Running In Sudan

Despite the title "Running in Sudan", I still haven't done any running in Sundan as I am still in Malaysia. I had to delay my journey and instead of Monday, I will be flying today.

I am staying at this hotel, Grand Holiday Villa in Khartoum. This hotel is part of a network of Malaysia hotels worldwide. If you noticed in the photos, there is an executive fitness centre. There are three treadmills in the corner. They dont remotely look like the big and sophisticated treadmills in my fitness club. I do hope they are motorised treadmills instead the cheap ones which have no motors. For the cheapest treadmills, you actually have to get track moving by the your own power (feet).

I hope I can post some blogs from Sudan. Stay tuned....

Leaving for Sudan

I am going to Sudan in Africa for about 8 days. I don't think it is possible to run outdoor as the temperature in Khartoum (capital city) is about 11o to 116 deg F (43 to 46 deg C). I haven't been to a country where it is as hot as these temperatures.

I got three vaccination shots this morning for Yellow Fever, Meningitis and Typhoid. Hmm - I'll make sure I don't drink tap water, eat local food and I will kill every mosquito that gets near me.

When?

I ran yesterday at KLCC park despite having a sore right knee for the past one week.

I started tentatively walking with Gan but after 400m, we started to run slowly for 1 lap(1.3km). At the 2nd lap, we ran faster, charging up the hills with our chests heaving from the efforts to take in more air. . Gan stopped running at the 800m mark. I discovered I had gotten into the "groove"and had to keep running. My knee was hurting but I couldn't stop; I was having a great time. Finally I decided to stop at the 3.5 km mark for fear of causing more damage to my knee. I saw Yong and I jogged with him back to the 3.9 km distance. We chatted for a while. I saw Newton who was on his way to run a 3 lap PR. Visit this website to see how he fared.

I really wanted to run more than 3 laps yesterday. My mind and heart was willing but alas my knee condition did not allow me to run further.

When will I be able to run more ?

Mr Rabbit is making a comeback run. He has started training outdoor again. Watch out wolves, in 2 months time, you won't be able to catch Mr Rabbit for dinner.

Books I am reading now: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed by Jared Diamond

Running Activity Update

I have been running more often over the past 2 weeks. This week on Tuesday ; about 2 km (Klang) and Wednesday about 4.3 km (KLCC). That is the good news - I am able to at least run some distance. The bad news : my injured knee have improved but not to a point where I can run more than 4 or 5 km and not everyday. Every time I run, the physical sensations (soreness and ustable knee) reminds me that I have a persistent an injuy even after 2 months of "rest".

I am keen to run in the Penang Bridge Run that is three and half months away. The PBR was the the first half marathon I've run, way back in year 2000. My time: 2 hrs 20 minutes. I endured leg cramps at the 15 km mark and it was an awfully hard race. Since then I've run about 15 half marathons but PBR remains my all time favourite race.

Hopefully I will continue to recover to a point where I can consistently run 8 km and be able to do some long runs.

I have already decided to skip the NB-Pacesetters 15 km run and the PJ half marathon.

Weekend Run

Yesterday I managed to run about 4 to 5 km. The Klang stadium was full of Punjabis holding a sports event. It was Vasakhi day (Sikh new year) yesterday. When I walked into the stadium, I saw the stand was full of Punjabis and the annoucer said "The Men's 41 to 50 years walk event is next, blah-blah". I took a quick look at the crowd; there was no Punjabi girl in sight. Nothing to see for me:-( . I don't what is it with Punjabi girls; I have never seen one involved in sports. I don't know if it a cultural or religous issue that deters them from partipating in sports.

Anyway I had to run somewhere else yesterday.

There was an exciting news on PM1's site; this year the International Penang Bridge Run (IPBR) may be held again after a 2 year absence. Hopefully I will be able to resume serious training by early May and be ready for the IPBR. It is really something special to run on a bridge while enjoying the sea breeze and watching the sun rise.

