Is this the right way?

Polis: Encik, tadi u tak ada nampak lampu merah kah?

Driver: Ada!

Polis: Kenapa u masih jalan?

Driver: Saya ada nampak lampu merah, tapi saya tak ada nampak u……

Polis: !@#$%^&*()

Driver: Bagi chance lah..tuan..

Polis: Chance bagi dgn macam mana??

Driver: bagilah chance..

Polis: ya.. dgn macam mana??

Driver: biasa looo..

Polis: macam mana biasa..???

Driver: wei.. u pura pura ke atau hilang ingatan ar..

Polis: ape u maksud??

Driver: haizz.. u memang sedang bazirkan masa saya ..bagi saman...CEPATTTT...

Polis: saman RM200 o.. fikir baik baik ...

Driver: wei.. u tak faham maksud saya ka.. suruh u bagi then jus bagi la..
apasal mau cakap banyak... u punya head suruh u mari sini chating
ar?? mau saman then cepat sikit.. hanya tahu bazir masa saya..
saya sanggup bayar saman ini pun tak akan bagi u minum .. biar u dahaga

Polis: )*&@&%$#(_!+%!&%)

Breaking the mental barrier

In whatever I do, I always tried to do things out of my comfort zone to achieve better results. Breaking the mental barrier is also another strategy when it comes to challenging myself. So today is no difference. I have decided the week before that I will run a 33k LSD today or at least stay on the road for 3.5hrs to break the mental barrier. This will definitely help me to push the wall further away from me during race day in the Singapore Marathon 2006.

33k I ran staying on the road for 3hrs42mins (plus stop time). And running under a very warm condition with the sun shining on me for the last 13k that I ran. Very good conditioning for me and I really push my body and break the mental barrier to carry on.

Fook and Grace were my running partners today, and I must said this two young rookies had very good potential to be long distance runners. All they need is more experience in running more races. Stay on the road they did together with me and no hesitation to follow me in breaking the mental barrier. And we have agreed to do it together in the Singapore Marathon trying to achieve a sub5 finishing. Both of them will be attempting their maiden marathon in Singapore.

Do U run away from problems?

This is exactly what happened to this Zakaria Mat Deros dude (dont know whether there is any relation to Mat Rempit) the so call Port Klang assemblyman who defy anything from not paying assessment for 12 years to illegally buliding a posh Istana in a low cost housing area with no authority approval.

This ZMD dude got summoned by the Sultan Selangor (who got so angry with his makeover) to explain to His Majesty what is he trying to do especially in the royal town of his. But he snubbed the Sultan for not turning up but giving an excuse that he need to be admitted to the hospital for whatever reason (nobody knows) and discharge himself that same afternoon.....reported by The Sun today.

ZMD had no guts or b*lls to face the truth of what he had done. A bloody lame excuses of going to the hospital and running away from problems. As usual our beloved PM just ticked ZMD off but not excuting the last blow in taking him out. But he left it to Khir Toyo to do it saying that it is the rakyat that voted him, let the MB of Selangor to deal with it. What can the MB do since he was also on the advertising billboard scandal in Selangor. Alamak, Pak Lah is at it again...only ticked people off, no action after that.

Well letz pray that the Sultan of Selangor will be able to eradicate all these Sampah aka Rubbish because they are spending the rakyat taxes money. Worst still is this ZMD dude is running away from problems... what a shame, dare to do it but dare not face the music. What a WIMP (weakly interacting massive particles)

Birthday LSD 20k

A group of Pacemakers organised a birthday LSD 20k run for our birthday boy Dr Jamie Pang which celebrated his big day today. It was quite an easy run thru the normal Lake Garden/Sri Hartamas Petronas/Lake Garden route.

For more details, story #1, story #2

Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri to all Muslim frens.....

Saucony Fastwitch 2 Speed

Tester:
Chen Keat Hoong

Profile:
40min - 10k racer
Sub 1:40 - 21k runner
Sub 3:45 - 42k runner

Shoe: Saucony Fastwitch 2 Speed

More information of Saucony Fastwitch 2 Speed, click here

Test report will be out once the tester had complete his 2nd test run with the shoe.

Some inspirational words that can be found at the base of the shoe:

running is a way of life.....
a commitment to yourself.....
judged only by you.....

How long can you run?

Today's run was more of getting myself to stay on the road as long as I can. This is to ensure that I can still run comfortably after the number of hours pounding the tarmac. The run started of at about 0610 from the usual place in Bukit Aman carpark at Lake Garden with Tey, Jason, Phyllis, DK, Geraldine, Eugene, Fook and Grace (which I met the first time), and not forgetting myself.

After the usual Sri Hartamas/Petronas loop, both Fook, Grace and myself did a detour at the Bank Negara junction and decided to run a different route back to the carpark. We ran towards the Istana junction, pass Tugu Negara and ended the first part of the training run in about 2hrs 35 mins.

Grace complained that her feet was hurting so she decided not to follow us for our second part of the run. This time Geraldine joined Fook and myself to run the Carcosa route but instead on running thru the deer park, we ran all the way down the highway. Reached the Masjid Negara junction and turn left, ran past the Islamic Musuem and ended at the carpark. This part of the run took us about 36mins.

All in all the total time both Fook and myself stayed on running was about 3hrs 10mins. I still feel OK but a slight tiredness after the run, but I believe I shud be able to hang on there for another 30mins to 40mins comfortably. After that its all about how strong I am mentally to take me to the finishing line under 5hrs in this year Singapore Marathon.

Note: Fook and Grace - both of you are very strong runners given the short timeframe that you have started running long distance. We need to do one LSD before Singapore Marathon that make us stay on the road for 3hr 30mins to break the mental barrier.

Happy Deepavali

Wishing all Indian frens................


* * * Happy Deepavali * * *

We Swear !@#$%&*+

We swear at:

- what the Indonesian govt are doing to curb opening burning
- what the local govt have done about the haze...dont they care!!!!
- the API readings are totally wrong
- the unethical drivers on the road especially Q jumping
- at drivers who overtake from the left
- outlets which have bad customer service and does not admit their mistake
- the Consumer Association why consumers like us are not protected
- closure of highways bcos of cracks
- why the city of KL are still having problems in dealing with flood
- unethical housing developer that chop down trees
- people who causes all the landslides
- why the LRT trains halt and take 10hrs to resume service
- the Mak Rempit for causing trouble and creating social issues
- the Boh Sia but they are no where to be seen now
- those people who are cruel to animals

What else do we swear at.....many more !!!!

