.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!!!!