KL International Marathon 2007 - Report

My Power Song : Dani California - RHCP

I ran a slow marathon yesterday. But i have Doc for pulling me to finish for this one. Thank you Doc!

The race started right at 4.30am and caught everyone by surprise. Many runners were seen automaticlaly starting their watches as the gun went off. The Nike+ Team was seen at the back of the pack with specific instruction to finish the race in 6 hours. That would be painful for some of the seasoned runners, especially one of the ex national walker/runner which finished it in 5:46. It was painful for him to be running that slow!


Forgot to set to night mode!

11 of us were armed with the Nike+ products. I was fortunate to get to try the Air Structure and not the Moire as planned because of my big fat feet. As the products are not due to be launched until 1st April, sizes were limited, so i get the newer more canggih Bowerman Series shoes.


Nike+ Air Structure Triax 10+ and Nike Socks


Doc trying our his Nike+

Azhar IronMan JB started the race 12 minutes late and caught up with the rest of the guys. Well done!

The first 10km were easy as most of us maintained about 7:00 pace. That is about a speed of 8.0km/h. Calculation has shown that in order to finish the race within 6 Hours, no more, no less, we are supposed to be doing a 8:00 pace, that is a slow 7km/h pace, which is equivalent to a moderate speed powerwalk. So, technically, you can walk and finish the marathon, provided you work those legs!

The first 10km was covered in 1:20.23. Pretty slow by my 10km standard, but it's ok for marathon pace. The 10km mark was at the end of the Sg. Besi air strip. Previously, before the SMART tunnel causes the road diversion, the 10km mark was somewhere in the middle of the air strip. So, the whole SMART tunnel thingy brought the distance a bit further, technically.

By then, i realised that my reluctance to calibrate the iPod the day before was a mistake. The disparity in the distance reading was almost 2km. Meaning, at the 10km mark, the iPod tells me that i've ran 12km! Making a mental mark that i will be pretty off the mark where the distance are concerned, i picked up the pace slightly.


At Jalan Bukit Petaling - seasoned runners leading the way

The group passed Dewan Bahasa interchange without any problem and Maria went to toilet at the petrol station. Going on slowly, we waited for Maria to catch up with us and she finially did as we were passing the UE3 mall along Jalan Loke Yew.

By then, the sky was still dark compared to last year. We ran passed Jalan Peel and soon we were at the Kampun Pandan roundabout. Most of us touches the 21km mark with a time of about 2Hours 44 minutes. The feet still feel great and we were making good progress, at this speed, doing a sub 5 hours marathon seems possible. And if that happens, it would be my Personal Best timing!

Excited, me, Doc, Maria ran togehter towards Jalan Bukit Bintang where we will be joining the the 21km and 10km runners until their finishing line.

The other Nike runners were waiting for us near Menara Dion. I sort of slowed everyone down. My calf was starting to ache after 25km and if i recalled correctly, last year, i was already hurting along Jalan Peel, when i was running with Adilah.

With me shrugging the pain away, the Nike+ Group ran towards Shangri-la and we saw the competitor brand's banner. We all ran OUTSIDE of the banner, well, for obvious reason!

That was also where i saw Weng Aun which was running a fast 10km race.

Zabil came up shortly and slapped my butt as i crossed the junction near HardRock Cafe. He is doing a 21km run and he is in good pacing and speed!

We came to the end of Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman where the runners which were finishing their races headed towards Dataran. Stephanie Chok was one of them fast runner!

The marathoners had to make a U-Turn and head towards Jalan Raja Laut. From there, we ran towards Batu Road, passing by Chow Kit area. By then, i have both my calf tightening up and i could feel blisters forming on both my heels, at the exact same place on both feet!

We were given the shoe a day before the race, hardly any chance to season the shoe for the race. But in all fairness, i think it was the socks, which were not as thick as i wanted it to be, which makes the blisters to form. The shoe works great if i may say. Compared to last year where i was wearing my Brooks Targa, i was already starting to walk like a crab at KM28.

As we headed to KM30, passing by the old UKM medical faculty, me and doc made friend with 2 guys which were doing the marathon as well. They are Ganesh, which is doing his 6th Marathon and Zack, which is doing his first marathon!

While we were running, me and Doc let both of them know what Nike+ is all about and let them hear the iPod, which tells us the distance and the pace we are in. By then, the distance between the real and the iPod reported distance has pulled to almost 3km error! It was reported i ran the 33rd KM when i'm actually at the 30th KM mark.

Ah Thiam, Misbah and Dino were there with the Powerbar guys distributing PowerGel to the runners. Dino broke his arm a while ago when he crashed into a Satria. Get well soon brader!


Doc walking backwards near IJN


Me walking backwards near GH

As we started running along Jalan Tun Razak, the morning sun came burning down on us. At every water station, i can't help but to sponge myself with ice cold water to douse the heat.


Ganesh and Zack at KM33 - Mahameru highway

Me, Doc, Ganesh and Zack pretty much just race and motivate each other at that point. My blisters were getting worse as i could feel the bum getting bigger on the side of the inner heels. My calf were pulling and the Phiten stickers doesn't work as well as i hope it does. Only bonus was i am still speed walking and not in any other pain than muscular. Last year, my knee gave problem and i had to walk like a duck to ease the pain. Comparatively, my 30km timing was much better than last year! It looked like with 8 more KM to go, i might just finish the race in 5:30!


Ganesh and Zack at KM34 water station

That was also when cramps started happening on both my calf. Painful pulls of the muscle and the blisters not helping. I run-walk with Doc, which Doc kept encouraging me to carry on. I did not hit any wall, it was just the pain, which i had to put aside no matter what.

