031206

January 2012

2012-01-10T08:47:00.001+08:00

1/Jan 10km/treadmill
2/Jan 10km/MR
3/Jan -
4/Jan -
5/Jan -
6/Jan -
7/Jan -
8/Jan -
9/Jan -
10/Jan Morning : 6.5km (Home-Napier Rd-Home)

2012

2012-01-10T08:41:00.002+08:00

2012 started with a nice outing to watch Wicked, truly awesome.

Had a great run with kakis, stamina is zero, body is heavy literally, need to shed at least 10kg. Need to be serious now, no more procrastinating, much to achieve and much to feel bleseed and not to take for granted.

spending more time with family, friends, doing more reading, stay healthier and happier, which may seems like simple wishes but so hard to achieve as we are carried away with daily chores and things that seems so important at that moment which may turned out to be a waste of time :P.

Here's to a great start and hopefully a fabulous year.

23 Oct

2011-10-23T23:21:00.002+08:00

my first longer run (20k) since July and its a struggle..

i am in what i called my mid life crisis. Man, life is in a mess...thinking of just mia, but then this wont solve any problem. just have to toughen up and meet my demon. Perhaps a just a change of perspective...anyway, just glad to be running again.

AAUT

2011-07-27T16:16:00.002+08:00

My first multistage race, just grateful that managed to complete in one-piece and still survive to tell the story.

More later.

Now need to pick up from where i left it two weeks ago, training will need to start again, new race coming up in Sept and Oct and most importantly, AAUT lets me have a glimpse of what is required in a multistage race and whether i have the endurance, determination and the courage to even consider this, so now, i have another target at sight, but it will be 2 years down the road. For now, i need to start from scratch, more base training and also strength training. Lots of work, hardwork, guess the holiday is over and back to work now! :P

log for 25.06.2011

2011-07-01T13:58:00.007+08:00

First 100km, thankful for the friendship and supports, very emo throughout the course, holding back the tears when crossed the finish line.

the race started the moment i clicked register. weeks after weeks of training, fatigue set in, injury and sickness slowed the training progress but somehow the word "give up" never crossed the mind. yes, there are fears, reluctance which were quickly dismissed.

the race week were the hardest, coupled with sickness and busy schedule, sleep was scarce and body seems to protest against overwork. but hope is alive.

25/06
Start point
reached the start point with ham, searching for a hint of anxiety..none...numb? or delayed reaction? anyway, the ambience is high spirited, runners seemed eager to cross the start line and embarked on the long journey. met up with burnz, st, jc, mythos, and a lot of familiar faces. nerveous set in, visited the toilet every 15 mins, just to shake off the anxiety. had some buns and water.

at the start pen on top of the barrage, nice view but the mind is not there, it's trailing the route over and over again, calculating the distance and the forthcoming dreadful pain.

6pm, the horn went off and the journey begins.

10km
First 10km brought us through park connector? and back lane into Tanjung Rhu and underpass to Fort Road B1. Humid, but nice to have so many runners running together. the route towards McD Ecp was routine since this is the usual training ground. Support station were packed with food, isotonic and water. time check: 1hr10mins

20km
From McD Ecp to Changi Coastal Road (after the first hut), had to stop along the way to adjust the mp3, interrupted the momentum. only managed to get back to the zone only when reached the toilet before hawker centre. trying to slow down knowing that i tend to "rush" the first part of the run when i still have the energy. reached the 2nd water point, took a peanut butter, yum. start to feel a slight drizzle, nice. reached the first hut, saw a guy sitting there, stuck! was very happy to see familiar faces :). 20km time check: 2hr 20mins

30km
Had to slow down a bit, felt tired results of lack of training! nice conversation with stuck, thanks sir and sorry that you had to listen to my grumbling. look out for the traffic lights and soon we reach the 1st toilet before going to Changi Beach Park. at the pit stop had a bit of food and drinks, had to walk as experienced stitch (drank too much water!). great to see tao, yankee and the indian chief after 30km mark, coke were heaven.

40km
More walk breaks, even went passed a showroom for property, at 10:30pm still bustling with activities, must be some hot properties on sale. Conversation with Stuck (on kids, parents, amber, politics) makes the journey less daunting and more bearable as fatigue starts to set in and felt sleepy (which is strange as normally slept at 12-1am). Entering Pasir Ris Park and before the U-turn, two familiar faces, Bee and Waterboy!. the u-turn brought me to the 40km pit stop, time for Stuck to "收工" (THANK YOU Stuck!). Time for Waterboy to take over.

50km
The next 10km brought us from Pasir Ris Park, to Ikea Tampines, to Bedok Reservoir. Pace slowed down, more walk breaks, familiar faces along the way. cheered the returning runners, it was a lonely journey. lucky for the company of friends, if not, it can be very daunting. Reached the Bedok reservoir with about 2km to the half way mark, a few more familiar faces, Passion, Ronnie, Terence, Tiwazz. The 2km so near yet so far..when you are tired, the 2km can seems like 20km.

Reached pit stop after 6hr35mins, within the plan. Food were abundant with muffins, fruits, biscuits, i think i saw tao sar pniah? buns, hotdog! and soup. No appetite to stomach all that, half a banana, a few mouthful of buns were more than enough. 20mins at the pit stop, and we were off again on the return leg.

60km
50 down, 50 more to go, seems encouraging. Thanks Terence for the hydrolite and time for a pic or two, we start again with Passion joining in the trip. Thanks to Passion's "cold joke" and whistle, pace picked up and was kept alert and sane. Along the way, fishballs, more photos, the "faster you caught up with the poster girls", more familiar faces became part of the memory. At the pit stop (same as 40km), we bid goodbye and Thank you to Waterboy and welcome VH onboard.
Coke awaits from Terence and Tiwazz after Ikea. (THANK YOU!)

70km
At the end of Pasir Ris Park, hot kopi awaits (THANK YOU to Indian Chief and Tao). Thanks to Passion and VH, pace is kept at ard 10mins/km. Salute to the "chiong ah" uncle, power sia!

At Changi point car park, more coke (my power drink) and grapes from Tao and the Indian Chief, SYT and Tiwazz finished their shift. XD and Yankee are in ECP getting nearer to finish line.

Thanks to the Indian Chief, another sip of coke at the last toilet before going into Changi Coastal Road. CCR...long and hypnotising...but also means its getting nearer.

80km
Soon we bid adeu to Coastal Road and starts to enter ECP, 20 more to go, countdown to single digit. Pit stop, ice sponge is a saver.

The Indian Chief is busy providing mobile supports, saw him again before entering ECP.

At 84km and 13hrs since start time, we stopped to take a pic at the marker. If it was last year, would have 收工 liao. Tried to run a bit more, but muscle is sore and body is unwilling. Left foot felt funny.

Passion had to stop as her back is giving her problem (really paisei with her as she has to endure pain accompanying me for the past 40km). THANK YOU and really appreciate, please take care and rest well.

Got a free coffee from a couple (thanks :)).

90km
Great to see tao at B1 Car park, stopped to spray the left foot. Felt much better.

The pain on the left foot grew, worried that the old injury is back to haunt me. Starts to feel scared with another race in 2 weeks' time..contemplating to stop at 92km. The faces of the pacers, supporters flashed by strengthened the determination to move on despite the potential risk. Don't want to have any unfinished business with 8km more to go, just have to endure. Is it worth it? perhaps not, but at that moment, nothing seems more important than to push on and crossed the finish line.

One step in front of the other..every step forward means one step closer. Soon, the left foot became numb, and talking to VH helps to keep the mind off the foot. Thanks to VH for listening to me...frankly after 16hrs, i lost control of what i can say and what i cant. Starts to get emo.

After Tanjong Rhu, Tao, Yankee, Passion were there to cheer us on.

At 98km mark, was overcome with emotions, thankful for the blessings received. Lost control over emotion, starts to pour out my thoughts on stuff that i dont normally talked about...paisei to VH to have to endure that :P

With the finish line in sight, the steps grew lighter. VH (THANKS sir!) left me before the ramp, walked up in a leisurely manner, soaking in the atmosphere.

Crossed the finish line knowing that this is possible because of a group of friends and their supports. They were with me for the past 17hrs, enduring every steps of the way, and i am truly thankful.

Blessed

2011-07-01T13:02:00.003+08:00

one week since last sat's "craziness". the pain has gone, ache is history, as if it never happened before, as normal as a passing shower.

Soon, the agonies forgotten and same ordeal repeated again year after year. Crazy? Passion? different perspective.

Biggest reward? Not medal or finisher t, 'tis strengthening of bonds, friendship treasured and cherished, deepened trust.

Felt blessed. thankful.

2011-07-01T13:00:00.001+08:00

THANK YOU!!

2011-06-27T21:27:00.001+08:00

A big thank you to all my friends who selflessly sacrifice to support us and to be there for us! Really appreciate it. THANK YOU!

Summary of training

2011-04-18T12:22:00.002+08:00

Jan 2011 Total mileage clocked : 177.5km / average 44km/week

Feb 2011 Total mileage clocked : 211km / average 52km/week

Mar 2011 Total mileage clocked : 350 km / average 87km / week

Apr 2011
Week 1 (1st - 7th) : 80km
Week 2 (8th - 14th) : 39km
Week 3 (15th - 21st): 47km

twilight

2011-03-27T21:31:00.003+08:00

had a blast of time at the twilight ultra challenge, met the training goal of 50km (6hr 34mins), great lesson learnt minus the vomiting at the end of the run...the same thing that happened at the first sundown which forced me to stop the race.

kinda funny for someone who loves to eat and eat a lot, to have to learn how to eat during the race. during the run, dun have the urge to eat, although tried to down a mouthful of peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Lucky had 2 bananas to "tong" the whole run. although it was painful (luckily the foot didnt give any problem), it was a great outing, felt like was running among friends and not racing. Everyone cheered each other along the way, the supporters were encouraging, it was carnival like, everyone is out to have some fun :P .

A special thanks to the Too fam for the support. Thanks tao and ccf for the green beans and coke.

2011-03-25T13:00:00.001+08:00

not sure about others, for myself, the moment i started to look at shoes, gears, the heart is pumping fast (could also be $$$$) but i know the flame is ignited, time to hit the road! Bring it on.

Leg itchy

2011-03-25T12:49:00.004+08:00

....cant get in singapore, have to buy online...but looks cool and comfy...

Smell flower run

2011-01-17T13:35:00.003+08:00

On Sat wanted to do a 30km run, but somehow the body is unwilling, so ended up with only 22.5km.

On Sun, supposed to bring my classmates for a fun run @ smell flower pace but mission failed! try harder next week.

Was a bit worried cos this will be the first time to run on the road (Athens not counted as was just walking)for a longer distance and knowing the "smell flower" route, its going to be some ups and downs.

The pace was just nice, even had to run through muddy field, visited "haunted" mansion @ Gallop Rd, the Ferrari house @ Ridley Park. Nice pace and nice ice cream session afterwards.

Went for a foot massage afterwards, pain....not the foot but the calf, super sng.

Went shopping @ Zara, :P great discount!

Slept at 10pm...super super tired.

一個人

2011-01-12T21:56:00.003+08:00

一個人，可以是寂寞而孤獨，也因為可以掌握自己的每一分鐘，而享受最讓人羨慕的自由。你可以任意挑選適合的「伴侶」，參與你生活的各種活動，你可以選擇一個講話生動有趣也不無聊的人一起吃飯；只要你不喜歡，沒有人可以逼你從床上起來吃早餐。

一個人，能做什麼？一個人逛書店，逛百貨公司，喜歡看多久就多久。兩個人一起去，總是不專心。

「一個人」不只是指婚姻定義的單身，而且是每個人都會遇到的某種時間、某種空間當中的處境，它以各種形式出現，是人生旅程中極為重要的生命情境或態度。

一名作家說：「寂寞是因一個人而感到痛苦，孤獨則是因一個人而感到光榮。」

-----

書愈讀愈多，不是為了可以用知識換取麵包，而是讓麵包吃起來更香。也就是讓生活過得更快樂。

-----

(from one minute reading @ rthk)

Jan 2011

2011-01-10T09:16:00.003+08:00

Training has been ongoing, currently managed to run up to 28km (on treadmill), hoping to build up the mileage to 50km. Hope the left foot can tahan. When i managed to hit 40km, then perhaps i will consider running on the road and re-join my running buddies, missed running with the gang :(

2011

2011-01-04T01:13:00.003+08:00

Looking forward to a new start, the past year slacked a lot :P had some unfinished businesses that need to complete, plus one or two new challenges.

01 Jan 2011
Had a great start to the year, ran 25km on the treadmill, the longest since the injury 4 months ago. Although at a slow slow pace, but was happy to be able to "tahan" the whole process.

For the next couple of months or so, will still need to push further in terms of distance, before slowly increasing the pace. Need to be sure that the foot can take the distance and weight. Need to also start tackling the hills... *cold sweat*

Work will be busy for the first 3 months, new KPIs to achieve, change of reporting bosses, hope to perform better.

still en vacances :P

2010-12-10T11:48:00.001+08:00

managed to only squeeze in a few short run, dont particularly felt like running on the road or trail, felt that the feet are not ready yet ...perhaps its the season to slack...at least for another 21 days :P

Surreal Greece and 1001 arabian nights

2010-11-11T11:07:00.012+08:00

Too bad it’s not a Roman holiday I dreamt about (referring to the movie by Audrey Hepburn). No prince charming or Arabian prince. Well, at least there were other 5 charming ladies.

Were looking forward to the trip, Athens was on my to-go list for the longest of time, because of the mythology and history. Home of Homer, Aristotle, Socrates, Pluto (sorry this is as much philosophical as I can get) and the SPARTAN!!!

28 Oct 2010 (Day 1) Depart from Singapore via Emirates 01:40 am
The flight to Athens (ard 7 hrs) was tiring, perhaps because of all the excitement building up to the trip, when finally on the way, felt relieved. Didn’t get to watch any movies, slept quite a bit. Reached Dubai airport and was there for ard 6hrs before en route to Athens. Did a bit of shopping, managed to get a pair of Nike tights @ Sgd 25+.

On the plane to Athens, sat beside a cute looking guy who was reading "Why men don’t listen and women cant read maps", frankly i thought it was quite strange for a man to read this genre of books…perhaps he is really trying to understand the differences or its just another way to impress the ladies..

28 Oct 2010 Athens Morning
Reached Athens Airport and we went straight to the marathon counter to get our free metro and bus pass (we didn’t even need to use this, as Athens metro trusted their citizen and travelers alike, ie they will be honest enough to buy ticket and validate the ticket). We took the metro to reach Acropolis, the hotel (Airotel Parthenon) is just 5mins from the metro, super near. Its clean, even the public toilet is super clean in Athens.

The weather was getting colder as the night falls. We had dinner at one of the restaurant nearby, Vitro Piano Restaurant. This is the first time i tried stuffed vines leaves and moussaka... yum yum. Tried the Greek coffee…hmmm…not my cup of “coffee”, later I read that Greek coffee is actually a legacy of the Ottoman rule until the invasion of Turkish army, it was then called Turkish coffee. It should be sipped slowly until you reached the mud-like grounds (don’t drink the sludge, like I did: P). It is best drink with one sugar (medium sweet) [Info extracted from Lonely Planet]. I will stick to my YaKun kopi!

Tired from the trip, the first night was totally wiped out.

29 Oct (Day2)
Went for a morning walk with Joanna around the neighbourhood, the air was cold but we found a nice park (Filopappos Hill) which was a lovely surprise. We managed to snap a few pic of the acropolis from afar and bought a piece of the local dessert, kataifi --> Super sweet. We also found this steep, try mount faber steep street. Was started to get worried if the marathon route is as steep.

The breakfast was wonderful, at least for my standard (not very high maintenance), , you have the usual ham, sausages, scrambled eggs, breads, pastry, yogurt, dried and fresh fruits, tomatoes and zucchini, juices, coffee and tea. And surprisingly there is stuffed vine leaves. The yogurt with figs and honey was equally good. The yogurt plus honey plus fruits (and figs! One of the foods to buy home is definitely figs) are super yummy, at least two bowls per breakfast. :P

1) Acropolis
Instead of going for the National Archaeological Museum, we proceeded to visit the Acropolis of Athens. The Acropolis (although there are other acropolises in Greece but the one in Athens is commonly known as Acropolis).

Initially we hanged around outside the theatre of Herodes Atticus, taking pictures and walking around, before proceed to the ticket booth. For Euro 12, you will get a ticket for entry to 6 places including the Acropolis. There were a post office and a small shop selling snacks and drinks, and a small souvenir shop near the entrance. There are many dogs and cats all around Athens, they are not stray animals as they have tags, and seem to be quite well fed. On the way up, managed to get view of the theatre of Herodes Atticus.

The acropolis of Athens is dedicated to the goddess Athena who offered the olive tree to the people of Athens and they chose her over Poseidon by accepting her gift and Athena became the patron of the city. An olive tree is said to be planted by Athena (located near to the Erechtheion).

