December 28, 2013

December 15, 2013

Tanjong Pagar Run - Short Run to Test Recovery of Knee

Staycation at Amara Hotel
Ever since my knee injury, I have been testing the recovery level of my knee with short distance runs to gauge how much it has recovered. I tried 1 km before the pain came back a 3 months back, worsen the injury due to me pushing myself during a run in Europe and since 2 weeks ago, I can advance 1.5km before the pain starts kicking in. Today, I am going to test my knee again.

December 5, 2013

Stanchart Half-Marathon: Short Interruption to my Running Career

The last few weeks, have been quite a depressing affair for my running career. First, I injured my knee during one of my routine Sat run during the end of Sept. I thought resting for a 2 weeks before my Europe trip will give it time for my knee to recover. I tried a short run just before my Europe trip but my knee starting throbbing after 1km. Than I forced a run at Amsterdam doing about 2km. Knee hurts but not that bad. During the next run at Dusseldorf Germany, I forced an even further run of 5km. My knee gave way at 3km. I hobbled my way from Hamburg to Berlin to Paris for the rest of the trip, cursing at every European staircase that confronted me.

After I got back from my Europe trip at the end of Oct, I thought that a good one month rest should be enough for my knee to recovery for the Stanchart Half Marathon. A week before the race, I strapped on my shoes and tried to run. My knee started to throb after hitting the 1km mark. I started to feel pain after 1.5km. I have little choice but to abandon the Standchart Half Marathon.

This is depressing. I wonder when my knee will heal...

A few days after the Stanchart Half Marathon, I came upon this piece of news whereby an unknown Singaporean runner who won the local title for Stanchart, was disqualified. He ran for 6km, felt a pain in the knee, probably went somewhere to drink some coffee before walking back to the finish point and "accidently" clinched the first place. He also revealed that he cheated not only once, but thrice, just because he wanted the finisher T-shirt and the medal.




October 21, 2013

Berlin, Germany - Guest Appearance by Big Boned Guy (BBG)

The early morning view from our apartment
Everyday, I cursed my stupid decision to push my injured so hard during my run in Dusseldorf. The pain doesn't seem to go away and I spent my days hobbling along with the old people in Germany, thinking whether to buy a German made walking stick to go along with the appearances.

October 16, 2013

Dusseldorf, Germany - Across the River Rhine and Back Again

The River Promenade at Dusseldorf
After being rained on for the last 4 days at Amsterdam, we were hoping that the weather at Dusseldorf will be better, but no! The rain clouds seem to be following us a everywhere. Before I carry on with my rant with on the weather, most Singaporeans will be scratching their heads and wondering where and what is this place called Dusseldorf. Personally, I was one of those ignorant Singaporeans who haven't heard of this place before I set foot on it

October 14, 2013

Canals of Amsterdam, Netherlands - Of Canals & Gay Kinos

The canals of Amsterdam
It has been raining non-stop since Day 1 when we arrived at Europe 4 days ago. Sometimes it pours, sometimes it drizzles and sometimes, it is a mix of everything. Throw in a below 10 degrees temperature and cold bitter winds, it made walking along the beautiful streets and canals of Amsterdam a dreary affair. 

October 13, 2013

September 28, 2013

Tiong Bahru, Vivocity - Historical Run on Singapore Government Housing

Along Cantonment Road just outside Outram Park MRT station
How many times have we planned our runs at Labrador Park, I have lost count. Thanks to the overwhelming votes by the unfit runners living in the west, my Saturday mornings have been "Journey to the West" recently. After much discussion over the net, we decided to try out our first "One Way Run" from Vivocity to Tiong Bahru Market (Where we will have our breakfast). However, for the drivers, it is a logistic nightmare as we have to decide whether to park at the finishing point or the starting point.

September 22, 2013

Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC), Malaysia - A Pain in the Neck!

Early Morning at KLCC Park.
I was invited to for a conference in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia and I managed to get a nice apartment near to the KLCC area. After checking with my Malaysian friends and the internet, it seems like the most breath taking run at the city center is around the KLCC Park. So as usual, I strapped on my running attire and set off from my apartment at Parkview Residence.

September 4, 2013

R.I.P Philips Sports Earphone

I remembered when I first started my running hobby, I was using Apple's generic ear piece that came along with my iPhone 4. However, after a few runs, I realize that my pure white colored Apple ear piece is getting black and grimy and given how anal Apple Care is with water getting into any of their Apple products, I decided to get a sporty water resistant ear piece to prevent shortening the life span of my Apple ear piece.

