Yup, in a few days time, I will be flying off to New York City for the Marathon that will be happening on Sunday.
The recent snow storm that hit NYC really got me worried. Is the marathon going to take place as per normal? Will I get to run?
Well, on the other hand, I am pretty excited to see the the Big Apple in a blanket of snow.
Oh well, it is kind of contradicting but I guess human beings are all like this. ^^V
Where in the world is Mr ACTIVE? We have to find him no matter what!
Thank you SSC for this wonderful goodies bag!
What were in the bag?
Other than Fairprice vouchers, there is a Team Singapore scarf and a I <3 Team Singapore Polo Tee!
I will definitely bring the scarf and polo tee to New York! ^^V
If not for the camp that I attended over the weekend, I would have totally forgotten how much I like to rock climb. I promise when I come back from New York City, I will rock climb as much as possible! ^^
What comes to your mind when I mentioned Bedok Reservoir?
Peaceful?
Greenery?
Water?
Or something else?
Well, a few unfortunate incidents took place here recently and I believed many people start to view this place differently.
I always do my runs here and I will still run here. Not only is it near my home but it is also a place with memories.
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Didn’t get to do much training over the weekend as I was away for a camp. It has been a long while since I did anything like this and it was a really good experience – made new friends and opened my horizon.
Come to think of it, I did so much of these outdoor stuff all the time. Because of work, ya ya ya… I know it is just an excuse, I have spent less time of it.
I hope that the trip to Mount Everest will be a good start to do all these outdoor activities again.
28th October is the birthday of the Statue of Liberty and she is 125th this year!
To commemorate her 125th birthday, cameras have been installed in her torch, http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/statueofliberty/?cam=liberty_str
So that means people in Singapore can also ‘see’ the New York Harbour from where the iron lady is standing!
Photo: NYCGO
This is pretty useful, especially the point about taking the subways and buses. So it is something like our system here in Singapore.
A Japanese elderly woman once shared with people on her secret of longevity, “We must be grateful and remember to say THANK YOU to people who helped us.”
I would like to say thanks too!
Thank you very much to Felicia and Tang Ling from Tiger Balm and Ronda from Fulford PR. I bet there are a lot more people involved in sending me to New York City, thank you to you too!
Without you guys, I won’t even be dreaming of running in NYC and now I am actually leaving very very soon.
THANKS!
Photo: Jentytharian.blogspot
Happy Deepavali to all my Indians and Happy holiday to everybody else! Have fun!
Other than myself, there will be 5 other runners from GERMANY who will be representing Team Tiger Balm ACTIVE at the NYC Marathon!
And they are:
Wir sehen uns am Big Apple!
(See you guys at the Big Apple!)
Photos: Tiger Balm Team Blog
I wonder what is inside…
It is from USA and it is…
The Team for Kids singlet!
Photo: ING New York City Marathon
I really like to blog. I like to share with others what I have in mind and I also like to listen to others.
Ok, you may know that I am going to run the NYC Marathon - many thanks to Tiger Balm ACTIVE – and I will be leaving for the Big Apple very very soon. And now, I am super duper excited that the organiser has chosen my blog as one of the few blogs to cover the marathon.
Isn’t that cool?
I can’t wait to run the NYC marathon!
If it’s not fun, why do it? ^^V
Photo: McDonald’s Singapore
Congratulations to Mr Sanka!
He found the crucial game label, SENTOSA COVE, and walked home with $80,000!!!
How I wish I could find that game label before he did. But well, I don’t really like to eat McDonald’s, so it is just not worth it.
Or is it so?
I saw this video some time back and it is definitely something inspiring to push me forward.
As I prepare for the NYC Marathon, I am looking at the stories of people who run marathons.
Do you need a reason to run a marathon?
Yue Yue, two year-old, was ran over by two vehicles in Foshan, Guangdong, PRC. 18 passer-bys walked passed her and none attempted to move her away or called for help.
A rubbish collector, the 19th passer-by to see Yue Yue on the floor, eventually moved her to the side and called for help. Unfortunately, Yue Yue’s injuries were too serious and she didn’t make it.
As for the rubbish collector, she also left Foshan as she couldn’t take the attraction on her. There were even people who felt that she helped Yue Yue because she wants to be famous and maybe get some money from somewhere.
It is unfortunate to see fellow human beings behaving like this. I seriously hope that our society will not degrade till this level. No matter how competitive we are, how results orientated we are, we should always spare a thought for one another.
RIP Yue Yue.
Supermodel Christy Turlington will be running the NYC Marathon too. Hope I get to see her along the route. ^^V
Source: XinMSN
Great, you've signed up for a big race but do you have any idea how to complete it in a way that won’t leave
you suffering for days afterwards? Below are a few key points you can use to put in place the structure you
need to reach your goal.
1. Determine Your Current Fitness Level
Most physicians check a few key metrics when you go for your annual check-up. Blood pressure, heart rate and
temperature among others depending on your age and medical history. Similarly, there are a couple of key
things you should measure if you want to know your current physical fitness:
a. Lactate Threshold – Whenever you exercise at light intensities, your body produces and clears lactate acid.
