Buka Puasa Batch

Menjemput semua rakan-rakan ke majlis buka puasa batch:

Tarikh: 30 September 2007 (Ahad)
Jam: Waktu buka puasa 7.10 ptg
Tempat: Restoran Ison aka Shoroo (Dekat dgn Kelana Business Center & MAS training center)

Sebarang pertanyaan, sila ajukan kepada saudara Bandit ataupun saudara Mat Gan.

Terima Kasih

Yg menurut perintah

Genting secret weapon

These are some of the 'Power 12' food which i had prior to the Genting climb.

Baked Salmon... high in Omega-3 and protein..

Roast lamb.... or anak unta? the Ribs were superb...

Yeahhh... that's my share... lamb leg protein rich lean meat...

Lamb and Genting... 21/9/2007.. make sense?

Kam and Ala encouraged me to record the accounts of the Genting Challenge. So, here goes..

Last Friday, I had my first breaking fast buffet of the month at the Islamic Arts Museum with a friend. The restaurant served Middle Eastern typical cuisines such as kofta (meatball), barklava, lamb in spinach sauce, Lebanese bread, roasted whole lamb, steamed salmon, sauteed prawns, pistachios in creamy dessert, etc etc. What puzzled me was they also served common Malaysian food like kueh tiaw goreng, satay, murtabak, ayam goreng, udang masak lemak, nasi putih etc (kueh tiaw goreng at an arab restaurant?? How good can it be? Purrghleasee….). Anyway, I didn’t touch any of the local dishes as a personal protest especially after paying a bomb for the much touted arabic theme spread.

I didn’t bother to adhere to normal buffet manners i.e skipped the starters/appertisers and went straight to the many main courses. I dug into the various lamb dishes culminating with a roasted lamb ribs and leg on my plate. We had heads turning in amazement to see myself and OP Shalzy massacred the roasted lamb leg. Haha…. Sedap siot… (Goat and lamb meat are some of the most difficult food to be digested and a very good source for protein, thus, for those wanting to burn more calories and build muscles at the same time, maybe you should try not to shun away from these meat no more. Belasah jer… janji exercise cukup).

Anyway, armed with heavy hi-protein meal coupled with a good dosage of carbo-loading, we then joined another group of friends who are doing something that I never thought I would be doing too – brisk walk or jog up to Genting Highlands at 10pm during the fasting month…!!! Call it crazy or madness, it was exactly what we were attempting on that particular nite.

We gathered at Genting Sempah at 10pm and I was pleasantly glad to see OP Kam was there too but he must be more surprised to see me as I was preparing for the workout.

Menu for the nite :
– To complete the Stage 1, a 12.4km uphill/downhill route and re-group at Goh Tong Jaya for a break and refuelling.
– To complete the Stage 2, a 9km steep uphill route from Goh Tong Jaya to the summit.

I was given the assurance by OP Shazly that I will be doing a 1 hour walk only and then decide thereafter whether the body still permits to take the sufferings. At any point of time if my body cannot take it anymore, then we will backtrack and go downhill to Genting Sempah. (yeah rite, thanks a lot for comforting me… ). There were three support cars just in case if there any emergency and one of them was OP Ala Usat (he came a lil’ bit later due to work commitments but joined the climb after Goh Tong Jaya)

The thought of walking up the snakey and hilly road to Genting had killed off half of my spirit already. I didn’t see any much sense in trying out this workout except for the sake of torturing and tormenting my body. I hardly felt relaxed whenever someone was coaxing and motivating me to stay calm and focus.

Those who were walking up (including me) started their journey at 1030pm. The rest will wait for the latecomers and jog up thereon. There were a few ladies among the crowd but surely I was the ‘biggest’ and ‘heaviest’ nuthead of the nite.

The first 10 minutes was quite steep and tough on my calf. I was breathing heavily and gasping for oxygen. I was in a group of three (OP Shazly and Fadil) and I was pacing myself not to be left behind. The regulars were saying that they don’t normally do this in any other month’s becoz all of the jungle guardians or forest dwellers were tied and locked up in the month of Ramadhan. In any case, I don’t want to be left behind in such area at that particular time of any day..!! Thus, I tried to keep up with the guys and slowed them down whenever possible.

