Our first tri out

Avillion Admiral Cove

Hence, no workout for me but as usual the weekend was full with endorphines although it was experienced by my offspring. We were in Port Dickson for Kaklong's first triahtlon. Amir bailed out when he can't commit to the swim demand - wise of him. Yes, these are superkids we are talking here. They swim like seals, not dugong. Amir is a strong runner and on the bike. Perhaps I'll just make sure he excels in the coming Duathlon.

We arrived in PD Friday evening for race kit collection and race briefing at Avillion Admiral Cove - cool place. Our first triathlon briefing and us the parents also shared the jitters. However Uncle Chan (UC) was there to make it a jovial and in relax mood though top priority is safety. The race course was designed to ensure kids race in a secured area and not prone to open traffic - cool approach so as to lessen parents' fear of kids safety. We checked out the course later between the sunset and rushed for Kaklong's final carboload.

Saturday was race day for three categories i.e. Sprint Category, Kids 13-15 years and Super Kids 11 years and under. The Sprint was flagged-off at 8.00 a.m. sharp - UC is a punctual guy. The atmosphere was still relax since most of the Sprint triathletes are newbies and some expereience ones perhaps treat it as warm up for the bigger race on Sunday. Well what do you know? We still have fellow RBU covering the PD tri footage. We have Nik behind his SLR's lense - good thing Nik behave today unlike when he has mju tough series on his hand. And we also have Syah and family. Syah was brave enough to wade into knee high deep water to get a feel of salinity on his skin. And the rest were the CAR friends. Nice to have familiar faces around at our first tri out.

RBU and CAR combined

It was an interesting sight as they started to saunter away into the water and took their time to start swimming. Saiful was one of them and a few other familiar faces - all first timers. Approaching 100m, a few of them stopped and held on to the buoy and UC started shouting for them "Swimmers, you are welcome to come back. Don't worry!". Everybody on the beach started laughing with UC's encouraging quote. If I were them, I would have waited until all swimmers make their u-turn and beach myself together. Hah!

They continued with the cycle and running league and still the race atmosphere was casual. The emcee at the transition area did a good job. Next category was Kids 13-15yo. This was a totally different tempo. It was fast and energetic. The sprinted towards the sea like chasing the waves away and in minutes they started appearing one by one closely from the water and dashed for the bikes and run. In 40 minutes these strong boys and girls have digged  350m swim + 9km cycle + 2km run. Wrapped! Spectators were still in awe when the last participant crossed the finish line.

OK. Make sure you remove those afterwards eh?

Last one was of course for my dearest Kaklong's category. We have 35 Super Boys and Girls and as usual UC was able to control the race jitters and fear. Coach Azwar and Aunty Stephanie was there to lead the stretching and warm up swim. Yasmin held on to me a few times telling me she's a bit nervous. Who wouldn't?! I comforted her and gave the boost. She had to bring the kickboard for confidence and she will definitely sign up for a better competitive swimming lesson after this.

The horn was blown and all these little wonders started dashing into the lowering tide like baby turtles. I don't dare to watch further and start worrying cause I know they have loads of kayakers, jetskis and even divers to ensure safety as top priority. It was a 150m swim and lucky for them it was low tide. Í assumed they only swam 100m and ran in the knee high deep tide for the remaining 50m to and fro. Kaklong was among the last few to come back. She later told me the delay was due to sharing her kickboard with another girl which needed her help - nice.

Kaklong finished her swim strong and still had to run 150m to the transition area. She tossed the kickboard and goggle to mom and I was running with her encouraging her not to stop though she almost wanted to. There were a few more kids were already huffing and walking. I was surprised Sarah of CAR was there to run together for support. Thanks Sarah. Kaklong put on her shoes, helmet, race belt and pushed her bike to the Bike Out point as practiced. Perfect. And I was running - again, along her cycle route but only for 100m before I realised Amir was following me. Aiyo! Amir!

Mommy! What's this? Pity people will step on it nanti...

