桃利思，减重 & 跑吧! doris, lose weight & run!

Doris' Full Marathon Records

2011-09-26T00:20:00.000+08:00

01. 07/12/08 Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 5:52:59
02. 28/06/09 Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon 5:58:30
03. 11/10/09 Borneo International Marathon 5:15:24
04. 28/03/10 Energizer Night Race 5:16:19 (under distance)
05. 15/08/10 River Jungle Marathon 5:46:46
06. 24/10/10 Venice Marathon 4:42:16
07. 31/10/10 Frankfurt Marathon 4:37:16
08. 16/04/11 Energizer Night Race 4:33:23 (39.6K)
09. 01/05/11 Borneo International Marathon 4:45:10
10. 29/05/11 Hatyai Marathon 4:44:11 (41.9K)
11. 26/06/11 Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon 4:51:11
12. 25/09/11 River Jungle Marathon 5:16:53
13. 02/10/11 Jelapang Padi Super Marathon 55km 7:26:29
14. 15/10/11 Putrajaya Night Marathon 5:18:54

专注

2011-09-16T20:00:00.000+08:00

好像很多东西很烦。对别人来说可能很琐碎、很无聊，可是我就是觉得烦。

烦什么？烦体重。烦火爆的脾气。烦不够健康的lifestyle。烦淡薄的人缘。烦工作的出路。也烦跑步、骑脚车不够别人快。

可能因为从小就肥胖，对自己的外表与身体皆无信心，总觉得全部问题的根源就在体重。

当然明白减轻体重后，其他问题不见得就可以解决。可是一直烦这、烦那的，终究没有一个问题获得解决。

既然如此，就专注处理其中一样吧。既然觉得体重是罪魁祸首，就先处理体重吧。

不要太贪心，multi-tasking可能弄到两头（或三、四、五头）不到岸。欲速则不达。

希望两脚伸直前，至少解决掉一个烦恼吧。

20110314 - 中国报 - 读编交流 - 我的跑步生涯

2011-07-03T19:56:00.000+08:00

A Happy Bad Race

2011-06-26T15:41:00.007+08:00

I didn't achieve my target in SCKLM 2011. In fact, when comparing to previous full marathon races this year, I did this race pretty badly, not only the worst full marathon timing, but also the way I ran it.

Anything bad that would happen, just happened.
- Starting out too fast
- 'Engine' overheated, heart rate got elevated too much
- Too dependent and long for cold drinks
- Blister at 1xth km (but later pun tak ada feeling liao LOL)
- Started walking in early time
- Cramped - first time ever! (probably due to walking prematurely)
And the biggest problem was, I had too overestimated myself!

Surprisingly I didn't feel disappointed, indeed I am pretty happy now. I have learned so much!

Tell you all one secret. Actually I targeted 4:30 in this race early of this year. How did I come out with this crazy idea? Because I did Frankfurt Marathon in 4:37. Even though I got that PB due to cold weather and flat course, it was the 2nd leg of the back-to-back marathon within a week. Furthermore I thought I could reduce some weight and had 6 months to train.

After the experience in Hatyai Marathon, which was hot but flat and I did 4:44, I knew I couldn't achieve that. So I put my target as 4:40. But you know... I kiasu marrr... I wanted to keep up with the 4:30 pacers... but soon I realized I couldn't catch up. But I think they were still too much faster than 6:25 pace (average pace for 4:30 for 42.195KM), my first 7km never exceeded 6:25 except the crowded first km... ok... stop blaming others! LOL

As I was running the 2nd to 4th km in almost 10K race pace, I could feel my heart rate was beating fast. The consequence was the body was overheating and unfortunately 90%+ of the water stations did not serve cold drinks. I even stopped by petrol stations at 17.5th km and 28th km to wash down icey Tropicana orange 300ml and Ribena 500ml respectively! Actually I could survive with non-cold drinks in Borneo Marathon (which was even hotter!), could I blame SCKLM route offered too much of petrol stations and 7-11? LOL

Not even half of the distance I had already felt exhausted. At 25.5th km or even earlier, I already started walking until the next water station at 26th km. Water station was placed every 2km. At this point, I already changed my strategy to treat every water station as a milestone. Walked and rest at each water station, and then jogged about 2km to the next, similar to what I did in Hatyai. I even changed my GPS watch's viewing mode to just see the current time, I didn't want to worry about the pace anymore.

After getting into Jalan Kuching at 32.5th km, I started walking again. I think because of this walk, I started to feel the cramp was coming. Walked, ran, walked, ran... again I walked a long stretch starting from 34th km. BIG MISTAKE. The cramp really happened now when I started to jog back... so I had to walk again. This was the first time I really got into a cramp during a run. I even almost couldn't survive the walking. I wanna thank one uncle who also suffered cramp like me at the same time, we had a good chat and this let me get over my emotion.

I got some 'pain killer' oil from the medic at 36th km, but it seemed didn't give much effect. As two 5 hour pacers had passed me, I thought I would not achieve sub-5 this time, the guardian angel came into the scene. June Malik who setup a counter to help Full Marathon Virgins (FMW) had the spray!

The 36th km to 40th km was in Bukit Tunku, my training home ground. I knew every road and rock so well. In order to 'repay' my training place, I jogged all the way to 40th km, not even taking rest at water station (and there were 3 hills there u know, hahahaha). Actually I also scared I would get cramp again larrr if I walked again, LOL. I looked at the time, I believed I could do sub-5 even with a bit of walking... but there were only 2km+ left, I told myself I should keep with it. I even ran sub 6 min in last 1.5km! Finally I crossed the finishing line at 4:51:08 (nett time and 42.56km according to my Garmin)!

A very dramatic sub-5 finish for me... but I learned a lot. I do not dare to look at my finishing photo, I knew my condition was pretty bad, LOL. By the way, I like the finishing T printing 'Look for me in 2012'... Yes, I will return and challenge this course again next year!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/94858150

When would I be able to transform into an acceptable runner's body?

2011-06-19T22:21:00.001+08:00

Photo by Leong Ann Lok

The Plate Replaces the Pyramid

2011-06-16T22:20:00.000+08:00

http://www.ChooseMyPlate.gov

PB in Hartamas route training!

2011-06-11T11:53:00.008+08:00

I always wonder why I could run much faster and sustain longer in the race, but always do badly in LSD training. Even with much slower pace in LSD, I always struggle in last few kms.

Is it because I eat PowerBar before race so I have more energy?
Is it because I usually wake up early for a race so I am totally awaken?
Is it because I wear my "pia" shoes in the race?
Is it because of consistent water stations during the race?
Is it because of the race atmosphere?

Ming "forced" me to have a faster LSD training. So I decided to run Hartamas route this morning (without Petronas loop) and tried to make it under 2 hours (without rest time).

I woke up 10min earlier to eat half piece of PowerBar (urggg... it is a very expensive food, gotta save the other half for next run). I wore my favourite Salomon T-shirt. This time I wore Brooks Glycerin 8 instead of NB860 which is my usual training shoes (not wearing adiZero Tempo... this pair is strictly for race and speed training).

I was already in 'pia' mode when starting. I didn't quite believe I reached double hill entrance at 29:40! For a second I had a thought to change to run double hill and try to make sub-1 LOL! To save a mere few seconds, everything was in fast motion, including crossing Jalan Duta LOL! Finally I reached Petronas in about 58:25... huhh... made it into an hour.

Drown myself with Tropicana Twister orange juice... it was so sweet and gave me the quick energy that I needed for the rest of the distance. Took the rest for about 5min and then headed off again.

Even though there is more downhill in the returning route, but I knew I was not as fast as the first part anymore. There was an accident near Duta Nusantara, a Kelisa had overturned. Slowed down few seconds to watch, since there were quite some people were helping already, and I had to catch up my work too, so I just resumed running. Later I heard the driver was asleep hence the accident, and fortunately he was ok and no one else was hurt, especially runners.

Even though I knew I was getting slower, but I couldn't abort the mission. Just kept running, running, and running. Finally completed the run in 2:03:26.... if excluded the rest time, it was 1:58:14... mission accomplished!

Thanks very much the running buddies who were running and pacing me today!

With rest:
18.94KM - 2:03:26 - 6:32

Without rest:
18.81KM - 1:58:14 - 6:18

9.39KM - 58:25 - 6:14
0.13KM - 05:12 - Rest
9.42KM - 59:49 - 6:21

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/91482832

H.A.L.T.

2011-06-08T21:05:00.003+08:00

http://www.dailyspark.com/blog.asp?post=tips_how_to_stop_a_binge

H - Hungry
A - Angry
L - Lonely
T - Tired

==> Ask ourselves if we are hungry, angry, lonely, or tired before reaching for food as a comforting tool

I feel most of my binges are linked to 'Lonely' (or bored) and 'Tired'.... sigh. Gotta be determined to overcome this problem for good...

Volunteering in NB15K 2011

2011-06-05T00:30:00.011+08:00

This was the second time I volunteered in a race. My first experience was NB15K 2010, I helped in the water station at the finishing line. This time I requested to be on the "field", helping in the 2nd water station among the total of three.

15 volunteers were assigned, but only 7 turned up. Luckily the group leader had brought some helping hands at later time, so we have 6 people in the 2nd water station including Ivy. This station was at about 7.5th km of the route, it served both water and Gatorade to 2100 participants of the race.

I was standing at back of the "wall" of cartons of Gatorade, acting like a "control center" LOL. I opened the Gatorade cans (sometimes using the car key to help lifting the metal cap), collected and threw the empty cans to the waste bag, and replenished the paper cups... everything necessary so that the other two girls could focus on pouring the drinks into the cups for the runners.

I didn't expect this little job could be so challenging especially when the sea of middle pack runners had arrived. I was so busy and focus, I missed many running friends unless some of them had called my name. Great run and good job to all of you!

One lesson learned: Place the ice bin (which looked like a waste bin) strategically, otherwise many would think it is a waste bin and throw the paper cups and power gel wrappings into it!

I was also curious whether St John had not allowed the medic to accept any food/drink when on duty? The two little teenage medics were so persistent to refuse the Gatorade we offered to them LOL!

It was indeed a good experience and I had learned a lot. It made me realize the hard work behind a race, I would appreciate more and complain less next time LOL. I would also like to thank the other volunteers who had helped so professionally, the second water station would "collapse" without you!

I donated the RM30 allowance plus the RM60 refund fee from ENR to Hospis. I shall do more voluntary work in the future!

Photos by Lily and Ivy

Hatyai Marathon 2011

2011-05-30T23:36:00.002+08:00

Not long ago I found out Uncle Tai's group had planned to run this event, so I decided to join and make this run as a very long LSD training before SCKLM. I hadn't been to Hatyai before and hadn't race in Thailand yet, this trip had opened my eyes!

I am surprised that Thai organizer allows full marathon registration the day before the race. Shorter distances can even register on the event date! The registration process was simple and efficient, I especially appreciated the cold water provided by organizer under the hot sun! There were also a few stalls selling running gears.

For 500 bhat, the full marathon registration fee, we could choose either a running vest or T, which is good for me because I do not wear vest. Full marathoner also would get finisher T. Both shirts are in good quality except the color and design are a bit "outstanding" LOL. The event was small but still offerred many categories to cater different age groups. I heard my category (female 30 - 39) only had 15 people, and there were 7 trophies for each female category!

As I didn't get much info about how this race was organized in previous years, I ran with a bottle of water for the safe side. Soon I found myself over worried, water station was consistently and accurately placed every 2km which served COLD drinks and fruits/jelly. Big part of the route was like the kampung road at Bidor Run, except it was so flat all the way, but both have the natural scent and this even had "land mines" LOL!

Without my buddy, David, running with me, my first 10k pace was slighly slower compared to BIM. My target was to achieve below 5 hours. Now I believe and I am confident that as long as I keep running without stopping much, achieving sub 5 is always possible.

After the half way point, I started to slow down tremendously. I began to look for the water station at every 2k to keep going. After 30k, I took the sweet time drinking and cooling myself with the ice at each water station, and walked a few ten meters before running again. I was so looking forward this "rest" time every quarter hour. I was confused, did the water stations have helped me to keep going to complete the race, or it actually zapped my will power and became dependent on it?

Anyhow, I had underestimated this race. Although it was flat, but it was not easy at all. At one point, I even wanted to make a promise to myself no more 'cincai' signing up full marathon LOL. The race started at 3.30am while the sun showed up at 6.30. There were still many shades in the kampung roads, but the last 6k at the highway was really a mental game to test the will power to the max. Some runners talked to me in Thai language, probably encouraging me, but I couldn't understand except the thumb up sign LOL.

After many mind games, including imagining myself drinking 1.5 liter of very sweet cold sugar cane at the coffee shop near finishing line after the race, finally I completed the race in 4:44:11 (gun time), the distance was slightly shorter, about 42km according to my GPS watch. I was no.7 in my category, just nice to get the trophy! A big bonus!

The organizer served porridge, fried scramble egg with steamed rice (the egg was good!), tong sui, and the best thing was, Coke! Besides, the full marathoners get certificate printed on the same day with finisher photo free of charge. The medal is heavy and nice, the size is distinctly different from the shorter distance categories (13k and 4k) hahaha. This is the cheapest marathon distance race I have joined so far with top notch quality!

Reviewing back my performance, this time I began to show sluggishness at very early stage, about 24th km onwards. My pace had got down so much after 34k, and wasted some time to gain some rests by walking a bit after every water station. Peter and Uncle Tai said I looked terrible upon finishing the race, probably I had overpushed myself. Did I push too much too soon?

After the ENR-Bidor-BIM races in 3 consecutive weekends, I felt the tiredness. I realize I am not superman. There is still much more to improve, I need to put in more efforts but have to do it SLOWLY, should not repeat the same old mistake. I hope I could run until the day I rest in peace... so let's enjoy the run everytime, and keep my motto of "running in as many places as possible"!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/88989143

Come Back

2011-05-24T20:56:00.000+08:00

I have been abandoning this blog for some time. Just now I received a reminder email from Linked In, it asked a question: Have you googled yourself?

To beat the boredom, I googled 'doriscbwong' and found out that actually there is someone read my blog in the past and wrote about me!

Yes, I am still struggling in the weight loss battle. And I am still very passionate in running business... well a bit of slowing down these few weeks after hard work in Energizer Night Race, Bidor Half Marathon and Borneo International Marathon in 3 consecutive weeks. I have high hope in the upcoming Standard Chartered KL Marathon, I have to get back on track as soon as possible.

Let me slowly revive the blog. I need a place to put my feelings in order to fight the weight issue, and share my passion in running too.

20100930 - 中国报 - 读编交流 - 我是暴食症跑手

2010-09-30T22:38:00.001+08:00

我是暴食症跑手

摘自百度百科关于暴食症的解析：经常在深夜、独处或无聊、沮丧和愤怒之情境下，顿时引发暴食行为，无法自制地直到腹胀难受，才肯罢休。暴食后，虽暂时得到满足，但随之而来的罪恶感、自责及失控之焦虑感，又促使其利用不当方式（如催吐、滥用泻剂、利尿剂、节食或过度剧烈运动）来清除已吃进的食物。

我不知道我究竟是不是暴食症患者，不过没有十分，也有七八分吧！

我曾经是一个快乐的胖子。日子照过，食物照吃，体胖心也广。一次莫名的刺激，用了一些不适合的减肥方式，短时间内减了40公斤。可是治疗得了外壳，却没有纠正心态，没几年就通通胖回来了。更恐怖的是，我好象开始与暴食症攀上关系。

以前的我，只是暴饮暴食，没有觉得需要减肥。经过一次“享瘦”的经验后，偶尔会发奋图强，想要一鼓作气减个彻彻底底，不再与肥胖挂钩。不过往往事与愿违，每次都是三分钟热度，让暴食的魔爪逐渐蔓延。

近年又一次受刺激，我重新出发，用比较恰当的方式减了二三十公斤，同时爱上跑步。跑步并不轻松，但是跑后的感觉令人回味无穷，欲罢不能！我把这个新嗜好推上更高一层楼，参加了大大小小的比赛，从几公里到全马拉松，甚至踏出海外。

可是暴食的魔咒还是残留着。我从不催吐，也不采用泻药，但是严峻的马拉松训练，间接演变成一个“清除因暴食而吃进食物”的工具。虽然在跑步的社群里，我是超胖的，所以有些跑友可能钦佩我以目前的体重，还可以跑完全程，但是相信有更多人其实很困惑，为什么我跑这么多，却不能瘦下来？

心知肚明，有苦自己知。觉得很羞耻，一个患有暴食症的跑手，实在有够讽刺。

能不能解除魔咒？不晓得。可是我不会就此气馁，我要对着灯火发誓，尽一切努力，做一个名副其实、昂头挺胸的跑手！

读者*桃利思

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

[原文]

暴食症跑者

摘自百度百科关于暴食症的解析：经常在深夜、独处或无聊、沮丧和愤怒之情境下，顿时引发暴食行为，无法自制地直到腹胀难受，才可罢休，暴食后虽暂时得到满足，但随之而来的罪恶感、自责及失控之焦虑感又促使其利用不当方式（如催吐、滥用泻剂、利尿剂、节食或过度剧烈运动）来清除已吃进之食物。

我不知道我究竟是不是暴食症患者，不过没有十分，也有七、八分吧。

曾经是一个快乐的胖子。日子照过，食物照吃，体胖却心广。一次莫名的刺激，用了一些不适合的减肥方式，短时间内减了四十公斤。可是治疗得了外壳，却没有纠正心态，没几年就通通胖回来了。更可怖的是，我好象开始与暴食症攀上关系。

以前的我，只是暴饮暴食，没有觉得需要减肥。经过一次“享瘦”的经验后，偶尔会发奋图强，想要一鼓作气减个彻彻底底，除此不再与肥胖挂钩。不过往往事与愿违，每次都是三分钟热度，给机会于暴食的魔爪逐渐蔓延。

近年又一次的刺激，我重新出发，用比较恰当的方式减了廿、卅公斤，同时爱上了跑步。跑步并不轻松，但是跑后的感觉令人回味无穷，欲罢不能！我把这个新嗜好推上更高一层楼，参加了大大小小的比赛，从几公里到全马拉松，甚至踏出海外。

可是暴食的魔咒还是残留着。我从不催吐，也不采用泻药，但是严峻的马拉松训练间接演变成一个“清除因暴食而吃进之食物”的工具。虽然在跑步的社群里我是超胖的，所以有些跑友可能钦佩我以目前的体重还可以跑完全程，但是相信有更多的其实很困惑，为什么我跑这么多却不能瘦下来？

心知肚明，有苦自己知。觉得很羞耻，一个患有暴食症的跑者，实在九唔搭八，真讽刺。

能不能解除魔咒？不晓得。可是我不会就此气馁，我要对着灯火发誓，要尽一切努力，做一个名副其实、昂头挺胸的跑者！

各自各精彩

2010-09-25T16:07:00.001+08:00

* 我的稿件第一次被刊登。。。

http://www.kwongwah.com.my/supplement/2010/09/25/1.html

手机的闹钟功能准时地在四点二十分早上响起，嗜睡的我把闹钟拨后五分钟。五分钟后闹钟再度响起，本来想再争取多五分钟睡眠，不过在潜意识下把闹钟功能关闭，然后自动自发起床准备梳洗。

这时候老弟才刚关闭电脑去睡觉，我还有一丝埋怨这小子在这种时间跟我争厕所。像往常般，上厕所，刷牙洗脸，戴隐形眼镜，再上一次厕所，换上昨晚已准备好的跑步衣物，最后填满两瓶饮料。

匆忙地拿起钥匙，启动汽车，想在五点钟前开跑。今天比平常早一些，因为要赶在七点半前完成长跑，八点多要出席朋友的传统结婚仪式，即时“出门”。以我的龟速，二十公里需要最少两个小时半。为了十月的马拉松赛，不能松懈，一定要完成长跑训练。

关好大铁门要扬长而去之际，看见邻居两个靓妹才刚到家，依依不舍地跟送她们回来的朋友道别。今天是星期六，所以年轻人们在周末前一晚闹得疯狂一点吧！我用汽车的大灯闪了他们一下，他们挡住了我的去路。

清早的道路顺畅无比，吉隆坡湖滨公园离我家的距离大约才十分钟车程。转入国会议院路，一辆汽车停在一旁，一名年轻男子睡在地上，而另一名年轻男子看似在帮助他。看来他们刚从夜店离开，那家伙应该是醉倒了吧！

跑步者们一天的开始，就是某些人一天的结束。他们可能觉得我们大清早起身“虐待”自己真无聊，我们亦会觉得他们的活动无益身心兼浪费时间。各取所好，各适其所，各自各精彩吧！

A full marathon distance LSD training

2010-08-16T23:31:00.001+08:00

*Paiseh... long time didn't write race report... so one shot write a long long one lar... XD

Sane people do not just simply sign up full marathon event and run it without preparation (Yes, there are some insane people like Mohan Marathon who has done 101 marathons to date, LOL with awe). I am no exception as I usually pick a race and train for 10 to 12 weeks or more, even though I am just a slow sub-6 marathoner and I will always feel the trainings are not sufficient each time before the race starts, LOL.

I have two full marathon events coming in end of October back to back with one week apart. I only started training in July and so far only did 3.5 LSD traings (0.5 ==> because I didn't manage to run 15 laps in KLCC to make up 19.5K and only did 12 laps). With so many shorter races before the month of Ramadhan, I am seriously looking forward to build up the mileage and slowly increase the LSD distance from 19/20K to eventually 30K+.

Suddenly this non-competive race popped up from no where. Some insane people want to just run 42KM at an outskirt place which features one of the favourite routes for cyclists. The River Jungle Marathon is a road run (all asphalt) even though it has misleading name that has caused some people not to sign up due to the fear of running on trails. It limits the number of particants to 50 and run through the kampung places at Ulu Langat, starting and ending at Police Station of Pekan Batu 18. Although it is non-competive event, the Organizer is pretty serious, they get sponsors, arrange support cars, inform traffic police, and even provide certificate and Finisher-T!

I always "con" myself with route descriptions of "scenic route", "beautiful scenery", etc ..., and also because of my lifetime mission of "running in as many places as possible", so I signed up the "race", also thinking to take it as a LSD training. Hohhhh.... so quickly I advance to 42K LSD!! Frankly, I did feel regret few days before the race, well, I always feel regret when the date is approaching, LOL!

As the Organizer wants us to run slowly to enjoy the route, they make 5, 6 and 7 hours groups. Actually I do not need to be "restricted" to run slowly, I am already slow, LOL. I signed up the 6 hours group. I started as the "leading pack" of 6 hours group even though the pace was just like 7:15 to 7:30 per km. I was able to follow the first few runners from 6 hours group for about 3K, then the gap got widen, but I was still in the "top" 5 or 6 in 6 hours group until about 11K+ which I made about 1:25.

Again (I am stressing for the Organizer LOL), this is not truly a "race", there is no need to pia. I am happy with the slow but steady pace. I know I would not get a PB but I still want to achieve something. So I found a goal for myself which I had never acommplished in the previous 4 marathons: NO WALKING. Even though I would stop completely at every water station (i.e. the support car itself) at about 3/4K apart to hydrate and sometimes stretch the always-painful shoulder in longer distance run, but NO WALKING when moving forward. Even though the speed would be so slow and could be beaten by anyone with a leisure walk, still NO WALKING. I set the goal and promise.

Reached 20K at about 2:35, washed down a gel provided by the sponsor (the sponsor was so generous to provide 2 gels in the race!). The fun began here, we had to conquer 3K+ uphill continously (from 263ft to 903ft, 5.3%)! At a very very slow pace, probably the two feet were in the air for 0.000000000001 second only LOL, I "jogged" up the hill. At one point I stopped completely for about 15 seconds to drink water (yes, this was also the first time I carried a 500ml bottle for >42K!). Later there was a flip of moment that I stopped and wanted to walk, but in less than a second, I resumed the jog. Huhhh, NO WALKING.

I guess the cyclists have made themselves some distance marking on the hilly road. "2KM", "2KM PUSH", "3KM", "3KM PUSH", seems like the distance is marked at the beginning of each km and remind the cyclists to push when nearing the accomplishment of each km. I felt so relief when finally saw the "3.3KM REST" marking! When there is uphill, that means there is a downhill, yehh! Anyway, I didn't push too much and just maintain consistent, slow pace, not only my legs were quite tired already, it is also bad for the knees to run downhill too fast, I am still very much overweight (or more precisely, obese according to BIM Chart). It was foggy at some stretches (or did I reach the sky?), again my face was hanging with the silly smile whenever feeling the breeze, LOL.

After finishing the downhill, still another 16/17K to go. Passed by a very scenic lake view, unfortunately I didn't run with phone nor camera. Continued running (more appropriately, very slow jogging), faithfully stopped at each water stations and washed down another gel at about 32K mark. Ohh, I almost forgot to mention I was chased by dogs at 29/30K!

I really wanted to walk... but I had set the goal and promise! At some point I felt like I was a zombie repeating the slow, small steps to move forward. I was so desparately looking forward for each stone sign which shows how many km to Pekan Batu 18. I felt so frustrated after the 4K stone sign and failed to see the next one for a pretty long time (I remembered I didn't see the 3K one. The respective authority please correct this for the sake of poor runners, LOL!). A marathon is actually a mind game!

I almost wanted to give up, fortunately a volunteer came down from the support car and helped to pace me the last 1K+, finally I crossed the finishing line at the bridge! Well, actually there was no line on the bridge and I thought I had to run another 100m to the original starting point, so I looked a bit blur and forgot to smile to the photographers, LOL.

5:46:46, 42.44KM according to Jamie Pang's GPS watch, not exactly a decent timing, I still feel proud for NO WALKING! The finisher-T is so cool and is the best looking finisher-T I have so far! It is a great and well organized event by The Marathon Shop, BIG THANKS to all the very friendly and helpful volunteers!

A Dramatic Night

2010-04-24T16:49:00.001+08:00

Race: Energizer Night Race
Date: 27th March 2010 (Sat), 6pm
Venue: Kelab Komuniti Taman Tasik Cyberjaya
Distance: 42km
Website: http://www.energizernightrace.com.my/
Why this race:
1. Good goodies
2. Sufficient water (at least for full marathoners)
3. Mr. Energizer is very funny in Facebook!

After Putrajaya Night Marathon, here is another night marathon event in Malaysia. We rarely have night races especially in full marathon distance, suddenly we had two. This time I signed up the full distance.

I felt regret after tasted the heat and humidity in Putrajaya Night Marathon even though I only ran half of the distance. But there is NO one time that I didn't regret, a bad character of mine lar... LOL. Training wise, I had maintained good weekly mileage, usually 50/60K+. Together with a few enthusiastic running friends, we woke up very early and ran double hill (or reverse direction) in many weekday mornings before going to work. Also, I had completed two 30km LSD. Looks like I should be very fine.

Unfortunately I slipped again two weeks before the event. Binged, gained weight, felt sluggish to run, and the worst part was losing the passion to run in this event. Old stories, the sad thing is I really don't know when I could get out from this vicious cycle. I guess I have set a bad example in the running community, I am the only one not losing much weight even though I have run quite a lot :(

The sun was still scorching at 6pm, it was hot. I didn't feel like going to run 42km, but no choice, I just had to complete it. This time the food strategy was better than the previous Putrajaya race. I had lunch at 2pm, and gorged a PowerBar Performance at 5.15pm. Stomach was ok.

