Belated photo

Kevin Chow, Adam, Sim, myself, Pueh Tian

This was taken at the Putrajaya run held in September. We were in the "kandang" waiting for the race to start. Race report is under the September 2006 archives. Go to http://pm19.blogspot.com/2006_09_01_archive.html

Tapering continues

Monday evening I ran 4 laps around the lake with Ronnie and Lai. The last 2 laps were run quite hard. Good final all-out run. Total, approx 10km.

Tuesday evening we had the privilege of Kenny to run with us. He has been busy- attending church camp in Genting Highlands for 5 days, and a host of other activities. It was me, Ronnie, Lai and Kenny. As was his wont, Kenny chatted away with his life stories while we listened. Effort-wise, I made sure that I ran really easy this time due to the exertions of Monday evening. It was tempting to go hard again, though. For the sake of my tapering I reined in my eagerness to run hard. I ran a 2 lapper round the lake, followed by some stretches. In the evening, I spent some 40 minutes self-massaging my legs.

Plan today- another easy 2 laps, followed by some strides. I also plan to get as much sleep as I possibly can in the next few days, going to bed early. I might probably not sleep too well the night before the race, so I think its appropriate that I get some rest before the big day.

Tapering week

Friday- had a decent race-pace run of 17k.

But, ah...quite a good weekend in terms of sleep. I went to bed early Friday night (around 12am), waking up at 1030am, had a nice brunch, watched Nacho Libre before napping for another 2 hours. I could've gone on sleeping for longer, but I think it would've been overly self-indulgent to do so. Woke up at 4pm, and proceeded to the gym where I ran an easy recovery 6km (I was a tad tired from Friday night's workout). Then, dinner with the folks at USJ. Went to bed at 12am.

Woke up at 930am on Sunday. Wonderful sleep again! Breakfast with the folks, before dropping of the missus at Starhill at 1pm. I looked up to the sky at 1pm and thought- "an excellent opportunity to run". It was very cloudy, and since I was somewhat nearby Kampung Pandan, I headed there for my final interval session before Singapore, which consisted of 2km warm up, 4 mile repeats (3:40 rest), 3.6km warm down, followed by 12 x 100meter strides. Total- 12km.

Went grocery shopping before heading for dinner, and then staying up to watch the Man U-Chelsea game at my apartment. Generally, in the first half, it was 100mph football- fast, frantic, scrappy. with neither side really getting into any proper passing rhythm. Still, Man U managed to take their chance when Wayne Rooney treaded a beautifully weighted pass to Louis Saha, who used Ricardo Carvalho as a "shield" blocking goalkeeper Carlo Cudicini's view, to stroked the ball into the net. In the 2nd half, Chelsea brought in Robben and played with more purpose- they really piled on the pressure with some slick pass-and-move maneuvers and were rewarded with a 2nd half goal. Final result- 1-1, which was probably a fair reflection of the match. Although Chelsea did play better in the 2nd half, apart from the goal, they did not create any real clear-cut chances to truly trouble the Man U defence.

Went to bed at 2am and had trouble waking up this morning. Although a strong cup of coffee woke me up, I'm now suffering from a bad case of Monday Blues. So many things to do, so little time. Sigh. Anyway, there's Singapore to look forward to.

From what I've read, the organisers for Singapore have divided the Race Entry Pack Collection days to 2 sessions- last weekend was for the local runners only, which collection took place at Suntec; next weekend will be for the foreign runners like myself, which will be at Marina Mandarin. I do hope that there will be an expo of some sort, although this was not mentioned in their website. In my past 2 years of running there, going to the expos was part of the Singapore Marathon experience. It will be a pity if there isn't one this year.

Anyway, its my tapering week- less running, more carbo-loading. Training-wise- so far, so good. A couple of tempo runs/time trials, and more strides, and that would be it. On the weight side, I'd prefer to be lighter, although I'm not that heavy to begin with; but the lighter you are, the less weight you carry in the race.

Alright, back to work.

Sum 41's "Pieces" is a great song

Speed session- 2 x (very painful) 1 mile repeats, followed by lactate threshold run of 2.5km. Thereafter a recovery run around Lake Gardens of 10km. Total- 15km approx. Sped to USJ for dinner before flying back to KL Sentral to pick up Mrs Rabbit from Singapore.

