It's 28th & I'm 38!

Apa lagi yang paling menarik ganjaran untuk hari lahir kalau bukan dengan pampering oneself with things we love doing. I didn't had the chance to take leave from duty since kena attend pre-arranged meetings but I was rewarded with an early arrival at home with a great weather.

I was hyped by the loud beat of Linkin Park & Goo Goo Dolls on my back from Sepang. I kept the beat up & decided to attempt a short tempo run in the cold evening post thunderstorm climate. I already felt great with all those almost 30 over birthday wishes I got from friends at FB. It was perfect.

3 weeks to Seri Manjung...hmm alahai

Foto ceduk dari album CAR

Suddenly as the festive mood vanished from us, the race season dropped in with a boom! Big time! All race organisers gone wild & unwittingly scheduled their events sampaikan oneself dah mula rasa loya, mual & ngeri. Dengan terpaksa survive gaji sebulan untuk 40 hari, transferring those race fees through maybank2u hanya dengan menutup sebelah mata.

With my trip to Seri Manjung just around the corner, the pre-race anxiety & panic dah mula terasa. Weekdays workout dah ler rongak bila kena outstation & cuaca yang mula mengganas. Tinggal 2 minggu aje lagi beb! Argh! Ngeri 8000 kali. After this weekend's menu, I felt a bit of 70-30 to visit Seri Manjung with a bang.

Semalam, Sabtu, walau dengan sambutan yang kurang meriah, a few of us proceed with our shceduled workout plan. Only Saifu, Dicky & me cycled up to Peres junction & back to my place. Clocking 64km in 2:29:03 averaging a 25 kph. We were quite satisfied with the achievement, but not the run after. We were struggling alright. Though we only managed to run one loop of my neighbourhood's route (1.21km!!), we were complaining those stiff knee, stiff quad, bright sun & whatever reasons for not to continue. These originate myself to reconsider my training schedule & make the remaining time useful.

Today, the much awaited Mizuno Wave Run 2009 held at UPM berlangsung dengan jayanya. I had anticipated those hills which were there like before, 20 years ago during the school days. I had a good run. It was awesome. Pace was great. Found out later it was a good 5.38. My record for 11km was 1:01:59 (from Start banner to finish line). Race climate was great. Friendly venue, nice booths. I took the chance to get to know a few of Chap Ayam Runners & the best part was taking photos with them. This group is growing day by day. Thumbs up to cikens.

Berbalik ke post raya menu

Udah le tu...cukup-cukup lah. Puas sangat beraya. Sakan betul aku tengok orang kita ni beraya sampaikan jalan-jalan kat KL ni luarbiasa sesak bila weekend, even lebih teruk dari hari kerja. Untuk weekend ni, aku decided to stay domestic. Tak sanggup aku nak memenatkan diri, family & enjin kereta aku dalam kesesakan open house raya. With wifey a bit tight up with work, aku cuma lepak rumah lepas my morning workouts for both days.

Sabtu pagi, cuma Nizam & me rolled off from our houses to meet Bachin at bus stop Batu 9. Our menu today was to be up Peres & Tekala, covering about 90km perhaps. Met up with Saiful & Abu at Batu 14. Rolling towards Batu 18. Sempat la jugak aku test power aerobars kat jalan kampung Batu 18 tu. Tapi disebabkan ada member cangkuk kat belakang, heart rate aku melambung-lambung macam ombak pantai timur. By the time sampai simpang Peres, Azmar cought up to join the climb. Pace cantek je, seiring & sejalan dengan kaum Ironman ni. Ok la, 30 minit later sampai puncak dengan rasa yang kurang meletup compared to last 2 weeks punya visit.

