Post event assessment

This is not about any particluar event that I joined & attempted but more of a self rationalisation of thoughts and recompiling every bit of the puzzle that I lost from "the" last 2 weeks occurence. This early assessment might help me reorganize all the plannings & takwims and in fact the cost incurred from the "fall".

Eversince the accident I was quite hesitated & lost a bit of courage & guts to participate & attempt any weekend events or routines. I had the thought that the recovery might take ages & the pain, mentally & on the cut itself will drain my psych. Even a night stay in the ward broke my mind loose & even better when the smiley face nurse came to me presenting the unbelieveable bill. It cut even deeper into my heart & soul.

Fortunately, yes I couldn't agree more, over and over again, MARATHON can change people. Bill Rodgers, winner of four Boston and four NYC marathons said "The marathon can humble you." That's a nice caption and I held to it eversince. It has been a motivational quote for me to push on. Though I missed my maiden century ride in the July 19th Ipoh Century Ride held 2 days after my accident, I shoved on. My 1 week abscent was a very patience one.

The recent Men's Health Night Run 2009 was probably my starting block to reignite the fainting flare. I trust that my legs & cardio capability are still in place. The weekends ahead approaching Ramadhan will be spent wisely. So, the game continues with perhaps the followings:

1/8 - Ride to Bagan Lalang
2/8 - Adidas KOTR
16/9 - PCC Prez Ride
Ramadhan and the list continues till end of the year with more exciting running & cycling events, Insyallah.

And now comes the economy part. The cost implication. I am needing to replace a few things that was spoilt from the accident. Priority will be my phone. Now I am surviving with an adhoc RM140 nokia. Not good enough since I'm used to the mobile in connect life. Then, it will be my Dockers. Good time & reason to get a new pair, perhaps with a few shirts. Eventually will be my EX5. Yesterday I had a sneak preview of the aftermath. A dented absorber, scratches on the mudguard & seat, broken side mirror, footrest & grip. Getting the nerve to ride again on the dangerous lanes of Klang Valley will take time. In the mean time I will have to get use to the slow bumper to bumper morning & evening traffic settling myself with the pleasant harmony of Faithfully by Journey.

Surviving Saturday

The early cool Sunday morning was never the same as the one I experienced a day earlier. Looks like today would be a great day for a lazy couch & carboload day enjoying my last one week leave from work. I survived the closing week with loads of hot stuff and hectic physical moments which was quite a good package.

My abscent from doing workouts due to the recent accident have boiled my adrenalines so much that I was craving for Saturday happenings. The day started by joining a large group of cycling buddies at Batu 14. Saiful and me pedalled from my place at 7.00am rendevouzed half an hour later with about 20 others at Batu 14 and Batu 18. We casually rode together filling up the gaps throughout the 10km kampung road towards Peres junction before regrouping and attempt Genting Peres climb at our own pace. Since I had shorten the menu by not joining the Kuala Klawang trip, I cranked up the climb as part of the climbing menu inspired by all those TdF awesome climbers. Too bad I missed the timing but it was worth it. Some intervals on the way back & the rest of it trying to survive the remaining milage back home.

A quick nap for recovery in the afternoon before the next serving. Without any runs for almost 2 weeks, signing up for the Men's Health 11.5km Night Run was quite a gamble. Hoping to have the stamina & running legs & at the same time surviving my still bandaged hand. Took my family along. Atmosphere was awesome, 800 times livelier & happenings than SCKLM. True that, my kids were jumping with joy.

As Saiful, Bachin, Zakuan, Nizam & me checked into the starting line with perhaps thousands others, the heat from the crowd created a humid & hot atmosphere. I managed to say Hi to one of fellow bloggers that my wife & me enjoyed reading, Ms Haza from runningmom-haza.blogspot.com. She's a strong lady, she covers more milage than me on runs & events. Admire her courage. 8.00am the we were off.

