Run With Me :)

I haven't packed for my Melbourne and Gold Coast getaway!!!

And I have 4 more days till my fourth FM... I'm really nervous about this one because I don't think I've trained enough for it... But you know what? I hope that I'll cross the finish line in one piece (drama! :P) insyaAllah and with lots of smile of course, PB or no PB... :)

Oh, and guess what? If you want to give me words of encouragement while I'm running at the Gold Coast Airport Marathon, you actually can! :)

See the video below to see how it works:



Like, how super duper awesome this application is right for us runners and our supporters??!! :D

So, do run with me and leave me messages for me to finish the marathon!!! :)

Who know, I might get nice souvenirs for each and every one of you! ;)

The Funnest Run @ Standard Chartered KL Marathon :D

Yeap, that should sum up my experience of running for the biggest event here in KL yesterday morning... :)

This year, my running friends and I decided to make it an event to remember by being costume runners!!! And our theme was:

Running away from skool girls ;) 

Shanaz, Azu and I decided to match our outfits by wearing RunningSkirts, ties and nametags respectively...

My name was Princess G ;) 

(G stands for 'Gediks' because it is our running family's name... Hehe)

Alex and his Xtramilers came to support us this time :) 

Shanaz (Captain G), Azuria (Apprentice G), Marlin (Missy G) and I were running the half marathon category and the intention was for us to run and pace together since it was Azu's maiden 21km... The route was same as last year's one... And I decided to carry my Sony camera this time around to snap pictures... 

But of course that didn't happen... :P Shanaz and Marlin disappeared from our radar after the 8.5km marker... Thank God a friend of mine, Izary, who was also doing his first HM ran with us... And because of him, we camwhored along the remaining 11km route... ;)

Here are a couple of the pics during our run:

At the start of Jalan Tun Razak

The tiny us at Jalan Bukit Bintang

Fueling up on Powergel for our last 3km next to KLCC and the Twin Towers :)

I had such a blast running and pacing with Azu and Izary... And I have to say that Azu will definitely remember her maiden HM because I 'alerted' her on the photographers along the route... Hehe... Hence, more pictures were taken by our friends and kind strangers such as these pics:

Us at the start of Jalan Bukit Bintang

Pic credits to Luyen

Before turning to Jalan Ampang

Pic credits to Malaysia Runners Network

We both decided to hold our hands together and run our hearts out at the last 1km... 

Sweet eyy? ;)

Azu and I, crossing the line and of course posing for the cameras ;)

We both completed the 21.1km in 2 hours and 33 mins (*will update the timing here once the official results are out!)...

Princess G with her first HM finisher medal for the year! :)

With Izary and Azu with their first HM finisher medals respectively

Yayyyy to us and that I was really happy to witness the 'devirginalisation' of my two running friends, Azu and Izary as well... :P Congratulations to you both and I am so proud of you! Here's to many more half marathons and perhaps a full one soon! ;)

And special thanks to Izary for taking our pics and buying us 100plus at the petrol station when were superthirsty... :) 

Of course, with our skool outfits, we just had to camwhore a lot after running... ;)

Marlin and Shanaz completed their HM together 10 mins earlier than us... So much for running together, huh Captain? :P

Pic credits to Marlin

A massive congrats to my fellow G, Izuan aka Glory2 G for completing your second FM with a superb timing of 4 hours 29 mins!  

We're so proud of you!!! :D

Our dream one day ;)

With KK who was the 5:30 pacer for FM...

Congrats to my fellow Wildcat, Selly aka Senorita G for completing your 3rd FM with a PB of 5 hours 40 mins! :)

The G girls are now complete!!! My fave pic of us girlies... :D

Pic credits to Selly

Our other running friends in costumes:

Karen was the Bumblebee Queen ;) 

Mawar and Ijam ran their FM together as bride and groom... How cute! :)

With Irwan aka Herr (Mister) G who was sporting in RunningSkirts as well ;)

He was being an awesome runner and pacer to one of the FMVs (Full Marathon Virgins), Yani...

