The Zen of Running.

Its a flow in harmony.accepting whats is there.no mental conditioning.no distraction.Just yourself.close to yourself, believe and knowing what should be done.no sadness.No dissapointment.no ego. no time. its here and whats in front now.

at Wednesday, June 27, 2007 0 comments  

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Penang Marathon Pic's


Sorting out the numbers.


Its polaroid sunglasses babe, cant get em , no more.


G-Hotel aint bad at all.Its near to everything.


Posing around with some red funky honeycombs


You just got to understand,man. it's all about the shoes.



Respect them for tomorrow they'll pull you thru.


42km + Beer = KO


i don't &%$% care if its gay or not. Do you understand the pain involved to get these?

Happy and not tired with Tired but Happy.

at Tuesday, June 26, 2007 0 comments  

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Lesson learned during a Marathon. (with Race report.)

Developing blisters in new, exciting places.

Chafing occurs in new, exciting places.

Pain in new , exciting places.

Stories you've heard about the last 10k of the race is 100% true and NOT exaggerated At All.

Eat the not so tasty gels first, Save the tasties for later.

Sub 5 hour marathon can be done with only 10 km training.!

The power of hearing someone call your name is amazing.

A Friend running with you during your 30km breaching point, just awesome.

The 4 words mantra "Feeling Strong, Going strong" ROCKS!.

Friends and strangers cheering you on is incredibly moving and inspiring.

Having a 10 meter sprint with another marathoner and won after 42.1 km:PRICELESS.


12 Hrs before Race Day

Registered at 11.00 ,thanks to Arif and Senn for it. quite huge crowd at registration at Queensbay mall. Looks like a ticket counter for a carnival rather than a marathon registration.

So we checked in at THE G-hotel...yeah it sounds corny. but it does seems pretty nice. Ronald , Peter and me placed our stuff in there before meeting up with Senn and Arif , we head down to the back streets of penang for lunch.

So whats the essential nutrition for marathon runners prior the Penang Bridge run.

Kari ayam, kari ikan, Kari sotong , every darn curry that a Nasi Kandar stall can mix it in. We had it + plenty of papadum! to top it off with excellent Penang cendol.

( asking for trouble isnt it )

We head down back to the G-hotel to have some rest. Being hyper and not wanting to sleep arif and Senn decided to see Fantastic 4. ( I said lets go ) Whats a cheesy movie oh well , thats another story.

So after the movie we went back to our separate rooms to chill down. Peter , Ronald and Me decided to go to have dinner @ 7 while Arif and Sennn was getting some shut eye.

7 hours prior to a full marathon , We had high calorie nutritious intake of Char kueh teow, Fried Osyters, Ikan bakar, Sotong Bakar and Rojak buah. ( We are suicidal kamikaze marathoners but we are also in penang! )

Went back took a dump a shower and slept.


RACE DAY

Wohoo.

Woke up at 12.30 ( said to myself, shit this is the time , everyone is out clubbing )
So we preped up , smack it up and got it going to the parking area.

Saw none of the familiar faces in there. So we joked and mess about in the "elite area" where we were quarantined. Saw Lesley and Alex some kaki tri.

Soon the flood gates open , the officials turn us loose at the Start point at 3.00 am. Saying our good luck. we initiated.

And we began this journey.i broke away but starting out regulated no wanting to burst out everything. so the first 20 was really good. The running environment was dark at 3-6 am all you can focus on is the road and yourself + the other marathoner around.

It was a pretty lonely journey of drinking and smacking on gels with the legs constantly on a stride. Untill I saw those kenyans running. its quite an awesome sight to see them just vanish on a 2 km road in less than 4 mins!

And also until i saw that Asley with kenyan legs + sherpa lungs too. She was like chasing the kenyans as though the kenyans stole her mp3 player.

I was happy to see Elain when she came into my sight. ( meaning i was dropping in speed. )Saw jasmine on the other side of the bridge ( going strong ) while we both run along side. i harpooned her for easy 13- 14k until the last 10 km where i start to drop due to the pain on my legs. Our conversation was just really fun during that duration so positive and full of energy. The first half was a dream pretty surreal. I kept up easily with a good pace team and was militant about storing up energy for later. Everything was on track for a best-case scenario. Enlighten to think on the stuff that really matters to me on run and when its over when i get back.

