Final ride for 2013

Been procrastinating about this ride for the whole of 2013, always wondering when will I be able to find the correct time slot to do this.

Dear finally gave me the thumbs-up to go for a mini SG adventure ride, to be done on the last day of 2013 :)

I didn't put in a lot of time to research which routes I'm going to take, where will be the pit stops and how much time I'm going to take to finish the entire journey.

Came across a blog that documented a round island trip done by a group of cyclists, and it seems that the route that they took pretty much takes me pass the places that I will want to go.
Kranji, NTU, LCK road, West Coast McD, Marina Bay. (I'm too familiar with the East so no specific place for me to ride by)

Started to write my 2013 review before this post, but I reckon that this should be included as well so I'll post the 2013 review probably in 2014 instead.

去“冒险”咯！

Check list for 2013

A quick look at the check list that I had wrote up for 2013, roughly about 1 year ago

2013 To Do List

• Vacation travels (Taiwan again, this time with Ryan!) DONE!
• Complete a Half Iron-Man Triathlon (DONE!)
• Regain IPPT Gold (DONE!)
• Learn to speak Thai fluently (jettisoned due to focus on HIM earlier in the year)
• Write up a proper business plan (only managed to write about 20% before I decided to focus on Tri instead)
• Double my stock portfolio (can't remember how much I  had last year, but reasonable amount invested this year so I should be able to tick this off safely)
• Go back to 32" - too fat now (probably 32" during HIM season, probably went back up after overeating at Malacca - well this is an ongoing perpetual mission so this cannot be ticked off)
• Cycle around Singapore in 1 day 

Looking at the To Do List, and with the little amount of time left in 2013, seems like Cycle Singapore is the only last feasible item to complete before the turn of the year.

I'm going to clear my annual leave during this week too, so I'll probably just go ahead with a 1 day adventure ride around Singapore and take lots of pictures.

End of 2013 is near

So it's almost time to do a review of what I had done in 2013, what I should have done, what I should not have done, what I should have done better, and what I should do for 2014.

Let's procrastinate for a few days before I pen my thoughts.
In the mean time, a sweet panda moment that parallels what Ryan sometimes do to me and Lishan

My take on the cheater at StanChart Marathon

SCMS 2013 Marathon Cheater

I believe cheating has already been ongoing for a number of years, just that nobody was stupid enough to cheat till the point of beating the champion and got his face plastered all over the headline news, forums, FB and all sorts of social medium.

The cheater claimed that he just wanted the finisher tee and medal, and wasn't trying to get the prize money for winning the run.

This just confirms my long running belief that completing the StanChart Marathon has become more of a fashion statement for everyone to make nowadays than a proper health & fitness event where people challenge themselves to make a break through on their mental and physical limits.

I believe that there is nothing wrong in wanting the finisher tee and medal for the sake of showing off, only if the person has earned it by finishing the race prim and proper.

However with cheats being caught like this, there is little pride or glory in wearing the SCMS finisher tee now. I hope that this does not deter those who wanna earn the tee to show off from joining the event again.
Ultimately if one gets healthy and fit from doing the race, then it doesn't matter what their motivation is, if it sees them completing 42km then it means it is good enough!

Much as I dislike how the StanChart marathon has evolved over the years, there is no doubt that this event has delivered a much needed boost to the local population's interest in running.

Proud Daddy!

SCMS 2013 race report

Jarred knee strikes again.

Think I'll need to get some professional sports medical help on my knee before it gets any worse.

4 months to go to the next event, so I should have a bit of time to sort my knee out before KL 70.3 comes.

Guess I completed the run around 5:15 this time.

Weather was fine, pretty cooling.

Fueling strategy was ok, gel at every 8km mark and salt stick at every X2km mark.

Pre race logistics went horribly wrong.

Went to fetch Weicheng at our promised time at 3.45am.

Called him umpteen times but he failed to pick up the calls. 

Had to leave him behind and went for the race alone at 4am.

Didn't manage to get my routine McD breakfast and realized that my car's fuel was running low so I had to make a detour to top up the tank before going to the race venue.

Reached the car park slightly late and had to take a dump before taking the MRT.

There was only 1 train in like 15mins of wait.

Reached Orchard at 4.53am and the race was supposed to start at 5am.

Tried to go to the sub-5 pen but it was closed and I had to make a big detour to the back of ION to join the rest of the running mob.

It took me about 15 minutes after the start of the race to reach the starting line, and I was consistently stuck behind huge mobs of slow runners.

Could start to feel my left knee acting up again at around 14km, persisted in pushing the run till 23km before I put on my knee support. Managed to last till the exit of ECP at 30km before I finally gave up running on the bad knee.

Had to walk the remaining 12km, but I chose not to chiong at the speed that I did for Taiwan HIM since timing wasn't really important to me for this race, and it's best not to aggravate the knee any further.

Managed to catch Dear and Ryan before the finishing line, and took a few pictures with Ryan, before carrying him all the way to the finish line. I wasn't sure if carrying Ryan with me to the end point will result in a DQ, but it doesn't matter since I had already done this more than 10x!

This is the first time Ryan crossed a race finish line with Daddy!

Daddy is proud!

Pros:

1st time bringing Ryan across the finish line!

 

Cons:

1) Poor logistics control. Stemmed from trying to fetch Weicheng, which snowballed into a lot of issues later

2) Bad knee strikes again. Need professional medical help

3) Not sure if salt stick is working, but I had cramps on my right quad after ECP exit. This is probably caused by my unbalanced running form due to over reliance on the right leg to carry most of the weight after the bad left knee struck.

Lesson learnt:

Call weicheng before going over to fetch him to make sure he is awake already.

Or I should get him to make his own way to the race. This isn't the first time that I have a late start that messed up my race due to him being late/missing. Either he has to get more serious about racing or I have to drop him as a training partner.

12th StanChart Marathon?

Going for my 12th? StanChart Marathon in a few hours time.

Did my first back in 2002 when my hall mates asked me to join them for the run and never looked back since then.

Guess having done this run 11x really takes away the excitement usually associated with important sporting events to me. And I'm no longer going after any PBs anymore, so this will be something more of a fun run which I'm committed to doing every year.

Perhaps ironman effect is taking away the lustre of marathons.
I got much more excited for the Taiwan 70.3 than SC marathon.
Perhaps the KL 70.3 will give me the adrenaline rush again like what SCMS did for me 10 years ago.

Keep moving #IronDaddy

First proper family overseas vacation

I had previously brought Ryan and Dear to Bangkok for holiday back in August, but it wasn't a proper holiday as I was still working 70% of the time.

Brought Ryan and Dear to Taiwan for a nice week of family retreat last month.
It is so different traveling with Ryan in Taiwan, having been there so many times with Dear in the past.

