Limping Marathon Runner

Since we (those taking bus to Penang) targeted to meet at 8.30pm, I took my dinner at Beach Road market and had a bowl of tang yuan. I collected tickets from Shut slightly earlier and checked in for the rest of the guys. Once Fennel, Swoop, Kayano, TeeLee, Shut, Eliza and I were ready, we boarded the bus. At the usual stop (Yong Peng), we took some light snacks and drinks before we carried on. The show that was played was not at all interesting. Somehow, Steven Segal's movies just don't seem to make it now. I had a hard time trying to fall asleep with the driver's radio channel fixed at some "hypnotic" Indian tunes. Please send me to dream land... I need all the sleep I can get.

Out of town again, at tomorrow night. I will head up to Penang with Shut for Sunday's extra early race to beat the heat. Looks like I'll have to re-pack my bag tonight and move out right after work. My return trip will be a little tight and I have my clothes with me so that I'll head right to office on Monday. How tight is that?!

As Conan complains, 'You're idling! Such good life, out every weekend.'. Yeah. Right. Grass is always greener ... elsewhere.

I never had a breather from work since I got back. It has always been this way. A slight ache in my quads could not keep me in my chair. 'Running gear on!' and I headed out for a short 5.8km. Enough. Clouds formed rapidly and signaling that I should go back. Indeed, a heavy down pour followed as soon as I reached home.

As I speak, I am struggling to recap and write the FR for Phuket's trip and race. I have not touched on my photos yet...... slow.

I recall seeing two SMSes about diving trip invites. One from SH to Bali and another to Pulau Tioman. Not sure, I think I need to look at my bank statement. Too many things.. ... too little resources. Where is my SCV? 'Go harvest some minerals and Vespene gas!' When was the last time I had compressed air? Throat itching.

Moi


Day 1, Day 2 and Day 3

Back from my trip at wee hours this morning, I was off to work in just a few miserable hours of sleep. No matter what, I still would like to have my swim in the evening. Just a form of recovery. My legs were feeling okay. Just some slight achy feeling in the quads. Those quads need some blood circulation, right? Hence, it was a usual swim and I clocked a 3km before chatting with the guys. YeeHua joined us at the swim today and I heard from my slacking twin that YenErl was at Laguna Phuket race as well.

I shall do a short run tomorrow.

Back from a wonderful trip. The whole marathon was entirely another story on its own. Updating with pictures very soon! Thanks for all the SMSes and well wishes for my run there!

.... A long race field report. Warning. You might just fall asleep .....

My alarm sounded off at 3.30am before I took a shower and went through the usual ritual of getting dressing for the race. A yam pastry (I bought yesterday) and museli bar was my breakfast that would see me through my first 21km (at least). With Angelo, we gathered at one of their rooms. At 4.15am, we flagged down a Tuk-tuk to bring us to the start point. While making our way there, we felt slight drizzle once we saw the wet roads along the way. Not good. Not a very good sign. The second half of the journey appeared to have dry floors. With loud music and Emcee speeches, we were sure that the race was about to flag off. It was about 5mins away from 5am and I went to relieve myself. I did my warm up stretches and there was a countdown in Thai. Flag off!