My Other Stuff : Thailand Part #1

This blog is getting a bit boring nowadays. I am always writing about my knee injury, recovering, my attempts to recover and run, blah-blah...

On CNN and the BBC tonight "Thaksin Shinwatra has resigned as PM". That suprised a lot of people including me at first but later I found out he had visited the Thai king, Bhumipol Adulyadej I am quite sure the King had advised or perhaps hinted for him to resign from the PM post despite his party (TRT) "winning" the election.

The Thai king has no constitutional power but he has something else more powerful; Respect and Trust from everyone in Thailand. In the past (twice I think- in 1972 and 1992) he has exercised these intangible powers to stabilise the political situation in Thailand.

I have to confess to be something of a Thailand affairs watcher. I keep up to date on what is happening in Thailand through various websites. Ever since my first visit to Thailand in 1989 (17 years ago), I found the happenings in Thailand fascinating.

In Thai society, there are two institutions that is well respected; the Buddhist monkhood and the monarchy. Over the past 10 years, the image of the Buddhist monkhood has taken a beating. There have been numerous scandals (sex and money) involving monks and abbots. In one of my trips in Thailand, I was surprised to observe some monks hanging out and smoking cigarettes.

In Thailand, many young men become monks for a short period of time (months). According to Buddhist belief they will bring merit or good karma to themselves and their parents. The problem is nowadays it has become more of a social obligation instead of a religious one. So some of them become "monks" without the proper motivations and intentions. In some cases, it is an economic necessity for some men to become monks. For example, education is freely provided and meals (in theory - only twice a day) by the monastery. So that is why you can see monks smoking cigarettes or involved in the occasional scandals.

Getting Back to Running

After six weeks of "rest", I have tentatively start to run again since two weeks ago. Last week, was my 2nd run. (My 1st was in Asghabat;5 km) . I did a 4km run with "Mat" at KLCC. It's not much compared to my usual 6.5 to 8.0 km. We must have run at about 8 min per 1.3 km pace. I am certain that I have lost 20 to 30 per cent of my endurance.

Yesterday I managed to run 8 x 400 m (3.2 km). Right knee was a bit sore.

Right now I am taking it slow and easy. I will run short distances between 4 and 5 km each time at slow speed. A long run is out the question for now.

Be patient.

Cars parked next to a park neat the hotel. On the lower right hand side is one of the commonly used cars in Ashagbat; a Russian copy of a square shaped Fiat. 

One of the many parks in Ashgabat (capital city of Turkmenistan). Buildings with dome roofs are quite common in Ashgabat, 

That pile of Manat notes about 5 inches thick (Turkmenistan currency) is worth USD 100 

Back in Malaysia

I am glad to be back in old Malaysia. I didn't blog during the weeekend as most of the time I was wathing the Commonwealth Games on TV.

I had a terrible time on Saturday. I left Ashgabat, Turkmenistan on Friday , 6.15 pm. The Ashgabat airport is really quite bad. When I walked into the departure lounge, I was hit by heavy fumes from cigarettes. To my unpleasant surprise and contrary to the norm in other airports, smoking is not banned in airport departures lounges in Turkmenistan. There was about half a dozen people happily puffing away near the toilets. I scurried away to sit near the bar where strangely enough no one was smoking there.

My flight was on Turkmenistan Airline to Bangkok. The aircraft was a Boeing 757 perhaps in its most basic(minimal) configuration. There was no TV screen to watch nor was there any audio facilities. The service was OK but the food ordinary. The English language spoken during various announcements was utterly incomprehensible. See this website for what others had to say about Turkmen. airlines.

The flight was 6 hrs arriving in Bangkok at 2.40 pm, 30 minutes late due to late departure. Bangkok International airport is really in bad shape. There are not enough seats in a the airport and even that hour, most the seats were fully occupied. Most of the people in the airport lounges at that hour were Indian and Vietnamese. Suffice for me to say, the 6 hours I waited for the connecting flight to KL felt like 16 hrs. Next time, I will bring some bedding materials like foam sheets and potable pillows.

