Milo Breakfast Day 2014: Beep! Beep!

I was happy to enter this race because this was my first race of the year since I swore to give my skin a rest from UV radiation. But it's not quite possible anyway because even if I didn't join any races since the full marathon on Oct 2013 (SCKLM), I still do trainings and runs (e.g. LSDs and Double Hills at Bukit Tunku every weekend) as well as 2-3 evenings a week at Bkt Jalil Park. I sometimes hit the gym. I still teach some swimming. So I still get some amount of sunshine. Boo...

I joined Milo Breakfast Day Run last year at UPM and won a couple of extra Milo products because I was top 15. I felt great after that run because there was free flow Milo supplies, and mind you, it's not your regular Milo drink - It's the Milo from the Milo conventional green trucks. I wonder what drugs or chemicals they spike in their formulation, but we at home could never beat these Milos that came right from the trucks. It is immensely smooth, cold and the sweetness and milkiness is ever just right! I don't want to know what Coke's secret formula is, but my life will be spent on learning the exact ratio of 'The Milo Formula from Green Trucks'.

This year I once again I thought I would enjoy the free flow again and get my 'free' supplies of Milo by getting at least top 30. So, I did!! I was top 13. Even with lack of training compared to last year, I don't know for what reason, my timing improved by 2 mins and I got into Top 13!! So, here comes my reward of many Milo packs (a year's worth of supply, maybe?). This year had its participation doubled. Putrajaya was the venue this year. I am familiar with this route as I was to UPM's (10 years of education spent there). But Putrajaya's route is wayyyy flatter. I've been to Putrajaya's route from Pacesetter's 15km in 2011, and Men's Health, so I was familiar with the entire route.

My hubby got Top 91! His aim was to get into Top100.

In this Milo Run, 7km is a short distance but short distances are much harder to race (in my own dictionary): heart-attack-runs, which many long-distant runners are not accustomed to. You need to start fast, run faster, end lagi fast. Like Looney Toons's  road runner. Short burst of quick paces, I noticed, cause many runners to pant. Many runners that ran along side me pant so hard, I thought they would collapse on the spot. More speed work needed, people! Oh well, you can walk all the way, but not if you want free Milo packs and first in line at the green trucks!

What's great this year was the amazing, amazing weather and more tables were set for breakfast.  But wasn't so great with the double in participation to 20,000 people and less Milo green trucks this year. I lost my hubby in a sea of green, and although he was wearing black, so were 1000 ppl. Next time, we would wear running jerseys in stripes of red and white, like Waldo!

Ooo, of course, the drones. My first in seeing a drone at work. It's pretty awesome albeit having the thought of something's always 'watching'over you. I think the drone was recording videos cause the Milo FB seemed to have uploaded a couple of videos from eagle's eye view.

Okay, what's next? Borneo International Run next week! I am only aiming for < 5:30 but I doubt I could even make that time. I lacked LSD trainings plus the thunderstorms that hampers all my evening runs. Yay to end water rationing, but nay for marathon trainings.


Til then, Ivy-out.

March-ing forward

March was crazy.

First was my wedding. Immediately came the anti-climax (read: post-wedding disorder) that hit me like a truck: The wedding we planned for 6 months, was all over in ONE day! I am married but I don't see anything has changed. Maybe we have been living together before that and wedding was just a formality. But before you lay your judgement, just to let you know now that I am really very happy being married, yo! I feel grown up somehow, to have someone by my side at night and for me to kacau.

Some snap shots of my wedding morning by my aunt recently given to me.

Then it struck me that  I don't have any honeymoon planned. I have a race in KK in May called the Borneo International Marathon but that trip is booked for the sole purpose of racing and there don't seem to be any time left for go-sees. Oh well, maybe running is how we both fall-in-love, and maybe running is how we'll honeymoon. During the full-marathon: we've got 6 hours of romantic 'get-away', literally.

Nope.

We went to MATTA fair and booked a trip to Turkey. It will be in November 2014. So mind you, it may be a bit too late(?? subjective) for a honeymoon. Okay, let's call it a TRIP instead. Turkey was never in my mind as a trip, but because we both want to avoid beaches (too much beaches, tanning and dive trips in our entire lives, you must agree), and I wanted a BIG CITY trip - with much historical value and *ahem*...shopping element included. Turkey was quite reasonable as it is now in the middle of a internal political mess, and also some brushing with Syria down south, but still, much better than Egypt. And we are going to those places in the far west (countryside?) of Turkey - Pamukalle's, Troy (did somebody said Brad Pitt?!), Ephesus, Pergamon, bla bla bla bla, dunno where, some cruise, and then finally Istanbul, so you won't feel the political tension in the city, if applicable.

I thought of visiting cities of Honshu Island for spring but there were runners that returned with radiation exposure due to Sendai/Fukushima run-offs to the underground water (read: contamination) and ocean (read: sushi and sashimi), etc. which actually did scare me a little. I want to have a baby, of course. And some doctors advice that if you kena radiasi, have to wait 6 years before you should conceive, so that your baby has lower risk to mutations. That's probably too long a wait.

Or Australia? But I have been to Australia a couple of times and seems like there's no ancient history for me look forward to. Scenery are so not my kinda thing. Or Santorini? Too expensive to visit just ONE place just for its scenery. Or Eastern Europe? Cost too much, with too many cities at one go (think hectic!) and not many annual leave left for both of us. There's always a next time :-)

Now, I am taking up a course sponsored by my company to be a certified chemist. This is darn important to my career, if not, my own perusal. As many of you already know - I still love studying. When you start to work, you kinda miss studying. I know having a doctorate is high enough, but deep down I still want to improve myself with different kinds of knowledge over the years. Furthermore, I might want to earn an MBA somewhere down the road. I am thinking to follow the footsteps of my hubby (professional engineer & MBA) but tough luck as he's more focused than I. My chemistry course will be in UTAR and this program will definitely affect my weekend-double-hill-run pat-thor and charkuayteow time with hubby for the rest of the year.

This year seems to pass super fast but not without events that shook me and the world real hard - MH370, the prolonged dry season, and now water crisis in Selangor, kidnapping at Sabah, etc. Then before you know it American Idol is already at Season 13. The last I remember was Philip Philips sang "Home" in his finale, I now wonder which season he was in. I was glued to The Voice & eyes on Adam Levene for Season 1 & 2, but *blink*blink*eye* it's now Season 6. I was called Ivy che-che all these while by everyone at home, but now, now my cousins and nieces, nephew call me Ah Sam or Ah Sou. (Yah...I know....like how my mum called the vegetable aunty at Kg. Simee market)

Blardy, I am Ah Sou already. Hell, time flies.