SCKLM 2014 - My 6th Full Marathon

When I think back about the day I started doing my 1st full marathon in Singapore, I was afraid to the knees and butterflies because I had: 1. No strategy 2. Unfamiliar with route. This Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2014 is my 6th full marathon, but I am still stuck to ponder points no. 1 and 2 despite all the experiences gained from previous marathons.

SCKLM changed its 42.2km route completely this year. I watched the video recorded by the pacers and to my horror saw two 10 km-stretches along AKLEH and DUKE. That is a total of 20 km of nothing but the highway.

I felt dreadful days leading to SCKLM because the Thursday, Friday and Saturday before the race was my Licentiate Chemistry Examination. It was a marathon exam on its own where 6 to 8 hours straight of exams for 3 consecutive days. On the Saturday, there was this practical exam which was itself was an ultra marathon: 3 experiments to be completed in 8 hours including a written report. I did not have lunch because I had no time, hence my carbo-loading was literally - zero.

Well, completing a FM is common, but whether you suffer during the race and post-race, is another question. Completing a FM for 9 hours and suffer? - that is exactly what I am trying to avoid.
My personal best for a FM is during the Borneo Marathon this year of 5 hours 20 minute under the dreaded sun. Read it all about it here.

After Tijani at Bukit Tunku. Thank you Sumer Heh.

I had not much training leading this race, so I did not even set ANY expectations on myself. I want to just complete it below 6 hours without any injury to the finish line. I woke up at 2.30am, took like 4 teaspoons of peanut butter onto 2 pieces of bread, drank like a tonne of water, and drove my hubby and I to the JKR building. Met my bunch of running friends, at the Dataran Merdeka, but got scattered up at the starting line.

At the beginning, the route was rather flat. I ran the first 10 km closely behind my hubby (he didn't know I was stalking him for 10 km). Finished 10 km around 1:05 and felt amazing. After that, I lost my hubby as he sped up totally. He trained like amazing hard for this year's SCKLM.

Then I met AKLEH hiway and the boringness starts. Steels and tar-roads are the only thing that meets your eyes. My hubby was way front, I guess, and I somehow gladly followed the 5:00 pacers (in white balloons) for a around half-hour before I lost them too. ZzzZzZzZzzZzZZzzzz...What kinda rubbish route is this?! At round 17 km, we were led down to MRR2, and then I saw......ta da!....the dreaded and boring DUKE at kilometer-21 for another 10km!. Wah lau, worse than AKLEH. When I arrived at Duke Highway, I saw my clock was 2:19, which is just about my timing for a regular 21 km race.

DUKE highway do sound like royalty, but it's one "pariah" piece of route to run. Yet again, I could only see tar and steel and apartment buildings left and right. No scenes, no trees, just nothingness. I only thanked God for the superb weather (no sunshine), and the slight haze was perhaps, helping. I also felt good leading towards the 30 km mark with zero problems on my legs, as yet. Nevertheless, I felt a sharp pain my neck and shoulders (rarely happens) which could be due to accumulated sleepless nights due to my Chemistry exam and studies.

33 km onwards, I felt a slight pain to my right knee and I had certain pain-indications of a cramp about to come. I lather up a blob of Sloan to my thighs and calf. To tell you the truth, those cream didn't work this time, why lah?! Went down to Tijani at KM 37 and then to the dreaded route near Bank Negara interchange where runners from 10, 21, and 42 km converged. Why dreaded, because that was where a huge crowd of runners and walkers (pasar malam like that) coverged and killed the momentum of "real" runners (i.e. like me who hates crowds). At that route towards Muzium Negara, my right leg was greatly in pain and I piled up on the Sloan cream, but to no avail.

I checked the time when I saw Muzium Negara. 5:05. Damn, I might not be able to finish in my PB, but well, that's not the point, right? When I saw Daya Bumi which was 500 m to the finish line, I ran soo hard, I almost fainted. I could amputate off my right leg that very instance, just that I wasn't given a saw.

200 m to the finish line di. The torture face.

Met Farah at the finish line. Not easy to meet her up!

100 metres to the finish line, I saw Vincent and we had a epic fail hi-five because some runner blocked our hands. Boo. Then, I saw my Hubby! Wee!! That motivates me to sprint albeit frantically to the finish line, and of course, it looks better on the official cameras when you do RUN to end.

So, with not much training, no carbo-loading, no sleep (mere 2 hours), I completed my full marathon in an ugly route in 5:25 gun time. I was so proud and happy because...most importantly...I did not suffer upon completion as much as I would thought (though I had a sadistic thought of purchasing an electric saw to saw off my right leg)

But tell you the truth, I could have done much better with some amount of training. Oh well, there's always another marathon, right?


Ivy-out.

May The 4th Be With You!

