HAPPY 2,500th BIRTHDAY MARATHON

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31 OCTOBER 2010 yesterday marked the 2,500th year of marathon or a long distance running event with an official distance of 42.195 kilometers (or 26 miles and 385 yards). The event was instituted in commemoration of the fabled run of the Greek soldier Pheidippides, a messenger from the Battle of Marathon (the namesake of the race) to Athens. For more details read Here.

Athen is a beautiful city and I can only imagine what it would feel like to run a race surrounded by stupendous view (pic from left was ciplak'ed from Chun's photo album).

To commemorate the historic date, the ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP @ Bandar Utama pioneer instructor Corporal (OBC) Chun or his real name Chun Chia Kai and OBC-BU Delta-recruit Vivien Luyen Ow went to Athen on 23 October 2010 to acclimatize and ran the historic 2,500 years old 42.195km marathon.

The Athen marathon was Vivien Luyen Ow's first maiden 42.195km marathon. She picked the best date to break her marathon virgin at the marathon's birth place itself on its 2,500th year anniversary.

KLANG NEW BALANCE 12KM RUN 4 IT 2010 RACE

31 October 2010. The Klang pacesetter club organised the New Balance 12km race that start at Padang Sultan Sulaiman , was flagged off at 6:50 for men category A, B & C and Women category D, E and F a few minutes later.

In a convoy of 2 cars, Daing Daniel Fitri, Rose Emini Pahamin, Nawal Aini Zulkifli, Ilyanna Aylin Ayob, Nyna Mohsen and Ody Nurfuadi Razalli arrived just-in time for the flag off. The weather was runners-friendly but there were less participants this year compared to previous years. We have been a regular at the Klang New Balance Race.

RUNNING FOR LIFE

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It is a catastrophe for the runners fraternity with so many deaths in various running event in Malaysia as well as other part of the world. On 28 July 2010, a 10km runner Lim Ji Wei 25 years old died at the Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur International Marathon, the Malay Mail has the story HERE. Last weekend on 17 October 2010, another runner died attempting the Mizuno 10km wave run, Harian Metro has the story HERE. Abroad, on the same date 17 October 2010, a 47 year old Oregon man died during a cross-country race at the Elijah Brostow State park, in Dexter. Washington post has the story HERE. Remus Fuentes died at the 34th MILO race in Manila on 4 July 2010.

ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP MALAYSIA: WORKOUT FORMS & TECHNIQUES PART 3

ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP MALAYSIA: WORKOUT FORMS- PART 3
For reference to those performing the Inferno & to assist on understanding workout forms at the OBC-BU. Click on picture to enlarge.

Picture 1: Tiger Squat

TIGER SQUAT is performed starting on the knees (Picture 1: See big left picture), Roll back on to the heels (see top right picture) then stand up (bottom right picture). On the way back down lower yourself down on to your knees gently to complete one repetition.

10.10.10. WE GOT OUR PB!!!! CONGRATULATION

Everybody at the ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP @ Bandar Utama ran their Personal Best on 10.10.10 ... 10 October 2010. Amongst those in my record were:

1) Yum Kin Kok whom ran his second 42.2km marathon at St George Melbourne Marathon in 3:46 minutes. Yum Kin Kok completed his first marathon in Hong Kong in 5 hours.

2) Corporal (OBC) Sandy Roberts completed the same St George's Melbourne Marathon in 3:53. Sandy is an instructor with the rank Corporal at the Original Bootcamp Bandar Utama. Sandy's previous Personal Best (PB) was 4:15 and the Melbourne Marathon was her 6th marathon.  

ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP MALAYSIA: WORKOUT FORMS & TECHNIQUES PART 2

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ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP MALAYSIA @ BANDAR UTAMA WORKOUT FORMS & TECHNIQUES PART 2  (For Workout Form Part 1, click here)

*All pictures must be read from LEFT to RIGHT, TOP then BOTTOM (also from left to right). The first picture on the left is the Start-position.

