My Second (impromptu) Marathon Report

I have a bad habit of doing things on impulse. Sometime last week, after a late night supper with friends, I saw a notice of the first ever quarter marathon to be held in my university. I had no intention of entering it since I have class right after it.However, upon entering my room, suddenly this wild drive of joining the marathon kicks in. Without thinking much, i went down, took down the details and went to register myself the very next day.

It was until after registering myself, I began to question myself if i can do it. You see, I haven't been running, jogging (or involved in any sports for that matter) for the past one month. I got sick in the beginning of the month for two weeks and right after that, it is either I am too busy or it rains.

But since I had already registered and paid for it, it'll be a waste if i decided to chicken out. I wanted to train but it keep raining so the only thing I did prior to the marathon was to add my carbohydrate intake.

I woke up late on the day of the marathon. Thanks to a hostel mate who woke me up in the middle of the night! It was quite a rush. I shove down two buns and drank a bit of yogurt drink, bath and head out.

I reached there and started eating my Power Bar. There was only 95 participants of which only 36 were girls for the quarter marathon. It got me quite worried cause I certainly don't want to arrive last. It's even crazier that I did not know which route I was gonna run!

It started off around 7.50 a.m. I have to say I made the same mistake of running to fast in the beginning and by the 3rd k.m I was almost dead. Hey, there was only 36 girls, if you start slow , you're gonna be the last easily.

The running got really dull very quickly because they made us run on this private road of my uni which is not open to public. The only thing I saw was trees, trees and trees. I'll have to say it was not very "conducive" to run especially when there's very little runners!

After 38 minutes of running around a jungle, I finally saw a building, 1 km from my university! It was an encouragement! I started running faster! There was a water station in front but I passed on that since I brought my own sports drink. What I didn't know was, there's still a long way back. About 4 km or so. I was getting extremely tired and there were very little runners left. It didn't help that I were starting to feel very giddy.

It got late and there were a lot of cars coming - no road closure and I started to have very bad gastric PLUS stomach cramp. I walked about a kilometre and alternate running in between. It was until the 9th km, my body told me I couldn't take it anymore. The cramp were getting really bad, I was very tired and I just wanted to quit. The organizer saw that I wasn't alright and send me back. But I still had to run another 400 m , so that made me finish 9.4 km of the quarter marathon.

At the end of the marathon, I drank a cup of milo and almost puked the whole thing out. It's officially my worst run. I usually manage to run 8 km easily without feeling any cramps, gastric or even giddy!

Related Post :
Penang Bridge International Marathon 2008

Ice Milk

This is the Chinese version of air bandung. i like how i is presented-much like the three layer tea back in Kuching except this one is two layer.


The bottom layer is grenadine syrup and then top with mildly diluted ideal milk. i had thought it would be a "heavy" drink with the amount of milk in it but surprisingly it was really refreshing. It tasted really good and different from the Malay version of air bandung that is more than often too sweet.

Highly recommended -Available at Bali-Bali , Sungai Dua, Penang. It is called "guleng peng" (direct translation-ice milk) so if you intend to try, don't go and order "teng lang bandung" (direct translation-chinese bandung).

** This is the second time i camp in coffee bean within a week!! I couldn't make it for the last flight back to Kuching so , here I am stuck in the airport.

Penang Bridge International Marathon 2008

I'm sorry it took me a while to blog about this. To be honest, i haven't had more than 10 hours of sleep for the pass 3 days that i ended up sleeping in the exam hall this morning. My lecturer was nice enough to woke me up tho ;p



I started my journey from hostel at about 8.30A.M and finally arrived at Butterworth around 1.45 P.M. The distance isn't that far actually, but when you're taking the bus, it involves a lot of waiting.



From the jetty, i took the ferry over and then the Rapid directly to Queensbay to collect my bib and my goodie beg.



The girls at the collection counter were really hot and the guys too were good looking but that didn't add any cream to the disappointing goodie beg. In fact, i think it's more appropriate to call it a plastic beg.



Women's Half-run Goodie Beg : T-shirt, Bib, Runner's guide, Digi Beg, DiGi pen, Toilet Seat Sanitizer, Chi-kit-teck-aun pills and tissue paper.
Men's Half-run Goodie Beg: T-shirt, Bib, Runner's guide, RM50 Adidas voucher, 10% Chocolate boutique voucher, Analgesic cream, Chi-Kit-teck-aun pills and tissue paper.

I seriously doubt if the organizers have problems with their mathematics because it was obvious that the value of goodie bags are somewhat imbalance.

I also think the graphic designers made a poor job in designing the banners.

I could hardly see the word "Penang Bridge International Marathon"! Plus, the number of DiGi Banners on the road side totally outshine the PBIM banners. It almost felt like it's DiGi International Run.

and the t-shirt looks almost similar to my high school's PE t-shirt.

What's with the small logo of Penang?!

After taking the goodie bag, i went to buy all the necessities i need for the marathon and was planning to have a high-carb dinner. Unfortunately, i was too tired, lose my appetite and only bought Auntie Anne's pretzels and egg tarts for dinner. That's nil carbohydrate.



