"I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing."

2 Timothy 4:7-8 (NIV)

Goodbye, Thaddeus. Rest in peace.

Sunrise, sunrise, looks like mornin' in my eyes...
after a refreshing 5am 75minute run.

Well, see the car I'm driving in the pic? Ain't gonna be my ride for long... come Thursday, I'll be rollin' on a new set of wheels..

Beemer, baby!

Eh, don't go and buy 4D ah.

Oh my gosh. Fellow cyclists and triathletes, don't ever ever ever cycle in JB. Today I decided to give another shot at Kulai with the Cycleworx guys, after my first experience there last October. It's a rolling 100k course so it's pretty good training. We met at the Johor side of the Causeway at 7am (well, I was late -- 7.10am -- thanks for waiting guys!)... and then we proceded to weave through the heavy traffic at JB. Barely 5km into the ride, my sunglasses got nicked by a passing motorcycle with two riders. We were slowing down to stop at a traffic light that had turn red. I was at the back of our group of seven, and it happened so fast by the time I realised, they were trying to get Ah Soon's glasses too. The pillion almost threw Ah Soon off balance, but they couldn't get it cos he looked away. Then they went for Yusoff who was in front. Managed to knock his glasses off -- the same as mine, Rudy Project Kalyos -- but it dropped on the floor and Yusoff stopped to pick it up. The cyclists then turned left at the traffic light out of sight. I was still in a state of shock... my beloved Rudys were gone! Thank goodness though that the rest still had theirs and that we were all safe. We quickly made a U-turn and headed back to Singapore, where we continued our ride.

Did a good 130k today. But I guess when shit rains, it pours. I had a flat just at the top of Gap. Argh! And my legs felt so tired today for I don't know what reason, but my heartrate wasn't even up! Crap. Anyway... my longest ride in a while, so it's all good.

And, by coincidence, Oakley called yesterday and asked me if I wanted pink glasses to match my gear. I was like, hell yeah and thank you very much! I guess you win some, you lose some.

Oakley Women's Flak Jacket in pink :-)

Ah well... not even 12 noon and it has already been so eventful. Rushing outta the house now to go look at a 1991 BMW 316IA with me bro.... can't wait, I really like that car.

Malaysia, Truly Asia Dangerous.

Feeling much better now. The sniffles are nearly gone, as is the phlegm. Managed to yank myself out of bed at 5am yesterday and today for early morning runs at East Coast Park. Yesterday's run was nice. Slow and easy pace along a nearly deserted ECP, as the slight drizzle had kept most under the covers. Except nuts like me, who revel in such conditions. Was a good 80 minute run. Today's run was faster but shorter. Wasn't raining today either, so the park was crowded with oldies (on their morning walks and daily qigong seshs) and teenagers (on school holiday and destroying the serenity of the area). Did a 70 minute run with the second half faster than the first. Felt much better than yesterday. The best thing about running in the a.m. is the drive home. I wind down the car windows and blast the music as the fresh morning air cools me down. At that moment, the day looks as optimistic as ever. Oh the other great thing is I've gotten a good workout by 7.30am, and can now concentrate on work.

This is the life, ain't it? Can't imagine how most people can go about their mundane lives, dragging themselves out of bed.. joining the morning rush hour crowd, packing into the MRT to reach their Robinson Road/Shenton Way/Raffles Place office by 8.30am or 9.. sit at their desks till it's 'recess' time and then reserving their seats with tissue paper packets... wearing the same old shirt-and-tie or blouse-and-skirt/pants 'school uniform'... knocking off at 5pm and heading for after office drinks.. then sqeezing back into the MRT to head home and knock out. On weekends, thronging Orchard Road for shopping/movies.. walking around like their on remote control. The reason for their existence generally being money.. work, earn, pay bills, spend, repeat... what do they look forward to other than their paycheck? How do people do it??

I guess I have it good. (But then again, most people probably think my life is boring! Ha!)

The flu bug's nearly rid from me after three days of inactivity and two trips to the doc. Man, I've never been hit this hard! Spoke to JGO while working on a story yesterday, and he told me to take it as a holiday (since I usually hardly take any) and to use the time to visualize a hard workout and work on my mental side instead. (Well, that hardly broke a sweat.)

Three days of inactivity from training, I might add, but I worked all three days from home. Sigh.

Anyway, New York City has been coming up ever so often in conversations and things I read. First, that story on Ching and Hans going to run the NYC Marathon in Nov. Then I bought NYC bagel chips in the supermarket. And then J brought it up yesterday, as he checked in his luggage for his flight to the UK. And then this morning some ESPN presenter talked about it in an article in Life!. Hm, maybe it's just my subconscious wanting so badly to return to the Big Apple. Been there twice -- once for NYE 2002, just before heading to Ontario, Canada for a six month exchange programme, and the other time was Feb 2004, when I won the trip to race at the Fleet Empire State Building Run-up. Haven't been back since but I'm really itching to go back.

What is it about Manhattan that is so attractive to me? Perhaps the nonchalence of the city, where you can run naked and no one will bat an eyelid. In Singapore, simply the sight of a girl running turns a head too many. (Not that I plan to run naked). And perhaps how everyone keeps to the right when walking on the street so no one has to dodge anyone, or how everyone keeps to the side to let people exit trains, or some other considerate actions like that. Here, people just care for themselves -- rush into trains, stop at the top of escalators, gather in the middle of a busy street or area... you know what I mean. Perhaps I like New York because there are bike messengers and runners everywhere. At the stroke of lunchtime, you see runners exiting offices and heading towards Central Park for a lunchtime run. Here, as I exit my office I get stared at like I'm some UFO. Of course, I know I like NYC for its eclectic mix of shops, all the unique districts, the jazz bars, the delis, the huge-ass sandwiches, the lox and cream cheese bagels, Times Square, weather, second-hand stores, museums,...

