we run kl, nike run 2015

this run, i felt like i disappointed myself and everyone of course especially my coach, and my pacer - kimball! i got such a  shit timing, im even embarrassed to say what my timing was. 

my first 10km was pretty okay. it was downhill after. my arch both sides started aching, and i had a side stitch, which developed into a stomach cramp - wasn't even a stitch anymore. sighs. i think i just need more training. need to train harder for runs like these, to be able to push through despite all the hiccups. 

many thanks to kim who was my pacer for this event. he pushed me through the first 10km but it was just me who couldn't pull through the remaining. many many thanks to him. also, it was great that the hrc crew ran as well - jeff, kim, kak hani, and kak syaz. it was great to see everyone at the finishing line, all happy at their pbs and their achievements. and of course, coach, although i think i didn't do justice to his training sadly. it's like i'm still kicking myself for not performing. 

i managed to score a second place despite my terrible performance. i was just lucky i was in the under 25 category. perks for being young. when i saw my name on the list, i literally jumped in surprise. i was shocked, beyond shock. 

The best part about this race is having the opp to bump into alot of my friends. old and new, some i haven't seen in ages. Also, it was great seeing them scorring new pbs, some running their first half marathon, and im super proud my uncle made his first half marathon on this day. he was reluctant to go, but i forced him, and i'm sure he has no regrets. 

HRC REPRESENT! Kak Hani =)

 congratulations to jeff and kak syaz for their pbs. 

 thank you pacer for sticking by me all the way. look at the bananas he took. 

 The girls of HRC

I bumped into Sunil as well. Not surprised he was one of the potential winners. 

Casey, whom I met over in UK. Job well done. 

Good Job En Zhen who ran her first half marathon, with a great timing =)

 And this, the badger represent! Tyler, Matt and Florence =) 

Uncle, conquering the 21km. super proud! 

WE RUN KL! 

mental training

Come prepared, he said. Bring all you need, he said. We start at 11am, and we train till 3pm. It is called mental training. It got us all curious. What in the world is mental training? Well, the scorching hot sun certainly forms an element of the mental training. Could it be just running in the sun? Could it be that simple?

The few of us gathered, eager yet nervous at the same time. He just asked us to go for a slow jog, 3 laps for a quick warm up. Then, he told us to each take a lane. Coach said, ‘only one lap’. But, we don’t run, we roll. You should have seen my eyes widen, and my jaw drop. I was like, what in the world do you mean roll. He just said, start rolling, start rolling, START ROLLING!

And so, I dropped down and started rolling. I could feel my world spinning. I could feel my wantanmee breakfast going on a rollercoaster ride. The track itself was burning and I could feel my arms and thighs burning with every roll upon contact with the track. But I knew the longer it took me to roll, the worst it will be for me. The burning sensation would only get worse the longer I am in the sun and rolling on the track. I figured that everytime I stopped, I just felt like coughing up my breakfast. So I just kept rolling. I concentrated on counting my rolls. And that really is what got me through. I was done in 20 minutes.

 My running buddies, weren’t so lucky. They had major troubles enduring the dizziness. Their breakfast was all over the track. I kid you not. It was literally, sweat, blood and tears, oh and puke. I looked over and it was really like a scene out of a torture movie. I just saw them groaning and moaning in pain as they continued rolling. They were trying to supress puking, but it kept coming up. And they just lay there in the hot sun, on the hot tracks. 

after that we had to put our legs in ice cold water. it was nice, at first. until well, until you feel this really weird sensation. 

but it was a good day. have got to thank coach for his time and effort. really. 

tahura trail run, 21km. 10km.

my first race of the year. also my first international run of the year. i was going to bandung for a business trip. and i was lucky enough to be offered the opportunity to run the 21km tahura trail run in bandung. i was undecided on the 10km before arriving in bandung as i thought i might be a tad bit too tired. 

im going to skip the work part and focus on the race part.

touchdown on friday and i was surprised by the cooling weather in bandung. lucky me i brought all longs and no shorts. i heard about a friend who wore shorts in banda aceh and had stones thrown at her, asked to leave indonesia. not wanting to stir up any controversy, i packed all longs, and it was a great decision. bandung's weather is somewhat similar to cameron highlands. and the race was high up in the dijuanda park, and it was way way chillier than cameron highlands up there. 

