Freedom To Run

Freedom To Run - http://www.freedomtorun.net/ is an event organiser based in Singapore. Their main objectives are to help self sponsored athlete to participate in any events in Singapore, Malaysia or anywhere in the world.

They make it hassle free for you so that you can concentrate on the running. From transport to accommodation, They will take care for you. You can forget about car parking problem, collection of race kit, transfer from hotel to starting point etc.

They have successfully help athlete from Singapore to participate in Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon 2009.

They are currently trying to provide race packages to exotic races such as Petra Marathon, Polar Circle Marathon, Great Wall of China Marathon, The BIG five marathon, The Great Tibetan Marathon.

Participating in these races such as Great Wall of China Marathon, you need to register via an authorised travel agents. You just cannot register for the race and run it. You have to take the whole packages offered by the agents including sight seeing tour and the nearest agent if I'm not mistaken is at HongKong. Now I can just book from them. The whole expenses might be around USD1000 for a week trip.

Week 30 - 20/07 - 26/07

Monday - Afternoon UF practice at SM Puteri Masna
Tuesday - rest
Wednesday - Morning lazy 5km run and afternoon UF practice at Jigsaw
Thursday - Morning 1 hour fast trail walking at Tasek Lama
Friday -Rest
Saturday - Morning Trail walk 12.12km at Tasek Lama
Sunday - Family Badminton at PGGMB 7 Afternoon UF FunDay at JP

Kite Season is ON !!!!

Musim Kikek dah bermula. Jadinya dinasihatkan kepada semua penunggang basikal dan motosikal agar berhati hati ketika menghampiri kawasan tempat bermain kikek terutama kawasan Masjid Kg Perpindahan Lambak Kanan.

The kite is not dangerous but the string of the kite is dangerous. Usually in Brunei, the string is glued with very very small shredded glasses either from bottles, testubes or any kind of sharp glasses. Basically, the objective is to cut other kite flyers strings with your home made sharp strings. So to those who can make the strong & sharp string and a good techniques of kite 'dog-fight' will usually win. It is a good healthy outdoor sports and easy tanning.

The problem here is with the string that is being cut. It is being cut way up in the sky and it will carried away by the kite and wind until it landed either on the ground or up on the trees. 'Kite Hunters' usually took the kite and left behind the 'glass-string' and it is seldom dispose properly. This is where it becomes dangerous to US - cyclists. If it is on the ground, it is ok, but if it is still hanging from trees, houses, poles to other erected structures 5ft from the ground and if you accidentally run over it, it will easily cut (melukakan bukan memutuskan) your body. It can also damage the body of the car with the scredded glass strings.

So guys, avoid those areas. BE VERY CAREFUL.

My New Discs

My new frisbee has arrived - 11 Discs altogether. 10 From Discraft and 1 from Flashflight (The Red LED).

The white discs (3 of it)I'll be selling it for BND$20 and rest will be for my personal use.

Currently, I have more than 15 discs and I'm planning to buy other colors such as pink, red, blue, etc.

These 50 Discs are being sold by Radzi at $20, $21 for night glow & $22 for UV

ULTIMATE !!!!!!!

McFarm ride 19th July 2009

The last time I was here was in November 2008 and that time the trail was very challenging. The road was not in a good state. Some hills I did not managed to climb all the way up due to the terrible conditions – potholes everywhere. But now, the road is in good condition (eventhough it is still off road). Ordinary 4WD cars can go in easily.

I guess the local villages around the area have fixed the road so that it will be accessible to everyone. There is even ATV bike rentals facilities being provided to tour along the trail. Please check http://atvtrip.blogspot.com/

2nd November 2008                               19th July 2009

  

The trip was from McFarm Kg Tungku to Kg Tg Bunut. On the way out of the jungle, Sofian Thani’s MTB chain ‘putus’, so with limited tools, they modified the chain, cut it short and join it together and it took us around 45 minutes to solve it.

 

Total distance covered approximately 25km – off-road and on-road trail.

I’ve managed to conquer all the hills but I was slow on the downhill part. Everyone was flying down the hill. I was to chicken to let go off my brake. For sure I’ll be back here again pretty soon.

Week 29 - 13/07/09 - 19/07/09

Monday: rest
Tuesday: rest
Wednesday: Family Hiking Tasek Lama to Bukit Markucing and afternoon UF at SM Puteri Masna
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Morning Trail Run 10.36km from Tasek Lama to B.Markucing and back
Sunday: Morning MTB ride at McFarm.