My initial water strategy had been changed completely due to the hot weather. I grabbed a bottle of 500ml Gatorade at the first water station (around 2nd km) and ran with it, sipped a little in every 15 to 20 minutes. Then took another bottle again after finishing the first bottle. In less than 10km, I had already washed down 1 liter of isotonic drink + a few cups of plain water into the stomach. Even though the sun had set, I still felt hot and slothful, the drinks didn't help as they were served warm.

At 13th km, yes, 13th km, I had started walking. There was no pain, merely no desire to run anymore. The little angel and demon in my mind were arguing again...
    Hey, start walking so early, don't look good, shame... shame...
    Ummm... the qualifying time is 7 hrs, should be able to meet it wor even with walking
    But without a decent finishing time, why wasting efforts anymore?
    Aiyo, just complete it for the sake of sportsmanship lar...
    ...
    ...

Well, I continued walking + running while my mind was fighting itself. I promised myself, I would sure go to buy a COLD Ribena drink if there is a convenient store on the way. But Cyberjaya is like desert, we hardly see any shops, not to mention convenient store! Then I reached the water station at about 15th km, here I got a 500ml bottle of COLD Gatorade, I quickly finished the whole bottle without thinking much! At the next water station, I was able to grab another bottle of COLD Gatorade and I quickly wash it down again.

By now, I had already drunk 2 liter of isotonic drink even before reaching 20km. My stomach was bloated with water, however I felt rejuvenated with the cold drinks. Still walking in between, I had started to run more and more. At 27th km, I had a thought. If I continued the slow jog, I could finish the remaining 15km in 2 hours, then I would be a free person!

Ok, this sounded like a plan. Many runners complained there were no distance markers after 30km but I was glad for that. My strategy had turned from conquering the distance into conquering the time instead. I kept the promise of running the remaining distance except of 5 min walking uphill. I had enough Gatorade, I took more plain water at subsequent water stations. I also discovered the usefulness of icy sponge. Since many runners had slowed down, I had passed quite some of them and this gave me a sense of achievement!

I felt the route was under distance. I remembered it took me about 3:35 at around 30th km mark, I don't think this is possible with so much walking. Anyway, completing the race was more important. At the current pace, I could finish in 5:30, so focus, focus, and focus. At the last km, I sprinted all the way to the finishing line, at least showing a strong finish in front of the quarter and half marathoners LOL! Yes, I crossed the line at 5:16:16 (chip time)!

Usually we start strong and slow down, or some say 'hit the wall' after 30km. I had a dramatic night where I reversed the experience. Also, I had drunk so much of Gatorade of grapefruit flavor which was the only flavor offered, I would not drink Gatorade anymore for sometime even though grapefruit was my favorite :P

p.s. According to a runner with GPS watch, the distance was taken as 40.78km (source: pm1 website).

First Long Night Run

2010-02-09T20:34:00.005+08:00

Race: Putrajaya Night Marathon
Date: 6th February 2010, 8.00pm
Venue: Palace of Justice, Putrajaya
Distance: 21km
Website: http://www.putrajayanightmarathon.com/
Why this race:
1. First ever night marathon in Malaysia
2. Surprisingly pretty good organizations!

Didn't sign up full distance for this race, was a bit skeptical of Malaysia's ability in organizing races, especially the "FIRST" race. In addition, the race was put to the public quite late, only about two months to prepare. So I decided to sign up half marathon. Was a bit regret after knowing the very low number of female participants and the high chance of obtaining prize money $$$ LOL **

I guess I was luckly to run only half this time, Ms. Menses visited me for the third day. The weather at night in Putrajaya is always hot and humid. Planned to do an easy and slow run with some running mates, but they were all in 'pia' mode. Do not believe these people when they initially said they wanted to run together and do slow LOL!

My first night run was Shape Run 2009, only about 11.5km, so this would be my first longer night run. Usually I would have one PowerBar Performance about 45 min to 1 hour prior to races in the morning, now I had no clue of food strategy for night races. I had my lunch after 3pm, and few pieces of cream cracker at 6pm+. Ate another two bananas at 7.30pm, and took the new Weider In Energy Jelly 20 min before the race. I could already feel problems in stomach before taking the bananas, not sure it was because of the food I ate or because of menses.

As anticipated, it was hot and humid as usual. Felt very stuffy at the starting line with so many people around, I already started to sweat heavily. The distance marker was placed every km, kudos to the Organizer... but they put something like "Achieved 41km, 40km to go" for full marathon and "Achieved 1km, 20km to go" for half. Oh boy, they should only do this after half of the distance had been completed, it was so scary to see so much more to go!

My first km was about 6:30+, still looking good. After about 2km, problems started to kick in, I could feel little pain at different areas of the stomach at different time. Anyway, the pain was little and bearable, just felt very uncomfortable to run especially under hot temperature and stuffiness. I kept peeping my watch, noticed I was getting slower and slower. Reached 10th km at 1:08:12, well, quite sure I won't be able to achieve PB anymore with this timing.

I suddenly got second wind, ran quite well from 11th to 13th km. At the same time I was worried whether this energy could be sustained until the end? Yeah... I slowed down tremendously after catching up with a running mate at around 13th km. Decided not to follow her pace, just do whatever I could to finish the race... I didn't want DNF.

At about 14/15km after a big turning, saw someone collapsed on the floor and the medic was trying to rescue him. Since I couldn't help much, I just went ahead (same to road accidents, just go ahead if can't help anything, don't congest the area...). Next morning I heard he had passed away due to heart attack. May he rest in peace...

My pace was terrible. A little demon on one side telling me to just stop running since I won't achieve good result, while the little angle on the other side encouraged me to keep going. As long as I didn't give up and just kept running, I should still be able to achieve respectable timing.

I think Malaysian have to learn to respect runners, including slow runners. At one point, a traffic police allowed the cars to pass thru and stopped the runners until I yelled at him. Then later a car was trying to get thru even though I was running across, I showed him my... fist... hey, not middle finger larrr.

I was very tired, didn't know how I did it... just kept running. I checked the route before, I knew we were not running towards the finishing line directly on the flat, instead there would be a detour for another km or two. You know, the Malaysian organizers are not sane people and like to torture runners' mind, ha. When knowing only 150m left, I sprinted as fast as I could in order to show a strong finish in front of public LOL! The time on my watch was 2:26:42... well not too far from the PB of 2:24:16 in PBIM in Nov 2009. But I made 2:11:49 when crossing the 20km mark in the recent NB30K, which means I could actually run sub 2:20 for half.

Anyway, despite of the bad timing, I did feel satisfied as I didn't give up. We can't expect every race to be perfect and we are always in tip top condition. However after this long night run experience, I would not put too much hope anymore of doing well in the up coming Energizer Night Race. The new event would be held in Cyberjaya where the weather is no better than Putrajaya. And, the full marathon starts at 5pm, so hot! Will try to make some adjustment to my training plan after Chinese New Year, probably more evening runs. As usual, I like the feeling of putting efforts to train and focusing in the race, and the most important part is -- Enjoy Every Run!

** Luckily didn't run full distance. The timing for 20th place (which eligible for prize money) is 05:22:15. I don't think I could do that in this kind of weather! BIG CONGRATULATIONS to my running mate who made a decent time. placed no. 16 and won the prize!

My First Relay

2010-02-07T22:02:00.002+08:00

Race: KL Masters City Day Relay 2010
Date: 31st January 2010
Venue: Bukit Jalil Sports Complext, Kuala Lumpur
Distance: 3 X 3km
Website: http://juewong.blogspot.com/2009/12/kl-masters-city-day-relay-2010.html
Why this race: Thought of trying out relay
Why NOT this race: Really bad organization!

The entry form mentioned the flag off time was 7am. I gotta standby for weekend support work from 10am onwards, so I thought I had plenty of time as I estimated we could finish before 8am. No... never trust running event SUPPORTED by FTAAA!

There was still no instructions nor directions at 7.30am. The race finally started at around 7.45am, but only Men Open and Mixed categories were started first. We had to wait most teams came back then only the rest of the categories could get started. At the end, the Women categories started after 8.30am, it was very hot already. We warmed up too early and the body had turned cool.

In addition, it was a mess at the baton passing area. The Organizer didn't block the area properly, everyone congesting the area and left a very narrow line for the runner to run. I heard an elite runner was tripped and fell down!

Furthermore, there was a dispute of Women categories 3rd and 4th placements (RM400 for 3rd position), we had to wait until almost 11am to get our medal even though our placement was only no. 7. Anyway, there were some good points. Food was offered and plenty of milo drinks!

Running shorter distance especially in a relay is a very different experience, have to 'pia' from beginning until the end! I was the last runner even though I was not the fastest. My teammate said because I gotta rush for the support work, so the strategy was to let me 'pia' as the final runner LOL! When I got the baton from my teammate, I felt I started out too fast because it was downhill, so I hold back a little. Some kids overtook me but soon they stopped to walk/run. I wondered whether it was necessary to have two water stations in this 3km route (someone everyone was in 'pia' mode), of course I skipped them.

I wanted to run as fast as I could, but that's all I could do. My strength is endurance (depends on situation :P), obviously not speed. There was no way to catch up the runner who was from the same category in front, so my 'pia' mode had cooled down a little. At the last 100m, I was being taken by a kid! What a shame... gotta lose more weight and train more LOL

Position: 7th
Time (team): 47:50
Time (me): ~15:40 / 5:14 min per km
* There is a source saying the distance was only 2.86km, so the pace would be 5:29, still sub 5:30 min LOL This should be my fastest speed so far... gambateh!

Running is very fun!

2010-02-07T21:05:00.004+08:00

Race: Pacesetters Breakfast Run
Date: 24th January 2010, 7.30am
Venue: Lembah Kiara Park, Taman Tun Dr. Ismail, Kuala Lumpur
Distance: 4km park / 7km trail
Website: http://www.pacesetters.com.my/events/Breakfast%20run.pdf
Why this run: RM5 with non-competitive run arrangement, breakfast, goodies bag and fun activities for the whole family!

Of course I had chosen the trail option. But I heard there was some miscommunication, the trail part had become shorter. Nevertheles, this was the most fun event I had ever joined. With nasi lemak/fried noodle, tau fu fa/soya bean drink and goodies bag which includes free socks from Brooks, there was nothing to complain! The kids even got more fun with a clown who could do magic tricks! The adults were not left behind with many fun games! Thanks Uncle Fai for buying us the ticket to enter this event, otherwise I would miss it! Next year or two, maybe I will bring my godson along :-)

Food, food, food!

A great event for kids!

*Photos by CW

Conquered the hills!

2010-02-01T18:41:00.001+08:00

Race: New Balance Pacesetters 30K
Date: 17th January 2010, 5.30am
Venue: Padang Merbok, Kuala Lumpur
Distance: 30km
Website: http://www.pacesetters.com.my/newbalance.htm
Why this race:
1. The unique 30K distance race in the country.
2. A 'custom' run for runners especially Pacesetters members

Last year I signed up the 20K category (it was formerly known as GE Pacesetters 30K) but chickened out last minute. That was because I had not been running much after SCSM 2008 and the uncontrolled binging had taken away my confidence. I was hesitated to sign up 20k or 30k this year but finally I decided to sign up the 30k category due to the psychic influence from fellow running mates LOL

So far I had been training quite well since Borneo Marathon in October 2009. Even though slacking sometimes, I would return back fairly quickly and also made satisfied timing in few recent races. So I had high hope in this race, setting myself a target of sub 3:35. Yes, I can run 10K in less than 1:10, but holding the pace for 30km in such hilly route, I rather be more conservative. Pacesetters is well known to design hilly routes, this NB 30K route is virtually [1 Hartamas 20K + 1 Double Hill]! I told sohkeong this would be Mission:Impossible for me to do sub 3:35 but I would try my best. I wanna know how far I am behind the target and how to improve next time.

I had studied the route map in detailed before the race. I could conclude I am so familiar with Hartamas and Double Hill routes, I know almost every stretch and corner. The race started with a hill climb, but soon would enter the area of Istana Selangor which will be a long down hill run before the next uphill near Bank Negara KTM station. With the advantage of knowing the route so well, I ran the downhill with faster speed which was not a typical act during early of a race, this was to "buy" some time. In fact, every time I hit the hill climb, I would tell myself: Ok, Doris, pass that lamp post will be down hill, keep going!

When reaching the 20km which is at the top of first hill of Double Hill, my timing was 2:11:49, I was doing well! However, after completed the second hill and turned into Mini Wall (luckily we were running it down... not going up LOL), I started to feel a stitch near the right waist. Although the pain was still bearable, the stitch had hindered me from running faster down the Mini Wall (thought of buying time again...). When reaching the flat, I slowed down to walking in order to consume the PowerBar Gel and to subside the stitch pain. This was the only time I walked in the entire course for few ten meters (yeah... pround of it!). I gotta train harder in breathing and pace control to avoid stitch problem again.

At about 24th km, WaiSum caught up with me. I paced with her for about 1km, but I had to let her go ahead, my pace was getting slower (or she was getting faster? LOL). Anyway, by now I was quite confident to meet the target as long as I kept running at the current pace. Let's play safe, don't push too hard and then collapse before the finishing line :P

At 29th km, I caught up with Uncle Fai. As usual, he looked so relaxed, and even asking me about the TTDI Breakfast Run event next week. Walaoooooo, Uncle Fai, I couldn't talk and nearly couldn't breathe anymore, 1km to go to pia for my best time in my first ever 30km race... I really had no mood and energy to discuss about the breakfast run next week larrrrr LOL... Furthermore, I didn't expect there was another hill climb at Jalan Salahuddin. I thought we would cut thru the Dewan Tan Sri Mahfoz Khalid to the finishing line at Padang Merbok, a real mental torture!

After the last hill, I sprinted as fast as I could and made a strong finish! A big surprise to me, I made 3:24:33! I even met the Men's Open qualifying time (i.e. 3:30), what a remarkable achievement for me! Feeling very satisfied. I like the feeling of putting efforts to train and focusing in the race, the good timing is a bonus. I will certainly train more consistently to keep it up, and the most important part is -- Enjoy Every Run!

Salomon and Malakoff to end 2009

2010-01-18T20:00:00.002+08:00

Race: Salomon X-Trail Run 2009
Date: 6th December 2009, 8.00am
Venue: Bukit Kiara Equestrian & Country Resort, Kuala Lumpur
Distance: 12km
Website: http://www.quickrelease.com.my/xtrail
Why this race: I didn't know exactly why I signed up, but no regret! The Salomon shirt and porch bag are pretty nice too.

While many running mates had travelled to Singapore to do SCSM, I signed up this event instead. I don't want to elaborate any further about trail run and Kiara route, check out here and here. I thought many had gone to Singapore, was a little shock to see the number of people turned up. Trail running has its own fan group, huh.

Glad that I had checked out the route earlier, I had all the necessary expectations. I just stayed focus walking/hiking/running. I completed with the time of 1:44:10. I didn't know how I did as the website only listed the winners, but I certainly like trail running very much now, and I am sure I will do more in the future!

p.s. Another reason is because I spent to much on the trail running shoes, I have to make most out of it LOL

Race: Malakoff Kuala Lumpur 2009
Date: 20th December 2009, 7.00am
Venue: Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur
Distance: 12km
Website: http://www.malakoffrun.com.my
Why this race:
1. I missed this event last year (but this year was entirely a different route)
2. Wanted to pia like in Mizuno Wave Run and see how I do in shorter distance

Betting with my Sis for a bowl of pan-mee, I had set a target of 76 min after considering my timing in Mizuno Wave Run, 70.5 min for 11km (anyway some with GPS watch pointed later the Malakoff route was slightly shorter than 12km). I didn't know the route condition at first, but when I learned that Jalan Berangin is very very hilly, I was not very surprised because Pacesetters (the Organizer) likes to torture the runners by putting as many hilly routes as possible.

Later more and more people were discussing how hilly the route is, some even had posted their version of "route analysis". Brother Tey even put a photo album to illustrate how hilly is the route..., they would be 7 hills to tackle in a short 12km distance! I started to get a bit nervous, didn't put high hope of achieving the target I had set.

During the race, I just pia pia pia. Of course I am not machine, I might have slowed down at some slopes, but I would try my best to keep going. I don't usually speed when running down hill in trainings in order not to add burden to the knees too much, I ran down as fast as I could (as long as I won't fall down) in the race. You know what, I achieved 73 min 6 seconds! (my Sis already treated me the pan-mee at the time of writing LOL)

Unfortunately, probably due to timing chip problem, my timing was not recorded, so I don't see my name in the result list. They are quite a few people that I know do not have their timing recorded too. I am very disappointed as I have really put a lot of efforts in this race. Hopefully I will still get the certificate mailed to me.

2010 Resolutions

2010-01-17T21:14:00.003+08:00

Mileage:
2009 - 1672.8km
(2008 - 1224.1km)

Races in 2009:
1. 15.03.2009; Larian Amal Seri Sinar; 10km; 1:19:30
Was depressed and had been binging after SCSM 2008. As a "come-back" race, I was happy to complete it even though the timing was lousy.

2. 12.04.2009; Orange Run; 11km; 1:19:54
A free run with lots of fun.

3. 26.04.2009; Bidor Half Marathon; Half; 2:33:51
Lousy timing but felt satisfied as I did put efforts to run.

4. 17.05.2009; New Balance-Pacesetters 15K Run; 15km; 1:50:35
Timing was worse than 2008 by about 2 min+. Anyway, the route was different from previous year. Just felt not happy that I had not improved at all.

5. 07.06.2009; Malakoff Penang; 26km; 3:17:30
Not an impressive timing, but was very proud that I "ran" the whole distance.

6. 28.06.2009; Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon; Full; 5:58:30
Still suffering binge problem. Trainings were not consistent. What could I blame.

7. 12.07.2009; McD Olympic Day Run; 7km; 49:45
Same route as 2008, but slower by 13 seconds. I had wasted the whole year.

8. 25.07.2009; Shape Run; 11.5km; 1:21:50
Well, ran for the goodies.

*** Due to lots of binging and low training mileage, chickened out from the Adidas King of the Road (21.7km) on 2nd Aug.

9. 04.10.2009; Taylor's AdventuRun; 8km; 49:50
Guess it was under distance, otherwise I won't do this well. Anyway, slowly got back into training since Sep for the Borneo Marathon

10. 11.10.2009; Borneo International Marathon; Full; 5:15:24
Truly unexpected PB! Boosted my confidence!

11. 25.10.2009; Mizuno Wave Run; 11km; 1:10:30
Had been training tempo run** at double hill numerous times during weekday morning. Ran this race with full confidence and pia from the beginning until end. Truly satisfied.
** Easy run for my faster mates... but tempo run for me :P

12. 15.11.2009; KRI-Bukit Kinding Trail Run; 1:25:10
Ventured to a new world -- trail running. Got my first ever trophy!** Hope it doesn't end here.
** 22 participants in my category, 19 turned up, 10 trophies were offer :P

13. 22.11.2009; Penang Bridge International Marathon; Half; 2:24:16
I thought I could do better (sub 2:20), but NO. Gotta train more and lose more weight.

14. 06.12.2009; Salomon X-Trail Run 2009; 10km; 1:44:10
I really like trail running now!

15. 20.12.2009; Malakoff Kuala Lumpur; 12km; 1:13:06
Totally pia and very satisfied with the results. However, probably due to chip problem, my name was missing in the full result list... *sigh...

The resolutions:
Few days before running Borneo Marathon, I had a thought of not doing any marathon next year. I wanted to build stronger base in shorter distance like 10K and 21K, finish strong in each LSD training. I agree with Mr. Wan from RunnersMalaysia, I could be doing too much too soon. I should have reduced more weight first (better for the knees) and put more mileage before attempting full marathon.

I developed this feeling after training very hard with a few faster friends in Sep and Oct. I discover I do have the potential to go faster. I should vary the training methods by adding some tempo runs and speed workouts, in addition to the monotonous slow easy runs. Another important factor is weight. I ran the PB of 5:15:24 in Borneo with the weight of about 85kg. Saw some sources which have mentioned the running time could be cut by about 2 seconds per mile for every 1lb lost.

Let say I was 70kg when running Borneo:
85kg - 70kg = 15kg ==> 33lbs
42km ==> 26 miles
Possible time saved: 33lbs X 26 miles x 2 seconds = 1716 seconds ==> 28 min 36 seconds
If everything was ideal (usually this rarely happen :P), I might have achieved 4:46:48 in Borneo!

Anyway, this is just theoretical. My weight was not 70kg. Even with lighter body, one still has to train well. But I see the potential here. I reached around 90kg five weeks before Borneo, every step was so heavy. After returning back to consistent training and shed about 5kg before the big event, I could feel the steps were much smoother and finally attained the unexpected PB!

My colleague in Darmstadt, Germany, sent me an email in mid of Nov 2009. He invited me to run the marathon in Frankfurt with the colleagues in HQ on 31st Oct 2010. The fire in my heart is ignited and I am very tempted to do this. Since it is so far away and the air ticket is super expensive, I have to do more than running marathon. I have got couple of buddies to travel Italy with me. At this stage, I have planned to run Venice Marathon on 24th Oct and Frankfurt Marathon on 31st Oct (yeahh... since travel so far away, might as well run two marathons... kiasu larr).

For the Frankfurt Marathon, there is a facility to engrave the name and time on the medal with a fee of EUR8. I gotta make a good timing for this purpose, really have to lose weight and train consistently. Since the theory tells me I could run 4:46 if I was 70kg at this stage, let's realize it and make it even better. So my 2010 resolutions would be:

1. 70kg by the time running Venice/Frankfurt Marathon
2. Achieve a timing of sub 4:40 in either marathon

Feeling dazzled when putting these goals. Not easy for me especially the weight issue. But I think this is the time to face it and overcome it for good. Will do my best!

*p.s. The new Energizer Night Marathon on 27th Mar and SCKLM on 27 Jun (to better my time) are also very tempting... :-)

2 Race Reports... coming soon

2009-12-20T17:13:00.003+08:00

I still haven't written the race report for Salomon X-Trail on 6th Dec 2009.

Today I just finished another race, Malakoff KL 12K. I had an initial target of sub 76 min, and I met the target at 73:06!

Am a bit lazy now, will try to write the reports during the New Year holiday. Stay tuned!

A Not-So-Satisfied Personal Best

2009-11-25T21:00:00.004+08:00

Race: Penang Bridge International Marathon 2010
Date: 22nd November 2009 (Sunday)
Venue: Queensbay Mall, Penang
Distance: 21km
Website: http://www.penangmarathon.gov.my/portal/
Why this race: Well, they have improved a lot, but...

I decided to take a rest after Borneo Marathon, so I only signed up the Half Marathon category. Another reason was the bad water supply experience last year didn't give me enough confidence to go full distance in this event too. Another not so convincing reason was, I would be driving to Penang with my family, I wanted to conserve energy in order to do sight-seeings and have a food feast in Penang until next Tuesday...

Last year I ran the whole bridge in the "Ultra 25K Half Marathon" category. This year, they decided to follow the actual distance of half marathon, so the U-turn was made some where after half of the bridge. Probably because of Penang Bridge could not be closed for too long, I had started the earliest half marathon ever at 3.45am! The full marathon even started at 2.30am! Why not they changed the name to Penang Bridge Mid-Night International Marathon? LOL

I didn't have much to describe about the run, it was still the same bridge and the same breeze that I enjoyed. This year I didn't have the "lausai" (stomach) problem, but the two cold cup of 100plus at around 16KM nearly got me developed the side stitch. The finishing line was so far away, it was the other end of Queensbay Mall, really a mind torture to finally see the finishing line and cross it...

Last year the Organizer got bombarded due to lack of water supply. This year they decided to show us the "color" by giving everyone a bottle of 500ml mineral water at each water station. I know a bottle of water won't cost too much these days, but it was a huge waste of disposing so many plastic bottles, and most of the bottles were only taken a few sips because we runners did not like to carry bottles while running (especially racing) and obviously we couldn't drink the whole bottle too. I thought the State Government would like to build Penang city to become more environmental friendly by banning plastic bags on every Monday, but look how much waste they have generated in this event! In addtion, some participants didn't throw the bottles properly, the runners from the back might got tripped by the bottles, or wet the shoes if the bottles were not closed tightly.

By the way, why I titled this post as "not-so-satisfied" PB? Although I had done 3 full marathons, I actually didn't run many half marathons, especially in the exact distance of 21K.
My half marathon records:

1. 10/8/2008, Adidas King of the Road
22.7km, 2:48:10
"Ultra" distance

2. 19/10/2008, Denver Marathon (Half)
21.1km, 2:27:18
A PB as the result of very flat route and perfect weather

3. 16/11/2008, Penang Bridge International Marathon (Half)
25km, 3:08:10
Another "ultra" again

4. 26/4/2009, Bidor Half Marathon
21.1km, 2:33:51
Although 6.5 min longer than previous PB, felt satisfied as I really put effort to run after getting back on track from the "down" moment

At first I didn't have a real target in this race. If I didn't feel good, I would take it as a fun run, after all, I was more interested in the food marathon instead LOL. I did feel quite OK when the race was started, so I decided to try my best and let see whether I could make it below 2:20 after considering my performance in Borneo Marathon.

It was about 1:03+ when I made the U-turn at about 10K mark (1:03:55 according to offical result which was taken after I slowed down to grab a bottle of water). I did some math...
1:04 - First 10K
1:04 - Second 10K
0:07 - 21st K
0:05 - Slow down in second 10K
------
2:20 ==> should be achievable!

Unfortunately, the actual outcome is always different from the ideal calculation. I probably slowed down tremendously in the second half, even though I was trying very hard to keep up. I took more time passing the water stations. I felt the last few kms had no end. I guessed I could push a little more but I didn't, or couldn't. At the end I only made 2:24:16. A personal best, but not the truly satisfied one.

Alright, never mind. I had enough food feast in Penang. and binge at home last couple of days. Will focus on running and losing weight again, hopefully to beat 2:20, or even 2:15 soon...

p.s. I saw a very old grandpa, probably 70+ or even 80 years old running half marathon. I passed him not long after entering the bridge. When I was waiting for CW at the finishing line to complete the full marathon, I saw the grandpa finally finished the run for about 4:15. Unlike some youngsters who signed up half marathon just for the sake of hanging around at Penang Bridge or got conned by the schools, I could feel that he put the efforts to complete the distance. Unfortunately the official cut-off time for half marathon is 3.5 hrs, so he didn't get the medal (why the Organizer so rigid one?!). I tried to look for him after meeting CW, I wanna give him my medal, I believed it would be more meaningful to him. I couldn't find him and I felt so regret of not doing this right after he crossed the finishing line. May he be blessed and hopefully to see him next year.

Podium Finish?!

