Limping Marathon Runner

Taking a day's leave today, I woke up at 5am to take a walk in Chek Jawa at 8am. Took a train ride to meet up with ZhuiTeLun before heading to the jetty area for the bum boat ride. It has been like 7 years since I set my foot on Pulau Ubin. Today, there were 3 groups of 10 + person each for the guided Chek Jawa walk. ZhuiTeLun and I were attached to a local Uni students group. Armed with a pair of booties and a digicam, we had a few odd stares from some of the students. The walk would not exactly let you see as many things in an underwater dive. But, you will still be fascinated with things that you might find. It was a 2 hours guided walk and before we ended the trip and headed back to the mainland again, it started to drizzle. Let me arrange the pics and I shall post them online.

Depending on the weather tomorrow, I might visit some bird sanctuary. I'm still on leave tomorrow.

See ya later

Meanwhile my pic from Biathlon 2005

Minor damage, just a pinch. For safety purpose, I got a front light for my "Grey Hound". Of course, not as bright as any vehicle. But, it should give drivers some form of early warning. Happened to be at a bikeshop after work today and I bought my front light. Saw some gloves... but I still prefer the pair I saw the other day, which is elsewhere. Another day then. Still to come. . . . tights... My butt will have to endure for the time being.

Since the day I got my bike, Conan has been pestering me to post a pic. He said he doesn't want to see a "high mileage" bike after numerous rides. Bugger. Soon ... . . I need editing and only my desktop can do it. Way to go, GIMP!

(*^_^*) Happy, just back from a run. Not too far, just 3.7km. Or rather based on just 20mins. Feeling great, minus the nagging knee that happened 2 days back. Still .. . I have to continue with my static quadriceps exercises.

Again? Return of the Mozzies. The night before, 2 mozzies perished in my hands. Last night, I couldn't hit a lone mozzie. Probably I was too groggy. A light sleeper that I am, I have to get rid of the mozzie. One word. Termination. Lucky thing for him, I couldn't locate him for 10minutes. I decided to sleep on the living room couch. An idea triggered a spark in me. I was wide awake. It was just 4am and I thought I could bring my "Grey Hound" for a spin. I never refuse a chance to exercise. However, something bothered me. Since it is late in the night (or rather really early in the morning), traffic is significantly less. It would be extremely dangerous if I do not ride with a front light. I know a rear light might be good enough. I was believe in safety. Hence, I had to dismiss the thought and continue my sleep.

Now irritating mozzies aside. Today, I keep deciphering code "L6". L6 = Lazy? L6 = Lazik? L6 = Level6?
I love puzzles.... I keep wrecking my brains to decipher mind boggling puzzles. A challenge to my mind. A workout for my brains. Looks like I'm not exactly out of the woods yet. Oh well..... I'll get there one day.

For now, let me look at my new downsized map for cycling routes.

Just got another incoming radio check. Awaiting for me to authenticate. Not exactly fumbling, but wanted to be sure of most aspect.

Looks like I have to abandon Pulau Redang dive plan and the Kathmandu trek. You gain some you lose some. That's life.

Kathmandu? Probably next year. I bet it is a nice place.

My day started when I woke up at 6am. I washed up and ate 2 slices of bread. With my backpack on my back, I hailed a cab to EC. Reaching EC, the entire place was already packed with people. Scouting around for familiar faces (since, I registered the race alone), I walked to the registration to grab my race pack. Proceeding to mark my limbs by officials using huge permanent markers, one of them wrote a huge 637 (my race number) on both of my arms and thighs. I was looking around for 619, guessing if I can spot "Rey Mysterio". No luck. I prepared my jogging gear, by pinning my race number at the front and back of my singlet. I left my shoes, socks, singlet and shorts at my transistion spot. By chance, I spotted a familiar face, Pioneer P., a camp mate. Didn't know that he would participate in such events since he is not really a sports person, except for soccer. I needed a "locker" service and went to deposit my backpack sealed in a big bag marking my race number. While waiting for the race to start, I did my warm-ups. I bumped into another familiar face, Kenneth, the swim coach.

