Limping Marathon Runner

Barely recovering from our run last week (I was just kidding), we set an outing for our 2nd run at East Coast this morning. Waking up at 5.20am was a little difficult. But, thinking about the great run that we will be having... it got me excited. Fd was suppose to meet Carine and me. Eventually, she still could not make it. So, I waited for Carine at the first cabin. My only clue. She's wearing white T-shirt and I've seen her photo on her blog. We did meet. That wasn't so difficult. Taz was already at the destination and TLR came soon after at the pick up point before we all move to East Coast. While waiting for the rest to come, everyone was doing warm ups. Soon came Penguin on her Grey IronHorse. BrokenRunner came running too. Finally, Kay. I've seen everyone before except for Carine and Kay. Once everyone was good to go, we started off with a chit chat pace. TLR snapping pictures from his mobile phone along the way! I think it was around 10km, I split off from the group. I did an U-turn while the rest proceeded to do 21km. I did not want to do more than my targeted distance. At around 11 or 12km, I stopped to walk back. A warm down before enjoying a good 1 hour of sea breeze. *relaxed* BrokenRunner told me they saw Gentle. Awww... next time.

The rest came back an hour later. Really proud of you guys!! We did a wash up before having MacDonalds breakfast. By now, everyone took their cameras out and started shooting away. Everyone had set meals except TLR and Carine (they took drinks only). Woa! This made us felt guilty... Or I should say I feel guilty.. I only did a 11km. Our 2nd outing ended with a satisfying meal after an excellent run from the guys and gals. Poor penguin has to cycle back. It was a cycle-run-cycle event for her this morning.

I headed home for another appointment. I got to help ZhuiTeLun settle his project problem. Too bad, the things are suppose to work or rather not working now. I tried different ideas and tricks.... nope. Nothing moved. We called it a day and headed off a nearby mall for dinner. Such coincidence. OCS called me. I asked him to come along. So, it was just a simple dinner and catching between the guys since OCS has not seen ZhuiTeLun for quite some time.

Today, it has been wonderful. I wouldn't mind traveling down to EC for another run again. In attendance today: TLR, Kay, Carine, Taz, Penguin, BrokenRunner and Balasing (Plus Gentle, whom I fail to meet).



Pic 1: Kay has a pair of new shoes that got TLR excited!! He's trigger happy!!
Pic 2: Sea breeze from your left
Pic 3: "We completed 21km!! Tired ahhhhh!! Where's my MacDonalds?"
Pic 4: TLR is making funny faces at Kay

For those who missed the run ...... we love to see you join in the run.

Muggs after a tiring run. This shot is taken during our very first SGRunners outing. Complimentary picture taken by our Official photographer, FD. She does a good job, doubling up as a bagagge counter jaga person. Tomorrow, we are having a run again. Waking up early tomorrow.

Lately, busy with Cramsessions, Conan asked why my blog has less substance. My answer to you, Uncle, is that if my life is as saucy as yours to blog about, I would have been a plate of seafood pasta.

I had an enjoying 2 hrs badminton session today. Another new venue. Now, I know I can cycle there. When was the last time since I played? Several months?

What's wrong with Blogger these days? Too many users? The response time is getting a little laggy.

Many races are coming up soon. Think I'm beginning to lose track. I would like to try a half Ironman distance race. But, most are within this year, which I can't take leave from work yet. So, it'll be training till then.

I think I'll have to list out my up and coming races.... losing count.

Great! Tomorrow night meeting some of the ex-TD batches of people for dinner. I'm sure there is much to talk about since we've not seen each other for some time.

What a shame. This morning, it was raining heavily. Wasn't able to go for an early swim. Postpone to tomorrow night then. Nevertheless, it was great to stay in bed while it rained like nobody's business around 5am.

Teoh is in town. RLEK and I brought him to dinner. We drove around town area for a quick glance of shopping areas since it was already close to 10pm after our dinner and chit chat. We'll see if we can bring him around again, since he is only staying till Friday night.

Can't wait to get back to my swim training. Getting a little too dry nowadays.

