A great Merdeka break

It was a well worth Merdeka break. I took leave on the eve of Merdeka and only came back to work on Monday. I really needed the break as work is beginning to take its toll on me. Good clients are hard to come by and the word 'unforgiving' is never part of some their vocab.

I was down in Melacca with my mates and stayed at The Legacy, which is suppose to be some "boutique hotel" and the worst thing is that it does not have a gym! WTF!?? Well, I had to make do without the gym and plotted out my route around the hotel and adjoining buildings. I woke up @ 6.45 am on Merdeka day and after cleaning up, I headed down the street. The air was fresh (no haze at all) and the condition was cooling coz there was a slight drizzle. The best part was that there was no traffic! The loop I plotted out was around 800ms and I was happy to do 8 laps.

There is nothing much to do around Melacca except eat and walk around. Isn't it ironic? eat and walk around to burn off all that's gone into the tummy but I think there was more going in. Melacca is becoming a mini Singapore because these neighbours of ours are moving up north from JB. You see a lot of Singaporean cars and these people are enjoying themselves with the 'reasonably' priced items which they can't find back home.

I tried running on Friday but everyone was back to work and they roads in the city was just packed. After doing 1 lap and inhaling a ton of exhaust fumes, I gave in but did not give up. As I was walking to the back of the hotel, I noticed the parking ramp and thought I might as well do some hill workout instead. The ramp was a blessing in disguise cos it provided enough 'oomph' for them legs. I probably did 15 loops from the ground flr up to level 3. My legs felt like jello and the work out was much better than the 8 loops I did.

Overall, Melacca is a nice place to chill and EAT but if you are planning to take a break there, make sure you find a hotel with a gym before going there. The only decent place for visiting runners to run would be the park beside the Crocodile farm in Ayer Keroh. If you are Melaccan and have a great place to run, please feel free to share it with me.

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Back-to-back races

I just picked up my Mizuno t-shirt and bib from Lawrence. The t-shirt is damn nice! The fabric is much softer than last year's and much lighter. The orange colored t-shirt really stands out. I hope I'm up to it for this Sunday's Putrajaya and Mizuno the next Sunday. I think this is the first time I'm running a race back-to-back.

I'll be running Putrajaya for the 1st time and hope to complete it in a good time if the sun/heat don't get to me first. I'll be heading to FTAAA's office this Friday with Lawrence to pick up our bibs. It's really great to have running mates in the same organisation. Lawrence seems to have friends around to help out with race registrations. Both my races were registered through him.

I hope for a quick recuperation for Mizuno but even if I'm not up to it, I'll just take it as a fun run. I think my runs in the Lake Garden's is beginning to reap its benefits. The undulating course really takes the boring-ness out of each run. Those hills provide a good alternative for those of you who do not have the luxury of attending Kg. Pandan.