tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-208550952024-03-07T12:33:32.846+08:00One life. One God. One faith.Committed to a relentless pursuit of excellence, discipline and creative passion. "Of all those arts in which the wise excel, nature's chief masterpiece is writing well."
www.angieacrossamerica.comAngeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.comBlogger418125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-75168448975627483302013-09-20T11:45:00.001+08:002013-09-20T11:45:59.292+08:00Life & Death: We're stronger<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We're different but one. We're diverse but united. We're intricately & uniquely joined together by the bond of humanity.</span></span></div><b id="docs-internal-guid-160d9604-3970-114c-8183-8b26dfedafd7" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b> <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Even if it ain't someone terribly close to us, but the fact that a fellow human being who shares the same breath of air, drives down the same road as you, or share the interests, perspiration and labor, when you learn of their demise in the very act of active pursuit of the sport that binds you as one - that pulls a tight tug on your heart, a hard grip on your soul and wears you down like a heavy cloak of grey… death of a fellow being, athlete, neighbour, colleague, friend, family - their demise rocks us as a people.</span></span></div><span style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="font-size: 15px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">How do we brace ourselves in the face of such loss and stand stronger despite the quiver in our hearts and spirit? We must, call to mind, the ones that remain, the ones that are close by, the ones that we love, protect and shelter; we must, at all times, regard each other in utmost respect, honesty, warmth, hospitality, kindness and gentleness, for in the absence of their presence, we would bear the guilt of not affording them what is so easily within our power to give - the act of grace and love. </span></span>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-6407706252470639812013-08-31T11:28:00.001+08:002013-08-31T14:36:27.300+08:00Of poverty, books & parenthood<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">We are a product of our upbringing. I am my father’s daughter, and here’s a little window into what makes me. </span><br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b> </span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I have a rather large family - there’s six of us - my parents and three other siblings. In order to raise a large family, my middle-income parents worked extremely to put us all through school. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b> </span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We didn’t have much luxuries growing up - we ate simply, seldom in restaurants, never had a family vacation, never had my parents buy us toys or new clothes for the new year. All we had was food in the table, miserly pennies for food in school, and hand-me-down clothes from our older cousins. But if there’s one thing in abundance in the house - it was books. Books were the only thing my father would invest in. He strongly believed in education as the only vehicle for upward mobility. I remembered him asking me one day if I would like to own a set of LIFE Encyclopedia. Back in the 1980s, that series of encyclopedia was a huge deal. Having developed a love for books and reading in me since I was little, I of course said yes. I didn’t think he was serious when he asked me for my opinion if he should purchase the whole set from my cousin, at a used rate. But he was. He negotiated the price and bought it for a hefty thousand dollars (a brand new set cost $2,000).</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b> </span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was both thrilled and confused. Thrilled at having a whole collection of what I thought then to be a window into the world - I could learn anything and everything, from that huge volume of encyclopedia - at my disposal, for my reading at my whim and desire. Confused that my highly-thrifty dad would splurge a thousand dollars on a set of encyclopedia on his 10-year-old daughter. It baffled my young mind. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b> </span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now more than 20 years later, I’m testament that my father’s investment in our education has paid off. I had a rather long career in law, not as a lawyer, but as a legal assistant, as I couldn’t tolerate the academia and what seemed a dry and monotonous routine of a practicing lawyer. I also had my fair share of fun as an audio editor and a creative writer and researcher producing documentaries for big-time broadcasters including Nat Geo, Discovery, Lonely Planet and the History Channel. I’m not earning millions right now, but the foundation in education that he gave me through instilling a love for books and knowledge in me helped to shape my destiny today. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b> </span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For all of his imperfection and extremely stern upbringing where I was repeatedly caned till I was 17, I appreciate all that he did, in his best capacity as the head of the household, the man in the family, the leader of the tribe and a father to a bunch of very obstinate children. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b> </span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Having grown up in a rather impoverished household with only our bare necessities provided for by our sacrificial and hard working parents (they often had two jobs each), up till today, I struggle to break free from the gripping mentality that I don’t have enough and I should always measure the value of the things I spend on. Every time I stand at the counter prior to a purchase, my eyes would be scanning the figures while my mind would be churning and clicking numbers to give me an evaluation of whether item A or B would give me a better bang for my buck. And that’s the truth - that’s my purchasing decision - price versus my perceived value. It’s tiring to live like this, and I’m no prouder of it than I am to confess it now, but I do try, every time, to break free from that crippling poverty-limited mentality and to make a conscious paradigm shift on the concept of money and value. I’ve had several well-meaning friends who have observed that uncomfortable trait of mine concerning money, and many a times, when they jokingly poke at my extreme thriftiness, a cloud of shame would shadow me and I’d retreat into an invisible corner of self-reprimand, reminding myself to step out of that poverty hole and to learn to practice generosity. I try, and still am trying, so my friends, please be patient with me. My husband, who fortunately grew up in higher middle income family, has been key in helping me to take baby steps out of my poverty-stricken past into a life-giving lifestyle. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">
<span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We live and we learn. In documenting my struggles, I’m coming face-to-face with my weaknesses, shedding light on them and with direction, support, and conscious decision, I can only get better. </span></span>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-70194003117289842802013-08-08T02:04:00.004+08:002013-08-08T02:05:45.831+08:00Why I Tri (Why I do Triathlons)<div dir="ltr" style="margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A day after I crossed the finish line of my most anticipated race of the year, one in which I devoted 8 months of my life to train for, I started questioning my intention for pursuing and staying in the sport. </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 1.15; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5XEnOEK0jCOWKJHgi3vTgZqIeklgqsDny-GDkoGJVSxSVcPPed_so2se_Whodgm7oWl6Sz1t6nuN8OJ8bt0efKsndExa29tplTlpyq4XPC_RXrjXHFlO-lLcAmYE_jfTf7IU/s1600/Vineman+Finish.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe5XEnOEK0jCOWKJHgi3vTgZqIeklgqsDny-GDkoGJVSxSVcPPed_so2se_Whodgm7oWl6Sz1t6nuN8OJ8bt0efKsndExa29tplTlpyq4XPC_RXrjXHFlO-lLcAmYE_jfTf7IU/s400/Vineman+Finish.png" width="287" /></span></a></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had just completed what seemed to be an important race to me - my first 140.6-mile Ironman distance race. Moving forward, I didn’t wanna continue my pursuit for it simply to improve my race times - what would that prove? That I was capable of more stellar performance? No, I wasn’t as interested in bettering my race times as I was searching for the <b>heart and purpose of the sport</b>. </span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">For seven days I sought for answers. I asked some of my triathlete friends what motivated them in their pursuit of the Ironman. A number of times I was moved by their response and what the sport meant to them. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was inspired afresh hearing from them, but for me personally, my vision for the sport remained a blur. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Until two nights ago. Something shifted on the inside of me. It felt like someone flicked on my internal light switch. Here’s my moment of enlightenment:</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was transported exactly 3 years back to July 2010. A girl I knew had signed up for a race and couldn’t do it at the last minute, I was asked if I’d do it, and I thought, why not? Up to that point I had never trained for a triathlon - I didn’t know how to swim front crawl, I just started biking 2 months prior and I was but a casual runner. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was an Olympic-distance race, I did it, loved it and was thirsty for more. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was my first introduction to triathlon after which I started to observe the general society at large and their perception of health and fitness.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I look at the average middle-age population, our parents and loved ones included, people in their 50s and 60s - who feel like they’re old, sickly and do not have much going on for them as the years quickly pass them by.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">And I look at some of my triathlete friends who, similarly, are in their 50s, 60s, some 70s even, who don’t just do the regular triathlons, but the Ironman races, and how incredibly strong, healthy and fit they are, and, oh, the vigor of life they exhibit in their personal being. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Between the two, </span><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I aspire to be the latter. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">To further seal my decision, I got to know a sweet, down-to-earth and extremely fit 77-year-old. Harriet Anderson is a legend in the American triathlon scene - she is one of the oldest triathletes in the U.S. who has completed not just a couple, but twenty-whopping-one Kona Ironman. 21! She did her first sprint triathlon at the age of 50, won her age group, and has not looked back. She has since completed over 80 triathlon races, and 21 of those 80 races is the Ironman, one of the toughest single-day races in the world today, where you race 140.6 miles by swimming, biking and running.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every so often, I remind myself, I wanna be like Harriet Anderson when I’m in my 70s. Heck, even till I’m in my 80s, I wanna continue to be fit as a fiddle by doing triathlons. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Ironman earns the respect of triathletes because it is an event where you race not just other people, but yourself, to train your body to generate enough power and energy to complete a 2.4-mile swim, 112-mile bike and 26.2-mile run in anything between 10-17 hours. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because of the extremity of the sport, you can’t help but to be changed by it.</span><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The extreme discipline, dedication, determination and focus that you put into transforming yourself into an endurance machine that refuses to quit when the going gets tough - in training, in your daily life, and on race day. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">I’m not the fastest, strongest or most-gifted triathlete. In all honesty, I am your average girl-next-door triathlete with average or below average race results. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">But what I lack in speed and talent, I make up for with my name’s initials, AT: Attitude and Tenacity</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">By attitude, I mean a faith-filled, positive attitude. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">And tenacity - it’s a powerful trait I hold dear. Tenacity goes beyond determination. By definition, tenacity means “persistent determination”.</span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Every time I cross the finish line of a race, I’m overcomed with a surging sense of gratitude for the health that I have, and this body which I’ve been blessed with to use as a vessel to channel a positive message of inspiration to the people around me through my athletic pursuits and never-say-die attitude. </span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I tri, and keep tri-ing, because </span><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-weight: bold; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">triathlon keeps me on the edge and makes me dream bigger every time</span><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">Doing an Ironman is not a one-all and be-all. <b>Doing an Ironman is part of a journey to have a higher appreciation for other things in life</b> - for instance, enjoying the beauty of nature while I am out riding, running trails, the ability for us humans to take a leaf from nature and learn to swim efficiently like a fish, etc. Or simply to enjoy the camaraderie of fellow triathletes and endurance junkies that I train with. I've found that t</span><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">he heart and beauty of the Ironman is that it changes each triathlete individually, yet it binds us collectively through a uniquely shared experience.</span></span><br />
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">The challenge for me personally is to keep looking for higher mountains to climb. For some their higher mountains could be to better their Ironman finish times; for me it could be a longer, further endurance race. </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; line-height: 1.15; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gc_ugN6pB_MaCqRXt6etDKyyc6bU3pzAK7CWWJcgleoVfoGHtUGZoR5zM64xWyeXVbx0qPGhg-7HcctgxZU4iDCCnxIxSSFja5wWE7WcjgQTYMUpJosZsCzdG9lE8k0v_qtm/s1600/My+Everest_CAA2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4gc_ugN6pB_MaCqRXt6etDKyyc6bU3pzAK7CWWJcgleoVfoGHtUGZoR5zM64xWyeXVbx0qPGhg-7HcctgxZU4iDCCnxIxSSFja5wWE7WcjgQTYMUpJosZsCzdG9lE8k0v_qtm/s400/My+Everest_CAA2.JPG" width="333" /></span></a></div>
<div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">For now, I have my eyes set on cycling across the US from coast to coast in 28 days. A girl can dream, can’t she? ;)</span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 1.15; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 1.15; white-space: pre-wrap;">A similar post is found here:</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="line-height: 18px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><a href="http://lildrummertalk.blogspot.com/2013/08/why-i-tri-why-i-do-triathlons.html">http://lildrummertalk.blogspot.com/2013/08/why-i-tri-why-i-do-triathlons.html</a></span></span></div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span id="goog_1746769489"></span></div>
Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-59946893359624769792013-08-08T01:59:00.003+08:002013-08-08T02:05:58.503+08:00Nailed my first Ironman 140.6 miles: Vineman 2013<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3WGssaWNTCEd-gj23mAqAmezLA_VGIIozxLCnLHhvZzrfRP-GiTMvQdszgkJYjiGtCSR6uOzFOZ8Exzq-MGR8yfpOqaZ96I9MkbAnic9psnvMG3NLDLa-Y4NjuhoG00_6Jza_/s1600/IMG_1044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3WGssaWNTCEd-gj23mAqAmezLA_VGIIozxLCnLHhvZzrfRP-GiTMvQdszgkJYjiGtCSR6uOzFOZ8Exzq-MGR8yfpOqaZ96I9MkbAnic9psnvMG3NLDLa-Y4NjuhoG00_6Jza_/s400/IMG_1044.JPG" width="266" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><br /></span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Doing my first Ironman is like falling in love for the first time.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Throughout the race, I was pleasantly surprised at the incredible</span> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">peace and ease at which I swam, bike and ran.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">The swim has traditionally been my weakest and most challenging</span> <span style="background: white;">portion of the race.</span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; font-size: large;">On race morning, I was unusually calm and in good spirits.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisScGDgNChKXie0bUX5UYrgwBSLNhum5c_aMVYtnhafZ3JQHriax7Fx3S2xOWNTeNOwyEhzzwjvqVDTfEHH79Xu1ZQ9PpyZvb2_iByLqy6f4D0sZnHAr_Jk_W9-eDKSOAZCS_d/s1600/IMG_0879.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisScGDgNChKXie0bUX5UYrgwBSLNhum5c_aMVYtnhafZ3JQHriax7Fx3S2xOWNTeNOwyEhzzwjvqVDTfEHH79Xu1ZQ9PpyZvb2_iByLqy6f4D0sZnHAr_Jk_W9-eDKSOAZCS_d/s400/IMG_0879.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The race started at 6.30 am. My swim wave started at 6.36 am. Russian</span> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">River is clear, calm and shallow. For the first time in any triathlon</span> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">race, I swam with ease and confidence, and came out of the water 3 </span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">mins faster than I expected. Good start to a long day!</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1u3JeMwerjNw0A2bNsBEVCtfAV36-29N_LjF0276Y7Mxp-gevT5HKeokhJXIN0QdE8Hoa40QOWP81TAe3fqOWbRLMgdoTp0OPi6m6VnojW_bN-jCr_vxBwO7Pdej42Ymaltl9/s1600/IMG_0927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1u3JeMwerjNw0A2bNsBEVCtfAV36-29N_LjF0276Y7Mxp-gevT5HKeokhJXIN0QdE8Hoa40QOWP81TAe3fqOWbRLMgdoTp0OPi6m6VnojW_bN-jCr_vxBwO7Pdej42Ymaltl9/s400/IMG_0927.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Training for Vineman started in Nov 2012. For 8 months I lived,</span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">breathed, ate, slept, dreamt, talked and thought nothing but</span><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">triathlon.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Through all of this, my husband has been my biggest cheerleader and</span> <span style="background: white;">supporter. On days when I wanted to opt out of training for the excuse</span> <span style="background: white;">of spending time with him, he firmly said no, go out and train, or</span> <span style="background: white;">you'll not be yourself. By saying I won't be myself he meant I won't</span> <span style="background: white;">be the super hyperactive Angie who thrives on endurance training</span> <span style="background: white;">adrenalin. And those daily shots of adrenaline that comes from training</span> <span style="background: white;">makes up my very DNA which, if not taken for a day, throws me off</span> <span style="background: white;">balance and into a low state.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETC9Wi-0HW2GZAZE1PAPaM9N0arlILy-aAUzYm8W1som3E3RzNwAyc4ofCJluxVYuT3tuuhn2eN0sBEaP0HjY2b5VSicdPoQ6dgu2pqUgQeE5ZcyO6P_UROQ8cmEGlZS6Dkfv/s1600/IMG_1009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgETC9Wi-0HW2GZAZE1PAPaM9N0arlILy-aAUzYm8W1som3E3RzNwAyc4ofCJluxVYuT3tuuhn2eN0sBEaP0HjY2b5VSicdPoQ6dgu2pqUgQeE5ZcyO6P_UROQ8cmEGlZS6Dkfv/s400/IMG_1009.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you think I'm an endurance junkie, you're probably right, which is</span> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">why when I sustained a nasty hamstring/calf injury on my right leg 4</span> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">weeks into the race and I couldn't run or train effectively for 1.5</span> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">weeks, I was rather down, anxious and worried that I would not be able</span> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">to compete at all. But my triathlete friend, GR, who saw me through my</span> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">training taught me to apply the human factor to my training – to</span> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">listen to my body, to rest when needed, not to take each training</span> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">session as a killer session, to learn to train by feel, and most of</span> <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">all, to trust the process.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">If not for him, I wouldn't have done as well as I did in the race.</span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">He taught me Pacing, Nutrition, Execution (PNE).</span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">I carried those 3 words with me into the race. You see, an Ironman</span> <span style="background: white;">race is long. Professionals complete it in 8-9 hours; for most</span> <span style="background: white;">everyone else, i.e. the age groupers, we complete it in anything</span> <span style="background: white;">between 9-17 hours.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">I took the number in between and based on my current capability,</span> <span style="background: white;">estimated an overall finish time of 13-13.5 hours.</span><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /> <!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">In order to complete within that target finish time, I have to ensure that</span> <span style="background: white;">I pace myself - to swim, bike and run at my trained speed, and not to</span> <span style="background: white;">go out too hard and fast at the start when I feel fresh, only to be</span> <span style="background: white;">depleted midpoint and slow drastically down at the end portion. I'm</span> <span style="background: white;">glad to report that I paced myself evenly throughout the entire race,</span> <span style="background: white;">as I kept drilling the 3 keys words in my head: Pacing, Nutrition,</span> <span style="background: white;">Execution.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;"><b>PACING</b></span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Race day isn't about hoping for a miracle that I'd be able to go</span> <span style="background: white;">faster and finish in incredible time. Race day is all about Execution:</span> <span style="background: white;">executing your race pace and sticking to the plan. I can't expect to</span> <span style="background: white;">do on race day what I haven't done in training. In the past that was</span> <span style="background: white;">the mistake I made and so I didn't fare well in those races, but for</span> <span style="background: white;">this important Ironman race, I sobered up and realized that race day is all</span> <span style="background: white;">about executing what I know my body is capable of accomplishing.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Coming out of the 2.4-mile swim in 1 hour 37 mins, I smiled. The hardest part</span> <span style="background: white;">of the race (for me) was over! Now all I have to do is bike 112 miles</span> <span style="background: white;">and run 26.2 miles.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQh18DrLNeeW6In8BjcqMFbLmOZxj_H1U3orSHiEqn0ag3YxdzyPjkeCtw8dWiuQ-velECelNwyalqBo634K240G7WVBW2zzmxFtWkiQo6i9Q-42VtH9q-OmyjwJwPHfEGrWiS/s1600/IMG_0946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQh18DrLNeeW6In8BjcqMFbLmOZxj_H1U3orSHiEqn0ag3YxdzyPjkeCtw8dWiuQ-velECelNwyalqBo634K240G7WVBW2zzmxFtWkiQo6i9Q-42VtH9q-OmyjwJwPHfEGrWiS/s400/IMG_0946.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> <span style="background: white;">I got onto the bike with ease, enjoyed the ride, and savored the</span> <span style="background: white;">beauty of Sonoma County. The entire bike course was flanked by</span> <span style="background: white;">wineries and vineyards on the left and right, and in the horizon,</span> <span style="background: white;">green and golden mountains. I must have looked rather silly smiling</span> <span style="background: white;">and beaming on my bike while the other competitors raced the course.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">If there was a miracle that happened on race day, it was the weather.</span> <span style="background: white;">Sonoma County has traditionally been extremely hot in the summer, and</span> <span style="background: white;">the past few years during Vineman, the temperature averaged the high</span> <span style="background: white;">90s Fahrenheit (30s Celsius).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Miraculously, the weather on race day this year was in the 60s</span> <span style="background: white;">Fahrenheit (10-ish Celsius), which I saw as a sign that God has my</span> <span style="background: white;">back on this race. He set the stage and made everything perfect for me</span> <span style="background: white;">and the rest of the participants that day.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;"><b>NUTRITION</b></span><br />
<span style="background: white;">During the bike portion, I religiously took in my nutrition: a</span> <span style="background: white;">combination of Lara Bars, Clif Bars, Clif Shot Bloks and Team Osmo</span> <span style="background: white;">Hydration Drink.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">It's important to have your nutrition come in different shapes, sizes</span> <span style="background: white;">and medium for variety sake and to prevent boredom on the bike; well</span> <span style="background: white;">at least for me, this formula seem to work out very well. I had no <a href="http://www.pacifichealthlabs.com/blog/5-ways-to-prevent-gi-problems-from-ruining-your-next-triathlon/">gastrointestinal (GI)</a></span> <span style="background: white;">or bloating issues.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;"><b>EXECUTION</b></span><br />
<span style="background: white;">I wasn't racing anybody. I was simply executing my race plan. And I</span> <span style="background: white;">wasn't hard on myself - I allowed myself to hit the bathroom twice on</span> <span style="background: white;">the bike, doing ahem, both a big and a small number, slowly wheeling</span> <span style="background: white;">in to the aid stations and stopping to take a minute of rest, thank</span> <span style="background: white;">the volunteers and chatted with and encouraged other triathletes. I</span> <span style="background: white;">wasn't just racing - I was enjoying every moment of the day. I knew it</span> <span style="background: white;">was gonna be a long day, so I didn't wanna be hard on myself but to</span> <span style="background: white;">enjoy it with other people.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">I've never ridden 112 miles in one stretch without longer than an hour</span> <span style="background: white;">break in between before, so by the time I was done, I was very pleased</span> <span style="background: white;">and knew that with the swim and bike conquered, the run was just gonna</span> <span style="background: white;">be a blast - coz I love the run the best.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrb3FQX99XchhJw4ulzefHmOD2viLBDObP-UFIcg9jEslfCMEHBOHWgExgJMjf3pqkWbMAql2RseRNnWczSiDAt1RUTC-dEiLbgPpgEay-lWUfukv0qF-nLO6b9DX9Sx8SpSNJ/s1600/IMG_0995.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrb3FQX99XchhJw4ulzefHmOD2viLBDObP-UFIcg9jEslfCMEHBOHWgExgJMjf3pqkWbMAql2RseRNnWczSiDAt1RUTC-dEiLbgPpgEay-lWUfukv0qF-nLO6b9DX9Sx8SpSNJ/s400/IMG_0995.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: white;">During training, running after biking always hurts - my chest would</span> <span style="background: white;">hurt, my heart rate would escalate, and my legs would feel heavy like</span> <span style="background: white;">lead. Brick runs (running after biking) was my least favorite part of</span> <span style="background: white;">training because it spells PAIN.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">Imagine my surprise when I got onto the run course - I thought I was</span> <span style="background: white;">gonna hurt, but no, I felt incredibly good! So good it was almost</span> <span style="background: white;">unbelievable. I felt no pain, no discomfort, just sheer joy and the</span> <span style="background: white;">ability to run easily after over 9 hours on the swim and bike.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-TfLM-WwCpqCaR0HLrGubuuczX2TnYZonzTgFqYWKaldiD9JKWbb5WcPST2Hj9RKT8YKrm7rTAnhh2_pomAqjfIT1OIx3JRtRPfuVgwrRrVVSPNdF32tYratdK9jHmdCKcgfB/s1600/IMG_1017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-TfLM-WwCpqCaR0HLrGubuuczX2TnYZonzTgFqYWKaldiD9JKWbb5WcPST2Hj9RKT8YKrm7rTAnhh2_pomAqjfIT1OIx3JRtRPfuVgwrRrVVSPNdF32tYratdK9jHmdCKcgfB/s400/IMG_1017.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: white;">So ran I did. Smiling most of the way. I received numerous cheers from</span> <span style="background: white;">supporters for holding a good form and pace and smiling widely despite</span> <span style="background: white;">the brutality of the run that most of the triathletes on the course</span> <span style="background: white;">were struggling with. Many walked the course, especially uphill. I'm</span> <span style="background: white;">glad to report that I ran the whole way through, even uphill, when</span> <span style="background: white;">nobody else did, and walked only the aid stations and stopped to use</span> <span style="background: white;">the portable loo twice.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;">A number of times my right calf and knee hurt, but each time it did, I</span> <span style="background: white;">prayed and asked for the Holy Spirit to flow through my body, into my</span> <span style="background: white;">cells and muscles. God answered every bit of my prayer, and held me up</span> <span style="background: white;">strong throughout the run, till the finish line, where I sprinted the</span> <span style="background: white;">last 200 meters and was announced as a first time finisher as I smiled</span> <span style="background: white;">and raised my hands in victory. <b>I did it!</b> I finally nailed this dream</span> <span style="background: white;">that <a href="http://www.tri-logie.com/triathlon.html">eluded me 2 years ago when I failed to complete it in Germany</a>.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br />
</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRJuNbJ0-_V7V1Z2EuDZSTgxcSwIc8G5vXRIMsbxxsz_WEg7NQewj8SuyLUMkJQdM1YpqwpxtVy8AOsURKK0INGb1TMXQbgRHevGvUc65oKe9Mb51PR8iMydp_4vBfN-lEKK0/s1600/IMG_1030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtRJuNbJ0-_V7V1Z2EuDZSTgxcSwIc8G5vXRIMsbxxsz_WEg7NQewj8SuyLUMkJQdM1YpqwpxtVy8AOsURKK0INGb1TMXQbgRHevGvUc65oKe9Mb51PR8iMydp_4vBfN-lEKK0/s400/IMG_1030.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: large;">My official finish time: 14:15:38
</span></span></div>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background: white;">The victory is sweet, but not as sweet as the lessons learnt along</span> <span style="background: white;">this journey that made me mature as a triathlete. Would I do this</span> <span style="background: white;">again? For sure. Even if I have a baby, I'm determined to train</span> <span style="background: white;">through my pregnancy and come back even stronger and speedier than</span> <span style="background: white;">before.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="background: white;"><b>EPILOGUE</b></span><br />
<span style="background: white;">Having competed in several half Ironman distance races and</span> <span style="background: white;">experienced the pain and brutality of those races, I've often</span> <span style="background: white;">questioned myself if I could really complete a full Ironman – which</span> <span style="background: white;">would demand double the distance, pain and agony. Little do I know how</span> <span style="background: white;">miraculous the human mind and body is - crossing the finishing line on</span> <span style="background: white;">July 27, I give my Master Creator the fullest credit for His handiwork</span> <span style="background: white;">in me - for fearfully and wonderfully creating me to be the endurance</span> <span style="background: white;">athlete that I am. And I vow to glorify Him always, in all my sporting</span> <span style="background: white;">pursuits.</span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;"><br /></span></span>
