It’s a matter of Mind over Matter

Ever wondered that perhaps the things we think we could not do could actually be accomplished if only we put some positive thoughts behind them? And many a time our failure to do so is compounded by our own “defeatist” thoughts and the disapproval from the people we seek support and/or approval from i.e. our parents and society at large?

It’s hard to fault our parents because they believe they have our best interest at heart. And it’s hard to fault society for its whimsies, for after all; we could ignore them and just get right on ahead with what we want to do.

Yet, how often are we caught within this mire of needing approval from our parents and society alike?

If you had asked me ten years ago if I could trek for more than ten consecutive days, 5-6 hours a day on the Annapurna Base Camp (ABC) trail, I would have said, “No. That is impossible.” I would never even dream of attempting such a feat.

Why? Well, because it never crossed my mind that I could. After all, the easiest and most effortless answer is No. I would most likely be the first person to volunteer to drink up the sight of the Himalayas from the “safe harbour” of Pokhara. Secondly, my parents would be most discouraging as they would be worried for my health and safety going to such a country. Thirdly, it was not the “thing to do” in society’s eyes as young ladies should be genteel and not go traipsing around third world countries on their own.

Isn’t it strange that we are so easily influenced by the need for others’ approval and support?

The longer I live and the more experiences I garner in life, I realise that we need to balance what we want to do against outside influences. We are our best judge as to our own capabilities and limitations. I have also learned that if we could break huge goals into smaller ones, slowly but surely we will be able to break one record at a time. And soon, we would hit the larger ones.

Interestingly enough, the things that I thought I could never do, I actually did after I hit 30. People say that with age, we should realise our mortality and therefore, taper off doing crazy stuff. My take on this is; it is when we realise our mortality that we should treasure our ability to do something. And just do it! Full speed ahead and damn the torpedoes!

Just last week, fresh from my personal victory in the 10km run, I made an attempt to run non-stop from start to end at the Kiara Hill trail within half an hour. For many people, it’s an easy feat. For me, I was never able to do so. Thus, on that fresh Sunday evening, I donned on my gear and then, it was me against the hill and against time. And … yes, this time, I did it! It was exhilarating! Next, perhaps a half marathon? Hmm ...

It’s truly a matter of Mind over Matter! And as the Adidas slogan goes, “Impossible is Nothing!” when you put your mind to it.

KL International Marathon

Warning! Long post ahead. Read at your own "peril"!

Yup! It’s been that kind of week. Read “Damsel in Distress” if you have yet to do so.

Remember the blog Cardio! Cardio! Cardio!, where our Siau Club President (SCP) signed us up for the KL International Marathon? Thank God he registered most of us under the 10km category instead of the half or full marathon. Only SCP and Manny, the Hill Rabbit got the honours of registering for the half and full marathon respectively

Well 18th March, the D-Day, finally arrived. And six out of the 12 registered did not turn up! Notably, our SCP was missing. He had a last minute training. Sister Mary had a RPM class at 11.30am and PW had to attend a last minute company function at 8.00am. The rest were Derek, Shane didi and Ming (former SCP), who for various reasons, could not make it for the run either. That left Manny, Sir Kyle, Viv, LK, Val and yours truly to uphold the Siau Club flag on that fateful day.

Ok. I admit I slacked terribly in my training after our initial registration. In fact, I had absolutely no training at all except for a wee bit of cardio from my weekly badminton game and my off-and-on whenever-we-can-wake-up weekend trekking trips up Gasing Hill.

Thus, on Saturday (the day before the run), Val and I decided that we REALLY must make a valiant attempt at the race. So, off we went to the gym for my first and also last training for our first 10km outdoor run. I managed to do a 30 minute run on the treadmill but that would have to suffice. Both Val and I reckoned that if we could not run all the way during the race, we could at least walk. We could also rely on the miracle liquid drink (Power Gel) discovered by sister Mary during our adventure up Mount Kinabalu. She swore by that now and after witnessing the effect on her (she literally had a spurt of energy and zoomed ahead of us after taking the drink!), we decided we had nothing to lose using that stuff. Back to matters at hand, we figured that no matter what happened we must complete the race.

