Finally running PBIM2015

Three years I've tried to run PBIM. Year 1 - got a last minute 1 month overseas assignment & hubby ran alone (sob!). Year 2 - confinement with 2nd baby but at least hubby ran with several friends. Year 3 - got foot injury after running BSN Putrajaya and Standard Chartered KL back to back (padan muka...lesson learnt). That year I only chauffered hubby and friends, the least I could do. 3 tahun tak dapat2 lari PBIM, finally I ran it the first time on 22 Nov.
I carpooled with an office mate (also a runner). Hubby could not join, due to overseas assignment. It was a long drive from KL, about 6.5 hrs. Heavy rains and many cars were heading to the north. South bound looked lonely though. Sumer org pergi PBIM ke? Hubby texted while I was in Tapah  R&R for lunch and solat, asking if I could make it collecting the kit in Queensbay Mall. Panic set in when I realized that collection closes at 6pm (tu laa...sapa suruh self collect..sapa suruh tak baca race kit notification betul2). Waze predicted 505pm arrival but kept revising the time..later and later. Luckily, a friend in Penang called me to meet-up tonight and she helped to collect the kit. Sayang ko Yat oiii! We met-up at Subaidah, had an early dinner.

Me, my opis mate & Sarah (hubby's niece).

I was hoping I could nail 3hrs15m or less since I clocked 3hrs17m during the recent 2XU HM. Hmmphhh.. 3hrs33m sudahnya kakakaka. Maybe I was still tired driving from KL. Maybe I did not have a good night rest. Sleep was elusive after the Subaidah dinner (kept waking up). Also, I was due for my period. Supposed to get it on the day of the run but got it today. Or maybe I did not fully recover from 2XU. Whatever...I'm still glad. 3 tahun penantian kutt..
After the run, of course tak sah kalau makcik tak pekena nasik lemuni kat pasar Taman Tun Sardon. Sempat jugak laaa singgah Padang Kota Lama for Hussein pasemboq before our drive back to KL (after tidoq 2-3 jam).

 

Good thing about this run, I noticed that my knee pain was gone. Core strengthening & yoga helps I guess. My foot arch and plantar issue was also manageable (less) thanks to taping. But I always have this hip pain especially on the left side, where the thigh bone connects to the hip joint. This time it hit me at KM15 and forced me to walk to the end.

My run:walk was out of rhythm, nearing 15KM

Need to figure out ways to manage/ reduce/ eliminate this pain. Kalau ada hajat nak lari FM in future, must resolve this one dulu la kann.

Yoga aha aha

Sedar tak sedar..dah nak dekat 11 bulan I've been taking yoga class. It's all started when I took a long break from any physical activities after Kinabalu. Knee and foot arch pain. I was contemplating swimming but such a hassle to go to the swimming pool..lagipun makcik ni tak tahan sejuk. Memilih sikit pukul berapa nak masuk pool.
Yoga was in the contemplation list and for weeks I browsed the net for any suitable yoga studio. Lo and behold...out of the blue..my office mate (Huda, jiran office cubicle) asked whether I would be interested to join a private (!) yoga class. Eeepp..! Ni la orang kata...your prayer came true! Alhamdulillah...
Rupanya her neighbour has this roomy and spacious attic and she doesn't know what to do with it. They had a girl talk I guess and both of them thought of yoga. So the private yoga class project began. Some criterias were being laid down. The attic can fit up to 6 people (or yoga mats) with 4 being the optimum. Since we are all mommies, the preferred time is 7am-8am on Saturday so that (younger) kids belum fully bangun dan mengacau2 or meracau2 cari mak. Done Saturday morning yoga, then we can do anyhting else for the rest of the weekend.
Through network, Huda found a potential teacher, Nabilla. Fees were discussed, schedule/ timing were agreed upon and the class was on! Huda even managed to find another yoga mate. First class was on 7th Feb. But preparation started wayyy before that. Nak pakai baju apa...yoga mat nak beli kat mana..headband cool ke, or ikat je rambut. Or yes, since all are ladies ehehehe...suka hati laa nak sarung apa, seketat mana. Tapi kami orang2 baik je. So memasing pakai baby tee, long tights and headband. Dah mak-mak kut..segan laa nak pakai sports bra & shorts jee.
Maka bermulalah our yoga journey. First day class, baru tahu yg Nabilla is practising Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga (hahaha...yoga pun byk jenis rupanya). We were asked about our general physical fitness, any injuries, sapa2 tgh pregnant ke etc. Then...apa lagi..to the front of the mat :)

