Early trail challenge

I miss the trail...i miss the fresh air....i missed the mud....i miss the smell of the green...i miss the birds singing....i miss mother nature last week was a false alarm on the mob....wasted my whole day doing nothing at home....so i guess today was the real mob....i decided to do an early early short run at MR...i have not been to MR for weeks....and i thought if nobody want to come so early then i will run alone....emailed was sent out early....in the end, 4 replied and agreed to come....at 7am MR, left only J and myself at the starting point..the other 2 din made it....met DR, DO, Cheow12 and fennel also..they are doing about 21km of slopes to upper pierce....they invited us to join them but we are not fit to do and follow them so we stick to our plan. A bit special for me today....new socks that was in the cupboard for 2+ mths..finally took it out.....My expensive $120 tights which i din get to make use of it at the end of last yr.This is only the second time i wearing it after several months... J also need to go off by 9.30am so we decided to do just one loop round...but i suggest, we do a bigger more challenging loop which is about 11-11.5km...J has no idea what i tokking so just follow me.....thruout the northern trail, can see that J was quite out of shape...not as fast as in the past...breathing was heavy.....we hit the road at the clubhouse and i led J to continue the road towards upper pierce...she was shocked to see the slopes....i was shocked that J never ran this route before also we went up 2 hills and at the top of the 3rd upslope, we turned into the entrance of rifle range trail...we were shocked that the trail was damn wet....look like just rained last nite....it was wet and muddy all the way, some part are slippery and we got to be careful....we went straight all the way until the pipeline and crossed the first "river" and continue to cross the second "river" before we came back to the main trail to jelutong tower. Hit the golf course and the sun was glaring, shining and burning the ground....continue to maintain our pace till we reached the challenging hill...we slowed down as we ascend due to the wet grounds filled with roots, the descend was slippery and dangerous. finally hit the MR25 TT route, unlike J's usual self, this time no speeding but maintaining a comfortable pace all the way to the Zigzag bridge and ended our run at the barricade to the road.....we took 1hr 13min 46sec....which is actually faster than both of us estimated....i managed to survive without any water break look like next time, i will run this more interesting loop instead of the usual one that will reach the ranger station. Mob is confirmed...advanced notice was received..is a silence one....got to report back at 2pm

Intervals with ironmen

There was thunder and lightning in the afternoon....so i was glad there is...which means weather will be good in the evening.. as expect, good weather....went over to the building across the road to hitch a ride down to Tampines Stadium for intervals with the ironmen..... I really own IM Chan this one cos i already wanted to come down 3 weeks back but due to unforesee circumstances, i only made it down finally today...... we actually reached early and the crowd is not in yet....there were the hardcore track runners chatting by while we waited for IM D to arrive....soon after IM S also came...... the plan is to do 8x800m intervals. one set of run+rest for 5min which means with a target of 3:30min (my target), i will rest for 1:30min before pushing for the next set.... I got no flats or spikes...but got to use my cushioned adizero SN for today's interval...and man...is uncomfortable becos the cushoning is definitely too much for track...i will decide whether to get one more racing flat for track work in future (that is if i will be here regularly) After warmup, a few hardcore regulars came to joined us so we got about 7 runners started our first set.....we started out fast due to fresh legs and i slowed down while the rest push on....i came in last and did a fast 3:24min. I will leave out the boring details...for the next few set, i was maintaining a consistent pace but the rest was pushing faster and faster....due to unstable base fitness and long time never do intervals, i decided to stop at 5.....IM Chan stopped at 6 and a half due to right shin pain.....in the end, one by one dropped out and left IM D and IM S running strongly to finish all the 8.....timing is faster and faster somemore...i think 2 more set also no problem for them After i stopped at 5, i took our my shoes and use the chance to feel the ground...i jog one lap barefoot and started doing some striding....Oh Man!! is good to be bare...movement is smoother and easy...finally, i paced the 2 ironmen for their last 200m......look like i got to barefoot more to train on the track next time... A good and satisfying run......i think it will take years for me to catch up with IM... anyway, they are ironmen...i am just a ALUman...soft and weak interval details 800m - 3:24min@4:15min/km rest - 1:34min 800m - 3:28min@4:20min/km rest - 1:31min 800m - 3:23min@4:14min/km rest - 1:27min 800m - 3:28min@4:20min/km rest - 1:29min 800m - 3:29min@4:21min/km