Your last long run

This maybe something that season runners know what to do, but for rookies I believe this come in very handy especially for those training for their maiden marathon in Singapore.

This is an article extracted out from - The Running Times: Training Newsletter Oct 2006

Training Tip of the Month - Your last long run
While marathon training is a foundation made of many bricks, the keystone workout, physically and mentally, is your last long run. Most coaches agree that ideally it should be three weeks out from the race, or, at the closest, two weeks out. Depending on your training plan, it ranges in length from 18 to 26 miles (28k to 41k), although the vast majority of coaches cap the long runs at 22 miles (35k). As for speed, you'll also find numerous opinions, ranging from an easy, conversational pace to the full distance at race pace. Among top coaches I've interviewed or read, a progression run strategy seems to be the most widely held, and the most reasonable method of accomplishing the goals of both getting in the distance without undue stress and simulating race pace when fatigued. This method begins at a comfortable pace, approximately 20% slower than race pace, and gradually increases during the second half to either race pace or just under (approximately 10% slower than race pace) during the last five miles. The last long run should leave you confident that you can accomplish your goal. Now comes the hardest part of training mentally: the taper, as you cut back to let your body build for the big day.
- Jonathan Beverly, Editor

A good 27k

This morning LSD is suppose to be a longer run than the usual 20k or 21k. The day started of a bit hazy but I am definitely not disturb by the condition. I have in mind to do at least 25k for my first long run. Although hazy, the weather is very cooling, just ideal for a long run.

Reached Lake Gardens carpark and there was Eugene and Gerry waiting. Wong sifu is no where to be seen, since he had mentioned that if he cannot fix his wife car then he wont be showing up. Looks like the car is still giving him some problem. Later join by Lynn. Tey - PM22, came over to greet us and said that his group will start first. Off they go and we also take off later.

Along the run, the morning is very cooling although the haze is still there. Well, no worries and we gallop on. Eugene was running stronger today, at least his knee is not disturbing the run. Well rested as he said.

We completed the 21k run and back to the carpark. I refuel myself and since I still feel good and fresh, I decided to take on the Carcosa route, via the deer park and back to the carpark from the Islamic Museum. Meet Tey after completing the run and asked him what is the distance of the Carcosa route, and he said its about 6km. Well thats a nice distance (21k + 6K). A good 27k run and I am still fresh. I was contemplating to do a 30k since I know my body can take it but I thought since this is the first long run, I will not push myself too hard.

Well another long run, another week gone, and a shopping trip towards the later part of the day......

Are u loyal?

Are you always loyal to one brand of running shoes? Or do you try every other brand and still didnt find one that suits your feet and biomechanics. Or maybe you are loyal to one brand because your favorite sports idol is the ambassador of that brand. You dont care whether the shoe is up to the performance you wanted and most importantly value for money. You just pay irregardless of how much it cost, just because you are swear by the brand. On the other hand there are people that I know of that select different brands for different running occasion ie one for shorter distance racing, one for long distance competition and one for training.

These are some incidents that we probably can find in the running communities. I believed there are no right or wrong answer to it but its more of a personal preference. It is also very true that a high performance high rating shoe may fit in very well to one individual but turns out totally the opposite for another runner. And therefore in whatever brands that we can find in the market today, I think there is no one brand that is more superior than another brand. The key difference is the power of throwing the marketing dollars to get mindshare and awareness. The bigger marketing dollar one splash out, the more eye ball attention they will get. And then eventually the consumers are the ones made to pay on behalf of them because these big boys have to fork out hugh sums and pay sponsorships money to their so call megastars or ambassdors.

So think twice when you go out and purchase your next pair of rubber trainers. And asked yourself whether what you are paying is value for money. Good luck in your next purchase.......

To run or not to run

For the past 1-2 weeks, I believed we have been asking whether we shud expose ourselves and run in those hazy condition. This Q never arises until the recent haze attack in our country, bcos rain or shine the diehard runners will still go out and clock their mileage.

For me, the haze doesnt affect me much and therefore I have attempted a few runs during the weekdays and LSD over the weekends. Maybe not now. Hopefully there is no side effect later. I noticed that the condition in morning is not as bad compare to the afternoons and evenings, and most of the time I do my runs in the mornings even on weekdays before going to work. Rather than exposing myself too much to the haze, I just run on alternate days. The LSD on Saturdays are a must, at least to clock certain mileage and tune my body up, and to be ready for my next marathon in Singapore.

And how long more do we need to ask ourselves this Q
"To Run Or Not To Run?"

State of Malaysia Football

Soon after the June’s World Cup was over, 3 country asked God when will they ever win the World Cup.

It goes like this: “A Korean asked God when will Korea win the World Cup. God replied, in 100 years. The Korean cried as he would not be able to see that happening in his life time. Then a Japanese asked God the same question. When God said in 200 years, the Japanese cried as he would not be able to witness it in his life time. Finally, A Malaysian asked God when will Malaysia win the World Cup. This time, God cried!”

For a moment, we will smile or even laugh at that joke. I take my hat off to whoever came up with that. It’s healthy that we, Malaysians, are able to laugh at ourselves sometimes. Or at the standard of our football, to be precise.

Have a great week ahead.....

Alan Tam "30 Glorious Years" Concert

Yesterday 07 Oct, 2006 - The sky suddenly clears up towards afternoon around 3pm with bright sunshine. Not a stain of haze that you can find. To me this is definitely perfect and praying that it will continue to stay that way towards the nite.

Yes, thats the nite I am on a family outing to attend the Alan Tam "30 Glorious Years" concert at Stadium Nasional, Bukit Jalil. I have been a fan of Alan Tam since young (partly influenced by my dad). Although I hardly read Chinese character, he is one of the Four Heavenly King of Canto Pop during the 80s and 90s that I really admired and still is. Also partly because I enjoy the songs of The Wynners where Alan Tam and Kenny Bee used to be part of the band during the 70s and 80s. That tells you how old am I ~ a veteran.

Attending a concert have been a thing of the past for me. Gone are the days I am a concerts goer attending shows by Richard Marx, Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, Michael Learns2Rock, Air Supply etc,etc. But for this time, I will not miss this special concert of Alan's and its one of the Special Editions.

So the nite started out very well with clear bright sky and no haze. Thats a blessing especially when the concert was held in the open air of the stadium. The concert supposed to start at 8pm but as usual it will always be delay. But the audience dont have to wait too long and becoming too restless, unlike those local concerts when it can be delayed for hours. Just cud not understand what so great about this local singer where they need to delay their shows. Alan Tam was on stage by 8.30pm to greet about 10,000 of his fans, shouting and yelling his name.

