Unwittingly, I have become..

As a runner, I am impartial to the make or colour of shoes. In fact, I take some pride in ignoring the colour of my shoes when I have to make a choice. Nisa has seen me, more than twice, told the store assistant that colour was not relevant when alternative colours were brought out for us to see (all in the same size). And this is how it's been this while. It was only the last pair that I brought that Nisa chose the colour for me.

But, but, I have never considered New Balance shoes because they were ugly..I hate the "N" on the side of the shoes. No doubt they are just as good as other premium running shoes, and certainly they are mentioned in the same breadth as Asics, Saucony, Brooks (and sometimes, Nike). The stupid "N" just bothers me. The fact that each model does not have a name but if differentiated by numbers also bug me; of course every runner knows NB refuses to use names because it wants to avoid a cult status on the name, losing the focus on the shoe but if you produce great shoes year after year, this will never happen! NB seems to have relented recently with their "minimus" line of shoes but this detracts from what I feel.

Money influences everything. Coupled with the fact that we change our shoes so frequently, we need to spend as little as possible on shoes, without compromising quality. Recently, we have (and will, in a few weeks) participated in NB badges runs. NB runs are the only events that give out discount vouchers for their products and on that, I bought the RT769 last year, and the 758 recently. One is the racing shoe, whilst the other is the trainer. In this stage of training, in the lead up to the half at the end of the year, I needed another trainer. I bought the 759 over the weekend and took it for a spin yesterday. A little stiff in the forefoot but I have been told the shoe needs some running-in time, as was the case with the 758. All the 3 NB shoes are working out decently and I am growing to like how they feel, fit and perform.

Unwittingly, I have become, a NB person. Even their apparel seem to appeal to me. Brooks will be upset since their only hold over me has been their apparel.

They did their job

Yesterday night was Formula 1 night, with the Singapore race being held. From a personal standpoint, I am very proud that my tiny country held and hosted a F1 event, what with there being a limited number per season. As with most things done by Singapore, it turned out well, as it has over the last 2 occassions.

I still remember the F1 last year. I had not moved in - we had not even bought our place yet so I had to camp out at Nasir's home to watch on his big-screen TV. It was all pretty impressive, watching it on a big-screen and I was telling myself then that I would have one by the next F1.

The TV was ready, as was the sound system. Full HD too, so everything came out stark and clear. It is not much fun watching it alone and the only person whom I could remember being an F1 fan is Uncle A, Nisa's uncle from her mother's side. He came over and we ordered pizzas for dinner whilst watching F1. The Tv really performed and everything was clear - especially the crashes. The only bit where I missed out on the full experience was the sound. The choice seat of the house was taken by Uncle A, whom arrived at and sat down without much aplumb. He got the best seat and all I got was "the speakers are really adjusted well because I can see the sound is coming from the centre, where the TV is".

Jamie wanted to get in on the experience. No doubt he found F1 boring and when the race was over, he quietly but insistently, wanted to put on the Avatar blu-ray. And he thereafter promptly described the action sequences to Uncle A, right in front of his proud parents.

Was there any running involved? I completed a 7k run right before, showered and was then all ready for F1.

A jog, a sprint and a race to the end

The season will end soon with the SCSM 2010. This is where we will attempt the half in some semi-decent fashion.

I feel I was actually spent half way through the season, running too many races and feeling fatigued from the training. Ramadan came and when and there was minimal training during then. It was difficult to build fitness when I was not eating, and more crucially, not sleeping well. I wanted to do short hill intervals but that was thrown out of the window as well.

I completed my first LSD after Raya just; more like a walk/run/walk/jog effort but it felt good to be out. Distance was not impressive but i got it done. Running too with a slight cold but it was nice to get moving instead of feeling lethargic from all the cakes and tarts. Sitting around with tarts, and tarts, and more tarts makes me feel that way - to the point I could feel the butter and jam in my body clogging up the veins.

The spore runners were preparing for SCSM as well. The legs and singlets were out and everyone was in impressive form. I could only keep up for a short distance before I had to walk and I will will myself to be like them. I drafted behind this pair of lady runners - the slimmer one was sympathetic to my efforts, whilst the chunkier one was irritated until the point she passed me. Anyhow, with training and no major interruption on the horizon, I will soon join the ranks of the runners along the ECP, God-willing.

I was a little scared too

All of us trooped to universal studios yesterday. It was my sister-inlaw and her family, my other sister-inlaw, and us. We wanted to arrive right after the gates opened but I was late trying to upload and organize photos on the Mac. After years of having been brought up on using Windows, it is not easy going about on the Mac. For starters, there is no "right" click on the mouse. I could go on and on but at this stage, I am really finding it difficult to see why the Mac is superior. And this from a family that has 2 iPhones and an iPad.

