Larian Kampung

The Kampung Boys. Left back to front - Zarol, Det, Nizam, Asharul, Bahri, Saiful, Asharul's in-law & me.

Settled. One Sunday being a timekeeper at the CAR Family Run and six days later or it should be a month after ENR, I started running again. Nothing big but only 8 kampung buddies pounding the road around the kampung covering 8km. More of a social gathering, gempak the kampung people a bit and the rest was left to the old running legs to tell the tale. Legs felt good though but deep down I was struggling to maintain a good running gait at the last kilo. Rules of thumb - get more milage la dude.

The run was initiated by Det. Thanks buddy. And I just adds to the recipe, inviting more local friends around the neighbourhood to join. Second rules of thumb - the more the merrier & you get to kill the milage while chatting nonsense. I knew that we would make an appearance that morning. Just imagine, an unattemptable feat in BTHO - except Kenyans, a chain of people running in a pack, crowding the neighbourhood road. We received stares from passing vehicles, obnoxious looks, supportive shouts and honks. Hah!

57 minutes and 53 seconds later, I continued running - the Saturday domestic errands la pulak. Laundry, groceries, Kumon, cuti ganti sekolah, Kumon again, cuti ganti sekolah again (two kids at two school sessions) and swim class in the evening. Phew.

Toruk Makto!

Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2010 - Users

There you go. After so much fuss about registering, today I've made up my mind - why so hard to decide la dude? Three weeks ever since I crossed the finish line - defeated & pasrah. Hah! Lesson learned. This time, I'm coming back strong. Godspeed. ROTF. Rise of the Machine. Toruk Makto!

The three weeks journey was not quite kind also. It was rather merciless - just like Megatron. There was not a single moment that allows me for muhasabah. Not a chance. Tight. Knotted. You name it. The third week was the hardest. Smacked right to ground zero. Right after my weekend ride, when body laid fatigue, exposed to harmful germs - voila! They call it the stomach flu. Whole week of tempo runs to the loo. Nothing less than five times a day. First day was the worst. SIX trips that night alone. You can just imagine the dehyration crisis Í was in. The nutritions, vitamins, fat, stamina, etc - all down the flush. Royal ones. As of right now, I'm crawling back up, collecting my thoughts as I go. I even lack the confidence to get back on the road.

People say you need to fall and rise to be stronger. That psychological drive is a booster. Yes, perhaps it helps to fuel that engine. Especially when we are talking about months of training. Running a marathon is one of it. I fell twice in my first mara - pardon me for the memorabilia. I just recovered from a month of acute sinusitis. A month of topsy turvy between surviving deformed nose, sinusitis migraines & fasting in 2008 Ramadhan. The breakthrough brought light to my life. It was sunshine everyday. It never felt better. That was when I decided to sign up for my first marathon. However, I trained too hard without cautious. Third month into training, got myself a hamstring pull. It pulled so hard, I thought I had to say good-bye to marathon. A month rehab. I came back - hard as well.

This time around, I take it as the same phenomena. Though I realised time is not quite feasible, be it the training quantum nor my availability, I will give this one a shot. I had other agendas to drive me to the finish line. I signed up for Run for a Cause! Click the top link guys. It's for cancer. I've been longing to run for something. Shuk showed me the way. Thanks bro. A doctor in the States dedicated his 20 marathons to his local pediatric ward. He brought them each medals from donors everytime after his marathon. I lost two friends to cancer. Tragic ones. Watching the love ones they left was depressing enough.

OK ladies and gentlemen, it is back to the drawing board. Time to strategize. Time to heave each other with motivations. Time to make headlines in the local races again. Time to get a new pair of shoes?! Ammah! Let us run. We'll never know we will die of cancer or what but at least we know that we are running for it - promo sikit apa salahnya kan? ;)

Secret Saturday

A by-product of 3 loads of laundry, an hour of ironing, dishes, 8hrs babysitting while listening to Teacher's Pet

p/s. Fulfilling my son's request. Anticipate more to come. Argh!

Release the Kraken

Release the Kraken! Is that all that you got?! Awww....come on. I trust there should be something else that you can give with an umph! Well, eventually the movie itself answered my tempted mind. It scored B-.

