10km run BIM

I am a 10km finisher for this year's Borneo International Marathon. Never mind others ran faster or ran farther. I'm just glad I followed through what I said I'd do earlier this year.
Two days before, I had felt the tell-tale flu signs coming out. Sneezing, blocked nose, greenish nose mucous.. and mild fever. Ate some flu meds to try and halt the attack. My period came early as well..dang.

Small matter, said I to myself.

Slept around 9 pm last night and woke up after clicking off the snooze alarm TWICE on my mobile phone. Got ready and drove to Likas Stadium. Wah..what a sea of yellow-shirted runners! (yellow being the NB sponsored running shirt).
Saw Dr.Khairul(one of my Oral Surgeon who did my jaw surgery), Dr.Fatimah (my orthodontist), said 'hi' and they took pics with me. Saw JJ and Ian (Hitz.fm dee jays), and had an IanWright moment.. Cuaiii..



Chuckled when I overheard this dialogue from a participating runner somewhere to my back.
"hey, i see JJ and Ian."
"yah, they running oso."
"Which one's JJ ah?

Whaaatt?.. So obvious didn't know who from who.



I was standing probably 15feet behind from the starting arch so when the horn was sounded to indicate the start of the race, plenty of runners had an early running start. I adjusted my own Casio wristwatch and clicked on start to mark my run. Wah..this is it! I thought. Jog jog jog... Saw runners pass me by, some were impatient (or ate too much energy gel?) and ran along the grass on the road dividers. The only reasons why I would jog a bit faster was to escape halitosis from front runners or of course, the runners in front had slowed down.

By the 4.5km mark, I had begun to feel cold from the morning city breeze.
jog jog jog...
pass the drinks counter..
"water...water...water..."
Grab
"100 plus..100 plus..100 plus..."
Grab

Saw some radio friends standing on the roadside.

Me : OTO -san!! *wave* ..OTO-san!!...OTO-san looked a bit lost..then as recognition came, smiled.
jog jog jog..
Me : Kilo Zulu Mike!! *wave*
KZM : hai Nat!! *waves back*

Jog walk jog walk...

By the 5km mark.. felt relief.. 5km more to go..
I heard Skylar Lane's song "I'm Coming Home" playing in my head.. wheeee..

by the 6km mark.. i was frothing at the mouth and the nose..I think..
I had loosened the laces of my right shoe earlier..now I had to loosen the one on the left.. are my feet swelling?
My knees also had started to tingle and I could feel mild pain.. Oh gawd..my knees are unhinging themselves..

Jog jog walk walk..

Saw this older Indian fella in front of me and decided to make him my pacemaker.. Tsk tsk.. and I thought..If old Uncle Muthu with the swollen (bandaged) right knee can run.. why can't I?

Walk jog walk walk jog..

I'd jog pass Uncle Muthu..walk..and Uncle Muthu would catch up..and I'd jog some more.. till Ahhhaa.. passed Uncle Muthu definitely.. (D-uh.. pacing with an old uncle)

Walk walk jog jog... jog dammit..jog.. knees so pancit!!

Aaaaanyway.. when I passed the finishing line..got my 10km finisher medal..i looked at my watch..timed out at 1hour 28minutes..

Not bad.. not bad at-tall.. for someone who hadn't had much practice run. :)

April.. not uninteresting.. * felt my blood actually boiling upon finding out some unsavory truth. * MSAM in Komplex Likas.. * Bought me a new pair of Nike Running shoes (love love love), running pants.. * spent one whole night composing a speech/report text and read it out ala2 sports report.. and enjoyed listening to the mixed reactions/ reviews from friends.

Storm

Kem isn't what it used to be. I used to relish the idea of going off to Kiulu for a weekender outdoor duty. The mere thought of going there would banish any stress currently being faced.
Bugger them.
Jog jog zumba zumba swim swim..
still... i love being alive.

With partially runny nose I jogged without pause for 1.6km. Walked and jogged for another 800m before finishing with some stretching. 19.30mins of jog + walk. gots ta.. gots ta..
My nap just now wasn't a smooth one. I kept waking up for no apparent reason and later I noticed that I was woken up by the intensity of my heart beat. It was racing. Weird..

Even though I went out jogging only once before the Fitness Test the other day, I think my stamina and endurance (minimal as it were) are due to the Zumba sessions I did at home. Thank goodness for Youtube and Zumba instructors who were generous enough to upload video clips of their Zumba routines..with lots of choices.. extremely fun songs to dance to.

Went swimming yesterday morning. Managed a clumsy 1.5km.. or thereabouts. My work schedule is so tight these days.. and is going to be more hectic in the weeks to come. Gotta keep on.. if not swimming, zumba-ing then..

Fitness Test 2012

Thank God for a misty, breezy, sun-less Saturday which made for an easier Fitness Test weather condition.

