Christmas Eve 2006

It's Sunday today and Christmas Eve..... Oh my GosH!!! What am I doing now????? SIO SAW ....................................... M E r R y C h r i s t m a s ! ! !

3rd year of Running Recap!

I did a summary of the whole year running experience last year....i decided to do a brief one again this year.....This year is my 3rd year of “serious” long distance running...imy goal for this year is actually to keep myself bronchitis free....unfortunately, due to several unforesee events happened together or one after another during the last crucial 1.5mths before marathon, my fitness was affected and my health deteriorate...resulting in my bronchitis to relapsed during marathon itself....life has not improved after that...due to some bad planning by the superior, everyone was clearing leaves and left me taking all the burdens and loads...i have worked more than 12hrs for almost 3 weeks straight...resting only on sunday.....until the time i was writing this...i was having spitting headache.... Not going to write in details like last year...just some highlights....after recoverd from my ITB and bronchitis at the start of the year....i was able to enjoyed 10 mths running with no injury and illness This year was planned to be long run year....originally plan is to built up endurance base before going into more speed next yr....sad to sad....everything will go down the drain during this month of illness But throughout the year...i have enjoyed more during my runs, mainly because after shifting to my new place in SK, i have met more frens especially those staying near my area...i have explored more new running routes....ventured further and further....and maybe ONE DAY i will run to NTU from the east... results for NB Real Run, Mizuno Wave run and SBR and army half marathon were also very good and satisfying I have also contributed to the fund raising project organised by lokun, KJ, char lotti and JT with good support from sgrunners...... after my UltraM, i promised myself i should not spend too much on running gears but unfortunately, i was happily spending much more than last yr....brought 3 pairs of shoes and exchanged my useless NIKE free for a new NIKE pegasus 2005, although too small for running long distance....it was a good pair of gai gai shoes..... running will stop and have stopped since after marathon......till next year then

Sun shines after Rain

The sun is finally out since this morning. It has been raining for >36 hours non-stop. Intensity changes very fast and at some time, it was so damn heavy.....during high tide, several places were flooded, landslides, old shophouses collapsed and tree fell....

I wonder what happen to MR? How many trees has fall and block the trail? any landslide again? it will be interesting to run ultraM if it rain for the whole day.......unfortunately, i should not get the chance to do it this time 8_(

My inspiration Man

Dean Karnazes: The Ultramarathon man has always been the one i really admired in the running world. He has completed Endurance 50, running 50 marathons in states in 50 days. He blogged after every marathon . From his blog, you can see his enthusiam about running and to share his experiences. Ended in New York Marathon, He finished at 3hrs flat, 1 minute after Lance Armstrong's virgin marathon. After a few days rest, he went on and is on his way home to San Francisco and his progress can be track HERE. I always enjoy his interviews especially The following by cbs 60 minute programme. The interesting thing about this interview is that another great female ultramarathon, Pam Reed was in too, this interview is actually about Dean and Pam's race in The badwater ultramarathon: The Toughest Race Another interview is done with The Gregory Mantell Show: Another interview done after he attempted a non-stop 300 miles run He was also interviewed by another trail ultramarathoner, Scott Dunlap. The interview content can be found HERE He has also written a book called Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner He has ever said "There is a limit to human physical body, but it is the human spirit that carries you to run longer beyond that."

4th Round of meds

Finally get to see the doc that i usually consulted for my bronchitis...... and my 4th round of medicines since SCM..... For another 5 days......... hopefully i am able to celebrate christmas without any cough and phelgm....

Last Day of medication

Not getting better....... Work getting heavier..... Holiday coming........... Do I get to get it???????

antibiotics and antihistamines

My medicines for the next 5 days.....

Whinning and grumbling

9th day after marathon....... still coughing and spitting like 9 days before........ 2 attempts to see the kiasu doc......... heavier medication for 9 days straight....... does seems to help much............. need a desperado run at MR before year end look like depression has settled in after 9 days of no endorphines............ arrrgghhhh......

WhYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY?

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okie....thanks for reading

SCM06 official results

I know this come a bit late....cos i fighting war with the irritating cough and phelgm Gun Time / Chip Time: 5h:29m:47s / 5h:24m:17s Entire field 3684th place with 3521 finishers behind. About 51% of finishers ahead. Entire Men 3276th place with 3040 finishers behind. About 52% of finishers ahead. My age group 25-29 616th place with 634 finishers behind. About 49% of finishers ahead. Not bad.. i was somewhere in the middle

weak throats......heavy loads....

legs recovered 2 days back throat recovering but got worst again work piled up like never before still in office at 8 o'clock 3 weeks left to the end year how do i conquer my body with my mind?

Singapre Standchart Marathon 2006

This year is my 2nd full marathon attempt at Standchart marathon and the 3rd time running marathon distance (including last yr Ultra Marathon)......running was consistent thru out the year until the last critical month where the haze, my in-camp, food poisoning and sudden last min increased in work load causing big barriers for me to maintain my fitness right up to the marathon.... My aim this year is not to get a PB, but to have a comfortable finish....days before the marathon....the sudden load of work and caused me to worked >12-13hrs everyday which also resulted me drinking and eating less due to the numerous meetings and fire-fighting..my body got "heated" up by sat nite.. managed to wake up at 3.15am to prepare and walked ard trying to clear my bowels...i guess, due to the reduced in food intake..i din output much...JT has kindly hailed a cab to pick me up as we proceed to raffles city to deposit our stuff with lokun. it was nice to meet lokun's mother who came down to cheer her son...i decided to wear my shade and my open mesh cap just in case the sun or rain....and this happened again: whenever i wear my shade, the sun will not be out and the sky will be clouding... i decided to pace JT right from the start doing 8/2 run/walk as i was having some throat issue which will cause my bronchitis to relapse easily...we started slowly at a comfortable pace after walking thru 6min to the startline....once we hit the 1km mark...i saw pple dashing into the bushing to relieve themselves....and i decided to follow suit....JT was kind enough to wait for me a while.....we carried on at a comfortable pace...as i was entering marina south, my leg started to give me some pain(must be too long no running)....it was gone after the body warmed up....the african pack leading passed us at their 11km mark and we have just completed 4km only!! we started to see familiar faces coming at the other end after the U-turn point....also saw the lady dragging a tyres with other stuff running along....the half marathon and 10k runners started to caught up with the full marathon runners and there was a big mixed up.....the slower full marathon runners are blocking the way of the faster half marathoners and 10k runners..... We passed the 10km and decided to take our first package fo gl at the drink station....after abt 1km more, i started to cough and my phelgm starte to built up...i was feeling bad..and jialat...i was down with big problem....i spitted my way and vomitted and coughing till the finishing line..... after exiting from marina south...i heard someone called me and hit me on my shoulders...it was run3 enjoying her half marathon this year.....we turned into cbd area and back to esplanade....at tbt 16km, i saw a table full of bananas and decided to grab one.....holding comfortably on my right hand.... we reached nicoll highway and saw sotong and kelly...sotong was having big pronlem with his legs and was limping....kelly was torutring herself in this marathon....waterpoints this year area plentiful but unfortunately or is a blessing that the weather is good and more water intake actually caused more toilet break as we are not sweating enough..... we passed fort road and saw a group of tai tai having pininc in the road divider while cheering and enjoying runners dashing past..... we reached the half marathon mark abt 4min faster than JT's timing last yr...into east coast park....saw tiwazz limping away due to his cramp and daishiki enjoying her music on the run.....we are still feeling strong the weather was not hot and i was not sweating enough. causing my bladder to be full...i head for the toilet after the tennis centre....as we run across east coast...we can see runners coming back at the otehr side of the track....and rough we know their full marathon time.....due to this year weather...i guess, most 1st timer should do well and the experienced should get their PB we also see less heat exhaustion this year...more deep heat are provided so a common sight are runners with creamy calves running......we crossed the 30km mark and reached the sgrunners support table...the supporters did a greatjob in serving the runners and make sure they are OK......before we got out of east coast park...i went for my second pee...... as we run along fort road...i still remember i was suffering from here onwards... it was hot and water is running low at the stations...we are still doing ok and still able to do 8min run.....met m699ie at the stadium sprinkers and chatted a while.....my throat got worst and i was coughing more....spitting and pushing on.... finally reached kallang river as we saw the first case of runners collapsed....he was on drip and send to the ambulance....still doing okie...we decided to take the final walk at 41km mark. as we proceed to esplanade bridge..we staretd to see sgrunners supporting and cheering...JT was feeling the strain of the pace and distance as i pushed her passed the finiahing line at 5hrs 29:47min....watch time of 5hrs 24min which is an 8min improvement compared to last yr....well done JT.... after crossing the line...i vomitted pheglm and saliva...coughing badly that i cannot walked....some first aiders came along...requested for water but they just refused saying until i can breath properly...if i can ask for water...i can can breath right? finally after complaining and grumbling, they finally handed a bottle of ice mountain to me...almost felt like empty it by pouring the water over my head....but i just gurgle and walked away for my medal and finisher tee...... This year marathon was a more enjoyable one....able to enjoy more of the scenery and pple...unfotunately, my bronchitis came back and i cough, spit and vomitted for the last 30km....and now i was sick typing this report.....starting to doze off due to the effect of the medications.....zzzzzzz LAP: 2km - 15:53min@7:57min/km 2km - 15:50min@7:55min/km 2km - 15:33min@7:47min/km 2km - 15:39min@7:50min/km 2km - 14:31min@7:16min/km 2km - 15:26min@7:43min/km 4km - 29:19min@7:20min/km 4km - 29:59min@7:30min/km 1km - 6:30min@6:30min/km 4km - 30:18min@7:35min/km 2km - 15:56min@7:58min/km 2km - 15:23min@7:42min/km 1km - 7:59min@7:59min/km 1km - 9:29min@9:29min/km 1km - 7:30min@7:30min/km 1km - 9:02min@9:02min/km 1km - 7:47min@7:47min/km 2km - 14:53min@7:27min/km 1km - 7:42min@7:42min/km 1km - 7:51min@7:51min/km 1km - 7:58min@7:58min/km 1km - 7:22min@7:22min/km 1km - 7:36min@7:36min/km 1.195km - 8:42min@7:17min/km SPLIT 2km - 15:53min 4km - 31:44min 6km - 47:17min 8km - 1hr 02:56min 10km - 1hr 17:28min 12km - 1hr 32:54min 16km - 2hr 02:14min 20km - 2hr 32:13min 21km - 2hr 38:43min 25km - 3hr 09:01min 27km - 3hr 24:58min 29km - 3hr 40:21min 30km - 3hr 48:20min 31km - 3hr 57:50min 32km - 4hr 05:20min 33km - 4hr 14:23min 34km - 4hr 22:10min 36km - 4hr 37:04min 37km - 4hr 44:47min 38km - 4hr 52:38min 39km - 5hr 00:37min 40km - 5hr 08:00min 41km - 5hr 15:36min 42.195km - 5hr 24:19min