Anyway, I won't be able to make it for the Penang Island Relay with the gang. Sorry, guys.

It's Friday! Best day of the working week. Can't wait to sleep in tomorrow. I've been severely deprived of sleep...

Singapore is just a week away! Tapering process begins from Sunday.

Have a good weekend.

A quick one

Had a nice run with Ronnie and Lai yesterday at Lake Gardens. Total- 10km. Last 4.6ks were run at tempo pace.

Had a pretty late night again- met up with my childhood friend (we went to school together but he's now residing in Oz land) for drinks. Finished at 10.45pm, before heading back to apartment to meet another childhood friend (a doctor practising in the UK) for almost 2 hours before I hit the sack around 1:30am.

Plan today- hopefully, intervals. But I need to finish early today.

Running gait- brief analysis

For some reason, I've become increasingly conscious about my running form. Of late, there have been many occasions when I wonder what people are thinking when they see me running. I dunno why I've been feeling this way- when I started out running and even for 2 years after that, I didn't bother what people were thinking. Anyway, after doing a quick research on the net, I've managed to locate come articles and a picture of a supposed correct running form. Here it is:-



So, as you can see, this is supposed to a correct running form. Straight back, forward body lean etc.

Compare that with the following photos of me:-

Mizuno Wave Run 2006


Alibaba Run 2006

First and foremost, is my arm action. I tend to tense up my shoulder when I run, thus making the arm action very high and somewhat constricted. So, as it is, the upper body isn't relaxed. I've been trying to correct this for some time now. I'm constantly "loosening" my shoulders and trying the keep my arm action low. My back is straight, so I think I'm fine there.

Next up (and this is the one that everyone talks about), are my legs. Its a weird running gait, where I land mainly on my forefoot. There's minimal contact/impact by the heel with the ground- the heel is almost spring-like in that it shifts the weight back almost instantaneously towards my forefoot, before I toe-off. Now, one may think that the calves would ache like hell, but I've been so accustomed to running this way that I don't have any aches in my calves. I've been told that I "hop", "bounce", and all that. And I've tried changing it; ultimately though, I've reverted back to what I feel is the most comfortable and economical running style for me.

Anyway, I have a role model (not only for her achievements, but also for her awkward running style)- none other than women's world record holder in the marathon, Paula Radcliffe. If you see her running, she is pigeon-toed in footstrike (so, at least I'm not the only one who runs like that!)and her head bobs almost rhythmically when she runs. Her arm action does look high at times.

Conclusion- I feel that I'm running in the most comfortable, efficient and economical manner which works only for me, and that's all that matters. And, so far (touch wood) I've not suffered any injuries to my knees, etc. So, screw it! I'll run my way and not be bothered what people think!

Rockefeller Skank by Fatboy Slim is one of my all-time favourite songs

Grumble grumble...Man U lost the 2nd consecutive time in the European Champions League. Not good. After initially winning 2 matches in a row to top their group table, they now lie in 2nd place and having to beat Benfica in a do-or-die match at Old Trafford. Not an easy task because Benfica are a very good side.

Had a pretty late night- was in Bangsar with my old friends and it was good to catch up with them. Went to bed at 2am, and woke up at 730am today. I didn't feel too groggy, surprisingly. Maybe the effects of lack of sleep will hit me later today.

Ran a total of 15k again yesterday, with a 5.5k tempo/lactate threshold run thrown in.

Anyway, more pics from Siem Reap (I was there during the Raya break):-

The "Tomb Raider" temple

Yours truly climbing up the steps of Angkor Wat. Notice the fella in green t-shirt and white bermudas- yup, that's me.



View of Angkor Wat from the top after the climb. The causeway leads to the entrance of Angkor Wat.

Got Der Book!

My childhood friend who is a practising doctor in the UK (he has been residing there half his life) came back to Malaysia for the holidays and got me this book- Paula Radcliffe's "My Story So Far". I just got it late last night and only had the opportunity to quickly skim through the chapters and view some photos. Another running book added to my collection! Now, if I can find the time to read it...

Ran 15k yesterday, out of which 5.5km was run at a tempo/lactate threshold pace. Had the company of Kenny Tan to keep me entertained with his stories. No migraine.

