NB 30km - my maiden 30km run ..

After approximately 4+ years of running races, and three "bad" marathons under the belt, I could not believe that I actually felt nervous on the eve of this race. Anything above 10km still makes me feel nervous..

Truth #1 - this was my first 30km race. 2006 when I first started joining the GE race, my first 20km race then, I clocked my best 20km time and then 2007, deteriorated (but still 20km), 2008 even further deteriorated (and still 20km), and 2009, DNS because too busy with work.

Truth #2 - this was really the most prepared longer distance race (longer than 20km) I had ever been - I had done a slew of end 2009 races - from Mizuno 11km, Klang 12km, Penang 21km, SCSM 21km, Malakoff 12km (hilly), Putrajaya 12 hr walk and at least 3-4 double hills and also last three weekends Hartamas 20km. In my history of running, I have never been so focussed.. and it was not even for this race. It is for the upcoming Putrajaya Night Marathon, and the "goal of the year", at least try to get under 6hr decently for a marathon. The only part in all these "training" was that I never made it past 20km.

Truth #3 - I even managed to sleep before 10pm the night before to get plenty of rest for this race, but I was nervous like hell - it was after all, almost 3/4 a marathon.

The day started pretty well - I managed to get a few good hours of sleep and woke up early as intended and drove to Bukit Aman at aroun 425am, getting there just in time to find a pretty good car park, it was almost full, another 10 more cars it would be full. Managed to walk to Padang Merbuk, had a chew of half a free Power Bar (this was probably a life saver also).. and made the loo before managing to at least meet Claire, who was running her first race after SCSM 21km.. thumbs up to her.

The route was horrendously hilly, but I had a newfound realisation - I actually sucked on downhills and did decently on uphills because of the increase in Hartamas runs meant my knee was sometimes more stressed during downhills and through the LSDs I also acquired a better appreciation of running up hills without walking. Because the route was a warped version of everything the Pacesetters team could throw at us, it was quite hard to determine the km distances.

For the first 10km, we ran through the palace through to Tugu back to Jalan Parlimen, and then the usual Pacesetters route to Hartamas took place. The first water stop was at the start of the Bukit Tunku hills, near the Arabic school, after Lanai Kijang / Bank Negara little hill. I'm glad I took some water at the first water stop, because it would be until almost 10km before the next water station. The next 2kms up to the crossover of Jalan Mahameru was very creepy as usual. I had only gone through this route in the dark with Per-li on one of the LSD runs when we were there before 7 and it was still dark. The thing about being dark was that this route was PITCH DARK. You could not see the runner probably 20feet away, and if you try to do so, to watch for the runners ahead, you will be straining your eye and it becomes dizzying after a while. The good thing was that all the way till Jalan Duta, it was like automation for me, because this was my regular training route (wow, I can actually say regular now!). With us having done about 2km upfront, the Jalan Duta point became approximately 7.5km, which was good news.

Meng ran past me at the istana, so I thought I was doing good, since the IM guys are all taking it slowly, but their slow is my really fast. Running through to Hartamas and at approximately 10km mark, Keat Seong said hi across the road. I was surprised because this meant I suspect they were about 5km ahead, which translated to me being very slow. By this time, I suspected that the water stations were not really ample, and actually contemplated stopping by Petronas for gatorade. It did not help that at least 4-5 people passed me with full bottles of gatorade on their hands, and I had to labor up to 10km to have a gel.

For 10-20km, it was rather uneventful, except that the 2km loop reversed did not deter me in circling hartamas, it was actually quite pleasant. At approximately near the new Istana, Boone overtook me and I joked to him this was sap sap sui compared to Klang Penembak run. The untaken route around the square was new, but relatively ok, so was the one around the lembaga peperiksaan. At the corner of the downhill from the loop, Chee Hon overtook me (he was running 20km) and nicely told me that the 30km route has additional loop .. heheh .. I chased him away ..

The first time I stopped to walk was really at the double hill, when I realised that in turning to the double hill route, there would be no water for a long long while and I was incredibly thirsty by then, having the last drink about 10km away. Displaying a lack of respect for double hill, I tried to run, but only managed to "slog" through up till the turning back down the hill, when again I got annoyed because the power bar guys gave away free gels , but there was NO WATER in sight. So in annoyance, I ran downhill a bit, every corner looking for the final merge and the water station.

So, down we went, got some excel isotonic, gulped my 2nd gel, and then felt an immediate stomach cramp so could not run for another 1km+.. which was ok because it was tijani 1 and then more hills..

To cut a long painful story short, I managed to jog the rest of the way there onwards, from 24km onwards.. I knew the race brings us back to Jalan Parlimen for another loop around bank negara.. and by then, I was just interested to come in before 4hrs 15mins qualifying..

Finished the race .. and guess what? No more finishers tee and no more milo. The no more milo annoyed me more because the 2nd loop around Jalan Parlimen I was dreaming of sugar boost of milo..

Halfway through the race, I was thinking of postphoning my first marathon for this year, Putrajaya Night Marathon. Finish of the race, Chee Hon reminded me via SMS that I could logically make it for a sub 6hr race if I could finish another 12km in under 1hr 50min. Which is indeed do-able...

Post race, I had the most amazing recovery - I was actually in more pain than 20km LSD runs, but recovered in less than 2hrs to feel really good, and up and about walking happily much less time than the LSD runs. What is the reason? I believe it was a few possible combination - having enough rest, a better dehydration the day before, and after the race (despite having little water during the race), my 2XU decompression shorts (maybe), the carbo load the night before, the power bar I ate before the race, and maybe even just adrenaline.

Whatever it is, I need to repeat this for another 12km in 3 weeks time or pull out...

