Al-Kisah Taiping Run 2014

Right now, as I write this, my body is aching all over.
Nak turun tangga klinik pun terseksa lahaii.
And don't mention about fatigue. I've already warned my children this morning not to ask any mind-boggling questions as mom and dad are too tired to even think.

Tu la, bila dah tau sakit jangan la nak race.
Gatal sangat, kan.

Actually-nya, we really had doubts whether we wanted to go ahead racing a few days before. The baby was warded for 2 days early last week due to high fever and tonsillitis. And naturally, because of that I didn't get enough sleep for more than 48 hours.

Being a mother fooled me into thinking that I'm immune enough over the years to not catch the bug infecting my baby. But boy, was I wrong.

2 days after the whole hospital ordeal, maka saya telah jatuh sakit.
Demam, sniffles, muscle stiffness, tonsillitis, the whole package. Hamik kau. And this was on Friday.

But I thought, t'sokay. Baru Friday. I got 1 more day to heal, what.
Come Saturday, I was popping PCMs like candy je.
Tambah berita 'gembira' WW plak cakap cam nak demam.

Takpe, kata kami. Wait till morning, then we'll make our final decision.

Sunday morning, we woke up at 5 am. Rasa cam ok sket kot. Takpe, telan lagi panadol. Makan ubat batuk cap ibu dan anak.

Boleh ni. 12 K race je pun kan.

We arrived at Padang Esplanade in time to swiftly put on our running bibs and wait for gun off with the rest of the crowd. Sambil tunggu tu, sempat pulak ai bersandar tepi 4X4 sapentah dan boleh pulak rasa mengantuk.

Oh lupe nak cerita. A few weeks ago, we built up 3 separate plans on how to run this race.
Iaitu:

Plan A : to get into top 20 placing (macam bagus)
Plan B: to finish with respectable timing (respectable ni sangat subjective- hoho)
Plan C: to just complete the race

On good training days, after an awesome interval workout, we thought Plan A is absolutely doable.
On so-so days, kami pikir Plan B pun ok ape.

Tapi that morning, it was undoubtedly Plan C.
Lari ikut rentak badan. Kalau rasa tak larat, jalan. Kalau tak larat jalan, golek.

So at about 6.50am , we we're gunned off. WW reminded me not to get sucked into the overexcited-crazy-fast-starting-pace crowd. Sebab Bukit Doraemon (a Taiping road race will not be complete kalau tak lalu bukit ni) will be up next and after that a crazy-a** incline up Taman Lakeview.

Bukit Doraemon was nothing up against crazy-a** Lakeview incline. It's a sadistic running route that only crazy runners use as the incline is not only long but steep. By this time, most runners had resolved to walking. But I thought, kalau jalan, lambat pulak nak sampai puncak. Lambat pulak nak sampai sedangkan we have a patient's appointment at 9:30 am that day.
So mau tak mau kena push it jugak la.

After turun bukit, we ran into a scenic lane. You know, the usual Taiping view( hehe ayat belagak).
Pokok rendang kiri kanan, sejuk, redup, cuma ade sedikit bau ashem dari zoo somehow.

 Lalu tepi muzium, tepi penjara then masuk balik Taman Tasik Taiping, waving to the usual aunties, uncles, makcik, pakcik crowd, then go up the road to MRSM Taiping (last incline), pastu lalu Bukit Larut entrance (lalu je, okay) to the War Cemetery and then back to Taman Tasik.


When we reached the finishing line, I had minor tummy cramps and my mouth tasted funny. Then I felt a bit dizzy but not before wolfing down a watermelon and having a bite at a free orange cake. I think it was orange, I'm not so sure now because my taste buds went haywire the whole entire day after that.

And like I said, because we had a previous planned appointment at our clinic, so tak boleh nak linger sangat after race.

Altogether, the race was well put together from the get go.
Did I mention the road marshals were superb? Route markers cukup and paling bijak sekali, the organizers organized the route so that most of the time runners would not have to battle with the traffic. Memang rasa selamat je masa berlari.

I hope the same organizers (who are local Taiping runners) make this run annual. Memang best. Memang tiptop.

I risked falling back sick to run this race and I guess it was worth it(?).  I had fun, I had a few laughs. I called out to familiar faces and even managed to smile at a photog.

It's a long way to get back to my old running stamina but I'm confident I'll get there. Cuma, I'm not in a hurry as I was 4 years ago. 

Kayuh pelan pelan.

So okaylah. Itu je race report buat masa ini. I'm a bit rusty as blogging has become a once-in-a-while thing and racing has been pushed to God knows what number on my priority list.

But I will still be running and kalau ada race lagi yang seswai in the future, of courselah I will write about it here, okay.

Keep in view, peeps.

Doing OK

Dulu khen, waktu ai keje ngan orang payah betui la nak lari-lari ni.
Pagi dah merushing nak siapkan anak pi sekolahlah, nak siapkan breakfast lah, nak siapkan diri la. Pastu drive meluru nak kejar punch card.