TNF100 Singapore – the preparation

 

Registration	Done
Visa Approval (MEM BESAR)	Approved (Carried forward from IMP70.3 approval)
Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya Registration Fees	Refunded in FULL (USD200)
Reschedule Airline Ticket from Brunei to KL (RBA)	Done
Airline Ticket from KL to Singapore (AirAsia)	Not Yet
Accommodation in Malaysia -LCCT Tune Hotel 1 Night	Not Yet
Accommodation in Singapore – 2 Night	Not yet
Leave Application	Not Yet
Training	In Progress

family hiking tasek lama to b.markucing

Yesterday, 9 family members made up of brothers, sister-in-law, nephew and niece hiked from Tasek Lama BSB to Bukit Markucing, Kg Belimbing Subok. No running only trail walking.  We started around 6:40am and finished just before 12:00 noon

 

 

It took us around 40minutes to reach the eagle’s nest hill using the water dam trail

 
Simpang 3. It took us 10 minutes to reach here from the ‘Bukit Sarang Helang’. You still have the choice either to continue or use the other path back to Tasek Lama / Sheraton.

 
From here, its another 30 minutes walk to Bukit Markucing.

It took us 2 hours and 20 minutes to reach Bukit Markucing hut and it took us almost 3 hours just to get back due to one of the family members ‘pancit’ due to no prior training. All the muscles ‘kekajutan’, nasib baik inda pengsan. The distance covered is around 11km.

If this is not enough, you can continue walking the full loop of Bukit Markucing before heading back which would take around 45 minutes to 1 hour.

This trail will be a good training ground for my North Face 100 Challenge. I’m planning to run/walk from my home Sg Akar to Tasek Lama via Jalan Kebangsaan (9km) and then trail running/walking to Bukit Markucing and Lastly either I run back to home using Jalan Subok (7km) or run/walk back to Tasek Lama and home. If I cannot take it anymore, call for help. Most probably altogether the distance would be around 21 to 25km – more than enough for my preparation for the 50km duo challenge.

bicycle for sale

Shop Location: Simpang 209, Jalan Penghubung Lambak, Kg Lambak, Mukim Berakas. Made In China.

 

  

A Frustrating Week ->Week 28 - 06/07 - 12/07

I was really looking forward to Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya. My training was going really well but now after the event was cancel and postponed to a later date - malas rasanya kan berlatih.

The new date is schedule on 4th October 2009, 2 weeks after Hari Raya and that only gave me around 1 week to practice, 2 days of berhari raya and 5 days of tapering including travelling to race site. The biggest problem would be swimming - Swimming pool is closed during fasting month and will only be open probably after 3rd Hari Raya. Maybe if I'm lucky some private swimming pool such as JPMC, Mabohai, Fitness Zone or BSC will be open but since I'm fasting that only leave me night time for swimming. For other training - running and cycling, I can do it before breaking the fast and after terawih but I can only do a maximum of 10k run and maybe 15 to 20k bike ride. Not enough.

After considering that I will not be having enough practice, I've decided to cancel my participation. Kalau ganya rasanya kan ikut and cross the finish line, I can do it but since I have a high expectation, that will not be enough for me. I want to cross the finish line within my target time and with style - I don't want to cross the finish line macam orang inda bernyawa, exhausted, longlai, walking like a robot and anything resembling a person participating in an event without any training and preparation - it looks ugly, humiliating and stupid - sorry to those kalau ada yang terasa. That how I felt - merasa ku udah. Just a reminder this is 1.9km swim, 90.1km bike ride and lastly 21 km run - so you will understand that you need proper training for this not like your going for a walk in the park and furthermore I've invested a lot of money for this event - (money well spent not money wasted) - so have to train.

Since I still have my airline ticket and a refund of USD200 from the event organizer (maybe), I need a new event and I have found a good challenging event - The North Face 100 in Singapore (24th October 2009). Yeap in Singapore - 1 month after Hari Raya. Ertinya I still have to buy transit ticket from KL to Singapore (AirAsia costs RM100). Its a trail running and running in team of 2 (my partner to be is GD). The only questions is what categories - 100km duo or 50km duo? Need to think..............

So next week will start my running training..................