Think my brain is all crammed up from recent cramsessions. A little stoned now. So, I thought it would be a good idea to join JapBoy for a couple of American Pool sessions. I was stuck in the rain, thinking it would be faster to hop on a bus (merely 3 stops away). The next bus 131 came along and it was totally packed. I waited a little longer. Finally, the rain stopped. Heck. I might as well walk. However, when I reach my destination, I turned to see an empty bus 131 reaching my destination's bus stop. *Grrr* Just like what myFTOgpx always say, "No come, no come come. One come, three four come." Fortunately, we had a good dinner at Subway and finished off with a few interesting games . A good fight!

*Yawn* Got to sleep early. Resting my legs for this week, tonight. Waking early tomorrow for a swim. Mm.. night time .. will be bringing my neighboring country counterpart / colleague for a dinner and walk in town.

6.15am. I spang up and got out of bed. I didn't want to be late. Meeting some joggers, new faces today! Skipped breakfast because we will be having MacDonalds after the run anyway!

Reaching the Vistors Arrival Centre, TLR is no where in sight. I have to agree that he is quite prominent though. But, I saw Penguin first and I said "Hi!". We proceeded to look for a Honda Jazz... honda Jazz... nope.. that's a van. Honda civic, nope. Nissans, nope. Ah. ... here comes the Honda Jazz. There we have it. TLR and FD. We gathered around and there were ..say... around 8 - 10 of us? Everyone is trying to remember 2 names, forum id / blog names and our real names. We took a picture before our run. We mixed and mingled around a little before the start of the trial run. I did catch sight of a few familiar faces of joggers who frequent the MR trails. DO is one of them. Alamak! FD really jaga bags!!

At 8am sharp, off we went for a 10km of road, beach sand, road run. There were many good runners around. We were all laughing at BrokenRunner. Maybe she got fixed??!! She ain't broken anymore. She's a fast runner! Along the way, we saw a handful of cyclist. I guess they are training for the up and coming Triathlon. When I crossed the end point.. there was already a crowd. I'm slow. When everyone came, we took a picture again. So, its a before run and after run faces picture. Oh yeah... everyone was asking CyberKinetic, "Where's our caffine fix??!". Since we're done with the run, we changed and went for breakfast at MacDonalds. We had to squeeze a little at the long table. I think those in the centre are the busiest. Turning left and right to interact with different people, right? FD? More pics taken.... and Muggs forgot to bring his camera... After talking to TLR, I found out that I know some of his colleagues. Such a small world. Small world indeed.

Okay, got to take a quick nap and then back to testing and more cramsessions. It was nice meeting you all at the run. In no particular order:
TLR, FD, Penguin, renohtaram, Taz, CyberKinetic, DO, BrokenRunner, kops21
Did I miss out anyone? Pardon me, if I did. See you guys around. We can meet up for shopping or carbo loading instead of run too. Thanks for the ride, TLR.

I had fun today. How about you? Feel like doing a swim later.. mm

Blogger.com was acting really weird last night and I couldn't update at all. *fist*

Today's schedule was kinda hectic for a weekend. Woke up late since cramsession ended late last night. I had to rush to meet Beng, Kitty and Lambie for breakfast. Reason? Kitty is distributing her wedding invitations today! We had a length chat because all we talked about were wedding stuff!! RLEK buzzed me, for its time to head to the GeekTemple for some I.T. shopping. I collected several items needed in the office and headed back. We had testing to proceed with. It was really a bad lunch cum dinner combo timing at what.... 4pm? *slaps forehead* We stopped our tests when RLEK had to proceed with his appointment. I came home and more cramsessions waiting for me. Some more studying sessions later.

Whoa! It was raining fish and crabs today. I hope tomorrow, there isn't going to be any rain. Basically, a runners group is going to meet up for a familiarization jog tomorrow! This is so exciting. We have blogger convention, people who blog, meet and party. We blog, meet, jog, eat and still party!! Yay! Will have to register and associate their faces to forum and blog names.

Flame me cos it doesn't pay to be kind, okay?

Okay, its just that one individual. Friends are suppose to help each other out, lend a helping hand, lend a ear and what have you. But, I stretched out my hand and got torched instead. Almost reduced to carbon bits from 3rd degree burns. I always stress that SMS is one of the biggest invention with a price. You can't include emotions. I guess next time my SMS will have to include *curious* or *concerned* or *happy, screaming, jumping up and down*.