PS - one interesting thing, I am beginning to appreciate the beauty of beautiful lights more during running. A few great photo-opps:
1) Bangunan Matrade - this building in the rising sun is just too pretty
2) The masjid up the first hill in route to Hartamas - this building is always awesome with the morning lights
3) Ray of sunshine along Jalan Sultan Salahuddin, between the crossover to the route through to Tugu. The sunshines through the three is usually split in rays, and if taken with a filter, it will come out magical
4) New- amazing leaves falling during the run just before tugu - the leaves being golden reflected the light nicely - just like those falling leaves in Avatar movie..
5) New- morning red clouds across the new istana negara, if only the construction can be avoided...

Pretty Lights

Over the 20km route to Hartamas last weekend, my third consequetive weekend of LSD (and third different running partner!), I was huffing and puffing with SCH over camera's and the flash class he had attended.

An irony was that I had just come back from a great dinner the night before at a long time friend's house - mr gadget - and he had loaned me his DSLR flash - the SB900 .. "under utilized"...

So huffing and puffing up and down hills, SCH actually managed to update me on the greatest on lights, nikon classes, SB commander modes, and why he wanted to buy my friend's flash to have more flashes, to take great photos!!!

For me, I remember the one piece I read - to see and enjoy photography of pretty lights, one has to find the scene, wait for the right time, and be prepared.

But first, one has to have the right timing and the right opportunity to see the great light.

Twisted Fate - A wet day ends with a meeting with a new friend

Welcome to 2010 with a 20km run from Bukit Aman to Hartamas with Perli, luckily we started early at 630am (EARLY? this is late already!) - and pushed off in a rain respite. Halfway across at 5km mark, the rain drops started to pour and another km, we were fully drenched.

The rain however did not dampen my spirits - in fact, I actually loved it! Strange conditions but I do believe the rain separates the dedicated and committed from the safe players. Dedicated and committed meant that each person you pass by drenched to their toes deserves a nod of respect, especially along the Hartamas route.

Perli is a great pacer - she runs at her pace but slows to match mine when she needs to, and she does not push too hard if she sees I am slower than I need to be. In any case, we were rewarded with one 100plus at Hartamas drenched wet with a camaraderie of runners, and then back at Bukit Aman, when it finally stopped halfway, with a Tropicana Twister mixed with 100plus.

Incidentally, as fate would be I met with Ija and her husband the first time - Ija is the stranger I offered some cash near the heart of KL for a drink during the KL Marathon. Twisted fate or whatever, she called out to me in bukit aman today, she too had done the Hartamas route in the rain, and I was again carrying a Tropicana Twister (she remembered me with the twister in the KL Marathon).

My next runs will be a 25km, followed by a 30km in New Balance 30km race on 17 Jan - I need to push to meet the cutoff - what happens without the cutoff? I think I may not get the medal.. but 2010 - great start to running...

... and good meeting with the rest of friends today along the route.

Happy 2010

Happy New Year 2010.

Simple resolutions. Headlines : 2010 = 20 races, 10 deals and 2010 kms.

Sub-headlines :

a) Enjoy blogging. Reactivating all of my blogs which is why I write.

b) Learn cooking to supplement my running (heheh~)

c) Photograph thoughts, emotions and sensuality. Photographs which brings meaning to photo tells a thousand words..

Photo - Photo Booth product - thinking of my new year resolutions (and still thinking) whilst waiting for the rain to stop so that I could run!

Intensity

Many years ago, I said this to someone :
If we meet each other once a year, for one hour, and we live another 20 years, this will only be 20 more hours in our lifetime.

What I did not say at that time was :
I would rather lets just spend the 20 hours now.

It is an irony that I was reminded of this today back by the same person I said it to - it kind of means that we have very little time, if we just spread them over a number of years and waste it, it will be meaningless, whereas if we spend the time within the right frame, all at once, it is worth a lifetime more than it being dots in the ocean.

It is like making an agenda of people you would like to spend time with before you die, except that you are in control, and when it is all done, you get to be free...

I thrive on intensity.

Last Race of the Year 2009 - Malakoff 12 km Run 20 Dec

Photos excerpt from Tey's album, thanks bro...










































I have race fatigue over the last 3 months! This was a really interesting race as it was a new route - Jln Beringin x2 = 12 km!!! Ever stampeded across the millionaire row early in the morning and doing the 3-4 hills?


I could almost imagine Yong Sun and Lum stepping out of their house to have a laugh at how I'm pushing myself. But hey, this is my personal goal. I am ALIVE!


Great race, fun to pant up the hill (FUN??), and really run down the hills, and my 2XU helped a lot with the compression... 1hr 23mins - nothing to shout about time, but I did push myself a bit here and there...


After the race, met up with many fellow racers - thanks for 2009, and I will be back with a bang in 2010.

Alumni nite .. 11 Dec 2009

Excerpt photos. Probably the event I look for every year.

Among some of the people who played a big part in my career. Enough said.


HKS - the person who hired me, and in my mid-career assignment in Taiwan, you were one of those who stood firm with my capabilities when I was nearly a casualty

JH - dont know you as well as I wanted to, but your level headed-ness, and diversity leadership inspires me

MST - did you remember you met a young university student in Melbourne many years ago, and asked - what is wrong with you, when I wanted to understand what I was getting hired for?

MYS - not in picture. taught me that anything is do-able in crafting a deal.

LP - not in picture. smart. balance. shrewd. can't describe you better.

MXH - not in picture. got me into the phone business and cannot forget my singapore trip to meet the boss instigated by you. changed my alignment.

CT - clients respected you because you could get them to program. even when they are already way past their prime.

LBC - you have your teachable point of view indeed.


The rest, not in photo - my fellow journey men, its like an unsaid fellowship. May we have many more such ring gatherings in the future...

Buy you a beer, coffee or dinner anytime. I have a lot of unsaid respect for all of you and more.