I was pacing Bacin for the first 5km as arranged. He was a bit fatigue from Klawang trip. Upon giving the green light to leave him, I sped off chasing the rest of the friends one by one. Caught up Saiful, then Zakuan but Nizam was nowhere to be seen. Legs were good although at certain moments I almost walk due to the suffocating haze, but I pushed on. Clocked 1:09:14.

Public Enemies

After spending 2 hours 35 minutes in TGV semalam, nothing else came to mind but more movies must be watched in this leave period. Too bad, I've seen the rest of it i.e. Revenge of the Fallen (1st day), Dawn of the Dinasour. So, something out of the mainstream did I pick for today's menu. Itu pun sebab it's an old skool gangster & cop stuff and also sebab two big stars casted the movie. Long lost Pirates of Carribean Mr Johnny Depp as the popular John Dillinger (the mob) and no other than the current big screen hit Batman/Terminator Christian Bale. Meletup ala kapal angkasa gaban...sepatutnya.

However the story line kept everybody to their role, where no biaise are being granted on both sides. John, an obsessed opportunist big time bank robber grown popular & turned desperate as more deceased members whacked down by FBI while Special Agent Purvis was about to reach his peak carrier building his portfolio maintaining machoism. Yes, the story overcast around these two characters but Dillinger was the main star here...don't forget the movie title.

Movie scenes was very, very, very detail. Most of the shots are taken closely, you'll need a widescreen tv to enjoy this. I can still clearly remember every faces in the movie until I reached the carpark.

The sounds & enviro was quite similar to Miami Vice especially the liveshot camera following the gunfights & the booming 1930's machinegun shots across the cinema hall. World!

Overall, it was something out off the mainstream in the summer release, take out fantasies & science fiction stuff, this movie was branded original from the US dark history where heroes and villains turned out dead at the end. However, it did spooked me into revisiting The Untouchables & Miami Vice though. Maybe later tonight after Tour de France.

OK, those are the movies but I'm not. TALK TO THE HAND buddy. Yep, hand is recovering. Dropped by PKUPM yesterday & replaced the bandage. Stitches alright but little bites of pain still I endure once in a while. Can I make it for the weekend's Shape Run & Saturday's ride? Insyallah.

Mr Potter

Hah! Without planning, I was quite sure that this movie will be part of my one week leave menu. I have abandoned the novel eversince they made Harry Potter came to live, catching up with the evolution of this guy was something like pacing a Kenyans on a run...too fast. I was only able to whack the pages of the first three pieces until they greedily decided to screen Potter almost annually. They almost resembled themselves like Jackie Chan.

I'm no good at reviewing movies but the story was something I need to follow especially when the puzzle and plots are being fixed and solved throughout the 2 hours 35 minutes. I did miss a slot while rushing to the loo in which however I managed to fix the loose ends myself as it moves. I guarantee that the novel itself contains 60% more stories than the one I just saw just now. Some scenes & plots seemed a bit premature & hanging while the end was a typical slot promising a continuation of Potter's journey against Valdemort. Somehow, I did read somewhere that Ms Rowling herself was quite convinced the Half Blood Prince will be the end of the Potter's sequel on the movie screen.

Fortunately, watching some other trailers brought me back to the movie-going mood with some other future releases. With the return of earth destruction episodes, can I say prequels to The Day After Tomorrow, Independence Day (revisited on dvd last night...what a coincedence). The 2012 releasing in November this year and the of course the return of Mr Ironman himself in the Sherlock Holmes movie. Quite a list there.

So fast yet so blurr

Khamis, macam hari-hari yang lain aku di ofis & looking forward for lunch break & better still waktu habis kerja. 4.15pm ada appointment dengan client di Kajang. 3.45pm aku exited the office dengan tenang.

MRR2 was so calm with less traffic. In which aku rasa menjelang setengah jam lagi akan mula sesak. As I was approaching to Taman Putera Sulaiman's junction, aku slowed down to give way for the van that was making the left turn depan aku.