We ran towards Jalan Damansara, with 5KM more to go, we saw on the other side of the road, the other Nike Runners. They should be able to finish the race within 5Hours 45mins, adhering to the instruction to finish within 6 hours. The whole reason why it was such was that we were wanted to stay within the 5 to 6 hours running crowd where the majority of the runner wil finish the race. No doubt most of them could do a sub 5 hours race, but to ask one or two to do a slow run was almost killing them. The longer you are out there, the more painful you are. Doc has a personal best timing of 4hours 30 minutes in marathon, that's a good average speed of 9km/h throughout!

"Takper tuan, i accompany you", doc says.

It was also then when one of our teacher back in RMC caught up with us...


Cikgu Adnan!!!

Most boys that went into RMC in the late 80's and early 90's would know who he is. Unfortunately i wasn't privy enough to cross path with him in RMC as he retires soon after i went in. He is 65 now and still going strong. Check out that physique!


He has more defined delts and traps than Doc or me!

Heck, we even stop for a proper picture at KM 37!


We always enjoy any run no matter how far or painful it causes us

We saw Ming, which passes us on the opposite side of the road, obviously going to finish the race much faster than me or doc. Well done!

With 3.5km more to go, the iPod tells me that i've completed my run...the margin of error was 3.5km if i do not calibrate it properly. So, knowing that i have 3.5km to go, i set the iPod to run anohter 3.5km. By then, the information says that i spent a total of 7350 calories.

The final 2km was painful as it involve runners climbing the hill near Wisma Pertanian towards JKR.

Doc told me later that he pitied me as my face clearly showed i was in pain.

And if i do recall it. Yeah, i was in pain. With zero training prior to the marathon, i deserves to be in pain.

With just 10 minutes to go before the qualifying time is over, i had no choice but to speed it up after JKR. JKR to Dataran was less than 1.5km away.

Dissapointed as i know i might not make the cut, Doc cheered me on and jokingly say he feel good that because of me, he get to see so many girls running. It was because if he run any faster, he wont' get to see any girls!

Dataran came into sight soon after as i used whatever i had and ran towards the line.

As i crossed it, i was 44 seconds behind the qualifying time of 6 hours. Zack crossed the line much earlier. Well done for a first timer!

Cikgu Adnan also beat the hell out of me by finishing it 10 minutes infront of me.

The rest of the Nike Runners were already at the finishing line, cheering me on. Most of them finished the race in 5:40's till 5:50's, achieving whatever target being set out for us.

Also, the race yesterday saw the Record being rewritten by a foreign runner which clocked a fast 2hours 17 minutes to grab the USD10,000.00 prize for the record breaking effort alone.

As for me, finishing the race is already an achievement, as it marked the very first thing i should do in preparation for IronMan 2008.

Congrats to Azmar, Bacin, Bean, Ming, Karoline, Karoline's dad and Steve for all finishing the race. Azmar rocked the scene by coming in 5:01. This is his first KL Marathon and this chap went from someone that has not run a 10km to a marathon finisher!

Steve choosed to walked all the way, as he wants to prove than even with walking, you will finish the 42km! Well done!

And to all that i come across along the route, congrats for finishing the race! See you next year!

My official Stats:
Category Ranking: 301/320 (top 20 from behind)
Overall Ranking: 699
Gun Time: 6:01:49
Chip time: 6:00:44
10km time: 1:20:23
21km time: 2:44:27
30km time: 4:06:47
Average Heartbeat: 150
Calorie spent: 8000++


Updated 20th March 2007
Pics from Jaja's blog


Me, Jaja, Mary and Bacin

Report by other Atheltes:
Bacin
Jaja
Faie
Azman
Zebets
Wendy
Mary
Purple

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Brader, your leg got problem ah?

Don't worry, i'll be sweeping the race on Sunday

Went to collect my number at OCM just now, which i comically went yesterday in the first place. This time, double checking if today is really the 15th March!

Adidas has a booth set up. So did Phiten. As usual, the people in Ambank were busy trying to promote their credit cards and Powerbar has a counter selling their Power stuffs.

So, after taking my stuff from the counter and paying RM20 as deposit for the timing chip, i went over to the Phiten booth. Phiten Malaysia is operated by Alps Kiseki Ventures. As most of you know, i've been using their product for some time. Infact, friends that went to buy these products says they found my review in the net. I don't believe them and went and googled for "phiten malaysia review" and my blog came up top. :) Free advertisement for them Phiten people!

And no, i did not pimp for any freebies, i believe it should be given without asking if they appreciate what i did!

I showed them the bracelet i had, which i pathetically stuck medical tape over the two attaching lobes and holes to minimise the risk of it coming out and losing them in the end.


Improvised Phiten with Medical tape. Can use during emergency

I asked them if there is any...err...waranty claim.

Unfortunately No.

So, i walked away dejected like a kid being refused of his ice cream.


"Boy, Boy, are you ok, boy?"

And i ended up at the Adidas Booth. They are giving free leg scan.

Well, not those that they see how many hairs you have on your legs la. But more of them scanning if you are a under pronator or over pronator. I know i do pronate, but to what extend. And walking into the Adidas Shop in Midvalley where they have the scan and ask for one without buying anything seems like a freeloading activity.

OKOK, maybe this is also freeloading, but with so many others doing it, i don't look half as bad.

Here is my results.


My foot...

As you can see, My left foot was in excessive pronation, while my right foot are just under normal pronation. I have high arches, which explain the little/missing part in the middle; incase some of you think i'm some alien.

Now, here is where it contradicts.


Any higher McD could use your arch to replace theirs.

Runners World says that Pronator usually has a flat feet and an under-pronator (ie Supinator) has a high arch.

I have High Arches and I'm definately a pronator. Excessively on one leg!


My Left foot

As you can see, the person in charge explained to me that i need to have a shoe with good cushioning for both my heel and ball of the feet. I also need to have a shoe with good stabiliser bar that will hold my rear and front of the feet well. I can't help it but to imagine car stabiliser bars on my legs. Mind working overtime!


Titanium Stabiliser bar for car

My other foot, however, were in a more forgiving condition. Only a pronation. Not excessive, not under.


