101°E 3°N

Taking baby steps...

2005-09-30T21:30:00.000+08:00

Second time I have run this week. Went round a rectangular loop which I thought was about 8km (from rough estimation on the map). Legs can't really remember how to run, hence felt a bit tight at the start. By the time I got to the final edge, I knew it was short of 8km. I don't think I am in the sort of form to do 30' 8kms! Had to add on a small detour but still finished in around 35'. I say around 7km and keep the change...

Location 31°N 120°E

A new start?

2005-08-27T17:55:00.000+08:00

Went to a bike race today (to race, not to watch). Being a proper runner is but a fleeting memory.

More interestingly, have been trying out anonymous proxy servers to get round the Great Firewall of China. This is because www.blog-city.com is also now blocked here. I've had some success and that's why I can now post here again. I shall try to keep this updated once again.

Many stories to tell...

Location 31°N 120°E

So long and thanks for all the fish

2005-08-11T22:44:00.000+08:00

Haven't been updating this since February. Lots of excuses for this. One major reason is that all *.blogspot.com sites are blocked from China, meaning that I can't even see, much less update, my own site since my move to Suzhou in late April!! I know, still doesn't totally explain the lack of posting from February.

So I shall be moving everything to a new site which is hopefully not blocked. I have checked and it isn't blocked (yet?). Go there for new updates. Currently there is just a test post and a test photo.

I am going to do a bit more testing when I get to China tomorrow and if all goes well it will go live soon...

Location 3°N 101°E

Last day on the treadmill

2005-02-19T06:02:00.000+08:00

Didn't have enough time to run this morning. It was very cold outside and it snowed again last night. Probably couldn't really have ran outdoors as the pavements were covered in a thick layer of snow. Got back to the hotel after a full day working and ran on the treadmill again.

Yes it is so boring. To keep going I had to play mind games with myself, first pretending that I was going to stop at 6k, then 8k but finally ended up doing 10k in about 46 minutes. Did 5:00/k for about 8 minutes to warm up, then the rest of the way at 4:23/k with the last couple of minutes at 4:08/k, then a quick warmdown. Wasn't breathing very hard for the whole session, just slowly going crazy from having nothing to look at despite the TV being on (can't really hear it).

View outside the window

Location 44°N 93°W

Outside in the snow

2005-02-18T05:16:00.000+08:00

Did my first run outside on this trip. Just about getting light at 6:30am when I set off. It snowed yesterday morning so there was plenty of snow around (at least for me) especially where it had been piled up by snowploughs. Ran along a long straight road on the pavement. Pavement was mostly clear of deep snow with only a thin layer of compacted snow. Traction was fine on these. Problems arise when there is a dark patch with no apparent snow. These areas are potential areas for slippy slidy ice.

Ran for around 17 minutes along the wide 4 lane road past some houses, a couple of very big malls until the pavement disappeared under a thick layer of snow. After some searching I gave up and turn round to go back. Don't want to risk stepping into a big drain which is hidden by snow. Did a small extra loop near the hotel to make it 40 minutes along a residential streets. Houses round here are usually made from wood, pretty typical to what you see in some American movies.

Didn't feel too cold even though I think it must have been below freezing. Not being windy probably helped too. Had a medium weight long sleeve jersey and running tights with a windproof top over the jersey.

Location 44°N 93°W

On the treadmill

2005-02-16T04:51:00.000+08:00

Missed breakfast this morning as I was getting picked up at 7:30am from the hotel but got delayed at the gym. Had to wait for people to finish their workout on the treadmill before I could get on. I wouldn't call it a workout as he was going so slowly that he might as well go out for a morning walk. Should have gone for a run outdoors as it is still unseasonably warm (above freezing) outside with the pavements being free from snow. Ended up doing about 8 minutes of warmup at 5:00/k and then 5x (2:30 @ 4:25/k + 2:30 @ 3:45/k). It was hard as I always find running on a treadmill more difficult than running outside.

Location 44°N 93°W

Hello America

2005-02-15T06:47:00.000+08:00

Finally got to the hotel at about 8pm last night after the BMI flight into Chicago was delayed, causing me to miss the connecting American Airlines flight back over the lakes to upstate New York. This made it an 18 hour day from leaving home this morning.

Flew over Newfoundland and Quebec in Canada before crossing over the great lakes to land in Chicago. The part of Canada that we flew over was covered in snow. However, the landscape was quite different compared with Siberia. Had a very unique light meal before landing in Chicago. It was several little sweet and savoury pastries on a nice glass serving plate. Tasted nearly as good as it looked.

Over Quebec in Canada

Small Treats

Weather here is far warmer than expected, probably just around freezing at night. Hotel had a good gym, good at least in terms of treadmills. There were two heavy duty treadmills which have maximum speeds of over 16km/h. More than enough for me. Did about 10k on it this morning in around 48 minutes. Played with different speeds (from 4:20-5:00/k) to keep me occupied as it was so boring.

First day of visit to operating site here. Should be an interesting week.

Location 44°N 93°W

On the way to the airport...

2005-02-13T18:03:00.000+08:00

Left home at 0700 this morning to drive to Manchester Airport to catch the 1050 flight to Chicago. There was a warm glow on the eastern horizon with the remnant lights of a few bright stars still just about visible. Little did I know what I would be driving through in about 20 minutes time.

Driving past the west side of Birmingham on the M5 it started raining. The rain started getting heavier but it wasn't big splotches of water. The view from the windscreen started to resemble a room where several feather-filled pillows had exploded. Big flakes of snow filled the air. Beginning to feel the highly variable traction under the tyres of the car. The grip was especially poor in the outside lane. By this time I had slowed down to a sensible speed for the conditions and stayed in the middle to inside lane where it was just water rather than a slushy mixture.

Before long there were blue flashing lights ahead where a police patrol vehicle had stopped because a car was stuck on the inside barrier facing the wrong way. It must have lost traction somehow and spun round. There was another similar incident a bit further down the motorway, and then another. This went on for a bit and I must have counted at least 4 more. Pretty scary. Maybe they were driving far too quick for the conditions.

Just as quickly as it started, the snowstorm ended. It must have been a wave of cloud passing through. Bright morning sunshine again ahead. Got to Manchester Airport with plenty of time to spare. Refueled and dropped off the hire car (Peugeot 307, not very exciting to drive so no review) only to get stuck in a slow moving queue at check in...

Location 53°N 2°W

Keep it moving

2005-02-10T17:08:00.000+08:00

Did what should have been a nice 1 hour run today over a decent route. However, what spoiled it a bit was the lingering remnants of Tuesday training in the legs. Didn't have the normal smoothness and had to put in a bit more of an effort but I survived.

Location 53°N 1°W

Short and sharp

2005-02-09T04:44:00.000+08:00

10x80m + 6x150m + 10x80m all with very little recovery... It was HARD. Not the sort of hard training that I like. Didn't feel too hard at the start of the sessions but it gradually hits you. Towards the end legs feel like jelly and throat burning from the cold air. It was by a sweets factory too so had to contend with the smell of mint in the air.

Location 53°N 1°W

Horizontal on the pavement

2005-02-04T05:56:00.000+08:00

Led the usual Thursday group on a route of my choice. We usually take turns to choose the route. A bit of an up and down route, with two long hills. A bit like running around the 15k Lake Gardens route in KL. Except that the area around Lake Gardens are far more pleasant than this route which goes through some less salubrious areas of Sheffield. Perhaps not a good way to go if you are a slow runner on your own. Not from the threat of violence of course, more from the shouting and abuse you might get from youngsters.

Anyway, went over the first hill, downhill for a bit, and then started on the second long hill. Nice evening, not too cold, no breeze, and more importantly my knee was fine. Despite regrouping every now and then, gaps were beginning to open up by now. Having reached the top of the second (and final) hill in the front, I turned back down the hill to meet up with the tailenders. They were a long way behind. The rest just continued on their way while I finally met the last two people and ran with them up the hill again.

Going along at a nice easy pace and chatting about the likes of Bekele losing a recent indoor 3000m race because he miscounted the laps. Next moment I realised I was heading for the pavement. It's those moments when things happen so quickly that there is no thinking involved, just instinct. In a flash it was over. I must have slid a little bit along my chest, face down but my hands did not touch the pavement too much. Not even the smallest scrape on my chin. Quickly got back up and felt sore on the bottom end of my left palm and right elbow. Checked other places for damage. Perhaps a bit of skin loss on the right knee (thanks to the tights) and a little nick on my right palm. Luckily nothing serious. Looks like I tripped over a big piece of stone (probably about 40cm x 20cm x 20cm) which had fallen off the side wall onto the middle of the pavement. The two other guys moved the stone out of the way and asked how I was.

Well I was good enough to resume running whilst going through the checklist that one makes after falling down to estimate the damage, a bit like an insurance estimator. Looks like no major damage but will hurt quite a bit in the shower. Damn!! What's the funniest thing about it? Apparently the group ahead saw the rock and avoided it while making a comment that someone could really trip over it. Why didn't they stop and move it? Maybe they thought that no one would be clumsy enough. It was a wonderful run though if it wasn't for the accident.

One piece of advice. If you are falling down, a natural reaction is to stick the hands out. However, this may be a bad idea if speeds involved are high because you could damage your wrists or break you arm. On the other hand, if your shoulder hits the ground hard enough, you might break your collarbone (scapula). Many cyclists get this injury but I haven't heard of a runner doing it to himself. Injuries caused by scraping along the ground are usually not very deep but look a lot worse than they really are due to the area. And yes, it does sting like hell in the shower...

Location 53°N 1°W

The sweet taste of hills

2005-02-02T06:23:00.000+08:00

It was fartlek training today. Fartlek doesn't refer to any bodily function. It is merely a Swedish (I think) word meaning "speed play". And so it was, a good fun session which I like. It involves running fairly easily and then putting in several hard efforts as you wish. In this case it is when the coach wishes. A coach with over 20 years experience in coaching long/middle distance runners (most notably the 4th place finisher in the Olympic marathon in Athens 2004 and Sydney 2000 in his younger days, also another runner who has done 61' in a hill half marathon) and a good runner in his own right (just sneaked under 40' in recent 10k, will be 60 in a few months).

Starts off with a bit of a warmup, a moderate run on flat roads along the valley. Effort for 400m. "Recovery" if you could call that is up a fairly steep hill which is about 600m long, a bit more recovery on a rare bit of flat road. Hard for 100m flat then round a sharp bend for about 100m uphill, recovery down a flight of steps, repeat once. After this it becomes a bit hazy trying to get breath back and clear lactic acid in the legs. It mostly involves jogging on the flat bits and doing hard efforts up long and short hills, some of which pretty steep.

Legs felt a bit weak on some of the flatter bits where the speed demons just went for it. Come to the steep hills I found that I still had a bit of a kick in the tank. Maybe its my lack of weight or something. Just able to find that extra bit on. Managed to overtake someone with a half marathon PB of 75' on a sharp rise and also getting close whenever the road turned skywards. The last effort is probably the longest one and it is flat. Unfortunately my legs were a bit weak by then but could still hold on to finish with a bit of a sprint. Well no, the real ending was bending over with hands on hips gasping for the last bit of cold crisp air. Total distance is around 11km including warmup and cooldown runs.

Don't think I'm a 100% yet. Still a bit light on the flat sprints. But at least its a good session. A large part of running is mental, if you feel right, you will go well. If you believe you are good at a certain aspect, the belief makes you push harder or train more in that particular area. Ah the sweet taste of hills when you feel that you are just floating up them.

Location 53°N 1°W

What's the h*ll is wrong?!

2005-01-31T06:22:00.000+08:00

Went for the Sunday ride with the club. Again did about 90km. Legs still pretending that they have done some hard work recently despite the fact that they clearly haven't. Neither spinning nor pushing gears felt right. At least there were no signs of anything hurting. This must be what overtraining feels like but I haven't really done anything last week. I think I should just give up and vegetate...

Location 52°N 2°W

Running is )^$&^"%

2005-01-29T22:02:00.000+08:00

Original plan was to go out on the canal, run south along the river, cut back across the fields in St Peter and then do a few hills. Legs really sluggish even at the start along the canal. Path next to the river was very muddy and slippery. Slipping and sliding all over the place. Shoes covered in mud felt like they weighted a ton. If I wanted to do mud I would have come in my cross country shoes.

Still couldn't get my legs to wake up in St Peters. Had done about 30 minutes by now and decided to cut the run short and head for home. Didn't think I could last the full distance over the hills. Totally no spring in the step to burst up the sharp little hill past the Little Sauce Factory. Worried about my knee so again took it easier on the downhill.

Practically crawled up the last steep bit to the apartment for a 45 minute run. Running is sh*t! I hate running!

Location 52°N 2°W

Another plain old run

2005-01-28T04:00:00.000+08:00

Usual Thursday evening run with the club. It was starting to drizzle slightly when we set off. Thought of going back to the car to get a rain jacket but decided not to bother in the end. Regretted it in the first few minutes as it got progressively colder. I didn't know which route we were taking today, but I wasn't bothered anyway. I just want to hide in the back and get pulled round by the group.

Still a bit of heaviness in the legs. Don't exactly know why as I haven't been running all that much. Have felt this for quite a while, indeed since my IT-band first started acting up. Coming up to a mild uphill. Grovelled up the hill feeling sh*t but still overtook almost everyone. Regrouped and continued on near the back.

Foot of the big hill. Think light feet and float up the hill. Quads a little bit more tired than usual but still breathing well. Started pulling away without trying all that hard. I cannot believe this - everyone must be taking it really easy. Got to the top and turned round to jog back to "collect" everyone. Not huge gaps but certainly gaps have opened up.

Long downhill to follow. Now I am taking it extremely easy in constant fear of the soreness that might resurface on the outside of my left knee. I can just about sense it in the background, trying to make an appearance. I wish the uphill could go on forever, just continue climbing up and up.

Got back to the club in around 46 minutes. A bit shorter then I expected. Hoping for something closer to 1 hour. Doesn't matter. Tomorrow is the last working day of the week. Yay!!

Location 53°N 1°W

Running at 2am in the morning, or so my body tells me

2005-01-26T05:34:00.000+08:00

Landed at Manchester Airport at around 1530 after an 11 hour flight from Shanghai to Copenhagen, 90 minute stopover at Copenhagen Airport and then a further 90 minute flight. Got through immigration, collected my bag and was out by 1600. Found the car at the car park with no problems this time. Yes I now take great care in noting down where my car is at airport long term car parks having spent nearly 30 minutes trying to track it down once in freezing cold rain.

The sky was a leaden shade of grey, the sort where it seems to make everything else dull. Traffic was fairly bad and it was nearly 1700 by the time I arrived in Glossop at the foot of the Snake Pass. Just noticed through the gloomy drizzle that it wasn't totally dark. It is now just over 1 month since the shortest day of the year when it gets pitch black at around 1600. At least the days are getting longer now.

Had a nice drive up the sweeping bends of the Snake Pass, getting stuck behind a slow driver for a bit. This was quickly rectified through the long straight section at the summit. A quick glance at the horizon, drop it into third, foot down, pull back in to the left, dab on the brakes to set up for the sharp right at the end. Down the sharp bends on the other side, lightly touching the brakes before each corner, taking care not to be too heavy on the pedals on the roads glistening with moisture.

Didn't take too long to get into Sheffield. Well I suppose time passes quickly when you are enjoying yourself. Dropped my bags off at the B&B, had a quick chat, got changed into running kit and was back in the car to get to Hillsborough for 1800. I should really run down to the club but hey it's been a long day and it takes nearly 15 minutes to run back, the last 10 minutes of which is uphill.

The session today is 3 sets of 3 efforts consisting of about 400m (last 200m uphill), short recovery, about 800m, short recovery and finally about 600m (last 200m uphill), making it 9 efforts in total. Felt a bit slow on the 10 minute jog out to the hill. Probably jetlag or just plain stiff from having being on the long flight.

