Triathlon - a Singapore perspective

ironman on bintan?

2011-11-12T22:29:00.001+08:00

just got a mail that said there will be an ironman event on bintan next september!

my immediate reaction was "wow! i really have to do this now. my last remaining major excuse has just been blown out of the water".

what do i mean?

well, i have always been a little put off at the thought of having to travel too far with the bike to do an event, or with having to wear a wetsuit... and now, these concerns are rendered moot. ironman in busselton was a little far, a little cold. plus it was in december, which is mainly time for a family vacation. the most likely was ironman langkawi, until they pulled the plug on the event last year. i thought my dream would never be fulfilled.

looks like my original dream of doing the race before i turn 50 might come true after all... the missus said today that if there are events i would like to do overseas, we could plan a holiday around it. cool! that was possible of course but it wouldn't be much of a holiday watching me limp around or just be horizontal for a few days after the race... unless it was hawaii!

there was info on the event when i clicked on a link in the mail, but now when i google "ironman bintan", i can't seem to find the page. need to check my mail again.

right now, i'm excited and i know i will be thinking about doing the event, and it will consume a great deal of my consciousness, especially once i sign up. can't say that i definitely will but...

ironman wales

2011-11-01T19:54:00.001+08:00

recently caught a telecast of ironman wales and i was blown away by the waves in the swim. some of the triathletes seemed to have a hard time just getting out to sea! and by the time they were done, they had a half mile run to T1 which looked like it was in the middle of town! and the first part of it was uphill from the beach.

and because of the lengthy transition run, most of the athletes chose to leave their shoes at the beach...some chose to strip off their wetsuit to run, some chose to remove the suit while on the run and some others ran in their wetsuit.

certainly a most interesting variation of the race...

i am now back to training and worked my way up to 13K runs so far. a month to go and possibly behind schedule but i am monitoring progress carefully and taking care of my aching knees. i think the experience and base i have built up this year will probably get me close to the right level of conditioning by the time the race rolls around but it would still be quite some way from being ideal preparation.

i have bought some new equipment to help me out and there will be a review soon.

the garmin forerunner 610 and the compex muscle stimulator. stay tuned.

downtime

2011-10-09T00:04:00.000+08:00

it seems like an eternity since the san francisco marathon. two months have gone by but it seems like much longer because so much has happened in that time. and predictably, my body has succumbed to the stress and i have had a succession of minor ailments beginning with what felt like congestion in the head , then flu-like symptoms and finally a sore throat. none of which was major enough to make me take medical leave.

which is worse? just having a really bad bout of flu but having it last for just a day or two? or like what i am going through? not quite feeling sick enough to lie in bed the whole day, but just not feeling 100% and having to labour through work for about 2 weeks now. even went to the doc and said just give me the antibiotics so that i would not get hit by an infection even if it is useless against the flu.

the other bad thing about these symptoms is that i don't feel sick enough to lay off training completely. so there has been a series of really slow jogs, mostly on the treadmill in the gym and two very light spins on the bike trainer. played a terrible soccer match and sat out another which was depressing. and with arsenal in full meltdown mode in the league, i am not a happy camper.

so what has happened after san francisco?

i was feeling really good after that. spent a couple of days with my brother-in-law before packing up and going home after almost two months. i think the packing may have been tougher than the marathon!

there was no way i could bring everything back with me, especially the books from the program (as well as those i bought for myself). books are heavy...unless of course i was flying first class...in the end, because singapore airlines allows for extra baggage at US$109 per piece, i decided to bring my brompton bike back with me. the books would have to wait. no hurry anyway.

anyways, on coming home my mum fell ill and spent 2 weeks in the hospital before passing away on 18th August 2011. she had been suffering from parkinson's for a couple of years now and the deterioration has been fairly rapid in the last couple of months. in the end, it was an infection that she could not quite get over. the shuttling to and from the hospital, and then the funeral arrangements and all exhausted me. i do believe however that my fitness level at the time (after the marathon) might have helped tide me over this tough period. otherwise i might have fallen ill earlier.

i need to get my act together soon seeing as i have signed up for the stanchart marathon in december. just met up with neil for the first time after coming back. he's doing the half. cornel, who i met in stanford, asked me about the event but i haven't heard from him since. hope nothing's happened to him.

took the kids to the park one saturday to let them see the brompton and ride it as well. matt enjoyed it obviously. he likes gadgets, especially expensive ones! and ethan got to ride his new trek bike! he had outgrown his old giant bike (that sounds weird - if you did not know that giant is a brand of bike:))

and just when i was feeling something like close to normal after the funeral was over, i had to travel to washington for work and maybe that was when the wheels started falling off. never felt quite right after that.

but being in washington during this time was significant as it was the 10th anniversary of the sep11 attacks. i visited the special exhibition at the museum of american history and though it was somewhat of a letdown in terms of scale, the exhibits did bring a sense of connection to the people who died as well as those fortunate enough to have survived it. michael collarone (mikey flowers), whose badge is one of the exhibits, was a volunteer emergency medical technician who rushed to the site and helped evacuate and tend to the injured.

this doll, dressed in a firefighter's uniform... who did it belong to?

and coming as it did soon after my mum's passing, it was a time for reflection on my own life - thinking about my family (my parents both of whom are gone now) and my responsibilities to my younger brothers (it was always there but i guess as long as my mum was around, even if she was incapable of even communicating in the last year or so, i somehow felt less so) as well as my own family.

as i started to come to terms with all that was happening, and resumed writing my blog, i happened to go the blog of enrico varella (leadership lessons from triathlons) which i hadn't read in a while now, and saw a blog entry about older triathletes and what motivates them and how they felt about triathlons. and i thought about what makes me keep at it.

i don't take any of this for granted. i see so many of my friends get sidelined by injuries, ill-health, work pressure, family commitments etc. that i am truly grateful for the next workout, even if it is one done when i am not feeling that great, not at my best. enjoy the moment. there may not be another chance.

i don't think i need to race to enjoy such a lifestyle. i don't race anyway. i just complete the event respectably and just hope not to embarrass myself. incidentally i just read something in 3Go, one of the latest triathlon magazines about a dj who does not race but does more than the equivalent of a olympic distance event every morning in training. hats off to him! and there were comments from other readers who say that even though they don't take part in any races, they consider themselves triathletes. i am cool with that, just that i think they should do one race, even if it is just a sprint. otherwise they have not really experienced it fully.

or perhaps the more accurate term is multi-sport athlete? i play soccer too. names don't matter. just go for it and enjoy doing whatever you enjoy most.

the race, the bridge, the san francisco marathon

2011-09-26T23:29:00.000+08:00

race morning. neil and i got up ahead of the alarms we set. i didn't sleep too well which isn't unusual the day before a race. a quick energy bar (clif) breakfast, rub-down with some deep heat and we were off. it was a few blocks away so we walked (see map below where (A) is the hotel and the green bubble is the start point). i did not drink coffee as it would mean quite a few toilet breaks - and there would be quite a few but more on that later.

i think this picture was taken before the start but the photo info says 8.25 am which can't be right (this is one of those from marathon photos which i bought and downloaded). it would have been brighter by then. in fact, it was already brighter at the start as can be seen below. as you can see, i was well protected against the elements (in fact, it wasn't that cold at the start) with gloves, cap, sunglasses and my pearl izumi rain jacket which is super light and obviously catches the photographer's attention:) there were disposable coats sold at the race expo - you looked like a butcher or lab technician. 6 bucks each and people just threw them on the ground along the way. a bit wasteful but i guess it's that or you freeze if you didn't have a jacket like i did.

my handy garmin forerunner worked beautifully and this is the view of the route from google earth. i had a rather largish fanny pack from asics which i bought at the race expo, which i would later stuff the jacket into. also had one of those handy waist belts (the one i bought was called a spibelt - picture below) which double as race tag holder, gel holder and comes with a waterproof stretchable case where i put my iphone - pretty handy for photos and videos here.

race gear: on the left is a wrist tag that comes in different targeted finishing times. i picked a few and in the end decided to go with this one. i had to make it by 5 hours if i was to make it back to the hotel in time to check out! if i was ahead of schedule that would be great but i did not want to put too much pressure on myself if i picked say, 4.5 hours and then run out of gas and had to quit. this is something new to me and a very useful and thoughtful piece of equipment (if you could call it that - or maybe race aid might be a better description). you just keep checking elapsed time against the mile markers on the left to see if you were on track. in the middle here is my number tag. there is a tab for beer (but i never got to use it) and on the right is the timing chip which is looped around the shoelaces.

green for go!

and we're off! lost neil when we both went to the portaloos. waited for a while in case he had taken some time but after a while i figured he must have gone off to the start line. quite a long walk to the holding area, and from there, another longish walk before you actually cross the start line which is why the runners at the back of the wave (mostly latecomers like me) have already thinned out here in the pictures you see - at least among those of us who took the time to soak in the atmosphere before actually making our way to the start line. we were one of the last waves and below, you can see what i saw as i crossed the start line.

took a while before we caught sight of the bridge for the first time. by this time i had taken off the jacket - it was getting warm. but the gloves stayed on for a bit. below, one of the first views of the bridge! it was exciting knowing that we would be running across it soon.

this is an image from google earth of the area approximately where i took the photo above. can't recall why i took that little detour at jauss street - must be a toilet stop:)

closer now...

this picture was taken using my iphone by the bald guy in the video above. as you can tell, i was not aiming for a personal best by any stretch of the imagination with the numerous photo stops that i made. as well as quite a few toilet stops - what can i say? it was cold. and many of the queues were long. the longest wait was about 5 minutes near the bridge turnaround.

and i'm off again after one of my last photo stops. this was the start of a rolling section that led eventually to the bridge. the hills were tough but because of my runs to the dish, i was actually in quite good shape for them... the bridge at last!!! it was quite congested even at this point.

one of my all-time favourite moments during a race was coming up behind this guy and seeing the t shirt. he put a smile on the face of everyone who saw this. this ranks number 2 in my collection of memorable and funny moments in a race (not that many given the suffering we tend to experience) - my favourite remains "this seemed like a good idea 3 months ago" which i saw at the stanchart marathon in singapore a couple of years ago. and i didn't realise it at the time but there are actually different interpretations you can make for this chap's t shirt.

"the older i get, the faster i was" can be read literally. as i get older, i slow down. and so relatively speaking, i was faster when i was younger (as the gap grows). strangely enough, i interpreted it more philosophically by thinking that what the chap meant was that his recollection of how fast he actually was when younger, changes over time. every parent and child who has had this conversation (life was tougher when i was a kid, we had to yada yada yada...) would understand this.

it was overcast and the wind was blowing strongly while we were on the bridge. that made it cold. and soon i would put on my gloves again. as you can see from the picture above, there were stretches on the bridge where we would be quite close to other runners and in fact i saw two people trip and fall. one was a female runner just behind me (no it wasn't me who tripped her) and i looked around and she was being helped to her feet by someone, probably a friend running with her and looked alright. another was a guy on crutches believe it or not (and of course with a cast on one foot) and he was going pretty good too until someone ran past and took one of his crutches out and he went down. it was an accident waiting to happen. he didn't look too badly hurt but it could have been worse, and it could have been someone else who got hurt. i admire his guts in doing it on crutches but all in all, perhaps not the smartest thing to do and maybe the organizers should have pulled him off the course before he did any serious damage to himself or someone else.

no more pictures taken with the iphone after coming off the bridge. i decided it was time to get serious or else i wouldn't make 5 hours. i had been going pretty good the first half even with all the stops but i knew that the second half would be tough. still there were a couple of interesting bits where i stopped to take a couple of shots but for some reason they did not appear in my phone. maybe my fingers were too frozen:) i actually shot a video (or thought i did) of a band playing along the route. there was actually more than one band, as well as some other acts (two drummers, a dj just playing stuff on his console, some college kids just going nuts cheering for everyone). and somewhere in the park area (i think it was the martin luther king park), i suddenly saw a sign in chalk on the road that said "beer ahead". i thought it was someone's idea of a joke until i rounded a corner and saw that yes, there were actually a couple of guys who had a keg of beer and were handing out plastic cups of beer to runners!!

from the expression on my face, i guess i am suffering at this point in the race...and the gloves are on again! and i started listening to music on the phone. had not created a playlist since this was a new phone (the old one fell into the truckee river) so it was a bit of a hit and miss when it came to stuff that would help with the running. but i do remember that elton john's "i'm still standing" had a really great tempo (if a tad fast for my weary legs by then) that pumped me up and gave me a lift. much of the last third of the race (or less?) was run through neighbourhoods (tough to run over rolling hills but then again, this is san francisco) and i found it baffling at one stage when i saw a group of runners in front of me being directed to turn left at a junction, and they then closed the junction and we were told to keep going straight! i was like,"is this a short cut? or did they get a short cut?" and then it dawned on me as i kept going and suddenly could see other runners a block away running parallel to me (i think i was on 15th and they were on 14th). i guess what the cops did was to alternate opening up junctions so as not to make traffic disruption too bad and because it's all a grid anyway so there is no real distance gained or lost when diverting runners in this way.

think this is near the ATT stadium, home of the world champions of baseball, the san francisco giants. it was good to see the stadium because it meant we were close. by now i had stopped taking pictures myself but did use the phone to reply to messages from neil who had finished his half marathon in 1.52 which he was very pleased with given his achilles problems and the effect it had on his training. he was on his way to the airport and it was great to receive the messages of encouragement.

near the end now, still pumping those arms and puffing those cheeks... i had a hotel to get back to and check out of! that was great motivation. didn't need anything else.

don't think i have looked anywhere near this comfortable at the end of a race. all in all, an excellent day and a great experience running in temperatures way cooler than back home. the difference was tremendous. i did not feel that beat up.

this is the thermal wrap we get at the finish. very welcome after a couple of minutes when the cold hits you. i hugged it tightly as i walked briskly (well as best as i could) back to the hotel. reached it with an hour to spare. had a nice shower (it was heavenly) and then headed to the train station. had not checked the train schedule yet and walked to the nearest starbucks to get a free wifi connection. turns out i had about 20 minutes or so to get to the station from the starbucks. so i quickly chomped down the muffin and took my chai tea latte with me and this time, i was really walking briskly, striding purposefully towards the train station. but in reality it was a stiff-legged amble with my quads screaming in agony in parts. but it would be all good as previous experience in singapore had revealed. keep moving and get the blood flowing. reached the station with 5 minutes to spare but i was sweating profusely. but i made it. did the run, made it back to the hotel, made it to the station...

all in all, a very satisfying race for a variety of reasons but mainly because it was really good fun. highly recommended.

post-script: i was in washington two months later, and was out in georgetown doing some shopping when i saw this display at the north face store along m street! what a coincidence! quite cool that they sponsored the winner and then could actually feature what he wore in this manner...

the san francisco marathon - getting there and pre-race diversions

2011-09-24T16:55:00.003+08:00

this was my ride to san francisco. i was in zone 4 in lawrence, and headed for the last stop on the route in downtown san francisco on 4th street. 4 zones 1 way for US$8.75. not bad at all.

as you can see, the train is very comfortable, double decker, and later when i was watching the movie source code on the flight home, i was reminded of this because the movie is set almost entirely on a train that looks very similar.

arrival in san francisco. it took about 1 hr 30 minutes or so. i was to meet neil at the race expo on 7th street so it was a pretty short walk. met neil at the program a couple of weeks ago - we were in the same discussion group and he was also from singapore. and when he mentioned that he was running the san francisco marathon, i thought that it was an incredible coincidence!

don't you just love the tag line "worth the hurt"? well, we will see whether it was worth it. the other thing that struck me was that the race expo was held so close to the race. typically it is done at least a couple of days before but maybe it attracts quite a diverse group of participants, who would not travel to the city too early. as it was, we met quite a lot of participants staying in the same hotel.

neil had booked the room for a night only as he had to catch a flight on the day of the race at 2 pm. as it turned out, that meant that if he had chosen to run the full race, he would be cutting it pretty close and might miss the flight home. but he was going to run at least half, as that meant running on the golden gate bridge, which seemed pretty cool to both of us. it was also one of the main reasons i decided to go for it.

rest of the day was spent walking around town, taking in the sights and some shopping. dinner was noodles in chinatown - a bit late for carbo loading:) not ideal marathon preparation but neither of us had done any proper training leading up to this anyway so...

one last visit to a streetbike named desire

2011-07-24T00:55:00.000+08:00

i decided to make one more trip back to the store just to browse and also to get the box to ship the bike back home. as luck would have it, i met the man behind the concept, joe. here he is, the proud owner of a brand new business that had bikes flying off the shelves from day one. well-deserved i say, for a concept well thought through and executed.

an electric bike. i forget the name now but the battery can be seen just below the seat, cleverly integrated into the design of the bike. think joe said they were from spain?

one of my favourite bikes in the shop. and the briefcase is designed specifically for the bike too! isn't that awesome?

one last shot of my brompton before packing it up and bringing it home. that's palo alto high in the background - some kids were playing lacrosse. i carried the flattened box and rode back to campus holding it in one hand:) guess i should have figured out how before deciding to ride my bike there and having to wing it.

longest run?

2011-07-22T11:42:00.000+08:00

long time since my last post here. i have been running, but maybe not as frequently as i would like.

14th july was probably my longest run. my watch failed to pick up the first part of my run from schwab to stanford avenue. not sure how far that is. total distance clocked was 16.57 km. my previous longest run was 17.76 km. is the missing distance more than 1.2 km? i am not sure and maybe need to measure it somehow.

couple of days later, i decide to run a flatter route. the hills where the dish are can be a real killer.

this one measures 14.16 km and i now have a much better appreciation of the layout of the roads. part of it was the route i first took and got lost on when i was trying to get to the dish.

and my last run two days ago was at 5.30 am. i decided it would be good to experience what it would be like to run at that hour since the marathon is going to start early and it will probably be colder than here in stanford. so i armed myself by wearing my new gloves and my nike compression top which i bought on sale here really cheap. i will do one more long run and take in a bigger loop on the left and right in order to increase the distance. not sure if i will do the hills though. probably not.

something different about the dish...

2011-07-08T14:20:00.000+08:00

went for a run on friday just before heading out to san francisco. did my usual route and from a distance, i thought there was something different about the dish. do you spot what it is? it's been painted blue!

halfway through, i decided i would do a slightly different route. instead of turning left and heading up the slope to the dish and then running round its perimeter, i decided to pass it by and keep going and saw a different view of stanford and the hoover tower.

4th of july - longest run... so far

2011-07-07T04:26:00.000+08:00

my way of celebrating 4th of july was to run my longest run so far in the states. did about 17 km. class ended in the morning and i had planned to run in the afternoon but it was just too hot for me to contemplate being outside, let alone run.

in any case there were readings to do and a meeting at 5, so that pretty much put paid to my plans for a long run then. waited till the meeting ended, and then i was off. it was still very bright at 6.20 pm or so. took the route to the dish again, and this time i brought my new camera which could even fit into a tiny pocket in my running shorts.

i could go up the hill at the dish relatively easily compared to the first time when i really could not even catch my breath - and had to stop!! some nice shots of the scenery, including this one which uses a special feature of the camera for taking super wide panoramic pictures. i should have taken another to catch the other side, since this is only about 180 degrees i.e. in front of me.

you just adjust the setting for taking such shots, point and shoot and keep your finger on the button , moving smoothly in the direction indicated by the camera - so far it has been left to right. not sure it works in the other direction.

another view of the dish. such beautiful blue skies...

i reached schwab at about 8 pm and check this out. it is still so bright. i think this partly explains why i felt confident about running at 8 just a couple of days earlier.

self portrait

race against the sun

2011-07-06T14:46:00.000+08:00

last friday, after the north american theme party, i decided to go for a run. it was motivated partly by the amount of food that i have been eating here, and i am sure i am putting on unwanted weight ahead of the marathon. and on sunday, they served a huge rib eye steak that i only managed to finish half of. it was huge. i don't have a picture because my phone and camera had gone diving the day before, but believe me it was big.

anyway, i decided to go for a run - it was about 7.50 pm when i started. sky was still bright and i thought it would not set so early or so quickly.

about halfway through my run along junipero serra boulevard (the lowest point of the route in the picture above), i realised that the sun was setting very quickly and there were no lights along that road. i quickened my pace but without pushing too hard in case i injured myself. as i watched the last rays of the sun slowly fade over the treetops, i got a little worried because it was getting quite dark, and the only light came from cars passing by.

thankfully i did not have to run too far in the dark before i reached campus drive and saw the welcome glow of streetlights. all in all, a short run of about 7 km and at quite a good intense pace. the intensity is something i don't do enough of back home. hopefully it will make up for my lack of mileage when i run the marathon in 3 weeks.

getting lost in stanford (part III)

2011-06-27T13:26:00.004+08:00

today i finally did a proper run without having to stop so much to catch my breath and navigate. and i went further than on friday too. maybe for today's run, i will try to export the data to the boys and see if they can open it in my garmin training center at home and then use that to view the route on google earth. sounds like it should be doable right?

or maybe i should learn how to do it in garmin connect and it should then be viewable over the internet? problem is i can't seem to get garmin connect to work. will do the hard way first.

took basically the same route as on friday except that this time i made sure that i would not miss junipero serra boulevard again. what happened on friday was that i took some kind of pedestrian underpass which made me miss the junction.

anyways, no pictures today as i did not take my phone with me. if i got lost, i might be in trouble. but i figured that after friday i should have my bearings right. and it was mostly the case - up to a point. so i went down stanford avenue again and today, as i came up to the junction of junipero serra blvd, i saw a chap at the traffic lights with a tent all set up, sitting in a chair and with a water container on a table and some plastic cups.

i was quite tempted to ask him for water - in my haste to get the run in, i did not drink just before starting out. and i forgot to put in my gel heel cups again. no sunblock as well. i need to get better organized. but i digress.

i think that if i ever see him again, i will ask if he was actually doing this as a public service or was there some kind of race or run training and this was a water point. i mean, if he was providing water to family or friends, why couldn't they have water back in their cars which were probably parked nearby? if it was a race, then he obviously had too few cups. similarly if it was for some kind of running group, there were probably too few cups - which would in turn suggest that this was a lot of work just for a few runners. so i was quite curious. i should have asked him today but i had a good rhythm going and did not want to break it.

i managed to run up all the hills and most of the way, stopping only at some points to either adjust stuff (like my nano) or wait for lights to cross roads.

