Race Route

Race route for HK100 2015 next month.

*Gulps!!!*

Ghandi Restaurant

Food. It binds us.

Lessons from Dal Bhat Land

- I saw Everest on both flights to and fro, just like my Bhutan trip in Dec 2013. I am a lucky boy.

- The mountains were imposing, awesome and majestic. It was very, very humbling. Looking at them makes you want to keep on going.

- I learnt to respect the mountains and mother nature even more now.

- "Slowly slowly", my guide always says that with a big smile. I like that. Maybe that is why I like long distance races too. Due to the slow pace, I could pick out more details around me, immersed in my surroundings and also took a lot of photos.

- I stared quietly at the many mountains while having a cup of hot ginger lemon honey. They stared back at me. Some moments my mind was filled with many thoughts. Messy and fleeting ones. More often than not, it was just blank.

- I was powered by dal bhat. Motivated by chicken curry. "Dont worry, chick curry", they always say.

- I learnt that just having electricity in your room at night was a blessing. A hot shower was total luxury, although towards the end having showered or not did not really matter already.

- Now I understand the 意境 of what my friends told me about "吃饱饭就爬楼梯". From Sinuwa going back to Chomrong, it was .. wah lau eh!!! From Tikhedhungga up to Ulleri, worse.

- I was schooled by my porter. Again, it is not the shoe.

- I have grown to love my Nikkor 20mm f2.8. I still prefer prime lenses. My camera and lenses went through a hard round this time. Cold, snow, dust and knocks.

- There was a statue of Buddha carved out on the steep, vertical cliffs above Deurali (3230m) by weather over time. The magical wonders of mother nature.

- Watching the sunrise was not looking East waiting for the round egg yolk to emerge from the horizon, but looking at the mountains slowly being showered with golden yellow rays and observing how the shadows transformed on the faces of the mountains. I learnt to put down my camera and just admire the scene.

- I had wished to see snow during the trip. We were caught in the beginning of a very heavy snow. Luckily we escaped quickly. My poles helped me dearly. I certainly got much more snow than I asked for.

- While playing in the snow at ABC, I heard an avalanche. Visibility was poor due to the snowing so I only heard where it was coming from. It sounded really scary, especially when you did not know where it was heading! Time like paused for a while, waiting for everything to quieten down. .. And I continued playing. :p

- I rolled my first snowman. It was real tiring (farking shag!) and I realised snowman are only perfectly round in comics.

- I saw the Great Dipper, and used it to determine where was North. And yes, the Milky Way could be seen just by the naked eye.

- Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. :)




I will definitely return to trek. I already have a destination in mind.

I am back in Kathmandu

I am back in Kathmandu. :)

景物迷人。山景好壮观。雪山个个好雄伟。非常令人谦卑。

It was clear blue skies the first few days. The weather suddenly turned on the day we were supposed to reach ABC and started snowing. We could not see anything while we were at ABC. The snow keeps getting heavier.

The next day, we came down the valley while it was still snowing. The snow was already knee deep and covered everything so we cannot see the way. There was also risk of avalanche. Luckily, my guide is a very experienced mountain guide. He led a group of 8 of us safely down the valley through a detour. :)

The valley continued to snow heavily for another two days after we came out of it. The heavy snowing also covered the surrounding mountains in snow. When the sky cleared, it was sooooo beautiful!!!!! Mesmerising and majestic! 真是塞翁失马焉知非福。

Mountains always can teach us valuable lessons. Never take things for granted. Sometimes you win. Sometimes you lose. Maybe this is not my time. I will come back for ABC to see the mountains again.

I prayed to the mountain gods and wished
- good health to my family and friends
- my swollen finger to quickly recover from the fall incident in August
- let me get the ballot for UTMB

I am flying back to Singapore tomorrow. :)




I played in the snow at ABC and fell while running and zek dio kah. Bochup and continued playing and fell and zek again. The next day walk and walk until it recovered. : p

And my oakley as been burnt onto my face. : p

Time Flies

14 - 15 Dec 2013, TNF HK start line at Tai Mei Tuk, Hong Kong

Woh .. Time flies. It is one more week to TNF HK. Several posts about the upcoming race have been seen on FB and IG already. I remembered I was very happy we could take part in the race together. What eventually happened was something I had never expected. How could a person change so quickly within a short span of two weeks, is something I still cannot fathom. Through this one year, running the trails and mountains helped me to slowly accept things which were just thrown at me. I felt so helpless as I could do nothing except swallowing everything down.

