Thrice Yearning Chanting Service at Singapore Expo.

Thrice Yearning Chanting Service @ Singapore Expo. Click the photo for full enlargement.

Camera Rubber grip becomes sticky

Sometimes, if we leave the camera in the car, the UV will degrade the rubber parts.

I use hand moisturizing cream to apply to the sticky rubber. It will work for a while until it is heated and gets sticky again. Then apply once more.

This sticky rubber was also present on my expensive Microsoft mouse, and I did not leave it in the car, I guess the quality was not too good.

Hope it helps. Sharing is caring.

New Balance Pacesetter 30km - 20km Run on 17 Jan 2010

17th January 2010. (Sunday). It is time to start running the New Balance 2010 30km Pacesetter course.
Having only vaguely familiar with Taman Tasik Perdana, we parked our car at Bukit Aman only to realized that we have to walk another 700m to the Padang Merbok. It was early for the 20km start, my chronometer showed 5:15 am. Well, it was a long drive since I woke up 4:18am. My breakfast consisted of Dunkin Donut, Banana, and flushed down with plain water.
We just entered Padang Merbok when I asked my wife “Isn’t it strangely quiet for a run, where’s the music?” . Then, as we marched in closer, we could hear the briefing and calls of elite 30km runners to fill the front lines. “ahh, turned off the music so that the runners can hear the marshals” I thought to myself. This was forgotten by the previous run aka 15km Kelab Penembak and left many wondering what was going on.
After that, we bumped into a photographer friend of ours as he waited for his gf gun starts. The Kenyans blasted away fast and that was the last time I saw them. We chatted with my friend, Wong, and suddenly my coach ran by. A bit late but I never worried as his pace should get him back on track in no time.
It’s not 6:30 am yet!
I was ready to start my race, but the time only showed 6:00am and I got a whole half hour more. The announcement says we get to sample free power bar at the stations. So I tried a banana (half cut samples). It’s not nice.
Race start! 20km and as I clocked my time against the beeping of timing chip, we raced. Turn one, a hill at the Istana Selangor. “boys those houses are huge!” I said to my wife. She was pacing with me and I knew she could run fast today.
5km mark, running in darkness, I was still running smoothly and forgo my first water station. After 43mins, I checked in to the water station and I have not stopped running for the entire time. So I rested while I enjoyed the 30km electrolyte (Revive) drink. Those 30km folks were not amused. The water station for 20km was much further.
“I have no idea how much distance I covered, but the Power bar is now giving me bowel problems” I complained. Deep down in my heart, I was crushed. My race is ruined. I thought I could run it off but apparently I cannot and I can’t even find a toilet!
My wife had decided to pace with me although I asked her to continue her own race, my bowels are irritating me and everytime I ran faster, the gas just wants to make me puke. So I cannot run fast, nor run slow as bowel movements comes in. I was screwed.
“legs feels cold and wobbly” I thought. “should I just take the ambulance back?” I asked. But I wanted to complete this race and only pray that nothing oozes out!

I walked when I could not run. Run when I felt better and it was a roller coaster feeling. Due to my discomfort, I was not paying much attention to directions and race safety. But I’ll keep looking out after this.
The 30km guys were heading back as we 20km guys goes forward, there were criss-crosses many times. I was very glad to take the 20km (my maiden run).
Hartamas was a great running place but my bowel discomfort built up fast there. Matrade was great with the morning sun and my wife was photographing the view as I just prayed my discomfort will end. At one time, I did not even want to run another race.
Then my wife spotted a runner that I liked to pace with. A slightly stocky runner but an above average runner. “it’s your guy, he is ahead, see him?” she said. I felt like an injection when through me as I lost the pace in my first race and seeing someone familiar was a form of mind games played in my head to pace harder. So off I went. Pacing hard, it took the pain and discomfort away. So he was a there for a reason. We did this a few times throughout the remaining race. He really gave me some spirit to pace hard! Haha.
The horse-shoe turn heading back to Tugu Negara was really a spirit breaker. I labored on as I noticed the 30km runners coping with limps and cramps. Many were walking now. I remembered the stretch of newly tarred road was sticky and I just did not want to run as it took up lots of energy.
The Final Stretch, 2km left to go! Tired, discomfort, cranky yet relieved. My wife and I ran across the finish line with valor and pride. Clcik, click click, as the cameras fired. (note: too few photographer!). These photos courtesy of my wife.
Beep beep , as the timing chips lock the end point and I stopped my stopwatch. Time: 2h, 38mins. It's enough for our maiden run.
I can only say “the discomfort of my bowels made me pushed myself a lot more, enduring more pain than my previous runs”! “thank you to my lovely wife for sacrificing her gallant, faster run to be with me throughout my race. “ Her pace and timing today was outstanding, could shave perhaps 15-20 mins.
What a 20km experience!