From afar, the acropolis looks grand, not in its size but overwhelming due to what it represents – it has witnessed the Greek political and cultural development and achievements, it has suffered damages, used as different house of worship over the centuries. Yet, when one stand in front of the structure, you can only imagine the past glory among the scars of time and the wound left behind by wars and destruction. We human, master builder and at the same time, destroyer.

We went up through the Propylaia which is the gateway to the acropolis; on its left there once stood the monument of Agrippa and on the right (west side) you will see the Temple of Athena Nike.

Inside the acropolis, the grand structure will be the Parthenon, one of the world’s most famous buildings, being copied by so many across the world. It was supposed to house the statute of Athena. There were cranes and heavy machineries around the Parthenon which is under reconstruction. The sky was glooming as it expressing its sadness over the damaged state of this one great structure. It felt surreal standing here watching the Parthenon, wanted to visit this place for the longest of time, and when you are actually here it felt like a dream and you are scared that you will wake up any minute and it will all go away. Perhaps, I am just being melodramatic.

The old Acropolis Museum behind the Parthenon was closed, but we did get a great view of the city from the top, on the left of the Parthenon, there is the Erechtheion and the Caryatids (statutes of women from Karyai).

We exited the Acropolis through the Beule Gate.

2) Ancient Agora
On the way to the Ancient Agora, we went up this small hill? Managed to snap a few photos of the acropolis from afar and some candid shots as well. Standing on top, we managed to get a view of the city.

The Ancient Agora is on the list to go, this is supposed to be something like the modern days plaza or meeting place. We walked around the compound and outside the Agora Museum.

I told Joanna, that I will be back to visit this place again, some places you can’t seems to get enough of them, like London.

We head for lunch at a nearby restaurant, they have nice paper table cover (?) and the waiter even told us how to write Singapore in Greek. We had some grilled seafood platter, mousaka, Greek salad and fruit salad (fruits + yogurt). It was nice to just sit down and watch people going by with their daily routine. One thing for sure, I love the bread, it’s just nice to eat it alone or with olive oil and vinegar. Feta cheese is the national cheese of Greece; you will find feta in most salads. I thought that the Greek food is a rich diversity and combination of Italian (pizza, pasta), Turkish (kebab, sweet treats like baklava) ….basically Mediterranean. For start, you cannot go wrong with mousaka, greek salads, stuffed vine leaves and kebab. And off course Spinach pies (will tell you later about the pies…….*salivating*). And freddo = iced, so a cappuccino freddo is iced cappuccino. The food can be quite salty, so taste it first before you start splashing those salt. Initially, thought that the food would be tasteless without chili sauce… but eventually you will like it for what it is.

3) Hadrian Library and Monastiraki
After lunch and a bit of ‘nua-ing’, we proceed with our jalan-jalan, we shop a bit, and basically it’s just a free and easy trip. We head for Hadrian’s Library which was nearby, witnessed two dogs quarrelling.

Monastiraki was just a stone throw away; there is a metro station and a flea market. This is also one of those places that you should visit while in Athens, you will find shops selling apparels, beads (there were 2 shops selling beads, buttons, and all kind of accessories you can imagine). We also bought grilled corn and chestnut from an old lady. Bought this strange drink from this old uncle, it’s kinda gluey and there were cinnamon and pepper on top? Strange...

It was time for shopping and window shopping, I bought a Greek big sweep (not sure if I won anything :P). We also snapped a few photos of roses at a nearby church.

Can’t remember if we had dinner….i think we skipped as we were still quite full from lunch. But remember we went for coffee at Starbuck.

30 Oct 2010 (Day 3) – Race pack collection, Temple of Poseidon
The three of us, Joanna, Regina and myself, went for a short run to the Zappion (the race pack collection venue). We ran past the Hadrian Arch and in the far end, the Temple of Olympian Zeus. We ran to Syntagma and showed Regina the steep street and we ran back to the hotel just in time for breakfast. It was a nice run although it was quite cold. We were not the only group running, at one point of time; we were even running together with a group of American runners (I think).

After two bowls of yogurt with honey and figs, big plate of scrambled eggs, pastry and more bread, kapo some fruits, we were on our way to collect the race pack. It was chaotic, no one seems to understand the meaning of a queue, it was people and people all around (I guess when you stayed in a country like Singapore or Japan, when you encountered situation like this, it really gets on your nerve, you expect people to queue up, wait for their turns, everything is in perfect order, shwee shwee one…well wake up call and welcome to the real world…its not so perfect!) I almost lost it, I think I lost it when I was in the queue to purchase items from the official merchandise booth, people kept cutting queue in front and to make thing worse, the booth is so small, and we have queue inside while people are trying to squeeze their way through to shop and browse. I was furious!!! It was no better at the race pack and event tee collection booth….I was really really glad to be out of that place. I think for that few moments, everyone was in a bad bad mood.

Next on our agenda was to visit the Temple of Poseidon at Sounion (Euro 35/pax – 3 hours journey). It was a blessing in disguise as we only managed to catch the last bus @ 4pm, if not we would have missed the beautiful sunset. The bus ride was nothing but interesting, we were snapping photo after photo of the Aegean Sea, and no wonder Poseidon would rather stayed there then trading places with Zeus or Hades. It was blue, truly blue…if can feel like jumping into the sea and not wanting to come out (ok, I am being a bit exaggerating but you get the pic), it was mesmerizing. We reached there around 5plus and the sunset was magnificent. So another session of photo taking. It was definitely worth the waiting and the long bus ride.

Its time for carbo loading, we head for this café at Plaka (this is also one of the places to visit in Athens). We ordered gyros and souvlaki, greek salad and bread…can’t really remember the meal which is same as the food -> forgettable. The waiter was too busy with football match to take our order properly or even to calculate our bills, he handed Joanna the calculator for her to calculate. The greek doesn’t seem to drink hot plain water….if you need hot water, just tell them hot tea without the teabag.

We went back, prep for the event tomorrow.

31 Oct 2010 (Day 4)
Marathon Days

After the marathon, went back to hotel, showered and head for dinner at Plaka, this time we picked another restaurant which looks more decent than the previous night. The server looks like Ralph Fiennes (at least this is what I thought). We saw quite a number of runners wearing their medals out for dinner and had a few jokes about this. Was not feeling well, felt feverish and tired, didn’t really feel like eating. So after the dinner, head back to the hotel first to sleep, was really an uncomfortable night. Lucky, packed panadol in my medical kit, took two and went to sleep. Felt cold and was shivering, the room was a bit stuffy and hot when Joanna and Yvonne came back. It was because; the central air-con was switched to heater as it was 1 Nov (first day of winter). The hotel staff told us to open the window to let the cool air in. To them, the temperature was just nice.

1 Nov 2010 (Day 5) – Odeon of Dionysus, Hadrian’s Arch, Temple of Olympian Zeus, National Archaeological Museum and Changing of Guards @ The Parliament
Woke up with still slight fever, but I wasn’t going to let this stop me from the usual itinery; I didn’t travel all the way here to sleep in the room. So I took another round of medication hoping it will feel better.

After breakfast, our itinery were to visit the National Archaeological Museum (NAM). According to Lonely Planet, this is one of the great museums in the world. As it was only open around 130pm, we decided to roam around Acropolis and to visit the Acropolis Museum…. The museum is closed! So we visited the Odeon of Dionysus just opposite the Acropolis Museum. We then head to Hadrian Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Next we head for the NAM; we had some snacks and drinks at the café nearby since we are still early for the museum. We had spinach crepe, spinach pies? Vegetarian sandwich...can’t really remember….

Initially it was supposed to be a 1.5 – 2 hrs visit with a meet up @ 4pm before we head for the next destination. I wanted to stay for more, as I only just started……The girls head for the next location and will meet them ard 8pm in front of the Parliament.

Felt that time was so short, didn’t get to look at each artifact in details, had to literally browse and skip certain items in order to finish off the whole museum. Finish ard 745pm just in time to walk to the Parliament, was feeling very tired and cold, bought a cup of coffee and made my way to the rendezvous point. Felt so heavy and tired, nearly wanted to just flag a cab, but luckily the Parliament was in sight. Bought a bottle of water and was in time to meet up with the girls and watch the changing of the guards.

Had salad at Everbest (fast food place  something like the Greek version of Subway but with more choices and more pies!) Frankly I don’t fancy the pie initially until much later. Was not feeling good at all, felt cold and sleepy. Went back to the hotel and slept, waking in the middle of the night, coughing. Felt paisei that I disturb the two girls.

2 Nov 2010 (Day 5) – Central Market and The “P” Place - Olympia
Was feeling lousy when I woke up but I know I need to tahan for at least the morning portion, as we head for the Central Market near Omonia. This is like our wet market with stalls selling poultry, meat, seafood, vegetables and dried foods, like nuts! And figs. Bought some peanuts coated with sesames, pine nuts and figs as souvenirs for the office (an additional 2-3kg!).

Frankly I was really unwell during this trip, felt tired and irritable, just want to sleep and rest. With my heavy backpack, I felt I don’t have any energy at all to even walk.

The bus ride to Peloponnese (Olympia) was not pleasant, the 5 hours journey was long and tiring, didn’t manage to get any decent sleep. We have to stop at another place to take the connecting bus to Olympia and from there we need to take a taxi to reach the hotel.

Although tiring, the hotel Best Western Europa Hotel was really nice and the two staff who greeted us was cute :P. Decided to skip dinner and sleep in, I needed the rest badly if I were to continue with the rest of the trip. The cough syrup from Shang Shang was really helpful. I managed to get some decent rest.

3 Nov 2010 (Day 6) – Ancient Olympia and museum, the Historical Museum of Olympic Games
Initial plan was to visit Sparta and Napflio, but with the tiring journey and the long distance from Olympia, the consensus were to just nua at Olympia. The breakfast menu was equally delicious with yogurts, bread, eggs, and fruits.

We headed for the Ancient Olympia and the Historical Museum, as both sides closed at 3pm it was a bit rush especially the Ancient Olympia site. The place to visit is the Stadium, the temple of Zeus, the temple of Hera and the altar of Hera where the Olympic flame is lit every four years. The temple of Zeus were said to once house the gigantic statue of Zeus which was named one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

We head for the museum, quite interesting with all the sculptures, notably the Hermes of Praxiteles.

The historical museum of Modern Olympic Games (?) – free entrance….nothing really interesting.

We head for makan and jalan along the main street of Olympia, came across a bust statute of a Japanese professor at a park. We made some purchases at the supermart before we head for makan at a nearby restaurant. We ordered pizza, pies….etc another meal which I can’t remember.

We head for the hotel after a short walk and sleep in early as tomorrow will be another long day.

4 Nov 2010 (Day7) – Athens, Santorini
It was an early day as we need to catch the bus back to Athens in time for our flight to Santorini, another uneventful and tiring journey.

We made it to the airport on time and met up with Ivy, had McD (CBO – chicken bacon and onion burger). We jalan-jalan around for quite a bit before we made our way to the gate. The whole flight took ard 35mins? to reach Santorini.

The owner and staff of the Aroma Suites @ Fira were there to meet us and drove us to the hotel. The place was wonderful, one of the cave room was big and had Jacuzzi!. The room faced the Aegean Sea and was truly lovely.

With the recommendation from Chris, we headed to Naoussa restaurant, frankly the food is not bad, but try not to be caught by the overly friendly owner. Perhaps, it was because we are a group of 6 girls, that’s why he was too “warmth” for my personal comfort.

Was so bloated from dinner, slept like a stone and had the much needed rest.

A bit on Santorini. This is the most southern part of the Cyclades, you can reached there by Ferry or plane. We opted for the plane, as the ferry would take ard 7-8 hrs (suitable if you want to island hop).

The fabulous Santorini is said to be linked to the lost continent of Atlantic, the places to visit in Santorini (Thira) is the main town of Fira, Oia (a must), the black sands beaches (Kamari and Perivolos), the red sands beach and the white sand beach. (all reachable by local bus from Fira. Perhaps it was winter, the bus will leave Fira every two hours, the cost per one way is between Euro 1.40 – 1.60. There are other places of interest such as the Ancient Akrotiri, Ancient Thira, and winery. But after the few hectic days, I was glad to just nua and relax.

5Nov 2010 (Day8) – Santorini
Ivy and I, we woke up at 5plus to catch the sunrise…not sure if we really caught it, but we walked around the town, talking pic and breathing in the fresh morning air. We bought breakfast from the bakery which we visited the night before, I have cream pie…it was yummy yum yum. We walked around a bit, watched how the locals start their days, we even visited Carrefour. Santorini is a place where you can really just nua here, relax totally, just walk, eat and sleep. No pressure, frankly you can live without telephone or internet for most part of the day.

We bumped into other Singaporean kakis that ran the marathon,

After breakfast, the itinery was to visit the volcano island and the hot spring. We walked down around 588 steps braving through poo poo of donkeys to reach the old port for our boat ride to Nea Kameni, we were given around one hour to roam around the island. Its not impressive compared to Rinjani as commented by Ivy, but the view of the Aegean sea was breath-taking.

We head to the hot springs nearby where some of the tourists jumped into the cold sea and swam to the hot spring near the shore.

It was another adventure climbing 588 steps back to Fira. It was definitely a memorable climb. We stumbled upon this souvenir shop, the owner were very cheerful, funny and generous. He gave us huge discount that was why we kept going back to the shop; I think we did most of our souvenir shopping there. We called him the “happy man” and will always remember his sleeping and shooo donkey.

We did a bit more of window shopping, Fira actually got quite a fair bit of shops with famous labels and some local brands that were equally attractive.

We had lunch at Elia, one of the better restaurants we visited. The service is quite prompt, food served quite fast, although the waiter made a mistake in our order. We sat next to a couple (I think we saw them at the airport), the baby boy were very cute, and kept smiling at us. The food was nice, decent and solid. The seafood spaghetti (which was supposed to be seafood risotto) was really nice; I thought the sun-dried tomatoes spaghetti could be more salty. If you ever visited Santorini, this would be one of the better restaurants to visit. Except that it took them longer to bring us the bill, but we were quite happy to nua a bit after the meal.

After lunch, it was another round of window shopping and exploring the town. There were the Water Bottle incident!.

6 Nov 2010 (Day 8) Santorini
The itinery for the day were to visit the black sands beaches and OIA. The plan were to visit the beach @8am and catch the 10am bus back to Fira before we head to OIA ard 230 in time for the sunset.

Breakfast was cream pies yum yum. Not much of a beach person so wasn’t too thrilled at the beach. Perhaps it was the start of winter, the place were quiet and looked deserted. Walked around took some pictures, and there are really a lot of dogs in Greece, but at least they don’t bite. We rested a bit at a nearby café and were “harassed” by one of the dogs and we had to seek refuge inside the café.

The bus came ard 10am and we were on our back to Fira for another round of jalan-jalan and makan.

We reached Oia ard 2plus to 3plus, this was the place where all the posters and postcards and beautiful photos were taken, and everyone was engrossed in snapping photos. We stopped for drink before we head for the castle to wait for the sunset. The view was fabulous, and Oia is famous for its sunset view. We also bumped into the same water bottle!

Dinner was at Elia again, and it was a good choice. The fish soup was really nice, a must try, the fish was fresh and the stuffed vine leaves were delicious.

Don’t even feel like leaving Santorini…..

After dinner, we went to do laundry and walk around quite a bit before we went back to pick up the washed clothes. The lady owner was nice to wash for us even though they were closed for the day.

7 Nov 2010 (Day 9) – Santorini, Athens
Four of us went for the Monastery on top of the highest point in Santorini @ Mt Profitis Ilias. After a great breakfast at “Steki”, I missed the fried egg on toast; we took the bus to Pygros. It was ard 40-45 mins walk up to the top, the view was scenic and it was a relaxing walk. Initially we wanted to make it on time for the 10am bus, but at the end we decided to take our time and opt for the cab.

We were able to view the airport from the top and feel the clouds passing through. We reached the monastery and managed to snap a few pictures before making our way down. We reached in time for the bus to our surprise.

We reached back in time to pack and checked out before we roamed the town for one last time. We paid another visit to the Happy Man to bid our farewell and head for lunch, the food was ok, nothing truly fantastic.

We head for the airport ard 5plus…the heart felt a bit of sorrow to leave such a wonderful place. The flight back to Athens were swift and it was more shopping and look see look see before we board our flight to Dubai, bidding our goodbyes to Athens.

8 Nov 2010 (Day 10) – Dubai
TBC

my big fat greek marathon

2010-11-03T23:54:00.006+08:00

the land of the gods, the mythology and the food, Greece especially Athens, is one of the destination which i always wanted to visit. And running the 28th edition of the Athens classical marathon being the 2500 years anniversary of the Marathon was an added incentive.

the plan was to try to run as much as i can and try to walk the whole course and finished within the time limit which is 8 hours.

