Coming of age for the pingu!

Happy Birthday Mr Yeo! Though you are 7 hours away, and we can't exactly get you wasted and then get scolded by your dad, we hope you're having a blast at your quarter century celebrations. Aight!

Death Darth - It all makes sense now

Marathon Training #1

The first step to running a marathon is to follow a marathon training schedule that works.

Whether you are a first time marathoner or an advanced marathoner, you will need to build up your mileage in order to finish your marathon. The way to do this is to follow a marathon training schedule that not only increases the amount of mileage so that you get the miles into your legs, but also minimizes the risk of developing frustrating injuries.

The way to do this is to follow a weekly routine that increases your total mileage over a period of 3-6 months. There is no point getting all excited during your first week of deciding to run a marathon and going out and training 35 miles that week. The reason for this is that your body simply isn’t used to running those distances and you’ll probably develop an injury in the process.

A better way is to start out slow and then build up to around 35-45 miles per week approximately 3-4 weeks before your marathon race. Ideally, you should increase your total mileage by around 10% per week.

The way to choose your marathon training schedule is to include one long run in your training sessions. This longer run is where you will get the majority of your endurance from. Sure, you need to also train during the week but most of your fitness and stamina will come from your long training session.

The reason for this is because your body’s physiology will change. This is just the same as going to a gym. If you stick with your gym program for a couple of months you will notice that your body actually changes. Perhaps you biceps get larger. Perhaps you notice that your pecs also increases… along with your quads and hamstrings. This is because you are exerting a force over a period of time and your body compensates by increasing it’s size.

The same thing happens when following a marathon training schedule, in particular your long training sessions. You are exerting your body over an extended period of time and the physiology of your body will change to compensate.

Ideally, your long training sessions should be done at a level that is around 70% of your maximum heart rate. If you train at a pace below this rule of thumb then you will not get the most out of your sessions. However, if you train at a pace above this rule of thumb then you are most likely to feel flat and lethargic during the week as your body recovers from the exertion.
The best marathon training schedule will have the long training session on the weekend, a semi-long run mid week with shorter sessions either side and a cross-training day, as follows:

Monday – Rest day
Tuesday – Short training session
Wednesday – Semi-long training session
Thursday – Short training session
Friday – Rest day
Saturday – Cross-training (swimming, cycling)
Sunday – Long training session

If this is your first time running a marathon then this is the ideal marathon training schedule to follow in the buildup to your race. Again, avoid the temptation to do too many miles in your first couple of weeks. The idea is to build up your training slowly by increasing your weekly mileage by approximately 10% each week in order to maximize your fitness levels and decrease the risk of injury.

At the AHM...

In case you haven't heard...

