I gave myself many many excuses...yes it's excuses of not going for CBD yesterday. Let's see....

- it was a very quiet day at work so I'm all ready to leave on the dot at 5pm. Can't shop for the next 1.5 hours to wait for 7pm run because I have been doing that shopping during lunch hour in the past few days.
- need to be home early for some errands
- sudden urge to explore new route
- sudden need to do a solo run. Just me, the road and the mp3 kind of run

So I dash off slightly after 5 and is all ready to explore...Amazingly, just by changing into running gear, it convert you instantly from being a lethargic sleepy head to a semi-energized person. Suntec-Marina promenade-nicoll-mountbatten-fort rd-ECP B1. I have always wanted to do this route for ages and ages. It never get materialized for whatever reason. It didn't take too long for me to reach B1. Of course not because I'm fast. Perhaps I'm happily looking at the surrounding. They all looks new to me..haha....And by the way, now I finally know where's Mountbatten swimming pool is... LOL!!!!

Till then....HAPPY NEW YEAR to all....... May all of you continue to stay healthy, stay strong, stay fit, stay handsome and pretty...:)

Christmas Day 2008 marked my virgin ride with my new babe. I set out from home at 6am sharp, slowly made my way to Changi Beach to meet the rest.....

The ride was a little bit shaky occasionally. Not as stable as I want it to be. But today is purely a short and sweet trial session, let my babe see the world kinda ride...Few humps along the ride but all the tips given actually helps a little although at one point of time, I couldn't change it back to the gear for flat road, no resistance on the pedal...Gotta stop and figure out..:)

It was really a short ride along Coastal Road, no point to even mention the distance covered...hehe...Thanks to all buddies for keeping me accompany and 'orientating' me... Good morning ride but input > output again....Feasted on ECP MacD before the rest continue their 100-150km journey ride.

I have no where to rant but here........

On the eve of Christmas with gloomy skies, I see more and more people logging off from msn. One after another....Some was off at 12, then 1pm, then 3pm...... Everyone at the other side of the office have also left. My side...we're still here.... Not because we're busy but simply because there're people elsewhere (who is crazy enough) and not celebrating Christmas needing our help. And no...this is not an ad-hoc thingie..This is the fact..It happens every year....No early release for Christmas and New Year's eve. Soooooooo demoralizing..... I will make an attempt to apply leave next year onwards.....

Clicking my mouse, reading magazine, checking out forums....that's it for the next 1 hour....

This week has been and is going to be full of agenda, activities...

Let see...Monday ----- Is it an honour or pure stupidy in agreeing to be a guinea pig for 'him' to try out his newly acquired skill?!Haha...apart from the big blue/black/red mark that was left on me and tao as a souvenior, I think it was a pretty good session, though the pain especially on the ITB is beyond my description...haha.... And then....I was being questioned yesterday, "does your muscle and ITB felt more release now?" Hmm..... it took me a couple of seconds to say yes with a little bit of uncertainty..haha... Too overwhelm by the pain maybe.....Ok lah..for the benefit of doubt, sport massage needs to be done periodically. One session will not be enough to tell if it really helps or not...right? Portfolio & testimony will be given...:)

Yesterday was Christmas run at CBD. Short one up MF then the all time favourite makan session. Nothing but pure laziness in my mind. Not in the mood to chiong or even climb up MF..haha... U-turn with T just before the 4M barrier Kg Bahru slope. The return journey with Fennel far more enjoyable. The food......as always..............

Wed - spent the whole morning changing the blog skin...:)

After one whole year of emailing, conference call, meetings and more meetings....the time of the year has finally come. Throughout the entire year, this period is the quietest.....this period is the time where you will have some peace at work........Finally!!!!

My department are given a sum of money every quarter called the 'fun budget'. Do whatever fun stuff u want for team building. But as part of cost saving plan, no fun budget for Q4. But it's Christmas, it's end of the year. We need to be pampered and be rewarded with all the hard work :) Of what is supposed to be just a log cake, drinks and some chicken wings and nothing more sponsored by a few of us, guess what......................... we ended up having THISSSSSSSS for lunch just now!!!

donut factory, polar e'clair & egg tarts

pizzas, wraps, old chang kee (gyoza, curry puff, fish ball, sotong), KFC, chicken pops,french fries

With all that fatty stuff, there is a need for some healthy salad for sure

More items not captured.....Root beer, wine, sparkling juice, sushi platter, ice cream log cake.....

How many pigs are feeding here?? Just the 10 of us..... I reckon it will take hours and hours of intense workout to burn them off...THAT IS ONLY...if I can do hours and hours of workout...haha....

DAMAGE DONE!!!!

I bought myself a Christmas present....It must be the most expensive things I've bought for myself....I shall survive on loti and plain water from now on......:)

Times are bad...In a day, I have 2 calls from anonymous :-

1) Education center - asking if I'm thinking of pursuing my education. No thanks...
2) Insurance - offering me a good saving plan. No thanks

and the usual never-ending credit card company offer me this and that.........NO THANKS.....

Being a public holiday….I should be sleeping in late especially with the cooling wet weather. I was awaken by the rain at 5am and alarm rang off at 6am. Why am I doing such silly thing again? I dunno…I’m infected by the ‘bugs’ is all I know…..

I was still wondering whether the swim today will materialized with such wet weather while on my way to meet Tao. In addition that we (all the crazy one) are doing this at Tanjong Beach. Strong wind & rain is not a good combination to swim in open water, no? But as expected, when that someone decided to do it, ‘he’ will do it regardless…there’s no bad weather, only weak minds….

So 8th Dec 2008, marked my 1st time swimming in open water. Hmm….let’s see…the last time I soak myself along the beach (no swimming) was during a holiday at Pulau Tioman and that’s like…..>10 years ago? The adventure starts….Get myself settled down in the water and try out a short distance..Not too sure how to express myself but it was indeed a good experience.

Firstly, sea water is so ^$&%*&#$@!$ salty. Super irritating. Can’t imagine those on ironman soaking themselve in there for 2 hours!

The guys went off to the other side doing their 400m laps while myself, Tao and Fennel is still staying near shore, trying out various method of swimming along. Soon after, we decided to slowly swim over to where the guys at… I was happily targeting the guys from the other end and taking my time to swim across, trying very hard not to panic and affected by the waves and current. The next moment, Tao called up to me from a distance away. I stopped and S***!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Oh my goodness – it scared a hell out of me!!! I couldn’t touch the ground!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I’m far away from the 2 girls.. Ok..I really got a little panic honestly….I don’t know if I’m really treading water, I’m just kicking all over and make sure my head is still above water… As if I’m being chased by a shark….swam as fast as I could to the shore!!And drank some sea water along the way…:( Thanks Tao for calling me out…. I seriously dun know what happen. I thought I’m swimming in a straight line??? And the best thing is…I’m not even on freestyle. Breast stroke all the way and I really thought I know where I am heading!! Damn it…took me a while to re-compose myself…. Panic big time man!!! Come to think of it….dunno to laugh or to cry…..

And then, re-group with the guys, was given another challenge to swim across to the other island. Which means….I’ll have to swim thru the deep water!!! ^_^Contemplating for a few minutes before I give it a go with the condition that the strong one must swim side by side with me. Ok..LT happily agreed and provide me his strong arms if I’m in need :) The distance is a bit deceiving which is a good thing for me cuz…it doesn’t seem to be that far as I thought…and without me knowing…I’ve reached the other side…wohoo!! Oh yes…still need to swim back to the shore…I had another man escorting me back….Ha…

and guess what…I have sea sick and nausea after the whole thing…probably swim too near the shore..the waves are stronger. But but but…I’ll panic if I swim too far away from shore…So nevermind..I’ll choose to have sea sick instead..haha

Oh, and the holiday adventure is not over yet…decided to catch a movie with the gang after lunch…We went for “Quarantine”. Have no idea what the movie is all about, just tag along. This is a once in a blue moon where I pay to suffer really..Beginning till end….the shooting of the film is ‘live’..Ok..I dunno how to describe it but that 1.5 hours..the camera is shaking all over the place… I officially declare I’m sick!! I’m nauseating!! Close eyes for like half the show…sigh…. We went for kopi and I told the guys as if I just got out from an operation room..I’m weak, cold, nausea…while sipping in a cup of milo..haha…But apparently, I’m not the only one who felt the same hor….

And the nausea lasted till bed time……Hmm….maybe next time have to pop in motion sickness pill before going for open water swim????

