :)

Anyway.. my run today was smooth. My new Mizuno shoes were on trial as I'm planning to use this for SCKLM. My soles felt a little bit hot in the beginning which is not a very good sign for a new shoe. I was thinking then that maybe i should use my trusted Brooks for SCKLM! After a while it was ok though.. hmm.. a bit confused here..

I felt a little bit tired on my first 5 km( for reasons that i know.. hahaha) but suddenly it kicked in and the rhythm came back.. it felt great. I did not push myself too much but i felt comfortable that even reaching the end i know i could run some more.I lost this for a while but it is still there! I really need to polish it up.. It was very hot but the track was fairly flat. The inclination was fair and I enjoyed the puffing i had to endure! hahaha

Water stations were too frequent during the first 5k! However I am not happy at all with the organizers giving us the whole water bottle. It was a total WASTE OF WATER!! A lot of runners took a sip or two and then threw the bottle away! not one..but hundreds along the way!! I took one and held onto the bottle all the way.. taking sips as i need but it was troublesome.. but my conscience was clear and I HAD TO WALK THE TALK!!! I know water is free in Selangor.. but why waste it like this? I know it is not Saturday (GREEN DAY) but being Sunday doesn't mean that we should forget everything? This is something the organizers should think about for logic's sake!

It was a satisfactory run but not fast at all.Managed to finish it in 62 minutes.tI wanted my pace to be simple and comfortable. I guess I made peace with myself :) The gang arrived later and it was blazing hot Sunday morning!! The atmosphere was good and I guess the SJ folks certainly enjoyed the carnival mood especially the lucky draw session!!

It became of a hassle though that we have to produce our receipt to get the goodie bags. Who brings their receipt while running ah? ( alot apparently.. haha) Of course when it comes to this MBSJ was very pedantic and i sense a lot of anger amongst the seasoned runners.In runs around Malaysia, producing the bib was good enough for the goodie bag claim but of course, for MBSJ.. takde resit, takde beg.. PERIOD!!! hahaha by the time we got back from taking the receipts from ur cars, nobody was manning the goodie back station and when we asked around..everybody was totally blank!! but then again, what do you expect right from the worse run organizer in Malaysia? hahaha to heck with that.. Janji kita enjoy!!!

AREA 51

It has been a confusing week. Yups, I'm done and by convention. I'm already a clinical specialist cum lecturer but after reporting back to my paymaster, its definitely not straight forward.The faculty is still new, and by right I don't even have a department yet. I am still under the reign of the surgical cluster. But that was the past, now UiTM will HAVE a siginificant anaesthesia department!! hahahaha We have not reported in for our clinical job yet; as I feel that the academic work as well as the future direction need to be laid out clear before we commit to anything.

We don't have our own teaching hospital yet therefore the definition about clinical work was very blur. Teaching was confusing as well ; as currently there is no anaesthesia posting. The dilemma for Suraya and me was to serve Selayang or Sungai Buloh hospital. There are loads of rumours going around about the working conditions of Anaesthesia Sungai Buloh. I prefer not to utter anything out yet until I am physically there.

But.. after I went for a meeting in the new Sungai Buloh Campus.. I saw this..

the "BIG" potential..

whats there..which is impressive already!

seeing this.. waahhh... I have my own OT and ICU!!!

And thus.. my perception changed. I can see at least what the nearest future will be but of course will be revealed as I go along. I'm sure it would be an interesting journey. The Anaesthesia team will be commissioning the OT on Tuesday and do wait for the next series of pictures to appear.. ( macam masuk Area 51 pulak)

On another note, I've began to understand the responsibility of a academician. A certainly different goals to achieve. Our minds are expected to continuously produing outputs... research and papers! KY is very keen on this and I can see what he meant by being the leader as well as different. His ideas can be viewed as high state of grandiosity but I guess you really need to look at the bigger picture.. especially from above looking down :)

To some of my colleagues, the urge as well as motivation to write can be almost non-existent. Writing up stuffs can be really difficult to do especially to start off. There are always reasons why one cannot write but difficult to find one who is sincere and with enthusiastic sitting down to churn ideas and objectively targeting a timeline to achieve the goal. I reckon the interest is from within.If it is not, then one should not opt to be an academician ; as maybe the job is a stepping stone towards greener pasture.

I hope this month I am able to come up with something solid; the plan, the timeline.. and Maju Jaya UiTM!! hehe