newton challenge 2014

to wrap up the year, on the last sunday of the year, i did the newton challenge 15km. i have no idea how in the world i managed to convince these people to join the run with me, but i'm glad they did and i'm super proud of them. 

felix has a run-phobia. he cramps up all too easily, so im so happy that he actually joined this race to face his fear of running. 

tyler, well, what can i say, despite his denial, he can run. he managed a 1h 23 min time, which is pretty damn decent! 

kaxin, she runs on and off. she runs for the company and the food after, like most people do. i'm happy that she chose to join us for this. 

vinesh, it was a last minute decision to run for him, by me. one of our friends could not make it, so i decided he should step in, considering the fact he wants to run a full marathon next year. this would be great for him. 

luke, i'm so glad he came and join in the fun. the more the merrier right? 

karen and hanyang, well they run. so they didn't take much convincing. all i had to say was, there will be vouchers in the goodie bag nyehehe. 

so after constant pestering, and daily friendly reminders, they all signed up. 

so i remember my friend, jeff he was telling me this 'the route, its not hilly, but its more like elevation.' yeah the whole time i was running, i was thinking to myself, this is definitely not elevation, elevation is out of context here. this here, definitely is hilly. maybe because i've been running on track these days, the hills really got me, and they really got me good. 

whilst running, i bumped into spidey. i turned to my right and i was like 'eh, spidey!' 

i managed to place 4th, still can't get into the top 3 circle yet, need to try harder, next year. 

im super glad that everybody finished the race. and of course the best part is where everyone went for post-race-brunch together. 

what a way to finish up the year. here's to a better next year. may the running odds be ever in our favour. 

how i spent my 2014 christmas?

i love christmas. it's the time of year where the world seems brighter, everything prettier, everyone lovelier. tis' the season of giving. 

i dragged my lazy self out of bed at 630 to go for training. lazy doesn't even cut it. my alarm was set for 620am. when it rang, i just changed my alarm to 633am, haha. dragged myself out of bed, and went for, wait for it, trainng. yes, you heard me right, training! i'm that kind of weird person that loves training. training in some sadistic way, makes my day! 

today, we did, 4km, 4km, 2km, 2km. it was a tough run for me. i managed a 18m 29s, 19m 30s, 9m 30s, and 9m 28s. the aim for next year is to hit a sub 20 5km timing. training absolutely drains me, but it's always like the best part of my day. so i do not question my decision to leave parties early for training. 

merry christmas from the badger familia. 

x'mas wod with the honeybadgers

christmas is just around the corner and of course the honeybadgers thought apt we do a christmas workout. its like hi, merry christmas, now let me kill you. this workout is based on 12 days of christmas. so u do 1, then 1-2, then 1-2-3, then 1-2-3-4, then 1-2-3-4-5, all the way till 12. you get the picture. we were told to come christmas-y so i brought my gingy headband along. 

so the workout for the day was

boy, was the workout tiring. so we started with effectively a 200m sprint. then i did the scaled down version of muscle ups, because i ain't beast enough yet. 

the deadlifts, the burpees, the pushups, double unders were a-okay. 

this was the kb swings portion. the first two times i did the kb swings were okay. after that on the 9th day, onwards, i felt my arms breaking and i was just super tired. 

 i really started to feel a little gassed out on the box overs. it was like wow this workout is tough! i kid you not. 

 the toes to bar portion was also difficult for me because my grip isn't that good. my palms sweat easily and hence i slip easily. on the 12th day, when i finished this, i tell you the joy. i literally just laid down on the floor and didn't want to move. 

 there is a 40 minute time cap on this workout. i managed to finish this in the nick of time. 39 minutes and 57 seconds. i did db thrusters at the end, 25 thrusters and it just reminded me of how much i hate thrusters. thursters-really not my thing, at all. i thought that was the most painful part of the wod, the thursters, especially because it was at the end of everything. 

merry christmas everybody, with love. 

=)

my new toy

i got myself an early christmas present this year. i just need to put a bow on it and pretend to be surprised on christmas day. merry christmas everybody. 

Allianz 4x3km relay

I was lucky enough to have met Agnes last month. I have not been to MPSJ in months. I go there once in a  something rarer than a blue moon. So happened that the one time I decided to go to MPSJ, Agnes came up to me and invited me to do a time trial for this relay event. One thing lead to another, and I was registered for this event.

