marathon de lyon 2008

What other better way to kick off the season than with a marathon? I was pretty tentative about the race yesterday because of training being pretty disrupted with school and travelling and what-not, plus the weather had all of a sudden turned pretty hot over the last week and I was worried about coping with this new-found freedom from the long and oppressive winter.

Reached Lyon on Saturday and Ben was nice enough to host me at last minute's notification after the HC member who was supposed to host me texted me on Friday telling me that she suddenly could not accommodate me any more.

at the race expo

le rhone

So anyway the race was scheduled to start at 9. There were pacers marked out with flags: Green for 3hrs30mins and yellow for 4hrs. My goal this time was just to go under 4hrs, so my strategy was simply to keep as close as possible to the green flag while avoiding the yellow flag. I reached pretty early so I was able to seed myself well in the mass start pen. One unique aspect of the Lyon marathon is the chance to declare to the organisers that you are aiming for a personal best, and they will give you a special coloured number tag which allows you to start in a separate pen, behind the elites, but in front the rest. Unfortunately when I signed up I thought that I would not be fit enough to try for a PB, and so I had to stay at the back.

0900 and we were off. Along the way, we passed by the famous landmarks like Fouvière and Croix Rousse, luckily without the need to scale them. In fact, the route constituted mostly flat and wide boulevards and that made the marathon a rather manageable walk in the park (pun not intended). Talking about parks, we also ran through Parc de la tête d'or, France's largest urban park. I kept a moderate pace and kept it at 12km/h for the first 30km. At this rate, I would be able to finish the marathon in 03:30. But unfortunately for me, I started slowing down mightily from 34km onwards and it didn't help that the course from that part onwards was just a dull one along the banks of the Rhone and back to the finish line.

lyon city centre - notice fouvière in the background

Eventually, I finished 3hrs43mins (16mins slower than my PB), placing me 757 out of 2298 marathoners and 339 out of 801 runners in my category. The French are really good runners! I remember running side by side with this 60+ year old guy and at about 30km he tossed me aside like some finished powergel sachet! Madness.

Anyway this was a good race and I seriously had fun. It also got me fired up for the rest of my races here. Next up: Triathlon de Narbonne Plage on 25 May. Stay tuned! =)

running with the end in sight

parting shot

mes entraînements du semaine W-10

21 lundi: Nager 1km (PU)
22 mardi: CàP 10km (DU)
23 mercredi: CàP 10km (DU)
24 jeudi: Cycle 62km (Le Touvet)
25 vendredi: Nager 2km (PU), CàP 5km (DU)
27 dimanche: CàP 42.195km (Marathon de Lyon)

En totale: Nager 3km, Cycle 62km, CàP 67.195km

cinque terre

5 villages, 4 trails, 3 Singaporeans, 2 days and 1 lone hiker.

We headed down towards the coast to Cinque Terre, which literally means 5 lands in italiano. After bring holed up in the mountains for months now, it was awesome to go to the beach and hear the crashing of the waves again.

Woke up early in the morning and headed out to run/hike through the 5 villages. Actually I planned to just go for a 2 hour run, but the scenery was so amazing that I just went on and on and ended up having a 4 hour workout. My biggest regret on this trip was not bringing along a camera as I usually like to run light, and so I could not capture the magnificent views. Grr. As I said, I initially intended to just head out for 2 hours, but I ended up going too far to head back. Oh wells, at least the memories will be retained in my head (I hope)!

Anyway an observation was that everyone (all Occidentals) on the hiking trail were wearing full trekking attire and equipped with walking sticks and what-not and I was the only one ferreting through the foliage in running garb and with just €5 in my pocket. Dang, they must have been wondering what this crazy Asian must have been doing along the hiking trail dressed so skimpily!

But I digress. Went for lunch after the morning's exertions then took a cruise to Portovenere. Was with a bunch of school children on the boat and they just mass sang/danced all the 1.5hours of the journey. Madness I tell you. It was like Italian Bollywood on the high seas. Anyway, got to Portovenere, discovered that it was not that all different from the Cinque Terre, but I still went to the abandoned castle there, explored the port area, and ate a gelato (yum!), then it was already time to go back, so I took the return boat (no singing children this time) back to Monterosso.

