Running Free

Last weekend was my third SCSM. This really marks the end of the FY2008-09 for me. From one Standard Chartered to the next one. Over the year, after racing about 242+/-km, I have really come along way, especially over long distances.

SCSM 2008 taught me to respect the distance after so much training I did modestly well with a time of 5h24m and soreness all over. Surprisingly, I hit my target of 5h30m just a bit to spare. But the real reason why I ran the marathon, is only known to a few people – one of them who sms-ed me when I hit 37km. I felt a sense of freedom. Like I heard once, ‘No matter who you are and no matter what your past is, when you cross that finish line, you are a different person. And you know it.’ I knew I was a different person the moment I crossed the line. I was on the other side. I learnt the feeling of being  emotionally strong – something I really needed at that time.

After that I was determined to make one good attempt at 4h30m. Sundown was the perfect chance to try my mettle and so I started the training. Over 5 months training up and down and up and down on NUS and Kent ridge slopes till I was a real strong on slopes. Like Hussain says, ‘Slopes are Sandip’s homeland’, Partner (Elaine) called me ‘King of the hill’ once. Haha… Sundown was where I learnt one important thing. Long runs just don’t do it. It’s the simulation and getting the feel of things to come matter more. I managed to save some hitting 4h38m. Not too bad. About 50 mins off my last time. This was the time that I realised that I was capable of keeping high pace on flats – upto 15km.

Next was TNF 100, The hardest thing I’ve done so far. Not to mention, this really tested my limits. I think how bad it was very well documented in the previous few posts. But like someone told me, ‘You’re amazing. You actually did it. We people can’t even think of doing what you’ve done. No matter what time you made and how you felt at the end, you finished it’. I think I needed to hear that. I will try TNF100 again. Maybe not next year but once I’ll do it and do it with a good time. I need more experience in long distance running to pull this one off. I realised that I didn’t take a single shot with the medal. Here it is… my greatest achievement – to date.

One day, I’ll have one more on this…

And finally, SCSM 2009. After a super long run to prepare for it, my training run of 45km, I decided to take the race slow. And the morning although everything seemed to go wrong and I was skeptical, I made a very good decision – to bring my hydration pack along. Although more than half the people were staring at me as though I was a madman to carry the extra weight all through the distance, it proved to be a good move. No cramps, no twitches, just a comfortable run at a a comfortable pace and I made great time. 4h54m – with my target being 5h, I took it easy and did well – for the first time, I ran a marathon – not just finished, no walk. =)

I feel good after the run, exactly they way it should be. I love running cuz it sets me free. SCSM 2009 just did that for me.

One more for the collection… Medal No 5.

Good end to the year.

I just signed up for Sundown 2010. =)

Sacrificed

After a really really long time, I finally watched a Hindi movie that’s realistic in a wretched and twisted kind of way. It finally felt like it could happen to anyone and was based on real life issues and how it changes people, for the better or the worse…

Starring Saif Ali Khan and Kareena Kapoor

Kurbaan (Sacrificed)

Reminds me so much of a fantastic Hollywood show I watched a few months ago… called Traitor

Traitor

Delayed

Super long time since I’ve posted anything here. So here we go. After about 2 months.

Work is great. My job is getting busier by the week but still no complaints. It’s what I’ve been wanting to do from the start and now that I’ve started doing evaluations and reading up on post market issues, I’m really getting to the crust of regulations and how we’re gonna be running things in the near future.

My cousin, Pupsy was here for a week! Oh man! Been ages since she kept saying that she’ll be coming in a few months and finally she did come! We had a great time catching up – although time was tight after work and been tired all day to go out and have fun, but then I think we spent the time we had the best we could.  One more weekend would have been great but then in Singapore, I think she’s basically seen everything there is to see. Sush… why are the pics not on FB huh?

Running:

This was a crazy up and own experience. TNF100, as expected was a hellish experience but then I managed to finish it. Almost knocked out cold after the event. For the first time after a run, I sat down and cried like a baby – it really is that hard. But then I had to be a finisher – not for myself but for my partner – who after finishing the race actually came back to look for me. Thanks Elaine! =)

The next couple of weeks I just dreaded run and I hated the pain and the agony. Ghosts of TNF100 kept coming back again and again – till NB Real Run. I was strong again. My time from km to km was so fantastically consistent and smooth that I loved the fast pace race. Seems like the trail and the terrain running really helped. I missed my PB by 1.5 mins but wth! I knew that I was back.

