Holidays - My Escape from the Tsunami

As mentioned before, I need to rest so I went for a 6 days holiday starting from 24 to 29 Dec 2004.

My holiday destination was the state of Kedah. The first destination was to Gunung Jerai on 25 Dec for one night. I drove down the mountain the next day intending to visit the areas around Sungei Petani.

On 26 Dec. 2004, an earthquake ocurred off Sumatra. The tsunami wave struck 11 countries including Malaysia. In Malaysia, three states were affected; Penang, Kedah and Perak. As it happens, I was in Kedah when the tsunami wave came struck Kedah. As I am writing this blog, it also means I am alive and well . I was very lucky to have escaped when the waves came ashore.

More to come this weekend.

Rest

I need to rest. Rest from work and running. From running, it is a forced rest because of injury. From work, it is a welcomed rest because I am tired. Ever since I've joined the project 1-1/2 years ago, it has been non-stop work at a frenetic pace. December 2005 has been especially busy. January 2005 will even be worse.

I have taken 3 days leave until Wednesday to clear my annual leave . I will be going to Gunung Jerai and then wandering around somewhere.

Don't expect my H/P to be swtiched on very often. Merry Christmas everyone.

The New Far Eastern Economic Review

I have always had a lot of interest in issues related to Asia. Perhaps it is because I have spend most of my travel time in the Asian region. One of my main sources of news about Asia is the Far Eastern Economic Review. I have been reading FEER since 1989 and has been a subscriber since then except for 2 years.

In November I received an e-mail from the publisher saying that the weekly FEER will cease publication. A magazine which has been published for 58 years and have been fearless in reports of corruption and despotic regimes will be closed. I was shocked and dismayed.

The e-mail mentioned FEER will be relaunched in a journal format published once a month. It will be published in Beijing instead of Hong Kong. Today I received the first copy of the "new" FEER.

Well after flipping through the articles, I can't say I am that impressed with the new FEER. There seems to be less bite in the articles. The contributors are sourced from various academic institutions, think tanks or well known Asian thinkers. Previous FEER staff who have first hand and "street knowledge" about Asia does not make any contribution in this FEER. They were all fired in December 2004 by Dow Jones, the publisher.

I will keep receiving the "new" FEER until the value of my previous weekly FEER is utilised. In the coming months, I will have to judge if it's worth subscribing to this FEER.

I wonder if this new FEER will publish articles critical of the Chinese government. I' ll doubt if they would although it is stated on page 3 : " .... continue to offer independent reporting and analysis of Asia...." .

Backpacker Days

I am reading a book called "Maximum City". The book is a non-fiction story about the author's experience when he moved back to Mumbai (Bombay). The chapter I was reading was about various problems living in Mumbai like paying the gas man to get cooking gas cylinders.

While reading about these problems, I was overcomed by a wave of nostalgia. I could relate to these problems. I have encountered them often during my travels in India.

In those days I used to travel back-packer style. Nowadays this type of traveller has a more upmarket term coined by the tour companies - F.I.T : Free Independent Traveller. Back when I started to travel in the late 1980's , it was a back-packer , budget traveller or just "The Great Unwashed El cheapo, skinflint tourist". Yeah , I used to be one of these types although I did try to bathe at least twice a day and I did NOT try to always save every dollar.

I think ever since 1999, I have changed the way I travel. Now I stay at hotels instead hostels or guest houses. True, I don't stay at 5 star hotels (affordability reason) but now choose the more affordable 2 or 3 star. I take tours bought from travel companies going around in air-conditioned bus or vans. Usually there is even a tour guide to fend off the touts and unofficial "tour" guides.

There is a price to pay for these conveniences, comfort and security. I spend less time talking to the locals I meet and instead learn about the country from the tourist guide or books. I am surrounded by people connected to the tourist industry.

Discovering about a country, culture and people has been reduced to what I read from the Lonely Planet guidebooks and tourist brochures. The sense of discovery and wonder learning from direct experience is lost.

I resolve to return to my roots, the way I used to travel and enjoy travelling - as a back-packer.


This will be one of my new year resolutions.

So much for Retirement

I did not run on Thursday and Friday due to my retirement from running.

On Saturday evening, the sky were filled with dark clouds and there were rumbling sounds from thunder. After two days without exercise, I was feeling lethargic and out of sorts. I went to the Klang stadium intending to do brisk walking for 4 km. I walked for 2 x 400 m , saw Albert doing an easy run . I wanted to ask him where to buy discounted Brooks shoes for Klang Pacer members. To do this, I started to run beside him intending to stop after he had answered my question.

The intended "stop" did not happen as I continued running with him. In fact, I continued running for 6 x 400 m . So much for retirement.

After the run, I walked on the reflexology path. No problems with my left foot today.

I just CAN'T stop running- love it too much and because it means so much to me.

I decided that I won't retire after all, instead I will reduce mileage and frequency. My plan is
is to run 4 km x 3 times a week. The other 4 days I will do race walking which I had just learn from Mr. Gan three weeks ago.

However I won't be running at the Bukit Aman or going to the Pacesetters KLIM 2005 Peer Support event tomorrow.

Retirement from Running

After doing research on the Internet, I have concluded (as did the specialist) that I have a compressed nerve (pinched nerve) - <info also here>, somewhere which is causing problems on my left foot. It is not Plantar Fasciitis as my symptoms are more typical of nerve compression. The symptoms as I experienced it, starting from around January 2004:-

1) 1 to 4 mths : Numbness of the left foot during running and pain in the toes, then

2) 4 to 7 mths : Numbness dissapeared but felt burning sensation after each run, then

3) 8 to 10 mths: Discomfort during running, swollen foot and burning sensation.

4) Oct/Nov : Fasting month, reduced mileage : 2-3 km twice a week. Minor symptoms as per 3).

4) Before and after Singapore race, symptoms became worse.

The Siemens 10k was the turning point - my left foot was sore for 2 days (until Wednesday). This incident prompted me to seek medical advice the following week.

Now what ? For a start , I have decided to retire from running. I will not run again or do any form of sustained running/training until the symptoms fully dissappear. I may try to run sometime in early Jan. 2004 before the next medical appointment (14 Jan. 2005). The outcome of the run will determine whether I continue to "retire" or commence running.

I will miss being able to run but I look at it this way: My "retirement" will perhaps allow full recovery?

My Left Foot Injury - the Diagnosis

I went to see the Orthopedic specialist on Tuesday. The diagnosis - possible compressed nerve. But I am not entirely sure if the diagnosis is 100% accurate. I will have to research this subject more to see if it fits the symptoms. However my greater concern is the long term effects of this problem.

I am currently taking Metycobal (Vitamin B12) for this injury. It's supposed to accelerate the repair of damaged nerves.

Again I have to do more research on this problem to evaluate its impact on my running. Do I take a break or continue running by making some changes like a getting a suitable shoe?

Recipe #1 - Breakfast

I thought I shared one of my favourite breakfast recipes. Sometimes even I get sick of eating cereals or oatmeal for breakfast even though they are good for me. So when I get bored with cereals/oatmeals, this is one of the things I eat:-

Recipe#1
1) Two slices of wholemeal bread - toasted medium.

2) While still hot, spread peanut butter on the slices.

3) On top of the peanut butter, spread cream of corn

4) Add honey to to the cream of corn and mix them

5) Eat !

The good stuff:
a) Fibre - from bread and corn
b) Vitamins
c) Monosaturated fat from peanut- lowers risk of heart disease.
d) Anti-Oxidants (honey)

The bad stuff:-
a) The cream of corn has a high salt content.

KL Marathon 2005 - Where the fak is the website?

I have been trying to register for the KL International Marathon 2005. But got this error message:-

Unable to determine IP address from host name for www.klmarathon.gov.my

Where the fak is the website? The organisers can't even get the website up and running properly.

I have decided to register for the full marathon but just in case, I will also register for the half marathon. It will be my first marathon.

Really when I think about it, the Singapore marathon is the best race for a first time marathoner. Besides the flat course, the facilities and support for the runners are first class, reallu deserves to be called an international event. Will KLIM be an international class event?

My Medal Colllection

Period 1999-2004

Post Singapore Recovery Runs

After the Singapore Run, I took three days off from running to rest. Unlike previous half marathons in Malaysia where my legs would be sore for 3-4 days, this week just two days later,my legs has fully recovered. Perhaps it was running at slow speed but what helped a lot was the flat course. There was no straining of the quads when running uphill or pounding on the legs when going downhill.

