I realize that I'm naturally good at leaving. Its beyond me to get emotional or melancholic when its time for me to pack my bags and leave. I've done it more than a couple of times in fact. When I left Form 6 for Shah Alam, when I left Msia for Davis, and when I left Davis for Msia. It never seems to strike home that I should be sad. Why should I? Its not like I'm leaving life. Maybe I'm naturally cold-hearted. I leave the people whom I love and those love me without a second thought that I may not see them again. Ha. But what's so sad about that? It would have been sadder to not even get to know them in the first place yah? And what about people who leave? Gee, I don't feel for them either! What the heck is wrong with me? Maybe I have a gene in me which has evolved that makes me a knuckle-headed person unaffected by departures.
On another note, the marathon is this Sunday. Yay. My last run will be today. 2 miles is the ideal, and it will be darn hard to refrain myself from doing more. How do you make yourself stop when it feels so good?
Honestly speaking, I haven't been feeding myself as well as I had planned. Partly because I find myself squeezing in time to eat and when I'm rushing to shove food into my mouth, I can't eat a lot. Which is what i need to do! Eat a loT! It's what we long distance runners call 'carbo loading' before the day of the42.195. Only 3 more days to go, and I know I should be doing better in terms of food.About work. The past couple of days have been pretty quiet and uneventful. THe boss is at the BIO2007 conference (which i declined to go so i can have enough rest), kak Sha is at her university giving her presentation, en. fauad was away one day, en. ali away another day, leaving only me and dr. guna around in the lab. Hehe. And so i spend my time taking pictures of the cells, refilling pipet tips, visiting the mice, surfing the net, following dr. guna to see the sheep, and wasting time. haha.
Pretty myeloma cells which I snapped with our super microscope camera for fun! LOLBoy, I sure am gonna miss this place. Only 5 weeks but its been a great learning experience. Still, its time to move on, baby! Onto higher grounds! I keep getting the nagging feeling that career as a researcher is not for me. I'm like the classic case of a fresh graduate who finds the perfect job that matches her skills can't decide if its for her.
And i realized i haven't been updating about sara lately. Ha, that dog is one of a kind. She's wierd. Sara finally learnt how to dig. So she has been in a digging frenzy of late. And I think that's how she got ticks on her now. We managed to pluck 3 off her body last night. I felt like a mother monkey looking for those blasted creatures hidden under her fur. You know, maybe getting a monkey would do the trick. HAha. So off to the vet she goes today. Poor doggie.
Btw, did I mention about the time when no one was home, and it rained heavily with thunder and lightning? And fyi, Sara is terribly frightened at the sound of loud thunder. When we came home, she was nowhere to be seen. And after a few minutes of searching, we finally found her under dad's bookshelf - STUCK! She had hid herself so far in under the narrow bookshelf that she was literally frozen stuck under it! LOL. Stupid dog. And she didnt even make a sound. Haiyo
Okay, back to me. I realize that I probably need more shoes and pants for work. Darn. I knew i should have gotten more while I was in US. I can't seem to find good shirts here in Ipoh. Ha. Right. There you go. I should probably save my energy and go look in KL instead since I'll be there next week. Yay. I can't wait to meet up with Iza my ex-housemate & collegemate. I'll be stationed in Marditech Sdn Bhd, which is just opposite from the UPM area. And I heard from my colleagues that UPM guys are hot! Iza even said her eyes were sparkling the day she started there. Yes Iza! We go look for 'manly man' men together gether yah?
Also looking forward to joining the Pacesetters while I'm in KL. Pretty bummed about leaving Roadrunners though, since they have been a nice bunch to run with. Thanks to them, I've been able to improve my times and learn more about the running scene in Malaysia. The folk, both young and old, whom I've had the privilege to know. Simon, Phillip, Jeffrey, Mui, Amy, Jane, PK, Frank, Lai, and many others.
Taking it from Ipoh to KL..
I will probably never forget the last 10 miler I did with Mui and roadrunners last Sunday. It was a cool and dark morning around 5.30am, and the full moon glowed its yellowish-white shine against the dark morning sky. I noticed it only after we passed by D.R. Park, on the flyover over to town. The image of the bright full moon above us as we ran up the flyover. Priceless.
This image does not even come close to the real thing of that lovely morning...
Allow me explain how a running group of friends is so very different. Runners share a passion that is very much different than, say, a passion for shopping or traveling, etc. This passion is one of struggle, of waking up at 4am to run in the wee hours of the morning, pounding away for hours at a time during our long runs. And when all you have is yourself, the sky above, and the road beneath your feet, it creates an eerie sort of feeling that is at the same time, euphoric. The forward movement, the forceful strides, the rhythmic breathing, and the psychological battle in your mind - how do you describe this to a non-runner? How do you describe this wondrous ability of the human body to run, but to a fellow runner?
