Official Results out!

Gun time: 23:42
Position by Category: 13

Swim time: 5:57
>> Most likely the current pushing me forward heh? Or it could be shorter than 200m :) Never managed to clock under 6min in pool.

Transition: 1:37
>> Probably one of the thing that I enjoyed most....Could have just wear race belt during run out instead of standing still...Nevermind...... enjoying every single bit of it.

Run: 16:04
>> Waited maybe a min plus at the run out area waiting for buddy. Run wasn't as good. Breathing was hard. But didn't bother too much.....

One down......next one...in 3 weeks time.......

22 Feb 09 ---- She completed her first ever Swim Run event and truly enjoying it!!!

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Day before, I informed Susan that I’m putting her contact as my emergency contact since JC is having his training in the morning. I told her it’s my first open water swim event, I dunno how it’ll turn out. So make sure her phone is turned on in the morning in case the medic or hospital call. And my race starts at 830. Spent like half an hour preparing a checklist and packing all the stuff… Oh man….I have one full bag of stuff to bring!!!

We reached Tg Beach and get ourselves settled at the transition area. Arranging my stuff in sequence and found a prominent sign to remember where my spot is. Greatttttt…… I saw the marking of the turning point for the 200m swim..Ok…the distance looks comfortable.

We were walking around and dip ourselves while waiting for 830. And one thing I observed...... majority of the participants looks darn fit man!!!!!

8.15am, I went to the start point with Tao and met up Lala & Eugene. We both are nervous indeed. Gun off at 830 the fun begins!!! Tao requested that I keep an eye on her and I agreed. But merely 20m away, I have lots of ppl surrounding me, goggles is getting a little foggy, I decided to just swim and swim and swim. Thank God I didn’t get kicked or punch. Just a slight body contact with someone at the start. The rest are all well. Zig zagging here and there and managed to overtake quite a fair bit. Turning in the next 100m into the transition area, I spotted Roonz from a far. Taking her as my target, I look no where except her…hehe..Roonz…are you reading this?? Nearing to the shore, she is there cheering for us ;) Yay!! I completed the swim!!

Ran into transition and about ready to go when Tao came in. Get my way out of the transition (so that my transition time will not be longer than swim time :) ) Waited for her at the running path. The run itself….was ok except some hard breathing. Finishing together in…xx:xx:xx…. Oopss….didn’t bother to look at the watch at all. Probably it’s somewhere around 25minx plus minus. But who cares….I’m luvvvinnngggg it!!

Smiling faces everywhere...................................

This little girl since young as a kid can never swim even after many many attempts being taught by her dad/siblings. While starting learning together with the rest of the siblings, all managed to learned but not her. She either stick herself close by the wall like a lizard or ended up having a runny nose. All she can do was to float face down and kick her little feet.

Many many years later from childhood to adulthood, she pick up the guts and self learn all over again (with the help of some close friends). It was one of the most amazing thing that she felt from inside out when she can finish one lap effortlessly in breast stroke. She even emailed her sis immediately to tell her that she can now swim!!!!!! Two years later with quite a fair bit of practicing her swim, she caught some bugs from her crazy mates and signed up for a mini Aquathlon race (200m swim & 2.5km run). 200m in open water?!?!? Unbelievable. Not knowing how to tread water, that’s a bit scary. And so again, she started to bite the bullet and slowly force herself to swim in the middle of the pool and tread water in the middle of no where. Grabbing along her kakis who is experienced in open water swim, they ventured into Tg Beach giving herself a taste of open water swim……

She is now ready for 22nd Feb 09……….. How will it turn up??

Talkative Run - I like it.

Yesterday's run to Fort Canning was one of the most chatty one. On the way up, talk to Tao all the way. On the way down, talk to Burnz all the way. It was also quite a pleasant an enjoyable run because the speed was comfortable enough for us to talk. So no lung bursting kind of pace. And I felt pretty fresh throughout. Even when going up hill, the talkative one continues to talk where I just gave a 'ya', 'ok' kind of response..haha

Had my regular heavenly watermelon soymilk once again. Managed to spread the addiction to Burnz and licht this time round....Niceeeeeeeee

Yesterday's workout theme was "Run with the Stranger Run".

Just had the Pattstrap delivered to me few days ago, I decided to strap it on and venture out to Fort Road. Unexpectedly, this time round was the knee patella of the other side of the legs giving problem. A very familiar pain when I first got injured. Sianz..... Remove the strap from ITB and place it on the knee instead. Say it as co-incidence or not, the compression did help. At least it doesn't hinder the run as much.

Then...I was wearing the wrong shorts. Abrasion!! every runner's enemy. Wasn't a pleasant one but just move on. Had a quick sip at petrol kiosk before making my way back, said hello to another runner coming towards my direction. Can't rmbr how he look, but he had a very colorful headband. Reaching Marina Promenade, this same guy overtook me. He seems to be enjoying his MP3 very much. It's 1+km more to my end point, I decided to tag along with his pace, which happen to be my tempo pace. I followed him throughout the entire Marina Promenade stretch, maybe just about 1-2 steps behind him, overtaking the rest of the runners one after another. Haha...Shiok!! Ya..that entire 1.15hr, only the last few minutes gives me the endorphin kick!