SQUAT JUMPS

ST GEORGE MELBOURNE MARATHON 2010

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Its 10.10.10.... 10 October 2010. To celebrate the historic date as well as 2,500 years of marathon anniversary, LC (OBC) Nawal Aini Zulkifli, Rose Emini Pahamin, Ilyanna Aylin Ayob, Corporal (OBC) Sandy Roberts, Yum Kin Kok and me from the ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP @ Bandar Utama departed and arrived in Melbourne on 7 October 2010 to run the St George Melbourne 42.2km Marathon.

nawal Aini Zulkifli, Armin Baniaz Pahamin, Ilyanna Aylin Ayob, 

Rose Emini Pahamin, Yum Kin Kok

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA

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Here I am at the Capri apartment, Melbourne acclimatizing to the Spring weather and resisting Melbourne's best food by starting the day with Chief's Inferno metabolic accelerator training. We... Nawal Aini Zulkifli, Rose Emini Pahamin & me did the Bravo 05 program with a total 104 Grunts, 48 Jackknives, 96 Frogs, 48 Dirty Dog Push-ups in 18 minutes and almost drown in sweat. The Inferno program was specially designed for the 8-Week Challenge (8WC) contestants including those are/will be travelling during this 8 weeks. Recruits at OBC-BU that have not registered and became a member the INFERNO program, please do so now by clicking HERE. Most except for 4 recruits are not yet a member of the INFERNO. Make the best out of the program folks.

 

ORIGINAL BOOTCAMP MALAYSIA: WORKOUT FORMS & TECHNIQUES

Original Bootcamp Malaysia @ Bandar Utama
Workout Forms & Techniques

Workout forms: Airborne Lunges, Lateral Lunges, Curtsy Lunges, Switch Lunges, Mountain Climbers, Shoulder push-ups, Dirty-Dog push-ups, Table-Tops, King Kong Push-ups, Seal jacks, Jackknives, Monk Crunches, Get-up Sit-ups, Flutter Kicks, Grunts, Squat Thrust (thrsuter), Frogs, Frog-Pushups, Ground-up Pushups.

*All pictures must be read from LEFT TO RIGHT, TOP TO BOTTOM (bottom pictures must also be read from left to right)

Airborne Lunges

Airborne lunges is similar to the back lunges but with the back leg raised without touching the ground.

Squat down slowly with the other leg moved backward without touching the ground. Then squat back up to complete one repetition. Repeat with the same leg for a required number of repetitions or for a fix period of time.

Beginners are allowed to hold a wall to balance themselve but one of the leg must be off the ground at all time.

IPOH INTERNATIONAL HALF MARATHON

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18 July 2010, Ipoh. Which hotel did we book again? I asked Nawal Aini Zulkifli as we searched the GPS to find our way to the Hotel in Ipoh. It was almost 9pm and we drove in heavy rain from KL to Ipoh. Its the Ritz Carlton, said Rose Emini Pahamin via the Blackberry Chat. Rose Emini Pahamin, Ilyanna Aylin Ayob, Bahariah Bahadom, Suriana Saiful, Nyna Mohsen hadarrived earlier in the morning.

To cut the story short, we were rescued by Aunty Umi, Mum's best friend whom is an Ipoh'ian. We reached the hotel and saw a big signboard that reads... "Ritz Kowloon". No, we didnt stay there but the next block the Ritz Garden.

Bahariah Bahadom booked our hotel rooms via the internet bearing the distance to the Stadium where we will be running but without any knowledge of the hotel except for the pictures posted on the internet that look pretty awesome. To cut the story short again... the soonest we enter the hotel and into our room, Nawal Aini Zulkifli said... this hotel smells Sex but the hotel, lobby and the rooms were clean, tidy, neat and nice.

What does it take to run..?

When most of my friends heard that I took up running, some were very surprised (Armin Baniaz running??!!!), some never believed but those that were indifferent, will tell me how much they admire the fact that I am so fit to run (yaya.. this being polite thingy does not work here…). Really and honestly, I am not fit nor was I ever an athlete. Infact, I have never played any sports, exercise and never thought of running. As many would know, half my teenage life … was spend in hospitals and all my working life.. in meetings and office! Of all the people… if I can run marathon.. anybody can run.. yes, if they wanted to.

A good friend of mine, who is also my IT advisor, Sayf, once told me that he runs after women.. and runs after money… and definitely runs away from problems.. but will never run for nothing.. ie marathon.