As I am writing to you now, both my quads and calf are screaming in pain, I can't walk down any staircase and there's this never-ending hunger pang (like even now). Nothing unusual as I get this 'finisher' syndrome every time I completed a full marathons. This is my 5th Full Marathon, but first for year 2014 in the vibrant city of Kota Kinabalu.  I am back to office today, and tried (act!) to walk straight because I didn't like to invite comments from my boss/colleagues on my ducky-walk or comments such as "See, what good would it make to run a full marathon, walking like you've got pain in the ass??" 

Seaview from atop Suria Mall

Tell you this: you lose like tonnes of fluids and salts from your system during the race, but replenishing them with a single banana and a couple of power gels during the race doesn't do any good, especially in Kota Kinabalu, on a May weather. Just as you thought you start your race damn early at 3.00AM, dawn breaks as early as 5.30AM (hello, forgotten we are in East Malaysia heh). At that time, I have already completed my first 22 km. And by 6.00AM the sun is already high in the east and begin doing what it does best - scorch your skin into crispiness. Any sign of sea breeze (which you kinda expect in KK) seems non-existent.

When I reached the 30 km mark, the sun has soared high and I stopped to pile my sun-block on my shoulders. Hey, it took 6 months for my tan-lines to fade for my wedding and I can't afford for them to return. 31 km was when the I felt my skin and flesh burn like a well-done beef. What's worst is that this full marathon route has no 'hiding' spots. "Hiding" spots, in my own running dictionary, is when there are shadows from huge trees or scrubs or lanes that are blocked from direct sun shine. At least you get these shadowy refuges at Standard Chartered KL or PJ Half-Marathon routes, but these hiding spots are simply non-existence in KK from KM31-KM42. That's 10 km under the direct sun.

My pace was faster than my last FM in KL, I know, because I just know! (I've been running long-distance since 2009, so kinda know your pace). But the last 5 km was super messed up cause I started screaming curses at the scorching sun and my face has this layer of salt that builds up tragically on my eyes/nose. Any cardiologist would thank the Lord for lost of salts and fats from the systems, but I almost faint of dehydration.  But when I drank so much water, it was pointless too because I felt like pee-ing. Like SUPER-Pee. Like that Donnie Yen character in Ice Man. Every part of me screamed contradictions.

It was 40km and my watch hit 4hrs 55min. 2KM more....wei....but damn, I took 20 freaking minutes for that last 2 KM!!! SHIT. I cursed myself into the finish line, but smiled when I saw my hubby congratulated me at the finish line. Plus, I cursed because unconsiderate pasar-malam strollers were blocking my finished line. "SHIT, Why why do you have to block the finish line!!!" And I was also not smiling when I saw some cheerleaders holding placards written: "SMILE if you are wearing underwear". Oh well, take a guess. *the benefit of compression running pants is to run light*.

It was still a personal best for me as I finished an over-distanced full marathon at 5 HRS 20 MINS. I wasn't happy because I returned with tan-lines as a souvenir and I was so hungry, and I also needed a bath, and I also need a nap, and I also need to go to the airport, but I also have a blister on my toe. ALL AT THE SAME TIME.

Carbo-loading at Little Italy - Salmon Bruschetta 

Teh Tarik ice & Teh ais masala - which means lots of foam even on cold drinks.

We just follow the crowd. Many people = good food.

Okay, the next full marathon is in October. Let's see how much time I will improve there. I will need more training but I don't know why I blurted to my hubby, in a horrible mood I guess, that I will give running a rest. More Karaoke and music sessions for the soul. Did I mention shopping?

4th of May be with you (in Malaysia style).

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.

4th Marathon - SCKLM'13

42.195 km was torture last time I did it in Shah Alam. I found out why I was so slow in Malaysia Women's Marathon, Shah Alam back in April. It wasn't that I lacked training because I sure did lots of runs; it was the shoes. Sad to say, Sketchers GoRun2 didn't do it for me for longer than half marathons. No offence, but my Sketchers did help me PB-ed through several half-marathons (e.g. Bidor Marathon 2012). I conquered a hilly route with those shoes, but I felt it was never as comfy as a Adizero Tempo for longer distances. Sketchers was light, but it has too much padding, hence I felt really hot and sweaty in it. Soon after I went through several races with my GoRun, I bought a pair of Adizero. I had once an Adizero before several years back, so I know my feet was very happy to have found its friend again. And this is the first time an Adizero has ever been featured in my Full Marathon.

I fed myself well throughout the week and had many good night's sleep. I surprised myself this year because every time I have a Full Marathon, I suffered insomnia and had jitters at least for 2 days before the race. This year, I slept at 10 pm like a pig, woke up at 2.30 sharp, drove my hubby and myself to JKR building and park (that's the 40 km distance marker!) and walked like a soldier to Dataran Merdeka. I felt normal. I believed the calmness was due to sufficient sleep and no expectations on my performance this year. All I told myself is that I am doing this ALONE this time as my hubby is not pacing with me anymore just like the previous 3 FMs before, and just beat my previous timing of 5hr:47min.