</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nV7Sy9-oAoHaZO4sY4y5z6Y1vzGroD8yuup0x_Ddu6vrcZIZ0mFKohkih1NFoI5sxFkJwD-FNoaJm-UfI8-b1FIvH7OPFJeDNr_GaTI2C77kMeKRKqvOVEI2I3GMljZrIiqL/s1600/IMG_1043.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_nV7Sy9-oAoHaZO4sY4y5z6Y1vzGroD8yuup0x_Ddu6vrcZIZ0mFKohkih1NFoI5sxFkJwD-FNoaJm-UfI8-b1FIvH7OPFJeDNr_GaTI2C77kMeKRKqvOVEI2I3GMljZrIiqL/s400/IMG_1043.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I'm thankful also, for the amazing support I've received from those who love, care, encourage and cheer me on for the past many years, who believed in me and never doubted my ability to do this. My husband, family, pastors, friends, coaches, fellow triathletes - my success is every bit yours - thank you for helping me reach for the stars. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuHyeLen6C7b9vx5hr_CIPnJx1NFAQ2Qs3nsNYTPHGrDpbz_9wq2kk4RNvOfS8vvMwG5_yr-GkzHUzpG94zNKWx4D6CceD_RTz502-14CkgA384oj7vDs0D3N16AzTU__w3gx_/s1600/IMG_1048.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuHyeLen6C7b9vx5hr_CIPnJx1NFAQ2Qs3nsNYTPHGrDpbz_9wq2kk4RNvOfS8vvMwG5_yr-GkzHUzpG94zNKWx4D6CceD_RTz502-14CkgA384oj7vDs0D3N16AzTU__w3gx_/s400/IMG_1048.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: x-small;">My cheerleader & most supportive spouse
</span></span></div>
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white;"><br />
</span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTDl4-8TZRr1VQx4vsvHtT7p9f0pmc-vow3VpTOMgPwJ_EstIL8GtdDqEGsMDvqCh6srXBnmp1AeecP6ZnAsajudmi191HyjYDcQgn2kQX6YAK_kOvKBCP-iPvruKejuTJrAm/s1600/IMG_0954.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsTDl4-8TZRr1VQx4vsvHtT7p9f0pmc-vow3VpTOMgPwJ_EstIL8GtdDqEGsMDvqCh6srXBnmp1AeecP6ZnAsajudmi191HyjYDcQgn2kQX6YAK_kOvKBCP-iPvruKejuTJrAm/s400/IMG_0954.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: x-small;">My support team and incredible housemate, Ash - first time anybody made me a poster!</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: x-small;">(psst.. he's super sweet, single & available!)</span></span></div>
</div>
<!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <o:DocumentProperties> <o:Template>Normal.dotm</o:Template> <o:Revision>0</o:Revision> <o:TotalTime>0</o:TotalTime> <o:Pages>1</o:Pages> <o:Words>1097</o:Words> <o:Characters>6255</o:Characters> <o:Company>jasomedia</o:Company> <o:Lines>52</o:Lines> <o:Paragraphs>12</o:Paragraphs> <o:CharactersWithSpaces>7681</o:CharactersWithSpaces> <o:Version>12.0</o:Version> </o:DocumentProperties> <o:OfficeDocumentSettings> <o:AllowPNG/> </o:OfficeDocumentSettings> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:WordDocument> <w:Zoom>0</w:Zoom> <w:TrackMoves>false</w:TrackMoves> <w:TrackFormatting/> <w:PunctuationKerning/> <w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridHorizontalSpacing> <w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing>18 pt</w:DrawingGridVerticalSpacing> <w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayHorizontalDrawingGridEvery> <w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery>0</w:DisplayVerticalDrawingGridEvery> <w:ValidateAgainstSchemas/> <w:SaveIfXMLInvalid>false</w:SaveIfXMLInvalid> <w:IgnoreMixedContent>false</w:IgnoreMixedContent> <w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText>false</w:AlwaysShowPlaceholderText> <w:Compatibility> <w:BreakWrappedTables/> <w:DontGrowAutofit/> <w:DontAutofitConstrainedTables/> <w:DontVertAlignInTxbx/> </w:Compatibility> </w:WordDocument> </xml><![endif]--><!--[if gte mso 9]><xml> <w:LatentStyles DefLockedState="false" LatentStyleCount="276"> </w:LatentStyles> </xml><![endif]--> <!--[if gte mso 10]> <style>
/* Style Definitions */
table.MsoNormalTable
{mso-style-name:"Table Normal";
mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0;
mso-tstyle-colband-size:0;
mso-style-noshow:yes;
mso-style-parent:"";
mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt;
mso-para-margin-top:0cm;
mso-para-margin-right:0cm;
mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt;
mso-para-margin-left:0cm;
mso-pagination:widow-orphan;
font-size:12.0pt;
font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria;
mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin;
mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman";
mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast;
mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;
mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;}
</style> <![endif]--> <!--StartFragment--> <!--EndFragment--><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">A similar post is found here: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><a href="http://lildrummertalk.blogspot.com/2013/07/nailed-my-first-ironman-1406-miles.html">http://lildrummertalk.blogspot.com/2013/07/nailed-my-first-ironman-1406-miles.html</a></span></div>
</div>
Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-56091351481039774422013-08-06T13:55:00.002+08:002013-08-06T13:55:58.697+08:00Paying It Forward: Duty to Help<div class="grid-breaking-override" name="f9c4" style="background-color: white; line-height: 31px; margin-bottom: 31px;">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was 11 and
walking home from tuition class a couple of streets from home. A man in a nice
Volvo drove slowly and pulled up next to me, asking me for directions. I knew
the area well, and gave him simple directions to get there. He wasn’t sure he
caught my directions right, and asked if I would step into the car to bring him
to his destination, which was probably less than a mile away.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Something
seized up on the inside of me, I summoned an annoyed look and firmly said ‘No’.
He caught the signal, knew I wasn’t a simple-minded damsel, thanked me, and
drove off.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I walked
home, relieved, while replaying the horror of what could have happened had I
been naive and eager to be helpful and stepped into his car.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Getting into
a stranger’s car or hitchhiking presents the same possibility of danger - my
parents made sure to drill it into us children’s thick skulls to never, ever
accept rides from strangers. Little did I think I’d neglect my parents’ warning
in my moment of desperation two days ago when I got lost and separated from my
friend on a 100-mile bike ride in a county I was totally unfamiliar with. To
make matter worse, I was tired, thirsty, hungry, and depleted every ounce of
energy to ride any further, and had no cell phone or means of communication to
reach my friends.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Despite my
frantic wave for help on the side of a busy road, I watched with dismay as one
after another driver in fancy cars zoomed past me, ignoring my plight. As I
grew more weary and dejected, my desperation got the better of me and I resorted
to stepping in the middle of the road so oncoming cars had no option but to
stop for me. It worked.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">A driver
stopped her car and waved her hands - she thought I wanted to cross the road
and was waving for me to do so; but no, I wasn’t looking to cross the road - I
wanted her to stop in her tracks to help me. I needed help and was going to get
it, by hook or by crook.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thankfully
it was a female driver - I would have been a little more wary and considered
alternative options if it was a male driver. She got off her car, immediately
introduced herself as a home nurse (and was indeed dressed in working nurse’s
clothes, plus I saw large boxes of medical equipment in her car, so I was
assured that she was honest and that I could trust her) and proceeded to help me
in more ways than I could ever repay her for. She lent me her phone to call my
husband, drove in circles in the area as I wasn’t sure where exactly my friends
were, finally, after much searching and driving over 20 miles, she brought me
safely to my very worried friends.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">For all of
her trouble and kindness, she expected nothing in return, only that I pay the
kindness forward to someone, anyone who needed help in future. I told her I
would do so.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yesterday,
on the way to a lunch appointment, I saw a boy with his bike lying by the side
of the road, with what looked like a dented wheel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Something
screamed on the inside of me to “pay it forward” as I promised to.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But I
deliberated. I didn’t jump at the opportunity to pay it forward as eagerly as I
promised my benefactor two days ago.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Still
driving and approaching the traffic junction where I could see the boy by the
side of the road, I studied the situation intently: he was sitting upright -
which meant that he was not injured. He was making a phone call - which meant
that help was on the way. His bike didn’t look expensive - it probably wouldn’t
be costly to replace the damage. It was a busy intersection - someone else
would stop to help.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Plus, if I
had stopped to help the boy, I would be extremely late for my appointment,
besides, I would have inconvenienced my friend who drove out to meet me for
lunch. Do I tell her hey, a situation came up, it’s really late notice, but I’m
sorry I have to postpone our appointment? I couldn’t bring myself to do that -
perhaps I didn’t want to?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As I reflect
on the two events (me receiving help, and me not reaching out to help), I
wonder if I had been selfish and unreliable to prioritize my sense of duty to
uphold an appointment with a friend, over a more overwhelming responsibility to
help a boy in need?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Have I, in
that situation, made an irresponsible decision, or, demonstrated an omission to
help and pay a kindness forward?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">How often
are we presented with opportunities to do good, and fail to act on that
opportunity, because of seemingly more important priorities? In this age of
abundant options, have we gotten our priorities and sense of responsibilities wrong?</span></div>
</div>
Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-91242427653315463642013-05-31T08:11:00.003+08:002013-05-31T08:11:38.015+08:00Train right: Burn fats, not carbs<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Training is not altogether that fun, especially when you’ve to do something out of your comfort zone, like training more hours and not fueling prior to workout. </span></span></div>
<b id="docs-internal-guid-6f39054e-f7f3-34e8-68d2-d131fa97300a" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But this discomfort is the very thing that’s pushing me to go to places I’ve never thought I could go, and do things I’ve never thought I could. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let me explain. Prior to this, it would be impossible for me to train without first having a pre-workout bite, even if it’s small, like a piece of plain bread or a small bowl of oatmeal. I have experienced sessions where I’d start a workout on an empty stomach and my training would be highly compromised because I would be dizzy with lack of food and fall short in my speed during training - in other words, I wouldn’t be able to perform to a level that I would be capable of.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Thus this concept of the need to fuel prior to a workout became an important backbone in my training philosophy. I could never understand how some of my other triathlete friends could start a long bike without first having breakfast - I’d need at least 2 slices of toast with thick peanut butter spread, at the least, else I wouldn’t last the first hour of the ride.</span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When my new coach came along and insisted that I start my workout on an empty stomach, with only water for the first hour up till 1.5 hours, I was obedient to the tee and eradicated all temptation to fuel during the first 1-1.5 hours. Only after 1.5 hours did I consume energy bars to fuel me for the rest of the usually 3-4-hour workout. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I surprised myself but how my body actually adapted to this new practice so quickly. From day 1 of training, I strictly practiced this method and <b>not only was I able to go through the whole workout with little trouble, I was effectively teaching my body to burn fats instead of carbs - thus becoming a more efficient endurance athlete</b>, which is super important in the sport of triathlon. I also noticed that after a workout, I wasn’t crazily famished and ready to chew off my arm as I was previously on a high-carb diet pre, during and post workout. Now, after a workout, I could go on without food for another 2 hours before I have my meal. </span></span></div>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><b>It’s fascinating what the body is capable of doing when our mind understands the right sciences and endeavors to do it right. </b></span></span></div>
<span style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>For change to happen, it first must happen in the mind</b> - the mind must first comprehend, only then will the body co-operate and perform accordingly. </span></span>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-59087622016564975032013-05-31T07:40:00.004+08:002013-05-31T07:44:26.602+08:00Weight loss: Burn fats, not carbs<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The best way to change a fixed routine that you’re unhappy with is to pack up, get up and get away for 2 weeks</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. That way, you’re setting a new routine, and when you get back, you’re gonna realize that your old routine doesn’t stick no more. Try it - I have, several times now, and it works. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b id="docs-internal-guid-6f39054e-f7d8-8579-24fa-fd96ef8f1526" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Let me be more specific. I was doing </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">high intensity training 1.5-2 hours every day</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and naturally, my </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">body craved and needed carbs to fuel those workouts, even after</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, I’d constantly be needing to fuel every 2-3 hours. I experienced sugar spikes and dips</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> throughout the day, and was always looking for bread, biscuits, or snacks to satiate my appetite</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then came a 2-week vacation where I was </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">running an hour every morning at moderate intensity, driving and walking a lot, and eating only 3 meals a day</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. I wasn’t craving for food all the time as I did previously. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Then I got home. And the old routine of desiring snacks every other hour completely left me. In fact, I couldn’t stand the sight of snacks and threw them all away - biscuits, cookies, chocolates - all I wanted was healthy, natural, whole foods. And I wasn’t needing 5 or more meals a day as I did previously, now all I need is 2 meals and I’m good. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Why </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">2 meals</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">? That’s because I’d start my </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">morning workout without any breakfast, on an empty stomach</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, and after 1.5 hours of workout, I’d have a energy bar that would last me for the next 1.5-2 hours of workout. And </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">after the 3-4-hour workout, I’d have an early lunch, followed by an early dinner 5 hours later</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span></b>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I’ve lost weight with being disciplined in working out such that I’m burning fats and not carbs, and with that, I’ve acquired a less dependency on carbs as I was previously so accustomed to. </span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>
</span><br />
<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="color: #741b47; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The general rule of thumb is this: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">the more you learn to burn fats in your workouts, the less carbs you need and the less carbs you crave</span><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. What you’d end up craving is healthy, whole food, wholesome meals, just 2-3 a day, and little or no desire for snacks, except for fruits and nuts. </span></span></div>
Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-86746286177323128932012-12-18T01:06:00.001+08:002012-12-18T01:39:32.263+08:00Work & Play<b id="internal-source-marker_0.1839148837607354" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Reflecting on the highly controversial book by <i><a href="http://amychua.com/" target="_blank">Amy Chua</a>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/19/books/excerpt-battle-hymn-of-the-tiger-mother.html?_r=0" target="_blank">Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother</a></i>, and looking back on my personal upbringing, I must say I've been incredibly fortunate to have my dad made me do things for my good which I didn’t particularly dislike, like working on English, Math and Science assessment books on top of my piling homework in school; but the key thing was, he afforded me balance in work and play. When I would come home from school and start on my homework and assessment books after lunch right through till evening time, at 6pm typically, he would say, “Enough homework now, go out and play, because all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.”</span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For that I am extremely thankful, because that value never left me - I don’t push myself to hard work to the point of collapse or burnout - each day is made up of a nice balance between work and play. </span></span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Work, to me, apart from paid assignments, is anything that advances my personal development, which, in future, may result in a paid assignment. Like researching, reading, networking, writing, strategizing.</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Play, to me, is anything that evokes relaxation and a feeling of non-pressure. Like my sports training, watching movies, having a meal with my loved ones and friends, cracking nuts over the fireplace, having freshly cut fruits and chatting.</span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If I were to isolate work to solely income-generating types, I would be highly discouraged because I am a work in progress and every little activity I take, in reading, researching, networking, etc, are eventually helping me to get to a point where I would be valued and paid for my contribution in my field of expertise. </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sounds obscure? Totally. Who can look into the future and know exactly what's in store? We plan, strategize and take steps *there. But even we aren't certain if our steps will lead us *there. But while the future is uncertain, one thing I'm certain of - the future's not dark - it's bright - and simply with that guiding light, I'm walking in and ahead. </span></span></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple;"><span style="font-size: x-small; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><i>*there = that aha point in the future where we proclaim and acknowledge, "we've arrived/accomplished"</i></span></span></b></span>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-31934551409163312252012-12-05T14:38:00.001+08:002012-12-05T14:38:22.353+08:00The single parent <b id="internal-source-marker_0.021769894752651453" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s it like to live alone from Mon to Thu, and to see your son only on the weekends? </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s it like to wake up at 4.30am; fix a quick simple breakfast of toast, bacon, eggs and coffee; </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">head out the door at 5.30am for a 90-mile (read: a full hour) drive to your workplace; </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">organize, shuffle and deliver parcels and mails on a 8-hour shift; </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">speak to no one in particular except for the occasional courtesy nods and smiles to house owners watering their plants in the front garden or driving their fancy cars out of the garage; </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">end your workday with a change of clothes and a quick rush for your car so as to avoid the deadlock evening traffic to make an hour and a half drive back home (there’s really no escaping the evening traffic at all); </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">turn up the volume from the radio to drown out the melodrama of an uneventful work day and the chaos of the buzzing traffic, </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">blink back at the bright green, amber and red lights flashing; </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">reach home and unlocking the door to a quiet house save for the silent hum of the refrigerator; </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">fix yourself a simple dinner of salad and eggs; </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">work on the backyard for an hour or two; </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">take a hot shower and call it a day - </span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">and to repeat this over the next four work days...</span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What’s it like for this single, male parent?</span></span></b>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-83875979566016805912012-09-08T23:44:00.001+08:002012-09-08T23:54:43.129+08:00My Stars<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When I was little, I used to hear of inspirational men and women who reached the pinnacle of success in their chosen field or sport, and used to be so warmed up in my heart I saw stars and dreamt of attaining such greatness myself, one day. But I never knew how, and by what manner I'd accomplish that.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But now I know. As clear to me as these words I'm writing and you're reading, I know exactly what my stars are and I know they know me in return, and have been calling me from that young tender age when I didn't know any better or saw any clearer.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My stars came into my universe, not on my doing. They came because it is meant to be so, and though the passage of time they travelled to get to me was a long and windy one, they came nonetheless, neither too late nor too obscure.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">They come clear and strong, and takes me by surprise at their magnificence and dominance in my life right now. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Sometimes there's a voice that drives, a voice so strong it fuels a burning fire within to dig deeper, to stretch wider, to reach farther. That, is the voice of my stars.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My stars are mapping my destiny, and as long as I remain open each and every single day, to the voice, light and guidance of my stars, I'm on course to what I've dreamed of so many years ago as a little girl.</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7yUBuzcbOut1vg441f57XdxBcZ44oTG-I1KYIijHk_ocGrJ4Dr3x86zF_Vt6RsVyp_1mwQfMWgPgyi3V6uSKqhKxNKcQRG-ntnyh_4icUcN5HLjtuyguvPFL7P1yej9pri8V2g/s640/blogger-image-1713708719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhW7yUBuzcbOut1vg441f57XdxBcZ44oTG-I1KYIijHk_ocGrJ4Dr3x86zF_Vt6RsVyp_1mwQfMWgPgyi3V6uSKqhKxNKcQRG-ntnyh_4icUcN5HLjtuyguvPFL7P1yej9pri8V2g/s320/blogger-image-1713708719.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-69225582414033997912012-06-20T12:44:00.001+08:002012-06-21T07:45:34.647+08:00How I Started Running<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.3051087618805468" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was admitted to the hospital at age 11 due to gastric pains. Since then, my mom always made sure I had more than enough to eat.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As a result, I was always on the plump side, was extremely conscious of the unflattering flab around my waist, and struggled with pathetically low self esteem.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet, as far as I can remember, I have always been athletic, from a tender age. I was naturally inclined towards sports, because I was so ultra hyper and bounding with endless energy. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I played netball for my school and the local district, was in track and field, ran medium distances (400m, 800m); threw shot put, javelin, and discus; but sucked greatly in long and high jump - I suspect my short stature had a lot to do with my inability to perform those jumps.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Despite my sporting activity spanning over 20 hours weekly in school, I struggled to shed off my baby fats, particularly those stubbornly and faithfully layering my thick waist.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My struggle with low self esteem went on right throughout my working career. I was eating loosely, feeling lousy and slipping into decadence. At my heaviest, I weighed 58 kg. For a 5.3 footer, I was overweight.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was a wake up call - that I was overweight, and I needed to change. I tried to exercise, but found little motivation to keep me going. I struggled to run even 20 minutes before giving up.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then I re-discovered a childhood passion for swimming (as a child, my father used to bring my siblings and I swimming in the open sea every Sunday when the tide was high). </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fast forward ten years later, there was a public swimming pool right next to where I lived, and everyday as I stepped out of the house, I would see the pool. Looking back, I think the pool was strategically placed right where I could see it daily so I would start swimming again.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So swim I did. For 4 years. Faithfully, I’d swim 20 laps, 3 times a week, for 4 years. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I met my husband-to-be, I continued with my swimming routine, and was motivated to shed more pounds.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet despite the thrice weekly swim sessions I committed myself to, I was not seeing results. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The last straw came a month before my wedding day. I was in the bathroom, and staring back at me from the mirror was one who hadn’t transformed in size and weight, despite years of faithful swimming.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Discouraged and at my wits end, I dialled the number of a liposuction doctor, fixed an appointment and went to his clinic at downtown Orchard Road. Throughout the entire consultation session, I felt horribly guilty for keeping mum about my insecurity from my husband-to-be and secretly contemplating a liposuction. Good news was, I chickened out and never paid the thousands of dollars to get fats sucked out of my belly.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Well, for all its worth, that encounter turned things around - I had a moment of enlightenment when I decided enough is enough, and resolved to get real, active and focused on shedding off fats through sheer hard work, and not artificially, which I couldn’t afford to pay for anyway.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So I increased the frequency of my swims from thrice weekly to 7 times a week. From swimming 20 laps each session, I increased that to 40 laps, sometimes 50. And I was obdurate about it - I wouldn’t let a day go without swimming.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I swam every single weekday after work - I would knock off at 6pm, get home in an hour, grab my gear and hit the pool at 8pm and swim till 9pm, then head home for dinner - typically a bowl of plain porridge with a meat and vege. On weekends, I’d be the first to hit the pool at 9am, and swim an hour like my life depended on it.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I think my track and field coaches back in junior school saw it in me before I did - that I’m genetically stocked with aerobic endurance in my bones and muscles - when they made me run medium distances instead of sprint distances, which I protested, because sprinters were cool and got more attention than medium distance runners. Speed always does, doesn’t it?</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From 40 laps I increased it with time, to 50, and at my peak, I was swimming 60 laps a day - for no rhyme, reason or race in mind - simply because it was a natural progression.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">After a couple of months, it was impractical to swim in the evenings anymore - it was getting in the way of my social life - I couldn’t head out for dinner or coffee with my friends after work because I had the pool calling out my name every weekday evening. So I made a timing switch - to swimming first thing in the morning before work.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Because I leave the house for work at 7am, I resolute to wake up at 5am, swim an hour from 5.30-6.30am and make a mad dash to leave home by 7am.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Only one problem: public pools don’t open at 5.30am - most pools do at 9am. I consulted a friend, who offered me the use of his condo pool - although the official opening hours begin at 10am, it was after all, a private condo and residents should be allowed use of the condo facility, even at ungodly hours, so he convinced me.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So started my little adventure (or misadventure, as you’d soon discover). I’d sneak into the condo at 5.30am and swim for an hour. Believe me, it was no fun - I felt like a moron throwing my body into a volume of cold water in pitch black darkness - simply because I was driven by a persistent desire to work out an hour every day.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I successfully went unnoticed for 2 weeks, until one of the security guards patrolling the pool noticed a girl who clearly wasn’t a resident, swimming at 5.30am every weekday morning, unaccompanied, and driving off after the swim. You can imagine my horror when I was asked out of the water, shivering in the cold, and questioned as to why I was swimming at that hour, and given a stern warning not to repeat my act again.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Deprived of a pool to swim in, I lamented my predicament to my husband-to-be. Wise as he is, he suggested: why not run instead? I protested, remembering how running made my legs big and fat, and did nothing to make me lose any weight. I associated running to hard pounding, an ineffective weight loss activity. He persuaded me to give it a try, seeing I had no other alternatives. Try, he said, for a week, and see how it goes.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">True to his word, the very next morning, he accompanied me on my first run. We ran 20 minutes, before he started slowing down and walking, and seeing I was still fresh, asked me to carry on running. I did, and outran him for another 20 minutes.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It wasn’t so bad after all. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The next day I nudged him for another run. He gave excuses and had me running on my own, that day, and every day after that.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">That was 4 years ago, and I have been running on my own since.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I began running every single day from that fateful day onwards, 7 times a week, averaging 10 km each day. I started losing weight rapidly, shedding 10 kg in 6 months. I dropped to 48 kg, felt on top of the world, and never looked back on running. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4 years ago, I struggled to run 6 km on my first run; 4 years later, I’ve ran 2 full marathons, 2 half marathons, a couple of medium distance races, and in the last 2 years, completed an Olympic distance triathlon, 2 half Ironman triathlon distances and attempted a full Ironman triathlon race. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Running brings me tremendous pleasure because it entirely changed my life for the better - all that I am and exhibit today, is a result of a love affair with a sport that is the rawest form of human athleticism, and when we reach into the core of the human heart and soul to rekindle a connection with that which we are born to do, i.e. to use our bodies wisely, it changes us not just physically; but emotionally, mentally and spiritually. </span></span></b></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<b style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2k3V5XawUJEV6v8JR4mhnX3k9feAwVAcEUFP38LvT5q5AZ4mep9OGNb6b2IzH-lWNG2A_DwA6BC-hgaXAvxCjEE-BDZHVoT-M7bzDhqSMFOwC6MI5xv8_qeO6oqt6MggP5QFURQ/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-06-19+at+PM+09.39.05.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2k3V5XawUJEV6v8JR4mhnX3k9feAwVAcEUFP38LvT5q5AZ4mep9OGNb6b2IzH-lWNG2A_DwA6BC-hgaXAvxCjEE-BDZHVoT-M7bzDhqSMFOwC6MI5xv8_qeO6oqt6MggP5QFURQ/s320/Screen+shot+2012-06-19+at+PM+09.39.05.png" width="226" /></a></div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.3051087618805468" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b><br />
