Transfiguration of a ticket : a passion and an addiction

“I'll be going for a run this evening.” he said while I was getting ready to go to work. My heart start to race, a BIG and constant question come bugging me – will he ask me to run? Oh, please don't. It's tiring. Please just let it stop there. (This symptom is called 'Self-inflicted Pressure' – nobody force me!)

Sometime, in the evening, I saw him changed into his running attire from the corner of my eyes, I quickly make myself busy with house chores. This is to 'avoid' being 'invited' to join him for a run. Well, inactivity has made me sluggish, hagged and always feeling tired and lazy.

Even though I do run with him on and off but the interval is far far apart. I dread too much physical activities and the only marathon I do is 'Shopping Marathon'. Why run? So hot, so sweaty, so tiring? Though at times, I initiate a jog – when I needed to burn some fats. Running is just for the purpose of slimming down.

In the course of our differences in viewing running all these years, we share something common – that we wanted to go backpacking when our kids are grown, when we retired. So, he will sometimes comment that if that is the purpose, we have to make sure we are physically fit and healthy. So, he is not sure if I'm up to it by then? (Such conversation repeat many times, and always left me thinking)

Ugh ugh! I'm not going to sit at home and 'watch' him go backpacking through the most exotic places in the world! So, like it or not, I better get fit or get left behind......

Finally, came October 2008, I 'woke up' from my 'slumber land' and started to jog in front of our house (see, I actually have the luxury of a small padang, a complete round of about 250-300meters right in front of my house that all this while I intentionally ignore) Best record 10 rounds! I must admit, it is so so difficult to break that record. Sometimes, I just feel like running right into the house and that's it for the day. Weak mind, not much determination then.

One day, he asked me if I'd like to try out a race, only 7km? Huh? Kidding me, 7km, so long, how to run? But then, I don't know why, I said yes and registered. So I started some form of training, with loads of butterflies and bees and all sorts of bugs in my stomach!

Then, just a week before the race day, I was down with dengue hemorrhagic fever and hospitalised. What a first timer luck? Darn, I was actually upset that I cannot make it to my first ever race (Shhh, don't tell anyone – I lost my temper and tantrums the day before the race and got mad with everyone!) I cried. Can you imagine that?

It's okay, babe! My next 'first race' was Mizuno Wave Run! I did it! I completed the whole 10km in 1 hr 32 minutes! I got a medal! Yeay! Well done, well done! Ecstatic is just too vague to describe my feeling the moment I stepped onto the finishing line.

My feet didn't stop running ever since. Then it was Malakof 12 km, POAWP 6km cross country, KL City Day Run, Wild Wild Run, Larian Amal Sri Sinar, and the list goes on and on. The longest distance being New Balance 15km race recently.

I now have, within reach, some 'medals' that I hold extremely dear to me:

Healthier, fitter, fresher!
A common direction with “The Man” who brought me here

Blossoming friendship of our running community
A passion – 11 races within 6 months, more to come
A ticket to experience the world's most exotic places
An ice-cream box of medals which is accumulating

There is a saying : Behind every successful man, there is a woman. For me, It is “Behind every avid women runner, there are very very supportive family”, Therefore, my medals are for :

The Man himself, Steven, my hubby, my motivator (I hope to make him my 'rabbit' instead, next year, if I'm able, haha, FAT HOPE!)
My daughter – Shaunie, whom I made 'baby sitter' over her little brother and happily doing it
My son – Jeremy, the big baby who runs only his fingers on keyboards, who has his father's running genes, awaiting to be 'exploded.

I made ONE and ONLY resolution this year : “I will run as many races as possible beginning 1-1-2009! “ Looks like I have some minor amendment to my resolution : “and train for a half marathon by year 2010!”

Baru realised :

Backpacking or no backpacking, it's secondary now. All that matters is a passion fast brewing and an addiction that spread like a wild fire.

I'll keep on running ...

