Ironman, Ferum Homo sapiens?

Ironman, no, I’m not talking about the rich, flamboyant armoured superhero. It’s all about a (super) long distance triathlon. I like the movie and the character though. He’s the most possible and logical superhero (if ever existed) in our world. He’s neither from other universe nor a failed experiment. By using science and engineering, he created powerful armours cum weapons. Ooh ok, I’m done with the non sport intro hehehe.

“An Ironman Triathlon is one of a series of long-distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC) consisting of a 2.4-mile (3.86 km) swim, a 112-mile (180.25 km) bicycle ride and a marathon 26.2-mile (42.2 km) run, raced in that order and without a break.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_Triathlon

“An Ironman 70.3, also known as a Half Ironman, is one of a series of long distance triathlon races organized by the World Triathlon Corporation (WTC). The "70.3" refers to the total distance in miles (113.0 km) covered in the race, consisting of a 1.2-mile (1.9 km) swim, a 56-mile (90 km) bike ride, and a 13.1-mile (21.1 km) run.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ironman_70.3

Official site
http://ap.ironman.com/#axzz2hc53UM00

The Ironman World Championship (also called Ironman Kailua-Kona) was held last week (13th October 2013) and the winners were Frederik Van Lierde (BEL) (8:12:29 - Men) and Mirinda Carfrae (AUS)( 8:52:14 – Women, new record!). Congratulations to them.

Malaysian netizens were frantic and abuzzed following the teaser from independent sources about the returning Ironman to Malaysia. We had Ironman back in 2010 and they pulled back due to bad organizer. I don’t know much about it but I believe this new organizer will do their best to deliver a world-class event. The official announcement is here http://ap.ironman.com/triathlon-news/articles/2013/10/malaysia-to-host-two-new-ironman-events-in-2014.aspx#axzz2hc53UM00. Malaysia will host half distance Ironman, the Ironman 70.3 in Putrajaya on 13th April 2014 and full distance Ironman in Langkawi on 27th September 2014.

Ironman Asia Pacific

Ironman Langkawi

Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya

From that moment, my Facebook and twitter timelines were flooded with super duper excited runners and triathletes posts and tweets. I was excited as well. However most of us were shocked with the skyrocketed soaring high entry fee. Aiyo, mahal giler!

USD550+6% Admin fee!

USD240+6% Admin fee for individual! Team USD290+6%!

Since this event is an international event at world class standard and the fee is almost the same with other Ironman series in other part of the world, I somehow believe this fee is acceptable. A wise runner/triathlete said race or don’t race at all. Your call. If Ironman event is your top priority, please bear with the high entry fee and register yourself. There’s no guarantee this event will be held in Malaysia again in 2015.

Mortal Normal people might question why torture ourselves with the extreme distance, long-commitment training and pay high fees. We love paying a lot and getting tortured and beaten up in return, don’t cha hehehe. Sounds kinky much. Well it’s all about passion, ambition and self-satisfaction peeps. Some people might spend thousands on cars, branded handbags, gadgets, superbikes etc. Some people love spending most of their time on sports training as if they have no life. Well, the definition of life is subjective. We determine the meaning of life in our own mould. Ok, I’m done here with the ranting.

Why I talk about Ironman so sudden? I’m not even a duathlete/triathlete. I don’t own a bicycle. I don’t know how to swim efficiently. Why do I even have a blog post on Ironman? What the heck? If you are my twitter followers you might have noticed this at my profile page.

I'm a wannabe!

Yes, I’m a wannabe. A sincere confession. However, I did nothing (not yet) except running in becoming a duathlete/triathlete. I don’t think it’s enough. Maybe it’s time to step up. The announcement of Ironman is kind of a wake up call. Why swim-bike-run? Well, triathlon involves three different disciplines and activates different set of muscles. Endurance and flexibility are part of it. Not many people can do it. Not many want to do it. Why Ironman? I want to challenge and outdo myself. Ironman is super hard but the accomplishment feeling will be greater considering the training amount and intensity. I have two ultimate ambitions, to become a podium winner in major events and finishing an Ironman. Plus the title is nice too hehe. IM Rashid. Not the Imam Muda hehehe.

Why swim? I learnt how to swim back in 2009. A lab senior (thank you OSC) taught us how to swim back in our postgrad day. It was fun and challenging. I’m an Aquarius after all (tiada kaitan pun LoL). It seems easy but believes me it’s not. Took me a month to mastering floating and breaststroking. I’m such a slow learner, sigh. Haven’t swam for months and now it’s time to re-ignite the passion. Planning to enroll myself in an official swimming class. I need to learn how to do freestyle swimming as it’s an efficient way in a competitive event.

