Aftermath of a race

Sundays after learning how to run road races has never been the same for me again.

It is always Saturday to anticipate, and trying to sleep early, and always failing to do so, and then waking up in an ungodly hour on Sunday to go for the race. Normally, after the race we would always go for breakfast or I will go home for breakfast, and then followed by my "recovery nap". My recovery nap is usually 2-3 hrs in the afternoon, and I only need this if I have to catch up with work later at night to keep myself fresh.

When I ran my first 10km race many many years ago, my whole day was white-washed as I was so tired, and I needed to hydrate ever so often even after the race. Then when my body got used to it, it was gradually reduced to a day to recover for a half marathon, and then later, I even went shopping or the whole day out after a half marathon. I reckon it is the body which needs to adjust, and I also believe that walking after a race keeps the blood flowing and an easier recovery for the muscles the next day.

I have once tried a foot massage after a race - it was SO painful - some believe this will help ease the muscle recovery, if you ask me, I would say, don't do it!!!!

And during the day when I am not out, I will always be surfing for the next race!!!

PJ Half Marathon

My target of 5 half marathons this year is almost achieved! However, my running performance has not improved!

This was my first PJ Half Marathon. When I started competitive running almost two years ago from today (scroll back in blog, too lazy to link..) I did the 10km at the PJ Half after the Rat Race. It was a great run - I remembered I was placed 55th and I recorded I think 1hr+ - it was one of the fastest race I ever ran (heheh, got worse since then with more runs!) !!!

It was indeed a good 2 years "on occasion" celebration - this race was not difficult, but middle of the years always caught me as being terribly unfit! We lamented whether with our jobs we could ever run a marathon, however, I wish to announce, my target is KLIM 2008. I will make it!

Every run, we always question ourselves why we do it. In fact, my other friend, Ai Leen who ran her first 10km today with another friend Suzannah asked me the other day - have you always loved running? And my response was - no ... but the feeling when you finish the race is so good you would want to do it again!

I did not have good sleep the night before. This is almost getting to be quite a regular thing - I almost cannot sleep well before a run. This time, I had the pleasure again of our regular co-workers - Kell Jay, Lian Tiong, Tee Yau, and new comer Su Ann, who is running her first 21km. We were slightly late, and rushed to the starting line. We saw Keat Seong at the starting line - he was also one of our colleagues and an amazing back to back 21km from Adidas KOTR and Rat Race in between. In between the race, I met another lady whom I met in the KLIM - she apparently was also one of my colleagues - she was pushing me along at around the 10km mark, but I was a bit flat by then.

The turnout was quite poor this year. There seems to be a shortage of runners for this race. I had a general good pace all the way up to the 4km first drinks station mark, I was not sure whether I was running too fast, but I felt a bit keen to slow down from then up the bridge and over the other side of the Federal Highway. Before the 4km mark, my watch marked 16-17mins, and I saw one Kenyan pass me for the 10km race... oh gosh, this was going to be a long race, I thought.

Over the other side, the race was a long and lonely stretch all the way up the flyover and then straight all to Subang airport! Yes, I ran to Subang Airport - and I mean at Terminal 2 carpark and then back...

Along the way, I lacked the focus and stamina to do a good continuous run. There seemed to be a lack of people pacing along around the same pace. The one guy I was trying to followed actually slowed down and walk! And I said I will follow you (Digi style, he was wearing yellow!!) and he said, I pancit!!! So I had some good stretches and some lousy walking stretches between 12-16km. Then I think I walked almost 50% of the last 5 km.

My most amusing moment was that when I was bored running alone especially last 5km, I created my own diversions because I was afraid I may not make it if I drained myself out. One incident, the ambulance travelled for about 50 meters by my side whilst I shuffled, and the lady looked at me concerned (the ambulance door was open). I asked her to go ahead, and when it went ahead slightly I paced up and "pretended" to chase after it with my hand stretched out - there were a couple of cops there at that intersection - they laughed at me!!! The ambulance stopped about 100m in front later, the guys took a smoke break, and when I passed them, I told them "Merokok merbahayakan kesihatan!" and they laughed at me and asked me whether I wanted to have a seat and rest since the vehicle has stopped!!!!

Other than that, it was also good to see people on the other side of the road, it gives each a bit of motivation to go on, and also to wave to those you know.

I finished around my KLIM time, around 2:51 - its a terrible time, but not bad for someone who walked almost half the second half of the race. My best time was still Penang Bridge Half Marathon, which I did slightly less than that for 1.5km more. I did not have enough training, and I did not want to feel the drained feeling again - that feeling comes from pushing yourself and suddenly slowing down.

What was disappointing was that despite finishing within 3hrs (which was my target), the entire stadium was almost half empty, they were giving away prices, no more finishers lane, and worse - no more Milo or 100plus!!! This is such an anticlimax - this was why I felt this years PJ Half was not well organised.

Anyhow, I will rest, for Subang Jaya run, I've signed up but will likely pass it up for another different challenge - a treasure hunt. The body is bashed up, but the mind needs some exercise now.

My target 5 half marathons this year :
-Pacesetters GE20km Race
-KLIM Half Marathon
-Penang Bridge Run Half Marathon
-PJ Half Marathon
-Singapore Half Marathon

The Edge Bursa KL Rat Race 2007

Pic - Start of CEO race, flag off by Dato Dr Ng Yen Yen

http://picasaweb.google.com/ngmayching/EdgeBursaKLRatRace2007

My first time as a photographer to a racing event turned out to be interesting but disastrous for the running photos.

1. Photographers get the privilege of the best view... through the lens and directly at the subject
2. It is hard work, crouching down, protecting the asset in the rain...
3. You do not get a second chance... the opportunity for sports photography only comes once!
4. Once captured, emotions tell it all... it is satisfying to capture a good shot!

I learned something - it was not easy. There are other people who work harder than me in something I thought was easier!

Adidas King of The Road

I have to say, my most excited moment of this race was standing 5 feet away from Samy Vellu and my colleagues leaning on his Mercedes Benz. Or at least we believe it was his Mercedes.

It had a label Jabatan Kerjaraya and who else in Jabatan Kerjaraya owns a Mercedes?

These runs are a great way to relax. People may think I am mad when I refer to running as relaxing, but serious runners or even regular casual runners understand what I mean.

I opted for 10km this time. I am incredibly unfit, I have only had one or two runs post Penang Half, and one week before when I woke up for KLCC training on Sunday, I gladly slept back as it was raining and I was exhausted from the long hours and stress at office.

We got in around 625am, earlier as we were worried about parking. It was however relatively easy to find parking opposite Sunway Pyramid car park - RM 2 entrance fee. We quickly went over to the other side of the road for the flag off of the 21km participants. It was a bit weird to flag off the 21km at 645am (a bit late), just 15 mins from the 10km participants. I was really glad I did not do the 21km as I was seriously unfit, and also the sun was blazing hot even halfway for the 10km participants!

Whilst wasting some time, we noticed Samy Vellu got on the rostrum for the flag off of the 21km and thought about richochet of the gun if he shot on the bridge. I was seriously contemplating on moving out of the way in case it did, when we noticed he was about to flag off using a microphone .... 3,2,1 (and before the go, everyone was off!!!)... A point to note was the minister was wearing Nike shoes whilst the race was Adidas organised... I guess the Adidas organisers did not do the necessary homework :-)

Running on a deserted highway is quite boring. I guess I have signed up for another highway run next week with the PJ Half Marathon. I hope to be able to get myself rested and up to speed for that better than this week.