2009-11-20T22:19:00.010+08:00

Race: KRI-Bukit Kinding Trail Run 2009
Date: 15th November 2009 (Sunday), 7.30am
Venue: Bukit Kinding, Tanjung Rambutan, Ipoh
Distance: 11+km
Website: http://ipohroadrunners.org/2009trailrun/rules.html
Why this race:
1. Good air, nice scenery!
2. The best Organizer in Malaysian races!
3. The largest medal so far!

My weakness is I often do not think deep enough when making decision. When I got to know about this event and it was described as "nice scenery", I was so tempted to sign up. When I asked around and someone offered me a ride to Ipoh, I signed up immediately without hesitation.

After some time, I revisited the site and "discovered" the trail route consisted of few km of stone and dirt road. Something was not very right. Then I found the following description:
This event promises to be a tough and thrilling trail run from start to finish. On steep and rugged terrain more challenging than the Sunway Cross-country run, it will surely give you a run for your money.

Ohh... no... it was too late to regret! However, thanks to this "mistake", I am now exposed to the excitement of trail running! (See this post). I have the trail running shoes now, there is nothing to fear for!

The group didn't stay overnight in Ipoh, the plan was to depart in early morning and reach the starting place before the event started. Terrence was so nice to drive up to Ipoh the day before to collect the bib first, so that we could get a little more sleep in Sunday morning. There were 2 cars with total of 9 people including myself.

This was a small event with about 400+ runners. Not many KL runners turned up, I guessed they opted the nearer Klang Pacer Run4it 12K race. Another reason could be the fee of RM45 for public could be a bit pricey for a shorter distance event in Malaysia standard, but you would soon find that it was worth every cent of it.

Because half of the route would be trail road, I decided to wear my Salomon shoes for better grip and also to get used to them for the upcoming Salomon X-Trail Run. However, trail shoes are usually heavier than running shoes, and also because of the soreness of yesterday's trail run in Kiara started to kick in, I was running like a heavy metallic robot on the first 2.3km of asphalt road. Everyone I knew just passed me, I was so lonely... LOL

The fun started when hitting the trail. According to the route analysis reported posted in the Organizer's website, it would be 1.5km of stone road, followed by 3.5km of dirt road The current rainy season would add more difficulties as the dirt road would become more muddy. At here, I started to pick up a little bit and show the power of my trail running shoes.

We were warned by the Organizer beforehand that there would be some very very steep stretches. Hey, the KL runners train regularly in double hill and Hartamas! I thought the Organizer were telling this to non-KL runners only. Oh no, I got the lesson again, this was not ordinarily steep. At first, I was still trying hard to maintain "running posture" even though the speed was no better than walking. But the hills were so steep, I really gotta gave up and settled to walking. In fact, almost no one around me was actually running, mostly were walking.

Anyway, I tried my best to "run" when encountering flatter road. I was so focus on my feet to avoid tripping, I had no time to admire the beautiful scenery (so next time I should NOT get myself "conned" into beautiful scenery again). The trail running shoes showed the power to their fullness when going down the muddy trails, I even managed to overtake some men at some steeper stretches when they were still in their hesitation!

After coming out from Bukit Kinding, we hit the asphalt again, I thought the nightmare would end here. I was wrong again. The road was like double hill, opps... not double, there were tripple, quadruple or maybe even more! Anyway, I just kept running, even though I was slow. A guy who ran/walked at that time spoke to me in Chinese "you not bad, can run without stopping huhh". I felt all the hardwork I put so far was not wasted!

This event was really targetting to give lots of fun and satisfaction to runners. Unlike typical races which only offer two or three age group for female, this event offers five. For the age group of 30 to 39, there would be 10 trophies. Guess what? I got position no. 8, a podium finish! The real fact was there were only 22 signed up for this category, and 19 turned up...LOL

Nevertheless, this is my first podium finish (and hopefully not the last one). Even though it was earned in a less meritorious way, I did try my best in this run, and I did put lots of effort in trainings recently. I treasure this victory as it gives me some confidence to continue my "running career"... LOL. Forgot to mention that my timing was 1:25:10, I hope to better the time if the Organizer keeps the same route next year.

Why it was a value of $$$?
- Very well organized, everything was smooth, friendly and supportive volunteers
- A goodie bag with quite some goodies during bib collection, another goodie bag from U-Mobile after the race! I was also amazed of the sponsorships the Organizer could find for a smaller event
- Dri-fit t-shirt, good design
- Lots of food and drinks: Fried noodle, breakfast box with hamburger (tasted better than the one sold in Carrefour), swiss cake roll and ang-gor-kuih, vico drinks, unlimited mineral water and fruit flavored isotonic drink, Spritzer Go! isotonic drink, Old Town White Coffee...
- 3.5" inch medal, biggest ever! (I heard this medal alone already costs RM30!)
- Very attractive lucky draw prices, the grand prize was Toshiba laptop!

If I knew I could get on to the stage, I would bring a nicer t-shirt :P

Everyone was happy! The ladies were happier because we all got the trophy!

The medal is no joke!

Aftermath: Terrible soreness for two days!
Lesson: No two consecutive trail runs anymore!

Kiara Trail Run

2009-11-17T20:37:00.007+08:00

Event: Trail run at Bukit Kiara
Date: 14th November 2009 (Saturday), 7.15am

I forced sohkeong to sign up the Salomon X-Trail Run with me. Some more we sign up the 10K category because both 4K and 10K categories cost the same price of RM60. I can't tolerate running a race in Malaysia with the rate of RM15/km (what a nonsense formula... LOL), you know I am a kiasu fella...

The Salomon X-Trail Run would be held at Taman Lembah Kiara. I knew there were trails in Bukit Kiara, as I saw mountain bikers went into the woods when I was walking around Taman Arboretum many years ago, but I never went to see it myself, so I did not know what the condition would be. I asked sohkeong to explore the trails together prior to the event after PBIM, I thought it should be fairly easy by following the race map. Fortunately, Kash and Syah saved us from getting lost! sohkeong and I, the direction idiots, would surely get trapped in the jungle if we do that ourselves!

Kash and Syah invited me to join them for a trail run. They wanted to explore the X-Trail route because they would be doing SCSM on the same day, so they would miss the event. The run was actually organized by Che, who has lots of experience in mountain climbing. He knows the Kiara area quite well, but he still said that he would try to follow the map together with his instinct! You know, sohkeong's and my instinct could never be trusted... LOL

12 people turned up at Lembah Kiara Park, I was quite surprised of the big group. Hey, now I realize there are actually quite some people like trail running! We had a 15 min stretching lesson courtesy of Ian, the professional personal trainer. I must say, the session was really professional! It was also my first experience of stretching with such "high end" postures in front of public... LOL

I saw most folks were equipped with hydration backpack, even sohkeong also had one. Suddenly I felt very regret that I only carried a small 300ml mineral water bottle with bare hand. We headed into the trail, woalala..., it was like the Mesilau hiking trail in Mount KK, even narrower!

I tried to "run" whenever I could, but very quickly I would become winded. It was more of walking and hiking when going uphill. I admired Che who was able to back and forth to check the route for us, he seemed like having boundless energies. Nik was the same too, he could turbo whenever he liked to take photos for us. The group was very supportive, they would wait at certain points especially at the junctions. I remembered there was one junction with lots of branches, each branch was labeled an arrow... so which one should we follow?

According to Kash, this trail is very "technical", the one at TNF 100 is actually much better and easier. Two decided to turn back as it seemed like it would be much more challenging ahead. I, being clueless of the direction, just tried to follow the group as closed as possible. With Shaq as the sweeper, I felt safe and able to put 100% focus on my feet. Since there were quite a number of rests in between, I didn't feel too bad.

After numerous torturous uphill climbs, finally we had reached the most exciting part, running down from the highest point (but not too steep) all the way towards the flat ground area on top of Arboretum Park. Here, I pictured myself as the runner on the Rave Run photo of the monthly Runner's World magazine, together with the confidence given by the Salomon shoes, I ran in full concentration and as fast as I could. I felt this was the most enjoyable moment, it swept away all the doubts whether I should pick up trail running especially in the beginning of stepping into the Kiara trail... LOL

We did not end here yet, we went on to explore another two shorter trails before reaching the car park. According to Che, we did not follow entirely the X-Trail route because of he made some adjustments after seeing some flooded areas, and also followed his instinct. I am not sure how much we had run, but the entire thing took us almost 2.5 hour and we had real great fun! The group was actually having a feast after the run, but unfortunately I couldn't join them, what a shame.

I do feel a bit regret of signing up the 10K race in X-Trail. The route is really tough, at least for me. Anyway, I just follow sohkeong's advice, just do it since I have signed up. I just aim to complete the route, hopefully before the Organizer cleans up everything and leaves no one...LOL. I really want to thank the group for guiding me and patiently waiting for me. I am looking forward to the next trail run!

Other Kiara trail run reports from the group:
http://run-kooky-run.blogspot.com/2009/11/kiara-trail-run-report.html
http://iamsyah.blogspot.com/2009/11/salomons-x-trail-and-janda-baik-weekend.html
http://lifeashaq.blogspot.com/2009/11/gbss-kiara-trail-run.html
http://cheramiche.blogspot.com/2009/11/kiara-trail-run-14-nov-09.html
http://enaikay.blogspot.com/2009/11/sneak-preview-kiara-trail-run.html
http://enaikay.blogspot.com/2009/11/kiara-x-trail-run.html
http://www.corporateathletes.com.my/?p=4568
http://runningandsome.blogspot.com/2009/11/thingsof-trail-and-klang.html
http://wcr1414.blogspot.com/2009/11/trails-trails-trails.html

Photo taken from Kash's site

See the muddy fat legs!

还没学乖

2009-11-11T21:46:00.002+08:00

很多时候我并不饿。
相信只是累了。
但是却选择了食物来“提神”，屡试不爽。
功效并不显著，所以又再添加。
既然胃口开了，就继续吃吧。
其实解决方案很简单，去休息，睡一下就好了。
老早就知道秘诀，干嘛还不学乖呢？

First Experience of Trail Running

2009-11-08T11:04:00.003+08:00

My ultimate running goal is to run in as many places as possible. Without hesitation, I signed up the KRI-Bukit Kinding Trail Run at Tanjung Rambutan in Ipoh without much idea of what is actually trail running. Not long after this, sohkeong showed me the Salomon X-Trail Run which would be held on the same day as Singapore Marathon (SCSM). Since I am not going to SCSM, I am very interested in participating this event to fulfill my goal - run, run in as many places as possible...

Later, I searched the web for more information about trail running. Ohhh... it is not as easy as what I have thought! My weakest point is balancing, but trail run would require me running down some slippery hills... and my "kiasi" character (scare to die) will hinder me from "running " efficiently (don't talk about running, walking down is already a problem!)

However, after reading some The NorthFace 100 (TNF) reports including this one and this one, suddenly I feel the urge of doing trail run... and hope that I could participate TNF 50K Duo category in the future!

So I decided to invest on a good pair of trail running shoe even though it would cost me a fortune. I checked with the Organizer of Salomon X-Trail Run whether they would give any Salomon discount voucher upon signing up the event. They would, but during race kit collection which would be a day before the race. This is too late.

Thanks to the Organizer, they took the extra effort to make arrangement with the shoe vendor so that I could get the 30% discount voucher now! Anyway, it still costs me a fortune even with the discount! I promise myself, I will make this pair of shoes into full use with lots of trailing running and light hiking next year! LOL

Salomon XA Pro 3D Ultra GTX

Today, I tried the shoes for the first time in FRIM's Rover Track. The track is an easy one, but it still took me 44 min to complete it to and fro (not sure about the distance, and you know I am not fast runner lar). The shoes are fantastic! The Salomon's quicklace system is very cool! However, there are some reviews in Amazon that it may break easily, so I hope that this is not true.

I find that I have to be very focus when doing trail run to make sure I won't trip or fall, it is tiring but really fun! I do feel more pressure and little bit of soreness on the knee caps when running downhill. With my current weight, I have to be extra careful, I think I won't add too much distance yet in trail running until I lose more weight and able to run on the trails more efficiently.

I welcome the idea of adding varieties by doing some off-road running. It is still a long way for me to build towards running in TNF and Genting Trailblazer, I believe I will catch up!

Target

2009-11-06T20:02:00.003+08:00

Today a running buddy had departed to US for 1.5yr. Although she is relatively new in running but she is good and fast, always has to slow down to wait for us. She had a goal of achieving sub-1 in double hill route before leaving, unfortunately we were unable to catch up and pace with her.

Before she flew, we had asked help from a group of very fast runners to "pia" with her this morning and pace her to achieve the target. And yes, she did it! It was even below 59 min!

I have set a new target for myself. Same day next year, 6th Nov 2010, I would be able to run double hill in one hour too!

Mission: Impossible? Umm... this time I do have some confidence. Gotta train more and lose weight!

Current PB: 1:08:25

Re: 为何非减重不可呢？

2009-11-02T19:00:00.002+08:00

刚刚开始设计部落格时，特地开了一个叫“为何非减重不可呢？”的帖。本来想记录101个要减重的理由，不过写了十多个后就不了了之了（就是懒惰嘛！）。

老套也要说：光阴似箭，一转眼就两年了。虽然离目标还很遥远，体重还上上下下的，不过目前为止也算减了超过25公斤，比起以前轻盈得多了。

今天一位跑友提起了这个帖，让我有机会重新“审阅”这个清单。除了把陪了我8年的Iswara换了现在很“型仔”的粉蓝色MyVi外，原来我已经完成了2个目标：
7. 想要爬Mount Kinabalu ==> 还攀爬了ferrata!
15. 我也想试试跑马拉松 ==> 还跑了3次！

也是时候整理一下这个清单啰！

1. 为了健康
2. 不用在飞机，巴士等缩成一团
3. 买衣物有更多的选择
4. 可以买到更便宜划算的衣物
5. 想要再跳伞一次，不过我不要因为体重的关系得给extra （除此之外，还有weight limit的，110kg 以下），并且穿得下跳伞的衣服
6. 想要玩water rafting，但不要把船给沉了
7. ~~想要爬Mount Kinabalu~~ 想要去一趟Everest Base Camp
8. 想在美丽的小岛和海滩穿泳衣但而又不会破坏市容
9. ~~不要再让我七年的Iswara有更多的负担~~ 不要把我的“型仔”MyVi给弄垮了
10. 不要再让德士司机认为载我是亏大本的事，虽然我很少坐德士（他们认为比较耗油，而且我会把他们的德士弄垮）
11. 当我不是司机，须要跟别人共乘汽车时（尤其是后座），让别人可以坐得舒服一点
12. 我独自驾车时，不想别人看到我的汽车歪去一边
13. 我不要有一天我坐坏了马桶而登上报纸头条
14. 我也不要我百年归老的时候因为身材太大需要订特别的棺木，然后登上报纸头条 (中国报 - “棺木特製墓穴加大百公斤胖女去世”报导）
15. 我也想试试跑超级马拉松
16. 我要学潜水
17. 要学潜水，首先得学游泳，而学游泳就要穿泳衣
18. 物价越来越贵，吃少点可以省钱
19. 体重轻一点，不必花费那么多汽油，省钱又环保
20. 身体轻便一些，可以跑得更快
21. 跑步时膝盖的负担没那么重，避免运动伤害
22. 在排队拿奖牌时，或排在全马级别提取race kit时，避免别人怀疑的眼光，也避免尴尬的场面
23. 也想尝试铁人三项

。。。还是待续。。。

Discrimination

2009-11-01T20:25:00.004+08:00

I could be overly sensitive, being an obese runner does experience some forms of discrimination.

1. Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009 made the launching in a cafe located in Pavilion. A guy was distributing the entry form to the people who walked into the cafe, except me.

2. Still SCKLM 2009, I queued up at the 42km line to collect the race kit. A personnel walked to me and seemed like "checking" whether I was at the correct line, but not other runners.

3. When lining up to collect the medal in Mizuno Wave Run 2009, again, a personnel approached me to "check" on me, but not the other runners.

I don't know I should be proud or ashamed.

PIA it!

2009-10-26T20:43:00.006+08:00

Race: Mizuno Wave Run
Date: 25th October 2009 Sunday, 7.30am
Venue: UPM, Serdang
Distance: 11km
Website: http://www.pacesetters.com.my/mizuno.htm
Why this race:
1. Pacesetters member mar, must support!
2. It seems like everyone is going for this race, regardless of regular or casual runners!

I missed the last year event even though I had signed up due to attending a training in overseas. This year I made sure I would not miss it so I registered early in Pacesetters HQ. Unfortunately the receipt book was not in the HQ that time, I was given the photocopy of my entry form with a special 'PAID' stamp. When my friend helped me to pick up the bib, the receipt book was not available again and I had to pick up at another time. I think it is time for Pacesetters to get more computerized. It also looked quite messy during the bib collection in Bukit Aman, but luckily there were lots of volunteers so the overall experience was still ok.

When the venue was moved from Bukit Tunku to UPM this year, I thought the route should be flatter and easier, I was totally wrong! Later after the race I learned from a blog that the word "wave" actually means undulating terrains, so it is expected the route for any Mizuno Wave Run is always hilly!

Actually I do not like big races especially in Malaysia. The starting area is usually not arranged according to different running pace. The result is massive human traffic jam at the first couple of km. I tried to minimize the zig-zag movement as much as possible when overtaking people to conserve energy. The luck was not at my side, a big stone was stuck into the sole of my right shoe at around 2.5km. I tried to remove it from hand but not successful, so I just lived with it for the remaining 8.5km with the extra scratching sound effect along the way :P

I had a target of 73 min this time. From all the double hill trainings recently, I knew and was confident that I could sustain the distance even though pushing from the very beginning. It was said the route in UPM was scenic but I had no time to admire, I was very focus in running. I wanted to give it all out and let see how far I could go.

It is always fun to set a target to overtake, my first target was a female runner who was also wearing company running shirt. Her company, well, could be considered half a competitor to my company :) She slowed to walking couple of times when going up hills, that was my chance to "sapu" her cleanly with no return. Later I also managed to overtake two "secret opponents" of mine... what a great satisfaction!

The real challenge started after the flat road at 8/9km. The scenery looked familiar... then I suddenly realized I was repeating the first 2km route but with opposite direction. I started to feel dreadful because I knew how hilly it was in the first 2km. It was relaxing running down a very steep hill in the beginning... and now I had to climb it to get back to the stadium! The last hill was really a killer but I was proud that I didn't give up even though my strides became shorter and shorter, and almost no difference from walking :P

The last sprint on the track was fantastic, and I "sapu" one more runner again! I made a strong finish and was given the medal card with the position of 51! Wowww, this really exceeded my expectation! I hope this is real because I have heard the guys were not receiving the position card in order. Anyway, some people have chosen to run slower in order to get the shoe bag instead of medal, so I shouldn't be overly proud :P Again, I was so excited and forgot to stop my watch, my finishing time should be around 70:30, yes, I have met the target!

I really "pia" myself out this time. Already looking forward to next year, hopefully with the same route, it will be a test to check whether I have improved :)

Thanks Victor for the photo! I think I don't look too fat in this photo :P

成绩单 Report Card 2

2009-10-20T21:11:00.014+08:00

Since the last update of weight record in June 2008, my weight had been fluctuating like stock market. Unlike stock market where we would like to see increment of the index, the weight gain experience was dreadful... and I was tired of the yo-yo effect. In July & August 2009, I was especially binging like pig, and the weight had once touched 91/92kg, which meant I had gained about 10kg from the lowest in March 2008.

Now I am happy and confident to say that I am back on track again. I admit I still binge sometimes but it is under control. It is not easy to start the journey again, I am grateful I manage to go thru it.

Date	Weight(KG)	Fat(KG)	Fat(%)
28/9/2009	87.0	33.7	38.7
5/10/2009	87.0	32.9	37.8
12/10/2009	85.7	32.6	38.0
19/10/2009	84.7	32.6	38.5
26/10/2009	84.3	32.2	38.2
2/11/2009	83.2	30.8	37.0
9/11/2009	82.6	30.5	36.9
16/11/2009	82.3	30.5	37.0
23/11/2009	--- Was in Penang ---
30/11/2009	83.2	30.9	37.1
07/12/2009	83.6	30.6	36.6
14/12/2009	81.1	30.3	37.3
21/12/2009	82.6	30.3	36.7

An Unexpected Personal Best Achievement!

2009-10-15T21:00:00.013+08:00

Race: Borneo International Marathon
Date: 11th October 2009 Sunday, 4am
Venue: Likas Stadium, Kota Kinabalu, Sabah
Category: Full Marathon
Distance: 42.195km
Website: http://www.borneomarathon.com/
Why this race:
1. Very flat, nice and scenic course
2. Ample supply of water and isotonic drinks along the course
3. Friendly and supportive volunteers, including the police!

I indulged into binging again after KL Marthon. The weight gain had scared me away from training, I even skipped Adidas King of the Road in early August because I had no confidence at all to run the 20km+ distance.

Fortunately I pulled myself back to track in September, started to watch the diet again and slowly get back into training. However, there was only about a month to go, even though I had logged the highest mileage in September (217.7km), I only attempted once to run 25K but walked mostly the last 5K. So I had very low expectation in this race: run 20km + walk 20km, and finishing it within the official cut off time of 7 hours, I would be more than happy.

I reached KK on Thursday with a group of running friends. Thanks to a local running friend, we had a wonderful time doing sight-seeings around KK, I must say Sabah is really a gifted place with lots of natural attractions! This was my second visit to Sabah within the same year but there were still plenty of places that I had not visited yet.

The race started at 4am to avoid the hot sun, because the time zone of East Malaysia has been synchronized with the time zone of Peninsula Malaysia. The sky usually turns very bright at 6am in KK, and the 8am sun in KK is like 10am in KL. I had good rest the night before as I went to bed at 7pm :)

The organizer was caring by providing shuttle bus service to the stadium. I saw so many familiar faces around, a lot of runners from KL flew to KK to support this event. Had a piece of PowerBar Performance which is my usual pre-race food for longer distance races. When I rushed to the toilet to release the last drop, suddenly I discovered I was wearing an old pant with holes at the inner thighs. I had no choice anymore and I believed this was one of the reasons I had run faster later with the hope of reducing the opportunity of embarrassment... LOL

I did well by starting slowly and not being influenced by other runners. My pace was controlled and the breath was very comfortable. When I spot the first distance marker at 7km, I was shocked to learn that it was only 46min+, in another words I was doing less than 7min per km! On the other hand, I did not feel huffing puffing too much and still had a lot of energies! I slowed down slightly but still doing quite well with merely 1:06+ at 10km. I guessed this was the first time I could maintain less than 7min per km for 10km without being breathless! I really wanted to thank the running buddies, who accompanied me running numerous times of double hills in early weekday mornings before going to work, we were crazy people!

The Borneo Marathon was a cozy event with small number of runners (about 200+ full marathon participants), it was comfortable and I did not feel the stuffiness like in Singapore Marathon. One side of the road was entirely blocked for the runners, I felt like I was really the king of the road when running alone in the middle of the road! In addition, big kudos to the friendly and supportive volunteers, their face was always hung with sincere smile and they were not stingy in giving inspirational cheers to fellow runners.

I kept running and running, and soon I reached 18km mark and consumed a pack of PowerBar Gel. The elapsed time was 2:22+ when I reached 21km, which was already my personal best for the half marathon distance! I was surprised I was still able to keep running although I had slow down very much. I especially like the scenic sea coast view along 19km to 24km. When returning to Likas Stadium to start exploring the other side of the route, the 10K and half marathon runners were running the opposite direction to return back to the stadium. Here I greeted many friends and of course I must appear strong in front of them and keep running :)

Took a banana at 28km. Yes, I was still "running" at this point. I only started walking at 32km, was very proud of this achievement. But I didn't walk too long each time. Usually I would pick up running again after a few minutes of walking. I believed I walked less than 3km for the entire course, I had run 39km+! What a record!

The weather was getting hotter, I started to pour water to my head whenever possible. At 38km, I was craving for my favorite drink: Ribena. I went to a nearby petrol station, but this station was very small and did not sell Ribena, so I settled to a can of my second favorite drink: Milo. Only 4k to go, I kept running with couple of short walking breaks. At ~40Km, I felt like walking again, but the KL runners who were stuck in the traffic jam on the other side of the road cheered me very loudly... NO, I could not walk now, I must run, run towards the finishing line!

Finally I reached the stadium but still half lap to go (200m?) on the track, this was really a mental torture, so near and yet so far... LOL. My running buddy was waiting to snap my finishing photo, and yes, I did it! My watch recorded 5:15:24, while the official result was 5:15:35. Who cares the 11 seconds difference, I had made a remarkable personal best record! Previosly I did 5:53 in Singapore Marathon and 5:58 in KL Marathon, I had improved by more than 35min!

I love this race so much, I hardly find anything bad to say about this event and organizer. The only things that I could "complain" are: 1. even though the medal is larger than last year, but it is still the smallest compare to other major events, and it is not indicated it is a finisher medal for 42km, every category gets the same medal; 2. no finisher-T for me to boast and show-off :P

(Thanks Tey for the photo)

You see, I really enjoyed the run!

小新爸，好走！

2009-09-23T20:20:00.003+08:00

一些很睏却不愿去睡的夜晚，拿起已经翻到泛黄的小新漫画，硬撑着双眼慢慢细阅。

眼皮渐渐地撑不住了，放下小新和眼镜，没几分钟就进入甜美的梦乡。

小新爸，安息吧！

Robbery

2009-09-20T18:50:00.004+08:00

Why do we have to pay service tax for bad service?
Do the restaurant owners distribute the service tax to their staff?
Hasn't the high food price already covered the salary and wages of the staff and why should we pay extra service tax?

"Legal" robberies.

I won't go to Little Penang and PappaRich anymore. The food is not enough to get me back with such level of service. There are many more choices out there.

Break 1000km this year

2009-09-20T11:19:00.003+08:00

Last year was 1224.2 km. Hopefully could break this number by end of the year which should be doable if I am persistent and consistent.

Not an impressive number for someone who is supposed serious in running. Anyway since I had a few moments of "down" throughout the year, am quite happy that I am still stick around running.

Keep running!

