Nothing else matters

With SCKLM around the corner of another few blocks of months to go, the worriness of not having enough milage has begun haunting ones feelings. My long runs have only completed it's 21km debut yesterday, as scheduled, but the strength within the legs & core muscles require more tune-ups. Add some spices to the remedy with unsync-ed time & schedule of fellow buddies, getting everybody to hit the tarmac together is something else.

Managed to attend a marathon clinic last Sunday hosted by Marc William, a New Zealander's favourite pro runner. Much of the tips are being adopted & practiced, plus a few new ones which can be helpful during rainy days. The best part was getting to carbo load of 450g per serving 3 days in a row before race day which is equivalent to stuffing oneself with 7 servings of pasta per day. Hahaha! Need to whack through those carbo menus & recipes for other options.

I'm trying not to abscence myself from all the scheduled runs, especially the midweeks. Getting the right meals everyday & on weekends is another task that I have to commit for the next two months. Not forgetting getting myself strong enough from diseases. Overall, I can say that taking the road to a marathon is actually leading oneself a healthy & committed lifestyle. It's a bit hard to get use to the routine but it's an awesome one if you're addicted to it.

As I saw those London marathoners glide across my tv screen LIVE, I was already hyped and inspired. These superhumans elite runners are awesome. Though with all those experience, training and diets, it is obvious the accumulated fatigues and dehydrations as they gain milage plus the constant pounding of feet began to show it's impact on the runners. Seems those 3 villains have to be tackled beforehand.

SCKLM 2009

R.E.M. - Man On The Moon

Wa been spending time travelling outstation assignments for the last few days & sometimes when I'm alone, loads of thinking & muhasabah diri took place...

Mott the Hoople and the Game of Life
Andy Kaufman in the wrestling match
Monopoly, twenty one, checkers, and chess
Mister Fred Blassie in a breakfast mess
Let's play Twister, let's play Risk
See you in heaven if you make the list

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

Moses went walking with the staff of wood
Newton got beaned by the apple good
Egypt was troubled by the horrible asp
Mister Charles Darwin had the gall to ask

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are you having fun?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

Here's a little agit for the never-believer
Here's a little ghost for the offering
Here's a truck stop instead of Saint Peter's
Mister Andy Kaufman's gone wrestling (wrestling bears).

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are you having fun?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon

Hey Andy, did you hear about this one? Tell me, are you locked in the punch?
Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are we losing touch?
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool
If you believed they put a man on the moon, man on the moon
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool
If you believe there's nothing up my sleeve, then nothing is cool

Empire Strikes Back

Lately best bangat layan Clone Wars every Friday evening at Cartoon Network (talking about the kid in me). Mengalahkan Amir pulak. Even dia pun tak suka layan. Takpe janji the Star Wars syndrome is still within...or should I say "The Force is in me"?...hahaha.

Ok la, cut the crap. Actually tu semua mukaddimah sebab nak layan hati ku yang sedikit girang sebab dapat kembali beraksi berlari semula setelah hampir sebulan setengah aku layan mental from the hamstring pull. Lepas puas vacation dengan family, layan kayuh mtb seronok2 with old trails revisited & diet yang memang hancus cachos...sekarang aku kena kembali ke jalan yang benar.

I started back hitting the hard pave on the last week of March. OK la, tested by pace & ryhtm. So far cun cuma need some fine tune to the breathing. Then, it was back to evenings at Lake Garden. The atmosphere I missed, the cooling feeling of the greeneries & loads of runners.

Once bila dah mula run dengan handai taulan, the anxiety & adrenalin was up. The chit & chats were lengthy & the old stuff jokes were shared again & again. At least those work stresses yang aku terkena lately melted away into the pavement & rinsed to the lake...hahaha.

Nak kasi panas lagi semangat yang sedang membara, aku pun eventually signed up for the most awaited Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009 for the full 42km marathon. Insyallah aku akan cuba untuk habiskan. Kalau tak habis pun takpe, janji aku dah cuba. World! Looking forward for the next run & long run. Balun jangan tak balun bai.

Mtb Evo II

Fuh! Bukan main susah nak cari masa nak sambung chapter 2. Macam-macam kejadian sepanjang 2-3 minggu yang lepas sampai kan badan pun dah naik lebam.

