The marathon movie: Spirit of the Marathon

Ever since i came across the athlete movie, i started to come across more marathon movies. This movie called Spirit of the Marathon is another one of them. Posted this on sgrunners and started to see it appearing in everyone's blog.... This movie features marathoners from amateur, first timer, Olympic marathon medalist, world class marathon and marathon legends with interiews and marathon footage. Editing for this film is completed and is due to release this year.

The North Face: Arnuva 50 Boa Running Shoe

Dean Karnazes used this to ran 50 marathons in 50 states in 50 days last year using this shoes. After which He continued his journey from east Coast New York back home in West Coast San Francisco but he stopped after hundreds of miles. And now, the shoes: Arnuva 50 BOA is here right in Singapore's Running labs/Outdoor life at Novena Velocity. Here is the video intro by altrec: This is an interesting running shoes. Making use of BOA technology, no shoes laces required and adjustment is done on the fly. This shoes is made to be used not only in the trail but also on roads for ultramarathon distances. I am quite free after lunch today so i took this chance to went down and take a look at it...below is my SR: I was very excited abt this shoes when i first heard about it last yr before Dean Karnazes's endurance 50 attempt....i thought hey, maybe an all rounded shoes is here on earth finally...unfortunately, The North Face is not available in singapore... few months later, i came to hear about RL going to bring in The North Face products including this shoes in March...so i waited and finally it came. I dropped by RL at Novena Velocity just to take a peep at it.....honestly, all these while, something abt this shoes have been bothering me: The Weight!! Although pple keep saying that "A picture tells a thousand words" but THE WEIGHT cannot be tell in the picture! i picked the shoes up from the rack...SURPRISED!! it was so LIGHT for a trail to be shoes....there are 2 column of North Face trail running shoes and Arunva 50 BOA has one of the heaviest look....in fact the lightest look is Arunva 50 (without BOA)....still cann believe, i started to pick up other NF shoes...none is lighter than this....then i tried the New balance trails nearby, still this is the LIGHTEST!!! A gentleman came over and started to tell me about this shoes...damn, say no use....i asked him to bring me a pair of US12....he agreed and went to get a pair...came and told me this is the largest size they have. I put on the shoes easily and quick due to the effective BOA system which was using surgical steel wire..(btw timberland shoes also have BOA but not for running)...i turn and turn until cannot turn...i stood up and walk..wow...it was so light and the cushioning is good...not too cushy and not too hard.... The gentleman led me to the treadmill and i started to jog on it....the feeling is...EMPTY in the air, the forefoot cushioning is superb(btw, i dun land on heel).but i tried the heel cushioning and it was good as well(maybe a heel striker can try and feedback)..and it felt like there was no shoes when my feet is in the air and only felt it when my feet landed and the landing is very comfy and stable....at first, i thought the shoes is too loose but is not...it is the material and the make that made i feelingless!! i felt like running on the threadmill for another shiok 10 more minutes, but so paisey with the gentleman standing beside me waiting for me, i stopped the machine after about 2-3min... i relundantly took off the shoes and walked out of the shop and think about this shoes till i was writing this.... Finally, a shoes suitable for both road and trail running as Dean Karnazes has proven in this 50 marathons in 50 days on both road and trail marathons.... The breathability and drainage is very suitable for local trails like MR....... Another point to note is the width, the shoes is actually wide enough for asian feet...my feet is quite big and wide and i dun feel squeezed in this shoes....unlike when i first tried my salomon XA pro 3D, it was actually quite narrow, i need some runs to loosen the fit.......honestly, this is the first shoes that fit nicely when i first tried on without complaint. for those who pronates, i think it is not a problem, although this look like a cushioned shoes but it is meant for trail running.....one important aspect of a trail running shoes is to provide support and control pronation and supination on uneven trail surface, anway, have you heard of a motion control trail runners? no right? so i believe this shoes definitely built for that.... With the price of $249, i thought this is a good buy....becos this is equal to a trail + road shoes...example, if u buy a kayano + eagle trail is about > 160% of the price of arnuva 50 BOA and one thing i can assure is the weight of this shoes is definitely much light than eagle trail and slightly lighter than kayano... If my Salomon XA Pro 3D breaks down at the end of this year, this is probably the shoes i will be getting...for now, i probably go down RL run more often to admire it first. OK, enough of long story and i know i wrote a lot, probably my longest posting in this forum for the past 22months even since i joined this forum... i dun sell shoes and North face din paid me to say so many good words but i do wish they paid me for this...heeeee but my take for this is HIGHLY RECOMMENDATED I checkout some US online sites, wow! is about 20-25% cheaper if i get it in the states: Zappos.com, amazon.com. I think including frieght, the total cost is still cheaper than buying locally....hmmmmmmmm

