ALLADIN RUN 2013 ~~ AGAIN!

While everyone was sleeping, OR not asleep yet this morning (1st June), i woke up at 4am, to prepare for my annual Run, the ALLADDIN RUN, organised by DKSH.
(i have no idea if the name now is pronounced as ALADDIN, or ALL-ADD-IN....lol, a few of my friends were debating on the name after i posted up the running tee. but oh well....XD)

I gone on a hiatus on running mainly because my running partner shifted and transferred back to Johor Bahru.  Till now i've not found any running partner. Also, maybe age is catching up (LOL!) because i despise morning runs. I can never get enough sleep (even if i went to bed at 8pm the night before). i mean, come on~~~ waking up 4am on a weekend!? that's blasphemy~~~!!!!!

AHEM, but anyway...today's run was a different one. With only 601 participants, i could see a very clear and huge chance of winning top 3 in the run. I'd imagine that if i run consistently at my pace and finish 5km in less than 30 mins should suffice. It's enough, but not merely enough to beat the winner for the Female Open.

By the way.... I came in 2nd ^_^

I clocked in at 28mins (official time) for the 5km run, but the winner clocked in at 23 mins. I was neck-in-neck with this lady at one point of the run. We overtook each other a couple of times, but halfway through the run, i had abdominal pains again....which resulted me in slowing down and she pulling further away.

When she was approximately 25 meters or so in front of me, i knew it was too huge a gap to catch up. Unless she tripped and fell, or i started sprinting like a mad Olympic runner, i knew i wouldn't be able to catch up anymore.

Thus, i remained consistent at my current pace, and finally finished 2nd in my category.

Although i lost to the winner, i'm relatively happy because the time i clocked in beat my previous year's record (which was, 32mins for 5km). It was a significant improvement IMHO.

ALSO, what i was really delighted about was that i also beat the previous year's winner's runner and record. That girl came in 3rd, approximately 1min and a half behind me.

At least i manage to retrieve some consolation from waking up so damn early on a Saturday (which was, by the way a public holiday because it was the Agong's Birthday)

Got myself an extra pocket money of RM200~!!
(it's either going into my funds to get an iPad Mini, or my Japan trip funds)
i remember last year my winnings (which was also RM200) went to my Comic Fiesta costume funds. I was saying whether or not i cosplay, depends on whether or not i won any 'sponsorship' from the run. LOL

So yeah, here's what i got in my goodiebag this year~~!!

Quite a lot of stuffs. But originally i didn't get this bag. It was a funny thing. The MOST IMPORTANT goodie to me was the Famous Amos cookie. And the first bag i got HAD NO COOKIE IN IT!!

i immediately went to the officials (in charge of goodie bag) and said to her..

' THERE'S NO COOKIE IN THIS BAG!! THAT'S THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN THE GOODIE BAG!!! CAN I CHANGE?!!??!?!?'

Obviously she let me change my goodie bag, else i would've thrown some kiddie tantrum..lol! COOKIES ARE IMPORTANT OKAY?!?!?!

So yeah, here's how i look after my 5km run.

Super RED~~~!! can feel all the blood gushing towards my head. LOL!!

and, MiLO, my baby, decided to snag the tag from me...

Beaming with pride

I'm not too sure whether i wana join this again next year. If i don't have any friends/colleagues joining i might not want to anymore. But we'll see.....who knows, i might need the money? XD

Also, my HR manager was there and before the run, he said 'IF YOU DONT GET TOP 3, DONT COME TO OFFICE ON MONDAY'.....i assumed it was a FREE LEAVE for me....so, Jymmy, do i still get my FREE LEAVE? i ended up top 3.....

Listening to : ONE OK ROCK - Re:make
Mood : Lethargic (i dun like naps)

Workout and Motivation

Workout and Motivation

How often do you workout?
- Almost everyday (except 'that' particular time of the month)

How long do you workout?
- hmm..depends....if i have a run or marathon coming up, i would run more in the gym. Most probably 1 hour or so to build stamina.
- Also, if there's a cosplay event or photoshoot, will most probably put in an extra 30 mins.

Where do you workout?
- Usually i'll hit Fitness First after work during the weekdays. (except wednesday, that's the time i play badminton with my colleagues)

What do you do when you workout? (run, cycle, resistance, etc)
- I run most of the time. Occasionally i row the boat (there's this boat rowing machine in the gym) and i cycle (my very own RPM with my anime songs.... :D)

What is your motivation?
- Cosplay.......that's the one and sole purpose i'm putting in so much during gym. Works wonders!

