Thanks to my over-indulgence during Chinese New Year, I am so terribly out of shape right now.
He’s in shape. Round is a shape.
Yes I know its the Year of the Pig, I just didn’t expect I’d turn into one myself. The truth is, I’m at a porky 83kg now. That’s 5kg more than last year.
I am so fat that when I wear my boxers, my flabby tummy pushes the underwear waistband all the way out until it folds by itself.
That’s embarrassing.
I really gotta do something about my flabby tummy. Starting by cutting down on late night fatty food.
That’s tough, because in Kuching, whenever people ask me out or something, we eat. There really isn’t much to do in Kuching apart from eating. And when we eat, we eat fatty food.
No one’s gonna go out with me anymore if everyone else is drinking beer, eating fried chicken wings and I’m the only one munching on salad. I might as well kiss my social life goodbye.
But hey, I reckon I can get back in shape because I did it before and I’m determined to repeat my success.
Last year’s marathon helped a lot. And this year, I’m gonna do it again.
This time round, it’ll be at the Penang Bridge Marathon!
Actually I have already started training for this marathon since last year.
But then 1st January came.
And then Chinese New Year came.
And then the temptation of fat oily bak gua proved too difficult to resist.
And then before I knew it, I piled on 5kg and all that training effort went to waste. ARGH!
Anyway, I’m hoping that this time round I’ll be running together with some readers who are inspired to do a marathon for the first time.
I’m not an expert in running, but I’ve read enough to be able to give out some tips for first timers. Websites like runnersmalaysia.com.my, runnersworld.com and runningfit.net should be able to tell you more.
First, do up a training schedule and stick to it. That’s half the battle won.
My minimum is to do 5km three times on weekdays, and finish off with 10km of continuous running on Sundays. I’ll gradually increase that to 26km two weeks before race day.
I run at Stutong Forest Park every Sunday. It’s the only good running location I know in Kuching. On weekdays I do Reservoir Park, which is too small for my liking but good enough.
Running can get pretty costly. Still, its worthwhile to invest in the right stuff sooner rather than later.
A pair of good lightweight running shoes and chafe-free socks would set you back around RM400.
On top of that you’d wanna wear cool and dry apparels specially made for running.
The worst thing you could wear to a race is the 100% cotton Made-In-China official marathon T-shirt that you get free with registration. If you wear that, you’re gonna sweat so much you’ll finish the race wearing a sponge.
I personally like the ClimaLite stuff. I wear them to the gym all the time. They cost about RM80 each, but you can’t skimp on price for comfort, especially when the journey is 42km.
Apart from these essentials there are two more things most people think are optional, but I’d classify them as “life-savers”.
The first is a tube of analgesic cream. RM10.
Analgesic cream is NOT the kind of cream you apply on your anal. It’s medication to relieve muscular pain after a hard workout. Trust me, if you’ve never ran long distance before, you’re gonna be needing this ASAP.
The second is an MP3 player.
iPod nano RM939 + Marware sports armband RM120
If I didn’t have my iPod with me last year, I don’t know how I’m even gonna cross the finishing line. Once you get the music pumping in your ears, you’d forget about all the pain you’re suffering… until you take the earphones off.
Azman, who recently completed the KL Half Marathon, said that if his MP3 player had boobs and vagina, he’d marry his MP3 player.
Who’s coming with me for the Penang Marathon? Let me know.
Then after the race, we continue marathon all the way to Ipoh to eat chicken rice.
So I was swimming in Satang Island this past Sunday, and I paid the price for stupidly leaving my wet swimming trunks on the whole day because I was too lazy to change into dry clothes.
Today, I developed rashes. On my arse, of all places.