¡No me des más la lata!

What does man gain by all the toil at which he toils under the sun? A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever. The sun rises, and the sun goes down, and hastens to the place where it rises. The wind blows to the south and goes around to the north; around and around goes the wind, and on its circuits the wind returns. All streams run to the sea, but the sea is not full; to the place where the streams flow, there they flow again. All things are full of weariness; a man cannot utter it; the eye is not satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.

¿Qué provecho saca el hombre de tanto afanarse en esta vida? Generación va, generación viene, mas la tierra siempre es la misma. Sale el sol, se pone el sol, y afanoso vuelve a su punto de origen para de allí volver a salir. Dirigiéndose al sur, o girando hacia el norte, sin cesar va girando el viento para de nuevo volver a girar. Todos los ríos van a dar al mar, pero el mar jamás se sacia. A su punto de origen vuelven los ríos, para de allí volver a fluir. Todas las cosas hastían más de lo que es posible expresar. Ni se sacian los ojos de ver, ni se hartan los oídos de oír.

What has been is what will be, and what has been done is what will be done, and there is nothing new under the sun. Is there a thing of which it is said, "See, this is new"? It has been already in the ages before us. There is no remembrance of former things, nor will there be any remembrance of later things yet to be among those who come after.

Lo que ya ha acontecido volverá a acontecer; lo que ya se ha hecho se volverá a hacer ¡y no hay nada nuevo bajo el sol! Hay quien llega a decir: «¡Mira que esto sí es una novedad!» Pero eso ya existía desde siempre, entre aquellos que nos precedieron. Nadie se acuerda de los hombres primeros, como nadie se acordará de los últimos. ¡No habrá memoria de ellos entre los que habrán de sucedernos!

2008 Army Half Marathon

I had been nursing a flu all week and didn't get to rest much before the Army Half Marathon today, so it was with a heavy heart and low spirits that I got up this morning and prepared myself for this race. It had been drizzling through the night, so the air was rather damp and chilly. I caught a ride from BoSe to the Marina area, met a few other SgRunners running kakis at the starting point as well, and then with the flag-off at 6.30 am sharp, the competition had begun.

Right from the start, I had tried to keep to around a 6 min/km pace and managed to do so for the first 10 km or so. I also forced myself to stop and hydrate at every other water/isotonic point and tried to regulate my breathing. In addition, I recalled the tips given yesterday at the public forum on running at Changi General Hospital, and tried to incorporate them into my running. I suppose that helped a bit. At the 14-km mark, the route turned into a "trail" which was very challenging but also very fun. By the time I emerged from the trail, fatigue had already begun to set in and I could feel my chest tightening with every breath. I wasn't sure whether it was because of the flu, but I didn't want to risk it. So I cut back on my pace until it became a jog-walk mix. I finally crossed the finishing line at 2 hr 09 min 53 sec (watch time), with my body aching all over. But it was a good run nevertheless, though my ultimate goal of a sub-2 hour half marathon remains distant.

After the race and after trudging through a swampy Padang for my medal and my free ice-cream, I hung around the Cenotaph for chit-chat and phototaking after the event, then hopped into BoSe's car to go over to Central to collect our racepacks for the Nike Human Race next Sunday. But the queue for the racepacks was horrific and stretched as far as the eye could see. So BoSe and I decided to abandon plans to collect the items and went to have our lunch at a Japanese restaurant instead. The food was sumptious, and my stomach and my legs were eternally grateful to have been spared the agonising wait in the seemingly endless queue with nothing to munch on.

AHM Race details (Distance/Marker : Time)
5 km : 00:28:30
U-turn point : 00:54:01
10 km : 00:58:02
15 km : 01:26:42
20 km : 02:02:34
End point : 02:09:.49.49 (according to race chip)

Gun Time (at event finish) - 02:12:49.49
Rank : 1391th out of 5200 runnres in the Men's Open Category (according to Gun Time)

CSC Reservoir Run

I think I have the flu, which probably explained why I have been feeling so lethargic and have been sniffing all week. Which probably means that it would have been better if I had missed the 10-km Civil Service Club Reservoir Run at Bedok Reservoir yesterday and rested instead. But it was a good run, and I enjoyed it. Did it in 54 min 10 seconds. And soon after the race was over, the organisers announced that Singapore had entered the finals in the Olympics, which led to cheers all around the stadium. Congratulations, Singapore! :D

Got back to the office after the run, processed some work, and then headed over to Cuppage Plaza for a great (but late) Japanese dinner with act, chee kong and tingyi. I'm now looking forward to some exciting property hunts in the near future.

BG Run, August 2008

Went for the August 2008 Botanic Garden Run this morning with Le_Charlotte, Ripley, LaserRunner, tiwazz, manakoleng, jeregoh, gibertcai, stuck, yamsong and byron. Managed to keep up a steady 6 min/km pace for around 55 min for the first 9 km thereabouts of our run, which is from our starting point to our first waterhole outside Jelita. It took another 45 min plus to reach the Istana (16.5 km mark) at the same 6 min/km pace, and then another 50 min plus at a markedly slower pace to reach back to the old SMU. Total time taken: 2 hrs 32 min. Total distance: 21.3 km. Weather was nice and cool throughout the run, and my Pearl Izumis held up for the entire journey. :)

In-camp Training

I spent the last two weeks at reservist, my first in-camp training in almost a decade, and I learnt a lot about myself and other people, about respect, acceptance, emphathy, tolerance, leadership, care, responsibility and teamwork, about pushing myself to go further and coping with both fair and unfair criticism. I am impressed by the exemplary conduct of my immediate superiors and continue to be motivated by the perserverance displayed by my bunk buddy. We all had our share of blood, sweat, mud and dirt, baked unevenly under the scorching sun, and found our craving for sleep sorely unsatisfied. But it was still an amazing fortnight, in my opinion. On the final day, when it was announced that my Company had won the "Best Company" award, it felt simply awesome.

Testing the Pearl Izumi

Wore my Pearl Izumi Streak for a test run today around the neighbourhood (Queensway - Tanglin Road - Holland Road loop). The shoes feel incredibly light and springy, unlike the heavier pairs of shoes that I had previously owned. Perhaps it was because of the hot afternoon weather, or that I hadn't run in a while, or that I was still getting adjusted to the new shoes, or that I was worried about the physical exertions over the next few sleep-deprived days in reservist training...about 15 minutes into the run (past the 2.5 km mark), I just felt that I had to slow down. The rest of the journey (about 5.8 km) comprised running, slow jogging and walking. I finished the 8.3 km distance in a whopping 59 min! Goodness!