I woke up late this morning and could not go to my usual running place at the Kiara Hills (next to Taman Tun Dr Ismail) so I ran surrounding my neighbourhood at Penchala where I stayed. I planned a slow jog to sweat, considering I did not have enough sleep last night reading chedet.com and Raja Petra Malaysia-today.net till morning. My slow jog did not start well when I did an almost at 100% max Heart Rate intensive running being chased by 6 stray dogs. There were only a puppy and its mother at the corner 10 minutes away from my house. I jog slowly minding my own business. I have never been a great fan of dogs and choose to ignore them until the tiniest puppy start barking endlessly. Suddenly, the whole family of stray dogs, 6 of them, appeared out of nowhere and started barking. I did not want to wait till the whole bunch chased me and immediately pace-up my jog speed to sprinting mode. The stupid dogs chased me! Obviously the dogs ran faster than me and my heart pumped like a V12 turbo engine. I ran for at least 8 minutes with the dogs continued to chase me. I think they were really laughing rather than barking having fun looking at me freaking out. When they were tired chasing me (hah.. looks like I have better stamina after all..), they stopped and turned back. Dogs…..

Getting a good running track to train is difficult. I used to run from my old house in Kelana Jaya all the way to work at Damansara Perdana. I started my run daily at 6:30am along the roadside in SS3 to SS2 and across Damansara Jaya before having to take the LDP highway to the Curve. The distance is slightly more than 10km. My driver will wait for me at the Fitness First gym @ the Curve with my working attire where I would shower and change to be at work by 9am. This works well although my bro Simon (Singapore) called me stupid having to run to work whilst my driver enjoy the luxury car but I had fun until I moved house to Penchala. My new house in Penchala is only 5 minutes away from my office and running to my office is too short a distant. Kiara Hill became my training track. Kiara Hill is a tough running track given the hilly terrain but the track in the jungle makes it a perfect place for a peaceful jog. Peace with the morning breeze, trees, birds and away from the pollution but hey… Monkeys are the permanent residents there. Goodness, similar to the stray dogs, they seem harmless but yes, once I got chased by the monkeys too.

Having to wake up in the morning daily at least at 6am to start running before going for work is another story. What is more important than the actual training, exercise schedule or discipline, commitment and time to run is to have the right spirit and willpower. When you have the right spirit, being chased by dogs and monkeys became a routine way to make your run faster. With strong willpower, you will find the time to run and to withstand the rain, hot sun and the hectic work schedule. When you can self aspire yourself to be in the right spirit and build a strong willpower, then you will find any training schedule to be helpful. The commitment and discipline is a default result from the spirit and willpower to run but HOW to get the right spirit and willpower? For a start, running increases cardiovascular strength. If anybody should have a reason to run.. it should be for better health (once you lost it, then you will regret it) but if it is not good enough a reason, then running is the best way to burn fat and lost weight… hence beauty!

If good look and health cannot be a good justification, then equate running with sex.. if you can complete marathon in 5-6 hours.. imagine how many hours you can have sex!!

But if even sex cannot justify for you to start running…. Then you will be better off NOT living!!!! :-p

My first Triathlon.. Ironman!

It was after the New Year 2006 celebration that my crazy thought went wild to make this year a different. Yes… we all have a new year resolution.. in fact there are so many new years to have many resolutions.. thanks to our multi culture harmony… 1st January.. Chinese new year, muslim new year etc….

So a new year resolution is really nothing new unless we really make it happen... i mean the resolution.. no the new year party! I wanted to make 2006 a year to remember.. I decided to partake the IRONMAN TRIATHLON… 3.8km swim, 180km cycle, 42km run…. Complete madness especially since I did not know how to swim and only had 5 weeks to train.

I was more confident (or naïve rather) to hear the inspiring word from Halim Jantan whom mentioned to me that nobody can be ready for the Ironman triathlon. You just have to jump and do it!! yes… 5 weeks later... I jumped!!

But before I jumped, I was very religious with my training. I am trying to train for an event in 5 weeks that other participants otherwise trained for a year. I started my swim training at the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club swimming pool. The first day was daunting. I struggled and probably even bleed to complete 1 lap of 25 metre. I was already breathless half way through. All that I can think of whilst swimming at the club pool was the scary deep sea water. In three weeks, I was doing 100 to 120 laps at the club’s 25 metre per lap pool. I swim in the morning and run in the evening. I can only cycle during weekends but will do the RPM and studio cycle class at the gym.

