staying alive

It’s been mystifying at work – ct has been really distracted, her instructions had been incomplete and her focus often divided. Hear say that she’s been having thyroid problems; today she’ll be going for tests. Probably that’s why her attention is divided. Most people stopped wondering if she’ll be leaving and decided to let time tell. How long a time? we can only wait.

I’m quite on track with training these days. I set for myself relatively easy targets to fulfill and last week, I managed to meet all my targets, with some exceeding my target. It’s really heartening to know and a great boost to my morale. It shows I can do it with determination. =)

Having increase some mileage for this week, I hope to do the same – meet the targets again.

My trainers are being put to good use for the past weeks. Fully utilizing it. I’ve been putting rerun of devil beside me while I spin.. the series won’t last me very long though. Have to find more Taiwan/Korea soppy shows to keep my attention on during spins. Just like I’m stingy with books I buy, I’ve never purchased any drama series on dvd/vcd before. A series alone costs at least $30 and the stingy part of me would not bear to part with $30 for a stack of discs. Sometimes my friends would be kind enough to lend theirs to me and I get to watch the show for free! =D

It’s a leap year, 2008. that simply means we’ve got to work an extra day this year! Feb 29. they ought to declare leap day of the leap year a HOLIDAY!!

Hearing the race report on tokyo marathon from Isabel really made me yearn to be there myself to experience the awesome atmosphere. I got really envious of how she could get a free ticket with her miles points and travel to Tokyo for a week. I’m really conscious about my savings these days; I want to have enough for the Melbourne trip as well as enough to do some studies come end of the year. I’ve only got a bowl of rice with 3 mouths to feed – my own, my trip and my studies. Sometimes the amount once spread out gets a little thin..so I barely get by.

Reading the inflation rate for 2007 of 6.6% made me shudder in fear of what next Singapore will become.

Rising prices are inevitable as Singapore sees major events coming to town in the next 2 years – youth Olympic.. F1.. integrated resort (yes, the casino).. with the market opening and more tourists coming..land becoming scarce..more competition.. more demand.. supply remaining constant.. prices will definitely go UP, UP and away!

With the tide becoming higher and currents moving faster, we have to get stronger so we can stay with the pack. It’s easy to get washed off with the under currents..if we don’t put in enough effort we might end up just staying in the same spot. The only way is to train ourselves mentally to be able to face up with the oncoming and press on.

Don’t say it’s not of your nature to be competitive. In this society, one cannot survive if he/she doesn’t stay competitive. Sometimes it’s this competition that keeps us on the edge and alive.

whey drinking

The last thing I wanted to do yesterday was to swim..but in the end I took mr guava’s encouragement, went to the pool, jumped into it and swam 3km.

I’m just thankful to have him around, pressing me on even on days I feel like throwing in the towel.

Aftermath of the long swim (after a hiatus of 2weeks from swimming), are aching lats which mr guava promised to give a good massage of tonight. Yippee!

Stepping off is always the toughest, and sometimes we just need that little nudge in the rib.

The 2 bottles of whey expires in a year’s time. I’m going to attempt to start a good habit of drinking half to one serving of whey per day. It’ll probably help with the satiety from lunch; I’ll try to eat lesser junk and drink good protein.

Will start today, as I’m really aching badly. The protein will be welcomed for faster tissue repair.

I’ll be going off from work at 2pm to head down to get the stitches removed. After which it’ll be to my mum’s shop as my colleagues will be having a mini gathering there this evening.

Something seems to be brewing within the office – uncertainty.