There are of course many different types of sports ear piece out that in the market. There are blue tooth ones, over the ear hook, inner ear hook, around the neck band etc etc and the variety of brands are simply astounding. After doing some research, I decided to go for a mid end sports ear piece by Philips and since the back band ear piece is the most expensive of all the categories, that should be the best right? So one fine day in 2012, I fought my way through an IT fair and managed to get my Philips Sports Earphone at a good price of $38.

RIP....
After a few months of usage, I realized its shortfalls...

First, the supporting band is... bouncy when you trot down the running track. The balancing of the earpiece is a bit off with the band heavier than the support and you have the band slapping against your neck as your head wobbles up and down.

Secondly, the band is a nuisance when it comes to packing it for an overseas trip. Although it is pretty light, the rigid band makes the overall space consumption pretty big and space is a precious commodity when it comes to traveling.

Lastly, the design flaw that killed my earpiece. an upturned wire connector that defies gravity. As we run, the wires for our earpiece tend to bounce around and over time, creates a load on the connection between the ear piece and the wire. Philips earpiece made it worse by making the wire dangle from a sharp ^. Needless to say, one year after heavy usage, the connection wire started to break free from the headband and the earpiece spluttered and died.

Sennheiser OCX 685i SPORTS

After learning what works and what doesn't work in a sports ear piece, I decided to upgrade to a Sennheiser Over the ear sports ear piece. Sennheiser is considered one of the top brand for sports earpiece and I got a pretty good deal from a good friend. So far, the earpiece has been a joy. Other than the problem of bouncing wires affecting the quality of sound, I have no complains about it. It also works flawlessly with my Nike iPhone App allowing it to pause and resume the recording at will.

Looks like the saying "You pay for what you get" seems to ring true in the world of sports ear pieces!

August 25, 2013

GuangZhou, China - Beautiful Run Along The Pearl Delta River

The monument outside of Guangzhou Hotel
It's a typical hot and wet summer in the bustling southern hub of China, Guangzhou and the perpetual morning rains kept me away from my routine of Run-Touring (Means touring the city via running. I invented that Lingo!)The run finally let up at the last day of the journey and I was able to initiate my ambitious project of running from my hotel to the Canton Tower, a journey of around 10km.

August 17, 2013

August 3, 2013

Orchard Road - A Run Along the Iconic Shopping District

We ran out of ideas where to run this week. We ended up testing out the Singapore Orchard Road Run and visit the shopping malls along Orchard Road early in the morning. As most of the Singaporeans will be very very familiar with this stretch of road, I will keep my report short.

Taking off from City Hall
Started the run at City Hall and we made our way up North, along one of the most famous shopping route in Singapore. We kind of expected tons of road crossings and traffic lights and off we went! Interestingly, the roads were deserted and traffic is relatively light. Other than stopping to wait for the green light at major road junction, we simply just dash across at the small junctions along the way.

July 27, 2013

Holland Village to Dempsey Hill - Exploring the Ex Military Base ofSingapore

Early Morning at Holland Village
As usual, the group brainstormed over where new locations can we run this week. The parameters are as follow:

1) Not at the extreme ends of Singapore - This rules out Changi, Pasir Ris, Sengkang, Woodlands, Chua Chu Kang and Jurong.

2) Easily accessible by the ladies/mummies of the group - They need to wake up earlier as their preparation time is longer. So anywhere too far will lead to protests of unearthly waking hours.

3) Must have good breakfast spots at the end point - A good breakfast after a run is very important!

July 6, 2013

Hwa Chong Institution Run - Construction, Security and Expensive Cars!

Hwa Chong Institution. The famous clock tower can barely be seen, blocked by MRT construction
As usual, we were racking our brains where to run in Singapore, a location that is acceptable to people staying in the West, North and Eastern part when I (brilliant as usual) hit on a bright idea.

"Lets revisit our old school, Hwa Chong Institution and rekindle our memories of our high school days!"

It was such a good idea that everyone agreed immediately!

June 29, 2013

Post Haze Run. Stadium to Bay East

The Marketing Poster for G-Dragon
7am. Just Outside Kallang Indoor Stadium.. We saw a long queue just outside the stairways to Kallang In-door Stadium. I thought people were queuing for some Hello Kitty Toy or N95 Mask again. Turns out, that there is a G-Dragon concert later in the evening. But seriously? Queuing at 7am in the morning in sunny tropical Singapore just for a concert!!??

