Running Sucks

Started 2007 rather depressed and demoralized but gradually as the year passed the mood got better and ended the year with a best ever marathon timing. So it was a good year after all and now it's the last day of 2007! Looking forward to 2008 hmmm... Perhaps I will also adopt Brutus' resolution for 2008? Ha ha no way. But seriously nobody keeps their resolution anyway so I'm not going to have any resolution just 2 small targets: 1. Run a 10km under 50 minutes 2. Run a half marathon under 1hours 50 minutes That's all short and simple. And I decided - no full marathon or anything longer than half for 2008 unless I get a chance to go to one of the cool climate country than maybe... Happy New Year friends, relatives and loved ones. Wishing everybody prosperity and joy in the coming year!

December has been designated lazy month. Resolved not to go to the gym - so far so good - Resolved not to swim - how to swim in such cold weather? Total number of runs this month other than the marathon - 6 so far, average of 2 per week. The only exercise I'm doing seriously is for my stomach - not the crunches type but the eating type:) And what do I get for lazing? A (*^%$ flu or is it a cold?(can never tell the difference!). How to go for my marathon makan session tomorrow?

There are 2 type of runs - training runs and easy runs. Training runs are runs like LSD, interval, tempo run or any runs where the main focus is running and anything else is secondary. Then there are the easy runs like jogging, short aimless runs and what I call sightseeing runs. This morning joined some of the sgrunners in the Christmas Hills Run. Starting from Tanjong Pagar MRT station to Mount Faber to Telok Blangah Hills and finally to Labrador Park. This is what I called a sightseeing run - the type where every now and than we will stop to admire the scenery and somebody will take photographs - just like tourists. But this sightseeing run actually quite siong - with the hills to climb. We took almost 2 hours 20 minutes just to complete the 17 or so km. Nevertheless, it was a refreshing change from East Coast Park and all the other place and we were blessed with good weather too! 3 Hills Run Find more Runs in Singapore, Singapore It was nice meeting many new faces from sgrunners. A...

While in Japan, bought a Phiten sports necklace . Phiten products; so it is claimed is developed using Phild Process Titanium technology incorporating mico-titanium sphere and aqua-titanium and quote "it helps to maintain a person's natural body state in balance which is easily disrupted by today's busy lifestyle. By doing so, enhances your body’s energy level and lessen fatigue. Pain is reduced and flexibility increases" Wore it for the past 2 runs. Did it work? Also have a Ebene bio-ray knee guard. According to its website, it help to "1. Promotes blood & oxygen circulation around calves, knees & lower thighs 2. Increases energy and supply of nutrients to the knee bones and soft tissues. 3. Relieves knee pain & strengthen the knee bones and soft tissues. 4.With the increased blood & oxygen circulation around your knees & legs, it does not only increases energy to knees and legs, but also relaxes muscles to increase running speed for sport...

Finally got some time to do the video for the SCSM 2007. This time got Brokie, Alvo, Cosmic, Ayin and me (for once) in it! But must got patience and watch slowly than can see the former 3 fly by. The link for the Youtube version here

Official time: 4:59:30 gun time; 4:55:30 chip time which makes it exactly a 7min/km or 8.6km/hr pace. Somehow, I have this nagging thought that if only I had put in a little bit of effort, I could have done better but .... Anyway, what's next? Maybe another shot at it? Oops.. forgot my new year resolution is going to be - not to run the full again. But then again.... who keeps to their new year resolution?

The moment I been waiting for since August 2006. Back for a third try I just wanted to prove to myself that I can do it without cramps never mind the timing. But actually who runs a race without a target time? So I came up with a safe 5 hours. The plan was to follow the 5 hours pacers and if not; run 1:10 for every 10 km and crossed fingers that I can finish in 5 hours. Started the race in pen 5 (those finishing under 6 hours) running side by side with Ayin and Cobalt. Just after the 2 km mark, Cobalt moved off and the 2 of us continued our Sunday jog. Ayin longest run was the NB real run and his last run was Nov 7 after which he had been sick or on holiday so he was contended to jog with me. Took a pee break at the Marina South Ferry Terminal and covered the 1st 10 km in 1:15. Slightly off target but minus the 4 minutes of start lag, still within my desired pace. At the 20km, time was 2:21 so somehow along the way had managed to catch up a bit. Ayin finally decided to move off after t...