i nearly missed campus drive, which would have meant re-tracing my outgoing route and would have lengthened my run considerably. the road had no signs other than one that said golf camp. but i suspected it was the turn i should take as there were two big stone blocks with a big "S" on them, which probably meant it was an entrance to stanford. once inside, it was easier to navigate. but i seemed to be taking a long time, which meant i had underestimated the distance. it looked shorter on the map somehow.

just thought of something. maybe i can bypass all that and just send stuff via google earth directly. so here's the first attempt. this is a google earth image of my run routes on friday and today.

i made good time - well not bad for me, and managed to get back in time for a quick shower and drinks, and then off to dinner. i checked the above image and it seems to work quite alright. cool!

getting lost in stanford (part II)

2011-06-25T15:15:00.000+08:00

so today i decided to tackle the dish. what a good name for a running route, or destination. so short and snappy. i set off at about 3 pm. brilliant weather again. took off to the right after coming out of schwab center. continued until i hit the main junction at el camino real and then headed right and turned into stanford avenue on the right. a long rather quiet road - then again i guess most residential areas would be at 3 on a friday afternoon. here's a picture.

pretty flowers along the road towards the entrance of the trail. finally made it to juniper serra boulevard, the road along which the various entrances to the trail are.

so i go in and immediately there is a really long and steep hill right in front of me. at the highest point, i am 150 m above sea level. i had to stop more than once - of course my excuse was that i stopped to take pictures:)

does not look like much does it? this is just part of it. it keeps going on up after that.

a beautiful view from not quite the top yet. i had no idea how much higher it was going to go.

this sign got my attention. i like the last bit - if attacked, fight back!

first reasonably close view of the dish

a picture of me with the dish in the background. actually there are two dishes but i didn't realise it at the time. the second picture is a movie i took accidentally.

a long way down - but at least it's downhill. at the time, i had no clue how long more i would take. it was sunny and dry and i was very dehydrated. it was not that hot today and the fact that i did not really feel sweaty as i would in singapore was very deceiving. i was obviously still losing water but because it evaporates quickly, the only sign of dehydration is your mouth and throat. as i came out onto what i thought was juniper serra boulevard again (don't recall seeing any other road signs), i asked a lady which way stanford was. she said it was quite far - i said i knew but just needed to confirm the direction. i continued on and missed a turn that would have shortened my route a little but it was ok. i was just having fun (though next time i would definitely bring water) and exploring on foot. jogged slowly the rest of the way.

finally back in campus. the colours of the flowers were really pretty. don't think this picture does it justice.

all in all, i covered 13.25 km - walked for only a bit, maybe less than 50 m but i did stop, especially when checking my iphone for directions in the second half.

getting lost in stanford

2011-06-23T14:16:00.000+08:00

i decided to try and find my way to the dish. this is a satellite dish on a little hill nearby. there is a popular route that goes there and back, about 4 miles, so not too difficult a run. i knew the way roughly but went off course after a while. i had wanted to write it down on a piece of paper but did not have the time as i had decided to run after about 2 hours of reading and just changed and took off. so here i am in front of schwab residential center, my start point.

and off i went. came across some nice fields - they have lots of these all over. really good to have such wide open spaces that you can use for so many things.

this is the road leading to downtown palo alto. palo alto is a famous place because many of the top internet companies started life here and are still here. i think we went there for a tour during our previous trip? didn't we go to intel?

one of the many stadiums and running tracks here. sports is a big part of stanford.

anyway, i finally found myself on the trail leading to the dish but as i did not have time - i had to get back for dinner and our nightly discussion meetings - i settled for knowing where it was and took this picture of it. you can just barely make it out somewhere in the middle of the picture - at least the top of the dish is visible. the picture is bad because i took it with the iphone and the sun was really shining which made those parts in shadows really dark. will bring my better camera next time.

getting lost in saratoga

2011-06-19T13:52:00.000+08:00

well, after a day of walking endless loops in a shopping mall, i decided to go for another run, but this time in my new nikes.

this is the free run+2. very light and comfortable. logged about 8.5 km today in them, no issues except i forgot to put in the gel heel cups. so the left foot is a little sore but no real issues.

nice weather again, but hardly anyone out exercising at this time, this being saturday afternoon or evening rather. i decided to take the same route as yesterday for the first half, and to then vary the route coming back. i looked it up on google earth, but neglected to look more closely at the map. what looked like a continuous road on the map turned out otherwise. i found myself at a t-junction, when on the map it had looked like a cross junction. i was supposed to go across and continue right on but now there was the slight problem of a house in the way and no road going that way.

fortunately, i had plotted out a loop so i knew that if i turned right, i would eventually hit the main road that would lead me back. and so it turned out. along the way, i suddenly came upon this road sign

just one of those lucky coincidences. if i had checked the route properly i would not have come this way and seen orchard road! and going on further, i saw another sign

oh i think the picture is too small. it says turn right to go to san francisco. well, i wasn't running that far!

feeling better today and running a little more freely. knee not acting up at all. and the weather was beautiful again. let's see what running in stanford is like.

running in saratoga

2011-06-18T00:42:00.000+08:00

ok verde vista lane is where it all begins. at the suggestion of my brother-in-law, i take the road towards sarahills. lots of nice houses but i am not househunting. he told me it's a hill, with a nice view at the top. i figure i have seen enough of the neighbourhood in my last visit to know that it is not a particularly hilly area.

and so off i went.

nice and cool, kind of like running in the gym in air-conditioned comfort. except that it is outdoors. the temperature is between 16 - 18 celsius. a little nippy but once i get going, it's not too bad. i didn't bring my newtons and my off road vasquezes weigh a ton. relatively speaking of course. but i was also glad for the additional heft in case i had injured my right leg. in fact, as i was queuing up at immigration, i felt it was a bit stiff and ached a bit. probably from sitting down all that time. so a run was exactly what i needed.

the problem with this route was that i did not warm up, and this hill (above) came about 5 minutes into the run.

the sign says "steep grade". they weren't kidding. due to the lack of warm up, the heavy shoes, the two-week layoff (that would have been worse if not for the two short bike sessions and two swims), the dry air, my heart felt like it was going to explode halfway up the hill. i was barely moving. but i plugged along, determined to go beyond 30 minutes.

but as my brother-in-law said, the view from up there was not bad. not bad at all.

halfway up (or down actually), i saw this piece of equipment abandoned by the side - maybe it's not abandoned, i don't know. i am not clear exactly what it was, or designed to do but it looks maybe like some kind of plough.

i walked back slowly enjoying the nice crisp air and by the time i got back, i was almost dry. a beautiful day.

so anyway, my first run in saratoga. will probably do another today once it warms up a bit. and i will definitely need to warm up myself. not something i do instinctively back home because by the time i put on my shoes and walk downstairs, i might already be perspiring a little. i have only started stretching as i get older and the old joints and ligaments need a little encouragement.

san francisco marathon

2011-06-17T08:44:00.000+08:00

well as luck would have it, i am currently in san francisco for a couple of weeks and the marathon is being held on 31 july. just arrived today and it's great weather for running. sun's out and it's cool. i was last here in december and it was bone-chillingly cold. i don't do great in cold weather so this is a nice change.

the thing is i have not run since the sundown. not sure if my legs are too beat up but i am thinking that at the very least, i could do the half marathon. i have never done one before come to think of it. i will go out for a short run later to beat the jet lag and to just shake off the rust and the eating i have been doing prior to leaving home.

but yes, i have never done a half marathon. the biggest race on the local calendar is of course the army run. however, having heard from those who have done it, it is just way too crowded. there are, or at least there were, apparently severe bottlenecks at certain parts of the course. maybe one day i will do the local race if it is sorted out.

speaking of local races, i will need to make sure i catch the registration for stanchart this time round. last year, it sold out within weeks.

ok let's hit the road and see how my knee holds up.

hey i moved up one spot!

2011-06-08T00:29:00.000+08:00

thanks to Willy Kipkemoi Rotich, who was disqualified after he "won" the sundown marathon, i have now moved up one spot! woo hoo!

now the thing is, rules are rules, and he had to return all his prize money and what not - well they do "belong" to Richard Habeya, who signed up but couldn't make it. but i do think it's a bit rich to call it cheating.

the chap ran the race. he came in first. true, he ran using someone else's name and tag. but he won it fair and square. now i don't quite understand why he does this. apparently it is not even the first time. what does he do, go to countries holding a marathon, hang around, do not sign up and hope that his fellow countrymen fail to show up?

bizarre does not begin to describe this.

sundown marathon

2011-06-04T16:11:00.000+08:00

i was strangely blase about the whole event in the days leading up to it. maybe it was because i had no real goals or expectations other than finishing comfortably. as it turned out even that was beyond me.

this strange feeling was probably best illustrated by the race pack collection experience. i collected my stuff, looked around the expo a bit (not much different from other race expos) and left. ok so i had time constraints and had to go pick up my son but still, the expos are getting boring. didn't help that i don't live in the east. anyway it dawned on me later that there was no timing chip and there had been no instructions about collecting one. so i read the instruction booklet and discovered that the chip was on the race bib. cool! how long has this been going on? boy am i out of touch.

it's probably good to practise running in the dead of night to get used to it but i didn't have the time. i figured that i had done enough runs at night to know what it would be like, though i never went past 11 before. anyway, it was a novel experience and that was the main reason for doing it.

but as the missus and i (and my oldest boy) approached changi village around 9, i wonder if this was a mistake. last year there had been problems of traffic congestion which led to some not being able to run the full marathon. would this happen to me? surely not? i had an hour to go from changi village! as it turned out, i was late by nearly half an hour. it is a logistical nightmare and i thought the traffic police should have done a better job moving things along. the race site is one thing. getting people there and back is another.

as we sat in the jam, many were walking, some jogging, to try and get to the start on time. i was cool because i figured i wouldn't be that late and experience from stanchart tells me that it takes more than half an hour to get a good sized field past the starting line. but these people were doing more than a marathon!:) changi aviation road alone is quite a stretch - more than 2 km. the sign that said 40 km as we passed it going in was going to remain in my mind later as i shuffled painfully to the end.

it was quite thrilling as well because the needle on the fuel gauge was quite near empty. my fault for not filling up before. i was worried that the family would get stuck on the way out cos the jam was equally bad for those trying to leave. must be those who had done the half marathon earlier.

i finally make it, jump out of the car saying a quick goodbye and then deposited my stuff. i decided i did not want to lug my phone and raincoat around and that the fanny pack would weigh me down once it got wet from sweat. i decided to risk it even though the forecast predicted that it might storm. but the weather held. good call. a quick trip to the loo (good thing about being late is that there is no queue), start my ipod and i am off. slight delay getting the garmin started but i wasn't really in a hurry.

as i make the first turn, i see the missus and my boy, and it was a nice surprise. a quick kiss, and high five with my son later and i am off. initial going is conservative and i try to find a nice rhythmn. it's a long time before we make the turn to coastal road and then i remember the sign for 40 km. boy that last two km is going to be tough.

along coastal road, people are walking by then and i have to confess i wonder why they sign up if they can't even run to the first water point. some young chap starts running backward to impress his girl who's running alongside and i wonder how long he's going to keep that up. not long as it turns out. many are decked out in compression gear and one chap had the whole works going. hot saturday night out. and not in a good way:) i thought about it too but decided comfort was more important. besides some current research observe that the benefits are confined to compression gear for recovery, not activity. but more power to them if it helps them psychologically. and that's the key. as long as it does not actually slow you down.

at the 10k mark, i find i have exceeded an hour by a bit (1:04) but i don't want to push my luck. i had told my boys that my aim was to go sub-5 and as long as i held this pace, i would do it. so i keep plugging along, not tempted to up the pace too much. at the halfway mark i am somewhere in the region of 2:23 so i have slowed a little i think. but if i still keep at the current pace, i could make it. and i am not really pushing it. stopping at water points, walking a little while drinking. and as i pass the 30k mark (3:34) things are still looking ok. not great, not good but ok.

but things start to go wrong soon after. i feel the first twinges in my right knee, the same one that plagued me previously - diagnosis then was a meniscus problem. i suppose this is what they call runner's knee. clearly i had not put in enough mileage, or had not gotten enough rest (though that is less likely with all the downtime i had due to illness). it's run and walk from there and i limp home as best as i can - run until the knee starts to feel "loose" (it's a weird sensation, as if it is coming detached) and stop before the ache starts. it's not a sharp pain - which is good.

many pass me in that last stretch. some are really determined - they are not going particularly fast but they are going. with an unusual gait but nonetheless a relentlessness that shows their determination. i admire that. as usual there are good moments - an ang moh couple at east coast lagoon held up a sign "chafe now, brag later" which brings a smile to my face. i was still running at the time. as opposed to limping. no smiles after that.

as i turn into aviation park road, i suddenly recall the 40k sign. i don't see it for a while and when i do see it, i recall we sat in the car for quite a distance before reaching the start point. and that is depressing when you are limping along. but i finally finish and literally slow to a crawl at the finish. 5:09. oh well, something to improve on if i manage to sign up for the stanchart.

ok there's still the champions league final to look forward to but then i notice that they seem to be showing highlights. surely i had not taken that long that i had missed the whole game? i had calculated that if i start at 10 (the official start time) and took 5 hours, i would probably catch almost all of the game. but the late start and my terrible last 10k put paid to that. it took a while and then i figured out that it was the half time highlights. saw rooney score and thought damn! then heard it was an equaliser and that wasn't so bad. the second half was pure genius from barcelona and i am not really exaggerating when i say that their play was sublime and left us enthralled and forgetting the pain we were in, well some of us anyway.

a good end to what was quite an experience for me. barcelona 3 manure 1.

sundown prep

2011-05-17T12:33:00.000+08:00

knees aching. ankles aching. soles hurt. achilles aching.

managed a long run of 25k two sundays ago and then my body rebelled and shut me down for a couple of days. this time though, it was quite mild. i think i caught some virus and laid off for two days but then felt well enough, even if not quite 100% (in fact it was pretty frigging far from 100%), to do a short 6k. and then a little more each day until i managed 20k again last sunday.

two weeks to go and i really don't have a game plan other than to finish as comfortably as i can. no way of doing a pb for sure. might try for one more long run of either 30k or 3 hours, whichever happens earlier:) my garmin forerunner helps me keep track of my distances and pacing, and it's great feedback. but i am still not ready to move up to the next level of serious training. not just yet. but i am getting a lot of confidence that i have upped my mileage and doing 10k training runs fairly easily, even if i am not quite zipping along. by serious training, i mean a proper plan, speed work etc.

my goals have definitely changed. i enjoy each run as much as i can. and if i take my fuel belt along, i can explore more off the beaten track, venture into areas i would normally not reach. but having said that, i wonder if there are better designs out there. i hate the constant thumping and bumping of the bottles against my waist. should i invest in a camelbak? would certainly bring back memories of the army, running with a backpack. recently caught the series "every singapore son" which really brought back those days, now seen through rose-tinted shades of course. my sons have it good, or will have it good. training is still tough of course but the army now has better nutrition, better equipment and facilities and methods.

they now have proper running shoes, compared to the black "kung fu shoes" we used. i wonder how many chaps have sustained injuries to their knees because of those shoes. or maybe some of us discovered the right way to run because of those shoes since "barefoot" running shoes are all the rage now?

anyway, it's good to be still able to run when so many of my contemporaries are now off running altogether because of injuries. or maybe i lucked out in the genetic lottery stakes since there are studies that show some are just more prone to injury than the rest. but i am starting to feel it more and more. as a friend i met recently said, "growing old sucks".

true but it also makes some moments funnier. like when we were driving home one night and listening to mamjo jambo hour or whatever it is called on 987. all the disco era stuff was playing, like boney m, donna summer etc. and i explained that mambo jambo was a weekday event at zouk which was a great retro night for old fogeys, but some young people liked it as well. and matthew quickly added, it's "bring your parents to zouk night"!

giro tribute to wouter weylandt

2011-05-11T00:46:00.000+08:00

once in a while, something restores my faith in people. sure, we are all flawed in our own ways, fighting, being selfish, cheating just to gain an advantage...but every now and then, people surprise me.

and the contrast is always what gets me in the world of professional cycling. all evidence points to it as a drug-tainted sport, where no one is immune from either outright discovery and condemnation as in the case of landis; or just plain old long-standing rumours and suspicions that won't go away like armstrong. and of course the interesting case of contador which still hangs in the balance.

but cycling also has its code, such as not attacking when a guy is down. in some sports, you sense weakness, you go in for the kill. in cycling, you become a pariah if you attack after your opponent crashes.

and then you have days like today in the giro. a day after a promising young rider wouter weylandt, died tragically in a crash, the entire peloton basically used today's stage to pay their respects. racing would have to wait for another day. there are things more important than a stage win.

as they headed towards the finish line, the main peloton held back and kept a respectful distance while some 20 yards ahead, the entire leopard trek team, wouter's team, rode in a single row across the road, hands across each other's shoulders, or just simply holding hands. as they crossed the finish line together, some were overcome by emotion at the loss of a teammate and friend. it was a sight i will never forget.

building a base

2011-04-30T11:42:00.000+08:00

i have sort of come to the conclusion that i have not really built a base from which to make improvements. so every year i kind of start from scratch, with the only real improvements being made in terms of training efficiency, the experience of battling pain and overcoming it, and learning how to deal with injuries.

there has not been much in the way of a systematic plan to improve my training. correction, i actually don't have a plan. which is fine most of the time because well, i have discipline issues. most days i find it tough to sleep early, which makes it tough to get up early, which makes the training on those days when i summon enough energy to get up less than effective, and which of course leaves me at the plateau i find myself on year after year. but i console myself that i don't have any real goals by way of personal bests that i aim for, and so that is fine.

and yet i am a little competitive by nature. and i guess writing this blog does show some sort of interest in getting serious about training doesn't it? even if no one's reading but it's fun in a cathartic sort of way. i read my old posts occasionally and get a kick out of it. but i digress. another common theme of mine.

i will keep up the mileage even after sundown and see where that takes me. hopefully my injuries don't flare up as they have threatened to do this week when i upped my mileage. even my midweek runs have been longer. and i feel twinges of weakness in my knees and ankles. nothing major and it goes away during the run, but it shows the stresses and strains i am putting my tired bones through. so i try to listen to my body and back it off a bit and still try to meet the major goals of the "plan" such as not skipping or quitting on the long run, and knowing that missing one or two 5k runs isn't a disaster as such.

over time, i will get stronger and tackling the longer runs and even speed work and interval training would not prove too daunting. one goal is to run a sub-4 marathon. hey if uncle chan can come close at his age, i still have time on my side. of course he probably has a lot more years of running under his belt. but he is one of my inspirations.

discipline, discipline, discipline

2011-04-24T11:00:00.000+08:00

sundown's coming up... that sounded weird:) about a month away and today, i did my longest run so far in training - not counting the aviva half-marathon. managed about 19.3 km. by managed of course, i meant i basically just plodded along, real survival style shuffling. it was embarrassing but i needed to finish the session and not quit.

i still of course harbour delusions of a pb. i think that figures prominently in many weekend warriors' fantasies about how they have somehow cracked the code of training less and performing well. i wish the ministry of education would tell me how it's done. you know, as in teach less, learn more?

problem with me is that i want it all. i want to be able to do all the stuff i don't really have time for, and yet stick to the training plan - at least some vague semblance of a plan. if i was honest, this so-called plan is really about one long run a week, one longish run in the middle, and a couple of other runs thrown in to build the mileage. i need more rest but work gets in the way. plus stuff that really needs to be done, but well we are too busy getting on with our daily lives.

the problem is discipline. i like training and keeping fit and right now, i am at a place where training for a full ironman is not at the top of my priorities. i think it is enough to do the half and i am fairly comfortable with that in that i can somehow squeeze enough time out of my schedule for it. but anything more would be dicing with disaster if i enter an event like ironman without sufficient prep. and life is more than triathlons and ironmans and marathons.

