When 10 is not enough. Another 10 Kick Butt Songs !!

ANOTHER 10 KICK BUTT SONGS

Surprisingly, getting a lot of page views for this post "My 10 Kick Butt Songs". Thanks to those that have been viewed the post and looking for kick butt songs for running or exercise. Obviously, I have a long list of songs. I have only choosen 10 from the very long list. It was actually difficult to narrow down the list to 10. So to those that are hungry for another 10 song, here it comes.

[Hands Up] David Guetta ft. Sia - Titanium Ryan Ceriouz Hands up Mix

http://soundcloud.com/ryanceriouzofficial/david-guetta-ft-sia-titanium  <- Click this link to listen and download

Let me start with the Penang guy, Ryan Ceriouz (his stage name) who has done a pretty credible job on this remix. Ryan is from Penang, Malaysia who has composed an original composition "I Will Make It" in my earlier post.  "My 10 Kick Butt Songs".  He has done a trance remix of the song which is more suited for running and exercise. So let's run !!

Hall of Fame (feat. Will.I.Am) - The Script
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dtgoDXEOxTM

A new song by The Script from their latest album "#3" which I have just purchased from iTunes store for USD6.99 about MYR21.  The Script is an Irish rock band and writes awesome lyrics. I have always love their earlier songs and albums. And if you are looking for a motivational song for 2012 this should be it.

You could go the distance
You could run the mile
You could walk straight through hell with a smile
You could be the hero
You could get the gold
Breaking all the records that thought never could be broke

Appropriately written for a runner.
Another well known song by The Script is "Live Like We're Dying", another personal favourite of mine has been covered by American Idol winner, Kris Allen.

Whistle - Flo Rida
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSnkWzZ7ZAA

This song just grows on you. The more you listen the more it grows on to you. Such a nice song to accompany me while running. It makes you want to whistle along. Flo Rida has another great song for running "Good Feeling" but it is actually from Avicii "Levels". I personally prefer the Avicii version without the rap and it used to be on my running playlist for quite a long time.

Changed The Way You Kissed Me - Example
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLXt3yh2g0s

Example (his stage name) is a British singer and rapper that has a few songs suited for running. I have only chosen this song which is among his more well known songs.  This song is from the album "Playing in the Shadows" released in 2011 which also feature another great running song "Natural Disaster". He is also featured in a new song by Calvin Harris "We'll be coming back" which is also pretty suited for running. His other songs are "Won't Go Quietly" and "Kickstarts" also used to be on my running playlist.

New Divide - Linkin Park
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysSxxIqKNN0

Another older song by Linkin Park from the second Transformer movie with great melody, guitars play, drums and screaming of course. This song always remind me of the Transformer ride in Universal Studio, Singapore. Hopefully, I would able to digest their new album "Living Things" and found some new running songs.

Human - Ellie Goulding 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=46y8E-RIhdc (Audio Only)

A British singer-songwriter starting to get attention from the US market. Probably the second most famous female singer from UK after Adele. Her more famous song is "Lights". But I have always prefer this song which is from the same album "Bright Lights". And she did an excellent cover of Elton John's "Your Song" just showcasing her voice. Another great part of this song is the lyrics. "Human I'm trying to come clean, I will be a better me, I will not drink until I'm dead, I'll make the most of it. I don't know what it's like to be alive, to say goodbye, to cry a thousand tears because my ears won't listen."

Blow Me (One Last Kiss) - P!nk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jNlIGDRkvQ

I wonder if my imagination would have run wild if the title is just "Blow Me". This is the latest from P!nk and it is very fitted for running. P!nk over the years has had quite a few songs that hit the No. 1 spot on the charts. One of her songs "Perfect" has such brilliant lyrics. Her earlier song, "Raise Your Glass" used to be on my running playlist also.

She Wolf (Falling to Pieces) - David Guetta feat. Sia
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVzljDmoPVs

Have to feature David Guetta again. He just have so many great dance music suited for running. This latest song comes with strong vocal from Sia and music from David Guetta. This is from a re-released of his album "Nothing But The Beat" titled "Nothing But The Beat 2.0". Great running music ! David Guetta will be appearing in Malaysia for a special outdoor gig at the Sepang International Circuit in Selangor on 12 October 2012.