Celebrating Dad's birthday at SCSM with a 21km redemption race - 6th Dec 2009

Very late post - 6th December 2009 was my dad's birthday. Happy belated birthday dad, despite my old age, I do hope one day I can be as "amiable" as you are - I know you will always look at your youngest and only daughter with pride for what I have achieved over the years, by what you compared yourself to, but also you do not know what I feel about what I have not achieved. I am thankful for those rare quiet drives when I drive you and you listen to me rant because yes, I need to express some things, and yet, there are still so many things unsaid.

I took my parents to a trip in Singapore for a break, a holiday they could not afford now with the higher price per exchange for Singapore and also the expensive hotel room. Coincidentally it was also the weekend of the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2009. This year, I signed up earlier and signed up for 21km. I knew after KL Marathon I had no capability to train and run a full marathon and I was just tired of failing to run a better race. Two weeks earlier, in Penang, I had run a terrible race, and it resulted in me really very upset with myself for the poor timing. In the weekend in between, I powered up two 10km double hills and I felt I was ready for a better timing.

Arrived in Singapore on Friday morning, and collected the race pack at Singapore Expo - waited for Boone & friends, but was very tired waiting, because their flight was delayed, I was severely dehydrated, and tired from the early morning flight. Went back to hotel after meeting with them briefly, and started feeling the onset of a sore throat. By night of friday, I felt really uncomfortable, and ate the Tony Romas (a must do) with my parents in significant discomfort.

As such, the next day was purely about resting. I passed out on a trip to visit the singapore zoo, and instead opted to shop and visited the Singapore Flyer. The flyer was a really peaceful ride as I managed to take photos, have a relaxing spin and also appreciated the route I ran on the next day, although singapore is sorely messed up with the construction of a million and one things.

Race day, I got up early, for the 645 start time, and the walk from the hotel to the starting point was less than 5 mins about 100-200m, how cool is that!!! The race atmosphere was electrifying, and after visiting the loo and warming up, I was ready to go... As strange as it is, the races in singapore has always been me against myself, even though I seem to come with or know people who would run. I fault myself for being so crazy sometimes, but running... has given be a new perspective on peace... and something I - an ordinary girl who was once more of a brainy nerd than a sports person can claim fame to and enjoy as well...

Race route was very friendly, even though I was really surprised there were so many people at the 21km... I will definitely never run the 10km race - it must have been worse!!! I was not used to having so many people at the 21km race, that it was completely crowded all the way from start to the end. The route went passed the marina sands building, suntec city, then onto nicoll highway and turned back, came back through the f1 pits, the floating field, etc. The last 5km was a common finishing for all race categories, so the split start times suited very well, at least I did not hit too many 10km racers, as it was too slow for the men, and almost too fast for the women. Heheh...

It was cool that my company's singapore office managed to get us some adidas vests for the race, but it was really strange that they opted for the standard Stan Chart colors, which made me miss all the photos... so the photos above are from someone's iphone..

And though not a PB, redemption was 15 mins off Penang time, and a good comfortable run.

To next year's SCSM - now I itch for the 42km again... where you get roasted but at least treated well !!!

You Raise Me Up... (Putrajaya 12 hr Walk 12-13 Dec 2009)

Josh Groban, "You Raise Me Up" in the middle of the night, and I was walking and walking...

You Raise Me Up to More Than I Can Be

This is such an up song!

When the time to sign up for the Putrajaya 12 hr Walk first came up, I remembered this was my new year's resolution post last year. In hindsight, as I sit down to blog this four days after the all night walk, I have to say this was the most extreme endurance event I did this year.

One week after 21km in Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon, I have to admit this was no mean feat. Having said that, I raise my hat to the 42km marathoners in SCSM who continued on this event, some having known since last year that this was indeed an endurance event.

The day started with having to get to Putrajaya by 7pm for collection of the bib, and the race started at 8pm to 8am the next day. I liked the way the banner printed Dec 12-13 - it was a great pleasure to say that I have walked across two physical days!

Drive to Putrjaya was smooth - I was wondering during my drive there how it would feel like to drive back 12 hours later. Not knowing what to expect, except that there was buffet and imagining I was going to meet and chat with the whole town, I was very enthusiastic. Bib collection was smooth, and a while later, I met up with Boone and his colleagues - a very big hats off to him also for having managed to persuade a whole group of people to turn up for the race. I only managed myself, despite having claimed to be the sponsor for the company running club..!

After picking up the bib, I was slightly worried seeing people brought tents and camps - I was not sure if these were regular campers (?) or actually walkers who were smart enough to bring their own sleeping mat! The turnout and the carnival like atmosphere was very encouraging.

I had before the walk started, targeted to walk 42km - the distance of a full marathon. I realised how foolish this target after the first 6km, when I found out happily that I managed to do the first 6km in 1hr, but it also meant I had to walk a freaking 7hrs at the same pace!!!

My pace dropped significantly after I made my first stop approximately 2hrs after the race started. I made a mistake and ate some of the dinner buffet, after grabbing a banana initially. The dinner at 10pm sat really badly in my stomach for almost 3km. Who really takes a long walk immediately after dinner, and also walked another 30km after dinner!!!!!

I have to say, the highlight of the middle portion of my walk was the distractions - from talking to people, from Tey and Chee Hon taking pictures, Chee Hon bringing us delicious Krispy Kreme donuts (which settled much better than the dinner), and just from walking and not walking. 11-2am was perhaps the most difficult of the middle distance portions. After 2am, I think it was just ploughing through the 30km + portions and trying to just do 3-5 km each time I had rested.

