[Running] All Over Again: Training Day 4 – Nike We Run KL Training Run @ KLCC

Interval is the name of the game for this particular day of training and damn, it was hellish. Now, interval run – whereby you basically you run then rest and then run again - is not a foreign method to me since I read a lot about it in Runner’s World but it was never in my routine (which pretty much just consisted of distance run).

The timing for the session was pretty nice: it took place after rain and it was overcast throughout the run although the venue was a little bit wet. The venue - KLCC Park - was also one of my personal favourite parks to run since it has soft, cushiony surface which made running easier on the foot and it has a mix of flat as well as hilly areas.

The training session today required us to hit 1.5km which then followed by a short 30 sec break and resumed with another 1.5km. We hit two set of this routine which equivalent to 6km of distance. The session starts with Nike Training Club drills which were aimed to increase our heart-rate as well as a pre-run warm-up. As usual, runners were first separated into groups according to pace and off we go!

The distance wasn’t my main concern…the pace proved to be a killer. Not long after the run kicked off, I found myself slowly dropping to the back of my “average” group (which wasn’t so average after all) as I did my best to keep up. It was pretty obvious from timing as tracked by my Nike+ SportWatch GPS:

Despite that, I found that interval runs are very fun. Apart from the obvious benefit from intense work out, I also learned my actual limit in number. Hence, this is not going to be the last time that you will see me doing interval runs.

Meanwhile, I managed to check out the new all-weather Nike LunarGlide+4 Shield edition - part of the newly released Hypershield pack and was the featured trial shoe - at the training session. That being said, I didn’t get to use it though as I choose to use my existing working horse - the Nike Free Run+ 3 – instead. Its ok…turns out I get my chance soon enough. :D

Up next…I was hit by another bout of idle days bug again. As hard as I tried to find time to run, my training session only took place a week after the session above - at the final Nike We Run KL training session which took place at The Curve. Fortunately, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. Stay tuned for that in a bit.

[Quads of Thunder] Red Bull 400: The Uphill Highway of Hell

It might be just a 400m run which is rather short in flat line (equivalent to one full lap in a typical track setting) but then, it is not going to be a Red Bull - who loves crazy stuff – event if it just a plain old 400m run. God damn…just look at that incline. All 36 degrees of it.

At this particular Red Bull 400 event at Planica in Slovenia last month, 164 runners from 9 countries braced the slope and tried their best to conquer it. This is an excellent recap video of the event:

I can see that majority, if not all of the participants looked superbly fit. Guess I need to get off all these fatties from my body before I can even dream of attempting this event or something similar to it. Then again, I heard it is not that hard to hike Bukit Broga in Semenyih…think I just found a perfect reason to get myself a trail running shoe. :D

[Source: Red Bull via Kin Meng]

[Recent Acquisition] 2012 Malaysia Nike Dri-Fit T-Shirt: Is The New Harimau Malaysia Collection On Its Way?

The front graphic.

The story goes that I visited Nike Store at Mid Valley Megamall after work two days ago to grab a head/hair tie since I’ve mysteriously (oh lol) or rather successfully misplaced all my hair ties. At the same time, since I haven’t visited the store for quite some time (true story, bro), I also went around to check out some of the latest Nike products that have just arrived at the store.

As I stopped by at the football section, this Dri-Fit t-shirt caught my eyes. I believe that this very t-shirt is part of the new Malaysia national football team collection for 2012 and the first to be released into the market as I never seen them at Nike stores or other sports store before.

The back graphic. Not a fan of that map, I think it's somehow out of place. I prefer to have just texts there.

As you can recall, the last national football jersey was launched in 2010 – just before AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 which Malaysia ended up as the champion of the tournament. The tournament will be making a return this year and words in the air that Harimau Malaya might be receiving a new set of kit this year. With the arrival of this new t-shirt, I think we are on to something here.

Also available in blue, this t-shirt is priced at RM 119 – a rather hefty price tag, I must say. Apart from the price tag as well as the tiny Malaysian map at the back, I really love the design especially that little touch on the left sleeve. Can’t wait for the rest of the collection (especially the new jersey) to be available in the stores!

The graphic on left sleeve. Gotta love this one.

[Running] All Over Again: Training Day 3 – The 7KM After 4 Idle Days

YOLO! Herp derp de derp derp...[image: AllTheRageFaces.com]

For my Twitter followers and Facebook friends, they might already know about this but for the five or so of you that are reading this blog, these were my thoughts as I went through 7km of wet, morning run last Friday as part of my on-going training for Nike We Run KL 2012:

1km: Malasnya...
2km: Woraits, getting in the groove.
3km: Biasa jer ni...
4km: Chap, what r u doin.
5km: Chap, stahp.
6km: Almooosssttt thereee HNGGHHHH
7km: HNGHHHHHH FINALLY. NEED DRINKKKK

Despite the remarks above, I’m actually quite satisfied with my run as I still managed to pull off an average pace of low 7 min/km. Plus, I did it in the morning which is quite amazing since me and early morning virtually don’t co-exist together.

Stats from the run, as tracked by my Nike+ SportWatch GPS.

Nevertheless, here I am again – bitten by the “idle days bug” as I like to call it. 4 days are not that bad actually (5 days would be my benchmark) but I still felt the symptoms such the lingering lazy feeling, loss of focus and of course, not feeling really fit.