I was taunted by my hubby that I constantly hit the wall after 35 km. People called it 'hitting-the-wall' because you just wanna give up that time and there's like some 'wall' blocking your mind and physical self from pushing any further beyond this point. So, his words became my mantra throughout the race, and I wanted to prove him and myself wrong. I told myself no matter if my leg broke or if my mind went berserk, I need to beat that freaking 35 km. All by myself.

I changed strategy this time. I purposely started in my regular half marathon pace and reach the 10 km mark in 1:05. I also reach the 21 km mark at 2:20 which is also exactly where I would be at a half-marathon race. My strategy was such as I don't care because I knew I am going to hit the wall anyway, but at least I have locked in a quick 21 distance. And also beat the sun.This strategy was rather 'satisfying'. I didn't wanna do a 21 km in 3-hour like previously. I knew I can never run fast after 21km anyway even if I ran a very very slow first half, so my as well do a fast one at the early stage. I learnt a lot about myself after years of running. My limitations and fortes.

21 km mark was about Jalan Raja Chulan. I knew this is it! This is where the real challenge begins for me. The sun has begun to rise and I stopped on every water stations (every 2 km) for a very quick replenishing of my salty systems. I started my runs immediately after each water stations, unlike previous FMs, where I would walk about 500m before starting my pace again. Good strategy this time, it seems.

I reached the 30 km mark on a hot-spot/hot-stretch. Sigh. First, some driver from cars that were caught in the road-blocks were heating up verbally towards the volunteers and traffic police. And this was where the sun was the hottest. It was sooo damn hot that I had a bit of headache creeping up and start topping up on my sunscreen. I need to look pretty, fair, and lovely on my wedding, ok? I had a feeling that this year was hotter than last years. Are you sure this was the same SUN??!?!! Seems just like another solar system's just crashed onto our planet.

30 km was where I told myself: "haiya...just run lahhh". Because at that time my legs still felt great (no pain yet!) and I picked up pace, not bothering of the sun because I believed in my fully-secured white ICI-painted face. Some guy who passed me looked back to note who the hell is this hideous looking running clown. Escaped from a circus ke ape?

35 km: Hey, not too bad. Legs was still fine, but pain starts to creep in on my right thigh (only!) (as usual!). However, I guess the Deep Heat I was carrying was like holy water - soothing the pain. Stride problems, I know. Reached Jalan Duta, turning into our ever familiar Bukit Tunku where we do our weekly LSD/Double hill training. Legs still doing ok. Not bad. Hey, familiarity of the route is an advantage! Guess what, I took a can of Nescafe Ice and I literally fall to my knees and thanked the founder of this wonderful cold drink (Nestle??). Thank you non-official, friendly water-stations. These people are life savers and are wondrous people for standing in the sun serving FOC drinks and fruits. I noticed one of the supporters was my colleague. God bless them all!



Guess what, I didn't hit the wall at 35km. At this point forth, I said: "wow, I felt okay. Let's walk a little at Tijani there and up the 30 degree slope". After the slope, it was 37 km and I was running(!) down towards JKR (saw my car, wishing I could get some aircon from it just for a minute!).


And for the first time ever, I passed the "hitting-the-wall' test.

About the 36th km

40km. I knew Jalan Raja Laut would be a pain in the ass because that's where you see pasar malam 10km, 21km runners (not all, but some berpegangan tangan, berpeluk-pelukan sambil berlengang lenguk). No offense y'all, but sometimes I wanna tell them that the finish line is soooo near di, just put some effort and run there, please. I had to maneuver the last 2.195 km like a freakin' retard to the finished line. Checked my watch: 5hrs:20 min.

Last few metres, I spotted Vincent who already made an agreement with me to take my pics at the finish line. So *snap**snap*. Checked my watched, raised my hands like a champion, no wall in front of me, smiled like a clown, and crossed the finished line in 5hr:25min. Definitely a Personal Best.

Vincent took this. Left 0.195 km to the finish line.

But if you don't know yet, I am-out-of-races (but not runs) for my wedding preparations and a lot of skin-conservation to be done.

Coffee for runners

Runner or not, I am drinking my coffee. But being a runner makes coffee more worth it.

3rd Marathon - The Hilly one

I made up my mind to blog all Full Marathons that I've completed.

42.195 ain't a big number for mathematicians, but it's a damn big deal to runners. Of course, there are are 84km, 100km ultra-distances out there, but these are optional kilometres to achieve. To many 'common runners', we just want to finish a 42.195, and cross it out from our buckets list.

Though I've done 2 other full marathons prior to this, I get chills every time I hear the word 'Full Marathon' because every FM is just as tough as the first. This 3rd FM was the inaugural Malaysia Women Marathon, where it is (supposed) to be a all-women marathon event, but you will see the some Martians pacers tagging along. I asked Fong to be my FM pacer for this race as I knew I needed virtual whipping on my butt to keep me going 'til I reach the finish line. It's not easy to run a FM alone, if you're an amateur like me.

