Red Alert!! The BOMBAstic Run...

The International Firefighters' Day (IFFD) is observed on May 4th every year. In conjunction with the IFFD this year, the BOMBA Run, an annual event which has been convened for 9 consecutive years, fell on 8.5.2011, which was also the Mother's Day weekend.

I had registered for the BOMBA Run a couple of weeks ago even before the Energizer Night Race on 16.4.2011. As promised, I did not subject my feet to further torture post ENR and it would be a full 3 weeks' rest before I run again at the BOMBA Run. Nevertheless, one day prior to the BOMBA Run my left knee still felt wobbly and there was an uneasy feeling on the left ankle as well. Hence, facing with such a quandary (again), I decided to pay a visit to Dr. William Chan. After some X rays and ultrasound scan, Dr. William Chan told me that there is no major problem with my knee and the good news is my previous injury from the Mt. Kinabalu fall had fully recovered. However (there is always a however), there is a new ankle injury at the outer ankle caused by my ankle sprain at the ENR and voila, here's another Grade 2 Ankle Sprain again. The verdict: Rest, and run at your own risk. So, back to square one, the dilemma of 'To Run or Not to Run'. Burdened with such a question, I was driving home with a heavy heart and suddenly I remembered the story of Matt Long (not the actor). Matt Long was a veteran firefighter at the New York Firefighting Department, an Ironman triathlon finisher and was training for the Boston Marathon when he was hit by a bus on 22.12.2005. Matt Long was riding his bike to work on that morning, his bike's handlebars got jammed into the bus's metal base and it speared Long, opening a fissure from his belly button to his rectum. The doctors thought he would bled to death when he arrived at the hospital. 5 months and 22 surgeries later, Long survived, albeit now with a titanium rod ran through his left leg, virtually from his hip to his ankle, supporting his shattered tibia and femur. Metal screws kept the bones of his left foot in place. His life would no longer be the same. Dark clouds pervaded his healthy and athletic life and at one point, he was shunning everyone showing concern and doubts were building as to whether Long would ever stand up and be himself again. Of course not, Matt Long would never be the same. But he never gave up, he learnt to live his life to the fullest again. In November 2009, Long finished the New York City Marathon in 7:21:22, a record drastically in contrast with his earlier records of 3:44:39 for the full marathon leg in the Ironman Triathlon. Be it as it may, he participated and completed the run, which most ordinary people with perfectly healthy and normal limbs would not even have the courage to do so. Long was accompanied by two longtime buddies, fellow fireman Frank Carino and Noel Flynn. Carino has done an 11 hour Ironman triathlon while Flynn is on verge of achieving a sub 3 marathon. Nevertheless, both agreed to hang on with their friend, step by step, for a very slow run for the New York Marathon. Long's story moved my heart deeply when I first read about his story. Rivulets of tears were streaming down when I finished reading his story. With this story in mind, I have made up my mind to run the BOMBA Run by the time I wheeled my car into the car porch. I would run with Matt Long in my mind. Do not get me wrong, I am not saying that it is wise or heroic to run with injuries and I am definitely not asserting that I could be in comparison with Long in any aspect. I am not trying to prove anything, I just thought that BOMBA Run is meaningful to commemorate Long's story and after all, how could I resist running for the love of running?

Attired in fiery red shirt and running shoes to mark the RED symbolizing fire, I arrived at Dataran Merdeka with Jo and Noor, also clad in red. The run was flagged off at 7.30 a.m. I started running with Nawal, a super fit athlete who agreed to slow jog with me to keep me accompanied and Letch, the crazy-and-never-get-tired-super-fit, who decided that she would slow jog with me too for a little while. After a 3 weeks break from running, my stamina was running really low and I was struggling with some efforts to keep up with "Nawal's slow pace". However, I felt good to be running again and as the first 5km of the route was the route through Kenny Hills, part of our normal Sunday LSD route, it felt like running on home ground. By the time I came out from Kenny Hills and reached the Jalan Duta Hoki Stadium, I was gasping for breath and my ankle hurts. I stopped a few times and struggling mentally to ignore the pain. Not to mention that the stinky smell that lingered in the air probably from some drains didn't help at all. After the uphill slope towards the Indian High Commission, I told Nawal to run ahead without me as I couldn't even cope up with a normal pace anymore. I was very grateful for the fact that she was encouraging me all the way and kept on checking to see whether I was okay.

So, back to running alone. I actually enjoy running alone tremendously. I could control my pace, my tempo, my breathing, my thoughts...being a control freak, it feels good to have everything under control. Jalan Duta is a road I travel daily to work. However, travelling along the road  trapped in a car and running along the road on both feet are two very different experience altogether. I feel real when I could feel the ground with my own feet. Each step and each stride is a conscious effort. You get to feel the terrain and the gradient of the road, the texture of the ground, the caress of the cool breezes on the flushing cheeks, the smell of tree leaves, and you get to hear the birds chirping. The experience is real. This is one of the reasons why I love running.

The sun was scorching hot when I painfully climbed up the slope to Lake Garden. I knew before the run that there were only 100 finisher medals for the top 100 finishers, hence I was not running for any medal. However, when I finally reached Dataran Merdeka, I saw Letch standing next to the fence and she shouted "Lilian, still got medals!" Suddenly, I found new strength in both legs and I immediately sprinted with all the vigor I had left all the way to the finish line. Gosh, when I was handed a huge finisher medal at the rank of No.68 in Women Open Category, I felt that I was touching a piece of gold. To me, the piece of round metal is priceless. The lyrics of Glen Hansard's "Gold" came to mind "....and I love her so, wouldn't trade her for gold oh..." It is true that when you receive your reward at the time when you least expect it, the feeling is simply sensational...and the moment, unforgettable.

