What do you think about during long runs?

A US friend of mine thinks of business ideas as he jogs.  He is currently incubating a start-up from one of his ideas and I wish him every success!

I have always found long runs very cathartic.  Over the years of solo long runs and hence long hours of thinking : 

- I've changed cars (2005) from my Toyota to Nissan Sunny

- decided to end a friendship with a person who was a leech (2005 and amazingly, I forgave/forgot and re-learnt this lesson in 2010).  Guess it is true : a leopard never changes its spots. 

- psyched myself through the most difficult years of my life (2005-2006)

- talked myself through job changes, work problems, emotional problems...

- admired and loved Taiwan during my jogs in very different scenic conditions there

So yesterday when a friend asked me what goes through my head during the long runs, I had no answer for once!  

Ironically 2012, I clocked a record number of hours in terms of training/racing mileage, yet most of it are not solo runs.  I have been blessed with running kakis (in plural). We LSD together, go to races together.  It's been a little support group that I truly appreciate.

These days, I chit chat or listen to music over the runs.  No real  logical thinking happens anymore.  

Is this a good or bad thing?  Good, I would say.

Dicey days ahead

I realize I suck at human relationships.  My alien uncle coming to Singapore and wanted to stay with me.  But his daughter now lives in Singapore and she has a spare room and welcomes him.  He prefers to stay with me.  My own family thinks it's not right, plus they worry for me since I stay alone and he has been mentally unstable in recent years.  I would prefer if he spent some time with his daughter and granddaughter - that's the right thing to do.  For all my emailing/SMSing, I fail.  He's still going to be in my hair.

This morning I prayed for patience and tolerance.  The next 2 weeks are going to be rough - it's a first for me in my new pad.  As Michelle puts it, I can't strut naked around.  Not that I do, but then I caught myself doing that, thought of Michelle's words and had to laugh out loud.

After my early morning conf call, I listened to Hillsongs for a bit before going to work.  And today's readings from Psalm 145 :

I will extol you, my God and king;

I will bless your name forever and ever.

Every day I will bless you;

I will praise your name forever and ever.

Great is the LORD and worthy of much praise,

whose grandeur is beyond understanding.

One generation praises your deeds to the next

and proclaims your mighty works.

They speak of the splendor of your majestic glory,

tell of your wonderful deeds.

They speak of the power of your awesome acts

and recount your great deeds.

They celebrate your abounding goodness

and joyfully sing of your justice.

The LORD is gracious and merciful,

slow to anger and abounding in mercy.

The LORD is good to all,

compassionate toward all your works.

All your works give you thanks, LORD

and your faithful bless you.

They speak of the glory of your reign

and tell of your mighty works,

Making known to the sons of men your mighty acts,

the majestic glory of your rule.

Your reign is a reign for all ages,

your dominion for all generations.

The LORD is trustworthy in all his words,

and loving in all his works.

The LORD supports all who are falling

and raises up all who are bowed down.

The eyes of all look hopefully to you;

you give them their food in due season.

You open wide your hand

and satisfy the desire of every living thing.

The LORD is just in all his ways,

merciful in all his works.

The LORD is near to all who call upon him,

to all who call upon him in truth.

He fulfills the desire of those who fear him;

he hears their cry and saves them.

The LORD watches over all who love him,

but all the wicked he destroys.

My mouth will speak the praises of the LORD;

all flesh will bless his holy name forever and ever.

Long tail marketing

I wished I paid better attention during statistics class in school.

Never knew how linked it would be to business.

Was chatting with an ex-HP colleague and he brought up the idea of long tail marketing.

It's made popular by an editor from Wired magazine.
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.10/tail.html?pg=5&topic=tail&topic_set=

Yeah, I think such things over long runs.  Ideas, dreams...  And yeah, it helps that I have smart people around me where we can discuss these thoughts.  Thank you Jesus.

I realize I have not been reading for a while.  Time to go Amazon shopping...

My Bike is serviced and good to go!

My tubular tyres and rims were coming undone at the last ride.  How dangerous!  Thankfully I rode all the way back at our usual 35kph uneventfully.  Last Thu I took Speedier into Integrated Riding to fix the wheels and for his first ever servicing.  They found a leak in the valve of the rear tyre, so had to purchase a new tyre.  Picked up Speedier just before the ride, didn't have time to inspect him, went to the usual Wed ride.