7 hrs to SCM

My shoes are ready All the best for those who are running And Big thanks to all of those who are supporting

Last Month of 2006

Today is the first day of the last month of the year 2 more days to Singpore Marathon 2006 last year this time....i already eat marathon, sleep marathon, dream marathon for days...... but this time round....i was too buy to even think abt it....have beeen working OT for the whole of this week.....hopefully not for tonite..which is the most important nite to sleep this year end i was really hit but several obstacles to keep my running routine consistent....hazy days...serving nation...food poisoning and this last week of sudden work load increase....... marathon....i not thinking abt it....probably another LSD for me...... i dun train for race, i only run becos i love running i dun race for PB, i run a race to enjoy the atmosphere

Singpore Marathon 2006 race expo

i was down with stomach problem ever since tues....stepping into the expo today was a ??...can i still run next week? This yr expo is much bigger than last year...with the increased participants, the organizer has done a great job by allocating one whole hall 404 for the collection and the other 2 for sports and fitness expo..... Due to my work...i came down a bit late...reached at abt 7pm which is the peak hour....got to queue for abt 10-15min before i got my pack..... 1) SCM 2006 bag - Finally is not a shoes bag....last yr got so many shoes bags from event even for SCM...at least this year is something bigger and more useful, with a small pocket inside for small stuff and a shoes compartment....impressive!!! 2)White sling bag - I called this a laundry bag....is just a big laundry bag to keep your dirty clothings....i guess this is for participant to put their stuff for bag deposit on race day 3) Event Tee - This is the tee everyone take notice off....this year tee is OFF SIZE again!! The sizing is one size bigger than last year which left most participants headache....but the material is different from last year...i was surprised that it is the same material as the red adidas running top i had (which i wore size S)...this material is much lighter and more comfy than last yr 4) a bag of pasta - this year pack is small than last yr 5) event booklet - as usual, the informative event booklet which participant must read thru 6) Runspiration information - same as previous yr 7) Deep heating rub sample pack - enough for one rub on the bum 8) Berroca samples - a awful tasting vitamins pills which will be in my fridge for another yr 9) Polar and athletes' circle flyers - a new concept by hivelocity for the sportsmen Not a fantastic race pack...definitely we expecting more than this...i think last yr one is better ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ After collecting the stuff, i went over to yhe Sports and Fitness Expo for a walk....this year expo is bigger and more interesting than last year...more games and challenges for visitor to play and a few new products coming in to the market....like Pearl Izumi running shoes and products.....not so much offer for the exhibitors....maybe just to create awareness for the comsumers......din buy anything today...maybe come back again to grab some 15% off vitamins from VRP

DOWN!!!!!

YES....I AM DOWN latest pre-marathon jinx victim...... just my luck....... suspect due to food poisoning as my other frens who had supper with me are all down the day before me..... high fever on tues and MC on wed.... should take one more day MC... no appetite for 3 days liao......... heavy anti-biotic till this sat....... body weak and useless....but still need to struggle thru the heavy workload in office..... hopefully can do a little running on monday onwards.....

Vertical Marathon 2006

Yes....i reached the top of Swissotel The Stamford again for the second year and I took the above photo with my HP camera.... Only have 4 hrs of sleep due to late supper till 2am the nite before....i amanged to erached in time for the registration at 8.15am and met a few others like ripley, alvo, meteor, kops, jennifery, mythos, sv, commando....... got my number tag and hooked up my championship chip....put my barang at alvo's car before we went for a light breakfast at subway...i took a ham and egg sandwich with a small cup of coke.... waited till 10.15am before is my turn to go up....my was the last 2nd category so everyone was up before me.... it was a tough climb for me as i just did 3rds of MR the day before....my legs are heavy like cement...did a small sprint to the stairs before i climb slowly using 2 steps....after abt 15 floors....i have to change to single steps and alternate with double as i go up....the other guys from my wave overtook me from the start and after 30 floors....i overtook them back except for an ang mo which i never see him again.... i burst out of the stairs and cross the finishing line...stopped my watch and it indicated 12:35min..walaus....so close to my last yr timing saw andy at the roof and the other guys just proceed back down....waited and hanged around for quite a while....took a video of the heli-pad came back down to the ground floor...the cert are not ready...so we decided to walked around...i went to change to a dry top....collected the cert and i was surprised to see my timing: ISN'T THIS THE SAME AS LAST YEAR!!!!! What a nice 4D number to buy!!! After that, i followed alov's car to marina square to meet up with DR< DO, Stazla, superboy and cokiee for lunch before we went home to rest......

Last LSD........counting down

i was deciding between a flat LSD or a mother nature run......Teelee supposed to joined me for the run has to backout last min as he was too shagged out by Mr Bush's visit... In the end..i decided to head back to mother nature for fresher air...thinking there should be no much pple as everyone will keep away from this place till 3 dec... managed to wake up at 5.30am and catch the morning bus to MR....started my run at 7am..the air was cooling but heated up very quickly as the sun came out very strongly today...din bring my shade or my cap...i will have problem at the golf course....keeping to my 8:2 ratio....i tried to keep myself slow...but i failed...planning to do 3 rds for abt 1hr 15min per round especially for the first round...reached the SICC road at 23min and ranger station at 27:30min....did not stop as i push forward towards the barricaded area......I was blinded for a while by the strong glare from the sun when i was out of the boardwalk area...and have to keep my head low to see the route....ran up the rooted upslope and still feeling fine....i knew i went too fast....saw tobias ran by...as i reached the MR25 time trial route...there are 2 deadfall.....one big tree blocked the road completely and another small branch fell across the trail...the one i saw on monday was removed Finished the first round at 1hr 6min....way too fast and same time as monday's run....i did not stop at the toilet as i push on to the second round...trying to slow down my pace....met tobias again in the trail and quite a number of ang mo....the trail started to filled with families and visitors to the treetop walk....hit the SICC road the same time as first round..i slowed down a bit and reached ranger station at about 28min....i decided to take a longer break as i refill my bottle and take my first gel......after that i continue to walk for about 2-3min before i started my run again.....the golf area was very muddy today and my shoes are filled with mud....i struggled and reached the rooted slope and decided to walk over it....This time round....the small branch that blocked the road was removed but the big tree still there...i was feeling the strain as i was running at the same pace as the first round...finished in 1hr 10min....5min slower becos of me purposely walking a bit more last round.....i decided to give it a go although my body was in terrible state....there are more and more pple from school X-country team to visitors and trekkers.....i stopped to refill my bottle before i had off again...i decided to do a "walk-upslope" round so as to survive.....i did not follow my 8:2 ratio like previous lap....i just run to upslope and walk up and run again.....too tired i just take a walk....this time i reached SICC road in 32min and take my 2nd gel and rest a bit more at ranger station.....the golf trail is still as hot and glaring as i struggle thru.....walked over the rooted slopes again and running basically with only my spirit for the alst stretch...saw some indian worker with chainsaw to clear the branches...and this time...the trail was cleared....finished the last lap 9min slower than previous becos of all the upslope walking...... Overall....although is 2min faster than the last time i did 3 rounds with teelee...this time round...the pace control for 1st sucks....i should be doing at least 5min slower.....end of the round was more shag out than the last time....not a good run overall but hopefully is enough for SCM conditioning changed up and had a bowl of mee siam at the cafe....bees started to fill the cafe....luckily..i finsihed my food and get out of the place asap..... shoes: Salomon XA Pro 3D total distance: 31.5km total time: 3hrs 36min 28s average pace: 6:52min/km 10.5km - 66:25min@6:20min/km 10.5km - 70:39min@6:44min/km 10.5km - 79:24min@7:34min/km

OUCH!!!!