main boulevard at monterosso

children playing along the beaches

les choristes

err.. i think this is vernazza

portovenere

the above mentioned castle

Tried to rattraper a little by going around to the other villages to snap some photos before heading back for dinner but I managed only to cover Vernazza and Riomaggiore. Oh wells, better than nothing! So anyways I got my photos, then I met mom and aunt Helen up for dinner. We left the next day for Nice, where we hung around for just one night before catching a flight back to Geneva. Nothing much to write about Nice, since it rained and we couldn't go to the Promenade des Anglais, but the train ride there was pretty as we passed along the Italian and French riveras.

wall mural at riomaggiore honouring the workers who built the cinque terre

vernazza

perfect contrast when we left

the last dinner

So anyways it had been a great 2 weeks travelling with the 2 ladies. I had a fun time being a porter, tour guide, doctor, translator, and basically just hanging around and touring about. (although those daily expensive restaurant meals helped! =P)

to mom

What do you say to the mom who lugged a box of strawberry-banana powergels and not to mention the many many bottles of creatine and flew over to France just for her son (notwithstanding the attraction of LV and Tag Hauer)?

Joyeux anniversaire mom! =)

friends, romans, countrymen

Rome. Sunny, dynamic and touristy - Exactly opposite that of Paris, except maybe for the last point. We reached the Eternal City on a day where the blue skies ruled and where the temperatures reached a sweltering 18degC. As soon as I got out of the metro station, off went the North Face jacket and on came the Oakleys. =P

Apparently I was not the only person who thought of doing that, as at that same moment, I met like 456889345 other tourists who were equally skimpily dressed and whose eyes were equally well protected. Indeed, Rome is a very touristy place.

We headed out first to the Colosseum and the Roman Forum as they were very close to where we stayed. Luckily the Romans have yet to acquire the en-bloc or upgrading fervour which we have back home if not we would not have the chance to visit all these historical landmarks. Jokes aside, it was simply spine tingling to imagine the gladiatorial battles which were once held, or just to stand in the centre of power of the world's once-greatest civilization.

il colosseo

inside it

ruins of the forum

shadows of the past

Just to show that the Monday blues can still haunt you even when you're on vacation, it rained on the next day, which was a Monday. Luckily I had already planned on going to Pisa for the day, which involved a total of 6 hours on the train, and which probably saved us from getting soaked too much. Anyway due to the weather I also did not manage to get too up and personal with the leaning tower. But seeing that it was going to topple over, I decided to give it a hand:

easy does it

The next day was much more interesting as we went to the Vatican. A country inside a city! Amazing. Amazingly luxurious as well, as I could see where all the tithes from the Catholics go to from the marbled flooring all the way to the painted ceiling frescoes in St Peter's Basilica. Anyway as an Atheist I still contributed to the Pope's salary by paying to go up the the basilica's dome, as well as to enter the Sistine Chapel. Maybe that will buy me a few days out of purgatory in the future.

the vatican - 100% catholic

meeting the pope

inside the basilica

keeping guard against the infidels

(olio) dome

michelangelo's masterpiece

Then we went to worship the only God I know - the shopping God. We shopped until all the shops were closed and then we went to the Spanish steps. Headed back the other way and reached the Trevi fountain. Did the touisty thing and tossed in a 1 cent coin in the hope of coming back one day. With all the thousands of people tossing in coins as well, no wonder Rome has so many tourists; they just keep returning!

the Trevi fountain

Then there's Wednesday. Wow I had so many days! The sky was clear and I went up the Vittoriano monument. Nice timing. The monument is basically a superbly lavish and over-the-top pompous memorial honouring the first Italian king. In any case, it offered great 360° panoramic views of the city. Then I walked some more because it was so nice to be out in the sun, and then I ran out of time and I went back to pick up the two ladies for lunch and to catch our train. Next stop: the Cinque Terre!

il vittoriano

monument to the unknown soldier

as far as the eye can see

downtown Rome

More photos here if you are interested.

partying in paris

And then there were three. Yep, after a 15 year hiatus, the original trio met up again, this time for an Eurotrip! Travelling with mom and aunt Helen certainly brought back (maybe not so fond) memories of our Australian trip when I was in primary 2. =P

After the initial scare, both of them still managed to spend a couple of fun filled days here in Grenoble, which included an excursion to the Vercors with the Morels and the Tans.

at Pont en Royans

So anyway we left for Paris on a wet and dreary Thursday morning. Reached there on an equally wet and dreary mid-morning. Nevertheless we still managed to amble around town, going up the Eiffel Tower and then strolling down the Champs Élysées, where we (or rather, my mom) headed straight for the jugular at the LV store. Met up with Jianhui as well for dinner and it was about then when the two ladies started to lose the plot. Poor things must have not been used to the cold and the walking, and after a quick dinner at Hippopotamus they had to head back to the hotel.