Where there's Bad Hair Day, there's also Bad Run Day. No doubt, it was one of it for me in yesterday's MF run. I thought I was feeling quite good at the start. But just about reaching the foot of MF, my lower back is giving problem. Some numbness that I reckon it could be due to the biking the day before? Stretch and stretch at the traffic light, taking it slowly on the way up. MF oh MF..... love the hills yet it has never been easy even after so many past attempts. Well...I wasn't panting as bad as my 1st time going up. Still it's a bit tough on the legs.

There was quite a few of 1st timer for MF today. But I think they did pretty well.
Reached the top I decided not to do the loops. Back not well, tummy also not well. Went down with a few them. The body does felt really weird tonight. First the lower back, then the tummy, then all of a sudden, felt like energy is draining off. Not as if I've run many many miles. And it even lasted till now....:( Nevermind..... hopefully a dip in the pool will ease away...

I didn't have a good sleep on Saturday night because.....I slept too much in the afternoon?? So needless to say, I had a bit of a struggle getting up on Sunday to meet the sentosa gang.

Anyway, the plan was executed as what was agreed. This time round felt rather peaceful looking at the calm sea, unlike the first visit with strong winds and drizzles the entire morning. Suprisingly the water felt much colder despite the sunny weather. The first thing when we reach, IMD said wah...the tide is high. I'm like oh no!!!! He said high tide is good, won't get to see what's at the bottom. See nothing better than seeing something down under.

And so we started the laps to the other side of the island. I requested Tiwazz to be next to me, he agreed with no hesitation :) At the end of 4th lap, lady boss challenge me to tread water 5 mins to gain some confidence in deep water. I took up the challenge...minus the 5 mins. Tread until I'm tired which of course didn't last very long..haha.... I must have kicked too hard. Tried again on the 5th lap and relax on the kicking, felt so much better this time round....

10 laps and I said I wanna go for the run..Took my own sweet time before Tiwazz reminded me that I need to run out of the water and do the transition...Haha..Still I take my own sweet time. Now the highlight of the day and the awkward part.....the tri top feels strange. I felt as if I'm not wearing anything in the run. Dunno whether it's the tri top making me a bit uncomfortable or the swim, my engine could not start up, my legs are a bit heavy. No momentum at all..Hmm...nevermind...I think I enjoyed the swim & the company today....:)

It was quite an interesting 'me & my mp3' run yesterday. Of what supposed to be a 800x track work, I ended up doing something totally different.

PR - Tampines Ave 2 - Simei Road - Upper Changi Rd - Tanah Merah - Bedok - Kembangan
Distance : approx 12km

Interesting because this is my first time exploring the Simei - Kembangan route, passing by the park connector around Expo. The route was not congested, quiet at some point but decent enough to do a solo run, except that few hundred meters around Bedok Mrt. In addition to the endorphin kick and fresh pair of legs, I'm nothing but contented.

I lost my bike!!!! It happen when the tyre tube burst during the start of the event. Stationing it by the site while trying to get someone to help, to my dismay it disappears when I get back to where it was!! No longer around, trying to search high and low, I can feel my heart rate increasing every seconds. Finally, I checked with the security guard, only to be told that he kept it for me fearing that someone will took it away......

Phew......The next moment, I woke up and I'm like "Luckily it's just a dream".....:) And as a results, I'm half an hour late to work this morning....

This lump of mine suddenly appear on my right ITB for no reason. Ya, and it happen on the week where my mileage is so low. So...ITB problem may or may not caused by running??

It was CBD 3rd anniversary. With the 8km run from TP - F1 Route and back, there's lots of talking among the few of us. This morning, as I took a glance at his and her blog, both were mentioning about "O" "T". Haha...Needless to say, I'm charge guilty as well. I'm one of them kepo-ing around this term. With the strong headwind and nice scenary from esplanade towards F1 and probably the festive mood, I had a relax run. Managed to get the speed monster to run with me for the first half of the route at a recovery pace for her...

Oh and back to the fooooddddddd we had after the run, I had the best potato salad ever!!! Thought I did have some recognition in my recipe of potato salad, now I better go stand and hide in the corner. I think ours (susan,joyce,myself) are still quite a way to reach thissss standard. Next time, must get recipe from the missus already.....

CNY for this year is different from every other year. It doesn't looks like CNY to me as a start. Regardless, the first day was always visitation to relatives house as usual. In fact, every year seems to be a routine, even the type of conversation we had:

Relatives (giving ang pow to me) : Next year your turn to give ang pow to my kids ah!!
Me: Smile
Relatives: Got bf or not
Me: Smile

Grandma (giving ang pow to me): Saying all the well wishes and "After new year find a good husband"
Me: Smile & acknowledge

Apart from that, the week wasn't a very pleasant one cuz we were kind of worried about the heart ablation surgery that my grandma is going for on the 3rd day of CNY. Thank God that it all went well way beyond expectation. The surgery was a success and she's 99% healed. Don't even need to be on medication, which is what has been happening in the pass 10 years. Despite the 'not so pleasant' new year, I'm nothing but just thankful of how things has turned up.