Has a light breakfast at the hotel with Joanna and Regina, kapo a piece of bread and we set off for the bus at 630am. The queue was smooth and atmosphere was solemn, everyone was trying to catch some sleep or gather some thoughts. The journey was the route that we would be running (the whole 42km).

reached the start point, the town of Marathonas ard 7+, with ard 1.5hrs to go, we went for the toilet and did some jalan2. After depositing our baggage, we moved to our block, mine at blk 4 while J&R at 6 (according to alphabetical order). The atmosphere is not festival but everyone was in good spirit and seems eager to start the run. The emcee of the event was quite funny with his "DO IT NOW", kinda make me think that he might be a spokesman for NIKE.

the race started of slightly after 9am with a min interval between blocks. The weather is cooling, the sun is up, did a slow jog pacing a group of ladies and american runners.

Had to make a toilet break at the 5th km (drank too much in the beginning) and also to change my thermal (even long sleeve is too much).

The first 10km is flat and uneventful saved for the tomb of marathon and the cheering supporters with their "Bravos". The so called "hills" comes at 11km onwards, (frankly, dun listen to too much stories, verified for yourself). Its not really hilly, its just sloppy, imaging Mandai slope and not Mt Faber slope. Was very anxious initially with all the comments about the hills.

The water stations are super, more that sufficient, you dont have to complaint that the water is not cold, even without ice, the isotonic water is cooling and nice (powergade). The feed station (from 20th km onwards) are packed with bananas, gu gel and choco bars (from nestle). Every km, there will be 2-3 medics on duty, some of the them are cute guys (*wink wink*).

From the 11th km onwards, have to start walking as the arch of the left foot is starting to ache and sng. The sun is also punishing, can feel that i was coming down with fever and flu, the bottles of water didn't seem to help much. At that point of time was feeling low, was at the brink of giving up, was thinking this is could not be how the greek soldier was feeling running alone towards Athens bearing the joyful news.

The next 10km was uneventful, at the 20th km, i decided to give up, so i sat down next to the medic asking for spray and he gave me some counterpain. With whole foot covered in counterpain and one encouraging words from the cute medic, i was rejuvenated and decided to finish the course as i don't want any unfinished business in Athens.

The next 10km was another enduring walk, but at least i was trying to imaging myself as Pheidippides, braving through "hills" and avoiding the Persian to deliver the message of joy to the Athenians. (BS la, was cursing myself!!). The only thing that made the whole journey interesting was the runners and the supporters. You have the spartan, the red indians, you have those who run their first, their tenth or even their nth marathon, but all at the same journey towards Athens, towards Niki.

The 30km brings us nearer to the town areas but still we are running on the roads and highways. the 37th km shows downslope as we got nearer to the town areas. At 40th km, we were nearing Syntagma, was walking beside this Hk runner and he was singing his Chinese opera out loud!!

By the 41km, i know the suffering is coming to the end, even the walk has the feel of spring in it. Passed the side of the parliament, so decided to stand and watch the changing of the guards before moving on to the end point. With only 170m to the end point, i sprinted and stop before the end point took a pic and slowly walk through shouting quietly "niki" with tears in my eyes. Its been an overwhelming run, not so much the pain, but the ability to "tahan" and finish.

2010-10-22T14:13:00.001+08:00

Marathon man: How not to hit the wall
Oct 21, 2010
By Julie Steenhuysen

CHICAGO | Fri Oct 22, 2010 5:12am IST

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Marathon runners can train for months to condition for the big race, yet struggle to finish if they exhaust stores of carbohydrates too quickly, a phenomenon known as "hitting the wall."

A new formula by a marathon runner and student at Harvard and MIT gives elite runners and marathon enthusiasts a more exact way to calculate just how many carb calories they need to take to stay in the 26.2 mile (42.16 km) race.

"About 40 percent of marathon runners hit the wall," said Benjamin Rapoport, a student in the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Sciences and Technology, whose study appears in the Public Library of Science journal PLoS Computational Biology.

Essentially, that means the runner has burned up all of the carbohydrates stored in his liver and leg muscles, forcing him to slow down dramatically as the body starts to burn fat.

"You feel like you're not going anywhere," Rapoport said in a statement. "You can't will yourself to run any faster."

He said many runners believe hitting the wall is inevitable, that it is just part of a marathon.

"That is not true at all," Rapoport, who has run 18 marathons, including a personal best of 2 hours 55 minutes at this year's Boston Marathon, said in a telephone interview.

"What I came up with was essentially a set of formulas," he said.

"People need to know really three things: how much they weigh, what their target marathon time is and their maximum oxygen intake capacity," he said. "That is a measure of a person's aerobic fitness."

Aerobic capacity, also known as VO2max, is a measure of how much oxygen the body can transport to the muscles and consume during aerobic exercise.

Measuring exact VO2max requires a treadmill stress test at maximum effort, but an informal way to estimate aerobic capacity is to divide your maximum heart rate by your resting heart rate and multiply by 15, Rapoport said. To find your maximum heart rate, simply subtract your age in years from 220 beats per minute.

The result, he said, is a number that tells runners how many excess carb calories they need to take in before a race.

He said many runners also supplement their stored carbohydrates by taking gels and sports beverages as they are running, but a runner can carry much more fuel in their legs and liver, if they know the right amount.

Until now, runners have had to guess at what that was. The new calculator will make that easier, Rapoport said.

Rapoport has built an online calculator to help runners estimate their aerobic fitness pace and race goals which can be found at endurancecalculator.com/ .

"It's my gift to my fellow runners," he said.

(Editing by Jerry Norton)

2010-10-22T11:41:00.001+08:00

is africa the next destination?

2010-10-21T21:01:00.002+08:00

perhaps its a blessing in disguise not to be living in a welfare state, although we may feel that the government did not do much for our wel-being and we are left to fend for ourselves. look at what is happening in the west, after decades of providing for its citizens or the lack of it, the government has to start cutting back as it could not longer afford it. for those of us who has to pay for our own education, pension and healthcare, i guess we are puzzled. perhaps, its time for govt to tax us less and leave it to us to manage our own finance, sure the govt can enforced certain mandatory savings eg in the form of provident fund, and medical savings for those who really really hopeless.

Leaving the finance in the hands of a bunch of bureaucrats makes me worried more...even in country like singapore....although there is a certain degree of transparency but still the possibility that wastages, misused and mismanagement of funds unreported or undetected (read the AG's report...)is there....how can we really control what is being spent...see how much the govt spend on military instead of welfare really irks me.

more hardtimes ahead, may not be as bumpy as the financial crisis, but who knows...had to be ready for more rainy days ahead.

Oct 2010 Traning log

2010-10-21T00:45:00.003+08:00

16 Oct
First run after the cast is off, ran ard 5km, had to stop as the left foot is in pain.

20 Oct
Tried again today

8km - 1hr 10 mins a slow slow run but at least managed to pull it through without stopping, the foot is a bit painful now, and the thigh is super sng.

21 Oct
The left foot is slightly swollen, damn but at least not painful.

work is heavy, lots to clear before trip.

French test on Sat...have not done any revision.

another non-training related post

2010-10-06T19:45:00.002+08:00

05 Oct
looks like i am really gonna be out of action till end of the year. Another week to go before my review, if its ok, then i am off the cast, if not, the next option --> surgery.. >.<|||

sian

but i am super excited about the upcoming trip, gonna use this to re-think what i wanna do in future, dont particularly like my profession...seriously thinking of changing profession -----> dunno can qualify as street sweeper or not.

thot of going back to school to study..but no $$$, nowadays being a full time student is super ex!

2010-09-26T00:54:00.005+08:00

wow..rubber never smell so good...thanks to my landlady. Zone 3, row 3, seat 13. I was there when alonso took the pole position! cool! Definitely very shiok...and it didnt hurt that webber looks kinda cute :P. Those ferrari are super cool....and in Abu Dhabi there is even a ferrari land...

2010-09-18T02:17:00.003+08:00

we, human are a bunch of master destroyer as much as a great builder. throughout history, we build civilisation, architectures, we accumulate knowledge in scripture and writing and painting but to have it destroyed and now we are regretting those actions. if we preserve rather than destroy, perhaps now we would still be able to admire those masterpiece...all just cos of fear, greed and stupidity and we say we are the most intelligent species in this planet..my foot!

Les documentaires interessantes

2010-09-12T19:47:00.002+08:00

some interesting documentaries. True or not, depends on individual.

Ancient Aliens1. The Evidence, 2. The Visitors, 3. The Mission, 4. Closer Encounters and 5. The Return.

Rest for longer journey

2010-09-09T13:31:00.002+08:00

the prognosis for the foot may not be good, even it heals, it will be another few months before can completely back in action. Well, will take a short hiatus for 2010. Training will resume in 2011, Jan 1 :P

In the meantime, will focus on strength training, swimming and cycling (in the gym off course). Need to build the base before picking up again the pieces. Its sad, but i guess this is the better solution. Dont want to rush back into running and injured the foot further.

i will miss my running buddies dearly.

Exercising in cast

2010-09-03T21:02:00.005+08:00

its amazing what kind of information you can get online....

If you have waterproof cast, you can even go swimming. If its not waterproof, you can use gore procel a cast liner or waterproof cast cover (selling on amazon). cling wrap doesnt work, trust me, i have tried.
There are even fiberglass cast.or you can opt for removable cast, just like the one wayne rooney wore when he injured his foot.

you can try CHAIR AEROBICS
1)2)

or you can just sit and be fit http://www.sitandbefit.org/products_store

but i do really prefer to swim, just need to get those waterproof cast cover.

A non training related log - Sept

2010-09-01T14:21:00.009+08:00

01. Sept (Day 5 in cast)
woke up in the morning, foot felt painful when i try to change position in the middle of the night. Didnt really sleep well, kept on having this dream that i am falling and when i land, my left foot hurt like hell and then i woke up.

i discovered the wonderful world of online grocery shopping, just a few click and your credit card, wala, you get your grocery delivered to you. not as fun as actual shopping but its good enough for me for now.

cleaning the room really has become a hard workout, imagine standing on one leg and hopping ard to clean the window, mop the floor (dry mop :P) i never knew i was so enthusiastic about housework, but i really needed the exercise, sitting or laying in bed is really killing me, i cant imagine how i survived working desk bound sitting down at least 12 hours a day. perhaps that's why i took up running....

but i have been catching up on my korean drama and csi and criminal minds hehe

02.Sept (Day 6 in cast)
i was super enthusiastic and high about the idea of cycling on the trainer, have to even trouble XZ to bring it over to me in the morning, thanks XZ, really paisei...came home from work, managed to setup the bike on the trainer, and all thing set for my test ride...man i was disappointed, almost injured my left foot more...just cant work ...nevermind i will try tomorrow again, i am not going to give up that fast.

03. Sept (Day 7 in cast)
tried to cycle again this morning...but the bandage on the cast came loose and i think the cast shifted position..ohoh..guess this is not working....arrgghh. have to wait till my doc appt next week to see how..

04.Sept (Day 8 in cast)
tried the chair aerobics, ok la, at least some exercise. Back to class in the afternoon. Had pastamania delivery for dinner...bad, will never buy from them.

05.Sept (Day 9 in cast)
nothing much to do, just work and online, sian.

06.Sept (Day 10 in cast)
back to work, i never knew i am so excited to go back to office :P

Went for class.

07.Sept (Day 11 in cast)
went for medical appt. the cast is off!! but instead i got this :P hehe, can go swimming!!!

The doc explained as the fracture is at the base of the metatarsal, if this doesnt heal properly, surgery may be needed. A small incision is made on the outside border of the foot and a small screw is placed down the middle of the fractured bone. But looks like i would be out of action longer than i hoped. Well, worst case scenario, i can still walk the athens marathon!

08.Sept (Day 12 in cast)
nothing much, work, and more makan.

09.Sept (Day 13 in cast)
work, class

10.Sept (Day 14 in cast)
woke up at 5am, went back to sleep, no need to run...i think i can really get use to this, plus breakfast in bed wahaha (ok la, bread + lemon tea + potato chips = super breakfast :P yum)

5 movies ...Star wars marathon...

secretly in my opinion, most girls wanted the body of a victoria secret model..hot hot hot.....will start dreaming early tonight :P

Training Log Aug 2010

2010-08-04T13:04:00.010+08:00

01. Aug (Sun)
Rain cats and dogs, so sleep in :P

02. Aug (Mon)
class - no run

03. Aug (Tue)
12km/treadmill

04. Aug (Wed)
stomache..total detox..

05. Aug (Thu)
on mc..doc said viral infection, damn

06. Aug (Fri)
no run

07. Aug - 20. Aug
cant really remember what i did for the past few weeks, can only remember LS.

21. Aug (Sat)
the sim card died on me, well perhaps its time to change phone :P

started off the run ard 630? didnt have my watch. the trainer was not with us, hehe time to "geng" for discount :P. Well we ended up doing the planned mileage (ard 35km) despite the shortcut (!???), was really chui, had to walk for certain part of the run, even the last bit back to ngee ann which was one of my fav last burst. the mp3 died during the run...so no music for most of the run...sian. wore the innov8, felt much better but still managed to twist the right foot at certain part..perhaps really need to go see a doc.

rushing for class, super super hungry, j'ai beaucoup faim, had a jumbo curry puff and then a tortilla wrap down with one latte with extra sugar...but then hor still feel the stomach growling. Lesson was fun, we learnt colours, how to describe a person, and the pronounciation is literally choking me (to pronounce "brun" mon professeur said the sound is like ur throat is being strangled). Next week will be a break then continue with E2 (i survived 8 lessons liao!)

went for my foot massage after class, slept through the whole session even though i know the uncle was giving 200%, cos when i woke up, the left ankle was swollen and painful cos he was maassaging too hard, but the right foot felt much better. While sleeping, i kept dreaming of my french lessons, perhaps i had too much to eat.

replacing the sim card took me an hour just to queue but only 10 mins to get the replacement. felt really old, the staff at Starhub counter are all young lads..kinda thinking perhaps in a few years time, old folks like me had to retire and stay at the nursery home liao.

22.Aug
sun = stay home day, working on my files and homework...cant remember the last time, i really sat down and learn my abc..tongue all numb and tied up together :P

23.Aug
Monday morning....

24.Aug
Run 8km/treadmill

25.Aug
had to skip my run and body pump. Budget time, super busy.

26.Aug - 28.Aug
no run, work and work.

going to be out of action for at least 1 month...fractured my left foot while running on sat morning. Thank you to all my friends who were there for me :)

29.Aug
felt so restless at home....sian sian sian sian ...man i never knew how much i missed running and work...can you imagine that!

30.Aug
went to work, very gungho hor...but cos firstly i dun have enough MC and as the mc didnt indicate hospitalisation, i cannot combine my mc and hospitalisation together. Secondly, i will rot at home if i dun come to work, at least at work i get free coffee. Thirdly, even if i am at home, still need to work, so might as well come to work officially.

31.Aug
Happy Birthday Malaysia!

First day on mc, super super super sian...i want to go out and play....its one thing when you have a choice and you choose to nua at home, but being "imprisoned" in this room cos u have no choice is another thing....arrgghhh...super pissed off.

Training Log Jul 2010

2010-07-01T23:25:00.023+08:00

01. Jul
HK Holiday, no training :P, 關我屁事right? hehe, just an excuse to slack.

02. Jul
had a bad day at work.

03. Jul
A good run will not only burn fat, but also release tension and stress. Today was one of those good run, not that it was a super fast or super hard run, but there were slopes and slopes, makes me think of the obstacles in life that we have to face each day, running up is hard, but there is no excuse to give up, even have to crawl, will crawl up. Felt much better after the run, cant go back to change anything in the past, and there is no point being sad or angry, the only thing to look forward and move on.

Went for class, interesting, hopefully one day will be able to do well. Gambatte!

04. Jul
Decided to skip run in the morning.

Spent one hour ironing, not easy...failed in housework.

05. Jul
first day back at class. excited but tired.

06. Jul
10km/treadmill

"We are led to believe a lie when we see with and not through the eye, that was born in the night to perish in the night, while the soul slept in beams of light".

07. Jul
supposed to have class but changed to thurs..sian, crashed with aikido.

went for a run, 10km on treadmill, watched Glee.

Life really had just one begining and one ending, but a hell lot of middle...just enjoy the process.

08. Jul
sian...the germans lost... :( the heart sank ...damn the 8 legged oracle...i want to make a sashimi out of him.

09. Jul
work late.

10.Jul
Fun run, up and down, legs become jelly but shiok.

Had a great fun discussing the upcoming trip..nude swim? wahaha

class was tres difficile... >.<|||

went to watch The Legend is Born - Ip Man. Before the show, i was thinking i am going to get an overdose of Wing Chun and Ip Man, man...in the period of two years, 3 Ip Man movies..i dun think can tahan another one after the first two, there is so much of Wing Chun one can take. Went in with not much expectation since the other two were considered quite good. To my surprise, the storyline is clean cut (i would think for kungfu and action movie, if the storyline is too complicated it will actually take away the magic), focusing on the adolescence and coming of age of Ip Man, his younger days, and 杜宇航 does managed to give an satisfactory performance, let's face it, Donnie Yen would be too old and too stiff to be able to act out these kind of 文戏 although he can surely kicked ass.

kungfu wise, its actually quite entertaining, especially the scene between Ip Chun and 杜宇航, not too bad in comparison with Donnie Yen's version. Not bad, worthwhile to watch it.