Anyway, all in, I did 1:13 mins, and position 126 - I practically walked the last 2 km and the sun was really killing me-- I really regretted not donning my usual running cap and not training enough for the race day. However, I was really glad I received a medal for this slow run. The response to the race was very good, with lots of people participating and an equally

And best of all, my ipod nike+ function was not working, aiyoh, so all the sweat was not recorded how I ran the race... too bad.

I am back in action...!

The runner with no heart

My best friend said to me, you have a talent in writing, you should do something about it...

I am extremely pensive this week - this is indeed a rough year for me.

On Wednesday this week, I went for what I proudly told everyone as my grand slam - I visited 4 different clients in one day, and talked about probably half a dozen things. By the time I was done, I was really exhausted.

But, what really scared me was that in the morning, I felt a very uneasy feeling. It was not a pre-heart attack feeling, but I was unable to even sit properly in the car driving to work, took two wrong turnings. I did not manage to settle this feeling until the client secretary brought me a cup of coffee. And yet my heart was beating normally.

And when I rushed back to take a call, that was when my heart was beating fast.

Running is a good distraction for me, and it helps me focus also, but now I wonder whether it in facts exerts more strain on my own body.

I think I am putting a lot of strain mentally on myself and the toll it is taking on my body is not obvious but there is a toll. I told my secretary - I can't be having a heart attack because I have no heart.

You can tell from my tone I am miserable. And pensive.

It's not how good you are, it's how good you want to be

I read this book in less than an hour, on my Saturday off day.

This is a pretty good book, from advertising guru Paul Arden, who used to work for Saatchi and Saatchi in London.

I picked up the book because it was a catchy phrase, and when I browsed through it, it had big fonts (!) and also a broader business slang on it.

Normally not to do book reviews, but in my current state of the work I am buried under, I found this book to be inspirational. There were a few key things in it which struck me pretty much.

Idea#1 - Do not seek praise, seek criticism - there is always a deisrable need for each of us to seek approval in our work, and suggested instead we should seek criticism - asking "what is wrong with it?" or "how can I make it better" is more likely to get a more frank and critical answer which we can use to improve, and we are still able to reject the criticism if required.

Idea#2 - Don't be afraid to work with the best - the best can be intimidating but if approached with the right attitude, they will respond positively. Though the chances of gaining the respect of the best may not be easy, it was definitely better than working for the average guy.

Idea#3 - Don't look for the next opportunity - the one you have in hand is the opportunity - we always seem to be waiting for the next big thing to happen - but we should focus on the one at hand - do the best you can with the one at hand.

Idea#4 - It's not what you know, it's who you know - the illustration was the guy who works hard and heads down vs the new executive who goes to talk to people and hands out his cards with a good name for himself. The who you know eventually helps to overcome what you don't know. But what you know if not popularised to who you know is not useful.

Idea#5 - If you can't solve a problem, it is because you are playing by the rules - My favorite as it stands.

Buy the book and internalise it your own way.

Hooking it right

If you do it, do it well. That is me, Hooker's Cup queen! I always believe to do it well, I need to be really interested in the game.

Again, a very philosophical thought, but doing it well means enjoying the game, enjoying the company and also enjoying the fun it brings, regardless of whether one wins or not!!

My drive of 4 hours to Rompin last weekend was well rewarded as for the Hooker's Cup golf tournament was held at the same time during the company outing, we had a good time at a quiet Lanjut Golf resort in Rompin at Pahang/Johor east coast border.

The game was fun because of the camaraderie from colleagues, the newcomers, and friends from the fellow lady golfers who took on the course fearlessly despite being new in the game, and above all, the lovely little cup the organiser has been kind enough to buy for the "ladies champion"!!!

I did not play well, but I had a pretty easy game, it was my 4th game of this year, as pathetic as this seems, it is the truth. But nevertheless, I have comeback to enjoy the game.

Golf is a game which is really about challenging yourself, and each stroke is like an action you take, if you hit it well, it influences a good outcome, if you hit it badly, you have to salvage your own actions.

Thank you

I would like to just take the two minutes to thank those my colleagues who reads this or even virtually express my thanks to those who don't for their kind comments on influence survey in the Global Employee Survey for my company. I had a lot of positive and honest and touching feedback from all of you - it keeps me going when I have my doubts about my actions or about doing the right thing at work. Normally I prefer not to blog about work or identify to my day job in this forum, but there are some days when all things cross our paths that we need the stress relief of blogging.

I had a tough day at work today.

I was at my fiery best, in my most passionate moment about a matter I care about a lot.

I had also overstep my boundary of being emotionally disappointed at the interim outcome. Regardless, I felt I lost the game at the end.

I did two things today, I went to do my hair at 6pm at KLCC. It took me almost 3 hours. During that three hours I cooled down. And I got home and after dinner, when I sat down again to take on this thinking challenge back, I read those comments again.

Thank you, it made my day yesterday, and it made my day today. I know I have my weaknesses, but I also know my diligence, drive and energy and not giving up easily is something you appreciate.

Above all, I am not willing to give anything short of the best because this is what my team expects from me.

I'm a hooker queen

I'm a rather stressed hooker queen... No, do not think the negative stance, I only mean, I have retained my cup - the Hooker's Cup golf tournament for the 4th year in a row!

This year, I have been presented with a lovely little cup for the Ladies Champion. I will insert the photos here the next time.

Viva Hookers

Zipangu vs No Dinner

Down-trodden.

I passed a dinner at Zipangu for working throughout without dinner.

Small victories mean nothing when it is not celebrated with those who worked for it. I tell myself this everyday because I have always been wrong to push people to their limits - and then I am not there to savor the moment with them.

Defeats must be faced with courage. Real heroes are those who acknowledge defeat and know when to walk away, for they must fight another day.

The sweetest victory is those we enjoy as a team, because we have stared defeat in the face, walked away, and come back to claim the biggest victory.

Processor on philosophical drive.

Lesen saya mungkin digantung

Blogging in Bahasa! Well I could try.

Lesen sudah "luput" - this was what my colleague told me another of our colleague had been told before her license was suspended for 3 months as she produced an expired license after being involved in an accident.

I cannot imagine what I will do if I cannot drive for 3 months. Where am I going to find a driver?

I am getting desperate and worried. Maybe I will take half a day off next week to "appeal".

I also cannot imagine appearing in Slim River and appealing in Bahasa Malaysia.

Alcoholic Anonymous

I have a secret.

I have a bottle of Johnny Walker Black Label whiskey stashed under my desk for those long late nights where I have to slog through the barrage of terrible nonsense called work.

:-)

In case you thought I was serious... I am not an alcoholic. Last Friday I was amused with my own actions, I had the previous night spoken to my other colleague about our upcoming company trip where some of the more senior staff had to sponsor drinks as we did not have budget. I was definitely against open drinking as it just did not sit well with our Malaysian Malays (yes I am patriotic and nationalistic, if there's such a word).

What I did was even more funnier : I asked one of my vendors, as he was coming in for a presentation, to buy me a bottle at the airport where it was tax free.

My SMS - "If you are still at imigration, can you please buy me a bottle of black label. It is for personal use and I will reimburse you when I see you. Thanks".

Its funny, the person I sent to was the CTO of a product company. He came by my office for the preparation to presentation, and handed me the whiskey and said, "May Ching, please dont drink it all up now before the presentation!"

So, the latest is that I got it stashed up at my office, until the party weekend... the last few days has been stretching my limits, I wonder if it can last.... :-)

Suey comes in twos

Suey is the chinese word for bad luck. I had two unfortunate events over the weekend. Firstly was my trip to Ipoh and my encounter with the police. Secondly was my car being hit from the back by a Lexus.