Kaklong was a bit on the disadvantage side with the cycle part. Her bike was undersize. She had to put extra effort as compared to a few others with real roadbikes. Argh! Is there any cheap or used kids roadbike for sale? A new one will tear my wallet RM1900 less! No worries Kaklong, superdad will find a way. Amir? OK we'll discuss that later. The 2km to and fro took ages for her to come back. I started to worry, and so was Amir. Yes, Amir is the worry type boy. He started throwing possiblities for the delay i.e. puncture, lost, mechanical problems. Aiyo! As I wanted to go look for her, she appeared with a few other kids. They were in a peloton! Hahaha! How clever of them. 

As usual I was shouting my lungs out when Kaklong passed me and started to wait for her u-turn for the second 2km lap. However, mommy called and told me Kaklong straight went into the transition area as directed by marshals. What?! A few other kids were also given the same instruction. Dunno what happened but I was chasing Kaklong for her run stretch. Now she started to feel the fatigue and I knew that she needed all the support. It was a 1km course, on the grass and carpet mostly. Though she almost wanted to stop and walk, she still battled the race. The final 50m to the finish line was fantastic when she had to sprint with two more boys. I think she clocked 23 minutes but the bundle of joy was more on completing her first triathlon.

Ziillions of thank you to all for your support and wishes. May we have a breed of new Malaysians. Fookyah!

Eh? Where's ayah?

shhhh...ayah tengah berkenalan dengan brader Milo daaa

More Dirt on Video

I forgot about a short video I managed to record from the recent Bukit Kiara Trail run. Stumbled upon it last night while downloading photos from the Cuber-shot. Hence, the creativity bug flew in and get me to chant something for our memories and reminds us of how fun it is to be running with passionate people around us.

Perhaps the video is not in HD and very shaky due to on-the-run shots but that's the best I can spent my time on. Nothing like Steven Spielberg's ok :)

Sorry for the small window and small captions. I'm learning here :)

Perhaps by downloading the video, it can be watched in a larger version.

Dugong in the making

Things went a bit too slow for me, at least for the last few weeks. Too many life in the fast lane can make oneself wonder how does it feel like to be halted and taken by the time rather than in pursuit. I couldn't agree more. The tortoise mood that engulfed me resulted well. Sometimes it's beneficial for a come back but taking too long laying back and kill time will kill ya :D

OK my weekdays were zero back then. No runs, no nothing. A kilo running with my daughter was more like father-to-daughter kill time chat session. I took that awesomely and listen to her stories which mostly clouds around her school friends, teachers, etc - nothing extrodinaire. We communicate. It was a two way dialogue. We can't do that over dinner or in the car on the way to Kumon, there's so many story versions from Amir and Umar as well. When one starts talking about friends, the remaining two will be the sequels, only different actors. Interesting isn't it - the power of siblings :)

Yasmin been training hard for her first triathlon especially during Sunday simulations. Amir charmingly volunteered to be her domestic, giving support at the runs and cycles. A 4 hour simulation for them is already taxing but I was glad they got used to the drills. Me? I spent the rest of the day staring at the empty sky doing nothing.

I can't stand it anymore. Enough with the kill time zone. To hyped myself that Sunday, I did some ironing needing to channel those adrenalines out. There goes a week ironing settled. For Week 4 after KL-Marathon, I presumed things might be recovering well and tabling out some workout plans is a must. From now until Ramadhan and heading towards the end of the year, keeping steady is paramount.

For a start, Det and me went swimming yesterday. Though with only three classes up our sleeves, we were in need for a bigger and ambient pool to put the skill to test. DBKL's pool at Bandar Tasik Selatan was the perfect destination. We had the pool to ourselves for the first our. Compared to Bandar Tun Razak's, too many pros and in a minute we'll feel like ikan bilis already :D Though it was only 25m long, it was ideal to master those strokes.

I was focusing on the pull-push and greedy enough to put in some distance. However, it didn't turn out proudly. By the time I turned back to complete the lap, I was half dugong - slow and heavy on the arms. Argh! Not looking good there bro. I managed only 100m and that was pretty much...laborous. Change of plan. Engage laidback approach. I went 25m with wall breaks and simply concentrates on the stroke and breath. I count every one of it. Yes, the same idea applied from my striding reps. To keep us top of the form for a perfect running gait, we need to rest and lower the HR before starting the next stride.

