Nike Winflo 9 Quick Review

With my son starting to train more (and seriously), I have to find a shoe to be on rotation between his tempo and racing shoes. All these while he is wearing and using the Asics Magic Speed 2 for time trail and racing, and the Brooks Hyperion Max for speedwork and everyday mileage. With mileage eating into the Hyperion Max, a replacement or rotation need to be considered. 

This is also to allow for him to find his own "feel" when it comes to shoe - as what works for me may not work for him. With a bit privilege to choose we took a detour to Nike at GPO after his Triathlon Camp last weekend.

Before I start the quick review, my son has tried at Nike GPO these models: Pegasus 38, Pegasus 40, Structure 25, Streakfly and FreeRN. He did not like how the P38 and 40 felt as he say they felt "dead".

Structure 25 was restrictive on the midfoot much similar to Streakfly which he say he don't like how it felt against his arch. FreeRN was a bit too unstructured and he felt his feet is moving everywhere. And the Winflo 9 was the one that suits him - balance of space, fitting and response (based on jumping on spot and rolling around the feet).

There were 3 colors to choose - white, greenish and black. He did not fancy the white as he say will be hard to maintain, the greenish is a bit similar to the white - and he went for the black. They are priced at RM329, with the black to be cheapest at RM309 with additional 30% off. So this Winflo9 in black cost us a very affordable RM216.30 with 2-years return policy with Nike App. I say that is a big bargain in today's world where shoes are expensive. Winflo9 retail for RM409 new. Cheaper now as there is iteration 11 in the market. 

Nike Winflo9 Quick Review

Coming in at 300grams for Men US11

Specification

• 35-25 Heel-Toe profile. 10mm drop
• Engineered upper mesh with breathable toe box area
• Cushioned EVA with air injected foam. Nike call it Dot Weld Air.
• Padded tongue and collar
• Full treaded outsole in waffle-design
• Inner midfoot strap for secure fit
• 300 grams for US11

The Nike Winflo9 looked like a basic trainer. Something that is suitable for all purpose use. Based on my limited experience with shoes, I would say that this shoe is suitable for easy runs not exceeding 10km and for everyday training. It's heavier than most trainers of similar specs (such as Brooks Launch series)

Clean cutting makes it even more basic

Normal width toebox

Neutral trainer suitable for all arches type

full length rubber outsole

My Son's Feedback on Winflo9

Paraphrasing what my  son told me about Winflo9, he says that the fit is good and secure. He do not feel there is any slip at the heel area and the tongue is "just nice" padded. The tie down is secure and he do not feel any part of his feet having pressure point when it is laced up. He like the slight rocker feel of the shoe but wished it is similar to the Hyperion Max that "makes me fall forward effortlessly". He feel that the midsole has some bounce, but not as plush compared to Hyperion Max and much firmer compared to Asics Magic Speed 2. He likes the flexibility of the shoe as it's similar to Hyperion Max. He do not feel "tall" and he did not felt unstable when compared to Asics Magic Speed 2. He likes that the shoe is slightly more structured (stiffer) on the upper than the Hyperion Max. He say this is definitely a daily trainer, and will go well in rotation with the Hyperion Max which he now can save for uptempo runs. 

This pair of Nike Winflo9 is purchased from Nike GPO at a price of RM216.30 after 30% discount. My son has not ran in it yet at the time of writing this. Expect follow up comments soon.

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Five Lessons In Sports I Learn From My Kids

O God please help me to win for i always want to win,

But if in thy inscrutable wisdom thou willest me not to win,
Then make me a good loser.
For when the one great scorer comes to write against your name,
He writes
Not that you won or lost,
But how you played the game.