I partnered up with Ati for the push-ups (no problem)and the sit-ups(never was good at this). I later carried her on piggy-back for the 25m angkat beban slot. For the 2.4km run(read jog), I plugged my ears with some fast-paced tunes, the likes of Danza Kuduro and Jlo's Let's Get Loud, with the hope that the tunes will lull me into a continuous run/ movement. It worked well enough. *phew!* 18mins 23sec was the time shown on my stopwatch at the end of my jog.
Not bad..considering I hadn't actually gone on jogs. I relied on my Zumba sessions for the cardio side of my exercise repertoire. And oh.. wore Red Flywire for the jog. My feet looked daaammn pretty!! Love'em..just love'em..

Doing my warm down.. doesn't Red Flywire look pretty.. (ignore the dude behind..don't know who he is)

Note to self : Must consider doing jogging sessions at the stadium. Better running surface.

The 200m swim was done at a comfortable 5mins 41secs which was approximately 1 minute faster than the record I did 2 years ago. Didn't succumb too much on nerves and peer pressure (the swimmer next to my lane was a helluva swimmer, I could see him glide further and faster than me) and was able to do a regular pace without straining on the breathing.

Overall, I'm pleased with my performance this time. I coulda done better, but with the efforts put into the training, I am satisfied.

Took Red Flywire for a jog the other day. Felt light, felt like I could run and run..till my breath ran out.. *giggle*.. which was (suprising to me) farther than I had expected my first run to be. I'm sure it was just me but I felt all eyes on my feet when I jogged by. Oh I smiled.. and smiled..A teeny step to a longer mile..

My thigh muscles burned that night and my sleep was not a sound one. After tossing and turning for half and hour, I got up to find some ointment and rubbed them all over the front of my thighs. It felt much better afterwards but it wasn't enough to keep me in dreamland till morning. Yupp..that was expected. A little each other day hopefully will bring me farther the next jog around.

okeh... apart from hoping to revive my diving hobby.. Moi would also (dare I?) would really really love to... do a bungee jump.. dive off a cliff on a paraglider.. do a 10k run on the Borneo International Marathon.. and ...die with a smile on my face.

All are do-able... 'cept for the last...

The year of the Rabbit has scampered back into another 12 year hibernation, making way for the Water Dragon to rear its magnificent head. yadayada..

The biennial Ujian Kecergasan for the trainers at PKKS is coming up soon. Angkat beban, push-ups, sit-ups, 2.4km run and 300m swim. I think i've got the swimming down to pat, but doubtful on the running part. Swam a distance of 2.3km last Sunday morning. Came out of the pool with an unexpected sunburn, considering I've swam under hot 2.30pm sun before and only darkened my tan. I also went swimming yesterday. I managed a halfhearted 1.5km only. I figure it was because I had gone into the pool with a full stomach and swimming in such condition isn't fun a-tall. I felt like Shamu with skinny arms for paddling. Even turning my head for air was a chore. Swallowed some of the pool water too. Pathetic!

My Nike Flywires are still in almost pristine condition. I've only donned them twice, indoor, for home Zumba-session. So sayang to have them treading the outdoors just yet.

Progress rep

1 hour on Thursday afternoon was spent swimming at the Penampang Pool. At 3.00pm, the pool had zero occupancy!! I had the pool all to myself. Did 80 laps for around 1 hour and a few minutes. There is something not quite right with my swim stroke.. I feel it. And I can feel numbness creeping down my right hand from elbow down by the 1.5km mark. Wonder why that happened..

On Friday, I arrived at the pool before 3.30pm. My friend, Ooi wanted to try and swim 2km with me. As he hadn't arrived by 3.30pm, I started off on my own. On reaching the 12th lap, I saw Ooi coming through the gate. I paused the stopwatch on my watch and waited for him to join me in the next lane. Together we swam to our own tempo. Ooi's longer and more practiced strokes led him to quickly catch up with my 300m. We reached our 80th lap almost at the same time. I made 56minutes. Hurray for me!! I forgot what Ooi's time was. Hmm... having a buddy helped with the speed I believe.

Yesterday I arrived at nearly 4pm to an already occupied pool. No matter I said to myself, the serious swimmers intent on working out will stick to their lanes ( I hoped). I had been watching a few video clips on Youtube on correct/proper freestyle swim stroke and I was eager to try out the strokes. After some stretching, I started out in a fast pace, trying out the strokes I had seen on the video clips. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that I had no problems keeping up with the fast pace using the slightly improved technique. At 300m mark, my watch recorded 7mins 15sec. I did 600m in 15mins 36secs. Upon reaching the 80th lap, I looked at my watch in disbelief...52mins 9secs. Interesting... I did lapse into my old swim stroke somewhere after a 1km swim. I noticed the lapse when I felt a strain in my arm muscle. I needed to visualise the swim as though I'm watching myself from above to correct my stroke.

I haven't fully quit on smoking though. Bad habits are the hardest to quit..so they say.