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.  

Ipoh international 21km run

I had never been to Ipoh but the 2 hours drive last Saturday was really worth the trip. I was cruising at 220km per hour on the north south expressway and there was no road block but I had to slow down a few times when I got conned by the poster of the police photographing speedy car that was displayed under the overhead bridge ala real policeman in action.

I left home at 3pm on Saturday afternoon after a good carbo lunch. Nowadays, most restaurant practice ‘no-frill’ menu, mostly bearing no fat, no cholesterol and no sugar added. But my lunch was definitely with free fat, cholesterol and added sugar... for the same price!

My journey was assisted by a pretty and sexy-voiced Sarah.. my loyal navigator…GPS! She navigates me all the way to my destination and I did not get lost! hah.. cheap thrill.. I know but really.. my sense of bearing and direction sucks.. Nawal would know. We arrived in Ipoh at 5pm but headed straight to Sports complex to view tomorrow race starting and finishing point. We went to collect my race number from Suhaimi, my Personal Trainer and the person responsible to drag me for the Ipoh run at the Heritage hotel. Suhaimi was so excited to run the race that he brought along his wife, daughter and both mum and dad… goodness.. I would freak out if everybody were present. As usual, my second sparring partner Abu, conveniently went on sick leave although he had registered for the run.

Impiana Casuarina hotel where we checked in for an overnight stay was only 10 minutes drive from the sports complex. After a hot shower, my good friend Sidik brought us for a tour at his new house before dinner. Sidik’s house still smell new and I had conveniently declare one of the 4 bedroom house as my room!!!

We came back to the hotel and slept early after a very good meal, compliment from Sidik. Unlike the last MBK 10km klang run (last weekend) when I did not have enough sleep, I was all prepared for this Ipoh 21km run. Everything from my vest all ready with the race number, my ipod, shoe, polar watch, cap, water bottle, power gel and shorts were all nicely displayed on the vanity table. I woke up early at 4am but had a stomach upset!!! And went to toilet every 10 minutes, the whole morning…. goodness. At 6am.. I ignored the stomach ache and rushed to the race venue. We were gathered in a field and was made to wore a band to mark the registration.

The event was officiated by the Prince of Perak witnessed by the new Chief Minister. Yes, the new Chief Minster from the opposition party. Perak was one of the 5 states that falls to the opposition. We waited for the Prince to blow the gun and shortly later, the race began. We were disappointed with the organiser when the whole participants for all distant categories, 5km, 7km, 10km and 21km started the same time. It was too crowded and the shorter distance runner sprinted from start whilst the 21km runners were slower causing major traffic chaos and almost accident amongst the runner. Considering the opposition was from a religious fanatic PAS, I was waiting for the Chief Minister to ban the race because all runners were too sexy (for fanatics) exposing their legs, shoulder and arm but thank god, the Chief Minister was civilised and accepted the runner’s ‘uniform’ in good spirit.

The running route was mostly flat road and there wasn’t much hilly terrain. My run did not went too well when I had to cruise the whole 21km at 165 heart beat per minute or 90% of my maximum heart rate… on an average speed of 7.7km/per hour only (thanks to Polar heart rate and speed monitor). The abnormal high heart rate was probably due to the lack of rest the whole of last week. The weather was also good without unbearable heat or rain. I had the best view of Ipoh town through the running route and I was impressed at the town’s cleanliness and friendliness. I completed the run in 2 hours and 37 minutes and was satisfied especially when I had to cruise at 90% max HR on 7.7km per hour speed only. I was praying that my heart or lung wont burst but imagine if i can run & cruise at the same average 220km/hr speed i drove my car on my way to Ipoh....

We left back for KL immediately after the run and stopped by ‘Touches de Siam’ @ Centrepoint, Bandar Utama, for another ‘heavenly’ massage. I will definitely be back for next year’s Ipoh race. Now, I am browsing the internet for the next running event. I have registered for the Adidas King of the Road 22km run on 10 August 2008 but that is in another 1 month!!! I need another run before that or I will be craving like an addict! Oh god……..

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.