Finally, just before 10hrs, I believe I managed to make 42km, and I stopped. Not sure if its really I managed to make 42km - its either 40 or 41 or 42 or 43 km, because guess what, you cannot count after 15km, the mind numbs itself! I did not however make it to 12 hours, I made only 10 hours because they were giving out medals at 10hrs, for a min of 20km / 26km for women/men. I took my medal and left, from 35km-40km thereabouts I was thinking - people train for a marathon, and this is a marathon distance, what do I think I am to attempt this without training !

Let me pause a moment and do a Haruki Murakami - what do I think about when I am walking (running)...?

- I was thinking about happiness and was deliriously happy just enjoying the night air and thinking about nothing for the first 3-4km. It reminded me of the "nothing box" - a metaphor used to describe a man's brain when he is watching TV..

- I was thinking about what lap to do the food when the food first came out at 10am. I was also disappointed with the food when it came out - it looked very "dinner bland".. or rather a bland dinner

- I was thinking about how soft someones arm was ... (don't ask me who)

- I was thinking about when Tey and Chee Hon was going to turn up to take our photos

- I was thinking about disco music and how I would dance all night long when I was younger (ahem), giving myself a skip in my walk ..

- I was thinkng if it was possible to change into my 2XU shorts in my car, and not lose so many laps and still manage to do it in the dark of the back seat. I was wondering if it would be worse or better than my shorts

- I was thinking about people holding hands during walking or running competitions

- I was thinking about how many hours of sleep I would need to do the next day to get up for a friend's wedding

- I was thinking about how big the thighs were of one of the foreigner ladies who walked so well

- I was thinking about how good a husband John was, who accompanied Wai Mun all the way (1st runner up) (I've been seeing these two around pacesetter events)

- I was thinking about who else I would talk to - for the record, besides Boone and his colleagues whom I spoke to and I knew before the walk started - I spoke to Haza (a couple of rounds), Sook Ying, whom I suddenly recognised after a few rounds as Pacesetter committee, one indian man who was from putrajaya (who asked me to take powerbar to match the top walker!), one chinese lady who was walking with her son, one red dyed hair lady who was walking non-stop until almost the whole night on and off, said hi to Weng (KC's brother) and to my amusement also listened to a lot of funny banter from the familiar faces..

- I was thinking about 42km every km I walked after 30km.. and how it resembled a marathon - hey I walk during the marathon as well on and off after 30km...

I told Boone that walking was a very solo thing, I am wrong. It is a very personal mind over matter thing - if being solo focusses you, then be solo. If having to chat with people focusses you, then chat with people. I found both of those and a great amount of determination is what it takes to walk all night.

One day, I will do the 24 hour walk. This will be my biggest mental challenge...

Footnote - I suffered in 3inch heels the next day at a colleague's wedding dinner - it was pure torture for me but strangely on the joints of the knee. Normally walking takes it out on the calves but not sure why I suffered on the joints... The next few days, 3 days later, my body was fatigue beyond any feeling I've ever encountered. Not easy....

Photocredit - first 3 photos - Chee Hon - lonely walk to nowhere, reminded to Buat Kerja every round (and fed like an inmate!)

Penang - KL - Manila - Clark in 15 hours

My surreal experience continued the next day after the Penang Marathon - suffice to just summarize the unreal experience Penang - KL - Manila - Clark in 15 hours :

- Nov 22 Sunday - Left Penang at 5pm, reached KL at 6pm, left KL for Manila at 120am, reached Manila at 515am, left Manila at 545am, reached Clark airforce base / freeport at 830am (with 1 hr stop in between)

- 645am, Nov 23 Monday - I was eating pancakes for breakfast on a highway stop (2 pieces + sausage) north going to Clark with my colleague Ambe. The place was filled with people in less than 45 mins, which included COINCIDENTALLY 6 people we knew who were going for the same workshop!!

- 830am, Nov 23 Monday - I arrived at Clark airforce base, only to find a small cute hotel in the middle of a long road to no where, we did not find the hotel because they were constructing a casino in the front!

- 930am, Nov 23 Monday - the client offsite workshop started with a PRAYER.. this is the first time I actually stood for a prayer before a workshop .. wow

- fast forward 9pm, Nov 23 Monday - we had nothing to do at night and I was watching Amazing Race in a room in Clark in remote nowhere, with my colleague Ambe - I had missed the last 4-5 episodes of this show... and to be watching it in remote hotel... unreal... slept before 11pm, dead tired from the LONG weekend

- 6am, Nov 24 Tuesday - client invited me to run at 5am, I got up at 6am and felt crossed with myself, and still remembered my poor Penang time - stepped out in my Puma sneakers and ran almost 10km in the middle of a damn straight road to no where - luckily I avoided the airforce base heheh

- Tuesday whole day workshop, busy like hell, and 330pm, back to Manila, then 855pm, back to KL... what a whirlwind two days

Penang Bridge Marathon 2009 (22nd Nov 2009)

Pic 2 - B Suite Hotel welcomes all runners!! Peter and Boone in front of the hotel, Peter holding up the jco doughnuts Chee Hon bought for us... :-)

Pic 1 - Kangaroo courier delivers ... (though the pack a bit filled with useless stuff..) (little did I know I needed the poh-chai pills then...)

I have had a whirlwind of a week and barely had enough time to sit down to write this, and also I did not feel compelled to write it... this is the most surreal experience of my running career.

8pm Sat 21 Nov - we got back from dinner, driven by Chee Hon. We had gone to a Red Roof Inn hawker stall area at Jalan Penang (or something like that) and I had consumed my 3rd plate of Char Kueh Teow. That itself was a surreal experience... since I just arrived the night before and I was nursing a diarrhea case the week before... my knowledge of the methods and quality of char kueh teow had improved over that weekend by 1000% thanks to Boone, who could literally recite all the best CKT places in town in his sleep..

10pm Sat 21 Nov - just managed to get to sleep after arranging all my things...