There were 3 waves this morning. 1st wave Men's Open, 2nd wave Men's Open (my group) and third wave Ladies Open, Men's Veteran and School Challenge. 1st wave flag-off was at 8am. 2nd wave was at 8.10am and I was among those that were ushered to the holding area for Sarting line. A quick brief by an official and the horn was blaring off signaling a start. Sensing much congestion at a start, I let the entire crowd rush into the open sea. There were 3 floatation devices (big buoy) to go around. Finding my way to the 1st buoy wasn't difficult at all. Suffered several "shadowless" kicks and "buddha" palms along the way. While going around the 1st buoy (my mistake, I should have taken a bigger loop), lots of swimmers were jamming, treading water on the spot. I guess everyone is trying to turn at a shortest path around the buoy. Navigating to the 2nd buoy was a killer. The sun was facing us and everything was silhouetted. I could hardly spot the buoy which was in bright yellow. The waves didn't help either. So, aligning to the buoy was a skill. I could see lots of swimmers disorientated. After turning at the 2nd buoy, heading to the shore was the easiest. After getting out of the water, I changed into my jogging gear to get ready for my 10km route. My run was okay. But, around 4km, my old injury came back. A sore right knee accompanied me for the rest of the 6km. I had to slow down the pace for my knee, just in case. I complete the entire race in 1hr 47 mins. I took 50mins for the 1.5km swim and 55mins for the 10km run. I was a little disappointed because of my knee. But, come to think of it, I am only slacking behind 5mins for my usual 50mins timing in 10km runs. I was really tired, seems like my lungs were on a hyper mode and I enjoyed the rest of the morning hanging out around the area, watching the prize presentation. 1st places for Men and Women category was around 1hr 10mins. One of the female winners was only 15 years old. Amazing.

After collecting my finisher medal and goodie pack, I met up with Conan and went to get his Oakley, Half Jacket. This uncle keeps claiming that he did not like the Half Jacket. Guess what? Yet, he bought it. This time, the sales assistant was a friendlier staff. But, still, I did not proceed with my purchase. I'll hold for a while. Someone has cool new shades.

Back from a lunch and coffee-chitchat session with Lambie, Beng, Kitty and KittyTrainer. It was great meeting KittyTrainer this afternoon. Seems like a great guy, a guy-next-door. We all chipped in our ideas for their wedding preparation hoping to cover some loop holes in their already fantastic plan. We're all too happy for them and hoped that we could chip in at least a little to help. So, we hope to see KittyTrainer more often ... well, ttoday was a brief introduction to us.

Conan just IM-ed me. Asking if I do inline skate. I'm not good. Still able to travel some distance at a very slow speed. More practice? Talking about skates.... my skates was thrown at the top of my wardrobe and I was quite worried that it'll be "screwy".... Fortunately, after inpecting my skates, I find them serviceable. Mm. .. will have to wait for Conan to get his skates.

Tomorrow, my attempt at Biathlon. 1.5km open water swim, 10km run. Not really competing, but oh well .. . the idea is just to have fun. More updates tomorrow.

Crazy things happening at work today. Weren't feeling pissed, but just worked my a** off. Barely had a breather ... working on ideas ... while others stared because there was little that they could do or offer.

So, once my idea seems to pay off, I went for a short dinner break with ABG. Ahh.. . .sushi, just nearby office area. Right after dinner, I popped back into office to check on my idea .... still working fine. Tomorrow, I'll be meeting Lambie, Beng, Kitty and someone new. Kitty trainer actually... Glad for Kitty that she has found a trainer .... Growl.... *whip whip* Purrrrrr .

Arrived home a little late after a session of american pool with JapBoy. Our games are never serious and are always filled with laughters. Work and politics in office environment have drained our energy levels. Therefore, we'll usually meet twice a month for a game. Have some drinks before heading home. Of course, usually not too late. JapBoy will be a dad soon and needs to go home early. Last night, an exceptional case, we chatted till 11pm plus. Something interesting happened during our game of american pool though. JapBoy being a better player than Muggs, we'll usually finish one set rather fast. However, there was a particular game where another young "Ah Lian" from another table brushed our butts a few times. You know.. .those times where each player from different, but next table take aim at the same time and their butts meet. So, JapBoy got a few butt cheek kisses. I got a few too. Plus... a poke in the butt crack from her cue. All of these were unintentional. But, JapBoy and I were laughing our heads off. For that, in that particular game, our shots were so way out of standard. It took us slightly more time to finish that set. Lucky thing... she wasn't about to do a brute force follow through ball... else... no riding on bike for a few weeks.

