Looking Back At 2013

Ugh, I've always hated the year ends. It depresses me how time flies so quickly, in a blink of an eye. What have I achieved or failed to achieve? Hmmmm.

I've summarised the races in my previous post but if we are to look at the entire year, I don't suppose I can exclude them in this post, or even not mention some of them at all. :)

January kicked off with a podium finish for the 5KM MPIB Run. The race made me realise that I was still not fast enough nor strong enough to sustain a consistent sub-5 min pace. Nevertheless, I was pleased to note an improvement from last year's pace. :)

I also had my first bake date with a colleague, and we had fun trying the recipes which interest her. She's very meticulous with her measurements while I am more towards guesstimates and 'more or less'. :)

February meant spending Chinese New Year with our families. It was second year being officially married and giving angpows to our relatives/friends younger than us (or single ones). It also meant another opportunity to spend time with my niece, who is the first grandchild to my parents and brother-in-law's parents.

Not looking comfy in her cheongsam! :)

March was where I had my first road trip with Andrew, Kenny and my cousin-in-law as we made our way to Lake Kenyir for the Kenyir International Triathlon event. It was horrible (for me) as it was warm by the time I did the running leg and there were too many crazy hills. 

Photo credit: Andrew.

March also meant bonus time! Thankfully, it was not too bad and I was satisfied with my package. Some of my colleagues weren't pleased, but I think it was different across the other departments. 

I was rather nervous as the month came to an end.

In April, I tendered my resignation and explained to my bosses that I had to make a move. I felt bad for them (but why should I?) and I knew that they would understand (and had to!) my reason for doing so. 

I also hit a new personal best of 4:31 during my 3rd marathon at the Malaysia Women Marathon. It was an epic moment for me and I was pleased as punch (though a bit lonesome) for myself!

Photo credit: Bunny and Mr Bunny.

I made some new friends, too. :)

I joined my first ever company-related trip to Chiang Mai. It was a reward for the athletes who topped the charts in any inter-bank (sports) events. As I was part of the winning KL Rat Race team last year, I secured a spot for this trip. Yay!

During the last week of April, I spent it in Melbourne with the hubby, going places. We did the Run The Rock event (a personal best for a 19KM) and visited Wilson's Promontory. Oops, I still haven't uploaded my pictures yet.

Spotted some wombats at dusk!

It's a lovely place to go camping, if you're into that sort of thing. But we were tucked into a cosy cottage, so that was much better. :)

Celebrated my birthday too as it crossed over to May!

Sharnee the labby.

 

I signed up for the Deuter Trail Fun Run at the last moment just so I could tag along with Nick and CY. Ended up chasing Hsu Ann during the race, and finishing behind her in 3rd place.

Dude sniggering at Nick and CY's masculinity. Haha!

May was also my last month at work. It was hectic and continuously busy for me right until the very last day. I had to be prepped as a potential witness for a trial and I was nervous!

June. I don't recall much about June except that I was a total bum. I did my best to spring clean the place, getting rid of things I didn't want or need. Parting with books was the hardest. I gave them away to my friends and aunt, and threw the rest at the recycling centre. 

Some of the novels I had to part ways with. :(

I also went home for a long visit and was given the task to babysit my little munchkin niece. It was tiring! 

Attended a cousin's wedding in Labuan with my parents, and I got to see some of my relatives from my father's side, including my poor grandma. She was recently admitted to the ICU and discharged, but still remains in the hospital. Sigh.

Caught up with friends even into July. Initially the trial was going to take place during the first week but was adjourned to a later date. With that advance notice given, I made a trip up to Kulim, Kedah to bum around with the BFF.

It was a month of farewells, I suppose.

I was thrown a surprise party by the GCAM gang, although I had my suspicions! :)

Photo credit: Khay Ann.

They presented me with a plague plaque/ mini trophy with a picture of me looking as thick as a horse and a super nice group picture made printed with ... uhm, I don't remember the fancy term for it.

The fake crying pose!

With the amount of unnecessary things I lugged over to Melbourne, I only managed to squeeze in the plague, which sat on the table during my first breakfast in Melbourne. :)

Photo credit: Andrew.

Also had a meal with some of the Dutamas Runners. I think I must have gained weight from all the farewell meals I attended. No, I shouldn't complain (thank you very much, everyone!) as it was my first time dining at a French restaurant, too. My youngest sister treated me to dinner at Yeast.

My car was given to my aunt, then it was adios Kuala Lumpur! 

After a week of 'settling in' (I really wasn't settled in yet. I hated the cold!), I completed my first 50KM at the You Yangs Trail Run. I'm sure some of you have read how painful it was for me, after both my quads/ITBs were busted from descending Flinder's Peak the second time. The rest of the run was agony!

My 1st overseas' Australian medal!

