EuCHO0.NET - (^(0o)^) The Pigatory

of all the great coincidences of this world.. my bro has to get registered for marriage on the day of the Standard Chartered Marathon.. so this means i have exactly 6h to complete the run assuming a flag off at exactly 5:30am in the morning! if i wish to make it to my bro's ROM on time.. i don't really wanna miss the marathon.. so i guess i will go for it.. this could possibly be the craziest race against time stunt i would be pulling off in my life.. hope my marathon buddies' up to it too.. else i will have to race to the finishing line alone..

anyways.. to my bro.. i really wanna be there to witness your engagement.. and wish you a happy marriage ever after.. truly hope that my stunt pulls off without accident.. but i promise by pain of death that i will be there..

i can only say i am very proud of myself for getting my gold medal for the 3^rd year in a row.. this proved without doubt that my results were no fluke.. hell, i've even got a mini arithmetic progression going on here.. i hope that i can turn this into a geometric progression from now on..

2009 - IPPT Gold!!!

2008 - IPPT Gold!!

2007 - IPPT Gold!

2006 - IPPT Silver

2005 - IPPT Silver

2004 - IPPT pass..

okay, so i got slightly poorer scores for broad jump and shuttle run as compared to the previous year.. but i guess this can be attributed to the fact that i was still wearing my 2 and a half year old track shoes.. which has floppy toe ends and zero cushion at the heels.. if i did not remember wrong.. these were the exact same pairs of shoes that helped me get my gold medal for the past 2 years.. so i must really give thanks to this pair of resilient shoes.. still i managed to ace every station so that remains something to be proud of.. and of course the 2.4 km run was not easy when considering such old shoes.. as i could practically feel my feet slapping on the hard ground due to the worn-out soles..

also i have to say that maintaining my pseudo-vegetarian diet has not been having a detrimental effect on my fitness.. in fact i dare say i am fitter than ever.. vegetarian diet is difficult cause you need to make sure you acquire all the essential proteins and minerals.. it is almost 2 years now.. wonder how long it will take me to convert to a true vegan.. probably at the same time i become a true hermit.. haha..

anyways.. it is another 400 bucks added to my coffer.. i'm probably not as generous as last year.. still i try to spread my joy.. only to my best friends..

looking forward to IPPT 2010!

well.. i missed "RunNUS" due to the bad weather.. so what better to do than to go run it by myself..

actually i added more than 1 km to to the original route by running a larger loop around FoE and Kent Ridge Bus Terminal.. but according to my mapping it still ended up short of 12 km.. so there must have been something wrong with the organiser's estimation of 12 km for the original run.. unless they were factoring in the gradient of the many slopes along the way, there is really no way that the original run was 12 km..

anyways.. this route is rather challenging and running enthusiasts should really try it at least once.. one needs to look out carefully for the small road (Pepys road) that leads up to Kent Ridge Park from Pasir Panjang road.. of course try to bring a friend too.. cuz the roads of Kent Ridge are really quite dark and could become creepy at night.. it did not bother me too much, though it did motivate me to run faster so as to get out of the damned place.. beware the tracks leading down from Kent Ridge Park to Science Park.. many of the lamps are not working and it is really dark.. people with night blindness may find themselves veering off the curved tracks and end up rolling down the slopes.. t'was good run for me..

joined the "Run NUS!" again.. in which this time unfortunately ended in naught.. again.. i seem to meet very poor luck regarding this event..

in 2007, the flag off got delayed by almost 2 hours probably due to the organizers glitch.. although the run was completed.. but immediately afterwards it started to rain cats and dogs and i was stranded in the middle of Kent Ridge Park for more than an hour.. entertaining myself by chewing on the box of cereals given in the goodie bag..

in 2008, i unfortunately had to miss out on this event because of my In-Camp Training schedule.. having a 8 day field exercise from Monday to Monday.. which coincidentally drags over the Sunday that RunNUS 2008 was planned..

and in this year 2009.. the later flag offs for NUS men was called off due to the thunderstorm.. well.. at least i did not get drenched in the rain as i was happily waiting at the track and field grandstands.. and of course it gave me the extra time to write this meaningless blog entry.. ahah..

