PNM: that was one helluva full marathon!

Wow! What an awesome feeling. The sense of accomplishment as I came up to the finishing line with my siblings cheering me on. Sure, my time of 5'40" wasn't on the same pace that I had achieved for my 30k run 3 weeks back (3'20"). But after checking out the route the night before, which has lots and lots of inclines that seemed endless, I had to change my goal from a sub-5 hour finish to sub-6 hour finish and not to get a ride in an ambulance or the sweeper bus. And that was what I did. Yay! Alhamdulillah (Thank God).

I have to give Hal Higdon Marathon Training credits because it certainly helped me to prepare for my Full Marathon. Of course, the treacherous course was a different matter altogether especially for a first-timer like me. It was also good to note that the Pacesetters 30K and the Putrajaya Night Marathon fit nicely in the training regimen.

The Aziz family represented all distances in 4 categories :)


The finisher T and medal. Nice!


My sisters cheering me on at the finish line. Awesome!

Aida, Aishah: Thanks for waiting patiently for me especially when you guys finished your 7.7k run hours before. You too bro-in-law ;)

Energizer Night Race is next. I'm opting for the 21K this time. A good choice, don't you think? :) But before that, time to earn my well deserved rest. ;)

new balance pacesetters 30K

Alhamdulillah, I got a 30K run under my belt. The unofficial time (by moi) is 3' 19". But it was very grueling. The Padang Merbok - Bukit Tunku - Sri Hartamas route and back have so many hills/inclines. I couldn't help but walked for some distance in the last 2-3 km.

I've never been to Sri Hartamas for months or perhaps years.


Here are some local events worth mentioning this year:

• Putrajaya Night Marathon: 6-February
• Energizer Night Race: 27-March
• KL Marathon: 27-June
• Penang Bridge International Marathon: 21-November
  

Pictures, you ask? Since I didn't have any kaki's (anyone I know) at the event, I didn't take that many pictures.



The starting line from where I was


Watermelons anyone? First time I'm seeing they're giving out these, instead of bananas.


The MILO line was quite long


That's all I have this time... I'm off to lazying around today :)

next up: full marathon?

I arrived at Penang at 7pm. Had dinner before checking into the hotel at 8. Went to bed by 9. Woke up at 1:30am. Made my way to Queensbay Mall at 2:30am. Started running at 3:30. Crossed the finish line at 6. Packed and flew back to KL at 1pm.

okay, it wasn't really that uneventful. hehehe.

KL marathon's result in May'09


Penang Bridge Int'l Marathon's.


By just comparing the 2 results, I improved my timing. However, I didn't run a better race. I was on a 6min/km pace but... when I got to the 15km mark, I stopped at the 100plus drink station. I continued running after drinking some isotonic, but my body and legs appeared to be giving out. For the last 6K's, I mostly walked and did short running bursts in between. Lots of things ran through my mind (pun intended), like collapsing by the side of the road and coming this far but not getting the finisher's medal (there's the 3'30" time limit).

To be honest, I didn't put in enough mileage into my preparation. I had to resort to running on the treadmill because it rained almost everyday. And you know what a total bore it is to run on treadmills. For the past one month, I only managed to run outside 3 times. Yes, you heard me right, 3 times. The longest run I did was 10km. Ouch! So it wasn't a surprise that my body was screaming back at me after the 15th kilometer.

I still have a lot to learn. Hydration, diets before and after the run, injury prevention, those kinds of stuff.

Yes, completing a full marathon is still my goal. But I seriously need to follow a proper training regimen. While I'm at it, I ought to invest in one of those utility belts :)

pre-race


post race - it was still dark :P

what i'm praying for this weekend

• i won't oversleep on sunday
  
• i won't be running in the rain
• i don't have to make potty breaks during the run
  
• not just completing it, but i'd also finish strong

Insya-Allah. Aminnnn... :)

see if i could make you laugh

My next-cube neighbor was talking the other day about the cartoons that we grew up watching. From Transformers to Voltron, from G.I Joe to Thundercats. I'm not too sure how we ended up talking about this, but that is a separate matter :o)

Another colleague, same age as us, happened to pass by our cubes ((let's name him 'Mr Bean' for the sake of the story. hehehe) He was born here but he spent most of his life growing up in India. So, it's not one of those conversations that he could chip in. But he hung around for a bit.

Then we started talking about He-man. And we told Mr Bean that there was a female version of He-man. Without a moment's hesitation, he asked "She-man?"

Oh my God, we couldn't stop laughing! If I could, I would have rolled on the floor laughing my ass off. :'D Another colleague (opposite our cube), stopped whatever he was doing, stood up and started laughing... couldn't believe what he had just heard.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

[ Btw, in case you don't know, She-Ra is the correct answer. ;o) ]

cerita dari kampung

Went balik kampung over the weekend to fetch my mom. She wants to beraya di KL (to visit friends and families in KL). Perhaps for a week. So there's a big chance that I'll be going back again this weekend. Sib baik kampung dekat.