I kept on doing the drill for another 25m x 10 perhaps, and reducing the wall break time. I was pretty much swimming and gliding, and every stroke seemed to move me closer to the wall smoothly. That was awesome. It went well so far and an hour seemed well spent as compared to my earlier judgement about swimming. "Me swim 30 minutes also enough la, that is already kaput you know!".

Bukit Kayu Putih getaway

This would be more of an awesome weekend getaway from the constant pounding of tarmac, the bustling traffic and perhaps the dull colour of the metropolitan. After the laidback drive to Kuala Kubu Bharu last Wednesday, time took a halt for me. No more chasing it and I laid the weekend plan at a last minute gesture from the local kampung buddies.

So commonly known as Bukit Apek due to it's vastly amount of Chinese old folks in and out. I can hardly find Malays or Indians - perhaps we were the only one but all climbers were so friendly one. We greeted without fail at each and every one of them. I supposed this forest catchment is also known as Bukit Kayu Putih, an extended path originated from a nearby reserve next to the Wildlife Department. Perhaps it was cut short due to greedy development in pursuit of highland housing projects offering hilly terrace viewing green hills.

I never had the thought that Bukit Apek will offer a great getaway until I was almost experiencing an LSD aftermath. "Alaa...Bukit Apek. Sure kacang one. We can be out before 10.00 a.m. and I still can send my kids to tuition". The 1 day plan with Det was to reach the peak and perhaps the waterfall if time permit.

The only landmark easily spotted for rendevous

7.30 a.m. to meet Bahri who stayed nearby but he overshot the alarm by 15 minutes blundering over morning chores and send his kid to school. Det brought along four schoolgoers from his neighborhood - a variety in the mood for a weekend old goat warrior like me :D I took the chance to get a Snickers. Perhaps a good chomp for the retreat. I can almost imagine the choc indulgence in a few hours.

We followed what Ian and Che blogged about and it was straight forward. Neatly parked cars by the roadside was an easy spot to mark the trailhead. More No Parking signages around the corner reminded visitors from being too kiasu. Jalan Awana 23 was in mind and it was spot on!

Climbing trail neatly carved & maintained with ropes

There you go, climbs. There's nothing more basic than climbs and descendings. A pinacle in the middle of a vast concrete jungle will definitely offer short and long vertical burst of lungs and hungry knee pounding descendings. There was a climb right smacked at the beginning of the trail and it just continued endlessly. The clean and wide trail with ample greenery just brought me back to my climbing chapters ages ago. I was nostalgic and zapped back through time. It never felt better, admiring the beauty and richness of nature at it's paramount.

Uprooted tree offering a bit drama to the pix :)

A matured rubber plantation mixed with secondary forest

 As time flew by whilst our chit chatting and howling for the endless climb, my camera didn't stop snapping numerous artifacts that could fill the album. It's high time that I put my skill to the test especially in a low light atmosphere of the local humidity. I took my time and let the wilderness swallowed me full. At times I was way back behind from the group but I caught up at every junction regrouping.

It's all yours. Rake as you wish if you treasure the nature

There was a plateu in the middle of the climb at a junction. Good for a breather. Stations were located at junctions for good navigation throughout the trail network. All 6 stations if I'm not mistaken. There are numerous paths that can easily deviate trekkers but as long as you keep your adventure seeking adrenaline to the main trail, all uncles and aunties should be fine with it.

Bahri checking whatever he wants to check on the GPS. I'm checking out his roti :D 

Freshly cut from recent maintenance

Hash was recently held. I can't imagine the chase up and down these terrains 

Finally we reached the peak with an unsurprising atmosphere. "What?! Peak already eh?". I was hoping for a view of the whole Cheras area but what turned out was a flat area the size of perhaps two classrooms, some benches, table and canopies. Of course a few groups of the regulars were there taking their breather and killing time. It was anti climax after what was spent jerking those quads up the trails. Some even required knee-to-chin steps. I didn't stay long to enjoy the not-so-exciting peak and decided to venture into another trail before Dett and Bahri stopped me and persuaded to head on to the waterfall trail. ON! ON! Let's get the excitement high in pursuit of the waterfall pulak.