Nizam had to cut short & reprogram the menu. So we decided to repeat Bukit Hantu. Aku attempted kali ni dengan lebih berhati-hati supaya tak terpedaya dengan geografi topo yang sedikit deceiving. Cuaca agak menyebelahi pihak riders kali ni since dari early morning some slight overcast hovering over southern of Klang Valley. Regroup at peak & descended towards Batu 14 for a coke kat kedai runcit tepi traffic light. Nikmat tak terhingga. The rest tambah nasik dengan climb Bukit Ampang while Nizam & aku kayuh balik. Selit sikit lagi LT workout maintaining 30kph average sampai highway.

Ahad, aku lari sorang-sorang sebab kebanyakan kaum tewas or gagal dengan urusan masing-masing. Layan je route McDonald 8km at 7.00a.m. Dengan bertemankan HRM yang setia, aku cuba untuk maintain at aerobic zone. Nak mula lari kaki ada rasa sikit lenguh, maybe sebab semalam balun kayuh tak ingat. No wonder aku fatigue sikit lepas ride semalam. Tapi once dah mula atur langkah, stomping menjadi semakin rancak. Nothing felt better than to breath the fresh morning air kat kampung sendiri, zero traffic & erti kebebasan...hehehe.

As I passed Lake Valley, parking space was still ample, tak macam weekends sebelum puasa. Masyarakat yang masih sakan beraya & attending open house hari Sabtu sampaikan terlalu penat & careless about apa diorang makan & workouts. Maybe dah habis Syawal baru penuh semula kot tempat parking dengan joggers. Dapat gak complete 8km in about 41 minutes. Lepas key in kat logyourrun.com sekai pace 5.06! Laju tuh. Kena adjust sikit next time.

Aidilfitri ups & downs

Mujurlah ada jugak beberapa runs & cycles yang aku dapat buat sepanjang Ramadhan walaupun virus malas ada jugak sikit-sikit menggigit especially part hujung nak ke raya. All in all, dengan jaga makan, minum & tidur, insyallah aku dapat retain stamina. Maybe muscle aku kurang berkembang sebab diet aku pun kurang, maklum lah berpuasa.

Since KPI Ramadhan aku ditahap average (at least better than last year sebab kena sinus), sambutan aidilfitri aku pun agak sederhana jugak, on the expenditure point of view la. Takde la shopping sakan. Ada lah jugak rezeki dari sumber-sumber lain yang tak memerlukan aku & famili untuk berbelanja banyak. Alhamdullillah. Akan tetapi, aktiviti kekeluargaan di antara sanak saudara menjelang Syawal sangat meriah. Ziarah menziarahi di kampung tersangat meriah di antara pakcik, makcik, sepupu sepapat, dua pupu, anak buah & definitely all those ketupat, kari ayam, lemang pakcik bawak dari Tampin, roti jala, laksa dll. Mantap 8000 kali.

Workout telah bermula dengan grand seminggu selepas raya. Rupa-rupanya ramai yang tertunggu-tunggu. Hampir 10 orang kaum berkumpul kat rumah aku. Aku pun tak sure sama ada diorang ni nak mula situ sebab nak bedal mee bandung lepas ride or memang nak milage. Kah kah kah! Tapi takpe, all good. Turning up for the ride was at least a big leap from Ramadhan's hibernation for some. There were Alwin, Azahari, Hanchik, Saiful, Nizam, Deti. Bachin & Dicky kita orang jumpa kat bus-stop Batu 9. The menu was to get up Peres & Bukit Hantu & back to BTHO.

Hanchik, Nizam & Deti menambah milage kat basikal baru diorang yg depa purchased bulan posa hari tu. Memang looking forward sangat lah dengan kayuhan ni, especially untuk panjat Peres. Azahari dengan wheelset Reynolds baru beli dari ebay. Aku pulak mau try out C24 ler panjat Peres.

Memanjat Peres was something unbelievable sebab aku dapat cangkuk kat Alwin, knowing for his climbing strength. Dia cranking up big gears, aku spin till my hearts out. Maybe to the omission of a few grams from my bike. Too bad, a handful of us yang opted to get discounts by not joining up Peres & Bukit Hantu. We clocked total of 80km & bedal mee bandung at my place. Hari tu we all dapat panggilan Jockeys. Aku kena sediakan jockey's lounge nanti dalam plan house renovation. Hehe.