Warning: Buying a running shoes is very subjective, the above is my personal opinions and does not represent any shoes, company or sgrunners...the best way to see whether this suit you is to go down personally and try it on with your own feet!

la Méthode naturelle - "to be strong to be useful"

I remember i saw this short write-up on this Méthode naturelle in posetech.com few months back. But i just cannot find it again at the website. I remember it mentioning that more detail info about this method in english is difficult to find. It was when i came into barefoot ted's blog that i saw this the second time. There, he even shows his training based on this principle. la Méthode naturelle was created by a french named Georges Hébert The official site is at http://methode-naturelle.com/. The main highlight about this method is that it involved

Walking Running Jumping Climbing Quadrupedal movement ( moving on all 4 limbs) Balancing Lifting Throwing Defence Swimming All these exercises flow from one to another during a session of 40 to 60 minutes and enable complete and utilitarian physical development. Moving about, flexibility, freedom of individual action, continuity, alternation of effort and graduation of the intensity of work are the main teaching principles of the method. The sessions take place preferably outdoors in purpose-built spaces or not, but can also be held inside for reasons of convenience.

The following motto really caught my attention: "One's got to be strong to be useful, not only to oneself, but to others”

The Athlete Movie 2008

Few weeks back, i happened to bumped into this site. I was very excited....even more excited after i watched the trailer: Just watching the teaser, makes me more inspired to finish another marathon... It's awesome, never has a movie before that shows the real blood, tears, sweat and heart of ordinary folks doing a marathon. A must watch movie for all marathon dreamers and conquerer.....but the question is, will we able to watch it here in Singapore? So, I posted it on sgrunners' forum. Guess what, and it was featured in the official movie blog. i was amazed by the author's effort to monitoring the spread of the news about this movie.....hopeful i will get to catch it when it cross the finishing line in 2008

Run rUn ruN

Mount Faber - maybe next year

I din make it to the start line....not even to the CC to collect the goodie bag condition just got worst without any proper reason i guess...try again next year

Running doesn't make you fitter

Yes...this is the reason why i seldom do 2 consecutive days run... I happened to read this article on Runner's World March 2006...cannot find it on the website... The whole article's main point is just in the very first paragraph: "Running doesn't make you fitter. If it did - if you actually got fitter while you ran - you would be stronger in the last mile of a marathon than the first. And we all know that's rarely the case" "It's recovering from running that makes you fitter" The point is, running is damaging. But it is the recovering process after your run that make you a fitter!!! Isn't our body wonderful!!! So remember, REST WELL after a good run....The harder the run, the more rest is needed to make YOU STRONGER!!!

Back to work

disappeared from the "world" for 2 days....spent 90% for the past 48hrs on the bed...only wake up to eat, pee, drink..... my fever is gone but my throat is getting more and more painful.... i decided to visit the doc again before going to office this morning... he discovered something more dreadful than throat infection: ulcers!!! Yes, is ulcers at my throats....no throat infection he said....in fact, he said got 3-4 of them....i hate ulcers...usually it took me weeks to recover from them and now in the throat...die liao lor.. its going to be a painful days ahead... if i cannot run this sunday, i will walk the whole hill, anyway, my objective is to get one more tee to sleep with