星洲日报，18/9/2009，美國‧抑制大腦發“吃飽”訊息高脂食物讓人吃不停

2009-09-18T20:10:00.001+08:00

连接：http://www.sinchew.com.my/node/131059?tid=2

（美國‧得州）難以抗拒美食的誘惑？原來是有科學根據的。

美國一項研究發現，漢堡包、冰淇淋、巧克力和奶昔等高脂垃圾食品，蘊含的不健康飽和脂肪，進食後短時間內便會“控制”人們的大腦，令人們越吃越起勁。

大腦中有2種抑制食慾的荷爾蒙，胰島素和瘦體素（也稱肥胖荷爾蒙），一旦人們吃飽，它們就會向大腦發出已經“吃飽了”的信號，警告人們停止進食。

然而，飽和脂肪卻會令大腦向體內其他細胞發出不要理會這些警告的信息，令人們以為還未吃飽，而在不知不覺間愈吃愈多。

得州大學西南醫學中心研究人員找來多隻老鼠，分別在腦部、頸動脈血管或胃部，注入各種不同種類的脂肪，但脂肪量及卡路里都相同。

棕櫚酸使人“胃口長開”

結果發現，在牛肉、牛油、芝士和牛奶中常見的“棕櫚酸”，又稱“軟脂酸”，特別具有“開胃”功能。

研究還發現，“棕櫚酸”不僅使人“胃口大開”，還能使人“胃口長開”，有效時間長達3天，換言之，週五吃下一個芝士漢堡後，可能使人到3天後的週一還有饑餓感。

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

看来这就是我一开口吃零食就不能停下来的原因！

回归

2009-09-18T19:53:00.003+08:00

来，再努力！
还有几十公斤要减哩！（还得要把之前胖回来的再减过～～）
还有很长的路要跑啊！

没做完就一定是输

2009-05-24T11:31:00.000+08:00

昨晚PaceMakers主办晚间30K练习跑。2.3K一个圈，跑13个圈。

我参加了这个练习跑。

不，准确来说，我是放弃了练习跑。

一场大雨把7.45pm的赛事延迟了至8.25pm。笨笨的我把跑步鞋换上拖鞋，却没有脱下袜子，把唯一的袜子弄湿了。虽然有特地睡个午觉，但是还是怕周公准时约我谈心，毕竟因工作时间的关系，已经习惯了早睡早起，更何况开跑时间又推迟了。

不过，以上的种种都不是放弃的合理理由，我需要为自己的缺少毅力和态度负上责任。跑没几圈就开始慢了下来，第7圈已开始走路了，而第8圈是完全走路，然后就举白旗，理由是很头疼。

其实在第8圈的中途时，的确有点头疼和打瞌睡，不过到pit stop时已经变轻微了，只是肩膀还是很一样酸痛。可是心里质素不佳的我已经决定放弃，已经2.5小时了，再多5个2.3公里，大约1.5至2.0小时，我怕会精神崩溃。。。

老实说，精神崩溃是太夸张了，如果真的要继续下去，是可以完成的。认真地想一想，其实我所顾忌的应该是害怕和不想接受我会用超过4个小时来完成，实在是太kiasu了。。。

我需要做的事：
培育正确的思维：尽力去做。不计较成果。不要怕输。其实没做完就一定是输了。

乐天

2009-05-23T14:24:00.000+08:00

刚刚在网上观赏了横扫金像奖多个奖项的《天水围的日与夜》。

发现一件有趣的事。贵姐和他的儿子张家安都没有手机的，只靠家里的电话。舅母通知安仔，他的婆婆进医院，他还需要特地骑脚车去妈妈所工作的超级市场向妈妈报告。

贵姐和安仔都是很普通的人，非常普通，却很知足和乐天。安仔不特别优秀，也好像没有什么大志，却很听话与乖巧，不会跟别人比较，EQ很高，心理建设良好。

哼，有时候在想，烦恼是自己找的。

Where was I last week?

2009-05-04T18:34:00.002+08:00

http://www.mountaintorq.com/

Stay tuned for more...

一鸣惊人！

2009-04-19T16:08:00.004+08:00

人不可貌相！近期最hot的人物！

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0oeVRurcd34

4月11日才播出的片段，短短几天在youtube里就有上千万的hit了！我也看了好几次了！

她把我们“只看门面”的心理敲起了警钟，也可能在某个程度上给了我们梦想和希望。。。

相关报导： http://news.xinhuanet.com/newmedia/2009-04/16/content_11195211.htm

LSD：打破20K的mindset

2009-04-05T11:40:00.001+08:00

一直以来，我的LSD都是19或20公里，有时甚至更少。在准备SIM的当儿，我是有“跑”过两次30K的距离，不过都是滥竽充数的。

第一次是在Putrajaya，因为那儿的道路像新加坡一样，平坦和少树木。为了模拟后半段炎热的天气，我们在早上7.30才开跑。从第17公里我就开始走走跑跑了，几经辛苦，终于挨下了30公里。每当别人问起我在Putrajaya的经验时，我都会说我就像一颗正在融化的巧克力，在到达时已快要融光，差点就升天了。。。

第二次是在没有心情和斗争心的情况下开跑的，当时的我对SIM的训练已经意兴阑珊，但是被迫硬着头皮随大队出发。15公里后就走走跑跑了，而后面的10公里根本就是走路，藉口是要计算走路的速度。这根本不算30K的LSD，有欺骗之嫌，再也不想提起它了。

今天想尝试超越20公里。计划是在回程经过Jalan Tunku和Langgak Tunku的小小“交通圈”时，跑reverse double hills的方向，然后再进入和重复Langgak Tunku，路程大约是3公里左右。虽然是短短的3公里，至少是一个新的尝试。我知道如果直接回去Bukit Aman后再跑Lake Garden来超越20公里，我一定做不到的，身体会不听使唤地自动回car park去。

前5公里把还没睡醒的身体慢慢唤醒过来，跨过Jalan Duta后我的“风”来了，慢慢push，然后在Petronas油站休息买水喝。回程时的第一个斜坡好辛苦，不过往后就比较多下斜坡了，这时“风”又来了，直奔去Arkib Negara才停下来准备过Jalan Duta。

跨过Jalan Duta后体力开始下降，可能之前push得比较厉害吧，加上也为了准备跑那额外的3公里，所以就慢下来了。到达Jalan Tunku后跟S8分手，傻强陪我跑reverse double hills。这时候的速度变得超慢，如果把我的两只乌龟解放，我也没有把握可以追回它们！但是我没有放弃，我怕一停下来后，就不能再跑了，所以就继续以龟速慢慢克服余下的哩数。

终于跑到回Jalan Parliament了，虽然还有少于1公里，不过心情大解放就停了下来，慢慢走回去。虽然如此，我也大约跑了22公里后才停下来的，非常有成就感！往后在不用做primary support的周日就以23K为LSD目标吧！

p.s.谢谢傻强陪我跑多几公里，他昨天还跑了20公里哩！哇塞，back to back，我要封傻强做偶像了！

Walked a marathon!

2009-04-04T18:29:00.003+08:00

Race: 1st Putrajaya International 12 Hour Walk 2008
Date: 13th Dec 2008 20:00 to 14th Dec 2008 08:00
Venue: Bualavard PutraJaya
Distance: All you can walk within 12 hours
Official website: http://racewalkermalaysia.synthasite.com/event.php
Why this Race:
Thought it would be fun to walk thru the night (and it should be easier to walk than run?)

I had never joined a walk event before. I heard from Jamie about the experience in long hours walk, which was about eat + walk all the way. Even though the event was 1 week after the marathon, I thought it would be fun to join this event, so I signed up.

The route was 1km long in front of Palace of Justice. Walk as many laps as we could in 12 hours, the placing would base on most completed laps, then the timing. For women category, we could get a medal with merely 18km, while the men needed to complete 24km. This means if I could walk 4.5km in an hour (a really normal walking pace), I only need to "work hard" for 4 hours and sleep in the remaining 8 hours!

At first, I thought of completing the distance that was enough for me to earn a medal, after all, I had just completed a marathon and should rest my legs. I started very slowly with Joyce, we were like doing shopping pace compared to others.

Then I remembered I had to submit my result to my company's "Move Your Feet" campaign (a charity program from my company, it will donate EUR2 for every km we walk/run in a race), my "kiasu" (afraid to lose) mind said the mileague should not be too shabby, so I decided to do at least 25km.

Later I became more kiasu and walked very seriously with a new friend. In between, I also rested my legs few times. Now I realized walking long hours is actually a lot harder than running! In running, at least I can choose to run or walk depending on the condition, but in walking event, just walk, walk and more walks! I guaranteed the tireness of the legs is equal if not more than running!

I recalled I completed about 30+km before going to have a short nap before 4am. I was so tired, this was my first experience sleeping at a "kaki lima" (corridor)! Everywhere could be a bed when rest is really in need.

Then I chatted and ate with friends again after woke up from sleep. Suddenly I decided why not completing a round number of 40km? So I started walking again! I could feel the blisters all over my feet, every step was in pain, but I persisted.

There were still a bit of time to 8am, the finishing time, when I completed 40km. I calculated my pace, I believed I could finish another 2km to make it a marathon! I walked my heart out, and yes, I completed 42km in total!

The first 60th placement could get a prize. I remembered the prize for 31st to 60th was a RM100 Genting Card. You know what... my placement was....
60, BXXX, XXXXXXXX, Malaysia, 43, 11:55:56
61, BXXX, XXXXXXXX, Malaysia, 42, 11:41:07
62, B447, WONG CHUI BEE, Malaysia, 42, 11:54:42

If I didn't detour to change clothes when working on the 40km mark... I MIGHT be able to finish another lap and MIGHT be able to earn the prize... :'(

Conclusion: I will think twice before signing up this kind of event again... walking is not as easy as it is thought to be...

p.s. The male winner walked a total of 94km! I never see him took a rest!

Respect the Distance!

2009-03-22T12:49:00.004+08:00

Race: Singapore International Marathon
Category: Full Marathon
Date: 7th December 2008, Sunday, 5.30am
Venue: Esplanade Drive, The Esplanade Bridge
Distance: 42.195km
Official website: http://www.singaporemarathon.com
Why this Race:
Flat course, no time limit, best place for first full/half marathon

I am sorry that this race report is only released 3.5 months after the race.

I have mixed feelings. I am glad that eventually I finished the race, I can now officially declare myself a marathoner, and I did meet my initial target of 6 hours. However, I felt that I did not carry the correct attitude when preparing and running this marathon. I am holding the full responsibility of whatever unhappiness I encountered in this race.

Actually I had lost myself after the Denver trip in October 2008. Before the trip, I fell sick for 2 weeks, I did not do the usual long runs. Then immediately after I had recovered, I departed to Denver. I was not sure, it could be the weather in Denver, or it could be my problem, I found it so hard to get back to training. Fortunately the weather was so perfect on the Denver Marathon day, I ran my best race. Unfortunately I felt I had "accomplished" something after this race, I lost the heart to continue training.

I guessed I had already given up before the race, I didn't feel like I was going to run 42km even standing at the starting point. I usually started slowly but this time the first km took only 7 min which was slightly faster than my normal starting pace, first big mistake. There were so many full marathon participants, the course was always packed with runners, I could see many runners in front and behind of me at anytime. Although it was not a super hot day, but due to sea of runners and lack of wind, I felt a bit stuffy. I certainly missed the perfect weather in Denver and the breeze in Penang Bridge.

Feeling very dissappointed, I already started walking at 14km, a clear sign of lack of trainings and weak spirits. Usually I could finish 20km LSD in the hilly Hartamas course for less than 2:40 (including 6 to 8 minutes of resting time), but I only completed 21km for 2:50 this time even though the course was so flat.

I wanted to thank a new runner friend that I knew recently. She caught me at around 21st km when I was walking with a surrendered mind. She encouraged me to run together and try to complete 30km in 4 hours to secure sub-6. Even though it was still a walk + run combination, I was inspired due to her support, I decided to formulate some strategies to make sure I could complete the course, and hopefully it would be under 6 hours. So the fun began now!

Firstly, I focused on completing 30km in 4 hours. I failed but fortunately not too far away, it was about 4:07. I also attempted for the first time to apply the deep heat cream on the shoulders and back, I could not bear the pain anymore. The chilly and stinging effects from the cream helped me to temporarily overcome the soreness, I could focus on my feet again.

Another 12.2km in less than 2 hours would not be possible if it is done entirely by walking, because I know I could only do 6km per hour maximum, not to mention my legs were already so sore which means it surely would degrade the performance further. I made a strategy -- walk about 5 to 7 min and then run for 2 to 4 min, the purpose was to finish the next 6km at 5th hour so that I have another 60 min for the remaining 6.2km. My right ankle was already very sore, my left knee started to cramp at 31st km, but I continued the walk + run strategy with more caution.

Although the running speed was ultra-slow, my strategy somehow worked, I completed 36th km about 30 seconds past 5 hours. From now I completely settled to walking and timed myself how long I took to walk 1km. I felt defeated to learn I took a few seconds more than 10 min to complete 1km, I prepared mentally to accept sub 6:05 finish because I needed to spare time too for the last 195m.

When reaching 40th km with less than 20 min to 6 hours, I told myself: Doris, you suck the entire race, let's make the last 2km a good show! I started to run, my legs were so painful but I persisted, I should not give up anymore otherwise I would hate myself for the rest of my life... Finally I crossed the finishing line at 5:55:10, the chip time was 5:52:59.

* Everyone is saying how good the SIM is, but not me after having run the Denver's one.
- The race kit collection closed at least 1/2 hour before the official closing time. I saw hundreds of people lining up in the hall and a few that were in front were arguing with the Organizer. I felt lucky to make sure I collected before going somewhere else.
- The 100 Plus was diluted... and near no taste.
- In the drinking station that offered both water and 100 Plus, water was put in front first. I suggest it should be the other way, so that we can use water to wash away the sweetness... and there is no need to dilute 100 Plus!
- According to the official information, water is offered every 1.5km and 100 Plus is offered every 3km. This means every other drinking station, we should be served 100 Plus. I found this was not really consistent, and from 13km to 19km... there were no 100 Plus at all!
- Some stations that offered 100 Plus did not put up the proper sign, but only one person pouring the 100 Plus and yelling to inform the runners.
- We need to untie the shoe lace in order to remove the timing chip. Could you imagine the fatigue after running 42km? Do you think we can still easily bend the body after running 42km?

On the other hand in Denver:
- Every drinking station offered water and Gatorade. The Gatorade was so concentrated that it gave instant energy.
- Gatorade was always served first, then water. So we could use water to wash away the sweetness.
- The race kit included a cable tie to tie the timing chip to the shoe lace. Upon completing the race, there were volunteers sitting on the ground to help us to cut the cable tie with scissors. There was no effort needed from the overly exhausted runners!

I will be back

2009-03-15T19:55:00.003+08:00

不好意思，失踪了好一阵子。
暴食的恶魔控制了我，也没有去跑步。
目前正努力治疗无痛呻吟的心理毛病。
已经sign up了KL Marathon的全马项目。
I will be back。

I am sorry that I have been missing in action for a while.
The binge devil had taken control of me, didn't go for running too.
Am in the process of healing my nonsense psycho-problems.
Have signed up the KL Marathon's marathon category.
Ｉ will be back.

My first marathon? I doubt

2008-12-06T00:22:00.003+08:00

In another 7 hours I will travel to Singapore for my first ever marathon.

Well, I do not know whether this will be my first marathon. I do not have confidence to make it.

I am severely undertrained, and the worst is I think I am trapped in the binging cycle again.

My training was fine in the beginning, but it got changed after I was caught in illness 2 weeks before I departed to Denver.

Maybe Mr. Wan was true, I overtrained my body. Although the mileage was still considered low for many regular runners, but maybe someone big like me should not attempt to do beyond the designated big gal's fate.

I was sedentary for 2 weeks during the sickness, I missed the long run. I thought I could recover some lost fitness when I resumed training in a new and exciting place in Denver, but I was defeated by the weather and altitude. For 5 consecutive weekends, I only did one 21km run in Denver Marathon at the last weekend.

After the Denver Marathon, I felt I had accomplished something, my mind lost focus. In the 30K simulation training in Putrajaya the weekend after I returned to KL, I learned the comfort of walking.

Now I like to walk so much. I know I can run a little bit more, but I quickly settle to walking. It is just so... comfortable.

I don't have much spirit to run now. These days it rains a lot, what a good excuse. My work is also hectic recently, even more excuses. When I do not run, what do I do? I eat. And the volume is very big, which actually means I binge. I think I am on my way back to old lifestyle.

A person who trains for marathon usually lose weight, but I am on the other side. Seriously, I really do not know I can even run 20K now. I was huffing and puffing so deadly for a mere 3.5k easy jog last evening.

My initial target was to finish in 6 hours (and in my heart I secretly wished to finish closer to 5 hours, or even a sub-5!). Anyway now it would be a bless to just finish the course.

Let's see.

Crossing the bridge by feet!

2008-12-05T23:51:00.012+08:00

Race: Penang Bridge International Marathon
Category: Half Marathon
Date: 16th November 2008, Sunday, 5.00am
Venue: Queensbay Mall
Distance: 25km
Official website: http://www.penangmarathon.gov.my/
Why this Race:
Running across the longest bridge in the country!

I am sorry that I have procrastinated again, if I do not write the race report on the same day the event is held, I will only write it just before the next race... paiseh!

Even though it is a half marathon, the distance is 25km, this is because going to and fro the bridge itself is already about 22km. I joined a group of runners and triathletes, we departed separately from Kuala Lumpur on Saturday, travelled north to Penang to spend a night. There were more than 10 of us shared a double storey terrace house.

Usually when KL-ian travel outstation, the main purpose is to EAT along the way, we are no exception. A typical less than 4 hours journey eventually became more than 6 hours as we stopped at Ipoh and a-place-I-forgot-the-name for food.

We collected the bib and goodie bag at Queensbay Mall. There were 2 flavors of the bag, the environment bag from Toursim Penang, and the paper bag from Digi. Which one is more preferred? The environment bag of course! Luckily I questioned them to protect my rights when I was offered the paper bag. In many runners' opinion, the paper bag should be given to the fun run category, while the environment bag should be given to marathon and half marathon categories. By the way, I found that Queensbay Mall was very huge and decent!

I had other purpose when coming to Penang. I wanted to meet my ex-colleague who I have lost in touch for more than 6 years, I felt great to meet her again. We had dinner together, and you know what, Penang is very famous for food! I used to travel very frequently to Penang due to work (that's why I knew this friend very well), and even stayed here for more than 3 months, I terribly missed the food here! In this dinner, I had one bowl of Hokkian mee, 1/2 plate of char kuey teow, grilled fish and prawn, and... 2 glasses of "ambelak sheng mui", my favourite! With so much and diversified food in the dinner before the race, yes, I had to pay the consequences.. read on..

This was the earliest race I had started so far, the marathon even started at 3am. Those who took the half marathon woke up around 2am so that we could depart at around 2.30am. At the starting point we could spot a lot of familiar faces, it seemed like the whole gang of KL runners had moved to Penang this day. I saw a lot of half marathon participants who didn't look like a runner (I know... I know I didn't look like I would run too). I am NOT looking down at them, in fact I truly understand running or even walking a distance of 20km is not easy, moreover this is 25km! They didn't even wear proper shoes!

I had a PowerBar Performance as breakfast, I find it is my perfect food before the race, it is easily digested and give long lasting energy. The only issue is the price is not cheap, selling at RM8. Sometimes I wonder running is not a cheap sports, huh. I couldn't understand why the race started 7 min earlier before the official time, some were still lining up for last drop in the toilet. Bear in mind that there was no timing chip. Anyway, the start was quite fun because of lion dance performance.

I had been seriously under training these days. I just considered this another long run practice and hopefully I could finish in the stipulated time in order to get a medal. To make things worse, I twisted my right ankle 2 days ago when doing a short run in early moring at Lake Garden. I wore an ankle guard, hoping that it could help me to protect fragile ankle especially I am very much overweight.

To my suprise I was doing very well in first 12K. Although it took a little extra effort to beat the wind, but the coolness prevented from sweating too much, and I loved the feeling! The problem was there was no water until the 54th minutes. The big pack of half marathon guys who started 1/2 hour earlier than ladies finished the drinks. You could never imagine how dissappointed each time to see empty cups and used sponge on the road side but the counter had closed due to lack of supply. Hey Organizer, although I am slow, I deserve to drink too!

After the 12K, the payoff from dinner came. I suddenly felt my stomach was not too alright, I felt like purging... I was so regret that I didn't go to the toilet at the building near the bridge U-turn, there should be no queue since very less female participants for full/half marathon. This was the first time I had this "lau sai" experience in the race...

Another problem was I am very demotivated these days. Moreover I saw so many guys stopped running (seemed like they came for sightseeing at the Penang Bridge instead), this made the situation worse. When I saw the sea of 10K runners who mostly wore the official orange color-T (white for full/half marathon, orange for fun run), I was not exaggerated, they were like orange color military troops when I saw them from far at the highest point of Penang Bridge, making u-turn at the early part of the bridge to head back to the finishing point, my heart sank. They were like human road blocks, stopped and sit on bridge side, making phone calls, even picnicked?

I gave up and walked. Well, I didn't blame them entirely because I knew mostly it was my own emotion problem. Also, even though my right ankle was fine so far, but once I stopped completely and then resumed running, the pain came. I walked/ran the last 3K, finally clocked 3:08:10 with squareeight together. I was still entitled for a medal (the cut off time was 3 hr 30 min), but I was a bit dissappointed that I might have made it sub-3 if I could strengthen my spirit.

Anyway, running the bridge was an unique experience. I thought it would be very boring, but I didn't feel that way at all... probably I was too focused to avoid "lau sai" (LOL). I had to admit that I really love the first 12K, I felt like I was really like a runner! This was also the first time I stayed until the lucky draw time because the grand prize was a new Proton Saga!

*p.s. There were many shortcomings in the event, but my opinion is it was a good try from the new state government. The event was almost canceled (probably due to political reasons), many thanks to the Organizer to make it happen. Please always remember that we runners just want to run and we love peace, please do not mix sports and politics together.

The goodie bag

Thanks Tey again for snapping such a memorial photo for me!

Too bad I am not the new owner of this car! :(

First Overseas Race!

2008-11-12T20:47:00.013+08:00

Race: Denver Marathon

Category: Half Marathon

Date: 19th October 2008, 7.00am

Venue: Civic Center Park, Denver Downtown

Distance: 21.1 km/13.1 miles (Click here for the course map)

Why this Race:

My company sent me for trainings in Denver, how could I miss the golden chance?

Warning: This is a very LENGTHY report!

I thought the Singapre International Marathon would be my maiden international race. Just happened that my company sent me to Denver for 2 weeks to attend trainings, the last day of the training was on 17th Oct 2008, so I took the opportunity to do the debut international race in Denver Marathon!

I signed up the Half Marathon category, the registration fee was USD85 (~RM320). My colleague asked me how could I spend a few hundred bucks to torture myself? I do not know how to answer, I think it is a runner's dream to run in every city!

Unfortunately I was sicked for 2 weeks before I departed to Denver, I had been almost sedentary for 2 weeks. I thought I could slowly gain back the lost fitness by doing some trainings in the new place, but I was defeated by the weather and altitude.

Frankly, I was deadly regret of signing up the race. One weekend before the race, the temperature dropped to 0°C and it was even forecast chance of precipitation. I certainly missed the snow for 10 years, but this was not the right time to snow. I should have done more homeworks in studying the weather and other stuff before signing up. Luckily I met my colleague's wife who told me I could get clothes in the Ross at bargained price. At the end I found a long sleeve synthetic fiber sports T-shirt at only USD9!

After the terribly cold weekend, the temperature was risen up a bit. It was still less than 10°C in the morning, however it could reach 15°C to 20°C in the afternoon. I wore the new long sleeve sports-T and my usual short sleeve sports-T at the outside, together with a long track bottom. I could hide my fingers under the sleeves so my fingers would not swell anymore after exposing to wind for long period of time. I could also wipe my nose with the long sleeves too (LOL). I felt good running outside now!

I moved to the hotel in downtown after the training on Friday since the race was in the downtown area. I picked up the race kit after checking in. I was a little bit embarrased seeing all other participants seemed very fit, I just hoped I could finish the race in less than 3 hours, the experience in Adidas KOTR had caused me phobia.

I wanted to thank another colleague from Mexico, he had driven me many hours through the Rocky Mountains National Park on Saturday. I had a chance to rest my legs while enjoying the beautiful view of the scenic Rocky Mountains.

Here it came the big day! I woke up early, had banana and bread as breakfast, put on the long sleeve sports-T, then my company running-T and the track bottom. I only tied the timing chip on the shoe last night, felt so excited I would be timed very accurately for the first time.

The starting point was only 5 minutes walk away from the hotel, I reached there at about 6.30am. Although the temperate was only around 7 to 8°C, thanks to my new outfit and the big crowd, I didn't feel cold at all.

I looked at pace marker, it started at 6 min/mile for the elites. I believed my pace was around 12 min/mile (well, gotta adjust myself to the English measurement temporarily), so I proceeded to the back. Ohh.. it stopped at 10 min/mile, then the last marker was..... FAST WALKER! I blushed.

I saw only very few Asian faces. I knew noone and I am not the type of person who will take initiatives to start conversation, I just kept slient in the entire event. However I still enjoyed the atmosphere very much, I saw many runners hung photos or wrote sensible words at their back, they were running for someone they care and love. I also noticed some prepared to walk the race, bravo to them of taking up the challenge!

Since I was at the back of the pack, it took me about 5 min to step on the mat which sensed the timing chip. As usual, I started slowly, I controlled my pace for the entire course and would not let others affecting me.

Although the altitude is high in this city, the course is almost flat with very little elevation. I must say the weather was so nice, not too cold or too hot. If I had started training much earlier, I should have taken the full marathon instead in this perfect day!

Along the way, I saw a lot of spectators waiting at the roadside for their family members or friends who participated in the run. They were very supportive and would cheer for others too! I saw quite a lot of Mommy runners, their husband and kids were there to support them. They would stop and kiss their babies and kids before moving on :)

To my suprise, I saw the 5hrs pacer at my back at the U-turn around 8.5th mile, well, I was in pretty good shape. 1 mile is about 1.6km, so 21.1km is 13.1 miles, I found it was easier to accomplish by following miles, because there were fewer numbers... purely psychological effect.

There were so many drink stations, total of 8 for the half marathon course, every station had adequate supply of Gatorade and plain water. I consumed 2 PowerBar Gel, and kept the Clif Shot I took from the station, since I had not tried this food before.

I kept running, slower at the second half but still quite consistent in overall. I sprinted the last 150m, yes, I still had energy to sprint! I clocked 2:27:18, I felt so happy to be able to finish in sub 2.5 hours! May not be impressive at all for others, but a spectacular result for me :P

There was plenty of food and drinks after the race. I returned to the hotel with full stomach and a big pack of unopened chips. I no longer felt regret, infact I felt so lucky of signing up this race! Although USD85 was a bit steep for average Malaysian, but it was worth it.

If I really have to find something to complain, there were only two trivial things: 1. The slower runners had to stop at one busy road by the traffic police, 2. I was hoping to get a synthetic fiber T-shirt since the registration fee was USD85, but it was sold separately at USD30!

The packet pick-up process was so fast and organized!

The packet pick-up day also featured an Expo

The runners wrote why they run!

The bib had my name printed!

But it was according to my name on passport :(

* Do you see the "Gear Check" portion? See next photo

The goodie bag itself was also the official bag to check in our stuff on the race day.

Put the stuff in the bag, tear the "Gear Check" portion from the bib and paste it on the bag. Then hand the bag to the personnel at the starting point before the race starts. Very organized and professional!

The T-shirt and the goodies

We can fill up the emergency information at the back of the bib.

I told you they are very professional!

First time with the timing chip :)

I know I look funny...

People mountain people sea at the starting line

Spectators cheering the runners at finishing line

Big bag of chips, banana and bagel (but it was hard like rock)

Fresh apple from McDonalds

Gear bag collection - please allow me to say again: Very organized!