i have unwittingly participated in the SAFRA Sheares Bridge Run for 3 years on the trot.. and i must say i am getting better at it.. this year.. my psuedo-bro and i finally got a respectable timing of 2h 27 min.. shaving off more than 10 mins from the previous year's timing.. i am proud to have improved it together with my pseudo-bro.. but i believe that if i was running solo.. i feel confident of even breaking the 2h mark.. this was something that i did not imagine possible even back in the army.. this is amazing considering the fact that i've been following a mainly vegetarian diet for the past 3 years.. i guess i am a living example to show meat is not necessary for a fit and strong body.. i feel fitter than i have been before and can only get better..

next stop.. IPPT Gold!!!

somehow i joined a team.. mostly consisting of students from my department.. to participate in this sports day futsal competition in campus.. we did not do too bad as we qualified for the finals quite easily but only just lost out in the semi-finals against a highly physical korean team.. quite disappointed.. though not because of losing but because i thought we could have done better.. anyway.. can not really blame anyone as the team was organized impromptu and thus our teamwork and understanding was not optimal..

overall.. it was a good games weekend.. and i got to know a few faces.. this was also the first time i took part in competitive soccer so it was definitely a great experience.. will be looking forward to the next soccer competition to play..

these are some photos taken by the sports day organizers.. my team is the one in pink (eww..) on the first day and white (whew..) on the second day..

t'is my second year taking IPPT at Maju Camp.. huffed and puffed to my gold.. and i think the main reason for huffing and puffing was because i was still suffering from a cold viral infection.. i remember blowing out at least 5 large snorts out of my nose in that morning.. and even as i am typing this article.. my nose is still running.. so i guess there is nothing to be ashamed of in being 2 seconds slower than the previous year.. after the 2.4 km run.. my throat was so sore that i could not speak more than a handful of words before breaking into an uncontrollable cough.. i can only describe the feeling as having a slime-filled airway.. so today i am giving myself a one day rest by staying at home instead of going to my lab..

anyways.. thinking back all the years since leaving full-time national service.. i am glad to say that there is a marked improvement in my fitness level every year.. and i was even able to maintain the gold standards even after adopting a main vegetarian diet at the turn of the last new year.. maybe i will add a follow-up column on my personal experience on the effects of a vegetarian diet later on..

2008 - IPPT Gold!!

2007 - IPPT Gold!

2006 - IPPT Silver

2005 - IPPT Silver

2004 - IPPT pass..

happy as i am to collect the 400 bucks of prize money from this year's gold award.. of course i will be giving treats to my good friends.. not that many people even bother to share their good things with me.. but still one must learn to spread and share joy.. good things are always more enjoyable when shared..

went for my IPPT at Maju Camp today.. first time taking the test at Maju.. as usual i aced all the static physical tests.. was really dreaming of getting my first IPPT gold in 5 years.. so i ran and ran and ran.. beat the 10-minute mark for the seoncd time this year and finally got my long-desired Gold medal

don't play play wor.. i trained hard for this one.. more than a year since i was inspired by my battalion's new Commanding Officer during his fitness pep-talk.. he said that we should not train up just to pass our annual IPPT.. it is about keeping fit.. having your body in tip-top condition.. this way you live longer and live fuller.. it benefits both the body and mind.. imagine yourself barely 40 years old and already the bones are creaking and the muscles are sagging.. so after a year of disciplined weekly runs and taking part in competitions such as the recent 21km Singapore Bay Run.. i have finally achieved my target in getting the gold.. my next year resolution is to achieve at least equal standard and win the gold medal again.. the rewards are good too.. 400 bucks to be exact

so time to spread my joy and give my friends some free meals.. can't wait for my next IPPT

but for now.. its back to the study desk.. can't see myself running more than once a week from now til year-end.. study study study..

