Kata!

Ohmigod. Yesterday's class was SOLID. It was tough and challenging and just plain HARD. I am mad at myself for not being able to keep up to some of the routines. I cannot believe that after years of doing this I am still struggling with some of the workouts.

I love martial arts. Actually, if I wasn't so focused on endurance sports, karate and kickboxing would have been it for me. It gives me such a rush! And to be able to let it rip at the end of the class... aaah pure bliss.

I used to be a real karate/kickboxing junkie. I took up kickboxing when I first started working just because I had all the extra energy that needed to be released. It's not as poetic as karate, but it was just fun. It was all about kicking and punching combos and believe it or not some of them would tire you out you'd scream for your mother. It's funny because I was good with kicking in karate but in kickboxing I prefer the boxing part.

Kickboxing especially works when you're having a bad day - especially if you're having a bad day. The whole stress just melts out when you pound and pound the bag. We usually do about 7 sets of punching combos and in between would have to do endless amounts of crunches and situps. And you have to do it fast and while boxing you have to sort of shuffle with your feet. Guys love the boxing part more than the kicking. You would see them channeling all of their energy just to pummel the bag while dancing around. It's a great rush. I also love it when I get to do the kicking when the instructor's the one holding the pad. I get to give it my all and not worry about having my partner toppling over (girls are significantly weaker than guys and usually when we do kicking you would see girls either toppling or shifting to the sides due to the repeated kicking)

Why I like karate so much is because it's an art form. Martial arts, especially one that goes back to the olden days, always have with them their own ritual and school of thought. Karate, in all its viciousness, is a relaxing form of martial art. Unlike kickboxing where you just let it rip, karate has procedures and stages and they have to be done with utmost respect and discpline. My type of karate is called shito ryu, which is different form the wildly practiced shotokan in malaysia. It's a faster, speedier version than the hard and stocky shotokan. Also because most of the dachi (stance) used in Shito Ryu is the Cat Stance (nekoashi dachi), which I find totally neat and not because I'm a cat lover. Shito ryu also focuses on leg strength. There would be days where we would just spend an hour doing various versions of front squats! I remember a time when we had to squat for full 5 minutes. Of course we cheated. Also it's a version that considers kumite (sparring) as essential. I don't really like this part. I always get nervous when I have to spar. I always lose out because I'm just not fast enough.

It's like 10 days or so to the SCKLM. I haven't been running at all since Sundown. I signed up for a 42k but I think I'm going to give it a go and run as long as I could until I feel like it's enough. I don't mind not finishing it as long as I could run with friends. My dad would be doing a 10k there as well. It's high time for him to get a new pair of shoes. Any suggestions? I'm thinking of getting him a nicer better pair but I need suggestions as I've only been using Reeboks and one sole New Balance in my life. What's a good sturdy pair of running shoes for 58 year old uncle who only runs mostly 10k? He's like me, a moderate supinator.

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon

My second half-marathon preparation was - from the start - messy with many unplanned details. I was late to book for the bus, I accidentally double booked the hostel, this and that. Since my bestfriend had accompanied me for the Great Eastern and my sister for the PBIM, my boyfriend decided to become my supporter. Friday night, he told me that we might have to change the time on our bus tickets since he had an important football selection on Sunday evening.

So early in the morning we were at first coach bandar utama asking if it was possible for us to change our tickets back from 5pm to 10am. they said no. Not wanting to give up, I called the singapore;s first coach whose response was, "sure!" But we decided to change the time to 1045am in case I did not manage to finish within 3 hours.

The ride to Singapore was uneventful. I watched one of my favorite movies, armageddon, and cried buckets much to my boyfriend's dismay. He later told me that the whole bus heard me sobbing. I could not help it, the touching father-daughter scenes at the end will always make me cry, no matter how macho I believe myself to be. and it's Bruce Willis!

When we arrived (at 3pm) we went straight to the expo to get my race kit. as I walked towards it I was surprised to see that the Penguin Book sale was just beside! It was all I could do to stop myself from entering. I am currently financially unstable ever since I signed the SNP of my first property ever (my first thought upon signing: rasa macam adult!) and adding to the fact that I (might) be going to L.A in January I am not even in the state to buy a pencil.

We checked in at our hostel, a comfy, laid-back building in the little india area. The 6 bed mixed dorms were the only ones available when I booked but only 4 people including us was in the room. As usual i opted for the bunk below hahaha.

Fast forward to the race day. No one in the hostel were participating in the race so we were the only ones who got out at about 550 am (I thought subuh was at 545) We walked to little india MRT but it was closed. I was taken aback and stunned. This was poor planning on my part as I had stupidly expected that it would be opened. We had only $4 with us and I left my atm card at home - we did not have enough for a taxi fare. and I have no map that could lead us to City hall. We alked blindly for a few minutes asking random sleepy people until we bumped into another malaysian runner Jeff, who was on the way to do his 10k. By that time (610 am), Bugis mrt was open.