This year...being my first time volunteering at SCSM sgrunners support station, I managed to witness the whole event at 29km mark, seeing the first runner all the way to the last 1% runners I would say. Many many different facial expression. Some ignore our cheering, some look at us without expression, some smile back, some wave back, some say thank you..another...one-armed man whom I reckon is a sub 3 runner greeted us back with a good morning & thank you...So sweet....:)

It was almost 6 hours stationing at the support station but supporting along with a bunch of great people, full of laughter and funs...the time went pass pretty quickly. In additon, the 2-4 hours was busy helping the runners, cutting hydralite stick most of the time...haha..It gets a little out of control at some point of time, where all I see was hands with their palm open wide surrounding me. I couldn't tell if all of them are from sgrunners but I can see from their facial expression, that they are truly in need of the fuel. Hmm....Being runner myself..... I know how they feel..... Help as much as I can....Just quickly close up the ice box when the crowd goes away...so that it won't draw anymore attention to other ppl and make sure to reserve some that have place their "order" with me. In a way, I'm glad that I can bring some "life" to the exhausted runners, hoping it can boost them up for the remaining 13km.....:)

It was pre-arranged to collect SCM racepack yesterday night followed by carbo loading dinner...I reached Expo at 7pm sharp and was amazed that at such hour, the queue is still as long...For the past years the queue is expected to be long and chaotic for the first few hours but it should subside towards the end of the day...But I was so wrong at this time....To cut the story short, it took me no less than 45mins to clear.......

Anyway.....I was compensated by getting myself some real good deal from Pearl Izumi...Muahahaha......Someone bought the same pair of shorts but I paid just half the price....**hiak hiak hiak**...Couldn't control myself and text her immediately......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On leave today but ended up waking up earlier than normal days for some errands. And then...it was bike hunting the whole afternoon..... Oh man.....this is as difficult as choosing the right husband.... Colours that attract, price that is within budget, size that fits....... The chances of getting all this is really not that high..... Try harder......

While I did mentioned that I should do more laps in a public pool, I seriously need to re-consider my options. About 2/3 of the lane are all block for classes, I head out to the training pool instead. I can only do a decent 2 lap in the beginning and before I knew it, there's this bunch of kiddies jumping in, and swimming over in all directions!! When some saw that there's no proper 'traffic', in the pool, everyone started to swim in all possible directions including me......

Maybe I should just stay with public pool to practice water treading and nothing else.......^_^

And so......I made my 2nd attempt two days ago. I was put on hold for quite a long time when I called up to make sure that the person I'm looking for will be around. Nevertheless, I took the risk for another time since the shop is on my way home......

It's fated...... after like half an hour chatting...etc he checked his stock and there's only 2 model available for my size... One is so low end there's no point getting, one is perfectly fine, good deal but the color really sux...^_^. The next batch will probably have to wait till Jan or something.......Sianz...x100 So what now..... I dunno....I'll probably have to sacrifice more of my time to go hunt for another one....:(

I am nothing but tired this morning...... I need more sleeps.......... Lack of sleep from the workout cum the late night DVD few days back, the idea of going to 3 classes at one go yesterday, turned out to be 2.5 in the end :) I sneak out for a 20mins break to chat with my spin 'classmate' who fell asleep while spinning ^_^ ***faint*****


On a side note.......IT'S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Trainer give a short briefing to all when we reached the top of FC. 4 loops of 1.2km in interval speed....Uhm..... But.....I'm already on tempo speed in the first few km keeping myself within a distance with the group. And now interval speed for 4 loops....Hmm...giving myself excuses again....I'm not running SCM, so I'll just tag along in recovery speed and to settle down my heart rate a little...No interval for the time :) I still need to conserve some energy to go back...And...Ihad a great company on the way back jogging/running/walking :)

Oh...and I must say that Mr.Bean soyamilk with watermelon juice is heavenly!!!!!!!!!!!

~~~~

I must have been too pampered of having the luxury to swim in a pool that hardly have more than 10 swimmers. It's smaller than the usual 50m pool and is within my height in the entire pool. As expected, I got a little panic when dipping myself in a public pool with many swimmers around. Got worst when looking down the pool seeing that it's deeper than my heights. Haha.... I think I need to go to the public pool more regular to get used to all this obstacle and practice on my 'vertical breast stroke' :)

It was supposedly to take place yesterday evening but it didn't materialized!!!

First time ever.....I felt dissapointed of not being able to spent that money...^_^

The last time I visited Mt Faber was before Gold Coast Marathon. That’s like 5 months ago. 1 year ago that killer slope in Kg Bahru is killing me. 1 year later, it is still as tough!!! The fact that I have not been doing those slopes for a few months and with some sng-ness from Monday’s class, the tough gets tougher. I can almost feel the juice squeezing out from my leg muscle…uhm…a bit exaggerate lah…but that’s the way to describe the built up of lactic acid…no?? :P Then again, I also think that I’m having a little bit phobia on that slopes. It’s mind over body I’m sure. I do think that I can conquer them but everytime when I’m about to approach that slopes, I know for sure I’ll be greeted with my legs screaming and lung bursting, even though that may not be the case at times….Oh well…I just need more training…

Perhaps I should also join in the rest of the gym go-ers, in particular to this branch that I always go to, whinging about the recent big hoo-haa that they made after the change of management.

Why do people make so much changes in process, exterior layout, internal management after there is a change of management? Is it all about telling people that they are now the boss, they have their way of doing things and the so call intention to improve things actually creates a negative impact to the gym go-ers without them knowing......

Apart from all those mess resulting from the renovation,

1) Spin class is now in a much smaller room but with more bikes. Cramp!!!

2) Need to obtain a token from the reception if you wanna to go for any classes. This is not the same as the stickers that they used to issued out because why?? Someone will now be walking around the classroom or waiting at the door to collect the token back from you...... And the token is just a piece of paper. Either you must have a pocket else chances of loosing it is high....... Nothing but troublesome...Maybe....the new management wanna to create more job opportunities.....

3) The so call ladies section was teared down....Dunno if that is still the ladies section but there's no more privacy at all with the partition teared down. Now, what's gonna happen to those ladies who doens't feel comfortable working out with the guys??

There should be more suprises coming up in my next visit...I'm sure..........

It just feel so strange....After the visa approval, I had a dream the night after that....It's a yellow/black Cannondale :) Muahahahah

In addition to that hour of run in the morning, that close to 2 hours in the pool has sent me drop dead on my bed before 9pm :) The moment I know I'm still alive, is 5.59am and yet!!! I'm still feeling exhausted now??!?! Apart from the 200m warmup swim, the rest are all drills and drills and drills.... progessing well but not as slippery as I want it to be .....Patience I will be.....

And by the way.....I've just given a verbal visa to go-ahead to splurge aka invest on something.....hehe...Yay!! I've one item less to consider in my justification :) Now...I'm putting this up here so that I'll hold myself accountable and get it done soooonnnnnn........ Just in case....he'll come to me say "talk talk talk so much still haven't get it!!!". ***finger cross**toe cross**, hopefully this is not 3 minute heat and will add more colours to my workout very soon:)

Something is very wrong with my........digestion system the entire week!! I felt hungry like half an hour after my main meal?? And....I don't feel full after having a sumptious lunch? ^_^ Does looks more of a psycological thing but why??? The everyday routine is still the same...maybe there's a slight increase in my workout intensity in the last 2 weeks but still it shouldn't react this way.... Whatever it is........all I need is discipline and self control!!!!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Today's topic at church was rather appealing and just in time for me to do some self reflection. Have I been demonstrating a Christian characteristic in my surrounding?? Who am I to those in my community.....I guess regardless, we are still a bunch of blessed one, although life may not be as smooth as we want it to be at times. There's light at the end of the tunnel, there's always someone Up there, looking after us. So...live life to the fullest and with thanksgiving each day.....Suddenly......I have so many "garn chu" today after reading a friend's blog and after an in-promptu kopi session with another this afternoon....haha.....

I finally made a comeback to CBD after more than 3 months of absent. It was a “just do it and whack” decision as I’m feeling a new weird sensation on a new spot at the knee. I totally ignored that and made my way to CBD. With some ache here and there after yesterday pump and spin class, I’m not sure if I could hold up doing the loops at Fort Canning. Just whack, I keep telling myself.

Glad to see some oldbies as there seems to be quite a fair bit of new faces to me. Start point to FC followed by 6 loops up there…….Nice……… but I have no intention to do 6 at all..haha….
Mentally prepared that the group is no longer the same as it was when I first join CBD 2 years back. The pace will be fast I know. Warming up myself as I tagged closely to the mid-last pack. Soon it as just me and Joanna after her usual toilet break. Pace remain pretty fast…for me at least…..but I like J Give me the shiok-ness inside out. Now…..how good will that be if I could hold on to this pace till the end….

2 loops is all I wanna do up there. Nothing more for I still wanted to make my way back comfortably….haha…excuses excuses… Anyway, I had a nice chat with Xiao Di as he pace me all the way on our way back. Such an encouraging young man he is. Super energetic and full of jokes, even give me a few challenges to do some interval….

To sum it all, this just do it and whack run ended up pretty well. I’m also very satisfied with my new CBD tee. The reflective stars is the best…Can spot our kaki from far in the midst of darkness…Cool!!!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A trip that I have been looking forward for almost a year and was supposedly to take place next week, was cancelled last minute due to insufficient takers to conduct the course…. With all my tickets and hotel booked, I now have to cancel all of them…..:( NICE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

At a glance……..

26th GE 10Km run – demolished the initial thought of DNS GE run after DNF in Real Run. Had Tao running with me from start to finish. No nagging pain, just a little weak mentally but didn’t get a PW. I had 2 jellies, 5 cups of orange Gatorade during post race followed by Chwee kuey, chng tng and chee cheong fun with tao J

27th – Silly me. Woke up at 630 on a public holiday and sit in a conference call for 1.5 hrs. Karaoke in the afternoon with JC and some of his Safra gang. The day ends in a glimpse. There goes my precious holiday

28th – Busy busy busy day at work. Surprisingly feeling good to cover another 10km run around neighbourhood

29th – Conference call again at night. Slot in a 4km tempo on threadmill before going back to office.

I’m tired…………………

I must be on drugs!!! The most stupid creatures on earth.

While I have already made plans to go do some hiking on Monday Deepavali and happily agreed with the gang to start at 7am, I scheduled, proposed and is going to chair a conference call between 3 countries at 7.30am on Monday a public holiday. Now that everyone has confirmed their availabilities (at work and the hiking gang).......... I just have to beat and whack myself up for such stupidity!

1 -2 -3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-11............................. It's 11!!! That's the total no. of dead & semi-dead cockroaches I saw at my void deck yesterday when I came back from my evening run!!! DISGUSTING!!!!!!
Maybe town council sprayed some insecticide around that area or something??

1 word to describe the silence in the past 2 weeks -------- BUSY!!!

Last week was training in Melbourne and I hardly have more than 30mins a day for Internet and emailing. So I’m kinda lost touch with the ‘world’.

Monday was R&R as we arrived Melb in the morning. Met up with sis and the 2 cuties.
Tuesday training starts. Caught up with James for dinner along Riverside Southbank
Wednesday continue with training. Team dinner at Crown
Thursday last day of training. Overbooked myself for after-work appointment!! Squeezing in a kopi cum gossiping session with Jas (ex-colleagues) followed by a sumptuous yummylicious dinner with another 2 gals.
Friday depart Melb in the morning.

So……while someone did text me from 3000+ miles away to remind me NOT to slack and make sure I slot in some running session, I failed the mission :( Slacker!! Trying to console myself that it may not be a bad thing cuz I need to carbo load for Sunday’s real run…hahah.

Back on Fri and with the usual stuff, Sunday came the day for RealRun. My last run was like a week back. How will I fair, how has my nagging spot been behaving lately. Argh….whatever … Just do it, stop, walk and even DNF if necessary. So to cut the story short, I ended up u-turning together with the 10km runners. The same nagging spot is giving some signal when I was abt to exit the trail portion, all the way to the junction of Coastal road, I decided to u-turn and crawl my way back to the finish point. Not as bad as Shape run as I did decided to stop immediately and not pushing thru the pain. Nevermind……..

Back to work on Monday, meeting, phone calls, emails shooting here and there until today… it was the busiest week since a few months back?! But then, I’m still able to squeeze in my gym session and light running like after 530..hehe..Finally, I’m always glad and thankful that things are slowly settling week as the weekend is drawing near…hence this blog is back alive again…..

Whenever boss is in town, it means more carbo loading session. And that's what exactly been happening in the last 2 days......^_^

It's Friday and I'm leaving for Melbourne this weekend YET I still have tonnes of 'personal' stuff to settle prior to departure. Too much to an extend I think I'm a bit disorganized now..........

2 weeks since my last post. I shall not kill my brain cell to recall what happen in the last 2 weeks. Regardless...... knowing that starting from today till end of next week, workout will be min as there's lots of 'after-work' agenda laid up. I decided to have a more frequent and longer workout since last week which.....went pretty well except triggering that sensitve itb!!! Nevermind....ice, stretch, roll as usual.....

45mins at pump class followed by all-time-favourite Ram's 1hr spin class. I must say, this is my first time enjoying spin class after about 5 attempts? Either my butt will ache halfway, my head will spin instead of my leg, I couldn't perspire and felt nausea....all sorts of crap. Things seems to be a lot more enjoyable yesterday. Now I know why 'some' ppl say they look as if they just got off from the pool after spin.