So..... as expected I'm on super low mileage last week. Managed to squeeze in some swim session in between hospital visits between those few days. And who knows what happen to my freaking ITB, there's a lump on the right side and I was woken up by the pain 2 nights ago. Time to play red toy again.....!!!!

Not long ago I was commenting to someone that there’s nothing for me to look forward to and every workout just seems to be a norm procedure of keeping fit. The next challenge is almost like half a year down the road. Too far away…..

It’s coming to end Jan now and without realizing, that half a year is only 4 months away!!! Adding on to the anxiety, I now have 3 races, possibly 4 leading up to end May. That is on average once a month! And what have I done to prepare??? Ha..ha.haha…..

Anyway, not entirely new to me BUT it is still as hard since Day 1. Splitting a 4km into 5 x 800m on track is freakingly tough! Ya..I was supposedly to do more sets but I punctured at the 5th set… Nevermind….try harder next time……

So...next week seems to be feasting week...I wonder how much mileage I can clock in or if there will EVER be one..... I've just requested Dad to bring me to one of the famous hilly place that's popular among runners....But then..things doesn't take place as expected sometimes....:) So we shall see.......

Lunching in at the office now, and being Friday, that should mean R&R if no hiccups.

Staring at my bowl of Salad from a newly opened shop called Garden Salad, felt so refreshing and healthy simply by looking at it! Haha..Too bad....I only thought of taking the pics after I've finish half a bowl. Don't assume it's salad and it's not filling. Here's what I have:

romaine lettuce
carrot
cabbage
beetroot
raddish
corn
olive
cucumber
tomato
eggs
onion
raisin
peanuts
celery
capsicum
tuna
kidney beans
couscus (whatever spelling)
pasta (abt the quantity of 2 table spoon)

All this mixing in homemade honey and soy sauce. Simply Delicious!!!!!!!!!!

I must have been a bit overly ambitious wanting to do too many things at one go at a wrong time wrong place. My mind is itchi for a swim and my legs wanted more from the previous sessions.


Can't decide which one to go for and brought two sets of gears to work. Up until I knock off, I still can't decide. I go for both. At least it ease off my mind a bit although I don't know what's the outcome would be like.


So there I go and put all my stuff ready in the gym before I head out for a run. Pack and arrange everything so that once I'm back I can just grab and go for the swim..Talking about smooth transition here?? The run......Oh man!! Lots and lots of construction along the way. Wasn't that enjoyable and I cut short the timing, make a u-turn back to the gym. Now the transition, hmmm.... rather troublesome. I need to walk several hundred meters, take escalator before I reach the pool side. That's not the main problem. The water is freaking freezing cold!!! It has been windy in the last couple of days and cloudy but never have I expect it to be that cold. The ang moh lady next to me ask me to dip in to the water and get moving to get myself warm up and so I did. Still.......it is way to cold for my comfort. I think I did about 20 laps (25m length) and call it a day. Finger is numb........:(

Weather for the night - cooling and windy

It was another therapeutic, in fact once in a blue moon run where I feel that I can go on and on. With the right beat on 93.3, strong wind, not-so-weak legs, the endorphin kick in pretty quickly this time round.

2 x 12 mins tempo and a couple of 200-300m (forgotten how many) before I call it a day. It's getting late and I have tonnes of household chores to settle. Short one but real sweet session :)

IF only I can be more sporty with sea sports........

WANTED: Caretaker for islands on Great Barrier Reef.

SALARY: A$150,000 (S$155,355) for six months.

JOB SCOPE: You scuba dive, snorkel, sail and go bush walking. Meet and talk to the locals and tourists. Give media interviews, post a weekly blog, photo diaries and video updates. Feed the fish, clean the pool and collect the mail.
TOURISM Queensland (TQ) is offering A$150,000 for a once-in-a-lifetime job to a lucky hunk or babe in search of a living.

Sounds like it's too good to be true? There's more. You'll work flexi-hours and stay in a fully-furnished three-bedroom home with great views on the luxurious Hamilton Island of the Great Barrier Reef. The package includes return airfare, travel insurance and free use of a computer, digital video, digital camera and Internet access.

"This is the first time something of this style and magnitude has been undertaken by Tourism Queensland on a global level," says Mr Anthony Hayes, Tourism Queensland's chief executive officer, commenting on the A$1.7 million marketing campaign.
TQ hopes to "achieve cut through in what is an increasingly cluttered travel market", create greater awareness and excitement over the Islands of the Great Barrier Reef as a fantastic and unique tourism destination, and have a flow-on effect to other destinations in Queensland, he adds.

Finally, my first post for 2009. Shall not go over the usual review on 2008 nor resolution for 2009. But a couple of incidents in the last couple of months did trigger some thoughts in me. We never know what's gonna happen tomorrow. So do not procrastinate on things that you wanted to do, do not take things for granted, spent more quality time with family and friends.

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Brick training is tough!! Strangely in comparison with run/bike, a bike/run gives a totally different feeling on that pair of legs. Felt like tau-huay....:)

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....