KNS....knock my head against a low supporting pole for the shelter at the kopitiam during lunch......heavy headed now....hopefully is due to tiredness...

Don't be a slave of your HRM

I never ran with a heart rate monitor because I don't need it. But even with my good feeling for my body and my long experience as a runner, I cannot say from the way I feel if I covered the kilometer in 2:40 or 2:45. Therefore, I check the speed in the workouts where it matters on a measured route with a stopwatch Even if you don't have this sense for your body, you should never become a slave of your heart rate monitor. If you don't have a problem with your health, meaning you are not allowed to exceed a certain heart rate, leave your heart rate monitor at home more often and try to run by listening inside you. It gives you graeter joy when you run in harmony with nature. - Paul Tergat, from his book " Running to the limit"

Cool morning run...finding back my running form

_____________________________________ Due to some last min schedule changes, i guess i am not able to do any more after work run for the rest of this week.....So i told myself i MUST wake up and do a morning run....and I DID IT!!! Drag my lazy and sleepy body out of the bed before 6am....washup and change to my running gears and dash out of my house...half my run was done!!! managed to start only at 6:10am...i was undecided whether to do a 16km route with siong upslope ending or just a flat 14km....after thinking of this coming hectic weekend workout...i decided to do the flat 14km to let my body recover properly for the next 2 days.... The temperature in the morning is always cooling..especially this period of the year where the monsoon is coming....rain has fell almost everyday except yesterday....i keep reminding my body to slow down and have more patience (something which i really lost a lot this year).....it takes about 4km before my body got warmed up... The sun could not show its power because of the heavy clouds blanketed the sky...so at least i will not get the heat this morning...as i mentioned before...i have became a 8min runner...so this morning, i wanted to try and find back my running....to run non-stop... it was difficult for the first half an hour becos of body adaptation....after that..my body just go numb...hahaa....constantly keep talking to myself like an idiot to make sure i am not going too fast.... reached punggol mrt in 42min..which is 3min faster than last sat long run...just tell myself to move on....the rest of the run was just flat and nothing special.....just a battle between my mind, my spirit and my physical body.. A satisfying run in a cool morning....i guess...i will need to do short runs like this for the rest of the 2 weeks till SCM.... shoes: ASICS Nimbus VII total distance: 14.1km total time: 1hr 18min 09sec average pace: 5:33min/km lap: 5.0km - 29:06min@5:49min/km 2.4km - 13:05min@5:27min/km 4.8km - 25:50min@5:23min/km 1.9km - 10:07min@5:19min/km The haze seems to be back this morning after my run.....8-(

Back to mother nature

It was a hot sunny monday..when most working pple are rushing to work and suffering from their monday blues......i struggled to wake up my lazy body and make my way down to MR for a run.... MR was quiet except for elderly doing tai chi and students doing their caneoing training....dump all my belongings to the locker and i startd my run on the usual northern route side....maintaining the 8min run, 2 min walk pace.....Oh no...seems like i have become a 8min runner(i have to walk after 8min of running continuously) after all this long runs.....actually wanted to run slow and continuous but i decided to run/walk so that i can recover faster for my next run..... The trail was cooling..and so cool that my muscles are having problem warming up...i struggled and dragged my feet to run along......reached the road at SICC at about 23min and hit the ranger station at 27min.....since i din drink much..i decided to continue my run....trying to remind myself to go slow....the trail started to get wet and muddy only i reached jelutong towers..... my body finally got loosen up only after abt 5km......i managed to climb the terrible roots hill...the trail from here on was wet and the upslopes are so slippery..i was basically sliding along....i wonder how normal trainers can grip on as even my salomon trail already has problem with the traction As i was exiting the trail into the fitness station, there was a medium size tree trunk blocking the road..must be a deadfall from past few days of heavy rain....my quads are getting heavy as i struggled and complete the first round in 1hr 5min...wow that was way faster than my last run.....decided to skip the toilet and continue on to the 2nd round...... The northern trail this time became easier after my muscles loosen up but my quads are getting heavier as i climb the slopes.......reached the ranger station at the same time as the 1st round...27min...took a toilet break and refill my water bottle.....this time...i decided to walk up the roots slope.....reached the MR time trial route....i struggled to keep within the 8min run time....endured and push on..managed to finish the 2nd round in 1hr 6min...not bad...well expanded...i doubt i can carry on one more round.... must be havent recovered from sat hot LSD...my legs are heavy for the start and last part of the run...maybe need to trim down some fat from my quads..... a good fast run this morning......as per past few days...hot weather in morning and rain comes in late morning or noon time to ease the heat...... time to nap.....zzzzzzz

Swissotel Vertical Marathon 2006 goodies bag

Went down to Swissotel Stamford to collect the Goodies bag for next week VM after my shag morning run...i did not actually received any email regarding this..only managed to find out from sgrunners when someone put it up..... it was a quick collection but as per previous years, the bib and champion chip will be collected only on the actual day.... Below is the content of the goodies: 1. Quick Dry Event Tee - definitely better than last yr cotton tee...but there is a big advert for Centrum vitamin this year 2. A "FA" cap 3. a bottle of Centrum multivitamins which contain only 7 tablets 4. a spray bottle of antitranspirant 5. one copy of Men's Health magazine 6. a white towel 7. some ricola sweets 8. a subscriptin form for Men's health magazine at a discounted rate 9. some other marketing flyers 10. A shoe bag to put all the goodies

hot LSD run in HSP...DNF again

Due to tight schedule for today, i planned to do LSD in HSP area...decided to do 2 rounds of the above route....actually want to wake up at 5.30am and start at 6am...however, i ws just damn lazy and only managed to wake up at 6+am and start at 7am...i thought was good..so that i can catch the morning sun....i have changed my insole for my adidas adizero SN and also today i will also try out my new wrightsocks started with rigid muscles..8min run and 2min walk is what i going to do....i tried to control my pace and keep telling myself to run slower..the body was feeling chilled as the morning wind blows....reached punggol and saw gentle who is doing his rounds in punggol for his 30km...it took me quite a while to get loosen up..i was hit by strong headwinds as i run towards punggole mrt by the big field....i reached punggol mrt...hoping to refill my water...but damned!! i cannot find the toilet...i remember it was somewhere...but wasted about 2-3min running in and out looking for it but failed....i decided to carry on and topup at fernvale. the sky has turned bright and the sun started to come out...i reached fernvale and took my first energy gel...topup my waterbottle before i carried on to jalan kayu....my legs started to feel the strain as i struggled up the slopes of YCK road...keep telling myself to go slow...i reached back to the start point drenched...the sun is showing its 100% power.... Kep telling myself to go slow for the start of the 2nd round..i was fellign a bit strain by the heat...took a toilet break and water refill at buangkok MRT before i continue my way... i was lucky that clouds started to hide the sun as i was running along sengkang east way...there will be no shade from the sun for about 80% of this route....the headwind is still there as i reached the edgefield of punggol along the LRT..stopped at a kopitiam to refill my water...i ws drinking more and pouring water over my head to cool my body...reached punggol MRT 2min slower than previous rounds....might be the toilet breaks i took....my legs are feeling hard and tired as i made my way back to sengkang....i turned towards the deserted LRT line and struggled to maintain my 8min run....i shorted one of my run to 7min....my head is burning from the blistering heat and i decided to cut short my run and end at fernvale LRT before dehydration set in.... decided to take a 2km walk back to start line as i took a bottle of cold 100 plus to ease the heat...i did not managed to complete the run again....and did not managed to hit 30km... looking at the history of my run for past 2 months....look like...the 2 weeks of national duty without any runs during weekdays does affect my condition badly...before i went in..i can do a 3rds of MR without major upset and now...i started to struggle at only about 25km....heard that next yr will be worse..it will be 2.5 weeks....might be within 3 weeks from D-day Shoes: Adidas Adizero SN distance: 28.8km total time: 3hrs 06min 35sec average pace: 6:29min/km 7.3km - 45:53min@6:17min/km 9.4km - 62:45min@6:41min/km 7.3km - 47:38min@6:32min/km 4.8km - 30:17min@6:19min/km