On Wednesday I was already doing a recovery run for 4 km. The next day I did 3.9 km and then another 2.6 km with Jamie and Justin.

Today I ran 4.8 km around the 400 m track at the Klang stadium with one of the Klang Pacer runner. Enjoyed today's run a lot. So far, my left foot injury has improved a lot. Not much swelling or pain after each run. On Tuesday, I have an appointment with the specialist.

I also made a trip to the Ikano Power Centre this morning. The reason was to check out the sports shop. There was really only one sports shop - Citadium. They had a largest range of Brooks shoed I've seen anywhere in the Klang valley. I've never worn a Brooks shoe before but am planning to get one this year. The thing that struck me about the Ikano P.S was its design. It felt more like I was walking aroung a shopping centre in Europe, Scandinavia in particular.The vibe was so unlike a typical Malaysian shopping centre.

Singapore Marathon 2004 Report

I stayed at Hotel Asia , Scotts Road throughout the 5 days in Singapore. The half marathon race starting time was 6.30 am. Unsure of the extent of road closures and the time it will take to reach the Esplanade, I booked a taxi to pick me up at 5.00 am. It turned out that it took only 10 minutes to reach the Esplanade. I had more than 1 hour time to kill before the start. I spend this time wandering around the starting line and field (Padang) and going to the portable toilet three times. Amazingly there were dozens of portable toilets at strategic locations. This was so unlike the big races in Malaysia like KLIM or Penang where there are at most 6 portable toilets. Come-on race organisers in Malaysia, how much does does it cost to hire more portable toilets?

Pre-Race
There were also other useful facilities ; tents with various types of food (payable), bag storage, drinking water station, playground equipment for kids etc. In short, the organiser have really given much thought on the needs of officials, volunteers, runners and their family and children as well.

I came across Andrew, Bernice and Justin at the Padang. We chatted about our race plans. I showed Justin where the bag storage and later we went to see the full marathon start. We missed the start, but the crowd was so big that the back end runners were still walking towards the starting line.

After this I got into the pen for the sub 2.5 hrs runner while Justin was in the sub 2 hr pen. Standing next to me was Julian. We talked about his trip to Bangkok while waiting the firing of the start gun. Suddenly the front runners started to move forward, had the starter fired the gun? I didn't noticed but just followed the crowd walking towards the start banner.

The First 10 km
Past the start banner, I started to run slowly, cautiously while gauging the sensations of my left foot. Was there any discomfort or pain? At this time, I was still running beside Julian and chatting. After 2-3 minutes, the left foot was still OK and I increased my pace.

It was a comfortable jogging pace for me. My target was to run 65 minutes for the first 10 km. Due to an injury on the left foot. my modest race target of 2 hrs 15 min seemed to be achievable at this point. It was quite boring to run at this slow pace as my normal pace for a half marathon is 58 min. To minimise boredom, I spent the time looking for my friends running the marathon. Only managed to spot Alex and no one else. There was also a guy running in a wedding cake costume.

I reached the the 10 km mark slightly ahead of schedule at 63 minutes.

The last 11 km
The last 11 km is when I got into trouble. It started with a slight discomfort on my left foot. Shortly it started to hurt so I slowed down a bit and changed my running form to minimise impact on the left foot. Somewhere at 12 km mark, I had to stop and walked for a few minutes. The pain eased off and I started to run again. When it started to hurt again, I walked and ran and so on. Must have spent about 10-15 minutes walking. I was also getting tired mainly due to lack of training (low mileage) and possibly having my running rythm disrupted by the walk-run repetitions.

Inexplicably at the 15 km, I had the sudden urge to defecate - the toilets were in view but I decided to resist in order not to lose time. Instead I slowed down to allow the urge to dissipate. It did after some 10 minutes of running at a slower pace.

At the 19 km, the stretch towards the Esplanade bridge was exposed to the sun. It was damn hot. I could the sun rays burning my shoulders and exposed neck. It was time to push towards the finish if not to look good for the crowd but to reduce exposure to the sun. On the bridge I remarked to another runner "I am glad this will be over soon" . I was indeed more than motivated to sprint the last 100 m to the finish line.

My time was 2 hrs 19 min. 54 sec (Gun time ), 2 hrs 16 min. 42 sec (Chip time) in 924 position out of 2004 finishers.

Post Race
After the race and drinks, I went to the medical tent to apply ice on my left foot. Remarkably, there was a volunteer asking the injured runners (but conscious) on the type and location of their injury. I spent the rest of the morning to cheer on the marathon runners.

Summary
The Singapore Marathon organisers have done a great job to make the race enjoyable and hassle free for the runners and their supporters. Minor quibbles were the length of time it took to retrieve bags and inaudible loud speakers for the back end runners at the starting line.

If I go to Singapore again next year, I will take either the bus or airplane. No more KTM train to Singapore for me. I will not go into the reasons but suffice to say the train service was not satisfactory or reliable.

December Plan
Today (Wednesday) I did a recovery run at KLCC for 2.6 km. I still experienced pain on the left foot. I have brought forward the appointment with the specialist by one week to next Tuesday . I think I have a good idea where the injury lies if not I can describe the symptoms inn detail.

I may have to stop running for a few weeks. I can tell you that if this happens "It Sucks". What will I do then for exercise?

Left Foot Injury - Observation #1, Wednesday

Today I ran with Yong at KLCC park. The pace was the fastest I've done at KLCC for the past 5 months. Did 3 laps x 1.3 km at 7.00 min per lap, possibly going below 7 min for the 3rd lap. After the third lap, I decided to stop to prevent the risk of aggravating the foot injury.

After the run , I immediately removed both shoes and did some calf stretching. As mentioned yesterday, I suspected it could be Plantar Fasciitis.

I also saw the ever cheerful Ng - seems he is doing some serious training. Then I walked to the 600 m mark and chatted with Justin about this Sunday's race.

I decided that to pin-point the cause of injury, I must document the effects in detail. Knowing the effects, the cause of injury may be determined accurately. So here are my observations:-

1. For the whole day, my left foot was normal; no discomfort or pain.
2. Before running, I did extra calf stretches (4 x).
3. Shoes : ASICS Kayano XI.
4. Medication: 500 mg Methycobal morning.
   
5. During the run, the left side of my foot (left of arch) was hitting the shoe bottom. No painful sensation but felt tightness in the arch left side. Foot seems to be twisting along the long axis.
   
6. No such thing was observed for the right foot.
7. After the run, took off shoes; no pain whatsoever but the tissue underneath the left arch was slightly swollen.
8. Pressed my fingers along the arch bottom (both foot); no tenderness or pain on either foot.
9. During the cool down walk - 500m, there was some tenderness felt underneath the left arch, somewhere in the centre.
   
10. 5 minutes later in the gym, I pressed with my fingers length-wise onn both arches. No pain or tenderness. Noticed tissue undeneath the left arch was swollen.
    
11. 1 hour later, left foot was slightly swollen, Removed shoe and swolleness dissappeared.
12. At 10.00 pm , pressed fingers along both arches. OK for right foot. For the left arch, there was a slight soreness felt at the arch bottom Soreness still persists at 10.40 pm.
13. Noticed the centre of the left arch is swollen but no redness.
    

Possible causes of left foot injury

I went to the orthopedic doctor this afternoon. I went through the symptoms and training history with him. He checked the X-ray for both foot. They were OK with no visible abnormalities. Next he checked the left foot by pressing various parts. It was OK too but why am I experiencing pain after I finished running ?

The doctor didn't know what was the cause of the problem. He suspected a pinched nerve and prescribed Methycobal (vitamin B-12). This vitamin helps to repair damaged nerves. I set up another appointment in three weeks time.

In the evening it was raining heavily so I had to run on a treadmill. Did 4 km at 11,0 km/hr. Could FEEL something was not right with the left foot. After stepping off the treadmill, felt a "hot" sensation beneath the whole foot. The hot sensation lasted for about 2 hrs. If I had run outdoors, it would have been much worse.

I did some investigation on the Internet. The symptoms I had are similar to Plantar Fasciitis. But I did not have sharp pain when I wake up in the morning. Not yet anyway. But I did have other symptoms; swelling, redness, tender arch after running and pain during long periods of standing up. Even now at 11.00 pm I could feel pain when I pressed the arch strongly. Possible P.F. but not certain yet.

