DR ASTON SPORTS CLINIC

Faizal Ariff, one of the trainer at the Bootcamp left a link on my Facebook page upon reading my knee-injury & dissatisfied experience blog at the KLSMC, click Blog KLSMC.

Faizal recommended Dr Aston Sports Clinic for me to get a second opinion on my knee and upon clicking the link, I discovered the Doctor is also a Blogger too and on Facebook (see: Dr Aston FB).... Since the clinic was only 10 minutes drive away, I immediately SMS for appointment (yes, even the HP number was made available on the Blog)... and within seconds of sending the sms, the Clinic called me to confirm my appointment at 5pm!!

"Please bring along your jogging shoe and a short for your 5pm appointment" said a well-mannered lady, presumably the receptionist.

I packed my short, jogging shoe, took along the KLSMC's X-ray & MRI before driving to Dr Aston Sports Clinic that is located at No 6, Jalan SS2/3, near the Taman Bahagia LRT Station and is a few shop-lots away from a Perodua showroom.

The clinic was  a simple but clean set-up.. after registering at the counter, I was called in by Dr Aston Ngai Seng Huey MBBS, MSc Spors Med (UK) within barely 5 minutes of waiting. I explained my knee problem and after changing into my short, Dr Aston examined both my knees while I lied down on the black examining bed.

I was then asked to performed a few squats (very easy without OBC Shakira pulses), step-climb and jumped back on the bed for further examination. After a thorough examination, Dr Aston massage my thigh to ease the muscle stiffness and strain, performed some physiotheraphy and an ultra-sound before going through a simple exercise as my homework at home. He also adviced those exercises that I should avoid and gym equipments that I should train with to strengthened the quadricep and hamstring that will support the knee. I have to slow-down on the running mileage and if possible, run in swimming pool instead to maintain the stamina without straining the knee.

After an hour of knee-examination, consultancy and physiotheraphy, Dr Aston viewed the KLSMC X-ray & MRI.

"Which Doctor did you see at the KLMSC?", asked Dr Aston. "I met Dr Saw for a total of 15 minutes after waiting for an hour!" I answered in annoyance.

"Dr Saw? The Guru... the best Doctor in the field", said Dr Aston, whom than added, "If you ever in need of an operation, that will be the best surgeon".

"Really? I went there because a friend recommended and not because of his credentials" I said.  

"Without knowing Dr Saw's background, credentials and without any expectation, I was not impressed with the whole episode. If I knew of his reputation, I would have been more dissappointed", I further added in frustration with both arms crossed and starring right through Dr Aston.

Dr Saw had recommended an operation for both knee and I asked for Dr Aston's opinion. . Dr Aston diagnosed my knee problem as "Knee Popliteus Strain/Tendinoses" (whatever that means) but most importantly, Dr Aston said my knee does not need any surgery but a proper care with regular leg exercises and physiotheraphy can avoid further damage... but I must observed a lower running mileage. Infact, Dr Aston said an operation should be avoided at all time unless really necessary.... music to my ears!

Take Note: Dr Aston adviced Runners to visit any sports clinic to de-stress the stiff and strain muscle after any race or competition to avoid any injury or prolonge damage.

Dr Aston was appointed team physician for the KL Dragons in the Asian Basketball League (ABL) on 14 october 2009. He was previously attached to the national Sports Institute for 8 years from 1997 to 2005.

After an hour of consultation and no waiting que for a fix appointment time, I was charged a reasonable RM173 including some gel, medicine and ultra-sound.

Nyna Mohsein, Suriana Saiful, Sabrina Sabri and those friends with a knee problem, you should call Dr Aston @ 03-78774399 or 0192103787 for consultancy or add Dr Aston Sports Clinic on Facebook FAN PAGE for free advice.....  Faizal, thank you for the recommendation.

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Klang 2009 New Balance Pacer 21km run

THE KLANG NEW BALANCE 21km HALF MARATHON @ SETIA ALAM


I gasped as i approached the drink station at km 15 . I immediately refilled my water bottle before gulping down a cup of water and continued the run. It is almost 2 hours since the race started. Today's race was at a new route and there were less pollution from cars that passed by compared to last year's race route.




I have another 6 km before completing the Klang New Balance pacer 21km race. This route is at a new residential area that borders the Klang and Shah Alam township and didnt have much trees to shelter runners from the sun heat that was felt even before 8am.



I have very low tolerance for heat. We were flag-off at 630am today and i had a good run until the sun sppeared which i immediately felt the sweat gland widens and sweat pouring out and soaking my white running vest. My heart rate climbed up to 162 from the initial 155 beats per minute.


Emi overtook me on the 18th km but we manage to pose first for the album.. 'the excruciating moment under the sun...'


I increased my pace as i saw my polar stopwatch reads 2 hours 31minutes with another 3km to finishing line. i was melting under the heat but I did not want to complete the race in more than 3 hours. Ignoring the high heart rate and the sun, i sprinted the last 3km and completed the race in 2 hours 49minutes.

