HOUSE

Gotta love that flame cane.

404

404.

No, they're not Zipp wheels.

Not an html error either.

404 is the distance in kilometers covered by Aini, cyling over the weekend!! Putrajaya to Kuantan. Hambek ngko! I'm telling you, this woman is like no other. Itu kaki kasi tendang kalu, mau masuk gol.



She is strong physically, no doubt, but what inspires me most is her determination and strong will. Kalau Aini, bukan takat iron will dah. Ni dah kira reinforced carbon fiber will dah ni.

Congratulations on your monumental achievement, Aini, and we are so proud of you!! You are officially INSANE (INSAN Extreme).

KLIM Registration Day

What happened today in Wisma OCM restored my faith in Malaysians. There are still breed of Malaysian who are trusting, considerate and above all, kind-hearted, albeit they are very rare.

I left my place at 3pm. Some roads in KL are already closed for the run tomorrow, so you can sort of imagine the congestion in the remaining roads which are still open. I reached Wisma OCM at 4:10 and proceeded to the registration hall.

Little that I know that I have to pay extra RM 20 deposit for the timing microchip. I only brought enough money to pay for the running fees and parking. And I was told firmly by the officials; no chip, no run.

Chill lah, I still had an hour and a half before they close registration. So I walked all the way to Kota Raya, where the nearest ATM machine is. Nasib baik aku masuk ni running competition. Tak kisah lah. Kalau register untuk Jejaka Maskulin (ptuih!) kena buat macam ni, memang sumpah seranah dah aku masa tu.

Alas, semua ATM machine are undergoing some system update, so I couldn't withdraw even a single note. Dammit.

I called Bacin and Mary, asking them if they'd show up later so I can borrow some money, but they've gotten their numbers earlier. Shieetttt. Macam mana ni?

So I went back to Wisma and OCM, it was then 5pm, and put on a pair of glassy puppy eyes, and asked them if they'd allow me to still run tomorrow. They were very firm, and insisted I pay the deposit. I then told them to give me an hour to look for familiar faces around so that I could borrow some money.

Pusing punya pusing punya pusing, all I could hear was "nong kraaap," "sawadi ka," and few other 'kraaaap kraaaap kaaaap' Thai-defining phrases uttered by dozens and dozens of Thai runners. Ada la nampak Steph and Rahimi (orang kuat Powerbar). I know them, but they don't know me. Macam mana nak pinjam duit?


Steph and Rahimi. Agak-agak kalau aku approach korang, korang kasi tak duit? Teehehe. (Gambar cilok-ed from pipot.com)

Dalam dok pusing pusing hall tu, I was approached by one of the FTAAA officials, who had been observing me, and who will later become the hero in this story. He said:

"Saya tengok awak ni pusing-pusing cari orang, kesian pulak saya rasa. Nih, saya bayar dulu deposit tu, esok awak ambik deposit tu, pulangkan balik kat saya."

I couldn't believe my ears. A stranger offering to pay the deposit???

"Betul ke bang?"

"Saya pun runner. Saya paham lah awak rasa macam mana."

He handed me RM 20 and we exchanged numbers. I found out his name is Mr Tee. What a gem among humans. Runners. They're special bunch of people, aren't they. We then agreed to meet tomorrow after the run so I can pay him back.

I drove back home with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude. Thank you Mr Tee. If we ever meet again next time, the teh tarik and roti telur will be on me. Though words and actions can never justify how thankful I am to you. And, oh, FTAAA rocks!!!!

An Advice From The Man Himself

As I was checking updates on my blog, I noticed a new comment was up on the 'Losing Isn't So Bad' entry. First glance through the comment, I thought it was another spam. There were www, @ symbol, relatively long and I turned the blog spamguard off a month back. Everything pointing to spam, until I read it carefuly.

It was a comment posted by Adam Tice himself!!! I couldn't believe it!!!

Here is the message he left, put here for the sake of convenience:

Adman121 said...

Hey! It's funny what you find when you google yourself. Adam Tice here. Thanks for noticing I was a stubborn jackass. My wife would totally agree! No lipo for me. Here is what I did. 1. Decided I was going to become an Ironman. 2 Found a planning that would prepare me for the race. 3. set the weight loss goal and come up with a plan on how to acheive it. 4. Made thousands of small decisions on the way to my Ironman. You can do it. I am just some average Schmoe. I am a member of www.OnTri.com It is a community of triathletes that suppport, chat, and answer questions for each other about Tris. I wouldrecommend joining. If there is anything I can answer/do for ya, let me know.

There are some more pics @ www.flickr.com then do a search on "ironadam" GOOD LUCK. YOU CAN DO IT MAN!!!!!

-Adam

3 weeks left before the year ends, and what better way to start a new year with a newly polished, gleaming motivation. I'll remember every word he said.

Note to Adam: Thanks for the advice. And I'm reliefed you took the 'stubborn jackass' as a compliment. It's a quality I noticed shared by most big achievers I came across; they are most certainly irritatingly stubborn.

Warning: Witch Chicks At Large.

There have been sightings and reports of 4 witch chicks running around the streets of KL, tricking single guys to run with them, and end up killing him. The information that is about to be revealed, are the colaborative effort from survivors (currently, there is only one), and through his endeavouring attempt in putting his life on the line in an effort to get that vital piece of information, the author would like to express his gratitude to him.

The Witch Chicks

Witch Chick #1: Faie of the Fangorn


Rank: Witch Chick Ring Leader.
Abilities: Swim fast, run fast, bike fast.
Secret Weapon: The Faienator Hidden Cam Extravaganza.
Misc: Faie of the Fangorn takes pictures of her kill as a trophy.
Special Ability: Spellbinding.