The Precious

ENR - Energizer Nightmare Rendition?

I felt compelled to write another piece about the Energizer Night Race 2011, which has instigated an unprecedented infamy against the organizer of a race event. Starting out with the zealous aspiration and ambition to be crowned as one of the biggest and most successful running event in Malaysia, the ENR has ironically earned the reputation as being the farce of running events. The post ENR pandemonium culminated in the forming of two facebook pages/groups known as Boycott Energizer Night Race and Energizer Night Race KL 2011: We Want Justice, which have attracted thousands of supporters within one day after the event. Two days after the event, the event organizing company, Expose Media Sdn Bhd issued a public apology to all and soon ensued by another official apology from Energizer with promises to refund all registration fees in addition to the promises of giving out of finishers' medals and all other goodies. 

So, what went wrong? I seriously have no idea what are the real issues behind the whole fiasco - bad management by event company? Or lack of communications? Misjudgments? Be it as it may, as far as my personal experience is concerned, the event went wrong the moment we swerved our cars into Sepang. 

First of all, a queue of vehicles was forming even before we entered the car park. To our astonishment, we were literally 'extorted' RM10 per vehicle as parking fee. It was this collection of parking fee which caused the congestion. I would think that RM10 is way too exorbitant and the organizer should at least have the courtesy and decency to inform the runners, no? 

Secondly, there were insufficient signboards to guide the runners to the starting point. We were awestruck   when we saw that all runners were supposed to enter the stadium (I assumed it is called so) through one door (3 feet in width). Imagine thousands and thousands of runners squeezing into the door. We then have to pass through a long passage way with little ventilation (if at all). Could you imagine swarming through the crowds amidst body odour, sweaty armpits, and possibly some toxic gas which might be released by some very flatulent runners? Gosh, our lungs were partially suffocated with such intoxicating air and not to mention about the possible outburst by claustrophobic runners? Okay, maybe I am exaggerating, but my friend, Jo did fall down in the narrow passage way. Perhaps she fell because she was tiptoeing in her Newton shoes or perhaps she was not watching her steps. But my point is, poor coordination and management of crowd flow give rise to high likelihood of accidents. 

Thirdly, there were no clear signs of where to go such as Baggage Area, toilets, starting line etc. We were like headless chicken running around and asking everyone around....in the getting-darker evening mist. It's like a maze. We have to queue for almost everything and we spent most time in looking for directions on where to head to and queuing up for the toilets. 

Fourthly, we were already treated like a bunch of beggars before we were close to the starting line. After the long passage way and some up and down staircase, we finally reached a dark room (yes, literally dark) and tiny and we were told that this was where we were suppsoed to collect our head lamps. Seriously, until now I am unable to comprehend the logic to collect the headlamps on the race day itself instead of simultaneously with our collection of race kits. Apparently it was stated that the runners for 5km and 11km were not entitled to head lamps but at the end of the day what happened was boxes of headlamps were thrown out and left on the floors for runners to grab. It's a free for all chaos!

Coming to the fifth point, we finally made it to the starting line and just in time to hear the 42km gun fired off. The starting line was ridiculously confined to half of the line and as I mentioned poor coordination leads to accidents. A runner fell down and was stumped by other runners.

Oh, I forgot to mention about the brilliant idea of running in the dark in a black running vest. Whoever designed the vest - what a smart ass (pun and sarcasm intended). 

Geez, I lost count on the points...the seventh? There were two water stations in the outer loop (of 10km) and one water station in the inner loop, which means on average we got to hydrate ourselves every 5-5.5km. The best part was, at the water station for the inner loop, there were only 2 persons standing that to distribute the isotonic drinks/H2O and canned isotonic drinks and 1.5 litre mineral water bottles were stored in a big box for the runners to grab. I don't remember a running event being a buffet. And are you kidding me? Canned drinks? Have you considered the disposal of the same? It was disastrous, the track was like a mine field and I finally stepped on one and sprained my already strained ankle. 1.5 litres water bottle? What are we going to do with the 1 litre water even if we could gulp down 500 ml? Carried it around when we run as if we were not exhausted enough? Smart ass, very very smart ass (or asses).

The 8th - there were lack of marshals giving out rubber bands to mark the number of inner loops one has completed. In fact, I have to stop and queue up and insist on my bands. Did I mention that the rubber bands are black too? Well, Black in a night race is really the new Black in town. There was also lack of marshals to tell runners where to go. Well, 'lacking' is an understatement. The truth is, as a far as I am concerned, there was no one I could ask for directions. I just have to run and follow other runners. The best part was, there was no one at the finish line to utter a sincere 'well done' or at least tell me where to go so I could collect my medal and finisher T. Oh ya, I nearly forgotten to mention about the 'cheaters'. There were just so much to rant on. You see, as there were lack of/no marshal/indifferent marshals hence many, if not most, runners cut through the lawns instead of doing the full inner loop. I don't even know who to blame more - the dishonorable runners or the ‘couldn’t care less’ marshals? If you participate in a run, get through it! Honour and pride are much more important than the timing.