~~~~~~~~
My 3.5 year old Nokia phone have been throwing tantrum to me lately. Well, it has been month, but it got worst in recent weeks. Reboot itself and shutting me off while I'm talking on the phone, sms-ing and even when I am doing nothing to it. It's also putting me in shame when it shut off while I'm in a conference call with regional management!!! &!#%$&...While I'm not a fans of changing phones whenever there's new model, I think I've had enough. Sadly, there's not a single Nokia phone in the market now that is to my liking. I don't like high-tech gadget and dun need all sorts of fancy stuff. Just regular sms and phone calls is all I need. Sis say my niece will definitely ask me to get a Sony Ericsson because it is more "canggih"?? Hmmm...New malay vocab to me...it means "modern". Niece said Nokia is for old people woh... So old fashion....Uhm.....ok... it's the new generation now....Let me think abt it.....

It was pouring like cats and dogs with strong wind blowing in all direction the moment I stepped out of my house this morning. I stood at the void deck for 5 mins deciding what am I supposed to do now. No matter how big the umbrella is, I'm going to get drenched. Shall I

a) take a cab

b) take a bus to the train station or

c) drench myself and walk to the train station

Option A would not help much because I am very reluctant to pay for peak hours + ERP + traffic jam. Option B will not help either seeing that the bus stop is cramp and I'll probably be drench just by standing at the bus stop. So I proceed to option C. As expected, knee level all the way down........The fact that I"m wearing a close toe shoe really didn't do me any good. It's disgusting, irritating with my feet soaking in a wet shoe and with a totally wet jeans.

Next, the train took much longer than usual to reach the station. Nvmd..doesn't matter. When it finally arrived, I took the corner seat and the rest are a norm, only to find out that the train suddenly stop half way thru. 15mins passed. The train moved a little then stops, jerk a little here and there, it reaches the next station but refuse to open the door. And it goes on and one like this on alternate stations. When it finally reached my destination, it is already 1hr 10mins from the time I board the train. Usually it took me barely 25mins. Doesn't matter.... I alighted, took a seat nearby and do some cleaning on my shoe and feet. Need to do another 10mins walk to office. Can't stand walking in such condition. Finally I'm at the underground floor abt to reach my office. To my horror, it is FLOODED!!!! Shoes and feet is wet again!!!

Nevermind....I hold on to it... Now, while I'm typing this, everyone in the office are given half day because of F1 starting their trial very soon.... Going to be noisy and probably crowded around this area EXCEPT my department!!! Because why? my lao pan say so......:( I'm demoralized. I can't wait to end the day........

As I re-visited Coastal Road yesterday on bike, I couldn't believe how I managed to complete that stretch on foot alone on two ocassions!! It is sooooo long the end point is no where to be seen. Then again, that stretch is getting livelier compare to where it was first constructed. So, this time round when I was cycling instead of running, it gives me a totally different feel. Simply therapeutic - perfect environment for me to do some reflection and go into deep thoughts :)

1:40hr run followed by 1:45hr of cycling along Coastal Rd - I went home feeling contented while indulging in my glass of homemade beetroot & carrot & celery & apply juice. Enuff said.....:)

Tanjung Rhu – My newly found running ground. First time running around Tanjung Rhu, no doubt, I’m going to list this as one of my favorite running spot. Nothing really exciting, just the surrounding that is so serene, peaceful, non crowded and some pleasant sights that you get to see.
Lots of tai-tai strolling around with their kids and maids. I’ve lost count of how many breeds of dogs I’ve seen. MANY!! In all shapes and sizes.

The run itself ----- another typical bad-run day. Feeling the lethargy since afternoon and sensing that something is not right to the body…hahaha…more reason to slack… 1.5hrs from start to end… I did nothing when I get home except from hitting the bed at 9pm and totally knocked off within 1 minute..Nice…….

The month of Sept is a bit unusual for me this year. I attended 1 funeral and 1 wedding within a week and another wedding coming up next week. 2 weddings & 1 funeral.

This wedding that I went to yesterday, was a friend of mine for xx years. Ya..can't remember exactly when we knew each other but it was more than 10 years for sure. Actually felt quite honored to be the first to know he's getting married lah but considering that I know him pretty well and knew quite a fair bit of his history, I still couldn't believe that he is getting/already married now..... Ha...I'm bad I know...... Maybe he has really grown up :)

Alarm rang at 5:45am. I turn it off and negotiating to myself to snooze another 10 mins. The next thing I know...it's 6:45am!! Haha.... I stare at the ceiling for a while and the only movitation that drag me out of bed -- All the rest of the gang are either doing their 70.3, MR Progressive or their usual LSD. I shall not slack. Drag that lazy bum out of bed and get ready for my 1st LSD since GCM.

Maybe I've not properly warmed up yet, maybe this and maybe that.... unless I'm 2 hours awake before doing a morning run, else most of the time I'll struggle for the first half an hour or so. This morning is no difference. Slowly making my way to CV, time checked when i reach Loyang junction. I'm 10mins slower than my usual pace!! Thankfully the download kinda help to kick in a bit of a momentum and lasted me till Changi Beach before my H2O break. Sigh....It takes month to built the stamina, it will take months ago to re-built that now. Anyway, no major hiccups on that knee and ITB. It's good news :) Did a few loops around CB and get my brekkie at CV. Auntie say today is the last day. The whole of CV hawker is closed tomorrow onwards till Oct for renovation.