Will have a busy day today- I woke up at 630am to fetch the wife to KL Sentral; I have a signing to attend in Cheras later in the morning; going back to Subang for dinner; and coincidentally, another childhood friend of mine (residing in Oz land) is in town for a visit. Will be meeting up with him to catch up for drinks. Could be a laaaate night. I think I can still squeeze in a run between all that, though. At least i hope to.

some pics from Siem Reap

Woke up at the crack of dawn to get this picture! I can't remember the name now, but I think its Banteay Srei.

View from hotel room.


Partial shot of Angkor Wat in the evening. You can see the reflection of Angkor Wat on the river only around 5pm till 7pm-ish.


Hotel Room.

Selayang 10k- DID NOT START

Unfortunately, it is true- I did not start the Selayang 10k. The mind was willing, but the head wasn't. Allow me to explain.

After heading to the the Selayang stadium on Saturday to collect my bib number and my t-shirt, I spent the remainder of the day attending RPM class at Fitness First (Wisma SPK), then headed to a Raya do at Tropicana. This house at Tropicana is certainly one of the nicest houses I've ever been to. Then, I went to church before going to my parents for dinner. Went to bed at 11pm-ish. Set the alarm clock for 530am.

Woke up at 530am to a splitting headache. More specifically, the headache felt as if my right eye-ball was literally being pulled apart horizontally. I knew then that it was migraine- something that I occasionally experience, although I'm not sure what triggered it this time. I popped a Panadol, pinned my bib, put on my clothes, and headed out the door. The headache persisted.

I arrived at Selayang around 630am. Did some stretches, and jogged for about 8 minutes. The headache did not subside. Still, I had every intention to run the race. I then performed about 8 x 100 meter strides. Every stride I took made the headache worse. Literally, the pounding headache worsened with every foot strike. Still, I persisted. At 655am I made my way to the starting line. I thought the race would begin at 7am. But when I saw that the organisers were yet to put up the "MULA/START" banner, and coupled with the fact that there would be an aerobic session, I then realised that the race would start at 730am instead. I stayed on near the starting line, performing further strides, stretches and warm-ups. Saw Bee Hon and SJ as well.

Alas, by 715am, I really couldn't take the headache any longer. It had spread to the left side of my head as well, and now I felt that "split" behind my left eye as well. Regretfully, I made the decision to not race, as I ambled dejectedly back to the car and proceeded to drive home. The drive home was a bit of a blur; I just tried to concentrate arriving home as quickly as possible.

Arrived back home at 735am, popped another Panadol, and went straight to bed. Woke up 2 hours later feeling slightly better, although the headache still lingered. By 11am though, it was almost gone.

I do experience migraines off and on although this is the 1st time it has affected my running. After doing some research on it, I've found that Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg suffers from blinding migraines, sometimes resulting in him unable to play. I certainly hope it doesn't affect me come 3rd December. At any rate, by hope or by crook regardless, I will run in Singapore.

I did not run yesterday- headed to the gym to do some strengthening exercises, focusing on my calves and thighs.

Friday I had run another 3 x 1 mile repeats, followed by an easy recovery run. Total approx 10km.

Saturday- lite and easy run.

Plan today- tempo run of at least 20 minutes, followed by easy run thereafter.

Quick one

Ran a 10 lapper at KLCC Park with Ronnie yesterday. Total- approx 13k. Although I was rather tired, I managed to stay with Ronnie throughout. Then again, he was running his easy pace, and I was struggling.

Plan today- Lake Gardens.

TGIF! Can't wait to sleep in tomorrow...

Even more photos

Pacesetters 15km, 2005. I had watched Revenge of the Sith the night before and it blew my mind. The scene of Anakin Skywalker's immolation was brutal, to say the least. I wonder if it affected my running because I didn't run too well. Maybe I was just off-form that day. Anyway, KNN sat on my lap when this photo was taken. He was soaking wet and left an imprint of his butt on my shorts.


Pacemakers Run in June 2006, which was my "return" to running/training in earnest. It was a 4 x 2.6km relay. Cheong, Jamie, Newton and myself in what can be described as a "pia" pose.


