Kyoto Marathon 2016 - 1 Month to Go

A month to go.

In about a month, I will be in Kyoto, Japan, pounding away at the pavement for 42km. Am I ready? Honestly I have no idea how can one be ready for a marathon. There will be always be the 'what if's, 'I should have's and 'could have'.

But throughout my preparation for the race, I realised one thing. I never regretted any of my runs - long, short, fast slow runs. I never said 'I regretted pulling on my shoes and running that 5km." Heck I dare say...I might even be starting to enjoy the run.

Switch on the Cool with Under Armour: Spring/Summer 2016 Collection

A 22km run on a Sunday morning showed me how the heat (internal and external) can severely affect my training performance. I started out at 7am and ended close to 10am with a hilly route as the finisher. Bad move because with the long slopes, my rising body temp plus the blazing sun beating down on me, my pace was badly affected.

Which is why Under Armour's CoolSwitch technology proves to be just the thing we need to keep cool when things heats up. An unprecedented edge to the fitness world, Under Armour’s CoolSwitch technology is unveiled in the new Spring/Summer 2016 Collection, hitting stores in mid-February.

Boran Classic Thai street food Seapark review

A new Thai cafe has opened up in Seapark within the vicinity of MyBurgerlab, the Maybank nasi lemak and Shell station there and it is called Boran cafe. Strangely enough, this is the only Thai spot in this area with the closest being Thai Camp and Go Thai, a 5 minutes drive away.

Anyway, a quick visit during lunch on a weekday found a near packed cafe that was clean, neat and with walls decorated with old signage. Quite cool.

Why Mix Feed Your Cats by Whiskas

Looking at my cats, all five of them, I realised one thing. Feeding them is hella tricky due to their different ages, diet requirements and sizes. Especially the fat ones. They are the ones in need of diet control so to cater to all their noms needs, I mix feed them.

Mix feeding is basically mixed the cat's daily diet with wet food and dry food. According to WHISKAS Malaysia, about 71% of cat owners in Malaysia often opt for dry cat food while 28% of owners prefer wet food for their cat.

 While some cat owners swear by wet food and others prefer dry food, research from The Waltham Centre for Pet Nutrition suggests that both types have their plus points . Research shows that feeding your cat both dry and wet food will allow them to benefit from the best of both practices. And here's why:

Nike We Run KL 2016 - 10K registration in 6 hours!

In just 6 hours of registration opening, all 10,000 slots of the Nike We Run KL 2016 were snatched up and sold out like Airasia Free seats. Registration supposedly opened at 11am with several gungho runners already attempting the signup at 12 midnight on 16 Jan.

At 1050am, the website opened for people to sign in with their Nike id. Those who didn't haven't one had to set it up and by 11am, the registration for the run opened up. It quickly became the fastest selling race in Malaysian history outside of Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon. Successful participants are greeted with this joyful page and a confirmation email sitting in their emails like a letter from Hogwarts.

NIKE WE RUN KL 21K 2016 is back

Nike is set to elevate the running experience for Malaysian runners with We Run KL 21K 2016, scheduled to take place on April 10th, 2016 in the heart of the capital city. 

“Nike believes in providing runners with everything they need to achieve their personal goals and reach new levels as an athlete in their own right. Through the variety of services available at retail and on digital platforms, runners will be guided, encouraged, motivated and inspired in preparation for the 21km race. They will work towards becoming a better runner each day and prove it to themselves on April 10th at We Run KL 21K,” commented Angelene Chong, Nike Malaysia Country Marketing Manager.

Kyoto Marathon 2016: Last 5 Weeks of Training

T-35 days aka 5 weeks more to go.

To date, I've hit 22km for my training with my mum on the first Sunday of the year. The longest pure running I've ever done for the sole purpose of training. I felt fine for the first 13km along the flat roads of Kuala Lumpur, having taken advantaged of the KL Car Free Day. We stopped every 5-7km for drinks and then when car-free session ended, we rerouted to the neighboring area to continue. It wasn't easy especially at the last 9km when my mum and I decided to tackle the Bukit Tunku route as the finishing distance under the blazing hot sun at 9am.

That probably wasn't a wise decision but then again, the alternative was running in the wee hours of the morning to beat the heat and that wasn't safe. With so many cases of snatch thief, kidnapping and assault happening, our roads are no longer safe to run on. Especially for ladies regardless even if we're in groups or not. So we picked the less of two evils and braved the sun.

AirAsia X jets to Auckland, New Zealand via Gold Coast

Kiwi fruit, Lord of the Rings, Kiwi bird, Mouri, Kiwi as in the people and now...AirAsia X.

The obvious answer to where I am heading with this is of course, New Zealand. 

AirAsia X today launched its new daily route to Auckland, New Zealand via Gold Coast, Australia. Held in the vibrant and naturally-lighted up Glasshouse at Seputeh, the new route was launched by New Zealand High Commissioner to Malaysia John Subritzky, AirAsia X Group chief executive officer (CEO) Kamarudin Meranun, AirAsia Group CEO Tony Fernandes, and AirAsia X Bhd CEO Benyamin Ismail.

Salted Egg Yolk Croissant, Bake Plan SS2

Is this me hopping onboard the salted egg yolk croissant wave? Of course not.

Le Bread and its now famous salted egg yolk croissant was introduced to me by a colleague long before a certain popular blogger shone the spotlight on it. I ate it, I liked it, I forgot about it the very next day. To me, it was just salted egg yolk custard delivered in a croissant. Dim Sum restaurants have the steamed pau version and yet I don't see everyone flocking everyday to a Dim Sum restaurant just for that. Yes, I am looking at you, people who have nothing to do but stalk the bakery for two- three days in a row for salted egg croissant.

Spartan Training at Crossfit Pahlawan, Citta Mall

First Spartan Race training session of the year at Crossfit Pahlawan, Citta Mall and it was a killer. The training session was organised by Spartan Race and Crossfit and was held in two sessions in the afternoon of 9 January 2016.

I love working out at Crossfit Pahlawan mainly because it comes equipped with a section for rope-climb practice. It was the ideal location to prepare for an obstacle race like Spartan or Viper. Specifically for the Spartan Stadium series or for Viper Arena. When we were preparing for our Trifecta attempt last year, my team used Crossfit Pahlawan for our training sessions. Check out the madness in the video courtesy of Hashida Lee below.

Follow the United Spartans of Malaysia on Facebook here for more training sessions and OCR updates.