Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur...now known as "phonegate"

Ok...well...as much as I have no desire to continue to rehash what has become a major embarrassment, I have to talk about SCKL and the 1/2 marathon that was not, for me anyway. Now for a moment let me explain me, I know you all don’t care, but it my blog so deal with it! I am a Virgo and far more than that I am a Monkey and I am an Earth Monkey...I do exhibit some of the monkeys more positive traits in that I am a motivator, I can be quick-witted, inquisitive and flexible. I am loyal, self-assured, sociable, artistic, polite, and competitive. I do also happen to have quite a few of the monkey negative traits, I can be reckless and impulsive, in the past I have been jealous and suspicious at times with good reason and I can be very stubborn. So with that being said. I flew into KL, and spent a good deal of time with all the great I-run folks and my friend Thuan, I had fun getting lost walking around KL, could not for the life of me figure out the light rail, and spent way too much time and money on taxi fare, got $150RM stolen from me in the market, but chalked it up to experience and had a great time anyway, so who cared! Got some rest in a nice Hotel, Hilton Doubletree you did me right, nice room, great view and I got to spend some time talking to the Kenyan runners who were in town to win the thing! got down to the race venue in plenty of time and other than being tired, I felt good, my legs felt good the weather was not bad...got to watch some of Spain and France Euro cup game on the really big screen...it was all good, except for one thing, I did something I never have done, EVER. I brought my hand phone. Now I don’t ever do that because I don’t want to worry about where it is and if it will be stolen or not. There came a time when I needed to finish getting ready so I put my bag down, dropped my phone into the bag, or so I thought, and then packed everything up and moved on with the group. We had walked on for about 15 min and I had this nagging feeling, something is wrong, so I looked in the bag for the phone and....it’s not there, so I dump the bag out, nothing. I remember as I was getting ready earlier, looking to my right and seeing these two young men sitting against the fence...OMG I dropped the phone and they or someone, picked it up...it’s gone...so here is where the positive monkey traits give way to the negative ones and the flexibility and self-assuredness becomes impulsivity and I panicked. Every horrible story of people having their phones stolen and their bills run up with calls to Russia, 100's of texts, and then if all that does happen and it’s not till hours later that I call to suspend the line, then the question is asked, "why didn’t you call." My problem is, I want to run, but I cannot do both, and now, the number for my car pickup is in the phone, so I am challenged with finding a Taxi at 4 something AM...I tried to I really did, there was nothing on the street so the idea of going back to the hotel, making the call and coming back to the race was almost at defcon 4. I finally find a cab, and it’s like 5:00AM now, the race goes off at 6...so I can make it...not. See all the roads are closed between the venue and my hotel...so the taxi guy is working his butt off to find a way back...20 min later we finally get to the highway and then another 10 min and we are at the doubletree...so I race to the room grab my ipad, call maxis...get someone pretty quick, do what I need to and totally forget that everything is in Roxanne's name! So now I have to call her at what is now 5:45 and wake her up to get her passport #...I don’t know it off hand. I wake her up; she stumbles through getting me the info, because I just woke her up. Finally I get the number, call Maxis back and do what needs be done...look at the clock...its 5:50AM...So I could go to the venue and start whenever I get there, so I head down to the taxi queue, and find that there are no taxis there and the last guy, who was also looking to get to the race, waited 25 min...I figured that even 20 min late I should be fine, with the amount of people. So I wait, and wait, and wait...it gets to be 6:30 and nothing, so at this point...Its over...my KL adventure has closed...I am disappointed, angry, embarrassed. In hindsight I should have stayed...If you’re listening Lim Yee Ling...I should have stayed and raced...to the others who said the same thing....I should have listened....I did not though, I made a decision and good, bad or ugly...what is made cannot be unmade (accept a bed and coins...they can be melted). do I regret it yes, is it out of character for me to quit...huge yes...please though, let this be the LAST telling of this story I have kicked myself in the ass more in the past 48 hours than any of could hope to have done...that is not a challenge though, in case any of you were planning to come by and give it a shot...there will be other races and I can only hope that I will get to do them with the friends that I have here in Penang.