Indeed, we have no definitive strategy. The night prior to this FM, we had a pre-talk about the race, and our 'strategy' was to run comfortably at our own pace (slower than 21km pace), and rest at every water-stops after the 10th km. I reminded myself not to curse !*X^#!$&%^ at the 30th km, and enjoy the company of each other.

The route in Shah Alam is super duper hilly. Take for instance the route in front of UiTM is a looooong (feels like neverending) inclination - a steeper version of Penang Bridge (on the bridge going up). If you know Shah Alam, you will know that there are many roundabouts, which I think pose safety issue to runners, especially when most of the cars there are very non-obliging to runners. You can tell that Shah Alam folks ain't used to having runners clogging up their roads. Of course there are Rela/Police trying to stop traffic, but the drivers in Shah Alam are.....hnmmphhhh.....non-accommodating and doesn't bother to stop at all; some cars were spotted to have tailgatted runners. &#&%$@&!

I was happy during the race as I realised all my body parts were fine at 30th km, even though I've been through countless hills. I broke the barrier of not cursing profanities at my pacer and myself (which happened in my previous 2 FMs). Nevertheless, in this race, my legs felt the wrath of FM at the 35th km onward  My right foot (which people has earlier indicated having stride problems) suffered the worst. The sole was giving me pains, but for which you have to ignore...and when the mind comes stronger than you body....you just pushed on, ignoring the pain, just wanting to reach the finish line.

Albeit the hilly route, this race was well organized with water stations/fruits/snacks station every 2 km after the 10th km. Many pro-marathoners turned supporters and came up with their own water/snack booth for the ladies. The supporters were very supportive(?!), and there were drums and positive cheers at selected corners of the race, though I do empathize the residences in Shah Alam having Indian & Chinese drums playing their roads at 5.40am. I felt great with the multitude support that was given to runners before, during and after the race. And at the back of my mind, I was thankful for Miss Kathrine Swtizer, the first women to enter the Boston Marathon, empowering women like I to run a marathon. She was there to flag off the women for this race, and just glad that this race means as much to her as is to me.

Deo's group provided oranges, chocolates and Coke to runners. Thank you. (35km)

I finished the race with a smile, hand-in-hand with my pacer. He was tolerant with me/supportive, and just glad he's not the curse-r like I am. He's still can jump around, did Gangnam and some gymastics after the race. For me, I died-ed upon crossing the finish line. My right foot yearns for some TLC.

This is kilometer no: 42.192

Almost finish. i-City, Shah Alam.

So, there! 3rd marathon pocketed into my history book, and I would like to give some simple simple simple tips to runners who are doing their first FM. (Disclaimer: personal view/notes)

1. Train for long distance. Clock-in the distance, and not how fast you run.
2. Hydrate before the FM race.
3. Eat well (esp. more carbo) a few days before FM.
4. On race day, discard all your gadgets, as they will kill your pace by running too fast. A watch will do. Enjoy the view.
5. Run slower than your half-marathon pace, but not too slow. Keep your energy for the second half of the race. You can feel 'EVERYTHING' at 30km. Beyond 30km (or the last 12km) is where every devil in you arises and your mind starts playing tricks on you (e.g. faking an injury to get to an ambulance, flagging a taxi to the finish line, or fake-hunger pangs, or tendency to go toilet to do No.2, when obviously there's nothing to pass, but air). And of course, the pain. Well, the pain is very real.
6. Bring your running gels...and a tube of Deep Heat.


My next FM is SCKLM. And I will be running this 42.195 all by myself :-)


**Photos are courtesy of Facebook friends/MWM.

Spot the differences: 1st and 2nd Full Marathons

Last Sunday's Standard Chartered KL Marathon was my #2 full marathon assignment.

My #1st was, of course, the most memorable one of all - the Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore in Dec 2011. My 1st marathon finish was one fill with emotion; I was angry at myself throughout the race; I was teary when I saw finish line and sobbing when I reached it. What made it possible was my marathon partner - a seasoned marathoner, Kingy, a true sifu and friend who was motivating (read: bluffing) me throughout the race. Was prepared for the marathon physically, but not mentally. Well, let's just say, I wasn't prepared physically too in terms of ample training (I did some training, but just 21 km LSD), and I bet nobody's legs were ever prepared for the dreaded ECP's 10km concrete pavements. ECP did take a toll on my feet until they gave way at the 30km mark. I remembered taking 4 powergels, drank like a gallon of water, eat some gel stuff, having a stomachache, farting like crazy (my digestion was slowing down, as blood all went to pump the heart), and I think I rubbed a kilogram of Deep-heat into my 'jelly' legs. At the end, I managed my first full marathon in 7:00hrs flat, walking the last 10km that took 3hrs.

SCMS - Seasoned marathoner, sifu and good friend BK at the starting line

I hate ECP!