Monday Run to Khatib.....sign of recovery

legs felt itchy for a run the whole day....i must run tonite cos i ate too much today since yesterday already did 11km of eastern run...i was in dilema whether to do a short one of a longer run. went home right after 6pm, managed to start running at 7.30pm...at this time of the year, the sun went off pretty late so at 7.30pm, it was still quite bright...i decided that i need to get out of sengkang...i will head towards the north after for 36hrs from my last run which has a lot of rest and in between, my legs are still fresh so i decided to do a >10km to khatib. Saw a lot of runners running near the future sengkang sports centre...lands around there was blocked up...saw the sign saying that these are construction of a park...look like we going to have a big park here based on the URA blueprint. I turned to Jalan kayu and ran towards seletar camp...having thoughts of going by the quiet way with no traffic but int he end, i decided to run within the camp compound along the heavy traffic road with no pavement....i almost suffocated by the fumes...din expect to have so many vehicles runnign thru here... reached seletar reservoir dam at a decent pace....still got energy to look look see see...this place is very out of the civilisation yet u can see couples paktohing, driver nuaing by the water, families having pinic at nite, anglers....... after crossing the dam, i switched to running on the road...the pavement here to lower seletar park is badly maintained....i think one day, the plants will cover over the pavement completely.....tried to maintain a consistent pace and finally reached the big junction beside yishun stadium...still got energy to go a bit more to khatib...so i cross over and ran along the main road parallel to the mrt line and reach khatib mrt.... As i reach khatib mrt, there was a big pasar malan along the road....I ended at the big cross junction at khatib mrt....suddenly, i smell something bad and rotten...then i found myself in front of the taiwan smelly tofu store!!! i slow down to walking pace and walk towards NTUC along the pavement...and these whole stretch was lined up with food stalls....Ramly burger, fried chicken, kebabs, sprng rolls, fried tapioca cake, fish stick, fries, curry puff, "sharkfin soup" drinks, thai coconuts, tako balls, fried bee hoon, taiwan sausages.......as i walk, my stomach started to make noise...my hunger came...quickly, i went in search for 100plus and dinner....brought a bunch of big banana home from the pasar malam home A satisfying run that shown signs of recovery....just need to keep my running regime consistent and continuous..... run details: route: SK->jln kayu->seletar camp->seletar dam->yishun stadium->khatib mrt Shoes: Brooks Maximus Total distance: 12.9km total time: 1hr 16min 41sec average pace: 5:57min/km lap: 3.7km - 22:31min@6:05min/km 3.6km - 21:15min@5:54min/km 4.6km - 26:39min@5:48min/km 1.0km - 06:14min@6:14min/km

How to Make a Huarache

I think i better record it HERE before i lost the link to barefoot ted's blog. I doubt i am able to find a vibram rubber sole selling in this form here.... But maybe i can find other brands of rubber sole from shoes repair uncle.... leather strap should not be a problem....found a leather product shop at the basement of heeran selling leather straps but the price is a bit steep. Got to find a cheaper source or alternative tough materials. Maybe one day just for the fun of it, i will make one for myself to walk around the house.