A run for Jackson kopitiam Ngo Hiang

last minute arrange with JT to run to jackson kopitiam for the famous yummy ngo hiang... as JT will be back later....i started off 45min earlier and do a small loop round the deserted SK LRT route before heading towards punggol...... we did a 8min run & 2 min walk ratio throughout.....stopped by several traffic stops....we managed to catch more rest than usual.....stopped for a whole 5min at serangoon mrt to refill my water..... i did a good 2hrs 10min run for the nite before we headed for jackson kopitiam for the famous Lao Zhong Zhong Five Spice Stall... still not enough...i ordered a bowl of pig kidney soup before we headed back to potong pasir to take MRT home..... some train fault issue at punggol line that caused the train we took to stopped for 3-5min at every station from potong pasir->serangoon->kovan->hougang->buangkok...before reaching sengkang...can imagine i reached home at abt midnite.... recovering from lazy-to-blog bug

a faster short run......

decided to do a short continuous run to YCK mrt and back....actually intend to do a 2hrs run...in the end....my body has not recovered from the "forget how to run" syndrome.....i was struggling for the whole run and decided to cut short.... lazy-to-blog bug attacked

DNF in LSD

After 1 week doing nothing but eating , waiting and sleeping...i was feeling super lethagic when i am back home on sat evening.....managed to wake up and joined JT, divery and lokun for LSD at ECP...decided to run to esplanade and back and run more on ECP to reached abt 30-32km of running..... I started struggling with my running form...like last week...my body and legs seems to forgot how to run....i was unable to control my pace properly..but try to keep it easy.....i was on my own after ahead of the rest.....i started feeling tired even before 10km...i thought might be like last week and just push on...hoping i can warmed up and run smoother... i hit esplanade which is abt 13km....exhausted....U-turned back...and met the rest along the way...i struggled to move forward and gosh! my sole at my ball of foot started to have blister.....i stopped at nicoll highway to adjust my socks before i push on......my whole body was in lethagic state while i was running with my mind only very soon...reached fort road roundabout and met aichai......struggled a bit more to the first toilet to down my energy gel...i decided to stop before i collapse...took quite a bit of watre and walked all the way back to C4 carpark 3km away....only completed 20km instead of 30km today dozed off until divery came back to wake me up...whole body like jelly....took a quick bath which safra runners came running back.....finally...JT and lokun was back....after washup....we took a ride to fretch KJ (is rare..very rare of her coming out for past 3 weeks)...Oops...forgot to get 4D for lottery.... we went down sunshine plaza at middle road for the famous parklane fried wanton mee....found the yummy victor's dim sum in there also.......after which we proceed to selegie for Rochor beadcurd + you tiao!!!....walaus...ate so much and din run much this morning..... after which we went over to RL to accompany WS and JW to shop for their shoes....the attractive young salesboy managed to tok some senses and got a kayano sold after hours of advising his pretty customer.... i got separate from the group from here and struggled to survive the rest of my days....dazing and dozing off..... hopefully, after my CCP....i will pick up my runs soon as SCM is very close from now....

Struggled run to Pierce loop

I have been out of the civilized world for the past 4 days…life was quite peaceful but useless…everyday just wait and eat and wait and sleep…gained a few kilos….the only time to exercise is Friday fitness test..which it was the first time I use the automatic computerized system and it sucks…I almost failed in most static tests….just scrapped thru and did not even managed to get a single dollar….helped to pace a friend for his 2.4km so that he got his $200…. Last long run was on Monday with TL at MR for 3 rounds….receovered fast after that…but the fitness test has caused damages after 2 days…my whole body from my neck down still ache and pain…I dunnoe if I can run this morning as it is my only chance this week….tonite, I will be back to another world until 6 days later and I will not have a chance to train throughout the week. Pulled my self out of the bed and look like the haze has really cleared since wed….only managed to start my run at 7.30am….quite late..which I thought is good so that I can run in the sun……as my body is aching…I had great difficulty to start my run…it seems like my body has loss the memory to run…..every steps was painful….struggle and still in daze….i managed to cover 6km before my body got a bit warmed up….i was still wondering what I should do….. The original plan was a 30km….but I guess….to cover 10km is also a problem liao…..in the end…decided to do a 24km with my usual 8min run, 2 min walk……running from SK along YCK road to casuarinas prata and Upper pierce reservoir and make a loop back to casuarinas prata and back to SK….the route has several traffic stops Today was quiet at upper pierce…I guess most pple went down at CBD for GE 10K women run……I was still able to conquer the slopes at UPR…stopped at the toilt for my energy gel break…..but I decided to skip the aircon road part……reaching the MR part of SICC…met a big group of pple walking towards treetop walk….squeezed past them and struggle towards the slope…in no time…I came to the main road and ran towards LPR…went to the rest room for refill…by this time….the sun is up and started to heat up the air…..i struggled to run along YCK back home as my legs are soft and difficult to control….my mind is in auto mode…..finish the run at 10am sharp…. It was a tough run for me after so many days of LSD break…the body completed malfunction at first….seems like matrix has wipe out my muscle memory for running….but I pulled thru this time shoes: Asics Nimbus VII total distance: 24.7km total time: 2hrs 36min 34sec average pace: 6:20min/km lap: 2.9km - 17:00min@5:52min/km 3.1km - 19:43min@6:22min/km 2.0km - 13:19min@6:40min/km 3.0km - 18:38min@6:13min/km 3.7km - 26:02min@7:02min/km 4.0km - 23:54min@5:59min/km 3.1km - 19:39min@6:20min/km 2.9km - 18:17min@6:18min/km

Hazy 3rounds MR Run

an idea came by last nite to try doing LSD in MR to escape the haze....so i went ahead and took the gamble....managed to jio teelee to accompany me for this run....we started late so that there is light in the trail. Today's target is 3 rounds of the standard 10.5km route....estimated lap should be around 1hr 15min. TLV pick me up at 6:40am and we head down to MR in the Hazy morning..is was as bad as sat morning where visibility is maybe abt 1km to 1.5km. We reached MR and the carpark was empty..i guess today is still an official working day for most. brought 2 power gels and intend to take at the end of every round. Round 1: Teelee was kind enough to follow my pace doing my 8min run with 2min walk break throughout the run....the start of the run was really very hazy...we cannot even see the end of the reservoir....it was hazy even in the trail as we We went slowly to warm up our engine....my tight still ache with every steps from last sat wedding run where i went chionging up the slopes at upper pierce road. we reached the ranger station at about 32min flat and took a quick break before we carry on the run....met only handful of runners along the way....the haze seems to be very bad still as we push towards the second half of the lap...we finished in 76min....not a bad timing for me (defintiely too slow fo speedy teelee)...after a quik powergel break, we moved onto the second round. Round 2: muscles warmed up and engine was runnign smoothly....i love the trail...as we entered the northern route, we can see the significant changes in the air...it was more cooling and the haze was gone...wlthough outside it was still quite bad...we pushed up the first siong slope with no problem...we hit the ranger station in 31min, 2 min faster than the first..took another water break and head onto the rocky trail.....this time....we saw more runners on the road....the haze seems to be worst at this part of the trail maybe becos there are less trees and vegetations. As we hit the siong siong slope after the golf course...it was exactly the right time to walk...oh man..we took 2min just to walk up the peak of this small hill.....as we are half way thru the MR25 time trial route...we were hit by woodgrove sec students......and teelee saw his former coach who led him into running in sec sch....finished this round in 72min..took my second and last powergel and onto our 3rd and last round. Round 3: Legs start feeling tired as we entered the woods...same as last lap...the air outside the trail was bad but the northern route air was fresh....just feeling a bit strain...we managed to push on consistently with the 8min/2min run/walk.....we managed to reach the ranger station in 29:30min..wow....that was one and a half minute faster then previous......we push on after the toilet break...and it was exactly 3hrs...push on and i was feeling better than my last 2 LSDs after 3hrs....i guess i was more conditioned and slower here...the haze din go away as we hit the golf course....exactly the same time as previous lap, we hit the sing siong hill on the dot to do our walk break....last 3.5km was a mental thing....but as i went thru...i was feeling better and comfortable..but as i push up one of the last few slopes....my pheglm started to come....so i tried to maintain the consistent slow pace to ease away pheglm.....we are pushing with a feeling of almost the same as last lap...we hit back tot he finishing line in 3hrs 38min 45sec. that's 70min for th last round. ..surprisingly, it was faster than previous..my longest duration run so far and one that i managed to maintain the 8/2 run/walk frm start to end..had our replenishment at sembawang hill food centre...we had a plate of chwee kuay and fried carrot cake and also...2 glasses of sugar juice each... great run all thanks to Teelee whom patiently follow my snail pace right from the start to the end Shoes: Salomon XA Pro 3D total distance: 31.5km total time: 3hrs 38min 45s average paze: 6:57min/km lap 10.5km - 1hr 16min 25s@7:17min/km 10.5km - 1hr 12min 17s@6:53min/km 10.5km - 1hr 10min 02s@6:40min/km

Hazy Wedding Run

This morning, sgrunners going to celebrate our sgrunners couple alvo and meteor wedding by doing a wedding run. JT decided to join me to run from punggol to lower pierce to meet the celebrations.....i miscalculated the distance and we took longer than expect to reach...lucky the party not started yet. The haze was terrible this morning...i think visibility is <2km...cannot even see fernvale flats from buangkok mrt.... he wedding run startd with alvo dragging a guni cans with a nylon strings and meteor wearing a tiara and veil to run along...we went along OUTR to upper pierce reservoir park and have fun along the way...we also had drinks , rock melon and watermelon to go along with the celebrations and also videographer(tktan) and photographers(brokie, sotong, Mr Lim TH)....unfortunately, the scenic reservoir became completely white becos of the heavy haze...we even have problem seeing the golf course...possiblity visibility is abt 1km A great crowd and a happy event.....we ended off the day with a bunch of us munching at sembawang hill food centre..... The haze seems to be better......