Me and Jeff on the way to Bugis MRT.

At the starting line not only was I sweaty (from panicking and walking fast) but i realized that I am way unprepared. I was holding two water bottles: one filled with OSR and one just water. I did this with PBIM and had no problem running holding two bottles, in fact, my running was better because I had something to hold on to. But this time around I was also carrying my two ointments - a counterpain and some analgesic ointment prescribed by my doctor for my knees. I had wanted to buy an SPI belt but did not get the chance to the night before as we were lost in the city after having dinner. so in desperation I did the unthinkable - stuffed them in my sports bra with a quick prayer to god that they won't chafe me until I bleed to death.

I started the race ok, running at my usual relaxed 7mins/km pace. I sipped the OSR, looked at other runners, enjoyed the view.

And then my feet hurt.

And hurt.

Im sure all of you have experienced plantar fasciitis. Mine is highly serious due to bad recovery (or none at all!) and it hurt like you have no idea. Mostly I have problems with my arches and not the heel itself. Still, it's a bad bad bad bad thing to have when you need to use your feet to run another 16 km. And then, came the second bad thing: I started to worry about the race.

I hate it when it happens to me. The moment my mind goes, "Damn... this is tiring," the feeling will NEVER stop. It will not stop until I finish the race. The were races where I felt this: Siemens, Great Eastern 10k, and races where I felt wonderful: Mizuno, PBIM. This time, I felt the BIG BAD tiring feeling. And guess what? It continued all the way until the end. I tried tot hink about something else: my new shoes, ..... but nothing came to mind except, "When is this going to end this HURTS!!"

At 10km mark I felt mentally drained. My knees started to hurt so bad that I was forced to slow down and walk. I repeated this cycle - walk, run, walk - for a good 5 km. I started to feel insanely hungry. And because I've been bracing my whole body from the knee pain, i.e, trying not to put pressure on the left leg I've accidentally tightened up my entire body which resulted in cramps in my stomach even though I've been steadily drinking the OSR. I can't remember how many times I stopped to re-apply the counter pain to noth myknees and my arches. and I've never been so relieved to see the km markers on the way. One km was a horrible distance to cover when your feet's on fire!

At 15km I looked at my watch and it was 1 hour and 59 minutes. That means I could cover the remaining 6km in about 30 minutes or so, allowing me to finish it in 2hrs 30 mins (my target time, walaupun tak practice langsung boleh lagi nak berangan...) YEAH RIGHT. My feet were screaming bloody murder and I was forced to walk until I reached 18km - slow painful steps. By that time I've passed my 2hrs 50 minutes time from PBIM and I could not care less. I just wanted to finish it! My wristwatch came off and luckily someone tapped me on the shoulder and I had to reverse a couple of steps to retrieve it.

At the last 1km, knowing my boyfriend would be at the sideline waiting, I forced myself to run (hahaha ego gila!), thinking that I'll never hear the end of it if he saw me walking to the finish line. I guess it was adrenaline and knowing that my pain would soon be over, but i didn't even remember feeling the pain in both my feet and knees. I was busy trying to look like I'm some sort of a pro-runner carrying two water bottles, for the benefit of my boyfriend who had the camera. But I was soon humbled as I crossed the finish line with the time ticking above to

3:00:50 (official time, 2:58 was based on my wristwatch).

My favorite quotes (that I can remember):

1) Quitters never run, Runners NEVER quit.

2) I like men chasing me.

3) For Grandpa :) (I just think there is a story behind this. I always have a soft spot for male role models)

4) Breakfast after the run! YUM.

and my personal favorite:

"Nothing is Impossible. The Impossible JUST takes longer..." The lady wearing it was a slightly chubby girl with a determined look on her face, slowly running. It literally made me go Wow when I read it. It's true. Whatever you think is impossible - it just takes a little longer. you only have to go through with it, grit your teeth, and finish. Throughout the race, whenever I felt sucky about finishing with a bad time, I thought of that lady runner whom I left behind 10km back, who probably would finish late but I bet she would be super proud of herself. Because I am too. I hoped she had a really good race because her quote really helped me.

Anyway to top the crazy weekend, without having the time to shower, me and boyfriend hopped on our bus (1045am) so that he could catch his football selection at 530pm. I only managed to change my underwear at the immigration stop.

Yay Me!! Look at my running form - heel strike. No wonder I have all the injuries!

Spiderman runs too! I wonder how he could withstand the heat.