There are some things that can be done to verify and reduce the effects of P.F starting from tomorrow. Also thinking about seeing a Podiatrist before Friday.

I'll just have to try a few things, then wait and observe the effects.

The Singapore Challenge

This Sunday's 21 km run will be a big challenge for me because insufficient training. So far the longest run I've made is 10.7 km. My training since the fasting month has been inconsistent; about 5-6 km a day. Normally for a half marathon, I would be running 8-10 km a day with a 2-3 long runs.

I have not meet my normal training program. Now I have an injured left foot. What am I counting on to complete the run successfully?

First, I have a conservative race plan. My target is to finish in 2 hrs 15 minutes much slower than the normal pace of less than 2 hrs. The right pace would be critical and I am counting on my previous 11 half marathon race experienceto hit the right pace. Second , for the injury, I have an appointment with the orthophedist this afternoon. I am hoping for a positive diagnosis.

Seven Days to Singapore 21 km - Injury

It's a seven days to the 21 km run in Singapore but now I am carrying an injury.

After the Siemens run on Sunday, my left foot was painful and tender the whole day. I have been having this problem for 9 months. Afer each training run, the left foot begins to hurt and swells. Usually I have to remove the shoe to reduce the swelling. As a result of this persistent problem, I've had to reduce training mileage and avoid from doing speedwork this year.

I am not sure if this problem is related to the shoes that I am currently wearing for the runs. Both pairs (ASICS-2090 and ASICS Kayano 10) are about one year old. I went to see the G.P. this morning to have both feet X-rayed. According to the doctor, they looked normal. She offered to prescribe anti-inflammatory (NSAIDS) and painkillers. Typical response really that doesn't identify the root cause. I refused the drugsans asked to a referral to a specialist. Tomorrow afternoon I will be seeing the orthophedist.

Had another op. on the molar - got a permanent filling this time. I experienced some sharp pain while she was poking around with the files. The crown has not been installed yet as I have to get the backmost molar (wisdom tooth) extracted. That will be sometime in January next year.

Siemens 10k Charity Run - 28th November 2004

This race was going to be a training run for the Singapore half marathon next Sunday. So I had a modest plan to run the 10.7 km distance in 1 hrs 05 minutes.

I arrived at Dataran Merdeka at 7.00 am. Immediately saw Jamie standing around looking quite bored. He came early to be able to park behind the High Court. I told him where the place I usually park is empty even at 7.15 am. Suggested for him to park there but the place will remain a secret to avoid future congestion.

Soon we were joined by John Tan, Jason and Lonerunner. Glad to see John was back to running races. This was his first race this year. Probably it will the the last as well - there were no more races in KL this year. A few bald mat salleh also showed up; figured out they were from Siemens. A few more familiar faces turned up; Ronnie, Justin Newton and MJ. Newton as looking for a pacer as his target was to run in less than 1 hr. Too bad, neither Jamie and I were suited for this task as we will be just taking it easy for this run.

A drizzle started at 7.00 am but fortunately it stopped before the race started at 7.30 am with the 10 km runners. I started running alongside Jamie and Casey (Penguin-x) at the back of the pack. We chatted along past the traffic light and tunnel. Along Bukit Tunku, I even had time to observe the surroundings and other runners.

There were distance markers every 1 km for the first 5 km. I reached the 5 km mark at 33 min. 10 seconds. Next was three uphill sections on the the Jln Duta. I put my head down, leaned forward to press onwards up the three hilly sections, After this I decided to increase my pace as an experiment for about 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, I slowed down to conserve energy for the last hill at the flyover.

Here I was running alongside a Malay guy (Kohar) . Chatted for a while. Found out he was a running enthusiast as he knew about the charity race at Cyberjaya in January 2005. I ran quite slowly up the flyover. After the flyover, I decided to step up the pace with Koha pacing beside me. I overtook about a dozen tired runners in the final stretch.

Reached the finishing line in 1 hr 07 min. 20 seconds . Saw Newton nearby. He had done a PR but missed dipping below 1 hr by 0.02 seconds; @^*(**!

Meet with the other runners for a group photo near the clock tower. Left Dataran Merdeka at 9.20 am.

Overall , it was a satisfying run as it was intended as preparation for the 21 km race next Sunday. I was able to gauge my current state of fitness (not very good). I should aim for a time of 2 hrs 15 minutes for the 21 km run next Sunday. It is doubtful if I would be able to run below 2 hrs next week.

Friday - Angel in the LRT

Yesteday's Friday morning was a busy time. I was going to FTAAA to collect the Siemens 10k running bibs and pay some bills. I rushed to finish urgent matters and left the office at 11.00 am to the KLCC LRT station. I stood by the door and at one of the station, a guy and girl stepped in. The girl stood just one foot away from me.

Let me describe her for my readers. She was about 5' 8" inches tall, age about 18-20 years old. Wearing a sleeveless white dress a with matching white colour shoes. She had a long soft slightly light brown hair (lightly dyed) . Well proportioned slim body, not too skinny but not too fat, just with a perfect proportion. White skin and extraordinarily smooth complexion - no blemish whatsoever , not a pimple mark , blackhead spots anywhere. As she was a wearing a sleeveless dress, I had a look at her arms too . It too was like her complexion with smooth and unblemished skin.

Some girls you looked with lust because of how they look, wear or because they radiate with sex appeal. But with this girl, there was none of that feeling. She was just so beautifully perfect that you would look at her as if you were looking at an angel (female that is). I think I have seen her once before in the LRT. Upclose on Friday, she was more amazingly beautiful.

My Visit to the Dentist

Sometime in the 80', I saw a movie called "Marathon Man" starring Dustin Hoffman. In the movie, a Nazi dentist (Dr. Szell) drilled into his teeth to force him to reveal some information. He started with one tooth and then offered instant relief in the form of clove oil. And then he moved on to drill more teeth with the good doctor taking much sadistic pleasure. In the movie, Dustin Hoffman was potrayed as a runner.

Today I finally made the appointment with the dentist. At first I asked my colleagues who were their dentist . The same dentist was recommended by two of them, so I tried to arrange for an appoinment but the schedule was full for the day. The earliest slot was tomorrow at 11.30 am. Thinking of the pain (but tolerable) I will go through tonight, I went to my regular dentist to set-up an appointment at 1.00 pm.

At 1.00 pm , I showed up at her clinic at Plaza Ampang. I lay down on the reclining chair and started to described the symptons. Basically I experienced intermittent dull pain in one of the molar. At night it gets worse while the pain receedes during the daytime. There was also increased pain when I chewed food on this molar.

The dentist an examination with a probe and pronounce the verdict "The decay have reached the nerves and causing pain". I mentioned that part of the molar had been chipped off in October last year. She looked again and said "The part where it was chipped off is difficult to clean and bacteria have moved down the side and caused decay".

She pronounced the conclusion " You have two choices ; etxtract the tooth or do a root canal" . I was a bit stunned as I was expecting a less drastic option of filling. Extraction ? The last time I had my tooth removed was in primary school. Back then, I still had back-up from a second set of adult teeth. Now if I had a tooth removed , it will be gone Forever.

Then I asked her about the root canal procedure. She took a large chart and explained the procedure. The procedure was to make a top opening, remove the nerve (pulp), clean and disinfect it and cap it with a temporary filling. A second appointment would remove the temporary filling and replace it with a permanent cap - a crown.

My decision was a not brainer - lose it or keep it. I opted for the root canal. The filling option was not really viable I thought. The most recent filling on the same tooth only lasted for 2 years. The previous fillings were made when there was no pain. Meaning there was no decay in the pulp. Another filling may only be a temporary measure and maybe not solve the problem permanently.

She injected painkiller into the gums. After 5 minutes, I felt numbness in the gums and left side of my face. She started work by drilling into the tooth. A series of syringes (later I found it was files) was inserted to remove the pulp. The files were followed by disinfectant solutions. The sequence of drilling, filing and disinfectant was repeated. After completion , an X-ray photo was taken. The final stage was the temporary filling. The whole procedure took 35 minutes. I did not feel any pain throughout the procedure.

Later at the reception counter, I made the second appointment for Monday next week. I paid RM 300 woth the balance RM 200 next week. She also gave antibiotics and painkiller pills. My whole left mouth and cheek was still numb. The numbness lasted until 5.30 pm (4-3 hrs).