Why bike? I cycled to school back in my primary school. Wanted to buy a bicycle during varsity days. Luckily or perhaps not, I got a motorcycle. I’m planning to buy a bike, however a lot of considerations need to be made especially if I want to participate in a competitive event. Gonna cost thousand. But again, passion will triumph over other matters. Errr, at least I hope so. Wish me luck in getting myself a bike in near future ;)

I won’t participate in Ironman Langkawi but I will cheer friends who compete. Hope them can finish within cut-off time limit. Will I go to Langkawi? Don’t know yet. How about Ironman 70.3 in Putrajaya? I have this idea of participating in Ironman 70.3 relay as runner. However, I still need to search for cyclist and swimmer. If you want me as your relay partner please don’t hesitate to let me know.

No drama drama just TRI ;)

4:30 mission

I hereby announce the commencement of my 4:30 mission on 16th September 2013 (Hari Malaysia).

I declared it via facebook & twitter.

'Empat setengah, empat setengah.'

What the heck is 4:30? Why suddenly it becomes so important to me?

The idea of 4:30 came to mind a day after I ran Great Eastern Live Great Run.

I was analysing my official timing for running events and it got me thinking very hard.

Yes, I have a complete set of official and unofficial timing for all running events I’ve participated since 2010.

It sounds weird & too much right.

Apparently not for me. I gauge my performance based on official/unofficial timing.

From there I could see whether I did well, scored PB/PR or vice versa.

Luckily I scored PB in most of my running events & the timing table was very nice.

There’s a significant improvement from year to year.

Back to 4:30.

It’s all about timing. No, not 4hours 30mins for full marathon.

Seriously I’m not a big fan of marathon (mind you it’s 42.195km not 5-km marathon LoL).

I dislike the training commitment and suffering during the run. Dreaded.

But then only full marathon and certain half marathon events offered nice finisher tee huhuhu.

In order to get that finisher tee, I have to endure the dreaded route huhuhu.

Only crazy people will attempt to do full marathon and special crazy to do ultramarathon.

Kuchalana said any stupid can run marathon but require extra stupid to run ultramarathon.

I said this yet I’ve completed 3 full marathons with nice timing (or at least I think so hehe).

I guess only crazy marathon finishers could call other marathon finishers crazy ;)

I did my 1st FM in 5:19, 2nd FM in 4:44 and 3rd in 4:06.

So 4:30 obviously not about FM.

So what the heck is 4:30? Sigh.

Sorry to make you wasted your precious minutes before getting there hehe.

4:30 mission is my running pace target (4min 30s) for 10/12/16km (1 mile and below) distance.  

It’ll be 45min for 10km, 54min for 12km & 1hr 12min for 16km. Gulp!

It’s no surprise that I like not so long distance as it’s quicker.

My current pace (until today) is roughly 5min for 10/12/16km since April this year.

I did 59:54.45min in 12km World Kidney Day Run in Putrajaya (April).

16km Mizuno Wave Run in June, did 1:20:26.

12km Men’s Health & Shape Night Run in September, did 0:59:31

12km Great Eastern Live Great Run in September, did 0:59:41.91.

It seems like I don’t improve much.

Stuck at the same pace for 6 months.

Boring.

It’s a good thing that my body is well accustomed to 5min/km pace this year.

My pace for late last year/early this year was around 5min 18s.

But I want more. Need to step up in this game.

My long time ambition is to win a podium placing in a big running event.

Sounds almost impossible.

But I believe it is possible granted that I train well & don’t give up.

It’s gonna take years but hey I’ve been running since 2010 & it’s already 4 years.

Apalah sangat 3 tahun lagi.

But then that is a 3-year plan.

For short term plan with end of 2013 as the target, I need to achieve 4:30min/km pace.

Need to shave off 30s/km from my current pace.

Not easy huhuhu.

Buang 10s pun seksa huhuhu.

I sketched few strategies to achieve that impossible pace

1) Become thinner

Thinner means faster. Thinner ye not anorexic.

2) Change my training method

Honestly I don’t have a fixed schedule for training. Need to be serious now. Need to incorporate tempo/interval/hill etc. Also need to take out lazy from my dictionary huhuhu.

3) Eat clean (not the cleaner LoL)

Avoid junk/fast food (oh no!). Err perhaps take less ;) Eat real food, not processed. Consume more fruits, vegies etc (more smoothies?). Avoid fried food.

4) Weight lifting

My upper body is so weak, need to work more on this.

5) Strengthening core muscle

Plank and its siblings are in order.

6) Swimming

Gaya bebas, people? I’m an Aquarius but I haven’t been to swimming pool for month huhuhu.