Both of them crossed the line at 6 hours 26 mins...

Well done Irwan and welcome to the club Yani! :)

Overall, I would say that the event was a successful one, despite the fact that the traffic control may need to be improved a lil' bit more since we runners were inhaling those CO2 along the busiest streets like Jalan Cheras or Jalan Sultan Ismail... Water stations were sufficient, sponges were provided (though it would've helped us if they were cold :P), the volunteers and the policemen on duty were awesome to make sure that no runner gets hit... :P 

Though, I do wish that the KLites are more supportive when it comes to the running events here... Guess it'll take time before they actually treat one of these as a festival or a party, just like in Paris... :)

But this year's event is definitely a memorable one due to the fact that my running family has tremendously expanded for the past 1 year or so... :) 

♥ ♥ ♥

We had a blast!!! :D

Pic credits to Tey 

Here's to more running friends and more costumes to run in after this!!! :D

Next: My 4th Full Marathon @ Gold Coast Airport Marathon *gasp*

For Me, Gatorade Always Wins!

Since today's an ad day and I usually share running ads, I want to divert a little bit today and share a series of creative and amazing ads done by my favourite drink whenever I need to replenish myself before or after a run :)

This campaign was executed early last year by DDB in Dubai and I think the art direction was nicely done and the vibrant colours that were used in these ads were so 'fresh'... :)

Nice right? :)

My fave flavour is the purple coloured one, the one that was previously endorsed by Tiger Woods ;P

There are a number of (crazy) running friends that I would like to give a shout-out to as they will be battling their mind, soul and legs respectively to conquer the streets of Singapore by running the Sundown Ultramarathon tomorrow night... A hundred freaking kilometers everyone!!! (If you think I am nuts with running, they're like superworse than me! :P)

So, to my fellow RBUs: Yim, Pui San, Ray Ray, Kak Kash, and Zack... I wish all of you the very best and I shall wait for each and one of your post-ultrarace report next week... You guys are totally awesome and superhumans!!! :D 

And to the rest of us that'll be conquering the streets of KL this Sunday morning, make sure you've plenty of rest, carboload sufficiently (my fave part before any race!), and get ready to rock & roll!!! 

I'll see you all this Sunday morning... Oh, and don't forget to smile at the cameras! :)

Have a good weekend everyone! 

Runners in the Media (Part 2) :)

In conjunction with the upcoming Standard Chartered KL Marathon, a number of us runners have been appearing in the media... 

So, here's the 2nd edition from the last week's post :)

Shanaz and I in Berita Harian last Wednesday :) 

Both of us had to run at the KLCC Park for the photographer to take those shots ;) 

Click here to read the full article

And we were featured on the Quickie show at 8TV last week... Shanaz's dad managed to record this for us :)

The quickest interview that we've ever done! ;) 

Another friend of ours, Mr Syahril Kamaruddin was featured in these 2 write-ups as well:

On MSN Sports Malaysia website... Click here to read the full article

See the difference?!!! He's like a Malay supermodel now ;)

(Syah, you owe me a meal for saying that! :P)

Another article featured in Berita Harian - Click here to read the full article...

T-3 days till the biggest running event in my country!!! 

I am super excited!!! :D 

The XtraMile Charity Run

I was down with a low BP and ore throat for the past 2 days... Hence the late post on my experience as one of the official pacers for the Xtramile Charity Run last Saturday morning... :)

I shall depict the amazing run through the pictures that I've obtained and camwhored throughout the entire morning of course ;)

Shanaz, Irwan and I as the official pacers from Kelana Jaya LRT's checkpoint

My sweet running friends that decided to run with us :) 

Photo credits to Izuan 

With the superstar, Syah ;) 

 

Our super Xtramiler, Alex at the checkpoint 

The Gs goofing around at one of the rest stops ;)

We ran from Kelana Jaya - Damansara Jaya - Tropicana - Kota Damansara - Taman Tun... And we did 18 clicks in total on that morning :)

Almost reaching the final checkpoint for Taman Tun...

