Red Runners & Red Gift Baskets..

To everyone celebrating the Year of The Dragon...Kong Hei Fatt Choy!

It's nice to live in a country that recognizes festive seasons of their nation's multiple races. It's also a nice break for us non-Chinese...nice break from work and nice to drive here and there (especially in Klang Valley) and not having to go through bad traffic as many cars have balik kampung.

Earlier today I briefly watched a Chinese New Year celebration shown live on TV3. Nearly everyone was donned in red. And it reminded me of the Mizuno Wave Run that I participated in on Sunday 15th January 2012. The running jersey was, ehem, my colour - red. Red runners everywhere. We started and finished at Stadium Putra UPM Serdang, ran quite a challenging route (well, at least for me) because there were quite a few hills..some 'gentle'..and some not so :P

I was super-excited because that was my first race with my new brutal-looking-love-at-first-try shoe, the Mizuno Wave Prophecy..

Good thing I got that RunAway casing so I can still use the Nike+ foot sensor with a non-Nike shoe. Alang-alang ada Nike+ Sportband, guna je la. Belum cukup bajet nak beli Garmin superwatch+GPS+segalamacam ataupun yang seangkatan dengannya (rasanya berbaloi beli when I start running 21km dengan agak pantas nanti).

It was the first time I ran in a different category - the Women's Junior Veteran Category for women aged 35 to 45 years old. Usually I'm in the Women's Open Category. I trained harder for this run as I wanted to improve my timing. I know I would surely go past 1 hour but I hate the belas-belas minit that came after that. Kalau timing 1 jam 8 minit ke okay jugak. Okay la 1 jam 10 minit pun boleh la. My personal best before Mizuno Run was 1 hour 12 minutes. *Shoo shoo belas-belas minit*

Okay let me share the interval training on treadmill (to shock that body :P) as taught by my friend Shahril:

1. Walk, 5 minutes
2. Run at comfortable speed (for me it's usually 8.5), level 0, 5 minutes
3. Run at incline level 2, 5 minutes
4. Run at incline level 4, 5 minutes (selalunya speed dah turun ke 7.5 dah ni)
5. Run at incline level 6, 5 minutes (kalau speed masih 7.5 kiranya I very terrer oredi)

Once, when I was like 2 minutes away from finishing the training and was about to yayyyy to myself *as I can finally press the STOP button on the treadmill*, Shahril suddenly appeared next to me and say, "Dah nak habis? Okay try incline 9 pulak. Seminit je!" Incline SEMBILAN???

But the training helped a lot. Although I did stop and walk for like 3 times during the Mizuno Run (must, must get over this stop-walk thing, TIGA kali pulak tu), I did feel I ran a bit faster than usual *at least I thought I did*. I fumbled with my Sportband during the start of the race, didn't press it properly so my mileage & timing macam tak betul la. Actually I just came out from the ladies room when they flagged off the women runners so imagine me running from the toilet while trying to put on my SPIbelt, de-tangling my iPod earphones, pressing the Sportband at the starting line (I did not, apparently!) & trying to avoid from crashing into any runners in front of me.

I stopped and walked the first time..just before the 5KM mark! Bad.

After 7km, I stopped and walked again. After like 30 seconds suddenly someone tapped on my shoulder from behind and said, "Come on Datin!". It was Rahimy, my university mate! He has started running full marathon already so 10K runs ni macam kacang putih je la untuk dia. He wore green and stood out among the sea of red. Tak boleh jadi ni, I started running again, pacing the man in the green shirt. Then I saw the last water station and stopped for a drink..and lost the man in green. Looked at my watch, and kinda gave up on going for better timing. "Sure tak sempat ni" I said to myself.

Long-distance running is a lot about mental. It's me against myself. Banyak suara dalam kepala. Most of the time, the body can still go on but the mind will say, "berhenti lari, jalan je lah". Memang mental.

Then I saw some volunteers..and saw the sign '1KM to go'! My yeehaaa was cut short when I saw red runners going uphill infront of me. Crap. But it was quite a nice view actually and I almost reached for my BlackBerry from my SPIbelt sebab nak ambik gambar when I heard an inner voice say, "This is a damn race, Millie!! Apahal nak ambik-ambik gambar! Cukup la masa Putrajaya Night Marathon tu berenti jalan pakai lip balm bagai!".

Okay.

Berselang-seli dengan suara volunteers yang jerit, "Come on, last K, last K..! Last HILL!" (adoiiii), my inner voice told me, "THIS is what you've been training for! Kamon lari naik bukit kamonnn.....!!!!"

Tapi lari 3/4 bukit je..pastu jalan menonggek. Penat, okay. Then I saw the stadium..and I continued running. Chewah boleh pulak lari laju sikit. When I entered the stadium the track suddenly felt soft and pleasantly bouncy against my brutal-but-crazy-comfy Mizuno shoes..so I ran faster.

My official time was 1 hour 10 minutes 32 seconds. Takde belas-belas minit! Finally did it.

Gambar wajib dengan The Running Sisters, Hanim & Nannoor:

The gang from KakiGym (minus Alif yang dah balik)...Aina, Amar, Hazim, me, and Shahril (I call him Ketua Pasukan):

Aina is the person you should see or call if you want to go check out KakiGym or ask any questions:

The finisher's medal. This is the 7th 10K running event that I've joined.

Back from the run, I had to prepare lists for the following week's work i.e. Chinese New Year gift baskets. Felt like deja vu. When I came back from the Rakan Muda Run in December 2011, I went straight to work on a set of engagement hantaran. Lari. Kerja. Takde. Rehat. Tsk.

Anyway, all gift baskets were completed and delivered according to schedule, alhamdulillah.

For more photos of our gift basket work for Chinese New Year 2012, just go to AZ Gift Baskets Facebook page :)

After all the red and gold gifts were sent out, I had to continue with a set of wedding hantaran for a teacher from the kindergarten that all my kids went to. Takde. Rehat. Lagi.

But after all that, I felt very 'successful'. Felt I had achieved a lot.

Personal best untuk 10K? Checked.

Chinese New Year gifts (yang kononnya tak nak buat mula-mula dulu)? Checked.

Hantaran kahwin 9 dulang guna bunga segar yang perlu di hangkut oleh kakak pengantin ke Muar? Checked.

All in one week.

Ya, terasa 'achievement' nya. :P