Penang Bridge Run, 2006. This was taken at around 4:30am, if I recall, when most of us would still be asleep. I haven't been to Penang since 1987, and I enjoyed myself immensely. And it was my first even run in Penang. Running on the bridge itself was fantastic. Drove to Penang with Mrs Rabbit and Adam. Food was superb, run was superb, company was superb.


PJ Half marathon, 2006. Ronnie ran one heck of a race.

Slightly hazardous speed session

Some brief updates on workouts so far, after Puchong's race:-

Monday- Approx 16.5k. Ran the usual loop round Carcosa, the Deer Park, National Mosque, towards Bukit Aman carpark and the lake Club. I'm assuming that each loop is about 5.5k. 3 loops. Ran 1 of the 3 loops with Kit. That helped a great deal as we were chatting away and 1 loop quickly passed us by. Next 2 loops were run at a tempo-ish pace, and I completed it in 58:20 minutes.

Tuesday- Legs were sore and needed a recovery run. 10k.

Wednesday- Warm-up 6k, followed by 3 x 1600 meters repeats, 1 x 400 meters, with 3:20 rest, then warm-down 2k. The speed sessions slightly hazardous because it was raining and there were moments when I had to run on the walkway. The tiles on the walkway were very slippery and on 1 occasion, I slipped and fell, scraping both my hands- one, on my left palm just below the middle finger; the other, one my right hand just below my palm. Plus, on another occasion I stepped on a pebble by the shoulder of the road and slightly sprained my right ankle. That happened when I was doing my 2nd interval. I stopped momentarily; ran back to from where I started, and began the workout again. I thought to myself that any aches/pain would probably manifest itself later in the night or the next morning.

Thursday- that is today! I woke up this morning feeling fine. Ankle's fine, legs are fine. Still, with yesterday's speed session, I plan to take it easy today.

There is a high possibility that I will run in KLCC today because I'll be attending a meeting at 3pm.

Puchong IOI Run

When: 12 November 2006
Distance- 7.3km
Timing- 31:31.65
Position- 9th.

For a 2nd week in a row, I've had a less than fitful sleep on Saturday. This time though, I can attribute it to the fact that all I did was practically sleep the whole Saturday away, as I was really tired from last week. I woke up at about 11:30pm, went to a colleague's house for a Raya do, went home, and with the 2nd downpour of the day which cooled the temperature considerably, I fell into a beautiful, blissful 2 hour session of forty winks. I woke up feeling over-ly energised, I think. Headed to parents for dinner, before watching some footy on tv and going to bed at about 12am. All in all, very lazy Saturday. At any rate, Saturday is the only day that I can sleep-in, and who knows who many more sleep-ins I may have in the future?

Back to race. Like I mentioned, I had a less than fitful sleep the night before, and I woke up even before the alarm rang, which was set for 6am. Strangely, I was up by 5am, feeling fresh. Must've been the extra sleep from Saturday. Had ample time to have my cup of java, sit on the throne, do my business, change, and take a nice, leisurely drive to Puchong. I used the NPE to Puchong, and at certain stretches of the highway, you could see Sunway/Old Klang Road from a distance, and at sunrise, the orange light across the skies and onto the buildings were quite a sight to see. I should drive at sunrise more often!

Arrived at Puchong (thanks to Dr for the directions) and walked towards the start/finish line. Saw a few faces I recognised. Among others- Ronnie, Rachel, Dr, DK, Lai, Naresh, Guna, William, SJ and sis. After giving in my reporting card, I did some warm-ups. From the looks of it, everyone seemed to be up for it- if looks could kill, it appeared that there will be many fast runners in the race, and finishing within the top 20 positions (and thus within the medals) will be difficult. Everyone "looked" the part- lean, skinny fellas with the outfits to boot. For a moment there, I thought it would be difficult for me to finish within the top 20 (and thus get a medal) but quickly reminded myself that looks are one thing; performance is another.

