香港渣打马拉松 — 我来也!

I've just registered myself for the Half Marathon Senior Men's category in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon in March 2007. *whistles* Hope I can get my leave approved... I'm thinking of spending a full week to relax and soak in the sights and sounds of the Fragrant Harbour.

Earlier this afternoon, I figured that I would spare my mum the agony of having to look into my room and declare it a disaster zone. And so, I stayed in and packed up the place. Dumped a lot of old stuff and sorted out stacks of personal letters, bills and miscellaneous junk mail. Re-discovered my 五月天《神的孩子都在跳舞》CD from among the rubble, which was a very pleasant surprise...

Was listening to the songs and realised that I still haven't quite understood what it means to “让我照顾你 丰富你的人生愿望” and how to“超越我自己的想象 风雨再大为你挡”.

I really need a few more CDs. Life can be so boring without music...which reminds me, I should start saving up to buy an iPod or something similar to accompany me for my runs. Plus a hardy and compact camera to capture the scenes from my travels.

Attended Alvo and Meteor's wedding dinner this evening as well. :) The couple was extremely charming, photogenic and a great sport :) It's been an immense priviledge to have known them both (and to have grinningly cringed at all their lovey-dovey mushiness all this while). :D

Best wishes for a lifetime of marital bliss, the two of you! And may your marathon of love continue to grow stronger with each step!

简短的沙滩记

Tried to get a little sun at the beach today, but I don't think I was too successful. Felt a bit nuah after a short game of frisbee, and escaped into the shade. Just feeling tired.

Mardi Gras Run

Woke up at 0650 hrs, and realised that the Mardi Gras Run (a play on words...Muddy Grass!) was supposed to commence at 0700 hrs. Figured that the others wouldn't wait for me to arrive before starting on their run, which meant that I wouldn't have any place to tumpang my bag. So I had to travel light...and play "catch-up" :P

Armed with my fuelbelt, two bottles of water, my handphone, some cash and my TransitLink card, I quickly got out of the house and took a bus down to the Thomson area. Got off at the bus-stop near the Old Upper Thomson Rd entrance at 0730 hrs, and started on my run. I was about 20 min behind the rest, and that translated to around 4 km (!).

Took me a while to reach Mandai Rd (~ 4.5 km). I knew I had to get onto Mandai Track, but I just couldn't find it. So I had to skip the Seletar stretch of the run. =( In the end, I arranged to meet the guys at Upper Pierce Reservoir instead. So I backtracked along Old Upper Thomson Rd until the gate to Upper Pierce Reservoir, where I bumped into the Mt Faber SAFRA runners doing their 10-km run.

From the gate, I ran over a couple of slopes to get to the Upper Pierce Reservoir carpark (~ 10 km, taking 1 hr). Shortly afterwards, the gang arrived - DreamRunner, RealRunner, Ronnie, Sealboon, Desmond, Brokie, Leh-lio girl, Stazla, Cokiee, Cheow, Gentle, Freddy, DO, Teelee, Superboy and TKtan. Their shoes were all muddy and wet from DreamRunner's special "secluded trail" route...hehheh...Talk about a Muddy Grass run...=)

Once we formed up, we went on to run along the golf course, and then did a right-turn into the "Yellow Brick" Road. Up and down, and up and down...and we eventually reached Rifle Range Rd - and saw all the monkeys. And then it was up and down, and up and down again, and getting nicely baked under the morning sun whenever there were gaps in the surrounding foliage.

At the opposite end of Rifle Range Rd, we took a right-turn to head towards the Bt Timah Nature Reserve Visitor Centre (~ 19 km in abt 2 hr 20 min). There, we stopped to hydrate and recover from the exertions. And then it was time to head back!

For me, it was a painfully slow run back towards Rifle Range Rd, and then the Yellow Brick Road. My breathing was okay, but my legs just couldn't move anymore. Must have "hit the wall". Got overtaken by most of the other runners by this time. But DreamRunner and Teelee were very helpful, keeping a watchful eye out for those who were lagging behind.

It was around 23 km when I transited from Rifle Range Rd to the Yellow Brick Road, and about 24.6 km when I finally emerged from the Yellow Brick Road onto the golf course.

