Sincerity

Dear Friend in the Lord,

Sincerity – Faith: In today’s Gospel, Jesus asserts the need to have childlike qualities if we wish to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. How sincere, open and truthful we are towards ourselves in our daily living and what we desire to achieve in life? Is God in the centre of our lives and dreams ?

Fr Philip Heng,S.J.

A picture paints a thousand words

The dawn of Mizuno Wave Run on 17th Oct 2010



Nicely set up finishing lines.

Flagging off...
Beautiful photos are courtesy of these hardworking photographers, Chee Meng, Weng Kai, Tey & Jason Lee.
Thank you all very much!!

Management Exercise

(courtesy from a friend)

The Moment you are in Tension
You will lose your Attention
Then you are in total Confusion
And you will feel Irritation
Then you will spoil personal Relation
Ultimately, you won't get Co - Operation
Then you will make things Complication
Then your blood pressure may raise Caution
And you may have to take Medication

Instead, understand the Situation
And try to think about the Solution
Many problems will be solved by Discussion
This will work out better in your Profession

Don't think it's my free Suggestion
It's only for your Prevention
If you understand my Intention
You will never come again to Tension

The North Face 100

Running 25km off-road felt so much longer than 25km on road. Trail run is a different challenge altogether. On the road, it's flat. But on the trail, it's up down left right and you need to jump or hop up down left right. In a way, it's more fun and definitely more challenging. Legs no doubt feel more tired, especially the ankle. Used a lot of muscles used to balance and not slip and fall when it comes to running down hills. You need to have sharp eyes knowing where to step and where to avoid cause otherwise, splat!

Been enjoying trail run in Gasing, Gunung Nuang and FRIM not forgetting Negeri Sembilan mountain circuit challenge earlier on.

Last week had a good experience in The North Face 100 in Singapore. Drove down with Michelle, Debbie and Kenny. Luckily changed car tyres just before our trip as we could have been stranded with flat tyres halfway down.

Had our tummy pit stop in Tangkak, savouring their famous beef noodles! Sorry I forgot to snap pix of the delicious noodles. :P

We met Yip, ShihMing and San at Marina Square collecting race kits.
Yip in the 100km solo category whereas all of us doing 50km duo, meaning 25km each.
Duo is a team category. I partner with Michelle and our team name - cRAzY toMEI

Initially I was thinking of doing 50km in the 100km duo but thank God I didn't! I've not ran longer than a marathon on the road so I'm not going to try 50km trail run. Not yet!

Carbo loading dinner was somewhere in Bedok near Ming & Chris's beautiful home. We stayed at their place that weekend. I am already missing their 2 lovely adorable friendly mini schnauzer and australian silk terrier. Very cute and playful.

Our 50km duo flag off time was 10am so no need to wake up early and we even had roti prata breakfast. Reaching McRitchie park, the 100km solo and duo runners have most likely reached their halfway points. We started slowly, slow jog the first 2-3km. Having managed to zig zag our way through the crowd, we set a 6minute pace steadily till halfway check point. From then on, heat from the glaring sun slowed us down as certain parts of the race was on tar road and open fields with no shade! Imagine that!

I didn't push myself cause I seriously couldn't. Still nursing a calf-shin splint injury. The 2XU compression socks helped and softer trail impact didn't cause any pain, just tightness below the calf. But if I was running on the road, 5km and that's it... pain.

So I was glad able to finish the 25km together with Michelle. At first, we target 2:30. It changed to 2:45 from halfway check point. Didn't end there either. She did 2:54 last year so we targeted her PB...2:53 will do. But this year, the condition was way different. Hotter, more humid. True enough, every time I filled up my bottle, half of it was not for drinking but spraying to cool down.

Although Michelle's legs were not complaining, breathing was a different ball game, like fish out of water. Nope, that meant PB didn't work out and with 5km to go, a sub3 will do. But that failed as well. Reaching the lake with 1km to go, our time hit 2:59. Bye bye sub3. What the heck, we'll just finish it. She just wanted to find some place to lie down...and cool down!

Crossed the finish line hand in hand at 3:04

Life saver Lynette was waiting for us with frozen icicles. She's an angel!

Strive For Integrity, Not Popularity

Strive For Integrity, Not Popularity

"The integrity of the honest keeps them on track... " - Proverbs 11:3 TM

Joseph refused the advances of Potiphar's wife, not because he thought he couldn't get away with it, but because he knew he couldn't live with himself if he accepted them. Ted Engstrom writes, 'The world needs people who cannot be bought; whose word is their bond; who put character above wealth; who possess opinions and a will; who are larger than their vocations; who don't hesitate to take chances; who won't lose their individuality in a crowd; who will be as honest in small things as they are in great things; who will make no compromise with wrong; whose ambitions are not confined to their own selfish desires; who will not say they do it "because everybody else does it"; who are true to their friends through good report and evil report, in adversity as well as in prosperity; who do not believe that shrewdness, cunning and hard-heartedness are the best qualities for winning success; who are not afraid to stand for the truth even when it's unpopular; who say "no" with emphasis, even though the rest of the world says "'yes".'

In what he calls a compromise of integrity, psychiatrist Leo Randall analyses the relationship between former President Nixon and some of his closest confidants in the Watergate scandal. He records a conversation between Senator Howard Baker and Nixon aide Herbert Porter. Baker: 'Did you ever have qualms about what you were doing?' Porter: 'No!' Baker: 'Why?' Porter: 'Group pressure. I was afraid of not being considered a team player.' So strive for integrity, not popularity.

Courtesy of The Vine Today