Last Sunday, my son took part in his first real competitive event. We registered him for the Under-10 event, which meant he will be competing against older boys. There were a few events that all participants will take part in namely the 100m, 200m and 400m sprint. Then there is the Tug-o-Skate and a few other "fun" event so everyone will have fun.
My son has been roller-blading for the past almost 1-year. Skateline at TTDI is the school that offer structured classes and tiered grading to ensure the students are ready for more complicated moves all in the intention to make them a more complete skater. In the past 1-year of involvement, my son has moved up only 2-stages. All Students have to pass the first basic course to learn, among others how to stand up with skates on and now to fall correctly.

Heads up, palms down, fingers up

The Sports day was an opportunity for the students to mingle with other skating school students. What I immediately noticed was how different the approach of teaching and coaching were between different skating schools. Lets just say, comparatively, safety is the utmost criteria for Skateline as opposed to others I've noticed where all you need is well, a skate.
Stiff Competition
The event opened up my eyes on how competitive some children are nowadays. Many of them were in their element. Focused. Fearless even. Zooming out I noticed that the level of competition correlates with the children's surrounding and the adults that train, coach and provide for them.

Maximum SPEED! 

To a large extend, i felt a bit left out that I did not "share the same competitive" passion with my kids. Then i remembered the RMC Sportsman's Prayer (above) and this particular phrase

But if in thy inscrutable wisdom thou willest me not to win,

Then make me a good loser.

Me and my wife always believe that we can't win all the time in life. Something got to give. Some we chance along our life are arrogant winners and many are not used to losing. We have our fair share of encounter with bad losers (read : sore losers) where everything is "other's fault" and never theirs. While winning is always good, losing is actually better (just don't make it a habit or excuse to do badly all the time). 

don't hold your breath yet...noticed the coach's finger on the right side?

I was a happy man on Sunday. You see, my son did not do too well in all the sprinting events he entered. He came up last in all in what me and my wife terms as "fashionably slow". We know he tried his very best. In fact, he did not want to come up last, but the fact is that he now realised he is not "as fast as he thought". 

Me and my wife, or our families (extended) do not have any sports gene. We don't expect the kids to inherit any and a lot of these will be based on hardwork if he wants to improve. But is he ready? Perhaps.

In the 200m event, he was determined to do better than his last showing in the 100m. But as luck has it, he took the wrong line being confused on the direction he was supposed to go (a lot of this got to do with him not listening to instructions when the coach told everyone you can go LEFT or RIGHT around the roundabout). He clipped off another participant, but luckily, he was the only one falling. 

Below is the video of the 100m sprint and the 200m fall that happened to him. Short it may be. But you can see the level of competition amongst the kids.

He finished the race (200m) last and he knew it was his mistake clipping the other participant off. As a parents, i did break my heart to see him shedding some tears while nearing the finishing line.

It's ok.

Compassion. That is lesson number 1 if you want to take part in Sports. Never look down on the losers as one day, they will end up as a winner. I assured him that all is OK. His only mistake was following the group to go left when his line was right. He picked himself up, despite the knock on the bum and carried on to finish it. 
Then, the 400m sprint. Demanding for kids as this requires both strength and endurance. This time around, he wasn't last until a fellow participant fall. What surprises me next was him slowing down to check on his friend. I heard it loud and clear as my son asked : "Are you ok?" 
As he and the boy skates off, the last placed participant overtaking them and my son skating back "fashionably slow". 
From Lesson 1 : Compassion, he has learnt Lesson 2 : Empathy. I was a happy man. I know my wife was too. 

It is also about helping while in competition

The last event was Tug-O-Skate. A modified version of the Tug-O-War but using skates. It was super tough staying vertical as everyone kept slipping and falling. 

Never give up when down

That was when he learnt Lesson 3 : Team work and Lesson 4 : Not giving up when down. After three rounds of tugging, falling and pulling, his team won. He was a happy boy. Victory for him that late morning came late, but it came to him nevertheless.

Good job boy!