My right foot

Looking at their comment on the footscan, i can't help but to think something is wrong with my foot. I know it's only normal to have each feet different, but to the extend that it's...err...twice the level on one feet? it is like if i have cancer (touch wood), one feet would be in it's early stage and the other would be better off sawn off.


Really got problem ah???

I had flashback of all the sports shoe i had. Yeap, they are all well padded.


Padded, well padded.

Now, i will use this as a guide to buy my runners. Well cushioned shoes is the way to go for me it seems.

Oh ya, this year, The organiser throw in a nice Adidas running vest for the full marathoners.


Ang Ang Buey Hai Lang...


But got AmBank name...

Half marathoners and below gets a yellow t-shirt with prints similiar to last year's blue t-shirt, which was given throughout all the category. Nice touch!

Only thing is that Powerbar did not give out any Powerbar as part of the goodies in the bag this year. But according to the people at the booth, they will be giving PowerGel at the 30km mark.

Hey! Last year, there were given at both the 15km and 30kim mark! How come this year so Kiam Siap?

Oh ya, thanks to Shazly (again), i have to present myself at Nike's office today to get some goodies from them. Only caveat is that i must wear it for the race this Sunday.

Not sure what are the other rules and regulations though. My only worries is that they will get these people to be the pacer. I managed to finish last year's run in 5Hours 55Mins, but to ask me to be a pacer and finish the race in even Sub 5 hours without any training?

Err.... Lets just hope the pronated/excessively pronated foot could be used as an excuse for not doing so!

And let the preparation for IronMan 2008 begin!

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A Tribute to 2006

Finally, the year is coming to an end. I felt like singing My Way, really. But that's just me, corny as usual.

I did something similiar last year, reflecting on my 2005 and what happened throughout the years with notable memories.

This year would not be much different as i wind up the year!

January 2006
With absolutely nothing to do in January, a couple of us decided to cycle up Cameron. It was my first maiden trip via Simpang Pulai and i was looking forward to it as much as the rest of the jokers that went along. We got up safe, but decided to ditch the idea of riding 70km down via the same road as we were drenched with sweat and the mist. The cold wind would be enough to freeze one of us!

And what more fun than to have a press conference where you are one of the people the press would, err...interview? Felt like a celeb? you bet!!! And seeing my own face in the paper again after so many years!

January was a really hectic month with rides, runs and more cam whoring!

Memorable moment: Terence Penguin was diagnosed with brain aneurysms and till today, he is still racing. How is that for human spirit? Get well son bro!

February 2006
With wedding just around the corner and loads of things need to be done, i found myself prioritising and had to leave the dream of racing in Ironman Langkawi. Nevermind the fact that i've not registered for it, but i have every intention of racing it sans the road bike. Now that i've missed it totally, and gonna miss it again in 2007, i decide that targeting to do this in 2008 would be a better idea. Enough time to save for a road bike and enough time for more preparation.

So, to my 3 heroic friends that did Ironman Langkawi with minimal training and with one of them beating the crap out of some more accomplished atheletes, here's to you...WELL DONE!

Memorable Moment:Getting live update from Ironman Langkawi through Karo and Azmar, which were there to cheer, run, bike and accompany all of them until the finish line. Can't get better friends than that!

March 2006
With wedding just around the corner and a marathon to run. I somewhat felt that i was pushing everything to the limit. I did it in 2004, where i did the Perhentian Island Challenge like 2 weeks before my marriage registration, going into the registrar office with a tan so dark he thought me and wifey had the wrong place to register our wedding.

Accomplishing my first ever marathon (that is 42km mind you) in 5hours 55 minutes was hardly anything to brag about. But the mere fact that i actually complete it when my preparation was jeopordised by me having a viral attack in december and january, i know i should just be glad that i did finished it. And Thank You Adilah, for running with me up till the 34km mark (then you started running faster and i can't catch up!) Will i do it again? Well at that point of time, it's a hell yes! Read on to see if i have the intention to do it again....

Then came the wedding. Where all the effort over the past 2 years of organising it paid off. Iqbal, Karen and Claudia came from a far to grace out wedding. With my friends that grew up with me helping out and doing all the could, and with wifey's friends chipping in to help, it was a good experience for all of us. I must say i was really appreciative of their help and presence!

The saddest part was when Murphy boy went missing. Till this days, me and wifey still hope he is found by someone and well taken care of. It's like losing a family member! Devastating!

Memorable moment:When the pregnancy test kit turned postive a day after the wedding, before the Malaysian F1 GP. Iqbal was the first one to know about the pregnancy. I was excited and wifey kept asking me if the test is 100% accurate.

April 2006
Took a sabbatical from blogging and went missing for 2 weeks. Obviously no one misses me from the amount of comments or site traffic that i saw.

Went off to Bali with wifey for honeymoon. The deed was done, which makes every moment more rewarding (you can't get pregnant again when you are pregnant, right???) It was also my first trip to Bali, but it was wifey's second or third. It was a good break for both of us, especially when everything we planned for went smoothly and she is pregnant.

Memorable moment: Seeing our yet to be born son inside his/her mother's womb. He/She was only a dot wide! (ya la, that time don't know if boy or girl mah!). Anohter memorable moment was finding out that Chipang's wife and Zabil's wife was also pregnant and all of them share the same due date as my own baby. That could only mean that the fertilisation were all calculated to be on the same day, and it was the Ironman Langkawi weekend!

May 2006
My schedule race in Explorace Season 3. Me and bandit raced and managed to win the race with a very comfortable margin. To our opponents, James and David, thanks for the memories! We raced in Kota Tinggi in our frist round! I recalled Abang Jebat telling me that my hands were shaking when i open the clue envelope..and he was actually shooting with the camera like from 50meters away (for dramatic panaromic zoomed in effect la...)

The same month, i entered the first edition of MMDS at Dataran Merdeka. Recalling my knees getting weak the year before, i was more determined to finish the race in better timing. Afterall, i'm supposed to be fit and just finished my first ever marathon!