Still can find large trunks like this - treasure 

The dipterocarp canopy was amazing

Sign of aging, too bad

From a gentle trail along the backbone of the ridge, the trail lead us plummeting to a 100 meters drop. I mean real vertical drop. Long one. It gets slippery and oneself might wish that they had a good gripping outsoles by this time. Ropes were laid neatly along the descending trail but I stayed true to my legs and placed my steps firmly at every carved area. Some of us decided to dangle at the ropes and swung left and right as the descending gets fun. We started questioning each other when the sound of gushing water was heard at a distance but there was no sight of it. This reminded me of Kem Melantai of Gunung Tahan. Imagine descending two hours in pursuit of the refreshing sound of the river but yet it was still far. Exquisite frustration.

Mule kept me accommodated

OK eventually the jewel. Freshly cupped in between massive canyons all around, this beauty was the breakaway. There's never a reviving sound than millions of gallons of pure H2O banging against the rock from 10 feet high. I still can't accept the fact of having this gorgeous serenity within 7km from home. Betul ke ni?

The boys been waiting for this. Enough adventure and it was time for fun. Just like my boy days, this kind of trip wouldn't be complete without a bath towel and extra short in the bag. I love dipping and some trips turned cliff jumping when I got too adventurous. Somehow, I had to save it this time around. I need to spare a bit more relaxing energy for the walk later. The RM3.00 Snickers tasted like RM15.00 now. It was totally evil. Muahahaha!

Kaki Lambung sudah tukar jadi Kaki Gayut

Enough 30 minutes being a Tarzan, we called the boys like teachers to balik. Of course we got the typical replies like "Kejap! Kejap!" or "Last! Last!". That was like another 15 minutes of waiting for them to giggle and dressed. Aiyo! Kids will always be kids kan? The torment of having to scale the 100 meters back up was put aside. Lung busting time! Ammah! Jerking and hauling and more pulling required as the climb started taxing on the nerves and mind. Phew!

However, with the remainings of a bit more adventure in us, we decided to take a different route back. Little that we know the route will take us into more ups and downs. Aiyo! Though shorter compared to the coming route, with the extra time on the legs, it was draining by the minute. Where's the exit la dude? I'm chewing my tongue here and needs more than Snickers to entertain the grumbling gut. We started conversation with different tones and dialects as the never ending exiting trail started to get on our nerves and to kill the monotony - please don't do this at home.

Finally the tarmac. Double Phew! Bahri's GPS enlightened us with some gadgetary facts.

Total distance : 9.1km

Total time spent : 3:54 (approx.)

Total moving time : 2:30 (approx.)

Elevation gained : 300 meters

Enough with laidback stuff for the week and am needing a pinch of endorphines soon. I'm getting older by the minute should I stay at this mode any longer.

Clouds - the laidback track

I went driving today. No, not golf driving. And no, not running or cycling. Yes, driving and what's that supposed to mean? Dunno, it describes better since the path is a heaven for drivers like me - the laidback style. It was supposed to be a visit to Hulu Selangor Municipality office in Kuala Kubu Bharu and I just love the drive via Batu Caves - Sungai Tua (Batu Dam) Route B57 - Ulu Yam (the picnic area) - Ulu Yam Baru - Batang Kali; route B113. Seemed like walking backwards through time from the modernism of the hard concrete and hot paved life and into the cool green and slow life of the wilderness. Fuel: cuppa black coffee from Taman Melati's McDonald.

Traffic was innocently...less. It's a bonus to find one or two at this oddly hour between 10.00 to 12.00 p.m and on Wednesday somemore. Better still, when you have to tail a Vico van with uncle Lim or pakcik Subri or Uncle Muthu behind the wheel at 50kph - you just have to layback a bit and enjoy the journey. Winding down the windscreen is perhaps a good idea as well. The breeze is awesomely undescribable. Weekend is a no-no especially when we have picnickers at Ulu Yam waterfalls. Even worse with Mat Rempits squatting on their ride doing monkey business. Oh! Talking about monkeys, yes I saw them. A family. Cute. Order: Primates; Family: Cercopithecidae; Subfamily: Cercopithecinae.

