Its 0645hrs on a Sunday morning at the Botanical Gardens, Taman Tasik Perdana, Kuala Lumpur, and the weather is cool and breezy, perfect for snoozing off and curling up at home under the warmth of a cosy blanket.
My first ever Cross Country distance running since school days. A mixture of road and terrain circuit covering a total distance of 8-kilometres (as stated in the registration form).
Registrations were still open till about 0750hrs on raceday, and people were flocking to register to the event. As a result, the initial start at 0730hrs was delayed by another 30-minutes. My running buddy arrived with his wife and kid. They were a great team.
All the participants were very excited and anxious at the starting line. Most of the runners were well ready mentally and physically. But somehow or rather, they were shocked when the organiser announced that the circuit is quite slippery and to be extra careful when running the trail course.
Most of the runners were with proper running shoes. As for me, I was really contemplating whether or not to consider wearing my usual running shoes, or to opt for my x-trail running shoes by Solomon.
It is a cross country, so, I should consider running with a pair of shoes that can suit both conditions; road and terrain.
The initial trail started just after I had clocked 2-kilometres on the GPS by Nike+, running uphill towards the National Planetarium. The challenge uphill was pure energy and strength. Not much of balance required, but minimal grip was definitely required as the hill was steep and quite slippery.
It shows that the right pair of shoes is an important role. Runners with not so proper shoes were struggling to endure the course. Slippery and sometimes losing their balance uphill and mostly downhill.
The real challenge throughout the course was the trail between the 6th kilometre mark till about the 8th kilometre. It started just off Persiaran Salahuddin into the jungle and hilly area running uphill and downhill towards the National Monument and ASEAN Sculpture Garden.
This is where runners were put to the test. The trail was definitely slippery and the downhill was really steep. It was really a great choice to put on those X-Trail Solomon Running shoes. This was the part where my pace was pretty fast, even faster than my road running.
I was confident running in the trail without worrying slipping due to lack of grip. The shoes was a right fit for the circuit. Although, it would have been better if I were on running shoes when on road surface.
My body was still aching from the sporting event the previous day, but the determination to push further brought me to the finishing line. I never thought that I could have endured it. Mental fitness played a role definitely! A total distance of 10.67 kilometres as clocked by my wonderful running companion Nike+ GPS on iOS with a total time of 1 hour 31 minutes and 31 seconds at an average pace of 8 minutes 34 seconds per kilometre. And it was my personal best 10-kilometre with a time of 1 hour 15 minutes and 52 seconds.
Route info, check it out at Nike+.
Healthy lifestyle. What does this mean? Balanced diet? Exercise? Mental fitness?
Hey there readers, you must be wondering where was I for the past months away from this blog. Nothing has been updated on the sports arena. Where am I? Well, to tell you the truth, I have just shelved my photography as a hobby somewhere, and been away from the auto-sporting arena for almost a year now.
Reason being, change of working career; leading me to be more focused on my current working career.
I used to work and sweat myself out at work due to the heavy lifting of goods and stuff, assuming that it was OK not to exercise as I say to myself, "hey, I've already shed sweat during my work time, and that's enough right?".
The very first day I step into the new working environment, I was approached by my newly acquainted colleague, who happens to jog after office hours at the nearby public park when its clear skies in the afternoon, else, running up and down the 16-floor steps to shed sweat. He said to me, "You know what? We need to keep a healthy lifestyle. Do you exercise?"
At first, it never occurred to me that the question he asked me the very first day would have brought me this far. Definitely, I did tell him that, once in a while, YES, I did shed sweat, but not more than once a month, I think.
Day in, day out. My normal routine will be coming to the office, sitting in front of the computer screen for more than 6-hours, straining my back, my eyes, my brain, everything that my body and soul would offer to the slavery of WORK and computers. After a few weeks, I find that I am losing weight. Is this a good sign? Without exercising, I am actually losing weight!
Then one fine day, I took the opportunity to buy myself a pair of shoes, and without any pre-training, without any preparation, signed up for a 10-kilometre run organised in celebration of "International Firefighters' Day". I stood up to the challenge of my office mate, Hisham, that I am able to do the 10-kilometre run without stopping for breath.
Fair enough, I had to make 4-stops to complete the run on that day. Where has all my fitness gone to? I could have run a 21-kilometre run without shedding a single sweat back then, without stopping to catch a breath.
It then struck me, yes, I did shed sweat during my daily routine in my previous work. Yes, I did lift some weights at home to shed some sweat off of me. But, was it enough? Question answered; NO!
I then started Google-ing up, "maintaining a healthy lifestyle". A healthy lifestyle by right, is choosing the right food, maintaining a balanced diet, keeping fit by exercising, NOT SMOKING, having a healthy mind and many more. Its just doing what best maintains your health and life. Its all about BALANCE.
After the 10-kilometre run incident, I then took the challenge by my dear friend, Hisham, to follow him and continue running, taking it easy and progressing the distance as we go along. It started with a leg-crunching, heart-exhaustion and mental-disablement, keeping up with the first few runs round the ~2.4-kilometre circuit once every two days. That's just ONE ROUND in every two days. That too, my heart was pumping really hard, and my bones were aching, and the lungs were just working its every muscle to catch every breath to supply sufficient 02 to the heart. Will I succeed?
In two months, with constant running, I have managed to increase my pace and distance to 2-full rounds round the 2.4-kilometre track. That's like 4.8-kilometres! In total, I was already doing 14.4-kilometres a week or 57+ kilometres a month! Was it good enough?
Well, lets try and put it to my body figures. Well, I did not lose much weight; just 4kg. Waist? Still at 34". But will I be able to finish a 10-kilometre run? Indeed I did! In just 2-months running, I managed to run the next 10-kilometre run at a constant single pace finishing in 1 hour 20 minutes. No doubt, it was like 3-times slower than any other marathon runner, but, it was an achievement to myself.
But why continue running? What does it mean "A healthy Lifestyle" for myself? Well, 9-months has passed, and I have endured many short marathon runs, the farthest I've done is a 12.4-kilometre run. All completed without any muscle break, without any hard effort during the runs. All it needs was a constant discipline to keep fit, running, at least twice a week. Did it cost much? NO! The only investment I've ever splurged on is on the shoes. Finding the right shoe is important. But, that's it! Just a pair of shoes, and you're on! I'm still not at the "Healthy Lifestyle" point.
The main thing is, that, we are straining ourselves, sitting at our desk, day in, day out, staring at the computer screen, attending meetings, straining your fingers at the keyboard and mouse, breaking your brains thinking of what to type in your reports; yet, we are not moving our muscles enough. We may be eating right, but the heart is not being trained well to keep fit. We are watching our weight, but not doing it right. Starving is not the solution. Starvation does not mean you are fit! That definitely is not a "Healthy Lifestyle".
Running. I would recommend to anyone. Everyone. All you need, is a pair of shoes. What good is it to us? Well, I find it to be:
- A way to relieve stress
- Keeping fit at a very minimal cost
- Losing weight (not for me really, but it think if I eat right, I'll shed more weight off)
- Increase stamina
- FUN
- Believing in oneself
My target, is to run a half-marathon by end of 2012. Is it achievable? Well, I've come this far, and there is no stopping me. Its just the joy of running. The satisfaction when you cross that line. It is just not describable, but you need to experience it yourself. Well, many thanks to Hisham, my running buddy, always there to guide me and push me, reminding me to keep it going. Till then, happy running!