Whenever I'm back I try to help around the kebun (orchard, a small one). At least I can say I did something useful. Something more physical than say, Farmville. (Well, I wouldn't know 'coz I haven't tried it. Hehehe) Anyway, Dad was mowing the lawn the other day, hence there was some sweeping and weeding to be done.

Using the canvas really saves a lot of effort, compared to using the wheelbarrow that could only take up so much.


Well, that is not what I really want to talk about...

It's THIS! :)


According to Dad, they'll ripe in December. The weather has gone nuts this year. This is the second time this tree and a few others are fruiting this year. That never happened before, to my knowledge the very least. To be fair, this particular tree didn't bear that many fruits earlier this year. This time around it went crazy. There's even this one durian tree that is bearing 4 to 5 durians.

I guess they're anticipating for my brother's return in December. :)
Bang, cepat balik. Kang kitaorg rembat. Hehehe.

some random Raya pictures

there are no family pictures this year. dad changed to his 'pergi kebun' attire right after we got back from Eid prayer. the other siblings returned home in stages, except for big brother who's spending Raya in melbourne.

facebooking while weaving the ketupat. stayed up till 2:30ish in the morning to complete 60; 45 of which were mine. well, that's the only thing i'm good at. forget abt cooking :D


the rest of the pictures were taken when we were playing with fireworks at night. dah terbiasa. lagipun layan anak-anak buah. hehehe. alasan. :D

a scene from x-files? not!


a centipede that my SIL found (and my brother killed) near the bathroom. it was much much bigger before it got fried with the sparklers


mercun roket. 2 of them.


highlander


":P" hehehe


raya was quite relaxing. i let my other siblings layan (entertain) kampung kids who came (geng Assalamualaikum as my friend put it - not that PC, but it did put a smile on my face). in return i did the dishes. senang :) stayed in kampung till Wednesday because my sister had to go to work the next day. i also managed to get 4 days of Syawal fasting while i was home. didn't have to worry about getting or finding food during the day. most of the malay restaurants were still close anyway.

anyhooo, i think it's still a safe bet to wish everyone Happy Eid & Syawal.

now the Raiderettes can fly

:)

I know that the news is a bit stale, but it's still blog-worthy. It's about AirAsia's 2-year sponsorship of the Raiders. Here's the link to the article in the local newspaper: http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp?file=/2009/9/20/sports/4753291

The quote that really caught my eye was "We are excited to associate ourselves with an iconic team like Oakland Raiders. This partnership will greatly enhance our efforts to boost our brand globally".

Iconic? It's a safe word to use I presume. hehehe. Quoting an article from SFGate "one doesn't normally associate Malaysia with Raider Nation, or any NFL fan base, come to think of it; and the Raiders haven't exactly been the cream of the professional football crop of late - except perhaps in ways they would rather not be..." Read more at http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/14/BU3T19LUJC.DTL

Don't get me wrong, I'm all for AirAsia to secure landing rights and operate in Oakland or any other US cities for that matter; it's a cheaper option to fly to the States. But the Oakland Raiders? Oh come on. I think AirAsia could have done better. Sorry Raiders fans...

It's that time of the year again

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri and Eid Mubarak people! :)

I'm looking forward to weave some ketupats this weekend. That gets me in the mood for Raya ;)

(Raya '06)

Here's my Ramadhan/Eid by the numbers:

• 1: The number of days that I missed waking up for sahur. The alarm clock did go off but I switched it off and went back to sleep. It's also the number of article of clothing that I spent on myself. A songkok. :D Last year's Baju Melayu could still be worn for many years to come :)
• 3: The number of times I broke fast (iftar) outside of the house - with Farid and Ida, at my brother's and the most recent one with my sisters and bro-in-law. Just nice. It's the fasting month and not the feasting month right ;)
  
• 10: Non-working days that will start in 2 days' time. Woohoo!
  
• 5: The number of Raya cookies that I bought. Just typical ones - pineapple tarts, suji, Almond London, kapit and loyang. There's only a few kapits left in the jar. :D
• 2: The number of juz left for Quran recital. Alhamdulillah.
  
• 1.5: The average number of hours that I usually take to drive back to my kampung. But I have to be content with the balik kampung traffic this weekend.
  
• 6: The number of days that I target to fast in the month of Syawal for extra credits.
  
• Z = J + 2K + M: My duit raya allocation for this year. My 2 nephews and a niece are celebrating Eid in OZ this year, so save duit sket. hehehe.

Have a safe trip home guys!
Don't forget to invite me if you're organizing a Raya open house. People are saying I'm too skinny now. :P

just when you thought it was over... :o)

I just want to post a couple of video clips that my brother and sisters took when they accompanied me to the Siemens and Men's Health runs

Siemens Run
My brother and sister even commented that I was strolling by at the start. Hahaha. I even had my mobile in my hand at the time. My brother was long gone by then :)


Men's Health Night Run
My sister only noticed my brother as he zoomed by. I arrived minutes later. I was so tired that I could not even lift my hands above my head. :D




By the way, here's a couple of links to the photo albums that I posted in Facebook:

• Siemens Run
• Men's Health Night Run