My intensive training got me sick 10 days before the ironman event. I was off-training for a week and could not peaked up my training before the real day. I have never swim in an open sea water. I sat by the shore on the eve of the event to see the red buoy that marks the 3.8 swim route. My heart sank when I cannot even see the end of the buoy. It was so far.

This is also my FIRST triathlon. I have only done the Malakoff Malaysia dualthon series 10km run, 60km cycle and 8 km run but I have never done any triathlon.

I jumped into the water a few minutes before the gun went off signalling the start of the Ironman triathlon 2006. It was not difficult to recognise me amongst the hundreds of other participants as I was the only swimmer swimming breast stroke.. (hihii but that was the only stroke i knew...) The swim did not start well when I was kicked by front swimmers a couple of time. However, I continued to swim to be kicked again and again. Half way through the course, I was gulped by an aggressive tide which I was caused by the rescue boat engine. Though the boat was far but it created a big wave in the water. I stopped to see the nearest rescue boat in fear of drowning and realized that there were none. All the boats were quite a distance away. There was no turning back and there was no way anybody could spot me if I drowned. I quickly comfort myself and slowly swim ignoring the other swimmers and the rescue boat.

I completed the swim in 2 hours 16 minutes. 4 minutes before the the cut-off time and I was NOT the last…. I was the 2nd last!!!!

My knee was weak and almost tumbled as I walked to the changing room to change into my cycling gear. I was happy that the worse part was over though my energy was all drained out. I took my Proton T’sprint bicycle and immediately began the cycle. I was privilege to have both the police and ambulance escort behind me. This privilege was only accorded to the First participant and the last... i was obviously the latter. I completed 126km cycle and dropped off when I simply do not have any energy left to even speak. I was driven by the ambulance and brought to the medic centre and was given some transfusion.

Though I did not complete the race in 2006, it became my new year resolution for 2007 and this year 2008. I could not participate in the ironman 2007 but I registered for the Ironman 2008 in Langkawi but I chickened-out though I did go to Langkawi. Nonetheless, my sparing partner Jasmin, had an unfortunate accident and had to back-out form this year’s langkawi ironman too.. since we both promise to jumped in (the ironman) together… I did not feel right to do the ironman without her.. (ya ya ya….). I was disturbed by the death of the triathlete at the Port Dickson triathlon last year. I wanted to be more confident in my swim and quickly enrolled for the Nagasaki, Osaka Ironman in June 2008 this year. Abu and Nawal were my other sparing partners also agreed to participate with me.

We bought MAS airline ticket to Tokyo as that is the only destination that MAS flew to Japan and trained for the Osaka Ironman without knowing the logistics in Japan. After buying the MAS airline ticket and registered for the Osaka Ironman, we discover that we had to change flight 3 times in Japan before we can arrive at the ironman event @ Fukue island. I should have known my limit geography knowledge having failed my last Geography exam in high school. It is logistically not feasible to travel and change flight 3 times with three of our bicycles and belongings. We abandon the race and lost our flight fare, hotels, registration fees.

We were too eager and too excited to complete the toughest race on earth. But I still have 6 months before the end of 2008 to materialize my 3 consecutive new years resolution to complete the ironman race.

I am thinking of the Ironman Western Australia in December this year.........

True Fitness VS Fitness First gym...

Whilst waiting for the Incredible Hulk movie at the Cineplex yesterday, I met Jasper. Jasper was one of the Personal Trainer at the True Fitness gym. He is now a Personal Trainer at the Fitness First. He adamantly insisted that the Fitness First has a better package for instructors than the True Fitness gym. Many of my Personal trainer friends that i befriend when i was a Fitness First gym member for 6 years left for Fitness first for the TrueFitness gym (and adamantly claimed the opposite of Jasper)… hence, it is always greener on the other side.

I have tried many 7-days free trials at the California gym (Mid Valley Mega Mall), Celebrity Fitness (One Utama Shopping Mall) and Clark Hatch and is a gym club member for more than 11 years at 3 of the ost established gym in Kuala Lumpur namely Fitness First, True Fitness and Fitness Network.

What is important to a club member (to be consistent with their workout) is the convenient for parking and the location to the work place as well as the resident… then of course the quality and varieties of the equipments. BUT what is more important to me as a club member are the maintenance of the gym toilet as well as the equipments and the opening hours.