11.Jul
class in the afternoon. zzz

went for a run in the gym and did some cycling.
gonna zzz for a while, and wake up for the big game later.

12.Jul
feel, look and move like a zombie..but it was worthwhile.

13.Jul
1ok on treadmill

14.Jul
10k on treadmill

15.Jul
class

16.Jul
work late

17.Jul
heavy rain and flood = wake up at 11 :P

class....going to pengsan...i need to be a mathematician before i can go through the whole 0-100 for french...70=60+10 so how do write in words for 70 in french ? soixant-dix (soixant = 60 , dix = ten) so this literally mean 70=60+10...genius..and an accountant = expert-comptable (someone who is an expert in booking keeping..)...still ok.

And i found that french language can be a bit sexist...if you are a male cook in france, you call urself a chef, but there is no equivalent for a female cook, so if you are so unfortunate to be a female cook in france...you are basically call a stove!

went for a run. 10km on treadmill..

18.Jul
20k? MR wet and siong..but shiok..free foot reflexology...twisted the left foot..a bit painful...but warning sign..stamina is bad..need to up training. Love the first part of the run, especially along rifle range rd leading up to Durian loop. Too bad the stamina starts to deplete in the return leg.

Lunch was good. Mee siam at one of the nyonya stall at Lao Zhong Zhong was good but the chap chye is better. They sold out of lontong, curry vegetable and dessert when we got there ard 11am on sunday. No mee rebus, i just found out that mee rebus is only sold in malay food stall as mee rebus is not one of nyonya cuisine.

Joanne said that the ngoh hiang at the same coffee shop is good, especially the orange color one.

Lao Zhong Zhong Five Spice Stall29 Tai Thong Crescent
Lao Zhong Zhong Coffeeshop
Opening Hours: 12noon to 11pm; closed on alternate Mondays

Went for a movie, inception. full house, had to sit in the first row to the side. the movie is ok ok, not sure what's the big rave abt this film..at some point i found it a bit draggy..and the ending...hmmm as usual...you wont find out whether its a dream or not..paving way for sequel?

i still dun like leonardo dicarprio...still cant get the image of him as Jack out of my mind despites his other sucessful roles in shutter island, aviator and the departed, perhaps i am bias. Instead i found that the other actors such as Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe and Joseph Gordon Levitt (the guy in that irritating movie 500 days of summer....)more interesting. too bad the other characters are like touch and go, no depth..you dun really get to know them, what makes them tick. anyway, certain scenes are beautifully shot, like the explosion scene in paris where adriane and dom were talking in a roadside cafe.

just totally wore out today..purposely took a bus and nap for almost 1 hrs plus :P

19.Jul
went to see doc in the morning, had lymph nodes infection..apparently its quite common, this is when the body is fighting virus..hmmm, jia you!! then ok la i wont take the antibotic prescribed by the doc....if really no big deal, then it should heal by itself in due time.

went for class..interesting.

20.Jul
douze km/treadmill

21.Jul
fatigue...skip run

22.Jul
class

23.Jul
work late

24.Jul
vingt km/BT-ZH

twisted the same area as last week, the sensation sent trauma across the whole body, had to limp my way to the top. Need to make sure its ok, cos that was the same spot where i fracture my foot in an motor accident 12 years ago.

was fun bashing through the bushes :) and the vending machines were godsend.

during the run, something strucks me, no matter how fast you can go/fly, you are still trapped within this skin.

stamina is not up to par...need to jia you.

class is becoming more interesting and difficult, perhaps its the unknown, unfamiliarity that scared me, but at the same time, its exciting, inspiring..need to prove to myself that old dog also can learn new tricks! Through language you can actually learn more than just vocab, grammer and pronouciation, you learnt the culture, the history of the ppl speaking the language.

Went to watch Nodame Cantabile - The Final Score II, literally music to my ears, Chopin, Brahms, Schumann, Ravel...oolala..learnt something..The Cello Sonata is the only work by Chopin written for an instrument other than piano. And i learnt of a composer Maurice Ravel and his piano concerto in G. And most importantly, i learnt that Nodame is a famous manga :P. And as layman as one can be when it comes to classical music, i thought they would use Steinway instead of Yamaha....too patriotic i guess :P. Beautiful scenary from Paris and Prague....one of the scene was the same as in inception..but makes me feel like revisiting Paris. J'aime bien la Paris.

Tres fatigue

Bonne nuit

25.Jul
Sun was spent watching drama, and lazing in bed..just damn tired!

26.Jul
Class getting more and more interesting.

27.Jul
10km on treadmill. Lately when starts run, stomach will feel bloated and painful. Very uncomfortable during the run.

28.Jul
managed only 5km, stomach acting up, feel cold sweat.

29.Jul
糊涂是一种管理，抓大放小；糊涂是一种假象，以迷惑对手；糊涂是一团迷雾，隐藏自己；糊涂是一团和气，创造和谐；糊涂是中国人的中庸之道

No run - class.

"Anything you cannot relinquish when it has outlived its usefulness, possesses you. And in this materialistic age, a great many of us are possessed by our possessions"

so many of us, myself included is so pre-occuppied with the concept of more is better..more money, more goods, more power...and at the end we let this blinded our conscious, our perspective of right and wrong, and we forget that these are just tools for us to obtain our goals, which is ultimately self actualisation which to to be beyond materialistic, be more spiritual. ironic.

30.Jul
Work late

31.Jul
Fun run, love the trail more and more each time we ran there, i think in future i will just focus on trail running.

Class is getting more grammatical..

Training Log June 2010

2010-06-01T12:21:00.027+08:00

01.June
man its half year liao. Time to start training seriously liao but not today as yet. it must seems very bad that i managed to get two days mc and joke about it, but seriously, i work from home ok...with the "killer" emails shooting here and there, one day never open mailbox, you will easily need to clear 50 emails, especially a lot of those cc emails.

anyway, went down to cbd actually not to run but to kpo, been so long since i last joined the gang for a run. Actually not prepared to run mentally, but heck, just for the fun of it. Quads are hurting like mad, probably pull something, ouch. Have to walk back, but got to chit chat with some new runners, cool.

thanks guys.

***********************************************************************************

frankly, never thot of joining a marathon or an ultra marathon just to walk the whole course (trust me, walking for a long distance is worse than running), given choice, i would like to run the whole course and get it over with, if you think staying up the whole night and exposing yourself to the elements is fun, you gotta be kidding me, who dun want to go back with PB everytime, get showered have a nice hot meal and sleep. But anything can happen while you are out there, you get cramps, you get injuries even if you have been training well and diligently, things do happened. The more events you joined, i would think that you would become more humble and understanding. Humbled by the experience and distance, understanding the pain and joy your fellow runners experienced cos you do experienced them yourself.

Ultimately, you run your race at your own pace, everyone joined a marathon/ultra for their own reasons, to challenge our own limit, to get the finisher tee/medal, to accompany your gf/bf (oh yah it should not be the slow runners that should be penalised, i saw one couple where the gf was literally clinging on to the bf during the whole time i was behind them, i would think there are more appropriate time and place to show affections),..whatever your reasons, there should never be anyone else telling you otherwise (unless its a doc for your own safety). But seriously, do get some training, dun just run a marathon/ultra without training thinking you can make it, yes you may pull it off but you may never know at what cost.

If you are a fast runner and you dun want to be blocked by the slow runners, reached the start line earlier, get to the front and you can chiong without being blocked, just make sure u dun blocked the other faster runners.

*************************************************************************************
02.June
took a day off from training, overdo it at CBD run :P. Realised that recovery process is slow..sigh..

03.June
ok, need to get the engine started again.
Did a slow run in gym while watching glee, cool.

Distance : 8km/treadmill

04.June
lazy :P

05.June
the mind is willing the body is not :P, so skip the morning run.

Distance : 15km
Time: 1hr 45mins
Treadmill

06.June
went for a short run on the treadmill before i head for the movie. Wanted to do 10 but ended up only 6km as cant really tahan the boredom.

Watched Echoes of the Rainbow - 歲月神偷, story plot is nothing new, but the acting and the cinematography is still worth the price. Too bad its not in Cantonese, but in Mandarin, somehow the movie lost some of its charm because of this. Prepare tissue paper...:P

07.June
rest day. went to register for class next sem.

08.June
Treadmill 10km
slowly going to up the speed, previously going for slow run, now need to up the speed and time to go for intervals and hill soon.

09.June
Treadmill 12km
up the speed a bit, felt ok, but still below the expected of 6mins/km. Nevermind la, slowly build up.

10.June
No run, work late

11.June
went back early to watch the games

12.June
MR 13km?
Time 2hrs 07mins

Been a while since MR, too much time was spent burning rubber @ECP, great to be back in the trail. A bit chuen, too much flats, need to hit the hills liao, decided to do a shorter version, now still can ask for discount :P.

The route to Ranger station was cordoned off and had to run/walk on the boardwalk, not so nice, too many staircase, dunno how the new route for TNF will be with this diversion.

The weather was humid but really felt good, time to bring out the VFF liao.

Play a modified version of cardgame, had yummy curry puff (recommended by XZ, thanks sir!)

13.June
went makan and jalan with my aunty from Penang.

14.June
took half day off, sent my aunty to the airport, another round of makan :P

Run: 8km/Treadmill..did a slow one...lazy

15.June
had too much to eat today...the bak chang is the culprit..

was feeling lazy..so did just 5km on the treadmill while watching The Noose...stupiak haha.

Saw this guy at the gym..bobby chinn..recognised him cos he was on a tv programme and he introduce penang food.

16.June
down with flu..sianz just because kena a bit of rain..man i am becoming too girly liao...how can that be!!!

17.June
slept instead of running

18.June
Treadmill 11km
Saw Utt walked passed me at Orchard...cool

19 - 20.June
sick again..stayed in bed :(

21.June
10km/treadmill
slow

22.June
8km/treadmill
slow

23. June
had stitich, had to do some cross training and cycling instead of running.

24.June
work late

25.June
work late

26.June
MR 10km, thanks Tao and Yankee

27.June
10km + 2km/Treadmill

28.June
Rest Day

29.June
11km/treadmill

30.June
10km/treadmill

superfood

2010-05-19T00:15:00.002+08:00

find something nice to snack on .... =>bell pepper. Read somewhere that capsaicin (from the chili peppers) may help to fight obesity. too bad the amount of capsaicin in bell pepper is not as high as the other members of the capsicum family, if not it would a great fat burning food :P...nevermind, i will slowly progress to chili padi in due time.

shoes

2010-05-17T14:52:00.006+08:00

was at orchard cineleisure for ironman2 last weekend and while waiting for the show, i went into this shop, "Rockstar by soon lee", poorer by 98 bucks and gain one comfy shoes :P

Training Log May 2010

2010-05-05T11:21:00.022+08:00

The flu bugs are having a fantastic time in the office :(

1 May - 3 May
no run

4 May
10km
treadmill
"Trauma" is not bad.

hmmm...i think i am in big trouble...always falling sick and worst with all the bugs and virus circulating in the office + no run...hopefully worst case scenario...walk all the way for the sundown....14 hrs??? can finish??

dunno what kind of dog shit luck i have this year in terms of health...on mc for the past two days...man...this is bad...ok, will go on detox diet from tomorrow (as one of the kakis said its always start from tmr :P haha). too much stress too much toxin in the body!!.sian

13 May
It felt so good to run even when its a super slow run :P
12km
treadmill

14 May
no run

15 May
although i know i shouldnt be doing this, but the apprehension about the upcoming event got the better of me. I think this is the toughest run i have ever did so far....8 hrs on the treadmill...50km...i almost vomited when i stepped down, not because of the run...but just sheer boredom....but at least i have done it...although i dun think i will go near any treadmill for quite sometimes.

16 May
rest

17 May
decided to 發奮圖強, woke up at 5..damn raining. head for gym, managed to drag myself on the treadmill....max 2km. Swam 1km, the pool was deserted, the rain and wind must have been powerful, some of the chairs were in the pool.

the whole office was quite empty, almost all save three of us were on course, boss on mc...so it was a peaceful day, managed to clear most of the backlog. Left the office early so decided to head for the gym. Made ten on the treadmill while watching red eye.

eighteen.may
couldnt wake up in the morning....sigh. well, tmr is another day :P

went for a run in the evening.

ten - treadmill

nineteen.may
ten/treadmill
watched Glee while running, showing songs from Madonna...cool.

20-21. may
no run

22.may
supposed to run in the morning..things packed...well....what do you know..i overslept, if not for XZ'sms, i would still be zzz..this is bad...paiseh guys...not very discipline of me...

went to gym later to make up for the missed run..did 15.7km ard 1:45, had to go to the toilet twice...LS...dunno why...think the whole body is breaking apart..

23.may
went to the gym to do some easy run, ran seven on the treadmill...felt so sian, decided to stop..but at least i got to watch the ending of the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy, hehe i dun have to read the novel...not that its not a good novel..perhaps it is ...i wont know...i hold a book i will zzzzz. So nowadays i found the benefit of audio book!! yaay.

---countdown to D-day : tapering week---

24.may
2km run/treadmill
35min swim

25.may
8km run/treadmill

26.may
10km run/treadmill
watching ninja warrior and american idol and glee at the same time....too intense for me.

27.may
swim 30 mins..slow and easy.

Got off earlier..its eat dinner with your family day. Went to watch Prince of Persia..it actually not that bad, the effect is ok, the fighting scene is surprisingly interesting. Dont bother watching it in 3D, i think the normal one should be nice enough.

28.may
lots of makan and zzz.
went for a mini carbo loading @ HV, actually was caught in the rain, so decided to eat at Crystal Jade. Had congee with preserved eggs and celery sauteed with baihe and macademia nuts.

29.may
D day...nerveous..but still glad that its here now...gonna just go and enjoy the journey.

May.Day
Thank you to all the supporters!! Tao, Ivy, Tiwazz, Charlotte, Terence, Gen, Claire, HoHo & Hui San, Piglet...(*sorry if missed out...cldnt remember what happened last night). And a big thanks to our kick ass pacer :)..Thanks to Tekko and Mrs Tekko for the coke :). Thanks sir for the company!

good or bad, pain or relaxing..its over now...for now i will say its my last SD...(but will never know...:P). and god damn it...i didnt even lose a single pound from all the running and walking..

31 May
2 days after SD, walk like crab, sit down cannot get up :P. Ate like mad, felt forever hungry. Decided to rest but still did quite some walking and stairs climbing, better for recovery.

the long weekend

2010-05-03T04:42:00.003+08:00

hmm....actually no training for the past 1 week...thrown in the bugs, trip back home, hot weather and work...you have the perfect receipe for a disasterous week...tired+sick+overeating (something that never failed to happen when i went back home + lack of sleep). Well, the weekend ended with over sleeping..even missed two sessions of class :(

But, the trip home was wonderful, the weather is much much hotter than i remembered, i was literally pouring with sweat even sitting under the shades with the fans on. Went to a few new eatery places, food was nice, but just a shame that my mom and grandma dont seems to cook anymore...i tell you nothing beats homecook meal, not even the so called best char koay teow in the world..but next time i can show you one of the best hor fun, sour soup bee hoon and the Penang version of the French Stall. And now it seems that there is this fanciful drink called white kopi...you have George Town coffee on top of the Old Town..hmmm. Anyway, whoever is in power, whatever big issues or scandal...we penangnite is still very particular about our food, 民以食為天. too bad didnt bring my tok kong camera home...since we are doing studio photos, if not can show some yummy photos. And i just discovered that all my family members have very "fierce" driving skills..cukup garang...and also RM 50.00 cant buy you much these days.

2010-04-19T23:11:00.004+08:00

Couples in Malaysia going through marital problems will soon be given a government sponsored "second honeymoon" to help rekindle the romance.
A Malaysian state is offering free second honeymoons for couples on the brink of divorce, hoping that romantic getaways will help rekindle their marriages, an official said.

Under the ambitious plan, feuding couples will spend three days and two nights on one of the tropical islands off Terengganu state, said government official Ashaari Idris. “Newly-wed couples are facing numerous problems. Among them are financial issues and problems related to their in-laws,” said Ashaari, the state’s welfare, community development and women affairs committee chairman.

“Before marriage, all was good. But after marriage, some are unable to cope with the new challenges,” he told. “I want to strengthen family ties. If a marriage breaks down, it will hurt the children and it will have serious implications on society.” Couples will have to make an application and then undergo an interview before being accepted for the package, which is worth an estimated 1,500 Ringgit ($440).

[source from http://www.thenews.com.pk/blog/blog_details.asp?id=325]

......dunno what to say.....O.o|||

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I love my country but not the bunch of monkeys governing them...sad..can cry you know when you look at the state of things back home...ruling party haiz...dunnno what to say...oppposition party also...dunno what to say...mati lah...

i am a GLEEK!

2010-04-14T23:21:00.003+08:00

its official, i am a GLEEK...a what???!!!
:P When you show up at gym on Wed 930pm not for a run but because u dun have star world and you want to watch the show, you buy the cd and you listen to the songs over and over and over ....over again...you know u are a fan.