At night the dull pain have dissapeared. I also did some research on root canal. I think made the right decision to have the root canal. Though I still wonder if a filling have worked as the pain (decay) was not that bad. But there is no going back now.

This morning , I cannot chew on the root canal tooth - it is still tender. Hopefully it will recover. So far there is post operative pain - I did not take the painkiller pills.

A thought did came to my mind after finding out about the permnanent effect of a root canal. The pulp contains blood vessels and tissues. These supply nutrients to the teeth to keep it alive and healthy. After a root canal, the teeth essentially is dead. It will be more brittle and prone to cracks and fracture hence
the cap (crown) after a root canal. The thought that came to my mind was : Now there is something dead in me; it sort of freak me out when I think about it. The tooth will still be there but it cannot be healed/repaired through the body's natural processes. This thought still bothers me.

Payback Time

Last year in October 2004, I lost some of the filling in one of the molars. I should have gone to a dentist and have it fixed over the past one year. But I just couldn't bring myself to visit the dentist. The thought of having the drill working it's way down, grinding , grinding and grinding was too much. (Normally I go to see a dentist once every year).

Now it's payback time for delaying the trip to the dentist. On Sunday I started to have a dull pain in the affected molar. I decided to ignore it, hoping it will go away. Today, the pain gradually decreased until it dissapeared when I was running at 6.00 pm. So far so good.

Now as I sit here (10.30 pm) writing this blog, there is a dull, aching and pain from the said molar. No more postponement or excuses, tomorrow morning I'll be standing at the dentist clinic. For once, I will be looking forward to a trip to the dentist.

Photos from Travel in Bali - August 2004

I decided to publish some the photos I took when I was in Bali for a holiday.

Temple at Tanah Lot 

Caneng (rice and flowers) - Offering found everywhere in Bali 

Temple at Bedugul 

Sunset at Jimbaran beach 

Hamstring Muscle Strain

Today is Sunday - I was planning a long run at Tasik Perdana at Shah Alam. Even managed to wake up at 6.00 am but just felt sleepy and went back to sleep. A second minor reason for not doing the LSD was my left hamstring has just recovered from strain.

On Friday evening, I managed to run 6 laps at KLCC park, distance 7. 8 km. Affer the run, I was limping slightly due to an aggravated hamstring strain. Two days rest have done the trick - it is almost OK. Don't want to ruin next week's training due to a repeating injury.

Last night I called Asia Hotel in Singapore to check my booking for the Singapore marathon. To my surprise they did not have my booking. I booked through their hotel website and had an e-mail confirmation. So they rebook the room again. The rate was slightly cheaper for a me (Malaysian passport), SGD 85 compared to SGD 100 via the Internet, so I forgave them.

Next week's training plan is to 3 days x 7.8 km, 1 x 6.5 km and 1 x 5.2 km. Saturday = rest. Sunday - Siemens charity run at Dataran Merdeka 10.7 km

Run at KLCC on Thursday

Fortunately it did not rain Thursday evening but it was blazing hot. So I waited until 6.00 pm before I walked to KLCC park. At the starting mark I saw Yong. I have not seen him for five weeks and was glad I could pace with him today. He looked to be in great shape. We started to run together. Again I had the same problem with my running form - movement was too stiff. The first lap pace was quite slow: 7 min 40 sec.

Came across Jamie and Newton on the second lap. I was doing OK running at the slow pace until the 3rd lap when I became tired and started to struggle a bit. At the 600m mark of 4th lap, I saw Ng doing his stretching exercises. My breathing started to become uneven at this point. Told Yong I would be stopping at this lap. He tried to encourage me to keep going but I've had enough. I stopped at the end of the 4th lap after 5.2 km. I did not make the target distance of 6.5 km. Felt quite tired after the run. Time for three laps : 23 min. 18 sec; average per lap: 7 min. 46 seconds.

So far, I have discern the following problems:-

• Running form not very smooth due to stiff movement of arms and legs.
  
• Ocassional uneven breathing exercebated by poor running form.
  
• Possibly improper body poisture - boby leaning forward too much.
  

I have to work on and solve these problems over the next few days. My endurance has not yet recovered to what it was before the fasting month (Used to run 6-8 laps at 7 min. 10 sec). It will be a 4-6 weeks more before this will happen.

Today when I woke up with a strained left hamstring muscle but if the sunny weather still holds this evening, will run.

Hari Raya and Training for Singapore half marathon

Selamat Hari Raya and Deepavali to everyone.

Hari Raya Idil Fitri was on Sunday 14 November 2004.

This year's Hari Raya was a bit different from last year. This year I managed to visit four of my eight uncles aunties (50%). I have never managed to hit 100% rate as it would have taken two full days of visiting/travelling. Today I am back at work and blogging.

On the second day of Raya I went for my first "serious" training run at the Klang Stadium. I was a bit shocked at my bad performance. My running form was totally screwed up. I ran as though I had arthritis - felt stiff and was running stiffly. I was runing slow too - 2 min 20 seconds per 400 m lap. I ran 2 min. 05 per lap in October. After 9 laps, I stopped running.

On Wednesday I went to the Klang railway station to buy the train tickets to Singapore. The tickets (first class) costs Rm 168 for a return trip. I had earlier enquired about the shuttle air flights to Singapore. I was taken aback to learn the tickets costs RM 680. This was an outrageous price for a 35 minutes flight. A flight ticket to Bangkok which takes about 2-5 hrs only costs RM 900. See the difference ? Per km, the MAS flights to Singapore cost 5 times more than to Bangkok. The KL-Singapore shuttle flights are very profitable for MAS and is a virtually monopoly.

For the next two weeks, I plan to increase my daily mileage to 8 km. It's going to be tough but got to do it. Although the Singapore half marathon will be my 12th half marathon race without adequate training, it is just too hard to finish well. For a 10 km race I am not worried about the lack of mileage but for 21 km I am.

Hope it doesn't rain this evening - I want see how far I can run at KLCC park. My target is 6.5 km.

Klang Pacer Club 19th Aniversary Run

I signed up for the Klang Pacer Club 19th Aniversary Run (7 km) five weeks ago and have been worried about it ever since. The reason? I have to run it during the fasting month. I had justifiable reasons to be anxious. My training during the fasting month has been pathetic; basically 2 km twice a week. On 7 November 2004 I had to run 7 km.

I am glad to say my worries turned out to misplaced. I started Sunday morning with a bun and mini chocolates (Snickers and Mars mini bar) . I decided to skip fasting for the day. Drove to Klang stadium reaching it at 7.00 am and noticed the club members were already warming up. The run started at 7.15 am with about 50 runners. Most were Chinese, there were six Indians and the sole Malay rep. - me.

The route started with an uphill run along the Sultan's palace. I ran behind three female runners for "motivation" purpose. After a while the pace was just too slow, so I overtook them. The next section was on the main road - nothing much here; I paced along with two other guys. At the various junctions, there were Klang Pacer members showing the correct turns.

The next section was on the roads in Taman Sri Andalas. I dropped off the two other guys who I was pacing with and latch on to another guy. I paced with him for about 2 km until we hit the final 1 km. The final 1 km was mainly an uphill run to a hill overlooking the Sultan's palace.

At 8.00 am, I reached the finishing line on top of the hill. Got the finisher medal and went for a drink. Food was plentiful for the runners - nasi lemak, mee goreng, sandwiches, fruits, jelly etc.

This run gave me confidence for the 21 km race in Singapore. Despite little training over the past 3 weeks, I was still in reasonably good shape. I completed the 7 km run in 44 minutes. This was equivalent to 63 min. for 10 km which I was sure I could do better as I only put in 80% effort for the anniversary run.

After Hari Raya, its 3 weeks of intensive training for the Singapore 21 km race.

My Body Fat Content after 14 Days of Fasting

I have a neat device at home. It' s a Tanita scale which not only measures weight but also body fat content. It's very easy to use, just step on the scale, select adult or child, then male or female, enter height in cm.

Before the break of fast this evening, I stepped on the scale and here are the results:-
Weight : 52 kg
Body fat : 13 per cent
Body fat : 6.8 kg

Two weeks ago I weighed:-
Weight : 54 kg
Body fat : 16 per cent
Body fat : 8.7 kg

Loss of body weight = 1.9 kg of amount of fat lost = 1.9 kg

That's a lot body fat lost just 2 weeks. It's just too bad I would gain back the weight after Hari Raya.