2011 aviva 70.3 - the run

2011-04-14T23:18:00.000+08:00

the mind plays tricks on you.

i could swear i was running better than in previous years but somehow it still didn't add up. maybe what has changed is form. i feel like i am running better, with more economy of movement but i guess if i had not put in enough miles, it still won't translate to faster times.

but the first steps out of T2 were deceptive. having eased my way around the third lap of the bike course, i thought that maybe, just maybe, i had put the cramps behind me. i took my time (again) in transition - i could easily shave 5 minutes if i had more urgency - and gingerly took off on a slow jog before easing into something a bit more respectable. otherwise i might as well have walked.

passed paul again. looks like he wasn't having a good day and i think his son was beside him, giving him encouragement. good kid. i shouted out some encouragement and pressed on. i had my own battles ahead. had barely made it past a few hundred metres before i got hit by cramps in the hamstrings again. damn that was disappointing. had to stop and stretch and hope it wasn't too serious.

anyway, soon managed to get going again and i was thankful that it was 2 laps. i hate going round too many times - it's depressing. it was shady in many parts and not too bad a route actually. mostly uneventful and the course was pretty empty by then. the level of competition is getting higher. or maybe i just suck. doesn't matter. i was in it just to finish comfortably. still haven't quite done it though. one day. one day...

the rain came on the second lap and that was a relief of sorts. good that it did not rain on the bike - that would have made it a bit tricky and dangerous though the bike course is fairly wide. but the margin for error would be reduced. i am getting old and my skin is getting thinner by the day. road rashes are to be avoided at all costs. i have even resorted to wearing knee pads or protectors while playing soccer because it is so easy to skin the knees and it takes forever to heal nowadays.

i play leapfrog with a chap who is listening to his ipod - it's against the rules but i figure, he's not in a position to win the race and maybe he only put it on when running so no biggie to me. anyway he puts it away as he is pushing for the finish line. i amble my way to the finish, trying to muster up some semblance of decent running form - but from the race video i saw later, i looked like someone the worse for wear after a friday night pub crawl.

somewhere in the last 20 or so metres, some chap comes flying past as his mates cheer him on and i get a little annoyed because i wonder why he was holding back just for this. but then i think, well to each his own. maybe he was just pumped. all i know was that i could not sprint if my life depended on it.

as i finished, it was a bit of an anti-climax partly because of the problems i had suffered throughout the day, and partly due to the rain, and the fact that there was no announcement of the finishers' names as they came down the blue carpet - maybe the spotters were done or the system was down. but my mood gets better soon enough - i had done it again. my annual sufferfest.

i am no masochist but somehow this feels like a sort of ritual cleansing. when you have given it everything you have got, left nothing in the tank, felt the pain of the effort, felt the intensity of the experience and emerge from it...well, it feels like a sort of new beginning.

i will be back.

aviva 70.3 the bike (the false dawn)

2011-04-09T12:49:00.000+08:00

so as i head into transition, i am still trying to figure out what is my game plan. my slowest swim ever, for 1.9 km, but maybe not so slow if i had swam like 2.1 km :) so if i am not going for a pb, then a comfortable completion is the main goal.

with that in mind, it was a rather relaxed transition. took on some food and drink, mainly to clear the taste of seawater and focused on getting my gear together and making sure i did not forget anything. had already applied sunblock earlier and decided no real need to re-apply any. and got rolling. brought back memories of the first aviva which used the same carpark as the transition, the only difference being that T2 was at the floating platform.

the first lap i just tried to ease myself into a groove and kept on the small ring, which i would do throughout the race. i think. memories kinda fuzzy now. passed a few and got passed by a few but nothing eventful and i was enjoying it. i felt good actually and it was reflected in the speed i was pushing. maybe in the euphoria of feeling good, i did not realise that i was putting in some hard effort but at the time, this fact did not register in my mind. the fact that it was quite a flat course was also a factor, and deceived me into thinking that i was having a really good day.

speaking of the course, the route caused some major disruption i think, for those who were going to catch a cruise or ferry. the police had to stop traffic for us to cut across changi coast road so that we were riding in the correct lane. that meant a rather long jam for lots of cars going to and from the ferry terminal and if anyone missed their boat or whatever, well, blame the organizers not the participants. my guess we won't be seeing this route again in future. apart from that, i must admit it was good to ride on coastal road as there were large stretches under shade unlike the west coast highway. towards the end of coastal road while still heading away from T1, traffic was allowed in one direction (i think) but i felt that this was a little dangerous as any biker who swerved out from the bike lane for some reason would face oncoming traffic. normally it wouldn't happen you know? but when you are fatigued, and lose focus and concentration, accidents will happen.

on one of the laps, on the straight stretch of changi coastal road right next to where the airport runway was, i saw a chap being attended to by one of the marshalls or first aiders. he looked out of it - probably unconscious, and bleeding. it was a sober reminder to race safe, that there was no glory to be won, just personal safety and satisfaction for most of us. i hoped it was nothing serious.

anyway coming into T1 after the first lap, i hear the missus shout and see her strategically positioned right at the point where we have to slow down to make the u-turn. it was really great to see her, especially as i had not expected her to be there and it gave me a massive boost. so i picked up my pace a little and passed paul, an acquaintance who had seen me before the start and wished me a safe race. good man. he was going pretty good too. i felt strong though but as described in an earlier post, it is a tri-ism that no matter how good you feel, it's payback time later.

as i near the end of the second lap, i start feeling twinges in the left hamstring and decide to slow down but it's too late. i can feel the cramps coming on and take action by getting ready to unclip, ever mindful that any sudden action could trigger massive cramps. it takes a while as i keep feeling the initial cramps and back off, waiting to try again, feeling the leg twitch again and backing off again, until finally i summon the effort to make a big push to unclip even as i expect the cramps to hit me at the same time. finally made it, stopping by the side and gently stretching. i pop three hammer electrolyte capsules and hope somehow they do the trick. i have used up most of them by now and have only a few left. still one more lap to go and the half-marathon.

i start off again, gingerly, past a caucasian woman and her kids and they shout "allez, allez" and i try to respond. can't be sure i did but i appreciated their encouragement. have lost a couple of minutes there and a whole bunch of people, including paul have passed me. the last lap is just survival and trying not to get massive cramps but it is of course the longest lap ever. at least that's what it felt like.

finally make it back to transition and i think i took about 3 hours. again it's deceptive because it is a flat course. most people would have gone faster too. that's the problem when the course keeps changing. you can't really gauge progress over the years.

review of the swim at aviva 70.3

2011-04-03T10:42:00.000+08:00

drove myself to the race fairly early and managed to park near enough. still dark out - the race started at 8. not sure why. it just means we spend more time out in the sun. i think i liked it better when we started at 7.

took a really slow and easy walk, listening to my ipod along the way. i was relaxed, almost too relaxed. at the time i did not think too much about it, and reckoned that it was because i had no real expectations about the time i would do. i was a little confident that i had put in enough training to complete the race comfortably. mainly because i did bricks and fairly long ones at that. no guarantees as i found out later. so my entire disposition was that hey, no biggie. i had done the training, and i would finish the race.

secretly though, somewhere in the dark recesses of my mind, perhaps i did harbour some unrealistic thoughts that somehow i had found some magic formula to training and that i might do a more than decent time. and i would catch myself thinking this, and in the next moment, tell myself to relax some more and not get my hopes up. so it was amidst this flip flopping of thoughts that i found myself not quite focused. maybe the ipod was a bad idea.

the queue at the bag deposit was moving way too slowly and there were lots of anxious people, especially those in the first waves. this was the fifth year of the event - surely simple logistics would be the least of the organizer's problems? i am beginning to worry about the sundown - the same people are involved.

the pros start and i catch a glimpse of them rounding the first buoy. must be nice to swim in clear water without having to navigate past anyone. saw lots of people in groups, chatting and having their photos taken and i feel a little bit alone. but i know it's a lonely event anyway and it is tough for spectators in a long event like this where you crane your necks and strain your eyes for hours just to catch a fleeting glimpse of your guy or gal. well in my case, at the speed i am moving, it will be more than a fleeting glimpse.

but i had decided that i would drive there myself - anyway i think the novelty has worn off for everyone, including my kids. they might think it's nothing and take it for granted. like i have in past years.

my head is still not really into it and i begin to have doubts about how i am actually feeling, or what kind of shape i am in. decided that i have no expectations other than finishing and i would actually take it easy and keep at a comfortable pace and see how it goes. i am so distracted that i actually forgot to set my watch! after a while i realise this but decided that since i had no goal other than finishing, it was ok. and i could still gauge progress by looking at the time of day.

as in other years, i take my time getting into the water and try to find a nice rhythm. that works until the first buoy and i have to start passing people. i am not sighting very well and keep drifting - i think the current's pretty strong but more likely it's the fact that i am a crappy swimmer. it's ok for a while and then at the second turn, it's mayhem. i should have taken a wider turn and avoided the crush. but if i thought that was bad, i would soon find out it can get a lot worse.

i knew i was slow but didn't know how slow and as i tried to build some rhythm again, my mind was still having this internal debate about how hard i should push. i reach the shore and have trouble finding solid ground as i approach. the drop off at the shoreline is quite severe. a few times i think i should be near enough to stand but find nothing and have to keep swimming.

check my watch and about half an hour has passed. that is slower than in any of my previous races. but i decide not to fret and dive back in for the second lap. i wonder if there is a better way of doing this because soon enough the faster swimmers from the next waves are catching up and passing us all over. i had never experienced the "washing machine" like this. after rounding the first buoy it was impossible to go more than 5 or 6 strokes without someone touching my feet or brushing against me or hitting some part of me. i fear getting kicked more than anything and this prevents me from really focusing on anything else.

rounding the second buoy again was the worst experience ever. i literally had to stop swimming and push myself out of the way of other swimmers passing by. my apologies to anyone who got mad but it was self-defence your honour... i had to fight my way out of the log jam and find calm water and in the end just about managed to stay calm and relaxed. hamstrings twinged a little from the sudden burst of energy - guess i should have warmed up properly but i was hoping i would be able to save my legs as much as possible.

finally got out of the water. one hour. man. that. was. slow. took my time and decided, screw it, just enjoy the rest of the day and take it easy. so i walked. everyone was jogging past and finally i pick it up just a little. didn't want anyone to think i was packing it in soon. didn't feel too bad as i sat down to change. there was a chance i might just have a fun race. the weather wasn't too bad either.

in rememberance of my father

2011-03-29T00:02:00.000+08:00

it's been 13 years. he passed away in an icu on 28 march 1998. here he is at one of my first few triathlons way back when standing behind me with my brother.

here he is, helping me pack up in the aftermath of another early event the following year. funny how i took it for granted at the time but i did not recall him asking me why i did it or whether we shared about what went on during the race. he was just there when i needed him. i hope i was there when he needed me too.

those were the early years and i supposed one thing he may have wondered was whether i was nuts to do that. was he proud that i had the confidence to tackle something like that? but he was the quintessential asian father, stoic and reserved and he hardly shared his feelings with me, especially what he felt about me.

but i hope he's still watching over me.

reflections after a week

2011-03-26T18:49:00.002+08:00

ok official result - 6 hr 42 min. not shabby for an old fogey but i can't quite make up my mind as to how i should feel about the whole thing. and during the race, as mentioned in an earlier post, i said my head was not quite in the race because, well i was thinking of stuff like, "why do i do triathlons?"

why indeed. if i don't have the time to really go for it and improve my time, why do i do it? i suppose everyone has thought about this at some point in the suffering. ok barring masochism of course. in which case the suffering is the point of it all.

speaking of masochism, to quote another line from the plato and the platypus book, a sadist is a masochist who obeys the golden rule. the golden rule is the one about doing unto others what you want others to do unto you. get it?

but i digress. again. i like digressing. it's how i keep sane during such long races. no point dwelling on the suffering. just had an inspiration for my next race tag identification or whatever you call it. saw one guy who called himself "the big lug". made me want to shout "come on, you big lug!" but he was a fairly big lug and may not have taken too kindly to this. so i kept my counsel. anyway, if i could squeeze it all in, i would put "tipperary or bust" you know, as in "it's a long way to tipperary" well i thought it was clever.

so why do i do it? triathlons that is. i guess it is an annual bloodletting ritual of sorts. subjecting oneself to extreme stress, without overdoing it of course, will make you stronger. mentally i found myself dealing with various issues and problems during the race rather coolly, without getting all worked up because i had come across the situations before. well ok, the fact that i wasn't too bothered about my time does play a rather important part. my first transition was like 8 minutes. that's 8 minutes i would have a lot of trouble cutting down on my swim to name but one obvious example. free advice on setting a pb for all triathlete newbies reading.

it's also a darn good reason to train and get into serious shape. i mean, it's not quite like olympic distance which i could crank out without too much tough training. as it is, the last two times have seen me come close to not finishing because of cramps - though maybe that is a bit of an exaggeration. it was painful but after stopping for a bit, i could carry on without too much trouble until the next spasm. i definitely know that my hamstrings are weak or tight or both, because that's the source of the cramps. need to do some research to see how best to tackle this.

i do know that if i really want to improve my times significantly, i need an all-year training program that is more systematic in addressing my weaknesses. strength and core training would have to feature quite prominently i would think. can't just drop everything and start in mid-december which is what happened this time. but i would have to balance this against all my other priorities and decide if it is worth it and this i suspect, is also the heart of the dilemma for all working stiff triathletes out there.

the answer would have to be negotiated throughout the year but one mantra is definitely about understanding better what works best for me.

D plus 1

2011-03-22T00:39:00.000+08:00

well it's over. mixed feelings and all that sort of thing.

my head wasn't really in it for the most part, and if that is the baseline, then well you could either see it as a half-full or half-empty sort of perspective. not making much sense?

speaking of half-full and half-empty, i highly recommend this book "plato and platypus go into a bar". if you have not heard of it by now, it is a book designed to teach you a bit about philosophy through jokes. and the authors, who are philo lecturers at harvard (i think. well if they are not, they should be) have amassed a most impressive collection of humour. by the end, it did not really matter what theories the jokes helped to illustrate. you tend to just remember the good ones. like the one that said, the pessimist will see the half-full, half-empty perspective as the glass being twice as big as it should be. well, you have to read it in its entirety. works better that way.

but i digress.

i had very low expectations for the race, as the one avid reader of this blog (well i know there is at least one, which is me) would know from the previous entries. hadn't trained long enough, just got enough mileage under the belt to feel quite secure that i had a good chance of completing the race barring major catastrophes. and yet i also felt good in some ways because i had completed some serious bricks, which i had never done before. shows how much i know.

and which brings me to what i would tri-isms, you know, like truisms? never mind. here's one. no matter how good you feel at any stage of the race (except at the end), you will pay for it later.

but i digress. again.

low expectations. yes. i hadn't been feeling well and in the week where i was supposed to have done my most intensive workouts, i had to take it easy and barely did anything. so why did i feel good in some ways? the mysteries of the eternal optmistic mind. i had no good reason to feel that way.

you can probably guess by now, i did not have a particularly good day. but the half-full i.e. optimist in me, says it was not a spectacularly bad day either. not like the poor sod i saw lying by the side of changi coastal road, blood all over his face and some bad road rash on his legs. not sure if the blood on his face was from wiping his face with bloodied hands or whatever. and he was unconscious as far as i could see. and another guy had a flat just out of transition. bummer. somebody else saw a lady crash out and suffered facial injuries. ouch.

all in all, it was another step in my journey to learn more about my limits. diminishing no doubt, due to age, though i have not quite pushed up against them in training. but in a race, the truth will out.

more later. time to sleep and recover.

D minus 1

2011-03-19T22:44:00.000+08:00

bike check in was pretty uneventful - faster than last year but maybe i was early. rains came again later and i can imagine there would be quite a few people who checked in close to 5. but while i was there, it was brutally hot. if it is going to be the same tomorrow, it will be another long day.

as i came out after putting a poncho on my bike - yeah well, i don't have a fancy bike cover like some really cool ones i saw. i wouldn't put something like that because well, there are some not so nice people out there. i wish we could say the triathlete family is one bunch of happy and nice folks, but hey who are we kidding right?

special thoughts go out to our japanese friends. a pro jap couple (Hiroyuki and Maki Nishiuchi) is in the race and the hometown of the guy was wiped out in the tsunami. must be devastating to experience something like that, even if he was not there. i also felt tremendously saddened and at the same time, inspired by the story in the news the other day about the group of workers now called the Fukushima 50. they were racing against time to stop the meltdown at the nuclear reactor, knowing that they were being exposed to deadly levels of radiation all the time. and yet, they were determined to continue because they felt it was their duty and if they lost their lives doing so, so be it.

on a more upbeat note on japan, the 75+ year-old mr kazumaru is back. doubtless he will get a big cheer again tomorrow. i wish i could emulate him but maybe my knees won't last that long. or maybe medical science will solve that problem soon.

D minus 2

2011-03-18T20:15:00.000+08:00

underwhelming.

that's all i can say about the race expo. was feeling kinda short-changed there, silly as it sounds. everything crammed into two and a half tiny rooms and i cannot imagine at peak hours what the crowd would be like. it was the same old stuff for the most part and i left pretty quickly without buying anything. it might have been better if the stalls were out in the lobby.

i hope the race itself is not disappointing though i note from my phone's weather update that thunderstorms are forecast for sunday. that would be a bummer, and make racing a little tricky. plus all the stuff is going to be drenched but it won't be the first time. it always seems to rain around race day for some reason. in a way, i am cool with rain on race day but not on bike check-in when you have to stand in a queue for an hour. last year was pretty bad. let's hope they have sorted things out and made it more efficient again. they never used to have the problem in previous years.

still feeling rather uneasy about my actual condition. hit the gym the other night just to spin easily on the gym bike and then the treadmill for fifteen minutes or so, just to get the rust out. feeling achy again. must remember to take my medication to reduce inflammation on the day itself. and electrolyte tablets. man, those cost a bomb but i thought i would try them anyway. hammer seems to have a good rep.

still have no real clue as to the course itself so maybe time to check out what is in the race pack. guess that shows what goals i have for the race. or lack thereof. i just want to finish comfortably. if i repeat it often enough maybe i will believe or it will happen. i usually try but always overreach myself and end up pushing myself a little too hard.

this year, with little or low expectations, maybe for the first time i can temper my pace and find a nice comfort zone, rain or no rain. rain would be good if it is not torrential. not like the first year when it was really coming down at one stage. still, that was one of my favourite memories because it was the first, and i loved that course. hopefully one day we will return there.

tapering the easy way

2011-03-15T21:34:00.000+08:00

been feeling rather weak in the last week and think i may have caught a cold. rested as much as i could but due to work and all, it was not really an option to continue to push hard. decided to dial it down and just hit maintenance mode. after all, it was just another 10 days or so and there is not going to be too much upside - not like i am aiming to qualify for the world championship:)

went for a run saturday and decided it would be near noon - that would be roughly the time i was going to do the run leg anyway and thought that some more acclimatisation, at a very easy pace, would not hurt. felt alright initially and thought maybe my cold or whatever it was bugging me had gone. but i was in trouble midway and had to walk. walk during a training run! what the hell was the matter with me? ended up walking the uphill parts and consoled myself that i would probably be doing the same during the actual event.

but i should have known from the workout a couple of days before that i was really not up for it. i wanted to do just an hour on the bike trainer and really push it but after 5 minutes my legs were like jelly and i thought of quitting there and then. i persevered for half an hour so that i would at least get a good sweat going - that might help cure me of whatever.

still don't know what it is. could be a combination of overtraining and insufficient rest - i am quite poor at discipline i.e. i never get to bed early. i thought it could be overtraining because there were at least two occasions when my alarm went off, i sat up in bed and just could not bring myself to do the workout. mentally something just seemed to have gone.

could have been a cold or some mild virus. joints were a bit achy even when i totally laid off. sneezing a bit now and then but wasn't anything serious. seems to have worn off today when i went for a short swim but not risking anything just in case.

this year has been a bit up and down for me. started off with not much expectations as i had laid off for a while in december. then i cranked up the training and it seemed smooth sailing as i upped mileage without too much trouble. sure it was painful at times mentally and ass-wise (on the bike) but overall not too bad. and then this. but i am the eternal optimist and somehow wonder if i had trained smarter as i had done a bit more training at higher intensities rather than just a lot of mileage.

less is more? might be old hat to a lot of seasoned chaps but i am just starting to experiment a bit after first getting used to a lot of base mileage. let's see how it pans out on sunday.

century ride

2011-02-21T00:36:00.000+08:00

think today was the second or third time i had gone over 100k. i tried to a couple of weeks ago, think it was during chinese new year but only managed 98 or so. felt like crap after that ride. and i expected to since it wasn't that long ago that i decided to sign up for aviva and had to ramp up training pretty quickly. i was fortunate that i wasn't starting from scratch. now that would have been painful. or rather, more painful.

the few weeks of vacation had not robbed me of too much fitness, thank goodness. and i think it's all about building a base from which you use as a platform or launch pad for a mission. and my mission now is the aviva. and later the sundown. but first things first, although i will say this about the sundown now. i don't know what it feels like to be running at 3 a.m. but i am going to find out. i think that's the day of the champions league final too...hmm, if arsenal make it, i may not be in any shape to watch it. at least they have a chance now. shame on me. i did not give them a chance at all when the draw came out.

but yes, my century ride...i know, i know...it's not a real century as in 100 miles. but after completing my 105k today, i feel like it is doable and not so fiendishly difficult that i grimace at the thought of every fibre of my ass screaming in pain. another 60 more. 2 more hours. i will do it one day for sure. but at a relaxed pace, with pit stops maybe at petrol stations, starbucks, 7-Elevens or a combination of all 3.

today, there were of course parts of the ride where i suddenly felt fatigued and wondered if i should wait another day to do this ride. but i was determined not to be weak and mental strength is important. and mental strength comes from confidence. and confidence from having been there and done that. i cramped on a ride some weeks ago and did not panic because i had been through it all in past avivas. it still hurt, make no mistake.

today i was prepared. i had bought some hammer electrolyte capsules and took the minimum dosage, and i did not feel the slightest twinge. my only problem was that i could not figure out what people use to store the capsules on a ride. finally i just popped them into the zip pocket on my bike jersey where it was easy to reach. problem solved. for now.

it was a good day for riding because it wasn't hot. and i felt stronger than the last time even though when starting out i did not feel in the best of shape. and it was a real adventure too. my light would not work because the batteries were leaking and i finally decided to take the front light and put it on the back. not quite bright enough but it would have to do.

the ride was quite uneventful in itself, which is a good thing most of the time. passed the "urbanathlon" just next to nicol highway. guys were queuing up for an outdoor shower which was interesting to say the least. and then there were some who did not bother. perhaps they live nearby, or had their own transport.

well, till next time.

humming along nicely

2011-02-13T23:25:00.000+08:00

so far so good.

i feel like i am pushing myself sufficiently without risking injury. not too much junk mileage and doing a bit more intensity. trying to mix it up a little. most of my training is by feel anyway so that's not really a stretch.

but sometimes it's serendipitious. like this morning. woke up a little later than usual for my sunday ride because i didn't really want to. had a brick workout yesterday. an hour on the trainer and then a 10k run. felt good. maybe it was the compression socks which i ordered from amazon. actually i felt better than usual because i did not have to start slow - which i have to do normally because the old bones need warming up. but when i am already sweating like a pig after cranking it on the bike, no need for taking it easy in the first few hundred metres.

but i digress.

anyways as i head down balmoral road, i decide that if the traffic light is in my favour, i will head straight onto chancery lane and then do the mandai loop. otherwise, it's bukit timah and then west coast highway. as it turned out, lights were in my favour and i went to chancery. the legs were feeling kinda heavy and i almost regretted making the choice that way.

as i passed by the longhouse at thomson, the 6.20 ride was just heading out and i recalled meeting another rider last week who told me there were two groups. this was the earlier one. i got swept along and decided to ride with the group and see how things went. it was my first time riding in a big pack like that and it was interesting. i could keep pace near the front without too much trouble because we weren't going that fast anyway. nobody seemed to mind that i had joined in and i just followed what everyone did and kept in line. i thought of breaking off but it would have taken a bit of effort and i wasn't sure if i had enough gas to pull away. and it is always embarrassing to do that and then get passed by everyone else later.

there wasn't much talking other than the shouting out of warnings about traffic lights, and the odd crazy jogger who decides that he wants to stay his course and brave the possibility of a pack of cyclists ploughing into him. not as rare as you would think. what are you thinking? get off the road!!! i mean, i run on the road too but when facing a pack like that, you must know that some of them may not see you till it is too late. but i have to say that this ride was quite disciplined and behaved impeccably and so avoided trouble quite well generally.

i was not sure how the ride would pan out but as it turned out, they made some kind of scheduled stop at the junction of mandai and woodlands and i decided that i would carry on as i had no idea what was going to happen. besides, i needed to get home and run errands so i could not take too long a ride. so i parted ways there, without saying anything because well i hadn't spoken to anyone while riding in the group so it felt a bit odd if i had said something. hope no one thought i was rude or anything. it was not intended.

i enjoyed it while it lasted though random thoughts did cross my mind. such as whether an unfortunate wipeout may cause me to skip the race and it would not even have been my own stupid fault. that would be hard to take. or worse, my inexperience might actually cause a crash. that would have been terrible. it was also a little stressful to be honest, because i needed to keep focussing and being alert and paying attention to what was going on all around me. not that i don't stay alert when riding on my own but it is easier somehow.

i understand and know others enjoy the camaraderie of a group ride and i suppose, riding in a pack does make it a bit easier to cover longer distances. but i realized, or rather i confirmed this morning that i enjoy riding alone because i am out there, alone with my own thoughts, pedalling to my own cadence without worrying about keeping up or having to wait for others. it's my own time, my decompression chamber if you will.

a new year, a new beginning

2011-01-19T00:27:00.000+08:00

well, i'm back!

the enforced rest brought about by a long period of leave did a world of good. i am still not a 100% but getting back to something approaching a normal state of health. on returning from leave, started very slowly and conservatively and eased myself back to a steady program. main emphasis was to ensure regular workouts, and in order to do that, i had to restrain myself from overcooking any workout lest it left me too sore to continue.

so far so good, and have been concentrating mainly on building up mileage. up to an hour's swim, two and half hours on the bike, and one hour and twenty minutes of running.

reason for being motivated? making full use of my garmin forerunner and watching my progress on the bike and run. being able to map the routes i take onto google earth is also super cool.

and the culmination of feeling good and confident is that i signed up for the 70.3 in march. a new course which is even flatter, bodes well.

a year of pain

2010-11-04T00:38:00.000+08:00

depressing. a whole year of nothing but little niggles, bad grazes (i'm wearing another on my knee now), heel problems, thigh strains, backaches... it's almost enough to make me take up golf again. if i had to point to a single defining moment, i'm guessing it was going for the marathon last year when i had not done quite enough mileage. so maybe it's divine intervention this year that i missed out on signing up for the stanchart because i procrastinated a little. and a little holiday with the family which means an enforced break from training.

can i do the aviva in 2011? maybe if my goals were more modest, and maybe if i stuck to a strict regime and gradually work my way back without getting ahead of myself, and maybe if i trained smarter. we'll have to wait and see. just when i bought so many nifty gadgets too.

if i have time i will post some reviews (er in case anyone out there is still reading)but work has been crazy. main craze this year? watches. got a swim watch that counts laps. it can do other stuff as well but i have been too lazy to read the manual. and the garmin forerunner which is super cool. you can even see your route on google earth! that blew me away. oh yes, it does other stuff too.

first things first. gotta get over my horrible knee graze. suffered on a soccer pitch this time, not a bike spill. no, i wasn't trying the knee-slide goal celebration - i hardly score any more. but the extent of the injury is almost as bad as my arm in 2008. might take another couple of days to heal properly but there is the small matter of another game coming up. a semi-final no less. which, as you can imagine, i would be loathe to miss out on.

damn you, thin skin!