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.3051087618805468" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #351c75; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b><br />
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.3051087618805468" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span">
</span></b></div>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-89771045747603616072012-06-19T13:37:00.001+08:002012-06-20T12:47:37.594+08:00The pain of training<b id="internal-source-marker_0.3173691409174353" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As much as the indelible memories and pretty pictures of the scenes I witnessed and captured from my bike and run evoke envy, truth is, training is nothing short of hard work. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When I’m out training, I'm battling both myself and the elements. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The pain is real, the pain is now. The end (of each training session) is a distant image, because at the present moment, my lungs are short of air, my muscles are sore, my legs feel heavy like lead, my body is tense from the relentless lashing of the cold wind unleashing its might and fury here in the Bay area. When I’m swimming, the difficulty increases many notches, being the discipline I’m least proficient in - often, I feel like I’m fighting my biggest demons before entering the water and during the swim. It’s such a mental torture, yet I keep at it day after day. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I may not confess this often enough, but I do now: I’m not a naturally gifted athlete, so I work doubly hard to be a better athlete than I think I’m capable of. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Training is a tough task master that challenges me in every possible way - physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually sometimes (when I let out a great big sigh and whisper under my breath: Lord, please help me through this - I can’t do this by myself).</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Yet, through it all, I love training. I love the distance it pushes me to go, the limitations it makes me break and the walls it makes me climb. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For all that we’ve been through, training is like a close buddy I’ve developed a relationship and affection for, and can’t do without. </span></span></b><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.3173691409174353" style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTW6FOsVqf8A9lWDZQyS8zOfu04WYfXykKYe8945cDEGC674ZkQI872DvbG2WoTNJeCzdl1W5Zv4a9cYD7Nih93ZIJc_S-cDaXuFZnrI3vFvA4fpfZ02L-x9FIP4IEUyaKa6lU1w/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-06-18+at+PM+10.25.57.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTW6FOsVqf8A9lWDZQyS8zOfu04WYfXykKYe8945cDEGC674ZkQI872DvbG2WoTNJeCzdl1W5Zv4a9cYD7Nih93ZIJc_S-cDaXuFZnrI3vFvA4fpfZ02L-x9FIP4IEUyaKa6lU1w/s320/Screen+shot+2012-06-18+at+PM+10.25.57.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_nyUCE1L_q4H0K8aNQgKx2ZQVGw5aPpPBwOFahpPpGrtW00HZWEFIHXfwa_imcO1dyapEyEVPeC2ZP9vV08W7DTHI2nRn67me9Ew9wN5vngNf28xtwGXGS23YMAEM1V8ySDcdw/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-06-18+at+PM+10.26.29.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH_nyUCE1L_q4H0K8aNQgKx2ZQVGw5aPpPBwOFahpPpGrtW00HZWEFIHXfwa_imcO1dyapEyEVPeC2ZP9vV08W7DTHI2nRn67me9Ew9wN5vngNf28xtwGXGS23YMAEM1V8ySDcdw/s320/Screen+shot+2012-06-18+at+PM+10.26.29.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmQ0U6hZHaAKnUO_W1hlM9FkI_2dcBVGONjoBnxPWJIC_GgNAWf__EMgqlgenQFn417Z-IM1Gc4BSv64yWOCHPiwUCw04tpVVwP6Wz7PDhwJroeW_VvOFIR0WwtixWE0DfxlL_yw/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-06-18+at+PM+10.27.41.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="237" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmQ0U6hZHaAKnUO_W1hlM9FkI_2dcBVGONjoBnxPWJIC_GgNAWf__EMgqlgenQFn417Z-IM1Gc4BSv64yWOCHPiwUCw04tpVVwP6Wz7PDhwJroeW_VvOFIR0WwtixWE0DfxlL_yw/s320/Screen+shot+2012-06-18+at+PM+10.27.41.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7omCMFGGRm2RC2jn1lm1HqGR6pziXv9FBG40FQXliX3As5TnoCoT_1WZf2fTpLeTwkWcz2W_Q-jeVUfQqsKjECLxKoZz-AfNvhazjW9rzTMmIWTfTcSPRbGDPLJ9I2wCerHgGA/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-06-18+at+PM+10.27.59.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7omCMFGGRm2RC2jn1lm1HqGR6pziXv9FBG40FQXliX3As5TnoCoT_1WZf2fTpLeTwkWcz2W_Q-jeVUfQqsKjECLxKoZz-AfNvhazjW9rzTMmIWTfTcSPRbGDPLJ9I2wCerHgGA/s320/Screen+shot+2012-06-18+at+PM+10.27.59.png" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;"><br />
</span></span></div>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-38908459274012558232012-03-28T22:22:00.001+08:002012-03-28T22:47:34.854+08:00Your talent has far reaching effects<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Meryl Streep may not know this, but the application of her talent in acting impacted me deeply in my relationship with my mom, after watching her stellar performance in the Oscar-winning movie, The Iron Lady, in a particularly moving scene where she longed for her son's visit and was painfully concealing her disappointment over the phone when he called to inform of his inability to visit. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As I watched, I felt the character's pain, so brilliantly brought forth by Meryl Streep, and finally understood my own mother's pain whenever she texted me asking when would I be visiting her and I'd procrastinate doing so because I was tired, busy or had seemingly more pressing matters at hand. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But seriously, what can be more important than the very one who gave me all she had, who made sure I had every chance of a proper shot in life, who endured daily sacrifices so my life would be better lived? I owe her this much - that I should honour her more than my own selfish intellect should have a say and demand its time and hold over me.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It takes an outsider, a stranger, for that matter of fact, to bring across such a pertinent point to me - that parents long for their children, more so in their old age, and it is our utmost responsibility and duty, to give of our time, money and resources to them who withheld nothing from us.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Lesson: Don't squander your talent, and don't underestimate your impact to others. Meryl Streep may not know what her talent did for me, but I'm thankful that she did what she does best, and in doing so, touched millions; my life, and my mother's, included.</span>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-58788194129782056192012-03-18T22:27:00.003+08:002012-03-18T22:40:57.204+08:00So I will rise again<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: large; line-height: 16px;"><b>"Like a phoenix rising out of the ashes, so will I rise again..."</b></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">It's been liberating the past few months, taking a step back from a single-minded, one-track pursuit of a dream I hold so dear - to compete in the IronMan, and unleash my love for endurance sports.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">While it is liberating on one hand, it has been emotionally draining on the other, as I tried to fill my life with things apart from swim, bike, run; and fail miserably at doing so. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 15px;">You see, d</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">espite my extroverted personality, I keep certain mundane routines, like eating the same food for months on end, listening to the same song over and over again, and running the same route every day for the past 3 years. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 13px;"><br />
</span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 13px;">So the truth be told, despite my withdrawal from IM Melbourne, despite my self declaration to re-evalute my motive for competing in IM, I continue to keep a humdrum routine of training, work and family, day in and day out. Social activities usually take a back seat. Like an addict, I can't function effectively without a daily dose of training, and keep to a strict routine of turning in to bed before 11pm in order to wake up at 3 or 4am to begin training, before heading to work.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"><br />
</span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;">And so I continue training and pushing myself to break my own limits every single day. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;">Only difference is, I train now with a heightened conscience of my motive, and checking that what I do aligns with my purpose.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;">Every time I feel like I'm side tracking from my purpose in my sporting pursuit, I revisit my inspiration for triathlons. I don't claim to be anywhere near her standing and accomplishments, but I share her heartbeat for the sport and her clarity of her mission through the sport.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 13px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;">"When I first turned professional 4 ½ years ago I said to my then coach “Brett, I feel so selfish, everything I do in this sport is for me and me alone”. His response “Just you wait Chrissie, within a couple of years, through your achievements, you will be able to affect more change than you ever thought possible”. His prophecy has come true. I have said it before, and I will say it again, <b>sport has phenomenal, far-reaching amazing power. It is a vehicle to do great things.</b>"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"> </span></i></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px;">-an excerpt from Chrissie's blog:</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #274e13; font-size: x-small; line-height: 16px;">http://www.chrissiewellington.org/blog/world-ironman-championships-beyond-my-wildest-dreams/</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 16px;"></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><br /></span></span>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;">And so this is my driving force, my guiding light: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; line-height: 14px;">I have been blessed with amazing resources at my disposal - a healthy body, a strong heart, a quick mind, a disciplined will, and a relentless spirit - I have a responsibility of putting myself and these resources to good use in my area of passion and commitment, and believe that when I do, I am living out my purpose, which has far-reaching effects. </span></div>
<br />Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-31660952950192312242012-02-27T09:39:00.000+08:002012-02-27T10:16:41.545+08:00Iron Redefined<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8188342561479658" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Ironman journey has helped many believe and accomplish things they never thought possible; unfortunately for me, it has caused me to spend more than I earn, made me extremely competitive and lose sight of the value of my decisions.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm glad for the timely wake up call to take a step back to reevaluate why I participate in the Ironman in the first place (was it purely for my own selfish gain, or was it for a larger cause?), and how I can be a better steward of my time, money and body.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">During the three months I was in California, I encountered and befriended a bunch of incredible cyclists whose love for the great outdoors, warm hospitality to new riders, and extreme kindness to fellow riders humble me so. Their way of life embodies the true essence of sports and fitness - sporting for the well being of the body, mind and soul, and building great relationships and community.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I dug deep into my soul and am ashamed to find that I've tipped off the scale of true sporting pursuit. I was selfish, competitive, edgy, obsessive and reckless.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Remorse calls for radical action. And I did. I withdrew from a race I prepared many months for, with single minded focus - the Ironman Melbourne due to take place on 25 March 2012.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I lost a little of myself with my withdrawal from the race, but I'm certain what I'd gain in return would be so much more.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The return came very quickly. To my surprise, now that I'm off a demanding agenda as the Ironman, I'm running better timing than I did before, swimming happier and riding more efficiently. I am not ruled or boxed in by an obsessive need to keep to a strict training regime, and am liberated to take off to spend time with my family, without guilt.</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">In fact, the past two weeks spent with my family was the best I ever had and remembered in all my years. It's incredibly satisfying, the sacrifice made for quality family time - after all, we are nothing without our family; we are whole and complete, when rested and built upon the foundation of love found in family.</span></span></b></div>
<div>
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.8188342561479658" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap;">These said, I'm not a quitter, because I don't know how to. I hustle for what I believe in, for what I'm worth. This withdrawal from an important race is not the end of me, neither is it the end of my sporting pursuit.</span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #000099; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm realigning my values and redefining my goals. And I'm making progress. Stand with me, believe with me - glorious days lie ahead.</span></div>
</div>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-81867784204816334642012-02-06T08:50:00.001+08:002012-02-27T10:15:03.311+08:00The Fight of Life<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How do we truly know what we want to achieve in life? We don't. We dream, aspire, plan, strategize; but we live one day at a time, take one step at a time, and along the way, realize that the path to our plans is often a surprisingly long and winding one; littered with potholes and road blocks, detours and off-roads, steep climbs and descends, misty low hanging clouds and penetrating sunshine. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And that's the beauty of life - that we don't just stroll through it - we fight for it.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And when we do, when we wake up every morning getting about the affairs and business of the day, this very act of obedience to the law of survival - that we have to work for what we need; and the law of nature - that we reap what we sow, by exchanging our time for money to trade in the economy of life for our daily survival and basic needs, and for many inspiring others, luxury wants; we progress mechanically but surely through the complexity of human chain, an essential link to the puzzle of our aspirations.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But what happens when we defy the laws of nature and attempt to escalate our growth process? </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Unfortunately, for many a sad instances, we break free from the cycle, hanging vicariously by the thin thread of hope for a better future, only to fall into an abyss of uncertainty that surrounds, gropes and strangles our faintest light, and kicks us right back to where we began.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yet for some, the courageous, the fighter, they dig deep into their beings, unleash the treasure within themselves, ad reveal gems that overcome the darkness.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #990000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oh, that we may conquer, defeat and divide, as the latter warriors do - with utmost faith in an eternal truth that never fails - that your latter days shall be better than your former days; that you shall eat of the good of the land in the days of your living.</span>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-15882899563610011622012-01-02T11:53:00.002+08:002012-01-02T11:59:17.433+08:00Reflections from San Francisco<br />
