The Human Spirit

Looking back at the string of events that took place from preparing to finishing the marathon, I seriously had no idea, no clue what I was getting myself into. How far is 21.1km? Really? All I had in mind was to complete a marathon this year and to me, the full marathon(42km) was like a 500 pounds gorilla in his boxing pants waiting to pin me down. Okay, so I went for the 250 pounds gorilla. And I thought he was little. 113.39kg. Come on. How wrong can I get.

Very wrong. 21.1km to a under-trained runner is like putting a little boy in an obstacle course with guns and massive explosions and a footballer.

Here's a walk through for the day.

Collected my race pack the day before. Didn't sleep too well that night.

6.10am.
I didn't had breakfast. Error 1
I didn't bring my bottle to rehydrate in the morning. Error 2.
Had to stay focused.

I ran 12km straight. Once I hit the 12km mark. My chest was heavy, I was very very cold. I felt as though I was having a terrible fever and I'm out of juice. It was so horrible I had to slap myself to keep up. Finally slowed down to catch my breath.

Look who's boss for the day.

Morning sun.

Massive elevation. Stamina killer.

By this time, my legs felt like they were from a different entity and not the body. I knew very well I've over worked my legs and the pain was crazy when I tried to run a little bit faster. I could feel 6 blisters on my toes rubbing off my skin. Every step got heavier. My heart was beating hard. On the bright side, the chill went away.

Met my secondary school history teacher. Mr Cha.

I come to really witness the human spirit that was evident on everyone's faces. The uncles, aunties and the people who pushed through. When I was at the finishing line looking pass the full marathon runners, boy was it inspiring. The pain and the joy in split seconds, the fulfillment, the endurance and the pride knowing that the battle is won. I had conquered my race and it was real tough. These people fought twice my battle and beat the 500 pounds gorilla.

It was that moment I finally understand what the human spirit is all about. How humans are able to stretch their capacity and finish the race. Their drive, their belief, their never say die spirit stated on their eyes. It made my eyes wet witnessing such an extraordinary feat.

This was the day I saw true optimism, true hope and despair. I felt truly alive.


As for me, I only had few things in mind when I was running.

1. Never look back.
2. Never stop.
3. Just keep going.
4. This is a race between me and myself.
5. Finish what was started.
6. There's a finishing line and it's sweet.

Lessons learnt
1. Girls can run.
2. Old uncles can REALLY run.
3. Old aunties can run.
4. Give support. We don't get much support needed here.
5. You want to taste the best Whooper? Go run 21.1km and head to Burger King :]

But one of the biggest lesson learnt is this. It's okay to be unproven and untested. If I would have known how far 21.1km was, I might have opted for a shorter route like the 5 or 10 km. The experts would have suggested me the 10km because it would suit me perfectly given my training track record. What came really sweet was after I've completed the 21.1km. I really finished it. I'm proud of myself for finishing what that was seem impossible a few years back. It is proven now that hey! it is possible.

Another thing is, you know what really scares people away. It's not this. It's those races where no one for sure know where the finshing line is even so, the possibilty of even finishing it. There's no pavement, there are no signs, no crowds, absolute zero certainty. But what you have is yourself, your set of belief and values and that's the true race we're all in.


My bib with the results;

Name:	PANG JUN YONG PHILIP (MAS)
Net Start:	06:13:52	Category:	Half Marathon 21km
Net Time:	02:51:38	Position:	1422
Finish Timing:	02:52:29.16

How it's like to cross the finishing line. Here's the vid;




And you want to know what unproven really means? I told my friend I may only finish the race after 7 hours or more. Traffic will then resume operation and I'll be running with cars. We even delayed our movie (transformers 2 - absolute rubbish) at pavillion to 8.30pm! Just in case I'm still out in roads of KL running like a lost kid. I'm so glad I could clock in before the 3 hour mark. I really am.

What a run !

why it isn't always easy

I've always been a strong believer in cultivating strong emotions in circumstances so much so, I am to make believe that in however horrible situations I'm in, it's not here to stay. Say example work. Doing stuffs from the bottom up may sound like any feel-good, in all inspiring, underdog superhero story.

Fact is, it really is horrible to be put in that position. What if there isn't really a superhero moment and all there is to it, is just an empty sea of nothing. The efforts, the decision to a different path. It drains everything out of me. One day you hold your chin up, knowing that it's for change and progress you're for and yes it could be done, then the next day a damn dragon comes flying your way, blowing fireballs at you.