Which was really a pity, for Paris at night is a completely different creature from its daytime counterpart. Down comes the elegant store shutters, out goes the diurnal tourists, and the city of light reveals its true colours. Went clubbing with the rest of the Parisiens and then I tried to go to Buddha Bar at 4 in the morning but it was closed! I mean like why is Buddha Bar sleeping when the rest of the world has just started partying? Grrr.

tour Eiffel

paris from the top

3 of us

le Queen

the Parismus and me

Day 2 and the ladies were still not in the best of shape so I took off myself. Visited some museums like the Musée d'Orsay and Geroges Pompidou which I never went to in my previous excursions up to the capital. As Jianhui says, one cannot possibly finish visiting all the museums in Paris, so the least I could do was to visit the more popular ones. Pompidou's modern art was cool, and was a welcome change to the usual classical European art pieces.

After the museums I headed to the École Militaire. It is out of bounds for visitors but apparently members of foreign military organisations can go in and visit! Yaay. I flashed my SAF 11B and was greeted with "Bienvenue et bonne visite" by the guards. The school was really impressive and it brought back memories of my days in OCS. Its hard to imagine that just opposite the Eiffel Tower lies a fully functioning military camp, replete with a working stable and MT line! Seriously.

Then I walked around some more and then I went to the Louvre. Again! Because it was Friday-free-to-students-under-26-night and you just have to love the French for this. Brilliant. Then I went to meet Lucien at his place for dinner. Apparently he has established some rapport with this restaurant near his place and which he can call "his own" now. I wonder how much has he spent there to infiltrate the French's inner circle of trust! =D Anyways I had the best magret de canard and then we tried to go to Buddha Bar again but it was in the midst of closing at like 130am? Like seriously WTF.

paris from the top of the Pompidou

nice artpiece inside

école militaire

le Louvre encore

le crépuscule

Started Saturday with a 15km run along the Seine to burn off all the liquid carbohydrates ingested from the previous two days of partying. Surprisingly for such a large city, Paris was quite runnable! Wide pavements, tolerant motorists and of course the superb views made it a very pleasurable run. Then I met up with my mom and aunt and we headed down to the Louvre. This time I did not go in (not free mah), but instead I crossed over the Seine and visited the Tulleries. It was nice there but then it started raining and so I went back to the Louvre to pick the two ladies up to go shopping. Fortunately after a while the rain had stopped and so we took the Batobus down to the Champs Élysées. Mom went mad again and bought a couple of things while I mainly just window shopped. Tells you a lot about the difference in purchasing power parity of a working woman and a poor student! =D

group shot

paris from the quays

Anyways after that I dropped them off again and I went for pre-dinner drinks at Buddha Bar with Lucien. It had better be open at 8pm on a Saturday night! I reached earlier than Lucien and amazingly the bouncer recognised me from the previous nights and we made some small talk. Then we went in. The ambience of the entire place just exuded coolness! We couldn't find a table where we could admire the giant Buddha statue, so we went to the bar, which was craved in the shape of a huge dragon. Super.

3 drinks and €106 later, it was time to get back for dinner, a little early, but not as though I could afford (literally) to stay any longer. I had, at that point in time, truly reached enlightenment (of my wallet)! Heh.

entrance to nirvana

giant Buddha

me and my funky buddha

mes entraînements du semaine W-11

17 jeudi: Randonné/CàP 12km (Cinque Terre)
19 samedi: CàP 25km (Grenoble and environs)
20 dimanche: Cycle 56km (Le Touvet)

En total: Cycle 56km, CàP 37km

romping in rome

Just reached Rome and I thought that I would conduct a troop headcount as the ancient Roman warriors would do, and so here are the numbers:

Total strength: 3
Present strength: 1
2 Att B at the back

Apparently my mom has gotten a slight strain of gastroenteritis as well as developed some sort of ITB strain (I dunno how since she is not a runner), and my aunt is extremely jet-lagged.

Looks like its going to be an interesting week ahead for all of us here in the Eternal City! o_O

mes entraînements du semaine W-12

07 lundi: Nager 1.8km (PU)
09 mercredi: CàP 20km (DU 2 loops)
13 samedi: CàP 15km (Paris)

En total: Nager 1.8km, CàP 35km

paris 1 - pékin 0

paris defend les droits de l'homme. partout dans le monde.