Sun, 26^th Aug 2007

my porcupine-brother JH somehow convinced me sign up for this year's Army Half Marathon cum SAFRA Sheares Bridge Run.. never thought i would pay to torture myself in a 21 km run.. but come to think of it.. recently i'm actually enjoying running.. i'm wondering if i really like running or am i just distracting myself from the realities of life.. when your lungs and muscles are pumping.. it frees the mind from other worries..

early in the morning 4 o'clock.. pulling myself out of bed and calling JH to make sure he had gotten up too.. as usual he takes his time to leave his house.. my mum takes a shorter time to get ready can't blame him though.. i too was feeling dopey.. had only slept 3 hours that night..

still we made it just on time to the Marina Promenade to meet up with JH's colleague J.. the three of us began our run 15 minutes after the flag-off time.. but who cares.. we weren't really keen on competing or anything.. we started off real slow and we were practically overrun by the next wave of non-competitive runners..

anyway.. the 21.1 km route goes something like this..

things were going fine and we made our way up Sheares Bridge and then down.. J went on ahead after the check-point at East Coast.. i took my time and jogged slowly with JH who needed to do lots of stretching.. although we stopped several times.. we managed to maintain a relatively good pace and finished the race in 2h 42min.. not too bad for JH who had not trained properly for this.. i remembered my timing was 2h 30min during my NSF days..

it was nearly 8:30am at end of our run.. got a medal of completion for that.. then we went to link up with J and then joined in the free muscle rub service there.. also picked up a free 1 litre bottle of 100Plus

the darn "Water Fest" carnival starts at 10am.. which we decided to skip.. i could not believe they were holding a carnival so long after the end of the race?!? most of the runners probably went home already to get their much anticipated rest..

alas.. still we had to wait more than half an hour to collect our baggage.. i was really exhausted.. more due to lack of sleep than due to the run.. but exhausted nonetheless.. i could feel myself wobbling while waiting in the queue..

when we finally got out of there.. we headed to Marina Square to satisfy our hunger first.. only then did i discern what sad lives we lead.. JH has to return to work that afternoon to fix his company server.. and i too am returning home then heading to NUS to catch up on my school work..

and the day ends quietly this day..

Sat, 18^th Aug 2007

so i joined the "Run NUS!" event held at Kent Ridge Park (KRP) on a saturday morning.. have not visited KRP before so was really interested in participating to have a look.. this also served as warm-up for the Army Half Marathon on the next sunday.. the competitive run consists of a 10 km route..

i got up early in my lab and had actually wanted to jog my way to Kent Ridge park from the Faculty of Science.. but lucky me.. met a guy who asked the way to KRP for the run.. and he offered to take me there together on cab got a free ride for that..

anyway.. we ended up on the wrong side of the hill and had to cross the ridge to reach the carnival.. thought i was late but turned out that the organizers pushed back all the scheduled timings by half an hour.. so i ended up waiting for about an hour before my flag off..

wasn't feeling good for the run today.. and i was tiring fast only just 1 km into the run.. but i perservered and kept my pace.. was content as long as i didn't end up as the last of my group.. the road was tough.. full of undulating slopes and road junctions.. the entry to KRP was the most challenging consisting of a very steep road.. the road was no longer than 100 m but the climb was over 4 storeys high by my approximation.. and after that was a 200 m mad dash to the finishing line.. it always feels good to complete a long run.. no prizes but the sense of accomplishment always makes it worthwhile..

back at the carnival.. the skies were already dark.. so i hurriedly redeemed my gift pack and started on my way back to my lab.. alas i had only climbed up to the top of the hill on my way out when rain started to pour.. so i took shelter at the nearest public washroom.. was trapped in the middle of the park for about half an hour.. but at least the view there was great.. it was facing south towards the Pasir Panjang wharf with a clear view of the sea and skyline.. the dark clouds could be seen rushing from the seas inland eventually turning the entire skies into a deep grey.. i did not bring my phone otherwise i would have recorded the beautiful scene of the storm..

i liked the rain.. but not liking to get wet.. had no choice but to pass my time chomping on the instant cereals and drinking newater that was available in my gift pack.. eventually some of the race organizers came up with umbrellas and i was offered one so that i could make my way up further to catch the shuttle bus service which brings us back to NUS Sports & Recreation Centre.. by the time i returned to my lab.. my shoes and socks were soaked like a wet sponge.. wondered how i made it through all this alone without feeling depressed which i believe most people would.. i was actually in quite high spirits at the end of this.. if only every day was spent like this so simple and carefree.. challenges without commitment.. that would be my life..