Saturday was an outing with Thomson gang to Hortpark - alexander arch - henderson waves- lead by JC the "local snake" of that area.

Many of us, in fact the majority is visiting this place for the first time and something hilarious of these first timer.....

Susan - "I'm actually expecting to see waves with water" (when she saw the wooden made waves)

Derek - This place should be spelled "hotpark" because it is very hot (SUPER LAME)!!!

Albert - Got pulled by us to join in wasn't well prepared and was to smartly dressed for such outing

Pik Wan - Sole came off at Henderson Waves

Me - A bloody blister in between two toes. Serve me right for not wearing a proper shoe.

Ended the walk close to 8pm and proceed to dinner at ABC food center. I'm totally zonked out when I reached home, almost 11pm. It's a whole day activity starting from 9am at church... Slept for almost 11 hours..haha....Old liao old liao...

If there's one skill that I wish I could possess now, it will be speed reading.

Looking thru tonnes of resumes is no fun at all....Hmm.....Maybe I should shortlist by....looking at the pics? See who can give me a good "first impression"?? Evil me!!

Back, shoulder, quads aching after the 2 classes yesterday...Not much irritation on the knee...It's a good sign...I missed having such ache actually...ha...

On the other hand, my free-style sucks....really sucks... More of a rojak sytle than anything else. I dunno what I'm doing....OK..Enough said! Try harder.....

As far as I can remember, I think I had my best evening workout yesterday ever since GCM. That’s almost 2 months ago. Extremely cautious of my physical activities ever since the injury, I’m taking every single advice from everyone. As long as it won’t aggravate the condition further, it will prevent more injury, it will speed up recovery, I shall listen and take no risk :)

So, after a few sessions on the threadmill over the last few weeks, I decided to do it on a track. A 10min detour jog from home to Meridian JC at Pasir Ris where they open the track for public in the evening. That 10mins jog is pretty satisfying actually. Ya, first time out on road and still feeling comfortable after 10mins. I started the loop immediately. There’s this group of ang moh playing soccer at the JC soccer field. Looking at them from head to toe, left to right, doesn’t look like a JC student at all. Oh well, looking at their soccer game while doing the loop. Interestingly, I managed to do some experiment on myself although not an intention at all initially.

It was a comfortable pace throughout and I thought since I could not open up the stride or run fast at this point, maybe I’ll just focus on my posture and make it a habit to run with the right posture. I started to feel some signs coming up from ITB and at the same time, I happen to realized that my posture is out, I’m hunching a bit. Straighten my back and tucking in that 1 big mid pack of mine, the strain is gone!!!! Hmm…I thought I’m just being over-sensitive. And then, it happen for the 2nd and the 3rd time!!! Back straight + tummy suck in + arm relax = no strain…Haha….Luv it!! Completed 6 loops decided to go for another 6 loops on the opposite direction. This Mr. Aaron have been reminding me to go opposite direction when doing loops in the track. Couldn’t see what’s the logic and dunno if there’s any scientific proof, I still heed to his advice lah.. If the theory is true, at least I’m on the safer side. If it wasn’t, I have nothing to lose either except feeling a bit odd running against everyone’s direction..Ha….Even more surprising, the 2nd set of 6 loops seems to be faster than the first… Short, sweet, satisfied evening run :)

A bit slow but Desaru candid shot can be found at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/chong.suetting/DesaruHIM2008

One year ago, it was my 1st attempt to participate in a semi-long distance race. The Army Half Marathon/Sheares Bridge Run/Singapore Bay Run….whatever you call it. Fall in love running that kind of distance as soon as I completed the race, mainly because it was my first, there was not a single expectation from myself. I did not push, I just soak myself in to the atmosphere.

1 year later, while I was so enthusiastic to train well for this, I decided to DNS because of some aggravating pain in the ITB and patella tendon. Running have been very minimum and mostly on track/threadmill. So anyway, I decided to make my way down to Padang to soak in the atmosphere. It does felt a little helpless seeing everyone running and you can’t but but but…… to rest is to run longer… I convinced myself.

Reached City Hall MRT and the moment I stepped out….oh my goodness!!! It is sooo crowded! I make my way to the padang and……$#*&^$(#*^%( it was disgustingly muddy. Even more $&^#*^&*#@, I’m wearing a almost brand new shoe. Ya..it was sparkling white. I just wore it once and it’s now soaking in the mud!!! No matter how I detour, I couldn’t get out of that muddy field. That place is getting so crowded with many many thousands of 10km runners waiting for their race to be flagged off. It gets even worst when everyone started returning from their 10/21km run. Not only my sparkling white shoe is no longer sparkling, I got stuck in between those “ah ping ge”. CROWDED! MUDDY!SWEATY! What a combination! And the need of having to find a few buddy among the 70,000 crowd, it’s really not getting any fun. And I missed out the group photo taking, because I’m lazy to move over to the other side and walk over the muddy fields again…haha…

And by the way, I didn’t run but I ended up having to ice my ITB when I get home…..The results of walking and standing for 5 hours :)

Ok..it’s slightly late than the rest…but here’s my thoughts:

Aug 15 2008 marked my virgin trip to Desaru!! Yea, never been to Desaru before. All that I spoke to are telling me the same – “there’s nothing much in Desaru”. I acknowledge and didn’t bother too much about the comment since it’s my first time. In addition to the Triathlon event that I’m going to witness and give my support, it’s going to be an exciting trip. A weekend getaway to laze around is probably a better definition of this trip. No stress, no need to keep checking on my list whether I’ve got all the powergel, bodyglide, plaster blah blah blah…Totally stress free :)

Reached Desaru on Friday late afternoon, checked in and as expected laze around till dinner time. Hmm…Desaru is really nothing much..haha…. The event on the following day was a long one. 2km swim, 90km bike and 20km run. I witness how strong the waves when the triathlete start their waves. Can never find the guts of doing it. At least not now. By the time the race ended, it’s about 6pm. Ya…truly a whole day event. I think I felt more tired than anyone else doing the race...haha..

I was being questioned “Am I tempted to do a tri event after seeing all this triathlete in action”. Hmm…..wait till I recover from my pai kah then think abt it. The biking also seems to be too technical for me at this point of time. Also my first time trying to ride on a racer, I felt a little bit wavy…… But ya…amazing seeing all sorts of expression on the face.

My 6 years old nephew in Australia and the one whom I've spent some time with while in GC called me yesterday. He said "I called you yesterday but you were not at home. Mum say maybe you are running in the olympic marathon"

Random thoughts again......

Worried/stress/upset/annoyed/ is what I have been feeling this couple of weeks over every single little thing at work/life/church. Hmm......Not really the usual me...but could it be the lack of endorphin and/or lack of quiet time with Him........

Ponder upon I will.............Meanwhile, cross train/min running plan is still progressing well at least :)

http://results.beijing2008.cn/WRM/ENG/Schedule/AT.shtml

17 Aug / Womens Marathon/ 7.30am
Urgh!!! Not in town... Doubt we can catch it over there?

24 Aug /Mens Marathon / 7.30am
S*** It's AHM!! I'm not running but I'll be busy kepo-ing at the race site!

My running life is rather pathetic or almost non-existent (although given a clearance of 30mins on road) in the past few weeks. My initial plan of a short 5km run yesterday morning turned out to be a disaster again. I couldn't last for 1km. This is the 2nd time I'm doing the same route, same time and having the same pain struck on me at the same spot!!! What happen?? I thought I'm to the road of recovery. A 2.4km on the threadmill last week seems to be perfectly fine. Hmmm..maybe this route is a jinx?!?!?! Dissapointed ---- Yes I am but am admitting the fact. If you're injured, you ARE injured. Just need to be patience.

Got an sms from a running buddy that says "No run won't die. Use the time to do things that you have always wanted to do". Another says "this is a good time to pick up some cross training". So...I have all my cross-train cum minimal running planned on hand with different combination of gear - mainly shoes, knee guard, insoles :) *** plan is always a plan....whether it's executed as per plan.....ahem...a different story*** First of all, I think I really need to learn to luv the track and threadmill. Go soft and easy for my poorly injured knee for the time being.....

On the other hand, looking forward to this coming weekend outing...I shall get some inspiration from the gang!!!

After 12 days of a "semi-sedentary" lifestyle, 3 physio session, zero running/cycling/swimming, I finally got a clearance from doc to do a no more than 30 mins run on flat road with the following condition:

- start with 30mins, progressively add another 10mins for subsequent day
- new way of tying my shoe lace to provide better side support
- ice the itb/knee if feeling sore
- take anti-inflammation medication if pain arise

And so, the long awaited day comes..... Extremely conservative in the run but did try out different running method. Small/quick stride works the best. No major pain. Big stride, can feel the strain is coming. Sigh...... I'm starting as a baby once again :)

*****************
CBD gang is going up MF today!! wuahahahahaah.....I miss those hills :(

Vacuum and moping floor also strain the ITB????? ***Faint**** sian x 100 ^_^

Playing detective

A while ago over msn:

Linus says:
hi, what are you doing

**oh..linus is pinging me..must be something abt this sat**
ST says:
working...what else do you think?

Linus says:
haha, maybe you doing something else

Linussays:
some secretive

**Something is not right. Block the suspicious Linus and SMS-ed the real Linus. Ask if he's on msn and did he msn me 2 mins ago**

My sms: Hey, are you on msn now? did you just msn me?
Real Linus: Nope. I'm not on msn. Is the person using hotmail or live account?
My sms: Hotmail. I've blocked him. He sounds weird.
Real Linus: Hmm..that must be the person that hacked my account then. Talk to him lah. See if can find out who is he :)

^_^ Looking at another victim's blog, it seems that these hacker will ask "what are you doing" or similar question??