I have not done relays since high school, so this event for me was a much anticipated event, yet at the same time a nerve-wrecking one.

Relays are different from solo events. For relay events -  there is an element of pressure to it. There is an element of not wanting to bring your team mates down.

I was very lucky to meet new people and have new friends as my teammates. Meet my team, Voon Ying, Carol, En Zhen and myself. We managed to place 1^st in the Under 26 team and place 3^rd overall.

I have so many people I would like to thank for this. Firstly, of course my team mates. They did one heck of a great job.  A major thanks to Voon Ying for turning back to pace me and encourage me during my section of the run. A big thanks go to Agnes for having spotted me, hence allowing me this opportunity to meet new people and have this wonderful experience. Thanks to Ronnie for coordinating  our team and helping us with the collection of our race packs. Thanks to the Pace Setter Athletics Club for giving me the opportunity to run this race. A major surprise was seeing Alex at the race. Definitely have got to thank Alex for cheering and also taking photos. Lastly, to those who cheered for me and supported me, whether during the race or when I was trying to train for it, a huge thank you.

Our first runner back from her leg, passing the baton on to carol

out of breath after running my leg of the race

subang represent 

photo credits to alex

photo credits, also to alex

Now, to reveal a little secret: there was only 5 teams in the Under 26 Category. Technically, if we walked the entire race, we would still place 4^th runner up. We thought that was major funny.  

and this was the entire pace setter running team for the day. congratulations and good job everybody.

I’m on a break next week – no running events. Time to shop for some new running gear.  

11/12/14 public holiday training

i like running training alot. so imagine my delight when thursday is a public holiday. meaning i can go for training. all smiles. 

run training however was in the morning, starting at 7am instead of being in the evening. the night before, i had to work late, only getting home at 130am. meaning i would sleep a little less than 4 hours, having to wake up at 6am. i wasn't particularly excited about the getting up early part. i was definitely going to be a zombie during training. 

i was ecstatic that i actually managed to drag myself out of bed when my alarm rang at 6am. finally, i get to go for training. i was feeling a slight discomfort in my lower back due to work the day before, had to carry alot of heavy stuffs around. but still, got there, did my 2km warm up, and stretched. coach constantly reminded me to keep stretching. i stretched alot yesterday. 

we started with an 800m fast-slow run. 

then, we did 400m sprints, 15 times. the first 2 rounds, i manage a 1.29 time. it was all downhill from there. dropping to 1.30, 1.31, 1.33, 1,35, 1.40, 1.38, 1.41, 1.43 and so on. 

by the 8th round, i was on the verge of giving up. i kept telling myself, one last round then i'm going to sit the next round out. but i did manage to hold it out and complete all 15 rounds. it was super tiring. coach kept going, give it all you got. and i just kept thinking to myself, i've got nothing more to give, i've used it all. completely utterly exhausted. but everytime i finish a training, im always glad i turn up at training and held it out. all smiles about it. 

coach announced training on the 1st january. it's going to be crazy. wait for it. i'm in shivers just thinking about it. yeps that's coach. 

3km personal best

i have a 4 x 3km relay coming up this weekend. i rarely do 3kms and i've always pride myself on outlasting, and not speed. speed is not my thing. i'm just not fast. 

during my first time trial, i managed a 14 minutes 0 seconds. my second time trial i managed to improve by 8 seconds, managing a 13 minutes 52 seconds. 

this is a team event and i'm a little afraid i'm going to let my team down. well they are all good runners and i'm quite mediocre. i did another trial, and managed to improve by 14 seconds. now my new 3km personal best is 13 minutes 38 seconds. 

i heard the route is pretty hilly. im pretty nervous. hopefully nothing goes wrong ie, no stitches, no ankle pain, no back pain. 

pj half marathon

arguably my worst run this year. 

flagoff was at 530am in kelanajaya stadium. i got there, ran on the track and stretched a little to warm up, then proceeded to the starting line. all geared up, we were told by the mc that unfortunately the water stations weren't ready yet. hence our start time need be delayed. everyone was a tad bit unhappy. some performers put up a flag show, to be boo-ed. personally i thought that was quite rude of the crowd. i mean, it is not the performers fault and to make them feel like their performance is unappreciated is uncalled for. 