So after the ride/run/supper last night, I did my usual wipe down of the bike and discovered a thick layer of muck on the chain - arghh... Integrated Riding must have put grease on the bike chain.  Took bike downstairs, degreased and hosed.  Had to repeat the process 3 times!  Should have just taken my dishwashing liquid to the chain.  Could have saved me time!

Mental note to self - tell bike shops never to help me grease bike.  Wax lube which I purchased as part of a mass order is simply awesome.  It's so clean!

While scrubbing the muck off, all I can think of is : I sure love living here.  Integrated riding is a 2min walk away.  I can hose my bike down even in the middle of the night without worrying about waking up the neighbours or making a mess.

And, one more : when I ask to borrow a bike, kind-hearted folks just drop it off since I'm so close to our meeting point at East Coast.   Thanks to K, my uncle has a foldie to explore the area when he arrives next week.  Work off some of his excess energy so he won't be preaching aliens/conspiracy theory to unassuming Singaporeans.

Matty

Matty and a slice of fake (rubber) bread.  

"Bread for me, why thank you!  Seem to have difficulty pinching a bit out to eat.  What?  It's fake!!!  Protests!"

Top city skylines

HK is no. 1?  And Singapore didn't make top 10?  I suppose it's all very subjective.  Even if you remove my bias, I still feel our new skyline with the Helix bridge, the Flyer, the spaceship-like Marina Bay Sands, is simply breathtaking.

I am blessed enough to get to appreciate the view every morning as I drive to work via the Sheares Bridge.  At the top of the bridge, as the view opens out, I still stop to thank God for His provision.

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/top-10-city-skylines-20121022.html?page=1

Engadget writeup on Greenwave lighting

Company I work for made it to Engadget!  Woot!
http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/22/greenwave-reality-ships-wifi-light-bulbs

Old friends

I just saw a post on FB by a friend, "old friends are like wine, the older they are, the better it gets".  In my heart, I started to say a quick prayer that she does not get hurt really soon.  

Human relationships are completely fallible.  It will happen, don't hold your breath.  I learnt this lesson many times over, the hard way, over the years.  The older/closer/better the friend, the greater the chance of that friend failing you, simply because you are more open/vulnerable to that person.  

It is best to expect nothing from friends, and when kindness comes, you will be genuinely happy about it.  Best lesson of all, adopt Job's attitude (Job 1:21).  
^{The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD!”}

The lazy runner

Race no. 2 in the month of Oct (month of races) - Nike We Run SG.  Asked Alex to run ahead cos I didn't feel like sprinting 10km!  Memories of being winded beyond tolerance from the Safra run!  The coach clocked 49mins for the 10km run.  He was complaining of being tired from cycling.  Haha...

My plan was to start slow and then speed up after 5km or so.  But everyone was going pretty fast.  On many occasions, I literally slowed the pace and trot along just to catch my breath.  As my results shows, 2265 people finished ahead of me!  Fast!

With this race down, there's just 3 races to the end of the year.  Newton 30km, Stanchart 42km and MR25 50km.

I watch too much Korean TV

All started with Ian/Michelle watching this Korean series called 同伊.  As they relate in all seriousness, they once asked a dinner guest to go home early - so that they both can continue watching!  I thought they were joking, little did I know... After they were done, I was handed the disks with a "good luck".  Hmm...  

Initially, all Korean men look the same to me, I kept needing to stop to think, now who's he again?  Before you can say 'bibimbap!', I was in too deep.  One night I watched til 3am, ok ok I'm not proud of it but since there's really nothing much going on at work anyways, I took the next day off and continued with Korea hour.  Yesterday too.  I was happily watching and then had to stop in the middle of an imperial decree on dethroning the evil queen and reinstating the good queen, because it was dinner time with Matty!  

The kid is such a fussy eater. Ask him what he wants and he'll say soup and corn.  He rejected rice with soup last night and Michy had to get up midway through dinner in an Indonesian restaurant, buy a cup of corn from MacDonalds for the little guy.  

I am so tired now - between Matty and 同伊.  But be glad, there is peace in Korealand.  The good queen is back in place and the evil queen downgraded to concubine because the wise king was concerned for the crown prince's well being if he sent the evil queen away.

Do not be afraid

Gospel Lk 12:1-7

At that time:
So many people were crowding together
that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
"Beware of the leaven--that is, the hypocrisy--of the Pharisees.

"There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness
will be heard in the light,
and what you have whispered behind closed doors
will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends,
do not be afraid of those who kill the body
but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing
has the power to cast into Gehenna;
yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted.
Do not be afraid.
You are worth more than many sparrows."

