boon's log 2607.01: The Penang Bridge Marathon

What we've been training for, for the past 2 months, has finally come to past - The Penang bridge Marathon 2007. The night before the run, I had to admit, I was worried and anxious about whether I can really do this. Turned in early on Saturday - 10-ish, and woke up at the unearthly hour of 2AM - which by the way, there were so many people complaining about the run being so darn early in the morning; where it used to be 5-ish in previous years. But I guess they were trying to fit in 11 categories!!! Anyway, got myself ready and headed down to the registration area - by walking through the university. THAT in itself was sufficient warm-up for me. The walk from home to the registration area took like 0.5hrs of walk - by the time I was there, I had already worked out quite some sweat.

Well, I'm glad to announce that I did finish the run(!!!). The run was okay at first, but my first short-stop was slightly after the mid-span, where the second refreshment/sponging station was, which was about 5km. It took me almost 1hr30mins to reach the other end of the bridge, before U-turning back towards the island. At that moment, I thought, there goes the 3-hour goal of reaching the finishing line. According to the rule-book, only those finishing within 3hrs will receive a certificate and a medal. When I heading back, my leg muscles began to ache - many more stops followed with brisk walking. The journey back was tough. By the time I returned to the midspan, I began to feel a slight back-ache, clocking in at about 2'15:00s - less than an hour to finish the race. And with all the senior-runners passing me, left and right, were not really helping (!!!).

The last quarter part of the race was the killer. And then I saw that "1km to go" mark and that kinda rejuvenated everything and the endorphins started pumping. Oh yeah! There is no pain! Plus there's the ego factor - of course you don't want to just waltz through the finish line, right? You wanna be seen running across the Finish Line! So there we go, the final kilometer saw me sprinting. And the finishing time? 3'07:56s - just 7 minutes more, it was better than I thought it would be. AND they even issued me a certificate and a medal! I guess they just made additional ones and decided not to let them go to waste. It was a wonderful feeling - finishing the race and not falling far off the 3hr mark. So I may be back again next year... just to make sure that I finish within the 3hr-mark.


Evidence of the historical moment...

Met quite a couple of people during the race. PJ and Laurence before the starting of the race, VH at the third sponging / refreshment station on the mainland, TY at the 4th quarter of the race and Mithz at the finishing line.

IL did the Fun Run together with her rellies and she finished the 10km in under 2hrs. I tried to catch up with them on the way back, but my legs were against the idea(!).

It was interesting to see that there were also folks that were running WITHOUT shoes! Some were even running with sandals. I had my faithful spidey-coloured cross-trainers...


The pair that brought me through...

Read in the papers today that Kenny Sia was at the run as well, but I did not see him...

And also in the papers today - the record breaking Full Marathon Winner, from (where else but) Kenya, Mr. Sammy Kiprop Kiptoo, who finished the 42.195km race in 2’26:00s. Dude! Dude...! Divide that by 2... that's like 1'13:00s if he were to run the Half Marathon! And you wanna know how he did it? Check out the following newspaper clipping...


It can only be a Kenyan...

The dude runs 53kms DAILY between 5AM to 10AM! IL was joking that they'd probably trained by letting a leopard loose to chase after them ;) Goodness... That makes one feel so unprepared for the race. But I'm glad he won... he deserves it... 53kms/day. That's like running from Penang to Bukit Merah! EVERYDAY! *blink**blink*

....

Well, IL decided to celebrate a little for finishing the race in once piece and neither of us having the need to come back in a stretcher (especially for me) by making ourselves a nice, lovely English breakfast - of English Scones (with Devonshire cream) and English Tea. Ahh.... ;)


IL's award, for a job well done

She made so much of 'em that we brought some back to the in-laws to share.


Scones-to-go

Tiring (and aching, afterwards) weekend. But fulfilling one. Will I do it again? 80% "Yes", because I still want to complete it within 3hrs. 20% "No" because of the "aches and ouches" after the run... It also depends on whether the running-hype will continue until the next Marathon... Oh by the way, a little word about the logistics and organization of this years' run - one word: CRAPPY. From getting the registration number (they gave a "Junior Quarter Marathon Category Number" to someone who registered for "Senior Half Marathon") to getting the T-Shirt (I signed up for "XL", but they gave me an "M") to the beginning of the race, where there were no proper instructions where to go or what to do, and runners were made to stand at the Starting line for more than 15 minutes before starting the race (a few even passed-out before the race, due to lack of air with no Red Cross standing by). I am sure many things could have been done better if there were more proper planning. Hopefully, there'll be some sort of feedback to the organizing committee and things can be improved in the up coming events...

Ok, signing off, gotta work tomorrow.

boon out...

boon's log 2507.04: Target met!

Remember sometime ago, I blogged about my BMI and that I was overweight? Well, I've met my target of losing 6kgs - well, okay... the original plan was to shed that 6kgs by beginning of June, but it seems like I am able to do it by the middle of June. Who cares! I achieved the impossible (well, at least to me!)

Here's the latest BMI readout...


