Monday, December 14, 2009

am devising a exercise set which i will religiously follow from tonight onwards! day and night :) hopefully will help tone my muscle groups up nicely before sundown and reduce chances of cramps :) must increase the strength and flexibility of my core muscle groups i think it really aids running.

anyway while random online researching on which exercises to incorporate into my masterplan i did dig up useful stuff. like how more researchers are starting to suspect that stretching before a run actually weakens the muscles! esp for hamstring and calves. i've suspected this for quite some time already actually. stretching cold muscles is a bad bad idea. best way to warm up for a run is to do a slow jog to warm the whole body up :) or well SAF's dynamic stretching might help too im not sure.

and yeah the long known fact about fat-losing: its totally IMPOSSIBLE to lose fat in any particular area no matter how hard you work on that area :p doing thousands of crunches will only build up abs muscles while not slimming your waist down! only way to lose fat is to lose fat as a whole : aka full body workout sessions which make you sweat and stuff. but correct exercises WILL tone your muscle groups which will then in turn make them appear slimmer. hmmm still works i guess haha :)

i need to find out why my soles always cramp! esp the arch of the feet. its like they're permenantly on "cramp" mode even when im not exercising. for normal activities they're fine but if i purposely stretch the arch of my feet they cramp up immediately >< the cramps worsen after a long run, and worst thing is that its permanent its been like that for ages ><

10:40 PM

Thursday, December 10, 2009

4:37:58! new PB for marathon (=
wasnt the most ideal preparations before the race (monsoon season just screws up all your planned runs) but hey not too bad la i think. next race i hope to finish below 4:30 (= originally thought i might be able to do it at stan chart hehe. first 20km was done at a sub 4 pace and i didnt feel like i was overly exerting or anything. but cramps hit at around 26-27. same old story! but its getting better though cramps are hitting later and later. maybe next race will only be at 30+km :)

supporters along the way was much much better compared to sundown (unearthly hours) and north face (less trodden paths). both official supporters and the public were out in full force. appreciated it especially along the ECP route where it's the most boring haha. some japanese guys really helped motivate me. and that ang moh with his "this is a no walking zone" sign. damn funny (=

full marathoners finished together with the 21km and 10km runners at the final few km. not the most ideal cause of the insane crowd size - overtaking is barely possible. and thats the part which usually i overtake the most ppl! bleaghz >< saw some guy who pushed a wheelchair along for 42km. amazing. saw a 1 armed runner. saw runners in all shapes and sizes. its quite a carnival haha especially at the finishing line.
overall ranked 1573th (1101th in singapore). not too shabby! next year will definitely try to be better :)

experience really helps with it comes to marathon running. preparations before the race, pre race planning, getting there early to avoid the crowd, finding more comfortable toilets before the race (other than the portable ones provided - went to fairmont hotel's one =p ), psyching myself up, motivating myself after 30+km, and changing up in a comfortable toilet after the race (esplanade's one). all these minor minor details add up to alot! to running your best race and to your personal comfort haha. next race i wanna be at the starting line even earlier! dont want so many ppl blocking me ><

sundown open to registration already :) they changed the starting location to Changi exhibition centre. smart move haha. this year's super traffic jam at changi v taught them a lesson i guess. especially since next year's sundown will have the 21km run as well so probably means another 10 thousand more runners or something.

i realised i might have influenced ppl around me to run. dont think they'll admit to it (its a very personal thing anyway) but it cant be mere coincidences haha. firstly was definitely nicholas, and its purely by chance on my part. kenneth couldnt run this year's sundown so i asked nicholas if he wanted to take over and he did - and ran sub 5 without much training -.- and next year he's gonna go for BDM 102! omg haha.
and then persuaded jason to sign up for new balance run with me (however much he complains and whines i bet he enjoyed the experience), and two of us (and henry i think) probably had much influence on steve to make him go running (and losing like what 9kg in the process? amazing). and my sister ran great eastern (total non runner in the past serious), eugene ran his first marathon, and now willy's asking me about sundown registration for next year!