Runner's diarrhea

And I thought it's just my sensitive digestive tract.

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/runners-diarrhea/AN00376

How life should be...

Last night's reading was particularly touching.  So obviously my life is far from the ideal...

Gal 5:18-25

Brothers and sisters:
If you are guided by the Spirit, you are not under the law.
Now the works of the flesh are obvious:
immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy,
outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness,
dissensions, factions, occasions of envy,
drinking bouts, orgies, and the like.
I warn you, as I warned you before,
that those who do such things will not inherit the Kingdom of God.
In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, generosity,
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.
Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified their flesh
with its passions and desires.
If we live in the Spirit, let us also follow the Spirit.

My race calendar - updated again!

My racing year turned out to be busier than I intended!  Here's how it looks now :

25 Feb - Singapore Duathlon (10km run / 36km cycle / 5km run)

1 Apr - 2XU Compression run (15km - free race in KY's stead)

1 May - SIS Age Group run (10km - free race after they canceled Fear Challenge)

26 May - Adidas Sundown Marathon (21km)

1 July - Gold Coast Airport Marathon (42km)

15 July - SIS Age Group run (15km - free race in Manly's stead)

9 Sep - Army Half Marathon (21km)

13 Oct - North Face trail (50km)

21 Oct - Nike SG run (10km)

28 Oct - Newton run (30km)
11 Nov - Great Eastern run (21km - free race in Linny's stead)
18 Nov - Run for Hope (10km - free race given by Peter's friend)
24 Nov - Brooks Happy Run (9km)

1 Dec - Standard Chartered Marathon (42km)

30 Dec - MR25 Ultra (50km)

That's 15 races in total this year.  All the races + training runs = a lot of mileage!  Next year I will return to the basics.  Run short distances and enjoy the process.  For now til Dec 30, I will need to keep my game face on.  Because as the coach put it, pain is temporary, glory is forever!

I.am.an.ultra.marathoner

The results from the North Face run is out so early - 27 out of 76.  Yes, only 76 women in Singapore were mad enough.

It was a great race actually.  I was immensely blessed.  God gave me windy (pre-storm conditions) and yet held the rain til way after I left Macritchie.  I had the coach run beside me, and he even carried my water bottles for me so I ran unburdened - of cos I had to fall into a pool of mud to elicit any sympathy from him.  He kept me going...  not in the positive way, he'd barked, "comeon, run".  When I whinged about the blood, he only said "comeon run to the next checkpoint".   The pain was quite tolerable despite the fall, stomach bug, lack of training due to my laziness the last month...  I am indeed blessed.

And I could not have been able to finish so easily without Alex.  Having a pacer in him - I am very blessed.

Walked a great deal - most of the uphills I walked.  The camaraderie among the racers is just fantastic.  Everyone cheers each other on.   At the 38km mark, I looked at my watch and realise a sub-7hr timing was possible.  Together with 2 angmo ladies (one of whom is Angela Flynn who also rides with R&R - amazing coincidence), we hang together to the finish.  She finished right behind me.

The North Face Run

Last year, I wondered about this race.

This year, I signed up.

It's tomorrow.

I'm still weak from the stomach bug.


It's 50km of trail.

In the sun.

I wonder if I will need the hospital after.

Excuse, my stomach's on fire

After the BBQ on Sat night, I woke up to puke all night and since then, my stomach's been on fire.  I feel like this now

After failing with various self remedies : honey, lemonnade, 凉茶, even stronger 凉茶, I decided to see a doctor before Saturday's suicide mission (aka the North Face 50km race).

The doctor closest to home took half an hour to see 1 patient - seeing how there were 2 more patients in front of me and I had a 11am meeting, I left.  Went to my usual GP at Holland Drive during lunch (see! I told you Holland is the center of the universe).  Now to transfer the fire from my stomach to my legs and GO GO GO!

Without a Strategy, There Is No ROI

This guy sounds completely HP!  That's how we used to talk, "so what's your strategy?" is a common refrain.

http://www.briansolis.com/2012/08/without-a-strategy-there-is-no-roi/

I surrender

Spontaneous Human Combustion

I wonder about it sometimes...

And it all started from a bout of food poisoning when I had to wake up to puke numerous times.  My stomach was churning with acid for a long time.  Still churning as a matter of fact.  Running with heartburn is seriously uncomfortable, my buddy drove over for some super duper 凉茶 that costs $7!!  It's a little better, but stomach still emitting heat.

So I wonder about this.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_human_combustion