Gigih!

Gigih!
Tu komen membe-membe bukan pelari aku bila aku bagitau depa aku lari atas treadmill.
" Gigihnya hang menapak atas benda alah tu lebih dari setengah jam!"

Aku rasa tu tak gigh lagi. Alah! Peserta The Biggest Loser lagi selamba berlari atas treadmill lagi lama dari tu sambil membuat aksi juggle diselang seli somersault.
Gigih lagi korang semua yang lari beraun-raun taim Twilight Ultramarathon Challenge kat Singapore baru-baru nih ( Zaki, Yim, Kak Kash among others). Puh! Aku takbleh imagine cemana korang buat. Mental woo nak pusing-pusing camtu sampai 100K. Mak aih, gigih betoi. Tahniah dari aku. Serius cakap, aku tak mampu nak buat.

Tapi yang super duper crite paling gigih aku penah dengar ialah dari sahabat aku, Incik Solja. Incik Solja ni bekerja sebagai Mat Tiarap ( panggilan manje untuk askar). Dalam bidang kerja Incik  Solja, dia kadang-kadang terpaksa dihantar untuk membuat khidmat bakti di hutan-hutan.

Ada sekali tu, Incik Solja dihantar untuk selama seminggu ke hutan untuk memberi khidmat bakti kepada orang-orang asli di sana. Sebagai pelari tegar, Incik Solja seperti cacing kepanasan kerana tidak dapat lari. Untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini, Incik Solja akan bangun pada waktu yang sangat pagi selepas subuh dan akan berlari trail di dalam hutan selama sejam sampai naik matahari. Hutan ye kawan-kawan, bukan trail run seperti di taman-taman rekriasi.
Setelah hari keempat dia berlari, adalah seorang membe dia tegor,
" Ko lari-lari tengah gelap tak terserempak ngan Pak Belang ke?"
Incik solja sangat inosen. Dia padang membe dia dengan wajah blur.
" Ko tau tak semalam kat trail ko lari, kami jumpa tapak harimau. Taik gajah pun ada"
Mulai hari itu, Incik Solja lari keliling padang sekolah orang asli sahaja.

Incik Solja masih lagi gigih. Baru-baru ini Incik Solja dihantar ke satu negeri seberang laut untuk memberi khidmatnya. Yelah kan, pilihanraya di negeri itu semakin dekat dan usaha-usaha membeli jiwa perlu dipertingkatkan.
Incik Solja diarahkan ke sana dan kemari ke kampung-kampung dan lokasi di ulu banat di mana dia kesukaran untuk mencari tempat berlari. Oleh kerana sekali lagi dia seperti cacing kepanasan, dia begitu gigih berlari sekeliling padang sebesar padang netball di kampung tersebut. Untuk larian sejauh 5 mile, Incik Solja terpaksa membuat larian berpusing-pusing sekeliling padang tersebut selama 90 round. Yaa adik-adik. 90 round.

Tak ke gile keje nya tu?
Agaknya orang pribumi di situ tertanya-tanya, " Ko pehal mamat?"

Apapun, aku sangat salute Incik Solja.
Sangat, yang amat gigih.
Lu memang hero.

Unforeseen Circumstances ( Konon)

Ha Ha Hampeh No 1:

Due to a recent allergic reaction, my dermatologist advised me to go on a vegetarian diet for 2 weeks to rule out the cause. He suspected that it was something I ate.
Okay, if he told me to do this last year, when I was training gila-gila untuk my marathons, when I was at my fittest level, when I was a health freak, I would gladly comply without the slightest hesitation. But on that day, in the doctor's room, I was like, " Err..."
But I wanted to be a good patient. And I wanted my condition to get better. So it all went well, for like a week. Until last weekend, on an unplanned trip to Bangi, to an 'unplanned' visit to my favorite restaurant there.
Jeng jeng jeng

Nah ko!

 Hambik!

 Rasakan!

Dush!

Mana tahan beb!

Ha Ha Hampeh

Guess I have to reschedule that appointment for about a week.