Expo and free sample food from sponsors:

That's why there were so many people

Dessert and chocolate dip from one sponsor... walaou eh~~

Hotdog from another sponsor!

p.s You see, all the calories I burned in the run were recovered immediately!

Check the chip result immediately

The most important thing, the medal!

Also check me out in action at http://www.brightroom.com/go.asp?43807365!

p.s. I must write the race report right after the race, otherwise I will procrastinate...

冻过水

2008-10-25T06:22:00.001+08:00

哇塞，50亿注资入一间叫Valuecap的公司喔，这一间公司一定很"把炮"（念粤语）的了。

我这个金融白痴没有听过Valuecap的大名，所以就谷歌一下，希望找出它的官方网页了解一下，毕竟这50亿资金是公积金局借出的，表示我也有份啰！

可是找不到，找到的都是其他网站稍微介绍或报导这间公司，例如JobStreet。我相信谷歌身为搜索引擎大哥大应该不会漏掉拥有100亿零吉资金的公司吧。

可能我太主观了，堂堂一间拥有100亿零吉资金的公司，竟然连个网站也没有。。。唉。。。

参考：

http://www.sinchew-i.com/sciWWW/node/51425?tid=193

纳吉：注资Valuecap‧政府50亿救市

http://www.sinchew-i.com/sciWWW/node/51669?tid=193

50亿布局。优质中型股受惠。Valuecap料主攻大蓝筹

http://www.sinchew-i.com/sciWWW/node/52141?tid=193

职总：非政府提款机‧不认同向公积金借贷50亿

Yes, I am still able to run (or jog)!

2008-10-20T03:30:00.006+08:00

Am in Denver Public Library now, using the free Internet service, it is 1:37pm now.

Ran the Denver Marathon - Half Marathon this morning.

To my surprise, I felt great in the race, I am happy with my time!

My flight is at 6.05am tomorrow, will stay overnight in the airport.

Will write the race report when I am back home. Seeya!

My current condition

2008-10-10T19:57:00.004+08:00

It has been quite some time I did not update my blog. How am I doing now?

Bad. Worse. Worst.

Since mid of September I was caught sick.

The first week was fever, terrible sore throat, running nose, cough... yeah... all those flu symptoms.

When I was almost recovered, I got terrible stomachache in midnight 2 days in a roll. I went to A & E, suspected gastric problem.

Ohh... no... gastric problem is not good. I can't believe someone obese like me who never stop eating can have gastric problem!

I went to visit gastroenterology specialist, did blood test and ultrasound at abdomen. Well, based on the blood test report and I experienced diarrhea at the later stage, it should be either food poisoning or viral infection instead. Felt relieved.

BUT... all these cost me more than RM800! You may wonder why I was so 'ken cheong' (worried). Everyone knows, seeing a specialist in private hospital will cost a fortune.

I had no choice, because I would be going to Denver next week to attending company trainings. I don't want to suffer severe stomachache alone in the hotel room for 2 weeks, helpless.

When I was in the plane, I got terrible stomachache again... fortunately I got some medicine from the specialist as rescue kit. I would like to apologize to those whe were in the same flight, there was just so much gas in my stomach.

Now I am in Highlands Ranch, Denver, for almost a week. According to http://www.fallingrain.com/world/:
Kuala Lumpur: Altitude: 200 feet
Denver: Altitude: 5295 feet
Highlands Ranch: Altitude: 5803 feet
This means it is more difficult to breathe and easier to get dehydrated.

The temperature could be from 5°C to 25°C. It is usually cold in the morning, evening and at night.

I went out to run on the second day after I arrived. It was around 12°C to 14°C. The run was so bad, I settled to walking just after few Ks. It could be the high altitude, the temperature... but most importantly I have lost the fitness as I had not run 2 weeks due to previous sickness.

Now my nose never stops running (yeah... I can't run with my feet, but my nose). Lips and throat are always dry, cough with phlegm. Felt slightly high temperature at the forehead sometimes. Sleep time is irregular, having menses too. I don't know how am I going to train.

I was so happy to sign up the half marathon in Denver Marathon on 19th Oct 2008 before I was sick. I was so looking forward to train at a new place. I wanted to announce that my first overseas race would be in United States instead of Singapore!

Now I don't know what is my fate on 19th. How about the Singapore marathon on 7th December? I don't dare to think of it at all.

Get in shape in Shape Run!

2008-08-24T17:46:00.012+08:00

Race: Shape Run
Date: 24th Augst 2008 (Sunday), 7.30am
Venue: Lake Garden, Tapak A
Distance: 10km (actual: 10.3km according to event emcee, and 10.38km according to this)

Why this Race?
1. The GOODIE BAG!
2. The GOODIE BAG!
3. The GOODIE BAG!

With RM20 registration fee we could get a goodie bag worths over RM300, I had been promoting this event heavily to my colleagues and friends. I helped 50 persons to register, imagined that I collected 50 vests in one go!

I was actually determined to win a medal in the beginning, 75 medals were available for each category (except Fun Run category). However, after a lousy week of no running and so much binging, it was too late to regret, I didn't dare to put much hope and would just do my best.

The starting point was inside Lake Garden heading towards the jogging pavement around the lake. It was very narrow to accommodate such a big group of runners, most were slow in the beginning. This was not a problem to me at all, as I like to start slowly to get warmed up and find my pace. I felt that I am getting better at this, I would not rush anymore in the starting and able to sustain the distance with much more energy when approaching the finish line.

My little Sister's friend wanted to challenge me even though this was her first race, and obviously did not train much and had no idea of how long is 10km by feet. She started like a launched rocket but soon was slowing down and I caught up with her at around 1.5km+. She was not happy and increased her pace in order to overtake me. Well, I stayed with my own pace and let her go ahead. But before long she slowed down to walking again and I overtook her effortlessly. She tried couple more times and finally gave up. Young girl (11 yrs younger than me), even though I am big and old, I do respect the distance!

Although I had been slacking in the past week, I was confident that I could finish the 10K distance, the weekly 20K LSD training before Adidas KOTR was really helpful. I kept running, in the familiar terrain of Lake Garden which I run in every Saturday morning with the buddies from RunnersMalaysia.

I was slowing down when entering the second half of the route which was outside Lake Garden. After passing Wisma Tani and running back to Jalan Parliament, I knew the finishing line was not too far away, suddenly I felt my energy was coming back. I sped up and left the RunnersMalaysia running buddy who paced with me at that moment, and sprinted all the way when entering back to Lake Garden to the finishing line. I knew this was annoying, I overtook a Malay lady in less than 10 meters before the finish! If somebody else did this to me, I would curse the person! :P I got 70th place, around 1hr 08min 33sec. Hehehe, feeling so lucky that I got a medal again! :)

While queuing up to collect the 1901 hotdog breakfast, I received a call from Mom. I couldn't believe to hear my Uncle passed away! Even though he had heart problem many years ago and liked to drink, but this was too sudden! I collected the goodie bag while waiting my Sister to come back to the finishing line, and quickly went back home. I don't know what to say now. I lost 2 very closed family members this year. 2008 is certainly a year to remember.

Picture taken from http://www.shape.com.my/goodie_bag.asp

Insanity

2008-08-11T20:24:00.002+08:00

No turning back...

Should or Should Not?

2008-08-11T19:22:00.006+08:00

Why I should take marathon in SIM

a. My current working time is advantageous to commit to serious trainings.

b. Couple of running buddies have signed up, we are about the same pace... so I have companies in training.

c. I respect the distance, therefore I have to be very disciplined in my diet, any excessive weight will just add to the burden. This will be my new weight loss target, after all I am still very big and need to lose weight!
* Losing weight is also the primary goal when starting this blog... I have been losing focus and determination for quite some time already

d. Since it is on purpose to run in another country, I hope to complete the marathon straight away, so I do not need to return to SIM again, which is one of 4 greatest races on earth by Standard Chartered. There are so many races out there and I want to make [race + holiday] as my goal in the rest of the lifetime.

e. The SIM's course is flat and it is really well organized according to many previous participants, it is very suitable for those who take their first marathon or half marathon. Well, I have taken a half marathon already, or maybe another one in November, so now...

f. I was thrilled reading all the marathon race reports by many bloggers, I am so eager to do it myself!

g. Maybe I am insane, I am really looking forward to the trainings full of sweat, tears and torture... my mind keeps thinking this is actually FUN!

Why I should not take marathon in SIM

a. Am I too hasty? I am just one year old in running.

b. Obviously I have not built the foundation strong enough. See how I suffered in Adidas KOTR.

c. I am still very big, I will risk myself with injuries and overtraining. There are many more years to come, why so rushed? Do it slowly and it is more promising!

d. I am kiasu and narcissistic, I scare people say I attempt something out of my capability.

e. I am not sure whether I am mentally strong enough to handle this. I am afraid I may slip and breakdown, and then return back to the old me.

A Walking King

2008-08-10T17:07:00.015+08:00

Race: Adidas King of the Road
Date: 10th August 2008 (Sunday), 6.45am
Venue: Dataran Shah Alam
Distance: 22.7km (actual: 22.21km according to this*)
*Kidding? I thought it was so much longer than 22.7km!

Why this race?
1. It WAS a reputable race
2. A self evaluation to decide whether to take marathon in SIM

Why NOT this race?
1. My vest has no KOTR logo imprinted!
2. The drink station closed down due to short of supply in the later half of the route!

The race started late by 5 to 10 minutes by the new Selangor Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. Started slow and steady, I didn't get tempted to go faster in the beginning, I maintained a comfortable pace and felt very good!

At around 30th minute, the sea of 10K runners joining us from another direction. Honestly it was quite demoralized to see many of them had overtaken me, but still, I maintained my good pace. Unfortunately it did not sustain, I could feel I was slowing down a bit after 40th minute.

I consumed the Powerbar Gel after 1 hour of running at the drink station, however the gel did not boost the performance as I wanted, in fact, I was like a pancit-ing balloon. I thought I had run 12km, but was dismayed to see 12km TO GO sign at the next sponging station.

Nevertheless, I still had to strive to complete the course. My strides were lowered and shorten, I could hear the noise made by shoes scratching with the ground. More and more runners had passed me. I was so thirsty and exhausted, awfully looking forward to the next drink station.

NO...... the drink station was closed due to lack of supply! I really wanted to shout the four letter word but the mouth was too dry to do so. Without any choice, I had to continue. I did not want to face my first DNF, moreover this was my first half marathon.

I forgot how my mind carried the legs to move forward, but it eventually lost to the legs, I started walking. After about 2 minutes plus of walking, I decided to continue running, but soon I found my calf(s) were going to cramp, so I settled to walking again to avoid it. Starting from 2hrs 16th minutes, I was actually walking for the rest of the course.

There were numerous slopes and roundabouts, I lost count. If not the weather was cloudy and cool, I believed I already collapsed due to dehydration. I asked the first aid volunteers twice at different locations for the spray in order to ease the cramp, but I could not believe they ran out the supply again. One even offered me minyak angin... what?!

Finally there was a drink station available at about 1km to go, well, that was just too late. Anyway, I still poured 2 cups of 100 Plus. One drawback of the drink station was it only offered 100 Plus. I knew isotonic drink would help to keep us moving without cramp, however, I believed many of us needed water too to dilute the sweet 100 Plus and Powerbar Gel.

When I passed the 500m to go sign, I started running again, my ego and pride wanted me to finish with running. I did it slowly to dodge the cramp. I would like to thank the finished runners who had cheered me at the last few-ten meters. According to my watch, I clocked 2:48:10, not impressive at all, but I felt relieved.

I was placed 68th, which is the same number of my bib! Anyway, I guessed all Women Open runners would get a medal because I didn't see any bib number beyond 2 digits for D category. To my surprise, I was given a certificate too, I thought only those who completed within the stipulated qualifying time would get one.

I did the race badly. One reason was due to the absence of drink supply, another reason was the slopes were mostly at the later part of the course, while the Hartamas LSD route was mostly downhill in the return route. But the biggest problem is my foundation is still very weak. I am not sure whether I should go for marathon in SIM, with the next 2 weeks being the recovery week and Shape Run, I only have about 3.5 months more to train. However, I really fancy the trainings towards marathon... with all the sweat, tears and "fun" (synonymic to 'torture')! Having a dilemma now, the early-bird registration for SIM will close after tomorrow...

Tomorrow is the day to be crowned as the King!

2008-08-09T11:24:00.001+08:00

Only 100 medals for Women Open category.

Certificate with completion time imprinted will be mailed to finishers who complete in the stipulated qualifying time (i.e. 2hrs 20min for Women Open which is impossible for me).

Many have warned that the route is undulating and tough.

But I do not care. I will still be the King (or Queen) tomorrow. Just treat it as the regular Hartamas LSD training with additional 2.7km to tackle. Just complete the course. Just run.

Adidas King of The Road, on 10th August 2008, 22.7km, starting at 6.45am.

Thanks Mr. Wan for helping me to collect the bib and vest. My number is D68, a very auspicious number indeed! It also comes with a packet of Adidas Hair & Body After Sport shower gel.

However, I have one thing to complain. Do you notice that the vest is just plain with the Adidas logo? Some of the running mates have their t-shirt imprinted with the KOTR logo, but mine one is just plain!

Why this happens? Then what's so special about this running vest? I can simply buy any running vest outside of any brand. Even though I couldn't wear sleeveless top, but I still want to keep it as memento. Who knows I may hit the lottery one day and get the excessive arm skin removed with a surgery?

对话2

2008-08-07T21:28:00.004+08:00

续《对话1》

我：你真的要浑浑噩噩过一生啊？
我：好啦，好啦！你以为我想酱的吗？我也不懂啊，有时就是不受控制地要吃很多！吃了后又内疚，然后又继续吃！我也觉得自己很噁心！

我：这个。。。
我：你以为酱很爽、很好过？每天跟意志打仗是很累的！我很想大哭出来，但是又做不到，好像对全部东西都失去热诚，做一日和尚，敲一日钟。

我：但是。。。
我：但是。。。但是外人以为我无病呻吟，连打理自己、好好地对待自己，酱简单的东西也做不到，真没用！你知道我有多痛苦吗？

我：Ok, ok, cool down, cool down。我不是要责备你。但是你一直酱也不是办法，最终只会伤害到自己。
我：我也不懂要如何做啊。从小就胖了，都没有想过要去减重的。自从8年前突然发神经减重然后失败后，这个噩梦就挥之不去一直跟着我。有时候回想，如果我根本没去碰减重这一滩浑水，一早认命，每天就快快乐乐地吃个够，不用烦多好！

我：嗯。。。这个就是妳真正想要的生活？
我：Er。。er。。。其实我可以是一个很好动和爱冒险的人。我很想做很多东西，但是被肥胖的状况限制了。就算上一次在悉尼完成了跳降落伞的愿望，不过背后的耻辱却不能磨灭。

我：什么耻辱？
我：要跳伞有一个条件，就是体重不能超过110公斤，当时我的体重是105公斤。

我：还好啊，赶得上列车。
我：可是通常有如此体重的人都是很高的，也即是说因为他们高，按比例地也比较重，并不是胖。我穿不下那个跳伞服装，全部人只有我一个人穿普通衣物跳，还有拍下的DVD为证！再说，因为肥胖的关系，连一些降落的简单动作都做不来，幸好陪跳的跳伞员很有经验，才没有什么大碍。但是想深一层，我可是提高了陪跳员的生命风险啊！如果万一发生事情，我就是第一个以肥胖杀人的凶手！

我：不要说得酱夸张啦！既然你已经有所觉悟，拿出勇气和魄力来面对！
我：嗯，是的。我知道只有自己要改变才能改变，只有自己能帮到自己。

我：这样就对了！世上无难事！
我：谢谢，衷心感激你聆听我说这么多废话。小宇宙，给我力量继续奋斗下去！

*如果我是在上个星期完成这一篇稿的话，内容不会是如此的，也不会有像壮志骄阳类型电视剧般的“桥段”～～老土和肉麻。这几天表现还不错，心情平伏了一点，希望可以维持下去。

Double Hills报告 X 2

2008-08-03T18:15:00.005+08:00

日期：2008年8月2日，星期六
时间：6.00am
地点: Bukit Aman Car Park
项目：星期六破例长跑训练
距离：10.8公里

squareeight星期日不得空，所以今天就跟她一起跑个double hills。像上一次一样，我们慢慢跑，还算轻松。可是我有点不争气，由于近期一直不停地吃，又缺少练习（虽然缺少练习是因为“好朋友”到来的关系，不过我知道自己也开始朵懒了），所以这一次比较喘。不过我们两个女的还是有说不完的话，一直说个不停，只是上double hills时才收敛一下 :P

全程：1:17:51

跑完后，跟我妹妹会合加入RunnersMalaysia跑友们，他们每个星期六7.30am都有初级跑步计划的常训练，我们再跑跑走走大约3.5公里。随后squareeight就直接回去了，我就留在那边跟跑友们“吹水”吹了大半个钟 :P

----------------------------------------------------

日期：2008年8月3日，星期天
时间：6.10am
地点: Bukit Aman Car Park
项目：星期天例常长跑训练
距离：10.8公里

几天前，傻强msn说星期日要join我跑。傻强叫到，我当然一定“冇托手踭”的。

昨天已经跑了double hills，到开跑前还在犹豫要跑double hills（10.8公里）或是Hartamas呢（19/20公里）。最后因为傻强第一次来这儿跑，不懂他的程度如何，加上懒劲儿，就决定跑double hills吧。

傻强这个衰仔包跑得很快，搞到我的步伐乱了，气喘到半死，但是还是追不到他。其实我可以不必理会他维持自己的速度的，可是他是第一次来这里跑啊，等下傻里傻气地跟到其他人跑Hartamas的路线，怎么办？加上double hills的路线“九曲十三弯”，如果他迷路了，我怎样赔偿人家阿妈的儿子啊？

不过也不能怪傻强啦，其实都是我的问题，跑了这样久没进步就算了，该打的我好像越来越退步，也跟不上那两夫妇了 :( 还好遇到风驰而过和初次见面的朱（佳礼论坛的一员），就让精力充沛的傻强跟他跑吧，谢谢朱帮我解围了。因为之前的节奏搞乱了，上double hills时真的是有心无力，后半段的路程更加煎熬。。。

跑完后才听朱说佳礼的小弟弟们没有来，难怪这样静。如果他们如计划跑double hills，就算我不等他们而提早出发，他们也应该追上来了。

总括来说，如果昨天的练习算是在天堂的话，今天就是在地狱了。好，我对住灯火发誓*，我一定要更加勤力练习，一定要减掉那些肥油，一定不要败给傻强**！

* 偷TVB“家好月圆”Sa姨的对白
** 其实要赢男生很难啦，只是不想再搞到这么难看！

全程：1:17:19

对话1

2008-07-30T23:59:00.001+08:00

我：喂，你是不是要放弃跑步了？
我：没有啊！做么酱说呢？

我：你不是说过，以前为减重而跑步，现在为跑步而减重吗？
我：对，没错！

我：可是我看你一直失控暴饮暴食，不像是在减重喔！
我：嗯。。。～～

我：不要讲之前的，回想一下只是昨天和今天你就吞了多少东西！
我：唔。。。不要提啦，很paiseh啦！

我：你不是因为老爸的启发，从此要建立和维持健康的生活习惯吗？
我：嗯。。。唔。。。～～

我：无论怎样，也减掉二十多三十公斤了，就这样放任不觉得可惜？
我：（无言以对）

我：难道你没有从8年前的失败经验吸取教训，还要重蹈覆辙？
我：（无言以对 + 头低低）

待续。。。

LSD报告

2008-07-27T18:06:00.002+08:00

日期：2008年7月27日，星期天
时间：6am
地点: Bukit Aman Car Park
项目：星期天例常长跑训练
距离：19公里

昨天在家里不停地煲Astro On Demand的剧集之余，口也不停地吃，今早暗地里希望来场倾盆大雨，这样就有藉口逃避LSD了。唉，想想就好，天气可是好的很，而且对我很重要的Adidas KOTR已经近在眉睫，不能再怠慢。

今天佳礼的网友只有chaucky，scchan27和myfm81出席。由于我跑得超慢，所以先跟随Uncle Fai和两夫妇出发，要不然回来就日晒三竿啦。出门前已经尽量上厕所把最后一滴都解决掉，但是在开跑前尿意又再来，真无奈。我不敢在Bank Negara的火车站解决，怕之后跟不上他们，这样就可能要孤军经过Arabian School前面那块空地，那些讨厌的野狗专门欺负独行客，所以只好使出我的毕生终极忍功绝招 :(

可能最近实在吃得太多，又没有认真练习，开跑没多久就觉得很吃力。心里一直很想等会儿转舵跑double hills（10.8公里），导致遥远的Hartamas好像变得更遥远！在第4公里左右，阿美巴快速超越我们，阿美巴，妳好厉害！几时我才能达到妳一半的水准呢?

还好我最终把转变路线的念头打消，慢慢迈向Hartamas。跨过Jalan Duta没多久后，Uncle Fai和两夫妇已经慢慢抛离我越来越远了。可能因为接近Adidas KOTR这个重要赛事的关系，一路上都可以看到很多跑者练习，非常热闹。有很多跑者已经在回程的路途上，他们真的很快又很早哪！

最后终于平安到达Petronas。我觉得很不舒适，决定放弃额外的一公里圈圈，往厕所直奔，所以这一次只跑19公里。由于在正式比赛需要在中途吃PowerBar Gel补充能量，所以特地在今天的练习试吃，要让自己先习惯，希望不要在比赛时才出状况。那gel粘粘的，像是添加调味剂的浆糊，感觉怪怪的。虽然只是一小包，只重41g，可是市面售RM6.50一包哩！

休息时，迟出发的chaucky已经赶来了，没多久sschan27也到达了。我要向sschan27致敬，他忘了带跑步鞋来，竟然可以穿学生鞋跑这么远！我同样跟Uncle Fai和两夫妇先出发回程，开跑没多久就看到myfm81赶来。渐渐地我又被他们抛离，嗯。。。我还是维持在能力范围的速度吧，不要太勉强。在Hartamas Height处，再度迟出发的chaucky又追上来了，他渐渐变得很pro了哩!

不懂究竟是因为少跑1公里，或者是PowerBar Gel发挥力量，我觉得这一次回程的路途特别清醒，虽然还是龟速，双脚却感觉到还有能量。不过脑袋却一直找藉口，今天状态不好啦、吃太多啦等等的，不如干脆停下来慢慢走回去好了。更甚的是，在还有大约3公里多时，忽然觉得“急屎”，很怕突然会不受控制漏出来。这种微微肚绞的感觉至少发生5次，非常难熬。我看这是因为昨天吃太多了，应该不是gel的问题，可能会在下一次练习时，再试一次gel确定一下。

上一次LSD是靠精神把身体给拖回去，这一次却是靠身体把精神给带回来。转眼间已经到靠近Bank Negara的巴士站处，非常靠近终点了！可能兴奋过度吧，松懈了下来，脚没有踏好因而踢到石阶，身体快速往前面的垃圾桶冲，幸好用手顶着没有跌倒，真失魂。无论如何，又完成了一个有惊无险的LSD，来，给自己一些鼓励的掌声！

【1:08:35】9.5km
【0:10:26】休息
【1:07:50】9.5km
全程：2:26:52

Double Hills报告

2008-07-20T09:42:00.002+08:00

日期：2008年7月20日，星期天
时间：6.15am
地点: Bukit Aman Car Park
项目：星期天例常长跑训练
距离：10.8公里

今天工作上要从早上9点开始standby，以我的速度跑20K的话会很赶，可能迁就不到时间。既然这个星期很懒惰没有什么练习，再加上不停地暴饮暴食，就干脆只跑double hills吧。

Uncle Fai和两夫妇知道我们不要跑20K后，就先出发了。佳礼的网友们把停车场搞得非常热闹，chaucky这位先锋一定少不了，还有scchan27，myfm81和平旦，更有从砂劳越飘洋过海的jimmlau！那班小子们正在等迟到的HuMoR+DkNy，我就先跟squareeight和她的两位朋友wong和lazypapa先行开跑。

这一次把速度放慢，跑得还挺轻松的，一边跑一边跟squareeight谈天。这是我第一次在跑步中讲话这么久，直到5公里后，要开始上double hills的斜坡才收口 :P 中途scchan27和HuMoR+DkNy已经追了上来，往Hartamas的方向前进。一路上我们也看到Takaful Walk的布告板和水站，真想跟他们要一杯水解解渴 :P

过了Wisma Tani后，squareeight停下来等wong和lazypapa，而我继续跑下去。其实我有点害怕经过Istana Selangor那条小路，我是怕猴子啦，因为曾经被Bukit Cahaya的大猴子追过 :( 就是那么巧今天有几只猴子在那儿追逐打架，旁边还有很多猴子，而周围的跑者们已经跑到前方去了，有点欲哭无泪。我听到后面有脚步声，就放慢脚步，等他到来一起跑过那一段路。来者是个老外，可能他看到我害怕的样子，还好心发出声音像要赶走猴子酱。。。哎哟，我觉得还是不要惹它们比较好，它们毕竟是野生的，何况被人饲养的猫狗都可能会咬人哪～～

我喜欢跑double hills除了因为路程比较短外 :P ，另外一个原因是要到终点的时候是下山的。如果是跑Hartamas的路线，回到来时要爬Jalan Parliament的斜坡回去停车场。虽然不是很斜，但是那时候已经筋疲力尽了，上斜坡真是要了条老命！不过往后还是不要在下斜坡的时候加快速度，跑后膝盖有点疼，尤其我这么重更要好好保护双脚，还有很长的路要跑～～～

全程：1:18:20

LSD报告

2008-07-13T16:49:00.005+08:00

日期：2008年7月13日，星期天
时间：6am
地点: Bukit Aman Car Park
项目：星期天例常长跑训练
距离：20公里

昨晚去吃了日本自助餐为朋友饯行，吃了好多，真担心今天跑不动。像往常一样，天还没亮，大家6点之前在老地方集合。squareeight不舒服，不过其他佳礼网友今天也要为Adidas King of The Road开始20公里的训练了，包括chaucky, scchan27，HuMoR+DkNy和myfm81。我们几个跟Peter和Uncle Fai一起出发。

那群佳礼小伙子们实在有活力，没多久就抛离我们跑到老远去，我就跟着Uncle Fai后面一起跑。不过当跨过Jalan Duta后跑向Hartamas的时候，我变得像正在泄气的气球，渐渐地跟不上Uncle Fai了。半途中遇到Hoffen和WaiSum两夫妇正在跑回去，跟他们打了声招呼，他们可真早啊。

终于抵达Petronas油站，也在Petronas周围绕了那个1公里的圈圈，我赶忙补充水份和上厕所。打从一开始跑的时候就有点尿意，不懂是心理作用还是真的想尿尿。不过可以肯定的是，以后我一定要更早起身，不要拖到最后一分钟。就是因为迟起身，所以迟喝早上的第一杯水，可能膀胱不是很好，没多久就会想上厕所了。男的就方便，可以在草丛解决（就像那几个佳礼的弟弟们酱:P），可惜我是女的，Bukit Aman的公厕又没有这样早开 :(

虽然上了厕所，却又好像没有真正解决，导致回程时还是觉得很不自在，真无奈。开始跑500m左右，右脚的右侧就开始隐隐作痛，没多久左边膝盖也有些疼痛了。说是痛，但还算轻微，可以忍受到。可是双脚变得很重，很想停下来，不过精神上却相当坚强，一直告诉自己慢慢跑回去就好了，不要放弃！在最后的两、三公里，连右边膝盖也开始痛了，速度跟龟速没什么两样。一个老当益壮的老伯，应该有70岁了吧，也从后慢慢追上来割了我，老伯，bravo！

虽然这一次的表现很不好，不过觉得自己应得到一些掌声，是靠不放弃的精神把身体给拖回来的！再接再厉！

【1:13:24 】10.5km
【0:08:35 】休息
【1:10:21】9.5km
全程：2:32:21

Running Log：点击这里

Racing thru the track in National Stadium

2008-07-12T22:51:00.015+08:00

Race: Larian Jelajah KSN
Date: 12th July 2008 (Saturday), 8.00am
Venue: Stadium Nasional, Bukit Jalil
Distance: 6km (actual: 5.39km according to this)
Why this race?
1. The route included my elementary training ground, so I must give support!
2. The opportunity of running on the track in National Stadium
3. The MEDAL of course!

