SCSM 2010

2010 is not a running year for me. I have registered myself in less than 10 runs and showed up at 8 runs only I think. But since joining the SCSM 2009 last year, I knew I had to join the run again this year. It was very well organised as expected. But overall, last year might have been a better event. Firstly, the sporting goods exhibition they had last year was not included this time. Runners looking forward to shop at comically low prices merchandise will be disappointed.

Ayman and I decided to drive this time around, (we took a flight last year). We left KL at approximately 0400 Saturday and reached Larkin Bus Station about 0800. We got to Singapore just before 1000. We knew the race kit collection will begin as early as 0900, so we headed straight to 'The Float @ Marina' to collect the kit. On our way there I snapped these amazing building and playing field.




We checked in at a youth hostel named G4 Station Backpackers near Little India MRT Station. I would rate the place a 7.5/10, mainly because of its strategic location and cleanliness.



Friendliness of the personnel is not as good as the Hives Backpackers and the rooms are really tiny. I bumped my head several times on the bunk bed frame.




I called the night in at around 2215 and woke up at 0450, but continued to sleep in while telling myself "sedapnya selimut ni sejuk2 tido balik la, mamat kat atas ni kalau bangun die gerak la aku, kalau tak sambung je la tido". And at 0505 both of us was awaken by our alarm clocks. We got ourselves ready and took the 2nd train from Little India to Harbour Front.





I got to the starting line just at the right time, and by then thousands of runners are already there.



The route chosen this year was very tourist oriented as it covered the whole of Sentosa Island including their famous Universal Studios. However I was in and out of Universal Studios in 12 minutes approximately.




But there are some stretches where the road gets really narrow and for people eyeing for a PB will definitely get agitated. I am not affected since I was merely enjoying the whole thing.




Along the run I felt really hungry and felt like breaking wind a couple of times and I did it at strategic points. Firstly at the Sentosa Coach Depot where it was noisy and filled with coach's emission, secondly when there was an ambulance on emergency and finally towards the finishing line next to a line of coaches along the roadside.

*DISCLAIMER: the next paragraph could be disturbing to some readers
But what was really disturbing was this one female runner, I think she may have suffered from a bad meal the night before. I saw a brownish patch at her left cheek bum which looked a lot like poo at first glance. I thought to myself she might have sat at a muddy area while stretching or had her chocolate flavoured gel burst, but the smell that followed as she run past by confirmed it was poo! Yikes! She should have wash it off at the water station at least. Don't leave it to dry up.

I crossed the finish line at an unimpressive turtle timing of 3h 26m 14s. I am just glad to have finish it. This turtle timing is an indication that full marathon is not going to be attempted anytime soon.






We left Singapore at around 1500 and reached Larkin at 1600. We got back in KL safely at 2000. We surprised ourselves that we could survive the long drive after a run earlier that morning. :p

Well Done to ALL runners who participated and I look forward to SCSM 2011 with my wife by that time InsyaAllah. :)

Koyak!

Itulah tajuk Ali's message when he sent me this photo from Singapore.

Honestly, I haven't seen him run for quite some time. When I asked him, have you been training? His answer would be, "yes". I asked him, "when and what do you do?" He would say "malam-malam, angkat weights". THAT is his training. Angkat weights.

However, I dont worry much about him. Although with zero training, he has always managed to finish his run, always managed to bring back medal. With his strong will, insyaAllah, walaupun sakit kaki, tempang-tempang he will try to finish. Tak laju takper, asalkan habis, dapat medal, and puas hati.

I wish him all the best. Hopefully this time, dia akan habis lagi.

Come back home safe.

SCKLM - my side of story

Everybody has been posting their interesting adventure on the marathon last Sunday. I have been very busy and plus, I didn’t have much adventure to share. I was only doing 10km run, nothing compared to 21k or 42k.

But what is different in this race…I GOT MY FIRST MEDAL..!!! hahah… poyo je lebih! Ekceli, everybody who managed to finish will get the medal! :p Not la because I finished within the time limit. But…who cares? The feeling of somebody placing the medal around your neck was like a different feeling altogether, like you have accomplished something proudly.



I must admit, that I didn’t take the race seriously. I know timing is not the reason for not doing any trainings, but my alasan this time is not only no time but also malas!

I thought registering for Subang 10k could at least become the momentum to start training for SCKLM, but….apa kan daya.. bola lebih penting.. huhu..