Ok people...LISTEN UP. I won't be so boh liao to msn you and ask "what are you doing" ok? If you see that from my msn acct, pls SMS me to confirm hor!!

The verdict is out! I have a right tendon inflamation and a right leg ITB syndrome. Yes, loud and clear. I have ITBS!!!

Strongly recommended by Roonz and some real positive remarks from forum, I called out The Clinics @ Cuppage to make an appt with Dr Low. To my suprise, I can see him today. He gave me a very good first impression which is very good. Anyway to cut the story short, he did some test and anlysis. This is what going to happen:

- no running for 10 days
- must finish the entire 1 week anti-inflammation medication even though there's no more pain
- no cycling, no lunges, no yoga, no knee lift, no eliptical training
- no swimming in breast stroke. Only can swim in front crawl which I do not know how. ha....

After all the analysis (somehow I enjoy the analysis process), I was then referred to Leslie at 1 Physiotherapy. Again, I made an appt with them on the spot and managed to get a slot today. So make my way from Cuppage to Capitol Building.

Some initial assessment done and Leslie started the deep tissue massage on the ITB. Wahhhhhh!!!!!!!! Now I know what the running kaki meant by "sweet sweet pain". It's not sweet to me at all!!! IT IS PAINFUL!!!!! VERY PAINFUL!!! Next is the ultra-sound treatment...Hmm..can't rmbr what's the ultra sound for..anyway, this was a relaxing one. Not struggle, no teeth biting like the massage.

So, with all the restriction for the next 10 days, what am I going to do now? I can't just rot at home, sleep work and eat. If this happen, I'm just going to end up being more grumpy, more temperamental for sure :)

Looks like I can't do anything that need to have my knee bended. Hmm...should I do something with that flabby arms and stubborn fats on the tummy???? Or...maybe it's time to learn front crawl? If and ONLY if I'm vigilant enough :)

I broke yet another personal record in Shape run yesterday ------ The most painful run 2008.

I thought I'm said I'm going to hang up my leg until recovered. So, serve me right. A walk to the train station this morning took twice the effort, twice the time to reach and a visit to the physio is now a must! The moral of the story is "kiang is enough, dun keh kiang".

Visiting SeaWorld in Gold Coast is probably one of the best itinerary I’ve had throughout that entire week. All because I like seeing dolphins. There is a dolphin nursery in there and seeing how good they are being taken care of makes me wonder……. How good will it be if I can be given such opportunities, working in such serene environment. At least for sure I know I won’t be caught in “everything also urgent” situation or having to be a hypocrite to pacify demanding customers. Then again, how many dolphins in Singapore can I take care of? Apart from that few pink dolphin at Sentosa?? Dream on bah…..

Ok. I hope I'm not hook to this marathon thingie and classifying myself as another "crazy" one. Before I can think of anything, I need to nurse my pai kah first.

But can't help it, here it goes --> the top 10 world class marathon. None from Asia, all these are going to cost a bomb.

1. London Marathon, April
2. Berlin Marathon, September
3 New York City Marathon, November
4 Chicago Marathon, October
5. Boston Marathon, April
6. Stockholm Marathon, June
7. Rotterdam Marathon, April
8. Paris Marathon, April
9. Honolulu Marathon, December
10. Amsterdam Marathon, October

After yesterday's CBD run which is the 2nd run after GCM, let me officially declare that :

I AM PAI KAH!!

Time to hang up the legs......:(

Sudden thoughts..... Regardless of whether you completed a marathon in 3 hrs or 7 hrs, as long as you've done your best to push yourself towards the finished line, I guess it is an achievement that is well respected.

Was just glancing thru the Gold Coast Marathon race results and something really caught my attention:

BIB: M1761
Name: MARGARET CRIBBENS
Gun time: 07:09:02
Chip time: 07:06:27

I saw this lady with 3 others dressed themselves in yellow & red after both U-turn point. I can see that they are all enjoying the morning breeze, enjoying each other company. No stress on their face, just pure enjoyment. What truly amazed me is she is running a marathon to celebrate her 80th birthday!! She is 80 years old! Finished her marathon in 7:09, 51 sec before the official cut off time! Nothing but applause to her.... I doubt I'll still be running when I turn 80 honestly......^_^

Ok. Pictures speaks a thousand words. Here it goes:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/chong.suetting/GoldCoastJul3112008

GCM - Part 2

And so, the run started. Am indeed glad and thankful that the weather is good though a bit windy for the 1st 5km. At least I'm seeing some blue sky, just a slight drizzle. Other than that, it was perfectly fine. Soon, we're at Surfers Paradise. A route which I enjoyed the most. Enjoying the breeze, running along the beach....it's heavenly!

What really amazed me was everyone is running fast!!! That is like a "by default speed". The first u-turn point was around 13km mark. I reckon that at the speed that I'm running, there should be quite a lot of runners around me if I were to run in SG. But what I'm seeing is, the majority comes from 3hr-3.30hr!! Even the Japanese ah-mmph and ah-pek is faster than me!! Haiz...I decided not to look at the people around me. I should just look at the sea, the building the people who's cheering.

1st half of the route done and we're passing by the start point again before we proceed to run along side some residential area. 32km mark, things started to turn a bit ugly. Apart from the sore muscles which is expected, there's pain at the top of my right feet. Never encounter such pain before. Started to do a bit of walk/run. Making thing worst....I'm feeling hungry!! haah.... Sports drink is diluted. Finished 2 packet of power gel, no food given!! Aiyoh...got to tahan a bit liao.

Feet is getting more and more painful but the run has to go on. All the ah-mmph and ah-pek is long gone way in front :( At 39km, though feet is in pain, I was mentally boosted again when someone overtook me whom I reckon that he is no younger than 70 years old, running with his grandaugther, bearing a photo at the back of his shirt with a word written "I run in memory of xxxx". The granddaughter having the same saying "I run in memory of my grandma". I can see that he's in pain, he' struggling. But he was power-walking. I was still running together with them till 41km. The marshall and all the spectators was giving us all a thumbs-up at this time with 1km to go. No matter how painful, I'll have to run till the finish. Hearing more and more cheering as I slowly make my way to the finished line......

It is done!!! Chip time of 5:37. I am on cloud-9, happy, satisfied.....runners will know...the feeling is simply amazing :) Met up with JC and proceed to the coach pickup and guess what. With those sore muscle and painful feet, we waited for almost an hour for the pickup!! Reached the hotel, check on the damage - no abrasion, no blister but ended up with a red and swollen feet... BUT it is still a good and enjoyable race after all....:)

So people, for those who's considering GCM, here's some facts for you to consider:

- route is not flat like roti prata. There are a bit of short, mild humps here and there but should not do you any damage
- Sports drink is diluted. You can prepare your own drink and place it at designated water station
- Cooling weather. Not too cold, not too hot

VERDICT: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED RACE

Field Report - GCM 2008 - Part 1

Sad to say......I'm finally back to reality.....The reality of having to work, sitting in conference call, attending to 'hard-to-please' customers.....the list goes on...But that being said, that one week of break truly gives me a boost mentally and no doubt, I'm fully recharged to look forward to these "realities".

Too much to report on the 8 days trip but here it goes:

Pre- Race
Jul 4 - Checking in at Paradise Resort hotel, we proceed to the race pack collection at Southport, located approximately 3km from our hotel. Took the public bus, super expensive. $2.70 per person for a 10min ride. Collection was a breeze. No hassle at all. Spotted lots and lots of Japanese, all age, all size. We walked ard the expo and was tempted by JC to get the GCM limited edition Asics 2130. Within 10mins, both of us was succumb to the temptation. $$$ damaged done within a few minutes.

Jul 5 - Woke up at 6am as per plan to do a 6km run to 'test' out the weather condition. What a disappointment! It was raining, gloomy and windy outside. We waited and waited till 8am. The weather didn't get any better. I know someone will say there's no bad weather, only weak mind. But but but...it's only 1 day to race day, we decided not to take risk. Proceed to brekkie. The rest of the day are spent with my sis, bro-in law and nephew who also flew in from Perth to join us for the 2nd half of the holiday.