Took the first effort fairly steadily to gauge how I am feeling. Hmmm maybe I am not feeling too bad as I am still about where I normally stand in the pecking order. The finish never seemed to appear for the first long 800m effort. Legs were a bit uncoordinated for running fast on the flat. Was certainly gasping hard at the end of the fast section. Floated the first part of the 600m effort, then turning on a bit of a kick on the uphill section. 1 down 2 to go. And so it continued. I felt a bit better on subsequent sets except during the recoveries where I was worried that the light meal on the flight over from Copenhagen would revisit itself.

Finally finished everything feeling a bit more tired than usual. Not really in the physical lactic acid sense, more like a general dullness of mind. Hey it is about 0300 in the morning where I started the journey from so it is hardly surprising. Should be able to get a good night's sleep in tonight. I find that getting a good first night's sleep in does wonders for jetlag.

Location 53°N 1°W

Long way round

2005-01-22T07:37:00.000+08:00

I am sat in the airport in Hongkong waiting for a connecting flight to Taipei. It has been a really long day which started with waking up at around 0630 and won't end until way past 0200 tomorrow morning when I land in Taipei.

No direct flights between the two sides means taking a big detour via Hongkong. It takes around 5-6 hours in total for Shanghai to Taipei. If direct flights are allowed, it would be around 90 minutes. To understand how much air traffic there is, there are around 300 flights daily between Taipei and Hongkong (and they don't fly 24 hours a day).

Over the Lunar New Year period there will be "direct" flights to get people back. However, "direct" is still not direct because I believe the planes still have to fly over Hongkong to maintain a pretense of no direct contact between the two sides.

Hongkong Airport ---------------- Pudong Airport (Shanghai)

Location 22°N 114°E

Meetings and traffic

2005-01-21T07:15:00.000+08:00

Had a great night sleep and got through the day without any apparent jetlag. No running on this trip. Want to make sure that my IT-band recovers properly. Interviews this morning in Suzhou, meetings in Shanghai in the afternoon. Went to a Xinjiang (a big province in the far west of China, predominantly Muslim) restaurant in Shanghai for dinner. Mmmmm lots of good lamb, big leg of lamb.

Had a lot of trouble getting a taxi to go back to Suzhou at around 2130 because it seems that many taxis in Shanghai are not allowed to go out of the city after a certain time at night. Just when we thought we might have to spend an expected night in Shanghai, a taxi turned up and took us back.

The ride back good as there wasn't much on the roads which was a change from the usual. Traffic in China is pretty chaotic. There appears to be no concept of give way and right of way. It just seems to be a case of whoever gets a nose ahead wins. Pedestrians and cyclists cross in front of traffic. Vehicles of all kinds move too close to one another. The only saving grace is that cyclists move very slowly so there is less chance of serious injury when they are knocked down.

Location 31°N 120°E

What time is it?

2005-01-20T06:27:00.000+08:00

Landed at Shanghai airport this morning about 0745 local time after an 11 hour flight, so my body thinks its just around midnight. Managed to catch some sleep on the way. Just what I need for the day ahead.

Queues in arrival were fairly short for this time in the morning so I breezed through all the formalities and was out of the airport within around 20 minutes. A big difference from my last trip when it took over an hour just to get through immigration at around midday because lots of big planes landed within an hour of one another.

Got on a taxi to get to the centre of Shanghai. Traffic was flowing well until we got into town. Made a few calls to work out where everyone was. Got to the hotel where we were having the meeting. Everyone turned up within about 10 minutes so we started early at around 0915.

It was a meeting with contractors to sort out the technical details of furnaces and negotiate the price. Some areas went very well while others we a bit like pulling teeth out slowly. The last sticking point was basically price for one of the two sets. With a bit of haggling, sweet talk as well as some give and take, everything was completed at around 1600 amidst much stamping of documents and signatures. Well we have now made a commitment to buy several furnaces. Hope they turn out fine...

Need to catch some sleep now to get rid of jetlag.

Location 31°N 120°E

Snow traffic

2005-01-19T07:42:00.000+08:00

Bl**dy hell. Snow overnight in northern England. Just what I need when I have to get to Manchester airport to catch a 0950 flight. Heard on the radio that radio that Snake Pass and Woodhead Pass (roads between Sheffield and Manchester) are both closed. Luckily I decided to stay in Worcester overnight instead of in Sheffield.

Traffic was good for the first 80% of the journey north up the M6 motorway until close to Manchester. Everyone then slowed down because it was snowing lightly. Got to the junction to turn onto the M56 and everything ground to a halt. Split decision to get back onto the M6 to continue on north and turn off at the next junction to get to the airport via small roads.

The country roads were a bit slippery but otherwise fine. Was feeling rather pleased wih myself until I got stuck again... It was stop-start for over 30 minutes and I felt time ticking away. Am I going to miss the flight and hence the next connecting flight in Copenhagen?

Got there eventually, parked the car and got to the counter with around 1 hour before takeoff time which was plenty. Had a walk round the shops in departure but the only thing I bought was a book. Airport duty free shopping is so overrated (especially soules Dubai). Nothing really useful to buy, and quite often you can get electronic / PC items cheaper on the net anyway.

10 minutes before takeoff time but still no sign of the plane. Where the h*ll is the plane? Only have 45 minutes transfer time in Copenhagen. Eventually the plane turned up and got me to Copenhagen about 1 hour late. As it turned out, the connecting flight to Shanghai will also be about 1 hour late so I still had a chance.

When I saw the plane for the next flight, it had one of the engine cowlings open (SAS A340 with 4 CFM56 engines) with people working on it. Hopefully it isn't something related to the thrust reversers. Thrust reversers are deployed only during landing to slow the plane down (basically blow some air from the engine in the opposite direction). Not good if they accidentally deploy in flight as this results in severe damage to the wing (has been the cause of a few crashes).

Anyway, once everything was cleared we were on our way. Same old routine of switch off (Blackberry and phone), click in (seat belt) and settle down (peace and quiet). Business class was full (about 54 seats). This has often been the case on recent flights to China, perhaps an indication of the number of people wanting to go there.

Location - Somewhere over Siberia

Odd effect of cycling

2005-01-16T23:11:00.000+08:00

Still a tiny bit of soreness when I woke up this morning but only when the knee is bent at around 30°. Very typical sign of the IT band syndrome. Strangely it doesn't really hurt during cycling, which is what I decided to do today. If I feel it get worse I would probably turn back home. Anyway I am planning to have a week off because I'm travelling in a couple of days.

Went out with the usual Sunday group. It was a warm winter's day with some sunshine. Some areas were quite mucky from the past few days of rain which had washed the soil from the field onto the road. Got sprayed by the wheel in front despite mudguards. Face covered with spots and had a big brown patch running all the way up from overshoes to the knee. In the winter it is common practice for cyclists to wheel out the "winter training bike" which is usually an older/cheaper frame and fitted with mudguards. This saves wear and tear on the good bike for when the weather is better.

Legs felt rather sluggish. Unlikely to be due to the IT band unless it is causing me to change my pedalling stroke. A very short climb on a bad surface to get to the cafe stop. Had to engage bottom gear but still got up ok by spinning. Got cloudier and very windy on the way back. It is disconcerting when you are going along a wall or hedge and suddenly get to an opening such as a gate. You get a sharp sideways knock from the wind. Legs got progressively heavier as I got nearer to home. I know the feeling - just on the edge of blowing up. Still managed to ride up the steep hill to the apartment, very slowly though.

I don't have a computer on the winter bike. Didn't even use a heart rate monitor today. Just a simple winter ride to get a few miles in and spin the legs. I think it was around 90km. Had a second lunch at home. Eat eat eat. Usually feel very hungry after cycling but not after running. Perhaps I am not running for long enough to deplete glycogen stores and activate the feeding instinct. Strangely the IT band has stopped hurting after the ride. Very odd!!

Location 52°N 2°W

Puncture...

2005-01-15T06:05:00.000+08:00

What sh*t luck. Got a puncture on my rear right tyre on the way to a meeting today. Even better, my boss was riding in the car with me. We did a 10 minute tyre change. Not as fast as the F1 teams but still pretty good. Yep it was a funny sight two men in white shirts and ties stood by the side of a motorway rolling tyres around, turning the jack and undoing wheel nuts. At least we knew what we were doing as we are both engineers... Was going to be on time but ended being about 20 minutes late. Part of this was due to the spare tyre being a "special" which was limited to 80km/h. Why not a full sized spare in this car (at least better than some cars like the Mini with no spare)?

My car is slowly falling apart. Having 120,000 miles (nearly 200,000km) on the clock may have something to do with it. The CV joint on the left front wheel is a bit knackered, setting up vibrations between 64-80km/h (40-50mph) and 96-110km/h (60-70mph). Well I'll just have to drive faster than 110km/h to avoid it then. As long as it gets me to the end of March... The meeting went great. However, I will not be in charge of maintenance in the new factory.

Location 52°N 2°W

Sore IT band

2005-01-13T04:20:00.000+08:00

Got out of the car after arriving back from work today. Felt a bit of a dull pain on the outside of my left knee when I bent it. FAK!!!! I know this feeling. It's my unwelcome friend the iliotibial band. Took a couple of months off in early 2003 because of it. Looks like I have to take some time off...

Location 53°N 1°W

Up hill and down hill

2005-01-12T07:14:00.000+08:00

Today's run with the Hallamshire Harriers in Sheffield was 8x hard up a hill and jog down for recovery. The hill takes about 1:30 to run (probably around 400m) and steepens slightly for the last 1/3 after it goes under a railway bridge.

A bit worried that my legs would still be tired from Sunday but they weren't too bad. Legs felt a bit heavier towards the end of each set but I could still hold form and pace fairly well. Didn't really "kick" hard on any of the sets.

It takes about 10 minutes to get to the hill which serves as a nice little warmup. Was amongst the first to finish all 8 sets (two faster runners did more sets) and ran back to the club house with a fell running (racing up and down hills/mountains) specialist a bit quicker than on the way out.

Location 53°N 1°W

Gloucester New Year 10 mile

2005-01-10T05:04:00.000+08:00

Didn't plan to do the 10 mile (16.1km) race today. Got chatting to Mike, a good running mate of mine during one of the runs with my old club over Christmas and got talked into doing it. Went to bed last night still undecided. Got up about 15 minutes before 9am and finally chose to race rather than go out on the bike. It was a grey overcast day and rather windy too.

Toasted a bagel and tried to sort out my kit in the meantime. Where is the stuff that I need? Decided to race in the white shiny pair of NB234 from the shop in BB Plaza instead of my ultralight blue suede shoes due to the distance. Luckily it wasn't raining so I won't get the white shoes dirty - what a poser! Stuck hand out of the window to check temperature (yes very unscientific but it works). Probably ok for shorts with long sleeve jersey. I have heard somewhere that keeping your arms and hands warm allows more blood to go to the legs where they are needed. Don't know whether this is true but seems to work for me.

Supposed to meet up at 9am to go out in three cars. Hardly surprising to get there about 10 minutes late. Sorry guys... Race was going to start at 11am so no big rush. Already a bit busy at event HQ when we got there. Nearly managed to twist my ankle on my way to signing on (yes entry on the day is allowed). What an idiot I would be if I actually did it. Stood there yakking for a while before deciding that it might be a good idea to warmup before the start. Warmup consisted of a bit of jogging around and stretching - hardly a full proper one.

Fairly simple tactics today. Planned to run with Tony who did 67 minutes for 10 miles a couple of weeks ago. I thought 7 minute miles (4:21/km) would be pretty hard to sustain over this distance. I am notoriously bad at underestimating my pace - I assume 8 minute miles (5:00/km) as my usual training pace. Hopefully I would survive till past halfway and then make a move.

Was talking to someone and facing the wrong way when the horn went. Eventually started my watch as I crossed the start line. This wasn't a big race, around ??? runners so there wasn't the wall of people that you see at big races. Ran together with my pace maker and start moving up.

There is a short "dogleg" about 1 mile after the start where you turn back around a traffic cone to make up the full 10 miles. As we approached the cone, the leader already had about 20m lead on the rest of the chasing pack. Mike was some way in front of me. Got to the 1 mile marker at 7:17 (maybe a bit of mistake with marker placement). Shouted out the split to Tony and told him to go faster.

Began to pull away from Tony around the 2nd mile. Stuck on to a couple of runners, ran with them for a bit, then overtook them on a slight rise. Could see Mike in the distance. Why isn't the gap closing. Eventually like a fisherman reeling in his catch, I passed several runners who were between me and Mike. Went by Mike around the 4th mile. Saw the time at mile 5 and talked to someone running alongside. Told him that this was my first ever 10 mile race. He replied that he wanted to break 65 minutes. Overtook him at the water station where he paused to get a drink.

Kept going and put in a bit more effort on the little rises. Felt pretty strong and managed to overtake quite a few more people. Mile 6 was a watershed. This was close to my usual race distance of 10km - any further and I was venturing into the unknown (strictly speaking I have raced further than 10km but only offroad / cross country). Tried to work out what 10km time the 6 mile time would equate to in my mind. I find that mental calculations is a good way of passing time during races.

Went past mile 7 without noticing it. Attacked on another slight hill to overtake more runners. Got to the top of the hill straight into a gusty headwind. Arrrggghhh don't look back keep trying. Felt like I was running in mud for a while. Luckily they probably felt the same and didn't catch me back. Started looking for the mile 8 marker with 3 more runners in sight. Got to the two who were on the back (one male one female) on an uphill just after the 8th mile. The one who was in front had started pulling away from them. Ran with the two for a bit and made my move. Bridged up to the runner in front with a decisive surge.

Decision time now. Do I run with him or make a move? Will I blow up if I try to escape now? When in doubt, talk! He asked whether I knew the finish. I said no but the 9 mile marker should be soon... which was also where I decided to make my move. Just past the 9 mile marker which I remember clearly, I upped the pace. Not a sprint no, just a gradual increase to try to drop him. Didn't dare look back but I knew a gap had opened.

Round the last corner. A bit of a headwind. Keep up the smooth flow. No need to sprint yet as the runner in front was too far gone. Keep a bit in reserve in case the one behind did anything. 200m to go, start winding it up and cruise into the finish to stop my watch at 64:37 (official time was 64:42 - so it took me 5s to get to the start line) for 26th place. Quite surprised at the timing - indeed I think I could have gone faster as I didn't feel as ill as I have felt after some 10km races.

Worrying thought - am I better at longer distances? Should I move up in distance? The thought was quickly banished when I realised the increase in mileage required. Probably keep to what I am doing for a while first. The performance may be partly due to an increase in my usual endurance runs to 45-60 minutes, often over hilly terrain. Still not bad for this early in the season. Very happy with the negative split and the amount of overtaking I did (no one overtook me after mile 1). Got complimented on my strong finish by several people I overtook too.

Mile 1: 07:17 (07:17/mile - 4:31/km)
Mile 2: 13:33 (06:16/mile - 3:54/km)
Mile 3: 19:46 (06:13/mile - 3:52/km)
Mile 4: 26:08 (06:22/mile - 3:57/km)
Mile 5: 32:30 (06:22/mile - 3:57/km)
Mile 6: 38:42 (06:12/mile - 3:51/km)
Mile 7: Dreaming
Mile 8: 51:59 (06:38/mile - 4:07/km between 6-8)
Mile 9: 58:21 (06:22/mile - 3:57/km)
Mile 10: 64:37 (06:16/mile - 3:54/km)

See here for full results. Note that the winner ran in the Olympic Marathon in Athens.

Location 52°N 2°W

On the island

2004-12-31T06:59:00.000+08:00

Came to the Isle of Wight yesterday to visit a friend of mine. The island is just off the south coast and is about the size of Singapore. However, there are far fewer people living here and there is a lot more open countryside (with bigger hills as well). The chalk cliff which go along much of the coast often yield fossils ranging from small trilobites to big dinosaurs.

Went for a run this morning with my much better half along the river that cuts through half of the island. There is a path which goes by the river which probably used to be a small railway line. A female runner joined the path a little bit behind us and started catching up. Eventually the other runner overtook us. I thought of upping the pace a bit but my better half decided that it was no point running hard especially as this was supposed to be a easy morning run. This allowed the other runner to open a gap in front.

