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| Friday, 31-Aug-2007 12:34 |
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We moved....!!
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Check out my new blog at http://kasturie.blogspot.com 
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| Sunday, 12-Aug-2007 14:42 |
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PJ Half Marathon
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This race was disaster. I was so very late, started 30mins late, without even put on my number, I just run. So, at last run 10km jer....  But I still enjoy the event.
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| Sunday, 5-Aug-2007 20:00 |
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Adidas King of The Road
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First race on the highway
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Minna doki-doki matte iru
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Cantek tak baju sponsor ni? TQ Adidas!
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The first Malaysian road race organized on the highway saw a huge turned up creating traffic jams and havoc around Sunway Pyramid today. The longest distance was 21km equivalent to half marathon started from flyover in front of Sunway Pyramid towards Pantai Dalam and return.
Familiar faces took part in the race were Ala, Azmar, Mat Licin, May Shen, Arif, Jaja and Chief Kutus. I also stumbled across a couple RMC boys after the race.
I broke my PR for half marathon today but I didn't get any medal. How to get it when there were 2000 plus runners in my category but only 300 medals available.... lame excuse... he he 
In serious mode, I think the organizer should consider increase the number of medals for the most participants in category A Men Open. 
Unofficial record
21km - 02:09:30
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| Sunday, 29-Jul-2007 14:30 |
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UM Duathlon
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Soon Ironman-to-be, OP Stupe
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bulat muka aku, dah gain weight sikit
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Aweks UM (Ala ni yg ambik gambo ni - hehe - coverline kat bini!)
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First duathlon organized by Universiti Malaya. The turn up was quite good - a few national level athletes showed up for the event. The course was 5km run, 20km cycle and 5km run. Sounded "easy peasy" but really, it was quite tough with long uphill, wet & uneven roads, sharp turns and lots of bumper too.... isshhh langsung tak boleh nak pecut!
Running:28:18
T1: 02:10
Cycling:51:53
T2: 02:08
Running: 32:56
Total:01:57:27
*Special thanks to my gorgez wife for editing this whole fp every now & then and making it readable! What in the world would I do without you... (hehe, corny, I know!)
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| Friday, 27-Jul-2007 19:38 |
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Jakarta trip
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Hotel aku
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Kalau ke Jakarta, pastikan taksinya Bluebird
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Banyak sekali shopping mall di Jakarta
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Pertama kali ke Jakarta, tanggal 24 Juli hingga 26 Juli 2007. Pergi untuk bekerja, sayang sekali enggak bisa berlibur. Saya kira Jakarta 10 puluh kali lebih baik daripada Islamabad dan Colombo. OK, stop laughing..... I know my Bahasa Indonesia sucks. 
Enjoy some pictures taken during my stay in Jakarta. 
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| Sunday, 22-Jul-2007 22:08 |
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PD Triathlon
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Nothing much to say. My second PD Tri but first PD Olympic distance. Last year I only participated in the sprint category. Masa tu I was still a newbie and in my dictionary (then), "olympic distance" meant "mission: impossible"! I did improve my PR and am darn happy about it. However, a tragic incident happened when PD Tri claimed its first victim today.  OP Zoob, an active athlete, drowned during the race. Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmat ke atas rohnya, amin.
My unofficial time
Swimming - 00:43:54
T1 - 00:04:59
Cycling - 01:32:43
T2 - 00.02:12
Running - 01:07:35
Total:03:31:24
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| Sunday, 15-Jul-2007 11:30 |
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Seremban Half Marathon
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Medal & cert
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My first half marathon for the year - there were 4 of us: Ala, Azmar & Ming. Thanx to Azmar for helping us with the registration & Mat Licin for collecting the race kits. Lesser pain unlike the full marathon (of course la, half the distance what) and I slow-jogged all the way before increasing my pace during the last 3km. This definitely was a good exercise for my PD tri next weekend. BOO BOO: Wasted 3 minutes running around the padang looking for the finish line after I missed a turning. Thank God for Azmar - who saw me "spinning around" and showed me the way. The least the organizer could do was to station an official at the corner near the temple to guide runners where to go. 
My unofficial time 2:35
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| Saturday, 7-Jul-2007 20:15 |
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OPA 070707 Sg Besi-Port Dickson Ride
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At starting line.
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Moving out at guard room
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Traffic police riders escort us all the way
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The auspice date of 070707 was chosen to commemorate the ride and FMC batch 57 Gala dinner in PD. The ride started from RMC Sg Besi at 0700hrs and ended at PD Golf Club around 1300hrs. There were about 40 plus riders from young to senior OPs + kawan OP. Three OPs from my batch (Ala, Bandit & Boot) turned up for this event. It was hard to catch up with those riding road bike. Hardest part was rolling hills at Bukit Pelanduk and the S'ban-PD highway. Salute to OPA, traffic police & support crew for making it happen. It'll be cool if this is an annual event
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| Thursday, 5-Jul-2007 06:40 |
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Team Hoyt
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A Father
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Salute to Hoyts!