Breath Right while Running

B. You are shallow breathing
If you're only breathing from the upper part of your lungs, you're not getting as much air as you could if you were breathing more deeply from the bottom of your lungs. A doctor in one of my classes reassured me that there are no alveoli (those little air sacs in your lungs that exchange carbon dioxide with the oxygen from the air) in your upper lungs. Therefore, if you're only breathing into your upper lungs, you're not getting as much air into your blood supply even though you might be breathing really hard and fast. The cure for this is to breathe deeply, into your lower lungs. If you're short of breath, it's not because you're not breathing IN enough it's because you're not breathing OUT enough.

Here's how to "belly breathe ". Place your hands over your belly button. Now purse your lips like you're trying to blow a candle out and exhale, emptying your lungs by pulling in your belly button towards your spine. After you've blown out as much air as you can, just relax your belly and the inhale will take place on its own. Practice breathing this way when you're not running so that you can learn the technique while under any physical duress. Then, once you get comfortable with belly breathing you can introduce it into your running. Try matching up your breathing with your cadence. I usually breathe out for 3 strides and breathe in for 2, but do what works best for you. The main thing to remember is to fully empty your lungs before inhaling again.

C. You are carrying tension in your muscles
If your muscles are tight or tense it is much more difficult for oxygen to squeeze its way into your muscle cells because the oxygenated blood from your lungs cannot enter dense (tense) muscles. As I've said in class "It's like the difference between pouring syrup onto pancakes or bagels. The bagels are so dense that they don't absorb anything. On the contrary, soft muscles act like sponges and do quite a good job of soaking up all that oxygen-laden blood.

excerpted: http://www.chirunning.com/shop/pages.php?id=23&pageid=18

Eating, Diet and Running.

sourced: http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_1/151.shtml
Eat and Run
Tweaking your diet in the days before and after a race can give your running performance an edge.

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By Josh Clark
Posted Wednesday, 3 April, 2002

Just as there is no miracle training plan that can prepare you for a marathon in a week, there are no crash diets (or vitamins or supplements or sports drinks) that can magically deliver wildly enhanced performance in a week, either. Still, a few dietary tweaks in the days before a big race or long training run can give runners an extra edge. In the same way that you adjust your training program as race day approaches, you can also adjust your diet to make sure your body is fueled to capacity.

This dietary "taper" should begin about the same time you start to taper your mileage in anticipation of a race or run -- about seven days for a marathon and four days for 10K races or less. The approach is straightforward: keep doing more of the same by eating lots of carbohydrates, low fat and moderate protein. As always, pasta, potatoes, and bread should be your staples, but now they should take an exaggerated place in your diet. As you reduce your mileage, however, be sure to reduce your calorie intake, too. For most runners, this means eating about 100 calories less per day for every mile that you drop.


Carbo-loading>

This is carbo-loading time. It is an important period to stock your energy reserves to their max, but don't make too much of the process. Some elite runners, for example, will race hard about seven days before the target race day to deplete their glucogen stores, then train normally for three or four days, eating mostly fats and protein to keep glycogen low. Then in the last few days before the race, they pack as many carbohydrates into their system as they possibly can. The theory is that their muscles are so starved for glycogen that they will soak up even more carbos than they normally would, giving them extra energy for the race. We do not recommend this for the mainstream runner -- certainly not without the oversight of a dietitian. Too often, this approach can backfire and leave you out of gas midway through the race.

Instead, follow your normal balanced diet and kick in some extra carbohydates in the week before a race. Fruit juices and sports drinks are good carbo supplements if you're having trouble eating all that pasta. Try not to miss meals, but also try to avoid overeating. Balance and consistency are particularly important as the big run approaches. For the same reason, this is not a time to sample new cuisines or even a new sports drink. Eat foods that you know agree with you.

About two days before a race, particularly longer runs, start loading up on fluids. Sports drinks can kill two birds with one stone by letting you get carbos at the same time. Try to stay away from alcohol, however, since it not only dehydrates you but also interferes with proper storage of glycogen and undercuts your carbo-loading.

In the last 48 hours, avoid high-fiber foods like beans, bran cereals, lettuce and broccoli to avoid an upset stomach or other gastrointestinal discomfort during your run. Avoid hard-to-digest foods like peanut butter, fried food and the like. If possible, cut back on dairy products, too. Some runners have a slight lactose intolerance; while they may not even be aware of the condition on a day-to-day basis, the strenuous effort (and constant sloshing) of a race can cause their bodies to rebel against the lactose in the milk, causing gas and bloating.