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7631167913787067" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">3 week of brutal confrontation with the cold here in the Bay area, a fourth week of finally getting out on the roads, taking in the awe-inspiring beauty of California and making a merry lot of new friends, many of them decades older than I am; but way cooler, healthier and fitter. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It totally thrills me to see older men and women (in their 50s to 80s) keeping their fitness despite their age...</span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I see them working out at any odd hour in the gym, be it 5am, 12pm, 3pm or 5pm. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I see them riding on the roads, be it flats, steep climbs or death-defying, harrowing descends. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I see them happily married, working out together with their spouses in the gym or out riding on the roads. </span><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: transparent;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What more can I say? It's incredibly heartening to behold such strength of the human body and soul, regardless of age. I am privileged, no, deeply privileged, to be where I am, doing what I do, seeing things I’ve never seen, learning things I never knew, experiencing culture and people that stretches my horizon out of a small square box I call ‘my mind’.</span></span></b></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7631167913787067" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZasPwqEt8RQjHhndhg49nF1g0g1D66OxaI72WDeh8CCNMMYns3QY28OouWf1SmWo9aAsHegLkiN7DUSbZWuu_OYXWrwmGyV-Pu0GDpjs2rG7jICSkzf_fjM9dygYKcGKPE66Elg/s1600/IMG_2095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZasPwqEt8RQjHhndhg49nF1g0g1D66OxaI72WDeh8CCNMMYns3QY28OouWf1SmWo9aAsHegLkiN7DUSbZWuu_OYXWrwmGyV-Pu0GDpjs2rG7jICSkzf_fjM9dygYKcGKPE66Elg/s320/IMG_2095.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBffvVwdOyYo_FG-Bl3Ti6HbDIW9jMpo7zdml7xw6ZuhyoXuBCvF8G5tnuEYeiIpqANzAx7YyIklMsWumiaz8vRGUoPLooF9yf1kCh17_BSU_YNckW0j5uuIWzrzE-l09OaH1FXQ/s1600/IMG_2524.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBffvVwdOyYo_FG-Bl3Ti6HbDIW9jMpo7zdml7xw6ZuhyoXuBCvF8G5tnuEYeiIpqANzAx7YyIklMsWumiaz8vRGUoPLooF9yf1kCh17_BSU_YNckW0j5uuIWzrzE-l09OaH1FXQ/s320/IMG_2524.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTj9p3Ndm7FsWqsV1szph5hiH6tCrNfhG1yb9NJe-MuJyWSMSEHWgaxxQqFFP46n2_zyYw0b14zOHR7RKvR5HRVpdxtCRg_6KU4p0W4twC57BwdCcWmERgJQbfWR-o9ai3fisDnw/s1600/IMG_2561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTj9p3Ndm7FsWqsV1szph5hiH6tCrNfhG1yb9NJe-MuJyWSMSEHWgaxxQqFFP46n2_zyYw0b14zOHR7RKvR5HRVpdxtCRg_6KU4p0W4twC57BwdCcWmERgJQbfWR-o9ai3fisDnw/s320/IMG_2561.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6WqPSb-m1Qh8XWjz9d-AMzMf7uy4t1lVGmK2njhRhEYF86mEvz728KtVM4T7__XaBMagQo63u9tPSAFjR_r9qxf-HV9gjiXPVCUNu2SQi-bZh7tscFMOrccA17UBjznuvK5IJA/s1600/IMG_2566.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgR6WqPSb-m1Qh8XWjz9d-AMzMf7uy4t1lVGmK2njhRhEYF86mEvz728KtVM4T7__XaBMagQo63u9tPSAFjR_r9qxf-HV9gjiXPVCUNu2SQi-bZh7tscFMOrccA17UBjznuvK5IJA/s320/IMG_2566.jpg" width="239" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLKXGdxhlegomR2YJpTqX6OYqMxg_PJmcCmjrWSG5hyphenhyphenjIjohpL9mtZ27U-b7mK-FjR-vSzEg4RaEZE0VPe3vgGeEb-Gr_l3AkRlRmxcA88nQAGpOyxaDLH49MYv9zT-4OxMgTKw/s1600/IMG_2626.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnLKXGdxhlegomR2YJpTqX6OYqMxg_PJmcCmjrWSG5hyphenhyphenjIjohpL9mtZ27U-b7mK-FjR-vSzEg4RaEZE0VPe3vgGeEb-Gr_l3AkRlRmxcA88nQAGpOyxaDLH49MYv9zT-4OxMgTKw/s320/IMG_2626.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<b id="internal-source-marker_0.7631167913787067" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #134f5c; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span></b></div>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-39504005719520790242011-11-17T23:17:00.001+08:002011-11-18T00:22:14.582+08:00Sitting in an airplane<span id="internal-source-marker_0.8677607080899179" style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Sitting in a crowded airplane is like being huddled in a community. We’re in this together, whether we like it or not, whether we like each other or not. You may look different from me, hail from a different part of the world from me, behave differently; you may take up more space than I’m comfortable making room for you for, but then I’ll watch a couple of movies, slip into a quick nap at the boring bits, then slowly fall into a slumber, and by the time I’m awaken by the discomfort of sleeping in a semi-upright seat, I would have forgotten the discomfort at the start of the flight. Now, I just want to catch some reasonable rest, because I’m so very deprived of a solid one.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I see a red jacketed elderly woman walking up and down the aisle the couple of times my eyes open involuntarily, my arm brushed briefly by passengers or cabin crew squeezing along the narrow aisle. I try to avoid looking into my watch because whenever I do, I’m aghast to find that what seemed like a four-hour deep sleep turns out to be only an hour of flight time! Well, after a time or two of checking my watch, I grow accustom to this unnerving truth.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I walk to the lavatory and spot the red-jacked woman. She is working out her sore legs from the inundating hours of sitting.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Good to stretch a little, isn’t it?” I quip.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">She smiles and nods. And we get a conversation in Mandarin going.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Originating from Guangdong in southeastern China, she moved to San Francisco with her husband and four young children over 30 years ago. Her children are grown up now, she’s a grandmother of two, and babysits her own grandchildren as well as that of others for a small fee. I noticed how pleasant her breath smells – she was chewing gum! At over 60! Gracefully, she offered me one, which I gratefully took one in view of my bad breath from the hours of flight and incapable oral hygiene.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Back in my seat, I'm thinking - sitting in a filled-to-capacity airplane is like paying (big bucks!) and voluntarily surrendering to physical confinement, albeit in supposed style and luxury. But really, what luxury is there strapped in a 0.5 x 1m seat?</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>The issue I realize is space. Confinement to a small space limits, frustrates and retards any living being.</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take nature for example. I remember my dad, an ardent gardener by pure interest, used to tell me that we can grow a square watermelon, instead of a regular round one, simply by planting the seed and soil in a small square crate.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Japanese koi, I was told, grows as large as the pond in which it is put in.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The coastal redwood trees in western California (the tallest living things on our planet) grow to an astounding 100m because they have so much land space horizontally and hey, the sky’s the limit, that’s why they grow so tall!</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Humans, confined, either retard; or get creative - retard to immobility; or creative to break the limitation.</b></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s easy to travel around the world these days; it’s hard not to do so for global expansion. Concord planes at the speed of lightning are not yet possible for regional and global commute, in view of its devastating destruction to the eco-system every time if zaps into the sky, thus we have to content to fly the planes we do today, flight times as short as an hour or as long as over 23 hours.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What do we do onboard a constrained space for over 10 hours averagely, when the freedom to move out of the 0.5 x 1m seat is further restricted by the reluctance to disturb the passenger next to us when we need to move out of our seat to get to the washroom or simply to walk down the aisle for a quick stretch for the legs? </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I realized that I enjoy multi tasking, especially when watching a movie. I experience a deep sense of joy when I’m not just sitting immobile in my seat and being sucked in the melodrama of whatever I’m watching, but to be actively engaging myself, either physically on an indoor bike trainer or mentally, writing in an airplane as I am now. I must be doing something right – at this very instant, a lady in her mid forties, from Guangzhou, sitting next to me in the middle section, who speaks very little English but extremely fluent in Cantonese, who keeps to herself, was marathon-watching movies on the in-flight entertainment and on her iPad, suddenly concluded her movies and started typing on her iPad. I take a quick glance. She’s typing some notes or journal of sorts. I smile. I’m glad to inspire you to turn the entertainment off and start writing, madam.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The sense of joy arises from the fact that I am being a good steward of the time entrusted to me, to make good and be fruitful, for the day is near.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">---</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">For you movie buffs, here are 3 movies and a documentary I watched onboard Cathay Pacific Airways from Singapore to San Francisco:</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Larry Crowne - </b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, about a man's quest for self progress after being laid off from his job - he enrolled in college, increased his knowledge and confidence, made good friends, and with his relentlessly good attitude, turned his life around.</span>
<br />
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NLaURfvmlpc3QT0FEtFE57AKYSNmMaMRs2-I89Bv8-LrTg4LxcaMgjRMUMC67bG6xfoJ5DpR38m1emQHCINusY2Zpoqw9Xbch4JpY_avasDmO12UyXDPdVlkHeqW5b9yp04dGA/s1600/Larry+Crowne.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="165" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1NLaURfvmlpc3QT0FEtFE57AKYSNmMaMRs2-I89Bv8-LrTg4LxcaMgjRMUMC67bG6xfoJ5DpR38m1emQHCINusY2Zpoqw9Xbch4JpY_avasDmO12UyXDPdVlkHeqW5b9yp04dGA/s320/Larry+Crowne.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Everything must go</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - starring funny man Will Ferrell as an down and out guy who lost his job and wife in one single day, stubbornly stuck to his guts, only to give in to his dead lock circumstances, learned to clean up his act (alcohol addiction) and move on.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiU8RI8mMDRP5YSH18lQOGAE2cc9hxyr6-rvyq8FaLbVAT44fdKtqYkLbBHK_UmOW5ZG-eqsDSi3wrdATutKiI8-jusyP3vt1T9YkE31h62qPa_5vuA6j3CQjAX4o7dZbAD7gHOQ/s1600/Everything+Must+Go.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiU8RI8mMDRP5YSH18lQOGAE2cc9hxyr6-rvyq8FaLbVAT44fdKtqYkLbBHK_UmOW5ZG-eqsDSi3wrdATutKiI8-jusyP3vt1T9YkE31h62qPa_5vuA6j3CQjAX4o7dZbAD7gHOQ/s320/Everything+Must+Go.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Oranges and Sunshine</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> - starring Emily Watson, who played the real life character of Margaret Humphreys, a a social worker in Great Britain who dug into the nationally covered-up child migrant scheme from Great Britain to Australia in the 1940s (over 140,000 children were deported to Australia in that period) and devoted her time to reuniting the children involved, now adults in Australia, to their parents still alive and living in Great Britain. My take from this true account is not to be afraid to dig for and confront the truth; and in doing so, you may be doing more for others than you ever think you could.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiKSQTudLepuAwkBArkgLzi711P-TA0Rmzo2sJ16me09vdackQyL5nbuL1CIx_Ay3qJSWmIX2Xv7kh-cfVGSqRU4aWlZLx2p-NG0GP8e5BhsqkfsyAP7wjWWE5z1R5fot1PbdxdA/s1600/Oranges+%2526+Sunshine.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiKSQTudLepuAwkBArkgLzi711P-TA0Rmzo2sJ16me09vdackQyL5nbuL1CIx_Ay3qJSWmIX2Xv7kh-cfVGSqRU4aWlZLx2p-NG0GP8e5BhsqkfsyAP7wjWWE5z1R5fot1PbdxdA/s320/Oranges+%2526+Sunshine.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br />
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Page One: Inside the New York Times</b></span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> – a documentary that accesses The New York Times newsroom and exposes the inner workings of the media desk</span></div>
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7EBKw4yO1d8xt0BcpgrSl8Bhin1hIp-tyvVnS6ygAisqwoCn_p2jUPWWPMNTkXpdidelwzrF_f3SCoQonyS0jSTQ9JlfcsybEePVyINUI_yxsoOyyOoMjbaD5saCLz7zAtVHzOg/s1600/Page+One.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7EBKw4yO1d8xt0BcpgrSl8Bhin1hIp-tyvVnS6ygAisqwoCn_p2jUPWWPMNTkXpdidelwzrF_f3SCoQonyS0jSTQ9JlfcsybEePVyINUI_yxsoOyyOoMjbaD5saCLz7zAtVHzOg/s1600/Page+One.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
</div>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-1021499937332746282011-11-08T09:12:00.001+08:002011-11-08T16:15:40.951+08:00Strapped Iron<br />
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span id="internal-source-marker_0.4954205732792616" style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is life?</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is a life worth pursuing?</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What is life, and life more abundantly? </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Have I been sold by the idea of capitalism and strapped by its system? </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The need to have more, if not the best. The need for distinguished branding, looking crisp and sharp, the need for prestige and status, the need to be noticed and looked upon with respect with the acquisition of wealth, status and power.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No, back track a little. Wealth, status and power come as a result of BEING IN the system, and playing by its game, its rules. The fastest, fittest, sly-est survive and climb to the top of the chain. As it is in the animal kingdom.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The beasts of the field - hunt for survival. Trees and plants - grow for survival.</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">People strive for achievement, fame, even for 15 minutes. What is the value after? The feel-good feeling lasts only a little while, but consider, does the time, effort and resources put into the achievement bring lasting value than mere fame and recognition that fleet as speedily as the whiff of the wind?</span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schools are built for education. Sports are implemented to better the physical, mental and social well being of students. </span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But why are competition implemented? To test if the physical system and training work to make the human body achieve outstanding results in the midst of competition and pressure. And the reward for such time, effort and training is the medal. The feel-good feeling lasts for a moment on the podium, and after, with celebratory meals and salutary claps and slaps on the back. The medal that adorns the living room glass cabinet is looked upon from time to time while watching TV and its visible shine catches your eye. But the real deal is this - you know you are capable of more. You know that if you put your heart and soul into training for something, if you train under the right coach, under the right circumstances, you can do better and achieve greater feats. You can break your own limits. You learn that nothing is ever achieved on your own accord. You learn that you need others to hep you in your pursuit - because we are born into a world made up of families, communities and societies. Just as it takes 2 individuals to produce another, it takes more than one person; it takes more than just you to make it out here on earth. But while here, don’t just work to survive. Work to live life. Work to enjoy all life has to offer. But do so, within your means. Do not buy into commercialism. Do not buy into systems that trap and enslave you. Always consider what moves you to a greater cause, take time to consider, reject and walk away from pure capitalism that distracts with the loudest sound horn of nothingness but pure financial gain for its creators. </span></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">What lies beneath the Iron facade? </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; white-space: pre-wrap;">The bottom line, in my humble opinion, should never be purely about money. The bottom line of any community and organization and system has to be about people. What makes the world go round isn’t money, but people. Yes, there is money to be made from people, with a smart system, but if money is the ultimate goal, the system is not sustainable and is likely to head for self destruction without a right motive to steer its course for sustainable growth. </span><br />