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A very inspiring story to make me jump out of my chair, start training for my race and I gotta do something to get my kids do outdoor activities instead of spending their time in front of the TV playing PS2. The first time I heard about Hoyt team when I was watching Hawaii Ironman 2006 video. At time, I didn't understand, why on earth this guy pull along his "special" son in an Ironman race?  To me it was like he's torturing his poor son. Until I read this article, now I know why he did it.... very noble spirit.  I got this article from one of the triathlete's blog and it was published in Sports Illustrated. A video clip come with the story http://tinyurl.com/ha6g2
Strongest Dad in the World
by Rick Rielly
I try to be a good father. Give my kids mulligans. Work nights to pay for their text messaging. Take them to swimsuit shoots. But compared with Dick Hoyt, I suck.
Eighty-five times he’s pushed his disabled son, Rick, 26.2 miles in marathons. Eight times he’s not only pushed him 26.2 miles in a wheelchair but also towed him 2.4 miles in a dinghy while swimming and pedaled him 112 miles in a seat on the handlebars — all in the same day.
Dick’s also pulled him cross-country skiing, taken him on his back mountain climbing and once hauled him across the U.S. on a bike. Makes taking your son bowling look a little lame, right?
And what has Rick done for his father? Not much — except save his life.
This love story began in Winchester, Mass., 43 years ago, when Rick was strangled by the umbilical cord during birth, leaving him brain-damaged and unable to control his limbs.
“He’ll be a vegetable the rest of his life,” Dick says doctors told him and his wife, Judy, when Rick was nine months old. “Put him in an institution.”
But the Hoyts weren’t buying it. They noticed the way Rick’s eyes followed them around the room. When Rick was 11 they took him to the engineering department at Tufts University and asked if there was anything to help the boy communicate. “No way,” Dick says he was told. “There’s nothing going on in his brain.”
“Tell him a joke,” Dick countered. They did. Rick laughed. Turns out a lot was going on in his brain.
Rigged up with a computer that allowed him to control the cursor by touching a switch with the side of his head, Rick was finally able to communicate. First words? “Go Bruins!” And after a high school classmate was paralyzed in an accident and the school organized a charity run for him, Rick pecked out, “Dad, I want to do that.”
Yeah, right. How was Dick, a self-described “porker” who never ran more than a mile at a time, going to push his son five miles? Still, he tried. “Then it was me who was handicapped,” Dick says. “I was sore for two weeks.”
That day changed Rick’s life. “Dad,” he typed, “when we were running, it felt like I wasn’t disabled anymore!”
And that sentence changed Dick’s life. He became obsessed with giving Rick that feeling as often as he could. He got into such hard-belly shape that he and Rick were ready to try the 1979 Boston Marathon.
“No way,” Dick was told by a race official. The Hoyts weren’t quite a single runner, and they weren’t quite a wheelchair competitor. For a few years Dick and Rick just joined the massive field and ran anyway, then they found a way to get into the race officially: In 1983 they ran another marathon so fast they made the qualifying time for Boston the following year.
Then somebody said, “Hey, Dick, why not a triathlon?”
How’s a guy who never learned to swim and hadn’t ridden a bike since he was six going to haul his 110-pound kid through a triathlon? Still, Dick tried.
Now they’ve done 212 triathlons, including four grueling 15-hour Ironmans in Hawaii. It must be a buzzkill to be a 25-year-old stud getting passed by an old guy towing a grown man in a dinghy, don’t you think?
Hey, Dick, why not see how you’d do on your own? “No way,” he says. Dick does it purely for “the awesome feeling” he gets seeing Rick with a cantaloupe smile as they run, swim and ride together.
This year, at ages 65 and 43, Dick and Rick finished their 24th Boston Marathon, in 5,083rd place out of more than 20,000 starters. Their best time? Two hours, 40 minutes in 1992 — only 35 minutes off the world record, which, in case you don’t keep track of these things, happens to be held by a guy who was not pushing another man in a wheelchair at the time.
“No question about it,” Rick types. “My dad is the Father of the Century.”
And Dick got something else out of all this too. Two years ago he had a mild heart attack during a race. Doctors found that one of his arteries was 95% clogged. “If you hadn’t been in such great shape,” one doctor told him, “you probably would’ve died 15 years ago.”
So, in a way, Dick and Rick saved each other’s life.
Rick, who has his own apartment (he gets home care) and works in Boston, and Dick, retired from the military and living in Holland, Mass., always find ways to be together. They give speeches around the country and compete in some backbreaking race every weekend, including this Father’s Day.
That night, Rick will buy his dad dinner, but the thing he really wants to give him is a gift he can never buy.
“The thing I’d most like,” Rick types, “is that my dad sit in the chair and I push him once.”