Before long, the competitive instinct surfaced in my other half (probably warmed-up as well) who started to hold the gap constant. After a few minutes, we began to haul back the runner in front and pretty soon we were right behind here. There comes a point when you have to decide whether to overtake. This is when a multitude of factors go through your head - can I go past decisively, is this going to slow me down a few miles down the road, what happens if the runner hangs on, am I strong enough...

No doubt these thoughts went through the mind of my far better half. She decided to increase the pace and overtake the runner in front. There was no looking back and we left the other runner behind (later turned off the path). Once she got going, there was no stopping the other half. The original plan was to turn back after about 20 minutes but she decided to keep going till the end of the path (the next town) which we reached in just over 30 minutes.

In the end we did about 7 miles in around 62 minutes with the 2nd half around 1.5 minutes slower than the 1st half (nothing to chase and a bit of fatigue). Certain sections feel like you are going through a tunnel made from trees and there are places where we ran along long wooden bridges (like the old bridge next to power station in Klang, now sadly gone). Nice easy run for me, good solid run for the other half. Pretty good for someone who hasn't been running regularly over the past few months (and I don't mean me).

No photos from the run. Instead, say hi to Norton and Cleo, the two "children" who live with my friend on the island. If not for her colour, Cleo resembles Garfield (i.e. needs to be on a diet!).

Cleo & Norton

Location 51°N 1°W

Nearly the North Pole

2004-12-03T07:41:00.000+08:00

The flight back from Beijing took a very northerly route right into the Arctic circle. Had the rare opportunity to see the sun rise twice in a day. The first time was during my early morning 50 minute run in cold foggy Beijing (didn't get to run past Tiananmen Square in the centre as hotel was a bit too far out) and again when the plane turned south on its way to Amsterdam. In between, as the plane turned north, the sun disappeared into the southern horizon. In winter, the sun never really rises north of the Arctic circle.

Siberia is really bleak. Further south it is carpeted by trees with the occasional clearing where some logging had been carried out. As you go north the trees got thinner on the ground to be replaced by more and more snow. A cluster of a few lights indicates a settlement down there. No other lights for the rest of the visible horizon. A long long way to visit the nearest neighbours then. Was it a former gulag workcamp or a mining settlement? Hard to even imagine what life is down there in the ice and snow...

The route north

Frozen river in Siberia : Rainclouds over Holland

Location 52°N 2°W

Running in pitch darkness

2004-12-01T07:37:00.000+08:00

A city of around 3 million people, Guiyang is at around 1000m altitude. There are several parks either side of the centre with peaks that reach 1300-1400m. Decided to go for a run in Qianling Park which is right next to the hotel this morning. After a quick session of trying to memorise the map, I set off for the park. It was still pitch black at 6:15am as I went through the gates. I could just about make out the big path.

It was a simple route. Just head uphill on the big path until it ends. Try to find a smaller path which goes further uphill to get to one of the peaks. I reckoned that it should be just about bright enough to see the views when I get to the top. There were some people already in the park, some of which were doing morning exercises. There were also few who were doing the local traditional "hill singing" in reply to other similarly talented individuals all over the hills.

Got to the end of the big path after about 10 minutes of climbing. The small path was actually some steps leading into the darkness. It was that sort of weather where the rain doesn't actually fall down but just floats in the air, making the steps rather slippery. Wet stone steps and darkness don't mix well with running especially as there is often a drop to one side. Slowed down to a walking pace but the continuous steps were good enough exercise.

Up up and up some more. I am starting to like this. On a big hill in a park in a city where I have never been to. Still hearing the "hill singing" but quite some distance below me now. Got to what should be the top and found a path leading down. Good view down from here, except that it was still a bit dark and I was paying more attention to my feet in case I missed a slimy step.

Back on another big path. The rain had stopped hanging around and started coming down with a bit of a vengence. As I often say, you can't get any wetter once you are wet. Soon I was splashing through puddles in a rush to get back to the hotel where I was supposed to meet colleagues for breakfast at 7:30am.

Flew through the hotel lobby, dripping water and into the lift. Got back to the room and stuck the hairdryer on full into the shoes while I showered. Stuffed them with newspaper to soak up any remaining water and headed down for breakfast. Got a long day ahead with some work to do.

Guiyang cityscape from hotel window

Conical hills all over the place

Location 27°N 107°E

Cool road!

2004-11-30T07:35:00.000+08:00

Arrived in Guiyang in the evening after a 10 hour flight to Beijing and then another 3 hour domestic flight. Guiyang is in Guizhou province in the southwest of China close to the Thai and Burmese border. Flew over a lot of mountains on the way here. Look at the number of hairpin bends on that road. Didn't see it when I took the photo from the air. Wow, I want to know where that is!

Location 27°N 107°E

Harry Potter

2004-11-21T07:31:00.000+08:00

Pretty cold today but no snow in Worcester as it is further south than Sheffield. The snow had mostly melted by evening in Sheffield yesterday anyway. Drove down to Gloucester for a look round. Amazing that we have never been to Gloucester as it is about 25 miles downriver from Worcester, nearly at the point where the River Severn widens into the sea. It has a cathedral just like Worcester but not as old. The cathedral cloister is reknown for its intricate ceiling. Indeed it was used in the Harry Potter movies (The main hall of Hogwarts is actually in Christchurch College in Oxford).

Ceiling and stained glass windows in cloister

Location 52°N 2°W

Running in a winter wonderland

2004-11-20T07:27:00.000+08:00

There was some snow yesterday. Started off as sleet as I left work, the sort where thin flakes float down from the sky. Got heavier as I drove towards the club for the evening run. The club is down by one of the little rivers in a very hilly city. There was a bit of snow on the ground when I got there but really more like Slurpy ice cream rather than real snow.

It was fairly cold with the snow coming down hard now. Fewer people from the usual group turned up and we decided to go for a shorter than usual run just in case it got too hairy. Going up a hill, contour around for a bit and back down again. Pretty simple run for around 45 minutes.

A bit cold for the first few minutes despite the windtop with hood over a long sleeve jersey. Luckily it wasn't very slippery as it was just above freezing. Felt much better as we started climbing. Unconsciously one would go harder than normal to keep the body temperature up but I had to make sure that no one got left behind. The temperature dropped as we went higher. The snow was now crunching under our shoes, big snowflakes reflecting the streetlights like sparkling falling leaves and each breath was a puff of white smoke.

One great thing about running in December is the Christmas lights some people put up on their houses. Yes this is still November but there are "kiasu" people who already have decorations on. No extravagant affairs with hundreds of lights yet tonight, still too early in the season.

Soon it was time to start the descend into the "warmth" of the valley below. There was a significant change in the conditions underfoot from fresh hard snow into slush again. This has been a good real life demonstration of how temperature drops as you go up in altitude. The freezing level must have been just above the altitude down below the valley to give such a difference in just a few miles.

Finished the run, get changed, back into the car and off to where I often stay in Sheffield, a nice little B&B down the Rivelin Valley...

Next morning at Quarry House

Location 53°N 1°W

Along the river

2004-11-15T07:18:00.000+08:00

Shafts of sunlight shining through gaps in the cloud. A nice autumn's day. Went down by the river to take a few photos. The river puts on it's smartest clothes when it flows past the town centre, just like people do when they go into town for a night out, all manicured and smart. Totally unlike its usual self just a couple of miles upstream and downstream of here where it flows past open fields with cows or just clumpy grass. I love running along the river, from the countryside into civilisation and back into the countryside again. Haven't done that recently as I've been up north during the week and lazy to go for long runs on weekends...

River Severn, swans and Worcester Cathedral

A bird, a plane... No it's just a train

Location 52°N 2°W

Shanghai after 4 years

2004-11-11T06:02:00.000+08:00

Landed in Shanghai today after a good flight on Virgin Atlantic where I was upgraded to Upper Class. Mmmmm nice seats which nearly lie flat to sleep in - had my best ever sleeping experience on a flight. Horrendous queues at immigration. Looks like everyone is trying to get into Shanghai today. Could also be due to 4 large planes which landed at about the same time. Took about 1 hour to get through to collect my luggage. 1st time I have been to Shanghai since 2000 - lets see how the city of nearly 20 million people has changed.

Always wanted to try the Maglev from Shanghai airport. Basically its a "train" that floats over a track through magnetism and gets to a maximum speed of 420kph, making a 30km journey in 7-8 minutes. Amazing experience seeing the world go by at that speed on the ground. Unfortunately it does not get you to the centre of the city but instead ends at Longyang Road metro station. Changed over to the clean and efficient metro and got to the Renmin (People's) Square station in about 15 minutes. There are now 3 metro lines in operation with another 4-5 in construction / planned.

Went out for dinner with a couple of friends on mine to what they say is a restaurant serving typical Shanghainese dishes. Nice food with a few interesting bits - goose's feet, for example.

Shanghai by night from hotel window

Location 31°N 121°E

Sorry for the long absence...

2004-10-16T05:40:00.000+08:00

Been on holiday for a week, and then a busy week at work...

Here are a few pictures from early on in the trip.

Location 52°N 2°W

Hard week

2004-10-03T05:17:00.000+08:00

Only managed 2 days of running this week, both around 40' over undulating terrain. Had to get up at 6am to run on both days to hammer out the miles on the pavement in Sheffield. Can't really do off road early in the morning when it is not bright enough to see where you are stepping. Finding it really difficult to get up on Friday morning so I gave running a miss. Felt really bad about it as it was less than 20km this week. Days are getting shorter so I shall soon be running in the dark regardless of whether I run before or after work. Bought a reflective bib in town today to make myself a bit more visible.

It's the start of a new academic year for the universities in Sheffield. Full of young 1st year students which made me feel old. Was my birthday last week - only 2 more years to go before the big 30. Scary stuff, time just flies by. I hope I'm still running well when I am 40. Running a 4 hour marathon is a lot harder than a 2 hour 10 minute one because you are on your feet for so much longer. I really do admire the people who are full of determination and persistence to complete the distance they have set themselves. In my case, I worry that I may stop running when I get old if I cannot do decent times anymore.

Extremely hectic week at work with it being the demonic combination of end of month, end of quarter plus the end of financial year to boot. Everyone rushing around, often like headless chickens to try to get parts ready to ship before 1 Oct to hit the budgeted target. At least I managed to get all the parts which I was responsible for (the top 10 by value) out of the front end processes on time. By Thursday I felt like I needed a break from all this.

Luckily I am on holiday next week to recover. Going to southern Italy near Napoli, the Sorrento peninsular / Amalfi coast to be specific. There there won't be any posts and I am not taking running shoes along either. Will be doing some walking in as the area has wonderful scenary, big hills going into the sea and towns built on cliffs. Flying out with Easyjet tomorrow morning just after 7am. Unfortunately Stansted Airport is about 2 hours drive away so have to get up at around 3am. Time for bed...

Location 52°N 2°W

Not again...

2004-09-28T04:54:00.000+08:00

Small local race today in aid of a small children's hospital which takes care of terminally ill children (I think!). Expected it to be pretty low key as this is the first time it has been organised, except for the £50 prize money for 1st place.

Drove up there in a bit of a rush as I was late waking up and slow at getting everything ready. Packed a pair of cross country shoes as well as a normal pair of running shoes as the route is partly off road. The event HQ was a equestrian centre, not the luxury sort like Kiara, with fields all around it. There were some fields where something had been planted (probably wheat) and been harvested for autumn so there were some sharpish stubble poking out from the soil. Ouch. Hope we don't have to run through those fields.

Looked around during the warmup and couldn't really see any very fast runners except for Trevor and another guy who looked very serious (in terms of running physique, not expression on face). Trevor is usually a sub 37' 10k runner but has been recovering from injury recently. I actually finished 1 place ahead of him in the 4 mile race 2 weeks ago but I'm sure he is getting back to his old form.

My plan was to run with Trevor and he had the same plan too. We just had to keep an eye on any other fast runners and make up a plan as we went. The horn sounded and everyone was off across a ploughed field. It had been dry the past couple of days so the surface was quite hard. The serious-looking runner that we saw shot off into the lead. Tried to go at his pace but it was a bit too quick so I dropped back and went at my own pace. Trevor also did the same.

The lead runner started pulling away into the distance. I was feeling pretty good at this point and was swapping turns on the front with Trevor. Coming round a bend into a junction with a marshall, I was directed past several parked cars. Stupidly I went straight on into a field while the actual route went right up a hill. Damn!! Lost about 10s as I made a quick stop and U-turn to get back on course. Practically sprinted up the hill to catch up with Trevor and I think this is where I lost the plot by trying too hard.

Eventually I found it harder and harder to keep pace with Trevor. Started slipping back bit by bit. The thought of £50 being too far ahead to catch also made it mentally difficult to keep pushing hard. As this is a cross country race with a bit of road thrown in, there was no chance of doing a fast time (and no guarantee that the route was the right distance anyway). A weak mind is one of the worst things to have in a short race as the need to push through the discomfort barrier is an important requirement in these races.

Breathing hard and legs feeling a bit heavy, I finally got to the final section which I recognised from my warm-up / pre-race recce. Up the pace a bit but Trevor was about 100m ahead with insufficient distance to catch him. Managed to do a bit of a sprint for the crowds and finished in a slow time for the quoted distance in 3rd place just under 20s down on Trevor. Sat down for a while to recover but realised my legs didn't feel all that bad.

Trevor concurred with my suspicion that the race was somewhat longer than 5km. The terrain wasn't enough to cause such a big drop in speed. I found out that the guy who was going to walk off with £50 today also won the race I was in last week (Brambles 10k). Well I can't really complain as he did 33' something last week, way beyond my league (and still faster than Trevor even if he was going well).

This is definitely my last race for a while. Need to do a bit more training (which I haven't really done a lot of lately) and perhaps do a few off-road races in late October to November. Recent lack of speedwork is really showing but autumn isn't the time to do it. Better to build up endurance in the colder weather.

Location 52°N 2°W

Runs at dawn

2004-09-25T03:16:00.000+08:00

Been getting up early at 6am the past couple of days to get my dose of running. Mainly due to finishing work late as I was working on the ring mill. The place I'm staying in this week is just wonderful. In the Rivelin Valley, it is next to the path along the river as well as steep roads climbing up either side of the valley.

I've always found getting up early and going straight for a run quite a shock on the system. Far more used to running in the afternoon / evening. Especially when there is a big steep long hill at the start. Yesterday there was just a short flat section before Hagg Hill. I did intentionally want to go up this hard hill as a test. Well all I can say is that it is bl**dy hard especially if you don't pace yourself at the start, which of course I did.

Steep hill at the start...

Today I went up the other side of the valley. The climb wasn't as steep but it was longer and the final altitude somewhat higher. Running up the hill just as the sun was rising over the horizon is a good feeling, seeing the views over Sheffield and the surrounding hills. It was a bit colder and more windy that yesterday though. Luckily a tailwind was blowing along the stretch on the top.

A bigger hill today

In my younger days, I used to avoid these hills. That was when I was at Uni in Sheffield. Just before I stopped running around 10 years ago. My running history is interesting (I was a fat kid) but will save it for some other time. Anyway, despite my increasing age (still the right side of 30, thankfully) and loss of hair, I seem to be much stronger compared to my previous spell of running, even liking the challenge of hills. Perhaps this just means mentally I am more stupid. :)

Just another typical steep hill

I find that running in the hour between dark and light (and light and dark) is wonderful. The quality of the light is amazing, especially if it the skies are clear. The blend from azure blue to crimson red to pitch black. Unfortunately this clashes a bit with my attempts taking good photos because these are also golden times for photography.

Dawn with shaky hand on camera phone

Camera phones are still not good enough for real photos, regardless of how the technology has improved. Why? Because physics still rules. The size of the lens still determines how much light you can get. And taking photos is like painting with light. You can get away to some extent with insufficient paint or lower quality paint if you are a skilled painter. However, for the best pictures you still need to choose your materials wisely. That's how I see the market going, segmenting into camera phones which are good enough for most purposes and the "real" cameras (digital SLRs) for the serious.

