"Stronger with each tear" -Mary J Blige-

No, it's not an emo post...

I just have a thing for quotes... ;)

Inspiring ones... The kind that makes you feel optimistic, even when you feel that everything in your life's crumbling down...

But life is like a roller coaster ride anyways... Just gotta ride it... (*Singing to Ronan Keating's song*)

So, I'd like to share beberapa awesome quotes that I've collected and live by:

"Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it" -Bill Cosby-

"Whatever relationships you have attracted in your life at the moment, are precisely the ones you need in your life at this moment. There is a hidden meaning behind all events, and this hidden meaning is serving your own evolution." -Deepak Chopra-

"And ever has it been known that love knows not its own depth until the hour of separation." -Khalil Gibran-

"L♥ve recognizes no barriers. It jumps, hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope." -Maya Angelou-

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -Maria Robinson-

"Whenever you're in conflict with someone, there is one factor that can make the difference between damging your relationship and deepening it. That factor is attitude." -William James-

"The ultimate measure of a person is not where they stand in moments of comfort and convenience, but where they stand in times of challenge and controversy." -Martin Luther King, Jr.-

"In a world filled with hate, we must still dare to hope. In a world filler with anger, we must still dare to comfort. In a world filled with despair, we must still dare to dream. And in a world filled with distrust, we must still dare to believe." -Michael Jackson-

Enjoy them! :)

:) :) :)

16 wonderful, surreal & amazing months for FAIA...

... and still counting 

♥ ♥ ♥

A year older... :) :) :)

HAPPY 27TH BIRTHDAY TO YOU SWEETIE... 

(Faku dah tua!!! :P)

AND ALSO TO YOUR TWIN SIS... :) 

LOTS OF SUPER ♥ ♥ ♥ 

Putrajaya Night Marathon, 6 Feb 2010...

....is definitely the BEST marathon in Malaysia so far!

Thumbs up to the organisers! :)

It was my first half marathon for the year and I was determined to complete the run and beat my personal best timing for 21km!

The route was challenging but what had kept me going was the sign at every 1km to let you know the remaining cliques to reach to the finishing line... Night view of Putrajaya was quite breathtaking as well...

And thanks to my trainings from OBC too... My kakis felt less crampy and sakit than the usual whenever I completed a half marathon... ;)

So, I completed my half marathon in 2 hours and 44 mins!!!

Personal best so far!!! :D

(Previously, my 21km timing was 3 hours and 11 mins from SCSM... 26-mins of improvement!!!)

Faku did an amazing job for completing his first half marathon at about 30 secs after myself.. So proud of you sweetieku!! :) :) :)

(Faku with his 1st half marathon finisher medal)

(Both of us with our medals :D)

Oh, and congrats to Ali (Faku's good friend) for completing the half marathon and to his girl Izrin for completing 7.7km! Next run must do 15km at least k girl? ;)

(The lovely couple)

(4 of us)

Next: Larian Bareno 15km @ Bukit Jalil... Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

.Run.

...is a passion that I picked up 2 years ago :)

It all started when Rose and Nyna (again!) invited me to join and be a part of the 10km team for Singapore's Sundown Marathon in 2008...

(With Nyna, Rose and Hani)

For my first 10 clicks, I completed in 1 hour and 21 mins... Boleh tahan la kan...

Then in August, we participated in the 21.097km 'King of the Road' marathon, organised by adidas (one of my fav brands... Impossible is Nothing peeps!) in Shah Alam... So selamba, didn't train and only did 1 run terus wanted to go for the half marathon...Hehe.. But I managed to clock in at 2 hours and 50 mins... Thanks to my trainings at the gym (and my personal trainer) previously...

 

(A: With Rose and Nyna, B: Couldn't feel my legs already masa ni)

At the last day of that month itself, I woke up and felt excruciating pain on my back on that morning.. And decided to go for a check-up a few days after that.. And I was diagnosed with Spondylosis L5...  :(

(According to Wikipedia: Spondylosis is a term referring to degenerative osteoarthritis of the joints between the centra of the spinal vertebrae and/or neural foraminae. In this condition the interfacetal joints are not involved. If severe, it may cause pressure on nerve roots with subsequent sensory and/or motordisturbances, such as pain, paresthesia, or muscle weakness in the limbs.)

The funny thing is, the doc was telling me that this 'disease' is only common for the elderly... My bones were ageing faster than my age.. Aiyaak!!! But then he asked me whether I've had a bad fall before this... Then I remembered that I fell a number of times from playing futsal (Yes.. I used to play futsal 2-3 times a week before I became obsessed with running)... Licin kan orang kata...

So, I had to swear off running/gym/futsal for the next 6 months or so... Super sad about it... And obviously I gained a lot of weight during that period sebab I ate like nobody's business and I didn't exercise...