Mm .. .. these few days the air still smell. The haze is still around.

Anyway, I slept till 11am today. Surfed and online for a while before receiving a call from Beng. He was around town area and called me for coffee. Since I thought of picking up something from town, I went down to town. We chatted about my linkup. We walked for a while before I picked up an Adidas jersy looking polo for cycling. Just an alternative. They have XS for white. Left without a choice, since I like yellow better, I took it. Beng left and I walked over to the paradise for I.T. geeks to get a flash drive reader since I'm too lazy to install anymore drivers for my digicam. $90 poorer.
$50 - Adidas jersey
$40 - Flash reader

Incoming SMS ... . Dive lobang to Pulau Redang... awaiting for quotation... since I have the dates of departure and arrival .... looks okay to me. More $$$ pouring out.

Was just reading my sis's blog since she's still in U.S. and she says she misses home. Soon, Karloong.. you'll be home soon.

Today's ride from home - office - town - home clocked a 29.7km. While riding home, I had 2 miss calls. Chini and Brownie tried to reach me for a squash and table tennis session. Once I reach the LBS around my place, I told them I can meet at 2pm. I bought a stand for my bike, so I don't have to lean my bike against the wall. Rushing home immediately, I changed and went for 1 hr of table tennis and 2 hrs of squash. What a day! I took my dinner at Chini and Brownie's place since Brownie is cooking, we show her our appreciation by finishing the food. Not someone who is good in the kitchen, Brownie was still able to fix a decent dinner. We had some icecream before I left their place and head back home. Now, I'm home.. .. I'm really sleepy... had only around 4-5 hrs of sleep last night...

AC called me last night around 9pm, saying that there would be a small coffee session at the East side of the island. As always, I never turn down a gathering unless I have other appointments. Reaching the usual coffeeshop, AhCheng, AC, AC's wife were already there. I was the second last to arrive. Minutes later WRX-Beng came. AC and his wife went to Taiwan and they showed us the photographs. Ahh.. anyone who has been through those "green" training days recalled all the familiar tourist spots in the photographs. We talk about some of our secondary school friends, their lives, exchanging and updating each other on who we have bumped into recently. Trying to find time to gather a cycling session is difficult but not impossible since most of them are attached, married or married with kids. Or else, busy with their work. Then, EndlessTrail SMS-ed me to ask if I would be interested to cycle and meet in the city area this morning. My worry.... have not tried this distance before. It will not be a problem if I'm using a MTB since it has thicker tyres. But still, I agreed. Will need to check with the LBS about the price of GT Ava 3.0 and its availability. Ooops... I hope bonus is good, so as to cushion me a little on my recent "expenses". Spotting that AC's wife has been yawning... we called it a night and all went home. At 1am in the morning, the only one staying West, a cab is the only way home. I reached home, settled down and still... could not sleep. No idea. Didn't take any coffee or tea. No.. . no one specific was on my mind.... Just no explanation. I probably fell asleep at 3am.

Woke up by enthusiasm (probably my brains knows that I'm cycling today), I washed up and prepared for moveout. Riding till I reach my previous company's location, I stopped to buy mineral water and newspapers. All was well and I only had a small "pressurising move" from a BMW driver with me when I was turing left. He tried to overtake me and cut in before me after the turn was complete. *showing fist* "I'm not a teenage school girl and I'm not impressed with your BMW!". Nah... I wouldn't do that. I stopped near my office, had a soya bean drink and now .. . in office. Oh well ... since its still early before meeting time with EndlessTrail, I thought I'll just blog. Mmm .. . squeeze a little.. . . time management.

I just came back from coffee session with my secondary school friends. Will blog about that soon. Got to catch some sleep. Heading to Cityhall tomorrow.

As far as I can remember, weather is a much more predictable thing of the past. At least during my younger days. Pollution has been a problem for a while which most cities want to solve, but have difficulties in doing so. Just on T.V. news, Paris is closing off section of the city to stop noise and air pollution. Why don't we all cycle? Do some workout for your legs.