Major differences between traveling with and without a kid in tow:

1. Heavy luggage! Ryan's stuff easily took up most of the luggage space and allowance (apart from my race tools) Diapers, clothes, cooking utensils can be bulky!
2. Flight timing - Extremely early/late flight schedules are out. Midday/late noon flights preferred so that we have more time to prepare and get to the airport, and we do not reach our destination too late at night, beyond proper sleeping time for Ryan
3. Travel period - Include an extra day of rest after returning from the trip. Ryan will probably need the extra time to sleep in.
4. Travel itinerary - Keep the schedule relaxed with plenty of buffer time. Hot/wet/inconvenient locations are out. Plan meal and meal time outside of crowded places/timing. Also plan for nap times for Ryan.
5. Strollers - Double edged sword. It can be a hassle to bring this around especially at places with lots of stairs to climb, but this is also acts as a privilege express pass to many places with long Qs (though hugely dependent on the country u r going to. Family friendly countries like Taiwan, Japan will be good, but probably bad idea to bring it to Thailand, Malaysia, China)
6. No more scooters! Took the taxi more often in this trip than my previous 28 day holiday (unfair comparison though... I took it like 1 or 2 times then :p) 
7. Driving - Nice pseudo road trip with Dear and Ryan when we drove from Kaoshiung to Kenting and back. Pit stops at 7-11 and Family Mart are nice

In all, I think it was a good idea to bring Ryan to Taiwan for his first proper overseas vacation. 

Pretty comfortable since we were very familiar with the place and Taiwan is very child-friendly.

Looking forward to the next holiday trip with Ryan and Dear!

Next coming up, Full family retreat to Malacca!

Oh I'm 32 already?

Didn't quite realize it until I saw a friend post on FB that he is turning 32, then I realize I'm 32 now.

My mind's probably too occupied with Ironman race on the day itself that I forgot that it was my birthday then.

Old man...

Well, I'm placing a long term target to complete a Full Ironman within the next 3 years.
Before I turn 35.

Be an #IronDaddy

Taiwan Half Ironman Race report

Finally completed the long awaited 70.3 race in Taiwan last weekend.
Results weren't ideal, but given the circumstances, I will consider it to be quite decent.
Learnt quite a few stuff along the way.

Pre-race Day
Arrived at the resort at around 2.15pm. Picked up the race pack, rental bike and started to setup everything for a orientation ride. Took me longer than expected, and had to go for the race brief at 4pm which lasted till 4.40pm.
Continued to adjust the bike as seat post was slightly low. Went out for the test ride and rush cycled to the TA as dusk fell by 5.15pm.

Bad mistake 1: Arriving too late and not assigning enough time for bike setup. Bike fit was really bad. The bike was too long and I had to lean far too forward for my comfort, and I chose to go for the orientation ride instead of getting the correct bike fit as I did not have enough time to refit the bike before it was too dark to ride.

Bad mistake 2: Rented bike tyre thread was close to bare. Means it could be dangerous/ slippery for high speed and turns.

Bad mistake 3: Arriving too late and not assigning enough time to bring Ryan and Dear out for proper meals. They had to take the same food as me at the welcome dinner which was crappy for them. Supporters deserve better treatment!

Race Day
H-3
Woke up at 2.50am for the breakfast at 3am. Breakfast was on the light side. Could have done a bit more with some extra bread and cereals.

H-2
Took the shuttle bus to TA and it started to rain heavily. Good decision to wear slippers to the TA as usual, otherwise the running shoes will be wet before the race.

H-1
Officials announced cancellation of swim and replaced it with 6km run. Started to setup everything.
Good tip which I eventually found useful: Tape the energy gels to the bike. Makes it easy to tear off for consumption with one hand while still riding. Don't have to fumble through the bags.

Race Starts. Run 1
Started behind the mid pack and had to spend quite a bit of time overtaking the rest. Perhaps I should have started in front of mid pack instead. Lots of water puddles and mad runners stomping on them, splashing water around. Had to be careful to avoid those.
Went a bit faster than planned but managed to ease back on the pace at 4km to avoid letting the HR go too high before the Bike leg.

T1
Realised that I should had run with my bike gloves on so that I don't have to spend the extra 30s to put them on at T1. My crappy bike shoes took a bit longer to wear but paying the 20sec price for being cheapo instead of another $150 for new shoes? I'll choose to be cheapo.

Bike
Started off nice and slow with a gradual long climb out of TA area. Managed to maintain a good speed and kept up with most people, even overtaking some. 1st climb up Mt Guan was ok. Cautious on the downhill ride and turns due to the bare tyre threads, wet roads and strong cross winds. Maintained the refueling strategy of 1 salt stick at every hour+50min mark, and 1 gel at every hour mark. Fared pretty decent for the 1st loop for 46km. Things started to go bad as I started to tire at 50km and could not maintain speeds at 28-30kmh. Had to take risks and went up to 60kmh at steep downhill rides to take maximum advantage of the terrain. Good thing my handling skills was ok. But long flat roads really sapped the energy out of me as my speed dropped to around 21-23kmh. Managed to go back up to around 26kmh on the final 20km. Cramps came in and went off after I continued with the salt stick. It actually worked pretty well!

T2
Had been feeling a bit of pain in the left knee during the ride, but after hopping off the bike, then I realised that it could be more than just a simple discomfort that I could shrug off easily. Took my time to refuel a bit at the TA. HR was at an ok level since I wasn't exerting too much for the final bike stretch. Muscles were ok, no cramps.
Another good decision: Extra socks to change into in case of wet socks after the bike. Extra towel for wiping the face instead of just 1 for the feet after swim.

Run 2
Walked out from TA and tried to start jogging then my left knee started to snatch up. Sharp pain on the inside of the knee whenever I tried to lift my left knee to jog. Tried to restart jogging numerous times but the sharp pain wouldn't go away. After walking to the 3km mark, then I concluded that the pain will be there throughout Run 2 and I had to find a faster way to complete the remaining distance instead of hoping to restart jogging again. Started to call on my 11 years of StanChart marathon fast walk experience and put up a relatively decent fast walk speed.
The pace initially hovered around 9min/km, which was too slow and I will finish the race at around 8 hr mark. No good.
Change of strategy again. Walk as fast as possible. Skip hop jog a little until the knee hurts and walk it off again. Couldn't sustain this for beyond 10km.
Change of strategy again. Increase walking pace. Managed to increase the average speed up to 8.15min/km.
So I just maintained the faster walking speed through, with a little skip hop jog whenever it is feasible on a downslope.
At one point I checked my pace reached 6.50min/km, which was pretty incredible.
Finally finished the 21km walk within 2:58. Pretty respectable timing for a walk!
And I managed to walk faster than some of the slower joggers!

Timing Breakdown:
Run1: 32:46
T1: 3:26
Bike: 3:31:51
T2: 4:26
Run2: 2:58:02
Total Chip Time: 7:10:32

The GOOD

1. Pre race preparations: Extra socks, extra shoes, extra race clothes, slippers.
2. Refueling strategy: In general, the gel + salt stick worked pretty well. No major cramps like what I used to experience in 42km or ODs.
3. Improvisation: Fast walk was good
4. Early race pace control: Good to not go all out too early. Be patient and maintain transport mode speed when it doesn't pay to go all out
5. Bike handling. Hitting a high of 60km/h! It gets scary after that though, but I'm still pretty confident of my bike handling skills so it turns out that downhill rides became my strong advantage.