Now I am digressing. Sign of old age?

Location 53°N 1°W

A Mini drive

2004-09-24T03:09:00.000+08:00

Got the chance to drive a Mini today, a Mini Cooper-S to be precise (the top sports version). Some specs below for the more technically minded amongst you. Note that the 170bhp is achieved by supercharging the engine which is rather unusual. The difference between a turbocharger and supercharger will be explained if required.

Displacement: 1598cc
Max power: 170bhp (120kW) @ 6000rpm
Max torque: 210Nm @ 4000rpm
Acceleration: 0-100kph in 7.2s
Top speed: 222kph

The new Mini - by BMW

It is someone's company car but anyone in the company is allowed to drive it. Not surprisingly, many people ask to borrow this car if they need to go somewhere. Had some urgent testpieces to send to a testhouse so I drove to a motorway service station around mid-way to meet with someone from the testhouse.

The Cooper-S comes with sports seats with side bolsters to keep you from sliding off the seat during overzealous cornering. The soft interior trim, including most areas of the seats, are in fabric while the dashboard is a mixture of plastic and metal. I have to say I am somewhat disappointed with the quality of some of the plastic. For example, the finish on the indicator stalk looks a bit worn even though the car has only done less than 20k miles. Anyway, who cares what it looks like if it drives like a dream.

The first thing that strikes you when you get into the car is the location of the speedometer set right in the middle of the dashboard. Yes that's right, in the middle, between the two people in front. A bit incovenient if you need to check your speed. Personally I don't like the location of the speedo. As the engine is relatively small, one needs to maintain fairly high revs to get the best "pulling power" (i.e. torque) from the engine. Thankfully the rev meter is right in front of the steering wheel, great for knowing whether you are in the sweet spot.

The cockpit of the Mini

As most of the driving was on the M1 motorway, there was very little opportunity to find out its handling capabilities around twisty roads. For that a good substitute was the many roundabout that litter Rotherham. Certainly I wasn't going to go at crazy speeds into roundabouts on public roads. All I can say is that the car corners like it is running on rails and I was unable to get the front or rear end to lose grip. Yes just turn the steering wheel in the direction you want and the car goes where you want. None of this body roll or the car trying to make up its mind whether it wants to change direction.

Perhaps the stiff suspension will be a bit more painful on a long drive through rough roads. However, it is not true that sports suspension always means a very stiff ride - there is a lot of science and engineering in setting up the handling of a car. I hope that BMW have done their homework on this. Unfortunately I wasn't going into Sheffield so I couldn't find out. Some areas of Sheffield have truly awful road surfaces full of bumps and potholes. Enough to shake dentures out from the mouths of old grannies.

Anyway, the 170bhp on tap from a relatively light car means that it accelerates pretty quickly. Coming off the slip road onto the motorway, you can blend in and get into the fast lane very easily with a light touch on the pedal. Whilst the 0-100 time of the Mini is probably around 1s faster than my car (can't remember exactly) which also has about 170bhp from a 2.5 V6, the feel is very different. The Mini just feels quicker and more lifely. More fun and more smiles.

Going far too quickly on a nice sunny day

For the practical minded, the Mini has hardly any boot to speak of. Might be a bit larger than a Kancil, that's it. Furthermore, it has no spare tyre. Apparently the run-flat tyres can run for a long long time (I've heard 500km!) even if there is a puncture. Enough time to get you to a tyre shop, unless you are in the middle of nowhere, like the outback in Australia. Don't know what happens if there is a rip in the sidewall though.

How much is it? You can get a second hand one for around £15k (about 2 years old). Brand new ones are under £20k if I remember right. Remember that this is the top of the Mini range. Would I buy one? Not unless if I have lots of money. It can only really be a second car, and for a second car there are others which have a bigger grin rating. Like the Lotus Elise. Older (5-6 years) ones can be had for just under £15k. Reputed to be one of the best handling cars in the world. Might go test drive one. I have sat in one before and the seat fits me like a glove. Fat people need not apply... Now we are talking. Ear to ear grin type of fun.

Location 53°N 1°W

Another day at work

2004-09-23T01:54:00.000+08:00

Argh worked from just after 8am to 7:30pm today. Needed to iron out the bugs in the new control system and collect more dimensional data from the parts produced. Loneruner, economists don't have to work with hot pieces of metal at over 1000°C and big pieces of heavy machines. :)

No time for a run when I got to where I'm staying this week as it is dark. Must try to get up before 6am tomorrow morning for a run. Damn my running is down to around 3 days a week for the past 2 weeks. Haven't run for 2 days since the 55 minute run on Monday. Shouldn't really call myself a runner anymore...

Useless fact of the day:
In India, Horlicks contains buffalo milk rather than cow's milk.

Location 53°N 1°W

All jammed up

2004-09-22T01:50:00.000+08:00

Got caught in a massive traffic jam today going to work. The M1 motorway was closed between junctions 29 to 30 in BOTH directions since late last night. Apparently a big lorry went through the central divider into the opposite carriageway. Official and unofficial diversions galore through other major roads and little villages. Staying at a nice place just above the Rivelin valley this week. Lots of good running nearby but very hilly. If I really like it I will book it for the next few weeks or maybe the next few months until my time in Rotherham is up.

Before and after the blockage

Location 53°N 1°W

Final 10k of the year?

2004-09-20T01:38:00.000+08:00

Did the Brambles 10k race today. Third consecutive year I'm running it. It also incorporates the Worcestershire County Championships (a bit like a "kejohanan negeri") so there are some fast runners around. Last year the women's winner did 35 minute something but that was really fast and unusual.

Anyway I didn't do a really great race today. Did the first km a bit too quickly in 3'40". Manage to stay with a group and tried a few attacks which dropped a few people along the way. Went through a bad patch between 7-8km and got spit out from the back of the group. Went into survival mode for a while, struggling into what coincidentally was a strong headwind for this section.

Recovered a bit after the 8km sign and put together a strong finish. Got overtaken just before the entry into the stadium by someone who cut a little bit of a corner off. Tried to get back to him on the lap of the track but failed though I did manage to hold off the chasers behind me. Finished in 39'30" for 28th place. Apparently many people felt that this was a slow race, perhaps due to the gusty conditions. Winner did a short 33'. Needed to be under 36'30" to be in top 10.

Not a very good time because I am still chasing my low 38' for the year without many races remaining. Perhaps its my recent lack of training and uneven pacing. Found out that I beat the winner of last week's race by over 1 minute today. Oh I would most willingly trade this for victory last week.

Went for a walk in town later in the afternoon and did the usual Sunday afternoon things like reading the newspaper. Unlike last week, I didn't complain so much today after the race.

Location 52°N 2°W

Work and play

2004-09-15T01:33:00.000+08:00

Did the Monday early morning 2 hour drive to get to Sheffield (Rotherham actually) by 8am yesterday. Had some important visitors so had to go to another site about 50km south of Sheffield to meet them in the afternoon with my two bosses who had flown in from the US. After the presentations and site tour, had dinner with everyone at a nice old country hotel nearby in the Peak District. It was nearly 11pm by the time I got back to my hotel in Sheffield. Got the chance to drive the car that one of them uses in the UK because he was a bit tired from the jetlag and a full day of work. Didn't get to use all 225bhp since I was careful not to put my foot down too much on the twisty roads which I know so well.

Got to work for 7am today, luckily I was staying nearby (I now stay in Sheffield during the week), because we had to make a conference call with a contractor in a different time zone. Too early for breakfast at the hotel. By the time everything was done, it was already 11am. Neither me nor my boss have had any breakfast, this is despite him having run for 30 minutes at 5:30am (he has done Boston in sub 3:25 for the last 6 years except 2004) so we went to the local sandwich place. I introduced him to hot bacon, egg and tomato sandwiches in a large bun. Yes that's why a lot of people become really fat if they have this sort of thing all the time.

After another full afternoon of work, I really needed a run. Who cares if it is windy outside and the rain has made frequent appearances today. Well it's nearly autumn after all. Finally managed to get going at around 7pm in very light drizzle. Well not really rain, more a fine dispersion of water hanging in the air. Apparently the Eskimos have more than 10 words for snow. I'm sure there are plenty of words for rain in English English (as opposed to American English or Aussie English).

13km+ in just over 1 hour with a big hill

Headed out in the direction of Abbeydale Road. Planned to go along Abbeydale Road for a while and then turn right to eventually link up with Eccleshall Road near Hunters Bar. The first bit is once again a mild uphill. Hey this is Sheffield and all roads from the centre go uphill. Nothing hard, just cruising along. Past the restaurants and shops on London Road and onto Abbeydale Road proper. The rain had gone by now and the evening sun was trying its best to make an appearance.

Caught a glimpse of a runner on the opposite side of the road just behind me. Still keeping more or less the same disance behind me after a few minutes. Crossed the road to be on the same side as him. This is when the competitive instinct kicks in. It is a rare breed of runner who is not afflicted with this instinct, the only difference being how serious it is. Pick the pace up slightly, only by a little as this is just a training run. :) Checked back in the reflection from windows and cars. Ah he is still there so have to keep the pressure on - I'm sure he has increased his pace to keep up.

This continued for quite a while and I got further and further away from the centre. Went straight past my original right turn and kept on going. When I wasn't paying attention, the other runner crossed the road and increased his pace! Have to keep up... hanging on... oh you b**tard that's the end of your run!! He stopped at the entrance to a park. Now I have to run a long long way back!

Turned right at the next available junction and it was straight up a hill past Eccleshall Woods. This was a long hill as well which just kept going and going and going. Luckily I knew what this hill was like from my misspent youth in Sheffield so I didn't kill myself before the top, just got there nearly out of breath after 8 minutes of climbing. The wind had picked up and it suddenly got darker, not entirely due to the sun getting ready to pack up to go home.

Then the rain started coming. Sharp needles blown by the gusty wind right into my face. Floated over the undulations before the downhill began in its full glory. Except that it wasn't as easy downhill into a strong headwind. Over the last little sharp rise and I knew it was going to be easy going from here. Chose to avoid Eccleshall Road and instead went along the much more leafy alternative. The trees have not yet started shedding their leaves in earnest so the pavements are not yet covered in a brownish green mulch.

Finally got to the Safeway roundabout, through the underpass and made the last mild uphill dash for home. Well home as in a place to stay for the next few days. The Grosvenor House Hotel (the tall building at the head of The Moor) smack bang in the centre of Sheffield. Boring old hotel which had its glory days perhaps 20 years ago. 1 hour and 1 minute, makes it just over 13km I guess. A good run through some nice bits of Sheffield, all on the road.

Location 53°N 1°W

So close yet so far

2004-09-13T05:26:00.000+08:00

I am SO disappointed to have it slip out of my grasp. Someone once said, second is first loser. Well perhaps that is not entirely true, but third is definitely the pits especially if only the first and second get prizes. Despite what people may say about the importance of participation and finishing races, the mentality is very different when one is after a win. Either get a good placing or do a good time. Otherwise don't bust a gut. Might not be in the spirit of noble sportmanship but thats cold hard reality.

Consider this scenario, a hilly race of over 4 miles (6.5km or so). Not a huge race with hundreds of people. Just a good sized local race. Quite a strong wind blowing on the morning but sunny. Did the usual warmup and got ready for the start. Looked around and tried to identify a few people who might be faster than me. Not many of them here today.

The rush at the start, made even quicker by the sharp downhill just after the start. Gradually overtaking people who have started way too quick. Found myself at the head of the race with one other person. 1st mile in 5:40 (around 3:32/km), very fast but partly due to the downhill. Feeling ok. Went over the next few undulations without too much trouble, swapping turns at the front. Haven't been in the lead of a race since school days.

Felt a bit harder after the 2nd mile. The second half of the route is a lot harder than the first. Opponent put in a bit of a surge on a hill. Tried to counter. Couldn't really get back on. Tried holding the gap constant. Went through 3rd mile in 18:01 (average 3:45/km), breathing hard. Started having second thoughts about starting quickly, in contrast to my normal race plan. But hey, sometimes its worth doing it differently. Take a punt.

The final mile and a bit more was sheer torture. Hard to get the legs even to move. Attempts to gulp down more air only made my throat hurt. Gap to the leader opening up. Why do I put myself through this? Someone comes past just before the final hill. Hung on for grim death and closed the gap slightly on the hill. Trying to extract further speed appeared to be futile. My mind is not strong enough to overcome the discomfort...

Over the brow of the hill with the finishing straight. A mild downhill section where you can see all the way to the finish. Concentrate on arm action. Go faster to catch person in front. Leader of the race just crossing the finish line ahead. Why can't I go any faster? I want to close the gap. Sprint? Do I want the finish line to come quickly to stop the suffering or do I want it further away to give me more time to catch the runner in front? Conflicting thoughts. Finally got to the finish. About time too, or maybe too soon?

Do I sit or stand? Should I lie down on the grass? Trying to catch my breath. Somehow manage to shake the hands of the winner and runner up. Didn't stop my watch at all. Recover from exertions. Only myself to blame for starting too quick. Should have run it at a more even pace. Should haves and could haves. Too many possibilities. All gone. My chance is gone. Gamble hasn't paid off and the bookie has run off with all my money.

Short and sweet prize giving ceremony without me. Take group photo of runners from club (we are again the club with the most runners at the race, many in the top 10). Have a quick drink at the old country pub which is the event HQ. Go home and sulk about my failure. Got a warning that I wouldn't be allowed to go racing if I kept my unhappy face on. :)

Location 53°N 1°W

Off day

2004-09-09T03:19:00.000+08:00

I think I am getting old. My knees need some time to warm up in the mornings. Can feel them complaining when I go up stairs in the morning. Took a day off running today as I left work at 7:15pm. Will go out for a meal with a colleague and introduce him to some pubs in Sheffield later. Well after I post this and get back to my room.

I can see the huge amount of work looming on the horizon, starting from oh tomorrow. Good though as I am being thrown straight into the deep end at work. Good preparation for next year when I will be swimming in pitch darkness with lots of unknown sea monsters around me. Should still get some time to get a few runs in...

Location 53°N 1°W

On familiar ground

2004-09-08T03:02:00.000+08:00

Sheffield is a wonderful city. Just ask Ketam Batu. Staying in a hotel in the centre of town. The hotel is not great. Might post some pictures of it some other time. Sheffield is supposedly built on 7 hills, a few more than Rome. If you have never seen seriously steep roads with houses either side of it, come to Sheffield. The city centre happens to be one of the lowest places in town. Unfortunately (or fortunately for the macho) it is also where I started my run.

Now the following route description will not make any sense if you have never been there but here goes... Up along West Street past the Engineering Faculty, wow so many new pubs, even the old Lloyds Bank is now a pub, turning right at the HSBC bank opposite the Supertram stop near the Union. Now the climbing starts. Past the Arts Tower on the left (it has lifts with no doors, really!) to the traffic lights with Crookesmoor Road with the second hand shop at the corner which is still there. Left onto Crookesmoor Road which continues climbing. Past no. 353 where I used to stay, past the steep roads on the right, one of which goes past the Law Department until just before the junction with Crookes Road.

Turn right up the supersteep Roslin Road which luckily is only around 50m long. Onto Crookes Road past Tapton Hall on the left. Look at the new extension to house more students. The gradient eases along the side of Tapton Hall but steepens again past the Old Grindstone pub. Steep all the way up Lydgate Lane till the top of the hill. By this point I had been running uphill for 17 minutes with a good view of Sheffield to my back (I didn't turn round to look). Down past the Crosspool junction round the back of Fulwood to Ranmoor Hall. Right down Encliffe Vale Road, past a few halls (I hear Sorby Hall is going to be demolished) and the modern Endcliffe Vale Flats on the left. Last bit of downhill down Bronco Bank to the Hunters Bar roundabout. Finally back to the city centre along Eccleshall Road which is thankfully flat. By this point I don't think I could take any more uphills or down.