By the end of the day before the run, your high-carbo diet should have worked its magic and topped off your glycogen stores. You should snack moderately and frequently on familiar, mild foods. Drink water and juice constantly. For your final meal that night, eat moderately and go for food that contains -- you guessed it -- lots of carbohydrates and only a little fat. Skip the beer or wine and get to bed early.


Race day diet>

On the morning of the big day, have a light breakfast; a bagel and some fruit juice is ideal. Don't eat any solid food for three hours before the run, just water (a good rule of thumb for any run when you really plan to push yourself).

During the race itself, staying hydrated is most important. Drink some fluids every 20 minutes (be sure to review our tips for drinking on the run). For races over an hour, you should plan to snack along the way to keep your energy up. Try to get about 25 grams of carbohydrates every thirty minutes and stick with a sports drink or easily digested foods like sports bars or gels, bananas, orange slices, or even a piece of candy. Whatever you eat, be sure you have tried it before during a practice run. Everyone's stomach reacts differently to different foods, and a race is not the best time to discover that a new sports bar doesn't agree with you.

After the race, drink plenty of water and get some food into yourself as soon as possible. Carbo-reloading is as important as the carbo-loading before a race, particularly for runs over an hour. Try to have a bagel, a cup of soup or a sports bar in the fifteen minutes after you stop running. It's in this window of time that your muscles will absorb the glycogen most readily. Your muscles are hungry, feed them. If your run was over 90 minutes, be sure to graze frequently on high-carb foods for the next 24 hours, since it will take a while to restore your depleted reserves. By the end of that next day you should be back to normal and ready to ramp up for the next big race or training run.

Kelab Penembak Bandar Diraja Klang organized it’s 15km run.

Today, 10.Jan.2010 in Klang. Kelab Penembak Bandar Diraja Klang organized it’s 15km run.

We reported at the main gates at 6:10 am. Having parked about 500 m and walked in almost darkness to the club house. But, anyway, we reached. The start was late, with the music blasting loudly, we could hardly hear the runners of class E,F and C,D announcement . We only managed to hear the gun start.

So away we went. My wife decided to run with me and forgo her class timing which was only 10 mins head-start. In a 15km race, that’s not a lot of time.

The movement was slow due to traffic. (human traffic not vehicles). Yet, some runners tends to bump into my wife as they jostle for place to sprint out. “ok, I think it’s useless to get out there so fast like there’s a fire” I said to her.

“So, pacing with the elite was always good but hey, getting in front of the race before it starts is what is needed, not jostling for position after the race started. “ I made a mental note.

As we made out 4 km stretch on flat surface, I had to learn to avoid water hazard and potholes. The straights was initially nothing to worry about. We paced and ran, paced and ran until we found the female (class C&D) that were back-markers. But we think it’s a strategy to run/walk and conserve energy for the 15 km. It was a young lady that had stopped running and walking. I did not see it then until the 40-50m elevation hill gave me a fright.

“that’s one huge hill” I said to my wife.

“that makes Malakoff’s looks like child’s play” she retorted.

I remembered Malakoff’s hill at Bukit Kiara and this one here was almost twice it’s peak. And it will give us another 3 hills in that course. We U-turn and hey it’s hill county again!

So, we mixed running /walking./Trotting/ power walking in our entire race. I ran when I could, walked a bit when I was tired. Most of the time the hills were not causing problems but the flats after 10km were testing me.

“my feets feels like burning!” I complained.

We stopped and I adjusted me shoes, (twice). But was confirmed. This race was one tough one. One the positive side, the view when sunshines comes up is perfect. Sun shining over hilly valley. I was inspired.

The last leg of 3 km, I was walking in. Because the race was over in my head. I pushed myself to accept that training was not enough (holidays and all). But nevertheless, I completed at 7.5km/h with mostly slow running. Pushing harder was not a wise decision with another race coming next week.

“good run?” I asked my wife

“tiring and those hills!” she mentioned.

Well, that’s my race report!

Cancer: Alternative Treatment by John Hopkins Hospital

Cancer : Alternative Treatment

December 31, 2009 by thetrainer
Filed under Health, Health & Fitness

2 Comments

I received an e-mail from a doctor-friend of mine recently. Thought of sharing with with you guys. Have a read!

Brain Cancer Cells

After years of telling people Chemotheraphy is the only way to try to eliminate cancer, John Hopkins is finally starting to tell you that there is an alternative way.