<div style="background-color: transparent;">
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-size: 11pt; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Thus in my personal pursuit, if my motive is not right, if I’m not pursuing my Iron dream for people, I am merely a slave and tool of the system that has bought my soul, without paying me a single dime, but have me paying it lots in return. If I am not succeeding in touching lives, helping another, bettering someone else’s life through my pursuit, let me reconsider my next move. </span></span></div>
</div>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-23726904153625472972011-10-16T21:21:00.000+08:002011-10-16T22:58:05.484+08:00Journey to Ironhood II: Week 24<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZ0H0DzrJRuhVdQ-B9ACwL8mX2rNXDQiHG1aYi-aaIFr7qyfP2yqNtETCdUsQnG6r38R1AGPdFovZWmkgRiGOLFvTQN4u4kOvxUX3UeImX1sX3v-_3mAD0U4KLFYC4H00yqk1Mw/s1600/NF+start.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSZ0H0DzrJRuhVdQ-B9ACwL8mX2rNXDQiHG1aYi-aaIFr7qyfP2yqNtETCdUsQnG6r38R1AGPdFovZWmkgRiGOLFvTQN4u4kOvxUX3UeImX1sX3v-_3mAD0U4KLFYC4H00yqk1Mw/s320/NF+start.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<b>Week 24: 10-16 Oct</b></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
A humbling experience in my first North Face trail race on 15 Oct, where I encountered the first of many incidences never before experienced in previous races:</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
I started out strong and fast on a lovely Saturday morn, but barely 8km into the run, I threw up by the side path, emptying my stomach of fuel necessary for my run.</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
10km into the run, an excruciating pain shot through my right knee. Unwilling to give up and walk, I limped and hobbled the remaining 15km to the finish line, despite the pain that refused to subside.</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
Weaknesses humble us. It humbled me for sure. I hobbled in dejection as runner after runner overtook me on the trail - some looked back in sympathy and asked if I was alright; some zoomed past in a flash.</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
Still, I kept moving, focused on putting one foot in front of the other, fueled by a fire that wouldn't stop burning in my heart.</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3C4NXLYyTtV9IepfLsCadNyI9Cv2efjv7hzKDNSWZdUAEcIN1iZdqFR-ZZi8-BT3cRdB4tj41lv81o-6Ts5p5Vr9t9cj7YOdtmfrNZ1amsVMu1caaBxjbsp28lyG-Hsl9nk3WRg/s1600/2011+Oct+15+North+Face_3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj3C4NXLYyTtV9IepfLsCadNyI9Cv2efjv7hzKDNSWZdUAEcIN1iZdqFR-ZZi8-BT3cRdB4tj41lv81o-6Ts5p5Vr9t9cj7YOdtmfrNZ1amsVMu1caaBxjbsp28lyG-Hsl9nk3WRg/s320/2011+Oct+15+North+Face_3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
In the midst of my personal struggle, a guy struggling with both cramped legs dropped onto the side path and asked for help. I stopped to massaged his legs; before long another runner came along and gave aid. We didn't care much about lost time; in moments of struggle, human compassion overtakes it all.</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
As I ran/limped/hobbled along to the finish, I greatly appreciated the camaraderie among runners that day - the ones who kept moving forward despite their bodily struggle and pain, the encouragement from fellow runners to keep on keeping on, those who share of their supplies with others, and those who stopped to help others in need.</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
As my pain increased and my pace decreased, a group of guys ran alongside me and encouraged me to keep pushing - "only 1km to go" - they shouted. Like a turn of a switch, I ignored my legs, opened up my stride and increased pace.</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
I must have looked comical attempting to run with a limping right leg, and was half piqued that it wasn't 1 km to the finish line - it was about 2.5km. But I was thankful for those guys nonetheless - had it not been for them, I wouldn't have pushed myself to sprint to the end, and finished in a decent time, considering all the mishaps and stops during the run.</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif; text-align: center;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDEo6lQr2iwGNvoxsgKvh0p1bp8ND-tUSMruo4x_J6S065McNCO6VS6NkkGV4HtGGLh4faa35ZQOzUkAgFS95qprn_15wLK1rn-PeOwF5IyhQbwG1ibalLtLIoQGzoTO-EPi7euw/s1600/NF+medal.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDEo6lQr2iwGNvoxsgKvh0p1bp8ND-tUSMruo4x_J6S065McNCO6VS6NkkGV4HtGGLh4faa35ZQOzUkAgFS95qprn_15wLK1rn-PeOwF5IyhQbwG1ibalLtLIoQGzoTO-EPi7euw/s320/NF+medal.JPG" width="239" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
As I complete my first North Face 50km Duo Trail Race, I learnt that it's not always about winning or running the fastest split, but a humility in loving the sport and building camaraderie between fellow runners to overcome each of our own weaknesses and achieve our personal goals.</div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6bRqco_JD1iAWvN9j9GcU-ivyijcxjqRXENSzoxpGEXq3P9dkrnCltav0ackx-PIkR_lj0qYMmei_2HltnZCY0f534dN15nEj_FOWC5yl75jz6Qfi4h2zHPHS4RXd0B82v5iUQ/s1600/2011+Oct+15+North+Face_2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="239" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE6bRqco_JD1iAWvN9j9GcU-ivyijcxjqRXENSzoxpGEXq3P9dkrnCltav0ackx-PIkR_lj0qYMmei_2HltnZCY0f534dN15nEj_FOWC5yl75jz6Qfi4h2zHPHS4RXd0B82v5iUQ/s320/2011+Oct+15+North+Face_2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-73152386245926150632011-10-13T20:16:00.001+08:002011-10-14T00:24:50.529+08:00Journey to Ironhood II: Week 25<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Week 25: 3-9 Oct</b></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I like staying in hotel rooms, not because of the comfort it offers, but because it is sparse, save for the essentials of a bed, table, hot shower and air con (nope, I don't care much for TV). Hotel rooms are bare and simple, unlike the clutter at home - furnitures, stacks of stuff, piles of items, layers of dust.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I dislike having and owning many things; things frustrate me. They appear as clutter that cramps my world and agitate the spatial part of me. I'd love to give away and dispose of many things that I own. I've even contemplated listing down all the brand new and charming things that I have; tucked away, forgotten and neglected; that I would like to put into hands that have better use of them. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the same vein, I like triathlons because it takes me away from clutter; from the limitations that plague the mind and body. Triathlons demand so much from the athlete that it leaves little room for attachment to other matters while you're at it - be it during training or on the course on race day. I love waking up in the stillness of the morn at 4am to run or bike, and inflicting pain and discipline onto a tired but keen body, while most people are still fast asleep. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love long runs where I'm alone by myself, my thoughts and aspirations. Running is my meditation time. I set goals for myself, visualize myself working at it and achieving it, overcoming obstacles and locking the door to can't dos and limitations. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love long bikes because it takes me far away, speedily, from things that tie me down - the worries of each day, housework that I dread, bills to pay. On my bike, things are simple - I have only one goal - to go as fast for as long as possible and aim to complete 180km in under 6 hours. It takes a lot of me to accomplish that - I haven't quite gotten near, so I'm always chasing the wind and pushing the speed, and in the process, distancing myself even more from anything that I wanna detach myself from. It's the perfect, healthy escape!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I love swimming because it forces me to face my fear of not getting it right and fight the unseen force that limits my ability to swim efficiently and speedily. Of all the 3 disciplines, I perform the least satisfactory in the swim, and even more so, I am determined to hold a tight rein and master my weakness.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In a nutshell, tri-ing demands so much of me I have learnt to live with little, particularly possessions. And because it demands so much of me, it makes me appreciate, even more, things that really matter - my loved ones, family, my Master. The more I tri, the more I'm aware of my mortality, and the need to fully cherish life for its short breath.</span>Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-2619213445169939022011-10-03T20:49:00.001+08:002011-10-03T21:15:49.445+08:00Journey to Ironhood II: Week 26<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<b>Week 26: 26 Sep - 2 Oct</b></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
Confession: </div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
I tri because it makes me feel heroic. It's a magnificent feeling to be doing what's uncomfortable and painful to the general masses. I'm easily inspired and spurred, and seeing people attempting and accomplishing extraordinary feat on TV or reading about them in books, the news - well, that always leave me with a grinding feeling in my guts that I too, wanna attempt something bigger than myself. Attempting the IronMan with little base training under my belt is my way of spreading my wings and fly when I haven't quite learnt how.</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
I tri because I hope it would bring me places - so when I travel, it's not just all eating and sight seeing, but seeing the landscape the hard, grueling, challenging and sweaty way - swimming, biking and running. I dislike overt comfort, and the idea of a nice holiday. My idea of a holiday is to earn it - I gotta first sweat it out before I deserve that good meal; and I gotta explore the place not in a cushy vehicle, but in as natural a way as possible - on foot, on two wheels, with no carbon emission... </div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
So back to tri-ing because it makes me feel heroic. Saturday morning saw me running my second ever trail run - an agonizing 29k. I ran my first trail just 3 weeks ago, and was over the moon to find myself accomplishing 21k feeling strong. Now 3 weeks later, I'm not feeling altogether that great. It was painful and I wanted to stop in my tracks over a hundred times. But pride got the better of me, and I kept up with the pace of the group (which was rather fast). I've always considered running as my stronger discipline, and have never quite injured myself on a run. But I did this time round. My legs were hurting all over but I kept pushing on, because I didn't wanna quit on myself. </div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
During training, when the going gets tough and often times I feel like stopping and cutting short my work out, I keep going because that, for me, is mental training - in the real race, the desire to quit would come knocking too many a times. If I don't learn to persist through my agony in training, how would I grit my teeth and bash through the wall on race day? Of course, I have to be careful not to over push myself to the point of injury - it's a fine line between persisting and injuring.</div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
<br /></div>
<div style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">
Well, all's good - my legs are fine after a good rub and stretch, and boy, am I excited to train through Week 25!</div>
Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-60598453622732396202011-09-21T21:59:00.000+08:002011-10-03T21:12:54.042+08:00Journey to Ironhood II: Week 27<b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Week 27: 19-25 Sep </span></b><br />
<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">A tree cannot grow without first a seed that dies, falls to the ground, and re-planted back into the earth. That, would be a visual parallel to what I'm about to undertake in 27 weeks' time. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Following the misadventure of an Iron pursuit last month in the beautiful, historic city of Regensburg, Germany, and a broken heart quickly nursed back to health by a team of amazingly supportive spouse, family, friends and triathletes, I am back with a vengeance of training and preparing for a redemption race to take place in March 2012... the inaugural IronMan Melbourne Championships. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">We never quite stop learning in this lifetime. Some of us never stop TRI-ing. So here I am, laying down my life once again on the line, and undertake to train the best I can, to find myself Down Under on 25 March 2012, amongst some of the best triathletes in the world, for a piece of the Iron pie. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I will, as I did previously, be posting weekly updates on the progress of my training, to share an intimate part of my sporting pursuit with those that care to join me in my adventure by reading and experiencing the thrills and kills, the highs and lows of my second attempt at attaining Ironhood. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Thanks for lending your eyes. Here's pressing on to Melbourne!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #0b5394; font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><br /></span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYqtFeNh5l8vjq9OUyb8hyl74QBT29NtI3i5_5NxXeii81SAsgg2cKullM50Lv80XGoy0xZTzVGBDkxVNNEl2LNjiZL_ljgXgSU4lRkNzbsy5H6eZx9hhJHZiAHNkZb2JItqp9g/s1600/Screen+shot+2011-09-21+at+PM+09.45.13.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="250" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaYqtFeNh5l8vjq9OUyb8hyl74QBT29NtI3i5_5NxXeii81SAsgg2cKullM50Lv80XGoy0xZTzVGBDkxVNNEl2LNjiZL_ljgXgSU4lRkNzbsy5H6eZx9hhJHZiAHNkZb2JItqp9g/s400/Screen+shot+2011-09-21+at+PM+09.45.13.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-89656177456558241522011-08-22T21:49:00.027+08:002012-09-13T12:30:04.802+08:00Reflections on Germany & London<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_OMSFTZvRLFSEDhFT7pMUOPd-9CP4JZYkS1iRDklLMtAP8_nE9Z1oD9QyHGwzTIMEqY_AOjvIO2f5baB5SplpSbOBaASvAAYgWZsGOMN7Bp8VVYop7wLireoCER0Q9h7QCOj1A/s1600/IMG_4382.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643703066780300418" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4_OMSFTZvRLFSEDhFT7pMUOPd-9CP4JZYkS1iRDklLMtAP8_nE9Z1oD9QyHGwzTIMEqY_AOjvIO2f5baB5SplpSbOBaASvAAYgWZsGOMN7Bp8VVYop7wLireoCER0Q9h7QCOj1A/s200/IMG_4382.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: left; height: 134px; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4Y-Da6A-_QzEzXtMw4_qf1Oz-5Z0QC5_GIMx-yp40H4JF1vdDLn362Xzhd3KB8zFCx_Tx9FXvKMpWxmsh0xPaoyyxz2oo8jYFtRSp0w62cb_tH5tyV-itcNoeJ04UW3FOPXexQ/s1600/IMG_5182.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643702944494291698" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgk4Y-Da6A-_QzEzXtMw4_qf1Oz-5Z0QC5_GIMx-yp40H4JF1vdDLn362Xzhd3KB8zFCx_Tx9FXvKMpWxmsh0xPaoyyxz2oo8jYFtRSp0w62cb_tH5tyV-itcNoeJ04UW3FOPXexQ/s200/IMG_5182.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 134px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5DFzrXmhE2jdbxTVnGX6BcmiQ7T3BYrSRTyeSpwdErbLzgY2XQHGNGFNwHxUnsoiBC-UKOvciWxYQIYeVx2ATVfu6lSSc92IbZxoLkoKRHa7Sv0ZlggbnTZJGAe6f0qgbxonXg/s1600/IMG_4712.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643702786642514722" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEic5DFzrXmhE2jdbxTVnGX6BcmiQ7T3BYrSRTyeSpwdErbLzgY2XQHGNGFNwHxUnsoiBC-UKOvciWxYQIYeVx2ATVfu6lSSc92IbZxoLkoKRHa7Sv0ZlggbnTZJGAe6f0qgbxonXg/s200/IMG_4712.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; float: right; height: 200px; margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; width: 134px;" /></a>
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;">Why do we travel? For a number of reasons, one of which is to search for happiness.
<br />
<br />Are we happy after our travels?
<br />Sometimes we are, sometimes we're not. Sometimes we're elated at new experiences, sometimes we despair at bad encounters. Sometimes we find the joy contagious, sometimes we find the gloom a threat.</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;">Why else do we travel? To see what's outside our box.