Mr guava has made plans to shuttle in between home and kl in order to make it for the kl marathon. I don’t want to put him in a difficult position and I’ve suggested to opt out of the run. It’ll be quite a rush as he has to drive home and then drive up to kl to do the run, and at the end, drive back Singapore. The weekend will be really draining as driving requires focus and it’s tiring. The kl marathon was meant to be the year’s warm up for other runs, but if it’s going to wear us down more than build us up, I’ll pass on it. anyway we haven’t paid for anything, so we can still pull out. =)

Update: 10:19am I just drank whey. It actually tastes pretty ok even without milk. I felt a little hungry..so that helps keep hunger away for a while =P

tentative race plan 2008

after much deliberation, mr guava and i have come up with the following race plan.

we did away with the phuket marathon considering the budget and time constraints. there are also some races which are not confirmed, so we're not going to waste time guessing. no need to plan training for them too. so we'll just focus on those that are more or less firmed.

feb: no races. only left 2 weeks. will be ramping up some basal mileage for kl marathon to get us through the distance.

30 mar: KL Marathon (a warm up for 2008 as we don't have alot of time to train for it. no big plans for pb. just want to use this race to gain inertia for the other races. keeping logistics n budget minimal.)

apr: no races. using 5 weeks to train for A'Famosa Tri. get some good bike mileage and swim speed. at the same time got to mix it up with more off road running for jun.

10 may: A'Famosa Tri. OD.

08 jun: mr25 cross country marathon. (cut off is 5hours. not an issue to mr guava but abit more worrying for me. so have to really train up for this. after this, cut down running, ramp up bike n swim.)

19 jul: PD Tri. OD. (cut down swim, ramp up run)

aug: army half marathon. (good milestone training run for melbourne. after this, do more biking on mtb)

sep: safra avventura (it's a fun race! else my mtb collect alot of dust la. in the mean time, continue to ramp up good speed training for melbourne.)

12 oct: MELBOURNE MARATHON (this is the highlight of 2008. i am aiming for my pb for this race. all i'm training for is this!!)

09 nov: powerman? i'm still pro-duathlon. =P but not sure if we'll want to travel up to perak for it.

07 dec: scsm. how can we miss this? will do for sure. it's a good jump board before the ultra. must use this to keep us on track.

end dec: mr25 ultramarathon. my goal is 8laps. period.

it's a fast n furious 2008 for mr guava and i. now abit on the low note but i'm sure we'll get into the action of things. tonight will map out more details for training.

woohoooooooo! billy tricia, jia you jia you jia you!!

days of chocolate ice-cream

this is a nonsense post. a random rambling from a bored soul.

i'll be taking today as the last day of mc; it's back to work tomorrow for me though my mc officially ends 20th feb.

have been talking alot, thinking alot and tossing alot with mr guava.

we explored into the possible options in the long term, we implored at the circumstances that may arise in mid term..and we also planned a little to what challenges we can give ourselves in the short term.

toiling from day to day at work, just to earn enough a decent living and save some for the rainy days..that's life we sometimes call it. all these don't always go the way we want them to, unfortunately.. and many a times, opportunities don't just come knocking your door every other day. so while we tumble and lumber along, like travelling on the expressway looking out for the right exit to reach the destination, we've also got to find channels to keep ourselves sane.

idle. i'm too much in the idle mode i can't decide if i'm hungry or not.

grrr.

my pc has virus. grrrrrrr!

i'll give x-physique a miss. $50/pax! i must be out of my mind.

my house is clean. i've done all the housework for the day.

i want to run more. i think i haven't been running enough to do my shoes justice.

been doing my spinning at home consistently. that's good.

must plan for races. it's fun to be part of the action..but why are they raising the entry fee every year? singapore races are getting too atrocious to join sometimes. $65 for a marathon? i must be really out of my mind..

i think it'll be more fun to save the money for malaysian races. it's more fun running places we don't do in singapore everyday. for a change.

plan plan plan. execute execute.

must plan ahead.

so we're not planning for chocolate ice cream la.

must run more ultras..if not no chocolate ice cream.

Remnants of wisdom

Remnants from the wisdom tooth extraction. I think the cui cui ones come from the bottom row, while the nice whole ones probably come from the top row.

looking at it makes me go "ouch"!

day 2 after surgery

day 2: i looked into the mirror and i found i look like a fishball. o_O

CNY@Segamat Photoblog Part 3

john feeding alicia with his er..not so nicely done california roll. laughs.











the extended family gathering.








shou tao. very nicely coloured and done. taste really soft too.








aunty's curry fish which was wiped out quickly! =D








mr guava: eating (again) hahaha

CNY@Segamat Photoblog Part 2

LO HEI!!