I ended up walking with Leh-Lio girl for the remaining distance back to Lower Pierce Reservoir Carpark. We had a great chat :)

Total Distance: 28.2 km
Total Time: a whopping 4 hr 2 min (including rest breaks)

It's the longest distance that I've done all year! =) Hooray!

And now, I just feel like sleeping...

The Wedding Run

Despite the lingering haze, a sizeable bunch of us turned up at Lower Pierce Reservoir this morning for Alvo and Meteor's Wedding Run :) The bride was in an all-white attire, complete with a princessy tiara and a bunch of flowers, while the groom was in matching running gear with a cool blue bowtie :) We tied a few empty cans (those good o' evaporated milk cans) to a piece of rafia string, and tied the string to the racebelt around Alvo's waist. We also attached race-tags bearing the words "Just Married" to both Meteor and Alvo's racebelts. :) The couple looked absolutely smashing! =)

At around 7.45 am, we set off on our run. It was a very relaxed and slow run, with many stops along the way during which we subjected the lovebirds to numerous quizzes, tests and challenges, including dancing salsa along Old Upper Thomson Road! =) By the time we reached Upper Pierce Reservoir (~ 3 km), we stopped for a short and simple watermelon-cutting ceremony and cheered the couple as we feasted on cups of 100 Plus and other fresh fruits. The haze, while irritating, transformed the reservoir into a very dream-like, misty and romantic backdrop. And so, we went on a photo and video spree :)

On the way back, I decided to pick up the tempo, and kept to a 5:15 min/km pace. Still found it quite difficult to sustain a sub 5 min/km pace...so I'll need to train even harder. :P Had to fob off a few hungry monkeys along the way, including one rather large and angry-looking one which chased after me (!).

Took even more pictures at the end-point, but it was a pity I wasn't able to stay for brunch. Nevertheless, it was a fabulous run, and here are my very best wishes to Alvo and Meteor on their blessed union! :D

Unable to pay my sleep debt

The PSI began with a benign level of 60+ in the morning, so I decided to go for a run around the Botanic Garden area on my own. No point asking any others to join me. Those who had ran in the 12-hour overnight NIE Directors Relay Race would be too tired to run today, and Chris Ang and gang were going to do their marathon training at East Coast Park, which was too far for me.

So at around 8.15 am, I began my solo ninja run. Found myself getting very breathless for the first 4-5 km. Maybe it was because I didn't allow myself to warm up into the run and recklessly kept to a 4.45-5.15 min/km pace right at the start, or maybe it was because the haze condition had deteriorated as the day progressed. Finished my first 10 km in 1 hour flat, and then went on around the Tanglin-Orchard area some more, including Claymore Avenue, Nassim Road, Minden Road and Loewen Road. But my pace slipped to a slow 6.30-7.30 min/km pace towards the end of my run. Slow, but I was breathing fine. :)

In total, I covered 16.8 km in 1 hr 49 min, and the PSI level was approaching the high 80s by the time I finished. I know today's timing was terrible, but there's still time to buck up. In any case, I had run further and took less time than last week's BG Run. So there's some improvement, I guess :)

It's been such a busy weekend...with a wedding dinner yesterday, and my uncle's birthday dinner this evening. Won't be able to pay my sleep debt much. I can see the interest accumulating when I look at myself in the mirror.

Had these for dinner

雪菜肉丝面

Worked late on Friday, so couldn't go down to NIE in time for the start of the NIE Director's Race at 9 pm. So decided to head home and sleep instead.

Woke up today morning and got to NIE at 8.45 am...saw MF SAFRA Ronnie doing a last burst of fire along Nanyang Avenue. =) Most of the participants were finishing up their final laps. It had been a long 12-hour relay race. The MF SAFRA team did rather well, with their Men's Team coming in 5th overall. The ladies from SgRunners also came in 2nd overall in the Women's category. Everyone had run hard and well. Great job guys!