2nd shoe purchase in a week. Got my Asics 2120. Too late to season it for the big out tomorrow. It has my favourite colour. But only a little bit. Most of it on the sole. So for good measure, got a pair of Sole footbed to complement it. Ha ha! 2 down 2 to go. Was hoping to get the TNF Arnuva 50. But saw the 100 at RL and it is black and orange - so now I think I get the 100 instead. Hopefully, they can have my size soon. Last pair after seeing the Spira - very tempt to just buy 1 to try out. But Zoots got new shoe out - also very tempting to try that as well... hmmm decisions decisions........ Maybe will go for the one that comes in my fave colour. Date of Purchase: 23 December 2007 Cost: $198.00 Purchase from: Running Lab Funan Worn in Race: 6 April 2008 Couples Run 23 April 2008 JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge 6 August 2008 Saucony 100 Plus Passion Run 2008 10 August 2008 Pearl Izumi Pure Run 24 August 2008 Army Half Marathon 12 October 2008 Borneo Marathon 1 March 2009 Netwon Run...

6 more days to go before my third and perhaps last (??) attempt at the full marathon. Why last? Cos I promised myself if I can do a ‘perfect’ marathon, I will retire on a high and henceforth, no waking up at 5 am to do silly shagged tiring hot want to die long runs What is a “perfect” marathon? To me, it is not the time finish but more how I will feel after finishing (if I finish that is). Flashback 2 Dec 2004 – my first marathon. Then with only 9 months of running behind me, I went for it without any expectation and also not realizing what was in store for me. I mentally targeted to finish 4:30 and was on target up to the 30km distance and than wham, the cramps set in and I had to walk the rest of the way back. Eventually, finished in 5:16 and even had the humiliation of having to get Sebas to come down and drive me home – so bad was the cramp and ache that I couldn’t even walk after crossing the finishing line! 4 Dec 2005 – 1 year later with 1 more year of running experience and tip...

Rushed down to the New Balance Warehouse Sale and managed to grab a pair of NB M1222 for the grand price of $90.00. Couldn't believe my good fortune cos it was one of my shortlist to replace the PI. According to the New Balance website, this is a 2007 model and the retail price is just over $200.00 so paying $90.00 for it is really a steal. According to the NB website, the M1222 is a high mileage trainer designed to provide maximum stability and cushioning for the moderate to severe overpronator. Took it out for a short run this evening at the RL Thu Night run. First impression, it was quite comfortable and support well. Cushioning was pretty good. One annoying thing was it gave out loud squelching sound when landing - much like air being pressed out. I had to keep checking to make sure I was wearing a leaking Nike Air:) The other thing was they only had it in wide size 4E so it was a tad too loose at the front and I had to stop thrice to tighten the shoe lace real tight. Overall, ...

Date of Purchase: 22 November 2007 Cost: $90.00 Purchased from: New Balance Warehouse Sale Worn in Races: Nil Retired: 3 July 2008 (trade in at RL Funan) Total mileage on retirement: 340.4km

I thought my MBT shoes are ugly. This is worse. According to its website , Z-CoiL® footwear is engineered specifically to relieve foot, leg, and back pain. Its patented, shock-absorbing design greatly reduces impact to the body and distributes pressure more evenly across the foot than conventional shoes do. And less impact means less pain. Much as it tout fantastic benefits, I don't think I will be caught dead wearing a pair of such weird looking shoes. Machiam like those Manchurian shoes but with the innards exposed! Hmm... wondering are there even uglier shoes out there?

My PI Pace is dead - after a miserly 447.4km and just 6 months old. The black rubber sole has practically wear down until the next layer white plastic or rubber whatever is visible. So sad:( What a short life span. Compare this to the oldest shoes in my current collection, the Asics GT 2110 (Feb 2006) with a mileage of 695km and still looking good and most importantly, feel good after more than a year of wear and tear. Hmmm, now this leave me with a nice task - to get a brand new shoes - what should I consider - Adidas, NB, Asics or the North Face?

At the risk of opening another can of worms from my mysterious friend who claimed he has provided scientific data on why running is bad and I have not; here goes: ..... Dr Bonnie Bruce, the study author, followed more than 500 runners from a local club (called “ever runners” in the study) and 300 inactive people (“never runners”, but not necessarily sedentary) in their 50s and 60s for 14 years. When results from an annual health questionnaire were analysed, Bruce and her colleagues found that the “ever runners”, who ran at least six hours a week on average, experienced less joint pain by their 60s and 70s and only 35% of the joggers got arthritis (compared with 43% of non-runners)...... Myth: Running is bad for your knees ....The belief that running is bad for your knees is a myth. In fact, the only runners who ever have bad knees are those who already had knee problems before they started running, have a knee condition they didn’t previously know about, or are using incorrect form wh...

Finally, after 2 unsuccessful attempts to do my 35km long run (both got canned by the rain), managed to complete it today. Left the house at 5.30 am this morning but barely 20 minutes, lighting and thunders started flashing all over. Then the rain came but fortunately, it didn't poured and managed to carry on. Ran till the lagoon at East Coast Park and uturn to Changi Beach until the toilet with the kiosk. Stopped to get a drink before turning back to carpark F2 at East Coast. Miscalculated the route distance and ran 38km instead of just 35km, the original target! EP/ECP/Changi/ECP F2 38km Find more Runs in Singapore, Singapore Along the way, bump into Gary; Ronnie and Bee and also chatted with 2 strangers running the same way. Also met Cosmic and finally at the end of the run, saw Tigger with his whole gang of disciples.

