to be able to go straight is a miracle

golf is a game which also stands for Go On Learn Forever, relates pretty well to our absurd past time "life".  life is described as a continual learning process but are we really enrolled into this programme.

there is one thing for sure, we can never hit a ball nor walk straight from one point to another, only executing our actions with a clear conscience and knowing that we will not regret at some point of time.

my build up to the marathon has been fun. i am enjoying every moment of it especially my trek to office every friday. i am going to make the orchard route my permanent training route because i have targets to chase which can boast my morale significantly.

i got my oakley m frame yesterday. i wanted to customise it but the model is actually discontinued in the us. the sales person offered the pro m as alternative but i rejected and bought the livestrong model instead. hopefully, i can live up to its motto.

took the circle line with kyo yesterday. since it's driveless, we went to the front of the train and had a nice movie effect view of the entire ride.

active week

did 4 different sports this week.

tue

went on 10km tempo walk. my back was aching after monday's golf session and it affected my movements.

wed
hill intervals at bishan park. ever since bishan stadium closed for renovations, i do most of my interval / speed trainings there. i am someone who doesn't believe in travelling to places for specific trainings (such as hills @ nus law school) unless it is necessary. with a little creativity, there are alot of ways to execute a training plan.

thur
golf session was on the complete swing motion. the whole package strongly resembles the motions of an archer - where he would pull the string of his bow slowly and release with great power. likewise, the golfer is encouraged to wind his club back slowly and hit the ball with power generated from a strong hip rotation. coach says that my technique is ok but i have the tendency to slice the ball. to get an idea of slicing in golf, take a look at the illustration below.

slicing means the ball deviates from the center of its flight path and curves to the right away from the intended target

fri

racewalked to office via ang mo kio, marymount road, novena, scotts road and orchard road. since most parts of this route cover the office and shopping districts, it is a good way to tell people that racewalking exists in this tiny red dot. nevertheless, it was an enjoyable walk as the weather was fantastic and having people cheering me on was an additional bonus.

sat

went back to office for a meeting from 0830-1700. my eyes were opened but brain was close to hibernation. if not for the ribs that me and my colleagues cracked, i would have fallen asleep.

after meeting, i went to meet my army friends for dinner, snooker and bowling. i don't enjoy playing snooker as much as i do for pool. snooker lacks the excitment that pool offers and it's harder to pocket the balls due to the size of the table and pockets. on the brighter side, it is always good to try something new. bowling was a more interesting affair. kyo and i tried to spin the ball but it went into the gutter most of the time. *tsk tsk*

sun

walked the upper pierce reservior route today. the walk was fast and fluid but i had problem sustaining a constant speed over long distance. guess it's time to work on this area. after training, i went for a hair cut and my mom says that i look like a "born again army boy".

relaxation takes everything further

most of us tend to overlook things in a moment of folly - which may result in a period of misery. i learnt this the harsh way when i almost jeopardised the operation of a tape storage device.

i was in the data centre with sara to swap tapes for the week. as i had no prior experience with that particular model, i assumed that the position of the tapes would be the same as the other ibm devices but i was dead wrong. i inserted the tapes in such a way that it got stuck and there was no way to remove them unless we dismantle the magazine. unfortunately, we didn't have the appropriate tools to perform the operation so i had to run to the facilities department a few times to borrow tools but it was a futile effort.

in the end, i walked over to the diy shop at marina square to get the screw driver and rushed back to office to work on magazine with the team. with the help of yuji, the tapes were successfully extracted but one of the springs flew off in the process. although it is not a big thing, it is essential for the storage device to function properly. hence, yaowei drove me and sara to kelantan road during lunch (today) to get it. owing to the size of the spring, we had to search through different shops with boxes containing different sizes. when we found the correct size, it was like striking lottery. thankfully, i have colleagues who are willing to work cohesively in the team.

if someone tells you that golf is addictive, please believe that person. i took my first lesson at poh bros range in toa payoh yesterday. golf doesn't really require brute force to drive the ball, it's more of developing a good technique to get the correct swing. everything is relaxed and fluid just like walking. my initial hits were poor because i relied on strength with little regards to technique. after the coach corrected me, i managed to hit a little better. my pc test will be in 3 weeks time and i might have to leech on my relative to bring me to the greens after the test because i do not own any club membership.

for now, racewalking will still be my primary sport.

i am free with nike

walked 11km at upper pierce reservoir with my family this morning. sunday mornings are normally reserved for family runs/walks as long as nature permits. the benefit of training on this course is the vary degrees of slopes (from gradual to steep climb) which are perfect for power and endurance walks. as the route is situated on the former race course for automobiles, users of this route will have to keep a constant look out (cum hear-out) for on coming vehicles at the respective bends.