220am Sun 22 Nov - Boone comes to eat a jco doughnut before we rolled off from B Suite. In the lift, the runners were dead serious in the middle of the night, we went to the lift where waft smells of deep heat filled up and Boone joked lightly but everyone was dead serious as though we were aliens from outer space...

230am Sun 22 Nov - My way or the highway - we took the highway ... walked from B Suite to Queensbay mall.. on the road, my fears of the highway taking all my energy out eased when I saw a stream of runners walking the route there, since B Suite was the Kenyans place to stay (!!!) - actually we coined that because we saw some kenyans there, but then later I realised KC and Running Mom was at the hotel too. This has got to be the most surreal experience in my running career - to be walking to the starting point, crossing a highway, seeing streams of people walking at 230am, and wide awake and excited... unreal...

300am Sun 22 Nov - we reached the starting line, despite halfway walking, we realised we were on the wrong side of the road, and only one other chap (was it Zahri?) was with us, and we consoled ourselves that we were hopeless dumb runners from KL attacking Penang grounds on foot on a highway in the middle of the night. Along the overhead, we saw the front runners of the full marathon passing through the road below, heading from Seagate to the bridge - that was a adrenaline sight...

330am Sun 22 Nov - The mens half marathon was flagged off - Boone, Chee Hon and Tan went off with this group. The women were told to not cross the line by a stern MC who told us we will be punished if we did by the greatest sin of DQ if we crossed the line..

345am Sun 22 Nov - Was flagged off the starting line, together with Su-Ann and Claire. A few cheerful Malay ladies in front told us they were from KL and we helped them take pictures before the soundless gun went off. I did not manage to catch Lim Guan Eng.. I was told he was driven up to the Full Marathon in his Merc... like moses parting the red sea...

0-10km - the 10km marker was the turning point on the bridge... this was quite a relaxed run for me.. I really loved the whether this year, clear skies, no construction on the bridge, cool breeze, passed a troupe of lion dance drummers on the middle span of the bridge and ran to the momentum of the drum beat. Just passed the mid-span, going down, I heard a person shouted my name across the barrier - realised it was Say Kiat, but I had no way of verifying as the slits were slanted the other way.. but I was motivated as it got me running faster in the dream of catching him... at just about the 10km marker, Running Mom Haza caught me (once again!!) and passed me, and I remember checking my watch 1:12 at the tracker - hmm, this is a fast 10km... at that point I actually felt I was about to get a personal best from this race

10-21km - don't know what happened, but from the turn all the way to the end of the bridge, I was much slower in pace, despite the ups and downs, I still felt very very good. I was still running strong, where typically when my watch showed 2hrs, I would've been drained. All the way, off the bridge to the turnoff where the IJM runners are, and then back to Queensbay mall to the finishing line. Realised in the last 4-5km that I was no where near my Personal Best, but actually it is a Personal Worst!!!

What happened?? I think I ran the second half of the race not as motivated as the first, and tried to focus on running without injury downhill and also running continuously when I should've paced and walked if I was tired. Instead I slowed down completely, and when almost home, met with the 10km runners, quarter marathon, I actually was slowed by the traffic as they stampeded the majority of the road, and the back of the mens 21km who walked blocked the rest of the way, despite I still managed to shuffle through.

Still, its no excuse, but a very mixed feeling, I loved penang, ran a great race feeling very good and ran all the 21km for the first time in my 21km experiences, and had good food, good company. I just wished I had run faster, but it was not to be. Maybe next year it will be blazing hot, raining or even poorly managed, but I will be back, and grab that personal best, marathon or half marathon category.

It was the most surreal experience :

- Walked to the starting point at 230am

- Race started at 345am and finished when still dark

- Ate 3 CKT over two days BEFORE the race

- Flying to-fro Penang for a race

- Clear pretty peaceful run on the Penang Bridge at 4am+ in the morning

- Met a marathoner (Peter) who could do a 3hr 39mins and still eat more CKT than me before the race (tabik)

- Stayed at the "runners" hotel

- Took public buses Rapid Penang and to the shock of my friends, did a serious concall on the bus.. (sorry guys I could not avoid it)

- Being offered doughnuts jco as a pre-race meal and declining it (only to have it for lunch later!)

- Feeling so unreal about a race because I did a personal worst time in good feeling (!)

- Asked to jump across a drain after the race to walk home which I did not dare to test the stiffness of my legs, so I chickened out (and we took a longer path which led to a cab)

There was a finishing line, I reached it, and I want to run more... to the next finish line...!

Back to Penang - and discovering good food and no finishing line...

I am back at Penang after one year away from the Penang Marathon. There is a certain feeling from running .. that level of anxiety mixed with excitement, nervousness to step on the starting line and also the can I really finish this race feeling.

I cannot express the moment, but running to me after two years of being in Penang, ran 22.7km, I will still get to the starting line tomorrow at 345am, and all nervous to run another race.

It takes a runner to understand what a runner feels, and even though I do not really class myself as a serious runner (yet!), I am very glad this time to continue to have the camaraderie of friends to be at that starting line with me.

The feeling - butterflies in the stomach for a 21km race?

I am in love with this feeling just purely because it tells me I still have a long way to go, a great level of appreciation for running, and to discover this tells me most importantly, I am very much alive and hope this self discovery will continue for many years.

There is no finishing line.

The Sun Motor Hunt 2009

This has got to be the only type of activity in life where you never want to get promoted.... Do you know what it is?

Treasure hunting!