SCMS - Tey captured Kingy and me (in tears) as we were about to reach the finish line.

SCMS - SOB, SOB!!

SCMS - Faking a smile. I am not kidding, but it is fake.

Thinking about my first marathon is like thinking about your first time taking you first SPM paper - the BM paper. It's your first day into the exam. You cannot comprehend what is going on with you, your mind is soo fixed in the examination mode, you tend to scribble out rubbish on the karangan part. All you wanted is an A1. You just give it your ALL. Halfway through all your remaining 8 papers in SPM, you kinda get it (read: your subsequent marathons). There seem to be less panic. You think: "I can't get out of this sh*t now, but I can only do my best. Stay calm". At the end of all the papers (I remember it was Biology paper), you cry-out-loud cause you made it through 2 weeks of hell, and screamed "Merdeka!". You are eventually judged by your SPM results, but in a marathon, no one judges you by your results are (unless your running are kiasu). That's the best part of running!

You suffered like hell, but for some reason, you yearn for more even during your painful recovery. It's like you wanna prove to Death he can't kill you. Or dare Death to chase you. Thrill.

Secret training:
So yes, my 2nd full marathon attempt: I was initially 'misled' by Daryl that I have to beat 6:00hrs to get the finishers tee. :p I am like "What??!" How am I going to beat my first timing by 1 freaking hour? Despite the myth of seeing me not in training (training does not equate LSDs only), I did a lot more (secret) training for my 2nd marathon - I went to gym a lot to do strength training, lifting weights to strengthen both my thighs and calfs muscles. I did push-ups and pumping like 15X6 sets each time I go to the gym (while working at UTP), and I run in burst of fastpace for 1 min for every 5 min run for a total of 45 minutes.

My secret training, which many runners did not notice, took place at Bukit Jalil park, around my housing area (I went up at 300m the inclination at least 10 times making it 3km of hill training), and of course Bukit Aman's Double hill & LSD. I needed the training, because I've suffered much previously and didn't wanna repeat history for my next full marathon.

What's different:

The same (they are both by Standard Chartered, of course):
1. 90% flat route in both KL and Singapore marathons.
3. A lot of water, sponges, food, Deep-heat sprays by volunteers. Volunteers are friendly and helpful.
4. Weather was cooling in the morning, sunny-hot after 8.30am.
5. I suffered pain on the right leg at S'pore, but left leg at KL.
6. Loyalty: Me and my baby-blue cap.

The difference:
1. Lesser marathon participants in KL, therefore, so much space and it was a breeze to run in KL. So much less crowd. Good!
2. No concrete pavements in KL (read: I hate ECP!) that badly impacts any runner's feet.
3. Lacks the mad external supports/drums in KL. Why was it soo quiet at Jln P. Ramlee area; last year  had more cheerleaders. Nobody wan this year? Singapore - damn hebat with their cheerleaders.
4. Cheaper to run in KL, soooooooooo much cheaper y'all!
5. I did not cry to the finish line in KL. I was all smiles this time.

All's still well at 36km mark. Pain is there, but bearable.

I can't believe I beat my previous marathon time by more than an hour. Must be the secret training.

What's the real difference in this 2nd marathon? Fong and I strategised to stop at every water station, to walk 100 m, before starting again. We did that and completed the race <6:00 hours mark: in 5hr47min. All because we wanted to get the finisher's tee, really! Have to thank Fong for being was a good motivator <3 <3. Unexpectedly, there was zero pain at 30km mark this time! (maybe just tired).

**Joke of the year:

My mum thought I won 2nd place in the full marathon for having a silver finisher's medal. 

SUPERsports.

My previous post, I blah blah about my career, but let's move on from that. Today, I wanna talk about one of my many hobbies - sports.

I am no runner, no swimmer by birth. I was borned into a short family. Not that my parents are hobbits, but mum & dad ain't that tall. The only one thing that mum said when I was pulled out from her womb is that - I was TOTALLY Bald. She concluded that I may be a good swimmer when I grow up because I was born aerodynamic. She took back those words after spotting my first strand of hair at age 2.

So, being short and plump, I had no obvious potential. Dad could only praise me for being super diligent and hardworking in sports :P (what!??!?!). I can practice whole day-whole night cause I know if I don't, I can never beat those tall, strong girls. I performed pretty well in  swimming at MASUM (University Games) at age 23, and found out that I can backstroke quite well (never liked backstroke when I was younger). I am now running my own small swimming business whereby my niche is teaching kids and ladies.


Running wasn't in my blood til I was 18. From swimming, my coach was determined that there's still an "age group" for old swimmers like me (18 is veteran already when it comes to swimming): it's called Triathlon. My swim coach and his gang of Ipoh Roadrunners were avid triathletes thus introducing me to the sport. Actually, my first ever long distance run was during sport trials at high school where I ran err.....200 m track and panted like a fucked up puppy. At that time I simply thought that if I could swim well, I could run well. Well, duh! Didn't realised they weren't the same set of muscles used in running and swimming (I don't like studying human anatomy). So started learning and practice running. My first REAL long-distance running, 10km, was at Ipoh RoadRunner's run. From then, I progress to triathlon and biathlons by waking up 5am in the morning to swim and run at Ipoh Swimming Club almost every other day (I was 19 years old). I remembered winning a pair of Brooks running shoes after being in podium position for a small biathlon event.