How do I describe the strength, energy, determination, and team work of runners? Each individual is running for him and herself. But yet working together as a group, where the winner is each person against him and herself. ANd what about the satisfaction we feel, when we pass by the occasional reflective glass of a car shop? We see ourselves, with our individual running styles, like a pack of wild animals on the road giving off an energetic aura. We run, we perservere, and we inspire.
As Miles, my favorite Runners World's contributor always says, "Waddle on, folks!"
*Sara returned the week after
*Started training with Ipoh Roadrunners late August
*Ran my first short-distance race in early september and placed 7th. RM50 + medal.
*Visited friends in KL in sept and oct
*Ran long runs of more than 10 miles every sunday morning with my kaki lari
*Started my new job at Ipoh's Veterinary Research Institute
*Hiked up kledang on saturdays with a friend
*Ran my second short-distance race in october and placed 8th. RM50 + medal. Again.
*Improved my pace from a 7min/km to a 5:30min/km within 3 months of training
*Experienced the worst ever food poisoning attack
*'Played' with H5N1 and Nipah viruses in a Level-3 Biohazard Lab.
*Had lots of fun at work.
*Lots of fun with my kaki lari.
*Biotechcorp Sdn Bhd's entrepreneurship training program offer pops up
*Had to pull out of KRI's 12K to attend Biotechcorp's induction. Darn. Could have gotten 3rd or 4th place.
Coming soon..
*Resign from VRI this Friday after only 5 weeks of work
*Run the Singapore marathon on Sunday
*Return to KL and hobble to class on Monday
*Start life in KL
I realized that..
*I do better in longer races (10k or more) than shorter ones (6k or less)
*I am actually capable of mingling with the 'business' crowd. Career change, anyone?
*I LOVE al-jazeera and all its pryful and controversial questions
*I could participate in Malakoff's Powerman 2008 even if i start training next August
Most of all..
*I've learnt that taking a year off after graduating to rethink and explore your life's passions and career goals will actually move you in the right direction to make well-informed decisions. Better to spend a year of solid searching rather than not for your entire life.
Why hurry when you've got everything it takes? ¶ 8:11 PM
Now that I’ve been living and training with TRUSA for 5 months, I’ve come to know and respect my new teammates. We all have similar goals and want to help each other reach those goals. The chemistry of the team, with all the different personalities, has produced and environment conducive to enormous opportunities for each athlete. It is now up to each athlete to take full advantage of these opportunities in order to maximize his, or her, potential."
- Ryan Shay, Introductory Journal Entry, New York Road Runners
I am sure that the running communities all over know of the late Ryan Shay who ran to his death at the recent U.S. Olympic Trials traditionally held the day before the 2007 NYC Marathon. At only 5.5 miles before collapsing, he is probably one of the first elite runners to have collapsed and died mid-race.
It's not only sad, but also overwhelming to all who share the same passion that Ryan Shay had.
But unlike many of us who don't aim to 'win', but just love running and marathoning, Ryan Shay stood a high chance of qualifying, along with U.S.A elites like Ryan Hall, Dathan Ritzenhein, Brian Sell, Abdi Abdirahman, Meb Keflezighi, Alan Culpepper, and Khalid Khannouchi.
A sad day for many marathoners. A sad day indeed. ¶ 10:22 PM
...when a pebble strikes and you get sick, of course!
Yes, yet another word of advice from my running mates today. Of the many words of wisdom we shared ever since my joining Roadrunners back in late August, this one struck home. And to no surprise of course, since I did fall sick last week.
But I'm glad, better now than later. Its less than a month to the marathon. And with many things at stake, I would rather get sick like I did last week rather than go under 2 weeks prior to the race.
And so..its recovery time. With recovery runs and a rearranged running schedule. Now, if only the darn rain would leave us alone!
Oh, and by the way. Work is sooo fun! My boss is super hilarious. Its gotten so so funny that my colleague and I will start smiling and stifle our laughs each time we see mr. boss. Not to mention our dear mr lab attendant who is such a sweet old man and our mr lab technician who always smiles and laughs. And our vet officer who keeps his cool but is also a humorous guy deep inside.
Oh, oh double ooh! My boss took me along to the P3 lab last Friday to infect the cells I was growing with *jeng jeng jeng* H5N1 (Avian flu virus)! Isnt that cool? uber cool we were in those space suit looking coats and face mask and goggles and double-taped our gloves, etc.. I felt like an astronaut...hehe.
And the P3 lab is actually a Biohazard Lab level 3, the highest you can get in Malaysia (Level 4 is the highest you get but we dont have one in Msia). And the one where I work is in fact the very first one established in Msia in 1997. So its about 10 years old now. Coolness yah..
Now, how long till I can achieve the title of Datuk?
¶ 4:02 AM
