Army Half Marathon

My 2nd time participating in this race...and my first incompleted race :P

Oh well...better give up one race for many more to come rite?

Anyway, as usual...had to wake up super early...abt 4am...had a quick bfast, then was off to CTE...kops21 got there b4 me!! oops...thanx for waiting ;)

Got to the carpark by the Bible House at almost 5am...
After we got ready...we walked towards the starting pt...I stopped by Parkroyal for a toilet break..lost kops21 and Francis after that :P

At the baggage deposit area...I saw Jayce, Elaine, Evan and a few other frens of theirs...then as I walked towards the bridge...I saw Balasing and flip...I think...

After we got onto the bridge...suddenly a whole grp of sgrunners appeared..wah...dunno where they come from...anyway, they also disappeared quite as fast...as we walked towards the starting line...I only see renoh and ripley nearby...wonder where have the rest gone...I'm sure ppl like brokie, our chilli padi, was right in front...in her sexy running attire...hehe...

At 5.30am...we were flagged off...I decided to run slowly..as usual..at a comfortable heart rate...
Since I was pretty near the starting line when we started...I was overtook quite a lot :P
I rem seeing Taz, Mythos, Jennifer, run3, and few others who kinda stared at me when they run pass...must be 'cos I was wearing the sgrunners singlet...hehe :P
The rest must have been too far in front...
Elaine and Jayce also run pass me and whacked my cap...I'll pull their hair next time I see them :P

Anyway, as I approached ECP...the side of my right knee started aching a bit...as I slowed down to a walk...the pain kinda disappeared...then as I continued running...the pain came back...so I slowed down again...then run again...after I u-turned back and passed the 9km mark...I decided it's time to stop and ice my knee...

Went to the medic tent at Fort Rd...got "check-in" and was given a piece of cold pack...then the doc came by to check out wat happened...
After that, I hanged ard there as a couple of other gals, a sec sch gal and another one who works with OSIM, came in...
Then a couple of counsellors came by to chat with us...wow...so cool...
Apparently there're quite a number of ladies in the army too :D just like ripley...

Later on...this gal, Harmony, from Brewerkz, came in...apparently she's been walking and hobbling for a few km...b4 someone finally stopped her and brought her here...she was still thinking of continuing the race even though she can barely walk!!!
We finally convinced her to give up this race...there'll be many more to come...esp since she's still pretty young...

At abt 8 plus...we were ferried back to the ending pt...where I found the sgrunners...but not kops21!!! My stuff are still in his car...luckily brokie had her phone with her and she has his no...met him back at his car...
Since he was gg back...decided to take a lift from him...esp since the sky has turned pretty dark!!


A photo b4 I left...

Got back in time just b4 it started pouring at my place...
Took a shower, iced my knee again...b4 Feei and I went out for bfast...

After that, I slept pretty much the whole afternoon!!! slept a couple of hours...wake up...sleep again...wake up...housemates came back from "S'pore-M'sia badminton match"...sleep again...felt like a pig...haha...must be the Atarax I took for the rashes all over my arm...yawnz...

Guess I'll just be swimming for the next few weeks :D Shall skip the tennis training too :P

Anyway, congrats to Brokie and TeeLee for coming in top 20 for their category!!

New Balance Real Run

There r so many events this month...one after another!!

Anyway, I din sign up for this run...not so thrilled abt running on sand...esp since this coming Sun is the army half marathon :P
But since I haven't run for so long...since Penang Bridge run...I decided to head down to Sentosa to run a bit and meet up with the other Sgrunners...after all, the first time we met last year was for this run ;)

Woke up at abt 6 plus on Sun...and I'm considered late liao!!! Siao man!!
Got to Sentosa at abt 7 plus...walked in from harbourfront since the queue was very long for the shuttle bus...and the road was jammed up too...

