Just Keep TRI-ing

14 December 2013 Hani and I entered a 10 km race organised by the Standard Chartered Bank in support of their Seeing Is Believing charity initiation. It is one of the many Standard Chartered races worldwide. I was not looking forward for this race, because 10 km is my least favourite event. 5 km of fast anaerobic torture is as much I am willing to handle and having to do it twice the length is enough to make me want to wee in my pants so to speak. The race started about half an hour late and it was already too hot by the time we started. My goal for this race was just to do my best and clock a new PB.  My coach, on the other hand wanted me to run a sub 43 minutes. Well, I thought I can manage that considering I just did a 5 km in a PB time of 20:22 few weeks ago at Doha College 5K race, and it's only natural that if you good at 5 k you should be able to replicate the same in the 10k, like Mo Farah. But I forgot, I just ran a long run two days ago and I am no Mo Farah. I tried to pa...

My racing schedule is really packed this month, and last Friday I participated in a team relay event at Al- Khor  Open Triathlon with Alan swam  and  Najib  cycled. It was 600m swim, 20km bike and 5km run. I did the run in 20:58 which is my second fastest 5k time. Alan and  Najib  did brilliantly themselves too. We came second  among 13 teams  with a total time of 1:11:34. It was a great feeling to be on the podium for the first time ever  since I took up running . We won QAR 400 Lulu vouchers each, Silver medal and a big trophy. It was exceptionally great  for me as it happened on my birthday! The event was well organised and the organiser was generous with the prizes to the winners and the post-race buffet.  This was without a doubt the highest Return of Investment event for me ever with just QAR 50 entry fee. Alan swam, Najib cycled, Me ran and we came 2nd The silver medal, the trophy and QAR 400 vouchers each  I would like ...

Ok I admit I got a little bit too carried away after my debut in the Triathlon three weeks ago (see report HERE ). The race no 2 in the series was double the distance of the first. It was a Sprint triathlon with 500m swim, 20km bike and 10km run. In terms of training, though I did not do much cycle and swim as I would have wanted to, I only cycled 5 times and attended swim session twice since the last race. My worry was on the swim leg, but I swam that distance last year in Aspire Aquathon races, so 500m is still manageable. We also had bigger Malaysian participation too. Other than Yusry, Najib and Zairin, my running group, PSY Qatar sent a team in the relay too with Aizal run, Bulat cycle and Yasir swim. The others came to cheer too. The weather on the race morning was perfect, with a temperature around 18 degree Celsius. This helped me a lot especially on the run. The participation though was a little bit less than the first race maybe because there was another race, a dualthon bein...

I have not run any 5 km races for a while now, so it was about time for me to test if I have made any improvement in that distance. So I registered for the 5 km instead of the more popular 10 km in the annual Doha College 5/10K race after consulted with my coach. I will be doing the 10 km race in the forthcoming Standard Chartered Doha 10K on 14 December 2013 anyway. As a marathon runner, 5 km is not my favourite and 10 km is even worse, but i need these shorter distances to build up my speed. Most of my training has been about speed and core strength after I came back from Munich. This was the 3rd edition of Doha College Race, and the 5 km category was held for the very first time this year. The event has grown by leap and bound. It has become one of the largest road races in Qatar with the event being a sell out to its maximum capacity. It was organised by David Thompson (a member of DBRC) and his army of volunteers and support crews. I also volunteered before the start to distribute...

Wow I don't believe it. I am a triathlete. I know you cant believe it either. I just started swimming again after the last Aquathon series (report HERE )  and attending a once a week swim lesson with Hamilton Aquatics since a month ago. I am still bad at it. I could barely swim 200 m without taking a break and swallowed one-tenth of the filthy pool water in the process. I also never ride a road bike ever in my life. The last time I rode any kind of bicycle was during my time at UTM in the 90s. So I was a sure bet for the last place in any bookmakers mind. Why I suddenly want to do this you might ask. Well I must start preparing for life after Marathons. When I have reached my full potential which I think wont be too long now considering I will cross the new age group in few years. There are two options for 'retired' marathon runners, joining the Ultra Marathons or Triathlon/Ironman. I choose the later. Only because training for triathlons would benefit my marathon trainings...

Zachary, my 3 year old son always asks me to take him for a jog. So last Saturday, I took him to Aspire park and ran 1km with him. He loves running, well maybe he was influenced by his papa and now mama too. I want to register him in the 1k mini marathon during the upcoming Ooredoo Marathon in January, but I was sceptical about his ability. I am not a pushy parent. I wont force him to do anything he does not like, but since he kept asking, lets put him on a time trial for 1km. He was so excited, he just ran and ran non stop. I was running beside him and kept asking if he was tired or if he wants water. But he kept saying No!. He only stop once at 600m to have a sip of water before continued running. I observed his running form and found out that he has a perfect running style. Mid foot strike, high cadence, shoulder in front, legs behind, in short, I was a total opposite when I first started 2 years ago. He completed the 1km in 9:21. He was actually faster than me when I did m...

This is it. The race that I have been waiting for. The race to redeem myself from the disappointment of my last marathon in Paris, and more importantly as my first stop to Boston qualification. I hired a personal coach, Sarah Whittington, and trained through the summer for this race. I was mentally and physically ready to fly along the course across this beautiful Bavarian city; and I won't be alone. My coach will be pacing me and she had planned for a sub 3:40 finish for me. Everything seems perfect. I was injury free, been on gluten free and cleaner diet and and I even slept well the two nights prior the event.  I even dared to asked Sarah to revise the target and aim higher for a sub 3:30. I may sound over confident, but I felt so ready and well prepared. Perhaps I was too over confident that I forgot a marathon is a long 42.2 km (it was 42.5 in Munich) battle and anything can happen in between. With Coach Sarah before the start It was a cold and wet morning with a tem...