I am not sure how many hunts we did this year, but it probably has to be less than 3 - I think I participated in all of them - Australian Alumni hunt, Uncle Chong's Economy Hunt and this one - the creme de la creme of all treasure hunts - the Sun Hunt. We got a decent 28th position for this hunt - from 57 in 2007 to 83 in 2008 and now 28!! It seems the lesser we participate in the better we are! Some highlights :

- I no longer believe in outsourcing - we outsourced one treasure question to our fifth man CG and he got a decent answer - except that the outsourcer -ie. us in the car, did not spend enough time thinking about the answer, if we had, we would've gotten the right treasure!!!

- We have a great team - WY, JS, NY, myself, CG, JS2 (backup) - this is 5+1 persons, but somehow, we could never make the same event, so we are all pretty happy with the 5 person thing. JS could not make some of the items last year, I could not this year and last year at Damian's wedding for mensa hunt, and WY when she was away, JS during the christmas hunt too.

- What I really love about our team was the great spirit of team work - we never duplicated each other, we lived with each others strengths, interchange thoughts and in general have a great time at each hunt - with lots of jokes and humor. I used to be the anchor for the team in figuring out the questions, but we have grown so adaptive nowadays (and me a bit degenerative too) that we all know we are all capable of solving the questions and treasures, and we work together well - yesterdays event was such - team work made everyone solve some big questions, even the driver whilst driving!

- I am easily satisfied to believe that we have a long way to go before we are masters, but we do have the potential of a great team. It is my honor to serve with great people.

Back to the reason why you never want to get promoted - the Sun Hunt is indeed the most punishing of all reasons. The Sun Hunt has gotten so big that it caters for up to 270 teams in the open category and a limited masters category for 20 cars. This is itself a major logistical nightmare every year, for the sponsors and organisers to manage traffic, the wrath of the non-hunters and in general, organise a full day event - hunting for 6 hrs and then a dinner because you need a couple of hours to mark at least 270 papers! The poor masters had a tough time - the questions were tough, and all of them got rewarded but what is usually a top 3-5 position is now a 15-20 position for some of them and after a tough day, only a miserable mp3 player, and the whole dinner is dedicated to questions for the open category!!!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday!

Pic1 - Having my cup cake and eating it too

Pic2 - Pretty cupcakes from my sis-in-law

Pic3 - Halloween Candies... (fingers, thumbs and RIP chocs)

Pic4 - The hand makes its appearances on my guests..

Today, Nov 1, is my birthday. I am rarely so self appreciating, but this time I thought I would go all out to celebrate, even at minimum, if not, write myself a celebratory blog.

I will do one of those ala facebook style of factual about myself for my birthday :
· My name in Chinese means everlasting beauty. I look in the mirror and most of the time I don’t see the beauty. But I see beauty sometimes in my style, my persistence, my love for the simpler life or what I call simple enjoyments. Where does beauty end in the exterior and where does it start in the interior? Is it true that in order to be beautiful, and to have everlasting beauty, one has to be able to see that beauty themselves more?

· In Philippines, Nov 1 is a holiday every year. It is All Saints day. I am a saint!!! I have never been called a saint before, but then I realized today that saints are DEAD people! I do not want to be a saint! All Saints day is like All Souls day in Chinese – they celebrate by going to the cemetery!!!! This is so sad…. I am alive, not dead. Celebrate me as I am as alive as you are.

· November is the month of the beautiful but deadly scorpion, the star sign for Scorpio. I am a true blood Scorpio, though not much a believer in horoscopes, the interesting thing is that Scorpios are intense creatures. Vengence is high on the list. And passion too... (how do you mix that?)... heheh, do not cross me. You will not like me when you cross me. You will like me a lot if you love me :-)

· I love pork. I am also born under a chinese sign of a pig. This means I am lazy and a self serving bastard, eat a lot and also sleep a lot. What I love about being under the Chinese pig sign is that the pig, being lazy has to learn how to be lazy. Most of the time, I think I’m a half breed as I really got to learn how to be lazy more!

· 111 – There are too many ones in my birthday. I am as always, your super kiasu number one, although sometimes my poker face hides this kiasuness. In reality, I shy away from the limelight, but never have I not looked at something I consider a challenge, and back down. Number 1.

· Previous birthdays have been not great experiences for me. I cannot remember one which I can say is worth remembering. The only one I can remember is the one when I had to work overnight on my birthday. That just about gives away how terribly overworked I am.

I would like to say, I had a great simple halloween, birthday, house warning little cosy meal yesterday. Thank you for those who could make it. I am learning to be older, wiser, simpler and above all, the ever humble servant of the greater mysteries of life.

Pensive thoughts

Today I sms'ed him and he called back. I have not spoken to him for two years at least, I cannot remember when... we are, still the same... there is still the same wall between us, but I have to relearn how to really know my old friend again.

All of a sudden, meeting a whole bunch of people over dinner made me think of that short 5 min call again this afternoon. If we are the same, how do we become friends again? I am not sure, but I am also not too disturbed over this.

Somehow, in the stories of me and my oldest friend, I am always the one who over-dos, over-thinks. I am not sure why, but even now, when I am not over thinking, I still feel ... disappointed.

Can men and women never be friends in a platonic nature? I'd like to say... no.

Pensive. I guess it comes with growing old.