Monday is not blue but BLACK today

Everything was perfect, perfect progress on mu project, perfect weather, perfect timing to go off work.... just one thing that makes the whole day black...just 2 hrs to off work...my whole body suddenly felt cold and weak....everything is breaking down....something was not right...even my windbreaker does not help... throat getting more painful went straight to clinic after woprk...waited an hour for my turn 2 days MC granted Damn...just when i dun feel like getting MC and just got my fitness on track got to start a few step back again hopefully an still run this sunday

wet trail run.....shoes and socks well tested

I went MR alone this morning....still remember the last time i came here alone was during my 30km run somewhere in oct/nov last year....times really flies....about half a year has passed..... i was having difficulty to wake up since i din promise anyone except myself that i will be down at MR in the early morning....but still the lure of mother nature fresh air and the trails has conquered my laziness....managed to wake up and reach MR at 7.30am to start my run....today i decided to try my injinji again with my Salomon XA Pro 3D to checkout where i will have abrasion problem due to my shoes long tougue and my short socks. As usual, MR was filled with students kayakers and seems to have less runners this mornning......it have been raining crazily for past days and i am expecting a wet trail to run on....the northern trail is still good..not too wet and comfortable to run on....i was going at a much faster pace than before.....having started at the toilet, i took 21min to reached the clubhouse, which usually i will reach at 22-24min running about 500m less. i decided to go for more trail so instead of running along the road up to the service reservoir and down the footpath to the ranger station, i took the more difficult route by turning to the trail on the left...this trail was less used by walkers and runners becos of the short but challenging rocky trail and a big upslope....i reached the ranger station and rested for 3 and a half min before moving on. the starting upslope from the ranger station was very rocky...man...i actually din ran here for past weeks as i went in from the golf course side.....i can feel my ball of foot landing on rocks but i think the ground feel of this shoes is damn good..plus my injinji, i was able to feel where i landing and this actually helps a lot in maintaining my balance and train my legs to run at shorter strides with higher cadance..... Like what Dr Romanov had mentioned in his book, which tally with what i have been believing for past years, the unevenness and unpredictable support conditions of the trail actually keep you alert and promotes a more well-rounded development of the muscles, ligaments, tendons and joints, especially the lower legs strength and ankles....that's the reason why MR trail running is a must for my base training for the past 3 years...and seriously, i din not get any serious running injuries except for my under-trained ultramarathon 2005....however, trail training need to be done with care and moderation...we must know our body and control our effort to prevent more injuries...we cannot run with efforts that we used to dash on the hard roads. back to my run, the past days rainy effect was very prominently seen at rifle range trail....i was running on very soft muddy grounds that the run-off has created a "stream" along the wide trail..i got to be very sensitive to balance myself properly as this is a different ground situation compared to previous rocky trail...... finally reached the first "river"...expect it to have high water level but it was OK....after crossing the second river, the exciting part came...it was like a small river overflowing the trail...the ground for this stretch is very rocky and it was filled with running water up to ankle deep....this is the best time to test my shoes and socks...i went with cautious steps and managed to clear the stretch without difficulty....my shoes and socks are soaked with water..... When i reached jelutong tower, my socks was squashing inside my shoes....i continued to run and after about 5min of running....miracles!!! no more squashing and i was like running with dry socks and shoes.....i am really impressed with the drainage of this shoes and the drying ability of the coolmax toe-socks....however, i also felt sore on my BOF...must the rocks...good..that means i landing properly on my BOF....the soreness actually went off after just 1-2min of running and my legs are tired due to the challenging wet and rocky path. i maintaned my pace and continue to ran thru the small hill after the golf course and reached the MR25 TT trail.....the rest of the journey was easy and i decided to end my run right at the toilet estimated to cover abt 11km today, i finished in abt 1hr 12min including rest....considering the tough trail today, it was a very good run for me.especially the wet test for my socks and shoes... ***need to find a replacement for my salomon soon before it give way.....