Someone must be wondering what is so special about running until I put this hobby as part of my lifestyle. Someone must be wondering why I’m so addicted to it until I look so skinny compared to what I used to be three years ago. If you are one of that ‘someone’, I believe you’ve never run or ever been seriously running before. But that’s OK. I wrote this running story not only to share it with my fellow runners, but also with those who are not runners so that we can ‘understand’ each other.

What I meant by ‘understand’ is for those who are not into running, who find that runners are odd, weird and different, especially in my community (family members, colleagues and neighbors) where most them don’t practice a healthy lifestyle or any physical activities. They may think that running is such an activity that only elite athletes are able to do it. They may think that it doesn’t matter how far and fast the normal people can run, we will not be able to grab the top spots in any competitions anyway. So they may think why run when they can have a healthy body by taking up futsal or badminton or even walking.

That is why running is not a sport that can easily attract people to join by just watching, let alone reading. By the way, at the end of this already bored story, I don’t expect my fellow colleagues and neighbors to just grab their running shoes and start running immediately. That is why I believe, to understand running, they must experience it by themselves. The most important to start running is they must have something miraculous to trigger in their minds.

Anyway, running must have started somewhere & sometime in my life before. If my memory serves me right, I started running when I was 16 years old. I used to run every late afternoon from my school at Alor Akar, Kuantan to Telok Cempedak beach and back. That’s approximately a 6km route as the first running route of my life. I ran for only about one year or so and stopped just before my SPM examination. That was nearly 14 years ago when I ran for nothing but for the fun to just get away from my hostel. I ran just to enjoy the beautiful white sandy beach and breezing winds over my face at the half way mark.

After a long break, I started running again when I was studying at a local university in 1997. I used to run around my hostel in loops of 1km. It was really weird for me because I was the only student who runs every other late afternoon, round and round the same pedestrian path where others just watch me past by in countless laps. I stopped my run when my favorite route was no more easily accessible, when I had to rent a house outside campus. But that was not the real reason why I had stopped running. I believe it was because I was running blank. I was not running for any purpose. That why I kept running on and off.

The bad thing about me when I stop running the last time was I started smoking. Being around with my family members, friends and colleagues where most of them are smokers really helped getting me involve in this bad habit. I still remember one day when I had asked for a cigarette from one of my friends without noticing that he had only the last one left. Yet he still insisted to give me with a quote, “what’s a friend for?”. But I cannot blame them isn’t it? It all starts with me. I had wasted approximately 10 years of my life as a slave to cigarettes. Actually I started smoking when I was 15! But of course it was on and off then. If I had carried on this bad habit for another 10 years, you would not be able to read this crap. I’m glad that I’ve managed to put the habit behind me since 6 years’ ago.

I stop my running for a very long time until I started again recently. Well, after almost 10 years of resting, wasting my life as a heavy smoker at one point, build-up huge amounts of fat in my body due to bad eating habits and getting sick. As a result, I occasionally had very bad migraine, my blood pressure was bloody high and my weight was almost 80kg. For a man whose height is only 1.67m, that’s OVERWEIGHT.

Back to my running episode. It had to start somewhere again and sometime right? It began around early October 2007 when all the Muslims were preparing for Hari Raya. Unfortunately for me, I had a really bad high fever just three days before. I was lying hopelessly in bed, barely able to move my body, thinking what’s wrong with me and why I’m having this problem that I’ve never experienced before. I told myself that it must be probably due to my unhealthy lifestyle. I told to myself then, “This is it! It’s enough! If I ever come out of this condition alive, I want to be as healthy as I can be”. Then a day before Hari Raya, I found out I was actually having chicken pox! Quite a surprise since I was already almost 29 years’ old but my Mom confirmed that I’ve never had it before. Now I know why I feel such a huge pain inside my body until I cannot even stand up and walk. But anyway, I’ve made up my mind to change my lifestyle after I recovered. So I must continue ...