Ha Ha Hampeh no2

Due to some unforeseen circumstances, me and hub will not be able to make it for our beloved Malakoff Run in Penang this coming weekend. And to think I was so looking forward to running against the sea breeze and killing myself over the steep hill at the end of the course. I will however pick up our race kits in Penang on Saturday sometime in the afternoon . Rugi woo, bayar mahal-mahal. Hey, at least we'll get the shirt and the personalized bibs. My dad tried to convince me to go by myself to the run on Sunday, but I don't trust myself driving in Penang traffic. Even if it's 5 in the morning.

Ha Ha Hampeh.

Ha Ha Hampeh no 3

After all the hampeh-ness, watching this made me laugh till I cried.

Okay, so if THAT didn't make you laugh, I don't know what will.

Your Pace/ Run happy

First of all, thanks all for your birthday wishes. I really appreciate it and truly feel loved and blessed.
Secondly for those who have been asking, I'm 31.
31 years old and feeling great about it.
A friend asked, " If you were given a choice on what age you want to be on your birthday, what will it be?"
I'd say 31. I wouldn't want to be any age younger. Do you ever look back when you were young and cringe at the things you said or did. I've made a couple of stupid/weird/bad choices way back then and suffice to say, yeah, I'm happy being where I'm at right now, thank you very much. Not to say, I'm so much smarter now but let's just say that it'll take me at least 10 years to look back and say to myself, " I did THAT( insert stupid behavior) at 31?"

I haven't much to say today. I'm just killing time waiting for my other half to get the car serviced.But I really want to write this down before I change my mind.
I'm really sad about the way running has turned out for some of us. It has ceased to be a hobby and become more of a burden. Running is supposed to make us happy but don't you think something is wrong when we're not enjoying it as much as when we first started? We used to enjoy taking our time, listening to the pitter patter of our feet shuffling to the rhythm of our runs. Now it's like we're more into how fast and how far we'd go, that 10-11 minute/mile is not good enough and  this mileage has to be done no matter what or we'll deem ourselves doomed.
This is a hobby.  A mere thing we do to fill up the extra time. It's not a job. We're not professionals. We don't have the extra 4 hours a day to complete that dreadly mileage we intend to do. We won't die today if we don't do that 15K. We have our  careers, we have our kids, we have our spouses. By doing this, running on and on for hours and hours, we're not only taking up our precious spare time, but we're taking theirs as well. Their time with us.

What I'm saying is, find that balance. That thin line that separates us from falling over the edge. Or leaving us feeling burnt out.

Don't stop racing. Oh no, I'm not even remotely suggesting that. And don't stop running. But do it at your pace. If you can only afford the time to train for 1-2 marathons a year, that's good enough.If you can only train for little races here and there, then good for you. If you can afford the time to train for a marathon every month and it makes you happy, then do that. At your pace. If it makes you happy. Secukup rasa.

But if it's starting to feel like a chore, like not once in a while, like in most of the time,every day, every time then slow down. Take a breather.
You're not racing anybody but yourself. It's called a PB because it's a PB. Don't fret, somebody already got the 2 03 marathon record. Somebody already did 50 marathons is 50 months. One more or one less, nobody's worried.

At least that's what I think.
I'm not a preacher and I'm the last person in the world to do this. This is a gentle reminder to myself
And I'm not good in conveying my thoughts in words. And this may get misinterpreted by some.
But that's what I think . For now.
Who knows, maybe 10 years from now, I would read back this post and cringe and think, " I wrote that at 31?"

Jaguh-jaguh

My boss called me up to his room and said, " They're gonna have this run somewhere in June,"
I scrunched up my nose. Oh no, I thought. He probably wants me to be in the commitee.
" I don't want you to go to the meeting this afternoon. I don't want you included in the AJK. Matron will go." he said as if reading my mind - or my expression.
Huh?
" I want you to enter. I want you to win this"
Aik?
Sejak bila jadi manager aku nih? Tetibe.
Macam Jaguh-Jaguh. Macam Maero Attack.
Apparently he heard from someone/somewhere I got 2nd place in the run held two years back in Manjung. But that was TWO YEARS ago. Before the running buzz started nationwide. This year, the competition will be fierce, man.
" Ha, tengok la boss. Bulan enam tu jauh lagi. Kot saya naik pangkat kena posting ke ( heh, dream on). Kot saya pregnant ke taim tu. Tengoklah."
" Tu lain kira. Skarang hang bagi nama masuk. Tengok-tengok, aku sekeh kepala hang sat gi."