Wings - Little Mix
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cOQDsmEqVt8

Just discovered this song from UK charts. Such a catchy tune. These girls are just absolutely gorgeous. They are a 4 girls' group who won the X Factor UK in 2011. The first group entry to won the X factor UK. And who can resist "These wings are made to fly". We can't fly, so we just run.

Feel Again - OneRepublic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2tMKO_9SD1Y

One of my favorite bands currently, OneRepublic, an American rock band. This is the first singles from  the yet to be released album called "Native" scheduled to be released on November 2012.  Just a great song to listen while running. Their previous song, "Good Life", is still one of my ringtones. Of course, the song that make them well known is "Apologize" from the "Dreaming Out Loud" album. Ryan Tedder the lead singer has such an amazing voice and was featured in quite a number of songs with other artiste like in "The Fighter" with Gym Class heroes.

Bukit Mertajam Recreational Forest - Taman Rimba Bukit Mertajam

Entrance and Location Plan of Bukit Mertajam Recreational Forest (Taman Rimba Bukit Mertajam)

Need a break from the normal Sunday long run. Decided to do a long run on a treadmill on Saturday afternoon. But it is a torture to do a long run on a treadmill. It is just too monotonous. Supposed to do 20km end up with 18km. Although the gym is air condition but the afternoon sun virtually heat up the whole gym room. It is like running in a oven after an hour. I am completely soaked wet after an hour. It is like leaking fluid through my skin. And I have to run more than two hours. Probably if I want to do another long run on a treadmill it has to be in the morning and not at 3.30pm in the afternoon.

So what to do on a Sunday morning after a long sauna run on Saturday. Do a hike or try a hill run, of course ! I missed mother nature...

The chalets and route hiking, running or cycling up the hill

Not visited the Bukit Mertajam (BM) Recreational Forest which is at Cherok To'kun of Bukit Mertajam for a while.  Rather than keep pounding the road every Sunday, time for a hike or a hill run. A change of scenery amd routine will energise my run next week. Reach Cherok To'kun at almost 7.30am later than I wanted. But the place is shady and not worried about the sun. Plenty of hikers and mountain bikers on a Sunday morning. This BM hill is always a hot spot for mountain bikers as the gradient is not so steep. However, it is not advisable to wear headphones while hiking on this hill as the bikers at times come charging down the slope. You will not be able to hear and avoid them.

Mountain bikers coming down the hill

Ambitious me. Thought my body would be able to run up the hill. The hill is just too steep for me ! So ? Power walk up the hill and take some pictures along the way. The consolation is I could overtake everyone that is in front of me due to better endurance. After the half way point, the air gets cooler and cooler. The attraction of the hike is the view of Mengkuang dam from a far. The only problem is that there is no signage to inform you about the view of Mengkuang. I remember the last time there was a signage there. If not, you will just missed it. Unfortunately, there are quite a lot of development around Mengkuang dam nowadays.

View of Mengkuang Dam from the Hill

Manage to capture the distance and time on my Garmin watch. The max elevation is 545m and it is about 3.3km to reach the top and takes about 48 mins. But nothing attractive with only those red transmitting stations.

GPS recording of my hike

Transmitting Stations on top of hill

Decided to run down the hill but it is hard on the knees at times. While wondering around, I realise there is a area of the forest which I have never explored. There are actually jungle trails in the forest. I have always been just hiking the hill. I noticed some senior citizens were placing their hands on one big tree probably believing that they can absorbed good "chi"(energy force) from that tree.  But it was running really late and I am just starved with no food in the morning except water.  Just managed to cover a small section of the trails. Eager to explore more...

Jungle trails in the forest

Jungle trails in the forest

There is actually a tea shop that serves Chinese tea and some fruits stalls at the entrance. Nice natural environment having a tea shop in the forest. It blend with overall relaxing pace.  To fill my stomach temporary, I just bought a piece of papaya and rush home for brunch. Will be back the next trip to explore the jungle trails and have some tea at the place.