Ulu Yam picnic area

Approaching the Ulu Yam Bharu small town, the biggest and grandest shop would be the one selling Chinese herbs and medicine. A trishaw crawling by the road. A small durian stall infront of a coffee shop with the usual coffee lovers simply enjoying the slow turn of the clock. Hmmm...I wonder what they do for a living here besides selling durians and the local shops? It is just so simple and minimalist.

Solitary

Batang Kali is a different story by itself. Just another typical new and old town of 1Malaysia. School kids, football field, Petronas, traffic lights every kilometer and construction lorries. No need to describe more.

However, things took a slight turn towards Kuala Kubu Bharu. The view of mountain range surrounding the town is another awesomeness. I used to cycle from here to Fraser - the slowest mode to enjoy the vast scenery of Sungai Selangor water catchment and the cool and granny climb up to the Gap. Passing by Pertak orang asli settlement is another sight of basicness.

Clouds. Somewhere at MRSM Kuala Kubu Bharu

Too bad, I had only a phone for these photos and whilst driving somemore! Aiyo! OK-OK. I'm needing a Fraser ride soon.

Sumbang Kerajaan Persekutuan. Cool.

Sumbangan Kerajaan mana pulak ni?!

Seremban Half Marathon 2010 - Chasing the Pewter

Some of us decided to sing N9 anthem that morning :)

Another blast at the weekend. Packed like canned sardines and just enough window for a breather before sofa gripping Tour de France and World Cup final on the tube later tonight. The days passed by so fast with the usual routines day in and day out. The weekend had me juggling more than I can hardly handle but sure was a terrific one.

I only logged 2km pounding with my kids on an evening weekday and that particular Saturday morning. Followed further with a quick breakfast and rushed away to farmers' market before fresh veggies and fish got wallop-ped. Four slices of tenggiri and 5 ikan selar robbed me RM38.70. A basket full of bayams, carrots, tempe, caulie flower, long beans another RM18.00. Earlier nasi lemak for breakfast wasn't enough, so we had Sausage McMuffins and black coffee after that. Then to Bangi as adviser to wifey's dress-shopping agenda. Kumon driver 12-1pm. Swim classes for kids and me from 3-7pm. Got lowerback ache from those breaststroke postures. A late meetup with a friend that can't be posponed ended my day at 11.30pm and I was still mingling around with the bibs to make it more aero-dynamic before bed. Ammah!

Alarm went off at 4.00am but I overshot 46 minutes. Lucky me Det's message came in and I had only 14 minutes to tumble. The worse preparation for a half marathon - always. The drive on PLUS Highway in the early morning was soothing, especially after having a rough day before. We talked more about the current issue on "jaguh kampung" vs foreign participations at our races. We stopped at the R&R just in time for dawn prayer and contemplating about morning chores. "Nah! Don't feel a think. Let's continue to Seremban la bro."

Seremban was hectic at 6.30am due to the event. As we dressed up and still a bit dazed, all those earlier contemplation came in one go. Pee, defecation, bib pin-up, mini breakfast had me looked even clumsier. Choit! We have only 15 minutes left and the makan-angin drive took most of it. Just enough time to cross the splish-splosh field onto the starting line and a few photoshots of buddies. BANG! Haza and me almost caught by surprise when the gun went off. "Eh?! Dah start la!" and we were still standing in the middle of the 10K runners doing their warmups. I thought we were the last. We were joined by Ijam right after A&W corner and just about to start the Gold Coast Marathon chit chat, a second surprise caught me. "Weh! They open the road for traffic already la! Liao!". We were in the middle of the road and those traffic were ready to stampede their way with bright headlights behind us. Phew. This is getting interesting by the minute. Haza had to bail out from the camaraderie for a pit-stop at Shell moments later.