Suey#1
Cannot believe I got up at 5:30am to go for a golf game. Truthfully, I was almost ambitious enough to go for both the game and the Ipoh International Run the next day, luckily my more sensible side got the better. In any case, at around almost 1.5 hours, I think around just past Tapah, I was stopped by the traffic cop who had probably placed a "gunner" about 5 km upfront because we saw lots of cars flashing on opposite side of the road and had slowed down for at least 2-3 km. How fast was I travelling - probably at most 120km/h at a 110km/h max stretch. I guess the cops were really shooting.

Thereafter comes the interesting part - my license has expired!! And expired 3 months!! Even I was surprised, because I thought I had renewed recently. The fact is that my memory of the renewal was 5 years back!! (In this case, my processor has too much memory!).

So, got off the car, let my friend drive and gracefully feigned ignorance and also quite truthfully so, and got a schedule letter from the cop.

This morning I found out I could not pay the compound - I had to appear in COURT!!! AT SLIM RIVER, PERAK!!! Where? Uh, where? Sigh, time to get my horses in action to sniff out the best way to get out of this. Otherwise the courts will be crowded if everyone really has to appear for "not bringing driving license" offence. Please let me know if you know how to do this the "pay the fine" way.

Suey#2
As though that was not bad enough, the next day, whilst I was on my way to the Curve, stationary waiting for a jam to move on, the car at the back HIT me! It was a Lexus, and the gentleman was slightly apologetic. And I confirm it was not to pick me up, because the guy was late 40s, has a wife in the car, and is a Malay. Hopefully he will be ok to pick up the tab. 8233 (I call my car by its number plate), is now "scratched" officially. Sigh....

Please let me know if you know of a good car docter for "scratches". Ok, it was not so bad, but I felt very low chi after that incident.


Suey comes in twos, hopefully three's a crowd ...

Hookers and Rats

Pic - Hooker's Cup team 2006

No, there is no correlation of these two terms. They are perhaps a "side" distraction to me in the forthcoming weeks. That is if I decide to go ahead and participate in the two events.

The first is Hooker's Cup. This year, it will be held together with a company wide gathering in Rompin next week. My lady colleague referred it wrongly as Hooker's Club, and my response was, no, I do not belong to a hooker's club, do you? :-)

Well, Hooker's Cup is the annual internal company golf tourament - it is a friendly tournament and over the last three years, I have taken the ladies champion trophy. Let me first explain a few key points for inference of my skills :

1) The first year there was only one lady participant - that was the first time I had played in a tournament, it was almost like 1 year after I picked up golf and my score was a bit pathetic

2) The second year there were three lady participant and one of them was the ex-champion. I beat the ex-champion!!!!

3) Last year, there was only one lady participant again and I won a Michelle Wie book - haha!

Why Hookers? Well, in golf, you either hook or slice and since golf is such a man's game and the people in my company are so creative with names the hooker's name was coined many years back when the tournament started, and it stuck! Except that it does not sound good for females to be in this tournament....

Pic - Rat Race Team 2006 - will I be doing 2007? Can you see we were so game for the fun we did the t-shirts and poses during one of the "practice runs"

Rats is for the Edge Bursa KL Rat Race 2007, to be held on August 7th this year. This is my most enjoyable race (Read September posting last year) - I have taken part in the Rat Race for nearly 3 years in a row. This year, since KC (RHB, the champ!) is injured and won't be taking part, there is hardly anyone I know who runs and enjoys this race as much as I do, so maybe I will give up the slot for other colleagues.

Except that no one really pushes the race preparation and marketing like I do!!! The team needs my goading...!!! So far I've been successful to persuade my MD to go for the CEO race.... Sigh, where are all the young enthusiastic exuberant people who pushes the extreme in ridicule and props carrying when I need them.....

Luck... or lack of luck?

This was my race bib on Sunday for the Penang Bridge half marathon. When I got back on Sunday late afternoon (around 5pm+), one of my family members went to buy this number - okay, it goes like this.

How did you do in your race?"

"What was your race number?"

and suddenly, a pen flashes out, jots down the number and in a moment later, a car goes out to buy the 4D!!!

Guess what??? The number hit 4D consolation prize (see below the right most column, 4 rows down 5689!!!)

Guess what??? We did not buy 4D, bought another company's draw!!!!

Sigh... I guess all my life, despite at whatever position I work, the life marker is always "work like a cow or a horse for your money" (err, translate in chinese and it makes sense)....!

21km vs 22.3km

According to my Nike+ running connector who took the trip to the bridge with me on sunday, I only ran 21km approximately.

I had set the "online" device to 22km for this "workout" and it was annoying to hear the machine count 1-11km (halfway point) and then reverse count-down the remaining. I guess it is not inspiring in a race to be reminded every km how much more you have to go!! I wrote some notes on the screen capture of the race as an analysis of the pace I took for this half-marathon.

Yes, I am looking for a new stop-watch too ....

Penang Bridge Run - 24th June 2007

What a great and tiring weekend it was!



Driving There
My friend (who was not running) and I started off with a 3.5 hr drive down to Penang after a sumptious breakfast early Saturday morning, and had lunch at a great seafood village at noon just before crossing the bridge to Penang island. The same bridge which I would run over the next day (Sunday 24th June!) for the Penang Bridge run half marathon category.



Collection of Bibs
The first job on arrival was the collection of numbers and bibs at Queensbay Mall. I was the driver for Saturday, I was a bit tired when we got there, but was I surprised - Queensbay Mall was just like 1 Utama here - after parking the car, we were directed to the front of the mall where the collection counters were doing roaring business. The best thing about runs was that there was always so much atmosphere before and after a run - I could see people doing brisk sales of powergels and powerbars and there were also all sorts of promotions of other "state" runs - ie. Kuantan and Langkawi was doing their own runs albeit smaller scale.



What equally surprised me was the many people from all walks of life who turned up to collect their t-shirt, though not knowing what category they are running in, most did not even look like runners - thus looks can be so deceiving! Not forgetting there were tons of school children signed up for the race, probably in the 10k, category. And there were buses ferrying the out of towners in - I gathered the pacesetters team was probably one of the buses, bringing in a strong team from KL/Selangor, hurrah for the spirit !!



Carbo Loading and Reconnaisance
Deciding that I am staying in a hotel out of town and to my surprise the early start time (Marathon - 2am registration, 3am start, Half Marathon (Ladies) - 4am registration, 5am start), I bought my bananas, Milo and powergel/bar for a good start before doing the unusual "reconnaisance" of the route, as we were still wondering how I was going to get to the starting line since there was limited parking and my car was too new to be parked on the side of nowhere! By the time we checked in, it was almost 430pm, and just timely for a good shower, short rest and then we headed out for a foot massage at 6pm (heheh) and then to MacAlister St for the sumptious hawker fare (my fake carbo loading!!!). Next table, I spotted these bunch of singaporeans (I think), chiselled frame, proudly wearing tshirts proclaiming conquering the singapore marathon and the bintan triathlon. (So, I did not fake the carbo loading - the pros are gorging hawker fare too!!!)



Early AM
My friend drove my car and dropped me off the furthest point I could imagine at RECSAM - a teacher's trainning college (which was supposed to be the spot we had surveyed) as roads heading close to the Penang Bridge was blocked. In enthusiasm, I did not realised that this was almost a good 2km+ to the starting point. So, I jogged, walked and made my way there in enthusiam, only to be kept in a pen area within Sekolah Gelugor before the flag-off - once we were released from the pen, the flag off was like 1 minute the moment the "women" were released from the pen! (The men half marathons were flagged off 15 mins earlier!). I spotted Yufang, our national walker warming up in the pen.