Tea Spa and Fruit Stalls

A Journey to My First Marathon Part 14

As the long run gets further my confidence of completing my First Marathon grows stronger. When the  long run hit 30 km, you finally realised that you can really finished the race. It is a grueling 4 hours run on Sunday at 5am and the hot sun on Sunday makes it a even harder run. My objective is to finish the 30 km last Sunday without bothering about the pace and time. It turned me into a roast duck after that due to the blistering sun. As a result of the hot weather, my last two km I have to run to a 7 eleven store bought a bottle of 100 plus and finished off the last 2 km.  With total training distance exceeding 1,000 km, I can say "A Journey of a Thousand Kilometers begins with a single step".

Brooks Pure Connect with extremely bright colours

However, it has been raining in the earlier weeks during my runs. Fortunately, I have bought a new pair of running shoes as Brooks was having a promotion for running shoes. I can alternate the shoes if it gets wet in the rain. Decided to get a pair of Brooks Pure Connect with a rebate of RM150. My second pair of Brooks. The Brooks Pure series are more of minimalist shoes. Currently, I am more accustomed to shoes with less cushioning like my Vibrams Seeya and Merrell Trail Glove. My Brooks Pure Connect is a bit too much cushioning to me and it is already considered the most stripped down in the series. I have only been using my Vibrams Seeya at the gym on treadmill.  Have not tested it on the road yet. Of the three pair of shoes I have, I still prefer my Merrrell Trail Glove. The Merrell is also multi-purpose and you can wear them for shopping. The Brooks Pure Connect just doesn't feel comfortable for walking but I have no problem running in them.

I will have two more very long runs, ie 33km and 30km, to complete the training before tapering.  I decided to change my training program in the last two days. Initially, I wanted to do a 33km run before my overseas trip and taper after that. But looking at the training, it would be better to squeeze in another 30 km and then taper. This is to allow my body to adjust to these longer runs.  But I am thinking of doing the last 30 km on a treadmill than on a road. This is to train my body to run at a consistent pace for 30 km which will be useful on a race day. My furthest run on a treadmill is 21 km. Anyway, I will love to do shorter runs during my overseas trip just like in Bali. It makes the trip more memorable.

I will also have to concentrate on the hill runs and interval training. And I found that it is easier to do interval training on the treadmill so that I can locked in the speed that I want to hit. I tend to make it easier if I do it on the road and I have to keep looking at my GPS watch to look at the distance covered.

Is there a post race depression? It already crosses my mind a few times. Like a woman after giving birth to a child she may hit a depression phase. Although they say giving birth is harder than running a marathon. I wouldn't know as I can't give birth to a child. Can we say running a marathon is like giving birth to a child without the epidural ? What will I be doing after a marathon? Another race. Or just running for fun. Possibly, it may be good to look at shorter races after that. So I will not be too slack in the running. At the same time, allowing the body to recover after months of training for the marathon.

Last week, our people in the office just entered my name for 84 Penang Hill hike for the inter-firms games in early December. At least I would have something coming up in December. But looking for shorter races would be good. The only problem is that there are usually not many races in early part of the year except those the overseas marathons which I am not ready for that.  The sport.my web page has not listed the races in 2013 yet. Just hope that Andrew will organise an event after Chinese New Year. Since so many of us have been pestering him to organise an event so that we can burned all the Chinese New Year's goodies. A half marathon will suffice.

The Marathon Journey continues........

So You Think You Can't Run

When I got back to running in March 2010 after joining the new gym, I was having a hard time getting back to running. I was really not a runner even before that. I could hardly run 10 mins at that time. Don't even think about 30 mins. I was running so slowly on the treadmill until one of the gym guy used to make fun of how slow I ran. He actually imitate me on my slow running form. I started to run for about 10 mins then have to walk again and then run again. It is really a run/walk routine. It took me a month or two before I could run 30 mins. And the pace then is extremely slow probably at about 5.5/6.0km an hour that is like walking speed.  I used to be able to watch TV at the same time as my pace was extremely slow.

After a few months, fortunately I was still into running and the pace has picked up slightly but I was doing more weight training than running. With no seriousness in training I finished my 10K and then a half marathon in 2011. I have written in my earliest post how the Half Marathon was a torture due to lack of training and fueling strategy. But it prove to me that I could run if I wanted to. I could never imagine I could run up to 4 hours now in training when I could not run 10 mins then.