Titbits

Today is the the 10th fasting day. The days are just flying by. Perfect running weather outside. Must aim for 4 km today but feeling a bit tired. Have to try or die trying!

Last week's Beiijng marathon made news for the wrong reasons. Two participants died. I was surprised at the the deaths. It cannot be from heatstroke as the October temperature in Beijing is quite low. Another thing was the number of participants - 25,000. So many but how come I never saw a single runner while I was Beijing in 2001? Nor did I see any other runner in Shanghai, Suzhou or Xian. I could see people doing Tai-Chi , dancing, calisthenics but not a single runner was in sight. I guess everyone was too busy making money to spend any time exercising.

Today I went to the GNC shop and bought Emergen C-Lite 36 packs. I read about this product last year and decided to try it during the fasting month. If it's good I will order it from the USA where it costs USD 11
(Rm 42). Too expensive at GNC - RM 105 per 36 pack.

I got Cloned

Two weeks ago I got cloned. No, not another me, the living breathing me, not a clone of one more running fanatic. Rather, it was my credit card which got cloned.

Last Tuesday, I received a call from Citibank asking me to call the Fraud Unit. Fraud unit !. Had I just defrauded one of the largest banks in the world out of billions of ringgit? No according to the sweet wowan on the line, my credit card had been cloned and used in a fraudulent manner. So Citibank will stop payment from the existing card until I get a replacement card. I received the new card today.

Meanhile I racked ny brains trying to recall where my credit card could have been cloned. I did not use the card in Indonesia. I don't use it at restaurants, clothing shops or petrol stations where cloning is quite rampant. I was careful to use the card at large established establishments. Even these precautions failed to prevent the identity fraud.

To those who cloned my credit card, may you burn in a retail hell.

Almost 4 km today

Yesterday I was planning to run 4.0 km but the stupid bus driver decided to take a short cut to Klang town. The bus was stuck in a traffic jam for 1/2 hour to move a distance of 1 km. I reached home at 6.15 pm but it was too late to drive to Klang stadium. So I missed Monday's training.

Today to make sure I did not get caught in the traffic jam, I left the office at exactly 4.01 pm. Reached home at 5.30 pm. Waited until i was cooler and then drove to Klang town - to get caught in another traffic jam. Finally reached Klang stadium at 6.15 pm.

I started running slowly and hoped to become energised after a few 400 m laps. It did not happened. Experienced heavy and uneven breathing with slight pain in right knee. After 8 laps or so (3.4 km), I've had enough - stopped running. Just not in the mood to run today.

Almost made 4.0 km (85%) today but not quite there yet. Have to try again tomorrow.

Traning so Far

This is the 4th day of the fasting month. To recap my training over the last three days:

Friday = No training, too tired.
Sat. = 4 x 400 m, 5 x 400 m laps at Klang stadium
Sun. = 4 x 400 m, 4 x 400 m laps at Klang stadium

I have been taking it easy rationalising so far it would take time to adjust for fasting. But I know this is just crap (pardon for swearing during the holy month). The real reason is I don't want to suffer while running a longer distance than 2 km. I should be pushing it harder to meet my target of minimum 4 km a day. MINIMUM ! I should really be doing 5-6 km a day. Otherwise how will I be able to run 21 km on 5 Dec. 2004?

Focus, focus - work on achieving 4 km a day this week.

First Training Run During Fasting Month

On Saturday it was the second day of the fasting month. I had my first training run.It was not as hard as it I thought it would be.

It had been a hot day and I waited until it was cool enough to start running. At 6.10 pm, I was at the Klang stadium. I started with a walk for two laps around the 400m track. Did some stretching and then fast pace run for 4 x 400m at 2'08' pace. Stopped after 1600 m to save energy. Was feeling OK and not unduly tired.

Walked two more laps and then Jimmy and another Klang Pacer started their run. I followed them for five laps. Pace was medium - 2'20" at the outermost lane. I ran OK and did not struggle much throughout the 2 km distance. Stopped at 2 km mark as it was almost 6.40 pm. Did some stretching and drove back. Reached home at 6.55 pm, five minutes before break fast time.

Distance run : 4 x 400m , 4 x 500 m, total = 3.6 km
Distance walked : 4 x 400m , total = 1.6 km.

Judging from the today's run which was not too hard, I may be able to meet my training objectives for the Puasa month. As a minmum my target is to run 4 km per every training session.

Happy Ramadhan Month Readers

Today is the first day of the fasting month. I feel a bit tired (and hungry too) so did not run today. Really I have done much training since Bidor Run on 3 Oct 2004.

During this weekday I have run only on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday was the highlight. Unexpectedly there was a rare sight at KLCC track - a handful of attractive girls were walking/running. Most of the time I see girls/women standing and sitting outside of the KLCC fountains. Many are smokers - a sight which turns me off immediately regardless of how pretty or sexy she is.

I signed up for the Singapore Marathon of 5 Dec. 2004 - 21 km race. Not too sure how my training will be progress during the fasting month. I have a training program but it is a struggle to follow the program rigorously. In fact, in the previous three years I failed to follow the program schedule successfully. But I was not too worried then - the earliest races was in Feb. the following year. So I had two to three months to regain my endurance after the fasting month.

But this year is different. Three weeks after the end of the fasting month, I have a half marathon to run and a 10 km race on 26 Dec. 2004. It's nose to the grindstone this year - I need to follow the training program.

The company has considerately shortened the working hrs by one hour to 4.00 pm for a month. But it's way too hot to run outside at KLCC park. So I will doing time on the gyms' s treadmill or going home and then run at Klang Stadium at around 6.15 pm. I will miss running with my friends at KLCC park. I will also miss the nice and pretty views at KLCC park.

Feeling like Crap Today

Yesterday I ran five laps (6.5 km) around KLCC with Jamie and Justin. After that finished another lap (1.3 km) with Yong. Ronnie showed up later. Total distance is 7.8 km. I had a sore throat on Saturday and Sunday but it disappeared on Monday. It came back yesterday afternoon - maybe I yakked too much at the consultant's office yesterday. But the engineers asked many questions I had to answer. After the meeting, the sore throat became worse.

This morning I woke up with a cold - crap!. To run or not to run this evening ?

Enough about being sick. I have decided to run in the Singapore Marathon in the half marathon run. This Sunday I am planning to do a long run 25 km with Jamie and others. It starts at 5.00 am , *#$#@ !. Hopefully by Saturday, I would have recovered from the cold and sore throat.

Read Azwar's story on his unplanned race in Bali. This happened to me a few years ago. I was in China for a holiday in 1999. One Sunday morning when I woke up , I found out the Beijing Marathon had started that very morning. I had missed my chance to run in my first overseas race.

Time to finish this blog - I have a meeting to attend.

Running and Losing Weight

In Malaysia, 16.6 percent of the adult population is overweight and 4.4 percent is obese based on a 1996 survey. I am certain by now these percentages have significantly increase. My own (unscientific) survey by observing passengers on the LRT - it could have increased to 25 per cent.

If you are a runner , you have a better chance losing weight and later maintaining a healthy weight than most people. In fact, only 5 per cent of individuals who attempt to lose weight are successful in losing and later maintaining their body weight

So how does one go about losing weight by taking up running or jogging?

First, let's do some maths. Each pound of body fat is equal to 3500 kcal. Waking 1 mile distance uses up 100 kcal. So to lose 1 pound of weight = 35 miles.

So how much weight can be lost safely in 1 month? Typically 2-4 pounds per month.

Suppose I want to lose 2 lbs a month - I need to create an energy deficit i.e. use up more energy than what I take through food and water. For 2 lbs/month, I need to walk or run 70 miles a month.

Suppose I set aside a specific time to exercise, say 6 day in a week , how much walking do I have to do ? Assume I walk briskly at 4 miles/hour. 70 miles will take 18 hrs of walking. So I have to walk 45 minutes a day for 24 days a month. Now, how many people can consistently do that ? AND walk at 4 mph pace every time.

Now try running at 6 mph. The time it takes to lose 2 lb /mth is 12 hrs. It takes just 30 minutes of running at 6 mph for 24 days/mth to lose 2 lbs/mth. So the benefit of running is: it takes less time to use the same amount of calorie. Running is very effective activity for weight loss because the high amount of energy use per body weight.