Got to the gateway carpark at 8am...where I found the support crew...the runners have all run off :P

After we settled our stuff at the finishing pt...I started running from the finishing pt towards the beach...ran past the musical fountain, towards the entrance of the trail...decided to run along the road instead since I din want to interfere with the runners running on the trail in the opposite direction :P
From there I ran all the way to Siloso beach...in the opposite direction on the running/cycling trail along the beach...some of the volunteers were wondering why I was running the wrong direction...haha ;)

Made a U-turn ard the 6-6.5km mark...which means I have ran abt 3.5-4km?
From there I followed the Real Run route all the way back to the finishing pt...somewhere towards the middle of the jungle trail...some "irritating guy" started mumbling "excuse me, excuse me...." behind me...even though I was just running at the side...haha...it was TLR lah...he overtook me and I started speeding up, trying to pace after him...since finishing liao...might as well run faster rite?

As I came out from the trail...someone shouted "penguin!!"...but my shades was pretty fogged up...so din couldn't really figure out who it was...until I saw this photo in KJ's album...thanx, dude :D



I finally reached the finishing pt after abt 40 mins...saw Fd waiting with her camera near the finishing line...but..hmm...she took a lot of blank photos...wahaha...it's really hard to spot ppl and take their photo when there r so many running in ur direction :P

Here's my heart rate curve...showing I was slacking...wahaha :P


After everyone got back...we took a group photo...then the Sgrunners when off to the beach...


Group photo taken b4 the run...I wasn't there :P


Group photo taken after the run...wow...compare with the one taken last year!!
Who is who? (Courtesy of a fellow very tall sea creature...at the back...hehe)
Front Row (Seated): Teelee, TinTin, Penguin, TLR, Andy, T@z, Brokie, Vincent (Brokie's Hubby), Kay
Second Row (Seated): Spyfish?, ?, Bee (Partially hidden), Loneshark, Cyberkinetic, Freddie, Ronnie, Commando (in front of ronnie), Roentgen, Cheow12, ?, Burnz, Fd (half squat)
Third Row (half squat): 136Fallschirmjäger, Daisiki, Charmane, Meteor, cFred84, LaticAcid, ?, Cokiee, Tekko's Wife, Le Charlotte
Fourth Row (Standing): ?, Roonz, ?, Fennel (partially hidden), Bikerchic (Partially hidden), ?, Dasher, Sotong, Alvo, Bug (Behind Alvo), AiChai, Cosmic, Siong, Tekko (behind Siong), ?, Lyn, ? (behind Lyn), SportVenturer, ? (behind SV), Hedgehog, Renoh, ?


A photo of me and one of my many twins...we have the same shades..and similar cap :D
Hey...TLR is trying to appear in our photo...

Merey and Reef came...Merey injured herself a bit...so decided not to run...but she came by to return her championchip and collect goodie bag...
Reef wanted to see turtles, seahorse etc...so we headed towards Underwater World...we din go in though...just hanged ard outside checking out the stingrays and turtles...then Reef was tired liao...

Merey and I had to collect our AHM race pack...so we headed to TPY, collected our race pack, had lunch, did some grocery shopping..hehe...then it was time to head home...yawnz...

Sgrunners forum is back

Sgrunners forum is back!!!

...and so...penghulu will close the temp forum at midnight tonite (17/8)...

Adios, temp forum!!

NUS triathlon

Yet another race...
Not a great one though :P

Pretty poorly organized...from the swim (it's biathlon...swim-run-swim-run-swim-run) to the cycle (think that's the worst...with all the stops at various junctions) to the run (no signs at u-turns...poor kids ran 4-5km instead of the 2km they r supposed to cover)...
...and pretty expensive too...can't say they used much money for logistics at the bike route...there's hardly any marshall and no roads were closed!! Not too mention safety at the transition area was horrible...anyone can walk in and out...why bother giving us the wrist tag??!! wonder anyone lost their bike there?

Oh well...I guess next year the organizing committee shld try to be less ambitious...stick to a simpler route...and maybe try to get help from a more experienced organizer...like TAS or Tribob...no point trying to claim they can handle it when the committee is a new one each year...
Just my 2 cents worth ;)

Anyway, I did enjoy my time there hanging out with some of the other participants...

