The gloved one

As we all now know, the tragic news about the death of Michael Jackson hit us just before the weekend. I was quite a Michael Jackson fan since I was a kid. I grew up to many of his songs. Smooth Criminal was my favourite.

My dad recalled vividly that when I was a child, at pasar malam, as the cassette tape sellers played his songs out loud on the radio, I used to dance up and down, along the congested pasar malam street. Trying to mimick his moves (though not very successfully).

And in high school, we staged many dances and plays based on his songs. I remember performing the following at our Leo Club installation. I also tried to mimick his moves then. This time slightly more successful. But there can only be ONE Michael Jackson.



Long live the King of Pop!

36 months...

Darling and I celebrated our 3 years anniversary...

We had lunch at The Essex, Fremantle. The place was quaint and cosy. Feels like a house, with a fireplace and decorated by relics.

I had fillet gabrielle - beef fillet with scallops, which I was very happy with. It was crispy on the outside, but tender and juicy on the inside. Hehheh, sounds like an ad for Pizza Hut's stuffed crust pizza!

While Li-Ann had entree sized Tasmanian salmon, which she was equally pleased with. Good thing she ordered the entree size, as otherwise we wouldn't have any place for dessert.

...because for dessert, we went to the much talked about... San Churros!

They REALLY make you salivate, don't they? Move along Max Brenner, this place is da BOMB!

We left Fremantle with stuffed stomachs, burping all the way, mainly from the azteca - rich hot chocolate with cinnamon and chili.

Oh, and look what darling got for me!

A long sleeve Brooks Equilibrium top. No longer she has to worry about me catching hypothermia from cycling in the cold with my sleeveless jerseys.

Love you darling! These three years have been great... and it will only get better ;)

P.S. - My dad's bib for SCKLM has been sold, thanks for all the enquiries!

It's confirmed

Many thanks to Tomato Ray for helping to register on my behalf at the office. Really appreciate it!

My Perth-KL and KL-Langkawi flight tickets as well as their return flights have been sorted, thanks to Air Asia offers. Although this time, I'm flying to Langkawi with Malaysia Airlines. Let's hope they are less sneaky about charging the additional kgs.

Also, arrangements have been made for Langkawi accommodation and transport (again with the help of Ray, can't thank you enough, buddy). Now I only need to have my 4 week leave (including Chinese New Year) approved. Considering since I've taken over as finance manager, this is the first time we've got our annual budget tabled by the board before the current financial year ends... I don't think my CEO would have too much of an issue with it, hehheh.

3 weeks to Perth Marathon... this morning's 20km run, managed to do it in 1:26:45 (average 4:20 per km). Can't remember the last time I went under 87 minutes for 20km. Probably never!

And the reward... Shirley's birthday treat at Hana BBQ. Thanks Shirley, we REALLY stuffed ourselves!

Run, run, run...

It's exactly 4 weeks to the Perth Marathon.

I had a great 10km run on Wednesday morning, fine weather conditions, though it's starting to get dark and cold in the mornings these days. Happy to clock 42:28, it has been AGES since I last went under 42 minutes 30 seconds.

Wasn't counting on repeating the same feat on Friday morning, but I shocked myself by improving on Wednesday's run by one second! 42:27 I am stoked!

On Saturday morning, I did my usual 80km bike ride. Averaged 28.2kph. Somehow with no upcoming triathlons or cycling events, I just could not push myself to clock a fast speed. But I supposed it's good to maintain the cycling legs, even with a below average speed.

I slept in a bit on Sunday. I knew I had to do a 30km run that morning, the last one before I start tapering for the marathon. But I just procrastinated a bit, waited for the sun to come up a bit, so that it won't be so cold. Li-Ann made me breakfast - scrambled eggs with toast and pumpkin mash. A nice change from my usual milk and cereal.

Come 9.15am, I got ready for the run. I decided to try out the Injinji black mini crew toe socks I bought from the Busselton Half Ironman expo. They were a bit high for my liking, my previous pair was the micro style, which fits under the ankles.

Anyway, the socks worked pretty well. There were no chaffing but I think my Asics DS Trainers are a bit too narrow, hence causing the toes to be a bit cramped.

I started the run with a pretty quick pace. First 10km split was 43:26. I then aimed for under 45 minutes for the next 10km, glad to clock 44:37 then. It looks like I was on course for sub 2:15 30km run.

But fatigue started hitting me by the 3rd 10km, I slowed down considerably. With remaining 2km to go, I glanced at my watch and there was still hope! I picked up my pace and finished the 3rd 10km in 46:12, completing the full 30km in 2:14:15 (average 4:28 per km), more than 2 minutes quicker than my 2:16 effort two weeks ago!