Mizuno Wave Run 25th Oct - My first time on this UPM route

I had a good run this morning at Mizuno's Wave Run. Kind of missed Tey and familiar photographer, so did not have a chance to get my face snapped. There were a few photographers on the road but few of them really "snap" random people's pictures. (Photo from Chan Wing Kai taken from pacesetter's albums)

- First time I ever drove my car to a race for a long while, usually there was Kell Jay or I would drive my Toyota. Its either that or I have really not run a race proper for a long time during the day.
- Arrived at a good time, around 640+, leaving plenty of time to ease into a good parking. Picked up SK along with me, so I had company as well as a decent navigator.
- Started to see the crowd around 7am, luckily I queued for the toilets early. Lost SK somewhere along the way, but I realise he likes to start at the back, so I spiced up the challenge a bit with a bit of a soccer bet, asking for 5 mins. In hindsight, I should've asked for more. Either that or he responds better to challenges than my legs could.
- Could not find Ai Leen or Boon along the way, but saw Philip. This obsession with the pretty vest of stark yellow made it difficult to recognise people in the crowd, though I got to admit, the vest was pretty nice
- The starting point was too crowded for a 4000+ people race. There was too many people, and since this race did not have the chip, the starting was a bit of a disarray, there was no gun even. And the people just started randomly running, cutting across the grass to make ground, and the rest literally walked or shuffled for at least 100m, then slow painful traffic like jog downhill.
- The initial part of the race, at least the first 1-2 kms was a painful slow crawl. The roads were pretty narrow, and at one point, I was even wondering if we were in UPM grounds!
- The most jialat part was the last hill, which incidently was the first hill we climbed, when going from car to stadium, the first hill we ran down initial 500m, and also the last most jialat hill we had to do before arriving back for a quarter stadium finish.
- The race was probably a full 11km as claimed. I arrived around 1.23, if you count the time the first guy sped off and I was still standing around. Got a card which allowed me to claim a medal for 69 position in the category... whee!
- Eventually coming out of the race, I saw Ai Leen who walked mostly.

All, in, I thought it was a decent race, but slightly disappointed with my timing. And, I lost 10-12 mins to SK, which is literally impossible!

Blown Away

Image courtesy of internet surfing on flickr. Not intended to reproduce for commercial use. This was the underpass at ayala avenue (the underpass was about 15 feet deep at the bottom, including the stairs probably at least 20 feet, all underwater)

Blown away not by TNT, but typhoons...

For those of you who know me, I've been working on and off in the Philippines since Chinese New Year this year, two engagements and a load of opportunity chasing. This blog is purely personal, and about how I missed the typhoons.

I was not blown away, but nearly. The first typhoon, Ondoy in Philippines, but Ketsana globally (whoever said Filipinos do not have nicknames for everything!), hit on Sept 26, with menacing disaster. The first instance of it was the weekend when my brother's filipino maid told us her family was ok, and she was glad I was not in Manila. Then the photos started coming on in CNN on the floods in Manila, how it hit with 1 mth of rain water in one day. Sept 26th was a Saturday and my mum's birthday. Mum has blessed me that I missed the typhoon, not that I stayed a lot of weekends in Manila anyway.

The disaster which wrecked through Manila was quite real, but I was surprised by the resilience of the people. They basically shrugged it off and those who were well to do or able to volunteered and helped. When we visited our client (a telco), they shared incidences of how they mobilised on the Sunday itself. And how innovative telcos were that they helped in the best way they could by offering free load (people unable to topup in a prepaid dominant country) to the phones of those trapped. How they were able to setup mobile charging units and relief centers and call centers almost within a day. Something the government could not even do. These were brave souls who just shrugged off and told me that their family was ok, but the houses were underwater. About personal items lost in the floods. And then there were also many lives.

The second round was Typhoon Parma, labelled a supertyphoon for its wind speeds, and it started spinning to shore on Oct 2, when my big boss came down to philippines for a talk to the client. He was from Chicago, and basically I was heading off to Chicago as well on the next day on Oct 3rd, Saturday morning. He left in a haste, taking a Singapore-London-Chicago flight, which apparently left much faster. The afternoon, people were let off at 3pm, as the residents had their share of disasters and everyone left early to take their family home. The residents of fancy CBD of Makati were scurrying around buying rations!!! I wondered out of the apartment to take dinner at the shopping center given it was one of my early nights, and found most of the shops closed, light rain and many people scurrying to rush rations from the supermarket. My colleagues told me that I would likely miss the flight. I told them "have faith". I believe I could avert disaster as I have always been lucky.

Lucky I was. The typhoon slowed in the ocean and when it hit the shores it was Saturday afternoon, almost 6 hrs after my plane departed. The typhoon was also much more north, and it did wreck havoc to the northern states, and stayed for a week(!!) as a tropical depression (which I assumed brought depressing rain).

During this second typhoon, our malaysian SMS system texted the warnings. Only two of my friends sms me, concerned I was going to be trapped. Even my parents did not sms me. And of the two who sms'ed me, you know who you are - one was a colleague, and another a new friend. Thank you. I would have been blown away and nobody knows better.

I wonder, at what point does someone think about these situations, and reflect upon themselves? Is it only when they are trapped on the roof for two days or when they are two seconds to drowning. At what point do I realise, that it does not matter who or what I do, why I am in philippines, but the fact that I have many friends, family, colleagues, hold a respectable job, at what point is it that only two people bother to ask me how I am, blown away or still standing?

I am once again, caught, blown away by the simple fact that there is indeed, not much to be said about who I am, who I matter to, and that makes me, incredibly sad.

Have Vehicle will Travel ...

My "vehicle" parked for the photo at Lake Michigan. To understand why running is such a big thing in the US, you have to see the kind of places they run ... wow ... Lake Michigan makes me want to run the marathon there ...

Too bad, I missed the signup of the Chicago Marathon 11 Oct 2009.

I had great fun biking on the scenic trail of Lake Michigan, besides the runners - at some point, I was "racing" with some of them with my rented "comfort" bike. Heheh.

My 13.5 hours date with an Apple engineer

Got to break the norm of not blogging and start blogging again, without the burden of the emotional bits. Thought it was funny to start with experiences - this one is one which is close to the end of a whirlwind trip to US recently for training which I stopped by San Francisco and then headed back.

The bad news was that we went through the once in a year storm which delayed the plane after it got out of the hangar with all the passengers, and then it went back and we had to reboard again a few hours later and missed the connecting.