I just did. Cycled to Fongs' place to take a look at their PC. Traffic was at its heaviest and I was horned at a few times. Quite a lot of hazards for a racer on the street. Uneven roads. Debris. Twigs and branches. I collected my "Finding Nemo" VCD. I braced myself for another round of horns blowing on my way back. Probably the traffic is less.... I was spared. To and fro was 6km. But, I can already feel that cars pay less attention to cyclists and motorcyclists. Welcome to the world where cars are the kings. There were a few occasions that I was "forced" to super extreme left... I have to take care that I do not hit the sewer covers or I will fly because my racer is fast.

After a long chat with Conan last night through IM, he has set an objective. HSBC TreeTop Walk in 3 weeks time. This uncle wants to maintain his fitness (on a weekend basis). He has challenged me to walk the high suspension bridge with him. Our dear friend has no idea about the distance of the walk and whatsoever. I shall see him cry for help. Looking at nearer weekends, Conan has the cheeky to suggest that I cycle to Bukit Batok and he will meet me there using his Honda Civic. He wants me to pace him in jogging. He must be high on booze...... last night during IM chat.

"Mission Abort, I repeat, Mission Abort!", screamed the Fongs. Mr. Fong just touched home base, back from work and advised Muggs to hold flight mission to a later date.

Can't try my bike. So, I jogged instead. Better not rain tomorrow morning, so I can try and then go for my breakfast.

This morning, my trusty Casio alarm clock woke me up at 6am. Right on time, I thought. I sprang up, happily moving swiftly out of my room, I headed to the washroom. As I was about to brush my teeth (since I wanted to try my racer this morning), I heard a familiar sound in a distant.... *Boom* ... .. Crap.... It was already raining.... I couldn't try out my TCR3, I closely the windows in the kitchen, let out a few grunts and went back to sleep again. I shall not risk riding a racer in the rain.

SITREP 1
Reaching office and as stealthly as possible, I logged into Yahoo messenger. Several mintues after I started working on some presentation slides, I was "contacted" by an incoming IM from Turtle. It seem to be she wanted to ask about my life, I obliged and answered her. Watching every word I type, I try not to say things I should not.

SITREP 2
Before leaving office, my eyelid was twitching. In my context, it can only mean one thing. Incoming SMS from Cookie. Don't ask me why. It happens all the time. She was complaining about some problems at her end, things at work. I'm still researching on a scientific logical explanation on why my eyelid always twitch before I receive SMSes from her.

I'll be going over the Fongs' place later, collect my "Finding Nemo" VCD, probably at 9pm. I'm sure my racer wants to come along.

Once in a while, you've got to throw in a reasonable amount of shock to your body. Why would any perfectly sane person would do that? Mmm ... humans are highly adaptable to gradual changes. Hence, sudden different tempo would make your body guess. After my 3.6km run half and hour ago, I did some chin ups. Instead of performing the reps in a descending numerical order, I did it in an ascending order. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 7. Mm m.. 7.... shouldn't it be 10? Fact is,.. I knew I could not do 3 more proper chin ups. Eventually, I stayed there.. hanging onto the bar for another 15-20 secs. My forearms are blaahhhhddeeee stiff now. Sounds like the Lamb.

Last Saturday, receiving an IM from my friend (who always pronounce Linux as "Lee-nooks), we arranged to meet for a cup of coffee. He is still as blur looking, stressed and always having thoughts on his mind. Of course, I can't help but notice some changes. For whatever reasons, our conversation mentioned about Turtle. My friend asked me how she is and if I still contact her. Nope. He doesn't know anything. I found it weird to answered "I'm not sure. I have not heard from her.". But, that indeed was my answer. So, I dropped a "courtesy" IM to Turtle on Saturday night, mentioning that Mr. Lee-nooks asked about her. This morning, I received an IM from her saying that she is still struggling with her health. Her job is fine and she asked me to tell her about my work and if everything is fine. Scratching my head again, I don't know what to feel. Lost .. I guess.