With Ronnie at the starting line, the gun goes off! It was quite a fast start- Ronnie and I were neck to neck, and this goes on for the next 4 kms, with Ronnie no further from me by more than 5-10 meters. We took turns at exchanging leads before the pace finally caught up with me after the u-turn. The route had a number of subtle inclines that don't you don't really notice until it hits you- right in your heart, when you feel it almost palpitating, you're painfully short on breath and entering the anaerobic stage. I was suffering at that point as Ronnie slowly pulled away from me. Dr (who was yet to make the u-turn and was on the other side of the road)shouted across and mentioned that we were in 6th and 7th position. Moments later, a powerfully built, tall Chinese dude overtook me and I offered no resistance, as he chased after Ronnie. A few minutes later, with Ronnie almost 100 meters ahead of me, I saw him overtaking Ronnie.

I got my 2nd wind as the route de-clined again, towards the finish line, and I ran as hard as I could. There were some silly teenagers in a completely different category (and distance) trying to race and out-run me. Please, go ahead! I'm only trying to run my pace, man! Anyway I was in serious oxygen debt in the last 300 meters, and crossed the finish line in a relieved 31:31.65. I was given a card, and saw that I was placed 9th. Looks aren't everything, indeed! I realised that from the 2nd km onwards, our positions more or less remained, apart from that tall powerfully built Chinese dude who overtook us.

Later, we cheered the remaining runners in and hung around, took some photos. I signed up for the Selayang 10k as well, which will be the coming Sunday.

Post-mortem- The Puchong race was part of my speed work for the upcoming Singapore Marathon, and like every training/race, I used it to determine my level of fitness, and also to identify any weaknesses that needs to be worked on. I am quite satisfied with my performance, but I still need to work on it. To summarise- more Max V02 sessions and tempos! More speed needed!

Anyway some photos:-

>Before the start of the race, all of us ready to smoke everyone, although it was only Lai and me who were holding a Walther PPK each, ala James Bond. Speaking of which, I think everyone should give Daniel Craig a chance. His portrayal of James Bond may turn out to be better than expected. So, save your brickbats (if any) or compliments after watching Casino Royale.

>Post race. I had hoped the camera was able to catch what was written on the card that was given to me by the race official immediately after I had finished the race (i.e that I finished in 9th position) but as you can see, it didn't show. Well, nevermind.

Next race- SELAYANG 10k

More photos

More photos (and, more to come later)

At Ronnie's wedding in Oversea Restaurant.


Finishing line MPSJ Run, circa 2005. PRed in 41:46.


Post MPSJ Run group photo.


Azwar's Hari Raya do.


Post run, Bukit Aman carpark. If I recall correctly, I had run the double hill route with Ronnie.


This is a blurry photo of me at the finishing line of the PJ Half Marathon in 2004. I wore the PJ Half t-shirt and a regular pair of shorts. I wasn't certain I could run the entire distance at that point, and I needed the affirmation of this race to prove that. A few days later, "flushed" with confidence, I signed up to run the 1/2 marathon for Singapore Marathon 2004.

Horny Cordys

Met up with Kenny Tan for our run at Lake Gardens yesterday. The plan was to run the usual 3 loops. Once we started, Kenny was his usual chatty self, filling me in with stories. Past the windy Carcosa road and back into the Lake, onto the public toilet by the Lake, I saw Kit some 100 meters away, running in the opposite direction. As he approached, we asked him to join us, and he obliged. It's good to have the company of another runner to run the mileage with you, because training does get a bit boring at times and having some good company will really help pass the time. True enough, we completed the 1st loop. Kit has been in hard training for the Singapore full and has lost about 5kgs in the process. Not to put pressure any on Kit, but I think he'll PR in Singapore! Hahaha. Anyway the 2nd loop passed by quickly and we were well on our way to run the 3rd loop, but something was really bugging me as we completed the 2nd loop- my stomach. I felt the sudden urge to answer the call of nature- the MAJOR call of nature, not something that one can do behind the bushes (unless one's in the jungle of course). Regretfully, I had to stop my workout and head to Lake Club to do my business (which was a ton!). By then it was already 715pm and I had to head home(I had planned to complete my workout by 730pm anyway) because I had a dinner appointment with Mrs Rabbit and some friends. We were due to watch the 1st episode of the Amazing Race because one of our mutual friends is in it.

So, the grand total for yesterday- 11km or so.

I'm hoping my bowels will behave themselves because I plan to run at least 15k today.

Wednesday workout

Mile repeats at Lake Gardens area, yesterday- 3.