First post on my iPad

2010-09-05T11:20:00.001+08:00

ok looks like i have to get the hang of this. the keyboard is incredibly sensitive. but it means more regular updates. i can do this while at my kid's karate class. and there is a new editor I need to get used to. but yes, I have gone over to the dark side. Strange though how microsoft used to be the bad guys and now apple is the new enemy. Some of the criticisms are warranted, eg. Like how apple wants to lock you into their alternate universe but if it means a more intuitive experience and ease in doing the stuff they let me do, then more power to them. How many of us really need all the features anyway?

Ok no riding this morning cos of the rain. I needed the extra sleep anyway so it was a good excuse. Will probably set up the cycleops trainer after lunch and get in a workout. Indoor trainers are a boon to those who need to multitask. Need to continue watching my two and a half men DVDs.

Almost back to pain free running which is good. The ankles and feet are still feeling the strain but it's more like the effect of upping mileage rather than an injury. Not going to make the same mistake again. It's hard to admit that I am old and no longer able to just pick up where I left off and that it is a slow gradual process which i need to ease back into. Time gets us all in the end.

about running

2010-08-25T23:04:00.000+08:00

sometimes i focus on my surroundings, noticing something new in the scenery or a passing car, or another jogger. sometimes i acknowledge their presence - if they look friendly and look in my direction. it's nice to get a greeting, usually from older ang mohs but usually it is just a meeting of the eyes, or a nod. when on my bike, the nod is more exaggerated but most understand what it is . it's like a tribal thing, that we are all warriors on our steel horses (in case you wonder, that's a direct rip off from bon jovi's dead or alive). sometimes i concentrate on my breathing, when it is laboured and i try to slow down until it is more comfortable, a more rhythmnic pattern in concert with my footsteps. sometimes i think about stuff that i want to think about, sometimes random thoughts pop into my head. sometimes i listen to songs on the ipod, sometimes random songs worm their way into my head and refuse to leave, like a broken record. i think it must be the way it is wired into my brain. and once in a while (though rare but when it does happen it is a wonderful release), mind and body are in perfect symphony, not hindered by unnecessary thoughts, not feeling fatigued or even discomfort, but instead i get a wonderful feeling of weightlessness, effortlessness and freedom. my mind is free of any thoughts other than being in the moment, my legs turn over as if i could go on forever, and i am not aware how fast (or slow, as is more likely) i am going. and it doesn't matter.

what i talk about when i talk about running

2010-08-25T00:19:00.003+08:00

this is an awesome book. oh, in case you don't know, that's the title. it's by a famous japanese author harumi murakami and the title was inspired by one of raymond carver's books called "what we talk about when we talk about love". i actually think i have that book somewhere.

when i read it, i am inspired to both run and write. that's the kind of effect it had, and continues to have, on me. there's just something very lyrical in the way he describes his labour in writing, and running of course. it's almost mystical and you have to read his descriptions of various seminal runs he has done and one almost feels compelled to jump on a plane to athens, to hokkaido, and experience what he did.

plus he speaks philosophically about what running does for him but it's not any of that, it's good for you, for your health... well ok some of it. but most of it is introspective. he reflects what it means to him, how aging affects him, how his enjoyment of running ebbs and flows...

i haven't finished it yet but i feel compelled to share this. it's that good.

update

2010-06-30T22:02:00.003+08:00

been a while. work, stress, world cup, laziness, other priorities in life. might as well do some catching up and remind myself of stuff i have been up to. and maybe any one who's still following this. good for reminiscing later in life, like during retirement :) might as well update my page since blogger has some new templates. what the hell right? change things around a little, do some retail therapy, live life.

let's start with most recent and work our way back. had an accident yesterday. no not a bike accident. a car accident. well, if you believe in fate, then nothing is an accident. was on my way to an event in the morning, somewhere familiar but which i knew the traffic would be bad and so i set off early, giving myself plenty of time. i even stopped off midway cos i needed the loo and i knew that the venue, a construction site, might prove tricky. still in good time, driving carefully and slowly so that i would not miss the entrance to the site and bamn, a van hit my car on the left. came out of nowhere.

i have had accidents before and well, usually on hindsight you should always be thankful when no one is hurt. but it kinda ruins your day you know? and many more days after that when you have to take care of insurance, repairs etc. not good for stress levels. the accident keeps replaying on your mind, and especially for me in this instance, i keep wondering if i could have avoided it by doing anything different. speed up a little, slow down more, whatever... what ifs. anyways, just have to come to terms with it and of course eventually one forgets. of course it helps to forget when the car is as good as new. not when i have to wait for the parts to come in and i see the sorry state of the car. still it is just a car, even if it is a car i love. repairs? insurance premiums? just money. can't take it with you. just move on.

world cup...has been great. for once i don't hate argentina. hated them when maradona was playing, especially after his hand of god. when i had a soft spot for ingerland. i was glad they got stuffed by the germans. keane was right about them being overhyped. i agree with roy keane!! wow, he was one of those i could not stomach back then. how ironic. was rooting for holland until van persie showed his ugly side. i hate seeing players who think they are bigger than the coach or the team. and this coming from an arsenal player too. sigh. and cesc barely getting any playing time. well if he's going to barca he had better think twice cos this bench warming thing may be a portent of things to come. spain were bookies' favourites but something tells me they have not got enough. will be argentina, brazil or germany... in that order.

finally something related to triathlons. bikes. the main reason many of us got into this. i am looking at folders because i want something that can fit into the trunk when my bike rack carries the three bikes of my kids. it has come down to a choice between a dahon (not sure which model) and the brompton. head says dahon - friend of mine who is quite obsessive about specs, and value and safety etc. has one. heart lusts after the brompton. saw it in the diginexx shop at lavender and it was love at first sight. well the price dampened my ardour a bit but you only live once and well if you love great design, you don't have to consider anything else. there's a turkish green model that is absolutely drool-worthy. it's a beut isn't it?

niggles niggles everywhere

2010-05-28T20:36:00.002+08:00

wonder what is wrong with me... feeling niggles everywhere. left elbow, left heel, left achilles...something's not right...heh.

could i have done lasting damage in december when i ran the marathon with insufficient training? no, don't recall any lasting pain or damage. and my 70.3 went rather well under the circumstances so i can't figure it out.

could it be the new shoes? bought a new pair of newtons - it's fate, i used to live in the newton area. but i have never had shoe problems before. i am fairly adaptable in fact and think i have a rather economical style so shoes do not present any problems for me apart from blisters.

or is it just the dreaded impact of father time? i have been lucky so far. apart from injuries from contact sports, mostly soccer, i do not have really serious injuries from overtraining or not being equipped properly. of course it helps that i hardly train that much :) so that's never going to be a danger, though on hindsight, overtraining can happen to anyone.

if you are a non-runner, then running 20 km per week is overtraining. if you are used to running 20k a week, then 40 may be overtraining. did i step it up too soon? especially when i took about 3 to 4 weeks off after the 70.3? don't think so.

i think age is the only possible answer. not that it's an excuse. how could it be when uncle chan can go under 3 hours for the OSIM OD event at age 60+? or when i saw how the japanese chap who is in his 70s, was really motoring along during the 70.3?

but i mean i have neglected to take better care of the other stuff that is important. the stretching, the strengthening work that i could get away with when younger. i hardly ever used to warm up but now i realise it takes me a while to get going and that is my warm up. on the bike and run, it takes about 10-15 minutes. the first steps on the run are painful and it only goes away after the first few km.

will explore a little more on the topic and if nothing works then i guess i have to pay a visit to the doctor.

more from OSIM

2010-05-12T20:39:00.003+08:00

just remembered something from the OSIM race my kids did. this is what happens when your memory is fading, when you are too busy or tired to update more regularly and when you are just plain disorganised.

oh well... just recalled that matt actually flatted on the bike this year. i did not even realize this until we got home. and he did not mention it so he didn't know either! but when i asked, he said he had fallen on the bike but it was not a bad fall and so he did not think to mention it.

apparently he had gone off the curb and shredded the tire in the process so maybe it was a slow leak. i joked that replacing the tire and tube cost more than his entry fee! well they will have to learn to take things in stride. like in my third triathlon in the 80s, when i crashed on the bike, had to replace the tire and struggled to finish.

finally rode my bike again after almost a month and i wasn't as out of shape as i feared. but the joints were aching for the most part and it wasn't the legs either. my shoulders and elbows hurt. but my heel and foot hurts - wonder if it is because of new running shoes. i am beginning to feel my age and it is depressing. hopefully it is just rust and possibly bad diet. let's see how i feel in a couple of weeks when i have had more miles under my belt.

one last thing...is it me or is the hot bods section of the sunday times really becoming a joke? if those are hot bods then i am arnold schwar...schwarzhenagger...swarzhenagger... ok i give up but you know who i'm talking about. it's the end of civilization as we know it. or at least the english language.

OSIM 2010

2010-05-08T20:20:00.014+08:00

been a while since my last post and finally getting round to doing a race report of my 3boys at the OSIM. they had a reasonably good time and we really lucked out on the weather. the rain came down just as i had finished putting the bikes back on the rack and heading for home.

ethan had a better swim this time, even if he did hang on to the swim ropes more than a bit. i missed seeing him on the bike. the logistics of having 3 kids in 3 different waves meant a lot of mad rushing around to try and capture the moments on camera. managed to get some decent shots and footage so all in all it was cool.

overall i think the kids had a good time, even if they did not do much better than previously.

matt again used his big brother's bike while we had to scramble for a replacement bike after i discovered the night before that i had a flat on my mountain bike that gabe was going to use. and i had no spare. i had spares but they were not the right size. finally our neighbour came to the rescue and lent us a road bike that gabe could use. it was a specialized too.

that was a close call. that will teach me to leave everything till the last minute. i had assumed, wrongly as it turned out, that nothing would go wrong with the kids' bikes. a good lesson.

the highlight of the day? going to the mcdonald's drivethru' at east coast after the race :)

it's a small world

2010-03-31T23:22:00.003+08:00

wow, i just got a mail from terence swee, who was featured in the book "becoming an ironman" which i reviewed some time ago.

talk about the odds!! this is what terence had to say:

Hi there, the Terence Swee in the story is indeed from Singapore. He is me :-)

Good luck with your triathlon journey. I hope to do another Ironman soon...have been too busy with work since I did my first in Langkawi 10 years and 10 pounds ago!

For the record: I wrote a race diary which I sent to some colleagues in an email. (there weren't blogs and Facebook then to share such things!) It got passed around and one of my colleague's brother-in-law in Australia knew the author who was compiling first time Ironman stories and decided that they want to include my story.

this really made my day. good luck terence on your next ironman journey and you should be proud that your story would have inspired someone somewhere to take that some journey. i hope one day i will be one of them.

aviva 70.3 - 2010 edition

2010-03-25T23:20:00.006+08:00

day before, like so many others, decided that i would wait for the rain to clear before checking in the bike. everyone had the same idea and a huge crowd converged on big splash at the same time. a long wait in the queue, not ideal preparation when we should be off our feet as much as possible. still i was one of the earlier ones and by the time i left, it seemed the queue had only gotten longer.

had a nice chat with chris in line behind me, who hails from france and happened to be in the same age group. it was a pleasant way to spend the time waiting as he talked about his race last year and i spoke of why i had to miss it.

anyways, it was fun to check out all the bikes, the set ups and the way people stored their nutrition. one guy had an amazing array of stuff and one passer by chuckled and said to his friend that the guy looked like he was going for a picnic!

the day started well. woke up on time around 4.30, had a light breakfast while watching a pre-recorded game. arsenal beat west ham 2-0 so a great start to the day already! and i watched the entire game in 25 minutes...fast forwarding all the way.

for once, i decide to chance it and drive myself to the race. surprise, surprise, i was early enough to park at big splash itself. off to body marking and then lay out all my stuff at transition. while walking there, i was literally just steps away from crowie who was going into transition. he's actually not that big a guy, but really lean and well we all know what happened. he's untouchable at the moment. that must be a wonderful feeling, to be in the zone and know that you are the guy to beat.

conditions were perfect. then. sea was calm, sky was clear and it was a beautiful morning. first wave, pros of course got a big cheer. second wave, women age groupers. and then us. biggest cheer was for the 74-year old japanese tsujii kazuharu. i actually passed him on the bike and he was going pretty good too. he finished in just over 7 hrs. hats off to him.

my game plan was to take it one step at a time, and not push myself out of my comfort zone. it was going to be a long day. my idea of the perfect race is to race constantly at the edge of your limits and on this day, i came pretty close. i was in a kind of zen-like state the whole day, and it was a great feeling because every now and then, i got the sense that it was somehow effortless, that i was floating through it all. of course it was anything but effortless - but the tranquil state i found myself in, was a great boost to me. it was the first time i had ever felt anything like it in a sporting event. you feel like you can go on forever, body in sync with the mind, working efficiently, optimally, smooth...and yet still powering oneself forward as much as possible, as close to the edge as you dared.

anyway, the horn goes off and i really take my time getting into the water. i am almost, if not, the absolute last swimmer to dive in and start stroking. even then, i start with breastroke, taking a look at the surroundings, the early morning air still invigorating. it would soon change. but i was having a blast, and felt no real need to push the pace. main idea was to finish comfortably - or well, as comfortably as can be imagined. i stroke calmly, and each time i feel my heart rate getting out of the comfort zone, i dial it back a little and just remember to concentrate on smooth long strokes.

i have to say the two lane swim course is a great idea. there is less traffic and while i still had people come near or round me, all in all, it was a very civilized swim. the real ideal of course would be like a time trial type start, with the faster swimmers going first. or waves according to swim times rather than age groups. but i guess that would change the nature of the event for those who want head to head competition, who want to look their rivals in the eye.

i feel good and exit the water in 46 minutes. a bit slower than i hoped but i keep reminding myself that it will pay off later. i find my hamstrings tightening a bit as i get out of the water and hope i don't cramp so early. note to self: need to do some strengthening. more kicking during swim practice.

take my time at transition and get started on a clif bar. guy next to me finishes in around the same time and says, "jia lat (hokkien for oh crap), swim already cramp". i said i also felt a bit of cramp and we both laugh it off. no one's dropping out yet. i took nearly 5 minutes to get out of t1 but reminded myself not to rush because we don't want another fall on the bike do we?

and i am off on the bike. small ring for the most part of the first few km. lots of guys bombing past. some don't look like they can sustain it, you can just tell. stick to my previous strategy of going up the bridge in a granny gear, just keeping the cadence high and i actually go past a lot of people on the slopes, but many of them make up the difference and some, on the downhills and flats. whatever, i am running my own race. the course is tight, even crowie complained. i wonder what it would take to close one more lane. that's half a lane more each way and it would make a world of difference. many of the cone markers topple over and stay there, making the lanes even narrower.

first lap is really congested and many times, i just literally stop pedalling and coast behind some guy because it is not safe to overtake or rather, i would expend a lot of energy to pass and it would not really make a difference because i would not be going a lot faster. so in my zen like state, i listen closely to my body. some parts, i feel less than great and pedal smoothly without pushing the gears. then there are parts where i just feel the energy coming on and i pull away. each time i feel a twinge anywhere, i dial it back. again the hamstrings.

lots of debris. race belts, numbers, sunglasses, bottles. hope these guys adjusted well enough. see people push their bikes up the bridge. is their race over? soon i would be posed with a similar question.

second and third laps, the crowd thins out. there are sections of the race where it feels like a sunday morning ride as i am the only rider in sight. quite strange and unusual. i mean i am not right at the back of the pack - of that i am quite sure. so it would appear to be just a quirk of the race pace of everyone near me that i would suddenly have a moment(or more) alone.

as i near the bridge and start climbing for the last time, i start to feel the legs cramping up and decide to take precautionary measures immediately. i unclip and come to a gentle stop midway up the bridge. not ideal, but i trusted that i was in a low enough gear to be able to get going again. the legs are twitching, deciding whether to shut down this idiot who was subjecting them to this unnecessary trauma. i cross my fingers and hope it does not develop into full blown cramps. i stand astride my bike for a minute or two and the slight cramp passes and i finally feel well enough to continue. damn i had come close to conquering this monster. next time out, i shall start the hill work earlier and more intensely.

nutrition wise i was ok. had spent most of the first lap and part of the second finishing my clif bar. i had lots of gels in my bento box but decide to stay with the hammer perpeteum energy drink. it was great. easy to get down and no gastrointestinal issues. accelerade gives me gas. drank lots of water the last lap and start to stand a bit, spin more etc. to prepare for the transition.

this time round, no need to get off the bike and stand astride it while developing a major cramp at t2. again i take my time in transition though it is a bit faster than t1. i have done the bike in just over 3 hours, a vast improvement from before. average speed which i kept monitoring throughout was 29.4 km/hr or thereabouts. not great but given my modest goals and training/prep, i was pretty happy.

for the first time in tri events, at least since the 80s, i decide to change my top for the run. fresh clothes would put me in a nice frame of mind. looser run top would increase the comfort level and psychologically i think, or hope rather, that it would make a difference.

i start gingerly and again, i take what the day gives me. mental toughness is key on this day as the weather turns brutal as we hit high noon. temperatures soar and it must be bad as i read in the next day's papers that even the defending champ jodie swallow, who would finish second, had to walk!

this year, i found two strategies for coping on the run. either distract your mind from the suffering by thinking good thoughts or recalling good memories and the miles melt away. when that stopped working for a while, i turn to focusing on good form. the difference is palpable and i really do feel i am running faster as i concentrate on a mid-foot strike. the cadence picks up automatically and it feels good but of course i take care not to get carried away. or else i would really be carried away. some poor guy got put in a wheelchair just a hundred metres or less from the finishing line. at least i think he was about to finish.

i carry on the form as best as i can but the heat takes its toll and my brain, even while protected by a cap, and with me wearing shades, begins to feel like it is being fried. i can feel my body overheating and fear shutdown like that guy being carried away. no point in pushing it and not finishing. too near to the finish now to do something stupid.

the real lifesavers are the guys at the water points. i find out later that matty was at one of the points and it could have been him pouring a whole bottle of water over me. the real treat was the ice-cold sponges and it was like a shot of adrenaline. the pace picked up naturally after each sponging. one female triathlete does the equivalent of the meg ryan scene in when harry met sally, going "oh yes!" as the ice-cold water is poured over her.

as testimony to how brutal conditions were, the water stations first ran out of cups, and then ran out of water. they started to give entire bottles of water out when there were no cups, which might explain why eventually they ran out of water. no choice but to drink warm coke (falsely advertised as "cold coke" by the volunteers but i forgive them:) it was still refreshing and the sugar helped for sure.) also lots of 100plus but i take care not to overdo it because if i feel bloated, it would make things even harder if that was even possible.

i keep at it, alternating between thinking nice thoughts, and focusing on an even keel, keeping things simple, keeping my mechanics sound, one step at a time. i only walk in the last lap, but never for long stretches.

finally the end is in sight. i had been looking out for the boys but no sign of them. maybe they had to park really far. i was hoping this time they would run with me to the finish but it wasn't to be. last time out i had screwed up by not doing it. i try for a big finish but immediately felt the cramps coming and decided to coast in. in the end, a kind of dignified shuffle across the finish line.

so there you have it. a race which came reasonably close to perfection - based on the amount of training and how prepared i was. i did not take it so easy that i still had energy to spare after crossing the line. nor did i blow up spectacularly because i went redline. the slight twinges and minor cramps were signs that i had come close.

next post - what new insights were gained?

hot hot hot...