Which brings me to Lesson 5 : Passion. Staying hungry to be better than what you already are is the best way to improve. This is not his first "medal", as he has in the past won in other sporting events. For a 7-years old boy starting out rollerblading as a way for us to allow him to learn to take instruction from other adults (preparing him for his life later?), he has been the most consistent attendee for classes held on weekend. It takes a lot of passion, and mind you, no forcing from myself and wifey, for him to get up, gear up and go do what he likes. 
That one morning itself, my kids has reinforces back into what I've always believe when we indulge in sports. Have compassion, for that we will have empathy. Always be a team player and never give up. Keep the passion high and you will bound to be a useful person when you grow up (or old). 

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Happy Chinese Lunar New Year

I have been listening to TraxxFM (formerly Radio 4 RTM) almost everyday now. Short of the propaganda news and broadcast that comes on every hour, the channel is great without any repeated advertisements (that happens more often than songs playing). As I send my son to school every morning (for now), my timing allows me to listen to the TraxxFM's section from Dr. James Dobson. I find his sharing light, concise and touches on real life issues. The day before, they were talking about allowing the children to grow up at their own pace and not rushed into adulthood. And today (yesterday at the time you are reading this), it was about "Letting Go Of Your Kids".

It's inevitable and it will happen. This is his sharing.

More About Letting Go of Your Kids

I have found it very hard to turn my kids loose and face the empty nest. I know I need to release them, but it is so difficult. Can you help me?

Humorist Erma Bombeck described this difficult process in terms that were helpful to me.123 She said that the task of raising kids is rather like trying to fly a kite on a day when the wind doesn't blow. Mom and Dad run down the road pulling the cute little device at the end of a string. It bounces along the ground and shows no inclination of getting off the ground.

Eventually, and with much effort, they manage to lift it fifteen feet in the air, but great danger suddenly looms. The kite dives toward electrical lines and twirls near trees. It is a scary moment. Will they ever get it safely on its way? Then, unexpectedly, a gust of wind catches the kite, and it sails upward. Mom and Dad feed out line as rapidly as they can.

The kite begins pulling the string, making it difficult to hold on. Inevitably, they reach the end of their line. What should they do now? The kite is demanding more freedom. It wants to go higher. Dad stands on his tiptoes and raises his hand to accommodate the tug. It is now grasped tenuously between his index finger and thumb, held upward toward the sky. Then the moment of release comes. The string slips through his fingers, and the kite soars majestically into God's beautiful sky.

Mom and Dad stand gazing at their precious "baby," who is now gleaming in the sun, a mere pinpoint of color on the horizon. They are proud of what they've done--but sad to realize that their job is finished. It was a labor of love. But where did the years go?

That is where you are today--standing on tiptoes and stretching toward the sky with the end of the string clutched between your fingers. It's time to let go. And when you do, you'll find that a new relationship will be born. Your parenting job is almost over. In its place will come a friendship that will have its own rewards.

Remember: The kite is going to break free one way or the other. It's best that you release it when the time is right!

How does this relate back to today's posting?

Easy. With Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year just a day away, the Malaysians of Chinese descendant will be flocking back home for the reunion dinner. It is the single most important event for family other than marriage or funeral where family gather in numbers.

Many of us has left the "nest" so to say. Setting out of home, some just within 30minutes drive or nearer, and some perhaps even needing to catch a flight to seek greener pasture. 

When i heard the podcast, I could not help but to feel moved inside - for the day will come when my kids will leave, and if I am lucky, will get them to visit me and wifey once a year.

Which brings me to another sharing. The Bernas 2013 advertisement. 

damn those onions *sniff

For those of you going home to your family, drive safe. Have a good Chinese New Year from all of us at home.

They all grow up, too fast.

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Cat's In The Cradle

A week after signing up my little girl for her ballet classes, we signed our boy for an inline skating class. Sometimes, me and wifey wondered where was the 30cm baby (at birth) that is now standing tall, and possibly will be taller than myself when he grows up. 
Like the Song Cat's In The Cradle, I do not want to end up as a father that never had time for his own kids, only to grow old later, wondering if my kids will want to spend time with me. Precious time like these will not come back.
Enjoy the photos. You can see the joy in his face, being on roller blade for the first time in his life.