June 25, 2013

June 16, 2013

Pocari Sweat 10KM Run. 2013

Marina Bay... Before the Haze!
It's a glorious Sunday morning. Why do I say that, it's because this event might have been cancelled, if the haze from Indonesia breached the air space of Singapore just a few days earlier. The air quality started to deteriorate sharply from Monday onwards and for the first time in the history of Singapore. Our PSI level (indicate how polluted the air is) hit the 400 hazardous level. Almost all outdoor events were cancelled for the week, and we were very very lucky that the Pocari Sweat Run is held on this very weekend.

June 13, 2013

Bangkok Thailand - Lumpini Park

Everyone loves Platinum Mall. The ultimate ASEAN hub for wholesale clothes. Who doesn't love a bargain!
The lure of the recent real estate rush brought me back to Bangkok again, a city which I have not visited for almost 10 years. The primary mission for this trip was to visit some of the potential property investment. My secondary mission is to figure out where are some of the best spots to run, in this crowded and vibrant city.

June 8, 2013

Bishan Park - Revisiting the "Most" Central Park in Singapore (3KM)

A very Big Sign just in case you didn't realize that it is a park
This week, we returned to bishan park, the running playground of big bone guy. To add to the prestige of this event, alcoholic came to join us!! He has been missing in action for the past few months because he claims that he can't wake up so early on a sat morning and is more of a night bird than morning bird. He dropped by this morning because the park is near enough to his home that he was able to just roll off his bed, and stroll over to the park. 

June 2, 2013

New Food Center at Gardens by the Bay


The New food center at Gardens by the Bay

We were back to our usual running spot at Marina Bay this week. With the Pocari Sweat run just 2 weeks away, the Unfit runners are gearing up their fitness to meet the rigorous of the upcoming race. The other reason is probably not to "lose face" as we pant and rant to the end point on the day of the race. 

May 26, 2013

National University of Singapore - The Killer Slopes of NUS

Two days before the normal Saturday Run....

Me, "So where are we running this week?"

Others, " Kent Ridge? Labrador? Marina Bay?"

Me, "We have been going to these places almost every week! Why not try someplace new! NUS?"

The West Ladies, "Okie!"

Me, "What about Bedok Reservoir Park?"

(Silence on Whatsapp group.....)

*Note, most of the ladies stay in the West....

The Sports Complex at NUS using my new iPhone 5 Paranorma function

Woke up to rain and thunder at 6am at my place on the East Side. However, the Western Ladies claims that there is absolutely no drop of rain in their corner of Singapore. Strange Strange weather. My mum looked at me strangely, when I told her I going off for a run, in the middle of a thunderstorm. Shortly after driving pass VIVOcity, the rain stopped... Real Weird...

April 20, 2013

From Chinatown to Tanjong Pagar | From 3rd World to 1st

Sights Along China Town
This week, we explored the historical commercial district of Singapore, the area around Tanjong Pagar and China town. This is not a typical route that an average runner will run and I will only recommend running during early mornings on weekends. There is so many traffic junctions that you need to cross and it is only during weekends, when the traffic is minimal, that you will be able to run across the streets without risk knocking over by a vehicle.

March 30, 2013

Kallang Waterfront - 5 Reasons Why Every Runners Should Pay Kallang a Visit

Kallang Waterfront with the Sun peeking past the horizon
The last time I ran at Kallang Stadium, was an accidental 10KM run which I was not prepared to run. I did not pay much attention to my surroundings because I was busy trying to figure out how to navigate my way back to Suntec City. I was dying from exhaustion too as the furthest I have ran ever was 6km. This time round, I proposed to the Unfit Runners try out the route from National Stadium to Garden By the Bay East.

March 23, 2013

Mount Faber - Slope Training in the Heart of City


Glorious Sunrise from Mt Faber
This week, we decided to do a crazy run.

Seah Im Market car park => Mount Faber => Henderson Wave => Hort park => breakfast at Seah Im market.

We managed to trick the ladies into thinking that it will be an "easy" run.
The run began with a long flight of steps to the top of Mount Faber.
Than a hilly run along the edge of Mount Faber, with the sun rising lazily over the mega structures of the Central Business District.

March 3, 2013

Singapore City Race 2013 - Beer Drinking During A Run is Bad for Health!

The Start Point of the Singapore City Race
The gang were hunting for our usual quarterly, get-our-ass-up-on-saturday-mornings-to-train large scale running event and we encounter the usual, run 5-10KM and a T-Shirt/Singlet runs in the usual running routes. Remember, we need to identify runs that is suitable for all our unfit runners, who comes in different shapes and sizes and aspirations. We finally decided on the Singapore City Race which seems to be the most interesting of the lot.

Accolades

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