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| Sunday, 24-Jun-2007 20:57 |
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Penang Bridge Marathon
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This is an annual event for Penang folks and it's the only day the public can walk or run on the bridge. Until the next run, of course.
Five of us traveled to Penang on Saturday 24 June. Shazly, Ala & I ran the full marathon. Azmar registered for full but he wasn't feeling well that day, so he ran in the 10k fun run category. Dr. Victor (Ala's friend) just tumpang balik kampung to visit his wife.
We had our carbo-loading session at "Line Clear" (Penang's supposedly most famous back alley Nasi Kandar eatery) & Gurney Drive Penang Char Kuey Teow. We rented an apartment, shared it with Abg Awaluddin & his cyclist buddies. Managed to sleep for only 3 hours before the race - yeah man, we gotta wake up at 1am... too early for normal, sane people. But we were  enuff to do it.
All runners gathered in SK Sg Gelugor near the USM. We met several familiar faces. At 3am sharp, off we ran, and run we did - with a vengeance, hehe! Shazly was already in the front pack leaving us behind. We took our time taking pictures.  The first 10k we did in 1:06. It was a long, gradual climb at the middle of the bridge. Not long after, at 15km, Ala left me behind coz I was too slow for his pace. Time recorded was 1:44.
I continued my slow pace towards the mainland and during the U-turn to the island. I reached 20km at 2:25. Hmmm… Based on my timing, I doubted if I could finish before the cut-off time. As I approached the middle of the bridge, I could see thousands of other participants in other categories on the other side. The sight was amazing!  At 25km, my timing was 3:08.
On the island at 27.5km, I saw Shazly running like he was walking on hot charcoals. I guess his legs couldn't take it anymore. I walked with him for a few hundred meters but he was too slow for my pace by now... he he he So, I left him behind. Sorry Shazly.
The road lead towards the Bayan Lepas industrial area and I passed the 30km mark. I was so exhausted yet could still enjoy the sunrise. That was a plus point, took my mind off exhaustion. The scenery on this part of the island was beautiful. I could see the Penang Bridge from a distance. I couldn’t believe my eyes - did I run that far already? 
Runners became fewer & fewer along the way. After the U-turn near the Bosch factory, I kept on running when the rest were already slowing down... walking mostly. Reached 35km point, the timing was 4:35 and suddenly I felt like hitting the wall. I guess that was good enough becoz in last marathon I started hitting the wall at 30k. At that point of time, I walked more than I ran. I have only 1:25 left and 7.19km to go to complete the race. And the last 10k (between 25km and 35km) I did in 1:28. If I continued at this pace, I wouldn't make it on time.
So there I was, telling myself, you'd better run or you'd regret! I kept pushing myself although my legs were screaming for help - "enough! torture! enough! this is an absolute torture!"
Finally, finally, I reached the last U-turn near the Marine Department. I saw Ala in front of me and I ran as fast as I could to catch up. I have another 25 minutes but the last 2km seemed like a very longggg way to go. Was having an inner battle - walk (preferred very much thank you) and it would take at least 25 minutes to reach the finishing line BUT I didn't want to take the risk OR run and risk systems shut down. Well, you guessed right... I chose the latter!
Of course, physically, I was already out. The only thing left was my determination to complete the race in time. I ran as fast as I could. It was miraculous what power the mind had, even when the body had totally given up! I started to feel dizzy, I could see stars flying around me  when I passed the USM gate entrance. I MUST sprint as fast as I could before I passed out (yeah knew it!). It was only a hundred meters away... time flew very slowly... just like in the movies. I couldn't hear people cheering anymore; just my heart beating - faster and faster. My vision started to blur... oh god where in the world was the finishing line?!!!
Somehow, in the very, very blurry vision, I saw an Indian guy in white suit waving at me to cross the finish line... and at that moment it really felt like passing thru the pearly gate… I said to myself, “Great job! Now you can rest!” I grabbed the medal from the official and suddenly, everything went blank. The next thing I remembered I was lying on the grass.
*Official report from in-house medicine man: I collapsed due to Hypoglycemia (low blood sugar). Another theory is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (heart enlargement) due to my involvement in strenuous sports. This one is fatal! 
*Unofficial time
Distance - Time - Split - Pace (min/km)
5km - 0:31:30 - 0:31:30 - 0:06:18
10km - 1:06:10 - 0:34:40 - 0:06:56
15km - 1:44:18 - 0:38:08 - 0:07:38
20km - 2:25:02 - 0:40:44 - 0:08:09
25km - 3:08:04 - 0:43:02 - 0:08:36
30km - 3:52:11 - 0:44:07 - 0:08:49
35km - 4:36:42 - 0:44:31 - 0:08:54
40km - 5:30:45 - 0:54:03 - 0:10:49
42.19km - 5:49:50 - 0:19:05 - 0:08:43
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