5 Days to Canberra Half Marathon

Remember the Half Marathon that I registered for 2 months back? Yeah it's now around the corner. 5 days to go and I will be able to figure out whether I walk my talk or simply full of hot air. I have been doing as much training as I could (or 'as I feel like doing' precisely~). Honestly, I was determined at first and ran 5km three times a week for the first two week.

Then back to usual, priority towards assignment and classes has taken my enthusiasm away and I hang my training shoes for almost a month. I keep wondering whether this study thingy will be my excuses for not loosing weight forever or it is inevitable and very real. My good-self will pick the later but I think people around me or Abang Keli would say otherwise. "It's just one of your million excuses, and it works terrific most of the time," this is what I THINK he would say. Haha.

Maybe this is true - I'm using academic commitment as my safety shield as no one dare to say it is second to loosing weight. Ya anyway, it's now term break and I guess no more REASONS or excuses should be given for not doing my training. Oh actually there is one. People says few days before the Marathon you shouldn't do much running because it may effect your performance on the day itself. But I have to say this is bullshit in my case. Without adequate or minimal training I might as well say bye bye to the half marathon itself. I don't think I can run more than 5km in the stage that I was.

So long story short, I started back my training last week. Funny, I actually ran 28km the whole one week (I considered it is run since my average speed is 7.5km/hour). More than I actually ever run in my whole lifetime!!!. 1st day 5km, 3rd day 10km, and 6th day 13km (today!). The power of goal people. You won't do anything for nothing. But you would do everything for something. Meaning to say for my mission to finish the 21km Half Marathon within 3 hours, I actually drag my but to gym and run with my heavy lazy body.

This is so much different from my first day running my 5k when on my way back from the gym I felt like floating, wanted to vomit all the way, my hand shaking and I passed off immediately after I reached home. But today after 13km I'm feeling fresh and still sitting here mumbling in my dear blog and planning to do some assignment after. The legs are painful though. I'm feeling really good and more optimist after I did the 13km. I know the Half marathon will be 21km but if I can do 13km, insyaallah another 8km would not be a problem. Insyaallah.

My last resort is to walk/crawl to the finish line. If I can't do it within 3 hours that's alright I forgive my self and will add extra 30 minutes to that. To finish is the mission. The only mission! =D

Foot note: I only lost 4 kgs since I started training last 1 and half month. But I swear I ate a lot of chocolates, rice and kebabs! ;P

Comeback!

I'm back! Not my intention to escape from the training but I just got a new casual job very physically demanding. Plus with my current situation which still under the debt of nazar fasting, I totally passed off after work until I broke fast. Therefore for the past 8 days no training. None.

I made a comeback today. Since I had only one class in the evening and no work at all. Today is the right time to give it another shot I told my self. Yeah and I did another 5K today! Yahuuuu (asyik2 5K, macam mane nak run 20k half marathon?, wallahualam..ni keje tuhan :P)

Luckily I haven't loose my fitness (fitness lah sangat kan) and keep improing my record. So today I did the 5K in 38 minutes and 31 seconds. :D Kudos MS KELI! U r the man!! Ngeh ngeh ngeh. Maybe because today I was accompanied by a friend and indirectly the body co-operate well, nak tunjuk hebatlah sangat. Agaknyer. Hahaha.. Last2 orang tu run 10km/hour - 12km/hour, aku run 9km/hour jerk.

Ha that's ok. Good thing came out of it. I improved my record by a minute! :D Every small milestone counts ok. None will be neglected. I appreciate you strong body, strong mind. Please keep it that way until we reach our ultimate goal of running 21k ya.

What the heck is Half Marathon?

Half Marathon adalah setengah daripada Full Marathon lah. Ok itu literal answer. Dalam erti kata yang lebih kompleks kalau Marathon adalah road running event of 42km (26 miles) distance maka Half Marathon adalah road running for about 21 km (13 miles). So biasanya orang join Half Marathon adalah untuk persediaan bagi Full Marathon or just for competitiveness edge lah kan.

So far best record for Half Marathon in the world adalah a guy name Zerseney from negara yang bernama Eritrea (pelik2 nama meke ni) dengan catatan rekod 58 minutes 23 seconds. Super laju kan? Maknanya dia ni lari dengan kelajuan tak kurang dari 21km/hour! Gilo kan? Macam naik motor sejam bawak 21km tapi ini berlari tanpa henti. Dasat!

Rekod perempuan adalah dipegang oleh Mery Keitany from Kenya dengan catatan masa 65 minutes 50 saat. Maklumlah perempuan banyak aset so lambat sikit lari. Banyak nak kene usung. But still, impressive record isn't it? Dan saya Ms Keli berazam untuk join Half Marathon ni dan finish this 21 kilometers in 3 hours or to be exact 180 minutes. Kekekekek. Janji siap ok?

Rules and regulation setiap Half Marathon ni adakalanya berbeza depend on the organizer. Tapi most of the competition will set maximum time for you to reach the finish line or you will be disqualified. Yerlah kalau sampai lambat-lambat tak boleh dah nak panggil Marathon baik panggil Jogathon or Walkaton kan.

Rasa aku lebih ready nak masuk jogathon kowts. Tapi nak wat macam mano, sendiri carik penyakit, kito harung yolah yo... Owh yer, anyway my mission to join this Half Marathon is not to win the prize (lamo lagi nak berhasil!) or untuk catat rekod dunia ker daerah ker ape. Jauh sekali nak melakar nama dimata dunia. Sah-sah berangan. At first, saja nak push myself for the Hal Marathon training so that I will lose the weight along the way.