So, moving forward now...The next race will be in Singapore, a 10k that is part of the "Tri-Factor Series", then there is the Peace Run, here in Penang, then the 1/2 Marathon in Hunter Valley NSW Australia...so plenty more time to redeem myself!

Durian and SCKL 1/2 Marathon

So its my normal Sunday, which is usually a long day, however with Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur 1/2 Marathon this coming weekend, I figured might be best to skip it and do a long run Tuesday or Wednesday. With a group of the I-Run folks heading up to Balik Pulau to eat some durian fruit...i figured, why not...so an I-Run friend Ander Tan, picked me up and off we went on what was to be one heck of an adventure and that was before we even started on the durian...The roads are very small as we make our way up to this particular fruit stand and during the trip a few of the cars in front of us had difficulty with how steep the roads were so we often found ourselves waiting for others...during one particular pause in our adventure a very loud "BANG" startled us all, we were hit by a durian...I felt badly for Ander as his car seemed quite new, and although the damage did not seem major, i like a new car to stay new for as long as possible. Anyway after many uphill battles and one battle with a lorry on a single track road...we ended up in reverse. we finally made it to the fruit farm. Now the only thing i know about durian is that Andrew Zimmern from "Bizarre Foods" will not eat it, and the guy eats bugs on a regular basis...locally they are considered a delicacy, but most of the high rise residences will not allow them...because they smell terrible. I was not thinking it would go well, but I am always up for a challenge. Its really good, i mean that, really good....now the first bite takes a bit because the smell has an influence over the taste, its just a bit bitter and weird, after that thought its very sweet and tastes a good deal like cantaloupe. now there were two kinds, from what i could tell, that I tried, one i was told was very sweet and the other a bit more bitter...i found both kinds to be sweet, the first like i said like a melon, the one that was supposed to be bitter had an almost cocoa taste to it...the texture is like pudding, and there is a large nut inside the meat of the fruit that you have to eat around.

I acctually ate quite a few, it is very rich though and supposedly high in calories, so i cut myself off and continued to eat the Rambutan, which I love. Well i have had a bunch of firsts here in Malaysia...This is my first experience with durian and it was nice to be surrounded by good friends and the beauty of nature....i think having good friends around makes food taste better period! So I have battled the durian and for now i feel like I won. Thank you to all my friends for this experience, it will not be forgotten!

So to finalize this blog, this comming weekend i take off for KL for the Standard Cartered half marathon, again, i dont feel ready and this will be another glad to finish...not worried about time.

30 mile week...

me, Mei Ling, Saw Khuan Yeap, Ai Cheng Tan & Kelvin Lim

I figured after the Singapore sundown debacle, I would be so sore this past week that I would have nothing left for the training, which by the way I have altered to meet my current realistic needs, not the needs of my super competitive alter ego i will forever refer to as "insane bolt". I was wrong I was able to log some significant mileage, ending the week with an 8.5 mile Saturday and a 9 mile Sunday, both at 9+ min a mile, which as stated by The Hansons coach Luke Humphries is necessary until i build some baseline strength back. I can feel better about it knowing that the training schedule calls for these easy and long weekend runs to be at 1.5 to 2 min slower than my intended race pace, so I am still within my high 7 low 8 race pace. The Saturday run was with the I-run group and I was supposed to meet up with my friend Thuan along the route as well. I really enjoy running with a group. This is just a really fit, really good group of runners and i cannot keep up for long, i have to walk out, especially after the 6 mile mark.

L-R: Ding Ding Heng, Chung Mei Ling, Saw Khuan Yeap, Jorene Lim, Ai Cheng Tan.