As Ali mentioned in the last post, we had bbq the night before ok. Ada ayam, kambing, nasi lemak, popiah, noodle, satay, sausages, roti burger…and I carried them with me throughout the race. Oh..sangat seksa. Perut buncit and it was bouncing bersama-sama dengan my pouch.

Sibuk pakai 'Breathe Right' sebab tengok semua orang pakai, without knowing the function :p

What made it special this race was because my bestfriend Dini registered the race with me, and it was her first time. Since I had zero trainings, don’t even remember the last race I joined, I told her that I would be damn slow. She said she had never joined any race, and she has stamina problem, cepat penat. So we vowed to run together.

NEVER TRUST PEOPLE WHEN THEY SAID THEY DON’T HAVE STAMINA!!!!!! We ran together the first km, but I was running real slow, almost brisk walking, but she was like jumping-jumping couldn’t wait to go faster. I told her to go, I will catch up. She refused at the beginning, probably because of the vow we made.. hahah.. After few times of persuading her to go, she reluctantly left me….and…I never saw her again.. hahah…

I thought I did slightly better than my previous 10k runs. I reached at the 4km mark at half an hour where I used to take 40 minutes to run 3km. The first water station was bad, I had to queue to get my drink. I started to run again. I didn’t see any familiar faces throughout the run.

My mistake this time was, I didn’t bother to study the route, and I couldn’t even gauge the distance. When I went up the Lake Garden at masjid Negara, and then I came out from the Lake area heading towards dataran, I thought I almost reach the finishing line. I pushed myself damn hard even at the upward hill. But I thought wrong. The route took the turning left at Bank Negara instead of right to Dataran. Oh..my leg was crying out loud and I couldn’t run anymore. Couldn’t even walk briskly. Jalan macam orang Jepun, with small steps all the way sampai Sogo, oh my!

At that point in time, I thought I was gonna ride the van. My leg was in pain, I was limping all the way to the finishing line. Was very frustrating to see all those that ran behind me took over at that point. Lesson learnt: Study your route. So you know when to push and when not to!

But I finished it anyway. Alhamdulillah.. Dini was 20 minutes ahead of me. Cool for a first timer.. congrats babe! So proud of you!

Congratulations to Ali, with the blisters, u managed to complete the run. To Ayman, u’re good as always. To the other 21k and 42k finishers… BIG TAHNIAH.. for all your PBs this round. Your will is my inspiration.

Painful SCKLM

The night before SCKLM we had a small bbq gathering and also watched the worldcup match between Uruguay and Korea Republic. As much as I anticipated the next morning run will be difficult because of the lamb overdose and perhaps lack of sleep I clearly overlooked this! I had a nasty blister at the bottom of my foot halfway through the run. I was reduced to walking from 9km onwards. I walked the rest of the race and bumped into Nurina 2.5km from the finish line and we walked/jog together towards the finish line.





A big congratulations to Ayman for finishing well for his half marathon and also the heroins of the day Miss Izrin and Miss Dini for finishing your races with finishers' medal.






apart from the finisher's medal, I got this as a souvenir for at least a week.

Note to self : dri fit socks is probably as important as dri fit tops / bottoms if not more.

Pics - courtesy of Izrin, Mr. ET Tey and SnapAttack

Subang 10k 2010

Looking at the photo above, there were only two of us in the pix. No other people around us.

Not because we were the first.. huh jauh sekali.
Not because we took the wrong route.
Not because tiada sambutan.

We didnt even join the race.

Semua kerana FIFA.

7 km jer?

“Alaaa..7.7km jer..it’s like about 3km shorter than 10km? ok kot…”

WRONG.

It was very unfortunate for me as I did not have time for trainings. I was in peak period that went on for about 2 and half weeks. Once the peak was over it was about a week or so to the race day. Semangat berkobar-kobar untuk terus pergi lari lepas Subuh and terus pergi kerja lepas tu.

Tapi masa sentiasa mencemburui aku. [Atau mungkin kah semangat sudah tidak setia padaku?] hehe..

Meetings in the morning makes it difficult for me to do my training before work. Sedar-sedar dah Sabtu.

Yeahh.. Tak guna nak menyesal. It was time, I just had to do it.

We were there at 7.30am. Ali met few of his cycling mates, but no one that I know of. The place was quite disarrayed. The counters to collect water and snack pack for different categories were located at different places. Well, not that I am complaining, I mean it’s good in the sense that people won’t flock up at only one place just to collect the mineral water. But, maybe they could do a bigger signage to make it clearer. We had to ask around and I had difficulties to identify their volunteers as their official colors are black or white t-shirts. Couldn’t really differentiate the volunteers and the runners. I think volunteers should wear something bright like orange or red, so easy lah people to identify them.