I was right at the back and 5 metres away from the start line, there were puddles of water seen!! I walked my way out to the main road and took a slow start. The first few kms of the route was pretty dark. The sun was visible to other parts of the globe. Keeping my pace to relax mode, I saw a fellow runner (Pacesetters) with a tag on his back that says, "In memory of Terence Leong, Penguin 6". Friends remember you as a runner forever because of the bond. Before the 8km mark, I did a left turn at a wet market that was already busy with activity. By this time, the sky turned to a light blue as first light approaches. The far and beyond hills had clouds above them. Not a positive sign for a sunny day. *Fingers crossed* I went on. At 11km mark, a slope was clearly seen ahead of us. 'Push it through!' It is after all a hilly course. Further down the course, I stopped for a toilet break and spoke to a fellow countryman, Benard, who was waiting for his partner. Water stations were ample and well spaced with plain water and energy sports drinks as well. At around 12km, it started to drizzle. I held on to my digicam since it was not exactly pouring yet. A runner was seen on the return at the other side of the road (24km). I flashed a thumb up to each runner that was seen on the other side of the road. Things started to change at 14km. It was raining heavily. The roads had puddles of water. Mud puddles formed across certain roads. I was drenched. 'What could be worse?', one might ask. Lightning flashed across the sky before a loud boom from the thunder. I monitored the skies for a second flash. It never came again. *Phew* I was joined by two Caucasians which one of them called me "Kung Fu man" because I was seen doing my stretching at every 5km mark after 10km. He thought I was doing some Kung Fu moves. A brief chat along the way and I did not wish to affect his run. I was ran this marathon as a leisure race and it does not mean anyone else would have the same objective. At 18km, Nai Yang Beach was in full view as we ran along the stretch. I paused at various points to take some pictures of the sea. I did a U-turn and headed for towards the 21km mark. One of the water points served bananas and watermelons! Energized by a up of sports drink, I stopped just slight after 21km (at an open area) for my stretch. A quick time checked showed that I was faster than expected. Nevertheless, I "refreshed" my legs with some good stretches and it was as though they were given a new lease of life! I noticed a group of dogs started to close in on me, I began to slowly walk away. Fearing that they would pounce on me, I turned occasionally to check. By then, they grew a little aggressive, started growling and surrounded me. I stood my ground and displayed signs of aggression. Acting as though I had something to throw at them, it took me around 30 secs to break away from them before they picked on other runners. What's up with them?!!! Yeah, probably they felt I was a slacker and needed some push. Occasionally, the rain came and went off (more like passing showers). I recalled passing by a mosque and several Wats (temples). There were a few rubber plantations with tapping that were going on. All these reminded me of my younger days that I had to walk to school each day on foot for 30mins. Rain seemed to have stopped for good when I reached 28km. There were enough water in my shoes to make my toes feel squishy. Nearing 29km, a Thai runner chatted with me, or at least tried chatting with me. I could not decipher a single Thai word he said with my limited knowledge of the language. He spoke very few words in English. I asked if I could take a picture of him at 29km and he promptly agreed! While near 30km or 31km, I photographed a couple of water buffaloes that were by the side of the main road. 'Don't charge at me!', I hoped for the best. They appeared a lot friendlier than those dogs at 21km. Streets at 34km were full of energy that led me to believe most people were already up and out of their bed. It is a rainy, lazy Sunday! 'What am I doing with wet shoes?' I should be in bed! I would like to say that the volunteers were great! They stood in the rain and took turns to seek shelter from the rain. Some even volunteers even took the initiative to run across the road (water point at the opposite side of the road) to offer ice cold drinks to us. That saved us some precious energy have to cross the road to get a drink. *Grateful* Some volunteers even took the opportunity to treat the rain like Songkran Festival. I kept myself busy looking around and soon arrived at 38km. Scent of the ocean was in the air. Runners ran with Layan Beach, followed by Laguna Beach on their right. I passed by the exclusive beach front of Banyan Tree Phuket resort. 'Can I stop?' It certainly was tempting. I had to press on. The stretch of road ahead looked familiar as volunteers cheered, 'One more km!!'. Indeed, I saw a 41km sign. In a matter of minutes, my name was announced as I crossed the finishing line. 5:50! I slacked and looked like a total n00b with this timing which reminded me of my virgin marathon!! Haaa!! What is most important to me is that I enjoyed each race!! Yes .. the rain dampened my running momentum, as I am not a fan of running in wet socks and shoes. The scenery and things I saw along the way made up for it. My target for this race is to come back with 5:30 - 6:00 (hrs). Penang Marathon is just a week ahead.

Just around the corner, I was greeted by friends. I am glad for each of them because they enjoyed their run as well. We did not hang around the race venue going through the tents. Maybe I shall try the complimentary massage next time. I took a couple of bananas and a drink before taking a cab back to our hotel. Taking my well deserved shower, Shamrock was kind enough to make coffee for us!! Good service, eh?! With a shot of caffeine, I was still able to sleep like a log for a few hours. We regrouped at 5pm and our lobang queen (local terminology for having knowledge on plenty of great deals and offers), Shamrock, brought us to Royal Paradise Hotel's cafe that served $199 Baht buffet! Carbo-reload! For what we paid, it was indeed a good lobang and seemed like a frequent place for tour groups too. I would say that is one place to recommend for "all you can eat". We made our way back to our hotel as the rest watched Seal and me pack. It was time to say goodbye as the rest will be staying longer in Phuket.

It certainly was a great race and fantastic holiday for me. The best deal? A bunch of nice people to escape away from daily struggles in life. Yikes... back to reality soon.