GCM chat was about to continue with Ijam when suddenly Hailmi CAR overtook us with some gimmicks. Been a while I saw Hailmi after his Ultra Sundown. Then Midon CAR pulak blasted passed us with his B222 bib number and he wasn't gimmick-ing. He just faded away into the crowd. We came upon bro Wibowo 20 minutes into the run for a fast and tiny lambungs. The third interesting stuff got us at the first "water station" right after the hospital junction. Yes, as anticipated, the local was selling bottled water. Didn't quite get the price since they just about to set up the table but it was a blast for a laugh.

The laugh didn't quite last long when we were caught at the first long granny. Sky was perfect, enough to enlighten us with the spectating view of the incline. My HRM starts freaking out as I tried to keep up with Hailmi while Ijam silently paced himself at the rear. Phew! That was one mother of all hill. Yeah! Wait till you meet the rest of it.

I got lost with the route as I tried to recall the map. I remember passing through Taman Warisan Puteri - they have nice houses. Then Hailmi informed me that we just passed Stadium Paroi which I didn't realise. We were busy talking most of the time. It felt like any other weekend LSD when we were proned to traffic hazard - lucky the route passed through quieter roads. I felt like doing a gym workout by this time with air badak in one hand and the camera in the other. Hanging the camera onto the Spibelt wasn't a good idea as it kept on banging on my balls-of-fury. Decided to ditch the air badak at Paroi water station after swigging half the bottle. Then it was Sikamat area which was noticeable from lots of Sikamat signboards. Sikamat school, Sikamat Police Station, Sikamat this, Sikamat that. Pace was still going steady and so was the chatting. Though I asked Hailmi to just leave me if he wishes to but he chilled and stayed and joke around instead. We met Det and barefoot brother later and more jokes flew around especially with a pair of St John's girls. We got free Salonpas for that. Hahaha!

Kasi pakai ni bro! Barang free nih!

The race started getting on my nerve as we pounded the remaining of Sikamat when I started asking disturbing questions to Hailmi. "Bro, berapa jauh lagi?" - it sounded more like questions from my 4 year old kid - perhaps resulted from the constant eager pace earlier. Hailmi told me that once we reached the Raja Melewar Institute, things should be better. Ye ke bro? We have ran 1:30 into the race and my plan to hit sub-2 hour seemed doable. "4km lagi bro", so he said. We had some more mini climbs and it's becoming taxing by the minute for me. Another shock came upon crossing a four cross when nobody was manning the busy junction. We were shouting all the over the place trying to inform our presence to the eager motorists. Phew! That went safely.

The crowd grew bigger as we joined the 10K runners. It was a sea of white cotton tees and most of them were school kids. They had all kinds of shoes on and some even ran with tumblers, bouncing all over the place. The final incline was there smacked 100 yards infront of me which I decided to let go of the pace. Hailmi and Ijam left for their final triumph. I decided to engage smaller gears wiggling through the field of cottons. It was an endless climb. The roundabout signage at the top seemed like a mountain of hope. Walked and ran before I saw Hailmi had slowed down and was waiting for me. Alamak! Bro, don't make me guilty when you can run all the way to the finish which I knew only a click away. He responded with encouragement that the final dash is only a grasp away. I obliged and gave the final push vrooming through the ever increasing crowd. It was a hard push downhill back towards MPS field and we were pounding the tarmac like never before. I didn't dare to glimpse at the HRM as it freaked out madly until approaching the finishing gantry and it was minus 1 minute 20 seconds before two hours. Double Phew!

Headed our way across the muddy field towards the Milo station and indulged ourselves with the bestest Milo ever. My first Seremban Half Marathon medal was awesome. Selangor Pewter tuh! It was worth the labour going after it - so I thought. All in all, it was a great run simply organised and that should be the way for all other races...maybe. Made our way back to the finish line to greet the rest and met Deo, Zaki, Farid and the rest of CAR. Sorry I can't stay around bro for chats. Have to rush off to Putrajaya for my kids tri simulation clinic.

Seremban Half Marathon 2010

The weekend is approaching fast. How time flies. Even my 7 year old kid looks forward for the weekend. This morning he even yelled "Yeay! Today is Friday!". And I thought a near 40 guy like me beamed like the shine after a rain every Friday evening.

