Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009

Standard Chartered KL Marathon (SCKLM) 2009 began early Sunday morning of the 28th of June. Hazlind came for a sleepover and basically we were up till 2-ish am. And even then, I was too excited to get any proper sleep. Set the alarm clock at 5-ish am... blearry-eyed got ready... had a quick oatmeal breakfast (fiber for long lasting energy!)... and we were out of the house by 6-ish am to catch the LRT. I've never been up so early taking a public transport before, but there were already a crowd - which, I noticed, were mostly fellow runners donning the SCKLM uniformed white vest.

There was already a huge crowd at the starting point, all raring to go. We hung around at the back, fearing of being trampled by the rush of the shoot-off, and watched in quiet earnest at the clock tower, joining the crowd in counting down the seconds to 7am. And then... we were off!

For a first, I find the entire experience quite exhilarating. Being one of THE marathon of the year, SCKLM had garnered a lot of popularity and coverage locally. Many virgin runners (mua included) and fellow gym-bunnies have decided to take the plunge and test out their endurance here. For me, it was the perfect venue to kick-start a running habit (which I have a horrible aversion to) as well as to challenge myself - mentally and physically. And I do not back out of this challenge so easily.

As you've noticed (or not), I've been training. And I've been keeping track of my runs in KLCC Park as a note of my progression (see RIGHT column). Some people say that I'm being competitive, and I take that as a compliment. But in honest truth, it's just a coping mechanism to ease my anxiety of the probability of failing to finish the run. And I do want to make a good first impression, mostly on myself, for my debut on the running circuit.

So.... how did I do? What do you think?

I am more than pleased with this result, although I felt that I could've done better. My favourite part of the circuit was most probably after we got off the highway, and was passing in front of JKR Building and along the green-topped roads of Jalan Sultan Salahhudin, heading back towards Dataran Merdeka. The visualisation of the finish line, coupled with the view of green trees, blue morning skies, and the city skyline matched to the perfect song on my mp3 (which I now can't remember), gave me the strength to pick-up my pace and lengthen my strides.

My least favourite? After passing Bank Negara and realized that instead of going straight to Dataran Merdeka, the route took us along Jalan Raja Laut for the biggest U-turn in my life. It was a killer because I'd spent my energy prior to this leg, assuming that it was the last. I was not expecting this. To make it worse, the path was straight, with only concrete buildings in sight, and not much else to inspire me. But once I rounded the last corner and knew that the road ahead will take me to the finish line, I suck up my gut, pick up my pace and forget the pain that was thudding bluntly at my sides.

And crossing that finish line made it all worth it. Finishing it within the qualifying time just made it even more worthwhile. I am more than elated and proud of myself for this achievement. I also have to mention than Hazlind finish the run too!! For someone who only had 1 week to train, I am very proud of her for sticking it out to see the end - even without her 'energiser bunny' next to her.

Yay! We did it!

And a huge CONGRATULATIONS to all runners!! May we meet again in the next run!

Kampar - Part 2 - WWR

A bad case of insomnia again. This is what happens when you don't have any commitments during the day. And my books... well, we maintain only a casual relationship.

Anyway, as promised, that second half of my Kampar trip.

White-water rafting (WWR) (noun): a challenging recreational activity using a raft to navigate a river or other bodies of water. This is usually done on whitewater or different degrees of rough water, in order to thrill and excite the raft passengers.

After coming out of Gua Tempurung, basically we had just enough time to clean ourselves up a bit and take with us whatever stuff necessary, before being ushered into a van which will take us off-road and further into Kampar rural areas towards Sg Kampar. I think the ride took up 10 - 15 minutes (?) going through rubber plantations, passing by some villages as well as other camp sites in the area. We were heading towards RIVERBUG base camp, right beside Sg Kampar, where lunch was provided. And I cannot stress on how much all of us were looking forward to this. Food!

Lunch was a simple affair: rice and some lauk. They definitely didn't skimp out on us, and there were enough for seconds. Ate, stretched our legs, and into the van again, where they'll be transporting us to the main 'launch' site. I think the ride was a bit longer this time around. Could've been 20 - 30 minutes? Wouldn't know cuz I fell asleep. Ahh... the bane of carbohydrates.