As Manny was the only one who signed up for the full marathon, he had to arrive at Dataran Merdeka at 3.30am for registration as his run would start at 4.00am, whilst the rest of us (the 10km category) were required to register at 6.30am as our run would start at 7.00am. Kyle volunteered to fetch Manny down whilst the rest of us would arrive later. We all thought that it was really sweet of Kyle to do so, as he not only had to wake up blardy early, he also had to wait a good three hours before his race began. I am not quite sure if I’d have done that for my best friends were I put to the test.

In any case, the ladies arrived in time for the race. There was no sign of Kyle but we expected as much, as the crowd was tremendous. We all brought our handphones with us and decided on a place to meet up after the race should we part during the race.

The gun went off and so did we. The initial 100 meters were slow going as we had to weave our way through the thick crowd. In any case, I felt a burst of energy (which was natural and had nothing to do with Power Gel! :p) and was itching to capitalise on that and cover as much ground as possible. But I was torn between staying at my friends’ pace and going off on my own. But after a couple of minutes, and with them sensing my “impatience”/”energy”, they urged me to go ahead.

Off I went! And it was exhilarating ~ overtaking participant after participant. I knew my burst of energy would deplete soon but my plan was to run 30 minutes without stopping, then take a five minute walk, and run the rest of the way! At the 20 minute mark, I was getting thirsty and my pace had slowed. I ran on, determined to hit the 30 minute mark before I gave in. Everything was a blur as I paced myself against time. Minutes ticked by slowly. My steps ate the ground slowly but surely. Yet no drink stops were in sight.

The moment the minute hand hit the 30 minute mark, I slowed down to a fast walking pace. Barely five minutes later, I spotted the drink stop. I grabbed two cups each of water and 100 Plus, and gulped them down one by one. With my thirst finally quenched, I started my run again. But this time, I couldn’t quite get back my running rhythm. I was running and walking and running and walking. At one point, my right calf muscle and instep were giving me a lot of problems. I could feel my muscle getting stiff but I needed to complete the race and preferably well within the time stipulated. My competitive spirit asked it. My pride demanded it.

A look at the watch and I noted that 50 minutes had lapsed and I was still on Jalan Sultan Ismail. I saw Sheraton Imperial and thought we were headed for the highway. My heart plummeted as I realised that there was no way in hell I could finish the race within the stipulated 1hour and 30 minutes if we took that route. I had no idea how many kilometres I had already covered. For a moment, I toyed with the idea of taking the Power Gel. But I decided against it as I felt I was close enough to complete without the added help. Besides, I wanted to complete the race on my own steam if I could.

I ran on, still determined. Suddenly, a participant stopped in the middle of the road and groaned. He had pulled his muscle quite badly. I watched in empathy as an official came to his aid. Fearing for my right leg, I continued my run but took care to slow down a bit more. I’d rather be slow than to end up not finishing the race due to muscle injury.

To my surprise and joy, the route took a left turn into Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman and on towards Dataran Merdeka! I was in with a chance. I picked up my pace and ran, hopped, walked all the way to the finishing line! I managed to finish in 1 hour and 10 minutes, and got a medal and certificate for the run in the process. That was way cool!

Val came in merely five minutes after me, whilst Viv and LK came in a mere five minutes after Val! We all made it within the stipulated time and I was mightily impressed that the ladies actually ran all the way. Hip Hip Hurray for all of them!

We then hunted for the boys. We sent them smses, but did not receive any reply. We called them to no avail as we only reached their voicemails. Half an hour later, we received a call from Kyle. It seemed that he ran the half marathon instead of the 10km run (taking over SCP’s place). We were all very impressed that he actually completed the race, … and in 2 hours and 35 minutes no less! That was blardy fantastic although I refused to tell Kyle then (just in case it went up to his head)! Hehehehe …

We had great fun during the run. But it went down hill from then on … from a planning perspective, that is. Is it a man thing not to plan ahead on where to meet after a race? Especially since one party did not have his handphone with him during the race and he ran a different distance from the other party? And the other party actually moved his car away from the original parking space where the first party knew he parked?

In any case, we thought we lost Hill Rabbit. We could not find him. We called him but remembered that his handphone was in Kyle’s car. We then called another fellow gym member who was running with him and had his handphone with him. Unfortunately, we reached his voicemail. I attempted to get the officials to make a missing person’s announcement but to no avail. Finally, we thought that Hill Rabbit would be resourceful enough to find his way home. The only thing was, he just had to wait for Kyle to find him to hand him his condo keys.