Then again, maybe its just me. But, ... why re-channel stress to those around you? Humans. Funny creatures, we are. Dropping this topic.

Viola! Beng dropped by our office today. A pleasant surprise. Nah.. he wasn't the familiar face I mentioned yesterday.

A few of us mentioned about sports and the topic of American Pool came up. Looks like I'm going to have a game or two with my new colleagues soon. Can't wait.

Last night, in bed, I felt different. Much lighter emotionally. Walk in KL rain did have its miraculous healings.

I.T. industry is really small. Tomorrow, another familiar face will pop by our office. Small world.

How irritating can a small pebble be? Very. Oh yeah, when its in your shoe while you're running. Fortunately, it wasn't really that bad and I was able to endure till I finish off my run.

Glad that I've achieved what I want to revise for the day. More to come. Blur visions.

A great day I would say .. for me. I bumped into 4 ex-TD staff, on separate locations!! My!! SH and CK are going to blade near the East Coast stretch this Saturday. Since, I'm meeting Kitty, Lambie and Beng for breakfast on this Saturday too, I thought I might just pop by East Coast too. Good idea!

Anyway, seeing ArcadeDT was pure luck! Fancy bumping into him at the arcade centre. Muggs has not been to an arcade centre for... . I can't remember how long was that. After watching ArcadeDT finishing off several of his tokens, we went for a quick dinner. Work chit chat... yeah.. it an I.T. engineers' habit (to talk about work over meals). We went back for more Beat-You-Up arcade games. I discovered that I have lost track of the games for so long. I don't even know how to play some of them. At least not as good as those who frequent arcade that often. Its great to see pals again!

I don't exactly know why. But, suddenly, I have a craving for a glass of Pina Colada. Must be the stress.

These days, I'm getting a little busier in work. If you have noticed by now, I have some backlog on button creation .. .. creativity all gone, sucked by cells used for exam cert crams. A few papers are waiting for me to clear. All eyes on me. Now, I know how a pressure cooker feels like. I have to keep moving, else .. rust will form.

Not too many pics here. I filtered out the lousy ones. I'm pretty selective or picky (you can put it this way) when it comes to photos. 2 scaled down shots of Petronas Towers in night scene. Suria KLCC, its shopping mall, which has a huge place for you to shop around. What do you know!!? I saw Zouk too. No, I didn't get to go in. The last 2 photo shots are just to kill time.... I was waiting for my bus back home. Bus pick up point was near KLCC on the last day.



Whoa!! I just went through a friend's recce trip!! Looks like loads of fun!!! Reminded me of my MenInGreen days. Now, ... onto my KL trip details ...

Nothing out of the extra ordinary that I could write about in this KL trip. Hey! What do you expect? Its an official trip. I was sent to go on a course. My pre-programmed itinenary from 11-15th July daily was:

1. Wake up
2. Breakfast
3. Training
4. Lunch
5. Training
6. Dinner
7. Tea breaks are spaced at 10am and 3pm respectively (Getting fat)
   

I had a good dinner at HRC with Beng on Tuesday and with Wita / Ruri on Friday. The rest of the dinners were bought by local office or course conductors.

But, I learnt a few things during this trip.

1. I look younger than most in my age group
2. Ignorance is a bliss
3. It is always great to travel - because I don't have ESPN channels
4. Rain does have it therapeutic effects
   
5. Conversion rates do not necessary work for you
   
6. I need a hair stylist instead of a barber

A few strangers have commented that I look younger than most among my age. I almost went broke buying all of them dinners. Should I be feeling happy? I do feel a little like 23 now, though technically I'm not. Burst my bubble. Ignorance is a bliss

Usually, EPSN sports channels are my fav during traveling. I didn't subscribe them. So, ... I can only watch them when I'm traveling. Pool championship 2005 was on. I caught a little of "Harry Potter" too.

Conversion rate!! I guess for most of the time, it sure helps ... just make sure that you're not shopping at malls or taking your meals in fancy restaurants. I did come across a neat looking jersey for cycling... its tag, RM$400 odd!! No way, I'm going to buy that. Most sporting goods that I came across at the mall are more expensive than those selling in back home here.