1km repeats with ironmen

i seldom run for 2 consecutive days....this is the second time for past 1 week...but this time are short ones unlike last fri and sat. abdominal feels okie...the weather try to threaten the plan...... we out late as IM Chan was held up in meeting but we managed to reach tampines stadium before 7pm... it was crowded....filled with runners...including some sprinters with spikes.. very excited abt today's run as i will be trying out my new Chiba Pro... we had a quick 2 rounds warmup (no enough actually) and IM Chan pushed to start asap after short stretching.... today's plan was 5x1000m with 6min per set of run/rest. Calculated that if i need to runn 10min 2.4km means every 1km is 4:10min...with my current condition, i think 10min 2.4km is possible so i target 4:10-4:15min per 1km... The IM sped right the start was shouted, i just follow behind closely.... The new Chiba Pro is wonderful...finally got something suitable for the track...brought back the feeling of running with spikes during school days....no break in required and my feet just went tom tom tom.....the feel of the ground is good.... i think warmup not enough my legs still quite hard and inflexible.....i managed to keep a very constant pace of 50 sec per 200m..... i was still feeling after 2nd set....coming to the 3rd set....started to feel a bit of strain.....alamak...no water for 3rd lap as my bottle is at the start point...my throat started to irritated and very dry... i decided to skip this one and walk to the startline to wait for the last set to start...IM Chan also felt pain at his shin again....he slowed down for this lap and very slow for the 4th. After rested for 7++min....the last set started...left only me and IM D....IM D is a speed demon...he have been doing sub 4min for past 4 sets....IM Chan started ask and i flew....my legs was warmup finally...loose and easy....first 200m was easy compared to first 3 sets....my legs felt good after a good rest....my speed increased...IM D was breathing heavy behind me.... I expct IM D to overtake my after 1st 400m...but he din...as i increased my speed a bit....din bother to check my 2nd 400m timing...i sped for the last 200m and finished with an astonishing 3:52sec....IM D 4sec behind.... Incredible last 1km...although i have to rest for 1 set but it was a good run consider this is only my second interval so far..... I must say...adidas Chiba Pro ROCKS!! Shoes: Adidas Chiba Pro lap: 1km - 4:14min rest - 1:45min 1km - 4:16min rest - 1:44min 1km - 4:11min rest - 7:49min 1km -3:52min

Nike Free got sued by Reebok

Reuters: Reebok sues Nike for patent infringement Oregonlive.com: Reebok sues Nike over its flexible soles I am not reading enough to have missed out this big news recently.... Actually, Nike is good in marketing....u can see why..but did they file any patent for it??? Reebok created this shoes for another purpose and dunnoe whether it goes into market or not and nobody knows about it. anyway, is interesting to see The Official patent infringement lawsuit to sue NIKE dated 3 apr 2007. And also "Reebok's patent on collapsible shoes" is dated 30 jan 2007.... hmmm...something interesting here....NIKE Free has been in the market for at least 2 years (still remember i got a free pair from MR25 ultramarathon 2005) and now they kena sued for a new patent dated less than 3 months ago...... hahaaa...a closed look at the details and you will see that it was actually filed 18 july 2002...is Nike Free out in market then? and so this is the patent rule...u filed early, no others can file the same thing when it is in process of getting the grant...once u get it granted, u can start to sue pple. hmmmm...from the patent drawing, I have seen similar shoes design in the market.... Interestingly, it took 5 years for this patent to get granted.....now we know Reebok has been waiting for this day to come for the past 2-3 years and finally They JUST DID IT!!!

post-rain short short run

Hit with one strange abdominal pain since last sat.....so i thought might have problem running....i think i better try to see if it is ok to run tomolo.. strange weather...i was abt to step out of office building and the rain came like someone pour a bucket of water from the sky....grab a big umbrella but was still unable to keep my pants dry..... only for 15min....i was still in the bus caught in a jam and then i realise, the rain has stop completely, i thought might get lighter and last long... and so i reached home and changed to my running gear....to go for a short short one decided to just run towards fernvale then U-turn at junction of YCK road and Jln Kayu which is 2.9km away...try to do a slow run but as i go further, my speed increased....hit the U-turn point at 15:54min.... try to keep a hard but sustainable effort and managed to came back at 14++min...so i did 5.8km for 30min flat abdominal did felt a bit of discomfort somewhere during the run but was OK till the end....... hmmm...wanted to try my new shoes but the ground was wet...another day then

Are you a slave to your shoes?

I was chatting with someone about running shoes when something struck my mind... Still remember years ago...at least more than a decade ago...cannot remember which running coach said to me "Do not be a SLAVE to your shoes" What does this sentence means to you? Are you a SLAVE to your shoes? Is really by chance that i came across this article, by Dr Romanov titled "MOTION CONTROL, STABILITY, CUSHIONING AND OTHER MYSTERIES ABOUT RUNNING SHOES" when i was surfing at POSE website. remember what I posted before: "The human foot is a work of art and a masterpiece of engineering."—Leonardo Da Vinci Feel free to comment before i elaborate more here when I have more time later

Hitting Flickr Free acc limits

Wah! Din know there is a 200 photos limit to Flickr's free account for photos storage until i was abt to upload some photos for good friday run.... need to find alternative source or i use another way to work around it

Who is the translator?