Got changed and showered. Went out for dinner at a Italian place established in 1968. Looks like they haven't changed the menu or the chef since 1968 too but that's another story... Nice to be back. Despite haven't not lived there for over 8 years, I still say going "back" to Sheffield rather than going to Sheffield.

Look closely at the altitude gain - nearly 200m up in the first 17 minutes!

Location 53°N 1°W

Mad dash

2004-09-07T02:49:00.000+08:00

Planned to leave work at 4:30pm today so that I stood a chance of getting back for the 7:00pm run with the club. Busy busy busy during the day. Lots of things to get out of the way. Can't believe it is just 2 weeks since starting. Anyway, managed to get away at 4:45pm with a 200km drive in front of me. The patron saint of traffic was kind to me today, no lorries on fire on the motorway (last Friday, got stuck for 1 hour) or any other holdups. Even had time to fill up with petrol and arrived at the sports centre with 10 minutes to spare. No I didn't have to drive at 90 mph (work it out - 1.6 conversion factor) to be on time, only 75-80mph. ;)

The consensus of the fast group was for a relatively short run of around 6 miles (9.6km) so it should be a nice gentle one. The evening was still warm enough for shorts and T-shirts. September is forecast to be a really good month weatherwise. Then again, anything would be better compared to August.

Besides a few efforts up several of the short hills and a bit of a windup towards the end, it was just one of those occasions that you feel like your legs are just on autopilot. I still prefer the route that we did the Monday before with a few sharp hills at the end. Finished the run before the middle group which also did about the same distance but on a different route. Got a bag of homegrowth beans planted by the oldest member of the club. Hint, he runs in the male veteran over 70 group in races and usually wins.

Oh well, 4 more days of work to go. Will be staying in Sheffield for the rest of the week in a hotel. Saves on the driving.

Location 52°N 2°W

Sunday cruise

2004-09-06T02:36:00.000+08:00

The usual Sunday ride with the club. Fairly flat route, as seen by the route profile. Notice that the steep climb to my flat is almost half the height of the tallest hill we went up during the ride. Somehow my legs didn't feel all that good, perhaps due to the driving I did yesterday. Nevertheless my average heart rate (not shown on picture) was very low, around 112bpm (55-60% of max) which is just about verging on being awake.

Stopped at a cafe next to an old railway station on the steam train line at the foot of the Cotswolds. The steam train doesn't go anywhere useful, just for tourists, kids and railway enthusiasts. Mind you, it is a real choo-choo train running off coal and spewing steam. Sorry guys no photos of it since I haven't started carrying my phone on cycle rides.

Very sunny today, of course not compared to Malaysia. Actually got quite "warm" around noon, oh about 25°C. Hot days can be quite dangerous if one doesn't pay full attention to the road when cycling in town due to the "distractions" from people wearing a lot less than their full complement of clothes. :) At least I got home safely. Phew, the weekend just flies by...

Location 52°N 2°W

Tour of Britain Stage 4

2004-09-05T05:43:00.000+08:00

The CSC team car

Closeup of the Cervelo team bikes

More closeups of Cervelo team bikes

More Cervelos - Azwar, are you drooling yet?

Team T-Mobile was there, but no Ulrich or Zabel

Sloping top tube of the Giant team bikes

Real Italian bike - Colnago C40 + Campagnolo Record

Location 53°N 1°W

Run over Stanedge Edge

2004-09-03T05:36:00.000+08:00

Up a big hill right from the start...

Location 53°N 1°W

Run over Houndkirk Moor and Burbage Edge

2004-09-02T06:50:00.000+08:00

Think of these pictures as the trailer to the movie... The full story will follow soon - I promise. :)

Taken during run with SE K700i:

Taken after run with real camera

Location 53°N 1°W

Modern technology

2004-09-02T05:36:00.000+08:00

Modern technology is wonderful. I am typing this in my car outside a closed McDonalds (after 10pm) in Sheffield (a place Ketam Batu knows well) on my new IBM Stinkpad T42 which I just got from work today. Have to pay for the WiFi connection though... This is the first time I have used WiFi outside my flat to connect to the internet. Won't be a last time especially if the prices come down.

Went for a nice run earlier in the evening, around 10km with almost 100% offroad. Took a few pictures with my phone which I will post later together with a description of the run...

Location 53°N 1°W

Day out in the city

2004-08-29T05:36:00.000+08:00

There is a nice little shop in Upton-upon-Severn just down the river from here which specialises in maps. Amazing range of maps from the whole world. Need a map for the Sorrento peninsular in southern Italy near Napoli. Found a decent 1:50,000 map which should be good enough for planning walking routes.

Went to Birmingham afterwards, mainly for the open market and have a walk round the new Bullring (1 year old soon). Got a big watermelon for about £1.50 which wasn't too bad and a few other things like four fresh red mullet. These were loaded into the car before we went for lunch. The Bullring is a nice example of urban redevelopment. Basically it used to a 1960s mall development which was not very well liked. It was finally demolished and a new Bullring put it its place. Besides a brand new complex, the roads around the area were also changed. This broke the "ring of steel" (main road) around the area and connected it to the rest of the city centre, opening up new public squares and pedestrianised areas. For a full history, go here.

Did a bit more research on the area we were planning to go to in the big bookshop in the Bullring and bought one overpriced coffee from Starbucks located within the bookshop itself to share between the two of us (yes we are cheapskate). The weather was quite nice as we left so I just had to take a photo or two but trying not to look like a tourist. All in all a nice day out, even though I don't usually like to go to big cities where there are lots of people. Only blot on the day was the terrible traffic jam on the way out to the motorway due to a double decker bus kissing a car.

Old and new in Birmingham - Selfridges and St Martin's church

Location 52°N 2°W

To run or not to run?

2004-08-26T05:27:00.000+08:00

Got home at 8pm today after another long day with 400km of driving. Getting really worried about my lack of exercise, especially with my increased consumption of unhealthy snacks. Felt like just crashing out when I get home but finally decided to go for a run. Got changed, put on my shoes and I was out in the open air.

The first part of the route is quite hilly with a lot of it off road. Once I settled into the pace I started enjoying the feeling of moving quickly (for me) over different surfaces, trying to emulate the top cross country runners. Slipping and sliding on a particularly muddy uphill, I got to the first summit. It was getting near sunset with the western horizon bathed in red after days of heavy showers. Down the other side, crossing a road and then up a long rippled grassy bank. Always found the ripples (called "furrows" officially) to be good fun as you need to get a good rhythm to go smoothly over them. Might be able to see them if you looked closely at the bottom right photo in this post. Got over the final steep section to the next summit and down through the golf course on the other side, trying to dodge any flying projectiles.

By now it was getting quite dark but still a last off road section to do. Round the back of the new hospital and onto the path. The ground, still soggy from the rain, provoked some swearing as I splattered myself with some water. Trying to avoid the major puddles, I flitted from side to side, failing to keep my feet dry. End of the last off road section and back to the hard tarmac. Past the city council offices on a mild downhill. Phone rings. Answer the phone. Have to meet my dearest at train station to walk her home as it is getting dark. Less than 10 minutes to get there. Luckily quite a lot of it is downhill. Increase the pace and float down the hill. Smelt the Worcester sauce factory long before getting there. Went by quickly and powered up the little incline to the station to get there just in time.

The 10 minute evening walk was a nice warm down and saved me from having to run up the steep hill to my flat. That's why the chart below doesn't end at the same altitude as the start.

Location 52°N 2°W

More rain...

2004-08-25T04:14:00.000+08:00

This is turning out to be the wettest August in recorded history. Rain, much of it heavy, was falling for most of the day. Pity the people who have to drive through it like me, 200km each way... Got home at nearly 7:30pm. Haven't done a proper run (>40 minutes) since last Thursday. Am I getting fat and unfit? At least my 10 lap record of 59:17 at KLCC track is still safe for now.

Location 52°N 2°W

Driving in the rain

2004-08-24T04:59:00.000+08:00

Woke up this morning to the sound of rain. Any other day, I wouldn't have minded. Unfortunately I have to drive 200 f**king km to Sheffield today. Being a Monday, traffic is usually pretty bad on the motorways. Thankfully it is the school holidays so fewer cars on the road (hopefully).

It never stopped raining all the way there. Very heavy at times. Traffic slowed to a crawl every now and then. Took me nearly 2 1/2 hours to get there. Had a very interesting first day. LOTS of things to do in the next few months... Absolutely chucking it down with rain when I left at 5pm. Trying to get back home for 7pm to go running with the club. The rain had gone and traffic had cleared towards the second half of the journey but too much time had been lost in the 1st half despite a very heavy right foot.

Got there 15 minutes late. I can write a book on my experiences of how to arrive at training late. Did a short run (about 28 minutes for 6-6.5km) on my own, had a quick chat with a few people after the run and went home. Legs still a bit tired from the ride yesterday. Oh the wet weather is set to continue for the next few days, and I have to do the same 200km journey each way again tomorrow...

Perhaps not such a clever idea to do this when driving in the rain...

Location 52°N 2°W

Pushing into the wind

2004-08-23T03:58:00.000+08:00

Haven't been cycling much whilst I was back in Malaysia. Went on the usual Sunday ride with the club today. Not very fast, not very hilly, with a cafe stop. Just happened to be my turn on the front with the biggest guy in the group (cycling track sprinter) driving hard into a headwind. A bit like trying to push against a wall except that you feel the effort in your legs. The pain is a bit different from that you get when you have gone over your limit on a climb or on the flat. A dull ache in the legs more than anything. Headwinds definitely affect small people like me more than it does big people, only consolation is that small people are usually better on the hills.

Distance: 87.3km Average Speed: 26.8km
Total Climb: 635m Average HR: 127bpm

Location 52°N 2°W

Low batteries

2004-08-19T22:07:00.000+08:00

A run in the Malvern Hills had been planned for 7pm this evening by some people in the club. I love running in the Malverns because of the great views and hard climbs. Usually takes me about 20 minutes to get there by car (about 10-12km) so I got everything ready by 6:40pm and tried to start the car... WTF? Car won't start. Turned the key again, well it seemed to be trying to start. Brought out the multimeter and checked the battery, hmmm a bit low in voltage but probably still enough to get it started. Tried again, this time pressing a bit more on the accelerator (but not too much in case I flooded the engine). Vrooommm engine came to life! Spent the next 5 minutes revving the engine at around 3000rpm to make sure that the battery was recharged. Obviously my dearest hasn't been starting the car regularly over the past few months.

Damn don't have enough time to get to the Malverns. Well time for plan 2 - go to the local sports centre where the club normally meets and hope that there are some people there. Don't want to risk driving until I've checked the car out properly tomorrow. Have to run there but not a lot of time before 7pm. Time to switch on the turbo without warmup then... A few small hills early on but then mostly downhill. Got there in around 8 minutes, a bit out of breath, but thankfully there were 3 people there. The run was going to be about 40 minutes, so around 7km-8km as the pace won't be too quick.

Out on the canal, onto the road, towards Hindlip village and the police headquarters. A bit hilly but probably about the same or not as hard as Bukit Tunku. Not running very smoothly yet, maybe my body still thinks it past midnight. Weather was nice and cool with golden evening sunshine flickering through the leaves. Had a long gradual downhill on the way back, followed by a bit of rolling terrain on the perimeter of the golf course back to the sports centre. Took a slightly different route home from the sports centre along the canal, finishing with the steep nasty hill to my flat. Was a fairly easy run with heart rate mostly below 140, only went above it on the way to the sports centre and on some of the hills. Total of about 1 hour 1 minute running time with two stops at the sports centre on the way out and in.

Altitude profile of run

Location 52°N 2°W

Arrival

2004-08-18T21:07:00.000+08:00

Finally arrived at Birmingham Airport after over 24 hours of travelling due to the long stopover in Dubai. Weather wasn't too bad, a mix of sunshine and showers. Unexpectedly offered an upgrade to Business Class on the Dubai to Birmingham leg of the journey, which was great. This meant that I went the whole way by Business Class. The main difference is mainly the amount of food that you are given. Appetiser, main course and dessert, with a choice in each category. Plus fruits, cheeseboard and nice chocolates after main meals if required. Probably arrived in the UK a lot heavier than when I left Malaysia!

Collected the hire car at the counter and had to fight the luggage trolley from hell all the way to the hire car pickup point. The steering wheels on the luggage trolley had a mind of their own, giving me several scary moments as I was trying to maneuver the trolley with all the heavy luggage on and off pavements which were off camber. I was given a brand new Vauxhall Meriva with only 0.5 miles on the clock. Due to the height of the rear end, I was able to put the bike bag into the boot vertically. This is pretty good for a small car. That is why I cannot understand the preference people have for saloon/3 box cars (for example in Malaysia). Hatchbacks and things like the Meriva (and Jazz etc) make a lot more practical sense.

Vauxhall Meriva

I must admit that I revved the engine quite hard on the Meriva even though you are usually advised against it in a new car until it has done a few thousand miles. The small petrol engine meant that pulling in 4th or 5th gear took quite a while especially at motorway speeds. Needed to keep the revs up to have any torque or power. That's why modern diesels are so often preferred. Still managed to get it up to 140km/h but it felt slightly unstable in crosswinds, probably due to its height. Anyway, it was a decent little car but a bit lacking in handling and power.

After doing some unpacking, I decided to go for a run. Apparently natural sunlight is a good cure for jetlag. Did about 40 minutes over a fairly hill route (didn't use the HR monitor so no altitude profile this time) so it should be around 8km. Probably just under 50% of it was on trails and paths (or at least not along main roads) with a nice section coming down a grassy bank. The sun was out and it was quite warm, though certainly not as warm as an evening run at KLCC park. Felt a lot better after the run.

Photos taken with the camera on an S-E K700i

Location 52°N 2°W

Takeoff

2004-08-18T00:45:00.000+08:00

Bags all packed to overfilling, I got to the airport just in the nick of time as check in was just about to close. This would be the first time that I have taken business class for a long flight (thanks to an upgrade) but only from KL to Dubai. Went straight through immigration to the aerotrain to the gate. There wasn't really a queue as most people were already boarding.

Some things to pack

Then a group of people escorted by a couple of officials arrived. I think they were Bangladeshis being deported. They didn't look too unhappy and I sincerely hope that they have actually made some money for themselves (not through crime of course) while they were in Malaysia to take back home. Despite all the bad things most people say about immigrant workers, the economy would not survive without them, at least not at the level we are accustomed to. Would you want to do housework, work in the construction industry or the catering industry, long hours with relatively low pay? It's only natural for people to want a better life.

The severity of the haze is best appreciated from the air. The plane actually took off in a south easterly direction so it had to make a 180 degree turn, giving me the chance to take the photos of KLIA below. The plane then flew over Klang (could recognize it from the river, bridges and some of the buildings) on its way north. Over the Malaysian peninsular over southern Thailand, Myanmar and then west to Bangladesh. Wasn't allowed to get off at Bangladesh so had to wait on the plane.

KLIA from the air through the haze

By the time we arrived in Dubai, I had already watched both Shrek 2 and the Day After Tomorrow. Shrek 2 was great - watch out for parodies of other movies, I spotted Star Wars, Crouching Tiger and LOTR. Day After Tomorrow was an average disaster movie, but it has to be commended for introducing the term "North Atlantic Conveyor System" to a wider audience.

Location 25°N 55°E

Unable to organise a piss-up in a brewery

2004-08-16T23:45:00.000+08:00

As one of the Penguins will no doubt describe in further detail his friendly encounters with the race directors, I shall restrict my reports to the running aspects of the MPAJ race since this is likely to be my last race on Malaysian soil for the PM team for a while.

Now that I know that the race director is the same person as Klang, it all becomes clear why the distances for Klang and MPAJ are wrong. You see, Klang was short by about 1km. Therefore, Mr Mohan or whatever his name is has to make MPAJ long by the same amount. This is to give people who got super-PB in Klang an incentive to train harder since they think that they have become very unfit and he can also claim that his race distances are "on average" measured correctly.