The worse part had yet to unveil - *thadammmmm* there was NO medal. Apparently, instead of giving out the finishers' medals at the finish line, which is usually the norm, they chose to distribute it in some chambers and the signs indicating the categories of runners were in...err....A4 size? Kindly permit me to mention that there are 10,000 participants for the race, families, friends and supporters excluded. Hence, would you really be surprised when it all culminated into an uproar? Come on, tired runners, long queue, late night, rude personnel - seriously the runners are runners, not saints. The best part was - a voice (not a very polite female voice) came through the loudspeakers and implying that we were bandits  "because you all are so noisy we have no choice but to....blah blah blah". Simply uplifting, wasn't it?  I was not really there when the climax of the commotion took place but later on I watched a video captured by another runner depicting how the personnel threw out the goodies bag for the runners to grab. Did they think they are some hot shot celebrities throwing out their sweaty towels for the fans to grab? I loved this. I effing ran 21km (or so I believed) and there was no medal and no water station and nothing, absolutely nothing awaits me save for my dearest friends.

Look, I am already exhausted up to this point. The worst climax of the night- we went back to our respective vehicles and James’ car was broken into and Yam’s bag as well as Derek’s camera were stolen. When we left, there were still runners out there completing their full marathons and imagine what would they felt when they returned to a quiet and empty finish line.

Of course, the big surprise came 3 days later – the timing recorded by the timing chips all gone haywire and everyone seemed to have their PBs due to the malfunction of ‘humans’? 

In a nutshell, ENR 2011 was a disastrous joke. The song ‘I started a joke…which started the whole world crying…” suddenly played in my mind. Whoever that caused this blunder, must be a Bee Gees fan….

*A postscript: Anyway, I am contented that Energizer had finally stepped out and apologised and is doing ( I presume) what they could to pacify the dissatisfaction. I sincerely hope that all future running event organisers would pay heeds to the human errors which occured at ENR 2011 and ensure that such blunders would not recur again. The best you could learn from history is - Experience. 

Energizer Night Race - The First and The Last

Energizer Night Race 2011 to be held on 16.4.2011 would be my first night race and my first half marathon in year 2011. The participation in ENR was overwhelming. Almost everyone that I know who is into running (or not) signed up for ENR. It was also going to be John Chuah, John Ong, Jo, Liza, Noor, James’ virgin 21km run. On top of that, it was also Shearling and PooiChing’s first official run. As for the few of us who just came back from 2XU Compression Run a week ago we were still riding on the high of the run and couldn’t wait to rock the tracks at Sepang F1 Tracks!!! Yes, we were going to run on the Formula One Sepang Tracks, which were freshly rolled on and roared by the GrandPix racers exactly a week ago.

A day before the ENR, a pandemic fear and pre-run anxiety pervaded the runners’ circle. A glance through the Facebook newsfeeds revealed that every one was having butterflies in the stomach, in a more or less degree. The anxiety heightened when it started to pour like cats and dogs on the faithful Saturday morning and continued for another 5 hours or so. The weather looked gloomy but the rain had sort of cooled the temperature down hence we were looking at a bright chance of running in breezy weather instead of the hot and humid night air as feared by most runners.

I went for French class in the morning and couldn’t concentrate in the class at all. Suddenly, I failed to understand French despite 5 semesters of learning. My mind was wandered far away and I was very worried about my ankle and knee. I haven’t fully recovered from my ankle sprain (and straining it here and there through running and bootcamping didn’t help at all) and I suffered a new knee injury after Wednesday’s bootcamp session. My left knee was swollen and I was limping since Wednesday. I endured two painful sessions with Daniel, my Maiki masseuse (who is also a martial art instructor) attempting to ease the damage. After two hours of French, I couldn’t take it anymore and decided to ask for leave to retire earlier. I tried to sleep but of no avail as my heart was beating fast.

At 5.15 p.m, we set off from my house with Jo, Noor, John (bestie) and Elliot in my car. We then met up with Yam, James, Derek and Shearling at the bootcamp field. To our surprise, Unlce John Chuah was there too. If I recalled correctly, he said he won’t be bothered to depart early and would only leave around 6 p.m. I guessed his kiasuness got the better of him and he probably had conducted a risk analysis and decided that better be early than sorry.

Hence, a convoy of three cars sped along the highway heading to Sepang. The journey was long and seemed never ending. The talk in the car relating to the run didn’t help to ease anyone’s anxiety. Worried looks were imprinted on everyone’s face. When we reached Sepang, a jam was already building up and to our dismay, we were asked to pay RM10.00 as parking fee. There was queue at the toilets and more queue to get into F1 tracks. The collection for the headlamps was not really a collection at all but more of a ‘heist’ by the eager runners. A box was dropped on the floor and everyone just pushed and squeezed in to grab the headlamps and it was lucky that no stampede occurred. More queue at the baggage deposit area and it seemed that we spent an hour or so on queuing itself and there was not enough time to do warm up at all. The only light moment came when Jo fell in the passage leading to the stadium. It was kind of hilarious and it lightened up everyone’s mood.

Before we knew it, and before we even had the time to camwhore, we were asked to gather at the starting line. Then, there were some cheerleaders' dance and stunt which, if truth be told, did not bemuse any of the runners as everyone was too eager to run. When the run was flagged off, Liza, James, Armin, Joe were sprinting and speeding away and ahead of me like a whiz of smoke. A guy fell down due to the pushing from the runners behind and I felt so sorry for him but I couldn’t stop to cross over and help him as the runners behind me were pushing me ahead. 