Dengan sepantas halilintar, perkara yang tak aku duga berlaku. Aku telah tergebak sebab terjebak dalam kemalangan jalanraya. Dengan speed aku yang dah slow tu, suddenly motor aku jadi laju & menyebabkan aku lost control. Sekelip mata aku dah tergedodos & terpongeh al-kemput kat tepi jalan meleret sepanjang lebih kurang 20 kaki. Yang aku cuma perasan, handle motor aku dah terlipat, jacket aku tersangkut kat throttle & menyebabkan enjin motor mengaum walaupu motor dah terbaring tepi jalan.

Lantas aku loosen jacket yang tersangkut & bangun. First round assessment untuk make sure aku masih qualify untuk pi Century ride ke tak. Ternyata, right wrist aku dah terluka...besar about 1 inch. Argh! Confirm tak boleh pegang handlebar.

Aku dirikan motor & tanggalkan helmet, sambil pandang ke belakang cuba digest apa yang dah terjadi. Ada sorang lagi rider yang nampak gaya senasib dengan aku. Dia jerit "ada wira putih langgar saya". Aku presumed that the bloody wira driver hit that guy & that guy lost control, langgar aku & wira cabut lari. Hmmm...what a cruel world.

Sambil aku duduk atas motor cuba fikir apa plan seterusnya, kepala jadi ringan. Pandangan jadi kabur, maybe due to the impact from the fall. Slowly aku dengan tenang call office untuk tanya mana panel insurance's hospital terdekat. My thought was Gleneagle. Terdengar suara my clerk, kak Fida dah mula kecoh dengan berita aku accident. Orang lain pulak yang panik.

Aku decide untuk mintak tolong brader yang senasib dengan aku untuk tolong hantar ke Gleneagle. Dia kata ok. Aku kena park motor ke tempat yang selamat dulu, depan kedai mamak dekat dengan office Dicky. Brader tu, Mie nama dia pun hantar aku. Kepala aku masih ringan & my sight masih blurr.

Sesampai di Gleneagle, terus dapatkan emergency treatment & register. Wifey sampai at 5.30pm sementara tengah tunggu result x-ray which later turned out just fine, takde patah tulang or any cebisan kaca. Alhamdullillah. Nurse & doktor confirmed that tangan aku perlukan perkhidmatan tukang jahit pakar. Kena warded sebab nak qualify untuk insurance claim.

Dah masuk ward, tangan masih menunggu panggilan ke OT. Sekali sekala serangan or renjatan kesakitan menyerang. Pukul 11.00pm barulah dapat jemputan ke OT. Dari saat tu, aku dah tak tau apa jadi sebab telah pekena bius. Antara sedar & tak, aku dah kembali ke wad, baring atas katil, tangan berbalut rapi & baju dah bertukar.

Mula dari aku celik mata, phone non-stop berdering. Nak layan lentuk pun tak dapat lena. Kawan, kakak, mak, sedare semua call. Phone pulak buat hal. By 12.00pm aku discharge & pulang ke rumah. Dapat medical leave seminggu. Recovery untuk kembali beraksi tak tau berapa lama.

However it took me a day to digest & rationalised everything. Kadang-kadang ia memerlukan ketabahan & kesabaran yang lebih untuk mendekatkan diri kita kepada Allah. So, aku take this as dugaan Allah untuk menguji kesabaran aku. Insyallah, dengan izinNya juga aku akan terus berusaha untuk terima everything dengan redha.

Broga boo-ga

Second week into recovery of post marathon & I was already putting myself into labour. Kalau dah kemaruk tu, bagi alasan apa pun tak guna. A week of rest pun dah cukup buat aku huru hara. Mental dah mula meracau & fikir yang macam-macam untuk aku kembali workout.

At first the weekend was something that I looked forward to. Though some plans are being made with fellow friends, my lengthy dilemma have yet to convince me to decide for commitments. Eventually, came Saturday morning, I was already in my running gears & ready to head out into the dark cold morning of BTHO with Deti. Nothing felt more enjoyable than to run, breathing the cold air & chit chat. Felt like I've left the thing in ages. We covered the 8km McD route & believe me, the recovery run turned out to be a high pace one. Akibat dari stim yang lama terpendam + confidence from the marathon experience, we were huffing and puffing our hearts away in 47 minutes. Pace was 5:40! Giler kentang. Later that day, we were blaming each other for the fatigue & sore legs post run syndrome.