Chop Chop morning run

Did a short 8km run with gentle...who kindly ran down from his place..and ran back after the run....we decided to do a short 8km loop...so he would have done abt 14km this morning....quite a nice pace.....just below 6min/km...we finished 8km in about 47min It was a mixed of mist and haze....i can smell and feel irritated.....my body was itching for a run so i just agreed to go ahead and try.....although is not enough to generate enough endorphines....but at least a little sweat out for the week.... I guess..this year marathon effort will be hinder by the haze issue and my 2 week break from civilization next week onwards.......... must really run marathon this year with spirit liao

Hazy lazy

I have been busy on and off work..no time to blog and updates.... Went to ECP to do LSD with JT, KJ, Divey and TL....all of us did our own stuff....KJ having stomach and leg problem din run much...divey did a bit more...JT did a half marathon...TL ran to ford road then ran to changi ferry terminal and back...as for me....i did the planned 32km The route start at nike board near to kit runners...ran towards ford road and U-turn back to start point is 7km...continue to NSRCC entrance is 14km continue to the road to tanah merah ferry teminal is 16km and U-turn and retrace the same route back as before which is 32km..... i did a 8min run and 2 min walk pace....went a bit fast at first but managed to stablize my pace after 7km.....when i hit 25km...i was dying and luckily, the 3 SJJ saved me...and gave me some 100++ to replenish..at about 26km, hit with left leg 2nd toe pain...might be the socks....walk also pain...got to stop and repair it before i carry on....momentum was broke and restart was difficult.....i struggle the last 6km....run and walk....at some part...run 2min, walk 4min....and managed to complete the whole run in 3hrs 25min....not bad consider the haze which came heavy during my last hr of the run and the toe issue shoes: ASics Nimbus VII total distance: 32km total time: 3hrs 26min avg pace:6:26min/km lap: 3.5km -20:51min@5:57min/km 3.5km -21:12min@6:03min/km 7.0km -44:18min@6:20min/km 2.0km -13:14min@6:37min/km 2.0km -12:33min@6:17min/km 7.0km -44:15min@6:20min/km 7.0km -50:00min@7:09min/km

Thank you for Your support for the Angel project

A Big Thank you for your support for the fund raising project. The team has stop the sale of the crystal angels. They will fulfil the pending orders. Those who have not receive the angels from me, I will arrange a time to pass them to you.

icekimo Run

Slack and lazy week so far for me...the haze is bad for the past 4 days and it is making me lazy....as a preventive measure due to my weak respiratory system, i better keep away from my runs....tuesday had a treat by my big boss at banana leaf apolo. We ordered 2 curry fishhead which none of them know how to appreciate...so i had 2 fish heads down my stomach + other goodies like prawns, chicken liver, crabs.....these took me 2 days to digest...i was walking with 2 fish heads for past 2 days...today had hot pepper chicken mushroom soup for lunch...another protein loading....i guess if i still dun go for my run....not only my depression will come...my waistline will go bigger also... finally after 4 days of no running, he haze is gone due to change in wnid direction....when i reached buangkok mrt, i only saw heavy passing clouds blown across the sky by strong winds..quickly reached home and change to my running gear, i dash out of the door like a child dashing out to play.... i decided to try out my fren's ice-cream shop at sin ming ave...however, if i run straight there, it will take me only about 10km...so i decided to went down YCK road to casuarina, turned left to bishan park and make a loop there before going down marymount to shun fu and take a walk to the shop.... my start to tough due to 4 days of no exercise....heavy legs and i have not break into my new brooks maximus, it is difficult to run in......it took me about 4km to loosen up and run smoothly...i was trying to aware of my running style as pointd out by Dr Jo, my upper body always uptight and i was keeping my arms too high..so i keep reminding myself to drop my arms to my waist as i run....after a while, it does felt better and more relax....i guess, i was able to allow my chi to flow now.....my uptight style and resisted my chi to my chest and i felt tense quite early in the run actually....must keep reminding myself. I was stopped by several traffic lights which allows me to take a short breaks along the way...as i reached bishan park..i got to keep splitting my phelgm out...i guess my pace was faster than usual with improvement to my chi flow and also the hazy days also caused my throat to be more sensitive....but i managed to push on and finished my run at the junction of marymount and shunfu road...took a warm down walk along shun fu road and finally reached my destination....ICEKIMO...a short report can be found here.... a good run to keep my depression away...and i have recovered some mood to blog shoes: Brooks Maximus total distance: 14.6km total time: 1hr 24min 36s average pace: 5:43min/km lap: 2.9km - 15:50min@5:28min/km 3.1km - 18:35min@6:00min/km 2.0km - 11:31min@5:46min/km 3.9km - 22:08min@5:41min/km 2.7km - 16:30min@6:07min/km

Hazeless BG Run

The haze on sat hit 150...even until abt 11pm, it was still 140++.... Wonder if there will be a BG run...... I was starving the whole sat....even have to eat a cup noodle at 1am before i sleep.. The gang decided to log onto msn at 6am on sun morning before deciding whether to carry on BG run or do changi run it was cleared to run on sun morning.....i decided to give up my 30km run to BG and join them so i got teelee to pick me up instead... No energy to run....must be not enough carbo the day before..... only did 24km instead o the planned 30km....... kena virus.........the Lazy-to-blog virus Must be the monday blues again....... U can find some descriptions on BG run HERE, hERE, HeRE.......... I will blog once i recover

MidAutumnChangiLoyangFullMoon Run

A hasty arrangement seen 6 blessed runners on this wonderful Mid-Autumn fesival nite having their hazeless Full moon run in the east. After a long day of work, i was quite beaten and tired....but the day is still young...due to BG run on sunday, a few of us decided to accompany Shut for his break fast run and we finalised the run at Changi loyang area. The nite before, the haze situation was very bad and that has stopped me from doing my run...everyone was having problem...so before finish work on firday nite, we keep checking the PSI index of Singapore....the most if the haze was heavy, we probably be having out PIG out session at changi village. Checking the online PSI monitoring web before i left office gave me a surprise, the PSI reading of east is about 55 whereas the rest oft eh area can be as high as 80...that gives be a bit of hope.....i was the first to dash out of office and take a train to pasir ris to meet lokun whom will pick some of us up to the start point. i reached adjunied mrt and it was really terrible..as bad as last nite...my heart sank....the MRT went eastwards and to my surprise, the sky got clearer and clearer. ..by the time i reached tanah merah, there is no haze at all...quickly msg everyone, i reached white sand damn early and changed into my new SAF Brooks Maximus and new SAF running shorts..walk walk around...stomach hungry and grab a cup of 6 sausage cheeseballs from Cavana and wait patiently for the rest to arrived..... Lokun came a bit late as he was trapped by his boss just before he left office...he picked Divey, JT and myself and met up Teelee and Shut at changi village... Only managed to start our run at abt 8.10pm..all of us agreed to do 8min run, 2 min walk pattern for the 16km route....we went by changi village hotel and went pass all the chalets and commando camp before we head towards loyang industrial park. the air was clear of haze and it was windy under the bright full moon nite...we maintained a comfortable pace as we entered loyang industrial area which none of us ventured before....went by the famous loyang chinese temple and made a loop before we came back to the main road and head back to changi village....As we came out..i suggested that we take turns to lead for every run since we are all running in pairs. JT and Shut lead first before Teelee and lokun takes over and finally me and Divey before the whole cycle repeat again....we did a reasonable 1hr 8min for about 10km when we hit back to changi village....the nite was cooling and weather was great and everyone was in great spirit...we headed towards the beach and saw families and friends playing with sparkers and latterns....children happily playing with fire and adults eating mooncakes.. We passed the crowded area and SAF ferry terminal and came into this eerie stretch where there is not a single soul around...dark and spookie on a fullmoon nite...we increased our pace and as we reached our U-tun point, we met a group of wild dogs. ..about 6-8 of them...lucky we are not threatening enough for them......our run carried us towards changi ferry terminal carpark where we stopped for a short toilet break before we U-turn back...we increased our pace further as we are on the returned leg of the eerie part and reach back to the crowded area in no time.... Then we found the distance marker on the floor is every 50m so we startd to count down and finally reached our endpoint in about 1hr 57min...well done everyone!!! We had our cooldown walk back to the vehicles before we had our PIG session at changi village..(to be continue)

Daily Inspiration: Why I run?