However in a journey like this the truth prevails and something got to give. Having never breaching a 15 km run nor a half marathon at the most with several 10 km runs.
I'd expected not to last 25 km. but i was going strong, feeling strong all the way until 35 km. Where the last 7 did takes its toll on the knees.i think everyone can vouch on the Intel stretch of road being a very mentally and physically challenging distance but it was much further, nearer to Queensbay mall where my legs was giving me the middle finger. Along the way i saw Arif who looks fine and dandy "how far more? "quite a bit" i said.

At the last 7 was really mind to the body. not body to the mind.Then I detected a blister on my left foot. Strange, I thought. I'd never gotten a blister from running, and I was wearing a safely worn-in pair of shoes. Fortunately, the pain was minimal, and I was able to forget about it and keep moving.
But I couldn't ignore my tired legs. Soon, after holding out as long as possible, I had to stop and walk a few feet then several few feet's. i was hoping to make it in 4hrs 30 mins.

Kind-hearted spectators near 40km shouted their encouragement, and I kept moving so as not to disappoint them.

So it is made good that i manage to finsh it in 4hrs 40+ mins. pretty happy indeed.

Congrats to those who entered, to those i have started with , to those i have met half way thru , and to those who reached back :)

( More stories and pictures later. i am tired. i wanna sleep. nite and lights out.)

at Monday, June 25, 2007 4 comments  

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Does "JOG" means "WALK " to ME ?

So a good friend of mine decide to start jogging. Not trying to burst her stride, i just follow her pace. It felt heavy and sluggish perhaps due to the pace however i cant let her down on being a jerk by saying "No,i am just wasting my time " Being slim enough & petite enough, why she bother going thru this?
Coz she wants to be slimmer and leaner with a better posture with a kick ass butt all together , however this is her excuses:

1.I really hate to exercise.i'd rather watch tv and channel surf.
2.I can't seem to stay motivated to continue working out and
3.I can't make the commitment to stick to an exercise routine this is just a spurr of the moment.

Well i hope she is just kidding as i "invested" many hours of walking and she is actually begining to RUN..after giving preaches after preaches of the benefits of pushing a lil harder, a lil more attitude.

Hey girlfriend if your are reading this, just keep on going , the day we stop improving , is the day we stop living.

at Thursday, June 21, 2007 0 comments  

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The Seabiscuit inside..

When i first saw this movie.I watched it due to the fact that it was to pass time( this was a while back ) . And to be honest, I still don't why i bought the dvd. But as I continue to watch on it it didnt really hit me until recently where i find a lil dot that link to some pretty interesting things.


What are some of the things that make horse racing interesting? How about:

- the amount of care the horses receive and need

- the team of people (owners, trainers, jockeys, doctors, etc, etc) that are working to make one athlete their best

- the complete determination that these animals display when they race.

The amount of spirit that the horses display while they race is an example that moves me each time I see a horse gallop away at kiara.. I like to think that there is something very pure about their desire to race.

The idea of racing with pure motivation is one of the things that I've been trying to get my mind wrapped around. I guess one way to put it is - to develop a level of satisfaction from racing that is derived from an internal place opposed to external rewards. Ironically, when an athlete can move to this "place" the performances likely become more consistent and quicker. At least that is my hypothesis.

at Thursday, June 21, 2007 0 comments  

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How to pass the "suck threshold" in triathlon. ( or anything )

I was working on a methodology in the IT industry on capability and maturing.

"The only thing standing between repeating-again and again & improving constantly is dedication."

At first this quote kind of pushed my thinking in the wrong direction. Why? Because while I consider myself dedicated to triathlon, I don't consider myself an expert. I especially don't consider myself an "expert" athlete. So I got this feeling that they might be (indirectly) suggesting that I wasn't dedicated enough. (We'll look at how much dedication is needed later.)

Before I mention anything more about the methodolgy. It is really interesting to see the three different paths or choices they offer on time vs. ability. The choices are:

a. "give up" - but if you can get past the frustrastion you may be able to make it past the "suck threshold"

b. "I'm ok, so I'll continue this way" - in which you remain an amateur as time passes on, never passing the "kicking ass threshold"

c. "push myself, because there is always a better way" - you may finally pass the "kicking ass threshold" and become an expert.

There were a few things that stood out to me about those who make the choice to continue working towards being an expert. Those people tend to do these things:

1. They find new ways to get better. There is always some way to get that little edge.

2. They work on their weaknesses, even if it isn't fun.

3. They are willing to pay the cost, whatever that cost might be in order to not suck.

So what does it take to pass the "suck threshold" in triathlon?