Last weekend was the best run ever – I finished my marathon training for StandChart by clocking 45km in a little more than 5 hrs – no soreness or agony what-so-ever. It was a fantastic run.

Basically, that’s how life is when u start working I guess. Very little time to myself. And the time I’ve had, I’ve been watching a show Choon Hong recommended to me – One Liter of Tears.

Sheesh, this show really made my cry- more than once. It’s hard not to….

 

Hitting the Wall

Last Saturday, although a bit overdue with this post was crazy. Running on a Saturday after 4 days of work was crazy difficult. Maybe cuz I was too tired or maybe the fact that I didn’t have sugar in my teas at work. Either way, running from Bt. TImah hill to MR was fine. But the moment we hit MR, I hit the wall. For the first time in I have no idea how long ago, I think it was Nov 2008 last, I never felt so worn out and messed up. I lost my rhythm near the golf course and ended up walking a real long dist. No amount of Powergels or Gatorade or music seemed to help. Thanks to Elaine, for whom I’m so glad encouraged me and talked to me all the way and ended up walking with me and then slow jog and then walk again. She undying spirit is amazing. Eventually, at 24km, I decided to call it quits after a series of bouts of cramps and the realization that it’s better to quit now and run another day than to finish it suffering another atleast 10 km or so. This, I think was the wisest decision I’ve taken although it’s been the first DNF (Did Not Finish) run. As Jimmy was driving us back home, that’s when it hit me. Heat exhaustion. For one you start to feel tired suddenly and head starts to spin. Hearing is shut down and then colour just fades off to see everything move from black and white to a dull and dim solaris photo effect. The only thing I could muster to say, which I think saved me was… Partner, do u have water with you? She instantly looked back from the front and said, ‘Hey, u ok anot?’ as she handed me a bottle of ice mountain. One gulp the whole 500ml was gone and I was back alive. That’s when I realised that stopping at the 24km mark was the right thing to do.

Today was much, much better. Maybe cuz we started early or I had carbo-loaded to the max last night or the fact that we were running on the road. The point is that I had done SOMETHING right.  Also, at work, my tea always had sugar and I brought along something to munch at 430-5pm as I do work.  Anyway, Elaine and me started at 515 and clocked 10km before meeting the Punggol Runners gang for another 20km. A solid start to a week. And although we stopped running at about 27.5km cuz Elaine was super duper-hungry, we were more than happy to have run for about 2h 55m or so. Not a bad timing at all. Pretty consistent all through the run. We called it quits at tt time and went to McD to grab a drink tog. 27.5km or 30km… all the same la. Just another 20 mins anyway. Today the dudes and the dudettes ran to Punggol Park for the first time. Although the sun was up and it was starting to scorch, it was still a great run cuz we were not running around the same place (SK/YCK Rd/Thompson) and so was a great refreshing start to the week! The greatest realization today was that for my age, height and weight, I actually burn about 70 calories/km. Which means, today I burnt one whole day’s worth of calories in just 3 hrs… wow! Not so easy come but so easy go. Maybe that’s why I hit the wall next weekend. I’m so gonna potato load myself (just like Sundown) on the 23rd to prep for TNF 100.

Our super chummy Punggol Running Club gang!

Week One

My first week at work. I really love my colleagues – I’m not saying this cuz it’s public, but right from the time I stepped in to till today, I’ve received so much guidance and help from everyone – the dudes in my function, to my boss and even other colleagues from other expertise – who’re willing to set time aside to answer my queries, let me join in meeting with clients just to listen, observe and learn.

Although there’s a ton of reading to do (this week alone, i’ve read over 400 pages) and most of it are jargon and complex concepts which are hard to understand and comprehend, it helps that the two dudes are willing to jump in from time to time and tell me what’s important to understand as a beginner and how it fits in with the Singapore Regulations. This helps me appreciate and give more meaning to what I do.