Its payback time for runners from Klang who had an extra hour of sleep for the Klang 10k. I got up at 4:45am and picked up pm11 at his house before 5:30am. Why so early? Well our team manager pm1 told us that the race starts at 7am so we wanted to get there early. Well too early in fact because we reached the area just after 6am. We had a lot of trouble finding where to park even though we knew the race started from the padang so we drove round in circles for a while. There was a severe lack of signage compounded by the fact that not many people were there yet. Suggestion for race organisers - put up signposts saying "This way to race start" or "Competitor parking - This way".

Anyway, we eventually parked the car opposite a few kopitiams some way from the padang. It wasn't just pm1 who needed to go to the toilet very often. Pm11 also seemed to suffer from the same pre-race nerves and visited both kopitiams opposite where our car was parked within a few minutes, and he didn't go there for food or drink. After spending lots of time deciding what to wear (yes sometimes I am worse than ladies before a night out) we finally started making our way to the start.

Again we had to use our own sense of direction to find the registration tent. No signs, or at least the signs were not visible because it was still dark. Along the way we ran into many other pm team members who had just arrived and were parking their cars along the side of the road. A few rushed greetings here and there and we continued on our way to the registration (at this point we still thought the start was 7:00am). All we had to do at registration was put the slip into a box for the lucky draw. Nothing more - much better than having to stand in a line to get some half awake official write your name on a sheet of paper.

There was some colourful language when we found out that the start was actually 7:30am. This meant we had quite a long time to warm up (and could have potentially spent 30 more minutes sleeping). The longer the warm up is, the more likely (at least for me) for doubts to creep in. For example, "Oh no, I feel tired even jogging along at this pace. How am I going to be able to go 10km at a much higher speed" etc etc. After changing into my blue racing shoes, there was still time to run around for a bit before the start. Well I would either be all warmed up and ready to run or already tired out from all the pre-race antics.

There was a massive crowd at the start line. People from all categories ranging from A all the way to Z, except there wasn't many people from B (which was a pity). It was a worse squeeze than an LRT leaving KL Sentral at 8:45am. Couldn't imagine running as it was impossible to move. Could just about hear the officials saying something on the super megaphone (super as in super soft, which is what you want from toilet paper and bedsheets but not for megaphones). Ha ha, trying to get us to move backwards. Might be more useful to go behind and tell the runners at the back to start moving first, but hey that is common sense, something that many organisers lack. Anyway after managing to confuse the hell out of certain veteran runners by changing distances they had to start the race in case a riot happened. So the race was started with a bang...

What a spectacular start it was, and I don't mean spectacular in the way one would perhaps describe the Olympics opening ceremony in Athens. Arms and legs all over the place. People jostling for position and pushing (sorry to anyone who I pushed, especially CM). People starting from in front of the actual line. People starting from the other side of the road. People starting from the other side of the road more than 100m after the start. I know the organisers might be trying to imitate the London Marathon with 5 or 6 different starts which eventually merge after several km, but man they have a lot to learn, starting with course measurement. Oh yes, there were some 7km runners mixed in with the main 10km start as well (by mistake, by design or because they were stuck).

Pm14 and I ran together along the long straight road, chatting occasionally. The crowds started thinning out as the people who started too quickly fell by the wayside. After about 1km, the familiar figures of pm1 closely followed by pm3 appeared just ahead of me. Offering words of encouragement, I overtook them one after the other. Coming up to the first left turn at the set of traffic lights (the first of many!), I caught up with pm9 who said that there were far too many people ahead to hope for a top-30 finish. Said goodbye to pm9 and I continued my journey of trying to overtake as many people in front as possible. Up a flyover and down onto the MRR2, caught an Indian runner whom I have run with in Klang, ran with him for a while before making my move. This pattern repeated itself but overtaking opportunities were becoming more difficult to come by as people settled into the normal pace.

Around this point I started feeling sort of the mid-race blues. Been running hard since the start but not near enough to the finish to pick up the pace. Something had to give and that was my pace. A couple of runners passed me during this bad patch. Tried to hang on to them but couldn't. Despite this I still went past several other runners who were probably suffering even more than me. Got on the back of Suleiman (from Guinea, studying at a college in Subang, met him at MMDS3 where he ran in the winning mixed relay team) just before the hill. Tried to get away from him on the hill but he countered. Maintained my pace to the top of the hill but just had to let him go. Some distance after the top of the hill was a left turn near some shops and this thankfully led to a fairly long downhill. This gave me a good view of the people in front of me. Got back to Suleiman as the route flattened off. Ran alongside him for a while (pretending I was running against a Kenyan) and then turned up the pace. This proved to be a decisive move as he did not / could not follow me.

Left again and back on the main road we started on, except it was in the opposite direction. A sense of relief as this meant that we were on the way to the finish. Caught and ran for a while with a runner who asked me where the finish was and how far it was. Told him that it shouldn't be too far away. Wound the pace up a little bit, he was still hanging on. Increased the pace a little bit more. Where was the right turn that would bring us to the finishing straight? Eventually got to the right turn and this was the incentive that I needed to start my finishing kick (well not really a kick like what pm15 can do over the last 400m but more of a sustained increase in pace). Think smoothness, think cadence, relax... Went past several more people in the finishing straight (most of which I think were not in category A), sneaked a quick look behind and someone appeared to be coming up. Up the pace even more in a desperate sprint for the finish. Where exactly is the finish? Was it where the balloons were? Taking no chances, I sprinted right past the balloons and straight down the cones towards the official's table before being told off. My answer to him was that how would I know where the actual finish is if there is no line on the ground and no one standing there to note down times.

Waited for what seemed like ages for the runners ahead to complete their finishing formalities. My turn. Got a slip of paper that said 31. Told them my name and it got noted down. WTF!! 31st place?! *&^&*(%£%^^&. One place away from prize money. Went to get my free bottle of water. Thought of going to collect the medal but the queue was quite long so I headed for the car to get changed first. Went back to the finishing area to collect my medal and look for pm11 so that I could give him the keys to the car for him to get his stuff. There is always the small hope that someone ahead of me would get DQ'ed so I had to wait for the official results. Personally I have not seen anyone in my category take a short cut, though some people have mentioned that it was highly likely. However, two runners were DQ'ed in category C for taking the 7km route.

More controversy! Someone (I shall not mention names) was giving another runner a hard time because the latter registered for several Thai runners, apparently on Friday after the closing date (but was still accepted by the MPAJ). He sort of accused him of not being patriotic in helping "outsiders" come in and win money which should be going to the locals, bringing me into the equation by saying that I lost at least one place because of the Thai runners. My take on this is that as long as someone ran faster than me and did not take a short cut, his place is fully deserved. What do I have to complain about? Arulthevar and Muniady should be even more unhappy as first place went to a Thai runner*. Late entry, well if the organiser accepts it, why not? Personally I would be happier if more organisers allowed entry on the day, perhaps with an added surcharge.

* Note – Arulthevar was unhappy! See this article in the Star. Ridiculous, both the statement from Mr Mohan and what Arulthevar thinks.

This was a pretty featureless and boring route, spiced up by one flyover, one hill and lots of traffic. The latter is not unexpected as the route included many main roads, for example we ran along a stretch of the MRR2 (thankfully far away from the cracked Kepong flyover which someone tells me is missing more than a few steel rebars due to "cost cutting") and also some of the key roads that the local residents use to get to their breakfast on a Sunday morning. I want to run against people, not machines powered by the internal combustion engine spewing out nasty fumes! The route was perhaps designed so that people could take shortcuts as it went through many Tamans with small side roads. Surely there are nicer places in Ampang Jaya to hold races. Furthermore, there was just an official noting down numbers at the far end of the 10km route. Maybe giving out strings or tags would have been more effective. Credit to where it is due, considering how busy the roads were, traffic control was actually fairly reasonable as drivers were prevented from getting too close to runners at the main junctions.

Just like Penchala everything just took so long. Lucky draw, prizes for colouring / drawing competition for kids. Unlike Penchala I didn't win anything in the lucky draw (or at least haven't yet won when I left as it was still going on). Checked the official results when they eventually came out and my 31st place was confirmed. Does it really take that long to sort the results out? Oh well, that's life. Chatted to many people as this was my last race for a while and finally left with pm1, pm21 and my passenger pm11 to go have some nice Ampang yong tau foo before setting off home.

Pm1, Pm10 and Pm16

Pm9 and Pm16

Pm10, Pm3, Pm1, Pm11 and Pm9

Pm3 keeping cool in borrowed Oakleys

Location 3°N 101°E

Farewells and lack of practice...

2004-08-14T11:23:00.000+08:00

Been to several farewell lunches and drinks in the past few days. I haven't been around long enough to justify all these farewells! Not ran since Wednesday and my diet hasn't exactly been all that healthy. Hope I am going to be ok for the MPAJ 10km on Sunday. Looks like this Sunday will be one of the biggest gatherings ever of the Pacemaker team.

Had a couple of beers after work with colleagues yesterday. Worryingly I can feel it after just two beers. Severe lack of practice here.... Went to get a new toy after that at Mid Valley (why is it called "Mid Valley City"?). Not many people can claim to have a HBS driver but I have the option to use one, for now. :P

Men's cycling road race in the Olympics today from around 7pm Malaysia time. Pity I probably won't be able to watch it. :(

Location 3°N 101°E

Slow...

2004-08-11T23:09:00.000+08:00

Went for a run after work at 7:30pm in KLCC park (where else?). Again did six laps fairly easy in around 35'45". Legs a bit heavy and slow, probably from the hard work yesterday. Weather seems to be very warm the past few days, not helped by the haze. All these together made it feel like running in treacle. So glad when I finished and got in the shower. Will be taking a few days off to rest before racing on Sunday, maybe just get one more run in before that.

Location 3°N 101°E

Murky days

2004-08-11T15:59:00.000+08:00

Looks like our neighbours are burning trees again. Visibility has gone down but luckily the smell of burning is not in the air yet. Of course air quality is a national secret so it cannot be disclosed for fear of unsettling investor or tourist sentiment. Well from where I am, my air quality index involves checking which is the furthest tall building I can see. Perhaps I should publish my index.

I remember several weeks ago when it got pretty bad. Ran indoors for 4 out of 5 days on the treadmill at the gym. So boring even with the TV. Can't do more than 40 minutes, by which time I am soaking wet. I need to get outside - looking forward to doing long runs on grass again soon. :)

Location 3°N 101°E

Hill Training!

2004-08-10T23:51:00.000+08:00

Managed to get away from work at just past 6pm. Did a quick change in the gym and headed down to the LRT station. I'm sure I got funny looks but who cares. Ran up Jalan Parlimen from Masjid Jamek station. The meeting place at Lake Gardens is quite a distance away from the traffic lights and Bukit Aman car park! Already all warmed up by the time I got there. Want to know how it feels to gain weight? Try running uphill with some weight in a backpack, which is what I did.

Coach Chan had some interesting things in store for us today. Unlike nearly two weeks ago, today was not a "taster" session. Part 1 was 4x up the long hill, part 2 was 6x up the stairs (this time it was longer because the gate was open). Both involved 25m of ascent for each interval, giving a total of over 250m of climbing.

Altitude chart for hill session on 10 Aug 2004

Nearly all the fast boys were here today - Cecil, Eugene, Wei, Goh, Don etc. Makes it a bit more competitive and hard. As usual Cecil, Wei and Eugene were up front. Goh went hard only on the last two times up the hill. In my case I was just behind them, either in 4th place or 5th place to the top of the hill. Usually started a bit slower but put in a kick in the second half. Indeed I am often not very near the front at the right turn where the road is steep. Eugene didn't seem like he was at 100% today because I managed to catch him at the top of the last interval. My times uphill were pretty consistent - 2:48.2, 2:44.4, 2:44.7 and 2:44.2.

Didn't feel like running fast downhill today so nearly every man and his dog came past on the downs. Was actually running down slower than going up. Partly because I felt a bit of a niggle in my left IT band at the beginning. Better safe than sorry as the saying goes. Had a quick break and then we hit the stairs. Thanks to my slow overall time, I didn't have to start near the front of the 1st group. Legs felt a bit more tired than last time, hardly surprising as I had already run around 2km most of it uphill, then four times hard uphill and we had further to go up the stairs on this occasion. Managed to get to the top in 1:05-1:15, again taking it easy coming down especially it was getting dark.

Just missed the 20:48 train so had to catch the 21:18 train. Got home just before 22:30, a bit tired. Getting worried that I am not getting enough rest and not getting in enough carbohydrates. Usually a lot of vegetables and other protein stuff left over so I get given not a lot of rice in the hope that I finish off the other things. Another excuse for poor running performance. A bit different when I used to cook my own food. Will be doing that from next week again. Also find it quite hard to fully rehydrate before bedtime even though I start training fully hydrated by drinking like a fish all day at the office. Maybe I am just worrying too much...

Location 3°N 101°E

Burning both ends of the candle?

2004-08-09T23:23:00.000+08:00

Legs feel slightly tired today, probably the result of the ride yesterday. Felt a bit sluggish around KLCC park, first 3 laps the hard way in about 18'10", second 3 laps the easy way in about 17'30". Maybe I am not getting enough sleep for full recovery and getting up too early. Hope I can get away from work on time tomorrow to get to hill training and actually able to run well if I get there...

Location 3°N 101°E

Klang (nearly) 10km

2004-08-01T22:47:00.000+08:00

Before I start the report, a special mention must be made of several Klang Pacesetters and Loneruner. A few days before the race, Loneruner drove round the route and marked out the distances on the map. The Klang Pacesetters went out the day before the race to measure the course. Yes, just in case you have noticed, the white km markers on the ground were NOT put on by the organisers. The 10km course itself was short, just over 9km so don't kid yourself that you have suddenly improved by 4 minutes for 10km. Pity the 7km runners who had more than 7km to run though...

Now on to the race. Not having felt very well for the entire week, my sore throat came back with a vengeance at the ungodly hour that one has to wake up to make it even to a local race. Thoughts of DNS immediately came to mind. However, an internal compromise was reached whereby I decided to go just to see what I am able to do with no great aim for prize money. Having collected my number from the president of the Klang area group and making up some excuse based on death from coughing for my expected poor performance, I proceeded to the bureaucrats tent to register.

Now I must admit that I have not raced very often in Malaysia and I appreciate that there are issues such as imposters etc in races. However, how many times does one need to meet the organisers before actually running? Enter the race (by post or in person), collect numbers and so-called free gifts the day before, finally register again on day of the race. Do we *really* have to register again on the morning? It's not that difficult to check the identity of the winners after the finish especially as there is still plenty of time before the prize giving. Well, at least the Klang 10k tried to be innovative. At registration you were given a white cable tie to put on. Oh yes, that's a very very useful device for some unknown purpose.

The start was slightly delayed as usual. Luckily this time there wasn't a Datuk Seri something or other who couldn't wake up on time to give a speech. Many runners were so impatient waiting that they started milling around the start line which is the obvious place to wait for the race start. For some reason or other (perhaps because they couldn't get the starting banner up because runners were in the way) the officials started asking everyone to leave the start and go round the side to stand in the kandang kerbau (the tennis courts). Well the PA system wasn't working very well so many people just generally moved about aimlessly.

Anyway, I stood near the start line and soon people were being assembled for the start. Now the people who listened to instructions earlier to go into the kandang kerbau couldn't hear the instructions to assemble for the start. From what I have heard, many got trapped and couldn't get to the start on time. I chose the right corner this time as the road bends sharply to the left some distance after the start. Why do some people want to stand in the front two rows if they are not going to be able to run fast except for the first 400m? Just gets in the way of everyone else!!

The gun eventually went and there was the normal pushing and shoving. Very good practice for getting on the LRT in the morning rush hour which I am now getting better at. Get up to some sort of cruising speed and just take it at my own pace. Past Masjid India and then under the bridge, coming up to the 1km marker and I was still breathing. A good sign as this meant I wasn't dead yet - 3'56" for km1. Not coughing too much either. First little incline of the day, a flyover. Hey isn't that pm1 just in front? "Hello Ronnie" as I went past him on the uphill section, kind of hoping that he would follow me to keep me company.