Camni cakap la, those days, pagi was a blur of events.
Keje, stress, keje, stress, pastu balik petang nak lari pulak. Then masak la, sidai kain (yup, sidai kain waktu malam), lipat kain dan sebagainya.
Gile exhausting.

One of the reason I quit my job, among many other reasons is to run freely in the morning.
To get rid of that early  morning rush. To get a grasps of things clearly.

Now when I wake up, I can cook breakfast for my children, get them ready for school, send them off and then go run.
Nothing is in a hurry, unless that is, one of the kids tetiba nak pi toilet the last minute and then kami kena kelam kabut nak kejar the school bell . Haha.

Tapi itulah, bila dah lari almost every weekday morning, maka akan timbullah a few days yang bila bangun pagi rasa malasnyehhhh nak lari.
Taim tu lah kaki rasa berat, dada rasa sesak, perut rasa bloated, macam-macamlah alasan nak ngelat lari.

But I remind myself, this is why I quit.
 I wanted this.
 I WANT this.

So terpaksa la suck it up.
Dulu elok gaji masyuk, nak berenti for this.
Dulu senang nak ambik cuti, nak berenti for this.
So, lari je lah.
And 99.9% of those lemau days, by the last mile, I'd be feeling alright.

Nak duit, boleh dicari kan.
Nak masa untuk diluang for something that we really love, mestilah kena sacrifice something along the way.

Komen Membina

Bila jumpa kawan lama ke, sedara lama tak jumpa ke, I can always predict their first comment,

"Kurusnya kau!"
" Why so thin , meh?"
" You've grown so small!"

Diselit pula dengan kata-kata penambah perisa,

" Hang sakit eh?"
" Hang diet eh? Tak baik diet-diet sangat nih"
" Are you not happy, nowadays?"
" Keje kuat sangat kot"

Ditambah pula dengan perbuatan yang tidak diminta seperti,

1. Menambah lauk/nasi on my full plate
2. Feeling up my arms to show me how allegedly bony I am.
3. Urging me to tambah lagi, when I already had enough and full.
4. Try to pinch my waist to see if got lemak or not. ( Gile melampau)

Tu la masyarakat kita, kurus salah, gemuk pun salah.
Bila orang tu berisi sikit, mula la keluar komen, " Wah, dah gemuk kau ni skarang ye?"
Whaa?
What is it?
 Is it a way to feel good about themselves? Is it a self defense mechanism of some sort?
Why can't we just be nice and say," You look wonderful today!"
And keep all the unwanted, komen yang tidak membina to ourselves.

Satu lagi, suka la kaitkan makan as a way out.
" Makan apa ek untuk gemuk?"
" Makan apa ek untuk kurus?" (Oh, the irony!)
" Makan apa ek untuk kurangkan blood pressure?"
" Makan apa ek untuk rendahkan cholesterol?"

Don't they get it?
You don't eat your way out of your predicament.
You work it.

I'm lucky enough I'm still breastfeeding my baby that I'm loosing extra 500 calories per day. Itu tambah ngan 5 days of workout, work and being a mom. It's hard but hard work pays off.
But that's the point. Work it.
And make it fun while you're at it.

And after all that work, it's no fun when people poke and prod at you telling you there's something wrong with you.
Come on lah , it's really not nice.

Be more positive, people.
If you want people to be nice to you,you be nice to them. Basic common sense, kan?

So why not we all change? Instead of finding something bad to comment about people, find something good to say.
Komen membina.

Tak susah rasanya :)

Breathe

I used to be asthmatic. I tell people I have childhood asthma  because I've stopped using the inhaler since I was 13.
But every now and then, it surfaces. My wheezies, I call them.
Most of the time, they're really mild.

But mild as they are, they do hurt.

Have you ever felt that? The tightness in your chest that causes you to not think about anything else except the knot in your lungs? The struggle to get a decent breath in but only able to do it halfway?
And the sound of the pain. The slow fluty almost inaudible sound of your struggle, each time you inhale. Almost inaudible as your lungs scream for air.

I get my wheezies at approximately the 18th minute in my runs. I get my wheezies at exactly the same location at every run. It's like every run I start, I anticipate the buildup to the 18th minute.
It doesn't matter what I did before the run, what I ate or drank, whether I've warmed up or
not. It will hit me, bam! almost everytime at the 18th minute.


But I don't stop, even if my lungs beg me to.
I run it out. 2 breaths in and 2 breaths out. Rinse and repeat.
Put one foot in front of the other. Rinse and repeat.

Thankfully my ordeal will end 5 minutes after. 5 long minutes after.
And then I'm home free.

Is having the wheezies the pits? Yep.
But it's a reminder not to take my health for granted. It makes me grateful of whatever health condition I have, I have it easy compared to others.