Ok, i am hooked on Glee...i know i am slow when it comes to the "in" thing, the whole world probably ....no...definitely has gone crazy over Glee...and i only begin to notice them near the end of season one...but they are good...they sing much much better than a lot of the so called singers out there..and it doesnt hurt that sone of the guys are cute :P

2010-04-05T11:08:00.002+08:00

So glad that i decided to go back home....sometimes, you never know how much you missed home until you have been away for so long. sure i kept telling myself its ok, go home also nothing much but still you know....you are never really able to "detach" yourself from your root completely, something in your blood is calling you home.

another sign of growing old...

Training Log Apr 10

2010-04-02T14:19:00.021+08:00

2 Apr
ECP 30km /VFF
Time: 3:47

3 Apr
ECP 12km?/VFF
Time : 1:30

4 Apr
MR 10km/VFF
Time : my polar died-ed

5 Apr
Rest day

6 & 7 Apr
work late no run :(

8 Apr
on course, ran in the gym / VFF
morning : 10km
evening : 10km

9 Apr
closing...

10 Apr
wanted to do a long run..but down with fever and flu. sianz

11 Apr
No run, still having fever and flu.

12 Apr
Getting back in action. Felt like running, went for a no-timing run after class.
Distance : 10.9km /VFF
Home-Holland Rd-Napier-Grange Rd-River Valley-Zion Rd-Alexandra Rd-Tanglin Rd-Napier Rd-Holland-Home.

13 Apr
12km/VFF
Treadmill

14 Apr
10km/VFF
Treadmill

15 Apr
work late, didnt run

16 Apr
8km/VFF
Treadmill

17 Apr
29km/VFF
ECP
...heart is willing, the legs are not!

18 Apr
Rest day.....

19 Apr
class no run

20 Apr
8km/Adidas
Treadmill
Archilles --- a bit swollen but still can tong....but half way through need to go LS, ate too much healthy food...(whole grain bread plus lettuce and chilli sauce for breakfast, lunch and dinner)...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apr 2
this gotta be one of those belated april fool prank. waking up on an holiday for a run :P

the longest run on fingers was 16km, today is gonna be something new...new level of pain.

Things were ok till 15km (sometimes i do feel its psychological, subconsciously i "believed" that i am going to "died-ed" on the return leg, even though the feet can still hold on for a little bit longer). True enough after the green fence, the will gave way, felt like i needed the walk badly, thanks to XD for the company, although i can see him itchy to run back. Also thanks to the guys for waiting up. Think actually only ran 25km and walked the balance 5km. The palm of the feet is super sore, surprisingly the calf and AT is ok, but super tired, slept through the whole session of foot massage.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

人在江湖..haiz simple thingy also can turned out to be such a complicated issue, cos ppl are complicated!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

wanted to watch clash of the titans....but its all sold out except those midnight shows...damn...so i settled for A Single Man....was quite uncomfortable watching two men kissing, not that its disgusting, but just uncomfortable...it turned out to be quite a beautiful story..Colin Firth is wonderfully brilliant. To quote one of the lines from the movie " something awful has its own beauty.." its not only just a gay story but about love, fear, loneliness, the struggle to find meaning in life, the courage to live on despite the hurt and pain. Love the clothes and the whole 60's feel.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apr 3
when the alarm went off at 4, i was like you gotta be kidding me, felt like i only hit the pillow 5 mins ago, but well if i needed to be crazy, this is one of those days.

weather was humid, will is not strong but was glad i've gotten the lazy bum down for the run. Calf was not that sore, had a great chit chat which took away some of the shag-ness. Great run and great company, thanks guys.

watched Clash of the titans..kinda disappointed..according to the legends, Perseus married Andromeda but in the movie he didnt, anyway, its just another action movie ...nothing special..maybe i expected too much. Sam Worthington is....forgettable. Rather i found Draco (played by the guy who played Le Chiff in Casino Royale)...quite charmin :P

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Apr 4
it was drizzling when head out to MR, but decided to go anyway cos normally the rain will stop near start time. 5 of us braved the rain and the slopes.

Calf was ok, but hamstring was tight, cool weather to run, really fun :) great company, great run. Thanks guys.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

i love my VFF

2010-03-31T21:16:00.002+08:00

ok...after much torture wearing the vff...i must confess i love it...the saddist in me. i can literally feel everything (try the sharp stones and pebbles at MR...FREE FOOT MASSAGE), which someone commented it means you are ALIVE. Dunno how long i can last but despite the complaining...i love it...hope to get a second pair next month :P

Training Log Mar 10

2010-03-03T11:53:00.026+08:00

Week 1
Mar01
No run, short getaway for the weekend.
Sleep a lot, eat a lot as well. Thanks guys for the company.

Mar02
Back to reality.
Run 15km on treadmill
Time : 1hr37mins

Seems like the bugs are having a big party in the office, quite a number of people are fallen ill.

Mar03
Cant stop coughing after came out from my big boss' room, chest felt congested with phlegm, have hard time breathing.

Run 12km on treadmill
Time : 1hr25mins

Mar04
Felt worse this morning, felt feverish. My team is all down with sickness...not a good start, hope thing will improve soon.

coughing until cant breath, cant sleep at night, down two packets of strepsils like candy.

decided to skip training tonight and head to Velocity to get my VFF KSO...paid cash get 10% discount = 179.10 (original retail price = 199).

Mar05
lost my voice..great dun have to talk..sometimes felt too tired and lazy to open my mouth, but yet have to put up a front so that ppl dun think i am snobbish, its tiring to try to strike up a conversation when you dun feel like it. I really rather just see and watch and listen.

the whole body was aching by the time i reached home from work, just drop and sleep, couldnt even bother to change into my pj..i am that tired

Mar06
woke up at 3am..coughing, cant breathe, damn, what would i give to be healthy..

damn tired...ok i am sick of saying tired....this has to stop...

woke up at 10am again ..coughing, the chest feels painful, the cough syrup doesnt help, finished the lozenges...drank two big cups of water...feel like vomiting...sian

went for a massage at 130...pain...the therapist told me that i have problem with my neck, back, need to go back for more sessions...i also know that...if i do not need to sit in the office for 10 hours in that little cubicle, carrying the 3kg laptop back and forth daily, my neck and back problem is non existent...anyway...i am boring myself with these constant ranting...

tried my VFF on treadmill this afternoon...the first 10km was still ok, calf felt sore...but expected after the massage. Was coughing...kinda hard to breathe properly..had to stop and drink warm water to keep the throat moist. From the 14km onwards. the calf was killing me, had to stop every 1km to stretch..its really different wearing the paw and VFF...cant wait to try the VFF in MR.....ouchhhh..man, i was really glad when it hit 20.

Run : 20km
Time : 3hrs?
Treadmill

Watching The Departed....still feel that the Infernal Affairs is way better than The Departed, Martin Scorsese or not...perhaps i am bias...but i feel closer to the IA than TD...

Had sandwich at Botak Jones, bread too hard, mayo too much...aiya i am in the ranting mood today...although the food is bad..(not bad but just that i dun feel good)...i like to eat out...cos its very lonely to eat at home alone...at least outside i have at least 10-20 ppl eating with me :P

Mar07
felt worse this morning, coughing continued, the chest felt like a battle field, ready to experience rounds and rounds of bombardment. Stayed in bed the whole day, waking up from one dream to another, one minute i was fighting dragons (fell asleep when i was watching the trailer on how to train your dragon), one minute i was having a feast of dong por meat and kao liang wine...man i dont even know what they taste like in real life...perhaps like 莊子...perhaps your life is just a dream, and you dont know whether at this moment you are dreaming or living in real life...昔者莊周夢為蝴蝶，栩栩然蝴蝶也，自喻適志與，不知周也。俄然覺，則蘧蘧然周也。不知周之夢為蝴蝶與，蝴蝶之夢為周與？週與蝴蝶則必有分矣。此之謂物化.

giving myself the ultimatum....no more being sick..gotta get myself well and back on track for training...being idling too long...time to buckle up liao...

its 330am, and i am here blogging...my insomnia is back...its a kind of selective insomnia...i know i should be sleeping i needed the sleep. but somehow stubbornly i just cant seems to fall asleep..reading this book ..a french novel translated into chinese, i was looking for the english version, then it struck me what is the difference right...since i dunno french, so whichever translation doesnt matter...its kinda interesting.J'aurais Prefere Vivre...roughly translated as a "i would rather live"...the chinese book title is something like a stolen life...interesting plot...a twenty yr old guy killed himself on his twentieth birthday because the girl he loves didnt love him back ...and for the next 9 times, he woke up on the morning of his birthday not remembering anything that happened in between his sleep and discover that the girl he loved married him, give birth to a son...just that he cant remember what happened between the sleep and the awakening...what went wrong...who has stolen his life....read till page 76 only.....need to read further...i need coffee with cream...two piece of toast with butter and cheese...

Mar08
coughing continue...haiz, skipped class, slept or rather trying to sleep...training is out.

Mar09
went to work..coughing like mad, wore a mask..felt like alien. Think training is out for the whole week...haiz

Mar 10 - Mar 11
no run - working late and haven recover from the cough.

Mar 12
Run 12km
time 1hr27mins
treadmill
feeling more comfortable in the fingers, still coughing but not that bad...

Mar 13-14
Sick again, no run...sianz
Felt like this is a sick bay log instead of training log :(

Mar 15
Finally able to clock some mileage on the road with my fingers. Got a bloody blister on the big toe, felt cramp on the left feet...
Run : 12km
Time : 1hr 30mins
Home-Holland Rd-Napier Rd-Grange Rd-Devonshire Rd-Oxley Rise-Clemenceau Ave-River Valley Rd-Delta Rd-Alexandra Rd-Dawson Place-Margaret Drive-Home

Mar 16
Work late, no run

Mar 17
Run 13.5km
Treadmill
Time : 1hr 35mins
The calf felt sng..

Mar 18
Run 6km
Treadmill
Did a slow run..planned to do longer but the calf really cannot make it...its a big difference between the paw and fingers, with the paw, back to back run at a longer distance is not that siong. Need time to get used to the fingers.

Mar 19
Rest day

Mar 20
Planned to run this morning from home...but at the end forgot it...came home last nite at 11pm...dun think i can wake up at 230 to start my run at 3am in order to rendevouz with the guys at 530 at ecp.

Been a while since i run with the guys....blame it on laziness :P. Finally, managed to get my lazy bum out of bed and head to B1. Today's aim to run 16km in the fingers, so far the longest is 13.5km in the gym, 12km on the road.

having a hard time keeping up with the pace..its been a while :P, time to buckle up. The calf felt sng after the first 4km, need to adjust the landing as not to strain the metatarsals (?), had the strange feeling that you get when you know you sprain something. The archilles tendon also felt the impact, felt sore.

It was nice that the guys took it easy this morning, if this is a siong training, i think i wont last the first leg.

I was glad when we reached the end point, the impact was only felt after the rest..had a difficult time getting up and walking, felt like as if i had just ran a marathon :P

A bit worry whether this could cause injury to the archilles tendon, since there is frequent pain and soreness. Still feel quite heavy when running especially when fatigue starts to kick in, the strike will changed from midfoot to heel strike. It is so much different from what it should be, ie a gentle touch on the ground and then you bounced off ....like tip toeing on the surface of the water leaving behind a small ripple...what i did was like elephant tramping through the jungle :P perhaps something to do with being fat :P .....definitely need to shed more than a couple of kilos..could there be a possibility of barefoot heel strike?

Had a lot of thoughts this morning when i was running...dun see much point and meaning in chiong for more and more PB, (just an excuse cos i guess i had hit my limit :P), just feel like taking it easy, complete the race, enjoy the atmosphere and scenery, the comaraderie.

anyway, thanks to the guys for the company. had breakfast at killiney.....lao sai afterwards :P guess my stomach just cannot take nasi lemak :P went for a second round of breakfast at Oocha Paragon :P japanese porridge...i think i still prefer teochew porridge.

Felt a bit apprehensive...gonna try the fingers in MR tomorrow....dunno will pai kar tmr or not...

Mar 21
when i went to sleep last night, the calf was really sore, hoping that it will recover in the morning. I knew it was not going to be my day when i woke up at 4am in the morning, every step taken was painful, even now when i am sitting down blogging i can still feel the soreness. Guess i was too ambitious to think i could recover so fast..even the butt felt pain. So have to give MR a miss today, need to put in more mileage in the fingers first before i try MR.

was kinda welcoming the rain this afternoon, managed to clock some sleep mileage, thought that when one gets older, the sleep requirement will get lesser...but it seems like its not the case...i constantly crave for a good sleep, but the problem is when i woke up, i didnt feel refresh...i felt more tired..too much dreams..haiz...

Mar 22
Class - no run

Mar 23
Treadmill
12km
1hr 18 mins
getting more comfy in the fingers, no blisters yaaay (touch wood)

Mar 24
Treadmill
12km
1hr 25mins
watched glee while running, fun show.

Mar 25, 26
no run, lazy :P

Mar 27
ECP 16km
1:57

went for DTM....PAIN ~~~~~~~~~

super hungry...even after the BIG B/F at the BIG M. After the DTM, went for lunch at CBTL...i guess i must be super hungry...their tomato and herb linguine tasted great...

Mar 28
MR 10.5km
Time: 1 hr 40plus?? my watch died-ed :(
ran in the fingers for the first time in MR, calf surprising didnt feel sore but the base of the foot ......its like a free paiful foot massage...at some points have to jump from one spot to another to avoid the sharp stones/pebbles. Lucky today we took it easy..but was great to revisit MR since the ultra last Dec.

Mar 29
rest day.

Mar 30
run home from work.
Ard 16.5km - 2hr18
super sore, super tired...but glad i make it back in one piece.

Training Log 22 Feb 2010

2010-02-24T22:50:00.001+08:00

Mon 22/02
class - no run

Tue 23/02
OT...no run

Wed 24/02
Run 11km
Treadmill

Happy Lunar New Year

2010-02-14T22:02:00.007+08:00

The new year started well..went to gym, ran and cycle...man i am getting old...

watch 14 blades...lots of fighting scenes...storyline nothing fantastic, fighting scene a bit "luan"...but still anything with donnie yen...good enough for me :P

didnt go back home, spent the eve cleaning up the room, wash clothes, cooked porridge..plain porridge with fermented tofu...heaven..

--------

Sat 13/02
Run
20km
Treadmil

Watched 14 Blades, almost missed the opening scene...

Sun 14/02
Run
10km
Treadmil
1 hr RPM

Mon 15/02
Run
10km
Treadmill

Watched Nine. Surprisingly a good movie, love the costumes, the set, the scenary, the girls (Penelope Cruz is hot), Daniel Day-Lewis is quite convincing as a great italian director (although i wont know how a great italian director supposed to look like). Fergie looks....big....

Tue 16/02
Run
10km
Treadmill

Wed 17/02
Run
10km
Treadmill

Thurs 18/02
no run
discovered something yummy...mixed fermented tofu with del monte whole kernel corn..yum yum

Fri 19/02
Rest day

Sat 20/02
Morning - class, so glad i went for class....

Run
20km
Treadmill

Sun 21/02
went for foot massage...was damn tired to run afterwards....nonetheless
run 7.5km (3km-walk, 4.5 run....very slow)
treadmill
was getting really really bored...so i went for a movie : Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief...no brainer...but got great looking guys..why not.

Training Log Feb 09

2010-02-02T21:05:00.003+08:00

After one full month of "slacking" with zero mileage, life is back on track. Issues at work are resolved, on a personal front, i have finally make up my mind to stick to my current employment. There are lots of things to learn, much to explore....money is slightly better (have to be realistic). So now is back to focus on my training, need to catch up on the mileage and also trying to lose the excess baggage. All those input needs serious output.

Mon
no run - class

Tue
ten km

Wed
work late

Training log 18 Jan 2010

2010-01-20T23:26:00.010+08:00

after one whole week of "rest", its back to business as usual.

Mon 18 Jan
Class - no run

Tue 19 Jan
Swim 33 mins
Run: 8km
on treadmill

run to live or live to run -just need to know why you run...if you are happy ..so be it, 在己不在人. running may be 必要的, but 还算不上重要

Read somewhere that pelmeni, ravioli, tortellini..etc...could have originated from China (Dumpling) when the Mongols introduced this dish to the places they travelled to.

Watched Its complicated last week, its funny, and felt strange to listen to ladies in their 50s and 60s talked about sex and vagina..its like imagining my mom laughing and joking about these subject with her frens and i am eavesdropping on the whole conversation. Utterly weird!

Enjoyed Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin's acting, felt that Steve Martin looked weird...when he is not in his usual comedy role... still cant imagine him as another character other than Jacques Clouseau. Perhaps we all should learn to let go and move forward. There is too many could be, should be, its the choice that we have made, path that we have taken, the pros and the cons, the risk involved, the rewards that awaits, there should not be any regrets or hate.

Anyway, its a movie to watch...honestly this is way way way better than Did you hear about the Morgans?

today i very hao lian...my company asked whether i want to run 10km for the corporate relay..i said no..cos i am running 84...haha felt so paiseh aftwerwards..cos said so loud in front of my boss :P really hao lian...

