Bali trip

Back from a short trip to Bali. Another great trip, except for the traffic which seems to have worsened considerably in the last year. Good food, good times, we also celebrated our beloved daughter's 3rd birthday. Nice villa too, located at Canggu:-















Among other places, we stopped by Echo beach too:-

As a Man U fan it pained me to watch the capitulation by Man U in their thrashing by Man City at Old Trafford (of all places when it is supposed to be a fortress). I'll give credit where credit is due- Man City played well and deserved their win but Man U were very poor and I think that Sir Alex should have picked Phil Jones in place of Jonny Evans, the latter of whom I have never rated. I would place him alongside the Wes Browns, Silvestres, Klebersons and the likes. Sir Alex too could have started with Chicharito to partner Rooney and Valencia on the right. I would hope this result is an aberration and not a sign of things to come. I had stopped watching the match after the 4th goal; went to bed and I woke up feeling worse. Then I read the papers in this morning that the score was 1-6. That felt like a real sucker punch to the stomach. Ugh.

I hit the gym on Friday evening and cycled twice on Saturday- that was the extent of my workout over the weekend. I will be heading to Bali this Wednesday for 4 days, and I don't expect to be able to workout there. I will treat this week as a light week. Gotta watch my food intake!

This week has not been a good week for running. Monday I was ill; yesterday was a complete washout (heavy thunderstorm, and even if it was only raining minus thunder/lightning, I was and still am ill). The skies were really dark today and it rained heavily between 4pm to about 545pm. Looking out my window and seeing the skies plus the people walking down below sans umbrellas (my office is on the 18th floor), the rain seems to have stopped so that means I may be able to get in a run today when I leave the office later at around 630pm. Fingers crossed.

Ok, it is easy to comment, in hindsight. As the saying goes, "hindsight is always twenty-twenty". I didn't think that there was anything seriously wrong with me other than the fact that I contracted my daughter's germs and was sick for a month- the worse of it was in mid-September (although I continued to trudge on with my runs)- however, the blocked nose and early morning sniffles never went away and I developed a recurrence of the cough over the weekend.

Nonetheless, when the doctor on duty placed a stethoscope on my back he mentioned that my lungs sounded congested and suggested that I go for a chest x-ray to remove any doubts that I had any infection like bronchitis or pneumonia. I thought that was rather OTT but he had placed that idea in my head and I had to absolutely sure. For a moment I was genuinely concerned.

So I took some time off this morning, went for the chest x-ray and voila- my lungs are clear. And I was told to finish my course of antibiotics. That is the end of it. Its good to know that I'm A-O-K.

Looking forward to my run home this evening. I didn't run/workout on Sunday and yesterday.

Baba Fauja Singh!!!

I doubt I will live to 100 years old, but if I do, I hope I can be like Baba Fauja Singh, who set 8 world record times for his age group from the 100 metres to the 5,000 metres. He’s hoping to add another world record by being the first centenarian to run the marathon in the upcoming Scotiabank Waterfront Toronto Marathon. Go Baba! Impossible is Nothing!

Lance Armstrong to compete in XTERRA Worlds triathlon in Hawaii

After finishing fifth in the fairly recent XTERRA USA Championship, finishing the 1,500-meter swim, 17.7-mile mountain bike ride and 6.1-mile trail run in 2 hours, 29 minutes, 25 seconds at Colorado, Lance is competing in the XTERRA World Champs next weekend in Hawaii. The route will consist a 1,500-meter swim, 18.3-mile mountain bike ride that climbs more than 4,000 feet up and down the lower slopes of the West Maui Mountains, and a 6.1-mile trail run that traverses forest trails and beach sand. Phew!

NG New York City Marathon 2012: New Guidelines for Guaranteed Entry

Link here

Another tiring weekend made worse by the return of my cough and cold. Actually my cold did not really leave after I contracted it in early September. But my cough returned again on Friday. Bad, bad, bad. Over the last month I had hoped (perhaps foolishly) that I will eventually get better naturally, without the help of any meds. But my cough had become sufficiently serious for me to visit the doctor last night. I wanted meds to clear everything off for good, and during my physical examination, the doctor pointed out that my lungs sounded congested. He suggested that if I had been ill for the last month, I should do an x-ray on my lungs to be sure that I did or didn't have something more serious, like bronchitis. The doctor also asked if I have been feeling out of breath; I have to admit that in the last 2 weeks, I have been feeling out of breath during my runs and wondered if I was getting LESS fit despite the mileage. Sigh. I will be going for an x-ray tomorrow morning. Nonetheless I was given meds to knock the germs, and me out. I didn't fall asleep particularly easy last night; but when I had to wake up this morning I was extremely stoned and felt as though I could go on sleeping a few more hours. I have had 2 cups of coffee this morning and it is barely keeping me awake. Ugh.