2010-03-23T00:40:00.003+08:00

ok returned to the aviva 70.3 or my annual blood-letting ritual. well no blood was actually shed but my brain sure got fried in the heat. it was brutal, especially around noon. only mad dogs and englishmen... add triathletes to the mix, especially slower age-groupers.

but i am quite happy. 6 h 36 m - not too shabby for an old man who didn't get that much training in. i would not say i have this event licked - that would be disrespectful and i have learnt my lessons. i still suffered a lot, but for the first time in 3 attempts, i would say i was at least largely in control of my own fate.

it is not my best time but as the first edition in 2007 was on a different and relatively flat course, and possibly short (at least on the bike leg), i would rank this as my best effort so far given that i took 7 hr 7 m in 2008 on almost the same course. the run route was slightly different but still flat.

the main reason why i rate this as my best effort is that i feel this is the closest i have come to running a race within my limits but still pushing the pace to somewhere near the edge. more on race details soon.

same old same old

2010-03-19T20:11:00.003+08:00

a bit disappointed with the expo today. not much stuff to check out - looks exactly like last year's. it was raining too, which sort of dampened spirits somewhat. i guess the race isn't that big compared to say osim, but even that expo is no great shakes. maybe i will be tempted to part with some moolah tomorrow after checking in the bike.

speaking of the weather, wonder what the forecast is for the weekend. it would be perfect if it rained during the run. rain during the swim or bike would be nasty. certainly don't want any crashes like i saw during osim two years ago. in race conditions, when the adrenaline is pumping, caution is thrown to the wind and your race can be over before you know it.

so much for taking it easy this week. most of my taper has consisted of sweeping and mopping the floor, washing my son's softball stuff (because he has a tournament this weekend and needs his stuff three days running), because my domestic helper is on home leave. (note to self: try to persuade her to choose another period next time) none of this is doing my freestyle any good :) but it's equally tiring.

ah well, i really shouldn't complain. i could be at work though with the laptop these days, it really doesn't make much difference whether i am on leave or at work. still, i can kick back and relax and take a nap if i want to - when i am not chaffeuring the kids around that is.

on a related note, the three boys are all doing osim this year. i am sitting it out because it is just too much work trying to train for the race and taking care of them on two consecutive days. the eldest took a break last year and i was surprised when he said he wanted to do it this year. so i asked him why, hoping to hear that he was inspired by his old man. you know i was just setting myself up for disappointment... he said his friends were doing it and he was inspired to do the same. well, i guess that's part of growing up, when peer influence plays a much greater part than family. but it all comes full circle in the end and what's important is to be there when they need us.

i also decided to more prepared and watched a youtube video of how to change a tire. i suspect last year's nasty incidents of thumb tacks strewn on the road might still be very much on people's minds. anyway i went and bought additional spare tubes and a small lightweight pump cos i have no confidence using the cartridges. hey it nearly ruined chrissie wellington's race before so no harm in taking extra precautions.

feeling lethargic and edgy

2010-03-17T23:02:00.002+08:00

is that a contradiction in terms?

somehow the drastic scaling down of training makes me feel really lethargic. went for a really easy run yesterday, interspersed with short stretches where i pick up the pace and just stride. especially when i run past a bus stop you know? oh come on, i am sure everyone has done it at some time or other. but i digress.

it was quite tough to even just get going. legs felt heavy and while my knee did not hurt, it just did not feel right. or is it just me imagining things? but i don't want to risk anything. if it happens during the race, well i will deal with that. it happened in the first 70.3. or was it the marathon?

anyways, my knee gave out and i had to do the walk-run thingy. but i digress again. it's this worry about the knee that is making me edgy i guess. and this is a crazy combination. i need something to take my mind off things. i need retail therapy.

went to gnc and they were all out of gu gels! have they snaffled up all the gels for the race expo or what? also wanted to see if there were any ready to drink energy drinks that i might try out just before. but they only had powdered stuff which is fine i guess but i decided to pass. i have tried accelerade but it doesn't sit well with me and makes me feel bloated. i might just go with my idea of having ice-cold coke to take away the taste of the sea water.

went to the beach together with the boys. youngest one still can't quite overcome his distaste of open water swimming. he can't see and can't quite deal with it. i guess he will end up doing breaststroke but that's cool.

on a slightly related note. proof that peer pressure is the most important and influential force in a teen's life. we have been asking the eldest to do the osim with his younger brothers but he has always been less than enthusiastic and it is my policy not to force them if they don't want to. but strangely he now wants to do it and i find out it's because his friends are doing it. he even wanted to swim yesterday to train for it!!!

it was good - because he is doing something which i encourage. but it was also bad - because i realise his friends' opinions and actions count for far more than advice from his old man. in a way, it is an inevitable development. we all just hope that our kids eventually do not depend on us and can stand on their own feet.

tapering - art or science?

2010-03-15T23:25:00.003+08:00

tapering is something that is either the key to a successful race or just something that is really not all that important. for some, i guess they have to do everything by the numbers, you know, reduce training volume by 75% 3 weeks before d-day, by 50% 2 weeks before etc...i guess if you feel unsure you could follow someone else's framework for a taper. the only catch is that it will work perfectly for you if you happen to have done the same training volume and intensity etc...

but it clearly is important to rest sufficiently before the big day. and resting isn't just doing nothing, just as we learn recovery does not mean kicking back, breaking out a beer and letting go.

i guess in the end, it boils down to, as it always does, whether you are obsessed with numbers or just go by feel. i'd like to think that triathletes are generally more in tune with their bodies, and so while we may have a rough general plan, we are flexible and aware enough to adjust the plan where needed.

where is this post headed?

well i still feel that twinge in the knee and am hesitant to put any stress on it in case it ruins the race. between a good taper and risking injury, this is clearly a no-brainer. i wonder if i had pushed it too hard too soon. too late now. so i took a day off today and will maybe do some light jogging tomorrow to see how it reacts.

not much left to do but prepare for the race by getting any stuff i need. like a bright yellow run top? nah... but i do need to figure out whether to just stick to plain gel or other stuff like bars. i know, i know. now's not the time to be trying new stuff.

crazy thing is, i am really looking forward to the race expo. hell, last year i went down and i wasn't even in the race! just to feel the excitement in the air was great. and of course, it's an excuse to pick up stuff. i will try to restrain myself this time.

visualization

2010-03-15T01:03:00.003+08:00

a reader left a rather mysterious comment on my aviva comeback posting that it was hard to visualize and i wanted to know what exactly he meant so that i could respond. well so far he or she has not responded. but i think he probably meant that it is difficult to work out in one's mind how a race is going to unfold.

i agree, in the sense that nothing works out according to a script. it might, if the sea was as calm as the pool, if conditions were exactly the same as in training without one thousand other people jostling around you, some nicely asking you to move over, others a bit more, shall we say, demanding. well excuse me for borrowing that imaginary space you seem to own, mr. ultra-competitive age-grouper. i can understand that they are working towards some personal dream like a kona slot or something, and to keep dodging slower age-groupers can be frustrating.

but think of it this way, if it weren't for the rest of us, there wouldn't be any slots in the first place. and sometimes race conditions are just so crowded that there really isn't a choice to move over that easily. and i am not a fan of two-loop swim courses.

but i digress.

visualization is an important part of any sport because it means you have a plan. it will be difficult for first-timers but there will still be parts of the race you can have a rough game plan like position, pacing, nutrition etc. some of it gets easier over time when you have a few races under your belt but keep in mind that nothing will ever always go according to plan and you have to improvise or just put it behind you and move on. don't have a meltdown and lose focus.

short of illness or a major crash, there is almost nothing you cannot overcome. i have had trouble with a crash back in my third triathlon in the 80s. bad case of road rash on the arms and shoulder, had to fix a flat because of the crash and yet i somehow managed to get a spare tubular on the rim, get back on the bike, complete the bike leg and went on to finish the race. painful it might have been, but i just wanted to finish. and i did because i was prepared.

but i feel that the most important aspect about visualization is that you want to be and are in control of your race. the phrase "running your own race" is never more apt than in triathlon. knowing yourself, how hard you can push, is the key. not getting carried away by the adrenalin rush in the swim, feeling your way on the bike before getting up to the target race pace, not blowing up on the run...these are all choices to be made and can be made easier and better if you can visualize the race ahead of time.

packing list choices

2010-03-13T23:40:00.003+08:00

hmm, wondering if i had pushed it too hard on the trainer. suddenly feel a niggle in my right knee. too much too soon? or rather too little too late? or too much too late? whatever. last time i had knee trouble, doc thought it was tendinitis. only thing is rest. well good thing this week i will be tapering off the training. took two days off after that trainer session. not planned, just got busy but on hindsight, good thing that i did. overtraining can have only two outcomes. injury or illness. take your pick.

a week to the race and thinking of packing lists. in case anyone needs help or might wish to contribute their own ideas...

timing chip
watch
tri outfit
goggles
anti-fog (or just spit in the goggles)
swim cap
sunblock (forgot this last time out and it was painful)
bodyglide (quite important if you don't want to walk funny afterwards or get blisters)
helmet (black or white?)
bike jersey? (shall i wear my moo moo? easier for family to spot me)
bike cleats
bike socks (though i actually prefer to go without as it gets really warm)
sunglasses (rudy or kuota?)
number belt
bento box (last time out experiment of taping stuff to bike is not a good memory)
sashimi (ok could not resist it after putting bento box)
gels
clif bar (hmm, gotta think about this one, i like it but under training or race conditions, it is quite dry and tough to swallow)
fig rolls? (thinking about this as i love the taste)
energy drink?
coke? (i hate the taste of sea water and while i am usually just relieved to be out of there, the taste of it and the bloatedness from swallowing some is off-putting)
electrolyte tablets?
running cap
run top (may be more comfortable)
running shoes
run socks
deep heat
ipod? (think it's not allowed but do they check if anyone wears the oakley thump?)

would love to hear from anyone who has stuff that i missed out on.

bicylce dreams and dr breedlove

2010-03-11T00:26:00.003+08:00

this morning i biked two and a half hours on the trainer because it was raining. decided that i would watch bicycle dreams - just got the dvd. it is the story of raam, the race across america. from the west coast to the east coast in 12 days. through desert, cold and miles of climbing. sleep deprivation, hallucination and pain. lots of it.

in a way it was appropriate. i had planned to ride 3 hours on the trainer. far longer than i have ever done. still feeling fatigued from a tough session two days ago when i did my first ever brick. i thought i would take it really easy and would do the 3 hours no problem.

well, it did not work out quite that way. my ass hurt like hell, like the briton who had to tape one of those neck cushions that travellers use on planes, to his neck so as to support his neck while riding! quite ingenuous actually. after a two hours, my legs were really heavy and i could just barely tough out another half an hour before i decided not to risk injury so close to the date. it did dent my confidence that i could not even do what i had planned. but i rationalised that i was tired to begin with, and two and a half hours on the trainer was the equivalent of 3 or more on the road. well, i'd like to think so.

but still it bugged me a little that i could not finish, just like the french guy who quit the race after successfully making the halfway cut off. he was pissed that his crew had convinced him to continue even though they knew he was tired, dead on the bike as he described it, and were taking risks, or rather making him take risks. he heard about dr breedlove, taking part in his 6th raam, who was killed the previous day, and wondered about his family and in the end, decided it wasn't worth it.

from all accounts, dr breedlove was a real hero, a surgeon, a man who wanted nothing more than for others to think kindly of him. he touched the lives of his family, his fellow racers and his passing was tragic. but he lived his life and i hope in a small way, i can live with the same outlook. just another day in paradise, as he called it.

aviva here i come! again...

2010-03-09T20:23:00.004+08:00

well i finally jumped back on the wagon. i'm back!!!

i had been slowly feeling my way back from the back injury and while i can feel it's presence when i am pushing it, it has not flared up (touch wood, fingers crossed) and i am good to go. building up the mileage and even doing hill repeats on buona vista.

swim will be my weakness as usual but there's no point in killing myself shaving a few minutes off. there was a useful article in everymantri.com on the top three reasons why most triathletes should take a break from swim training in the off season. it takes a lot of time (to rush to the pool, to swim just 2K etc.), and it takes a lot to get really good (swimmers have spent years honing their technique - we are not going to get it in 3 sessions a week) and it takes time to relearn, to understand the feel of the water - ok this last one takes a bit of explaining as in if you swim all year round, you actually lose this adaptation process. and getting back in touch with your stroke and the water is supposed to be good. and fun in "relearning". the advice is that you only need to restart swim training 18 weeks away from the race, with the first 6 on technique.

anyway, i had been procrastinating about signing up, not wanting to sign up too early and finding out that my body can't really take the stress of training. so finally one night (it has been really crazy the last two months) i decide to get online and sign up and lo and behold, it was the last day! actually it was the last few hours!!! is that a sign or what?

no major goals this time. just want to finish more comfortably and decently than my last horror show two years ago. i disrespected the race, just like i did the marathon last year and suffered. this time round, i have put in some quality hours - i think, even if not totally the mileage i want or need.

the swim will be tough since there are record numbers this time. i will hang back and stay out of trouble, and finish easy. no need to sprint for the shore and tire myself out unnecessarily. i hope to finish around the same time but the difference is i should be fresher. that will help prevent me from toppling over on the bike. my most humiliating tri moment. ever.

the bike will be tough. i really suffered the last time with all the climbs up the bridge. just hope to maintain a decent clip and again, not get into trouble. if i could maintain a speed of 30k/hr that would be great. in my books anyway. pushing it beyond will be dicing with danger because there is no glory in a fast bike split and then walking most of the run.

the weather is the key. the run course is flat but the heat from the sun and the track is brutal. if i can run most of it, i would be happy. well fingers crossed, let's hope it's a fun day out for everyone! good to be back.

strange coincidences

2010-01-08T21:10:00.003+08:00

nothing to do with triathlons today. just a strange observation. mum's in the hospital because of her parkinson's. i played soccer the other day and hurt my back. went for a header but by the time i reached where the ball had been, it was now in another time zone. that's how slow i have become. anyways, i digress. the keeper had got to the ball first and in the process knocked me in the back somewhere. by the end of the game the back had stiffened up. don't worry if it happens to you, apparently it's just the muscles going into defensive mode to protect you from doing more stupid things that may aggravate it. of course if the injury was a slight one to begin with, you think stupid thoughts like, "oh it's nothing, i could run it off" and so i continued playing the entire game. man it was tough getting in and out of the car. it got so bad yesterday i had to get a shot for it. pardon me. have drifted off topic again.

what's the coincidence?

well the first time i had a serious back injury, it was about 3 years ago. it was when i was considerably fitter and playing soccer regularly - there was a game every week but what did me in in the end was when i tried to play the equivalent of the english premier league's christmas program. you know, the one where they play boxing day, and then again two days later, and then the next weekend. i thought i was fitter than anytime in my life, and that i might have been, but i was also way, way past my prime years...and injuries can come up and kick you in the ass suddenly so for all you baby boomers out there, this is a cautionary tale. so after something like the 3rd game in 8 days, i was feeling tired and stiff but otherwise no symptoms that something was going to hit me.

well after a game, i went to visit mum in the hospital. can't recall what she was in for, but on the way up in the hospital lift, seeing how stiff i was, i decided to stretch by reaching down - no, i had no illusions about touching my toes. but as soon as i reached down, there was something i can only describe as a popping sensation in my back. that was not the killer. suddenly it felt as if i had been hit by a truck. the pain spread across the entire back and i could not stand up straight. i had to hunch over in agony. i did my visit, and struggled back to my car and it was all i could do not to scream in pain when getting in. i now have a much better appreciation of childbirth - ok ok, maybe i don't. but it was pain like i had never felt before. don't recall even my fractures being that bad.

so there you have it. mum in hospital, i hurt my back. 3 years later, mum in hospital, i hurt my back again. luckily it is not really that bad this time...kiss rabbit's foot...touch wood...wondering if i should chance a gentle swim tomorrow.

my doctor has a sense of humour too. when i went to see him for the painkiller shot, i said i had hurt my back and he asked me how i hurt it. i told him it was while playing football and he said i deserved it...

happy new year

2010-01-02T20:57:00.002+08:00

and a very happy new year to one and all!

train hard and train safe and have great races everyone. just don't grab my leg (or anyone else' for that matter) during the swim. you can nudge me gently and i will take the hint. and if you see someone say hello or wave or nod to you during a training ride, it wouldn't kill you to reciprocate...even if like me, your tongue is dragging on the road most of the time. rode to mandai last week and this guy who wasn't even riding, just waiting by the side of the road, just looked really pissed as i rode by and did not acknowledge my wave. ok whatever. maybe he's hindu or buddhist and took offence at my cookies and cream bike jersey - you know, like the ben and jerry's cows in their ad. on my way home i actually waited at a traffic light right beside a bus with that ad - how i wished i had a picture of that! that would have been cool.

i don't do resolutions but i guess this year i am raring to get back into triathlons after taking a break last year. work really ate up the time and i was really stressed. still am, what with mom in hospital due to her parkinson's but it's nothing we did not expect. just need to juggle the time better. but i am back in training and taking a slightly different approach. my pool time is more structured this time round, rather than just swimming endless laps for the mileage. less is more ? only if you are doing it right i guess. and i have to push the pace harder. that's why my marathon time was pretty decent 3 years ago. got lazy thereafter and just did junk mileage. like this year, except i did not even do enough of the junk miles.

and i am trying to ease back into running. doing the marathon this year with insufficient training may not have been too smart. knees hurt a little but it goes away after about 10 minutes. hope it's nothing serious. otherwise i am in pretty decent shape at this time of year.

have a good year people!

feeling the burn

2009-12-23T00:20:00.003+08:00

ok right at the beginning of my comeback, i need a break...but i think i am learning to listen to my body better, and also pushing myself harder. did intervals in the pool on saturday (warm up 500, 10x100, 200 warm down), and a 2-hour bike on sunday. pushed it a bit too, and still left something in the tank at the end. maybe it's starting to have an effect - you know, where consistent training gives you a base to work from and it's easier to restart even after a layoff. heard of a colleague who ran a 4.15 marathon after minimal training due to illness. then again he was a former competitive runner in school so the mileage he must have put in then is still in evidence. two days of rest, well not exactly since it's been hectic with christmas shopping and taking the kids out to do stuff. back to the grind tomorrow and i am not referring to training. it's back to work after almost a week off.

have spent some time surfing tri blogs and found great videos that are really inspiring and rockin' with great music. found this site in the running for top blog on everyman triathlon - and he had nice video with a great song "come out and play" by the offspring. then i recalled fat cyclist also had a nice video with a great track by devo called "watch us work it". downloaded both songs from itunes and it really made my day. fat cyclist also devotes a lot of blog space to his favourite tunes while working out and i am definitely going to check out more of his selections though i don't actually advocate listening to music while riding. i am sure my insurance agent would not approve...

on that topic, jeanette wang's sunday times article was a good reminder of the dangers of cycling. i basically stay off the roads unless it's sunday or early in the morning - preferably both. i have had too many close shaves and while i love cycling, i love walking and running and breathing and eating and drinking too...you know, basically i love living. too many hot rodders out there, or just plain nutcases who thinks it's great fun scaring the shit out of you by coming real close.

well in case i don't post again before christmas, merry christmas and happy holidays to one and all!!!

a new beginning

2009-12-13T21:25:00.002+08:00

ok my hiatus officially ended yesterday. did a ladder swim session (is that what it's called? 500,400...down to 100)and it felt good though i was a bit sore after that. been a while since i pushed hard in a swim session. mostly i do things at a comfortable pace since my main aim so far in these few years has been to survive and finish comfortably. been there, done that. the only trouble with such training is that you can't really go faster in a race because that is the only pace i know. time to dial it up a little to see how much faster i can go.

feeling suitably motivated, went for a bike ride this morning, though it almost did not happen cos i went back to sleep after the alarm went. but it was still early enough to get in what i call a comeback ride. my favourite comeback ride is down the stretch of bukit timah, clementi, and west coast highway and back home which takes me about an hour. if i feel like it, i can go on towards east coast. the rust was evident in the beginning as i struggled to find a good rhythmn but soon it came back, even if the legs still felt a bit heavy.

but the best part of the ride was that as it was the first after a layoff, there was no pressure to push the pace and i took it easy for the most part, riding with hands on top of the bars and enjoying the scenery, instead of hammering away head down. and it was a beautiful morning too, with the sun shining on me as i headed east on the west coast highway. on days like this, i am just grateful to be alive and healthy and reasonably fit.

the good part about being able to look around is that i notice many things i would not normally see even when driving cos i have to er, concentrate on the road? and on the elevated west coast highway, i could see a lot and get a different perspective. all in all, a most refreshing morning.

just reading inside triathlon magazine - i love the new format and there's lots of insightful stuff. find it better than triathlete magazine which i used to buy religiously but now only get it when there are good articles such as the report on the kona race. this issue of inside triathlon was on kona and there was a series of short articles about various successful age-groupers. one of them said she keeps fit all year round and trains at a level to be able to race an olympic distance anytime, and only ramps it up when approaching an event. then i looked at her mileage and her bike is like 200 miles a week! and these are people with fulltime jobs! ok hats off to them cos i hold a full time job and i definitely cannot find that kind of time. another actually admitted that his devotion to ironman cost him his relationship, while one other said that he never misses a workout - by which he meant that any missed workouts during the week would still be completed within the week, which contributed to what he described as having miserable weekends sometimes.

i am not sure that is healthy but hey whatever rocks their world... anyway i wasn't done with my day yet and put in another swim, but at a slow pace concentrating on technique and form. it was tough after yesterday but it felt good to be back to quite serious training.

stanchart revisited

2009-12-09T20:22:00.006+08:00

thighs are still sore. will get on the bike soon. lots of opportunity to kick start my bike training in december (what's left of it) since i don't have to send the kids to school in the morning. i really need to get back in the saddle before i think about the 70.3 in march.

my last post was a quick stream-of-consciousness outpouring. now that almost a week has passed and i have regaled my friends and colleagues with my hilarious account of how-not-to-train-for-a-marathon, it's time to put away the rose-tints and see what i have really learnt.

first off, i could have done with more sleep but i was already in defeatist mode and thought that since i wasn't going to do great and set any PBs, i would stay up to watch the first half of arsenal v stoke. good thing about the game? we were one up at half time. bad thing? arsenal are quite exciting to watch...hint: i am a long-time fan. they can also be frustrating to watch. so going to sleep after that wasn't that easy. in the end, probably got about 3 hours worth at most.

i had packed my cap, sunglasses, ipod, coins (in case i had to call my wife to come pick me up halfway), two gels, and a packet of clif electrolyte chews which i had bought quite some time ago but never got round to trying it. now was as good a time as any since i particularly detest the 100 plus they give out at races. it is always too sweet and concentrated and really screws up your digestive system. big mistake -forgot to apply bodyglide. good thing i remembered the anti-inflammatory pill. not sure if it really helps but it provided some psychological relief.

reached the esplanade about 5.15. long queues at the porta loos. screw it - will just jump into a loo midway. started slowly, at what i call my "i can keep this up all day" pace. might come in useful if i ever want to do the double-marathon or the ironman. i had started about 10 minutes after the official start time so the crowd had thinned out a little which was good. did not have to dodge too many people though there were some who were already walking after less than 5 km! wonder how long they took to finish. i agree with jeanette wang that the race is for everyone, even plodders but i would add that even plodders should at least run for 10 or 15k before they stop for a walk. otherwise it's just plain ridiculous. folks, if you want to walk 42k, do it during the great singapore sale...