It has been .... a few years since I last walked in the rain. Pure coincidence. I have no umbrella and I need to grab my dinner. Heck, I was caught in the rain. But, it did clear up my thought a little.

While shopping around, I remembered that I needed a Timex watch. I walked into a shop. Within seconds, I heard the sales assistants talking about me and I pretended I didn't know the language they used. Lingering around the area, on the pretense of looking for a watch.
Sales Lady: See? You should cut your hair like this guy. So neat and tidy.
Sales Guy: Huh? You serious. So, square.

Sales Lady: Look at you. Your hair is so long. So untidy.
Sales Guy: His hair style is so simple. Looks simple minded.

Whoa... thanks ... I really need a hair stylist now.

Alamak!! Everyday eat, course study... eat, course study, sleep... no exercise...
Getting fat liao...putting on weight.... Gosh... Internet access from the hotel is RM$15 per half hr... get serious!!! No way I'm going to pay that!!! No security at all.... can't clear cache.. old virus scan version...

Dinner with Beng in KL was good! We had dinner at HRC. Simple dinner, a drink and he's off back to his room to prepare slides for his presentation. Poor little fella.

Lucky thing.. I'm in local KL office... more stories .. when I'm back...
I feel my stamina going away.... I miss my jogging shoes.

Today was a busy day for running errands. Hopped on BlackSteed, payed my bills, got my mobile roaming enabled and changed a little foreign currency. However, I did took some time off to meet Lambie for lunch... Gag!! I had late breakfast and it resulted in me not eating much during lunch. Met up Commando to do a little catching up. Whoa! He got himself a new car! Good for him!! Looks like the bonus has been put to some good use. It was a good cycle.. 32km of running around. Getting ready to go KL this sunday. How can I say I'm ready?!! My bags are not even packed yet!! Shite!! More pics I hope.... cos ... Beng coincidentally is going to KL too!!! He will arrive later and go off earlier!! He's just spending 3 days there, while I'm spending around 6-7 days there. Ha... we'll be hanging out for coffee or walkarounds. This can't be any better!!

The BBQ pics are up now with stories included. Take a look at them here. Took me a few days to edit and write the story out. *Phew* Okay. Got to get my shields up to defend myself from being attacked by Conan and Xena. On guard!! I'll leave you with my race photo. Looks like its time for an aerobar.

I'll leave you with more laughters of my fruitcake / Ribena blackcurrent lookalike shot. Looks like I have a little love handles ...

My first day at work and I will be attending a 2day seminar (tomorrow is second day). After speaking to a few field people from several companies, I got to know that a lot of tech staff out there are speculating where am I moving to (guessing this new company I'm joining). Hooray! I'm holding onto a temporary assigned notebook. Okay, I can throw this notebook at some guy and still knock him out cold with its weight. Yay... able to blog again. 10-15th Jul will be in KL for training. More training in the queue. Its great to be back in the field work again. My role is now a Pre-Sales Engineer (covering some Post-Sales role).

Now, this race experience is a really long post. Here goes nothing ....

3rd Jul 2005. Triathlon Race day. Since I was at the chalet which is really near to the race compound (which is like a 5min slow bike ride), I woke up slightly later. At 0520hrs, the rest of the guys (RanchuKing, ChiefClerk, Conan and Xena) are still in slumber land. I did some washing up before munching down 2 bananas. Heck.... why bathe when you're about to jump into the open sea for a 1.5km swim, right? Okay, I was being downight dirty then. After performing some water parading, I woke RanchuKing up to lock the door.

I proceeded to the race compound while the sky was still dark. I laid out all my stuff, doing my own rehearsal at the same time. A friendly chap offered to write my race number on my arms and legs using perm marker while I returned the favor too. We were then chatting about the race. There were so many gorgeous bikes around!! I think all the bikes in this holding area would have mounted up to a total worth of a few hundred thousands of dollars!! Maybe even a million! I looked around but I couldn't find any familiar faces. But, I spotted Biker Boey!!! She don't know me. I recognised her right away from Kisetsu's albums. She was doing the relay.

