A big hello from a very scenic (and windy and sandy) camp! This is going to be a short one because after getting into camp, I spent all my time hanging out with others, which is how it should be… seeing as I am on a desert vacation. :) And now it is 7.42pm and we have a 42km sand marathon ahead tomorrow so time to turn in soon. Firstly, THANK ... Read More »
Hola from the desert, folks! Some 150 desert runners were gathered at the hotel yesterday and sent out to the desert in the evening. And good golly, I have never seen so many fit people in one place in my life. There were people with poles for legs and others with Big Macs for calves. Such a fascinating study of the human body. We camped by a lake and had ... Read More »
Friday was a public holiday because our Muslim friends were celebrating the end of Ramadan and the whole of Singapore got time off thanks to this. And day off = extra training for all the jittery bugs who have a date with the desert in less than 3 weeks! Total tally over 4 days: 101km with a 7kg backpack. I hit the trail, pounded on concrete, and shuffled on sand. ... Read More »
It had not been the most brilliant start to the day. First the internet threw a tantrum and I couldn’t livestream a much-anticipated tennis match between Nadal and Verdasco. By the time I got a fast enough connection speed, the two were already deep into the last set and Nando had faded away, giving Rafa an easy victory. After brunch the rain started, ruining the original plan to run 35 ... Read More »
1. You get micro abrasion on your face because you’ve wiped the sweat off so many times with your wristband while training. Your face now hurts. 2. Your back looks like it’s got mini-carpet burns because you ran a lot with a 7kg backpack jostling up and down your back. 3. Your whole body resembles a living billboard for Leukotape. 4. You constantly find yourself in the company of people ... Read More »
Today, the race organisers popped a little gift into our inboxes: the Race Course and Climate Update! Basically, it details the sort of conditions we can expect on course for this year’s race. I poured over every line like a child over a much-awaited Christmas present. Initially, I had no problems with the figures provided. In fact, I was quite relieved. Sure, this year’s course is likely to have lot ... Read More »
Some people have asked, “so what’s the next big plan after this race?” In all honesty, I don’t plan for anything huge. It’s not like there’s some factory in my head charged with churning out “The Next Big Plan in Life”. It will actually be nice to just lead the life of a normal, non-mileage crunching person for a change. I’ll hang out in book stores a lot more often, ... Read More »
This one goes out to those of you who’ve always had trouble keeping your sunglasses on your nose too. All the sunglasses I’ve had have a tendency to slide off my nose bridge, which kind of ruins the “I’m wearing shades and therefore cool” look. And that’s why finding the perfect pair that stays on and is rugged enough for the Sahara on the eve of the race is very ... Read More »
At last, some love for the Loof Party. You didn’t think I was going to let such an event slip by without due reporting, did you? ;) A huge hand to Loof and the Lo & Behold Group for seeing to that this event took off despite our very limited (read: nonexistent) budget. We had to spread the news through word of mouth, emails, and Facebook. But people still turned ... Read More »
Have you ever done something that didn’t seem particularly meaningful or life changing at the time, something that you would had done without giving much thought to, only to discover that this random decision had huge ramifications on your life much later, to the point that you can’t even imagine how life would be like had you not made that decision? Not so long ago, when yours truly was still ... Read More »
J.J. Pedersen let’s go see the world