Jul 6 - Race day. Proceed to the coach pickup at the bus stop right outside the hotel at 5.10am, where we've paid for $5 per person return journey. It was cold!!! Quickly put on the gloves and waited. Slowly I see the crowd is building up at the bus stop. Slowly I see coach after coach passing by us with full loads of runners without stopping to pick us up. One by one, the coach drove pass us without stopping. It's 5.50am and we are still waiting at the bus stop with lots of runners getting a bit impatient by now. Die.....What to do now. Race start at 6.50am. Situation doesn't look optimistic at all. I decided to get back to the hotel and call my bro-in-law to send us to the start point. Wise choice indeed. Main road was close, bro drop us at the back of the main street and as soon as we alight, it was abt 6.20am by now, we ran to the baggage tent. That's probably abt 500m zig zag here and there. I'm getting a bit panic as we're running out of time. The baggage deposit is long queue. Try to act blur and cut queue, boh pian. Proceed to toilet and we're 2 mins left to start time. Jump in to the start line and within 2 min the max I reckon, the race started!! Considering if we were to wait for the coach, we would have been late!!!!

TBC......

In 12 hours time, I will be heading to T3 boarding SQ flight to a lively city Down Under. All sorts of mix feeling. I’m longing for this holiday and are hoping that I can really stay out of work 100% for the next 1 week. At the same time, also feeling excited, anxious, worried and a little bit scary thinking about the event this Sunday. I hope…..I hope I’ll at least be able to bring back that piece of flat metal , adding that to my collection :)

Thank u all guys and gals for the best wishes!!

Random shot during WC's wedding....Tskkk...tskkk.tskk.......Whoever come out with this idea......Aiyoh...dunno what to say......Don't you dare to offend them... :)

Poor guy are force to eat this specially made curry chic wrap in pampers...**GROSSS**

I broke my record in yesterday’s CBD Run. It was the usual Esplanade – CQ – Zouk – Outram route. I was happily running along trying to keep a view of the front group (as usual I only managed to do that for the 1st half) and suddenly, for unknown reason I fell down!!! What is happening?!?!? It was along Singapore river, there’s no hunk, no 6Ps, nothing! I fell on the left side, do some stunt and landed flat face up the sky. Stoned for a while, took a couple of seconds but couldn’t recall what was I thinking or looking at that time. Si Hui slightly in front of me say she heard some sound from behind, turned back and ask if I’m ok. Soon, Laser, Bee and Ronnie appear, surrounding me. I was still sitting on the floor at that time, trying to recompose myself. Told them I’m ok and we move on slowly from there. Hmm…any damage? Minor abrasion on the left arm and orh-cheh at the thigh. I can still continue to run, how serious can it be :) Ya… first time falling down ever since I started running……..
The front pack has disappear by this time, leaving a few of us pacing each other till the end point. Good in a sense, I don't have a chance to chase them until my lung burst. ha.....

I recently realized that there are more and more people reading this blog without me knowing!! Hmm…Gotta be really careful of the content in this blog :)

Anyway, I was in conversation with someone recently about running form. Why and where do I get the forms at times? When it comes, I felt as if I can go on running forever and the feeling is so great inside out. Why on the other hand that at times, no matter how much I try to squeeze it out, it just didn’t appear. No matter how hard I try and lift up that pair of heavy legs, it never work.

Is it the diet? The lifestyle? The mentality? Something that we can control?? I still haven’t gotten any answers to that yet because only 2 out of 10 runs I’ll get those “VERY GOOD” form…haha… Meaning…I have to do a few more hundreds of run to analyze what’s the pattern b4/during/after the “VERY GOOD” run…LOL!!!

I have always wanted to explore this part of SG, after more than a week of bad day at work, yesterday I make an attempt to die-die must join the gang for my 'virgin' NUS run. Route for the day:

NUS -> Pasir Panjang Rd -> Haw Par Villa -> South Bouna Vista Rd -> Kent Ridge Park -> Sci Park 1 -> Sci Park 2 -> Prince George Park -> NUH -> NUS
Distance: 12km

Was told that this is NUS certified route. It's not an easy one. I know this route is full of slopes just dun exactly know what kind of slope will greet me. As usual I stayed at the back pack as long as I can sight where the front pack is going to, I'll be fine. The first slope that greeted me is Vigilante drive. Passed by this area a few times on car. I know how steep it is...just never expect it to be steeper than Kg Bahru slope. I crawl up.......:( That's just the appetizer. Throughout the run, I have lost count of how many slopes I've conquered. Doesn't matter....what doesn't kill will make me stronger...... Xiao Di is so encouraging and keep me moving up those gruesome slope. I would have submitted to my own mental weakness if he's not with me.......

Reached start point - exhausted - thirsty. Went to NUS guild house shower (also my first time there) and proceed to makan....As usual...this is good run, good company, good food :)

Despite a real bad week last week, there’s always something to be thankful of. That I finally managed to set aside all things, going to church on Saturday and rest….. In addition, to some other stuff that I need to prepare at home before Sunday and so mentally and physically exhausted that I ‘fly kite’ for 2 events that I’m supposed to be present on Sat. SGRunners 3rd Anniversary gathering in the afternoon and helping out in WC aka Yzong aka OrangeTee & Alice’s wedding decoration in the evening.

Was supposed to clock at 2.5 hours on Sunday morning before I proceed to WC’s wedding, I hear thunder and lightning at 530am. My alarm rang, it was still pouring out there. 7am…the weather didn’t get any better. 8am, still raining. It’s not possible anymore….It’s about time to do my usual chores and prepare to leave home for the wedding. Agreed to be at church by 12pm to go thru the songs with Linus.

Arrived at church. Went thru all songs with Linus. We didn’t practice that much but Linus is very impromptu as we all know :) Discussed on a few ways to “Chup sung” in the event that we have finished playing the songs and the bride is still not on stage yet. Oh well…… the ceremony went well, our playing went well, bible boy and flower girl also drawing a lot of attention….... I like it.

“When God Made You” sang by JC as soon as WC & Alice is up on stage. Trying to test out my new toy capturing that moment, here is a re-cap



Lyrics of the songs…..well…..if it actually make a man shed tears...WC tears to be precise, what do you think. Too bad, I am not in a position to go near WC to capture his “red-eye” trying to tahan that moment of touched! But he admitted when myself and JC confronted him after the ceremony..hehhe.......

Waiting for more photos to be ready……

Extracted from the wonderwoman's blog:

"Funny how every client will think that they are our ONLY client and we must dedicate all our time, effort and energy to them and only them"

That is sooooooo true....I'm having a real bad time, upset, angry, pissed off the entire week because of the existence of such client.

It was a tough week at work..... so much so that I need to get my mind off for a couple of minutes before I proceed with those sickening stuff again....

Was literally swallowing my lunch instead of slowly enjoying the food. Felt even worst when:

a) having to pull one of my staff back from a 3 days Microsoft course back to work to help out the rest of the workload
b) negotiated from a 1 day to 1/2 leave for one of the staff to spent some time with his kid before school start next year.

Family is important, staff welfare is also important. But sometimes, it's just not within control..... Saturday, saturday.....where are you....

Bump.....

Sooooo busy since last week incl weekend....This week is nothing better. To list a few:

- have extremely high profile customer to deal with. Not one but a few.
- need to sit in conference call one after another
- need to train for upcoming event
- need to practice those songs for this Sunday's wedding
- need to exercise
- need to have enough sleep

many many more........

Have been coughing my lungs out in the past 2 days. Never like this kinda chinese medicine. Taste awful smell awful... But suddenly, mum's message occurred in my mind. Drink Woods or Pi Pa Gao when you get caught by cough...

And so, I bought this.

Never tried this in my entire life. Almost wanted to puke when I smell it. Like a small kid, I hold my breath with a big glass of water and a small piece of chocolate next to me. Quickly gulp down a tablespoon, finished up the big glass of water and quickly eat that piece of chocolate. Can still feel that minty feeling in my throat but that's ok since the throat have been giving me discomfort. I slept well thereafter.

Repeat the same process again in the morning and I'm to the road of recovery!!! YAY!!!! It works!!!!!!

Strange things does happens at times.......

Am I feeling the after effect of Sundown only 5 days later? The lack of sleep, the energy zapped out during the 6+ hours. I think I'm only feeling the effect on Friday? I was sooooooo deprived of sleeps on Friday at work, went home and slept for 12 hours till Sat morning. I took a 3 hours of afternoon nap on the same day, went to bed as early as 10pm and slept another 10 hours till Sunday morning :) Woke up having sore throat and jelly legs (by sleeping???)...Whatzzz up man!!! Still feeling so lethargic the entire day, I dozed off again while lazing around!!!!!

Decided that I should get out and do some walking at least, if not run, thinking that it could be lag of exercise in the past few days. Reluctantly changed and drag myself out and off I went to the park. Feeling is like.....'dragging a cow up the tree'. Slowly trying to cover that 1 hour walk/jog around....haiz.....just not the day...

CBD Post Sundown

It was a 8+km therapy run for me yesterday. Having a little tightness at the back of my knee at the start of the run, Yankee assure me that it will go away after 10mins. True enough, it disappear. Slowly and steadily, the rest of the sore muscles are also loosen up. Recovery Run......that's what it's all about.

Can't be bother to chase after the front group, recovery still run so fast!! Haiz..... Left a few of us at the back, mostly those who did Sundown to run slowly in recovery mode.... It was short & sweet overall. Plenty of time to chit chat and makan after run :)

Sudden thoughts

All happen in 1 week, I killed 2 snails while running.......-_- Sorry snail......