But as time passed by, the run itself tend to be more interesting and thrilling than loosing the stubborn weight! Rasa macam best when you did something that u thought u can never done before - in my case so far the 5K. This feeling doesn't last on the thread mill but you carry it along in your other commitments. You will tend to trust yourself more and work harder for what you desire. That's how I feel throughout the training.

Nonetheless, it does show up in the scale I weigh 78.1 KG today in compare to 79.5 KG last week. Just wish I can stick my butt to this one a little more longer than usual ;)
Allah....bless me. :D

Fasting and half marathon training again

Hari ni aku berpuasa. But yet training must go on. Bukan apa kalau nak tunggu 2 minggu puasa nazar ni habis baru nak training memang tak cukup masa dah for the Half Marathon. Sorry to make big fuse out of the Half Marathon, but to be truth at this point of time finishing the Half Marathon tends to bother me more than my weight issue.

I will let it be because thus far by focusing on the Half Marathon training and forget about my weight issue works like throw 2 birds with one stone (herm betul ker ni?). Kirenya meaning to say, serampang dua matalah..tembak satu dua2 kena.

So pagi tadi tak sahur sebab terlampau kenyang. Luckily I didn't work today so I got to enjoy half day nap (the hell nap??) before hit the gym at about 7.30 p.m. I was in between whether to break fast first and do the 5K or do the 5K first and break fast right after I finish.

I eventually hit the gym first after being nagged by Mr Keli. I kind of agree though because if I eat first I might having trouble to carry all the fats and the foods during the run. Hah! Ingatkan I couldn't do better than my record last two days. Yelah puasa kan, siap tak sahur lagi. Siap frust2 and giveup dengan diri sendiri and boleh pulak fikir nak stop and go home when I reached 2.5K. Last2 pujuk diri sendiri and jalan2 slow and to my surprise mood, semangat and tenaga tu datang balik sikit2.

So friends, if you feel like quitting, just hang in there a little longer who knows you can change your mind and push your body to the extra maximum. That's what I did. And I..

Teng tereng......















tereng......

















teng tereng.....























teng.....teng...teng..




















ok enough already.....

Manage to finish the 5K in 39 minutes and 51 seconds. I know you will be like: "ek eleh minah ni, ingat 15 minutes siap 5K tadi. Kecoh jer". Hahahaha..but whatever ok. Sebabkan saya puasa saya amat2 puas hati. it takes time people. It seriously does.

When I talked to a best friend yesterday, "Die, can this fat me run a Half Marathon with consistent training". She was like, "Of course darling, is not about your weight but your endurance. How your heart is going to take it makes a different, your body is always capable (provided you train enough),". Oh by the way, she's a physiotherapist.

And trust me, that's not lines of comfort from her. This friend of mine will hardly lie. She will tell the truth straight to my face or anyone. Like for example, "You're not gonna get married to this useless guy, just leave him already, don't dream too much,".

Ouchhhh right? I know.. :D That's my best friend a.k.a big sister Didie!

Very first training for Half Marathon

So I did a 5K yesterday. Before I went to the gym I actually done a lot of mental preparation. I slept well, I ate on time and I set my mind to be as determine or maybe as neutral as possible. Yes, I was scared. I have no clue why this time around, going to the gym seems to frighten me a lot. I'm scared that I can't lift up to my own expectation. I don't usually have a high expectation on myself but then the Half Marathon have seriously got into my mine. After read all the rules and regulations of the Half Marathon, I feel like this is so ridiculous. I won't be able to do it at all.

I was thinking about it almost every seconds. And most of the time I end up feeling that I have made such a huge mistake. I'm never a runner. I'm not even a jogger. I will be kicked out in the first 15 minutes of the marathon. These lines keep playing in my mind. Ok stop whining already! Huh! Kalau layan feeling ni..memang duk complain je 24 jam.

But still for the past two days I actually dragged my legs to the gym and finished up a couple of 5K. Kudos to my dying self. The first trial was hard. And the second one was harder! Yes, surprisingly. These are my shameful records:

1st Day 5K
Time : 40 minutes 45 seconds
Average pace : NIL
Average speed: NIL

And actually during the second trial I had stomach pain after a short run. I keep holding it in throughout the 5K. My body and my mind wasn't as good as the first time. So I was thinking that my timing is going to be really out today. But then I keep forcing myself to stay on track like yesterday. I won't be able to finish it 20 seconds faster(as you can see below) if I didn't speed upto 10.5km/hour for the last minutes. I think I'm more of a sprinter than a marathoner. Huh jangan mimpi actually neither a sprinter nor a marathoner. Mimpi sajer!

2nd Day 5K
Time : 40 minutes 25 seconds
Average pace : NIL
Average speed: 7.2km/hour

When I was running/jogging I did a lot of calculation. With my current time, I will definitely be disqualified before even get to the half point of the half marathon. I am too slow. And it's really killing me because I think I gave my best in these two 5K. My heart sometimes feel like it's going to pop out when I'm running especially on the last few minutes that I 'try' to sprint. How am I going to finish up a 21K for in the same speed for the sake of the Half Marathon? God knows.

But I'm wishing as I keep training 2-3 times per week and lose few KGs I would be able to run a little longer, a bit faster, and having a more trusted endurance level. Aminn...Allah bless. As for know, just get the legs to do the bloody 5K every other day.

p/s: To join a 5K dash in Canberra Running Festivals you need to finish up within 25 minutes or off you go. My best record is 15 minutes after that max time. I did a mistake for signing up a Half Marathon. Didn't I?