The coupon looks SOMETHING like this. hehe.. where you are supposed to break the lines to be produced to the volunteers. Notice the coupon to collect water before the race is at the top rather than the most bottom? Bit difficult to tear it up dont u think? heeheh..

We met Dr Azman, Bach and girlfriend, Nana approaching to the flag off time. Nana is a runner, Bach had run 2-3 events before I think and last night was his first half marathon. Good job, man. You finished it. You got your medal. I am sure Nana is proud of you. On another note, Dr Azman is a real classic story. He didn’t register for the run, but Ayman who registered for half marathon, couldn’t make it as he had to work. So Azman decided to run for him. He did it. Semangat you kental la Man… congrats. Kalau i…i dah naik van blk ke finishing line dah kot..

The 7.7km category was flagged of at 9pm. I was at the entrance half an hour earlier. There were sooo many people in my category. But I didn’t seem to see any familiar faces. I saw a lot of school kiddos and small children running for the category. I felt maybe it was because of the shorter distance. Not like it’s a 10k run! [confident betul].

Semakin lama, kandang tu semakin penuh, semakin ramai. People are pushing here and there. We were standing soooo close to each other for half an hour. When it was about to start, the participants were hailing “wooohooooooo”, put their hands in the air.. maybe being over semangat, they produced their bau-bau yang harum dari ketiak while hailing to the FT minister, who officiated the event. Shit, too close, man…too close. And you’re tall and I am just at your arm’s length. So, knock it off, mate! Hehe.. JK.

The route was ok, at first. Flat. So I ran. I targeted to run at least 85% of the whole running thingy. But flat is bad. My legs were painful. At one point, it started to be hilly. There were sooo many people running. The air was just so still, that I could not breathe. I stopped running, that I thought I was gonna faint. “Please don’t make a scene, bitch. Please don’t. just keep on walking”. I went away from the crowd, found myself a space on the pavement. Then I wanted to run again, but it was too painful to run. My legs just wouldn’t co-operate. Adakah ini cramp? Tak tahu apa rasanya cramp. But I just kept on walking, walaupun sakit. Rasa kelakar bila budak-budak kecik (7-10 yrs old) berlari-lari dengan pantasnya memotong. Adoiiihhh..loser giler rasa. Budak-budak ni macam seronok jer main lari-lari. It’s like a game to them…while I suffer. Haha.. Bagus, budak-budak.. you start very early. Don’t wait until your bums are big like mine sampai dah berat nak lari. :)

Scenery was exquisite. I loved it. I loved the smell of the night air, and when I passed by some wooded area, the smell of pokok dalam hutan, oh so refreshing and rejuvenating. There were not many cars, and it was quiet, I just love it very much. I enjoyed the run. And the crowd, although I did not know anyone. However, because of the unfamiliarity of the race area, I felt that the run was taking me forever to finish. After half an hour of running, there was a signage saying “Congratualtions, you have achieved 3km. You have another 18km more to go”. I know it's not for me, but.... Baru 3km?????????? Haihh.. Oh, but the water station location was sufficiently good, I think. Quite happy for that.

Approaching the finishing line, I realized that the concourse was not as happening as the ones held in Dataran Merdeka. No loud music, no show, concerts, or demonstrations like they usually have while waiting for other runners to arrive. No cheering for the participants at the finishing line, at least not at the 7.7km area. No mascots. Macam so formal kinda thing? Maybe because its in Putrajaya, the governments’ area, so kene senyap n quiet, tak boleh havoc2 maybe? I don’t know. To be short, tak meriah sangat.

But I must say that the concourse area was sooo clean. No bottles/cups/food packets lying around on the floor. There were enough waste bins around and a lot of helpers to clean up too. So, that was good. All in all, I would say it was good experience altogether. I wouldn’t say it was badly organized, but I would think that there are more things that need to be improved.
I finished in 1.20 hrs for the 7.7k. Bad, yes. But I was still happy because it was my first run (literally) this year. So, I can say that it was my first exercise for the year. Hehe..






Congratulations to Ali that finished his half marathon in less than 3 hrs, better than what he targeted for.

Congratulations to every participants that completed the run. Especially the full marathoners. I know I will never be at your place.

