42km,150m Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon 2005 - Real Drama

The date was 5 December 2005 morning, I can still remember the incident as clear as yesterday. This was the 3rd full marathon I was attempting and it was HOT and humid.I had my arranged supporter, Kannan, from Malaysia who had come all the way from Malacca to help supply me the Gatorade drinks and Powergels. We had arranged that he meet me at specially designated locations to hand me the "life savers" as I estimated there would be a thousand runners in front of me, and probably many thousands behind me. This was the MOST dramatic ending to my marathon runs which I am not going to forget soon.

The race started at 6.00 am, it was smooth sailing for me for the first 10km or so, I was near the faster runners - not the elites, nor the chasing bunch, but somewhere in the first 25% or so. I had been pacing myself and had trained religiously for this run which I thought would be a managable distance,as I had run it 2 times previously, once in Penang (2003) and once in Singapore 2004.
I WAS SO WRONG.

The first 10 to 14km was the stretch from the Esplanade Bridge right down Shenton Way to all around Marina Bay area and back before looping back to Robinson Road and head towards the Padang and the Esplanade Drive and down to Raffles Avenue.

The race was carried out on a hot morning, and by the 23km mark, I had a cramp on my right calf. This occured somewhere around the 6 km mark at East Coast Park. "Oh Oh", I thought, "Not Good and so early into the run." By this time, at 8.20am or so, the first Kenyan runner finshed the race. I was only half-way through !!

I managed to squeeze some Counter Pain Gel on my leg and carried on. At around the 30km mark, I had a another muscle strain, this time on my left calf. Again I stopped and applied some stretching and some muscle cream. The time was about 9.30 am and I had met Kannan once but had missed seeing him on the 20 km segment, as there were just too many runners passing by for him to spot me and I was probably bunched up with my eye on my leg rather than people or supporters.

By the 32km, I was pouring water down my head to douse myself and try to ignore the ache. BAD MOVE. The water trickled down to my legs and seeped into my running shoes. As I was hot, I intitally felt relieved with the water energising me.So I started drinking a bit more and pouring plain water down my head. My shoes by this time were squishing in water and I was literally running in SQUISHY SHOES.

Finally, the end point could be seen, 40km, just 2km more to go. I was preparing myself for the photo opportunity and with the thousands of spectators cheering us on, it was a massive boost to my very tired limbs. With 100m left to go, I thought to myself "Go for it buddy, break the 5 hour mark !". So I started to accelerate with about 80m left to go.

The exhilaration was with me, I was taking the cheering and shouting and started to move faster.60m, 50m,40m, ..... then WHAM !

My left hamstring tightened so very tightly that I pulled up and stopped totally. I was in extreme pain and lost my balance, and fell flat in front of thousands of cheering spectators !! The announcer who was announcing the numbers started shouting my Bib number and by sheer willpower, I tried to get up. I was blocking the other runners who were making their way to the 'chute'.

Another runner stopped by to help me back to my feet,but he let go of me after 10 seconds and I was practically 'legless', my legs were all rubbery and I could not even stand let alone run.

I fell back again on the road, and the announcer and the people were going crazy. I was doing a crazy stand up and fall down routine and runners were passing me and I almost knocked one down. Finally, a quick thinking medic ran to me and together we ran across the finish line which was probably 20m away.

I had slaps on my back and strangers coming up to shake my hand, all I wanted to do was sit down and I sat down with my aching body for 45 minutes and drank about 2 bottles of 100+. I had never felt so awful and relieved after a run in my whole life !

Finally when my body recovered, I was able to pull myself up,get my medal and find a taxi home. REAL DRAMA. RESPECT THE DISTANCE.

Thailand Tiger Zoo

Located in the province of Chonburi Thailand, there is this lovely little zoo called Tiger Zoo and I had the good opportnunity to visit it last year, this photo is my momento of me and some distant 'cousins' and I am in my long sleeve and silk tie. I wonder why people call this dressing the 'monkey suit' when the monkeys are all dressed up in T-shirts ??

There are several 'social experiments' which amaze people, fully grown female
tigers suckling pigs in the same cage. Fully grown sows (female pigs) suckling tiger cubs and I also got the chance to feed a tiger cub milk. At three months it is already weighing almost 20 kgs !

My staff will get the oportunity to view the REAL Tiger Show from Thailand soon as we have a major project in the Eastern Seaboard in the South East Thailand in January 2009.

Visit the website www.tigerzoo.com for the attractions.

Thoughts on Cooking from a Novice Chef

I am a novice cook and these few months I have been given the opportunity to cook breakfast for my family,so I bought this book "Healthy Appetite" by Gordon Ramsay (who else). For those who are not familiar, Gordon Ramsay is the foul mouthed chef who has several Michelin star restaurants in London and other parts of the world. He has his own cooking show,on AFC or Asian Food Channel and my wife, May is a fan.

