Taiping International Marathon 2012- 10K *PR

I had many qualms going into this race.
The first issue was training. I hadn't trained much since Ramadhan due to fatigue. Sure, I managed to squeeze in running 3-4 times weekly but my mileage was comparatively, poor.

The 2nd issue was my condition. And relative to that, my fitness.

I had to take 5 of these babies on a daily basis

So  I did a few research on the net. What I summed up from the articles, forums and a few blogs were :

1. Avoid over-heating and dehydration

     2.  Get an 'okay' from a doctor first.

Okay, number 1 was easy. Number 2, not so much.
It's really hard to convince any one of my doctors about running in my condition ( most of them are old school, I guess) so I resorted to the only Dr I know who would give me an easy yes.

" So you've been running regularly?" he asked.
"Of, course"
" And you haven't experienced any pain or discomfort while running?" he drilled again.
" Nope. Only, sometimes I feel that I need extra effort to run at my previous easy pace. Other than that, I feel fine"
 " I guess it's okay to go ahead racing. Be sure not to overexert yourself," my husband nodded his approval.

Ye, saya main kotor.

So on Friday, I went to Padang Esplanade to pick up our race bibs. They advertised in the website that racing kits can be collected from 1pm to 7pm. So after picking up my kid at school and lunch, I parked near Dewan MPT just to find a long queue of school kids also waiting to get their bibs.
The organizers haven't even set up the booth yet. And these kids have been waiting there since 12:30pm.

So I was too lazy to wait and decided to come back later to pick it up.
I came back at 3 pm to see that a booth had been set up in the middle of the field. Surprisingly, although there wasn't much of a line, it took me 20 minutes to pick up the bibs because they had some sort of confusion with online registration and stuff.
I had a feeling this race would be in chaos right then and there.

So on Sunday morning we left our kids at my parents' place with a promise to Mom that we'd be back at 8 am. My parents had to go pick up my sister's graduation robe in Penang so they had to leave as early as possible to avoid the holiday traffic ( as if).

When we reached Kamunting, we saw some runners already into their first 30 minutes of racing (I assumed immediately that they were half marathoners). They were racing most of the time in pitch black so I wondered how on earth were they going to see the route markers ( what route markers? I found out later)

WW asked me a few dozen times regarding the starting time of our 10K. I repeatedly told him, according to the website that it was supposed to be 6:30 am. Plenty of time for us to either do our prayers, go potty and do some warm ups.

As there was no make-shift surau ( no surprise), we decided to just pray by the road side. Not  long into our 1st rakaat, suddenly I heard the loud familiar whack of the gun off and the pattering feet of people running.
 I was praying and panicking at the same time. Were those runners in our category? Did they push ahead the gun off time to 6.00? There goes WW's PB, I thought.

Immediately after our salam, I approached an uncle walking by, with my telekung and all ( must have freaked him out) to ask.
" Excuse me, what category did they let off just now? Was it the 10K?"

" No lah, it's the half marathoners" said Uncle, not even fazed by my attire.

" What? I thought they were to be gunned off at 5:30?"

" No lah, the organizers delayed it to 6. "

Oh, macam itu pun boleh ka?

With a sigh of relief, we went to the port-a-potty to do our respective businesses as there was no line ( no line!)

At about 6:30am, all of us 10K runners, with cable -tied hands (!) aligned ourselves at the starting line.
WW went to stand at the front of the pack to secure a PB. I reminded him, no podiums please as we had to get back early. I who wanted to run the race at an easy pace just stood with the masses in the middle and grinned from ear to ear. I couldn't see anyone familiar but I sengih-ed anyway.

lightning shoes 

So we were gunned off. Most of the runners went flying past. I got sucked into the excitement and forgot my promise not to overexert myself. For a split second, I even contemplated on targeting a sub 60 with my condition.

Then we got to Bukit Doremon, a steep incline and I thought, okay, screw that.

So from there I got back to my conquest to run happy at an easy pace. I say conquest because for me, seeing all those other runners running fast, it's really an effort to tell myself to calm down and take a breather.
Ye, saya agak kiasu. ( JJ slaps herself around a bit with a large trout)

1 mile into the race, I did a self check.
Breathing : Ok
Overexertion: No
Dehydration : No. I carried a water bottle
Overheating : possible.