About a week after that, I bought a cheap Adidas running shoe with only one thing on my mind … to start running again and forever. I still remember the day I started my run. I could barely finish the short route around my housing area. I had to stop and walk for a few meters even before the first kilometer mark. It was really hard to maintain even a very slow pace during that early days of running.
But now, I’m changed! I’ve lost almost 20 kilos since I started running again. I’ve never been as healthy as I am today and I feel so blessed for what I have today. I watch my diet proper as I monitor my training as well. Oh, by the way, I’m almost at the end of my training for the first ever full marathon of my life. I can’t believe I will at the starting line of the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009 in less than a month. With the help and support from my beloved family and friends from Kota Kemuning Pacers, I believe I will cross the finish line.

A lot of things have happened since the first day of my run. I hit the wall, I felt pain, I injured my knee, I torn my calve muscle, I was sidelined for awhile but after all that, I still LOVE running. As long as I can breath, stand and move my legs, I will keep on running …

By the way, you can check on my training progress at http://www.buckeyeoutdoors.com/cgi-bin/training/traininglog?guest=Riq

I'm all pumped up about running ...

I’m definitely all pumped up about running. My goal’s to maintain my fitness and lend my support to others who are keen to improve their fitness too.

I’m 46 this year and have been tagging along that one most important woman in my life, ‘Dear Wifey’ for like ages … OMG!!! It’s been 25 years now! To my ‘Dear Wifey’, thanks for putting up with me and all my nonsense. I’m sure this running ‘thingy’ is definitely no nonsense since I’ve got your full support. We sure rock, motivating each other for health’s benefits. I’ve a 18-year-old son (don’t ask “Why one only?” coz it’s a long long story) and I’m glad he’s into all this fitness ‘thingy’ too.

I grew up playing sports, some of which have turned into a lifetime sport such as running, swimming, cycling and weight-training. I’m still very much the outdoor freak. I would love to go fishing, hiking, mountain climbing and participate in trialthlons but it’s just not so since I can’t find that much spare time for myself. I’m still a ‘tah-koong’ guy … need to eke-out a living … so 8 hours of the day is totally out! Not forgetting the travelling time and the traffic jams put in.

More than 4 years ago, after I’d developed poor eating habits, I weighed more than 80kgs (I ballooned to 85kgs to be exact). With work demands and an increased sedentary lifestyle, my eating habits added more than 10” to my waistline. When my blood pressure refused to go down after each visit to the doctor, I was jolted into reality … “I’m in deep trouble, with a capital T!”

I return to running (my greatest passion) in 2005. I started round the Kota Kemuning Lake and could barely complete half the distance. But the anticipated trouble with a capital T nudged me on. Motivation can definitely be a struggle for many but not for me. I was committed to regain my health and fitness, not only for myself but for my ‘Dear Wifey’ and son. I owe it to them to grow to a ripe old age, to be there whenever they need me.

I kept up my physical activities and increase both my running mileage and pace. I kept a well-balance diet and cut out all those fatty and carbo-food. “Input = Output” is best! In time, I was already buying new clothes as I’ve started to ‘drown’ in my current ones. I’ve lost more than 10kgs since and my waistline reduced to 30 inches. The next best news is that my hypertension is now a thing of the past.

My weight has since hit a plateau but my main objective now is to maintain it by eating right and exercising regularly but not excessively. I would certainly like to enjoy all my physical activities, especially my running while not forgetting to enjoy life with my family, my utmost priority. I’m just so grateful that I’m lucky enough to have my whole family involved in the same fitness ‘thingy’.

Running is a sure way to staying FIT & HEALTHY!
Just remember, maintain MODERATION.

Raymond Chong

I fall in love with running again, again and again.......

I am passionate about running and has been running since my childhood days. I used to be a regular face at Bukit China, Melaka. At that time, no such thing as “Marathon”. Just running for fun. No goal, No Target.