The wife is overseas this week; work-related, of course, but I have enlisted the help of my mother who so kindly came to Singapore to help look after the kids. My dad happened to visit my grandmother in Johore over the weekend and is making his way down this afternoon to visit too, which is timely because it is his birthday today and we will celebrate it by going for a nice dinner tonight. We will also celebrate my elder daughter's birthday early by 2 weeks, because my parents won't be able to celebrate with her then.

That's all for now, catch ya'll later.

An interesting post on ACL here. It states that after ACL surgery most don't play sports at the same level they used to, or they stop entirely. I suppose this is more relevant to sports that require directional changes, jumping, landing, sudden twists and turns, and so forth. This is probably why I have managed to run all these years despite my torn ACL before I went for surgery last year. And as cycling and running do not require directional changes, sudden twists and turns, I am fairly "safe".

Despite my style of running I am still somewhat concerned with both my knees- I know the extent of the degeneration of my left knee, that is for sure, since I had it it scanned before going for surgery- but I don't know about my right. Since starting running again I have started feeling some strain on my right knee. Subconsciously, I may be putting added stress on my right knee by favouring it more when running, thereby adding stress and impact.

There are some health checks I want to go for in the coming year. One is the overall health check; another is to check the state of my heart- with all the reported exercise-induced deaths as a result of congenital heart conditions, I want to know if I am risk. I wonder if my overall health check covers that. The other one will be to check the state of my knees.

I am rather shaken by the demise of certain individuals in the past year or so. There were of course higher profile deaths like Amy Winehouse, Andy Whitfield (of Spartacus fame), Steve Jobs among others. Today, I read that a fellow runner whom I have never met, Tuan Senang Besar has passed away. This has got me thinking about life and death . Well, more particularly, death.

I'll admit that I am no angel when it comes to my health. Yes I am working out almost every day, but my food intake isn't exactly the healthiest. Like most kids, I don't like my fruits and vegetables. Deep fried stuff appeal to me. Ditto for lard-laden food. I spread way too much margarine/butter on my bread. I have high cholesterol. I try to eat fruits and vegetables, but I lack enough discipline to eat it on my own unless my wife or parents serve it. And I do indulge in the

I am trying to lead a more healthy lifestyle because I intend to live into my old age. I want to see my daughters grow up. I want to see the fruits of my labour- emotionally, financially. I want to go on nice holidays with the wife. I want to be a good dad. I want to run a sub-3:30 marathon. I want to run/visit the places I mentioned in my earlier post. I just have so much of life left to live.

Death comes to us all but we can't pick and choose the time we go. However, to minimise the possibility of kicking the bucket early, I am taking the view of Christopher Walken (yes I am repeating his quote again):

"We have no way of knowing what lays ahead for us in the future. All we can do is use the information at hand to make the best decision possible."

There was also the recent news of Bali being hit by an earthquake of a 6.1 magnitude. Scary. We are planning to go to Bali during the Deepavali holidays. I don't know if we should go.

Anyway enough of the dreary talk- Friday is upon us again. The big match up between Liverpool vs Manchester United is tomorrow at 8pm (Malaysia/Singapore time). That'll be exciting to watch. I have bitten the bullet and decided to sign up for MioTV, the station that has the rights to broadcast the English Premier League. After attempting to stick with my principles for one year, I got tired of having to rely on lousy streaming services or going to pubs filled with piss-taking, anti-Man U supporters and forcibly stifling my celebrations when they score. StarHub, bye bye for now. No English Premier League, no business from me.

Have a good weekend.

Got this off Runner's World. Described as "The World's Most Gorgeous Marathon", The Jungfrau Marathon, is a fall race in the Swiss Alps. Click here for photos. Beautiful.

As a runner, there are a few places I would like to visit (and run) in my lifetime, and they are the following (in no particular order)
1) Coos Bay, home of Steve Prefontaine, at Pre's trail.
2) Prefontaine Classic at Eugene Oregon.
3) Nike headquarters at Beaverton, Oregon.
4) Boulder, Colorado
5) Waitakere Ranges in West Auckland, New Zealand
6) Boston Marathon
7) New York Marathon
8) Jungfrau Marathon
9) Berlin Marathon.

Any other suggestions?

Cheat! In a 42km race, a runner runs up to 32km, finds the going too tough for his liking, decides to board the bus and was driven almost 10km; after alighting the bus, he hides behind a tree, waits for the other runners to come into view before rejoining the race and finishing the race in 3rd place with a time of 2:51.01.
Click here

Wow. Paolo Di Canio, former footballer, Premiership and Serie A star and current manager of Legaue Two football team Swindon Town FC, was supposed to run a 3.2km fun run but somehow got caught up in the 21km run and he decided to continue running it. He finished in a very impressive 1:49, which is a testament to his fitness. See the report here.

Bodoh!

I had a fall when I ran yesterday. Part of the rubber on my sole had flapped out, causing me to mis-step and land heavily on my left. The whole left side was affected, but I'll only show you my left leg and right hand. What you see on my left leg also affected my left hip and shoulder. Looks more like a bike road rash! Blah.