Never thought of running this race. I didn't even know what was 'KSN', it took me some time to figure out KSN == Kompleks Sukan Negara. Not only slow in running, I am slow in mind too... paiseh~~

I found out about this race when helping colleagues and friends to register the Shape Run 2 days ago at Wisma OCM. Since the race was on Saturday and merely 6km, it shouldn't affect the 20K LSD training on the next day. Moreover, the venue was so near my place, Bukit Komanwel was part of the route, which was also my elementary training ground. I started my weight loss journey there one year ago by walking, and slowly got into running. It would be very meaningful to touch the same ground as part of a race.

Most importantly... not many female participants signed up this race, there were 60 medals available and I was the 71st registrant. When my Sis knew about this event, she also wanted to get the medal so desperately, so I signed her up yesterday at 4.40pm as the 77th registrant, she should be the last registrant. You do the math, 60/77... what a high chance to win the medal.... hehehehe~~~

Anyway I had been very lazy lately, had not run for a few days. In addition, it was stated on the entry form that it required to climb staircases. Staircase was my weakness, and I knew there would be lots of staircases from my previous experience in Bukit Komanwel. I felt a bit nervous.

By the way, I could not understand why the race started at 8am, the sun would be so high up. As usual, I lined up far behind from the starting line, avoid blocking the faster runners. An uncle talked to me as he recognized me training in Bukit Jalil park. My Sis and I also took some pictures, since it was an unusual experience to start and run on the track of national stadium.

My start was slow, but I took it easy, I knew there were more challenges ahead. My tummy was not very well, probably because of I ate too much and different food before the race, the Jacob's Sunrite biscuits and Dutch Lady chocolate milk. I should stick with the faithful bananas only. The route was not very straight forward, but there were adequate road marshals and signboards along the way, a brownie point to the Organizer. I was even more surprised to see a drink station, 2nd brownie point to the Organizer!

Even though I was slow runner, I still looked around for some targets to 'sayur' as motivation. I overtook B1031, but later she overtook me back when going downhill, I could never see her again after that. I was running behind B1072 for quite awhile, finally getting closer to her and overtook her at the overhead bridge which crossed to the other side of the road to Bukit Komanwel. Then I slowly caught up with an Indian lady of number B1065, I thought I would leave her behind victoriously, but I lost to her when climbing up the dreadful stairs at the zig-zag route of Bukit Komanwel :(

Very soon we were approaching the finishing point, however I didn't remember the route very well, I was afraid that would be another stretch but all energies were exhausted, this would not gonna be fun. At last, I confirmed it was heading back to the stadium, I sprinted my best on the red rubberized track to the finishing point, imagining myself as a national athlete, what an experience!

Looking at the watch timer, it was 37:44, did I have a new PR? No, I knew it won't be especially I was actually 'walking' up the stairs which had significantly slowed me down. According to pm1 website, I was not surprised at all to find out the route was only 5.39km. I still had quite a lot of energies after the race, I should have increased the pace if I could remember the route better. Anyway, I felt very happy to achieve 17th place and add in another medal to my collection :)

I approached Tey, the generous and faithful photographer, after finishing the race. I asked his favor to snap photo for my Sis. While waiting for my Sis to come back, I met and talked to the 2nd place winner of Women Veteran category, I saw her in many races and in pm1 website, I knew she ran very fast! Hi, SL (if I recognized your name correctly), nice talking to you!

My Sis finally came back, her time was 50:25, she got her first medal at position no. 42! Good job, Sis! Hopefully more folks would pick up running and join races with me! :)

2 t-shirt designs... well, nothing interesting to talk about

My lucky number this time :)

Waiting at the starting point

Luckily my Sis has normal size... not like me :P

pia-ing to the finishing line (photo by Tey)

(photo by Tey)

The rewards

通告 Announcement

2008-07-11T21:39:00.007+08:00

这个部落格已经变质了！
本来是以减重为主，现在已经被跑步的帖给淹没了！
重还是要减，步更要去跑，就把部落格的标题换了一下吧：

桃利思，减重吧！ -->
桃利思，减重 & 跑吧！

This blog has evolved from a weight loss blog towards a running blog. I still have very much weight to lose, and I definitely want to continue to run, let's change the blog title a little:

doris, lose weight! -->
doris, lose weight & run!

LSD报告

2008-07-07T17:58:00.001+08:00

日期： 2008年7月6日，星期天
时间： 6.00am
地点： Bukit Aman Car Park
项目：星期天例常长跑训练
报告：

本来已经报名Siemen Run，但是突然发现时间过得很快，还有几个星期就是Adidas KOTR了。我胆粗粗报了22.7公里的项目，但是目前为止我只在6月15日跑过19公里，回程时更感觉到要生要死，而且在最后几公里连摆动手臂的力气都没了。我决定放弃Siemen Run，跟squareeight跑20K LSD去，争取多一些机会练习。

一大早6点钟之前我就到达Bukit Aman停车场。跟squareeight碰面后，就跟随她，还有Uncle Fai，Peter和两夫妻，总共6人浩浩荡荡出发。跑没多久就觉得有点想尿尿，很后悔出门前忘记再上一次厕所，幸好有人提议要上厕所，我们速速去BankNegara的KTM火车站解决。Bukit Aman停车场的公厕7点才开门，真的很不方便。

这一次到达Hartamas的Petronas油站后，我再跟随大伙儿们多跑一个大约1公里的小圈，所以这一次的路程是20公里整。吸收了上次的教训，这一次我做了一些改变：
* 前一天只跑4公里，不像上一次跑了十多公里
* 虽然已经跑得很慢，但再放慢一些，不要逼自己追上那两夫妻，留多一些力气给回程用
* 不要在油站休息太久，身体冷却了后再跑很幸苦！
* 虽然在油站已经灌了一罐100plus，可是上一次在回程时依然非常口渴。所以这一次特地留下一些Ribena，在回程时带着跑（虽然很不方便），在半路干掉它再把瓶子丢掉

Peter老早就跑回去了，其他人还在油站休息，我和squareeight先行离去。一个男生在半路追上我，他用粤语对我说"加油"，非常谢谢他的鼓励！当跑到回教堂附近时，发生了一件很恐怖的事！在我前方的一名男跑者要在转弯处过马路时，一辆深褐色的Honda Civic突然快速行驶和转弯，差点撞上了那位跑者！看那条"粉肠"的驾驶方式，应该是喝醉酒了。。。喂，大佬，你不爱惜生命，不要连累其他人！同时也忠告跑友们，在外面跑步时千万要小心！

过后Uncle Fai和两夫妇先后追了上来，我跟随两夫妇跑回去。这一次虽然也是跑得很幸苦，不过大体上比上一次好多了，至少在后尾的那一段路程还有力气摆动手臂，看来我所做出的更动有些帮助。到达Bank Negara的时候，一些较慢的Siemen Run参赛者还继续跑着，向Jalan Raja Laut前进。很后悔没有随身带着我的bib，要不然可以当场把bib扣上然后跟着众人跑回终点去，享用我最喜欢的冰milo！

其实这一次训练的最大收获是，我好像找到预防水泡的对策了。我尝试换掉NB的进口袜子，穿上本地制的，也重新系绑鞋带，把脚的位置固定好。嘻嘻，这一次没有水泡了！所以说嘛，贵价的进口货也未必最好、最适合！

【1:18:47】10.5km （包括上厕所)
【0:04:17】休息
【1:08:17】9.5km
全程：2:31:23

期待下一个星期天！ :)

Running log: 点击这里

OMG! Only 5 weeks left!

2008-07-05T11:18:00.007+08:00

Adidas King of The Road (KOTR) is held on 10th August 2008. Like other races, I have thought of joining the 10K category in this event, even though this race is not targeted on beginners. The qualifying time for Women Open 10K category is 1 hour, I am still not able to meet that yet. I am aiming to run my first half marathon in Singapore International Marathon (SIM) on 7th December 2008.

However, after reading so many Singapore Sundown Marathon race reports from fellow runners, I really feel like running a marathon! Haza the Running Mom and WaiSum who are already successful marathoners advised me to take the 22.7K category in Adidas KOTR to evaluate myself, and then consider taking the full marathon challenge in SIM. After some thoughts, I decide to go with this plan.

So far I have only done 19K LSD of Hartamas route once on 15th June 2008 (I didn't do the extra 1KM loop at Petronas to make it 20K), I suffered deeply on the way back. In the last few km, I was not even manage to swing my arms while running.

I thought I had plenty of time to train, but AV came the next week with very heavy flow, so I skipped the LSD training. Then it followed by McD Run in next Sunday which I could not skip, because I was acting like the "organizer" to bring in my fellow colleagues to participate, hopefully to promote the running atmosphere and healthy living among them.

Tomorrow is the Siemen 10K Run. I have signed up and collected the bib as well. However, when I calculate how many Sundays left to train LSD before KOTR:

13th July 2008
20th July 2008 (high AV possibility & primary weekend support)
27th July 2008
3rd August 2008

Wow... only 4 Sundays left and I may not be able to make one of them. If it rains, I will miss another important training. 22.7K is even longer than half marathon (21K), I really have no confidence at all with the current training and weekly mileage. I am not aiming to meet the qualifying time of 2hrs 20min, I just hope to complete it within 3hrs and hopefully the Organizer hasn't packed and gone home when I return to the finishing point.

So I decide to skip the Siemen Run tomorrow and do 20K LSD instead. Another thing is there are only 100 medals for Women Open category. It seems like Siemen Run is the only race in Klang Valley, so I believe many elite runners will participate in this event and I will have no chance of grabbing a medal.... hehehe, I am quite medalistic...

又一次虎头蛇尾

2008-07-02T22:22:00.002+08:00

决定要放弃口才训练班。当初加入的时候是要找个平台练一练胆量，在减到标准体重时，想以过来人的身份公开演说，希望可以帮到也受到肥胖困扰的兄弟姐妹们。这理想好像很可笑，不过我是挺认真的。

之前以为一个星期只需出席一次例常训练，平时只需花一些时间写稿和背稿，处在半休息状态的我相信还可以应付。可是3个星期前无端端杀出“辩论比赛”，把日常生活都打乱了。

虽然从来没有参加过辩论比赛，但是很清楚台上的几分钟是需要在背后做许多功夫的。一开始时训练班并没有公开课程提纲，也没有提到辩论比赛，当知道需要参与时，心里就起了一股莫名的抗拒感。更甚的是，还要立刻执行，只有两个礼拜的时间做准备。

为了这个无聊的辩论，队员们每隔一两天就要集会，在没有集会的日子，就要搜集资料和写稿。。。哇捞，我工作也没有这样勤力喔（尤其是最近的我）。跑步训练、煲剧常规等因此大受影响，甚至《第二波》的第二篇和第三篇都还不能出炉。

我知道我是一个很“怕输”的人。此“怕输”非彼“怕输”，我并不怕自己输，而是怕自己不成气候，影响大队。这种心态引起很大压力，本来对辩论这东东保持中立，现在是厌恶它了。我已清楚跟队员们说不喜欢辩论，只想完成这一场辩论就好，但是由于一些队员因各种理由不能出列第二场辩论，他们竟然还要我再辨一次。对不起，我放弃算了，你们有你们的理由不上场，我也有我的生活要过。

我晓得是我给自己压力。看到其他人都是随随便便嘛，我却不自觉地不停改稿、搜集资料、连睡觉前都一直想着辩论的事，就是不能让自己放松下来，深怕因自己的关系输掉比赛，成为千古罪人。当然可以借此机会改善这个毛病，可是现在的我实在没有那种心力，对生活没有目标，提不起精力，真怕会慢慢熬出抑郁症来。

在工作上，老板无端端又要我们考试，要我们被certified。虽然我只是在这间公司近3年，说长不长，说短不短，可是在KL office里算是元老级的，不能考得马马虎虎啊！目前不能失去这份工作，家里的面包与牛油就是靠它了。看，又给自己压力了！

好，我说过不要在部落格里说太多关于工作的事情，就此打住。目前唯一能带来自我认同感就是跑步了，所以要继续跑下去。工作上是没有选择权的，只好应付那@%$#&的考试，唯有牺牲口才训练班了。

A组辩论队队员，抱歉了！

A Pleasant Surprise in McD Run!

2008-06-29T18:28:00.014+08:00

Race: McDonald's Olympic Day Run 2008
Date: 29th June 2008 (Sunday), 7.30am
Venue: Dataran Merdeka
Distance: 7km (One says 7.31km)
Why this race?
1. RM10 for t-shirt and cap, good deal! (Yes, I am greedy fellow)
2. "Olympic" marr... only once every 4 years!

Since this was a fun run, I invited my colleagues and my Sister to join the race as well. I was quite amazed that many of them could complete in honorable time in the last KLIM 10KM race even without training. I myself had not trained much in the last 2 weeks, was busy with the debate competition in public speaking class (and I hate it) and also because of menses.

The start was a mess, the reporting card was useless. Everyone started at the same time, neglecting the starting time for different categories, and in general it was 10min late. I want to salute a new friend I know from Chinese Cari Forum. She turned up early to run 7K first, and then joined the this race for another 7K!

The sky looked cloudy. Running under cool weather was nice but it was quite humid too. I felt my steps were heavy, not sure this was due to lack of training, too many runners and high humidity causing breathing difficulty, or the result of donating 300ml blood yesterday.

Since there were only 30 medals up for grasp for each category, I didn't put any hope of getting one (even though my heart secretly dreamed to get one), I just kept running and hopefully achieving a better completion time. Even though the route was only 7km, the Organizer still set up a water station in the middle of the route, a plus point to the Organizer. I believed I saw Haza, the Running Mom, at the water station, I was not very sure since I had not met her personally. Anyway, there were a lot of people at the water station, I decided to skip the drink and keep going.

There were about 400 runners in Women Open category (the bib number said so), but I didn't see many of them along the way. At one point, I was running closely with B1215 and even overtook her once, but soon she increased her pace and was completely out of my sight. I also slowly caught up with B1064 later, we were almost at the same pace for one stretch, but she geared up after turning into Jalan Parliament which was about less than 1K to the finishing point.

Again, I used the 'Ice Milo' psychic power to keep myself going. The Milo van always offers the best Milo drink and it is often an excellent motivational tool in the race (at least to me :P ). I managed to overtake a few runners from the same category, probably they were getting exhausted. When turning back to Dataran Merdeka which was less than 200m to go to the finishing line, I saw 2 Women Open runners ahead of me. I tried my very best and 'sayur' one of them, but B1093 was very strong, no chance for me to pass her at all.

I saw the Official handed a small card to B1093, that signaled a medal! I prayed very hard I wouldn't be the 31st person and missed the medal... and wow, I got no. 27, what a surprise! My time was around 49:32, I felt a little ashamed of winning the limited medal with this poor performance, but still felt very happy of getting one :P This is the advantage of female runners, and also need to thank many elite runners who have gone to Larian Bandar DiRaja Klang instead. This hard-earned medal will be one of the most precious medals in my collection :P

Same as previous KLIM race, my boss' boss brought us a hearty halal dim-sum breakfast after the run :)

Goodies:
- Olympic Day Run Special Edition T-shirt
- Olympic Day Run Special Edition Cap
- McD coupon (I got the French Fries coupon, it could be something else)
- Plastic made bib (2 pcs)
All for RM10 :)

Back of the T-shirt. Quite cool huh~

Starting point

Finishing point

Thanks Tey again for the photos!
* I need to get hair cut liao... the bangs is so long, feel so inconvenient when running

Rewards of <= 30th placing: - Medal!
- Certificate
- One notepad (but the title is 'the official McDonald's Champion Kids', kids huh?)
- 3 McD coupons: McChicken, French Fries, Sundae
- Impiana KLCC Hotel & Spa buffet dinner buy 1 free 1 coupon

Medal is quite beautiful, and heavy!

第二波：Confession

2008-06-09T22:54:00.002+08:00

再过4个星期就是减重一周年纪念日。自从老爸去世后，体重又上又下，最后在原地打转。

2008-01-07 84.0kg（老爸去世后的第二天）
2008-06-09 83.5kg（最新体重测量）

心里最清楚不过了，不就是暴饮暴食惹得祸。经过6个月的彻底“改造”，为何又会再堕入暴饮暴食的魔掌呢?

我反复地检讨，究竟是什么原因脱离不了暴食的诅咒。
1. 老爸去世后，觉得事情告一段落，失去了当时要追求健康的动力
2. 工作的压力。如今要背上这个家，不能轻举妄动
3. 天生3分钟热度
4. 暴食的魔鬼看上了我，永远不停地经历减重、反弹的恶性循环（就是体内的肥胖基因作祟啦，注定一世肥胖）

就像以前考试时的objective问题，有时候答案是多重的，也可能是“以上答案皆是”。如果不是找到跑步这个新兴趣，体重已经反弹到一发不可收拾了，很可能走回8年前的旧路。

不晓得跑步是不是另一个3分钟项目。回顾以往的经历，我对自己的坚持能力也没有太多信心。真可悲，那些激励大师或励志书籍都会说这是失败者的思考。

是，我就是一个loser，看到自己都觉得厌恶，有一股令人作呕的油腻味 x(

新路线

2008-06-08T08:59:00.002+08:00

在一个星期内，我尝试跑了3个新地方：

(a) Double hills
路线：http://www.pacesetters.com.my/resource/images/Double%20Hills.doc

(b) Bukit Jalil Park
路线：http://niterunning.blogspot.com/2008/04/bukit-jalil-neighborhood-run-route-map.html

(c) Metropolitan Park, Kepong
图片：http://pm1.blogspot.com/2008/04/4th-pacemakers-anniversary-run-2008.html
*因为要去帮RunnersMalaysia派出的接力队伍打气，所以昨天的例常训练移师到Metropolitan Park。我应该不会时常去这个公园，毕竟Kepong有点远。

Port Dickson International Half Marathon - 11K Run

2008-05-25T23:32:00.018+08:00

Tey had mentioned that I should write in English as well so that my Si-Fu (i.e. Master -- Jamie, the co-founder of RunnersMalaysia) could read my race reports. Writing the detailed reports in dual languages is not an easy task, I have to admit my writing skill is poor in any language...*sigh. Anyway, I decided to write my PD 11K race report in English this time :)

I didn't plan to run in PD initially, my preferred race was running 10K in RMAF Half Marathon which was organized by Royal Malaysian Air Force on the same day. Imagine running on the aircraft runway, it must be a unique experience! Unfortunately only veterans were eligible to enter 10K category, I was not ready to run 21K half marathon yet. I took the opportunity to run my first outstation race in PD, and to enjoy a short holiday with my family at the same time.

I registered via email and I was told my bib was D1002. I was surprised I was only the second registrant for Women Open 11K category, but only 2 weeks left to the race day. In addition to clashing with RMAF Half Marathon, I blamed it to poor publicity and lack of information on the website, we needed to email them in order to obtain the registration form and information. The Organizer claimed they were expecting 3000 people, but I believed a large part was made up by school children including those who ran on the day before the race in a “mini-marathon” (I guessed the “mini-marathon” distance was even shorter than 1/100 of the actual distance, i.e. 421.95m).

Anyway, lesser participants means higher chance to win a medal, you could hear me laughing out loud viciously in the heart, weee…hahahahaha. I chatted with a new running buddy I met yesterday in RunnersMalaysia Beginners’ Running Program. He was with a friend, he was the only person I knew in the event, felt grateful that I was not entirely lonely this morning. Anyway, I saw few familiar faces who I believed from KL too.

The 21K runners started at 7.24am. When runners from Category C and D were asked next to enter the “kandang”, the officials didn’t ask to hand in the reporting slip. A short while later, we were asked to collect the ribbon, those who didn’t have the ribbon would be disqualified. This had caused a mess at the starting point area, they should have distributed the ribbon when we masuk kandang.

Our national hero Mr. Astronaut was the VIP to trigger the gun. When I drove to PD, I could see many lamp post banners featuring Mr. Astronaut to attract more people to join PDIHM. Some Malay girls screamed when the handsome Mr. Astronaut appeared! I was being charmed by him too, I totally forgot to start my watch’s timer, I only remembered to snap his picture (:P).

I paced with D1052 in the first km. She was wearing a NB Pacesetters Klang Race vest and looked professional, I guessed she is a regular runner, soon she went ahead and I lost her completely. I continued with my own pace, I felt my legs especially right leg was a bit tight, probably due to long distance driving and lack of trainings these days. Luckily the legs were eased after the third km.

Road marshal was absent in between third to fifth km, we were supposed to keep left, but I saw many runners crossed the road to the right, so I followed them. Later the runners crossed the road to the left again, and the cycle went on. I guessed when one runner started crossing the road, others would follow suite, typical Malaysians’ “kiasu-kiasi” spirit. Anyway, the action of crossing the road was dangerous, the road was not closed for the event, there were quite some vehicles passing by.

After the first water station, we had to turn right into a highway-like road, still 6km to go. I overtook a Malay girl, her bib was D1136. However, she soon caught up with me again and paced with me since we were about the same speed. Because I was running at the inner side of the road and there was a lot of sand causing discomfort while running, I was thinking to slow down a bit to let her go first so that I could avoid the sand, but she misundestood I was going to quit, she was being so nice to cheer me up!

We kept running side by side, still 4km to go when we reached the second water station. We caught up with another runner who I forgot her bib, she asked us whether the 4km marker meant it was 4th km or 4km to go, I answered “tinggal 4km” even though I was panting heavily. She felt relieved and put on some gear, headed in front of us in the rest of the route.

We then caught up and overtook D1130 (she looks like Caucasian but later I found she has a Malay name, most probably she is a mixed blood), I guessed she was not happy, so she ‘turbo’ to come in front of us again. However D1130 was a very supportive person, she clapped whenever the elite 21K runners had completed the extra distance and overtook us, the slower 11K runners.

I continued to run with D1136 side by side, I felt very happy as this was my first experience of pacing with another runner and encouraging each other for such a long distance, the best part was we didn’t even know each other! We just wanted to run together and to complete the race. Anyway, D1130 remained competitive and didn’t let a slight chance for us to overtake her.

Finally we were heading back to the starting point which was also the finishing point. In less than 50m to go, D1136 finally turbo and ‘sayur’ D1130. I was exhausted, I didn’t turbo. I was also distracted to wave to my Mom and Aunties, and to pose so that my Sis could snap my picture with her phone. Unfortunately our faithful photographer Tey was not in PD but in RMAF.

The results were D1136 placed 9th, D1130 placed 10th, and I was 11th. Prize money was given to 1st to 10th position. Yeah, I lost the golden chance of getting to the top 10 and to win prize, this could be the only chance I had as I am a slow runner, but I didn’t feel unhappy at all. Instead of staying there to wait for RM30 (i.e. the prize money for 9th and 10th placement), I rather grasped the medal immediately and showered right the way in hotel room, then enjoyed the buffet breakfast as the reward of all the hard work :)

By the way, my time was around 1 hour 14 min. Although there was nothing to shout about with this performance, I truly enjoyed the race very much, it was a great experience of pacing with someone, and felt great of encouraging and congratulating each other, even though they were strangers!

Some freebies in the goodies bag!

Front and back of the T-shirt... rather conservative

Aerobics session to warm up

Runners loitering around before the race
The bus in the pic brought in a lot of young runners!

Mr. Astronaut in action

Heading towards the finishing line!

The certificate and medal do not indicate 11K/21K...
I could bluff others I completed 21K instead!

