Running my first marathon.

So for once in my entire lifetime, ive completed a full marathon. A full 42.125 km worth of sweat, agony and pain throughout my body. And the experience is somewhat addicting, although not for the first few days after the race.

The Penang Bridge International Marathon is an annual running event, at the famous Penang bridge, and this year, being the first year of the 2nd bridge, the organizer managed to get their hands on the 2nd bridge and held the run there. All running categories from full marathon, half, 10k and fun run is included and awfully a lot of people are here for the race.

In my 2014 year resolution, i've challanged myself to run a full marathon, alongside couple of half marathon before to prep myself for the this big race. My initial target was to run two 10k races, followed by two half marathon, and finally a full marathon at the end of the year. and after judging some races, i decided to pick PIBM 2014 to be my marathon debut since it is at the end of the year. and also because it is relatively easy(no trails, and deadly hills)

The Big Day.

Preparation is all done and i was very much ready both physically and mentally for the race. I've read and even memorized some of the "first time marathoners mistakes" article on the net and im sure do grateful for that.

After considering well of my fitness level(which is not that good at that time btw) and some considerations on my body (from previous half marathon), i carefully plan my entire run. The plan was to run at an average pace of 7 min per km for the first 30km before stopping by for Subuh prayer and continued with the same pace for the last 10k or so of the race.

When the race began, i carefully and slowly began my pace, not trying to outpace everyone else and maintain that good pace. It all went well until i reached the end of the bridge, at about km20. At this point i knew, ive completed half of the race. So for the next 10k i've struggled to maintain the same pace although it did not really work out. according to my Garmin FR10, i;ve only managed to maintain avg 8-9 min/km pace for the next 10k or so. The pain on my right knees, and lower legs start to affect my performance. At km32 as my watch indicated, i stopped for Subuh prayer at about 6am in the morning, just as i noticed another muslim brother just about to have his prayer. With some water bottle from previous water station, i took my ablution just by the road and uses a towel i carried along with me to cover my head. So for those out there who think about not praying during races, think again. It was not that difficult.

Moving on from there, there is another 10km left according to one of the sign installed. And by this time my Garmin fr10 battery already died on me, so pace was not my concern anymore although i was hoping to complete the race in about 6 hours. At this point, i can barely jog since my thigh and ankle felt so painful and it felt like it can cramp anytime if im not careful. And i hate to not complete this race. So whenever i felt that urge, that jolt of pain, i stopped and walk away.

The last 4km felt like forever as i can no longer jog. Rather than hurting myself and not finishing it, i change the plan to walking until the last few meter before the finish line. and i glad i did that since i managed to run off the finish line with some graceful jog for the photographers to take some pictures of me(hopefully). (edit: es i have a picture, but man, it was so bad, and they even charge me!)

at that time, i was worn out, i did not have much of energy left, my thigh, ankle and my knees is in a deep pain and after a long queue for medal and finisher tee collection, i get on and had my breakfast, which is worth noting to be the best breakfast ive had in months although it is just a cereal. From there it was all fun times with friends before heading back home.

Some summary on the race course, as expected it was fairly easy in term of the track. It was pretty straightforward, tarmac track with little elevation changes. Elevation gain was as little of 18m which very little. During the start, you can see the street lamp all the way until the end of the bridge, and to some this is a great pain in the ass. Must have a strong mental to overcome this until the end. In all it was a great run and im glad i chose this run to be my debut marathon run.

Data my Garmin managed to store before it died.

And thats me, got my ass kicked from the first marathon.

And there you go, my first experience running a marathon. and first though is that i wont race a marathon again. Not after this pain. But after a deep slumber, i can help but wanted to do a better one, one where i can complete in that 7min/km pace throughout. hehe. Maybe next time.

and here are some of my advice on anyone planning on running their first marathon anytime soon

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1. Train your legs well - dont just depend on jogging to strengthen your legs, do some weight exercise, go cycling. I knew i need those prior to this run.

2. Fuel properly - Eat drink well before the race. bring along gels if necessary

3. Dont consume gel and run - this might be a personal advice. last race i consumed a gel while jogging and later on my stomach starts to feel funny and i was in very great deal of pain for 5km or so until the next toilet stop.

4. Dont start too fast - unless you are an athelete whos done half marathon, running all the way that is. Start slow and build up from there. dont get to excited and sprint off.

