Saved by the 1sen Coin

 P.O.R.4 was a blast. 25k was on the plate, and judging from a clean sweep all previous P.O.R.s were in keeping record, this one was on the chopping block and close scrutiny. The idea to keep the mileage high is not in tandem with the concept of tapering, the likes of Hal Higdon and all sorts.

Judging from the success it was for Nik many times over to secure his PBs in FMs, I thought this would be good to keep high mileages in the last minute, despite maintaining mileage checks from 12 weeks back. Besides, 2 times Dream Trails? Delicious!

There were 12 of us, and I slacked coming in last. Ian, Nik, Shuk, Diket, Yim, Syed, Shanaz, Ziff, Zack, Deo, Daniel and myself are a large crowd. We warmed up, stretched, and hit the trails. It was an easy morning, but not without extremely busy afternoons. Some of us had not met for awhile, and hence the old jokes. The previous evening rains offered moody morning, and jumpy leeches. Seemed they were out for open houses too.
eh... belum finishing line lagi, baru 1k
pelancong dari Dubai (kat sana mana ada hutan cenggini)
 pacat serbu betis gebu Zaki (not in the pic)
 love the shot!

The trails were less punishing this time, and Rover Track was busy. We arrived at the Sungai Buloh Trail void of the ranger. Due to the big group, I abandoned the itch to lambong the gang for an unprecedented additional mileages. And tackling Steroid Hill as always challenged my heart rate to the max. I put up with the gruelling climb for the magnificent rolls later, no less. We regrouped at the bottom of the hill, before a Diket's timecheck sent us scampering back to the carpark.

We finished our loop 1 (15.6km). The trouble starts to scream off the stove the mooment we pulled out our food. God oh the food. I wished all the calories would have gone to Diket instead of me :D.

The birthday err... oldboy cut the cake without blowing the candles, and we splurge to the abundance of cool melons, chocolates etc. I overdosed on 100+ and melons, Lindt chocolates and more 100+. The slosh louder then a Camelbak in my tummy called for a discount on the impending 10k.
I would not know exactly if others were in the same page, but I could not move the hills with melons in 1.5l of fizz. But Daniels looked frustrated, especially when he did not eat or drink a lot. Thanks to the rebana on the side of the coin, I hastily called it off. It was also 10.30 a.m., remarkably slow for a 15k. In the name of tapering, we continued eating and went our way.

 aku nak yang ada bunga tu, Ian..
 memang the most makan-makan thus far
 
I spent the remaining of the day jogging alongside Iris doing her bike, swimming with her, doing sand art papers. We called off all open houses for Saturday as family time is such a commodity these days. Sad to say, I felt the debt of the 10k blocking my throat real badly. I should have just brushed off the crumbs but I didn't.

Sunday came, and I had another easy LSD. Wifey reminded me of Iris' swim evaluation that day at 9, so I hit Bukit Aman early. Sundays never dissapoint, and I got few different excorts along the darkest stretches of the road, until it was bright enough. Yeah... this year's Raya had its fair share of horror movies on the telly :D.
The menu was simple, turnaround at 7:30 a.m., wherever, and arrive back at Bukit Aman by 8:30 a.m.Plus the small break at Petronas, I returned at 8:17, grabbed my Milo, and drove off. Iris made her class, and I was rewarded by some good Soto and chicken rice back in Bukit Tunku open house later.
Come afternoon, I was itching for more action, and came very close to texting Yimster to ask he'd like to run FRIM trails, but I spent the afternoon icing my knees. There have been some growing pains on both knees and right achilles.

It is the final week to TNF. I have never ran beyond a marathon distance in my life, let alone them in trails. To say that it is not intimidating is an understatement. I am freaking out. What if my knees doesn't hold up? What if my Terra breaks apart? What if I run out of asam-boi? What ifs, and what ifs?

50 freaking long kilometres!

But I am just a weekend warrior, and accept the fact that I will not be privileged to full day trainings, 24-7. Have fun I will try, yes.
  
And this is the week I hate the most before any races. Carbo-loading week. After watching my weights for a while, I do not gel well in eating-more-and-running-less department. What I'll try to do is swim more this final week, and stretch. The feeling of over-bloatedness, and the sudden expand in the trousers, it's like death by spaghettis ahhah!

Easy week, easy week, easy week...

Comments

June Malik said…
#1 ke? you guys had a good time and dont worrylah Syah, I know you and your teammate will do well, all of you trained hard for this ..now its just to go and have fun and try to remember some of the trainings he he .. good luck bro!!
Jamie Pang said…
wah, real fun lah the POR 4! But take it easy lor.. What's to be done has been done. See you in SG!
Deo said…
Good luck Syah, you sure can lah after all the hard work.
iamsyah said…
KJ - no.1 phewwitt! Thanks, my teammate lari bawak cemeti, in case I slack off hahaha

Jamie - the fun for food it was. See you at the starting line!