Very bored so i switched my SE HP language to simple chinese and saw this: wonder who do the translation for SE....they need to change a new one..... or maybe SE phone can be used to order food......

Tiring MR 14km run on an amazing ins@ne day

Its an incredible day today....not in turns of running..but on the events following that..... First, I got to apologise on my poor command of english that resulted in some sensitive terms used in my last trail run entry. Someone is not "out of shape" but out of fitness!!! Someone is still in great shape: LEAN, SLIM and SEXY!!!...so single guys out that who looking for GF, contact me.....8-P decided not to wake up so early for run so we arranged to meet at 7.30am at MR....seems quiet so we thought might be long weekend holiday that people go oversea and qing ming for chinese to pay respect to ancestors.....managed to find a good carpark lot and we start run at 7.45am due to my bowel problem. As i have already did a "long" run with the northern runners yesterday morning, i is normal for my legs to feel heavy today...just keep running and follow J's high cadence, we reached the 3km mark at clubhouse at 20min.we decided to extend a bit of distance by running to Upper pierce toilet and back since J never run this part before.....charging up the 3 jialat upslopes beside the golf course, we met Ronnie and Cosmic wind returning from Upper Pierce.... we reached Upper pierce toilet and break for about 3min before we returned to MR...today's pace is slower than last week..i guess as both of us are quite tierd today...we turned to rifle range trail like last week and ran allt he way to the 2 "rivers" before reaching jelutong towers.....the sun came out very hot and glaring as we ran by the open golf course. Hit the last jialat small hill and we decided to walk thru it this time...picked up to run again when we hit the MR25 TT U-turn point and we pickup our pace slowly...400m before we hit the end of trail, one runner rushed past us and J started to pickup speed...look like J's form is back...i struggled to follow her pace... once we hit the hard road again, we slowed down and I endured the tiring legs till the end of our run....estimated to be 14km long, we took 1hr 34min....at least is 20min long than last week.... After wash up, I got J to drive me to bishan park........

POSE book: Dr R's autograph included!!

We arrived at Bishan Park and saw Dr Romanov conducting the classes for POSE coach certification..... Something strike me to email synergy multisports to see if i get hold of the POSE Method of running book even though i did not attend the running clinic last week. And I was lucky to receive a last minute reply last nite that it is possible and I can get Dr Romanov to even autograph on it...not sure if possible, i decided to try my luck and head down after MR run.... In order not to disrupt the class, i watched by the side until a chance came, i approached Eug to told his about my intention...he quickly attended to my request and got the book from the room with a marker and came out to ask Dr Romanov to autograph it....i was so paisay that he got to stop his class and autograph on the book and shake my hand after that...... Heard from Eug that there will be more POSE program coming up this year...and they will also bring in the book for local bookstores......good to hear that....got a namecard from him before i left the scene with a excited and happy heart.....is really a rare chance to meet Dr Romanov in person....okie..should have asked J to take a photo of Dr R and me...that will be really super thick-skinned liao and Here is my book With the precious autograph furthermore, i got it much cheaper than the listed price in US..... Time to POSE!!! and the incredible day havent ended..............

I am ins@ned and Sinned: Chiba Pro

Saw an advertisement for WOS that they are selling Hi-Tec Spike shoes for $25!!! from the photo, it looks like a shoes to consider for practising POSE and for track workout....indicated that there are only 3 OUTDOOR shops having them: Velocity, millenia Walk and Harbourfront cantre...i decided to drop by Novena Square to take a look..... Reached the shop and din see any spike under Hi-Tec, i asked the salesperson, his first reply, " some screwed up wth the amrketing, we dun have that model here but i can help u to chek other 2 stores"....in teh end only Millenia Walk carries them and only size US 8 and 9....disappointed me, i walked out of the shop... Hanged around running labs but saw nothing that favours me....walked around and naturally, i walked towards Adidas Warehouse outlet which is a must come for every Novena Square visit..... i went straight to the running shoes section....instead of look at the models available on the rack, i started teh boxes of shoes stacked up for my size......suddenly, a box with US12 caught my eye, i just too it out and open it...it was Chiba Pro with my size!!!! The colour is chio..bright bright enough to be seen at night!! just trying for fun...i wore the pair and started to walked around..wow! is light and with a good ground feel...like my running spikes when i was in school...it will be good for track and even POSE work..... i flip the shoes around and saw the sticker 50% OFF and the original price tag...AMAZING: Without 2nd thought, i pack the shoes back to the box and proceed to the counter for payment..... AAARRGGHHH...i havent even use my gai gai shoes for my run yet and here i am buying the next pair of shoes!!!! I thought is quite a good steal for me!!! Time to plan buck up for more runs