the 21km was alot of steep clims. we climbed from roughly 700m above sea level all the way up 1700m above sea level, and back down. it was a tough route, but an enjoyable one. the scenery was amazing. i was in awe. way up high, overlooking the entire city of bandung, it was beautiful. the trails took us through villages, cabbage patches, it was really an amazing experience. the trails were punishing but the view was rewarding. i loved every single bit of it. 

my shoes were however the nightmare part of my run. on thursday i did training in the rain. so my asics were drenched. i had to bring my nikes, which my run buddies know i hate. i really hate my nikes. so the entire time i was running, i could feel my arch hurting, to be more precise, burning.the hike up was slow for me. the running downhill was slow for me too. my shoes aren't trail running shoes, so there were parts i had to go super slow. there were parts where i slipped one too many times. but when we came out at a pavement which went for about 4km, that was where i could pick up speed. 

i didn't place, but then again, i did not expect to place. i didn't push myself. i definitely did not deserve to place. i managed a 6th place though. although yes i do have that thought of kicking myself for not pushing harder. 

after my 21km, i decided to run the 10km. i loved the trail so much, this time, i wanted to take some photographs. so, on sunday, i got dressed, and before i knew it, i was at the start line. i ran, but the trails were not the same. 

we didn't get the overlooking-bandung view. the view was different. there was one in particular that i liked which was where we ran through a path with yellow flowers forming a wall on both sides of the pathways. it was beautiful. 

but there were people behind me, so photographs were difficult. so i just ran. my trail parts were slow. i had to let people pass me. i really should get trail running shoes. the whole time i was thinking just that. people buy trail running shoes for a reason. i had to let 2 girls pass me. when we came out at the same pavement, which was a 4km pavement before the finishing line, that was when i started chasing. i caught up to the 2 girls in front of me but didn't manage to catch one more girl who was way ahead. managed to place 2nd. my very first podium finish. i was delighted. i was more than delighted. 

so in one weekend, i managed to strike 2 things off my new year goals - run an international run and place top 3 in one of the runs. 

i enjoyed bandung alot. i didn't manage to see bandung because of work. nex year, i will be back, to do better in the tahura trail run and to see bandung. 

new years training

new years, a day of significance to many. people stay up to watch the clock strike 12. there's the nyc ball drop, there's the fireworks in every major city against beautiful icons such as the london eye and sydney harbour bridge, then there's also me, who is sound asleep before the clock even struck 12. 

why? training on new years day! 

we were separated into 2 groups, the short distance and the long distance. thankfully i was placed in the former group. we started off with a 4km warm up, then moved to drills. after drills we did 3 rounds of 2km run, 3 rounds of a 1km run, 3 rounds of a 500m sprint and 3 rounds of 300m sprints. 

the menu for the long distance runners (which i was grateful for being excluded from) was a 10km warm up. 4km sprints, twice. then they started their 400m sprints x 30 times. in total they clocked in 30km that day. 

we were at the track basically till noon. 

i was starving by the end of training. went for chillipanmee after to fill my tummy. 

it was a great new years day. really started it with a big bang. last year, i did skytrek, this year i made it a meaningful training day. here's to many more to come. 

new years

boy doesn't time fly. 2014 passed in what seems like just a blink of an eye. there were ups and downs, joy and tears. there were tragedies and we still continue to mourn for them. my heartfelt condolences are extended to those affected by the 2014 line of tragedies. 

i'm a strong believer of new year goals. last year, i had a few goals, sports related set:

1. achieve a 4h 30 minute timing for a marathon (i managed my pb of 4 hours 14 minutes this year)
2. place in one of the runs (initially i joined the ss2 charity run, to hopefully place because its such a small run. i managed to place 4th. i also managed to place 8th in the new balance half marathon, 9th in the ipoh half marathon, 4th in the newton challenge 15km, and also my team managed to place 1st in the under 26 pacesetter relay run).
3. run at least 5 events (i definitely ticked this. i did ss2 charity run, xterra teaser, xterra, reebok challenge, 2xu run, viper challenge, klscm, powerbar duathlon, ipoh half marathon, maze challenge, pj half marathon, new balance half marathon, allianz pace setter relay and lastly wrapped it up with newton challenge). 

this year:

1. run a sub 20 5km
2. achieve my coach's goal of running 3000m in a sub 11 timing 
3. run a sub 4 marathon 
4. place top 3 in at least one running event (i've only managed 4th place in 2014, hoping to step up in 2015)
5. i'd like to see my career path to be slightly clearer
6. run an international run 

here's to having my goals all ticked of by the end of the year. 

happy new years everybody. have a glorious new years. we did the Armageddon wod for the new years.and we survived. 

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.