Cooking is very much an art with scientific techniques applied, and you have to be on your toes, all the time in the kitchen.
The chef is like the "Commander in Chief" and he has control over everything when he creates his dishes. The mind must be thinking of what to do next, for how long, apply what, pace the stir fry or steaming, when to turn over the food, fire level,
seasoning, tasting and a whole host of other parameters. I am a beginner or a Novice so these are my initial thoughts on cooking.

Tasting the food at the beginning and before it is finally served is a must, as is the Presentation of the food.

The result ? When your guets or your family tuck in and the expression on their faces is the reward. It can be
priceless. Try cooking, get in touch with your creative side.

1 month to SC marathon - I am in trouble

The picture says it all, a long road ahead, it is sunset, the last rays of the day Sunday 9th November are at an ebb. I have just finished only 8km of the Nassim Road route (2 laps) and my body or specifically my knee, is telling me to stop.
I have to adjust my left leg so that it pronates inwards to compensate for the strain on m knee.Not a good sign.

I have finished 2 loops of 4km each today and as I had experienced some nagging pain,which is due to a strain on my Illiotibial Band - the ligament running from the outside of each knee, I decided against finishing my targetted 12km distance.

This week I have completed the following :
- Monday Rest ;
- Tuesday 8 km Goldhill
- Wednesday Rest
- Thursday 6 km in KL gym
- Friday 8 km Goldhill Avenue
- Saturday Rest
- Sunday 8 km Nassim

Total : 30 km , a far cry from the 50 - 60km needed to log before a marathon

My thoughts are about my injury and whether I should stop and give my tired body,especially my knee, a rest.
The surest way to recover is to employ the RICE method :

R est ; Take a few months complete no running rest
I ce - Ice the affected area
C ompression - Provide some Bandaging to the affected area
E lavation - Lift up the leg when sleeping

This week I will formally decide whether to proceed with my marathon on 7th December or skip and rest
till my injury heals.

Cool Bungalow in KL

Located in Banting, on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur and near PutraJaya, the Admisitrative Capital of Malaysia, this Bungalow is designed in the Modern Minimalist Look pioneered by Frank Lloyd Wright of the United States. It sits near the top of a hill
overlooking the faux grandiose (trying too hard to look expensive) looking Marriot Hotel.

The bangalow comes attached with a 30m infinity pool, a cabana, a huge car courtyard for tethering your racing breed Ferraris and Lamboghinis as well as 15 (I counted) air conditioned split units. The house is shaped like a "H" with the West Wing and the East Wing. Pool parties as well as all kinds of movie scenes ala CSI Miami come to mind.

Land Area : 40,000 ft2

Built Up Area : 16,000 ft2 fully furninshed - its a show house on the Hill. The development is called Diamond Hill if you
are interested

Asking Price : RM 15 Million or S$ 6.4 Million

My Goal : Forget About It !!

I want to live my life and not slave to get a dream house.

New Office in 2012

This is the view of the water feature outside the Xilinx Building, in Changi South Avenue 2. It resembles something like
Silicon Valley in California. As I remarked to Johnson,my colleague, it is good to set a goal in the near future
for all in the company to achieve so :

Objective : To have an Office located in Changi South Avenue 2

Date of Achievement : by 2012 - in 4 years (before I turn 50).

Watch this Blog for further updates !!

Happy 89th Papa

My father, Geoffrey Abisheganaden, will turn 89 years old on 23rd November. He is to me and my brother John,a kind,humble man who epitomised all the values of a Christian servant of God. A lawyer by training,he studied at the Gray's Inn College in London and was the the same cohort as the Minister Mentor, Lee Kuan Yew and former Deputy Prime Minister the late S. Rajaratnam.

When he graduated, he was the legal assistant to Mr. David Marshall, the Chief Minister of Singapore in the late 50s.They had many successes in court and he was always coming home to our house at 6 Adis Road in the 60's and early 70's with tales of his courtroom successes,whenever David Marshall managed to get his client acquitted or on reduced charges. He helped quite a number of neighbours and people who couldn't afford legal fees, (pro bono) and never looked down on the uneducated or poorer citizens.

He was the past President of the NUS Guild House, as well as past Chairman of the St Andrew's School Board of Governors, he has sat in many other Boards ranging from the Bible House,the Synod, Singapore Swimming Club as well as the St Andrew's Junior College.

He helped my Undergraduate NTI debating team tremendously as an advisor in the mid 80's by providing mature and logical viewpoints as well as oratorical tips in public speaking. My Army buddies from '82-83 remember vividly when he would drive 4 to 5 of us back to camp in Sungei Gedong in Lim Chu Kang every Sunday night to 'book in' to our army camp of 46th Singapore Armoured Regiment. He never complained of the long 45 minute drive from Goldhill Avenue to Lim Chu Kang road, taking the dark and then winding road and dropping us off and driving back home.

His Law practice, Abisheganaden and Company, was disbanded and handed over to younger partners and although he is a Notary Public, he is still active. His health of late is stable but he is weak in the legs,but his mind is still sharp, reading as many as 3 - 4 books each week.

A good father, loving husband and an Uncommon Man of Character,my Papa.

Happy 89th Birthday on 23rd November.