Next on the agenda was breakfast. We were famished and as Kyle did not think he could drive, I took over his car while LK went back for hers with the rest of the ladies. Enroute back to PJ, we received a call from the fellow gym member who was with Hill Rabbit but alas! Kyle’s phone went flat. (Why have a handphone if one doesn't plan to charge 'em batteries? grrr ...) Then we received a call from LK. The good news was, they found Hill Rabbit and friend. The bad news was, her car and several others, were blocked by two inconsiderate drivers who parked at both the entrance and exit of the parking area! It’s Murphy’s Law ~ everything that could go wrong went wrong!

In any case, Kyle and I decided to shower at my place first before meeting the rest at the restaurant ~ seeing as how it could take awhile as the authorities had just called a tow truck to tow ‘em cars away. Midway through the journey, I remembered my keys were in LK’s car! Dang! What did I just say about Murphy’s Law? Then I remembered Dad was in town and he had a spare set of my keys. I managed to catch hold of him, got the keys and then drove back to my place. Finally, something right came about!

We managed to get ourselves all cleaned up in no time at all. Then came the call from Hill Rabbit. He would leave first via public transport and would stop at the Kelana Jaya LRT station. We would then pick him up, pass him his keys and fetch him home. We then received another call from the ladies. They were finally on their way to the restaurant. Strangely enough, they arrived much earlier than Hill Rabbit. Kyle decided he would take Hill Rabbit home and forego breakfast with us, whilst I drove straight to the restaurant to meet the rest of the ladies!

What a dramatic end! Success! Chaos! Adventure! What else can we ask for? : )

A big thank you goes to SCP for registering the race for us and helping us get our T-shirts and running numbers despite not being able to go for the race himself in the end. Three cheers to SCP!

And three more cheers to all my running partners! You go girl! Boys included … : )

P.S. Just found the online published results. Kyle, you did it in 2:37:29 official time and 2:36:58 chip time. Check this link and look for Alex's full name. Way to go!!! Woo hoo!

Damsel in Distress

“Damsel in distress” is just not a term people would associate with me. Thank God!

But last Friday, I probably acted like one. And I’m not proud of it. But heck, I should cut myself some slack, shouldn’t I?

Anyway, I was all ready to go to work (as usual) but my car just won’t start. I turned the key, the lights came on, and the engine came to life but then sputtered and died. Yeah! Grrr … I turned the key again and this time the lights came on, I heard the “click” sound but then … nothing. My heart dropped.

“This is so NOT happening to me,” I thought.

But no matter how many tries I made, the engine just won’t start. My first thought was to call Dad. After all, he used to take care of all my car service needs. Unfortunately, all my attempts only got me through to his voicemail. I then tried calling my sister’s place in the hopes that he would be there, but no one picked up the phone.

“OK girl, you are now on your own,” I thought.

At this point, one would ask why I did not call AAM. Well, for the simple reason that this is a company car and it’s not registered with AAM. One would also further ask why I did not call the nearest mechanic. Well, the car is relatively new (barely two years old) and is still under warranty. In addition, it’s one of those continental contraptions ~ good to look at; complicated to work on with all the high-tech, advance, electronic gadgets ~ with limited authorised workshops around.

I digress. Anyway, I got down the car and tried to open the bonnet, in the hopes of finding a loose wire connection or something. OK. This might not seem like the brightest idea but several years ago, I was in a similar situation (but it was a different car, a Japanese one) except that the engine just went flat ~ no lights, no warning, nothing! I thought it was the battery but it turned out to be a loose wire connection then. Hence, the above attempt.

But alas! I found the latch to the bonnet but couldn’t unlatch it. Before one starts on any dumb blonde jokes (since I am neither dumb ~ I probably need more conviction after this incident ~ nor blonde!) and in my own defence, let me say that a Peugeot car latch is a bit different from the local or Japanese ones.

In desperation, I called my friend who owns a Peugeot to figure out how to unlatch the bonnet. In the midst of our conversation, I heard someone called to me. Neighbours! Help! Yes! Helpful neighbours! My heart lifted when I saw them walking towards my car. Gosh! Am I in need of help!