On running in Asghabat, I did manage to run 5 km on Wednesday evening. There are plenty of parks in Asghabat and very few people are using the parks in Winter. There is no problem with safety as there is at least one policeman/army at the park. I did get strange looks from the policeman and the locals while I was running in the park. I don't think ANYONE runs for exercise in Turkmenistan.

I will post some photos later.

My right knee is getting much better now. I did not get any symptoms when I ran 5 km last Wednesday. I plan to do some minimum running this week.

Turkmenistan - Post #1

This is my 2nd day in Turkmenistan (Ashagat).

I can't really post a long report because of a slow Internet connection. What I have discovered so far:

• Food : I am having a bit of trouble with the local food. Most of the food here contain a lot of meat (chicken, beef, lamb etc) . The vegetables are mainly salad. Since I don't eat meat except fish , it looks like I have to become a salad eating runner here. Fish here? If they come from the Caspian sea; its better not to eat it because of the pollution problem.
  
• Language : Hardly anyone on the streets can speak English.
  
• Traffic : There is no traffic jam. The cars here are mostly old Russian cars, squarish shape and very battered looking.

The weather has been dry and cold but OK (5 deg. C nightime and 15 deg C daytime). I can survive in these temperatures.

Going To Turkmenistan Tomorrow

Tomorrow morning I am going to Turkmenistan. Where is this place ? Check out this link.

I will flying from KL to Instanbul (Turke), transit for 8 hrs and then fly to Ashgabat (Turkm.) at 11.30 pm. Total journey time = about 26 hrs. I will return to KL next weekend.

I heard from a colleague , the temperature in Asghabat is now higher; low 20's deg. C in the daytime. Much better than during winter when it can be as low as -2 and to -10 deg. C.

I will bringing my running gear to run over there. I heard NO ONE runs for exercise over there. One of the local female staff went jogging and everyone looked at her as if she was crazy.

I plan to post some entries and photos on this site next week.

Born(1991), Died (2006), Age 15 Years Old

I don't remember the month he was born except it was some time in 1991. He was born to my favourite cat, a three colour (white,orange and black) female named Tompok (Spot). He was completely black in colour with a pair of emerald green eyes. The last time I had a black coloured cat was when I was seven years old.

When he was a kitten, he was playful as as cats are at that age . The games I played with him was to get him chasing after string which I dangled just beyond his reach. The other game he played was to chase after a ping pong ball.

When he was older, he was the neighbourhood Boss cat. The other male cats were terrified of him. He was fierce to other male cats especially to those who trespassed around his "Area". He often got into fights and although he was not that big, he managed to intimidate every male cat in the area. He was the undisputed Boss and the Top Cat.

When it came to female cats, unlike his owner (me) he was something of a playboy. He would often dissapear for days or weeks to pursue his "love interests". I guessed he must have sired many of the cats around the area by now. When he was around the house, he would wait outside the door in the morning when I got out to go to work. I stroked him, petted him and fed him breakast - Friskies cat food.

About 3 to 4 years ago, he became much less active. Sometimes he was coughing and wheezing when it gets a bit cold especially in the morning or at night. He did not roam so much and stayed close to the house. I saw him more often as he was always waited outside the door early in the morning. Sometimes I had to look closely as he was black in colour and diffcult to see in dark. But I knew where to look as he usually sits on the slippers or flip flops.

About 2 weeks ago he was really sick for a few days. He fur became red in colour except the area on his head and he had trouble breathing. I was planning to bring him to the vet but somehow he recovered. I was glad he recovered and survived.

Last Saturday he didn't eat the dinner I had placed for him and later he dissapeared. On Sunday, my father saw him hiding in some bushes near a lamp post about 10m near the house. My parents could not find him over the next 4 days. I thought he had been roaming again around the neighbourhood.