The same month too, a friend passed away. Rest in Peace Bro!

I too had the privy to cycle into National Park via Kahang with a bunch of like minded buggers. The ride was enjoyoable and fun. Some of us also caught sight of the Pigmy Elephants; a whole herd!

That trip was also the last i saw OP Tahir (The late, he passed away a week before christmas). May you rest in peace sir!

Memorable Moments: Seeing Bandit almost drown in Rompin and being saved by Superman Puzi. I almost lost a friend and a partner but i am just glad he is all safe. Since then, Bandit has tried to follow whatever Puzi does! Hahahah!

The other memorable moment was when i got my middle finger snapped by the mud crab's claw. The claw broke, but my finger was intact, abeit throbbing throughout the race in Kota Tinggi!

June 2006
Explorace Season 3 Round 2 brought me and Bandit to Thailand. To be more specific, Bangkok. We lost the race due to our luck with the local taxis. I felt really bad as it was me that has caused this mishap (i was in the taxi la!) and when i saw Amazing Race Asia Episode 7, where they raced in Bangkok (same route: Ayuthaya to Bangkok), i realised that Bangkok Taxi Drivers are a bunch of Morons!!!

The same month, because of frustration of not being in contention to grab the RM100K, me and bandit joined Eco-X in Hulu Langat. We did a last minute teammate change to balance out the group and my team, consist of Steve, Bacin and Me, were the only team among the LnE members that completed the race ranked.

June was a sad month too as Dr. Poon lost his daughter. May her soul rest in peace.


Then, Engelbert Humperdinck came to KL for the RMC-OPA Charity Dinner/Concert. The whole do was almost disastourous when Engelbert was down with bad sore infection. Cancellations and crowd control was the main highlight and kudos to all the volunteers ( that has the choice of walking away), that handled everything really well!

Memorable Moment: The excitement when Explorace Season 3 finally started airing on TV3. That could only mean i would be seeing myself on TV for the very first time!

July 2006
Went for my first unoffical race marshalling duty with Nomad Adventure for the 3R season finale.

Then coming out in the month's issue of Galaxie magazine of me and Bandit cycling when we were in Kota Tinggi for Explorace.

Then it was the first Triathlon race for me in 2006 in PD!!! Of which i did not do as well as i did the year before. Not sure why, but i'll definately train harder!

One week after, it was MMDS race 2 at Putrajaya. I managed to finish it of course, as usual. Timing was somewhat similiar to what i did last year. But there is no exact benchmark as the race was in a different venue compared to last year. Anyhow, it was a good race!

Then it was me and bandit on national TV!!! But of course, that morning, we were also on MHI!

Memorable moment: Being a wannabe TV star in July!

August 2006
August was more of a time to rest and reflect on what has happened over the year so far. I bought myself a Phiten product, which was supposed to eliviate pain and improve my atheletic performance(at least now got tools to blame if my racing sucks!).

But August was also the very first time i blogged about Ryan. Bringing my blog readers from him, being just a tiny cell in wifey's womb to showing the world his face. :)

August was also the month when me and Bandit finally won something BIG. We were the champ for AXN Amazing Mall Challenge!

On the 31st August 2006, a bunch of us actually went cycling around KL. We were at Dataran Merdeka when some reporters came up to us and snapped our pictures.

Memorable Moments: Seeing Ryan's face via 2D Scan! And Iqbal telling me that his wifey is expecting! Such joy! And of course, winning the cash and hamper in AXN Amazing Mall!!!!

September 2006
Considering myself lucky when i chance upon a Paradise Tree Snake, and a rare one at that when i went climbing with the usual suspect at Damai.

One day after i blogged about the snake, news has it that Steve Irwin passed away. It was indeed a sad day and a lost for the wildlife world. Rest In Peace bro!

September is also the month where i looked forward to. As it's also when the Desaru Long Distance Tri will take place. This was also the race where i beat ONE profesional triathelte! hahahaahah! My race time aside, it was indeed a really fun outing, and most probably my last before Ryan comes to the world.

I had my first taste of being a official marshall officially alongside Choco and Soulpop in Perhentian Island Challenge. Being a marshall and racing as a participant are a totally two different set of experience. It is easier to race than to marshall! Trust me on this!

September also marks the 4th year that i know my wife. Such bliss and joy! Thank you baby!

September was also my parent's wedding anniversary!

And to cap off September, i joined the crazy bunch to cycle up Genting again. It seems and looked like a yearly pilgramage for me! The immortals did it every week during the fasting month.

Memorable Moment: Eating the road going down Genting...ouch...

October 2006
October was when my mum gave me a blender old enough to be older than my youngest sis.

It's also the month when Wifey and partners opened yet anohter branch of their shop! Well done. 6 years down and they have 4 branches.

This month too, i realised that i totally forgotten to renew my Kancil's roadtax and has since been driving minus the road tax for the longest time. Getting old, but i had fatherhood to blame!

That also meant i had to say goodbye to my trusty ride and had gotten myself and wifey anohter new car!

It's also the month where my sister celebrate her 26th Birthday. happy birthday again sis!

And officially, i was allowed to tell the world that Iqbal would be a dad!

Memorable Moment: Saying goodbye to my old ride and getting a new one...

November 2006
With Ryan coming anytime soon, i decided to write a letter to him.

Then, it was my granma's 80th birthday celebration. By now, she's already a great-granmother!

Then it was my sis turn to be famous in 3R! Obviously getting more airtime than me..hahahahah!

I ran the Subang 10K as well. I did not break my own personal best time which i did last year. Maybe due to loads of inactivities over the months by spending more time with wifey.

My birthday came, then Zabil's daughter came, then Chipang's son came. Still no sign of Ryan coming out though. Would be great to share the same birthday as me, but like my mum said, he will come out when he wants to come out!

And finally, on the 18th November...Ryan Ambrose Lim Jo-Hann came into the world!