It was kinda hot. But I was glad to see black clouds rolling into the horizon. Yay, rain!

I ran halfway with a guy who paced me till the 5th km. We had a nice conversation about the weather and other stuff. I even offered him some water from my bottle when we saw the first water station was out of water. I lost him sometime after that chasing this lady with a cute purple shirt. I planned to thank him post race but I couldn't remember how he looked like.

The 1st water station lady told us that there would be water and sponges in the next station. But when I got to the next station, they just ran out of sponges and I was really hot. It rained a few drops and we had to battle running against strong winds but at times, it was still hot.

When you're running leisurely, you tend to notice things you hardly ever notice before in previous races.
I started to appreciate the scenery, the early morning coffee shop aroma and newspaper vendors, the flat as pancake roadkill in the middle of the road and I started to notice that runners, when sweaty, they tend to smell like coconut husks. And that people hardly talk to you unless you talked to them first.

When I got into town,. I knew that I was almost done with the race. I still had a smile on my face and although I know I am never photogenic when it comes to race pictures, I smiled at every camera I saw whether they were pointing at me or not.

 WW came from around the corner, already minutes after finishing his race to cheer on other runners.
I gestured for him to come and run with me.

Macam jalan-jalan je?

( Thanks Sean Wong for the pic) 

We ran side by side with me grinning macam kerang busuk and him encouraging me to hasten my pace as I was so close to the finishing line.
I ignored him and ran like my bapak's race.
Realizing that, he encouraged other runners to pass me instead. I joined him, telling a school girl behind me, " Come on,faster. You can surely beat me" and slowed down for her to have her glory.

So I ran to the finish line, seeing a couple of my staff at the sidelines cheering me on.
It was never a prouder moment.
I felt so happy I could pull this off.

I did not glance even once at my Garmin during the race and ran by feel. I expected my  Garmin to display a 70-ish minute finish but it gave me an extra surprise to see this:

 A bit over-distanced, but that's okay.

And I was even more elated  to calculate that if it wasn't over distanced,  I would finish in 63 minutes .

So that's it folks. My *PR.
Although that's almost 10 minutes off my 10K PB, but no biggie.

His and hers 

WW achieved his PB of 46:54. Unfortunately ( or fortunately) he missed podium and only secured a 12th placing. So immediately after the race, after collecting our medals and goodie bags ( wasn't much swag), we kept our promise to Mom and got home. Major bummer that we didn't get to meet other familiar faces there but a promise is a promise and we also had a long day ahead what's with shopping and eating and visiting my best uni mate in Kedah and all.

I heard some major complaints about the race today. It was all expected to me. I gave a few heads up in my previous posts but I guess everybody signed in , expecting  the organizers to improve.

I went into the race expecting the worst, so I braced myself for bad things to happen along the way.
They ran out of water, they ran out of wet sponges, they had no route markers and hardly any road marshals but I guess I was prepared for that.

At least the medal was nice. 

Nevertheless,  I had a good time. I never smiled more in any other races than I did yesterday.
This will be my last race for the season as I'm entering my 2nd trimester.

I will still be running regularly, hopefully throughout my pregnancy so I'll still have something to yak about here.
And I will still be at a few small races, to cheer WW on. So maybe I see some of you guys there, okay?
*PR = Pregnancy Record ( atau Poyo jeR) 

Fast Food

Di suatu hari, ada la sorang tu tanya aku pasal WW's healing after an accident 8 years ago in which he sustained a collarbone fracture.
Dia tanya sebab baru-baru ni, suami dia pun teraccident and had the same injuries.
Aku bagitau, alhamdulillah, healing was good and he's doing well.
Pastu dia tanya,
" Dr bagi dia makan apa?"
Aku terkesima kejap.
" Err..makan nasik la"
Pap, dia tampaq lengan aku.
" La, maksud saya, bagi makan apa untuk cepat baik patah tulang dia tu."