haha and whats more some (most) of these ppl are those that go "crazy ah you" when i used to talk to them about running :p my dad also o.O he went for stan chart to take photos and i was talking alot about the race at home asking him to run also and then he just went "maybe next year go and walk 10km la". WOW haha o.O

its been like so many months but i still rmb how i felt when i decided to take up running. and i bet its the same for all these ppl. that feeling of "hmm maybe i can do it. it'd be a very good experience huh. at least go and try and walk and finish haha"
its a feeling of wanting to be part of that crowd that can say they finished a race, so even though they say "crazy ah you", deep down inside they really dont mind having a go :p just that singaporeans have this inertial mentality so its difficult to start haha

ok lunch! MACS! I'VE BEEN ABSTAINING FROM FASTFOOD FOR SO LONG AHAHAHAHAHAHA ^^

12:37 PM

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

there see i was right. henry came up and say nice things over his handball incident. he supports a replay of the match but i dont think for one moment anyone actually believed fifa would allow a replay. so whatever he says doesnt matter - whether its just PR stuff or its sincere it will only affect his own conscience. ppl around the world will still believe whatever they want to believe and hate whoever they want to hate.

i think his old boss arsene wenger summed it up really well for him. no matter what the situation turned out to be henry would have been the biggest loser from it. no matter what he chose to do at that point, after the incident either he's crazy for owning up, or he's a cheat for not owning up. ouch haha.

8:59 PM

Friday, November 20, 2009

jobless! but not feeling the pressure of finding a job yet. hopefully its not procrastination! i mean.. i do enjoy the feeling of have no responsibilities and nothing in particular to do, not having to wake up early etc. but i am doing some well deserved resting and setting my personal life in order! haha i hope :p

finished reading frank close's nothing book. this is the second time i borrowed it. im going to borrow it again when the library has it! i rmb first time reading it i was pretty much LOST. second time now... hm much better! now a little less clueless about the field of theoretical physics so i understood the book much better this time :) yay haha will see what a third read can bring me.

din manage to read a briefer history of time had to return it coz it was due >< but borrowed how to build a time machine by paul davies and finished. wahaha think its the fastest i ever finished a science book. its rather easy to read coz its completely written for anybody even he/she does not have any science background. and its pretty interesting i think (or at least as interesting as the topic allows it haha) but din learn much from it ba. just some wistful thinking and far-fetched imagination of physicists. still the principles were thought provoking to say the least :) might re read it before returning.

thierry henry is a CHEAT. there i said it. got it off my chest. feels good.
hmm facts first. he handled a ball close to goal. twice. ref plus assistant ref did not spot it so he pass to gallas who scored and in the process france progressed into the world cup at the expense of ireland.

there seem to be two major camps of arguments regarding this issue and i cant fathom out WHY. first group of ppl (mostly french probably. maybe a couple of self-smug ppl) say he didnt have a CHOICE. its world cup at stake and since ref din do anything he played on.

second camp called him a cheat. and a few other more offensive terms i think.

but i dont get it. i thought it was so obvious theres nothing to debate. yes he did something "wrong" and got away with it, he didnt have MUCH of a choice, oh and yes he definitely IS a cheat. C'mon la no two ways about it right. the only argument that can stand here is HOW MUCH of a blame should be pointed at him. look at the choice he had in that split second when the ball arrived. slow motion replays suggest he handled it twice - first might be arguably accidental, second i doubt it. but we're not in a position to judge him or his integrity (yes i am trying to be fair. my heart and instinct tells me first was accidental maybe but second was BLATANT)
so lets assume it was accidental.
CHOICES
1. do what his coach, team, and most of his countrymen would expect of him. play to the ref's whistle. and since ref din blow for foul, play on and get the goal
2. be honest. stop the play and own up.

CONSEQUENCES
1. his actions result in a goal for his country and saved them from potential epic embarrassment. his country qualify for the world cup at the expense of another country. his reputation as one of the finest strikers of the game would be tarnished forever. his name, when ppl rmb him after he retires, will forever be branded along with the word cheat.