flagoff was a good 30 minutes later. 

and my horrible running journey started. almost immediately, i could feel a stitch on my right side. it took me a good 7 minutes to reach the 1km mark. i gave up on trying to place. but i did not give up on finishing the race. i could see plenty of people passing me. it felt slightly demotivating for me. my stitch was so bad that at the 2km point, i had to stop and stretch a little. i pushed on but the pain did not alleviate. i was so glad i saw the water station at the 4km point. i took 2 shots of 100 plus, and went off running again. i could feel my right stitch starting to subside, but, now it hit me on the left side. 

it was not an easy run for me at all. basically in short, i had a stitch on the right side from flagoff till 4km, on the left side from 4km till 8km and both sides 8km onwards alll the way till the finishing line. imagine my frustration. 

well, we have good runs, we have bad runs, and im glad i endured the pain and pulled through. i however certainly hope that i won't have this painful experience in my coming runs. does anyone know any tricks when it comes to stitches? or any rituals to perform to avoid stitches? i would much welcome advice. 

yeahh bumped into alwyn there too. he was doing a 10km run. it is always good to see familiar faces at runs. 

often people like to focus on the negative side of things. but i want to highlight the positive things about this run. the traffic police did a terrific job. the volunteers certainly did their jobs well. at one particular station, they were even singing, to cheer the runners on. that spirit was great. the medic team was amah-zing. they would come up to me and ask if i were okay or whether i needed any help. very proactive and kudos to them. 

i managed a 2 hour time. well tough times like this, i'm glad i pulled through. here's to better runs. 

and not to forget the feast post-race =) did i mention this was after wantan noodles? 

maze challenge asia

i have always been quite a fan of mazes. i think it has something to do with the exploring, trying to find your way that amuses me. so when this maze run popped up, i was pretty keen on joining it. but it was pricey. so i procrastinated. till early bird passed so i ended up paying a hefty myr 155 for this race. 

but to me, it was something, i knew if i missed i'd kick myself for. so i booked brian and myself for the 430 sesh. 

we had a few hiccups with registration though. i wasn't sent my confirmation, although my card was charged. i didn't know till brian went to pick up our race pack and our names wasn't on the list. the team was great in helping me sort out this issue. kudos to the maze challenge team for that. so, yes, we were in! 

saturday, we arrived in sepang paddock around 350 ish. we met pau there, he was joining us too! but, it started raining - as in heavy crazy thunder storm kind! we were all stuck in the marquee, me, pau and brian, in an open space. honestly speaking, the marquee falling on us seemed like a very likely scenario. everything was flying everywhere. rain was spattering everywhere. we just crouched down in between two booths, and nested ourselves there. some 2 hours later, the rain died down a little, but, due to safety reasons, the remaining 2 sessions were cancelled. we were told to return on sunday. me, pau and brian picked the 830 sesh, so we could run together with karen and hany. 

sunday morning, i woke up at 659am. 7am, they were all outside my house. i basically put on the same shirt (because i was lazy to take out the pins) pulled on my running shorts, grabbed my backpack, and dashed out the house. we were excited! it has been long since we all gathered to do an event together in such a big group. well i definitely was excited. 

830am was flagoff! the first obstacle was crawling on a white sheet covered with water. it did a great job wetting out shoes. the next obstacle was a wall. the wall had a sticker on it, making it super slippery. basically, you had 2 options - one to use the rope and climb the wall as it is, second was to use the ladder grooves that made climbing the wall easier. the first time i could not get up, because i kept slipping. but i gave it another shot. and i made it =) we waited for everyone to get over the wall before moving on to the next obstacle - it was a true leave noone behind. next was some hurdles and off into the ice box. yes, the ice bucket challenge on steroids! then off into the maze. 

personally, i dont really know wad happened. all i know is that we were running, left and right and legt and right. and before we knew it, we were out. 

there were another 2 obstacles - climbing another shorter wall, and walking in mud. 

then, we all linked arms, and crossed the finishing line together=) 

i recall complaining to my cousin, karen, on how pricey this race was, her answer was 'well to be fair, they have to build the walls for the maze.' and yeah fine, that sounded like a valid point to me. so i signed up. but i was quite disappointed. i expected some plastered scaffolding of some sort, but, it was just like office separators that were probably recycled stuffs anyways.  also, we spent 10 minutes in the maze itself. that means we paid 15 bucks for every minute we stayed in the maze. when i put it that way, it sounds quite ridiculous haha. 

