6th Dec 2015 ; my 10th Marathon, Standard Chartered Singapore Marathon

My time, with the medal and commemorative booklet 

A real tough race to end a tough year for me. 

The Route this Year

      The year end Standard Chartered Marathon has become a ritual for me. I have run this 9 times since 2004 and add the first for the Penang Marathon in 2003, comes to a grand total of 10. In the years from 2003 to 2007, I ran the marathons 4 times and clocked 5 :20 (2003), 4 : 52 (2004), 4 : 59 (2005 - real drama at the finish line for me then) and 4 : 48 (2007). The last 5 years (2010 - 2015) I have completed it 6 times, with only 2 times below 6 hours and the rest just after 6 hours, the slowest being 6 hours 9 minutes. I have somehow managed to maintain my time these past 5 years ! 

                                   Spotted my name amongst the thousands taking part ! 

At the start point at 4 : 45 am 

with Timothy Lee and Ricky Ng

      Time and tide waits for no man, so with the passgage of time, our bodies age, some people age slower than others some manage to maintain a very healthy glow and dispostition till the last years of their lives. I have had a very eventful and stressful year having sold 2 major systems to the Government, and with the large orders come large expectations from customers demading fast and exacting responses. This is a breakthrough year for me, and I want us to break out out of the last 4 years of poor business with a massive gain in profit and cashflow. We are not there yet but WE WILL MAKE IT !!!! I AM 100 % SURE OF IT. 

    

Preparation for the race the night before ;

powergels, muscal spray, cloth, isotonic drinks, the Nathan running belt etc. 

The race started off promptly at 5am, I was there with 2 friends from Karate and social circles. Ricky was running his first marathon and Timothy was doing his 5th. The Standard Chartered race is by no means an easy one, as the weather can get very hot and humid, especially after 9 am. So it was on race day. My strategy was to run at 6 : 45 minutes / km pace for the first 21 km to maximise the cool morning air, and so I did. I was pushing and reached the 21 Km Mark in about 2 : 27. So far so good.

My Reason this Year ?  Go for it and Never Say Die 

There were some moments of anxiousness, when cramps were starting to set in, but I told myself to relax, and take my salt pills, which I did at the 9 KM mark as well as the 23 KM mark. In addition, I was strategising and took my first Power Gel BEFORE the run, with breakfast at 3.45am. Then during the Run, I took it at the following distances :

a) 8 KM

b) 17 KM

c) 23 KM

d) 28 KM

e) 33 KM

f) 37 KM

     Come to the 23 KM mark, I was sputtering as I had not trained in over 1 year for distances longer than 21 KM, so my body was lacking conditioning, in addition to aging 1 year since 2014.  After 23 KM, the challenge was trying to maintain a decent pace, I think I slowed to about 8 plus minutes per km, and stopping at every drinks station to top up, eat a banana, and pop in a power gel, such was the ritual that I was wasting precious minutes but there was no choice, I had only trained a total of 1 month for this, so I was physically not in condition to run a decent pace after 21 KM. 

     Once I reached 32 KM, it was at the 'urgh' start of the most open and heat bearing part of the race, the road leading to the Marina Bay Golf Course. This was 5 - 7 KM of sheer torture running through open road with little foliage and tree cover, it was like running in the desert. At that time, I had 4 : 15 hours under my belt and was mentally preparing to hit below 6 hours. It was wishful thinking on my part ! 

      The runners were  "hitting the wall" and walking. I was almost going to stop running but somehow willed myself to continue running even at a slow pace.  I was now running like an old man shuffling and probably hitting 9 minutes / km, but it was faster than I could walk. 

The weather was in one word, horrible. The heat and humidity was taking its toll on me, and I made sure I ran through all the hot areas (where there were no shade) as fast as I could so as not to tire myself further. 

      Finally, we hit the 36 - 37 - 38 Km mark. It was another horrid and dry spot beside the Gardens By the Bay boardwalk and then onto Sheares Avenue. I was tempted to jump into the lake such was the heat which was killing me. My towel was not wet enough, so I resorted to filling my water bottle with water and pouring water all over me whenever I reached th drinks station.