He pushed out a high tempo song and also one of his golden hits to get the adrenalin pumping. Then he greeted the crowd saying that he was surprised to see a good mix of very young children, teenagers, young adults and middle age adults (like me) within the audience. That shows that he had a very good mix of fan base, where his songs are heard and enjoyed by loving or dating couples, and then when they got married and have children, their kids are being influenced and exposed to his songs. And still continued to have a good fan base of middle aged adults as they aged. A very good way to market himself.

Alan Tam is one great celebrity that can perform very well and have great showmanship on stage. He communicated with the audience very well getting them engaged in his performance. The concert was well equipped with a great backdrop and props, professional dancers and most of all the sound system was fantastic. That make the concert so much pump up. Everyone enjoy every single hits that he sang.

Songs after songs with a combination of sentimental and upbeat version, the nite almost comes to an end when he bidded goodbye with his so call last song of the evening at about 10.45pm. After he finished the song, he went back stage and in a usual high powered high adrenalin concert, the crowd was screaming for an "ENCORE". Nothing happens for about 2-3 mins, the stage was in darkness except for some dim lights and backgroud music. Then out of a sudden the tempo start to comeback and Alan Tam reappeared from a hydraulic stage moving vertically upwards. He is back to the stage (from the request of his fans) for the nite.

This time he was sing all his golden hits of yesteryears and that pushes the crowd to be even wilder. By now everyone were standing on the chairs, singing along, waving their hands high up in the air and in one song Alam Tam had requested every single one to light up the stadium with their mobilephones on. This had created a sky of white lights (like moving stars) waving from left to right as he sings. And this is what I called showmanship and a great celebrity.

The ENCORE goes on and eventually the nite have to come to an end. The last song that he wanted to say thank you and goodbye to his fans (or he always term it as his FRIENDS rather than his FANS). The non other than the famous song "PANG YAU" (Friends). I believe anyone who heard of Alan Tam will know this song. Practically everyone in the stadium sang their heart out. After that, it was followed by another golden hit and that was the finale. By now it was almost 12 mid-nite, and that was a 1-hour long encore. Amazing !!!

After that it was jam all the way, from coming out of the stadium and getting to the carpark and driving the car out of the carpark to the highway.

It was a nite to remember for everyone in the stadium......and till we meet again !!!!

Saucony Triumph 3

Took the Triumph 3 for a 20k run this morning. No breaking in at all since I got the shoe brand new yesterday from the local distributor. First impression of the shoe when I started running on it, hitting the tarmac was the shoe holds onto my feet very well. The cushioning was good with very good forefoot support. The support was firm and responsive, not stiff. Good stability control. Some runners may consider it stiff but I believe once the shoe clock a higher mileage, it shud be OK.

Secondly is the Arch Lock support around the midfoot area. It wraps around the foot very well to provide good support and control. The shoe doesnt seems to slip away from the feet eventhough I push hard and increase my pace.

Thirdly is the heel support provided by the SRC and the GRID system patented by Saucony. Although I am still running with a slight pain/injury on my left heel, the system had provisioned me a system to support my heel very well. I dont feel that I am aggravating the injury too much eventhough I am running at a fairly good pace.

I hope with higher mileage, the shoe will be even more responsive and the cushioning will perform better. As this is a brand new shoe and putting it to a 20k run, my verdict is that I have no complain at all with the performance. It can only get better. I will definitely give it a scorecard of 4 out of 5 (where 5 is the best)

Saucony Shoe Techonology

Getting into a Business Part 2

Remember my recent article about a dream, getting into the business of selling running shoes. Yes, I am one step nearer to becoming a dealer. At least a part time dealer (or Influencer as the local distributor called it) to start of with.















Yes the brand is SAUCONY (pronounced Sock-a-Knee)

My discussion with the local distributor went well today. We exchanged a lot of information on the technology and performance of Saucony, as well as the running shoes industry. This industry is totally different from the IT industry that I am in for the past 20 years. It is not as high volume as the FMCG but high volume enuf to sustain in a small industry in Malaysia.

My role is basically to market the Saucony brand for them. Whoever are interested, arrangements can be made to go to the warehouse and try out the various models. I did tried out a few of the mid and high end models. The shoes provide good support, stability and control. Anyway I cannot speak for all runners except that you have to try it out yourself. The price range are reasonable ie they are not cheap and either expensive. The quality of the entry model are not to bad either.

So for now, I will be putting together some marketing flyers and brochures. Will get it distribute around and hopefully hit the Pacesetters and other running communities moving forward. I should be able to extend at least 30% discount to interested parties and also Pacesetter members and if we are looking at volume, a higher discount is still negotiable. So I definitely need your support in trying out Saucony to give my business venture a good start and hopefully progressing slowly to better success.














My evaluation shoe for now is the Saucony Triumph 3 which I have managed to convince the distributor to offer me a real special price for me to try it out. It will be put on a trial run tomorrow in my LSD of between 20k to 25k. (depending on how bad the haze condition is) Lets see how this shoe will perform after my run and I will definite come out with a performance report. Watch out for it.

For those who are interested, drop me a comment and I will make arrangement for you to test out the respective models.

Have a good weekend......

MalaysiaKini Report

If you dont visit MalaysiaKini often.....

Haze: Ask Jakarta to Apologize Instead

Hazy Hazy Sky

Hazy hazy sky
How come you are here again
Have I told you to stay far far away
Hundred of miles from here
Hope your stay is short
Here is no place for you

What on earth is HAPPENING !!!!!

Blue Blue Sky

Blue blue sky
Bright sunshine
Big white clouds
Breezy wind
Blowing everywhere

At least the haze is gone today. I actually took an evening stroll today along the block of buildings where I work. Its been a while since we enjoy such bright sunny sky and breezy wind blowing across the streets. I pray this will continue.......

Rain rain come my way

The pre-dawn rain over the nite had created a perfect condition for this morning run. Although a few of the regular members were missing due to some other activities that they are into, we are not short of runners. Chipmunkrock was around, and joined by the Pacemakers group like DK, Tey, Jason Learn2Eat and der PM1. The weather was cooling and I was cruising effortlessly to enjoy the great weather. Although I experienced slight uncomfort due to the pain I had on my heel, I managed to pull thru. The pain doesnt seems to bother me at all as the run progresses. So long I did not put pressure on it by running too fast I think I am fine. Just needed to have enuf rest to ensure it heals completely. After the run, was introduced to Lawrence (another Pacemakers) and had the chance to meet Tony (one of the Penquins). He invited me to do a 30k training run at Putrajaya which he is organising on Oct 21 (Sat) which is on Deepavali day. Well, not too sure whether it is too early to do a 30k run when it is still at least one month away from the Singapore Marathon race.

