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.

 

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.

EXCELLENT RUN @ STANDARD CHARTERED KUALA LUMPUR INTERNATIONAL MARATHON

[blog is still being updated for more pictures]
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27 June 2010 Dataran Merdeka, Kuala Lumpur. In a convoy of three cars, we left and parked our cars 20 minutes walking distance from the Starting point.

Our convoy consisted of me, Nawal Aini Zulkifli, Rose Emini Pahamin, Ili Liyana Baharon, Ilyanna Aylin Ayob, Nyna Mohsen, Amir Hisyam, Ody Lana,  Bahariah Bahadom,

BARENO 10KM & 15KM RACE @ BUKIT JALIL

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What Bagero? Was the first impression I had when Rose Emini Pahamin mentioned to me about the race. BAGERO or the actual word Bayakaro (which if pronounced fast enough will sound like Bagero) is a basic Japanese bad word but the Bareno is far from a bad word. Bareno is the main sponsor for yesterday's running race that was organised by the Bukit Jalil Pacesetter running club.

We were amongst the earliest to register for the race.. I mean.. My darling sister Rose Emini Pahamin registered the whole bunch of us runners (including Virgin runners) for the race.. They should give us a 'Bulk-Discount'... or a group discount! Rose Emini Pahamin & Ili Liyana Baharon collected our bib number, registration card and a damn good looking New Balance running vest on Friday 12 March 2010.

There were 50 known runners in our fraternity of friends that ran the Bareno. They were Dr Malek Aziz, Farhanah Bamadhaj, Abu Lais Walli Mohamed, Anita Ahmad, Nur Amy Shazwin Lais, Shobha Bala, Vinod Kumar, Farrah Vivien Raguet, Ili Liyana Baharon, Rose Emini Pahamin, Nicholas Chan Yee Son, Chun Chia Kai SSJ, Zaiem Razak, Mohammad Arif A Rahman, Faizal Ariff Abdullah, Erny Marlina Mohsen, Ilyanna Ailin Ayob, Nik Izyan Nik Ismail, Bahariah Baharon, Wan Izana Rozan Wan Ahmed, Daing Daniel Fitri, Mohd Danial Ismail, Ariff Latiffi Mat Ali, Mohamed Adni Mohamed Kassim, Natassya Lee, Rosliza Abdul Rahim, Suriana Saiful Yazan, Fazura Nur Jaafar, Rienna Choo Lye Har, Amy Ho Mae Mae, Cynthia Gan SSJ, Simran Latiff, Nur Liyana Razalee, kenix Lim, Leesa Tan, Joyce Chuo, Hong Sze...and many more ...

There are at least 10 Virgin-Runners namely Faizal Ariff Abdullah, Natassya lee, Rienna Choo, Amy Ho, Vinod Kumar, Kenix Lim, Leesa Tan, Rosliza Abdul Rahim and Aisan Lim. Cynthia ran her first 10km after completing the recent 7.7km Putrajaya Night race.

Farhanah Bamadhaj gave us a morning wake up call at 5:45am.... and at 5:50am, Vinod Kumar & Shobha Bala arrived at our house to car-pool to the Bukit Jalil Stadium. We left and arrived at the Stadium at 6:30am intime for the reporting. We bumped into some of our group members before flagging-off.

I brought along my camera knowing I wont be pushing myself hard due to the knee and I snapped a few pictures of runners @ the starting point and spotted Cynthia Gan SSJ impatiently waiting at the very front to start running.

Spotted!!! and Zoomed the small camera lense to capture Faizal Ariff Abdulah and Simran Latiff's pictures.... at a far distance.

The race was flagged off at 7am for the 15km runners and 7:20am for the 10km!! 

Then spotted ........ Errr.. forgot her name... (from OBC-KLB) Got it!! Its Hong Sze from PJB (sorry) and Aisan Lim & Leesa Tan (below)..

I was cruising at a very slow pace enjoying the run... it has been almost three months since the New Balance 30km race. 

I injured my knee during the New Balance race and have not run or train running at all since then except for the training at the Bootcamp.
Spotted....Syed Mahadzir Syed Manshor.. but only managed to snap his rear..

Took this picture from Tey's collections. Sh@@t.. I forgot to smile. I look horrible!!

Spotted Farhanah Bamadhaj. 
Whilst Cam- whoring & running was fun but pls excuse the not-so-clear picture, snapping photos while running requires extra-skills....

My knees were good until we entered a park with an uphill slope which hurts the knee again but it was bearable. The last few Kilometers to finishing line was a killer.

Spotted.. Rienna Choo, Natassya Lee & Amy Ho

Shobha Bala, 
Nicholas Chan & 
Abu lais....

Spotted Cynthia Gan SSJ... a 10km virgin runner, 

N. Mohanadas, Malaysian first Mt Everest Climber and 

Dr Rafidah  Abdullah.

Vinod Kumar, 

Kenny Smith & 

Chun Chia kai SSJ Pictures compliment to PM Tey.

Spotted too... Rose Emini Pahamin & Farrah Vivien Raguet..

We completed the race to qualify for finisher medal!!!

I do not know about others, but crossing the finishing line was my ultimate goal. I completed the 10km race in 1 hour 16 minutes.

To complete any race with a good timing is a bonus but the pleasure to run and crossing the finishing line was the orgasm.