Met a young engineer on the plane sitting next to me on the way back from San Francisco to HK recently. Normally the more you travel for work or business, the less chatty people are - everyone does some courtesy chit chat and then they pour into their work, all believing they are doing the most important thing in the world. This was no different, however, after 3 hrs on the flight and getting unboarded and then getting back on another 4+ hrs later, the tiredness broke the silence. So I chatted up the young dude - he was an engineer from Apple. His earlier first attempt (1st boarding) of being chatty was pretty much a few lines.

Round 1 (1st boarding)
He - "I always forget to bring a book" (on seeing me throwing out a small novel - one I bought at the airport drug store together with some Reeses)
I - "Well, you can always see 4 movies or more..."
He - "You know, one has to diversify"
I - "Ok, maybe different types of movies..." (duh - clearly I was jet lag)
He - "Yeah, the only book I brought is engineering books" (duh - clearly a pretty nerdish reply!)

Round 2 (2nd boarding) - he was very late - and he was sitting in the inner seat, so I stood around wondering if the dude has absconded the flight (after waiting 4 hrs+). Then he strolled in.
I - "I thought you have given up"
He - "Well, not apparently not yet"

After settling down and asking plesanteries of where he was heading out to whether HK or somewhere else... found out he was heading for Shenzen, and he proceeded to tell me about jet lag... eventually...
I - "So, are you an engineer? I saw those engineering books you were reading... " (duh...)
He - Actually I work with Apple in the hardware side. (Me... **ting ting, the most beautiful job** if I were 10 years younger ... now rapt with attention)
I - "Oh, thats interesting... do you guys have a lot of people in Shenzhen?".... and the question I asked twice -- "by the way... what is the next big thing coming out from apple...?" heheh.. of which he twice answered "... now I can't tell you ..." heheh..

Did not find out what the guy's name was. He was quite decently handsome. Found out he had worked 3.5 years in Apple, probably still single, looks around 28+ out of college. Polite young man. Said his please and thank yous and did not ask for alcohol or heavy food or beverage from the cabin service. What was more interesting was a couple of cool things we chatted about in summary, started and was more on iphone purely because I told him I do not like the typing, and he started to explain to me how the pixels worked (!duh... really a pure engineer, even I could not understand!)

Anyway, some other things I thought I'd share here just for fun :
- One interesting experience he related to me was how they would do all sorts of test, one test had been that they found there was a lot of returns of the iphone saying the headpieces sound was not good. What they found was that the headphones had a defect in being very prone to shorting out due to sweat (!!!). The sweat would crystalize in certain parts causing a short and the poor sound. The lab boys apparently tested sweat on a few components and finally fixed it making it more resistant to sweat.
- He said he never got to get a iphone because Apple has return policies and honors them, thus the engineers have boxes and boxes of the phone which are returns - so he has two phones - one hacked jailbreaked and one original.. (and he was so proud of it heheh!) - I reconsidered and did not ask whether the licenses were checked like microsoft does when you login online (this was my biggest curiousity as I owned a apple macbook)
- He agreed with me that Snow Leopard was a bug fix but yet people queue up to buy it... (there finally someone agrees!)
- He explained to me the different types of drop test the iphone goes through (duh!! - heheh)
-I told him where I worked but he seemed to have no idea (!! duh!!! - this guy is really young or katak di bawah tempurung or something!). I proceeded to talk about how we really related to our clients about Apple's customer experience and the store experience - of which he had no idea what I was talking about - heheh...
- I told him about the concept of content is king to software and apple was just shipping hardware consoles to enable this - he also could not understand this (heheh), but proceeded to tell me he knows of friends who now makes a living coding apple applications, but he could not do it as he was an employee, and would probably have to sell it through a middle man... (wah, so innocent!)

This was my first really young experience with a fellow passenger - typically the older dudes sit in the business class or those really yuppie ones who pound on their notebooks. This guy was just so funnily innocent and engaged and it was one of those moments that I thought - I got to tell people that I sat next to an apple engineer - this is really cool. Heheh

Well, I thought I would diversify and be really young about this blog. I am obviously not attracted to this guy. But I was definitely enriched in listening to him talk about his job, especially with a company I thought would be a who's who on the employer's list!

After departing in HK, I reflected that this dude was perhaps one of the most engaged young engineer I've ever met - most of the people I get to hire or work with nowadays are really so dis-engaged, and expects the bosses to shower them attention, but few are engaged, polite, and speak passionately about their work with the light of innocence of this young chap.

Perhaps, there is indeed hope for Gen Y and also hope for Gen X in understanding Gen Y.

Melancholy

Tonight I am melancholic.

What does it take to survive the Rat Race?

I had the concept of service, but I realised that service which is not valued is not really service at all. Or even if it is valued but not appreciated. I am teaching my people to watch their back and for them to help watch mine (ie the internal organization) more than to service the client. Watch their back and also those they work with. What have I become?

I fully believe hard work does not cut it anymore. And yet, I cannot detach myself from the need to service, push harder, yearning to achieve the impossible because of...? What have I become?

I look around me, my gen x friends, and I see everyone is working so hard, so this is the new norm. I sleep only 6 out of 7 days nowadays due to travelling once every week on a night flight. Whilst catching up on sleep the other day, I wondered which person wants to achieve the kind of balance I have at my level - I should be sipping coffee and wine instead of losing sleep!!!

It was never my doubt on my own personal intellect, my enjoyment of the work I do and how it helps our clients, or how my esteemed organization is able to bring the best out of us all and deliver the type of high performance service. The problem I have struggled with in my entire working life and more so in the past few years is that this is not yet the best I can be. The best I can be to myself, the people I work for, the clients I service, the family I have. Still not the best.

There's always one person who will eventually break you. That person I've just found out is really my own self. Everyone else, every other action is reflected in me but I am still not at peace with my ownself.