My runs thru the mid weeks was a bit substandard due to some adjusted evening plans which I decided to be prioritised. Aku dapat run Isnin & Selasa je. Khamis pi ziarah neighbour warded for diabeter & Friday came back late from meeting. Takde hal. I don't need to worry myself for the Ekiden Run on Sunday as long as I have my running muscles twitched.

Saturday, Alwin & me planned for a test ride with our aerobars. We picked the Ironman 70.3 loop in Putrajaya. It was a 30km route with rolling hills & flat-out flats. The aerobars assisted outstandingly at flat stretches. Memang berbaloi. Easily aku achieved 39-40kph at easy cadence...teruja 800 kali. Hopefully during Powerman, this gadget dapat bantu aku.

Ahad, Ekiden Run kat Putrajaya dengan kaum 10 orang 2 team. Camdek A & B. Tahun ni nampak participation sungguh cemerlang. Kaum Pacemaker vs kaum Chap Ayam Runners. Depa hantar a few teams. Team lain pun banyak jugak. Meriah la kira, compare dengan last year. Crowd dah macam event larian anjuran Pacesetter. Kalau tak silap, team aku placing 18th in our category & 48th in overall. Ok la. Alhamdullillah all went well.

We were served with another sport event took place same time & same venue. Ironman 70.3. Dapat lah aku tengok all those triatletes & super-triathletes beraksi, yang selama ni aku nampak kat dalam blog je. Ramai muka-muka yang aku kenal yang memang berkecimpung dengan sukan ni. A bit teruja tapi aku masih belum taksub dengan challenge yang dihidangkan. Bukan setakat tu, komitmen, masa & sacrifices among those yang lebih penting. Anyway, there is a plan to try the sprint tri next year up my sleeves & also to take up swimming lessons. See how it goes as we approach 2010 lah.

The remaining of my weekend was spent domestically. Neighbours datang beraya & aku sefamili pi beraya ke rumah depa. Tersangat meriah, especially for the kids where they had the chance to walk & laugh & play throughout the moments.

My downside of the week happened Thursday night. Handphone kesayangan telah disambar mat rempit masa kat Shell Cheras Perdana while I was walking towards my car from the cashier. 8 juta kali tahap kemarahan aku bila setiap kali aku ingatkan tragedi tu. Ada lah agaknya hikmah Allah disebalik ni semua. Aku perlu redha. Amin.

3rd week

Dah masuk 3rd week into Ramadhan. Tarawih aku balun, lari tak seberapa tapi weekend night ride aku looked forward to. With the last 2 rides covering the mains of Putrajaya road, the workout turned out to be awesomes.

Last weekend quite a handful of us covered 47km which ended us hit by windstorm. We were drenched and cold but a tasty garlic cheese nan weaved with mee goreng mamak at 2.00 in the morning was promising. We closed the day at 3.30am sleepy.

I only managed to squeeze in a tiny short run on Tuesday, just enough to twitch the running muscles and back for buka puasa. Compared to the tiny workout, a bigger chunk of grilled lamb dumped in at two different buka puasa occassions. Those are loads of cholesterol dude!

Last night's ride was a different agenda. All 17 of us which was successfully organised by Julie vied FB rolled of from palace of justice at almost 12.00. The menu was 25 kph over 60 km. We struggled to suit the menu but failed. Adrenaline rushed in and the ride turned out to be an interval ride, bashing at every flat, attack at every climb and crouching oneself tucked in at every descent. The flats, the short and long climbs and the descents were superbly spreaded throughout the route. With more grilled lamb chucked in during buka puasa, I felt that it almost gave me a belly cramp.