Wed 20 Jan
went to buy books instead of running....9 books in total

Training Log 11 Jan.....

2010-01-14T20:38:00.003+08:00

Training log...or the lack of it...Mon - Thur...no running at all...so depressing...but i really dun feel like running when you have to work from 7 plus in the morning till 12 plus or beyond.. I am so so deprived of my runs!!

Training Log 04-01-10

2010-01-04T13:07:00.007+08:00

Mon 04 Jan
I think the heaven was in tears this morning when i finally managed to get my lazy bum out of bed at 530am on a weekday to go for a run. Was soaking wet half way through the run, but i enjoyed it!

My feet are too pampered by the paw, it was so uncomfortable when i wore my NB..strange.

Distance : 6.8km
Time : 48 min 32 sec
QW-Holland Rd-Tanglin Rd-Margaret Drive-QW

Tue 05 Jan
Distance : 12km
Time : ard 1hr 30mins
The watch die-ded half way through the run from office. Not a good run, felt tired...must be slacking too much lately.

Wed - Sat
no workout for these few days, work has been busy, year end closing. Started work early and ended late.

Sun
dun feel like running...enough said

Training Log 02-01-10

2010-01-02T20:45:00.002+08:00

Sat 02-01-10
Distance : 13km?
Time : 1hr 35mins
One of my fav, but unfortunately, the right foot cant take it, decided to cut short the run after the reflection at bukit chandu. Head back to SP via SBV Rd towards Dover Rd. Did 2km on the track and went for a jog on the meadow park?

B/f was great but the eyes were quite heavy..felt so sleepy.

New year

2010-01-01T23:09:00.003+08:00

01-01-10
been slacking for the past one year! so now is time to put the "heart" back into serious training and be more productive in the career! (noticed i didnt use the word job....cos its sounds so demoralising....job is something you have to do cos you need to feed your stomach...but a career is something you love to do and you have a passion to do it well and of course get paid in the process of doing so!)

So for the first day, did something nice :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

2010-01-01T00:15:00.001+08:00

2009-12-30T23:22:00.003+08:00

2009 - not a great year but not too bad either, could have been better but it's always the case..need to be thankful and grateful that family is safe, health is good, pocket is not too empty, still can eat, run a bit, sleep ok, still can return back to office next year. And attending my sis' wedding was the greatest moment :)

2010
hope work life balance is not just a slogan...hopefully it will come true!
Run a bit more
Eat less
Read more
be more considerate, understanding
healthier
treat family and friends better, not to take them for granted.
listen more and talk less
travel more

Training Log 28 Dec - 31 Dec

2009-12-28T19:41:00.004+08:00

Mon 28 dec
slept quite early last night, one of those rare nights. Woke up feeling refresh, calf not sore, only the shoulder and arms are aching, the left arm is soring probably from the impact of the fall yesterday. Tripped on some rocks during the 3rd or 4th round...cant really remember, yesterday's event seems so blur...no clear recollection.

Decided to give myself an off day today. Dunno why, craving for fried rice and constantly feeling hungry :P

Tue 29 dec
no workout...working late

Wed 30 dec
no workout as well :P lazy!

2009-12-28T12:14:00.005+08:00

kinda late to send santa a letter for my wishlist, guess i have to save up on my own. I wish i could get one of these...too bad kindle is not available in Singapore, but the iriver is...for the price of 499...*sweat*

Iriver

Kindle

FOOD Inc

2009-12-28T12:07:00.007+08:00

Watched this movie last night...kinda make you rethink what you put into your mouth...

i hate Monday

2009-12-22T12:37:00.008+08:00

Mon 21 dec
I hate monday....

anyway, woke up with sore throat and flu like symptom...officially declared myself unfit for workout (another excuse for being lazy and to make time to "chase" the NCIS online :P)

sometimes i felt like slapping myself...told myself not to be too ambitious next year, limit to 2 events can liao....need more time to study and catch up on my reading and yet before the year has ended, i have already filled up my quota..damn. ok la, no complaint and cant blame anyone, who ask me to have itchy hands and legs. Sometimes, no one pushed, i will also jump...chinese said 犯贱...無藥可救

Tue 22 dec
lovely surprise...my boss from hong kong sent us the team, a bouquet of flowers, chocolate and a kenzo perfume...so so touched....

Wed 23 dec
xmas party in office...work till 9 plus...no workout again

Thu 24 dec
woke up to a rainy morning...rushed to watch Sherlock Holmes :P
went shopping...felt feverish, must have catch a cold.

Fri 25 dec
woke to migraine, fever...slept the whole day..

and i realised why i am sick...i am deprived of caffeine....haven had a cup of kopi for the past two days..no wonder i have headache in the morning....i can stand without ocffee on weekend but not on weekdays..somehow the body is equipped with some auto-detect system...if the caffeine level went below certain amount it will trigger an alert...that translate into migraine....

6 days without any running....

Sat 26 dec
Distance :10km
Time : 1hr 16mins

slowly coming out of my caffeine withdrawal syndrome, felt better, went for a slow run in the gym. Usually i absolutely despise starbuck coffee..but when you are desperate enough, you dun care....their caffe latte even taste heavenly..once the first sip of coffee is down the throat, i can literally felt every single cell in the body down to the proton, electron and whatever -tron there is came alive, bursting with energy...:P

clean up the room, bought a new book on the murder of king tut and looking forward to the egyptian exhibition at the museum, dunno whether can get discount off the ticket.

watched 2 seasons of NCIS and 60 episode of TVB's 1986 The Turbulance Decade 黃金十年

Sun 27 dec
haven done a MR ultra since 2006, felt like its time to do one this year.

Firstly, thank you to the great support team, Joanna, Yankee, Tiwazz, Charlotte, ST, Regina, Piglet, Laser, Roonz...

The paw serves me quite well, no PF, no calf pain..but blisters :( lucky can "tong" till 5 laps then 收工. overall, still quite happy with the run today...at least minimum burnt 3000 calories :P but i think i have put back liao..

Distance : 52.5km
Time : 7hrs 29mins
mission accomplished

Training 14 Dec 09

2009-12-14T22:59:00.005+08:00

Mon 14 dec
Distance : 12km
Time : 1hr 22 mins
treadmill

Tue 15 dec
Treadmill
1.5km @ 5.30/km: 2mins rest
1.5km @ 5.15/km :2mins rest
1.2km @ 5.00/km :2mins rest
1.2km @ 5.00/km :2mins rest
1.2km @ 5.00/km :2mins rest
1.0km slow jog

Wed 16 dec
i didnt know that a staff performance appraisal can stretch to a 5 hours meeting on how to streamline job processes. But it was a good one, managed to establish an understanding with my team, clean up the slate. Everything will start afresh come next year, everyone knows what they need to do and what they have to do to get things done. Also learnt that listening is more powerful than talking, at least for my case, my decision to sit down and take some time to listen to my team gave me a lot of insights into their work scope, difficulties. Just realised that as a team leader i should take such initiative long time ago, clear the doubts, previously was too chicken to confront them, or rather to face any disputes, hoping that by keeping silence, things can go away...just like an ostrich. Well, at least now everything is on the table.

Thur 17 dec
had a great outing with the girls, lots of makan...jia lat..

Fri 18 dec
too much good food is "killing" me...woke up in the morning feeling dizzy with sore throat..the past few days has been eating too much fried food with lots of chili...:P

the whole day felt drained of energy..

decided not to run tmr morning..lazy ...and also felt that i really needed a good rest.

Sat 19 dec
slept till 12 plus...woke up with headache.
went for a run at the gym...a bad one. by the time 1 reached 12.5km @ 7mins pace...i was already feeling so drained out..

Sun 20 dec
feverish and headache when i woke up this morning with sore throat. so i guess no work out for today. whole body is aching...think really down with flu.

sian.....

I hate Monday.....

Training 07 dec

2009-12-07T22:52:00.011+08:00

Mon 07 dec
Distance : 10km
Time : 1hr04mins
Treadmill

since the "H"opehagen summit is going on...was thinking how as a runner we can be more environmental friendly (just look at the paper cups and plastic bottles...etc after a running events....)

a) bring your own cup or hydration pack when you run (less paper cup used). If remember correctly, there is a veteran Japanese runner who brings his own cup to every running events. Get those foldable cup...something like those mid-autumn lantern? (if any????) :P light and can be kept easily.

b) power gel..hmmm dunno what is the solution....maybe just eat banana? since the waste will be bio-degradable.

c) go for running shoes/gear which use environmental friendly materials...since we changed shoes frequently...for those with high mileage...easily two-three pairs per annum...times that by thousands and millions of runners/walkers/joggers...etc..imagine that.........or...better still run BAREFOOT :P or of course...Recycle...donate your shoes..

d) what do you do with all your running certificates??? hell i dunno where i put them ...so why the hell do we want a hardcopy in the first place...the medal and the finisher tee is enough to show off to my mom and friends...maybe we can opt for "digital certificate"..save postage save paper. If we need a copy for any other purpose just print a copy.

just some silly thoughts

Tue 08 dec
working late...decided to give myself a rest day :P

Wed 09 dec
Distance : 12km
Time : 1hr 13mins
Treadmill
getting more and more used to the paw :)

Thu 10 dec
Too much xmas carbo-loading...felt sluggish and very nuah....just wanted to go back home and zzz :P
guess its the season to nuah...

Fri 11 dec
testing files....madness....

Sat 12 dec
Distance ; 28km
Time : 4hr 15mins
MR
the paw has served me well, although at the end of the run, the calf is sore, but surprisingly its not worse than the usual condition when was wearing ascis or nb. arch is painful but still bearable. hopefully one day can really run barefooted in mr...that would be a great massage session :P

Sun 13 dec
thought i could go for a run...but lazy me...no excuse ...weak mind :P ended up watching a perfect getaway...not a fantastic story plot...almost 1/4 into the movie you would have already figured out that what you see may not be what they are..one or two red herring (not red snapper :P) but eventually you get the story. no fanciful high tech gadget, no sky flying kung fu, just a simple storyline...frankly not worth the 7.20...but i wont mind going to a scenery and secluded island with a hunk like timothy olyphant :P even though it meant being chased after by some physco murderer.

Training 30 nov

2009-11-30T22:50:00.010+08:00

Mon 30 nov
Distance : 10km
Time : 1hr 02mins
treadmill

tried the paw...not too bad, but the real test would be on the road not on the treadmill.

Tue 01 dec
rest

Wed 02 dec
Distance : 12km
Time : 1hr 18mins
Treadmill

Thur 03 dec
Distance : 10km
Time : 1hr 08mins
Treadmill
getting used to the paw, hopefully can use that on the road soon

Fri 04 dec
down with flu, rest

Sat 05 dec
felt restless..something i know could be cured by a run. head for the gym, just wanted to run and vent out that anxiety.

Distance : 15km
Time : 1hr45mins
Treadmill

Sun 06 dec
thanks to XZ for the company, great run today, tried out the paw. will be using it more for future run at MR.

Distance : 22km
Time : 3hrs 26mins
MR

Mon 07 dec - surprisingly, the PF is ok, calf is not sore, at least today when i walk down the stairs i dun have to scream for help. Quite a good deal for Sgd 70plus (after 30% is only Sgd 50 plus..cheaper than Nike free or vibram!)

Training 23 Nov

2009-11-23T21:30:00.010+08:00

Mon
after the run on weekend, i could barely walk down the stairs, but the urge to run was still there, perhaps i am trying too much too fast. Head down to SP track to try out barefoot running. The result....cut on my toe other than that..felt great...although now i cant even walk up the stairs...calf too sore.

Distance : 4.2km
Time
1st 400m - 2:20
2nd 400m - 2:17
3rd 400m - 2:12
4th 400m - 2:12
5th 400m - 2:07
6th 400m - 2:06
7th 400m - 2:07
8th 400m - 2:07
9th 400m - 2:32
10th 400m - 2:18
11th 400m - 2:40 (had to wear shoes --got cut on the toe)

Not fast but felt good.

At first it felt awkward, sure have walk barefooted or even ran barefooted before, but never like this. The feet intercepted the signal firsthanded, instead of being blocked out by the shoes. Became more alert and aware of how to land and push off and one thing for sure...can really feel pain firsthand..but its fun, felt free but damn awkward and became more careful trying not to land on sharp objects or small peebles. Perhaps this is the first trial...haven really condition yet...still felt strange. Well, will try next week.

....gotta get the kso.....

Tue 24 nov
rest day

Wed 25 nov
Distance : 10km
Time : 1hr 10 mins
Treadmill

Thur 26 nov
Distance : 10km
Time : 1hr 12 mins
Treadmill

Fri 27 nov
decided to take a break today and spent the whole day reading and zzz....but i realised a too well rested body is not a good.. rested too much meant that the body is getting rusty..

Sat 28 nov
Distance : 29km
Time : 3hrs 45 mins

woke up at 3 plus with headache...too much sleep in the morning..

met two other toos at ecp ard 4 plus and started the run slightly after 5am. The weather was cool and the pace was just nice, but somehow the calf was sore, in my mind i told myself to be focus, keep the posture in check, feet light. All was good even along the mental stretch of coastal road heading for the fire station. 14.5 that was what the trainer said, so 29 will be good enough for today. Running back was always motivating especially with the cool drink in mind. After a cold coke, we proceed to head for the finish point. The calf/shin begins to hurt even with a small step, it felt like the ankle bone is going to just snap anytime, so have to abandon the idea of running back and start walking.

It wasnt a good feeling to run two steps and have to start walking, makes me feel that staying injuries free is much important that running fast.... finally i reached the toilet after nsrcc and decided to just walk. Pissed and angry i was especially seeing how everyone was running passed me enjoying themselves, and here i am with my silly experiment and now i may have probably injured myself big time. saw one guy ran passed me barefooted, and that was the last straw...the hell with it, i took off my shoes and tied it to my waist pouch and started running.

it felt strange and to some point painful, running on track and on ecp road are quite different but somehow miraculously the shin/calf pain starts to fade away...perhaps i was too conscious of how ppl were staring at this crazy woman with a paif of shoes dangling from her back and running barefooted. But hey, it felt great so great that i managed to run from F2 back to B1 with only some stops to clear the grain of sands stuck to my feet which caused pain.

other than some abrasion of the toe, the feet are in great shape, except it was clear that the shin/calf is swollen. I think i am convinced.

Thanks XZ and TB for the company :)

*********

KSO seems like a huge gamble for an experiment...so the alternative - a paw which is 1/4 of the price after 30% discount. if it doesnt work out i will have an addition to my collection at least its not so weird to wear it outside.

*********

watched the informant! Matt Damon is great with the additional 20 plus pounds not your Jason Bourne but funnier in a sad way . was great to see Scott Bakula again, used to glue to the tv set when the series quantum leap were shown in the 80's or early 90's. Its one of those dark comedy that is witty and fun to watch. and somemore, with passion card, it cost me only 7.20 :P

Sun 29nov
woke up to sore shoulder, hips, calf and shin. with the change of running style, the usual sore spot like the thigh no longer feel sore, PF like never existed before. dunno should be happy or not.

decided to just take a rest day :P

Training 16 nov

2009-11-16T23:22:00.011+08:00

Mon 16 nov
Distance : 10km
Treadmill
Time : 1hr 02 mins

Tue 17 nov
-

Wed 18 nov
Distance : 20km
Treadmill
Time : 2hrs 15 mins

Thurs-Fri
no run

Sat 21 nov
Distance : 23km+3km+2km
ECP
Time: 2hrs 57mins + 18mins

Thanks to Tao for her warm hospitality, stayed over at her place as today's run started at 5am.

After running on the treadmil for the past couple of weeks, the longing for running in a group outdoor grew stronger. It felt great to run with the gang again.

decided to try something that i kinda abandoned previously --- forefoot running, just cant seems to get used to it. The first half of the run was consciously trying to keep the posture in check, although the left foot kept landing on the heel. The music and the pace set by the two guys kept the run enjoyable, the weather was kind as well. The calf was aching for a stop while the lungs seems to be enjoying the pace. Decided to run further up to the 2nd toilet but didnt pursue the fast one in front who is out of sight.

Regroup with the gang at the 1st toilet and we push off on the return route. The calf is sore and it felt harder and harder to kept the posture and form in place, and wasnt sure whether the posture was correct to begin with. The left foot kept going back to heel strike while most of the loads were placed on the right foot, but surprisingly, the right foot (PF) didnt give much problem, it was the left hip that felt tight. The shoulder tends to slouch and felt very nuah, but once i force myself to keep the back straight, can really feel the breathing is better and the strike a bit lighter. For the first time, really felt the importance of a strong core muscle...time to get rid of the spare tyre.....

By the time we reached the NSRCC, the only thing in mind was a cool drink...down one coke and one ice lemon tea to go..damn it felt so good. The run from NSRCC to F2 was quite painful, the calf felt like cmi liao and the arch felt sore. Finally stopped at F2, but felt the urge to push a bit more, ran up to the hawker centre and u-turn back but not without stopping to stretch the calf along the way.