Memorable Moment: what else? Ryan of course

December 2006
With baby in our arms and taking up most of our time, wifey had a slow, but good birthday celebration.

Ryan grew pretty quickly and he seems to be the joy in both his paternal and maternal family side.

Then, Surin got married. Which was the highlight of December!

December are usually slow for me and family. With no races in sight and no rides that i've done since the last race in Desaru, it sure felt like ages. I recieved an entry form to run next year's KLIM on the 18th March 2007. I'm signing up, not to take advantage of the early bird discount, but to race again.

Hence, i was back on the threadmill yesterday, running a painful 2 mile (or 3.2km) in 15 minutes. Got to start somewhere, no?

Speaking of which, i enrolled in the Google Adsense. Got to try to find ways to earn some extra pocket money to buy milk for Ryan, no? So, readers, click on, please! :)

We had our first christmas as a family with wifey and Ryan. I must say, Fatherhood is rahter rewarding. Nevermind the sleepless nights and sleeping while feeding the baby, it's all worth it, especially when you see them smile and reacts to your action.

Memorable Moment: Surin's wedding. It's like seeing a brother getting married.

So, with December ending in 3 days time. Here i am, wishing all of you a very healthy, merry, happy, properous new year 2007. Many good tidings and many more good wishes for the years to come.

I won't have any new year resolution, infact, i never did have any for the longest time. I just hope that 2007 will be more exciting than 2006 in all the good way and manner!

Bring on 2007, i should say!

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Phiten & Bruxism

I did a 5km run yesterday before my shoulder and tricep exercise.

I ran and ran and i meant i really ran.



Started with a 5:27 pace and proceed to up the pace by 1kmh per km ran. So, i found myself running faster and faster from 5:27, 5:00, 4:36, 4:16, 4:00(for 500meters) and ended it with a heart stopping sprint of 3:52 (15.5kmh).

Heartrate started at 90bpm after some minor stretching and hitting the 175 mark by the 4th KM and maxing out at 183 (that's 96% for a good 90 seconds) on my final sprint home.

I finished the 5km in 23.57, only 13 seconds faster than my previous 5km run which i did a 24:10.

I'm now more convinced that Phiten might had work to an extend. There was no pain no whatsoever on my legs - quad, hams, calf. No pain and it's as if i got a fresh legs today.

Usually, after some hard run, i would be either limping slowly in recovery the next day. But today...i felt fine, i felt like i could try anohter "best 5km time" again. but today is a slow run in Gasing with the guys of LnE.

I'm yet to test it out on 10km run, which i think i would need to clock in at least twice before Desaru in September.

I then did my shoulder and i pumped it like how i do to my other part of my body.

Shoulder Press, Arnold Press, lateral, side and back raise, tricep pull down, tricep push down...left the gym feeling like my shoulder has just been scuplted all over again...as if.


Arnold Susunegar doing what he does best...doing tris like him won't gurantee you having his tris...you can only TRY!

Af is because everytime i look into the mirror, it's still a fat ass body staring back at me.

Damn, i think i'm getting obssessed with my own body again!


Ron Coleman - I think i better realign my own goal to try to look half like him, even

Also, yesterday was a perfect night to test if Phiten works nicely on wifey. She has bad backache and shoulder ache. The night before, she did not sleep well at all and yesterday, with Phiten on, man, she was sleeping like a baby. Soreness in the morning was also not very pronounced but she did ask for back massage from me, which in my sleepiness, could only muster that much strength to do so before i dozed off again! What a useless me!

On a separate note, I went to Tong Woh in PJ and bought myself 400mg supplement of Magnesium (USRDA Reccomended Daily intake), Vit B complex and BCAA.

The Vit B Comp and Magnesium is more for myself to try to see if it helps with my teeth grinding at night. Vit B comp are known as stress buster and magnesium is actually muscle relaxtant. Both will benefit cardiovascular system as well. Magnesium are also known for it's calcium blocking properties. It could prevent calcium from calcifying in the blood vessels.


Maybe instead of a proper dental gumshield, i would use my rugby gum sheild instead...


...And i might wake up looking Playing rugby like Tana...

Just got a call from Amir, today's run at gasing cancelled due to some reasons.

So, looked like i'm going to Gym today to sweat it out again...today's back day. Will clock in 10km before doing my back exercise...

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Phiten Day 5 and beyond...

Been almost a week i've used and tested this stuff.

On saturday, i did a quick 1 hour workout purely on weight.

Did squat - 90lb warm up x 15reps to get the blood pumping in.

I then follow up with 140lb x 12 reps, 180lb x 10 reps, 230lb x 8 reps, 270lb x 6 reps and ended it with 320lb x 4 reps.

Did one last set of 90lb until failure.

Haven't puke but leg was almost jello by the time i placed the barbell on the squat rack. All weights above are plate weight, not incl of the 7 feet 2.5inch olympic bar which weight 20kg or 44lb.

I then moved on to 45 degree leg press. Using 270lb x 12 reps, 360lb x 10reps, 450lb x 8 reps and finishing it with a 540lb x 6 reps. I usually could go on until 1080lb for this exercise but decided that i shouldnt' after doing the squat in the first place.

I then lowered the weight back to 360lb for calf raise using the leg press machine. Doing 5 sets, each to failure of about 15 reps each.

After that, i went straight for the leg extension machine to work those vactus medialis. It's my archilles heels actually, giving up on me during PDIT and on a few duathlons i did.

I felt fine still. 45 Minutes into the work exercise and i'm still standing, though i was sweating like some pig. I love legs exercise. many weightlifter in the gym chose to shy away from it and this has resulted in most of them having chopstick legs with huge upper body.

Anyway, i spent the last 15 minutes in the gym doing bicep. Heavy sets. Went for 4 sets of dumbell curl. 20lb x 12 reps, 30lb x 10 reps, 40lbx 8 reps and 50lbs x 6 reps. I then did 4 sets of concentration curls of 20lb x 12 reps, 25lb x 10 reps, 30lb x 8 reps and the last set of 40lb for 6 reps was literally squeezing out every single muscle fiber i have.

