only started running last year. It started with 1km per day for 3 times a day. I know,.. pathetic right? I was a runner for 4 X 400 in school for my sports house and won gold medals and shit and now all I could do was 1km? Realisation kicks in.... so I started running. First it was around Section 13 Shah Alam where my house is. Then in the Gym at Kelab Shah Alam, now combination of both with occasional visits to TTDI park with work colleagues. I have also started doing weights just to balance the cardio.My aim was really to improve stamina and to reduce weight. I started running around July 2009 and 6 months afterwards (Jan 2010), I must have lost about 10kg bringing down 85kg to 75kg. For my height 170cm, the ideal weight should be 69kg. Getting there,.. getting there. Today I am at 73kg with Ramadhan helping the effort. So yeah,.. 4kg to go before I am officially in the perfect ratio of height vs weight. Of course I did control carbo intake, especially rice and sweet drinks, and increased on protein for a diet.
I don't intend to be a health freak but it does feel good to have a leaner body and better stamina. I sleep better, work better, improved sinus problems, no more back pains and shoulder tense and happier mood.... and of course, I look better (for my wife to appreciate). However, I struggle on 1 thing,.. smoking. Tried to quit recently but it only lasted 23 days. On the 23rd day, it was STAROBA weekend,.. so yeahh,.. that did not help. Nevertheless, efforts to quit smoking is still on-going. I am no longer a chain-smoker but a social-smoker, if that makes any sense at all,....
So back to running. I had targets that seemd to increase in expectations everytime. It started with 1km non-stop medium speed. At first it was impossible but as time goes by I could do it. That target moved from 1km to 1.5km, to 2km, 3km, 4km and finally, today, I can run for 5km non-stop. My speed is rather medium. 5km would probably take me about 42 minutes. To some that is slow, but for me, a smoker, a 35 year old who left physical exercise, sports and what not, 17 years ago, I think I deserve the celebration. My next aim is to be able to finish 7km non-stop and then 10km. The target can grow but given my age, I suspect I won't reach anything above 10km for a non-stop run.
I don't really play sports nowadays. Used to play cricket and football when I was working and studying in Australia and rugby at school but now, nothing really. So running is my only outlet for being healthy. How do I make it interesting since I have abandoned sports in my life? Well,.. what I did was, I bought new jogging shoes, some Adidas or Nike sports attire and watch, i-Pod!! and Power*Balance wrist band hologram thing that is supposed to produce some frequencies to regulate blood circulation........ All these in preparation for social runs.
Yup,... make it a social event. Go run with the lot. There were a few that I missed due to other commitment but I managed to get myself involved in some in 2009 and this year. Some photos and info of those runs as below:
SALOMON X-TRAIL RUN 2009
- Date: 6 December 2009
- Distance: 4km
- My time: 60 minutes
- Main Organisers/Sponsors: Salomon, World of Sports
- Friends who ran: My wife, Riza, Suzana
INTERCLUB HASH RUN 2010
- Date: 19 June 2010
- Distance: 5km
- My time: 50 minutes
- Main Organisers/Sponsors: Kelab Shah Alam
- Friends who ran: My wife
KL MARATHON 2010
- Date: 27 June 2010
- Distance: 5km (Marathon = 42.5km. Anything less is called Fun Run)
- My time: 40 minutes
- Main Organisers/Sponsors: Standard Chartered, New Balance, 100Plus
- Friends who ran: Riza, Suzana, Farnida, Avian, Siew Fern, Lola, Farha
KUALA LUMPUR RAT RACE 2010
- Date: 3 August 2010
- Distance: 4.5km
- My time: 35 minutes
- Main Organisers/Sponsors: Bursa Malaysia, The Edge, EON Bank
- Friends who ran: Dato' Seri Farid, Farisha, Seelan, Airin, Sofwan, Shareen, Fos, MJ, Addy
[Blogger's Caveat: This blog is meant to be for arty farty type content. However, I wish to share with All, all my experience in running. It is unfortunate that I do not have a blog for my activities other than arts (buanaseni) and music (jam the eadgbe). I do have another secret blog which I don't reveal my name but that is more political and current affairs type content. Usually if it's not arts, music or politics/current affairs, my activities will appear in this blog as Photography work. Running however, does not have much photography involved. So, do accept this post as artistic coz sports, is somehow, a form of arts as well]
Some of the photos:
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