Running in the evening always carries some risk - bad weather, last minute appointment, etc etc but wanted to sleep late so switch the morning run to evening. Crossed fingers and in the end everything turned out fine and managed to went for my run. Decided to try a new route. From home ran the usual way via the Bedok Park Connector to East Coast Park and ran toward NSRCC. From there moved on to Changi Coastal Road running along the park connector. This is like the 6th times I ran there for the past 2 months? Changi Coastal Road is approximately 7km long from the start of the park connector next to the SAF Yacht Club till the Changi Ferry Terminal. Realised that the red brick shelters are spaced 1km apart. Useful as a distance indicator. EP/ECP/Changi Coastal/Tampines/Simei 26km Find more Runs in Singapore, Singapore The stretch from the Changi Ferry Terminal starting from the park till Changi Beach is 3.3km (at least it said so on the distance indicators on the ground). Didn't run ...

Someone posed a interesting comment on my previous entry. Essentially, this person who chose to remain anonymous said that runners run due to addiction. I quote: "I am sure most people only keep running due to addiction. I hear so many that literally hate it yet keep on going. That's textbook addiction." unquote. He or she went on to say in a later comment: quote "I can't see that being anything besides addiction, especially when they acknowledge that they hate the way running makes them feel once the dndorphins(sic) wear off." In a way I do agree with the comments. It is safe to say that once the runners' high kick in, nothing beats the joy and feeling of running - not swimming, not scoring a goal in a football game, not climbing the highest mountain in the world. Certainly, many runners seem to be addicted to running - they can't seem to talk about running, is always on the lookout for new routes and races to run, cannot pass by any sport shops wit...

Yeah! I got a PB! Ha ha this being my first 15km race, any type of timing will still be a PB. To avoid a repeat of last year whereby I had to watch the runners ran by after being stuck in traffic, went to the new race site at the new Changi Aerospace Exhibition area early at 6.45pm after picking up M's uncle and M's friend from Bedok and Ayin from Pasir Ris. At the request of a new friend from Malaysia, collected the bibs and chip for 4 Kenyan runners who for some unknown reasons were unable to enter into Singapore last evening. What a pity. Wasted a chance to befriend new friends and the race lost out on some excitement! President Nathan flagged off the 10km race first. We were awed by the number of people and to think that the majority of the runners are doing the 15km. I timed the last 10km runner to cross the start line at a good 5 minutes after the flag off. So Ayin and me, we did the kiasu thing and climbed over the barricade to land ourselves just 5 metres from the start...

After 1 year 7 months and 1 unsuccessful attempt, managed to run home from work again. The last time I did this route was 3 March 2006 . Much has happened since then. One thing is that instead of improving, I have deproved (is there such a word?). A check on my running log shows that I took 2:09:08 to complete the 20km or so distance the last time round in March 2006. In fact on 21 October 2006, was even faster at 2:05:42. Yesterday, in perfect weather I took 2:17:46 and running at what I thought was a pretty good speed. This deterioration in speed is most obvious when doing long runs of 20km and above. Nowadays, the average speed for long runs is typically 7 to 7.30 pace which I think is too slow. I can't seem to find the energy and will power to run faster although come to races, the timing seem to still be okay. Cecil St/Simei via ECP Find more Runs in Singapore, Singapore Anyway, back to the run home. There were 5 traffic breaks, 1 toilet break and 1 stop at 7-eleven for a dr...

Yeah - life is great for the women runners. Another Sunday, another all women's race. A crowd of about 8000 turned up for the 2nd Great Eastern Women 10K Race. The men simply don't have it so good. There was ice cream, unlimited bananas, cereal, flowers and a cute little medal and great atmosphere despite the heat. Surprisingly, only a few of the sgrunners took part. Bee, Brokie, Ripley, Sassy, Doremon and a few others (don't know their nick though). On the other hand, the whole gang of ladies took part this year. M came in around 55 mins followed closely by Karen. The rest still has a little bit to go before hitting below 1 hour. Work harder ladies! It just within grasp! The prize money for this must be good to attract a few foreigners. Vivian Tang was beaten into 5th place by the foreigners. Even Suzanne Walsham came in 2nd behind a Kenyan. Photos: Video:

Missed a good chance, in fact the only chance to take part in a biathlon without having to go through a swim trial which surely if have to - cannot qualify. Nevertheless, the desire to do well for the big one at year end override everything else so choose to go for long run instead of participating in this. Went to kapo a bit after the run and took some photos.

Consequence of not doing exercise. Need any other reasons to start running?