By the time we reached the site, there were a smattering of rain already, but nothing biggie. In fact, everyone were getting themselves excited. Rain meant higher water level, and higher water level meant more fun! We went ahead to get ourselves strapped on with life jackets and safety helmets, and get hold of a paddle, as if it is all routined, without much of an instruction from Reha or any of the guides there. Then the briefing with Maxxy (yes, our utterly cute guide). Have I mentioned that it started pouring rain at this point?

We could hardly hear Maxxy with the instructions over the din of the rain. But basically, he covered with us the seating arrangements, safety procedures, how to paddle, how to respond to code words, what to do if you go overboard, what to do if the raft flips, what to expect at different rapid levels... yadda yadda yadda... not that I was paying much attention though (kidding!).

Afterwards, we split ourselves up into teams of 5. Of course, it would be advisable to have a raft with a good mix of girls and guys, but my friends and I wanted to stick together. So they let us be, with a promise that we would pull our weights with the paddling work. And... we were even sly enough to get Maxxy as our raft master.

And so... under the weight of the heavy rain, we trudged on ahead to the river, where our respective raft and raft master awaits. Ours were the last to 'launch', and we had a run-through with Maxxy on the paddling techniques, how to respond when he shouts out "Boomboom!" (trust me... it's not something you'd want to hear), and learnt how to 'High-5' with our paddles.

In the beginning, we kept a pretty tight space between the rafts as we maneuvered through some level 1 rapids. But we didn't expect to hear "Boomboom!" so soon though, as we braced ourselves for a pretty rough ride. It was rough alright and we even got ourselves stuck in between some rocks and had water flooding into the raft! Two of the girls sitting at back (I wanted to be the 'macho' one so opted to sit up-front) were struggling to wade through the water, and one person even went overboard! The boat was tipping precariously to flipping over, and we had to pull our weights to the front of the boat in order to get ourselves 'untangled' from the rocks. Of course, rescue mission was nothing but swift, and our 'girl-overboard' was rescued by another raft before being returned to us, albeit a little unwillingly at this point. She was convinced that it was all a conspiracy to scare her out of her wits.

Shortly after this incident, we came to our pit-stop, where we docked our rafts and went swimming! I must admit that it has been awhile since the last time I swam in a river. And the water was so cool... and we were all still wearing our lifejackets, so it was nice just floating about.

Taking a dip.

We got on the raft soon after, in high spirits. Despite being a bit shaken up by the near-flipping-over incident, we were pumped up with the adrenaline rush. And I think from this point onwards, our raft was the most kecoh of the lot. Maxxy was more than willing to kecoh along with us.

The ride onwards were pretty smooth. We had a few more "Boomboom!"s but we were more than prepared for it. And we were getting pretty good at listening to Maxxy's instructions and actually responding to it (much to his relief). There were no further drama beyond this that I could think of, although another raft had another case of man-overboard. After going through a series of rapids, we finally went to cruising mode. All the rafts started going on their own pace now, instead of keeping up as a group. I'd have to say that we had the best raft master on board, as Maxxy was game enough with our pleas to travel slower. We even took a few turns jumping off the raft, and went body-surfing down the river. Of course, getting back onthe raft was another problem entirely.

Finally, we reached our docking point. Can't believe the entire ride took-up almost 2 hours though, because it felt like a matter of minutes! But it was such a great experience. Definitely up for more (challenging?) WWR in the future. I've set my eyes on Kuala Kubu and Slim River next.

By the time we got back to our cars, it was 630pm. The facilities at Gua Tempurung had already closed for the day, so we decided to head to Tapah RnR to get ourselves clean-up and change into dry clothes. Of course, we couldn't leave Kampar without more cam-whoring though. Further madness ensues. Especially now that we're still high with adrenaline.

Beware! Monkeys crossing ahead.

Japanese engineering + fun outgoing peeps = one unforgetable roadtrip

Making use of the hairdryer at Tapah RnR

Best way to unwind: teh tarik & steamy buns

Kampar - Part 1 - Off Spelunking!