I was quite content with the Fitness First gym BUT am VERY PISSED OFF with their loyal customer policy programme. There was no customer retention programme and certainly no package for loyal customer. Being a pioneer member (310th member- membership number ending with ..00310) when Fitness First was first open in 2001 @ Menara John Hancock, I inquired if there was any package for loyal customer like me to be answered with a big NO. Since I joined the Fitness first, I have brought more than 100 friends between the year 2001 to 2007 (the year I terminated my membership).

The monthly fees for Fitness First gym is RM170 per month or approximately RM2,040 per annum. Being a Fitness first club member since 2001, todate I would have paid a total of RM28,560 for me and Nawal and what do I get for being a loyal member to Fitness First…. NOTHING. I paid ONLY 1/3 of the total amount spent at Fitness First gym to the TRUE FITNESS GYM VIP black card membership and got a membership for life (with a negligible yearly payment after the 5th year).

So friends.. please choose your gym carefully as gym club membership is a lifetime investment for a good health. When I have some extra time, I will write and do a thorough comparison of all the establish gym terms and conditions of membership. Until then, stay tune…

running for life.....

How did I start running? I get this question asked once too many. Of all the person, nobody actually believed that I run marathons and everybody think that I am mad to even attempt the 84km Ultra marathon. Many friends refused to believe that I run marathons since I never played sports or exercise and moreover because I am a passive smokers (smoking is a topic for another posting).


I started running a few years back when I celebrated my 30th birthday… Oh god.. did I just tell you my age… hihii.. but really, age does not matter, it is how we look that matters most. Of course you have to also feel younger at heart. My best friend Abu lais is 51 years old this year but nobody really believed his real age. Most will think that he is in his late 30s.. yaaa.. just kill me… oh god.. did I just mention Abu’s real age… ? Abu’s secret for looking and feeling young… exercise regularly and never stop exercising…

I was upset and was very depress when I celebrated my 30th birthday. I was fat with a waistline of 36 and weigh 80kg. Well, I was happy that I actually reached 30 years of age considering that I was only given 3 years to live because of leukaemia but being too ambitious I expected more before I turn 30. But the recovery from the 1998 recession held me back a few years away from my plan.

I first became a gym member at the Fitness network in 1997 (membership number B0888) until the first Fitness First branch open at the Menara John Hancock in 2001 (last three digit of the membership no...310). I was a Fitness first gym club member until 2007 when I changed my gym again to the Truefitness gym VIP Black Card member at Desa Sri Haratamas. Yes.. I have been a gym club member for the longest of time but not really a gym-goer. I changed gym so frequent because I get bored easily. But everytime I changed my gym, I end up getting bored again.. and the cycle continues.

Going to gym as a routine can be really boring.. yaa… evidently from the past 3 gym club membership. Changing gym does not change the boredom or laziness (from the gym routine). It is only running away from personal boredom (or problems) similar to many people who goes job-hopping and those who changes girlfriend and wives (out of boredom or problems). Change in environment is a quick escape from a real livelihood boredom. What I needed to do (or anybody for this matter) was to face the problem. The problem was I never had the real aspiration to go to the gym. I just wanted to be healthy but that was not enough an aspiration. Before I turn 30, I discovered that Abu had climbed the highest peak in South East Asia, the Mt Kinabalu and had agree to climb again to keep me company.

An expedition that initially comprised of only me, Nawal, Abu and Nita ended up with 100 people. I had to limit the expedition to a maximum 100 pax as it had received an overwhelming response. When I was training and planning for the Mt Kinabalu trip, I was so discipline with going to gym as well as other outdoor training. We climbed up Mt Buah in Genting, Mt Nuang, Maxwell hill (Ipoh), Mt Jerai (Kedah), and a few other day trip mountains. I refused to attempt climbing mountains that requires overnight camping… I can’t shit without toilet..

All my mountain expedition ended when I successfully reached the peak of Mt Kinabalu. As my expedition ended, my daily gym routine became boring and dull again than soon became non-existence. My waistline and weight immediately grew. I needed a target to continue making my gym visits more inspiring.