But exercise alone is not enough - to lose weight, you need to go on diet and exercise at the same time. In my case, it took 4 months to lose 12 lbs and I had to run 4-5 miles every day. So it's hard work and takes lots of discipline and determination.

My diet? Well there was none. I merely controlled the amount of food and stop eating some types of food. Basically I ate less food for 4 months. This is what I ate for 4 months:-

Breakfast - cereal and soy milk or oatmeal.
Snacks - fruit and occasional sandwich.
Lunch - fruit or baked potato and occasional sandwich (low fat filling).
Dinner - Rice (1 plate only) and vegetables, occasional fish.

I avoided eating calorie rich foods like ice-cream, chocolates, cookies, cakes, oil food etc. for 4 months. I minimise drinking pure fruit juices and instead ate whole fruits. Most the time I drank plain water - zero calorie.

So if you are overweight and trying to lose the extra pounds, don't give up yet. It can be done.

Training during Ramadhan (Fasting) Month

A question was raised in Pacemaker #1 shout box about training for runners who fast during the fasting month. So I will answer the question with my training program during Ramadhan. I used this program for year 2oo1 and 2002.
( In 2003, I did not train during Ramadhan).

Weekdays : 3 times a week, alternate days
1 x 3.9 km - easy run
1 x 3.9 km - tempo run (5 km race pace)
1 x 5.2 km - normal pace (faster than easy run but slower than 10 km race pace)

Weekends : 2 times a week,
Sat. - 1 x 4.0 km - easy run
Sun. - 1 x 6.0 km - easy run

The strange distances during the weekdays is because I run at KLCC park; each lap is 1.3 km long.

Principles behind the Program

The main source of energy for the body during aerobic activity is glucose. Glucose is present in the blood , muscles and glycogen. Glucose in the blood and muscles are limited in quantity and is used up quickly. So for sustained and long duration activity, glycogen (mainly stored in the liver and smaller quantities in muscles ) will be broken into glucose for fuel. The average person has about 1800 kcal of glycogen stored = 18 miles work).

During fasting month, the stored glycogen quantity will be lower than normal. Hence it would not be advisable to train for long distances and too intensely e.g doing intervals or repeats. The main point of the program maintain some fitness during the Ramadhan. You do not really want to stop for 1 month as the loss in fitness is significant (in my case it's 50%). On the other hand, you don't really want to start training for marathon or a PB during Ramadhan. Just do enough training to keep fit.

Tip: Have an Isotonic drink (100 Plus) and some snack if you cannot make it home to break fast. I carry a can of 100 Plus (or Soy milk), dates and a bun. I usually end up eating on the bus.

Photos from Bidor Run 2004 - Food and Drinks tent

Food and Drink tent

Photos from Bidor Run 2004 - Trophies

Trophies

Photos from Bidor Run 2004 - Start and Finish line

Start and Finish line

The Pace Changes in Bidor for One Day

INTRODUCTION

Before the North-South was built in the 1980's, Bidor was a familiar stop for KL-lites travelling from KL to Ipoh via the old trunkline road. Nowadays, it's just one of many small towns in Perak. It's current claim to fame is the Chicken biscuit and wantan noddles. Other than that, most people speed by Bidor on the way to Tapah which is starting point to Cameron Highlands.

The Bidor run is organised by the Bidor Kaki Runners for charity. This year's run is to contribute funds towards the Choong Hua High School in Bidor. The run distance is 7 and 14 km. I registered for the 14 km distance.

THE TRIP

My trip to Bidor started at 2.00 pm on a hot Saturday afternoon. From Klang I entered the NKVE at the Bukit Raja toll plaza. Traffic was fairly heavy on the NKVE due to people driving from work. The drive to Bidor was uneventful with me driving at the illegal speed of 130-150 km/hr. (The speed limit is 110 km/hr). Fortunately I sighted no police around - perhaps the hot temperature have induced them to stay indoors.

BIDOR

One a half hours later, at the Highway exit I turned towards Bidor. I was looking for a tailor shop. "Tukang Jahit Mexico" to collect the bibs, T-shirt and reporting card. At the Esso petrol station, I asked the attendant the direction to the shop. He gave me directions and I drove around to look for the shop. But I failed to find the shop and decided to park and walk. A second query from a guy in camera shop proved fruitful. He said "tepi" (corner). The tailor shop was just 20 m away around the corner.

In the small shop, there were about 5-6 people inside waiting to hand out the race goods. Here I meet Thomas and Pacesetters KL runners. They were staying in Tapah at N.H. Hotel. I walked to the main road to buy a bunch of Petai for my father. I made a second stop to buy two packets of chicken biscuits for Rm 4 - for my friend in KL.

TAPAH

From Bidor, it was a 12 km drive to Tapah. It took some time to locate Hotel Utara. Checking in at the 2nd floor reception desk,I was given a room on the 3rd floor. The room had a big double bed, TV and amenities desk. The bathroom was simple and functional. I can't complain much about the simple facilities as it was very cheap - RM 38 per night. However it was spotlessly clean.

By now, it was 5.00 pm, I decided to see anything if there was anything interesting to see in Tapah. I walked around and concluded there isn't much on interest except for the pasar malam. So retuned to my room to rest for 1 hr. After the rest, I went out again, driving to the Tapah rest house. The rest house located on a hill consisted of a series of buildings with rooms. The rest house has a fairly large restaurant. A large Chinese family was about to move into some of rooms as I drove down towards Tapah pasar malam.

The pasar malam consisted of about 40 stall sellings various goods such as vegetables, watches, food, shoes, etc. I bought a cob of corn for RM 0.60. Next stop was dinner at a stall near a river. For dinner I had nasi goreng kampung, sayur campur and 100 Plus. Cost was RM 6.50 - very cheap.

After dinner, I spent some more time driving around Tapah. The town was starting to become deserted, so I returned to my hotel. I prepared the stuff for next morning's race and spent the night watching TV. Turned in to sleep at 11.00 pm.

RACE DAY

The race day was on Sunday morning. I woke up at 5.30 am, had the usual breakfast of a mixture of oatmeal Nestum and raisins. At 6.05 am, I started my drive to Bidor. The road was fairly deserted with less than a half dozen vehicles heading towards Bidor. In the opposite lane, there were more vehicles heading towards Tapah.

I reached Bidor 10 minutes and promptly got lost trying trying to find Dewan Muhibbah (starting place). I had not idea where it was located. At one point I drove a few km along a road only to realise there was no Dewan Muhibbah to be found. I turned back and headed to the tailor shop hoping to ask someone. Bad news - it was closed. Fortunately there was a woman there and I asked her where Dewan Muhibbah was - it was only 50 m away.

RACE START

Walking towards the Dewan, I saw some tents setup for various functions; registration. food, prizes, VIP area etc. While looking for the registration counter, I spotted three Klang Pacer runners; Ah Keong, David and one other guy whom I had not met before. I joined them for a drink of hot Milo. They had driven from Klang that morning.

During the chat, an announcement was made for the runners to enter the Dewan compound. Near the Dewan gates, I handed over my reporting card before moving into the compound. Did some warm-up, stretching and chatted with severals indian Klang pacer runners. They were staying at See Foh hotel in Bidor - just 100 feet from the Dewan. The See Foh hotel rate was RM 50.

At 7.10 am, we went out from another gate towards the starting line. The 14 km runners line-up in front with the 7 km runners lined-up 10 m behind.

THE RUN

The run started a bit late - at 7.20 am a guy shoot conffeti into the air through a tube. We were off !. I started at slow pace and began to pick-up pace as I reached the main road. Some folks who standing near the shophouses gave us a cheer as we ran along the main road in town.

A short distance later, I turned left on side road and so began the run along a series of inclined roads . The road initially pass along some vilages - they seemed to orang asli villages. The first 3 km was along a combination and of flat and gently upward sloping roads. The area seemed to have a large population of cows. I had to keep watch so as not to step on patches of dried cow dung.

THE HILLS

The steeper sections came at about the 4 km distance. The steepest section (estimated 20 degree gradient) was about 400m long - I had the urge to walk here but did not succumb; continued the slog ever upwards. I counted about six upward incline sections. By 30 minutes. some of the 14 km runners were already on their way back on the opposite lane.