Spe-lun-king (noun): refers to amateurs without the proper knowledge, or training, in the recreational sport of exploring caves. (from wikipedia)

Through the wonders of Facebook, a friend of mine invited me along to a Caving & White Water Rafting (WWR) trip at Kampar on 16th May, organized by the Malaysian Outdoor, Trekking & Hiking Society (aka MOTHs). I've always wanted to get more involved doing outdoor activities, so I figured.. "Hey, it's a start." So, I spread the words around and managed to rope in a few friends, and we were all set to go on Saturday morning.

The plan was to meet up at my place at 630am. I know. It was ridiculously early, but Malaysians being Malaysians, I figured people would actually start showing up around 7am. We left at 730am, and still had to drive out to TTDI to pick-up another friend. We were suppose to regroup and meet-up with the rest of the convoy group at Sg Buloh RnR at 8am. Poor Reha (the organizer) had to wait for us as we were the last to arrive. BUT... through the fortunate combination of Japanese engineering and one hell of a driver behind the steering wheel, we got ahead of the pack and were the first to arrive at Gopeng toll plaza. Cam-whoring session ensued.

We regroup at Gopeng toll plaza before moving on to Gua Tempurung, which was only a further 5 minutes drive away. There, we met up with our tour guide, Maxxy, from RIVERBUG, where he briefed us on the caving trail, which would span approx 2 hours, as well as the safety protocalls.

I must say I was pretty nervous at this point. I've been to a few caves in my life, but never really went off-the-trail caving. And the fact that we need torchlight was another matter to be worried about. Have I mentioned that I am terrified (horrified!) of the dark? So, being the ever obedient people that we are, we strapped on our safety helmet and armed ourselves with our trusty flashlights (and a badge of courage for me!), before trooping onwards into the cave.

Took this picture of the caving tour packages available from the 'park' rangers. Definitely would try the Grand Tour next.

For the first half of the tour, we maneuvered through the dry part of the cave, pretty much on-trail and just followed the hand railings and stairs available. It was... interesting enough. Maxxy, the ever experienced tour guide, showed us the stalactite and stalagmite, told us the science behind the formations, and let our imagination go wild with some of the rock formations. We found one that looked like a fossil from Planet of the Ape.

After tirelessly climbing up countless steps, we finally got to 'The Top of the World' - the highest point you'd ever reach in the cave. And if you're scared of heights, I'd advise you to not look down because from this vantage point, you'd see one hell of a steep climb down into the pit of the earth. My legs were just shaking as I was making my way down those stairs, gripping the handrail for dear life in one hand and the torchlight in the other. Not an easy task.

A preview of the climb.

Once we reached the bottom, the only lights available were from the ones we had to carry along with us. Thankfully for me, there were plenty of people in the group to provide plenty of lights. There were 2 junctures from this point. If we were to take the left turn, we'd be walking deeper into the dark, and as Maxxy told us, would also take us to the Grand Tour route. We took the right turn instead, and continued on to the end, where - from here on, we'd begin our off-trail spelunking.

In order to 'officially' go off-trail, we had to step over the railings, take a slide down some muddy rocks and climb down this tiny hole in the ground. There were a bit of queing involved, as there were another group in front of us and we had to go through with this individually. But I must commend that our group were pretty efficient, and without much drama or fuss, because we managed to get everyone down within 30 minutes.

The slippery slide down.

The climb into the rabbit hole.

Once you've cleared this part, you're already standing in the river that passes through the cave. And after the stuffy heat of the cave, it was just so nice getting wet. Maxxy led us the rest of the way, as we trudge through the water.... crawling... ducking... swimming... posing...

And despite the uncomfortable weight of the helmet on my head, I was suddenly so glad to have it on. I'm pretty sure I'd have gotten a few concussions without that helmet. It saved my life! Well... that, and my torchlight.

We lost track of time, but it didn't matter. It was a great experience, and definitely something I'd try again.

Continue: Part 2 - White Water Rafting