Running with Injury: Post Standard Chartered

 I completed my second half-marathon for this year at the much talked about Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. I am back now at home, nursing my massive swollen knees and foot. One look at them and my doctor went, "WHAT DID YOU DO?" I think I might not be running for the Malakoff. I know I'm swearing off (or have to) running next year for about at least 2 months. I can't stand running any more races feeling like hell throughout. For this race, I suffered body cramps - at my stomach, upper back - from bracing the severe pain of my knees. At 7km mark, I told myself, "Maybe I should stop this." And then I saw a message on the back of one runners: Quitters never run, Runners never quit. Oh WELL!

 I finally finished the whole 21km of running on hot coals and hot rods at the horrible but gratifying time of 2:58. I do not care what anyone thinks of this time. I completed my second 21km without so much of a training, with runners knees and plantar fasciitis, and after 5 months of jumping into this running scene. To think my first race was McDonalds run, and back then 7km felt like going to Johore. I was so proud of myself. Still am.

 I want to thank my boyfriend for being a great total support and a great fan, waiting at the sidelines (patiently) until I appeared. Here's to many more years.

 How about you guys?

 Detailed stories and pictures later. 

UNDERTRAINED

I'm freaking out.

 My first half marathon is in 2 weeks or so, and I have yet to cover any respectable mileage. AT ALL. I've only done 2 10 k races. 

 I'm going for a long walk today to get my legs used to the exercise again. And lots of swimming. and lots of kickboxing. maybe just boxing.

Singapore Mishap AGAIN

This is an email I received from Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon:

 Hi Nadia, 

I will have to cancel your current registration and help you register again. If you do not mind, you can give me your personal details so that I can help you register again and send you the confirmation slip. 

Details required are your: 
1. NRIC No 
2. Credit Card Number 
3. Expiry Date of your card 
4. Card Holder Name 
5. Security Pin (3 numbers) 

I will email you again once I've registered for you. 

Best Regards
Neddely
Sports Events

Does it look fishy to you? I called the customer service and they confirmed that such person exist. Anyway I gave them the information but I BCC'ed to my sisters as proof... of what I don't know.

 

Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon

Without a doubt, this is the worst race organizer ever.

Well the term 'worst' is relative since this is my first encounter of such unprofessional handling of matters.

Look at the picture below:


It is a screen shot of my Maybank2u credit card transaction slip. It says, if I may, that I have made a payment to Standard Chartered Singapore SG for the amount of $52 (for half marathon) on the July 27th.

I have emailed them about 5 times. I called their hotline about more than 15 times. I think they all know my name already. I still haven't received the confirmation slip. When they checked their database, they say my name nor the payment is recorded. They asked me to check with my bank.

I checked with Maybank, and they said there is really nothing they could do because the payment has been made to them. I should print out this transaction as proof, they said.

I have already attached this screenshot. And the hotline said that if it was their payment, it would have the RBS Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon on the slip.

So I said, okay fine. I'll re-register again, even if it means I burned rm 128 for some phantom payment to standard chartered, even if it means I missed out on the early bird fee.

This morning, I registered. And I GOT THE SAME PROBLEM AGAIN. As soon as I pressed Ok for the visa payment, it LEAD ME BACK TO THEIR WAIVER PAGE, no confirmation whatsoever. What is wrong with their system?

To say that there is something wrong with MY card, it couldn't be because just yesterday I registered for the great eastern women singapore and it got through just like in seconds. From RBS as well. So no complaints from my card or the bank.

What I am frustrated about is the fact that they don't want to help at all. Like, dude, I am sorry, but you seem to be the ONLY one who's having this problem... so it's your loss not mine. We've already received a staggering response from people.

I told them that I have no idea how this happen, but my intention is simple: I just wanted to register. Is there anything, ANYTHINg you could do? I mean, short of telling me I have to register in person in singapore, there's nothing they could do, they say. Just like that.

The worst thing is that I might have to look for someone who lives in Singapore who is kind hearted enough to register for me at the registration center. The standard chartered people gave me their number, and when I told them (the singapore athletics association) they say it's typical of the race organizers to 'tai-chi' the problems to the registration center. That guy was really kind. He says since they have no such technologies, and they can only accept manual registration, he would allow somebody else to register for me, even if it is strictly in person.

THAT'S how you want to help people. Even if I'm the only person having this problem. How could you say, "Sorry... there's nothing we can do?" to someone who wants to register?

Anyway, yesterday because of this particularly upsetting news, I decided to take it easy on my running. I did a simple 5.5km in 39:38:09 which is slower than my normal times, but I couldn't be bothered. My knees hurt all the time now... and my shin is starting to throb. Im feeling an onset of injuries piling in. But I'm a bit upset about the registration to worry about other things. I do not want to miss the race. But how am I able to register if they won't let me??