What is the hardest part of working out?
- hmmm....getting started? the first 3 minutes into the run, you'll feel like....meh, can i stop now? Maybe coz the muscles are just being lazy? but then when i hit the 6th or 7th minute, i start to hasten up my pace......sometimes completing 10km in a run without even knowing it...haha...

Are you the talkative type?
- errr....not exactly. I usually shun myself out of the environment during my workout period. 2 earphones stuffed into my ears. That's all i can hear. Which is why, i prefer to hit the gym alone. I do go with friends, but then they know my routine. ^^

Any favourite quote for working out?
- Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what gets you going. You've gotta turn working out into a habit. Just having motivation is not enough.

Well, i guess that's that for my workout Q and A.
I saw this from myfitnesspal, and thought it's a good way to make myself realize certain goals when i workout.
Hope this helps you guys out there....XD

Listening to : Nana - A little Pain
Mood : XD

Be proud of your every being....

Had a nice long chat with See Wah today about what we've been through all these years to get till how we are today..

Since i've changed my working timeslot to 8.30am, i decided to ask See Wah out for a yum cha session at around 6pm @ Upstairs Cafe.
Yeah, i get off work at 5.30pm now, and i realize with that 30 minutes of difference, i manage to do A WHOLE LOTTA STUFFS.....
(saved a lot of time from being stuck in a jam)

ANYWAY~
we basically talked nonsense, ranting on people and lol..a lot of reminiscing.
It's amazing that 2 person, who have nothing in common back in school and college, ended up sharing the same smiles and laughter because of one common thing.....Cosplay.

I've always remembered See Wah as 'The Girl Who Sat In Front'...or 'The Girl Who Is So Ever Studious'....
Now that i think back, yeah...she was really the studious type.
and she has always known me as 'The Girl Who Makes Lots Of Noise' or 'The Girl Who Always Dissapears After Rehat Time' (yeah, coz i was part of the olahraga team..training starts after rehat LOL)

So yeah, there were a lot of laughters....there was this one particular incident regarding our Sejarah teacher.
I was called to answer something written on the board. The thing was, i was sitting at the back end of the class, and the sentence that was written on the board was SOOOOOOOOOO TINY that even she had trouble reading it even sitting in front.

But i managed to read the thing and gave a correct answer for that question.
she then said everyone clapped because i managed to read that tiny writting..
What puzzled me wasn't my eyesight......it was....
WTF I MANAGED TO ANSWER A QUESTION THROWN AT ME?!?!?!?!? HALLELUYAH~~!!!!!! *throws confetti* what acheivement i have made..!!!!!!

Then, on the way driving back, i began to think back on my schooling days.
i was never the studious type, books weren't my ally (except Comics and Manga - used to smuggle them to class to read..LOL!)
I was the average student in class with some Cs and Ds and occasionally Fs..LOL!!
BUT HECK, i don't care...because i'm proud of what i've become now.

It's the time in life that couldn't be retrieved back no matter what you do. I enjoyed my schooling days, my college days. Skipping classes was a norm to me, it's the little rebelliousness that makes everything enjoyable in college, no?

It's not all about the As and A1s or all that that matters to me.
I'm a designer now, and i'm proud of it.
I am what i am now BECAUSE i was what i was last time.
It's the road that i've travelled last time that lead me to who i am now.

I was a fat girl...like DAMN FREAKING FAT girl last time. I still remembered when i went to Sunway Lagoon, on that slide, the float had difficulties moving forward, and the staff there mentioned

'Ah Moi, you terlalu berat la!'.....(translation : Girl, You are too heavy!)

yeah, that hurt my feelings a lot. To a thin person, maybe that is just a plain sentence with no malice...but to me that time, it hurt me....a lot...like thousands and thousands of needles piercing through me, and the ashamed look i have when he mentioned that. But, of course, i laughed it off and took it as a joke. But in actual, it was painful.
Then there were those that laughed at me when i ran slow, when i clumsily fell down during PE classes and what nots.
Yeah well...look at me now..

I'm a designer, I'm a cosplayer, I'm a runner, I play badminton and I am a frequent gym go-er.