This is a very good question that I ask myself on a daily basis. This half year I made the decision to focus on Ironman. This decision has meant that I have been running a lot more than normal (I am trying actually swimmingmore too) and getting ready to bike a lot. So maybe I'm on my way to passing the suck threshold by working on my weaknesses, but what about passing the kicking ass threshold.

one of the characteristics of those that don't suck was dedication. It is hard to extrapolate what amount of dedication someone has by seeing a finishing time.

I'll share a couple things that point out the amount of committment or dedication that might be involved:

1. You need to train more! The average training volume for a 25-29 year old male was approximately 800 annual hours. It was around 840 annual hours across all age groups. (As a comparison, last year I trained 678 hours...

2. You need to be consistent! The training was consistent throughout the prior year, even during the off season they would have their volumes at 20-40% of peak volumes. At six months out, their volumes were at 60% (bike) to 80% (swim and run) of peak volume.

A few training ideas came from this data that shows what those-that-don't-suck do for their training. The biggest one is that they have big bike volumes, especially within the 19 weeks leading up to the race. The second variable that correlated to race performance was run volume over the year. Even as these triathletes biked and ran a lot, guess what - they still swam! In other words, if you want to be a good triathlete that passes the suck threshold you need to bike a lot (especially the last 6 months), run a lot and don't forget to swim regularly.

at Wednesday, June 20, 2007 0 comments  

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Charity Biking for Amnesty International: Sydney/ Home, 20748 km, 426 days



On the 1st April 2006 I embarked on an epic 420-day journey, cycling from Germany to Australia.

At 21 years old, I have cycled solo through 15 countries and across 21,000 kilometres to raise 22,000 Euros for Amnesty International. It is done!

On the 10 th of Mai, i was finally hitting Sydney Downtown to achieve my aim!

It was a venture to bring forward the plight of those who suffer human rights exploitations by raising awareness in the wider public. Media coverages in some polish, russian, mongolian news channels are going along with dozens of other newspaper articles in Thailand, Malaysia, Australia and especially Germany.


I succesfully worked in conjuction with several international amnesty sections, participated in press conferences, in one I adressed a speech in the panel to the represents of Thailand's government, encountered the consul- generals of Germany in Bangkok and Sydney or visited refugees in the borderland to Myanmar.

It was a journey full of challenges, obstacles and hardships, but on the other hand the most wicked time I ever could have imagined!
The beauty of the Mongolian countryside, the charakters in China, the kindness of the Khmer people or the remoteness of the Australian Outback was worth all the pain and suffering!

Nothing is impossible if you put my mind and heart into it and you will achieve whatever it is you set out to do:

"Deep within man dwell those slembering powers;
power that would astonish him,
that he never dreamed of posessing;
forces that would revolutionize his life
if aroused and put into action."

- Orison Swett Marden-


Especially the close attachment to the people along the way inspired and encouraged me to carry on.
Defending human rights is about standing up fo those people who lack them. I was living amongst them for one year and see the purpose of my life in protecting them.
A venture for the people, with the people!

You all receive this newsletter because i encountered you on my trip and got assistance from you. It was either just a nice refreshing chat with you after great solitude, a warm hug or even shelter. Whatever it was, it made me keep on going.
The people who helped and inspired me the most are not reading these lines right now. We were communicating not by words but rather by emotions and sadly don't stay in touch anymore.
They invited me with sign language, shared the less they have with me to the most.
Such a venture like mine never ever succeeds alone, but is reinforced and strengthened by the contribution of so many people. Thank you very much!


What a story!!!
I have to apologize for the delay of this newsletter, but after skydiving (enlosed pic) and celebrating like crazy in Sydney, I took the plane back home on the 20th of Mai to finally break my right thumb and left ellbow in a car accident!
The last 500 km from the airport back home were supposed to become a homerun for me, but after not even 400 metres on the road again a car seriously hit me from behind with 56 km/h.
I flew off my "butterfly" (pet name of my bike) and the ambulance was to be called immediately to go into surgery for my thumb. Hence i wasn't able to keep you updated all the time. Even now it takes ages for me to type only with the left hand.


Nevertheless, i am back home in the arms of my beloved ones since exactly three weeks! The emotions went berserk and i am still feeling a bit weird by adapting back to a "normal" way of life.