My first time running a race was in my 1st year in varsity. 8km from Kajang to UKM campus. Sounds “kacang”. But after 2km, “Punctured”. Why? Started with a 100M dash! But managed to finished 8th. Not too bad.

Seeing my ability, my friends introduced me to “MARATHON”. OK OK, lets give it a try. First race, Penang International Marathon. 42km. No joke! Result was -6 hours of gruesome torture. This experience was the wake up call to “what is running all about?” It really helps you to understand your own body’s limit.

Later, being in the working world. I started to race with “The Rats” and guess what? I developed a double chin and one big pack on my belly. Always feels heavy and sluggish. One day, a lady colleague trashed me 9-0 in a squash game.

Honeymoon years over. Enough! Enough! Started training again. Met a few “kaki-lari ” friends and never stop ever since. Ran 16 races a year, and a few triathlon races to my record. Got very fit and sporty. This meteoric comeback won’t be easy if I did not experience a marathon before.

Now, at 45, just woke up from a little nap. I slowed down again few years back due to lack of running friends. Thanks to my running pal Ray. With his companionship, I started to race again.

Knowing how important friends are in preserving the “running fire”, we mooted the idea of setting up a run club in Kota Kemuning. With the support and active participation from our wives, we started to blog about running, plan running activities and encourage newbies to take up running. Now we could see more and more runners in our Kota Kemuning Pacers Club.

One advice to running people out there. NEVER STOP RUNNING. Only slow down if time doesn’t permit but don’t stop completely. Once you stop, you need lots of will power to get back to where you were before.

And…..

When running, I put up a smiling face to everyone that I come across. I greet them with a sincere heart. I observe my surroundings. I enjoy my sweat and feel my energy. With all this feeling in harmony, I hope to be able to run a long,long,long……. Way.

HAPPY RUNNING.

Steven Ng

Ways to Save Money and Stay Fit

It was not too long ago that obesity was not the raging universal health problem that it is today - partly because we all used to have more physical activity in our lives.

To help curb this problem, what if we stopped thinking so much about "starting an exercise program," and concentrated more on increasing our physical activity, moving more throughout the day? Undoubtedly, we would see results like weight loss and a decrease in illnesses. So let’s consider simple ways to become less sedentary.

1. Here’s an easy one: use the stairs. I know you have heard this before but sometimes a simple reminder is all you need to take an action. Whenever you have the choice, walk up and down stairs – it’s a simple way to get where you are already going, and in the process log some great calorie burning, muscle strengthening miles in your week.

2. Walk your dog, and your kids, at least once, preferably twice, a day. We condition our kids and our animals to behave as we do, so if we don’t exercise them regularly, they become sedentary, and out of shape, just like us.

3. Walk to the market, or the post box, or a nearby restaurant for your meals. Imagine the gas you’ll save, not to mention how much healthier you’ll become by leaving the car at home whenever possible.

4. Walk to school or walk your kids to school, or park a few blocks away from any destination (a movie, a restaurant, your work). Parking just 3 blocks away (6 blocks round trip) from your intended destination, just a few times a week, will very simply increase your activity level. And since you are already going there, it’s kind of the perfect plan.

5. Take the initiative to plan activity time, versus sitting around time, with your friends and family. Take a hike, or a walk on the beach, or walk through and discover a new neighborhood – then you can sit down for coffee or a meal.

6. Keep comfortable shoes at the office and enlist your work friends to join you for a break-time walk-about. This is such a good way to reduce work anxiety and mingle/bond with associates.

These may seem obvious, but if you're not doing them, well, maybe doing what’s obvious isn’t such a bad idea.

Peace and Happy Trails –
Debbie Rocker

Warm Up Routine ~ Gently Does It

A good warm up is essential in training and racing. Now is your opportunity to learn how to warm up correctly, as well as your chance to understand "that those strange people were never trying to push the wall down after all."