Also, I love the fact that when something is undecided or hand to decide, they e-mail spam everyone to discuss it out and everyone gets to participate and and is taken seriously. It really hit me when during the start of a discussion, when my colleague introduced me as, ‘This is my colleague, Sandip.’ Instantly, I felt important. The work culture makes me feel like I’m wanted there and this to me is meaningful – so every morning when I wake up at 6 and every night when I get back home totally tired and thrashed out, not for a single moment do I feel like I was not working. To me, this job is is more than the money.

The people are very close to one another too. This I realized today when one of my colleagues was leaving for Austria after working there for two years. It was so obvious that she was fighting back tears while taking pics with everyone. Although I knew her only for a day, seeing her reaction, I can expect these guys to be a great bunch of people.

One thing did suffer this week though. My running! Seems like the day I started till now, I don’t even have the time to think of going for a run. Maybe, on Sunday, I’ll sit down and plan myself a schedule to wake up early for a run before work. I fear I’ll be too damn tired at the end of the day though, so gotta plan swee swee! Once I fit my running schedule in, life will be complete – completely awesome!

Time to go to bed. Gotta wake up early tmr for TNF 30k progressive run. =)

Zoot

Almost forgot, I bought a pair of tights, as planned… Although Running Lab(s) didn’t have the 2XUs I wanted, I bought Zoot, which is supposed to be equally good. =)

Awesome! Can’t wait for Saturday to try them out! =)

My 100 bucks are well invested! =)

Hired!

I signed a contract on Friday with HSA’s Medical Device Regulation Branch on Friday. Woots… Good start to a career as far as I see it. Something I wanna try my hands at. Just gotta find time to run, for freinds and family to have a work-life balance. Then life’s perfect! =)

So… as of now, I’m a government empolyee.

On a totally unrelated note, I found a new show that’s I really wanna watch! Quick Gun Murugan. It’s about a tamil vegetarian cowboy who’s after Rice Plate Reddy – his nemesis who wants to make a non-veg masala dosai. He better ‘Mind It!’

Here’s the trailer:

And the title song… ‘Tamil Bhangra’ by Mika.

And the rubbish that got Kayne West called a ‘Jackass’ by Obama! Haha…

Inside of Love

I heard this song on HIMYM… Abs love it…

Conveys the many meanings of love… and what it is underneath.

Inside of Love – Nada Surf

watching terrible tv
it kills all thoughts
Getting spacier than
An astronaut
Making out with people
I hardly know or like
I can’t believe what i do
Late at night

I wanna know what it’s like
On the inside of love
I’m standing at the gates
I see the beauty above

Only when we get to see
The aerial view
Will the patterns show
We’ll know what to do
I know the last page so well
I can’t read the first
So i just don’t start
It’s getting worse
[chorus]
I wanna know what it’s like
On the inside of love
I’m standing at the gates
I see the beauty above

I wanna know what it’s like
On the inside of love
I can’t find my way in
I try again and again

I’m on the outside of love
Always under or above
I can’t find my way in
I try again and again

I’m on the outside of love
Always under or above
Must be a different view
To be a me with a you

I wanna know what it’s like
On the inside of love
I’m standing at the gates
I see the beauty above

I wanna know what it’s like
On the inside of love
Of course i’ll be alright
I just had a bad night

Bear! Oh Bear!

I found this on FB… Clicked on the link and almost fell down laughing..

Seriously sounds like something Edward ‘Bear’ Grylls would say!

But right now, its time for me to get outta here and go home!

Complains

Everyone seems to compain about relationships and their jobs, but when u have neither to complain about, it doesn’t do much for you too.

Imagine you didn’t have what you have and are complaining about, and you get me.

It’s frustrating.

You are nothing

These are a few words of encouragement from Dad.

Awesome… Just perfect. Exactly what I needed to hear.

Numb Weekend

Cuz my legs are worn out till they’re numb.