Even you think you can't run then you couldn't be more wrong. You can always start with a run/walk routine and slowly move up to the 5K or 10K. Some people said, "I Run Because I Can". As long as you remove the word "Can't" from your vocabulary and substitute with the word "Can". The human body will follow the human mind if you think you can.


If you think you are beaten, you are
If you think you dare not, you don't
If you like to win, but dont think you can
Its almost certain you wont.

If you think you'll lose, you've lost,
For out of the world we find
Success begins with a fellows will
Its all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are
You've got to think high to rise
You'be got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize

Life's battles don't go away
To the stronger or faster man
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

Napoleon Hill - The author of the famous inspirational book "Think and Grow Rich".

Oscar Pistorius "The Blade Runner"

Oscar Pistorius also known as "The Blade Runner"and "the fastest man on no legs". Pistorius who is an South African sprint runner has double below-knee amputations. Pistorius was born with fibular hemimelia (congenital absence of the fibula) in both legs. When he was 11 months old, his legs were amputated halfway between his knees and ankles. At the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, Pistorius became the first double leg amputee to participate in the Olympics when he entered the men's 400 metres race and was part of South Africa's 4 × 400 metres relay team.

Md Shariff Abdullah "Singapore Blade Runner"

Another blade runner is "Singapore Blade Runner", Md Shariff Abdullah. He was born without a left foot below knee, at age of 6 years he was fitted with an artificial leg. During school day in 1970s he had been participate in various kind of extreme sports such as trekking, kayaking and running. At that time school mate will called him nickname of “Six Million Dollar Man” due to his active in Sports. He was interested in long distance running and have been completed numerous races in Singapore and Malaysia. He has just completed the Craze Ultra 100 miles Ultramarathon in Singapore. His dream is to climb Mount Everest in 2015 and had been training continuously in Singapore and Malaysia. His quote is “Focus, Believe in Yourself to Achieve, Make it Happen and Never Give Up” Always Change Failure into Success.

Of course, the famous video on YouTube entitled "CAN" on the love of a father for his son. Dick and Rick Hoyt, Team Hoyt, participating in the Ironman Triathlon.  Rick has cerebral palsy and during competition Dick pulls Rick in a special boat as they swim, carries him in a special seat in the front of a bicycle, and pushes him in a special wheelchair as they run. The song "I Can Only Imagine" by MercyMe is just so fitting for this video.

And you can also watch the video on YouTube on their story where the video will tell a better story than my words. In the video, Dick says "Our message is Yes, you can. You can do anything you want to do as long as you make up your mind. You can do it."

Races, Races, Races

Have been reading quite a lot of running blogs lately especially from Malaysians. Most of the running blogs do a race recap of their races they have run. Oh boy! The number of races that they do in a year were so many. These three runners blogs I have been reading, the three guys all completed their first marathon in 2011.

One of them started serious running in 2010 which he has entered about 5 races. And he did his first marathon in 2011 and 13 races in total for that year. In 2012 up till 21 Sept, he has done 14 races and one full marathon.

There is another guy who did 7 races in 2011 including two marathons and one of them is his first marathon in 2011. He has done 16 races so far in 2012 out of which 3 of them are full marathons.

The 3rd guy is a real running fanatic. He completed his full marathon in 2011. He has done 15 races in 2010. 29 races in 2011 including 6 marathons (and his first marathon) and 23 races so far for 2012. In 2012 he has done 2 ultras including "The Most Beautiful Thing"(TMBT) a 100km ultra trail marathon in Sabah which has just been completed.

Generally, most of them increase the races by almost 100% or more after their first marathon. It is like if I can run a full marathon I will be able to run all races. Or could it be most runners are just chasing their PB(personal best). It is just the human nature to take on a personal challenge to keep improving themselves. However,  it is still an inspiration to read about their first marathon experience and their subsequent running experiences. For myself, I just think it will be too many races for me to handle.