2. look stupid during the game. get hated by everyone from his team and country. might cost his country world cup qualification. and gain the respect of a global sporting community.

sure i mean in the immediate aftermath there are two possible outcomes
1. france qualify anyway.
in this case henry will forever be remembered as one of the game's true gentleman. an honest professional who wouldnt compromise his integrity for results. this would be a perfect scenario

2. france fail to qualify
in this case henry would be branded as stupid, naive, a liability, childish, the main culprit behind france's failure to qualify (not fair. i know). his countrymen might hate him for several years after

so he DID have a choice. neither are very pleasant choices. in all fairness sitting down typing this, Im not sure which choice i would have picked so i cannot blame him for making his decision THEN.
what amuses me is how some ppl brand him a cheat and how others try to absolve him of all blame. so i thought i'll make this clear. yes he didnt have much of a choice and yes, in a way he did "cheat" to get a goal. HE CHOSE what he wanted to do. nobody forced him. yes, circumstances put him in a very difficult moment. reminds me of macbeth and how life/fate put him into difficult predicament with temptations. SAME SITUATION. they both chose so they both have to live with the consequences.

for henry it'll mean he helped his country in qualification. and it means he'll be a cheat forever. and i've not even started on the "lets spare a thought for the brave irish team who outfought the french in every department on the pitch"
i doubt henry took that into consideration at that point.

what truely PISSED me off was his behavior afterward. he admitted to the handball.... and cleanly pushed all the blame to the ref. claimed to have told the ref. and insisted that since he's not the ref he played on and helped to get the goal.
WTF.
least he could do was to apologise? take some blame? spare a thought for his opponents? yes true according to RULES he didnt break any since on the pitch the only rule applicable would be to play to the ref's whistle. but he didnt even have the guts to apologise to the irish fans. and to make things worse he put the blame squarely on the ref. -.- so when decisions go against he him complained about the ref. and when decisions go for him he decides that its the ref's fault anyway. bravo.

sport doesnt build character. it reveals character. these are moments which reveal everything about a player's character. because these are moments where there's high stress on them, where they have little time to think, and when their publicity team/agents are not there to advice them on what to say.
i bet give it some time henry will come out and say something "nicer" then what he said in the post match interview. coz thats when his publicity team or some official from somewhere would have advised him on how to handle the situation.

the sheer hypocrisy of the him. and he was one of those who advocated fair play, and slammed diving in the game just a few years back. look who's talking now cheat.

and yes i do feel for the irish. the implications of this is far, far more than just world cup qualification alone.

9:58 PM

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

slightly over 20 days to standard chartered. new balance real run was a good prelude to it. at least it gives me the confidence that i can do 15km with no problem at all. now just gotta do maybe a couple of 20km+ runs and hopefully i'll be ready for my first stand chart (=

found some photos of me running the north face 100 on facebook! awesome haha. there were some random photographers taking shots of us while we were running and they posted them on fb. damn nice of them! (=

4:08 PM

ORD LO! officially on 10th November 2009. went back to camp around lunchtime with old chang kee and piekia as ord treat for platoon 4. collected pink IC from jerry and left by 2. as a free man. (=

cant put into words how i feel. mostly happy, a little irrationally high, extremely accomplished, very excited about the future, and also a little lost about whats next. oh wells! take a little break first then start worrying about other things :)

4:04 PM

Monday, October 26, 2009

finisher of 50km! ^^ North Face 100 was my most punishing race ever definitely. took over cher coz he had exams, ran with kelvin er. we met really really early (the 100km ppl started even earlier!). was initially worried about not having race id tag but they werent that strict about it thankfully. shouldnt have brought my race map along for the race. they din check that stringently and i didnt use it at all. now its a soggy piece of paper in my rubbish bin. (initially brought it along coz they said it was compulsory and i was sincerely worried about getting lost haha)
was hoping to keep it as a remembrance but wasted!~

race was really an eyeopener. have never seen so many runners with hydration packs before! and an amazing range of running attire/caps/sunglasses/pouches/shoes. super colourful! ^^ weight myself and my hydration pack (they werent that strict about this. i swear some ppl carry less than 1.5L of fluids). some easy stretching and then off we went.
race started at 7am for us. total of 176 teams signed up for the 100km duo open. 21 teams signed up for 100km duo women. less than 30 tried the 100km. total number of runners this year (including 50km duo) should be slightly less than 1200.