Yg ni baru Primary Series

Dah leerr baru tau that we will be practicing Ashtanga vinyasa yoga. Rupa2nya, AVY ni pun ada bersiri2. That first day, we grunted and puffed doing about a quarter of the standing sequence and only about 5 seated poses. We closed off doing the last 5 of the poses in finishing sequence. Pose yg last tu..dead man pose (savasana)...favourite pose. Anybody can do savasana kannn..
Perghhh...I know the poses are going to be challenging. But trying to maintain the pose itself pun termengah2, menggeletar2 sampai peluh menitik2. Tup...tup..tup...haaa bunyi peluh menitik atas yoga mat tu. Our tees were soaking wet. Had to wipe off the sweats with towel in between poses. As warned by Nabilla, all of us had body ache 3-4 days. Soreness kat tempat yang tak pernah2 sore..haishh.
Initially, I was skeptical and worried looking at the diagram, thinking that I could never do some of the poses. I cannot help comparing it to my running experience. For example, once upon a time, running a 5K was so scary but now...full marathon is even possible. Not yet..but maybe in 1-2 years time. Same like yoga. Bit by bit, you'll get there.
I've experienced runner's high...and hahahhaa..dunno what to call it yogi's high? Got that yogi's high last week...when I finally got to do the headstand (sirsana) without the wall support yeahaaaa! After 11 months okayy...2-3 hari la jugak dok high. Rasa sebijik macam runner's high.

No..that was not me..makcik nye belum straight cantik macam tu. Working on it :)

Rinjani, Kami Nak Datang

After Kinabalu Dec 2014, semangat membara2 nak menjelajah puncak yang seterusnya. Entah kenapa, rata2 akan target Gunung Rinjani, Lombok. Kitaorg pun terjebak jugak laaaa..Konon2 nya nak pergi Rinjani awal 2015. Tapi tak menjadi pulak plan tu.

Kinabalu takut..Rinjani pun takut...apa ni makcik?!

Thanks to the same travel agency that we engaged in our Kinabalu trip (Danz Travel), the desire to conquer Rinjani was rekindled. We've been keeping in touch with our fellow Kinabalu 2014 hikers, no doubt made possible with Whatsapp.
Naturally when En Dan proposed the Rinjani trip 7-12 April 2016, everybody started to dare each other. Hence a group of 30 peoples or so committed, including me & husband. I would say, out of those 30, 7-8 were from the same Kinabalu 2014 trips. It's really nice to reunite with the same cool company for Rinjani.
Gunung Baru Jari (near Rinjani) erupted recently circa end of October and the airport had to be closed. However the hikers2 otai in the group were cool about it and assured that situation will be ok by the time of our trip. Ok lah..kita pun (try to be) cool lah.
Looking forward...with suspense...

Long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....FDC style

I am sooo excited about the Star Wars movie this December. Trailers were out but I purposely did not watch it, tak nak spoil the suspense and also I don't want to develop high expectation after watching the trailers.
Anyways, I've been collecting first day covers (FDC) for quite some time (sampul surat hari pertama). On a whim, I checked the net if there's a FDC issuance to commemorate the movie.
Ada!! By UK Royal Mail. Ooooo makcik happy. Hoh...apa lagi. Purchase online made it easy, and received it yesterday.

Ala-ala Star Wars opening crawl

The Force Awakens...May the Force be with you.

Haze ohh Haze

Malaysian Air Pollution Index is calculated based on 5 air pollutants ie Ozone, Carbon Monoxide, Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Dioxide and PM10. PM10 measures concentration of particulate matters with diameter equal or less than 10micrometers.

'API system includes 5 major air pollutants which could cause potential harm to human health should they reach unhealthy levels. The air pollutants included in Malaysia's API are ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulphur dioxide (SO2) and particulate matter with a diameter of less than 10 micron (PM10). - FAQ section, http://apims.doe.gov.my/v2/faq.html.

