ZUL DER PACEMAKERS #43...RUNNING FREE..!

First of all, special thanks to Pm1 because on 15 Nov 06, he invited me to join the Pacemakers Network’s gang. I was quite happy to receive that invitation.

I wanted to write the profile report immediately, but the time was not permitted, I was quite busy at work, busy with my kids and to be frank, I was quite lazy too, and it took me almost 2 month to complete this report. Hopefully, Pm1 is not mad at me..sorry ya!

The Background..

I was born on 22 March 1971 in Segamat, Johor. Married with a beautiful lady, Ina and have 4 lovely kids, Ashraff (10), Ashmann (7), Ashryll (5) and Ashrynn (2). My home is in Precint 11, Putrajaya and working as an auditor at Seri Kembangan. My weight is around 63 kg and my height is 167 cm.

I was quite active in sport during the school days, especially in running, and my favorite distances were 200 m, 800 m and cross country (below 5K). However, during my university years everything was slowing down except playing tennis regularly with my friends.

On 5 September 1994, started working as an auditor at Hulu Kelang, KL. This was my first job and the only one until now, quite loyal huh! But now, I am actively looking for a new job, searching for a company that can offer me a better salary package.

The Why..

During my entire working years (before 2002), I was not active at all and I could say it was almost zero exercise. My weight kept increasing from 60 kg to the max of around 75 kg.

On 22 April 2002, I was diagnosed with high cholesterol and moderate hypertension (blood pressure - BP), and the result really shocked me. The doctor urged me to do regular exercise at least 4 times per week, 30 minutes per session, and at that time, it sound very tough for me to do it.

As a start, I went to the gym at my office for about 2 to 3 times per week. I ran on the treadmill for a max of 2 to 3 km, cycling for few minutes and then, performed a body workout. However, my cholesterol level and my BP were up and down, and few times the doctor prescribed me the medicines but I refused to take it. So stubborn!!

So happened in July 2005, my son got one free entry for parent to participate in his school’s 5 km jogathon, so I said why not! The jogathon was quite enjoyable but also suffering, because I never ran 5 km before and the longest distance I ran was 3 km. During the ran, I forgot to set the timing and my position was number 6 but the last position to get the prize was number 5. My first ran already ‘sapu lantai’..haha..

The next race was Putrajaya Half Marathon on 11 September 2005 and I registered for 10 km run. This was the most suffering ran, the first half of the ran was quite ok, ran around 6.00 min pace, but for the second half, I ran like ‘kura-kura’ pace, even people who were walking could easily ‘potong sayur’ me. My timing was 1hr 10 min 30 sec.

Started from 10K at Putrajaya, I felt very good after each ran, running around the energetic participant, which motivated me to run further and further until the half marathon. During the races, I met many good runners especially from PM’s gang, which I learned a lot about running from them. I also learned about the technical side of running by reading books, magazines and via internet. I started writing my training log since November 2005 and it progressed and improved along the way.

However, my main purpose of running is still remain the same since the beginning, it is for the benefits of my health, especially to control my cholesterol and BP to a normal level. As at now, everything is under control and I am quite happy of the result.

The Progress & Challenges..

All information related to my running activities, training and races can be found at http://www.runner.hitouch2u.com. This website is for my OWN used ONLY, but I am willing to share the information with all the fellow runners.

Most of my training, I had done it on the treadmill during the lunch break, and I could say approximately 70% of the total mileage per week. Everybody said that running on the treadmill is so damn bored! and I agree with that..haha.. but I had no choice, that is the only time and place available for me to do the training during the weekdays. However, if I had a free time in the morning before going to work, I went for a quick run at Kompleks Sukan Bangi or Taman Putra Perdana (TPP) at Putrajaya. During the weekend, my long run or LSD was usually done at TPP or around the Putrajaya.

My major challenge is time. Working as an auditor occupies most of my time at the office and sometimes require staying back, so time for blogging and chatting are quite limited. Please do understand that is why my report writing was quite slow..haha.. During the weekend, most of my times are spent with the family and sometimes it is difficult for me to slot in the time for running, because for me, my family is my top priority.

The year 2006, I obtained 10 medals from various races and my Personal Records (PRs) are as follow: -

* 5 km - 26 min 12 sec @World Asthma Day Jogathon
* 10 km - 49 min 31 sec @Subang Jaya 10K
* 15 km - 1 hr 29 min 48 sec @NB PACM 15K
* 21 km - 2 hr 6 min 01 sec @Putrajaya Inter. Marathon

The Future..

The year 2007, my target number of medal to be grabbed are 18 medals and my target PRs are as follows: -

* 5 km - sub 22 min 00 sec @TBD
* 10 km - sub 47 min 00 sec @TBD
* 15 km - sub 1 hr 15 min 00 sec @NB PACM 15K 2007
* 21 km - sub 1 hr 50 min 00 sec @KLIM 2007

The year 2008 is my marathon year. See you all at KLIM 2008’s 42 km.

Lastly, special thank to my wife and kids, they give all the support I need, TQ.

By Zul Pm43