The BAD

1. Bike Fit: Extremely horrible. It is probably the biggest cause of a poor bike leg timing. Caused my back to snatch up by the 40km mark, and I had to keep on taking breaks to stretch my back through the ride. Winston noticed this when he passed me on the 2nd climb at Mt Guan. This probably caused me much speed and stamina. Even as I type this, my back is still aching. Next time if I have to choose proper Bike fit or Orientation ride on rented bike, Bike Fit is the way to go.
2. Not setting aside enough preparation time. I should arrive much earlier next time for long events like this. 2 hours is NOT enough to setup everything nicely and bring the family out for dinner.
3. Race Expo. I missed out on buying any merchandise at this expo as I arrived too late on pre race day, and didn't have enough time to go through the booths after the race as I had to pick up the gears quickly and bring my poor starving family out for proper meals. MUST allocate time for race expo next time.
4. Orientation ride. Should have done it much earlier so that any issues could have been identified and ironed out before race day. Also to test the road conditions to find out where are the tricky/ dangerous parts of the route so that appropriate safety counter-measures can be applied.
5. Bike stamina. Enough said. I got to improve my bike stamina and speed if I want to improve my timing by any measure
6. Race day breakfast. Bring my own food...
7. Old injury on left knee. Probably overloaded my left knee with bad posture during the bike that caused the sharp pain. This never happened before on my practice rides. Need to figure out what is the exact cause and rectify my cycling form to prevent this from happening again.

So what's next???
Hmmmmmmmmm

Taiwan trip!

Will be bringing Ryan and Dear to Taiwan for a 1 week holiday in about 10 hours time.
Been waiting for this trip for a long long time.
First time on a full holiday with the family (previous trip to BKK doesn't count, I was spending too much time working)

Hopefully Ryan will enjoy it.
I know dear will.


As for the HIM, I have probably done whatever is possible to prepare for it within this month.
It is the first time since I had bought my RCX5 training watch, that I see so many red blots on my training calendar in one single month. (each red blot represents training done on that day)
There were a few mid distance trainings that were not captured as the watch battery went flat.

Nutrition and replenishment will be a key factor for this race.
First time that I had bought so many gels, bars and trying the recommended salt stick.

Since I was going to use the rental tri bike, I thought my luggage will not be too big. I'm sorely wrong...
My regular clothes will just take up a small part. The race equipment that I'm bringing along forced me to change to a much larger suitcase so that I can bring everything necessary.

Probably need to look into more effective travel packing plans if I'm ever going to do overseas races again.

2 weeks to TwHIM

Time passes so quickly when you are not looking.
It seems like only yesterday when I registered for the TwHIM with plenty of time to train.
In the blink of an eye, and I'm now 16  days away from the most challenging race to date in my life.

Been doing a lot of last minute training for the last 2 weeks, trying to avoid all unnecessary biz trips during this period, even forgoing the training opportunities to Korea and France. Well, part of it is really to spend more time with family. It really feels so blissful to see Ryan and Dear everyday.

Anyway, setting my targets for the TwHIM as below:

Stretch Target: 7:00h
Achievable Target: 7:15h
Low Target: Just complete within 8:15h

Based on the Stretch Goal, the timing to beat for each leg will be as below:
Swim: 0:50
T1: 0:05
Bike: 3:30
T2: 0.05
Run: 2:30

If the swim goes smoothly, 50 mins should be achievable.
Bike will determine if I can reach the stretch target. It will be tough, especially since the route changed to incorporate 2 steep climbs up the hill. Still not sure if I will be able to manage the bike well. Gotta train more in this 2 weeks.
Provided that I don't blow up on the bike, a patient slow run should be on my cards, and 2:30 should be achievable even when fatigued.

Whatever the results of the race, the key objective is just to enjoy the experience (and pain) of the long race, and not be too bothered by the timing.

Milestone achieved for BabyRyan!

Brought Ryan along to Liang wei's shop last saturday when both me and dear were going to have new glasses made.
Ryan was pleasantly amused by the swiveling bar stools and promptly started to play around with them, and started to unknowingly take more and more unassisted steps (he could only manage 2 or 3 steps previously).
By the time he realised what he was doing, he started to get more adventurous and tried to walk around without going after the bar stools. Ryan was learning fast!

And he achieved a greater achievement last night. 23 unassisted steps in the playground!
So he was learning quickly now, and tries to walk unassisted at any opportunity that he could get.

Today was a bit of a painful learning day for him.
Saw red twice.

The first case happened at mum's place, when he slipped together with the bath tub during bath time with mum, and cut his lips. Feels so painful to see my precious baby in pain and bleeding.

2nd case was during his unassisted walk at the playground. Probably he has walked a bit too much for the day and got tired so he did not manage to put out his hands on time to break a forward fall, and ended up with a face plant onto the concrete floor as we were walking home. Some cuts on his nose and a small cut to his finger.

Daddy so 心疼可怜的宝宝。。。
But this is part and parcel of growing up, so BabyRyan gotta be strong and grow stronger!

Busy busy period

Just saw that my last update was just over a month ago, during which I had did lots of stuff, and didn't have the time to properly sit down to consolidate my thoughts.

SingTel TriFactor Triathlon on 18 August
Poor performance in this OD race, clocked in at around 3:31 if I remember correctly.

Swim: So so performance.
Even though I had identified my key weakness in the pool, somehow the improvement in technique did not fully translate into better performance in the open water. Realise that I'm more affected by the current compared to other swimmers. Still lots of room to improve in reducing drag to improve my swim time.

Bike: Poor performance
Only managed to clock around 28kmh for most of the bike leg. Was holding back a bit to conserve my legs for the run. Need to work on increasing my speed to above 30kmh during training.

Run: Bad performance
Walk stop run. Very poor by my standards. Got into cramps early in the run and didn't manage to shake it off. Did not push through on mental strength.

Conclusion:
Lots of excuses for coming in much slower than last year. Poor training frequency, too much travel before race, poor equipment due to drowned watch. The only good point to draw from this race was that it is a timely reminder to me that TwHIM is not too far away, and if I don't buck up now, I'll really suffer in TwHIM.

US Trip 25 Aug - 3 Sep
Went for the annual sales training at DC again, this time extending my trip by 3.5 days for a short stayover at NYC, skipping the usual outlet shopping since I just did that slightly over a month ago.

NYC was pretty fun. Finally visited so many landmarks that I had seen countless times on the silver screen, and the finally seeing them in person.

It was a pure sightseeing trip, very different compared to the usual shopping trips that I used to do when visiting US. Pretty much enjoyed myself.

Statue of Liberty, Wall Street with the charging bull, Times Square, Central Park, Madison Avenue, Avenue 5, Empire State Building, Rockefeller Building, Flatiron Building, Broadway, Wax Museum.

Caught 2 plays on Broadway, one was the anticipated The Lion King, which absolutely took my breath away with their spectacular setup and impressive rendition. Then caught Chicago on the next day with a discounted ticket. Not too shabby with the singing and dancing, but I will probably have enjoyed a lighter storyline.

