Rise and Shine :)

My legs have been 'sleeping' well for the past 6 weeks...

I finally 'woke' them up last Saturday :)

And it feels good to be moving those legs again!!! Guess I needed that rest, huh? ;)

Slowly but surely, I am going to finish my second World Marathon Major in October insyaAllah... PB or no PB ;)

And I have this motivational video shared by the organisers to inspire me to do so :)

So bring it on Chicago!!! :D

SYAWAL 2012

Mum's masterpiece on the first day: liver, sambal squid, duck rendang, beef rendang...

Added 2kgs from first day already :P

Wearing my very own 'Ilyanna', designed by my friend Jezmine of The Old Blossom Box Store ;)

A feast on 2nd day at my dad's kampung: asam pedas ikan pari, ikan sembilang masak kunyit and belacan and gulai itik... Must have lauks every year!

With one of my nephews at our retreat in Port Dickson....

Wearing The Old Blossom Box Store's pieces again ;) 

SELAMAT HARI RAYA TO ALL OF MY MUSLIM READERS + FRIENDS!!!

MAAF ZAHIR BATIN...

MAY YOU HAVE A BLESSED EID AND BE SAFE ON THE ROAD! :)

XOXO,

MS ROAD RUNNER + FAMILY 

R.E.S.T.

Haha I'm totally feeling like this at the moment!!! :P

Taken from I ♥ to run's FB page

The upper inner thigh on my left leg has been experiencing painful moments... I started feeling this pain a few days before my PW at Sundown Marathon back in May... But decided to ignore it...

When I completed my home marathon back in June, the pain came back again, and it took me about 2 weeks to fully recover and walk like a normal person... Which was odd as it usually takes me about 2-3 days to recover and not walk like a retarded girl anymore :P

(Completed two marathons and still decided to ignore the pain *Naughty me* :P)

Anyhoo... I finally 'got' what I wanted... During my last run last month at Shape Night Run, I felt the pain throughout the entire 12.3km route...

So I decided to visit a sports doctor and did x-ray/ultrasound on my leg a few days after the race... And the doctor finally told me that I've a muscle inflammation on that area and that my left pubic bone is sort of 'curving away' from its position because of the falls that I've had from playing futsal previously *Cry*

ANDDDDD that it would take me about 6 weeks to recover!!!

I was speechless *drama*... And I told the doctor that I could not afford to rest that long as I've to train for my last marathon of the year... So yeah, I'm currently undergoing physio sessions (and resting) to make it heal faster... And doing a lot of stretching workouts for the legs... I realised that stretching is utterly and completely important (pre and post workout!)... And I didn't take it seriously before this... So, lesson learned!

Still trying to be optimistic about my PB dream at Chicago Marathon... I do get a lil' envious of my running friends when they post their running workouts on dailymile or Facebook at the moment as they're training as well for their next upcoming marathons respectively...

But I know that I should just chill my leg out first... And I'm trying to do other workouts that I'm allowed to such as swim, bike or row... Or even *cough* walking :P

My sessions will end by next week and it has been almost 3 weeks since I've last ran... I hope that I'll be able to start running again and just train for the remaining weeks I have for my second Marathon Major... PB or no PB... Sigh... Oh well, it's better than not being able to run at all right?

Until then, I shall try to write more on this blog ;) Oh, and stretch more!

Have a good week everyone!

Ramadhan Mubarak

I HOPE THAT IT'S NOT TOO LATE TOO WISH MY MUSLIM READERS AND FRIENDS TO HAVE A BLESSED RAMADHAN THIS YEAR :)

MAY ALLAH SHOWER HIS BLESSINGS EVEN MORE ON YOU AND YOUR LOVED ONES DURING THIS HOLY MONTH...

AND TO EVERYONE ELSE, HAVE A GREAT MONTH AHEAD :) 

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun @ Men's Health / Shape Night Run

This entry deserves to be accompanied by one of my favourite songs during those days ;)



This event is one of the anticipated night runs for many of us runners here... And a run that my Gs and I are looking forward to and play dress-up again ;) Last year, the Gs and I paid tribute to the late King of Pop, MJ... So this year, we went all the way back to the 80s and decided to colour the night with out outfits ;)

I was still nursing an injury which I'm not quite sure of as I've been feeling it way before Sundown Marathon back in May... Maybe I need to get advice from my pretty running friend and doctor, Pui San on this... So I was pretty much running in pain last Saturday night... My favourite uncle flagged off the race again this year at 8pm and I managed to say hi to him after crossing the start line...