I'm grouchy and in a big bad mood and everybody at home is avoiding me cos I suffering from running withdrawal:( Wanted to run home from office today. Had not done that for the past 1 year and had been trying to fit a run into my schedule. Finally today seem like an opportune time since I trying to hit 60km this week and my last long run was on Saturday morning - enough time to space out the mileage. It started to rain at 5pm. I was happy at that point. Once the rain stop, it will be perfect weather for doing the 20km home. As expected, the rain stopped around 6pm. Waited until 6.30 before setting off from office. All was fine until I hit the Esplanade Bridge. The sky was a fiery black and the wind was so strong even the ice-cream man's umbrella got all squished up. The rain started coming down in sheets and with lighting and thunders flashing all around, I took shelter at the Esplanade. I knew than the run was screwed. With another 19km to go and with the weather in such foul...

Been following the farce on the Marion Jones case with interest. Seem like the whole thing has now moved into an entire new direction. There are now calls for the acceptance of 'performance enhancement' drugs. The argument put forth is that in other industry, people are allowed to take drugs to stay ahead e.g. lawyers popping some pills to stay alert in court; and even simple things such as drinking coffee, caffeine loaded drinks and even the good old chicken essence. So why not the steroid based products? In a way, the argument sounds logically and I might take it one more step - in time to come, what is deemed not acceptable now will become acceptable later when a new class of even more powerful performance enhancement drugs is discovered. After all, the difference between those who took it and those who didn't is so minuscule that it is very difficult to attribute the win to the drug alone. I am sure there have been cases of athletes taking the drugs who lost out to thos...

On the way home saw this guy running. Nothing remarkable except that he was running on the road. Simei St 3 is not exactly a very busy road but at 7 + in the evening, traffic can be quite heavy and he was wearing all black or is it dark blue. He was running on the road itself (there is a wide pavement along the stretch of the road) against the traffic and than he stopped when there was a gap in the traffic and proceeded to cross the road. What he did next absolutely flipped me up! The traffic on the other side was too heavy and I think he didn’t want to wait too long – so he proceeded to run in the middle of the road sandwiched between vehicles moving in both directions! What’s going to happen if a vehicle goes too near him and sidewind him which can cause him to fall onto the path of an oncoming or in his case vehicles from any side! It is idiotic runners like him that give all runners a bad name. I don’t like to curse anyone but I seriously couldn’t care less if he kills himself in t...

The Chicago Marathon got canned through its half way mark when 1 runner collapsed and about 315 were carried off in ambulances. The reason was the soaring temperature which rise from the start of the race at 8am from 20 degree to 31 degree by noon. Read the full story here. Not being yaya here - but 31 degree too hot? Here, the normal daylight temperature ranges from 33 to 35 and even though race time starts at 5.30am, typically by the time the average joe finishes, it will be around 10.30 am to 11.00 am with temperature likely to be around 33 degree and humidity at 80-85%. But let's hope the Singapore organiser don't take a leaf from their fair weather friend over there and canned the race here for some silly reasons. Too many races being cancelled midway nowadays - don't need one more to add to the list.

Jeanette Wang has a weekly column in The Sunday Times this run up to the marathon. 2 weeks ago she wrote about recovery and this week about motivation. Me too think I shall write about the same topics:) Recovery - what do I do to recover after a long run? Most important of all and this is something a lot of runners neglect - do proper cool down stretches especially for the lower body. I find that doing this will ease a lot of soreness and aches the next 2 days. Then a routine which I have established: 1) take a cold shower. After that, as soon as practical, 2) ice various parts of the legs, especially the knees while 3) keeping the legs upright/in an elevated position (higher than the body). This will drain the lactic acid that has build up in the legs to the rest of the body and subsequently replaced the blood in the legs with fresh blood from the rest of the body. This by the way is not my own theory but advice taken from Chi Running by Danny Dreyer. The simultaneous icing reduces an...

Found a new not yet officially open park connector skirting the ITE East just beneath the MRT track. Distance measured from MapMyRun is app. 400m. Whoopee! Now can just go there to do speedwork. No need to go all the way to Tampines Stadium. Simei 1.5km Interval Route Find more Runs in Singapore, Singapore Ran from home app. 1.5km. Good enough for warm up. Did 4 sets of 800m and ran back home. Quota for the day done. Enough for 1 night.

Joined the sgrunners for a morning run at Changi this morning. Have been meaning to run there for some time but have not found a suitable opportunity. This is a tough route to run although flat. But it is long and hot and would make a good training run. This time managed to convince M to come along. There was already a big group when we arrived and RSM Brokie demanded that everybody goes for a warm up jog so all of us guai guai followed her to Changi Creek before turning back up to Changi Coast Road. The last time I ran there was like 1 and a half year ago in Feb 06. After coming out of the Ferry Terminal, instead of having to run on the road, there was now a nice big running path. This as I understand is part of the park connector which will leads all the way to East Coast and eventually Marina South. The other end to Changi Hills is already completed. The first group comprising of the faster runners led by Realrunner had already disappeared from sight by then. The back pack comprised...