One thing about this trip was that I did a lot of thinking and reflection, and wrote lots of stuff and questions for myself to answer myself truthfully. This exercise helped me to review and reflect on my goals and priorities in life, and what I should be doing. Helped me to get more focused on my work and life in general.

Sometimes it's pretty neat to travel alone on a short vacation trip so that I can have the time and space to clear my mind to do some critical thinking about my life. *though I miss my family lots then.

ICT
Just did a 5 days low key ICT.
This was my 3rd ICT, having clocked 1 high key and 1 low key previously.
I have to say that this was probably the most fun ICT so far.
OC spent a lot of time with me, teaching me a lot of useful stuff which are actually applicable in my daily work. Also opened my eyes on how to look at things differently.
Pretty impressed with him, whom is just 3 years my elder.
It has been a long time since I last captured that kind of camaraderie feeling. The last 2 times that I felt it was during OCS and then with the Year 1 Titans team.
Having a key event where it breaks the ice and gets everyone working towards a common goal, was definitely a good way to get the men to gel together.
And it was also been a long time, since CPT Chew left our platoon in OCS, that someone placed so much faith in my leadership skills.
Overall a pretty good ICT for me to have picked up quite a number of useful stuff.
Strange for me to say it but this actually makes me look forward to the next ICT.

Ryan's first flight

Brought Ryan, Dear and MIL to Bangkok last week for Ryan's first ever flight.

It was a long awaited break for Dear and a new experience for Ryan.
Though it did not go as smoothly as we thought, it was still a good learning experience for both me and dear to make better preparations for the upcoming Taiwan trip.

Ryan's many firsts on this trip:
1) First ever Flight on airplane. SQ 976!
2) First ever taste of ice cream - Freshly Freeze
3) First ever ride on Porsche - Boxster
4) First ever visit to a shrine - Erawan
5) First ever steamboat - MK Gold at Central World


Points to note:
1) Keep excursions short and near to the hotel so that Ryan can take proper naps in the hotel, preferably after every 3 to 4 hours of walking.
2) Water seems to be a problem - Packaged Singha distilled water seems to be hard water. Stick to a tried and tested brand so Ryan will not reject drinking it.
3) Baby seats in restaurants in Bangkok is not like SG, where almost every place uses the standard ikea high chair - probably invest in a good seat pouch that converts an open chair into a baby chair.
4) Fungi infection - Ryan is sooooo cute that everyone wants to kiss/pinch his cheeks, resulting in fungi infection on both cheeks - need to bring along fungi infection cream and reduce cheek contact with strangers.
5) Retire on time every night! No more late return to hotels at 10pm. Ryan wakes up at the same time every morning, so late returns means shorter sleeping time for him, which turns him into a grumpy baby.
6) Mummy's hook is infinitely useful!
7) Always bring along a backup small umbrella.
8) Ryan loves bath tubs. Look for hotels that provides big tubs for his every day fun time/bath.
9) Streamline the baby bag further.

Happy 16th birthday to Ah Di

Ah Di will have turned 16 years old today if he is still around with me.

Still love him loads
Best dog ever

U must bless n protect your young master from above!

Ryan has turned 1 year old

Time really passes so quickly when u r having a good time.
Just celebrated Ryan's birthday over the last weekend at Downtown East Chalet, with friends and relatives turning up in droves to celebrate the event.

Next week will be Ryan's first ever flight, to Bangkok for a 4 day vacation.
Kinda like a prelude to the longer 8 days vacation coming up in Oct/Nov in Taiwan.

He is getting cuter and cuter by the day.
Hope that he will always be happy and love daddy & mummy as much as daddy & mummy love him :)

Ryan is almost 1 year old!

Ryan will turn 1 year old in 5 days time!

Time really flies quickly when one is in bliss.

Dear has been working on a 365 days photo montage for Ryan's party on Sunday for the last few days. Dug up some of the old photos which really shows how much Ryan has grown from birth.

Looking back at the photos and videos really brings back sweet memories of blissful times we have had with Ryan. 

Sunday will his 1st birthday celebration!

