Limping Marathon Runner

I have outputs but I refuse to blog. Codes and all? Maybe.

Call it my comms failure but that will be it where history repeats.

I will still update about recce and group training for yesterday when I am back from my swim later.

That will be all.

Definitely on a lighter note, I would like to congratulate my slacking twin for crosssing that finishing line in style! Same goes to all those who finished their Lankawi Ironman '07. Well done!

*Throws test pens* My notebook is already dead due to power adapter failure. Too lazy to install Gimp again on this spare notebook with all my downloaded fonts and brushes. The photos will have to wait.

First thing in the morning was to get my butt out of the house and taking a train, followed by bus to Changi Village Ferry Terminal. Mission today: Pulau Ubin Recce.

Something had gone amiss. Somehow just not right. Yeah. Right. No breakfast. I need food. After scouting around, Ipoh Hor Fun stole my heart. Not exactly the best Ipoh Hor Fun I have had, but that will do just fine for today. Coconut juice caught my attention totally and how can I spare that cooling beverage. *Burp* No more hungry man, no more angry man. Upon reaching the Terminal, the boatman was ready to go. Perfect timing! (Could not be better) A short boat ride it was and with a map in hand, I navigated throughout the island passing beaches, quarries, greenery and retro kampong houses. This is where simple life represents happiness. I prefer to think happiness is a state of mind. It does not matter what one is doing or where one is at. Several cyclists along the way and we exchanged greetings. Everyone seems to be having much fun! I left out a portion of the recce since I have a second location to pop up at. Lunch time! Reaching the mainland again, it was time to load up my tank again before I got tranferred via bus, train and bus again to MacRitchie. I was so zapped of energy due to an early morning and late night. Not partying away, but more of cannot sleep syndrome.


Being the earlier person of the group to arrive, I was laying out my bottles, getting ready for the "torture" liquid top up. Today shall be a day for 10kg. *Sweat* Soon enough, Weiwen arrive and he says it is still okay to walk. Not too long after filling our bottles, it started to drizzle. Donkey was late again (as always). We waited at the shelter till the rain stopped before heading out for the 11km route. Around 2.2km, it started to pour again before turning into a heavy downpour when we were nearing the TreeTop Walk. Thunder was heard and we seeked shelter at the Ranger Hut at the TreeTop Walk start point. No signs of dying down, the TreeTop Walk was closed at 5pm. Nothing to do? I opened a pack of Sugar Gems and we happily munched it all up. We waited till 5.45pm before moving back to the main carpark. Of course, we all got drenched. Donkey had a umbrella and was grinning all the way. Weiwen looked around for really huge leaves as a cover. Come to think of it, it has been a long long time since I walked in the rain. I always love the rain, minus soggy socks and squishy shoes. Walking along the main road, we stopped at Thompson Shopping where I changed to a new set of clothes and poor Weiwen had to blow his soaking wet clothes at the hand dryer. Sorry guys!! I had to made you all go all wet in this condition training. Don't get sick! I have no money to pay for your medical consultation fee.

Now...., I do not think Donkey will get a taste of the cudgel. She took a cab back to the carpark to get her car.

Walking across the overhead bridge, an aroma aroused my senses.... KFC! *Slurp - Awake* I owe someone a meal? Vaguely familiar? ... Hmm... can't remember. Water got into my brain during that walk.

Once home (getting ready for my family arranged dinner), I quickly took out the insoles of my shoes and headed for shower. Feeling tired, I fixed myself a hot Orange Honey drink. Instant rejuvenation! Once ready, we headed out to Changi (again?!) for Curry Fish Head dinner. A few other good dishes speaded across the table and we were all burping away when we were done. BIL insisted that I should do some offerings to the temple nearby for some luck in love. LOL! He actually drove us there. Do I have a choice?!