Heel Pain

Develop a pain on the heel of my right foot (no its the left foot, what I am talking) when I woke up this morning. Look like the area around the heel bone had swell a little bit. Painful and uncomfortable feeling. I suffered this before and that was a long long time. Hopefully with a few days of rest, the pain and swell will go away otherwise I need longer rest. If not this will disrupt my training for Singapore Marathon 2006.

Getting into a business

I have recently written to a well known branded running shoes company inUSA hoping to represent them in Malaysia. They are almost unheard of in Malaysia, and because of that I am hoping that they will be interested in my high level business plan that I submitted via an email. I dont expect them to respond to me bcos they have no idea who I am by looking at the plan. But surprisingly they came back to me a couple of days (thanks to the power of the Internet) via an email from their UK office. They have shown interest to explore further and have directed me to work with their local distributor in Malaysia. Huh!!!, you mean there is someone representing them...and if that is the case, these people are definitely not working or do not know how to sell the products. Dont even see any marketing campaign from them to promote their products in Malaysia.

Immediately I got in contact with the local distributor and started a conversation to explore a business partnership. I told them they have to be somewhat technically sound to sell a running shoes, not just selling it of the shelves. It wont work. It will be to their advantage if they have people in the running communities to promote the shoes. Immediately I zoomed in from that angle to take advantage of the knowledge and expereience I had, and the value-add I can offer (I knew the local distributor will not have that). I am applying the BLUE OCEAN strategy, thanks to LIFEMOU for introducing that to me. Make your competitors irrelavant ie those dealers out there that are already selling the products but have totally no clue how to promote it.

After listening to what I have briefly explain to them on my strategy and my knowledge of their products (thats my marketing speech), they are interested to listen to a more detail plan. They have even admitted that I know more than them on the products they sell. They have requested me to come out with a more detail plan and are willing to explore the business partnership.

Bang,Bang,Bang... I hit it on the right note. Will spend some time carving out the marketing plan and get some market research activities going to equip myself for the next meeting. I will crack my brain cells over the weekend to see how can I able to get this brand to command a pie in the current marketshare. I will start to seek feedbacks, advise and evaluations from fellow running frens about this product and its opportunity of doing well in the Malaysia market.

Teee Tittt, Teee Tittt, Teee Tittt - the alarm of my PDA phone rang. Its 0545. My wiffy said, are you doing your morning run? Woke up with blurry eyes....and I asked myself, where is my marketing plan. And I realized it was just a DREAM. Dream I will and I have always aspired to do something like that ie managing a business that have relation to my hobby and that is RUNNING. I hope this dream will come true in the near future; like a Walt Disney fairy tale story. Hopefully my dream will continue to complete my business plan.

Thats all folks !!!!

Singapore Marathon Training Routine

This will be my training routine for the SinJiaPoh Marathon on 3 Dec 2006. Hopefully there wont be much biz travelling that will disrupt this program. The following are the weekend long runs that I will be looking at.

Sep 23 : 20k (weekdays: 24k-30k)
Sep 30 : 20k (weekdays: 24k-30k)
Oct 07 : 20k (weekdays: 24k-30k)
Oct 14 : 25k (weekdays: 24k-30k)
Oct 21 : 25k (weekdays: 24k-30k)
Oct 28 : 25k (weekdays: 24k-30k)
Nov 04 : 28k (weekdays: 24k-30k)
Nov 11 : 30k (weekdays: 24k-30k)
Nov 18 : 33k (weekdays: 24k-30k)
Nov 19 - Dec 2 : Tapering off and race day on Dec 3

No target set, no time pressure, just go out there and enjoy the race.

Pacesetters Mizuno 10k (17 Sept)

In this race I must admit I have set a target for myself but its something I know I can achieve. Although I did not put too much pressure on myself to achieve it but based on my current form, I know I can do it. Just a matter of how well I can do it. The target was a sub-1 hr timing, nothing more than that. Even a timing of 59 mins 59 secs will do. So the pressure ease of a bit, in fact probably not a pressure at all. I know I will run better under a no pressure condition.

Feeling good on race day except that my legs are still feeling a bit sore. Not fully recovered from the Putrajaya race. Sensing that there will be a large crowd, so I decided to leave home earlier to get a parking slot (kiasu a bit). Reached the Bukit Aman carpark at around 0615 and its already filled up with lots of car. Found a slot and get changed. Do some stretching and saw Carboman arrived. Greeted each other and continue to do some stretching and started walking towards the starting point in Padang Merbuk at about 0700.

Met the usual running frens and bumped into Megat (my colleague), Karen and her daddy, Cheong SH, Wong sifu and William. Having a usual chit-chat with them and out of nowhere the horn sounded, and the race had started. No speech, nothing......dont waste anytime. The big crowd of orange runners were filling the road, and I have to run on the pavement. Its a bit dangerous and especially with these kind of crowd. Sure enuf not too long after running, one man trip and fell on the ground. Try to help him up but there are other runners nearer to him and who got him back on his feet. Nothing serious except maybe for the shock of tripping himself onto the ground.

My strategy was to do a faster pace in the beginning taking the hills because I have to do catch up since I am almost at the back of the pack, and also the big crowd slows me down. Thats what I did, taking the hills in a faster pace, and slow down a bit at the down hill. Maintain the same pace all along to conservce some energy for the double-hills. Once out of Kenny Hills and onto the highway, take the slight uphill at a steady pace. Race at a much faster pace after the right turn towards the National Monument before ending at the finishing line. Crossed the line at 57 mins 58 secs. Was a good time for me, and no complain. This is the first 10k race that I dipped under 1 hour since my comeback.

Mingled around at the race site, some photo session and finally I met DK in person. Bumped into Eugene and YiXi at the one of the drink stations. After this left the race site together with Cheong so that we can joined the Terry Fox carnival run.

Cow's Milk Is For Baby Cows

I always find the topic very true.

It always amazes me to discover just how many consumers have been brainwashed by dairy industry advertising into thinking that milk from cows is some sort of essential food for humans. In reality, cow's milk is perfect nutrition for baby cows, but nutritionally incompatible with humans, most of whom are actually allergic to the substance.

