Post-Call-Traumatic Stress Syndrome

I think I've just encouraged some of my colleagues to sign themselves up for their first 5 K race.

Now if I can only pry my butt off this seat to run a decent 5 miler...err 5 K.

See, being in the fasting month doesn't mean you have to stop your postings, people.

Even if it is a useless entry.

Isn't this grotesque? It's so creepy to look at. 

Killed off your appetite for that iftar watermelon, didn't it?

Bike -Yay, Rempit- Nay

While I’m writing this, I’m trying not to doze off. I was called on an emergency case at 3.00-5.00 am this morning and as I was making my long drive back, terserempak la ngan budak rempit 5-6 ekor ni.

As far as I could see, I was a lone driver on the road. Just me and those rempit boys. 

Dengan tetibe nya, one of them jumps on the seat of his bike and does a one legged stand stunt. Pastu diselang seli dengan aksi superman.

And I cursed. Mendentah. Nak tunjuk kat sapa aksi tu? No spectators, no crowd. If you ask me, I’m more impressed watching aksi kucing berdiri di FB ( yup, still not over that)

I stiff the urge to run them over. Kang susah-susah plak nak basuh keta. Pastu , if anything happens to their faces, I’ll still be the one oncall. 

Why do they do this? Why risk getting a faceplant on the hard tarmac for nothing? What’s the thrill? I don’t get it. And I think, takbleh ke dari mensia-siakan bakat, they try their luck being professional stuntmen. Dapat gak duit. At least, if anything happens, ada jugak duit nak buat treatment. Kalau mati pun, ade gak insurans nak tinggal kat makbapak.

Ntahla, Labu. This needs more critical thinking.

Right now, I’m trying to stifle a yawn .

p/s Sorry, nothing interesting about running except I’ve done that 8 mile run on the treadmill and yesterday, I found out nothing beats going on a stationary bike for 30 minutes while watching tv and reading a paper simultaneously.  I love multitasking.

But the but hurts.

Ke dia marah aku panggil dia kakak?

Why I should reconsider boycotting PARAM ( pasar Ramadhan) this year :

Adegan 1 :
Di satu gerai jual kuih tu kan:
1 kuih = RM 0.30
Beli 3 kuih untuk RM 1
Mari! Mari!

Adegan 2 :
" Kak, bagi kerabu kacang botol ni dua ringgit"
The kakak takes 2 spoonful of kerabu and ties it in a plastic bag.
" Saya nak dua ringgit, kak"
" Ni la dua ringgit"

But what about on days when I'm too exhausted to cook?
Apa? Bukak posa dengan telur goreng je?

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Baiklah.

Ke Sebab Aku Nampak Blur?

So I went to this sporting goods outlet kan for no particular reason, just looking around with the possibility of buying something interesting and this budak salesperson started following me around.

Don't you hate it when they do that? I hate it especially after you've taken something from the rack and then put it back, they'll immediately try to rearrange it back even though you've put it back at EXACTLY the same spot and the same arrangement as it was before.
Annoying gile.

And some of them will follow you around without even saying anything. They just follow and watch you as if you're gonna stick that yoga mat up your pants and run away with it. Sheesh. Have some courtesy and let your customers shop in peace. We will ask for assistance when we feel the need to, dammit.

Back to my story kan, so this boy followed me.
I told him that I was just looking around.
He nodded, smiled and backed off. For 10 seconds. Then he was right back breathing down my neck.
So what the heck, he might just be a good salesperson, I thought.
" Erm, seluar ni takde pocket ke?" I said.
" Eh, mana ada poket. Ini seluar sukan, kak. Bukan seluar jalan-jalan," 
Ooooooooooo, yee keeee? Aku ingat guni tadi.

" Memang la seluar sukan, tapi bila saya lari, saya nak poket untuk boh kunci"
" Mana ada orang lari pakai kunci, kak" 
Oooooo, yeee keeee? Abis bukak kereta dengan batu bata tepi jalan kot.

I sighed loudly. And went to take a look at the new line of running shoes.
" Is this the newest one out?"
"Itu kasut larian kak. Mahal. Kak try ni lagi cantik" Pushing a pair of hot pink aerobic trainers in my face.
Argh.

But not all of them are like this. 
My best shopping experience was at a Brook's outlet at The Curve. The girl let us do all the looking around as long as we liked and she just sat there doing her inventory / accounts or whatever it was she was doing and only went to us when we called her. And she was especially friendly and nice and kinda know her sporting goods stuff.
They all should be like this. Respect your customer's privacy. Get to know the stuff you're pitching a sale for. If you work at a sporting goods store, then know your sports, know your products. Jangan hafal je skrip pastu bila kita tanya soalan advanced sket dah terkebil-kebil.

There was this other person at another store, when I asked her the price of some energy gels,she quickly took the gels from my hands
" Ini ambil untuk lari punya, bukan macam gula-gula untuk makan saja-saja."
Ooooooooo, yeeee keee? Aku ingat ubat gigi.

Here It Goes Again

The thing is ( macam Shuk plak), WW's work schedule has once again changed. And due to this I can't do my weekday outdoor running as much as I'd like to anymore. No one to look after the kids la.