Tahun 2009 tiba... Still didn't work out coz I was feeling the pain on most of the days... Come July, there was a Shape/Men's Health Night Run being held at Putrajaya and the only reason why I wanted to run for this is because of the goodies bag (best gile!) ;)

(With Faku, Arab and Mizi.. Tembam gila me)

Because I was still feeling the pain, I completed the 10km run in 1 hour and 50 mins... Cikai!!!!

So, the running bug bit me again and I decided to sign up for the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon (21km) in Dec...

Without much training (siapa suruh!), I clocked in at 3 hours and 11 mins... Boleh la for someone who wasn't running/training for almost a year kan? ;P

       

(A: With the super runners: Rose and Nyna completed their 2nd full marathon, B: With my 2nd half marathon medal)

I have to say that Singapore Marathon is definitely THE BEST marathon that I've ever participated in.. Everything was superbly organised and we had water station at every 1.5km and a banana station (yum yum!).. There were people cheering along the route..Would definitely go back there again!

And to end the year 2009, I participated in the Malakoff 12km Run... Killer killer route!!! Completed in 1 hour and 29 mins....

    

(A: Faku joining again! Yay! :), B: With Rose, Nyna, Sab, Nana, and Ili)

For this year (2010), I've completed 30km so far at the New Balance Pacesetters Run... I didn't like the route at all and plus I didn't train so much (as usual)... Killer hills at Bukit Tunku... I was practically walking at the last 10 clicks... Completed in 4 hours and 35 mins... Very very bad! But janji habis right? ;)

So yeah.. I've done 3 runs, 2 half marathons and a 30km marathon(?) already...

And I can say that the feeling after completing each run/marathon is priceless... Super awesomeness! And when you're running, you'll feel so carefree (besides huffing and puffing to complete it!), like you don't have issues/problems to deal with... Plus, you'll get to collect running vests, finisher medals and tees (they're pretty nice!) ;)

I am looking forward for more runs, half marathons and perhaps my first full (42km) marathon at the end of the year :) :) :)

That's why I've included 'Run' as part of my 3-word blog name... I hope that I'll be able to run til I'm 60+ years old insyaAllah.. :) 

Next: Putrajaya Night Marathon...1st ever night marathon in Malaysia! Yeahhhh!!!! 

HOOYAH! :)

(pic taken from Original Bootcamp page on FB)

I've recently joined this fitness program, as it was recommended by non other than my two fitness freaks-cum-running partners, Rose and Nyna..

They MADE me attend the 'Bring A Friend' session in December, and I thought of giving it a try... So I've decided to sign up for the January KL Alpha (5:45am) program (3 times a week) since both of them are in that program as well (Cari gang punya pasal)...

I have to say that I was struggling for the first 2 weeks when it comes to waking up and staying alert at work after every session of bootcamp...

See how marah I am whenever I have to bangun for bootcamp? :P

And the workouts that you have to do for every session is TOR-TUR-OUS!!!

Grunts, Starjumps, Military Push Ups, Military Sit Ups, Squats, Bear Crawl, Monkey Walk, Crab Walk, Flipping A Tyre (as big as the truck ones), Sandbag, Jack Knifes, Frog Jumps, 'Waving' the Rope, Grinders, Mountain Climbers, Diamond/King Kong Push Ups, Thrusters, Seal Claps... You name it... We pretty much have done it all at Bootcamp :P

Oh, and not to forget, Nyna enrolled me into the 100% ACE group (Attendance, Commitment, Effort), where we HAVE to attend to every bootcamp session, or else we'll have to don an outfit!!!

The Kiasus

So yes, I've attended all 12 sessions in January (Kiasu power!) and currently in my 2nd month for bootcamp... 

Every 1st session of the month will be the assessment, where you'll have to complete 2 assessments: 1 routine (3 rounds of 400m run, 10 push ups, 10 grunts and 10 sit ups) and a 1-mile run... And based on the timings, they will place you into one of the 3 groups: Delta (the super fit ones), Seal, and Ranger...

When I first started, my timings were bad: 13:59 for the routine and 12:34 for the 1-mile run... So I was a Ranger...

3 days ago, I clocked in at 9:36 for the routine and 9:18 for the 1-mile run... :)

ANDDDDDDDD..... I'm in the Delta group now...  :D :D :D

SUPER HOOYAHHHHHHH!!!

(*Hooyah is a customary 'cry' that we use when we want to show our enthusiasm or another word for 'OK' for the session)

More about the peeps that I've met from bootcamp soon!

So, ada berani to come and join me? ;)

PS: If you want to know more about bootcamp, do visit their website at http://www.bootcamp.com.my/