Ha, ni la masyarakat kita. Balik-balik tanya makan apa untuk pulih itu dan ini.
" Makan apa nak cepat sembuh luka?"
" Makan apa nak elak kencing manis?"
" Makan apa nak kasi kuat badan?"
" Makan apa nak kasi pandai?"
" Makan apa nak kasik cantik?"
Dan yang paling best,
" Makan apa nak kasi kurus?"

Argh.
Takdela unsur-unsur nak berusaha sikit.
Semua nak segera.
Agaknya kalau kita cakap nak bagi tak sakit gigi kena telan dawai kokot, maunya sekotak dihantamnya sekali gus.

Usahala sikit, kawan.
Kalau nak kuat, excercise.
Kalau nak pandai, belajar.
Kalau nak elak semua penyakit, live healthily, exercise and eat healthily ( eh, makan jugak?)
Kalau nak kasi luka pulih cepat, makan la ubat yang diprescribe dan bukan makjun-makjun lain yang ntahapekebenda isinya, jaga permakanan and kalau perlu change the dressings accordingly mengikut arahan.
Just ikutla arahan doktor.
Kalau dia suruh rest, restla.
Kalau dia bagi appointment follow up, pegi la.
Kalau dia bagi ubat, makan la.

Ni suka benor benda-benda alternative.
Minum la ntah pape drinks untuk jadi kurus.
Biarlah kalau kencing lepas tu jadi kaler hijau. Asal kurus.
Biarlah kos dia beribu raban, bergolak gadai, asal kurus. Asal sihat, katanya.
Pastu bila dah sedar benda tu mahal, sebab kena maintain ambik benda tu ( untuk terus kurus/sihat, katanya), barulah mengeluh.
Pastu lepas stop, gemuk balik.

It's a vicious cycle.
Yang boleh di stop dengan usaha sendiri.

I think semua orang tau pasal benda ni.
Paper dah canang. TV dan canang. Kat sekolah pun dah belajar.
Tapi ntah, masyarakat kita still suka cari penyelesaian segera, pastu menyesal kemudian.


Humph.
Malas nak berleter dah boleh?

On another note, see you guys this Sunday for Taiping International Marathon.
Say Hi if you see me.
And if you see me wretching while running, don't worry.
That's normal.

TGIF - Kempen 10,000 Langkah

TGIF.
And I really mean it.
I'm not the kind of person to post a TGIF status religiously every Friday but this week is an exception.

Seriously, my on call last week was horrendous.
I got called 4-6 times a day on average and some of the calls lasted more than 4 hours. Might as well be on active on call.
My kids whined that they hardly see me. Mana taknya, I'm out the door at 4 am and back at 9:30 am, then called back for some assault case at 12.00pm and tak balik sampai 4 pm. Tu tak kira lagi the calls at night.
I had everything, from 2 cases of near fatal massive bleeding to chair-side counseling to a mother crying over some domestical problems while I'm stitching up her son. 
The last 3 day weekend went very slowly for me.
Crawling, actually.

So.
This weekend is all about quality time with the family.
Dan rehat di rumah.
Dan beriadah sama-sama.
Dan makan on time ( hari tu we ended up eating lunch at 4pm)
Dan just enjoying the weekend.

Sapa-sapa free this Sunday, can join us KKM-ers for our Kempen 10,000 langkah in Taman Tasik Taiping.
There will be a 6.5 km walk around the lake gardens and I guess a bit through the town.
It's open for the public and it's free.
It's kinda a compulsory thing for my staff and they kept asking me whether I'll come.
So untuk menunjukkan contoh yang baik dan ciri-ciri ketua berhemah ( hins hins), what the heck, I'll join.

Asyik lari je, kita try plak jalan beramai-ramai.
Orang Tepeng mesti heran , " Ni piket apa la pulak ni?".

Run Write

I'm in a dilemma
I'm supposed to run on alternate days, and I ran yesterday but tomorrow my oncall starts and running during that period can be so unpredictable.
Once you get that groove going, and your feet starts to pound rhythmically, then conveniently the hospital calls.

So I thought of running this evening. Then I gawked at my emails too long and got caught on watching twin babies dancing on youtube trends, last-last sedor-sedor it was time to cook dinner.
And then the tummy started to ache from  what I suspect too much watermelon and kuih from an office party.