Looks like all form of exercise is out for this week. Just when the throat is much better (at least can croak now), the yucky stuff has started. Extra boost of VC, liang teh doesn't seem to help. Look like have to let it run its course. Oh well, a good excuse to slack.

I am not a Nike shoe fan but surprisingly, my longest serving shoes is a Nike. It is in fact my 2nd pair of running shoes that I bought around 2003? The first was an Adidas (don't even know which model) and this was the 2nd. Those days know nuts about running and bought whatever shoes that 1) must be nice to look at (my Adidas) and 2) the sales people recommends. The Nike Jet Stream was recommended by a sweet young thing at the Sportslink outlet at Eastpoint. Asked her why I should buy it when she recommended it and her answer? "Because I also wear it". So I figure if it's good enough for her, its good enough for me. Remembered this clearly becos I actually bought a too small size the first time round. After buying it, went and ran on the treadmill and found it too tight. Brought it back and changed it for a half size bigger. Actually, later found out it was still too small but didn't realised back it those days. After finding it was still too tight (toes started ...

Went for the RL Annual Dinner at Raffles Town Club on Wednesday evening with Eddie, Terence and Sebastian. The RL has grown very fast - from one outlet in Funan to 3 outlets now - 1 in Novena and another specialising in outdoor adventure also at Novena. The RL has certainly spiced up the competition in the sports retail line. It was the first shop to have a treadmill in house and NB and Nike soon followed. Than Mizuno came up with some specialised software to measure the foot but at the end of the day, nothing beats human passion and RL has plenty of that as all the staff are selected because they are passionate about running or sports. At the dinner, the staff were going gaga over a new range of shoes launched by Zoots and offering to the boss to test it out. With such passion and zeal, RL should continue to do well in the years to come - more so as they continues to bring in running gears that are not commonly available in Singapore. As guest, we didn't expect anything but they ...

Have not run at MacRitchie Reservoir (more popularly known as "MR") since May 14 2006 - more than a year ago. Wanted to go last Sunday but it was rained out. MR has a lot of memory - mostly bad for me but it is still one of my favourite running place in view of the varied routes and challenging terrain. It was the last run in May last year that conclusively killed the knee. It was also the place where I got bummed on the back by a bunch of branches dropping from the sky . This time dragged 3 ladies with me - M, Bambi and Mich. For the latter 2, they are running there for the first time. We did the short MR 25 Time Trial 5km route. The last time I did it was on March 15 2006 . Told the girls to try to finish the distance under 35mins. Myself - I set no targets knowing that I can't possibly do under 25mins. The run was pretty uneventful except for a point where I nearly slipped on a wet root and had to use my right leg to jam in hard for support to avoid falling down. Lucki...

The men still don't get it. This time round my contingent of ladies are doing the 10km. As usual, went down to support them by taking photographs since we men can't run. Parked myself on top of a huge flower pot just outside the former Clifford Pier and managed to take some nice shots and videos. Simmply too overwhelmed by so many ladies couldn't managed to snap most of the sgrunners although managed to took photos of all the ladies, a colleague and little sis. See the full set of photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/ckohst/ShapeRun2007 The front three runners were so fast they lead almost by a gap of 300 meters right from the start till the end. M did well to finish in a PB of 55.58. Karen also did well to finish under 60 minutes. In fact all 5 ladies got their PB. The video of the 10km start. See the big gap between the top 3 and the rest The video of the 5km start. Again the front runners are far ahead but at least there are more of them.

The biking outside the Esplanade: The running outside the Esplanade along Marina Promenade:

And here the video of the Changi-Simei CSC Men's veteran and ladies completing the race.

This has got to be the mother of all sports event in Singapore this year. Decided to kill 2 birds with 1 stone by running in town and thereafter going to support the participants. Reach Esplanade about 8 am and was told by friends that the first group of bikers had already passed by. Couldn't believe it - that fast? Was fortunate enough to see all the bikers while we were running in Marina South. Even saw Eddie who still had enough energy to shout out to us. Back at the Esplanade bummed into friends from sgrunners who were there either as supporters or volunteers. Managed to take many photographs of the runners including the leading pack. Saw Eddie again but this time he looked so stoned already doubted he recognize us as he ran past. My hats off to the participants regardless of whether they complete or not - to be at the start line is already a big achievement in itself. Photographs at http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/ckohst/AvivaHIM2007 Videos will be up later.