8am, it was. *Guilty* 8.30am (actually) was the time that I showered, changed and appeared at the cafe for our complimentary breakfast. I bumped into Julia, who was on her way to swim. After last night's survey of the pool, it is rather inviting. Anyway, I left my swimming trunks out of my packing list. I was surprised to find that the rest of the guys were not at the cafe and that left me feasting on "the most important meal of the day". After taking my time at sipping coffee, I took a walk to the beach. I figured that they might still be asleep. This morning, the sun was a little shy. With clouds always in the foreground, it casted a dull lighting on most subjects at the beach. Mists formed at remote hill tops. I spent my time photographing things around the beach before receiving a call from Seal saying that they were at the cafe. Reaching the cafe, I had my second helping of breakfast. I needed to carbo-load after all! Angelo (Shamrock's friend) soon arrived at our hotel and Shamrock introduced him to everyone. He will be staying at another hotel. Angelo will be taking the 42km too.

Once done with our breakfast, we took a bus to Phuket Town for more ... shopping? I must say I am not really a shopping person. Maybe that is the "home" me. When I am overseas, I would rather look at the local culture, lifestyle and building. However, this time, I happened to get a good buy for a 5L waterproof bag for kayaking with just $13. It was actually the vertically placed sea kayak that caught my attention before I spotted the waterproof bags. *Growl* ... my stomach protesting for food. I picked a few pieces of pastry and bread with Angelo (a fellow bread lover) and we chatted while coaxing our stomachs with bakery delights. Time passed before we were joined by Shamrock and Seal. While the rest wanted just some coffee or drinks, I opted for a meal instead. We settled down at Black Canyon Coffee with Seal recommending this cafe. Well .. what do you know? My decision to order a meal seem to have affected the rest. Everyone ordered a meal with drink too. I had a Tom Yum Soup with Fusili and Phuket Sunrise for my drink. Phuket Sunrise is actually coconut yoghurt blended with pineapple juice. Yummy! *Slurrp* We had long talks in the cafe before heading back to Patong on a complimentary bus.

We walked around the hotel area and Shamrock's attention was captured by a Crepe stall and next a pancake store. While Shamrock, Angelo and Seal took turns finishing the pancake off, I occupied myself with picture taking of the store and their chocolate banana pancake. Come on! That was just appetizer. We hunted around for a good eatery and settle for Subway for its value and healthy choice. The soft drinks selection triggered our interest more than the sandwich itself. Mirinda has a sapphire blue coloured drink with Berry Punch flavor. Seal tried a drink that tasted like pomelo. Time to retire early. Once back at our hotel, I prepared my gear for tomorrow's race and watched some T.V. programme before falling asleep. Targeted time to wake up would be 3am in the morning. I don't think I will get race anxiety .... too tired to be getting it.

It was an early day for me to Phuket with my E-ticket stated a 7am flight. Don't ask me what time I woke up. But, I reached the Budget Airport just before 5am. After checking in and passed the immigration gates, I walked around the shops and bookstore before heading towards the boarding gate. A familiar face asked for confirmation. "Are you going to Phuket?", questioned Phishy. There was a last minute change to the boarding gate and she was confused. It is always a treat to see familiar faces.

Once in the air, I kept myself busy, staring out of the window. Rows and rows of cloud looked like candy floss which turned the whole sky into a wonderland. I spotted an island with green vegetation surrounded by pristine waters gently caressing the shores. Within 15 minutes, we touched down at Phuket's airport. After picking up my pack, I bought a ticket to Patong beach. Packed in a minivan, we got transferred to a tour agency where people heading off to Phuket town will hop onto another minivan (transfer). Upon reaching my hotel, I checked in and got a surprise once I stepped into my room. It was better than what I thought it would be. LCD TV, queen sized bed, bathtub were simply fantastic. I can even watch TV while soaking in the bathtub! No time to lose! No, not taking a bath now! I dropped my stuff and met up with Seal, Shamrock, Julia and David in the restaurant for breakfast. I took some cereal, a cup of coffee and was eager to move out! We walked to a nearby mall for some shopping (fav time busting activity back home). I was looking around in a sports departmental store and most of the items carried a same price tag compare to those back at home. "Thrilled" is the exact word to use when I saw a sea kayak in the store. While most of them wandered around the mall, we decided to meet again in an hour's time. I took this opportunity to head towards the beach which was a 10mins walk away. The ocean view was great and it was complimented with a clear sky. Taking off my shoes, I left my footprints on the beach. With sea water wetting my feet each time the wave hits the shore, I walked almost the entire stretch of the beach front. At one point, I stopped, stood in the open for a good 15mins with sea breeze blowing at me. I felt totally relaxed at that instant. Time check! It was time to head back and meet up with the group.