The bridge in the early morning
I was a bit dizzy at the start as there were too many people. But eventually when we got onto the bridge it was a good smooth run. The initial uphill was a small challenge but I was actually my fastest during that period. The first 5km was just after the second arch of the bridge. Then it was a good downhill, so it was a pleasant run. This was where it was weird- the distance to Perai was much further, it was a good 5km all the way to the other end (the toll - so I did run the WHOLE distance of the bridge - it is not 13km one way as claimed!). By the time we made the turn at Perai toll, it was still dark (Thank god for the early start), and the small path where the turn was made was really bad and everybody walked! By then, I realised my watch had stopped, so I relied totally on my ipod for the distance info.



Coming back, I started to get tired just before the slope up, because of the longer Perai distance. By the time we were back on the arch, I was a bit worried as my watch showed I may be late. The concern I had was that this half marathon was 22.3 km, I had set my ipod to 22km, but my watch showed I did not have enough time.



Finally I saw the 1km to go sign, and believe it or not, I was so relieved I actually almost sprinted the remaining 1km to the finishing line just under the qualifying time. When I checked my ipod, I actually probably did my best 22.3km distance, better than my KLIM time. Maybe the malfunction watch helped to scare me!



Postscript
It was a good run - I enjoyed the bridge, the flats and the slopes and I think maybe next year I can attempt the marathon here. I am still in need of more practice to get my timing better even for the half, but I am glad I made it, it was a fun run all in!



For the organisers, I would definitely wish they were more organised in the drinks - the poor marathoners and half-marathoners are dying of a drink at the finishing line - but there was no free mineral water, and the lines for milo was so long and across the field at the fun-run finishing. Come on, give me a break, I was struggling in daze looking a good 15 mins for the drinks station, and I saw many people similarly NOT holding onto a drink after the race.



Thanks to my support crew, my friend who did the long drive back - my foot was sore after the race, but we did have our last look at Gurney Drive (after my 1.5hr nap) and had lunch before we headed back to KL.



See you next year, hopefully I could train for the marathon then!

Leaky Valve

When was the last time you went for a full medical checkup? The last time I went was I think approximately 2002? How could you remember, you may ask? And then, how could you not do this annually!!

I remember because it was April fool's day, it was Chin Wee, one of my ex-colleagues' birthday. It was also the kickoff of the first project we did at my client. I called up one of my bosses and told him I was not able to work for the next 5 days because I wanted to go on MC. I remembered his response was an immediate no problem, then followed by the realisation of why I am taking 5 days of MC.

I walked into a dinghy shoplot medical center the next day, and did a day surgery to remove a small lump found in the most at risk part of the body, fortunately benign. 2002, I remember clearly, after a full medical checkup for my prudential insurance.

Today I went to collect my full medical checkup results from the Subang Medical Center. The physician gave me an almost clean bill of health, except as a last point, she took her stethoscope and did a check and found a potential "leaky valve" in my heart.

What is a leaky valve? It is also commonly known as a heart murmur, after a bit of surfing on the net just now. According to the physician and my current read-up it is quite harmless but needs to be monitored regularly and also got to be careful of infections ie when going to dentist (!?? this part I did not understand, no time to read also, later).

http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/guide/heart-valve-disease

I will be doing a follow up echocardiogram, I guess do it while I am still able to, sometimes I have given my body such an abuse that I got to learn how to take care of it in this second half of my life. Wish me all the best of health and hopefully it is just a harmless murmur. The physician actually said, it is generally ok for those who are healthy like me, but better to check it further.

However, the docter also said, this has nothing to do with the blood into the heart or the heart, it is the mechanics of the heart. I hate things I cannot control or understand, but I have faith that I am both healthy in heart and mind!

All Set to Conquer the Bridge

Photo excerpt from someone's website.

Can't believe I am actually both excited and nervous. Running my 5th 20km and above race - the first two was last year Pacesetters 20km, KLIM 2006, then this year, the same Pacesetters 20km, KLIM 2007.

I just wanted to be different this year. This is why we always believe that living in the fast lane, you push the adrenaline level up one level each day we feel the need to challenge ourself. So I am driving to Penang tomorrow for the Penang Bridge Marathon on Sunday 24th June. Ever since the Penang Bridge Marathon came back a couple of years back, I've always wanted to run the bridge - it was a novelty. It was also a good test of the "jaguh kampung" concept - that I could only run in KL. It will be a pleasant and refreshing change indeed.

(Aiyo, I am reminded of the uphill now by looking at the picture...)

PHD 1997

No, this is not the year I received my Phd, in fact, I do not even have one. I was just quite intriqued by the cars I saw in penang last weekend. I did not realise that it was quite fun.

PHD - yeah, the year would be good
PEN - short for penang?
PET - your car, your pet
PEY - surname of someone I know last time
PFT - sounds like a fart
PGA - golfers anyone?
PEE - what color?
PEW - judge
PTA - school anyone? (this one not out yet!)
PIA - well, the runners thing
PIT - in a rut?
PIM - organiser or mother hen?
PIN - maybe this would be a good pin number?
PIP - faster than you
PEA - little one

wow, this is endless... I guess my brain is really like a processor sometimes...

From Designing Systems to Designing Kitchens

Ever realise the similarities of designing systems and designing kitchens? Well, if you are like me and bought a kitchen from IKEA, you can appreciate the satisfaction on seeing a piece of item be transformed into a functional "system" - a kitchen!

Indeed, the picture here is a snapshot of a half completed kitchen I am building at my new house. This design was a version 3 - and I am sure it has its flaws too eventually, but currently I am in love with just a few pieces of wood placed together!

It all started when I first tried to engage a contractor to do the kitchen. He came, did some measures, showed me some pictures and kind of sketched out roughly what it should look like. Before he came, I had already drawn out some samples of how I think it should look from my research from IKEA. A week later, he reverted, and drew out on a piece of paper with the quotation. The fact was that, he drew with a pen and gave me the original!

After two more weeks, only he tried to contact me again and asked me when I wanted to start. During those two weeks I had already despatched my "temporary project family AKA family member who remains undisclosed" to IKEA to do further designs.

IKEA has a really cool kitchen design system. They could draw the exact design and model it in two and three dimensions and best of all, they could generate a BOM and quotation for you from this drawing. The only problem seems to be that they don't do this online, otherwise I am sure they will have more business!

So, back to my contractor, and I was photocopying his original and drawing my revisions on it as though I was reviewing my co-worker's proposal document! And then my colleague casually asked me, why am I doing that, if he is a designer, he should earn his money. That just about sealed the guy's fate, I took a day to refine the design and brainstorm it around, and by version three of IKEA design, I could even be pro enough to choose the wood.

Wait for my housewarming lunch ya? (Rest assured, only the microwave oven will be used to heat up the ta-pow KFC :-) haha)

Together in Separate Cars

Today we had a conversation about discouraging my treasure hunt team mate on going for a treasure hunt with her boyfriend. It was not because we think lowly of the boyfriend, it was just merely because we worked together better as a team whilst her boyfriend was relatively untested. So, I abused my power of a superior at some point after working hours (timing is important) and spoke to him about the demerits of doing the team game with your other half. Fortunately or unfortunately there was little resistance to my POV of being in separate teams! Ah, if you are in treasure hunting, you will understand the context...