After a week of resting (some called it slacking) it backs to good old running. Today I am doing a short race - a race that I am not looking forward to. It is the Inter Con Road Run. I have been roped in to make up the numbers as the team captain can't seem to find enough runners. I don't like short run - I don't have the speed for it and this being a team event, every single second counts. Fortunately or unfortunately, the distance has been reduced to 4.3km from the original 5.6km. Still I know it was not going to be easy. The race format comprises of 6 men in the Men Open, max of 3 male veteran and 3 female. We have only 5 male in the open, 3 in the male veteran and 2 female. The best 4 runners timing in the men's open, 1 each from the male veteran and female will counts toward the score. I am running in the men open which gives me more stress. Gary our team captain want to improve on last year 14th placing. So my timing will have to be included. I hope I will be able...

1 year ago on this day, I was lying in a hospital bed, right leg stuck in a weird looking contraption moving it up and down and throwing up. Friends had shared with me their friend’s experience or their refusal to operate fearing that they will never be able to run again. And there I was wondering whether I had made the right decision to go for the op. Nevertheless I went ahead because the nice Doc had assured me that he learnt from the very best, Dr Steadman who operated on Alan Shearer, Michael Owen etc etc and if they can go back to football, I can go back to running. So I went with an open mind. The way he describe it sounded so simple and I expected to be up and running within 3 months. To my horror, after the op and in my first session of post-op physio, the physio took one look and said 6 months at least. It is now exactly 1 year later and not only have I resumed running, I have done 2 half marathons plus a few other races here and there, The first half was done just 6 months af...

I love running in the Army Half Marathon. It was my maiden race in 2004 and it gives me a lot of memories. Didn't run in 2005 due to flu and last year although I did it fearing that it could be my swan song race. Fortunately it was not and so I am back to give it another shot. Didn't really have a time target. The objective was simple - good if can finish in one piece; better if can do under 2 hours; best if can better last year timing or 'bester' if can get a PB. It was as usual humid with nary a wind as we assembled on Esplanade Bridge for the start. This year route has been modified to run in the City first before heading to East Coast park. The race started punctually at 5.30 am but even though we managed to go quite near the front, it still took me almost 51 secs to cross the start line. Didn't managed to see many familiar faces at this juncture - only Balasing slightly to the front. This time with full road closure, we were able to run in the city without inte...

Fortunately and definitely not qualified to do this. My only association with it is a friend is doing this and after 7 months of training, they are finally going off on Friday to Kota Kinabalu. NTUC Club held a big bash at the Legends, Fort Canning to send off the 13 runners comprising of 11 guys and 2 ladies. Real big bash - MP Guest of Honour; Malaysian Dato Minister, buffet dinner, fire eating performance etc etc and I was there to enjoy the food:) This is the 2nd year NTUC Club is sponsoring the Singapore team. Last year, a few of the sgrunners took part. This year sgrunners presence is down to 1. Last year only 3 of the team members managed to complete the race within the cut off time. So in good typical traditional Singapore style - to avoid the same fate, import foreign talent! This year they rope in 6 Gurkhas! I suppose they think the Gurkhas hailing from a similar background will be able to complete it and do the team proud. Anyway, the whole team is a winner already - to be a...

Reached a bit late about 6.45 pm and there were only a few runners waiting. Went to the changing room to change and when came out suddenly the shop was bustling with people. Within 5 minutes, there were so many runners and a number of new faces. Total of 36 today. Ayin couldn't make it, Eddie was late so it was left to Ben and me to jaga them. Ben did the warm up + cool down - I kaypoh here kaypoh there trying to find out who running what distance and gauge their level of fitness without appearing too condescending or disconcerting. A number of the new comers indicated will do the shorter distance but in the end almost everybody went all the full 10km or if not at least 8km. Poor Ben and me had to chiong up and down to make sure nobody pengsan or got kidnapped:). At the floating platform on the return leg, walked back with a new guy. All in, without counting the walking, probably did a 8.5km distance sort of fartlek - so still got a pretty good workout in the end.

Wanted to do a 20k run today. Went with M and friends to the Esplanade. Started from there, ran the AHM new route before turning into Marina South for the girls to familiarize themselves with the Shape Run route. Weather was good - cloudy with strong wind. Back at Marina Promenade, suppose to run to Kallang Riverside Park before turning back to make it a total distance of app 20km. The Sun by now was out and shining strongly. Reached the 2nd flyover and decided to turn back. In the end ran only 15k. The sun too strong. The heat too hot. Somehow it feel better to blame the weather or any other things except my own weak mind, spirit and body.