After more than 6 hours completing a 42km journey with fun,pain,sweat and exhaustion....... I'm a happy owner of this:

The Sun is Down.....

I'm sure everyone taking part in the inaugural SD Marathon yesterday, would have their own story to tell. One that they will remain a memory to them forever...


The same goes for me. I knew I wasn't that well prepared for this but would really want to do it, to see how my body feels and react going at such distance before the actual Big Day. I was still on medication till Wed and was praying hard for a recovery. Thank God, I'm feeling good physically and mentally on Saturday. All ready to go. Thanks to all the well wishes and encouragement....


I was feeling so good at the start of the race, both physically and mentally, enjoying every single bit of it. As soon as I exit from Coastal Rd, I saw some expected familiar face, over taking me one by one. Yankee, tao, Terence, Piglet..... Started to feel a bit exhausted after the u-turn pt, I started to slow down a little and seeing Tiwazz and Charlotte at the support table...their ice-stick is heaven sent. At one point, I even have the urge to u-turn back and take another 2 stick. One on each hand..haha...



Spotted JC at the other side after I u-turn. I estimated to him before the race that he should be able to catch up with me around my 25-30km mark. Slowly make my way to exit ECP, expecting him to catch up anytime soon. Came to the 2nd Sgrunners support station, looks like a mini-party. Am really touched to see such volunteers in providing their 100% to runners. Next, entering in Bedok Reservoir, the toe and the feet is giving some bad signals by this time. This is one stretch that I hated the most. The pebbles, the sand and the darkness. Lost your focus and you'll get yourselves injured anytime. Felt so irriated by the sand going into my shoe, I quickly get a spot by the side, sit down and sort out those sands. BAD CHOICE!!!! It was dark, I didn't realized what's by the curb. Sorted out the sands and realized there's tonnes of black ants. Got bitten by them on the leg, hand...Eeewwww!!!! Got me a little panic and spent 1-2 mins to get rid of all these black ants on my body.


Just at the right place, water station before exiting BR, JC caught up. Walk for a while before he speed up while I am already started to struggle a little by this time. 12km to go, walk and jog slowly. At 36km, it started to pour. Heavily!! It may not be a bad thing because of such heavy rain, I've probably forget abt the pain at my feet and started to speed up. It's just 4km to go. So near yet to far. The signboard shows 400m to go.. I didn't bother to sprint or even run... Speed walking in pain yet enjoying the surrounding. At 100m, someone called out from behind!! It's LT!!! Haha...happy to see him and make our way to finish line. He ask whether I want to run or just walk to finish. I say there's a lot of spectator in front, die die must finish in good posture... And so....we ran side by side towards the finish line. Sigh....never have i expect, that my first marathon will complete together with him woh...!!! LOL!!!!


Collected our medals, Finisher Tee and my bag, say a few hi to a few faces, I proceed to go to CP2 to meet JC. Spotted him from a distance. Aiyoh...he looks like he's in pain too! His first reaction to me...he's not going to do it again...haha..let's see if he still say the same after recovery. Regardless, he did well.


It's painful, it's not easy (at least for me) to complete the distance. But ask if it's worth sacrificing my sleep and going thru this, I'll still give a Yes :) Despite all this, it is still an enjoyable run for me. Happy to own a 42k finisher medal and are qualified to wear my own 42k Finisher tee, but that's just a small bit of it. More importantly, I feel stronger from inside out than before. I realized how I am being blessed that I am feeling 100% fresh throughout the run. Not sleepy at all and mentally going strong. These 2 are never my friend so I'm really caught by suprised that it didn't attack me at all. The pain in the leg is just an indication that my mileage is not enough and that is exactly why I want to do this marathon. To see how I feel going at such distance.


Till the next race.....rest well, eat well, train well :)

It's pouring....heavily at Pasir Ris now. Looks like it's going to be wet. Hmm...I dun like that. While on my way back from church just now, I saw some distance marker placed by the road side along Bedok and Tampines. Saying that I'm not anxious...it's a lie. I am indeed getting anxious. I even get anxious in the last fam run. What's more this is now getting real. The Sundown Marathon.

Essential items checked:
- Bib securely pinned to tee
- Body glide for abrasion prone area
- Plaster for blister prone area
- Mp3 player
- tissue paper & cash for emergency
- GU gel needed when body fuel went low

Let my first longest run be a dedication to God from above, for it is way to thank Him for giving me a good pair of legs.....

I shall go take some much needed rest now.....:)

Everyone seems to be talking abt Sundown this couple of days. And for some reason, those that I know are either sick, going to fall sick, having ITB, PF, kena flu, got burned out….at this time. I am no exception, still sneezing my way and consistently loading myself with Vit-C everyday. And for all a sudden, PF started to come back and haunt me again since last week. I’m eager to know what’s the outcome will be. Will it be a DNS… I’m eager to know, if ever I reach the starting line, how long will it take for fatigue and pain to greet me along the way. Regardless, I’m not too pressurized by this event. All I want is just to take this opportunity to push up the mileage before the real BIG day. If I can make it there come 31st May 12am having thousands of runners accompany me for my longest LSD, that will be perfect. Otherwise, it’s just too bad.

For those taking part……relax, rest and eat well….:)

Two weeks ago I got a suprise sms from someone I do not know. She introduced herself and explained how she go about getting my contact. It was indeed a suprised!!! I was asked to be interviewed!! By someone from SPH....wuahahahahah......

Oh well...I know what is it about but I wasn't sure what sort of questions will I be asked. It took me one whole night to think about whether I should accept the offer. The next day, I reply her sms giving her my email, thought of giving it a shot. Not long after, there came the email...

***Faint**** scratching my head how to answer. That's not about it. I need to submit a copy of my photo, fullname, occupation, age...etc!!!! -_- oh no!! Will all this be published???!!!!! And so, I thought of backing out from the interview, hoping that I will be 'forgotten' by her. 3 days after the deadline given, I got an sms again. As expected asking me if I've send over all the answers. I looked at those questions again, do a bit of reflection, slowly and steadily I managed to squeeze some juice from my brain...... Looking thru my whole "My Pictures" folder, I search thru high and low for a "not-too-bad" photos. JC commented if I want to go take a studio photos!! ahaha... Finally I found one..not a fantastic one but not a bad one either lah...

And so...I click on "send". What is the interview about, will it be published somewhere sometime?? Let's see :)

Loading myself with loads and loads of Vit C now. There's flu bug flying around these day. I can feel that it's coming.... Throat itchi, running nose...... argh.....!!!!

Try carrying a bucket of water and walk around and see how it feels. It's even worst when u run with it. That's exactly how I feel climbing up to MF at yesterday's run. The going up was not as bad. In fact, I felt that my quads are feeling stronger this time.

By the time I reachd the top, I can feel my tummy exploding. I didn't eat much, it must be the teh-c cum H20 that I took before the run. Argh...felt so shitty!!!! Waited for the 2 gals and slowly make my way back. Trying hard to switch my thoughts away from the bloated tummy.

Oh.... got a peep on the Nike+ Sportband from James. Cool stuff, value for money. Has exactly what I want and what I dun want from a Polar watch. But....I'm still not going to get it..haha.... at least not at this time :)

Today is the 3rd day after I came back from LA. Yet, my body clock is still in a mess. I woke up at 3am in the last two days and couldn't get back to sleep. Came to work at 6 in the morning and I'll be switch off by 3pm. Today is no difference. It's a total mess and affecting my training plan...:(

Having almost the entire afternoon before I head off to the airport, i took the hotel shuttle to Irvine Spectrum Center, an outdoor shopping just 1km away from the hotel. I was there last night for a while and I'm back there again today.

Lots of shops around there, not forgetting the usual Macy, Nordstrom and Target. This particular store that caught my interest since I yesterday, the store name is called "Finish Line". I spotted it from far and the name itself is good enough to caught my attention.

Went straight to it......there is really something that I have been looking for even since I touched down in California. North Face!!! Although it didn't have as much choices as per the website given that this is not a North Face store, I think I've spent close to an hour looking at those items and of course..trying out on 5 pairs of trail shoe. Cool!!! Guess how much is Rucky Chucky? USD109 :) in comparison to...SGD$22x?? Oh well...I didn't go for the North face even after trying all 5 pairs. The Fire Road version seems to be among the best. Ok..dun ask me to elaborate the responsiveness or whatever cheem terms ppl used in analyzing a shoe. I know none of it. It just give me a better overall feel and comfort. The rest of the NF are probably too hard for me on a normal surface. Anyway....guess what I got in the end.....Salomon!!!! I was contemplating the Salomon and NF Fire Road for a while and in the end, I decided to take..........

TBC...................

Still sorting out the pics. Didn't take as much as I wanted to. But MandalayBay at Vegas, is one of the best hotel I've ever stayed.

Man-made wave pool and beach


The company is kind enough to rent two cabanas facing the man-made beach and wave pool for the whole day with unlimited ordering of food/drinks throughout.