Happily, i sprinted the last 3km to the finishing line

I was burnt red by the sun heat....

As a reward, we had Nasi Lemak at the nearby stall 'spending' the 2150 calories burnt during the run before going home for a nice cold shower. The best moment after a good long run is to pamper with a Thai Massage at the Touches De Siam before indulging in one of the best clear Tomyam bihun at the Good Evening Bangkok Thai Restaurant, One Utama.


Although 2,150 calories burnt during the race, i am back into fitness overdraft with more than 3,000 calories gained ending the sunday with grilled lamb, fried Phompret and fried bee hoon.



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NEW BALANCE 15KM RUN.. @ Lake Garden

NEW BALANCE 15KM... killer race

KRRrrriiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiingg ........... its 5am and my blackberry phone alarm screamed annoyingly for 3 second before i switched it off and went back to sleep. I jumped out of bed at 5:36am when i suddenly realized its SUNDAY MORNING 17 May 2009.. the New Balance race! I woke my sister Emi ... This is my 4th New Balance race. I first participated in the new balance race in 2006 but i never kept track of any race timing until last year. I completed 2008, last year's New balance 15km race in 1 hour and 48minutes. Race timing was never my objective. i just wanted to run. i doubt, i can complete todays race before 2 hours.. in fact i hope to complete today's race before 2 hours and 30mins. i did not run train at all for already almost 3 weeks... with an exception of last week 10km Bomba run that was also a torture.


I love the New Balance race. It is the most organised race in all the running events in Malaysia. Everything was well organised... from the timing-chip & record, water stations, marshalls and ambulance... not that i need an ambulance but hey.. once i took part in the Ironman triathlon, Langkawi and the ambulance and police escorted slowly behind me.... and sigh.. i did end up being chauffered driven in the ambulance... collapsed on my 128th km cycle. The New balance race was also known for the best racing vest. The material and design was superb. The vest is even better and prettier than Adidas King of the road vest.


Todays run was... syiiiiok & exhilarating at first. i was enjoying the 'runners high' and woke up at Bukit Tunku... Didnt even know how I got there but was awoke by the killer terrain when i was completely out of breath. The race was all 'hilly' and my heart rate was constant at 168.. My speed was barely 7. On the 3.8th km from start, a whole bunch of ladies steadily and speedily ran passed me. Ladies start time was 15 minutes later than men!!

It was a tough run with the killer terrain from start to end and especially from the lack of training. I would usually blame the organiser, personal trainer, running partner and even blame the weather... for a tough run. but with the best organiser and every running partner's improved timing and a cooling route.. i can only blame ME... for the lack of discipline to train. Will train harder for the next run.. the Klang 21km race on 7 June 2009.


I completed the race in an excruciating 2 hours and 8 minutes and wanted a Nasi Lemak tangling as a reward but had Kanna roti canai instead.

Excruciating 2 hours & 8 minutes

NB Finisher............

Dont let the pictures deceived you though.. if there is one thing that i wont fail..... is to pose for the camera.. ahaks.. but really.......... the run was really really bad... the smiles were all a show.. :-)

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RUN AWAY....

I am in my car again heading to Subang 2 to meet my vendor Petro Retail. It is not easy to write my blog at home or at the office with so much work to complete and so many discussions with my Head of Departments. Leslie is next to me directing Sanwa, my driver, to Petro retail office as I frantically glued on my Nokia E90 typing my blog. I reckon I have less than 15 minutes before reaching the destination.

Running is undoubtedly the best form of exercise to burn fat. Well not that I am looking into losing fat but since I started running constantly in the past 2 months, I have gone down from 74kg to 66kg, almost 15kg under-weight for my height of 5’11”.

Is that good? To be a good runner, we must keep our body weight light and to run a full marathon or ultra-marathon, having a light body weight is a good advantage but is that what I wanted? i wandered alone. No, I never wanted to lose weight. I was never overweight and it was never my ambition to be a good runner.

What inspires me to start exercising and running was my blood test result. With my ‘re-condition’ body, having gone through heavy doses of both chemotherapy and radiotherapy prior to the bone marrow transplant almost 20 years ago, it will be a matter of time before each of my internal organs collapse. Now, all my blood test results display high positive reading for cholesterol, glucose, uric acid, stone in the bladder etc. Typical and even parts of a 're-condition' car engine too will slowly collapse. I started my running, cycling and swimming as I turn 30, to maintain my fitness given all the negative blood test results.

Being dissatisfied with 66kg in weight, I ran away from running and focussed more in weight lifting for the past 3 weeks. An intensive weight training can increase my heart beat to a 90% max heart rate giving me enough training to improve my fitness level. Weight training had also improved my physique. My weight has increased to 70kg now. I have registered for the Adidas King of the Road 24km race on 10 August 2008 this coming Sunday and I have not been running for the past 3 weeks. The qualifying time is 2 hours and 30 minutes for the 24km race.