Then I went with some of them - Sotong, Tiwazz, Balasing, SassyGirl, cfred, Charlotte and Roonz - to Jurong Point for brunch, bumping into Poh Choo there. At the food court, I decided to try something really new, and opted for 雪菜肉丝面 from the Shanghai Delight stall. The dish was a bit salty, but not bad :)

Got home, barely got a breather, then went out to True Way Presbyterian Church to attend a colleague's wedding. Lovely little ceremony there. Lots of people getting married this time of the year. Meteor and Alvo will be tying the knot later this month, and CherryRunner and Ong in November. Love is in the air! :)

Felt like I have been just eating and working and eating and working, and not exercising enough. Losing fitness, losing form and getting fat, and it's less than two months to the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon. I had better put away my excuses, put on my Kayanos and hit the tarmac soon.

Get a Swarovski angel of blessing for a good cause

Get a Swarovski angel of blessing for a good cause.



A group of volunteers will be embarking on a short trip to help build homes for the needy in Batam this December. They need to raise $3500 by mid-November. One of their fund raising efforts is through the sale of Swarovski crystal angels. More information can be found here.

My first ride in the TLV

Praise the Lord for an excellent morning with PSI readings of sub-50 during the BG Run :)

But at the start of the run, concerned that the weather condition might deteriorate suddenly, I decided to change the route for today's BG Run to just Frodo Ring, minus the Fourth Avenue stretch. In total, including waiting time, we took 2 hours to complete the 15 km route (with Roentgen, Kickjazz and Junie going on to run an additional 12 km after that). Since quite a number of folks had run to the old SMU from their homes in the first place, they had probably clocked enough mileage for the day, so reducing the route to 15 km was not much of an issue for them. And as for lazy me, I was content with just 15 km. *heh heh*

After our run, Jo from the Osteopathic Pain Relief Centre (OPRC) and his sifu, William, conducted personalised running gait analyses on us runners. I thought it was quite a useful session. After making me walk, jog and run, Jo pointed out that the uneven length of my legs was affecting my heel strikes, and that it was a contributing factor to possible leg injuries in my right leg. He also gave me some advice on how to gradually correct this. :)

When the OPRC talk was over, the whole lot of us went to shower and then hopped into the Roentgen Car and the Tee Lee Van and headed for Adam Road Food Centre for lunch. =) I had the nasi lemak, but found that it wasn't as great as I had expected. Besides the rice, there was just two slices of cucumber, a sprinkling of ikan bilis...but the otah, at least, was satisfactory.

After lunch, Teelee kindly ferried me over to Hougang where I found a comfortable, breezy void deck and caught a quick nap. Was awoken by Mingfa's SMS that he had arrived at Hougang too. The two of us then met up with Angeline (thanks for buying the cake) and Poh Lin (thanks for buying the presents) before proceeding to K1's house to celebrate his birthday.

It was great to see K1 and K2 again. It had been a while since I last visited the two brothers. I think K2 gained a little weight. On the whole, both boys were comfortable with our presence - even though they could not remember our names :P - and very pleased with the chocolate cake and gifts. =D

We found out that their dad had only just embarked on a month-long overseas trip. I can hardly imagine how their mother alone could cope with looking after both boys. It was distressing to hear about how K1 had fallen down at home earlier that day and how his mother had great difficulty single-handedly trying to lift the boy off the ground and seat him somewhere. During our house call, K2 also insisted on trying to walk. His mum took out an old walking aid which K2 had used in the past, but sadly, K2 had no strength in his arms or legs to support his own weight anymore, even with the aid. :(

We stayed to chat with the boys and their mother for about 2.5 hours, before taking our leave. As I was nodding off, Angeline kindly offered to drive me home.

A Moose's Head

Had a miserable week with lots of sniffing and coughing, thanks to the haze - choking smoke and fine particulate matter that has been blown over from the fires in Indonesia. Can't imagine how much worse it must be for the people who actually live near those fiery hotspots.

The Pollutants Standards Index (PSI) hit 150 this evening at 9 pm, and I suppose it'll only climb upwards. When it goes above 100, it's considered unhealthy. Above 200, very unhealthy. Above 300, hazardous. Hope the PSI goes down below 50 by tomorrow morning in time for the Lord of the Rings Run...