This was when I think of the unthinkable.. to run. Well, running was unthinkable because I never took up sports in my whole life having spent half my teens at the hospital or solitary confinement of my room because of leukaemia which I later turned into a boring workaholic and spend all my time at the office. I enrolled and started training for the PJ half marathon… well not really half marathon. The shortest distance was the 10km. I learn to use the treadmill at the gym and ran my first training for 20mins… 2 km!!! and that was hell….. I have to stop a few times to avoid my heart pumping out of my mouth.. my heart beats so fast it sounded like a disco bass sound. I trained hard every day with only 1 day rest in a week for 1 whole month and ran my first race expecting to be the last to complete and reach the finishing line… It turned out there were still thousands of runners behind me. 1 took approximately 1 hour and 30 mins to complete my first 10km run. I never run to win any prizes nor do I run to compete with anybody, I run to finish the race without giving up.

Ever since that day and for the last 4 years, I have participated in many 10km runs, 21km runs and had completed 3 full 42km marathon. To keep my fitness at the peak, I became very religious with training and gym.

Boredom and routine gym visits can be easily managed if we have a goal. My running goal now is to run the famous Boston Marathon. But before I get bored with running, I took up dualthon and participated in the Powerman ualthon as well as triathlon. The dualthon is a run, cycle and run event with a distance of 10km run, 40km cycle and 10km run. I attempted the Ironman Triathlon in Langkawi in 2006. The Ironman was tough starting with a 3.8km open water swim, 180km cycle and 42km run. The dualthon and triathlon is a story for another posting.

I am now addicted to running and simply cannot describe the ‘runner’s high’ (when your heart beats so fast and your body lacked the oxygen) that I get every time I run passed 10km. I am more addicted to the sense of achievement every time I cross the finishing line during any marathon. For a man who only had 3 years to live, the feeling from conquering the peak of Mt Kinabalu (the highest peak in south east asia) and the achievement to complete a 42km marathon is simply a multiple orgasm.

If only anybody can understand and feel the same indescribable sense of achievement from completing a race, I believe, we will all live in a very healthy society. Now my waistline has been reduced to 29” to 30” and I only weigh 66kg.

Extreme activities

31st May 2008, 84km Ultra Marathon.... madness but i was very excited to run my longest marathon. not that i have done so many 42km marathon that i felt so confident that i can finish this marathon but i was more excited to push myself beyond my limit. i have thus far ran 3 full marathons. My first marathon was last year @ Salisbury, London but even that was not a real marathon. The Salisbury marathon was a trail marathon. It was a run across 5 rivers, 4 hills, 3 large countryside estates, 2 castle and 1 cathedral. Stupendous scenery and view... I ran together with Abu Lais and Nawal Aini but we got lost in the hills and enjoyed the beautiful scenery that it took us 10 hours to complete the run.. Yes recorded as DNF and everybody, even the marshals were gone by the time we reached the finishing line. The second 42km marathon was the Standard Chartered Marathon in Singapore... somehow my buddy Abu decide to run everywhere in the world beside Malaysia. I completed the Singapore 42km standard chartered Marathon in a gruelling 7 hour and 36 mins. somehow, no matter how much i plan my training, i will end up not train for any competition. it was never really a competition against anybody except for my own timing.

Having run in London and Singapore last year, this year i decided to run the Ambank Kuala Lumpur International Marathon that was held on 30 March and again, i lacked the training. Meetings and work schedule always hinder my training programme but since i have made my commitment, i ran the marathon and forced myself all the way to complete it in 5 hours and 46 mins. that was my best time so far.

on 31 May, i attempted the Adidas Sundown 84km ultra marathon. As usual, meetings after meetings and the endless work at office held me back from early travel to Singapore. i had my Singaporean friend Jackson Liew to collect my race number earlier and so that i can leave later on the 31 May morning. the run starts at 830pm and i should have ample time to travel.

I packed my travelling items and slept at midnight to start my journey to Singapore and woke up early at 5am. We left KL at 7am, after a few stops to eat along the PLUS highway and getting stucked at the causeway, we finally reached my friend's office in Singapore at 1pm to collect my race number and the race kit. There were 8 of us in my group but only me and my personal trainer Suhaimi that is crazy enough to attempt the 84km run. Abu Lais and Nawal Aini did the 42km and my sister Rose along with her 3 friends did the 10.5km relay. All of us were in FASFIK red runners vest.