* Below sentences are directed to those that have laughed at this fat girl, or labelled me weird *
Tell me now, how many of you manage to run 12.3km without stopping and finishing that distance in a little bit more than 1 hour?
How many of you have the guts to wear unique and special looking outfits (back then, Cosplay was deemed as WEIRD PEOPLE WEARING FUNNY LOOKING COSTUMES aka CRAZY PEOPLE)
How many of you know how to play badminton, and have the stamina to play 2 hours straight?
How many of you go to gym and spend at least 2 hours there?

Most people often thought that
'Oh, that fat girl...she can't do nuts. She can't run more than 30mins straight.'
'Oh that fat girl, nah...she looks like a walking burger'
'Oh, that fat girl...well, she'll forever stay like that'
'Oi you so fat, move aside!'

Well, all i can say is..Thank you very much.
I can't do nuts? well...Watch Me.

I've done more things in life than you have ever done. I may not be the smartest in class, I may not have straight A's, I may not know that many scientific terms like others..but all those aren't important.
A's are just alphabets on papers. Smart or not, depends on how to look at it.
I'm happy being me, with family who cares for me, with friends who laughs with me, with colleagues who share with me.

This fat girl has lived her life happy and there will be more happy days for her to come.
Tell me now, how did you live your life so far?

Listening to : Starish - Maji Love 1000%
Mood : ^^

Loser...in a good way

It's never easy to drag yourself to gym everyday. Heck, it's never easy to say no to food, sweets, snacks and the like.

Imagine eating only oats...well, been there, done that.

People kept asking me things like
" Why do you slave yourself at gym everyday after work" or " why pay so much just to torture yourself"....

Er, my good friend, it's a lifestyle...yeah well getting into the drill is difficult..no doubts there...but it's the motivation that gets u started... The rest it's up to determination and habit.

So I may be a loser here, but I m losing those shackles that would cause me an early death. Had I not changed my lifestyle, I would've weighed more than a whopping 100kg now.

So all I wanna say is...it's never too late to change yourself..the first step is always the hardest..but get into momentum, and you'll come to realize that there's so much you could achieve in life. NEVER IN MY LIFE...had I imagine that I could complete a 12.3km run in less than 2 hours...but I did it....break the boundaries...if an oversized girl like me could do it...anyone can!

Ps : and my source of motivation?? COSPLAY.....:)

Listening to : aircond sound
Mood : sssllleeepppyyy!!!

Getting in shape once more.....

Well, i've been a VEEEEEEEERRRYYY good girl this week because i've been working my ass off in Gym...
No joke...after a whole month of 'main main' in the gym, starting off wiht a 5km run, 2km boat rowing and 15 mins on the Step Climber is.....torture...

But as much as the torture is, i went through it....4 DAYS.....
yup..it was my routine starting Saturday last week.....(Sunday was off day..LOL) til today....
And to top it off, i've been 95% vegetarian since Monday......(okay...i totally forgot and ate a few pieces of sweet and sour pork....thus the 5%..LOL!!)

ANYWAY~~~~~
There were SOOOOOOOOOOO many times i wanted to reduce the speed of the threadmill..but everytime i reached out for the button, anime songs of what i have planned to cosplay in the near future will start to appear in the ipod....
Then it got me thinking of the character....the impossible structure of their body.....
well, that's my source of motivation i guess...
instead of turning down the speed, i increased it..LOL!!!!

Yup...motivation is the key......You need something to REALLY motivate you when you're in Gym...
it's definitely not easy to get into the gym routine i once had....however, slowly and surely..i'm getting there....

OH...btw...a tip for you guys out there who are gym freaks....
- Always have upbeat songs in your mp3 player/ipod (that way, you'll continue running eventhough you're tired....REALLY...it works for me..)
- Work on your abs...i think i read in SHAPE magazine (if i'm not mistaken) that studies show that with stronger abs, runners are able to go further.....
- How to work with abs? well..easiest way is to sit up....another fun way is to do Belly Dancing..
i quote Hei from Darker Than Black : Ryuusei no Gemini -- The best way to train the abs in a short period of time is Belly Dancing..!! (no really..!! that's what he said when he was training Suou...!!)
- Sing along with your songs when you run....it makes everything fun.....

Usually i don't load slow moving songs into my ipod...OKAYY...maybe 1 or 2...but that's also because i'm cosplaying someone from that particular anime...LOL!!! (motivation peeps..motivation....)
Exercising is fun and enjoyable, only if you make it so....
So, GO SWEAT OUT SOME FATS PEEPS!!!!

Listening to : UVERworld - Shousha Okubyoumono
Mood : ~(@_@)~