一年了。你宽恕了对方。你宽恕了自己。你却发现时间并没有宽恕你。

2014 passed by so fast.

New Year Wish

Wishes for the coming new year.

SFMT 2014 Day 3

Harry and I carried all our stuff onto the car early morning and we drove to Nerima subway station where 3 Avid volunteers would join us at 0700Hr. I grabbed a packet of inari at the 7-11 store for breakfast. It would be a 4 hours drive to Nagano.

(L - R): Yuki, Mariko, Kazumi.

These 3 ladies would be the volunteers who would be waiting for us the aid stations and finish line. A fourth volunteer would link up with us directly at Nagano as he lives around the area.

We were treated to a wonderful view of mountains after mountains along the way.

We reached Nagano at around 1230Hr. After checking in at Hotel Nobel Liyama and had our lunch at a local restaurant, we headed for the race expo!

The race expo was at a ski resort at Madarao Kogen, which would also be our race start line. During the winter, the mountains surrounding it would be covered with snow and it would be crowded by skiers.

Each participant was entitled to one map of the race route.

Scott Jurek was here!!!

I was so excited when I received news before flying over that Scott would be at the race. He would not be participating but would be a supporter at the aid stations, cheering for every runner.

How could I miss out the chance to have his autograph?!!! I brought "Eat and Run" and "Born to Run" along for this trip just for his signature!

Woohoooooo .. !! .. :)

Eat and Run.

Born to Run.

The ladies also queued up for Scott's signature.

Harry and Pauline had helped translated the book "Eat and Run" into Japanese. Here, Scott met Harry for the first time.

The start line right by the side of the ski resort.

A photo with my BIB at the start line. In the background is Mount Madarao, one of the five mountains and which we would run through.

Meeting old friends. I had met Yuji and Jun when I went for STY 2012. Both of them were volunteers under Avid Adventures.

While waiting for the vehicle back to our hotel, Yuki spent the time sketching out what she had for lunch. She was a professional illustrator!

Wow!

Photo from Avid Adventure

We had our race briefing back at the hotel. Haruki, one of the volunteers, had completed the race twice. He had prepared photos of different sections of the race and showed them to us while telling us what were the things to take note of.

Photo from Avid Adventure

He told us about a stretch along the river right after aid station 3A where there would be no shade so it may get very hot. He also highlighted about the highest mountain which we would pass through, the last major ascend of the race which also fall in the last section just before the finish line.

Dinner time!!!

We were joined by the other runners who also signed up under Avid Adventures. They were from Hong Kong and Japan.

Photo from Avid Adventure

Shabu shabu!!















After dinner, it was packing time.



This was the event top given to all runners (front and back).

Each runner has two BIBs. The large race route map was not a mandatory item. I would keep it for memories sake.

The bag was for our drop bag at aid station 5A.

This was the nutrition I prepared for the race. Hammer Nutrition Perpeteum and Recoverite powder packed according to the different aid stations. Gu Roctace gel. SoyJoy bars. Kit Kat. NUUN. Electrolyte sweets. Packets of dried raisins mixed with dried mango.

1) Ultimate Direction Peter Bakwin hydration bag
2) Ultimate Direction 26oz (740ml) water bottle x 2
3) Hydrapak 750ml softflask
4) The North Face Triumph waterproof jacket
5) Arc'teryx Phase SL Crew Long Sleeve base layer
6) The North Face Rocket beanie
7) Black Diamond Storm (160 lumens) headlight x 2. Silva Tyto red blinking light x 1. All with an extra set of batteries.
8) Powermonkey Explorer external charger for GPS watch
9) Garmin Forerunner Fenix GPS watch
10) Mini gorilla pod
11) Emergency blanket
12) Bodyglide
13) First aid kit with elastic bandage
14) Spare batteries and SD card for camera
15) Nutrition
16) RoadID
17) Sea To Summit 500ml collapsable cup
18) Extra contact lenses with eye drop
19) Petzl E+Lite
20) Shades

This race was a little tricky. There was no mandatory kit list. None was given. There was also no gear check. I used my past race experiences and brought along what I thought I would need for such a race. You bring what you would need. If you need some item out there in the middle of the course and you realised you did not have it, you had nobody to blame but yourself.