Our annual meet was held today at a dim sum restaurant. As usual, one by one, they began to arrive. Everyone started feasting and we ended it with a YuSheng toss. I thought that the auspicious toss should be the first of all things. Anyway, ... we left the place and went down to Millenia since Orchard will be packed with ChingGay. Coffee chill outs before my run back at my neighbourhood with Orion's belt above my head.

Don't look at me! I'm not that crazy .... yet. It's IMD's race tomorrow (plus a few other folks like Babumouse, Grace, Jeremy and probably Kenneth). Good luck guys!

I will turn crazy only by next year.

Now, this is bad. The challenge or try out did not work. PLMD again last night and I was wide away at 3am. Lousy.

Me: You're ....
XYZ: I'm not fat, I'm big boned.

XYZ: You're skinny.
Me: I'm not skinny, I'm lean.

I am still denying the fact I am in denial.

Complains ... yak yak yak yak... Problems will always be there. Heck it! I was late for the run at tracks due to work. The guys are almost done.

I am .. still running faster than I should. Tired but a good workout! Surprise to see someone calling out for me. Eh?! Oh ya, she runs here as well.

Laps - six. Stick with it. Sotong paced my last 400m. *Cough* Faster than my fast already. Fortunately, it was my last lap. I would have crashed out. Quick! Warm down. Spending too much time and everyone waiting! *bows* Thanks to everyone who was waiting. Clear skies for stars. The stars dotted the entire sky! ..wooo... See Gemini (like real).

We left the tracks and went for our Nasi Lemak. Only to find that it was closed and our only alternative was Prata. Somehow I had to wash the two plain Pratas down with curry sauce, accompanied by a glass of Tehcino Peng.

Since this is a year of pig, I would say I feel like a Puffer Pig than a Puffer Fish after that buffet lunch. The food was not that great. But, the company was excellent. Gossips.. it proves that I am not aware of my surroundings. Hey.. but, those are none of my business anyway! Choices are nothing but paths one take during their journey. There is no right or wrong.

After all that food, I had to swim it off. A short distance since I had to settle some work stuff once I reach home.

Owwww... YMother accidentally landed my MP3 player with a thud (plus her 'Ooops') on the floor. My Creative player has found the floor. As long as it does not happen that often, this is one baby that is made to last.

How? Swim... no swim .... swim .... no swim.
Heck. Swim tomorrow. Decided to leopard crawl back to bed. Aiyah .. SMS ..

Woke up in time to get all my gears and my cousin with his family came to visit us. 3 kids already! After spending some time talking to them, we left at almost same time.

Since I got an invite to the gym (which I have not been into one since movie tickets cost $3.50 each), I gladly accepted the offer. Definitely very different or I should say that it is not an apple to apple comparison. I admit. I am never a gym rat. Various reasons prevented me from signing up. Harassment stories from fellow gym users, harassment stories from gym membership team, lack of commitment due to work, etc. I must say, the gym has pretty good classes. Today, it was spin class (RPMs) of 88mins. It has been a while since I last stepped into a gym and not to even mention biking. I am ready to wet the floor with my sweat. Oh... Mika and Eddie were there too. But, Eddie gave up his seat to another person. Not knowing what to expect but exhaustion from the spin class, I set my spin bike to measurement. Catching a glance at the instructor's shoes, I knew I will be a dead gym rat. High tempo with cadence to match and with bouts of intervals and climbs, I panted most of the time. I have never felt so unfit, even in an air-conditioned area! Legs burning and instructor pointed out to me that I was slacking. After a few more times, I guess she got tired of mentioning. Either I got the resistance horribly wrong or I was not doing enough to match up with the momentum. I chose to believe that it was latter. I was a complete slacker in the class and I bet others were much fitter. During the recovery, the instructor had Chris Isaak's Wicked Game on the stereo. Fantastic! My favorite. It was a great experience with me getting out of the class with a pair of legs that feels like wobbly Jello.

Time to buck up and hit the slopes. *Guilty - Looks at floor*

Night time! 5K. Slow. Simple. I can do more. But, I shall just be good and stick to 5K.