     It was at the 40 Km mark when I decided and yelled " Fxxx it, go for it !" and then on it was a slow plodding all the way to the finish line. I still contemplated finishing below 6 hours such was my resolution, but at 41. 8 Km, my heart started beating too fast and I was gasping for air, I was hyperventilating, so decided to walk about 100 m.  Finally round the bend at the St. Andrew's road, I picked up steam and ran all the way to the finish line.

     My time, a decent 6 : 01. Timothy who is 6 years younger than me clocked 6 : 07 and Ricky on his first attempt did a 7 : 11.

     Well done to all of us !   I must say I am full of good motivation to finish the year 2015 on a High Note !!.   GO FOR IT ! FOCUS AND PRESS ON ! 

     

Ricky with his hard earned medal. 

     

5th December Reflections

                                          With the 2 student interns from SAJC Wilbert and Angela

 4th Dec 2015 

Today, Saturday 5th December, I woke up early and did a short run of about half hours distance. No timing, no expectations, no need for speed, just a relaxed short run around my neighbourhood. Tomorrow is the 10th marathon I will be attempting to finish and the reflections I have today are as listed below :

I am very fortunate and blessed to live in a stable and safe country such as Singapore, where safety and clean air (well most of the time), water, good morally upright leaders, schools an infrastructure  are world class - it is the best time to be living in a country such as this.

I am thankful for my general health (apart for some high cholesterol which is under medication), I have a healthy disposition, and appetite. Weight management is something which I am still working on :).

Tomorrow is the Standard Chartered Marathon starting at 5 am. I hope to finish this one in style and a decent time of below 5 hours 30 minutes. Its just a target, and I will listen to my body first.

My lovely wife, and 2 sons who are good upright men. They keep me grounded and focussed on the big picture of bringing up the next generation of family in the Abisheganaden clan. I draw on their well being to keep me grounded

My business partners and associates. The economic climate is heading for 'winter', people are tightening their belts and battening down the hatches. We need partners with the resilience and understanding that times will surely get better and those with the right plans and true grit will rideout any storms that are coming or are here.

My friends from primary school, work, karate, running and friends of friends. Without you, how in the world will I get to chill out ???

At the topmost (not last) is the belief and trust in God. We all need some spiritual guidance, I am a Christian and am guided by the good Lord whose works and sayings in the Bible still are so relevant to my daily life.

Seize the Day !

Happy Birthday Mum, Anna Abisheganaden

       Today, 30th November is my beloved Mum's birthday. She would have been 85 today, but she passed on on Jan 8th 2011. Her passing was very smooth, and painless, and I believe she is in a better place looking down with my father, at the work my brother and I are doing, raising up families and being the best that we can be.

Celebrating my niece Hannah's first birthday in Dec 2005 

       She was a wonderful,loving and caring mother. We always went to her with our problems, and was the real rock in our family. I always seeked her good counsel, as she was an expert in all things financial, from property investment, shares and other investments. A very cool and steady personality, she was always there for me, and although she seldom travelled, she enjoyed her life making sure she was the matriach of our extended family.

At the Cricket Club July 2010

      For over 40 years, she was the Personal Assistant to the Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Health, and had 4 bosses. Mingling with the mandarins in the Health Ministry would not be an easy task but she was certainly up to it, and all her bosses gave her high praise for her professionalism and compassion. Compassion was one of her strongest traits and she has personally helped out many friends and family in times of need, through advice and financial means. She was in my mind, a truly exceptional lady with immense grace and 
class.  

      Mum, on this day, I wish you Happy Birthday,may you be smiling down on me and our families and let us keep you happy and smiling for as long as we live. 

      Blessed Birthday Mum ! 

  

A real upbeat song for midweek !

Happy Birthday to my Papa, Geoffrey

      Today 23rd November is my late father, Geoffrey Abisheganaden's birthday. He would have been 96 years old. I have had the greatest respect for him for the longest time, as he was a good father and husband to my mother.