OP Shazly and Fadil were chit chatting to keep the journey interesting while fast-and-furious wannabes kept blazing the sharp corners every now and then. I guess they were really eager to get their money burnt at the casinos whereas we were burning calories as we climbed. Same route for different purposes.

As slow as the journey can be, 30 minutes of walking had passed without me noticing it. In any cardio-type workout, this is where the calorie burning goes into overdrive if I keep my legs moving. Sure enough, I think my stomach was working extra hard to digest the lamb and fuelling my body with energy as slowly but surely my full stomach is no more full. At 3km mark, we had a short breather and sipped Gatorade to wash off the bitterness taste around my mouth and throat. I stretched my leg a bit to avoid blood pulling and discourage acid lactic build-up. We continued walking and we saw the support car giving us words of encouragement (Betcha, I bloody need it…!). By now, I was sweating like a pig but my legs seemed to be holding up quite well. The longest distance I have done in the past three months was 5-6km on undulating terrain and never a constant uphill climb, thus, every step that I made was a step towards my personal best.

At 6km mark, I was really struggling and my calf muscle started to twitch. I was told that this maybe due to muscle fatigue, blood pulling, water deficient or demineralization. I stretched again and gulped more Gatorade. By then, I had covered about 1:15hr on the road and 50mins of effective walking. Thus, it was time to make a decision whether to proceed to Goh Tong Jaya, take the support car or turn back downhill to Genting Sempah.

As I was contemplating to call it a day, suddenly, I was joined by the last group (Ariff and May Senn), they encouraged and challenged me to carry on at least until Goh Tong Jaya which was about 6.4km to go!! Darn, I had already bested my PB and these fellas are pushing me to go further. In disbelief as I might be, I persevered and continued walking. From this point onwards, there were more downhills than uphills. Every single step that I made thereon was a mental barrier cruncher and my self-belief skyrocketed. At this point, I could see Genting Highlands glittering on the horizon coming nearer and nearer. My body was tired and my legs were weary but this is a classic mind over matter, I started to jog in small steps and matching May Senn’s pace. We jogged all the way until the Goh Tong Jaya junction and walked uphill for the rest of the final kilometer towards the re-grouping checkpoint.

We reached the Stage 1 checkpoint at approximately 12:45am or after 2hrs 15mins covering 12.4km of walking/jogging. We had a break for a while and the rest of the crowd continued to march towards to summit which is another 9km of steep uphill climb. I decided to call it a day and savoured a quiet ecstatic feeling while downing my gut with an iced cool 100plus.

I felt a personal sense of achievement to be able to complete the Stage 1 route. A mix feeling of humble disbelief and relief that even at this age and body size, God has given me the strength to overcome an obstacle and completed something truly challenging. I dunno how much calorie I burnt but the whole lamb leg was completely burnt to the ground, that’s for sure.

Guess who did the "Genting Nite Run"???

Guys, you won't believe this.... not the triple B's Bandit, Budin & Boot, not even Joejo.... but this "Bugle Boy" who made us really proud of him is none other than..... UPIQ!!! Thanks to his favourite cousin OP Shazly for helping him with the training (Shazly is a certified personal trainer), Upiq walked all the way to Gohtong Jaya. Ala was nervous all the time, if the 11km route was too much for him. But with sheer determination & effort on his part; and encouragement from the group, he made it! When we regrouped at a mamak restaurant at Gohtong, everyone gave him a standing ovation! Upiq... we're proud of you, bro!!! Like they say "Pain is temporary, but pride is forever" (saw that on Ngai's t-shirt that nite)

The Genting Nite run/bike is an annual activity during Ramadan. Normally we'd gather in front of McD Genting Sempah around 10pm. Some would run while others would bike all the way up to Genting Highlands. We'd regroup at Gohtong Jaya (to refuel with roti canai & teh tarek) before continuing the 2nd half to the top.

Me & the superstar "Bugle Boy" with OP Shazly & Fadhil

Tgk steady jer Upiq, boleh senyum lagi

Upiq, Steve & Ala break sekejap kat Gohtong Jaya

Tgh refuel

Beaten by a 56 year old........AGAIN!