As painful as it is, it will pass.
In life too, whatever hardship we face, it will pass.
The long uphill climb, it will pass.
It will all pass and we will all eventually be home free.
















*ahkak terasa nak jiwang hari ni yeww

Taiping Run 2014 !

So, like I said before, we're back on our feet running.
Not much, just about 5K a day around the neighborhood.

It's kinda nice, when you run by and people you know raise their hands or give us a honk in recognition. Makes us feel like local celebrities kejap hihi.
Gile perasan.

We're now up to 30 minutes of running continuously. Might not be much for most of you but for us it's something big after ages of not running. Seriously back to square one, especially me, after my pregnancy.

But tu la kan, the racing bug tu mula la menggatal nak gigit. Baru je nak mula balik, start new, mula nak lari relax-relax dulu, I see this on FB

http://taipingrun.blogspot.com/

Haduuuuuu.....
How in the world could I ignore this? Right there, smack in my backyard..
Saje je tau.

So join je lo.
3 months to build up to 12K

Drama much?

New Beginnings

Hello guys.. ada lagi orang ke?
Sorry for the long hiatus. I had to adjust myself to a few new changes in my life.

I've finally quit my job (yay!). Some say I'm stupid for leaving at the position where I called the shots, but I grew tired of making decisions for others.  It's mentally taxing to solve other people's problems and going to hours and hours of redundant meetings.
I didn't sign up for all of this.

So I or should I say, we started our own thing.

Say hello to..

It's right here in Taiping and I'm mighty proud of it.
Business so far is good, alhamdulillah and the best part is we have time to go for a run every morning while other people are busy rushing off to clock in for work.


We're really starting off slow right now. When I say slow , I mean really s-s-s-l-l-l-o-o-o-w-w-w.
Serius, aunty jalan kaki pagi-pagi pon boleh potong kitorang.
But it's okay cause we're back to a mileage of  almost 25K a week and that's enough to make me happy thehe.

Pelan-pelan kayuh la kan?

This is what we want.
To run our lives and to be more with the kids.
We waited so patiently for this.
Doakan yang terbaik untuk kami, kay?

Kalau sape-sape singgah Taiping, give us a visit ye?

Kepancitan!

Do you really want to know the truth? The truth is, after giving birth the furthest I ran on road is 2KM. Sila gelak.

And the truth is, itu pun shekali shekala je on any given Sunday, kalau sempat.

The rest is, konon training atas treadmill je le. 20 minutes je. 2km jugak. Sila gelak lagi.

Takpelah kan, the very busy la kan kekononnya.

So when I was invited ( I put this kindly, BUT fact was I was psycho-ed)  to participate in KKM’s Jogathon Kesihatan, I wasn’t aiming for much. In fact, as I’m starting all over again, I would count every achievement as a PB.

Boleh?

Being absent from racing for such a long time, made me forget all the pre-race essentials. 

-          Didn’t warm up

-          Arrived late

-          Last minute fumble with hub’s Garmin ( God knows where mine is)

-          No pre-race jitters

-          No pre-race hydration

Apa pun yelek.

 Minutes after we parked, I lined up for my race bib and 5 minutes later, we were flagged off.

saya sebenarnya di Canada.

I started out good, pacing with my former KKM track teammate. Anndd.. that lasted for about 1 minute until she finally sped off- ha!

So I huffed alone trying to keep  up, panting, sides stitching, breathing labored and wondering over and over again why I get myself into these things.

I asked a RELA woman/girl minding the road for the correct turn at a junction. Naturally, she showed me the wrong way. Had to make a teeny weeny U-turn and again wished I was somewhere else eating a big fat ice cream cone.

I could see the first 3 runners in my category. The one in front of me kept looking back as I rolled my eyes thinking, “ Please, macamla ai cukup kudrat nak potong”

But somehow I kept my pace and managed to overtake the person in front of me. Tu pun sebab she slowed down to glance at her phone. Sempat lagi tuu..

Tapikan, on the last 300 m to the finish line, tetibe je muncul 2 orang dari belakang at full speed selamba je kasi  sayur sama beta.

Makcik pikir, lantak ko la, Gayah.

The most triumphant moment was seeing my family cheering at the end of the line and my kids screaming, “ We won! We won!” (When in fact, we got only 5^th place-ha!)

Dalam ada dapur gas, in case you're wondering

Eh? Sikit je race report? Haha..yela..only 3 K maa. Oklah, 3.1K to exaggerate the actual distance in 18 min 47 sec.

I hope this will be the first of many, Walaupun rasanya, memang agak ketinggalan dari fitness dulu, but it’s a good start coming back.

That is, I sure do hope I’m coming back

Okla, kalau tak come back pun, new start la kan.

Like I said, from now, everything’s a PB

Oh, shut up already.

P/S On another note, my baby turns 1 year old next week!