I was running with good pace for the first 5km. The roads were so dark I was carefully paying heeds to watch out for pebble stones to avoid another episode of ankle sprain. When I finished the Outer Loop (running on the highways outside F1 tracks), I thought it should be at least 10km but when I looked at the teeny weeny white cardboard it was written 8.5km. Then we turned into the stadium itself. Approximately when I reached 14km, I began to feel excruciating pain on my left ankle. At one point, it was so painful that I had cold sweat and I was at the verge of crying and giving up. I just want to pick up my mobile phone and called for help and gave up. But then, pride and honour got the better of me and I began a ‘table talk’ with my feet. I was having a negotiation with my feet that I promised them ample rest after ENR in exchange for the tenacity to last through ENR in one piece. It was really tough running on a painful ankle. My pace slowed down and I had to stop for about 7-8 times to stretch my ankle. On top of this, the organization and the handling of the whole event was very bad. First, there was no visible distance marker except the 8.5km. We were supposed to do two inner loops on the race tracks itself but there were no marshal to guide us and tell us where to go. There was only one water station in the stadium which means one water station for every 5.5km. There were so many runners who cut across the lawn as a matter of short cuts and there was no one to stop them. I mean, seriously, running, just like any other sports, is an honourable affair. You could limp, walk, or even crawl back to the finish line and all other runners would still cheer for you and feel proud of you but if you dishonour the race by taking short cuts and therefore shorten the distance it is an utmost disgrace. You brought the running affair into disrepute, seriously. I mean, I was in pain and I was running with a sprained ankle and I was at the verge of breaking down but I would never, ever allow myself or lower myself to such low so as to do the short cuts. Sportsmanship, honour and pride are more important aspects in a run than the timing itself.

The Birthday Boy and the Belated Birthday Gal

I did my last inner loop in a turtle-slow pace but I continued running. I didn’t have any physical strength left at that moment and it was more of a mind over matter affair. I even shut my eyes and ran. I also had a thug of war imaginary conversations with myself – “No, it’s not pain, it’s just discomfort”, “Okay, fine, it’s pain, but just bear with it for a little more”, “It’s going to be fine, it will be fine by tomorrow”, “Just go, few more kilometers away, you can rest after that” and so on. But I must say, despite all exhaustion, frustration at the lack of (or absence of) distance marker and the perturbing and throbbing pain, I felt happy. I felt happy that I was running and I was going to finish it. At 2km before the finish line (the only marker which spelled ‘2km away’), I gulped down mouthful of water to quench my thirst and I poured the remaining on my head to cool myself down. I then decided I was ready to sprint the last 2km. Just when I was making a mental note “Fuck it, now, Lils, run run run!” to myself and lifted my feet for a sprinting pose, I stepped on an empty Mountain Dew can and sprained my ankle AGAIN! Yes, I couldn’t help but shrieked “Fuck”. I decided to do a limp sprinting anyway. At this point, I heard someone calling my name. I turned around and saw Nana (who just did a full marathon at Paris a week ago) and YKK (birthday boy who dressed in a striking yellow outfit complete with a lion king wig). They were so relaxed and happy and shouting words of encouragement. Thanks to their uplifting spirit and encouraging words, I managed to sprint to the finish line and all four of us – YKK, Nana, Lilly and me crossed the finish line together – HOLDING HANDS! I was so touched. Nana and YKK were fast runners and I am sure they slowed their pace to encourage Lilly. These are commendable gestures! This is what we called sportsmanship! You may be a fast runner, but it is not the speed that made you a great runner, it’s one’s own caliber, charisma and characters that made one a great runner!

When I arrived at the finish line I realized that there was a chaotic tumult close to a physical brawl going on at the medals collection counters. It seemed that the handing out of finishers tee and medals were distastefully handled and the organizer had shut down the place and stopped all giving out of medals. Announcement was made that medals and goodies bags would be mailed out to participants instead. This was seriously a joke. I have never been in a run/race (unless it has been made clear earlier that there is no finishers’ medals) whereby medals were withheld! Come on, I ran a freaking 21km in pain and I couldn’t at least have a piece of cold metal hanging around my neck as comfort? You must be kidding me!! Ridiculously it was true. The supervision of the whole run was so badly managed that I didn’t feel the excitement when crossing the finish line and everyone was busy booing and not even a single personnel awaited me at the finish line to utter at least a decent ‘Well done’. If it was not the runners’ bond, the runners would have come back to the finish line to nothingness, as one of the runner put it on TRAFFFF.  It is indeed a shame, ENR has all factors in favour of them - perfect weather, perfect tracks and perfect participants turn up and they still managed to screw it all up and put an abrupt and anti-climax full stop to an otherwise memorable and outstanding running event of the year. It provoked an instant and universal anti-ENR sentiment around the virtual world and too many nasty things have been said that I personally do not think ENR would ever stand up from this shameful pit anytime soon. To me, I would put it simply as this: ENR: My first and my last!

Of course, all is not lost when you have the strong bondage amongst runners. It felt good to be congratulated and surrounded by fellow runners. Jun King, my downline who participated in the 11KM run witnessed the tumult when it happened and just when the organizer announced that they were going to shut down the place he managed to grab some finishers’ medals for us (knowing how meaningful it would be for us). Again, I was so touched with his thoughtfulness. Of course it was not right to grab the medals just like that but given the havoc and the confusion, he did what he thought was right at that time with our interests' in mind. At the end of the day, all the finishers' medals which he grabbed were distributed to runners for the 21km category who finished the run in good time within the qualifying 3 hours. 

To sum it up, notwithstanding the miserable backdrop and doleful ending to the whole event, we had an enjoyable run. It was a memorable run, and I would always remember ENR in the forms of great friendship and great bonding. The rest, is history.


p/s: there are some post ENR sidelights but that would be for another day in another write-up.