Witch Chick #2: Mary of the East


Rank: Witch Chick Trick Master.
Abilities: Act deceptively innocent.
Secret Weapon: The Gatorade Bottle.
Misc: The official information gatherer of the Witch Chicks Faction. Has fetish over Japanese guys.
Special Ability: Spellbinding.

With Chick #3: Khairul the Killer


Rank: Royal Advisor.
Abilites: Run really fast.
Secret Weapon: The 500ml Mineral Water of Doom.
Misc: The newest member of the Witch Chicks Faction, but her ability far exceeds the expectation of a new member.
Special Ability: Spellbinding.

Witch Chick #4: Aini the Zebet Murderer


Rank: Decoy Grandmaster.
Abilities: Loses weight easily.
Secret Weapon: The Ainimatronic Big Ass Camera.
Misc: The most hardworking of all Witch Chick. Has a thing for Powerman Champions.
Special Ability: Decoy.

Modus Operandi of the Witch Chicks.

The Witch Chicks operate within a strict and standard mode of operation.

Selection of Victim: A profiling of candidates of victims were done a week prior to the kill. A board of adviosors, consisting of Bacin the Vampire Pimp Daddy and Eugene the Sang Algojo selects the victim. The criteria of a perfect victim is slow running ability. The victim is then tricked to join the Witch Chicks running session by seducing the victim with names like 'The Double Hill (Boob) Loop' and 'Running While Eyeing'.

The Kill: Witch Chicks with spellingbinding abilities run ahead of the group, leaving a decoy between them and the victim. The decoy acts as to provide clearance for the spellbinders to work their spell, which is locked in an irresistable Gatorade bottle. Consuming the spellbound Gatorade will cause the person to develop blisters and chaffing on his feet. This bottle is then given to the victim once the pack has regrouped. A graphic representation of the kill is summarized in the figure below:



Once the spell is consumed, the decoy joins the spellbinders and leave the victim behind, hoping that he will get himself lost and die due to dehydration or getting mauled by wild dogs.

Should the plan succeed, the Witch Chicks will then engage in a dance called the 'Nakata, You Are My Hero', a ritual according to sources.

Should they fail, a Witch Chick will then buy an ice-cream popsicle, eat it in front of the victim innocently, as if as nothing has happened.

How to escape the Witch Chicks.

When nobody is watching, hail a taxi.



Disclaimer: Cerita di atas tidak mempunyai sebarang kaitan, dengan sesiapa yang boleh berlari pantas, berlari tanpa baju, pelari yang makan bihun sup, pelari yang makan banyak mahupun pelari yang naik teksi.

Losing Isn't So Bad

I was about to sleep when I suddenly realised I've not seen how an Ironman medal look like (how did I come to this, I don't know). So I went online to get a photo of one. Then I found something on ironman.com that caught my attention.

NB: I've vowed not to practice cut-and-paste ala plaigarism, but this is too valuable.

Here goes:

He’s the biggest loser competing at Ford Ironman Florida tomorrow, and he couldn’t be happier. Since January 1st of this year, Adam Tice has lost 140.6 pounds, which netted him a Tanita Scale as the race’s “biggest loser” last night. While winning the scale was no doubt a nice bonus, the fact that Tice is here to compete at all is a tribute to his incredible drive and determination.


“I registered the day after last year’s race, but I didn’t want to stop eating well through the holidays,” he said at last night’s Fig Newtons Welcome Dinner here in Panama City Beach. Don’t mistake his desire to keep eating what he wanted for those extra two months as a lack of determination – once January 1st came, he started on a strict program that revolved around the magic number of 140.6. Tice figured he needed to lose the equivalent of the Ironman race distance (140.6 miles) in weight to get ready for the Ironman. He wasn’t going to repeat the ordeal he went through for his first triathlon event.

Determined to “test his athletic limits,” he did that first race, the Escape from Alcatraz, weighing a not-so-svelte 340 pounds. As a joke, he shaved all his body hair, including his head, to gain a few seconds. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite enough to make him particularly competitive.

“I was the last official finisher of the race by an hour,” he said.

Weighing 362.2 pounds on New Years day of this year, Tice has achieved his goal. He’s now down to 221 pounds, and looks more than ready to have Mike Reilly pronounce him an Ironman tomorrow evening.

The 36-year-old from Parker, Colorado, was never athletic growing up. A “big guy” all his life the closest he got to a competitive situation was playing baritone in the high school band.

Then, a few years ago, Tice joined a new company. Everyday at lunch he would see one of his co-workers, a 5’ 1” tiny triathlete “fuel” herself rather than eat what everyone else did. She encouraged him to try a triathlon. Tice went for the big challenge all at once – he tried to get into the Ford Ironman World Championship through the lottery a couple of times, but didn’t get picked. Taking destiny into his own hands, he signed up for Ford Ironman Florida last year.

“I like the idea of the flat course here in Florida,” he said. “In San Francisco I ended up having to push my bike up three of the hills.”

How obsessed has this guy been about the number 140.6? In early January his training regimen consisted of about 30 minute workouts. He found that he got the best results by going doing interval training, interspersing five minute intervals with five minutes going easy. He gradually built up to an hour and 40 minutes. Then he worked his way up to 140 minutes of training at a time.

On top of all the training, Tice moved the decimal over to the right and made sure that he never ate more than 1406 calories a day.

The end result? A fit looking Adam Tice is here in Florida ready to take on his first Ironman.

Good luck, Adam!


And here are interval pictures of Adam when he was doing his 140.6 program.


This guy is consistent!!


Holy tuna fish!! You sure you hadn't had a lipo done, Adam?

Utter unbelievable. Adam Tice, you are one determined, consistent, stubborn jackass. I salute you.

I'm playing with the idea of having it a go at Ironman Langkawi 2008. Hmmm... Sombody please tell me I'm not having delusions.