Haduu..

Ini pose jambu Eizlan Yusuf. Ingat tak dia dalam spektra Jaguh-Jaguh. Masa tu dia kanyaq lagi. ( Please refer your Kedahan friends for the meaning of this word)
Huh. Tetibe. 

Haywire Week

Inside my mind, I'm chanting , " Only 12 hours to go, only 12 hours to go, Only 12 hours to go."

Truth to the matter is, I hate oncalls. I hate anticipating the telephone to ring 24/7 (literally). I hate pulling back the ER curtain and seeing   the surprise they have waiting for me. I pity the way new FYDOs ( that's equivalent to houseman Drs) gasp after seeing for the first time the aftermath of a motor vehicle accident as if realizing for the first time that this is also in their their job scope as a dentist working in a public clinic/hospital.
Most of all, I hate the stench of blood on me after a rough call and the fact that I have to deny my children's welcome home hugs because I don't want them to remember me smelling  that way.
Tak baik la, mak aku kata. It's part of your job.
Yes, it is. But I still hate it.

And during oncall week like this la, I hit a rough patch in my  workout routine. Monday and Tuesday started out great with 11K of mileage. Lepas tu, hancusss.
And I think today, after almost 3 hours of reviewing the patients in the ward-on a weekend, screw it. Lantak la. Tomorrow's a new week.

On another note, I'm proud to say my husband's hard work this whole week in training Chiam to ride a bike without training wheels has been a success.  After a whole week of encouraging, short temper flare ups, cheering and clapping, I am proud to say that Chiam can now ride a bike on two wheels. It's been a tiring week for him and his father, every evening after work, they'd be off training till sunset, and I guess it all paid off. I'm even tempted to belanja them KFC because of this ( Chiam's favourite) but bila teringat workout this week cam hampeh, maybe that will be postponed to next week. He he.

Oh yes, last two weeks (cerita basi) I went on an official work related visit to Pui San's work place in Ipoh, in conjuction to some Healthy Setting thingy ( please, I won't bore you guys by getting into what that is). And  just as I was thinking what are the chances of me bumping into Pui San in a hospital as large as hers, I saw her gawking at her working log (?)/ bulletin board (?)/ duty roster (?),  at the main building.

(permission to reproduce this pic from your blog, Pui San) 

See, she's nice enough to hide the kelepet of my tudung. 

Surprisingly her hospital is one of the nicest I've visit. I didn't really see that coming what's with it being a mental hospital and all ( no offence, Pui San dearie). But really, it's like a hospital in a garden. And the wards are so well kept with a cheerful ambiance. And the staff greet you like they're really genuinely happy to see you. You know, like the people at McDonalds. Haha.
Apa aku merepek ni.

Anyway, signing off. I'm ready for a great new week ahead.
Just 12 more hours to go, 12 more hours to go, 12 more hours to go.

I'll see you when you get there

Okay, I may have blurted out unintentionally to a few friends the real REAL reason why I plan to mellow it down this year. It's no secret really. Because I  remember posting about it in one of my 2010 post- in which I forgot which one and when. No matter - sape rajin dan tadek keje pi la belek tengok.

Anyway, due to that, me and hub have been really slacking off in our runs. I personally wanted to maintain running 4-5 times weekly with a mileage of 24-32k a week. Ni bukan training mode ye kawan-kawan. Ni maintenance mode. Tapi apakan daya, kita hanya merancang, banyak alasan mendatang. Busy  la, banyak keja la, hujan la, panas la, kursus la, meeting la, tadek sape jaga anak la..yada yada yada.

Tup-tup 5 times weekly deteriorated to 4 and last week,hohoho, I only came out with 3 runs.

And the weight is creeping in.
And to somebody who has been fat before, an increase of the scale would mean a silent blood curling scream inside.
Huh..tak boleh jadi ni.

So last Saturday, as we were belek-ing the latest issue of RW, we both got our pencerahan agung moment when we saw the words scream , "  SIGN UP, ALREADY!" in one of the articles.
So I decided ( selaku the manager) we should sign up if we wanted to keep motivated. What the heck kan? As long as it's just short races.