The next section wasn't the most interesting route in the world, unless you like long straight roads, shophouses, houses and fields full of long grass. For me it was a bit like fishing - see target in distance, pull string slowly so that I'm just behind them. Then put in a little spurt to get past them. Got past many people along this stretch. If I potong any more people would think I worked for "Potong". At least I don't need to be overprotected unlike "Potong", still unable to really stand on its own feet after nearly 20 years in business.

Coming up to the second flyover, I could see a fairly large group up front. Good good. More overtaking. Hit the flyover hard, got past about 2 people on the up... See Ah Toh just up front, looks like he is suffering a bit. Drinks station, Ah Toh and another runner stops for drinks. I fly straight past hoping that they wouldn't be able to catch up. At this point I felt that I had no kick in my legs. Breathing is still ok but just not 100% right. Doubts start creeping in especially as the sharp left past a petrol station signals that the hills are coming up.

Ran through the middle of two lady runners (probably the leaders of the veterans race) in their own private battle. A bit odd as it was as if I was intruding into a personal conversation, so concentrated they were at matching each other step for step. I think I upset this as one of them made a break for it after I went past, using me to pull her along for a while. Right turn up the steep MPK hill. Get arms moving, pushoff the trailing leg, overtake two runners just before the top to latch onto a young runner in a Pacesetters jersey (Yit Kiat). Brief respite past the clock tower, followed by a bit of a drag towards the Subramaniam Hall. Just hanging in behind Pacesetter, biding my time...

Long downhill towards big roundabout and left again for Jalan Istana hill. Two fast school boys from the 7km go past me. Start of the hill. Time to go. Slowly wind the pace up - no kick today, more like diesel engine. Managed to drop Yit Kiat. Now the downhill part, trying to catch runner in red jersey in front. Overtook a few 7km runners, is the gap getting smaller? No he is still holding on to his lead. Turn right into the straight leading to stadium. Check behind. Aiyo Yit Kiat running hard to try to catch me. Turn left heading into track. Breathing hard. Check behind again, switch on finishing sprint. Getting closer to runner in red jersey in front... fail to catch him... got to finish line.

Got a card without number. Ok, so not in top 20 then, no cash prize today. Also stupidly forgot to switch off stopwatch so I don't know what time I did, probably around 36'00". Cough cough cough. Sit down on the grass. Cough some more. Shake Yit Kiat's hand. Try to recover. Start jogging back to the car. I nearly lost my voice before I got to the car because I shouted encouragement at Ronnie, Chen, Ah Beh and several other people. Dumped all my running clothes in the back of the car and changed into something dry. Walked back to the stadium to do more shouting and the usual post race things...

I can't say I agree totally with runwitme that describes Klang as full of rubbish. One has to remember that MPK are paying out so much prize money that they can't afford to have enough rubbish collectors. Furthermore, the millions of crows who used to live locally and act as part time cleaners have mostly migrated somewhere else (did you see any during the race - exactly). You know, people in Klang have to pay extra taxes to support the prize money and hundreds of cheap medals (just joking!!). Anyway, it wasn't a great concern to me during the race because I couldn't really smell anything with my blocked nose. The last section of the old route is even worse - trust me, I do that route nearly every Sunday morning.

Route Profile of Klang 10km

The new route for Klang is definitely better than the old one which is totally flat and boring. The hills towards the end makes the racing more interesting. To increase the distance, they could start it on the track and make the runners do one lap of the track at the finish which would make it much closer to 10km. Organisationwise, well it's not the best in the world but perhaps it will get better. Come on, I don't really want any more cheap XL-sized T-shirts. All I want is a medal which is not so thin that it bends if you stare at it for long enough. Just a pity that I didn't push harder to get into the top 20 - needed to be about 10s faster per km, which is not impossible to do. My finishing time wasn't great but perhaps it was ok considering that I wasn't firing on all cylinders.

Location 3°N 101°E

JB - Malakoff Race Report

2004-07-25T23:55:00.000+08:00

Saturday
I turned up bright and early at pm11's house on Saturday morning, ready for the trip down to JB. Unfortunately pm11 was still sound asleep, recovering from his work the night before. After convincing the family of pm11 that I was not some crazy person wanting to break into the house, I was let in and put in charge of babysitting duties...

Eventually pm11 rose from his slumber and started getting ready. By now the team manager pm1 and his boss pm21 had arrived too. After convincing the youngest member of the team, pm11's little daughter, that JB was really an interesting place to go to and she would be rewarded with shiny stickers, we were ready to set off. Only to be delayed again because pm1 had to spend a long time in the toilet. Finally, after making sure that everyone was on board, bike securedly fastened to rack and all bags were in the car, team Der_Pacemaker was ready to rock JB.

Team Der_Pacemaker was well prepared for the third and final MMDS of 2004 with a professional setup which was the envy of many other teams. Besides the two runners and a cyclist, we also had a full support team consisting of team manager, team mechanic, psychological coaches, timekeeper, photographers, map readers and team mascot. Yes it sounds like a lot of people but we still managed to fit everyone into a Proton Wira. With the bike on the roof and a boot full of luggage.

The long journey down to JB was punctuated by 2 rest stops and a domestic argument in the pm11 family about whether Skudai and Kulai were the same place. After over 400km we arrived at the M-Suites hotel for the collection of race numbers and the pre-race briefing. This was also a chance to check out the competition in our men's team category. The first name to appear was Krishma, the runner for the winning team in the past 2 MMDS races. Immediately we knew that that was likely to be the winning team. A more detailed check reveal a team from sunny Thailand - they must be very confident to come all the way to JB (unless they worked in Singapore!) so we suspected they would be pretty quick. After the race briefing and video from MMDS2, the hordes descended on the buffet table, being particularly quick at clearing the mini-cakes from the trays.

Having satisfied our stomachs we had a quick scout round the course (oh no there are two big hills!) before heading back to Kulai where pm11's sister lives. The 30-odd km took quite a while due to the heavy traffic - must be all the S'poreans out shopping in JB. We were treated to a nice big meal when we got there. This was certainly more than enough carbo loading for the following day. Not that we really needed any for the short distance. The team mechanic started work on the bike after dinner to get it into top form for the race. The brakes were adjusted, gears were tuned and finally the riding position of pm11 was also optimised to make him go faster on the big day. Everything done, we went to bed, dreaming of the prizes on offer.

Sunday
Getting up early in the morning is always difficult, even if there is a race to go to. Loaded everything into the car half-awake (remembering to put the bike on the roof) without forgetting anything was quite an achievement. Particularly so for pm11's little girl who probably didn't really want to go and watch people run and cycle for several hours. Got to the start of the race about 1 hour before the start of the race, thanks to pm11's fast driving.

After talking to some of the other competitors - Azwar (pm3), Krishma and friend, Cecil, Goh, Don, Thomas... it was time for a warmup. I jogged round for a bit and went to check out the hill with pm11 on his bike. We had to make sure that we knew how long and how hard the hill was. The hour of reckoning came closer and closer. Pm11 parked his bike in the transition area and joined the rest of the team while I proceeded to the start line which was now full of people. After a few customary photos, it was time to get down to business...

Bang went the gun and off everyone went. Round the corner past the traffic lights and the first hill started. Going along the outside, I got into my rhythm and started floating up the hill, overtaking many people in the process. However, the front runners were too far gone. I noted that Krishma did not have a particularly fast start and it was only on the hill that he started moving through the pack. A brief respite in the form of a little downhill, then left at the traffic lights and a bit of a false flat before the second climb. By now race order has been established, at least around me, so there was far less overtaking going on.

Still managed to get past a few people on the twisty second hill but just couldn't catch a tall Caucasian ahead of me. This situation remained the same for the rest of the race with him hanging in there, so near yet so far. On the long home stretch, I had to concentrate on my stride pattern and breathing to block out negative thoughts that invariably strike me during certain part of races. Think light steps, think floating along the ground...

Finally the padang came into sight so I quickly checked behind to make sure no one was trying to sneak up on me. Upping my tempo, I made a final last ditch effort to catch the runner in front (not easy if you are also trying to smile at the photographers dotted all over the place!). I was extra careful to physically step on the timing mats (actually this is not required - RFID should work as long as you pass over it) going into the transition. A quick swap of the leg tag and pm11 was off on the bike. Leaving me to walk slowly to warm down and rejoin the support team. My time of 32'15" definitely meant that the course was less than 9km.

The support team was working hard. Pm21 had already noted down the finishing times and time gaps between all our major competitors. It appeared that we were over 2 minutes behind the two leading teams but still well ahead of the 4th team in our category. Pm11 was told to take a conservative approach during the 1st cycling lap to familiarise himself with the undulations of the route before going all out in subsequent laps. When pm11 came round for his first lap, we noted that the Thai team was not pulling significantly ahead of him while Krishma's team with a Singapore national rider was nowhere to be seen. I decided to walk up along the Lido for the second lap to have a better idea of how the race was going. Seeing pm11 flying down the seafront, on his way to finish the second lap, I reminded him to eat to keep his energy up for the second half of the ride.

By now we had a fairly good idea about where we were likely to finish. The cyclist in the first team was taking massive time out of the Thai cyclist (3 minutes per lap!). The Thai cyclist was only a little bit faster than pm11 but they started around 2 minutes ahead of us so we were not going to catch them. Our main concern, the fourth placed team who started their cycle section over 6 minutes behind us, was not gaining any time on pm11. Therefore, unless something unexpected happened, we were going to be third. So the last two laps were a matter of holding our position and getting to the finish safely. What was particularly amazing was Ben, the eventual winner of the men's individual race. He did the first run in 29' and managed to keep up with the Singapore national cyclist from the 1st team nearly all the way until the final lap. Very very fit racer!

After a quick warmup (pm1 did not realise that pm11 was already on his last lap!), pm1 set off on the final leg of the relay after pm11 arrived at the finish after a great ride, having been fighting with a strong headwind down the seafront for the last couple of laps. It was very hot by now and the runners were fairly spread out. After overtaking several people in the first half of the run, pm1 found himself running on his own with nobody in front who was within target distance. We forgot to remind pm1 that we had a huge gap to the fourth team before he started on his run. Therefore, he valiantly tried to push hard despite the heat. Subsequently he did mention that it was nearly impossible to go fast because he was cooking under the sun.

As the last runner, pm1 had the privilege of breaking the tape at the finish line and getting his photo taken under the digital clock. 2:52:15 was our time, though I must say that the photo looks very much like a marathon finishing photo with pm1 having done sub-3 hours. Der_Pacemaker team was euphoric, this being our first ever podium finish! We had several photographers taking photos of the team, many of which had big expensive cameras so we assumed they must be official photographers. After our moment of fame, we retreated to a shady spot under the tents to have some food, drink lots of fluids and waited for the official prize giving ceremony...

Two hours later, after lots of cheering for other competitors finishing in the blazing sunshine, the time came for our moment of glory - the men's team race. "Fifth place....", "Fourth place....", "Third place..." - eh why not us? Must be because one of the top 2 teams got disqualified. "Second place..." Hey that's the Thai team. Where are we? Have we been disqualified? That is when the world collapsed all around us. This cannot be! I have actually seen a list at the finish line where "3rd" was marked against our team name.

In a state of traumatic shock, we searched for answers. After grilling a few officials, we spoke to Melody who checked the hand written results sheet and noticed that team 312 Der_Pacemaker had been missed when copying results over to the listed used for the prize presentation. She was very apologetic and promised that we will get our prize money. Unfortunately as we later found out, the list used for the prize presentation was already handed out to newpaper reporters who used it in their report the following day.

So we missed our chance of glory on stage and also the chance to see our names in print. The rest of the story as they say is now history and the correspondence between us and the organisers have already been posted. I have to emphasize that the organisers on the whole (especially Melody) have been very helpful and very open about their mistake. Der_Pacemaker team will be back to rock MMDS. Maybe even two teams... Hope I get the chance to do it all again.

Note: Photos will be put in later today

Location 3°N 101°E

Life passing me by,,,

2004-07-23T23:26:00.000+08:00

Haven't updated this thing for a while. Life has been really hectic for the past 2 months. Moved countries (or more accurately moved back), started a new job in a new field, quit the job (but still working out the notice period), finding out lots of useless information about various things, writing and rewriting countless reports, doing valuations of many companies, working 50-60+ hour weeks, getting up just before 7am every morning and often not getting home before 10pm, getting up even earlier on Sunday to go training (only 1 day in the weekend, have to work 1/2 day every Saturday), spending around 3 hours commuting every day, did two races with more to come, ran hundreds of laps round KLCC park in the dark, met a great group of runners & cyclists, tried but usually failed to get to Kampung Pandan track on Tuesdays and Thursdays for track training with coach Chan, ate countless Rotiboys after running, discovered that drinking coffee can cost more than lunch itself, flashed at many middle / fast lane hoggers in the car, drove far too quickly for the speed limit on highways, didn't do a lot of photography (pity...), read many many books (and research reports, yawn!) on the train, slept a lot on the train, still practising how to squeeze onto the LRT and KTM Kommuter in a big crowd, caught the 9:18pm train with seconds to spare too many times to count, failed to email my dearest often enough, made hours and hours of international phone calls to the same, tried most of the food courts in the buildings around KLCC, haven't had any real dark chocolate for nearly 2 months......

Location 3°N 101°E

Running downhills is bad for you!?

2004-05-30T17:17:00.000+08:00

Went for a run with the local running club this morning. A 0630 meet up (yes, Sunday morning) at the local track which I know so well from school days. It's been upgraded from black cinder to synthetic some years ago. I still remember the days when running in lane 1 after heavy rain was good training for cross country. After the upgrade, there was a big controversy regarding the fence which was put up round the track to stop people from using the nice new track. Eventually common sense prevailed and the track is open to public use in the mornings and evenings unless there is a prior booking. Well no one in the right mind would use it around midday anyway.

Took it fairly easy on the run in case I fall dead from the heat. The route was one of my former usual training routes, including one ascent of my favourite "HRmax Test Hill" about 1/2 way round. Why this name? Well last time I was back, for my *first* run, I did 3x hard up this hill and notched up maximums in the high 190s. Partly because of the heat though. My experience is that HRs are usually around 10-20 bpm higher in these conditions especially in the first few runs. Unlike the Worcester Joggers, there is no requirement to "muster back". Therefore, before long there was just a long string of runners along the road.

Overheard today: "Running downhills is very bad for your legs so I run down this hill 1-2 minutes slower than I run up it." I think thus guy really needs to do more training downhill because he was complaining of very sore legs after doing a hilly 15km race the week before!

Location 3°N 101°E

Stranger in a familiar land

2004-05-30T04:06:00.000+08:00

Saw many anvil shaped clouds on the bumpy descent into KLIA. It's thunderstorm season! KLIA still half empty - great airport but where are all the planes? Met dad who arrived a bit before me on another flight and split up at immigration where I had to go in a separate queue because I didn't have the machine readable new passport. I'll hold out for as long as I can... Told someone off for cutting the queue at immigration. No one else said or did anything. Meek sheep they were.

Bike bag reappeared with contents still the same shape as when it went into the bag. Conveyor broke down and other bag was delayed slightly. KLIA must be one of the only airports in the world where there are at least 2 people attending to each baggage carousel. Their purpose? To shift the bags around at the point where they emerge so that they don't crash into one another.

Rained hard on the way back from airport, continued on and off over the afternoon into the evening. Took the edge off the temperature a bit so it was only around 29°C. Now that I have gotten used to broadband, dialup is SOOOO SLOOOWWWW...

Location 3°N 101°E

8 miles up, and down to hidey hole

2004-05-29T09:03:00.000+08:00

For the last part of the flight into Dubai, the flightpath skirted close to the Saudi-Iraqi border. Was sat on the left hand side of the plane again so I didn't get a view into Iraq. We were flying at 41,000ft at the time (7.77miles up), the highest that I can remember seeing. Certainly the big twins usually cruise than 4 engine jets, but how high do they normally (or abnormally) go to?