The route came to small side road where I ran downwards for about 500 m. At the end , there were some chairs connected with plastic strips to form a "circle" . This was the turning point for the route back to Bidor. I had two cups of water and walked for a while - my legs were a bit sore. As I passed by one of the volunteers. he said something in Chinese. It must have beeen some encouraging words - did I looked exhausted?


SECOND WIND

Anyway, it was back to the task at hand - ran slowly up the 500 m slope to the main road. On the main road I continued running but was beginning to feel a bit tired. At one point (50 minutes_ , I stopped to walk for about 100 m. The short walk did the trick - I felt better and ran at a faster pace and managed to overtake some runners. Along the section lined with the palm oil estates, one poor guy was limping badly and in pain- he had a heavily bandaged left knee. Later I saw him on the back of one of the volunteers motorcycle.


THIRD WIND

At around 60 minutes, the scenery changed - I was running along some shophouses; it must be near to town. The last stretch was along a housing area - here I walked for about 100 m. A malay runner whom I had ran besides for some time went ahead of me. He must have be a local guy - he wore a vest with Bidor Kaki Runner a the back of the vest. Not wanting to be left behind too far, I started runing again. Surprisingly I felt energised and was able to catch up with the Malay runner who was 100 m ahead. I maintained my brisk pace and just before a right turn, I suddenly realised it was near the finishing line. I shift to another gear and sprinted about 100 m to finish the run.

Position no: 92 (cat B) . time : 1 hr 15 minutes 19 sec.

POST RACE

I met the Klang Pacer runners sitting on a kerb eating nasi lemak and eggs. They had run very well; their finishing times were ; David (1 hr 08 min. - 51st), Ah Keong (55 min - 3rd) and ??? (58 min.). The tent with the F & B had a lot a food - bananas, watemelon, papaya, kuih, nasi lemak etc. A welcomed change from the usual situation where food was reserved for the VIPs. The organiser really knows how to take care of runners.

Highlights :
Well organised, good post race food and relaxed race atmosphere and attractive medal

Lowlights :
Staying in Tapah - kind of boring. Signing up for the 10 km Ipoh race on 17 Oct . RM 25 -expensive!

Lacking Zip and Zang

Today was a very busy day for me at work:-( I only managed to reach KLCC track at 6.05 pm when I saw Yong doing some stretching. So we ran together. I managed to run 3 x 1.3 km before I had to stop. Became too tired.

Over the past 2 weeks, I tire too quickly during my training runs. 3 x 1.3 km - this used to be no big deal - just a walk in the park. Sometimes I struggle to finish 4 x 1.3 km. I lack the normal zip and energy I usually have before the start of each run. But I still run reasonaby well during races but much slower than last year's time.

For today, after I finished my run and while stretching, Newton ran by me. A girl was also running with him - Geraldine. So I did three more laps with them. There is nothing like a running beside a female runner for that extra motivation. Hope she continues running at KLCC park. There are really NO female runners who run regularly at KLCC park.

This Sunday I will be running 14 km in the Bidor race. After this race, I have decided to rest and stop running for a week.

66 Years Old and Still Going Strong

Last Saturday I was at the FTAAA office to collect the WDTR bids. A senior veteran runner was also there. I have seen him at races many times but have never spoken to each other. This time we did and he began by telling me he had just returned from the World Airlines Race in Prague, Czech Republic. He said a few things about the race; starting time at 2.00 pm etc.

We had a chat about the upcoming races. He told me about his PB times:
10 k - 52 minutes
21 k - 1 hr 48 minutes.

I'll bet 90% of the Malaysian male above 18 years is not as fit as this old guy.

I hope when I am at his age, I can still be a runner and won't end up as many old guys in Malaysia - fat and sick with diabetes, hypertension etc.

So why are you guys/girls reading this Blog have not started to exercise esp. aerobic exercises? AND QUIT smoking!

PJ Half Marathon 19 Sept. 2004

Me about to finish the PJ half marathon 

World Tourism Day Run 2004

This was a low profile run - there was hardly any publicity in the newspapers. You could always tell a low profile run from a high profile by the warm up session. There were no high powered aerobics team from Team Reebok or Nike. There were no girls wearing shirts to ogle at , sad to say. Instead there was ONE lonely fat guy wearing a white T-shirt and blue track-bottom pants. I guess he must be from the tourism ministry. Do some work -out ministry guys - lose them bulging stomaches!

I woke up at 5.30 am and considered not going to the run, just continue to sleep. But willpower prevailed and after finishing the essential activities, started from Klang at 6.00 am. Parked at the G.P.O - it was still dark at 6.30 am. Decided to sit in the car and hope I did not fall alsleep.

By 6.45 am , it was getting lighter. Time to make the move to Dataran Merdeka. Walked with a group of 15 boisterous students from Sek. Men Jinjang Utara. Upon reaching D.M. noticed the kandang (barriers) were prep and ready to hold us "cows wearing T-shirts and shoes".

Started to look for familiar faces. There were some runners from Klang (David) and Ronnie of course. Most of the regular runners were not in the race. But I did see Yufang - the top Malaysian walker and runner. She has very nice and shapely legs unlike the flabbly legs I often see at the Klang Stadium. The rest of her was in good shape too.

The fat ministry guy started the warm-up session at 7.00 am. I did'nt participate; the exercises seemed to be especially boring - YAWN. A group of 100 or so police recruits robotically mimicked his movements. Why can't the organisers find someone who is familiar with aerobic exercises ? Instead we get a boring warm-up exercise which is typically served to VIPs , datuks and Tan Sris during "Rakyat" exercises shown on TV.

Thanks goodness the race started on time at 7.30 am. Everyone seems to running at breakneck speed. By the round about , I was pretty much running at the back. I knew better than to speed up too fast on this route , the hills will come soon and defeat the foolish runner. I ran this route during the Olympic Run and finished badly - 45 minutes and had to run-walk several times.

The hilly sections soon came and I maintained a constant pace. There will be no run-walk for me this time and no problems running the uphill sections. After 41 min. 30 seconds, I crossed the finish line. Got a cert for the effort but missed out the medal for the first 50 runners.

At the drink station, I met John. He finished in 37th position with a time of 34 minutes. I figured, the 50th runner (cat C) would have to run in about 37 minutes. **##^ - its tough to get medals for races in KL. Also met other runners from Klang; David finished in 51st position - too bad, missed a medal by one. Took some photos with Ronnie and drank some more 100Plus.

Signed up for the Siemens 10k run on 28 Nov. 2004. Went home.

Race highlights:-

1. Finally met the elusive Chin Tuck Meng (A0078).
2. Seeing and ogling Yufang.
3. David is faster than me ever since Ipoh run, he has improve a lot. He is following my training tips.
   If only the teacher could follow his own advice :-(

Race lowlights:-

1. The warm-up session - boring and uninspiring.
2. No MILO served - this is an unforgivable omission for a race .
3. The cool music band - proving old dudes can still rock.

My next race is the Bidor Run (14 km) om 3rd October 2004. Have a booked a Hotel in Tapah as the hotels in Bidor are fully booked.

THE YEAR OF RUNNING RACES

Last night I counted the number of races I had participated in this year.
Well I was surprised when the number came up ;
Seven x 10 km
Three x 8 km
Three x 21 km

A total of 13 races in six months betwen Feb. and September. I have registered for 2 more races in October; WTDR this Sunday and Bidor Run on 3 Oct. After the fasting month, I plan to run two more races; Siemens 10 km and Subang Jaya 10km.

This year's total number of races (potentially) = 13 + 2 + 2 = 17

Now that I am in the counting mood:
Number of single women/girls I have met this year = 3
No. dated = 1!

Epxressed mathematically:
No. of running races 14 > No. of single women met > No. of women dated

Unbalanced equation. Solution to balance the equation, converting
">" to"=" . After conversion, the equation looks like this:-

No. of running races = No. of single women met = No. of women dated.

Expressed in words; get more girls/women to take up running. Meet more girls during races. Problem is 95% of the runners are guys.

How to solve the imbalance between male and female runners? My suggestions for male runners:-

1. Look cool while running , think aerodynamic sunglasses.
   
2. Adding to No. 1, wear technical runing gear - no old race T-shirt with faded logos.
   
3. Wear something tight to accentuate our trim/hard bodies . Girls - observe the c0ntrast between the bodies of runners and the unsightly bulges of the male non-runner/triathlete.
   