So I went to ENR's website. Excited nih. Saw that the 11K category was just RM5 cheaper than the HM. Grimaced. Takpela. Kalau nak murah masuk la Jogathon Sekolah Parit Haji Ali ye dak?
As I was about to click it, hub pointed out, " Opps, it's full already."
Turned out we were too late..kuang kuang kuang. Kemain korang ek. Laju benor korang register untuk race ni, ye.

So we turned to option B. Penang Malakoff run. This will be our third year participating. This year, they've decided to have it earlier than the previous years. Usually the race would be in June or July but I guess they wanted to get this over with before the big PRU. Heheh..dengarlah JJ meng'speku'.
Anyway, it's a bummer I won't be able to meet up with you guys in ENR (again) but I guess you'll see me when you'll see me.

This was 2 years ago. First road race. Hooked since 

Satu lagi before I sign off,ye. When I was small I loved watching Sesame Street. Okay I still catch it on Youtube every now and then. And I remember watching this one short cartoon segment about  a day in the life of an Indian girl. At the end of the clip, she was tucked into bed by her mom and was given coconut milk to drink before sleep ( as opposed to regular milk by the anak mat sallehs). And at that time, as a child I thought, " Tipuuuuuuuu!" Mana ada orang minum coconut milk cam tu je! It sounds exotic tapi mana adaaaaaa.....
Well, I thought I've seen it all until I saw this ad :

 bukak kelapa ada Jillian..pergh

Laaa...really?
Kita punyala nak substitute santan with milk and they're doing the opposite.
Go figure.

Laparnyaaa...

Being sick sucks.
I hate this, not being able to do my normal routine, not being able to go out to jamuan makan-makan at my neighbour's (rugiiii...)and I hate especially being hungry and not being able to eat ( or drink) anything.
Yes people, I caught the stomach flu.
Today I couldn't get anything in without barfing it all back out. Ingatkan nak amik cuti je , but then I thought of my appointments. I know how I hate last minute changes and I wouldn't do that to my patients so ku gagahi jua. I felt nauseas the whole time, not because I was staring constantly into people's mouth. Funnily enough I can stand that ( you just get used to it) and I thought nasib baik I'm not a proctologist.
Anyway, everytime I thought about food- and that's constantly, I get bouts of stomach cramps that's able to buckle an elephant over. And let's not mention the queasiness.
So last-last, after barfing out my sad lunch ( 2 bottles of vitagen - petua bijak bistari sapentah), I decided to go to the doctor one floor below my office. He looked at me and asked whether I'd mind a saline drip. Yes I would , I said almost too quickly. You see, the irony of it is, although I give injections to my patients on almost a daily basis, I hate HATE being poked at. And to think that I'd probably have to stay there for another hour or so to finish the drip and risk being freezed to death ( the clinic I work in is so cold sometimes I anticipate snow), I gave the idea a pass. The doctor wasn't convinced. " Stick out your tongue" he commanded. I did and he told me it was moist enough ( which strangely sounds almost dirty).
He prescribed me some medications, and advised on some bed rest. Then it was all up to me to ask Big Boss untuk leave early.
" Hang sakit apa?" he said.
" Food poisoning la boss"
" Tu la, malas masak lagi. Sapa suruh hang makan luaq? Padan muka..Hahahah" ( dia gelakkan aku kaw-kaw punya..ciss)
Gelak punya gelak last2 dia bagi jugak balik awal. Not before I got some annoying comments from some other person.
" La..sakit camni memang tambah kuruihla. Dahla tak makan, asik lari je."
Alah, dengki. Sedap-sedap je kata orang tak makan. Apsal, ko pasang kamera ke kat rumah aku?

buwekkkk!

It's now nearing 10pm and I haven't eaten. I can't stand the aroma of fried egg in the house ( my kids' dinner courtesy of hub before he went to jamuan makan-makan taman). I almost hurl, but there's nothing to hurl.
I don't feel like eating but I'm hungry.
Lepas ni nak try test makan ais krim tengok. Ada jugak alasan makan ais krim malam-malam.
Gamaknya esok tak lari lagi.
Hai..

Bai bai.
Oh, ye. Gong Xi Fa Chai.
Eh, it rhymes!