So, Apprentice and I decided to run this year again and we were making sure that we did not lose each other too :) And we caught up with Senorita and Kam after the 5km marker and we spent a good few kms running and chit-chatting... And cam-whoring of course ;)

The organisers slightly changed the route this year... But the distance remained the same (12.2km according to my Garmin) even though the stated distance was 11.8km... I must say that it was a nice change this year and definitely preferred this route even with the rolling hills! But one thing that the organisers have not learned from the previous years' installment - Putrajaya is hot at night especially when there are a total of 6500 runners! Hence, isotonic drinks of even sponges at the water stations would've 'helped' the runners to get through the 12km route...We even saw a runner fainted by the side of the road and I have a feeling that it was because of the heat *Sigh* I hope that guy is alright now...

At the last 1km, we both decided to dash towards the finish line... And of course smiled for the cameras... After all, we were too colourful to be missed *perasan* ;P

Apprentice and I just before crossing the finish line...

Pic credits to Idola

We both crossed the line at 1 hr 24 mins and were placed at no 154 and 155 respectively... No improvement from last year but I'm just glad and happy to complete the run with my fellow G :) Oh, and the organisers decided to increase the limited finisher medals from 100 to 300 this year... Thank you dear organisers for that! So, we were happy to secure one of the medals into our collection ;)

With Apprentice..

Thanks for putting up with me during the run ;)
And you finally got your medal this year... Yay!!! 

Pic credits to Idola 

With my 80s sisters and our medals ;)

We were definitely the most colourful runners! ;)

Pic credits to Idola

A group shot with part of the running familia here that's growing day by day :)

Pic credits to Idola 

(I'm using all of your pictures ok? :P)

I also came back with an additional souvenir this year... My big right toe-nail decided to die on me at the last few kms of the route... And it was just about to heal from last year's TNF... Oh well, my toe just doesn't wanna be pretty :P 

"When the working day is done, oh girls just wanna have fun" - Cyndi Lauper-

And we sure did :)

Pic credits to Shanaz

That's all for now folks... No more races 'til the month of Syawal... Gotta just train and set my mind on Chicago now :) 

Oh, and any suggestions on what should the Gs wear for our next race? ;)

My Lucky No 7 @ Standard Chartered KL Marathon

Hello readers! Apologies for the lack of updates but things were pretty hectic when I came back from Melbourne as it was another wedding week for one of my beloved penyeris, Tasha (will get back to this later!)...

Anyways, my body decided to shut down on me 5 days before my first marathon back at home... I was down with a viral fever and a blocked nose... Not a pretty combo! So, I was resting as much as I can so that I could still run and complete my lucky 7th marathon :)

But, the body decided not to rest the night before the marathon so I feared that I might stop halfway through the run :S (Oh, the challenges!) And so I had to face the fact that to finish the marathon would be an accomplishment already... So, I pretty much got ready at 2am and drank and fuel up as much as I can to stay awake for the next 5 to 6 hours or so before heading to Captain's place to go to KL... 

It took the Gs and I to finally agree to what we were going to dress up as a week before the biggest race in Malaysia... So, we were scrambling to find what we needed to wear a few days before that... Bumped into familiar faces at the starting line as usual...

 

Goofing around before the race... With our very own 'perempuan melayu terakhir', Mawar...
Salute her for wearing that to run the entire marathon!

Pic taken from Mawar

The marathon category was flagged off at 430am, a much earlier timing this year (thank God!)... Eventhough I started feeling sleepy and tired just before we started running, I kept telling myself that it's going to be my day to conquer the streets of KL with my legs and I ain't going to let my blocked nose or tired body to ruin it! After all, I 'waited' for 2 years to do so ;) 

The 42.45km route

I was cruising the first 10km or so with Azim aka Fotuenti and I've had a few hiccups between 10km - 14km, where it was getting harder to breathe with my blocked nose... It was sucky that the aid stations didn't have any tissue as I was desperately trying to clear my nose as my breathing was irregular... Kept distracting myself so that I could breathe normally throughout the route... I managed to caught up with Kerel just before the 14km marker, and from there onwards we both decided to run and pace with each other until the finish line while Fotuenti zoomed away from us... So much for running the marathon together again huh? :P 