10k - took about 1 hr 15. not good, but hey my aim was to finish. still, ego got the better of me and i thought i was still feeling good so i started to pick up the pace ever so slightly. started to have delusions of finishing in under 5 hrs. my mind was playing tricks on me. i had forgotten how tough it had been the last two years. halfway point, starting to feel the effects but still running smoothly. i was very conscious that my strides were short, though i tried to maintain a good rhythmn and turnover. people who i thought were running quite slow were passing me! time at the halfway point - 2 hr 30 min. this was going to get ugly.

about those messages on shirts. great idea but you have to get through a lot of crap before you even see one that is remotely funny or inspirational. seeing one that says "almost there" at the 10k mark is not funny. seeing him again at the 30k mark made me want to throttle him and scream "wtf!?" (someone actually had this on his shirt). lots of not very original messages - "don't follow me, i'm lost too" is just too dumb for words, and "go, go, go" is just plain dumb. hmmm...next year i might have one that says "mush!" (great gag on this in the simpsons movie, if you have seen it).

drank a lot, though i think i skipped one station. started on the clif chews after the halfway mark. cherry flavour. let's just say i would not refuse it if it is handed out during a race but i would not buy it myself. a little too sweet for my liking. and i thought it was just electrolytes...now i find it is also a source of carbs, though not much i suppose. i had 3 gels and the chews (finished the last 2 in the last 5k - there are about 6 or 8 in a pack i think. i lost count). apparently 3 chews are the equivalent of 1 gel. so i had plenty of carbs but even so, i actually felt slight hunger pangs towards the end.

just visited the clif bar site and discovered that the chews or bloks as they are called, come in margarita flavour with 3 times the salt! the added salt is meant for those who sweat more. that's me. yes please. actually i don't really give a damn about the salt. margaritas! whoohoo! come to think of it, if i was in a long race, the bloks would be a welcome change from gels.

by the time we hit the return stretch of east coast, it was getting brutal. no more illusions about finishing under 5 hours. my "run all day" pace became a jog, and finally a dead man's shuffle... in my mind of course i was still high kicking it like crowie. my nipples were also suffering from chafing - damn it! should have remembered the bodyglide. or should i have taken off the top and saved myself some agony?

the cramps hit soon after, and it was the dreaded walk-run combo. i hate doing it. maybe i should train harder next time. but there was no way i was going to drop out. i had told way too many colleagues about the race:) and what would i tell the kids? it would have been so easy to just walk the last bit but i just could not do it. and so i shuffled painfully to the end, even as others were flying past on sheer adrenalin, including two girls that power-walked most of the last 5k. i had nothing left in the tank and frankly, finishing was not a novelty for me. and so i finished with some dignity. if i pushed it, i might have done a julie moss and end up crawling across the finish.

actually i heard from a friend this is what happened to one runner - he felt good and decided to sprint the last bit and ended up wobbling stiff-legged from cramps across the finish line. if you must know, he was removed via stretcher.

and there endeth the lesson. it could have been worse. the weather was incredibly kind, save for 15 minutes at the end. took my t-shirt and medal, and trudged across the padang that now resembled the wastelands of verdun in world war 1 - i suppose one benefit of finishing early is you might actually see some grass. why didn't they lay some canvas or something on the field?

next time i might actually try training for this just a little... still, all in good fun - at least after the pain in my legs wore off.

enough rest for now. tomorrow it's back to serious training. i miss it actually. call me masochistic but as one guy had on the back of his shirt, "if you make pain your friend, you will never be lonely for the rest of your life" :) but my favourite was still the guy who had "this was a good idea...3 months ago".

marathon trilogy completed

2009-12-06T20:37:00.004+08:00

ok just finished my third marathon in consecutive years. finished being the only thing i can claim about it. oh i ran most of it, but at a plodder's (as jeanette wang described us plodders) pace until cramps hit and then it was the dreaded shuffle and walk. this marks the end of my unintended experiment with marathons and marathon training.

2007 was a good year. i decided to train quite seriously and logged some serious miles, though in the end it was still insufficient. but i got some good insight into what it took and how much i could do and it felt good. i also worked almost exclusively on my run and put aside my swim and bike training. i had a good race until my knee gave out towards the end. but a decent time, 4 hrs 35 min.

2008 saw me finish in 4 hr 37 min. the difference was that i was doing more cross training because i had been aiming to do the ironman, which did not work out after i crashed on the bike in training. so cross training is almost as effective.

this year my longest run was 1 hr 30 min. in 2007 it was 3 hr. last year it was 2 hr 20 min. so i was seriously unprepared. training was also tough because work was really killing me and i was in serious danger of burning out. the only other thing i was doing was the occasional swim during my sons' swimming class, and soccer. it did not help that i got clobbered during a game and injured my thigh. but the real killer was lack of training.

saw a message on this guy's back this morning, "it seemed like a good idea...3 months ago" - that put a smile on my face. i really should have thought harder about whether to run but quitting was not really an option once i started. so my modest goal became finishing. and i did but it was painful and reminded me of my first marathon which was done without any serious training at all and took me more than 6 hours. today i took 5 hr 22 min. that really sucks but under the circumstances, i was actually quite proud of myself for toughing it out and running nearly all the way. it was a real mental battle. what helped greatly was my ipod playlist. certain songs like green day's holiday put a spring in my step - can't wait to catch their gig in january. the weather was also mercifully cool except towards the end - i really hate the stretch at the formula 1 stand which is brutally hot. only good thing is that it is short.

i was really exhausted but did not know it until i tried to change into my track pants because i did not want to dirty the car. i actually strained my shoulder and stomach (got cramps) and had to lean against the wall for a while. then i had to gingerly get into the track pants, taking care not to have any sudden movements. oh the pain in the shoulder was excruciating, even worse than the pain while running, which tells you how slow i was running.

anyway this year's experiment led to the inescapable conclusion that if you don't train, it's going to hurt. duh. i might do the sundown but will probably give the stanchart a miss. tough to plan family holidays in december with that on the calendar. the immediate decision is whether to do the 70.3 in march. will rest a few days before thinking about it.

osim 09 and ethan's debut

2009-08-15T23:22:00.033+08:00

so this year ethan made his triathlon debut. i must confess that i did not make him do open water swim training because i thought it might make him change his mind about taking part. i thought that at 100m, he would be able to tough it out and in any case, it was usually quite calm and some years, the kids even walked through the swim or so i heard. he is not yet a strong swimmer so this would be the toughest part of the event. but he was keen and i hoped that at the very least he would enjoy his first tri. habits are formed from a young age and hopefully he will go on to enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

but first there was the small business of settling their rides. ethan had been riding a kid's bike from toys r us which was too small. matt had a kid's mountain bike that was also too small. obvious solution was to move ethan up to matt's bike and to find a new bike for matt. not so obvious solution, was to buy a new bike for gabe, (who was not taking part, but he was due a birthday present) and then let matt use it for the tri. they are almost the same size. so went down to mr tan's shop at owen road and he had an xs raleigh which was perfect.

here's gabe with his new ride. you can still see the ribbons attached.

a cool and confident ethan next to matt.

good to go

and they're off! i told ethan that he should take it easy and not charge headlong into the water because he was probably the smallest kid in the event and not that strong a swimmer. so he listened to instructions, hung back and bravely took the plunge.

but he was soon struggling to make progress as the water was a lot more choppy than i expected so close to shore. but brave lad, he still hung in there. the end came when the jet ski came round to pick up a kid who raised his hand and asked for help. as soon as that jet ski came round, everyone around it just clambered on. i was grateful for him but also a little disappointed that it turned out this way. he's a gutsy boy and had the jet ski not come round, i am convinced that he would have grinded his way through to the end.

all aboard the jetski express! but it was good of the organisers to allow these kids to continue with the event and ethan certainly enjoyed the rest of it.

here he is, toughing it out on the bike, looking determined...

charging out of T2! it did not last though as the fatigue got to him and he walked a bit.

and he completes his first triathlon!

matt looking good in pink!

matt on the new bike, going into T2

looking good matt!

he had a decent race, improving on his previous time. having second thoughts about coming back next year though. said he was not really a triathlon type! i told him he was more the couch potato type!!

i must say in all, i had fun watching them and i really missed taking part this year. hope to make a comeback soon.

living life

2009-07-31T22:50:00.003+08:00

just read fat cyclist's blog. he's now fighting a tremendous battle taking care of his wife who has cancer. makes for sober reflection. we like to think we will live forever. at least i did when i was younger. but along the way, things happen to friends and colleagues and soon we start looking over our shoulder. we go for our medicals hoping to find out nothing's wrong, but really it could happen the day after your medical right? so while i am not knocking the benefits of a regular checkup, everyone over 40 should go for one - at least that's the conventional wisdom, let's not forget to live.

fat cyclist mentions that when his wife's family came to visit, he took the opportunity of some time for himself by going riding. i can emphatise and fully understand. when the shit hits the fan and things look really tough, that's when you probably need an outlet the most. physical activity is a good way to let off steam, refocus, just forget stuff for a while...

i am going to be 47 and while i wish i was younger so that my recovery is easier, i take pleasure in still being able to work out. people ask me why i still play soccer. well because i can. and i will keep at it while my knees are still holding out and while i am still competitive. i can't play upfront anymore because the speed's gone but i can still hold my own in other positions where experience and anticipation, mental speed, is still important.

and longer distance triathlons fit the bill very nicely thank you. just watching my kona dvd again to inspire the kids for tomorrow and once again, i am inspired by sister madonna buder, the 78 year-old nun who is still doing ironmans. and if she can do it, i should give it a shot. i am not so cocky as to think i would definitely be able to complete one, but i am certainly going to give it a good shot. live life. what's the worst that could happen in a triathlon? DNF. but at least give it a good shot.

signed up for the stanchart marathon in december so that's one event marked in the calendar already. that's a start to getting my training back on track.

marketing 101

2009-07-25T23:43:00.002+08:00

here's a further development of one of my original ideas - remember you read it here first. you know in kona each year, there is a bike count of the most popular makes. but what do they do with the info? just makes for interesting reading and superficial validation that hey i'm riding a popular bike, or hey, i'm on to a good thing that not many other people know about.

but think about it. if you were in charge of marketing cervelo, or specialist - ahem, just happens to be the two brands of bikes i ride, wouldn't it be interesting to use an event like say the OSIM to build some brand loyalty? you know, make people feel good that they chose your brand. sadly, i think no one does this. a bike store sells you a bike, hopes you come back to do maintenance with them, and that's about it. well, at least that has been my experience. if anyone else has had a different experience i would like to hear about it.

i would go to the OSIM event, register everyone who rode my brand of bike for a separate competition (fastest Cervelo triathlete or fastest Cervelo bike split) or lucky draw, and make at least some of them feel good about choosing my bike. does that make sense or does that make sense? low cost promotion. might even feature some of the winners rather than always focusing on professional athletes.

listening to your body

2009-07-18T20:08:00.003+08:00

article in ST today got me thinking. yeah i used to be one of those who trained on feel, which meant listening to my body. i don't listen very well, which means i have a problem. i would just tough it out and push out another workout even if i was not really up to it. or else i would be listening too well, and stay in bed when i should be on the road. actually no one really knows what we should listen for. even the article said as much. often we just tune in to whatever station suits us. especially the one that says, ok let's save it for another day. or, what the hell, let's have another beer.

the article also said that you should have another person do your listening for you, i.e. a coach. first of all, i don't want a coach, because hell if i have problems listening to my body, why the hell would i want to pay money to listen to someone else? just kidding... i am sure many coaches provide valuable advice and great motivation. but i don't have any serious competitive goals so a coach is a non-starter.

actually i don't really have much of a training plan most times. i just squeeze in whatever i can do in the time that i have. i suspect most casual athletes (can't think of a better phrase) are like that. we are not disciplined enough to follow a plan really strictly. but we pretend we do. or at least, we have creative excuses - we are making our own adaptations to it. basically it's a great plan but i am too lazy to follow it / it's for hardcore athletes / my work, family, other committments get in the way / hey it's my plan so back off.

they say that there are many type A personalities in triathlon, and to some extent it is natural because it is not a cheap sport and many successful people find that they have the means to buy a better game, so to speak. like golf. speaking of which tiger woods missed the cut at the british open. whoa. as keanu reeves would say. i like tiger but he's way too serious. slamming your club against the bag is not good behavior. not as bad as lebron james but not something you want kids to emulate.

but i digress. there are many yuppies in triathlon and that's good for all the companies that make nice gear for us gearheads. but ultimately, most of us don't take it that seriously to the extent that it takes over our life. if that happens, take some time out. that's my excuse for now anyway :) i am getting back in the game for sure.

did a run and swim today. i did not listen to my body, which was telling me to shut down my laptop (working at home on a saturday, yeah i know, i know...) and shut down my brain and catch some shuteye. instead i did the opposite. as george costanza did in one episode of seinfeld. do the opposite. so i ran. and then when i should have been resting after the run, i went for a swim.

it felt surprisingly good. perhaps the layoff has been good for me. we will see. let's see what my body tells me tomorrow morning when i should get on my bike.

not doing osim but my boys are!

2009-07-04T18:35:00.003+08:00

this year marks the debut of my youngest boy ethan. he's 8 and raring to go. he will periodically talk about it without any prompting and despite reservations from his mum that he's too tiny, how could i hold him back? i love his spirit. he learned to swim front crawl last year and has picked up fast according to his swim class coach. still, swimming in the sea might be a surprise to him. oh well, he has to start sometime.

he will be joined by matthew who is 11. this will be matt's third tri. not as keen as before but he is still game. gabriel will be sitting this one out. softball's his thing now. maybe one day he will come back to it.

i will be sitting out this year as well. have not trained regularly and besides, it is rather hectic rushing about two days in a row there. i am just not quite up for a race at this point in time. thanks matty for the advice - i agree that training in a group provides great motivation and camaraderie. it's just tough for me to commit to a group and i hate to be seen as a peripheral member who flits in and out. work is keeping me busy and tired. i work out to destress, not really with an aim towards a goal. but i do need to set some goals for the end of the year.

i need to do the IM and the double marathon at some stage. even if i don't finish within the cutoff, but of course i think i can as long as i don't suffer from a total meltdown. just need to put in enough mileage - probably don't need to overdo it in case i get injured. completion is the goal here folks.

lacking motivation

2009-06-06T22:41:00.002+08:00

it's one of those periods when i don't really feel like training much. also fell sick and have no appetite for anything this week. got a soccer game coming up and thank goodness for that, otherwise i would really be out of shape.

i am however quite excited by the recent sundown ultramarathon. i have now 3 marathons under my belt. maybe time for a new challenge. the IM is still a possibility of course. cycling has gone flat a little but i really should get back in the saddle. ass is getting soft again. last week rode about two hours and it was killing me. how do real cyclists ever get used to it? do the muscles in the ass conform to the shape of the saddle to minimise discomfort? or do muscles there become tougher and hence able to absorb more punishment? i am doing some long swims now and then so that's good.

i have to get these two events out of my system. just to be able to say, been there, done that. bragging rights of course but i'm not really out to prove anything to anyone. more to myself. show my kids what's possible. age is just a number, yada yada yada...

so much stuff to do ... want to learn how to play the guitar. got started and then lost the discipline. tons of video to be edited. books to read, movies to watch. sometimes you have to wonder if the time spent training is all worth it.

but it is. a long swim, bike or run is extremely therapeutic if not pushed at a crazy pace. clears the mind, get into a nice rhythmn, in tune with the mind, the body, the sounds of the road, of nature, of nothingness but one's breathing.. the feeling of being alive.

i'll be back. maybe tomorrow, maybe next week but i will definitely hit the road again.

mad dogs and englishmen

2009-05-06T23:14:00.003+08:00

i recently decided to run in the midday sun... didn't do my usual sunday bike because of rain. slept in, felt guilty and then decided, ok good excuse to go for a short run and get the sunday papers while i am at it. turned out to be a pretty good workout. it actually feels kind of liberating to be out running at midday and just sweating buckets and not worrying about it. saw a woman carrying an umbrella and patting her forehead with tissue paper in a vain attempt to stop the sweating.

actually that made two days in a row in which i decided to run in the heat of the day. most of my workouts are early morning or late at night so it took some getting used to. saturday i sent my boy to soccer practice and then decided to pop over to east coast park for a run. pretty brutal heat - lots of serious runners with impossibly lean physiques out and about. i did ok the first half hour or so but the journey back was tough. my son's swim coach, terence, who's doing the busselton ironman this year, said he saw me and called out but i must have been pretty zonked and tuning out everything.

but i figure that this run training in the heat is necessary if i am ever going to do well enough to complete at least the half IM in some comfort. my run sucks anyway so really need to put in tough sessions like these.

do the pros matter?

2009-04-25T23:44:00.003+08:00

just read the revamped "inside triathlon". interesting article by scott molina about the life of a professional triathlete and how little has changed in terms of the prize money since he raced back in the 80s and 90s. the big money is in the ITU races which we could have seen in Singapore if they could have found a sponsor but it was not to be. ironman races surprisingly pay very little but i suppose the payoff for the triathletes is in the sponsorship deals they scoop up if they win or podium.

molina says the ironman races are really all about the age-groupers and i guess it's true. after all, the majority of participants in triathlons are amateur athletes who do it for the love of the sport. without us shelling out good money for a race, there probably wouldn't be one. but that got me thinking about the various types of age-groupers and how it would be more interesting and maybe fairer to classify us differently.

age is a neat classification but in endurance sports, it does not actually mean that much very often. the people at the top of each age-group normally show quite similar performances and for good reason. they have worked their asses off in training to get to where they are, probably putting in 20-30 hours a week. i often wonder what jobs they hold? or life they have outside of work, family and training? but that's their choice and i respect it. it is definitely not an easy choice for sure. but i digress.

wouldn't it be good if we could categorise competitors by hours of training? of course the main problem is proving the amount of training put in but you could disincentivise cheating or under-reporting by "promoting" them to the next category if they place in the top ten for instance. newbie categories, "suicidal" categories (those who are taking part with no training whatsoever!)...

or how about by your strongest or weakest discipline? the suckiest swimmer category springs to mind - with good reason of course.

what about by bike price range? so the guys who ride the most expensive bikes get to face off against each other. they are the ones keeping the bike industry afloat anyway so they deserve a category of their own.

any other interesting suggestions?

freaking awesome site!

2009-04-14T22:58:00.003+08:00

hey macca has a web site and it's kinda cool, and not just because his race in singapore was featured on it. well duh... he raced here, he has a blog, it would be there. but the cool bit is this german tv crew filming everything he's doing, including him watching tv. i'm quite good at that, watching tv i mean... maybe they can pay me for the privilege.

but the freaking awesome blog i am referring to is not macca's. it's this blog called fat cyclist and it will blow your mind. not only is it well stocked with all kinds of interesting bits about cycling, mostly mountain biking from what i have seen, but the best part are the videos. rocking music that makes you want to take out your bike and hit the road. haven't heard one tune i am familiar with so far but they all rock!

check it out, you'll thank me later.

what's ahead?