Tradition remains....

Have a Happy Chinese New Year with great health and prosperity!

Canceled my long walk since it rained. I shall have it tomorrow. Still drizzling, I started on my duct tape wallet production. Hey.. not too bad. Geeky looking. Silly folks (engineers) like me often feel happy after making something that scores in the Geek-O-Meter.

This wallet will accompany me for runs / swims / trips! Not too worried about getting the wallet dirty or misplaced. The roll of duct tape costs $1.60. Effectively, this wallet costs $0.80 because I still have half a roll of duct tape left! There many designs out there. Some even have and ID display or a photo display of your love ones.

I got the full instructions (complete with photos) from this location. Duct Tape Wallet

There are other tonnes of stuff that can be made with duct tape and a search can be done through search engines.

Proud and happy with my new wallet, I left it and went for a run. With a slight drizzle, I had a long warm up and only started my run when the sun showed up. I started slow since the floors are still pretty wet. Turning and crossing the highway, I was greeted by Prata eateries! *Focus* Focus, man! C'mon... Tunnel vision. *Phew* Passing rather quickly, I did a left turn into SP2 after seeing the Pillbox. Encounters with the few small slopes were more like Hors d'oeuvre before two huge ones. Return near to the main road again, I switched gears for the long slope ahead. Pant, pant, pant... finally, with my legs carrying me up and out of the slopes to turn right into the endless curves. OOoh! A howitzer! Turn left now. *Gulp* Memories..... Full speed ahead. Switch gear! My legs almost came to a halt but I refused to give in. Just keep going! Move your legs... With a clear view on my right, I went upslope. An AMX-13 was in sight. Moving along, two rows of Island Pine trees reminds of U.S., when I was there. To my left, it was a Canopy walk which I decided to skip it. It will distract people if my legs are pounding on the wooden planks at the Canopy walk. With a right turn and climbing some steps, I joined a road that leads downhill. I can take this path next time! Hmm.. I carried on along before turning left and getting a drink at a petrol kiosk. The rest of the route was nothing new. Back at home now, I Google-Earthed the route and it was a 21km (2hrs 18mins). I think I will be fine with this speed at KLIM. Nothing more, nothing less.

Canceled swim via Email but I wanted to swim anyway. So, I SMSed the usual suspects for a link up. Thunderstorm, heavy rain came even when I left my office. It was probably a passing thunderstorm (such things?) that it turned to a drizzle when I got out of home with my stuff. One? Only one usual suspect in the pool?! Where are the rest?! Slackers .. ha... will be slackers. Never leave out a chance to slack in a rainy day! IMD and I did laps and we almost had the whole pool to ourselves. A family of four and a couple of other guys were splashing water around. Tang yuan auntie was feeling kind of good and packed up early for CNY. Totally left IMD with a pout. He settled for Roti Prata instead.

RacingThePlanet : Vietnam

Sick of the deserts?! Try Vietnam! Too bad,... there are plans in place. Else, this would be it. My Gobi still stands!

If running on the tracks, panting like a dog and covered in sweat is hot .. yeah, I had a hot date with the tracks. Perhaps I am running faster than I should have. 5 laps.

It was followed by an early reunion dinner with my family. We never fail to order the Thai Style Fish. Even with just plain rice, it taste great.

What can I say for today?! ... that aside first. I managed to have a short talk with my colleague on her recent condition. Half way through, she did not look too good. I think its best for her to leave the event and head home with her boy picking her up. A rest would do her good. Heavy sigh. She helps me to understand views on my other hand.

Running short of time, when the rest were boozing on, I left and got ready for my 30-30. Half way through my warm up, my Polar was a flat liner. After rescuing and restoring it back to life, I went on to pace and mark out the location for my 30-30. What good luck I have?! Someone took my bottle that I left on the floor for marking. I had to make do with what is left. I only managed 8 set, which I think of it as ... disappointing. Topping up to a 3km, I headed back home.