In search of a place to eat, Shamrock brought us to a place that they tried last year. The portion was a little small, given the price tag. What do you expect? It is a tourist spot we were in! Taking a walk back to the hotel, some of them wanted to rest. Seal and I took a walk along the streets and we saw people taking Open Water classes in the small pool just outside the dive shop. It was not too long before we stopped at a StarBucks coffee joint to chill out. Meeting the group back at the hotel once again, we took a Tuk-Tuk to Laguna Beach Resort to collect our race packs. Not much of a surprise, we saw Uncle Chan's name on the list of marathon runners. There little to see at the race pack collection venue. Some New Balance shoes, magazine, other marathon races and that was all. With strong recommendation from Shamrock again, we took a bus to the Lotus Restaurant which serves good, value for money seafood. The ambience of the restaurant was set for diners to enjoy their food while facing the ocean. I wanted to capture the sunset and was waiting for this moment the whole day. I was kind of disappointed when the sky turned cloudy. During our dinner, it poured as well. Now, back to the dinner we had. I really have to say that is it certainly value for money. The mango juice was of good standards too. Since we were waiting for the rain to stop, we had a second round of drinks. Once the sky cleared, we took a bus back to Laguna Beach Resort looking for a cab back to Patong. It took both parties a while to negotiate the prince before cabbie drove us back to Patong in his Volvo. We went back to our rooms and agreed to meet at 8am the next morning for breakfast. I took my shower and caught Star Wars on T.V. before I actually saw "stars" (falling asleep). It was one long day indeed.

Recent work assignments and catching up on new stuff have left me stoned. Fortunately, I was able to get some air with some light runs (few days) and tennis (just today) session. I will make my way to Phuket for the marathon and definitely some food (plus sight seeing) to go along during the trip. I have re-routed my ticket for Bangkok (Lambie's wedding) to Phuket. I was down with fever then. Now,... flight is at 7am and I need to reach around 5am. I'll try to catch some sleep during the flight then.

Marathon review says the hills are alive!

I will be back with field report.

Today's swim was way ahead before finishing and we got halted by the life guards due to heavy rainfall. Just when I was enjoying the therapy of rain drops massaging my body, I had to leave the pool after the alert by lifeguards' whistle blows. The slackers echoed in unison, "Thanks to the lifeguards, we can slack!" It poured for a good 20 minutes or so that left us with no choice but to change and head out.

This afternoon, I notice a change in the food I ordered. I have always been singing praises to this particular for their value deal meals. Today, it shrank in its servings. It's coming. GST hikes.. everything shrinks. Services.. goods.. soon, even my plate of Char Kway Teow. Or is the GST hike helping in controlling our diet or intake by reducing the portions ... ?? I think they just made a $2 lunch a fossil fact! Just another statistic down memory lane! Who knows? Maybe one day we will get bite sized serving of Char Kway Teow? Here's to healthy living!

This is just great. Even StarHub's SCV wants a piece of the pie. Who else is in?

With recent announcement of upcoming GST hike, I woke up to find my Big Bun turned smaller and my cup of coffee tasting like it came from a third or fourth brew. A few other individual organizations have highlighted their own fare increase for their services or products. I am sure that more will follow suit.

I took a ride to the east side for today's appointment. Since I was early, I did some reading at the library before I meet up with the guys for kayaking. Captain JackSparrow ordered our crafts to be launched. We saw Pico crafts around the area, which I believe that there is a class going on. Our expedition team consisting of two dancers, two bandits and one shalom cruised around the area. The sun was kind to all beach lovers around the area today. Big fluffy clouds decorated the sky providing a shade from the scorching sun of the hot afternoon. There were a few really humongous jellyfishes swimming in the sea. No one wants to do a capsize here! Two hours around the area was like "time passes when you're having fun". We failed to do a re-make of Runners' World wallpaper for Captain JackSparrow. But, we promised we will be back again!