The swim leg: 1.5km
Emcee made the announcement to gather for a race briefing. " ... turn at the yellow buoy .. swim outside the .. watch the currents .. no kicking ... Aright!! We're ready to roll!!" I saw ickleOriental!!! But, I think she was giving some last minute encouragements to Andrew. So, I didn't went over to say hi. I didn't want to interrupt. She wasn't in her swim wear, and so I thought she was injured. Well, after reading her journal, I found out that she was doing the sprint race. "Purple caps, if you would gather in the starting line", the Emcee announced. It was Muggs's turn to line up for the open water swim. The horn went off and we all made splashed as the waves came in. No kicking? Says who? I was scratched and kicked at, several times. I even helped myself with a mouthful of sea water. But, still .. . I feel that I was going at a steady pace. I exited the swim and got out of the beach area at around 47mins and headed for my bike. Shite!! I wanted to pee ... Damn it.... but the toilet was out of the way... Mind over matter.. ... Endurance, I told myself.

The bike leg: 40km
I mounted my bike and went off. In this leg, my tyres went over countless opened PowerGel packets!! There were too much to see in this leg of the race. I heard bike crashes behind me (which I didn't turn too see, didn't want to loose concentration). I saw a bike crash across the other side. Everyone is going at such high speed!! Everyone is shouting, "Bike on your right!!" or "Keep left!!" to warn cyclist ahead. Some even shouted, "Slow down!!", to warn dangers ahead. A fellow cyclist with a bleeding left elbow (fresh wounds, apparantly from a crash or fall), continued with full speed ahead. I was even amazed when I saw a cyclist with a mountain bike that has a toddler chair mounted behind him!! It isn't exactly a thing to laugh at. But, talk about determination to race!! You can almost race in anything!! I witnessed a biker (kind enough to stop his bike) running back to retrieve his bottle that fell on the road. However, he fumbled, tripped and fell before getting to his bottle. He was really considerate. At my last round, I saw a fellow cyclist who went down. I stopped by to ask if he needed any help. He said he is okay. I wished him luck before going off. I passed the friendly fella who offered to mark my race number on my arms before the race started. "'C'mon man!! Last lap!!", I shouted. "Okay!! Last lap already!", he replied. Our morale were still pretty high!! As I approached the bike dismounting line, I saw another fellow biker in front of me. She was on a mountain bike with slicks. Already at a slow speed, I did an E-brake when I saw her fumbling and falling off the bike. The official was telling her to dismount. But, I think she was nervous. If I were to hit the mountain bike, even at the slowed speed, my GreyHound would R.I.P.. As my bike stopped, I had a slight bad twist at my left ankle. At this time??!!! I still have another 10km give my legs a good pounding!! I took several minutes off to stretch and rotate my left ankle. Finishing the race, injury free is more important than timing. I stretched my quads well enough before moving out for my run.

The run leg: 10km
Damn!!! My bladder was going to burst!! A quarter of my run, I spotted a washroom and I headed straight for it!! Ahhhh!! Relieved, I continued my race. Now, the most inspiring round in this race. It is the things that I saw in this leg of the race that made me so moved that I would want to race till the day I can't do it anymore. I saw a fellow triathlete, who is 60yrs and above (I did a check on his race results), and his race timing is slightly more than mine!! I passed him and I cheered him on by giving a friendly smile. Next, I saw the most touching thing of human fighting spirit in this race. A gentleman, with only a right arm (clearly, his left arm was amputated) raced on with his head high! Seriously, given the fact that I was tired, I almost teared (moved by his determination). I totally respected the man for his physical and mental strength! Ladies and gentlemen who are totally overweight (pardon me for being rude), gave triathlon a shot too. They completed the race with so much grace. I saw SehSuan (he didn't know who I was too). He was on his bike. I don't think he was in the race. I saw Phoebe twice on the opposite side of the running track. But, I couldn't call out to her. Tired, man. While I completed this race, I felt great even though I felt drained physically. I smiled at my first shiny Triathlon finishers medal. Oops .. I already have sunburn!!

End of my Triathlon. 1.5km of swim, 40km of cycle and 10km of run. Not exactly the greatest... but, I feel accomplished for my goal.