With a 50-50 feeling, I woke up Sunday morning as early as 6.00am to be ready for the proclaim Broga (reverse) ride with fellow friends, which was planned to be a milage training for the upcoming Ipoh Century Ride. Sky was not so convincing with an overcast of dark rain clouds all over Cheras. A quick sms to Azahari & his reply was only "OK, thanks bai"...not strong enough to bail out. Hahaha. OK, cut the crap. A glance at eurosport news for TdF stage results & I was pedalling off to Langat by 7.00am. Temperature was chilling. Broga, here I come for the 2nd time.

There was Bacin, Azwar, Azahari, Saiful & Sofian (baru kenal). Saiful terpaksa buat jualan murah & diskaun about 3/4 way up Peres dengan alasan lemah semangat. Dengan beberapa kilo racun yang dah ditabur sepanjang climb, he didn't eat the bait. Chis! Well at least he knows his limit. Aku pulak saja nak test water or in other terms...saja cari penyakit. Hehehe.

We rode up Peres, down towards Kuala Klawang, up the majestic Bukit Tangga (a quick stop at the newly built bus stop for a leak & bite), down to Lenggeng for maggie sup, rolling into Broga & Semenyih. I waved to Azahari (the only person left with me at the back) before we branched out. He joined the rest at Tekala while I forked away towards home taking the Semenyih-Kajang highway. The feat was never different from my 1st attempt. That's why the call it Broga...I guess.

The almost 6 hours fulfillment with aching legs successfully brought me to a 130km training ground for next Sunday's challenge. Sama ada berjaya atau tak, aku akan guna konsep marathon. Janji come prepared. Success or not is qadha' & qadar.

Antara adizero, Jawbone & Jebon

I'm sandwiched in between decisions. Just about 2 weeks after SCKLM, I have yet to discover or gauge my strength & endurance. Some plans have been made for the remaining days of this year but thoughts are still hazy. All are pile up in one or two hectic weekends back to back, cramping our athletes before coming of Ramadhan. A wise desire is required...mentally & economically.

First, there is the ipoh century ride coming up on 19-July. Considering it's about 3 weeks after the marathon, my initial judgement to participate was not an option. Being crazy & allowing my body to another mega stress is not a jedi move.

Second is the university duathlon series. Same day. It will be in UPM, my memorable place. Spent half my life there. Participating in a race would be a nostalgia, of course the climate won't be as 20 years ago. And it could be a nice rehersal as well for my next big event which is the powerman. Yes, after the humble glory of marathon, I plan to sign up for the long cat.

Then, there's the much awaited Shape Run. This year will be in Putrajaya at 9.00 pm. Something interesting. Since I missed it last year due to my zero-running year, a continuation of joining KL running events would be a good idea. It will be on 25-July, a week after Siemens, Century & Dua UPM. The same weekend also will be the Dua in Uniten but spending more bucks in a week is not an option. Not going to be a race freak. I thing Shape Run will do.

The next weekend of 1-2 Aug will be more hectic & crazy race days. Saturday will be the Dua in UM. In the evening will be Search's last concert before retirement. We, the old school rockers will be there to scream our lungs out. Sunday will be the Adidas King of the Road in Shah Alam. How do I squeeze these stuff will be decided later.

Last but not least before Ramadhan arrive will be the PCC Presidential Ride. Covering longer distance of 65km and will be run at a new venue, University of Nottingham, Semenyih. I wonder what they have for us this year round.

And so the mental disarrangement thing continued. Till today and I have yet to decide about tomorrow's Broga ride, my second attempt actually. The first one was a nightmare. It was supposed to be part of the Century training, covering the least 120km. Time & climate will tell tomorrow.

