Polar Bear on the run

Had a shopping spree mid-week last week. Not really a spree, just wished it was. Actually went to Mantat's sports shop in Bandar Tasik Permaisuri. Mantat co-owned this outfit. They are, if I'm not mistaken, sole distributor of Powerbar in Malaysia. You'd never missed them in any of the endurance events. They'd normally set up booth to sell their product, which BTW not limited to Powerbar only. And sometimes, co-sponsored those events.

If you want to buy cheap high quality sporting goods, u guys can go to his shop, sorry la lupa nama kedai dia, but u wont miss it if u go to Bandar Tasik Permaisuri as his shop is the only sport shop there. It might not carry the major brands, but I can tell u, the stuffs that he is selling is the same quality if not better than what u can find in the mainstream market. I bought an un-orthodox designed cycling jersey for RM75 and Polar(HRM+FootPod) for a much lesser price. Cant disclose, but definitely much cheaper. So guys, pergilah beramai-ramai ke kedai Mantat. And Mantat, aku dah buat promo ni bagi la diskaun lagi.

Bila dah dpt jam baru, apalagi, Batak la nak try. Petang tu jugak sudah layan Taman TAR dgn Tesa. Yes, my wife has picked up again her love for running. So she was using the nike+ while I used Polar. She did 1 round but I continued another round to test out more features on the watch. Verdict - Very satisfied, couldnt say much actually as I have only compared it with nike+, I know, its not apple to apple comparison.

On the other note, Ezan, Mantat's wife is also addicted to running now. And I felt good cos she said I'm one of the reason she wanted to run again, well, actually the main reason bcos her hubby gave her a Polar watch too. I was happy that I could give some tips for her to get started, not to say that I have enough experience, just trying to help anybody starting out. In Ezan's case, starting out again.

Slowed down my run routines for last week as the big race was on Sunday. Did freakish carbo loading on Fri and Sat. Tibai nasi 2 pinggan pkl 5 on Friday and malam boleh tibai pizza and pasta lagi. Saturday was no different, had 3 pinggan nasi and lauk sikit during my batch 20 yrs friendship re-union dinner. But had to passed the Kambing golek.

The dinner was great as this time we did something more meaningful. Did the Maghrib, Yassin, Isya' and sembahyang Hajat. After dinner we viewed a slide show on old photos. As you could imagine, suasana gamat ya'amat. Kudos to Ikang and other committee.

Well, at last, Sunday is here. Woke up at 4.30. Had 2 slices of bread and a cup of coffee. Azmil and Faisal came to my house and we went off together at 5:15. Arrived arnd 5:40 had difficulty finding parking space. Walked down for about 1.5 K, which is good, sort of to warm up. Lepak kat tent Powerbar Mantat. Met Kam. Terkucil 2 kali behind the bushes.

The run started excatly at 6:17am. Cant do much on the 1st K as the run started up a hill, so it was quite slow and very crowded. Took this oppotunity to jump into the bushes and terkucil for the 3rd time, well, at least tak terasa nak ter'kubab' tu dah kira cukup bagus la. Maintained arnd 5:30/k pace for a good 10K. Clocked 56 min/10K. Was dong quite fine and was enjoying the climbs more than the decsends (note: need to work on downhill run). Reached 15K on 1:26. Walked for few hundred meters to eat the carbo gel and replenish my fluid.

As I started running back, felt some pain on the outer part of my left foot. Kept on running but couldnt shake off the pain. Stopped and re-strapped my shoe. Pain still there. I think Adizero LT is good only for short distance 20K or less, coz the impact of the run started affecting me arnd that distance. The cushion is quite minimal, more for speed I guess (Shd have listened to Stupe to get a more cushioned shoes). Just buat bodoh and kept on running. Met up with Stupe(he was pirating) arnd Plaza Damas. He ran with me for few hundred mtrs and he left off to seek for OP Chief Kutu. Tabik la kat Stupe. He was supporting few other runners as well by giving encouraging words, even after he had ran more than 20K.

The real pain started at 18K mark. It was unbareable, the pain in my foot. But had to maintained as I know Shazly is waiting somewhere there taking photos, tak nak la dia snap photo muka aku kesakitan. When I reached 20K. The pain was too much. Walked for about 500m. And started running very slowly for abt 1-2K. Was doing as slow as 7min/K.

But some how, got back my spirit. Was telling my self don be such a sissy. So pushed myself not to exceed 6min/K if I were to complete it sub 3 hrs. Almost wanted to stop again at KM 26/27. But Shazly came a long and told me 'jgn nak mengada2 berhenti skrg, 3K je lagi'. Well, just pinned back my ear and pushed whatever left in my tank. Finished GE30K in 2hrs 57min. Puas hati...memang puas hati. Next stop, Kenyir triathlon.

Getting Ready for G.E.30K

The whole week was spent wisely, I think, to prepare my self for the run on th 18th.

Started of with 14K on previous Sunday, from my house, Wangsa Maju to Taman TAR + Taman TAR loop.
Recovery on Monday, 6.5K, KLCC.
Intervals on Tuesday, 6.5K, KLCC.
Long run on Wednesday, shorten to 4 K only, perut buat hal.
Long run on Thursday, 10K, Pandan Loop.
Leisure ride 22K with Bandit, Kam and the Melewati gang on DUKE, before it opens on Friday.
Bogged down with stomach bug, Friday and Saturday.
Long run on Sunday, 24K, Bukit Aman-Hartamas-Double Hill-Bukit Aman.