Latest BMI Calculation as of 19th June 2007


BMI lookup chart.

It was tough at first, jump starting on the threadmill and also trying to reduce on carb-intake. We Asians are like Carb-magnets. We cannot live without heaps of rice everyday. Well, i tried staying away from it - well, not entirely, but just taking minimum amounts of rice. But later on, I was getting the hang of it and it was getting better - from feeling half dead by just completing 2kms to feeling good after 8-10km on the threadmill...

PLUS the fact that a bunch of us have been accountable for each other making sure that we hit the gym at least twice a week. And recently because of the Penang Bridge Run, I've been the hitting the gym daily.

... and I am happy to announce that I achieved my first 10km (6.2miles) run on Tuesday in 7mins 70mins. While yesterday, I reached 11km (6.8miles) in 80mins. It was a great achievement for me. Now, at least, I am sure that I am going to make it to one end of the Penang Bridge (the half marathon is 22.3kms). And it was good workout too. Except that I got a little dehydrated after that. Will need to make sure tat we are properly hydrated during long-runs like this.

So, it was a good day yesterday - I met my BMI goals and I hit my first 11km.

Well, the Run is this Sunday. Anyone else joining the marathon? It's too late for any last minute registrations. So, just watch me cross the finish line on telly, okay? ;)

You can find out more about the run at the link below...



boon out...

boon's log 2507.01: To park or not to park...

Here's the council trying to confuse people on whether it is okay to park at spaces such as this. Park at your own risk - you may just get a ticket...


To park or not to park...?


boon out...

boon's log 2307.05: Battle with Maybank again!

Yes, it's that time of the month (sounds kinky, I know)! Need to pay my car loan with Maybank. I blogged about my previous inconvenient-encounter with Maybank.

The saga continues...

Well, the machine that "ate" my money without issuing any form of receipt at the branch along I-Avenue near Bukit Jambul was replaced with a brand new machine. I guess there were many complaints before and after me regarding the faulty machine. The new machine has got the looks(!!!): larger screen, better user-friendly-outlook, and the slot for you to place your money is larger. Looks canggih (sophisticated)!


Maybank's new Cash Deposit Machine

BUT...

It's not *bleep* working!


Old and New Machine Comparison

When I first saw the new machine, I was quite happy; I thought that they finally changed the lousy money-eating machine. But upon closer inspection, it is the same old thing again.

In the end, we had to queue up for the other machine that is next to it - the ONLY other machine that can support cash deposit. Very precious, if this one goes as well, then, it's a mad rush to the next nearest Maybank branch all over again!


you MAY-queue-to-BANK with us...

Good thing was that when I was there, there were only 3 other customers before me. when I left, there was a long queue (they even have to "U" inside the ATM room - I guess if more people were to arrive, they would have to queue all the way, outside the room! This is absurd. What kind of lousy bank is this?! Looks like we MAYbank with them last night, but you will have to wait a little while...

boon out...

boon's log 2307.01: Chili's in Penang...

Yup, the invasion of the West has been further extended with the opening of Chili's at Gurney in Penang - it's actually situated inside the G-Hotel, but people would like to refer to Chili's at Gurney Plaza. It's the same place anyways.


Chili's in Penang

We checked it out last Friday. The first thing that hit us was the house-rule whereby they do not seat incomplete parties.


No Chup-ping Allowed!

One of the assistant managers (guy in picture) kept on insisting that this is a Chili's International rule whereby they cannot seat incomplete parties. We thought it was crap, because we do not remember seeing / hearing such rule in the States before. We reserved for 8 persons, but 2 out of the 8 were running a little late due to traffic, and they just insisted that they cannot seat us and gave our table away (!!!). We were so ready to leave... after arguing with with the assistant mgr for about 10 minutes, our final 2 arrived and then we got our table.

Anyway, somewhere in the midst of that verbal exchange with the Asst. Mgr, I asked him, what about if I change my reservation to 6 (instead of 8) and then add 2 more when the other 2 comes. The answer was - "Cannot, because you've innitially reserved for 8"...

what the "bleep"?!

Well, I guess that was the worst moment throughout the dinner... the rest was what we'd expected - HUGE-DINO-SIZE portions, and bottomless drinks. IL ordered the Fajita Quesadilla while I took the Cajun Chicken Fajita. We were both stuffed; IL did not even finished her Quesadilla. We had to box it. Oh by the way, I used the phrase "Box it" but the waiter did not understand what I was saying - I had to use the phrase "Tah Pao"! - which basically means "Box-It" in Cantonese.


Fajita Quesdilla

Didn't really feel like taking Al that night, so just ended up with Bottomless Apple Juice. It was quite a satisfying meal overall. Also, it was worth mentioning that the (angmoh, a.k.a. caucasian) Restaurant Manager (Flintstone-look-alike) checked on our table quite a few times (probably sensed that we were not really happy at the beginning of the dinner).

Our first Chili's Penang experience? 3/5 stars.

And my suggestion is: Reserve for 1 (or 2 persons) and then bring the entire kampung (i.e. village in Malay)!

boon out...