Now when I'm ask why I run, the answer comes quickly. I run because through running, I find answers to many of the other questions in my life - John Bingham, runner

windy Run to Chomp Chomp

Today's work was about writing reports and instructions file for DUMMIES...not able to rush down for CBD run...decided to do a run myself...happened that JT also cannot amke it for CBD run...so i have company to run for the nite.... Do report until last one left in office...and managed to reached home at 8pm...only managed to start my run at 8:20pm....i have arranged to meet JT at her place so that i can cover more ground and gave her some advantage..hahaa we decided to do a run to Chomp Chomp by the long route....so we did a loop at punggol before heading down sengkang then to punggol park and cut across to buangkok and down to AMK and back to Serangoon and enter the estate by the "back door" to reach Chomp Chomp....Other than the several traffic lights fro Buangkok to AMK, the rest of the route are quite smooth as we do a run/walk of 8min run, 2 min walk....today's wind was damn strong and we have some tough time going against nature's forces....but is a cool and nice weather for the haze has went away today(hopefully for good) I was feeling a bit tired from the long day of work and my knees began to hurt a bit..wonder if it is due to last sat siong run or last nite chionging on the threadmill for 3min... After the run, we had a good dinner at Chomp Chomp.....going update in the food blog shoes: adidas adizero SN total distance: 17.5km total time: 2hrs 05min average pace: 7:09min/km lap 2.7km - 15:39min@5:48min/km 5.3km - 36:45min@6:45min/km 6.6km - 51:11min@7:45min/km 2.9km - 21:35min@7:27min/km

Insane 30km run: NOT for weak hearts!!

i was too tired from friday long and exhausting work...din managed to go jalan kayu for supper....managed to wake up 5.30am on sat morning and managed to start my run at exactly 6am....the morning air was cooling and wonderful I was planning to do this run at least 2 months back...that is to run from my house to upper pierce and do the standard MR25 20km route and back to casuarina prata shop....still have no guts to run back from there...got to wait long long....but this run is really not easy and not recommended for beginners without sufficient conditioning on slopes...at least, it almost killed me...hahaaa Decided to keep to the run/walk ratio of 8min run and 2min walk today....the first 3km was too fast as usual as my body has not warmed up....the second 5km to casuarina was stopped by 3 traffic lights which wasted a least 5min of waiting time in total.... I entered OUTR and for the whole stretch, there was not a single souls...i was was alone all the way till i reached the gate to upper pierce reservoir park.....i began the real test of slopes and decided to go for the aircon route first....The aircon route today was not cooling..maybe aircon din on or breakdown liao....saw a lot of monkeys along the road and quite a number of old folks having their morning exercises. After exiting the aircon road, i stopped for abt 6 min at the upper pierce reservoir toilet for my first powergel break and refill my water....i started to feel some strain from the slopes as i made my way to the golf course and to the 2nd round of killer slopes.....i managed to kill them but was quite drained as i entered MR trail... I din stop at the ranger station this time and decided to go ahead...met quite a number of Ang Mo along the way.....as i reached the small hills after the golf course, i decided to conserve my effort and walked over the whole up and down slopes....the walk effort did some recovery on my legs and i was able to run more smoothly for the MR25 time trial route..... Reaching the MR lower carpark toilet, i took my 2nd powergel break and refill...a big group of raffles students just started their runs....i carry on my way back to upper pierce....this part of northern trail was tough with several slopes...i was just running with my spirits to overcome the pain and agony until i reached back to the SRCC clubhouse road...finished the MR 10.5km in 1hr 9min...not a bad timing consider i was in terrible shape.... Back to the killer slopes beside the golf course....i was almost "killed" by the 2nd one which is the most steep and longest...lactic acids built up and my legs turned jelly...aarrgghh...it was not walking break time....as i reached the top of the slopes, this happened to be my walk break luckily and i managed to recover from it..my right leg started to feel the usual strain i encountered during my long runs.....and dragged myself back to Upper pierce reservoir park Upon reaching upper pierce dam, a family of AN blocked the damn narrow path with a baby trolley....i got no choice by to siam them by running on the slopes at the side...din know that it was slippery, my right footing slips and i fell on my right butt and arm....with wet grass all over my right body, i scrambled up and carry on my run....swearing and cursing along the way...however, the fall did relieve my strained right knee and hamstring....i was able to run more smoothly after that.... reached the Upper pierce reservoir toilet again and took a water break...decided to take 2 more min of walk....i wondered if i can finish with the slopes ahead till the gate....as i started to try climbing the slopes, they are not as bad as the one before..and i was able to conquer mroe easily without much strain, i guess, i ahve recovered with longer walk......as i hit the gate of upper pierce reservoir park, i have done the MR25 20km route in 2hrs 15min... the rest of the 1.2km to the end point was a run with mind switch off...just run and run until the end.....totally shagged out, i brought a large bottle of 100plus and walked to lower pierce reservoir park for cool down and stretching before i headed to Sembawang hill food centre for breakfast. A satisfying and mind torturing and heart stressing run completed Shoes: Salomon XA Pro 3D Total distance: 30.8km total time: 3hrs 25min average pace: 6:39min/km lap 2.9km - 17:37min@6:04min/km 6.3km - 44:08min@7:00min/km 6.0km - 38:02min@6:20min/km 10.5km - 79:16min@6:36min/km 3.9km - 27:02min@6:56min/km 1.2km - 8:57min@7:28min/km

Chong Pang Nasi Lemak Run

Training is my creativity. I wouldn't want a coach even if I could have one. The fun is in trying to figure things out for myself - Edward Epstein, runner

I guess that is what happening to me now...trying out and experimenting different training approach. At the same time to discover and understand my own body, my own brain and my own heart Very last min decision to have a LSD tonite...Speedy Teelee was jioing me for a long run...but i got craving for nasi lemak and i thought tonite i should try the famous chong pang...becos i was doing run/walk, is better for teelee to run without me since he is going long and far and he wants to start early which i cannot. Only managed to reached home at 7pm....rush to change and gear up and head out my door in no time...decided to do a small loop to punggol since the direct run will be quite short....decided to carry on doing run/walk using 8min run to 2min walk ratio.. As i turned back to SK, i need a relieve and decided to drop by the new Koufu at fernvale for a pee....took me quite to locate the restroom and lost a abt 6min there.... turned to YCK road right after the break and start the journey of slopes....as i was about 200-300m away from the MRT line, a familiar figure came charging towards me and that was teelee!! He decided last minute to turn into YCK road to catch up with my run....he said he was feeling strained from his run to Nee Soon camp and back...but i managed to jio him follow me to chong pang...and he agreed to follow my run/walk since he was already tired from his run.. We reached casaurina junction and turned right along Upper Thomson Road...the road full of slopes was very shiok...(although the slopes are easy ones)...and here we saw a driver kena booked by traffic police...abt 10min later, we saw another traffic police, hiding behind the bushes and start charging out to chase after another speeding vehicle... As we reached the row of shop houses before Nee Soon camp, teelee charged ahead to get a bottle of gatorade from 7-11...finally reached Nee soon camp and past a church....after we realise there is no pavement to run on to run over the big slope here...no choice, we ran on the double yellow line...past one or 2 strange busstop along way where there is no civilisation in the vicinity..... Finally reached the junction of Yishun Ave 1 and Sembawang road....finally there is pavement to run...and last big slope to conquer before we reach our destination. finally, we saw Mac and end our run at the junction of yishun Ave 3, grab a can of 100 plus each and walked slowly towards the finale for the nite: Chong Pang Nasi Lemak!!! Maybe is weekday and not meal time so no crowd over here.... I ordered a plate of famous Nasi Lemak with a fried fish fillet, Chicken wings and egg and lots of chilli!!! + a glass of ICE MILO!!! I also ordered a $3 plate of Hong Kong style Chee Qiong Fan with char siew and mushroom filling.... they also have char siew + prawns or mushroom + prawns.... We had a lot of drinks...Teelee had 3 cans which shocked the kopi uncle...i had one ICE MIlo and anotehr can of ice lemon tea...tempted to have one more rounds but decided to endure and have as many roudns as i like at home..... Took a cab back from a satisfying run and wonderful dinner.....and it is 1:40am...i am still blogging 8-( shoes: ASICS Nimbus VII total distance: 19km total time: 2hrs 19min average pace: 7:20min/km lap: 2.6km - 15:35min@6:00min/km 8.5km - 64:17min@7:28min/km 7.9km - 59:26min@7:31min/km