Me and my friend had agreed to meet at 6.30 p.m at her place so i went to wait for the bus at around 5.30 p.m. Like I say, taking the bus (or public transportation for that matter) involves a lot of waiting and my bus didn't came till 2 hours later. I was tempted to use the taxi but that would ripped RM 20 off my pocket and I was on a tight budget. So, i waited for the bus and only arrived at my friend's place at 8.30 P.M. Needless to say, I was exhausted. I had been carrying my backpack with my laptop for almost 9 hours!!



I had the food i tapau-ed plus two KFC chicken my friend bought. We rested a while and it was not long after that i found myself in toilet having a major explosion of diarrhea. I came out of the toilet rather weak and had to rush to pack my stuff because by 9.40 P.M , i had to leave to Queensbay Mall. My friend is volunteering so i had to go early. My stomach was still not feeling alright so i went to get myself diarrhea pills. I finished the whole thing before the run.


I camp in Coffee Bean the whole night together with the many runners. It was hard to choose a drink there because caffeine would cause dehydration and i didn't want drinks with milk as well. I finally settled for the tea and only drank half of it because tea contains caffeine too, just lower.



Funny thing was that, the mall was close for public that night.I mean, it's logic to think that the mall should be open for public to use the toilet right? So since i couldn't use the toilet in the mall, i went to the nearest mobile toilet. It was close so i went to another but it was also close. I could not sight any toilet anymore and i went to the information center and asked the volunteers. Only to have them reply me " I don't know, I don't know." and did NOTHING to help.



I didn't had anything for breakfast, except two bananas, two Power Bar and yogurt drink. The only food available there was nasi kandar which is a big no-no for my stomach condition and i didn't have any appetite as well.



It was around 2.am I got bored waiting in Coffee Bean and went outside. There were quite a number of interesting performances but I was so turned off with how the organizers shooed them without respect when the full-marathon was about to begin.



I registered an hour earlier cause I was really sleepy and tired of the waiting. Upon registering, you'll be given the yellow wrist band and when you finished half of your run, they'll give you the orange one. That's Huai Bin's registration card by the way. He couldn't make it - No, he didn't chicken out. He's got a good reason ;p



The men's half run was scheduled to start at 4.30a.m while the women at 5 a.m. However, the lack of management made the women go along with the men at 4.30 a.m and only to be called back after 20 minutes or so. Thankfully tho', i didn't ran along.



Finally it was my turn to run. It didn't took me long before i arrive at the bridge. My initial plan was to run at a faster pace at the bridge but the plan was all crushed when the bridge was so hilly! Yes, all the time we had always thought the bridge to be flat right? It's only when you run on it, you know how hilly it is. Plus the fact that the wind was so strong made running a lot harder. It was almost like doing some superwoman thing, running-against-the-wind.



However, I was still quite confident I could finish the run in time for the pace that i kept for the first half of the run. The house music playing on my mp3 helped a lot and I was the leading 200 runners. Only, until the nightmare came. My toes started to chafe. I had forgotten to put vaseline there! I still continued running but the pain were excruciating and I stopped the St. John to asked for plasters. Only to have them answered me " We don't have plasters. We only have ice.". Holy cow, so they only expected people to have cramps?! And to have St. John saying they don't have plasters is like going to KFC and have them say they don't have chicken.



The problem didn't stop just there. Even after running half of the bridge, I still could not sight any water or sponging stations. I was starting to feel dehydrated because the sun is up. Out of the 11 water stations they planned, there was only THREE on the day itself. Seriously, someone could die with the hot sun and lack of water. There was no sponging stations at all for half-marathoners!

It was around 7 a.m, i realized i can not make it in time for the finishers medal because i was stopping a lot and i lost my pace but i still really wanted to finish the run. My toes was killing me, I was dehydrated and the next thing is I hit-the-wall. It was just simply impossible for me to run anymore even with the loudest house music playing. But sweeper bus was still out of the question and i was determined to finish the marathon.



I walked the rest of the course and seriously thought of committing suicide at the bridge. Coz when you're tired, you think of crazy stuff and the finishing line was still really, really far. I still manage to walk up to the 23rd km, and time was running out and they asked the runners to take the sweeper bus because the road is going to be open to public so i took the bus and it took me to the 24km. Bugger, I still have to walk another 1km. I thought, if i didn't took the bus, i could have officially finish the marathon.


It is often said that marathon is not a competition with others but rather a race with yourself. With all the circumstances i faced - no food before the run, diarrhea, no sleep for three days ( i had exam, remember?) , no water, no training and I still manage to made it through 24 km, it's amazing. and to be honest even tho' i arrived really late, but I never gave up along the way and for that, I believed , I had finished the marathon.

This marathon is definitely not the first and the last. I am planning to join the KL International Marathon in Mac 2009! I think i really need a pedometer! My birthday is next week, any kind and rich readers? Haha!

* Food posts resumes tomorrow!
** Jess, thanks for arranging transport for me to the venue and for the accommodation!