Warming up correctly

The reason behind a decent warm up is mainly to assist you in avoiding injuries and the aches and pains that come with exercise. The physiological reason is to assist your circulatory system in pumping the blood carrying oxygen to your muscles. A warm up can consist of a light walk before exercise and if you have a history of poor circulation, then a warm shower will go a long way in assisting your circulatory system. Once you have activated your system, you can further assist it by doing the following warm up routine which consist of a few exercises.

Warm up exercises

Head (neck). Start with your chin in close to your chest and begin rotating your head clockwise and then anti-clockwise. Repeat exercise a few times. Do slowly - don't jerk. Please, note that in some circles this exercise is considered dangerous, so if you have any problems with your neck and vertebrae exclude this from your routine.

Shoulders, arms and torso. Start by shrugging your shoulders. Gently swing your arms, then twist round lightly at the waist, roll your shoulders and circle your wrists.

Now stand with your legs slightly apart with the palms of your hands against the side of your legs. Lean gently to the left running your hand down your leg towards your knee, change to the right side going through the same routine. Repeat a few times.

Legs. Lean forward gently and place your hands against the wall. Keep your rear leg straightened with your heel touching the ground. Then bring your chest closer to the wall by bending your arms. Keep your leg straight and your heel flat on the ground. Hold in this position for 10/20 seconds.

Now concentrate on the foreleg, which is in a bent position. Straighten your leg slowly and push your chest away from the wall by straightening your arms. Hold in this position for 10/20 seconds. Alternate/change legs and repeat the routine a few times. Do the exercises slowly so that you stretch your muscles gently. No bouncing during the exercise.

Do the next exercise very slowly. Balance on your left leg, supporting yourself by holding onto something stable. Bend your right knee slightly, bring one foot up behind you and grasp the ankle/right foot with your left hand and vise versa for quad stretch - this is for a more natural movement of the knee. Pull your heel gently towards your buttocks, keeping your knees together. Feel the stretch at the front of your thigh (quadriceps. Hold for 10 seconds and then change legs and repeat exercise. Please, note that in some circles this exercise is considered dangerous or a high risk exercise, so avoid this exercise unless you are supple (loose) in the thigh (quadricep) area and have no history of injury in this area.

Ankles and feet. Balance on your left leg, supporting yourself by holding onto something or someone for support. Point your right foot/toes forward. Gently rotate to make small circles your foot. Alternate/change legs and repeat procedure.

Lastly, place your feet together. Hold onto a wall or ledge for balance then push up and down your toes for 10/20 seconds.

Always try to do this routine before you exercise and remember do slowly and gently without bouncing.

[*This article is extracted from www.time-to-run.com]

How To Start Running With 10-Easy-Steps

This article is written by Cynthia Hayward to assist beginners in making their introduction to running more pleasant and safe.


1. Invest in a good pair of running shoes. You don't have to buy the top of the range, which could set you back several hundred rands. However, it's important to ensure that your shoes will provide sufficient cushioning to protect your back and lower limbs from injury. Buying your first pair of running shoes

2. Walk before you run! For the first four weeks you should have a 5-15 minute warm-up walk before breaking into a trot, followed by a warm-down stroll.

3. Make sure you run/walk at least three times a week. You won't really benefit if you do less than this. However, don't run if you're unwell, as this might increase the time you'll take to recover.

4. Don't run two days in a row for the first two months. Give your muscles and tendons a chance to adapt to running.

5. Run for time, not distance. Your running program should be designed to gradually increase the time you spend on your feet, rather than the kilometers.

6. Avoid drastic increases in time on your feet. If you ran a total of thirty minutes last week, don't increase this by more than ten minutes the following week.

7. Avoid copying top athletes! These runners were born with superior genes that enables their bodies to handle stress loads that ordinary runners cannot cope with.

8. Be patient! Don't be in a hurry to enter road races, etc., no matter how much your friends pressurise you. Wait until you can run at least 30 minutes without resting before lining up for that first 5km fun run.

