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….
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.
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. =)
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…