Lunched at Dan Ryans with some colleagues on Wednesday. Couldn't resist a picture of the moose's head. I thought it reminded me of someone. *grin*

On Friday after work, went out to Hardrock Cafe to celebrate Estar's birthday. Made the silly mistake of deciding to walk there from office. The haze was suffocating, with that horrid burning smell lingered in the stale, warm, night air. Caught up with Estar, Qianhao, Chze Keong and Sally there. Everyone seems to be losing weight, except me. ;) And everyone seems caught up with one form of community work or another, which is encouraging. But I thought the music was too loud for folks to make decent conversation, and the live guitarist didn't play Classical Gas the way I liked it.

Night out in Geylang

Had my afternoon nap, but woke up with a terrible headache and a really bad throat. Must be the haze, or maybe something worse. But oh well, I had made arrangements for dinner at Geylang with some buddies, so I went out of the house anyway.

It was a good decision. By the time I arrived at Aljunied MRT station, I was feeling much better. Met up with Superboy, Balasing and Ripley at the MRT station control before heading down Geylang Lorong 19 for some dim-sum at a place called "Chway Hoa Chia" (找好吃). Superboy said the place was famous for its porridge, so all of us ordered a bowl each. I had the 生鱼片粥...it was good! :)

We ordered a lot of other dishes, and later, when Tiwazz and Flip joined us, we ordered some more.



Initially, Balasing was sharing with us his experiences in Shanghai, but as we chatted, the conversation quite expectedly drifted to Balasing & Superboy's morning run at MacRitchie Reservoir, the NIE Director's Relay Race, the AXN Challenge, the Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon and other leisure and competitive events. I guess runners just can't stop talking about running. ;D

Pity that when I got home, my throat started to act up again, as if someone had stuck a layer of sandpaper inside. Think I'll go sleep soon and maybe it'll go away tomorrow morning. It must be the haze.

Kissed my Grandma at the 15 km mark

Went for a run with the Mt Faber SAFRA gang this morning. There were around 15-20 of us there, including Babumouse who was joining us for the first time.

We started at 7.20 am from the Clubhouse. We went along Depot Road - Alexandra Road - Queensway - Portsdown Avenue - Dover Road - Clementi Road until Ulu Pandan Canal. That was about 9.5 km, and it took me 1 hour. Along the way, I had felt my chest getting tighter, my breathing a little bit more painful, my throat itching and my nose sniffling quite a bit, so I eased my pace. Seemed like I might have caught the flu bug without realising it - or maybe it was the poor air quality, thanks to the haze - but I reckoned I could keep the situation under control by adjusting my speed downwards.

We went down the canal until Buona Vista MRT station where I stopped to buy a bottle of 100 Plus. Then I followed Eng Hwa and Guna down Commonwealth Ave. When they stopped for drinks at a petrol kiosk, I went by myself down Queensway, where I met my grandmother who was on her Sunday morning stroll downstairs with her maid. As my grandmother's memory was quite poor, she couldn't remember who I was, even after my repeated attempts to introduce myself :) But I kissed her on her left cheek anyway, and went on to run to Alexandra Road - Telok Blangah Road - Kg Bahru Road, passing Harbourfront (19.5 km) at a time of 2 hr 10 min.

At the 20.5 km mark, I arrived at the foot of the revered Mt Faber. I tried to keep a steady but slow pace up the slope, but it proved too difficult. I ended up walking. And when I finally got up to the top, I had no energy left to run the originally planned 1.5 rounds around Mt Faber Loop. And so, I just walked-jogged half a round, and then exited via Morse Road back to Telok Blangah Road.

It was a punishing stretch, running up Henderson Road back to the Clubhouse. I had rather bad stitches (which I wasn't able to out-run), my shoulders ached terribly (need to improve my running posture) and I was getting cramps in both feet.

But I pushed on and finally finished the distance of 24.5 km at a (rather dismal) timing of 3 hours 10 min. I'm glad nevertheless that I had finished it. It was good to be finally able to sit down in the shade with the other runners, enjoy a cold can of 100 Plus and eagerly discuss how the run went today.

Derrick was asking me to consider going for the Hong Kong Standard Chartered Marathon in late February/early March 2007. Sounds enticing, but I don't have any guarantee that I would be able to get my leave approved for that period...

When I got home from the run, I received a reminder SMS from Superboy about a 洗尘 dinner for Balasing who just came back from Shanghai this morning. Maybe I can catch up on some sleep now before going for the dinner...