Running Through 2010 ..

Crossing the finish line of Chiang Mai Marathon marks the end of the 2010 running season. I did a total of 16 races this year. I will cut down next year. Think I also said the same thing at the end of 2009. In 2009, I did 13. Well, it seems the races I ran had increased instead. Ooops .. But hey, at least I did cut down in the local race context. :p

First of all, I want to thank New Balance for all the help and support rendered. Thank you very much! Not forgetting my close friends and running friends. Thanks for all the advices and concern given when I was down and out. Thanks for all the things you taught me and the encouragement given, no matter how small. Andy, Xia Xia, Jiapei, Meichun, Jacqueline, Sandy, Alex, Edmund, Aileen .. just to name a few .. Thank you.

The first race was at Putrajaya, just next to KL. Riding on the high from PBIM and SCSM at the end of 2009, I tried to better my timing of 4:31. PBIM and SCSM was done on a “just run” base. This time I went to Putrajaya with a race strategy. I managed to improve my

All right. Let’s not go through all my races again here. They were already written down in my blog.

Over the past year, I ran more and I ran longer. I ran new routes. I started reading more stuff on running. I improved (thank goodness!). I met more wonderful people who shared the same passion as me with running. I learnt a lot of new things. They included stuff related to running and not related to running. They included stuff about me and as well as others around me. Most importantly, I learnt about life.

I learnt to be even more humble. The more you run, the more you improve, the more you will realise that the people who are much better than you are actually keeping quiet. They will just come to the race, complete it .. and go off.

I believe there are people who are born runners. These are the people who can easily hit a sub 4 or even better, like sub 3.30, with much less effort required compared to the others. For the others, like me (as always), we have to rely on hard work. I always believe that there is no free lunch. If you want something, you have to work hard for it. Your foundation has to be good. In order for that to happen, you have to train for it. It is also this very process of training for our goals that makes achieving them taste much sweeter.

Do not impose your own standards onto others. Just because you can do it does not mean everybody also can do it. Everybody had their own weaknesses and bad points. Learn to accept theirs. Just like how they are tolerating yours.

“早知道我就跑快一点! (If I had known earlier, I would have ran faster!)”. I have learnt not to say this golden statement. The run (or any other matter) is already over by the time we say this. Does it change anything? Nope. So what’s the point of saying it? Will you register this as a lesson learnt in your mind? Hopefully yes. If not, you will be repeating the statement at the end of the next run. If we were able to predict everything beforehand, none of us will need to work. We will just be spending our money betting on the next 4D. The same goes for the statement “为什么你不跑快一点? (Why did you not run faster?)”.

I learnt to appreciate. I saw my friends falling out of action due to injuries and illnesses. I myself had burnt out my body and also hurt my legs, forcing me to a rest and only able to watch other people run. Now I learnt to appreciate the moment when I can run. Appreciate your good health. Appreciate the people running next to you. Appreciate the road you are running on. Appreciate the scenery around you as you run. Appreciate the wind blowing onto you. Appreciate the rain drops hitting onto your face. Appreciate the sun shining onto you. Appreciate the simple fact that you can run. Appreciate what you have. For they may not be there for you tomorrow.

I learnt not to push the blame. It is not because the race route is too steep. It is not because the weather is too hot. It is not because there are insufficient water points. It is not because the organisers did not provide isotonic drinks. It is not because suddenly it rained during the run. It is not because there are no supporters cheering you on. It is not because your MP3 player died on you before you start the race. The reason actually is very simple: You. Learn to take on whatever that comes along the way. Train for what you know is there. Train for what you guess will be there. Mentally prepare for what you do not know is there. Do not be scared of pain. It will always be there. Embrace the pain.

Give more than what you take. Do not expect anything from running. You will get back more than what you had wished for. I read this from “Born to Run”. It is a very good book. Everybody should go read it.

Lastly, what makes a good runner? I am still searching for the answer. There seems to be many answers for this question. Does it depend on how fast you cross the finish line? Does it depend on how many medals you managed to squeeze into the cookie can? Or does it depend on how many people you can bring into running? I am still searching. Maybe I will find the answer as I run more.

As 2011 approaches, new challenges are awaiting all of us. Among us, we are branching out into our own interests. Some are still running. Some moved into Ironman. To me, I still like running. I slowly came to realise that crossing the finish line of a full marathon does not seem to give me that much kind of kick anymore. Maybe that was why I had signed up for my first 100km race in Jun 2011. I am not sure how can I complete it. I am even more uncertain whether if I can complete it. The training programme is already more or less drafted out. By following it diligently, maybe I can finish the race. Maybe.

Go out and run. Enjoy the freedom. Enjoy the movement. Use your feelings to guide you. Run with your heart.

Run, Jacky! Run!

Chiang Mai Marathon 2010 Day 3/3

The race starts at 0500Hr. We walked over to the start point at 0400Hr. Suki and Tso chose to do a slow run instead. It was a very cold morning.



