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. 

Viper Challenge 2014

we made it. we conquered viperchallenge 2014. 

i was super looking forward to viper challenge. eugene countless time mentioned that viper stepped up their game and its going to be an experience, and an experience it was. the viper team definitely did amazing. it was a story to tell. i'm pretty sure everyone who conquered viper had their own stories to tell, all equally amazing as my experience. 

i ran with tyler pretty much the entire course. running was the easiest obstacle for me. well technically i wouldn't consider it an obstacle but my team was adamant that it was the most difficult obstacle.

so our flagoff was at 6am, i ran with tyler at a steady pace. we really wanted to avoid que-ing for obstacles. less than a few hundred metres, we were already greeted with a spraying hose. wind, water, and temperatures at 6am in the morning was a recipe for COLD. 

obstacle #1: the first obstacle was the knee-ups obstacle. it looks deceivingly easy. running through this was actually quite tiring. 

obstacle #2: we continued running, in the dark. me and tyler were talking about the ice challenge-how we were hoping that it would be at the end. and speak of the devil, we turned the corner and saw viper slushy. we went damn! it was really cold. i came out the other side feeling like i couldn't breath. and the howling wind right after, didn't help. but we ran on. well i mean running would warm us up so we ran on. 

obstacle #3:next up was the case of danger. basically you tread in this lane of mud water, with a cage above you - not good for the claustrophobic. i'm not that tall. so towards the end, as it got deeper, i was like i'm going to drown in this. haha. 

obstacle #4: next up was the spider wall. i could not see a thing. it was still dark when we got to this obstacle. me and tyler were so confused as to what it was. 

obstacle #5: it was then quite a chillax run to the next obstacle. me and tyler were really slow as we crawled through this. the next guy just went pass us in seconds. we just looked at each other and was like wad so fast. so this is probably where i got my cuts and bruises. 

obstacle # 6: next up was the haystack. first thing tyler said was the hay is going to be painful to touch. haha thankfully he was wrong. 

obstacle #7: this part was really funny. the side parts had no mud. and we didn't see the stuck in the mud sign. it was still quite dark and the sign wasn't very conspicuous. so we weren't sure whether it was an obstacle. so we went to the side and walked through the side. someone from the other obstacle right ahead had to come to us to tell us it was an obstacle. so we went back and went through it. 

obstacle #8: next up were these hills that you had to run down and up the mini hills but the soil was loose. i thought i did pretty okay. i managed to get the hang of it and managed to do this on my own. 

obstacle #9: fire is not my thing. i have this fear of fire. so imagine my worry when i see fire. it took me some time to gather up the courage to jump across the fire, with some encouragement from tyler. actually i didn't want him to wait for me, so i just took a deep breath, ran and leaped. and i never looked back. 

obstacle #10: the rappelling wall-i have never done something like this before, not like i have done any of the obstacles before but this one was high and im scared of heights too. so i did question whether i would be able to make this one. i was so happy when i got off the other side on my own. 

obstacle #11: next up was the electric field with no electric. 

obstacle #12: after that it was quite a run to the incline wall. i had some trouble with this. i jumped and jumped but could not reach the top. i tried using the ledges at the side but my shoes were too muddy and i kept slipping down. so tyler who already went pass the wall came back to give me a boost. 

obstacle #13: this was where we saw eugene. we were like yay eugene. until. we saw the wall behind eugene. we were like what the heck is that thing and how do we get over. it was this massive massive wall. we had to wait for people to catch up to help us over. much thanks to the people who gave me a boost over this. they weren't kidding when they said define gravity. really more like defying gravity. 

obstacle #14: next up was the mini walls. there were so many walls we had to go over. and there was noone there. just me, tyler and the photographer. he took so many pics of us. although i have no idea where the pics are now. we had a few pics at each wall. i think the photographer had nothing better to do, and got really bored. so he decided to follow us from wall to wall. 

obstacle #15: wall street. i was really proud and happy because i made it up this wall on my own. but when coming down i kinda fell. well i let go of the top and landed on my back i don't know how. but i was just overwhelmed with joy. the volunteer went 'do you want a medic' and i just got up and continued running with tyler. at this point tyler had cramping issues. 

obstacle #16: ring swings. again we were really lucky we did not need to que up for this. 

obstacle #17: lake crossing was okay. wadding through the lake like a duck. 