So says the banner put up at l'Hôtel de Ville in Paris, and none other by the mayor himself. Reminds me just how much I love this country. =)

momma's

in the house!!! finally arrived on Sunday afternoon, but not after some trouble with baggage and then coming out 2 hours late.

anyway I will be taking a pause from blogging for a couple of days as I simply have no time after juggling school, training, and working as a tour guide.

a+! =)

mes entraînements du semaine W-13

01 mardi: Nager 1.2km - 3 x 300m drills (PU)
02 mercredi: Nager 2km (PU), CàP 25km (Grenoble and environs)
03 jeudi: Cycle 93km (D1090 - Pontcharra + D525 - Allevard)
04 vendredi: CàP 20km (Grenoble 2 loops)
05 samedi: CàP 6km - Fartlek (DU)

En total: Nager 3.2km, Cycle 93km, CàP 51km

Not a bad training week; The weather's getting warmer now and its that bit easier to head out for training now. Managed to squeeze in 6 hours of tennis as well as the days are getting longer. Might do a long walk later today as cross training. Let's see how. =)

my great geneva outing

Went to Geneva to pick my mom up today but horrors of all horrors mom missed her flight because she thought that her flight time at 0320hrs on Saturday meant that she would have to go to the airport only on Saturday night!!!

This, after I reminded her on Tuesday that she would have to check in on Friday night and not on Saturday. -_-|||

Mothers. Sometimes you just wonder what is going on inside their minds when you talk to them.

Anyway, all's well that end's well and my mom managed to get on the next flight to Geneva, but not after lots of hair pulling, expensive international phone calls, and one whole wasted day at the airport.

And yet another trip to the airport again tomorrow.

Which brings me to the fact that I've been to Geneva so many times already that I consider it part of France. In fact, I forgot to bring my passport with me today because I thought that I was just going to the airport! Problem was that of course, Geneva airport is not situated in France, and Switzerland is not part of the EU, for that matter.

Although the border control people were nice enough to let me through using my Singaporean IC after I explained my situation to them, I was not counting on seeing them again so soon. =P

running away

- Midnight Hour

Don't lie and say that it's OK.
It's alright if there's nothing more to say.
So I'm running away.
I'm leaving this place.
Yeah, I'm running away.
I'm running away.

Don't tell me I'm the one to blame.
It's too late for you to make me stay.
No, I won't stay.
So I'm running away.
I'm leaving this place.
Yeah, I'm running away.
I'm running away.

And faster than you can follow me from this lonely place.
And farther than you can find me, I'm leaving
Yeah I'm leaving today.
And I, I'll never let you find me.
I'm leaving you behind with the past
No, I won't look back.
And I don't want to hear your reasons.
Don't want to hear you tell me why I should stay.

And try, and try to understand me
And try to understand what I say when I say I can't stay
I, I'm moving on from this place
I'm leaving and I won't quit running away.

I'm running away.
I'm leaving this place.
Yeah, I'm running away.
I'm running away.

one mat down

Police have informed that a raid was carried out in workers quaters at the Mandai area following a public tipoff of a man believed to be Mas Selamat Kasteri, the wanted criminal who escaped last month from the Whitley Road Detention Center.

The raid carried out at around 10pm involved teams of officers from the SAF, SWAT, SCDF, Police and Certis Cisco who surrounded a 1 kilometre perimeter leading to the area, turning away all vehicles from entering Neo Tiew Road.

At 11.30pm, the team of SAF commandos and SWAT team entered the compound in 3 directions, taking control of the 4 blocks of worker's quarters. R. Pratanathan, one of the security guards at the compound, was astounded by the appearance of these armed men and was one of the first few persons who were secured down. "I was shocked, they come so many of them. This is machiam like a tamil movie!"

At midnight, the operation begin. Armed with submachine guns, the police entered the 3rd storey of one of the blocks where Kasteri was believed to be hiding. Gunshots were exchanged for the next 10 minutes.

And soon the fighting was over. The police quickly arrested 10 men in connection with the shooting. One police officer was shot in the leg whilst entering the unit and Kasteri was said to have been shot at least several times.

A police spokesman told the Strayed Times "This is just an April fool's joke.. you have just been pwned."

=D