The truth be it, well better written than spoken - I have first hand experience in this matter during my first few debut trips on treasure hunts about maybe many years ago. Time has passed by such that I don't really remember when, but it was the Kiwanis Hunt to Penang. I was in the same car as my boyfriend then, and I think there were two others in the car who were my friends, whilst his sister hunted with my other friend and a few girls. Though we did not argue, it was more the after the hunt which gave me the bad experience. The team was really my friends rather than his, so he actually stuck closely with his sister and friends during the trip. And this overnight trip and his preference to be with his sister whilst I wanted him to join my friends as we were in the same car really drove us both to the edge, even all the way driving back.

I guess I was young then, but this really taught me that it was not too good to do team events if you really want only one person's attention, you may as well take it private and enjoy your team events!

Reconnaissance Trip to Penang

I checked out the route last weekend. Actually, that is not true, but I did have a reconnaissance trip to Penang last weekend. It was actually as a last minute guest entry to the Maxis Team Golf Tour, playing at the Penang Golf Resort.





The Penang Golf Resort was situated on the mainland side of Penang, in fact at Kepala Batas constituency - Pak Lah's homeground. In fact, on the day of the game on Saturday, we spotted a helicopter patrolling the skies and heard the loud ceramah's around the corner, and our team heard that Pak Lah was in fact nearby having a function and probably also showing off his new other half to the kampung folks.



This round of golf has definitely nailed the interest back to the game. Watch out, I'm back, and with a more fun and stable game. I don't really curse and swear at every hole or run to look for the ball anymore, I am a lot more relaxed and also really enjoying the game and company.

Due to short notice, I flew into Penang last Friday night and came back on Sunday. After the game on Saturday, we took a cab back to the island and stayed at this comfy place called the Northam.

Back to the Reconnaissance trip - I actually had two opportunities to size up the challenge, despite it being a half marathon. I am a person who is focussed on my objectives once I commit to it - enroute over from the island to the mainland, I noticed with dismay, the bridge has this terrible uphill slope in the middle - and then followed by downhill (what did you expect, it is a bridge for goodness sake!). On the taxi on the bridge I could almost picture myself running the span - I may be even faster than the car, it was always jammed up at the bridge on both occasions crossing it!

On the island, there were many marquees bearing the run and the publicity which accompanied it for Visit Malaysia Year 2007 and more so at the tourist routes. I was on Gurney Drive and it was a pleasant surprise to see one of these marquees every other street light.

This is in fact reputedly the largest race in the country if the organisers can hit about 20000 participants. I am indeed looking forward to the race this weekend. Wish me luck!

Nike+iPod - Part 2 - Interactivty

In interactive marketing, the first thing that strikes you is always the human experience. When Nike+iPod got married, they did not envisioned the phenomenon which followed in terms of publicity and marketing success of the product. I hand it to the Nike and iPod marketing folks to really package the interactivity into the shoe, the community and the ipod sensor.

Running is really very addictive. It takes a runner to understand this statement. Runners tend to respect each other. When I met one of my clients, a very senior executive in a Singaporean company, and he confessed of running as a hobby and admitted to making the trip to HK specially to do the marathon. I looked at his wiry stature and his age and immediately my respect for him went up a few notches.

Thus, when Nike and ipod build these Nike+ shoes and ipod sensors, they did not count on that this will be a global village - though it is not as though you can run virtually, every runner respects the distance and is proud to show each other what they can achieve. It is really cool when I can review my running mileage online and throw out one or two challenges across the virtual world to friends who are in the system - then we motivate each other to roll in the miles!
The other cool feature I found out more about is the vocal reminder of the distance achieved, and the Lance Armstrong or Paula Radcliffe telling you at the end of the workout that it was your personal best. Short of saying my name, this was a surprising gimmick which bodes well at the end of a good run.

There is no finishing line. Indeed.

My Running Calendar

It is indeed running season!

Together with my seasones nike+ shoes, I plan to undertake the following challenges, and to get up to speed with 20km races- my target is 6 this year, then followed by 30km in Pacesetters next year and KLIM marathon next year.

June 2007
17th June 2007 - F.T.A.A.A Walk Circuits II – Lake Garden, KL / 730am
24th June 2007 - Penang Bridge Marathon – Padang USM, Penang / 22.5km / 5am

July 2007
8th July 2007 - Siemens 10KM Run – Dataran Merdeka, KL / 10.7km
22nd July 2007 - Larian Kuala Lumpur 10K – Taman Melawati, KL / 10km

August
5th August 2007 – Adidas King of The Road – Sunway Pyramid, PJ / 21km
12th August 2007 – PJ Half Marathon – Stadium Kelana Jaya, PJ / 21km

September
9th September 2007 - Mizuno Wave Run – Padang Merbuk, KL / 10km

The Puzzle We Could Not Solve

Well we almost did - this is an excerpt from the Kiwanis Hunt treasure questions. There are actually two questions here :

Treasure 4 - As written there - read it la...

Treasure 5 - Well, just a bunch of pics (this was the reason why I mms'ed this sheet in the first place)

Care to take a guess? Of course if you participated, don't need to try as you would've already known the answer.

Seth Godin - The Dip

I chanced upon a book by Seth Godin, the Guru of Marketing - he writes about the dip.

Note : Picture and info are all taken from his site above linked.

Below is the excerpt from the review of the book (original review here)

It's a mind grenade, a little bit of insight that will help you see what's causing your organization (or you) to get stuck. Here's the official description:

The old saying is wrong-winners do quit, and quitters do win. [PS The Dip just hit #5 on the New York Times bestseller list.]

Every new project (or job, or hobby, or company) starts out exciting and fun. Then it gets harder and less fun, until it hits a low point-really hard, and not much fun at all.

And then you find yourself asking if the goal is even worth the hassle. Maybe you're in a Dip-a temporary setback that will get better if you keep pushing. But maybe it's really a Cul-de-Sac, which will never get better, no matter how hard you try.

What really sets superstars apart from everyone else is the ability to escape dead ends quickly, while staying focused and motivated when it really counts.

Winners quit fast, quit often, and quit without guilt-until they commit to beating the right Dip for the right reasons. In fact, winners seek out the Dip. They realize that the bigger the barrier, the bigger the reward for getting past it. If you can become number one in your niche, you'll get more than your fair share of profits, glory, and long-term security.

Losers, on the other hand, fall into two basic traps. Either they fail to stick out the Dip-they get to the moment of truth and then give up-or they never even find the right Dip to conquer.

Whether you're a graphic designer, a sales rep, an athlete, or an aspiring CEO, this fun little book will help you figure out if you're in a Dip that's worthy of your time, effort, and talents. If you are, The Dip will inspire you to hang tough. If not, it will help you find the courage to quit-so you can be number one at something else.

-----------

Reflection :

Least of all am I thinking of quitting purely because I am in a rut - I am in a fortunate position in my company. I am just thinking if my ambition of doing things differently at the same scene has caused me to lose my edge - maybe what I need is another playing field or another view of the playing field.

Having lost many times, I wonder whether I really know how to quit ahead of the game?

Lost and Found

Laksamana Point in Melaka - one of the detours in Melaka after the Kiwanis Hunt

I have not been blogging for a while. I am at a mini dip - this is what the Seth Godin calls it - a mini dip is a period where you are at a chasm and cannot get out of - work has had its ups and downs and currently at a mini-lull where the future is unknown.

On a broader note, I have been hooked onto something more exciting.... treasure hunting! The pic above was part of a trip to Melaka for the Kiwanis Hunt on the 26-27th May - this was the grand prix of all treasure hunts in Malaysia.

