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!

               

Training!

Great news, guys.
I' m back to train again.
But it's not a big race or anything so no, you won't see me during MWM.
I'm starting on a small, wait, scratch that, I'm starting on a miniscule scale.
Just something local, slightly insignificant but at least something la kan to start with.

So there will be no panic mode, no red buttons.
I will train when I can, the best with what I can work with.
These few weeks has been a roller coaster ride at work.
Buat exit plan bagus punya tup-tup I've been pushed up the ladder.
Takpe lah, layan je la.

Apa aku dok royan ni? Just saying from now to July I have to attend A LOT of meetings and travelling so semestinya training will go haywire.
But like I said, no red buttons.
Relax. Breathe. Try not to vent macam orang gila kat FB.
Eat, by all means, eaaatttt.
Work out.
And be happy.

And still be here.
Some people in the running community have moved wayyy forward, tak terkejor.
Some people pulak quietly took a step back and creeped quietly out of the picture.
But I will try to still be here.
Kalau orang takde nak baca pon, I will still update.
Not as frequent as before, these days but I'm still lingering.

Bear with me la kan.

Sekian royanan hari ini which by the way is written during a boooriiingg meeting.

New Hopes!

Uish, gile lama tak menjengah sini.
Okay, I've been busy these past few weeks menguruskan anak-anak bersekolah,.
Plus, menguruskan one major project that's TBA in a few months ( saspen saspen).

Anyway, what date is it today? 9th?
Is it too late for me to list out the cliche? ie my resolutions.
Orang kata, why wait for the new year to start something new or to dream big or to plan on something?
Why wait for the perfect moment?
Aku kata, alah diamlah.
Sukatila.

I plan to go back to racing. When? Well, I'm trying to find the perfect one to start with. Not too long of a distance since I've been taking a break for about a year. You know, just the perfect race to get the gear and momentum going.

I or we plan to get our boy in shape. For you guys who haven't seen my boy, well , he's a bit on the chubby side. Walaupun sedap dipeluk, but it's high time we do something about it.
Sometimes people like to take a jab at us using him, saying things like, " Kenapa mak bapak kurus, tapi anak chubby?"
And they say it right in front of him.
Not cool, guys.
Anyway, we got him to exercise 4-5 times weekly and fingers crossed, things will work out right.

Straighten out the house. Pronto.
No procrastinating. No dilly dallying.
This is serious.(hoho)

There will be some major changes jobwise and I plan to exit gracefully.
And I do hope that the grass is greener on the other side.
Wah, misterius.

There's still a lot.
But pelan pelan la kan
We better ourselves in increments.

Please Put It Down

Parents, please pay attention to your kids and take away whatever electronic gadgets  they have in their hands.

The irony is we want our children to catch up with technology but we revert them to their own little caves totally ignorant of their surroundings.

Children are supposed to explore, run, be curious, enjoy the outdoors.
Children should open up books and let imagination take hold.
Children should socialize with other kids, play and muck about like children they are.
Children should be able to tell you about their day and how awesome everything went.

Not sit around, engrossed with whatever it is on the iPad. For hours on end.
Be it, at a restaurant.
Near a beautiful beach or pool.
At their kampungs.
In a family function.
When people come over.
At a mall.
During a vacation.
In a family roadtrip.
Or even at home.

Don't let a gadget raise your children.
Your kid runs a tantrum and you hand him an iPad.
Your kid behaves and you hand him a tablet
Your kid is fidgety and you hand him your smartphone
Your kid can't socialize and you hand him his PSP.

A gadget is not a pacifier.
It is not a babysitter.
It can not, should not substitute you.

Whatever you teach your kid, would be more valuable that what you claim your tablet is able to teach your child.

Please don't say my kids can't survive a day without their electronic thingamajigs.
Not in a proud tone.
Not even in an apolegetic tone.

We grew up fine without.

Kids are getting angrier.
Impatient.
Spoiled.
Stuck up.