After my Green Run/Larian Hijau, there are actually quite a number of races line up till the Penang Bridge International Marathon in November. There are the SP Half Marathon and Taiping International Marathon which is closer to Penang. So you can just drive there, finished the race and drive back. I was just trying to concentrate on training for my first marathon and not interested to squeeze in so many races in between.  Fortunately, I didn't participate in both events as the feedback on both events are pretty bad. The Taiping International Marathon was named the most horrible experience and one runner actually "Pui Chau Nuai"(spit on it) in Hokkien. The race director also withdraw from organising it the next year.

Another runner blog that I have come across is an American guy who started running at the age of 58 and his weight drop from 193 pounds in June 2008 to 143 pounds in September 2009. In his blog for this 4th Anniversary as a runner, he wrote, "Since then I decided to keep running, and in those four years I've run a total of 190 races (including 41 half marathons and a couple of full marathons). If everything holds up my goal for the next year is to run 60 races (kind of like "60 at 60" since I'm 60 years old) and reach my 5th anniversary having run 250 races for an average of 50 per year. I'm not sure if I can do that but I'll give it a shot and see." And his PB for half marathon is 1:31. That's very impressive !

Big Buddha in Hong Kong

For me, my first overseas marathon I would like it to be the Hong Kong Marathon. Not Singapore Marathon although Singapore is much nearer.  The Hong Kong Marathon is organised usually after the Chinese New Year and in winter. The cooler weather will be more ideal for running. Hong Kong is the easiest for me to access to a country with four seasons since they are cheaper flights directly from Penang to Hong Kong. And you could get good food for carbo-loading. In addition, Hong Kong has one of the best night skylines in the world. I don't mind visiting it again although my last trip to Hong Kong is in 2011. The food and shopping is just great ! But it is too early to dream about it.

Night Skyline of Hong Kong

Night Skyline of Hong Kong from the top

A Journey to My First Marathon Part 13

Recently, I have changed my energy gels from GU to Hammer nutrition. At long last, there is a shop on the 1st floor of Penang Plaza, "My Triathlon Shop" that sells the whole range of Hammer products. And it is cheaper than GNC even after discount. They sell from gels, recoverite, and a wide range of Hammer products. As usual, the energy gels come with caffeine and non caffeine. I have been trying out for a few long runs and it works fine for me. The shop also sells compression garments and fuel belts and other stuffs for endurance athlete.

Link to Hammer Nutrition. If you need to know more about Hammer products.

My Triathlon Shop and Hammer Products

After a number of weeks of shorter long runs, it is back to those really long runs. My last longest run is 26.5km on 5 August after that I have been tapering down for my Green Run/Larian Hijau and Bali trip. Gettting to those runs above 21km is really getting to be difficult. My 26.5km run is pretty torturing. My body has still not adapt to the longer distance. After the run I just went home. Shower, eat and just lie down the couch with my legs up for a period of time and in between taking naps.

My last Sunday, I did 28.2km and 55km for the week. My longest run and the most mileage for a week. But it was fun. And my body could hold up better this time. I wanted to start at 5.30am but after wasting a bit of time only started about 5.54am which is pretty late since I know I will be running close to 4 hours. My body felt fairly strong for the first 22km but the pain in the legs starts after that. It is like when I was trying to run 16km the first time. However, the energy level is fine and fatigue did not kick in. Most important of all, the mental toughness is still intact. It started to rain heavily after 20km for about 3km and it reduce to a drizzle. The rain was most welcome. If not I would have been roasted. As it was already past 9.30am and it will be really hot. The timing of the rain was just perfect for me to continue the training. The last 4km I summoned my kick butt songs from my IPod to finished my 28.2km run.

Early in the morning when I  started my run in the dark, I was listening to Marathon Training Academy(MTA) lastest podcast on the interview with ultramarathon man, Dean Karnazes. He is such an amazing person. The last question that Trevor from MTA asked him was "No matter the distance  we know that the mind is important to the success of a runner. When someone's body is telling them to stop and the mind is telling them to stop. What practical advice do you have to keep going and where do you dig for the last bit of motivation?" The answer is quite surprising to me at first.  Dean Karnazes answered "You know what I tell people. Be in the moment. Be present. Don't get ahead of yourself. Don't look for the mile markers and exacerbate the suffering. Put on the blinders. Don't think about the mile markers. Don't think about the finish. Just thinking about putting one foot in front of the next to your best of your ability. Think about the hurt. Think about the pain. Be present. Sense everything. It's amazing how this will get you through the low points." His answer really helps. Then I realised that I have been doing it all the time especially when I go hiking. I just concentrate on the few steps in front of me and try not looking up. Before you knew it, you have reached your destination. The same strategy applies here.

