28 years old. Humble, down to earth, loves music (plays blues and jazz)
‘lives and breathes’ – Running.
What made you venture into sprinting?
I ventured into fitness lifestyle out of interest. Like any other Bruneians, I fell in love with running and keeping fit from marathons. At first it was just for some fun and filling up my free time. I started signing up for 5KM marathons and set my own running time goal, which was 24 minutes, and now my best timing for 5KM runs is 18 minutes. And then I started pushing my limits to 12KM which I had achieved in 42 minutes. Over time I became more obsessed in beating my own time. And then 2 years ago when I was 26, I signed on for the Brunei National Scheme for sprint runs.
What was the inspiration behind your fitness lifestyle?
I live and breathe fitness life. I cycle, compete in triathlons and now make most of my time training to be better – I’m always competing against myself. In a way my inspiration is about inspiring other people with what I do. At first, I didn’t realize that a lot of my friends took an interest in my lifestyle until I started getting offers and requests for fitness training and coaching. For me, it’s all up to individuals’ willingness to change and be better – it all starts with what not to do and what food to avoid. Like me, I try to eat as many times as I can in a day, but they’re not all heavy, juicy or sinful food. I make sure I take in fibre, enough carbs to put some energy in my activities.
What or who is your inspiration in life?
Start small. That’s my golden rule. Always focus and see your own self-strength. And compete against that. For me, I pick up motivation from every fitness enthusiast that I come across. He or she could be a pro or just a homeboy who had just started venturing into fitness. Everyone is an inspiration in every unique way as long as they can motivate people.
Describe your typical day
My typical day is waking up at 5AM every day, start off with Subuh prayers and do some light stretching before heading off to the track for quick training. By 8AM I’m already at the office and mid morning I’ll make sure I get my daily fibre intake from munching on veggies like broccoli and carrots. At lunch I make time for the gym and do at least some recovery and recapping workouts plus a post workout lunch meal, which is my “secret recipe” chicken – Okay, okay, it’s actually just plain grilled chicken breast. After that it’s back to the office, high tea is quite interesting – 10 pieces of almonds! And then work will stretch to 6PM and by evening I’ll be at the stadium again running (#tracknation is what me and my running buddies tag in our IG posts). Cheat day is Sunday, but when there’s a competition coming up, there’s no day off and Sunday is breaking-sweat day too.