2XU Compression Run - Singapore 10.4.2011

The Very Gaya looking TRAFFFFians at 2XU Compression Run 2011

After more than 3 months hiatus from running competitions (the last was 12km on 12.12.10) and a brief hiatus (3 weeks) from running due to ankle injuries caused by pure clumsiness and stubbornness, my first run for year 2011 was the 2XU Compression Run in Singapore held on 10th April 2011. The chronicle would not be complete without giving credits to Noor, who discovered about the run in the process of his virtual quest for international running competitions via the web utilizing the device none other than google search engine. Noor's magnanimity in sharing the information on TRAFFFF group has created a ripple effect immediately amongst the kiasu TRAFFFFians and almost immediately within a few hours, many have signed up for the run and we even have 'almost' continuing bib numbers starting with my number - 6665. Everyone was so excited about the "international" run and travelling arrangements were made respectively.

The first batch of runners - Hot Ass Yam (virgin runner) and Super Delta James (virgin international runner) arrived in Singapore as early as the midnight of 8th April 2011. The kiasu couple - Noor and Jo as well as myself arrived via the first flight of Firefly at around 9.10 a.m at Singapore ensued by Joe Liew who took a flight an hour later than ours. Sarge Dann and Ody decided to drive down (for the purposes of loots loading I supposed). The fiesta begun immediately with a shopping spree at Velocity at Nowena Square. When we arrived at the Newton Shop, the shop assistant (who we later found out that his name is Nus) was still sweeping the floor when we stormed into the shop with irrepressible excitement. I went with a mission and vision to own a pair of Newton shoes as I have previously did thorough research and concluded that I must have a pair of Newton. Noor and Jo started with a nonchalant attitude by browsing the racks. Nus asked me to do a mock run to ascertain which pair of shoes that were suitable for me. After running around the mall (yes, it's a shopping mall and yes, bystanders were staring at me in awe and bewilderment) for a while, Nus concluded that I am a forefoot-mid-foot runner and I was prescribed with the shocking pink Newton Performance Racer Distantia shoes. 

I felt so comfortable and light running and sprinting (around the mall) in the pink shoes and it took me about 30 seconds to decide to swipe my card in exchange for the pink Cinderella shoes. Seeing me flushing red with excitement, Jo decided to give it a sprint try and another 2 minutes later, another card was voluntarily surrendered to Nus. Needless to say, after witnessing the barter trade between me, Jo and Nus, Noor could not suppress his desire anymore and before we knew it he was trying on at least 5 pairs of shoes at the same time. By the time Yam and James found us in the shop, Nus had happily concluded 3 sales thanks to the 3 stooges from Kuala Lumpur. Soon after, James, Joe Liew, Yam and Lizza followed suit and bought a pair of Newton shoes each. We were happy with our new shoes and Nus was contented with his sales quota. I must say, it's a fair trade which made everyone happy for the day. 

The Newtonised TRAFFFFians continued with the shopping spree. More HALO caps, power gels, SPI belts, running jerseys, shorts, compression attire were purchased at the expense and courtesy of the credit line graciously provided by a a few Malaysian financial institutions. By the time we all retired at the hotel/respective accommodations, I supposed sufficient legs warm up exercise has been achieved through walking in the malls.

The next morning, we arrived at the Singapore Flyer near Marina Promenade as early as 6 in the morning. Everyone was stylishly clad in some form of compression attire. We looked as if we were models for some poster or something. Camwhoring started at 6 a.m and continued intermittently through some warm up exercises led by Sarge Dann (our bootcamp instructor). The Singapore Flyer with its lights on looked magnificent in the dawn. We were more mentally prepared than we physically were.

As usual, my bladder required dual visitations to the public washrooms and by the time I came out from the toilet, sucked my energy gel and walked towards the starting line, everyone seemed to have started running. Oops, the run was flagged off when I was still in dream mood. I clumsily turned on my Runkeeper timer and iPod and started running. Before I could even react to utter some good luck gibberish to Jo and Lizza they had sped away. 

As advised by Rose, I started slow and I truly enjoyed the scenic sceneries along the promenade looking at the Marina Channel. Oh, I also spotted few homeless under the bridge and by the public toilets. It felt so good to be in a run again. The sky was drizzling but it didn't really matter as I was enjoying my run tremendously. We ran back to the Singapore Flyer to turn to the Esplanade, Fullerton, Marina Bay Sands and back to the Singapore Flyer. 

Somehow, I didn't feel the desire to be kiasu at all. I saw many elderly passed me by and I was amazingly not having any issues with it. Perhaps I was fully aware of my injuries and perhaps I was even more aware that my physical strength would not enable me to catch up with them anyway. Without the pressure to compete with others and with myself, I immersed myself with the pure pleasure of running, feeling my heartbeat, my short of breaths and the rhythm of my footsteps. I felt alive. I felt happy. I felt joy. Simple joy from simplicity of life. I thought about Haruki Murakami. He wrote in his book  "Most runners run not because they want to live longer, but because they want to live life to the fullest." That was exactly how I felt when I run.