In the mean time, I won't give up my 5 months treasured base training. Last Tuesday a few of us from around the neighbourhood took a spin for more than an hour. Touring from housing areas to another. It was cool.

An attempt to revisit our training ground, Lake Garden last Thursday was abandoned. A great thunderstorm hit Klang Valley and we had to hold our excitement. Friday, I was so relieved, like all other millions of people across the globe, but I had no plans. An adhoc run with my kids was awesome. They cycled while I ran. The adizero CS bought from the warehouse sale felt great. Made me felt like flying, though I had only a pagoda t-shirt on...hahaha! Accidently met Det & it felt awhile since we met, so the chat went on completing our run. The feeling was great, and so I decided to keep on running.

Not forgetting, I took the liberty to reward myself & at the same time boosting my enthusiasms towards cycling, which was abandoned eversince I signed up for marathon. I took the bait. Thought of getting the Pro M Frame series but I was hooked to love at first sight to the Jawbone. No regrets, I should be rewarded for my triumph.

And now, the road goes on. Races will come & go. Weekends will come into sight & slight pass me in a brink of an eye. Weekends are about being out there, be it one a pair of trusted running snickers or sitting high on a saddle winding through roads. Valueing the richness of the world, be it day or night, rain or shine. It's how I will continue to reward myself with my love ones.

Post assessment & Chapter 1

The whole week of Week 19 (post marathon week) was done at ground zero...which means no workouts...zero...null. Alhamdullillah to my surprise, the recovery phase was short. After 2 days from race, I was able to walk, solat & throw-off the murky face in glory. Appetite was destructive. I was tense to feel the hunger every night before sleep though dinner was BIG. No idea which went well, but of course it's all at Allah's mercy.

Theory 1 : The legs are already used to the constant pounding of hours and hours, so an additional 1 hour plus from the normal LSD play less impact. Theory 2 : The ice therapy that I tried the evening after the race helped restore my form rapidly. Theory 3 : The ointment that I rubbed before bed. All in all, I was glad that it's over.

The reopening of Chapter 1 : My cycling affair - will take place subsequently. Get the running muscles to rest & restore & catching up with cycling friends, cycling stuff, spinning, intervals & of course the grand Tour de France. Nice timing.

Managed to squeeze in two spins on the weekend through some tight schedule. It's the quality that I pursue for this situation. Saturday, rallied with fellow Kuala Klawang group at Batu 14. I had 2 hours window, so the Klawang thing was not in the menu, which I bailed out from the peloton upon reaching Batu 18. The menu was intervals. Something I scraped out from the previous evening reading off Carmichael's stuff. The session was awesome, despide some offset which I mistakenly thought I lost my phone but it was safely placed on my dinner table at home. It penalised me with 20 minutes scavenging along the Ulu Langat road. Haiyo!

Sunday morning session had to be modified. Original plan was to spin down Langat again with Saiful. Program abandoned due to weather. It was overcast, promising a Sunday morning shower in 30 minutes. Getting soaked in Langat is not a great plan. Waited in-front of the pc checking mails & stuff. 8.30am and it still didn't rain. A quick invitation to my closest cycling alliance (my 6 years old son), and off we rode around the neighbourhood. First time for him riding on the main road, traffic was magnificently discreed. A 30 minutes father-son quality chat-ride was remarkable.

Later in the evening, Det & me rode to our lbs. Just a quick assessment on my mtb and a brief introduction to Det about cycling a.k.a. "racun". Initial stuff needs to be done on my bike : RD spring faulty, bar needs shortening, brake cable needs rerouting & in-search of seatpost (actual size for the frame). All these for the upcoming training program & definitely Prez ride in August.

Facts & figs

Courtesy of http://www.runpix.info/kul09/ge.php this are some awesome stuff from SCKLM 2009 that I really can digest.

Name : Shakhir bin Ishak
Event : Full Marathon
Date : Sunday, June 28, 2009
Bib/Div : 0587 / M3539
Time : 4h:45m:30s (gun) / 4h:43m:50s (net)

Result in Entire Field - 573rd place
918 finishers behind. About 38% of finishers ahead.