Tomorrow is V-day. I'll soak up the atmosphere starting tonight with some late night music.

Issued with more strokes practice, which I think I need more of these, I struggled in the pool. Overcast and periodic showers have turned quite a fair bit of swimmers away from the pool today. There was not much interruption from other swimmers. Few of us only spoke a little after completing all our items for today's session. Tunnel vision! But, I kinda failed at hypoxic training. Lousy! I guess I chose Matter over Mind.

We rushed to the tang yuan store where I ordered tang yuan with almond soup. After consuming dinner, I walked around for my hair conditioner. Three sessions per week - that definitely allowed chlorine to work on my hair. I have never spent so much time looking at conditioner before. I picked one and will be trying it out. Any recommendation?

Yesterday, my cousin initiated a quick meet up before my badminton session, we went through some issues and topics to be covered. Seems like it will go as planned, I just need to look and examine it a little more. Badminton was quick with different groups and we ended with some chill down drinks / american pool and dinner before heading home.

Today was an early day, usual day of the month, with me heading down to BG. I covered the rear with Petia beside me and looping back to BG before our talk by Sebastian on brisk walking. Looks easy, but I can tell you it is definitely not. As with all things, it requires practice! Refueling ourselves at the Prata Cafe, we split and I went home to gather my stuff for the MR trek. But, first, I met EndlessTrail to get our supplies before I brought him for the road / trail march. Filling our bottles with water, we started our "walk in the park". With my bread visible at the back of my pack, we were soon harassed by monkeys. After chasing them away and hiding our food, we stopped for a while before tackling the slopes just before Tree Top Walk. We even talked to a couple of Caucasians with a lovely daughter who is five years old. We went our different ways, after I showed them the directions at one of the junction. I made EndlessTrail walked up the tower which he regretted later! Ha! Right on time, we reached the main car park after 2.5 hrs of walk with 6L of water for me. We watered the plants around TT start point later and munched on some gummy worms. Needless to say, we got chased by monkeys again. Time to run!

An interest offer .. but ...

At the pool, it was mainly strokes and not sprints. But, it was still some work on those arms!

Since SH postponed the meeting and sushi was not a "go ahead". I turned to my old faithful, The Tracks. A slow warm up jog to the tracks, 6 minute TT for the 30-30 test, 4 sets of 800m and warm down jog back to the block. On the way, a pack of cyclist sped past leaving traces of dust on my face. I wanna bike.

Drats. This is not good. There is just not enough lambs to count.

A love package from the Magical Kingdom has arrived.

Guess where I will be going? It will be a back to back weekend!

Work stretched past the usual run time, I went home instead. Doing some loops, I bumped into Babumouse. He was doing his rounds as well.

Most of my single friends I know of, are exploring with someone in mind or happily attached! That is fantastic! 14th Feb is nearing. Great to have someone to kick start 2007. Have a good time guys!

Things are getting pretty bad and out of hand. With uncontrollable human issues trying to level each other to the ground, we are the one who stand to lose.

Fortunately, good friends came to the rescue. Maybe its them or it could be the chocolate that made me felt better. Or was it both? Too bad, no digicam around. It says on the chocolate crepe cake and chocolate layered cake box, 'Since you cannot come to the mountain, we shall move the mountain to you!' Thanks!

Night swim was good. There is still so much to do and improve on. Sotong sweats by the poolside watching us. He vows to sweat more by joining us soon.

*Deep thoughts*


I once I fell.
My world had only two colors.
Black or White.
Five days' worth of advance weather forecast for Japan sent me confused.
Someone asked me. Puzzle, I brushed it aside.

Huge circles they were, the path we took.
At time, I looked back, I am still puzzled.

As the circles got smaller, things took a turn.
Better? It seemed.

Now, you fell. Real hard.
There may never be a day you'll climb back.
If only tries count, helping you make it out alive.

Emotional rides of highs and lows.
Words written, still leave me puzzled.