It's been quiet at the war front. FMVs had their TT last few days and I had to miss it. Ijam just updated his Gold Coast Marathon photos and it's superb. Tickled my heart and mind to make it possible for next year - daydreaming je. But we never know, perhaps 2011 is an outside Malaysia marathon year.

For a weekend enthusiast like me, weekend is the jewel of all days . This coming one comes with a unique one. The Seremban Half Marathon. Estimated to originate since 1987. That would be...23 years ago! Classic. And for that, they still provide a cheap fee with cotton tee. Awesomeness. The first time I came across the news, I was attracted to the fee. Det took the liberty to sign up for me - thanks dude. Eventually the excitement turned pale after the camaraderie of a fantastic KL-Marathon. However, only today the feeling resurfaced with some thoughts.

With less milage on the legs plus the supposed to be 40 days of recovery, the dilemma crops in. Should I hit this one with the usual race objectives or simply take it easy? A plan should be tabled out to avoid wasted weekend. From a glimpse at the race route, I anticipate there will be some surprises and heart pounding inclines. What about the race management? No idea. Water stations? Not shown but there are a few petrol stations that may provide hydration shopping venues - talking about surviving a race in Malaysia. One thing for sure, I'll bring my Sony Cuber-shot to train for Gold Coast Photo Marathon 2011. Ammah! And Ziff already requested a shot at Jalan Dato' Siamang Gagap.

Have a great weekend to fellow friends and good luck to fellow RBUs attending the Seremban Half Marathon. Fookyah!

Brick?

Those are telur mata goyang, made special for bricky Sunday

Before KL-Marathon, I was already hyped with loads more activities down the pipe approaching Ramadhan. Setting a few targets wisely whilst juggling a few other commitments ain't easy though. My recent weekend was included. It was packed to the brim till the last daylight.

As planned with Kash, Nadia and Det, a brick training approaching PD tri was completed yesterday. Det and me ain't participating due to our badak style swim and the swim yesterday confirmed we are moons away to be the Man from Atlantis.

The day started with a beautiful overcast morning, with random sprinkle of rain here and there which was ignorable. The vast sight of Putrajaya lake with cool breeze made it a picture perfect - sigh, I left my Cuber-shot at home. Buddies were about nice - not too many and the abscence of hot gears and attire from some people made it the simplest and the most fun training.

There were Kash, Nadia, Det, Nizam and Bahri. Alwin came in later during our run. We rolled of towards the IM70.3 bike route slightly after 7.30 a.m. with nothing more than just to let the bike move. It was my first ride after three months of non-biking and getting up to the 25kph mark got my HRM freaking. What was that la dude?! Bahri overheard the screaming and just smile away. Lucky me it gets down to Zone 3 eventually after 5km. Phew! The remaining of the ride was simply awesome. We have long granny quad screaming climb and a fast thigh burning flat road to add to the neurotransmitter. The last 5km was nothing more like a spin in the park back to the pool.

Continued with a 20 minute jog by the Pullman lake and the the weather just got better. There were more chats and Alwin joined in with his bike before decided to cycle a bit more while we sped off into the pool. Pool was about to close at 11.00 a.m. and we have about 35 minutes to juggle - it was more than enough for me though. I lost count of my laps but I think it was a gritting 2 X 100m.  I was so focused on the pull and push thing and the triceps were burning fast - betul ke triceps? Ye la kot. Haha! When I lost those arms, legs decided to chip in and then it was burning thighs pulak. Now my whole self felt like a brick and ready to sink. Aiyo! Perhaps I am still in recovery stage from the marathon and that fortified I have to chill.

We had our late breakfast somewhere in Precint 9 with Kash's Sunday brick menu - maggi goreng and telur mata goyang. Ammah! The mamak came twice to confirmed the specified order and also to inform the early morning World Cup result - Spain it was. It rained while we digged into breakfast and lots more chats and jokes flew around. The subsiding temperature caught us that we have to be back home for a nice snuggly rest for the days to come.