So I'll take a gamble on it tomorrow. If they happen to call while I'm working out, I'll stop, go do what I have to do at the hospital, come back home and try to continue.
In the mean time, come, doa-doakanlah everyone is fine and safe at home during these 3 days holiday.
Or at the very least, try to be okay from 6-9 am tomorrow ( for my run) because I'll be doing my ward rounds at 9:30 am.
Yes, I'm still a dentist. And yes, the scope of my job is confusing.

A colleague of mine ( who I found out reads my blog and I'm pretty embarrassed about it) commented that I write too much on running.
I guess someone's missing a point.

Anyway, I would just like to state that I like to write. And I'd like to write about things that revolve around me
But most of those things, I can't write too much of.
For instance, I love my family. But you're not supposed to expose too much about your family on the Internet. Especially things related to your kids.
I'd like to bitch about my job. Oh I love my job but sometimes, once in a while somebody or something gets on my nerves and I'd like to bitch about it.
But I can't too much because it''ll seem so unprofessional.
I'd like to write about food. But I seldom remember to snap pictures of my food before inhaling them just as soon as they arrive on the table. Plus , there are too many food-blogger wannabes on the internet anyway. (KOG still rocks)

So, I'll just stick to writing on what I'm comfortable with.
Sometimes, I'll throw in that random book review and gambar-gambar makanan yang menarik.
Sometimes, I will tell you anecdotes of my husband and kids, and the weird and wonderful things my parents and siblings do.
Rarely ( hopefully), when all else fails, I will bitch about my job.

Till then, you're just stuck with running, baby.

Lost Mojo

I need to find my mojo.
I've lost it unfortunately in these last 3 weeks.
Betul cakap.
My Ramadhan running plans went down the drain.
First week went well, 2nd week I faced extreme fatigue and cut down on my mileage, 3rd week my runs deteriorated to 3 times a week, and 4th week?
Only once dengan alasan cuti awal nak balik beraya.

A week after raya and I'm still starting slow.  Yesterday's 3 miles run pun macam bercinta.
And to think my next race is 2-3 weeks away.
If this goes on, I'll just run at my easy pace taim Taiping Run nanti.
Huh, macam lama la pulak nak habis.

And I wonder where the 10K route will take me.
(Yes, all that drama for a 10K race) .
Taiping has changed a bit this month. Some roads are closed down and new detours are forming due to some recent construction. My 3 minute journey to the mall has extended to more than 10 minutes, 15 to 20 if you count getting lost.
Last year's 21K route was ok but they could improve more on road marshals and water stations. Tapi last year, only a handful of us were in the race. The girls pun tak sampai 20 orang in the half marathon category  and the women category in the full marathon had to be canceled because only 1 girl signed up for it.
This year I expect more runners participating due to the absence of Bidor Half Marathon and Taiping Heritage Run.
Katanya almost all major hotels here are fully booked on the 15-16th of September.
So I really hope the organizers improve on what needs to be improved.
If you're taking part in the FM or HM, try to bring your own water, you know, just in case.

But that is, like I said 2-3 weeks away. And like I said before, in the mean time :
Mari mencari semangat yang hilang ( suara sengau Mael XPDC in the background)

Mungkin perut berat sangat kot?
Mungkin cuti lama sangat kot?
Mungkin I've been refraining myself from the Internet for too long kot?
(Kurang motivasi dari dailymile orang lain kot?)

Mojoooooo.....ooo... mojoooooo.
Hang pi mana?

Nothing In Particular

Last week was a total whirlwind of emotions.  A close friend of mine of 7 years had some setback in life and trough Allah's grace got that transfer letter back to her home town to be with her family. She has been waiting for that transfer for 2 years and it so happen, it came when she was really in a bad state
She's a confidant, a mentor and I couldn't have asked for more.
It makes me sad when I hugged her goodbye, because deep in my heart somehow I felt we wouldn't see each other much anymore because she'll live so far away and the chances of her coming back here is close to nil.
I thanked her, wished her well and prayed that she'll lead a happier life ahead.