Deo - insyaAllah bro! and thanks. lepas ni kita sambung trails - for Genting pulak :D
Yimster said…
Aiyo some more want to lambung me for FRIM on sunday. Bud, rest your legs and knees lah, you have fab mileage ok. Rest and lets serbu TNF! Woohoo takuts!
IJAM said…
aik, masih tak confident lagi nak buat TNF? kalau tak confident lagi, jual bib la...rayzeef atau zaki nak tu..
nevertheless, with all the training (with shanaz), i think you are more than ready...
good luck shah, make malaysia proud, make rbu proud, make your family proud...lari bawak kamera...boleh tunjuk kat anak...
iamsyah said…
Yim - I know you want to run oso, or did you? lol. you could have easily brought the evening 15k to FRIM kan, kan kan

Ijam - bukan tak konfiden, cuma berjaga-jaga... panjang tu kalau nak sangkut tengah jalan, bukan macam hartamas, kau boleh tahan teksi tengah jalan.
Kau nak aku amik gambar awek lari ye Ijam... apa kata kau lari lah sendiri hahahah, aku amik gambar, aku simpan lah :D
kookykash said…
I saw the map of TNF this year. It snakes all the way to Mandai and back. Some parts are not sheltered and some parts on tarmac.

I am glad you did not run on Sunday afternoon, channel those energies for this Saturday instead. Remember easy week.

See you in Singapore.
RaYzeef said…
good luck Avatar leg...you'll rock TNF for sure..

p.s. congrats, someone told me you got Avatar Apprentice by the name Deo ..hi hi
Julin Julai said…
Go Syah Go Syah! And Go Team mate Ian. I'll be supporting you all from my couch ( after my LSD la)
ziff71 said…
wow bro....i was really done after that 15k hehehe. U have done all you could and I would classify them as awesome training. Go and nail that TNF. BTW u deserve that carbo loading. Dun worry, all carbo stored in your body will be fully utilised in TNF :D
Diket said…
You were wise not to run FRIM again that afternoon. Rest those legs, mend those muscle tissues and make sure you'll be at the starting line injury free bro. Don't succumb to the itchiness, unless bekas gigitan pacat. Argh! Gatal ler...

Good luck Syah & Ian.
IJAM said…
yelah, betul jugak kau cakap tu, tak boleh tersangkut tengah jalan, nanti tak jumpa jalan keluar...all the best shah!!
nanti kita bincang pasal gambar amoi tu...awek singapore tu....best tu...
iamsyah said…
Kash - I looked at it, and ekceli we would come real close to the Night Safari ahaha! and looking at it so close to Woodlands is surreal!

This Friday ada swim ka?

Ray - tengok kasut lah..., tapi Ziff pun biru jugak ari tu. nasib baik takde cawat je...
eh ni kau lambung di kejauhan nih... apa macam trail kat Fraser's Hill. Naik bukit mencanak tu...

Doc - yezza... ke sorak atas dreadmill?
iamsyah said…
ziff - sekepig kek chocolate indulgence dah cukup bisa dia. apatah lagi 4 biji coklat bola Lindt, aku mmg tewas!
Aku nak nail apa kat TNF? Berat oo nak bawak hammer bai!

Diket - pacats lama tak rasa darah orang BTHO... aku rasa kalau Ijam datang pun mesti banyak pacat gigit dia... mamat gatal jugak tu huhuh

Ijam - boleh... RM5 sekali aplod.
kookykash said…
friday swim macam biasa. Lepas swim nak run 5k kiara? Hehe
iamsyah said…
huh pedasss... saya surrender, balik ofis makan eskrem :D
EnAikAY said…
Enjoy your kebulur-ding session!
Che said…
all the best team MB! sure boleh punye.
Unknown said…
Macam Bagus suda boleh tukar nama Memang Bagus!
You've prepared well, now a good race is awaiting for you. Gud luck bro!
ian yusof said…
syah - as u said, we are just weekend warriors that can't afford a 24/7 training. but frankly, you scared me off .... :)
iamsyah said…
Nik - enjoy your kebulur-ding too, bro!

Che - MB tu macam Marrybrown je hahaha

Zack - tak lepas peluang lambung kau, eh. nnt kalau ada Snickers lebih, aku bagi upah

Ian - kamon partner... you know I have to make it up to your level, kan... lol
Fong said…
good luck for TNF.. hehe the dessert post run pics are more delicious, though trail menu is the main course =)

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