2009-04-10T21:44:00.002+08:00

you might have guessed that i missed the show that was the 70.3 from the lack of activity on this blog. i really really wanted to go but my youngest boy really really really wanted to go try out for a karate tournament at his karate class and you guessed it... the trials (well the first of them anyway) were on that very morning.

so what's a dad to do? give up the chance to watch crowie and macca of course. i will catch the telecast on cable - when it does eventually come on. it could be anything from 3 months to 6 months later. you never know with these triathlon broadcasts. despite us thinking this is like the greatest sport ever, guess it is still really just a minority sport.

and what a race it turned out to be too...damn. but of course there's always something. tacks... who is the imbecile that did this? just goes to show that despite it being a great sport, and the incredible camaraderie we find, there is a small minority who just takes things too seriously. just like your weekend warriors who decide to take out fellow sportsmen because they just can't stand losing. like the idiot who grabbed my leg during the swim. just swim over me you moron! that i can take.

reminds me of this other idiot who decided that shirt pulling like what he sees on tv is de rigeur in a friendly 5-a-side soccer game without even proper goalposts. after the second time he pulls the stunt, i grab him by his jersey and tell him to chill out saying "what's your problem? this isn't the f*^@ing world cup!"

but the guy who did the tacks is the lowest life form there is. there were all kinds of theories but you are not going to convince me it was anyone other than some low-life ultra competitive age-grouper who wanted to slow down the competition so that he could grab a clearwater spot. it ain't rocket science folks. in a world of perfect karma, he will either crash out there, or be DQ.

anyways, what's the plan for the rest of the year? will it be busselton or langkawi? i have made some alterations to my work schedule and will no longer lose training time on account of pulling out of an overseas work trip. might do the sundown marathon after all but it might be a little too soon.

resuming training after a really hectic period. suffering a little from what i suspect is chronic fatigue syndrome. energy levels are way down. or maybe it's just lack of sleep. too many late nights either clearing mail or following the guys on operations are taking their toll. but slowly getting there.

swim sessions are getting better and i am surprised at the mileage i can put in at this stage. runs are tough but i am grinding them out. just did an hour's run this evening. form's coming back and that's important to avoid injury. played a couple of soccer games which is always great for conditioning, though the idea is that you should be fit to play rather than play to get fit. playing to get fit is a recipe for getting an injury. last thing i need to do is get my bike computer on my road bike fixed. it's not been working and i am not sure why. got to bring it back to the shop. maybe i should get a garmin.

that's just my inner retail therapist speaking. he/she has been very persuasive of late. have bought a helmet, jersey and even a compression top of all things! but the top has been useful and i do find it aids recovery especially after tough swim sessions. even wore it once on a morning bike ride under the jersey and maybe it's just psychological but i did seem to feel less tired in the neck and shoulders after.

hoping to do a really long ride this weekend but it will depend on how well i sleep saturday.

just reminiscing

2009-03-20T22:52:00.004+08:00

reminiscing...nice little song by the little river band. anyone remember them?

just walking to the park and reminiscing...that's what i was doing this afternoon when i went down to the big splash to check out the race expo. it felt weird that i was not taking part and yet at the same time, i could soak in the atmosphere and feel the excitement vicariously watching people wheel their bikes in (why were they bringing their bikes on friday?) people who appeared in various states of readiness... the usual mix of semi-pro age-grouper types who look ready to mix it up with the best of them, and your average joe (like me) who may look the part but are really just there for the fun of taking part.

i miss this part, the excitement building up through the last few workouts, adrenalin pumping from wanting to do another workout just to feel ready, but holding back and saving it for the big day...turning up and getting that little wrist tag - i was so self-conscious about it the first year of the 70.3 that i actually wore a wrist sweatband over it...checking out what's inside the goodie bag...invariably a disappointment given the big bucks we shell out but still the thrill of the unknown is part of the fun...

it was blazing hot and while i do not wish a meltdown for anyone, at least it would be preferable to a tropical thunderstorm on raceday. let's hope the weather gods smile on all.

i almost wished i was taking part despite my total lack of fitness. coincidentally i read this blog just now and hats off to the author who did IM langkawi with minimal training. he's the man in my book.

who's going to win sunday? let's hope for an exciting race, and no bike problems for anyone please!

no pressure

2009-03-15T16:18:00.003+08:00

next sunday is the 70.3

still harbouring some fantasy about going for it despite not training. maybe i will live to blog about it. unless i am hit by severe cramps (that did not stop me last year) hmmm... but what would i be trying to prove? that i can complete it? been there, done that. that i can suffer? ditto. no good reason really. so save myself the 350 bucks i would have to shell out. recession has hit singapore triathlon. think the field is still below 1000. not sure if local triathletes have been the cause, or expats from the region. many have gone home i guess.

biggest victim of the recession was the ITU which got pulled due to lack of sponsorship. also some rumours that the OSIM olympic distance which was to be held in conjunction with it would also be canned, leaving us with no more major events the rest of the year. that would be a shame. maybe cue for me to set my sights on a PR for the marathon?

i would like to know what does it take to go sub-4? certainly more specific training would help. i guess i have been just doing mindless mileage. don't really have a plan and go more by feel than anything but i guess that can only take you so far. maybe i am lazy. or maybe i have enough stress from other parts of life and don't want to have to stress about training as well.

it did happen last year when i was trying to juggle so many things in my life. while training, the stress does go down but it's the getting to the training and agonizing about whether to do a workout or just chilling, that is most disagreeable for me.

even watching the event next sunday is not a given because there are competing priorities. maybe i will just watch the swim start and part of the bike. give some support to peter who is still plugging away, good man. of course i want to catch crowie and macca, von vlerken etc. should be fun. might take lots of pics as well and post it for guys who don't want to pay ridiculous money for memories of their race. my contribution as a spectator. hope everyone has a good race.

normal's good

2009-03-01T01:30:00.004+08:00

for the first time in a long while, i feel close to my normal self. of course i have lost quite a bit of my fitness after laying off for a few weeks with only my daily walks back from sending the kids to school, and one or two short swims. tired from too many late nights clearing mail but that's normal too. leg's almost as good as new now and will slowly ease back into training. god knows i need it.

mentally, i am just getting back to normal. partly due to the lack of training - get crankier when i can't train. but also due to work, as in too much of it, and some issues about personal progress. need to hit the road again and soon. pounding the concrete or feeling the early morning breeze while on my bike...that's all the therapy i need.

just realised that if my plans had gone well, i would have been in langkawi today. but it wasn't meant to be and i think it would have been extremely stressful juggling all that work and training and tapering for the race. beginning to wonder if langkawi is the most appropriate race given its timing. us age-groupers with work and family have to plan extra carefully.

ok time to dust off the cobwebs and get back in the saddle.

sick as a dog

2009-02-14T23:14:00.002+08:00

well my luck hasn't changed much. whole family is sick and two of the boys have HFMD - that's Hand Foot and Mouth Disease to the uninitiated. usually harmless episode that passes in a couple of days but there have been fatalities in young kids.

do you believe in luck? things seem to be falling apart around me all at once...airconditioning unit in one room is dripping buckets, and my appliances started failing in quick succession, the PC crash which i mentioned but which thankfully was only a faulty video card, then my external hard disk (which i managed to get a free replacement as it was still under warranty), the dvd recorder (had to let it go since it was already on its last legs), the ice-maker in the refrigerator and today, the monitor called it quits. still, some were rectified painlessly and relatively inexpensively so i am grateful for that. but they all added to the stress during a particularly busy period at work.

even then, i think i would have coped quite well if i had been able to get my usual fix of training. but bad things seem to keep happening. after the bike crash, the thigh injury from soccer which is still causing pain, and then being absolutely hammered by a virus two weeks running. both times i was just totally out of it and slept nearly throughout the day. i think the second episode occurred when i was still weak from the first and wham, i was down for another eight count. still feels like there's sandpaper in my throat.

times like this, i swear i will never ever complain of being tired again. what price health? long days on the road or in the pool when we are just fried can be tough to get through but nothing compares to what i am feeling now. the IM for this year is over, and so is the 70.3. my main focus is getting my health back and to do that, i need to regain a healthy balance. that requires a great deal of discipline - which incidentally is the least of my strengths. found that out in the strength-finders report done by gallup.

need to get back on track and soon. but i think the worst is over and my body just needs time to mend.

a most inauspicious start to the year

2009-02-05T23:30:00.003+08:00

first it was the crash, ruling out the IM...

now, i just got clobbered on the soccer field, suffering a dead leg. hopefully i won't be out of action for too long - recovery can take anything from days to weeks. no bruising, so that's good i suppose. and just when i motivated myself to put in a couple of good workouts over the weekend too...man that sucks. swam both days, did a 2.5 hr ride and a 1.5 hr run. not bad considering the layoff i had.

rested on monday, just a light 50-minute jog. played soccer on tuesday and it was going pretty well until the second half. pushed the ball past the guy on one side and went round him on the other. next thing i knew, his knee crunched into my upper right thigh and i just crumpled. for a split second i thought he had done some serious damage but i got up, and rubbed my thigh furiously for a few seconds - on hindsight a bad move since you are supposed to ice such injuries. and then i played on, an even dumber move but i thought i could limp around a little and help my team out. managed to do so for another 10 or 15 minutes before i got a slight bump against the thigh and it just seemed to shut down on me. that was it.

the game was played in a pretty good spirit and so i did not see that coming. and while i think the guy meant to take me out with a bodycheck, he probably did not mean to knee me in the leg. i guess i was slow to read the danger. if i had, i should have just leaned my shoulder into him and let him take the charge like in basketball.

later as i sat there, i lamented my dumb luck. before the game i had felt a pain on the top of my right foot whenever i put weight on it - it had started in the morning and i could think of no reason for the origins of it. the closest i could think of was the run the day before and one possible moment where i had jumped off a little step and landed mainly on my forefoot. the pain would go away once i started walking. as i laced up my boots, felt the pain again and walked gingerly around, wondering if i could even play. but miraculously, after about 5 minutes of warming up, the pain just disappeared. it only came back after the game and the next morning. did some research and it is most likely a bone spur. was worried it might be the metatarsal since someone had stepped on my foot in the previous soccer game.

anyway, getting an enforced rest now. 70.3 is about 6 weeks away. time to get serious or are these injuries a sign that i should sit this one out?

macca and crowie coming to singapore

2009-01-29T20:09:00.002+08:00

wow...don't know whether to race or watch...but it is really exciting to think that the current ironman champ and the previous champ will be going head to head here. and they might be whizzing by inches away from me! to race or not to race, that is the question...

training has not really gotten back on track since recovering from the crash. combination of inertia, season festivities (first christmas, new year and now chinese new year) and work. kind of hard to leave office on the dot for a swim when your guys are still hard at work. of course it does not matter that i am logged in late into the night. people form perceptions and choose what they want to see. and i have to set an example.

i will probably still race. the only thing not going well is my swim since the long lay off but that's nothing new since my swim has always sucked anyway. so even if i don't put in sufficient training to go faster, my main aim has always been not to drown...just kidding. but i have no illusions about how much i can improve based on the limited hours i have put into the pool. the irony is that before the accident and the current workload that has descended on me, i was actually enjoying the IM swim program that i was following and was putting in mileage i had never done before. ever. hopefully that little "base" that i built means that i don't start from scratch as i had to do two years ago when i could barely swim four laps without stopping.

in any case, i am still learning from each race and this time it will be no different. keep learning and eliminating mistakes. then each race becomes more enjoyable even if it is still painful. still working towards the perfect race, that mythical endpoint where all things go as planned, where one stays in the zone all day long, and hits the realistic targets that are set.

another crash

2009-01-25T00:13:00.002+08:00

this time, it's the damn computer...

and all this while i'm like, i have an external hard drive which i bought a month or so ago...i should be backing up my stuff which i have been neglecting to do so due to work and other things to take care of, but mostly it was inertia and complacency. used to do it, well not quite religiously, but i was certainly a devotee or believer...too late now.

gotta be thankful for the little mercies. as soon as i got wind that something was wrong, i managed to back up the pictures. losing those would have been devastating. and thankfully my music was still in my ipod which i managed to transfer back to the pc. by the way, there's no need for any third-party software. just google "copy ipod to new pc" or some variation thereof, and you're set!

anyways, brought my pc to the HP service centre. fairly quiet. not sure if it is because of the weekend before chinese new year, or that their computers are more reliable? i would like to think it's the latter. i just hope they don't have to reformat the hard drive and wipe out everything. might be just a video card failure. fingers crossed. the guy at the counter told me that recovery was an option but it could cost me anything from $600 to $2000 depending on the size of the hard disk. well if it is valuable enough then you have no choice but to pay. just don't use the guys that edison chen used :)

doing quite a bit of spring cleaning this year and threw out a lot of stuff. i have lots of plans and projects i want to get started but have never found the time. for instance, i have a pile of triathlete magazines which i want to cut up in order to file away those articles that are useful references e.g. core strengthening workouts. and on the training front, gotta start getting serious if i intend to make the 70.3 in march. think i am in fairly good shape at this stage, even with the long lay off. we'll see how it goes.

fulfill your destiny...

2009-01-07T21:10:00.003+08:00

i admit it... laying off for 3 weeks... i was tempted to join anakin and the dark side...

holiday festivities, good food, lots of alcohol, sleep late, sleep in... the missus said it was strange to wake up on a sunday, and see me in bed. a slacker's life for me.

i think initially, it was almost a relief that i did not quite need the same discipline. no dragging myself out of bed, no agonizing over whether to chance it if the sky looked a bit threatening, no rushing to the pool during lunch or after work, no life... of course there was a bit of a let down and the usual paranoia about losing fitness during my downtime. i would occasionally entertain thoughts that the layoff would not be that bad, as i had built up a modest base in the last few weeks of the year. maybe i could pull it off with minimal training. "train for an IM in 7 weeks on 1 hour a day"...the next bestseller... after all, i was just aiming to complete the event.

then reality would sink in. i had struggled mightily with the 70.3 just a few months ago. how could i possibly think that i could complete an IM now without sufficient training? get real!

it was in moments like this that the dark side started its insidious influence...just stick to 70.3...it's tough enough for an old geezer like you...why push yourself so hard for months on end?...think of the better family time you would have (if you weren't wasting time on this blog for instance)...there is so much work to do already...your wound hasn't healed yet... take your time to rest and let it heal properly...

"you're not my father!...i'll never rule the universe with you!"...

this always reminds me of the most excellent movie, "bill and ted's excellent adventure" starring the most triumphant keanu reeves and the most excellent alex winter (?)(what other movie has he been in?). there is a scene where they travel back in time to the middle ages, get into suits of armour and start to let rip with the broadswords, re-enacting the scene in "the empire strikes back" in which the heavy-breathing one tells luke that he'd better call him daddy...

ok so i finally broke out of my rut when i realised the excuses were getting a little too convincing. i could not swim yet (i think), but i could definitely run or bike. so finally hit the gym for a 30-minute run and hit the weights for good measure. it felt good but probably overdid the intensity just a little. two days later, another run, this time outdoors for about 45 minutes. a bit laboured but grinded through. not back to full training yet but at least the cobwebs have been swept away.

also cleaned up the bike, which i had not touched since the crash, and discovered that there was a bit more damage than i had realised. scratches along the side of the aerobar but thankfully nothing more. alright, i'm back now...

top 5 bike crashes

2009-01-02T23:05:00.003+08:00

ok, thought i would update on my injury and then my top 5 list as promised. seems only natural. well most of the skin has started healing (i think) but there is still one stubborn patch on the forearm. this is now almost 3 weeks later so healing time has been slow and i have been totally sedentary all this while because i need to keep the skin dry. thought i would add a picture so that if anyone wants a reference for how they are doing after suffering the same, they can use this. it does itch a little - i am told that this is natural when the skin is growing back. but otherwise no real issues.

ok here we go... top 5 bike crashes, in no particular order.

latest crash - most serious and most painful, probably because it is still fresh in my mind. but the sheer visibility of the wound was a bit shocking. i thought i was seeing bone when i saw white patches among the red raw flesh. and true enough that is the patch that is taking longest to heal as can be seen above.

crash in 87 during singapore triathlon - this was also painful. for weeks after, my wounds were still raw and bleeding and everyday when i took off my uniform (i was in training for my job), the skin just stuck to it. excruciating pain. it happened during the last lap of the bike leg. i had reached out to grab some water at the aid station. i did not slow down enough and as i tried to grab the water, i turned my body AND the handlebar and that was it. tire flatted but luckily i was equipped. fit on a tubular and rode carefully back to T2 because the tire was not glued on. more on this race soon in another post. if anyone's curious, i did manage to complete the race so it was not that bad in hindsight. ok this is categorised as the worst crash during a race.

"most spectacular without injury" crash at holland road - going straight through a junction. saw a car wanting to turn right in front of me. i slowed down but the said car then looked like it would slow down and let me cross the junction before turning. so i picked up my pace, but halfway through, the car decided it was turning. wtf! i swerved to avoid it, hit the curb and flew over my handlebars. luckily i landed on the grass verge. bloody car did not even stop... cursed the driver but amazingly i was not injured at all.

"most spectacular crash" - my one and only crash on my mountain bike. during my first pre-midlife crisis, i decided to get a mountain bike. a rocky mountain oxygen race. decided to do a real ride off road at nature reserve. did not do any homework about where i could start on a more friendly trail and just went in blind. it was more difficult than i imagined and as i went over the top of a slope, i looked down in horror at a really steep descent. i should have jumped off the bike - i think it was so steep that with experience, i would probably decide to get off and push, or to be more accurate just hold on! as i went down the slope i tried to brake and slow down but no dice. flew over the handlebars and luckily i landed on some soft grass. could have been worse. could have been some rock which would have done some serious damage. i have never gone off road since... well more out of laziness than anything.

most embarrassing crash... has to be this year's aviva 70.3 event. well it wasn't much of a crash, more like a slow motion roll to the side as i could not unclip from an almost stationary position. what hurt most was my pride. and that was the start of a bad day at the office. i must redeem myself next year. looks like that will be my key race as i have lost too much training time to do langkawi. bummer...

anyway, there you go. my top 5 crashes. actually to be honest, they are the only ones i can remember having. so i have been fairly lucky i guess. on a related note, someone told me that in school they used to be taught in road safety lessons that they should ride against traffic!! i can't believe this - what the hell were they thinking! while i understand that it teaches cyclists that they should take precautions of their own rather than expect other traffic to give way to them, i think it is the wrong way to get the message across.

merry christmas!

2008-12-25T16:03:00.007+08:00

a tribute to christmas past...

here's the go sports triathlon team from all those years ago, celebrating christmas i think it was 1987.

today was a quiet family christmas. still not back in training of course. just removed the bandages and while most of it has healed decently with nice pink skin, there are still parts showing evidence of the trauma i went through. think i'll skip the pictures in case it puts some off their christmas lunch or dinner...

this year we are keeping it low key, as seems to be the case with the rest of singapore. awfully quiet in town. we went looking for a tree two weeks ago, but not with any great enthusiasm, and ended up without one cos none quite captured our hearts.

some of our favourite trees from the past...

did not get many presents cos the kids already got their rock band early so that they could play during the school holidays. let's hope they make it big and i can then retire! this year for the first time, each of the boys bought stuff for their brothers with their own pocket money and it was nice to see that. overall, less emphasis on the gifts and a more peaceful and quiet christmas. maybe that's the way it should be after all...

1986

2008-12-25T15:58:00.009+08:00

after the first time, i was hooked. my immediate priorities were to get my own bike since i had done the first on a borrowed bike. thus began my spiral into gear addiction. how many of us love triathlete magazine because of the ads, gear reviews, etc.? i think triathlon is the new golf. you can buy a better game but up to a point of course. the biggest beneficiary of the triathlon industry is the bike industry for sure. not just from triathletes, but friends of triathletes who would never do a triathlon because they can't swim or are just put off by the thought of taking on something like this. but they would certainly like the idea of a shiny new bike. guys are suckers for stuff like that. but i digress...

(still using toe clips then...helmets were not compulsory yet...carried a pump on the bike...)

i started training for my second triathlon with a vengeance, putting in lots of miles in the pool at the university. middle of the day was good since it was fairly deserted. runs and bikes were early in the morning, a habit that continues to this day. it also helped that i was training almost fulltime. i always joke that i was once a professional triathlete because i had finished my studies at the university and was waiting to get a job. oh and there was also the sponsorship - but more on that later. so for a few months i was doing nothing but part-time tutoring and training. i would bike to my students' homes - get in a workout while saving on transportation. some of the places were not very accessible anyway - one was a factory which my student's parents were running.

The Go Sport Triathlon team, with cheerleaders, sponsors, support crew. Graham, who hailed from England, somehow fittingly wore race number 007. Today the support crew, cheerleaders, wives, girlfriends or significant others even have their own name, trisherpas or just sherpas, named after those hardy folk that trek up the Himalayas carrying everything except the kitchen sink for you. Heck I even found a webpage dedicated to them.

about the sponsorship...simon, who introduced me to the sport, and i were also part of a team. i had known simon my secondary school days. the other members of the team were cyrano and graham. cyrano was in the same faculty as simon while graham was a PhD student from england. he was also the best swimmer and would go on to do the hawaii ironman later in the year. we were only a team in the sense that we got sponsors. sponsors! can you imagine that? it was really cool. the sponsor was eddie goh, who ran a sports shop at serene centre. he would later go on to do the triathlon himself. but at the time, i think he was like looking for the next big thing and was the distributor of sub-4, a brand of running apparel. so we all got sub-4 running outfits, and our girlfriends all wore "Go Sports" (that was the name of his shop) tee shirts. eddie today runs a skate shop at margaret drive. i actually bought a skateboard for my kids from his shop but he wasn't there that day. not sure if he remembers me or the team.

A much younger Eddie (left)back then.

anyway, that was the extent of our teamwork since we never really trained together. i was probably the weakest member of the team anyway and pushed myself really hard training alone. swimming would still be my achilles heel, that wouldn't change. i was a decent middle of the pack type of runner but nowhere near competitive levels. biking was my great equaliser. i got a great boost of confidence when simon and i decided we would do the full distance a week before the actual race. we would swim 2k in the pool, bike and run around the university. the bike route would take us round clementi road and the hills at buona vista. 65k was the distance in the event, and we did 6 laps i think. it was tough because of the climbing but great preparation since the race route was relatively flat along changi and loyang. i came it through it quite well and finished stronger than simon, which was a surprise and gave me confidence.

that 1986 event was my best triathlon ever. did a good swim (by my standards), a great bike (which surprised the other members of my team) - i recall graham was particularly impressed. the run was a struggle as usual but still managed to grind it out. finished nearly an hour faster than the previous year. i had aimed to finish an hour faster but missed by a few minutes. but it felt really good to have all that training pay off. it's the closest i have ever come to a race working out almost perfectly. as for the team, graham was the fastest, cyrano crashed out on the bike i think (which was a shame as he was probably the best overall athlete in the team) and simon had a bad day finishing behind me.

As you can tell, road closure to ensure safety was not a priority in those days...