I saw the 9km distance marker and not long after that, I saw the Singapore Flyer ahead and the Finish Line was waving at me from afar. Powered with the confidence in my Newton shoes and initiated by the last minute splurge I decided to increase my speed. Pumping my heart near the edge of having a possible heart attack, I was taken aback when I saw that the Finish Line Banner was at the opposite side of the route and we were supposed to run towards the Promenade again before turning back towards the Finish Line. At that point in time, my energy fuel was running low and I was besieged by immense exhaustion. I even found the music blasting away at my ears annoying and snapped it off. The run was no longer fun and joyous anymore. My ankle hurt tremendously and I was feeling light-headed. When I was about 100 metres away from the finish line, I mustered all my remaining strength and sprinted. You have no idea how relieved and happy I felt when I passed through that line. 

I realized another reason why I love running so much. Running is akin to living your life. It's a solo pursuit. Sure enough you would have your running comrades at certain juncture of the journey, which keep you company and motivated. But then again, at the end of the day, it is you who determine when and how you make it to the finish line. The route may be scenic at times, or hilly, or downhill or with stumbling blocks, but you don't stalled, you never quit and you continued running because you know once you crossed the line, all these would became history and unforgettable and beautiful memories which etched in a corner of your mind. And the best part is, those who loved you always wait for you at the finish line, to share the moment with you, and that is what matters most in life, isn't it? Yes, as my friend always remind me, it's not so much about the timing, it's more about the journey, the great friends and the fantastic memories! 

Lastly, may I present you with the finishers' medals - Voila!

P/S: My nett time : 12km in 1:19:10

Crestfallen Angel/Ankle

Doctor : You have a grade 1 tear at your Archilles Tendon and a grade 2 tear at your ankle ligamen.

My heart: I don't care what you said, I am going running this Sunday.

Doctor: It requires at least 6 weeks of recovery. Run at your own risk.

My heart: You are over-exaggerating.

Therefore, after paying a bill amounting to RM440.00, I went to purchase an ankle guard and I was under the impression that all I need was 5 days' rest...and then after telling Sarge what happened...his exact words were: "Run this Sunday and wheelchair for the future." and  "Don't you f**king COBC or TRAFFFF".

All right. This seemed and sounded serious. So I was 'persuaded' to rest for one month. That was yesterday.

Today, I am feeling depressed. While driving to a meeting, it hit me that this must be one of HIS pranks on me again. I mean, seriously, to think about it...every time I found happiness in my life, HE took it away and sent me down the Depresssion Pit. I wondered whether I am Job and I have to go through all these just because HE has a wager with the Devil? So, fine, I took up running, something I could do by myself and didn't need HIS help...and there it goes again...sprained ankle and no running for at least a month!!! Seriously. One has no idea how important running meant to me. Running is an essential part of my life now. It's when I could go into this Void (which Haruki Murakami aptly put it in his book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running) and in a blissful solitude far away from all the miseries and sorrow. It's when I am in control of each step and each stride. I feel that I am alive when I run. Running is my anti-depressants. Running is the balancing scale in my life. Running is the gapping tool of the distance between me and myself. Running is my source of energy and my pillar of support. It's not about Personal Best time, it's not about the finisher medal, it's about I am able to run, as far as I want, as much as I want, as long as I want. It's my way of proving to HIM that no matter how HE push me down I will still climb up.

Seriously, it's not fun at all without running. But I suppose I need this rest so I can run a longer distance for a longer time in the future.

TRAFFFF

TRAFFFF - The Running Apostles For Fun Food and Friendship is a running group that I started on 14th November 2010. It all began with an impromptu run with my COBC Bravo comrades - PC, Rose, Nyna, Affandi, Liza and me around Desa Park City (DPC). We had a fun run that day and we promised we should do this often as part of our training. Also, it was the warm up run before the PBIM in a week's time.

So I went back home and a sudden thought crept in my mind - why not start a group to organise run and to post information about running? Prompted with that spontaneous impulse, I hastily created a group, and the name TRAFFFF just flashed through my mind, as I am also a cursing queen hence the FFFF, pun intended.

3 months later, TRAFFFFians now actively trained on every Saturday morning around DPC, BU or DH, and some kiasu members also trained on Sunday. The running frenzy infected most TRAFFFFians with the running bugs and now every one is signing up/registering for runs all over the place. The very kiasu members amongst all - Uncle John, Jo, Noor, James, Rienna, Amy, Siew Peng were inspirations to me! In fact, these people have became more kiasu than me. Of course not to forget the hate-running-runner cum water station girl -Ms. Yam a.k.a hot ass a.k.a James' "room mate", Corporal Nawal who don't  mind to slow down her pace to let us pace with her, Rose and Nyna, Mummy PC and many others!! I am so proud to belong to such a group of fervent runners. Although running is the prime agenda, but nevertheless it's the fun, the food and most of all the great friendship that makes running irresistable!!

TRAFFFFians, let's rock the running calendar for year 2011!!

Finale Run of 2010 - It's Crazy but It's Fun

There is of course a streak or two of insanity in every runner. At the very least, this is how most non runners view the runners. Hence, there could be no better run to end the running calendar for year 2010 than the Spritzer-KRI Annual Run - which was to be held at Tanjung Rambutan, a small town in Ipoh where Hospital Bahagia, the oldest psychiatric hospital in Malaysia is located and thus the town is more often than not associated with mentally illness. KRI - Kelab Runners of Ipoh had handpicked the auspicious day of 12th day of the 12th month of the year and the corresponding distance of 12km! Since I have did 10km on the 10th day of the 10th month it would be kind of dramatic (and also corny) to do a 12.12.12! Lastly, 12km would be just a nice distance as a recovery run post the PBIM's half marathon.....so I thought.