With my cousin Awee from Perth, Australia

      He passed on 5 years ago on 20th Sept 2010, at the age of almost 91 years. As an upright and honest man, he was one of the finest individuals, a devout Christian and contributed much to the community in terms of volunteerism in various organisations as the St Andrews School, St Andrews Junior College, Bible House, YMCA, Singapore Swimming Club, NUS Guild House and numerous other organisations.

     A humble and magnaminous man, I recently was proud and surprised that he was on the original committee for the Report on the Constitutional Committee of Singapore reviewing the rights of individuals of the Republic of Singapore in 1966. The committee was chaired by the late Chief Justice Wee Chong Jin.

With his then partner Richard Ang 

With then President H.E. S.R. Nathan

     True to form, my father never dwelled on his past achievements, knowing that these were only testimony to his contribution to building the fledgling nation of Singapore.

     Happy Birthday Papa. Remembering you and loving your kind spirit on this day. 

         

My swimming club days

Singapore Swimming Club today ; taken at the height of the haze period in October 2015

My swimming days were from late 1973 till 1979 and I will admit that I am a decent swimmer, but a much better runner than a swimmer. My parents joined the Singapore Swimming Club (SSC) around 1973 with my Mum, Anna being very keen on all the activities there, taking part in swimming, kong chian, badminton (her true sporting love), jogging, tai chi, and even tennis. Her routine was to go after her work around 5.30 pm to the "Club" at Fort Road and stay till about 8ish. My brother and I would make our way there from afternoon school.

I remember taking a lift from my father's chief clerk, in his Nissan Sunny who would drop me at the Club in time for me to do my training in the competition pools from 5.45 to 7.15 pm. I would do this 3 times a week, and on Saturdays, my Mum would fetch us for Sat morning swimming. Sundays was special as we would have "Inter - team" and water-polo after our training.

We all looked forward to Sundays.   

We trained swimming under the head coach of Mr. Neo Chwee Kok, who was Singapore's Flying Fish (aptly nicknamed) as he took part in the 1960 Rome Olympic Games. Sadly, Mr. Neo passed on in the late 90s in his mid 50s. 

L to R : My brother, me, cousin Angela and Wendy at SSC

My speciality was breast-stroke and although did decent timings enough to represent the club, my House in school and even Junior College and University, I would not say I was national material.

My Dad Geoffrey became a Management Committee member, with under the stewardship of Mr. Cheong Boo Hong (President) and Mr. Henry Chan during the 70s and 80s. He was not really active in sports, with the odd squash game and tennis. 

My mother, Anna, Prof Chau Si Ching (chief pathologist at SGH) and my father, Geoffrey

My mother became a household name at the Club and we had the privilege of taking part in numerous swimming competitions in Singapore, and within the region from 1974 - 1978.
In 1974, we went to Penang to compete with the Ikan Billis Swiming Club. In 1975, we went to Thailand for the Sanya Samaki Swimming Meet held in Bangkok, In 1976 it was Manila, (Philippines) and 1977 it was Jakarta, Indonesia.

All these swim meets in Sout East Asian countries opened my then young eyes to the region in the mid to late 70s. 

I will post more of those photos in later posts.    
   

The struggle to finish a Marathon is personal for me

Saturday 21st training run at ECP with running buddy Timothy

It was not easy run   

     Yesterday I made time to run a first 20K this whole year. At age 52 going on 53, the long runs are not getting any easier for me. However, I take inspiration from those middle aged athletes who struggle through their daily lives (like me) and then go on to hit the roads in their pursuit of their hobby or true 'love'

    For me, running presents the most personal challenge to me. The open road, the heat of the day, the ache in my muscles and bones, and the wind blowing in my face. It is a truly emotional and almost spiritual experience when one is in full focus of the run. I have been practising my 'craft' for 15 years and this year will be my 10th Full Marathon.

   I think about the work, my family, friends, anything which makes me happy or unhappy, I reveiw during the run. It is like I am taking a step outside of myself to see things in life in a detached way, I cannot describe it as an 'out of body experience' but its more like in a state of calmness and detachment looking at the events which unfolded or have yet to take place.

   Can I change things ? No, but I can view events calmly and evaluate all solutions. For when there is that calmness of thought, like during my run, I can see things clearly and without much
emotion. That for me, is the most priceless thing to me.