August was pretty much uneventful. Hmmm. Nope, I can't remember anything significant about August except sticking to the marathon training plan as much as possible. Even if it was brrrr cold in the evenings!

We managed to squeeze in a trip to Perth in September, and celebrated the hubby's birthday. It was an absolute joy to play with my friends' children again, and catching up my friends, of course!

They stuck to the birthday boy and ate
breakfast again although they had already eaten!

The kids have grown, and it was amazing to recall that we had just seen them last year!

We were asked (by the kids) why didn't we have any children ... I was too stunned to answer them. :P

Anyway, the weekend after Perth was the Surf Coast Century 100KM event, where we were part of different relay teams. It was a different environment, I'm not sure why. Maybe it was the scenery, the terrain, and it was a huge event? 

Loved the view!

Hmmm, I won't be surprised if most of the participants marked this as one of their highlights of 2013!

October was the Melbourne Marathon where I managed to clock a new personal best of 4:11. Not great, but ah, whatever. 20 minutes better than the last! :)

I also had my first giveaway programme, with 3 crochet owls given away. 

Not much of a giveaway but it was just for fun!

We have new babies to care for, those green plants and so far, Lemmie is proving to be a sturdy one. HotStuff is sick, and Cory is on the verge of dying ... I think. *sobs*

Lemmie in December.

November was ... uhm ... quiet until the end of the month. Initially we signed up for 64KM but due to our lack of training commitment, we downgraded to 42KM of the Razorback Run. 

Epic scenery. Mt Feathertop and Razorback Ridge was awesome!

Signing up for these events take us to different places and trails. Once you're on the trails, however, you tend to think, "Hang on, I don't need to sign up for events. I can just come here for a holiday!"

Fast forward to December. How does time pass by so quickly? I've been a bum for 7 months now and I think it's time I get a job. Seriously. 

Nothing crazy to remember, except me making onde onde (glutinous rice balls with palm sugar inside and coated with dessicated coconut) to bring to a friend's house. I said I wasn't going to play with glutinous rice flour again but ... ah, I didn't know what to make and bring to someone's house for Christmas!

When we went to Dromana to run along the Two Bays Trail route, it was also my first time at a beach out of Melbourne. I still get annoyed when I recall the ladies plonking themselves right in front of us and blocking our view!

Hmmfh.

Yesterday, we visited Werribee Gorge State Park and spent 4 hours walking along one of their main tracks. Since it was mid afternoon, we weren't lucky enough to encounter any wildlife. YB spotted an eel in the river, I spotted a grasshopper with bulging eyes as if it had been boxed!

I didn't realise that we were going to walk along the river until
afterwards!

It was an interesting afternoon out, with a bit of excitement of walking along the cliff side along the river. 

A cable for you to hang on to as you make your way across.

It was a change of pace from trail running to just trail walking. Be that as it may, I am feeling so lazy to run these days! It doesn't help that the training plan tells me that I'm supposed to clock 15km today, 10-12km tomorrow, and another 10km the following day. Uhm, it's kinda hot at the moment ... *feeling lazy*

I don't think I will be making any new year resolutions at the moment. I haven't thought about them yet, but I will probably just break it down into sections, like goals to achieve for the 1st quarter of the year. Get that sorted out, and we'll think of the next quarter. The long term goal (for the year), of course, is to ... er ... actually, I'm not too sure either.

Generally, I suppose I will do my best to keep fit and eat clean as much as possible.

And keep in touch with the family back home as much as possible.

Be a more forgiving person.

Spend less time with social media. One of the ways is to have everyone at a dinner table or catching up session to put their phones aside and not look at them at all, unless they need to pick up a call. These days, everyone spends so much time checking their mobile phones instead of making the proper effort of talking to the person next to them or seated across from them.

We end up relying on social media to create topics of conversation to bring to the table or get together when once upon a time before the world of smart phones, that was not needed at all.

Observe your surroundings, listen to your kids/parents/friends, talk, but don't fiddle with your phone or iPad. Sure, you may want to take a picture of your food and kids/parents/friends, but put it away once it's done.

Hang on.

This was supposed to be a post on reflection, not nagging you about spending too much time with social media. Sorry!

I hope you have achieved most of your goals which were set earlier this year. If not, don't give up! Try again next year. :)

And keep on smiling.
Even if you feel like a fat blob (like me)!

*update*


HANG ON!

I forgot to mention that attending Bon Jovi's (and Kid Rock as opening act) concert in December was awesome, too! I was so engrossed in making sure I included my running moments that I forgot some of the non-running (epic) moments, too!

Tsk tsk.

Bon Jovi on their 'Because We Can' tour.

:)

Here's to another fabulous year ahead!

p.s. And I forgot to mention that it was my first time voting in the General Elections in May. I registered as a voter a few years back but was not in time for the previous GE. I managed to fly to Kota Kinabalu the minute I landed in KLIA from Melbourne.