The hubby helped me figure out how to work the latch and voila! the bonnet was finally opened. They made a call to another neighbour (who is more into cars) to seek confirmation as to the car’s “ailment”. Yup! It was confirmed ~ all indications that the problem was the battery.

They then woke up another neighbour, borrowed his jump-start cables and his labour, and got my engine revving. Aww … the sweet sound of a revving engine was music to my ears! Never thought I’d say that! I managed to get my car to the workshop ~ got the battery changed and the car serviced. (Incidentally, I was just a little over the service period!)

In any case, I am incredibly grateful to my neighbours especially the wife who was late for work that day because of my car problem! I owe you one folks!

All I can say is:
Thank God for helpful neighbours!
Thank God for a helpful friend (who tried to help me through the mobile).
Thank God for Dad (who I finally got hold of and who fetched me from the workshop).

Lesson learnt:
I need to find an authorised workshop that does “house calls”. This means I’d have to hunt for another authorised Peugeot workshop just in case. Also, despite how busy I am or how difficult it is to get an appointment with the authorised workshop, I’d better ensure I get my car serviced way before due date. One never knows with these continental models.

There you go … one reluctant damsel in distress!

Lady, you still single? Here's why! :P

Now, we get to the crux of the matter. Only 0.0009% of available men are Mr. Right. Statistics does not lie. :p

International Women's Day

Do you know that 8th March marks the celebration of International Women's Day? No? Well, neither do I ... until I received several sms and emails yesterday, wishing me "Happy International Women's Day"! Everything seems like a cause for celebration these days. It's the darnest thing isn't it?

In any case, on further "investigation" (i.e. googling), I found the following site.

"International Women's Day is the story of ordinary women as makers of history; it is rooted in the centuries-old struggle of women to participate in society on an equal footing with men. In ancient Greece, Lysistrata initiated a sexual strike against men in order to end war; during the French Revolution, Parisian women calling for "liberty, equality, fraternity" marched on Versailles to demand women's suffrage."

I suppose we should celebrate 8th March then. After all, without these "sisters" of ours, we could still be living in the middle ages ... being seen only in the kitchen or the bedroom, being subservient to men, being repressed, etc, etc. While I am not into the "bra burning" feminist movement, I do believe in women's rights.

So, here's a big thank you to these "sisters" of ours who have made life a lot better for women today!

I'll leave you folks with an interesting email I received yesterday. While I do not fully subscribe to the language used, I am fully in agreement with the sentiments conveyed. Hehehe ... Do read on. These are classic one-liners! And my favourite ones are in BOLD! Phooeeyyy!

HAPPY INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY!

---------------------------------

THINGS STRESSED WOMEN MAY SAY AT WORK :

1. Okay, okay! I take it back. Unfuck you.
2. You say I'm a bitch like it's a bad thing.
3. Well, this day was a total waste of make-up.
4. Well, aren't we a damn ray of sunshine?
5. Don't bother me, I'm living happily ever after.
6. Do I look like a people person?
7. This isn't an office. It's hell with fluorescent lighting.
8. I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left.
9. Therapy is expensive. Popping bubble wrap is cheap. You choose.
10. Why don't you try practicing random acts of intelligence and senseless acts of self-control?
11. I'm not crazy. I've been in a very bad mood for 30 years.
12. Sarcasm is just one more service I offer.
13. Do they ever shut up on your planet?
14. I'm not your type. I'm not inflatable.
15. Stress is when you wake up screaming and you realize you haven't gone to sleep yet!
16. Back off!! You're standing in my aura.
17. Don't worry. I forgot your name too.
18. I work 45 hours a week to be this poor.
19. Not all men are annoying. Some are dead.
20. Wait...I'm trying to imagine you with a personality.
21. Chaos, panic and disorder .. my work here is done.
22. Ambivalent? Well, yes and no.
23. You look like shit. Is that the style now?
24. Earth is full. Go home.
25. Aw, did I step on your poor little itty bitty ego?
26. I'm not tense, just terribly, terribly alert.
27. A hard-on doesn't count as personal growth.
28. You are depriving some village of an idiot.
29. If assholes could fly, this place would be an airport.
30. Look in my eyes . Do you see one ounce of give-a-shit?