One of the pool at MandalayBay. Notice those smaller cabanas at the end of it.

See those cabanas at the left side. There are TV, sofa, fridge..etc..Cozy enough to laze around the whole day

YAY!!!! I'll be back HOME SWEET HOME soon.....Just a couple more hours I'm glad.

I seriously need to do some detox once I get back. Just 2 days is enough for me. I felt like my life have been shorten to a few years all because of the environment that I'm at in the last 2 days. The ang moh really amazed me. It didn't come at a suprise why they have the highest rate of obesity related illness and all sorts of other illnesses. Drinking beer/alcohol more than any other thing else on a daily basis..... 2-3 packets of cigarettes a day (that's my lao pan)....I'm glad the community around me back home is far from reaching this.

No wonder VP told me that I'll see a different side of everyone when we get to Vegas for the outing after the meeting. How true was that. Almost (thank God it's not all) directors/managers turn into drinkers, smokers, gambler...who knows what else. Oh well, at least I have 10% that are on the same frequency as I do. We went shopping instead.

Am glad.....it's coming to an end...Till next year :)

I was at this factory outlet mall called Carlsbag Outlet the whole afternoon. Shopaholic will definitely go crazy visiting this place. Branded/non-branded, they are all at factory price. Polo/Lacoste/Coach/Guess.....many many more. And mine you, they are all genuine stuff, not fake.

Guess what I saw. Kayano 14 selling at $USD129. I reacted as it I found a gold bar. Quickly grab my size and try on it. Cool....In the end....I didn't bought it...haha.... Feeling guilty to keep buying running shoe yet mileage is not as high as others...haha..IF ONLY I didn't get the kayano 13 2 weeks before I leave for LA. Anyway....I managed to find some other cool stuff. A coach bag for SGD$xx. Yeah!! a 2-digit SGD dollar for a coach bag after 40% discount on top of the factory price :)

Time to get ready for some serious stuff at work tomorrow...........:(

Suprisingly, I get pretty well adjusted to the local time without much struggle. Get to sleep at 10pm local time yesterday and woke up feeling pretty fresh. Took my time for brekkie and time for me to charged up those hills :)

Checkout the local map and the distance between various points. Target to recee the run to Laguna Hill Mall, so that I won't waste too much time tomorrow navigating the streets when I'm about to start my shopping. Sun is out but not feeling any heat at all. How cool was that!!! Make some wrong hilly turns when I stopped to ask the passers by for direction. No problem at all since I do wanna to get some hill workout. U-turn and make my way towards the mall. Still far from my sight, I wonder whether I've gotten the wrong way again. But well, decided to run till the end of the junction, the lady assure me that I'll see it. True enough, it's just right beside the end junction. Ok. Now I know where it is, this is gonna be my weekend shopping place. Make my way back and recee another hill :)

Took a nap and meet up with my colleagues. People whom I've emailed, spoke over the phone in the past 2 years yet have not met before. Oh boy...I felt that I've downgraded to 'small' size..haha felt good actually. But that should not be the reason that I can eat more..NEVER NEVER!!!

After 16 hours......

Hello people!!! Greetings from LA!

Am glad that I managed to get some sleeps on that 16 hours gruesome flight. Though felt a little bit zombie at first but I think I'm adjusting pretty well. Several things that I'm always concern abt when travelling on business trip:

1) internet service. Do they have one in the hotel? Is it complimentary
2) food. I usually dun eat much in flight. Will feel bloated. But once I'm in the hotel, I'll need food.
3) the surroundings in the hotel. Any convenience store, shops..etc

Stepping in to Aliso Viejo, this small little town surrounded by hills. I am indeed glad that I have the 3 items above at my finger tip. Well, not absolutely fantastic but having free internet access from the room does makes a lot of difference. Just like now :) I'm blogging at ease.

Yea, I'm hungry. Don't wanna go for room service if possible. Less than 5 mins walk, quite a number of take-out, fast food restaurant. Just had my yumilicious teriyaki bento. Serving so big..Just took have.

Next, the surrounding is more of a residential area. Hmm..the hills around....it's just tempting!!! Legs getting itchi liao. I should be out conquering those hills tomorrow if everything goes well.

Ok guys....till then.....

Lonely Journey

48 hours more, I'll embark into a gruesome 16 hours journey in the air. To a place far far a way, seeing ppl of different skin color, different culture. Am I excited?? Hmmm...Not at all. Oh well...maybe the 2nd part of the trip I will be since that is meant to be a retreat.

So yeah...I'll be flying off to LA. Aliso Viejo to be exact is where my HQ are located. 45mins drive from LA airport. Managed to found out from my colleague that there is a small little pathetic gym at the hotel. I'll still have to stick to it if I am not given any choice throughout my stay. All past training will be down the drain if I'm totally out of action throughout that 8-10 days. Haiz.....hopefully I can squeeze in some time. Just make sure that big boss won't make it compulsory to go out drinking after work....I'll be fine....***finger crossed****

Zzzzzzzz

I just don't and have no intention to gel myself with late nights :) After 2 days of consecutive late night, I am sooooooo deprived of sleep now. First one slept at 3am, the second one slept at 12am yesterday. I know I know...12am seems to be early for some...but is definitely not early for me...

I want more sleep..............................................................

Hitting '3'

Being an early sleeper, I tried to catch 1-2 hours nap yesterday afternoon after church so that I won't be too deprive for sleep in the night run. I always have this pre-run anxiety. Can't sleep well, leg feel numb...etc. Anyway, say a little prayer and I'm set to go!

26 Apr 8pm is Sundown Familiarization Rum #4 covering one full loop of the actually loop totalling 42km. I'm not doing the full loop for sure. How can I lost my virgin mara to a fam run right? right? right? Set a target to myself to hit '3xkm'. Maximum 35km. Hitting '3' during MR ultra last dec is a total bizarre and painful. I'm gonna do it in a better form this time...**hopefully***

Run started and I was with Fennel maybe just for the 1st km. This women....say want to follow my pace..I guarantee her that she will not last more than 1km following me. True enough...after 5-10mins....she started her engine liao. I'm all on my own, hello-ing to some that I passed by and soon after...we're into the long, demoralizing Coastal road. The stretch was ok as I have quite a lot of runners front/back of me. But as I was ending the Coastal road stretch, I start to wonder if i should return back by the same way, joining the rest of the 35km runners. The group have scattered so much so that I only bump into 1-2 once I enter ECP. Hmm..I don't think I want to do that Coastal road alone in the dark. Kind of eerie and there's no light at one stretch. Come out with another plan. Run the 42km route, skipping big splash and Bedok reservoir. That should cut approx 6km.

Reached u-turn point at 17km. Gulp down Powergel endurance drink and top up my botttle, eat a banana, chit-chatting. I told the rest of the gang abt my alternative plan. Tagging along with Burnz, Fennel and Laser we went towards the 42km direction. My usual training route :) The 3 of them as usual, on gear 5 while I prefer to OTOT my speed according to my comfort level. First time I'm running alone at this hour. It's really not as bad as I thought. Safety is one of my concern at first but I'm suprised that at this hour, there's still ppl along the street. Passed 12am, parents are still on a bicycle with their kids. Maybe it's the banana that I had at 17km, got a sudden charged in energy!!! Wohooo!!! Ran thru that stretch of bedok connector towards BR and Tampines. Saw 2 MF runner wondering around and told me JC lost his way and go towards TP. Aiyoh.... I hope he knows the way to get out from TP. We went by the same route many times already. He should know. Hmm..not suprised. I'm sure there are a lot out there having the same problem. Gave them the direction and seeing them slowly disappear from my view.

Reached Tampines Ave 9, legs are a bit heavy by now. Strangely, while running I'm tired, while walking legs is in pain. Anyway, just switched between the two. Just 2-3 km more, I'll hit my '3' digit!! JUST DO IT!! Bump into Burnz at Tampines PCN. Hmm...where's the rest..No idea. Told Burnz that I will probably stop at Pasir Ris once I hit 30km and take a cab back to start point. Pride is not important at this time as I'm happy and contented at this moment. Hitting 30k and still feeling good, althought tired for sure. I would prefer to slowly progress my mileage instead of jumping 20-30% at one go.

Making my way to start point, that's 12:45am. Wondering if JC have reached. I alighted at Changi Village and do a slow jog again back to Changi beach. Still got a bit of fuel in me :) Spotted JC talking to Renoh. Took off my fuel belt, gulp down some drinks prepared and catching up with the gang.

In conclusion, the run is really not bad. Running alone for most journey is not a problem to me because I prefer to OTOT my speed. 2 breakthrough:

- running alone at such odd hours (but I will not run alone in Coastal Road and Loyang when it is dark!! NEVER)
- hitting '3' in good form

Got a lift from Meteor back home. Shower and zzz... And guess what...the calves and feet are so numb and sng at this time. applied yoko yoko but didn't help much. The muscles were contracting on an off throughout till 6am before I can really sleep in peace.

Few things that I learn from this run:
- Never under estimate what our body (God's creation) can do. It can take you much further than you thought.
- S'pore is indeed a safe country. You can never do such thing in Mxxxxxxx