Dubai Airport duty free shops

Dubai airport to me is highly overrated. Duty free heaven? Maybe I am looking at the wrong shops, but I didn't find the choice or prices there to be all that good. No Wifi APs anywhere too. Most of the eating areas are not non-smoking too. Thought I would have to sit on the floor next to a pillar with power sockets again like last time. This time I struck lucky in the Irish Bar place near gate 22. At the extreme righthand corner next to the visible kitchen, there is a little alcove with two power sockets. Another guy with an old Mac laptop was there too. Yeah us poor guys not on Pentium-Ms who have to keep the batteries topped up. The waiters joked that it looked like a mini internet cafe. We told him that if they install free WiFi they probably would have to beat the customers away with a stick.

Location 25°N 55°E

Overweight and Overpriced

2004-05-28T20:15:00.000+08:00

8kg overweight I was, I mean my check in luggage. Hardly surprising as I had one case filled with clothes (3 sets of running kit, 2 sets of cycling kit, 3 shirts, 1 full suit, 4 pairs of trousers, 2 ties, 1 pair of running shoes, chargers for various things...) and a bulging bike bag (green monster with copious padding plus some tools, 1 pair of cycling shoes, 1 pair of racing shoes, 1 pair of sandals...). Looks like a pretty full flight from the way that everyone's hand luggage was weighed. My "hand luggage" consisted of one laptop bag (laptop, heavy book, several CD-ROMs...) and one camera bag (camera, mini tripod, 2 sets of batteries, filters, CF cards...). My laptop bag was 2kg over the limit, remedied by taking out the Investment Valuation book which weighs exactly 2kg. I was told to "carry it by hand" so that I am considered to have "No Hand Luggage" because I am already overweight. In theory laptops and cameras are looked at in the same vein as umbrellas, baby strollers and similar items - their weight doesn't count. Something to remember when you are in a similar situation (read the small print on air tickets).

Now for my gripes. Emirates will carry certain sports equipment in addition to the usual luggage allowance for free, including golf clubs and scuba diving gear. So why not bicycles? Because it does not fit in with their image of senile golfers and sunkissed divers in the red sea? Total bullsh*t. Deduct one point from Emirates for this. Another thing about Emirates, they have a 3-4-3 seat arrangement in economy class on their B777 compared to the usual 3-3-3. Don't know whether they do this by using narrower seats or narrower aisles. I certainly haven't had any trouble with this (see below) but worth watching out for if you are slightly wider than average.

Furthermore, I feel that I am discriminated against when I fly due to my lack of bodyweight. Eight bl**dy kg overweight. More than 50% of people in the check in queue would be happy if they were my weight + 8kg. And it is 50% because there is a high proportion of people of Asian origin on the flight, otherwise it might well be 75%. People should be weighed together with their luggage on flights and discounts or extra charges being applied on total weight. Have given a lot of thought about these over the years. Need to talk to people who know more about the cost structure of airlines about this.

The T1 departure lounge in Birmingham Airport was its usual bustling self. Except that a few keyboards with TFT screens have been set up as internet access points. There was a WiFi logo upon closer examination with SSID clearly indicated and no WEP. Happiness! I can spend the two hours of waiting on line. Booted the laptop up, scanned for connections with Netstumbler and immediately found two open AP and one WEP encrypted AP, the latter likely to be someone using their own laptop. Opened the browser up... uh oh... https... please pay £4 for 1/2 hour, £6 for 1 hour, £12 for 1 day etc etc. Oh well thats killed my plan then, despite a bit of fiddling about trying to find a way round it.

Location 52°N 2°W

Out in the big smoke

2004-05-15T21:11:00.000+08:00

Night out to the bright lights of Brummieland last night. Picked up the lady from work, late, because my mind was wandering off somewhere else at M5-M42 junction. Got there in the end after a scramble through the southern reaches of Birmingham suburbia through Kings Norton and down Pershore Road. Again places I used to know so well. It's hard to gather any real sense of nostalgia for such mundane places little worth mentioning, but hey this might be the last time I go round that bit of the world for a while.

We decided to go to Lasan for dinner as we have heard a lot about it (Yes I know, the website is under construction - The manager was taking photos as we ate). This was, according to the Independent newspaper (or tabloid as it will only be sold in tabloid size as of this week), one of the 10 best Indian restaurants in the UK. Worried that it would be packed full, a late reservation was made at 3pm for a table for two, seating at 6:30pm, much to the delight of the person on the phone who said that the big crunch usually starts at 7pm.

The outside of the place was well hidden in a side street just off St Paul's Square. It would not have merited another look if you didn't know what you were looking for. The inside was pretty modern and minimalist in style, though I felt that the music was somewhat loud. Shouldn't have bothered with booking at it was totally deserted at 6:45pm. After ordering a Cobra (the beer, not the reptile), we settled down to study the menu - "To Start, To Follow ...".

Decided to share a red mullet with spicy salsa for starters and go for the methi lamb shank as main course with three vegetarian side dishes - marrow curry, okra and pickled mango, lentils and baby aubergines. As none of these came with any form of carbohydrates, we also asked for a pilau rice and a paratha. The red mullet came promptly enough, two fillets stacked on a pile of greens. The fillets were tasty enough, though I was somewhat uncertain about the texture. It felt unlike the red mullets I had before, most of which were grilled whole on the bone which gave a more flaky meaty texture. These did not flake as much and felt more chewy, leading to suspicions that they were not fully defrosted before cooking.

The mains arrived soon after the table was cleared. A hefty shank of lamb stood upright in a green sauce with flecks of darker green. The meat was meltingly tender and slid off the bone easily. It was possible to taste some of the individual spices in the sauce which was definitely a departure from the usual ghee-laden curries. The same theme was carried over to the veggie side dishes which were individually different in taste. The okra, one of our favourite greens, were cooked to perfection, still retaining its shape but far from stringy. They were somewhat stingy with the baby aubergines, or did I misread the menu when it said "baby aubergine" without the 's'. The paratha was a real highlight - light, crispy and fragrant. It resembled the good roti canai / murtabaks more than the usual thick heavy greasy parathas. There wasn't enough rice to soak up all the nice juices so we asked for another portion of it.

Mains over and nearly full, we were interested to look at the dessert menu. After all, the desserts were apparently a strength of this place. We received a small A5 card each titled "To End" with a list of specialties including a choice of Indian sweets. Having decided on one dessert each - firni brulee tart and warm carrot halva with ice cream, we were informed that the desserts may take 20-30 minutes as they needed to be prepared from scratch. Both desserts came after a brief wait, nowhere as long as expected. The carrot halva came with a raspberry couli, as expected, but the tart did too. Perhaps the kitchen was being generous. Both desserts were finely crafted piece of art, and went down very slowly. This was more due to bursting waistlines more that anything. I felt that my brulee tart was a tad too creamy towards the end but it could just be me feeling the strain.

In summary, 1 starter, 1 main, 3 sides, 2 pilau rice, 1 paratha, 2 desserts, 1 Cobra between the two of us was perhaps a bit over ambitious. The damage came to around £40 which I suppose is about right for this type of quality and quantity. The lady said that it was good but not *that* good, but bear in mind that it is not often that she feels that something is perfect.

After the meal we went to watch "The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" at the AMC Cinema near Five Ways, first time we had been there (or any cinema for a while, come to think of it). I thought it was a decent enough movie, especially the idea and storyline about memory erasure, though the both of us suffered from nausea towards the end of the movie. Whether this was due to the big (and congealment of fat in the stomach?) dinner or the camera work is a moot point because it sort of put a damper on the evening. Oh yes, the seats were good at the AMC, better than most cinemas we have been to.

Location 52°N 2°W

Who moved my cheese?

2004-05-14T23:21:00.000+08:00

Went for a longish slow run with the club last night. Ran through the usual fields and along the river. What was cabbages a few weeks ago is now newly ploughed brown earth ready for the next crop. I will miss this when I am gone, the golden evenings of padded footsteps on fresh grass, bursting through into a hillside covered in brilliant yellow oil-seed rape... Well not the claggy farmyard mud you get after days of rain though. Or the bull that has been moved into the same field you are crossing!

Picture from the BBC website

Booked a physio appointment today. Good to get a checkup and learn some strengthening exercises. I must be one of the most misaligned people around. Funny that I haven't had more trouble with injuries. Went and did a minor food shop and then on to the Cornish Pasty place in town where the production process is in full view (get to see how much meat they put in). Now I am not the greatest fan of lardly pasties with unknown mush as fillings but this place really does decent pasties. Had Beef and Stilton Pasty and strawberries (unfortunately not little English ones) for lunch, not together of course. The chunks of meat are still there in the pasty but where is the cheese? No this is not selective memory. I am sure that you could taste the Stilton before.

Location 52°N 2°W

Stourport (nearly) 10k

2004-05-13T20:40:00.000+08:00

Yesterday evening was the first race of the Worcestershire Mid-Week 10km League for invited clubs only. Perhaps its a reflection of the ability of Worcester Joggers to put bodies into local races that we were invited to take part in this series. Should help with our affliation attempts with the MCAA.

Thinking that this was going to be based on the Brambles 10k course, the pair of blue suede shoes went into the kit bag. Of course this was not to be and we were told at sign-on that the course will be "mostly off road". The number of people with Walshes and other off road footwear also provided another clue. The question of what exactly is the route was met with the great reply, "There is only one course map but the head marshall has it to make sure that the marshalls are in the right place". Nevertheless we were reassured that the course is well marked with the usual red and white plastic strips. It was sort of an "out and back" course so the initial and final 1.5miles or so follows the same route.

"Blue suede shoes"

With many of the usual suspects present today in their various club colours, it should be easy to execute my race strategy of following certain individuals for the first part of the race. Hopefully starting slower would avoid a repeat meeting with my good friend the stitch which ruined a recent race. By the end of the first lap round the track I quickly realised that my first two pacemakers were rather slow. A few quick steps and I was past them to be stuck firmly on the back of two other pacemakers just before the route narrowed down leaving the track. These two pacemakers did a good job at maintaining an even pace and eventually I left them on a slight incline to latch on to someone else. This tactic was repeated for several times around the course. Quite useful too as I had no idea which way we had to go.

The hardest bit of the race was definitely "the Gulley" which was as its name suggested a dried up stream. It was soft going underfoot in various places with many uneven hard steps. At the speed (lack of!) I was going up it, I imagined that people behind me would overtake me left right and centre but strangely this never happened, but neither did I close the large gap to the runner in front. From there on it was mostly downhill all the way to the finish with about a lap clockwise round the track, keeping an eye on the group behind me to make sure that I didn't get caught. My finishing time of 37'20" (20th place) was clearly not due to my superb fitness but rather a somewhat short course.

With the benefit of hindsight I should have attacked a bit more on the hills especially as many other sections were narrow with little chance of overtaking. Knowing the course would be useful to know how much to push at various places. Off road shoes were not a requirement because the surface was reasonable dry. Felt fairly good throughout the race, perhaps an indication that I wasn't going at 100% effort so there might just be some sort of form hiding somewhere in my legs. Being a bit disorganised and currently subscribing to the "organic" approach to running, I did not use my HRM during the race so I'm unable to check my HR to prove this. Next race is probably this coming Sunday at the LRF 10k in Bromsgrove (Note it starts at 11am, not 9am as the website says!).

Location 52°N 2°W

Journey down memory lane

2004-05-12T04:34:00.000+08:00

Drove up north to Sheffield and back today via the M5-M42-M1. Been up that way a couple of times in the last few weeks. Made me think back to the days when the big junction between the M42, M6 and M6 Toll was being built. It was as if all the cones and diversions in the known universe had all come together in one of the busiest stretches of motorway in western Europe. Had to pass through that stretch twice everyday for six months. Let's just say it wasn't the best way of spending your life.

One would expect the driver of an articulated lorry carrying a whole load of Portaloos to be spoilt for choice when he needs to attend to a call of nature. No, he has to do what everyone else does, ie stop by the side of the road. At least he has all the Portaloos for cover against the coach full of grannies which invariably comes past at the right time.

Had a good meeting in Sheffield, besides some initial difficulty in finding the place. Traffic was pretty smooth both ways. Not a bad day at all. Dad called again to find out what was happening but didn't get the chance to call back. Options options options...

Location 52°N 2°W

Handicap Race

2004-05-11T05:17:00.000+08:00

It was the Worcester Joggers Spring Handicap Race this evening. Organisers were Mr Sell and yours truly. The aim is to start off people at different times so that everyone gets to the finish at around the same time to let the slower runners have the chance of beating the faster runners. Not very easy if there is a wide range of abilities, especially if some of them haven't raced very much (or at all before).

It began to rain just after the first runners started. Luckily it was warm(ish) rain rather than cold rain - it's May after all, but I got very worried about the inkjet-printed startsheets disintegrating. This was averted by large transparent plastic bags and umbrellas. In the end, out of the 30 finishers, only 5 were outside 5% of their predicted times (calculated with great precision by me). Nearly a blanket finish, good racing but hard for the timekeepers to keep up.

Oh, another discovery as I left the Green Monster out in the rain during the race. My Mono M4s squeak extremely loudly when the disc is wet. By the time I got back home the squeal had abated slightly so as not to raise the ire of the anti-noise poilce.

Location 52°N 2°W

New toys

2004-05-10T20:45:00.000+08:00

Swapping over to disc brakes has proven a bit more painful than I expected! My old trusty RC36 EVOIIs was from the era where disc mounts were an add-on. A quick call to Pace showed how far behind I am - Clamp-on disc mounts have sold out *two years* ago. Being such a weightweenie, there was only one choice when presented with either the RC38 Race or RC36 Stealth Dark LT at the same price. Yes I went for the supposedly slightly less durable but lightweight choice. Hope Monos were the choice for stopping power. Pretty as they were, the Mono6Ti would definitely have been an overkill. In the end I plumped for the middle, Mono M4s with 185mm disc. They came with a French manual of all things as punishment for me running a "froggie" lever setup (god help me if I move on to motorbikes!).

After much swapping round of bits and pieces with fair lashings of WD40 and hairspray, the updated Green Monster was ready to roll. Setup of the Mono M4s were relatively simple, requiring selection of the right combo of spacers. Initially the pads were not backing off evenly, this was solved (RTFM) by pushing the disc against the side which was pushing out too much, a two person job. The RC38 setting were left at stock for it to run in a bit.

First test, the Continental Trail at Nant-yr-arian on Friday. Nice trail, the big climb at the end came as a bit of a shock to the system. Only 600m of climbing, I think not. Second test, an easyish potter around the Malverns on Sunday. The bluebells were out in force on the western lower flanks of the Hills, covering them in a carpet of blue. There was a (electric) fenced off area between North Hill and Worcestershire Beacon where what appeared to be Highland cattle were grazing.

Fork action was pretty plush but I felt that they were diving a bit much under braking. A significant increase in braking power was noted during the test period. Accidental endos became quite easy to do towards the end of the Continental Trail. After completing the trail the first time, I did the initial singletrack section (just after the climb out from the car park) again and had a close encounter with a tree at the rock step with an alternative route round to the left due to overzealous finger pressure of the left hand. A similar incident happened on the Malverns, this time with a spiky bush. Together with the little blister on my left wrist due to a cooking related incident, the scratches and rashes would be enough to get social services worried if I was any younger. Locking up the front wheel was exceedingly easy to do and was accomplished on many occasions. Perhaps I will just have to get used to the brakes...

Blue scraper seals on 2003 Pace RC38 R
These are supposedly letting in more water and cr*p into the innards of the 2003 forks. Wonder why as they have been in use for quite a few years now...

Close up of caliper on Hope Mono M4
The pads spring back ever so little but just enough to clear the disc...

Disc surface after 2 rides
This is what happens to the disc surface after some bedding in.

Location: 52°N 2°W

Done it...

2004-05-10T05:22:00.000+08:00

Done the deed. Booked the ticket. Hasn't sunk in yet but it soon will. Less than 3 weeks to go... Ready or not, here I come.

Location: 52°N 2°W