My Father In-Law

I got a call from my wife (who is in Melaka) while driving back home after the RMAF race informing me that her dad had just passed away peaceful this morning at 8.30am. He passed away at the age of 85 years old. May he rest in peace.

Oh Mi Two Foh (AMITABHA)

UNITY

Malaysian Artistes For Unity ~ Bee End.....Please learn from the lyrics

NB15k

I only have time to blog about the race now. Way overdue as I will be running another race tomorrow ie RMAF Half Marathon before the next week showdown at Sundown Marathon 2008 in Singapore. Have been racing consecutively for the past 3 weekends (including tomorrow race) Legs felt like jelly, take longer time to recover and therefore mileage is extremely low for the Sundown race. I am not sure what will happen to me next week. Worry about it later and back to the race report.

Around 2 days before race day hor, our supreme Tai Kor Captim PM1 start to set finishing time for all der PMs running this race. Cinya pressure ler. He kan cheong himself enuf lah, why make everyone of us kancheong also. Must give him more pressure next time. So hor, he start put everyone in different category from sub 60mins lah, then sub 1'10, sub 1'20, etc, etc, etc. This is cinya pressure leh, how can he do this to us. And luckily or unluckily I was potition to run under der sub 1'20 category. Jialat lor, how to run so fast ler!!!! So wat to do, Tai Kor command must follow lor.......summore he said if cannot do will deduct points. TNS!!!!

So race day come, have to wake up cinya early at 4.30am so that can get parking at Bukit Aman carpark. Do all the morning routine, go toilet and let loose, and had simple breakfast. Der kan cheong syndrome started liao, in my mind hor I am thinking how to do sub 1'20, jialat lor this morning race. Everytime think of it, body like want to pangsai like that. No wonder our Tai Kor always pangsai just before race, bcos he so kancheong mah...sit also not ngam, walk also not ngam, so many things like going to happen!!!!

Time to leave home liao, so start driving to Lake Garden. Der feeling of kancheong syndrome still there and while driving along Jalan Ampang, I feel like want to pangsai. TNS!!! have to find pitstop lah. Luckily got a few petrol station along the way. So have to quickly stop by Esso and do my big business. Wah after that I feel so much better and at ease. The kancheong feeling is gone now. I think the tactic our Tai Kor use is to pangsai and release the stress level, hahahaha!!!!

















Reached the carpark and was early. Can find parking liao. Met with all der regulars who will be running that morning ~ der likes of Frank, Jamie, Kevin Chow, Wan, Geraldine and many more. Chit-chat a bit, do some stretching and relax body. Then times up to walk to Padang Merbuk where the starting point will be. As we reached the area, its was already fill up with so many runners liao. Found out hor that the start point is different from last year, but does not matter lah. Which way we start still have to run mah. Also cinya happy to see Kenneth there and so is Cheong SH. Kenneth a bit fat ler, no more power liao bcos need to jaga baby at nite. While talking to them suddenly heard a BANG sound and race was started. Cinya fast, and how come no talk kok one!!!!

Caught by the surprise start, so I slowly run hor to warm as I was at the back. Now have to slowly turbo and overtake all the slow runners, cinya. The route was jammed with all the runners, and slowly slowly I try to overtake. First 5k struggle a bit ler, legs feel like jelly. Dont know why, but der kancheong syndrome no more there oredi what!!!! So whats happening, but slow slow momentum coming back. My confidence also go up liao. Timing so so only.

Second 5k can feel some wind oredi. Running very relax and overtaking other runners liao. At some of the hills I slow down lor to reserve energy so that later can tekan turbo again. I run and run, continue with der pace and start to feel 2nd wind coming liao. After Tugu Negara, a lot of runners try to turbo and overtake me thinking that the finishing is near but they are totally wrong. My GPS kok only showed 13k leh at der point, how can so fast finish one.

The truth happens because all runners have to run one more loop at the back of Bank Negara to complete the race. I think lotsa of runners now feeling the TNS effect. Turbo like mad and sumore got 2k more to run. Now my chances to potong sayur back, and oredi got 2nd wind. Timing now is within reach of doing sub 1'20. Tekan turbo like mad and no give chance now. Have to do sub 1'20, this is the time. After the Bank Negara hill, its was downhill all der way and turbo even faster ~ based on my standard lah. Not comparing to other fast PMs lah, they all siow lang ler, can pia so fast one!!!!

Turn into Padang Merbok and crossed the finishing line. My GPS kok showed 1h17mins20secs and potition 146. Wah, unexpected time ler.....not bad not bad. The kancheong effect that Tai Kor PM1 put on me is working, cinya. Can pia and turbo like that.

Mingled around before heading back to Bukit Aman carpark to showcase some Saucony shoes to potential buyers. Happy running and Happy Selling. Seeya in the next race......

Note: Photo courtesy of Gege Tey

Home For The Angels

Last March during the KLIM08, I was doing a charity run raising funds for the "Home For The Angels". This is an orphanage home that houses 17 orphans and taken care by some volunteers.













































After a delayed and prolong postponement, I finally find the time today to make a trip to the orphanage and pass the donations (which I collected) to Mrs Tan ~ the principal of the orphanage. Although the funds collected is not a lot but I hope the Rm2000 given to them will be of great help one way or the other.


























































And may I offered my sincere thanks to those who had donated towards the orphanage. I do hope the funds do play a role and help meet their financial needs.

