training goes haywire...

This was drafted on 26 May 2008 but only got published today!

i was right on track with my training until i recieved this memo from the top management that we will be organizing a trip to langkawi for 4 days and i have been nominated to join a trade and investment mission to the U.S.

What worries me is that my 38km training run is right smack in the middle of my langkawi trip and my tapering routine starts when i'm in the U.S., and not to mention the jetlag and all.

anyhow, i'm just a government servant who has to take orders...

finished the 42k mid night run ...

This is the entry which was drafted on 3 June 2008 but only got published today!

I hope to do it within 5 hours but it streched to 6 hours plus, to my nightmare.

I peaked early and i over estimated the course.

This is what really happened. i was right on track on my training and out of suddend i got to go to langkawi, Detroit and new York. it all happened within a month. There goes my training. nevertheless i really had a good time at those places. guess what? i got to run in Central Park!

drop gear

i am taking everything rather slowly lately. i run a bit slower. i swim a little bit slower and i pratically have not cycle in almost 2 weeks already. i felt that i'm putting on weight. invitations for breakfast, lunch and dinner have been mounting.

eversince i take everything slowly now, i have been having difficulties in getting up from bed. usually i will be up by 5.30am. it looks like 7.30am for time being.

but this morning i woke up early. why? i think it's because yesterday evening i went for a dip at larkin swimming pool and i felt that i got some kind of jolt in between my strokes.

time to get busy

bloody hell, it has been quite a while...damn fesbuk.

things changed. I'm back in kl. thoughts are a bit clearer now. I suddenly felt that I got a vision and know what I really wanna do.

run baby run

its puasa month and everything slows down. that's the reality. fasting is to make you suffer and to experience the sufferings of other people. that's why i didnot stuff my face to much with food when i sahur. puasa is ment to be that way. to feel the hunger. i don't undertsand why people eat a lot during sahur to make sure they could sustain through out the next day. its not possible. no matter how much you eat, by midday you belly will growl. well, its one more week to go and frankly speaking, i got mixed feelings about ramadhan already ...

i did my runnings before i sahur. a good 30 mins. 4-5km. i don't fancy the idea of running during day or night. i doesn't go well with me. i did run in late afternoons during last year ramadhan and i think a did not benefit from that. this year i wake up at 4.00am, start running at 4.30 am and by 5.15am i'm at the table munching wholemeal beef sandwich. i need the vit. B from the beef to breakdown the carb. i took during buka puasa. it works! i got energy for the day and i don't mind the growling. i did not suffer much headache this year, most probably the food intake was just nice (no excess)...

it was fantastic! i practiced what have been tought at the Changi General hospital public forum the other day. plus vibram! i think if i stay focus and consistent, i can improve my timing ... btw, the correct webpage fo vibram is: www.vibramfivefingers.com i typed wrongly in my previous entry.

Changi General Hospital

I have registered to run this year end standard chartered marathon Singapore. As usual, the good people from standard chartered will e-mail me the e-newsletter. Something caught my eye, changi general hospital will be doing a public forum for runners. I signed up and attended the forum earlier today. This is the first time I ever attended a forum discussing on sports matters. Its kinda different from the forums which I used to go. Its all about science, you do this you’ll get that kinda thing and other things have to be equal.

Allow me to share with you what I’ve learnt (in general terms):

1. You got to know your body’s capability – through HR, VO2, lactic acid accumulation.
2. The purpose of training is to set your body to perform to your best capability – and it has to be done correctly – easy run, marathon phase, threshold training, interval training.
3. Don’t ignore supplementary training – weights
4. Like swimming, running long distance is all about making full use of your fluid movement (rebound, torsion disposition, vertical position, ground contact) and good economic use of energy.
5. Recover after training wisely.

6. Warming up / stretching – don’t overdo.

I am yet to try what I have been told. Let us see whether I can do it tomorrow.

desaru triathlon

was at desaru last weekend to witness the desaru triathlon sprint distance race. three months back i got this urge to register. lucky i didn't. the swimming leg was tough (to my standard). the sea was rough. i couldn't imagine me cutting through the waves. let alone going the distance of 500 metres. you might say it is just 500 metres and its like going 10 laps of an olympic size pool. that's different. this is the mc daddy. we are talking about the sea y'all. i'll try the swim4fun at stulang first come 30 August 2008.

oops...i did it again...

i've just registered for 42km this year's standard chartered marathon. man i am fast. registration was just open. not even a month old. what am i trying to prove? i dunno...maybe i'm a bit kiasu...worry i won't be able to get a "seat". i'm running in a singaporean race am i, it doesn't hurt to be a bit like singaporean...

i am scared. why? because i don't want the Sundown "tragedy" to repeat. at sundown i was overconfident that i forget the basics. maintain the steady pace. i learnt my lesson and i paid the price.

i look forward to prepare myself for this years run. i want to get in touch with people who are around jb and will run this 7 december 2008. i am not a damn good runner, just an average joe that clock somewhere between 5 to 6 hours. guys, i think its good for us to get together and say sunday morning at istana and do some kilos together...just a taught.

"kaki ayam" - barefoot

bought this pair (viabram five fingers) in new york and been wearing them a couple of weeks already. ran in them a couple of times and i have never felt so wondeful. i have found my answer! i have been never satisfied with all of my running shoes because i felt that certain muscle of my lower leg is "sleeping". when i had my feet in viabram five fingers for the first time, i felt that something has been awaken.

that's viabram five fingers. it is like a sock with five pockets for each toe and a protective sole. i stumbled over rocks but my toes are in one piece. this thing looks like something that divers wear. what the heck, i happy running in it.

what's so special about this thing? it actually give the the owner the experience of barefoot running. this new experience made me realized that i don't actually need a good running shoe to run well. i have been forgotten that when i was very young i used to run with no shoes on and i did run faster. although i only had them for about one month, i have already felt the positive effect of barefoot running. for more info on barefoot running, do visit www.viabramfivefingers.com

i hope i'll do my first 21k in viabram and if everything goes well, i might think of doing this year's standard chartered singapore marathon in them!