Running into the new year.

The first quarter for year 2013 is going to be a fully booked affair by the look of things, what with my run schedules, Running Academy Workshop, as well as my responsibility in church. As such, I may not have much time to blog as often as I want to.

I'll be going back to Sandakan to finish off my project there within the next few days. Will get to see how much I have improved what with a visit back to the hilly park at Jalan Buli Sim Sim again. :D

I've signed up for Brooks Half Marathon's 10K run. Gonna have to schedule some of my runs at Bukit Jalil to get  used to the hilly topography there.

What's my plan for this year?

1. Look for a career move. Seriously, what is it with the Malaysian Employer Mentality whereby they equate Employees to Sugar Cane? (See Pic to understand)

Sugarcane Juice Vendor in Hydrabad - Courtesy of  Sarvagyana guru

2. Participate in a few Half Marathon. As much as I would like to jump into a FM, I doubt I'm physically fit enough for that.
3. Improve my fitness level. I can see my fitness improving over the pass few months but I know I still have a loooonnnnnggg way to go. My LSDs are other's Recovery run. I know I'll get better with time, just have to be patient about it.

How I feel like on my "LSD" days. :(

4. Learn to take better care of myself. I need to learn to eat healthily as well as to live healthily. This include learning to take up more household chores on a more consistent level. I will have to come up with a schedule and stick with it, but with Item 1, it can get challenging I guess.
5. Finalize things so that I won't have a hatchet  hanging over my head and so I can get on with living my life. As much as I hate it, and some of you out there may thing worse of me, but I have done all I could, given my all, sacrificed and gone down roads which I should not have, and yet am still not appreciated. There's nothing more I could have done to prevent it. I've fought against the divorce for years, at this stage, I don't see any way for things to be reconciled anymore.

Be that as it may, I see 2013 as a year where I rediscover myself, make new friends, challenge myself and take small steps to move forward.

Away for pass few weeks and into my 5K Race

Sorry I've not been posting anything in this blog for the pass few weeks. I've been away in Sandakan over the pass 2 weeks for work related purposes. In a way, this is kind of a welcomed break for me. Things have gotten hectic "challenging" in office and a change of tempo and scenery is greatly appreciated.

My work there is mainly to install programs for a new hotel that's coming up. It's a stressful but fun time to be there. It's a quaint little hotel, looks normal on the outside but full of surprises on the inside, so I'll strongly recommend people to go for a visit there.

Reception Area of Borneo Cove Hotel

5.45pm from hotel room (pardon the picture quality)

Borneo Cove Hotel in Sandakan

Life in Sandakan is slow. Very slow. To get work done there you need to learn to do things at snail pace or skip from Point A to Point G or you'll lose your mind. The good folks there are however kind enough to bring me for some sight seeing.

Agnes Keith House

How the House once used to look Pre-WWII

The Bedroom (Agnes Keith House)

A spot of English Tea perhaps?

St Michael's Church. Too bad they charge RM 5 for entry.

"Beach" behind the hotel. Check out the "Chicks".

Panoramic view of the bay area from one of the temples.

Ranau Death March Memorial.

I had a good time doing my C25K training there. The roads are hilly and not as heavily used as here in Good ol KL. This is not to say that I had it easy there, instead, the first run I did there I almost pass out. This was mainly due to the heat and the hills. Killer combination. I however feel that I've done lots of progress while I was there what with the heat, the hills and a crazy co-runner who decided to speed up and leave me behind on our way back to the hotel.

For all that trouble, I finished the Parkcity run with ease. Yeah! I did it at a lowly time of 41.26. But this was mainly because I decided to pace a friend who wasn't feeling too well that day. I however realized I didn't breathe hard throughout the run and didn't even feel tired out. For that, I get the below as a present.

Consolation Prize. Finisher Medal.

The real prize is that I walked away from the race knowing now that I can run the complete 5K without stopping. A goal I have set in the beginning before I started running. And with that done, what do I do now? Why go for another race of course lol. I plan to do better next round and have signed up for a 10K comes March. I plan to also work my way up to a Full Marathon in the next year or 2. And since this is suppose to be a quick update, I'm gonna go off and go sleep, lol. Gnite folks.