While Malaysia is using PM10 in its API, its neighbour Singapore is using PM2.5 instead (particulate matters with size equal or less than 2.5micrometers). PM2.5 is known to be more dangerous since it can travel deeper into our respiratory system (eg. lungs) and PM2.5 is also known to contain higher percentage of hazardous material (eg. heavy metals, toxic organic).

The concentration for PM10 is alsways higher than PM2.5 concentration, since PM10 measures particulates with size less or equal to 10micron which includes particulates of 2.5micron size or less. However when converted into air pollution index, API based on PM2.5 is usually higher than API that is based on PM10. This is due to different breakpoint values used for PM2.5 and PM10, to calculate the index. That's why when 'Good' or 'Moderate' API is given, I do question if the index is correct coz when I gaze outside, I still see the haze.

Source : Guidelines for the Reporting of Daily Air Quality – the Air Quality Index (AQI), USEPA

Agak pening jugak lah kalau tengok calculation. Just need to remember that PM2.5 is more dangerous than PM10, hence giving a higher index number. Too bad Malaysia is still measuring the API based on PM10. They can say the API is Good/Moderate but bottom line, trust your eyes & nose too.

'DOE is in the midst of finalising the new Malaysian Air Quality Guidelines to include the standard limit of PM2.5 in the ambient air which based on World Health Organisation (WHO) 2006 Guidelines. Subsequently, we will need to come up with PM2.5 Air Quality Index System and data integration with the existing system in Environmental Data Centre (EDC) prior to including it in API calculation. 

- FAQ section,  http://apims.doe.gov.my/v2/faq.html.'

Sg Pisang Waterfall - Sweet & Simple

A group of husband's office mates arranged for a trip to Sg Pisang waterfall last Sunday. Since they did not mind, me & daughters tagged along. Did not bring Umar, he's still small.
The waterfall is near Karak, very close to KL. What a gem. Never knew about this waterfall when I lived in Gombak. Otherwise would have frequent it.

Before entering the river tunnel

Trekking across the river tunnel was an experience by itself. It crosses underneath the Karak highway. I would say, the length is about 70-100m?

You can either walk on the ledge or just walk in the water. Level was not so deep, almost mid calf. I opted to walk in the water. Sejuuuuk air nya. It was quite dark. Here, you can really appreciate 'the light at the end of the tunnel' phrase.

The trails are quite easy - be it dry trail or wet trail. We crossed the river so many times, lost count. The only annoyance was when the coarse sands and pebbles ended up in your sandals. You can always rinse it away, but after so many river crossings...you sort of bear with it.

There was a very short trail, we were practically walking on tree roots. Finally got to the waterfall after about 1hour and a half of trekking. Some bloggers claimed 30-45mins journey. We were practically towing the kids, so that might explain the longer journey.

The waterfall itself is cute. 20m fall je but nice and cool. But for me, the water was too cold, I did not bother to take the plunge hahahaha. Rendam2 kaki aje. It's a small pool, perhaps around 10m diameter, waist deep. There are fish in the pool too. We even fed them with breads that we bought along.

The kids loved it. Hayaa' told us a few weeks earlier that she wanted to see a waterfall and she got it. Both girls would like to take a dip but I think they found it awkward not wearing swimming suit. So they just played at the side, fed the fish, played with the sand, threw stones, played with twigs & branches. Well...kids, they always have things to do.

Ok lah..lain kali boleh datang lagi. Bawak Umar sekali.

I just need a spoon

I like to brew my hot drinks in the office pantry. So I have my own mug and teaspoon. But I've lost my teaspoon once when I left the spoon and the mug to dry near the sink. It was a plain spoon, so people might have thought the spoon is for common use.(*^&%^@
So I bought another spoon from Daiso, a special spoon with a smiley face at its handle.

Something like this

Hoping that people would hesitate to  use it, seeing it is special spoon so it must belong to somebody. Right? Wrrrronngggg...my smiley spoon was lost too, never seen again in the pantry. %#$*(&*%$
Then I bought another spoon. Still trying to make it a special spoon so that people will not simply use it. Definitely looks different, brown colour with clear grain. Different texture. I was feeling a bit smart.

Until I put it in the mug full with water.

It floats....I was feeling smart before, but when the spoon floats....definitely not feeling smart lah kan

The spoon now sits in a different mug.

Pakai je laaa disposable spoon....

Disposal spoon pun ringan jugak, tapi takde lah float...