Can you spot me? :P 

Yeah yeah, we love the camera :P

The Gs with Alex before his remaining 22km :) 

Thanks Tey for the pics above! :) 

After the run, we went for breakfast and walked about 2-3km to recover our legs... Well actually we walked back to Shanaz's place... :P 

We rested, showered and then went to StART society's house in Petaling Jaya to witness the man of the moment completing his ultramarathon... :)

The champion himself..

Cute kids were walking/running with him at his last 2km of his 100km journey...

We are proud to be the Xtramilers with you Alex! :) 

Congratulations and super well done to Alex for challenging yourself to complete the 100km for a supernoble cause... You are truly an inspiration to all of us runners here.... :) 

LOVE/Hate Running

I am pretty sure that most of us runners have a love-and-hate relationship with running...

Sometimes, all you wanna do is lace up those shoes and run like there's no tomorrow... Even when you're tied up with your busy schedule... You'll squeeze a time just to give your legs the time of their 'lives'... ;)

Other days, you just feel like your bed is your best friend... And you'll have to 'justify' through your excuses for not running...:P

I have a plenty of episodes when it comes to my relationship with running... But I'm loving it at the moment since I'm up and running again! :D

Which is why I'm going to share a series of TVCs done by New Balance in 2008 for their "LOVE/Hate" running campaign that I am pretty sure you runners out there could relate to:









Have a good weekend everyone! :)

PS: Shanaz, Irwan and I will be the pacers at 3:15am for Alex's epic 100km ultramarathon... We'll be running with him from LRT Kelana Jaya all the way to Taman Tun... Do join us if you're up for a sweaty session in the wee hours with us... Oh, and don't forget to pledge at www.xtramile.info ;)

A Truly Inspiring Story :)

This is a story for all of us amateur runners... :)

I mighty salute this marathoner... His dedication towards running is beyond amazing... A total mileage of 600km a month? Supercrazy! I'll be happy if I get between 50 -70km in a month... ;p

I guess when you have the discipline, determination, will, faith and of course love for what you're trying to achieve, then anything is possible... :)

Taken from http://blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/2011/06/14/yuki-kawauchi-citizen-marathon-runner/:

When Yuki Kawauchi broke the tape as third overall and the first Japanese finisher at the Tokyo Marathon in February, the 24-year-old stood out from the crowd.

Not for his lean 5’7, 130 lb distance runner physique, not because he collapsed and was taken to the medical tent, and not even because his stellar time of 2:08:37 won him a chance to run on the Japanese men’s marathon team at the IAAF World Track and Field Championships’ Marathon in Daegu, Korea, later this year. Mr. Kawauchi stood out because unlike most elite-level runners in Japan, who’re backed by a corporation, he’s an amateur in the full sense of the word. Dubbed the “Citizen Runner” in the next day’s local headlines, he works a regular job a full five days a week and pays his own expenses. 

The key to his success? Working hard, being in excellent condition, but above all having fun. “Working hard for the sake of working hard won’t lead to results. You have to be careful of injury, train efficiently, and remember that you are training because you love to run.  I think that an athlete discovers the joy of track when he or she is able to stay injury-free and perform in ways that the athlete wants to.” Until now, almost all elite Japanese runners have been on a corporate-based team. Corporate athletes are employees, but spend most of their day training for corporate championship races and “ekidens,” or distance relays, where they run wearing corporate colors—a system similar to American colleges giving scholarships to student athletes. 

But Mr. Kawauchi does not sport a company singlet. Instead, as a civil servant at Saitama prefectural government, Mr. Kawauchi does office work for Kasukabe Night School. He pays the expenses for his training, which he says can add up to 1 million yen (just under $12,500) per year, out of his own pocket, and he will use his paid-leave to compete in the big race in the fall. He works a regular 8-9 hour day from Monday through Friday—12:45 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. during the school year, and from 10:30 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. when school is not in session. 