I've started using this circuit for my mile repeats-

Start at the junction just by the mosque, before the Islamic musuem. 1st 250 meters, you will pass the Islamic museum on your left and the rear car park of the National Mosque on your right. So far, so good. The road starts winding, but that is not the challenging part- what is challenging is that fact that there is a very slight, subtle incline that you barely even notice it. But it is definitely there. Negotiating the windy road, my lungs are already starting to scream for more air. But there is a steep-ish incline for about 80 meters or so, where it leads you to the intersection. If you go straight ahead, it will lead you to Bukit Aman. I take a left of the intersection, where I'm greeted by another incline, about 100 meters. Quite laboured breathing at this point. At the end of that road i take another left, onto another windy road towards the Bird Park. Wheezing by this time. 2 speed humps and another 100 + meters later, the road finally evens out and flattens. Take another left at the junction, past the Tun Razak Memorial, and before finally ending about 100 meters past the round about at Planetarium. Lung busting!

Wanted to join Ronnie who was also doing his intervals in the Deer Park section but I couldn't find him. So i jogged an wasy 9km, before leaving. Had to leave 30 mins earlier than usual due to an appointment.

Some pics

Here are some of my favourite running pictures involving me (more to come later):-

Alibaba Run October 2006, lap 1 of 6. As you can see Chen, William Chan, Ronnie, myself and Khoo Yit Kiat were more or less bunched together. We were in the 2nd group. Well ahead were Naresh and Ah Toh. Photo courtesy of Jamie.


4 x 3km relay in 2005, post race. L-R- Tan Song Hua, Phong Thong Lim, Ronnie and myself. We placed 3rd in the men's open category. In truth, being the 3rd runner, I was there to hold the position we had. I was hit by a fever the night before but was able to run the 3km, albeit slower than usual. Photo courtesy of Tey.


Post run at KLCC park with John and Adam. As you can see I was sharing a light-hearted moment with John. Can't remember what we're joking about though. Probably something crude. Photo courtesy of Tey.


Run with Adam. As you can see, Adam's posture is good- relaxed upper body, loose arms. Lands on forefoot as well, but doesn't bounce or hop like me.Photo courtesy of Tey.


Another angle of the group of us at Alibaba. Poetry in motion! As usual, yours truly was hopping. Photo courtesy of Jamie.

Time flies!

This was the day that I finally put the faces to the names- at Adidas King of the Road in 2004, and opened up my world of running, for the better! I was running solo up to that point, and I've only run the MPSJ 10k in 2002. Ronnie's blog "opened" shortly after, allowing many runners to "meet up" and chat about everything running related. It's funny how I looked in 2004- sans running vest, shorts, just in basic shorts and t-shirt. And I definitely looked younger. Sigh...

Anyway after resisting posting photos on the blog since the inception of pm19.blogspot.com (drawing inspiration from the Wall Street Journal), I thought maybe it was time to change that.

Cats & Dogs

I had planned to do some speed work yesterday as part of my on-going training, at least till the end of this month before the period of tapering. Alas, yesterday was not to be. Once again, the weather was the factor preventing me from pursuing my workout. And I changed my mind thrice! To sum it up:-

1) I had planned to go to Kampung Pandan track to join Coach and gang. It's been about 1 year since I last joined them and I was looking forward to it. So far, I've been fortunate at my new place of work; the office clears off by 530pm. This certainly is a rarity for me because I've never experienced anything like this before in my years of employment. I left the office by 545pm and headed to Kampung Pandan. As I reached the Jalan Tun Razak (just after Sungai Besi road) trying to slowly merge into the lane that leads to Kampung Pandan/RHB Bank main branch/American Embassy, it started raining. Really raining. Literally, it was pissing down. Not keen on the prospect of stuck in a post-run chock a block, I decided to make a left turn at Loke Yew, cut my losses and thought of heading towards Lake Gardens instead. (So, change-of-mind No. 1)

At least I found a route on which I could do my mile repeats. Kenneth called my when I was on my way to Lake Gardens and all we could do was to talk about the weather, which was worsening by the minute. I drove around the Bukit Aman/Lake Gardens area. Some of the roads were ankle deep in water! But that wasn't my concern; what concerned me more was the thunder and lightning. I heard plenty of "CRACK!!! BOOOM!!!!" and I knew then that there was no way I could run outdoors. Sigh, so I decided to headed to the gym instead. (cue, change-of-mind No. 2)