9. Find a like-minded friend to run with. Some of the greatest friendships have been formed during training runs.

10. Enjoy your running! It's nice to be competitive, but not if the pressures are going to impact on your health and general life style. Avoid getting into the trap of entering a race every week, come what may, because this is the surest way of becoming injured.

[*This article is extracted from www.time-to-run.com ]

The Many Benefits Of Running

There are a number of different benefits which an individual can gain from running on a regular basis. There are some runners who run simply for the joy of running but there are others who run because they realize there are a great deal of benefits which can be gained from rigorous exercise such as running. Some of these benefits may include weight loss, improved cardiovascular health, improved bone health, improved mood and better coordination. This article will briefly describe how running can result in each of these benefits.

Those who are looking to lose a few pounds often find running to be one of the most effective forms of exercise for helping them to achieve their ideal body weight. Running is an excellent form of exercise for losing weight because it requires a great deal of energy. This energy requirement means the body burns a large number of calories while running. The number of calories burned while running is typically significantly more than would be burned during less taxing forms of exercise such as walking or doing yoga. The simplest formula for weight loss includes burning off more calories than the individual consumes. When this type of calorie deficit is created, the body begins to shed excess weight in the form of fat. In order to lose one pound of body weight, the body must create a calorie deficit of 3500 calories. This is equal to burning 500 calories per day. Most runners can easily burn off this many calories in less than one hour of exercise. The number of calories burned while running depends on a number of factors including the individual’s weight, the intensity of the workout and the efficiency of the runner.

Improved cardiovascular health is another benefit of running. Some of the benefits of running include lowering the blood pressure and helping the arteries to maintain their elasticity. While runner, the arteries expand and contract approximately three times as much as they do when you are sedentary. This means you are not only working out to improve your physical appearance but also the overall function of your body. In doing this the risk of heart attack and stroke becomes diminished.

Running is also beneficial for slowing down the aging process. Those who run regularly are less likely to experience bone and muscle loss as they age at the same pace as those who do not run regularly or at all. The bones grow and become stronger by responding to physical demands. Those who lead a rather sedentary lifestyle do not put this type of demand on their bones and as a result the bones may become weaker. When this happens the individual is more likely to be susceptible to osteoporosis as they age. Conversely, those who run on a regular basis are continually taxing their muscles and their bones so the bones are stimulated to remain stronger and do not as easily weaken with age.

Running can also have many psychological benefits. Most significantly runners typically report being happier and feeling less stressed than their counterparts who do not run or exercise regularly. Running actually has the ability to alter an individuals moods because hormones called endorphins are released while running. These hormones create a sense of euphoria often referred to as a runner’s high and can result in an improvement in the runner’s mood. Running has also been reported to alleviate stress in most runners. There are a number of factors which may contribute to running lowering stress levels. One of the most obvious reasons is the act of running allows the individual to focus on the task at hand instead of being worried or stressed about work, family or other stressors in his daily life. Additionally, running can be very challenging on the body which can result in the individual feeling a sense of accomplishment by completing the run which shifts the focus of his attention from negative stressors to a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Improved coordination is another worthwhile benefit which may be gained from running. This may seem surprising to many who assume it is not possible to gain these types of benefits from running simply because it is such a simple sport. However, there is some coordination involved in running. Trail running which involves running on unpaved trails especially requires a great deal of coordination. The uneven surface combined with obstacles such as rocks and tree roots can make trail running quite difficult. However, runners who regularly run on these types of services, quickly learn to maintain better control over their bodies to prevent tripping and stumbling while running. Even running on a flat surface which is paved can also result in improved coordination because it forces the body to work together to keep the runner upright and traveling in the correct path. Those who run regularly typically move more fluidly than those who do not run or engage in any type of regular exercise.

[*This article is extracted from www.therunnersguide.com]