Something on the brighter side of life. haha.. I have 2 different dive group people asking me to dive on Good Friday weekend. One to Pulau Aur and another to Pulau Redang. Another friend asked me to go for biking. I had to turn down all. Reason? Biathlon is up on 26th March. Arrrg .. .. all about timing. Okay.. . I shall jog after this Star Wars movie, do chin ups, sleep early. Tomorrow, I hope to wake up early where there's less traffic in order for me to try my racer. Fingers crossed. Yeah... so crossed till I almost did a typo error and typed "Star Warts". Shit.

At the bike shop, with my speedometer and tail light fixed on my TCR3. I bought a comfortable helmet "within" my budget too. My bike is ready for action. Not yet.. . . carry all the warranty cards and boxes, I couldn't ride properly on the racer. Thinking of the route, I believe I have to manage a flyover too. Hence, I decided to take the safe bet. Push it home. Carrying the racer and crossing an overhead bridge is not too difficult since the racer is light.

Some more things to buy. A backpack. Jersy. Sun glasses. Oh boy.. ..

I just bought a "poor man's" transport. Actually, a racer. Conan went with me to get the bike. But, sensing that the weather is not right, I told the shop mechanic that I will collect the acer tomorrow. True enough, within like 15 mins, rain started pouring like crazy. Conan said it would have been a car wash for my racer and I showed him my palm. Some upgrades to be expected ... I need a speedometer, helmet, rear light... so much more... More "bleeding" to come for my wallet. A mountain bike. I can't go off roads with my racer, can I? Unless I'm asking for trouble.

So, its Giant TCR 3 for now. Mmm.. . an aero bar ... probably later, when I race.

Do you take public transport? Have you ever seen people yawn when they see someone else yawning? Common sight huh? How about SMS-ing? It works the same way where the "yawning disease" propagates. Next time, while you're on a train, try something like this. Even if you do not have an incoming call or SMS, just take out your phone, punch some numbers, stare blankly at the screen and punch some numbers again. Pause and look around. 80% of the time, you'll see some people start to take out their mobile phones even if they do not have any incoming calls or SMSes, acting busy. Works like yawning, an air-borne disease.

I just came back from the movies. It was a free ticket. Our company booked the entire cinema and we watched "Robots". I wanted to watch this show. Maybe my expectation for this show is rather high (because I always enjoy animation shows), I was slightly disappointed. Well, in terms of the way the story is paced. I do enjoy some of its "engineering" jokes. Mmmm, I think I'll rather watch "Hitch" again.

Last night, I got to know Gang4 is going through a bad patch. I hope she is fine.

Ahh... tomorrow.... I shall go to my LBS and order my MTB. Can't wait.

It has been a while since I went for a real holiday. Think that was 2 years back on a dive trip. Changes in job or things happening around me has left me dry. Exhausted. Humans need to recharge once in a while. We all do. My Mount Kinabalu climb scheduled in June is not confirmed yet. I might *roll eyes* have some minor "adjustment" to make too. I can't exactly go too far because they cost too much. Now, Maldives is one option. Take it as helping them in rebuilding their economy which is highly based on tourism.

Probably another half an hour later, got to do some chin-ups.

Today is a grand day for my friend, Botak. His showroom's grand opening. Of course, he has other business partners for this shop. Another hero in IT world is gone. But, as a personal friend, I am truly happy to see that he has ventured into a different field. Something that interest him. All our ex-colleagues and friends wish him best of luck too.

Glad to back from my "camping trip". In fact, I was already back since yesterday noon time. Having some spare time in the afternoon, I watched "Hitch" starring Will Smith. I love the way this film stresses essential points on dating or relationships. I didn't like Eva Mendes's performance though. I headed to the swimming pool and swam my usual number of laps. A surprise indeed. I met Santoku there. We chatted a while, discussing on next dive dates and location for our group.

Probably due to 2 weeks of body conditioning, my biological clock woke me up at 7am this morning. Its more appropriate to say I was woken by my stomach growling. I was hungry. A quick fix, Big Breakfast, at MacDonalds. Now, the highlight of today. Link up. Wasn't exactly the best, something that I expected. Guess the ball is in my court for now. Time to rush off and I went to Samantha's first month celebration. Meeting lots of ex-colleagues there. We all chatted till 6.30pm before heading home.

Arrgg... looks like I have to do some calculated risks for link up decision.