Dear all,

Today as of 3 weeks ago, me and kam was again beaten by the 56 year old tough OP named Fadhil. Though the distance is shorter this time, 10 km compared to the last. It was still considered as junior "lopong" kena beat by senior.(Almost double our ages). If I can correct Kam in saying, Mizuno run was held on Sunday the 9th and not the day before.

There were the usual faces of OP's and KOP's (kawan). For the first time, Kam and I was at the starting line early. We were early enough to enjoy the scene, meet up with familiar faces and just about talk about nothing in particular. The race was well organised by the Pacesetters running club attracting (i guess) more than 2000 runners. It was a sight to behold at the start line (padang Merbok) seeing all the runners lined up on the road, obstructing traffic as we please. There race was well marked route passing trough the hilly sections of Bukit Tunku, an adequate enough midpoint watering station, carnival atmosphered finishing area complete with music and ample food and drinks. The only minus point that I could offer was probably the race fee of RM 30 for a short 10km was a bit too much I would think. That was the reason for me not registering in the first place. However, I managed to get a race number from Ishal who pulled out because of flu. Bean, Puzi, my dad ran as "pirates". My mother and niece Nana did half way.

Runners who ran races without registering or paying are called pirates or Bandits in the US. Whatever reason you become a pirate for, ultimately you just have to enjoy the race. Sweating it out and not getting a medal is much better than sleeping till 10am on a sunday morning and becoming a lazy fat ass.

As Kam said, it was my 10th consecutive racing weekend. It was also Zabil's birthday that day. Me, bean and some of our KOP's were at his place the night before and after a night of drinking wine and making merry, Zabil didnt show up at the race afterall! As I didnt have much of the 'jus anggur' the night before, I was able to run the next day!

We met and ran along with the usual gang, Bean the pirate, Steve my jambu bear, karoline, Vicky who's daughter Analice I injected with Influenza Vaccine the night before, 65 year old Cikgu Adnan another tough old guy who can beat Bandit (and a lot of our batchmates!) in any race, Major Kalam who is attached to ATMA and by the way just ran 50km marathon as part of the merdeka celebrations the week earlier, and many more....Ramai sangat la.

Anyway, the race was fun filled with no major drama except for a 40 something chinese guy collapsing up the hill of Persiaran Sultan Salahudin (In front of wisma Pertanian). He's okay, just a bit of heatstroke. What surprised me pleasantly the most was seeing Joejo (OP Zulkhibri) at the finish line! Apparently he ran the Klang race the week before. Well done Jo! The last time I talked to him was when his child was sick, what a pleasant surprise.

Needless to say, he, the 56 year old, the airforce major, the 65 year old teacher and around 800 plus others beat me to the finish line.

You all have fun and move your butts!

Hadir: Me, Kam,bean, cikgu adnan, Major Kalam, Puzi,Laif, Karoline, steve, Jaja, Wendy, Dhamsal, Op Fadhil, OP Iwan, Mohamed, Mei Shen, my parents, Joejo!,Vicky.

Tuang: Op Stupes, Bandit, OP Shazly, Amir, Budin, gegek etc

Warm regards

Doc Ala Usat

* Note: Sorry about the post dated 8 Sept (Sat), actually I posted it today (Sunday). I couldn't change the date setting for this blog because I didn't get full permission. Bandit, pls correct the date to follow KL date. - Kam

Mizuno Wave Run 2007

One last race before puasa next week. A'la broke the record for participating in 10 races consecutively for the last 3 months. Some people think that's insane but I'm sure it is something to proud of. We met many familiar faces like Bean, OP Fadhil & Cikgu Adnan but today there was someone not so familiar from our batch took part. Wanna know who is he, just scroll down the page. Hope this was not gonna be his last. For the benefit of our batch, I'll announce every time there is a race, so that more of our friends can take part.

7.30 am at the starting line. Look at these people. Don't cha wish to be there too?

Our Mr. Macho Cikgu Adnan. He's 65 this year but look at those arms, they are bigger then mine.

With Chief Kutus OP Fadhil. Not bad at all for 56 years old guy. He looks no different compare to us in our 30's

We were surprised to see Joejo was there! He's still as fast as before. Wish there were more of our batchmates in the picture.