[Cancer Update from Johns Hopkins ]

1. Every person has cancer cells in the body. These cancer cells do not show up in the standard tests until they have multiplied to a few billion. When doctors tell cancer patients that there are no more cancer cells in their bodies after treatment, it just means the tests are unable to detect the cancer cells because they have not reached the detectable size.

2. Cancer cells occur between 6 to more than 10 times in a person’s lifetime.

Prostate Cancer Cell

3. When the person’s immune system is strong the cancer cells will be destroyed and prevented from multiplying and forming tumors.

4. When a person has cancer it indicates the person has multiple nutritional deficiencies. These could be due to genetic, environmental, food and lifestyle factors.

5. To overcome the multiple nutritional deficiencies, changing diet and including supplements will strengthen the immune system.

6. Chemotherapy involves poisoning the rapidly-growing cancer cells and also destroys rapidly-growing healthy cells in the bone marrow, gastro-intestinal tract etc, and can cause organ damage, like liver, kidneys, heart, lungs etc.

7. Radiation while destroying cancer cells also burns, scars and damages healthy cells, tissues and organs.

8. Initial treatment with chemotherapy and radiation will often reduce tumor size. However prolonged use of chemotherapy and radiation do not result in more tumor destruction.

9. When the body has too much toxic burden from chemotherapy and radiation the immune system is either compromised or destroyed, hence the person can succumb to various kinds of infections and complications.

10. Chemotherapy and radiation can cause cancer cells to mutate and become resistant and difficult to destroy. Surgery can also cause cancer cells to spread to other sites.

11. An effective way to battle cancer is to starve the cancer cells by not feeding it with the foods it needs to multiply.

Breast Cancer Cell

WHAT CANCER CELLS FEED ON:

a. Sugar is a cancer-feeder. By cutting off sugar it cuts off one important food supply to the cancer cells. Sugar substitutes like NutraSweet, Equal,Spoonful, etc are made with Aspartame and it is harmful. A better natural substitute would be Manuka honey or molasses but only in very small amounts. Table salt has a chemical added to make it white in colour. Better alternative is Bragg’s aminos or sea salt.

b. Milk causes the body to produce mucus, especially in the gastro-intestinal tract.. Cancer feeds on mucus. By cutting off milk and substituting with unsweetened soy milk, cancer cells are being starved.

c. Cancer cells thrive in an acid environment. Cut off acidic food. A meat-based diet is acidic and it is best to eat fish, and a little chicken rather than beef or pork. Meat also contains livestock antibiotics, growth hormones and parasites, which are all harmful, especially to people with cancer.

d. A diet made of 80% fresh vegetables and juice, whole grains, seeds, nuts and a little fruits help put the body into an alkaline environment. About 20% can be from cooked food including beans. Fresh vegetable juices provide live enzymes that are easily absorbed and reach down to cellular levels within 15 minutes to nourish and enhance growth of healthy cells?

To obtain live enzymes for building healthy cells try and drink fresh vegetable juice (most vegetables including bean sprouts) and eat some raw vegetables 2 or 3 times a day. Enzymes are destroyed at temperatures of 104 degrees F (40 degrees C).

e. Avoid coffee, tea, and chocolate, which have high caffeine. Green tea is a better alternative and has cancer-fighting properties. Water–best to drink purified water, or filtered, to avoid known toxins and heavy metals in tap water. Distilled water is acidic, avoid it.

12. Meat protein is difficult to digest and requires a lot of digestive enzymes. Undigested meat remaining in the intestines become putrified and leads to more toxic buildup.

13. Cancer cell walls have a tough protein covering. By refraining from or eating less meat it frees more enzymes to attack the protein walls of cancer cells and allows the body’s killer cells to destroy the cancer cells.

Cancer cells being attacked by the Immune System

14. Some supplements build up the immune system (IP6, Flor-ssence, Essiac, anti-oxidants, vitamins, minerals, EFAs etc.) to enable the body’s own killer cells to destroy cancer cells. Other supplements like vitamin E are known to cause apoptosis, or programmed cell death, the body’s normal method of disposing of damaged, unwanted, or unneeded cells.

15. Cancer is a disease of the mind, body, and spirit. A proactive and positive spirit will help the cancer warrior be a survivor.

Anger, unforgiveness and bitterness put the body into a stressful and acidic environment. Learn to have a loving and forgiving spirit. Learn to relax and enjoy life.

16. Cancer cells cannot thrive in an oxygenated environment. Exercising daily, and deep breathing help to get more oxygen down to the cellular level. Oxygen therapy is another means employed to destroy cancer cells.