Steamboat with alot of goodies!








fri: we made sushi for lunch. look at our attempts of california rolls and maki rolls!










mr guava: eating as usual =P











wendy's the first to come up with the maki roll. she topped it with tuna..yummy!!

CNY@Segamat Photoblog Part 1

first meal of the day. we had yummy fried bee hoon, chilli ikan bilis and fried egg. can identify who cooked which egg?







sunday we went to melaka for shopping and had SATAY CELUP! it's like lok lok only that u dip the sticks into satay sauce (read: super sinful). mr guava set the record of 15sticks. i think wendy and i tied with 13sticks each.






after satay celup, we went to tan kim hock and had durian chendol!








task for the kids: paint the gate. we (wendy, mr guava, john, alicia and i) easily completed the task in 3hours!








LO HEI on thursday! followed by steam boat lunch with the entire family present.

wisdom+pain

i underwent a surgery to remove all 4 wisdom teeth yesterday. it was a painful experience and my face swelled up quite abit.

i'm making good recovery though. the swell has subsided. i could eat my mum's almond cookies and nibble on soft snacks.

life's a contradiction. now that i'm on mc, i wish i was busy at work. when i was working, i wish i had mc to rest at home.

i'll be on mc till 20th but i reckon i'll be back before then. it's good to stay busy. i want a good performance bonus too.

the rest is much welcomed though. i sorted some photos to be put for development so that mr guava and i can fill up our newly bought photo album. nothing beats the hard copy sometimes. flipping through an album sure is a better experience than scrolling down the folders.

i've ironed all the clothes. swept the floor. updated my monthly budget.

tonight mr guava promised he'll go jogging with me. i want to stay in shape for the north face 100 race.

love in its simplest form

happy valentine's day to you, my friend.

today's the day when many couple trot the streets with bouquets, balloons and chocolates.

basically, mr guava has prepared nothing for me and neither have i prepared anything in return. geez. how unromantic.

well, i promised i'd cook dinner - porridge, coz that's what i can best swallow now. and mr guava promised he'll eat porridge with me.

love expressed in giving and taking. love expressed in listening and understanding. love expressed in a peck on the cheek before he leaves for work in the morning. that's love in its simplest form.

no need for fancy gifts nor tall promises. just a nod of trust, a hug full of warmth and a hand to hold for strength.

these are what money can never buy.

one pot full

After a long week of break from work, computers and training, my body feels sluggish this morning as I prepped myself for a short spin on the trainer. A pure week of indulgence and lumbering around, I simply fall into a state of “nuah-ness”.

The time off gave me moments to reflect through the time which has passed, the time I am living for now, and the time that is to come. Sighing to the things I wish I have done and had, envisaging the things that are to come which I must grasp.

Before we went into slumber last night, I whispered to mr guava, our lives is a long race – It’s not about how fast we sprint at the start but more about starting slow, maintaining a good pace and staying in the race. We are ultramarathoners! Long distance is our forte. =)

So it’s back to work today..back to training..and gearing up for the challenges to come.

After some consideration, I will hang on to the rl job as I do want to save extra for the upcoming trips. The honest fact is my full time job doesn’t give me a pay I can grin about; but to be grateful, it is suffice for survival. On the maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it fundamentally fulfills our basic needs but doesn’t come close to the peak of self-realisation.

I found myself unknowingly googling on “how to earn more money”. It’s always the moolah issue. Are we any happier if we had more of it? or would we be starve if we had lesser of it?

In our small little ways, it’s pure joy to see our savings grow gradually. Sedikit sedikit, lama lama, jadi bukit. (little by little, bit by bit, it grows into a hill). Though I don’t see the numbers jump a few folds but like water trickling in, I know it’ll fill our bowls full.

小发发

小发发恭祝大家新年快乐!


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