Swimming took over my life and life was all about swimming. I forgot all about running but not until I entered university and was being ragged by seniors to run the WHOLE of UPM campus. And guess what, I came out top of the pack. Actually, I have a very good stamina, and not because I can run fast. In 2009, I entered my first 10km run at SCKL after several years of hiatus. I have a log book of all my runs. Not only scuba diving has log book, ok? 

My log. Running races since 2009:
1. Standard Chartered KL Marathon - 10km - 26 June 2009 <--- first LDR after 6 yrs hiatus
2. Energizer Night Race - 10km - 27 March 2010
3. New Balance Pacesetters  -15km - 16 May 2010
4. Standard Chartered KL Marathon - 21km - 27 June 2010
5. Ipoh International Marathon - 21km - 18 July 2010 <--- hometown run!
6. Penang Bridge Marathon - 21km - 21 Nov 2010 <--- Super-duper Thunderstorm and got sick after that.
7. Malakoff - 12km run - 19 Dec 2010 <--- Killer hill almost at the end of the route. Gila
8. Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon - 21km - 20 Feb 2011 <--- first ever International run - super-duper cold (11 degrees)!
9. Menara KL Towerthon - 2058 steps (24 floors) - 7 May 2011 <--- I did super well. Name at first page of the results page.
10. New Balance Pacesetters - 15km - 5 June 2011
11. Standard Chartered KL Marathon - 21km - 26 June 2011
12. Centro Run, Klang - 12 km - 23 July 2011
13. 7th Pacemaker Relay (PAR) - 14 Aug 2011
14. Siemens Run - 10 km - 25 Sept 2011 <--- worst ever 10km run. Ran super slow and dunno why.
15. Adidas KING of the Road - 16.8km - 2 Oct 2011
16. PJ Half Marathon - 21km - 20 Oct 2011<--- super hot sun. I got super headache after that.
17. Standard Chartered Marathon Singapore - 42.2km - 4 Dec 2011 <--- broke my FM virginity
18. Malakoff - 12km run - 18 Dec 2011

Me in Pink cotton Victoria Secret shorts. First run after 6 years of hiatus - SCKL 2009.

Penang Bridge Marathon 2010 - Super heavy thunderstorm during the run cause me to get high fever after that.

Race pack collection at Victoria Park, Hong Kong

Running through Hong Kong Island. If Singapore was super-crowded, then Hong Kong's run was super-DUPER crowded and super COLD. So can't complain much abt Singapore, yeh.

New Balance Pacesetters 15km 2010, Putrajaya

Hey, ECP, I am going to challenge you again next year! FMV at Singapore 20111204

What's next for me in running? I have yet to plan any races for 2012. Nil. Zero. This is because I am giving running a short hiatus. I am concentrating on major runs, and not to participate in too many minor runs which may cause me to get jaded. If you know me well enough, I get jaded with things pretty fast. By choosing a few races to enter I want to ensure I don't lose the excitement in running or try not to do anything TOO MUCH. I tak nak jadi muak.

Possibly, the Sundown Marathon at Singapore (May 2012) is next. My running coach @Teh Boon King said that I might be facing the challenging ECP again (cause Singapore so small, sure use ECP wan, where else?). But deep down inside me, I feel like facing ECP once again to challenge myself and make a comeback this May.

SUPERB life!

You can do it, guys,

Whassup August?! 

Before you know it, it's already mid-August and  for me, August is the month of flowers. Roses to be exact. I am not shy to say (to all the guys out there): every girl in this world loves flowers. And guys, it's always worth giving flower(s) to your love ones though I totally know many out there will curse me for campaigning so. Don't cha believe it if a girl tells you she's not into flowers - that's BS. 

Cause any girl will go head-over-heels over flowers!

And give real flowers. If you're like my dad who thinks real flowers represents real love, then you're right. Though it wilts and last barely a week, at least it's FOR REAL. I don't buy into the idea of giving fake plastic flowers that obviously doesn't die, but thinking that it represents everlasting love? Nah....so not appropriate. Leave fake flowers for decorating houses. :P 

Bouquet I got when I was at Secret of Louisiana, KJ. The flowers were a surprise, an so was the venue.                         Hidden gem of Selangor.

I got these roses for no apparent reason.

...and these too.

This are fee yen's bouquet after complaining of not getting one (when I got 2 in a month!).  Kidding lah... Hubby surprised her with these white-peach bouquet for anniversary. Sweet!