AAhhh...I wish I had brought my camera along.

Current condition: bed-ridden. Sakit pinggang, sakit betis, sakit peha, sakit segala-galanya. Macam lari full marathon 2 round berturut-turut teruknya.

Putrajaya Night Marathon Here We Come

Singapore Marathon 2009

The Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon was my 4th Half Marathon participation and the first over sea's run. A lot of positive words about the run have been heard before and it was also claimed to be the "biggest" in terms of participation. And they were right! A total of 50,000 runners took the streets of Singapore on foot come Sunday. The organisers did their job really well I must say. Not a single motor vehicle come across the path of runners! None! Not even ONE. Runner's safety were at the pinnacle of the organisation. And for that I congratulate them and feel very very satisfied with the run.




I left for Singapore via Air Asia on Saturday morning. We (myself and Ayman) stayed at a backpackers hostel (The Hives Backpackers) not far from Boon Keng MRT station. We left our bags and went to collect the race pack at Expo. If one were to compare the efficiency of the Running Event, race kit collection and route safety were the top 2 priority. And they did and excellent job in both! They had 20 counters for half marathon only and the line was non existent-the waiting period were kept to as low as 3 seconds-how effiecient is that?! Verification of ID took another 45 seconds and you are done in less than 2 minutes. We were then directed to the Sports Exhibition next door before exit. You can get cheap and attractive sporting goods and accessories from headbands down to running shoes at crazy prices. I got myself a running shirt for $5.







Personalized Race Number - Nice

We had an early dinner at ZamZam restaurant near Arab St, and went for a walk to check out the starting point for the run before heading back to the Hostel.



One Insanely Cool Ford


Race Day - We took the MRT from Lavender to City Hall to the race start point. I was telling myself to go slow and steady and hydrate well to avoid cramps before turning on my Ipod. The route involved a lot of U-turns, so you get to see the faster runners on the opposite directions and I got to see a LOT of runners on the opposite side haha. But in line with the Organisers Motto - "Run Your Own Race", I kept running on my own. But I was never alone anyway, there were too many runners to make you feel left out and alone and I enjoyed every step of it :)



Before the start - Espalande can be seen at the background








I managed to get myself the finisher's medal after 3h 17m 03s I first crossed the timing mat at the start point, it was nothing spectacular but I enjoyed every part of it. The Water Stations/Medical Aids/Supporters/Signage were properly marshaled and placed, I only need to carry my ORS and powergel.






After the run we went to ZamZam again to have lunch. Another highlight of the trip! The beef briyani was SEDAP GILA. Maybe because I was hungry after the run, but it was really nice and the price is very fair with the portion, even if you convert to ringgit you won't be complaining ($5).

In the evening we went for sightseeing in the city centre to do some shopping and have dinner. On the way back we stopped at Mustafa - the only 24h shopping mall in Spore, it reminds me of Mydin, but much bigger and with more varieties. A must visit I think.





On the last day, we spent the entire daytime sightseeing and last minute shopping. We headed to Changi Airport at around 1930 for our flight home. It was a memorable visit and I am already looking forward to next year's run.



Going Home

MUDS - UM Duathlon

I was supposed to race in the Men's Relay category with Ayman. Unfortunately, he was hospitalised on Thursday and had to pull out of the race. I changed our entry to University Open category for this leg. I have not been running for quite some time and the approach for Saturday's race was to maintain a comfortable pace and save the legs for those 4 big climbs.

Met some familiar faces and also made new friends before the race. Shared some stupid jokes with Isma and wished everyone a good and safe race.

The race consisted of 3.5km run 11.4km cycling and 3.5km of run. My aim was to finish each leg no more than 30 minutes. I started at the back in the first run and kept the pace comfortable and steady. The running route was partly hilly and fun. Managed to finish the 2 loops of running approximately 23 minutes (kura-kura).







There were less then 10 bikes in my category when I came into the transition area (top 10 from opposite end - chantek). The cycling part is all climb and descent....no flat part to even think of drafting. So my strategy was to spin sesedap rasa memanjat bukit2 tersebut. Managed to gain back lost time from turtle run earlier as quite a number of cyclist either cycled really easy or dismounted and pushed their bikes. Managed to finish the bike leg in about half and hour.