Two of Dean Karnazes Books

The body is a wonderful piece of machine. If you train it properly it can really do amazing things. One of the most important lesson I have learned in these 6 months is never underestimate the ability of what your body is capable of. I started with a long run of 1hour 20mins for 9.3km on March 11 and six months later, I did 28.2km with a run time 3hours 54mins on Sept 16.  Such a huge increase in run time. However, you would not want to rush it causing injuries and not enjoy the journey.

To complete my marathon training plan,I still have to endure the 30km, 32km and the last 33km which I know I can after the 28.2km last weeekend as my body is holding up well after that. However, for the marathon, we must respect the distance. 42km is still a long way to run ...

The Marathon Journey continues....

A Half Marathon in Angkor Wat, Cambodia?

The sunrise at Angkor Wat is just breathtaking

Two days after my Penang Bridge Half Marathon last year, I went for a trip to Cambodia. Starting with Siem Reap ending with a 6 hours bus ride to Phnom Penh.We arrived at LCCT KL on the early morning of 23 November 2011 and departing to Siem Reap the same morning at 6.45am. To save on the cost of the hotel accommodation we decided to spent the night at the airport. The lack of sleep was  really killing on arrival at Siem Reap.

However, the excitement of travel chased the sleepiness away. But I end up having "red eyes" on the second day due to the lack of sleep and the dustiness from the trip. And these vampire eyes lasted until I am back to Penang. One interesting part of the trip I have to travel in "tuk tuk. Other than the main roads which are tarred the rest of the roads have quite a lot of potholes. And this is the only trip that I actually lose weight because when you are in a "tuk tuk" and going on the road with potholes, you will be like riding a horse. If you do not hold firmly to the handle, you will be thrown out of the "tuk tuk".

The airport at Siem Reap and the mode of transport "Tuk Tuk" and the conditions of the smaller roads.

The magnificent of Angkor Wat and temples around Siem Reap is a sight to behold. It makes you wonder how could they build such huge stones structures so many years ago. And the Angkor Wat with sunrise as a backdrop and casting a shadow on the lotus pond is just breathtaking.  There are so many photographers waiting to capture the perfect picture for the sunrise. And one unfortunate photographer forgot to bring her camera's battery. It is like a sight you must see before you die. Just like the sunset at Tanah Lot, Bali. (http://thorrunning.blogspot.com/2012/08/running-in-bali.html)

The stone structures in Angkor Wat

The tree entrance for Angelina Jolie's "Tomb Raider"

And how about running a half marathon in Angkor Wat, Cambodia? Yes, you can. It will be a great to run in such a historical place. There is a actually a half marathon organised for Angkor Wat each year with the theme "Building a better future. Aid for children and disabled in Cambodia.". I was pretty surprised when I saw the signboard and I just ran a half marathon in Penang  a few days ago. The coming event will be on 2 December 2012. Link to Angkor Wat Half Marathon. So you can run the Penang Bridge International Marathon on 18 November 2012. Then fly off to Siem Reap for a half marathon.

Half Marathon at Angkor Wat 

Cambodia has a very interesting history but lots of killings during Khmer Rouge regime which has been shown in the movie "The Killing Fields" where millions have been killed. There are a lot of poor children running around Angkor Wat areas and people have been advised to bring them candies or stationery. There are so poor that they cannot afford stationery for their studies. And here our children has an overabundance of it. Probably it will be good to bring our children to see unfortunate the Cambodian children are. This would make them appreciate what they have better.

The adorable children of Cambodia

The girl with a smiling face is "Nech"

There is an incident where I am deeply touched. It happens around the Angkor Wat area where we have given a box of stationery to this 11 year old girl named "Nech". She actually wrote us a thank you note in English wishing us good luck. It makes me realised that our children has only been taught to get good grades but not been taught the two important words, ie "Please" and "Thank you". I remember my school headmaster said "Academic excellence is no substitute for poverty of character". So true !

Her Thank You Note