Told him if he wants to learn it, he has to carry the gears himself, or put it on himself and carry it.

Full of attention..for now

Safety First. Else the Mother will be sad he falls down.

When can i skate?

New friend

Instructor was really helpful and patiences with the kids

Learning to fall. Head must be up boy, not down. Wouldn't want to mess that good looking face

Learning to stand

Almost there!

Maybe not, lets just stick to learning to walk on grass first

Envious of the friend that can skate

Helping hand, please?

Attempting, again. It is OK to fall. In life, you will always fall before you can stand.

Drinking up.

Sore Bums...But never fall, never learn!

There were more photos taken during the 1-hour session. It is all good. Family times are precious. Moments like these will never come back, ever.

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Family Featured In Newspapers

The family had some exposure in the Mainstream media lately. First it was in The Star weekend edition under the Fit4Life pullout. This was in conjunction with Father's Day where the journalist covered three family men in their 30's, 40's and 50's. I am apparently, representing the Father's in the 30's. Thank you for the coverage The Star, and thank you Fiona, for making me look good. :) The honor was having the family mentioned along with two other man that is important in their organisations and vocation, as i am after all, just an engineer ;-)
Fit Dads

TWO FIT
By FIONA HO
starhealth@thestar.com.my

You’ll be surprised, but keeping active amid a dizzying conundrum of modern-day demands is not as impossible as it sounds. This Father’s Day, we catch up with fit fathers who have managed the feat while juggling their daddy duties.

THE advent of parenthood rarely heralds a period of optimum fitness for any working dad. Between dropping your kids off at school and grabbing lunch on the run, you are stuck on a busy work day that grows increasingly longer as you clock in more and more hours to support your family.

You are stressed, you’re constantly tired, and you’re left with little time for things like exercise and healthy nutrition.

While maintaining a work-life balance remains an elusive struggle for most working adults, keeping active and sticking to good eating habits amidst a dizzying conundrum of modern-day demands is not as impossible as it sounds.

We caught up with fathers who have managed the feat while juggling their daddy duties.

Lim has made his outdoor adventures a family affair. He encourages his family to lead an active lifestyle by taking them on regular trips to the park.

No excuses

Bio-fuel engineer, Lim Ee-Van, 36, makes no excuse not to exercise. “There are 24 hours in a day. You have to ask yourself what you really want out of it,” he says.

The lean father-of-two walks the talk. An ardent runner who participates regularly in marathons, Lim trains an average of three times a week, either before or after work, depending on his schedule.

“I usually have to be in the office by 9am, so I would wake up at 6am to go for a short run near my house in Damansara Utama on my training days,” he says. And by ‘short’, he means a good 30 minutes to cover 5km.

The course comes easy for Lim, who has completed the Ironman Triathlon three times (the Ironman is a long-distance race that comprises a 3.86km swim, a 180.25km bike and a marathon 42.2km run, to be raced in that order, and without a break within a time limit of 17 hours).

“The goal isn’t to run insane mileage everyday. You just need 30 minutes to keep your legs moving and your heart pumping and you’ll get faster over time,” he explains.

It was his training for the Ironman race that really tested his physical limits. “When I was preparing for the event, I trained vigorously. On Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, I would wake up at 4.30am to cycle about 17km, and on Tuesdays and Thursdays, I would run a minimum of 12km in the morning, and up to 15km in the evening.

“You suffer during training, but when you’re out there in the race, everything is going to be easy,” he says with a smile.

He credits his unwavering discipline to his tough early education. Lim says he attended a military school where they could be “penalised for anything from the top of our heads to the tip of our toes”.

There, he learned to adhere to a stringent lifestyle, and also acquired a penchant for sports. “I was a fat boy in primary school, but was forced to live a highly disciplined lifestyle after I went there when I was about 14.”

