Marathon Training Comes Early

My colleague reminded us, we have 20 weeks to KLIM 2008 (KL International Marathon).

It is time to be bold and take the marathon challenge.

My target? Finish by 6hrs. My other target? Get 10 people from my company's running club to join. One goal is easier than the other. Guess which... :-)

Pay it Forward

Today, I was fortunate to be gifted an act of kindness. At almost 1045pm when I was heading home through the Jalan Damansara toll booth, I realised I had entered in the Plus gate with insufficient funds. The guard seated there had no idea to reset the gate and take my money and I was caught sweating it waving my hand whilst 3-4 cars started piling up behind me.

Guess what?

The car at the back of me, the driver got off the car, came to swipe the toll with her Plus card and told me to go ahead and ran back to her car. I was stumped and actually went ahead and drove on, quite surprised by this super kind $1 act!!! Instead of swearing at me, someone actually paid for me! (And I left without saying thank you or paying her, as she had ran back to her car).

Dear kind stranger, thank you. Even if virtually done. You made my day.

Living the Extreme Life

I'd like to think I live the extreme life.

When I was in school, I imagined living in an igloo and how boring it would be to spend the day in an ice white round dome. Then I thought about the interconnecting igloos and how I could crawl to other's igloos and then I watched TV and saw the eskimos cooking in an igloo, how can the smoke escape when all the igloos are connected, how to crawl out if you are fat... well it goes on...

In fact, the above is a true story. I did have those kind of abstract imagination when I was younger, as the blog goes, I'd like to think I am a processor able to see things in a movie-like fashion.

Similarly too, I've found that since I joined the corporate world many years ago, I've had fewer opportunities to really explore and live the extreme life.

I'd like to tell people I am the exception to the rule. This is my first job. There are ups and downs but spending at least 12 hours in a work-like environment everyday sometimes drains our creativity and mind.

Meeting people and learning things has enabled me to be fascinated with a different kind of extreme - the actions of an extreme leader - one who inspires but yet is individual.

I'd like to think I will always aspire to be the extreme leader in both life and work. With that, I'd like to welcome all to my new blog - http://www.extremeleadership.blogspot.com/

Always experimenting ... :-)

Mizuno Wave Run

Yeah, I'm 3 for 3 for Mizuno Wave Run - this is the third run - 2005, 2006, 2007!!! Getting worse all the time... !

I am so incredibly unfit, but I am glad I did this - the double hills route was a pleasant walk for me :-)

Good job to SCH who did his maiden 10km and was ahead of me. I definitely know how to pace heheh...

Pic - Big hair day :-)

Picture credits - Chan Wing Kai for Pacesetters

The Prague Sinfonia Orchestra

The Prague Sinfonia Orchestra held a special Gala Benefit Concert on 8th September 2007 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Center. I was invited there by WF, who convinced me to go as benefits were going to the Kiwanis Club charity fund.

I had anticipated a tough to stay awake boring performance, but it was a pleasant surprise that I was able to stay awake, shut my eyes, and be lulled by the beautiful unique sounds of the orchestra.

Two thumbs up for the performers, I was impressed and enjoyed the soft and light evening a lot. 12 hours on the road for treasure hunt and being lulled by orchestra music was a pleasant surprise for me.

I was glad to be entertained and also had a taste of "royalty" graced performances.

Lexis-Nexis Treasure Hunt 8 Sept 2007

This hunt was our first after the "small victory" at the Atmah Hunt (two posts below!), when we got a good boost of confidence for becoming the "best of the rest".

We were not quite prepared for this hunt in the very beginning. I would not say that we were not ready because we were the same, with a twist... this time, I was driving. About exactly a year back (in fact Sept 1st 2006 - very memorable), Toyota (this is how I refer my cars by) had an awful accident with myself in the driver's seat, exactly on the day I was promoted. My colleagues took it on me that it was time to change my car. I was just glad I escaped unscathed. After that, Toyota was never the same again, and even no internal engine parts were replaced, it just sounded horrible after that, and when I bought a new car in Jan 2007, I had not driven too much the Toyota (passed it onto Dad) until the day before this treasure hunt.

My fears were unfounded, as the handling of the car and the manual drive was easy for me to adjust to. It was like cycling, just get back into the groove.

The same was not to be said for our maiden threesome event for this hunt! WY, JS and myself took on this with enough gutso that we were convinced that we would not be far off, but when I saw the "creme de la creme" of names in the hunt briefing, I knew it was going to be tough going.

The hunt started off in Subang Mewah (where Timeout Solutions was), and circled there about 3-4 rounds - by the time I passed the breakfast shop almost 3-4 times, I was exasperated! I never caught onto the style of questions from Dominic, the CoC, and coupled with that I was driving, it was almost a 2 person affair for WY and JS, who each felt as though they were doing two person's task!

In conclusion, we ended up with 9o something points out of 145 and the last prize offered was for position 22nd at 106 points - so we walked away with no prizes but a sore ego! I did not feel too uninspired by this episode - I guess I am a real marathon runner, I felt it was a good lesson learnt on what did not work. But I guess my two fellow competitors felt a bit deflated from the non prize winning position.

In fact, I was up from 5am to 5pm for the hunt, and reached home at 5pm after fetching my fellow competitors back, and then only to head out again at 630pm for a concert, and the next day, ran 10km. Phew!