We went with spirits high for the hunt and it turned out to be a great lesson learnt. Somehow I was not too perturbed by the "lesson of defeat" but I suppose my younger team members felt really defeated that we were disqualified out of time penalty after arriving late in the finishing point. Not only did we arrive late, we also did not answer the second half of the questions due to time constraints! The great consolation was that we had "potential" because we aced the first half of the questions but took too long!!!

The Kiwanis hunt has always been for the creme de la creme of treasure hunters in Malaysia - it was good to take part in this round's drive to Melaka and also a good lesson learnt for us to know our strengths and weaknesses. Rest assured team Rapid or "lookalike" will be back with more to offer, because we were wisely offered some tips from a wise man and experienced hunter.

I always like to think that, to have potential and lose is better than knowing you have no more potential and still lost.

This is as well a lesson in extremes - the day job that I do demands me to be a leader to others but most of all demonstrate the ability to offer more each day as the bar is raised constantly.

To know that in this instance of reference, treasure hunting, I have assembled the best team with the potential to win is a great feeling, rather than dwell on the lesson learnt this round in Kiwanis, I would like to declare that we have "found" ourselves.

What is lost will eventually be found when you do what you do best.

Nike + iPod - Bringing Interactivity to Running

www.nikeplus.com
Check out my run... This is the first run I did. On Sunday, I did a calibration run and yesterday, I prepared to visit the gym to do my first run but left my iPod in the car... so today was a first "run" on the new gadget...

I got to admit, it is a pretty attractive proposition - Nike and iPod in a joint marketing approach - pushed out a branding for Nike+ shoes, together with a whole new product line for shorts and vests which can fit the iPod.

Out of pure fascination and by coincidence, I bought a pair of Nike's three weeks ago. As at 3 weeks, I only managed to use it last weekend. And I am hooked...!!!

Since the KLIM, I promised myself to find a new pair of shoes for my next race - my Nike lasted me for about a year - the shoes were almost following the Nike Free approach, but very light. However, it really put an incredible strain on my sole - so much that the entire KLIM half marathon I ran with a strange creaking sound on my sole, and for a good week or so, I felt my sole when I was wearing flat shoes. I knew I had to look for another shoe....

Thus began my mission to find the most appropriate pair of shoes. From Kell Jay, my runner colleague, he profess by ASICS or New Balance or Saucony - these were apparently the runner's brands. In fact when I went to the New Balance store in 1 Utama, the store assistant impressed me by feeling the arch of my foot and advised me on the possible range which suits me. So, I thought I was going for New Balance, until one tiring day after work, I stumbled upon the Nike+ at the Nike store in KLCC....

The shoe I finally chose was the Air Span+4, and I got hooked to buying the iPod transmitter and receiver module. Check out the shoe at http://www.nikerunning.com.my/.

The shoe has indeed a broader front which enabled my larger foot structure to fit easily without risk of blisters. So far, after about 10km, I am still blister free, so it is looking good...

The Nike+ running online upload is really cool - it has a full analysis and graphical and historical tracking, goals, challenges and a whole community of runners - a brand new interactivity brought to runners, and I still cannot believe how all this is from branding and innovation.

You can see I am gushing over the technology, but it is indeed a marketing revolution and master stroke... see you online and challenge me?

Its only Tuesday...

It felt like a whole week has passed ...

In times like these, I look for inspiration from photos I have taken, but not too many recently. Theme for the day is ... Symmetry

Thought of the day : Symmetry completes the picture. Find your other half and let him / her complete the picture.

Solutions for a Small Planet

The processor took a break this weekend. I had a big workshop on Friday which was just completed and it drained every ounce of energy I had left. In the end, I hardly turned on my computer over the weekend, which turned out to be a good rest for me.

The phrase "Solutions for a Small Planet" I believe comes from IBM. I believe a long time ago, this was the catch phrase for the eCommerce revolution. If it is not the right party I am acknowledging, I apologise.

This phrase was in my head over and over again on Friday during the whole day workshop for my client. Everything we spoke about was to enable our client to develop a solution for the market and customer. The beauty about the telecommunications and IT industry is that both are areas where solutions developed are such an integral part of our lives now.

Wouldn't it be fun to develop solutions that are cheap and available to the public and benefit everyone?

+ Always on phones for the young child to mum and dad - press of a button to talk
+ Affordable computers to the entire nation, similar to the cheap computers in Africa
+ Broadband to everyone, mobility and broadband to every person, every where
+ Abolishing international phone rates which are ridiculously expensive
+ Abolishing roaming rates which are ridiculously expensive
+ Mobile TV for those who do not have time
+ No fixed line phones at home
+ Call conferencing for the family and friends
+ Two of you everywhere, anywhere, your virtual self

Solutions for a small planet.

Note : These were not the solutions we discussed in the workshop

Mind Over Matter

A colleague of mine was expecting her first child due on April 12. She wanted to take leave only from this week onwards, ie. 1.5 weeks before her due date. She had a relatively comfortable pregnancy and we had planned for her transition and she also managed her workload well, and even up to last Friday, she was working late for a few nights to clear off her backlog. She was very relieved on Friday, and we commended her for meeting her KPI on target for the delivery. When I mentioned she will be so relieved off the load of expectations that she may give birth over the weekend. To that she mentioned, "...hope not on April Fool's day...".

She gave birth on April Fool's day. And still had the energy to SMS us all and responded to our messages! Congratulations!

My Rome trip has been cancelled due to unforseen circumstances. I am actually more relieved than annoyed with the cancellation and suddenly the whole of next week seems relatively free. As I said, it had to do with having the peace of mind to go.

It seems the mind does controls the outcome.

Deconstructing The Glass Ceiling

The article below is excerpt from the edge about the same time I was reminded of the glass ceiling...


26 Mar 2007: Manager@Work: Deconstructing the glass ceiling
By Joyce Au-Yong Email us your feedback at fd@bizedge.com

Despite all the advances women have made in the workplace, a new study by Accenture titled The Anatomy of the Glass Ceiling: Barriers to Women's Professional Advancement provides evidence that there is a glass ceiling out there.

"In the survey, globally, women make up 45% to 50% of the workforce, but women at senior management levels make up only about 15%," Accenture's executive partner, Joan Hoi Lai Ping, told Manager@Work at a recent event held by the consulting firm to mark International Women's Day.

"That tells you that statistically, there is a glass ceiling." Just what constitutes this glass ceiling or invisible barrier that prevents women from getting ahead in business?

Accenture's study looked at three dimensions that would affect a woman's ability to move up the corporate ladder — individual (which includes career planning, assertiveness and ambition), society (equal rights, promotion programme, government support of parental leave), and company (having a fluid hierarchy, a supportive supervisor and transparent promotion processes).

A total of 1,200 male and female executives from eight countries in North America, Europe and Asia were asked to score these factors in terms of their importance in career success. The differences between the male and female scores were used to calculate the thickness of the glass ceiling — the higher the score, the thicker it is.

Three key trends emerged from the survey. First, 31% of females said internal support mechanisms such as mentoring and coaching within their organisations play a vital role in female advancement.

"A woman who joins the firm in her 20s is different from those in their 30s, 40s and 50s. In their 20s, they're just starting out, but in their 30s, motherhood affects the way they work," says Hoi.

"They have different requirements and commitments, and an organisation needs to be supportive of that." Supportive companies should allow mothers the flexibility to work from home, and to take time off from their career to be with their family, she adds. However, 60% of the female executives surveyed believe that companies are doing a better job than society in general to promote equality as a core value.

"Organisations, as they mature and become more competitive globally, will realise that retention of talent is important — including their women talent," says Hoi.