Anyway, the day wasn't over yet. PD triathlon isn't passing by without the least participation from my side. Yasmin was looking forward to partake. Supporting parents is the key which I find it rare for a lovely girl in our vicinity. Go get them girl! We decided to ditch our peaceful lazy evening at home and joined Azwar at the Trikidz team at KLCC Park. They have hill running at the park undulating course was perfect. Running buddies were awesome as well. We have international friends. There were Sean and Zoei, Ethan and Owen from UK, two kids from Japan, Naufal (Det's son), Yasmin and Amir from Batu 10, Cheras :) and Azhan. I knew those hills drills were killing those quads and thighs but I was proud that they pushed it on till the last bit. A generous reward for my lovely athletes. Fookyah!

Recovery jog downhill guys

OK. Shake those calves

Whoa! Reloading eh? Say your prayer first la Kaklong

Dirt Day

The world is just awesome. Some of us never had enough of running. In fact, this trail run was scheduled two weeks before KL-Marathon and each of these people was very keen to whack this trail be it rain or shine.

I had my camera yesterday. The old seven years old Canon decided to call it a day, so got myself with this cute Sony cyber-shot. The special thing about this cute guy is it's outstanding low-light performance and the 10 fps burst mode (no idea what it is but it really helps with moving subjects at low light). Shooting in low light have been my worse nightmare with point and shoot camera ever since my mountainbiking days. Today, I declare the issue resolved. Come take a hike with this Kings down the beaten track.

It drizzled when I left home and intensity grew as we approached TTDI. Weather was not quite on our side this morning. It rained the night before and it was still drizzling as we gathered at Taman Lembah Kiara. We came across Ian and his client but he decided to chill for his bigger race later. After spending a great feast last weekend, everybody seems to be excited to meet each other again, especially having to miss the lambung session from the last LSD.

L-R: King ex-FMV, King Poco-poco, King Lanun, me, Alwin trail guide, Queen Kiara, Azmar King Iron, Kingfisher and King Jelir :)

Once our dedicated Alwin the trail guide arrived and ready, we hit the trailhead somewhere near 8.00 a.m. Still drizzling. We took the Lungbuster. After living a zero week without running, the Lungbuster almost busted most of us. Though it was thought to be a warm up by Alwin, it turned out the opposite. We were screaming our lungs out in silence and the regrouping was full of huffing and puffing. Was the pace too fast?

After the huffing regrouping

Nik decided to get a headstart with the tarmac climb sprinting while Det with the usual lambungs

After stretching those quads uphill, we lenggang kangkung downhill to the Four Cross...chatting time

Rain subsided and the heat just gets even better

Into the 2K trail and ready to rumble

Careful guys. Sticky and slippery comes in a package. We only want lambung but not face plant

Nik the shutter hunter was always on the job ready to draw - of course he won most of the time

Pardon me for all the rear view photos. I was the sweeper remember?

Rolling down 2K was a roller coaster ride & these guys forgot they were on recovery week. This was halfway the returning climb back up.

OK this was not any steep peak that we ascended but by the reaction was enough to tell we got runners' high. Cuba teka apa King Ziff was thinking at this time?

It was back at the Four Cross and KL-Marathon stories were shared all over again. Tak habis-habis!

Now it's up to the Twin Peaks. Doing steady there Kash

The baby steps running uphill now changed to baby steps walking

The uphill sprinting now in used for the last sprint back. Sampai daun-daun kering terbang!

And look at all those nakal feet. Saper yang takde bulu kaki tu?!

The Geng Kaki Lambung at their usual iconic post. Almost cramp there

It was simply at a nice distance, awesome pace and a perfect weather. The trail was sweet and we just added a bit more sugar to it to make it fun. By the time we departed from the magnificent holy grail, there was enough time for a bit more chit chat. However, we didn't get enough of it. We were chatting at the trail exit, more chats at the carpark and a bit more when we were about to enter our cars. Goodbyes were mentioned a few times but bila nak balik ni? Aiyo! The RBU circle seemed to get stronger by the time. OK, have to sprint back home for more chores :)