Lim played competitive rugby, and later took up endurance sports like adventure racing, canoeing, mountain biking, and abseiling.

He progressed to triathlons in 2003, and has not looked back since. This year alone, he has participated in marathons held in Kenyir, Terengganu, and Port Dickson, Selangor, in March and April, and is looking forward to a race in Desaru, Johor, at the end of the year.

He does not run for the prize, but takes genuine pleasure in his journey to the finish line.

Lim has since made his outdoor adventures a family affair. So many of today’s activities for children are sedentary in nature, he notes. He encourages his children – Ryan, six, and Nadia, four, to lead an active lifestyle by taking them on regular trips to the park.

On weekends, Lim wakes up as early as 5am to run with his wife, Aileen Har, who is co-owner of the popular local boutique Cats Whiskers.

“It’s a little bit harder to train now that I have a family, but it’s made possible with an understanding spouse and a ready support system. My mother or her mother takes care of our kids when we go for a run.

“Usually, it’ll be around 8.30 or 9am when we complete our 20km run, and that’s when our kids will be up and we can spend the rest of the day with them.”

Lim believes that adequate nutrition makes up the other half of the health equation. His brief brush with iron deficiency prompted a complete change in his eating habits. “My iron levels fell below the average for about 11 months. It was so bad, I was hyperventilating after just one flight of stairs.

“I had to take iron supplements, and I made a full recovery this year. Now, I only take whole foods. Processed foods like white bread for instance, are a definite no-no.”

“I plan to do this till I’m 80,” he concludes with a laugh.In spite of the debilitating experience, Lim is determined to stick with his exercise regime. “I hardly fall sick nowadays. Whenever I’m feverish, I go for a run and sweat it out, and I’ll be okay,” he says.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Second coverage is in Sin Chew Jit Poh Metro Pullout. :)

Unfortunately, i can't read Chinese and had to get my mum to read it for me. :) Essentially, they were mentioning about healthy living and how the whole family can get together to make the change. Thank you Sin Chew and SCKLM for the opportunity! The full excerpt can be found here

Courtesy of the PR company. A copy of the paper has been bought and kept. 

Many thanks for the exposure and we are pretty sure the kids will blush when they reflect on this in years to come. :)

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Running Like A Kid

The wonderful thing about running as parents is that you get to see your kids run. We are trying to make running or exercising a way of life very much like a few other running family that we know off (The Siah's family consist of Kevin, Karen and family and the Chan's Family consist of Jun Shen and family) that make healthy living an everyday affair. Growing up, i never had the opportunity due to minimal exposure and also cost factor. I never had a proper running shoe until i started working 13 year ago. My sports shoe used to be my school shoes, which still need to be kept clean everyday.
Myself and wifey decided to get the two kids (lucky kids) a pair of proper running shoe to start them off. We were looking for decent shoes and sadly, not many will make proper running shoes for kids. Priced pretty steeply, especially for those more predictable sports brand, we are often turn off by the fact the kids shoes are made more for fashion than function.
As we are Brooks shoe user currently (due to the pricing and functions, and a big factor in the retail staff knowledge in shoes), we decided to see if we can find anything from Brooks for the kids.
We were not disappointed.
Up on the shelf was mini version of Brooks Ghost 4 and Brooks Adrenalin GTS 12! That is almost the top shoes available in the store for adults even. A quick check got me and wifey impressed as they are really truly the mini version of the adult version down to the construction and material used.
Here is how an adult Ghost 4 looked like.

And this is how an adult Adrenalin GTS 12 looked like

The kids Ghost 4 and GTS 12, is an incarnation of the adults, with the exact build and quality. That is impressive.

Purple is Ghost4 and Blue is Adrenalin GTS12

We paid RM199 for each pair (with the adults' version about twice the price without discount) and it was really steep to pay for kids feet. Considering that we intend to make them at least jog on the weekend in the park, this is one investment we are willing to make - to protect their feet and to allow them to grow up loving to do so.