Parents, get a grip.
Look at what you've turned your child into.
Take away the electronics.
Demand more respect.
Give them books.
Encourage them to look up and explore the world.
Help them make friends.
Teach them.
Play with them.
Talk to them.

I'm not being houlier than thou.
I'm not saying my children are better off.
But let's do this together.

Our children deserve more from us. From themselves.

We talk about making the world a better place for our children.
Why not make our children better people for the world.

Another Story

*Phone rings

We have an assault case for you. The patient was hit several times by 5 other men with helmets on the head and on the face. There's some swelling at the mouth area and we suspect there's a large laceration wound intraorally. We also suspect some sort of fracture to the mandible.

Adoi mak. Dari banyak-banyak kes yang dapat, the least I'd like to face at 1 in the morning is an assault case.

15 minutes later, at the ER I tried my damndest best to smile back and respond to a houseman's unusually chirpy attitude di malam-malam bute.

"Your patient awaits" she grinned.

The guy was bashed up pretty bad. Worser was, that he had his posse of about 6-7 people waiting by his side. One had a permanent scowl on his face.

My junior officer and I were outnumbered. Macamana la nak buat treatment alone with them waiting in the ORal Surgery room so far away from other people.

I put on my garang-est face.
" Only one person can accompany, ok."
" I repeat, sorang saje"

I walked away not waiting for a response. I would't know how gang members would react to my arahan.

When I turned, expecting them to disobey, surprisingly only the wounded guy was following ( he can walk just fine, only his face was messed up)

We brought him into our dental surgery.
Tetibe.
A mild knock on the door.
Two men in leather jackets stood there looking back at me, smiling sheepishly.

"Er, you said only one person can accompany this guy"
" EXACTLY" ( pasang muka garang)
" Well can we escort him? We're the police"


Alamak.
Muka garang terlebih bajet.




Sekianlah.

I'm Still Alive !

So the last time I baliked kampung, I noticed a spanking new toy in my sister's room.
Sometimes, she's got some pretty interesting stuff, my sister.

This time it came in a form of a body composition scale.
Gila jakun.

Switced it on, or rather touch screened it on.
Entered my age and height.
Next step was to just step on the metal sensors.
And wait for a few seconds for a reading.

Aaaand the results.

bone density

total fat

muscle mass

 

 recommended daily calorie intake

BMI

Which dalam layman terms, means I'm doing ok.

After all that hard work for 7 months.

I was so elated, I had to call WW to tell him.

" What body composition scale, now?"

" My sister just got it. Online."

" Ha. Those things are never accurate"

Bah.

Party pooper.

This is just about as anticlimax as getting a friend request at FB and finding out later that it's just one of your cousin's pre-adolescent children.

Exude Awesomeness

WW shared this on FB last week and  I feel that I absolutely have to share this here.
This guy, dear friends , is a brilliant example of someone who excels in not immersing himself in absolute self pity.

This guy exudes awesomeness. CP or not.

Watching him takes me back to my final year community project at SK Jln Batu a few eras ago..We had to spend a whole day with the special needs students in one of the classes. The kids were mostly blind, so our goal was to teach dental awareness among these little darlings.

We thought we were pretty smart coming up with big blow up models of teeth and food items so they can 'feel' them with their fingers as we babbled about oral hygiene.
I remember asking one of the kids, while holding one model of a molar :

" Can you tell me what that is by feel?"
" A big fat flower?"
" No it's a molar"
" Tipu la , my tooth isn't that big"

Epic fail.

Anyway, during their talent show, most of my friends bawled their eyes out watching these kids perform, thinking of what they missed being blind and all.
But what changed me that day was what happened during recess.

We assisted the teachers to line them up. One kid somehow got into a quarrel with another kid in front.
Tetiba je,
Swing!
Dia kasi hayun kaki dia kasi penyepak kat mamat kat depan.

And naturally, as kids will be kids, mamat depan in retaliation, swung back his tiny feet in all different directions to get a hit at his mate.
And one kick made direct contact to my shin.

Gile sakit.

But I laughed so hard.