"Market forces will make it imperative for corporations to have diversity and inclusiveness." Surprisingly, gender is no longer seen as a career-limiting factor. Only 20% of men and women surveyed said gender limited their career advancement, while 35% of female respondents said gender had no effect on their career opportunities.

Interestingly, women in Australia and the Philippines were more likely than those in other countries to see their gender as a career advantage. The survey did not cover Malaysia or Singapore. Australia and the Philippines were the only two Asia-Pacific countries surveyed.

What advice does Hoi have for women to crack the glass ceiling? "... not to lose the support structure and your own determination to want to do something. There is a glass ceiling, statistically, and it's not easy for a woman to progress," she says. "But we should not take no for an answer — the glass ceiling is a minor inconvenience for us!"

Heading for Rome - Can I find my peace of mind?

Two and a half years ago, I was here, on this corridor leading to the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican in Rome. This was one of the most breathtaking corridors leading to the famous holy chambers.

In that business trip, my first and one of the far more stressful site visits for a client, I threw a coin over my shoulder at the Trevi Fountain, and my wish was to come back to the fountain with someone special.

Fast forward, this is where I will be heading to in the next one week - albeit different not too different circumstances, and definitely not a personal trip to the fountain with someone special.

This job has taken me to many places for both business and pleasure, and I have cleverly managed to mixed both together. Whilst many fancy such seemingly fancy lifestyle, let me inform those I know that every job carries it stress limits and responsibilities. Where I once looked forward to these "rewards" of the job, I now dread these trips as I find myself more and more unable to have the peace of mind to enjoy.

I am headed for Rome, but I am not sure if I can find my peace of mind.

A long forgotten friend in US pinged me a couple of days ago, and I am reminded of his words once, "this too shall pass".... what next then?

The Glass Ceiling Is Raised

I have always believed the glass ceiling is there. In the land of the rising sun where I was last week for two days for a regional meeting, I found out what I suspected - I walked into the meeting room of 40-50 executives attending the meeting (about 20 of them were local Japanese) and found myself to be the only female.

I felt immediately awkward but no one seemed to notice the same.

For the communications sector executives across Asia Pacific, numbering between 50+, I am the only female. I feel honored, challenged, ignored, young, alone, excited and tired of the battle, all at once.

I have never written about the glass ceiling. At work dealing amongst equals, I never feel the challenge of the glass ceiling, but when networking for business reasons, dealing with older executives, in the "man's" world, I sometimes feel overwhelmed, that I have to do more, that what I understand always seems not widely applicable enough, that I worry and work too much with the details, that I don't go to wine and dine with senior C Level folks enough.... then I realise I go back to the basics - there is a path and way for everyone, as long as I feel I am of service to my client, how I do it is my choice, how I get it done is my choice, and how I communicate I cannot change as it is me. And be contented I need to be.

The wrestle with the personal challenge of being a woman in a man's world is at times internally overwhelming, and at times, when we fit in with the rest, it almsot makes us aggresively not feminine. I acknowledge the balance to fit the inner self, the family, the work environment is indeed challenging.

As a closing to this deep thought, I found out that Japanese women hardly work after they are married, and that the % of women to men in my office in Japan is 10% and that there was only one female executive in Japan, maybe out of 80+. Live is more challenging in some countries. The glass ceiling is lower and cannot be raised.

The glass ceiling for me is raised, but it has always been there, it always has been and it always will. Sometimes one can raise it by defying the odds, but the most sensible thing is to just not worry too much about it I guess - worrying cannot make it go away and neither will fighting it.

One Night in Tokyo

I was in Tokyo for two days on a regional business meeting last Thursday and Friday. This was my first trip to Tokyo and work aside, it was a fascinating country - it was unfortunate I was not able to stay longer as I thought I had initial difficulties in hotel accomodation. Anyway, the pictures below speaks for itself why I think Tokyo is the city which never sleeps (from my short trip here) :

Pic 1 - 12+ midnight - This picture was taken at 12+ midnight at Shibuya, at the busiest intersection in Tokyo - these people were actually crossing the road at 12-1 midnight - it felt like NY times square at peak hours!

Pic 2 - 1+ midnight - We were visiting around the city which never sleeps - curiously checking out Love Hotel rates and quality - these establishments were actually cheaper than a room! These hotels were very discreet, hardly anyone manning the desk and choices of rooms were lighted up for those which were available... don't worry, we were not up to anything scandalous ...


Pic 3 - 4+ am - Cannot believe we stayed up the whole night from Ginza to Shibuya to Roppongi and finally to this famous Tsukiji fish market at 4+ am in the morning ! Watching fish auction and having a bit of sushi...

Pic 4 - 1+am - The busiest intersection in Shibuya. Crossing the intersection was actually quite scary when you can see the amount of people on the other side who is swarming over...

Pic 5 - 6+ pm - City of vending machines... This one with so many choices of noodles to order then pop inside to collect... apparently a friend tells me food is not the only stuff on a vending machine...

Beauty in Photos @ KLIM 2007

Pic 1 : One of my colleagues crossing the finishing line at slightly past 2hrs 16 mins...

This photo credit should go to the best photographer I "conned" to come to take photos for me in the KLIM 2007 race. Uniquely composed photos, if only this was a close up aka Lance Armstrong. He must have gotten inspired. All credit and I should not take away his masterpiece but I presume he prefers to remain anonymous...

Pic 2 : Lance Armstrong at his debut marathon (unfortunately that highlights how atheletic he is... the time difference I mean - it is comparing marathon to half marathon in case you did not notice !)

KLIM 2007 - 21km Race Report

This year's KLIM 2007 race is my first half marathon for this year and also my 2nd attempt at a half-marathon, the first attempt at last year's KLIM 2006, which I fared terribly despite qualifying under the 3 hrs time, I was severely dehydrated due to the water stations runnning out for I think 2-3 of the stations in the middle sector. This year, the best bonus was that this mistake was not repeated by the sponsors and there was ample water (and even 100plus!) at all refreshment stations as well as even sponging stations.

At the starting line...
We arrived at the venue around 5:30am. Along the way, it was sad to hear one of our friends had forgotten to collect her chip and number on Saturday due to a very stressful day at work, and her attempt to plead with the organisers by going early was to no avail, so she left disappointed. She had been one of our stronger runners, one of the few girls who had trained for the race and a marathoner.

At the starting line, I realised that there were lots of people in the orange we were wearing, but as it turns out, it was easy to spot us once you see a bunch of at least 5 orange clad folks! (See earlier posting on pics). I had asked one of my colleagues to be the photographer of the day and he obliged by coming at 530am! What a sport for a debut photographer...!

Clock strikes 6...
... And we were away ...! And so it was a pretty quiet and lonely track in the dark, up to almost Sg Besi near 10km when there was a bit more light in the sky. In fact, I was told that some people had mistaken the flag off time to be 630am (boo-boo from organisers - 630 was written on the reporting card, but there was announcement on website on the changed times).

A fun race at a steady pace
It was really a more fun race this year for me - I started the race at an easy pace and almost ran 100% of the first 10km then slowed down my pace and ran about 90% of the second 11km remaining. Taking in fluids and slowing down to enjoy the refreshments at the drinks station was a good approach to manage the previous feelings of dehydration and drained of energy.

My 1000+50 approach also helped. I would run 1000 steps and walk 50 steps. Except that when I managed to reach 1000 steps at one point, I was almost 100m away from a refreshment station, so the 50 did not matter! On another occasion, I kept losing track of the counting before I reached 500 and almost restarted a few times!

Finishing in pride
Yes, I could indeed claim that I finished with pride - this time, I managed my pace, my hydration and also timing to not hit the "drained" state before the end. So much that I could even afford to sprint the last 50m to the finishing line. Timing was not great, but maybe just slightly better than last year.