Saw-Kah-Nee

We always worried about what shoe or which pair of shoes to wear in the next race, not anymore........

The Progrid Guide gives you the incredible fit and ride, with just enough stability to keep the neutral and mild pronator runners thinking about everything but their shoes. Like work, school, vacations, dinners, guys, girls, parties or the next race.......

My 1st Encounter with Saucony Progrid Guide

Just delivered the Saucony Progrid Guide to Dr Jamie Pang on Wednesday morning and he immediately put it to test on the evening itself.

Click here for full report.

Runners2Runners Program

I am launching a program whereby I am recruiting runners as members to help promote and create greater awareness on Saucony running shoes within the running community. This program is called Runners2Runners Program. All appointed members of this program will be reference as “Saucony Shoe Ambassadors”.

For those interested to participate, please send an email to me (cchoi_2020@yahoo.com). Please include your personal contact number in your email. Upon receiving the email, I will give the interested party a call to further evaluate on whether they will be the right candidate for the program itself. Selection of the candidates will be based on certain criteria that will be highlighted during the discussion.

The key objective of this program is to promote the Saucony brand and also to offer another brand of running shoes to the running community itself, and hopefully coupled with value for money models. Lets get together and make the running community more vibrant, knowledgeable and last but not least helping each other in anyway we can.

Runners2Runners here we come !!!!

Signing off……

Choi Chik Choy

What happened to the Globe

First it was Nargis who hit Myanmar and almost demolished the city and nearby towns, killing thousands of people. The number of people which are unaccounted for is still rising.

Then we have a tornado that smashed part of Oklahoma and Missouri, USA over the weekend. Although the number of death is lower but that itself already caused enough havoc and create a disaster within the two cities itself. It will definitely take a mammoth task to rebuild, not counting on lost lives, house and cars totally damage by the twister.

And then just yesterday, an earthquake of 7.9 magnitude hit the Sichuan province. Chendu was the city most badly affected by the quake killing thousands of people there. It was reported that the quake can be felt at neighboring cities like Beijing and Shanghai, and as far as Vietnam.

What is the world up to !!! I have no answer for you. No matter what, lets put our hands together and pray for the safety of all these people who are suffering because of such global disasters. Global warming and world disasters, we cannot run away from it.

MUM ROCKS

Me and my wife






















My mum ~ she is a lot thinner now due to her low appetite in her eating habit. But she is still OK with her health.

Happy Mother's Day....I would like to take this opportunity to thank both my wife and mum for their continuous support to my family, as well as the love given to me and the children. Not forgetting cooking us the delicious meals when we are hungry and giving the encouragement and advise on what we do in our daily life.

Both of you ROCKS !!!!!, thats the only word I can describe.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY.

I was on second wind

This morning I participated in the Bomba Run 10k race. I thot of using this race and see how fast can I go after having doing lotsa of long runs in preparation for KLIM08. There isnt much speed training that I had done during that period of time except for the past 1.5 weeks. And therefore I didnt expect too much out of this race. Medal allocation is only to the first 75 runners to cross the finishing line, so I told myself dont put too much hope in getting a medal as well. Just get out there and run the race as best as I can.

Got to see the usual running kakis at this event. Some of the PM members were there too. The race started 7.30am sharp and we have to run thru those hilly stretch along Kenny Hills, the Jalan Duta flyover plus the final killer stretch at Jalan Parlimen before finishing at Dataran Merdeka. The first KM was ran at a very control pace as I didnt want to push too hard. Try to reserve some energy for the second half of the race as there will be tough killer stretch to tackle.

I was running well after the first 5KM and was consistently maintaining a 5min pace, and at times slightly faster. As I reaches those hilly stretch I slowed down my pace to overcome it and push a little harder on the downhill. This continues and I find myself extremely comfortable with the pace and I told myself I am on second wind today.

Tackled the last killer stretch at Jalan Parlimen and a home run towards the finishing at Dataran Merdeka. I crossed the line in 52mins 13sec, got position number 36 and a finisher medal. I was quite amaze after finishing the race that I am able to sustain the pace throughout without any problems. Could be one of those days that I hit form and got the second wind to push myself and reward with a satisfy run. Was happy with the timing.

Next pia session is NB15k. Seeya there.

In the jungle (The Lion Sleeps Tonite)

Who can sings like Pat the Hippo and dance like Stanley the Dog!!! Just follow Stanley and I think its a damn good warmup exercise before a race. Give it a shot in your next race and hopefully the race organiser will play this song for all the runners.

May Day 30k Run

This was the first 30k run (after the recent KLIM08) in preparation for the coming Sundown Marathon. Obviously its challenging for me as my training had been slacking since then plus my form and fitness condition is not up to mark. I felt the strain on my body at the 27k mark and I slowed down tremendously so as to be able to continue running and not walk. Made it back to the finishing in one piece. Was a good run to gauge where my fitness level are at this moment.