Humans are the only species that will drink the mammary gland extract of another species. And we didn't even choose a species close to us like monkeys or gorillas. No, we've chosen to drink milk from furry, four-legged creatures mostly because they're the easiest ones to control and dope up with synthetic hormones that turn them into milk-generating machines for profit-motivated dairy operations.

All commercial milk from cows contains pus and blood, by the way. The USDA actually sets allowable limits of pus as a federal standard. (Check MilkSucks.com to see how much pus is found in milk in your State!) And that's not to mention the toxic chemicals, PCBs, pesticides, perchlorate and other substances frequently found in milk products. Even if they were somehow free of these chemicals, nearly all commercially-produced milk is pasteurized and homogenized -- a process that turns milk fats into artery-clogging substances that promote heart disease and atherosclerosis.

Yet western populations chug milk by the gallon, and then the people wonder why they suffer from Irritable Bowel Syndrome, obesity, heart disease, sinusitis, acne, constipation and even diabetes. The answer is cow's milk, folks. You'd be better off drinking human milk, but even that's only for babies.

Truly, drinking milk from cows is about as silly as pushing a baby calf away from its mother and sucking on the teat yourself. Which is, of course, the very concept this comic is attempting to portray.

Note: This article is from News Target.com

Who let the dogs out

I am upgrading myself to the DSLR range of camera. The normal digital camera will be used for point and click, and for my runs. I am currently tossed between the Nikon D80 and the Canon EOS400D. Both models are newly launched in the market, and there are very little differences between them. Gotta go to the shop and check them out, and also based on some professional recommendations from my circle of frens which are semi-pro in this field. But it will definitely burn a hole in my pocket ~ RM4000 and above. And its an expensive hobby to get into.

Savoey Seafood Restaurant

Have you ever input a real bad review of a restaurant in Yahoo! Travel, and in a few days later it got taken out or deleted from the site. I am not sure who did it, but why asked for reviews and when the reviews are bad its taken out/deleted. The reviews I made was for the abovementioned restautant in Phuket. Now I am making it official in my blog so that customers do not faced the same bad experience that I got from them.










Savoey Seafood Restaurant This place sucks BIG time. If this is how Phuket is going to revive their tourism biz, this restaurant have to be tightly scrutinised. The service is BAD, food is BAD especially the fish and prawns that we ordered. It tasted like rotten meat. Complaints fell to deaf ears. Overall offering is a BIG Thumbs Down. BADDDDD!!!! Worst still they charged us for the tom yam soup that they didnt deliver to one of the tables. Doesnt admit their MISTAKE and insist that we pay. They even challenged me when I told them that I will make an official complaint to The Tourism Board of Thailand. Behaved like a bunch of gangsters. NEVER GO THERE !!!!

Rating: 1 (Worst)

1st anniversary of Comeback

My first race when I decided to make a comeback to long distance running was at Putrajaya Marathon 2005. After completing last weekend race at the same venue, it was exactly one year since I made that comeback. I slashed off at least 30mins from the timing of last year race. Within the year I considered myself progressing well based on the limited number of trainings and competitive race that I am doing. So far so good, and no complains. Slowly picking up the leftover business that was done 15 years ago. I think I am heading towards the right path and take things easy. No timing pressure and targets for me on any runs, just enjoy the race. I think this strategy suits me well because I am able to run better with no pressure on myself. And what do you expect a 44 year old man do,.....run a sub 1:30 half marathon and sub 3:30 full marathon. You are totally insane but this is what i can achieve during my peak ie when I am between 28-32 years old. Running with a small cute camera is my new found interest. I will do more photos capturing in future runs. So much for the 1st anniversary.

Putrajaya Half Marathon

The day started of with my PDA phone alarm ringing at 0400. I need to be at the race site earlier since I need to pass the bib to Eugene and son. Wash up, do my business and left home at around 0435. Was also not exactly sure of the place since this year the starting line is different from last year. The early journey will also give me ample time in case I am lost and cant find the place. Reached race site at about 0530 and parked my car 2 blocks away from the staring line. Got a call from Eugene asking me for directions to the race site and where to meet him to pass on the bib.

Met Eugene and YiXi, passed them the bibs. Managed to see the starting of the 42k race. Not many runners though. Maybe its too near to the Penang International Marathon. Then bumped into Francis Toh and Wong Sifu, and after that William. All of us checked into the runners area and the race started at 0630 sharp.

I have put no pressure on myself on any timing. Anything between 2:00 to 2:15 is fine with me. Since this was the first time I am carry a camera in a race, I was also taking quite a fair bit of pictures along the race. Bumped into Cheong and ran along with him for a couple of minutes and I moved on. Then I caught up with Jamie which started in the front of the pack. After a couple of minutes, I decided to move ahead and taking more pictures along the way. The experience was quite fun taking pictures while running. The only setback is that there is a lot of catch up to do since you practically slow down or stop to take the pictures of the runners. I clocked 53mins at the 10k mark.

After the 12k mark, I decided to push ahead and no more taking pictures from here and concentrate on my run. I was feeling good all this while and decided to increase my pace. Water stations were sufficient giving runners lots of fluid (water and isotonic drink). Kilometre after kilometre and in no time I was at the 17k mark which is near the Shangri-La Hotel loop. The water sprinkler around this area was refreshing. Ran thru that and turn left running towards the Putrajaya Mosque. From here I think it is probably another 3k before we hit the finishing line. At this juncture, my pace had slow down a bit. It is getting hotter by now and I just focused to maintain my pace and not falling behind.

I was looking for the finishing sign from afar but cant see it. Then I remembered we are running at a different direction (ie at the back of the finishing podium), and therefore my guess is that all the runners have to make a loop some way to end at the finishing line. True enuf with 2k to go, all the runners need to do a left turn, run on a parallel road, do a loop and finish. The last 1k was a long and winding road that never seems to end. The sun was shining on me and its getting even hotter by now. My pace was affected by it, but I just focus and pushed on. Finally all the runners are required to make a right turn and ran another 400m to the finishing line.

As I crossed the line, my timing was 2:03:10 with a position of 214 wriiten on a blue card given to me by one of the race officials. Although towards the last 2k, I was aiming for a sub-2 finishing but then I have no complain at all with this timing. I truely enjoy the race, a very well organised race indeed and I will be back again next year. Full Marathon.....well, i will think twice because this place is hot.