L-R: Kelvin Lim,Khim Ch'ng,Evans Neoh,Tan Cheng Jin, Saw Khuan Yeap, Chung Mei Ling, Ding Ding Heng, Jorene Lim, Bee Hong Ewe, Toh Beng Bin and Goo Neoh.

The majority of them are multiple marathoners and half marathoners and not only do the Run and bike, but they also swim. I cant swim..hell, I cant really bike...I can crash though...i do that really well...which tells me that if i took up swimming, I would drown really well....one near death experience is quite enough. Anyway I was also able to connect with Thuan, and get my "Pack Towel Nano."

pack towel nano

carrying case

I have used minimalistic towels for camping and hiking before but this seemed like a good fit for post race towel off...I was 100% correct, this thing is amazing.It just keeps absorbing, even when it seems wet, and then rings out and comes back for more and at $9.95 US its a bargain. Its not very large, the medium which I got is 23x18 inches, which is about 58.4 x 45.7 cm...so its not enough to cover your while body, unless you are really small...it makes a good bandanna though...
You know I would not look good bald...really!

Singapore Sundown 2012

Singapore "Sun-downpour" thanks Chun How Lee for that!

OK, so there have been quite a few races in my running history, and out of all of them this is the race that scared me to death...I was truly concerned that I would DNF, as it was I was satisfied with a time far below my normal timing. So here goes. Arrived in Singapore on Saturday, mid morning for a midnight race, it was actually 12:30 but who's counting. I Love Singapore, I really do. its modern and clean, and everything you need is easy to find. I needed to pick up some hammer nutrition stuff and I wanted to see the "lay of the land for Brooks shoes." I also had to pick up my race kit, so i grabbed the MRT to the location given for the race kit pickup, only to find that it had been moved. Ok, that's the other thing, the MRT is on par with NY, Boston and Philly for convenience and route prevalence, its just 1 million times cleaner and safer. Anyway, so I went back to the hotel and walked down to the race venue, picked up my kit, extremely nice folks working the tent, helpful and friendly. Then I decided to head back to the hotel which was literally a stones throw from the race site. I had heard about a mall called velocity, that was supposed to be all sports stores and may have carried Brooks shoes...they did, but not in prevalence. It was a good distraction before a good meal and a good nap. My good friend Thuan, who has become a regular weekend training partner; along with the I-run folks, had sms'd me that we would meet at the site around 8:45, and we picked a spot...stupid me though I chose to leave my phone in the hotel room, and we could not connect until around 10:00, when the 10k was going off...I got to connect with him for a bit, before i lost him and his friends again. It was almost time for our race to begin so I decided to walk over to the meeting area for the 2:30 finish time...yes that's right folks 2:30...I was not going to push it and race time temps were already in the high 80's with 80% humidity...I found the people waiting, to be very friendly, and dressed in my Brooks ID gear (figured it was a night race and neon yellow was a good choice) I think they thought me out of place in their corral...I had to explain my predicament, which i am tired of doing to be honest. We headed for the start line and off we went...with the mob of people it took almost 10 min to reach the actual start line. I had the pleasure of running with a few of the folks I had met before the start, which was nice, as the group dwindled though it was just myself and another person. We stuck it out for most of the race until my hip really started to cramp, around mile 10.5...So i waved her on as we were making sub 2:30 time. I had to walk quite a bit of that last 3 miles or so, until the skies literally opened up, and with the pouring rain and thunder and lightning i decided to run out the last 3/4 mile, pain or no pain...ended up finishing in 2:36 by the race clock and 2:28, by my garmin...so either way I was well within the time I wanted to stick with...and it would have been better if not for the huge amount of walking i had to do in the last 3 miles. So I finished, i met some fantastic people who are now part of not only this blog but a big piece of my return to running. i was sorry not to have at least started the race with my friend Thuan, but was happy to know that he did well. This was a great event and I hope to return to Singapore, hungry and in better shape, when the "North Face 100k" cranks up in October. Thank you Singapore...I Ran Happy!