YP's bouquet of lilies (pretty!) sent by hubby to her office. *sorry for copywriting this fr your FB

OOoooo...seems like a trend here. Keep it up, guys!

But just want to set the record straight: besides flowers and roses, I am also into Coach bags, Gucci, Sports Cars, Tiffany's Diamonds, Blue Mountain beans, Caviar, Fois Gras, Truffles, Kobe beef, etc, etc.... (fill in the blanks with luxury items here). Muahahahaha.

And btw, my Ph.D. graduation/convocation (sigh, finally!) will be this October 15th. *Hint**hint*

______________________________________________________________________________

I just love the Spongebob Squarepants sticker used during today's Pacemaker's Relay Run. See, see, rambut serabut and blur....just like I every morning! I chose this sticker cause it reminds me that I need to get a hair cut quite quickly.

I've never done a relay, but it's pretty stressful. My pace was brought to a sprint(!), and I was panting the sh*t out of myself upon passing the baton to the next runner. But believe me, I had really great fun with the SpongeBob Square Pants/ BKT runners :)

More pics of the event in my FB page.


Ivy Out!

Menara KL Night Towerthon 2011

This is a long overdued post. Sorry folks. Some posts can wait, right?

The Towerthon took place on 7th May 2011, so it's exactly a month since I raced up 22 floors of the Menara KL in the night. This was my first time entering a race that involves going up a skyscraper. Last time I remembered training for a climb (not race!) was Mount Kinabalu in 2005. 

Even if you boastfully said that you've been trapped in an elevator for 10 minutes and not feel a clinch in your stomach, then try the claustrophobic stairs of the KL Tower that goes up all the way to the observation deck and see why claustrophobic is a gross understatement. Before the race, I wiki-ed 'KL tower' which states that there are 22 floors of stairs including 4 elevators that makes up 2,058 steps. I was like, wow... but I was also thinking: if I could conquer Mount Kinabalu, what harm can 2,058 steps do?!

Again, a gross underestimation of the horror 2,058 steps could do to your soul. The combination of the claustrophobic-ness of the staircase and the number of people climbing at the same time PLUS the lack of ventilation (claustrophobic lah tu!) makes walking up Batu Caves 10-times while fending yourself against monkeys, a piece of cake. I dedicated a substantial amount of time to train for this Towerthon and ended up in a total 6000++ steps accumulated over that period. It was one of my more well-prepared races compared to say PBIM 2010 and HK Marathon 2011.



 Looks can be decieving. Tough race up the brightly lit tower.



On paper, my race starts at 8.30pm. Biasalah, the Malaysia boleh mentally sets in, and for whatever reason my race delayed to 10pm. In Malaysia, memang apa-apa pun boleh! I was sitting there mengantuk like crazy, and because I was all by myself and alone for this race, I was bored to death. The race organizers were releasing 300 ppl up the tower any one time, and even so, we heard that a human traffic jam was already forming within the walls of the Menara. Before the start of the race, I really felt like being in a kandang lembu, being sequestered from other race categories with wooden barriers. While at the starting line, I saw Yuen Yu Fang, our Malaysia veteran pro-long distance runner at another kandang just behind me. She was staring at me. Maybe I look intimidating! But I quietly thank the Lord that she is not in my race category.

Tip no.1: The starting line is 800m away from the foot of the Tower. No one told me to do so, neither did I google for this tip, but I told myself to run as fast as I could for this 800m even though it was 100% uphill all the way. I ran as fast as I could 800m overtaking approx. 100+ runners, as all these runners were blimley oblivious to the fact that running as fast as u can RIGHT NOW, RIGHT HERE is the key to this Towerthon. Many took their sweet time walking uphill towards the tower. I was delighted I came out top of the pack cause there's no better time to beat 100 runners anymroe....not at the narrow staircase, no!

I was the first few girls in my category to reach the staircase. I ran ASAP up for first 10 floors. Wasn't really tired, but I've anticipated the impending human traffic jam on my way up. It was almost impossible to run up anymore - the stairs are narrow and you have to overtake the person in front of you in the most flattering way: by saying "EXCUSE ME" all the way up. Not easy. And thats like soo many people ahead of you. There was this one time where I blocked by this fat girl (sorry!). Her huge frame blocked the whole stairway. Being behind her, I had to resort to walking about 5 floors, but unable to take her (slow) pace, and excused myself to overtake her. She wasn't happy.

I had to watch my steps...Tip no. 2: The stupidest idea for one who does a towerthon, is to listen to his Ipod while racing up! It will definitely kill your concentration because it was very easy to trip and fall. You need to focus on your footsteps, taking care not to fall over papercups and slip on wetfloors.