The abundant breakfast after all the hard work :)

不要再暴饮暴食，该反省了！

2008-05-24T10:45:00.000+08:00

刚才去我家巴刹附近的茶餐室吃鱼滑米粉。这档的鱼滑清汤很好吃，之前差不多每个礼拜去报到，不过最近有好一阵子没有去了。

年轻的老板娘看到我突然吓了一跳，问我为什么突然间瘦了许多，其实我的体重一直维持在81～83公斤的水平，可能是她之前忙着煮面没有注意到，那时候每个星期都见我一次，所以没有察觉到太大变化。

实不相瞒，近期一直暴饮暴食，还好有一直报名参赛，就算有多慵懒，偶尔还是有去跑步锻炼锻炼一下，要不然体重一定反弹到很厉害。老板娘追问减重方法，我只好告诉她之前所秉持的“少吃多动”原则。我很paiseh，因为目前已演变成“暴吃多动”了。

明天还要参加波德申的11公里竞赛，今早在RunnersMalaysia初级跑步计划的例常训练里跑得上气不接下气，都怪我整个礼拜大吃大喝和懒惰跑步，如今信心又掉落到谷底去了。

好，我要重新振作！为了健康，也为了新发现的跑步兴趣，我要设置下一个目标，继续严厉的减重历程！待我从波德申回来後，就把新目标帖上来！

完成了15K，超开心！

2008-05-18T17:21:00.013+08:00

昨晚出席结婚晚宴，吃了好多，又比较迟休息，不过今早5.35am还是爬起来了。

在5.50am吃了两条香蕉，因为从来没有跑超过11公里（有网友用GPS手表测到Bomba Run是10.93公里），怕跑到一半没有力气再跑下去，所以就准备了1条香蕉放在口袋里，以便不时之需。

到达湖滨公园Bukit Aman停车场时是6.15am，已经没有什么泊车位了，只好硬硬来，这样才是道地的马来西亚子民嘛（Malaysia Boleh!~~~paiseh）。走路到Padang Merbuk集合，看到的都是身材超fit的跑者，毕竟主办者是马来西亚最大的跑者俱乐部Pacessetters，我有点想找个地洞钻下去。

在6.30am解决“最后一滴”后，遇到前公司的洋人上司，跟他寒暄了几句。他也时常参加这类竞赛，而且是马拉松的级别。稍后做了一些伸展运动，然后走到起跑点集合。在起跑点遇到了几位RunnersMalaysia的跑友，就跟他们聊天。

谈啊谈啊，不知不觉就到了6.59am了，好像没有什么动静，不是7.00am准时开始吗？突然间听到一声号角，竞赛竟然开始了，大伙儿们回过神来，开始起跑啦。

回顾在KLIM和Bomba Run的经验，相信一开始跑得比较快（虽然已尽量保持本身的步伐，不过还是被大伙儿们稍微影响到），所以过了中途的饮水站后，能量大幅度地下降，跑得非常辛苦。这一次的里程又比这两个竞赛多50%，而且最近又疏于练习，所以一早就催眠自己放慢速度，最重要是完成比赛。如果能在qualifying time内跑完全程，就当作是特别红利！

竞赛的路线包括令人闻风丧胆的double hills，很多跑者在星期天都有练习这个路线，可是我还没有试过冲出湖滨公园，所以没有头绪。总言之，每当跑上斜坡的时候，就放慢脚步，有一段特别斜的斜坡相信就是double hills的后一段，我的速度简直就是龟速，不过还是坚持下去，非常有成就感！

整个路程就是上上下下的，数不清的斜坡。其实比起长长的平路，反而比较喜欢斜坡，上山的时候就咬紧牙根撑下去，下山就可以回气了，过程没有那么闷。不过下斜坡时也不会冲得太快，会一直打break，否则稍不留神很容易滚下坡，都是因为我太重了，paiseh

在最后的3公里，一位RunnersMalaysia的男跑友追了上来，跑在我前面几公尺。他平时都跑得不错，不过这一趟中途好像发生一些状况，慢了下来。既然他跑在前方，速度又不会太快，就把他当pacer吧。直到还有一、两百米要到终点时他突然发力，我还是维持自己的速度，慢慢迈向终点。

主办单位之前已发表了指示，他们会尽量在终点冲站时帮我们拍照，然后打印在证书上（哇捞，够pro哩），所以要我们合作把手举起不要遮住衣服上的号码。我有举起右拇指做“good”状，希望他们有帮我拍到啦，Tey也有在那边，希望他也拍到啰。

然后志愿工作人员递一张卡给我，写着140，看来我在Women Open组拿到第140名，相信是挺后尾了。我又忘记停止计时，应该是1小时48分20秒左右，哇靠，很高兴嘢，可以在2小时的qualifying time内完成！虽然这次比赛的速度是参赛以来最慢的，不过我却非常的开心，因为终于跨过10公里，可以完成15公里了！下个目标就是21公里的半马拉松！Standard Chartered新加坡马拉松，我来也～～

终点都是令人期待的！

排排队，喝Milo

很有型的奖牌哩！

Update：Tey帮我拍了7张那么多！选了这一张还算可以见人的，paiseh

附笔1：这是一个很有水准的竞赛，因为是跑者俱乐部（Pacesetters)举办的，他们都明白跑者的期望。来看看他们怎样把这活动办得有声有色吧：
1）跑步背心的品质很好！只不过拜拜肉不允许我穿上它 :(

2）号码的印刷有很专业的感觉

3）Race Kit里的指示清单非常清晰

4）报到与checkpoint的丝带有伸缩性，很容易套在手腕上。FTAAA所承办的KLIM和Bomba Run提供的是一条幼幼长长的丝带套在颈项，我觉得怪怪的，通常都把它卷几圈套在手腕上。

5）饮水站提供PowerBar的无气耐力饮料和清水。我不喜欢在跑步中途喝100plus，虽然100plus有糖份可以提供及时能量，可是却是有气的，跑着的时候可能使胃部传出气体，很不舒服。喝了这PowerBar的饮料，我带的香蕉都英雄无用武之地了。

6）奖牌是pewter做的喔！每个完成的跑者都有奖牌，辛苦的付出都有回报！

7）很多食物和饮料，计有白粥或椰浆饭（选一）、豆腐花或煎蕊（选一）、香蕉、西瓜、Milo、PowerBar耐力饮料、cereal

只找到两个芝麻绿豆的事情要改善：
A）早期的表格没有路线图，而网站又没有展现路线图，我一直都不大清楚会跑到哪里去

B）起跑时有些困乱，应该用“大声公”在起跑前报告一下，让我们有所准备

附笔2：双脚超累，右脚起水泡！不过并不严重，也没有抽筋，只是走路时有点一拐一拐的，像老了几十年～～paiseh

战战兢兢

2008-05-17T17:42:00.003+08:00

15公里的竞赛终于要到了。状态还是很不好，之前一直暴饮暴食，又疏于练习。这一次真的只要完成比赛就可以了，不用管时间限制或什么的。觉得有点可悲。

Race Kit有跑步衣（标价RM39.90)，号码，指示和New Balance 30%折扣固本

报名费是RM30（Pacesetters会员，early bird的价钱），是有点贵，不过跑步衣的品质很好。可惜我不会穿上这件衣服啦，因为。。。因为它没有袖子，我手臂的拜拜肉不是普通的拜拜肉，需要手术来解决的 :(

Bomba Run - 尽管时间记录差强人意，不过有意外惊喜！

2008-05-10T17:06:00.008+08:00

早上5.40am起床，洗刷后换上时常穿的那件公司所提供的跑步衣服，昨天晚上已经把号码扣到衣服上了。

6.15am抵达湖滨公园靠近Bukit Aman警察总部的停车场，也就是每个星期六RunnersMalaysia初学者跑步计划的集合地点。这停车场离竞赛起跑点（独立广场）不太远，并且是免费的，又有很多警察帮忙看车喔 :P

在车内吃了2条香蕉，平时的也挺喜欢吃香蕉，现在已成了竞赛前的必需品。6.55am时去厕所解决“最后一滴”。值得一赞的是，虽然独立广场的厕所收费20仙，但是还真的挺干净和宽敞喔！

主办当局安排大家跳aerobics热身

终点。有一股冲动现在就想冲过去！

有看到熟人，是RunnersMalaysia的跑友，跟她打了声招呼。有点闷，认识的跑友中好像没有几个参加这个竞赛。7.05am左右做了些伸展运动，然后没多久后就呈上reporting card进kandang啦。

既然是是消防队主办的竞赛，当然要秀出他们部队的云梯车啦。右边穿大会橙色衣服的就是拿督斯理黄家泉，他负责鸣枪。哈，他有没有畏高症？

刚开始时跑得还算不错，虽然大伙儿们一下子就冲到老远去，不过我还是照着自己的步伐吧。很快就上斜坡了，挺长哩，不过还有力气撑下去。跑了大约25分钟后，看到饮水站了，大口大口地灌了两杯矿泉水。

跟KLIM的经验一样，过了饮水站后，能量就开始下降，看来要找个对策才行，如增加每周的长跑的哩数。当转到Jalan Duta Highway时（也即是PLUS Highway到怡保出口的那段路），又是斜坡又多车。我放慢脚步，准确来说是以跑步的姿势走路，真是paiseh。

一路上看到2203号跑跑走走的，有时我“割”过她，有时她又“割”回我。跑着跑着时，2044和2204也分别追上，她们的身影越来越远直到消失为止。2203终于再“割”我跑在前方，我实在没有力气跟再她纠缠下去，不过也谢谢她当了我一大段路的pacer。在56分30秒左右，又是另外一个斜坡，是一条高架公路U转回Jalan Parliament。太阳很晒，又看到前方的2203停下来走路，我也被诱惑了，第一次在竞赛中停下脚步走路。

走了大约2分10秒，重新再跑，不过没多久后，实在太怀念刚才走路的轻松感觉，又停下脚了。但是当看到2004虽然跑得很慢，可是还是坚持继续跑下去，就觉得很惭愧。除此之外，我觉得很口渴又低能量，很期待终点的冰冷Milo饮品！好，既然就要到终点了，继续跑下去到终点为止！

一路上被同组别的其他参赛者“爬头”，还在最后关头时被一名年轻马来女子“割”，真无瘾。算了，完成比赛就好。。。冰Milo，你要等我！但是最恐怖的是，明明看到终点了，不过得绕着操场外围跑才可以转进终点，精神差点崩溃！

女子18岁-34岁的组别总共提供75面奖牌，虽然我一直说完成比赛就好，但是对奖牌也有些蠢蠢欲动的。上一次在KLIM得到第107名，就在心里盘算，Bomba Run是在星期六举行，有些人需要工作就不能参加，那就有机可乘啰？不过再想清楚，之前在KLIM跑半马和全马的有可能参加这个10公里竞赛，这样算来胜算还是同样低。唉，算了吧！

要到终点时，工作人员递一张卡给刚才“割”我的马来女子，这种迹象看来可能有机会拿到奖牌哩。果然工作人员也递一张卡给我，写着34号。哇塞，我竟然得到第34名！真的有点不可置信，连手表的计时也忘记停止了。

Anyway，时间记录大概是1小时11分40秒。有点失望，比KLIM的成绩差，谁叫我中途停下来呢?不过，我不应该为中途走路而钻牛角尖，很多时候在竞赛走路一下也是策略，死撑是没有用的。另外，这个竞赛的路程也比KLIM多斜坡，后半段路程也很晒。虽然是因为比较少参赛者而讨到第34名的便宜，还是挺开心的，嘻嘻。其实跑到一半时曾经想到干嘛自讨苦吃，以后不要再参加比赛了，不过现在又重新燃起了斗志！

但是我还是很害怕下个星期的15K竞赛，更糟糕的是右脚好像真的是操劳过度了，现在很疼痛。从开始跑步以来，还没试过脚抽筋，现在总算碰上了。比赛完毕我过马路要走回停车场，当提起右脚上路墩时，靠近右脚足踝的部位突然抽了一下，幸好还能稳住脚步。左脚也有抽筋的迹象，不过没有右脚严重。看来要好好休息几天了 :(

奖牌上还有刻上名次，Bomba可真有诚意啊！

又再次感谢Tey帮我拍这张照片！
嘻嘻，突然间觉得自己也不是太差啦～～少臭美～～~

恭喜RunnersMalaysia的初学者跑步计划2周年纪念

2008-05-09T21:45:00.004+08:00

5月3日是RunnersMalaysia的大日子，它的初学者跑步计划已经不知不觉举办了两年。听创办人之一的Mr. Wan说，这个跑步计划每个星期日都如期举办呢，除了开斋节的周末。

虽然我是去年12月才加入他们，不过我已把跑步计划当成例行公事，每个星期都很期待星期六的到来！除非有什么事情，要不我一定会出席，我相信我的出席率应该有80%以上！

当天跑步时被拍下的。嘻嘻，我看起来好像还挺瘦一下，尤其是腿部，很喜欢这张照片！

为了庆祝2周年纪念，搞了个potluck

好多食物喔！

还有很好吃的龙眼红豆水，还热腾腾的！

Mr. Wan正在表演他的拿手好戏 - teh tarik!
可惜那个火炉有问题，只冲了4杯 :(

来，大合照！

另外一位创办人Jamie也为当天的活动制作了一个video：

没有信心

2008-05-08T20:32:00.006+08:00

从槟城回来后的3天很慵懒没有跑步，又暴饮暴食（是真正的暴饮暴食！），体重在短短几天就上升几公斤。第4天恢复跑步是就尝到后果了，后半段只能走路而已（参考我的跑步日记：跑3公里，走2公里）。

真的很懊恼，干嘛刚开始只是吃了一些不该吃的食物，然后就放弃，全盘失控呢？难道要走回以前的旧路吗？我也不懂究竟是工作压力、减重压力、或是跑步压力（跑步不是该解压的吗？），还是最终斗不过天生的肥胖基因，失控起来真的是太恐怖了。

还好这个星期比较乖，还是算吃得多，不过至少没有失控。不过还有两天就是Bomba 10K Run了，我实在没有信心可以维持上次在KLIM和Orange Run的成绩，虽然那些成绩也不过尔尔。

更甚的是，下个星期天我会参加New Balance Pacesetters 15K Run，哇塞，15公里嘢，还有很斜、很斜的斜坡，他们称之为“double hill”！我现在真的有些后悔，即后悔吃那么多，又没有好好练习，也后悔不知量力去报名15K的run :(

Bomba Run的衣服设计和品质比KLIM的好哩，报名费是RM15，比KLIM贵RM5（如果迟报名，KLIM的报名费也是RM15）

2108，尽力而为吧！

跑在槟城的道路上

2008-05-04T11:59:00.004+08:00

由于参加汽车寻宝游戏，不能像平常般在星期六早上去湖滨公园跟RunnersMalaysia的跑友跑步，也得在槟城待一晚，所以我打算星期日（4月27日）在槟城的街道上跑一趟，感受一下不同的环境。

我从RunnersMalaysia网站找到关于新关仔角（Persiaran Gurney/Gurney Drive）到植物园（Botanical Garden）的路线，大约10公里左右。玩了一整天的寻宝游戏已经很累了，其他队友在晚宴后去Batu Ferringhi的夜市集逛，我却选择跟周公报到，以便第二天能早起。

5.45am起身，本来打算洗刷后即出发，因为酒店在海边，跟新关仔角有点距离，还要经过弯弯窄窄的山路，可是为了找车匙折腾了15分钟，在6.20am左右出发。教训：每当第二天早上有什么重要事件要做时，前一天晚上应该准备好！

大概6.40am到达新关仔角1号门牌，花了一点时间把车泊好和做一些伸张运动，就开始跑啰。手握着一瓶250毫升的水跑步，以防万一。新关仔角对着海边，一大早就有挺多的安哥安蒂在那儿晨运，当然也包括一些彻夜未归的情侣们。海已退潮，发出腥味与恶臭。

因为还早，路上汽车不多，跑得也相当舒服。这个路线是从新关仔角，沿着Jalan Bagan Jermal和Jalan Gottlieb，途经槟华女子中学，然后右转入Jalan Kebun Bunga，会经过一座印度庙和Youth Park，然后一直跑到植物园。

我到植物园时大约是7.20am左右，已经有很多人在那儿散步或跑步，槟城人是很有健康和运动意识的！我觉得植物园这个地方很不错，环境优美和干净，只是有点小，很多人。（注：我只是跑1公里左右的小圈，没有深入探个究竟）。

从植物园出来后，我就沿着相同的道路跑回去新关仔角。到新关仔角的麦当劳时已经接近8.00am了，太阳已经出来，一直嗮着一边的脸，有些辛苦。我跑得很慢，用了大约1小时13分钟来完成全程。手握的水瓶没有开封，现在可以大口大口地把水往喉咙里灌啦。

总括来说，这次的异地跑步经验非常愉快，除了新关仔角实在太多垃圾了。我期待以后有更多的机会在其他的地方跑步！

植物园入口

植物园内

Jalan Bagan Jermal和Jalan Gottlieb的街道状况

新关仔角

到底大马人几时才能具备公民意识呢？

Hospis第七届慈善汽车寻宝竞赛 - 我队竟然进入十大！

2008-05-04T10:54:00.007+08:00

上个星期六4月26号有好多长跑比赛，包括New Balance-Klang Pacers Half Marathon、Power Run和Bidor Half Marathon，但是我一早就已经决定要参加汽车寻宝比赛啦！

打从某一年开始，我每年至少都有参加一次汽车寻宝竞赛，除了去年，是因为老爸生病的关系。由于了解自己有多少“资质”，从来就没有妄想得奖，只求体会过程中的乐趣。在众多的经验当中，我最喜欢的就是Hospis所举办的竞赛了，它的竞赛组织最有水准，除了。。。汽车贴纸以外，不过今年改善了很多。

我们8个女子分成两个车队，大部分都是我的旧同事。这一届比较少车队参加，才37辆车，比起2006年的80+辆车逊色不少。听说这一天总共有8个汽车寻宝竞赛在进行呢，可能这样把人数分散了。令我们震惊的是，我们的车队号码分别是1号与2号！感觉有点压力 :P

1号车队名叫Pink Panther，她们已经连续使用这个名字3年了。对，她们就是在当年看了Steve Martin的The Pink Panther电影而改这个名字。而我是2号车队的驾驶员，我们的队名是Gang of Four。这名字好像很普通，没有什么想象力，其实是有特别意义的，参考一下wikipedia的Design Patterns篇吧。

Kelly，我，Tee，Bel

竞赛的起点是Bukit Jalil体育馆的VIP停车场，而终点是大道的Gunung Semanggul休息站。之后大伙儿们就往槟城Batu Ferringhi的Holiday Inn酒店报到，在那儿出席颁奖晚宴和住一晚。

2号车队的成员都爱守时（paiseh，可能是kiasu吧），当天我们七早八早就到起跑点报到。主办单位很贴心，准备了一些早餐，包括鸡蛋三文治、加哩角、椰丝高点、咖啡和奶茶，味道都不错哩。待会儿一定分秒必争，所以我们都把肚子先吃饱。

一路上，我们绞尽脑汁地解开谜题和金睛火眼地注意商店招牌来寻找答案。为了不要错过任何漏网之鱼，有时候队员们在烈阳当下“巡视”街道，务必把每个招牌都看清楚。除了招牌谜题，我们也得解开一共4个“宝物”谜题，然后买下这些宝物呈上，这些宝物占很多分数哩！这一次的竞赛也加入一些益智谜题，包括数独，以便在大道赶某一段路程时，让后面的乘客有些事情做，呵呵。

当我们在超级市场正在烦恼着其中一个宝物谜题时，Kelly很累就在一个货物架前面蹲了下来，这一蹲却让她发现了答案就是眼前的巧克力饼，认真厉害！过后她也继续大发雌威，把数独给解决掉，给我们带来不少分数！

Tee即是导航员，也是最有分析力的，她一个人就解开了2个宝物谜题！招牌谜题有很多是关于西洋歌曲的，这是Bel的强项。嘻嘻，我嘛，就是驾驶啰，没有多大的贡献，paiseh。我们也要多谢几位“幕后”帮手，我们用手机联络他们上网帮我们找资料！

时间限定是7小时，每迟到5分钟就扣2分，迟到超过半个小时就disqualified！每一次我们都说不要再迟到了，不要浪费辛苦得回来的分数，但是我们还是照样迟到，这一次迟了10分钟。在最后赶路的阶段，我踏油踏到脚都酸了。

到Gunung Semanggul休息站时，Kelly赶忙下车把答案和宝物呈上。Kelly告诉我们说我们所买的宝物全都对，这还是有史以来的第一次全对呢，整整20分袋袋平安！太好了，不用担心我们车队的分数会出现负数 :P

之后我们继续赶路到槟城去，不过我们并不第一时间去酒店，而是先去吃炒粿条和煎蕊（cendol）！来到槟城不去吃这些食物就好像没有真正来到槟城 :P

晚宴是在海边，Tee幸运地拍到夕阳的照片。晚餐时自助式的，虽然选择不多，不过也还不错，吃得很饱，不要忘记3个小时前我们还大快朵颐吃下炒粿条和煎蕊！

紧张时刻终于来临，Hunt Master要公布答案了。在这之前，当局要颁发early bird奖给最早到起点报到的10个车队，2号车就是第10个！这是我当天第一次上台领奖，奖品是每人一根很大很粗的芳香蜡烛。所以说嘛，早起的鸟儿是有虫吃的！

随着Hunt Master一一把正确的答案公布，当我们答对时，我们就大力拍掌，深怕别人不知道我们晓得答案，嘻嘻，超级kiasu！我们在比赛当中是有跟1号车通一些答案，哎呀，不要怪我们玩臭，大家都是这样做的啦！

首15名有奖品，我们之前都没有得过名次，这一次也不敢期望太大。当宣布1号车得到第14名时，我们都乐疯了，拍烂手掌！既然1号车能得到第14名，2号车答对比她们多一点点，应该也有机会得奖吧！呵呵，都要多谢那些真正的寻宝好手都跑去参加其他寻宝游戏，我们才有机可乘。

我们仔细聆听Hunt Master陆续宣布其他得奖车队，我们很失望地干嘛2号车没有份呢？是不是我们一些答案写得不够准确，所以没有计算分数？他们对答案的要求很严格。等到颁奖于第9名时，Hunt Master终于宣读得奖车队是2号车队，Gang of Four！哇捞，第9名，打入10大哩，身为司机的我，立刻冲上台领奖！

奖品有什么呢？RM50 Jusco固本、4个Metrojaya Chiller Bag、1个Avon礼篮和1个食物礼篮。太丰富了，下台时我还掉下奖品，要劳烦其他人帮忙我拾起来。其实我的威水史还未结束，Traxx FM要慰劳众驾驶员，我又上台领取T Shirt纪念品。平时都没有机会上台，但是这一晚却上了3次！

星洲日报，20/4/2008，新加坡父母哥哥超重逝世引发决心 82公斤妇女年半减20公斤

2008-04-20T11:19:00.004+08:00

新加坡父母哥哥超重逝世引发决心 82公斤妇女年半减20公斤

我也是因为老爸患癌导致行动不便而彻底觉悟的，快，报章媒体们，快来访问我！开玩笑啦，我革命尚未成功，得继续努力！

报导提到iDECIDE的减肥计划，我在谷歌里找到以下网站：
http://www.idecide.com.sg/index.asp

幌眼一看，像是一个挺不错的计划哩！我觉得减重者（不是那类只需减一两公斤为了变得好看的）应该求助于正确的管道，减重最基本的原理是所吸收的热量少于所燃烧的热量，那样体重自然而然就会掉啦！所以控制份量是减重的关键，不偏食饮食多样化可以帮助吸收不同的营养，而运动即可燃烧热量也可以增强基本代谢率，这样整个减重计划就非常全面又健康了。

如果减重者已经尽力了还是不能减下体重，或者一些痴肥者因肥胖已经面临严重的生命威胁，这就可能需要在合格与专业的医生的监督下，使用一些药物或进行手术。对于某些减重/肥胖者，可能已经患上了厌食症、暴食症、贪食症等，他们所需要的是精神科的援助。

其实大马也有一个相似的团体，是一个非盈利机构，名叫Weight Management Information Centre（WMIC）。虽然网站没有清楚表明，我相信iDECIDE是一个收费的减肥计划，不过是在合格医生的监控下，而WMIC给予的服务则是倾向于免费辅导性质。

几年前，我觉得已经走投无路了，但又不想见心理医生，一是为了自尊，二是财政问题，所以我决定去拜访WMIC。事隔多年，已经想不起全部细节，依稀记得那位顾问说明一些我都已经知道和明白的减重原理（如食物种类、份量、卡路里等），并没有理会我之前“刻骨铭心”的减重经历（请参照《我的前半生》篇），我认为她并没有真正了解我的问题与需要。

每个肥胖者的故事可能有雷同，也可以粗略分成几大类别，可是我相信每个人的情况都是独特的。很可惜当时WMIC不能照顾到我的需要，过后我就没有再去那儿，而他们也没有跟进我的个案。不过，这只是我的个案，很有可能当时那位顾问是无心地忽略了我的需要，或许他们现在更有经验了。我也必须承认要求WMIC照顾到所有人的需要是过于严苛的，它帮不到我，却可能帮得到你。

如果你也有体重的烦恼，希望你可以先去WMIC，比起那些说得天花缭乱的减肥产品，我认为至少WMIC所提供的资讯正确与符合现实，能给予减重者真实的期望。

喔。。。我最爱的清蒸白须公

2008-04-19T22:00:00.007+08:00

很久没有发表美食贴了。

刚才心血来潮，跑到蕉赖Jusco附近的地茂馆碰运气，这餐馆子只有十来张桌子，通常都需要订位的。还好，因为我们只有三人，即是老妈、老弟和我，非常幸运地大门口的角落还有一张小桌。

菜单的选择不多，不过有些菜肴挺特别的。墙壁上挂着厨师得到的奖牌与证书，看似来头不小。餐馆的设计与装修以中华文化为主。

一开始我就点了我就喜爱的清蒸白须公鱼，这并不是什么特别的菜肴，可是我就是很喜欢吃白须公，而且很久都没有点这类鱼了。之后我也点了家乡小炒，和服务员所推荐的白粿扣排骨。

来这里吃饭需要具备一点耐心，它不像其他饭店，10分钟后就可以上菜了。它先给我们一小碗煮花生解馋，很好吃哩。其实这一次也不算等得太久，大约15至20分钟左右，服务员先给我们送上列汤，然后陆续端上我们所点的菜肴。

家乡小炒 - 豆角、鱿鱼丝、叉烧、冬菇等一起炒
不错哩！加入鱿鱼丝的点子值得一赞！

白粿扣排骨
排骨肉的柔软度恰到好处！

清蒸白须公
很大的一条鱼，蒸得刚刚好，我爱死它了！

我们只有三个人，这些菜的分量应该可以喂饱5个人吧！吃得太饱了！

哇捞，我没有想到那么大条的鱼，当然价钱也跟着水涨船高啰，埋单是RM88.20。3个人吃了差不多90大元，有点心疼，不过我真的享受大口大口地吃鱼肉！算了吧，月尾出糧前要悭俭一点了。。。

我终于有正在跑步的照片了！

2008-04-14T20:14:00.009+08:00

Tey, 万分KAM SIAH帮我拍了这张照片！这可是我第一张正在跑步的照片呢！以后就拜托了！（不好意思，一直跟你讨便宜）

人家说认真的女人最美丽，我认不认真都有够丑怪！:P

算啦，打从7岁开始我就了解我不能走美丽、性感或魅力的路线，认命吧 :P

不过我在幻想着，如果有一天能减到接近后面那个女子的体重，相信我的成绩会进步不少！

近期仗着有跑步的关系，心情很放松，一直暴饮暴食，要警惕一下，我要努力！！！

Update: 竟然让我发现我还有其他照片哩！是一位叫Jason Lee的仁兄帮我拍的

照片来源在这里

跑者们大部分都是瘦瘦或身材很fit的，突然一个矮巨人跑了出来，吓坏人啦！:P

两位摄影师都很有默契地不拍我的腿，嘻嘻，真给面子！ :P

Orange Run 9K, 1hour 4min 57sec

2008-04-13T12:26:00.007+08:00

5.45am起身时外头下着雨。其实从昨天傍晚就开始断断续续地一直下雨，没有真正停过。虽然下着雨，我却没有一点犹豫，起身洗刷更衣，然后带了两条香蕉出发去The Curve。

6.35am到达The Curve停车场，立刻开餐吃了那两条香蕉，因为比赛大约是7.30am开始，就预算1个小时让香蕉在体内消化吧。

过后我就去起跑点的会场找厕所，希望把“最后一滴”给清除掉。去了厕所之后遇到几位RunnersMalaysia的跑友，大家在那儿聊天和做一些伸展运动。我有一点担心，昨晚我右边的膝盖不大妥当，其实近期我的右膝盖在跑步时或跑步后有些微的疼痛，看来我需要注意一下以避免运动伤害。

男参赛者是在7.30am开始，女的则是在5分钟后，而18岁以下的在7.40am开跑。还是下着毛毛雨，不过大家都异口同声说这种情况更好跑。枪声一响时，大伙儿们往前冲，跑友们都在前方啦。我尽量不要被他人影响，以自个儿的步伐慢慢迈进。

一个从苏格兰来的洋跑友在开始时跟我的速度差不多，我们就一起跑。我看到她跑得轻松，而我就大口大口地吸气，所以我叫她不必等我，不过她说已经整个月没跑了，她乐得维持目前的速度。我们一起跑了大概3公里后，我开始抛离她了，应该是这样吧，因为之后我都没有再遇上她。

一直跑呀跑，在大约4公里后就有很长的斜坡，又上又下，还好不会太斜，我并没有把速度调低太多，精神状态也还好，还没有到要生要死的感觉 :P 每次跑的时候，可能鼻子敏感的关系，鼻孔都是鼻涕，一直要滴下来，得用嘴巴呼吸。我用手以不太明显地的动作擦鼻子，再加上满身大汗和毛毛雨三管齐下，我觉得我真的很脏！

终于看到饮水站了，不过只有100plus！在两个星期前的KLIM，我就是在中途误喝了一些有气的100plus，之后跑着时有气体从腹部发上来，很不好受。在没有选择下，我只好稍微喝两小口100plus，然后倒掉，希望我不会渴死啦。我看以后需要自备咳嗽药水的小瓶子装上白开水，有备无患。

在接近Sony的路程终于追上了另一位跑友，我们一起跑了一段。那段路真的很不好跑呢，很窄、路又烂烂的，因为两个方向都只有一条lane，需要跟汽车近距离接触，很危险!