Ok2...kat mana aku stop? Yep, that was the empire...the Celcom Boys Empire which lasted for less than a year. However, the glories last forever. When it was time for everybody to pick their own way, the timing was almost the same. Some moved into new house far away from Klang Valley. Some chosed to try out other sports. While the rest stayed, waited & see the coming atmosphere.

The rides at Kemensah, Sg Pusu, Teratak Tekala & Batu Dam came to hault. We need new kind of trails. No more the canopied, mud, technical singletracks. No idea arose until Brahim invited us to Elmina. A new breed of trail & riders were introduced to us. These are the fast & furious firetrack riders of Ladang Elmina, a large network of trails in an oil palm plantation. We have steep long grannies, fast winding descents & long open flats miles and miles ahead. Week by week we returned for more trail networks.

There was a time when we were also introduced to UPSI mountainbikers. We commuted to Tg Malim & rode their trails of rubber plantations & secondary forest. A few trips were organised which eventually brought us an ultimate Trans Titiwangsa expedition during our country's National Day.

We were hunger for more adventures and adrenalins. We planned for more epic rides. We attempted Sg Dua trail, Pertak trail & signed up for PCC Presidential endurance ride & never missed the annual KOTRT Penang Jamboree.

My mtb evo I

Since maybe sekarang aku tengah kemaruk dengan mtb, feels like strolling down back to memory lane. Wayback where I started to ride again, mountainbike style instead of my schooldays commuter bike. Maklum la, malas nak fikir pasal running since masih dalam confinement :P

As I still remember, maybe it was estimated to be somewhere in 2003, when I moved into my new house. Tak lama rupanya, only 6 years ago. Tapi rasa macam lama dah, maybe sebab the evolution went very fast. I was first introduced to the world of singletracks & mountain biking by a fellow schoolmate whom owned & still am a GT Avalanche. He was truly proud of it & I was admiring the steed with it's cool colour & fat tyres. Another buddy was riding a Shimano frame which I have no idea what model it was but light enough to go off-roading. I was loaned with a cap ayam bike came with a rigid fork. Weight wise, only God knows :(

The first trail we ventured was the Sg Kantan rubber estate & orchard trails. Quite a short trail but good enough to pump up the adrenalin & talked about. I was becoming crazy with the exposure until I purchase my own complete bike, brand new from KSH PJ a year later. An entry level Kona Ha'hana? Did I spell it right? Maybe la kot, but the price suits my budget. Good enough for me to bang it for almost a year.

Too bad for me, my buddy moved to Putrajaya & was occupied with new house, family & work. I was left with not many options but to find new friends. Desperate punya pasal, aku bedal je. That day, aku pi tengok Kiara Mtb Carnival. Saja nak tengok & amik feel what it was like with dunia mountainbike secara profesional. Memang nampak gempak with all those gorgeous bikes swaying around the courtyard & macho looks. Aku redah tegur seorang insan yang nampak approachable. Nizam from Maluri was my second mtb buddy. Syiok punya pasal tengok race, aku sign up for my first mtb race. The Parit Buntar Mtb Challenge. Aku & ex-uni mate. He rode one tough peugeot full suss. Nak nangis je aku tengok panjat bukit. My Kona met it's purpose.

From that point onwards, Nizam & me were allies. We expand the horizon & get to know fellow Celcom buddies when we first attempted Kemensah trail. "Brader, boleh join you all kayuh tak?" My first dialogue to Nik who was waiting depan Zoo Negara for the rest of his buddies. It was the beginning of a new era for me. We were known by budak-budak Celcom. Masa tu, tak banyak group mtb. We were Nizam, Nik, Bachin, Azri, Fendi, Din Nokia, Nas, Amin. Lepas tu we all kenal otai Mizi yang memang regular kat Kemensah.

Dah puas Lubuk Tedung & Kem Sleh of Kemensah, we ventured into Batu Dam forest reserve. In & out we rode the magnificent trails. Sambil2 tu, we planned for more challenges. With the help of geng Kemensah, we attempted our maiden epic ride from Sg Pusu to Kemensah (Ulu Gombak traverse). It was awesome.

Kemensah lagi...?!

Steamed punya pasal dengan mountainbiking stuff lately, this weekend punya thoughts pun hanya bergelumang dengan mtb. Tak dapat buat benda lain pun takpe, janji dapat layan mtb. Everybody looking forward for the Kemensah revisit & we were working towards that. Tak kisah ler ada guide or not, kita orang belasah aje dengan hanya berbekalkan memori daun pisang dari kayuhan last week.