As the intensity increases there comes a point when you are no longer able to clear it and it overflows into
your bloodstream where it will quickly fatigue your muscles. The goal of training is to improve your ability
to clear lactate acid at higher and higher intensities over time. The lactate threshold test is a 30 minute test
consisting of 5 x 5 minute stages each at increasing intensity. During the 1 minute rest between each stage, a
small finger prick blood sample is taken and analysed. From this your lactate threshold and training intensity
heart rate zones can be established.
b. Fuel Efficiency – Fat provides twice as much energy per gram as carbohydrate and you can store 50,000
calories of fat in the body while only 2,500 calories of carbohydrate. By improving your body’s ability to use fat
as energy, you will not only be able to manage your weight effortlessly, you will be able to maintain a higher
pace for longer time. The fuel efficiency test is a 20 minute test that looks at how your body uses energy and
from this your ideal heart rate range for burning fat can be established.
2. Plan Early
Your success lies in coming up with (and executing) an effective training plan. A marathon training plan should
be from 16 – 20 weeks in duration, depending on your experience level and should have a minimum of 4 runs
per week for beginners through to 6 runs per week for more experienced runners. Will you fail if you don’t
apply these numbers? No, not necessarily, but your chances of becoming injured, ill or not racing at your best
go up dramatically. Ask for the help of a coach or more experienced runner if you are not confident to put a
plan together yourself.
3. Train the Right Intensity at the Right Time
This may surprise you, but a marathon is not a “fast” event. Even for the elite running under 2 hr 10 mins, this
is not a fast pace compared to what they can run for 5km or 10km. You need to reflect this in your training and
only show your body the pace at which you hope to complete the event. Any faster, and your body will not
understand what you want it to do. Your body is a machine so it is up to you to programme it correctly.
4. Get Comfy Gear
A marathon is a long distance and the training is tough. Be sure that you invest in the right gear so that you are
as comfortable as possible during training and the event. Here are a few things you will need:
a. Shoes – Make sure that you invest in a good quality pair of running shoes that suit your foot type. If you are
unsure on your foot type there is plenty of information online and you can ask the sales assistant at your local
shop (although take their advice carefully)
.
b. Socks – Having a good pair of socks will help reduce the chances of blisters and abrasions.
c. Shorts & Singlet - Choose something with minimal seams so that you avoid abrasions and for guys, the dreaded bloodied nipples.
d. Heart Rate Monitor - A heart rate monitor may be the best investment you ever make but only if you know
how to use it. Generic formulas to calculate heart rate are not effective so make sure you invest in a round of
testing (see point 1 above) to establish your ideal training intensity zones.
5. Warming up and cooling down
Whenever you are taking part in any sport warming up before and cooling down after are two vitally important
parts exercise to ensure against sustaining any injury. When competing in such an intense activity like the
marathon this is of greater significance as your body is enduring a continued strain for a prolonged period of
time, so adequate preparation and cool down is vital to make sure you do not sustain any injury.
a. Warm up – This is done to prepare your body for the activity you are about to undertake. The warm up
should focus on the muscles that are about to be used in the physical activity. Tiger Balm ACTIVE Muscle
Rub is best used to help warm up the muscles as it helps the muscle prepare for intense activity by slowly
warming it up along with the stretching.
b. Cool Down – This is done to ease the body from intense exercise to a state of resting or near resting. It helps to remove cramps and stiffness that may set in after exercise. Tiger Balm ACTIVE Gel is scientifically designed to help combat fatigued muscles and aids recovery by providing relief for muscle aches.
After N years, we finally have a Singapore site for Youtube. The icon is simple and yet representative. I mean, which other country has a Merlion?
Do you use whatsapp?
I think you should try LINE too!!
You can make free voice calls to friends who are using the same app.
Cool, right?
Think you know how to tie your shoelaces? Well, I do have a tip that you may want to consider. I mean, one of the worse things that runners (or rather I) hate would be to have the shoelaces coming loose during a run.
So, how do I do it?
It is very simple. All you need to do is to double twist the free ends together before tying the knot.
Believe it or not, it WORKS!!!!
Try it yourself!
Fortunately for us, we managed to secure a FairBooth during B&J’s ChunkFest 2011!! We were raising fund for Boys Town as they really need the Moo-lah to build a new hostel for the boys.
Our booth’s name was “Share A SMILE” and we sold traditional toys, soft toys, tee shirts and lots of balloons.
So while we were getting our FairBooth ready, B&J’s peeps were briefing their platoon of volunteers. They really got a lot of help! ^^
It is only during ChunkFest then can we try out flavours that are usually not available in Singapore. They got to be flew in all the way from Vermont, USA – Vermont’s Finest!
There were many games for people to try such as the “Pin the Pint” (putting the pieces together while being blindfolded) and “Pint Dunkin” (if the ball hit the metal rod, somebody is going to get wet).
There were music throughout the whole event and you know what, they were performed by local bands. Cool huh… Other than enjoying the ice creams, we got entertained by local talents!
B&J’s merchandise were also on sales! Oh man… they were MOO-ly good!!!
Presenting one of the teams for the VERMONSTER CHALLENGE –
Team FUZZY WUZZY!!!
Well, one of my team mates, Ben, injured himself while preparing for the challenge. Hopefully he recovers soon.
We didn’t win. The team who won finished the 20 scoops in 1 minute 13 seconds = 73 seconds. I have no idea how they did it but COWGRATULATIONS!!!!
15,000 people visited ChunkFest 2011 and I am now looking forward to ChunkFest 2012 already.
Ending with a quote by Jerry,