Joe and me set off for Ipoh on the 11th - in order to collect the goodies bags and mainly to commence our food marathon in another food heaven-town, Ipoh. First pit stop was Hong Kee Muar Chee - a roadside stall near Jalan Pasir Pinji. The muar chee (glutinous rice cake coated with peanut butter-sugar crumbs) and the peanut butter paste was as good as I remembered it. After the 'appertizer/dessert', we went to collect our bibs and goodies bag near the Ipoh Stadium. Thereafter, Hor Fun at Tianjin Old Town Ipoh and the feast continued. Rose, Nyna, Armin, Nawal and Little Aaraf arrived in the evening and we went straight to have nasi kandar as our last carbo loading session before the run.

The next morning, we set off in two cars - Nawal, Armin and Aaraf in Armin's infamous racing car and Joe, Rose, Nyna and me in the safe car ;p. I googled the place, to wit, Bukit Kinding Resort the night before and we followed the directions religiously. After 40 minutes later, we found ourselves wandering in a quiet village road with no resort to be seen. Finally, we got help from this uncle on a motorbike who agreed to lead us back to the correct destination. We drove in the dark till the break of dawn. By the time we found the resort and parked our car (illegally), the race was about to be flagged off and as we ran towards the starting point we heard they announced "Let's wait a minute for these few runners". There went our warm up. Before we knew it, the whistle was blown and we found ourselves running amidst runners.

Breathtaking view from one of the highest point

The webiste mentioned something about "Scenic Run". Scenic run indeed it was....but after 5 minutes into the run, I began to question myself: "Am I on the right run? This looks like a climb!!!" Yes, it was too late to back off when I saw the hilly slope, more than 45 degrees....on 90% of the entire route. At one point, I could see the whole village at the bottom of my feet. I was panting and 'climbing' basically. Even the route downhill was pretty precarious. It was so hard! And I couldn't believe how slow I was. But then again, the scenery was indeed captivating, the air was fresh and it felt good to be amongst some of the serious runners in the country (I reckon that for one to come all the way in the middle of no where one has to be quite serious and passionate about running). I finished in 1 hour 26 minutes. Aaraf and Armin (who did not run as he needed to babysit Aaraf), Nawal and Joe were already waiting at the finishing line. Moments later, Rose and Nyna made it too in good timing! We camwhored under the scorching hot sun, had our milos and cendol (could not be compared with the Penang's cendol at all) and Nawal got the 14th placing!!

We went back to the hotel, showered, took a nap and checked out. The Armins have already left. Rose, Nyna, Joe and me began another marathon of food feast which flagged off at 2pm and continued until 8 pm. We drove, stopped and ate and drove, stopped and ate and it seemed like a never ending journey back to KL. There were just too many food pit stops along the way - O Cafe, biscuits, salted chicken, rojak, tanjong malim pau and hailam mee. The calories input had way exceeded the calories output.

In a nutshell, it was a fun run - with the fantastic food and fantabulous company.

To sum up 2010 - total clicks in races = 109.5km. Targetting to double that in 2011!!

21 km on the 21st day of November 2010 at PBIM

21st November – My late mother’s birthday

Penang – My late mother’s birthplace

21 – my age when my mom passed away

2010 – marked the 10th year anniversary since my mom’s demise.

Hence, on 21st November 2010 I ran my first maiden half marathon (21 km) at the Penang Bridge International Marathon (PBIM) partly to kick start my training for a full marathon and mainly to commemorate my late mother. It would also be a running fiesta where many of my friends would take part in – Mike would be running his first 21km along with Jeffrey John (JJ), Chris, Zack (who ffked or chickened out last minute). So it would indeed be a meaningful run for all after all. Not to mention that many bootcampers – Rose, Nana, Ded, Armin, Nawal, Liza, Ryan, Joe, Badariah, Ody and Sarge would be running as well!!! Oh, and let’s not forget my cousin – Jeff Liew – someone who never even attempted a 10km run before but had the courage (and foolishness?) to sign up for his first 21km run. Last but not least – my running upline – Ms. Tai Ching would be running too….and also Tyng Chong, a Ms. Kiasu. In short, it is THE RUNNING CLIMAX of the year….for me at least.

On 19th November 2010, the first convoy to Penang consisted of Joe, Gan (my primary classmate), Mike and myself in my car. Mike and Joe had alternated the task of driving. Not that I refused to drive but I was actually detained and prohibited to take charge of the wheels due to my alleged speeding(?). We made the first pit stop at Ipoh to begin our food marathon, which commenced even before the real marathon began and which lasted even after the PBIM). The second convoy consisted of Sarge and Ody, who sped to Penang in Sarge’s new Sirocco 1234! Joe and Mike would be sharing a room together with Jeff while Sarge, Ody and me squeezed into our room for a rumoured threesome (;p).

JJ was supposed to fly from Brunei and scheduled to arrive at Penang airport in the evening to join us. However, being a smart ass he is, he didn’t book the connecting flight from KLIA to Penang and he had the audacity to tell me that “Babe, I couldn’t believe the flights were all fully booked”. I had to arrange alternative transportation for him to travel with Liza and Ryan the following day.

 Being a kiasu bunch of runners, we went for our ‘warm up’ run in the evening around Hotel Equatorial. According to Sarge, we need to get used to the 'air' in Penang. It was merely a 3.6 km run with lots of dramatic camwhoring moments. Thereafter, with the kind guidance of David (another primary classmate who is currently working in Penang and who would also be participating in the half marathon), we continued our food exploration in Penang. First, it was the Nasi Kandar Beratur next to Masjid Kapitan, followed by some Tandoori Chicken and Naan and Pasembur. The night ended with a stroll around Batu Ferringhi to burn off the calories (to no avail whatsoever).