Captain dies in race; second such fatality this year
JUST last month, Captain Ho Si Qiu finished a creditable 23rd out of 1,369 runners at the 10-kilometre Saucony-100Plus Passion Run here.
Yesterday morning, the 25-year-old platoon commander from the Officer Cadet School took on a bigger challenge — the 21-km Singapore Bay Run, also known as the Safra Sheares Bridge Run & Army Half Marathon 2007.
But as he crossed the finishing line at 7am, about one and a half hours after the race started, CPT Ho collapsed and stopped breathing.
Medics attended to him within 30 seconds. At the medical post, an intubation was performed and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR, was carried out immediately, but no heart rhythm was detected.
But CPT Ho failed to respond and was sent to the Singapore General Hospital hospital. He was pronounced dead at 8.07am. Police have classified the case as unnatural death and are investigating.
CPT Ho's death is the second sudden death from running this year — the first athlete who died was 17-year-old Thaddeus Cheong in June, just after crossing the finishing line at a national triathlon selection trial for this year's SEA Games.
Organisers of yesterday's run, which is into its 16th year, said measures were in place to ensure the safety of the record 70,000 participants, an increase of 5,000 from last year. There were 13 medic points set up and over 100 medical personnel deployed.
Said a spokesman for Safra: "During registration, we advised participants to hydrate during race day, give their bodies adequate recovery time during training, give the bodies a complete rest before the actual race and take fluids at each of our water points.
"They were also advised not to take part if they feel unwell."
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, the Community Development, Youth and Sports Minister, who participated in the run, along with Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean said last night he was saddened by CPT Ho's death.
But he felt that the organisers had taken all possible safety measures.
Said Dr Balakrishnan: "As I was running, I noticed there were many ambulances, medical teams and medical equipment. This was one event in which the SAF, I believe, took every effort to make sure the medical cover was present, was available and was able to move into action immediately.
"At the finish line, he (Captain Ho) was treated by a full medical team, including a doctor. So at this time, it appears that what measures could be taken, were taken."
This latest casualty comes at a time when the National Sports Safety Committee is due to release its report to the Singapore Sports Council (SSC).
The 12 member committee is fine-tuning the report to ensure all areas of safety are covered and best measures are implemented.
The MCYS is also studying a preliminary report that has been submitted by the National Sports Safety Committee and is discussing the findings with relevant sports associations.
The SSC has stepped up safety training for their staff, as more Singaporeans participate in sorting events.
SSC chief executive officer Oon Jin Teik said: " Safety is a mindset and practice that everyone must be aware of. Every participant, every organisation should understand that every accident is preventable.
"It is very unfortunate the fatalities are happening. But, we shouldn't be frightened by the situation."
The upcoming proposals, he added, will improve the safety aspects further.
Meanwhile, Dr Jason Chia, the medical director for next weekend's Aviva Singapore Ironman 70.3 Triathlon is not leaving anything to chance.
There will be adequate medical equipment and safety staff on stand-by.
But Dr Chia stressed the need for participants to go through screening before strenuous activities like triathlons and biathlons.
"Athletes must take safety and their medical condition seriously. While adequate training is important, they must get themselves checked out with a pre-race screening," he said. "Some symptoms may not be recognised easily and that's the importance of the screening. They must take the risk involved seriously."

Safety officer: Anybody not feeling well???

Chasers War on Everything

Les Barker Poems: Forward to 2:22

AHM Details

In case you're running AHM with Josh and I, here are the details..

The 16th Singapore Bay Run - SAFRA Sheares Bridge Run and Army Half Marathon 2007 will be held on Sunday, 26 August 2007, from 5.30am to 11am.

Public and participants can come for the event via the following ways:
By Taxi - Alight along South Bridge Road, Raffles Blvd, or at Raffles City taxi stand, or in front of One Raffles Link and walk to Esplanade Drive.

By Car - Park at the nearby Marina Square, Raffles City, or Suntec City carparks. Public are advised not to park at the Esplanade Carpark as the roads leading to it will be closed to traffic. For alternative routes to get to event venue or access to Marina Bay area, please visit the event website: www.safra.sg/sbr.

MRT - Alight at Raffles Place or City Hall MRT Stations and walk to Esplanade Drive.

Public Buses - The Bus Services available are No. 10, 14, 16, 30, 36, 56, 57, 100, 111, 131, 133 and 196. Please note that the bus services may divert from their normal route during event day due to the road closure. Public are advised to visit the SBS Transit website http://www.sbstransit.com.sg/ for updates.

Flag-off Time
21km Army Half Marathon 5.30am
12km SAFRA Sheares Bridge Run 7.00am
12km Corporate Team Challenge (Team of 3) 7.00am
12km SAFRA Sheares Bridge Run 7.15am
6km SAFRA Sheares Bridge Run 8.00am

Speaking bout' Shyte.....

wannabe photographer who know's he's in for shyte

oh ya, and i signed up for the stan chart too.

yes i'm laughing hard on the inside, though my face may be grim.

but it's a different kind of laughter.

it's a kind of sad ...snicker.

hmm...

actually it's not even a laugh at all...

oh by grimlock's scales...what have i done....

the wannabe photographer

yeah let's keep things going since we seem to be having one of those contemplative moments, minus the wah rauz checkers game and tranformorons videos.