We were both running, walking and chatting at the same time... I was grateful that I actually had a companion given that I wasn't in a good shape... The weather was kind to us for the first 20km+ of the route and just before we entered Jalan Ipoh... The policemen did their jobs at manning the traffic to make sure that the runners are the priority in the streets on KL yesterday... And it was an overwhelming experience to be pounding the pavements of KL... I guess it's true when they say that there's no running place like home ;) 

Hey, that's me :P

At Jalan Yap Kwan Seng

I found out during the run that Kerel was doing his 2nd marathon and he was aiming for a PB, so we decided that as long as I didn't get another round of PW (after Sundown), we can do this at our own pace, be it by walking or running... When we entered Jalan Ipoh, the sun was glaring down on us... Zebra tan lines! :P We were motivated by an Indian uncle at a petrol station who did not stop cheering each and every runner that passed him by... Bless him for that!

Goofing around at Jalan Ipoh

Pic taken by Leong Kwan Weng

And when we entered Jalan Kuching, we knew that we were not that far from one thing that I've been looking forward to during the run - a cup of cold coke at FMV's kedai runcit after the 36km marker at Bukit Tunku!!! It was also so good to see KD, Balqis and Syah there with Kak June... Thanks uols! Kak June, what an angel she was for doing her bid in supporting the runners at the final 6km of route... Thanks a lot Kak J again and the coke did recharge me to run all the way to the finish line! :) xx

Thank God for the kedai runcit!

Pic taken by KD

One of the funniest moments during the run was that when we were running at Bukit Tunku, we saw the 6 hour pacers were catching up on us... And Herr G aka Irwan was one of them... At the u-turn point at Jalan Sultan Salahuddin, Kerel told me that Irwan was catching up on me and he started to call my name for a number of times and I quickly ran as fast as I could and kept shouting back at him to not chase me in my native language... We made a few people laugh at that time... Thanks Irwan for the 'push' :P It was truly a comedic moment ;) 

I decided to run all the way to the finish line once we were at Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman because I wanted to do a 5:50 finish... All of the supportive photographers were there at the road and of course had to stop here and there to camwhore ;)

Pic taken by Louis Ong

It was at this stretch that I saw many familiar faces such as Ian, Azri and Mr TehTarikMemoirs that were encouraging me to run all the way to the finish line.. And even had to drag Kerel even though he wanted to stop a couple of times... Sorry babe but you know what was my goal :P

We both conquered the streets of KL and crossed the finish line at an official time of 5 hrs 47 mins... Felt so lucky and grateful to be able to complete another marathon... Alhamdulillah for that! And it's not a PW!!! Phewww!!! Take that restless body and blocked nose!!! :P 

Moments after crossing the line...

Our first time running the KL marathon too!

Congrats on your PB Kerel! You shaved off a good 33 mins from your previous one!!!

So proud of you and it was superfun running with you :)

Now, if you haven't guessed at what my Gs and I were dressing up as... We were the 'bobbies'! ;)

The Gs with the new marathoner...

Congrats Speedy Drama G on your maiden marathon with an awesome time of 4:39! 

Who says that you can't be speedy even while dressing up eyyy? ;)

Next will be Apprentice's turn to run her maiden marathon all the way at this year's ING New York City Marathon! Woot!

Pic taken from Marlin

With our living angel, Kak J...

Thanks again! xx

Pic taken from Marlin

Oh, wait! Who is that? :P

Pic taken from Marlin

The one that decided to leave me due to my 'slow' pace :P

Congrats on your 4th one!

Pic taken by Izuan

The organisers were at their own league as they did a superb job for this year's installment... Kudos and congrats again to Rainer and team for pulling off an awesome day for all of the runners! I am DEFINITELY coming back in 2013 with a vengeance baby! ;)

So another marathon under my belt and I couldn't ask for a better place to do my lucky 7th one :)

Time to start training for Chicago! Oh yes, no more slacking off! Now, where's Captain? ;)  

Greetings From the Land Down Under :)

I can't believe that it's mid-year already!

I've been in Melbourne for the past one week for a vacation and quality time with my entire family :)

Left for Melbie a day after I came back from Singapore...

Hence the late update on this ;)

Loving the chilly weather at the moment!

Here are a few pics from my trip so far:

Autumn leaves all around Melbourne :)

Been eating yummy desserts here... 

Including these cupcakes from Cupcake Central

Here with a future marathoner perhaps? ;)

Ran twice last week and...

Played 2 hours of futsal with the girlies here... Bliss!

Will be back in KL by next week...

And my next marathon's 19 days away! *Gasp*

Oh well :P

Hope all of you will have a great week ahead! :)