4. Seek help from female runners to get more of their female friends to start running. I've tried this myself but have failed.
   
5. Get guy runners to enroll more of their female friends as runners.
   
6. Get more female Citibank female employees to run - Citibank office is just 5 minutes from KLCC park where I also run every day. They will probably also run in KLCC park.

That's it for now - time for me to drive to KL to pick up the bibs for tomorrow's race.

Penang Bridge Run 2001 - A Story about a Runner Who didn't Make it to the Starting Line

I ran my first half marathon race in 2000 in the Penang Bridge Run (PBR). It was an agonising experience as I suffered from severe leg cramps, stomach cramps and blisters at the 15 km mark.

But a year later I was back to run a second half marathon. Since then I've never missed going to Penang to run in the PBR. Each race brings with it different experiences but with time, the memories become fainter. The 2001 PBR was memorable not for the race but because of someone who didn't make it to the starting line.

The trip to Penang started with a bus ride from Klang at 9.00 am to Seberang Prai. Reaching S.P. , I walked to the ferry jetty to board the ferry to Penang island. Looking at the sea had always a soothing effect, so I have opted to take a ferry for every trip for the PBR since 2001.

Some 15 minutes later, the ferry reached Penang island. I slung my backpack to my shoulders, walked past the shops and taxi touts/drivers and started walking towards Komtar. As a I neared Komtar, I began looking for a taxi to take me to Hotel Sri Malaysia in Bayan Baru. I knew from previous year's experience, the taxi drivers would ask for a RM 20 fare to Bayan Baru. Last year I had to pay RM 20 after asking half a dozen taxi drivers lined up in a queue - all of them said " RM 20, harga biasa" . In other words "Take it or leave it"

I was determined to look for an "honest" taxi driver and stood by the road looking for such a person. After several minutes, I spotted a old Nissan Sunny taxi. Reasoning that a guy who drives an old taxi is likely to be more honest than those who drives the Proton car taxis , I raised my hand - the taxi stopped.

Inside, the taxi driver was a skinny malay man wearing spectacles with thick lenses. He wore a somewhat threadbare shirt with a dark colour trouser ( I forgot the exact colour). I asked him "Berapa tambang ke Hotel Sri Malaysia kat Bandar Bayan Baru ?" He replied " Enam belas ringgit Encik". As last, I have found an honest taxi driver. I hauled the backpack onto the back seat and sat beside him.

As usual we chatted about the things that strangers to each other about, casual topics like the weather, the never ending Penang traffic jams, Penang food etc. We went on talking for a while as he drove at a sedate pace to Bayan Baru. I suppose his car just could not move faster - it was an old car with a barely functional aircond. He had a small fan on the dashboard switched on, easing somewhat the warm temperature inside the taxi.

I found out his age - in the early 50's , married with two children. I casually told him him the purpose of my trip to Penang, to run the half marathon. He said he is a runner too, in fact he had run the PBR many times since the 1980's. I was somewhat surprised at this fact - he looked too frail to be a runner. I had suspected that he may not be in the best of health.

Nevetheless after further conversation on training and race experiences, I could confirmed that he was indeed a felllow running enthusiast. I went on to ask for training tips as I had only been running consistently for one year. I have forgotten most the tips it now except for one - the best shoes for running.

According to him, the best shoe for a runner is one with with a simple rubber sole - no dual density EVA, Gel or other fancy stuff. The kind of shoe you can find in a Pasar Malam (night market) or a low end Bata shoe -a RM 40 shoe. Well I didn't believe this at all but there was no point in trying to convince him otherwise of the benefit of a high-tech and more expensive shoe. He had been using the low-tech show for years and it suited him just fine.

I asked him if he was runing in this year's PBR. He replied that he was NOT running PBR this year. I asked him the reason he was not running in the PBR this year. He said he could not afford to pay the registration fee. I was taken aback by this reply. The registration fee was only RM 20. How could anyone cannot afford to pay RM 20?

Our conversation died off after that - throughout the last few km , I could not stop thinking, feeling sorry for this guy who could not afford to pay RM 20 to run in the PBR.

We reached the hotel a few minutes later. I took out my back-pack and thanked him for the service and conversation. I paid him the fare, RM 16 . To this fare, I added a RM 20 tip.

I hope one day he would run the PBR again but that year, one runner didn't make it to the starting line.

PJ Half Marathon 2004 - Battle with the Stiches

The PJ Half Marathon would be my last half marathon for 2004.

I was aiming for a time 1 hr 52 min., a time I considered achievable in view of the shorter distance,19. 5km compared to Ipoh (21 km) and Seremban (22 km) run. I had run these races in respectable times of 1 hr 58 and 1 hr 57 min. respectively at a brisk pace with some reserves to spare. So for PJ Half route shorter by 1.5 to 2.5 km, equal to 7-12 minutes faster time, a time of 1 hr 52 min. seemed to be an easy target.

I was wrong - PJ would become the toughest half marathon I had ever run.

THE START
The race started right on time at 6.30 am with a gun shot; no speeches, no announcements the starter's name and position . Simple with no fuss. I started slowly and gradually picked up the pace until the Federal Highway. Here then runners faced a gradual run up an long incline - not to steep. I came across Newtwon and Jonathan running at comfortable pace. Newton asked me to "go ahead" which I did. I also ran at a comfortable pace and overtook dozens of slower runners. I was not breathing hard but the pace? I seemed to be running quite fast. Up the Motorola bridge and bback down the Federal Highway at the 5 km mark, i checked my pace. My timing - it was 25 min. 40 seconds. I was surprised to be able to run this fast comfortably. Did a quick calculation. If I could mantain the same pace for another 15 km, I would finish the race in 1 hr 40 minutes.

A Personal Best (PB) time was within reach.

5 KM TO 10 KM - I AM FLYING
Past the 5 km, I continued pushing the same pace but with no sign of discomfort or heavy exertion. Everything seemed to be so easy. Just cruising along and enjoying running at the fastest pace I've run since Aug. 2003. Running up the steep Subang Jaya flyover - no trouble here. Soon I came across the 10 km market. Another time check, 49 min 30 seconds. Faster than the first 5 km. I am flying - nothing was impossible!

10 KM to 14 KM - TROUBLE STARTS WHEN THE GOING IS GOOD
Past the 10 km mark, I was beginning to become a little tired. Decided to slow the pace and started to scan the opposite road. Saw Gavin and many other runners - counted about 20-30 of them at this time.

At 12 km, the stiches started below both rib cages. Slowed down my pace further, hoping it would go away with slower breathing. Stopped an walked for about 100 m. Saw David (Klang Pacer) running on the opposite road. Also saw Yong running past - he shouted to encourage me to go faster. But I coudn't muster the pace as the stiches became worse.

14 KM MARK to FINISH - THE STRUGGLE
The worst was to come after 13 km. Run 1-2 minutes, walk, run, walk and so it goes on and on. Tried everything to overcome the stiches; Deep breathing, long walk break (200 m), finger on diagram - nothing works. Could barely run at a slow pace. Came across a Malay guy who was also walking. He had leg cramps - I can emphatise with him. We are sharing our suffering together. My suffering continued as other runners ran pass me. When will this suffering END?

20 km to STADIUM - RELIEF
I turned into a road for the last 2 km to the Stadium. I mustered all my willpower to keep running despite the stiches. Five minutes later I sighted the stadium - relief !. I saw Jamie ahead of me - was he struggling too ? I checked my watch 1 hr 56 minutes with another 50o m to the finish line. I was desperate - I have to finish within 2 hrs . I gave it all to sprint the last 500 m into the Stadium. Finally crossed the line at 1 hrs 58 min. 20 seconds. Thanks to Azwar and Ronnie who cheered me near the finish line.

POST RACE
I was exhausted with sore legs but the stiches have finally dissapeared. Meet up with Yong near the drinks stations. He finished in 1 hr 50 minutes in 173 position. Congratulations, Yong, nice Pewter medal !. I also met up with all other runners to swap stories. Good to see them all as everyone I have known since taking up running 5 years ago was there at the finishing line.

WHAT WENT WRONG?
Did I run too fast for the first 10 km ? Stiches can be caused by improper breathing - breathing too fast. I was breathing comfortably for the first 10 km. And the stiches continued even when I slowed my running pace. It's still a mystery.

NEXT RACE
My next race is the World Tour Day Run at Dataran Merdeka on 26 Aug. 2004