It happened 7 minutes into my run, and I took about 5 minutes to recover, before I continued with my run.

I'm fine. I will be running this evening, and the next, and the next. And the next next next.

What started out as a drizzle yesterday evening at approximately 620pm became a full-blown thunderstorm by 637pm, 17 minutes into my run, forcing me to seek shelter and protection at the shops by Concorde Hotel on Orchard Road- not from the rain, mind you (I don't have problems running in the rain, however heavy), but from the lightning. Some 15 minutes later I resumed my run home, albeit taking a different route as I decided to walk towards Orchard Road when the rain was beginning to subside a tad with a view to taking the MRT home, but then changed my mind.

Thereafter we had a nice dinner at DB Moderne Bistro, a restaurant at the Marina Bay Sands, to celebrate my 6th wedding anniversary. But not before enduring a slightly stressful time driving on the wet roads (there were many bad drivers last night), having to queue 10 minutes to enter the parking spot (it was practically full and the boom gate only opens when other cars leave), and then spending another 15 minutes looking for parking.

The weekend is here...enjoy it and have good workouts.

I feel I am getting progressively stronger, the more I run. Which is natural of course, because the body strengthens and adapts to the stress that you put it under after proper rest. I am reminded of a quote by Bill Bowerman in Kenny Moore's book Bowerman and the Men of Oregon:-

“Take a primitive organism, say a freshman. Make it lift, or jump or run. Let it rest. What happens? A little miracle. It gets a little better. It gets a little stronger or faster or more enduring. That’s all training is. Stress. Recover. Improve. You’d think any damn fool could do it. But you don’t. You work too hard and rest too little and get hurt.”

Anyway, it has come to a point now where I would need to add more mileage to my runs if I want to progress further, run faster. Unfortunately that will not happen anytime soon. With a maximum 45 minutes to work out after work, I have to be creative with my workouts. And since I don't have much creativity, I can only think of fartlek, i.e. varying the pace throughout- running as hard as my body allows (on the inclines), with some "rest" by going back to my usual pace, maybe slowing down a bit to recover, and then upping the pace again.

On a sad note, Steve Jobs has sadly succumbed to a rare form of pancreatic cancer. The founder of Apple, creator of the Mac, the iPhone, among other things. All the money in the world could not save him. I asked myself- would I have had Steve Jobs' life, making millions and dying relatively young? I think the answer lies in what is important to me.

For me, what is important is my family and providing for them emotionally and financially. I love my daughters very very much. I want to be a good father. I want them to have a balanced life- good education, active lifestyle, moderate eating habits, prudent and smart financial sense. To provide for them emotionally, I want to live as long as possible. We can die any time, but I will try and live as healthy a lifestyle as I can. To provide for them financially, I have to be financially smart. So yes, money is important but not at the expense of losing what holds dear to me. Another quote, this time from Christopher Walken in the movies Wedding Crashers:-

"We have no way of knowing what lays ahead for us in the future. All we can do is use the information at hand to make the best decision possible."

This post has 2 quotes already! And I will leave you with more quotes from Steve Jobs himself, inspiring us to go out there and live our lives:-

"Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

“I didn’t see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.”

“Sometimes when you innovate, you make mistakes. It is best to admit them quickly, and get on with improving your other innovations.”

“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren’t used to an environment where excellence is expected.”

“My job is to not be easy on people. My job is to make them better.”

“Almost everything–all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure–these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.”

“Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes… the ones who see things differently — they’re not fond of rules… You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things… they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do.”

Steve Jobs RIP 10/5/2011.

I trust most of us had decent weekends? Mine was alright, although tiring. The younger one has developed a pretty bad cough and she is telling the whole world about it- crying and wailing as loudly as she possibly can. Poor girl, I feel terrible for her, in light of what she had to go through in the last month. I can only hope that the adage of "what doesn't kill you will make you stronger" will apply to her. She has fallen ill rather often for such a young age, but hopefully this will only serve to strengthen her in the future.

That aside, on Saturday, we (as in, the wife and me) considered purchasing a second-hand jogger stroller from an American lady but upon viewing it we found it too big. There is no doubting that it would be great for the roads (having 20 inch inflatable rubber tyres surely helps), but we couldn't imagine where to place it in our already-cramped and messy apartment. Ditto for the car.

Later in the day I headed to Velocity and saw the booth for the annual New Balance Real Run which was still open for registration although the race was on October 16th. Despite my ever-increasing strength and fitness, based on my previous experience of that race, I decided against registering.

I've been reading the race reports of the recently concluded Adidas King of the Road back in KL. Boy, was I envious. I just have to constantly remind myself that I am not back to full fitness yet, and I have to stay patient.

At the end of October we will be going to Bali for the umpteenth time. Well, not umpteenth as yet but rapidly nearing that figure if we go a few more times! No complaints- I love going to Bali and this time it will be nice to bring the elder one along. She will have so much fun at the beach especially.

Have a good week....