The trial today was good although with painful calf and sore shoulder, well much to learn and much to practise.

and also learnt another important thing ---- a nap after a long run is great even when its just 15 mins (fell asleep on the dentist couch :P)

Sun 22 nov

1) Com.Drive->MDrive->Tanglin Rd->Kay Siong Rd->Tanglin Hill->Harding Rd->Dempsey Rd->Holland Rd->Cluny Rd->Dalvey Rd->Stevens Rd->Claymore Hill->Pacific Plaza.
Distance : 11.76km (according to map my run)plus minus 1km
Time : 1hrs 16 mins

2) Napier Rd->Holland Rd->Queensway
Distance : 3km
Time : ard 16mins

planned to run MR this morning...didnt materialised..the calf and shoulder were too sore..decided to just sleep in :P

Felt better in the evening after an egg and tomato sandwich lunch, decided to hit the road for a slow and short run. The calf was painful especially going downslope and the stairs. Ran along Margaret Drive soaking in the peaceful surrounding...sad that QT is going to give way to development...wonder will there be any old estate and neighbourhood left in Singapore in the future.

Ran up Tanglin rd and made a turn up Kay Siong rd....i think i found my short version of Canterbury Park, its quiet with gentle slope, came down and turn into Tanglin Hill and to my surprise i accidentally found myself on Harding Rd and up i went to Dempsey hill...haha, been staying near the area for so long and this is the first time i came up to Dempsey Hill.

The calf held up surprisingly but the breathing is heavy, nonetheless decided to run down towards BG and went down Cluny Rd and turn to Dalvey Rd. Used to love this stretch of the route when was running with the RL Velocity, came out to Stevens Rd and head towards Claymore hill and decided to stop near Pacific Plaza.

Went shopping for some seeds.....no one seems to hear abt it much to my disappointment. Instead of taking the bus back, felt good enough to jog back.

Not too bad for a sunday rojak run :)but much need to do to get used to the running posture, the tendency to switch back to heel strike when tired and the posture didnt hold up after i felt like i was "flying", which was the wrong feeling. Certain part of the run, felt heavy and can hear the heavy pounding on the road, so immediately slow down and corrected the posture. This went on and off throughout the whole run, constantly switch back and forth from forefoot to heel strike, kinda tiring but no choice, only have to endure. hopefully, i am doing the correct thing...sometimes what you think is right may turn out to be wrong and could cost you dearly.

Training 09 nov

2009-11-10T21:09:00.004+08:00

Mon, Tue 09-10 nov
down with fever and flu. no training

Wed 11 nov
Distance : 10km
Treadmill
Time : 1hr 05 mins

Thur 12 nov
Distance : 10km
Treadmill
Time : 1hr 06 mins

Thanks to XZ, now reading this particular cool book.....the hills are calling..

Fri & Sat 13-14 nov
perhaps its the rain..perhaps its the workload..fell sick again....even the voice has changed due to sore throat...slept the whole sat...read the whole day..lazy to even go out and eat, luckily there is something called home delivery wahahaha...but after today..its gonna be a long long time before i would order pizza again...i missed my mom's tofu ...or even just plain porridge with soya sauce...yum yum

Sun 15 nov
time to get my lazy bum out of bed..felt much better, head and nose cleared..time to hit the road / treadmill.

Distance : 20km
Time : 2hrs 13 mins
Treadmill

Another new week ahead...somehow felt more optimistic...perhaps cos i have something in mind now :)

Training log

2009-11-03T00:11:00.006+08:00

Mon 02 nov
training my brain power....balancing balance sheet

Tue 03 nov
Distance : 10km
Time : 1hr05mins
Calories burnt : 715
Treadmill

Wed 04 nov
working late...very demoralised

Thurs 05 nov
Distance : 15km
Time : 1hr 38 mins
Calories : 1060
treadmill
and managed to finish watching the new tv series, Castle...not too bad...but i wish the lead actor is more good looking :P

Fri 06 nov
swam 35mins 45 laps*20m

Sat 07 nov
distance : 25km
time : 2 hrs 45 mins
treadmill....

watched paranormal activity..

Training log 26 Oct - 1 Nov

2009-10-27T13:20:00.006+08:00

Sun 25/10
dragged myself to the pool, swam and was flabbergasted with some of the so-called "swimmer". Some of them, (2 couples) hogged the whole two lanes not for swimming but for just talking and hugging....man and 5-6 people are left with another 3 lanes to swim. *rolled eyes*

since there is no running goals for the rest of the year...i came up with my new goals, to lose 10kg in 3 months!!!! so if i over-eat...please just go ahead and slap me !!

Mon 26/10
Took the day off to see my dentist, a long overdue business...the mouth pain, the heart pain cos the pocket bleed big time :(

5km run @ 7min pace, calf still sore and ankle felt weak.
cross-skiing machine - 30mins
total calories burnt = 210 + 365

went for a massage...the calf is so painful and the masseur is merciless....

Tue 27/10
Swim : 1.2km
Time : 1 hr (breaststroke : 35laps *20m, freestyle : 15laps*20m)

Wed 28/10
Run : 10km
Time : 1hr
Calories burnt = 710

Thurs 29/10
work late

Fri 30/10
work late

Sat 31/10
Run
Distance : 20km
Time : 2hr 06mns
Treadmill
calories burnt : 1450

Cross trainer
45mins

cycling
25mins

Sun 01/11
Worldwide runners, walkers and cyclists - map your routes
Distance : 10.62
Time : 1hr 09mins

TNF - 追夢雖然辛苦，起碼不痛苦

2009-10-25T09:08:00.003+08:00

a BIG thank you to the support team (LT, Tiwazz, Charlotte, Loonz, Tekko and Mrs Tekko, one lady whom i do not know her name, Evangeline, Kelly). The real heros are the one who waited and endure with us and providing us the support. THANK YOU!

Thank you to the training partners who weeks after weeks pushed us nearer and nearer towards our goals and to the one who claimed he is not as crazy as us (when he is in fact crazier than any one of us), thank you for the training plan and "suffering" with us when he didnt even have to.

Thanks to my partner for the good pace and patience during the race :).

Ran both TNF, i enjoyed the race much better this year in spite of the tougher route. All the trainings helped physically and mentally, much more prepared than last year and was able to run more strategically, learning to conserve energy and plan the timing. But one thing needs to improve is the re-fuelling, drank too much and worse too much "cocktail" of 100 plus, barley, coke and hydrolite combined with hammergel, snickers.....the end results => LS haha.

Luckily, still managed to come back under 7hr 30 mins. Shaved off 39 mins from my last year's timing....this is a revenge run..to come back and complete unfinished business.

Finally, 2 unfinished business from last year completed this year, felt a sense of relief yet lost at the same time. What is next? for now, i wont think about signing up for another trail race or any race for that matter...at least till next Monday when i am fully recover mentally and physically....now i am just gonna relax and chill out and sleep late.

Training Log

2009-10-13T10:12:00.002+08:00

lately been experiencing insomnia, dunno why just refused to sleep, work is quite stressful lately, i dare not even sleep for fear of waking up late for meeting the next day...kinda make me regret not leaving when i have the chance...but no point crying over split milk.

Monday
was super tired..decided to just head to the gym, need some "pick-me-up" which is a run.
Distance : 10km
Time : 1 hr

Training Log

2009-10-05T21:59:00.003+08:00

Mon
really drained....took mc today .
Went to the gym :X, did some run on the treadmill...and some leg press.
just need to go away and let out some steam...

Tue
working late...

Wed
working late again.......

Thurs, fri....same old story

Sat
28km in 4:30 mins..didnt feel as cui as last week, felt much better during the run. guess sleep is much more important than carbo loading..must make sure to get a good night sleep the whole week leading the race day.

sun
must be getting old...woke up to backache and fever...slept the whole day.

the pf didnt improve much..needed massage again..

2009-10-05T14:10:00.001+08:00

need to do some overhaul to the machine...after TNF....no more races until finish fixing the engine...haiz..

Training log 28 Sept

2009-09-29T23:17:00.003+08:00

Mon
no workout

Tue
Distance:5km?
Margaret Drive-River Valley-Patterson Rd-Borders
Was a real good run....vent out all my frustration and anger....

went to Ion orchard for a walk after the run....almost got lost...need to go out more

Sat
cui weekend...with lack of sleep and some problem...the sat run was totally zapping the energy out of me...even the pf was feeling numb...at some part of the run..really feel like throwing the bag on the floor and just zzz. Thanks to XZ for the company at the last 10km...

Training log 21 Sept

2009-09-21T20:10:00.004+08:00

Mon
Woodcutter Trail ++
Distance : 26.5km....
Time : 4hrs
Verdict : cui...

Lunch: Joakim porridge...verdict: Quality hotel's porridge is more value for money.

Tue
CBD Run
recovery run
Distance : 6.5km
Time: 47 mins

Wed
no run-----not that i want to slack .....work marathon rather...sianz

Thur & Fri
on MC.slept the whole day due to the medication.

Sat
mission unsuccessful...PF flared up and felt and scratched the right knee...well fated to just walk. thanks to XZ and batx...

went for massage...the uncle accidentally massage the open wound...ouch...lucky didnt bleed.

Sun
decided not to run as PF is still painful. Need to be careful and make sure injury free, need to do the last LSD before tapering.

Training 14 Sept - 20 Sept

2009-09-14T23:50:00.005+08:00

Mon
Swim - 45 mins

Aikido training 7:30 - 9:00
Ikkajo omote, ura
Nikkajo omote, ura
Nikkajo - two type of locks - first control and second control:elbow lock

Note : - For grading need to know
ikkajo to yonkajo: shomen uchi/yokomen uchi/suwari waza
kamae
Shiho-nage

Tue
Swim - 30mins (30 laps*25m)

Run
CBD:TP-Zouk-TP
Distance : 8km
Time: 59mins

Wed
Rest day

Thur
Aikido Training

Fri
rest :P

Sat
Run: Woodcutter trail - ard 18km?
Time : 2hrs 55 mins
Verdict : refreshing...but still very cui

didnt go for aikido...overslept

Sun
........feel like slacking...

Training log week 7 Sep - 13 Sep

2009-09-11T10:50:00.003+08:00

Back from long break....two weeks of no training...jia lat.

Mon
working late - no training

Tue
Swim - 45 mins
Run
400m * 5 sets @ 4.30 mins pace

Wed
Office - Borders
Distance : 9.5km
Time : 55mins

Thur
Aikido training
7:30 - 9:00pm

Fri
working late - no training

Sat
first trail run after 2 weeks of inactive......one word : siong
20plus km...5 hrs plus.. PF is hurting..the glute is painful..the calf is sore...but i was really glad to be back :P

Sun
slept the whole day :P recovering from the jetlag and the run. Reading the Men in White...interesting

Running the Sahara

2009-09-06T16:24:00.002+08:00

111 days, 6 countries, 6920km...3 men...a story of determination, trust, passion
endurance = 90% mental + 10% mental

actually cried when i watched this movie..can understand their pain (perhaps not that much) and their frustration. somehow, felt like going for a run now :)

week 4th Aug - 9th Aug

2009-08-09T23:45:00.003+08:00

Mon
Aikido

Tues
9.5 - 1.01

Wed
rest

Thurs
aikido

Fri
40
10-1.12

Sat
9.5-1.16

Sun
9.5 - 1.30

Training Log 20/07/2009

2009-07-20T13:07:00.004+08:00

After one month of MIA, its high time i got my lazy bum out from the couch (or in my case the 9.95 Ikea foldable chair which can be quite comfy at times...sometimes slept in it when i was too lazy to walk over to the bed).

Mon 20.07.2009
Managed to wake up at 530am only to go back to sleep till 7am. So no choice, only squeeze a run of ard max 3.5km.
Distance : 3.5km?
Time : 20 mins 59 sec

hopefully can wake up earlier tomorrow....last night didnt sleep till 3am...doing god knows what....cleaning up room and packing my books into different categories...siao liao.

Training

2009-07-15T00:19:00.002+08:00

mon 13 Jul
no run

tues 14 Jul
office-ubt-scotts-borders
distance : 9.5km
time : 57mins

penang food

2009-07-14T20:39:00.001+08:00

funny ad - i think malaysian are quite creative..

2009-07-14T20:22:00.002+08:00

2009-07-13T16:09:00.005+08:00

haven been running for almost two weeks. Shortness of breathe...seen doc...possible onset of asthma...a long time buddy who have not come back for a visit...was given ventolin...which caused the hands to shake and sweaty palm. wend back to see doc, was given a powder inhaler instead, the ventolin was too high dosage...was worried about irregular heartbeat, but the doc didnt detect anything unusual. advice was to go for ecg and see a heart doc if really concerned or if the episode recurrs frequently. damn...what to do...need to take care.

week 29 June

2009-07-03T10:50:00.006+08:00

an uneventful week...with tons of works (what's new right?),flu, PF..seems like an unfortunate week (but secretly i am glad i got to be excused from running for the whole week)...frankly..kinda tired..perhaps onset of burnt out..just want to focus more on other aspects in life..something other than running and racing (opps as if i am so pro lidat :P). Going forward, running will take a backseat as i will be more selective in my goals, will go back to other stuff that i love..such as travelling, photography and continuing my studies.

since i wont be running as much as before...will not be updating this blog as frequently as before :P

Sat 04 Jul
run
HV-Ulu Pandan Road-Old Holland Rd-Blackmore Rd-Rifle Range Road-usual route back to MR car park
Distance : 14-15km?
Time : 1hr 45 mins
havent run for the whole week, starting was slow, legs were heavy, tired, but managed to push on. always wanted to run the stretch along old holland rd, gentle slopes, cooling air, no traffic, certain part are nice for tempo run. took a 5 mins breather before going into rifle range road, the quiet road was unusually busy with cyclists, runners and walkers, even a few monkeys were taking their morning sun bath along the rifle range flyover. The trail was quiet but cooling, kinda nice to be running alone in the trail. The legs and lungs were not very cooperative had to push hard before making some distance. the last 3km was "fun" trying to outrun one ang moh, cheap thrill but its that kind of motivation that kept me going.

okie, now need to rush for my photo outing :P

Sun 05 Jul
woke up at 430, showered, packed, went for a ramen breakfast, then head out to fullerton to take photos..nice weather..place was quiet, air was fresh.

22 June 09

2009-06-22T22:18:00.008+08:00

new week ahead...start all over again

22 Jun 09
first day back to training...two hours of sweat and ache..man..age is really catching up..young at heart doesnt really make up for the physical aging..just one session of aikido..the whole body is in pain...and i still thot i can go for a run later...man i am overestimating myself... :P

but hey its great...can feel my heart is almost going to pop out...its really hard work..but shiok..

23 Jun 09
went for class..hehe finally my photo critique session...just two words..work harder!!

went for a run, distance ard 9.5km..time : 1hr.
was damn tired..the whole body was aching from previous day..the muscle was aching..it felt pain when i took a deep breathe and cough...

24 Jun 09
went for travel photography class...interesting...

25 Jun 09
After much thoughts...decided to part with my hubby.....my csk *sob sob*. Not going to do triathlon anymore, so why keep a bike and let it collect dust. Gonna sell and use the money to buy a good lense or camera body :P

26 Jun 09
had a day off...had lunch with fren, went to "sapu" lots of books, went for gym, went for photo shoots...shiok

27 Jun 09
MR - 15 km - 2hrs 06mins

Thanks to Ronnie and Bee...nice dinner...and Xiao Niu is so cute

28 Jun 09
no run...went for photo shoot @ zoo....man, realised eveytime photo outing sure rain...sianz...but at least managed to catch some shots

15 June 2009

2009-06-15T23:11:00.007+08:00

with no upcoming major events in sight, these two weeks have been an easy and slack weeks :P (can get addicted to this :)...time to buckle up.

Sat 13 June
ECP 28K? or is it 30K?
Time : 3hrs 34mins
was taking it easy and trying to enjoy the fun of running
lunch was at K Novena....dunno why got stomach upset...which lasted till Monday...no more chili!!

went for Kangxi exhibition @ ACME....thot its ending on 14 June....extended till 28 June...made me rush like mad only.

Interesting exhibition...worth the 8 bucks...which i later found out that i am entitled to 50% discount....*angry* 4 bucks could buy me one kaya toast and 2 half boiled eggs and one kopi liao....

went back home...tummy was painful decided to just call it a day and rest, skipped the idea of watching drag me to hell...and just watched cradle to the grave on tv...which really cradle me to zzzz

Sun 14 June

Woke up at 4plus...tummy felt better...but didnt really feel like running...was hoping for rain :P *weak mind!!* then decided what that heck..just got up to shower, change then got ready to leave when B sms ....oh well...since already changed might as well go for the run.

met up with yili, regina, stuck and XD. Stuck and XD are running the MR XC marathon-team relay...the thot of running 42 on the trail with cut off of 5hrs...so daunting...maybe next time bah.

We decided to do a shorter version :P 10km haha...no whip so take it easy la...nice run with nice weather...which i cant say the same for XD when he started his run...lately the weather is really crazzzyyy.

came back..showered then took a nap...the thot of going back to work on Mon...*sianz* :P

went for a nice cup of tea at coffee bean..read books and just enjoy a little bit of freedom before the end of the weekend.