So wat happened on Sun?

I know I was woken up at 4plus...TLR sms me :P
Bochap..I went back to sleep...finally I woke up at abt 5.15...TLR picked me up at 5.45...with our paparazzi photographer, Ripley, already in the car...hehe...

Got to ECP at abt 6am...waited for our cyclist, Junrong to arrive...he cycled all the way from Punggol...just warming up..hehe...
Then we put on our no. tags...mark myself...while the paparazzi was busy taking photo :P


Told u we had a paparazzi ard...she can't help taking any photos...be it Junrong pasting label on his bike or TLR marking my arm :P

After that we went into the transition area to put our stuff...not many ppl yet...yawnz...still had an hour or so to wait...nothing much to do except to chat and look out for ppl we know...rem seeing sanji182, runalone, mythos from Sgrunners..

Also saw Lee Li, Shawn and Huiping whom I met at the charity swim...hehe...I'm the only slacker doing relay...3 of them doing long distance individual event :P
Well with frens like Jayce and Elaine...slacking seem to be the way to go...hehe...they also participated in the relay event...with their cyclist, San San, who got registered w/o knowing it!!!

Of course Vicky was there too...she claims she haven't been training much..but still came in first in the Women's open...and also beat everyone in the Men's Closed category :P


Team beyond boundaries and frens....

Anyway, at abt 7am...I decided to get ready and walk over to the starting pt...my wave was supposed to start at 720am...but...
...it was delayed!!!
I was so bored...so sleepy...so was Jayce...hehe...yawnz
Finally after half an hour wait...the first wave was flagged off...
Oh man...the tide was so low...and the ground was so muddy...I ended up swimming abt 2/3 to 3/4 of the distance and was on foot the rest...3 loops of wat's supposed to be 500m each...took only 31 minutes...sure or not...that's abt my usual timing in the pool where there's no wave, no current, no one blocking my way...and I dun have to keep looking up to make sure I'm gg the right direction :P

Anyway, after 3 loops...I dashed my way to the transition area...on the way there..photo kena taken by paparazzi again...hehe...
That's the end of my leg of the race...haha...we were second for the long dist mixed relay then...few seconds behind...

Our cyclist sped off for 60km of cycling and a lot of stopping...before he finally got back in first place at the dismount area...but the other cyclist ran faster from there to the transition area...so we were still second when TLR ran off...

After an hour...he was back from his 2 loops of 7.5km...we came in second!!! Woohoo...team Beyond Boundaries rocks!!!


Team Beyond Boundaries in action!!
I just had to make that face since someone is taking photo :P
Guess how old is our powerful cyclist...someone wants his autograph!!


Photo with my competitor, Michelle...her team, MaxOut!, came in first...


A certain flip trying to avoid the paparazzi...not too successful huh?


An ironman-to-be (mythos) and an ironman dreamer (IMD)? Mythos is joining his first ironman end of this year...all the best!!!

Had to leave not long after TLR got back...so I wasn't ard for the prize presentation...


Team Beyond Boundaries again...taken b4 I left...


Hey...Gary gave out the prize to TLR and Junrong...he's another guy I met from the charity swim...even one of my housemates know him...hehe

Got the prize from TLR that evening 'cos we were having a surprise b'day dinner for Fd...
The prize sucks...we each got a medal which was blank on one side...and the engraving was on another piece of metal which was stucked on...oh man...and...
...one bottle of weird supplement and a tube of weird cream to be shared among the 3 of us...haha...we played with it during dinner instead :P
Dinner was good though...with fellow mods (Mr and Mrs Sotong, Cyberkinetic, Ripley, Alvo, Meteor, Philip, Tiwazz, Renohtaram) and some other ppl like commando, flip, Roetgen, IMD, SV (who cycled there...and park his bike in TLR's car!!)...
After that, I was pretty dead...so was renoh...hmm...twin effect? hehe...so we left while the rest probably went for coffee...

Photos are courtesy of Ripley

More penguins in the news..