His running career started early in his home area of Tokyo at first grade, with his parents’ encouragement. After early years of practice with his mother, he ran for his junior high and high school track teams, like many avid Japanese youngsters, putting in hours and hours of training after school throughout the year.  But after that, he carved out a path of his own. He had to. Mr. Kawauchi’s performance in high school was hindered by injury: He didn’t make a college team. Adding to that injury, his father died in an accident his senior year in high school.  Still, he didn’t give up his love for the sport, running for Gakushuin University as a walk-on. But he says his performance was less than stellar. “I didn’t get enthusiastic recruit reviews from corporate teams, and my coach told me, ‘It’s going to be hard to make a living through running.’ So I decided to pursue my other dream of promoting the region I live in.” 

Naturally, Mr. Kawauchi is crunched for time, and cannot train three times a day like many runners on corporate teams. He only runs 600 km (about 373 miles) a month—about half of what corporate runners put in. But Mr. Kawauchi does what he can with the resources he has.  He designs his training based on what he found to work for him—a combination of training elements he used in secondary school and college. A typical week includes one speed workout, one 35 to 45km (22 to 28 miles) long run, and a trail run in the mountains. On other days, he runs between 75-100 minutes. 

While he admits that he sometimes wishes he had more time to devote to training, he says “the limit on time forces me to train efficiently and increases my motivation for my weekend training.” Mr. Kawauchi says aspiring runners should keep their perspectives broad. “Instead of thinking you have to be either a corporate runner or quit, I want young runners to figure out what works for them, and work hard.” As for shorter-range ambitions, Mr. Kawauchi’s goals for the Worlds are to finish among the top eight overall, and stimulate interest in the Japanese running community. And so how do you win a marathon? Mr. Kawauchi believes that the key is “how much physical and emotional resilience you can leave in you until it’s time to push.”

I guess to qualify a Boston Marathon is achievable then? ;) 

The XtraMile Charity Run

Alex and I at Superbad Energizer Night Race in April...

This Friday - Saturday (17 - 18 June), my running friends and I will be joining Alex at one of the checkpoints for his mission to complete an ultramarathon for a noble cause... 100km to be exact!!! 

The XtraMiler himself will 'donate' his legs to StART Society to raise RM100,000 for the Music and Dance programme... 

Alex will  start running on 17 June (Friday) at 6pm and will aim to complete the ultramarathon on 18 June (Saturday) at 10am... He will be running at these areas: Putrajaya - Puchong - Sunway - USJ - Suabng Jaya - Kelana Jaya - SS2 - Damansara Jaya - Damansara Utama - Bandar Utama - Taman Tun Dr Ismail - Mont Kiara/Hartamas - Damansara Heights/Bangsar and will end the his 100km at StART Society in Petaling Jaya... *Pengsan*

Both Shanaz and I will be the pacers with a few runners as well from LRT Kelana Jaya checkpoint at about 3am (Saturday) and will run with Alex for about 18 clicks until 7-Eleven Jalan Burhanuddin Helmi at Taman Tun Dr Ismail... So, do join us if you want to have a late night run and chat session with us! :) 

This will be my first time running for a charity... And I am happy to be a part of this cause... I have pledged to the cause because I love children and arts... And it breaks my heart whenever I hear stories about underprivileged kids...

And that I think it's about time that I give something back through my passion... And I hope that there will be many more runs like these for me to be a part of in the near future insyaAllah... :)

So, please pledge, join and/or cheer us for the run... Even an RM10 will make a difference to these lovely children (every RM10 is equivalent to 10 meters)... 

You can read more about the cause at www.xtramile.info or check out the Facebook page here.

I promise you, there'll be lots of happy moments and pictures throughout the night and morning! :) 

Runners in the Media (Part 1) :)

Happy Monday everyone!