2) Arrived at the gym by 645pm. Saw that the cardio machines (including the bikes) were fully occupied. Waited another 5 minutes before deciding to myself- "f**k it, it's peak hours anyway, and if I want to use the treadmill for one hour(at the very bare minimum), it will certainly not be possible. Since the gym closes at 11pm, I can start my workout close to 9pm and still get in an hour's plus worth of running, and better yet, at a non-peak hour when lesser people are using the treadmills. Plus, I will only pick up Mrs Rabbit from KL Sentral (who's only coming back from Singapore from a late flight) at 1130pm." (change-of-mind No. 3). So I headed to Subway, got myself a half-foot long sandwich for my dinner and headed back to the apartment. No Astro (due to the weather), so I watched an all-time classic title- "PREDATOR" starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. That dude's funny without even him realising it. "OVER HERE-AH!" "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU?" in that thick Austrian accent.

Anyway I went to the gym again, and started my workout around 845pm, and ended about 1015pm. It wasn't what I had planned, but I can't really complain; at least I still managed to get in my workout, albeit not at the intensity I had intended. There are other days!

Bearing in mind that we were all hoping for rain when the haze was at its worse, I know the irony in me wishing that it doesn't rain this evening. I wanna run outside! Then again, the hazy days aren't entirely over so the rain is welcome. It's just wreaking havoc with my running plans when Singapore is a mere 3 weeks away!

Anyway, here's to good running weather. (raising my bottle of water to that as I type this)

Selayang 10k- anyone?

To be exact, it's 3 weeks plus 4 days to Singapore. So far, my body has held up and touch wood, I hope it stays that way. Even with the increase in mileage in the last 2 months I haven't caught a cold, sore throat, or picked up any twinges, or injuries. I've been attempting to at least minimise those things from happening to me, with daily intake of vitamin Cs, calcium, vitamins Es, regular massages, saunas and steam baths. I've been paying attention to how my legs and body feel, and so far, if I can say so myself, I've been gauge-ing it with accuracy. And of course, I've been gauge-ing the efforts for the workouts as well. I've run tempos, and recently begun the speed workouts. I've tried to make sure that the recovery runs are purely that- for recovery. Long may that continue! (Or at least till Singapore!)

Tapering for me starts about 8 days from Singapore, which will be 25th November.

Next race is the Puchong Community Run this Sunday, which is 7.5 km.

Am still considering whether to run the Selayang 10k. No one seems to be running there, but considering the timing of the race (19th November) it will be an excellent tune-up race and a form of speed work for Singapore.

Anyway we'll see.

MPSJ 10k

Start of the race. Yours truly at the left of the picture, in a predominantly white vest
with single blue stripe across the torso, behind dude in cap with green vest. Wearing
my Nike Waffle Racers!

Timing for MPSJ 10k held on 5/11/2006- 42:38. Position- 16th

My timing was some 52 seconds slower than last year's run, but I still managed to be in 16th position. Reason- many of the runners decided to go to Bidor instead, thereby improving my chances, and that of other runners.

After a less than fitful sleep, (I was tossing and turning the night before on my bed in Subang, but my thoughts were not dwelling on the race itself, mind you)I woke up at 6am; had a cup of coffee and a giant serving of honey. Received a call from AP Tan who was supposed to collect HWL's bib. He wasn't too sure how to get to my house, so Id decided to meet him at the nearby Shell petrol station instead. I cycled there, and passed the bib to AP Tan, lo and behold- I saw Kelvin Ng and wife. We exchanged some pleasantries, before I headed back to my house, where Ryan and friend were already there. Ryan was there to collect his bib as well. Adam arrived shortly after to collect his bib as well. After relieving myself we took a leisurely walk to the MPSJ stadium.

We saw a few other better known athletes there- Kimberly, Stephanie, Dino- (all triathletes)among them.

The race itself started 5 minutes early, at least on my watch.