And it was like some sort of enlightenment.
I absolutely knew that these boys would be fine.
 They won't wallow in despair but they will push through.
They don't need our pity or tears, they just need our support.

They will prevail.
And so will we.

And we are all superheroes in our own little way.

 

Genius At Work

Genius excuses on not excercising this week ( and the week before)

1. I was oncall ( last week)
2. The baby spiked up a fever ( also last week)
3. A rat somehow got into the house.
4. The rat died somewhere in the house.
5. The house reeks the smell of dead rat, and inhaling whatever gas the carcass emanates might be harmful to one's health.
6. I'm at my parents's house most days this week to avoid the stench.
7. I now have the sniffles.

Boleh pass tak?

Ok, next week, everyday must run.

Fuyoooo (sarcastically)

The first of 'The How To' series

How to prep a baby for your run ( on the treadmill)

If you have a weekend spouse / have no maid and you're pretty much juggling things on the weekdays by yourself :

1. Make sure baby is well fed.

2. Make sure baby is wide awake.  (It's really hard to resume your workout if you have to stop and console your crying baby who tends to wake up every 10 minutes.)

3. Make sure baby is comfortably seated in her carry cot/ baby seater and is facing you.

4. Make sure her siblings are around to amuse her if she gets fussy.

5. Into the run, make sure you turn to her and flash a smile or call out her name every 30 seconds to show that you're still paying her some attention. ( Do this even when she's not watching so that your neck muscles are used to the frequent turning )

6. If she starts to fuss and her siblings are not cooperating, do some funny moves or weird sounds while you're running for her amusement.  Clapping like nobody's business in also acceptable.

7. Once you are done with the run, don't forget to thank God for blessing you with the nicest baby in the world.

** footnote : as baby's tolerance is forever changing, the how to's applies when it can be applied.



If your spouse is with you at all times / If you have a maid :

1. Give the baby to your spouse/ maid.

2. Run


Have fun!

Ucapan

Selamat Hari Raya Aidilfitri!
Maaf if I offended anyone in any one of my posts.
Go easy on the lemangs and rendangs.
Because I know I won't.
Ha.

Have fun and be careful on the road :)

Running Preggers

I'm writing this as requested by Nannoor, a fellow blogger ( I have just started to follow your blog :D ) who asked me of my running routine while pregnant. Takdela routine sangat sebab by the end of the pregnancy dah caca marba  Hurhur.
I hope my experiences will somehow be of good use to other runners getting through their pregnancies.Tak pun untuk bahan seronok-seronok baca tentang pompuan boyot menggagahi diri nak exercise. Ngehngeh.
So, here goes.

1st Trimester (1st-3rd month)

Nothing in my running routine changed , really. I still ran 4-5 times a week as I was still training for my last 10K race so everything was going pretty much dandy.

But I did a lot of reading about running while pregnant because this was my first time running with a baby in my belly. And most articles stated that the baby will be really small in the first trimester so running a lot at your normal speed wouldn't affect the baby much.

I did my easy pace at my normal easy pace and my tempo pace at my normal tempo pace but I refueled more to avoid dehydration. I ate what I ate normally and I took my vitamins as instructed, daily doses of folic acids, vitamin Cs, haematinics and calcium tablets since I'm allergic to milk.

When I went for my first antenatal checkup, the nurses were concerned of my low blood pressure, sometimes going down to 90/60 mmHg, but I reassured them this was normal to me. Still, they referred me to a doctor, a fresh faced boy just out of his housemanship who instructed me to take daily BP readings for a week. A week later, with the results still the same, fresh faced doctor eyed me carefully and said, " I guess it's okay for an athlete. You're a sports person, yes?". And suddenly I had this chilling suspicion that this guy may read my blog. ( Perasan tak?).
 Did I ever told you guys that I get terribly embarrassed if I knew any one of my colleagues reads Runningigi. Once, a senior of mine told me he liked my blog and I almost died.