Post Mortem - have I sustained an injury?
During the race, for the first time, I felt a creaking sound on my right leg. Initially for a good 2km I thought it was the guy in front of me, until when he ran off and I heard it from my own leg. I have still no idea what it is, but I took this almost throughout the race. I feel it is related to the ligament and joints of the sole to the lower parts - I may need to check up to find out what it is. Luckily there is no pain. Hopefully it is just an anomaly.

KLIM 2007 - My first half marathon for the year

Pic 1 - Before the 21km starting - all in sync in orange

Pic 2 - In orange and fooling around before the clock strikes 6am starting.


Pic 3 - Trying to look cool at finishing for the camera






Pic 4 - Group photo with a bouncy camel

Congratulations to an old friend

My oldest friend from college got married last weekend. He was indeed the oldest friend I know, I have known him since we were 19 years old in college. He was my benchmark and epitome of extreme hard-work and stress - this was one guy who at college copied my Physics paper, but later throughout university we corresponded closely - he went to UK Birmingham and I went to Australia. Throughout the years after we graduated, I joined an IT consulting firm, and he worked for his sponsors, a family business in Ipoh.

Initially we still met every Chinese New Year on and off, and then I went for overseas assignments, and he continued to work at a remarkable pace, and slowly we did not touch base anymore. One day a few years later, I bumped into my old friend in Mid-Valley - it was timely and we resumed being good friends.

Fast forwarding, he was a guy whom I once fancied but then later considered my "oldest" trusted friend. I could never call him my best friend because he was so busy he could only appear once in 3 months or so, and only after being reminded a few times. He used to not be able to answer the phone then learnt to answer and speak only two sentences.

TK Lim found himself a beautiful wife, Joan, and they were married last Saturday. I am very happy for him, but sad too that even as a friend, I missed the most important part of his life, the times when things did not work out in some of his work areas, and when he found his other half. Perhaps I missed or I was never allowed to see these parts. Whichever, it has passed, and life goes on, no regrets.

Congratulations for finding yourself a wonderful partner in life. I hope you treat her more important than work, and I know you will. Your oldest friend here does not want you to feel sorry for not keeping me in the loop, I know why you did so.

Don't be a stranger.

10.4 and almost ready

Pic - At starting line of last year's KLIM.

One week before KLIM 2007 on March 18th. Last year, I pushed hard for my first half marathon for the KLIM - in the prep race on Pacesetters 20/30km race in January I achieved good timing and rhythm and had that gave me confidence I could finish the race for the KLIM half marathon 2006. Unfortunately the weeks leading up the race I had been very busy, and with Chinese New Year and the long hours at work, it ruined the pre-race preparation and caused me to be poorly prepared for the race - the result was a not so good timing and a long race distance without water which completely blew whatever mental prep I had left.

This year, I am more moderated in my pre-race preparation - with age and wiser (!), the past few weeks have been building up to the next week, today, we ran 8 laps at KLCC (1.3 per lap), thereby making 10.4km, half the race distance. It was quite a good race and we definitely did not regret not doing the SMART tunnel race because another friend who did the race and stopped for breakfast told us about the poor ventilation inside the tunnel thereby completely throwing some people off the pace.

We have gotten our "Saucony" vests - and it fits well!! It is very comfortable and great to race with, and the color is very obvious.... you cannot miss it.

See you on March 18th.

KLIM Circuit Run 3 - Lake Gardens 4 March 2007

Photo courtesy of tey

I tried a new technique last weekend in participating in the circuit run at Lake Gardens organised by Ambank in preparation for the KLIM. It was quite a fun event :

1) It had a slow slacker attitude to starting times (it started around 715am instead of 7am)

2) There was a leisure approach in signing up on the spot, and for FREE too

3) Unlike warning from a friend that previous circuit run in Taman Titiwangsa was crowded and disorgnised, this was fairly crowd free - I guess there must have been two reasons - it was Cap Goh Mei (15th day of Chinese New Year), and also it was a longer run - it was 2hrs for half-marathoners and 3hrs for full marathoners. Apparently this was more than the race distance for some of the folks!

Whilst the course was scenic, the slippery tracks left a little to be desired. We ran slowly the first round and came immediately upon a casualty who had tripped and hit the rocky pavement near the children's playground. Apparently later read that this turned out to be one of KC's friend. Hope he is ok - it is indeed unfortunate that some of the folks really race each other, the slippery track on downhill parts and also the criss-crossing through various areas can be really treacherous.

I employed a new technique in this "training" run - chit-chatting with others. For the first two rounds it was with my fellow colleagues, then we tried to pose for photos during strategic spots for photographers, and then I slowed down and an retiree came ambling by with steady pace - and I ended up chatting with two different persons on two rounds - taking away some of the boredom of just plodding along!

The other technique which is more fun during races is to focus on reading people's shirt backs - some of the newer vests have no logo or slogans at the back, but the traditional t-shirt fellas always have some cool phrase -

"Smell Victory" - Mr Yellow Shirt plodded coolly by, and I was thinking, smell sweat ....

"If you can hear voices at the back, this means you are not last" - My colleagues' baby blue Nike teased us, and made us quiet when we were following her ....

"Ngombe" - Mr Kenya number 1 - who swept past us 2 rounds = my 1 round - everytime he swept past, there followed a Japanese and a couple more guys further back, only in the 2:20 mins + do I see he was slightly out of breath but the legs were still steady like a rock

Then there were the characters -

"Mr Heavy Footsteps" - Stomping through steadily was a man with very heavy footsteps but steady and fast - it sure is killing his knee, I was thinking

"Mr Photographer" - Whom I learnt later is Tey, who gamely took photos of nearly everyone he knew and did not know

"Mr Sponge Squeezer" - The guy handing out sponge squeezes every round (hopefully they were clean) - he did not have much business however... these participants must be really kiasu to not slow down!

The post-mortem of this really fun outing to exercise was unfortunately a robber broke into my friend's car during the run and stole one of the guy's bag - causing a big havoc to the owner having to report losses, all over a good morning's run. What a spoiler....

In Bed With...

To be honest, this is where I have been spending most of my time for the last one week of Gong Xi Fa Cai "on and off" vacation....



Stop! Before you go delusional about who I've been in bed with, this is really a "fun" posting about two totally unrelated matters....



This Chinese New Year has been kind to me, I've managed to spend time to eat moderately, start back on my pacing runs (on new year's eve!!!) and also rest, ie. really spend time in bed.


On the second matter is this picture which was taken in a bar called Bed in Heritage Row. It was a pretty interesting name - imagine the commotion it caused when people heard...

"Come, lets go to bed together"

"I am going to bed with Ms X and Mr Y" (three-some!)

"Join me in bed?"

"Are you coming to bed or not?"

"But the night is just young, I thought we were going to bed together?"

... many more hilarious ones!

My verdict was that bars and pubs are really imaginative nowadays, thinking of interesting and catchy themes to attract crowds.

Just the week before the night we spent in "Bed", I was at a company organised "pub-crawl" (by great persuasion...) and the third and final bars we visited were called "My Home" and "Apartment 101" in Sri Hartamas. You can imagine the ruckus when people started asking, are we going to My Home now? And whose apartment are we going to next? It turned out Apartment 101 got a shock when as many as 100-150 people turned up in full force cramped in a small 2nd floor shoplot which is a bar pretending to be a "village" looking apartment. Seats looked like a vietnamese bedroom!

Now, I got to go back to bed, I am getting up late tomorrow :-)