Well here i am sitting in my room at sex thirty on a friday morn. As most of you would know this is pretty normal for me cos well..it is. no reason for that, i used t say it was cos of the "flexible" time of the job as a photographer, but it's not that. i guess it's just nicer when it's quieter for a while.

Work has been well, crummy honestly. Since i graduated with the amazingly good results i received from OOOOOklahoma, i've been trying to somehow carve a career out of something that well was just second nature i guess. For the record, photogaphy is NOT my passion. I do of course enjoy the job to some degree, but it's not a lightning bolts, fields of corn with the wind blowing as we run gingerly through the plantation kinda thing for me. It's still work and the images you get to take to get paid as a noob cameraman (as most pple refer to me as) tend to be pretty boring and tasteless.

It's taken it's toll on my days. I've been finding it more difficult to get up to get work done. If there was work in the first place. A couple of jobs here and there make my work life seem somewhat lucrative, and though i tell most pple i'm doing good and all is well, it isn't. I'm honestly looking into possibly giving up my freelance lifestyle for something a bit more 9-5. It's a sad thing for me though i know that i am blessed to have had the fortune of living the way i have for this year or so. I guess maybe it's time to realise i can't just keep in my comfort zone. Once i've tied down a couple of loose ends i'll probably start looking for my new job.

On the flip side, our dear cockenaden has finally decided to actually get a demo tape up with me. Though i think most of you guys already know, jason and i would hopefully be able to get some original stuff recorded before the end of october. It's gonna be tough and it's been pretty hard work for the both of us, but i'm sure it'll be heard somewhere. Whether it ends up being some bubblegum pop kinda tune you can't shrug off is not really my concern at this point. Now that is something to look forward to i guess. We'll keep you posted.

And yes like i've said to many others when we get rich and famous, we'll all meet up at my club, jason's church, glenn's yacht, youwen's 15-seater tank, ding's penang kway teow factory, leon's bootcamp for ladies, joshua's water balas facility thingy, fat cat's techoarchi theme park, kd's food palace(s), barney's heart-shaped waterbed that sleeps 5, fai's hospital-zilla-dilla-the-dance-floor-killa or maybe even wai's newly proclaimed country called gordon............... for some vitasoy and shaw pool chicken rice. Wouldn't that be nice?

let's work our asses off so we can live like we were 15 once again. =)

cheers to all my brothers.


now i'm gonna sleep.

It's not over til it's over!

Ppl with too much time on their hands... but cool, nonetheless! ;-)

The Penang Dingo

Yeaps, me have graduated. Together with Youwen, Joshua, Jinyuan & JC (but he's studying more. The mad fella). I got a degree in Mech. No honours. But i'm not sorry, i probably learnt more than those fellas who got first class. I just didn't like some subjects, and i'm not studying for grades am I. Moreover, that's it for studying! NO MOoooore.

Job-wise, I'm working in Penang now in my Dad's manufacturing company. What's good about my situation now? It's my dad's company, so i'm a super whitehorse. I'm on an accelerated learning course, and should be able to learn enuf to run the place in about.. 5 years? I'm stuck in Penang, so I can focus more on work.
Downside? It's fucking penang. It's malaysia. Everyone here speaks hokkien or malay. Kinda like army direct intake. Damn jialat. Try talking about engineering terms in those languages. It's not even funny man! And that's just the language problems. There's also the lack of people to talk to over here. You can't exactly go out and chill w friends cos...there ain't any here! *sigh* It gets to you after a while.

That's it for what I'm doing now! It's probz not gonna change for another 2 years or so. Maybe after that then I'll be considering marriage. Who else is btw?

Anyway, MARATHON!! For those who don't know.. we're joining the Standard Chartered together this year! Who's joining? Who's not? Please post yeah?
I'm preparing a running singlet w some ACS design or something ok? It should cost around $30 for one..