My dream is to do a postgard in journalism at Columbia Uni on scholarship, and then stay on to work in NYC for a couple of years before moving to the West Coast to work in San Francisco or the areas around LA. How great would life be with the wonderful weather, fabulous sporting culture and easy-going nature of the country? Perfect, if you ask me.

There's some mega warped super-human morphed flu bug going around that's deadlier than any medicine could cure. Everyone seems to be sick, falling sick and getting others sick. I have fallen prey. Which sucks, because then your training sched gets screwed up. Work is another thing. Even on MC, you can work from home, as I will be doing tomorrow. Damn laptops and technology!

Anyway, today a bunch of us at the desk met Mr SS for lunch at Hotel Rendezvous. On the way there, we made sure TV's two fluffy things were belted up and safe...

I love triathlon.

Why? Because there isn't any sport out there that lets you learn about yourself more. Not just triathlons, but Ironmans. Long-distance stuff. Really long-d stuff. There isn't a better cure to a stressful day in the office than a lunch time run in the scorching heat. Sure it hurts, but it hurts so good. There isn't a better start to a day than a 5.30am long run. A couple of hours of fresh morning air fuels the mind and soul for the day ahead. There isn't a better way to resolve a problem than to take your bike out for a long ride. Your mind is free, you're in total bliss, and the only thing that matters is you and the tarmac. There ain't no use in taking a holiday. Just go out for some long, hard miles and you'll feel like you've distanced yourself from the trials of everyday life. And when you're home, all sweaty and tired, you feel like a brand new person again. Your thoughts are clear and everything seems to be in the right perspective again. You are calm and at peace. I do triathlons not for the feeling of triumph, but for the feeling of freedom and pure joy.

Today, with a heavy heart, I took my bike out for a spin at 11.30am. When I got back at 2.30pm, everything was good again.

Perhaps it was that friggin headwind at Punggol that blew my cares away.

Another insane week came and has not gone. With people transferring out of the desk and going on leave, there are only two front-enders in the office and I'm one of 'em. So you can imagine how crazy it has been for me. Managed to put in a pretty good week of training though. I did a 10k run in the rain on Monday, biked 55k on Tuesday and 65k on Wednesday, did some butt-tearing speedwork (about 12k in total) in the midday heat yesterday, and woke early this morning for a recovery run with Poo-Poo.

Thank goodness for Poo-Poo. If it weren't for him I'd be nicely snuggled under the comforter sleeping in. But we arranged to run at 6.30am at ECP and he swung by at 6am to pick me up. Dragged myself out of bed at 5.45am after only four and half hours of sleep and was a tad late -- sorry for that -- but it was all good. Nice easy pace from Fort Road down to ... that white spirally thing whatchyamacallit... and back. Along the way met many familiar faces, like Vivian, Anna and David. Also chatted up an auntie and uncle. Reckon we did about 13-14k. After that, we headed to Siglap for breakfast at Killiney (spelling?) Kopitiam and bumped into Ching. Oh, along the way we stopped for petrol and I managed to find what I've been searching for for a long while....

Milk Tea and Black Tea -- good stuff!!!!

You could call this morning's run...pure coincidence. Cos of all the people we met during the run, cos of bumping into Ching at Killiney, and cos of the 15 bottles of tea I finally laid my hands on...

And now, my bed and I meet once again before I start work at 2pm. Good night. Or morning. Or whatever.

I went running in the thunderstorm yesterday arvo during lunch. Badly needed to take a break from work (which was giving me a big fat headache) and get the blood flowing a bit. The sky was getting dark but it wasn't raining yet. So I went to change, and when I came out... BAM! Stormin'. Undeterred, I went ahead with my 45minute run. Headed down Braddell Road towards Upper Serangoon Road, targeting the exhumed graveyard at Mt Vernon. I've seen gurkhas running there and wanted to check out the route, because I was getting sick of the Macritchie and Toa Payoh area. Braddell Road possibly has one of the worst drainage systems and roads in Singapore, and there were HUGE puddles (dare I saw baby pools) of water every few metres. The graveyard was undulating, so there were parts with huge puddles and fast flowing water, and higher land that was just wet. I reached a portion of the wide bitumen path where the puddles were murky. Thinking it was just dirt, I stepped gingerly into one of them. WHOOSH! Down I went. It was a drain or ditch of sorts, but somehow I fell till my ribs hit the edge of the ditch, elbows holding me up. I can't remember if I could feel the bottom of the ground, but the next second I pulled myself up and continued running. I had grazes on my chest, hip and thigh on the left side of my body. The hip wound was stinging but bearable, so I just finished up the last half of my run. It actually felt pretty nice running at the graveyard. One loop easy took about seven to eight minutes including the fall. So I figure I'm going to go there to do some speedwork in future. Of course, when it's dry.

Here are my battlescars:

Ribs and hip

Looks faint in this pic but it looks really looks like a I fought with a cat

Reached home at 12.30am last night after working till off-stone at 11.30pm. Was too damn tired this morning to wake at 5am for the Cycleworx ride, so just slept in. Woke up at 8am, had my breakfast, laid around a bit and then headed out for a run at 10am. A good 80 minute run in the morning's medium heat and light breeze took me from my Pasir Ris place round to Changi Village, up Netheravon Road and back. Some long hills here and there were good for my legs. My left thigh however is slightly sore, so took it easy on the way back. Was so drained by the heat I downed a large glass of coke and two glasses of japanese milk tea in a jiffy. Not hungry at all, but still thirsty after all that liquid...

Alright, gonna crash for awhile and then it's off to work on my off day. :(