At the Start Line.



The bag deposit area.




Queuing up for the toilet.


Chatting before the race.


Marking our BIBs to ensure we had started from the Start Line.





Suki was pacing me to help me achieve sub4 again. Her advise was to stick to 5.30 pace throughout the race. Only start to push when we feel its still ok at the last 5km.

The pace was good. It was not difficult to maintain at 5.30 pace in such a cooling weather. We quickly got out of the town area into the expressways. I was sticking closely to Suki all along. She was really good. I had to keep looking at my garmin to check that I am still at 5.30 pace but she did not even look at her watch and was able to maintain at 5.30. Think this comes with experience.

While we were at the first U turn point at around 15.5km, Suki suddenly picked up her pace to overtake 2 girls running in front. I knew that pace was too fast for me so I did not follow up. It was close to 5.00 pace. After that, she seem to get faster and faster and the gap between us widened. Until to a point I could not see her in front anymore.

The temperature was also getting colder. There was mist coming out from my mouth when I exhale. I had never ran in such a cold weather before. Both my palms had turned numb. When I touched my face, I palms felt so cold.

I met Suki at the last U turn at 28km when she was going in the opposite direction.

"Wai! Jacky! Sub 4 ah", she shouted.

I waved back at her. In my heart, I was uncertain if I could still maintain after 30km. In all my races, that point was the start whereby my body will slow down and I could not push anymore.

The last 10km was torturous. Just keep imagining that I am digging and digging deeper and deeper into myself. To find that source of latent energy hidden somewhere deep inside me. I knew its there. But I just have not found it yet. So I knew I must keep "digging" deeper.

At the 37km, we did a right turn and left the expressway. We are now heading towards the town. We reached the town at 39km.

"Just keep running!", I told myself.

By this time, the town had already waken up. There were a lot of cars on the road and people around were looking curiously at us. Luckily, there were still police around to help direct the traffic.



Gun Time: 3:56:00






Aileen won 5th for her category.




Suki won 3th in her category.



We returned to the hotel to wash up after the prize presentation.


We had a celebration at a restaurant near the hotel.

After the lunch, Suki, Tso, Joanne and me went for foot massage. The rest went back to the hotel to rest.

I had rush back to pack my things. My flight home was at 1755Hr.






Sun set in the plane.


Dinner was spicy fish with rice.


Sun set from in the air.



This was the last race for 2010. A very fun and fulfilling trip too. Learnt a lot from the HK runners.

Chiang Mai Marathon 2010 Day 2/3

Today we would be going for a tour package we signed up for at the hotel when we arrived yesterday. At 0800Hr, we went down for breakfast.


It was really cold.


Before setting off.


Heading to our first destination. Butterfly farm.


Strangely, there was not a single butterfly inside.


Outside the butterfly farm was an orchid garden.



Next was elephant riding.


Arrived at the start of the elephant ride.




Joanne feeding the elephants.


Going up.








Every now and then, it would raise its nose up, hoping that we would feed it with banana or sugarcane. And it would also share its smelly breath with us. :s








The elephant Ryan and Shuqin were riding on raised its nose so near that it scared the freak out of Aileen. Hahahahaha .. :)


The end point of the ride.


Vincent feeding it with our last sugarcane.

Next, the guide lead us to the river crossing site. We would cross the river inside a cage.







The guide on the starting end used his bare hands to hold on to the fast moving rope. He kept blowing at his palms after each of our trips across the river. We felt really pitiful for him. The amount of hardship you had to endure to earn money. I did not bring my wallet with me so was unable to give him some tips as a reward. But Shuqin did hand him some money. Hope that he would use it to get a pair of gloves or something.

Out next activity was hiking. We would hike up to the waterfall at the top of the mountain which was luckily not that high.










We finally arrived!


The water was really cold.


The guide had brought our lunch along with him. There was fried beehoon, bananas, pineapples and pomelos.






Setting off back to our vehicle.

Now, its water rafting time!












It was just a short journey. The current was not that strong too. We alighted from the boats and hopped onto bamboo rafts!





The bamboo raft ride was short too. Basically it was more like just letting us have a try on them. Well, what can we do when we wanted to many activities squeezed into 1 day.

Our last destination was to see the long necked people.















It was a long day. Very fun too. We made our way back to our hotel. Originally we planned to go to the start point for the free pasta party but decided it was too late to do so. We were also worried there may not be enough food for us. So we had dinner at the hotel restaurant again.

As it was Christmas, the hotel had organised a small BBQ and all the guests were invited. So we continued to eat after our dinner. But I did not eat too much as most of the food was oily and I was scared I would get stomachache tomorrow morning.



Returned to my room and packed my stuff for tomorrow's race. Also did some packing as I would fly back to Singapore after the race while the rest would stay on.

Time to rest. My body needs to recover from all the activities today.