I can't be any happier. Now I just have to train smart and recover well for the remaining weeks, and I should be on course for a sub 3:20 marathon.

DONE!

Despite my recent planned 30km but eventually became 20km LSD run, this morning's 42:28 10km was a real confidence booster!

I've signed up 2 days before the closing date for early bird entry. I think I deserve a pat on the back :P

Weatherman

SATURDAY

80.44km bike ride in 2:46.32 (average 28.98kph). Was clocking nicely above 29kph until the last 15 minutes, must have been those Dalkeith hills!

SUNDAY

The weather was forecasted to have showers and thunderstorms, but somehow the skies seemed quite okay - slightly cloudy, but not too dark. Nevertheless, I decided to accompany Li-Ann at the gym that morning, instead of doing my 30km run. Yes, I'm a wuss that way.

And the skies stayed clear for the WHOLE day! Oh well... anyway, we had another pak-tor and Entertainment Book voucher weekend. We ate at Antico Caffe, located in the beatifully landscaped East Perth.

I enjoyed my Involtini Guilietta & Romeo (stuffed chicken breast) but Li-Ann's Involtini Di Maccheroni (enveloped maccheroni) was pretty ordinary.

And then, we went to the city and got Li-Ann a new phone. Nokia E63, $0 on the Three $19 cap for 24 months. Cool eh?

MONDAY

Yes, it was a public holiday - Foundation Day, and only in Western Australia :P

Planned to do a replacement 30km run. Was in excellent form - 1st 10km in 44:05 followed by the next 5km in 22:34, giving the 15km split of 1:06:39. I was on the right track to beat last week's 30km timing!

But it started to rain towards the end of my second 10km lap, and I decided to call it quits. Finished the second 10km in 45:23, giving total 20km time of 1:29:28.

Just after I had my cool down walk home and did my stretches, it stopped raining and the sun came up again! Yes, the weather can be pretty unpredictable here in Perth.

Anyway, I came up with some excuses for not continuing and completing 30km.
1. I didn't want to fall sick by running in the rain.
2. I didn't want to overdo it by running two 30kms during the week (planning to do one more 30km this Sunday).
3. I didn't want to injure myself as I felt some slight poking sensation around my left toes from the 10th km onwards.

I'm not going to dwell too much on this. I'm in much better shape than I was last year anyway.

The itsy bitsy spider climbed up the spout again

Yes, it has been pouring cats and dogs since Wednesday night. Although it was a good opportunity for darling and myself to spend some time together for the weekend, as we rarely do so.

Having said that, although my Saturday morning bike ride had to be shelved, we started our morning by sweating out at the gym. Li-Ann smuggled me in as I'm not a member. I made full use of the 1.5 hours there, did some spinning and strength training with weights, which have been pretty neglected since I started doing long distance triathlons.

For brunch, we went to a quaint and cosy coffee shop in Mount Lawley, Globe Coffee House. Also partly because our Entertainment Book vouchers were expiring by June 1st, so we are both desperately trying to eat at as many of this places as possible before then. Yes, we are VERY kiasu!

We were both pretty satisfied with our mains. I had the club sandwich and Li-Ann had the salmon rye.

But the dessert could have been improved though. There weren't many selections, and our orange almond cake didn't quite have that zing.

After a hearty brunch, we planned to take it easy for dinner. But we couldn't refuse an invitation with 1/3 of our SLB friends at Durty Nelly. Eric, Brendan, Jessie and her friend, Sebastian who came to visit Perth. The special of the day was $16 T-bone steak, so we all ordered the same thing!

I had mine plus 1/3 of Li-Ann's steak and 3/4 of her chips. In addition, a full mug of Kilkenny beer and 1/2 mug of hers. You bet I was filled to the brim that night!

Amazingly, that REALLY helped my 30km run the next morning. The strategy was to clock 45 minutes for the first 10km and slow down by a minute for each 10km after. My first 10km was 44:46, 2nd 10km was 45:31 and the 3rd 10km was 46:13, giving total time of 2:16:30 (average 4:33 per km)! That's about a 3 minute PB!

Anyway, I won't put too much pressure on repeating this feat for next Sunday's training, but I'm more confident now to achieve my sub 3:20 target for the Perth Marathon.

Oh, I received this few days ago. We each received a $60 gift voucher as part of our entry to the Busselton Half Ironman.

It feels a bit... erm... sexy. Slightly revealing at the neck and shoulders area. But I like the colour, can't wait to try it out! :)