Though I did say I found this CoC difficult to adapt to, I am game to be challenged again! The only thing I did not like was that I felt they recycled questions - I was sure I had hunted through some of the questions (2-3 questions) before, despite our virginity in this sport - we only had taken part perhaps 5-6 hunts.

Come on, team, be motivated, we were 3 novice females (and with a manual car!!) !

Lessons learnt from this hunt :
1) Some people can think and drive at the same time. I cannot. I can look and drive, but cannot process what I see, as I prioritise the traffic, people and road ahead of the puzzle processing. Amazing capability, huh, the unconcious brain?
Lesson - Keep to the roles, I cannot drive.

2) If we really wanted to do with 3 person in the team, the roles has to be pretty interchangeable. We should've kept the navigator in the front, as writing down the answers did not help WY, it distracted her and reduced her looking time, whilst JS had to lean forward each time as navigator and she was the only one who solved treasure clues.
Lesson - Need to define clearly the double roles and adjust accordingly if 3 persons

3) Listen to the briefing on the day - we missed one clue because we did not hear the organiser's name.
Lesson - Be alert for briefing tips and also goody bag tips

4) Adjust and learn from each CoC's style, but do not be too cooked up by their approach. The free mind is able to adjust faster than a mind conditioned by rules.
Lesson - Prepare, but also be prepared to adapt

5) Enjoy and Stay Motivated
Lesson - This lesson we had learnt much earlier and this is why I never mind losing, I always enjoyed and is motivated by competition, you can always target to beat them later!

Bunga Raya Course @ Saujana GCC

I achieved another notable first today, I played a round of golf (note, I am still on leave ok...) at the Saujana Bunga Raya Course with my friend TAL.

The first time I've been to Saujana GCC was to view the Malaysian Open Golf tournament. I cannot remember when it was, maybe 2004 or 2005? I walked and followed Thongchai Jaidee on the Sunday final round, it was quite interesting to be a spectator of an open golf tournament.

This time, was the first time I've ever played at the Bunga Raya course at Saujana - they have 3 courses - Palm, Bunga Raya and championship Cobra course.

It was a refreshing experience because the course was pleasant, well maintained and the entire course was covered with greens and trees between holes which made it feel like a fresh lush forest - the smell of fresh greens and trees filled the air, and the relative slowness of pace refreshed me. The regulars were walking the course, and we took our time in casualness, even had a short 5 mins break between the two 9 holes and still ended up only taking about 3 hours 45 mins!

Green invigorates. This was the difference and this was why I did not like the urban jungle of singapore. It felt congested and lack of space for the individual in the urban concrete jungle, but just 15 mins from home, I could enjoy the greens of a lush course which was both challenging and relaxing.

I may seriously consider buying the membership if my golfing buddies does the same.

Atmah Treasure Hunt 2007 - Novice Champions

The sacrifice of not racing in Subang Jaya 10km was well worth it, we emerged first in novice category in the Atmah Treasure Hunt held on 25/26 Aug weekend. It was a hunt from KL to PD, organised by Pava - our first time to encounter the "anagram king"...!

Small victories goes a long way, though we were champions 1st of 6 cars in novice category, but when viewed in the broader scope of things, we can be proud of ourselves - best of the rest (in the open category, we would've been better than 7th position, and then after that there is the gap to the masters of a whopping 16 points).

The first prize was plane tickets for 4 worth RM10k, to India, with a tour package! The second prize was return tickets to Bangkok - both these were good sponsor prizes.

Overall the hunt was quite fun, we have each found our niche areas and a decent team, at least maintaining 3 of the team members all the time should get us decent positions in future, I think we're definitely more organised and structured - a long way from our first big treasure hunt together - Mensa Treasure hunt last year end of year.

The prize giving dinner session was also very fun, I had "wholesome" entertainment, and the quizzes held showed us that we were severely lacking in general knowledge!

Lesson learnt in this hunt :
1) - Be humble, there are always those better than you, otherwise it is no fun.
2) - Age and profession is not a barrier to general knowledge know-how, we still have a lot to learn
3) - It is always more fun when you laugh at your own mistakes!

Pic 1 - Prize giving - this pic is good to spur us further, one day, top 3 will be ours, heheh
Pic 2 - My team-mates, one guy and three little ladies, ah, all it took was a little bit more of the female balance in the car, heheh (no offence CG)


Well, see the folks smiling here, they will be part of the future champions team!

Footnote - okay, just one - we were stuck on question 1 as usual - we never started well. Just trivia for the general readers :

Dive more than once to reveal a trap
Answer : Devi's Corner

Carbo Loading

Doing some serious carbo loading in Singapore. Can't believe I eat so much during a couple of off days :-)

I love stupid photos for some reason. It must be because of the work stress that I actually find it easy to laugh at myself for these silly photos.

I'm sure there's enough banana's here to last a few marathons...

Fish Reflexology

I did not know I had yummy feet... I thought all those running would have been detrimental to any footsie I could have tried with anything (anybody?!) but fishes...

Believe it or not, this is an actual scene with me taking a photo of my ugly feet being tickled by hundreds of opportunistic African fish, who chewed on my dead skin?!?

This is supposedly the new form of reflexology I found during my short break at Sentosa Island, Singapore.

Just don't think about it. It actually exfoliates quite well.

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.