Good friday northern hotspring run

Finished work at 9.30pm last nite..reached home at 10pm..lucky able to finish if not today will be another working day.... Since i nothing to do on good friday morning, I decided to join the northern run to hot spring...met the group at 7am, Yishun stadium...quite a good turnout...met some for the first time like leotay, sealboon, gugugaga, jodan, eugene_ng James with his dopod GPS led us along the way, we went by the hill park behind Yishun Safra...some of the guys got excited with the automatic toilet ...i shown them the automatic UNLOCK after 10min warning..trust me...this is much better than the one in Bukit Bintang KL that Kenny sia mentioned....that one can use for 15min and door will automatic OPEN we went thru the industrial estate before we reached the park connector that is about 2.8km long which leads to the sea beside bottle tree village...the rest ran the road to sembawang park but i decided to take the beach route...brokie joined me and took photos along the beach met up with the rest at the park where we rested for quite long....james led us out of the park to the colonial estate..we turned into King's Ave..the houses here are big and stylo...after that we ran along canada road...same quiet, serene and beautiful houses....finally we were out to the HDB estate...rested at a convenient shop to get 100plus before we move along canberra road towarsd the hotspring... We decided to take the hilly sembawang road and finally, the hotspring off gambas ave....some of us are just so excited...dipped out feet, wash our faces and limps...after the fun, we proceed to chong pang to wait for some who went to bath....i din wait for them for food...grab a $2 McChicken(YES is $2) and a hot fudge sundae before i left the gang to go home for other appointment......i guess we ran about 15km ...plus breaks is abt 3hrs++ run time should be abt 2+hrs A good and interesting run this morning......but I miss MR....back to mother nature tomolo for more negative ions

The Barefoot Route

“The human foot is a work of art and a masterpiece of engineering.”—Leonardo Da Vinci Happen to see this article on Marathon & Beyond website. Haven't got time to go thru it so i thought, i just put it here for further reference in future. The Barefoot Route

Late night run...insane loops

Is late night...is 9.30pm...the latest time i ever started a run for past few years...although in NTU i used to run at 3am!!! anyway, due to some last minute crazy demand from customer to bring forward the project dateline to wed an informed us only last friday, I was rushing work like mad...and is not one but 2 projects....i the only one suffered because everyone else who helped just find out and tell me..i am the one who gather all the messy information and data dated months back to put into the reports..and is 2 reports from scratch... after my appointment, reached home only at 9pm..changed up and start my run at 9.30pm.. since is already so late, i din want to run far...actually planned a >10km run alst nite but i worked till 9.30pm.....so no choice i decided to go loops at buangkok MRT when i run short, i want keep my feet short and fast...so my first round of warm up ended up in 10min flat for 2km...i was thinking whether to go for 3-5 rounds..but in the end, 800m into my 2nd loop, the huge downslope pushed up my speed and i sped till the end of the 2nd round and stop there....a crazy pace......but not good enough for 2.4km 2km - 10:06min@5:03min/km 2km - 08:52min@4:26min/km system screwed up becos i was runnign too many jobs..no choice, want me to finish today i need to run them...now situation becoming more messy...they just never learn the problem with rushing things up......now everyone waiting for me to submit at the end of today....the top ask me how confident are u, i wanted to reply, "no confident at all, unless u let me run the job properly, but since u insist to finish it today, i just do wat i can do, just dun find me when problem crop up" i know the last part will never happen, it will come back to me....so i din tell him those useless words....

Happy April Fool day

Happy April fool day....hope u dun get fool today but have a lot of good food unfortunately, this is also my first day of work (on a sunday)....now stuggling in office with some stupid unknown problem that pop out of nowhere....