Now all that you have to do is to wave your silvery sword above your head and point it to the dragon and say;

'Be gone now Dragon for I will have your head served on this golden plate'.

Top Gear Season 13!

awesome, awesome ad.

TopGear back on 21st June.

Ah. Sweet June.

When I Turn 20

it's 3.32a.m right now and I just got my biggest birthday gift.

A domain.

www.philippang.com

Created:	2009-06-18
Expires:	2010-06-18
Updated:	2009-06-18

Alongside with a few names.

Will soon update on the progress.

That's the first thing I got for myself in my twenties.

Cheers!

*UPDATE

www.philippang.com is now official. www.brownbuttons.com will be redirected. So kindly please update if you're following me on bloglist. Thanks.

Of Cocks

Today will be remembered as the biggest screw up of the year. With some great lessons learnt. This morning I met again with a customer who was not satisfied with the samples I showed him yesterday. So today, I brought him a whole new set of samples and what a shit load of crap happened.

This guy, a male in his forties. A typical Chinese businessman with great negotiation skills, very spontaneous with tactics due to his vast experience in the market. This guy can simply walk his way out of any negotiation. He made me agree with whatever he said. I had no say. He is the boss.

To cut it short, he chose the materials and kept bargaining his way to the best deal. There was when I made a huge and silly mistake by under quoting him 35cents per square feet. 35 cents can easily work out to a few thousand dollars but thankfully, it was a smaller area so the difference were in hundreds.

By the time I realised something was wrong. I was already in the lorry and had to report back to office on my offerings. I did some calculations and knew immediately I screwed up big time and I'm sure to get fried both ends. Only which is worse, the customer or the office people. I reluctantly texted back office and immediately received a call upon confirmation. Office people kept their calm and faxed a new quotation with the correct price to the customer.

Customer called me and asked me what the shit is going on. So I apologised and said I made a mistake earlier on and quoted him the 'supply only' price. Although only verbally and with no written contract by both parties, he accepted the offering at that particular price. He replied,

'that's you and your office's problem. Nothing to do with me. I'm only responsible to accept or deny your offer at the earlier price you gave me'.

I can only comply with his terms and said I'll try to arrange things out. He even thanked me for my mistake. I must be a real joke.

Damn. He was well aware of my error and took it as an advantage against me. I can only wait and anticipate for a soundful when I return back to office. Being caught in that situation was really intense. I really had a bad morning. One cock up followed by another.

Office said fine. We must then offer him at that price and faxed him the quotation he was well awaiting for.

I returned back to office, seriously got fucked up. Why wasn't I paying attention to the 101 prices I have to remember. Why didn't I study the invoice book. We don't pay you to be blur. Why did I keep calling back office to confirm the price. Can give customer more confidence in you or not? If I kept calling back, what good am I? if I don't call back, I get the price mixed up and this shit happens. I could only stay quiet and calm. I have simply no one else to blame. Time to own up.

My whole day was turned upside down. I told them to dock my pay for a lesson. They said it's okay since I'm gaining experience. That's one consolation.

Didn't know what I was doing the whole day. My mind was in a great mess. I can't even talk to the office people like I used to. Picked up the invoice book to learn how to fucking write.

6pm. I made my way to Sultan Garden, stayed there till i was chased.

Lesson learned
Tomorrow will be better.

My Legs got Butterflies

Earlier this year, I made it a point to set out time to run. Which often clocks in after work at 6.40pm when on some days, I could hardly even drag myself to my running shoe given the type of work I do. On better days, a good run is usually comforting. It helps my mind stay clear and builds momentum that kicks in when I keep up a good running streak.

So to keep me away from undue excuses and to keep my resolutions real, I am running the Standard Chartered KL Marathon 2009 that will take place in 17 days time. Though it's not the full 42km, maybe next time. I'll be running half the marathon (21km). Last week I had to stay in bed due to lower back pain which subsequently dragged to this week. If I ever over exert my body again, I'm in deep trouble.

Come to think about it, I doubt it's going to be easy. I was never an athlete and hadn't got a single clue with the pace I'm comfortable with for long distance.

But all that matters this time round is to finish the race, cross the line and get that damn medal! No matter what it takes.

When Real World Meets the Intarnet'

OMG

*


architecture genius.