For The Hardcore At Heart

The picture above says it all about the marathon. One race, a thousand reasons... and for the hardcore at heart. Rema Chai, 1st time marathoner, pulled a tyre, cans and other recylables to raise awareness of environmental issues (a standard car tyre weighs anywhere between 5 to 10 kg by the way). A colleague of mine asked me how was my weekend. I told him I ran the marathon. He went "Holy Moly!". Yeah, bit the bullet, did not train, took my stiff back and almost-recovered knee to the Esplanade at 6am yesterday morning and gave the 42.195km whatever I had. It was a humbling experience and a priceless lesson on what it means to not give up. My colleague told me I am hardcore. I told him the Kenyan runners are the real hardcores, running in record time at their blistering pace. It is really an awesome sight seeing them Africans run up close. But he made a rather good point in reply - "For them it's their bread & butter, it's the ones who don't train and do it anyway who are hardcore." - The line can be very fine between insanity and inspiration but I'll take his compliment. Thanks Lawrence. Of all the different characters that ran the race, the ones who really left an impression on me were the couples that literally went the distance together, side by side, for some hand in hand. There was this young couple that ran and stopped whenever either felt the pain and fatigue. I saw them at the 30km mark where both were evidently struggling with cramps and strains but they managed to hang on and finish the race. They caught up with my cluster of runners near the end and crossed the finish line just behind us. Regardless of whether they were married or dating, in an age where words often speak louder than actions, it was really sweet and heart-warming to see 2 people physically committing themselves through sweat and toil. There may be hope after all where 'for better or for worse till death do us part' is concerned.

Ed-titudes

Was sharing this with some friends. Apart from fearing God, here's 10 timeless 'teachings' that I carry with me... haha

1) 'But' is the most cruel word in the English language - Everything before it doesn't mean jack shit eg. 'You are a nice guy but...' or 'I like your idea but...'

2) Would you rather be the face that launches a thousand ships or the face that confronts those thousand ships?

3) A woman who thinks she's smart demands equality; a woman who's really smart doesn't.

4) In the land of the brave, heroes die young.

5) A 90 year old man can stroke a girl's butt and walk away smiling; try that when you are 30.

6) Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.

7) Every kingdom needs a king and queen; never two kings.

8) Love your woman, or some other bugger will.

9) It's better to ask questions and be stupid for a minute than to keep your mouth shut and be stupid for life.

10) The road to hell is paved with good intentions while the stairway to heaven is fraught with obstacles.

The Tutors

The people who taught us for 2 weeks...

Chris & J, keepers of the puke buckets

The Playground

The Wingate Lab

'Death By Pedaling'

All it takes is 30s before them puke buckets come into use

The Running Lab

'Death By Running'

Really... people do really fly off the treadmill here

Biomechanics Lab

'Death By Physics'

Force measurements, electrical activity in muscles, movement analysis, video capture... the 'nightmare' of applied science

Outdoor Lab

a.k.a. The Oval

'Death By Heat & Flies'

Apparently there are only 3 running tracks in the whole of Perth

... and obviously none are at ECU

The K-WESS Experiment

Members of the K-WESS Experiment

(6th to 22nd October 2006, Perth, Australia)

Enjoying a cold beer over a weekend bar-b in the sunshine

p.s. Gentlemen, I will never run 6 x 2.4km again

Back Home

As the plane began its descent into Singapore, an aussie kid looked out the window and asked her father 'Daddy, why can't we see the ground?' Her father replied 'We are still in the clouds sweetie.' At under 10,000 feet with 5 minutes till the runway, landing gear down and all, you are not suppose to be in the clouds - That was how bad the haze was from up in the air. Them poor tourists.

Liverpool 3 Galatasaray 2

Overall Rating: N.A. (Did not watch the game)
Goals: Crouch 9, 52 Garcia 14, Umit 59, 65

COMMENTS:
Thank God we survived Galatasaray's fightback after bagging in our 3. Crouch was man-of-the match. That's the thing about the Champions League - the quality of the teams involved ensures that every (ok, almost every) game is contested right to the death, which makes for great entertainment. 6 points from 2 matches. Well done team.

Jackie Wu's Music Lesson

This is a MUST WATCH - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR5PdsiUhw4 - HILARIOUS!

Liverpool 3 Tottenham 0

Overall Rating: 8/10
Goals: Gonzalez 63, Kuyt 73, Risse 89
Ratings:
- Goalkeeping: 6/10
- Defence: 6/10
- Midfield: 8/10
- Attack: 7/10

COMMENTS:

The first half was a dud affair but what a second half it turned out to be. Just when we thought we were going to be punished by Spurs for pushing too far up, we counter and score. Cheekily smart fake by Gerrard on the right to square the ball for the 1st goal. 2nd goal was pure conviction by Kuyt but Risse's goal was the best of the lot. 2nd time this season he's fired such a rocket into goal; the last was against John Terry in the Charity Shield. Sweet, really sweet. With Man U drawing at Reading (WELL DONE READING!), our season is back on track. After Galatasaray on Wednesday, we go to Bolton on Saturday. Wonder if a bung would be enough for Big Sam to give us a win there. Oops... ssh, no mention of the B-word.