We were rewarded with magnificent carbo reloads and snacks at post ride. Thanks again to Julie again. I swigged in loads of those sweet seedless black grapes & a cute bottle of vitagen. The best ever post ride meal.

Looks like it was our last night ride for this years Ramadhan. The menu during Syawal shall be well table out for the next task in hand.

PCM No. 19 (Ramadhan ride)

With a week done fasting & two weeks after my last ride, eventually I found my enthusiasm. After prez ride (a week before Ramadhan), the days were spent incuperating & recovering oneself & also preparing for the Ramadhan break. A week into Ramadhan, I was struggling to get myself out of the sofa. The evenings were so indolent after surviving the evening traffic from work back to home. Some evenings were so hot that it drained remainings of juice for the one hour inside the car. Days gone without even a minute of thoughts to do workout. My mind were fighting vigorously but the body remains shutdown.

Until last night. The night that most of us looked forward to. Us, the cycling community. It was the last Friday of the month. It was the monthly Putrajaya Critical Mass. I took the chance to get myself committed. Plans were made, though only a handful of buddies managed to participate, we swarmed the streets. It was my second time. A promising 70 cyclists let loose their hunger for adrenalines.

The ride started at almost 11.30pm with the first 10km rolling lazily towards PICC & back vied the Shape Run route. Weather was perfect, though with some pretty rain clouds & guzz of pre-storm wind added some drag to us. The remaining ride from Alamanda back to PICC vied Jalan U4 was awesome. We managed to squeeze in sort-a interval ride. Most of us agreed in silence of the night that it was a great short session.

Though with the adrenalines fed & satisfaction accounted for, the ride was accompanied by a casualty. A young fellow from MSN was a casulaty from egoism & extreme fatigue. With young blood flowing in those legs, this guy didn't want to miss every piece of the action. He was pumping the climbs like we did & won the polka dot jersey. He was sprinting his guts out at every flats we could find & boasted the victory. But he forgot to listen to his body. It's fasting month la dude. No superhuman can deceive the biological condition of oneself. He ended up fainted on the staircase of Palace of Justice during our finishing group photo. Macam ni punya orang pun ada.

I reached home at almost 4.00am after a mamak session at post ride (a compulsory agenda). Prepared some menus for sahur for kids & wifey before I embarked my long journey back to recovery. With adrenalines pumped in, I looked forward for my next workout, perhaps a run. Next week?

Dirt, dust & bang on Prez

After the Bagan Lalang ride, I was bogged down to hit another 100km mark on the saddle. Every weekend seemed too exigent be it in time quantum or physical. I decided to cool off from joining the Broga Classic ride the following weekend and opted to accompany a friend newbie on cycling into Langat. It turned out to be a great relaxing and good workout as well.

As usual, the weekdays were none other than the self yoga workout behind steering wheels. I was attending meetings more than I can imagine. The evenings ended up me being knackered to reach my running shoes. The weather was also a bit haywire. It rained most of the days, morning and evening. Cools off the haze & humid from the last few weeks. It even cooled off my gusto to run. Slack.

From too much public exposed and meeting people, I was proned to the outbreak of flu. I was down with fever on Friday. It was a restless Friday. Joints were aching and my solitary condition ended up me being tossing myself on the bed for 8 hours. It was not a rest indeed. I kept reminding my sons not to come close, knowing the power of flu infection. I kept myself disciplined to repeat with antibiotics and hydrations and stayed focus to recover for the Sunday Presidential Ride.

Saturday I felt fine though with still bitter taste from the fever, I thrusted in carbos and fuel up though I was still hesitent for the Sunday event. My son was down with flu pulak. I ensured that he gets the same treatment as I had for fast recovery. Alhamdullillah it did and he was joyfully shouting across the hall by evening.

The annual mtb gathering organised by PCC took place at Univeristy of Nottingham, Semenyih. This would be my first mtb event for 2009. It was greatly anticipated by a few of us since the route would take us through 68km of rolling hills across Broga and Lenggeng. I was a bit cautious as not to push hard on myself considering the recovery rate I'm in.