1st East side run

The phone din come...so still a full weekend civilian slept until nobody busy and woke up to attend a friend's wedding at meritus mandarin. all 8 ballrooms are occupied with 5 groups of wedding dinner... with a big shot parents, got 2 marine parade MP attended specially with announcement to acknowledge them dinner started late at 9pm food are interesting especially having a small serving of chatterbox chicken rice complete with rice, chicken and soup...but the original chef left and this taste normal (worst than the $2 chicken rice i ate every week at macpherson road) maybe due to too many functions, waitress' and waiter's service is poor..no knowledge of how food is serve, which cutlery to use...we did most of the serving ourselves in the end...and a lot ceramic plates hit the ground that nite (extra sound effects) food were terribly cold although the good taste can make me a bit happy but still cannot forget it..... if u let me rate against 5, i give 2/5. dinner ends at 11.40pm...i went out and found it was raining quite heavy...aarrgghh..no umbrella so i went a bit of training running to the busstop...in the end, caught the 1st nite rider home and reached at 1am!!! +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Slept only 4hrs, i pulled my tired and hopeless body up to rush down to kembangan CC for eastside run...my 1st time a good turnout of 12 with SV cycling his roadbike equiped with 2 tennis racket and his pair of rollerblades......pace was tough with run, sprint, slow, walk.....we went along siglap park connector to bedok town park then cross to bedok park connector to reach bedok reservoir and complete 2/3 of it...reservoir was crowd with dragonboat race and other activities....went up the hill to snap a photo before we ran back along siglap park connector...... went a bit hard back and as we reached, we were greeted by our special guest from adidas....he had gave use a good picture about shoes selection, adidas technology and leaked an upcoming exciting shoes at the end of the year....TLR has booked a pair...i may too!! brokie brought her 2 free gift to play but i was too engross in shoes talk with our guest that din get to try......next time then we had breakfast at a muslim kopitiam with prata's milo and mee before we ended off our session a good and tough run today.....still weak and struggling..........

Marathon Monks of Mount Hiei

The greatest athletes in the world today are neither the Olympic champions nor the stars of professional sports, but the "Marathon Monks" ... all » of Japan's sacred Mount Hiei. Over a seven year training period, these "running Buddha" figuratively circle the globe on foot. During one incredible 100-day stretch, they cover 52.5 miles daily - twice the length of an Olympic marathon. The prize they seek is not a pot of gold, but enlightenment in the here and now.This documentary program is about these amazing men - Tanno Kakudo and the magic mountain where he trains. It is the philosophy of Tendai Buddhism, which inspires him in his quest for the supreme.

LAzy SAt

It's sat again...time flies like sec on the clock...blink of eye, i will hit 50 years old Some inside news saying that there is a need to serve the nation for a few hours today.. Hope the inside news is true...i planned to lazy at home for the whole day for the sms and announcement....hopefully will not be a drag lke last year...as i need to attend a wedding dinner at orchard tonite wanted to run last nite...but the dark heavy clouds spoilt my nite again...the same happened on thurs nite....but it was a trick to test my desire to run.....dark heavy clouds came like end of the world....rain happily for an hour and the sky is completely cleared...arrrgghhh...obviously my desire to run is not strong at this moment So i woke up at 7am this morning to sweat....but i was in a fix whether to run long or short...as tomolo i might go for a long one....in the end, i settled for a super short one. just did a warmup of 2km....sweat is out....went up 15 floors of my floor followed by a 1.2km run...i decided to stop and head for 5 chinup and some stretching....headed home to clean up and nua at the kopitiam for breakfast and newspaper read... and till now and later....will be a lazy sat for me

My new Idol: Barefoot Ted

Happen to be searching some info on the web and i came across this blog of this amazing runner called Ted Barefoot Ted's Adventure i would say i am more than just impressed with his ability to run barefoot on all surfaces.....although nowadays he has been running with his vibram fivefingers or his huaraches or a combination of both Here is the posting of an interview he did on how he got into running barefoot: Vibram Interviews Barefoot Ted He was also a practitioner of POSE method which got him into such great shape with barefoot running. Maybe i should try what he has done....as i am encountering the same problem of not able to train long enough for marathon. If only i can run like him....I will save a lot of $$ from my shoes purchases. and as i got bored in office, i went thru almost all his postings right from 2004. I think this should be the way human runs...back to the old primitive ways thousands of year ago when we roam the earth.....our feet are meant to run without shoes....what cushioning, stability, motion control? these actually makes us spent more $$ and caused more injuries...... "Run the right way and keep the injuries away" *I think shoes manufacturers going to hate me when they read this*

A huge struggle...