Akmal came back from his Orchid hobby which was actually his abscent from running due to ITBS eversince GE30k. We were Bachin, Saiful, Zamry, Akmal & me. I had my new Ritchey Carbonbar & 70mm KCNC 5 deg. installed & ready to test it.

Trail was a bit more wet than last week's condition which was mint. So, bragging up the slopes were a bit tricky. Even with my Nevegals require some ballast to make my rear wheel intact. This time around, the idea of taking some photos came across.

We managed to find our way through the trails & completed by 11.30 which was half an hour faster than last week. The cuts from having less stops & quick breaks making the almost 20km cross country trail a breeze. Once lepak kat Jimbara for a drink, terasa pulak macam tak puas. Takpe, looking forward for another trip with more buddies.

Back in the mud groove

Pergh! Lama sangat aku tak kembali ke alam mountain biking. Since sekarang dah bercuti berlari for a while, aku terpaksa beralih pandangan ke interest aku yang dah lama ditinggalkan. Pelan-pelan aku cari alasan untuk mencetuskan semangat mtb semula.

Ianya bermula dengan alasan untuk tukar frame. Walaupun agak berat untuk aku buat keputusan nak melepaskan my trusted 2002 xtc team, alasan punya pasal, aku layari kembali semua sources mtb yang ada. Kononnya nak cari saiz yang ngam untuk aku, which should be smaller than my current 17". Bicyclebuysell.com aku lawat hampir setiap jam. Puas aku cari frame yang reliable, susah betul nak jumpa yang berbaloi. Suddenly ada pulak mamat nak let go xtc team 2008. Sekali pandang memang mantap, tak macam design xtc team yang sebelum ni. Color hampir ke charcoal with very minimal stripes etc. Saiz S. Hmmm...is it worth a check?

Appointment made at PCP. My first visit to the now most talk of the town among mountainbikers especially freeriders & downhillers due to it's designed trail. Jumpa Zul whom to be a proud owner of 2 xtc team bikes! Fanatic agaknya. Technical knowledge memang A. Unfortunately the size S have the same geometry as my trusted steed. Disappointed bercampur lega pun ada jugak. Lega sebab selamat duit aku & tak payah aku sedih nak melepaskan frame aku sekarang. Kecewa sebab susah sangat nak jumpa frame yang best.

Since frame is not a good option untuk aku carry on my search, aku cilok idea dengan improving my riding position by playing around with the contact points. Despite his crossride ST, XT hydro brakes & SLX crank, Zul gave me an idea about his contact point. He attached in a 70mm X4 Thompson 0 deg stem & mild rise carbon handlebar. That made his bike compact & nice for handling. OK, stem & handlebar will be my next search. A quick browse at LBS & bbs. X4 tu mahal ler, RM250 beb! Tapi memang nampak mantap ya rabbi. Carbon bars tak payah citer ler harga dia. Pencarian aku terbantut before the weekend mtb ride sebab something came up kat rumah.

Come Sunday, our long lost trail was revisited. Kemensah. With some help from Achong & his local buddies, we discovered a whole new world of sweet awesome trails. Thanks to Pak Agus (a nickname for an expat who discovered the trail), Din, Teh & Amri. The gang were Alwin, Saiful, Bacin, Zamry, Pi'e & me. As usual, we were the machas in the wild. Crying out aloud, be it climbing the grannies or the long roller coaster ride descending. 20km from curry house to curry house. We finally had a feeding frenzy at 12.00pm. The feeling of being together & laughing our way into the trails reminded us of old times. Something which is rare lately, eversince we seldom go off-road. Eventually, we were looking forward for a few future events like the PCC-Presidential Ride & Penang MTB Jamboree.

Despite the excitement from the session, I anticipated that some expenses had to be made very soon, which is considered a priority. My 3 years old Sidi Dominator showed signs of fatigue & old age. Tapak dah serupa road shoes...hahaha! Hampeh. Looks like dilema mencari kasut cycling akan berulang kembali. Problem besar untuk aku. Anyway, Zul's SLX looks tempting jugak...hehehe :D

Long way down

Dah masuk 2 minggu beb aku tak lari. Terasa berzaman. Sakit hamstring dah tak terasa, maybe dah baik kot...teori aku sendiri untuk menyedapkan hati & psikologi. Apa taknya, 2 minggu tanpa sebarang detik hati untuk berlari. Jeling kasut pun tak. Nasib baik la jugak ada pi kayuh last Sunday, itu pun pongeh sebab milage terpaksa ditambah last minute setelah termakan racun kawan2 ajak naik Peres...hampeh!