当要离开那段危险的路程后，慧沁和她的先生追上我，跟我打了声招呼，说还有大约3公里而已，加快速度吧，然后两个人就扬长而去了。我没有见过慧沁，只是从部落格认识她，她却把我认出来了，还在这么激烈的时刻第一次见面，呵呵。慧沁，很高兴认识妳！

转进KBU后，太阳公公终于出来，道路转为平坦，看似很容易，不过难度是在于与坚持精神煎熬，因为路程长长直直，好像永远不会到达终点。每当转弯的时候，我都以为要到终点了，可是却没完没了，脚步也慢了下来。很多跑过Orange Run的跑友都说这段路最难捱，并且认为全程其实是超过9公里的。

终于，终于看到终点了，我在最后的二、三百米左右全力冲刺，不像KLIM，这一次我有力气在最后加快速度！当非常接近终点时，另外一位素未谋面的部落客，Tey，竟然也认得我，他喊了我一下，我就尽量挤个笑容给他，paiseh!他时常帮跑者们拍照，希望他有帮我拍到一张照片啦 :)

只有前15名有奖，我当然不会是其中一位。我手表的记录是1小时4分57秒，嗯，还好啦。我认同其他跑者的观点，全程应该超过9公里，要不然以我当时的速度跟KLIM做比较，我相信时间上可以更好一点点，毕竟KLIM的官方哩数是10公里。

无论如何，我挺满意这一次的表现，因为我真的很努力地跑。我不必跟别人比拼，而是跟自己比赛，最重要是坚持到底，完成全程！

终点

Goodies bag有点令人失望，只有一个环保袋，一瓶矿泉水和一张证书。哎，我不该太贪心啦！

不过大会所提供的nasi lemak挺好吃！可能辛苦过后，什么都好吃吧 :P 除此之外，大会还有提供很多品牌的试喝饮料，可以让人喝到饱！

马来西亚式的组织水准

2008-04-12T14:13:00.002+08:00

明天就是BHPetrol举办Orange Run的日子了，地点在The Curve，Mutiara Damansara，是一个9公里的长跑比赛。虽说是9公里，不过曾参加过的跑友都说其实超过9公里。

BHP委任Persatuan Olahraga Amator Selangor（POAS）为技术援助代表，是一个免费的活动，主办当局限制参赛人数为3000人。这活动并没有提供网上登记服务，BHP网站只提供一个pdf格式的表格，除了邮寄的方法外，就得去到POAS的办公处直接登记了。我本身是用邮寄的方式，我也不清楚究竟他们有没有收到我的表格。

主办当局只开放今天让参赛者领取号码。领取号码的地点是POAS在Stadium Petaling Jaya办公处。Stadium那边说大不大，但范围也不小，表格只显示以下的地址：

PERSATUAN OLAHRAGA AMATOR SELANGOR
Stadium Petaling Jaya
Jalan Stadium
SS7 Kelana Jaya,
47301 Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

既然是“橙跑”，我还以为主办当局会布置一个“很橙色”的柜台，或至少都会挂些橙色的气球和放一个大大的牌，方便没有去过或不知道POAS办公处的大众，更何况这是3000人的活动哩，该有一点点的气派吧。

可是我这个方向痴在那儿兜兜转转了整整半个小时，一直找不到POAS，根本没有看到任何关于POAS或Orange Run的告示牌。幸好一个保安给我指了一个方向，随后我也遇上了RunnersMalaysia的跑友，才让我找到所谓的POAS办公处。

原来POAS的办公处就在Stadium外围的一个角落。如果绕着Stadium外围行驶的话（单行道），它的招牌不但小，而且是斜斜地面对驾驶的方向，真的很难注意到。那位跑友会知道地点也是因为一些识途老马和有很多经验的跑者告诉她的。

因为没有任何证明文件，领取号码时只能从一堆依组别分类的收条里寻找名字。用的是最原始的方法，连个laptop和简单的spreadsheet都没有，在这个资讯时代，我觉得真的有点不可思议。

Anyway，既然是免费的，我就不应该要求那么多吧，这就是马来西亚“能”的精神。听说去年的Orange Run在跑完后有发一个挺不错的goodies bag，还有免费食物等等，好像嘉年华会般，希望明天不会失望啦。

KLIM 10K, 1hour 8min, 107th position

2008-03-30T12:50:00.011+08:00

4:55am 起身洗刷
5:10am 吃了两条香蕉
5:35am 到达office
6:05am 跟同事们从office走到Dataran Merdeka（大约1.5公里）
6:35am 寄放包包
7:00am 准时开始
*我排在后尾，10K的竞赛又没有得戴上计算时间的chip，所以我用自己的手表从starting point开始计时
8:10am 到达终点
*手表的计时是大约1小时8分钟，因为要到达终点的时候须要轮候拿号码，所以时间不大精确。
*男性的队伍好长，女的才几个 :)

一开始感觉良好。其中一次要“割”人的时候，差点撞上另一位跑者。可惜过了第一个饮水站后（大约已跑了5公里），那两条香蕉的能量已经消耗完了（因为之前又走了1.5公里哩），就算腿没有疼，心也没有跳太快，就是没有什么力气了，渐渐慢了下来，靠意志力跑下去。

一路上看不到distance marker，我看应该还有1公里多的距离，工作人员竟跟我们喊还有3公里！哇捞，我快顶不顺了！之后发觉原来跑马拉松的（42公里）还得多跑一段路才能迈进终点，3公里应该是说给马拉松跑者听的。

可能没太多女性跑10公里吧，我竟然得到第107名！首500名有奖牌呢！如果不是因为没有力气做最后冲刺，我可能可以得到第105或106名哦！

等大伙儿们都跑完回来，老板的老板请吃点心。呵呵，吃了好多，把消耗掉的能量都给吃回来了 :)

跑完后的情景

好丰富哦！
（PNB Darby Park香港轩，halal的，不过还是很好吃！）

汗水换回来的！

有点“廉宜”

2008-03-27T21:16:00.005+08:00

下午去了Wisma OCM拿取KLIM的有关物品，里头有：

1）号码与扣针
我应该去买2246万字吗？

2）T-shirt
比起其他地方的赛跑竞赛，KLIM身为国际性竞赛的注册费真的很便宜，但是t-shirt的品质也不用如此“廉宜”（i.e. cheap）吧？。加上两边袖子那么“霸气”的logo，我在猜想究竟会有多少个人当天会穿上它呢？

我本身会穿公司给的t-shirt，设计简单大方加上品质又好，其他的同事也都应该会穿上，以支持公司的“Move Your Feet”计划（就是在“跑步杂记”篇里我所穿上的那一件）。

3）Adidas RM50 Gift Voucher, valid from 24th March 2008 to 24th April 2008, valid for purchase of Running shoes worth RM250 and above

*白底红字的那张纸是payment receipt和competitors reporting card。上网报名的不能在网上付钱，要等到这个取号码和t-shirt的时刻才刻对资料和付钱，而所得到的payment receipt和competitors reporting card是复印纸来的，真的有点马虎。。。

跑步杂记

2008-03-24T21:15:00.003+08:00

(1)

早前买了一个30 laps memory的Timex手表（T5E921），RM228。
我的手很粗，所以选择了casing比较大的手表，戴上去看起来没有那么怪。。。
今后在KLCC跑步时可以记录每个圈的时间啦！

(2)

上个星期六参加RunnersMalaysia的Beginners' Program时，有参加KLIM的跑友（10/21/42KM都有）集合拍了一张照片。后排左三和右一是RunnersMalaysia的创办人。左二是我啦（看身型就可以猜到了！）

虽说这是Beginners' Program，有些好手有时都参与我们一起跑，当做是recovery run。站在这些身材标准的跑友旁边。。。我真的要捏一把冷汗！比比看他们的腿和我的腿，我真的想找洞来钻。。。 :(

*还有我额头的头发空白一片。。。我真的掉发到如此严重吗？呜～呜～呜～～～

(3)

今天去了Pacesetters的办公处登记，成为正式会员。我觉得高攀了，Pacesetters里头有很多高手，我实在是“肉脚”一名，看我的腿就知道啦，名副其实的“肉脚”。不过身为Pacesetters的会员有很多产品优惠，如New Balance, Mizuno，Brooks，Adidas等，折扣高达30%，区区的RM3的每月会员费，买一双跑步鞋的折扣就抵消了。最重要的是，我希望籍此机会增加决心，在跑步上挑战自己的成绩，要更上一层楼！

p.s. 近来写的大多数都是关于跑步，我看要改部落格的标题了。。。

蜡笔小新 - 爸爸每日去跑步

2008-03-23T16:32:00.000+08:00

期待着人生的第一个赛跑项目

2008-03-22T13:34:00.004+08:00

到现在还是不大相信我会去参加赛跑！虽然我一直都很喜欢打球，并没有因肥胖而极讨厌运动，但从未想过要跟跑步扯上任何关系。以前在学校参加赛跑入围赛和merentas desa等项目都是被逼的，全体学生都得参加，没有藉口逃避 :(

下个星期日就是万众期待的KLIM大日子，“万众”这字眼非常贴切，主办当局期望大约有12000人士参与。为了避免我会chicken out，我一早就通过Runners Malaysia的创办人帮忙递上表格参加10K的项目，早起的鸟儿只需付RM10。

最令我有成就感的是，我成功游说大部分同事一同参与这一场盛事，包括我的老板和老板的老板！（我的老板的老板是在德国长大的土耳其人，现在要搬过来吉隆坡长期“监视”我们 :P）一个刚好要来吉隆坡office的澳洲悉尼同事也要跟我们一起跑！我公司有一个“Move Your Feet”计划，任何员工参加正式比赛都能呈上所跑的哩数，每跑1公里公司就会捐出1欧元给慈善团体。这计划既鼓励经常坐着的员工增进有益身心的活动，还能帮助有需要的人呢，一举两得!

同事们有些担心他们不能完成10公里，或者跑一下子就跑不动了。老实说，虽然10公里在赛跑界里不屑一提，但是没有练习的话还是有相当的难度。不过是谁规定说一定要“跑”完全程呢？只要走路走快一点，1小时走5公里，2小时就可以收工大吉了！

虽然我对同事们说走两个小时也无所谓，最重要是完成全程，另一边厢我却对自己本身有一些期望与目标。我跑得很慢，但是这大半年来我很认真和努力地练习，就算是“肉脚”，我还是希望被认同为跑者（runner）。女性的10公里qualifying time是90分钟，是相当宽松的标准，不过对于过分超重的我还是有一定的阻碍。试想像一个普通身材的人一手抱着10公斤百米，另一手提着10公斤食油，各位客官觉得这人可以跑多快、多远呢？

看来我需要继续努力减重，得把身上的廿多公斤肥肉甩掉，除了健康外，也为了我喜爱的跑步活动！

*没多久前我终于在网上建立了自己的running log：http://www.runningahead.com/logs/0cefa99e3f2a43f786538a8f35b23b00

候群症

2008-03-16T13:15:00.002+08:00

在Khai Suan的部落格里面发现黄子华的栋笃笑片段，其中一篇关于肥胖。

黄子华的表演的确很精彩、很好笑，但也让我觉得很心酸。

我是清楚明白暴饮暴食百害无一利，可是就是不能自拔。

很想写些东西，可是心绪有点乱，不大晓得自己究竟想要什么，需要什么，应该做什么。

难道这就是年过三十一事无成缺乏自信胸无大志怠惰因循候群症？

是的，我是患上了这候群症。有药医吗？

首相“回复”我了！

2008-03-04T22:25:00.003+08:00

p.s. 这一阵子写了太多关于政治的posts。我希望我所写的是针对事实，并不是对某人或某党有偏见，也尽量以不偏私的立场发表自己的想法和意见。我看还是不要碰政治这一潭水那么多，我可不希望这个网站被关闭 :P

女人干嘛欺负女人呢？

2008-03-04T00:14:00.004+08:00

周紫琳小姐，我还本来打算寻找妳的政治讲座会时间表，准备听一听妳与国阵的政见。身为廿一世纪的选民，应该听多方面的意见，再仔细思考，可不能做个井底蛙，在井底里投票哦。

我找不到妳的网站，也没在报纸上看见有关马华在Seputeh区的活动，看来妳并不打算演说吧。不过，现在就算妳想演说，我也不敢去了，怕别人丢妳臭鸡蛋时殃及池鱼，那我岂不很无辜？

虽然说现在已是廿一世纪，很多男女关系也搞得不清不楚，但是我们的社会还是刻有一定的道德标准，而政治人物需更谨慎，要不是蔡医生也不会为他的私生活付出代价。男性也如此了，女性的标准更加严苛呢，以前的贞洁牌坊精神还还是隐隐约约地存在着。

其实如果妳想要描述郭大姐喜新厌旧，大可以画个小女孩要新的Kinrara娃娃，而把旧Seputeh娃娃丢在一旁。或者，郭大姐有了Seputeh手机，还要买另一个Kinrara手机，两个一直响个不停，令郭大姐分身乏术（呵呵，虽然很多人都有超过一个手机啦）。

我知道我的想象力不够好，以上的点子实在不够劲爆，但是世上有数不尽的点子，干嘛偏偏要取有性别关连的题材呢？不只把郭大姐画成喜新厌旧、且水性杨花、喜投怀送抱（还是要投在年轻力壮小伙子的怀抱，有点映射那个嘛）、利用女性性特点获取利益等等等。。。这些有辱女性的德行，是女性，尤其是东方女性，更是东方女性政治人物的禁忌啊!身为女性如果不出声会对不起千千万万的姐妹嘢！最大的遗憾是为何身为女性的妳竟然可以让这种事情发生？！

真是令人费解，这种有关性别歧视的调调，妳们还没从蔡博士的“站蹲论”吸取教训吗？朽木不可雕，要我们怎样考虑投国阵一票呢？还有。。。妳们把Seputeh先生画得瘦瘦弱弱的，我们身为Seputeh的子民有如此不堪吗？你们也把Kinrara先生画得好像只有四肢发达吧了，然后给女人骗。。。嘿，我们两地选民的思路可是很清晰的。

其实危机也等于转机，要看看妳与妳的团队怎么应变。可惜，我刚从Astro AEC的《新闻报报看》听闻妳把全部记者会取消，并且关了电话，怎么学完蔡博士后，又跟陈冠希取经呢？

Anyway,我身为女性也不要太为难妳，毕竟妳还很年轻，我自己本身吃到过了卅岁还是很不成熟，还敢批评别人，真是paiseh。不过因为没有机会出席妳的讲座会（其实究竟妳有没有办讲座会呢？），我很想问一下妳的意见，是关于恢复地方议会选举制度。在这篇报导，它说妳没有直接表态，只说这是涉及国家政策，因此交由党和国阵政府作出决定。

不过，妳既然身为国会议席候选人，以后就有机会坐在国会里谈论辨明国家大事。所以我恳请妳以未来国会议员的身份，发表妳对目前地方议会的表现、目前委任制度的利与弊、透明度等等作出个人的见解。还是，妳只想当个检视沟渠的YB呢？**

** 大家不要误会我小看沟渠，沟渠通不通也是很重要的，分分钟会造成水灾和瘟疫！所以我非常讨厌乱丢垃圾的人，尤其是乱丢垃圾入沟渠的超级自私鬼！

http://www.sinchew-i.com/sciWWW/node/9917?tid=19
http://www.chinapress.com.my/content_new.asp?dt=2008-03-03&sec=local&art=0303lk01.txt
http://www.kwongwah.com.my/news/2008/03/02/144.html
http://teresakok.com/2008/03/02/carol-chew-made-sexist-cartoon-billboard-against-me/

致首相的书信 2

2008-03-02T11:29:00.001+08:00

意犹未尽。。。再写多一封!

尊贵、敬爱的首相，您好！

刚刚给您写了一封信，但觉得有点意犹未尽，我有好多话要跟您说啊！

在光华日报看到：

有关网站将设有国文、英文、华文及淡米尔文4种语言版本，并由7个非政府组织根据各自的领域为公众的询问和建议作出答覆。这7个非政府组织为马来人研究及策略基金会、全国妇女组织理事会、马来人商会、大马消费人协会联合总会(FOMCA)、公务文员职工总会(CUEPACS)、慈善信托基金(TAMU)以及大马员工基金会。

所以我相信我的疑问一定有专人回答，给我一个专业的答案。不过如果是首相您能亲自解答，那就更好不过了！

大约10年前，我刚在加拿大的双联课程毕业，回来要赶着看我们的引以为豪的联邦运动会。为了节省机票费用，我违背了大马，买了韩航的机票，不过也因为如此，我见识了首尔的地铁：便宜、简便、四通八达！

*便宜：这是与当地的食物价格比较，请不要转换成马币，跟马来西亚的平均收入与生活水平做比较

回来後，托运动会的福，我们也不赖，我们也有Star轻快铁呢！之后Putra轻快铁也投入服务，让身为首都的吉隆坡有更完善的公共交通设施。

可是身为普通市民的我一直都不明白几件事：

a）为什么同是轻快铁的Star和Putra的交接是分开的呢？转车的时候好麻烦啊！

b）请参考http://www.rapidkl.com.my/ampangspline.htm 和 http://www.rapidkl.com.my/gombakline.htm
- 从Sri Petaling到Pudu、Hang Tuah、Plaza Rakyat、Masjid Jamek、Bandaraya、Sultan Ismail、PWTC和Titiwangsa站，车资都是一样的，即是RM1.90
- 所以我的理解是从Sri Petaling到市中心的车资是RM1.90
- 我现在想从Sri Petaling到KLCC，KLCC是市中心吧，所以我觉得我应该付RM1.90
- 可是因为Star和Putra当初是分开经营的，除了转车需要走出户外，我还需要付RM1.90 + RM1.60 = RM3.50！

可惜两家轻快铁公司经营不当，政府实在太为我们着想，没有轻快铁会大大削弱我们公共交通设施，所以花了77亿零吉拯救它们（我不懂真的是不是77亿零吉，网上的资料说的，有错请纠正）。我又有了两个疑问：

c）既然两家轻快铁公司都是在政府旗下了，干嘛我还是需要付RM3.50从Sri Petaling到KLCC呢？

d）既然政府有能力用77亿零吉拯救两家轻快铁公司，干嘛政府不一早就自己建轻快铁呢？如果政府能一开始就自己建轻快铁，我们就不用那么麻烦要到户外转车了。政府也可以像津贴汽油般，津贴各种公共交通设施包括轻快铁，毕竟用公共交通工具的人民大部分都是收入有限的吧，如此车资应该可便宜很多呢！

我相信既然韩国能建立一个国际级的地铁，马来西亚人都比韩国人早上太空，我们的政府一定也能做到的，况且韩国比我们早建地铁，我们的政府人才济济一定可以从别人的经验更上一层楼！要不是就不会有那么的考察团去外国取经了。

希望您的一级智囊团可以为我的愚问解答。

一个曾经在您当外交部长时，
以学生的身份跟您在加拿大温尼伯一个场合跟您合照，
被您的魅力与温文尔雅的形象迷倒的普通市民上

致首相的书信

2008-03-02T09:51:00.008+08:00

政府刚推出“致首相的书信”网页，让我们表达支持、期望、意见或投诉，身为马来西亚子民当然要支持这个网页啰！

刚好在星洲日报读到“首相：国阵成员党坦诚解决，华小不再是课题”一文，我就胆粗粗给首相写了一封信：

尊贵的首相，您好！

今天刚从星洲日报看到您说：

首相拿督斯理阿都拉表示，华小课题现在已不是问题，因为在国阵各成员党的坦诚相对之下，问题已获解决。

很不好意思，我个人认为（或许其他人也认为如此）事情好像离“解决”还很遥远，而且如果再不积极处理的话，会更加恶化。如果您是指您们已有了全盘计划，将会按部就班的实施，请您：

1）请不要先说“问题已获解决”

2）请尽快公布您们的计划，因为还有不到1个星期的时间，我们就要投票决定谁能代表我们，使这个国家更加进步、繁荣与美好。我相信很多人不希白白浪费另5年。

万分感谢。

一个曾经在您当外交部长时，
以学生的身份跟您在加拿大温尼伯一个场合跟您合照，
被您的魅力与温文尔雅的形象迷倒的普通市民上

* 一定要输入全部栏目才能传送的。。。所以我就输入了我的正确地址与手提电话号码，看看大人物会不会来找我或打电话给我啰，哈！
* 我很笨！以为领域是指我工作的领域，竟然填了“科技”，真不好意识。。。（都怪我太心急要给首相写信，没认真想清楚）

传送信件后就收到一封自动回邮：

敬爱的Doris Wong

这是一份自动电邮，以证明我们已收到您的讯息

=======================谢谢。===========================

第一次聆听政治讲座会

2008-02-29T00:34:00.010+08:00

我把第一次奉献给了Seputeh区的民主行动党候选人，郭素沁。

可能年纪大了，开始对政治课题有兴趣，嘻嘻嘻，其实也是为了满足八卦与好奇心。现在报纸每天都给大选与候选人的新闻给沾满了，想避开也难。不过不可否认的是，很多有关大选的“故事”和候选人们的伟论比肥皂剧还要精彩！

在报纸看到马华的讲座会通常都有餐宴来吸引出席率，而反对党什么都没有，得站个老半天，还当场募捐，但是就是人山人海！我觉得无他的，平时哪有机会公开演说骂政府喔，老早就一大堆road block、大水喉、催泪弹等等来侍候，现在可是难得几年一次的拿正牌！

老实说，郭大姐是挺有魅力的！
（地点是华联花园巴刹附近）

为了公平起见，我也想出席Seputeh区的马华候选人周紫琳的讲座会，可是在网上找不到她的网站和行程表，有谁知道吗？

p.s.不懂那个国阵天才想出“再转变”这个口号，却给行动党将了一军。。。有够搞笑！！

图片从www.jeffooi.com的网站下载

新跑步鞋

2008-02-24T22:43:00.007+08:00

其实这一双新跑步鞋已经不新了，是在2月1日买下的。可能因为我超重很多的关系，前一双Nike鞋已穿得有点残旧。此外，Nike Shox型号的科技好像不很适合我，当时我只是到Nike的专门店随便买而已，即被它的外形吸引住，买了我平生最、最、最贵的鞋。

通过Runners Malaysia的创办人，Mr. Wan介绍我去BB Plaza的New Balance专门店。这店的老板本身也热爱跑步，所以很清楚跑者的需求。他拿出一个用具测量我双脚的长度与宽度。对，也测量宽度，因为同一个尺寸的NB跑步鞋又分出不同的宽度，对拥有象脚如我的可怜虫是一大福音！他说我的脚是扁平足，需要stability科技的跑步鞋，因为我的跑步方式会over-pronate。（不要问我pronation是什么，我也是一知半解，好像是跑步时脚会倾于内翻。。。）

因为脚大的关系，所以老板介绍我男装的768型号，提供stability的跑步鞋。我忘记正确的尺寸，又丢了鞋盒，依稀记得尺寸是US 7.5/UK 7，extra wide。其实老板本来给我试大半号的，当时我嫌太大（我竟然还敢嫌弃那么多？？！！），所以最后买了这一双。现在我可非常后悔，我太低估我的象脚，由于我的脚的第二脚趾很长，跑步时脚趾一直“撞”向前方产生摩擦，又被逼折弯起来，很不舒服，以后我会学乖。

刚开始穿这双鞋的时候有点不习惯，现在觉得还ok，除了我应该认命买大半号的尺码。老板还教我一种绑鞋带的方式，比较不会那么容易松脱呢！

* 忘了说价钱，原价是RM299。嘻嘻，比Nike那双便宜挺多，所以又买了两双进口的New Balance袜子，两双本地的。那两双进口的袜子很特别，一双是分左右的，另一双的设计是可以把内则翻转出来，两边都能穿!

桃利思，减重 & 跑吧! doris, lose weight & run!

Doris' Full Marathon Records

专注

20110314 - 中国报 - 读编交流 - 我的跑步生涯

A Happy Bad Race

When would I be able to transform into an acceptable runner's body?

The Plate Replaces the Pyramid

PB in Hartamas route training!

H.A.L.T.

Volunteering in NB15K 2011

Hatyai Marathon 2011

Come Back

20100930 - 中国报 - 读编交流 - 我是暴食症跑手

各自各精彩

A full marathon distance LSD training

A Dramatic Night

First Long Night Run

My First Relay

Running is very fun!

Conquered the hills!

Salomon and Malakoff to end 2009

2010 Resolutions

2 Race Reports... coming soon

A Not-So-Satisfied Personal Best

Podium Finish?!

Kiara Trail Run

还没学乖

First Experience of Trail Running

Target

Re: 为何非减重不可呢？

Discrimination

PIA it!

成绩单 Report Card 2

An Unexpected Personal Best Achievement!

小新爸，好走！

Robbery

Break 1000km this year

星洲日报，18/9/2009，美國‧抑制大腦發“吃飽”訊息 高脂食物讓人吃不停

回归

没做完就一定是输

乐天

Where was I last week?

一鸣惊人！

LSD：打破20K的mindset

Walked a marathon!

Respect the Distance!

I will be back

My first marathon? I doubt

Crossing the bridge by feet!

First Overseas Race!

冻过水

Yes, I am still able to run (or jog)!

My current condition

Get in shape in Shape Run!

Insanity

Should or Should Not?

A Walking King

Tomorrow is the day to be crowned as the King!

对话2

Double Hills报告 X 2

对话1

LSD报告

Double Hills报告

LSD报告

Racing thru the track in National Stadium

通告 Announcement

LSD报告

OMG! Only 5 weeks left!

又一次虎头蛇尾

A Pleasant Surprise in McD Run!

第二波：Confession

新路线

Port Dickson International Half Marathon - 11K Run

不要再暴饮暴食，该反省了！

完成了15K，超开心！

战战兢兢

Bomba Run - 尽管时间记录差强人意，不过有意外惊喜！

恭喜RunnersMalaysia的初学者跑步计划2周年纪念

没有信心

跑在槟城的道路上

星洲日报，18/9/2009，美國‧抑制大腦發“吃飽”訊息高脂食物讓人吃不停

星洲日报，20/4/2008，新加坡父母哥哥超重逝世引发决心 82公斤妇女年半减20公斤