Another article featuring both Shanaz and I today in Harian Metro :)

Centre spread y'all!!!
Click here to read the full article :)

But wait a minute, we're not the only ones that have been featured in the media...

Two of our running friends have been appearing in the media scene as well:


A good running friend of mine, Irwan featured in Berita Harian earlier last month :)
Click here to read the full article...

He was also featured on NTV7's The Breakfast Show a few weeks ago:




Syah (in black) was featured in The Sun... Inspiring story... 
Click here to read the full article...
And he's a blogger too! Check out his blog here...

He was also featured on 8TV's Quickie... Funny this was that he didn't inform any of his running friends... Buy hey, thanks to a lil' birdie on Facebook, we did find out about it Mr Syah ;)



All of us will be running at the Standard Chartered KL Marathon...

Please come and say hello to us if you see us there in 2 weeks time yeah? :)

I Run Paris :)

Today, I will be sharing with you a campaign that was done by Nike in 2010 to encourage the Parisian people to run...

And hey, I did run Paris!!! ;)

Here are the print ads that depicted the fun journey of 3 people running through the streets of Paris at night:

And here's the TVC:

Which reminds me, I need to unleash myself and run since I only have 3 weeks plus till my 4th full marathon!!!

Have a good weekend everyone! :)

Life Lessons #4

Just a lil' reminder to all of you out there and myself as well... :) 

Count your blessings, good and bad... :)
Taken from imgfave on Tumblr

By the way, both Shanaz and myself will appear tomorrow morning on "Hello on Two", at 7:15-ish am on TV2 to talk about the upcoming Standard Chartered KL Marathon and of course, running... :D

Do catch us on TV if you're up at that time yeah... If not, you'll just have to wait for my entry on our 2nd TV appearance... ;)  

I've Got Soul But I'm Not A Soldier

It's ad day today! :)

And today's ad is taken from Nike's "Courage" campaign that was done in 2008, which celebrates athletes in the sporting scene, for having the courage and redefine the impossible in what they do best... :)

This TVC was released during the 2008 Beijing Olympics:

The legendary Steve Prefontaine was also featured in this video :)

Awesome backing track by The Killers!!! :)

So, have the courage and dare yourself to do something out of the ordinary... Challenge yourself... You'll never know where the road will lead you to...

Life's too short to be worrying... The sky's the limit! :)

Have a good weekend everyone! :)

Keyword: Running

If you can see my dailymile widget on the right side, it has finally been updated!!!

Wheeee!!!

I finally laced up my running shoes and went for a run for the first time on Wednesday evening at the park after a month and a half of resting and waiting for my wound to heal... And it felt so good to be running again since I've done quite a damage to the body from all of the food that I've been consuming... Hehe...

And guess what?!!! I decided to sign-up and run my 4th full marathon at the Sunshine State of my 2nd 'village'...

Woot woot!!!

This is to And I only have 30 days to train for this... Slowly but surely I know that I can do it... PB or not... :) 

Looks like the treadmill and the parks will be my best friends!!! 

I am SOOOOOOOOO back with a vengeance babyyy!!! :D :D :D 

I Run So That I Can Eat

Alhamdulillah, I was given the privilege to be interviewed by The Sun over the weekend on my passion and the upcoming Standard Chartered KL Marathon...

It was my first time ever to talk to a journalist about my love of running...

I have to thank the team from the PR agency who's in-charge of the upcoming Standard Chartered KL Marathon for 'lobbying' both Shanaz and I to appear in a daily newspaper after our TV interview... :)

And here's the result :)

The Sun newspaper featuring yours truly today :D 

A bit embarrassed that this picture was selected to accompany the article :P 

You can click on the image for a larger view... 

Note: I didn't run the full marathon last year, but I will do it next year... Hehe... Oh, and that I train with the dedicated instructors and recruits at Chief's Original Bootcamp in Bandar Utama to prepare myself for any runs or marathons... ;)

I'm sooooooo going to frame the hard copy of this article! :D