If this were to happen last year, I'd most probably freak out, or be a pain in the ass about it. But through time, I've accepted this as just another turn of the page and move on with it.

When I started racing two years ago, my short runs would be mostly on the treadmill. I could easily do an 8 miler on the treadmill without complaining  much. Then when we moved to Taiping, I ran out more, enjoying the routes in our Taman. My treadmill soon collected dust and cobwebs and was just merely an ornament standing sadly in the corner.

Earlier this year, when I decided to go for shorter distances, I began to go back pounding on the darn machine. It squeaked here and there but it was still working good.  And I began to think, this neglected dear little big machine is not so bad after all.

So here I am, back on the mill. Yes, sometimes it gets so boring pounding on and on looking at nothing but the digital screen and the blank wall ahead,that  you feel like bashing your head repeatedly at the side bar to the rhythm of your steps, but I guess you gotta make do with what you have for the moment.

And I tell myself it ain't so bad, this is only temporary. This is only on weekdays. Come weekends, I'll be back on the road for my LSD. I tell myself, this is cool. I can run wearing anything. I can run at all times. I can run in any weather. And the fact that WW is promising me an LCD screen on the treadmill  (kannn?) mengujakan saya lagi.

So the plan is, punch out at exactly 5pm (keje banyak boleh carry forward esok). Pick up the kids, let them enjoy some tv while I run. Then baru let them out outside to play at 6-ish. Malam baru dinner and homework and belajar and apapun lagi.

Untuk membuktikan keberkesanan dan kebolehpercayaan plan ini, I've signed myself for Taiping Heritage Half Marathon and Taiping International Marathon ( Half je la), which requires me to train solely on the treadmill during Ramadhan. I plan to somehow go for a 10 miler as my furtherest run on the dreadtreadmill

Plan sikit punya bagus.. Execution ? Heh heh.


Know what? Pushing all theories aside, I am here to prove that I CAN improve my timing while training on a treadmill.
 Tengokla nanti..hins hins ( dengan muka bertekad).

Flying dogs

Okay, I have nothing interesting to say this week.

But, seriously, this is cool.

And more.

OK Go makes the best music videos.

That's all.
Have a great weekend.
Oh, wait. We got one more day to go.
Oh, well.

Participants WILL GET to the finishing line. Mengertik?

I love this.
 I went through Ipoh International Run's website a few days before the race and found out that they still didn't change their quirky directy-translated sentences in the Race Information section. Yim pointed this out last year. I guess they don't read blogs, Yim.

You can read it in  full here.

I love these the most :
 ...
4.List and provide a 'running tag' estimate (?)
8. Participants will be tied up with wrist bands to confirm their participation in the competition.
9. Participant's emission's released by category .(prutttt)
10. While at the checkpoint, participants will be hanged by ribbons to confirm he has been through the right path (uish)
11. Participants will get to the finish line.(ada paham?!)
14. A formal report will be the winner. (yay!)

Hehe. Priceless.
See, tak payah bersusah payah pun. Siang-siang lagi dah bagitau korang akan diseksa dan korang takkan menang punya.

Anyway, after a week's course of antibiotics, 1 day MC and a whole week's rest, I decided to let  this run be my recovery run. Just a 10 K.  No pressure. No real aim of PB. No pacer ( WW had to do some field work). Just run as best as I could.
Same as last year, pagi-pagi lagi sampai dah dengar suara makcik ni shouting at people to get in their categories la, to stay at the field la, to get registered la. As annoying as it is, I had a good laugh.

Michelle Yeoh is supposedly the ambassador for Ipoh International Run. Cheyy , macam glamer je. But last I heard, she was deported from Mynmar so macam mustahil je tetiba ada kat Ipoh. Turns out, depa ni canang je dia ni duta bagai, tak janji pun dia nak ada kat situ. I guess, she's a bit nervous about being tied with ribbons in case she got on the wrong path. Hurm.

So some politician gunned us off. I didn't catch which because I wasn't paying attention.
So lari je la kan?
First half of the race, I was a bit careful with my pace, takut terkucil macam minggu lepas. But then it felt good. No cramps, no shortness of breath, no coughing. NO COUGHING!

And the best thing about running in Ipoh is it's familiarity. I know what's coming after each bend so I know when to floor it. Konon.
But as it is with other races, still ada brader-brader, pakcik-pakcik, abang-abang dan datuk-datuk yang tak bleh kalah, tak bleh blah langsung dengan pompuan. Adoyai, come on guys, it's not as if your privates will fall of if a girl overtakes you.  Just let it be. We're all not going to win anyway. A formal report will.
Sheesh..

Ok, so I didn't really monitor my pace a so I was quite surprised to see I finished at 56:36. My placing card showed that I was the 33rd female to cross the line.
Nampaknya saya masih belum tahap internasional dan hanya tahap Kg Kubu Gajah, Semanggol. Huhu.

Post race, I got to catch up with Yim, Deo and a few Cap Ayam runners. Sempat la enter prem cam-whoring ngan banner Cap Ayam walaupun saya bukan ahli ( lagi). Ntah kamera sape-sapentah. Tayang je muka.

Then, because I was too lazy to queue up for free drinks, I bought a mocha with whipped cream and totally blew off the 630 calories I burned.
Should I end that with Oh, crap or oh, well?