weather was good to us. abit of sun but not too hot or humid... yet. started the run at a good pace i felt. feeling really good all the way till 10~15km. din stop at the first water point. rifle range road was easy too... until we reached bukit timah. that hill was when i started walking. lost sight of alot of runners at the nature reserve coz the trail was something i've never trained for >< but nonetheless din experience any major problems, reached zhenghua park still feeling okay. by then sun was up so it was really really hot and humid in the forest trail.

after that cant rmb much. i know certain parts looked familiar coz i'd been there during sispec. chestnut trail was really narrow and had lots of bikers. made it to the waterpoint at mandai near the zoo. there's a name for it cant rmb. stop briefly at the waterpoint (~21km) before going into that area for the turn about and return route.
made a huge mistake there! did not fill my camelbak sufficiently. put that together with the heat and humidity plus myself being unconditioned to the difficult trail (why is it mostly uphill ><), was really suffering at around 25km when we climbed hill 265 (crappy name. i know). literally had to climb there were no foot paths up! i had to stop twice to catch my breath during the climb omg ><

first thing i asked the guy at the top of hill scanning our bibs was the distance to the next water point and he said 5km. !!! wanted to lie down and give up there and then. so freaking tired! and an overwhelming urge to just lie down and fall sleep for a while >< strange huh.
by another 500m i finished all my 100plus. no shade at all coz we've left the forest so the heat really sucked. could feel myself dehydrating, legs going weak, stomach super uncomfortable, heart rate remained high even though i was walking all the way. all the usual problems but worse! ><

then i met these brunei troops. i think they were there on exercise. i rmb one of them (think its a 1SG) looked at me and without me saying anything he offered me a drink from his water bottle. omg so freaking THANKFUL at that point i just kept saying thanks all over again. and while i was drinking the other soldiers helped fill my camelbak up with water from their own jerry can! that water really saved my life there i think. really unexpected help.

i mean, seriously anyone would have done the same thing (i hope!) if they see others in need. but having experienced it personally i felt so so so grateful. unbelievable. after that point i kept telling myself if i gave up i wouldnt be able to answer to that camelbak of water.

but really easy to say that now in the comfort of my home. i dunno how i made it to the next water point. almost on the verge of collapse when i reached. met kelvin there he was already enjoying a banana. i rmb my watch said 11:00am precisely and i told myself im not going to move another metre until 11:20. lol :) grabbed 100plus and a banana and just sat down at the curb for a good 20 minutes! it really helped and i felt much better afterward. managed to walk/jog the remaining distance back. and there was this girl also running at the same pace. we were pacing/overtaking each other all thru the last 20km it really helped i think :) thx whoever you are!

last difficult stretch was at singapore island country club. HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT HOT. amazingly hot sun and ironically water all around us coz of the golf course's water bodies. there was a plus point though - its normal tarmac road so its back to familiar territory for me :) managed to overtake quite a few ppl there. then followed by the very last stretch of macritchie forest trail. the last bend was awesome when we saw macritchie reservoir in front of us. utter bliss! could tell from every runners' body language. from walking with heads sagging (actually more like limping/staggering) to a slow jog with heads up. awesome! had some energy left and my cramps din bother me much by then so i managed to finish at a good pace. i always love the finish of any race! that feeling of pure joy and achievement :)

the medal wasnt the best looking but whatever man it was hard earned.

got my medal (there were some NF ppl to put medals around our necks at the finish line lol), weighed myself again, met up wth kelvin, grabbed subway, bathed, bitched about the race, and we both agreed the 100km runners deserve utmost respect. we (the 50km runners) met a few of them on their return lap. all of us applauded each one we saw haha. and most of them replied with smiles or thumbs up or even encouraging words of their own. really superhuman mental willpower.

lost 1kg during the race even though i was drinking non stop. called a cab home and went to sleep :)

race results - 7 hours 40 minutes, 127th place :) our team came in 53rd! which was pretty decent i felt. would definitely have been better if i had done some training on trail routes.
total of 126 open teams and 14 women teams completed the 100km duo.