Seeya next year......

Take on the new Challenge, Capture the Splendour

Putrajaya Marathon captured.........









The starting line for the 42k and 21k race















H089, H090, H091.....The veterans














If you can believe it, the mind can achieve it














The 1st finisher from China in the Women 42k race












KC - the webmaster of Pacesetters
















Girls wanna have FUN!!!






Are you more interested in running the race or carrying these cartons of mineral water back home?


























This pakcik is 70 yrs old and completed the 21k race. He is a grand father who have 10 grandchildren. If he can run a 21k race why not the younger generation. The tagline below sums it all.











DETERMINATION.






More Pictures

Seeya next year.....

Phuket Is Back

Yes, thats the tagline adopted by Laguna Beach Resort in the beginning of 2006 to help revive the tourism business in Phuket after the terror incident of Tsunami hitting the island. It was a well spent 3D2N offsite for me and the whole company, charting out our company-wide plans, initiatives and strategies to go after our FY07 goals. The hotel services at this resort were extremely GOOD. Everything were in order when I do the spot-checking before our meetings starts. You only have to inform them once on what you want from them and when you arrive, everything are in perfect order. Thats an A+ for them.

And besides that we have some fun too, and what better way than to reach out to Patong beach and have a nite out. As I said, Patong had a lot more to offer besides the likes of Simon cabarets, go-go bars and some sleazy joints (you know what I meant). As I step onto the tuk-tuk to transport me from Laguna Beach Resort to Patong which is a winding 35mins ride, and along the way I saw lots of construction coming up. This shows that the island is making a real comeback, and this time even bigger.

As we are reaching the town, I saw lots of flat land and when I asked the driver about it, he told me these are the areas that were hit by tsunami where everything got flatten. There are lots of memorial monuments that were build around these area for those tsunami victims. I requested the driver to stop by one of them for me to take a look at. Everything were written in Thai (except for some English names) which I dont understand but for sure the memories of those victims will forever be there. I later made a token of donation to offer my help as a tourist to the local folks in maintaining these monuments.

Patong beach looks the same as before except that the walkway pavement are all newly reconstructed. Otherwise it does not seem to be hit by a tsunami one and a half years ago. The rows of small retail shops are all still around, except for some that are selling the photos taken during the tsunami incidents.

Bangla Road, the happening lane of Patong beach where it is line up with rows of water-joints, go-go bars, sleazy joints, Ah Gua table top dancing joints, and most interesting of all are the tailor shops that can stitch your suit in 24hrs. A few of my colleagues were interested in making one, and we ended up in one shop call Armani Best (end of BanglaRoad just underneath a Thai-boxing stadium). A full cashmere suit will cost around Baht4500 (~RM450) which is not bad. Once the deal is concluded, the so call tailor-cum-shop owner will do the measurement and cut the material. They will then have you back to the shop in two hours to do the fitting before the final stitching. Once that is OK after the fitting, it will be send to a place (god know where it is, but I believe it should be a factory where there are many tailors working 24hrs to support this industry in Phuket) for the final stitching. The suit will then be deliver to the hotel the following day. To me thats an amazing industry. It is so competitive.....

Overall this business+pleasure trip was good except for an incident where we have a company dinner at this restaurant called Savoey Seafood Restaurant This place sucks BIG time. If this is how Phuket is going to revive their tourism biz, this restaurant have to be tightly scrutinised. The service is BAD, food is BAD especially the fish and prawns that we ordered. It tasted like rotten meat. Complaints fell to deaf ears. Overall offering is a BIG Thumbs Down. BADDDDD!!!! Worst still they charged us for the tom yam soup that they didnt deliver to one of the tables. Doesnt admit their MISTAKE and insist that we pay. They even challenged me when I told them that I will make an official complaint to The Tourism Board of Thailand. Behave like a bunch of gangster. NEVER GO THERE !!!!

Travelling

I am hitting the airport again going out of country for another business trip. This time for the country biz offsite to rally the team in putting up their plans, initiatives and strategies to go after the new target given to us. Thats corporate life.....I wonder anyone wants to be in it. It does pay well (I mean better than a local company) but the stress level is also higher. Hopefully the intake of B Complex will help me to reduce that.

I would said MNC have very good processes to track and measure all the ups and downs, and thats why most of them are very successful in running their biz. Unlike some locally own company, and if some of them behave like a MNC (50% will do), I believed Malaysia will be more competitive. When it comes that, I will probably have to give it to the Singaporeans. They definite do better in that field although they have that Kiasu mentality but it made them a lot more competitive.

So much about that. I will be at The Lost Souls Island aka Phuket Island for this biz outings. People asked me whether its safe to go there.....and with me thinking in silence, my fingers tapping the table. My answer was "What do you mean by safe, Is Malaysia safe????" Hopefully those wandering souls were blessed and RIP, otherwise izit worth wandering around Patong town for a nite out.....no sinful thots OK. You can go to the all the likes of Simon Cabarets and paint the town red, but if you see it once you see it all. I would said Phuket have a lot more to offer than that. Just stop by a water joint and have a drink with your frens is good too. Enjoy the movement of the traffic of tuks-tuks and tourists walking up and down. And shopping, well I have done mine during the recent Vegas trip. And one of my lady colleague shouted out "Bras are good and cheap in Phuket.....well, let me check that out !!!

And I will be back in time for Putrajaya 1/2 Marathon........

A lazy run

Date: 2 Sept 2006 (Saturday)
Time: 0600
Place: Lake Gardens
Distance:20k

This was a run that I needed badly after 3 weeks of travelling and totally no running at all. I needed it to tell my body that I am back and next week there is a 21k race in Putrajaya. The run started of with 2 other running buddies in a lot slower pace then normal. I was not putting pressure on myself since I know this is more like conditioning myself all over again after the long layoff. We talk a lot catching up on things that happened for the past three weeks when I am out of town. It was a very very easy pace cruising along the usual route towards Sri Hartamas. We reached the Petronas station in about 1hr 15mins very comfortably. Rested for awhile and got our drinks and do the loop back. The return leg was done at almost the same pace except that now my legs are feeling a bit tired and not very strong in taking the slopes. I just paced myself slower as I hit the slopes and got back to normal pace on the straights and downhill. All three of us had been talking a lot in this run as we just want to make sure we will condition ourselves and be ready for next week race. Timing is not over concern for Putrajaya half marathon. We will be out there to enjoy it. As we talk and run, we hit back to the Bukit Aman carpark in about 2hrs 17mins. Thats not too bad a timing for me and if I run at that pace, I can finish next week race probably under two and a half hours. The only concern is both my legs are very tired after the run. Bumped into Carboman who had just finish his running clinic, and he was asking me whether I am running next week. My answer to him was "SURE, I will run and lets run together", since our condition are almost very similar. He was probably very busy with his work that he is finding no time to train.