As I changed my running shoes for the 2nd run I told myself to keep running however slow it takes until I finish the distance required. No cramps and discomfort until the very end where my stomach started cramping up a little, but that was already too close to the finish so I kept running ala bapak tortoise towards the finish and managed to do it in 1hour 19 minutes plus minus. I did not care much of the timing or enven getting a placing but I am satisfied and glad that the race was fun and trouble free.






ps- a big thank you to ET Tey for spending his time and effort snapping pictures of the race. And to Malakoff,QuickRelease Adventures, Powerbar and participating Universities.

Malakoff Duathlon - UNITEN 2009

My second MUDS was very uninspiring. Although we got to be 5th in the category, was not as good as it should be. I should try to warn Ali and Ayman to just proceed with doing Men’s relay next time, otherwise, try and find another REAL GIRL RUNNER to be in the mixed relay category.

Seperti biasa, tiadalah saya ber-training. Have not been running, konon concentrate on exam. [Padahal alasan je tu].

Sebelum start race, as usual, I think this is what most people would do. At least, most people like me.

Tengok sekeliling, and determine siapakah antara the participants that you think you can take. So, cari lah orang yang gemuk-gemuk [lebih gemuk dari saya], badan besar-besar, yang macam tak terror, just to be comfortable with myself. So afraid that I would be the last one to reach the transition area.

Tapi sedar lah wahai Izrin, lebih gemuk, lebih besar tak semestinya lebih lembab! Yes, put that in mind. Walaubagaimana pun, harapan agak hancur melihat keadaan sekeliling. Semua nampak pro. Dengan baju pro, kasut pro, basikal pro, adoihh! Then I told myself again and again.

“Didn’t I say I never wanted to join MUDS again, at least not until I can really run? Then why am I here again?”

“Macam mana kalau last sampai kat transition area?”

“What if kalau pengsan tengah jalan?”

“What’s gonna happen if aku tak mampu langsung nak lari?”

Tiada jawapan.

At the starting point, Ayman (the second runner) asked me if I can finish the first 3km in half an hour. I wasn’t confident at all, because I have not been running and I don’t know what my timing is like. Although I ran for about half and hour in last year’s MUDS. But that was last year. I could be better this time, I could be worse. But he answered the question himself, “Boleh, boleh, boleh…”. Dalam hati berkata, mungkin half an hour is the right time for 3km kot. Ntah lah.. yang penting cuba.

Kali ni, saya tukar strategi. Selalu start lari kat depan-depan, sebab takut mula-mula lagi dah kene tinggal jauh kat blakang. Then, in the end, I’ll be pancit like hell sebab kat depan-depan tu selalunya pro, and kalau start sekali dengan deorang, sure gatal ikut their pace, lepas tu semput. Last-last jalan jer.

So this time, I started at the back. Sedar diri sikit. Start kat belakang, konon-konon nak ikut own pace so tak pressured by the pros.

I can’t really talk about the running trail. I am not good in determining which kind of route is ok and which is not. But the weather……..oh my god! Sangat terik. Menyesal tak pakai shades and topi.

Tak sampai 1km lagi… I couldn’t even see the people in front of me. Where have they gone to? Then, one nice lady passed by and she said “Come, run with me, just you and me”.

But she kept on running. And I couldn’t follow the pace, so I let her passed.

Tak lama lepas tu, I heard few people passed by. Gaya macam pro. Sekali Julie tegur dari belakang “berapa lap kene lari ni?”

For a moment, I got confused. “Are these people running their second lap?” Sebab tak mungkin Julie has been at my back sepanjang 1km yang lepas. Tak mungkin! “Maybe deorang saja start lambat kot. Test power”, kata hati kecil ku.

1…2…3…4…5…6…7…8… Julie pun hilang dari pandangan.

Sampai di transition area, achieving Ayman’s earlier expectation to finish in 30 minutes tapi, Ali je la cyclist yang tinggal. Kesian…However, Ali finished his 14km cycle much lesser than half an hour, Ayman continued running his last 3km in about 20 minutes if not less. Mereka lah wira saya.

Congratulations to Day-O for getting 4th place in her category. Pingat tu dia pakai sambil bawak kereta. :)

Also, to Julie, tak payah cakap lah kan? Always winning... congratulations.

To Ali, Ayman and myself, congratulations dapat nombor 5 (out of 5.. haha).. next time cuba lagi. Kalau ye pun nak menang, cari lah perempuan yang power sikit... haha..

Ali cakap, “You lari slow, lah!”

Well, HELLO!!! Bukan I yang lari slow, DEORANG YANG LAJU SANGAT!