Hope that we will always have happy moments with Ryan!

~~~~

Had a short technical swim this morning.

Finally made the breakthrough that I had been searching for a long long time.

Always knew that my kicks were the weakest link in my swim technique, and never found a good way to mitigate the drag it was causing unless i peddled harder, which wasn't a good solution.

Came across a technical video last night and finally realized that I had only been half twisting my body instead of a full twist as I had read in books. Tried it in the morning swim for about 10 laps, and consistently completed each lap between 20~23 strokes, instead of my old 26~29 strokes.

This gonna be a huge time saver for my races!

So miss boy boy

Just went through some older photos of ryan when he was much smaller.
It is amazing to see how he has grown and changed just over 10 months.

He used to be so chubby with a perfectly round face. Now his face has slimmed down to show more refined features.

Sucks to be awake at this hour during a business trip trying to finish up presentation slides for use in meeting later in the day, and to be struck by another wave of IMBRSBTIWC.

I Miss Baby Ryan So Badly Till I Wanna Cry.

Think I'll make a montage video for his 1 year old birthday.
It will be nice to run through boy's pictures from birth till 1 year old with 石头 《咿呀呀》as the backdrop.
That song pretty much sums up the stuff that I want to tell Ryan now.

Super love him

Loving Ryan more and more each day

Finally managed to get the entire family off to Batam for a short getaway 2 weeks ago at a very short notice. Impromptu but still means a lot to me.

It has always been a wish of mine to get the whole family out together on a holiday. When was the last time it happened? Taiwan 2003/04? Malacca 2007?

The last few trips has always been incomplete.
Either missing Bro (Desaru) or Sis's family (Malacca) couldn't travel with us.

The feeling of the whole family staying together is priceless and filled with warmth.
天伦之乐 is something that cannot be quantified by any measure.
Seeing the kids and babies playing happily together, Dad and Mum having a well deserved break, us siblings getting more treasured bonding time, it is just outta of the world.

I hope that we will be able to make more family trips together before Bro moves back to the US.

==========

Been traveling a lot for work recently.
Always feel very guilty without fail whenever I have to leave for the airport. Maybe it is still easy for me now since he is still unable to differentiate if I'm just going to office or going to be away for a few days. I can imagine the pain if he cries next time when he knows I'll be away for days.
Perhaps he has not grown that attached to Daddy yet.

I would sometimes tear whenever I think of him when I'm overseas. Especially when going through his pictures on my phone while I'm dining alone.

Sometimes Ryan is not as warm to me after I return. Perhaps babies' memories are really short. He probably forgets a little part of me whenever I travel.

Really feels awful that I'm not doing a good job as his dad.
I really want to spend more time with him.

==========

Though it may be a good thing for myself that I'm unable to hear his cries when I'm sleeping, I feel very guilty that I unable to do more to help relieve the burden of taking care of Ryan at night.

Maybe it's because that I'm a bit deaf, or maybe my body just simply demands a lot of sleep.
I'm not sure if it is just plain laziness/sleepy head, or is it because of my T minor.

Perhaps in my subconsciousness, I think that endurance sports is the key to unlocking more energy in myself.

It is still a mystery to me why I can go on and on for hours in endurance sports, but find it extremely difficult to beat the Z monster whenever it beckons. On the few occasions that I summoned the extra energy to test Z monster limit, I end up with a fever or headache half the time.

==========

Finished watching the 2nd half the "Taxi Taxi" show on the plane yesterday.
It touches me that the 2 fathers in the show did so much for their loved sons.

One fell from the peak of his career and ended up as a taxi-driver, losing his career, confidence, self esteem, and worst of all, the respect of his son. Nonetheless he did not give up and kept striving to make life better for his family.

The other one is a happy-go-lucky guy, never planned for anything in life, and just took each day as they come. Or another term for it as they call it in the show, "kum kum". He didn't realize that his attitude in life becoming a bad influence and example of his son's life. After an accident to his crush, then he realized that can no longer drift along in life and made a determined effort to change for the better and plan for the future

What will I be willing to do for my boy?

On the road again

3 consecutive weeks of biz traveling, numbing the mind, no time to do my own stuff.
I want to spend more time with my little boy.

Seems like he is starting to understand that "papa" refers to me. At times he will call me "papa" with acknowledgment. It really melts me whenever he does that. Makes everything that is done for him worthwhile.

Short family holiday coming up this weekend.
First time that our whole family will be traveling together with everyone around.
I still remember the "it feels good to be family" feeling from the last Desaru trip where everyone (less bro and the 2 babies) were staying in the same apartment.
Hopefully this holiday will be enjoyable too.

It will be the First chop on Ryan's passport!
Many more to come!


Thoughts
Was watching this show on the flight to BKK earlier, only managed to watch half the show.
What really startled me, or got me thinking, was how I can actually empathize with Gurmit Singh's character, Professor Chua, in the show.
He is the typical good Singaporean daddy, taking the responsibility of supporting the family all by himself, only to find himself suddenly retrenched and unable to find gainful employment, turning to taxi driving as the last resort to bring home the dough. All these while very fearful of letting his family know that he has been laid off.
The heartbreaking moment was when he was being looked down by his son after his son unceremoniously found out about his new employment, and refused to talk to him for 5 days after the awakening.
Imagine a father trying so hard to make ends means, lowering himself to take up something which he himself despised, yet only to be despised by his own son.
As a daddy to a son now, I think I can understand his pain.

While I hope this will never happen to me, it still gives me a rude shock even though my job is relatively stable at the moment, I should not fall into the comfort zone, and shall always be prepared for any unwelcome changes that may happen.

Truth to be said, a sales job is not a glass rice bowl.
It may be pretty on the outside, but once dropped, it will just break into pieces.

I need to do a thoughts consolidation and really map out where I wanna be in 5 or 10 years time.
Going with the flow without a rudder is a bad idea. Especially now that I have to support a family, this will impact more than just me alone.
Better identify if there's gonna be rocks or waterfalls downstream.
居安思危

Loving my little boy more n more each day

Never really expected Baby Ryan to have made such a huge impact and difference in my life before he came to this world.

From someone whom has never liked babies/kids in his first 30 years of existence, to a loving father, the transition has been huge.

It is really amazing to see how Ryan has grown from a tiny newborn to a cute little toddler today, and how much he has learnt along the way. From learning how to roll over from his back, to his efforts at learning how to walk today, it has been a really enriching and fulfilling journey for both me and Lishan.

Whenever he says "mama" or "baba", it really melts our heart that our cute little boy is starting to be able to recognise his parents. (though he still calls mama all the time, even when I'm carrying him, until I make keep repeating that I'm baba, then he will let go of a few phrases every now n then)

It's not easy to go on business trips nowadays without missing him loads, but I still have to travel for my work so no choice.

Just have to make a note to myself, that no matter how busy I will be, I must always make the effort to spend more time with Ryan n Lishan.

Still harboring hopes of coming up with cutting edge technology

Reading technology blogs on news about the latest new technology and how it will help humanity in various different aspects has excited me in the past, and still continues to excite me today.

My mind will go into a whirl on how these tech can be deployed and tweaked to serve various different purposes and applications.