Turn-up from fellow friends was awesome. It was like a get together ride, especially when we get to meet old friends. A mega weekend ride with the same purpose, to get tired and dirty. 4 loops with 3 checkpoints waiting for us with 3 major hills reaching as high as 236m. We tried to stay together most of the time, just to ensure that we stayed focus & euphoric. As the milage clocked in and fatigue crept, cramps along the trail were a common sight which includes a few of our fellow buddies. They had to pace themselves as not to push harder. Cut-off time at checkpoints gave us the pressure to pursue.

Managed to reach CP3 20 minutes before cut-off time when I decided to call it a day. It was 1.10pm and body gave signals that it was time to take it slow. I've clocked 5 1/2 hours of ride covering about 50km hovering across plantations and forest. Nothing better than to spend a Sunday in dirt, dust & banging on the trails. Just like the old times.

A few of us didn't reached CP3 on time. Another few took up the challenge of the last Loop 4 while some of us pedal off through chicken loop for another 7.5km back to the university on the Broga trunk road.

Our curses and desperation on completing this event will always be an awesome memories, just like the previous years where we can still share every detail of it. Best of all, our laughters and nonsense be it at the parking lots, on the trail and even over late lunch will always be a cure for stress and flu. Looking forward for another ride Mr. Prez.

Gold Coast...Bagan Lalang aje

Weekends come and go. Those are the days noticeable. The weekdays are more like a waiting period. As I recalled before, the weekends ahead are going to be a colourful ones with full of activities which I should pick wisely. Previous weekend agendas filled with ride & run was magnificent & so was Saturday's long haul.

Yesterday I revisited down to the coastal line of Selangor. My last ride here was 2 years ago & both was not a proud one when I waved the white flag at 90% of the war. This time, I could consider I came prepared.

The ride rolled off from my place at 7.20 a.m. with Bacin, Adeline, Bahri & Saiful. We rendevouzed with Alwin & Arif at MTD Bangi 45 minutes later. Alwin overshot his wakeup call. Weather was splendid but a bit of haze as we approached Sepang. Traffic was innocent enough except for one lorry driver who honked & drove by us & that shooked out hearts out somewhere before Sepang town. Crazy guy or perhaps he's late for work. A pit stop at Shell Sungai Pelek for a leak & continued the ride to Bagan Lalang covering the remaining 16km. All went smoothly until approaching the kedai makan, tiny sprinkles of the morning coastal rain welcomed us. We stayed calm & expect it was just a drove-by, just like the lorry driver.

We picked our favorite bi hun soup & drinks which was scheduled to be a 30 minutes refuelling. Then it started to rain heavily. It rained for the next 2 hours. Calmness turned nervous. Full stomachs want more. Another glass of teh 'o' panas...recap...make sure 'panas ye'. We prayed that the rain would subside & permit a safe journey home.

12.00 p.m. it cleared but with a bit more of drizzle. We took the chance with the gap & hoping that it will stop & stayed that way. The first few hundred meters on the bike was tormenting. It was cold & we were yelling & shaking to pump the blood faster. Yes, it did drizzled all the way back to Sungai Pelek & Sepang town. We were drenched, cold, filthy & fatigue started creeping in slowly. We concluded the ride eventually with some detour to shorten the time which most of us concurred to. It was already 2.30 p.m.

The afternoon was too tired for a nap. By 4.30 p.m. I accompanied Det to fetch his dream Scott Speedster S30 at Bikepro as promised. The transaction ended at 7.30 p.m. as I signed off the evening as early as 9.00 p.m. My mind already sent signals & decision that the Sunday run at Adidas King of the Road had to be abandoned.

Figs:

Route milage : 132.36km

Time on bike : 4:59:59

Ave spd : 26.4 kph

Mx spd : 53.8 kph

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.