After washing everything in sight, the very important task up next .. was to look for a place to fill our tummies up. Where is the "makan queen"? While we ran a deep search through our non-functional database, we wondered what was the "makan queen" up to, at that point of time. Ba-Chor-Mee it was .... and more! We had to make room in our stomachs for some satay and stingray too.

Suppose to climb today. It was not ninja training like what kops21 has described. I was zapped of energy and tank was already at "Empty". I wonder. 5 slices of bread (with spread) and 2 bananas for breakfast. Nasi Lemak for lunch, where I saw HKWong (my Men-In-Green buddies). When I reached the climb spot, I was empty (punctured). My mistake. I should have brought along something for the tummy to work on. Stomach muscles need to train as well, right? As a form of compensation, the group voted for Botak Jones. *Faint* No work out and I ate instead? I think I need the extra buoyancy and insulation. The force around the waistline only grows stronger.

Wow! Another tool from Taz's blog called Map My Run.

I am no robot. Excuses and lame ones too. My mind was drifting away like a fallen log in the great ocean when I was around 2.5km of my swim. I swapped from freestyle to breaststroke and stopping at 3km. I think I will set my target at 2 hours for my 3.8km swimming leg. Good to be conservative. Babumouse claims that I can finish off by 1hr 20mins. *ROFL* I wish.

Covered quite a fair bit today and I am 20 pages away from finishing another chapter.

Ah.. slopes, love it or hate it. I took my time to walk while River Maya's song was on the radio when I was at the Kent Ridge Park peak.

News mentioned that there was an earthquake in Yunan, China. Another destination for my holiday. I hope people there can recover from this natural disaster.

Just got informed by Ling that tomorrow's terns shoot has been called off (probably due to migration?). Too bad. *self administers slaps* More reading, more! Then, its workout time.

I wonder how did the ride turn out? The weather in the afternoon wasn't too good. Stripped of the idea (riding to Pengarang) and had to be a bookworm today, I managed to finish another chapter.

Yay. First 50 Dates is on later. I missed that movie when it was on the big screen.

I'm glad that it is a holiday tomorrow. When I heard about the Pengarang trip out, I was really excited about it. I totally forgot about my studying plans. *dang* :( I got to do some reading while I can.

Look like its ... till another day.

The last installment of our 2 Star course was today! The morning session was for our project work, leaving us - two teams to present our work. Our original instructor had injured his course and has failed to join us for the afternoon session of mini expedition. Another instructor assumed the position instead. We got our Dancers out and went for early lunch before we start our mini expedition.

After a short lunch (it was our eagerness more than anything else), we did a short brief with first team leading the first leg of our expedition. We are going to One Fullerton and will be crossing Sheares Bridge from below. After we launched our kayaks, we crossed over to the condominium side of Tanjong Rhu. Keeping left, we soon had Sheares Bridge over our head. Nice! With two on-coming dragon boats, we kept compact and squeezed through. Next, we orientated ourselves and headed towards the sun dial location. The Ferris Wheel was already on our right. We crossed the Sheares Bridge again for the second time with the Fullerton One ahead of us. The PICO sail crafts were around the vicinity too. With a raft up sign, we gathered and did a short check before we swapped roles. The second group (our group) took the lead for the route back. I was almost nominated as the lead again. But, we suggested that my buddy should lead since she will be able to control the pace then. On our way back, there was a test of skills with two fellow mates executing the capsize drill. Rescue work was performed swiftly and a short discussion before we went paddling back to our familiar shallow waters area.

More tests!! Backward paddle to reach an certain distance before we switched to self practise sessions. Each one of us had to display the skills we have learned so far in our 2 Star course. I cleared my skills test. I was totally high, when I was able to perform a few low brace turns without capsizing. It was like wheelie on wheels. Pack up time! We washed our gears and bathed before collecting our certs. Our certs - after three days of more skills and practise.

Exhaustive testing .. yes, I can smell the appliance burning. Finally, I solved 2 problems out of 3 that I have been facing for so long. The last problem is seriously one tough cookie. I hope I can crack the code. Tiring though... I gave the run a pass for today and was caught slacking by my slacking twin. Ooops.

.... Great balls of fire!

I took an early dinner and allowed the Ba Chor Mee to be digested. Uh oh .. the defacto chilli - dry version seems to have started something in my tummy. I rather my heels set the tracks on fire! I got more than I bargained for. My behind - on flames. I was determined and completed my 7 sets.

With good, cold Ching Tng, it was instant gratification! The flames were put out at 2130hrs. Satisfying.