Yesterday night I found out he had died. My father noticed a black tail sticking out out of the bushes. It was him and he was dead. His fur had turned red except for ones on his head which was still black. My father buried him near the house.

I do miss him but I think he had lived an unusually long life for a cat. At 15 years old he was equivalent in human age to someone 77 years old. An old cat whom I hope over the past 15 years had enjoyed his life to the fullest and knew he was much loved.

On a side note, I ran 2.6 km yesterday at KLCC park without any pain or soreness in my right knee. There is still hope for me to continue running but I have to be patient.

Hungry

Its almost 1.00 pm and I am quite hungry now. But I cannot eat because I am on a "diet".

After doing less running over the past 2 months or so due to the knee injury, my body weight has crept up from 56kg to ........... 58 kg! Horror.

So I am going on a diet to reduce my daily calorie intake.My plan is:-

Weekday
Breakfast : Cereal and fruit. Occasional Malaysian food not more than twice in 5 days.
Lunch : Fruit or sandwich (homemade)
Dinner : Rice with vegetable. Occasional fish.

Weekend
Same as above but I will a normal lunch.

I will maintain this regime until my weight goes down to 55kg.

Tomorrow I will start running again. I hope there will not be too much problems with my right knee.

KLIM 2006 - Back to Basics

My aspiration and path to run my first marathon has been beset by uncertanities.

I have been training well enough, faithfully doing my weekend long runs until injury struck on Monday, 13 February. It was my fault really when I decided to do some speed training for a change. As a result, my already damaged right knee became much worse. I could only run maybe five times during the 3 weeks leading to the KL International Marathon. Sometimes even walking brought pain. Two weeks before KLIM, the pain and soreness had dissappeared -perhaps if I could recover in one week?

However all was not well yet. When I ran, my right knee became sore after just 3 km. Sometimes it would swell up for several hours and remain swollen for the whole day.

Just one week before KLIM, my knee injury improved with the swelling duration reduced to about 2 hrs on Wednesday. On Thursday and Friday, the soreness had dissipated too. On Friday, Ronnie passed me the T-shirt, bib, reporting card and timing chip.

The fate of my marathon debut was dependent my condition on Saturday , the day before KLIM. I needed to know if I could run for at least 30km. In the evening, at the Klang stadium, I walked for 1200m before running for 100m. There was no pain when I ran but when I stopped I knew something was wrong. For the next 2 hrs, my knee was swollen. There will be no KLIM for me.

Still at 10.00 pm, I pin the running bib to my running vest, made other preparations and set my alarm clock to wake me up at 3.10am. I tried to sleep but couldn't sleep until 2.00 am. Pre-race jitters I suppose By this time I was elated to discover my right knee was OK - no more soreness and swolleness. I was going to run my first marathon!

At 3.10 am, the alarm went off and I woke up. I did the usual preparations, had a bowl of oatmeal and toilet business. I tested my right knee by walking around the house. The soreness was indeed gone but the knee felt unstable. How far would I be able to run? 42 km is very long distance to walk even if I could do it on an unstable knee.

To go or don't go ? I agonised over it. Should I be more courageous and risk it? I wanted to run this very badly after undergoing 3 months of training. I have been a runner for six years and have yet to run a marathon Do it or not ?

Finally I decided not to run. I would have wait longer and allow my injury to recover. My first marathon would have to wait.

Later, I did go to KLIM in the morning but as a spectator and supporter. I stationed myself at the 40.7km and shouted encouragements to the runners. I took photos of my friends who ran the marathon. The photos which many were not focused properly due to my excitement t0 see them.

Many of the marathoners have completed the race beyond their expectations (see Jamie's report) and there are some who felt they could have done better. Still whether good and bad, running a marathon itself is no small feat. It takes determination and as much mental/ emotional strength as the physical effort to finish one. Perhaps one day I will experience it too.

Putrajaya marathon (10 Sept. 2006) anyone ?