The gun went off, and off we went. I was running with the first batch of front runners in the 1st kilometer, and I knew that I started too quickly. My stopwatch confirmed the timing- 3:16 for the 1st kilometer!!! I slowed down significantly after that, and settled into a pace which I felt was comfortable enough- running at a decent pace (at least in my opinion) with a slight discomfort in breathing. If I could describe it, I was running at slightly faster than my planned half marathon pace.

Nothing really exciting happened in the subsequent 4kms. I was rooted to my position although I managed to overtake a few runners (who were possibly inexperienced, started too quickly and were paying the price for the folly; or simply, they were just not running well?). At around the the 5km mark, I managed to catch up with a skinny Malay dude with a square top haircut, who was wearing a vest with lycra leggings. I dunno his name, so let's just refer to him as The Dude. Anyway, thus began a mini battle between him and me. Everytime I attempted to overtake him and ran up right next to him, The Dude simply increased the pace and went ahead another 5 meters or so. I decided to try again; to which he responded again by pressing the pace, but not enough to lead by more 5 meters. I decided to be patient after each move; I would wait for a minute or so, and then try again. This went on until about 2.5 kms to the finishing line, when I made my move again and this time, The Dude could no longer respond. I think he succeeded only in tiring himself.

At the final turn leading towards Taipan I passed Stephanie (who was running one heck of a race! She is fast!) and passed a Caucasian runner who has overtaken me around the 3km mark. I was encouraging him to go and he asked how much left of the race there was, to which I replied, "less than 1km". I looked at my stopwatch and saw that I was running a decent time. After making the u-turn past the traffic lights, I decided to press the pace to the finishing line.

I finished in 42:38, 16th position.

Again, I ran fairly comfortably. More speed work is needed.

I have started my speed work last week, but I'll definitely need to do more. Lactate threshold workouts are already done once week anyway.

It's only 3 weeks left to Singapore!!!

After the run Adam, CM & friend, Kelvin Ng & wife congregated at my house for some teh tarik. Overall a great way to start a Sunday morning.

I'M HOOKED ON PRISON BREAK (the tv series)

DVD set season 1

Long time no blog. Nothing much has happened in the last few weeks. Although my last day was supposed to be the end of September, I was requested to stay on for another month to tie-up a few loose ends. I had served out that period, and voila, here I am at my new place of work. Thankfully they have internet connection. Hell- some places don't!

I visited Cambodia with Mrs Rabbit during the DeepaRaya holidays, and I must say that it was a wonderful holiday. We spent 5 days there, and we visited many ruined temples, most of which were built about 1000 years ago. Cambodia has a rich and tumultuous history; Angkor Wat is clearly the most famous; but there are many other sites too. Ta Prohm, Pre Rup, Bayon, Banteay Srei are among the notable mentions. There's little sense in visiting these places without appreciating the history behind each of the temples. For those visiting, I strongly suggest that you buy a guide book on the temples; or if you can afford it, pay for an official guide that are stationed there. Otherwise, you would merely be looking at a collection of stones.

We took quite a number of photos. Mrs Rabbit will be uploading 'em soon on Shutterfly so I'll give you the link to it once I get it.

Running-wise, up to the 1st day of Raya, I've only been able to do most of my workouts in the gym due to the haze. Thankfully the haze has cleared up since and we (the runners) are able to run outdoors again! I've been able to do some much-needed speed work in the form of (Max V02) mile repeats. I've also run with Kenny, Kenneth and Lawrence the last few days at Bukit Aman. It is really good to be outdoors again.

Well, it's only about 4 weeks to Singapore Marathon. The plan is to do more speed work, tempos, time trials and strides. On the racing front I will be running the MPSJ 10k this Sunday, 5th November. It is my "home" race and it has significance to me for the following reasons:-

1) It is my 1st race ever (in 2002). If I remember correctly, I ran it in 52:00.
2) I PRed last year.
3) I was treated to a surprise birthday party last year, with many runners present. And I was given a pair of Nike Pegasus, a truly touching gesture.
4) I did many of my speed sessions on the MPSJ track.
5) When running at Subang, I sometimes run on a small part of the 10k course.
6) I have done a lot of mileage in or around the USJ 5 area.

There is the Selayang 10k as well, but I haven't registered for that.

I hope to get in at least 15k today. That would depend on my 1st day here, and how I feel at the end of today.

Till then....