Unfortunately...this is sad news for animals lovers...especially penguin lovers :(

The Straits Times
Aug 10, 2006
Bird blood bath


PHOTOS: AP

It was a day strictly for the birds after two lorries overturned, sending feathers and penguins spilling onto the roads in Texas.

In a turkey mishap on Monday, the lorry had been carrying about 5,000 six-week-old hens when the driver lost control of his vehicle near Gholson. Thousands of birds were killed and many of the dazed survivors scattered into the woods, though some were later recaptured, the Waco Tribune Herald reported.

A day later, a truck transporting zoo animals also crashed, throwing 24 penguins, an octopus and tropical fish onto the road in Marshall. Four penguins died, including three hit by oncoming traffic, Reuters reported.

'The rest of the penguins kind of stayed together in the ditch,' state trooper Richard Buchanan said. The octopus emerged unscathed.

Penguins in the news

Hehe...

Clean penguins return to sea after spill

By NATACHA PISARENKO, Associated Press Writer
Tue Aug 1, 7:41 PM ET



SAN CLEMENTE DEL TUYU, Argentina - Dozens of freshly cleaned Magellanic penguins waddled into the ocean Monday to the applause of onlookers, the first batch of close to 200 goo-covered birds that were rescued and washed after an oil spill.

The 49 penguins, each tagged with metal identifying bands, were released on a wind-swept South Atlantic beach not far from the outlet of Argentina's River Plate. Another 141 birds that survived an unexplained oil spill off Patagonia in May still await release.

About 220 penguins were found alive in remote Santa Cruz province following the spill but some later died. The 190 survivors were airlifted to Fundacion Mundo Marino, a marine facility in San Clemente del Tuyu, some 185 miles southeast of Buenos Aires.

There the migratory seabirds were repeatedly washed until their bodies were rid of the sticky oil and their feathers realigned to regain their waterproofing against the chill of the South Atlantic ocean, experts said.

About 50 tourists, some waiting for hours, cheered as the caged penguins were brought to the shore in two pickup trucks. They were freed en masse and raced past the tourists, disappearing in seconds under the waves.

"Beautiful! Beautiful!" someone shouted as video cameras whirred. The birds could be seen swimming away from the coast and then they vanished in the distance.

"This makes it all worthwhile," said Valeria Ruoppolo, a veterinarian with the International Fund for Animal Welfare who helped rescue the birds along with government experts from Santa Cruz and teams from the Fundacion Mundo Marino.

Ruoppolo said another 50 penguins would be released sometime before Friday with the rest returning to the sea in coming weeks.

Although the source of the May oil spill was never determined, she said it could have been an offshore ship dumping engine oil and other pollutants. Ruoppolo said penguins are wide-ranging migratory seabirds whose routes make them vulnerable to spills.

In early May, penguins coated in black oil began showing up on rocky coasts off South America's southern Straits of Magellan. Authorities first reported that 70 dead Magellanic penguins were found at the Cabo Virgenes nature reserve on the Straits, 1,350 miles south of Buenos Aires. About 400,000 penguins live there during the warmer months.

Coast Guard authorities sent overflights but could not detect the source of the oil.

"Having all these ships throwing their oil in the water ... it causes a big problem," Ruoppolo said, adding hundreds of penguins were found dead "but the real number we'll never really know."

Ruoppolo said rehabilitation efforts at the initial rescue site near Rio Gallegos, in frigid Santa Cruz province, were hampered by the cold. A decision was taken to airlift birds to San Clemente del Tuyu with its warmer weather, speeding up the recovery process, she said.

The birds regained their waterproofing through a painstaking process of repeated washings and dryings that realigned feathers, she said.

"To regain their waterproofing, they need to get wet and dry off many times. This is how they align their feathers to the normal position, so the feathers interlock together and form a barrier against the cold water," Ruoppolo said.

Why did the hacker cross the road?

To hack into the Sgrunners' forum :P

Anyway, dun fret...the new temporary forum can be found here