Remembering what Bro has said about start-ups in CA getting all kinds of funding to make their products come to realisation, I still hope that one day I'll be able to come up with some awesome ideas of my own and really get the chance to develop them.

A list of stuff that I had thought of more than 20 years ago:

• Vision Enabling - help the visually impaired to be able to see via conversion of optical visuals to neurological signals which can be deciphered by the brain, presenting real vision to the wearer
• Exoskeleton - help the semi-handicapped to be able to regain the ability to walk. Essentially a cyborg.
• Mind control - not controlling the mind of others, but rather something Jedi-like (even though I had never watched Star Wars before), that one will be able to control./manipulate objects, via brain activity. Pretty much like ESP, but I see that this can really be done. Given the wide proliferation of smartphones, and low costs of ASIC and FPGAs, this could become a reality soon.

Gotta do some proper house keeping, and keep a record of all my ideas and concepts.

Who knows one day, I will be able to turn them into reality.

(watching sci-fi stuff like Iron Man always reignites the geek in me)

As Adam savage says:

Been writing for the last 8+ years!

不经意的发现，右手边的栏目显示着我在8年前写的文字。
一切仿佛是昨天刚发生的事，蓦然回首8年匆匆飘过

世界变了。 我也变了。
昔日的大学生，今天的打工仔
昨日的小男生，已蜕变成现在的新手爸爸

当年我的世界环绕着念书，考试，成绩，对世界的憧憬和未来的渴望
如今经过社会的洗礼，现实生活的巨轮无情的往前转，生命的中心早已改变了，追求的东西与得失的计较以不同往年

或许是成熟了，也可以说是生活与习惯性规律的交叉， 参上了人夫与养育孩子的责任，对于很多事情的看法和当年大不相同。

哈哈。
为有一点我很确定没变的是，总在夜深人静时，胡思乱想，文笔依旧会心血来潮的乱写一番。

也许是昨天看见的1994年的偶像杂志吧。
搞得我突然那么多感触。

也好久没用华语来撰稿。
自从改用部落格写日记，就很久不再以华语表达内心的感受。
我想还是华语比较容易贴切的表达自己

Just noticed on the right hand side of the blog that I had been writing for the last 8+ years.
Went through a couple of old posts and it was like "damned, it feels just like yesterday but it's 8 years ago".

How I have changed, the topics and stuff that I will write about has changed.
From an Undergrad whining about school stuff, to race reports of my relentless pursuit in self torture.

Time really flies.

MetaSprint Sprint Tri

MetaSprint Sprint Triathlon

Swim: 21:12

T1: 2:49

Cycle: 42:37

T2: 1:47

Run: 29:18

Total Time: 1:37:46

Final Category Position: 185/323

Considering the lack of training for the last month, the results from this race ain’t too bad (though I know I could do much better if proper conditioning was done)

Swim

Less than ideal start. Took the outside line and tried to swim a shorter route but somehow got sucked outwards instead and took a longer time to reach the 1^st buoy. Numerous tussles with froggers left and right, and had to take numerous double strokes to quickly overtake them for safety.

T1:

Messed up here. Couldn’t find my bike when I first ran in, and wasted around 30s looking. Too many white bikes and with the racks not numbered, it was too easy to miss my bike. Ended up spotting my bike by the number tag rather than recognizing the bike itself.

Ideas: Tie a bright coloured cloth or flag to the bike rack to make recognition easier for races with unnumbered racks.

Cycle:

Was pretty cautious on the bike leg ever since Roy reminded me not to overstress on the bike and reserve for the run, which is my strongest leg. Was targeting to maintain at around 30km/h, but ended up hovering between 28 – 31km/h. Not too bad. Tried the low gear fast cadence strategy at the end of the cycle to reduce HR and increase blood flow to calves. Worked!

T2:

Again had problems trying to find my spot.

Though not as bad as T1.

Run:

Started slowly at about 6:15min/km. Wanted to give my HR some time to stabilize first before ramping up the speed. Following the –ve split strategy, the first 2.5km should not be any faster than 6min/km. It was quite hot though, and I swear that splashing the cold water on my face alone lowered by HR by 3 beats.

Held back a bit more till the 3km mark then I started to let the legs loose and opened up the strides to go faster. Speed went from 5:40min/km to 5:20min/km.

Still had the extra energy left at the final 500m to go from 5:00min/km with a final all out full energy sprint. Good run but I think I can make it better by going slightly faster for the 1^st half.

Conclusion:

I’m happy with the run. By now it is quite obvious that speed calibration and strategy correction before any race is important. The last 21km run was screwed up as I relied on the 42km pace and strategy, which I ended the run much slower than my abilities with too much energy left in the tank after the run.

Though I didn’t do any calibration runs before this Tri, my previous races for 5km were quite on target and I just had to follow the same strategy which worked nicely.

There were some time during the swim when my mind drifted off, and it seems that I didn’t move that quickly in the water during that period. It seems to happen every time I day dreamed and didn’t do sighting. Next time I should try starting mid-pack. Perhaps with more front crawlers around there will be less need to do sighting and easier to draft as well.

Using the hamstrings for the bike this time has probably helped me to save my quads and calves for the run. Gotta practice more and clock more cycling mileage. Time to invest in a proper trainer.

Taking a break from racing and focus on training now.

Next event: TriFactor OD Tri on 18 August.

2013 2XU compression run report

Did the 2XU 21km run on Sunday morning.
Timing wasn't really good at around 2:10, but then again I had not clocked any LSD for some time already, and was off proper training for the last few weeks, so I can't expect much out of this run anyway.

And through this run, some questions that I thought I had solved previously popped up again.

Ups:
1) Did the run in my Tri suit. Needed to clock some mileage and get used to running in the Tri-suit. Found that the first half of the run was unusally hot even though it was still dark, and I had to keep pouring water on myself to cool down. It was only after daybreak then it started to feel cooler. Conclusion: The Tri-suit only works against temperature when it is wet and in well ventilated conditions. The first half was too crowded with people and that pretty much limited the airflow. The 2nd half was much cooler after the crowd had spaced out, even though the sun was already up. Gotta try a few training LSDs to confirm this.

Downs:
1) Did not check my gear properly before going for the run. GPS unit went flat at 6.8km mark, and I couldn't tell my pace after that. Had to rely just on feel and HR. Perhaps I had been too reliant on my gear, and the hotter than usual tri suit pretty much threw my feel and HR off balance.

2) Too obsessed with keeping my HR below 170, which was a benchmark I used for the full marathon. It might have been too conservative and caused me to hold back too much in the 1st half.

3) Sore muscles. This is strange. It wasn't really a tough race nor did I go all out. My calves are still sore till today. Usual 21km in training doesn't feel as bad

Points to Ponder:
1) Using the high cadence short stride should have given me a pretty decent pace and no/little impact to the knees. Somehow this time I had draggy feet and it doesn't seem to work for me. My knees were a bit sore at the end as well. Perhaps I didn't execute the technique properly after a long training hiatus. Need to clock more LSD

2) Never ever underestimate B or C races again by not training for it. Especially for the next 3 Tris in line.

Graded my races

Just categorized my upcoming races into different grades last night to remind myself on the objectives for each event.

Originally graded the upcoming 2XU 21km run at "B", but having just visited the doctor this morning for a sore throat and slight infection, I may want to downgrade it to a "C" to play safe if I don't recover properly by Friday.

For a "B" 21km run, I should complete in less than 2 hours
For a "C" 21km, I should probably target around 2:15 hours. Spending any longer time on the route will be an unnecessary strain.

Been reading up a bit on how to structure my training program for the TwHIM.
Seems like a significant amount of time has to be devoted, as expected anyway.
Managed to find a few videos on how to improve swimming and biking techniques that seemed useful. I'll probably try them in my next workout.

Biking is my weakest sport out of the 3 disciplines, and it also takes up the big chunk of timing for a triathlon.
Gotta spend more time improving my bike endurance.

Duathalon yesterday

It was my "C" race since I have a "B" 21km run coming up this Sunday, so it was more of like a training event for me.

Though, did not do too well in the Duathlon yesterday based on my Perceived Effort Rate (PER).
Review of the race:

Ups:
1) Both Run1 and Run2 were significantly faster than last year. Comparison as below:
Run1 2012: 16:27
Run1 2013: 14:32

Run2 2012: 21:54