Was it because most of the storyline resembled Percy Jackson & the Lightning Thief which I saw earlier. The journey. You know la. A mission. A voyage to rescue a princess, to safe the world from devastation. Well, honestly speaking Percy was stiff. I even got mad at him for being so wimpy. But Worthington, he can do something worthy more. I know he can, like in Terminator and definitely Avatar. Perhaps Titans can be as long as LOTR if they want to put in every bit of the details but they squeezed in everything in a rather short and premature slots.

Even Mr. Kraken himself appeared in a very short while as compared to those giant scorpion fight scenes and Madusa chase. Nothing of the above lifted my feet off the plush carpet. Why must Perseus gave a chase with Hades's demonic archangle for Medusa's head too long rather than showing he fights Kraken more? Kraken have been waiting all these years deep in the ocean floor for this moment, but what he gets was a 3 minute slot and ends up being a stone. His manager should fight more for him.

Enough said. I don't want to break weekend moviegoers' appetite for Greek mythology. Well, at least now I have more understanding of the myth itself. Watching it way back in 1981 was more like appreciating the special effects - I was only 10 years old ok. If I were to pick movie of the week, I'd chose How to Train a Dragon. At least it soaked my eyes and made me giggle more than once. Next, I'm counting on Mr. Tony Stark himself. Go! Ironman! Go!

Labu - Sendayan

Pix courtesy of Doc

Just after a week of pushing another marathon envelope, I gave another nudge with my cycling milage. In the first week post marathon, I was already contemplating to sign up for another round of 42km. The idea just floats in the soffit of my head for days. Though it seems doable but lots more facts and figures that I have to gauge. Perhaps it will be just another stroll down the 12 weeks training path. But should I or could I do it? We'll see how it goes.

However, weekend comes and weekend goes. I won't take the slightest chance of loosing it. There's no better way to end the zero-run-week with something other than running. Am I confusing myself or what? Never mind. I don't have the slightest idea of my recovery status from the marathon but the adrenaline rush permits to commit for a 138km cranking Sunday. Why Sunday? Because the awesomely organised ride by fellow Pedalphiles Cycling Club (PCC) only rides on Sunday.

138km is no joke - well at least for me. Though I have 101km past two weeks up in the saddle, the extra 37km means agony. Which sums up to about 5 hours 11 minutes of sore butt and wimpy legs - less 10 minutes than my PW in ENR. Hah! But nothing come close to the great feeling of arriving in Port Dickson watching the shoreline infront of the power station. It was unbelievable but trust me, the ride back was neither boring.

What's ahead will still come head on. What is laid behind the lunch counter must be tackled first. I had an awesome lunch. White rice, ikan keli sambal and kuah lomak cili api. Pergh! It's refuel time. I just had to make sure it's clearly defined. Phew.

The 50 over enthusiasts and spirited cyclists made our way back in the late morning sun. All scattered into smaller groups. Some even decided to stop by an air kelapa muda stall. What was a rolling stretch of tar and grime from Port Dickson to Sendayan, now turned merciless. Clock struck 1.00 p.m. We pedalled on. Another rolling stretch from Sendayan to Sepang through Gadong Jaya and Labu was slightly forgiving from the shading rubber trees. We cranked on. From the busy street of Sepang small town to the ferocious climb up to De Palma Hotel had me. I was forced to abandon it halfway and continued to the crest, walking. That was scary. I almost heard the calve muscles screaming.

20km to go. 20 dreaded burning kilometres. And I have to make it back to Bandar Baru Bangi before 3.00p.m. Clumsy me, I bought tickets to the How to Train a Dragon at 3.40 p.m. The last push was an ordeal. The timeline aided my deteriorating spin. More cyclists coming in towards the carpark. Some earlier arrivals even clap their hands in support sharing the share of pain. The pain, exhaustion and fatigues were pushed aside just to make way for me to arrive home in time. However, a short brief reminder from wifey asked me to doublecheck the showtime. It was actually at 5.40 p.m. la dude. Double Phew! Hahaha. That equals to an hour of solid nap.