Fatbirdies

Dragged myself out of bed to join in the last of Fatbird's AHM training run. Not sure if I could run properly, after the BT yesterday. Sort of a recovery run I guess

Whole bunch of runners waiting to collect their Newton shoes for trial run. We started about 730am. 15km from Playground-Sailing Ctr toilet. 1st half went fairly strong & steady. Waited for the guys at the toilet. 2nd half return was a mess. There was a blister on my left arch! But those weren't new shoes or socks. I had worn them countless times with no problem. Hmmm....

Then I remembered, fat burning zone. HR 60-70%. Ok, slow down, don't rush. Need to burn some fats. Have not seen Esther for the longest time, and the first thing she shouted when she saw me this morning was 'De Kah!' (pigs trotters)....

Total 86min. Time to go home and sleep....

Bt Timah Stairs (again)

Managed to complete 1 extra flight of stairs today! Thanks to Linda for coming along and entertaining me. :)

Summit
1- 2:30/ 1:48
2- 2:27/ 1:56
3- forgot to stop watch....

Rengas
1- 5:00/ 3:43 (see lah, cannot talk during climb, drained an extra 20sec)
2- 4:37/ 4:19
3- 4:39/

Jungle Fall
1- 4:45/ 4:08
2- 5:27/ 3:36 (again, shh no talking, haha)
3- 4:52/ 4:32
4- 5:10/ ....... (ok, this from tiredness, not talking)

We packed dinner and came home to eat over a Mt Chola DVD done by our guiding friends in China. Awesome... felt like wanting to hit the ice straightaway.

Recovery Run of-sorts

14km Henderson - Ridley - Dempsey - Holland - Margaret Dr - back
1:21hr

Was supposed to be a recovery run. My pace and rhythm was all over.... messy. In the end, dictated by the concrete pounding, knee quite sore.

Have not done this sort of mid-dist run on a weekday for a long time. Come to think of it, have not been doing such runs for some time! It had been weeks of hills and track. Quite refreshing to be out running, idly. Ouch, but knee still hurts and back stiff after run. Forgot how 'stiffening' long runs can be for the body.

Baby Steps @ Bt Timah

The long awaited (or rather long delayed) stairs training began today. Stairs would be a boring cop-out option. Decided to ease into the training at BT instead. Psychologically better. :)

Packed my backpack last night. Time to take things (pack, weights, boots, trekking poles, bottles etc) out of storage, pat off the dust and load up. Happily filled up empty 2L bottles with water and stuffed everything in. Squeezed in a small sleeping bag, my bag of harness & karabiners, and some newspaper (for stuffing deadweight space) for good measure. La-di-da... pack pack pack.

Picked up the pack to weigh. Horrors, nearly fell backwards, could barely lug it! Stood on the scale - more on measuring later - and *18kg*! That was excluding my 2L water bag to be filled during training. Wow, really?! But my mental calculation of the content was not so much. Re-weighed a few times, different machines, same reading. Ok... offloaded 4kg. Much more manageable.

*How to weigh - Don't bother putting the pack on scale. If it stood upright, it would block the scale reading. If it laid horizontal, it would not be balanced properly on the scale (& not fully weighed). Weigh yourself, then weigh again carrying pack, take the difference.

So back to BT with my 16kg pack & poles. Did S-R-J 3 sets.

Summit x3 - the warm-up steps
2:25 min (up)/ 1:57 (down)
2:29/ 1:44
2:31/ 6:40 (incl walk to Rengas)

Rengas x3 - the high steps
4:40 (up)/ 3.58 (down)
4:59/ 4:11
4:42/ 8:04 (incl walk to Jungle Fall)

JF x3 - the 183 steps
4:50 (up)/ 3:42
4:48/ 3:42
5:12/ bye-bye....

There, mission accomplished & got out of BTNR before dark. Lots of monkeys in the car park. Was almost afraid to open my car and pack up, lest they jumped in and snatched things away!

A good start. :) *self-pat*

Contact List for Sports Treatments

My contact list for the treatments I have personally tried repeatedly for all sorts of injuries and strains etc. There are other random ones that I had been, but did not think they were effective enough for me so I have excluded them from this list.