Today : Getting High

I had planned to run this evening at KLCC park but it rained heavily. The purpose of my planned run was to test the condition of my right knee. This evening I had to run on the treadmill at the gym. Over the past 3 weeks I had only managed to run about five times (total less than 30 km). I found these runs difficult and not very enjoyable due to my injury.

On the treadmill, I found myself enjoying the experience of running again. I rediscoved the pleasure and euphoria when I become immersed in the running experience - living in the present and not in the past or future.

Unfortunately I can now say for certain I will not be running the marathon this Sunday. My right became sore after 2 km and I had to stop running at 4 km. Perhaps one day I will be able to run longer distances. For now, I have to be patient.........

To my friends who are running this Sunday:

Good luck ! Run not just for time and medals but to experience life at its fullest.

Sick People on the bus

On the bus to work this morning, I had a terrible time. A guy seated behind me was sniffing, sneezing and coughing all the way to KL He sounded really sick. Every time, he coughed, I could smell the cigarette vapours coming out of his mouth.

One of the problems travelling by bus or any public transport vehicles is I cannot choose who sits beside or near me. One time, there was a drunk guy sitting behind me. I coould smell the alcohol from his breath. That was tolerable until he started to make groaning noises, followed by perioidic spitting on the floor. Worse to come was when he threw up a few minutes later. The smell of his vomit (curry + sour + alcohol) was too much. Luckily there was an empty seat so I was able to move away.

This morning I am more concerned than normal as my right knee had suddenly recovered overnight. Maybe there is a still a slim chance I would be able to run in the KL International Marathon this Sunday. I certainly don't want to fall sick from a cold and coughs 4 days before the race.

Sunday : 26 Feb 2006 - KLIM Update

Despite my knee injury, I have not been idle or stopped exercising. There were some days that I wished I could run normally but I tried to run shorter distances. Since Sunday, 19 February 2005 I have run 3 times:-

Wednesday : 5 km at KLCC park. Right knee was sore after 3 km. Afterwards was slightly sore.

Friday : 5 km at KLCC park. Ran with Newton. R. knee was sore from the beginning but I kept running until I finished 5 km.

Sunday : At the Klang stadium. Only managed to walk for 3 km. R. knee was sore and stiff even while walking. Tried to run for 600m.

KL Internatonal Marathon on 5th March 2006? There is no way I will be able to run 42km or even 7 km (Fun run).

What is my Knee Injury?

These two websites ; Website One and website 2 give a good description of a knee meniscus injury. I tore my right knee meniscus on 21 April 2002. The MRI scan in 2002 showed the tears were in three areas :-

1. At the posterior (back) horn of the lateral meniscus (outer leg). Grade 3 tear i.e. goes through the top and bottom surface of the meniscus.
   
2. At the posterior (back again!) medial (inside leg) meniscus. Grade 2 tear i.e. inside the structure but does not go through the surface.
   
3. At the horn (tip) of the lateral meniscus ;degenerative type tear i.e. fraying or tear in all directions.

The symptoms actually appeared on 21 April 2002 whenI was running on a treadmill at the 8 km mark. I experienced an unstable knee and could not bear normal body weight on the right knee.

The actual injury may have occurred one a half years before (Nov 2000) when I twisted my right knee while descending Mount Kinabalu. In fact to this day, I could still recall the sharp pain and my inability to move for several minutes.

One week later, I was OK but I did not realised there was aready damage to my right knee meniscus. The only symptom I experienced was recorded in my training log book in April 2001 where I wrote "sore right knee". That is until 21 April 2002.

I should explain that most meniscus tears are almost impossible to heal by itself. The reason is 80% of the meniscus (inner area) has no blood vesssels. The outer periphery area (20%) has some blood vessels. Only infants have blood vessels in 100% of the meniscus area and by 10 years old, 30% of the meniscus has no blood vessels.

This website gives the repair options for the meniscus.

This website has a forum about knee meniscus problems -it also has a real photo of a knee meniscus. For runners, please check out the Runners World forum.