 Anyway, come race day of my 10k at Taiping International marathon, I was at my 3rd month and was starting to show. I didn't look properly pregnant and I guess looking at my tummy, people would assume either I wasn't proportionate or had a little too much baked beans the previous night.
 I wanted to push it because I felt I can, but had to refrain myself. You can read all about the race here. Other than having side stitches, there were no other issues. And it was one of the best races I had so far. I ran pregnant without tergolek cam nangka busuk.


2nd Trimester ( 4th - 6th month)

Running still went on as usual. I even registered for another race at Padang Rengas because it was surely an easy podium. No, I'm not bragging. Ada less than 10 women registered. Agaknya jalan kengkang-kengkang pun boleh dapat placing punya lah. But still, I wasn't very familiar with Padang Rengas and the running route so I opted out the last minute. Memang nasib baik pun, because when WW got back from the race , he told me it was half road and half trail and I don't do well on trails. Nak-nak bila jadi mak buyung.

My pace followed the growth of my tummy. The larger I got, the slower I ran. A friend suggested running with a support belt but I malas to go and buy one.
I'm a runner but I guess I'm not that hardcore.

My easy pace deteriorated to 14:00 minute/mile. Takpe, takpe, I thought. Apa nak kalut, bukan training pun.
Best thing was, every time I ran, my baby was doing somersaults in the womb. I guess, she enjoyed running as much as I did. Running  still commenced 3- 4 times weekly for 30 minutes although my daughter commented I ran like a duck.

Fatigue was an issue. I would get too tired to run after work so I had to paksa myself a bit. But on days when I was too tired to even move my eyelids, I skipped running. But I made sure I took the stairs everyday.
My staff were forever holding the elevator door open for me but I would smile , shrug and stubbornly walk up, no, waddle up the stairs.
Stairs, good. Elevator, evil.

3rd Trimester ( 7th month to D-Day)

I only ran 3 times a week up to my 7th month. Then I was getting ridiculously big and the side stitches were unbearable so I stopped running on the treadmill altogether.

But to make up for not running, I did  weights and walking aerobics for 3-4 times a week for 30 minutes till the 37th week. Anything without side stitches is good for me.

By the 38th week, ready to meletup bila-bila masa je lagi, I caught a fever of 40 degrees Celsius and was hospitalized for a week. After that, all exercises went down the drain and I stayed dormant till my delivery.


So there you have it, Nannoor, my running routine while pregnant. By doing all this, I pretty much kept my weight according to plan. Overall I gained 15 kgs, which was pretty much recommended by the doctor. I'm happy that almost 4 months after delivery, I have now only 2 kgs to blast to reach my pre pregnancy weight. Alhamdulillah..

Do keep in mind every pregnant woman is different and you have to adjust your workouts according to your needs and ability.

Don't be intimidated to read some other pregnant orangputeh's blog and see that her easy running pace at her 8th month is still 8 minute/mile (4:59 min/km). Dia tu gila.
Kidding.

POST-NATAL

So how am I doing so far when it comes to running? Well, these days running depends solely on my baby's mood.

I'm like, " Little baby, can mommy run today for at least 20 minutes while you watch quietly in your carry cot?"

" Waaaa, waaa, waaa"

Alrightey then, no run today.

Then I go, " Darling, just 10 minutes today, please?"

" Waaaa, waaa, waaa"

Okay, it's a no then.

Did I tell you she has a built in timer? If I pasang niat to run 20 minutes while she's having her nap, she'll wake at exactly 20 minutes after. If I say to myself , just run 10 minutes and see how things go, she'll wake up at exactly 10 minutes after that. Cheeky little sweet pea.

So now, I make do with what I can. If she doesn't allow me to go on the treadmill on some days, I'll carry her and do lunges, squats and lateral lunges. She pretty much enjoys that. Macam naik buaian ( which I banned). I'd start my routine and she'll instantly go to sleep 5 minutes after, in my arms.
Like I said, I make the most with what I can, even though it means I'll eventually end up with gorilla arms.

You can suggest waking up at 4 in the morning to run while my baby's fast asleep.
But like I said before, I love running.
But I'm not that hardcore.