Sports Solutions (Gino)
http://www.sportssolutions.com.sg/
Fees, services and contacts are listed on the website
Running Blog- http://weloverunning.blogspot.com/

I finally saw Gino on my friends' recommendation after 1 month of nagging knee pain that did not subside even when I scaled back my runs. Prior to joining Physio Solutions and starting up Sports Solutions, Gino Ng worked as a senior sports physiotherapist at the Singapore Sports Council (SSC) for 10 years. He also travelled with many national teams and treated our national athletes. Gino did a few assessment tests on me & diagnosed my problem. He taught me some strengthening exercises and also gave me some tips to correct my running form. Although Gino does not do sports massages now, his clinic has therapists who do that. Gino also conducts running clinics every Thurs from his shop.

http://psescapades.blogspot.com/2010/09/gino-physio.html
http://psescapades.blogspot.com/2010/09/pain-free-run.html
http://psescapades.blogspot.com/2010/10/shuffle-shorter-strides.html


Andrew (private physio)
$80/ 30min; $120/ 45min; $160/ 60min
81 Carlisle Rd, Mera Springs condo, #14-02
Tel: 98258689

Andrew works out of his apartment, but he was very good with his hands-on deep tissue massages. He was also very proactive with following up on clients' progress. He has many massaging gadgets and really uses strength to ensure an effective massage. Hence, the expensive rates. I am a regular of physio and sports massage sessions, but Andrew's style was very different. He also taught me how to self-massage to knead out the very very deep knots, and a fascinating way to stretch my ITB!
http://psescapades.blogspot.com/2010/09/andrew-physio.html


Kinesis
$120 first session Philippe Steiner (swiss old gentlman)
SMU Li Ka Shing Library Bldg, B1-27 (next to food court)
Tel: 63520800

A very dear and stately Swiss gentleman. :) It is usually very difficult to get an appointment with Philippe, must wait 1-2 weeks. He is extremely experienced though. You will get pulled, jerked and cracked in all sorts of places. Eg. did u know calf tightness is linked all the way to the back of our head/neck (just behind the ears)? He loosened that for me as well. http://psescapades.blogspot.com/2008/09/physio-ed-knee-hurray.html


Chinese Accupressure Centre
$24-36 per session, cash only
Tel: look for Frankie - 63720409/ 90071484
71A pagoda street (behind lucky chinatown macdonalds, above a bee cheng hiang bah-kua shop, 2nd flr)

My regular dose of weekly maintenance tui-nas. Good for easing out the cranks and general maintenance & treatment of sprains, strains etc. Great for target treatment of specific sprains, Frankie can spend an entire 30-60min just working on a particular spot.


Victor Ong/ Rosa
$55 for 1hr; $40 for half-hr, cash
Tel: 91459654/ 63540717 (Rosa: 96465096)
55 Newton Road (Revenue House), #05-02 (inside the Recreation Club on 5th floor; exchange for visitor's pass at security counter)

Good, firm sports massage. Experienced, many running clients. Be ready for painful kneading, but rewarded with loosened muscles and limbs. :)
http://psescapades.blogspot.com/2009/08/another-sports-massage.html

His colleague, Rosa, is equally effective but double the pain. Rosa is so petite that she puts her entire body weight on you via her bony elbows and fingers. Be sure to turn blue (from holding your breath) and scream in pain.


Gian Min Medical Centre
~$36 cash only
152 Mei Ling St #01-16 Singapore 140152. Tel/Hp : 64759621
Close by 9pm; call to check; no pre-apptm, walk-in to get Q-number (u can tell them don't want medicine before they issue it) usu v crowded, gotta wait 30min-1hr after u get Q-number.
The electricity acupuncture. They will also massage or twist/crack you in the same session. They decide what sort of treatment after they see you.
http://psescapades.blogspot.com/2008/10/acupuncture.html


Chinese physician Lee Heng Long
$30 per session, cash only
M: 9675 4306
Blk 39 #10-2412 Upper Boon Keng Road
Closed by 6pm and on Thurs; call before going
The spinal chiropractor - he loosened my back, and I could feel my entire hamstrings and calves loosen.


Chang Jiang Acupuncture (closed/ relocated - unsure of new address)
$40 per session, cash only
Physician CK Soh
Blk 150 Bt Batok St 11#01-232 S650150
Tel: 65665909
9am - 9pm weekdays & sat. sun til 5pm
I've been going for many acupuncture sessions. usu just walk-in. You can treat entire body in one session, just add more needles only, fixed $40.But if u want the tui-na, better to call in advance. There's a different Chinese guy doing tui-na and he's quite good. Also $40.

Tuesday Swim Class (make-up)

Tuesday swim class. Coach made it a recovery class since many had raced over the weekend. *phwew*

3x 400m slowly (9:41min, 9:59, 10:05)
1x 200m slowly (5:05min)
3x 200m faster (5:03, 5:03, 5:18min)

Desaru LD Triathlon

Photos: http://picasaweb.google.com/simsps/DesaruLDTriathlon1Aug2009#

Pre-race (Friday 31 Jul 2009)

It was our annual pilgrimage to Desaru for the long distance triathlon. Supposedly a half-ironman, but the distances were mostly estimates (ie. shorter this year). Swim 1.9km (think it was only 1.5/1.6km), Bike 90km (~85km), Run 21km (~20+km).