Anyway I wont be running much next week before the race since I will be travelling again on Wednesday and only be back on Friday. Well NO FEAR, no matter what I will hit the tarmac of Putrajaya with my rubbers. Seeya at the starting line.......

THE STRIP @ The City of Las Vegas

Pictures taken during my 2.5hrs walk along The Strip, and yet I cud not complete it. End-to-End on one way of The Strip is 4.5 miles. If you do a loop it is 9 miles.

What goes down, Must go back up

More pictures taken during my hiking trip at The Grand Canyon

Greetings From Grand Canyon, Arizona

Las Vegas

I will be there for the next two weeks to attend my company Global Sales Meeting to kick start our new financial year and some other related business meetings. And as I am writing, I know I will again have to go thru the hassle of the detail security checking at the airport and all exit/entry point after what had happened in UK yesterday. Well just need to take extra caution and more time to check-in. Bye for now!!!!!

Extinction of Leatherback Turtles in Malaysia

Have Malaysia (as a country) and Malaysians (as the citizens) learn to luv the nature. I think with the report yesterday on the above, it have been clearly stated it is a big NO. Majority of Malaysians dont bother about nature!!!!

It was extremely sad to read the report yesterday that the endangered leatherback turtle population is effectively extinct in Malaysia and this has deprived the country of one of its most charismatic tourist lures, says a United Nations Environment Programme report.

As long as we Malaysian continue to behave the way we are, ie throwing rubbish all over the places, open burning, dirtying and poluting the rivers, winding down the car windows and spit on the road, chopping down of trees in the forest etc, etc, we will continue to see that lots of other natures that are invaluble to the country may be extinct in no time.

With the declaration of the extinction of the leatherback turtles on our shore, gone are the days where you can camp by the beach at dawn and wait for the giant creature to come out to lay their eggs. It was the most amazing thing that I have ever witness in a real life and nature environment of the giant turtle laying their eggs on Malaysian shores. Yet people are so inconsiderate where they will climb on the turtle backs for a picture and eventually steal the eggs and sell it away. The main culprint are the people who eat turtle eggs.

Today we can said GOODBYE to them and you probably will never see them again on Malaysian shores. One country lost is another country gain, and maybe these creatures will migrate elsewhere to do their business. And that country will leverage on that to lure tourists to their spots.

Looking at the way it is going, in no time our tropical forest will be the next thing to get extinct as well, if control are not put in place. The activities of illegal logging and chopping down of trees in forest for the purpose of development are getting out of control now. No one even bother about nature as long as money can be made and are in their pockets.

Having all said and done, we Malaysian only have ourselves to blame. Full stop. Think about nature before your next move.

Hungry Ghost Festival

Today is Hungry Ghost Festival - the 15th day of the 7th month of the Chinese Lunar year, and those Chinese who are Buddhist and Taoist will do prayers and offerings to their loved ones who have passed away. Burining of joss sticks, red candles, and special paper money aka HELL NOTES are practised. In the new generation, they are people who will burn paper DVDs, Astro decoders, mobilephones, etc, etc. Wonder these things will reach them who stay in the other part of the world. And how does all these began......

Chinese legend has it that a long time ago, there lived a young man, Mu Lian and his widowed mother. His mother was a wicked woman. She often turned away beggars who came to her door asking for food. She liked to jeer at the working poor and their dirty clothes; in essence, the only person she cared about was herself.

Mu Lian on the other hand was a kind soul. He was a gentle person and always willing to help anybody who was in need. One day he decided to become a monk and this did not please his mother. She scowled at him for being such a useless son; she wanted him to go out and work to earn more money for her. Wealth and materialistic things meant more to her than anything else.

When she saw that she could not dissuade her son, a plan began to hatch in her mind. She decided to play a trick on the monks just to get back at them for taking away her son. Now it was the custom to offer food to the monks (this custom still exists to this very day), but only vegetarian food. Mu Lian’s mother thought that it was nonsensical that these monks did not eat meat, so one day she offered food to some monks and slipped in some non-vegetarian items.

According to one version of the story, the wicked woman was punished immediately and was sent to hell. Mu Lian wanted to save his mother’s soul because he knew her soul was suffering.

He set out and ventured deep into the bowels of hell. Soon he came upon his mother and he saw that she was sitting a bed of very sharp pointy stakes and was holding on to a basin of blood.

Mu Lian tried feeding her some food but the food would either turn into fire or blood. It was hopeless: he couldn’t do anything for her so he left. He returned home and started to pray.

It is said that Buddha heard Mu Lian’s prayers and was touched by Mu Lian’s compassion. Thus Buddha decreed that once a year, the gates of hell be opened so that the lost souls will be able to roam the earth and be fed. This is why every year on the seventh day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar, the Chinese celebrate the festival of the hungry ghost. This is one of five major festivals in the Chinese culture.

Food and drink will be offered at night outside the gates of houses. This is so that the ghosts do not enter their houses and cause trouble. A traditional food made for this festival is steamed sweet bread. Lanterns are lit to help guide the ghosts to the feasts set out for them. Special paper money is also burned as offerings to these ghosts so that they can take it back to hell and spend it there. To make sure that these souls stay out of trouble, entertainment is set up round the clock, mainly Chinese operas or tok tok chiang are performed on outdoor stages.

I Not Stupid 2

I finally found some time with my family to catch up with this movie since I bought the VCD god-knows-when, and was sitting inside the CD drawer all this while (almost forgotten that I purchased it)

I Not Stupid 2 is not a continuation of the part 1, but focuses more on teenage school children issues and the communication problems between 2 generations ie the parents and the school going kiddos. The storyline focuses on two family; a rich and well to do family where the parents are so busy with their work and business, they practically have no time for the kids. The other was a broken family where the father is a single parent and also an ex-prisoner. There is a subplot about the youngest son thinking that kissing, holding hands and sleeping together would lead to pregnancy does create a question on whether sex education should be part of the school curriculum. Another subplot was the technique required to teach students that have no interest in their studies and are also more aggressive and mischievous.