5. Dont consume banana in the race - again, this is personal advice. I knew if i consume a banana will eventually have a visit to the toilet anytime soon. So if you dont want a mid race toilet session, dont.

6. Bring along tigerbalm/ minyak panas/ salonpas spray or anything that can ease up the pain -  because most aids camp wont have those, and have only ice packs which is slow to work with.

7. Hydrate well - Do stop by for drinks at the station. better if you can bring along a water bottle.

8. Listen to song - This helps a bit, especially that last few km to the finish line

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Hope these advice helps!

4 days at UNIQLO Sunway Pyramid

Assalamualaikum and hello.

I know it's been a while since my last post. I've been eager to post new things online but lately i've lost confident in writing blog. Mainly because i have no more interesting things to write about. These few months, i have been writing long paragraph of words but none of it make any sense. And i just left the post unattended, as a draft, waiting until the day that i need to write again. But now i have something to write again. (YAY!)

So in the past week, i have been working again. After about a year or so of non-working life. I'm one of the few temporary staff(Temp) that work for the grand opening of UNIQLO branch at Sunway Pyramid. Although it was only for a short time of 4 days, it's a unique experience to add on to myself.

For that 4 long days, my job as a temp staff was to assist the stock department to replenish on stock and making sure we have everything that can make good sale always on the shop floor. So early in the days, we need to support the full time staff as well as the part timers to finish up the preparation at the shop floor. Once thats done, im back at the store room to arrange all the extra boxes intended for the stock throughout the day. When the stock is well arranged at the back, it time to replenish items that has been selling fast like a hot goreng pisang. The routine mainly involve carrying a box, open up the package, fold the item, and put it on the carrier(called blue top, or blue tot? i think) to be carried out to the shop floor.

and fyi, this is my first time working in a Japanese company. On the first day, during the hectic opening, one of the Japanese Manager scold the senior staff there for not securing an empty hallway for people to walk from the staff room to the back of the store, where all the stock is lying. One thing that will always stuck in my head is what he said about keeping a space. He said something like, Always make space for people to walk, when the pathway is block, the productivity will go down, so will the efficiency, thus resulting to loss on sale. That little information as of to make a clear path for people to move around make me realize how good the Japanese people is in managing the performance. No wonder Uniqlo is one of the successful retail company in the world.(No kidding here.)

Super long queue on the Opening Day.

Despite having to go back home with a very painful foot and waking up to aches all over my body, i think this is the most body wearing job i've ever had in my lifetime. Imagine applying analgesic cream to your shoulder, back, biceps and hamstring muscle every night before sleep and after waking up. Such a pain.

But overall we are paid goodly with our effort for these 4 days. And not to forget, i make new friends here too. Although some were a bit racist and prefer to talk in their own group, being the only the temp staff, you can't expect them to be very much friendly. It's not like we are going to be there forever right? But still, these people that i make here are very interesting and fun to hang around too. Nelson, Ooi, Syafiq, Faiz and few more i can't recall their name, you guys are great people and i hope to see you guys again in the future.

Now that my body have recovered from muscle and joint pain, i think it's time to get back on looking for a new job, something less stressful to my body. Hopefully i'll succeed.

Tired !

Ok.i just lost my leg now!

yesterday was still okay,but today is like freaking torture..damn i really cannot 'tahan' standing for more than 5 hours?

ah.i finally remeber the table number properly this time.good for me.

so i start today by surfing the interert in the morning right after my subuh prayer.then i started to go to my workplace (sunwayyy)..luckily for me,this time the bus that i took straight away going to sunway.i arrived at sunway like 20 minutes early..fuh~~

there,suprisingly i meet my 'padang friends' whom started to work today at Sushi King.OMG thats early!!they were like super fast than me although all of them took the same type of suck public transportation!

so i enter my workplace probably 10 minutes early,and i meet this new staff who still in his study(work only on weekends)..wait..ah DAMN i totally forget his name..

then i started cleaning the table,wiping the mirror etc.ha ha ha luckily it raining outside ,so not much people going to sunway(in the morning)..so i was relaxing for about 2 hours until 12.thats when things started to get a little bit hairy..the customer comes in like ants searching for sweets.
good thing i dont have any Ridsect..hahahaaa