Shobha Bala DBK and Nawal Aini finishes the race hand-in-hand... together-gether-mether.

It was a good run and we look forward to next years Bareno!!! Well Done organisers!!!

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NEW BALANCE 30KM, against all odd

UPDATES:
The New Balance Race Result is available at PACESETTERS. Once you are at the PACESETTER result page, right click your Mouse, click on Search and type your name.
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The annual Great Eastern Pacesetters 30km run in January was replaced by the New Balance 30km run this year 2010. Last year, the event was held on 18 January 2009 at Taman Tasik Perdana which I completed in 4 hours 3 minutes. This year the New Balance Pacesetters 30km run was held at Padang Merbuk on 17 January 2010.

There were more than 20 of our family members, friends and fellow Bootcampers that had enrolled but at least 8 of us had FFK.... or chicken out for various reasons. My orthopedic doctor Dr Aston Ngai Seng Huey had advised me against running but I just could not resist the temptation to run.



My sister Rose Emini Pahamin was responsible for the bigger group of runners. At least half of our group are first time runners which some had registered under-duress not being able to say no to her. She happily registered us all, make payment and queue at Singgahsana Hotel to collect our running bib, vest and chip.

 

My Bib number was A0030 (Nice number!! )

Thank you Rosey & Nyna. Sadly, those that FFK (for whatever reason)........ includes Shoba Bala, Anita Ahmad, Farrah Vivien Raguet,Amy Shazwin Lais, Adlin Fatin Lais...

The New Balance 30km route

BIB Number ready, IPOD fully charged, Polar strap ready, Polar Watch was on the table, Polar footpod battery changed,water bottle filled with accelerade drink, bottle pouch in-bag, Phiten bracelet worn, change-cloth in-bag, towel in-bag............... We are ready to go!!!!!!!

We arrived at Bukit Aman car park at 5:10am. In an attempt to illegally parked the car by the roadside, I quickly reversed and incidentally knocked on a parked vehicle..... before I could pretend to ignore, a policeman chased us away and directed us to find a proper parking. Being late, when the policeman turned away, we left our car and ran to the race-start point.

The race was flagged off at 5:30am sharp. I started running with Nawal Aini but lost her when I had to empty my bladder and pee under a tree at a dark corner............. okay ok... too much information.

As I was running alone in complete darkness without any street light, I heard my name being called... I turned and saw Rose Emini......... "Slow down... I am scared, this is too dark" said Rose Emini. The road was so dark, we were blinded and Nyna Mohsen fell and injured herself.

After the race, Nyna saw the damage of her fall. She was bleeding & needed to shop for a new pants.

Running with Rose Emini was fun........... we stopped many times to camwhore. Who else would run 30km with a camera.

While running, we saw CHUN SSJ on the other side of the road........... Damn blurdy fast!!!

This New Balance route was all hilly with a few very steep hills. After running for 20km, my right knee gave way and I could neither bend nor move my right leg. I could not even walk properly and was dragging my right leg up and down the hills.

I recalled Dr Aston nagging for me to recuperate first for full recovery or risk going for both knee surgery. Dr Saw Khay Yong from the Kuala Lumpur Sports Medicine Centre had earlier recommended both knee surgery after reading my X-ray and MRI report...... Padan Muka aku... serve me right!!

The pain was excruciating. The hills were ugly and there was at least 10km more to finishing line. As I struggled to walk, I was stopped many times by unknown runners. Two of them stopped and massage my knee and another runner at a different time, offered me his knee-guard. I must have look really bad that they took pity on me. I was too much in pain that I forgot to ask for their name and number but I was overwhelmed at their kindness. Thank you very much for the assistant.

At 21km, 22km and 25km, I was stopped by the race-marshall on motorcycle whom offered to ferry me back to the finishing line.... Stubbornly, I refused... I have to cross the finishing line!!! even if it takes the whole day..... I thought to myself, or rather convincing the other little voice in my head that say.. What the F@#K am I doing....!!!

At 26km...  I was surprised by Kenny Smith and his wife Michelle Smith whom was honking their car and cheering me up... They completed their run in just over 3 hours and was on the way home.

After more than 4 hours of running, Abu, Chun Chia Kai SSJ and Farhanah came searching and found me 800 metres before finishing point. I was still dragging my right leg. Abu offered to piggy-back and Chun SSJ offered to carry me to the finishing line but still stubborn, I insist to complete without any help.

10 Meters to cross the finishing line.......... The pain was almost unbearable but the escort from Abu lais, Chun Chia Kai SSJ, Farhanah Bamadhaj, Dr Malek Aziz was superb.

I completed the 30km run in 4 hours and 36minutes and burned 3020 calories..

The medic came to the rescue the moment I crossed the finishing line. After the pain subside.... we camwhore again...........

Typical friends.. whilst the medic was nursing my knee... they all gather to pose & take pictures........

Other Finishers in the group............

30KM FINISHERS

Yaaa... I know its stupid to drag the leg in excruciating pain for more than 10km, for 2 hours but really......... it was damn worth it!!!


I am also very proud of all the new runners.. in particular Dr Malek Aziz, Farhanah Bamadhaj, Danial Ismail, Zaiem Razak. Keep up the good spirit guys.

Until next time............ Stay tune....