This week activities:

Monday: rest (News of Ironman70.3 cancel but it was just rumours)
Tuesday: Morning 15km run and afternoon 2x50 warmup, 2x500 FS and 5x100 speed
Wednesday: Afternoon bike 16.56km
Thursday: Morning brick 15.75km bike / 5km run (receive an-email that Ironman 70.3 is cancel)
Friday: Afternoon swim 2x500m
Saturday: Afternoon 2.5km run
Sunday: Morning 57.7km bike ride and afternoon Ultimate fun day at JP

the north face 100 - Singapore

1	Event	The North Face 100
2	Type	Trail Running (off-road)
3	Venue	MacRitchie Park
4	Date & Time	Saturday, 24th October 2009
5	Categories and Fees	100km Solo (By Invitation) - $180 / $220 100km duo (Men, Women or Mixed) - $180 / $220 50Km  duo (Men, Women or Mixed) - $110 / $140
6	Dateline	25th September 2009
7	Cut-Off Timing	100km – To be advised 50km – 9 hours 25km – 5 hours
8	Other information	For 100km and 50km duo run, each runners will run half of the distance.
9	Website	http://www.thenorthface100.com.sg/

Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya Postpone

It's Official - Postpone to 4th October 2009 - 2 weeks after raya.

How am I going to participate??? Have to reapply visa lagi.....susah susah kan jadi athlete PRO ani. To be an Ironman is much more difficult than to be a triathlete.

Your safety and welfare is our utmost priority.
09 JULY 2009
NOTICE FOR POSTPONE OF IRONMAN 70.3 PUTRAJAYA
It is with deep regret that the management of Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya hasmade the decision to postpone Ironman 70.3, which was originally scheduledfor 26th July 2009.
Due to the recent outbreak of the H1N1 epidemic both internationally andlocally Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya 2009 is hereby postponed to 4th October 2009.This action is being taken to comply with the requirements from the localand national government authorities in order to safeguard and control thenumber of imported cases which have been on the rise in recent times.
All registered participants will have their entries brought forward to thenew date.For those athletes who are unable to compete on the new date, a refundpolicy is in progress and will be released in the coming days. Please staytuned for additional refund and race information via email.
We apologize for any inconvenience caused due to this postponement and willkeep you updated on the development of this situation as more information ismade available to us. We are committed to keep the safety and welfare of allparticipants as our utmost priority.

Thank you for your kind understanding.

Best regards
A. Chandrakumanan
Race Director

The race is still ON !!!!

Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya race is still on. Somehow there was a miscommunication and misunderstanding between the crew. Kalau lah ku tau siapa orangnya yang menyebarkan berita yang kurang hangat, ku lastik hidungnya.

So back to training as usual....................................

Ironman 70.3 Putrajaya Cancel

I've just read this from Facebook and the organizer has message some of the athletes that the event is cancel. Aaarrrggghhhhh........

Juliana Ali frm
Razlan Abdullah to me : salam how are you girl? just to let you know that
Putrajaya 70.3 is called off coz the H1N1 flu please pass this message to all
our friends thank you

Get ready for backup plan.........what should I do with the air ticket and hotel bookings???

Week 27 - 29/06 - 05/07

Monday: UF practice at SM Puteri Masna
Tuesday: Afternoon run of 14.1km
Wednesday: Afternoon Swim and UF practice at SM Puteri Masna
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Morning bike ride 34.69km - stung by a bee
Saturday: afternoon brick session 15.34km/5km - not a good session
Sunday: morning bike ride 44.57km and afternoon UF practice throw

Stung by a bee

Yup, I’ve got stung by a bee while we were riding this morning. I got stung near the DST HQ at Tungku Link Highway. I was infront while Zaeidi and Ali was at the back and were travelling around 35k/h. Out of nowhere, a flying insect hit my sunglasses and without wasting time, crawl inside the sunglasses and decided to sting just below my right eye.

Emergency stop and luckily nobody hit me from behind. Zaeidi have to make an emergency detour to the grass. The ‘bee’ managed to fly away before I have to chance to catch it. Stupid bee – adakah patut, ia melanggar aku, ia yang marah, disengatnya aku. Patutnya aku yang MARAH!!!!!

So dalam rasa kesakitan, we decided to cut short our ride and went back home. That was a painful ride.

The picture was taken 3:54pm at the office after I went to the clinic. I applied the prescribed cream and bertambah bengkak tia pulang. I was also given an antibiotic

P.S. kalau ku bejumpa penyengat atu, ku gigit gigit ya……SAKIT!!!!1