To Nannoor, persevere.
And bear in mind, kalau JJ yang pemalas ni pun boleh run while preggers, sape-sape pun boleh buat jugak.
Cheers ;) 

Royan

Today is my last week of maternity leave. Boohoohoo.
Better make the best of my spare time and write something because starting next week I'll be super busy with puasa coming and all.

A part of me dread going to work but another part of me is excited to be back.

Anyway, I'll be learning how to survive my mornings rushing to work with 3 kids with 3 different places to send them to. Can you spell chaos?
I really must devise a brilliant plan for this one of these days.

I ran today to just finish 2 miles in 30 minutes. How pathetic is that? No wonder most women athletes take 2 years off post childbirth to retrain.
Not that  I'm an athlete. Pftrrrr.
Wow, perasannya.

I plan to check my work wardrobe today. They all still fit me but some pants are a bit tight at the waistline due to mummy tummy but konon it's normal physiology post childbirth.
Still, it's a great excuse to shop for more clothes. And baju raya. Did I tell you I almost always shop for our raya wardrobe before fasting? Hurhur.

I registered Adik for standard one yesterday. My babies are growing up real fast.
Weird thing was, the kerani at her school asked innocently when I was holding my baby,
" Is this your first child?"
I go,"Who? The one I'm registering right now?"
Then she pointed out at my 3 month old, " No, her"
And I gave her a puzzled look.
..........
After 5 seconds she realized her mistake a smiled sheepishly. Post haze weather still makes people pretty much confused kot.

My parents just got back from their trip visiting my brother in the Netherlands. Guess what they brought back?

peaches, nectarines, and cherries oh my!

 I miss eating these fresh. The ones sold in hyper/supermarkets are so overripe and sour and literally disintegrate in your mouth.

I don't know of it's bad news or good news but they also got us these.

I wailed, " Mommmm, you know I'm trying to lose 4 kgs?"
" I can't help it," she said, " They sell these at 1 euro per pack"
Gile murah.

Kata orang, rezeki jangan ditolak.

Sekian ramblings entah pape untuk hari ini.

First Run This Year

Phew, I'm still sweating buckets.
After almost 6 months of not actively running ( fast walking still don't count) I finally ran yesterday
And boy, it felt so good to literally sweat it out.

I've been meaning to try my new treadmill out since 2 weeks ago but the pesky flu bug got in the way. My chest was congested so bad that I had to take in a couple of breaths to finish a single sentence. And this means a definite no go on the treadmill.

My sister on the other hand, fit as a fiddle got to try it out. In other words, merasmikan my brand new machine.
Twice.

Ini tak boleh jadi, kataku.

Dengan semangat penuh kedengkian, saya pun berlari. Even though I was still coughing.

My machine, The Sole F85 is claimed to be, by its manufacturer as 'The Best Folding Treadmill On The Planet.
 No kidding. Look it up.

To tell you the truth, if it were up to me, I'd buy the first bulky treadmill I see at the first Fitness Concept I go to. But to my husband, it's all about research. And I left it all to him.
We googled everything from Nordic Track to Life Fitness ( ridiculously expensive) to  Reebok.
But we liked Sole the most.

Let me tell you why.
 My interpretation of a good solid treadmill is the width of its deck. My previous treadmill had a 20 inch deck. And most treadmills used in gyms have 20 inch decks.
To me, you shouldn't settle with decks narrower than that. It will be such a chore to run, train and catwalk at the same time.

The Sole F85, get this, has a 22 inch deck.  Best giler.
Kau nak guling-guling atas treadmill pun boleh.
( okay, exaggeration)

Ianya leberrr

So we crossed our fingers and hoped there is a Sole dealer in Malaysia. We looked it up and found out they were just setting their show room up in Puchong. So we called the person in charge and set up an appointment at  this so called show room.
When we arrived, we saw that the  shoplots were new. Papan tanda pun takde lagi.
It seemed a bit shady. We kinda doubted at first that this guy was legit.  Siap asked us to wait 10 minutes because he was out.