Those strategies are not new or novel. The main real issue is the discipline (or istiqamah).

I’ll try my best to do all.

We’ll see the result at the end of this year (takutnya huhuhu).

There’s a possibility of not achieving it but that’s a risk I’m willing to take.

I pray (and hoping) that I’ll be healthy all year long.

Thanks for reading. I hope you’ll be able to achieve your coveted pace too ;)

Salam Syawal, eat a lot & run a little?

Salam Syawal to all.

I'm such a lazy ass/donkey bum, update blog whenever I have the mood, which I rarely had hahaha.

We are now at the end of Syawal.

How's your puasa ganti enam?

Don't ask me but ask your iman instead LoL.

I'm sure that all of us has attended an open house or two (or more obviously) and had been force feeding pigging out like there's no tomorrow.

Me too - feeling guilty T_T

I somehow believe that they’ll make a good foie gras out of us LoL.

Eat all you can but please beware that this is not good for you in a long run (pun intended).

Or else you're going to pay the consequences (whip sound).

I mean the medical bills hehee.

Don’t forget to run, to burn calories from all those lemang, ketupat, rendang, sate, biskut raya etc.

A must.

I’m going to summarise my running activities as a reminder to myself to keep moving.

Let’s move it, move it, I like to move it (King Julien - Madagascar).

Below are my participated & upcoming running events in 2013.

Participated:

1) 200113 Dragon Back Run, 14.5km, Klang

1^st time running in Klang, not so forgiving rolling in the deep hills, 25^th placing in Men’s Open category, 1:17:29

2) 020213 Zombie Run Malaysia, Damansara

1^st time as volunteer, I was a Saree Auntie Zombie, featured in The Star during a make up class session (femes skejap)

3) 170213 Chap Ayam Relay Fun Run, 3x3km, Padang Merbuk

1^st time running in relay, our group was Kaki Lenguh Runners, 28^th placing in Men’s Open category, I ran my fastest 3km (4:16min/km)

030313 Brooks Half Marathon, 21km, Bukit Jalil

Anniversary HM turned into an epic fail run! Vomited more than 20 times due to food poisoning, 2035^th placing in Men’s Open, did 3:14:52 (slow melow!)

310313 2XU Compression Run Sg, 21km

1^st time running outside Malaysia, didn’t know that we’ll be flagged off in batches (hate this), did my 1^st sub-2hr HM. 01:57:03

070413 Malaysia Women Marathon, Shah Alam, 21km

1^st time as a pacer, epic late start (30min late haha), met the legendary Katherine Switzer

210413 The Island Ocean Marathon @ Langkawi, FM

1^st time running in Langkawi, 1^st FM in 2013, 2^nd FM after PBIM 2012, PB 4:44hr (35mins faster). Marathon Combo series, boutique marathon.

280413 Kidney Run, 12KM

A week after TIOM, so hard to push myself, 36^th placing in Men’s Open category, 59:54.45, pace barely sub 5min/KM woohooo!

120513 Deuter Putrajaya Trail Fun Run

1^st trail in 2013, underdistance by 1km, 17^th overall (manually count from FB photos hehe), 38:45

190513 KL Towerthon Sunrise Challenge 2013, 0.8KM + 2035 steps

1^st tower/stairs challenge, 130^th placing in Men’s Open category, 00:23:21.75, few hours apart from Milo Malaysia Breakfast Day Run

190513 Milo Malaysia Breakfast Day Run 2013, 7km

1^st time back2back with Towerthon, failed to secure top30 placing T_T (got present for 1-30^th), got 57^th placing in Men’s Open category, 00:37:06.11. Legs felt heavy due to Towerthon

260513 Larian Kampus Sukan Dwi-Tahunan MARDI (closed event)

Skipped Ekiden Run for this, won 1^st placing in Men’s Category (oh yeah!), HQ contingent won overall.

020613 UKM Victory Run II, 15km

2^nd time participated, supported this event because alma mater, rolling hills, 6^th placing, bad event coz paid RM40 for cheap Milo tee (unlike their advertisement), medal for top 5 only, finisher got pens only. Will I participate again? Most likely not. Disappointed.

090613 Mizuno Wave Run, 16km

A must join as I was a Mizuno user (Mizuno Wave Elixir 7), 74^th placing, 3^rd time participating, 1:20:26, PB

070713 Larian Kampus Sukan MOA (closed event)

Skipped NTV7 Feel Good Run, won 1^st placing in Men’s Category (oh yeah yeah!), MARDI contingent won overall. Distance almost 5km & I did 4:15min/km. Fast according to my standard.