No trekking poles were allowed for the race.

The next morning, I added my bear bell into the bag.

Official drop bag items for aid station 5A at 66km.

All packed according to their type: running gear, nutrition, others.

I bought a box of big juicy grapes on the way from the race expo. I was eating them as I packed my stuff. Very delicious! A way to calm myself down. Hahaha .. :)

Yah .. I still did felt nervous the night before a race. :)

All done.



















Time to sleep.

May good light shine upon the path of all who would stand behind the starting line tomorrow at Madarao Kogen.

Keep calm. Be yourself.

Just be yourself. ;)

Scape to Sports Hub

Today was the NB run from Scape to Sports Hub. This was the gift they gave to all the runners after the run.

New Balance at Sports Hub

Sometimes, looking fast(er) is good enough.

Meeting a friend

Pink Dot 2014

我也开心饮过酒

《人来人往》
唱: 陈奕迅 词: 林夕 曲: 陈辉阳

缠在那颈背后
最美丽长发未留在我手
我也开心饮过酒


Perhaps, I am really not worth an explanation. Or even that simple bit of honesty. :)

何不将这双手放在心里。

《人来人往》
唱: 陈奕迅 词: 林夕 曲: 陈辉阳

闭起双眼我最挂念谁
眼睛张开身边竟是谁
感激车站里
尚有月台能曾让我们满足道落泪
拥不拥有也会记住谁
快步快乐有天总过去
爱若为了永不失去
谁勉强娱乐过谁
爱若难以放在手里
何不将这双手放在心里



爱若难以放在手里 何不将这双手放在心里。
This is what I could only do, and what I have learnt to do.

最美丽长发未留在我手 我也开心饮过酒。
Thank you for the happy memories. :)

有宽恕，有包容

好朋友，有宽恕，有包容，就收了。

Among close friends, as long as there is forgiveness and generosity, that is enough.



电影《扫毒》 2013
Movie "The White Storm" 2013

Happy Birthday

《人来人往》
唱: 陈奕迅 词: 林夕 曲: 陈辉阳

情侣会走 刚伤恋的你哭干眼泪
先来自首 寂寞因此牵我手
除下了他手信后 我已得到你没有
但你我自少往后成为了密友

谁也会走 刚相恋的你先知
我们原来未够 借故松开我的手
藏在贴纸相背后
我这苦心开过没有
但试过散心旅游 如何答没有


It has been a while. Hope you have been fine.

Happy birthday.

UTMF 2014 Route

URLTA-TRAIL Mt.FUJI course map from Kazuhiro Abo on Vimeo.

TransLantau 100 2014 Race Planning

Race planning. A stage of race preparation which can make you shit in your pants as you look at the elevation profile and cutoff times in a little more detail. There is anxiety and nervousness because you know what the upcoming race is going to be like. Mixed within these emotions, there seems to be some calmness. One thing is for sure: Its gonna be damn tough and humbling. Some things are out of our control.

We can never win nature. Heaven tossed the dice and I am now heading back to where I was originally supposed to run. Hong Kong O' Hong Kong, I am returning again 3 months after TNF100 HK. I dare not say I have improved to be a better runner after this 3 months. I do hope that I have become a better person.

Forgive and Move On

From Marc and Angel Hack Life

"Don’t live your life with hate in your heart. You will end up hurting yourself more than the people you hate. Forgiveness is not saying, “What you did to me is okay.” It is saying, “I’m not going to let what you did to me ruin my happiness forever.” Forgiveness is the answer… let go, find peace, liberate yourself! And remember, forgiveness is not just for other people, it’s for you too. If you must, forgive yourself, move on and try to do better next time. (from the “Happiness” chapter of our book) http://www.marcandangel.com/book/"




oh .. time flies. :) It has been almost 3 months since everything happened. Within a short span of 2 weeks, a person could change so fast, so complete. Now, I do not hate anymore. :) There are still missing pieces in the jigsaw puzzle. Yet, all the questions I asked to find out what exactly happened, she just refused to answer. For all the things we did together, time spent together, I deserve the honestly and the truth, rather than she simply pushing everything away cleanly and putting all the fault onto me. Let nature slowly find its way, one day let the truth unfold itself, if the day ever comes at all. :)