Stamina and breathing is core to this race. But your mind should be above all, be strong and stubborn. Let me tell you why: Ventilation is almost zero, the stairs is claustrophobic (how many times have I mentioned this word here already?), people are behind and in front of you mere inches apart, you smell fresh sweat, and finally....you see people stopping halfway, hyperventilating and some idiots sitting on the stairway blocking other runners (where are your manners, people!). Some looking at you, their swelled up faces probably demanding that you empathize with them. Tip no. 3: Do not look into the faces of runners who stopped. Their faces demotivates you. Their tired faces sucks the life out of your pace. Continue running and focus on your steps.

I finished the race in 27 minutes!! I can't benchmark my performance against anything, but for the first time in my life, my name was at the first page of the results pages. I was Top 48 in my category. Maybe you've heard stories, but did you know that it was wayyyy tougher to come down from the Menara then racing up?  The idiotic organizers had only one lift working for the thousands of runners coming down. That aside, I was satisfied and convinced to not let this be my last Towerthon up the Menara KL. The observation deck awarded every finisher a pleasant night scenery of KL for a tough finish to the top.



Dreaded Slope

The Dreaded Slope of Koi Kinrara, Puchong.

Almost every 2 days (if it ain't raining), I will drag myself up this slope:

....and down (which is more dangerous!) 

Doesn't portray that much here in the pics, but it's pretty steep.

I assumed it's about 30 degrees..

Compounding interest

 My current muse: The Looniness of a Long Distance Runner - Russell Taylor

RM5.00 only from the Big Bad Wolf Book fair. So worth it!

'Compounding interests':
I love this term. Makes you wanna cry every month :-P However, I am talking about the interest in running. My interest in running is compounded by reading several funny-ha-ha books such as the one above - "looniness of the long distance runner..." . I always ter-sleep when I read a book to bed, but not this book. I laugh hysterically every night reading this book (not good if you're my neighbour), and knowingly bearing the consequence of a mere 4 hour sleep nightly. You know how I hate British authors and style of writing since uni days: Dry! dry! dry! and leave you more confused at the end of your read. Once you've read American-authored books, you'll never lay hand on a Brit's shit ever. But this Brit (Russell Taylor) has been killing my sleep every night.....*smiles*

And I thought the first chapter that prints a huge title: "The History of Marathon" would be harshly mundane, wordy and only a greek kid would be compelled to follow it. This was different, surprisingly. I actually did enjoy this chapter the most. The modern history of marathon was the best-est part.

Who would've thought the infamous Murakami runs....and writes abt it! I would have to recommend this book to anyone who has compounding interest in running. The read has motivated and taught me so much too.  This was because I could relate to him and his experience in both is struggles in running and triathlon (swimming). Yes, I can lend you this book, but for once, please return to me after reading. None of my books were returned to me after I lent them to so many. Darn

I can never leave coffee out in anything I do. Caffeine is another 'compounding interest' of mine.

Topping up my reads with a brew of Choco-Cappuccino (from Marks & Spencers - Xmas'10 present fr Callie).

 ____________________________________________

 With all the natural disasters and pending-wars in this world, I am optimistic that the world is going to end relatively(?) soon (eh, relative to what?).

I truly believe, either:

1. 2012 is for real, ppl. Buy a property/land in South Africa's Cape of Good Hope. :-P

2. Climate change is for real, ppl. It has always been anyway.

3. Earthquakes can be human-triggered ;-) Many do know about this already but if you're in the oil/gas company, you will know exactly how and the science behind it. Small, small tremors may be human triggered. Don't bother if you're not a scientific person.

Google in the lines of: 'Human-triggered earthquakes'; 'secondary oil recovery and seismic activity', 'reinjection of water into well', etc.

4. Radiation clouds will arrive in Malaysia soon. Ppl think this is an overstatement, but I think otherwise. When it comes to radiation and eventhough ppl say: it's still far away from here lah, trust the Japanese ppl lah; Japanese ppl are damn modern and can handle this nuclear situation lah, whatever shit wind doesn't reach Malaysia lah, all government will say that to keep calm. I am not paranoid abt this. I barely have extra toilet paper at home and only one Maggi mee left :-P It is just that I have a bad feeling that even if the radiation has arrived in Malaysia, and Malaysia being Malaysia, will have their meteorological station play down their data!! I don't like information to elude me. I sgt benci data-scandal!

This is the same thing as GMO lah. You dunno meh...you've been eating GMO soy bean products for the past 12 years? I got data mar. Our gov can't even be bothered to label those GMO food. Same: you may already kena radiation or emitting some, but betcha our gov can't be bothered or can't handle the situation. We should be smart enough to not to play down the nuclear situation in Japan.

http://www.slate.com/id/2288618/?from=rss

Sigh. I also believed Japanese gov ( just as any gov would have) is really really undermining and playing down the effects of radiation in this region cause they don't want panic, panic-buying and economic meltdown or stuffs like that. But hey, which government wouldn't, eh?

But wait!!! Dah cakap membebel-bebel banyak ni. Let me see...radiation or not, I don't have a gym. So, you'll still see me in Bkt Jalil running under the rain. Any forms of radiation won't stop my compounding interest in running :-P