I have 4 pairs of Wright socks, 2 Ultimax, 2 Thorlos and 1 Injinji. The &(#^%$) of a washing machine decides the Injinji taste the nicest and ate it. Now my poor injinji has lost its twin. Anybody got a single Injinji to spare? One of life's great mystery: - Why does washing machine only eats socks - not handkerchief, not underwear? - What happens to the remains of the socks after the washing machine finished with it? What goes in must go out right? Some insight to the mystery of the (*&%$ washing machine here Hmmm it's seems like I not alone. There must be a conspiracy somewhere - maybe socks manufacturers and washing machine makers are banding together ... Conrad's Column - hey maybe the wife did it! George Johnson on Science Science gets into the mystery

The Olympic Council is trying to prevent Oscar Pistorius from trying out for the Olympics Games. According to Olympic officials, Pistorius who runs with a pair of carbon fibre leg because he doesn’t have real legs has an unfair advantage over normal runners. Firstly, his special shoes – gives him a technological advantage over normal runners as they are lighter and ‘springier’. Further according to the official, since he doesn’t have any legs, he will not have lactic acid buildup; will not suffer leg cramp; will not have associated leg injuries problems like runner knees, shin splint blah blah blah and therefore will not feel fatigue and therefore have unfair edge over mortal human runners. Hmm, if this is indeed the case and if all it takes is a technologically superior piece of equipment to win............ It is no secret that Singapore wants an Olympic gold medal desperately. Singapore has never been able to produce an Olympic Gold Medalist (for that matter, any medalist except Mr T...

This one not on running. The Tour de France has turned into the Tour de Farce. One could imagine that after the controversy over Lance Armstrong’s drug test, the cyclists (who I imagine are all professional) will know what to do (or rather what not to do). Instead it has been one scandalous news after another: First to be bump off was German Patrick Sinkewitz who failed a drug test. This was followed by Alexandra Vinokourov (banned blood transfusion). Then Cristian Moreni of Italy failed a doping test and now there is the biggest one of all Dane Michael Rasmussen. Ironically, he didn’t get bump off for failing any test. He got kicked off for telling ‘lies’ after he refused to submit to any tests post tournament. It’s so sad. I am not a big fan of cycling and don’t indulge in the sports but have always admired Lance Armstrong when he came back from cancer to win the Tour 7 times. So the Tour was special for this reason. Now it’s a bladdy farce and a disgrace to the sporting fraternity.

Kena cheo to run the inter con run on 1 Sep. Last time round still recuperating from the surgery. This time look like got no choice. Gary can't seem to be able to find enough young male runner to form a proper team. M also got dragged in. Still short of 1 female runner. Anybody from Simei want to apply? Gary came in 3rd in the Saucony Run and 8th in last week Mizuno run Veteran category but even than with him on our side, our team stand no chance. The youngster are simply too fast - they can finish the 5.6km in like 19 minutes whilst the majority of us are in the wrong end of the Open category and will be lucky if we can touch 25 minutes. Hopefully, the start of the race will not be like the Mizuno with the bottleneck at the exit of Temasek Poly.

Just Do It! I just did! Now for the grueling part:

Supposed to do the Mizuno Wave Run - first time it was being held at Bedok Reservoir. The last race held there was the Real Run Terrain Race and back than I wondered how they could fit it so many runners on such a small track but they did and it was a nice run than. Hopefully, this time round it will be the same. Plus with the rain - maybe a lot of people won't turn up:) It rained the whole of yesterday and the night and the place was going to be soggy but it was home ground for me and I didn't really care - just go and enjoy. Since there was no timing taken, I didn't expect much - just go run and collect my goodie bag at the end. I targeted to finish in 1:10:00. No PB or anything like that. M didn't run today as she was still recovering from a cold. Reached Temasek at about 7.10am and was lucky enough to drive around and found a small corner to tuck the car in. The race didn't start until about 7.40 am becos the VIP came late. They had to do a show of it - put the ...

44 - 36 = $8 not a problem 42 - 21 = 21 big problem 15 more days to decide before the it become 55 - 45 and the gap increase to $10 + 11 or $9. What should it be?

3 days of rest. Could feel the onset of a flu on Thursday. Normally couldn't let something as small as let stop me but with so many sudden death nowadays, have to be a bit more kiasu and kiasi. Ran a slow run on Thursday evening, rest on Friday and Saturday and on Sunday was tempted to go for a run but in the end decided to rest another day. Ended up with some strength conditioning and even than, broke it into 2 sessions. Why so kiasu? Quite sure I don't have any heart abnormalities (that I'm sure cos that could have been pick up during NS). The other major cause of sudden death is heart attack due to high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol both of which fortunately I also don't have. So I guess must be getting old. And the other thing, while I may not have all those diseases, not sure whether I have any blocked blood vessels. That is quite possible since I love to eat fatty food especially braised pork knuckles. I guess just don't want to be another headl...