obstacle #18: the next obstacle was this red floating weird wipeout thing. i landed on my face. it wasn't pleasant. i thought it was so funny i just couldn't stop laughing at myself. 

obstacle #19: i liked this obstacle alot. it felt like i was on american ninja warrior. i took quite some time to pull myself up. but i managed to do it. 

obstacle #20: the final obstacle -- everest. i kept trying. i ran. i tumbled i fell so many times. i think about 8 times. then on the 9th or 10th time, i ran and caught hold of tylers hands. thankfully. that joy u cannot imagine. in my head i went don't let go don't let go don't let go. i think alot of people struggled with this obstacle. the later on people used shirts and they even brought out a rope after. 

not too sure what other obstacles i may have missing. but it was a fantastic experience. i enjoyed every single minute of it. i even went 'i should have bought tickets for both saturday and sunday just because i wanted to relive the entire experience.

im sure my team had a great time as well. although we weren't exactly running as a team. i am proud and happy for everyone who completed it. they really gave it their all. and it was amazing seeing them accomplish this. my friends who came to watch, i am sure were inspired by the spirit everyone had, and they were the first to sign up for viper 2015. it was great to see them being inspired to do things like this. i love this kinda thing - im weird. 

something to be on your bucketlist. 

Port Dickson Powerbar Duathlon 2014

i signed up for the pd duathlon on the last day of registration - a product of much hesitation. well mainly because i had viper challenge the day before this event, so i kinda questioned whether i'd be too tired. i don't know wad got over me, but i did sign up in the end. although i only signed up for the sprint version (run 5km, cycle 30km, run 5km). 

my very first duathlon, well cycling event as well. i was super nervous  - mostly because i had no biking experience-and i really mean zero. the most i had cycled was for 10km around my housing area, then i got bored. so yes nervous and scared perfectly described my feelings towards this duathlon. 

my alarm rang at 330am today. in my mind, all i could think was - i'm having a bad headache from viper. i am super deprived of sleep. my body is super-duper tired from viper, why the heck am i awake at this hour again. i seriously questioned my sanity. but i pulled myself together, got dressed, packed my stuffs, and hopped onto the car. 

mucho gracias to my uncle (he is 19) who offered to drive me down to portdickson in the early hours. i hopped on the car, fell asleep, and awakened in pd. we got there about 5 ish. he helped me fix the bike up (thankfully he came along). 

i really was like a lost puppy. i had no idea how to rack the bike. i had no idea how transition worked, luckily daryl helped me with the racking and taught me how to. oh and did i mention i wore the helmet the wrong way. if he did not point that out when i tried the helmet on, well i would have a dangerous biking experience. so we racked the bike. then i placed a bottle of water, a small towel, my cycling pants and a big towel in my transition basket. 

so i just raced like a blur kid. before i knew it, it was flagoff. the 5km run was a breeze for me since i am afterall a runner - not the best runner, but still a runner. then came transition. the initial plan was to use the towel to wrap around my waist, like a sarong, to change into my cycling pants. a friend of mine said this to me 'don't crazy, wait you cause lots of accidents'. so at transition, i thought it might be a little crazy so i just pulled my cycling pants over my running pants. i unracked the bike, and ran towards the mounting line. and off i went to cycle. 

the bike course was super duper hilly. it was definitely difficult for me. i paddled and huffed and puffed. i thought to myself, hmm i'm doing such a great job and i'm pretty tired i must have covered quite a distance already, then i stared down at the speedometre and saw i only travelled 3.95km out of the 30km. that was barely 20 per cent. that was when i went damn. i went slowly and steadily up and down the hills. but having a massive amount of people pass me on the bike course was pretty demotivating - really really demotivating. i felt like i was super crap at the bike course. but then again, it was something expected, afterall i have no training, no experience, what did i expect. but there were moments when i had funny thoughts like 'you wait, i'll pass you on the run course' when people passed me on the bike course. i was so glad when biking was done. 

after getting off the bike, i felt my legs go jelly. it took me some time to get into the running mode. but i managed to pass a number of people on the run course, as vowed haha. i managed to complete the course in 2 hours and 24 minutes. i was gunning for a 2h 30 minutes time. my ideal time would have been 2 h 15 minutes. just have to train harder next time. 

all in all - a great experience. no regrets. much thanks to my support team=)