Petang semalam, dengan tenang aku cuba try test kaki. As usual, the evening Lake Garden meeting place. Lama sangat aku tak ke sini rasanya. Keadaan a bit lengang sebab KL baru lepas hujan lebat. Maybe most joggers memang cancel routine or depa sangkut dalam evening traffic. Yang muncul cuma Bacin & Zakuan while Saiful & Nizam dengan sebab musabab masing-masing. Menu cuma 3 loop tasik. Tried not to attempt any laluan berbukit seperti Carcosa, cuma flat route je.

Macam biasa, bila dah lama tak guna muscle lari, sakit sana sini especially lutut & muscle belakang lutut yang terasa stiff. Breathing was still ok. First loop slow trying to adjust the leg muscles sambil sembang. My attempt trying to up the tempo seems ok for a while. Malangnya, the 200m stretch of a bit inclination depan waterfall tu telah mengganggu mental. Hamstring muscle dah mula tangkap balik. Aku slow down, dok belakang aje. Bila dah sampai semula kat playground, aku decide to bail out. Either aku continue & break in the mid of the 2nd loop & injured lagi lama or aku stop & terima kenyataan. Itu lah dia, dunia. Kejap kita kat atas terasa hebat & kuat. Bila dah sampai bawah balik, macam-macam jadi. Jiwa & raga semua kacau.

Aku spent the remaining 20 minutes stretching on my own. From what I read & heard, the hamstring muscle needs rest, more stretching & ice. Looks like another month to go into rehab...aargh! Nak buat stretching kalau takde workout memang liat ler tapi akan aku kuatkan semangat untuk rehab & recover sepenuhnya walaupun aku kena pi jumpa tukang urut.

3 in 1 Thaipusam Hols

Lama bangat tak update blog nih. Was a bit tight up with works, dealing with local authority's requirement yang boleh mencecah tahap permintaan dewa-dewa Siam. Sikit lagi je depa nak mintak batu bersurat je. Then came Thaipusam 3 days holiday throughout the weekend which toppled eveything.

Sabtu, a well planned speedwork. Dah lama tak buat speedwork. Since our Week 11 training pun dah pushed jauh sikit menjelang marathon, now ada ample time sikit to squeeze in other activities. Venue was jalan kosong kat Putrajaya pool. The normal members showed with special appearance by Azwar. Menu, 100m x 10 reps. Warm up was a bit short sebab running to and fro the road agak boring sikit.

The moment, on my fifth rep trying to catch up dengan Bacin yang dashed off earlier (mengelat), when I pushed a bit further. With lack of warm up, stretching & maybe my full week diet yang tak menentu, my hamstring muscles pulled! It was a sharp pain that struck behind my left thigh. It was a bit scary. Takut ooo...memang takut pun, first time kena & in the middle of a training. Macam ni agaknya all those EPL players yang selalu masuk physiorooms kan? The remaining 5 reps were nothing more than a slow pace run. Finish up the morning with 300m swim with a minute break between 150m.

Came back home, whizzed down a recovery drink & dozed off. Sebelum tu, a quick check from the net, it was either my semitendinosus or biceps femoris that was pulled. I have a hunch it was the biceps.

I was awaken in mid afternoon by a gassy stomach & warm body. Alamak, rasa macam demam la pulak. 90% says that, while my immune system was down after the hard workout, the virus that strucked my whole family for the last 2 weeks took the oppurtunity to strike an ambush while I was sleeping. Slack. All 3 in 1. Hamstring pull, upset stomach & a virus fever. A complete package to start a 3 days holiday grounded at home. I was determined to recovery fast with a BOOM! Took all the medications I came across, rest, rest, rest, ice, ice, ice, compression & elevation.

By the fourth day, I took a blood test & confirmed I was free from virus. Coming back to the office was a bit slow. Had to switch to alternate search. Quit the running search fot a while since tak nak fikir pasal lari only after I can run back again. Ingat mau tukar frame mtb la...hahaha.