That aside, how's your Ramadhan so far?
I remember 2 years back in Ramadhan, when I was actively training for my marathon that I weighed my lowest of 46Kgs!
I must have looked so anorexic then. Mana taknya, bersahur pun dengan cereals resembling bird feed. I seldom ate rice for berbuka and was obsessed with the scale.

2 years on, I guess I'm more balanced now, with a healthier BMI and a higher energy level. I'm just hoping I can keep my exercise regime this month and don't let what life throws ( or blesses) me be a set back.

On another nore, did you guys catch the 10000 meter men finals? I loved the race and I loved that Mo Farah hugged his training partner and silver medalist Galen Rupp at the end. And Galen Rupp looked  as happy as he was for his win. That's true camaraderie. You can't get it any better than that.

But the race can't beat this video of Chris Solinsky who broke the American record in 10,000 meters in 2010 in his debut 10,000 m race. In this race, all eyes were on Galen Rupp and nobody expected anything from him. Solinsky was the true underdog.
So sayang that Solinsky couldn't get himself to the Olympics due to injury. He's some major talent.

This is so inspirational.( and you gotta love the enthusiastic commentator)

 And no, I'm not turning into some track geek. It's the Olympic season so give me a break :)

Ramadhan Running

Ah, Ramadhan . The holy month of fasting.
 The month of tarawikh, tadarus, tazkirah dan pahala yang bertimpa-timpa.
The month of testing one's strength: body and soul.

Unfortunately for  some people, it is the month when all physical activities comes to a halt. It becomes something of an excuse to be sedentary.

Suddenly, all kinds of ridiculousness comes to surface.
" Tak boleh angkat kotak sebab tak cukup tenaga"
" Cannot go to that course because it's puasa month"
"I can't give that talk because nanti haus"
" Saya tak boleh hantar ubat kat orang sebelah sebab nanti saya lapar" ( okay, that was my son)
 Cihhh....

Let's face it, physically, fasting is basically just not eating lunch. Sahur is our super early breakfast and iftar is our dinner. Just how many calories are we depriving ourselves, really ?
Not that much.
And there's the looming question of dehydration.
Takdelah.
Ever heard of 8 glasses a day ?
Tak boleh minum ke waktu iftar and sahur?
( ok, maybe you' ll have to visit the toilet numerous times during the day but that's a normal process)

So it shouldn't be such a big deal. To carry on with your normal exercise routine is very doable.
Some people would say Ramadhan is a very busy month. What's with iftar and tarawikh and tadarus and work taking up the day time. I truly think God gives us 24 hours because He knows it's just enough time. Kita je selalu cakap tak cukup masa bagai.
Just make time. And find the balance.

Tapi aku dok prong prang prong prang ni, who am I kidding ?
Tadi aku pun terbabas.
I was parched since morning. Yesterday I had a bad case of sniffles so for sahur, along with some other food I took an antihistamine to control the symptoms. As an adverse effect, my mouth got super dry throughout the day and I grew very tired.
When I got home, I was in a daze, mencapai bantal and woke up in the late evening.
And since I prefer running before berbuka, I only finished 3 Ks.
I thought of continuing after tarawikh, but yeah right, because here I am writing this.

But pushing my pathetic story aside, my advice for fasting runners would be : Find the time that suits you best.
With a lot of races scheduled after Raya, it'll be a shame to start over after all that work.
Some people like to train after iftar and tarawikh.  Some people like to train in the mornings, a few hours after sahur.
And some parents like me like to run before iftar so we can get the most of the rest of the night for our ibadah, children's homework and studies, a bit of 3rd Rock reruns and 7 hours of sleep.

Choose any time that's convenient to you, your work, your family and your fitness level.

But taking consideration of the depleted energy levels during fasting, I think sometimes there should be a compromise. For example, I cut my speed training to half and my pace is really easy for my daily runs so I don't feel too fatigued for my run the day after. My LSD, the furthest this month will not go beyond 12K (also because my next race will just be a 10K..ngehngeh).

It's all doable, brothers and sisters.
The only thing that's holding you back during this holy month is yourself.
Fast, pray, recite, work, run and everything in between.
Find that balance.

Dengan keberkatan Ramadhan, InsyaAllah cukupppp.. ( angkat kening dan sengih-sengih  ala Ustad Don)