honestly, the best part of the maze challenge for me was the brunch after. i like it when a big bunch of people join a run, finish, and go off to brunch together. it is like a celebration, to celebrate the accomplishment of having finished a run. it might be a short run, timing might not be a new pb, but finishing the race is an accomplishment in itself. and to celebrate, we went to the owl cafe =)

 till my next race. 

new balance run 2014

new balance run. 21km. 23rd november. 615am flagoff. 

i woke up at 450am, again questioning my sanity. you will find this happens to me always (me questioning my sanity). i was feeling pretty tired. i had quite a number of runs in november - viper and pd duathlon back to back, then the ipoh half marathon, followed by the new balance half. i had a sigh of relief when i thought next weekend, i can sleep in - no runs. typical me thoughts when i get up way too early. 

i got there, stored my bag at the luggage storage, and made my way to the starting line. it was my first alone race. i had no friends doing the race as this event clashed with the lekas highway cycle, and alot of people opted for the latter. so, standing alone, listening to my music, i tried to weave my way to the front. i didn't manage to get right in front, but where i was, it was decent. 

3,2,1, flagoff. it was pretty dark at the flagoff area. i almost ran into a pole, i kid you not. but it was a pretty okay run for me. i kept an okay pace. i didn't have ankle pain. i did however have a slight lower back ache. other than that, my run was pretty okay. they had sufficient water stations. no markers as to distance though. i didn't wear my watch, so i had no clue as to my pace. nor were there any distance markers, so i had no idea how to pace myself either unfortunately. i really should get myself one of those running watch thingimajiggies. but i have so much things i need to get i kid you not. triathlons - expensive sport. 

i crossed the finishing line at 1 hour and 53 minutes. it wasn't my personal best. but i still thought it was decent. i was slightly disappointed that i did not get a number. usually, upon placing, you are handed out a number. i didn't get one. 

prize giving ceremony was about 30 minutes later. i decided to stay and wait. just because i wanted to see how far off i was from the 10th placer. so i would know how to manage my expectations next time. 

but then, a little more than 20 minutes later, they started announcing a list of names to show up at the 'finishers tent'. and i heard my name. i smiled thinking of the possibility. 

i proceeded up to the mc, with a bunch of people. we wanted to ask whether this was the finishers tent, but before we could finish our question, we were interrupted by the MC. 

'can you guys don't ask anything. just stand there. don't say anything. don't ask anything. can't you see i am busy looking at the names.' 

then one of the organizers, well i assume he was because he was wearing a tee saying organizer, chimed in saying 'don't ask anything. just don't say anything. don't ask anything. Don't disturb us.' 

i thought this was really rude. nevermind that the orgnanizers messed up. that they failed to give out numbers hence causing alot of the winner to have just left and went home. there were quite a number of unclaimed prized. nevermind that they organizing wasn't perfect. events have flaws. we learn from them. yes. but being rude is completely, utterly, unacceptable. 

before any question was asked by anyone, significant or not. we were just told to not ask anything and stand aside and not disturb them. this, i personally feel is unacceptable. some girls were so offended they merely replied 'i don't want your prize, you can have it.' and stormed off. 

i did claim my prize. i left shortly. but i was and am still in disbelief. is this how you treat people who win your race? is this how you treat paying participants of your race? i must admit i was hoping to get one of those cup trophies so i could drink from it hahaa. 

oh and congrats to one of my new running friends en zhen for you placing in the 10km category. many more to come=)

SEA International School X-Country

i had the opportunity to spectate the south east asia international school, and the spectating experience was truly inspirational. 

the girls were to run 3 km distance whereas the boys were to run a 5km distance. 

it was an event full of sweat, blood and tears, quite literally. there was sweat, from all the kids giving their all. there was blood, from injuries. there were tears, from kids who got 4th place, from kids who were disappointed with their performance and also from kids who were overjoyed with their record time. but one thing everyone had in common - they gave it their all. it was really inspiring, seeing these kids truly passionate about running. 