However, I wasn’t really concerned about it because my training continues the next day with Nike for another round of We Run KL Training Run series which focuses on…interval training. If there is one word to describe how that training session went, it would be: HELL. Check back soon for the next chapter of my training diary. :D

[Running] All Over Again: Training Day 2 - 5KM and Reaching The 1000KM Milestone

November 2009 – September 2012: after almost three freaking years, I’ve finally reach the milestone. One thousand kilometres. AWWW YEAAA~

Three years = 1000km that was accumulated through close to 200 runs in four different continents. Wow. I couldn't believe it myself too.

A lot of things have changed since the day I started running again in November 2009 but thankfully, running is one of those things that has remained as a constant in my life. Obviously, I’m already looking forward for the next 1000km and beyond. I mean, if the first 1000km has been this good, I’m sure it will just get better as I go further. Rest assured, I’ll not stop until the time comes.

Meanwhile, the exact run that brought me through the 1000km milestone actually happened on a treadmill at my usual gym. Anti-climax, I know.

I figured that since I’ve already run on the road the day before at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa during the first Nike We Run KL Training Run, I would like to shift the gear down on treadmill taking advantage of the machine’s softer and constant surface. Well, turned out I actually went pretty fast (by my standard) with an average pace of low-6 minutes per km.

Here's the breakdown of my run, as recorded by my Nike+ SportWatch GPS:

It really looked like I might already on to something here but then...I let few days passed by before my next training run. Woopsie. Check back soon for the next chapter of my training diary in which once again I learned about leaving too many idle days between runs.

[Running] All Over Again: Training Day 1 - Nike We Run KL Training Run @ Titiwangsa

Group photo of Nike We Run KL Training Run @ Titiwangsa participants.

Two weeks have gone since I completed Adidas King of The Road 16.8k and I’ve pretty much lounging around doing nothing ever since. No running, no exercise, no workout…yup, nothing. I’ve decided that I had enough and since the Nike We Run KL 2012 is going to take place in less than one month time, it is a high time to get back into the groove.

Coincidentally, the first session of Nike We Run KL Training Run series starts yesterday and the distance for the session was quite short at around 3km (yeah, the actual distance was shorter than they first announced). A good starting point, I guess.

"Find Your Greatness": Mid-run motivation.

Held at Taman Tasik Titiwangsa under a cloudy weather, the participants were divided into three groups according to pace level and I (naturally) decided to join the “slow” group. It turned out that the “slow” was not really slow as you can see from my Nike+ SportWatch GPS stats below that our average pace was around low 7 min/km which was kinda fast for me. Nevertheless, it was good to be back on that pace after pulling out the turtle-ish average pace at KoTR.

Nike+ stats for the first 2.4k.

Around half a click before we wrapped up the run, the group stopped to do sets of forward lunge, squats and combo of both. The lunge + squats combo got my attention – now, why I never thought of that? We then pretty much finished the remaining 0.6km at slightly faster pace.

Nike+ stats for the remaining 0.6km. I rarely able to go 5min/km and in fact, I believe I can maintain it for a least a full click. ME GUSTA x 9000.

Post-run, I actually expected them to put us through the Nike Training Club (NTC) drills (it might be designed for women but the drills are are god damn intense - been through them twice previously) but kinda relieved that they didn't. That being said, I do wish for it since the drills are very useful.

So, there you have it – my first day of training for Nike We Run KL 2012 as well as other upcoming run till the end of 2012. My feet were damn restless last night, so I can’t wait for subsequent training days as well as the second (and longer) training run session with Nike at KLCC Park next Saturday. More to come!

The badge that I received at the end of training session.

Meanwhile, there are still few more photos from the training right after jump. Just click on the link below to check them out.

[What’s Up] H&M Lands In Kuala Lumpur; First Look and Scenes From Grand Opening Night

The renowned Swedish fashion label - H&M - has finally landed in Malaysia via its first Malaysian branch in Lot 10 over at Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur. A special grand opening event was held last night and boy, what a blast it was.

It felt like almost all of the who’s who of Kuala Lumpur was there - from entertainment industry to fashion to music to lifestyle and of course, the media folks. From LYN's side, both Tech (me + my editor - obviously for a casual visit) and Lifestyle (Hype, Lipstiq and Wanista) team were there to check out what kind of hype does H&M brings to Malaysia.

Check out the crowd!

Judging from my brief time there, the Lot 10 store caters to everyone from infants to adults (including pregnant ladies); both male and female. The store has pretty much everything – clothing (formal, casual and leisure), undergarments (and lingerie *cough*), accessories and shoes.

Just a very small section of the men's department.

That being said, the store is mainly made for ladies as two floors are dedicated exclusively for them while for guys, they have to share the same floor with kids and maternity clothing. Pricing-wise, I would say that it is slightly cheaper than Uniqlo although the differences aren’t really huge.

AWWWW YEAAA.

So, what I actually ended up with from last night’s opening then? A cozy blazer (my first blazer ever!) priced at RM 259 and an el-cheapo belt that cost me RM 19.90. There were couple of other things as well that attracted my attention but I’m going to save them for next subsequent visit to H&M Lot 10.

Obviously, I snapped hecktons of images from last night’s grand opening which you can check out after the jump and if that not enough, my colleagues have also posted their own take on the new H&M Kuala Lumpur store over at Lipstiq.com and Wanista.com. If you like what you see, just make your way to the new H&M Kuala Lumpur store in Lot 10 which will be officially open for business starting from tomorrow, September 22 at 11AM onwards.

Thanks to Mandy for all her fashion advices and tips on that night. Hope you enjoy your new clothes and shoe from H&M! xD