Anyway, we got there just a shade under 11am. Going in was a breeze and before long, we were queuing for rides. The old roundabout whilst riding on animals was mandatory and we opened with that. Then came the Shrek rollercoaster. Jamie refused to miss out since all were going, and probably because he did not know what was involved. He's never been on a roller coaster after all. As the car pulled out and got into it's first drop, Jamie said he was scared, and wanted to go home. He wanted to get out and stop the fear bit he could not; and my boy started to cry. I was sitting beside him but there was little else I could do except stretch over to hold him. Father and son disembarked quickly and got away. He calmed down after that and before long, he was back to his old cheery self - I have pictures to prove it!

We watched other performances as well and we then came to the next ride. Not a roller coaster but more like a ski-lift gone wild. Legs dangling over the seat, acceleration and turns. I was apprehensive about Jamie but he was certain he wanted to try. I brought him out to the open area where he could see others on this ride and he was certain he was ok. He even said (bravely) he was not scared. So away we went. Nisa held onto him throughout and at the end, he proudly proclaimed that he did not cry and was not scared. A little early to say he's come off age but that's what every parent will want to think too quickly.

I was scared too. I have never liked roller coasters and have only gotten on out of peer pressure. I didn't see much point in going on something to scare yourself; this is different from an adrenalin rush. So when Jamie said he was scared, I could see myself in him. I was scared too, many many years ago, and still am.

They're here.

It is difficult to top the feeling I get when my nephew, MSZ, quietly mumbles "Wah, nice" when he saw the garden in the airwell walking into the house when the entire troupe arrived in spore.

Difficult, but not impossible because it just happened. The best feeling is watching Jamie running, laughing, and playing his heart out.

My greatest fear

Up until the journey down, the true balik kampung, the Raya festivities have been going well. Got up early on Hari Raya itself and had my baju melayu on without much fuss. This is really a bigger deal than it seems because I always have problems getting the buttons on, and even bigger problems getting the sarong to roll nicely, securely and fall neatly. If there is anyone to emulate in wearing this traditional dress, it would be to look at the Agong, or the PM, and copy exactly what they do. The post prayers binge was also controlled and I had only what I wanted without going overboard.

So things were looking like they were moving as planned. The second day is always the trip down to Muar, to Dad's hometown. We decided to go in 3 cars instead of the usual 2. Everyone would travel in relative comfort to Muar, and then onto Spore.

On the journey down, Nisa's car fell behind because H wanted to go to the loo and that car stopped in Seremban rest stop. This was where Nisa felt the brakes almost fail. Her car stopped and waited for 2 hours for the resident mechanic there to do a look see. To his credit, he admitted that this particular European car was beyond his expertise but he said the car could go on. When Nisa reported back and the Muar people diagnosed that the brakes probably needed bleeding. But after 2hrs of rest, the brakes seemed to be back to normal and she drove on. They failed again at the outskirts of Muar and she pulled into a petrol station. By now, it was some 7hrs since leaving the KL home and everyone was tired. Short story is that a mechanic was located in Muar who seemed competent enough to sort this out, and the car was towed to his workshop. Everything in Nisa's car was distributed between the other 2 cars and we continued the journey down to Spore. We left KL 11am and got into Spore at 1am.

If there were better circumstances to experience a car problem, I could not imagine. The brakes problem was discovered at a large reststop. The second time it occurred was at a petrol station. All of this took place in the day (it would have been a disaster if it were the night). And Nisa had her sister and brother with her. On top of that, the family was in Muar and could find a friendly mechanic, because they have lived there for an age.

The greatest fear in the travels up and down KL is to have a breakdown and it happened.

A spark..and I'm back in the club

The last time I went running was when I made the last entry. Apart from when we were on holiday, I doubt I have stopped running for this long. I only have myself to blame, seeing that I did not wake up for my morning meals and hence went round the whole day feeling empty and weak; not that the daily routine was difficult to fulfill or that I was not able to think straight but running was out of the question. It's terrible to feel empty the whole day long.

The only think that I could do was to think about golf. And practice, since that takes little energy. I'm getting better, which is surprising as it has been almost 2 years since I played 18. So golf took up quite a bit of time, and the last few days was getting the home ready for the family coming down from kl. Throw in one night when R (our trusty contractor) came to sort out Jamie's step in his shower stall, and re-waterproof mine, and that brought me to the eve of Raya.

Yet there was a spark. Just last Monday, I somehow stumbled upon podcasts from RW. It's wasn't new stuff bur I downloaded in nonetheless. Just looking at the 1:43min podcast was the spark. I somehow wanted to run almost immediately and I got back into my running groove. Fast forward to just now and I found myself at Kiara. It was raining when I left the house but it had stopped when I got there. I was the only one going up the wet hills but no matter. As I trotted up, I felt I rediscovered running for the second time, and readmitted myself back into the community of the KL runners. So much so that as I was leaving to come home, a runner that was starting on his run waved - for this is what everyone in the KL community really is.