What the story also told us was that do not under estimate school children that does not excel. These young people need encourgement and they could turn out to be the most street smart people and probably very successful in their life. Anyway this a an average movie, compare to the first one (I Not Stupid), but I think its a wakeup call to those parents out there that are so busy with their life that they totally ignored their kids. Worst thing is that they have no clue on what their children are doing and do not communicate effectively with them and understand their needs and challenges.

Watching a Jack Neo's movie is like listening to all your Uncles and Aunties that you've met during Chinese New Year, talk about their lives, and their lives and views about the world (or Singapore/Malaysia for that matter). Just like relatives whom you meet once a year or so at major family gatherings, it is all joyous and good, but it can get a little annoying if you have too much of the same thing.

Watch the movie yourself and tell me how you like it !!!!

Its Friday !!!

Its Friday, and let me tell you something that you dont know:

A bus station is where the bus stops,
and a train station is where the train stops.
On my desk there is a work station.
Oops!!!, the company that I worked for, changed that to a notebook!!!

Story of a comeback kid

Pictures courtesy from Tey ET


The recent Penang Bridge Marathon 2006 was the race for my comeback. I didnt put any pressure on myself to achieve certain timing except that I will be happy if I can clock a sub-5 and complete the race without suffering. And to make the long story short but interesting, I wont be very Cheong Hei (long winded) about it.

Started my journey with Lifemou where he picked me up at KL Sentral before hitting on the highway towards the north. Stop by in Ipoh for our Hor Fun dinner and continue our journey towards Penang. Reached Penang at about 11pm where we checked into CitiTel along Penang Road. Went down to the mamak store and have our dinner. Had mamak rojak and teh halia for supper, while my buddy go for Sup Ekor - the power soup of the mamak. I was asking Lifemou why dont he try the Sup Torpedo!!!!, if he wants to run like a torpedo in the race.

Next morning, went to Sports Complex at Batu Uban to collect our running bib. While we were there, I bumped into a long lost (20 years) running friend of mine - Mah Chai Meng whom we used to run together in Ipoh. He is now a committe member of the Kelab Roadrunners Ipoh. We exchanged our contact number, and hopefully we can get in touch again. After that we got a message from Eugene saying that he had already reached Penang and will meet us at CitiTel at 1pm for lunch.

Thats was the beginning of our food feast in Penang. Hop from lane to lane for those delicious food, and the finale or encore was we ended ourselves in Teluk Bahang for a durian feast. That was when we decided enuf is enuf for the day. No more heavy meals before the race tomorrow and we call off our dinner. Dinner was just some porridge and Tong Sui (Chinese desert) for me at New Lane nearby Sunway Hotel. We also accidentally manage to catch the tok-tok chiang show along the streets which was held in conjunction with the one month celebration of the Ghost Festival.

Went to bed at about 11pm and gotta wake up at 2am and leave the hotel by 2.30pm and to reach the race starting point at about 3pm for registration. Once we reached the race area, got a space to park the car just opposite of Gelugor School where the registration for all 42k runners are at. Do our business, changed and got ourselves all ready. Went over to the school for registration and we were kept within the school compound before starting the race. At almost 4am, all runners were called out onto the road where the marathon will be started by one of the YB designated to blow the horn. After some standard message from the organiser, there was a 20 secounds countdown, and off we go.

All the runners have to run a loop and back to the starting point (the 6km mark) before heading onto the bridge. I skipped the 1st water station and ran at a very easy pace at this stage of the race, just keeping myself comfortable and get myself warm up. As all the runners turned back onto road leading to the bridge, there are lots of students and other runners (for the 1/2 and1/4 marathon) cheering us up. Headed onto the flyover where it leads to the bridge and this is the point where most runners are running ahead or falling away.

Reached the 10k water station and pour in a few cups of cooling refreshing chill water and isotonic drinks and continued on. At the mid-span of the bridge, my timing shows 1:16, and I am still doing fine with the pace I am running. On the opposite side of the bridge, the leading pack of the race were on their way back. At this point, I am almost running on my own excpet for a few runners that overtook me. The nite scene along the bridge was quite and beautiful, and I can even hear the sound of the waves. The wind was pretty strong and chilly, and that is where I feared most. Running against the wind and the cold winds are cooling my body down. No good for me.

Reached the Prai side of the bridge and needed to do a loop back before the toll booth and got back onto the opposite side towards the island to complete the first half of the race. As I emerged from the loop back onto the bridge, the winds are a lot more stronger and colder. At this stage I was practically running alone. I didnt really bother about my timing, just continued running at a very comfortable pace and enjoy the early morning scene along the bridge. My timing was around 2:10 when I reached the end of the bridge and getting onto the highway that leads to the FTZ area (towards Seagate)

This stretch was almost a never ending one. Pushing on and on. Reaches the 25k mark, then 27.5k and 30k mark. My watch shows 3:15. Intel and Seagate plant had the best view of the sea overlooking Pulau Jerejak. Am still very comfortable with my pace and no pressure on timing. Just out to enjoy and complete the race, and if I can do it within sub-5, the better. A few of the strong lady runners had overtaken me by then. Good luck to all these ladies. I believe they will be fighting each other out for a better position at the finish.

Reaches the 35k mark in 30mins time and my watch showed 3:45, and 7k more to go. At this moment, my energy level is going down and down. Both legs have started to feel the strain and muscle are getting tight and have the muscle pull effect. Started to apply Flanin to get that buring sensation and hopefully able to control cramps from happening. This was the time when my body was totally out, I am struggling now. The pace is a lot slow, and am pushing hard step after step. Lots of runners have started the walk-run strategy and hoping to pull thru.

Steps after steps, kilometre after kilometre, I push on and then I hit the 37.5k mark. At this juncture, my energy level is totally gone. My steps are smaller and slower and I continued to hit the tarmac. I am getting my mind to take over from the body of not giving up. After all the struggle, I hit the 40k mark, and 2k to go. This is the most demoralising stretch bcos I have to get onto a uphill stretch of the highway before taking on the loop that leads me to the finishing line at USM ground. This is where I adpoted the walk-run strategy, because I am walking faster than I run. After the uphill stretch I try to pick myself up, started to jog slowly (not run) , reaches the USM gorund and crossed the finishing line. I took almost 1:15 to complete the last 7k, and that was a real struggle. Anyway I crossed the line, knowing that I am totally satisfy and truely enjoy the race. My comeback after 15 years.

My timing - 4:57:36 (a sub-5 finishing) and Penang - I will come back again next year.

And a picture paints a thousand words........