legs seemed to have recovered pretty well. i dont feel so tired anymore. next up is new balance real run! after that will be standard chartered marathon. also rather tempted to try the year end MR25 ultra-marathon! :) will see how things shape up :)

races so far this year
Adidas sundown (42km)(5hr10m)
Timor barat (16km)(1hr22m)
AHM (21km)(1hr58m)
Inter-cluster X-country (5km)(23m) (haha ok maybe this doesnt really count. but i'll add it coz it was my first taste of off road running - 23min was really disappointing)
NF100 (50km)(7hr40m)

races to come
new balance real run (15km)
standard chartered marathon (42)
MR25 ultra-marathon (??)

never expected myself to come so far when i first signed up for adidas sundown. was just fulfilling a personal goal of completing a marathon.
i shall add a new goal now: vertical marathon next year :) must plan my running schedule soon for next year. i'll like trying a few more races which i missed this year.

4:32 PM

Saturday, October 17, 2009

signed up for new balance real run. had to go to novena because online registration closed already >< but a good trip though! persuaded jasonpoh to run too. easy trouble-free sign up, spend about 10 minutes wondering about race route and how to get there so early in the morning. then breakfast at long john! took it as lunch since it was rather late.

went shopping. bought GU energy gel. and signed up for GnC member. its super hua suan for me i cant believe i didnt sign up earlier >< 15bucks for 2 years! and each time i buy a GU i get one free which means saving 4 bucks. just today alone me plus jason saved 12bucks total already lol :)

then more shopping! novena square is really sports haven huh. sports shop of every kind! and lots of them had a sale too :) Gola had like 50% off shoes wow. too bad designs not to my liking. and new balance had 30% for runners. i know being in army spoilt the new balance image coz we get their lower end product :p but the higher end new balance running shoes are really wow. pretty good design and pro looking. and really really expensive too ><

fila had really cheap shoes jason wanted but too bad the pair he wanted didnt have his size lmao.

after that straight to bishan was thinking of checking out the library first but then it was CLOSED. yup i totally forgot today's a public holiday. happy deepavali!
nua-ed in school before prac started. RI is infested with mosquitoes btw >< watched confessions of a shopaholic! finished it on the way home after rwinds. its a really good movie :) i cant believe one scene at the end almost made me tear.
oh yeah and RT didnt like that movie. typical. RT never likes such movies. and this is what they commented "This middling romantic comedy underutilizes a talented cast and delivers muddled messages on materialism and conspicuous consumption."

bloody self-righteous ppl. not all movies have messages hellooo. do these critics sincerely lead perfect lives, never indulge in spending (or any other so-called character flaws), donate half their salary to charity (really. so many comments online on how charity should have been included as a theme because the movie lead was too self-centered and shopped only for herself. you would think these critics never bought anything for themselves)

maybe im just being cynical. maybe they're truly angels and really never have a single selfish thought. maybe they actually really think of themselves as saints and perfect role models for the rest of humanity to follow.

maybe they expect every movie to end with a beautiful message about human perfectness and world peace.
-.-

!
human characters are flawed, thats what make each individual an individual human being. flaws defines who a person really is to a large extent. i thought becky did extremely well in the end given her circumstance. we strive for change and improvement, and sometimes we succeed sometimes we dont. thats life isn't it. important fact is we tried, and more often than not probably achieved something in between complete success and total failure.
"learning a lesson and turning over a new leaf" is like years outdated seriously why do ppl still expect it in every movie ><

anyway the beautiful scene. (clarinet playing softly in the background btw :p)
becky telling her father she would never allow him to sell his caravan to help pay her debts cause it just completely completely defines him. i was like ya! both dad and vehicle are out of the world totally unorthodox (crazy. check out his last dance scene). whatever becky's flaws she's definitely very observant and spot on usually (especially on fashion :p)

and then her dad went "nothing defines me. except you and your mother."

! the way he said it. so matter of fact. so simply. as though he believed it like nothing else in the world.
sobs

and this was the average family dad. retired, out-dated, old-fashioned, fat, couch potato. if everyone in the world had some of this guy in him, we would be living in happier times :)

oh yeah another scene i loved. when all the mannequins started moving and applauding becky. super amusing :) and it ended with him explaining why he bid so much. "its a desperately important scarf" :)
in fact each time the mannequin moved and talk its really funny. but would have been creepy in real life though :p

9:49 PM

Previous Posts

Archives