Silly old me. Found out why I getting arch pain whenever I wear my PI. I used half size orthotic insoles whenever I run. In my other running shoes, I have removed the original insoles (which has an arch) and replace it with a flat off the shelf purchased insole so that the arch is not 'doubled'. When I got the PI, forgot about that and just place the orthotics insoles inside resulting in the shoes overall arches becoming artificially higher and resulting in my foot being forced upward. It was only when changing the insole for the G2110 when I removed the insole that I saw the flat insole and it dawned on me that that could be the cause! Bingo! What a goodnu! Now I have got for 3 10km distance with the PI without problem and no black toe as well. And I thought I had to relegate my beautiful PI to a gym shoe:)

Wow the official results are out. The organiser is damm efficient. 54:37 and 95 out of a field of 289. M did even better. 58:45. Top 20 - No 19 out of a field of 85. The ex-VRP girls also did quite okay considering 2 had not run for the past 2 weeks and I had a painful bump but still they completed in very credible time. My neighbourhood running hero and team captain for Simei, Gary Goh was even more fantastic. 41.01 3rd Give ourselves a big pat on the back:)

Another week another race. Seems like there are so many races nowadays. So far I have done the Mizuno Mt Faber, the Real Run Terrain Race, Penang half marathon and today the Saucony 100Plus Passion 10Km race at East Coast Park. 2 weeks later there will be the Mizuno Wave Run and than next month the Army Half Marathon. This is the first 10km race where they issued timing chip (other than the NB Real Run) and I was looking forward to it very much. I am still doubtful of my recovery and even though I had during training went below 60 minutes for 10km, I wasn't really sure of the distance and I wanted to use this race to confirm once and for all my 10km pace. The earlier 10 k race at Mt Faber didn't count - it was the first race after the operation and it was done at a very relaxed pace together with M. The race was pretty well organised. In view of the constraint of the route, the race was split into 5 wave - 2 for the men's open, 1 for the lady's open and 1 combined for t...

Just as mysteriously as it appears, the pain at the back of the knee has disappeared. Still can't figure out what causes it. Over exercises, over stretch? Can't be since the sessions the 2 days preceding the pain appearance was quite light - a run at Bedok Res on Sunday, a 30min cycling in the gym + the usual strength training the next day. Did I pull a muscle doing maybe the leg extension? Or like read somewhere, the seat on the stationery bike was adjusted wrongly? Guess I won't know until it reappears again. But thank goodness it is not serious as I fear.

Cham liao. Now got pain at the back of the right knee. Felt it yesterday morning. It was okay on Sunday after the run at Bedok Res. Monday evening was just 30 mins on the stationery bike, some strength training and nothing that could have caused it. Funny thing is - there was no pain during running last evening but this morning it was more pronounced so much so that I had to apply gel and wear support knee guard. A quick check on the net and this is the closest I can find: "Baker’s Cyst The cyst usually occurs due to some other problem in your knee such as arthritis or even a tear of your meniscus. The swelling from this problem causes fluid to build up in your knee. This fluid pushes out the weakest point of your joint capsule surrounding your knee. This is usually to the back portion of your knee capsule, and a cyst forms. The cyst has a valve made out of your joint capsule tissue. This valve can sometimes become clogged and the fluid becomes trapped in the cyst. Thus, even whe...

10.05 am Set off from hotel in happy mood to go airport. Flight is at 12.05 Stopped to put petrol. The machine refuses to take my credit card. The attendant didn't seem to know what to do. Told him I reverse to another pump. He insisted I try again. Finally, made him pump the petrol and I will pay cash. Shit.. he didn't pump it all the way to full. Now I have to stop again to put in that little bit more before returning. Drove on... holy cow.. we end up on Penang Bridge and its jalan sehaleh all the way. Started to panic. Barely 45 minutes to reach airport to check in. Have been trying to find a way up the bridge for the past 2 days and failed and here we here up there when we don't want to! Can't seem to find a way to u-turn until the end. Have to stop to ask for directions and than kena pay toll. Which was fine but we still have to drive the 8km back to Georgetown and find the airport. Less than 45 minutes to go before the plane takes off and we are nowhere near the a...

2.55 am. Went to the hotel lobby. Taxi not here yet. 3.00 am. No sight of taxi 3.05 am. Ask the hotel to call and check what happened. Taxi driver says he come at 3.30am. What the ^&%#! He's supposed to come at 3 am and bring us there by 3.30! 3.15 am. Taxi turned up. 3.40 am. Reached the USM. Road closed. Had to get down and walk. Taxi driver say only 1km. 1km my foot! Took us 15 mins to walk there! Sweating like hell. Registration close at 4.15am. Will we be on time! 4.00 am. Finally located the place where they are distributing the wrist band. Why can't they issue it at the number tag collection? M is asked to go to another site to collect hers so we split from there. Followed the crowd and walked across the Padang through a housing estate and back onto the main road. Sigh, why can't they site the start point nearer? Took me almost 10 mins to walk there. Maybe this is the organiser's way of getting the runners to warm up? We are doing the half marathon. This is m...