The following agenda was enormously busy, i still kept up the good work and met the Secretary General of Amnesty International Germany, Barbara Lochbihler for a photo- shooting and presentation about my campaign.

Just two days before, a charity concert honouring my activism took place and another 3500 Euros were donated by 500 guests. Hence i over-accomplished the mission by raising more money than actually intended: 22 000 €!

Now, i will go studying in September in Maastricht, Holland (London was previously intended) Political Science, International Relations and Economics (ww.ucm.nl).
After graduation i will take another gap- year to ride my bike around South America for a year.
But first of all, I am going to close this chapter by writing a book and presenting a professional slideshow.

Whether Ironman, Sahara, Everest or even Antartica, Cyling for Human Rights was just the beginning!!!


Good on ya, mate!

Timo Müller

biking around the world to establish human rights
Timo Müller
www.cyclingforhumanrights.de
timo.australia@googlemail.com





NOTE: I've got his email yesterday nite. Congrats TIMO..You have achieve something none of us ever would.

at Tuesday, June 19, 2007 0 comments  

PD WIND TRI-ing.


Mr Chan and his grin..


PD training was indeed pretty nice. Great temperature ,good turnout and great support by the TRisports,some local authority and some Tv crew from NTV7 (TV crew look so lack of energy,so tired.)

Anyway to the gist of things.

THE GOOD:

Trisportz to org the whole thing.
To test run the new swim course.
To provide the bike racks
To provide the needed water after swim and during run.
To provide the carpet.
To arrange the local crew on water and on land.
To provide some Powerbars to hungry unprepared tri-athletes
To sell nice T-shirts
To give out stickers.
To have lucky draw!!!
To have good support from everyone.
To have more Improvement!

Excellent!!

THE BAD:

Super Windy Swim,

Choppy waves. If my bike can be used as a surfboard,I'd for sure be surfing.

Super Windy Bike,

Constant battle with headwinds and rain makes needle like pricks, feels like acupuncture

Super Dirty Bike,

it looks like my road bike just came back from cycle-cross.

Super Hungry,

Ill prepared tri-athlete with no food. Thought is a clinic!!NOo all the hardcore fellas turned out to be there.

The above is definitely out of the hands of trisports.I believe if Uncle CHan can control the weather , He would.. :)


The Ugly:

On the Rocks! The most concern part of the whole thing is the swim. If the condition on race day is like what it was yesterday. Someone can get really hurt. Please see my ugly mspaint drawing. The waves pushes the swimmer out to the exposed rocks if navigation aint straight.
(lets not talk about experience swimmers ler)this is for the not so strong swimmers. I suggest putting out some visible floaters/markers there.

This is the new swim course BTW

Due to the on going Construction, the swim course has to be moved to the open sea,will there be a Shower on the way back?

PD should clean the beach for debris on race day.

So anyway Great Effort Trisports, keep on setting the bar.

Feeling strong , going strong.

at Monday, June 18, 2007 0 comments  

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Swissstop



Got em today, They cost a whooping 187 rm , yes thats right..It burned thru my wallet, my pocket , on to my shoes ( left a charred hole there ) and stained the floor.

I cant find any justified reason exactly but these babies can be used for both carbon and aluminium wheels! thus no need swapping of pads !! Using a Rule of "thumb" it has the texture of "shealth" rubber ( rock climbing shoe's rubber ) and a soft compound type.

To try it,I got to put my "rubber" on. It took about 1 hour to get it adjusted.

The stopping power of these yellow erasers is incredible. The bite is just so sticky it gives real confidence on late braking at downhill corners.

It has a 5/5 rating from www.cyclingnews.com and i think thats right.

at Saturday, June 16, 2007 0 comments  

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Mixing with the Japs

Have no idea who's Pokari sweat i be drinking but it better taste good. 288kcal for 74 gram


Burn your body fat with explosive power whenever needed ( WTF?) 246kcal@64gram



vitamin C + amino acid = Sport water C ( C = Cycling ) 196Kcal@62 gram

Anyway just wanted to try these isotonic drink, forgot how much it cost but it has to be more than 7 rm each. Got kinda sick with Powerbar endurance drink so i ought to try these powders out. Looks like POKARI Sweat has more Kcal thus a better bang for your buck.However , will not judge its packing until i am sweating.

at Saturday, June 16, 2007 0 comments  

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