Juggling the Impossible
Balancing between one’s hectic working life and running races is no simple feat. You must be thinking now, how does Azwan do it? “I consider myself quite lucky as my work place has a gym nearby. During lunchbreak, I head over to train. After work, I head over to University Malaya to train again. Sure, there are days when I feel exhausted but I pushed through”.
He counts himself as rather fortunate because his colleagues in his company are very supportive of his running journey. Juggling a 9 to 5 career also has its pitfalls. Azwan doesn’t get his recommended 8 hours of sleep. Every runner knows the importance of recovery. He bounces back by focusing on things which help him recover better. “Either supplements and watching my food intake. This also means I can’t indulge in sweets. I do occasionally treat myself on the weekends. After all, you are what you eat”. This strict training proved fruitful when Azwan secured the second place in the 10km category of Standard Chartered Kuala Lumpur Marathon 2016 and won gold in the 5000m Perak All Corner’s Men Athletic Championship 2017 with a personal best of 16:10:40.
“When you love what you do, you tend to put your heart into it and you will succeed…”
Training
We all have goals that we’re striving for in life. Goals are the road maps that guide and show us what is possible in our life. Azwan applies the same concept in his training regime. “I mentally begin my training process by setting clear goals, like the timing that I am trying to achieve for each race”, Azwan explains. At times, he finds it difficult to train after work. However, having set a goal in his mind, this gets him hyped up to get the training done. “Physically, I identify my limit during trainings and ensure I’m prepared forall forms of training ranging from endurance to flexibility”.
Taking After the Greats: Yuki Kawauchi
Everyone has someone they look up and take as a source of motivation. To Azwan, it would be none other than Japanese marathoner Yuki Kawauchi. It’s no surprise why Yuki Kawauchi is Azwan’s main motivator. Working 40 hours a week, Yuki Kawauchi is a civil servant but he races every weekend from half marathons to world marathon majors. “That’s the kind of runner I aspire to be. I want to prove to the world that it is possible to work 8 hours a day and still produce admirable results in races. People often come telling me that juggling running and working is exhausting and impossible. But if you dream and believe in it, you can definitely do it”.