Again i meet,yashu(izzit?),Dicky,Izzat and Johny .thank god.i dont have to do all the stuff by myself.

so i stopped at 3 o'clock.these 3 days i have to work only in 5 hour coz im still a begginer though..yeah.call me rookie,noob or whatever.i still pwnt you in Dragon ball..hahahaha

aaah~~ im really tired now! ill post some more later.untill then.

lawl

The First DAY OMG!!!!!

huh..im really tired now.working plus soccer just put an end to my enery.luckily,theres still some remnant of my energy left to post this blog. ok.today i started working.I suppose to get there (sunway) by 10 but then my buses 'melencong' a bit leaving me a bit late.but suprisingly i arrive there just on time.really .that time im sure i lose my legs already.hahahaha


so the experience of first time working sure is wierd.its felt great and scary at the same time.I thought my two friend who works along (muzill and afiq)will came a bit late,but damn,they arrive much much faster than i am.PUBLIC transport suck anyway. first we were introduced to the surroundings(a.k.a work place ,whatever!) by the cute miss zoe (something like that la)...she was so nice to us,she even let us have some 'fishy' breakfast..hahaha OMG!the dory fish is awsomely mouth-watering, hurt pumping ,finger licking delicious...so today i have to be a waiter.wait?! a waiter? oh my,that really makes me nervous.


Then we were introduced to miss Wanie.more like 'kak' wanie for me.she been working there for about 2 years now.well she really really i mean really friendly to me.maybe coz of my cute face hahahaha lame.anyway, I really learn a lot of stuff to day,but the most hardest thing is to actually remember the menu and the table number.it was like OMG what with the table number???its so confusing.lets see ,section A theres table 1,3,4,5,6,7,10,12,13,14,15,16 wow.thats really confusing it nearly fried my brains.she also taugh me how to burnt,yes burnt some prawns infront of the customer!yess i actually have the chance to play with flamethrower :3 but thanks to Satesh(dont know how to spell it right,sry) i manage to learn how to be a good waiter.he was so nice,he taught me a lot of things...


Then while working my other two friend 'sapa' me to go to friday prayer.OMG i totally forgot about it..time goes out really fast. then when we came back i was suprise to see a lot of MFM crew.they are on the evening shift.so then i meet izzat,vikki and some other guy i cant remember thier names.so because the evening shift have so many waiter , i took my chances to 'goyang kaki'..heheheeheh well i mean it literally,coz i have to wipe some fork and spoon.



soon its alrady over.ahhhhhh.~~~~ it was relieving!!!!!!



then I arrive at home around 5 o'clock .had some refreshing shower,some cookies,and my prayer.i was sleepy at that time but i still insisting on going to the 'padang'..yup i always play soccer there in the evening... i arrive so early ,it was like heaven on the padang..hahahahaah so quit not like usual..

anyway,we started playing really late which like is 6.30 p.m . then at 7 i got back and settled down.But then i remember its was Friday,i have to go to the Surau for some 'ceramah'.....i got back early and straight away heading to the PC and turn on all the plug..then suddenly my stomach started to sang(lame again)so i took my dinner upstairs where my sister was watching the newTV series...I Survived The Japanese Gameshow..the title kinda catchy since i like watching japanese girls(hey,thats normal right ;D)...later on ,here i am writing this blog.....fuh


.today is a really tiring day i would say.now im feeling like sleeping on the PC table...thats all for now.
chiou!



lawl

The frustation.

tak sangka2 mlm tahun baru berita buruk smpai kat aku..nak kata buruk takdela sangat,cum tu ar dah lama aku tunggu saat ni..saat pe?hee..saat masuk kerja for the first time laaa..

adala dalam kul 12 lebey aku dpt messege dari kawan sekerja aku kat start kerja lusa (hari jumaat.)aduhhh..penat gler tunggu nih!dah beberapa kali kena postpone..tapi hopefully this is the last one..kalau jumaat ni postponed lagi...tak tau la .

anyway,hari ni aku disajikan dgn makan yg sedap..bukan apa pun kek birthday jer.yelah birthday mak aku hari ni..so ayah aku pun beli la kek chokelat satu ni dari Berrys..layan gler tapi cepat muak..hahaaha

nak post gambar kat sini rasanya takleh kut.licin habis kek tu.hahaha

anyway.that for now.esok nak masuk kerja .ciao!!

lol