the morning walk was an easy one because i was feeling tired from yesterday's drinking cum epl (man u vs arsenal) session with my army friends. i didn't know that there is a mini old trafford at princep street. nevertheless man u won the title again!!! i shall start to watch epl from now on. *sing glory glory man utd*

after days of consideration, i headed down to the nike flagship store @ wisma to get the new nike free 5.0 yesterday.

nike was the brand that i used in my event debut. it is also the brand that gave me all my personal best times and school records for walks. i am not insinuating that other manufacturers are inferior but they do not give me the feel and luck that nike offers. the last time i used a pair of nike was during my ns days and that racer instilled a prefontaine in me - it kept me going. since i left the army 4 years ago, i couldn't find a suitable pair of shoes from nike for walks. therefore, i had to seek alternatives from other makers but i got more disqualifications than anything else after wearing them.

the nike free 5.0 is engineered to the biomechanics of a human foot - where it follows the movement of the feet without any form of restriction. the lack of cushioning may turn many athletes off but it is a fantastic shoe for fast workouts, development of good running/walking form and to build feet strength and flexibility in the same way as athletes who train barefoot.

i tried the luna trainer/racer but it couldn't give me the "rolling motion" (where the heel transits to the toe by rolling from heel land to the mid outer part of the feet before reaching the toe for push off) as the nike free. in my personal opinion, the luna trainer/racer is more suitable for long distance running than technical events.

after trying out the shoe this morning, i can say that nike has surprised me again. i could walk faster in a lighter and more fluid manner. landings are easier with the low heels and the weight of the shoe allows one to push off effortlessly. when you receive such qualities in a training equipment, it serves as a motivation to walk faster and further.

i have always been sceptical about the free since its debut in the market. after trying one myself, i found the free to be an excellent training tool.

like the journey that bowerman took to realise the spirit of prefontiane, time will tell the true intentions of everything.

i was feeling crazy

as part of my marathon training, i racewalked to my office in the morning. since i am allowed to slip into casual clothings on fridays, it is a convenient day for a morning workout.

i left my clothes in office the day before so that my hands and back were free for the training session.

i took my usual driving route which brings me to office via boundary road, paya lebar road, geylang road, guillemard road, nicoll highway. the distance calculated by mapmyrun.com is 14km while my heart rate monitor indicates 13km. bearing in mind that the calculations do not include elevations and detours, my rough estimation of the entire journey is approximately 14.5km - 15km.

commuters on the paya lebar road will know its atrocity during peak hours and the erp pricing at the entrance of nicoll highway is steep. so there i was, walking past stationary cars with clear reflections of my style which provided a comprehensive feedback on my technique. if you are puzzled by my actions, i often use surrounding objects (such as reflective billboards and cars) to check on my walking technique. since i train alone, i have to improvise certain things to accomplish my day's objectives.

the best part of the morning's workout was being able to walk through a jam and an erp gantry without the annoying beep from my iu unit.

traces of my morning walk to office

before and after systems downtime

photos from today

parking my fit in my name card holder

my messy workstation

diagrams to digest before patching


restarting the servers

dinner at old airport road

kbox @ office

my colleagues and i were a little restless today, so we decided to turn the entire office into a mini kbox with songs blasting from youtube. we sang a mixture of hokkien and english songs with special preferance to jai ho (the pussycat dolls version) and "wo wen tian" (the hokkien version).

i went shopping after my job interview at a local accounting firm. i had the intention of customising a new pair of oakleys to replace my current one. ceds @ taka quoted me S$365 for the following pair.

i also had the intention of checking out the new nike free 5.0 but the shop was closed.

i will not be able to train tomorrow because of a scheduled job after normal hours.

ever since i started working on my life's jig saw puzzle (that was neglected for 2 years), i found myself to be happier and possibly more fulfilling than before.

reinstalled

i have set two targets for myself for the rest of 2009

1. to walk 21k (PB for 20km walk: 1hr 43min 37sec set in 2004) in less than 2hr at ahm 2009
2. to walk 42k (PB for 30km walk: 2hr56min and the last marathon which i did 10 years ago was 4hr55min) in less than or slightly over 4hr at the standard charter Singapore marathon 2009.

i know it's crazy but it's a good way to revive myself.

personal best records

personal bests

1600m walk: 6:50min

2400m walk: 10:32min

3000m walk: 13:55min

5km walk: 22:14min

10km walk: 48:40min

10 000m walk: 53:01min

20km walk: 1:43:37min