Tested the nike+ plus sensor(borrowed from Azmil) for the 1st time on Thursday, and I think the reading was quite accurate. Did not have any problem eventhough I was wearing Adidas shoes, easily slip it in the side of the shoe. This was what it reported. Time= 1:01'29", Dist=10.83K, Pace=5'40"/K. Wasted a lot of time as I was fiddling with the iPod and stop so many times bcos of that. Maklumla, perak, baru 1st time pakai.

Enjoyed it so much that Ibought it the next day for RM 109. As I have iPod Nano already, the investment made is minor. I figured, before I have enough money to buy the Polar GPS watch, I can just use nike+ plus for the time being. Now, I need to korek in my boxes to look for the arm strap, leceh siut nak bawak keluar masuk iPod from my running short's pocket.

On Friday, went to The Bike Boutiqe by accident. Went to pay my bills at Flora Damansara, and then teringat Bandit cakap TBB is besides Citibank. Spent quite some time there looking arnd and bought the magnetic reflector/LED lights that u can paste it on your running/cycling jersey. I think this is one of the best device from safety point of view. The lights are quite strong and can be seen as far as 1/4 mile. Now I'd have a better peace of mind if I ride/run in the dark.

Saturday went to Irina's (Charlies's and Noreen's daughter) aqiqah in Putrajaya. The food catered was fantatastic, had this poached telur itik masak lemak. Sedap gile siut. And ayam goreng Kg. Attap was to die for. As this day was my carbo loading day, apalagi, hantam cukup2 la.

Sunday, the plan was to do the GE route. Started of at 6:50. Was actually sesat after the Memorial Tunku Abdul Rahman. Managed to find my way back. That was also the point where I realised that the nike+ sensor was not working. I've slip it in my shoe the other way around. Stupid, only realised this after running for abt 23 mins.

Nevertheless, reset the device and ploughed my way quite solidly to Hartamas Petronas. Had a can of 100 plus. And continued up Jalan Hartamas and turned back. Was still running solidly to the start of double hill. Stupe would have been proud of me. I was not panting as badly as when I had the run with him few mths back. He had made a significant change in my life from that run, I stop smoking. Went tru the hills without stopping a single time.

This was the timing I got from nike+(after fixing it).
Dist= 19.62 KM, Time=1:44:32, Pace=5:19/km.
As I had ran a good 23 mins before I reset, taking avg pace of 5:19/km, I'm guessing that I actually have covered 4.3 KM. In summary, this wd be the details.
Dist= 23.93 KM, Time=2:07, Pace=5:19/km.
For the race on 18th, I need to cover 30K. My target is to complete it in 3 hrs. I sure hope I can.

2nd Half Dec Updates

Where to start, too many things to talk about as I've not been updating this blog for quite some time. Basically, Dec was jam-packed.

Attended few kenduris and B'day parties. Aisyah's wedding, Anak Arfan's Aqiqah, Iman's B'day and the biggest of them all, my brother's wedding ceremonies.

Also had few rounds of golf, the first one for Maon's farewell, and the other one for Atuk's homecoming. Nothing much to talk about except that now I know Maon can hit his drives 270-300m. Mamat ni makan besi agaknya, and to top it off, he hit 80% fairway with that monstrous drives. If only his putter could be more loving to him, he could have easily hit mid 80s.

Kapt Mior Azmir Shah (Mir)'s wedding was the major and significant event for my family. Since he's the last one, our family wanted to finish it with a bang. I was really feeling the heat and stressed as I was being tasked as the entourage coordinator for the trips to Syikin's(Mir's wife) house and the floor manager for the event in KGPA.

A lot of planning needs to be done and it was made much more difficult bcos u are dealing with families, not so easy to dictate them, if u know what I mean. I cant recall the number of times I need to print and reprint the itineraries and plans to accommodate changes that changed so dramatically like the weather in December. Alhamdullillah e'verything went smoothly for the Akad Nikah on 31 Dec night, Bersanding di rumah perempuan on 1st Jan and of course, the biggie one at KGPA on 3rd Jan night.

I am very proud with the committee members and all the working personnel as the event at KGPA was right on the dot, starts at 8pm and finished at 9.30. Very rare nowadays. And I fell very satisfied that more than half of the guests could witness for the first time the ceremony full with Military tradition with sword bearers, bag pipes etc. My sister in-law, Jehan, even said that one day she wants to marry a Military man, just so she could have this kind of wedding.

On the other hand, I was not able to do much training for the GE30K this 18 Jan, even though I was so inspired by Dean Carnazes, the Ultra-Marathon man. So inspired that I ran from my house in W maju to Taman TAR, complete the Tmn TAR hill and finished at 7E Ampang Jaya..at 12 noon last Sunday. Hoping that this punishing route could cover up for my lack of training the past few weeks after Malakoff 12K.

Before I forget, the whole family witnesed the first time Noah rolled over un-asssited...this just tops everything.