Run2 2013: 18:38


Downs:
1) Slower bike than last year. Though it isn't a direct comparison since the distance is slightly longer this year with more U turns that brought down the average speed significantly, still I can feel that I'm not pushing as hard as I could. A comparison on the average speed will be a better comparison:

Bike Average Speed 2012: 29.9km/h
Bike Average Speed 2013: 27.7km/h

2) T2 could have been faster if I had used cage pedals instead of clip pedals. This would have saved me maybe more than 1 minute since I had struggled a bit to put the bike shoes on and off the ride. Changing out of and into the running shoes took a bit of time as well. Nonetheless not a big issue since I thought it will have been more troublesome to change the clips to cage instead. Good improvised transition by not taking out the socks.

Evaluation:
1) Got sucked into the situation at the start of Run1 when everyone around me ran off quickly. Didn't really want to start off that quickly but it wasn't too big a problem for me to go at that pace for a short race. Need to take note not to stray too much off my planned pace for longer races.
2) Did not push as hard on the bike this time round compared to last year. This is a "C" race. No need to chiong.
3) Performed below average due to the overly high Heart Rate for Run2. Need to better manage the T2 transition from Bike to Run better in higher priority races. More brick training needed.

In all, I didn't train or plan for this race properly since it was the lowest priority, and I just went out like a noob without any proper prep and let my instincts take over. However there still there are some take away lessons from this race so it's still not too shabby.

Now with my #1 top priority "A" race for the Taiwan HIM, all other races are not that important now, and they will act as building blocks for the TwHIM.

My poor baby

Ryan couldn't sleep properly for the whole of last night, and kept waking up every 30min to 1 hour after we put him back to sleep.
Think this is probably the start of his teething phase, which will be difficult for him probably for the whole of this week.
He went into a slight fever in the morning, and fever again when we brought him back home at night.

It's really heart breaking to see my precious baby feeling so uncomfortable and looking so moody.
Really hope that he will recover quickly and show me his cheeky sunshine smile once again



Just do it!

Finally registered after Dear gave me the go ahead to join the ironman taiwan race.
Just as how Mayday's song goes:

有些事現在不做 一輩子都不會做了

要乘着年轻时，抛热泪洒热血
现在不做，以后一定后悔

I'm prone to crazy impulses.
This is another one.
Hahahaha

Traveling for the last 2 weeks

It had been a busy start to the month, traveling for 2 full weeks before settling down this week without the need to go around at least for 2 weeks, i hope.

So far the work for this month has been pretty satisfactory, but still could be better.
There is still some way to go to meet my quota for the year, but at least the possibility of ending the FY on a high is still there. Just gotta try harder and smarter.

Ryan is getting more and more fun.
He is putting up lots of weird and funny expressions from time to time, and he looks absolutely super cute when he is at it. There is never any boring moments with Ryan around.
Right now only the feeding part is still challenging, but it is a real blessing to have Ryan in my life.
I guess I may miss Ryan's garbled mumblings after he learns how to talk, but nonetheless this is a learning journey for both me and dear, and we will enjoy every single phase of Ryan growing up.
There are so many things that I want to teach Ryan as he grows up!


Bro is going to shift back to SG at the end of the month.
I had just read my old entry not too long ago about Bro leaving for the US then.
Time has really passed so quickly.
Growing old...


Was discussing with dear earlier in the day on the possibility of me joining the ironmantaiwan race, which will entail a huge load of logistics to be sorted out.
The registration will open in 11 hours time... Still considering whether to join or not.

We finally meet again, IPPT Gold!

After scoring only silver for the last 2 years, regaining the gold standard this year was a especially sweet
Of course the extra $200 incentive helps a lot.

Ever since 2011, it has always been a mental obstacle for me to last the pace for the full 2.4km
Somehow I was like cheating myself, trying to fool myself into thinking that my fitness was still ok even though I had put on a lot of weight and not exercising as much as I used to.
For every 2.4km training run, I'll always only do the first 1.2km or 1.6km at the target pace.
The problem was that I did not push myself to finish the full 2.4km in every training run, always comforting myself that the remaining 800m to 1200m will take care of itself, especially since I used to be able to chiong for the last 200m which will pull back the timing.

How wrong I was!!

What doesn't happen in training, will have a very low likelihood of happening in actual races.
Adrenaline can only do so much. Stress and Fear will have a very negative impact, as evident in my SCSM2009 race.
Racing gives me adrenaline as I don't set a hard target that I need to beat.
I get far more stressed from trying to meet the IPPT Gold standard so that I can take the $400 incentive.

A series of events has changed the way I train and brought the confidence back.

It started from the second wind in SCMS2012 as a moment of realization.
From the second wind in SCMS2012, it gave me my first ever negative split in the MegaTri in Jan13.
The negative split in MegaTri gave me another negative split for the Aquathlon at a much faster pace.
Aquathlon gave me the confidence that my stamina is now ready to tackle ippt and bring the gold back.

Of course, the deliberate tweaking of my training runs to incorporate negative splits has helped tremendously in regaining my confidence in blazing through the 2.4km at full speed.

Next up will be the Duathlon, which may be a problem for me as I don't have much time to train on the bike from now till 2 weeks before the race.

OMG....

Taiwan Ironman-70.3

This is sooooo OMG

Was searching for the Bintan Half Iron Man race then I realized that it was on 31 August, when I'd most probably be in USA again for training, so I probably won't be able to join it even if I wanted to.

Then I came across this gem......

Taiwan Kenting

2 November 2013

70.3 - Half Iron Man

It will be epic if I could join this... 

I can even give up StanChart Marathon for this

But the chances of joining this race is close to 0.

1st, It is a grave sin to go TW without vacationing. It is not possible to do vacationing before or after 70.3 since it will probably put me in bed for a few days after the event. It is also not feasible to lug the bike around TW.  (unless it is a bike-around taiwan holiday; this is even more ridiculous even though I'd absolutely love to do it if I have a chance, but it is not possible to combine this with a race of this magnitude)

2nd, annual leave is precious. It should be spent with family rather than burning calories and rubber. Bringing family out for a vacation is ok. Leaving family at home while I'm out enjoying myself alone - NOT OK.

3rd, $$$$$

4th, Triathlon is just a hobby. I shouldn't be overly investing too much time, energy and money into it. There are other more important things in life that I have to take care of, and are more deserving of my resources and attention.

Too bad *shrugs*

Andy Lau's song comes into mind: 

我和我追逐的梦，擦肩而过，永远也不能重逢。

我和我追逐的梦，已在错过，只留下我，独自寂寞。却不敢回首

(this is overly dramatic though)

Damned. I should go karaoke again soon.

Aquathlon

Completed the Aquathlon today with a satisfactory timing of 45:15.
A rather significant improvement to last year's 51:20

Swim: 18:27 (750m)
T1:   2:12
Run: 24:35 (5km)


Did a pretty relaxed swim, focusing more on gliding through the water instead of bashing through with hurried strokes. Maintained at a "1 breath to hyperventilation stage" speed which worked quite alright.
Quite happy to be able to overtake a few guys with a higher stroke turnover just by simply gliding pass them. Gotta focus more on improving stroke efficiency in the water rather than just pure stamina/strength.
My sighting skills have improved significantly compared to last year.
Still not too keen to jostle too much with other swimmers but perhaps I can try to move to the mid of the pack during the start to avoid being blocked by other slower swimmers.

Transition was ok as usual but could still probably improve with faster shoe slip-on.
Maybe I should try running without socks? Bare foot is still no no at this stage..

Managed to do a negative split again for the run :)
Ran a consistent 5min/km pace for the 1st 2km.