I have no idea how, but I managed to decently finish TNF 100 Progressive Run 2 of 20km on Saturday and Run NUS 2009 of 12km on Sunday.  Surprisingly, both with good timing too! =)

Thanks to the ultimate Care Bear, Jimmy, he volunteered to pick up and drop (to and fro) Mike, Elaine and me from our place in SK although he lives in Pasir Ris. He’s given me lifts so many times, I’ve lost count! TNF started with high spirits with us talking a lot of bull between us, a lot of insider jokes and pulling each others’ legs! The run started with an immediate claustrophobic feeling of running in thick vegetation with muddy terrain (since it rained the night before) and roots, braches, dead falls and forest litter all around the place. And the only thing that was missing, came around – rain. Although I was drenced to the bone, thankfully the forest gave sufficient shelter from the worst part of the rain so some of the body heat was conserved well and cold didn’t hit as fast. Trail running is so monontonous it’s just staring at the shoes of the person in front of you and hope you don’t slip and fall over the muddy roots – like Elaine did, twice, on the way back. The opening from the thick vegetation was a welcome sight at the PUB but then it was more bashing through a thin trail between tall lalangs near the PUB fence. Thankfully, the sun was out by then, so the timing was more than perfect! Thanks to the terrain was not being as undulating as the one we did the week before, most of the energy was kept right in and enabled me to still push up all the slopes without much difficulty. The major of the problem however, was the ankle twsisting and the slippy muddy slopes and roots – where I hit my already injured toe again. Hurt like hell tt one! The biggest challenge of all of course was navigating through the trails cuz they all look the same without any markers. TNF guys really need to work on this for the next progressive run. As exciting and novel the route and the terrain was, yet, it surely reminded me of times I spent alone in Brunei during Chill Hermit. Somehow, the old Devils keep coming back once the going gets tough. Maybe once u go thru that, ull get tougher and get going again. Also since she’s my parter and her morale plumetted to abolute zero after her two falls, second of which caused an open wound, I kept with her till the end point – tts wat partners are for, rite? Although, she was injured and I was mildly pissed off cuz of the slippiness, we both managed to run the route (yes, some people got lost 1/2 way thru the return and popped up from all over BT hil but all back in one piece), thanks to an experienced uncle who brought Elaine, an ang moh couple and me out to the right path. In fact, we clocked a good time for the 20km – 2h:12m:32s. We both look forward to more runs together – the first of which will be this Thu evening. =)

Run NUS 2009 was a different affair altogether – with road running and lots of slopes. Thanks to the Tri-tights that I got, my legs although sore were good to go for Sunday. As expected, there were delays. But thankfully, it was not as bad as 2007 – where ti was delayed by more than an hour and the sun was blazing away. Andrew was so desperate to start, he screwed the registration process for the NUS Men and just jumped in the same wave as me. Well, I was supposed to go for Wave 3 but jumped into Wave 2, cuz I was getting annoyed with the heat turning up. So, if my time is amazing fast on the results page and the cert, add 10mins to it. Tts my real time – 59:23 – not amazing in my current best timings for 12km but surely PB for the hell of the terrain that NUS and Kent Ridge has. As andrew said, I think we have both come a long, long way from Run NUS 2008. Since the route was almost the same, we did much much better this year. Thanks to all the hill training for me and his hill and stair training for his MIR training. The results of this was that we were both, at different timings overtaken by only two people – Mok Ying Ren (AH DUH! He flew past me at 4km+ near the SPC station) and his friend (who was close behind) who neither of us know the name of – sorry bro. And as fate would have it, when I was at Science Park, the rain hit again. This was more welcome to me rather than a pain cuz I would have given up if the sun were out! The last 3km was a blistering downpour and this time around, I didn’t have the protection the forest had to give. Either way, since I was almost at the last leg of the race, I was looking forward to finishing it rather than be bothered by the rain. As I ascended the UH slope, I was expecting to get on the track and end the race – however, there was a twist to the run this year. We had to go around the sheltered walkway that links Science and AYE and back to the track. Maybe, cuz of the lightning, they altered the route. For me it was a good run, however, I guess for Wave 5+ or so (can’t) be too sure, they had to scrap the event. I think for John (if he came, cu he was down with a bad tummy) and Jimmy, who just arrived as I was heading back after the hard run, it was a disappointment cuz they didn’t get to run this year. So as assholic as it was to jump the waves and stuff, Andrew and me, it seems made the right choice to just go ahead and run. Apologies to the organisiers for messing it up for you guys. So if you’re reading this and intend to go for Run NUS 2010, plan on registering as Men’s Open rather than other categories. They’re usually the first few waves to flag off – u get an opportunity to beat the elements.