I have not been posting for a week....cos i have not been running...having a struggle with my energy level...it was all time low...tried and did a RL run last thurs....paced with a NJC boy whom has a lot of energy to ask me question but i was dying for oxygen as i tried to answer his question until i gave up and stop just 400m away from the end point yesterday was terrible, having headaches and body aches.....it was like my 'qi' was trapped somewhere and was not flowing around my body...my blood was clot somewhere and got numbness on my arms easily.... i got to shelf my 32 inch jeans back to my cardboard as my fat tummy has stopped me from wearing it comfortably.... i guess i need to get back to my exercise regime..... it happens that i got no program for the nite....i did not bring my gear for CBD run. Weather was great so i thought i try to run down to tanjong pagar again... i dun think i can run all the way like last year so i decided to do 10min run with 2 min walk break.... catch an early bus home an managed to start at 7pm sharp....target to reach by 9pm i took almost the same route as above except for certain part which i have to divert due to construction blockage...i struggled once i reached the 10km mark....i was exhausted when i reached kallang riverside and has to switch to 8min run when i reached esplanade........using my brain power....i managed to finish within 2hrs....it was 16min slower than what i usually did last year.... The CBD gang is still there chatting and trying out the NIKE+...i tried also....quite impressed with the setup....finally someone came out with something like this....however, i do not support the idea of doing long run with music and also too much reliance on technology for a run.......this probably be my first and only try on this thing... thanks tigger for giving me a ride out of CBD to take bus let this be the start of my insane running again

Slacking day

Actually planned to run yesterday nite... but the ulcer on my tongue got bigger...so painful that i cannot talk properly, eat and drink also pain..i decided to head for the doc under medication today...and it was making my body weak....was thinking whether to run then the sky turned dark as i left office....rain came but went away soon after i bath.... and there another slacking day has passed

Longest run of the year

It was a beautiful sat..... decided to go for the MR run which is at 7.30am..... so i just went and we did 14km lazy to blog since the details are here

2nd Running lab run of the year

boss not around...me and colleagues...7 of us sneaked to IT show at suntec after lunch....came back late.....but also managed to left office on time to funan sky was gloomy, but i believe it will be fine later...i was one of the first to arrived so i hanged ard other shops until more runners came The usual gang came ...the usual leaders not ard so tekko lead.....first time alvo and suzie came today run fort canning...walaus....i know is a tough one...so i started with the back runners.....finally settled down o follow suzie pace....we just follow those who know the route and turn here and there....really wonder how many ronuds we went round fort canning as we go tot he peak and down....crossed a bridge over to clarke quay move towards liang court before turning into the riverside and ran towards great world city....u-turn at the main road and run back to the usual RL run start point. Did a great run that took 55:56min...i think abt 9km.... had a good dinner at funan food court with the guys before heading home to blog,....hahaaa happy 38 women's day

Dr Romanov coming to town

Dr Romanov, who created POSE Method of Running which saved a lot of professional athletes career is coming to town. I have been quite admired by this technique...honestly, much more than ChiRunning because of the "simple" to understand drills and theory However, they look and sound easy but tough to execute, I guess that is the beauty of it. From testimonies, professional athletes who have successfully converted to POSE running took at a year to do it...a year of running without speedy and forgo timing and glory of winning Thanks to synergy Multisport, He is coming to town in easy April: POSE Running Clinic 31st Mar to 1st Apr 2007 7th Apr to 8th Apr 2007 POSE Triathlon Clinic 2nd Apr to 4th Apr 2007 POSE Coach Certification Programme Level 1 6th Apr to 8th Apr 2007 register HERE This is a rare chance for me to learn...however, I need a sponsors cos they are not cheap....$1k just for the clinic I guess, the professionals will need it more than me

The amazing runners: Tarahumara

Runner's World did covered an article on them quite recently. But I managed to find an account and even photos of them HERE Make my legs itchy to run HERE is a very good article of these amazing people