We drove up on Friday afternoon with Kahan, Winnie, Richard, Henry, Lucille and Kam Meng's family. 4 cars convoy. It took us about 2h to reach Desaru, with a pitstop at Petronas to buy water and snacks. Henry and us stayed at Pulai Resort, whilst the majority of YF folks were at Golden Beach. Pulai's a lot nicer.

Had dinner at our favourite Good Luck restaurant (instead of the usual bigger place at Jade, where cyclists normally stopped to load up). The steamed garlic baby lobsters, ooohh!

Race Day (Saturday 1 Aug 2009)

It was one of those races that started late, 9am. Ample time to sleep in and prepare. The morning sun was bright and strong, oh-oh, heat wave. We cycled to the race site, did body marking and set up the transition area. Uncle Chan (organizer) announced that the swim distance was shortened. The sea still looked like the washing machine of last year, but the currents were not as strong. I actually enjoyed the swim a lot more than last year, and after a while, caught the rhythm of swimming in the waves! Swim time & confidence had to improve, after all the YF classes I had been taking! 2 loops of swim and I was much surprised by my time. (Post-race comparison saw many of my swim-mates clocking much faster times, well-done! But hey, I was happy with my swim. *pat pat* :))

Bike was 3 loops. It went ok except that my speedometer was not sensing anything. Oh well, just had to keep pedalling. I changed my bike setup and tires a week before the race. I had to keep reminding myself to watch my pedal stroke and style. The new tires were thinner and more responsive. The winds (cross & head) were strong (although Khina said last year was worse). On the downslopes, I could literally feel the bike 'swaying'. Eeeks! Mental note to self not to waste money on fancy Zipp-like wheels with deep rims, and get blown off by the crosswinds! Needed a strong rider to balance that sort of bike setup. The rolling slopes were quite a killer, though still managed to hold on to the big gear combination for majority of the ride. I ate 2 powerbars during the ride, usually on the flat or slight upslopes, and stopped at the water point during every loop to refill my aerobottle. I saw so many friends in the opposite direction, inspiration to continue and finish the ride.

Run 2 loops. I reached the transition point and Alber was there putting on his shoes. I asked him to wait and run together. We started off and I went on the high cadence shuffle. But felt the abductors threatening to cramp up. Alber passed me half a Nuun tablet to suck on. Shem shared that little tip with our runners and Alber tried it once. It worked quite well, the cramps dissipated very quickly. We ran together for a while. Last year, it rained during the run and I could do a decent run. This year, the heat was such a killer, I stopped at every water point to drink and get a wet sponge and stuffed it down my back. At one point, I went into a public toilet and just poured water over myself. And I walked up the steep killer little slope. It was too much energy wasted to run up. I kept stopping, took a few steps, and ran along, and stopped again. For some reason, my run was bad, I could not find the right rhythm. When I did, the cramping sensation reappeared, and I had to slow down. I saw friends in the opposite direction, but could not close the gap. :( Sadly, of all disciplines, I died on the run. Sigh.

Still, happy with the overall race. About 6:22h in total (way down from my 7:03h last year). Swim improved the most by almost 30min (given the shorter distance and weaker waves). Bike and run went down a little.

Everyone gathered for a massive dinner at Jade Restaurant. We booked 16 tables. It was such a rowdy affair, it was almost like a Chinese wedding dinner! Everyone went around talking to everyone else, and pouring drinks for one another. The party continued after that at Kat's command centre. Whoa, super well-stocked support crew! They had almost everything that one could think of!

Post-race (2 Aug 2009)

Slept in late. Woke up with aches all over. Especially the abductors that were cramping up yesterday. Ouch. And foot, seemed like an old injury. Had a lazy breakfast. It was funny how everyone at the buffet breakfast was checking out one another. You know because you could feel the eyes on you even as they continued their meals, and vice-versa! Haha. You could almost see the thought bubbles in the air - This one did the race, this one looks like triathlete, wow that one wearing Busselton-IM tee, over there a China-IM shirt,...

Checked out and joined the convoy to Kota Tingi for bah-ku-teh. I think we wiped out all the BKT soup in the shop. They served out the last portions of innards, trotters and meat etc to us!

Safe drive home. Had a great weekend, but was tiring. Would need to lay off and recover.