I asked leslie who looked bored beside me if he is ready for the Adidas race? Leslie and at least 9 of my other friends were supposed to run the Adidas race with me. Leslie said, my pa, Azhar failed to register Leslie, Sayf and Azlan in time before the closing date. They took too long to decide if they really wanted to participate. We.. me, nawal, abu, nita, Dato Fadzil, Datin azura and my sister Emi had registered earlier being overly eager to run the King of the Road race. We reached Petro Retail office and I am still half way through the blog post. Petro Retail is the authorised supplier for Facep, Italy car workshop equipments and is the only bumiputra company in the field.

After 2 hours of discussions with Kamarul, Petro Retail Managing Director, we left to the Soul’ed Out restaurant at Desa Sri Hartamas for a meeting with another vendor; Mohan from Shell. Yes, without exhausting my effort to post a blog regularly, I continued writing while Sanwa drove and leslie sitting quietly getting lost in thought.

To complete the Adidas King of the Road race within the time frame given, I need to train for distance and speed running which I will again go back to being 66kg without a good physique, except for being thin. I choose to maintain my weight above 70kg & physique and needed to do more weight training but I may not be able to complete the race within the qualifying time. I guess I will only find out this coming Sunday during the race. Good luck to me.

Contrary to whatever the health, muscle and fitness magazine writes, I do not believe in attaining both a good running distance and a muscular physique. It is an ‘either-or’ gain. A distance running will burn both fat as well as muscles and will make anyone too thin without a well built physique but both will increase fitness level. To those who seek to lose weight, ladies especially, don’t waste time and money at the gym and personal trainer; just invest in a good running shoe and start running. Believe me, it work wonders.

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……..

Race & races...

I was in a daze when my alarm went off sharp at 5am last Sunday. I usually wake up at 530am daily without any alarm for my morning runs at the kiara hill. I was dazzled for a moment thinking why did the alarm screamed so early and jumped out of bed immediately when I remembered I had the MBK Klang 10km run that morning. That was the first race since the Singapore Ultra marathon about a month back.

I grabbed my spec, rushed to find my race number and in a flash, I was sipping my first coffee in my study room all geared up ready to run. It felt awkward going for a race without my two sparing partners Nawal and Abu. Both had other prior engagement and cancelled their participation at the race day eve.

Klang was a stranger to me but I was fortunate to have the GPS built-in my car and arrived at the race event by 6am. I parked my car and walked to the stadium to warm up and submit my registration number at counter A to start the race. I took note of other participants and notice a good mixture of all races. There were equally as many Malays and Indians as the Chinese. I have run various quarter, half and full marathons in Malaysia and this is the first race with the best mixture of races. It was a truly Malaysian event.

Being a regular at the most popular jogging track in klang valley such as the Kiara hill and the park, Lake Gardens, Kelana Jaya and KLCC, I cant help but to notice the Chinese are the dominant occupant of the jogging tracks. In fact, in all other running event (save as the MBK Klang event), we can find very few Malays and Indians. Similarly at boutique gyms such as the Truefitness which I am currently a member and previously at the fitness First gym, majority of the club members are also Chinese dominated. Sadly, running or exercising has not become a Malaysian culture.

What has not become a Malaysian culture too is the mindset of some ‘races’ in Malaysia. Race is a very sensitive and much debated hot topic with Tun Dr Mahathir being accused of playing the racist card in Johor recently as the last straw to gain the public support. The opposition PKR wanted to abolish the NEP for equal rights in all races. Not to forget the HINDRAF went all the way to the Queen of England to appeal for their race rights. What really are the rights that the Malay is protecting and the opposition wanted to abolish? And what was so important that the Hindraf went all the way to the British Queen bypassing our government, our king and our constitution?

At random, whenever I met my Malay colleagues and friends, I always ask that one simple question. Do you know your rights as a Bumiputra? The Malay were furious and another word by any other races questioning the special privileges for bumiputra as provided by the federal constitution, would have triggered another 13 May with Dato Seri Hishamuddin probably fronting with his Keris. The truth is, a random sampling of 10 out of 10 malay (my fellow colleagues and friends) does not know what are their Bumiputra rights but will not hesitate to draw their Keris if the privileges are threatened. Similarly, I asked my Chinese and Indian friends if they are being suppressed being a Malaysian (but non-bumiputra) and on a similar sampling of 10 different friends and colleagues (non-bumiputra), none of them understood what the big fuss was about but both the Chinese and Indian in their own right will protect whatever they deemed theirs. In other words, every malay, Chinese and Indian will bleed blindly to protect their rights… even without knowing what they are protecting!!!! So here we are, Abdullah Badawi, Anwar Ibrahim and Hindraf provoking the innocent Malaysia politicising issues that none of their supporters truly really understand.

The best pleasure of participating in running races is the real harmony of being Malaysian. It is the best display of unity and solidarity irrespective of race and religion. Everybody run with one objective… to complete the race! Imagine all Malaysian irrespective of race and religion, work together bearing one similar objective (whatever that objective may be), I believe that will be the real spirit of Malaysia Boleh!

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.........

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.