Back from the marathon

I am back.

I will have full coverage of the event soon, and it'll be a post full of complaints.

Stay Tuned!

Off to Penang!

I'm off to Penang for the Penang Bridge International Marathon.

To be honest, i didn't do much running this whole week - not only for the fact that this week is a taper week but also because i haven't had the time privilege for the past one week. It's been a crazy week studying.

I don't know if i can even finish half of the marathon considering I haven't been doing any proper training and my diet is just off! But I will try my best. Very cliche i know ;p

Wish me luck guys! :)

Red Garden Night Market

Red Garden is dubbed the biggest food night market ( so the brochure claims ;p ) and strategically located in the heart of Penang. The exact location is right opposite Peking Hotel, Penang Road.



It is an understandable fact that Red Garden is packed every night - with endless number of hotels and motels surrounding it with Cititel being the top notch one.There's also performances that are supposedly to "entertain" patrons but i don't find it entertaining tho'. No offence.

There's a wide variety of local Penang food for you to choose.



From the famous Char Kueh Tiau,



To fried oyster.



It didn't took me long to decide on what to eat. ;p

Char Kueh Tiau RM3.50


It is so well fried that you can taste the flavour on each and every piece of the kueh tiau. I love how in Penang they can remain the crispy texture of the bean sprouts in their char kueh tiau. Tho' i'm not a fan of chinese chorizo sausage but it definitely add flavours to it. Seriously, i would pay even if it's RM 10 per plate ;p

Fried Oyster RM 6.00


Generous portion of oysters and the sambal was really good. Spicyness was perfect. I heart!

Fried Hor Fun RM 3.50


Hor fun is actually this big piece of flat noodle - much like kueh chap back home. Personally for me, i don't like it fried. It taste better with soup.

Fried Cantonese Mee
RM 4.00


Jess' other half ordered this. You would have ask tho' why he didn't order the char kueh tiau or any other dish significant to Penang. Well, my friend. He's a Penangite, so i guess he must be sick of the food in Penang dy. Hehe.

Taiwan Fried Chicken
RM 4.00


It's a tad over fried but they're forgiven for the generous chilli powder! :)

Though you're spoilt for choices, i'm quite sure you won't want to order this.

"Oil Vegetable".

My Marathon training log :

Penang Bridge International Marathon

(This is a long post with many words!)



Over the years, i have been very active in sports. I have played Badminton, Squash, Tennis, Ping Pong, Futsal, Basketball, Netball and Bowling. I am also involved in field games like shot put, javelin and discus during my secondary school days. I am actually proud to say that most of the sports i'm involved in, I have at least a medal to show.



The only one sport that i haven't try is, Running solely because...



I never believed i could run. I am fat and one of the few who are not blessed with high metabolism rate. It didn't help that i'm born with a great passion for food! When i was in primary school, my classmates laughed at me all the time during PE sessions. I hated PE and i would always cheat my teacher that i am sick so i could be excused. Things changed in secondary school and i grew a love for sports. The one thing that didn't change was that, i am still fat.



I must say it was Kenny Sia that inspired me. Not that he's my idol or something, but i am pretty impressed of how much he had achieved in running the marathon he joined.



I send in my entry via online registration back in August. If my memory served me right, it was three days after they launched the marathon to the media. It is my marathon debut, so i didn't have the guts to join the full marathon. 25km itself is not a short distance and 42km is certainly too much for me.



However i only did my payment early October when i was in Penang because it was only at the end of September i knew my time table for the finals. And yes, this event will take place during my finals! I have a paper on the 14th of November in the evening so i can only go Penang on the 15th. I'll be back on the 17th since i have two deadly papers on the 19 and 20! I hope i can still walk on 17! Lol.



I also managed to get a popular ( ;p ) blogger to come along with me. Well, not Kenny! But the man behind Sixthseal! I had always love his writings and now that he's turn over a new leaf, i thought it will be a good idea for him to run the marathon to show his readers that he's now all " healthy". He'll be joining me in the half-marathon as well. ;p Looking forward to see you there HB!



Today is exactly two weeks to the race itself. For serious runners, this is the time they actually reduce their training after having to train for probably months! Even tho' i registered early, but i didn't actually started serious training. I do jog at least three times a week for one hour each time, but jogging and running is two different thing! Plus one hour is probably to short when you're actually training for a marathon but to be honest, i don't actually have the time to spend solely on jogging with the amount of assignments, exams and projects to handle.

This is also the time where runners should watch their food. Due to the fact that i'm currently staying in a hostel, i don't actually get to watch my food. There's limited choice and with the limited money i have, i can only eat food that makes me full. Healthy or not comes in secondary.



I don't know if i can finish the marathon or not but hey, Life is short, and it has no boundaries. Who knows running the marathon is my hidden talent? Maybe yes, maybe no. ;p

Any readers whose in the marathon as well? Or is there any Penangites who would be there or could give us a ride? :) I will really appreciate advices from the readers as well!

Mail me - melanieong@gmail.com or leave me a comment here. Thanks!