Kids see running as fun. Not as something they are made to do

We had previously let the kids run in multitude of different shoes and sandals, to see how they will react to them. Suffice to say, we noticed the differences when they wore the proper running shoes as opposed to the other shoes and sandals.

Youngest, but never gives up

Best way to teach them that life is not about losing or winning is to start them young

As you can see, they truly enjoyed it. Kids with their abundance of energy is a joy to watch. While some studies has shown that having kids doesn't really make you any happier, i beg to differ as you would have to be a parents to say otherwise.

Brooks, Asics and Barefoot - Family Exercising and Sweating!

I uses the opportunity during the weekend run/jog with kids to start running barefoot. Funny how we are getting the kids proper shoes and I am here trying to harness the benefit of barefoot running. So far, i have been transitioning to land mid and forefoot as that is how running should be before all the marketing guru in sports shoe says you will need a shoe with super cushioning to run faster. I sound to be contradicting myself here with the shoes for kids and me barefoot. Perhaps i am. But our concern for the kids to have better protected feet (rather than hurting themselves and start to hate running) goes above motivation to let them run barefoot. Time will come when they will do what I am doing as well.
But for now, lets just enjoy them growing up the way some of us adults never had the chance to.
I tell you, kids run super fast. I was chasing Nadia at about 12km/h in the first video below.

and subsequently, it was a mad 25 second burst of speed (almost sprinting for me) catching Ryan at close to 15km/h!

Our only hope is that they will grow up leading a healthy life and loving the simple pleasure of being outdoor than to be trapped at home watching TV or playing the computer games or mobile devices. We aspire to. We hope we can.

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30 Years Ago I Was 5

Perhaps it is a "given" that when someone say that "your kid looked like you". Being conceived by myself and wifey, it is only natural that they will grow up sharing the same trait (physical and mental) as the parents. I recalled i have a photo of myself when i was growing up. When i was 5 years old to be specific. Now that i am 35 today, i thought it would be fun to see how i have "grown" over the past 30 years and with a mini-me as a reference, how much resemblance my son has with me, now that he is also 5.

Growing up, i have never liked my hair. They are straight and they are lifeless. When they grow long, they will stick up on the side and make my already big head bigger. For that reason, i have grown up having only buzz cut, with exception of that 2 or 3 years when i thought it was cool to have longer hair and to wear a hairband like Beckham (though i was never a football fan).

So, on my own birthday, let me show you how i look back in 1981, when i was 5 years old.

You see, i was already an exhibitionist at that age, running around in brief. The car behind belongs to a grand-uncle (RIP) and it was a spanking new Mitsubishi Gallant. I grew up at that age at my granma's home in Gombak. 

Now, compare to how Ryan looked like at 5 years old (in a few days time, he will be officially be 5).

Actually...there is not much resemblance apart from the cinapek straight lifeless hair. Ryan has officially gotten most of the good look from his Mother, my wife. He is definitely better looking. Much more than i am actually at 5. 

And in case any of you ask "what happened to the boy in red at 5 years old", let me tell you that "that boy has grown up to be even better looking". I can assure you that one woman will concur with that statement. :)

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Featured in Oriental Daily and Carbo Loading

I can now tell my kids that they were in newspaper when they were young. :)
The article, i was told, speaks about us having a healthy lifestyle. While we all have our sins with food and laziness, i sure hope the article (in the paper) gives an insight to our everyday's life.

On a separate and very related topic since it is 3 more days to go before SCKLM, i am going through some gastric issues and lack of rest. Just got back from wonderful Kuching (for work) and will be in Alor Setar and Sungai Petani for the next two more days. I am putting myself at a risk of not performing this Sunday with the lack of training and also planning of proper carbo-loading. The following paragraphs will show just how much i am not practising what i am preaching. It will serve as a good reminder for myself in the future.
Speaking of carbo-loading, many people did it wrongly, or has the wrong impression about doing any sort of loading before any major event. While some see it as an opportunity to "binge" on food, we must remember to fuel the body only with good food. We are what we eat. I've long forgo that i "live to eat" and would "eat to live". I am very very selective with the food i take and most of the time, i sounded anal about it.

