Another first

Only last week i was raving about my first nite run. i'd always wanted to run through the streets of shah alam with its pretty blinking lights and never ending flow of people.  the students of UiTM and MSU play a big part in making sure that the place is kept alive.   but sadly with no one in the family actually sharing my predilection to running, my wish had to stay buried.  although not of faint heart, i wasnt about to venture out alone at nite, no sirreee lol.

Yup running at nite turned out to be exactly as i pictured it.. absolutely smashing hehehe.  it gets progressively cooler as the nite moves along unike the day when it gets hotter & hotter. heat has never worked for me...  in fact its my mortal enemy.

Last wednesday not only did i complete another nite run, i also did my first 14k!!

 14k Route - From Sek 13 to Bkt Bandaraya & back.

 I may have been running consistently for well past 6 years but truth of the matter is, i only average 4 - 5km per run, my longest distance being 12km.  so i was understandably, a teeny weeny bit worried to be running with the group.. they're mostly a bunch of hyperactive young 'uns with their age going for them lol.  me, i'm the makcik who could suddenly, out of the blue run out of steam and subsequently hold everyone back!!  gawd i didnt want to be the oddball who should've known better and just stayed home baking cookies hehehe.

 The ladies just before the run.

The men in action 

The me huffin' & puffin' lol

Completion of first half - another 7k to go.

Thankfully i made it.  oh there were a couple of wicked hills alright but it turned out ok. and by breaking the run up into 2 parts with a short break in between, our coachie also managed to turn it into an enjoyable experience for all of us.  with members of varied capabilities,  such a move kept the team spirit up & the members cohesive from start to finish.

Mission accomplished!!

aNR shah alam rawks... come join us peeps ;p

Beyond the beaten path

For the past 6 years i have generally stuck to the 3.8k loop of the shah alam lake gardens.  that route would take me past the 'popular' spots (mainly the 3 taichi areas and the playgrounds) as well as the lonely stretches.

Theres also the reflexology hut that not only offers a mini path for use but also serves as a meeting place for most of the taichi practitioners. its a popular place and sometimes its quite difficult to find a spot of your own.

Many tend to forget or overlook the fact that there actually is another reflexology path at the extreme end of the tasik (the one beside kedai kopi dua).  its bigger and actually better bcos it consists of 3 separate paths, one of which is specifically catered for the senior citizen.

 

Its where i spend my mornings whenever i'm on a running break.

After about half an hour of walking through the path, its feeding the turtles & fishes then on to my favourite spot for a little stretching and practising my asanas or yoga poses.

A great way to start any day believe me ;D

Taking down a pop-up

Late last year AH managed to coerce her daddy into buying her a sugar glider.  she wanted a pet when she was away at casa.  and of course i couldnt, wouldnt let her take nicolei. he was undoubtedly the darling of the family.

Milo has long since grown from a timid little fury ball into a good size horny male pining for a mate. the poor sod is already showing signs of balding, an indication that he's more than ready to start a family.  the plan that AH had cooked up with her friend was actually pretty sound... they were both getting sugar gliders of different gender to be paired off when the time was right. unfortunately, up till now her friend has failed to deliver his side of the bargain leaving poor milo high & dry.

In an attempt to make milo a little happier (and bcos AH & me actually like 'main pondok2' lol), i bought a pop-up tent from tesco so that we could play with milo to our hearts content in a controlled environment outside of his cage.

The first day the tent was up guess who claimed it as his own?

Well, mr nicolei, king of the heap of course lol.

He made himself comfortable and slept in there throughout the day... and nite hehehe. and was delirious when AH decided to join him with her pillows & blankets.  looks like milo will have to make do with his cage after all. and truth be told, i was actually a little worried about him peeing all over the tent, rendering everything soiled & smelly.

But after a week i was pretty tired of the tent occupying almost half of my bedroom.  i wanted my space back and it just had to come down.  i can always pop it back up again in a couple of weeks for the fun to start all over again.

What i didnt bargain for was my inability to fold it back down to its storage size... and the instructions that came with it didnt help in any way at all!!!

I twisted it this way and that but it still refused to cooperate and was more than willing to pop right back up again.

Help!!!

Even the kiddoes couldnt figure it out and after hours of not getting anywhere, we decided to abandon the whole thing and leave it for another day.  i even deliberated about going back to tesco for assistance. but i then got caught up with more pressing matters and the stubborn tent became nico's sanctuary.

But as the days rolled by it was getting more and more on my nerves.. until one morning i decided right then & there i was going to get it down even if it killed me (cewah,,dramatic la skit kan hehehe). and in that instant that i reached for the steel frames, i suddenly realised this was the one thing that i'd forgotten to google!!!!  hehehe, me the self professed google slut maniac forgot all about googling?

So, to cut the story short, i found out i wasnt the only one having major problems with the pop-ups and that there're more than a dozen vidoes on utube giving step by step guide on how to tackle the stubborn tents lol.



Thank God, i have my room back :)

A first of many

I finally did something i should have done a long time ago... join a running club.

Adination of runners shah alam has actualy been around for quite some time and although i'm aware of its existence, i just didnt feel it was for me.  there i was, a makcik who knew nuts about running, with no targets and nothing but her love of movement going for her.

And the thought of being with all the strong young runners was pretty scary lol.

But then i guess like most things in life, it was actually a matter of the right timing.  my break from work has given me the freedom to explore a lot of areas that hadnt been accessible to me before and i can now pursue the things that i love,  running being a big part of it.

One thing led to another and before i knew it, i was doing drills lol.  it doesnt matter that i'm probably the oldest makcik in the group,  it doesnt matter that people are throwing me funny looks..  i'm just happy that i now have the opportunity to better myself and be with others who share the same passion.

I'm still the target-less makcik who just loves to run and isnt too concerned about racing or PBs..  but at least now i'm more informed lol.

And i finally, finally got my wish of running through the beautifully lighted streets of shah alam.. my first nite run ever!!  and it was great :)

I guess there'll be more running stories after this lol.