HOPE in Life

The important thing is not that we can live on hope alone, but that life is not worth living without it - Harvey Milk

Run to Changi again!!

it was a pig nite out the nite before with some friends donig their runs and ends at oasis along kallang river....they decided to try the taiwan midnite porridge...no comments from there....maybe i am hungry..so not fair to say it is good....but the whole day i was aeting and munching right from the time i woke up...worst of all, we continue to went to siglap Gelare for ice-cream wafer after our dinner!!! Reached home at 12++ and managed only t sleep at 1pm..gosh...this morning i woke up at 6am..went to clear my bowels and went back to bed again...in the end only started my run at 7am...walaus...must be too long never wake up early for morning runs(been doing nite runs for past 2 weeks)....My body was weak and still sleeping when i set off...but the weather was great!! no sun and cooling and with a little wind I decided to run to punggol for a loop before i head down back to hougang and tampines road...it took really quite a while..maybe 4-5km before my body got warmed up and wake up...i turned into hougang park along sungei serangoon and was surprised to see many birds having their breakfast....egrets, cranes, kingfishers, kites....those who love bird watching to come and see..and also those photographers (at abt 8.30am).... Turned into Tampines road, the run got better without must disruption and stops...it was a long way but the road was filled with many heavy vehicles...got to brave thru the fumes and noise....just when i reached old tampines road...encountered a big group of roadies doing their rides..... The old tampines road has no pathment so i have to run by the side of the road against the traffic...not a good place for nite run....but the greenery does make the air better here....finally turned into tampines ave 10 and cross TPE to paris ris...decided to turned into Pasir ris ave 1 Koufu for a short toilet break before i turned back to ave 3....there was no traffic break and i was doing a relax pace.....finally reached loyang ave...good thing is the whole run was not hot becos it was quite cloudy...the cool breeze came once a while and make the body feel fresher...... Reach Changi village in near 2 hrs covering abt 24km with lots of energy to go.....grab a big 100 plus and head for the beach to cool down before i proceed to the food centre for my fish ball soup(nasi lemak queue too long this time)...and happened to sit beside a table with 2 Mediacorp stars and their family....one is pricilla (she look so pretty and slim in person) but cannot remember the actor name..... finally brought another big glass of sugar cane juice before i head home to nap...

Something is wrong Run $%@#%^

This week is a terrible week for me....i was like hitting the "wall" at work..everyday just staring at the monitor screen....msn with those who also kena the what-to-do-at-work bug. Mainly due to the mess created for the past 2 weeks....tasks being throw around and here and there...finally today i managed to settle down a bit....went back to re-organise the confusion of my job scope..... past 2 days was also terrible for me in terms of health....my whole body was upside down...stomach got hungry very easily and whole body just no energy...after makan, i am OK again...went to see doc also dunnoe what to say....but i took a panadol and slept early last nite...i got better this morning Dinrun for past 2 days...which is a good rest from my monday nite slow long run...original plan was to run last nite...but i was too sick to move....lucky, although i was hit but some last minute problem, i was able to reached home at 8.30pm and still have some energy to change to my running attire and step out of my house. dunnoe where to run, i estimated a 10km route without pre-planning....i just ran towards punggol road and follow towards punggol, make a loop and back to punggol park and back to punggol road..and stop near this 24hrs kopitiam called "Veri-Nice" tonite run was a terrible one...something is wrong..but dunnoe where....i was running like a old man with a clutches...hopping and jumping an just cannot get my posture and technique right....everything is not smooth and everything was wrong...i was not running with my body...i was running with my spirit only for the whole journey....but still managed to finish the 10.2km route within an hour......brought a package of fried rice from the "Veri-nice" and walked home puzzled and confused...

A slow slow LSD to YCK MRT

It was raining quite badly in the afternoon....but prayers was heard and it stopped before work ends...did not kena DOMS this time from last siong siong 28km run (abt 30km effort on flats)..reached home at 7pm...changed up and head out for a slow LSD...a run to no where....i started going towards compasspoint then to punggol road and make a small loop here and there at punggol before i came back to Sengkang....decided to head towards YCK Road at Jalan Kayu before i ran towards the west.....the ground are quite wet at some point and i have to really go slow to prevent splashing.... reached YCK MRT and went for a short toilet break before i head back SK by AMK ave 5....saw an accident just after i cross under CTE....obviously the driver was driving very very fast which another one is turning into the small road was unable to catch it and bang!!!...I just went along and reach Buangkok junction with YCK road comfortably...decided to head to punggol kopitiam at cove LRT for dinner....i decided to take another route to punggol road before i went over to punggol...there are more variety of food here compared to the other at meridian at this time.....had a nice ABC soup at the kopitiam before i head home to blog..hahaa Reached cove LRT covering a distance of about 22km in 2hrs 52min....an average of abt 7min 30sec per km..which is about a minute slow per km compared to my last run.... a bit of change compared to the training program i did last year...to maintain 2 LSDs instead of 1 per week......

A bad day with an insane wet LSD to MR

i had a bad day today....a day which most of my hours awake are useless...got to woke up at 6.15am just to attend a 1.5hr briefing in tuas....the briefing was delayed by an hour due to the ulu-ness of the place and majority of the pple having difficulty navigating to reach it. 1 hr into the briefing, a thunder sounded and cats and dogs started pouring onto the lecture theatre roof....as the bulding is quite old, we could hear the splashing of the heavy downpour and the speaker having difficulty giving his speech....it did not stop when the lecture ends... dunnoe when the rain will stop, everyone dash to their cars and started to drove out of the place....i took a ride on one of them...my heart sinked as we approaches serangoon and the rain still pouring...i intended to do a LSD for the second half of the day since i am not free to do one over the weekend... the driver and friend decided to go to a indian kopitiam near serangoon mrt for lunch...we reached at abt 1pm...the rain havent stop...i only took one plain and one egg prata.....we left and i managed to reached home at 2pm...depressed heart and sleepy mind....i took 2 bananas and decided to take a small nap and hope the rain will stop.....woke up at 4pm....it was still drizzling...and seems to be fine...took a banana, i cannot control myself and i changed to my running gear....hookup onto my Salomon black beauty(wanted to go MR for a run).... the weather is still wet as I started to pound the road towards jalan kayu...i decided with a 10min run, 2min break...target distance is 28km...i did not regret my decision...the weather is cooling and perfect for a nice little run....running along YCK road, the rain seems to stop as i reached YCK mrt area....i was doing a too fast pace for the first 6km (abt 6min/km)...5km of YCK road between jalan kayu and UTR was a terrible stretch, i was stopped by a few traffic lights and waiting time was as long as 2min...a little break of momentum on my run/walk. As i got into OUTR, i will expect any traffic stop until i am back to bishan park....it was still drizzling at MR when i reached it....did a quite comfortable pace as i entered MR by SRCC club house....the trail was wet...but better than i expected...not much flooding on the ground....expect to be alone but i met quite a few runners in the trail...aunties and uncles who no need to work and also an ang mo with a waterbag..went for toilet break at ranger station....although i did a 10/2 run/walk...i ran thru all slopes..managed to reach the usual startpoint toilet at lower carpark in 2hrs....refilled my water at the loo, i started with a 2min walk..as i realise..the sky getting darker..i was late into the evening...gosh..i got to reach the back to the road at the club house before the trail turned into darkness...i started to dash forward....up my pace as i was fighting with time....only took one 2min walk break in between..i managed to reach the road in 22min(wow...normally will hit at 28-30min)..it was 7:06pm....i was quite drained at this point but was glad i made it...before darkness came... took a walk break and continue my run..gosh...it was a upslope i got to start with....as i calm myself, i tackle he slope slowly and managed to recover my energy and tired legs to continue....after hitting the main road, i went on to carry on my run along bishan park....my body started to feel tired and my legs are heavy...i mistake today is forgot to bring my powergel for replenishment.....i push on and din realise bishan park was so damn long...finally decided to end near bishan J8....took a walk to J* to get a drink before taking a cab back home for the rest of the day.. a bad day ended with a good shiok run BTW, it was still drizzling when i ended my run shoes: Salomon XA pro 3D total distance: 28km total time: 3hrs 05min 50sec average pace: 6:38min/km laps 2.9km - 16:58min@5:51min/km 3.1km - 20:16min@6:32min/km 2.0km - 14:02min@7:01min/km 3.6km - 22:57min@6:23min/km 10.5km - 71:51min@6:51min/km 3.9km - 26:33min@6:48min/km 2.0km - 13:10min@6:35min/km

BHOPS run

We just had what I called a BHOPS run...gang of 5 from 5 different areas coming together for a short nite run. All started with the gang of 3 from HOB. They intended to do a run to nowhere starting from B house. I intended to do a run tonite also...and aws lucky able to clear some of my work and left after my boss. managed to reach home at 8pm...i managed to persuade P to join in the run....the HOB gang decided to drop by my house to catch me by the road and we moved towards P. along the way, we were stopped by traffic lights and took a long time to decided where to ahve supper....finally reached cove LRT and as H and O decided to settle some stuff at the econ minimart, i asked P to join us there which is a stone throw away from her house. In the end, we decided to try our luck at running to chomp chomp which is estimated to be 10km or so more....O looked tired tonite and we just moved on towards chomp chomp direction along punggol road.... Punggol road was full of slopes and traffic light stop, we are moving at slow pace...finally reached hougang mall, and we finally decided to just do a small loop round the central and have dinner at one of the coffeeshop....i finished total of 8km today in abt 72min...a good nice short run... After the run, H took us to the 5 star western food....they all ordered chicken and i decided on fish and chips.....their food look great but my sucks....what a bad supper to end a nice short run...