180813 Viper Challenge

Late registration, 1^st time participating in running+obstacles, diirrrtyyyy, had a great time with teammates

010913 River Jungle Marathon, FM

This was part of Marathon Combo Series, non-competitive event, scenic yet hilly routes, 4:06:11, PB (faster by 38mins, I’m grinning ear to ear). Almost sub 4hr but I guess sub4 is asking too much and as well as pushing my luck. With not enough training, resting too long (20days! Due to puasa, raya & lil bit of drama), I’m more than content with this timing.

Most of the said events were my 1^st time. 1^st time as volunteer, 1^st time as zombie, 1^st time as pacer, 1^st trail, 1^st relay, 1^st running+obstacles, 1^st towerthon, 1^st back2back etc. My concept for this year is trying something different (aka buang tebiat hehehe). Reminded me to Linkin Park’s Breaking the Habit song. Life is more fun this way. Trying to escape from same old same old routine same old (yeah I wrote that 3X), the no-brainer run hihi. Playing too safe is boring and so yesterday.

I consider myself lucky as I managed to PB in most of the running events. In my opinion, PB is a must an ideal achievement after putting hours of training, with sweats & tears along the way (drama much!). Not everyone is podium worthy but everyone is entitled to their own PB. I might as well write a new blog entry on PB ;)  PB, the glory, the perception & the bitter truth. Tajuk beria gile LoL.  

Upcoming (registered):

070913 Men's Health & Shape Night Run, 12km

A must participate! Kick-started my running activities after a long hiatus with this run back in 2010. Generous goodies.  4th time.

080913 Back 2 Basics, 10-30km

Oh no, few hours after Men's Health & Shape Night Run. Back2back fever again. Non competitive event. Preparation for SCKLM. Their medal & tee are nice.

150913 Great Eastern Live Great Run, 12km

I should say thanks to K Lina hehe. Sebabnya adalah rahsia. My 2^nd time. 1^st time was last year. Actually the name of this blog (No Drama Drama Just Run) was inspired from the last year event. Great story with lots of drama hahaha. Will do the storytelling soon (depends on my mood hahaha).

220913 Reebok One Challenge,18.95km+obstacles

Signed up at the 11^th hour. Reluctant because this event a week before SCKLM. Registered because the obstacles are doable except for one or two. Medal is nice too (segitiga Bermuda) hehehe. Finisher tee not that attractive/loud.

290913 Standard Chartered KL Marathon @ Kuala Lumpur, FM

Will be my 1^st FM in KL. FM after RJM. Participated 1^st time last year but in HM category. Look forward to PB-ing this event. Targeting sub4hr. Wish me luck.

191013 BSN Putrajaya Night Marathon @ Putrajaya, FM

Will be my 3^rd time. 1^st time in 2011 (10k) & 2^nd time last year (HM). They said it’s going to be hard. The humidity especially. Well. No marathon is easy. We successfully voted the pink fuschia for FM finisher tee ;)

201013 Adidas King of The Road, 10km

Another stupid back2back attempt after FM PNM hoho. 2^nd time. Participated 1^st time last year in 16.8k category.

271013 Hard Rock Hotel to Rock, Penang

Ran 1^st time in 2011, registered last year but not running. This year don’t know whether can run or not.

031113 2XU Compression Run, 16km

Event with same name with Singapore edition except the distance, from HM to 16km.

171113 Allianz Penang Bridge International Marathon @ Pulau Pinang

Aniversary FM! Did my full marathon virgin here last year. Will come back stronger & faster.

I’ve signed up quite a number of running events. It seems like I’ll be busy almost every weekend. Well, this is our my passion after all. Obviously I’ll try to PB in all events. No surprise right. If you happen to spot me in any event, please say hi. Can take photo also. Perasan artis plak hehehe. Retis much. I love making new friends especially runners. We share similar passion, endure similar challenge & in the same crowd. No need lah to be cocky, perasan, belittling people even if you are a podium winner. Lagilah skadar PB bukan podium LoL.

There’s a significant increase in running events in Malaysia nowadays. Almost every weekend got event, not to mention few events in a same day. This trend is a good sign as many Malaysians have opted running as part of their lifestyle. Runners also can choose whatever events that suits them well. Spoil ourselves with choices. However, the rising price of running event fee is a main concern to many, including myself. We are afraid that the organizer may take this opportunity to make profit instead. Few events were badly organized. Affected us all especially the safety part.

Wei, nape serius ayat kat atas tu hahaha. Why so serious (Joker – The Dark Knight)? Like seriously.

Thanks for reading. 

I’ll try my best to post new entry soon.

No drama drama just run. Like today. Like now. Ciao.