Fortunately when the tokey arrived, he explained that they were just starting to renovate the showroom. When we were inside the shop ( its roller shutters were closed previously), baru nampak an array of fitness machine and instruments. Phew! So we went down to business straight away.

Best of all, we got a deal in which Tokey agreed for free shipping to Taiping, since a hotel in Taiping bought a few machines from him and it's en route. Not only that, but we also got a new recumbent bike for free! And for the heck of it, he threw in a floor protector and a yoga mat for free as well. As if he knew  I'm an idiot for free stuff.

Anyway, like I said , I only got the chance to try it out for the first time yesterday ( after it was delivered to us almost 2 weeks ago).
And I'm in love with  it.

Other than wide, the  deck is also long ( 60 inches at least) so that you don't fall back too soon when it gets too fast or you get too tired, hurhur.
It's relatively quieter and has built in speakers so you can jack your Ipod in and don't have to pull out your headphones every 30 seconds to hear whether your ( my) baby is crying or not.

It has a cool 9 inch LCD screen for the display. You can choose your own program and the machine can personalize it for you when you enter your weight and age.  The timer on the display counts down rather than up which to me makes it more bearable ( I can't explain why).

The only thing is, my last treadmill used imperial system and measured everything in miles so I got used to that. If only I can figure out how to change the settings from Km to miles, then everything would be perfect. (I'll wait for my husband to get home on the weekend to do this as I can't be bothered with technical stuff)

Malangnya no LCD screen to watch movies :( .
You can't always get what you want, ok.

The run went pretty smoothly and quietly. When I described smooth and quiet, I meant the treadmill, not me.
I on the other hand, after not running for a long time, was panting away and cursing when the 'fat-loss' program on the mill raised the inclination to 5. And due to the hot hazy weather, it was like running in a sauna and I was sweating a lot.
I mean, A LOT.
Which was good even though afterwards I was feeling a bit woozy.

And I loved sweating it out so much that today I decided to run.
I know for a fact that if you haven't been running in a along time, you should alternate your running days to allow muscle recovery but I just couldn't help myself.
So I planned, just a quick spin, a 10 minute-ish run or until the baby wakes up, whichever came first.

As  I reached the 10th minute,on  a roll and hoping baby would continue napping so I could get at least 20-30 minutes instead, my little princess with a built in timer ( as my mom claims) woke up and started pining for mommy's attention.

cheeky lil' miss

OK.  Got that. Rest.
End of today's skit.

Farewell, friend.

It was circa 2005.
We were in a mall in Penang when we first saw you.
We fell in love with you immediately. We saw your potential. And I guess you saw through ours.
It was a tough time. You were way beyond our budget.
We were in our mid twenties, barely in our first year working. We had a little baby. Our car was pre owned and we rented a small house in a strange new place.
But we were determined. We had to have you.

So we  went out on a limb and had you on easy pay for 12 months. And you were well worth it.

It has been 8 great years since.

There were good and bad days, mostly good. On bad days, you would collect dust and be laced with cobwebs.

But you took me through rainy days. You took me through my first race. You took me through my first marathon. You took me through days I was too embarrassed to run outside. You took me through speed trainings. You took me through my subsequent pregnancies.
 Through it all.

There were times you were under- appreciated. You became a dread, a waste of space. But you braved through all those times, never letting me down.
You stood there, constantly reminding me to get a hold of my life. To own my body.

But as much as I love you, I have to let you go.
You have been of great service and with that I thank you.

I'm moving on, that's true. It's a fact you have to understand.

But I will not fail you. You will go on to other people who need you more. A diabetic friend in need of routine excercise to maintain her health. I hope she will be good to you. I hope she will give you more good days than bad. I hope you will be fully utilized. I hope you will not be downgraded as a place to hang clothes on rainy days.

You will go down in history, no worries. Your story will surely inspire some 9 year old to write a 'Saya Sebuah Treadmill' essay.
And even if in that essay I will be potrayed as an ungrateful person, that is the sacrifice I am willing to take for you.




Good luck with your new owner.

With lots of love,

JJ.