they were all so supportive, personally taking on the handing out water job. 

the 1st place girl clocked in an 11 minutes time for 3km, and she was only 10 or eleven. she is going to be an amazing runner. the 1st boy clocked in 18 minutes for 5km. 

they pushed each other, the cheered for each other, they congratulated each other. i admired that. and i enjoyed watching them. 

what i admired most was the fact that they were given a simple instruction, and they followed through - only throw the water bottles back at the water station. they held on to their bottle for a 1.5km loop and threw it only at the water station. and what amazed me further is, after the race, the entire water station was clean. you mean what, they cleaned up after themselves? now, if even kids can follow through, why is it so difficult for us grown ups to do such a simple thing. it frustrates me when i run and see bottles scattered all along penang bridge, cups littered more than a kilometre after the last rest stop, bottles thrown in the middle of the jungle during a trail run. so this experience was a refreshing one for me.

i hope we learn something from these kids. 

ipoh international run 2014

i signed up for the ipoh run sometime in april. the run was meant to be in june, but the sultan of perak died, so, they had to postpone it, because did you know when the sultan of a state dies, the state can't have any events for 3 months? well now you know. 

so instead of the penang bridge marathon, where everyone was headed, i was headed to ipoh. the up side was, maybe, just maybe, i could place. i was really eggcited about this weekend roadtrip. it was with my cousin, karen, and i haven't traveled with her for quite some time. the last time i traveled with her was to barcelona, and that was 2 years back. so i was super excited. and the prospect, my dream of placing, was playing in my head over and over again. 

off we went, saturday morning. mcdonalds breakfast, and then, all the way to ipoh. first stop was to collect our race pack. we arrived at the stadium, and i said to karen, hmm i wonder whether there will be any kenyans, since this clashed with pbim and scm bangkok. right when i finished my sentence, i saw 2 kenyans, right in front of me. then at registration, i asked how many people were in the 21km category. the guy replied 59 people, but half kenyans. and right there and then, my dream was crushed. 

so yeah. woke up at 550am the next day, again questioning my sanity when i signed up for the race. i was thinking to myself, i should have signed up for the 10km instead of the 21km, then i can come back to the hotel and sleep after an hour. but as always happens, i wake up questioning my sanity, but finish the race, thankful of my running spirit. we arrived, just in time for flagoff. despite having my dreams crushed, i still went to the very front to start, because i knew placing was based on gun time and not net time - for the very obvious reason that they had no timing chip. 

so i stood there, among a sea of kenyans. it was my first time, standing among them. i looked at them. the mc announced, 3, 2, 1, go and, in a split second, i could see none of them no more. they sprinted away, and i was left behind. throughout the entire race, i did not see them. not even a glimpse of them from a distance. i kid you not.

the course was pretty flat, flat as a pancake. i saw no girl in front, nor behind me throughout the entire course. i paced steadily with some of the men from the mens open 21km. the part i liked most about the route was when we ran through the ipoh old town. that was pretty nice. 

i have to admit, at the 10km marker point, i did think i should have joined the 10km run. but it wasn't like i had a choice. i couldnt' let myself stop and walk. i would have never forgiven myself if i did. it was a good race, thought my left ankle did hurt abit towards the end. i crossed the finishing line at 1h 46 minutes ish. it would be a new pb, but i think that the distance was a little short of 21km. when i was handed out the position 10th card, i was in joy. so there weren't that many kenyans afterall. placed first to seventh were kenyans, eight was an ethopian, ninth a thai and i placed tenth. i was on the moon. my first proper placing and my first cash. 

so i won a towel, a 200 ringgit cash prize, a medal, and a lifetime happiness like nothing i can ever describe. and of course i am really proud of my cousin, karen who ran the 10km in 1 hour and 10 seconds. she was over the moon too. and this is what running does to you. somehow or rather, you find happiness in the simplest of things. 

and a very special thanks to rachelle kaur, who brought my around ipoh, to eat, to shop, to chill, and to eat again. 

it wasn't the best organized race, the race tee i got was L size and super huge, and here and there things could have been better, but, i feel like all in all it was a great race. let's acknowledge the effort of everyone who has worked hard to put together a great race, instead of focusing on the negative elements of the race. i will be back in 2015. ipoh friends, it's time to step up your game and join this with me next year.