<br />
<br />Do we see what we think we're missing? Sometimes.</span>
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;">Sometimes we're enlightened, sometimes we're disillusioned. Sometimes we're grateful for our good fortune, sometimes we envy the better well-being of others.</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;">Why did I travel this time round? To race in IM in Germany and to reconnect with my sister in London.</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;">And what have I learned from this trip? Lots. Below are some brief observations:</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Every city has its beauty and flaws. </span>London has its historical charm, but generally appears dark and grey with its old brick buildings and grimy streets. Munich, on the other hand, is covered with vast green farm land, trees, shrubs and the occasional flock of sheep grazing. The countryside of Munich is breathtakingly beautiful, and inspires afresh each time.</span>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0VRtHt4MwP6_niUUK0OFHnzwuuZ7kI_uYfs6VUVVScdxKKVVGGdOEIEbPGHRgCFWQHOSAyCrJDwpFpnw2a-n0PezddU3dkHmAzBv8sk6xoC_v8sVERC6LEIGa6VV5MYmJod_JNA/s1600/IMG_6002.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643680999665133122" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0VRtHt4MwP6_niUUK0OFHnzwuuZ7kI_uYfs6VUVVScdxKKVVGGdOEIEbPGHRgCFWQHOSAyCrJDwpFpnw2a-n0PezddU3dkHmAzBv8sk6xoC_v8sVERC6LEIGa6VV5MYmJod_JNA/s200/IMG_6002.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 134px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnjPT9feAqgDCQP-HJyzvDgMlz5jKuMsa2wabWYcHf7lpLQMUWiR3nFdVv6mJy-LZlb6_ykTjTsncGpF-8uH_LzTzZTej1t8GV9d4JoRxT1b1NU6c02KSvtmKlimG6YVDJpn0_qw/s1600/IMG_5048.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643680870113627730" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnjPT9feAqgDCQP-HJyzvDgMlz5jKuMsa2wabWYcHf7lpLQMUWiR3nFdVv6mJy-LZlb6_ykTjTsncGpF-8uH_LzTzZTej1t8GV9d4JoRxT1b1NU6c02KSvtmKlimG6YVDJpn0_qw/s200/IMG_5048.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 134px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana; font-weight: bold;">Yet, in every place, it ain't so much the physical manifestation of the geography & architecture that attract, but its people and culture that beckon a deep longing and etch a memory deeper than mere images in well-taken photographs.</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;">I've spent too short a time, yet imprinted too deep a memory in both places, simply because of the people I've connected with, many of whom are strangers that turned into friends.</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;">In somewhat a chronological order of my meeting them, here are the wonderful encounters I've had:</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">(1) A group of middle-aged cyclists from France, touring Germany</span> on mountain bikes and heavy pannier bags.<span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span>Cyclists in Europe are a dime and a dozen, but this group of French cyclists made an impression because they had very kind and friendly faces - in fact, if I may be permitted to say this without being stoned - I didn't find the Germans too friendly (at least not those I came across), so when a group of men and women in cycling attire and hardy bikes in the middle of a small German city (Regensburg) smiled at me, I smiled back and got a conversation going. In fact, I like them so much we took a photo together and I have one of the men as a friend on Facebook. Ah, the power of social media - connecting people across the globe. Simply awesome.</span>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRhKvv4qOkURuzJ4M35lle__3tUIoaY3CLflnVpuVAIXeUek0pW3xupUNEH3UI0S4bTmlE0e3OaH5_7my1BssjWEvGc26_sMuwLBVgzv7q-Wr1JJ0g5EBB9QGS-RN3LZvfG86VQ/s1600/IMG_4158.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643679685090500370" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNRhKvv4qOkURuzJ4M35lle__3tUIoaY3CLflnVpuVAIXeUek0pW3xupUNEH3UI0S4bTmlE0e3OaH5_7my1BssjWEvGc26_sMuwLBVgzv7q-Wr1JJ0g5EBB9QGS-RN3LZvfG86VQ/s200/IMG_4158.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 134px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">(2) An Israeli triathlete</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> who has raced in Israman Eilat</span>, ranked among one of the toughest long distance triathlons races, and IM Austria, before attempting his third in IM Regensburg. He did well - clocking just 12 hours in Regensburg.</span>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jNoxcq4j28rBbxOODK08_jw2KR0iXfB96Zpz5sZQU67VBvgpELiuzXYtQe0Re7L8xpwBndcabNOrPgbm1xhMBcuy7TSOlJbyFu0p8z1Pv7ePVher1F4uhbhjp0Ghxr9SMTcWow/s1600/IMG_4535.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643679945457277026" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_jNoxcq4j28rBbxOODK08_jw2KR0iXfB96Zpz5sZQU67VBvgpELiuzXYtQe0Re7L8xpwBndcabNOrPgbm1xhMBcuy7TSOlJbyFu0p8z1Pv7ePVher1F4uhbhjp0Ghxr9SMTcWow/s200/IMG_4535.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 134px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">(3) A French chef with a cheerful disposition who runs an all-day breakfast cafe in Regensburg with his long time friend, a lovely Spanish lady.</span> A special mention of my chef friend, Marc Legras - he cheered me up when I walked into his cafe after completing my 3.8k swim and 180k bike ride, but disqualified from completing my 42k run, totally down and shattered - he sat down at my table with my husband and I, looked me in the eye and said: "It is better to lose a well fought battle than to win an easy one." An ardent rugby player and coach, Marc has an amazingly good heart - he runs a program that takes in children with attention deficit disorder and once a week, provides an outlet for these kids to channel their abundant energy by playing rugby and make some good friends in their team mates.</span>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvojgrGevFWUbJ6V0FY39mz0ogPgofVdUvOFWV0U5vG8O0extMyPovuYlwHE4XyLiSzgKmUp9mfosaXSmJXLV8JQezjoGcKG0p3QoaYmQOb8s-ybpmDwzcWVdNH8w0vhhmww-mVg/s1600/IMG_4239.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643701786569102450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjvojgrGevFWUbJ6V0FY39mz0ogPgofVdUvOFWV0U5vG8O0extMyPovuYlwHE4XyLiSzgKmUp9mfosaXSmJXLV8JQezjoGcKG0p3QoaYmQOb8s-ybpmDwzcWVdNH8w0vhhmww-mVg/s200/IMG_4239.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 134px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">(4) A group of middle-aged German cyclists</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> who handed me the news sports coverage of IM Regensburg</span> (upon learning of my participation in the race) and posed for my camera on the train platform in Munich.</span>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1bmtbxI-tsHkzyl8vBQv4QrVKl_rbQ_-Mga1KCH_3h7ngUkZSd2y4P6wtQoUmShnRc30wAqH76d3Jt0vCweuEqCnkoMDXHGlABVxqHYB-YItCaxNdD68DeJ0-VSbfQTDrSevrwg/s1600/IMG_4564.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643680097723133298" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1bmtbxI-tsHkzyl8vBQv4QrVKl_rbQ_-Mga1KCH_3h7ngUkZSd2y4P6wtQoUmShnRc30wAqH76d3Jt0vCweuEqCnkoMDXHGlABVxqHYB-YItCaxNdD68DeJ0-VSbfQTDrSevrwg/s200/IMG_4564.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 134px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">(5) An elderly woman sitting in an outdoor cafe all by herself at Tegernsee</span>, a lake 46km southwest of Munich. I couldn't help but notice how alone she was, so I turned to her and gestured for her to come join us at our table. Despite her conversing only in German and we in English, we spent a lovely afternoon enjoying coffee, beer and cakes, relying on Google Translator to keep our conversation understandable. Marianne Behn is without kin - her husband has passed away and she has no children. Formerly a waitress, she is now retired and travels to vacation spots on the outskirts of Munich by train and bus. But that's as far as the travelling she has done - she has never flew on a plane before. I wished there and then I could put her on a plane and fly her to a destination of her desire - maybe Singapore, as she has never heard of Singapore until she met us.</span>
<br />
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjQvKiPtPv702deIBM9zbh6p5PoHtq3QA2DAvvzswzRM276w_N6DIqieDKMjkjmjG7WqeWyChJNEk0LhUj7ONFmkmatMMdnOZWk-Zx9sAKuFxs3WmCOwyOQIZx4khQv4_GTprtQ/s1600/IMG_6243.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643680291040852802" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZjQvKiPtPv702deIBM9zbh6p5PoHtq3QA2DAvvzswzRM276w_N6DIqieDKMjkjmjG7WqeWyChJNEk0LhUj7ONFmkmatMMdnOZWk-Zx9sAKuFxs3WmCOwyOQIZx4khQv4_GTprtQ/s200/IMG_6243.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 134px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">(6) An Iraqi marine captain, Saud,</span><span style="font-weight: bold;"> on his way home after his job assignment across the Arabian Gulf</span>, whom Jason and I conversed at length with while in transit in Dubai. His first hand account of the messy situation in Iraq and neighbouring Middle Eastern countries are sobering and a reminder to cherish the good and security we have in Singapore.</span>
<br />
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">(7) Most of all, I'm missing the extreme kindness my Sis extended to Jason and I during our stay in her apartment in London</span> - her extravagant hospitality and going the countless extra miles out of her way to ensure we are comfortable in every way. A special mention of thanks too to my brother-in-law who took leave, drove for hours and miles to fetch us from the airport, and forked an expensive city tour in our honor. I don't think I've felt more privileged than having an elder Sis who loves me this much. Indeed, there's no place like home, and no love like that of loved ones. I'm glad I focused my energy and attention at cherishing every single moment with my Sis and her family during our visit, and wish to be reunited sometime in the near future.</span>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMu0giJMEmi9LlbRH75ihyphenhyphenEjztRoWYTfKauWlfVL4QqtHgTETFR22_EUHia60BppxAsTI_4s69khAEIIoDPyJIVkxKz3lR-Hw7-PISsWvBBUqseoAnx6HOI8LrnUKMtqcrdWhsw/s1600/IMG_5548.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643680709631499810" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvMu0giJMEmi9LlbRH75ihyphenhyphenEjztRoWYTfKauWlfVL4QqtHgTETFR22_EUHia60BppxAsTI_4s69khAEIIoDPyJIVkxKz3lR-Hw7-PISsWvBBUqseoAnx6HOI8LrnUKMtqcrdWhsw/s200/IMG_5548.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 134px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwe4gChpZrBsL6f77k-1-Xx5E8AtR2FFht7ANhWl4XVs5Gjw6hBcZ71GlB291lYu9YFCEzq4EpngG1Ccpq3JFKyGZ2U_nprnxvL57vx1GeOJ4iMKAorQLSQJt29AgHamZuAMakw/s1600/IMG_5930.JPG" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;"><img alt="" border="0" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5643680433995847938" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwwe4gChpZrBsL6f77k-1-Xx5E8AtR2FFht7ANhWl4XVs5Gjw6hBcZ71GlB291lYu9YFCEzq4EpngG1Ccpq3JFKyGZ2U_nprnxvL57vx1GeOJ4iMKAorQLSQJt29AgHamZuAMakw/s200/IMG_5930.JPG" style="cursor: pointer; display: block; height: 134px; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; width: 200px;" /></a>
<br />
<span style="color: #000066; font-family: verdana;">What more can I say? I’m just plain thankful for this amazing season in my life where I’ve had the ultimate privilege of preparing for a very tough race in Regensburg, and though I didn’t fare as well as I set my heart and soul to, I gained a lot more from the defeat than an easy victory; I’ve had the richest privilege of visiting Germany and partake of its splendid scenes, people and food and above all, I’ve had the most intimate, quality, bonding time with my dear family in London - I learn what it’s like to give, and give some more, because children make it all worthwhile. </span><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden" /><!--Session data--><input id="jsProxy" onclick="jsCall();" type="hidden" /><br />
<div id="refHTML">
</div>
<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden" /><!--Session data--><input id="jsProxy" onclick="jsCall();" type="hidden" /><br />
<div id="refHTML">
</div>
<input id="gwProxy" type="hidden" /><!--Session data--><input id="jsProxy" onclick="jsCall();" type="hidden" /><br />
<div id="refHTML">
</div>
Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20855095.post-65576110915363879692011-08-11T05:55:00.004+08:002011-08-11T15:19:09.952+08:00Regensburg 7 Aug 2011While riots broke out in London on 7 Aug, the chilly wind, relentless rain and steep bike climbs, plus my initial slow swim, wrecked an awfully painful riot within my system in Regensburg.
<br />
<br />I was thoroughly ill prepared for all that lay ahead of me as I stood at the starting line that cold Sunday morning. I was anticipating a 1.45 swim, as I felt strong and good in the water, but came to shore at 2.07.
<br />
<br />Onto the bike, I was wrecked physically and mentally by the furiously cold wind and merciless rain; even more so, the steep bike climbs between 10-30k burnt my muscles and killed a little of my spirit with each slow ascend.
<br />
<br />No, this wasn't what I envisioned my inaugural IM race to be.
<br />
<br />Thus, despite being officially disqualified from continuing the race at the halfway mark of the bike leg at 90k (I missed the cut off time by 10 minutes) I refused to concede defeat and rode the remaining 90k unaided, without any supporters or aid stations along the long, rolling, hilly and lonely course. All I had were tears and the pouring rain for company as I struggled to keep myself going mentally, hoping to make it back to Transition 2 and perhaps my persistence could move the referee to allow me to carry on with my marathon.
<br />
<br />The remaining 90k was an intense battle between the discouraged heart that wanted time and again to give up, raise a thumb and hitch a ride from passing vehicles, and a relentless mind that wanted to keep pedaling to Transition 2. The emotional me lost pieces of my heart out there on the bike course.
<br />
<br />Unaided and running low on water supply (thankfully I had sufficient energy bars with me), I had to stop strangers on two occasions and asked for water to refill my bottle.
<br />
<br />At 150k, with only 30k to go, I was stopped by 2 policemen on motorbikes. My violation - riding despite being officially ruled out of the race. I was asked my name and where I'm from. After some time, I was permitted to go, but not without first being warned that I was out of the race and would not be able to carry on with the run after the bike. I nodded and pedaled off. If I had carried even a flicker of hope of being able to run despite the cut off time, the policemen sealed my fate with an absolute No.
<br />
<br />Finally, after having swum 2 hours and rode 8.5 hours, I rolled into Transition 2, surrendered my timing chip and proceeded slowly to collect my belongings.
<br />
<br />I would have given anything to run 42k, but realized my disqualification from running doesn't make me a loser; it gave me perspective to learn and grow.
<br />
<br />This defeat has taught me more than if it had been an easy day. It was a really tough day, but that didn't kill me. Instead, it toughened me and made me wanna come back stronger to conquer what defeated me once.
<br />
<br />But more than that, it taught me that IronMan is not everything... love is. I chanced upon my husband at the finishing line (amongst thousands of people and with no prior arrangement on time), he gave me a hug and I cried in his arms. His love and assurance are steadfast. And with his full support, I'm setting my sight on the next race in the coming months.
<br />
<br />So, finally, here's a great big thank you - to all of you - my family, friends, fellow triathletes, training buddies - I thought of you while I was riding, tearing and shivering in the cold. Your encouragement and believe in me kept me going on the course in Regensburg, and will continue to bring me to the finish line in my next race.
<br />
<br />3 cheers to my Lord, family, my husband and to all of you - hip hip hooray! ;)Angeline Tanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03729664857283440597noreply@blogger.com4