Triathlon's humble beginnings...

so a great follow up year to my introduction to triathlon. getting a new bike, having a good race, and just enjoying the camaraderie of racing with good friends...all these contributed to a wonderful year. we are so driven by results that sometimes it is all too easy to forget that part of the fun, maybe even most of it, is in getting there. some people love to race, but i am sure there are just as many who love to train more than race. you have to love it to some extent because at its core, triathlon is a fairly lonely sport in which a fair chunk of time would be spent on your own unless you are lucky enough to find a group that can keep to very similar schedules.

newton

2008-12-19T14:30:00.000+08:00

these shoes are great! coincidentally i used to live in the newton area. newton court. it has since been torn down.

i decided i could live without the bright orange laces and switched to lock laces instead. i am grateful that there is this model which is relatively tame by comparison to the other bright orange, yellow and lime green models that newton put out.

the all-weather model which was released in november but yet to reach singapore, is a great addition as well. grey or black with red tones. more understated, which is more my thing. i admit, looks are important. so i can't quite live with the new kayano which has gold trimming! well if i was a really fast runner maybe.... but i'm not so i would rather be a little bit low-profile.

i was intrigued by the technology behind the shoe. if it's good enough for crowie, i was willing to give it a go. a bit pricey, hell it's the most expensive pair of running shoes i have ever owned! as i had already been changing the biomechanics of my run, the shoes was simply the right thing coming along at the right time. i had known about them for a while but was put off a little by the price. but finally decided to take the plunge and no regrets.

got it from uncle chan who told me honestly that it wasn't for everyone. good to find guys like him who don't do the hard sell and have fairly good product knowledge. he said one guy who used it found that his knees did not hurt anymore. that was good to hear. another took some time to adjust to the shoes - after a longish run, his calves would be really sore. but he eventually got used to it.

i tried them on and was quite sold on it almost immediately. first off, they are really comfortable. this was a pair of shoes which almost defy you to depart from conventional wisdom that you should not race in anything you have not tried before. they are also easily the lightest pair of shoes i have worn. after wearing them, the asics feel like lead boots :)

walking in them feels like walking in cycling cleats. so clearly not meant for casual wear which would be one disadvantage... well not really in my case since i don't have many neon-themed outfits in my wardrobe. my first few runs in them were fairly short, and i did not feel the strain in the calves. but when i went for a one-hour run, the calves were a bit sore but not unduly so. so no major problems there for me.

as to the actual benefits of the shoe, i am not quite decided whether the shoe promotes correct biomechanics or you tend to run that way because you are conscious of the lugs beneath the shoe which scrape a little against the ground if you strike towards the heel section. but either way, you have to change your running style to a more efficient one and that is the single biggest advantage of the shoe. cadence increases naturally and it is easy to remember to keep good form.

the other main advantage of the shoe that it almost seems to give a little bit of propulsive force forward when landing correctly. this is most evident when running uphill in which you have to have a mid to forefoot strike. the shoe makes it seem like you have cleats which clamp on and allows you to push forward more forcefully.

so i would recommend that anyone looking for a radical new running experience, ought to check out the newton.

road rash remedies

2008-12-17T15:16:00.001+08:00

man it is starting to hurt more regularly. first 2 days didn't really feel it most of the time, but today it has been really throbbing...maybe i should lay off the keyboard :) went back to my regular doctor today but he was on vacation. the stand-in did not know about duoderm or hydrocolloid gels or dressing so had to just get it changed.

someone told me about the gels and found this great article about treatment of road rash while googling. might try to buy some from the pharmacy. anyway doc said not to go back every day because the new skin is torn off when removing the dressing so best to leave it for a day or two. sounds logical.

1985 re-visited

2008-12-16T12:16:00.001+08:00

correction to my earlier post about my first ever triathlon. as you can see from the back of the medal. the year was actually 1985, not 1984 as posted originally.

man, time sure plays tricks with the memory. that was a long time ago. the event was actually held by the NUS (National University of Singapore) Students Sports Club. no way that can happen today. not that they can't do it but you need a professionally run event. i am sure there are still many students among the race volunteers though.

seeing as i have a bit of time on my hands since i am on medical leave, i will be putting up a few more posts. started off by looking for this medal which is a favourite of mine cos of the design. can't seem to find the other two from those days.

there was also a nice patch that came with the medal. never did sew it on anything. as you can see, my finishing position was also reflected on the medal which is a great touch. these days i don't think anyone does it.

i came in 82nd but it did not really matter. i was so happy just to finish.

ouch!

2008-12-15T20:58:00.000+08:00

went to get the wound cleaned and dressed again today. removing the old dressing was painful since everything was stuck to the skin. ughh! body still feels banged up, with my neck still fairly sore and i still don't have my full range of motion. i was in danger of getting whiplash while on the way to the clinic... the guy came out suddenly from a side road and the missus had to slam the brakes...

anyway this is what it looked like yesterday. not much improvement today. the nurse said it was still very raw. doesn't look that bad in this picture i must admit. like i said, i was probably pretty lucky all in all. hope it does not take too long to heal. can't imagine what the scab would be like. yikes!

well, to anyone reading this, hope it's a useful reminder to train safe and race safe. i have had many scrapes before. this ranks among the top one or two in terms of injuries. fell during a race once and could not put on a shirt for quite a while cause the skin would stick. might do a top five crashes blog soon... that should be fun.

langkawi is over?

2008-12-14T20:21:00.000+08:00

a depressing end to the weekend. last night arsenal were held by boro (or was it the other way round?) and i fell off the bike this morning.

had eased back into training and done two really good swims friday and yesterday, and was planning another this afternoon after a run out on the bike. nothing strenuous, just to ease myself back. planned a two hour ride.

got up about 5.30 after snoozing for about 10 minutes. weather looked fine. downed a banana, loaded up two bottles (one water and one with accelerade, love that wild berry flavour which is way better than the orange). slight twinges in the right knee but nothing unexpected given the marathon. started off gently, stayed in small ring throughout.

headed down bukit timah, clementi, pasir panjang, west coast highway and hit east coast. clouds were gathering ominously in the distance, but i felt good and did not want to turn back. probably a wrong decision on hindsight. still going good and as i went towards changi coast, the rain started coming down steadily but not so heavy that visibility was affected. strong winds going towards changi but they eased on the way back.

as i was pedalling back towards east coast, i was totally enjoying the moment, watching the reflection of the sky on the slick roads and marvelling at the simple beauty of a day like this when i could have easily stayed in bed. funnily enough, the thought also suddenly occurred to me that it was in a way, quite liberating to be cycling in the rain, and not worrying about getting the bike wet or dirty. on dry days, i would avoid puddles like the plague, but on a day like this, i did not need to. one less worry...

as i headed to east coast, saw many others were also out and probably also enjoying the ride despite the weather, or maybe because of it. then a momentous decision. i could take the service road back and ride against traffic part of the way, or i could stick to the cycling path. i decided that the rain, plus poorer visibility made it unsafe to go on the road against traffic. so the cycling path it was.

i made it about halfway till the part where i had to cross a little bridge. a sharpish left turn. i slowed and decided to swing right to make the turn easier as i knew it was slippery. big mistake. my safety manouvre was badly executed and i felt the bike sliding underneath me as i fell to the right. no time to react or even brace myself. that was probably a good thing as my body, in particular my right forearm hit the ground first, then my right shoulder. if i had tried to break the fall, i might have broken something. i think i may even have rolled once before i felt my head hitting the ground. thank god for the helmet. i slid to a stop.

there was a sudden stillness as i took stock. i think i took my helmet off, or it may have come off. if it did, then that's worrying but anyways, it saved my noggin. but i sat up slowly and my right forearm was a mass of red flesh, my bike jersey was torn at the shoulder but thankfully nothing seemed to be broken.

a kind malay chap (later found out his name was osman) who had been jogging or walking came over. gave me his towel which i put over the forearm. kept asking if i needed an ambulance but i thought it was not that bad. i even contemplated riding back! the bike seemed ok. but the other thing on my mind was how would i look after the bike if i was sent to hospital? i decided that i could take a cab back, and osman helped to push my bike to the service road. but the first cab said the bike could not fit and i then thought, screw it, call the missus.

she was of course worried and kept asking if i was ok, was i hurt etc... i assured her i was. anyways, she came and we then decided where to go to get treatment. i definitely needed the wound dressed. finally thought that i should bring the bike home (that was still a priority) and get cleaned up before heading to hospital. but at home, after checking the injuries again, decided that it was not that bad and any GP could do it. did not want to make it seem like a big deal. after all, if i could go home and get cleaned up and change, then it did not really qualify as an emergency did it?

doc at the clinic (thank god for clinics that open on sundays) gave me a tetanus shot and patched me up. as the wounds stung while being cleaned, i thought about the massage i got last sunday and how in the grand scheme of things, they were a way of preparing me to deal with this pain which was nothing in comparison. gave me two days medical leave and i have to go back and get the wounds cleaned and dressed again tomorrow. by now the neck had started to stiffen up. must be a reaction to the head hitting the ground, and straining the muscles.

post-accident analysis:

bike got some scratches on rear derailleur and the right pedal but other than that, unscathed. my right forearm is a mess. right shoulder has a patch of skin missing. slight bruising on left hip, but other than that, i am quite lucky. at this point, not sure if there is any shoulder or neck injury. neck's getting worse and time will tell. took a nap in the afternoon but it was hard to get comfortable.

on hindsight, while it was the rain that caused the spill, the rain also made my fall less painful. first, i was not going that fast. secondly, as i slid on the ground, the road rash could have been worse if it was not wet. other things to be thankful for was that at least i did not fall on the service road itself, though i would probably have been more careful there. and thank heavens for the helmet. i definitely hit the ground quite hard and could have gotten a concussion.

what now of my training? a re-assessment is in order after a few days. not sure how long the skin will take to heal but i sure won't be doing any swimming anytime soon. as i sat in the car on the way home, the missus was quite happy that i was not hurt too badly but my thoughts were on whether my plans for IM were now in jeopardy or already screwed. i had told myself that i probably only have one shot at it given the time needed to train but i suppose i can try again. so was it fortuitous that i had not signed up yet, or did i have a premonition?

analysis: 2008 v 2007 marathon

2008-12-10T22:24:00.001+08:00

the race analysis by runpix is really fascinating because i can now check if my perceptions of the race as reported in the previous post, were accurate.

won't bother about finishing positions for obvious reasons.

but one great new addition to the analysis this year was the nugget that i passed 752 runners after the 30 km mark, and got passed by 13 runners. quite interesting and not unexpected given that my pacing (more on this below) was fairly even. i believe most start off too fast and pay for it in the second half. i did slow down a fair bit towards the end but that happens to most and many were walking.

my average pace last year was 9.2 kph and this year it was 9.1 kph. i guess i am a model of consistency! actually what it means is that i have trained almost exclusively at this pace in the last year and a half. need to up the intensity.

ok now for run splits. last year it looked like this:

start to 8k : 9.7 kph (6 min 10 sec per km)
8 - 21 k : 10.1 kph (5 min 58 sec per km)
21 - 27k : 11.3 kph (5 min 20 sec per km)
27 - finish : 7.9 kph (7 min 38 sec per km)

so it was a bit all over the place. started slow, picked it up, picked it up some more, and then finally hobbled to the end when my knee started hurting.

this year it looked like this:

start to 10 k : 8.8 kph (6 min 50 sec per km)
10 - half : 9.4 kph (6 min 24 sec per km)
half - 30k : 9.4 kph (6 min 24 sec per km)
30k to finish : 9.0 kph (6 min 41 sec per km)

apart from the really slow start, the pacing was very even. particularly as can be seen from 10 to 30 k i was pushing the same pace and really got into a groove. this info would be useful in planning my training since i now have a fairly good idea of what my race pace is and how to take it up a notch.

maybe if i had worn my heartrate monitor, i would have had a better idea of how hard to push. but no worries. a very good run by my modest standards and i learnt a lot. i think that is the key motivation for me. it is not just about the times but about putting it all together. and when i learn how to do that right and avoid the mistakes, the times will take care of themselves.

P.S. hey uncle chan finished in 4 h 11 min. well done! he's my inspiration. i hope i can keep running when i reach his age.

my first "real" marathon

2008-12-09T22:15:00.000+08:00

i finally accomplished one of my goals to "run" a marathon. really run it, rather than have to walk parts of it because i can't run any more. ok i could have done it by jogging the whole distance but that wouldn't really have counted would it?

maybe for sub-3 hr folks, my 4 h 37 min would probably seem like a jog to them, but hey, one step at a time. strange though that it was actually almost exactly the same time that i did last year when i was hobbled by a pain in my knee that forced me to walk and run the last 5 k or so.

so why am i more satisfied this year?

well let's get some things in perspective. last year after the aviva half IM, i did nothing but run right up to the stanchart marathon. that's about two months of solid run training in which i built up quite good mileage that left me confident that i would finish comfortably. turned out otherwise but maybe i was pushing the pace a little too much. this year, i have had to juggle the time between really ramping up my swim mileage and also raising the intensity of my bike sessions. running was almost secondary as my philosophy had been that if i do the IM, my key focus had to be making the swim and bike cutoffs. after that, i am likely to have to do a lot of walking anyway. so this year, my longest run in training was about 2 h 20 m while last year, i did a 3 h run.

this year there was more focus on quality and biomechanics. bought myself a pair of newtons and had to change my running style a little. in truth i was already making the change before the change in shoes - the newtons helped to reinforce the lessons. whether it was the shoes themselves or the fact that i was more conscious of my foot strike didn't really matter. it did the trick. but more on that in another post for another day.

so i was a little unsure of where i stood. overall, i was probably in pretty good shape (by my own standards) but as far as running the marathon went, it would really have to depend on how i felt. as it turned out, not too badly but it was almost a non-event. the night before, could not really get to bed early, and did not sleep well to boot. i had told the missus that i would drive myself. start time was 5.30 am and i planned to get up at 4.15 am, drive off at 5 am and reach there with some time to spare. but i guess the lack of rest caught up with me, and my sister-in-law who was going to run the half marathon that started an hour later, saw that i had not gotten up when she got up at 5 am. she woke me and i was more than a little flustered as i rushed to get down some breakfast, change and try to head out in time. however bless her soul, my missus decided she would drive me there. so i calmed down and reached there just in time.

because of the IM, i decided that this marathon would not be an all-out attempt at a PB. in fact conventional wisdom (such as joe friel) suggested that i should not be running a marathon at all if i was preparing for IM. but i decided that as sam, who had kindly offered advice about langkawi IM, had also done the stanchart last year and langkawi in feb this year, it was at least doable (maybe not by me, but it was at least within the realm of possibility and that was enough for me. besides i had already paid up!) at best, it would become my longest training run of the year. so i decided to make myself comfortable, learning important lessons from last year. wore a visor and shades. also brought my ipod and loaded up all my favourite rock tunes (green day, dire straits, nirvana, linkin park, u2 etc), including some stuff that we discovered in rock band and downloaded. also brought my own gels as i had not done proper carbo loading. felt quite good and well-rested, notwithstanding the relative lack of sleep the night before.

the start was the same congested mess especially in places where the route narrowed. but i was relaxed and fairly comfortable and was able to concentrate on form. saw an old chap running barefoot near the start! man, i was impressed. quite a few people wearing compression tights. might get a bit toasty later in the day. i have used them in training runs but these were not long. others had their own support crew along the way. another old chap met up with his family at east coast and ate something out of a plastic bag. lots of great supporters who just cheered non-stop for anyone and everyone.

i was having a blast, enjoying the music, feeling comfortable and not really pushing it at all. then a reality check at the 10 k mark. i had been wondering where the markers were, and whether i had passed them. my time at that stage was 1 h 10 m or so. that was a bit of a shock. i knew my pace was fairly slow but i did not know it had been that slow. part of it was due to the difficulty in picking my way through the crowd but i was just as culpable due to the rather relaxed pace. in hindsight, the music was a distraction, even if it was an enjoyable distraction. i later realised, as i tried to analyse my run later, that i hardly paid any attention to the music in the second half of the race when i was trying to up the pace.

anyway i started to gradually pick up the pace without putting myself in obvious discomfort. concentrated harder on keeping good form, a good cadence, not overstriding etc. at the halfway mark, still feeling good. 30 k came and went, no obvious problems. hydrating properly, downing a gel every hour, though this was just guesswork. no idea how much i needed. took my last at the 3 hr mark. on hindsight, should have taken one more at the 4 hr mark but my concentration was waning and i did not even think of nutrition at all then. the weather was mercifully kind, though far from perfect. still i could not complain.

as i ran through the last 6 - 8 km, i decided that i would come close to last year's time or maybe better it. but i ran out of gas essentially. should have taken one more gel which would have seen me through to the end nicely. but it is details like this that matter, and the failure will have left its imprint on my mind as a valuable lesson for next time. i actually picked up the pace fairly well with about 5 km to go but then about 3 k from the end, i could not sustain it and was struggling from then on. the only thing that kept me going when so many others were starting to walk was that i wanted to run all the way, even if i had walked through the water points briefly. but i agree with those who observed that for those of us who had braved the pain of 42 k, we really should not have to pick our way through people walking 10k!

even though i ended up in almost exactly the same time. i was fairly proud of my run this year. in endurance running terms i am really no where near to putting in the kind of training that serious runners do. so my goals were modest, and i was very aware of this throughout the day as i felt comfortable and it would have been too easy to push too hard and collapse.

last year with more mileage, i had posted the same time. this year, with cross training and possibly better quality training but significantly less mileage, i was able to do equally well. so the key is specificity of training. if i want to be serious about running a sub-4 hr marathon, i need to learn how to run faster. more junk mileage isn't the answer. intensity and speed work are essential as well. all in all, a good day, and with more experience under my belt, i can't wait for the next one.

but first there is this small matter of overcoming 140.6 miles...

ITU coming to Singapore!

2008-12-04T21:58:00.000+08:00

hey maybe they read my blog about making a race happen in marina bay...maybe not. but in any case, exciting news and it's a great venue because i really loved racing near the flyer and in front of the esplanade. some of the photos taken by shutterbugs in local photography forums were unbelievable!

well let's hope i get a chance to do the first race there. am not a big fan of ITU but still, it's a triathlon and the prize money should attract really great athletes. for more news, read here. don't have much time to travel for races even if it is in malaysia, so the more races in singapore, the better for me. maybe one day we will see an IM here...

training volume has slowed this week due to the stanchart marathon. wonder if they have the same thing about writing inspirational messages on your race number...what message do i write? "the horror, the horror..."; "what runner's high?"...; "yes, i AM running..." "i'll be back..." "i paid good money to do this?"...

the agony of de-feet

2008-11-29T22:58:00.000+08:00

today i went for a massage...

oh i've had massages before. just not like this one. went to a place recommended by my sister in law. i first went to a different masseuse a couple of weeks ago. it was good, more like a rubdown which i needed at the time. this time she got me a different chap. of course after i come home, she tells me her friend says he's quite strong. well i found out why.

i know my calves are tight but when he started on them. oh. my. god. i had an epiphany there and then. it would be a new tv reality show. the camera would be mounted under the massage table to capture the silent grimacing, the facial contortions even as we fight the temptation to just jump off the table and get the hell out of there, the putting up of a brave front by attempting to keep the conversation going even as inwardly i am screaming... i'm betting on this show to be a hit. can't miss.

anyway, it was a rather painful session but some good must have come out of it because the moment he finished on one leg and went to work on the other (as in knead the hell out of it), the leg he finished felt wonderful. don't know what it is, but the unknotting (must do some research on this but he said i had a lot of knots. whatever) must have released toxins or whatever bad stuff that was in there.

i am thinking, even as i steeled myself for another assault on my limbs and various other sensitive parts of my anatomy (seems they all are, under his hands) that if women go through much worse than this in childbirth, well i have a newfound respect for them. another thought was that i had to tough it out because the pain during a race would probably come close or even surpass it - hard to imagine during the session i know, but i had to hold on to something.

ridiculous as it sounds, relaxing mentally helped. but every fiber of me had to be subdued to continue to endure the pain. the other strange thing was that i was either very tired, or relaxed by the massage, or both, that i had a hard time staying awake during a musical i watched with the family tonight... a school production of the pied piper of hamelin. pretty good band, good performances, a quite enjoyable evening save for those parts i missed...

am i a masochist? cos i will be back next sunday for another massage after the stanchart marathon...

watch this and be inspired

2008-11-26T21:25:00.000+08:00

happened to surf my list of blogs and found this on kona shelley's blog. check out the youtube video on 22 Nov. i wish i can face my own mortality with as much courage, grace and humour as this guy.

in a sense, i train and race because i still can. i feel that i am stopping time in its tracks, fooling it for a while, fooling myself that i am getting stronger and age is just a state of mind. when i improve, even as i get older, i feel invincible. i don't feel superior to other people, though it would be easy and thus i don't preach the gospel of triathlon to others. but i just wonder why people don't get that same rush, that same feeling of accomplishment, that same high that i get after a great run or bike. not swim. i admit i rarely get that same euphoria from staring at the black lane lines lap after lap. ironically though, it will probably be swimming that i fall back on if my knees give out.

but i respect anyone who has a full life even if they do not count exercise among their passions. what i cannot stand, are those who live in the grey twilight between life and death. where the only difference is that they have a pulse. it's an affront to those who live every moment as if it were their last.

live life. be life.

recovery run with the kids

2008-11-26T21:05:00.000+08:00

had a nice little recovery run last night with the kids. usually quite a pain to get them to exercise cos they'd much rather be playing their xbox or wii. sometimes i'd rather be playing rock band with them too but that's another story.

so it was a nice surprise that i didn't get the usual protests "i'm tired daddy", "i can't run today, i ran yesterday", "i have soccer tomorrow", "i have a headache"... a nice quiet evening and since there were only two treadmills in the gym, and i wanted to get in a nice and short recovery run after a 2-hr run on saturday and a 2.5 hr bike on sunday, i decided to take them out on the road. a nice slow jog at a pace where we could still have a conversation. that was really nice. with work and all the training, it is hard to find time other than at the dinner table to chat to them.

kids are way too inactive these days. i used to play soccer every spare moment that i could. before school, during recess and after school. then in the evenings, i would play some more at the void deck below my flat. and i am seriously concerned when i see my kids run rather laboriously, especially when they have been hitting the snacks too much. i hope they stay healthy and i hope with my own training, i become a role model for them. they have not quite caught the triathlon bug yet - i asked them after the osim this year whether they were doing it again and got some non-committal answers... perhaps right after the event is not the best time!

anyways, we ended up doing a gentle 40-min jog and it was great. will definitely do this again. another coincidence...saw their schoolmates jogging with their dad this evening as i was driving home...

stupid mistakes and quick tips

2008-11-24T00:37:00.001+08:00

some personal nuggets to share... never put in fizzy isotonic drinks in your fuel belt bottles unless you have allowed it to go flat first. went for a run on saturday and about 50 metres into the run, i had a mini fountain gushing from my waist belt. that was embarassing.

here's another one. never, ever, put too much anti-fog solution into your goggles. and even if you do, never ever ever, try to put them on after just rinsing it a few times. for some reason, it just seems quite impervious to rinsing...duh! guess it should be if it is to be effective. anyway, it stings. first time it happened, i had put in a lot of the solution and had forgotten to rinse it. my eyes practically teared non-stop till i went to bed, and i could not really open my eyes the whole evening. The effects lasted nearly 3 days...

there are probably others which i will reveal when i can recall them.. like, don't wear your helmet without the protecting pads on the inside. believe me, velcro (the rough side) on skin is not a pleasant experience. i tried it once. the velcro left quite a mark on my forehead. and every bump i hit on that ride reminded me what a stupid idea it was to ride without the pads...