That night, wifey complained of shoulder ache after ironing clothes. I gave her the Phiten to wear after and soon after, the aches were gone! Of course, she slept with the thing that night as well.

Then, on sunday, ie day 6, i woke up...legs were jello...slight ache on the quads and hamstrings. It actually felt good, i flexed my quads and i could feel the muscle separation, it's like when you found out you could move your boobs with your chest muscle!

It was a rest day for me yesterday.

So, what do i reckon?

I guess Phiten works to a certain extend.

Where cardio activities are concerned, it might had helped me pushed a bit harder and furhter. Then again, i also attributed this to the mind. So, in a way, both mind and Phiten did perhaps, work in their own strange ways.

Where upper muscle recovery is concerned, it works almost like magic, easing the soreness and speeding up recovery.

But where lower body are concerned...i think Phiten better give me some sample to try out so i could actually tell the public here what i find out. (_{hahahahahaha...do you hear me out guys at Phiten Malaysia?})

It did occur to me as well, why it worked well when i was doing cardio and my legs were still feeling fresh even after running a speedy run. I guess it was because the cardio workout, which was aerobic, compared to the weight lifting workout, which was anerobic was the reason. In Aerobic exercise, the blood, which i would assume *spiked* by Phiten's properties goes all over the body as my heart pumped at 90% Max HR.

But then again, all these do sound like rocket science to me, some people would say it's just like snake oil...

Whatever it is, i'm keeping my Phiten and the real test for races would be this coming weekend's Bukit Gasing Run. We'll see how it help me perform under duress.

This afternoon, boss was asking me about the Phiten, apparently, a few golfers that he knows are using them and according to them golfers, it helps with their pain management.

rocket science or snake oil???

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Phiten Day 4 Gym

Was in gym yesterday, as usual and pushed for my best 5km time on treadmill.

This time, the incline was set to ZERO and no warm up.

Stepped on the machine and pressed GO.

Starting speed was set to 5:00pace(12kmh) for first 2km. At 2km mark, i set the pace to 4:48(12.5kmh) and ran it for the next 2km before firing a 4:36 pace for the home run.

I was still feeling good at the 4.5km mark and decided to try doing a 4:00 pace (15kmh) for the final 400meters when my sweat all confused the build in sensor for HR and refused to let me top my speed.

So...i ran the whole final stretch at 4:30 pace (13.3kmh - frantic pressing of the machine only allowed me a 0.1kmh increment and i managed to up it by 0.3)


I finished the 5km in 24:10.


HRmax was 175


and average was 159.

I know i could do better and sub 24mins on this 5km, but the machine wouldn't allow.

What i noticed is that i was not struggling at the 175HR which lasted for a good last 2 minutes. I was still breathing through my nose and every now and then through my mouth. I wasn't drinking any water the whole 5km.

Perhaps, Phiten did some work here, but then again, it might be the mind doing this magic. I know when i touch HR 175, i could not possibly sustain it for long. (175 is my 92% effort of my Max HR of 190 already).

Also, this is the second day i pushed myself this way on the threadmill.

I then moved on to do my back exercise. As i was short of time, i didn't fully torture my back. So, to compensate, i did 10 sets of 10 reps of Seated Cable Row.


Seated Cable Row - ppic from www.exrx.net

I max out on the 5th set with my own body weight of 80kg, of which i only managed 4 reps. I usually does this until 60kg and feeling great at set 3, i went for 70kg on set 4, which i felt strong still and went for set 5 at 80kg, which i couldn't pull it anymore after my 4th rep. I should had settle for 75kg. But then again, it's good experimenting and pushing myself.

I then pyramid down on the last 5 sets.

I moved on to another variation of back exercise using machine, of which i did anohter 10 sets. I didn't carry heavy on this as i usually uses this machine to cut/define the back upper muscle.

Lastly, i did tricep pushdown. One of my fav tricep buster. Doing 5 sets, each sets to failure on 15kg weight, i replace the straight bar with rope, which forces the hand to straighten to the side of my thigh. Feel the burn!


Tricep pushdown with straight bar - pic from www.exrx.net

This whole weight exercise thingy took up a good 20 minutes. I was out from the gym in less than 50 minutes i was there.

As usual, there were minimal rest between sets and exercise and only 5 minute of rest between cardio and weight.

Of course i was sweating profusely.

So, this morning, On day 5. I woke up. I have no ache. Legs felt strong and i feel like doing a good 10km run, only thing is, there is a dinner to attend tonite which i have to go. So, it's rest day today.

My back felt great, no ache despite doing the high sets of exercise. Actually, so is my whole body, i usually subject them to high reps once every 2 weeks cycle. Meaning, i'll do a 2 weeks of heavy lifting with low reps and set (max of 5 sets with max reps of 12) and 2 weeks of moderate weights with high sets and reps (max of 10sets with max reps of up to 15).

So, does Phiten works?

I think my mind is playing game with me.

I slept with Phiten on yesterday and this morning, i was refreshed. sore pain in chest gone but i was still grinding my teeth (have to look for magnesium supplement next) and surprise surprise...wife woke up this morning with lower back ache.

Hmm...will let her use Phiten to sleep tonight and see if the back pain goes off tomorrow morning.

As for me, the experiment continue. Tomorrow will be a hardcore day of leg exercise. I usually does legs until i nearly puke. Which makes me wonder why i'm still having cramps on the bike!

Damn You Stupe, You weakling!

I'll Go Heavy tomorrow...or I'll go HOME!

Update:
My bodyfat is now 20.7%. My weight as per today's lunch is 84.5kg. Take 2kg off from clothing, i'm still fat! damn!

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Field Report: Phiten Day 3 & 4

Day 1 and Day 2 report here

Now, where was i?

OK, yesterday's was my cardio and shoulder day.