After a good carbo lunch, i waited impatiently for the race to start. When the gun went off sharp at 830pm, enthusiastically i start running. everybody ran pass me but i was keeping cool and trying hard not to panic. my target was only to complete the race irrespective of the time taken. On the first 5km my polar watch happily display my heart rate at 155 or 83% max HR with a speed of 8.2. I remember reading in most running magazine that i should keep my heart rate below 60% if i am on a long distance run. if i want to run at 60% max HR, i will have to run at the speed of 6. so i decided to run at a HR of 150bpm. Yes, i am not as fit as most athlete. A good athlete would be pacing at speed 10-12 with a 65% max HR.

this is my first night run. i did not know what to expect. it was very dark and be it not for the volunteers from the local school girls that kept the direction and mood by cheering us up at every 5km, i would have been lost. i looked forward to running without the heat of the sun but never anticipated the exhaustion of not sleeping. I only had less than 5 hours sleep the night before the race and yes.. this run provides me a new insight into the real definition of 'sleepy'. i was yawning all the way after the 30th km.

when i complete the first loop of 42km, at the 'special needs' camp, i ate 2 bananas, a pack of power gel, and almost a bottle of mineral water... (runners beware..) i should have packed some sandwich and perhaps a hot coffee but i did not. After taking in all 'carbo' in less than 5 minutes, i continue to immediately run to avoid any time wastage. a few hundred meter later, i vormited everything i ate and drink. goodness. my stomach rejected everything i ate. i did think of turning back but i since i promise myself i will not give up easily, i quickly put myself together and began to slowly walk and back to running.

i ran feeling my head so heavy and my body was so stiff. i thought i was about to faint or drop dead when i could not see nor remember where i was running to and almost run into a lamp post.... then i realize i was falling asleep. i cannot described in word how it felt but the feeling is a mixture of half fainting and abit like stroke when i cannot open both eye.. or it felt like only one eye is open. but when i stopped and look around and felt my body feeling numb.. i realize i was really falling asleep and did not have any stroke or heart attack. falling asleep while running.. never knew it was possible.

I kept myself awake and keep running slowly again maintaining my pace at 150% max HR until i met Wei Kee on the 46km who was limping and walking slowly. we both decided to walk instead of running. we met Ailing a few metres in front who cannot stop expressing her disappointment in her timing for the first 42km loop. she expect to complete the whole 84km in less than 10 hours.. oh god! i was merely wanting to be a finisher even if it takes 20 hours.

10 hours since we started our run at 830pm, we reached the water station 4. it was at the 54km of the route. The wind was heavy signalling it was about to rain and at the speed we were walking, if we continue to the finishing line, our expected time to complete will be at 2pm!!! and everybody would have left the base. all our belongings are still at the special needs counter and will be kept at the organiser's office after 11 am. We can only collect it the day after. i have to leave back to KL the same day, Ailing had to work tomorrow and Wei Kee had all his wallet, bus pass and house keys in the bag... or at least these were the reason to abandon the race. After much deliberation and when we are pleased with all the justification, we approached the volunteers at the drink station and ask how to abandon the race. the girl said, we can wait with them for their pick up bus anytime now. It rain heavily and one of the volunteers gave us a black garbage bag as a shelter from the rain. we were too cold and decided to get into the garbage bag instead of just covering our head with the bag. the garbage bag was big enough to cover from head to knee. we poke a small hole for us to see and breath. Ailing happily said the garbage bag worked wonders to also shelter her from the shame of abandoning the race. but to think of it now, we were too exhausted and mega-sleepy that there is no way for us to even walk an extra metre.

We took the bus and reached the starting/finishing point at 730am almost 11 hours from the start time. i was soaking wet from the rain and half awake but have to FASFIK myself to travel back to KL. I have an important meeting on Monday and will have to leave back to KL today. in short, we drive to Singapore on Saturday at 7am, reached Singapore at 1pm. went to the race start/finishing to view the place visited the special needs camp. Carbo load and got ready for the race. start race at 830pm. abandon at 6am on Sunday. reached finishing line at 730am. Shower and freshen up. drove back to KL and reached KL at 7pm. Extreme crazy, extreme experience and extreme fun..... i love it.