Hey!! I managed to see Phoebe again when I was at the exit point of the bike compound. I said hi to her. She was quite puzzled about who I was at first. But, after explaining to her who I was, it was "Ohhhh... . so it's you.". Hahahah. See you around!!

So, to all those Triathletes to be ... "Believe in yourself, train hard, train sensible, follow your dreams!". Quit saying, "I don't think I can do it.". If they can do it, so can you:
1) Cyclist falling to his knees just to recover his water bottle.
2) Cyclist with a bleeding left elbow at full speed ahead.
3) Cyclist racing using a mountain bike mounted with a toddler chair behind. Talk about drag!!
4) Over 60year old gentleman, completing the race.
5) More obese fellow triathletes completing the race.
6) A gentlemen with an amputated left arm racing his way through. Think of all the determination he has in order to make it through the swimming and cycling leg of the race!!! For this, I salute him from the bottom of my heart!!

Completing the race already makes one a winner!!

This is why I enjoy races so much. The things that I witness are so motivating. Touches one's heart. One of the greatest fighting spirits in mankind would be the passion that one has in sports.
Man, it feels great to be alive and kicking. See you in Triathlon 2006.

*wink* No training tonight. Rest.

The time on our watches clearly showed 4pm... and 54Chini is already holding onto 4 skewers of marinated chicken wings, getting ready for action!!



54Chini asked, "Are we ready!!??". "Noooooo!!!", we all replied in unison. 54Chini pouted and ran complaining to 54Brownie who happened to be holding onto the camera. That explains why she is not featured in this entire set of photographs. Okay. Alright. The earliest that we can start fire is around 5pm. At 5 sharp, we started a mini-fire starting competition. It was Muggs vs. Conan the Barbarian ... Needless to say, Conan who spends 90% of his life in the wild (last 10% in his silver hawk) challenged Muggs. "No, your fire will be lousy... I tell you...". I got warned by Conan for starting fire too close to his Tag Heuer. That is a bloody imitating sun dial wrapped around his wrist!!! Tag Heuer my a55. Well, it doesn't matter who won... both our fires were good enough to BBQ anything. 54Chini's turn to show his BBQ-ing chicken wings skill.



As we cooked more food... the pit was getting piled up with food.... Conan ordered Xena around, "Ooei, Xena... serve the guests!!" You guys should have seen Xena then... she was almost ready to draw swords. It took almost 3 other guys to hold her back and say, "Relax... barbarians are just like that....". "Hurrr.... ", she took some Otahs...and went eating in a corner. She picked up another few sticks of satay along the way. Conan pissed his Warrior Princess off .. and damn.. he is alone now. Kinda lonely now, he decides to get fresh with Muggs... "KNN.. take your hands off me!! You hug me for F@rk!". Conan seemed to be enjoying every minute of it.



By now, Xena demanded that Conan should feed her. "Keep your hands off Muggs!!", she gave specific instructions to Conan. The Barbarian feeding Warrior Princess with BBQ-ed butter coated corn.... How romantic. "Say ahhhhh!!". Pathetic Muggs had no one to feed him except for himself. Okay, its a D-I-Y. "Muggs, say Ahhh...!!". "KNNaahhhhhh!"



EndlessTrail popped by to say hello. He was too shy to have some food.. We had more than just a little of leftovers, thanks to RanchuKing who initially wanted to buy 100 pieces of Otahs. Crazy. Madness. So, they made Muggs squat just outside his chalet to sell the leftovers off. "Fishball, currypuff, pohpiah.. drinks!!!". Talk about entrepreneurship.

Hi people!! I'm at my friend's office today, using his station for blogging. Going for lunch soon before I collect the keys to the chalet. This morning, I cycled from home to this office location and clocked a distance of 26.3km. I've had a good few puffs of extra thick carbon smoke from vehicle exhausts. It is always nice meeting good friends for lunches. I was looking around my shoes while waiting for my friend and I spotted some major wear and tear. My Nike AirMax is beginning to show the cushion from the base of my left shoe!!! In no time, I'll have no more ... "Air" left.... once the friction against the road has puncture the cushioning. I need a new pair of shoes. Either some Sale out there can get me a cheaper pair of runner shoes... else.. .. I'll try Mizuno or its back to Asics.

Tomorrow night is BBQ night.. Woo hoo!!