Carbo-loading are typically done if you are going to embark on an endurance event of no less than 90minutes. And by that, the intensity and the purpose of the carbo-loading could differ from one person to another. This also meant that you should not justify carbo-loading just because you are planning to do a 10km run in 2hours or a 5km fun run in 90minutes. The most common mistake one could do is to carbo-load a day before any major race. The body could not convert the fuel to glycogen on time if you eat a day earlier. In fact, the usual acceptable timeline would be a week before the event.

Many people carbo-load wrongly as well, which could be demerits to the whole exercise of carbo-loading. Before one carbo-load, or consider to embark on doing so, they should exercise hard enough to deplete their energy or glycogen level to prepare the body for the upcoming loading. This state of "hunger" is important as our body sort of reacts to certain situation/abnormality when pushed to the extreme.

Then for the first 3 days, they will be on low carb diet with more protein and on the fourth day, they start to take in more carbo (high quality carbs yah) with low glycemic index (GI). What this meant is to take in complex carbs. Rice don't make it. So does pasta (a common mistake even by race organisers). The perceived starvation from the first 3-days of carbo-loading (which you aren't really loading anyway) will force the muscle to "absorb" as much carbs as possible on the last four days. This will effectively raise your serum glucose level (or blood glucose level) without raising your insulin (or getting the sugar high) or spiking your sugar level. You do not want to have an elevated sugar level as once the sugar has been used up, you will have what the athlete calls "Bonk". Your body will then crave for "sugary" food and your body will slowly shut down to conserve energy.

So what is good carbs? Aim for complex carbs. It is anything with whole wheat (full/whole grain stuff like oats, brown rice), fruits and even yogurt (plain variants) and milk (doesn't matter high or low fat). Basically, eat healthy unprocessed stuffs. Any food with GI less than 55 is good. Do some read up to find out more of food glycemic index (GI) value and you will understand what i meant. In fact, during the (only) three Ironman i entered in 2008, 2009 and 2010, i literally made my own energy food from expensive organic ingredient such as rice malt syrup and agave syrup. You can read them here : Homemade Energy Gel. Myself and wifey even made our own muesli as those available in the market are sugar laden and garners it's so called nutritional properties from SUGAR. Read about these wonderful muesli here : Homemade Muesli Bars.

Do complement the carbs you take with protein and oil too. An endurance athelete has to train his or her body to utilise protein and fat as fuel. While it sounded funny to be eating oil to burn oil, we are talking about good oil. The good virgin olive oil, the good grapeseed oil, the good CLA. Skip any animal (saturated) or peanut/palm oil. Load up a bit more on your salt and balance it off with banana (potassium in banana will balance off the natrium or sodium in the body). At the current point of time, i am a big fan of Chia seeds. Read about them in the Internet  my blog as well. :)

Remember to rest well, do some short runs, perhaps a 5km run at easy pace and learn to relax the muscle.

This last few days is important. There is really no time for last minute mileage for it will do nothing but burn you off within the first 10km of your marathon (42km ya) or 21km race.

Good luck and see all of you this Sunday!

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Male Bonding

Me and Ryan having a haircut at the same time today. I hope he won't forget all these little things.

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My Son Turns Four

My son is officially four today. How time flies. It felt like yesterday when he was just a baby. Now, he can converse in at least two languages and has learnt to bargain his way out of trouble.

On Monday, myself and wifey had a mini celebration for him and his classmates. It was such joy and surreal to see myself doing this. I recall my dad did this for me too when i was growing up. I guess the cycle has already started.

We give the children what we can. After all, when we are long gone, all these belongs to them.

Happy Birthday Boy. We love you very much (despite how we make your growing up difficult with mindless lectures!)

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