For Cardio, i did an interval training. Nothing too strenous as i'm easing back into the groove for Desaru Tri.

So, i did a 5km run.

1km @ 6:40(9kmh) pace warm up - max HR120 (slow pace)
1km @ 5:42(10.5kmh) pace - max HR135 (fast pace)
800m @ 5:00(12kmh) pace - max HR155 (slow pace)
800m @ 4:48(12.5kmh) pace - max HR160 (fast pace)
400m @ 4:26(13.5kmh) pace - max HR 165(slow)
400m @ 4:16(14kmh) pace - max HR170(fast)
200m @ 4:07(14.5kmh) pace - max HR172(slow)
200m @ 4:00(15kmh) pace - max HR175(fast)
100m @ 4:00(15kmh) pace - max HR178(slow)
100m @ 3:45(16kmh) pace - max HR180(fast)

Average HR - 151 - 79%
Time taken - 27:54
Incline : 1 Degree on Star Trac Elite Treadmill

It was initially funny to have something bouncing up and down on your neck. My usual gold chain do not bounce as much as Phiten. Maybe because this sports necklace was made of elastomer and well, it bounces. The initial uncomfy feeling of the necklace jumping about was a bit bothering as you are concious of it being THERE. As much as i love to cam whore, but i do not like to draw attention to meself unnessasary.

After the first initial 1km of warm up run, i noticed the necklace centre point(with the word Phiten) shifted to my left side. I didn't bother to adjust it to ensure it's in the middle.

OK, lets just assume it's physcological effect again. But i swore on days while i was training for KLIM, interval training was a chore, almost. It's like i hate to have my heart pounding like it will dislodge from it's position. But then again, it might be over training back then.

Nevertheless, at my 200m interval, i was still feeling good. Usually when i touch 172bpm, i start to feel dizzy, but this time, i was still breathing through my nose. 27:54 was hardly a record to start with for 5km, my time for MMDS which is 52minutes max for 10km means i could do 26mins for 5km on average.

But i did put in the factor that i actually ran 2km with a max pace of 5:42, lets just say average of 6:00 pace. Which ate up 12 minutes for the first 2km. Meaning i did a 16minutes on the last 3km which average out to about 5:30pace. Also, it's noteworthy to notice i ran it on a 1 degree incline. I usually run flat.

Apart from running from killer dogs, my heart rate has never breached the 175bpm in any trainign i did, no matter how hard i pushed. But yesterday, it did, though it was on the last final 100m sprint(to my standard la!) I touched a 180(that's a 94% effort of Max HR) and my recovery over 5 minutes set my heart rate back to 90bpm on a slow walk.

Perhaps it did help? I do not know, i would need to judge it on a flat and not on a 1 degree incline as i did yesterday.

After that, i went for a 30 minutes blitz on my Shoulder.

8 sets Press Behind neck. Pyramid up from 50lb set 1, 100lb set 2, 110lb set 3, 120lb set 4 and Pyramid down from 120 till 50 again. Reps going from 12-10-8-6-6 and 6-6-8-10-12. i usually max at 110lb. For experiment purpose, i add on extra 10lb.

Press behind neck - pic taken from www.exrx.net

Then, it's lateral raise for side delts, front raise for front delts and rear raise for back delts. Anyone worthy of their salt would know how painful/burning/tortorous to be doing shoulder raises.

Front Raise - pic taken from www.exrx.net


Lateral/Side Raise - pic taken from www.exrx.net


Rear lateral raise - pic taken from www.exrx.net

I ran the rack again, from 5lb till 25 lb, maintaining a rep of 10 each with increment of 5 lb dumbell. And from 25lb back to 5lb. I was grimacing in pain on my final 10 reps of 5 lb...looked funny!

Despite the burning sensation, i was FINE! recovery was fast and i do not have the lactic acid build up for long to linger there. Mind you, usually, bodybuilder LIFT weights before doing Cardio. I went the opposite way, burning my glycogen storage and risking my muscle being burned for this lifting activities.

But i felt fine.

I ended the shoulder exercise with 8 sets of EZ bar upright row. Lifting from 10lb till 60lb (plate weight, not incl of olympic bar) with reps from 12-6 and from 6-12 again.

Upright Row - pic taken from www.exrx.net

And so, after 30 plus minutes of fast paced lifting with minimal rest...i went for my shower and exited the gym.

Yesterday night, i let Wifey use the Phiten for sleeping again. She was awaken a lot of times this morning, to go to the loo, she said. She must had drank tonnes of water yesterday. Other than her hand feeling numb and painful, her shoulder and back was fine with no ache. Actually, this is the longest she has been without telling me she has backache and shoulder pain.

As for me, this morning, i awaken with NO SORE from yesterday's workout. Legs felt fine. Shoulder felt fine. Usually, after doing shoulder, i will have ache on my delts for at least a day. But non of those were there. Only pain was some soreness i have on my chest and my trapezius muscle.

Funnily, Phiten failed to lessen the soreness on the area where the necklace is nearest to.

Today is Day 4, i'll be at the gym, hopefully, clocking in 10km of run in 60minutes and then hit my back with some deadlifts, bend over row and machine row. Lets see how it all add up tomorrow.

So, does this Phiten really help?

I guess after 2 days of using it in the Gym, pushing myself a bit harder than usual where the total weights are concerned, it does. I do not feel as sore the day after.

As far as reduction of pain, where wifey is concerned, nope, it doesn't help where i think it should. But to be fair, her backache and shoulder pain was virtually not there, or not as prominent as usual.

So, for those intending to buy this, perhaps, this few days testimony might come in handy to a certain extend, as i'm not sponsored by Phiten, nor did i get any good deal to write this in return for a second set of Free Phiten. For that, i shalt dream on.

As for me, i will continue to test this out, so far, as far as recovery and also strength is concerned, i did feel a bit of differences, and of course, some might just say it is purely in the mind. Some would say it's the product. Lets just wait up, i intend to push myself for 2 weeks on this product to see if it's the mind...or the titanium beads.