Last evening, Dad wanted to go jalan jalan at ECP. So although I was sore all day, it was a good change to go there not for any activites but to walk about, talk cork and slack. Maybe he decided this cuz there was nothing good on Zee. Either way, we got some good family time together.

Tts all for the weekend. My calves were sore all day yesterday and this morning. Tmr morning, I wanna got for a 25k LSD – if I can wake up, legs feel ok and the weather holds. Too many variables.

On a totally different note, feelings on both sides seem to have worn off, it’s always a good sign – since it is mutual. Sometimes, some distance and space of course time, teaches what is important for now.

WinKey + R

Well, it’s been almost a week since my last post and I should blog about what I’ve been doing this week, except of course job applications and an interview here and there.

Tuesday was my second driving lesson in an auto car. ATC is so much easier than manual esp cuz it takes mind off all the ‘mumbo jumbo’ and keeps me focussed on the road. And when it comes to a hell hole driving place like Ubi, I think it’s for the best to go for auto – atleast for me. Driving around, Ubi seemed to be much more pleasant – despite the fact that learners still get picked on. Anyway, according to the instructor, he says I’m a good 7-8 lessons from my test booking so I guess I’ll be doing just that. Tmr is my next lesson. After many many months of procrastination and fear, I’m finally looking forward to Tuesdays cuz they’re my lesson days.

Wednesday was the first time in many years (last time was Sec 3 cross country quarter-finals) that I went to Macritchie Reservoir Park to pre-train for the 2nd TNF progressive (since I missed the first one). Thanks to Hussain for organizing and getting people to go for it cuz I think it was really really helpful to know what I was up against. Well, didn’t help much on Sat but that I’ll write later. So we were off with our hydration packs and new trail shoes to train for TNF and it was pretty difficult 10k run i’ve done in a long long time. Although it was multiple upslopes which I realized was my strength, and I kept whacking everyone of them, when it came to downslopes, I slowed down a lot – in the interest of my knees. Anyway, Hussain and me did the ‘Yellow’ 10.5km route in about 1h02m. Pretty good time I would say.

PRC’s ‘Recce Team’ – As Hussain calls it. (L-R) John, Choon Hong, Me, Hussain and Why See

Saturday, we carried out the full scale progressive run of 22+km ar MR again. This time, it was nothing short of hell and taught all of us runners what we’re up against. Thanks to Choon Hong’s ex-classmate, Ricki (aka The Bug) who’s a super pro and a damn fun fella to run with, we were orientated to the terrain pretty well. This time ard, we ran from MR Reserve to Bukit Timah Reserve and back. This of course, included Bt Timah hill – where it really really tested my upslope mettle – gotta thank NUS/Kent Rigde slopes for all the sufferring that partially prep-ed me for this madness of a run. Elaine (my TNF partner, who I shall refer to as ‘Partner’ henceforth) was sick all week but she’s an awesome runner too. Turning up in her 70.3 top, she’s really mentally strong. But the award for the most amazing person goes to Hussain – who did the distance at a really fast pace – during fasting month. I have no frakkin’ idea how the heck he managed to go all the way for 2h31m without a single drop of water and no glucose intake – considering he had the rest of the day left too! But we all did it and came out in one piece. For the 25km-ers they were pleased tt they can make it. For us 50km-ers, this was indeed a matter of concern – this was not even 1/2 the distance and we were maxed out.

At the Bukit Timah and MR junction

Summit of Bukit Timah Hill

Hmmm… I hope Saturday’s 20km progressive is much better. It better be, RunNUS is on the next day. Or else Jimmy and me are gonna suffer. (Maybe not Jimmy since he’s an 84km finisher!)

Partner and Me (Yeap… she’s always this hyper)

Since it has been sweaty and dirty all over the past two weeks, I haven’t gotten an opportunity to show the new PRC running singlet. It’s reddish-pink (to appease both sexes, I suppose) and pretty catchy!

Here goes:

As for RunNUS singlet, as it was last year, this year’s singlet is pretty nice too! The colour matches nicely with the new NB tri-tights that I bought for myself on Tuesday from Tampines-1.

Here goes again:

Also, I forgot to post this for a long long time. This is my first running medal ever! In Pri 4 (in India) for some 400m race where I came in 2nd. Haha… it says 1993! OMG!

As for the title, press Windows Key + R and you’ll know what I’m talking about!