The next day the remaining troops arrived. Everyone was out somewhere hunting for food. It appeared that PBIM was actually the sidelight while to revel in the food hunting/marathon was the real agenda. As far as the Equatorial group was concerned, we started out with some sinful nasi briyani etc etc, more sinful brownies, the not to be missed Cendol, Assam Laksa….I was not sure whether we were carbo loading correctly in preparation for the run but I was confident that we did our fat and weight loading in an overwhelming manner. With the arrival of Liza, Ryan, Liza’s two princesses and JJ, we proceeded to Nasi Kandar again as dinner before we retired for the night.

I had been feeling nervous the whole day about the run which was coming up anon. The issue was not so much about finishing the run. The issue was whether I could finish the run in my targeted time of 2:30…and preferably 2:21.

I only managed to doze off for maybe about 30 minutes the entire night. At around 1 a.m we departed to Queensbay Mall. Cladded in my 2XU compression pants, Addidas performance top, Saucony shoes and other gadgets, I looked like a ninja in black. Ody and Sarge were also cladded in all black and the sight of three of us walking side by side was simply – eccentric!

The flag off time for men half marathon was 3 a.m while for the women was 3.15 a.m. It was pit dark everywhere and I was at the brink of suffering a nervous breakdown. In fact, I went to the toilet twice before the run was flagged off. Be it as it may, I was ready when the horn was blown. I was pacing (trying to pace) behind Nawal at the beginning. I was feeling hyper-energetic with the full blast from my iphone. After a while, I lost sight of Nawal when she sped away like a bird. My mind was very focused – i.e. to pass as many male friends of mine as possible, and this thought really kept my spirit high as I had targets to chase after. To my amazement, I didn’t stop or even walk at all. Though my breathing was still heavy, I could actually breathe without much difficulty for the first time (thanks to the last minute & temporary quit smoking measures adopted just two weeks before the run). The ascending route up the Penang Bridge was not as intimidating as I thought. Despite the initial pain I felt on both shins, my legs were pretty numb after the 8th km and I mentally made a note to turn my legs on auto pilot mode. My main task was just to monitor my breathing, my heart rate and my willpower. I didn’t look at the time as I didn’t want any further pressure.

Then, it started to pour. The wind was so strong that I felt that I needed to fight against the wind in order to tread forward. I was extremely worried about my iphone and then I saw my cousin Jeff. I passed my phone to him (as he was carrying a big pouch) and continued running. The rain was perhaps a blessing in disguise as it cooled  my body temperature down. Nevertheless, there were extra weights on the body as well as on the feet. At that moment, I felt thankful to Sarge for making us run with sandbags, rifles and weight backpacks at OBC. It all made sense suddenly. Then I caught up with Ded and started running with him. It was nice to pace with someone I know especially when there was no music. Then I passed David, and then Mike, and I was feeling extremely good!!! I just kept on running without the desire to find out about the distance. I was so high on endorphins that I didn’t even bothered to stop at two drinking stations and just continued to speed. At one point, Ody, Ded and I were pacing together but we lost each other at the last water station when Ody went for the medical hut while I slowed down for water and Ded sped away. My feet hurt terribly by then while my shins were completely numb. I kept on telling myself that I must do this and mummy was watching, I have to reach the finishing line with pride. That was the last thought and element that kept me going and kept me running without stopping or walking at all. When I reached the roundabout which was approximately 500 meters away from the finishing line, I felt an inexplicable urge to cry but I managed to suppress and push back my tears because my kiasuness overcame my sensitivity. Instead of crying, I sprinted…unfortunately only for about 300 meters before I slowed down fearing that my heart was going to quit on me. I reached the finish line. Net time: 2:20:52. I made it!!!! I was in great pain, wet, exhausted, cold, exhilarated, and high at the same time. Joe, Nawal and Sarge were already waiting at the finish line.

There were more sidelights and stories with regard to this run, but that was for another day another time.

I just want to say this: Mum, I made it, and I still miss you.

You know you are an incorrigible OBC Junkie (or PsychOBC) when…

You know you are an incorrigible OBC Junkie (or PsychOBC) *(pronounced as psychobic)*when…

 

1. You woke up at 5 a.m in the morning after barely 3 hours sleep and you actually felt happy for a 2 hours-back-to-back OBC sessions….
2. Your facebook profile picture is your photograph taken with the Chief and not with your husband/wife/boy friend/girl friend….
3. It is raining like cats and dogs at 5.00 a.m. in the morning the first thought that came to your mind is “wow, muddy mushy session today” instead of “so nice to sleep in”….
4. You kneel down to pick up a pen which was dropped on the floor you actually have to manually remind your brain not to kick your legs back to do grunts…
5. You are on the line with your overseas friends; you talked about OBC for 15 minutes out of a 20 minutes conversation…
6. Your relationship status on facebook says “In a relationship with OBC”…
7. You went for OBC session in Perth/Melbourne/Sydney/Wherever there is OBC while you are on holiday there…
8. It is not merely rain, hail or shine, but Raya, Diwali, Christmas, Chinese New Year etc…
9. During the 2 weeks break with no OBC sessions, you suffered from the following symptoms: dizziness, lethargic, insomnia, loss of appetite, depression, mood swings, or any of them or any combination of them. The medical term is actually OBC Deficiency Syndrome – curable with just regular attendance of OBC.
10. You observe any of the above or the combination of any of the above.