Result in Gender (Male) - 512th place773 finishers behind.
About 40% of finishers ahead.

Result in Division (M3539) - 81st place110 finishers behind.
About 42% of finishers ahead.

FACTS
Who's whoOf the 1491 who finished, 14% were female and 86% were male
Opposite Sex

For the record, you were ahead of about 70% of female finishers.
Timing InfoYour start delay: 1m 40s.

Note: This page based on CHIP times. Click images for GUN times.
From Halfway to FinishYou passed 188 runners

And 25 passed you?

Jangan sampai tak kenang

Otak-gone Coverage...hot one...

Thursday July 2, 2009
Blunders mar marathon
VALLEY VIEWS WITH Y.P.SIVAM

THE Standard Chartered KL Marathon, held for the first time this year, concluded on Sunday. While the organisers must be glad that the whole event is over, they must be held responsible for the glaring, embarrassing mistakes.

To say the Malaysian Amateur Athletics Union (MAAU) and Octagon South East Asia failed would be an understatement.

They had promised to organise an international event with about 12,500 participants and a memorable experience for the runners, spectators as well as the media.
Unfortunately, they did not live up to the promise and it was chaotic end to the race.
The prize-giving ceremony was a farce. Former international R. Muniandy was the fastest Malaysian in the 42km run, crossing the finishing line in a personal best of 2’31:52. Shaharudin Abdullah, who had represented Malaysia in the Korat SEA Games, clocked 2’39:52 to come in second.

I am the champion: Kenya’s Julius Ndiritu Karinga lifting his arm as he crosses the finishing line.
Even the electronic media had interviewed Muniandy after he crossed the finishing line. But Shaharudin was announced the winner and he went up to receive his prize, much to his own surprise.

A media official, who had been covering marathons for almost 10 years, was embarrassed about the whole incident.

“This is the first time I am seeing this happen. I have to wait for the official results to determine the winner. Until then the clippings cannot be carried,’’ said the official.

N.T. Balan, who has been a technical official since the first Kuala Lumpur International Marathon (KLIM) in 1984, said he had a shock when Shaharudin was called up to receive the prize from Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, the wife of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

“We had the results with us. We had also compiled the results manually to avoid any problems.
“Unfortunately, the organisers chose not to consult us and went ahead. It was an embarrassing situation for the VIPs present on stage during the ceremony,’’ said Balan.

The blunder involving Muniandy and Shaharudin was not the only bad episode at Dataran Merdeka on that day. The media were not presented with the official results. The group then left at noon after waiting almost three hours.

That was the reason the results of all the categories were not published in the newspapers. The runners also did not have any good words for the organisers.

An elderly participant said no one was at the water stations when he reached the crucial last 10km.
“That is the time when we need water to avoid dehydration. I don’t know why the water stations were not manned and we had to struggle to the finishing line. I took part in the Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore and it was not like this,’’ said the participant.

The route also came under fire. There were many turning points as the organisers wanted the participants to go through the important landmarks in the city. Unfortunately, this led to the participants criss-crossing and running the wrong way.

In fact, many doubted the official results as they felt the runners did not go through the actual route. The chip system was also questionable.

In the past, the Federal Territory Amateur Athletics Association (FTAAA), as one of the organisers, had handled the technical aspects involved in the marathon. This time the MAAU, as the national body, took charge.

There were also about 200 volunteers but they did not have any experience in the running of a marathon.

The Standard Chartered Bank should be praised for creating a carnival atmosphere at Dataran Merdeka. As the main sponsors, they should not be blamed for the unsporting incidents during the marathon.

The MAAU must realise that they don’t have the expertise to organise a marathon for 12,500 participants. They are just the governing body for athletics in Malaysia. They should work closely with their affiliates to run mammoth events like the marathon.

The MAAU, Octagon and the Standard Chartered Bank should take this year’s KL Marathon as a learning mission. Hopefully, we can see a better marathon next year.