Daily Inspiration: The courage to stop

It takes more courage to rest an extra day or to put an extra 0 in your training log than it does to limp through a workout. It takes more discipline to stop running when you first feel pain than to gut it out and finish the run. - John Bingham

After Rain half marathon

Managed to leave office at 7.15pm and rush home after receiving news of some delay in the task (the most I OT more on tuesday nite). Intended to do a LSD tonite after resting more than 48hrs of rest from last sat siong run. I came out of Buangkok MRT and Oh Man!!! It was raining cats and dogs...my heart sank...I opened my small umbrella and was cursing the rain....but hor...after just 5 min walk away from the mrt, the RAIN STOP!!! my heart pounded with joy.... quickly walk home and changed up, i decided to try my salomon techamphib again this time on the expected wet ground. Not decided or planned before hand where to go, I decided jut to go looping around punggol and SK tonite....heard that kopitiam at punggol opens till late so i decided to end there for dinner before heading home.... The run was fine and the damp ground dried fast...i was doing a 10/2 run/walk and managed to complete before 11pm and had a bowl of yummy abalone bak cho Mee at Punggol Kopitiam before i head home for the nite. Shoes: Salomon techamphib total distance: 21.8km total time: 2hrs 32min 52sec average pace: 7min/km lap: 3.4km for 21:25min@6:18min/km 6.2km for 44:00min@7:06min/km 4.0km for 27:33min@6:53min/km 5.1km for 36:32min@7:10min/km 3.1km for 23:20min@7:32min/km

HSP LSD: Sembawang Park run

The lazy to blog virus has hit me...... Managed to finish the above route....quite a big group started out but only 5 of us managed to complete this tough routes......scenery was good and we even met mediacorps filming at the beach Thanks for all who have came..... shoes: Asics Nimbus VII total distance covered: 24.4km total time:3hrs 30min lap: 15.6km for 2hrs@7:42min/km rest for 35min 8.0km for 53:50min@6:44min/km

Weekday LSD to Khatib

Nota bad day for me as I managed to finish up the work planned for 4 days into one...so can Slack a bit...went back quite early compare to normal OT time and due to the traffic jam, only managed to reached home at 7.30pm.....change to my running attires and grab my adizero SN, i headed out of my door and start my run at 8pm sharp. want to do a slow comfortable run/walk of 10min run to 2 min walk...mental block tonite so i decide to take this chance to recce the last part of this sat route. To make up the distance, i went to loop around some part of sengkang which i never went before......went by compasspoint before i head towards the deserted LRT area....reached thanggam LRT, i head up the stairs to take the short cut to jalan kayu..i head running the full stretch which the traffic heavy and uneven ground. reached seletar camp entrane and decide to try and head into the camp....sort of went the wrong way and ended up running more than expected on a busy road (no pavement so have to with the cars) which vehicles zoom past like no traffic police exist....lucky i wore my blinker to make myself more prominent i reached yishun dam and found quite a number of families enjoying the moonlight by the sea......headed towards yishun town, i took a new road which led me to yishun park...i went into the toilet and found myself in a high-tech toilet: got signal light to indicate if it is vacent, open or close beside the door....after enter, there is an annoucement over the system saying to press the button to close and the time limit to use the toilet is 10min!!! Quite surprised that the flushing is not auto like other public toilet....the soap dispenser, water and warm air are all by sensors..... After a short toilet break, i went around Yishun park and passed Safra Yishun before i head towards LOT 10....the human traffic at LOT 10 and the HDB flat after the MRT line are heavier.....got to slow down a bit as ran passed Chong Pang...lucky all the food are at the opposite side of the road so i cannot smell any good food...... It was up slope from this point along sembawang road than downslope and after turning left towards khatib, it was a long downslope...... finally reached the MRT where i turned left and found the start of a park connector so i decided to ran slong the park connector which runs under the mrt line. After 800m from the start of park connector,i finally reached Khatib MRT. Brought Gatorade from shop N save and headed across the road for dinner before catching an express bus home for the end of the day....... Very good run today...at least i able to slow down....10/2 run/walk ratio is okie at the moment....slow enough for fat burning!!! hahaa Shoes: adidas adizero SN total distance: 19km total time: 2hrs 29min average pace: 7.22min/km lap 2.6km - 17:22min@6:41min/km 3.6km - 24:46min@6:53min/km 3.4km - 24:28min@7:12min/km 6.3km - 49:11min@7:48min/km 3.1km - 24:02min@7:45min/km

The 22nd hr run on the day of my 29th year of life

Only one person and one person only will determine how good of a runner you become... You will become as good as you let yourself be. That one person is you. - a coach After a long day of work, i sneaked out of my office at 6pm sharp in regardless of what happened...managed to push an important report to tomorrow morning. Had a filling dinner of steak, lamb chop, grilled salmon and chicken breast. Having difficulty to chew the lamp chop and steak as it was too rare for my weak teeth....i guess, i stick to fish or chicken next time for western food selection. Walk walk a bit at bugis to digest the full stomach and reached home at 9.30pm....feeling energised and restless, i decided to go for a quick nite run at the 22nd hour of the day....before my depression set in tomolo....hahaa Put on my adizero with my office toes socks on(want to try if it is okie after balasing recommendation a year ago). I also wear my latest blinking gadget on my arm to give it a try and head out of the door. Decided to do the 10km route round punggol and sengkang. My legs felt fresh and light after 2 full days of rest from my insane 33km run last sat. The cadence of my feet jsut went faster than 180 steps/min...enjoying the cool nite with myself and my running shoes, i maintained the fast pace till punggol mrt with a bit of struggle as my body is still not warmed up. After about 3km, running form got smoother and managed to run non-stop, dashing across traffic lights for the first 7.5km....running too fast made my throat irritated and i have to vomit out my phelgm while waiting for the lights to turn green...the 1min break does freshen up my legs as ipush on effortless but with phelgm keep oozing out...got stopped by the second traffic light at punggol road junction for half a min. The last stretch was a bit of struggle on my throat but my legs are pretty fine from the constant pace...managed to maintain my composure to finish strong...much faster than my race time at mizuno and new balance...... anyway, not supposed to run so fast at this pace for marathon...and i do not enjoy fast pace running.......but not for today..... shoes: adidas adizero SN total distance: 9.9km total time: 51:41min average pace: 5:13min/km lap 2.5km for 13:04min@5:14min/km 2.7km for 13:58min@5:10min/km 2.3km for 11:46min@5:07min/km 2.4km for 12:52min@5:22min/km

My 10585th days on Earth.........

The world is full of discourages. We have a duty to encourage one another. Many a time a word of praise or thanks of appreciation or cheer has kept a person on his feet. - William Barclay

Thanks everyone for all the encouragements and support for my journey of running, makaning and living so far......... i will keep my feet on as long as I can i really want to go for a 29000m run..but i just cannot apply leave on this day 8-(

$20 Fried Hokkien Mee Treat!

This is not a blog about running...but is about an important aspect of running lifestyle...MAKAN! Thanks to the hunks and babes for the wonderful $20 fried hokkien mee treat. This is one of the better ones i have tasted around in recent years. We had quite a number of dishes...but...will only show some here to prevent u get too hungry at this moement...8-P The famous Kim's Hokkien Mee at beach road: Another Singapore favourite, Oyster Omellete: something healthier, beancurd ring: One of the must have, not the nicest around but the sotong paste is very thick: Someone love the Chili so much that SHE finished 5 plates of them!!! took a photo before we left: Singaporean style dinner with wonderful company....i have also applied some principles of "RUN/WALK" Strategy to finish the marathons of food (not a lot like buffet but enough for marathon carbo loading)... After that we moved to the dessert shop for round 2!!! Sorry, no dessert photos..if not u will get more hungry seeing them..hee hee hee A group photo outside the shop The "TO BE FINISHED IN ONE MOUTH" cake was wonderful and delicious ...everyone want a share of it....but i managed to keep my image by finishing in more mouth than needed myself before anyone get a mouth on it.... Received this high-tech branded stuff from the makan party: Thanks for giving me the chance to get more prominent in the dark for future nite runs. cheers......happy birthday to everyone on earth on this day