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Field Report 1: Phiten Day 1 and 2.

Report (Duh!)

I bought the necklace with the notion that RM130 is not that expensive to spent on something that has the potential to heal/help/reduce pain. If it doesn't work, i'll end up RM130 poorer, which would usually be easily spent on race entry fee and getting to the race venue.

As you all know, i got the Black sports version that has yellow lines. Don't ask me why yellow, you can say i crave for attention and yellow is one way of showing it. You can say i'm a dirty fellow, but that won't change what i think about you as well.

With the cut out coupon, i managed to get one bracelet, which was supposed to be use and throw type, but the sales person was kind enough to give me a tip or two to actually turn the bracelet into something more permanent. This is so, since the bracelet does have the titanium on them, and taken care properly, might very well perform just like it's other siblings.

By the way, the use and throw Phiten i got cost RM90 for two, so, essentially, i got a discount of RM45 from my RM130 purchase.

OK. So, i went home, the intention was actually to ut the Phiten to good use, but since i was supposed to go home to my parent's place for dinner early, i scraped the idea. Excuse for me not to train and treat Monday as the rest day.

But i did put on the necklace when i reached home.

Some people tell me the effect is almost immediate.

"you will feel slightly dizzy/disorientated, it shows the thing is re-aligning your bio-electrical function"

OK.

30minutes on, i didn't feel a thing.

And so, that night, i let wifey use it to go to sleep. Some people that tried it actually tell me they sleep better with it.

So, the next day, as i claimed my Phiten back from wifey, i didn't ask her if she slept soundly.

Well, i for one know, she did sleep soundly that night. Unlike the other nights where she will toss and turn and find the right position and sigh and kick and stretch (this is not an attempt to discourage you future mothers that is reading this and these kung fu in bed is not gonna happen to every pregnant mother)


Actually, Wifey was spektical about it.

So, later in the evening, i use Phiten while i was in the gym. It's my Chest and Bicep day.

i was spektical as well, of course. I mean, if this necklace can perform miracle, athelete don't need to train so hard anymore, heck, might as well inject them with titanium (CAUTION: do this at your OWN RISK. Writer are not responsible for any death if you do inject yourself with these)


I lifted as usual. Doing my 5 sets. 1 warm up and 4 working sets. Weight started at 100lb for warm up for 15 reps and pyramid down to 150lb for 6 reps. For good luck, i did ONE extra set. I top up 160lb for 6 reps.

Bench Press - pics taken from www.exrx.net

For the first time in years, i managed to touch this weight again (my PB was 220lb for 4 reps - that is history)

Ok. Feeling good, i went on to do incline press and dumbell fly. Both 4 working sets and i threw in an extra set of 6 reps for weight i never lifted for years. I breached 150lb for incline and i used the 60lb dumbell for fly.
Dumbell Fly - pics taken from www.exrx.net

Feeling still good. Damn. I felt like i'm on some drugs.

So, i moved on to biceps.

I ran the rack up from 5lb to 40lb, each set in increment of 5lb for 10 reps. And then, i ran it down again from 40lb to 5lb with the same numbers of reps.

Bicep Curls - pic taken from ww.exrx.net

Feeling lucky, i did a final set of 6 reps on 45lb dumbell.

Shit - what happened, it seemed so easy!!!

I then moved on to barbell curl where i do the system 21. where i do 7 half reps(half way down) - 7 half reps(half way up) and 7 full reps. This is ONE set. I did 3 sets of these on a 20lb plate weight(not counting the olympic size EZ bar)


Barbell Curl - pic taken from www.exrx.net

I'm still...err...strong.

So, i went on to do concentration curls. 5 sets of 10 reps each. Weight from 5lb till 25lb.

Concentration Curls - pic taken from www.exrx.net

Total time spent, 1 hour. I always believe a workout should be "fast in and fast out". It's just me and the weight and other factor (incl Ninie walking past) should be shutted out. In the same note. I absolutely loath those that talk loud and talk a lot in gym, exercising their mouth more than their lungs or muscles.

Then later at night, i asked wifey is she slept soundly yesterday. She stopped and think, and then look at me and say...

"ya la...i didn't crack my head this morning like i usually do, shoulder also not stiff when i wake up", she said.

That to me is good enough for the money spent, if it did help her sleep that soundly. So, i let her use the necklace again yesterday.

This morning, i woke up thinking i'll get sore all over from my overly excited workout.

Truth is, the chest was a lil sore, but it wasn't as sore as usual! my bicep was 100% ok, it doesn't feel sore at all. Not at all.

And so...today...as i'm writing this, i just got back from Gym, it's shoulder day today and i did shoulder after running 5km. It's interval running day. I shalt update on this tomorrow.

Lets see if i still feel the same like i did this morning tomorrow!

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Phiten - Titanium Necklace

There is a lot of hype surrounding this item.

Phiten USA
The Original Site is in Japanese, hence, going for the next best url

A few athelete is now sponsored by Phiten in Malaysia. Great product placement i must say. What more, those were names that had made the country proud in more than one way.

But of course, they train in more than 10 ways that i did.

Anyway, back to the review.

I googled "titanium effect health" and the first match was the properties of the metal. Useful start to a understanding the benefit of what Phiten is all about.

At the website, Phiten is essentially carbonised titanium embeded into fabric(using phild processing) and other items that will give health benefits.

This Phild Process is actually patented!!!

Heck, it is even used in Profesional Hair Care!!!

Of course there are people that say that this is all a hoax.

I bought my Phiten Sports Necklace at their shop in 1 Utama for RM130. The Classic one, which is actually titanium embeded into the fabric are selling for RM105 each (irregardless of length).

And so...there i was, 2 days ago and bought a sports necklace for RM130...

What better way than to buy it and test it yourself and see if it really as good as it claimed to be, right???

More report soon. Stay Tuned.


I know, i do not have F1 driver's neck

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