Slowed down a bit till 3km at about 5:20min/km to stabilize the heartrate.
Walked for about 5 secs to finish off a drink at about 3km.
Managed to kick into a higher gear for the last 2km at probably about 4.40min/km.
Still had enough in the tank to sprint for the last 200m to the end point.
Took a gamble on 5km run being too short for conserving energy, so I went all out with gun blazing and it paid off.

The tempo runs that I had been doing for the last month has shown results.
I ought to do more tempo runs during the ramp up phase rather than just focus purely on LSD runs to build stamina all the time.
Need to find a good balance.

Going back to reservist tomorrow!
Maybe I'll need to take the ippt in camp this time.
Maybe I'll regain my Gold again...

Mish mash of thoughts

1st ever CNY celebrations for Ryan and time just passed quickly and we are back in the usual rat race.

After 外婆 has left us, now the only place to visit during 初一 is at Ah Mah's place.
Glad to see Ah Mah is still relatively strong for a almost-centenarian.
Her eyes and ears aren't really clear, but she still speaks with strength so it's always good to hear her talk.

Bro is going to move back to SG for good.
I'm glad that he is coming back to spend more time with the family and probably settle down.
Kept psycho-ing him that he should not miss out this best part of the kids growing up phase, for it will never return.

Going for the MetaSprint Aquathlon in 8 hours time.
I'll probably skip the MetaSprint series sub events next year and just focus on full Tri events.
I won't be able to participate in every single event. Gotta pick and choose my battles.


Watched Ah Boys to Men II on Friday.
Quite strangely, apart from the usual army stuff, the stuff that resonated with me was on the father and son relationship.
Though it is still a long long way to go before Ryan grows up and enters the army, somehow the part where the father was so immensely proud of his son showing signs of maturing, standing up for his own believes, that really touched me.

As I watch Ryan growing up bit by bit everyday, sometimes I'd secretly tear with joy at simple stuff like seeing him laugh, feeding him, watching him learn new stuff, playing with him, giving him a bath, changing his diapers, patting him to sleep, bringing him out for walks.
There are so many things that I'll want to show and teach Ryan
天下父母心，我终于明了

Nothing much ado

Empty mind begets rust and tardiness in mental prowess.

Nah

Just read an article that showcased 3 relatively successful entrepreneurs, out of which, 2 are at 32 years old this year. Coincidentally same as me.

What am I doing now? Where am I going? Where will I be in 10 years time?

Has all the daily hustle bustle blurred my eyes?

Too preoccupied with dribbling the ball, but not looking up at where I'm going or where tackles are flying in from?

Think think think

Take some time out to do some self reflection. Plot the charts. Where I want to go, What I want to do.
Of course now the situation is different.
Ryan and dear will be the most important consideration.

Packed weekend

Pretty jam packed weekend.

Baby Ryan and Daddy got their new ride on Saturday morning
A Fisher Price Jumperoo for the young boy and a Toyota ISIS for the old man.
Point in common? Both are 2nd hand.

Ryan has been jumping around quite a lot, and he seems to like the jumperoo on his first try.
Hopefully this will be a fun respite for him when he is at Grandma's place. Otherwise he will be lying there watching TV with Grandma... No good for the eyes or his development.
Bought this 2nd hand at $80.
Buying brand new unit locally would had knocked us back by over $200.
Shipping new unit from Amazon will cost at least $180.
This will probably turn out to be a good buy, with good resale value.

Got my 2nd hand Toyota ISIS after picking up the jumperoo.
Cerato has been serving me well for the last 5 years, but it wasn't big enough to accommodate Ryan and Lishan comfortably.
With recent record breaking COE price of 92k for CAT A and 96k for CAT B, it doesn't seem that the prices will abate even in 2015/16.
There is too much pent up demand for cars, even the ramp up in car deregistration will probably not see the prices fall by too much.
If it does fall in 2015/16, then maybe I can consider changing to another new ride again then.
At least this new ride will give me plenty of time till 2019 to see whether I can get another ride when the time is right.
Bottomline is that mummy and baby can ride on the car comfortably, and that's pretty much all that matters.

MegaTri Olympic Distance
Did my 2nd ever OD race on Sunday morning.
Wasn't really in the best condition to race since I had not been clocking enough mileage on the swim and bike.
The rainy weather for the weekend made it a freaking cold start, but ultimately it turned out to be much easier since it drizzled throughout the event, so temperature was never an issue.

Swim: 42m13s
Bike: 1h26m
Run: 1h5m

Swim was pretty much expected. Did not really do too well or too badly. Held on to a relatively ok speed without hyperventilating. Just need to improve on my sighting skills.
Goggles needs to go. Keep getting seawater seeping in, causing multiple stops to clear the goggles.

Bike was pretty bad. Tried to keep a constant pace at 30km/h, but the first loop was at 28.5km/h, second loop 27.4km/h, and I dropped to about 26km/h for the last loop.
I couldn't summon enough energy to spin any faster for the last loop.
Probably bad stamina for long flat straight roads. Need more training for constant exertion over long period of time.
Consider investing in a Bike Trainer.

Run
Not sure if my watch data is correct, but I will have to take the nearest approximate.
Had very bad stitches between 2km - 3km mark and dropped to 7.12min/km.
The usual quad muscle strain set in, but with the new found confidence in holding off the wall from the recent SCMS, I managed to hold off the cramps all the way till the finish line.

This is the first time that I managed to do a negative split in a race.
It was strange, but somehow keeping a constant pounding between 6m15s to 6m30s pace between 4km to 7km mark had actually allowed me to run even faster towards the end of the run.

Taking away the bad stitch at the start, I'm actually quite happy with the run especially with the strong finish.

1km: 6m49s
2km: 6m51s
3km: 7m12s
4km: 6m21s
5km: 6m33s
6km: 6m32s
7km: 6m18s
8km: 5m58s
9km: 6m2s
10km: 5m34s

I should

5th year since Ah Di left us

Ah Di has left us exactly 5 years ago on this day.

I still vividly remember how excited he was when he saw me at the Animal hospital the day before, getting worked up from a lethargic stage and frantically wagging his tail at me, saying his final good bye to me before finally leaving for a better place the following morning.

I still miss him lots and still carry his tag with me wherever I go.

Best. Dog. Ever

Pray thee be watching over your little master Ryan from above.
Love you lots.

Another year passed

2012 just passed so quickly.

Quick recap of notable events in 2012:
Jan - 1st Sprint Tri with TriFam
Feb - Aquathlon (MetaSprint)
Apr - Duathlon (MetaSprint), Beijing Trip with the Unkers
May - Sprint Tri (MetaSprint), 3km OW Swim (TriFactor)
June - Bangkok holiday with Dear
Jul - 30km Run (TriFactor). ARRIVAL OF BABY RYAN!
Aug - OD Tri (TriFactor)
Nov - Staycation (Equarius Hotel, RWS, Sentosa)
Dec - 42km (SCMS)

Now with Baby Ryan still so young, it will be quite some time before dear and I will have the chance to do some vacation traveling. So I guess my 2013 will probably look similar to 2012, packed full of sport races.

Well, the races are fun and it gives me good motivation to have constant training. I ain't in the best of shape, but it could have been worse without the races.

Maybe 2013 will be the year that I'll improve on my sporting endeavors.
I still hold the hope of going for a half iron man some time later in the year just for the kick of it.

= = = = =
Day 1 for the family:
Me
Had been dropping off the pace for the last quarter, mainly due to me choosing to spend more time at home with Ryan and dear, and not pro actively chasing for numbers.
Now I'll be back to work with full focus, it will be plenty of biz trips again to the usual places. At least before CNY. I need the moola...
Dear
Been on maternity/childcare/annual leave/time off for the last 5.5 months. First day back at work and she is now down with flu
Ryan
First full day at Grandma Infantcare.
We had to wake him up at 6.50 am to bring him to grandma's place. It was quite sad to wake him up when he is sleeping so soundly, and to leave him with grandma for the day, then pick him up at 5+. 舍不得...
Gotta figure out a more time friendly routine that isn't so taxing on Ryan and gives him more time to sleep.
Really gonna miss the good times of waking up to Ryan's sunshine smile.