Mon 15 June

work as usual...lucky that cup of coffee is damn strong...Monday blues..

ran home from office..ran to Borders..then took a short walk to tudor court and did a short jog home.

Office - Borders
Distance ; 9Km?
Time : 57mins 22 sec

Was reading this book "The looniness of long distance runners" which reminded me of what JW wrote in her article...for me...call me crazy, call me loony...i dun care...i enjoyed the "torture", i enjoyed the "pain"..its only during the run..really felt free and really push towards what i aimed for..its a training for discipline and determination. everyone has their own "craziness" but as long as we are having fun and we didnt hurt anyone or break the law along the way, why not..life is too short to stay "sane" all the time...sometimes you just have to be a bit loony to enjoy life.

Tue 16 June
work late
Did a slow and easy recovery run from office to home via clementi road and Commonwealth Ave West.

Distance : 6km?
Time : 44mins (with walk break and pit stop)

Wed - Sun
No runs, took more time out to take photos and rest and work :P

2009-06-09T22:46:00.003+08:00

never thot that i could get used to the idea of slacking....but i am :P (better buckle up soon). after the run on Sun..i happily rest my "tired" legs :P...been catching up on my work and also my online tv...now watching the anime blood+..found a link to watch The ultimatum online...good means that i dun need to rush back every day to watch, can slowly take my own sweet time.

the week after

2009-06-05T11:14:00.009+08:00

taking my own sweet time to recover and chill out after SD. Didnt particularly feel like running, but for recovery, i did a lot of walking. First two days was quite difficult as the feet are swollen and the blisters were causing discomfort especially when wearing work shoes. Luckily felt better on Wed, so went for a short and slow run ard my place. Feeling was good, running without any pressure does feel great. Work was hell so it was good that this week its not a heavy training week.

But cant help to have feeling of emptiness inside...so what is my next goal? Not doing SBR...just dun feel like paying 30 + bucks for this run. Desaru is doing relay and taking photos, MR probably will see if can do team relay. TNF no confirmation yet....perhaps should really plan for 2010...had something in mind but see how...money is another issue...whether i can take it or not is the more important question. Need to consult the "qian bei"...and oh yah need to shed at least 5kg...:P

Sat 06 Jun
Decided to skip running and go for photo outing. I missed the class assignment last Sun due to SD, so this week have to make up for the assignment. Reached BG ard 930am, weather was warm. first time using Nikon D90 which i rented, wanted to try out other brand of camera before deciding whether to switch or stick to my Olympus. Having hard time trying to figure out the function on top of trying to do some calculation on the A and S...i think my photo quality will go from bad to worst before improving...manual setting is no joke...its a lot of prep before taking a photo, the right ISO, Aperture, Shutter Speed, the background, the foreground, the storyline, the composition...but i guess lots of practice will make perfect.

Sun 07 Jun
Wanted to run to MR this morning, since the planned distance was 10.5, couldnt sleep well last night..so this morning decided to just do 10.5...lucky..the new plan is 20km..heng..

19km in 2hrs 36mins

went for another photo outing @ Haji Lane...rained...but stopped after a while...continue my "hunt" from Haji Lane till Arab St till Bussorh? St..till Bugis, till NLB till Purvis St till Asian Civilisation Musuem.

Chance upon a group of kids rehersing for a dance routine, as i did not want to disturb them...so cannot use flash...had to try to boost the ISO and just sitting there snapping away. Later at the same premise, there was another group learning a new dance routine...they were nice enough to let me go in and take photos...not bad for an outing.

Wanted to visit the Kangxi Exhibition..but too near closing time..still have next weekend...perhaps also can use my gallery voucher to buy some stuff..:P

macam ini pun boleh

2009-06-05T10:55:00.001+08:00

showdown

2009-05-31T18:31:00.006+08:00

Firstly....my gratitude to my training buddies, Burnz, Yankee and Xiao Di....the training really pays off....and my greatest gratitude to the god-sent supporters...without whom the training and the run would not be as comfortable as it is. Xiao Zhu, Tao, HoHo & Mrs HoHo, Regina, Stuck, Terence, ST, Piglet, Laser, Tiwazz & Charlotte ("Bali" water is indeed very heavenly :), Francis, Gentle, Mui Huan, Wen Tze, Ronnie & Bee, Penguin, FD, Passion, Bose, Brokie, Reno, Tekko & Mrs Tekko, Choon Wei,Principal...(sorry..if i missed out...the mind is not so clear after the start of the run :P)....the support points were one of the motivatons that pushed myself forward...it felt so good to see familiar faces during the long run. THANK YOU! although the word thank you cannot fully express the gratitude.

this race is a very emotional one for myself....i told myself last year when i DNF that no matter how hard, no matter how painful...this year i must complete the race...even if i have to crawl back to the finish point. The moment i crossed the line...the feeling was surreal...felt like crying when i was handed my medal and finisher tee...all the pain seems so far away...

the mind is blur as to what actually happened during the run....but one thing for sure...the finish line seems so near yet so far...

and if you ask me whether i want to do it again....for now i am not so sure but yet i tend to have short term memory...

final week

2009-05-27T23:08:00.003+08:00

finally....all training should come to a stop, no point over training at this point...time to just rest, refuel and get ready physically and mentally...

Mon
work

Tue
went to renew passport....had to go back to JB to renew my IC :P.....whole day gone...waited for like half a day

Wed
finally....can get the passport renewed.

Distance : 8km
Time : 54mins

slow and easy

Training Log Week 3 May 2009

2009-05-19T23:26:00.003+08:00

Mon 18/05
was feeling tired from sun's run, decided to take a good rest

Tue 19/05
felt the onset of burnt-out..decided to take a slow run from office to home, think distance is ard 14km...but took around 2hrs 10 mins...haha..and tried the new milo with fresh milk..yum yum (at the end of the run of course :P)

Wed, Thur, Fri
working late....too tired to run..

Sat
supposed to run from home to meet the guys at casuarina...haha overslept...only when XZ called then i woke up :P

went for run at the gym...15km...felt like i almost cannot make it...then went for spin class...quads burnt like hell..but shiok

evening...time to makan and celebrate...XZ's BD...xiao niu very cute...got to hold him for a while...hehe. felt very nice and he smell so nice :P

makan went overboard....three bowls of durian "poo" yum yum...

Sun
MR 10km
time : 1hr 20mins?
legs tired....too much food from last night :P
but great run nontheless

time to relax

photo outing

2009-05-16T17:29:00.008+08:00

my first photo outing....haiz...need tons of practice...first time using manual setting...no more auto..no more programme....learning how to use the flash...the composition...*faint*

the first day was learning how to control the setting, the composition, to balance the aperture and the shutter speed...which was very elementary...but for someone like me who has been using the pre-set programme, its a challenge, to understand the interplay between the ISO, the shutter speed, the aperture and the output power of the flash. and of course to remember to turn on the flash in the first place. Also learnt how to try to capture the reflection in the mirror. Didnt produce nice photos but at least it gave me a taste of what actual photography is all about.

Second day was the same location (the instructor requested to keep the place a secret.....hmmm, anyway, we always run there at CBD :P). Learnt what is called single light photography...very chim....still having problem to balance between aperture, shutter speed and the use of flash, Dun really like the effect of the flash on the face of the model...but i really like the effect of the single light .....anyway.... my basic photography instructor said...the photo is all about the lens and the person behind the camera..well...just have to practise more and more....need to understand light and shadow...but still quite happy cos only attended one class on basic photography and two on wedding day photography (frankly i thought was a waste of my money...cos its an advance class....and i dun even know what is focal length and crop factor when the instructor was telling the other classmates..:P)

it may be a long long long time before i can take a nice photos...but i longed for the day to be good enough to take a nice photo like louis pang (well i can dream right? :P)

Day two

Day one

Its not about how good you are...its about how good you want to be

2009-05-12T23:41:00.000+08:00

Training Log week 2 May 2009

2009-05-12T23:25:00.003+08:00

Mon
Working late...and also too lazy to run

Tue
Distance : 9.5km?
Time : 58mins

Wed, Thur, Fri
haiz...training is totally screwed....what to do...bread and butter is more important

Sat
went for photo outing...too lazy to run :P

Sun
Went for another photo outing...learnt alot..

Decided to run in the gym...i dunno which is more torturing...3 hrs of pounding on the treadmill or 3 hrs of American Idol...i think i would rather run 3 hrs on the treadmill any day.

Distance : 25km
Time : 2hrs 50 mins (with 5 mins walk break every 5km)

Training Log Week 1 May 2009

2009-05-05T00:51:00.007+08:00

final month...

Mon
Distance : 7km
Time : 43mins
Treadmill
running while watching larry king live featuring michelle obama

Tue
Distance : 13.75km
Time : 1hr 32mins (incl. walk break of 5+5+3 mins)

Wed
work late

Thurs
Distance : 23km
Time : 2hrs 58mins
thanks to Burnz for the ride to and ride home. thanks for the company..dun think will be able to finish the run if run alone.

Fri
went for a movie marathon...star trek and x-men origins

Sat
Distance : 63km
Time: 9hrs 45mins
thanks to Tao, terence, Burnz and Xiao Zhu. XZ's support is once more impeccable..the kopi is truely heaven. Thanks to tao and terence for the support during the 20km and the ride home. Thanks burnz for the company especially at the last 20km.

Training log Week 4 Apr 2009

2009-04-28T22:55:00.003+08:00

Mon
no run...need to rush report

Tue
did some runs on treadmill
warm up : 2km @ 6mins pace
1km - 11.5km/hr
1km-12km/hr
1km - 12.5km/hr
walk : 2mins
run : 1km
1km-12.5km/hr
500 m - 12km/hr
500 m - 13km/hr

PF is starting to feel pain...need to be careful

Wed-Sun
no run...no time and no chance to run :P too much chatting, catching up, too much kiam chye, too much loh bak (exception to my vege diet), too much char kway teow, laksa and dim sum....

Sat and Sun...perhaps too much good food....stomache :P

Training Log Week 4 Apr 2009

2009-04-26T17:32:00.004+08:00

finally...have time to blog

Mon
no run
Tue
16km
Wed
no run
Thur
13km
Fri
no run
Sat
no run
Sun
Distance: 27km
Time: 3hrs57mins
reminder : milo+isotonic=stomache..really bad one

2009-04-17T00:54:00.003+08:00

i am selling my bike but the heart felt lost..like i am losing something..it felt unreal when others asked me about that. its strange that i can get so attached to a bike, its crazy..if i kept it and not use it...what's the point..i know all the rational reasons to sell but the heart kept coming up with emotional excuses to keep it.

捨得 - 能捨方能得

with all the dilly-dally...it seems like this year is not my year for travelling...first it was Disney now its my trip to see my sis...sianz...at least i am going home this monthend...*fingers crossed*. Oh well...let see first...if i am not travelling this year..perhaps one of the item in the pipeline can be considered. With the UPL...its really taking a toll on the finances...cannot afford to go for a lot of luxury items like additional tours. Perhaps all these delays is a blessing in disguise, perhaps its fated that i am finally able to complete what i set out to do. anyway, too early to say...see first, wait later didnt materialise paiseh :P

Training Log Week 2 April 2009

2009-04-14T00:08:00.007+08:00

Mon 13 Apr 2009
Time : 2 hrs 32 mins
Distance : 20.7km

Trying to stick to 25 mins run, 5 mins walk. The leg felt sng near the end, and some part of the UPC was blocked due to construction had to run up the sideway.

04/14/2009 Route
Find more Runs in Singapore, Singapore

Tue 14 Apr 2009
working late....no run (actually also a bit lazy :P)

Wed 15 Apr 2009
waorking late again...but still have time to watch boston legal :P

Thurs 16 Apr 2009
Distance : 13km
Time : 1hr 51 mins
Spore Poly-NUS-SBV-Vigilante Drive-Kent Ridge Park-Sci Park-PGP-NUS-Spore Poly

Tough but shiok. worth the shag-ness and the chuan-ness. Felt great running or rather crawling up the slopes. thanks to yankee for waiting at the nus stretch. Thanks to XZ for the drinks :)

Thanks to Burnz for the ride to makan place, no chng ting or bubur terigu...but nonetheless, great chat and someone is trying to psycho someone to do tri hor hiak hiak.

Fri 17 Apr 2009
work

Sat 18 Apr 2009
work and makan

Sun 19 Apr 2009
Run
Distance : 16km?
Time : 2hrs 13 mins
started off too fast...felt really tired when running up oxley rd..and the chin swee rd...then farrer rd...

tough run..perhaps started off too fast hiak hiak

2009-04-13T11:04:00.004+08:00

finally, i have decided that what i wanted and love to do is just plain running...no more triathlon, no more biathlon. No longer aim for triathlon or biathlon events, and surely i wont be tempted :) Its going to be a more focus direction, not anyhow join any race, money is not easy to earn and cannot afford to anyhow waste time. Everything needs to be properly planned...haiz, its only when you know that something is running out especially time, that's when you feel the sense of urgency.

there is no right or wrong...either you run or jog, its just a term..why do we need to have this kind of "discremination"? i thought we are all into it for health and fitness and for some perhaps to challenge ourself and test our limit. So what if i run 7mins pace or 4mins pace, you think you are slow, there are ppl who are even slower, you think you are fast, are you able to run as fast as the kenyan? So what, wth, just run and enjoy.

Training Log Week 1 April 2009

2009-04-06T22:16:00.003+08:00

Mon 06 Apr 2009
Went off early today, was on course. So decided to head to the gym

Distance : 10km
Time : 1hr

Tue - Thur
the whole week was like crazy..sleep also very little...dont even mention run..its a luxury

Fri 11 Apr 2009
Woke up 7plus, straight turn on the pc and replying work emails..i may complaint but i am sure glad i still have the chance to do that, at this period of time..its a blessing to be working..even its a shitty kind of work. That's why in this period, its time to enhance skill and improve ourself...when the good time comes, and when opportunity knocks, you are prepared. just like MM Lee said, when you are handed the opportunity, are you ready for it?

Today is the night run and the trainer has planned for us 50km. Was really looking forward to the run. Met XD at BV mrt and we took the bus at TM. Reached there a bit early. Head starts to hurt..lately seems to be hit by a series of migraine..

Run started, pace was comfortable, but the head is not, felt the pain but if its still bearable, will continue. the five min break was very much welcome and appreciated. The two ice cube from 7-11 helps to relieve the pain and the headache gets better as the body is conditioned to the run. The hardest part of the run was between 12 mn - 1am, hard to fight off the sleepiness. The point when we crossed the finish line and started on our run towards 50km, it felt great. On the way back to finish line, felt like vomiting, perhaps need to start refueling at the end of the first round.

Now finally understand the "surprises" meant by trainer, THANK YOU so much to XZ, Regina and Buay. The support is fabulous, and very touching (like XD peter said, shed two tears). Cannot begin to express the gratitude...sacrificing your beauty sleep and patiently waiting for us.

Thanks to tao for paitently waiting for us at the end point and the breakie at 126 is great and thanks for the ride back home.

Distance : 50km
Time : 8hrs 28mins
Drinks : 2 bottles h2o original, 3 500ml Coke, 1 500ml 100plus, 1 kopi, 1 ice lemon tea
Food : 2 slices of peanut butter sandwich (beginingg), 2 bananas, grapes, 1 twirl, 1 donut, 1 packet of panda choc. biscuit,

Training Log Week 4 Mar 2009/Week 1 Apr 2009

2009-03-31T14:44:00.009+08:00

Mon 30 Mar 2009
Distance : 9km?
Time : 56mins
still feel feverish, but cannot afford to slack or be idle.

Tue 31 Mar 2009
working late....

Wed 01 Apr 2009
working late....

Thurs 02 Apr 2009
cannot tahan...although dun feel good...think experiencing burnt out...but still need to run. lots of walking...tired
Time : 1hr 57mins
Distance : 16km

Fri 03 Apr 2009
went to see doc...on mc but still have to go back to work...sianz

Sat 04 Apr 2009
woke up 5am..felt feverish..decided to rest for today. sms trainer...but then felt really bad. So got up and went for my run.

The first 7km was still ok...but after that the body just felt bad..had to walk a lot almost half of the run is done walking...but the mindset is to complete the 20km no matter what. The weather was kind on me, not too hot and running along west coast was a change from east coast park.

The last 5km was done walking, didnt want to give up so decided to walk and clock total 3hrs of workout and luckily my maths was ok, the total distance added up to ard 20.7km. Target reached although not without pain.

Distance : 20.70km
Time : 3hrs 04 mins

Sun 05 Apr 2009
as was still feeling feverish since last night, i slept through the alarm and missed the run this morning, well i dun really feel bad about that, so i happily sleep in late. The eyes were a bit swollen, haha cos i cried and sniff through the whole 2 hrs plus last night while watching Departures. Thought i could saved the 10 bucks watching it online, got fed up when the downloading kept hanging, so ard 7plus i decided to just take a bus and go down town to catch the movie :P

Today was spent talking, eating and shopping, something i didnt do for quiet sometimes (groceries shopping dun count), thanks ivy and tao, had a great time today :)